A Clearer HD Picture for Dish?
High Definition Dish Network customers woke up this morning to find that some of their HD channels look a bit better today than they did yesterday.
The online satellite forums have lit up with customers reporting improvements on a number of HD channels wondering what’s going on and what changed. The answer my friends is that overnight Dish Network switched out the remaining MPEG2 HD channels and upgraded them to MPEG4.
With MPEG4 the compression is better than MPEG2, and while MPEG4 uses more robust compression which in turn uses less bandwidth, the compression is better so that customers can actually see better picture quality. In other words, it’s a better picture using less bandwidth and space!
Another great thing about this switch for MPEG4 is for Dish Network DVR customers, as now recording HD shows from channels such as HBO now take up much less space on your DVR’s hard drive. This means your DVR now has more space to record more HD content.
It’s a win-win all around for HD fans!
All of the national high definition channels on Dish Network are now in MPEG4. The HD channels which flipped from MPEG2 to MPEG4 last night on Dish were as follows: HBO, Showtime, HDNet, HD Theater, ESPN, HDNet Movies, HD PPV, MavHD and a number of HD test channels.
Of course this savings in space also means that Dish Network has more room for more national HD channels, and it appears that Dish Network may be putting that new found space to work SOON! Last night when making the changes 7 new MPEG4 HD tech channels were uplinked to Dish Networks 110 degree orbital location.
If I were a betting man I would expect new national HD from Dish Network in a week or so, after all on Monday Night Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen will host a “Charlie Chat” on Dish Network channel 101, what better place to announce some new HD channels to customers, especially since Dish announced they would have up to 150 national HD channels online by the end of the year.
I think it would be fun if during the Charlie Chat if Santa came out in his suit with a bag full of goodies. As Santa opens his sack he takes out boxes covered in the logos of the new HD channels being added. I am hearing a strong rumor that HD Maverick Mark Cuban (owner of HDNet) will be on the show. Wouldn’t it be funny to have him come out playing the role of Santa? That would be a fun and festive Charlie Chat holiday show!
In addition to the possible new national HD, Golf HD and Versus HD will be splitting into their own separate channels as well. (It should be noted that DirecTV split up these two channels earlier this week.)
I do think the next few weeks are going to be exciting ones for Dish Network HD Fans!
AlbuquerqueHenry commented:
Yea if Dishy-Fishy-Network would get their picture to hold still and not flicker and flash all over the screen it would be great too!
MPEG-2 or MPEG-4?
I don't give a hoot no more!
Fix my picture - make it clear
While I run out to grab a beer!
DishNetwork is sukky-sukky in Albuquerque
Their picture is loust and often quirky!
Christopher commented:
By definition compression is going to provide a loss to picture quality. Mpeg2 is standard for dvd at 8mbits/s. To really get the benefit of HD you need 30+ mbits/s. I captured video from local cable company. Quality was phenomenol even on my small laptop. Never seen Mpeg4 video i liked. You will notice that aliasing is subpar. Motion is inferior and you seem edging and blocking. Watch a bluray disc and your channel then compare.
Jesse commented:
Some of the comments here are a bit confused. MPEG-4 leads to better quality than MPEG-2 for the same amount of bandwidth. Now, if you have 40mbit/second, MPEG2 will look better. But at the rates the satellite companies recompress, MPEG-4 gives a much better pictures than MPEG-2. They can go from 9mbit to 6mbit and provide a better image.
Cable companies usually compress even more. For a satellite company, increasing their bandwidth across the entire nation requires spending 150 million to launch a satellite. For a cable company it requires billions to upgrade for each major city.
jello commented:
"I would have to agree, isn't MPEG4 more compressed than MPEG2 and therefore give a lower quality picture? I am just curious... I could be wrong."
Mpeg4 is a more efficient form of compression than Mpeg2. Mpeg4 can actually transmit more data in less space than Mpeg2. Since it can carry more data, you CAN get a better picture.
Whether or not the broadcasters/Dish take advantage of the increased efficiency to improve the picture quality is a different question. They may opt to utilize the smaller compression size to squeeze even more channels at the expense of picture quality.
qroter commented:
Better compressions does not equal a better picture. You are worse then the techs at Walmart who are selling TVs this week and were assembling kids bicycles last week. If you take a 10Mb stream and compress it with either mpeg2 or mpeg4 you still have started with a 10Mb stream. Mpeg4 isn't goign to make it sudeenly look like a 25Mb stream. I can't believe they let you write a column liek this with the little knowledge you have.
stan commented:
I started noticing extra tiling while viewing and occasional blank screens when changing channels yesterday. I thought my dish needed re-aimed, but signal strengths are good.
Insider commented:
Actually, I shouldn't even say theory. I have a signal of both on monitors next to each other and nobody so far can tell which is which. Note the MPEG-4 is at slightly over half the rate of the MPEG-2.
Lower data rate, not less signal. Compression data rate and signal level are two different things.
Insider commented:
MPEG-4 offers better compression to produce the SAME picture quality as MPEG-2. So if you have a 15Mbps MPEG-4 signal, it will look in theory as good as a 30Mbps MPEG-2 picture. So, if they were to send a 20Mbps MPEG-4 picture, it would look better than a 30Mbps MPEG-2 picture. It is not hype as someone has commented. I have seen it for myself.
Max Michales commented:
I would have to agree, isn't MPEG4 more compressed than MPEG2 and therefore give a lower quality picture?
I am just curious... I could be wrong.
Sat Guys US member commented:
Tom Cat,
From what I've heard, Scott has much better contacts at Dish than DirecTV. Therefore he has more information to share with us. Who cares anyways? How much did you pay to read this blog? Scott gives us valuable info and I for one appreciate it.
Thanks Scott!
STOP THE HYPE AND FALE INFO commented:
MPEG 4 GIVES YOU LESS SIGNAL THEN MPEG 2, MEANING YOU ARE SEEING LESS OF THE 1080 CONTENT !!!!!!!
why spinning it like it is better ??
Chuck commented:
"This means your DVR now has more space to record more HD content."
Well, not MORE space, just a better use of what space it already has; aka: smaller file sizes.
Rob commented:
That's great news! Now if they'd just hurry up with more HD-Local channels in more cities! Particularly Columbus, OH and Evansville, IN!