News Feature
DIRECTV's New HD: First Look
The satcaster's new high def lineup looks great -- for most people, that is.
By Swanni
Well, pretty, pretty good, although some subscribers are reporting both video and audio issues. However, the glitches may be small and limited to households with various installation problems.
"(There have been) no transmission problems
reported at our end," says DIRECTV spokesman Robert Mercer. "The HD signals look great. If you're experiencing some trouble, it may be an installation issue. Take a look at the signal strength meter for 103(b) -- if it's an HR20, you'll need to check both tuners. Signal strength should be 70+"
DIRECTV subscribers can check their signal strength by accessing their 'Settings' with the remote's Menu button. If the signal strength appears adequate, a call to DIRECTV's customer service department may be required to resolve any picture or audio issues.
About 10 DIRECTV subscribers today have sent e-mails to TVPredictions.com to report that some of their new HD channels are occasionally losing their signals. The channel will be there and then it won't. When the picture is unavailable, an on-screen message will pop up saying, "Searching for signal on Satellite."
As a DIRECTV subscriber, I have witnessed this occurrence as well. CNN HD, for instance, was available this morning at 6 a.m., but then was not a few hours later. The channel was back on around 11 a.m., but disappeared again a few minutes later.
Judging from reader comments, however, it appears that the inconsistent signal is not a problem in every DIRECTV HD household, or even a large number of households. A call to DIRECTV's technical support team discovered that only a few people had called today with the "Searching for signal" problem.
Update: If you have a two-tuner HD DVR -- and you're getting the "Searching for signal" message for some channels -- you may need a second Broadband converter on the tuner 2 cable. Both cables -- for tuner 1 and tuner 2 -- must have Broadband converters attached.
In addition, some subscribers are reporting that some channels are having audio-synch issues. The spoken word is not matching up with the on-screen personality's lips, creating what's known as the 'Godzilla effect.' The Smithsonian HD channel seems to be having this problem the most.
Despite the above issues, there's no question that most of DIRECTV's new HD channels are delivering sharp, crystal-clear pictures.
The new channels are being housed on DIRECTV's new satellite which is transmitting in MPEG4, a cleaner and more efficient method.
CNN HD -- when I could see it -- looked smashing this morning when the network was broadcasting from its New York studios (where its HD cameras and infrastructure have been installed.) The Smithsonian Channel HD is also a welcome addition.
While some channels such as TBS HD air some shows in standard definition (and stretch the picture so it fits the widescreen), that's not DIRECTV's fault.
And I think DIRECTV's HD subscribers won't complain when TBS HD airs the Major League Baseball playoffs in high-def next month.
To learn more about DIRECTV's high-def expansion, please click: DIRECTV.
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Swanni (Phillip Swann) is
president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in
dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox
News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The
Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The
Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at
swann@tvpredictions.com
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