I have seen this at Costco it does look good on HD.
I assume you are using component for the DVD player.
What other connection options do you have with your DirectTV PVR? I have Dishnetwork and with the standard reciver S-video is as good as it gets.
One thing to keep in mind using a S-video connection is that this is NTSC analog format. In computer terms it is EGA, 320x240pixels.
You may want to consider upgrading your directTV to HD.
Experement with the setting on the Maxnet maybe one will look better.
Some people get a scanconveter to make the analog source look better. John