 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
Hi,I've avoided the cable-video world all these years, but now am interested in higher-end digital video. I see our local cable offers some higher end digital options, as does a couple of satellite companies (I've seen a bit about DISH 6000 & it's HDTV integration).
A couple of questions:
1. Have people examined these two formats in terms of video & audio quality?
2. Any issues of service & interruptions? I know of some of the cables woes I've heard in the past, but I'm not familiar with any reliability issues w/ satellite systems.
3. Any other issues I should be aware about?Thanks,
Bob
Follow Ups:
I have Comcast Digital Cable. The "Digital Cable Box" has a Dolby Digital logo on it. To hook it up, you can use "composite" RCA cables, or 75 ohm coax. No S-video, no component video, no digital cable and no optical digital connections. So I call the office and they don't know what I'm talking about, so they send me the technicians installing manual. I guess some boxes have s-video connections, but unless I'm wrong (and I certainly can be), all signals from the "box" are analog.
In Chicago I have ATT digital cable. This is somewhat misleading as most of the channels are NOT digital. All the network channels are still the same as regular cable with maybe 20 channels transmitted digitally. Quality is terrible.
The "digital" option on cable does not currently provide HDTV. All satellite broadcasting is "digital" but very little is HDTV. HDTV is limited to a subset of Showtime, HBO, and Pay Per View movies (and the exciting demo loop). Dish Network is currently offering somewhat more HDTV than DirecTV but two dishes are required to receive the normal set of broadcasts and HDTV. My feeling is that the cable companies have been pushing "digital" to increase the number of stations they can squeeze into given bandwidth, rather than providing higher quality video. The video quality of digital transmissions is highly dependent on the amount of compression that the cable/satellite company decides to use. More compression allows them to broadcast more stations but at lower quality. Audio takes relatively little bandwidth and is greatly improved relative to broadcast TV.
SteveM is absolutely correct. I have both satellite and cable coming to the house. The cable is for the kids while the satelite is connected only to the HT viewing room. Only interruptions with satellite have come with heavy rain clouds or snow (three or four times in five years of viewing) cable is down six or seven times a year minimum. I’ve had both Dish and DirectTV. Direct seems to be a little more polished and their menus quicker and easier to use but Dish has more HDTV content for the moment. Satellite setup costs are obviously higher, especially if you intend to connect more than one TV. Still I think the picture and sound are superior on the satellite.
Well, we recently switched from cable TV to DirecTV with the dish on the roof. I didn't research it much since we got a deal through my wife's employer. There were some surprises... DirecTV doesn't switch channels instantly - there a pause of maybe a half second or so between channels. A little irritating, but I can live with it. What's more irritating is that I can't use my TV's picture in picture since we only have one DirecTV tuner (am I right about that?). On the positive side, I get a better selection of channels, and being able to order movies is a nice feature, too. Good luck, Eric
If you have an antenna to receive local channels, then you can do PIP between the dish and the antenna (provided you don't have the sat receiver hooked up RF, that is). I know it doesn't do a lot of good if you want to PIP CNBC and the Playboy Channel, but we all must make our sacrifices...
You can have a Satellite receiver with a built in TIVO and a future second tuner (not active yet). That would give you 3 sources per box, 1 recorded ala TIVO and 2 live ...Paul
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
