New HD channels officially launched

[fmw]

It sounds like those programs are not actually in HD then. They are broadcasting them in 16:9 letterbox just like they do on my basic cable. That is not true HD.

That sounds likely. I'll spend some time looking more closely. I didn't pay any attention to the picture quality. I was so distracted by the stretching. Personally, I'd rather see it it letterboxed. I can always crop it if I like. I can't undo the stretching.

 

[fmw]

Its absolutely no surprise to me, that it took DirecTV this long to get it all together and up and running, seeing as Dish Network had those channels up and running a month ago....

I absolutely HATE DirecTV.... Their customer service is horrible, and so is the quality of their product in my opinion...
And that says nothing about the way they conducted smearing lawsuits in the same exact manner to thousands of people the same way the RIAA is doing it now... for their own improper way of securing their product.....

http://www.directvdefense.org/


Dish Network for the win....

Not good to go through life hating. I've been a direcTV customer since the late '90's. The customer service is poor. So is the customer service of almost every large company in this country. They have a lot of poorly trained people interfacing with the public. So does General Motors and the federal government.

The HD picture quality is as good or better than that available from any other broadcast medium. Sorry, that's the truth. The only place to find better HD picture quality is on one of the HD optical disc formats. The SD picture quality has been poor on HD sets but just improved with the upgrade. Apparently they have reduced the amount of compression on the SD signals - perhaps more important than the HD upgraded channels.

DirecTV will have far more HD content than any other source by the end of the year. Nobody will even be close.

Finally, there are no "smearing" lawsuits, just lawsuits. If people steal their signal it is their duty to their stockholders and paying customers to do what they can to stop it. I agree that America is litigation crazy but I side with them on this point.

With all its faults, DirecTV has delivered a reliable and valuable service to me for over a decade. Perfect they are not. But they aren't worth hating.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I was eager to get home last night to check out some of the new stations. To my dismay, none of them appeared on my guide. I then looked at my channel lineup in the setup menu. I didn't see them there either. I called DTV and they said that since I have the HR10-250, I could not receive the new stations. (That sucks?) I suppose it's time to upgrade to the HR20? Can anyone confirm this info is accurate? Thanks!

It's true......

To get the new HD content, you cant have old equipment. You'll need the B-band converter, new receiver, and 5 LNB-dish) They'll give you what you need at no charge, but you'll probably have to wait awhile for the upgrade. I'll bet their service appointments for the HD upgrade are backed-up more than 1 month.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

After more channel surfing, this is my brief take on the upgrade and content.

It really depends on which channel you're watching. Some channels have a bunch of HD programming, and others do not. Some have HD content all day long, while others are concentrated during prime-time lineups, and others don't seem to have much at all. (ie WC, Golf Channel)

How each channel handles the low-def programming is also different, and it's all stuff we've all seen before. For example, I watched part of a late night episode of American Choppers on TLC last night(it was not listed as HD), but it looked HD. Maybe a glitch in the guide, or maybe I had tired eyes? I watched a bit of American Hotrod, and I could tell the picture was cropped, but at least the result was 16:9, and the picture looked excellent. A lot of the LD stuff on animal planet looked up-converted, and the picture looked very good.(although not true HD)

Considering that these are real TV channels and not the many stupid "Made for HD" channels that were created out of necessity because nothing else existed at the time of their creation, I'll have to admit..... the results are exactly as expected. Did anyone really expect something different???? To be able to watch your favorite programming on your favorite channels is a huge step forward, and I suspect some of those dumb "Made for HD" channels will eventually become a thing of the past as more real channels become available.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

PS....

Can the mods merge this thread into the other "Biggest HD Upgrade EVER" thread? I shouldn't have started a 2nd thread on the same subject.

 

[fmw]

After more channel surfing, this is my brief take on the upgrade and content.

It really depends on which channel you're watching. Some channels have a bunch of HD programming, and others do not. Some have HD content all day long, while others are concentrated during prime-time lineups, and others don't seem to have much at all. (ie WC, Golf Channel)

How each channel handles the low-def programming is also different, and it's all stuff we've all seen before. For example, I watched part of a late night episode of American Choppers on TLC last night(it was not listed as HD), but it looked HD. Maybe a glitch in the guide, or maybe I had tired eyes? I watched a bit of American Hotrod, and I could tell the picture was cropped, but at least the result was 16:9, and the picture looked excellent. A lot of the LD stuff on animal planet looked up-converted, and the picture looked very good.(although not true HD)

Considering that these are real TV channels and not the many stupid "Made for HD" channels that were created out of necessity because nothing else existed at the time of their creation, I'll have to admit..... the results are exactly as expected. Did anyone really expect something different???? To be able to watch your favorite programming on your favorite channels is a huge step forward, and I suspect some of those dumb "Made for HD" channels will eventually become a thing of the past as more real channels become available.

I believe the only content that is marked HD in the guide is movies.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

No it's not.

I believe the only content that is marked HD in the guide is movies.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

No it's not.

Is too..Is not...Is too...Is not...Is too...Is too...Is not...Hey, wait a minute.

 

[fmw]

No it's not.

You're right I was wrong. While it is sometimes hard to find HD programming on the HD channels there is some there and it is so marked. The HD movie channels, on the other hand, have almost all HD. Hence my confusion. Sorry.

 

[Warpdrv]

Finally, there are no "smearing" lawsuits, just lawsuits. If people steal their signal it is their duty to their stockholders and paying customers to do what they can to stop it. I agree that America is litigation crazy but I side with them on this point.

Sorry but I have a legitimate claim towards Directv and its bully tactics, when a buddy of mine was sued by them, They had no legal grounds to stand on.... but they tried to blanket sue him... Total Cr@P...

They are no better then the lawsuits the RIAA is reaching with...

I had Directv and left them for a better company..... My opinion, thats all.

 

[sholling]

Well I got a hold of Direct TV the day of the upgrade and spoke with a charming and knowledgeable technician. We spent about a half hour going through the basic steps before she decided I needed a house call before I'd see any of the new channels. Well Friday came and the contract techs - Frick and Frack showed up to realign the dish. Unfortunately their main focus was on trying to sell me into paying them to relocate the dish "to a more stable location". The location is fine. When that failed they did a quickie 5 minute alignment and left without checking to see if they solved the problem. Guess what... I now have a signal on all of the new channels on the H20 in my bedroom. In the family room I'm getting all but 3 HD channels on one tuner of the DVR, and no signal at all on the DVR's other tuner. God I wish they'd stop contracting with Jack In The Box rejects and hire some real technicians.