How Dish's 1080p is going to work...

[theoak]

Finally got I Am Legend in 1080p!

So I did a quick test and rented it.

I clicked on Rent.

The screen flickered for about a second.

It then said something to the effect "are you sure".

I said yes (or ok).

The movie started playing.

I was a little surprised. I thought I would be prompted with something to the effect "we need to test your TV first", but no such prompts played.

I then went to the TV menus and sure enough, it stated it was receiving 1080p.

Just a word of warning to those who just want to "test" to see if their TV works ...

 

[Smith P.]

I should note those posts scattered around the site, not just in the thread. One of them.

 

[hammerdown]

...Few people will ever know the true H resolution in any broadcast as that changes from frame to frame.... I feel it would be safe to assume the H resolutions of both are identical. At least in that particular frame of the movie.

Obviously H resolution can be downrezzed. But, please educate me on how a 1920 digital stream or digital media played back on a fixed pixel display via hdmi can have any other H resolution than 1920 for every frame. Variations in H high frequency detail should only be applied to analog outputs, right?

 

[Smith P.]

Videos are downloaded before and are sitting on your disc waiting to play. You dont even know they are being downloaded until the download is completed.

For those of you with 501 but no I Am Legend in 1080p make sure your TV is hooked up via HDMI cable and that your television supports HDCP.

I should note: it was incorrect statement.

ANY combination of DVR and TV will allow to download the movie.

For those who didn't get it - check other conditions what we discuss in MANY threads last weeks.

 

[waltinvt]

Observations from Dish's 1080p VOD

The 1080p "I Am Legend" (IAL) does not necessarily show up at the same time as the 612 software upgrade and the other 501 VOD selections.

Getting 612 apparently is not related to geographical location or customer status. I got 612 on my newer 622 a week ago and the original 622 2 days ago. "IAL" showed up this morning on both.

A thought for those who's 1080p tv doesn't seem to be passing Dish's compatibility test. Double check because when you select it and the test starts, the screen blinks (stays black if you don't have 1080p) to the new resolution and you soon get a message to confirm you want to watch the movie.

At that point you don't have very long to confirm or it blinks back and you get a message saying your tv is not compatible OR you didn't select it time. I think this may be confusing and leading some people to think their tv failed the test.

On my non 1080p tv there's no question about it because the screen goes dark and stays that way for 15 seconds and then goes back to 1080i with the not compatible message. On my 1080 24p Sony, the screen blinks to 1080p (and if I have the Sony's "display" on, the tv says "1080 24p") and then the message pops up asking me to confirm. If I do nothing it blinks back to 1080i with the "not compatible or didn't respond in time" message.

Dish could alleviate a lot of this confusion if they clearly separated the test for compatibility from the confirm rental message.

BTW, I also tried the HDMI test from "Menu-Setup-Diagnostics" and couldn't see any place that confirmed my tv was 1080p. In fact on one page of the results it listed 480i, 480p, 720p & 1080i as choices but nothing for 1080p.

Now onto viewing I Am Legend in 1080 24p. The picture quality is very good but because it has been modified to 16:9 AR, you do loose some of the picture. Amazing though how someone being shown the Blu-Ray version in original aspect ratio and seeing the small black bars top & bottom think THEY are the ones actually loosing something. What can I say, a lot of normally smart people are not very smart in this regards.

As with ALL Dish's VOD, you can NOT record IAL to your DVR HDD...........again. Actually it's already on your HDD but you know what I mean - you can't put it under your control on your HDD. The normal DVR functions do work however, so you can pause, rewind, skip, etc.

Finally regarding status of other 622 outputs while playing 1080p. The component video output is blocked but the S-Video and audio outputs are not, so I was able to record to my Panasonic E85 DVD recorder's HDD.

I just viewed part of it there (E-85 connects to the TV's component inputs) and the 480p picture looks quite good. I'll be curious to see how it looks up converted on my HD-DVD player later but even now it's a real decent anamorphic, 480p copy.

A word to Dish here: I might actually rent a fair amount of 1080p VODs for $2.99 a day (even though I can't keep an HD copy on my DVR's HDD) as long as the S-Video outputs stay active but at $6.99 a day and no way to keep it in HD forget it - never happen. There are going to be way too many competing options for HD viewing for Dish to even stay in the game at that price.

Oh, one more little thing: After you rent the VOD, a little red, "rented" icon shows up in the EPG and under info it says how long you have left.

