Forums > Specific Focus > Technical Mexico

johanson / Moderator

Oct 7, 2004, 7:02 PM

Post #1 of 7 (949 views)

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HDTV in Central Mexico

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In the states only about 1/8th of the households have HDTV ready Monitors/TVs. Yet 1 in 4 TV sets sold these days is HDTV capable. (or so I read) But that certainly isn't the case here in Mexico.

In the greater Chapala-Ajijic area where there are thousands from the US and Canada, the local satellite dealers and TV venders believe that there are only about 4 or 5 HDTV sets owned by anyone here. What's worse, is that most of the folks owning these sets aren't even taking advantage of the HDTV signals available. (Apparently there are only 2 of us doing so)

Yes watching a progressive scan DVD is better than standard TV but it doesn't compare to true HDTV. I've only had my Sony Wega HDTV ready set for a week. And I'm still learning. So far I have discovered that I can pick up at least 10 HDTV programs using my 4DTV with a decoder (C band). Examples are Discovery, 2 HBOs, 2 Showtimes, 2 Starz, ESPN, HDNET, etc

Today, I took a chance, we installed a second 65 cm dish and pointed it to Star Choice's new bird, the one that went active three days ago, and now I have 5 more HDTV channels. (you need an HDTV capable satellite receiver like the DSR500 HD to take advantage of the HDTV signals)

Oh and if your first language is French that same new Star Choice satellite is transmitting about 55 additional standard format TV channels in French.

I would love your comments about HDTV here in Mexico.

kirkswig

Oct 7, 2004, 8:25 PM

Post #2 of 7 (945 views)

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Re: [johanson] HDTV in Central Mexico

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I would love your comments about HDTV here in Mexico.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to wait. There are still issues with HDTV in general that have to be worked out before I see myself diving in, and only once those are sorted out do I then consider those issues specific to Mexico (getting content.)

I'll just do a dump here of all my concerns, and maybe you or others can shoot them down or otherwise comment.

First, I don't want to get a HDTV television. I have a perfectly good 21" CRT computer monitor which can display in excess of 1920x1080. I watch DVD's on my computer using this monitor and I love it! The problem however is that it appears that I can only display over-the-air HD channels on my computer monitor; the only two vendors I know of who manufacture the cards necessary to view HD content on a computer monitor are Hauppauge and ATi, and both accept only broadcast signals (i.e., Channel 2, Channel 5, etc.) This won't cut it in Mazatlán; I don't see them broadcasting HD here for some time to come, and even then, it won't be programming I'd be interested in.

So I have to wait for somebody to manufacture a tuner card that fits inside my PC and that let's me display programming from satellite on my computer monitor (an important distinction, there are any number of cards that will let you view HD content through your computer on an external HDTV display.)

Ideally, the tuner card would accept and adhere to the HDMI standard. So assuming that some day somebody builds one of these things, then I have to find content.

Now, something else I should mention is that I live in an apartment, and while I have a pretty good view of the southern sky, I only have a small balcony, so C-BAND is out of the question (which is a shame cause I once had a C-BAND system and I loved it, but this was back in the days of the wild feed.) I'm assuming that C-BAND will require I have at least a 3-meter dish. It just won't fit, and while my landlord is a genuine prince, I don't want to impose upon him and inquire on having it mounted on the roof or anything like that (I still have to hit him up on the whole "Hey, let's ground these outlets!" question.)

So, from my understanding, I'm stuck with the little dish systems, which I read as meaning I have two choices: DirecTV or Dish. I know the American versions of these are illegal in Mexico. What that really means, I don't know. I don't see Mexico caring about this. So what would I have to worry about? The FCC crossing the border to raid my home? I don't know, the way things are going in America, maybe that's a legitimate concern.

I understand there's a DirecTV marketed for Mexico that is legal, but I remember purusing the channel listing and not being terribly impressed. I don't recall exactly, but my impression was that the HDTV offerings, if existant, were very limited. Besides, if I were going to go with DirecTV for the purpose of receiving HDTV content, I'd definitely want the HD Tivo that DirecTV is offering, and that's only available in America.

I have a NOB address I could bill to and I have the always-on Internet connection that would satisy TiVO/DirecTV's penchant for calling home, but my NOB address is a PMB (personal mailbox) and I've discovered that companies now know when you're entering in an address that's a PMB and will reject it if they so decide to. And of course it's pretty obvious that they get to know from where I'm connecting to the Internet, as the advertisements in Spanish I get when viewing web pages on Yahoo will attest.

