I thing TW is stuck with a bunch of analog channels that look bad (static).
Regardless of HD or SD.
The digital ones seem fine.

Originally posted by cajunlab
I thing TW is stuck with a bunch of analog channels that look bad (static).
Regardless of HD or SD.
The digital ones seem fine.

No static at all. The SD channels look fine without the box, feed the cable direct to the TV and you will see a significant improvement. It's just the box.

I got my HD-DVR installed this week and am generally happy with it. I have noticed however that on Dicovery HD and INHD some programs exhibit a pulsing type action about once a second where the picture darkens slightly for just a moment. Is this something that is a known issue or is it a problem with my particular box?

gjlp,
that is an issue only on time warner. I see it with my TW Pioneer box, but it is NOT in the DSC-HD feed from dishnetwork..I've spoken with them repeatedly about it, and they are looking into it.

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
gjlp,
that is an issue only on time warner. I see it with my TW Pioneer box, but it is NOT in the DSC-HD feed from dishnetwork..I've spoken with them repeatedly about it, and they are looking into it.

I have never seen this on any channel and I have looked very closely for it. I'm using the HD-DVR box so who knows.

It's there, drives me nuts to the point I can't watch DSC-HD and INHD
on TWC..Changing the Pioneer's output settings doesn't seem to have any effect.

some programs exhibit a pulsing type action about once a second where the picture darkens slightly for just a moment
I've noticed it on DSC-HD on my HD-DVR, as well. (Haven't subscribed to the INHD channels.) VERY subtle, and I don't really notice it unless I look for it. But it's there.

My other gripe (though not a TW issue) is, what the heck does TNT-HD think they're getting away with?! Maybe one or two movies are in true HD, the rest are zoomed in and stretched and look like crap. For example, I believe it was yesterday they were showing Lethal Weapon 2 and it was in HD, and it was followed by another Mel Gibson movie (Payback? Paycheck?) that was OBVIOUSLY SD and zoomed/stretched to fit the screen. And yet the channel guide shows it (and everything else on TNT-HD, regardless of actual format) as HDTV. Hell, the WB has more HD content than TNT carries.

I had that problem when I had TW. I noticed it a lot on INHD. It was a contant pulse, I noticed it a lot when they showed "Eye over (fill in the blank)". I don't recall seeing it on Discovery much but I did notice it a few times.

Originally posted by NUPE009
I had that problem when I had TW. I noticed it a lot on INHD. It was a contant pulse, I noticed it a lot when they showed "Eye over (fill in the blank)". I don't recall seeing it on Discovery much but I did notice it a few times.

You guys are giving me a complex as I've never seen it on INHD or Discovery and I just got through looking at INHD. Must be my old eyes as I normally pick up every little thing.

Originally posted by Charles C
I've noticed it on DSC-HD on my HD-DVR, as well. (Haven't subscribed to the INHD channels.) VERY subtle, and I don't really notice it unless I look for it. But it's there.

My other gripe (though not a TW issue) is, what the heck does TNT-HD think they're getting away with?! Maybe one or two movies are in true HD, the rest are zoomed in and stretched and look like crap. For example, I believe it was yesterday they were showing Lethal Weapon 2 and it was in HD, and it was followed by another Mel Gibson movie (Payback? Paycheck?) that was OBVIOUSLY SD and zoomed/stretched to fit the screen. And yet the channel guide shows it (and everything else on TNT-HD, regardless of actual format) as HDTV. Hell, the WB has more HD content than TNT carries.


Yeah, TNT stretch-o-vision is pretty much crap. The only thing I have ever watched on that channel was some of the NBA playoffs.

Originally posted by chief17
TNT stretch-o-vision is pretty much crap.

They are getting better as far as movies go, but they really need to get their syndicated shows in HD (when available).

Well, I really like having TNT-HD - you just have to look at it like ESPN-HD ...

there's only limited true HD programming, but what's there is usually good stuff.

I've really enjoyed the NBA playoffs, The Grid, the occasional movie, Golf, etc. in HD.

What they REALLY need is an accurate schedule like ESPN-HD - so you actually know what's going to be HD and what's not.

ESPN-HD is kind of a sore subject around here too since most of us are on Time Warner Cable. :(

I doubt this is the right place to ask this question but I thought I'd start local and ask for direction.

I had the pioneer hd box w/o dvr and I was using DVI to connect to my Sony KF-50WE610. Looked great, but I had to use the SA-800 to record shows so I had 2 receivers on the same tv. Pain in the butt to switch back and forth.

Thursday TW came out and replaced the 2 boxes with the SA-8000HD. I did all the setup (install guy had no clue, but that's another story), but I'm not sure I have it set up correctly. First off, I had to get rid of the DVI cable and go to component. BAH! Is that permanently disabled or can that be turned on by TW or myself somehow?

Second, I set the receiver options to 16:9 and to stretch 4:3, and selected all the output modes.

The picture just doesn't look the same. First, I still have to stretch using my TV for non-hd channels. Why? Shouldn't my tv be receiving all channels in hd, or at a minimum already stretched so I can leave the tv in 'normal' mode?

I'm thinking I may have my tv set up wrong b/c I also have an XBox and when I play games that should be able to display in HD, I am still able to change the aspect ration on the tv, where I would assume that if it was displayed in HD I would not be able to.

Is there a way to see what something is being displayed at - either from the receiver or the tv?

I want to make sure I have everything setup right before whining about picture quality.

Thanks for any help or direction you can give me!

First off, I had to get rid of the DVI cable and go to component. BAH! Is that permanently disabled or can that be turned on by TW or myself somehow?

Disabled...until the software is released by SA/Pioneer? to enable. There isn't really any time frame available.

Is there a way to see what something is being displayed at - either from the receiver or the tv?

I can push 'Info' on my remote and it will display what format it is receiving...I would imagine most televisions would offer a similar solution. If you are not receiving 1080i on (DSCHD, HBOHD, SHOHD, CBSHD, NBCHD, INHD1/INHD2, HDNet/HDNet movies) or 720p on (ABCHD, FOXHD, XBOX), then you are not receiving HD from the box and/or XBOX.

I talked to a bestbuy salesman last night (as I was buying a Mitsubishi dlp 62525 :) and he stated his TW hd dvr had the svideo output enabled? What's the deal here? Are some boxes ok for sd and some not as all my analog outputs don't work....

Originally posted by dvdguru
bestbuy salesman ...

he-he..good source for info!

AFAIK, the only way to get S-Vid output is to turn on PIP or record to VCR...and it was a BestBuy salesman...

EDIT: Doh! Bob beat me to it.

So.....are we reasonably sure that these Scientific Atlanta STB's (both the 3250HD and the 8000HD-DVR - I now have both) will output component and s-video (composite), but not both at the same time? That would explain why I've been banging my head against the wall trying to figure out why I've got no video through s-video, but HD via component is fine....

If that is the case, anyone have any idea about how to toggle back and forth between composite and component output? If I can figure out how to do that, I can automate it with macros on my universal remote.

Originally posted by archiguy
So.....are we reasonably sure that these Scientific Atlanta STB's (both the 3250HD and the 8000HD-DVR - I now have both) will output component and s-video (composite), but not both at the same time? That would explain why I've been banging my head against the wall trying to figure out why I've got no video through s-video, but HD via component is fine....

If that is the case, anyone have any idea about how to toggle back and forth between composite and component output? If I can figure out how to do that, I can automate it with macros on my universal remote.

I would definitely not say that both SA STB's do anything alike. S-video from my SA8000HD-DVR only works to record to a VCR. My prior box, the Pioneer Voyager, would output s-video all the time and this was handy for viewing SD. Now I can either watch via component or record to my VCR.

That's a backward step IMHO. I need to feed the analog output to a modulator so the wife can watch the kitchen TV while I watch the HD feed
in the living room without the audio being out of sync. Happens every
Sunday during NFL at my house.. Plus feeds the box so I can use it on other Tv's for SD channels as Hugh mentions..

I'm calling a freakin twc technician. UGH, who beta tested these boxes? Don't say best buy employees either ;) lol

NO, I hear beta testing was done at CC....

What a surprise ;) I just called twc and none of the reps could help me with ordering a cable card or with HD DVR questions and I was told to call back tomorrow. I'm gonna call tomorrow and set up the cable card install (I'll probably have to install it myself) and try to get an actual technician on the line concerning the anaolog output situation...

Originally posted by dvdguru
I'm calling a freakin twc technician. UGH, who beta tested these boxes? Don't say best buy employees either ;) lol

I was one of the people beta testing the boxes. These issues were all well known by TWC before they were released to the general public. As one of their employees mentioned to me......."everyone was complaining about not having the boxes and said they'd take one with the known issues and then when they get one they complain about the problems." It was a no win situation for TWC and personally I think everyone should be be quiet or send it back and wait until everything is fixed. You can't have it both ways.

When TWC lets us have the "unfinished" boxes with no monthly fee then I'm sure everyone will be quiet. Until then, if people are paying higher fees than they did before then it's not too much to ask that the analog outputs actually WORK.

