State of HDTV 2006 good/bad? (1 Viewer)

[JediFonger]

how much for those packages RAE?

 

[RAF]

The Dish Network HD-"Platinum" package (all channels + all movie packages) is $99. The locals add $5 to that so the "package" of channels is $104/month.

Adding in all the other charges (I have equipment coverage, leasing fees, and then there are the "hidden" costs that come with all bills nowadays -taxes. etc.) my monthly bill is $133. Yes, this is a lot of money but it's my choice.

I have four dual tuner HD PVRS (200 hours SD/30 hours HD recording capability each) so this is probably overkill for most people. Interestingly, before the new MPEG4 equipment and additional HD channels were introduced (which raised the total of HD channels by about a dozen or so) my monthly bill was $138 so this was actually a price reduction for more channels. The reason for this was that Dish used to bill ala carte for the HD packages and with the new "Platinum/Gold/Silver" HD packages the billing is now all inclusive.

 

[JediFonger]

on the movie channels like HBO/Showtime, etc. is it all 5.1 or stereo?

 

[Mary M S]

I think they love HD, they are just too embarrassed, tired, busy, cash strapped to tweak it.
There are quite a few who are disappointed with it who already own an HD capable display.
What I see in many non-hobbyist audio/video phille homes is total confusion.

Many people I know of talked vaguely the last few years about ‘upgrading’ to a 16.9 with HD (and or digital (they interchange these two as one subject.)
They do seem to have increasing recognition of those two terms, but are left out in the cold once getting it home. Where the feed at BB & CC (and you know what that PQ can be ...terrible!) is better than they will achieve for months/years in their own homes.

You ask “Did you purchase”...Yes ...we love it.
Then you happen in their homes a few months down the road...and the reception they are getting on their new nice shiny microdisplay is worse than the PQ you saw in their home with their ‘old’ CRT.
And you realize they are running an ancient early generation DVD deck or worse (shudder) a few still accessing their VHS and/or their original cable box / old dish for source. You casually mention that revamping these areas would help, and they are utterly flummoxed by the explanations and often go on to comment that they spent more on the display than budget really allowed, they aren’t’ upgrading anything else, till it breaks or next yr. after they buy their 16yr old his first car.

I know best to leave them alone when their eyes glaze, (even my own brother!!!) He [finally] after owning a new Samsung DLP for 6 months made the statement THIS WEEK, - “You know....all our old TV’s upstairs look better most of the time than this one....I think I might have the cable guy come out next month. But I really didn’t want to do that yet”

If ..............the studios had gotten their act together with the hardware guys in 2003 on single cable
Solutions & CP, that would have been one item in the whole which would have moved this train along.

They can’t stand all the cabling....all the feed choices ...instead of 2 input choices on the back of their set they have 6. One house I helped they had used their standard inputs rather than either of their 2 HR choices. Then to top it off they can’t understand how to pop in and out of their remotes to change aspect ratio’s and resolution selections to fix all those ‘stretched pictures’ and “I can’t read the CNN Scroll”.
They accidentally hit a double functioned button on their remote kicking their display into 480i and don’t even know what they’ve done... “The other night it looked better than this ...let me try another channel”

When they can open the box ...plug & play into what they already own and use or have at least one of their basic sources which is ready to mesh before the display comes home. Turn on their remotes and have aspect ratios adjusting automatically for content, then, I think they will be clamoring for greater HD content in droves.

 

[Chad R]

They're not worth the extra money. But, if HDNet movies is added to your lineup, it defintiely is worth the extra expense. I watch it more than HBO-HD.

 

[JediFonger]

if HDMI came out the same time DVD's came out and became the standard for interconnecting everything from DVD players to SD-TV's, to CD players, that would simplify everything. it'd be connecto the HDMI cable from avr to TV and from DVD/CD/VCR to avr, voila! =).

 

[Jeff Pounds]

Agreed. HDNet Movies plays some great films, and as they state proudly in their promos, HDNet movies are always shown in their original aspect ratio.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Just be grateful you don't live in the UK. We have about 10 channels in HD. These include the Discovery Channel (totally HD) a couple of movie channels (on for about 12 hours/day) and the BBC (broadcasting - wait for it - 2 hours per day). There's a couple of sports channels (the cricket, of all things, looks stunning) and an arts channel. However, overall, a lot of the programmes are upscaled SD.

I suspect that uptake of HD in the UK will be slower than in the USA. The increase in quality over broadcast PAL is not as great as the increase in quality over broadcast NTSC and to be honest, a good quality SD PAL broadcast on an LCD/plasma screen that automatically upscales the picture really isn't all that different from an HD broadcast (before anyone corrects me, yes there is a difference, but not a huge one that is likely to impress Joe - or Jo - Average).

 

[RAF]

The majority of the "Movie" HD channels on Dish are 5.1 (depending on the source material). I find that almost all HBO stuff is, and a lot of Showtime presentations are as well. Most surprising to me was that all the "Voom" channels (I have 15 of those) seem to broadcast in 5.1 all the time. I don't know if they are synthesizing some of this because I know that some of the older movies (like on the "Monster" channel) were definitely pre-dolby. But my Lexicon consistently shows "5.1" as the source audio stream from Voom. In any event, it does add to the overall presentation.

 

[JediFonger]

interesting to know.

yeah, many OTA channels do that sometimes. an example would be if i'm watching desperate housewives (ha ha i know), the channel would be on 5.1 the entire hour even during commercial break even though the commercials aren't 5.1. they process the stereo as DPL at the station. i don't like that so much.

 

[Al Stuart]

I was on the phone with Dish yesterday, both sales and technical, and they couldn't answer a simple question regarding aspect ratios. I currently have Time Warner in NYC, and I have some HD channels that play things in OAR (Showtime, HDNET, Universal HD) and some that don't (HBO, INHD, TNT), and I was considering switching over to Dish if I knew if any of the Voom channels show 2.35 films correctly, as well as Starz HD. I know that Monsters HD crops everything to 1.78, but what about the Kung Fu HD, Film Fest HD, and World HD?

Checking on Voom's website is useless because it just refers you to Dish's site on any specific, even schedules (which you then can't access unless you are already a customer).

Is there some place that lists all the available HD channels in the US and whether or not they show films in OAR?

 

[RolandL]

I live in Connecticut and Comcast lists the following as HD channels:

200 NESN HD High-Definition TV
202 ESPN HD** High-Definition TV
205 Discovery Channel-HD High-Definition TV HD ON
206 INHD 1 High-Definition TV HD ON
207 INHD2 High-Definition TV
208 Universal HD High-Definition TV
227 STARZ! HD*** High-Definition TV
231 WTNH-HD ABC** (New Haven) High-Definition TV
232 WVIT NBC** (Hartford) High-Definition TV
233 WFSB HD (CBS)** (Hartford) High-Definition TV
234 WTIC-61 (FOX HD) High-Definition TV
235 WTXX HD High-Definition TV
240 CPTV PBS** HD (Hartford) High-Definition TV
319 MAXHD***

I guess your Comcast service offers more channels.

Roland