HDTV with DISH network

Hi,
I am in the process of buying my first HDTV (Samsung) and I was wondering how it would work with the dish network (satellite) that I have. I know for regular Rogers cable, you need a HDTV box to be able to use the TV's HD capabilities (correct me if I'm wrong). But what if I don't have Rogers cable? I have satellite with a non HD receiver. If I get the TV, I won't be able to see HD right away with the Viewsat receiver, will I? I heard I need an HD receiver for the satellite to get the HD picture.
Sorry if that was a little confusing, but if anyone can clarify these things for me I would appreciate it.

Thanks

You will not get HDTV with a standard Viewsat receiver. Not sure what sat box if any does HDTV.

(there may be a box, I don't really follow HDTV advancements in satellite)

I'm assuming that you're using a FTA receiver.

There's a newer Viewsat model out : The 9000HD receiver. It appears to be only an MPEG-2 compliant model however.

If you are indeed watching DishNet's channels, most of their HD programming has switched over to MPEG-4 encoding so you'd need to find an MPEG-4 compliant FTA receiver.

Bell ExpressVu still currently uses MPEG-2 encoding. Although that is supposed to start to change come this November if the rumors are true.

Considering that bell did not announce any ViP receivers (MPEG4) I do not see them getting MPEG4 HD anytime soon. As a matter of fact bell denied rumors that it was launching new series of MPEG4 receivers earlier this year (around September time IIRC). All of this leads me to believe that bell is very far away from having MPEG4 replace MPEG4.

They do have a new satellite up in orbit at 82 (Nimiq 4) and presumably this will be used for testing and later deployment of MPEG4 HD, but as of now I would not worry about MPEG4 on bell. At the very least MPEG2 will be good for another year.

Also to the OP: with your current setup there is no way you can be getting Dish Network HD. You most likely have your actual dish aimed at 110 and 119 satellites, which contain the majority of the SD Dish Network programming. At the most you may also have the 69.5 or whatever that one is for international.

What you would need is another dish to get the 129 satellite. Once you are getting that, then you can use an HD FTA receiver like the Viewsat 9000HD or the Sonicview 8000. On top of that you will need an 8PSK demodulation addon for you receiver to watch Dish HD. And even after you get that, there is only a limited number of channels left in MPEG2.

Which is why Bell is your best bet. You will only need to have 2 satellites (91 which has all the regular Bell programming and 82 which has international channels and HD). Bell HD is modulated in QPSK which is supported by all the FTA HD receivers out of the box so that will not be a problem for you. Bell HD is also all MPEG2 and will likely stay that way for a while.

What you would need is another dish to get the 129 satellite. Once you are getting that, then you can use an HD FTA receiver like the Viewsat 9000HD or the Sonicview 8000. On top of that you will need an 8PSK demodulation addon for you receiver to watch Dish HD. And even after you get that, there is only a limited number of channels left in MPEG2.

Once you have the 8psk adapter and either the SV8k or VS9k you will be able to get all mpeg4 channels.

Thanks for all the replies. So if I get the Viewsat 9000HD I will get MPEG2 only? there is no receiver out that'll work with MPEG4? and are you sure dish network is all MPEG4 now? BTW at the moment, I have 2 dishes and I get these: Echostar7, 8, 10, and Nimiq 3,10... does this mean I'm **** out of luck?

Originally Posted by koloftman

Thanks for all the replies. So if I get the Viewsat 9000HD I will get MPEG2 only? there is no receiver out that'll work with MPEG4? and are you sure dish network is all MPEG4 now? BTW at the moment, I have 2 dishes and I get these: Echostar7, 8, 10, and Nimiq 3,10... does this mean I'm **** out of luck?

My friend, the viewsat 9000 does decode mpeg4. As was metioned previously, dishnet uses their own proprietory modulator called 8psk. You need to spend 200.00 extra and get this installed or go on ebay and you can buy one for 6-700 with everything installed. Get the extra fan to keep it cool.

I just bought a 900hd, so far so good. im just waiting for my card to arriveto try the hd. ALso wanted to mention that there are 40+ hd channels on 61.5 as well as 129. I face east and so i can only get 61.5. the old voom hd network is on 61.5.

hope this helps.
G