Also, of course I know they're aware the outputs don't work. But I figure if no one calls to complain then they may just figure no one cares. It's always good to at least let them know "hey, I'm the consumer paying for this thing and I noticed this, this and this". It can't hurt anyway...

Also, did they tell you it was a big deal to turn the outputs on or something? It doesn't seem like it would be a huge thing but who knows...

Has anyone heard about getting any new hd channels? It seems like a long time since we last got one. I'm looking for Starz HD, Bravo HD and Cinemax HD for the most part. It must be the carriage agreement stuff again which we know drags on forever....

Originally posted by mattro
Here in New Haven,CT I am the proud renter ($11/mnth) of a brand new SA8000HD. From the moment I got it I was worried about the things I have read here. Not one problem has shown up. Everything is wonderful and I love Comcast for dropping by and giving me a $1200 item I could never afford. I am surprised I cant plug the unit directly into my DVD recorder and record. I have to "ARCHIVE " things???

The above was posted to the SA8000HD thread of this forum, today. Some people do appreciate it. After all it does record HD and if that's not what you want send it back.

Originally posted by HughScot
I would definitely not say that both SA STB's do anything alike. S-video from my SA8000HD-DVR only works to record to a VCR. My prior box, the Pioneer Voyager, would output s-video all the time and this was handy for viewing SD. Now I can either watch via component or record to my VCR.

Now that's odd indeed. How can the 8000 be outputting analog via s-video to your VCR, but not to your TV? It's an analog signal; how does it know what type of device it's outputting to? And if your VCR can receive the signal and record it, it should also be able to pass it along to your TV via one of the TV's s-video inputs, should it not?

If the analog outputs are indeed disabled, has anyone heard anything official from TWC on when they will be live? Is it a software issue or are there replacement boxes in our future?

We do appreciate the fact that it records HD but we would also like to record sd and have decent playback. That's not too much to ask for...

We're the early adopters and have to be patient and all that stuff as usual so we just have to take it in stride. Hopefully they'll have them working soon.

.

Originally posted by archiguy
Now that's odd indeed. How can the 8000 be outputting analog via s-video to your VCR, but not to your TV? It's an analog signal; how does it know what type of device it's outputting to? And if your VCR can receive the signal and record it, it should also be able to pass it along to your TV via one of the TV's s-video inputs, should it not?


I agree that it sounds stupid but since you can only "archive", per the manual, which means that you can send a program you have recorded to a VCR, maybe only recorded material can be output. No being a techie I don't have a clue but that is the only thing I can think of.

Originally posted by dvdguru
I'm calling a freakin twc technician. UGH, who beta tested these boxes? Don't say best buy employees either ;) lol
I know you are probably half kidding, but Hugh does have a very valid point... If anyone doesn't want to pay to "beta test" the box, simply send it back and pretend that it has not been released. I am fairly certain someone will let everyone know when it is 100% perfect and out of "beta", but be forewarned it might be a long time. In the meantime, I will enjoy the ability to timeshift HD despite a few annoyances.
Also, did they tell you it was a big deal to turn the outputs on or something? It doesn't seem like it would be a huge thing but who knows...
It's not like TWC is doing this just to annoy customers. This is pure guessing on my part, but they probably have to go through Pioneer for bug fixes, while Pioneer probably has to go through Scientific Atlanta for the detailed specifications on the box and other assistance.
Has anyone heard about getting any new hd channels? It seems like a long time since we last got one. I'm looking for Starz HD, Bravo HD and Cinemax HD for the most part. It must be the carriage agreement stuff again which we know drags on forever....
A very valid question. I too am interested in seeing some new channels added, though we just got TNT-HD in late May. I am surprised we don't get the West feed of HBOHD and the E/W feeds of CinemaxHD. Maybe TWC-Charlotte is running out of bandwith? If so, it's time to start moving more channels to digital only...all of them is fine with me :)

I know. I know. "patience, Danielson" :) I will be patient with them as at least it records HD. The other stuff will come with time probably through an update over the wire. As for the Svideo out only working through a vcr, that one is perplexing to me as well. Maybe the box can "sense" a vcr is receiving the signal or something and switches the output on. Doesn't make much sense though. Maybe someone will come here with an answer on that soon.

Originally posted by dvdguru
I..................... As for the Svideo out only working through a vcr, that one is perplexing to me as well. Maybe the box can "sense" a vcr is receiving the signal or something and switches the output on. Doesn't make much sense though. Maybe someone will come here with an answer on that soon.

I just archived to my VCR a portion of a recorded program using the s-video and the picture is small with bars on all sides. So like I guessed above it will archive a recorded program only. Which is just what my manual says it will do. No problem.

Cool, thanks for the update. I believe the cablecard will fix my sd and digital problems anyway. I'll split the cable and have one cable go to the hd dvr and the other straight in for the cable card. Then I'll watch hd thru component (until dvi is enabled) and watch sd and digital with the card. Works for me ;)

What's the size of the hard drive? How many hours of HD recording? I know the little booklet they left says 40 hours but that's probably SD. Has anyone got a real owner's manual on the 8000HD instead of that little generic DVR booklet?

You know, based on Hugh's explanation of how "archiving" works, maybe the s-video output was never intended to go straight to a display....?

I just checked my onscreen list of what I currently have recorded and I have 14 shows recorded at roughly 2 hours apiece and they're all in HD. So that's 28 hours in hd right there approximately. I'm gonna keep recording more until I get that message stating "your memory is running out" or something like that.

If we knew how big the hard drive is, we can divide 9 gb/hr into that number to get the approximate maximum length of HD recording time. When I asked that question at installation yesterday, the dreadlocked and gold-toothed CSR looked at me like I was from Mars. They're scraping the bottom of the barrel with these "independent contractors".

Again, anybody get a proper owner's manual for the 8000HD instead of that little generic DVR booklet?

One other thing I'll throw out there for anyone - I now have both SA STB's in my system and they both, naturally, respond to the same IR codes. Any idea how to assign one box a different IR "address" so that I may control them independently? I have an MX-700 remote (no RF capability).

archiguy,

I posted the following to this thread on 7/31 regarding the HD space....Originally posted by Charles C
Looking at the bottom of the SA 8000HD DVR, the part number is 4004564. According to the product data sheet (http://www.sciatl.com/customers/Source/4004400.pdf) , this means it has the 160GB hard drive.
Also, in prior posts I had links to two other manuals posted by SA, though they mostly refer to the SARA software, not the Pioneer Passport that are on our SA8000s. But they might help.

I have a small update.

Originally posted by sbirnie
...I set the receiver options to 16:9 and to stretch 4:3, and selected all the output modes.

The picture just doesn't look the same. First, I still have to stretch using my TV for non-hd channels. Why? Shouldn't my tv be receiving all channels in hd, or at a minimum already stretched so I can leave the tv in 'normal' mode?


Last night I messed around with what output formats the 8000hd could use. I originally had all of them turned on - 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i. When I turned off 480p it worked like a charm - it stretched and my tv was receiving an hd signial (i assume).

Any idea when 480p is turned on I have to stretch a 4:3 screen with my tv?

Thought I would share my VOOM woes just in case others are thinking of switching.

I canceled VOOM today. They were unable to assist me in getting the local HD stations. They only offer one antenna and it is unfortunately not designed for stations that are located less than 10 miles away. They were quite rude about it as well. They will not let the customer use their own antenna without voiding the warranty of the service.

I decided I would buy an OTA HD STB and figure out the locals myself and then when I have it working I will call and order it minus the antenna.

In my opinion they should stop advertisements that say they will get the locals working. They simply can't expect one type of antenna to service all clients. Also it would be helpful if they would use installers that are familiar with OTA HD antennas.

They have a good product and the HD looks great. The SD is much better than TW.

I guess HD is still new and flaws are just going to have to be tolerated to some degree. They have a glitching problem right now that they are working on.

Bottom line, I guess, is if you can figure out the locals than VOOM isn't that bad of a product. I wasn't charged for the install and there were no termination fees. Don't expect much if any help receiving the local channels.

Kudos to TW-Charlotte for getting the 8000HD to us. For the most part, it works well and I can live with an occasional dropout (or other minor glitch). I'm still better off than having to watch programs in SD from my old DVR. I also haven't dropped $1,000 on a HD-DVR.

Originally posted by rcase13
Thought I would share my VOOM woes just in case others are thinking of switching.

I canceled VOOM today. They were unable to assist me in getting the local HD stations. They only offer one antenna and it is unfortunately not designed for stations that are located less than 10 miles away. They were quite rude about it as well. They will not let the customer use their own antenna without voiding the warranty of the service.


Why are you worried about a warranty on a box they own? If I were you I'd go ahead and try my own antenna, its easy enough to disconnect when/if you need service (not likely). You'll need to get an antenna for your OTA box anyhow.

Last night I noticed an interesting glitch in the new SA8000HD DVR:

As you probably know, when you're tuned into a channel, it is actually recording that channel. If you hit INFO, you'll see the green line identifying how long it's been recording. This is nothing new to me as I had the old SA8000 DVR, and it's really a neat feature.

