# Couple questions before I take the plunge and order a 622...



## brianlin87 (Jan 10, 2006)

I've searched and read on this forum for about a month now -- and I've seen so many issues regarding the ViP622 receiver it actually makes me nervous enough not to order it. 

I know it's the only HD receiver that also has DVR, but is it true that all Southern California residents have these lip sync issues, crashing problems, HDMI issues, pixelataion, etc etc??? 

My main question is, if you had your choice to do it again, would you still buy the ViP622? or would you have settled for the 211/811? Any help is appreciated. 

TIA, 

Brian


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## DAG (Feb 7, 2006)

brianlin87 said:


> I've searched and read on this forum for about a month now -- and I've seen so many issues regarding the ViP622 receiver it actually makes me nervous enough not to order it.
> 
> I know it's the only HD receiver that also has DVR, but is it true that all Southern California residents have these lip sync issues, crashing problems, HDMI issues, pixelataion, etc etc???
> 
> ...


In spite of the audio/lip synch issues, the combination of the DVR and HiDef is very nice. I'd do it again. But I still expect a fix soon!


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## bluescat (Apr 28, 2006)

I'm not in California, but regarding the receiver and it's performance here south of Houston.....I love it! I had an 811 with the HD package and went to 622. I didn't buy, but leased. I would possibly change that part if I did it over again, as it appeared the priced dropped immediately after I ordered the upgrade. But other than that. I'm happy.


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## Ken Green (Oct 6, 2005)

I first got a 211, then a 622, and now have my second 622. The issues with the 622 are minimal. Especially in comparison to earlier receivers like the 921. I recently turned in a 811, I had for 2 years. FWIW, the 811 was not exactly a "walk-in-the-park," and a non-DVR receiver, at that.


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## Cold Irons (Dec 7, 2005)

Have a 501, 721. Had a 942, now replaced with a 622. I would NEVER (NEVER, NEVER,....) trade my DVRs for a 211/811/non-DVR solution. My 622 issues have been minimal - tho a little frustrating.

You can expect some lip sync issues occasionally. I find that HDMI has audio drop-outs, but not Component (in my case, the HDTV takes both, so is easy to switch between). I've have the OTA timer for "24" disappear - but otherwise, the timers all have worked for me & the DVR playback is AOK.


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## brianlin87 (Jan 10, 2006)

I have an 811 downstairs and that thing craps out every once in a while and just has to be reset. I think it may be due to the fact the installer put my satellite in a pretty bad location. 

RE: the 622 - 
HDMI having audio drop outs shouldn't be too much of a problem, I will probably end up going with components until this issue is resolved. I will end up buying the receiver rather than leasing it as well. 

Any other advice?? any southern california ppl with experience with the 611??


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

I work in Irvine.  Live in North Orange County. I have two 622s. I was one that got a bad unit where a swap out has drasticallly increased reliablity. I do get the jitter on the audio and at times see the Jerky video and have seen some lip sync issues.

Having said that. I am very pleased with my 622. Is it perfect. Nope. But I do believe overtime these issues will be resolved. I also have the HDMI issue on my Bedroom set and it will be interesting to see if the next maintenance software update fixes this issues. 

I have a Dish 1000 OTA and a DPP44. As others have expressed, the signal strength on 129 is not all that great and my hope that E* will rectify this situation because I don't want to go to a three dish solution. Overall I am not having issues with 129, but once in a while I do lose signal on that dish. 

If you have any specific questions brian.. just ask since I am in your neck of the woods.


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## jamullian (May 7, 2004)

About as far south in CA as you can get ... I'm very happy with my 622. Especially after the 921.

It's only spontaneously rebooted once in 6 weeks, I had the video jitters once and the very occasional audio dropout.

Overall it feels just fine - as much as any piece of electronics ever is.


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## normang (Nov 14, 2002)

How do these audio and video issues manifest themselves? Just watching a show and it hiccups, could be a reception issue at that moment? 

Under what circumstances does the lip-sync show up? A couple minutes, seconds, whole show? Is it while watching live or a recording? If only during a recording, is it never heard while watching live.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

I just saw a post on Satellite Guys where someone was watching OTA on his HDTV with the builtin tuner and has lip sync problems - it is more of a source problem than a receiver problem.

I have personally seen it on my 301 Dish receiver on a SD channel - also a source problem.

