Why is Dish asking to down-convert the LIL HD?

[gpflepsen]

Those shows are produced for analog broadcast. That is my point. Letterman is moving to HD broadcast. The goal is to get prime time broadcast in HD, thus produced in HD.

If it were not for the adoption curve, most of the shows you mention would be in HD. The demand is there and growing.

 

[Bradtothebone]

Could it be that they want to have the option of downconverting local channels that broadcast in, say, upconverted 1080i, but not HDTV? There are many local stations (mostly independents) that do this. I think they're saying that they wouldn't want to waste bandwidth on these, and I can't say I disagree.

Brad

 

[wmhjr]

Probably nothing

My Toshiba 46HM94 looks MUCH better on good HD feeds than on DVDs. Seems like a trend.

What's wrong with your DVD player?

 

[peid]

TV screen size has everything to do with it.

I have 2 HD TVs, one is a 32" and one is a 57"

HD material on the 32" is great, but does not have the ability to display the sharp details that my 57" does simply due to the size of the screen.

SD & HD look great on my 32"

SD looks so so on my 57" but HD looks jaw dropping on my 57", when a true HD progam is shown.

DVD's on my 57" look awesome, not jaw dropping but awesome. DVD's on my 32" look awesome also.

Again.........Would HD look jaw dropping good on a 3" LCD digital camera monitor? Would look great but you wouldn't be able to see a lot of it simply due to the size!

 

[wmhjr]

So here's a question...

I really agree with your comments. I really love my Tosh 46HM94. Size does matter.

The question I've got for you is whether or not you would consider replacing a Toshiba 26" flat CRT standard set (with a pretty nice picture) with a slightly larger HD CRT? Do you notice a big enough difference to justify it? How about a "cheaper" JVC HD set? I think they're about $400.

TV screen size has everything to do with it.

I have 2 HD TVs, one is a 32" and one is a 57"

HD material on the 32" is great, but does not have the ability to display the sharp details that my 57" does simply due to the size of the screen.

SD & HD look great on my 32"

SD looks so so on my 57" but HD looks jaw dropping on my 57", when a true HD progam is shown.

DVD's on my 57" look awesome, not jaw dropping but awesome. DVD's on my 32" look awesome also.

Again.........Would HD look jaw dropping good on a 3" LCD digital camera monitor? Would look great but you wouldn't be able to see a lot of it simply due to the size!

 

[Carl B]

I've got a 50" Sammy DLP. Good HD, like HDNET, looks awesome. Films on HDNMV look excellent. DVDs from my up-scaling player look very good to excellent. The difference between an HDNMV movie and a good DVD on my system isn't anywhere near the jump from VHS to DVDs. More the difference, at the extreme cases, of between SD NTSC and ATSC with today's broadcasting systems. Isn't enough to make the public spend more money or rise up in a mass and complain to the Government.

 

[waltinvt]

Why did Dish ASK customers to contact congress to PASS this bill and ask for LIL HD then after its approved try fighting the ruling?

I hate to say it but Dish Network is run by F'ing MORONS!

That may be true Scott but I think greed and control is what we're seeing right now. My latest theory :

It's no coinceidence that Voom is gone and both "D" and "E" are holding back on HD. Forget the retoric and look at what they've actually done this past year and are doing now.

If you follow the threads in both forums, "D" and "E" are not that different. Neither is competing anywhere near the way they could be.

They wanted to merge, they wern't allowed too, so they did the next best thing: they got rid of the 3rd provider and agreed to both basically slow down the race for HD. Although neither is abandoning it, they both seem to have agreed to scale it back to a more "uncompetive" level. Neither is doing a whole lot in "retention" anymore because the churn, although up, is pretty much even - back and fourth.

I'm almost wondering if it goes even deeper and maybe this is a controlled window to allow Cable and broadcast afilliates to catch up. I don't know. I do know that there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye. I don't believe it's a conincedence what's going on - and NOT going on at the FCC either.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that was contacted by Dish last Summer and given material to disseminate over the net on behalf of Dish's push for the legislation. Anyone else here have any contact with Ross Lieberman at the Washington Offices of Echostar ? A lot of us worked hard to gain support for that legislation and now Dish has totally turned it's back on it.

Even the DTC seems to have grown silent. None of this makes any sense except that I get the feeling we're being controlled and manipulated.

Look at the situation ! What options are there ? There's as many reasons to leave "D" as there are "E" right now and even cable is looking better to a lot of people.

I realize some of this is just venting and motivated by not being "allowed" to get the SB in HD tommorrow. Hell, I'm still pissed off about the Olympics last summer. What's so frustrating is, there doesn't seem to be anything any of us can do. We're not organized. We have no power. I wish someone out there had an idea.

Woops - Guess Spelchek isn't working today and I'm sure I missed a few up there.

 

[Barry Erick]

The majority will buy either a Wallmart EDTV or a set-top box to down convert HD to SD. Those customers, as pointed out before, will be the driving majority, and those of us with HD will be limited to a few channels and OTA. As it is, those EDTV's and settop boxes run circles around today's NTSC (once the NTSC is out of the studio).

 

[Jstanuthrdishguy]

You could be right on the money. It's evident most people aren't consumed by this stuff like we are. I love home theater...worst thing that ever happened to me...haven't been outside in years.

