# 5 New HD Channels- No Compatibility with HR10-250?



## Flproject13 (Apr 4, 2004)

I was just on the phone with somebody from DirecTV who was telling me that they are adding 5 new HD channels, but my HR10-250 won't support them? That makes no sense? Does anybody else know about this?


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

No new news. This has been the plan for about 2 years now. Any new HD channels are MPEG4 which requires an MPEG4 capable receiver of which the HR10 is not one. Only the new H20 or HR20 (the DVR) are MPEG4 capable.

And they aren't adding 5 new HD national channels. Most likely your HD locals will go up soon plus your RSN in HD. Again, MPEG4 only.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

on a semi related note:

DTV has officially announced no more national HD this year. It will be here next year and HDtivo can't tune them in sorry.


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## Paperboy2003 (Mar 30, 2004)

When is the next launch due to go up? 

There are supposed to be 1 or 2 upcoming, correct?


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

Flproject13 said:


> I was just on the phone with somebody from DirecTV who was telling me that they are adding 5 new HD channels, but my HR10-250 won't support them? That makes no sense? Does anybody else know about this?


Anyone know what the 5 new channels will be? TIA. /steve


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## rkester (Jan 10, 2005)

I was told last week they are adding like 150 national HD next year. The retention person told me she expected probably 20-30 at a time to be activated. And said something about 1400 locals across the US?


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## KungFuCow (May 6, 2004)

Wasnt next year supposed to have been this year last year?


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## rkester (Jan 10, 2005)

I think they put the 2007 timeframe into all their financial stuff to investors etc so they have to stick to it. PLus lets face it, HD is here and if they don't progress they are going to get their butts kicked by cable.

I have read COX cable is adding at least 20 nationals by spring 07. DTV will probably try and match their timeline to keep up.


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## dickweis (Dec 30, 2001)

rkester said:


> I was told last week they are adding like 150 national HD next year. The retention person told me she expected probably 20-30 at a time to be activated. And said something about 1400 locals across the US?


I already get over 20 digital channels OTA in my HD10-250 including all locals I am interested in. How many of these channels might be content that does not duplicate my locals?

I need to decide whether to stay eith D* or go to the Series 3 cable TiVo by the end of the year.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

keep in mind, 150 is capacity and it will be years before it's full. Many stations aren't even in HD yet. There's a list somewhere on here of all HD channels that exist but i forget where.

Maybe go over to dish's site and see what they have as an example of what may be coming down the road here? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the other movie channels which my local cable has and stuff like hgtv, natl geo etc. 

I'm pretty sure 1 new sat goes online by spring next year and the other at the end of the year. Note I said online


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=57346

I'm pretty sure that's the pdf that shows the directv rollout plans. (minus that pesky real account info DTV posted on the PDF that had to be very quickly removed )


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## rkester (Jan 10, 2005)

According to page 36, d10 will launch in spring 07 and shortly after the line starts going way up for HD nationals. D11 is shown launching fall 07 and the line keeps on going up.

So this means that once they get d10 launched, the line will be flat, then go way up. I repeat, D10 launches, the line is flat. THen soon after, the line goes way up.


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## rkester (Jan 10, 2005)

All humor aside.. that chart basically says we start around 10 HD nationals and the first jump is right up to 40 HD nationals.

Lets hope they stick to this timeline. Id love ot see the number leap 30 channels. Which is what the gal told me... 30 or so at a chunk.


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## Paperboy2003 (Mar 30, 2004)

Sure do hope those birds makes it up.....D* will die if one of those birds don't get to the proper slot, and they can expand their HD lineup.


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## Paperboy2003 (Mar 30, 2004)

rkester said:


> According to page 36, d10 will launch in spring 07 and shortly after the line starts going way up for HD nationals. D11 is shown launching fall 07 and the line keeps on going up.


So now at least I have a feel for when I'll have to 'maybe' trade in one of my HR10's for a HR20. Hopefully by then they'll have the bugs out and have updated it for dual buffers!


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## Lee L (Oct 1, 2003)

rkester said:


> All humor aside.. that chart basically says we start around 10 HD nationals and the first jump is right up to 40 HD nationals.
> 
> Lets hope they stick to this timeline. Id love ot see the number leap 30 channels. Which is what the gal told me... 30 or so at a chunk.


The problem is there are not 30 national channels available to put up. THere are 3 or 4 they could but have not, but they are hostage to the people with content not producing it or making it available in HD.


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## barracuda3443 (Feb 15, 2004)

I was asked by a friend the other day if he should switch from cable to D* & the only thing I liked that cable offered was On Demand. Good to see D* is planning to offer it soon.

I'm assuming, though, that one would need an interactive reciever to get it, would that be correct?


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

how in the world can you do on demand unless you have a phone line connected and there is an immediate call which would download a program via satellite to your machine...or am i misunderstanding what 'on demand' really is?


