Video Asylum

Posted by Joe S (A) on December 05, 2001 at 13:07:14

In Reply to: DirecTV promises..... posted by rockhead on December 05, 2001 at 12:36:52:

The video signal output by the Direct Tv tuner is analog - I wouldnt worry about it.

The digital aspect of it is that it is a digital signal throughout it's transmission until it is converted to analog for output to your TV. Frankly, Direct TV and Dish network image quality is so poor due to high compression rates that worrying about the image quality of your TV is pretty pointless - Its capable of displaying a far greater quality picture than standard satellite programming image quality ever attains. This did not used to be true. When Direct Tv came out it had image quality that rivaled Laserdisc, but with the proliferation of channels and the broadcast of local affiliates by satellite they have spent the bandwidth on quantity and steadily reduced quality over the years to the sub VHS tape quality you see today.

When it comes to HD its a different ball game. The HD feeds are higher quality than any other source today, but to enjoy them you need a TV with a 1080i input - in other words an HD or digital TV. But then you also need the HD version of thier tuner and two dishes or an expanded single dish to pull this added signal in as it is broadcast from a second satellite. The standard Direct Tv / Dish Network systems dont come with the capability.

Audio is also pretty bad on Direct TV & Dish, far inferior to DVD for example, so the idea of upgrading your TV or system to match what they offer is also pretty pointless. Some movies are broadcast in Dolby Digital, but even the HD feed is inferior in sound quality to DVD.

joe