DISH Network 1080p VOD preview
While DISH is still a few weeks away from delivering 1080p VOD, some of the details of how it'll actually work are starting to emerge. The content will be delivered to your HD DVR the same way some of DISH's VOD is, via your broadband satellite connection. It will be downloaded whether you want it or not, and once the transfer is complete, it'll show up with the rest of the VOD offerings. Before you'll be able to play the content though, the box will run a 1080p test to ensure your TV is up to snuff. If for whatever reason your display isn't capable of displaying 1080p, then the box will convert it to whatever resolution you usually use. This is cool and all, but we really can't wait to see how it looks. Sure, 1080p is the ultimate resolution available to consumers today, but we all know too well that resolution is only one of many factors involved in the ultimate video experience.
Filed under: Internet, Satellite, New content
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
squiggleslash @ Aug 4th 2008 3:25PM
Since when has Dish's VOD been delivered via Broadband "Whether you want it or not?"
They have three PPV systems. The PPV channels, which work the same way all PPV channels run, Movies On Demand, and DishONLINE.
Movies On Demand "downloads whether you want it or not" but downloads via the Satellite, not via your broadband connection. Currently it's SD.
DishONLINE downloads via your broadband connection. It may or may not be HD, I haven't tried it, they're certainly not promoting it as such but it's available on the HD DVRs only. It doesn't download anything you don't request.
I seriously doubt that this service is made up of the worst of both worlds. For one, Dish's customers are going to get seriously pissed if their broadband connections are used to download gigabytes of stuff they never asked for.
DustoMan @ Aug 4th 2008 5:13PM
Ya, WTH Engadget? Fact-check much? DISH VOD is downloaded using the satellite connection. DISHOnline is over broadband.
Unknown @ Aug 4th 2008 4:33PM
Srsly, who wrote this crap? Next time you might want to 'Google' your information, kthxbyebye
daaper @ Aug 4th 2008 5:04PM
I'm more disturbed by the $6.99 pricetag for a "4-hour period". Is that for real or just a demo?
Garst @ Aug 4th 2008 6:05PM
No, I am too. I'd only pay $4, maybe 5, to get a day to watch it.
nathan @ Aug 4th 2008 8:14PM
Promotional price of "I Am Legend" will be 2.99. That screen grab from Satelliteguys.us was a beta.
DustoMan @ Aug 4th 2008 5:14PM
And it's not "several weeks" away, it started getting pushed to some 722 users LAST WEEKEND!
Ron @ Aug 4th 2008 5:23PM
So will this eventually lead to a 1080p option for HDTV output resolution? If its displaying VOD @1080p I don't see what the limitation could be.
Jeff N. @ Aug 4th 2008 5:46PM
How many HDTV owners have 1080P TV's do you suppose? I know there are quite a few 720P and 1080i HDTV's out there. Anyone have an idea what % is 1080P?
Jeremy W @ Aug 5th 2008 3:43AM
33% of the HDTVs in my house are 1080p, therefore with complex mathematical extrapolation, 33% of HDTVs in the world are 1080p.
DrXym @ Aug 5th 2008 10:06AM
1080p is the norm for new 40+ inch sets these days. I expect the overall % is still very low though.
img eL @ Aug 4th 2008 7:12PM
Just blast the bit rate up on 1080i all the way.
CraigK @ Aug 4th 2008 7:12PM
I'm with Ron. Where's the new 1080p output option? Am I missing something? In fact, I'd rather have a feature I once enjoyed on the Cox STB where it would switch between 480p or 1080i depending on whether it was on an SD-only station or HD station. That way I could use my XBR's wide zoom instead of the 722s generic stretch.
tama @ Aug 4th 2008 10:15PM
1080p/24 & 1080i/60 end up being the same on a progressive display.
ds @ Aug 5th 2008 10:30AM
Yeah, it is amusing that even the people with 1080p TVs don't realize this. From my experience, I would put the number of people that own 1080p TVs and actually understand the difference between 1080p and 1080i to be about 1%.
Ben @ Aug 5th 2008 10:33AM
That's because it isn't always true. Sure there are some TVs that convert everything to 1080p30, but not all do.
My Kuro for example displays 24p at 72hz so there is no 3:2 pull down and hence not at all the same as 1080i60.
The other more likely scenario is that the TV doesn't properly de-interlace the 1080i60 and really just shows 540p30 (bob vs weave). So for people with these TVs, 1080p output on their STB is important.
Either way you can't just say that 1080i60 and 1080p24 are ALWAYS the same, because they aren't.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Aug 5th 2008 12:23PM
Ben:
My 120Hz Sharp LCD actually does reverse pulldown and displays 1080i/60 at 24p in 120Hz framing (assuming it is 24 fps content) but cannot accept native 24p input.
So yeah, there are lots of ins and outs to this.
In the end, this is a marketing effort more than anything. With the bitrates of satellite, it's not going to look like BluRay (as they said it would) no matter what they do.
JP23 @ Aug 5th 2008 12:23AM
I don't care if it's 1080p. What I do care about is if it's at a high bit rate. I want to see 20Mbps+.
If it isn't at this rate then it won't be "Blu-Ray Quality" as Dish claims.
DrXym @ Aug 5th 2008 7:20AM
20Mbps? You'll be lucky - for VOD it'll probably be around 4-7Mbps.