Resolution of DISH satellite HD feed.

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Eastern Idaho, south of West Yellowstone
DISH satellite is our HD feed. We have a Sony KDFE42A10 42" 720p receiver connected to the satellite HD box with a HDMI cable. Problem is, the HD stations appear no better (or worse) than the regular analog stations. What gives? How can I tell if the satellite box is really putting out a HD signal and the TV is processing it properly?
 
You won't see a big difference between 480 & 720p. It really needs to be hooked to a 1080p or 1080i connection. I have a Samsung HLN617W and I can definitely see the difference from the DISH signal & my over the air signal vs normal TV.
 
Our HD Dish receiver has an SD/HD switch. If it's on SD, your TV won't see the extra resolution of an HD station.

Does your TV manual tell you how to determine what type of signal you are receiving? Our Samsung DLP set does has a menu option that will tell you the resolution of the signal into the TV. I suspect Sony would too.
 
Maybe I'm just expecting too much. The output of the sat box is set for 720p. I haven't been able find any SD/HD switch on the TV or any way to tell the resolution that the TV is receiving. I'll check again, though.

Thanks for your help.
 
On my Samsung DLP, the TV remote has an "info" button. That's where I find what resolution signal is going to the TV. That info probably does you no good though.

One other possibility. If you are watching your TV from normal TV viewing distances, you won't see much improvement. Old timey TV viewing distances put you far enough from the screen that it was hard to see how #@$%! the picture was. If you view at the same distances for a HD tv, you will have trouble seeing how good the picture is.

For a 720P screen, a good viewing distance is about 2 times the screen size or a bit closer. If you aren't that close, you aren't taking advantage of the resolution.

56 inch screen = 4.7 feet. A good viewing distance is about 9 feet. Some sources say even closer for a good HD picture.

http://www.jakeludington.com/ask_jake/20041215_how_far_do_i_sit_from_my_hdtv_screen.html
 
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maybe I need a bigger set.




What a shame that would be!
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On Dish, some of the old Zoom channels are 1280x1080i, other HD channels are 1440x1080i. Full HD is 1920x1080i. (there is also the 720p standard).

Resolution is not the whole story. The bitrate also determines quality, and Dish HD is lousy. The picture looks decent on static images but breaks up on motion. You'll see lots of small multicolored post-it's on the picture when the camera pans.

If you can get ATSC HD with an antenna, it will leave Dish HD in the dust.
 
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One other possibility. If you are watching your TV from normal TV viewing distances, you won't see much improvement. Old timey TV viewing distances put you far enough from the screen that it was hard to see how #@$%! the picture was. If you view at the same distances for a HD tv, you will have trouble seeing how good the picture is.





and alas, seeing the difference.

whats the point of it all looks the same 12 feet back....to say you have it? you bought into a buzzword? HDTV is great but like if you said, you can't tell the difference if you're back far enough then whats the point.
 
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and Dish HD is lousy.

If you can get ATSC HD with an antenna, it will leave Dish HD in the dust.




Keith, please elaborate more on Dish Network's HD quality! I've been comparing both DirecTV and Dish's HD offereings. They seem to offer the most HD channels. Looking at DirecTV's HD offerings are like looking at a shelf full of Coastal oil--yeah, it'll work, but it's not something I want to spend dime #1 on. (I'm a DTV subscriber with the SD Tivo package).

The HDTV over the air tuner (ATSC) is the way to go for free HDTV.
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