Hands-on with DirecTV's new HD channels

No matter how many channels satellite providers have, to some people it just isn't an option; whether it's because you don't have line of sight or you just can't throw out your HD TiVo for their alternative. But there's no denying DirecTV and Dish are the HD leaders. So, for those who don't have 'em, we spent some time taking a few pics of the latest HD channels. Some channels required us to wait a long time before we saw any HD on them, while others have quite a bit. It's still kind of hard to tell what will be in HD, as the guide data isn't usually accurate. We're hoping these are just early bugs and eventually they'll all be 24x7 HD goodness, but for now, we're just happy when they don't bring us stretch-o-vision.

DirecTV's new HD Channels

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 5th 2007 9:37AM]

So, SciFi HD is here.(or at least the framework it seems) Sooner or later I'm gonna have to buy a house. The condo I bought is just that, a condo. No dish allowed...

Maybe Cox will get off their ass. Maybe not. Verizon needs to knock on my door. People a mile away can get it, but not me.

[Xyzzy Posted Oct 5th 2007 10:22AM]

"The condo I bought is just that, a condo. No dish allowed..."

I hate when I read this crap, and my response is always the same:

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

The federal government trumps the condo association rules, meaning you CAN get a dish regardless of what they say. If you want DirecTV/Dish, print out the rules, send it to the condo board, and tell you're installing a dish. There's nothing they can do, as long as you follow the FCC rules.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 5th 2007 9:49AM]

Finally I can see some of the channels I can't get. I've been trying to get a screen shot of how CNN is doing HD... doesn't look that pretty. I seriously hope they re-do their ticker, sets, and graphics. The Weather Channel HD looks... awesome. I can't wait to get that, but so far no-go on COX. Hell, there's a local weather channel from the ABC affiliate here but COX refuses to carry it because they have their own "Kansas Now 22" which is a joke for news and "weather". CNN HD is supposed to be coming soon here in Topeka. But again, I'm not very impressed. As it is my HD from COX has been fuzzy, with no fix, for a month now anyways.

[Hoffer Posted Oct 5th 2007 9:57AM]

I checked out MHD when I got home from work yesterday. Some Reba Mcintire(sp) and Kelly Clarkson thing was on. I actually sat and watched it for 10 minutes. The music was terrible, but it looked good.

Actually, the reason I was on the channel for 10 minutes was I was going through guide data for about 48 hours. I ended up recording A TON of stuff. Different concerts, the recent awards show and a block of music videos. I�ll probably fast forward through most of it, but I�m checking it out this weekend.

[Mojo Yugen Posted Oct 5th 2007 10:13AM]

So does anyone really need (or want) to see Larry King in HD? This is progress?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 5th 2007 10:37AM]

I guess I needed to clarify...

Balcony is north facing. Roof is common area.

Hence, no dish allowed...

[bullshitexpresscom Posted Oct 5th 2007 11:35AM]

You are actually 90% right. I do installs so I can say that there are a few exceptions (which sorta suck). 1) You can't place the dish on a "common" roof as that is shared by other people. 2) If there is an equivalent way to receive the same service. It's easy to get around the second exception, the first is a little harder. The SHIVA act is great for most people!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 5th 2007 12:55PM]

wow thanks alot. Directv just came out to my apartment and said they could not install because we don't have line of sight. Our apartment will not let us mount it to the roof but when they see this I think we can figure out something.

[kcmurphy88 Posted Oct 5th 2007 11:00AM]

And you can't get the votes?

[kcmurphy88 Posted Oct 5th 2007 10:58AM]

A poll on dbstalk showed that 86% of the 400 respondents hated stretch-o-vision. Why do newbie HD broadcasters keep making this rookie error? ESPN eventually saw the light, maybe these guys will soon.

