Class action HD lawsuit?

[iKramerica]

With D*, E* and cable all looking to sell High Definition but provide lower than High Definition (a form of Enhanced Definition instead), isn't this a blatant case of false advertising?

HD has always been defined as 720p or greater resolution, or the "million pixel" picture (though the viewable area of 720p is only 900k+ pixels).

HD lite is only about 700k pixels, less than 2x the resolution of 480p.

To charge for something then not deliver it is a crime. It is fraud. But usually it is punished via civil court.

Any such lawsuit could easily convince E* to switch back to full HD, at least when switching to MP4, rather than refunding money.

I was sure that VOOM would return to full HD in MP4 since it has lower bandwidth requirements. The fact Dish is not doing this removes any excuse they had about a temporary bandwidth limitation. Let's see the excuse they use when the new satellite is launched...

 

[gutter]

If you can find an attorney to take this on...you can count me in.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Monday hasn't arrived and folks are getting litigious already. Sheesh....

 

[iKramerica]

I've never known a Charlie Chat to provide any real information. Even when things are announced, they are more like guesses at what will happen and when it will happen.

They have lied in CC before, with NBR, upgrade paths, date of product launch, etc.

And i don't want money. I just want them to provide what they are selling: HDTV.

1280x1080i is not HDTV. It is the downside of both the 1080i and 720p formats:

720p reduced horizontal resolution + interlaced drawbacks of 1080i

1280x1080i is the evil twin of 1080p (the combination of the BEST aspects of 720p and 1080i).

Yet they market and sell their product as HD. Same as D* and Cable.

A class action that sues all three on behalf of ALL cable/sat subscribers would be big, big big.

You must remember, the ONLY companies who actually want to provide the consumer with true HD content are the TV manufacturers.

Hollywood doesn't want us to have HD.
The networks/locals don't want to go through the expense.
The content companies don't want to either.
The cable/sat companies don't want to either.

They all want to charge for "HD" but provide the cheapest, least quality picture they can get away with due to cost and "pirating" issues.

Only the TV makers want to provide true HD because it allows them to sell the most expensive sets. And even they don't want the ATSC tuner to be mandatory because they couldn't charge $300 extra for sets that include it when it is mandatory (as it would price the sets too high overall, and they only cost a few bucks to implement).

We can at least do something about the cable/sat companies, because they are the only ones actually selling us something they are not delivering...

 

[goaliebob99]

Guys atleast wait untill monday after the Chat. If you read my.. defining hd post in this fourm you know where my views are on it.. But Right now all I can say is no comment untill I can get some more info

 

[dragon002]

guys,

think about this, charlie has his chats and promises you the moon and stars.......you say he is wrong,

rupert sits on top of the world and says....nothing,,,,,you say he is wrong.

you are going to get what they can provide , when they provide it.

sorry that is free enterprise.

 

[Horsnuts]

Goalie ( as well as other informed people) keeps saying "WAIT TILL MONDAY". Mabye we should give it a rest till then. They might know something we don't. You never know! Just my .50 cent

 

[Cokeswigga]

A class action lawsuit was filed (for different mattter) against Time Warner Cable.... guess what the outcome was.
They offered 3 months of ADDITIONAL service at no cost.
Who won??
the lawyers....

they received several millions of dollars for their efforts...

guess who pays the time warners legal fees?


hmmmm.... I wonder.


Maybe if we sue Dish and win, they will give us 3 months of free Lifetime Networks!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

There is no grounds for a lawsuit, as even downresed the resolution they are using is one of the 12 different resolutions listed under the HD standards.

It may not be full resolution HD, but it still IS HD.

As they told me yesterday we could have full resolution HD back but then we would not get Universal or ESPN2HD.

While I do agree with the purists out there at the same time (and I am speaking on my own opinion) I would rather have the extra channels.

Only 3 channels have had their resolution lowered (and CBS HD which I am told is an engineering issue) the rest have always been at the lower resolution since they have been on Dish Network.

