HDTV Confusion

[KWarner]

Hi,

Im going to buy a 16:9 tv. I have a dishnetwork pvr 508 reciever.
Will this reciever allow me to recieve hdtv signals if I buy a stand
alone hdtv converter box (or have one already built into the tv),
or will I need to buy another kind of reciever from dishnetwork?

Is it worth the hassle right now, or should I just buy the tv,
and wait for hdtv to become more common?

I thought I knew what I was talking about, but when I started
researching hdtv, I dont have a clue!

Thanks,

Tim

[BobaBird]

The 508 and other existing non-HDTV receivers will never be able to receive HDTV. The long-discontinued 5000 with the hard-to-find HDTV modulator will feed an antenna signal to an HDTV tuner, either STB or built in to the TV.

The only current HDTV receiver is the 6000/6000U. It is a satellite HDVT tuner and, with the optional 8VSB module, an OTA HDTV tuner. It connects to your TV's component or RGB input or can downcovert to NTSC S-video or composite for use with a standard TV or VCR.

See the Dish PVR forum on this site for news and rumors on the upcoming PVR921 and JVC TU-PVR9000 receivers.

The EKB HDTV Page (http://ekb.dbstalk.com/107) has links to more info on the 6000 and a bunch of links at the bottom for researching HDTV.

[HTguy]

Also, be aware that owners of widescreen HD-ready displays are often disappointed with the picture quality from SD sat rcvrs. These sets look great with actual HD & Digital TV (ATSC) content as well as DVDs (esp. anamorphic WS editions.)

But, ironically, the PQ for ordinary SD sources is generally worse than that of an SD set. When the digital artifacts of SD DBS are blown up on these displays & upconverted thru the set's line doubler/scaler the results are often disappointing.

So get yourself a 6000u. And if you have OTA digital locals available get a decent antenna & the 8VSB module unless your new set comes with a digital tuner built in.

[DarrellP]

HTGuy, I hope Dish reads this thread. I was telling them how bad our locals look and they had the balls to offer someone to come out and CHECK MY INSTALLATION AND EQUIPMENT! Why can't they just fess up to the fact that they way overcompress their signals?

[HTguy]

Well, the locals are generally the worst because they are delivered by the stations to a local POP & then fibered back to the uplink center where they are digitized & compressed. In a few instances the local POP gets the signal off-air so the signal is affected by weather, atmospherics, TI, etc.

Where I am my locals generally look a lot better right OTA. I use a Winegard antenna at home with even better results there.

[John_E]

HT Guy, I'm a little confused.

Are you saying it's impossible to get a good looking picture on regular satellite channels if you have one of these high end digital/HD sets? If so then what's the answer, since it seems in the future everyone will have one (widescreen digital HD).

[Martyva]

When your looking at TVs, ask the salesman to show an off air, cable, or satellite signal NOT in high definition. This should give you a good idea how good that particular TV is at delivering analog. Believe me, the picture quality difference can be huge. CNN or other stations with continuous banners and slower images can give you an excellent comparison.

[HTguy]

Originally posted by John_E
HT Guy, I'm a little confused.

Are you saying it's impossible to get a good looking picture on regular satellite channels if you have one of these high end digital/HD sets? If so then what's the answer, since it seems in the future everyone will have one (widescreen digital HD). No, I'm saying Standard Definition satellite receivers have a better picture on Standard Definition TVs.

High Definition satellite receivers are outstanding on HD-ready widescreens when the event is HD. How good the SD content will look will depend upon the upscaler in the receiver when your TV is on the HD input (usually labled "DTV") and how good the upscaler in the display device is when you view SD content thru one of the other inputs (i.e., S-Video jack.)