AfterDawn: News

DirecTV adds more HD channels on its way to 100

As part of their plan to provide 100 hi-def channels by the end of this year, DirecTV has added 21 new HD channels to its satellite television service.

The channels will be broadcast from a new satellite the company launched recently, and will use MPEG-4 Compression. Since their existing HD lineup uses MPEG-2 compression, subscribers may have to upgrade their receivers to get the necessary hardware for decoding the video. Additionally, customers without a new wider dish for reception may have to invest in one.



The new HD channels include offerings from Starz, Showtime, CNN, and the NFL. Another expansion next month will boost the number to 70 channels.

Source: This Week In Consumer Electronics

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 28 Sep 2007 10:28

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• 7 comments

• ugc

  all I can say, "It's about time" !!! DTV has been promising this for more than a year now to their customers

  28.9.2007 11:51 #1

• Iguana775

  It's been almost 2 years now. I might have to switch back to DTV after my Dish contract is up.

  28.9.2007 19:31 #2

• thor999

  yeah, don't bother. Direct is a huge disappointment, at least 80% of their "HD" programming, for me at least, has been 480p at best. Usually, it centralizes itself on your hd screen with huge gray borders on either side. But, when it is in "full" hd, yum. Yeah, I know, it has to be filmed correctly in the first place to be broadcast in hd, but if you are gonna advertise it as such, you damn well better deliver, and such is not the case with directv, IMO.

  28.9.2007 20:08 #3

• vinny13

  Will there ever be free DTV like there was before and how DNET and BEV are now?
  
  I miss that :(

  28.9.2007 20:30 #4

• ugc

  on HD with DTV. They do NOT transmit in 1920x1080. If I remember correctly, the highest resolution they have is 14??x1088, and the receiver (IRD) adjust to fit your screen.
  
  as a matter of fact:
  
  DirecTV is defending a lawsuit that alleges DirecTV lowered HDTV picture resolution below that of the industry's accepted definition of HDTV. 1080i is generally understood to mean 1920 x 1080i, whereas DirecTV reduces these channels by one third, to 1280 x 1080i. DirecTV boldly maintains that its high definition picture quality is comparable to or better than that of any other television service.
  
  Reference to the above statement:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directv

  29.9.2007 06:18 #5

• kkmike

  DTV still blows away cable quality SD and HD

  29.9.2007 22:27 #6

• borhan9

  These channels offered are part of the standard HD change. I hope consumers later get a better choice.

  1.10.2007 05:10 #7