DIRECTV Sued Over HDTV Picture Quality

That's great news. I hope Dishnet returns to real HD resolutions and starts a marketing campaign against DirectV.

I wonder what he wants for 'damages' should he prevail....

I think this is great to bad we all can't be a witness for him.

I just hope he's pursuing the equitable remedy of an injunction against the downrezz/bit starving practice. Any damages would be icing on the cake.

While it's great that he's holding their feet to the fire, but what is this really going to accomplish? Say he wins, which he should given their advertising and actual quality, then what? Directv will either have to add all the channels at full bandwidth, which we know they cant do, because if they could they certainly would. Or they will add a disclaimer on the bottom of their ads, and all of you who subsribe will continue to get the substandard pq. I dont think this will ultimately result in better pq and wouldnt that be the ultimate reward?

Once again, someone attempting to "win the lottery" by using our legal system for frivalous reasons. If a company's quality goes down, use the power of choice and the almighty dollar to change things. Don't buy their service. Don't waste the legal system's time and money with this crap.

I disdain frivolous lawsuits, and dumped DIRECTV after subscribing for many years, explicitly because of their down-rezzing HD signals. This case may have some merit, as the resolution provided by D* is neither of the ATSC standard resolutions; however, the best outcome would be an injunction against down-rezzing, with no monetary damages awarded.

I could not agree with you more. If the guy dosnt like it turn it off and switch to smething else. Garbage lawsuit. We all pay in the end for this crap.

I understand the frustration over "frivalous" lawsuits, but how does this fit that criteria? They advertise what they don't deliver. That is false advertising, and is illegal.

Art

I would imagine that credits or refunds for all HD package subscribers would be one of the damages sued for. Would anyone object or opt out of the class if that was one of the rewards?

Myrtledog - I would certainly agree with you if the supplier field were larger. But, in many parts of the country there just aren't any providers passing better quality products (content). Echostar downrezs. Cable is a good option if it is available in your area. Of course, there is the option to drop all providers and read a book or do other activities with your family and friends.

Where do I signup for this?

Note that this article states that the law suit is a class action law suit. This means that the named plaintiff is representative for a class of a large number of similarly situated plaintiffs. It also implies that the court has certified the class. As such, although each individual plaintiff might only receive a few dollars in damages, multiplied by the number of plaintiffs in the class, this could amount to a significant amount of money. I suspect though, as alluded to above, the actual remedy sought here is injunctive relief.

LOL ... more likely we'd (temporarily) see a return to only 3 or 4 HD channels on the Ku sats ... Now who's willing to sacrifice their favorite pet (and probably part time HD) channels for the cause?

Maybe I'm not aware of it but is D* claiming they have the absolute best quality picture of anything out there? From the article in the OP, it says "He says DIRECTV at that time promised that HDTV would provide "astonishing picture quality." To me, that sounds like a very subjective phrase. What does astonishing mean? To a very trained and discerning eye, D* may not be astonishing. To someone who comes from only seeing standard def stuff, I'd bet they would think it's pretty astonishing.

Couldn't disagree more on the 'frivolity' of this case. It certainly has merit. Its false advertising, companys have been forced to offer rebates to their customers for much less.

It comes down to one thing to me, monopoly. I cant get Sunday Ticket anywhere else, or I would have sent D* packing long ago.

OMG. The idea of having HDNet back to the way it was when it first launched on DirecTV. I just pee'd my pants. That would be a dream come true. I would happily give up CBS-HD West and ABC-HD West to have HDNet back to full rez and bandwidth. Given their programming now, it would be HD nirvana.

Don't think the layers would go for an injuction. They are in it for $. The bad thing is this case isn't settled out of court, it will establish the precident that there is no official definition of "HD". Most likely D* will settle to keep the press coverage minimal, the lawyers will get their money, and no other class action suit will be allowed in the future.

Mark

Works for me.

Wolfie

"But relating to picture quality, anybody that thinks we don't take it seriously is mistaken. Across the board, I'll put our HD signal up against any of our competitors on a consistent basis. DIRECTV from day 1 has always been about providing great picture quality."

http://www.tvpredictions.com/nextshanks091406.htm

He's talking about 2 different things here.
"I'll put our HD signal up against any of our competitors on a consistent basis"
It doesn't matter if you have a 90% signal or a 50% signal, you'll still get A/V. The amount of signal you get doesn't mean you get better PQ

Now if he changed it to "I'll put our HD picture up against any of our competitors on a consistent basis" then he would look even more like a doofus.

He was asked about picture quality. His answer begins and ends with a sentence containing the words "picture quality". He is clearly attempting to claim that their picture quality is as good as anyone else's.

And 95% of you lambasted me when I suggested this...

Thanks for standing up for all of us, Mr. Cohen.

Cut back the HD in ST, PPV, MLB etc and fix the problem, thats what you do.

Hardly says they are claiming to have the best PQ. He's just saying he'd put D* up against any competitor. Alot different than saying "from Day 1 D* has always had the best PQ."

If George Steinbrenner said the Yankees are the best team in baseball, and based on that statement, you went and bought Yankee season tickets. They trade their best player during the season, thereby reducing the quality of their team. Should you sue them if they didn't win the World Series?

The point is he is claiming that D*'s PQ is as good as everyone else's.

you got that right

I could not disagree more. If prices go up because of this then go find another service.

LOL, of course he would. How long do you think he'd be working there if he said they suck?