poor HD picture

I have a Sharp Aquos LC42D62U television connected to a Dish HD reciever. I am not satisfied with the quality of the picture compared to my friends who get HD over cable. Also whenever I see my TV in a restaurant the picture looks 10 times better than mine. How do I know if I am getting the optimal picture from my provider? Is their anybody I could do to improve the quality?

How do you have the Dish box connected to your TV (composite, a yellow cable - s-video - component, three cables red, green, blue - HDMI)? Is your Dish box set to 16x9 and 1080i? All of those things will have a dramatic effect on your picture quality...

...Is their anybody I could do to improve the quality?

Welcome to the Forum...

First off, lets get the manditory smart-alek remark based on the quote above out of the way...

You could always try doing the CEO of SHARP! Maybe THAT would help!! :D

Okay... Now that I have THAT out of my system, I would suggest that you DO provide more details about your connections/settings, etc so that users can give you better suggestions~ :2cents

PS Sorry about the remark, but i couldn't resist! :o

If your TV is set up correctly for receiving an input of HDMI 1080i and 16 X 9. and your DISH receiver is set to output 1080i and 16 X 9, then if your DISH is alligned correctly, you will see pictures that will be stunning. If you are not, get a tech out. :)

typo, sorry "anything" I could do. All connections were made by the Dish Technician. I assumed he knew what he was doing.

16 x 9, i don't think so, 1080i, yes.

typo, sorry "anything" I could do. All connections were made by the Dish Technician. I assumed he knew what he was doing.

That is a VERY BAD assumption. Make sure that either component cables plus audio cables or a HDMI cable is connected from the Dish receiver to the TV. Then go to setup in the Dish receiver (menu,6,8) make sure its set to 1080i and 16x9. That should get you a much better picture, assuming you have a Dish HD receiver or DVR.

Let's go back to the beginning - which Dish Network receiver are you using - it must be an HD receiver?

Second, what type of connection is there between your receiver and the display? - in order to get HD it must be either component (RED/Green/Blue video plus some sort of audio connection) or HDMI.

Thirdly, assuming you have a Dish Network ViP series (211, 222, 411, 612, 622, 722 or 722k) receiver check the menu settings and make sure it is set to output either 720p or 1080i (Press MENU-6-8 on my 622; Menu - System Setup - HDTV Setup).

All three of these things must be correct for you to receive a BEAUTIFUL HD picture, that is when the station you are watching is broadcasting an HD program.

One note samba?