Just got a 4K TV and.... it's confusing.... :)

[cparker]

Just got a Samsung 6950, 50 inch.
UHD 4K, yadda, yadda, yadda....

I called DirecTV and said, it's in my living room, connected to my HR-34, and I don't see any 4K programming availability.

Nope... The Genie (HR-34) needs to be connected to a NON-4K TV. The new Samsung doesn't get connected to a receiver, but it becomes an RVU. Can't have 4K while connected to HR-34.

Say what?

So the only way to see 4K is to have NON-4k Tvs to hook the receivers to? Anyone else thing that sounds a bit.... odd?

So I need to relocate the HR-34, and we watch the new Samsung as though it had a Genie Mini attached.... but it doesn't... because it has the RVU stuff built in. I'm going to have to rethink how I have things connected to the AV Receiver

 

[Juan]

sounds like you are much too early for a 4ktv..however there are some internet streaming solutions available

 

[cparker]

I'm not sure there's enough 4K content on DirecTV for me to go through all of the reconfiguring AND they'll charge me another $6 a month for the new RVU.
I think I'll just hold off and look for other options. I don't even own a bluRay player yet. I have a DVD changer.

The smart remote for the TV might be hard to replicate on my MX-980 remote. I'm thinking about how I might reconfigure ALL of the connections.
On my Panasonic plasma I have the TV doing the video source switching and the AV receiver handling sound.

It's a nice TV, but .... I have some figuring out to do. NetFlix supposedly has 4K content and I think Amazon too. Not sure how terribly important it is but it would be nice to have at least SOME available. The picture on this TV is HUGELY better than the Panasonic plasma it's replacing and that picture was pretty good.

 

[Zashel]

You're actually going to have a BB Deca behind the TV, so if it's wall mounted make sure you have about 2.5" - 3" of clearence between the TV and the wall. it will connect to the LAN port on the back of your TV. but you are correct, you will have to run audio from the TV out to the AV receiver, however you may still be able to just use one HDMI cord from the receiver to the TV for your other devices. so into the TV you'd have power, HDMI from AV, BB DECA, optical out to AV (or red/white).

however, does it sound odd? yes, because D* doesnt have a receiver that will do 4k over HDMI yet. so that is their solution to get around it.

 

[jcrandall]

The current 4k RVU only solution is in my opinion a patch job. They can advertise they have 4K, and all they have to do is support the manufacturer client software and offer some PPV.

Lets fast forward 12-18 months - when 4K starts to sell a little better as prices continue to drop. Expect to have new receivers that are 4K ready. Expect 4K content to come from the satellite rather than just the internet. It may only be a few channels, similar to when HD first started, but some of the big names will be there. Back when I first got DirecTV HD consisted of ESPN, HBO, SHO, and a couple others like Discovery HD Theater. I remember when TNT was added it was a big deal, moved them to something like 7 HD channels.

I think 4K will be much like that, but likely ramp up a little faster just based on DirecTV planning bandwidth for 4K. The HD race DirecTV was underprepared as far as bandwidth.

IF you really want PPV 4K today, they have a solution. It's not a good solution, but it is an option.

If I were to acquire a 4K TV, I'd likely just use the streaming options (Netflix, Amazon, etc) until 4K comes to receivers directly.

That said, I felt HD was a great upgrade of SD television, and I invested early in TVs, receivers, etc, and enjoyed it very much. I don't see 4K as revolutionary and personally will likely sit on the sidelines until a TV dies or 4K becomes "very mainstream". One could argue that HD has only become mainstream in the past couple years, mostly driven by TV prices and wide availability of HD receivers/channels.

 

[Jimbo]

The current 4k RVU only solution is in my opinion a patch job. They can advertise they have 4K, and all they have to do is support the manufacturer client software and offer some PPV.

Lets fast forward 12-18 months - when 4K starts to sell a little better as prices continue to drop. Expect to have new receivers that are 4K ready. Expect 4K content to come from the satellite rather than just the internet. It may only be a few channels, similar to when HD first started, but some of the big names will be there. Back when I first got DirecTV HD consisted of ESPN, HBO, SHO, and a couple others like Discovery HD Theater. I remember when TNT was added it was a big deal, moved them to something like 7 HD channels.

