HD rcvr ?

NterestedNDish

Member
Original poster
Aug 15, 2006
5
0
Indianapolis
Hello, all! I am a new subscriber to DISH with a DVR sys. I wanted to get an HD pkg, but I know I need to buy a HDTV. Does anyone know if the HD receivers that DISH offers are HD compatible, HD ready, or do they have to be HD? I am looking at buying a HDTV for this reason, but I wasn't sure of the answer. Please help!
 
It sounds like you are asking about the tuner situation. Let me see if I can help.

The HD receivers from Dish will take both the satellite HD signal and over the air HD signals, and work with them just fine. They will then output a HD signal.

What this means from a TV standpoint is that you do not need to have a built in ATSC HD tuner in your TV. You can get an HD Ready TV without any problem. That is what I have. The only benefit to having an HD tuner built into your TV is that you could plug the antenna for OTA directly into your TV, but why would you do that? You would miss out on all the great DVR functionality for your OTA shows.

So unless you are planning on plugging the antenna into the TV directly, you don't need to have an internal ATSC tuner, you just need an HDTV ready TV.

As for if the receiver "has to be HD" I am not sure what you mean. If you are asking if your TV has to be HD to have an HD receiver, then no, it doesn't, you could still use the recevier, but you would of course not get an HD picture on your TV. You have to have an HD receiver and an HD TV to get the full benefit.

Hope that helps and answers your question.
 
Is there a recommended tv that I should look at purchasing. I usually buy stuff like that online. Is there a company website that anyone would recommend? I want to get the best deal out there.
 
NterestedNDish said:
Is there a recommended tv that I should look at purchasing. I usually buy stuff like that online. Is there a company website that anyone would recommend? I want to get the best deal out there.

Nterested,

There are a number of different HD display technologies. All have Advantages, and disadvantages.

Your Display choices are (direct View) CRT, LCD , Plasma, then there are Projection units, LCD, DLP, Lcos as well as Front Projectors. In DLP sets some use color Wheels and some don't (Color Wheels are not the best at color reproduction as you sometimes see halo effects from the Spinning Wheel).

Direct view displays based on CRT will be the cheapest but they are VERY heavy and don't get any bigger than 34 inches. Plasma Displays are more subject to Burn-in and Image retention. LCD are the most expensive but do not have issues with Burn-in, but check to see if the Backlight is replacable and the cost. If you want the most flat display and don't want to take up much room then the Direct View Plasmas and LCD's are Sets you want to look at, You will pay a premium for these Flat displays over a Projection set of the same size.

Don't get talked into a 4x3 HD display. Determine how far you are going to sit away from the TV. The forumla to determine the proper display size (for your viewing location) is that you want to sit 1 1/2 (min) - 2 (max) times the size of the Display, away from the display. Pay attention to the actual resolution the display is capable of, most Plasma and Direct View LCD's are not capable of full resolution 1080i. Some Sets do not perform well in bright lit rooms (especially Plasma's Highly reflective surface and rear Projection). Do your homework!

Good Luck
John
 
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