decent amp to upscale sd dstv?

P

pboy

Expert Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
1,240
Reaction score
84
Ok so i live in a complex where he dstv signal is barely strong enough to give me normal dstv channels.. like i have to rescan every time i wanna watch top gear on bbc!!!

the body corporate says that even a hd pvr wont work coz the signal strength is so weak..they need to install boosters or some thing.. sigh..

so i'm stuck with having the only option: upscale sd dstv.

i've seen some entry level onkyo amps and yamaha's go for around 5k i think..
how do they do on the upscaling?
and the sony's?


for now it will be purely upscaling to hd.. atleast 720..
later on i will add better quality speakers etc.. but i cant see myself having a lounge bigger than 25sq metres so it need not be the powerful ones in the ranges!
any others?

thanks guys,
p.
 
You will honestly not gain much (if anything) with upscaling. If the body corporate cannot sort out the signal strength issue, they should allow you to put up your own dish. ... then rather spend your 5K (well a lot less actually) on a proper HD PVR installation. The HDMI output from the HD PVR is also a lot better than S-Video from the SD decoders.
 
I don't think you are wrong I think you are going about this the wrong way.

The first thing you need to do is boost the signal from your dish or have the alignment checked. What is your signal quality and strength like ? Check this on your main menu (I can't remember where right now). It might be worth getting some one in to check the alignment or boost your signal, im assuming that your complex uses a communal dish ? the BC should pay for this then.

Then once you have a 100% signal quality (strength does not matter if you have good signal) then look at upscaling. There is no use upscaling a poor signal.
 
Lay a formal complaint with the BC and ensure that they do something about it.
Unless there's a real reason for the weak signal, they should have no issues with ensuring that a proper decent signal is received in your home.
 
Surely if you have a dish, anywhere in SA you should be able to recieve a decent signal?

Why not align the thing yourself, I borrowed a small device that makes a massive noise as the signal gets better, ended up not using the thing at all.

Completly by fluke - bought the dish and attached it to my chimney and ran cable , looked at neighbours and aligned by eye (left the noisy device behind by mistake on my coach)
climbed back down ladder, plugged cable in and powered up the decoder to check and signal and strength both 100% :)
I dont know of anyone who has a 100% signal on both?

Lekker when a plan comes together.
 
shakes1 said:
Lay a formal complaint with the BC and ensure that they do something about it.
Unless there's a real reason for the weak signal, they should have no issues with ensuring that a proper decent signal is received in your home.
Click to expand...


DONE!!
just popped them an email.

when i got menu>1 it says
singal quality 100%
Signal Strenght 60%

or is it the other way around- hey i dont know for sure- will confirm!
 
TYR said:
You will honestly not gain much (if anything) with upscaling. If the body corporate cannot sort out the signal strength issue, they should allow you to put up your own dish. ... then rather spend your 5K (well a lot less actually) on a proper HD PVR installation. The HDMI output from the HD PVR is also a lot better than S-Video from the SD decoders.
Click to expand...

I agree. You will not benefit from upscaling a video cinch (RCA) video signal no matter weak or strong signal. unfortunately the dstv single view decoders don't have scart or S-VHS which would drastically improve your picture quality (depends of course on the type of tv as well).
 
wat about this chip thingie in the sony amp the bloke mentioned above:

The upscaling features are superior since it uses the Faroudja DCDi Cinema 1080p chipset for upscaling and optimizing the analog signals so they look great ...
hometheatergears.com/sony/sony-str-da5400es-review/
 
pboy said:
wat about this chip thingie in the sony amp the bloke mentioned above:

The upscaling features are superior since it uses the Faroudja DCDi Cinema 1080p chipset for upscaling and optimizing the analog signals so they look great ...
hometheatergears.com/sony/sony-str-da5400es-review/[/QUOT

A Faroudja scaler is a good upscaler indeed but the weakness lies in the poor output option of the dstv decoder. rca (the yellow plug) offers the worst possible video quality. So feeding even the best upscaler with the worst source of video signal is not a good option and I doubt you would even see a difference.

What will make a huge difference though if your body corporate can confirm that the HD PVR will not work in your complex you should try to find an old model DSTV dual view decoder. they have an RGB scart output which will deliver a much better picture (IF your tv has scart or s-vhs input)
Click to expand...
 
thanks man.

now this is going to turn into a dstv question.. maybe let me start another thread..
 
pboy said:
DONE!!
just popped them an email.

when i got menu>1 it says
singal quality 100%
Signal Strenght 60%

or is it the other way around- hey i dont know for sure- will confirm!
Click to expand...

I'm sure it must be the other way around, Mine is str 75 and quality 100% and I have perfect picture.
 
pboy said:
DONE!!
just popped them an email.

when i got menu>1 it says
singal quality 100%
Signal Strenght 60%

or is it the other way around- hey i dont know for sure- will confirm!
Click to expand...

Check the strength when tuned to 101, and again when tuned to a BBC channel
 
Can you receive some channels perfectly and others not? Could be the polarity then...
 
ok i'll check the channels and %strength and quality tonight chaps.
channels are in blocks, and yes if a certain block is effected by signal, then the entire block is gone!

will confirm and revert tonight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X