722 question

[hahler2]

I'm thinking of switching to Dish Network from Directv and I have a question on the 722. Right now I have two HR20-700's. I really, really like MRV. It would be the one thing I would miss if I were to switch. Is there anyway to do MRV with the 722? Would a person be able to use Sling to get MRV?

[jkane]

Direct TV has Magnetic Resonance Variations built into their tuners? Why would you want that?

[P Smith]

Sling could work with any DVR, plus each 622/722 is the MRV like devices: support two different TV by showing different channels, but one HD and other SD only.

[SaltiDawg]

Direct TV has Magnetic Resonance Variations built into their tuners? Why would you want that?
No. No. No. DirecTV has Multiple Reentry Vehicles which allows them to beat all others.

[Tulsa1]

No. No. No. DirecTV has Multiple Reentry Vehicles which allows them to beat all others.

Not that either.....it's Mass Reduction Victim

[hahler2]

Lol. Very nice guys. So if I had a sling unit connected to each DVR that would allow me to watch recorded programs on either TV?

[SaltiDawg]

Lol. Very nice guys ...
So, what do you mean by MRV? lol

[ShapeShifter]

So, what do you mean by MRV? lol

I'm sure he means Multi-Room Viewing

[SaltiDawg]

I'm sure he means Multi-Room Viewing
Tnx. I searched the entire forum for 'MRV' and found it in one other thread beside this one. In that thread the user said it was a DirecTV term. Not familiar to me in Dish forums. Maybe the user should add it to the below as it has never heard of that use of the acronym. lol
http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/MRV

[hahler2]

Yes. Multi Room Viewing. Sorry. Being a D* guy I'm used to everyone knowing what that stands for. I had thought about waiting for the 922 to be released and have all the bugs worked out of it. Then just put one of the new sling 300's on my 2nd HDTV and that would cover me. The only problem is no OTA here so the 922 would only have 2 tuners and some nights on prime time I'm recording 3 programs at a time.

[lee78221]

In that thread the user said it was a DirecTV term. It's not a DirecTV term, It's a Tivo term(Which is now used widely for other DVRs with Tivo like MRV).

[lee78221]

thought about waiting for the 922 to be released and have all the bugs worked out of it.You're going to be waiting forever.:lol:

[jkane]

Define Multi Room Viewing! You can watch any show recorded on the 722 from any of the 3 (or 4 for the 722k) receivers built in on either of the 2 outputs. You an even watch two different live shows at once on 2 different televisions.

The caveat is that one output is HD and the other is only SD. The 722 will convert HD content to SD for you, so you don't have to worry about how it is recorded.

I consider that "MRV". I have one output going to a video switching Home Theater Receiver. It can send output to various sources, and also takes other inputs like DVD or another Dish receiver and sends it to the main TV. The SD output from the 722 goes into an RCA cable which runs through the wall to a TV up stairs. Using the UHF remote, anyone can watch any show they want from that TV. That cable can be good old RF also if you just want to distribute it all over. I prefer quality over quantity! ;)

Sling box is not needed. We have one (slingbox) for our TiVo though so my wife can watch stuff while we are traveling.

[hahler2]

I know you can watch two live programs using the TV2 out. Which is considered MRV but not quite what I'm looking for. I want to have 2 722's. 1 in the basement, and 1 in my living room. I want to be able to watch programs recorded on the 722 in my living room on the TV in the basement. And vice versa.

[bnborg]

I know you can watch two live programs using the TV2 out. Which is considered MRV but not quite what I'm looking for. I want to have 2 722's. 1 in the basement, and 1 in my living room. I want to be able to watch programs recorded on the 722 in my living room on the TV in the basement. And vice versa.

You could watch them in SD by chosing different modulator channels and combining the TV2 outputs from both DVRs. The modulator setup allows you to set any UHF channel from 22 to 69.

When I view the TV input to my HDTV, it comes through in widescreen if a widescreen HD source is being played. ;)

[ShapeShifter]

I know you can watch two live programs using the TV2 out. Which is considered MRV but not quite what I'm looking for. I want to have 2 722's. 1 in the basement, and 1 in my living room. I want to be able to watch programs recorded on the 722 in my living room on the TV in the basement. And vice versa.

You can mostly do that with the 722, with no additional hardware other than some cabling. But there are some limitations...

A 722 has two independent TV outputs, and each output can be watching a different show/recording. But the limitation of that mode is that while the local TV is HD, the remote TV is SD only.

