Why does dish network down convert some channels to SD?

[Universe93B]

I'm a big Space/Universe/Astronomy fan and am glad dish carries NASA official channel 286. But NASA has been broadcasting their official channel in HD for over 10 years now. Why is it only in SD on my dish? It looks so bad, especially after being used to HD for this many years. I found this on Google:

While NASA distributes NASA TV in high definition, some redistributors, such as Dish Network and DirecTV, downconvert to standard definition before delivering to their customers.


What? To watch the NASA channel properly, I have to go to the Youtube app on the Hopper 3 and watch the live stream there since it's in HD and in much better quality. Why does dish down convert to SD here or what else is the reasoning behind this issue?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I beieve Nasa TV is the only channel they do that to. And the reason for it is bandwidth. I believe one HD channel takes up the space of 14 SD channels. DISH can tell how many people are watching any channel at any times. And I am guessing the viewership on NASA is not that big to support giving that much bandwidth.

But maybe an idea is for them to add it in HD (and 4K) as a streaming channel on the Hopper 2 and 3. I think that would be easy to do and would give everyone the best from one guide.

 

[Strega]

Did you really mean to type 14 and not, perhaps, just 4? 14:1 is surprisingly large to me.

That’s too bad that NASA doesn’t get enough viewing, though limiting it to SD must drive away a significant portion of the people who would otherwise want to watch it. It’s kind of sad to think that what’s going on at NASA and the two billionth showing of a 1960 TV show that was recorded in SD anyway “deserve” the same bandwidth.

 

[Bruce]

I'm a big Space/Universe/Astronomy fan and am glad dish carries NASA official channel 286. But NASA has been broadcasting their official channel in HD for over 10 years now. Why is it only in SD on my dish? It looks so bad, especially after being used to HD for this many years. I found this on Google:

While NASA distributes NASA TV in high definition, some redistributors, such as Dish Network and DirecTV, downconvert to standard definition before delivering to their customers.


What? To watch the NASA channel properly, I have to go to the Youtube app on the Hopper 3 and watch the live stream there since it's in HD and in much better quality. Why does dish down convert to SD here or what else is the reasoning behind this issue?

Just get a Roku, Nasa TV looks great, watching a special on Europa currently.

 

[tjboston5676]

I beieve Nasa TV is the only channel they do that to. And the reason for it is bandwidth. I believe one HD channel takes up the space of 14 SD channels. DISH can tell how many people are watching any channel at any times. And I am guessing the viewership on NASA is not that big to support giving that much bandwidth.

But maybe an idea is for them to add it in HD (and 4K) as a streaming channel on the Hopper 2 and 3. I think that would be easy to do and would give everyone the best from one guide.

They definitely do it on other channels such as Disney a d nickelodeon. And it's pretty bad. It's recorded on 16:9 and it looks like they just cropped a 4:3 on it and then downconveted. There's quite of bit of image cut off.

Then they do other silly things like make encore western (ch 342) an HD channel with SD content. Overall the quality isn't affected but your formatting gets reset every time you change the channel.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

They definitely do it on other channels such as Disney a d nickelodeon. And it's pretty bad. It's recorded on 16:9 and it looks like they just cropped a 4:3 on it and then downconveted. There's quite of bit of image cut off.

Then they do other silly things like make encore western (ch 342) an HD channel with SD content. Overall the quality isn't affected but your formatting gets reset every time you change the channel.

Disney and Nickelodeon still provides a SD signal. (Unless something recently changed)

 

[tjboston5676]

Disney and Nickelodeon still provides a SD signal. (Unless something recently changed)

If that's true then I don't know why they record in 16:9 and just crop it to 4:3.

 

[telstar_1]

Has DiSH significantly dropped SD channels since dropping 129 and moving that HD over to 110/119? Hard to think it's a 12:1 bandwidth ration- I was thinking more like 4:1. Maybe moreover, what SD-only receivers, if any, do they still serve?

As to NASA, much of their archival source material is from film and is of high quality.

 

[jwhalerfan]

The answer is simple. NO ONE WATCHES IT.

 

[Universe93B]

The answer is simple. NO ONE WATCHES IT.

And I get that - then don’t offer it. Why do something in a crappy way and not put much effort?

But then I was told it’s so dish can do their required public interest broadcasting and get credit for it. Great

 

[Altitudinous]

And I get that - then don’t offer it. Why do something in a crappy way and not put much effort?

But then I was told it’s so dish can do their required public interest broadcasting and get credit for it. Great

When I wanted to watch something on NASA TV and saw that my Dish subscription carried it, I was also disappointed in the useless SD carriage of the channel. As somebody said, "we're better than this" or is it "this is not who we are". Maybe no we're not and yes it is. Seems odd to watch the pinnacle of technological achievement in 2024 on a bad rendition of SD. I have the same complaint about C-SPAN channels as carried by Dish, although in that case we're not talking about pinnacles usually.

 

[TheKrell]

They definitely do it on other channels such as Disney a d nickelodeon. And it's pretty bad. It's recorded on 16:9 and it looks like they just cropped a 4:3 on it and then downconveted. There's quite of bit of image cut off.

Ugh! That's even worse than I have seen.

Then they do other silly things like make encore western (ch 342) an HD channel with SD content. Overall the quality isn't affected but your formatting gets reset every time you change the channel.

I think it's Hallmark Family that's SD and picture framed 100% of the time. Why why why not just put out widescreen SD and not make it suck so badly?

 

[zippyfrog]

And very recently, Dish launched 260 in HD. TBN. Either yesterday or today.

 

[Jim5506]

They either do not have a contract to show the HD version or there is no HD version. Everything available is done by contract, not by desire.

 

[TheKrell]

They either do not have a contract to show the HD version or there is no HD version. Everything available is done by contract, not by desire.

Understood. But does the contract specify no widescreen SD? Surely not! That picture-framed widescreen content is just... Wrong.

 

[navychop]

I have found that sometimes running picture framed in full screen can destroy the resolution. Hard to watch.

 

[jerryez]

These Halmark movies with a blank screen area around a lot of the movies. is disgusting. I avoid watching most of them,even after I have rcorded them. Stretch them to fit my 65" inch screen or do not show them.

 

[TheKrell]

These Halmark movies with a blank screen area around a lot of the movies. is disgusting.

Agree but I think it's only the SD Hallmark Family channel that does this.

 

[telstar_1]

So again, I'm still curious- Have any downconverted SD versions of carried HD channels been dropped altogether yet? Including locals? Why would they need to stay up at this point?

Also what is the total discrete channel count on DiSH, including both HD & SD versions- it must be or have been at some point enormous.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Understood. But does the contract specify no widescreen SD? Surely not! That picture-framed widescreen content is just... Wrong.

I looked at Nick on DirecTV the other day, and it appears the widescreen to SD is Nicks doing.