Last week Directv started to officially transmit their new HD channels to all subscribers. At last count they had 27 new HD channels up and promised to have 100 by years end.
The reason I am writing this post is that I have been very impressed with their transition from SD to HD. They took the approach of using the same channel numbers for SD (Standard Definition) and HD. If you have a current HD receiver or DVR the HD channel is automatically selected. Their is no need to learn new channel numbers. The channel issue is probably the most confusing for the non techy. I can't tell you how many times I have been to someone's home with a new HD set and had to explain that they now needed to specifically tune to the HD channels. And even more confusing is when a network transmits the HD logo overlay on the picture and people think that they are watching HD when they are actually tuned to the SD channel on their cable system. They are so disappointed with the picture quality that they think there is something wrong with their set.
Even though I was not that happy with Directv's customer service during the installation process, they almost lost me as a customer of 12 years, my perseverance has payed off. I love the service, the HR20 700 DVR with my 1 Terabyte external disk has been rock solid (I think I have performed 2 forced reboots since April). My only complaint has been the weak over the air tuner (compared to my Sony KDL46XBR2) and the occasional pixelation (this has gotten better).
It looks like CBS read my rant (LOL) with their Sunday afternoon/evening schedule last weekend they started showing 60 minutes at 7:30pm. This was a simple fix, however I think the networks should still work towards a real time DVR guide update.
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