Ahhh, haven't heard from Questioner and his pessimistic BS in a while now. Who is kidding who here? We know Questioner that you are secretly (or not) hoping that D* fails in every attempt here.
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National HD Channel Roll-Out Plans
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Hmmmm...I'm going to talk to my wife. And then I think I'm going to jump into the DirecTV waters. Hope it is warm here! Thanks for the posts in this thread everyone.
Agreed. Unless you are in an unlucky market without the new encoders (Boston) then the things that Questioner bring up have been long solved.
IMHO, why not wait until 7/7 at least to make sure that D10 gets off the pad, else you're looking until 2nd half 2008 for D11 to go operational for more HD?
Spike,
I would wait until August when the new D* NFL package comes out, it's the best offer of the year. It's the same as the last few years, but a very good one at that.
Jimbo
Bon,
How are the MPEG4 signals (Local) for the cities that have receintly been uplinked, as I recall most of them had trouble in the beginning until D* had time to tweek them.
That said, the new encoders may have solved all of that.
Jimbo
Everything that I have read on several forums seem to indicate that the vast majority of MPEG4 HD locals right now are excellent quality right up there with the raw OTA feed. There are a couple problem markets like Boston and Baltimore that for some reason still have issues.
My market went up last October and I was amazed at the quality of the signal. I could tell it was less then OTA when I looked for it but it wasn't that much less. Our CBS station however was horrible (but then it's not all that great OTA to begin with). The DirecTV encoders kept choking on their constant dropouts. Back around Feb or so DirecTV came into town and worked with the station and updated the software on the encoders. That CBS station is now better via MPEG4 then I can get OTA, and that's saying something. The updated software also improved the other channels as well. I still record the OTA versions (except CBS) just because of no rain fade OTA, but I may change to MPEG4 in the fall simply for space issues (MPEG4 takes up a lot less space then MPEG2).
Anyway, that's what I know about that.
Now think about the "cable" channels that will get uplinked. They will be direct feeds from those channels and not captured OTA like most locals. And they will have centrally located MPEG4 encoders for all the channels which will be the best they have. I think the future looks bright for PQ on the new sats in MPEG4.
I have Boston market and no issues. There were some with the 1080i channels with the 8mm effect and lots of green macro blocking on CBS but that is long past. They look beautiful now.
The fact is - the majority of issues have been addressed and proper actions taken.
But, it will never be a case where everyone is satisfied, or where everyone will let go from a problem they had years ago - just human nature I guess.
And then, some people just love to complain all the time, every time.
On the other hand, it is becoming more and more obvious that members here (from all sides of the house) are closely keeping an eye on what is going on and with real excitement. The overall feeling for sure is that DirecTV is at worst, pushing its COMPETITORS to also take action to keep up with them. For this reason alone, I don't understand any of the negative vibes coming out.
This launch is a big-time event for the industry, and it is the CAUSE of many new HD channels coming on line - all should be rooting for success.
But, it will never be a case where everyone is satisfied, or where everyone will let go from a problem they had years ago - just human nature I guess.
And then, some people just love to complain all the time, every time.
On the other hand, it is becoming more and more obvious that members here (from all sides of the house) are closely keeping an eye on what is going on and with real excitement. The overall feeling for sure is that DirecTV is at worst, pushing its COMPETITORS to also take action to keep up with them. For this reason alone, I don't understand any of the negative vibes coming out.
This launch is a big-time event for the industry, and it is the CAUSE of many new HD channels coming on line - all should be rooting for success.
Jimbos,
Would you mind telling me about the offer. I would really appreciate it.
:
The offer the past couple years has been fee Premier (I think for 4 months) with purchase of Sunday Ticket at full price. Or something similar. I think it's for new subs only though.
yep, i got it in 2004. you get four months of total choice premier free, if you sign up for sunday ticket. and its for new subs only.
:up
Well, my opinion is vastly different. I sub to the Sports Pak (as well as the NFL and MLB packages). For me that means I will be getting all of those RSN's in HD. Seems like about 20+ sports channels I love coming over in HD. Say what you want, but for those who like those channels those are important channels.
I also think that the mainstream HD national portion of this will also be closer to 70 channels. Not only that, but this portion is only going to increase month by month - as the providers themselves launch their HD offerings.
For me it is an outrageous and terriffic increase of HD. Disappointment begins and ends with the specific types of channels you prefer.
LAUNCH - 4 days and counting!
I also think that the mainstream HD national portion of this will also be closer to 70 channels. Not only that, but this portion is only going to increase month by month - as the providers themselves launch their HD offerings.
For me it is an outrageous and terriffic increase of HD. Disappointment begins and ends with the specific types of channels you prefer.
LAUNCH - 4 days and counting!
I agree with the RSN's. I have my local ones ,I don't care about having all RSN's in HD ,because More then half the time they all have the same programming on at the same time.And the other half of the time baseball games are blacked out except your locals.If you pay for MLB package then its great,But I bet you would need a special package ,just like you do now,in order to get your baseball games in HD.
You are forgetting the large number of college basketball games that ARE on the RSN's.
But like I said, it is ALL a matter of taste. I don't count HGTV or FOOD as an important channel, but I know that many do, thus whatever floats your boat.
The question is - is it a national channel. The answer is YES if it is carried on a CONUS beam. The value of any particular channel will ALWAYS depend on the individual.
But like I said, it is ALL a matter of taste. I don't count HGTV or FOOD as an important channel, but I know that many do, thus whatever floats your boat.
The question is - is it a national channel. The answer is YES if it is carried on a CONUS beam. The value of any particular channel will ALWAYS depend on the individual.
It's a catch 24 on the RSN's. While you have yours in HD mine isn't yet since Austin is outside the spot beam for the HD RSN, so it's important for us to have them on CONUS.
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