Charlie Chat Recap and Discussion

[jergenf]

When are folks going to learn to not believe anything that Charlie and company say in the chats, especially when it comes to HD programming?

One more thing to add to Charlie's promises back in spring 05:
The mpeg4 receiver exchange will be as painless as possible.

Funny, no mention of that last night even though new channels will be mpeg4

 

[BrettTRay]

I think the new HD channels (voom and ESPN2) will be MPEG2. There is no way they will put them up in MPEG4 when no one can even see them until they get the new 211/411. Could you imagine all the calls to upgrade if they put these channels in MPEG4. They will already have there hands full upgrading everyone in the new HD DMA markets that they will be launching in January to MPEG4 boxes. I know they better hurry and release the new 942+ MPEG4 HD DVR in the next month or so.

 

[rad]

I think the new HD channels (voom and ESPN2) will be MPEG2. There is no way they will put them up in MPEG4 when no one can even see them until they get the new 211/411.

Why not? Nobody could see Discovery HD Theater until they upgraded their 6000's with the 8PSK module.

 

[BobMurdoch]

They need to add the V* pak, ESPN2 HD, and the NY locals to 61.5 for the white area folks. LA locals to 148 for the westies.

They should ONLY add the Mpeg4 feeds when they have sufficient HD PVRs and 411s in the pipeline. That doesn't mean JUST a fnctioning demo at CES, but plenty of machines in the pipeline for anyone who wants them. Otherwise you are just gonna create an XBox 360 situation if demand far outstrips supply (with the requisite ticked off customers bolting for D* or cable.)

Shudder.... cable. It's getting scary when THEY start to look good to me.

 

[jergenf]

I think the new HD channels (voom and ESPN2) will be MPEG2. There is no way they will put them up in MPEG4 when no one can even see them until they get the new 211/411. Could you imagine all the calls to upgrade if they put these channels in MPEG4. They will already have there hands full upgrading everyone in the new HD DMA markets that they will be launching in January to MPEG4 boxes. I know they better hurry and release the new 942+ MPEG4 HD DVR in the next month or so.

I agree with what you're saying just hope that dish makes a retraction about any misunderstandings that were made.

They need to make public the receiver exchange policy or risk customers fleeing to D*. Also no one with a 921 or 942 will settle for a 411/211 and loose dual tuner plus DVR features. The 962 is no where in sight unless they have another shocker planned for us.

 

[Purogamer]

If charlie had misspoke about MPEG-4 channels, wouldn't he have been told to correct it before the end of the show? Surely someone is listening to him...

Usually if charlie is unsure he asks someone else to clarify or at least confirm, one of the hooligans behind the camera, so if he didn't do that I'd say what he said could have a little something behind it. I realize it's been a very busy month for them and things have obviously changed, and could change again, but if they made changes because of suggestions made then they know we're watching and hanging on every word. I can't believe they enjoy the email barrage when they say something untrue...

December 22nd is the next big date for HD info, mark it on the calendar...

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Why not? Nobody could see Discovery HD Theater until they upgraded their 6000's with the 8PSK module.

Wasnt Discovery in QPSK first then upgraded to 8PSK later on?

I can't honestly remember.

 

[BrettTRay]

I've seen Charlie make alot of mistakes on the Tech Chat and Charlie chat that never got corrected by the people in the background.

 

[BrettTRay]

I thought Discovery was first QPSK and then 8PSK later on also. I'm almost positive but I could be wrong, it won't be the first time and definetaly wont be the last!!!!

 

[jergenf]

If charlie had misspoke about MPEG-4 channels, wouldn't he have been told to correct it before the end of the show? Surely someone is listening to him...

I've been watching these Charlie Chats for years now and frequently things are said that are later discovered to be incorrect. Often he believes he's saying something truthfully but later that statement never becomes true. Or it could be a situation that they later change their minds about.

 

[jergenf]

Wasnt Discovery in QPSK first then upgraded to 8PSK later on?

I can't honestly remember.

Some channels were originally 8VSB before changing their modulation but DiscoveryHD was the first channel to start out as 8PSK.

 

[rad]

Wasnt Discovery in QPSK first then upgraded to 8PSK later on?

I can't honestly remember.

You could be right, that was a long time ago. If I'm mistaken, sorry. How about pulling the post since it may be incorrect???

 

[rad]

Some channels were originally 8VSB before changing their modulation but DiscoveryHD was the first channel to start out as 8PSK.

8VSB is for over the air ATSC signals, not DBS, that I know I'm right about

 

[jeslevine]

just spoke with a tech at dish. They confirmed that the new Voom channels, and locals would be on mpeg4. They also indicated that 942s can be mpeg4 enabled, and they would be able to receive them. 811s would NOT, and you would need to have 211/411 in place of the 811s to receive them

Couldn't tell me if there would be an upgrade path for 811s to 211/411s

 

[jergenf]

8VSB is for over the air ATSC signals, not DBS, that I know I'm right about

Then perhaps it was QPSK. I remember that the model 5000 (with HD modulator option) would convert satellite HD to 8VSB. I guess I assumed it was 8VSB to begin with.

 

[jergenf]

just spoke with a tech at dish. They also indicated that 942s can be mpeg4 enabled, and they would be able to receive them.

The 942 doesn't have a mpeg4 decoder chip also they would be making the 962 if it wasn't necessary.
So much for that Tech's reliability.

 

[jeslevine]

just relating what the tech told me.

Incidently I have comcast and Dish both, and there is no question that the quality of DISH HD has gone down in the last week or so

 

[BobMurdoch]

Why not? Nobody could see Discovery HD Theater until they upgraded their 6000's with the 8PSK module.

Which was a $99 option that all could use without replacing a household full of receivers.

That was Discovery HD. We may be talking ABC HD here for those in the markets that will first be offered. There will be many clamoring for new machines. How many of us will jump for a non-PVR box though?

 

[rad]

Which was a $99 option that all could use without replacing a household full of receivers.
That was Discovery HD. We may be talking ABC HD here for those in the markets that will first be offered. There will be many clamoring for new machines. How many of us will jump for a non-PVR box though?

The point was that the prior poster said that E* wouldn't put up a channel that folks couldn't receive without new hardware, I was pointing out that they did do that in the past, so a precident had been set already by E*.

Now would it be a smart thing to do, come on, we're talking E* here. There are a great number of unanswered questions here, will be MPEG2, will it be MPEG4, what satellite will the new content be made availble on, when are the new non-DVR MPEG4 boxes going to be made available, what's the new MPEG4 DVR going to be, what's the upgrade path/costs for the customer.

Right now it's just fun watching everyone guess on what the answers to these questions will be, the $64,000 question is does E* know the answers yet?

 

[Cyclone]

I'm fairly certain that Discovery HD Theater required the 8PSK module from the day it launched. The other HD channels at the time (HD Demo, HBO & SHO) used QPSK and did not require the module.