When will HD locals come on DTV?

[Scott]

What is the timetable for HD locals to come on Direct Tv in the Milwaukee market?

I was looking at an HD DirectTv TIVO at Best Buy (and waiting for the price to drop) when the clerk mentioned that he heard rumors of many new HD channels coming to DirectTV this summer......but, he also heard rumblings about how new tuner boxes might be needed for this, hence current equipment might be made obsolete

Does this make any sense or was this guy just rambling gibberish?  Any news that people know?  Also, the ever asked question on this forum, will the DirectTV HD tivo box ever drop in price?

[Bebop]

Forget about HD Tivo, it will not able to record local HDTV. You'll need the new directv mpeg-4 receiver with pvr built-in. The price will be cheaper than the current tivo.

[picopir8]

What is the timetable for HD locals to come on Direct Tv in the Milwaukee market?

I was looking at an HD DirectTv TIVO at Best Buy (and waiting for the price to drop) when the clerk mentioned that he heard rumors of many new HD channels coming to DirectTV this summer......but, he also heard rumblings about how new tuner boxes might be needed for this, hence current equipment might be made obsolete

Does this make any sense or was this guy just rambling gibberish?  Any news that people know?  Also, the ever asked question on this forum, will the DirectTV HD tivo box ever drop in price?

1) DirecTV will offer locals later this summer
2) You will need a new MPEG4 box to receive the locals (present boxes are all MPEG3)
3) DirecTV is supposed to offer free upgrades to the new boxes for 1 yr if you are in an area where they will offer HD locals. The details of the offer are a bit unclear and people who dont get locals in their area until after the free upgrade period expires may be SOL.

So, I would warn against getting any HD DirecTV box until things shake out.

[smack]

They are first going to be rolled out to the top 25 markets first.  Milwaukee is 31 I believe.    Like previously posted, their will need to be new equipment for the mpeg4 compression.  D* wiil most likely help with the transitions with some sort of equipment credit etc.

First they need to launch the new satelites.  I would hope we would get HD locals on D* by the end of the year but it is just a guess.

I was going to get an HD Tivo to but I want to see how this all starts to shake out.

smack

[Scott]

Thanks for the help....obviously the Best Buy guy had some idea of what he was talking about.  

If the MPEG 4 is the standard, how close are we to having new boxes roll-out?

Also, I know this should be in the equipment section, but does anyone know what the cheapest HD decoder box is on the market, to receive OTA HD signals?

I would like to get my TV that has the regular DirectTV Tivo on it to at least receive HD OTA stations, but was wondering if that could be done with a really cheap box, since I would also keep my regular DirectTV Tivo box for my sat channels, pending the roll-out of new DirectTV MPEG 4 boxes.  

Thank you.....

[Bebop]

Incase you didn't know. Directv will stop supporting Tivo in about 2 years when their contract expires. But I'm sure Directv will upgrade to their pvr close to free.

[AndrewP]

I am sure D* will be forced to upgrade Tivo HD to new MPEG-4 DVR for free with some commitments for programming. Otherwise they will face with big problems from owners of $1000 obsolute receivers.
But according to their schedule, Milwaukee locals will be available as late as in 2007.

Andrew, proud Voom (40 HD channels with all local HD channels today!) suscriber. :guitar:

[smack]

Andrew, proud Voom (40 HD channels with all local HD channels today!) suscriber. :guitar:

This might be a little confusing for some.  I don't believe Voom offers HD locals do they?  You can pick them up OTA but I do not think they are part of any Voom package.  Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

smack

[Gregg Lengling]

You are correct sir...read the fine print on the Voom ads....Local HDTV channels are thru you local antenna.  Just like D* and Dish, there is an ATSC receiver built into the sat box.

[AndrewP]

Yes, Voom installs free OTA antenna. In my case it picks up all locals, including low power Fox6 and Cbs58, which I could not get with Dish Network.
As for 2007 plans, when D* promised to deliver locals HD, then V* also promised 5000 HD capacity, which means that they will deliver HD locals.
But in my opinion it is not about the future. In near future eventually all providers will offer HD, even Sbc via IP. It is about today. And today V* offers 40 HD chanels.
And if D* in 200x will have more HD channels I just switch to D*. It is that simple.

Andrew :guitar:

[smack]

Yes, Voom installs free OTA antenna. In my case it picks up all locals, including low power Fox6 and Cbs58, which I could not get with Dish Network.

The Sat. provider has nothing to do with picking up OTA locals.  If you recieve them OTA it should not matter what service you are using, provided you have a good antenna and have it aligned properly.  Some STB's may do a better job at receiving OTA signals than others.

And D* is launching the new satelites this year w/ Local in local (LiL) to the top 25 markets supposedly by summer.  Milwaukee is 31 so I would highly doubt it will take until 2007 to get the local HD's in our area.  But then again I'm still waiting on ESPN2-HD.  But thats another thread.

[AndrewP]

The Sat. provider has nothing to do with picking up OTA locals.

I said that Voom installed me free OTA antenna which allowed me to pickup Fox6. I could not get it with self-installed attic antenna with Dish Network.
D* will start this year 12 markets, not 25.
Again, if D* will have more HD chanenls than V*, then I will switch to D*. But for now until V* is vooming I am very happy. :bow:

[smack]

Here is the link to the D* press release.  It lists the first group of 12 DMA's to be the first to get the HD locals and then says additional markets to get HD locals "this year" will be announced at a later date.

D* Press release

I can't find the link but I remember being disappointed in a thread that I read over at AVS that said D* would be putting the top 25 DMA's up this year.  

The spaceway sats have capacity for 500 HD local channels.

My guess is the wait will be due to the equipment / dish swap that will need to be done for the Ka band and MPEG4 stuff.  But the birds to deliver the HD channels will be up and flying this summer.

smack