1080p Movies from Dish: Still Available? Where are they?

[Carl B]

So now, after 10 years with Dish and 6 years with Dish HD, I finally have a DVR (ViP722) to go with my 3 month old Sony KDL-52Z5100, 1080p, 240 Hz, LCD HDTV, and I'm looking for those 1080p movies from Dish that I used to read about in this forum. But, I can't find any evidence of them in my Dish EPG. I looked at the Dish Network site and they note that Dish has 1080p movies, but nothing further on how to access them.

So what's the story here? Does Dish still offer 1080p movies? If so, how do I find them and how do I access them?

BTW, I got a Dish VOD HD movie last night, but there wasn't any evidence that it or any of the other 3 available VOD HD movies were available as 1080p. Same for all of the HDPPVs.

Full disclosure, I was hoping to impress the wife with 1080p so I could sell her on the idea of letting me add a BD player to our entertainment system for Christmas.

 

[Supertv]

DISHONLINE

DISHONLINE there are some HD 1080p but you need to download the movies and you need to have internet on your dish

 

[lakebum431]

A couple points here. There is 1080p available. The current selection is "I love you Man" on channel 501. If it isn't available for you then make sure your receiver is in standby at night and let it download. As far as impressing your wife, Blu is still going to be better than what Dish offers, not much but better. You may not really see much difference from their normal VOD selections and their 1080p selections. I only notice a slight difference on my Pioneer Kuro 60" professionally calibrated plasma. One note about Sony and 1080p is that several Sony's have had issues with displaying dish's 1080p content as they have issues with 1080p/24 (not sure if your TV is one of these or not). Also the key (to me at least) is the new audio codecs that Blu offers. Much much better than DD 5.1.

 

[Carl B]

DISHONLINE there are some HD 1080p but you need to download the movies and you need to have internet on your dish

I really don't want to hook my ViP722 up to the internet. I already have my Sony on the internet and I'm catching grief about the Cat6 cable in the family room. Wireless is another investment and my router is 802g, so not particularly fast when it comes to ginormous downloads, so that's out.

Can't just get them though the satellite feed?

 

[lakebum431]

Yes you can get the channel 501 VOD events (which it looks like you saw last night) via satellite. The event i referenced above is the current 1080p selection.

Have you looked into Homeplug products to get internet to your receiver. The internet runs through your power lines from your current modem/router. Works great and just as fast as an ethernet wired connection.

 

[tigerfan33]

It may take a few more days to get it to your box. Check the next couple of mornings.

 

[Carl B]

A couple points here. There is 1080p available. The current selection is "I love you Man" on channel 501. If it isn't available for you then make sure your receiver is in standby at night and let it download. As far as impressing your wife, Blu is still going to be better than what Dish offers, not much but better. You may not really see much difference from their normal VOD selections and their 1080p selections. I only notice a slight difference on my Pioneer Kuro 60" professionally calibrated plasma. One note about Sony and 1080p is that several Sony's have had issues with displaying dish's 1080p content as they have issues with 1080p/24 (not sure if your TV is one of these or not). Also the key (to me at least) is the new audio codecs that Blu offers. Much much better than DD 5.1.

I've gotten two or three new VODs since last night, so my overnight downloads are working. However, "I Love You Man" isn't one of them; it is only on HDPPV, channel 536. Looking at the description of the 6 or 7 HD VODs I have, I don't see anything that indicates that any of them are 1080p.

Now maybe it is a compatibility issue of my new Sony with Dish, but I thought Dish ran a test first to verify one could get 1080p? I can't even find something to initiate the test. BTW, I know my set is well capable of 1080p/24fps as it is 240 Hz and the latest and most advanced 1080p Sony LCD HDTV available (same video internals as the XBR9, which was also just released in late spring, like the Z5100). If it can't do 1080p/24fps, then no Sony LCD can.

 

[old corps]

If it's any consolation, I've got 2 HD TVs that 1080p/24fps and the Dish test doesn't recognize either as capable of displaying their 1080p. 1080i looks just fine though.

Ed

 

[whatchel1]

501

I've gotten two or three new VODs since last night, so my overnight downloads are working. However, "I Love You Man" isn't one of them; it is only on HDPPV, channel 536. Looking at the description of the 6 or 7 HD VODs I have, I don't see anything that indicates that any of them are 1080p.

Now maybe it is a compatibility issue of my new Sony with Dish, but I thought Dish ran a test first to verify one could get 1080p? I can't even find something to initiate the test. BTW, I know my set is well capable of 1080p/24fps as it is 240 Hz and the latest and most advanced 1080p Sony LCD HDTV available (same video internals as the XBR9, which was also just released in late spring, like the Z5100). If it can't do 1080p/24fps, then no Sony LCD can.