When you go to another channel, since the DVR has two tuners, it continues to record the previous channel, while tuning in and recording the new channel. Again, nothing new.

However, on this new box, if I switch back to the first channel (say, by hitting LAST), my DVR shows that program from the beginning of the recording -- NOT the live broadcast. It took me 5 minutes of deja vu to realize, "Hey, not only is this rather familiar, but I actually watched this stuff about 30 minutes ago!"

I had been watching Last Comic Standing (don't ask), then flipped over to Summerland in HD (again, don't ask) for about 5 minutes. When I flipped back to Last Comic, Jay Mohr was doing the same standup routine he was doing when I started watching the show 30 minutes earlier. Since that show always recaps a bunch of crap, I waited patiently for a minute or two, then hit INFO to see what the deal was, and sure enough, it was playing back from the beginning of the recording. When I flipped over to Summerland, sure enough, it showed the exact same scene I had watched when I had changed to that channel earlier.

Now, of course, I can fast forward through it or hit LIVE, but this is not how it worked on the old DVR.

Anyone else notice this problem?

I have noticed that problem and it really caught me off guard. Was watching a live show on ESPN and it was actually a recording. Not a big deal but something that does need to be corrected.

Hugh,

Aside from contacting customer service, is there an avenue you know of from your beta testing within TWC to report such things? Customer service will undoubtedly want to swap the DVR out, even though this is obviously a software issue. I'd rather live with this glitch then have to go through the gyrations of having another technician come out to my home.

Charles,
They know about the problem and hopefully it will be taken care of sometime in the future. I'm not doing anything due to all the trouble you mentioned.

Hugh

Originally posted by DanPackMan
Why are you worried about a warranty on a box they own? If I were you I'd go ahead and try my own antenna, its easy enough to disconnect when/if you need service (not likely). You'll need to get an antenna for your OTA box anyhow.

Agreed but antenna's are new to me and it will take some time to get up to speed on them. I didn't want to pay for both while I got it working.

In a couple of months when I've got it figured out I will probably sign back up. Although I like the TW HD-DVR so much that I will probably wait until they offer their HD-DVR.

Originally posted by archiguy
You know, based on Hugh's explanation of how "archiving" works, maybe the s-video output was never intended to go straight to a display....?

Just referencing my own post on the 8000HD-DVR...

Apparently, the composite output is activated when you use PIP. Unfortunately, that's the only way; you'll always have two "pictures" up on your screen, one big, one little. You can then tape the SD show via composite, since this feature is only for archiving.

Too bad, so very bad, that they didn't give us firewire for archiving HD content on this HD-DVR. :rolleyes: Then I could get rid of my 3250 and wouldn't have to buy another remote that can handle two devices by the same manufacturer.

Originally posted by rcase13
I canceled VOOM today. They were unable to assist me in getting the local HD stations. They only offer one antenna and it is unfortunately not designed for stations that are located less than 10 miles away. They were quite rude about it as well. They will not let the customer use their own antenna without voiding the warranty of the service.

Wow - sounds like you got a bad/unknowledgeble installer and CSR.

I use my own antenna with Voom and there is no problem.

Also, Voom WILL upgrade your antenna if the stealth doesn't work - call them up and don't take no for an answer.

There is a guy in another forum - www.satelliteguys.us - who is like THE guy to go to if you have problems with OTA/Voom CSR's. His name is Wilt, but I can't seem to find his contact info. I'll edit this post when I find it.

EDIT: Wilt Hildenbrand wilth@optonline.net

Meanwhile, surf over there and look around ...

Anyone else experienceing problems right now (5:40 pm 8/12)?

Time Warner btw.

Originally posted by chief17
Anyone else experienceing problems right now (5:40 pm 8/12)?

Everything seems fine here...What kinds of problems?

I think its just my house... I have no picture on the tv with the hd-dvr box and an EXTREMELY fuzzy picture on the other tvs. Time Warner has been out here 3 times in the last week attempting to fix problems. Now they are saying they won't have anyone out to fix this until Saturday. I really wish I would have signed up for Voom during the no sign up fee period. I am seriously considering signing up for DTV or Voom anyways.

Wow...sounds like you have been having much worse signal problems than I have. It seems that they are trying to work with you - 3 appts in the week, but did the techs really do anything while they were there? Anyway, good luck with your Saturday appt.

Trying to work with me? I guess... the problem is that 95% of the service techs or CSRs are completley clueless. You want the whole story?? Here goes.

I moved into this house about a year ago. The first tech came out to install our cable that week. He was about 3 hours late and had to leave before he finished the job. A week or so later, another tech came out to finish the job. He added 2 new outlets upstairs. One outlet he added about 2" from the ceiling without my permission (said there was something in the wall he couldn't get through - bs) and ran another line under the shingles on the roof of the house. We called to complain and they sent another tech out to put the outlet at the bottom of the wall and a carpenter to patch the hole near the ceiling. The line under the shingles went bad in about a month and a half due to the summer heat. They came out to replace that too.

Then we started having problems with our modem. Once every couple of months we would lose internet service. The came out 4 or 5 times attpemting to fix that problem. One tech would say our signal was too low... the next one would say it was fine. We never really got an answer or figured out what the problem was with that, but we haven't lost internet in 4 months or so... maybe they accidentally fixed it.

After I bought a HDTV for the super bowl I had to wait 3 weeks to get an HD box "installed." Ever since I recently got an HD-DVR box, I have had terrible pq on non-hd channels. The picture is much more fuzzy than it was on the Pioneer (non-hd) box and there are also some diagonal interference lines running through the picture on several channels that were not there before. They sent someone out last week to look at this. After scratching his head for about an hour he finally realized that I had an HD-DVR box (even though I had explained this to him very clearly at least 4 times). He then said he was unaware that these boxes even existed, scratched his head and wasted my time for another hour and finally told me that he didn't know what to do to fix the problem. So they sent out a more experienced tech Tuesday. When he came out, he seemed to think it was a problem with my box, and scheduled someone else to bring me out a new box Wednesday (yesterday). Of course, the new box had the same problem, so he installed an amp to boost the signal. This did get rid of the diagonal interference lines, but did nothing for the pq on other channels. I told him it was fine because I was tired of wasting my time, and frankly I don't think they can fix it. The new box began acting funny (pausing for no reason, freezing up, etc.) last night. I get home from work today and I have no picture at all... the box won't even reboot. All of the tvs that were hooked up to the amp are not working either. I am sure there are a cuople more problems we have had that I am forgetting. We have had about 20 service calls in this one year. I guess they are trying to fix things... they just really suck at it.


Of course they offer to give me credit my account for the days I am without cable, but thats not enough. Of course I shouldn't have to pay for something I'm not getting. They owe me more due to all of the inconveniences they have caused me. I am paying these people about $140/month.... you think they would be a little more worried about keeping me happy. If Voom had a dvr, I would already be gone. I considering it anyways... or maybe D*.

Anybody else notice the new channel at 236? A sidecar for WSOC. 24hr News from ABC News Now. I think today was the first day.

Originally posted by swamphhh
Anybody else notice the new channel at 226? I sidecar for WSOC. 24hr News from ABC News Now. I think today was the first day.


That is just one of those weather radar channels, right? It has been there for a long time.

No, not radar. It used to be radar. Now they have 24 news from ABC. I guess the channel is old, what I mean't is that the programming is new.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/abcnewsnow/

I think this is a good example of the use of digital television to provide more than just HD. We'll be seeing a lot more of this, I think, as the broadcast networks try to compete more with cable. My concern (and question) is, does this take away from the bandwidth of their HD channel? I read an article where stations/networks can do this to provide other programming (like this news channel), and even though the bitrate on the HD channel is reduced (and thus the quality as well), it still legally qualifies as HD.

Originally posted by Charles C
I think this is a good example of the use of digital television to provide more than just HD. We'll be seeing a lot more of this, I think, as the broadcast networks try to compete more with cable. My concern (and question) is, does this take away from the bandwidth of their HD channel? I read an article where stations/networks can do this to provide other programming (like this news channel), and even though the bitrate on the HD channel is reduced (and thus the quality as well), it still legally qualifies as HD.

First of all remember that broadcasters do not have to provide HD only digital. There is no FCC requirement to provide HD. This other stuff does take away from the bandwith preventing the stations from providing uncompressed HD with much greater quality. The more a signal is compressed the poorer the quality.

Does anybody know what TWC channel the NBC HD Olympic loop is going to be broadcast on? I'd like to record the Opening Ceremony, but I can't seem to find it yet....

FYI, I have had my HD DVR since last Monday, no major hick-ups.

But the PQ for SD is tough to swallow....and I am not too keen on the stretch of the SD channels either...

Recorded UFC 44 off INHD and it looked great....

Recorded a basketball game at Ruckers off NBA TV (in SD) and it looked horrible....

IMHO, if I were going to release a product before it was solid, I think I would inform the "1st generation-ers" of the issues...

