MPEG2 HD to move to MPEG4 Thursday 7/31

[jcrandall]

I have signal strengths on D11 in the 20's-30's. I called Directv to get it repeaked and they told me they couldn't do it until I actually lose service! It's a perfectly clear day here, and my signal strength is low, yet they won't fix it until the signal actually goes out. Is this normal, or did I get a CSR in a bad mood?

The tech support 'script' probably has nothing on 99c yet. If you want a repeak right now, you'll have to lose picture on your HD channels and have no signal on the 103c.

I think you can read between my lines.

It'll take some time before their support systems are updated, etc.

 

[iceturkee]

jay, do you have the protection plan? i have never had trouble getting them to come out and realign my dish if i constantly lose service in a drizzle!

 

[charper1]

Got this from Jamie at DirecTV

The following channels will go from MPEG 2 to MPEG 4.

206 ESPN HD
209 ESPN2 HD
245 TNT HD
281 HD Theatre
501 HBO HD
543 Showtime HD
259 Universal HD

Some folks believe these channel locations were already broadcast in MPEG4, but they were not. They required the MPEG4 receiver but were still broadcast in the MPEG2 codec. (I'm not an engineer so forgive me if I'm stating that incorrectly).

This should not effect any customer that is already seeing the above channels in those channel ranges as they already have a KaKu dish and MPEG4 equipment. The only difference is that those channels will be in MPEG4 instead of MPEG2.

Is there a 543 SHO-HD? Mine is on

537 SHO-HD East
540 SHO-HD West

 

[uncrules]

I have signal strengths on D11 in the 20's-30's. I called Directv to get it repeaked and they told me they couldn't do it until I actually lose service! It's a perfectly clear day here, and my signal strength is low, yet they won't fix it until the signal actually goes out. Is this normal, or did I get a CSR in a bad mood?

My signals are in the low 40s and they told me the same thing. The service actually has to be out when I call them in order for them to send a tech. And I have the protection program

 

[jcrandall]

Is there a 543 SHO-HD? Mine is on

537 SHO-HD East
540 SHO-HD West

It was a typo in the communication from DirecTv. It is on 537.
The MPEG2 version is 71.

 

[harryz417]

i dont get it? im in nyc with LOCALS in MPEG4 since last year when i got D-----80,82,86.....i thought this range 70-90 does NOT support MPEG-4 from what i am reading?

 

[Brewer4]

Watching ESPNHD now (X Games). Looks better. Very crisp.

 

[charper1]

i dont get it? im in nyc with LOCALS in MPEG4 since last year when i got D-----80,82,86.....i thought this range 70-90 does NOT support MPEG-4 from what i am reading?

The channel number is just a mapped point. Why they choose to put there is all that matters. They could put any channel via either codec; where ever; that how I have always read it.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I love this new change. I watched SportsCenter last night and was amazed at how good it finally looked. Colors were more vibrant and graphics were sharper. I felt like my TELEVISION had been upgraded by how good the ESPN feed looked.

 

[Rey]

ESPN looks better. espn2,hd theater and discovery hd still look like crap

 

[mlb]

ESPN2HD looked incredible last night... maybe it was the program you were watching this morning, Rey.

 

[Ronnie-]

ESPN looks better. espn2,hd theater and discovery hd still look like crap

HD theater AND Discovery HD? They didnt change discovery yesterday.

 

[darrencp22]

ESPN2 looked great. I watched baseball tonight last night and was impressed.

 

[mlb]

ESPN2 looked great. I watched baseball tonight last night and was impressed.

Same here.

 

[Rey]

HD theater AND Discovery HD? They didnt change discovery yesterday.

hd theater is in the list. i thought it included discovery hd. so discovery hd was already mpeg4? it doesn't look very good to me.

 

[DodgerKing]

hd theater is in the list. i thought it included discovery hd. so discovery hd was already mpeg4? it doesn't look very good to me.

Be careful when assessing the Discovery channels. They show a lot of cropped SD which many mistake as HD. You could be watching an upconverted cropped SD program.

 

[atp1313]

Just about all of the MythBusters, Dirty Jobs, and shows like that which are more than 1 year old are almost all upconverted cropped SD. This current season of shows including the new season of Mythbusters starting a few days/weeks, are almost all being shot in HD and should look MUCH better than the upconverted cropped SD.

 

[Rey]

Be careful when assessing the Discovery channels. They show a lot of cropped SD which many mistake as HD. You could be watching an upconverted cropped SD program.

That's true DK. when they're cropped isn't 1 or 2inches still missing on the sides of the screen?

 

[goaliebob99]

usally yes, but I have seen them strech it out too.

 

[darrencp22]

Discovery usually zooms its SD upconverts. This allows a better picture than stretchvision but it still not HD. There's not always boxing when they do this.