It's widely known that Dish Network has more national HDTV channels than any other television service provider, but one thing that a lot of people don't necessarily know is that when they sign up for a High Definition Television programming package Dish Network will throw in a high definition television satellite receiver at no extra charge. Dish Network has always provided standard definition television satellite receivers at no extra charge and when it introduced its high def channel line up, it saw no reason to change that policy.
The good new about this- besides the fact that it means that you can get the receiver equipment that you need to watch HDTV programming anyway- is that you can also get a lot of features built into these satellite receivers that will enhance the way you watch TV. These features can be a great compliment to any home entertainment system or any home theater.
There are currently two models of HDTV satellite receivers provided by Dish Network. Both models provide all of the software features that you would expect with any Dish Network satellite receiver. These include the Electronic Program Guide which is also sometimes called the EPG for short. The Electronic Program Guide is just like a normal newspaper TV listing except that it's interactive and includes information about all of the programming on hundreds of channels. You'll be able to use it to read up on any program that you're interested in so that you can find out who stars in each program, what it's rated if it happens to be a movie and how long it runs. You'll also be able to find out what the theme or general plot of the program is.
There are also plenty of other software features included on every Dish Network HDTV satellite receiver. These include favorites lists, parental control locks, and on screen Caller ID. The Parental Control Locks really give you a lot of control over what your kids watch and when they watch it. This piece of software gives you the ability to block out any programming that you think is inappropriate for your children. You can block programs based on MPAA rating (in the case of movies) or even block out specific programs or entire channels. Parental Control Locks will also let you decide when your children can watch TV by making TV off limits during certain times of the day or night. Best of all, you can still watch whatever you want with the use of a simple password.
The more advanced HDTV satellite receiver that Dish Network provides for its subscribers has a lot more features that will really go a long way to enhance you home entertainment experience. That's because this model has a built in Digital Video Recorder and the ability to send separate programming to a second TV set in a separate room of the house. This feature goes a long way toward making a home entertainment set up more equitable for the entire family.
With all of the features that you can get on Dish Network's HDTV receivers, it's clear that either model can enhance the overall performance and enjoy-ability of your entertainment system.
