Class action HD lawsuit?

[spindoctor]

you are kidding right?

 

[kluken]

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...

I agree. We should flood E* and the FCC and demand that if they are no sending the full resolution that they shoudl NOT be able to call it HD. They shoudl be forced to call it HD-Lite for anything other than native res! I woudl love to contribute to a fund to sue these liars. Dish is trying to brag about being the HD leader, I say bunk, marketing BS. And now it looks liek they'll want $299 to lease a 622, go figure. Can't wait for th HD DVD (VHS v. Beta) debate to get ironed out, I look forward to going back to watching more canned product than down rezzed crap. Hell their SD channles have not looked good in years.

 

[goaliebob99]

humm thats an idea lets do a poll on it ...

 

[CPanther95]

The FTC, not the FCC. The FCC could care less about downrezzed HD channels except possibly for broadcast networks.

 

[nuts4scuba]

Maybe put the ad in the Denver Post?

 

[charper1]

Take out an multiple ads in the top 30 metro papers and pressure the FTC, FCC and your legislators. Class action will be a waste of time, effort and money if they are not violating the law.

 

[teachsac]

I've kept quiet on this. We all may not like it but 1280x1080i meets the ATSC Compression Format Constraints and is a Direct to Home Satellite Broadcast Standard.

 

[SRW1000]

I've kept quiet on this. We all may not like it but 1280x1080i meets the ATSC Compression Format Constraints and is a Direct to Home Satellite Broadcast Standard.

It's an ATSC digital compression format, but I don't believe it falls under the standard of HD.

Scott

 

[gdarwin]

As far as I am concerned if it is not either true 1080i or 720p then dish will have to legally call it enhanced definition.

I am paying for high definition.

Lets call it NOT enhanced.... They are downsizing...

 

[SRW1000]

I don't think an ad, or series of ads, would accomplish as much as a threat of a lawsuit. There just isn't enough of a public penetration of HD yet for the average newspaper/magazine reader to understand enough to get involved.

The advantage of the class-action lawsuit is that it will get the attention of the people that make these decisions really quickly. Plus, it might just attract the interest of the FTC as to how it relates to truth in advertising.

It really shouldn't have to come to this. If you're a business, don't tell us you're giving us something that you're not.

Scott

 

[gdarwin]

Maybe put the ad in the Denver Post?

US Today... Lets go national.

 

[teachsac]

From what I've read in the ATSC standards, HDTV is defined by the vertical resolution of 720p or 1080i. THe key in the standards is the horizontal resolution is "implied" to be 1920. Probably why D* has been able to get away with it.

I'm not saying it's acceptable or I even like it. Just what I've read.

 

[havana]

Chill out Gentlemen, advertisers and manufactures have always made exaggerated and inaccurate claims regarding their products...from weight loss to cleaner and whiter...it’s the American way...at least E* doesn’t have scantily dressed former playboy bunnies trying to sell their product...although that might not be such a bad thing...

 

[hammerdown]

You need to read deeper.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showpost.php?p=442760&postcount=15
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

Hammer

 

[aware]

If we are going to be hitting Directv and Dish in a full page ad for resolution, lets discuss multicasting by the local stations in the ad as well.

 

[slacker9876]

Here is all you can do for D* ...

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/glb/Form_Feedback.jsp

Here is what I had to say: Now that the Sunday Ticket seaon is over, when do you plan to return our HD programming to full 1920x1080 resolution instead of the 1280x1024 programming you are calling High Definition?

 

[CPanther95]

The ATSC standards for HD are crystal clear.

They also have many standards for EDTV and SD and a variety of compression schemes. Petitioning the FTC would be the cheapest and most expedient way to get possible action. Their interest is in fair marketing that is not mis-leading.

 

[CPanther95]

Here they talk about "10 times the pixels of ordinary television" (from 2004):

http://web.archive.org/web/20041012022737/www.directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/HDTV_why.dsp

 

[CPanther95]

Here's a WORD document of a previous D* web page talking about "2 million pixels"

 

[SRW1000]

I found this on Dish's own website:

Resolution: The sharpness of a video image, signal or display, generally described either in terms of "lines of resolution," or pixels. The resolution depends on two factors: the resolution of the display (Native) and the resolution of the video signal. Since video images are always rectangle-shaped, there is both horizontal resolution and vertical resolution to consider.

Vertical resolution: The number of horizontal lines (or pixels) that can be resolved from the top of an image to the bottom. (Think of hundreds of horizontal lines or dots stacked on top of one another.) The vertical resolution of the analog NTSC TV standard is 525 lines. But, some lines are used to carry other data like closed-captioning text, test signals, etc., so we end up with about 480 lines in the final image, regardless of the source. So, all of the typical NTSC sources - VHS VCRs, cable and over-the-air broadcast TV (analog), non-HD digital satellite TV, DVD players, camcorders, etc. - have vertical resolution of 480 lines. DTV (Digital Television) signals have vertical resolution that ranges from 480 lines for SDTV, to 720 or 1080 lines for true HDTV.

Horizontal resolution: The number of vertical lines (or pixels) that can be resolved from one side of an image to the other. Horizontal resolution is a trickier concept, because while the vertical resolution of all analog (NTSC) video sources is the same (480 lines), the horizontal resolution varies according to the source. Some examples for typical sources: VHS VCRs (240 lines), analog TV broadcasts (330 lines), non-HDTV digital satellite TV (up to 380 lines), and DVD players (540 lines). DTV signals have horizontal resolution that ranges from 640 lines for SDTV, to 1280 lines (for 720p HDTV) or 1920 lines (for 1080i HDTV).

And this:

What HDTV formats does DISH Network support?
In general, DISH Network will provide HD content in whatever format we receive from the content providers, including both 720p and 1080i HDTV formats.

I would image these will be changed soon.
Scott