Small dish to go MPEG4?

"Small Dish" to go MPEG-4
DirecTV and EchoStar (Dish Network) are now both using the bandwidth saving MPEG-4 encoding scheme to transmit High-Definition programming to their subscriber base. The R5000-HD is offered as a "fully MPEG-4 (H.264) compatible" modification for the new Dish Network models ViP211, Dish 411, ViP622/722 receivers and DVRs.
-updated Sept 2009.

Current Status: Both DirecTV and Dish Network are now transmitting just about all HD offerings using the MPEG-4 (H.264) format. Standard Definition (SD) channels are still encoded using MPEG-2 compression. There have been no announcements regarding the switch-over of SD to MPEG-4 and it is likely that they will continue to use MPEG-2 indefinitely (sine they do not require nearly as much bandwidth as their companion HD channels).

Other service providers like StarChoice and ExpressVu have made their equipment MPEG-4 compatible but as of this writing have not yet begun to transmit using the new format. It is unlikely that cable providers will switch to MPEG-4 since they are not plagued by the same bandwidth limitations as satellite.

Will the R5000-HD be able to record MPEG-4? YES. We have been shipping (as of Feb. 2006) an "MPEG-4" compatible modification for the Dish Network models 211and 411receivers as well as the ViP 622/722 DVRs. Recently added was support for the new Bell 9242. These represent the latest in satellite receiver technology and are capable of receiving all current MPEG-2 offerings as well as the new "MPEG-4" channels.

If/when other providers like StarChoice begin to use the format, we expect the R5000-HD to be fully compatible as-is.

R5000-HD MPEG-4 Captures