Dialog PVR recording woes.. 2nd time running

So Dialog doesn't learn from it's mistakes. Well that is something that goes without saying. The new "HD" PVR has some recording issues, this is the second PVR to have issues.  The other Techosat PVR issued with the SD channels and the 4GB Pen Drive too has unresolved issues. It seems that they haven't checked it before issuing and are now using the subscribers as guinea pigs.

Well here are some of the issues of with the previous non HD PVR.

• When Time Shifting a channel the video gets stuck for a second or two every few minutes. It looks like a manufacturing issue with the decoder and the problem has been deemed as unsolvable.
• When recording one channel while watching another, the entire decoder gets stuck and scrambles the channels being watched and recorded, only after switching off the decoder and turning it on again does the decoder function properly but only to get stuck again later on if the recording is resumed. However it is reported that this problem has been sorted, however we are unable to confirm it.
• If there is a signal loss due to rain, recording indicates and disk space in the storage device gets used up but sometimes no picture gets recorded.

The issues with the brand spanking new HD PVR

• The basic recording function is faulty. The recorded video cannot be watched. So much for it being a PVR.

Looks like the new HD PVR cannot carry out the basic function it was built for. Yes, the geniuses at Dialog TV engineering will sort out the matter provided it is not a "manufacturing issue that is unsolvable". But truth be told, did Dialog TV ever test this HD PVR, or did they just dump it on unsuspecting subscribers who are asked to pay thumping rentals. Now how ethical is it to treat subscribers as guinea pigs unless they are informed beforehand and are waived of additional rentals until the problem is solved.

The above is just one of the faults of the HD PVR and only time will tell of any faults in the other functions.

On other news it is highly likely that SET SIX will telecast the SLPL cricket tournament. Is it going to the next new channel on the "HD" pack. It would be quite interesting to see what happens.

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Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.

Dialog goes public with HD pack

Dialog went public with the HD pack details which was leaked publicly first on this blog. As per the details released, they are the same to what was leaked a couple of days ago by a fellow blogger who shared the details with us.

Whilst appreciating the fact that a major Sri Lankan company has taken steps to launch HD channels to our tiny island nation, we wish that the product pricing was better suited to the Sri Lankan market. Dialog have tied their own hands thanks to short sighted use of new technology by them. We know that there are many non HD television owners in Sri Lanka who will be happy to add Fashion TV, History TV18, Ten Action & BBC Entertainment channels which are included in the HD package as Non HD channels, to their existing packages. It's hilarious that Dialog includes non HD channels in a pack containing HD channels, makes you wonder if the one's who priced the product actually knew the difference. It's a total ripoff to ask subscribers to purchase the HD pack to view a bunch of basic non HD channels.

There have been rumors about a special promotion by Dialog issuing the HD decoder FOC to Gold package subscribers until July 15th under the condition that they will subscribe to the "HD" pack. A good incentive for those who have HD televisions but not at all favorable to those who just want to view the non HD channels. Although we haven't been able to confirm this yet and if it's true they will probably release it to the public when they find out that yet again we leaked it to the public from right under their noses thanks to our fellow bloggers.

The addition rental which exceeds Rs 1000/= with the inclusion of taxes for the HD pack is way beyond the means of ordinary middle class Sri Lankans &  like one of our fellows bloggers put it, one "has to be born a Maharaja" to subscribe to this pack.

As per the information gathered by us, the pack is activated as a set plan, and they will issue the decoders to the subscribers site which should take a couple of days. It's actually a pity that all of Dialog MPEG4 decoders that were issued to the subscribers were never fully utilized. Maybe Dialog TV can do some form of software upgrade to make use of the MPEG4 decoders at least to watch these non HD channels in the HD pack. However it is highly unlikely since the major stars of the HD pack are actually the non HD channels namely "Fashion TV" and "Ten Action".

Another point worth mentioning is that the content of the HD channels is the same as their SD counterparts which are available in other lower priced packages on Dialog TV. For example Star Movies India SD & Star Movies India HD have the same content, AXN Asia SD & AXN Asia HD have the same content, Nat Geo India SD & Nat Geo India HD have the same content, Ten HD is a mix of the content of their SD channels Ten Sports, Ten Cricket & Ten Action. Therefore you will not watch anything different from the SD version in the HD version apart from far more clearer sounds & pictures.

As a matter of fact the non HD History TV18 channel on the HD pack is originally a HD channel which Dialog converts to SD and broadcasts. So elevating History TV18 to HD makes sense plus they should have added Discovery HD World plus some non Indian feed HD channels to which Dialog doesn't have the SD counterpart would have made the HD pack far more appealing. Well one thing is for certain, it would be very interesting to watch when Star Movies HD interrupts the movie to telecast HD advertisements in Dolby Digital sounds.

Well it wouldn't be fair if we didn't say "Congratulations Dialog" on being the first in Sri Lanka to introduce HD but it's a "boooo" when it comes to pricing & channel selection, basically a "boooo" for the way the entire thing was handled. Dialog went from "Hero" when we first announced the rumored HD to "Zero" when the pricing got leaked. They have no one else to blame except themselves.

