 swintecPremium,VIP
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
kudos:3 | reply to swintec
Re: 100 HD Channels??? Better yet, are these going to be in "HD-Lite" that the Sat. companies have been offering? I would hope they would use this new found bandwidth and actually offer full blown HD content. |
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 GNHTesla RecoiledPremium
join:1999-12-20
Arlington, TX
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| Good point. I used to be a DirecTV customer, and really wanted to stay with them, but they didn't offer true HD programming when I switched to Dish. Fact is, DirecTV flat lied to me about their unit, which was only 480p at the time (2003). They tried to tell me it was 1080i. Anyway, I could go on-and-on about that mess...
I wouldn't be surprised if much of DirecTV's stuff is "down-sampled" (HD-Lite) when it's actually deployed. |
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 wmcbrine213 251 145 96
join:2002-12-30
Laurel, MD | reply to swintec
said by swintec:Better yet, are these going to be in "HD-Lite" that the Sat. companies have been offering? All of DirecTV's new HD channels are scheduled to be offered in MPEG-4, to save bandwidth. They may be full resolution, but they'll be recompressed from the MPEG-2 originals. They're doing that now with the HD locals they offer.
The "HD Lite" channels are the nationals, delivered in MPEG-2 but cut to a very low bit rate, with the 1080i channels downrezzed to 1280x1080i. It's likely that the MPEG-4 channels look better than this (I don't know), but I wouldn't call them full quality. |
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wmcbrine213 251 145 96
join:2002-12-30
Laurel, MD
1 edit | reply to GNH
Huh? What "unit" are you talking about?
DirecTV offered true HD for many years. It was only relatively recently that they started "HD Lite"... which still isn't downrezzed all the way to 480p (though sometimes it looks it). |
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GNHTesla RecoiledPremium
join:1999-12-20
Arlington, TX Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
| said by wmcbrine:Huh? What "unit" are you talking about? DirecTV offered true HD for many years. [...] Their DVR (so called TiVo) unit. |
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GNHTesla RecoiledPremium
join:1999-12-20
Arlington, TX Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to wmcbrine
Dish's new satellite uses MPEG-4. Looks great. We have a DVR 622 and 921. The 622 is MPEG4/MPEG2 and it does an excellent job handling the compression. Basically, both of those units are Linux boxes. Our projection unit is 1920x1080 and the picture is stunning ~ especially the digital stuff like the latest "Star Wars." |
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wmcbrine213 251 145 96
join:2002-12-30
Laurel, MD | reply to GNH
said by GNH:said by wmcbrine:Huh? What "unit" are you talking about? DirecTV offered true HD for many years. [...] Their DVR (so called TiVo) unit. I have it, and I guarantee you it's not limited to 480p. It defaults to 480p the first time you start it up, sure. You probably just never pressed the up arrow or touched the button on the front panel to change the output resolution. |
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GNHTesla RecoiledPremium
join:1999-12-20
Arlington, TX | "Two-Thousand Three" (2003) (11111010011) (7D3) ... Good grief... You must have missed the part where I mentioned the year 2003. Would be best if you paid better attention to the threads where you respond. In 2003 their DVR only offered 480p. |
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wmcbrine213 251 145 96
join:2002-12-30
Laurel, MD | said by GNH:Good grief... You must have missed the part where I mentioned the year 2003. Not at all.
Would be best if you paid better attention to the threads where you respond. In 2003 their DVR only offered 480p. No, it didn't. Look, either you had a standard-def Tivo -- which does only 480i, not 480p -- or you had the HD Tivo, which has never been limited to 480p. There has never been a 480p unit, ever.
But, now that I think of it, the HD Tivo wasn't really available until mid-2004. So it must've been a standard-def (480i) unit. |
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GNHTesla RecoiledPremium
join:1999-12-20
Arlington, TX Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
4 edits | said by wmcbrine:No, it didn't. Look, either you had a standard-def Tivo -- which does only 480i, not 480p -- or you had the HD Tivo, which has never been limited to 480p. There has never been a 480p unit, ever. Here are a couple of links (below) "showcasing" the 2003 product offerings, which they were promising, and they already had a unit deployed that could handle 480i/p.
»www.pbase.com/tigerdave/image/10792284
»www.pbase.com/image/10792288
Had they actually had the CES unit available at the time, I might still be with DirecTV, but they screwed the pooch; still do on most occasions... just like their lame promise to bring 100 HDTV channels to market in the near future.
Will believe it when I see it, and if they actually offer something better than Dish (no one hold their breath), I'll switch.
- EDIT -
This is getting old. I think we've crossed the line from talking technology to bickering over semantics. I see the point you're trying to make. It's time to let this one die.
Later. |
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wmcbrine213 251 145 96
join:2002-12-30
Laurel, MD | said by GNH:Here are a couple of links (below) "showcasing" the 2003 product offerings, which they were promising, and they already had a unit deployed that could handle 480i/p. 480i, not "480i/p". No p. The difference between 480p and 480i is not semantics. When you first posted, I was assuming you were right about the 480p, and just didn't know how to operate the HD Tivo. But the truth was that you just didn't know what you were talking about at all.
You got the wrong impression somehow... and I see no reason to believe that it was DirecTV's fault. I blame them for lots of things, but this looks like it's your mistake. |
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GNHTesla RecoiledPremium
join:1999-12-20
Arlington, TX Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
| Nah, it's pure semantics, especially when dealing with someone like you. Much of my frustration with DirecTV dealt with several issues, including their misrepresentation of their DVR product (480p/i notwithstanding), when comparing it to the then current Dish Network DVR. You weren't a part of that conversation, so you're clueless.
Guys like you argue for argument's sake. I have better things to do. Too bad you don't. Try to have a good weekend, Brine. |
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Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
| I switched to DirecTV from Comcast after Comcast raised my rates for the 4th time and hasn't offered anything but 10 Cooking channels, 18 bshopping channels a multitude of foreign language crap. I thought -It can't get any worse but Was I ever wrong-
Then they had the audacity to try an uplift my HD tuner to a HD-DVR for another 330 dollars (additional installation and setup of the DVR). Their totally mis-represent their offerings-Don't believe their Sales WEB sites. I'm counting the days till I can opt out with the huge early termination fee. 600 channels and less than 10% are worth watching! I'm still unsure of their "new" HD-DVR/dual tuner setup and whether it actually delivers 1080i resolution. Their HD lineup for my neck of the woods ias pitiful Heck, they don't even offer one of the most popular channels as a local channelin HD in my market. I guess it's going to be one of their 100 new HD channels for 2007.! |
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GNHTesla RecoiledPremium
join:1999-12-20
Arlington, TX Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
| Many cable/sat providers peddle lies. I like companies that tell it like it is... Dish is one of those companies. Dish isn't perfect, there's rain fade and on occasion you may have other reductions in performance, but they don't bloat their offerings. They're a known quantity. |
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