High channel number pros and cons?

Hoosier-Daddy

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Aug 13, 2007
54
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Many channels in my DISH service have a 3 digit channel number and also a 4 digit channel number with apparently identical programming.

I assume they are on different satellites or something but will one or the other be better to watch or record from?

There has to be some reason for the duplication, is there someplace to read up on it?
 
Nope. Same channel. The 3 digit ones are the 4 digits remapped down. The Hopper does not see the 4 digit channels.

Thanks. I realize they have the same programming. I don't want to assume what you mean by remapped. Are you saying they are the exact same broadcast (e.g. same satellite, same transponder, etc.)?

And if not, since two channels would cost more to broadcast than one, why the duplication? If they are from two different satellites one might be closer to me than the other and less susceptible to weather. Of if one satellite is less loaded maybe less compression is being used and the PQ might be a little better.
 
You must have an older receiver. The 4 digit channels are the HD versions of the SD channels. To make things easier, Dish changes the HD channel number to the same as the SD. At first, you would see both the HD and the SD numbers(the same) in the epg. Then they added an option to display only the HD channels if bothexisted. They are not send 2 hd channels to your receiver.
 
I have always locked out the 4 digit channel versions because I prefer the regular 3 digit number. It makes my guide much clearer and free of clutter.
 
Thanks. I realize they have the same programming. I don't want to assume what you mean by remapped. Are you saying they are the exact same broadcast (e.g. same satellite, same transponder, etc.)?

And if not, since two channels would cost more to broadcast than one, why the duplication? If they are from two different satellites one might be closer to me than the other and less susceptible to weather. Of if one satellite is less loaded maybe less compression is being used and the PQ might be a little better.
They are just single channels that show up twice (sometimes three times) in your guide. No extra bandwidth is being used. (Well...other than a few bytes for the duplicate guide info.)

You can either lock them out via parental controls so they don't appear, or create a favorites list guide that only includes the 3-digit listings to keep it simple.
 
I think they do the 4 digit so you can get a true HD lineup.

I got comcast and their stuff is all over the place. It's a real mess

They got all the SD stuff in the 2 digit range, the SD and HD stuff mixed in in the 100-300 range and the HD only stuff in the 4 digit range.
 
I think they do the 4 digit so you can get a true HD lineup.

I got comcast and their stuff is all over the place. It's a real mess

They got all the SD stuff in the 2 digit range, the SD and HD stuff mixed in in the 100-300 range and the HD only stuff in the 4 digit range.
They remap to make channel identification and familiarization easier. The other reasons may have played a part, but that was a big part of it.
 
They are just single channels that show up twice (sometimes three times) in your guide. No extra bandwidth is being used. (Well...other than a few bytes for the duplicate guide info.)

You can either lock them out via parental controls so they don't appear, or create a favorites list guide that only includes the 3-digit listings to keep it simple.
That may solve a problem I have. It drives me crazy to have to manually SKIP a single program 4 times to actually SKIP a scheduled recording. If I have a program name scheduled to record all with a preference for HD, and I SKIP an event, it immediately switches to the non-HD which I then have to skip, which then switches to the 4 digit HD which I have to SKIP which then switches to the 4 digit non-HD which I have to SKIP and since its a "record all", it must look at the entire schedule because each of the four SKIPs takes 10-15 seconds to complete.

Excluding the 4 digits in a favorite list doesn't help as I don't have any 4 digit channel numbers in the favorites list I use. But maybe parental control will work. Of course it may make it worse and ask me to enter the code each time it tries to replace the 3 digit skip with one of the 4 digit versions. LoL

Anyway. parental controls won't keep me from having to skip an event twice (HD and SD) but might save me from having to skip something 3 or 4 times.
 
I think they do the 4 digit so you can get a true HD lineup.

