Date when Dish stops broadcasting SD stations/data? Mar 2023?

[TheKrell]

Perhaps it is because Dish chooses the SD version? NASATV streamed from their website is in HD. So NASA HD does exist.

Indeed. You can watch NASA TV in SD or HD or (for some programming) UHD.

 

[Jim5506]

A channel is only what the transmitter allows it to be, that is to say broadcasting an SD channel as HD is not bandwidth wise and I don't think Dish would waste bandwidth that way.

Technically there is no such thing as an HD or an SD channel on the satellite, it is all predicated on what the bandwidth requirement of the program is and even that is adjusted on the fly to reduce bandwidth if the frames or even an individual pixel is repeated. This is accomplished by the compression hardware, so an SD program put on a so-called HD "channel" is not the way the system works.

A certain amount of data is sent to the satellite, compressed and optimized to its best potential. It is retransmitted unchanged to your dish and receiver and the receiver interprets that data as either HD or SD content and sends that to your display.

The only difference may be whether the signal is compressed by MPEG2 or MPEG4 compression algorithms of which MPEG4 is about 2X better then MPEG2 (IIRC). That is why Dish is eliminating MPEG2. SD and HD are only a matter of how much bandwidth the data requires.

Another possibility is that the program originator converts a 480i program to 1080i, but even there the satellite compression algorithms would compress it to a bandwidth similar to whatever it would have been even if it was still 480i.

 

[TheKrell]

A channel is only what the transmitter allows it to be, that is to say broadcasting an SD channel as HD is not bandwidth wise and I don't think Dish would waste bandwidth that way.

Perhaps Joseph meant that Dish is broadcasting the SD NASA feed in anamorphic widescreen. N.B. I didn't check on that.

 

[Almighty1]

A channel is only what the transmitter allows it to be, that is to say broadcasting an SD channel as HD is not bandwidth wise and I don't think Dish would waste bandwidth that way.

Technically there is no such thing as an HD or an SD channel on the satellite, it is all predicated on what the bandwidth requirement of the program is and even that is adjusted on the fly to reduce bandwidth if the frames or even an individual pixel is repeated. This is accomplished by the compression hardware, so an SD program put on a so-called HD "channel" is not the way the system works.

A certain amount of data is sent to the satellite, compressed and optimized to its best potential. It is retransmitted unchanged to your dish and receiver and the receiver interprets that data as either HD or SD content and sends that to your display.

The only difference may be whether the signal is compressed by MPEG2 or MPEG4 compression algorithms of which MPEG4 is about 2X better then MPEG2 (IIRC). That is why Dish is eliminating MPEG2. SD and HD are only a matter of how much bandwidth the data requires.

Another possibility is that the program originator converts a 480i program to 1080i, but even there the satellite compression algorithms would compress it to a bandwidth similar to whatever it would have been even if it was still 480i.

Good points. Is there a reason HD channels seem to not be as loud in audio compared to the SD channels if there are both versions available?

 

[n0qcu]

Good points. Is there a reason HD channels seem to not be as loud in audio compared to the SD channels if there are both versions available?

YES, the HD channels are dolby audio and most sd channels are PCM audio.

 

[Luddite by Choice]

Meg2, Schmeg2. The bottom line for me is that while I was not actively watching some channels last spring, Dish dropped my SD recording programming without notification, causing me to miss much of the season for many of my favorite programs. I had hoped to capture them this summer via reruns, but they didn't repeat in any format. If I had the time to document what I missed, I'd lodge a formal complaint and insist on a refund for non-delivery of contracted content.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Meg2, Schmeg2. The bottom line for me is that while I was not actively watching some channels last spring, Dish dropped my SD recording programming without notification, causing me to miss much of the season for many of my favorite programs. I had hoped to capture them this summer via reruns, but they didn't repeat in any format. If I had the time to document what I missed, I'd lodge a formal complaint and insist on a refund for non-delivery of contracted content.

Did you read that contract? Especially the part that say programming is subject to change without notice?

 

[Luddite by Choice]

I probably didn't read it, but nevertheless I did not receive the mainstream (ABCCBSNBCETC) programming I paid for.

Given that they have the technology to erase my DVR without my consent, couldn't they at least have notified me and/or automatically switched my SD recording preferences to HD when they dropped SD?

 

[Juan]

I probably didn't read it, but nevertheless I did not receive the mainstream (ABCCBSNBCETC) programming I paid for.

