DirecTV whines over HD survey results, sues Comcast for false advertising

You're probably familiar with the old adage that getting sued just isn't satisfying enough until you take someone else to court over the exact thing that you're being accused of, but even if you're not, DirecTV's here to refresh your memory. The satellite TV provider has apparently scrunched up its nose at a recent promotional advertising campaign in which Comcast claims that two-thirds of satellite customers felt "Comcast delivered a better HD image" when compared to DirecTV and Dish Network alternatives. Not believing that we oh-so-capable humans might be able to actually perceive the difference when an HD feed is somewhat crippled, DirecTV decided that the results mustn't be correct, and suggested that the "survey upon which Comcast relies does not provide or sufficiently substantiate the propositions for which Comcast cites the survey," and concludes by boldly proclaiming that all of the claims "are literally false." Of course, Comcast is standing strong behind its results for the time being, and while either party could most certainly have a case against the other, why are we using cash for HD channel expansion to pay legal teams?

[Via TGDaily]

[Ismael @ May 19th 2007 3:26PM]

All i can say is LOL

[RandomThoughts @ May 19th 2007 3:34PM]

Whats good about this survey is if you work with the numbers, you can probably figure that Dish customers probably state that their HD quality is better than Direct TV's also.

[Revrant2394 @ May 19th 2007 9:52PM]

Keep your blog to yourself, and Dish Sucks, not because of their quality, or any other silly thing, but they, just like Comcast, jack up the prices annually, and that blows.

[Haxxor @ May 19th 2007 3:39PM]

I have Both (Don't ask). I personally like Comcast HD better.

[soundoftheground @ May 19th 2007 3:46PM]

OT, but what is the criteria for a post to be both here and engadgethd? i like following the posts and comments but am not all that thrilled at having to go back and forth to do it. just curious...

[RandomThoughts @ May 19th 2007 4:00PM]

Birdie, who cares? I think my comment has a lot more to do with this article than yours does.

[TR @ May 19th 2007 4:06PM]

As someone who watches his his-def TV mostly via bittorrent, which type of broadcasting is it that produces a picture that looks nice as long as it's not moving, but has a burst of blockyness every time there's a quick cut from one scene to another? Or is this happening at the production/encoding end (I know it's not my computer, since I've seen it on others', and on OTA ATSC as well)? I see this regularly on everything from Lost and Heroes to football (where it's really annoying). Do they think people are blind, or subscribe to some psychological theory that suggests that the visual system can't perceive the first few miliseconds after a scene change? Whatever it is, it's incredibly annoying to have these hd pictures that dissolve every few seconds into sub-hd mess, particularly right when the action is getting exciting.

[AndrewNeo @ May 20th 2007 3:24AM]

I get blocking sometimes watching live HD on OTA ATSC, but I don't get the best signal strength so I don't know if it's that or what.

[jbelkin @ May 19th 2007 4:07PM]

as someone who has both, it's clear that Direct picture quality is softer and colors aren't as bright and saturated. I heard that cable compresses most channels 6 to 1 and premium movie channels 3 to 1 but that Direct does 8 to 1 ...

[Mark @ May 19th 2007 4:19PM]

DirecTV treats their customers like crap. They're as bad as cell phone companies with their hidden fees, contracts, "customer service", and retention goons. Ever notice that if you want to ADD any service or programming at all you can just go to their website and click on a link, but if you want to REMOVE anything (or heaven forbid cancel the service altogether) you have to call, wade through stupid menus, wait on hold, get transfered and disconnected. When you finally get a human being you have to talk until you're blue in the face to get them to do what you want, persist when they claim that "the computer program that does that isn't working right now" (even though they just pulled your account up on the computer) then pray as you open your next bill that they got it right. It's disgusting how much they are willing to lie to, attempt to confuse, and downright cheat their customers. Every cable provider I've ever had has been much more honest and much easier to deal with.

[Framecrash @ May 19th 2007 4:23PM]

I recently got an HDTV and checked out the OTA HD broadcasts. Wow. My jaw dropped.

Not wanting to miss out on anything, I started up my DirectTV after a 2 year hiatus, to see what I've been missing (I didn't sign up for the HDTV package, but get ShowTime HD). DirectTV's HD channel looks OK, but still not as good as OTA.

I'm anticipating the launch of DirecTV's new HD birds. The new HD channels had better not be rolled into Yet Another Package, I'd be soooo gone.

[Dr Buzz0 @ May 19th 2007 4:38PM]

HDTV is all about picture quality and any appreciable bandwidth throttling or reduction in the quality is unacceptable to many HDTV watchers. DirecTV and Dish both are trying to squeeze as much HD as they can into their bandwidth and that is why it often looks like crap. Apparently they think people desperately want to see their local affiliate news in HD and live outside the OTA reception area.

I have Comcast and from what I have read and observed they do not in any way reduce the quality of the network HDTV feeds. The premium stuff (Discovery HD, InHD, HBO HD) would be more an issue of the quality which the network is being beamed to the head ends in than the cable company.

Much as I hate the customer service and other things of my cable company, I will readilly admit that they do a pretty good job of keeping the HD quality up to snuff. Satellite broadcasters are going for quantity over quality. If that's their dig, then fine. But don't claim that your picture looks as good when it doesn't!

[Robby @ May 19th 2007 4:46PM]

DirecTV 10 is slated to launch June 20th with programming becoming available this September.

I can't believe no one brought this up:
"DirecTV is defending a lawsuit that alleges DirecTV lowered HDTV picture resolution below that of the industry's accepted definition of HDTV. 1080i is generally understood to mean 1920 x 1080i, whereas DirecTV reduces these channels by one third, to 1280 x 1088i."

