- In this report
- Overview
- CR Quick Recommendations
- Ratings
- How to choose
- Service providers
- When "HD" isn't high-def
ELECTRONICS FORUMS  Get real-world advice from others about choosing a new TV, digital camera, computer or cell phone. |
How to choose
If you want to sign up for HD or change providers, consider the following:
Determine what's available. Cable is accessible in most parts of the country except for some rural regions. About 98 percent of markets are served by only one cable company, so you probably have no choice if you want cable but don't like your provider. Satellite service is available nationwide from DirecTV and Dish Network, provided that you're able to mount a dish antenna with an unobstructed view of the southern horizon.
At the time of this high-def TV service comparison, fiber-optic availability is still limited. By the end of 2007, Verizon's FiOS TV was available in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia. AT&T's U-verse service was available in 14 metropolitan areas in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin. Although telco TV has been growing city by city, many states have authorized statewide franchising to speed expansion.
Consider equipment and contracts. Cable service requires no contract, for the most part, and any necessary gear is usually rented. To get high-def, you'll have to rent a high-def box. Monthly fees are typically the same as for standard-def gear: about $5 to $8 for an HD box or DVR, plus $10 to $16 for the DVR programming service.
To get the best deal from a satellite company, you generally have to sign a 12- to 24-month service contract, with penalties imposed for early cancellation. Both satellite providers offer discounts on hardware. Dish gives you one free HD DVR when you sign up for service. You can lease additional receivers for $5 a month each or buy them outright for $300, with no monthly lease fee. DVRs cost $500. A $6 monthly service fee covers all DVRs. With DirecTV, you get an HD receiver free after a $100 rebate; for extra receivers, you pay $5 a month. An HD DVR costs $200 after a $100 rebate; a $5-a-month fee covers all your DVRs.
Verizon offers month-to-month TV service or, when bundled with phone and Internet service, a contract with early-cancellation penalties. There are no up-front charges for equipment; you pay $10 a month for an HD receiver and $16 for an HD DVR.
Question HD channel counts. There's no agreement on what constitutes a high-definition "channel," so it's hard to figure out what any given service offers when making a high-def TV service comparison. Some carriers bolster their HD channel counts by classifying each on-demand offering or movie as a channel. Others count each regional sports network feed as a channel even though you might get only those that are available in your area.
We took our own tally for this high-def TV service comparison, counting only networks assigned a specific channel number; we considered regional sports as one channel. At press time, DirecTV had about 65 HD channels, while Dish and AT&T had about 40. Verizon had 30-plus HD channels. The major cable providers had 25 to 40. We expect all carriers to add channels throughout the year, and most should have 100 or more high-def channels by year's end.
But don't place too much weight on the sheer number of HD channels a service offers. We found only a slight association between more channels and greater satisfaction with channel selection in our survey cited in this high-def TV service comparison. Chances are that you regularly watch only a handful of channels anyway.
Find a lineup that suits you. Many HD channels are carried by virtually all providers, including the major broadcast networks and HD versions of Discovery, ESPN, National Geographic, TNT, and Universal. PBS says it will shift all production to HD by February 2009. If you watch mostly stations like those, almost any service should have what you want.
Many sports channels, regional sports coverage, and sports packages from the NHL and NBA are widely available in HD as well. Both satellite providers, along with Verizon, Comcast, and many smaller cable companies, carry the NFL Network, with its exclusives on eight league games. If you're a diehard football fan, DirecTV is the way to go. It has an exclusive on NFL Sunday Ticket SuperFan, with 180 HD games a season for about $380.
Cable has had the edge in video on demand (VOD)—movies and other programs, including high-def ones, that you can order, start, and stop whenever you want to within a 24-hour period. Verizon is rolling out HD VOD in some areas. The satellite companies are trying to compete with "quasi" VOD. They download selected programming to your DVR, and you pay for it only if you view it.
Decide on a package. Be realistic about what you'll watch so that you don't pay for stations you'll never tune in. All TVproviders charge higher prices for packages with more channels and premium networks.
You'll pay extra for HD with the satellite companies—$10 a month for DirecTV, $20 a month for Dish. Most cable companies don't add a surcharge for HD, but you must rent a high-def box.
Expanded basic programming with HD costs about $50 a month, regardless of provider. In our high-def TV service comparison, we've generally found only modest price differences among providers for comparable packages. You'll pay closer to $75 for a fuller lineup including HD and $100 or more for a package loaded with every available channel, including HD and premium channels such as HBO and Showtime.
Consider picture and sound quality. In our survey, Verizon FiOS and satellite subscribers were generally more satisfied than digital-cable customers as a whole with picture and sound. Cable subscribers getting high-def were much more satisfied with picture and sound than those getting only standard-def, but even cable's high-def picture quality ratings didn't match scores for Verizon and satellite, which combined high-def and standard-def.