I think 4K will be much like that, but likely ramp up a little faster just based on DirecTV planning bandwidth for 4K. The HD race DirecTV was underprepared as far as bandwidth.

IF you really want PPV 4K today, they have a solution. It's not a good solution, but it is an option.

If I were to acquire a 4K TV, I'd likely just use the streaming options (Netflix, Amazon, etc) until 4K comes to receivers directly.

That said, I felt HD was a great upgrade of SD television, and I invested early in TVs, receivers, etc, and enjoyed it very much. I don't see 4K as revolutionary and personally will likely sit on the sidelines until a TV dies or 4K becomes "very mainstream". One could argue that HD has only become mainstream in the past couple years, mostly driven by TV prices and wide availability of HD receivers/channels.

I agree with your assessment ...
I too upgraded early as far as getting into HD, I threw an antenna out on the porch to get my locals in HD long before most knew they were available, and that was OTA, people in the area were surprised at the picture.
Sat and cable HD came several years later.

 

[cparker]

Well... what happened actually was that my brother-in-law's old Sony 34 inch TV pooped out. (picture tube... old.... and holy cow heavy!).
He's on Social Security and the wife said, "You've been wanting a new TV but had no real reason to get one." (Our Panasonic plasma was working fine)
"So we could give Danny our TV and you can go out and get a new one. Saves him some money."

THAT's how I got a new TV. Went out for a 55" Samsung 6350, and it showed on-line they were in stock. When I got there.... none. So... not too much difference in price was the 50" 4K Samsung 6950.

I've decided against doing anything 4K from DirecTV. Maybe I'll just come into the modern era and get a BluRay player instead, and mothball our DVD player.

 

[Ilya]

First 4K Blu-ray players are expected to be released this Fall or early next year. But they will most likely be overpriced initially. Your best bet for now will be 4K Netflix and Amazon, provided your Internet connection is fast enough.

 

[StanDarsh]

Didn't DISH show off some 4k Joey's at CES? I realize this is D*...but if D* is that far behind in the hardware dept, looks like DISH might beat them to the punch on having a 4k-ready receiver coming out very soon (2Q or 3Q??)

 

[dakeeney48]

Didn't DISH show off some 4k Joey's at CES? I realize this is D*...but if D* is that far behind in the hardware dept, looks like DISH might beat them to the punch on having a 4k-ready receiver coming out very soon (2Q or 3Q??)

I have the Samsung 50 inch 6950 4K tv and have the Genie hooked up to the tv via HDMI from my Yamaha receiver into the tv HDMI input 2. The picture is stunning on HD programs but not so much on SD.

 

[goaliebob99]

So I have a Samsung 65 inch 8550 hooked up via RVU. These are my impressions. 4k from Directv looks great, but the price is just too much. I dont want to watch the same movie for 15.99 for seven days. I want to watch it for half the price for 2 or 3 days. I would order more of a variety that way.
The 4k service is extremely buggy. I am finding this list full of 4k movies and half of them you cant download because when you go to click on the movie it says it's unavailable. There are obvious issues still between the genie downloading 4k movies from the satellite / internet. The RVU client from samsung is still way to buggy and EXTREMELY SLOW! It's like no one at Samsung and Directv wants to fix it and only blames each other.

One thing about 4k... Once you get hooked. You want more. It's like crack. Then comes the problem of there is a limited supply of crack (4k content) on the market. You want to tell everyone how great it is but because content is coming at a snails pace no one is willing to upgrade. This is the problem that 4k is going to have. It's a catch 22 because no one want's to provide content because it's a limited user base and the limited user base wont expand because the content isn't coming quick enough.

Now with that said, I would expect that DirecTV will have live content in the near future. I would think that the Audience network would be one of those choices as they have been shooting everything in 4k for quite some time. ESPN is 8k capable, and expected to launch a 4k and 1080P channel this summer/fall. I also suspect that we will see HBO go 4k and some of the other movie channels. With that live content will come 4k boxes, and most likely an upgrade to the Genie for more tuners and the ability for reverse DBS where the 4k content will come from. That will require a new LNB for the reverse bands. I suspect that all of this will begin to trickle down in the summer/fall and we will hear more about it late this year into next year.

