what do the new HD channels look like?

[gargoyle8]

i have convinced no less than 5 family and friends to not only upgrade to a new HDTV but to go with E* for programming. it is difficult to look these people in the eyes now. half the channels E* offers have virtualy no HD programming or are stretched or window boxed. the most popular HD channels are in the upper tiers. blurays are slow to coming, most NEW stuff i like are still only offered on dvd . i cant help but feel like we have all been duped.
i am a 61.5 and i am reluctant to get the new 1000.4 upgrade. i have a few questions to ask.
1 will the new 1000.4 dish enable E* to bring more new HD channels in a timely manner?
2 what do the new HD channels look like? i.e. give me an idea of what channels are stretching or window boxing or very little HD at all.
3 if bandwidth is the problem, why do we get some new obscure foriegn channel every week? dish needs to stop adding these niche SD channels until all other are HD.

[treker]

First off you need to state your viewing preferences, sports, movies,documentaries. I am on the EA with the 1000.4 install. Americas 200+HD and locals.Tell me what you are after

[gargoyle8]

i am cheap, i have Americas 250 with OTA locals ( no program menu but 12 channels all 5 networks in HD) i only have the 250 package for Fox Business Science, National G and MSNBC.
depending on which day of the week 20%-50% programming stretched- channels 108 life, 109 lmn, 118 a&e, 119 bio, 129 bravo and 187 hmc
almost no HD usually window boxed- channels 124 bet, 160 mtv, 162 vh1, 166 cmt
use to be pretty good but are actually increasing stretched content- channels 110 food, 112 hgtv
channels that are HD but format picture in 4:3 and add useless junk left or right- channels 206 foxb, 208 cnbc, 214 twc
i have no problem watching 4:3 programms on the HD channels. the picture is very good. i hate the stretch. i.e. channel 139 tbs stretches "married with children" and "friends"a while back these programs were on another HD channel and they did not stretch it. the picture was way better than on the SD channel.

[treker]

You have the America250 and the 10 HD add-on?

[treker]

Am watching Speed channel looks fine, switched to Food channel- Cooking for Real HD looks fine I know that some of the channels we have such as Hallmark does stretch, mainly because that is the way it is delivered to Dishnetwork, right now Man of the House is on Hallmark HD and is 4:3 picture looks fine, but as you said it is 4:3 guess that the way it is being presented to Dish

[gargoyle8]

yes, Americas 250 w/HD add-on. i use to have everything, but i could not justify my sat bill being hire then my electric bill. i will get HBO HD when the new season of "true lies" starts back.
i know i bash E* alot. i have had many of the alternatives and dish is the best. thats not saying much though.
some of the channel format problems are not dish's fault, but they could demand an no stretch HD feed from alot of the programmers or complain on behalf of thier subscribers. for charlie to just say " sorry, thats the feed we get" is bs. like he doesn't have some leverage. the channels like 214 twc that put the garbage left or right do it to appease the non HD viewer so they do not have to watch a letterbox format on thier SDTV. i miss VOOM. HDTV for HD viewers, not these half measures that please niether SD or HD people.

[gargoyle8]

not to pick on 214 twc. but remember HD Headline News on the old VOOM channels. when they would do the weather, the weather radar maps were so detailed in 16:9 screen, even when looking at the national map i could anticipate a lightning strike within a mile of my house. 214 twc hd with the 4:3 maps including the blue/grey borders and whatever to the left is useless. they seem to be obsessed with showing off thier fancy computer grafics software and less with showing a detailed map and utilizing the full 16:9 format.

[18 is # 1]

Originally Posted by gargoyle8

half the channels E* offers have virtualy no HD programming or are stretched or window boxed. the most popular HD channels are in the upper tiers. .

I don't know what you watch, but I almost always have HD programs. Every once and a while I have to go to ESPNU, but all the major channels are HD and most don't need to be stretched (except Animal Planet).

[Viggen61]

There are very few HD channels that are all HD, all the time. About the only thing you can take solace in is that these very same channels won't look any better (i.e. in "real" HD...) on Direct, Fios, cable, etc., because all of them get the same source material from the broadcasters.

"Letterboxing" will always be with us, unless all movies start to be made in 1.78:1 aspect ratio (16x9). Most movies are 1.85:1 (thin bars top & bottom on a 16x9 set), or 2.35:1 (thick bars top & bottom - think "Star Wars"). If they don't letterbox, you're losing picture content that the director put in the frame off the sides.

"Pillarboxing" - black bars on the sides - will be around until either all 1.33:1 (4x3) content from traditional TV is no longer broadcast, or everything gets "stretched to fit", which it pretty much is now.

(Personally, I prefer the pillars. I can't belive that the talent on the shows allows the stretching, where a perfectly normal person looks all fat & bloated when they go off the sides of the screen!)

As to your questions:

1) It would seem so. The EA is all MPEG4, AFAIK. MPEG4 is more space-efficient than the older MPEG2 standard. So, they should have more space available. They just did it with the latest few additions. I'll have to get an upgrade to EA soon if I want to see Top Gear in it's full glory.
2) It depends on the individual channel. Unfortunately, not everything out there is available (yet) in HD. But there are (and were...) real HD channels out there (I miss the VOOM channels sometimes, and would really like Smithsonian back!).
2a) if you're looking at movies, there is another thing to consider: it costs money to do a new telecine conversion (copying from film stock to digital video) for HD. Some channels do that, some don't, and run old DVD versions. The ones that do look fantastic, usually, the ones that don't, barely better than SD...
3) There are channels set aside for free previews. I presume that Dish can see who is watching and for how long, so they can tell if that channel would be worth adding... Also, SD takes up less bandwidth than HD.

As for the speed of release, that's how the studios keep seats in the theaters occupied! Many folks would buy the disc rather than go to a movie. That means a bunch of lost revenue. Then, once it's out of the theater, and on disc, there is, more and more, a delay before online or rentals are available. They want you tp plunk down for the disc! That's little to do with Dish, and the rules are (mostly ) the same for all service providers.

Don't worry, the grass isn't greener on the other side...

[spokybob]

I count 73 HD channels plus my locals OTA. I can always find something to watch in true 16x9. The Olympics are awesome on CNBC & MSMBC. Go USA.