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longhorn any hd news?

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austen0316

SatelliteGuys Guru
Original poster
Feb 10, 2005
122
1
Robbinsville, NJ
hey longhorn, can you provide us with any of the lastest hd news for directv? You have been quite on this issue, hopefully something good maybe.
 
any HD news? are you kidding? How can you have news about HD when you dont supply any to begin with?
 
The CSR I just got off of the phone with told me HGTV would be going HD "very soon". BIG DEAL!!! Where is National Geographic? How about TBS? It's not like this is rocket science any more. Yet she told me a lot of people ARE excited about the CD HD channel.
 
vurbano said:
any HD news? are you kidding? How can you have news about HD when you dont supply any to begin with?
School must have let out early for some of the same-ol same-ol negative posters today.
 
vurbano said:
Speak for yourself. 1280x1080i at 8 mbps is NOT HD.
8 mbps? I love it when folks make up data just to prove their unfounded point. Expect no less from some.
 
I sent an e-mail to D* to let them know why I've dropped most of my programming (no new HD except LIL and CD-USA). Their response was:

As you might imagine, high-definition channels are some of the most expensive ones for us to carry, both in terms of what we pay the networks to distribute their programming and the technology we use to deliver them. As a result, the price per channel in this package is higher than most of our other packages.

However, we believe that our pricing is quite competitive with what others are charging for HD service. DISH Network charges $9.99/mo. for its HD Pak, and many cable companies require a subscription to a digital tier of service, in addition to $2-$10/mo. for rental of a high-definition receiver.

We're committed to providing the best in HDTV programming and we're in constant discussions with program providers to continue adding new channels and programming.

Stay tuned to DIRECTV.com/HDTV for the latest news and announcements as they become available.


Part or my response back to that e-mail was:

How long does it take to negotiate channel carriage? We've been hearing that line for over a year, ever since TNT-HD started operation. What about Cinemax-HD or Starz-HD? Sorry, not buying that line anymore. Heck, Dish Network, which drives a VERY hard bargain for programming, they've even pulled channels when they don't get their terms, has TNT-HD. If Dish can get TNT-HD why can't DirecTV?

And I really get a laugh with your line about DirecTV being committed to providing the best in HD programming. There are many discussions on the internet about how DirecTV downconverts their HD channels to non-standard ATSC formats and reduces the bandwidth provided to the channels to conserve bandwidth, resulting in degraded picture quality. I did comparisons between images on HD channels that DirecTV and Comcast carries on my set and you can clearly see the DirecTV picture is of a lower image quality then Comcast, which doesn't modify the original signal, at least on the Comcast system I use.

Sorry but this is one customers that's tired of waiting for channels that have been available for over a year. The company that provides the service that I want gets my dollars.



The response that I got to that was that someone would be calling me.
 
ocnier said:
What about INHD?

As I understand it, INHD is owned by the cable companies and
will remain on cable only for the forseeable future. Sucks, huh?

Chip
 
dragon002 said:
i heard national geographic hd will be on directv 3.1.06
Will this be mpeg 4 only or will my hr 10-250 be able to view this channel if the rumor you heard is true? Cause this channel sounds like the greatest thing since sliced bread!
 
hdtvtechno said:
Wrong, it has to be made available to other providers such as Satellites
I wasn't aware. Where is it available besides cable?

Chip
 
raoul5788 said:
I wasn't aware. Where is it available besides cable?

Chip
The issue with InHD on DBS (if you can believe what the DBS companies are saying) is that InHD wants to charge rates based on the number of digital subscribers. Cable has a large number of analog only customers where DBS by defintion is all digital, so they are charged a higher rate then cable companies, that's the issue. They want to pay rates based on the number of HD customers that they have, not their entire installation base.
 
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