Question about having dvr in 2 rooms

[kristy]

Hello, I am a current D* customer considering Dish. I was with Dish many years ago, but was coerced into switching due to a merger that was happening (yet didn't happen). I am happy with D*, however I would like to have dvr in 4 rooms,so I am checking out the competition.

I find it appealing how you can have 1 unit control 2 tvs, however I would like some clarity on how this is installed. Obviously the remote control works from the room without a receiver, but how is this receiver connected to the tv? Are there cables run everywhere? Is this set up a good set up, or is it better with receivers for each room?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Yragha]

Speaking for mine only, the 722 lets you have HD programming on TV1 only. Coaxial is fed to TV2 and therefore everything is downconverted to SD. I like the setup myself, can't see paying $10 for minimal HD channels anyhow, even owning two HD TV's.

 

[dishcomm]

Speaking for mine only, the 722 lets you have HD programming on TV1 only. Coaxial is fed to TV2 and therefore everything is downconverted to SD. I like the setup myself, can't see paying $10 for minimal HD channels anyhow, even owning two HD TV's.

Minimal?
WHat is your defintion of minimal?

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Minimal?
WHat is your defintion of minimal?

I Subscribe to 84 HD channels, Not including PPV ,and Out of Market RSN's.
I would say thats not that minimal.
I don't have Starz or Cinemax either.

 

[dishcomm]

Hello, I am a current D* customer considering Dish. I was with Dish many years ago, but was coerced into switching due to a merger that was happening (yet didn't happen). I am happy with D*, however I would like to have dvr in 4 rooms,so I am checking out the competition.

I find it appealing how you can have 1 unit control 2 tvs, however I would like some clarity on how this is installed. Obviously the remote control works from the room without a receiver, but how is this receiver connected to the tv? Are there cables run everywhere? Is this set up a good set up, or is it better with receivers for each room?

Thanks for your help.

The connection is doen two ways. One is equal to the other in picture and sound quality.
One, the cable from the receiver is run directly to the second tv. A direct connect, if you will.
Second, we use devices that look like splitters. These are called diplexers(How Does a Diplexer Work? | eHow.com)
These devices work in pairs and basically combine the satellite signal and the tv output on the same cable.
The TV2 remote is a UHF transmitter which "radios" a signal from the remote (TV2) location and tells the receiver what to do.
For all intents and purposes, the E* dual tuner receiver has the components of two receivers in one box.
Note** With HD DVR receivers, HD video is seen at the primary( where receiver is located) location ONLY..TV2 is standard definition ONLY.
If you have more than two HD Tv's then single TV DVR's are (DIsh model 612) are required. There is also a HD receiver (Model 211k) that is a single tuner HD receiver. NO recording with that model

 

[dishcomm]

I Subscribe to 84 HD channels, Not including PPV ,and Out of Market RSN's.
I would say thats not that minimal.
I don't have Starz or Cinemax either.

That should be enough of an example. 84 non PPV Channels in HD not including locals I imagine, is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[kristy]

So, TV1 would be directly hooked to the receiver just like we have it now, and then there is a cable run from the receiver to the tv2 that is in a different room? Isn't that a mess?

 

[Yragha]

The installer shocked me and ran mine thru the wall (very neatly) and underneath the carpet for no additional fee.

And responding about HD, until they get TVland, ESPNClassic and ESPNU in HD it's worthless for me. I'm not paying $10 extra for HD since I believe IMO I said "IMO" it should be free SINCE THEY MADE SD LOOK SO SUB-STANDARD. I also think they are ripping people off by inserting LOGO into the HD pack when on most systems LOGO is available at the very least on the highest tier of service.

I would hope SD looked decent on an SD tv but I own two HD's (Dynex and top of the line Sony) and it looks like I'm watching something from Hulu. Heck, ESPN360.com looks better.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[aquaman67]

So, TV1 would be directly hooked to the receiver just like we have it now, and then there is a cable run from the receiver to the tv2 that is in a different room? Isn't that a mess?

One cable running from the receiver to the other TV a mess?

I guess everything is a matter of opinion but it couldn't get much easier. I ran my own cable and you can't see it.

The UHF remote works very well. It's a no brainer....

 

[rdinkel]

Many homes had "cable" connections throughout the house, when built. Often you can use those existing connections without the need to run new cables for TV2.

 

[kristy]

Thanks for your replies. I have a better understanding of it now.

 

[Scherrman]

You'd have to see if you have coax run to all the rooms you have TVs. How old is your house?

