# Can someone explain Dual Mode?



## JJEdwards (Jul 4, 2007)

I'm a DirecTV customer who's thinking about switching to Dish. I think getting Turbo HD bronze package would greatly reduce my bill. I have 2 HDTV's, one has an HD receiver and the other has an HD DVR receiver. 
I keep reading about being able to control 2 TV's with one receiver if I go to Dish. Is this true? How is it possible if they are in different rooms and different floors of the house? Are you telling me I don't need to go with a second HD receiver? If so, what do I point the remote at to change channels? I think this is called 'dual mode' but maybe I have this all wrong so I ask someone to explain it to me. I'm trying to familiarize myself with Dish equipment and I need to get informed before I make the 24 month commitment. Thanks!


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## RickDee (May 23, 2006)

I have a Dish ViP622. In the dual mode you can watch 2 different programs with a TV on TV1 and one on TV2. TV2 only supports Standard Definition - no HD. You connect TV2 via coax from the TV2 out to the TV. TV1 has several choices, the best being HDMI. You could run cable from the TV1 Component Video outputs to a second TV, but you could not have a different program - you would just be mirroring what's on the other TV connected to TV1 output.

If you want HD on both your TVs, then the best approach would be 2 separate receivers. You could have 2 dual receivers in the single mode, or 1 dual and one single output ViP612.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

You can think of running a ViP receiver in Dual Mode as being the same as having two single tuner receivers. Each having its own independent programming but sharing the recordings on the DVR. TV1 is HD but TV2 is SD only. TV2 can actually be any number of TVs connected to the Home Distribution system via coax but all TV2s would show the same programming. The TV1 remote is (usually) an IR remote while the TV2 remote is RF so the signal can go thru walls to reach the receiver.

It is a cool feature but of course has some drawbacks. The receiver (622/722) actually has three tuners. Two are sat tuners and one is an OTA tuner. In Dual Mode, TV1 has control of 1 sat tuner and the OTA tuner while TV2 has control of 1 sat tuner. So, this means in Dual Mode each TV can be watching live TV OR recording a program while watching a previous recording. Each TV can not be watching live TV while at the same time creating a recording. Of course you could be recording on TV2 while watching TV1 live.

And then there is the recently released 722k which, with an add on option module, you get two OTA tuners instead of one. With that set up TV2 can also have control of an OTA tuner.

All in all some powerful options, but since both of your TVs are HD sets you may not want to run with a single receiver in Dual Mode because one will be down converted SD.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Dish's 622/722/722k family is a dual HD sat-tuner DVR that has two seperate, independently-controlled outputs. The TV1 output is HD-capable, while the TV2 output is SD-only, and almost always distributed over coax (composite connections are available, but rarely used). The TV1 remote is IR, while the TV2 remote is RF, so its signals can pass through walls.

Both TVs "share" the 2 sat tuners and the recordings on the DVR. This has advantages and disadvantages. Advantages being the shared pool of recordings, and being able to set up a recording from either TV. You can start watching a recorded movie in the living room, pause, and resume in the bedroom, for example.

Disadvantages are that each TV normally only has a single tuner, so you have to watch what you record, or watch something off the hard drive. You can override this, but you then "steal" the tuner from the other TV.

All this is "Dual Mode". In Single Mode, the TV2 output is switched to whatever the TV1 is watching, and both tuners are available to TV1. PiP is also enabled for TV1.

In order to get HD at both TVs, you'd still need 2 receivers, one at each TV. That requirement isn't likely to change anytime soon, due to the difficulty and expense of distributing encrypted HD content (read: HDMI w/HDCP) across the house.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

BattleZone said:


> ...
> 
> In order to get HD at both TVs, you'd still need 2 receivers, one at each TV. That requirement isn't likely to change anytime soon, due to the difficulty and expense of distributing encrypted HD content (read: HDMI w/HDCP) across the house.


You can also do what I do and have HDMI on one TV and component on the other to get HD on both sets. The only drawback if you don't live alone is that both TVs will be watching the same programming.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

lujan said:


> You can also do what I do and have HDMI on one TV and component on the other to get HD on both sets. The only drawback if you don't live alone is that both TVs will be watching the same programming.


If you did this you would presumably want to be in Single Mode.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

lujan said:


> You can also do what I do and have HDMI on one TV and component on the other to get HD on both sets. The only drawback if you don't live alone is that both TVs will be watching the same programming.


And while that obviously would work, the OP could do the same thing with his existing HD-DVR and get rid of the HD receiver. But in order to duplicate (or enhance) his existing configuration, he'd need 2 HD receivers.


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