# 811 DVI vs. Component Question



## Skates (Apr 15, 2004)

I just hooked up an 811 yesterday. I have both the component and S-Video connected right now - for comparison purposes. Using either, SD sure seems to be more washed out than the 501 I had previously connected to that TV through S-Video.

I'm looking for advice from those using DVI. Would I get any real benefit from going that route instead of component? This is a 30" widescreen Philips.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

LCD? RPTV? Tube? It all depends on your TV and this is definitely a case of YMMV. I believe you will see a big difference with Plasma or LCD panels. Have you calibrated your component inputs using a DVD player and AVIA? Some have had better PQ for SD using svideo and allow the TV to do the scaling. 

I have an 811 with DVI with a LCD RPTV Sony GWII 60". The SD is more than acceptable. I did compare it to Component and Saw a slight difference. The DVI was a bit crisper but I did not say WOW. 

This has been discussed a few times here. I would suggest doing a Search and you should get a few thread on this subject. 

There is no absolute answer here and a lot depends on the TV. 



I


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## Skates (Apr 15, 2004)

Thanks, Ron. This is a tube.

I did a search through a year of posts before posting this question and didn't find all that much.

The bottom line is, SD output from my 501 through S-Video is just better. The 811 isn't as sharp. On the other hand, HD is out of this world.

One of life's little compromises, I guess.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

With a tube I dont think you will see a big different. I would however suggest that you calibrate you component inputs using AVIA if you can. It can really help on SD content from my experience. And yes the 811 is an HD tuner. It does its best work on HD material however on my 60" Set I find the SD watchable. One thing that helped my SD quality (Sounds strange) but I put a monster power conditionar on my Home theater. Did help matters for sure.


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## cyberized (Mar 7, 2003)

I know what you are talking about I used to have the 508 with S-Video connected up for a very SHARP crisp picture. 
With the 811 you loose that crispness in SD - but you can BETTER it alot by connecting up an S-Video Cable to your 811. I have Component and S-Video both connected to my RPTV and when I want to change I go into my TV Source Menu and go from CBL to Video2. Not that big of a deal.

Good Luck! Michael


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## jal (Mar 3, 2005)

There is no question there is something wrong with the 811's DVI output picture quality. No matter what type of tv, DVI looks washed out. I originally had my 811 through DVI hooked up to a 50 inch Panasonic Plasma. The picture looked like crap. When I got my 921, the DVI output looked spectacular. I moved the 811 to my Sharp LCD and the DVI still looked washed out. So, I finally gave up and used component with the LCD and the 811. It looks much better. I think this problem goes way back to when Dish changed the software on the 811 to help a dark issue on sd. After that, the DVI output never looked right.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Jal, 

I have my Sony LCD hooked up with DVI and it looks great. Not sure why yours does not but i am aware of a lot of people using the DVI output on the 811 and are happy with the PQ. 

PQ is always a YMMV and some it seems to be something personal and each person needs to do the work to get it to what they consider acceptable. What I consider acceptable will be different than Jason or Jal or Skates etc. Good luck Skates and hopefully you get the 811 working to your liking.


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## HZPDX (Sep 23, 2004)

I just received my 811 as an exchange (for 301). I had a Sony SAT-HD200 hooked up (using DVI cable) to 50-in Sony RP-LCD XBR for OTA HD reception. Upon removing the Sony SAT-HD200 and simply hooking the DVI to the 811 output, the picture quality showed a clear sign of degradation. Contrast was low, it seemd like a "haze" has come over the screen. The colors did not look right. At least I'm glad I got to enjoy a good DVI connection for a while. Heck even SD reception was poor compared to the simple old 301 (connected via S-video). I am hearing in this thread that component may produce better PQ?!!!Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance

HZ


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

HZPDX said:


> I just received my 811 as an exchange (for 301). I had a Sony SAT-HD200 hooked up (using DVI cable) to 50-in Sony RP-LCD XBR for OTA HD reception. Upon removing the Sony SAT-HD200 and simply hooking the DVI to the 811 output, the picture quality showed a clear sign of degradation. Contrast was low, it seemd like a "haze" has come over the screen. The colors did not look right. At least I'm glad I got to enjoy a good DVI connection for a while. Heck even SD reception was poor compared to the simple old 301 (connected via S-video). I am hearing in this thread that component may produce better PQ?!!!Any other suggestions?
> 
> Thanks in advance
> 
> HZ


First, check your 811 HD setup, make sure it's set for 1080i, not the default 480p.


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## HZPDX (Sep 23, 2004)

Mikey said:


> First, check your 811 HD setup, make sure it's set for 1080i, not the default 480p.


Actually I tried both 1080i and 720p resulting in identical outcome.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

HZ


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## HDJunky (Sep 14, 2005)

I just got my 811 and a 625 set up yesterday, with the new DISH1000 too hehe.. So i have been playing with the 811 settings and connections all day trying to see what looks best on my Hitachi 57" HD RPTV which is about 2 years old.. When i got set up yesterday i went with my expensive monster component cables and wasn't to impressed with the picture quality.. But this morning i broke out my $100 monster DVI cable that i bought for my old voom receiver which i never ended up using because component ended up looking better than the DVI for some reason so threw the DVI cable with the rest of my unused cables in my closet.. But pulled the DVI cable out this morning and plugged it up and whallah improved HD content, i noticed a improvement on HD channels but on SD took some playing around with but think i have that figured out also, just make sure you switch from 1080i on the box to 480p whenever you go back to watching SD, and i also change the screen setting to 4:3 standard "if your t.v. allows it", because in compacts that picture and improves overall SD content noticably, atleast on my T.v.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Hey SpringsGuy! Why'd you pick a new handle over here? 

