Discovery HD is ON!

[Scott Greczkowski]

Discovery HD is now on the air on channel 9443!

Pressing INFO tells you that

"DISCOVERY SNEAK PREVIEW THRY 8/1/02"
"Enjoy your sneak preview of DIscovery HD Theater through August 1, 2002. Visit www.dishnetwork.com for more details"


The picture is great however the audio is is Dolby Digital and is breaking up every 30 seconds or so. Other people in the Chat are reporting the same problem.

[Scott Greczkowski]

The audio problems must be bugging DIsh Network too. Discovery HD has been pulled off the air, we are now seeing a shot of the Dish Network Control Center.

We are now being shown the demo loop again, which has just been paused on the satellite dishes.

Now back to the show! 60 seconds so far and no audio break ups! Yippie!

[Scott Greczkowski]

The Third show just started "Africa's Lions and Wilderbeasts" This one show is a little different then the others, this one is in Dolby Digital 5.1! Although the picture is VERY Grainy. Almost safe to say this is an upconvert.

Its wierd seeiing Best Buy ads in HD. The last commercial break they also ran a movie trailor for a new Robert Deniro movie coming this fall (also in HD) Some of the ads however are in Standard Def and are in 4x3 format.

[kstuart]

I'm reminded of the "audiophile" world, where small companies would press special 200-gram pressings using virgin vinyl in small lots. The problem was that none of these small companies had any artists anyone had ever heard of -- or who had any more talent than musicians you find in your local neighborhood coffee house.

So, audiophiles would sit and listen to these mediocre artists in perfect fidelity, rather than listen to great talents in mediocre fidelity.

All of this was brought instantly to mind by the phrase "Discovery HD". :)

Although I acknowledge that everyone's taste is different, in my own case, over the last 20 years, I've watched a total of about 10 minutes of the Discovery Channel. I suppose I burned out on watching animal documentaries when I was a kid...

Well I havent even watched 10 minutes of Discovery on the crappy SD channel in the years I've had access to it. But the same could have been said about PBS until they got an HD feed. It's a whole nother ballgame in that format and I certainly do enjoy it. As I will Discovery now.

But just for the record Ken, what sort of content is it then that you'd clamor for in HD if you had the gear?

[kstuart]

I wouldn't.

The main reason for HD is for 50-80 inch screens that don't fit into my living room or my budget. On a 30-something inch screen, there is only a minor difference between a 480p anamorphic DVD and an HD 1080-i feed.

Outside of movies, I don't find very much current content out there on TV networks where the PQ is of any great importance (as long as it is better than the horrid December/January period!).

[Chris Blount]

I'm not a big Discovery viewer either but I have to admit, having it in HD does make a difference. Tonight we all sat down and watched the show about "bugs" and were thoroughly entranced by the details that can be seen. Makes it much more interesting to watch.

Scott,

I don't think "Africa's Lions and Wilderbeasts" is an upconvert. There is no motion blur which is a sure giveaway. I think the grain in the video might be just some over done enhancement in post production.

[Mark Lamutt]

Well, no luck for me repointing my second dish from 148 to 61.5. There are 2 large trees in the way, not just the one. However, I do have a possible LOS to 61.5 from the opposite corner of my roof...I'm thinking when I get back from vacation, a 3rd dish is going to be making its home on my roof. :D Then I'll be able to get both CBS-HD feeds as well!

[invaliduser88]

I'm still not that thrilled about paying extra for an AD support channel.

Originally posted by kstuart
I wouldn't.

The main reason for HD is for 50-80 inch screens that don't fit into my living room or my budget. On a 30-something inch screen, there is only a minor difference between a 480p anamorphic DVD and an HD 1080-i feed.

Outside of movies, I don't find very much current content out there on TV networks where the PQ is of any great importance (as long as it is better than the horrid December/January period!).

Oh. So in other words you were'nt hammering on the content of Discovery channel per se when it comes to the virtues of HD, you're saying no channels are worth the effort. Well thats cool.

Everything is relative I suppose. I guess your definition of horrid is different than mine. To me SD DBS channels were not only horrid last Dec/Jan.. but also Feb, Mar, Apr, May...and every other month of the year.

But I do happen to agree with you in regards to movies. Usually on film based material 480p is good enough for me. I dont get nearly the wow factor jumping up to 1080i there as I do when seeing the difference in video based material like when comparing 4x3 480i to 16x9 1080i. The diff there can be flat out jaw dropping. Of course if you took progressive scan DVD's out of the mix altogether and all you could chose from in regards to even HBO was the 4X3 DBS channel and the HD channel it'd be a diff story there too as to the perceived improvement. At least as I see it. Course some seem to use terms like "world of difference" even between good DVD transfers and HD. And thats fine too. Different strokes for different folks.

