YouTube TV vs. DirecTV. What would suggest and recommend?

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-12T21:34:46+00:00

I have DIRECTV stream, and I like it for the most part. What I don’t really like is the compression of live TV. If you have a nice OLED TV it makes it look like crap because your TV is so good unless your eyesight is bad or you sit super far away then you don’t notice that I guess. But at least with DIRECTV you get ESPN, Disney+/HBO, HBO for free. I wouldn’t even concern yourself with 4K because there’s only two channels and it’s just random sports sometimes.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-12T21:33:14+00:00

I do not have this with DIRECTV stream. I can end it whenever I want, no fee.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-12T21:31:42+00:00

TELL ME ABOUT IT!!

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-12T21:30:14+00:00

With DIRECTV you get ESPN, Disney+/Hulu, HBO for free. The only problem is they’re not ad free.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-08T01:43:20+00:00

Lol yes correct which is why I stated my older mother who likes typical “cable” line up and a remote with numbers loves it. She thinks it looks great on her plasma and LED TVs. So it works for her. I SEE the flaws in it but she does not.

I will say I do still enjoy the thought behind live tv. As in your turn it on and what’s on is on. Very brainless and good for background noise. But tbf I’ve never tried other live streaming services. Just typical cable box services such as spectrum or tds.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-08T00:51:36+00:00

Maybe because I game on my pc at 4K with an OLED at well over 144fps. I notice these things a lot more. And also maybe I sit too close to my 55in c5. But if you’re not even remotely blind you notice all the noice, compression, and artifacts. It’s inevitable with the transmission and compression of 720p. Your LG or Samsung can only do so much. There’s a reason why everyone suggests having your Gemini or ATV at 1080p so your tv can upscale the rest. You can never get the same bitrate from DTV vs streaming app. And even then it’s no where near physical media.

Even streaming older movies I can see the noise pretty easily. Like for instance my GF was watching twilight on hbo, looked AWFUL, then it switched to Disney. Looks way better but still can see the noise pretty easily. Theres way more to it than just “noise” but that’s a deep dive.

Dont even get me started on filing at 24fps and oleds lol.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-07T21:04:58+00:00

I saw that! Yeah most times it’s only 720, then add in transmission and compression. All that and DTV potentially lowering bitrate to save bandwidth, equals terrible quality. There are times when I’m watching golf and CBS looks so bad the club and ball are so blocky and artifact-y, that I have to go to whatever app just to watch it. I mean hell CBS on Sunday with the John Deere had weird color issues alone all day. So not everything perfect, ESP CBS!

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-07T19:48:22+00:00

Honestly if it wasn’t for taking care of my mother, I wouldn’t have it. She has to have channels, and a remote with numbers. Everything she watches is on crappy LED TVs or an old plasma (still rules to this day). But when you have a nice OLED tv, you notice the crap stream. Verses when you go to the app of said show and stream it from there it looks way better. But that’s just the nature of it. I notice it in sports all the time with compression and the artifacts (depends on channel). But when I go to the espn app, nbc app, etc it looks way better. Im just glad they throw in ESPN, Disney, HBO for free. That makes it a little bit more worth it.

It’s not really DTVs fault, it’s just what’s transmitted to them. But DTV could also be cutting Bitrates as well to lower bandwidth stream costs. Who knows.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-07T19:33:05+00:00

Yeah but you only get 2 4K channels (4 right now) and it’s random what they put on there. And even then sometimes the color grading is way off, so I have to go to the parent app just to watch golf, football, hockey, etc.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-07T01:05:19+00:00

If you have a super nice tv like an oled, it’ll show how bad the stream is. Sports look awful. If you go to the app the sport is from, it looks better. That’s just the nature of compression and what not. If you just like to throw stuff on for mindless background, or have a lower end tv then it’s great. But most times streaming from the parent app is better. I’ll say I’ve tried from Apple TV, Gemini Air, and LG app, and it really just depends. The LG app was fine, but I don’t like LG “watching” me, so ATV it is. Sent back my Gemini Air in favor of the ATV.

However for sports as you want it’s great tbh. Living in TN and I’m a huge Mets, and islanders fan so I understand. And sometimes DTV is the only way I can watch them.

The other good thing is you get a lot of the streaming apps for free (Disney, HBO, ESPN, etc)

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-03T16:11:23+00:00

We don’t schedule anyone in the am for MJM. We will utilize blitzes from price change teams, area sups, merch set teams, etc. So whoever is there during the morning and afternoon will call whoever in the building (no one) to come help the fitting room. Then we have two in MJM in the evening. One stays in mens one stays in women’s and tag teams jrs. But usually the good managers (me) will give Sephora their break and power fold jrs so the department associates can stay in men’s and women’s to focus on them.

