MarkG said:
Riggs,,the price guide being distributed,indicated locals,including HD locals are now INCLUDED in the base TC subscription. Not even an option to not have them,according to new price. Also,although I have personally not talked to someone who has seen it,supposedly some subscribers have seen them already testing HDs for Chicago right now,for a June turn on. By the way,,how do you like your Panasonic LCD Rearpro?????
Perhaps I misunderstood, even so, trust me when I say regardless of the pricing you are seeing, there is a TC package without locals, however if locals are availiabe via D* most subscribers will take it, which is no doubt why you are seeing the pricing that you have. The price of the TC package without locals is typically $3.00 to $5.00 less then the TC price as noted
here.
Just in case I messed up the link I'll quote the site.
"If local channels are not available in your area, you can still enjoy TOTAL CHOICE programming for $3 less than the listed price."
Source: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/learn/Packages_TotalChoice.dsp
So I go back to my original statement...
It is my understanding that while there will not be a extra fee for HD locals, you will have to subscribe to the locals package to receive HD locals, and not just a base TC package.
Granted we may be splitting hairs, and in the end I'm sure we are saying the same thing.
As far as testing the signal we'd want to ask hdtvtechno about that. He seems to have access to "testing" stations that most of us don't.
Based on press releases and info we are getting from D* the top 12 DMAs should be getting HD LIL (local into local) by the second half of '05. The HD LIL will be beamed to us in MPEG4 and will be on the new satellites that D* is putting up.
" DIRECTV will transmit all local HD channels and other new services from three Ka-band orbital slots co-located over the center of the country using MPEG-4 AVC, the new standard in digital video compression, and advanced modulation that will more than double the efficiency of DIRECTV's Ka-band capacity."
Source:http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=660037&highlight=
So I feel very safe in saying that it will not be on 101. 101 is a MPEG2 sat, or such is my understanding. I [font="]
mistakenly [/font]called the new sat. Spaceway 8, I should have said Spaceway F1.
To answer your question about my Pany 43 incher. I love it. its great. best LCD-RP I've ever seen.
