Can Dish match DirecTV on this?

[TRSmudge]

I am fairly confident both will have about the same amount of HD sooner or later. But what concerns me is what Scott reported over on the Direct pages.....

"Say GOODBYE to HDLITE on DirecTV, we are hearing full resolution on all the new MPEG4 channels! All channels will be using VBR (variable bit rate) encoding. In addition DirecTV is only putting 4 MPEG4 channels per transponder (Dish Network does 6 per transponder at 1440x1080) DirecTV will be doing 4 per transponder at 1920x1080. (The 720p channels will be at full resolution which is 1280x720)"

Am I missing something here or does this give the PQ advantage to DirecTV if Dish can't match? And no I am not a DirecTV person over on the Dish page, I have Dish, and this just concerns me.....

TRSmudge

 

[navychop]

There have been postings in this forum about rumors and leaks that Dish will be going full rez at a high bit rate. No date set, though. Keep in mind, Dish has two more satellites going up in the next few months.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I don't think Dish an "at this time"

However Dish HD quality is not too bad. For most viewers they would not notice a difference between a 1920 x 1080 signal and a 1440 x 1080 signal. (Although I am sure a few folks can tell the difference)

Most HD (HGTV-HD, Discovery HD, FOOD HD etc.) is only 1440 x 1080 anyways because it was shot using HD cams. This makes Dish Networks "HD Lite" not so lite.

The Dish HD quality is BETTER then what DirecTV offers now in MPEG2 (1280x1080)

Dish can make their HD better when their new Satellite is online, however because of a recent explosion at the launch site the launch of the new bird may be delayed a few months more.

 

[John Kotches]

Scott:

For true 1920x1080 material it takes a few things include either a very large screen or sitting close to the display.

In the end; that's pretty much the same thing. I sit about 1.25 screen widths away on an FPTV setup

Cheers,

 

[GeorgeLV]

The Dish HD quality is BETTER then what DirecTV offers now in MPEG2 (1280x1080)

Really? Wasn't a big deal made recently about HD Theater being 1920x1080 @ 14Mbps on DirecTV while it was reduced to 1440x1080 @ 9 Mbps on Dish when they moved their mpeg2 channels to 4 per transponder?

 

[kstuart]

All MPEG2-HD channels on Dish are very temporary and will be changed over to MPEG4-HD in a matter of a few weeks.

PS I hate to say this, but it sounds like someone is "pandering" to each side...

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

It will be a long time (next year) before Dish converts any national MPEG2 channels to MPEG4.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Really? Wasn't a big deal made recently about HD Theater being 1920x1080 @ 14Mbps on DirecTV while it was reduced to 1440x1080 @ 9 Mbps on Dish when they moved their mpeg2 channels to 4 per transponder?

When VOOM was a DBS company they use to advertise that their HD was full 1920x1080, while in reality it was 1440x1080 the entire time.

 

[richiephx]

Weeks or months? I don't think I have seen any information about this anywhere. I hope you are right because I am not seeing consistent HD picture quality on E* as of late. Tonight, Showtime looks like crap, so does HDNET and the Much Music Video Awards. I'm wondering if what I'm seeing is the result of the L433 software update to my 211. It was better before the update and I am having nothing but problems with the receiver since the update. A replacement is coming this week so I will have a benchmark to compare.

 

[tigerfan33]

While the pq is important. I really don't want to turn this into a "less feeling, taste great" debate. How many new hd channels can Dish get right at this very minute?? How much room is there on the sats. that Dish has right now?? What are Charlies options until the new bird flys?? I would hate not to get a channle because there is simply "not enough room."

