Home Box Office to Make All 26 of Its Channels Available in High Definition

[nazz]

This is getting really exciting! Bring it on, Dish.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Mine is set for Pvt Ryan tonight.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Personally I hope E* doesn't use the extra bandwidth gained from the Voom transition to add these. Just MHO.

No one expects them to provide all 22, but 4 or 5 (and not HBO-E/-W, but different channels) of them.

 

[dfergie]

I have that(Pvt Ryan) in the can timers set for the weekend for Ice Age II on Saturday and Superman Returns on MaxHD...

 

[lovswr]

DirecTV is rumored to carry 11 this year, Dishnetwork is moving its Voom Channels to MPEG4 this summer which would make room for some...

Do you know if D* is gonna get HBO Comedy? That is really the only channel that I miss since I switched from E*.

 

[kstuart]

Since the current HBO, HDNET, etc is in MPEG2, I wonder if they will require that their channels be in high bitrate MPEG2 and not with new experimental low
bit rate MPEG4.

This is becoming one of the most widely misunderstood topics.

Somehow, people seem to be getting the idea that MPEG4 is lower quality than MPEG2, whereas actually it is higher quality.

In this case, 4 is greater than 2, it's more advanced.

Both MPEG2 and MPEG4 are compressed lossey formats that throw away some bits entirely in order to provide a high resolution signal in less bandwidth. MPEG4 is the result of newer research that was done after the creation of MPEG2. It provides better PQ with less bandwidth.

PS I expect E* will keep HBO-E-HD as MPEG2, and do its usual method of putting all new channels on the new MPEG4 format.

 

[dfergie]

Do you know if D* is gonna get HBO Comedy? That is really the only channel that I miss since I switched from E*.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 13, 2007--Continuing to pack its lineup with premium-quality HD channels for launch this fall, DIRECTV will begin to roll out the HD feeds of 11 HBO and Cinemax channels nationally in September.
In addition to the HBO (East) HD channel it currently offers, DIRECTV will launch the following HBO/Cinemax channels in full-time HD: HBO West, HBO2 West, HBO2 East, HBO Family East, HBO Family West, HBO Latino, HBO Signature, Cinemax East, Cinemax West and MoreMax. The channels will begin rolling out in September and continue to launch through the rest of the year. DIRECTV currently carries each of these channels in standard-definition.
Source: DIRECTV
No HBO Comedy, Yet...

 

[long_time_DNC]

So, with the Vooms going to mpeg4 in August, one has to wonder when E* intends to roll out more of the HD HBO/Cinemax channels in order to keep up with D*?

 

[kstuart]

So, with the Vooms going to mpeg4 in August, one has to wonder when E* intends to roll out more of the HD HBO/Cinemax channels in order to keep up with D*?

There is only one HBO HD channel.

Are you asking for E* to issue more press releases to keep up with D*'s press releases ?

There is nothing for E* to keep up with.

 

[long_time_DNC]

True enough...

 

[dfergie]

Dishnet is delivering, not talking... (I sub to both)Just in case

 

[rockymtnhigh]

There is only one HBO HD channel.

Are you asking for E* to issue more press releases to keep up with D*'s press releases ?

There is nothing for E* to keep up with.

Yeah, quite accurate. I am hoping Charlie's desire to remain the HD Leader is a serious one, and they use the extra space from going to MPEG4 to give us a few new HBO and a few Starz HDs, when they come out. Dish has delivered a lot of HD already; I doubt they want to fall behind - and Cinemax HD has been a great addition this summer.

 

[Pepper]

We will probably have all the HBO channels in HD, and still no external drive capability (Dish ViP622 that is) to store it on.

 

[faster345]

What's Brighthouse? Cable company?

 

[LonghornXP]

What's Brighthouse? Cable company?