WCNC-DT is on TWC Channel 220. HD coverage for the Opening Ceremonies begins at 9:00 p.m. Make sure you override the end time, because if past history is any indication, it WILL run long.

BTW, TitanTV.com is a great site to check out what's gonna be broadcast in HD and when. Just register with your zipcode and cable system, and all HD shows are indicated with an "HD" (how clever).

Originally posted by Charles C
Make sure you override the end time, because if past history is any indication, it WILL run long.

Or you could just catch one of the repeats that loops constantly for the next 36 hours or so :D

Originally posted by swamphhh
I think today was the first day.

It started July 26, the first day of the Democratic National Convention (with no audio on WSOC for the first day or so).

Originally posted by pipedown
IMHO, if I were going to release a product before it was solid, I think I would inform the "1st generation-ers" of the issues...

No, That's why there are "1st generation-ers" who get the products to find these issues. The way I look at it, It's my chance to hopefully make the product better!

bob, typically i would agree...but we are getting charged...both an installation fee and a monthly fee.

back when we got "beta" boxes and HD for FREE, we gladly reported issues and had no expectations...

however, as a customer paying for a service, i would expect something better...

Originally posted by pipedown
bob, typically i would agree...but we are getting charged...both an installation fee and a monthly fee.

back when we got "beta" boxes and HD for FREE, we gladly reported issues and had no expectations...

however, as a customer paying for a service, i would expect something better...

Everybody wanted it NOW.......if you don't like it send it back and quit complaining.

Originally posted by HughScot
Everybody wanted it NOW.......if you don't like it send it back and quit complaining.

Hugh, yes there were a lot of people that wanted it ASAP, but not EVERBODY. Regardless, Time Warner should still make people aware that there are problems with the box... especially if they are charging installation and monthly fees. Not everyone that is getting these boxes now are the same people that were demanding it to be released. Your average customer does not read this board and know everything that we do. The least Time Warner could do would be to make the customer aware that the hd-dvr service they are paying for may have some bugs that will need to be worked out. I don't mind putting up with some of these issues, but some people do and would rather wait until they are corrected. Since we are kind of 'beta testing' the box, they should also provide us with an easy way (not calling customer service) of providing feedback on how it performs.

Despite what many think, this whole digital thing is STILL a bit of a science project. If you want technology that works perfectly 100% of the time, then
don't get a product at first release. No mfg can wait, or afford, to hold off
a product until it's 100% foolproof. Plus, they can't anticipate every condition and expectation of the consumer market.

Ok, guys got a few questions.

I just got the DVR and noticed that whenever I try to view an On Demand program my box reboots. Is anybody else having this problem or should I have Time-Warner come out and replace. I don't want them to come out if all boxes do this.

Also, I find myself suddenly without INHD 1&2. I had these previously and was grandfathered when HDNET came around. Now it tells me I need to subscribe to those two. Does anybody know if Time-Warner has changed the grandfathering on INHD and if not who can I talk to at TW or where can I find proof to show a TW CSR that I deserve to recieve INHD. (Since I'm sure there computers will clearly show it as a pay service)

Thanks for any help.

--Tzvi

I am able to play VOD's without rebooting, but someone else mentioned they were having similar problems.

Regarding INHD...I still have my INHD's grandfathered.

I had 2 boxes installed a few weeks back (replacing 3510HD's) and immediately had audio dropouts and freezes when changing channels, especially from, or to, HD channels.

I chalked the problems up to either the "live TV" recording stuff or just bugs in the box.

Last night, on a whim, I changed the box to only output 720p to my Samsung HLN-567W (its native format) and all of the drop-outs and freezing went away. I had it set to send all but 480i to the TV.

I guess I now chalk up the problems to a comb of mode switching on the TV and the "live TV" recording feature of the STB. I have essentially now allowed the box to do all conversions and my TV stays in 720p.

YMMV.

I have only tried one VOD and it did make my box reboot both times I tried it. It wasn't a pay one... just one of those previews or something. I haven't tried any more since that which was a couple of weeks ago.

ericwe: Have you noticed any change in pq since changing the settings to only allow the box to output 720p? I have always hears it is better to let the tv do the conversion.

archiguy: Have you heard anything else about a timeline for TW digitizing the analog content? When they do this, will it be for all analog channels? SD channels still look terrible through my hd-dvr box...

thanks.

I thought the same thing - am fairly sure the samsung tv internals would convert better than the stb -- but with some limited, subjective testing, I cannot see that much of a difference and having the drop-outs gone is a fair trade for me even if the PQ is diminished slightly...

I do agree with many others on here that think the SD PQ is worse on this box (in any output mode) than the "old" 3510HD's - here's hoping TWC can fix that with firmware, etc....

Originally posted by chief17
Have you heard anything else about a timeline for TW digitizing the analog content? When they do this, will it be for all analog channels? SD channels still look terrible through my hd-dvr box...
While I obviously cannot speak for archiguy, I did broach the question with what I consider a knowledgeable source at TWC Charlotte and came away with the impression that it wasn't really going to happen - at least not in the near future...Believe that or not, I just figured I would pass it along.

I did however learn that WBTV is already simulcast in digital on channel 227 - something I knew but never really realized :) Now if they could just mirror the guide data from channel 3 on channel 227 (or remap channel 2 to the digital channel 227), we could record off of the digital channel instead.

That is not good news. Was the plan to do it for all of the analog channels? Let us know if you hear anything else.

Can't you just record on channel 225? That is digital and they are almost always showing the same thing as 227.

Originally posted by chief17
Can't you just record on channel 225? That is digital and they are almost always showing the same thing as 227.

Sorry, I was thinking recording with TiVo mostly for SD only programs (connected to a seperate SD box) where 225 wasn't available.

Originally posted by chief17

archiguy: Have you heard anything else about a timeline for TW digitizing the analog content? When they do this, will it be for all analog channels? SD channels still look terrible through my hd-dvr box...

thanks.

Yeah, I know analog looks bad through the SA8000 box, but be patient. They know about this problem, they know what's causing it, and they're going to fix it. But they don't know how long it's going to take, and are reluctant to throw a date out there that they may not be able to meet.

I've still got some issues with firewire out from my SA3250HD to my D-VHS deck. A couple of channels are still not playing nicely with 5C copy protection and they've been working on this issue for almost 5 months now. So hang in there and enjoy the pristine HD content from your 8000, which is why we all wanted this box in the first place, and try not to worry about SD for now.

If it's really a problem for you, you can always split the signal and either carry basic cable to your VCR's and display devices, or add another cable STB as I've done. Not only that, but I've also still got a DISH 6000 STB wired into my system and I use it's OTA module to pick up local channels off the air. Perhaps that may be an option for some of you as well.

Just a follow-up to my last post with some interesting observations....

Was watching the final round of the PGA yesterday and figured that would be a good place to do A/B comparisons on these SA cable receivers (SA3250HD and SA8000HD-DVR) since we had a pristine, live HD broadcast also containing a lot of SD shots. I used the WBTV-HD channel (225?) on the TWC lineup. For a "control", I would use the OTA signal from WBTV-HD (via DISH 6000 STB), channel 3.1. I am able to switch all 3 HD sources through my Zektor component switchbox which will give a good side-by-side-by-side comparison. My display device is the acclaimed Sony 34XBR910 HDTV.

First, it was immediately clear that the OTA signal was the best - clear, sharp and with perfect color balance. The 3250 was a bit darker and just slightly softer, with color balance a bit on the warm side. However, there was a dramatic drop-off in quality with the 8000 HD-DVR, both in HD and SD. The HD picture was noticeably softer, and the SD shots, as many of us have noticed, were wretchedly awful.

But there was something else that nobody has mentioned (or possibly noticed) so far... The 16x9 HD picture through the 8000 is zoomed! Dramatically so; I'd estimate at least 125%. There's part of the problem right there - every time you zoom a digital image, you merely make the pixels bigger, which leads to a "softening" of the picture. And, of course, anybody watching this event via the 8000 was also losing a good deal of the picture, all around the center-cut zoomed image. A double-whammy of inferior picture with both HD and SD content. Alarmed, I checked other channels; the results were the same.

I will follow up with this test with my contacts at TWC and try to get an explanation of this zooming with the DVR. Could be they may not even be aware of it....

Originally posted by archiguy
Just a follow-up to my last post with some interesting observations....
But there was something else that nobody has mentioned (or possibly noticed) so far... The 16x9 HD picture through the 8000 is zoomed! Dramatically so; I'd estimate at least 125%. There's part of the problem right there - every time you zoom a digital image, you merely make the pixels bigger, which leads to a "softening" of the picture. And, of course, anybody watching this event via the 8000 was also losing a good deal of the picture, all around the center-cut zoomed image. A double-whammy of inferior picture with both HD and SD content. Alarmed, I checked other channels; the results were the same.


