If E* can add HD, why haven't they???
- Thread starter tsduke
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man i wish i wouldn't have signed that 18 month contract in January
Why does everyone get stuck in these contracts? I signed with Dish instead of D* specifically because I didn't *need* a contract. D* refused to sign me up unless I entered into a contract. Dish said "No contract? No problem. You just don't get the promotional pricing."
Is is that 6 months of free HD is *so* important to you that you need to sign an 18 or 24 month contract?
Well for me, I moved and I used dish mover which they make you sign a new contract for. I wasnt going to spend a couple hundred dollars to pay some company to move my dish stuff when I can get it for free. Also whenever you upgrade a leased receiver they make you sign a new contract.
They should save face and launch The Travel Channel, which D* doesn't have, immediately. They are probably hamstrung by all the lawsuits they have against them, which is a sign that maybe it really is time to switch because of the way they do business.
If you look at titantv.com you get a more realistic view of what actual HD programming is available. There is not a lot of difference in the amount of HD content between the D* and E*. D* appears to have a few more channels than E*, but if you drill down to content, they are about equal. Much of what you see on the HD channels looks like HD when in reality it is upconverted SD:
Sound and Vision Magazine - 8 Ways Networks Jump the HD Line
I am too lazy to look up another related thread on avsforums.com in which a poster took it upon his or herself to compare the quality of FIOS to Comcast. The test were done by photograph and digital recording size. For those who haven't heard the FIOS hype, their sales pitch is they broadcast uncompressed HD, aka mpeg2, only. The poster found Comcast to be running at about 60% compression.
I did a test on a Stargate Atlantis. I recorded the same episode in HD and SD and found the zoomed SD picture to be better. It had fewer shadows and blooms. As for sound, speaker assignment was the same for both Dolby Pro Logic II and Dolby Digital. My TV/receiver did a better upconversion than SciFi HD, which at the time was upconverted by D* and not SciFi HD. SciFi has since implemented their own HD equipment so PQ may have improved.
Many people will find themselves perfectly happy with a 16x9 picture and Dolby Digital displayed on their receiver even if it is upconverted SD.
What matters to me is Individual Programs that I watch that are AVAILABLE in HD but are not on DISH in HD. Irritates me no end to have this big HD screen with badly upconverted SD when I know the HD is there, just not on Dish.
Do does it matter that most of the programming on Bravo or Spike or Sci-Fi is in SD? NO! If you are a fan of BSG, or Top Chef or Powerblock and you know the shows are in HD, if's infuriating.
Which is why I will be switching about Mid May.
Do does it matter that most of the programming on Bravo or Spike or Sci-Fi is in SD? NO! If you are a fan of BSG, or Top Chef or Powerblock and you know the shows are in HD, if's infuriating.
Which is why I will be switching about Mid May.
Say what you want about VOOM....at least the service is 24/7 HD and NO commercials. Scanning other HD/SD services offered by D*/E* ARE NOT 24/7 HD by far. Do we want more HD or more up-converted SD? It is plain to see why the viewer is confused.
Some of the VOOM stuff is garbage, but some of it is as good or better than anything out there. Such as RAVE, RUSH and Equator.
i have no use for rave, rush OR equator..they offer nothing of interest.. of all the voom channels only MonstersHD has any entertainment value...
Regardless... I don't thin kanyone can reasonable argue that people are going to sub with dish cause dish has Voom...they will look, see dish does NOT have the major cable nets in HD and move on....
If you like Monsters, keep an eye on KungFu and World. There is some crossover. If you are a horror fan, then you would probably enjoy Asian slaughterhouse cinema that KungFu airs. We are talking protruding bones, ripped out organs and fist fights that end with death. World recently ran a couple of Italian horror flicks - think a black version of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." If you have never seen "El Topo" or "Cat O' Nine Tails" you do not know what you are missing.
I must be a freak, Voom was deciding factor. But the again, I follow F1, Cycling, NHL (go Penguins!, go Detroit! Who to root for in the Cup finals?) and B movies.
