I have read several on-line comments about the HR20, most concerning the user interface and/or the software instability. My first HR20 finally suffered a fatal brain injury indicated by a failure to turn-on, except after initiating the dreaded "reset" cycle. Perhaps its demise was exacerbated somewhat after I threw it across the room, but alas, I don't believe anything would have helped except a complete unit transplant.

The new unit is somewhat more stable (at least it turns-on). But, even after the latest shot of DirecTV software downloads, the new unit is as bug-ridden as an Alabama basement. I won't bore you with a litany of its problems, but, suffice it to say the HR20 operating experience is a continuous series of unpleasant surprises, occasionally punctuated by the necessity to suffer through one or more ridiculous "resets." So, I will concentrate on the HR20 system's overall AV performance and sundry physical attributes.

A new Ka/Ku Band* 29" (dia.) dish (AT9) is required to receive the local HDTV MPEG4 channels. The larger size is necessary to provide aperture for the two added LNB's. This new dish is not designed nor is it available for customer installation; therefore, professional installation is necessary. It is, or course, possible to use any of the smaller DirecTV dishes, but reception of local HDTV channels and other programming available on the Ka Band would not be possible.

In order to accommodate the additional channels enabled by the new Ka Band transponders, a secondary signal conversion process is employed. To accomplish this, the HR20 requires a separate module, called a "B" Band converter, for each HR20 satellite input**. These modules are housed in small, separate external boxes coupled to the HR20's satellite cable input terminals. Such "dongles," regardless of how small or unobtrusive, are not a very elegant solution to any technical challenge, and is one more piece of evidence that the HR20 package is not ready for prime-time.

It is interesting to note that DirecTV's local HDTV channels in each served metropolitan area are received by an off-air antenna "farm" similar to many Cable head-end local channel receiving systems. The received signals are demodulated and trans-coded to MPEG4 files, then sent via fiber optic cable to the DirecTV uplink center where they are re-modulated and beamed to the Ka Band satellite(s). A fantastic technical accomplishment! Indeed, DirecTV has the largest private fiber network in the US (and perhaps in the world). This includes the local SD channels. These are normally directly fiber networked from the local stations to the uplink.

I compared the DirecTV local HDTV picture performance of three different HR20 units with the same programming received directly off-air using the identical display system. Virtually no discernible differences in picture quality were noticed when viewed at 3X picture height. When viewed at varying distances less than 3X, I could detect a small increase in artifact level with the HR20's. I did not consider this significant. Because of the limited number of local HDTV stations (2) serviced in my area locally by DirecTV, these observations could not be considered a comprehensive test, but it certainly is a significant sample. Impressive!

On the downside is the obvious lower resolution the HR20 exhibits on all SD channels compared to the HR10 (as well as my other earlier model DirecTV receivers). It is not clear to me why this difference in video performance exists.

The HR20 audio quality is undiminished compared to direct off-air reception, although several attempts were required with one unit to achieve switching PCM to Dolby 5.1 (another software bug). I detected no phasing difference or any other noticeable audio artifacts. However, the HR20 lip-sync tends to vary on all channels. Sometimes another "dreaded reset" is necessary to reestablish lip sync (another software bug).

Because DirecTV has yet to release the software download that enables the HR20 off-air tuners, I am unable to evaluate the performance of that feature. I hope they get it right the first time, but I am not encouraged.

In summary, as an HDTV source, local or otherwise, the HR20 performance is excellent. From an operational standpoint, it is not yet consumer acceptable. Consumers should not be asked to be "beta" testers without their knowledge. But if you are a very "early adopter," go for it!

Ed

*The new Ka/Ku band DirecTV dish houses five separate Low Noise Block converts (LNB's) to receive signals from five different satellites. DirecTV satellites with transponders transmitting in the Ka band (18.3GHz - 21.2GHz) are located at West latitudes of 99° and 103°, and the Ku band (10.7GHz - 18.1GHz) birds are at 101°, 110°and 119°. [Note: the defined width of the various spectrum bands varies depending on specific commercial use.]

**DirecTV utilizes a block of frequencies in the upper range of the Ka Band spectrum that, when IF down-converted by the Ka Band LNB's, fall in the "B" Band spectrum. However, these B Band IF frequencies (250MHz - 750MHz) fall outside the IF band-pass (950MHz - 2150MHz) of the HR20. When channels are selected that are mapped to the B Band frequencies, the B Band modules up-convert those frequencies to 1650Mhz - 2150MHz in order to fall within the HR20's IF band-pass. Otherwise, the modules are transparent to the normal 950 - 2150MHz IF frequency block.