Contact HBO

Kb Cool

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Oct 31, 2005
1,446
2
Mesa, AZ
I just sent this email off to HBO.

Hello,
I just wanted to let you guys know that Dishnetwork is overcompressing your channels (including HD) to the point that I will no longer subscribe to them. Please let them know that the "butchering" of picture quality is not acceptable.
Thank You

Here's the link.

HBO Online: Corporate Info
 
That's the only way to do it, speak with your dollars. If more people spoke with their dollars, things would get better, faster.

The problem is most people don't know any better. I was just talking to a guy the other day. He was telling me about his new 52inch DLP he just got and how great the picture was. I said oh yeah, Are you feeding it HD and he said no only DISHSD.:eek:
 
The problem is most people don't know any better. I was just talking to a guy the other day. He was telling me about his new 52inch DLP he just got and how great the picture was. I said oh yeah, Are you feeding it HD and he said no only DISHSD.:eek:

There are a lot of people who think that if they upgrade to a HDTV then all there programing is then considered HD. :(

I have seen HBO HD during a Time Warner preview and it looked very nice.
 
While all of us, and a number of consumers are excited about and appreciate HD, the vast majority of regular folks I have encountered either don't care about HD, think of HD as a headache, or just plain think that the current SD picture they receive--even highly compressed SD--is just fine, good enough for me thanks. These are folks who have seen good HD video in the stores, no less.

There have been a few people who after buying a new TV and getting an HD signal to display, fall in love with HD and want MORE. However, my guess is they are the minority and the masses are the former I described. My brother actually believes that HD is great big consumer conspiracy, or marketing ploy, to rip-off the public because, according to his eyes, HD is "just a little bit clearer." What can we do with that?:)

Another person I know does see the very big difference in HD, but he refuses to pay for an HD set (he will eventually, but he won't like it) and have to convert the other TV's because he resents the extra cost that will result. From his view he is trying to make ends meet with the family budget, and HD is an unwelcome format change that he feels will cost him money. And with Best Buy's recent announcement pulling analog CRT TV's (and presumably, digital tuner CRT's) from the shelves, he is, to an extent, correct. We all know that Best Buy did what they did (before any deadline) just to be able to have only higher priced TV's accessible to the consumer in their stores. YES, there are still people who are well aware of HD, but want to buy the cheapest SD CRT they can find because that is good enough for them and they don't want to spend more for an HDTV. SD CRT's were still selling well enough.

That is some of what HD proponents will have to battle. People converting to HD today are still early adopters. We shall see if the masses panic as they become aware of the dreaded digital Feb 2009 deadline. Oh, they will feel that the sky is falling.
 
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I run into the same people everyday.
 
That is some of what HD proponents will have to battle. People converting to HD today are still early adopters. We shall see if the masses panic as they become aware of the dreaded digital Feb 2009 deadline. Oh, they will feel that the sky is falling.

The Feb 2009 deadline has nothing to do with HD.
 
According to HDNet's lawsuit with D*, D* alone already has over 2 million HD subs. Add in the count on E* and cable and we aren't early adapters anymore.
 
I've read the distribution feed of HBO-HD isn't that good so I don't think there is going to be a change until HBO switches to mpeg4 distribution
 
The Feb 2009 deadline has nothing to do with HD.

I really wish more people understood that. I'm so tired of customers telling me stupid things like "Dish is never going to make the Feb 2009 deadline of making all channels HD at this rate." There are so many things wrong with that one sentence, (and others like it) that I don't even know where to start.
 
IMHO, here's a major reason why a lot of folks don't get a woody over HD. I believe someone's enthusiasm about HD is proportional to the size of their TV (HD or otherwise).

If you've never had a big-screen TV (45+") then you don't really have a sense on how crappy an SD picture is.

I don't have any stats, but I would guess that a majority of people still do not have a big screen TV. Most people probably watch TV on something like a 20-37" CRT. Since all the pixels of a 35" picture are "smashed" closer together to fit on the screen, SD looks relatively decent on their screen. HD only appears to marginally better on the smaller TVs, since most of the "smashing together" is already done (I know not technically accurate, but illustrates my point). However, when the SD picture is blown up to fit a 60" TV, then the picture gets much more pixelated and the imperfections are quite obvious. It's natural for the 35" owner to assume the "regular" TV shows will look "normal" on a big TV. And why wouldn't they?

