channel 509 is off air 537 might be more any idea ? any clue if or when they will add more channels :confused:

There is a message to look for them at 70 and 71.

They are probably moving all legacy MPEG-2 channels to make room to replace them in MPEG-4 when D11 lights up.

when is that going to happen? thanks

I can'y wait for everything to go to MPEG 4 as MPEG 2 is like watching SD these days

Correct. HBO and Showtime MPEG-2 variants are being relocated. It effects channel 509 and 543. Customers that have subscriptions to those PREMIUMS and still have MPEG2 HD hardware can still access those channels in the 70's (70 for HBO and 71 for SHO). I have no information on exact dates of future changes.

PS: Edited topic title to make it more specific. Please avoid "generic" topic titles. Put as much information in there as you can. Thanks.

I get the Mpeg 2 channels 70 71 . will I have to update with a new reciver box for the mpeg 4 channels ???

I get the Mpeg 2 channels 70 71 . will I have to update with a new reciver box for the mpeg 4 channels ???

What is your box now? If it is a Tivo HD box then yes you need to get a new Directv box that can handle MPEG 4

agreed... they cant turn off all the mpeg2 crap soon enough.

not a tivo it will be a year olf in august

not a tivo it will be a year olf in august


Do pick up the new HD stations that have started coming out in September?

Like USA, FX, TBS, among others? If you do then you do not need a new receiver.

agreed... they cant turn off all the mpeg2 crap soon enough.

As a trucker with a phase 3 dish mounted on the right side mirror. The demise of MPEG 2 HD means the demise of mobile HD for me. Guess I'll have to go to Dish for the truck as for that heavy slimline dish would rip the mirror clean off. Tripods would get run over by rookie J.B. Hunt drivers trying to back.

You guys seem to be all over the place with this. Does this "relocation mean anything other than you have to tune to channels 70 and 71? It seems that those are MPEG2 channels, so why all this talk of people needing new dishes?

What really has happened?

Because eventually D* will be doing away with MPEG2 HD entirely. Thus the need for the new dish. The HD channels in the 70's are MPEG 2. No new dish needed for those. Unless you have a Phase II dish and are not receiving signals from the 110 bird.

You guys seem to be all over the place with this. Does this "relocation mean anything other than you have to tune to channels 70 and 71? It seems that those are MPEG2 channels, so why all this talk of people needing new dishes?

What really has happened?

So far, nothing - other than the virtual remapping (in the 500's) being discontinued.

It *is* expected that all the MPEG2 HD will go away at some point - at which time DirecTv better be showing up at my door with free upgrades and no retention roulette hassles. ;) :D

So far, nothing - other than the virtual remapping (in the 500's) being discontinued.

It *is* expected that all the MPEG2 HD will go away at some point - at which time DirecTv better be showing up at my door with free upgrades and no retention roulette hassles. ;) :D


OK, so we have known for a while that they are planning to move to all MPEG4 eventually. That's fine, but I don't se this "virtual remapping" having anything to do with that. What is "virtual remapping". Was it only done to put the HBO HD channel with the rest of the HBO channels? If so, then why would they take that away? Isn't that going backwards?

Sorry about all of the questions, but I am thick about this. I was hoping that they were actually moving the rest of the HD channels that are only on MPEG2 to MPEG4. A friend of mine can't get the sats that the MPEG2 stuff is on. He would be thrilled if ESPNHD showed up in MPEG4. Thanks.

What about 501 and 537? They still seemed to be working for me last night. I never understood why we had the same HBO on 70, 501, and 509, and the same Showtime on 71, 537, and 543.

I can'y wait for everything to go to MPEG 4 as MPEG 2 is like watching SD these days

In the interest of accuracy:

There's no visible difference between MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, given appropriate bitrates/compression. MPEG-4 suffers less from compression artifacts at higher compression levels. GIGO, the compression codec does not effect PQ in and of itself, but the implementation of the codec does.

In the interest of accuracy:

There's no visible difference between MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, given appropriate bitrates/compression. MPEG-4 suffers less from compression artifacts at higher compression levels. GIGO, the compression codec does not effect PQ in and of itself, but the implementation of the codec does.

I guess we are all thankful Versus is MPEG4. The close-up shots of players skating by the boards have as much blocking as NBC.

I never understood why we had the same HBO on 70, 501, and 509, and the same Showtime on 71, 537, and 543.It's just channel mapping. 70 and 509 have pointed to the same stream much like a channel in, say, the Extra Innings range simply points back to the RSN the game is actually on.

I guess we are all thankful Versus is MPEG4. The close-up shots of players skating by the boards have as much blocking as NBC.

Yup. As soon as the MPEG-4 transponders are all full up, and they start trying to stuff more channels into a transponder, we will see a whole different set of compression issues from what we see on MPEG-2. In some ways, over-compression on MPEG-4 is worse to look at than on MPEG-2.

There is talk of a new, smaller, 3LNB dish for HD coming out sometime this year. It will pick up only the 99/101/103 sats, which after the D11 lights up and the remaining MPEG-2 channels are moved off the 110/119, the 99/101/103 will be all you need. Only subscribers of the international packages will need the 110/119.

There is talk of a new, smaller, 3LNB dish for HD coming out sometime this year. It will pick up only the 99/101/103 sats, which after the D11 lights up and the remaining MPEG-2 channels are moved off the 110/119, the 99/101/103 will be all you need. Only subscribers of the international packages will need the 110/119.

Still a KA dish is a PITA to point due to the narrow wavelength of the KA signals. The margin of error on KA is virtually zero. The KU wavelength is wide enough to miss by a little and still get an acceptable signal. Ok to point a KA dish once at home, but pointing it every night.....I'll pass, but thanks for the info though.

Also, unless E* has changed...Dallas SD locals are CONUS. Please correct me if I'm wrong. When I'm outside the Dallas spot beam area I have only HD DNS minus ABC because WFAA is not O/O.

I haven't dealt with E* in a very long time but IIRC E* is a little more traveler friendly.

What about 501 and 537? Arent they the same as the others? I took 70, 71, 509, and 543 out of my custom guides because they were the exact same as 501 and 537 every time I looked. Are they not? I like them better because it put the original HBO and Showtime channels at the beginning of their groups instead of after the HBO2, SHo2, etc.

501 and 537 will be the MPEG4 home for those channels.

501 and 537 will be the MPEG4 home for those channels.
Yes, but right now they are still just the regular old MPEG2 channel. They were placed in those locations so that they would line up with the rest of the HD channels, which all match their SD counterparts.