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MPEG 4 moves quietly at Dish

Dish 411 with MPEG 4


Sometimes the best HDTV news doesn't come from scanning RSS feeds or attending the latest trade shows; sometimes the best HDTV news comes from passing conversations. We've mentioned the DIRECTV MPEG-4 strategies a time or two, but we've been quiet on the Dish Network front. Imagine my surprise when I bumped into my friend Paul at work and he mentioned his new Dish HDTV receiver sporting an MPEG-4 logo.

I figured he got the non-DVR model 811 since I knew he was thinking of using WMCE for his high-def recordings. Nope, Paul has the VIP-211 model. Huh? How did we miss that? A quick bunch of research indicates a 411 model with MPEG-4 support also (shown above). The units don't appear on Dish Network's site yet and there's no news that they're transmitting MPEG-4 signals yet, but it's clear that there's compression afoot; more deets to follow!