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DirecTV vs Time Warner Cable

 
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DirecTV vs Time Warner Cable, What do you think?
Programmist
post 27 May, 2008 - 03:08 AM
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I've done some research on the topic and I have a friend who swears the DirecTV is better than cable because it broadcasts in "actual HD" whereas cable uses a compressed signal. But the research I've done tells me that they both compress and reduce bitrate. He also says that he never gets outages with DirecTV, but I've heard from others that moderate rain will often kill the signal. He says that's because they don't have their dish mounted properly and that it's not the rain, but the wind that kills the signal. But it's difficult to tell because there is so much conflicting info out there. Does anyone here have experience with either or both that you can tell me which offers the best picture and if you've had problems with signal loss? Has anything changed recently to improve either?

References:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=962
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/11/the-e...cto-re-hd-lite/
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capty99
post 1 Jun, 2008 - 12:13 PM
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I have Time Warner and while I don't have HD right now I had it last year on a 53in 1080p. It looked perfect IMO but I didn't have another tube streaming direct tv next to it.

I researched Direct TV at the beginning of this year for the new house, and almost chose it, I'm not sure what the deciding factor was but part of it was that with Time Warner you can also grab the internet. Easier to have one bill than two if thats what your after.

I have heard that they do compress their signal (TW) and the local news stations actually have ads saying why don't you pick up an hd antenna so you can get us in even better quality... however, depending on your set up it may or may not even matter.

I've also heard a heavy storm can hurt your dish reception. I don't know the validity of that claim but its a pretty pervasive rumor.
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ctxrover
post 9 Aug, 2008 - 11:36 AM
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I had Time Warner HD cable, switched to DIRECTV, and switched right back. DIRECTV has major problems with it's MPEG-4 implementation; I've never seen so many artifacts on an HD signal. Makes the PQ distractingly bad, IMO.
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KYA
post 9 Aug, 2008 - 12:46 PM
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I like time Warner, but i'm not a real big TV watcher, so if you were to compare for internet: time Warner > directtv

I have also heard that weather and other factors often disrupt the satellite signal.
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PsychoCoder
post 9 Aug, 2008 - 02:07 PM
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Ive had cable (Comcast) and currently have DirecTV. I can honestly say that, in my opinion, the picture quality I receive from DirecTV is much better than what I was receiving with cable, and the HD quality is [b]much[/] better (once again this is in my opinion). Ive never had a loss of service due to wind, rain, show, or any other weather condition like that (well I did lose it during a lightening storm but that's a different story).

All in all, I'm very happy with the service I receive from DirecTV

So that's my 2¢ smile.gif
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