 

[navychop]

D* may lead in HD numbers for a while, then E* will retake the lead. Back and forth. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Keep in mind it appears many of the "HD" channels D* will be adding will be more stretched and/or uprezzed SD. Real HD is coming online slowly. So even if Dish only gets say, 50 HD channels to DirecTV having, say, 70 HD channels (just examples) for a few months, it won't matter. Dish will likely have it's next 2 (or more) satellites up faster than many of these "HD" networks can put out real HD. And I wouldn't get too bent out of shape over 4 or 6 HD channels per transponder. Might not make much difference, PQ wise. And Dish might be having better results fine tuning to get the best out of MPEG-4. And Charlie said Dish had every intention of being the HD leader. I suspect he'll move heaven and earth to make that happen.

The "lead" in any given area may swap back and forth. There won't likely be much difference for long- they need to stay competitive with each other.

 

[TRSmudge]

Thanks for the info guys.....
Not sure if I could tell the diff or not?
Is there somewhere someone has what channels transmit in what res?
What I mean is ESPN broadcasts in 1920x1080(not sure if they do, just an example)......

Thanks,
TRSmudge

 

[tjwgrr]

However Dish HD quality is not too bad. For most viewers they would not notice a difference between a 1920 x 1080 signal and a 1440 x 1080 signal. (Although I am sure a few folks can tell the difference)

How many people actually own displays capable of 1920 x 1080? I bet not too many. Most own at best 1280 x 1080 or even 1366 x 768....

 

[cparker]

I've been watching this resolution thing and my take on it is this...

There are people like us that know about this board, and there is everyone else. We make up a tiny fraction of satellite viewers. Over there in the everyone else group, it is my opinion that they will pay very little attention to what resolution they are receiving, and far MORE attention to how many HD channels they get.

For the majority of viewers, it will be about content. It will not be so much a matter of whether (for example) SciFi HD is being delivered as 1920x1080 or 1440x1080, but whether or not they receive SciFi HD at all.

That's my take... and if your opinion differs from mine, I can accept that.

 

[rthomp03]

How many people actually own displays capable of 1920 x 1080? I bet not too many. Most own at best 1280 x 1080 or even 1366 x 768....

I do!

 

[nlk10010]

I've been watching this resolution thing and my take on it is this...

There are people like us that know about this board, and there is everyone else. We make up a tiny fraction of satellite viewers. Over there in the everyone else group, it is my opinion that they will pay very little attention to what resolution they are receiving, and far MORE attention to how many HD channels they get.

For the majority of viewers, it will be about content. It will not be so much a matter of whether (for example) SciFi HD is being delivered as 1920x1080 or 1440x1080, but whether or not they receive SciFi HD at all.

That's my take... and if your opinion differs from mine, I can accept that.

You've summed it up quite nicely.

And if YOU owned a DBS company and YOUR wallet was on the line you're not going to fool around trying to please the tiny fraction of viewers who want full rez. You are going to try to get the most profit by, presumably, offering what most people want. Making a bad decision could easily put you way behind your competitors and might spell the end of your Company. So I'm not blaming D* or E*.

So what about a specialist provider offering that tiny fraction of consumers what they want? Well, I guess Voom tried and it didn't work out too well. Perhaps Mark Cuban is gearing up for another run by intending to offer a few "ultra" channels. Problem is, there is so much variety in content that a few channels will only sell to a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of the original tiny fraction of full rez demanders.

=NLK=

 

[schneid]

1920 x 1080p Here

And there is no comparison between a 1920 x 1080 feed and a lower resolution. My best feed is from my local NBC OTA through the 622HZ AT&T Dish box. It's genuine 1920 x 1080i. I have yet to see anything in 1080p. I guess I need HD-DVD or BluRay for that.

 

[jerryez]

Direct TV still has 9 or 10 HD channels. what else is there to say.

 

[babyj]

dish has new satellites going up? how will that affect us as consumers..more dishes? or does those new ones replace existing ones at the same orbitals?

 

[tigerfan33]

dish has new satellites going up? how will that affect us as consumers..more dishes? or does those new ones replace existing ones at the same orbitals?

We will not have to worry for a while. The launch has been delayed so it will not affect us until mid 2008.