BTW, I posted the pics of your dish here, too.


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## HDJunky (Sep 14, 2005)

Gotta get some threads in here also, since i am pretty new.. And may i add that i would've never known about DBStalk if you haven't referred me Simon.. Thanks


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

Funny. I find connecting the 811 up to My Toshiba DLP set at native 720p or 1080i via dvi-to-HDMI cable to be totally unwatchable. Only 1080i via component cables works for me. Works quite well, actually....... But Why???????


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

:welcome_s HD Junky and thanks Simon for pointing a new sub our way. Hopefully you find our site to your liking and stay awhile. Simon is a very knowledgable guy and very professional minded. 

As to your DVI vs. Component. This is definitely a Mileage will vary situation. With DVI on my Sony, I personally could not tell a difference. Another possibility is that their is seperate settings for each input and your component DVI input might be calibrated better for the source material. Since your HDTV is a RPTV I am really suprised that you would see a huge difference between DVI and Component. 

As to the 480p vs 1080i. The PQ differences can be attributed to the difference in quality in the scaling mechanisms. Usually your TV will do a better job than the 811.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Skates said:


> I just hooked up an 811 yesterday. I have both the component and S-Video connected right now - for comparison purposes. Using either, SD sure seems to be more washed out than the 501 I had previously connected to that TV through S-Video.
> 
> I'm looking for advice from those using DVI. Would I get any real benefit from going that route instead of component? This is a 30" widescreen Philips.


I have found that DVI results vary from display to display and source to source. It is no big secret, the 811 does do HD very well, but has always been a bit weak in the SD category.

I have used my 811 on several displays. The direct connected display is a LCD RPTV. It does very well on DVI, there has been some software updates in the past that have improved the DVI performance on the 811. I do not use the SD outputs for regular viewing at all. I have a few displays of the brand you mention. On these displays I do find the DVI inputs on the plasma in particular to be far superior over the component inputs.

If I recall correctly, Simon has a friend at Philips, so I am sure if Simon wanted to get a technical opinion of the DVI vs. Component performance of that brand, he could probably get you a good answer.


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## HDJunky (Sep 14, 2005)

Jason do you watch your SD programming over DVI? And i have been working all alot lately and haven't had a chance to switch back to component to see if the difference between DVI and component on my T.V. is in my head or is really true.. AND THANKS FOR THE WELCOME RON!


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

HDJunky said:


> Jason do you watch your SD programming over DVI? And i have been working all alot lately and haven't had a chance to switch back to component to see if the difference between DVI and component on my T.V. is in my head or is really true.. AND THANKS FOR THE WELCOME RON!


I watch all content @ 1080i from the DVI output. What type of RPTV are you using? CRT, LCD, DLP, LcOS, ILA, SXRT?


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## HDJunky (Sep 14, 2005)

I would say CRT i think lol, its definitely not a LCD, DLP, and unfamiliar with the others you listed... Its a Hitachi 57" F500A and believe its their 2003 model, did alot of research on this set before i bought it.. Almost bought a 55" Samsung DLP for alot more, but the reviews on this set made me take the chance with this one since most owners claim this set is the best bang for your buck in HD quality.. Just like my Car hehe "2002 Trans Am"..


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

HDJunky said:


> I would say CRT i think lol, its definitely not a LCD, DLP, and unfamiliar with the others you listed... Its a Hitachi 57" F500A and believe its their 2003 model, did alot of research on this set before i bought it.. Almost bought a 55" Samsung DLP for alot more, but the reviews on this set made me take the chance with this one since most owners claim this set is the best bang for your buck in HD quality.. Just like my Car hehe "2002 Trans Am"..


CRT based displays should do just as good on Component vs DVI. CRT's output is analog, if your feeding it DVI then that connection goes through a secondary digital to analog conversion.


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## HDJunky (Sep 14, 2005)

WoW fast reply jason do you live on this forum or what?? lol... I am at work for just a tad bit longer than i plan on going home and playing around with my box and setup, going throw my monster components back on and play with settings and post results..


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

HDJunky said:


> WoW fast reply jason do you live on this forum or what??


:lol: Yes


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

I watch all my SD over my DVI on my Sony Grand Wega II at 1080i. I am happy with the SD quality, it is adequete given I have a 60" TV. I know the compression was designed for smaller sets so I am not expecting miracles. Like I said, I personally would go with one setting and if not acceptable after a week start slowly tweaking things. Make sure you don't sharpening enhancements for the set turned on. 

When I first hooked up the my GWII I found the SD unacceptable with DVI and 1080i. I then went through some tweaking etc and get it acceptable. In my case I also added a power conditionair that seem to help. Also, what things in mild or standard. Vivad just is bad with HD contents really brings out the artifacts.


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