This is a technical issue with engineers learning to synchronise two seperate digital streams into a single digital signal. It is an art not a science everybody is learning how to make it work. Analog TV took 30 years to "perfect" we expect digital to be perfect out of the box.


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## Steve H (May 15, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> I have a Dish 1000 OTA and a DPP44. As others have expressed, the signal strength on 129 is not all that great and my hope that E* will rectify this situation because I don't want to go to a three dish solution. Overall I am not having issues with 129, but once in a while I do lose signal on that dish.


I went to the 3 dish setup thingking that it would help with 129....it didn't. What did help is when they moved my HD locals from transponder 24 to 26 .


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## Rick_R (Sep 1, 2004)

I live in Southern California and I have had a 622 for over a month. I have had almost zero problems however I do not use HDMI or PIP which have had reported problems. The 129 satellite is 58-66% which is fine unless the weather gets really bad.

Several years ago I had a dish 500 that got 50% on its worst transponder. Those channels would go out every time we got a significnat rainstorm. I reaimed the dish so that same transponder got a 85%. After that those channels have gone out for only 20 minutes in the last two years (inspite if the second worst rainfall season in 150 years).

I love my 622.

Rick R


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## mick70 (Jan 26, 2005)

I am also a 921 owner and thinking of making the switch, but ....
I do not sub to locals but get the digital guide (I have a ota ant.)
And am having a hard time hashing through all of the 129 problems, does it effect me or not I live 70 miles north of Seattle and have crear site line to the south.

Thanks


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## brianlin87 (Jan 10, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> I work in Irvine.  Live in North Orange County. I have two 622s. I was one that got a bad unit where a swap out has drasticallly increased reliablity. I do get the jitter on the audio and at times see the Jerky video and have seen some lip sync issues.
> 
> Having said that. I am very pleased with my 622. Is it perfect. Nope. But I do believe overtime these issues will be resolved. I also have the HDMI issue on my Bedroom set and it will be interesting to see if the next maintenance software update fixes this issues.


Hey Ron -

I live in Irvine, but work in San Juan Capistrano. Could you please elaborate when you say you have the "HDMI" issues on your bedroom 622 and how a maintenance software update will fix this issue? Does that mean the issue will fix itself - or will a technician from Dish Network have to come to your house to fix it.



Ron Barry said:


> I have a Dish 1000 OTA and a DPP44.


I'm sorry, I'm so new to this - and with your statement I have a few questions: *(I've done a search, I'm just looking for further confirmation)*

1. What exactly is Dish 1000 OTA?
_From doing a search, it seems as if Dish 1000 is the physical Satellite that one has to request when installing a new box into a house? _
- I am a new homeowner in Irvine, and when I called to install cable boxes to each room (for my roommates) they never asked me what model satellite I wanted or anything else. :shrug:

2. What exactly is DPP 44? 
_From what I've read it's a switch/power supply attached on the "back" of the TV? What does it exactly do and would I need it? 
- Again, the installer that came to my house mentioned nothing about it. :shrug:



Ron Barry said:



As others have expressed, the signal strength on 129 is not all that great and my hope that E* will rectify this situation because I don't want to go to a three dish solution. Overall I am not having issues with 129, but once in a while I do lose signal on that dish.

Click to expand...

3. Signal strength on 129.
 What exactly does that mean, and how would one go about checking this 'signal strength'? Who is E*? :shrug: 
___________________________________

I'm so very lost Ron. I'm sorry for the bombardment of questions, I'd just like some further clarification because I need to ask Dish to have a 622 installed into my bedroom sometime in the next month, but I also want to also take out the 811 and replace it with a 211. I also want to see if I have the best connection(s) with the Dish 1000/DPP 44 installed at my house as well because it seems as if the 811 is constantly crashing and having to be reset.

Any others that can chime in and help a newbie like me out?

Thanks in advance to you all,

:allthumbs_


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

mick70 said:


> I am also a 921 owner and thinking of making the switch, but ....
> I do not sub to locals but get the digital guide (I have a ota ant.)
> And am having a hard time hashing through all of the 129 problems, does it effect me or not I live 70 miles north of Seattle and have crear site line to the south.
> 
> Thanks


Right now, if you go with a Dish1000 for 129, you will probably see dropouts. If you go with a seperate Dish500 for 129 it will reduce and possible get rid of the dropouts. It's really borderline. If you go out and buy a larger standalone dish and modify it to hold a DISH Network LNB you could definetly get a solid signal, others on here have done that. If you search through the threads you should be able to find that info.