[jadalias Posted Oct 5th 2007 12:23PM]

I haven't kept up on this issue: is Direct TV still broadcasting its HD channels in "HD Lite"?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 5th 2007 12:55PM]

No, all of the new MPEG-4 channels are full 1920 x 1080i. The image quality on the Smithsonian Channel and TBS's baseball coverage are jaw-dropping.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 11th 2007 9:13AM]

I seem to think so. I have a Comcast HD DVR and a Directv HD DVR. When you compare the two on the discovery HD channel, the comcast is about 20% sharper IMO. Dont know why just my observation. The colors and sharpness pop better on Comcast. I do like the HD content on Direcrtv,but I don't think its true 1080i.
I think they still do HD lite.

wopr21

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 5th 2007 12:39PM]

Here's my e-mail to TBS-HD (one of the newest additions to HD, but definitely the WORST offender of stretch-o-vision!) The only thing on that channel that's actually HD is the baseball, what are they going to do when the playoffs are over?? Anyway, here's my e-mail:

Subject: TBS-HD stretch-o-vision

To whom it may concern,

I was very happy to wake up on October 2nd to 4 new HD channels in my area, one of which was TBS HD. I couldn't wait to watch my favorite shows (Family Guy, The Office, Seinfeld, etc.) in HD quality. I am no stranger to HDTV and I know most old shows have not been converted to HD yet, so I was expecting to see these shows in full screen but in much better quality through your HD feed. Instead, like TNT has been doing for way too long, you insist on stretching your content to fit the screen. This makes these shows exteremly difficult to watch, because everything is way too WIIIIIIIDE. Not to mention, once the baseball playoffs are over, I'm wondering how much actual HD coverage your channel will have. And The Office (which has been filmed in HD since its inception) isn't even presented in HD on TBS HD!! As an avid TBS viewer, I would love for you guys to cater to your HD fans (there are plenty out here in TV land, and our numbers are growing larger by the second!) and present shows in their OAR (original aspect ratio) until the studios decide to re-master their shows in HD. Thank you very much.

[CharlieX Posted Oct 5th 2007 12:35PM]

Very happy with the h.264 compression. Looks immensely better than mpeg-2 channels.

[HDTVFanAtic Posted Oct 5th 2007 1:54PM]

"No, all of the new MPEG-4 channels are full 1920 x 1080i."

Incorrect.

[kcmurphy88 Posted Oct 5th 2007 3:53PM]

Incorrect? How so? If you are saying that they sometimes broadcast non-HD material, certainly. But it is IMPOSSIBLE to say anything about an Mpeg4 bitrate since it is a very complicated compression scheme.

Since Mpeg4 is lossy, the decompressed bitrate is whatever you want it to be -- some bits will always be inferred. Further, some things compress better than others, so you also can't look at the compressed bit rate.

In the end, it's subjective. All you can do is look at the image, and the Mpeg4 images of HD are stunning. Stretch-o-vision SD, like A&E uses, is stunning in another way (bad).

[RiversideGuy Posted Oct 5th 2007 3:06PM]

A careful reading of the FCC document indicates that there is NO right to install an antenna... except in some very restrictive areas. Obviously, I'm talking about cities of many multiple dwelling units (apartment buildings). You can install the antenna INSIDE your apartment, but not on any exterior wall or roof (and I assume that means roof parapets). The key is the definition of "common area." It further seems clear that pretty much everything outside you door and windows would be considered "common areas" and thus the "rule" doe NOT apply.

So about the only real situation where it MAY have an effect in dealing with homeowner associations that seem to have an ability to pass "rules" that if enacted by government, would be highly illegal. For most of the rest of us, it doesn't mean squat.

Keep in mind that it really IS up to your landlord/coop board. I've seen buildings that have a south facing wall that have about a half dozen Direct dishes mounted on the exterior wall, right next to windows. As such, the landlord COULD order them removed and this "rule" would NOT apply.

[kcmurphy88 Posted Oct 5th 2007 3:58PM]

A common area is one where you do not have, by ownership or lease, exclusive use. So a sundeck or patio, for your unit's use alone, would not be a common area, so long as your installation did not infringe on another person's use of their space.

My experience with condos is that it is all political, and they often start out with "NO" until a few people explain that they will vote for someone else at the annual election. Since almost no one votes, or cares, this means they change their minds or get replaced. Either way, you win.