I got comcast and their stuff is all over the place. It's a real mess

They got all the SD stuff in the 2 digit range, the SD and HD stuff mixed in in the 100-300 range and the HD only stuff in the 4 digit range.
IMO, this is the one area where Dish has always excelled over other carriers. Their numbering scheme, with few exceptions, is logical and efficient. The remapping of HD channels to the standard numbers removes confusion. The local channels match the OTA numbers, not the goofy numbering scheme employed by the local cable companies years ago due to bandwidth limitations, which is still in use by Comcast, and even copied by Uverse!

I don't care for the nested channel groups on the Hopper, though, and wish they made nesting an option in the Menu. It also leads to confusion as the Hopper uses different numbers than the VIP series for many channels, and different from online guides.
 
That may solve a problem I have. It drives me crazy to have to manually SKIP a single program 4 times to actually SKIP a scheduled recording. If I have a program name scheduled to record all with a preference for HD, and I SKIP an event, it immediately switches to the non-HD which I then have to skip, which then switches to the 4 digit HD which I have to SKIP which then switches to the 4 digit non-HD which I have to SKIP and since its a "record all", it must look at the entire schedule because each of the four SKIPs takes 10-15 seconds to complete.

Excluding the 4 digits in a favorite list doesn't help as I don't have any 4 digit channel numbers in the favorites list I use. But maybe parental control will work. Of course it may make it worse and ask me to enter the code each time it tries to replace the 3 digit skip with one of the 4 digit versions. LoL

Anyway. parental controls won't keep me from having to skip an event twice (HD and SD) but might save me from having to skip something 3 or 4 times.
I believe you can also choose to display HD ONLY in the guide settings in the menu. That might save some of that anguish.
 
I believe you can also choose to display HD ONLY in the guide settings in the menu. That might save some of that anguish.
Unfortunately, we still watch some things that are in SD only.

I have hopes for the parental control idea though when I get a chance to try it. Will at least cut the problem in half. Of course the seemingly obvious solution is for the DVR to NOT unskip the SD and 4 digit versions when you manually skip the 3 digit HD version. I mean NOBODY could want it to force you to cancel the exact same event 4 times. As was pointed out, the 3 digit and 4 digit is the exact same channel. There is no logic in assuming if someone cancels an event on a 3 digit Chanel its because they want it recorded with the 4 digit channel number ?!?
 
It is a lot easier to remember the 3 digit channel numbers rather than the 4 digit ones. That is the main reason why Dish remaps the high channel number to lower ones.
 
It is a lot easier to remember the 3 digit channel numbers rather than the 4 digit ones. That is the main reason why Dish remaps the high channel number to lower ones.
Exactly. When Hd first came out there were like 1 = 3 hd channels and so the 4 digit number made sense ,but now all most all channels are in hd , there is no longer any need to differentiate the channels. That is why the hopper allows you to pick hd channels in the guide and drop the sd equivalents. Directv does this too.
 
With the Hopper, they elminated the 4 digit channels from the epg. Depending on what receiver you have you can block out the SD version of a channel that is in HD.
 
Unfortunately, we still watch some things that are in SD only.

I have hopes for the parental control idea though when I get a chance to try it. Will at least cut the problem in half. Of course the seemingly obvious solution is for the DVR to NOT unskip the SD and 4 digit versions when you manually skip the 3 digit HD version. I mean NOBODY could want it to force you to cancel the exact same event 4 times. As was pointed out, the 3 digit and 4 digit is the exact same channel. There is no logic in assuming if someone cancels an event on a 3 digit Chanel its because they want it recorded with the 4 digit channel number ?!?
It doesn't remove SD-only channels. Only SD duplicates of HD channels, which will solve half your problem.
All SD-only channels will still be visible.
 
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Do you have more than 1 timer for the program? Make sure that the timer is set to the HD channel only. What receiver do you have?
That's a very good point. I know on the Hopper, when I have a timer set to record a specific show on a specific channel, it only records on that channel. Does it not do the same on the VIP models? I can't remember that far back. :)
 
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