Other New Dish National HD?

[whatchel1]

Why do you think that.

7 channels per MPEG 4 TP? No wonder PQ sucks ass lately!

And why is is you think that. Just because it is more per transponder doesn't mean that it is less quality. I've seen what the new encoders can do and 7 is not over doing it.

 

[Fitzie]

7 channels per MPEG 4 TP? No wonder PQ sucks ass lately!

I agree, the more I look at it the more I think 7 per TP is one or two too many.

Someone commented in another thread that some of the live sports action HD appears to be upconverted SD. I've noticed that too, but that's the price you pay for having lots more live sports. I think ESPN and some of the other channels are having trouble keeping up with expansion in terms of equipment acquisition. And, the more HD a person watches, the more adept that person becomes at identifying upconversions and bit starved material. I'd still rather have upconverted HD that SD.

While watching the XI liftoff the other night, I thought Paula Korn stated that XI has spot beam capacity or capability. Was she just wrong? I also heard someone on the broadcast state that SSL is currently building sats E-14 and E-15 for Dish. Anyone have information on those? Any information on those would be appreciated.:

Thanks, Fitzie

 

[Fitzie]

And why is is you think that. Just because it is more per transponder doesn't mean that it is less quality. I've seen what the new encoders can do and 7 is not over doing it.

While I appreciate the new HD channels greatly, I think the 7 per TP is one or two too many, even with Mpeg 4. One analysis I read indicated you may get between 30 or 40 percent increase in capacity by going to Mpeg 4.If a TP had been carrying 4 Mpeg 2 channels adequately, the transition should give you 1.2 to 1.6 additional channels if that study is accurate--not more than 2 extra channels, certainly not 3. Seven is probably at least one too many.

Maybe someone knows the different efficiency coding levels between H.264 and VC-1? I understand they are different versions of Mpeg 4, with VC-1 being somewhat better. Am I wrong?

Fitzie

 

[HDRoberts]

I also heard someone on the broadcast state that SSL is currently building sats E-14 and E-15 for Dish. Anyone have information on those? Any information on those would be appreciated.:

E14 is rumored to be headed for 119 to either replace or supplement E7. It is supposed to have improved spot beam capability over E7 to support HD LiL. Nothing has been released about E15, but my guess is that since it was announced after the AMC-14 failue, it is meant to do AMC-14's job i.e. E3 replacement.

 

[M Sparks]

However, I was thinking that, while 8+ 129 TPs may be being blown on locals, spots won't really help the situation. The spots will enable those TPs to feed a whole lot more locals, but those TP frequencies (or at least the same quantity) still will have to used for spots.

Not necessarily, though my 70 figure was wrong because you'd need to use at least one TP for locals. So 63 would be the max.

Anyway, it would depend on the configuration of the bird. You could theoretically feed all 10 locals markets on one TP freq, freeing up 9. But of course, it won't work that way. I would imagine/hope they'll use 5 TP Freqs for spots, still freeing up 5 TPs for nationals. But I honestly don't know how it's configured.

EDIT- OK, I found an old notice that said DISH is leasing 16 TP Freqs on Ciel 2...ALL spots. Each can be reused 8 times. That notice said "8 HD channels in 64 markets" so, I would assume that's pre-MPEG-4 because that's only 4 per TP. Theoretically, with MPEG-4, it could be 7 channels in 128 markets. I don't know if they can be focused that way though.

Since the current bird is dying, it's not like they're going to be using the other 7 CONUS TPs for long. And since Echo XI has no spots, I would assume the plan is to move all national HD to 110, and get a lot of the current HD locals off of 110 to 129. But I don't know, it's very confusing, and there are a lot of holes in the info.

EDIT AGAIN- OK, there's hardly any HD locals on 110, so I don't know how they're going to handle things.

 

[DodgerKing]

Since this is about National HD, I will post the list of full time national HD channels that will be carried by Dish after 8/1. Italicized channels are the news ones available on 8/1. The premium channels are at the end. I listed them by group so it is easier for those to determine the count based on their particular setup.