You may be seeing a 25% decrease in picture.....through zooming....but I have never seen this via mine and I just looked to be sure. I frequently A/B between OTA and the SA8000HD and have never observed it. You are using a relatively small display so on my 53" Pioneer Elite it should be more evident but it's not. Perhaps it has to do with your display with which I am not familiar.

archiguy do you have your 8000HD-DVR box set to soom 4:3 SD pictures? I think someone said a while ago that if you do that, it also stretches 16:9 HD signals (apparently a bug). I keep my 4:3 images with sidebars so I am not sure... you could be right.

Chief, I'm using the "out-of-the-box" settings on the 8000 and have made no changes thus far (only had the box a week). I will check tonight when I get home to see if the box is set to zoom these images. The HD picture does not appear stretched, as everything is in proportion. However, it is most definitely zoomed.

Unfortunately, I'm told that no "owner's manual" is available for the 8000, unlike the 3250, so it's difficult to get "under the hood" where the service menus are and figure out what's what. But I don't like what I see so far.

For a manual go to the SA site and download one. Mine came with a manual but the SA site does have some additional information on the box.

Did anyone have sound issues last night or this morning?

When I switch channels sometimes I lose the sound. This just started happening yesterday.

Originally posted by chief17
archiguy do you have your 8000HD-DVR box set to soom 4:3 SD pictures? I think someone said a while ago that if you do that, it also stretches 16:9 HD signals (apparently a bug). I keep my 4:3 images with sidebars so I am not sure... you could be right.

When I had VOOM I did lot's of A/B testing and never noticed a zoom effect. I know that I did not have the 4:3 picture zoomed. I've never liked the zoomed or stretched effect. The picture quality definitely goes to VOOM and OTA for both HD and SD. I will say that the difference between HD was very small. VOOM and OTA was slightly brighter and slightly sharper. It's a difference that can't be perceived unless you really look. Only those of us on this board that are extremely picky could tell the difference.

Hopefully the zoomed HD on you 8000 is just a bug that will be fixed soon.

Originally posted by archiguy
...there was a dramatic drop-off in quality with the 8000 HD-DVR, both in HD and SD. The HD picture was noticeably softer, and the SD shots, as many of us have noticed, were wretchedly awful.

But there was something else that nobody has mentioned (or possibly noticed) so far... The 16x9 HD picture through the 8000 is zoomed! Dramatically so; I'd estimate at least 125%.

FWIW, I have done repeated A/B comparisons of OTA to the SA8000HD hi-def signals on my Hitachi 65XWX20B 65" RPTV. The fact that the HD box's signal is delayed 3-5 seconds from the OTA signal helps a great deal since I can watch the exact same scene to compare.

The only difference I notice is there is a bit more color (reds especially) from the SA8000HD box. But I've seen NO difference in the HD details between the two pictures. I've looked closely at text borders, skin details (amazing how many skin defects makeup is trying to cover up) and motion artifacts, and there is no perceptible difference between the two signals. And it certainly isn't zoomed on my set.

Just my $0.02.

Anyone try this - change to a channel. Before it displays the channel on the screen, change to a different channel.

I think it causes the stb to freeze and then reboot. Happened to me twice over the weekend. Not sure if it has anything to do with my sound issue or not.

sbirnie: Try going into the box settings and changing it to where the box only outputs 720p (or whatever is the native signal to your tv). I was getting a lot of studdering and momentary freeze ups (audio and video) until I did this (no reboots though). Changing hasn't eliminated the problem, but it has helped.

Originally posted by Charles C
............... But I've seen NO difference in the HD details between the two pictures. I've looked closely at text borders, skin details (amazing how many skin defects makeup is trying to cover up) and motion artifacts, and there is no perceptible difference between the two signals. And it certainly isn't zoomed on my set.
Just my $0.02.

That is very interesting as on my comparisons between OTA and the SA8000HD I have more detail OTA. And what I watch is the shaved beard on men (gosh I guess). OTA I can count the individual hairs but with the SA8000 they are not that defined. I do this with a 1080i signal from CBS, usually CSI. My display is a Pioneer Elite 530HD.

With my old Pioneer Voyager box I could see no difference at all.

Hello, I have 2 questions....

Does the SA DVR box wind up replacing the Pioneer set top box, or does it require both?

Is there a channel on TWC HD, (or an image on either cable box) that will generate a video calibration signal?

Regards,
JnC

Replaces the box. HDNet generates a video calibration signal if you want to subscribe to the HD package.

Originally posted by HughScot
My display is a Pioneer Elite 530HD.

:) I guess when we talk about A/B comparisons we should state the type of TV and our experience level... HughScot's TV is very nice indeed. My TV is a Sammy DLP so undoubtedly his will show detail my set could only dream of. Also HughScot's experience level is far better than most. Definitely better than mine!

One thing I can say without a doubt is the VOOM and OTA signal had far fewer artifacts in fast moving scenes. TW HD has always had a lot of pixelation (sp??) when the scene moves real fast. Especially scenes showing running water. This may just be my setup as I haven't seen other complaints about this.

Originally posted by rcase13
:)
One thing I can say without a doubt is the VOOM and OTA signal had far fewer artifacts in fast moving scenes. TW HD has always had a lot of pixelation (sp??) when the scene moves real fast. Especially scenes showing running water. This may just be my setup as I haven't seen other complaints about this.

This I have not seen either......artifacts with fast moving scenes. Now I used to see a lot from the networks when broadcasting a sports event in 1080i, such as CBS football. It's not present with 720p, ala MNF. In the last 9 to 12 months CBS has cleaned up their broadcasts very well and I no longer see these artifacts with sports. The SA8000HD box has some audio/video cliches such as A/V dropouts and stoppages with recorded programs. Hopefully these will be resolved in the future. When I notice something while using the new box I flip to the OTA box and the same channel and see if it's on both and usually it is not. My old Pioneer Voyager box was darn good.

I agree that the picture (HD and SD) was definitley better with the Pioneer HD box that it is with the SA HD-DVR box. I do see some of the pixelation on the fast moving scenes that rcase 13 described, but I think that was present on the old Pioneer box as well. I don't have another provider or OTA to compare it to though. I have a SONY 42WE610 by the way.

what kind of ota antennas does everyone use? Where are they placed? roof? inside?

Originally posted by Davew0670
what kind of ota antennas does everyone use? Where are they placed? roof? inside?

If you are really interested in finding a good antenna that is one thing or are you just interested in what everyone is using. If the later, I have to have mine on the roof and I'm using a Channel Master 4228. It all depends on your own location.......other houses, trees, hills, buildings, elevation, etc. will have a profound effect on which works best for you. Some people in this area can use an indoor antenna and have great results while others, myself included, must have a roof mounted antenna. For some an omni is ok and for others a directional is a must. It just depends.

Since we have these boxes early and are "beta testing" them, does anyone have a list of the issues that TWC knows about? I'm having the occasional audio studder, dropout, and video studder on mine, but it doesn't bother me enough to get rid of the box. It would be nice if we all knew what issues they already know about though, so we will know whether or not we need to call and have them look at our boxes. Anybody?

Also, are we going to be able to find out if a certain issue is fixed? I mean it would suck if they thought they fixed something, but half the people were still having the problem.

Originally posted by HughScot
That is very interesting as on my comparisons between OTA and the SA8000HD I have more detail OTA. And what I watch is the shaved beard on men (gosh I guess). OTA I can count the individual hairs but with the SA8000 they are not that defined. I do this with a 1080i signal from CBS, usually CSI. My display is a Pioneer Elite 530HD.

With my old Pioneer Voyager box I could see no difference at all.
I agree that is interesting, Hugh, since I consider my Hitachi a pretty darn good set, especially considering the reviews I've read and my own persnickety search for the "perfect" TV for me. I've also had mine ISF calibrated to the max by a very reputable calibrator (Gregg Loewen of Lion AV). We've all seen how different people have different issues with their SA8000HDs, so that may explain some of the difference in what we see. Overall, I'm no less than thrilled by the performance of my box, all things considered. It definitely passes the "whisker" test. And at 65", all flaws would be magnified. (You can only imagine how hard it is to watch SD.)

I will say that after I had my TV calibrated (this was with the old 8000 non-HD box) SD looked significantly better than it did before. It's still nowhere near what I'd like it to be, but it's tolerable.

Originally posted by Davew0670
what kind of ota antennas does everyone use? Where are they placed? roof? inside?
Dave, you may wish to check out the Charlotte OTA forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=333331) for more detailed discussion of antennas.

Originally posted by clintyarborough
Since we have these boxes early and are "beta testing" them, does anyone have a list of the issues that TWC knows about? I'm having the occasional audio studder, dropout, and video studder on mine, but it doesn't bother me enough to get rid of the box. It would be nice if we all knew what issues they already know about though, so we will know whether or not we need to call and have them look at our boxes. Anybody?

Also, are we going to be able to find out if a certain issue is fixed? I mean it would suck if they thought they fixed something, but half the people were still having the problem.