Given that they have the technology to erase my DVR without my consent, couldn't they at least have notified me and/or automatically switched my SD recording preferences to HD when they dropped SD?

Maybe you need to go back to a OTA antenna and a VCR

 

[Luddite by Choice]

It may be more reliable.

 

[Bruce]

It may be more reliable.

It would fit your forum name better.

But a counter point, Television Viewing has always been about change, from B&W to color.
From 240i to 480i to 480P to 720P/10801 to 1080P to 4K
From antenna to cable to satellite to streaming

It would take a while to list all the equipment changes we have had.

It is a mistake to assume Dish will stay locked to a particular timeframe with regards to the tech of that time, just to make/keep a few customers happy.

 

[Luddite by Choice]

They don't have to lock in anything. All I'm asking is that they notify customers before ceasing to provide mainstream content. I'd have gladly changed my preferences to HD.

Please don't sit too high on your horse. Just this weekend a Dish salesman drooling over his commission on a $1,500-per-year Hopper "upgrade" told me not to worry, that even after Viewer A erases a show he watched, viewer B at a different TV can still watch it. But of course the entire thread that mentioned that disappeared without a trace.

Newer is not inherently better; it's often just different. The last (and now only) time I tried streaming, for example, I couldn't even pause it, let alone record it. It was "Watch me now, without interruption, just like in a movie theater". Sorry, guys, but that's not progress. (I hope that problem is history by now.)

 

[chiodo]

Well isn't it up to the TV Channel's/Stations themselves to broadcast in HD, I don't think all Channels broadcast in HD.

 

[Luddite by Choice]

I don't care who broadcasts what shows in what format, down the street or in technospace*, or how many pimples I can see on somebody's face on my boob toobs. All I ask is that Dish (and Spectrum) provides me with the mainstream TV shows I pay them for. One reason I have two TV providers is so I can watch a show on one when the other plays games such as contact disputes or format changes, or has satellite or cable or sunspot or tree root or seasonal temperature change problems, etc.

* Got a better word for it? I have multiple engineering degrees and spent decades in state-of-the-art applied research in several fields, and "technospace" lumps it all together pretty well for me, especially when satellite technology is concerned. When it comes to TV, most consumers are more concerned about WHETHER, not HOW, a production gets from a sound stage or stadium to their TV screen.

 

[Bruce]

I don't care who broadcasts what shows in what format, down the street or in technospace*, or how many pimples I can see on somebody's face on my boob toobs. All I ask is that Dish (and Spectrum) provides me with the mainstream TV shows I pay them for. One reason I have two TV providers is so I can watch a show on one when the other plays games such as contact disputes or format changes, or has satellite or cable or sunspot or tree root or seasonal temperature change problems, etc.

Well instead of Spectrum, why not try YouTube TV then, their cloud DVR will always record, even if there is a sunspot or tree root or seasonal temperature change problems.

Even if your internet is out, it will still record a planned recording, so you would have that as your back up to Dish.

 

[mwdxer1]

Well isn't it up to the TV Channel's/Stations themselves to broadcast in HD, I don't think all Channels broadcast in HD.

They don't. I was told switching to SD to HD costs more money than the services want to spend. Even some channels that are in HD, they cost more for Dish to carry them. One is Disney. That is by some of their channels are still in SD. The Super Stations probably will never be offered in HD as so few still have them and I doubt Dish will want to use the band width.

 

[telstar_1]

Ha, "superstations"- haven't heard that one in awhile.

 

[That American Girl]

I probably didn't read it, but nevertheless I did not receive the mainstream (ABCCBSNBCETC) programming I paid for.

Given that they have the technology to erase my DVR without my consent, couldn't they at least have notified me and/or automatically switched my SD recording preferences to HD when they dropped SD?

No offense...but Dish has been telling customers that certain models of equipment and SD was going to be going away...and to prepare for it....for YEARS now.

 

[Luddite by Choice]

No offense...but Dish has been telling customers that certain models of equipment and SD was going to be going away...and to prepare for it....for YEARS now.

 

[Luddite by Choice]

First I've heard of either warning. Besides, even though this forum keeps saying for years that Dish is out of ViPs, they eagerly sent me a new 622 in just two days a couple of weeks ago and a 722 a year ago ... all free, of course. And even though they may have said they would eliminate SD "some year", there's still no excuse for not creating an email to the effect that "Some year" has arrived. If you're recording in SD, ya better check HD or risk missing some programming. That's just good customer service, and it costs them virtually nothing.