1. A&E
2. ABC FAM
3. ANIMAL PLANET
4. BRAVO
5. BIOGRAPHY
6. DISCOVERY
7. DISNEY
8. FOOD
9. HDNet
10. HDTheater
11. HDNet Movies
12. HGTV
13. HISTORY
14. HMC
15. MGM
16. NAT GEO
17. SCIENCE
18. TBS
19. TLC
20. TNT
21. TRAVEL
22. UNIVERSAL
23. TOON DIS
24. TOON
25. SCIFI
26. SMITHONIAN
27. USA
28. WGN
29. CNN
30. CNBC
31. WEATHER
32. LIFETIME
33. LIFETIME MOVIES
34. PLANET GREEN
35. ESPN
36. ESN
37. ESPN II
38. GOLF/VERSUS
39. CBS SPORTS
40. NBA
41. NFL
42. NHL
43. TENNIS
44. WFN
45. ACTIONMAX
46. CINEMAX
47. CINEMAX WEST
48. 5 STAR
49. HBO
50. SHOWTIME
51. STARZ
52. ENCORE
53. HBO 2
54. HBO COMEDY
55. HBO FAMILY
56. HBO LATINO
57. HBO SIG
58. HBO WEST
59. HBO ZONE
60. STARZ COMEDY
61. STARZ EDGE
62. STARZ KIDS
63. STARZ WEST
64. BIG10 (Considered an RSN on Dish)

For those that want to include the part time RSNs, there are 25.

Pretty impressive list. I wish Direct had a few of those channels, such as WGN and Outdoor.

 

[bkushner]

what classifies full time? Some of these channels have never shown an HD program?

 

[DodgerKing]

what classifies full time? Some of these channels have never shown an HD program?

Good question. The criteria I used is channel availability as opposed to content, since content is a network issue not a provider issue. If the provider broadcast the station 24/7, it is considered full time on that provider. This is why I left of the RSNs since they are not full time on the provider (game only stations)

I can put a percentage of HD programming on each station, but I have yet to find an accurate source. They usually go by guide data and stations like TBS list everything as HD even if it is not.

 

[bkushner]

That makes sense, I guess there is no perfect way to figure this out. But I don't think the fishing or hallmark channel have broadcast a single bit of HD tv and to me they aren't. While VOOM repeated, at least it repeated in HD.

 

[dmendenjr]

That makes sense, I guess there is no perfect way to figure this out. But I don't think the fishing or hallmark channel have broadcast a single bit of HD tv and to me they aren't. While VOOM repeated, at least it repeated in HD.

Yes, they both have. The newer movies on HMC are (at the least 16:9) in HD and WFN has been at least 60% HD programming for about 3 weeks now.

Dodger King: Missed CBS College being added on 8/1 (and dish considers Big Ten Net an RSN)

For a case study to reflect this: if you go to their local qualifier page and plug in a public address for something in a Big Ten Market (like Park City Mall in Lancaster PA: "142 Park City Center. Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601") It lists "Big Ten Net" as an RSN. Plug in something from Cali (like Valley Plaza Mall in Bakersfield, CA: "2701 Ming Avenue Bakersfield, California 93304") no Big Ten.

 

[DodgerKing]

Yes, they both have. The newer movies on HMC are (at the least 16:9) in HD and WFN has been at least 60% HD programming for about 3 weeks now.

Dodger King: Missed CBS College being added on 8/1 (and dish considers Big Ten Net an RSN)

For a case study to reflect this: if you go to their local qualifier page and plug in a public address for something in a Big Ten Market (like Park City Mall in Lancaster PA: "142 Park City Center. Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601") It lists "Big Ten Net" as an RSN. Plug in something from Cali (like Valley Plaza Mall in Bakersfield, CA: "2701 Ming Avenue Bakersfield, California 93304") no Big Ten.

I put it there. I just forgot to italicize it. I will fix that....thanks

 

[dmendenjr]

1. CBS SPORTS (considered an RSN with Dish)

lol, my bad, meant to say Big Ten is considered the RSN, I think CBS C will be AT200 and up... I really should not post in the morning (before getting any caffiene)

 

[DodgerKing]

lol, my bad, meant to say Big Ten is considered the RSN, I think CBS C will be AT200 and up... I really should not post in the morning (before getting any caffiene)

You said Big Ten, it was my mistake. I need some caffeine too.

 

[jerryez]

64+25=89 plus 5 PPV= 94. So, how does Dish come up with over 100. Are they counting the Big 10 as 10 channels.