High-Def television and satellite programming ?

[Shaun]

1 FMF:

You mention that you are using an HD receiver. Is this HD receiver external to the TV? Is this the DirectTV tuner? If so, this may alter some of the following information. I just run the cable from the wall into my Sony and let the TV handle everything. Adding the dish to the equation may alter how things work. If the dish can receive the signals and just pass the unaltered signals through to the TV, then my findings may work for you.


- HD channel availability depends upon location. In the northeast where you are I would expect at least the big 3, (ABC, CBS, NBC), PBS, and FOX are brocasting HD signal via terrestrial signal, (i.e. standard air waves). These channels can be picked up by any standard antenna as long as the signal strength is strong enough. Keep in mind that an HD channel will not display at all if the signal does not meet a minimum strength requirement. It is not like standard broadcast signals which will can come in as a snowy, staticy picture if the signal is weak.

Via cable, many channels are broadcast in HD. Some of the channels have a twin channel(s) which broadcasts the same programs in HD. Some channesl, (like PBS), actually broadcast alternative programs on one of their HD channels.

The Sony HDTVs with the integrated tunner will recognize and automatically broadcast any HD signal it receives. I recommend using the auto-channel-program feature of the TV. It will take 30+ minutes, but it is well worth it.

The Sony TV has an onscreen display option which can be turned on to display information about the signal being received. The display will tell you if the signal is 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, etc. Even without the display, if the signal is an HD signal, you will know the difference.

All HD channels will be in 'DOT' format, (ex: 13.3). What the channels will be is specific to a broadcast region.

Most HD programs are filmed in 16:9 and so are broadcast that way. Some local shows, (like the news), are filmed in 4:3 and broadcast in HD at 4:3.

Most HDTVs, (including the Sonys), can alter the ratio of view of the program at the decision of the viewer. If you set the Sony to Full screen mode and leave it there, it will handle the picture ratio for all programs. In Full mode, the Sonys will take the 4:3 and stretch it to 16:9.

In most cases when using a new Sony HDTV, let the TV handle the settings. I have heard of plenty of people tweaking their HDTV to the point where the picture quality is not good. Just let the TV handle things, and enjoy the picture.

 

[eljefino]

-What channels are available in HD?

With directv, looks like NFL sunday ticket, Universal, Discovery, HDnet... see http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/HDTV_package.dsp

-Does the tv recognize hd automatically, or do I have to hit a button on the remote to view HD in 720/1080?

Try looking for an "info" button on the remote. If you're watching through HDMI it mostly likely is HD.

-Regular programming is 480. How/why is there 720 p and 1080i and which should be used when, and how do I know it's being broadcasted at that?

Again, hit the "info" button. Fox uses 720 for sports and maybe prime; everyone else is 1080. 720 lets them use less bandwidth or the same bandwidth with less compression so the picture isn't that much worse.

-Local channels for the HD directv package, do local channels come in as HD? Is it another channel, like 2 is CBS standard 480, and 2-1 is CBS HD?

Local channels over the satellite are usually standard def. Easy way to check is to watch prime; CBS for example has a "CBS HDTV" "bug" in the lower right corner that turns into the eye "bug" coming back from commercial breaks. Regular def CBS has just the regular bug. The 2-1 in your example is subchannel 1 on channel 2: local stations can fit one HD and one SD feed on the same channel, or about five SD feeds. Which one is 2-1 and 2-2 is up to how the station encodes things. You may find that channel X analog is on channel Y digital but they can encode it so you type either X or Y in on your remote and they come up... because station management prefers to be known as Channel X. Just have to tune it in on Channel Y once then the receiver remembers.

If your TV has a terrestrial tuner (satellites are extraterrestrial

) you can get a roof antenna and pick up your local stations. You might need a rotor; some guys aren't up to full power yet. The picture is very nice when it comes in... but it's frustrating when it won't because you get NOTHING. Some HD sets are simply monitors without a terrestrial tuner... but tuners are available seperately. I'm watching HD on a samsung tuner downsampled to regular TV hooked up through S-video which looks VERY NICE.

-How about discovery channel in HD? With the hd receiver, is channel 284 (science channel) come in HD automatically? Do I still have to mess with the tv to show it in HD?

The receiver may have the capability to "downsample" the HD pic to regular def. This is still better quality than regular DirecTV since more bandwidth and less compression is used. But if you have it connected with that HDMI cable it should be hi-def.

-The whole 16:9 format, which stations broadcast in 16:9? Are local channels in HD in 16:9? How about discovery channels?