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## joshuasamuels (Sep 18, 2006)

Lee L said:


> The problem is there are not 30 national channels available to put up. THere are 3 or 4 they could but have not, but they are hostage to the people with content not producing it or making it available in HD.


The pdf says that D* will have *Capacity* for that many channels. Notice that it was a talk given by the technology guys, nothing more... No where does it say how many they will actually deliver...


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## rkester (Jan 10, 2005)

Of course it doesnt. Because they don't know what they will deliver until they have it to offer to us.

Like Lee said, there arent very many HD nats available. Which seems silly since everyone of those networks KNEW about this HD thing years ago.

I'm guessing most the majors have their HD stuff working but its just not out there yet.


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

KungFuCow said:


> Wasnt next year supposed to have been this year last year?


2007 has always been the year.

As to some other posts on new channels now, there is no way and I mean no way. They are already over maxed as you can see by them shutting down TNT-HD or HDNET on Sunday afternoons to make room for Sunday Ticket. Any new HD will be on the new sats next year and will of course be MPEG4. The plan is to quickly convert all HD receivers to MPEG4 and shut down the HD on MPEG2 as quickly as possible. At that point the HR10 will only be able to record OTA HD and the standard def channels.


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## barracuda3443 (Feb 15, 2004)

newsposter said:


> how in the world can you do on demand unless you have a phone line connected and there is an immediate call which would download a program via satellite to your machine...or am i misunderstanding what 'on demand' really is?


Slide #43 says:

"Return Channel Improvements" & says that "Power Line Technology will replace difficult phone connections"

&

Data port to connect via customers broadband service

Then slide #58 says:

"Directv Broadband Video - Q04 '06" & shows a screeen shot with an interactive screen titled *Directv OnDemand*

Probably will have to have broadband to make it work, I guess...


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

dickweis said:


> I already get over 20 digital channels OTA in my HD10-250 including all locals I am interested in. How many of these channels might be content that does not duplicate my locals?


Right now, the only thing you _might_ get from DirecTV's MPEG4 that you can't get OTA is your local sports network.

The forthcoming national MPEG4 will all be channels you can't get OTA. But none of them exist yet.


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## rkester (Jan 10, 2005)

So did we determine that the 5 new HDs were probably locals or something most of us cant get?


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

Since there really are no major (USA, FX, etc.) channels even on the horizon for any subscriber to any DBS or cable service, that would mean that the best they could be would be something along the lines of Nat Geographic, Food channel, MTV, and the others that have announced, which also will probably be mostly upconverted SD for some time anyway.

And yes, quibble if you like, I did characterize FX as a major channel and MTV as a minor one, but as far as HD is concerned, it would certainly benefit the movies and many hit original series and off-net series of FX much better than it could possibly benefit the fare on MTV. Well, IMHO, that is. I guess I would like to see Shakira shake it in 1080i, tho.

If more HD channels were the solution, everyone would be migrating to DISH, who has some 30 of them. They aren't. Content is king, and channel counts are misleading. There has to be a "killer app" to get a person to go to MPEG-4 delivery. Locals is the KA for some, RSNs for a few more, but there are few KAs in the new HD channels debuting this year, anywhere. IOW, if they add 50 channels you don't care about, there's really no reason to jump. When they add G4 in HD or whatever niche channel floats your boat as the 51st HD channel, that's the point where you have to consider going along with DTVs program. And not one channel before.


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## rkester (Jan 10, 2005)

TyroneShoes said:


> Content is king, and channel counts are misleading.


Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Mr Shoes you have hit it on the head like a nail with a purpose. Content is the king. Which is why I have 150 channels now of nothing but pay because I get 10 channels of something.

I know that Voom's content may be wonderful to some on Dish land, but I want and need the channels that count.

Which is why I am concerned that the MAJOR nationals like fx, USA, SCIFI aren't promoting their HD feeds and they arent available.

I'd be willing to bet that there are chunks of subscribers who would find new sources just for these kinds of channels.

So why arent we being told what is really there? or what is coming in realistic terms?


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## dtebbe (Aug 18, 2003)

sluciani said:


> Anyone know what the 5 new channels will be? TIA. /steve


1. QVC-HD
2. HSN-HD
3. TBN-HD
4. GEM-HD
5. TBA

These new HD channels will only be available in the crap channel "superfan" package at the low, low price of $99 per year, and may be subject to blackout.

DT


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

rkester said:


> ...So why arent we being told what is really there? ...





dtebbe said:


> 1. QVC-HD
> 2. HSN-HD
> 3. TBN-HD
> 4. GEM-HD
> ...


That's why.

dtebbe has used a bit of sarcastic hyperbole to make the point, but the point still stands. They want us to "pay no attention to that lack of content behind the curtain", while they attempt to dazzle us with the prospect of 5 Whole New HD channels.