Hey Mark,
you mentioned having a 3rd sattelite? I've been trying to figure out a way to do that and everyone is telling me you can't. Even retailers say a sw64 won't work.

How do you plan on doing it? I really need my west coast cbs.

MikeG

[Mark Lamutt]

Hey Mike,

When Dish added 129 to the Philly market for their locals, they had to rewrite some of the software to all for 3 dishs. I don't know if it's available for all receivers, but I do know that it is for my 6000 (and that's really the only one I care about for the 3 dish setup). All you have to do is cascade one of the lines out from the SW64 with an SW21 and the line from the 3rd dish. Run a check switch, and voila - 3 dishes installed.

At least, that's how people have reported successfully doing it. When I get it done, I'll let you know if it worked for me.

[HTguy]

Originally posted by Mark Lamutt
Hey Mike,

When Dish added 129 to the Philly market for their locals, they had to rewrite some of the software to all for 3 dishs. I don't know if it's available for all receivers, but I do know that it is for my 6000 (and that's really the only one I care about for the 3 dish setup). All you have to do is cascade one of the lines out from the SW64 with an SW21 and the line from the 3rd dish. Run a check switch, and voila - 3 dishes installed.

At least, that's how people have reported successfully doing it. When I get it done, I'll let you know if it worked for me.

See if you have the box to enable 129 in the Point Dish & Signal screen. If you do, make sure it is checked. Do the hook-up Mark describes but keep in mind that the SW-64 output #1 which has the power inserter will not pass down the signal from the 3rd dish. When you run the Check Switch it should go thru 54 test points. If it does so successfully the report will look strange but you should be good to go.
:cool:

[jjmd]

I thought that part of the problem with getting 61.5 and 148 was that the HBO-HD and SHO-HD were mapped to the same channel number and that would screw up the software. If this is not true, can you give a link for a full discription of how to set this up.

Thanks,

Jay Joseph

[Mark Lamutt]

Hello Jjmd, and welcome to DBSTalk! :hi:

The only software issue with the duplicated HBO-HD and SHOW-HD is that they show up twice in the guide. When you tune to those channels, whichever bird is connected to your SW64 is the bird that you'll get the channel from. Full description for setup...(doing this from memory of the posts that I read at DBSForums back in February):

Connect 119, 110 and 61.5 (or 148) to the inputs of the SW64.

If output 1 of the SW64 is the line your power inserter is on, connect output 2 to input 1 on a SW21 and the line from 148 (or 61.5) to the other SW21 input.

Connect output of SW21 to receiver.

In setup, make sure the 129 satellite option is checked, and then do a check switch. The result will be SW-21 4 Sat, and will show the inputs of the SW64. The 4th bird will not show in the summary, but the channels from it will be available.

I tried dishdepot, satellitetech.com, satellitedepot.com. Anyone know who may have some in stock?

[Mark Lamutt]

Try Gary at Frontier Satellite in Portland. His number is 1-888-548-0809. I've bought just about all of my dish equipment from him.

[spartanrob]

How come I don't get Discovery HD, I can't tune in 9443??

[Mark Lamutt]

Spartanrob - do you have a 6000 receiver? You said in the other thread that you verified that you have a new sw34 switch. Do you have any idea if the installer also installed the converter for the line going to your 6000? From what's been reported, the dishpro switches will only work with the dishpro receivers - the 301, 501 and soon to be 721. All other receivers need some kind of coverter installed between the sw34 and the receiver. Can you tune to any of the other HD channels - 9430, 9440, 9453?

If you don't have a 6000, you won't be able to tune to the HD channels.

[spartanrob]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I only have a 301 and 501

[Mark Lamutt]

Ah, makes sense now. :D

[invaliduser88]

One thing strikes me about this article:

http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?1325

Only dish has come out and said they will charge extra for this channel....

[DarrellP]

Originally posted by kstuart
On a 30-something inch screen, there is only a minor difference between a 480p anamorphic DVD and an HD 1080-i feed.

Ken, I beg to differ with you on this. There is a world of difference between 1080i and 480p even on a small HD screen.

I use a 17" computer monitor for my HD viewing and there is no comparison to the image quality from a 480p DVD or FOX 480P widescreen vs. Discovery HD, PBS HD, CBS HD, NBC HD, ABC HD, even HBO HD beats the pants off 480p (well, most the time).

Of course, I have to sit 20 inches away, but I can see every pixel on my monitor and the absolute smallest detail that is not visible on the DVD or FOX 480p.

I don't know what you are viewing on, but this kind of misinformation can only hurt the HD transition.