Since late May I've had the box for beta testing and TWC asked me to send them all the "issues" I had with the box. This I did shortly after getting the box and updated as necessary. I don't recall seeing anything on this thread that I have not reported to the person who requested my input. With all that said, I don't know if it would help if everyone were to call them with the same issues repeatedly. Keep in mind that you are not a beta tester and you paid to have it installed. You are the customer so that changes things somewhat. It would be nice if they would come on here and simply say that they are aware of all the issues, etc. They have told me by phone that they are doing what they can to correct the problems. Nothing specific was mentioned.

Doing quite a bit of DTV "beta" testing myself, I can tell you that it's not quite as simple as you'd think to correct problems, quirks, and issues. Often
times, what seems a simple problem may take a tremendous amount of resources to change. Manufacturers use a term called "roadmap" to describe their plans for a particular product. Most tend to adhere to this fairly closely. Often times, if the particular issue is seldom seen or few complaints received, they may make an active decision not to address the issue in order to stay with the roadmap. Either way, it typically does take some amount of time to respond to items that even the mfg deems necessary to correct. Changes must be made carefully and tested thoroughly otherwise they can create other problems much worse in the process.

Charles: how much did you shell out for the calibration? just curious :)

Hugh: Have you mentioned to them that we would like to see the sidebars black instead of gray? I know you mentioned that yours changed to back unexpectedly. Are they still black.. even on analog channels? Mine turn black for a split second when I go directly from guid to list, so I know the box has the capability. It doesn't seem like that would be a hard feature to add.

Actually I prefer my grey. It's no big deal as I stretch the 4x3 on my Pioneer.

Hey guys.

As stated above I am having trouble with my HD-DVR.

I went down to TWC today and exchanged my box for a new one. (Brand new, in a sealed box.) So, I got to thinking that maybe there is a problem with the boxes/software combo in my area. (Since TWC requires diffrent equipment for each county.)

So, simple question. Is anybody here in Union County and have the ability to watch Video on Demand with the HD-DVR?

There is no point in trying to get another box if they will all do the same thing.

Thanks.

--Tzvi

(Since TWC requires diffrent equipment for each county.)

This is not correct, TWC does not require different equipt. for each county. If you are in the Charlotte division of TWC then you have the same equip.

Originally posted by HughScot
Actually I prefer my grey. It's no big deal as I stretch the 4x3 on my Pioneer.

So they swithced back to gray?

Originally posted by HughScot
(Since TWC requires diffrent equipment for each county.)

This is not correct, TWC does not require different equipt. for each county. If you are in the Charlotte division of TWC then you have the same equip.

Are you sure? I tried switching my box out at the Arrowood office and was told I had to take it to the one in Monroe since the equipment is diffrent.

This isn't the first time I have heard a TWC rep say this.

Still, has anybody living in Union gotten VOD to work with the HD-DVR?

--Tzvi

Originally posted by Tzvi
Are you sure? I tried switching my box out at the Arrowood office and was told I had to take it to the one in Monroe since the equipment is diffrent.

This isn't the first time I have heard a TWC rep say this.

Still, has anybody living in Union gotten VOD to work with the HD-DVR?

--Tzvi

My bad, I guess, I was told that the Charlotte Division was using Passport software. Perhaps certain areas use a different version of the Passport software. Sorry for any confusion.

Originally posted by chief17
So they swithced back to gray?

When I watch a digital channel that is not broadcasting in HD such as WBTVDT, I have black bars. When I'm watching channel 2 (WBTV) and I switch to 4x3 I do have grey bars. When I first got the box I had nothing but grey bars. But I don't watch anything in 4x3 as my Pioneer does such a good job of streaching a 4x3 picture.

Originally posted by HughScot
When I watch a digital channel that is not broadcasting in HD such as WBTVDT, I have black bars. When I'm watching channel 2 (WBTV) and I switch to 4x3 I do have grey bars. When I first got the box I had nothing but grey bars. But I don't watch anything in 4x3 as my Pioneer does such a good job of streaching a 4x3 picture.

The black bars on the digital channels (in the 200s) are part of the image that is being sent to the box by time warner. The box is not making those. The box makes gray bars on the analog channels if you don't select zoom of stretch. I thought you had said that all of the bars were black on yours. So our boxes are doing the same thing.

If you talk to them again, tell them it would be nice to have the option to select the color. I always watch analog channels in 4:3 and the gray bars are distracting to me. The black bars blend in with the side of my tv. Thanks. :)

"For a limited time, we are offering a Free Installation for the HD DVR! The service costs $6.95 a month, the same price as our standard definition DVR. Equipment charges still apply."

The above was posted on another thread by a TWC customer in the Raleigh area.....it's a quote from a TWC ad. Aren't you guys paying $39.95? Thought so.

Me thinks it was just posted at 9.95 in the Columbia thread..

"Upon further review"..... it appears that the zooming issue I had a few days ago with the SA8000HD and which I commented on here was the result of my picture settings being mysteriously reset to zoom from 16x9. Weird. I reset them and <poof> everything's fine. It also has an annoying habit of setting audio output on "view" to 0 from its initial setting of 92. It has done these things entirely on its own. Gremlins perhaps?

Is anyone else having a problem with audio breakup on the Panther's game which is on channel 240...WCCB? No problems with video and for 480p it looks fairly good. But the audio is driving me crazy.

Audio is fine for me hugh. Pic is great for 480. I can't wait to see true HD from fox next month.

Audio is fine here for me OTA Hugh on two receivers....Let me go check my TWC pioneer..

Pioneer seems fine here..

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Pioneer seems fine here..

Ok, it is still doing it but not so frequently and it's just on the Panther game. Oh well, we're winning big and looking good so ..................

Originally posted by HughScot
Ok, it is still doing it but not so frequently and it's just on the Panther game. Oh well, we're winning big and looking good so ..................

I need to add that there is no problem direct....OTA.....just with the SA8000HD.

Originally posted by HughScot
I need to add that there is no problem direct....OTA.....just with the SA8000HD.

I played it back late last night (unfortunally, i was at work during the game), pic and audio were both fine...

Message repeated from Western Carolinas forum:
Re Digital reception update:
I receive all DT signals originated in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson FCC-designated Designated Market Area with good reliability although they are originated at various strengths from a wide arc. The only exception is for a week or so during major seasonal changes (winter to spring, fall to winter.) My one major problem is with SCETV's channel 9. It often is briefly interrupted with signal dropouts or perhaps co-channel interference. It is very sensitive to weather interruptions.
Soon broadcasters must make a decision as to whether to remain on the UHF band, or switch to VHF. My experience both here in Asheville and in Washington DC has not been good with VHF digital signals. For example, although WLOS-DT operates at very low power and I am receiving the signal from well below a ridge and numerous trees, the signal is most stable at around 60 percent on the Samsung receiver.
I have spoken to many TV engineers and found that many of them are anxious to remain on the UHF band, but managers tend to think VHF is better from a viewers' point of view. The FCC does not seem to have taken a position on this.
After years in the television broadcast business operating both UHF and VHF stations, I am convinced UHF-DT is superior.
I would like to hear from any of you who have an opinion on this issue.
Please reply here or email me at jbirdwe@bellsouth.net

Hey All-

Live in charlotte - and I am a directv customer. I'm in the "A" signal area - what are my chances of getting a waiver from these clowns? Sounds like most people have had sucess with OTA here, but I would like to have one less thing to fool around with

Originally posted by jl0810
Hey All-

Live in charlotte - and I am a directv customer. I'm in the "A" signal area - what are my chances of getting a waiver from these clowns? Sounds like most people have had sucess with OTA here, but I would like to have one less thing to fool around with

Actually they are not clowns and if they gave out waivers to everyone they would be out of business. So your chances are slim and nil.

I can officially tell you..You won't get a waiver from us clowns at
FOX Charlotte......

Well, I guess I'll have to "move" to that remote cabin in Western Montana, or god forbid, go back to TWC - i can't believe I just said that

Thanks Fox Charlotte for your carte blanche and consumer friendly statement - and you wonder why people are trying to flee the grips of your station, via waivers. Each request should be evaluated - and if you don't have the time/money, then a waiver should be granted - i.e. a waiver should be the default unless YOU can prove othewise. Of course, like any good monopoly - why the heck should you bother?

Thankfully, there are ways around it - waivers are just following the rules of the "system" - however the "system" is clearly broke.

Can someone explain to us not in the know exactly what all this refers to?

Originally posted by jl0810
however the "system" is clearly broke.
The system is broke because you are too lazy to try to receive stations OTA?

Originally posted by jl0810
Well, I guess I'll have to "move" to that remote cabin in Western Montana, or god forbid, go back to TWC - i can't believe I just said that

Thanks Fox Charlotte for your carte blanche and consumer friendly statement - and you wonder why people are trying to flee the grips of your station, via waivers. Each request should be evaluated - and if you don't have the time/money, then a waiver should be granted - i.e. a waiver should be the default unless YOU can prove othewise. Of course, like any good monopoly - why the heck should you bother?

Thankfully, there are ways around it - waivers are just following the rules of the "system" - however the "system" is clearly broke.