Determine what's available. Cable is accessible in most parts of the country except for some rural regions. About 98 percent of markets are served by only one cable company, so you probably have no choice if you want cable but don't like your provider. Satellite service is available nationwide from DirecTV and Dish Network, provided that you're able to mount a dish antenna with an unobstructed view of the southern horizon.
At the time of this high-def TV service comparison, fiber-optic availability is still limited. By the end of 2007, Verizon's FiOS TV was available in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia. AT&T's U-verse service was available in 14 metropolitan areas in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin. Although telco TV has been growing city by city, many states have authorized statewide franchising to speed expansion.
Consider equipment and contracts. Cable service requires no contract, for the most part, and any necessary gear is usually rented. To get high-def, you'll have to rent a high-def box. Monthly fees are typically the same as for standard-def gear: about $5 to $8 for an HD box or DVR, plus $10 to $16 for the DVR programming service.
To get the best deal from a satellite company, you generally have to sign a 12- to 24-month service contract, with penalties imposed for early cancellation. Both satellite providers offer discounts on hardware. Dish gives you one free HD DVR when you sign up for service. You can lease additional receivers for $5 a month each or buy them outright for $300, with no monthly lease fee. DVRs cost $500. A $6 monthly service fee covers all DVRs. With DirecTV, you get an HD receiver free after a $100 rebate; for extra receivers, you pay $5 a month. An HD DVR costs $200 after a $100 rebate; a $5-a-month fee covers all your DVRs.
Verizon offers month-to-month TV service or, when bundled with phone and Internet service, a contract with early-cancellation penalties. There are no up-front charges for equipment; you pay $10 a month for an HD receiver and $16 for an HD DVR.
Question HD channel counts. There's no agreement on what constitutes a high-definition "channel," so it's hard to figure out what any given service offers when making a high-def TV service comparison. Some carriers bolster their HD channel counts by classifying each on-demand offering or movie as a channel. Others count each regional sports network feed as a channel even though you might get only those that are available in your area.
We took our own tally for this high-def TV service comparison, counting only networks assigned a specific channel number; we considered regional sports as one channel. At press time, DirecTV had about 65 HD channels, while Dish and AT&T had about 40. Verizon had 30-plus HD channels. The major cable providers had 25 to 40. We expect all carriers to add channels throughout the year, and most should have 100 or more high-def channels by year's end.
But don't place too much weight on the sheer number of HD channels a service offers. We found only a slight association between more channels and greater satisfaction with channel selection in our survey cited in this high-def TV service comparison. Chances are that you regularly watch only a handful of channels anyway.
Find a lineup that suits you. Many HD channels are carried by virtually all providers, including the major broadcast networks and HD versions of Discovery, ESPN, National Geographic, TNT, and Universal. PBS says it will shift all production to HD by February 2009. If you watch mostly stations like those, almost any service should have what you want.
Many sports channels, regional sports coverage, and sports packages from the NHL and NBA are widely available in HD as well. Both satellite providers, along with Verizon, Comcast, and many smaller cable companies, carry the NFL Network, with its exclusives on eight league games. If you're a diehard football fan, DirecTV is the way to go. It has an exclusive on NFL Sunday Ticket SuperFan, with 180 HD games a season for about $380.
Cable has had the edge in video on demand (VOD)—movies and other programs, including high-def ones, that you can order, start, and stop whenever you want to within a 24-hour period. Verizon is rolling out HD VOD in some areas. The satellite companies are trying to compete with "quasi" VOD. They download selected programming to your DVR, and you pay for it only if you view it.
Decide on a package. Be realistic about what you'll watch so that you don't pay for stations you'll never tune in. All TVproviders charge higher prices for packages with more channels and premium networks.
You'll pay extra for HD with the satellite companies—$10 a month for DirecTV, $20 a month for Dish. Most cable companies don't add a surcharge for HD, but you must rent a high-def box.
Expanded basic programming with HD costs about $50 a month, regardless of provider. In our high-def TV service comparison, we've generally found only modest price differences among providers for comparable packages. You'll pay closer to $75 for a fuller lineup including HD and $100 or more for a package loaded with every available channel, including HD and premium channels such as HBO and Showtime.
Consider picture and sound quality. In our survey, Verizon FiOS and satellite subscribers were generally more satisfied than digital-cable customers as a whole with picture and sound. Cable subscribers getting high-def were much more satisfied with picture and sound than those getting only standard-def, but even cable's high-def picture quality ratings didn't match scores for Verizon and satellite, which combined high-def and standard-def.
