How long is 4dtv going to be around?

[mastermesh]

Whoever created the wikipedia entry at
4DTV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
states:

Due to DVB technology replacing older high level (proprietary) MPEG transmission systems globally -- it can only be assumed that 4DTV will probably become fully obsolete by 2010.

Any guesses if that's right? i was thinking about eventually getting in to 4dtv, but if it's really not going to exist after 3 years, I'm not sure if it'd be worth the looking in to.

 

[john green]

2010 ? I doubt it will happen that fast.
Wikipedia ? As reliable as Joe on the Street who entered the info.

 

[PopcornNMore]

I believe it will happen even sooner than 2010. Most will be switching to DVB-S using an access card.

 

[tvropro]

Heck Videocipher is still around and that's been around since 85 or so. I think the 4dtv has quite a few years left, especially HITS.

 

[linuxman]

I think it will be around for a good while yet.

According to a report I read somewhere not long ago, the new ones were selling faster than the factory can produce them.

Just my opinion,

Fred

 

[voomvoom]

My personal opinion, it will be around until I cancel it! At least on my 4dtv.

Al

 

[DiscoLoveGrapes]

Whoever created the wikipedia entry at
4DTV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
states:


Any guesses if that's right? i was thinking about eventually getting in to 4dtv, but if it's really not going to exist after 3 years, I'm not sure if it'd be worth the looking in to.

It's wiki, and a poorly written article at that. I wouldn't put any stock in that claim.

 

[ediemash]

sometimes you have to wait until they have more of them so they cant be doing too bad if they are still in demand. if they get their iptv thing going that will help. they just got the chiller tv channel dish network doesnt have that channel as of yet so that has got to be saying something, not to mention all of those freebie channels that are on 4dtv. so i think they will be around for a little bit, but if everything goes mpeg4 which is what it is looking like it will be that maybe a real big hit to the big dish.

 

[tdti1]

Could be a good 5 years maybe less or more, grab a 4dtv and enjoy it while you can, even the best goes out with the rest at some point in time, and the fact that you can slave a dvb receiver to the 4d, even if DCII was gone you will still have a positioner.

 

[Shawn95GT]

My personal opinion, it will be around until I cancel it! At least on my 4dtv.

Al

Hehe - I figured the same for Voom

I think 4DTV is a nich market. You have the people looking for the best possible PQ and the people that are converts from analog.

The FTA guys playing are tossed in there some place too.

4DTV isn't cheaper, it isn't easier to install or have installed, and a lot of people can't have a 8'+ dish.

If you're going to carry the absolute digital package it's pretty much a wash for the programming fees. Granted you get more for your $$ on 4DTV but unless there is some other draw cable / pizza usually ends up cheaper while giving the option for DVRs and bundle discounts.

I had 4DTV and liked it a lot. I just subscribed to premium channels with it because you really did get a lot more for your money. When it came down to it I needed something that would play nice with Tivo or at least have some sort of DVR. I wanted high definition channels. I wanted certain channels like FX that were not available and weren't coming in the near future.

I ended up going with a cable bundle deal and Tivos + my FTA setup.

I miss ala carte programming and choosing my programming provider (NPS was always good to me) but cable won the battle here.

 

[Anole]

Based on reading the C-band forum here, I get the impression that the minuscule number of end users are insignificant .
If the service lived or died by their numbers, it'd be long gone.
I'm guessing it's the commercial users who keep it alive, and the end users are just a little icing on the cake.

Are there commercial users?
Do big hotels and regional cable companies get their programming this way?
The question is, what would it cost to move to something else, for these existing users?
They have their 12 . . 24' dishes already.

What about network feeds?
Do you actually get those ?

 

[jself1982]

Yes, you can get Denver 8 on W1...NBC-Atlanta on G3, and 2 other networks on W3...now if you know anything about the generic tiles, you can find other networks that are in the clear currently...

4dtv has first generation feeds of all the premiums, and to me this is why I keep my 4dtv sub, they look phenomenal!! The HITS channels on X4 isn't the best PQ but look better than SD on Dish Network...

If ou have VCII board, you can still sub to Comed Central, TWC, and the Turner channels...which all look just grand IMO...

