Dish, DirecTV: Last One to 1080p, Turn Out the Lights

Until now, the only way to get 1080p goodness was on recorded media (e.g., Blu-ray discs). The problem: not enough bandwidth for all the data in a 1080p picture. All you could get via an antenna or cable was 1080i. However, this week, satellite TV provider DirecTV (Monday) and Dish Network (Thursday) both announced that soon they would be offering Pay-Per-View movies in 1080p.

While DirecTV was first to announce, Dish Network appears poised to be first to launch, with the first offering, I Am Legend, available Friday. The content will be enabled by an update Dish will push to all of its MPEG-4 HD-DVR boxes tomorrow. It should be noted that generally these sorts of updates take time to propagate to boxes, so not all will be able to get their 1080p fix right away.

Both companies trumpet their Blu-ray quality, with DirecTV saying:

All HD programming will also be available in the Dolby Digital audio format, and later this year, DIRECTV will begin offering movies in 1080p, the highest resolution format available for HD video enthusiasts and the same format used by Blu-Ray HD DVDs.

Meanwhile, Dish Network said:

Starting August 1, Warner Bros. Pictures' blockbuster "I Am Legend" starring Will Smith will be available in 1080p resolution -- same as Blu-ray(R) Disc quality -- on DISH Network's VOD service, DISH On Demand, at a discounted price.

On the other hand, I had Dish Network before, and was unimpressed by the lack of quality of their DVRs. Any firmware upgrade was met with a degree of uncertainty. Still, that was years ago, but despite the move by DirecTV away from DirecTiVo DVRs, I still believe their home-grown DVRs to be a lot less fragile than Dish's.

And let's not forget that resolution is just part of the deal: there's bit rate as well, and thus it's doubtful you could truly compare the image from either of these companies to Blu-ray. It does make for good talking points, though, and no matter what, it's nice to see 1080p heading for the broadcast medium.