WWdN: In Exile: DirecTV, why hast thou forsaken me? (Hint: it rhymes with 'DRM')

Sometime between this afternoon and this evening, my DirecTV receiver (HD 20-100 HR20/100) decided that it wouldn't let me see a picture on my television (Hitachi 60V500.) In place of a picture -- on every single channel, whether it was local, over-the-air, HD, or anything else -- I got the error message in this image, which you can click to embiggen.
WWdN: In Exile: DirecTV, why hast thou forsaken me? (Hint: it rhymes with 'DRM')

Fantastic. I had to go check my HR-10 250 receiver to see if it was doing this. Good news is that it isn't - different software so I don't have this problem. Bad news is that I just ordered a HR20 today (because it's the only way to get the MPEG-4 channels coming online in September. Normally I'd say "no worries - I can use component", but *Wednesday* my component video switcher lost it's mind and started rebooting constantly. At the moment my PS3 is disconnected (the switcher was only switching between the 360 and the PS3 and then feeding into the video scaler), although I was going to fix the PS3 connection later tonight. But if I need another component input . . . I'm gonna have to replace the switcher eventually. I thought it wouldn't be until I bought a Wii, but maybe I'll have to break down earlier.

You know what all this is telling me, don't you? It's telling me I need a new TV - one with HDMI and HDCP support. It's the only rational solution.

I've always been a big DirecTV fan and I love me some HDTV, but the DRM pills you have to swallow at the same time are always riding the ragged edge of being dealbreakers.

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