Anyone here have Direct TV ? I need help.

[codecougar]

I have Direct TV and today I upgraded to their HD dish and receiver. There are set up options for the format and one is to enable the "native format mode" and the other is to set it at a set format such as 1080i.

The installer who came set it and 1080i and disabled the native format option. This worked, and all the HD channels (and even non HD channels) say they are outputting in 1080i.

When I enabled the native display, some HD channels say 720P and some say 1080i. I am assuming that some HD programming is output in 720P (but I am not positive of this).

Anyway, whis is a better setting? Both look great, but with native format enabled there is a brief loss of picture when I switch between channels of different formats (1080i to 720P, etc). Also, why would my tv and receiver both say they are in 1080i when I am on a standard 480i non HD channel in this mode? Is the receiver upconverting the signal?

Thanks for any input.

[codecougar]

In case anyone was curious, I did find the answer searching through the Direct TV forums. Figured I would post it here for informational purposes:

It depends how you set the resolutions on your HR20. If you set the DVR to always output 1080i (i.e. upconvert the 480i and 720p signals in the HR20) you will see 1080i all the time. My HR20 is set that way. If you set your HR20 to send the TV the signal in the same resolution in which it was received, the resolution lights will change.
It's all a matter of personal preference, there is no "right" way to do this.
I would suggest the following:
Find out what is the native resolution of your TV. If it's a flat panel of some sort, it will be 720p, 1080i or 1080p. If it's a CRT TV, it's probably 1080i.

Go into the HR20 setup screens and switch native "off". Go into the resolutions setting screen and checkmark only the following:
for a TV native resolution of 720p, just check 720p
For TV native of 1080i, just check 1080i
For TV native of 1080p, just check 720p and 1080i.

The other most often used approach is to set native "on"; then check all the resolutions and let the TV sort it out. Warning: some TVs will not accept 480i over an HDMI connection so if yours is one of these and you are using HDMI (some Samsungs are the most often reported, but there are others) make sure 480i is not checked).

Which is best? Depends on your TV and other issues. Native "on" has the advantage that the stretch/zoom etc controls on your TV will still work with 480i signals. If you convert them to 1080i in your HR20, most TVs don't provide the stretch controls on HD signals. Native "on" is also better if your TVs conversion circuits are better than the ones in the HR20. With most TVS, you can't see the difference.
Native "off" gives slightly faster channel changing on the HR20 than native "on", (I use native "off".) and puts the conversions in the HR20.

[bobsticks]

720p might be better for sports...and that's a big "might". Some of that wil have to do with how the production crew is outputting the original signal, but I have seen several instances in which 720p was significantly less choppy on highspeed movements. Worth checking out anyway...

[codecougar]

720p might be better for sports...and that's a big "might". Some of that wil have to do with how the production crew is outputting the original signal, but I have seen several instances in which 720p was significantly less choppy on highspeed movements. Worth checking out anyway...

for now I am leaving the native format function enabled and watching 720p broadcasts in 720p, 1080i in 1080i, etc.

The only problem is that my tv loses the picture for a couple of secs when going from one format to another and I get the "searching for signal" message on the display. This is getting annoying so I may just go back to 1080i switched on at all times and native format off.

[topspeed]

How close are you sitting to your set? If you can see a difference between 720p and 1080i from more than 10', you have eagle eyes indeed!

I set my HD DVR to 720p simply because that is my set's native resolution. The loss of picture when switching resolutions would bug the hell out of me.

[codecougar]

How close are you sitting to your set? If you can see a difference between 720p and 1080i from more than 10', you have eagle eyes indeed!

I set my HD DVR to 720p simply because that is my set's native resolution. The loss of picture when switching resolutions would bug the hell out of me.

I am about 15' away from the screen. The difference between 720p and 1080i is like going from VHS to Blu-ray.

kidding I don't see any difference.

I went back to the 1080i setting because of the annoying picture loss when flipping channels.

[shokhead]

I am about 15' away from the screen. The difference between 720p and 1080i is like going from VHS to Blu-ray.

kidding I don't see any difference.

I went back to the 1080i setting because of the annoying picture loss when flipping channels.

[codecougar]

what?

[shokhead]

[QUOTE=codecougar]I am about 15' away from the screen. The difference between 720p and 1080i is like going from VHS to Blu-ray.

Something isnt right.

[codecougar]

[QUOTE=shokhead]

I am about 15' away from the screen. The difference between 720p and 1080i is like going from VHS to Blu-ray.

Something isnt right.

You didn't read the second line...

" kidding I don't see any difference."