Plus the 4dtv does have other channels available, you just have to know how to get them through generic tiles, which is a long hard procedure but once you learn it you don't forget it...

The onl downfall is that Motorola hasn't updated the software, guide, or satellite maps in a long time...the subscriber numbers isn't there either for NPS or SRL to get cheaper contracts like they use to...

I DO NOT REGRET MY 4DTV PURCHASE!

 

[tdti1]

Are there commercial users?
Do big hotels and regional cable companies get their programming this way?
The question is, what would it cost to move to something else, for these existing users?
They have their 12 . . 24' dishes already.

What about network feeds?
Do you actually get those ?

Yes cable and mini dish get there feeds from C-band Ku-band and Fiber, all channels on 4dtv except for the HITS and NPS reuplinks are the main distribution feeds for headends, these users are not counted in the cosumer authorization numbers, also all the numbers you see posted on the web about big dish subs are analog subs, up to this day no one really knows the actual number of 4dtv subs, I would say it's over 100000.

I tried mini dish, I was not pleased, I never had cable but my buddys do, pic is as bad as pizza, I use 4dtv for movie channels, mostly for HBO and Showtime boxing, and free feeds, my Pansat is used for feed hunting when I'm bored and feel like playing, not really a big tv fan but I do like quality when I'm watching tv, and I watch a movie mostly when it's raining outside, so for me 4dtv is great.

For HD I am ok for now on 4d for the boxing, and I will get a dvb HD receiver when I find the right one.

 

[tdti1]

I DO NOT REGRET MY 4DTV PURCHASE!

Would be best not to mention the G word in a open forum, I do agree I am very happy with my 4dtv, and I do think there would be many more subs, like people using a 90cm dish hitting Galaxy 16 for the HITS feeds, this would happen only if Dish and Bell every secure there system, I personally know about 10 guys that would get this system asap if there free tv ever went down but sadly it never does

 

[mastermesh]

Do big hotels and regional cable companies get their programming this way?

Not sure about cable companies, but I think at least some hotels use Powervu, which is why there is a hotel mux in Powervu... or at least that's what I'm guessing it's there for.

 

[Corrado]

I believe most of the 4DTV users out there started to convert over the years from analog to gain channels. Since having a BUD installed isn't actually cost effective for most people with cost probably over a $1000. Because of Dish and DTV with free equipment and customer service. They come out and can address complaints when you call, even weekends. Try that with a BUD.

Most current 4DTV users are competent enough to install and maintain their own system. People like the hobbyists here. Sort of like how this came about in the first place, looking for what else was up there.

 

[duchen]

BUD Owner

My system is based on a BUD. I have 4DTV, which I use as a psitioner for FTA (and to get mivies).

The picture on the big dish is great! I watched the backhaul of the Miami-KC game last night on Galaxy 16 (G4 on the 4DTV) using the Coolsat 8000 to receive HD. What terrific reception!

I sense that 4DTV is struggling for programming. I agree that 4DTV will come to an end when there is no money to be made in selling VCII or Digicipher encrypted programming. 4DTV has generally been losing programming over the years.

As for Anole's question, the commercial market is not keeping 4DTV alive.

Commercial establishments use the smaller KU dishes to receive programming. For example, hotels point their dish at as fixed satellite that serves hotels.

Cable and Satellite companies use BUDS to receive programming we can't get (b/c of encryption) and then uplink it back to the satellites which send the second generation signal back to subscribers. Howeverr, they generally do not use 4DTV type decoders, but whatever works with their system.

Frankly, I regret getting rid of my old Houston Tracker to use as a positioner. When 4DTV comes to an end, and then it will be hard to position the BUD (because the Motorola will not "tile" anymore).

As the channels on the BUD disappeared, I was a little slow in going to FTA. I thought it was too complicated to find channels.

However, I studied FTA before I bought a receiver and realized that great strides had been made in recent years and there are charts with coordinates as well as the Yahoo backhaul interest group. I have since added a blind scanner.

Since I like sports backhauls, I have shifted to FTA. I still have an over the air antenna and Directv.

I had the cable, but I got terrible reception. The last time I called, the repariman told me there was nothing wrong with my signal and to stop calling. So, I stopped; I got rid of cable.