[wholm Posted Oct 5th 2007 4:09PM]

In those condo situations, why not set up only a very few dishes with multiplexers on them. I don't think there would be a condo with the need for 16 feeds.... True, DVRs take two each, but at most that would be four feeds for two units and each additional single unit would need it's own run, but two appartments per dish is easy and probably could be more efficient than that. Multiplexing might even be able to get more creative than that, but I never had to deal with situations greater than 6 myself so far in my 15 years of DSS/DirecTV personally.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 5th 2007 8:02PM]

I personally hate satellite tv. Its pretty much a waste, channels you dont care about, and way to over priced when you get the same stuff and in some cases more with Digital cable like Comcast which so far i have found to have the best pricing for everything for the same amount.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 11th 2007 4:18PM]

is your last name comcast? if youre a sports fan and specifically a football fan directv is your only choice to view all of the football. and on price, only now does cable have an advantage in that you can buy your own set top box and can also use cable cards. but price for programming? on what planet is cable cheaper than satellite?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2007 10:47AM]

DirecTV owners and SciFi channel on Sci Fi Friday...
Can any of you tell me if Stargate Atlantis was broadcasted in HD Friday night

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2007 12:14PM]

Great gallery, but you should know that I had to switch from Firefox (Mac) to Safari to see more than the first few shots. No idea what the issue might be.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2007 2:07PM]

@ stephman Yes Stargate Atlantis was in HD this friday so was Flash Gordon, I am hoping that tonight(monday) the 4 hr block of Enterprise is in HD but i doubt it cause so far only brand new scifi shows are shown in full HD as far as i have seen.Like right now there showing Tru Calling, its not in full hd has the bars on the side which to me is way better than stetch-o-vision but the show was made in 04-05 i would think it would be able to be shown in full HD.Another thing there daily 6pm showings of SG1 which i love are not in full HD either and i know they were shot on film not video.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2007 3:11PM]

@ RaidersFan75
Thanks for the info. I was just curious to see what I was missing on SciFiFri on DirecTV. Congrats on getting to see new episodes of Atlantis in HD! I'm stuck watching old episodes in HD on UniversalHD on Cox in CT. Hopefully Cox will get a carriage aggreement to aid SciFi HD before new Battlestar start up.

Another question, do they show SciFi Sat. night movies in HD?
Thanks for the reply

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 9th 2007 9:19PM]

Does anyone have this problem, I have 2 of the new mpeg4 Hd dvr's , one of them will let me see the new hd programming and the local channels with the-1,-2,etc. It is one of the older mpeg4's. The newer one works just fine that was installed 2 weeks ago.( 9/24/07) So just wondering if anyone might know what the problem might be, have DTV coming this weekend. Thanks.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 14th 2007 7:12PM]

Thought I'd drop by to see if DISH is still so far into your pants you wouldn't have "noticed" that DirecTV's HD is back to 1920x1080.

Looks like I was right.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 4th 2007 5:12AM]

Oh and noticed im getting 99 channels of hd on directv, is this not true?check for yourself and reply back.
Summary
4 Major Networks
39 National HD Channels
11 New MPEG4 Premium Movie Channels
10 PPV
14 New MPEG4 HD Regional Sports Networks Broadcast Nationally
Sport Packages (over 25 HD channels)
--------
Count that any way you want but the grand total is 103 Current HD Channels

Announced
22 National HD Channels
14 RSN HD Channels

Here are the exact channels...

4 Major Networks
ABC
CBS
Fox
NBC

9 MPEG2 HD Channels (Still Compatible with HR10 & HR20)
70 - HBO HD East also 501 & 509
71 - Showtime HD East also 537& 543
72 - ESPN2 HD also 209 - ESPN2 HD
73 - ESPN HD also 206 - ESPN HD
74 - Universal HD
75 - TNT HD also 245 - TNT HD
76 - HD Theater
78 - HDNet Movies
79 - HDNet

3 MPEG2 HD PPV/Events Channels
95 - Miscellaneous HD Events Channel
98 - PPV Events
99 - PPV Movies

7 New MPEG4 PPV Channels (NOT Compatible with HR10)
135 - PPV Movies
136 - PPV Movies
137 - PPV Movies
138 - PPV Movies
145 - PPV Movies
146 - PPV Movies
147 - PPV Movies