 

[Rlanham]

The difference on a Sony 36 inch XBR crt is like night vs. day.
My eight-year old can see it.

It's funny that everyone has their own perceptions. I had a friend of a friend that got a 42" HD plasma & HTB setup from circuit city. He had another "friend" and old TV repairman help him set it up. He was showing everyone that came over the picture "quality" of his HD set. I went over to his house to check out his setup. He not only had the plasma hooked up s-video. He had the output set at 480. I got him a DVI cable, set his output to 1080i and I wish you could have seen the look on his face, when he saw his true HD picture for the 1st time.

 

[Stargazer]

Most people think "wow, this is a great picture" after getting satellite for the first time and say "this is good enough".

 

[peid]

I really agree with your comments. I really love my Tosh 46HM94. Size does matter.

The question I've got for you is whether or not you would consider replacing a Toshiba 26" flat CRT standard set (with a pretty nice picture) with a slightly larger HD CRT? Do you notice a big enough difference to justify it? How about a "cheaper" JVC HD set? I think they're about $400.

I honestly feel I wasted my money on the 32" Sony HD Flat Screen simply because I can compare it to my larger screen.

If I didn't have a 57", I would probably love the 32". But like I said, I can compare the two and in HD material you don't get the depth, details, crisp lines and everything HD has to offer.

I don't think I would waste the money on a HD set ever again on anything less the 36". 36" would be my cut off point, above = YES HD, below = NO HD is how I will proceed from this day forward I think.

 

[wmhjr]

That's what I thought.

Good news for me. Saves me from spending more money!!

I honestly feel I wasted my money on the 32" Sony HD Flat Screen simply because I can compare it to my larger screen.

If I didn't have a 57", I would probably love the 32". But like I said, I can compare the two and in HD material you don't get the depth, details, crisp lines and everything HD has to offer.

I don't think I would waste the money on a HD set ever again on anything less the 36". 36" would be my cut off point, above = YES HD, below = NO HD is how I will proceed from this day forward I think.

 

[MustangLX89]

I'll second that then. The biggest tv I saw untill I moved out of my parents house was a 19 or so inch regular set. Then I got out and got a 27 inch regular set that right now due to room size limitations I only sit about 4 feet away from. To me anything I can't physically pick up and move myself is just to damn big. I couldn't imgine having something 40+ inches. To my folks and myself thats something rich folks have. The other thing is I haven't seen many rear projection tvs that looked worth a crap in a bright room I like to have. Our next tv purchase will most likely be a 32" max flat screen. I'm just trying to decide on brand now for picture clarity. Some of them just don't seem as sharp as others. The other thing is you don't really know what type or quality of cabeling is used on the store sets and how long they've been burned in.

 

[NightRyder]

I'll second that then. The biggest tv I saw untill I moved out of my parents house was a 19 or so inch regular set. Then I got out and got a 27 inch regular set that right now due to room size limitations I only sit about 4 feet away from. To me anything I can't physically pick up and move myself is just to damn big. I couldn't imgine having something 40+ inches. To my folks and myself thats something rich folks have. The other thing is I haven't seen many rear projection tvs that looked worth a crap in a bright room I like to have. Our next tv purchase will most likely be a 32" max flat screen. I'm just trying to decide on brand now for picture clarity. Some of them just don't seem as sharp as others. The other thing is you don't really know what type or quality of cabeling is used on the store sets and how long they've been burned in.

The old CRT based rear projection based sets give a great picture but require a dark room and have a limited "sweet spot" viewing area. The new so called micro displays (DLP, LCOS, LCD) are much more versatile but more expensive. I have a 50" DLP in a very bright room and it works great. I've moved it by myself before, it weighs about 75 lbs.


NightRyder

 

[peid]

The old CRT based rear projection based sets give a great picture but require a dark room and have a limited "sweet spot" viewing area. The new so called micro displays (DLP, LCOS, LCD) are much more versatile but more expensive. I have a 50" DLP in a very bright room and it works great. I've moved it by myself before, it weighs about 75 lbs.


NightRyder

There is some truth to the "bright" rooms and "sweetspots" but they have gotten tremendously better over the years.

I have my 57" rear projection CRT TV in a 12' x 19' room and in that room alone there is 6 windows. Needless to say it is very bright during the day and I watch the TV just fine.

Plus the sweetspot is more than acceptable. I have 2 couches at about 45 degrees to the TV and the viewing is just fine.

My dad has a 55" LCD and it isn't anything noticeable better or worse than my rear projection regarding brightness and sweetspot angles in my opinion.

 

[MustangLX89]

I'm guessing the ones I've seen at the local WalMart are just regulr rear projection screens then. I've noticed they seem to have a slightly brighter picture from times of old but at the same time if I'm not looking at them dead on the picture is white to greyish around the outside edges. At the best I could only get 30 degrees or so away from center before it happens. The LCD screens I've seen there are fuzzy and distorted looking. Either way they are still expensive to me. I'm guessing you're talking about the flat panels since most of the rear projections I've seen roll around. As strong as I am I couldn't pick one of those up myself and tote it down a set of stairs.

 

[NightRyder]

Here's mine.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/vbgarage.php?do=view&id=247


NightRyder