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Dish Network DVR 942 Receiver
By Jonathan Takiff
Serious videophiles should give careful consideration to DISH Network’s new DISH Player DVR 942, a high definition satellite and terrestrial receiver that really jumps out of the pack .
Nineteen satellite-fed HD channels are now beaming via DISH, the most of any pay TV service (satellite or cable) in the land. And for those moments when there’s still nothing worthy to put up on your state-of-the-art high def display, the DVR 942 lets you cache 25 hours of content in flawless HD form (or up to 180 hours in standard def) on its 250 GB hard drive. Plus, local HD channels can be nabbed with the 942′s on-board and very good terrestrial broadcast HDTV tuner—one of the fastest switching and most stable I’ve tested.
DISH recently jumped to the head of the HD content class by picking up the core satellite of the short-lived, mostly high definition VOOM service. As DISH operates satellites in the same orbiting position, its engineers re-configured the VOOM bird to put out HD signals receivable by DISH equipment. DISH also agreed to carry a number of the exclusive VOOM channels—10 to start, another nine to be added early next year. A mother-load of carefully selected and produced HD programming, these channels look superb—razor sharp, perfectly hued and with excellent gray scaling.
On the programming side, VOOM Originals devoted to travel, extreme sports, fine art, animation and fashion offer such gorgeous pictures that I’ve found myself using the channels as video wallpaper with the sound turned down. The RAVE music channel is a special favorite, with beautifully shot (and mixed in 5.1 Dolby Digital audio) concert shows. Even the vintage flicks playing on the three VOOM movie channels look amazing, almost three-dimensional. Of course, high def versions of ESPN, Showtime and HBO are also among the DISH offerings, though only one HD network feed—CBS —is in the mix.
Installation was easy because DISH installers do all the heavy lifting—mounting the two antennas needed to pick up all of the satellite signals, running wires to a multi-switch, then shooting two lines from there to the DVR 942 for connection to its two internal HD/SD tuners. For optimal viewing results, use the 942′s HDMI digital signal output and supplied cable, if your set has an HDMI or DVI input. The installers can also wire up a conventional UHF/VHF rooftop antenna to pull in over-the-air HD broadcasts and will run a separate coax cable from the DVR 942 to a second TV set located in another room. That’s right, this box can feed video signals, independently or simulcast, to two TV sets simultaneously. At the second location, the picture arrives strictly in standard definition form, but with stereo sound. And you don’t have to pay a second box rental fee.
The installers also configure the electronic program guide, integrating the local broadcast channels, and program both remotes to control your TV sets. The second room remote communicates with the DVR 942 via RF (radio frequency) signal, to be nabbed by a little whip antenna screwed to the back of the receiver. Since my second TV is on a different floor, the installer had to relocate the whip antenna high up in a closet to pick up the distant RF control signals.
As a digital video recorder, it’s got a lot going for it. While not quite as user-friendly as a TiVo-based satellite receiver/DVR (offered by DirecTV), operating the DISH DVR 942 is pretty intuitive, thanks to a well-designed remote control and logical on-screen guide. You can even search for shows by name, up to nine days ahead. Two programs can be simultaneously recorded to the DVR or shown on a split screen. To get independent signal reception activated at the second location, you must engage the Dual Mode button on the receiver.
Coming soon from DISH are a trio of LCD-screened, hard disk- equipped portable media players (made by Archos,) that connect to the DVR 942′s front or rear panel USB 2.0 port for (you guessed it) high speed transfer of cached video and music content (including Sirius radio channels) from the DISH drive to the portables. Other DVR-equipped DISH receivers will work with these new media players, too, though program transfers there will be in real time.
Likewise, in the “coming soon” department on the 942, is DISHComm technology—which allows audio and phone signals to be sent from the unit, via home power line wiring, to other DISHComm- enabled boxes.
One thing this box doesn’t have is MPEG-4 decoding, a more efficient signal compression technology which will be deployed first by satellite TV operators to deliver local-into-local HD channels to their specific markets—when engineers iron the bumps out of the compression technology. So as not to tick you off later at box upgrade time, DISH offers a lease option for a DVR 942, with a one-time payment of $249. However, DISH HD subscribers, who don’t take a basic DISH services package, are required to buy the DVR 942 outright for $699.
Dish Network DVR 942 Receiver
$699 (or $249 depending on plan)
Two tuners
250 GB hard drive
Can feed second standard-def TV
ATSC tuner included
HDMI output
Voom HD programming
www.dishnetwork.com
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