DirecTV - The March to 100 National High Definition Channels

[eliwhitney]

Hi again !

My thanks for fixing my head ( again )........the
grandson recently got one ( ? ) of the satellite outfits & his "locals" were the separate outside antenna .

eli whitney

[akirby]

You can still get local OTA DTV (HD) via antenna with both the old and new sat receivers. Only the newest mpeg4 sat receivers from Dish and DirecTV can get the HD locals over the satellite.

[eliwhitney]

Hi AKIRBY--

My thanks for helping me to make sure that my eyes weren't "going bad" as well !!! Why, on brand-new installations, would either of them "bother" to install the older styles? eli whitney

[akirby]

Cost, supply and consumer demand.

Not everyone has a HDTV yet, so the older mpeg2 receivers work just as well as the new mpeg4 receivers. And they cost a lot less. And they don't have enough mpeg4 receivers and DVRs yet for every new customer.

The mpeg2 receivers also work with the older dishes. You need a new dish for the mpeg4 receivers.

[whatchel1]

As far as I'm concerned yes E & W feeds of a channel counts as 2. I wish that w/ E* that we got both feeds for the HD. Yes I have the VIP622 but there are still times it would be nice to have the later feed to catch a show w/o a conflict. I'm all for D* getting more HD cause if they get it then E* will get it as well. There are going to be very few "exclusives" in HD for now. Voom seems to be an exception to that and so D* is saying it isn't worth having. Of course D* will have NFL Sunday ticket but that will only be part of the year and of interest to football fans. I do doubt that all of Sunday Ticket will be in HD though. If D* comes up w/ a good HD DVR then at the end of my commitment w/ E* I would consider them. So far as I have heard the D* HD DVR just isn't cutting it.

[Shane]

I own the new HD DVR, and while I did have some problems initially ... it has been smooth sailing for about 3-4 months now.

Your experience may vary, as I understand.

- Shane

[eliwhitney]

Hello ---

If you've had that VIP-622 long enough, have you experienced how much of the total hard-
drive capacity is taken by recorded "HD ?"
GONE, in just one game, etc..

Seems like "HD" requires SO MUCH capacity that
500GB drives will be necessary??
eli whitney

[akirby]

DirecTV has numerous sports packages, not just NFL. NCAA football, NCAA and NBA basketball, etc.

For the French Open they had a mix channel plus 6 other channels showing simultaneous matches the first week. The mix channel was interactive and showed all 6 channels and you could switch the audio between the different channels. You could also get current results via an on screen menu. Very slick.

I think they do the same thing for Nascar and Sunday Ticket NFL.

The point is it's not just Sunday Ticket.

[rfowkes]

Hello ---

If you've had that VIP-622 long enough, have you experienced how much of the total hard-
drive capacity is taken by recorded "HD ?"
GONE, in just one game, etc..

Seems like "HD" requires SO MUCH capacity that
500GB drives will be necessary??
eli whitney

I've had the ViP622 since it came out last year and it has exceeded expectations (especially when compared to other HD-DVRs). Your comment about the HD hard drive capacity being GONE in just one game is way off the mark. Yes, HD takes up more space than SD with about 6-7 times the information in the signal so that's no big surprise. What this means is that a one hour program recorded in HD takes up the same space ~ as a six hour SD program. Translating this into a real world situation (based on my experience and not some marketing hype) the ViP622 currently has the capacity of recording about 200 hours of SD or 30 hours of HD (or any combination thereof) before you reach capacity. Hardly a "one game and it's full" scenario. And I say "currently" because on the latest Charlie Chat this week on Dish, it was mentioned that in August they will be activating the USB port to allow content to be tranfered to external USB hard drives. With 500g USB external drives now approaching the $100 price point that means that the amount of programming you will be able to record and store with a 622 will increase dramatically over the already industry-leading amount it now offers.

The only problem that I see with these external USB hard drives is the question of DRM (Digital Rights Management). I'm not sure if and how Dish has suddenly gotten the go-ahead to offer off-line HD recording outside of the box so I will wait to see if this is in fact going to be the case. I'm sure that the external hard drive will be able to record SD programs (their PocketDish already does that) but I'm a little surprised that they inferred that you'd be able to store HD content outside the 622. But even if the SD limitation is still there it still frees up the internal space on my 622s so that they can be used for all HD content.

[rfowkes]

DirecTV has numerous sports packages, not just NFL. NCAA football, NCAA and NBA basketball, etc.

For the French Open they had a mix channel plus 6 other channels showing simultaneous matches the first week. The mix channel was interactive and showed all 6 channels and you could switch the audio between the different channels. You could also get current results via an on screen menu. Very slick.

I think they do the same thing for Nascar and Sunday Ticket NFL.

The point is it's not just Sunday Ticket.

Agreed! If sports is your main concern then DirecTV moves to the head of the class as your top choice since they have been able to maintain and expand their sports premium package exclusives. On a personal note, I feel that the days of this advantage will be numbered because of the recent MLB exclusives shutting out Dish (and not cable). It will take a long court battle but eventually this will ironed out either through legislation or mergers. But you are right, DirecTV is the choice for those who must have the maximum sports access.

It's not as though there are no sports on DISH however. They also offer the six pictures on one screen option for certain sporting events via DISH Interactive but, of course, with fewer events at their disposal the DirecTV implementation is probably more extensive. There are still literally thousands of events each year (more than enough for me) but not EVERY game for EVERY sport. In fact, as a NY Yankees Fan I actually carry a basic DirecTV subscription (one box - minimal cost but still over $45/month) just to get the YES network since DISH chose not to give in to YES demands. As soon as Verizon FIOS TV reaches my area (I already have FIOS Internet) I'll be switching that DirecTV feed to a FIOS TV feed for YES. It will also give me a first hand opportunity to compare FIOS to satellite offerings in terms of content and quality.