So basically, my getting HDTV here in Mexico entails me spending lots of money on technology that any of a dozen bureaucrats NOB can render moot at any given time by belatedly observing that I'm here in Mexico watching American TV and therefore deprive me of content.

Which is a shame. I'd really love to be able to do this. There are just too many WHAT IF'S at this point.

It's their loss too. When I had C-BAND I bought the entire channel lineup to the tune of close to a hundred a month as I recall, so they're missing out on a good customer.

To boldly go where no wig has gone before.

johanson / Moderator

Oct 7, 2004, 8:41 PM

Post #3 of 7 (940 views)

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Re: [kirkswig] HDTV in Central Mexico

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I think the best English Language small dish system in central Mexico is Star Choice. I'm using a 65 cm dish (actually two) and am getting all of their signals loud and clear. I don't subscribe to everything.

Their HDTV signals come in very well. But there aint much there and I'm being polite.

To learn more about Star Choice, go to www.starchoice.com Like Dish or DirecTV you have to have a real or virtual address in the country or origin, in this case Canada, in order to subscribe.

The signal is so strong in this part of the world that you can use a 65 cm dish as far south as Guatemala.

kirkswig

Oct 7, 2004, 10:09 PM

Post #4 of 7 (932 views)

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Re: [johanson] HDTV in Central Mexico

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So the best solution for an American living in Mexico is to watch Canadian TV.

There has to be a sitcom in there somewhere.

That said, while the HD offerings are, well, undefined, the standard fare is pretty reasonable actually. I think you're right, it probably is my best bet... but it's not nearly good enough to make me want to spend the kind of money we're talking about here.

This is probably off-topic, but what I want to know is when NAFTA starts working for guys like us. What exactly is the problem with my receiving DirecTV in Mexico? So what? Who cares? If DirecTV is getting their money, I fail to see what the issue is.

P.S. Looks like Microsoft has finally unbundled Windows XP Media Center. It looks pretty nice actually, with the caveat that the thing can't play DVD's out of the box (LOL). They say it supports HDTV. I could see playing around with Freevo and MythTV too; I mean, all this stuff is terribly exciting. But first you have to have the content lined up. Sigh.

To boldly go where no wig has gone before.

(This post was edited by kirkswig on Oct 7, 2004, 10:11 PM)

Marlene

Oct 9, 2004, 12:12 AM

Post #5 of 7 (896 views)

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Re: [kirkswig] HDTV in Central Mexico

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So the best solution for an American living in Mexico is to watch Canadian TV. There has to be a sitcom in there somewhere.

Nes pas! The bad part (this is on a serious note, I might add) is that the NHL has the hockey players locked out for this season and there is little point to watching Canadian TV when there is no hockey being played. *sniffle*

johanson / Moderator

Oct 9, 2004, 10:20 AM

Post #6 of 7 (883 views)

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Re: [kirkswig] HDTV in Central Mexico

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Star Choice is not for everyone. It depends upon the programming. Star Choice meets my needs because it provides me with local programming. I grew up in the greater Seattle WA, Vancouver, BC area and still live there 4 months of the year. Be I at the summer cottage up north watching TV via an outdoor antenna, or be I anywhere in Mexico, or Guatemala or even further south, I can watch these same local stations via Star Choice. Admittedly they only carry 5 of the 10 or so channels from Seattle, but I can live with that.

kirkswig

Nov 8, 2004, 7:53 AM

Post #7 of 7 (839 views)

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Re: [kirkswig] HDTV in Central Mexico

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One of the concerns I raised in the preceding post appears to have been addressed, along with another concern I didn't raise here.

Behold a PCI-card that allows you to display HDTV on your computer monitor.

(and here's a link to the slashdot article talking more about it)

It appears to accept OTA broadcasts only, so it still isn't ideal for my purposes, but, it does ignore the broadcast flag, which could conceivably be HUGE depending on the extent to which the industry abuses it.

At this time, you need to be running Linux to use it however. Linux as an OS to base a multimedia center is making more and more sense, but Microsoft's recent move with Windows XP Media Center nullifies that, at least partly.

I say partly, because it is unlikely you'll ever see over-the-counter hardware that ignores the broadcast flag working with Media Center.

Getting closer.

To boldly go where no wig has gone before.