HD Question

[Stanow]

Hey guys, this is my first post! I had Directv installed this week. I have the HR20 receiver with the HD pack. My question is: Is it just me, or does some of the HD channel look grainy or a little fuzzy and some don't. HBO and SHO look grainy, but the others are okay. Anyone have an idea?

 

[mluntz]

I think you have to understand that some of the older movies were possibly not HD quality to begin with, and are upconverted somehow. I may be wrong. It seems to me that the live stuff always looks better, along with the more current shows.

 

[Plywodstatebum]

Live Sports is the Best, But my HBO and Sho. are not grainey. could be your setup.

 

[vurbano]

Live Sports is the Best, But my HBO and Sho. are not grainey. could be your setup.

Film grain depends on the transfer for old material and is not necessarily bad. If D* ever turns up the bitrate and resolution we may actually get to see some.

 

[atp1313]

I know this sounds silly, but is your HR20 actually putting out a 720p/1080i signal through HD-compatible cables (HDMI or Component)? When mine was installed, the default was 480i and was forcing all video (SD & HD) to come across as 480i. ESPNHD looked horrible, then I realized the problem. Now it's all good.

 

[tds4182]

Hey guys, this is my first post! I had Directv installed this week. I have the HR20 receiver with the HD pack. My question is: Is it just me, or does some of the HD channel look grainy or a little fuzzy and some don't. HBO and SHO look grainy, but the others are okay. Anyone have an idea?

Some of the perceived picture quality depends on your television and the connections between your receiver and TV. My HBO HD is excellent in terms of picture quality. Showtime HD is good, but not quite as good as HBO HD. Discovery HD is probably the best, day in and day out.

Our local PBS station (via my OTA antenna) has a digital sub-station that carries some breathtaking HD content some of the time. At other times, it's just average.

 

[Brewer4]

Stanow

 

[Stanow]

Some of my HD channels look great (ESPN, ESPN2, Discovery, Universal, TNT), but the HBO and Showtime channels do not have the quality I would like. I know it is common for some movies to look a little grainy with the conversion to HD, but these two are really bad.

 

[paulman182]

Hey guys, this is my first post! I had Directv installed this week. I have the HR20 receiver with the HD pack. My question is: Is it just me, or does some of the HD channel look grainy or a little fuzzy and some don't. HBO and SHO look grainy, but the others are okay. Anyone have an idea?

The best way to determine if you have a problem is to compare the "best with the best." Pick a recent, big-budget movie that you know is in HD on HBO and Showtime, and compare the PQ with the other channels.

Although I see some blocking problems in action scenes, the best-looking movies on HBO and Showtime look great to me.