MPEG-4 will initially be MPEG-2!

[CPanther95]

OK, first of all, I think this is a great idea. Maybe not for customers, but it makes perfect sense IN THE LONG RUN. (A concept few seem to understand in this country.) Look at it from DISHs viewpoint...

No question it makes perfect sense from Dish's viewpoint.

.. and if it results in massive numbers of upgrades then it is a win/win.

 

[DJ Rob]

Ilya I got so many answers from people on that question that it is hard for me to answer.

While I didn't really report it I talked to EVERYONE from Charlie on down about this issue, and Charlie didnt understand what I was talking about and everyone else who was there was from engineering and told me I was preaching to the chior and they wanted full res HD as well.

What makes this more interesting or confusing is Universal HD is in full 1920 x 1080i which has me starting to wonder if this really is a VOOM issue even though VOOM says its not.

I hope we can get to the bottom of this issue and have it resolved.

This is the one that is most important to me. And I hope to others - you may not have an HD monitor yet, but you will

If I have to pay more for true HD (whether it is for a new receiver or higher rates), so be it. But I can't see paying for something that my wife even notices looks "blurry" now.

It makes me wonder where the decision came from to downres the Voom channels and why when you brought it up Charlie didn't even know. You would think that in his contract with Voom it would specify the res they would provide to Dish.

And why are the HD locals being downressed? We need to keep pursuing this. Something ain't right here.

 

[KenSoren]

Just FYI, heres the channels in the system that are marked "mpeg4" yet transmit mpeg2 content:
9473 (TRESR)
9475 (WORLD)
9477 (WSPOR)
9485 (GAMEP)
9486 (FAMLY)
9427 (UNIHD)
Espn2hd channel type changed from mpeg4 to mpeg2 last week. NYC and LA locals are marked mpeg2 and transmit mpeg2.
One final note, unihd shows 1920x1080i resolution.

Are you referring to the LA HD locals? If they are marked MPEG2 and transmitting MPEG2 shouldn't we be able to pick them up with our 921/942 MPEG2 receivers?
Please say yes : the LA HD locals is all I really want.

 

[Gary Murrell]

Hokie what is up with the HD Locals from NY/LA
are they still being butchered resolution wise ??

Hum ESPN2 changed to Mpeg2 ??

-Gary

 

[KenSoren]

WAYYYY too many people are making the assumption that Dish would be better off airing the new channels in MPEG2 for starters, then move them to MPEG4.
That would be a patently ridiculous strategy for Dish to take. (Sorry it appears I'm picking on you, KenSoren; I just chose to use your quote 'cuz you write really well.)
Look at the blowback Dish is taking right now: they have some new channels, but you need new hardware to see them. But your old hardware works just fine for the stuff you have been receiving, and will into the forseeable future.
Compare that to what has been proposed on these and other boards: Here's your new channels, enjoy! Until we TAKE THEM AWAY FROM YOU. You'll have to pay money to view the same programming you had been viewing, up until now.
(And don't confuse a 3-day preview, like Showtime occasionally has, with making a channel available for months on end. Viewers would get used to it being there and would have conniptions even if they're constantly told it was a preview.)
See what I'm saying? It's all about deciding for yourself whether you want to spend the money to upgrade.
The alternative is to let Dish decide whenever they want to shake you down for more money (for new hardware) in order to see channels you already get. I think nobody will want that precedent established, even Dish.

I'll be there for a 622 upgrade but not until April 1st. I only get to upgrade the equipment every 3 years or so, so now I need to explain to my wife why we need to do this a year ahead of schedule along with why our last $600 investment in a 921 has little or no value. I'm hoping that the $200 rebate and $99 out of pocket cost will be enough to seal the deal with her.
Still, I don't think forced obsolence - especially when it is artificial - is smart on Dish's part. Maybe a good move business wise and good for the bottom line, but still not very customer oriented - just check out the posts and tell me is you see happy people here.

