Freaking Out / Confused

[etroberg]

:eek:

So I'm setting up my new Hi-Def Home Theater, and I made a deal with the dark forces of the Nether Regions for a HR10-250 for (not much) less than $1000.

Am I reading these threads correctly? DirecTV will only support SD into this type of box, not HD?

Say it ain't so!!!

:eek:

[WK-Michael]

You can definitely get HD in that unit. You can't get MPEG4 streams, but you can get all MPEG2 streams.

[etroberg]

Thanks, Michael. After a little experimenting and actually plugging the box in, it looks to me like I'm already getting a MPEG2 stream with only a triple-LNB dish! I'm getting MPEG4 streams (poorly) though a (poorly placed) off-air antenna. I'll remedy that soon.

What I'm really confused by- all the dudes at DirecTV told me that I had to have a 5-LNB dish to get HD. However, it looks like I'm getting HD through a triple-LNB dish. Could it be that DirecTV is "requiring" a 5-LNB, only because thier Ti-Faux requires that dish!

So, this leaves me with two questions:

1) Can the HR10-250 get full 720p/1080i HD through a triple-LNB dish, or does it require the 5-LNB like the Ti-Faux?

2) Is there an easy way to test whether the signal I'm seeing is 720p/1080i?

[WK-Michael]

There are two levels of HD. The main, older one only requires a triple LNB dish. That's all you need for MPEG2 - and since HR10s can only see MPEG2, you're done. The MPEG4 (lower quality) streams are largely local channels in smaller markets. That's what you need a 5 LNB for. But you are getting the max quality with what you have.

The off-air antenna you have actually gets much higher quality than MPEG4. If you can orient that antenna better, or get a more powerful antenna, that's the best way to go, quality-wise, by far.

If the format button on the front says 1080i, you're in 1080i.