Signal strength from 80-90%, pic quality from 30-40%

[anthonyb93]

Can anyone tell me what i can do to bring my picture quality higher? I currently am using an 18" round dish, Twinhan 1020A and MyTheatre 3.12 to run the programs. I do get a picture but i know that it could and should be much better. Was hoping to run HDTV and i know this would not be good enough. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[bobkat]

Why do you say it would not be good enough for high def? 80 to 90 is excellent. What satellite are you aiming at?

kat

[69BEEPER]

Originally Posted by anthonyb93

Can anyone tell me what i can do to bring my picture quality higher? I currently am using an 18" round dish, Twinhan 1020A and MyTheatre 3.12 to run the programs. I do get a picture but i know that it could and should be much better. Was hoping to run HDTV and i know this would not be good enough. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Your video card will have a lot to do with it. How is the pic quality when playing a dvd ?? If it's the same, you may need to upgrade your video card.

69beeper

[69BEEPER]

Originally Posted by bobkat

...What satellite are you aiming at?

kat

If receiving that amount of signal, and is able to watch video with interests of HDTV on an 18" dish, I am guessing it's one of the echo birds.

I don't know of any domestic linear pol birds (FTA) that let you receive that kind of signal with an 18" pan?

69beeper

[anthonyb93]

thanks for the replies guys. Yes, i am aimed at the echostar 119. But my issue is the quality meter not the signal strength. That is what is baffling me right now. According to MyTheatre, it shows my signal quality at roughly 80-90%, which is great. However, my picture quality is at only 30-40%. I was wondering if perhaps there are some settings i have to change to get the quality meter higher or is this simply because i am using an 18" dish as opposed to the dishnet oval dish. Thanks again for the advice.

[anthonyb93]

Just to add, dvd play looks great. My video card is a new Radeon 9600SE. I know SE is not he best but should be more than enough to display high def nicely.

[bobkat]

Remember that quality is never as high as signal strength, no matter what kind of receiver you are using. 30-40 quality is just fine. If you want higher than that you will need a bigger dish than 18".

kat

[anthonyb93]

thanks bobkat. Should i get a larger dish if i intend on viewing HDTV? How high can that quality meter get with a larger dish?

[wejones]

Originally Posted by bobkat

Remember that quality is never as high as signal strength, no matter what kind of receiver you are using. 30-40 quality is just fine. If you want higher than that you will need a bigger dish than 18".

kat

Re to quality always being less than signal strength, I just don't think that is correct. I know that there have been some transponders that I have watched recently that had 95% quality and only 67% signal level (I think this was on my Fortec Lifetime, not the Twinhan, but I don't think that is important).

I don't think that there is any absolute definition of "quality". In fact on some receivers, a high number is good, and on other receivers, a low number is good. I don't pretend to know how quality is calculated on most MPEG receivers, but I suspect it is some combination of signal strength, error rates, and one of the digital versions of signal-to-noise ratio (Eb/N0 , C/N , etc), but I am convinced that different receivers calculate this differently. Even the same receiver with different software come up with different numbers. So I look at them as just numbers that have no absolute meaning, but on any specific receiver, on a relative basis, they can help you tune your dish.
I would be interested though, if you have a definition of "quality", as used in most of these receivers though.

[bobkat]

Actually, you are correct. I have seen certain receivers give different quality readings on the same dish, same satellite and same transponder. I have also seen a 1 meter dish blow a 76 cm dish out of the water with a much high quality reading. I was being too general. You have raised some very good points.

Getting back to anthony's question; I don't think you need any higher a quality level for HDTV than for standard definition. But you could always go with a bigger dish - it will help for rain fade at least. :wink:


kat