Getting ready to take the sat plunge, hate digital cable ! Who has the most HD programming Dish or Direct?
Any recommendations on which STB would be appreciated also....

DirecTV:
HBO HD - 24 hours a day
Demo channel/PPV - Demo during business hours so stores can use this channel and PPV late in the evening.

Dish Network:
HBO HD - 24 hours
Showtime HD - 24 hours
PPV - 24 hours
Demo channel - 24 hours

Dish requires the model 5000 with HD demodulator. These have been discontinued but have become popular again with the ability to record HD material on a PC. The current model is the 6000. Decodes satellite HD and OTA HD (with an optional module) and outputs 1080i and 720p.

DirecTV has multiple models from all the major manufacturers. They all decode satellite and OTA HD. I think that they only output 1080i though.
RCA DTC-100 - cheapest and been around the longest.
Sony HD100 - very new. Has some problems with sub-channels on OTA broadcasts.
Hughs/Mitsubishi/Toshiba - new. No major problems.

Check out www.dbsforums.com and www.avsforums.com for satellite info and HDTV info respectively.

What about Local Channels in HD. I salesman
recently claimed that Dish Network was broadcasting
local channels in HD where available. (Of course,
he neglected to mention that Dish can't even
broadcast the local NBC affiliate here in the SF
Bay Area)...

Thoughts?

There are three ways to get network HD programming. 1. Over the air (OTA). It requires a UHF (a very few stations use VHF) antennae and you must live withing a reasonable distance from the tower.
2. Digital cable. Time Warner cable systems in some cities are sending the HD signals over the cable. It requires a TWC HD cable box.
3. ExpressVu Canadian Satellite system. It is the Dishnetwork model HD 6000 with the ExpressVu software loaded on it. To get service you have to go through a Canadian broker. From what I've read, it's about $600 for the hardware and $15 a month for the HD service. They have an HD movie channel and another channel that rotates HD network programming.

Ed-
The salesman was WRONG. Neither Dish nor DirecTV are broadcasting any networks (locals) in High Def. Robert is right in his listing of ways to get HD. Robert's post about the sat receivers available is basically correct, except depending on model , they do output in multiple modes. The Panasonic TU-HDS20 can output a signal (regardless of input resolution) at 480i, 480p, 540p, 720p, or 1080i.

Will directv be broadcasting networks in hd any time soon, or at all for that matter??
~chris

As much as I enjoy taking cheap shots at an easy target like DriecTv:), this is really out of their control (or Dish's for that matter). Neither one of the providers can supply something that is not being broadcast. Yes, there maybe a time delay between when it becomes available and when you can receive it but it's all about bragging rights. Both providers want to be able to say they offer the most HDTV but at some point of saturation, its no longer about bragging rights but about birds in the sky. In the long run, I believe the Dish is better positioned with a broader pipe than DriecTv, giving Dish greater capacity to carry HD. That is of course if the don't squander it all rebroadcasting local channels...

I have not heard anything about HD locals being rebroadcast by the small dishes but I have read the FCC decided not to force the cable companies to carry the HD versions of local channels. This would seem to be a contradiction of an earlier ruling that requires the satellite providers to carry local channels (in markets where they have local services) even when the same shows are available with an existing satellite offering. Or how about the ruling the prohibits the broadcasting of a same show on a super channel at the same time it is on a local channel. You think the sports blackouts are bad, this could be the nightmare that kills super channels on satellites.

-JO

Jo is right. It's all about bandwidth. The fact that Dish and Direct are already having to carry so many locals is causing problems with overall picture quality. They have to compress each channel more to make room for all the locals, which degrades the image quality. Since a HD channel takes at least 4 times the bandwidth of a SD channel, the bandwidth just isn't there.

If you just have to have networks via HD, your only solution at this time is the Canadian ExpressVU system. They have one channel dedicated to US HD networks. At any given time that channel might be broadcasting from any of the 4 US networks.

I heard HBO and Showtime were line-doubling regular definition material and passing it off as HDTV. True?

Both HBO and Showtime are upconverting movies to HD and the quality varies. On the newer HBO transfers, they are cropping the picture to fit a 16x9 screen rather than presenting it in the original aspect ratio. On the plus side, there is no compression artifacts on these channels.
-Robert