It's still not too late for Dialog to rectify the matter if they want. Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.

Dialog TV HD: http://www.dialog.lk/personal/tv/value-added-services/hd-pack/

Dialog TV HD Pack... too little for too much

We have got breaking news about the Dialog TV HD Pack. The channels available in the pack as per the "demo" page on the Dialog TV website are as follows.

1. Star Movies HD
2. AXN HD
3. Ten HD
4. Nat Geo HD

including the following non HD bonus channels for those who subscribe to the above package

1. Fashion TV
2. History Channel TV18
3. Ten Action
4. BBC Entertainment

It seems that subscribers will have to upgrade to the new HD PVR enabled decoder for Rs 2,990/= (inclusive of taxes) and then the HD pack costs you a whopping Rs 990/= excluding taxes per month. For that amount subscribers would be getting only 4 HD channels whilst the other channels on the special HD package are non HD, what a joke. The worst part is that a subscriber with a non HD TV will be forced to purchase the HD package with all the works to watch the other 4 non HD channels such as Ten Action & the other 3 channels non HD channels. This is guerilla marketing Dialog Axiata style. The non HD channels should be allocated to the standard set of non HD packages at a reasonable cost. It's quite sure that this feature would follow the path of the Dialog PVR, which was valued at Rs 800/= per month initially and due to it being unsuccessful it was brought down to just Rs 250/= a month.

We urge the Dialog TV management to distribute the new HD enabled PVR FOC to the subscriber since the decoder is the "property of Dialog TV" at the end of the day and will be removed from subscriber premises upon disconnection so there is no point in an existing subscriber making an addition payment for  it and also a thumping additional rental. The rental too should be reduced since its clearly overpriced and the additional rental should be aimed at the 4 HD channels only, it's utter bullshit on the part of Dialog TV to call the non HD channels as "bonus channels" since looking at the bonus channels & the rental it's quite clearly that Dialog TV is also charging the overpriced HD rates for the so-called  non HD "bonus channels" and is also trying to capitalize on the popularity of Ten Action being the most requested channel as of late and use it to entice subscribers to purchase the HD pack. Therefore the star attraction of the "HD Pack" may not be HD at all, rather it's "Ten Action". The non HD channels should be allocated separately to the regular non HD packages at reasonable cost, since they are clearly basic channels on any pay television network and not premiere channels. 

It's cheaper for a subscriber to purchase a rival pay television connection which has these channels on their basic package that to pay these thumping rentals to Dialog TV. We hope these rates are revised before the package is officially released. Remember Dialog TV not many people in Sri Lanka have HD enabled TV sets as yet and among those who have not many can afford to pay these thumping rentals in the name of "HD". This is another example of an attempt by Dialog to make a fast buck with no long term plan.

Attached below this post is a screen shot of the Dialog TV website containing the HD package details (to enlarge it please click on the image), this screenshot was taken from this link at http://www.dialog.lk/demo/hd-pack/ which hasn't been released to the public as yet, this link was blocked a few moments after we took the screenshot. Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.

Dialog testing HD on new transponder

It's highly likely that the new transponder will contain several HD channels, according to unconfirmed reports that we are receiving. It seems that four channels are testing on HD and one of the channels is said to be HBO HD. If this is correct this will make Dialog TV the first pay television platform in Sri Lanka to carry HD channels.

Dialog uses MPEG2 as the broadcasting standard at the moment and with MPEG2 Dialog will only be able to squeeze very few HD channels onto the 4th transponder therefore its highly likely that Dialog TV will operate the 4th transponder on MPEG4 to increase the number of channels that they can squeeze onto the transponder. However instead of maintaining MPEG2 and MPEG4 on the platform Dialog should move all channels to MPEG4 which will enable them to increase the number of channels on the platform at a lower cost per channel on a transponder which will benefit Dialog on the long run and also benefit the subscriber.

Several subscribers who scanned their decoders are unable to get the 4th transponder. We hope one of our fellow bloggers would kindly post instructions on how to the add the transponder. We assume that since Dialog have several decoder models distributed amongst their subscribers, the process may vary from decoder to decoder.

It's very heartening to note that Dialog TV is finally taking steps in the right direction to improve their services and we hope that Dialog TV would follow in the steps of Dialog GSM and become the regional trend setter in the DTH business for the subcontinent.

Please keep us updated on the latest regarding Dialog TV as the days progress.

New transponder added

It's good news for many Dialog TV subscribers as information is coming in that Dialog TV has added a brand new transponder. This could only mean that new channels are on the way. For those who are unable to see the new transponder, they should try scanning their decoders and the new transponder is should appear. No new channels are on the transponder as yet according to information.

We hope this will sort out all the channel sharing issues and Dialog will introduce the channels popularly requested by subscribers. We also hope that this does not mean increased rentals since an increase in rental will hurt business even though new channels were added.

Please keep us updated on the latest on Dilaog TV as the days progress.