Yup Bright House Networks is a cable company in a few markets. I used to have them as my cable company while I lived in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and they also serve much of the Orlando and surrounding area. They are in a few other states as well. Nearly all Bright House Networks customers were Time Warner Cable customers but Bright House (aka Advanced Newhouse) bought back control of those TWC markets and split away from TWC. Also nearly all TWC corporate deals (HBO, Starz, ESPN programming etc) will also be for BHN. So when TWC adds a channel BHN customers will get it but also when TWC is fighting with a channel (ie ESPN2 HD for those many months) BHN customers are just as screwed as TWC customers are.

This is my opinion only but consider BHN as TWC just with another name but nearly everything else is the same.

 

[Sean Mota]

http://www.broadcastbuyer.tv/publis...hannels_Using_Motorola_Technology_12603.shtml

Home Box Office To Deliver 26 High-Definition Channels Using motorola technology ...
[SIZE=-1]broadcastbuyer.tv (press release) - London,UK[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]"HBO has a long history of delivering great programming in the highest quality and just as we were the first to launch a high-definition feed, ...[/SIZE]

http://www.broadcastbuyer.tv/publis...hannels_Using_Motorola_Technology_12603.shtmlhttp://www.broadcastbuyer.tv/publis...hannels_Using_Motorola_Technology_12603.shtml

I do not know if this thread cover the fact that they will be using motorola tech to deliver their HD channels.

 

[Poke]

Home Box Office to Deliver 26 High-Definition Channels Using Motorola Technology

Now if we can get other Networks to do the same as HBO.



Home Box Office to Deliver 26 High-Definition Channels Using Motorola Technology

August 09, 2007: 10:52 AM EST


SAN DIEGO, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola today announced it will implement a 26-channel, high-definition (HD) MPEG-4 AVC encoding system for Home Box Office (HBO). Offered by Motorola's Home and Networks Mobility Business, the system compresses, encrypts, modulates, and receives the HD signals within a single integrated transmission system to allow HBO to expand its HD offerings to subscribers.

"HBO has a long history of delivering great programming in the highest quality and just as we were the first to launch a high-definition feed, we are now the first to commit to the full breadth of our channels in HD," said Bob Zitter, executive vice president, technology and chief technology officer, HBO. "Motorola's implementation of the highly efficient MPEG-4 encoding standard provides the quality that we require and that our customers expect."

Motorola is integrating key technologies to deliver high-bandwidth HD channels through increased capacity. Using very high quality/high efficiency MPEG-4/AVC encoding technology allows Motorola to ensure compliance with HBO's video quality standards. Additionally, Motorola's new multi-format Integrated Receiver/Decoder (IRD) will deliver HD channels in both MPEG-4/AVC and MPEG-2 formats.

"Motorola has made a long-term commitment to the advancement of digital video technology. As such, we are very pleased to work with HBO on this important industry project," said Doug Means, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola Home and Networks Mobility. "We expect this project to change the way programmers approach large-scale, high- and standard- definition content distribution."

As a long-time leader in HD digital compression systems and a member of the Grand Alliance HD encoding effort, Motorola has deployed hundreds of HD encoding systems in the MPEG-2 standard. The MPEG-4 AVC technology has been optimized for today's content requirements, handling both 1920 x 1080i and 1280 x 720p resolutions at approximately half the bandwidth required with similar MPEG-2 coded signals.

 

[mdonnelly]

This post probably belongs in the General Satellite/Cable forum, not the Dish HD forum. Nothing Dish specific here.

 

[havana]

This post probably belongs in the General Satellite/Cable forum, not the Dish HD forum. Nothing Dish specific here.

I would think that an E* customer who subscribes to the HBO package and reads this forum would be interested in Poke's post...that in itself should qualify it as appropriate for this forum.

 

[JAG72]

I would think that an E* customer who subscribes to the HBO package and reads this forum would be interested in Poke's post...that in itself should qualify it as appropriate for this forum.

You could also say the same thing for all the D* and cable subs. That is why I also think to belongs in the General Satellite/Cable forum.