PQ: Satellite VS Cable

[AWS]

I'm about a week out from moving to a house that is already setup with satellite service. Currenlty I'm a cable customer. Everything aside, how does the picture quality of satellite compare to the picture quality of cable? Keep in mind I'm watching everything on a std. TV. Do I jump to satellite because the PQ is much better or do I stick with cable?

Is there really any difference or will I be shocked at the difference?

[AngelofDeth]

There probably won't be a huge difference one way or another, but cable would probably have better PQ, at leats compared to directv. Probably also depends on your cable company though. Some are good, some not so. I would start with cable if it was me, as generally you only rent equipment and can easily cancel if your not happy with PQ.

[dbfresh23]

I'm going to have to disagree with AngelofDeth here. Why would cable probably have better SD quality then DirecTV? My DirecTV SD is better then ANY cable SD that I've ever seen. I know DirecTV requires a contract and pretty sure Dish Network does also, so I'd try to find someone that has it so you can check out the quality before switching, make sure it's what you're expecting before getting locked into a 1 year contract. I've had DirecTV for about 4 years now and wouldn't even think about switching back to cable. I am also using an MVP to watch my SageTV recorded SD DirecTV on a 52" HDTV and I must say that I'm very happy with the quality when compared to any SD from cable companies that I've seen on a big HDTV.

[Mark SS]

Doesn't particularly matter how the signal is being transmitted (ignoring geographical issues with satellite signal strength), it depends on the bitrates used to transmit. There are sites around for the UK which give details of the satellite transmission rates for various channels, perhaps you could find something similar?

[AngelofDeth]

Cable could have better PQ, because they are not compressing as much and using better bit rates than direct tv/dish. Obviously this is a YMMV thing, some cable companys have good PQ, others not so much. Also, if you watch a lot of network TV, or are lucky enough to have a cable company not encrypting everything, you can get a direct bit capture of cable via firewire and avoid re-encoding which will improve PQ a bit.

[SprDtyF350]

I think it is a toss up. If all you want is the expanded basic analog type channels you can get those with cable usually without a box. I had DirecTv for a long time and used to get better reception from my local channels on the dish. Now that the cable company went to fiber all the channels are about the same.

If you have to use an STB I prefer the DirecTv menus better than the cable companies ad filled junk.

[cummings66]

You do not have to agree to the 1 or 2 year contracts by the way. If you want the equipment for free you're stuck with the contract, but there are ways to do it without contracts if you so wish. Just ask your retailer about it and how much it will cost you extra, it's not much but might vary per territory.

[davephan]

Cable TV might be more reliable than satellite if you have a good local cable company. We used to have Dish Network for about 5 years, and DirecTV for 5 years before that.

DirecTV's signal was so weak even with the dish very carefully aimed that even the slightest rain or mist wiped out the signal.

Dish Network was more reliable but still lost signal during heavier rains.

Both systems worked if it snowed, unless the snow was very heavy.

If you choose satellite, then you should expect several outages during the year. If you depend on satellite for local television (no over the air antenna), then your TV may be useless to get weather information during severe storms.

About once a year one of our Dish Network receivers had to be re-zapped with an electronic signal to get it to function again.

We switched to cable TV (Comcast) because they offered a very good deal (dump the dish) for a one year price. HBO and Stars were also added for free. After the initial one year offer is over, we might have to switch again.

The cable TV, Disk Network, and DirecTV do not offer a la carte. You have to get many channels to get the channels you really want. If a la carte was available, I would probably only get about 6 to 10 channels. A la carte is available with the big C-band dish (8 - 10 foot diameter), but I heard that a la carte might be dropped from the big dish at the end of the year.


Dave

[insomniac]

I have SD and HD cable as well as Dish Network SD. All in all, my dish SD is almost as good as my cable HD. Sat PQ has been hands down better than cable with Astound and comcast service in 2 different houses so far.

YMMV

[cummings66]

Honestly speaking, cable in my town sucks and the small dishes have them beat hands down. However, OTA HD has any sat HD beat hands down, and a full size 10 foot dish C band system has the small dishes PQ beat hands down.

My 4DTV on digital channels will beat the digital of any small dish, and I don't have the rain issues the small dishes do.

So, for the best PQ get OTA HD and a C band system with a good quality Sat receiver. Here's why it's better, where do you think the signal the dishes and cable companies come from? Yup, good ole large dishes provide that signal for the most part. Look outside a major cable company and you'll notice lots of big dishes, look up on their tower and you'll see a good quality OTA antenna.

In the end I'll switch to a small dish when the Sci-fi channel goes away from C band, then I'll probably move to dish. Until then the artifacts from the compression Dish and Direct use drive me batty. I like the quality from my old dish which is not present in small dishes. Look at your blacks, ever notice there isn't a smooth blending to BTB? It bands, look at and solid color that blends to a darker color and the banding is noticeable.

Cable doesn't do that, Big dishes don't do that. Little dishes do it all the time and I hate it.