# Which channels MPEG2 vs MPEG4



## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

I am a DirecTV customer considering a switch to Dish. One of the things I learned in researching is that the channels I record most on DirecTV (local NY networks, HBO) are MPEG2. Because so many of the legacy DirecTV receivers are MPEG2 only, these channels will not be switched to MPEG4 for a long time. 

I am wondering if anyone can tell me whether Dish has the same issue? Which HD channels are MPEG2 vs MPEG4, and are there legacy issues with switching the MPEG2 to MPEG4? Thanks.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Unless you're buying old used receivers to make the switch I would not worry about it. Any HD receiver you would get when you subscribe is already MPEG4 capable.

If you are going to bring an old receiver (fleabay or friend) when you come to Dish you will not be able to subscribe to HD. E* requires you to have a receiver capable of receiving the channels before they allow you to subscribe.

But as a new sub you are set ... juts come, make a commitment and enjoy!


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

AFAIK, if you mean which HD channels, then these will soon be the only MPEG-2 channels left on Dish, all from the original HD Package:


```
High Definition TV Channels Available on Dish  	   	
        TNT HD
  	Discovery HD Theater 
  	HD Net
  	HD Net Movies (
  	ESPN High Definition 
  	HBO HDTV (East)  
  	Showtime HDTV
```


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## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

James Long said:


> Unless you're buying old used receivers to make the switch I would not worry about it. Any HD receiver you would get when you subscribe is already MPEG4 capable.
> 
> If you are going to bring an old receiver (fleabay or friend) when you come to Dish you will not be able to subscribe to HD. E* requires you to have a receiver capable of receiving the channels before they allow you to subscribe.
> 
> But as a new sub you are set ... juts come, make a commitment and enjoy!


James, 
I am not concerned about compatibility, I am more thinking of recording space and possibly quality.


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## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

Mikey said:


> AFAIK, if you mean which HD channels, then these will soon be the only MPEG-2 channels left on Dish, all from the original HD Package:
> 
> 
> ```
> ...


Mikey,
Does this list include locals? Do you know if there are issues with legacy receivers that would prevent Dish from migrating these to MPEG4? Thanks.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

mongo said:


> Mikey,
> Does this list include locals? Do you know if there are issues with legacy receivers that would prevent Dish from migrating these to MPEG4? Thanks.


Again, if you mean HD locals, almost all of the Dish HD LILs are already MPEG-4, and have been since they began.


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## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

Mikey said:


> Again, if you mean HD locals, almost all of the Dish HD LILs are already MPEG-4, and have been since they began.


Mikey,

Not to be a pain on this, but when you say "most of the HD locals", I live in NY and get the NY locals, which were probably the first to go up. Do you happen to know if the NY HD locals are MPEG4 specifically? Thanks.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

NYC HD locals on E* are MPEG4.

See http://ekb.dbstalk.com/dishlist.htm for a complete list of E* channels including technology (when known).

SD channels on E* remain MPEG2 so they can be seen by E*'s SD receivers. Each HD channel varies based on compression or content. The "smallest" HD MPEG4 feeds take up only twice as much space on the hard drive as a standard SD MPEG2 recording of the same length. Some channels get a little more bandwidth and take up more space on the drive (since E* just spools received MPEG2 or MPEG4 to the hard drive for recording and does not recompress).

MPEG2 HD is calculated to take up the space of six SD hours per hour of recording but can take up less than that in real life (closer to four in my experiments).

At the moment the most hard drive hungry recordings come from OTA sources (any local stations broadcasting in 1080i HD will consume space fast) and the demo channel on 61.5°.


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## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

James Long said:


> NYC HD locals on E* are MPEG4.
> 
> See http://ekb.dbstalk.com/dishlist.htm for a complete list of E* channels including technology (when known).
> 
> ...


James,

Thanks a lot for the info. I just called Dish and they are making it really hard for me to switch to them. I want to have HD and DVR on the 4 TVs in my house, and the only way to do it with Dish is to pay $1,650 ($549 x 3) to buy three VIP722's (they will give me one for free). DirecTV will give me one HR20 free, two for $99 each, and I can get the last at Costco for $229. Dish actually costs slightly more per month, even after the $5 per month lease on the DirecTV equipment (although this is immaterial) . I do not understand why Dish makes it so hard to have HD DVR functionality on more than one TV. I would think the best / highest monthly fee customers are the ones who would also want multiple HD receivers.


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