Could someone please confirm if the "basic" channels on the DishNetwork are broadcast in stereo. Also, how many of the premiums broadcast in DD other than PPV. Thanx for the help. Butch

Butch, I'm pretty sure that Dish transmits in stereo ANY channel that it receives in Stereo.

In other words, if a channel is in stereo, Dish does not down convert it to Mono.

Have you checked the Dish website?

Yes I think you are correct. Their web site does not talk about that, just promotions, etc. I made the assumtion that digital cable was also in stereo and in digital (whoops) and guess what. Wrong again. lol. Thanx for the advise.

DishNetwork transmits a DD signal on selected movies on
StarEast and Showtime East and West.(Much of Showtime's original programming is also broadcast in DD.) Stan

To sum things up, DISH transmits Dolby Digital 5.1 when available on StarEast, Showtime East and ocassionally on HBO East (not mentioned on Stan's post). They also offer few DD 5.1 movies on PPV (always listed as a feature just like letterboxed). Unfortunately they don't offer enough and many times the DD 5.1 is not also in letterboxing even though they have another channel of the same movie in letterboxed. They just don't get it!

Other than those channels, ALL DISH (and DirecTV for that matter) programming is transmitted in 2 channel DIGITAL audio. This means you can use the digital out to your processor/receiver and you do NOT need to connect up the analog outputs as indicated on many other posts (but almost always corrected by another post). Not true for many CATV companies who send the MTS stereo signal for everything or the many digital versions that also require an analog connection!

Does this mean that everything is in STEREO? NO! As Mason mentioned, if it is a show that was in stereo, it is broadcast in stereo. If it never was in stereo, they don't do any magic (thankfully) such as Turner's "colorizing", it is simply mono on both channels.

randy

Be careful about the coax out from the receiver. That only passes thru mono sound, no matter what channel. You need the optical out for DD sound (or stereo) and the A/V outs for stereo.

Spiky,

You may be confussing some people. Digital auido for the consumer market is output on either a coaxial (SPDIF with RCA style connector) or optical (TOSLink). Coax is the preferred connector by most. Almost all satellite receivers just offer the optical out, however, DISH offers an older model that has the coaxial output and your statement may confuse someone that has that model.

Of course the coax out you are referring to is not digital, it is an RF output that is analog audio combined with video. It is a threaded "F" connector just like the CATV input on a TV.

randy

Ok, didn't know there was one with a digital coax audio out.