You'll probably only see network programming in 16:9. Even then the commercials are 4:3. Movie trailers are 16:9 in 4:3 in 16:9 with lots of letterboxes, and look stupid.

 

[Ray H]

Note that the DirecTV HD package - Universal-HD, ESPN-HD, HD-Net, HD-Net Movies, and Discovery-HD - cost an additional $10.99/mo. If your parents are already adding the network locals from areas served by network-owned and operated stations* (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC), they'll automatically receive the HD programming for all four on channels 86, 80, 88, and 82, respectively since they're east of the Rocky mountains. If your parents subscribe to HBO and/or Showtime, either or both services' HD channels are automatically part of the subscription package. Starz! also has HD service, but DirecTV doesn't carry it yet. Now the bad news - for subscribers to NFL Sunday Ticket, DirecTV raised the season price $20.00. If you want the HD signal, that'll be an additional $100.00 over the already quoted increase. (Thank you, so very much, Rupert Murdoch!

) For BEST PQ, set the DirecTV HD receiver to the native resolution of your parents' TV/monitor - either 1080i or 720p. Once synchronized, you won't have to depend on the TV to do the up or down converting. The quality of the built-in convertors can vary widely depending on model of TV/receiver. Return the component cables and get the HDMI cable! (Yeah, they're THAT much better because they feed a true digital signal right to the TV/monitor's video processing circuitry rather than depend on the DirecTV receiver's digital-to-analog convertor. I went to the trouble to buy a component set of cables and, frankly things looked pretty good. I thought. I had received a DVI cable with my Hughes HD receiver, but hadn't unpacked it. (Digital Visual Interface - also a true digital delivery cable - an older digital solution in which the only functional difference is that HDMI [High-Definition Multimedia Interface] includes digital audio, but the digital video specification is identical between the two. The connectors differ, too, though converters are available that snap on.) I finally got around to trying it out and, WHOA!! - BIG, almost unbelievable, knock-yer-socks-off difference in color purity. Finally, for anyone unaware, DirecTV has launched two new satellites in as many months in April and again in May - Spaceway I and DirecTV 8. They're currently transitioning to their final geosynchronous positions where they'll undergo final checkout. They have a third satellite, Spaceway II, scheduled for launch sometime in early July (Actually, originally scheduled for mid-June, but Arienne is playing games - the French decided to piggy-back an additional communications satellite from another owner on DirecTV's launch vehicle, so there'll be a delay while they cram two block delivery vehicles into a revised faring.). Anyway, once all three DirecTV birds take up station and have been checked out, the early fall will see a major rollout of additional HD programming from DirecTV.

*This situation is somewhat complicated - the actual digital stations are either the east or west coast network feeds - Los Angeles, west of the Rockies or New York, east of the Rockies. But access is strictly limited to areas served by network owned and operated stations. Unfortunately, many areas of the U.S. are served instead by network "affiliates". Thank the National Association of Broadcasters for this bit of clever HD access gobbledy-gook.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by eljefino:

Again, hit the "info" button. Fox uses 720 for sports and maybe prime; everyone else is 1080. 720 lets them use less bandwidth or the same bandwidth with less compression so the picture isn't that much worse.

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They use 720p because of all the fast action in their programming. The progressive scanning of 720p handles rapid movement better than an interlaced signal like 1080i.

Your comment on the number of SD vs HD subchannels on a digital station was enlightening.

Now I understand why two of the subchannels are dropped at 6:00PM

 

[1 FMF]

can someone give me a quick, but technical, crash course in high-definition programming?
Parent's (technically inept) got new tv- sony wega 34" hi-definition wide-screen. It's 16:9, has 10 or more video input options, and an HDMI port. Best buy sold them component video cables. They also got Directv HD at the same time, and we got everything working last weekend.

-What channels are available in HD?

-Does the tv recognize hd automatically, or do I have to hit a button on the remote to view HD in 720/1080?

-Regular programming is 480. How/why is there 720 p and 1080i and which should be used when, and how do I know it's being broadcasted at that?

-Local channels for the HD directv package, do local channels come in as HD? Is it another channel, like 2 is CBS standard 480, and 2-1 is CBS HD?

-How about discovery channel in HD? With the hd receiver, is channel 284 (science channel) come in HD automatically? Do I still have to mess with the tv to show it in HD?

-The whole 16:9 format, which stations broadcast in 16:9? Are local channels in HD in 16:9? How about discovery channels?

... which oil should I lube the tv with? (to keep my post which should be in general and off topic in this forum

sorry )