# Think again about this receiver.



## oldred (May 5, 2005)

I have had this 942 for a while. I run a mits hdtv on tv1 and mits sd 4.3 on tv2. I use HDMI on tv 1 and composite on tv2. The sd picture is so bad that I usually watch a different tv with a standard free dish reciever. I emailed Dishnetwork about my dissatisfaction. I did get a reply to call their 800 number. So if you are thinking of getting this reciever. Think LONG and hard. I don't understand how anyone could call this a quality piece of equipment


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## Woodo68 (Sep 18, 2005)

Who watches SD? Yeah I agree the SD picture quality sucks. I think I have read some threads regarding the subject. I got the box mainly to record over air HD and this it does a great job. The Dish HD content is great looking and other than the ocational lipsync problem I am real happy with Dish HD. Hopefully Dish will be adding some more HD content, Where is Cinimax HD??? 

Woodo


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## Mike Johnson (Jan 16, 2005)

This isn't an issue for the Support Forum.

Moving to Dish Network DVR forum......


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## navychop (Jul 13, 2005)

That's a mean avatar, Mike. Better do as he says- staff can be replaced!

Old* & Wood* - Consider that so many people are very happy with the 942. Perhaps you need to experiment with your setup or make other changes. If it was a poor product, it wouldn't have so many fans.


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## blabber (Jun 3, 2005)

navychop said:


> That's a mean avatar, Mike. Better do as he says- staff can be replaced!....


Heh, looks just like my cat, Sparky. :guck:


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## jrbdmb (Sep 5, 2002)

Woodo68 said:


> Who watches SD? Yeah I agree the SD picture quality sucks. Woodo


Considering that the majority of content (in general and with E*) is still in SD, I think that SD picture quality is important.


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## Alpaca Bill (Jun 17, 2005)

A lot of the SD pic quality comlaints are form people with large screen sets. Unfortunately Dish sees no need to improve the SD quality since in their opinion most of their customer base have sets that are 32" or smaller. I have a Mitsu DLP 60" and the SD looks grainy and pixelated but the same channel on our 32" Sony XBR looks good (NOT great). HD looks GREAT on both of these sets. Both sets have been professionally calibrated also so it is not a matter of tweaking anything. The truth of the matter is the SD signal has a set resolution and as you increase the screen size the pic quality decreases...fast! On our Runco projector and 108" screen the SD signal is terrible and I do not even tyr to watch SD channels on it but the HD channels look awesome at that size.


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## robert koerner (Aug 20, 2005)

Have you tried a 75 ohm cable with 100% shielding with Canare RCA connectors?

Bob


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## oldred (May 5, 2005)

I really don't mean to sound so negitive. The software changes to the 942 have inproved it functionality. Yes I am using it on large TV's. I ran composite to TV2 because I was so unhappy with the PQ of coax. As far as cables I was using the Dish installed coax. I went out and bought R Shack gold connectors and 100 ft of RG6 and made my own cables. one yellow,one red and one white. I thought this would improve the PQ


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## the_bear (Oct 18, 2004)

Dish is a public company with primary responsibility to shareholders. Most people will pay more for more channels, but will not pay more for better picture quality. I believe current Dish hardware is powerful enough to decode DVD quality SD video if Dish sent any video of that quality. From a business point of view, I am surprised Dish provides any channels with decent picture quality. I guess Dish sees these channels as an investment in the future.


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## navychop (Jul 13, 2005)

I'll pay more for better PQ- as I believe most with 61" HDTVs would. But my best PQ is free- OTA.


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## robert koerner (Aug 20, 2005)

Any way to run your home made video cable to your other TV?

I do not have a lot of experience with rg6 coax.

But, I believe coax with double shields will make the best video cable, especially for "longer" runs.

Not sure how much difference going from 75 ohm cable into normal RCA connectors, less than 50 ohms, will make. I think the video signal, composite, is somewhere around 9 Mhz. At 10 Mhz, one wave length is around 30 meters.
As a result cable runs of 100 feet shouldn't be a problem (due to signal loss in the cable). 

Gold looks pretty. Not sure, other than oxidizing less than other metals, if it helps at all. 

I looked into making my own component cables, but decided since the Canare connectors are crimp, rather than solder, to buy made cables from BlueJean Cable. Just short runs, 5 feet here.

Long shots would be your monitor directly into the AC outlet, or running it into a different AC outlet.

Bob


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## oldred (May 5, 2005)

I wish I could run component ...but my TV2 only has coax, composite and svideo. I have tried bluejeans cables I use them on my subs. They seem to be the best built cable I ever bought. I think I am going to do some changing around. I think I'll bring my free dish reciever back up from the basement...leave the composite from the 942 hooked up...run a coax to the tv in the basement from the 942 and use the 942 0nTV2 only when I want to watch something that I recorded.


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## underemployed (Oct 24, 2005)

I too have the 942 (along with a 50" Samsung DLP hdtv) but did not attempt to drive two TVs with it, as I did not want to compromise the PIP and two tuner DVR functionality.

Obviously PQ with SD will always be vastly inferior to HD no matter what the connection. It has also been my experience that a vast disparity in the quality of SD signals is evident with the 942, with some channels looking relatively decent, and others marginal. This mirrors my experience with using the same tv with an HD cable tv DVR (which actually had even worse SD PQ on some channels).

I have even adjusted my viewing habits to view as much HD content as possible...
PQ on HD is fantastic.

It's doubtful that I'll be fully satisfied until much more HD content is available consistently.

Suggest you try a separate receiver for your SD tv, which will also allow you to utilize the PIP function and uncompromised recording flexibility using both tuners simultaneously. I am using a DVR625 for my 32" Sony SD tv with good results, and also allows for svideo connectivity.


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