Equipment

No, unless you want 4K.

Shannon02, do I need to get a fancy smancy TV to watch directv satellite in 4K? Will my 62 year olds even notice a diffference?

Yes, you will need a 4K TV, how fancy is up to you.  No idea.

I was perusing my view list of  recordings, and came to a Nature documentary about horses that I was interested in watching. A message came on the screen that said something to the fact that this device no longer supports this type of programming in SD. Thanks for your time. 

Thank you, @shannon02 and @Juniper, for sharing your insights. Hi, @cousindave. We apologize for the error you are experiencing while watching the documentary show. We would like to further understand the issue and offer assistance. Have you recently upgraded from an SD receiver to your HR44? Rhyan, DIRECTV Community Specialist

  No, I haven't changed. Why do you think the polar bear documentary on the Nature channel was recording, but the history of equines was not? The equine show said something like this programming no longer supports SD? 

We apologize for the issues you're having recording the history of equines. I have moved our conversation to PM to investigate further. Marie, DIRECTV Community Specialist

@cousindave    that message about SD is that DTV is no longer supporting standard.   only High definition.    that info has been out from DTV for over a yr now. you don't  have to try for 4K unless you truly want to, and channels are limited.  I'm sure @shannon02  or @Juniper  can clarify, or you can do a search on the community ?/responses.