Seems to me that it's an issue with their MPEG2 to H.264 conversion or just the local affiliates screwing things up. Oh well, more HD programming (and in H.264) than Dish/Comcast coming this fall.

[rafa @ May 19th 2007 4:49PM]

Here in Miami, Comcast HD looks like shit; I had it, and I switched. Friends still have it and it just looks fuzzier. DirecTV HD has always looked better. OTA locals through DTV look the best.

[LukeA @ May 19th 2007 4:53PM]

Who cares if Comcast has a great picture when the content isn't worth watching? I mean replacing HDNet with bullriding?

Fuck you, Comcast.

[trainwrecka @ May 19th 2007 5:08PM]

wow - you are so mature. and just what is the name of your blog birdie?

[trainwrecka @ May 23rd 2007 10:18AM]

thanks for the reminder

http://twibe.com

[trainwrecka @ May 23rd 2007 11:30AM]

actually birdie i take that back. seriously though... what is the big deal with adding a blog link? i'm not trying to be smart here, i'm really asking. i've noticed multiple people get upset at blog linking and others defend it. i wish they just made your name a link like most blogs - this would prevent all this drama.

[trainwrecka @ May 23rd 2007 11:32AM]

actually birdie i take that back. seriously though... what is the big deal with adding a blog link? i'm not trying to be smart here, i'm really asking. i've noticed multiple people get upset at blog linking and others defend it. i wish they just made your name a link like most blogs - this would prevent all this drama.

[trainwrecka @ May 23rd 2007 11:34AM]

actually birdie i take that back. seriously though... what is the big deal with adding a blog link? i'm not trying to be smart here, i'm really asking. i've noticed multiple people get upset at blog linking and others defend it. i wish they just made your name a link like most blogs - this would prevent all this drama.

[BigTed @ May 19th 2007 5:26PM]

Does anyone here have Verizon FIOS? I'd like to know how the picture quality compares to DirecTV and cable.

[Loker @ May 20th 2007 7:03AM]

Well it will look better than satellite but should be identical to Comcast (Comcast does not compress so you get exactly what was broadcast...from my understanding neither does Verizon).

[Kevin @ May 19th 2007 5:52PM]

Less amazing that the apple news isn't it ? ;)



http://www.plan-cam.fr

[raw92378 @ May 19th 2007 6:42PM]

As a DirecTV suscriber, their HD service sucks and they need to own up to it. They have been promising more HD for over a year now with nothing...

[Loker @ May 20th 2007 7:05AM]

So when operating costs go up they are expected just to eat it? I think not...

[Revrant2394 @ May 21st 2007 11:22AM]

You'd do well to not include Comcast in that corporation-loving defense, friend, Comcast has profifts worthy of multiple gasps, Dish, no idea, but they're expected not to rape you of money when they don't need it, they could easily charge 40-50 dollars for just Internet service and make plenty - But no, instead, 70-80 in the end. I would be so bold as to predict Comcast, much like AT&T did so long ago, will crash once it's competitors cripple their overpriced grip.

[Russell @ May 19th 2007 11:45PM]

From what I've seen for HD

DishNet>Cable/Comcast/TW>DirecTV

So yeah, DTV is the worst sh*t a*s HD out there.

DishNet has MORE HD channels that look better, except I can't get PBS in HD compared to comcast. Also the VIP622 HD DVR is leaps and bounds above that horrid motorola box comcast uses.


Either way, HD DVD and BluRay are both significantly better even at 720p/1080i because of much higher bitrates and better quality compression. Check out Planet Earth on DISCHD then on HDDVD and you'll see what i mean, almost night and day difference especially in fast moving high detail scenes.

[randy @ May 20th 2007 1:59AM]

If BOTH of them would just stop compressing their HD signals all the hell, I might actually considering switching one day from my FREE crystal-clear, jaggy-free lossless terrestrial setup.

[Rick Lyon @ May 20th 2007 9:26AM]

They don't call satellite HD Lite for nothing.


http://www.invertedpixel.com

[Jake @ May 20th 2007 11:34AM]

I have DirecTV HD, and the picture quality is awful on some channels. It was so bad during the NCAA tournament that I switched to watching the OTA. I wrote DTV and told them I would cancel the service if the picture quality did not improve. Strongly contemplating buy the S3 TiVo and canceling DirecTV and just living w/ OTA stuff.

[Tardeaux @ May 20th 2007 1:33PM]

I recently switched from Comcast to Dish Network and can say I haven't looked back for even a second. The Dish Network HD channels are all crystal clear, the sound is great, and the HD-DVR hardware is generations ahead of Comcast's offering. Comcast's HD on the other hand irritated me from day one with blatantly obvious compression artifacts, weird video hiccups, and sluggish DVR performance - not to mention their incredibly weak HD lineup. Sadly making this jump caused Comcast to raise my monthly internet bill by $20 (DSL isn't an option, no landline - and Bellsouth/AT&T's service sucks anyway)

[Fred @ May 21st 2007 3:02PM]

DirecTV is that company that should be sued for its advertising. Their ads imply that they have so many more HD channels than cable. You have to listen closely to realize the channels are coming in the future... so why would I switch NOW if the channels aren't there yet???

[trainwrecka @ May 23rd 2007 11:39AM]

actually birdie i take that back. seriously though... what is the big deal with adding a blog link? i'm not trying to be smart here, i'm really asking. i've noticed multiple people get upset at blog linking and others defend it. i wish they just made your name a link like most blogs - this would prevent all this drama.

[trainwrecka @ May 23rd 2007 11:43AM]

sorry about the multiple posts... my computer just went crazy.

[darter9000 @ Jun 8th 2007 9:21PM]

I guess it's this result... and the other Comcast result that compared their 6Mb/s service to DSL's 3MB/s service... and won... surprise, surprise...