HDTV Question...please help.
 

Hi all. Well I was looking around today at DirectTV and The Dish Network for getting HDTV. I already have a HD 16x9 Mitsubishi that is primarily used for watching DVDs now. I am thinking of either going with DirectTV or Dish. However, I have heard differing opinions when I ask questions about HD receivers and antennas.

Audio King: Says I need a $500 HD receiver and an antenna to get the local channels in HD. Total cost around $1200.

Dish Network: Says I need a $300 HD receiver, 2 dishes (one for HD, one for regular) and an antenna. Total cost around $900.

Radio Shack: Says I need a HD receiver $80! And that's all. I was rather skeptical, but the salesman called a different store and got the same answer. He said that $150 will include the DirectTV HD dish and the HD receiver. He said there was no need for an antenna.

I don't know a whole lot about this area. (I have always focused my attention on DVDs and trying to achieve the best 480p signal possible). Could someone please help me in regards to the information I have received. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
-Geoff

That Radio Shack deal sounds a little suspicious to me. I was always under the impression it was like option A although I doubt you need a $700 antenna.

I can't speak for DirectTv (other than saying RS is wrong), but for Dish Network you need the Dish 6000 receiver and you do need 2 antennas since the HD programming is on a different satellite. I don't know where you got the $900 quote but thats way high. Dish Network has good deals for new customers, so it shouldn't cost you nearly that much. That will only cover your Dish HDTV channels, local OTA HDTV broadcasts you'll need an extra $100 8vsb module for the Dish 6000 as well as a separate antenna to pick up the HDTV signal (whether its on roof, attic, or set-top).

You're hearing a lot of crap from these different retailers.

Any antenna will work

go to Advance Logic www.copperbox.com and look at their price for the RCA DTC-100 its the most inexpensive HDTV tunner I know of and its Direct TV as well but you don't have to use the Direct TV - I use this model and am completely happy with it

Currently there are only 2 HD Channels on Direct TV, a couple more on Dish Network but its much more of a pain in the ass to get Dish Network set up with HD.

but talk to the guys at Advance Logic they carry both Direct TV and Dish Network and they know exactly waht they are talking about

Check out the HDTV forums at www.avsforum.com

They will give you all the info you need and then some.

Thanks for the responses guys. I appreciate it.

As suggested above, the AVSForum has a lot of great info.

I did not want satellite service, so I got the Samsung SIR-T150 which does OTA only, and have been very happy with it. I believe it can be had for under $500 with rebates. See the above mentioned forum for details.

Don't be mislead though, these is very little HDTV programming available right now. The satellite companies only offer a couple channels of programming. From OTA signals, CBS offers the most prime time programming. The other channels only offer HDTV occasionally. ABC does some of their movies, but who wants to watch a high definition movie that has been edited, cropped, and full of commercials? I'd rather rent the DVD.
Hopefully more programming will be available when the fall season starts.

Good points Movie Man.

One minor question. If a 1.85:1 movie is shown in HDTV wouldn't it be uncropped? Or at least only cropped a tiny bit to 1.78:1.

1.85:1 movies are shown in their correct aspect ratio. normally, this would result in very small black bars at the top and bottom, but thanks to overscan they are not visible on most (all?) 16x9 sets

I don't watch many movies on TV, but I have checked them out from time to time just to see how they look on my TV. I don't know if it's done all the time, but what I've noticed is that sometimes the station will only air the 4:3 version, then actually crop the top & bottom to letterbox it for the HDTV feed. Talk about a hack job!