Because stores always show HD content in the showroom.

Similarly, when the 35" owner watches the big game on his buddy's huge TV, it's most likely in HD. In other words, the 35" customer rarely sees SD on a big TV, let alone compare a large HD/SD picture side-by-side. Even though they know they are watching HD, the clear picture on such a big screen looks "normal" to them on subconscious level, just like it does on their TV. I'll admit when I traded in my 37" CRT for a 61" DLP a couple years ago, I wasn't prepared for how the fuzzy the regular channels looked. I actually thought something was wrong with my connections/TV/whatever. It took me a while to realize that this was normal and to get over it.


Certainly there is some confusion with the "average, uninformed" person about needing to get an actual HD signal in order to be watching HD on their TV, but that's just being blissfully ignorant. It really doesn't explain WHY some folks don't see a benefit of switching to HD. They often see the "good", but rarely see the "bad", which can only be fully appreciated on a big TV. When someone finally realizes/internalizes that SD will always look bad on a larger TV and THEN sees the difference with HD, THAT'S when the eureka moment happens.
 
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I've read the distribution feed of HBO-HD isn't that good so I don't think there is going to be a change until HBO switches to mpeg4 distribution

You should buy a BUD, 4DTV receiver and a HDD-200 decoder and you will learn what you read is wrong. It may not be as good as blue ray but its comes much closer to it than DISH does. Let's face the facts. DISH premium HD channels suck and their SD premiums are an insult to the paying customer. Period :eek
 
No I don't expect you to go out and get one because I know everyone can't have one. But,
I actually just got a 4DTV and HDD-200 decoder. Paid a little over $200 for the pair. The dish I already had. Me and the wife will be calling DISH shortly to drop the $45 a month premium movie pak and just watch the master feeds on c-band instead. They're that much better than DISH. I had a 4DTV system in the house before, but I sold it to go with DISH and my wife has been b!tching ever since that the SD picture on E* looks like crap and things are moving (pixels) on the screen. So I bought another one and I am happy and so is she. But I am still keeping DISH for ESPNHD, TNTHD, RAVE, and others you can't get with the 4DTV. :D
 
I doubt he was seriously expecting you to go and buy one. His point was that the master feed isn't as compromised as some people are thinking. It the re-compression and re-transmission by Dish that is the weak link, not the master feed.

HBO, Showtime, Starz, and Cinemax HD all looked way better on Comcast when I had it. I noticed the difference right away when I switched to Dish, and was sad. The SD premium channels were also far worse on Dish.

HBO and Showtime might look a little better on Dish the last month or so, or maybe I'm just getting used to it.
 
HBO, Showtime, Starz, and Cinemax HD all looked way better on Comcast when I had it. I noticed the difference right away when I switched to Dish, and was sad. The SD premium channels were also far worse on Dish.

HBO and Showtime might look a little better on Dish the last month or so, or maybe I'm just getting used to it.



That's what I don't get. We are paying a premium price for these Movie channels and DISH doesn't give them the bandwidth they deserve. In the meantime I'll watch them C-band. Cars on STARZHD is looking great right now off of Galaxy 13. Even the 5.1 audio sounds better than E*.:D
 
No I don't expect you to go out and get one because I know everyone can't have one. But,
I actually just got a 4DTV and HDD-200 decoder. Paid a little over $200 for the pair. The dish I already had. Me and the wife will be calling DISH shortly to drop the $45 a month premium movie pak and just watch the master feeds on c-band instead. They're that much better than DISH. I had a 4DTV system in the house before, but I sold it to go with DISH and my wife has been b!tching ever since that the SD picture on E* looks like crap and things are moving (pixels) on the screen. So I bought another one and I am happy and so is she. But I am still keeping DISH for ESPNHD, TNTHD, RAVE, and others you can't get with the 4DTV. :D

I had that same configuration a couple of years ago. 10' mesh C band dish, 4DTV DSR 922, HD200 decoder. The picture quality was unbelieveable. However, my house was blocking about half the birds, and I didn't want to put up a larger pole because even though my housing development wasn't infected with the HOA virus, I still didn't want to antagonize my neighbors. :D
 
I have HBO and the HD feed is very good. I see a very distinct difference in HD.
 
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