As an alternative, you can split the HD TV1 output, and route it to two TVs. But then the local and remote TVs are stuck watching the same show/recording -- you won't be able to have independent output on the two TVs.

Which ever way you choose to hook it up, there is no reason why you can't have two 722s, and cross-connect the TVs. The upstairs DVR would drive the upstairs TV as a local set, and the downstairs TV as a remote; the downstairs DVR would drive the downstairs TV as the local set, while the upstairs would be the remote.

To do that, you will need to be able to select different sources on the TV. The simplest way is to use the home distribution RF output, and then you would use the TV's HD input to watch the local DVR, and the appropriate analog channel to watch the remote DVR. Using the right combinations of splitters you can use a single cable between the two TV/DVR combinations and drive it bi directionally. Or using some diplexors, it may be possible to do it using the satellite dish input cables, and not need to run any additional cables at all. The downside to this method is the lower quality picture due to the RF modulator.

A step up is to run the composite TV2 output from each DVR to the remote TV. This will require running two sets of A/V cables, and will require an additional video input on the TVs, but will give a better quality picture (but it will still be SD.)

The best picture quality will be to split the HD signal, but this requires even more cabling, and you lose the ability to have different shows on the local and remote TVs. If using this method, keep in mind that there are HDMI and Component HD outputs that are both active. Rather than split either of them, you can run the HDMI to one set, and the component to the other. But even if using both HD outputs, they are limited to showing the same thing.

So maybe while not exactly what you're used to, it can come rather close. Are any of these options close enough?

I personally run two 612s in a similar mode -- they are cross-connected with RF modulated signals. In either the living room or bedroom I can watch the local DVR in HD, and the remote DVR in SD.

[bnborg]

I don't know if I'd call it HD. It is 720 x 480 i. It's a step down from the 1080i or 720p available on Composite or HDMI. But it is a lot better than seeing it in SD.

I don't have two DVRs. I just have both modulated outputs combined on my 722.

[ShapeShifter]

I don't know if I'd call it HD. It is 720 x 480 i. It's a step down from the 1080i or 720p available on Composite or HDMI. But it is a lot better than seeing it in SD.
Is this addressed to me? I read and re-read this several times to try and figure out what you are saying. And then it hit me: you make reference to 1080i or 720p on composite -- does that mean you are questioning my "Component HD" comment?

I think you have component and composite backward:
Component is three RCA video cables: red, green, and blue. It does provide HD output (1080i or 720p.)
Composite is a single yellow video cable. It is strictly SD (although it is better than modulated RF.)

I'm always ready to learn something new, so correct me if I'm wrong. But I'm pretty sure I got the connections right in my previous post.

[SaltiDawg]

...
I'm always ready to learn something new, so correct me if I'm wrong. But I'm pretty sure I got the connections right in my previous post.
You were fine. He's confused.

[hahler2]

Thanks for the advice shapeshifter. I'm sure one of those solutions would be able to work for me. Most likely I would have to do the RF modulation since it would be extremely difficult for me to run any new cables. Having to watch the same program wouldn't be an issue. The only other way I can think of to do it is wait for the 922 (my Directv contract isn't up til June anyway) and use the sling 300 on one of the HDTV's. Then I would just have to find a way for 2 tuners to be enough to record all the prime time programs I want to watch.

[spedinfargo]

You could watch them in SD by chosing different modulator channels and combining the TV2 outputs from both DVRs. The modulator setup allows you to set any UHF channel from 22 to 69.

When I view the TV input to my HDTV, it comes through in widescreen if a widescreen HD source is being played. ;)

Just a clarification on this - when you're watching the TV2 output (say channel 25) on a second HD set (using the Coax input, right) and you're watching a recorded HD channel, you're getting a full 16x9 picture? In other words, you're not getting pillarboxing and letterboxing both?

Even if it's not HD, this is something I could live with. I just assumed that if the DVR was sending out SD out of the TV2 output that it would automatically be non-widescreen and I would have to use some zoom capability on my TV set to compensate (kind of like watching a non-anamorphic DVD on a 16:9 television).

Anyway - if I'm wrong on that I have some more options to think about... (I can get MRV on DirecTV now but I don't have a second HD receiver and I don't want to get hit with a 2-year commitment...)

[bnborg]

Is this addressed to me? I read and re-read this several times to try and figure out what you are saying. And then it hit me: you make reference to 1080i or 720p on composite -- does that mean you are questioning my "Component HD" comment?


I think you have component and composite backward:


You are correct. My bad.

