DirecTV to add 1080p content too?

Just a few weeks after Dish Network announced that it would offer 1080p on-demand movies, it looks like DirecTV is getting ready to match them. According to Scott Greczkowski's blog on Multichannel News, DirecTV is currently running a beta test that allows subscribers to download 1080p on-demand movies as well. Here's the relevant snippet:

I am not sure if the 1080p movie was coming from the satellite or if it was being downloaded over the internet. I do know that when I checked my DVR list the next morning the movie The Bucket List was there waiting for me. I quickly moved my HR-20 and hooked it up to my 1080p compatible Samsung TV in my bedroom and watched for a few moments. Again, the picture quality was amazing. I didn't have time to sit and watch this movie again (I saw this movies before, it was a great movie) but what I saw impressed me. There is no word from DirecTV when 1080p services will be rolled out to consumers, but from what I saw it worked and worked well.

We have to admit, we're a little skeptical that 1080p content from either provider is going to be responsible for a big increase in image quality. As others have said, resolution isn't nearly as important as the bit rate--Vudu and Apple TV technically sell HD movies at 720p resolution, but high-def aficionados can tell it's more like high-def lite. We've got a couple of HR-20s in CNET Labs, so we'll let you know if the 1080p on-demand content lives up to the hype, once its available on our boxes.

[ReVeLaTeD]

Between 1080p and 720p, resolution is irrelevant for the majority of consumers. The majority of consumers don't have a flat panel, much less one that exceeds 50 inches. Anything lower than that in diagonal screen viewing area, and the naked eye can't make out the difference.

[One_Of_One]

this poster is CLUELESS and not likely to own an hdtv anyway. having purchased 4 in sizes from 32 to 60 inches I can tell you that at 40 inches you CAN tell the difference. always be wary of posters who have stupid text tricks in their names.

[xZero2007x]

@ ReVeLaTed: cnet has already pointed that out in the past, and for the most part, I agree with them. I myself can tell a difference between the two and I'm running on a 40" display. That's just my personal opinion and I'm kind of going both ways, mostly counting myself as an outlier.

Now for this post, I feel that you missed the point to some extent. The issue at hand is the bitrate of the video being offered on the on-demand services described above. If you've read the article cnet had on bitrates, then you'll understand where this post is coming from. To put it simply, the editor seems surprised at Greczkowski's experience with the supposed 1080p offering from DirecTV because of the speculation of the bitrate supposedly being an important criteria to meet if the content is to be considered truly high def on top of the actual 1080p offering, since it seems to be a first.

[One_Of_One]

please, if you are inexperienced with hdtv just know this: you CAN see the difference in 1080i and 720p on tvs 40 inches and OVER. satellite tv is not the best source for seeing detail in the resolution and cable isnt either. over the air antenna based broadcasts are the clearest you will see and you definetly can tell the difference between nbc/ cbs [1080i] and fox/abc [720p] NO ONE broadcasts in 1080p so unless you have blu-ray its not really relevant right now for programming.

[JTHV83]

I agree with 1of1, when I switch between CBS/NBC and Fox/ESPN/ABC I can tell a huge difference in the PQ from the 1080i resolutions that CBS & NBC broadcast and the 720p resolution that Fox/ESPN/ABC.

IMO, football looks best on NBC (probably because it's always a night game, because CBS's 1080i PQ is stellar as well) and hockey looks awesome on HDNet. ESPN and Fox are a long way behind in terms of PQ. Thier HD PQ always seems grainy and pixelated compared to said 1080i broadcasts.

As far as OTA Antennas go, I have one and I won't lean one way or the other. DirecTV's broadcasts of local channels here in the Tampa Bay market look as good to me as it's OTA counterparts. However, the OTA doesn't loose signal during the daily downpours here during the summer. And DirecTv can claim thier 5-LNB doesn't loose signal because of rain storms but I beg to differ... on a daily basis during the summer months.