The 1080p will be one of the ch 501's in the PPV section. Try switching your guide to all channels & see if it shows up then.

 

[Brodieb]

I really don't want to hook my ViP722 up to the internet. I already have my Sony on the internet and I'm catching grief about the Cat6 cable in the family room.

If you have one cable already going to the TV you just need to add one of these: Dynex® - 5-Port 10/100 Ethernet Switch - DX-ESW5 - problem solved. I have the exact same model and it feeds my DSL to my 722 DVR, a Blu Ray player, an HD DVD player, and a Nintendo Wii. One cable goes from it to the router downstairs and the others are 3 foot Ethernet cables that were less than $1 each.

 

[Jim5506]

Yea, I put a switch behind my PS3, Tivo and 722k so now all three are handled by one CAT5 cable.

CAT6 - do you have a gig network at home?!

 

[Carl B]

Yea, I put a switch behind my PS3, Tivo and 722k so now all three are handled by one CAT5 cable.

CAT6 - do you have a gig network at home?!

Pieces are, but the system isn't. Given the miniscule cost difference, I always buy the upper grade cables to gradually upgrade the system over time.

 

[Carl B]

Well it took over a week, but Dish finally downloaded "I Love You Man" in 1080p to my 722 after downloading a half a dozen other VODs before it. Now I'll need to wait until Dish changes their 1080p VOD offering as there is no way the wife would let me spend good money on that movie.

Anyway, thanks for all the help and comments regarding 1080p. I guess Dish still has 1080p VOD, but it is limited to one VOD during a given time period. I'll give it a try when the movie selection is a bit more desirable. I'll also find out then if Dish recognizes my new Sony as capable of 1080p/24fps.

 

[whatchel1]

24 hrs

Well it took over a week, but Dish finally downloaded "I Love You Man" in 1080p to my 722 after downloading a half a dozen other VODs before it. Now I'll need to wait until Dish changes their 1080p VOD offering as there is no way the wife would let me spend good money on that movie.

Anyway, thanks for all the help and comments regarding 1080p. I guess Dish still has 1080p VOD, but it is limited to one VOD during a given time period. I'll give it a try when the movie selection is a bit more desirable. I'll also find out then if Dish recognizes my new Sony as capable of 1080p/24fps.

You do know that you only have 24 hrs to watch the movie?

 

[lakebum431]

You do know that you only have 24 hrs to watch the movie?

Only once you actually rent it.

To the OP, have you checked for any 1080p items on DishONLINE? You might be able to find something on there so you can at least test your TV to see if it works with the Dish software on 1080p.

 

[Carl B]

You do know that you only have 24 hrs to watch the movie?

Ah, yeah, I know. I'm talking about Dish downloading it to make it available as a VOD, not me purchasing the VOD. So far I've only purchased one VOD, "Escape to Witch Mountain", and it was nice to be able to go back to it the next day and watch part of the movie again.

 

[rrmills]

Wireless is another investment and my router is 802g, so not particularly fast when it comes to ginormous downloads, so that's out.

Unless your internet connection is really, really fast (like, impossibly fast) then your 802.11g connection will not be the bottleneck in downloads. It's 54 Mbps, a fast-ish internet connection is 3-5 Mbps.

 

[Carl B]

Unless your internet connection is really, really fast (like, impossibly fast) then your 802.11g connection will not be the bottleneck in downloads. It's 54 Mbps, a fast-ish internet connection is 3-5 Mbps.

While my internet connection is just a Comcast 8 Mbps w/ Power Boost, there is a noticeable difference in download speed and surfing speed between the 100 Mbps ethernet connection and the 54 Mbps WiFi connection on the same PC notebook or compared to my Mac w/ Gigabit ethernet. The router is 100 Mbps as is one of my two switches, the other is 10 Mbps. While all of those connections exceed my rated internet download speed, the faster the maximum rating, the faster they are in real world speed. Why do you think everybody wants an 11n WiFi router?

 

[rglore]

Dish online VOD and channel 501 VOD uses different methods to check your TVs compatibility for 1080p24. Dish online communicates with your TV for it's ability to accept 1080p and immediately plays the video or displays a not compatible message. Channel 501 puts up a confirmation message in 1080p and if your TV can display it, it prompts you to press the accept or cancel button. If you can't see it and do nothing, it times out, switches out of 1080p and says your TV is not compatible. (hint: pressing the left or right arrow every 5 seconds keeps the message from timing out) My Samsungs work fine with channel 501 1080p movies but won't pass the Dish online test.

 

[lakebum431]

Because they are stupid. There should be ZERO difference. Wireless is plenty good for anything available at home.