Does the compression used by the DBS systems really work?
Yes, but the resulting quality seems to be open to debate. There are occasional digital artifacts resulting from the heavy compression used on most of the services. There is a significant trade-off each service provider needs to make regarding quality versus the number of channels available on their systems. Many customers report that the video and audio quality are excellent and the systems work extremely well. Others report noticeable digital artifacts on at least some channels. The quality seems to vary significantly across channels in part due to variances in the source material. At times the video and audio quality on all of the services is stunning. Digital TV works.
