DIRECTV HDTV Receivers

Like its competitors, DirecTV offers high-definition television (HDTV) and interactive services.

To handle the proliferation of bandwidth-intensive HDTV broadcasting, DirecTV rebroadcasts local HDTV stations using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec while employing a newer transmission protocol (DVB-S2) over the SPACEWAY-1 and SPACEWAY-2 satellites. This allows DirecTV to squeeze much more HD programming over its satellite signal than was previously feasible using the older MPEG-2 compression and DSS protocol it has been using.

DirecTV is defending a lawsuit that alleges DirecTV lowered HDTV picture resolution below that of the industry's accepted definition of HDTV. 1080i is generally understood to mean 1920 x 1080i, whereas DirecTV reduces these channels by one third, to 1280 x 1088i. DirecTV counters that its high definition picture quality is comparable to or better than that of any other television service.

There is a known issue with the video and audio of the HD local channels cutting out intermittently, though DirecTV refuses to acknowledge it.

To receive the channels encoded in MPEG-4 requires newer receivers such as the H20 as well as the 5-LNB Ka/Ku dish. DirecTV has contracted with Britain's Pace Micro Technology plc, Korea's LG Electronics and France's Thomson to manufacture these new receivers. Pace manufactures the DirecTV Plus HD DVR (Model HR20), LG Electronics offers the Model # H20-600 receiver while Thomson provides the Model # H20-100 receivers. DirecTV has admitted to software issues with some of the H20 receivers and HR20 DVRs, which have been plagued with random problems since they were released in mid-2006. DirecTV regularly released software updates for the HR20 receivers, in an effort to reduce issues to an acceptable level.

DirecTV has phased out its TiVo-branded HD DVR, the HR10-250, which can only decode the older MPEG-2 signals. All DirecTV-delivered local HDTV stations (outside of the NYC and LA network stations) are encoded in MPEG-4. The HR10-250 will be not be able to receive these local HDTV stations in these markets but can still receive over-the-air ATSC broadcasts in these markets. On January 9, 2007, DirecTV announced that they would introduce 100 national HD channels during 2007, all of which are expected to be MPEG-4 encoded.