Dish Answers your 811 Questions

[Scott Greczkowski]

I have been kind of quiet today reading your questions and comments regarding the 811. I took many of your questions and submitted to one of my Contacts at Dish Network.

The contact was kind enough to give me a speedy reply with the answers to your questions.

Question 1 was Whats going on with Aspect Ratios and Aspect Ratio selections?

Answer: The 811 will soon support three display (monitor) aspect ratios plus five modes in a upcoming release of software soon. This will allow selection of normal, stretch, zoom, partial zoom and grey bar mode. Once the download of this new software is taken, these functions will be operational.

Question 2 was people are reporting they can't program the 811 remote into their universal remote, isnt the 811 remote a IR/UHF remote?

Answer, the 811 remote IS a IR/UHF remote, however in Sat mode the remote only transmits in UHF mode. With the new UHF Pro technology it is not possible to ourput IR/UHF at the same time. Users can however use most blue button remotes to program their universal remotes to work with the 811.

Question 3 was where is OpenTV and Dish Home on the 811?

Answer is Access to Channel 9500 for Instant Weather will be released very soon. We will release software supporting the Channel 100 Interactive Portal soon after that.

Question 4 was, some users reported that the DVI outputs on the 811 are not working.

The answer is the 811 ships in 720p output mode, most HDTV's however do not support 720p thus it appears the DVI output is not working. To fix this Hook up the 811 via Svideo or the AV outputs and then go to the setting and change the output to 1080i, your DVI outputs will now work. Note that they will be changing this setting at the factory to be 480p by default.

Hope this helps everyone and I do hope everyone enjoys their 811's!

 

[bmwaaron]

Nice Scott, thanks for the info its much appricated but I do have one other question....

Do you have yours hooked up yet and if so how do u like it?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

When have I had time?

Actually I do hope to have some screen shots for you guys later tonight or tommorow (Its looking like tommorow)

 

[John Corn]

Thanks Scott & Dish

 

[fr8flyr]

Scott,
Does this mean the 921 will not be IR controllable from the remote either?

Earl

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I believe the 921 uses the same remote.

 

[Petemc11]

You are da man ,Scott.Thanks.And you guy's that want a 2nd 811,get it from Scott.

 

[Nick]

"...the 811 ships in 720p output mode, most HDTV's however do not support 720p..."

Brilliant engineering decision.

Tech tip: If your HD tv does not support 720p, changing the 811 receiver's output to 1080i will initially require
using S-video or composite outs from the 811 to corresponding ins on your HD tv (or separate monitor) so you
can "see" the 811's menu/setup routine. Make sure your DVI cable or component cable is also connected so you
can still "see" the 811's menu screen when you switch your monitor to the 1080i input. Once you have achieved
1080i mode you can remove the S-video or composite connections, or leave them connected, as you prefer.

 

[DenR]

I hope the aspect ratio fix comes out soon. I think this is one that will affect the most people.

 

[mwgiii]

Great Job "as usual" Scott

Thanks

 

[jsevans]

If I am only using component video I assume I won't have the issue people are having with DVI. Is this correct?

 

[Mark Sorensen]

...With the new Dishpro technology it is not possible to ourput IR/UHF at the same time. ..

Hmmmm..... I can not see why this would be a true statement.

I can think of no connection between "DISH Pro" technology, and the remote.

I suspect that a more acurate answer is that they chose not to incorporate an IR remote receiver into the 811.... which would also be a legitmate answer to the question.

Even if they had to pick one method, for a high end box, where lots of folks have IR based universal remotes..... that was a strange choice. I'm thinking that the average customer would be better off with IR.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am sorry that should have been UHF pro.

 

[Mark Sorensen]

OK....after more clarification from Scot (with thanks), ..... I think that this sums it up:

The receiver can receive both IR and UHF remote control codes.

However, the 811 remote control only sends out UHF when in the Satellite Mode.

So, If your universal remote does have the proper IR codes pre-programmed into it – then it will work.

However, if you need your "Learning" universal IR remote to learn those codes from the DISH811 remote- it cannot, because the 811 remote is putting out UHF, not the IR that your remote can learn from.

So programming a "learning" remote would require using another DISH Network remote (such as the Blue Button) to produce IR commands.

.

 

[dmodemd]

Are the remote commands the same as the 6000? If I am replacing a 6000 do I need to reprogram at all? (I am using the same remote # )

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yes a 6000 remote commands are the same.

I just spoke to Dave Kummer and there will soon be a way to program the AUX button on your remote to output the IR so you can program your universal remotes to work with the 811.

A software upgrade will be needed for this, however Dave feels this upgrade will be done rather quickly.

Of course I will post full details here when its available and I will instruct you how to program your AUX button.

 

[lapplegate]

Yes a 6000 remote commands are the same.

I just spoke to Dave Kummer and there will soon be a way to program the AUX button on your remote to output the IR so you can program your universal remotes to work with the 811.

A software upgrade will be needed for this, however Dave feels this upgrade will be done rather quickly.

Of course I will post full details here when its available and I will instruct you how to program your AUX button.

Great news. I'm glad to see that Dish is taking this whole universal remote thing as serious as it is.

I was concerned that the 921 would have the same problems and using a 5xx remote to learn from would not help with functions such as PIP, Swap & Position.

Thanks,
Larry

 

[Petemc11]

Scott,as for the aspect ratios,does the 811 know which mode to select as you toggle from HD to SD or locals or do you have to change the aspect ratio each time you change standards?Is there a way to set this up in the set up menu so it changes automatically when you change from HD to SD?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Pete I am told the aspect ratios controls on the 811 will work like the 6000's when the software is released.

 

[David_Levin]

Yes a 6000 remote commands are the same.

I just spoke to Dave Kummer and there will soon be a way to program the AUX button on your remote to output the IR so you can program your universal remotes to work with the 811.

A software upgrade will be needed for this, however Dave feels this upgrade will be done rather quickly.

That sounds a little odd. I don't think the remote is software upgradable.

Since your using the AUX button, perhaps E* is going to have the remote put out an alternate set of codes (something all ready in there for another device), then update the 511 firmware so it'll respond to the alternate codes.