DirecTV HD DVR - HR2*/ HR34 Master Topic: one thread for all

Originally Posted by panoppolite

hats off to directv for their continual hardware, software and satellite upgrades.

Does the new hr-24 remain at 500gb or are they upgrading to 1tb?

Originally Posted by roller11

I live in Denver, a roll out market. I was thinking about switching over to D* from E*. Does D* offer all of the Colorado Rockies baseball games in HD? I know D* 'supposedly' does, but I need this verified by a someone who has actually observed the rockies in HD on Directv.

Originally Posted by roller11

rad,
Thanks for the info. Dish also claims that they offer *all* of the Rockies games in HD, but they do not. So I've learned that the only way to verify programming is to talk to a subscriber that has actually witnessed the programs in question. Seems every one of my family and friends have comcast, so I appeal to the people in this forum for eyewitness verification.
As to the link, that thread was last visited six months ago, so I doubt if my appeal will get any visibility.

Originally Posted by Smuuth

The thread for the DIRECTV HD DVRs HR20/HR21/HR22/HR23 is now 3 years old.

Since the HR24 is the first of a new design both internally and externally, it seems appropriate to begin a new thread discussing the next generation of HD DVRs from DIRECTV.

The HR24 is faster and designed to work with both SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) and DECA (DIRECTV Ethernet Coaxial Adapter) technology as well as directly supporting DIRECTV's new MRV (Multi-Room Viewing) which is currently in beta testing and soon to be rolled out nationwide. It sports a new, sleeker physical appearance which is a significant departure from earlier HD DVRs.

The HR24 is now being installed in the 4 markets where MRV is available:
Denver, CO
Portland, OR
Columbia-Jefferson City, MO
Fresno-Visalia, CA
It will likely start shipping to new customers after MRV becomes available nationwide.

More detailed information on the HR24 can be found here: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.ph...highlight=hr23

Originally Posted by veryoldschool

Two days into the connected home and multi-room viewing national rollout.

The Beta is to stop on May 20th, so now might be a good time to sign up if you haven't and want to keep using it.

Originally Posted by Deezul

So what does that mean? Will I get a message on my boxes regarding the end of MRV and that I need to sign up with D* directly? MRV is more than proven it's worth $3 a month with 3 networked DVRs in my house. I'll probably stop all recording on my HD TiVo and clear it out then shut it off.

Originally Posted by veryoldschool

I'm afraid what is going to happen on the 20th is your MRV stops working.
Then you'll get the message to call in.
Here is where it becomes tough. DirecTV's system is to setup a connected home network [using DECAs] for the "Whole Home DVR" service.
This costs $99 [hardware] + $49 [service call]
While during the Beta MRV, home networking was the only way, it isn't going to be supported.
There is a "backdoor loophole" to get an unsupported network flag added to your account and then the $3/month charge for the service.
More can be found here:
Backdoor Key

Originally Posted by kjgarrison

So for somebody that has been doing beta MRV and DirecTV2pc over a wired gigE network with no glitches other than trick play being a little slower with MRV, is there any reason to want DECA now or in the future?

Originally Posted by veryoldschool

Trickplay might improve, but it's hard to tell someone who has had things working fine to spend the $99+$49 for the upgrade.
I have it and it works great, but my Cat5 worked as well as the software did at that time too.
There are some good network folks than have looked into this and the DECA does have a feature that ethernet doesn't have. It's a bit over my head, so I'll have to give the "blond speak" version.
DECA has the ability to send a request that will override other packets. This is how the trickplay can improve. Something about layers/stacks/buffers.
If ethernet is FedEx ground for packets, this it an overnight delivery for changes.

Originally Posted by island_runner

So far not so good. I found out the MRV went out of Beta and I called right away to schedule my install. When I chose DirecTV over ATT Uverse in my new house I was told the MRV would be available soon and I wouldn't be charged for the upgrade. You can probably guess the rest of the story. After some really calm threats and a talk with customer retention I was scheduled the install no charge.

First appointment tech called with 30 minutes left in the appointment window to say he won't be coming. Second appointment tech was here 2 1/2 hours joined by a supervisor and couldn't get my HR21-700 and H23 boxes networked using the DECA. The IP address kept popping up incorrectly and they apparently couldn't punch it in manually. After two hard resets and countless telephone calls they said they will be back tomorrow with 2 new 24 series boxes.

Hopefully, third time is a charm and they bring the HR24 box this morning.

Originally Posted by veryoldschool

This rollout hasn't gone well, for many reasons.

The problem you seem to have sounds like they haven't used another DECA to bridge to your router. This seems to be a common mistake and is causing these problems.
DHCP works very well and using another DECA with either a 18 volt or 21 volt PI, that connects to your router should resolve this.

Originally Posted by kjgarrison

My network is static IP only. If I decide to get DECA do I need to enable DHCP? Changing to DHCP is something I have been considering doing anyway. Just a bit of a PIA to change everything in the house on the network.

Originally Posted by roller11

I'm considering switching from Dish to Directv, but I'm concerned over the fact that Directv is getting 100 hrs of HD on a 500 GB harddrive, while Dish is getting only 55 hrs. This, of course, suggests that Directv is compressing their signal more which results in poor PQ vs Dish. Even if it's a a matter of MPEG 2 vs MPEG4, (and I have no reason to think it is) that wouldn't account for such a big difference. Comments?

Originally Posted by veryoldschool

As I replied to your other post. DirecTV uses MPEG-4, which is why 100 hours with 500 GB.
The 300 GB drive is only 50 hours MPEG-4 & 30 hours MPEG-2
Maybe this will help you.
DirecTV MPEG-4 is full resolution. Dish isn't, as they send 1440 x 1080.

Originally Posted by roller11

Thanks for the info, where do you get your information? In particular, Directv invented the concept of downresing, they are famous for it. Also, Dish supposedly also does mpeg4. If so then Directv would be getting less programming per GB of drive space, not more.
I don't mean to come off as argumentative, it's just that your statements are the the very definition of "too good to be true" and I don't want to be disappointed. So since your statements defy logic, historical trends, and conventional wisdom, I have to ask how you could possibly know the res of both Dish and Directv, a question pondered in many threads over the past few years.

To handle the proliferation of bandwidth-intensive HDTV broadcasting, DirecTV rebroadcasts local HDTV stations using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec while employing a newer transmission protocol (DVB-S2) over the newer satellites. This allows DirecTV to squeeze much more HD programming over its satellite signal than was previously feasible using the older MPEG-2 compression and DSS protocol it has been using. This technology will be gradually expanded to the existing satellites as customer equipment is replaced with new MPEG-4-capable receivers.

...

All DirecTV-delivered local HDTV stations (outside of the NYC and LA network stations) are encoded in MPEG-4. ...

Originally Posted by drbonbi

It's more complicated than just codecs. As reported here: