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.

@cousindave 

The HR44 is the 2nd generation Genie. It is a very good model.

There are only a few channels broadcast in 4K, plus some PPVs. Unless you are desperate for the limited 4K content then no upgrade needed there.

Why are you looking to upgrade in the first place? Is there something specific you're looking for?

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.

@cousindave 

That message about SD doesn't apply to you, unless you have forced your box to SD-only channels.

DirecTV is shutting down their MPEG-2/SD-only feeds. This affects those who have D or R models (or even older). Those with H or HR models like yours are MPEG-4 which are SD and HD. So you're good.

Thanks to @merlin88merlin for chiming in. Always nice to get assurance from the rest of the community.