Another option is to point to 61.5 instead, if you can pick it up. Hard to do up here in the Northwest, but if you have a good clear sightline to it you may be able to get it.

As far as the dropouts on 129, it tends to vary transponder to transponder. To the point where I rarely see it on some stations and yet on others it will drop multiple times an hour. The good news is all the HD locals for Seattle are on Echostar 10 at 110 degrees so you don't have to rely on 129 for that. To be honest with you I don't see the dropouts all that much these days because I don't tend to watch the stations with issues anyways. The biggest exception being RAVE when a good concert comes on.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Here are you answers. Sorry.. might have confused you.



brianlin87 said:


> Hey Ron -
> 1. What exactly is Dish 1000 OTA?


Should have been Dish 100, OTA. OTA is over the air as in Over the air antenna. It is one way to get HD content into a 622. Dish 1000 is a Dish Sat Dish that can pick up 119, 110, and 129 satellites.



brianlin87 said:


> 2. What exactly is DPP 44?


I sometimes munge the numbers DPP44 is a Sat Switch that allows one to connect 4 satellites to 4 receivers (it is more complex than that and there are some caviets but that is the basics) . I have 148, 110, 119, and 129.



brianlin87 said:


> 3. Signal strength on 129.
> _ What exactly does that mean, and how would one go about checking this 'signal strength'? Who is E*? :shrug:
> _


_
E* = Echostar as in Dish. D* is DirecTV. Code words used on Sat forums.

You can check signal strength going menu-6-1-1 I believe. You should see a signal indicator that allows you to see strength of each satellite and each transponder.

Your 811 is constantly crashing? Do you have OTA? By constantly what do you mean? What type of frequency are you seeing it crash. If it is crashing more than once a week I would be concerned. Might be externally related, could be a bad box, or possible you might have some power issues. 811 overall is a pretty stable box from my experience unless things have taken a big turn to the bad side over the last couple of months.

If you have any more questions.. feel free to keep firing._


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## brianlin87 (Jan 10, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> Should have been Dish 100, OTA. OTA is over the air as in Over the air antenna. It is one way to get HD content into a 622. Dish 1000 is a Dish Sat Dish that can pick up 119, 110, and 129 satellites.


So if I understand you correctly - there are multiple ways to obtain HD content into a receiver (622 specifically). Did you have to specify with Dish Network that you wanted Dish 100 OTA rather than Dish 1000 via satellite?



Ron Barry said:


> I sometimes munge the numbers DPP44 is a Sat Switch that allows one to connect 4 satellites to 4 receivers (it is more complex than that and there are some caviets but that is the basics) . I have 148, 110, 119, and 129.


I'm a bit confused now - and I'm certain this question is probably some reader will roll his eyes at, but your previous post noted that you have Dish 100 OTA....so my question is : Why is it that you need a "dish satellite switch" then if you have OTA?

Same thing as above - Is there a insignia/marking of some sort to distinguish what physical satellite switch one owns? When you say you have 148, 110, 119, and 129 - does that mean each receiver in your house is linked up to a different satellite?

If so, are there pros/cons to a set-up like yours?



Ron Barry said:


> Your 811 is constantly crashing? Do you have OTA? By constantly what do you mean? What type of frequency are you seeing it crash. If it is crashing more than once a week I would be concerned. Might be externally related, could be a bad box, or possible you might have some power issues. 811 overall is a pretty stable box from my experience unless things have taken a big turn to the bad side over the last couple of months.


1. I don't know if I have OTA or not. How would one go about finding this information out? 
2. Constantly was a bit of a hyperbole. It crashed about 4 times in the last 6 months. (Is that constant?) It's a bit of a nuisance because 2 of the 4 times it crashed was during Laker playoff games.

____________________________________________________________

My physical satellite dish is installed next to our trash cans/recycle bins. I wish the installer had located it elsewhere, but he kept insisting that this was the best spot for it, at least for my house. I know the trash cans are constantly being taken out and put back, and for that reason, my concern is that it the receiver inconsistency might be correlated to someone 'accidentally' hitting the post the satellite is attached to a bit. Is that a possibility?