 

[AdamGott]

I was all gung ho to get the 622 but I have to say that after hearing this new news I may just end up waiting. I don't really want to end up with the 921 version 2.

 

[Foxbat]

Ergen.......Charles Ergen

And as Charlie Goldfinger said to Bond on the laser table when Bond said "what to you expect me to do"? : "I expect you to BUY mister bond - I expect you to BUY.

Wasn't that one of the doctored movie stills from the Voom guy?

 

[Ilya]

Two threads on the same topic merged.

 

[halsan40]

Dish Vs Cable

I have been with Dish since I believe 95. I have seen a degradation of the PQ but I blamed it on my 8 yr old Sony 53" CRT RPTV. Now I understand it is a degradation of the input quality of Dish.
Some time ago when I got Roadunner from Time Warner (Now Brighthouse) I tried their Digital Cable TV and the Dish blew them away. I wonder if that is still true.
With the cost of the new equipment, I am thinking about switching completly to Cable, especially with this HD Lite fiasco. Why would I want to pay for a new JVC 70" Pro TV just to get a so so PQ? Maybe I should go into a time capsule for 3 years, but I really want true HDTV now.
Any recommendations from this esteemed group?

 

[Gary Murrell]

I will tell you one thing, if you go for the 1080p 70" JVC then this HD-Lite Voom will look like total sh*t compared to HDNets/Discovery/Show/HBO etc. on Dish

I would try the cable HD route and see how good it is

-Gary

 

[SatinKzo]

I have been with Dish since I believe 95. I have seen a degradation of the PQ but I blamed it on my 8 yr old Sony 53" CRT RPTV. Now I understand it is a degradation of the input quality of Dish.
Some time ago when I got Roadunner from Time Warner (Now Brighthouse) I tried their Digital Cable TV and the Dish blew them away. I wonder if that is still true.
With the cost of the new equipment, I am thinking about switching completly to Cable, especially with this HD Lite fiasco. Why would I want to pay for a new JVC 70" Pro TV just to get a so so PQ? Maybe I should go into a time capsule for 3 years, but I really want true HDTV now.
Any recommendations from this esteemed group?

Well, you could get the cable installed soon I'm sure, in time for a PQ comparison, then if you want more time, you could always put your dish account on hold ($5/month I think) for a month or so and then make your decision to cancel. Just watch out for cable contract commitments.

 

[hammerdown]

I have seen a degradation of the PQ but I blamed it on my 8 yr old Sony 53" CRT RPTV....

Have you ever opened up the Tv and cleaned the mirror and lenses? Or had a profession do it? About two months ago, I did it on my Tv after 5 years of dust and fog build up. What a difference! I could see the grain in HD material again. It was literally better than brand new. I will now be doing this at least every 2 years.

Hammer

 

[rdinkel]

Well, you could get the cable installed soon I'm sure, in time for a PQ comparison, then if you want more time, you could always put your dish account on hold ($5/month I think) for a month or so and then make your decision to cancel. Just watch out for cable contract commitments.

I called Dish a couple of years ago to put the account on hold while we would be overseas for a month. They said they could that for us, but that we would lose our distant channels and have to re-qualify in order to turn them back on. No way! I just kept it active and blew $129 for that month. Never found out if that was true or not. Could have just been a bad CSR.

 

[Grandpa J]

From what I understand it is true!

Once you lose your DNS for whatever reason (non payment, temp stop, change sat providers, etc) you may never get them back without getting new waviers, signal test whatever. It is not Dish fault it is the FCC regs that local broadcasters help make as they do not want anybody getting DNS so they got this in the regs.

 

[BobMurdoch]

They'll wind up delaying this because they would then have to swap EVERY receiver by Christmas. There just isn't enough capacity to make that many boxes in time.....

 

[kcribb1]

Jump to MPEG4

My sole reasoning to jump to the mpeg4 receiver was to receive my local channels (Tampa) in HD. I saw a map of the proposed locations for locals on HD and Tampa was included. Last night I read a post on another board which indicated Tampa would not be included.

Does anyone have the map and repost?