Discussion of D*s upcoming conversion to MPEG 4

[beast37799]

i doubt its true i wonder if "advanced tech " knows what mpeg4 is

 

[fkostyn]

I have been half tempted to take my H10 apart and ID all of the chips inside myself.... D* could have set this up years ago in preparation.. (wouldn't that throw e* for a loop....)

 

[beast37799]

well if u or anybody does take there hd reciever apart and find a mpeg4 chip that would save on transition time cause then only the dishes would need replacing. but then again they could change over all the current hd over already.

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

I am sorry to say, no current DIRECTV HD STB is MPEG-4 ready. DIRECTV will be replacing all existing HD receivers and antenna dishes.

The roll-out is very slow, beginning with the 12 largest DMAs by late summer 05. Even in the 12 first DMA the equipment swap-out will be gradually upgraded and DIRECTV will simulcast MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 for several years during the field upgrading.

Outside of the first 12 DMA the timing is currently scheduled to begin sometime Q2 06 through the end of 2007 as DIRECTV has 3 more satellites launching over the next two years to handle all of the HD bandwidth.

This is an enormous project and will phased in over the next two to three years.

-Robert

 

[lzjr]

Could you tell me where philadelphia is on that list?

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

Philadelphia is in the first round of upgrades.

Here's the complete list:
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Houston and Tampa.

-Robert

 

[lzjr]

THanks

 

[vinnyv07]

Any discount for us built in HD tuners? Im wondering if Directv will even offer us a discount on the new HD receivers.

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

We have an additional $100. discount for any DIRECTV HD receiver with the purchase of any HD display.

-Robert

 

[Alan Gordon]

i also wonder if they will use some of the spaceway sats for sd locals

Every (at least almost every) press release that DirecTV has issued regarding the SpaceWay satellites has stated that they will allow DirecTV to expand their SD-LIL offerings.

HOWEVER, Dan Collins has stated that current DirecTV (or at least DirecTiVo) receivers will not work with Ka signals, therefore DirecTV would have to replace EVERY receiver in every market they add with a Ka signal... so...

I suspect what they (might have) meant, was that when DirecTV moves the HD signals off of the current satellites, they can then use that bandwith for SD-LIL.

Of course, all of this is simply speculation...

~Alan

 

[lzjr]

Any Idea what the new sat configuration will look like basically will i need a new dish?

 

[Alan Gordon]

Any Idea what the new sat configuration will look like basically will i need a new dish?

Yes, you will need a new dish, and rumors have it being a 5-LNB dish.

~Alan

 

[dragon002]

robert,
help me out here and correct me if i am wrong. i have been reading their posts ad neaseum since i signed up here. i think i have run across something.

some posters here think that once the spaceway sats launch that magically directv is going to broadcast in mpeg 4 hd only, that my friends is not going to happen!!!

if you have hd capability now with hd irds or hd tivo irds you will have them replaced as an upgrade for free, we understand. if you have sd boxes, you will pay for an upgrade to hd the same as the others did. they are not going to upgrade the sd boxes right away for free. sd is here to stay at least until 2010, good lord cc, bb and target and wal mart are selling tons of sd tvs. and hd is no longer on the fccs priority list

robert , what have you heard?

dragon

 

[hongcho]

> some posters here think that once the spaceway sats launch that magically directv is going to broadcast in mpeg 4 hd only, that my friends is not going to happen!!!

What's so magical about it? "Magical" seems to imply that it may happen overnight. THAT, for sure, won't happen.

I think you have mis-interpreted what others are/have been saying. You said "directv is going to broadcast in mpeg 4 hd only". That's not exactly what people were saying. It's more like "directv is going to broadcast hd in mpeg 4 only" (eventually, at least). It has nothing to do with DirecTV's SD plans.

As Robert explained given what he heard from his DirecTV contacts, the MPEG-4 transition (for HD, not SD) will take several years to complete. I don't see anything "magical" about it here. It's just a matter of planning, execution and money.

What I'd expect is that once the 12 HD LIL light up the HD national "local" feeds will be unavailable to those in the 12 markets. However, I'd expect them (the MPEG-2 HD national "local" feeds) to be around until all boxes have been given a chance to be replaced.

Hong.

 

[jim tressler]

crap.. so I suppose I should run 1 more cable outside

Yes, you will need a new dish, and rumors have it being a 5-LNB dish.

~Alan

 

[Alan Gordon]

It has nothing to do with DirecTV's SD plans.

I believe he was referring to my comments regarding SpaceWay and SD-LIL.

~Alan

 

[elephant98]

so let me get this straight

I'm moving in about 3 weeks to a new home in Miami. As I am an existing customer, DirecTv will be providing the professional installation on my home for free. I've always wanted to upgrade to HD, so I figured that this was the best time for me to do it. I am also dying to get DirecTV's HD-DVR with Tivo (Model HR10-250) because my old Ultimate TV DVR is finally starting to give out.

If I have read this thread correctly, there is little risk to my buying the HR10-250 at this time for several reasons:

1. the Miami area is not going to be receiving the new HD channels via mpeg4 until at least the second quarter of 2006.

2. DirecTV will apparently swap out my HR10-250 with a new HD-DVR unit at zero or little cost. (At least, that's what I've read on this thread).

3. the switch to mpeg4 is going to be a slow, gradual change that will take several years and DirecTv will continue to send out mpeg2 signal during that time. At the very least, I will be able to continue viewing the current mpeg2 offerings in HD.

Am I correct? Anything that I have missed? It stinks that the HR10-250 is so close to being obsolete. But, my other options aren't really any better. No matter what I do, it looks like I will have to get a new dish put up when the swap to mpeg4 takes place. I'm thinking I might as well get the limited HD offerings from DirecTv, and enjoy it for the next year or so, and pray that I don't have to foot out a lot more money on equipment when the time comes to switch to a new mpeg4 DVR unit. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Smthkd]

1. YES

2. YES

3. YES

Happy HDTVing!!!

 

[Carter]

I'm moving in about 3 weeks to a new home in Miami.
1. the Miami area is not going to be receiving the new HD channels via mpeg4 until at least the second quarter of 2006.

I am not sure where you came up with that date. I live in Phoenix and I know from talking with the local stations that DirecTV has already talked to them about carrying their HD channels. PHX is ranked 15th and Miami is ranked 17th, so we will both be in the second round of HD locals. I am guessing that it will before the end of the year.

 

[elephant98]

Carter, there are a couple of posts in this thread regarding the slow change over, which starts with the 12 largest markets in the last half of the year. Let's hope its sooner for the rest of us, rather than later. Here's one post that I saw a couple pages back ---

I am sorry to say, no current DIRECTV HD STB is MPEG-4 ready. DIRECTV will be replacing all existing HD receivers and antenna dishes.

The roll-out is very slow, beginning with the 12 largest DMAs by late summer 05. Even in the 12 first DMA the equipment swap-out will be gradually upgraded and DIRECTV will simulcast MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 for several years during the field upgrading.

Outside of the first 12 DMA the timing is currently scheduled to begin sometime Q2 06 through the end of 2007 as DIRECTV has 3 more satellites launching over the next two years to handle all of the HD bandwidth.

This is an enormous project and will phased in over the next two to three years.

-Robert