I wish they had used terms that weren't so similar.

Spedinfargo: I thought I had seen that but I will do an additional test and report back.

[spedinfargo]

Also, another quick clarification: can you get the TV2 output via Composite (single "yellow" video cable) and Coax? That would also be an interesting scenario for me...

[phrelin]

Also, another quick clarification: can you get the TV2 output via Composite (single "yellow" video cable) and Coax? That would also be an interesting scenario for me...All the plugs in the outputs area are "hot":

http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/TechPortal/Images/Tech/Receivers/722.jpg

[RasputinAXP]

I don't know if I'd call it HD. It is 720 x 480 i. It's a step down from the 1080i or 720p available on Composite or HDMI. But it is a lot better than seeing it in SD.

I don't have two DVRs. I just have both modulated outputs combined on my 722.

That's incorrect. 480i is 640x480 pixels, interlaced. 480p is the same resolution, but progressive scan; both are 4:3 ratio.

720p is 1280x720 progressive scan, while 1080i and p are 1920x1080 interlaced and progressive, respectively.

The TV2 output is 480i only. It's just really good looking SD. ;)

[ShapeShifter]

I wish they had used terms that weren't so similar.
Ain't that the truth! I've been tripped up on it more than once, using one term when I meant the other. That's one of the reasons I read and re-read my post a few times before submitting it! :grin: (And why I was surprised when I thought I might have had it wrong after all!)

All the plugs in the outputs area are "hot":

http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/TechPortal/Images/Tech/Receivers/722.jpg

And not only are all of the TV1 and TV2 outputs hot all the time, but both TV1 and TV2 are also output on the RF "Home Distribution" output, each on their own selectable channel, even while they are being output on all of the other ports. So they all work, all the time, and you have lots of options.

For example, you could take the home distribution RF output from the two 722s, combine them together, and route it to all of the TVs in the house. Set each of the modulators to different channels, and just by changing the channel on the remote TV, you could select which output of which DVR you want to see. For example:

Channel 30 - Downstairs DVR TV1
Channel 35 - Downstairs DVR TV2
Channel 40 - Upstairs DVR TV1
Channel 45 - Upstairs DVR TV2

[bnborg]

That's right ShapeShifter. It's more or less what I was trying to describe previously, only a lot clearer.

The "Home Distribution" UHF output shows up as 720 x 480 i Stereo for both TV1 and TV2, when used as TV in for my Dynex. The TV1 shows up the same as when input by HDMI or COMPONENT. Whereas the TV2 shows up as only the center portion, when viewing HD on TV2.

My Dynex needs to have it's own zoom setting at "stretch" in order for Dish HD content from HDMI or COMPONENT to look normal when the Dish 722's zoom is set at "Normal". With this setting, the UHF for TV1 still looks "normal", but the TV2 UHF looks stretched. In order for it to look "normal" I have both zoom settings at "normal".

So to answer Spedinfargo, only the UHF from TV1 shows HD widescreen correctly. The UHF from TV2 shows up as only the center portion of the widescreen image. My TV stretches this to fill the screen, the way I normally have it set, thereby distorting it.

BTW, I have a small amplifier connected to the UHF output prior to "Home Distrubition". It goes to two TVs on the first floor and one on the second. I also have two extra 6.3 IR/UHF Pro remotes I got from Dish Depot.

[j_dish]

bnborg, You mentioned you have an "amplifier" connected to the output of the "Home Distribution". If you don't mind me asking, what is the make and model of the amplifier? I'm thinking it might help me with the TV2 signal which is a bit snowy on those TVs.
Thanks!

[bnborg]

I don't really know what the brand and model of my amplifier is. I got it a few years ago at a home improvement store.

The label on it says "Part # 1000". It is white and about 2.5" x 3.5" x 1". It is a direct plug-in style, with an integrated power supply and just the plug-in prongs sticking out the back. It claims 20db gain through UHF.

The feature I like is that the gain is adjustable. There is a red adjustment knob, between the in and out RG connectors on the front.

[j_dish]

I don't really know what the brand and model of my amplifier is. I got it a few years ago at a home improvement store.

The label on it says "Part # 1000". It is white and about 2.5" x 3.5" x 1". It is a direct plug-in style, with an integrated power supply and just the plug-in prongs sticking out the back. It claims 20db gain through UHF.

The feature I like is that the gain is adjustable. There is a red adjustment knob, between the in and out RG connectors on the front.
Thanks. That will give me something to go on when I start shopping around.