942 Mad Scientist First Look! 942 Innards.
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Smith said:Such question doesn't exist ! As H.264 on DP942.
Some one obvoiusly didnt read the roomer that was posted today
When I called dish tech support to find out which receivers would support mpeg4, they told me the 942. It is disabled now, but when the new voom channels come on in 2006, this receiver can be enabled for mpeg4. They also told me that the 811s would not support it, and if I wanted the new voom mpeg4 channels I would need to replace the 811s with 211/411
it looks like the tech wasn't correct about the mpeg4
it looks like the tech wasn't correct about the mpeg4
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Thanks for the new pics Goaliebob and thanks for the ID on the 8vsb tuner part smith.
I believe if they ever do upgrade the 942, it will be with a mainboard swap. As I posted before, the 411 is using the same tuner/cpu as the 942, however it has the external AVC decoder chip (bcm7411). They would have to impliment this chip onto the 942.
OR, they could use broadcom's recently released SINGLE CHIP h.264/AVC decoder/cpu. bcm7401 I believe. I'm betting the 7411 addon would require much less mainboard rework (modify traces, find a location to place it), than designing a new board around the 7401. I actually have no facts to back that up on though, since broadcom is like uncle scrooge with the datasheets
I believe if they ever do upgrade the 942, it will be with a mainboard swap. As I posted before, the 411 is using the same tuner/cpu as the 942, however it has the external AVC decoder chip (bcm7411). They would have to impliment this chip onto the 942.
OR, they could use broadcom's recently released SINGLE CHIP h.264/AVC decoder/cpu. bcm7401 I believe. I'm betting the 7411 addon would require much less mainboard rework (modify traces, find a location to place it), than designing a new board around the 7401. I actually have no facts to back that up on though, since broadcom is like uncle scrooge with the datasheets
811 vs 942
Anyone know what the chip set is on the 811.
I have the 942 running the TV in the kitchen on tv2 and the 811 hooked up to the TV in the living room. The 811 processes the same channel faster where you hear the living room audio first then the echo from the kitchen.
Maybe this will change when the new software hits the 811...
G.
Anyone know what the chip set is on the 811.
I have the 942 running the TV in the kitchen on tv2 and the 811 hooked up to the TV in the living room. The 811 processes the same channel faster where you hear the living room audio first then the echo from the kitchen.
Maybe this will change when the new software hits the 811...
G.
Being EE, I can't accept crowd's rumors in such hi-tech gadgetsgoaliebob99 said:Some one obvoiusly didnt read the roomer that was posted today
.Wouldnt it turn out to be something if the chipset was some crazy mpeg 4 enabled (even though something that cost productive wouldnt make any sense to do earlier etc) however it turned out to be a relabeled mpeg 4 chipset (though it cant, but would be cool if all the E csr's were telling the truth!
Though, I could see E having a more custom chipset made as a drop-in replacement.
Would a external decoder be possible (dont think so, but meh) that plugs inline w/ the sat, kinda like the 5000's hdtv decoder?
Though, I could see E having a more custom chipset made as a drop-in replacement.
Would a external decoder be possible (dont think so, but meh) that plugs inline w/ the sat, kinda like the 5000's hdtv decoder?
HokieEngineer said:OR, they could use broadcom's recently released SINGLE CHIP h.264/AVC decoder/cpu. bcm7401 I believe. I'm betting the 7411 addon would require much less mainboard rework (modify traces, find a location to place it), than designing a new board around the 7401. I actually have no facts to back that up on though, since broadcom is like uncle scrooge with the datasheets
I would venture to guess that the 942's have had a motherboard redesign for the new chips that handle MPEG 4. Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturers charge a fee for retooling, but (depending on PCB complexity, of course) that charge is usually less than $1000 for us. Echostar uses a contract manufacturer to build their units, so that is most likely a new product charge of under $5000. $6000 or less to respin a PCB versus the labor charges of someone manually removing the IC from the board and replacing it will be far less expensive (I'm not aware of any automated rework machines, its still a manual or semi-manual process). On top of this, the rework would involve shipping back and forth, disassembling the enclosure, removing the PCB from the chassis, testing of the unit after replacement of the IC, putting the PCB back into the chassis, replacing the enclosure, relabeling, and then repacking. We would be charging a hefty fee for all of this that would guickly erode the $6000.
Its highly possible that a new version of the 942 with the required IC's have been shipping for the past couple of months, and they will only need a software download to become operational. It will be nice to see what the new 942 brings us, GoalieBob!
jeslevine
It's been posted before that the 942 was released and shipped before MPEG-4 decoder chips became generally available. Maybe the newer 942s can do MPEG-4, as the big wood posts, but certainly the older ones don't.
Somewhere, some number crunchers like me are wearing out their computers calculating the most cost effective approach- rework or replace the 942s.
It's been posted before that the 942 was released and shipped before MPEG-4 decoder chips became generally available. Maybe the newer 942s can do MPEG-4, as the big wood posts, but certainly the older ones don't.
Somewhere, some number crunchers like me are wearing out their computers calculating the most cost effective approach- rework or replace the 942s.
gdarwin said:
I think the time delay is due to the DVR writing to the hard drive before displaying.
I should be getting mine in the next couple of days.. dish shipped it 2 day air... so monday.. and tuesday.... brings it in some time tom. My wife will be home but I will not (will be at school) so I should know around two pm or so but wont be able to play untill around 10 pm when i get home from school
My wife will be home but I will not (will be at school) so I should know around two pm or so but wont be able to play untill around 10 pm when i get home from school 
I'm not sure we'll need to open every 942 to compare them, shouldn't the model numbers reflect a change in the unit? I don't know what the full 942 model number is on the box, but if it was "DISHDVR942" before, and it's "DISHDVR942b" or something on the new one, you would know something is changed. I don't think they can legally make internal changes without documenting it on the labels right?
Maybe everyone should have a look at their box labels and see if anything stands out, especially those who've bought 942's in recent months.
Maybe everyone should have a look at their box labels and see if anything stands out, especially those who've bought 942's in recent months.
I'm not sure the model number would change, but they would certainly be identified by serial number, serier number, batch number, etc. I have a 942 arriving tomorrow, but I doubt it will support MPEG-4.Purogamer said:
We have customers that design RF devices that have to pass FCC tests. A new revision does not undergo another FCC test from what I have seen. As long as the same parameters are met and nothing is changed on the RF side of the unit, the other stuff can be changed whenever needed. These same customers make changes to PCB's and Bill of Materials all the time without revving their numbers. In those cases, we are the ones that usually force them to place a revision on the assembly for our own purposes (you don't want to build two different assemblies with the same revision...a nightmare would ensue!). Of course, serial number and MAC addresses are where the real control is handled.
Most companies do place a revision control on their model number, so as previously stated, Dish probably would have some type of difference at the model number level. The difference may be in the serial number, which may make it harder to understand. Worst case would be manufacturing date signalling a design change.
Most companies do place a revision control on their model number, so as previously stated, Dish probably would have some type of difference at the model number level. The difference may be in the serial number, which may make it harder to understand. Worst case would be manufacturing date signalling a design change.
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