4K is not like 3d. It will catch on and become the standard format like how HD is now. SD will eventually get killed off... Everyone wants to kill it but no one has done it yet. I expect that it will get killed in the next few years as the costs of HD comes down to the level where SD is now. 4k costs need to come down for the production company's. The problem is that everyone just spent big bucks on HD and now they have to do it again for 4k. The industry as a whole needs to drive prices down to make it economically possible.

 

[cparker]

I saw a Samsung Bluray player that says "upscaling 4K".
I'll need to look into more about what exactly that means. I know what upscaling is. Just.... need to learn more. It was I think $189.

For now I'll just be happy with what a beautiful picture I've got with the content available

 

[scifilaser]

I've a question for someone in the know on Direct. My neighbor in my building just got DTV and I asked the installer a question about 4K. I have a 4K TV and was wondering when the new 4K compatible boxes were coming. He said the new Genies are 4K ready for the new D14 sat. Is this true? The new X1 4K boxes from Comcast are supposedly coming in July. Liked what I saw with picture on D but don't wanna jump until the boxes support 4K. As I don't wanna waste time or go trough the hassle of getting the new box when it happens. I know there are no channels broadcasting at this time only only 4K streaming. Thanks in advance on the help on this.

 

[raoul5788]

No, the Genie itself doesn't support 4K. The tv must act as the rvu client for 4K.

 

[jcrandall]

The current Genie is only 4K ready in the sense that it will run an RVU client that supports 4K directly on the TV. The receiver itself either is not capable of outputting 4K via HDMI or they haven't developed the software to do it. I do believe we will see 4K ready receivers, but it will be more along the HR54 or H34 type lines, next generation Genie / HD receivers.

 

[Zashel]

i'd wager 4k clients roll out at the same time as the hr54. as it is scifilaser, if you ahve a second TV hooked up to your system, you can move the genie there and RVU the 4k. if you have an audio setup you might have to run a cable from the TV to the audio receiver as well.

 

[scifilaser]

Thank you all for the info. I know it's coming, just a matter of time. The new D14 Sat is suppose to allow them to do 4K broadcast if and when they start from what I've read. Again.... thanks for the info!

 

[cparker]

i'd wager 4k clients roll out at the same time as the hr54. as it is scifilaser, if you ahve a second TV hooked up to your system, you can move the genie there and RVU the 4k. if you have an audio setup you might have to run a cable from the TV to the audio receiver as well.

A LOT of TVs will only output 2-channel sound from a non-HDMI source.

 

[goaliebob99]

i'd wager 4k clients roll out at the same time as the hr54. as it is scifilaser, if you ahve a second TV hooked up to your system, you can move the genie there and RVU the 4k. if you have an audio setup you might have to run a cable from the TV to the audio receiver as well.

I would guess the same as well. We may hear more this summer about the new clients coming.

The current Genie is only 4K ready in the sense that it will run an RVU client that supports 4K directly on the TV. The receiver itself either is not capable of outputting 4K via HDMI or they haven't developed the software to do it. I do believe we will see 4K ready receivers, but it will be more along the HR54 or H34 type lines, next generation Genie / HD receivers.

Yes the HR54 WILL BE 4k capable via HDMI and as well as Reverse Band capable. If you want 4k the HR54 will most likely be the way to go. Their are RVU and Standalone clients in testing as well but who knows if we will see those. I suspect we will see the new LNB's released at the same time the HR54's are. I suspect we will get introduced to the new gear this summer when content rolls online or early next year.

 

[jeslevine]

sounds like you are much too early for a 4ktv..however there are some internet streaming solutions available

Yup, specifically Netflix and Amazon Prime. You can also find some 4K on YouTube, but for that you need to put it on a flash drive, and hook up to the TV

What I don't like about DTV is they only support Samsung, and if you use the RVU features they still want to charge you as an extra receiver for that feature