Dish Network Eastern Arc Press Release

[Scott Greczkowski]

I was playing with EA today with a Dish 1000.4 and a new 722 which has the new Smartcard technology built in.

My DMA is on the list (Hartford, CT)

I plan on recording the same show at the same time from a few stations from 72.7 and 110/119 and seeing which one has the better PQ.

All channels are LIVE on EA. You honestly cant tell you are on a different system from the tests that I did this afternoon.

 

[jimboeau]

I was playing with EA today with a Dish 1000.4 and a new 722 which has the new Smartcard technology built in.

My DMA is on the list (Hartford, CT)

I plan on recording the same show at the same time from a few stations from 72.7 and 110/119 and seeing which one has the better PQ.

All channels are LIVE on EA. You honestly cant tell you are on a different system from the tests that I did this afternoon.

Great! Can't wait for the review!

 

[webbydude]

Ok I am totally confused. I called Dish about changing over to Eastern Arc to have all MPEG4 service for better quality. I spoke to a technical service rep and be told me that all of the 622's and 211's are receiving SD and HD in MPEG4. By reading this I thought you had to to have the Eastern Arc dish to get all in MPEG4 plus the new card? Which is correct? Thanks.

At this point don't confuse "latest/greatest toy" as something that's going to give you a better quality picture.

If anything, from the few D1K4 installs I've done thus far, it seems the signal strength for the 61.5/72 isn't quite as good as the 110/119

 

[stardust3]

At this point don't confuse "latest/greatest toy" as something that's going to give you a better quality picture.

If anything, from the few D1K4 installs I've done thus far, it seems the signal strength for the 61.5/72 isn't quite as good as the 110/119

Well said. I can definitely do a lot better with a stand a lone dish 500 on 61.5. IMO 2 500's, 1 for 61.5 and 1 for 72.7 would do quite a bit better than what the 1000.4 has to offer.

 

[webbydude]

Well said. I can definitely do a lot better with a stand a lone dish 500 on 61.5. IMO 2 500's, 1 for 61.5 and 1 for 72.7 would do quite a bit better than what the 1000.4 has to offer.

Until there's an actual increase in picture quality, I'm quite content with my current setup of D1K2 and D500 (for 61.5). Probably the only reason why I kept the D1K2 was for the 3rd output port (never know if I'm going to add on to the house...and consequently, more televisions)

 

[rglore]

I doubt Dish will allow the engineers to setup the new Eastern Arc with better picture quality than the existing Western Arc. Millions of existing customers would be demanding to be switched over. New customers would demand it too and the press would advise people not to let Dish give them the crappy Western Arc. Dish will keep the two services the same as possible and installers will have a choice based solely on which dish receives the required signals the best.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

From what I saw the PQ on the SD channels was about the same as the Western Arc, I did however notice a BIG PQ difference with HD Theater which is in MPEG4 instead of MPEG2. This will not matter for Western Arc soon though as those MPEG2 channels are going MPEG4 in Mid September.

For me to really judge PQ, I will need to look at the video on my main TV that I watch every days. The test TV I have it hooked upto now is my sons 720p LCD TV I got him for Christmas.

 

[stardust3]

Until there's an actual increase in picture quality, I'm quite content with my current setup of D1K2 and D500 (for 61.5). Probably the only reason why I kept the D1K2 was for the 3rd output port (never know if I'm going to add on to the house...and consequently, more televisions)

I have not seen pq on 72.7 yet, unless a black screen counts. I am going to work in our other dma next week so I can find out first hand the ins and outs of this new setup. I currently use a 1k2 also, but without 2nd dish for 61.5. Never had any issues with 129, no need to fix something that ain't broke. I set up a 1000.4 @ shop the other day to tinker with, not impressed with signals off this dish. It is better than 129, but not as good as 119 or 110.

 

[stardust3]

I doubt Dish will allow the engineers to setup the new Eastern Arc with better picture quality than the existing Western Arc. Millions of existing customers would be demanding to be switched over. New customers would demand it too and the press would advise people not to let Dish give them the crappy Western Arc. Dish will keep the two services the same as possible and installers will have a choice based solely on which dish receives the required signals the best.

New Customers in the current list of dma's who subscribe to an hd package of any kind are automatically assigned to the EA. There is no option for installers at this point, that doesn't mean it won't change tomorrow.

 

[ralfyguy]

From what I saw the PQ on the SD channels was about the same as the Western Arc, I did however notice a BIG PQ difference with HD Theater which is in MPEG4 instead of MPEG2. This will not matter for Western Arc soon though as those MPEG2 channels are going MPEG4 in Mid September.

For me to really judge PQ, I will need to look at the video on my main TV that I watch every days. The test TV I have it hooked upto now is my sons 720p LCD TV I got him for Christmas.

That sounds disappointing so far...

 

[webbydude]

New Customers in the current list of dma's who subscribe to an hd package of any kind are automatically assigned to the EA. There is no option for installers at this point, that doesn't mean it won't change tomorrow.

Not necessarily.

If LOS is an issue for the EA we've been told to call DNS and have the workorder modified back to a WA. A few of my coworkers have had problems dealing with stubborn CSRs, but once the "you'll lose a customer otherwise" trump card is played, things EVENTUALLY come out in the wash.