Picture Quality Not That Great

For the guide, do you have the all channels guide or do you have a custom guide? I,ask this because, if you are using a custom guide you may need to go and edit the guide so that all the channels you receive are enabled. Also, you may want to "hide the sd channels", and see if that makes a difference in how you view certain channels. I do know, that watching SD to HD is like night and day. I know, and many others feel the same way, that you can't beat Directv for quality. So, fiddle around your new HDTV and see if you may not have the best format enabled. I have a 50" Panny Plasma and people whom come over can't believe how beautiful my channels are. Try going to channel281, and see how that channel views.Since you just got Directv last night, some channels may not have been updated to show up in your guide. When you did your setup, it explained that it may need awhile for your complete guide to be updated.

What model Receiver do you have?  Look for the label on the rear panel or behind the front panel access card door. 

Hey - 

Thanks for the responses. I have the HDR22-100 it is a DirecTV HDDVR+ box. It is connected with a HDMI cable and the front panel says 1080i. 

Also, in terms of the guide, when i record one of those channels that doesn't show in the guide, it says may not record because the channel is not authorized. (I probably need to call DirecTV on that one)

Thanks!

I just switched from Time Warner Cable for the NFL Ticket also and I must say that TWC hd is a little better than Direct TV's. TWC's colors are more vibrant and the audio is better too. Direct Tv has better features like the Guide Setup, faster reply's from remote commands, web apps, and services, but TWC hd service is a tad better. Also I cant stretch non-hd broadcast on hd channels to fit the entire screen like on Time Warner Cable.

You see so many, switching from cable to the best around which is Directv. Cable can't even compare to full time digital Directv. Now as for stretching, the screen, I can do it on any channel, with my Panasonic HDTV. It just doesn't look that great when stretched. Just too bad you love Time Warner so much.

stretching a 4:3 picture to fill a 19x9 TV, makes the beautiful girls look like frogs....

You're welcome to post wherever you like of course, but you already posted all this info in your own thread and got considerable help.  As far as I can see, your post did not assist dylant, it was more of a "me too" which isn't of much help if the poster has a connection or configuration problem. 

dylant,

have you fine tuned your tv? as much as I didnt think it was necessary, I had a friend who works with our local home theater shop come out and tune my tv. he measured light and glare in the room and adjusted to optimal settings. The tv you have sounds nicer than mine and I'm sure has lots of settings. I have some custom settings saved but I also like using the picture modes called football, or golf. I have friends with cable and I feel that my picture and overall experience is better. As far as the guide trouble, you can open the little door where your access card goes and push the red button. This may force the box to require the guide data, if it doesn't give them a call.