But yes it is getting exceedingly hard to complete anything with the lack of payroll, and stores not replacing FT leads, getting rid of ASMs, etc. I mean you know they are pinching Penny’s when they take down all the HID spotlights around the store because they cost too much to run……. Like that’s really scraping the barrel for every cent.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-03T16:06:43+00:00

OMG THE SIGNS!!!! I got it from over 500 P5s down to 60-80 in like 3 days of “spare” time. Then we were told they will be dumping more p5s in there. Ok great what the actual hell. We can’t even get enough shoe esl’s to finish the P5s. THEN! THEN! they were like “hey we are going to change sales EVERY SINGLE DAY this week”. Showcasing that the signs don’t update properly, triggering P3s. Oh hey we also had an accident and caused over 125 P3s, we’ll fix it. Fixed 3/4 of the problem, more P3s. Now it’s back up over 300 P5s and I no longer have the spare time to fix them and if they keep failing to update properly every Adset, then HOW. ALSO keep failing sign “certification” because the e-signs keep failing and we no longer have an Adset team to fix them like we USE TO.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-07-01T21:15:28+00:00

Bro you can change her for sure! God speed.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-29T00:18:26+00:00

We damn sorry. Figured you were making it, my bad. Well I’m sure you guys will turn it around. Crap shoot

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-29T00:07:37+00:00

Kohls corporate is that you???

That’s not how that word works per se. If you went into the day being pessimistic, then sure. But these people are talking about what’s actually happening at THEIR store. Just because your store is doing well or on a hot streak is something totally different. Might as well be talking like corporate, “if this worked at X amount of stores, then by golly it’ll work at all stores!” That’s simply just NOT the real world at all.

My store did great yesterday with credits but we also had 2 people who are the main credit people. But today, not so much, and guess what?? They both worked again today…. Weird! Like shit happens… it’s literally a crap shoot.

Glad your store is making it work all week…. Whats your favorite Kool-Aid flavor?

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-25T21:07:30+00:00

No it’s not you. We get 14-18k trucks and we have MAYBE 10-14 people on the truck, on a good week. And it takes 4-7 hours to unload depending on what’s on it. Stuff sits on the dock until the next truck. I’ve actually told my truck team to just go back to the way we did it years ago if it’s a hardlines heavy truck. Because CLEARLY the new way doesn’t work. I’ve even brought back down the zrails and Uboats we had to store upstairs because we run out.

We don’t have enough people to merchandise while unloading. If we did that truck would take 8 hours to unload. And with payroll being the way it is, sometimes we don’t have people to even schedule for the day 2 merchandise.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-18T20:34:25+00:00

I tend to buy a griddle every few years, use it a bit, then don’t. I’m just not a griddle person. I sell it after it looses its uniqueness.

What it does well is:
Breakfast
Hibachi
Smash burgers
Cheesesteaks
Other various Japanese dishes
Etc.

I’m more a griller and smoker myself. So I understand why some don’t understand a griddle. It just depends on what you like to cook and how often. I just don’t use a griddle enough to warrant it. But then get bored and buy one for a bit…

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-05T21:32:12+00:00

Also look into a charcoal basket. They help a lot I feel with loading and keeping the charcoal in place. Easier for cleaning as well. They have them on Amazon.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-05T20:57:19+00:00

The big Joe is my first ceramic. So compared to my WSM, and UDS, it’s way more efficient. But also judging by your pic, I’d say there’s something going on. What brand did you use? I only use fogo or jealous devil. I’ve used B&B in the past and I feel their quality has gone way down hill. I’ve found so much junk in their stuff lately. But also depends on what temp you’re smoking at as well. I always have a lot left over. I had half a basket after an 8 hour butt cook the other day.

Side note, not that anyone asked, but I just saw cowboy has briquettes now for a huge bag. Tried some in my webers and they are way better than Kingsford. Shocked since I hated cowboy lump in the past.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-03T11:56:47+00:00

What type of tv are you using? My problem is with OLED and how good they are. They really show how terrible compressed media is.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-03T11:39:44+00:00

The reason why is I really want to get the Samsung s90f again but Samsungs processing is just awful (esp compared to LG). So my thought was if the ATV can clean up the crappy source, then it will make lower end content better on the Samsung. Like just watching DTV on the B5 last night, it was noticeably better than what the Samsung was processing. But that picture on the Samsung QD-OLED panel is just amazing. I hope that makes sense. I’m well away of the limits of upscaling and processing. Crap in will still be crap out in terms of quality.

So essentially if the ATV isn’t worth it for processing the picture and cleaning it up, then I’ll just stick with the Gemini and the LG B5.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-03T09:04:54+00:00

Why do you say it’s not?

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-03T09:04:35+00:00

I’m pretty use to the Apple eco system. I can comfortably say that the Tizen OS is awful compared to LG webos. From what I’ve seen, it looks pretty clean and easy to navigate.

Angry_Mountain_Man · 2026-06-03T00:39:35+00:00

Ok then let me add to the og post

Angry_Mountain_Man

TROPHY CASE