DISH NETWORK® UNVEILS BIGGEST HIGH DEFINITION UPGRADE IN TV HISTORY

I'm sorry, but this whole PR stunt by Dish is completely lame. They've added a few HD channels, 1 1080p VOD movie and say they've "re-invented" HD. Hardly Charlie! When the psing match is over, DirecTV will still have the sports packs that Charlie will never have.

Today's news ranks pretty low compared to the hype.

And we never want as ALL subscribers rates will go up to pay for it. This is just one of many reasons Direct TV is still the king of the hill of the MOST expensive provider. They have to pay for all the superstar commercials some way.
 
My biggest question/concern, and I haven't really seen anyone address it here yet, is with the new HD channels that are being added like the HBO suite. I know they're already uplinked and ready to be turned on, but I've heard from folks who say they're running up to 8 HD channels *per transponder* on both 61.5 and 129. I know it's MPEG4 and it's new technology, but there has to be some MAJOR compression going on to allow those channels to share bandwidth...enough that I would think that the data loss & pixelation would be very noticeable. My understanding is that DirecTV is holding at 4 to 6 channels per transponder, and the last time I saw an HD movie on D* it was pretty darn good. Dish, on the other hand, was very fuzzy at times and pixelated during action scenes. Wonder if the new channels will exhibit the same picture loss.

Dish could have improved the turbo-coding to even greater efficiencies to achieve the greater number of HD, but we shall soon see if the PQ is up to snuff.
 
But really, who really cares about upscaling? Upscaling is just hype to get the little non techy people out there interested. Upscaled dvd players? Puhlease.
The point you guys are arguing back and forth about really is futile.

Upscaled crap to 1080p does like look like real 1080p, so who really cares?
The big picture is that we are not getting what we all would love unfortunately :(.

Think of the boat I'm in, I have this first generation Sony SXRD. Yeah, it's 1080P alright, but ONLY for the ASTC Tuner LOL. Which from what I understand, will probably never have 1080p broadcasts. So I'm stuck with 1080i everything via hdmi.

Whoever came up with "upscaling" and "hdlite" should be shot. :)

Time to upgrade that Sony :D
 
So when we get the new software, our DVRs will be able to output 1080p.......

Does that mean that 1080p will now be one of the output formats we can choose from the menu, meaning the DVR will upconvert everything to 1080p..........OR, does it mean that native resolution passthrough will now be enabled?

The real question here, of course, is: How will the DVR know to output a HD VOD movie in 1080p? :confused:

Brad

From what Scott has told me, 1080p will be a choice on the format menu.

I'm waiting to see it with the Aquos listed below.

So does anyone know if this is the case? Will I be able to select 1080p on "HDTV setup (Menu-->6-->8)?
 
So this statement is untrue.
From what Scott has told me, 1080p will be a choice on the format menu...
That sucks.

I know, I know...there's no 1080p content other than the occasional movie, etc. But I at least wanted to try the 1080p setting to see if it improves my picture at all. Chances are it wouldn't have made a difference. As it stands, with my 1080p TV, the 720p setting on the 622 & 722 looks okay, while 1080i looks much better. I've done A/B comparisons on 720p networks (ESPN & ABC OTA) and 1080i networks (NBC, etc.) using various types of programming (sports, movies, etc.).

I was looking forward to doing an A/B/C comparison.

I have no desire to purchase 1080p VOD (or any VOD for that matter).
 
OK, for those curious how dish hits 114 right now, this is how they have them broken down:


  • 40 : Turbo Gold HD Channels
  • 18 : Premium HD Channels
  • 07 : Turbo Platinum HD Channels
  • 25 : HD Regional Sports Networks Available
  • 04 : HD Locals: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox
  • 06 : HD PPV channels
  • up to 14 : HD VOD Channels
114 Channels. Again, I personally think the last 14 is REALLY stretching things a bit, but that is e*'s logic....

07 Platinum channels? I'm trying to figure out what those channels are...what are they. Are they some sort of Foreign Language channels?

Ok so a little more detail:

  • 40 : Turbo Gold HD Channels - Should be Disney, Discovery, History, etc.
  • 18 : Premium HD Channels - Should be HBO, Cinemax, etc.
  • 07 : Turbo Platinum HD Channels - ????
  • 25 : HD Regional Sports Networks Available - Sports South, maybe Fox Sports, etc.
  • 04 : HD Locals: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox - Ok, these are...well...local.
  • 06 : HD PPV channels - Above Channel 500, movie channels
  • up to 14 : HD VOD Channels - Ok, as the name implies, Video On Demand via the little silver, lit up logo button on the remote.
07 Platinum channels? I'm trying to figure out what those channels are...what are they? Are they some sort of Foreign Language / Foreign Programming channels?
 
I'm sorry, but this whole PR stunt by Dish is completely lame. They've added a few HD channels, 1 1080p VOD movie and say they've "re-invented" HD. Hardly Charlie! When the psing match is over, DirecTV will still have the sports packs that Charlie will never have.

Today's news ranks pretty low compared to the hype.

From my perspective I agree wholeheartedly.

Of course, if you subscribe to the premiums today's changes are a big deal.

Different providers offer different configurations at different price points so it's just a matter of choosing the one that comes closest to offering the channels you want at a price you're willing to pay. For some it'll be Dish, for some D*, for some FIOS. Right now, for me (and apparently you), it's not Dish.

But things might change down the road, depending on whether the "additional" channels are real or just the result of changing the way Dish counts. Given the sudden jump from 100 to 114 I wouldn't put the latter past them.
 
From Dish Website;

Resolution formats. Resolutions may be 480, 720 or 1080 vertical progressive lines of resolution or 480 and 1080 interlaced lines of resolution. Our receivers do not support 1080p. Instead, use 720p for fast action, or 1080i for other programming.

Got it?!?! DO NOT SUPPORT 1080P
 

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