I have nothing to do with the broadcast industry in any form or fashion but I do recognize that Fox Charlotte has no monopoly. If you don't like WCCB then watch WBTV, WCNC or WSOC. If you don't understand that these local TV stations bring a lot to the area then you are totally clueless. In order for these stations to stay in business they must sell advertising and who is going to pay for the advertising if no one is watching? Let's say every station in every city granted waivers to eveyone......we'd have no local stations on the air or perhaps you think this would be a good idea.

Hugh and Doppler

By the fact we are discussing the merits of granting, denying waivers - the differences between O&O and a franchise , the business models of local TV and their respective "protection" of their viewer base...

<gasp for breath>

...all in the name of just getting a few HDTV programs a week over a sphere mounted on my roof - is evidence that the system is broke.

If you REALLy think that just by living in a non-O&O area is reason enough to NOT have local HDTV over a satelitte - well, I'm not sure what a broke system would mean to you then.

Originally posted by jl0810
If you REALLy think that just by living in a non-O&O area is reason enough to NOT have local HDTV over a satelitte - well, I'm not sure what a broke system would mean to you then.


Just so I have this straight, your local affiliate is going to the expense to bounce a television signal off of your roof, so you can get free TV - but because you would rather pay money for that free TV to a satellite company (that can only at best equal the picture quality - but could be a whole lot worse) you expect the local affiliate to take a financial hit by granting everyone waivers? :rolleyes:

Just wanted to let everyone know that while I was at the Carolina Panthers game this past Thursday I took a picture of the FOX cameras. I wish I knew how to upload the picture but anyway... they had HD written on them. That brought me to a smile... can't wait.

Originally posted by CPanther95
Just so I have this straight, your local affiliate is going to the expense to bounce a television signal off of your roof, so you can get free TV - but because you would rather pay money for that free TV to a satellite company (that can only at best equal the picture quality - but could be a whole lot worse) you expect the local affiliate to take a financial hit by granting everyone waivers? :rolleyes:


Well..uh...yes...

I'm not saying I don't understand this monopolistic business model - I'm simply saying it's a flawed business model, masked from most of us on a day to day basis. Unfortunately the flawed business model can rear it's head in weird ways - such as the inability to get HDTV signals in Charlotte over DirectV because of this ridiculous rule about waivers

Only under a broken system, would a company that simply supplies a broadcast signal to my rooftop (it's not free TV , by the way) , automatically be assigned the rights to include me (and force me) to be a part of their broacast network

If I sold Hondas in south Charlotte, maybe I should also have the market rights over everyone in Charlotte and Lake Norman. If you want to buy a Honda in Greensboro, you'll have to ask me first for a waiver - yea..sure..I'll grant it....:)

Does anyone here actually have DirectTV, and share this frustration? Maybe this issue is falling on deaf ears as everyone here is either TWC'ing it, or OTA'ing it.

Originally posted by jl0810
Well..uh...yes...

Only under a broken system, would a company that simply supplies a broadcast signal to my rooftop (it's not free TV , by the way) , automatically be assigned the rights to include me (and force me) to be a part of their broacast network

If I sold Hondas in south Charlotte, maybe I should also have the market rights over everyone in Charlotte and Lake Norman. If you want to buy a Honda in Greensboro, you'll have to ask me first for a waiver - yea..sure..I'll grant it....:)

There is nothing broken about a system that provides free television to your house and it is free. It can't work any other way unless you want to pay for it. And there is the answer. You want to pay for something which is currently free........doesn't make sense. Now if you want to change the system so that you pay to receive what is currently free I'm sure no one will agree with you. And that is what you are saying. To remain free the system has to remain as it is.

You automobile analogy only applies if you are paying for the service and you're not. Your argument dosn't hold water so you might want to get over it.

Hugh -

In all due respect, the issue has nothing to do with paying for something that is currently free. Cable and DirectTV are simply distribution vehicles for the TV content - you pay, in theory, for "higher" quality distribution methods than OTA, and also to subscribe to programming outside or your local area.

The TV content, on the other hand, is not free. It is paid for temporarily by the advertisers, and then they are reimbursed by you, the consumer, by being subjected to their creative advertising, which allows you to buy all sorts of nifty things you saw on TV. So you pay for the TV. Let's get over this free TV concept. Economics does not support this assertion.

Guys, I am totally confused novice around here. I have a X1 projector that displays cable broadcast from TWC HD box (output at 1080i). For non HD shows, why does WSOCHD (channel 235) have a much better picture than WSOC (channel 4)?

Is it because the first one is a digital signal or is it some other upgrading that happens at ABC/WSOC? My old 21" TV cannot tell any difference of course, but on the X1, it is definitely sharper even for non HD programs. All outputs frm the TWC box are 1080i.

Originally posted by jl0810
Hugh -

In all due respect, the issue has nothing to do with paying for something that is currently free. Cable and DirectTV are simply distribution vehicles for the TV content - you pay, in theory, for "higher" quality distribution methods than OTA, and also to subscribe to programming outside or your local area.

The TV content, on the other hand, is not free. It is paid for temporarily by the advertisers, and then they are reimbursed by you, the consumer, by being subjected to their creative advertising, which allows you to buy all sorts of nifty things you saw on TV. So you pay for the TV. Let's get over this free TV concept. Economics does not support this assertion.

???????, I'd use your name but since you want to remain anonymous I can't. You state that sat. is of "higher quality" and nothing could be further from the truth. An OTA signal has better picture quality.....period. This is an absolute truth, so even if cable or the sats offer more programming it is definitely not "higher quality".

TV content is free if you don't buy from the advertisers. People who do buy what they see on television are in effect supporting their local station. But no one says you have to buy so in essence it is free.

This is the last post I will make on this subject as you appear to just want to argue rather than learn which is what the AVS Forum is all about.

Hugh Campbell

Originally posted by jl0810
Well..uh...yes...

I'm not saying I don't understand this monopolistic business model - I'm simply saying it's a flawed business model, masked from most of us on a day to day basis. Unfortunately the flawed business model can rear it's head in weird ways - such as the inability to get HDTV signals in Charlotte over DirectV because of this ridiculous rule about waivers

Only under a broken system, would a company that simply supplies a broadcast signal to my rooftop (it's not free TV , by the way) , automatically be assigned the rights to include me (and force me) to be a part of their broacast network

If I sold Hondas in south Charlotte, maybe I should also have the market rights over everyone in Charlotte and Lake Norman. If you want to buy a Honda in Greensboro, you'll have to ask me first for a waiver - yea..sure..I'll grant it....:)

Does anyone here actually have DirectTV, and share this frustration? Maybe this issue is falling on deaf ears as everyone here is either TWC'ing it, or OTA'ing it.

1) It is not a monopoly, you have many programming choices to choose from. FOX, ABC, etc. programming is a product with a distribution network setup for delivery of the product. You have no "right" to receive The Simpsons. If you want to buy an Acura in Charlotte, you have one option. Just as you are free to go to Greensboro to get your FOX programming if you wish.

2) I have D*, but I don't share your frustration. Your frustration stems from your own choices. A $5 RS double-bowtie antenna on top of my TV allowed me to pickup all Charlotte stations on the towers in (approx.) Concord and Gastonia - from Fort Mill. You'd prefer to pay D* $5 a month instead of getting them for free.

You're in one of the best markets in the country for HDTV, where all 7 networks are broadcasting in HD - and HDNet lite is broadcast free on 46-1 during the day. All free and all coming right into your house. Charlotte is way ahead of the HD curve thanks to the financial commitment of the stations in our area.

And why in the world would you rather see the Giants every week instead of the Panthers?

I cannot standby and not jump in on the interesting SHVIA/Waiver discussion. First I acknowledge that I am a retired broadcaster who has remained a consultant for SHVIA for two large market stations and handle all of their Satellite/Viewer and signal matters. Hugh Scot is to be congratulated for attempting to shed information on this matter.

However, there is one critical element that has not surfaced in this discussion and that is Copyright concerns. In an attempt to fairly solve reception problems for viewers who were not served by network stations (generally described as beyond the Grade B service areas), congress relaxed the copyright law to the extend that satellite companies were allowed to send "distant" signals to "unserved" home. (The satellite companies early on ignored the restrictions and often granted service to anyone who requested it. In 1998 the Satellite Act was amended to clarify the stations' right to evaluate the granting of "distant" service to "underserved" homes and had the right to grant a waiver if the home qualified. The Longly-Rice signal prediction methodology was approved by the standard and a third-party company provides this service for a fee to both stations and the satellite companies.) Congress also provided for the "local into local" rebroadcast of individual network affiliates which has spread so rapidly across the country...although early on the satellite companies claimed they did not have the resources to provide the service. Fortunately, they are finding those resources.
HOWEVER, Congress has not yet modified the SHVIA to cover HDTV and it remains a copyright violation for a satellite company to send HDTV signals from one DMA to another without specific authorization. CBS has cleared its HDTV programs (for the most part) for distributing east and west coast owned and operated HD signals (WCBS and KCBS) to other CBS owned markets, but not to affiliated station markets. Therefore, while most CBS affiliates have made it known to satellite companies that their HDTV signal is available for "local into local" rebroadcast...the satellite companies are not ready to find the resources to provide this service...yet.
The Satellite Home Viewing Improvement Act is available on the FCC (and other) website. It is worth reading if you are interested changing the Act and thus the station's policies regarding "distant signals." Changes are pending. Satellite companies are more careful to follow the provisions of the Act today because the amended Act also spelled out significant fines for violations.

