Dish commercial stating "multi room viewing"

[Yes616]

You have to be in single mode and using 2 of the HD outputs.

Not so. You would be hooking up both TV's to both HDMI and component video plus audio onto the TV1 output.

When doing this to view HD on any of the 2 sets, you would be viewing TV1.

If you are in single mode, both sets can view PIP. You can add a third TV if you like to TV2. That can view something else if the tuner is set to dual mode. No PIP option available in this case.

 

[DishSubLA]

I think he meant that you can tune to an HD channel at TV2 and, while not in HD, have the benifit of watching a channel that has no SD equivalent and the better PQ, not in HD, that will display on the SDTV. In other words, I always watch or record from the HD channel of the SD equivalent on my SD DVR recorder because the PQ is superior to the highly comressed SD version. Also, the "K" series of boxes will allow TV2 to tune to an OTA providing a benifit of a better PQ if it is broadcasting in HD even if passed along to TV 2 as SD.

 

[cparker]

They have the network connections working on the VIPs. No reason they couldn't get them talking to each other. It would take some programming. but they are so close now it's almost trivial. One receiver gets designated as "Master" and the other(s) as "Slave(s)". The master acts as a traffic cop to resolve conflicts in recording (timers) and the Master also keeps a Table of Contents (so to speak) about what recordings exist and what receiver they're on.

Going to "My Recordings" on any DVR receiver brings up the Master's Table of Contents showing all recorded programming on all receivers.

A lot of the work to get this going is already done. The receivers run a linux-based operating system. MythTV is already out there and is open source. What MythTV lacks is the abililty to work with satellite receivers easily (inexpensively). If it was running ON the satellite receiver then .... done deal. Dish could still contribute their code for the MythTV bits back to the open source comuity and look like a hero. Meanwhile the parts that make it all work with their receivers remains proprietary so nobody could take a computer and hack it into a satellite receiver.

I have no idea why they wouldn't be working on this and for all I know, they already are, but it makes a ton of sense in a whole lot of ways.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I am sure if DISH did allow true multi -view as described by cparker that there would be a new multi-view dvr fee that would be higher than the present dvr fee of $5.98. To me they should just create a whole house HD dvr that can be networked to HD slave receivers, but allow each slave recevier its own ota and sat channel. It would work if you had upto 4 sat and 4 ota tuners built into the main unit. Imagine how it would be if you could record 8 things at a time in single mode?

 

[Mike0616]

Why should they? They could have been talking about 522's and 625's for all we know. Most customers still subscribe to SD programming. 522 and 625 are SD in both TV1 and TV2.
HD or Not 622 and 722 still serve 2 rooms.

Yep, you are right. We had a 5xx years ago, when SD was all you could get. The TV2 was awesome, IMO.

 

[Mike0616]

I don't recall them saying anything until a few months ago. Testing has been going on for about a year, but they have not announced MRV during that time.

OK, maybe you want to say it was "leaked" long before that, huh? Maybe when FIOS and U-verse were starting to make inroads? A strategic leak, as it were? Nahhhhhhhh, we know D* would never stoop to that level.

 

[Ghpr13]

You guys are great--I learn more each time I ask a question. Thanks

I second that!
Ghpr13