MPEG2 to MPEG 4
new HD locals
# Augusta, Ga.
# Harrisonburg, Va.
# Bangor, Maine
# La Crosse-Eau Claire, Wis.
# Baton Rouge, La.
# Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Ark.
# Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
# Lincoln-Hastings, Neb.
# Boise, Idaho
# Macon, Ga.
# Burlington Vt.-Plattsburgh, N.Y.
# Mobile AL-Pensacola, Fla.
# Butte-Bozeman, Mont.
# Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C.
# Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill.
# Norfolk-Newport News, Va.
# Charleston, S.C.
# Palm prings, Calif.
# Chattanooga, Tenn.
# Peoria-Bloomington, Ill.
# Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colo.
# Richmond-Petersburg, Va.
# Columbia-Jefferson City, Mo.
# Rockford, Ill.
# Davenport, Iowa-Rock Island, Ill.
# Rochester, N.Y.
# Dayton, Ohio
# Savannah, Ga.
# Des Moines-Ames, Iowa
# Sioux Falls, S.D.
# Dothan, Ala.
# South Bend-Elkhart, Ind.
# El Paso, Texas
# Springfield-Holyoke, Mass.
# Evansville, Ind.
# Syracuse, N.Y.
# Fort Smith, Ark.
# Tallahassee, Fla.
# Fort Wayne, Ind.
# Toledo, Ohio
# Greenville-New Bern-Washington, N.C.
# Traverse City-Cadillac, Mich.
# Harlingen-Brownsville, Texas
# Youngstown, Ohio

hopefully Little Rock is turned on by the time the Olympics start

New national HD channels and mpeg4 conversion

Among the new HD channels that DIRECTV will launch next month are Showtime Extreme HD, Showtime Showcase HD, Planet Green HD, ABC Family HD, additional DIRECTV HD pay per view channels and an additional 12 Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) in HD 24 hours a day.

DIRECTV will also transmit all of its HD programming in the MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding standard, by the end of this month - the first to do so in the industry. All HD programming will also be available in the Dolby Digital audio format, and later this year, DIRECTV will begin offering movies in 1080p, the highest resolution format available for HD video enthusiasts and the same format used by Blu-Ray HD DVDs.





sure glad ESPN and ESPN will be in MPEG 4 the MLB games on ESPN and FSN are sure different with FSN being much better

ESPN has too many artifacts

Awesome news. I switched back last December and I am glad that I did.

Was hoping for MSNBC in HDTV for the Olympics. Appears it won't happen. MSNBC moved into a new studio months ago, NBC NEWS is in HDTV, CNNHD launched back in October, so why are they waiting? I figured showing Olympic coverage in HD would be the kicker. Anyone have any knowledge on MSNBC-HD?

I switched back as well and this is good news on the new national channels. The 1080p is a bit of a shocker. That would be very surprising to me.

They are FINALLY going to be offering local channels in HD in my area!

We're second to last on that list. Is that supposed to also show me their priorities?

maybe it's 960x1080p Wasn't their 1080i format 960x1080i?

If I remember correctly, on their old MPEG-2 1080i stations they were sending out something like 1440x1080. I also believe that with the MPEG-4 stations there is no way to tell what the horizontal resolution is, but regardless of resolution it looks light years better than my local cable company's HD picture (Brighthouse). The sound is also much better on D*.

I hope they boost the signal as long as they are at it.

My receiver reads +95 on all the HD channels but as soon as a summer storm comes by I lose the HD channels. The regular channels never fade. Very frustrating.

The MPEG-4 Stations (and HD stations in general) are all more susceptible to rain fade compared to the SD MPEG-2 stations. I doubt this is going to change any time soon. However, you may want to try getting your dish realligned, as I don't lose picture unless its during extremely heavy storms.

the MPEG 4 conversion is complete

ESPN HD looks quite a bit better and the video isn't dropping out like it did on MPEG2
just a little FYI
HDnet is now on 306 HDnetmovies on 552

This channel is worth the price of admission on its own. Anyone who loves movies needs this one.

Any word on AMC-HD??

I love the directv service and channels but their Hd-dvrs leave a lot to be desired. I never realized how slow it was till I used my brother's VIP 722 from Dish. I promptly switched my service to Dish once my contract was up as well.

What do you mean the DVR is slow?

It was very unresponsive to the remote even after the various firmware updates. I also liked the layout of on screen guide and Dish Pass for recording shows on the VIP 722. I do most of my tv watching via DVR so it was more important to me to have a DVR I was more comfortable with. While Dish customer service is crappy, I can't complain about the 722 or their cheaper programming prices.

DirecTV HD-DVR has come a LONG, LONG way. Initially upon launch they were basically beta-testing them. This was Fall 2006. Now they are about half price, have had 36 (yes that is right) software updates in the last 2 years and work pretty darn well. And I have been with TIVO, and a Comcast HD-DVR, and a Time Warner HD-DVR and a Brighthouse Networks HD-DVR. These days with all the choices and channels and sports options and superfan stuff DirecTV has there really isn't a 2nd option. It is the way to go.

I actually have that same problem with my DirecTV HD-DVR. I love it for the most part, but it is really, really slow and unresponsive. Flipping through the guide to find something to watch is really a chore. I've actually be known to go flip another TV on that has a regular box just to use the guide, then turn it right back off.

Yep, the DirecTV HD DVR isn't the speediest when it comes to browsing the menus. That is the only thing I dislike about it for the most part.

They still don't have CBS in Portland, and those lying bastards screwed me on the upgrade from my DirectTivo so I went to Dish.

Wow that is crazy that they couldn't get HD locals in a major city.

As of this morning, that statement is no longer true. They finally reached an agreement and KOIN is now in HD on DirecTV as of about 3am.

Of course I've been getting it just fine OTA, but it's great news for those in the Portland area who can't get it that way.

Just got my new HD DVR from DirecTV this morning. The guy brought me the piano black version to go with the rest of my setup. Looks sweet. The response time is a tad slower than my old HD receiver, but not too bad. Definitely faster than the crappy HD DVR I had when I used to have Time Warner Cable. That thing was a big POS.

I got it just in time as Zodiac is on Showtime HD tonight. This will have to hold me over until the BD comes out later this year.

My HD receiver just did a software upgrade and a notice informed me that the upgrade now allows for me to view movies in 1080p (I assume when they are eventually offered). Pretty cool.