How many physical satellite dishes do you have at your home? 2? I assume more than 1 because you stated in your initial post you wanted to avoid a 3 dish solution. What is the reasoning for having more than one satellite? Was it very necessary?

Also, RE: cable issues with the 622. What cables are you using to connect your receiver to your TV? Component? HDMI? I hear HDMI cables have some sort of a software malfunction, are you running all component cables now?

Thanks again Ron!!! :bowdown:


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

OTA is not from Dish network. OTA is over the air antenna. Free HD if you have an antenna and can get the signal. I forgot the "," between Dish 1000 and OTA on my previous post. 

Each of my receivers in my house receiver channels from all 4 satellites. the DPP44 is what allows this to happen. Only reason I get 148 is for JapanTV. I have two dishes. A Dish 1000 that gets 110, 119, and 129. I have a dish 500 that gets 148. 

Constently being 4 times in 6 months I would not consider constently. I had a bad box that was doing it 4 to 6 times a day.  

As for cables. My downstairs 622 has HDMI to DVI and component. Both are working fine. My upstairs one has component and HDMI to HDMI. My HDMI to HDMI stopped working recently like others. As to this being a software issue or hardware, I am not sure. Gut tells me it is hardware related, but there are also people that feel it is software. I figured since I have component I will wait until the update before asking for a box swap. 

Hope this helps.. if I missed anything.. fire away.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Ron-
On your downstairs unit you are using an adapter cable to go from HDMI to DVI? Then I assume you also use the FO for audio and this still has not had the HDMI failure, right? 
By contrast your upstairs unit has pure HDMI to HDMI and uses the HDMI for audio, right? This failed. Please clarify the audio connect on this.

Experiment- Have you thought about swapping the failed unit upstairs to downstairs where you would connect to the DVI adapter and FO for audio to see if the HDMI failed output is revived? The thought here is that HDMI pure may have an issue when it is connected with audio as well and when used with video only(to DVI via adapter) may still work. 

Since I will be using a Dwin TV3e, I would be connecting up like your downstairs system with HDMI to DVI adapter and your no failure with this has me encouraged. If you did the swap as suggested you may pin down the problem to hardware if the HDMI loss recovers when not using pure HDMI to HDMI. 

Your thoughts?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Downstairs is HDMI-DVI with Optical for audio. I am also using the RCA jacks and both work fine. I have not heard of anyone loosing HDMI in this configuration. 

I have thought about swaping the units, but I already did it once and I really don't want to do it again. In my case it can be a rather big pain.  Swap might point to a hardware issue of HDMI was brought to life. But most people have indicated as myself that HDMI failed after a while. 

One other possibility that came out as I was talking to Jon about it was that this issue could have been triggered with something in the stream. This has happend before (Most recently the OTA HD Priority mapping bug), but I would not have a clue what in the stream could trigger it. I just keep that point open. Another reason I am reluctent to swap is if it is a hardware issue or something having to do with HDMI to HDMI I could kill the HDMI on my other box. Something I would rather not do at this point.  At this point, I figured on waiting for the update and in the mean time use component. No biggie for me. 

Oh.. yeah.. one last thing. bedroom as both HDMI audio and RCA audio connected for Component.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Ron- I understand your reluctance to swap the boxes to run the test. I'd probably be the same way here.  If you have something that works OK for now don't mess with it. However, everything you reported in your setups is quite encouraging, pointing the finger at HDMI to HDMI setup. IMO, this would indicate a hardware only issue.
Something in the stream? My only guess would be HDCP issues. Component still works because it is downresed to SD DVD quality and most people can't see the difference on their monitors. 

With HDMI to HDMI I'd be looking at a common or ground that may be affecting the signal interconnect, just not sure how. I need to look at the wiring of these adapters to see what is not connected. I would like to know how many people who use your adapter configuration are suffering the loss issue. 

Anyway, I am not happy this defect is still bothering people and could be an issue for me but with the data from the poll and the fact that I have 4 HDTV devices with only two DVI inputs, I will probably connect them as follows until this 622 HDMI issue is defined and /or resolved. 
1. HDMI DVD(HDTV upconvert) player- adapter to DVI #1
2. HDMI HR10-250 - adapter DVI #2
3. 921 DVI-A adapter to RGBHV
4. 622 component to component OR swap with the HR10-250 and test your config. with HDMI to DVI adapter.