 

[dishcomm]

So, TV1 would be directly hooked to the receiver just like we have it now, and then there is a cable run from the receiver to the tv2 that is in a different room? Isn't that a mess?

Not at all. If your home already is wired, the diplexer method is used. If not , the tech will run a cable from your sat receiver to the TV 2 location.
Typically ,this is routed through the basement or crawlspace. Or if the home is built on a slab, perhaps the cable can be routed through an exterrior wall to the exterior of the house then re-enter through the wall to another room.
Think of it this way. If you were to have two seperate receivers in each room, there would have to be cable run to EACH room.

 

[dishcomm]

The installer shocked me and ran mine thru the wall (very neatly) and underneath the carpet for no additional fee.

And responding about HD, until they get TVland, ESPNClassic and ESPNU in HD it's worthless for me. I'm not paying $10 extra for HD since I believe IMO I said "IMO" it should be free SINCE THEY MADE SD LOOK SO SUB-STANDARD. I also think they are ripping people off by inserting LOGO into the HD pack when on most systems LOGO is available at the very least on the highest tier of service.

I would hope SD looked decent on an SD tv but I own two HD's (Dynex and top of the line Sony) and it looks like I'm watching something from Hulu. Heck, ESPN360.com looks better.

Just my 2 cents.

Ok.."THey" did not make standard defintion look that way.
What you view is how it is sent to you.
Know this. A standard def image is meant to be viewed on a screen no larger than 20".
CRT TV's do not have nearly the pixel density of flat panel tv's and thus all the flaws and "artifacts" are not visible even on the largest of CRT Tv's.
However when SD is viewed on a flat panel tv( very high pixel density, desigened to produce images in 16X9 format) the viewer sees all of the flaws in the picute that appear when the image is streteched out to it's limits.
SO the one's who have flat panel tv's and SD only are actually causing their own dilemma. Based on the facts presented above, to say that subscribers should get HD for free is plain silly.
Is it your claim that you watch only the three channels you mentioned in your earlier post?

 

[Yragha]

Ok.."THey" did not make standard defintion look that way.
What you view is how it is sent to you.
Know this. A standard def image is meant to be viewed on a screen no larger than 20".
CRT TV's do not have nearly the pixel density of flat panel tv's and thus all the flaws and "artifacts" are not visible even on the largest of CRT Tv's.
However when SD is viewed on a flat panel tv( very high pixel density, desigened to produce images in 16X9 format) the viewer sees all of the flaws in the picute that appear when the image is streteched out to it's limits.
SO the one's who have flat panel tv's and SD only are actually causing their own dilemma. Based on the facts presented above, to say that subscribers should get HD for free is plain silly.
Is it your claim that you watch only the three channels you mentioned in your earlier post?

First and foremost I don't claim to know TV more than yourself.

Now, that's out of the way so SD is meant for TV's less than 20 inches? Didn't know that.

Secondly, why does channels like CSTV, the ESPN's, CNN, SPIKE, USA and others look good on both my HDTV's (mind you with the SD package) and others like TVLand, Nick@Nite look like crap.

Seems to me (and again I don't know a thing about how the signal gets from here to there) however that Dish is putting too many channels on a transponder and therefore causing issues with downgraded picture quality.

I'm speaking from an outsiders perspective and really would like to know how this all works.

Thanks

 

[dishcomm]

First and foremost I don't claim to know TV more than yourself.

Now, that's out of the way so SD is meant for TV's less than 20 inches? Didn't know that.

Secondly, why does channels like CSTV, the ESPN's, CNN, SPIKE, USA and others look good on both my HDTV's (mind you with the SD package) and others like TVLand, Nick@Nite look like crap.

Seems to me (and again I don't know a thing about how the signal gets from here to there) however that Dish is putting too many channels on a transponder and therefore causing issues with downgraded picture quality.

I'm speaking from an outsiders perspective and really would like to know how this all works.

Thanks

To answer you last question first. Again, the way dish gets it, is the way they send it to the consumer.
To my knowledge transponders(TP) are limited things.
There is a finite amount of bandwidth on each TP
Using more of less of the available space on one TP has no effect on video quality.
I am SD only. I have one LCD TV in the house. Some channels look fine while others look like feces.

 

[Bob Haller]

TV lands prints are often not the best, and probably no TV land shows were filmed in high def.

so its never going to look great.

 

[kristy]

We've already got receivers as well as cable run from the outside into each room. I was thinking there would be more wires run on the inside. Our home is on a slab, so it would be run back outside to tv2. Is that how most are done?