Skyvision / Paid Programming ??

[melgarga]

I'd drop my DN sub for 4dtv in a NY second except for two issues:

1st and VERY VERY important, there ain't no way of getting espn & espn2 via cband subscription even though there's several encrypted espn feeds on cband.

2nd, the receivers are expensive and are either used or old-new stock & the scuttlebutt on the internet is that these stbs have 'battery' issues.

Pretty much all the subs we care about are CNN, the ESPN's & the Travel Channel.

AFAIK the 920/blackout issue for the channels that carry sports is only a problem for the 4DTV DCII subs. I've not researched it, but the DRS410/Skyview package(s) should not fall under this ridiculous ruling. I would really like to have the Turner channels back, and dont give a rat's ass about the relatively small time the sports carriage programming is on.
It is hit and miss, (and a while back) but I've seen the encryption (audio, the video isnt encrypted, just bastardized) turned off for weeks at a time on the analog ESPN tps sometimes, and the PQ is awesome. Worth a look now and then for an ESPN fan.

 

[tvropro]

I would miss the 16:9 as well. Again, it is tempting, especially if the SD feeds look really good.

I use the "Smart stretch" option on my AQUOS for 480i content. It looks quite good it fills the screen with minimal distortion of original size only on the ends. Actually Sharp's "Smart stretch" was rated one of the best in that area. Also it makes the image bigger and give you the feeling of watching a much larger screen.

The HD on Dish, Direct and Cable are a bit starved over compressed mess to start with. When I bought my Sharp back in Feb this year, they had Direct tv HD playing on the floor model, It didn't look that good (soft and digital artifacts) in fact I asked if they could show me OTA HD and they said they only had it connected to Direct. So I was a bit leary about the tv's quality, although it is one below there best model in it's size class . When I brought my new tv home I hooked it to the BUD and fired up a SD Master. It looked better then Direct's HD lite. So I have very little good to say about the pizza dishes HD quality.

The Tv does an excellent job on OTA HD that isn't geting bitstarved (yes there doing this on OTA now too) CBS by me runs full 1080i with no sub channels and it looks great so there is no flaws in the tv. What I saw on the showroom floor was because of pizza's over compression.

I don't think you'd be missing much by giving Dish the boot.

 

[phpinfo]

So is 4DTV analog? And how long will it be available?

I am thinking about testing it out for a few months by ordering HBO. So I would need a 4DTV receiver and an HDD-200 to get the HD HBO's in the NPS package.

What type of 4DTV receiver do I need. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of options. - What is the sidecar and would this work.

Are there any alternatives to the HDD-200?

I still have my analog receiver and a Coolsat 6000. Looking to get a Vbox or Gbox too.

 

[Kb Cool]

4dtv receives analog and dcII (digital) signals. The hdd-200 is about it. Although a commercial hdd-1000 was available and will work too. I think if HBO and Starz decides to pull the plug on their older DCII feeds and go strictly S2. 4DTV will be done, IMO. When that happens is anybodys guess. Will it happen? In time.

 

[Techfizzle]

how long will it take before DG-II is gone? would it be wise to invest in a hdd-200?

 

[phpinfo]

how long will it take before DG-II is gone? would it be wise to invest in a hdd-200?

Good question. Don't want to spend the money, only to have it work a year or so.

Are there any 4DTV paid programming alternatives, other than Dish or DirecTV?

I saw something on SkyVision about a single satellite with the DSR-410. But this is still analog 4DTV right? So what are the other paid alternatives other than the small dishes?

 

[pendragon]

how long will it take before DG-II (stet) is gone? would it be wise to invest in a hdd-200?

That's tough to say because there are so few HD channels available and likely nothing new will ever be added. In addition that unit has only component outputs I believe, which are slowly disappearing from other A/V gear. I got a 920 for free recently and struggled with what to do with it.

I finally decided to pick up one of the Nextcom USB converters that can be fitted into any of the 4DTV units. This allows me to watch and record both HD and SD through my media players and keep the video entirely in the digital domain. I bought the DIY kit, which costs in the same neighborhood as the HDD units. If 4DTV goes belly up, I can pull the Nextcom device and install it in one of the many other receivers it supports. However installing this yourself is only for experts; if you have Nextcom do it you pay a pretty penny.

 

[tdti1]

how long will it take before DG-II is gone? would it be wise to invest in a hdd-200?

DCII as an encryption system is most likely going to be around for a very long time, all the new dvb-s2 feeds from HBO among others are using the legendary security.

Now if you are talking about DCII 4dtv compatible feeds there are still many up there, plus there is HITS, so I would say there are a few years left.

 

[tdti1]

Good question. Don't want to spend the money, only to have it work a year or so.

Are there any 4DTV paid programming alternatives, other than Dish or DirecTV?

I saw something on SkyVision about a single satellite with the DSR-410. But this is still analog 4DTV right? So what are the other paid alternatives other than the small dishes?

Here are the two main 4dtv providers:
Satellite Receivers C band and 4DTV satellite programming
NPS - Your One Call Solution - CBAND Satellite Programming C-band

There is no analog subscription left, for subs everything is digital, I think you would be best off with a 4dtv, dsr 905, 920 or 922 for the DCII programming.