Note that initially the 921 using the RGBHV is how I have it now and the PQ looks great. I believe (opinion) that visually, DishNetwork is once again delivering superior PQ to DirecTV on HD channels, all of them. In that case using digital interconnect on a DirecTV receiver may be a waste of resources. I will be testing both ways but I recognize that both E* and D* often adjust their PQ on HDTV that changes the quality contest often. Also note- the SD channels seem to have higher PQ on D* than E*. IMHO, there is no one perfect provider.

I may get started with the rewiring of my equipment cabinet today in preparation. Need to get some work done first, however. Later, I may call Dish to schedule the 622 for later in June.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

DonLandis said:


> ... However, everything you reported in your setups is quite encouraging, pointing the finger at HDMI to HDMI setup. IMO, this would indicate a hardware only issue. ...


We used the Dish provided cables with our 942 into our HDTV - the HDMI to DVI cable and the DVI to HDMI adapter cable. It worked flawlessly providing both picture and 2 CH audio to the TV. On May 1st we replaced the 942 in that location with a 622 using the same HDMI-DVI-HDMI and it continued to work .... until May 9th. At that time the picture and sound output via the digital cable died. No reboots, profanity, calls to Dish solved the problem. Installed Component cable.

On May 19th I replaced the 622 with another 622 due to a myriad of problems. The HDMI-DVI-HDMI hookup has worked fine - so far.

It is not obvious to me that it is hardware. Come to think of it, it's not obvious to me it is software. :lol:


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Saltidawg-

I am thinking it may (if hardware) have something to do with the audio common in the HDMI link. If you don't pull your audio from the HDMI and just use it for video that may be what works. Not sure if this is what you were saying but your "It worked flawlessly providing both picture and 2 CH audio to the TV." leads me to think you did pull your audio from the HDMI.

I have just completed a half day's spring cleaning of the HT equipment cabinet and have the shelf ready for a 622. I decided based on all reports to have it installed with component. (My game plan is to be as trouble free as I can) then if all goes well I plan to reduce or kill my D* subscription and lower costs to just E* with the 921 and the 622. Before deadline I will probably unload the 921 for the $200 credit but that really depends on the reliability of the 622 by mid July. So far it appears that the 622 is almost as flakey as the 921 at about the same age. In addition, the MP4 PQ has me concerned as well. I'm suire they are still feeling their way with the new compression and that may take a year or so to get to know it. 
The only really good thing is Dish is making lots of HD available and we all have lots of options budget depending. Most likely, I'll keep my TIVO operational until DirecTV wants it in swap for their new version for MP4.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

DonLandis said:


> Saltidawg-
> 
> I am thinking it may (if hardware) have something to do with the audio common in the HDMI link. If you don't pull your audio from the HDMI and just use it for video that may be what works. Not sure if this is what you were saying but your "It worked flawlessly providing both picture and 2 CH audio to the TV." leads me to think you did pull your audio from the HDMI....


Yup. Only connection to my TV is HDMI - audio coming from TV's two spekers via HDMI. When I lost HDMI I meant to say I lost both audio and video.

I just posted to http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=56797 because an hour ago I started to get heavy pixilation on *only* my Sat provided HD locals. This happened on two occasions on my first 622. I sort of doubt that is a (re)tramsmission problem because it is severe enough and lasts like a day or more that if it was widespread Dish would be buried in 622 phone call complaints - the picture can be virtually unwatchable.

Being an ex Navy Electronics Tech ifrom the days of Vacumn Tubes, I tend to want to blame heat for most problems. :grin: I just ran down to my junk drawer and pulled out a 40-year-old Boxer Fan and put it sucking air out of left-rear vent on the 622. I got the HDD Low Temp down to 77 degrees F. - ambient in the room in which is located.

I don't think it's heat related.:lol:


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## rbyers (Jan 15, 2004)

Don Landis

You stated that "Component still works because it is downresed to SD DVD quality and most people can't see the difference on their monitors"

AFAIK the 622 delivers HD through the component connections. Looks good on my set, which is good quality but has only component inputs. Well, it does have composite and S-Video, but those don't count. Do you know something that I don't.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Component is the same resolution as HDMI, it is just analog whereas HDMI is digital.

