uli2000

IIRC, most of the channels DirectTV said it's adding dont have HD programming yet.

Deftones

True, but if you go and look it up, every single channel they've listed have had pressers that said they were launching near the time DirecTV launches them.

larry b

What are Comcast HD plans?

Admiral7

pinata, I am very pleased with DirecTV's service. Before they went HD local for Tulsa area, I had Cox AND DirecTV, just so I could get Fox and ABC in HD. I already had CBS and NBC HD out of New York, and still do. Another big plus -- for me anyway -- is NFL Sunday Ticket and being able to watch just about any and every game in HD. I'm a Cowboys fan, so I'm going to get to see all their games anyway on Fox, but now that Adrian Peterson is a Viking, the only chance I'm going to be able to see most of his games are with the Sunday Ticket, and in HD to boot. I swear, after watching HD, there are very few non-HD channels I watch anymore. I haven't watched an HBO or Showtime non-HD channel in two years. A friend of mine calls me an HD snob.

Also, the ABS guy might have been correct a couple of weeks ago. It was only over the weekend that I discovered that CBS-HD had finally been added to the satellite local channels. But if he was talking about NBC, then he was definitely wrong.

Demolition Man

To continue the kicking and screaming fest they have over adding *ANY* HD channels period yet run endless ads about how they have "the best HD picture quality." Trust me... we don't even have HDNet or HDNet Movies here, and they want an extra $5 a month for the NFL Network.

I'm seriously looking to jump to DirecTV. The current NFL Sunday Ticket offer is a seriously good offer. However I just don't like the idea of having to pay for a freakin box..... decisions decisions decisions.

steebo777

EXACTLY why I don't use Comshaft anymore. Plus their prices are rediculous compared to other cable companies around me.

I use Wide Open West (WOW!) and they currently have 19 HD channels (22 if you count HBO and the such). They have the best customer service of nearly any company I've ever dealt with, and I have never really had an issue with their service in over six years. Plus they have HDNET and HDNET Movies, which other than DiscoverHD, are the two channels I watch the most.

The Bus

With Comcast, we've got Discovery, Comcast Sportsnet, ESPN and ESPN2, Universal HD, MHD, Mojo, ABC,, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, CW, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz... And I think that's it. There might be one or two I'm missing.

I'd love to have Animal Planet in HD as well as National Geographic. And HDNet.

redbill

my Comcast has National Geographic in HD, and Food, NFL.

steebo777

FoodHD owns. I'd like to have UniversalHD.

danicus007

I just signed up for Dish Network and I'm having it installed on Monday morning. I've had Time Warner HD for a little over a year now. It's been nice but they only have 21 HD channels and the only one's I care about are the locals, ESPN, ESPN2, Discovery, and TNT for Basketball. Dish has 39 HD channels and I can wait for Food, TLC, HGTV, National Geographic, NFL HD, etc. Plus Time Warner doesn't have Bravo or NFL Network even in SD.

GreenMonkey

Very happy with Dish to date. Particularly fond of HDNET, HDNet Movies and Universal HD (who has been running stuff in HD like Northern Exposure in its proper 4:3 aspect ratio).

TNT HD is worthless though. They crop movies to 16:9 and stretch TV to 16:9. Just awful. LOTR looks wrong cropped. Not as bad as pan n scan but not much better.

The Dish HD-DVD is great (VIP-622). I'd say it's one of the best and most user friendly piece of electronics I've dealt with in recent years. Fantastic remotes, very stable, easy to use.

Hoping Dish gets the History Channel in HD. Would love that.

A few channels like Discovery HD are definitely bit-rate starved. Planet Earth would pixelate like crazy when there were flocks of birds flying around.

The Kung-Fu station (old Voom station) has been playing great Kurosawa titles like the Seven Samurai and the Hidden Fortress

TGM

could not agree more on TNT's HD channel... it's brutal.

RockStrongo

If you have a really large screen (tv or projector), then you have to be careful with who you go with. Dish and Directv are known for bad artifacts in the pic due to not enough bandwidth so its compressed like crazy.

Im going with Fios when I move in Oct because ive heard its better. I have TWC now and I honestly think their channels are a bit better than when I had Dish.
So, just keep in mind, more channels does NOT always mean a good thing. It could decrease quality overall. On AVS and other forums, people call it HD-lite.

http://hdguru.com/?p=18

Q. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the following on their move into HDTV: the federal government, TV manufacturers, cable and satellite companies?

Satellite bottom dwells as 2. DirecTV and Dish Network seem to be racing to the picture quality bottom, delivering less than full HD resolution, or what I call “low hi-def.”

vcuram

I just had Fios installed today. The HD quality is much better than Comcast's. It also came with an HD DVR.

My HD lineup, which is included in the base cable price is:

FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC, CW, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, NFL, HDNet, HDNet Movie, Universal, Discovery, Wealth, Nat'l Geographic, MTV, Food, HGTV, Lifetime, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, TMC, and Starz

Kinda disappointed Comcast Sportsnet is not available since it was with Comcast.

steebo777

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't DirecTV broadcast in H.264 to newer receivers (available as of last year) as opposed to MPEG2? I have always thought this broadcast has looked better than my cable or my buddies Comcast cable. And we all use front projector screens ranging from 90"-110".

RockStrongo

Many channels with Direct and Dish are MPEG4, so that helps with the bandwidth, but its still an issue. Basically, they add too many channels and their limited bandwidth just cannot handle it. So, they compress the hell out of it.

Supposedly, Directv has or is going to add another satellite that will help this some. But, these sat companies are exposed in this area. Not enough bandwidth for all the channels (in full quality).