 

[Soulwhat]

Yesterday I awoke to find my living room VIP-622 Turbocharged! My bedroom unit also a 622 was turbo'd in the first roll out. Unfortunately I don't have a 1080P TV in the bedroom and was not able to check out the HD VOD.

WOW! I compared the VOD of I am Legend with the Blu Ray and It's just about perfect. The only complaint I would post was that I had a few dropouts during playback. I'm not sure if this was a glitch in the downloading process or something on the HDD of the 622. Did anyone else have this issue?

I am not big on "PPV" movies but this is a really good way to preview before you commit to purchasing a movie in Blu Ray format but really only for movies that you have a strong interest in as the price point is too high IMO.

Cheers!

 

[AriesGodofWar]

Got L612 Monday, and IAL just showed up this morning. Clicked on it, got the test message, screen flashed, asked me to confirm rental, I did nothing, and then got the "Either not compatible or took too long" message, so I can report the Vizio VU42LF is compatible with the 1080p/24 service.

I agree with previous posters, E* should have taken 2 secs in the Software to have both a message for the incompatible monitors and a separate message for compatible monitors who just may have taken to long. I guess however, if they did that, they could then not collect the money from all the folks that try it thinking they will get a clear chicken test. More money in Charlie's pocket I guess. That Charlie, always thinking.........

 

[indianafanatic]

...On my 1080 24p Sony, the screen blinks to 1080p (and if I have the Sony's "display" on, the tv says "1080 24p") and then the message pops up asking me to confirm. If I do nothing it blinks back to 1080i with the "not compatible or didn't respond in time" message.

Sorry for missing it if you posted it, but what model is your Sony set? Thanks.

 

[primetimeguy]

I finally got 6.12 and the 1080p download when I was out of the town the last couple days. I only have a 1080i set (RP CRT) but rented any way to compare to Blu-Ray. Running the 1080p test broke my HDMI connection, so I switched to component input to see what was going on, then had to cycle power to the TV to get picture back. So eventually I got it to play. I just skipped to certain parts of the movie and I did experience jerky/poor performing FF and RW. But the picture does look good. I was a doubter that this would look "Blu-Ray quality" but I was wrong. If movies were always $3 I may check some out, but for anything more I'll continue with Blu-Ray rentals.

 

[waltinvt]

Sorry for missing it if you posted it, but what model is your Sony set? Thanks.

Bravia KDL-46S4100

 

[TheForce]

primetimeguy- Just curious- what CRT RP TV has hdmi anyway or did I mis-read your post?

 

[SKrueger]

primetimeguy- Just curious- what CRT RP TV has hdmi anyway or did I mis-read your post?

I can name a couple
Panasonic PT-47XD64
Phillips has a couple
JVC had a model that I think has been discontinued

 

[avp]

The 1080p "I Am Legend" (IAL) does not necessarily show up at the same time as the 612 software upgrade and the other 501 VOD selections.

Getting 612 apparently is not related to geographical location or customer status. I got 612 on my newer 622 a week ago and the original 622 2 days ago. "IAL" showed up this morning on both.

A thought for those who's 1080p tv doesn't seem to be passing Dish's compatibility test. Double check because when you select it and the test starts, the screen blinks (stays black if you don't have 1080p) to the new resolution and you soon get a message to confirm you want to watch the movie.

At that point you don't have very long to confirm or it blinks back and you get a message saying your tv is not compatible OR you didn't select it time. I think this may be confusing and leading some people to think their tv failed the test.

On my non 1080p tv there's no question about it because the screen goes dark and stays that way for 15 seconds and then goes back to 1080i with the not compatible message. On my 1080 24p Sony, the screen blinks to 1080p (and if I have the Sony's "display" on, the tv says "1080 24p") and then the message pops up asking me to confirm. If I do nothing it blinks back to 1080i with the "not compatible or didn't respond in time" message.

Dish could alleviate a lot of this confusion if they clearly separated the test for compatibility from the confirm rental message.

BTW, I also tried the HDMI test from "Menu-Setup-Diagnostics" and couldn't see any place that confirmed my tv was 1080p. In fact on one page of the results it listed 480i, 480p, 720p & 1080i as choices but nothing for 1080p.

Now onto viewing I Am Legend in 1080 24p. The picture quality is very good but because it has been modified to 16:9 AR, you do loose some of the picture. Amazing though how someone being shown the Blu-Ray version in original aspect ratio and seeing the small black bars top & bottom think THEY are the ones actually loosing something. What can I say, a lot of normally smart people are not very smart in this regards.