5 times zero is how much again? Last time I cipher'd it, 5 times zero was still zero.

And really, some of the channels they have now are a joke. What good is 4 hours a day of fat f*cks playing celebrity poker? In glorious 1080i SD?


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## RoyGBiv (Apr 26, 2004)

There is something else no one has mentioned. I expect that once D* has all this national HD capability, the sports packages will start being broadcast in HD. Right now only NFLST is all in HD (at least what is provided in HD). Now, almost all RNS are showing their games in HD, but only a smattering of those games show up in HD on channel 95. I expect that with the increased bandwidth those games will be added in HD to MLBEI, NHLCI, and NBALP, but of course at some extra cost.

SMK


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

qvc hd? please say you are joking. Will they be turning off SHO HD to free up bandwidth for it ?


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## Chuck_IV (Jan 1, 2002)

I'm curious, with the MPEG-4 HD stuff that is currently out there, is it still in the "Hd-Lite" format of 1280x1024 or is it in it's full 1920x1280(obviously only refering to 1080i channels, not 720p channels)?

I ask because is it's still in the "HD-Lite" format, then I'd rather see Directv use some of this new space to get their HD back up to it's proper res.


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## mx6bfast (Jan 2, 2004)

To answer some questions in this thread.

There are not 30 national HD channels out there right now that D* has not added. If they add them 20 & 30 at a time, then they will have to wait big chunks at a time to add HD channels. 

With the new sats, D* has the capacity to add 1500 local and 150 national HD channels. But that doesnt mean that we all will get those channels. Whichever DMA you are in, you will get that DMAs channels. 

There is no word about D* adding national channels in MPEG-4 format right now.

D* hasnt commented on if the new sats will be HD-Lite or not.

The next 2 sats go up next year. 

Using the average time frames for the most recent 2 sats that went up, it will take as long as 6 months for them to go online.


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## DeDondeEs (Feb 20, 2004)

With these new HD locals will they be beaming down concurrent HD beams of a show to all the markets? Meaning If Lost is on and there are say 30 HD local markets (just picked a number) does that mean there are 30 streams of HD Lost going across the bandwidth? Or is there some algorithm that allows only one stream of the show to play across all of the HD Locals and when commercials come on it goes to what the locals are showing? The latter would seem more efficient.

Also the DirecTV site lists Bravo HD as one of the channels in the current HD package, but I go to the channel and there is nothing there.


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## mx6bfast (Jan 2, 2004)

DeDondeEs said:


> With these new HD locals will they be beaming down concurrent HD beams of a show to all the markets? Meaning If Lost is on and there are say 30 HD local markets (just picked a number) does that mean there are 30 streams of HD Lost going across the bandwidth? Or is there some algorithm that allows only one stream of the show to play across all of the HD Locals and when commercials come on it goes to what the locals are showing? The latter would seem more efficient.
> 
> Also the DirecTV site lists Bravo HD as one of the channels in the current HD package, but I go to the channel and there is nothing there.


Each channel will get its own feed because they are beaming stations signals, not network signals.

BravoHD+ has been renamed to Universal HD, UHD.


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

DeDondeEs said:


> ...If Lost is on and there are say 30 HD local markets (just picked a number) does that mean there are 30 streams of HD Lost going across the bandwidth? Or is there some algorithm that allows only one stream of the show to play across all of the HD Locals and when commercials come on it goes to what the locals are showing? The latter would seem more efficient...


A very astute observation. This is exactly the model that was proposed to terrestrial broadcasting as a method of moving to HD. But not only was it technologically not feasible at the time, the advantage goes away at the point the local commercials or programming begins. As expected, it was laughed off as an unrealistic concept.

Technology today could do something very much like this just for DBS, but again, there is still the bandwidth bottleneck the minute "Lost" goes to a local break. In short, it ain't gonna happen. Streaming content is only as good as its burst throughput. Average throughput doesn't mean very much.

But there really isn't wasted bandwidth in the model that is used, because spot-beam technology reuses the bandwidth over and over, precisely targeted (physically) to adjacent population centers. IOW, both Tuscon and Phoenix may be getting totally different streams of ABC HD at the same time carrying the exact same show, but they can actually be on the very same frequency, rather than each gouging out a pie-wedge of the available bandwidth pool, which is the CONUS scenario.


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## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

Following on the "Lost" example, wouldn't there still have to be 30 independent streams of the same network content in the event that a local affiliate wants or needs to pre-empt the "Lost" episode? Could be for breaking news story or whatever.


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

Yep. I think that's what was just discussed.


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## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

TyroneShoes said:


> Yep. I think that's what was just discussed.


Oops. I had a rough night and a slow morning. Can you tell?


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

No worries...we all have that same DNA imperfection from time to time. But at least you bumped an interesting thread.


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