30 New MPEG4 HD Channels (NOT Compatible with HR10)
101 - CD USA
202 - CNN HD
212 - NFL Network HD
215 - NHL Network HD
220 - Big Ten Network HD
229-1 - HGTV HD
231-1 - FOOD HD
242 - USA Network HD
244 - Sci Fi HD
247 - TBS HD
248 - FX HD
255 - MGM HD
265 - A&E HD
267 - Smithsonian HD
269 - History Channel HD
273 - Bravo HD
276 - National Geographic HD
278 - Discovery HD
280 - TLC HD
282 - Animal Planet HD
284 - Science Channel HD
296 - The Cartoon Network HD
332 - MHD
355 - CNBC HD+
359 - FOX Business HD
362 - Weather Channel HD
601 - NBA HD
604 - Versus HD / Golf Channel HD
607 - SPEED HD
612 - FUEL HD

11 New MPEG4 Premium Movie Channels
504 - HBO HD West
512 - Cinemax HD East
514 - Cinemax HD West
518 - Starz Kids and Family HD
519 - Starz Comedy HD
520 - Starz HD East
521 - Starz HD West
522 - Starz Edge HD
538 - SHO TOO HD East
540 - Showtime HD West
544 - The Movie Channel HD East

14 New MPEG4 HD Regional Sports Networks (RSN) Broadcast Nationally
622 - YES
623 - New England Sports Network
625 - SportsNet New York
628-1 - FSN Pittsburgh
629 - Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
636 - FSN Detroit
639-1 - FSN Houston
640 - Comcast SportsNet Chicago
643 - FSN Southwest
647-1 - FSN Midwest
648-1 - FSN Midwest Alternate
652 - FSN West
653 - FSN Prime Ticket
669-1 - FSN Detroit Alternate

Sport Packages (over 25 HD channels)
NFL Sunday Ticket Superfan (700's)
MLB Extra Innings (700's)
NHL Center Ice HD (700's)
NBA League Pass HD (700's)

22 Announced National HD Channels
ABC Family
Biography
CMT
CSTV
Disney Channel
ESPN News
MTV
Nickelodeon East
Spike
The Tennis Channel
Toon Disney
VH1 HD
BET
Chiller
MTV
Sleuth
MoreMax
HBO2-E
HBO2-W
HBO Family-E
HBO Family-W
HBO Signature

13 Announced RSN HD Channels
Altitude
FSN Arizona
FSN Bay Area
FSN Florida
FSN New England
FSN North
FSN Northwest
FSN Ohio
FSN Rocky Mountain
FSN South
MSG
SportsSouth
Sun Sports

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 11th 2007 6:17AM]

"I guess I needed to clarify... Balcony is north facing. Roof is common area. Hence, no dish allowed...

1) You can't place the dish on a "common" roof as that is shared by other people"

In response to these posts....

You may NOT be able to install it on the roof BUT if you read the WHOLE rules it says you can LEGALY install the dish as high as 100FT above your roof meaning your dish can be pole mounted and angled in ANY direction N,S,E, or W.....

Anotherwords, the dish would be pole mounted to your balcony (witch is legal because your balcony is NOT a common area) and would extend upwords to 100ft above the roof if needed (but would only need 3ft above if you ask me). Yes, this is all included in the installers cost and does not cost anything extra.

The one thing you MIGHT run into like we did is our landlord wants 300.00 before we have it installed (a 300.00 NON REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT) and IF we move we are NOT allowed to take the dish with us because somehow it becomes their property when its installed on their property?

I had DirecTV once before and would LOVE to get it back, I loved the quality of the HD and programming offered. This cable crap stinks and does cost more than my DTV ever did (even with the DirecTivo).

As for the set top boxes, I never had to rent a box untill I was forced to "rent" my DVR through Time Warner.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 23rd 2007 9:10PM]

Direct TV vs Cable on HD image quality.....
I broke down and purchased the contract for Directv and dumped Cox here in Arizona. I simply wanted football, and was sold on all the HD channels, however I didn't ditch Cox for about a month and I was able to do a lot of side by side viewing. In my opinion DirecTV HD isn't even close to the image quality that Cox's HD was. Even my wife thinks so. Skin pigment, and fast movements on the DirecTV start to pixelate and blemish. I've checked all my settings and I'm on 1080i.
Final thoughts. I miss the quality of HD on Cox, but I'll take 100 plus channels at 80% HD over 23 channels full. However I'd switch back tomorrow if Cox added more channels.

Anyone else agree with this statement? If you disagree and are not from Arizona I don't really care, because I've seen Comcast HD in the North West, and it's not the best either. So I'm assuming HD quality varries from region to region.