My component inputs on my Sony D50 do excellent 720p and good 1080i using HDNET test pattern. I can easily see the 700 vertical lines on 720p test and the 900 vertical lines on 1080i test. Pretty good for an old projector I set up myself.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

rbyers said:


> Don Landis
> 
> You stated that "Component still works because it is downresed to SD DVD quality and most people can't see the difference on their monitors"
> 
> AFAIK the 622 delivers HD through the component connections. Looks good on my set, which is good quality but has only component inputs. Well, it does have composite and S-Video, but those don't count. Do you know something that I don't.


Keep in mind that quote was a speculation, not a statement of fact. You have to understand the context of my post. I have no privledged information Dish is using HDCP or downresing on any channel. I also know that compression can also degrade the image especially in high action video. 
I do know for a fact that not all monitors are capable of resolving the full hidef spec resolution that they are capable of scanning. Very few can. That is just a fact of physics. eg. a 1080i x 1920 monitor should be capable of resolving 1080 horizontal (stacked vertical) pixels (lines in a visual chart res. test) and 1920 vertical lines across the horizontal. Few monitors are capable of this today. Most digital monitors such as DLP are rated by pixels at 720 x 1280. If your screen size is large enough and you have perfect vision to focus you should be able to see this on a good digital using DVI or HDMI but with component, there are enough artifacts of the components of the video to degrade this optimum quality of the HiDef format.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Jim5506 said:


> Component is the same resolution as HDMI, it is just analog whereas HDMI is digital.
> 
> My component inputs on my Sony D50 do excellent 720p and good 1080i using HDNET test pattern. I can easily see the 700 vertical lines on 720p test and the 900 vertical lines on 1080i test. Pretty good for an old projector I set up myself.


Jim- That is about as good as it will get with your CRT. You have done an excellent job of setup! My old Electrohome CRT could do the same in it's hayday but I had to make adjustments every day to achieve that. It would never do same res in all areas of the screen either. Finally, I just got tired of it and moved on to DLP. Then I discovered the world of difference in the DLP's, while nearly all would resolve very high and sharp resolution, the issue with DLP was the color purity and blend. All CRT's use similar phosphors to achieve an excellent color pallette but they all do not resolve lines the same and they drift requiring tweaking, some more than others. They are also low light output for highest resolution, high light output for low resolution, You have to find a happy balance. With DLP, I found that money talks. The more expensive the processor, the better the color purity. I have two DLP's, one sells for $2K and the other for $13K. There is a world of difference between the two in color accuracy. Bottom line, in home theater, there is a lot more to it than just resolution. The best image is a happy balance among many factors which probably includes cost.


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## brianlin87 (Jan 10, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> OTA is not from Dish network. OTA is over the air antenna. Free HD if you have an antenna and can get the signal. I forgot the "," between Dish 1000 and OTA on my previous post.


Could you point me in the right direction as to how to receive OTA Free HD as well? Do I need to buy a specific part? What would I need to install it? How hard it is to install? Did you do it yourself?



Ron Barry said:


> As for cables. My downstairs 622 has HDMI to DVI and component. Both are working fine. My upstairs one has component and HDMI to HDMI. My HDMI to HDMI stopped working recently like others. As to this being a software issue or hardware, I am not sure. Gut tells me it is hardware related, but there are also people that feel it is software. I figured since I have component I will wait until the update before asking for a box swap.


Is the update automatically implemented into the receiver, or does one have to call-in and request the upgrade?


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## dave1234 (Oct 9, 2005)

brianlin87 said:


> Could you point me in the right direction as to how to receive OTA Free HD as well? Do I need to buy a specific part? What would I need to install it? How hard it is to install? Did you do it yourself?
> 
> Is the update automatically implemented into the receiver, or does one have to call-in and request the upgrade?


To receive HD you do literally need to be pointed in the right direction.  First you'll need an outdoor antenna. This hooks to a connection on the back of the 622.
You'll then need to point the antenna in the proper direction to receive your local digital channels. See www.antennaweb.org for antenna suggestions.

Updates for receivers are normally automatic. There is a feature in the menu that allows this to be turned off. Default behavior is to receive updates automatically.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

To expand on dave's comments. Getting OTA can be somewhat an art and a lot of it depends on your location. In my case, I had someone come out and install an OTA antenna outdoors. Here was my process.

1) Went to www.antennaweb.org to see what channels I could expect and recommendations for my area. 
2) Went to avsforum.com and looked into the HDTV locals area to see what experience people are having in my area (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=45)
3) Went outside walked around and found a neighbor that had an antenna, talked to him and eventually went with what he got. Actually what he had was what I planned on getting. I have a channel master 4228 I believe.