As with ALL Dish's VOD, you can NOT record IAL to your DVR HDD...........again. Actually it's already on your HDD but you know what I mean - you can't put it under your control on your HDD. The normal DVR functions do work however, so you can pause, rewind, skip, etc.

Finally regarding status of other 622 outputs while playing 1080p. The component video output is blocked but the S-Video and audio outputs are not, so I was able to record to my Panasonic E85 DVD recorder's HDD.

I just viewed part of it there (E-85 connects to the TV's component inputs) and the 480p picture looks quite good. I'll be curious to see how it looks up converted on my HD-DVD player later but even now it's a real decent anamorphic, 480p copy.

A word to Dish here: I might actually rent a fair amount of 1080p VODs for $2.99 a day (even though I can't keep an HD copy on my DVR's HDD) as long as the S-Video outputs stay active but at $6.99 a day and no way to keep it in HD forget it - never happen. There are going to be way too many competing options for HD viewing for Dish to even stay in the game at that price.

Oh, one more little thing: After you rent the VOD, a little red, "rented" icon shows up in the EPG and under info it says how long you have left.

That was a great idea. I checked it your way with tv picture information on screen. When it went black my tv showed
1080P I hit confirm. It is now playing at 1080P.
This is on a Vizio VP-504f plasma.
Thanks for the tip.

 

[primetimeguy]

primetimeguy- Just curious- what CRT RP TV has hdmi anyway or did I mis-read your post?

I'm actually running HDMI-DVI cable. TV is Sony KP-57WS510.

 

[Dr. Cool]

My TV is not 1080p compatible (it accepts only 1080i, 480p and 480i), so when I tested the set for "I Am Legend" my ViP622 asked me if I wanted to watch the movie in another compatible resolution. Anybody knows what resolution would it be? I suppose it would have higher quality than PPV HD, would anybody be able to confirm?

 

[fredp]

Getting 612 apparently is not related to geographical location or customer status. I got 612 on my newer 622 a week ago and the original 622 2 days ago. "IAL" showed up this morning on both.

Thats a tossup as best I can tell. For me it showed up on the day I got 6.12

BTW, I also tried the HDMI test from "Menu-Setup-Diagnostics" and couldn't see any place that confirmed my tv was 1080p. In fact on one page of the results it listed 480i, 480p, 720p & 1080i as choices but nothing for

I bet its tied to what the receiver(in normal mode) can do at best 1080i. This VOD isn't normal..

A word to Dish here: I might actually rent a fair amount of 1080p VODs for $2.99 a day (even though I can't keep an HD copy on my DVR's HDD) as long as the S-Video outputs stay active but at $6.99 a day and no way to keep it in HD forget it - never happen. There are going to be way too many competing options for HD viewing for Dish to even stay in the game at that price.

Way to many options ie; Netflix. At $2.99 maybe... but it won't stay there seeing their regular price for HD rentals. If Dish wants $6.99 for a 1080/24, 24hr rental and you have the $8.99 monthy Netfliunlimited single rentals including BD) why would you even consider Dish...

 

[Quantum]

Can anyone confirm for certain where these VoDs are stored, and how?

If on a hidden partition, is there any way to reduce its size, or is this just lost space?

 

[waltinvt]

Can anyone confirm for certain where these VoDs are stored, and how?

If on a hidden partition, is there any way to reduce its size, or is this just lost space?

Think of it like this: You buy or lease a house but the original owner maintains control over it and even keeps some of his sh*t in a "locked" room. There's a window in the door to that room so you can see what's there but if you want to "borrow anything", there's a fee of course.

You could also do analogies with a vehicle and trunk space or even leasing a tuxedo with one pocket sewn up.

 

[Quantum]

It sounds like you are implying a hidden partition, Walt.

If this is the case, oh I know. Personally I don't care though because I have an R5000-HD in my receiver. I'm just disappointed for my customers.

Remember, the Fair Use Doctrine was established by the Sony Betamax decision. Republicans rescinded it with the DMCA in '99, but this is a corrupt law growing out of congressional corruption, which stunts academic growth and limits our personal freedoms.

Vote Nader.

 

[TheForce]

Quantum- Why should you even care? Just go out and buy a low cost USB hard drive, plug it in and forget about it. There are far more important issues than all this belly aching about a partition reserved in your 622 that is holding content you can have access to for a fee, Partition space you never had and probably never will have. My suggestion is to just forget about it. Not worth making such a stink over.