I would rather have more channels of HD to watch at a slightly lower resolution (and like most people my HDTV's can display at the full 1920 x 1080i anways) then watch the same VOOM repeats over and over again with a slightly better picture.

 

[BFG]

As they told me yesterday we could have full resolution HD back but then we would not get Universal or ESPN2HD.

They were lying, it could and can be done.

Just look at how they currently have the 5 voom and espn2 and universal HD allocated. It's taking up they same amount of space if they were to have them at mpeg2. They are only going to MPEG4 because the marketing makes them more money, and they are downrezzing simply because they can and may give them extra room, but it isn't saving any room that mpeg2 would use

 

[CPanther95]

1280 x 1080i is not an ATSC HD standard.

 

[BFG]

1280 x 1080i is not an ATSC HD standard.

Unfortunetly, it's an ATSC compression standard. Look at the thread Sean started where he looked it up.

 

[gdarwin]

There is no grounds for a lawsuit, as even downresed the resolution they are using is one of the 12 different resolutions listed under the HD standards.

It may not be full resolution HD, but it still IS HD.

Where are these standards?

 

[Sean Mota]

As far as I know there are only two HDTVs standard 1920x1080i and 1280x720p. Everything else below these two like 1280x1080i is compression standard or 3/4 resolution. Maybe E* or D* or anyone that practices should call it the way it is and not try to sell it to us like "True HD". This is a compression standard of "True HD" which means that E* or D* or whomever uses this resolution is providing sub-standard HDTV. Very simple and to the point. Just because some cannot see it does not make it legit. If I pay top price for a V8 engine, guess what, I don't want to find out that I have a V4 engine instead. The car still runs but this is not what I pay for.

 

[hammerdown]

According to the ATSC
http://www.atsc.org/standards/practices/a_54a.pdf
The ATSC Standard enables transmission of HDTV pictures at several
frame rates and one of two picture formats:
SMPTE 274M (1998): Standard for Television—1920 1080
1080 1920 16:9 60I, 30P, 24P
SMPTE 296M (2001): Standard for Television—1280 720
720 1280 16:9 60P, 30P, 24P


Many providers are false advertising and are set up for a class action lawsuit IMO
Hammer

 

[CPanther95]

Unfortunetly, it's an ATSC compression standard. Look at the thread Sean started where he looked it up.

If you're talking about the ATSC compression standards listed on page 17 here:
http://www.atsc.org/standards/a_81.pdf

those aren't specified as "HD" in fact, they go all the way down to 352 x 480.

 

[Dune]

Here's a link I found for standards
http://www.cybercollege.com/dtv_stans.htm

 

[Petrovich]

There is no grounds for a lawsuit, as even downresed the resolution they are using is one of the 12 different resolutions listed under the HD standards.

It may not be full resolution HD, but it still IS HD.

As they told me yesterday we could have full resolution HD back but then we would not get Universal or ESPN2HD.

While I do agree with the purists out there at the same time (and I am speaking on my own opinion) I would rather have the extra channels.

Only 3 channels have had their resolution lowered (and CBS HD which I am told is an engineering issue) the rest have always been at the lower resolution since they have been on Dish Network.

I would rather have more channels of HD to watch at a slightly lower resolution (and like most people my HDTV's can display at the full 1920 x 1080i anways) then watch the same VOOM repeats over and over again with a slightly better picture.

How can someone get blackmailed so easily? The reply should have been, "Oh, if I am not getting ALL channels in full rez I am just dumping you guys and a lot of people I know will follow."

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I would rather have more channels of HD to watch at a slightly lower resolution (and like most people my HDTV's can display at the full 1920 x 1080i anways) then watch the same VOOM repeats over and over again with a slightly better picture.

But the problem is that we end up wth NO "channels of HD."

This is akin to stating that you would rather have many channels of a form of "super ED" than a moderate number of real HD channels.

When HD formats were being debated and standardized, resolutions like 1280x1080i were specifically rejected as being acceptable HD standards.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Sue SUE SUE!

as well as cancel...

Last time I checked breaking the law is illegal