As for updates. Dave is correct though I believe the 622 currently does not provide a way to say no for updates. You should automatically get them.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

DonLandis said:


> Something in the stream? My only guess would be HDCP issues. Component still works because it is downresed to SD DVD quality and most people can't see the difference on their monitors.


I have seen stream changes effect receivers before. Not saying this is the case, but then again I have read stranger things so I am not willing to rule it out. Basically, I personally want to know if the next software updates brings my HDMI back to life so I am keeping the current configuration. Time will tell.

As to being an HDCP issue, that is in the realms of possibilities also. I don't believe component is downresed. Doing an A/B on my downstairs TV with DVI and Component I would say both look similar and excellent. I have a Sony 60" Grand Wega II.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

_"...with DVI and Component I would say both look similar and excellent. I have a Sony 60" Grand Wega II."_

Ron- To detect differences between Component analog and DVI, look closely at the edge of images where you have color against color such as reds against yellow and then look for a mix or blend / bleed of the color at the division. In the DVI the division should be sharp while the component may have a bleed or mix of the two. I find that test patterns making this evaluation is pretty easy but where it also shows up in programming would be cartoons like on the VOOM channels/programming called "Flat World" Switching between component and DVI/HDMI should demonstrate an obvious improvement, like wearing corrective glasses when your vision has only slight need for correction. The reason for this has to do with how resolution is measured for graphics in video which is rise time in microseconds as opposed to how resolution is measured for detail which is pixels for digital and visual lines for analog. Most people don't have a good understanding of the technical aspects of the artifacts generated with various forms of component, i.e. how embeeded sync affects the chroma of the video component and how circuit response time affects a digital picture definition when the digital signal is reduced to analog circuit design. Somewhat like the difference between a squarewaveform and a sinewaveform. I've heard too many people speak of pixels and lines when talking about the subtle differences between component and DVI/HDMI. Technically, there should be no difference between them for image detail as in pixel count but there will with pixel to adjacent pixel edge sharpness. However in the real world the detail res may be less due to low rise time artifacting.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> To expand on dave's comments. Getting OTA can be somewhat an art and a lot of it depends on your location. In my case, I had someone come out and install an OTA antenna outdoors. Here was my process.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...





dave1234 said:


> To receive HD you do literally need to be pointed in the right direction.  First you'll need an outdoor antenna. This hooks to a connection on the back of the 622.
> You'll then need to point the antenna in the proper direction to receive your local digital channels. See www.antennaweb.org for antenna suggestions.
> 
> Updates for receivers are normally automatic. There is a feature in the menu that allows this to be turned off. Default behavior is to receive updates automatically.


I think both of you are forgetting something very important. You would also need an HD TV with a built-in digital tuner. If you're talking about getting free HD programming, you can't forget that. Yes, a lot of people would not know that unless you tell them.


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## dave1234 (Oct 9, 2005)

lujan said:


> I think both of you are forgetting something very important. You would also need an HD TV with a built-in digital tuner. If you're talking about getting free HD programming, you can't forget that. Yes, a lot of people would not know that unless you tell them.


Excellent point!! My assumption had been he already had a 622, but that may not have been the case.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Good point lujan. I was under the assumption he was plaining to get a 622, but good to cover the bases just incase he decided OTA only meets his needs.


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## dendavis (Sep 13, 2003)

brianlin87 said:


> I've searched and read on this forum for about a month now -- and I've seen so many issues regarding the ViP622 receiver it actually makes me nervous enough not to order it.
> 
> I know it's the only HD receiver that also has DVR, but is it true that all Southern California residents have these lip sync issues, crashing problems, HDMI issues, pixelataion, etc etc???
> 
> ...


I would have loved to have kept my 942, as I had none of the above-mentioned problems, but, with the coming change to MPEG-4, I decided to switch. As to DVR, I was a long time TiVo user, so I got spoiled with time shifting. So I highly endorse the DVR functions. I have some of the problems often cited my other 622 users, i.e. minor pixelation, lip sync, audio drop out, but no reboots. I have a HDMI-DVI cable on one of my 622's, no problems whatsoever. On my other, I am using a composite cable setup, get a beautiful picture. So, bottom line, having bought a second 622, there is your answer


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