The Best HD Receiver ?

[Mikey11]

just wondering what the best HD receiver on the market currently is, looking to receive KU-band only for now, which HD receiver will pull in the most channels? i have a motorized 39 incher,

is there enough HD on ku-band to make it worthwhile? i had a SV8000 before but it didnt get too much HD, is there something that will get more? the SV would not do the DVB-S2 or 4:2:2,

might get a c-band dish in the next year or two, should i wait till then to buy a new receiver? something better will probably come out by then?

 

[Jim S.]

Full-time FTA HD on Ku-band in North America consists solely of NBC (S2, and sometimes non-consumer-friendly audio) and PBS (not S2, if I remember rightly.) There are quite a few HD wildfeeds, mostly NOT S2, mostly sporting events.

The biggest source of 4:2:2 in my experience is Canadian sports.

 

[Mikey11]

Full-time FTA HD on Ku-band in North America consists solely of NBC (S2, and sometimes non-consumer-friendly audio) and PBS (not S2, if I remember rightly.) There are quite a few HD wildfeeds, mostly NOT S2, mostly sporting events.

The biggest source of 4:2:2 in my experience is Canadian sports.

thank you very much, so which receiver would be best for these applications?

 

[brentb636]

One of the Azbox HD models is your only choice, for a single receiver. There is NO other in-production receiver that decodes 4:2:2 video. You could also try the PCI DVB route to do the same thing, but I personally think it's clunkier than just having an stb .

 

[stanleyjohn]

kinda related to this thread so here it goes! Why dont more satellite receiver makers have 4:2:2 as a standard? is the technology that new and expensive?

 

[jsattv]

One of the Azbox HD models is your only choice, for a single receiver. There is NO other in-production receiver that decodes 4:2:2 video. You could also try the PCI DVB route to do the same thing, but I personally think it's clunkier than just having an stb .

Brentb636, great info, what model of the Azbox would you recommend? Other than the 4:2:2 issue which I am not sure what that is, - do you know how the Azbox compares to a receiver such as the Pansat 9200 HD? I have been reading that Both receivers run hot and need a cooling fan - anyone have any info on this?

 

[Mikey11]

Brentb636, great info, what model of the Azbox would you recommend? Other than the 4:2:2 issue which I am not sure what that is, - do you know how the Azbox compares to a receiver such as the Pansat 9200 HD? I have been reading that Both receivers run hot and need a cooling fan - anyone have any info on this?

all HD receivers seem to run hot and i dont really know why, i had a SV8000HD that you could fry bacon on, the heat seemed to come from the power supply board, it comes with a fan built in but didnt seem to do much at all because it was so small, i replaced it with a more powerful fan but then it was too loud,

 

[pro96]

all HD receivers seem to run hot and i dont really know why, i had a SV8000HD that you could fry bacon on, the heat seemed to come from the power supply board, it comes with a fan built in but didnt seem to do much at all because it was so small, i replaced it with a more powerful fan but then it was too loud,

I've had great success with notebook usb fans on SV8000HD, Coolsat 8000HD and others.

 

[Tron]

kinda related to this thread so here it goes! Why dont more satellite receiver makers have 4:2:2 as a standard? is the technology that new and expensive?

4:2:2, or Studio Profile, is an addition to the DVB standard. It is basically used only on network feeds by broadcasters, not in direct-to-home programming. That is probably why its not a priority for consumer receivers.

 

[Mikey11]

does azbox have only one HD model or are there several different models?

i also see an add on card for the box, what is it for? and do i need it if im only viewing ku-band?

 

[brentb636]

Brentb636, great info, what model of the Azbox would you recommend? Other than the 4:2:2 issue which I am not sure what that is, - do you know how the Azbox compares to a receiver such as the Pansat 9200 HD? I have been reading that Both receivers run hot and need a cooling fan - anyone have any info on this?

If I were buying another Azbox right now, I'd buy the Azbox Ultra HD. It's the least expensive, and has blindscan. There are external power supply issues with the Azbox Premium plus at the moment, and the Azbox Premium has a limited ( almost useless) software blindscan . There are extensive threads in the Azbox area near the top of the page discussing them all, but they all are HD and 4:2:2 compliant.

I have put cooling fans atop several of my HD stb's on occasion to chill them out ( they're all in a bookcase, essentially) and have just as good luck using a bookcase mounted fan to move the air across their upper surfaces. I had one CS8000 that would catch the afternoon sun for an hour or two, and it didn't like THAT at all. There are several factors involved.