Future Receivers

[kirkjt]

In theory, couldn't Dish create a single box with a massive hard drive that has six tuners and each of these tuners can output either an HD or SD signal?

I'm not sure about the qualtity, but I see that devices on this page:

Intelix.com - Audio-Visual Baluns can transmit an HD signal on cat5e/6 as well as ir signals on the same cable.

Or, couldn't the box just have ATSC modulators built in to use existing coax?

Anyhow, what I've always wanted is to have a single dish box (out of the way) that has all of our DVR recordings on it such that any available events can we watched on any tv in the house. As a bonus, I would like to be able to have as many HD signals as I have hd televisions come from this same box.

The UHF remotes could be used to control as many tuners as you want to you. I'm also sure Dish could figure out a way to ship everybody the same box but only activate tuners based on how many are paid for.

It seems like the technology is possible, but will it ever be done? It seems like just taking a dual tuner box, adding more tuners, and adding options to have longer runs of HD signals.

 

[Stargazer]

I have wondered for years why they have not made upgradable flexible satellite receivers where you could just add a tuner in the box or a hard drive that is larger at any time.

 

[jedoud]

There are numerous reasons why they haven't done this, or something like this, but they are working on the one box one house solution. It is a wireless solution. However there are certain FCC conditions that have to be met, security issues to deal with, and other types of issues internally that have yet to be met. They most likely will provide a remote that is keyed to the user, rather than the tuner, as the number of tuners is not necessarily the issue. However today you can get a massive external hard drive and use it with any of the VIP series tuners. You could theoretically purchase multiple twin tuner boxes, put them in a rack, add a san/nas and UHF Pro remotes, and using structured wiring get HD or SD to where you wanted it, but as of today that is a MDU type of install not one usually offered to consumers. You could also use a smart remote that would switch inputs to provide you with the ability to control any one of the tuners from any location, but that is not a solution provided by Dish Network, yet. Although the technology is there to do much more than this it does not mean that the company can use it in a way that will both protect their interest and the provide the type of service the consumer desires.

 

[jedoud]

There is a MDU type solution provided by Dish Network, but that is usually not an option to consumers. However they are working on a wireless solution that will provide something like this type of solution. As for the big hard drive, all VIP series receivers allow for the use of an external hard drive, and you could connect a VIP622 or a VIP722 to a network storage solution through the broadband connection, but this is untested in the home at this time. There are a few other ways to do this, but they are not yet tested. There are many FCC and other reasons that Dish Network has not provided this type of solution yet, but they are working towards one box one house solution.
One solution from the MDU field is to build a rack of receivers and program them to use UHF Pro remotes, and or modulators (depending on the number of TVs you are driving) to push through structured wiring both HD and SD signals as needed. However this is not an option offered to consumers at this time. However as anyone knows, money does change things, if you have enough money to spend they will certainly change some of the options available to you.

 

[kirkjt]

Agreed...if money wasn't an object, I could probably set things up very nicely

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one that desired a single box that fed all tvs (hd and sd) and allowed the DVR library to be shared with all tvs.

I guess if they ever allow streaming between DVRs over the Ethernet that would be get me most of what I really desire.

 

[bayoufats]

I like the wireless solution idea. That way I could send the HD to the TV in the bed room without having to run cables through my brand new walls. Do you guys think a 622 type receiver with the ability to send HD wireless to a bed room HD TV be available anytime in the for seeable future, say 18 to 24 months?

 

[Phoenix1]

I guess if they ever allow streaming between DVRs over the Ethernet that would be get me most of what I really desire.

Echostar and DirecTV have both been working on this for a while, but it always seems to be on their "near future" roadmap. The problem is how to actually transmit the streams. Homes with Ethernet wiring in them are rare, so that's out. Wireless is unreliable and slow, so that's out. MoCA won't work because they are already using all the bandwidth of the coax cable. So the solution that they are both looking at is Powerline (HomePlug). Up until now the problem with Powerline was that it was either too slow or too expensive. Plus their design cycle for putting new technology into their STBs is so slow. I remember working with them on bringing HomePlug 1.0 (DishComm) into their boxes several years before the VIP622 first made it into people's homes.

 

[rad]

Echostar and DirecTV have both been working on this for a while, but it always seems to be on their "near future" roadmap. The problem is how to actually transmit the streams. Homes with Ethernet wiring in them are rare, so that's out. Wireless is unreliable and slow, so that's out. MoCA won't work because they are already using all the bandwidth of the coax cable. So the solution that they are both looking at is Powerline (HomePlug). Up until now the problem with Powerline was that it was either too slow or too expensive. Plus their design cycle for putting new technology into their STBs is so slow. I remember working with them on bringing HomePlug 1.0 (DishComm) into their boxes several years before the VIP622 first made it into people's homes.

The lack of ethernet wiring is a problem, that's why D* is selling a powerline adapter for connectivity for $35.00.

 

[Phoenix1]

The lack of ethernet wiring is a problem, that's why D* is selling a powerline adapter for connectivity for $35.00.

Yep. They'd like to make it completely transparent to the user by building it into the receiver in the future (The way DishComm works), but it needs to be a faster version (like the 200Mbps HomePlug AV or whatever comes next).

 

[bayoufats]

Hey Rad please excuss my ignorance, but what does a powerline adapter do for me? If I got one could I send the HD signal from my VIP 622 to my bed room TV via the house wiring?

 

[rad]

Hey Rad please excuss my ignorance, but what does a powerline adapter do for me? If I got one could I send the HD signal from my VIP 622 to my bed room TV via the house wiring?

Not that I know of. The powerline adapter does allow you to use house wiring vs. dedicated twisted pair cabling for an ethernet connection. Check NETGEAR Powerline Networking for some more info.


DirecTV has said they plan to have a whole house/multi room viewing solution in the future and it uses ethernet. At CES they also showed a PC client that you could use to view content from a HD DVR via ethernet. They're using the network connectivity now for VoD and MediaShare functions, that's why they sell a power line adapter solution for folks that don't have their homes wired up since home networking looks to be a important part of their future plans.

 

[gck105]

Sling Catcher

Though not exactly what you are looking for, it may help in the short term. Using Slingbox you are supposed to be able to stream media over the internet to the Sling Catcher. Not sure if it will be HD or not, it is due to be released soon, I think. I am thinking of taking this route instead of "Dishin' it up" to another contract for another HD receiver.