FYI: Looks like TWC is pushing an STB upgrade sometime tomorrow:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/charlotte/customer/digitalreboot.html

Maybe it will include something for us 8000HD users...

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no gray bars, 16:9 menu and better SD!!!

And if they want to throw in ESPN HD and BRAVO HD that would be fine too. :D

How do you guys find those pages? Unless you gave me the link I'd have never found that. Is there a place to go to find out local area plans - like that upgrade?

It was on the main TWC-Charlotte page ( http://www.twcarolina.com ), I just pasted the main link.

I wish they'd also tell us specifically what this "upgrade" will "improve." Anybody have any ideas?

As of last night, WCCB-DT is on-line with the FOX Splicer. Please let us know should you see or hear any problems. We don't yet have any word on when "True" HD may be available, but I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the update, Bob. Looking forward to seeing some more true HD (the All Star Game looked great)...

yes, the digital stations usually look better that the analog ones, even when they are broadcasting SD programming... i could tell the difference even before i had a hdtv...
Originally posted by rvenky
Guys, I am totally confused novice around here. I have a X1 projector that displays cable broadcast from TWC HD box (output at 1080i). For non HD shows, why does WSOCHD (channel 235) have a much better picture than WSOC (channel 4)?

Is it because the first one is a digital signal or is it some other upgrading that happens at ABC/WSOC? My old 21" TV cannot tell any difference of course, but on the X1, it is definitely sharper even for non HD programs. All outputs frm the TWC box are 1080i.

I hope the rest of the TWC population using the SA8000HD-DVR box faired better than I did with this "upgrade". My box is a mess and several total boots have not cured a thing. I realize that they only did west of the Cat. today and maybe it is just mine. I cannot recieive any of the network HD channels except for PBS. INHD and HDnet are fine. And when I'm watching a "live" program I cannot pause it nor can I hit rerun to see what just happened over again.

Hey, I just got an HDTV box(pioneer) from TWC in Charlotte. It's hooked up to my X1. I've had a hard time getting WBTVHD. When I switch to it from NBCHD, I get a black screen and then a pixelated shot of what's on NBCHD. Any ideas?

Also, when I check the schedule on Titan TV from Fox 18's web site, it doesn't show the little HD icon next to any of the programs. Why is that?

Thanks.

Originally posted by jimnc
Also, when I check the schedule on Titan TV from Fox 18's web site, it doesn't show the little HD icon next to any of the programs. Why is that?

FOX will not start to send HD programming until September 12th.

Originally posted by HughScot
I hope the rest of the TWC population using the SA8000HD-DVR box faired better than I did with this "upgrade". My box is a mess and several total boots have not cured a thing. I realize that they only did west of the Cat. today and maybe it is just mine. I cannot recieive any of the network HD channels except for PBS. INHD and HDnet are fine. And when I'm watching a "live" program I cannot pause it nor can I hit rerun to see what just happened over again.

An update....one day later. Today I have my network HD channels back and with one exception I think all is ok. That exception is the "instant" review of a "live" program. It turns out that yesterday the box buffered a channel I was not even watching but not just for one hour. As I was watching a live program I hit the playback button and the screen went grey and then I was watching a program from yesterday....CNBC. And it didn't just buffer an hour of this......it is still going after 2.5 hours. I'll be interested to see how long it goes. This is not a recorded program, not listed as recorded and I can't fast forward it. Very stange. Hopefully when it finally ends I will be able to use it as intended.

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
As of last night, WCCB-DT is on-line with the FOX Splicer. Please let us know should you see or hear any problems. We don't yet have any word on when "True" HD may be available, but I'll keep you posted.

Hey Bob, do you know if they turned on the broadcast flag yet? I can no longer receive Fox (18.1,18.2 or 18.3) with my ATI HDTV Wonder card. It was working great a few days ago, but now i get nothing (even though i have a 94% signal strength OTA). All other stations still work fine. :confused:

No, we have not turned the flag on yet. Probably need to do a rescan,
let me know what you come up with.

Originally posted by HughScot
An update....one day later. Today I have my network HD channels back and with one exception I think all is ok. That exception is the "instant" review of a "live" program. It turns out that yesterday the box buffered a channel I was not even watching but not just for one hour. As I was watching a live program I hit the playback button and the screen went grey and then I was watching a program from yesterday....CNBC. And it didn't just buffer an hour of this......it is still going after 2.5 hours. I'll be interested to see how long it goes. This is not a recorded program, not listed as recorded and I can't fast forward it. Very stange. Hopefully when it finally ends I will be able to use it as intended.

Wrong......after almost three hours it started repeating itself from the beginning and I can't do anything with it. This does prove that it will buffer far more than the 30 min. advertised.

After the 31st you guys in Charlotte may have a similar problem so hopefully someone brighter than me will have a fix.

Hey, I just got an HDTV box(pioneer) from TWC in Charlotte. It's hooked up to my X1. I've had a hard time getting WBTVHD. When I switch to it from NBCHD, I get a black screen and then a pixelated shot of what's on NBCHD. Any ideas?

Also, when I check the schedule on Titan TV from Fox 18's web site, it doesn't show the little HD icon next to any of the programs. Why is that?

Thanks.


__________________
IMHO


A guess is that you have the output set to a resolution your tv cannot handle - On my Mitsu - It does not take 720p, so I have it set to 1080

Originally posted by rcasenc
Also, when I check the schedule on Titan TV from Fox 18's web site, it doesn't show the little HD icon next to any of the programs. Why is that?


Because Fox hasn't started broadcasting in HD. Suppose to start sometime in Sept.

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
No, we have not turned the flag on yet. Probably need to do a rescan,
let me know what you come up with.

Yeah i tried a rescan, but still get nothing. Oh well, i feel like it's ATI's problem. My Samsung ts360 picks-up Fox with no problems.

Wow, that's the first time I've heard of something more finicky than the Sammy's! We are still tweaking the splicer configuration..

For those with Sammy's other than the 360, If you haven't upgraded you will need to, or else when we turn on the flag you won't be watching..

See: http://www.samsungUSA.com/broadcastflag

Originally posted by rcasenc
[BA guess is that you have the output set to a resolution your tv cannot handle - On my Mitsu - It does not take 720p, so I have it set to 1080 [/B]

TWC outputs 1080i and that's what the X1 takes. I seem to only have a problem with WBTVHD and at least some On Demand channels. All the other HD channels like HBO, WSOC, Discovery work fine most of the time.

Originally posted by HughScot
After the 31st you guys in Charlotte may have a similar problem so hopefully someone brighter than me will have a fix.

Glad you guys in the west got to be guinea pigs :)

Anyway, did the version on your box change (sort of assuming so)...and did you notice any differences other than the problems?

Originally posted by doppler1
Glad you guys in the west got to be guinea pigs :)

Anyway, did the version on your box change (sort of assuming so)...and did you notice any differences other than the problems?

Yes, but the problems have kept me so busy I haven't had time to see if I got any benefits.

Thanks for the replies. Cable guy is coming out tomorrow to hopefully fix my problem.

FYI- I was one of the first to get a digital DVR box in Charlotte, and it has worked nearly perfectly. Just some audio dropouts from time to time.
When I got my non-dvr HD box installed for my front projector, the installer said that the dvr-hdtv were much more problem plagued, though he didn't elaborate.

Also, when I got my HD box two weeks ago I asked for the HD Tier for the extra $2 a month, and they said that it wasn't included in the addtional tier offer. I checked the TWC web site and it was on the same list as the other digital tiers, so I sent a complaint e-mail. They have since redone their web site.

Originally posted by jimnc
Also, when I got my HD box two weeks ago I asked for the HD Tier for the extra $2 a month, and they said that it wasn't included in the addtional tier offer. I checked the TWC web site and it was on the same list as the other digital tiers, so I sent a complaint e-mail. They have since redone their web site.

I thought about trying that as well, but decided it probably wasn't meant to be that way though...but $2 is about what it should cost for the four channels (2 channels for those of us that were grandfathered). Are they ever going to add any more channels to the tier?

Is anybody out there watching WCCB-DT (Fox 18) over the air (i.e rooftop antenna) that has noticed a significant change in the past few days?

Every few seconds it appears that the picture is going in slow motion for a couple of seconds. Then the picture pixelates and catches up to live action. A few seconds later the process starts over.

I first noticed the problem last night during the Redskins-Rams game, though I haven't watched WCCB-DT for at least a few days previous to that.

I watched the Panthers-Giants game last week, and there were no similar problems. It was perfect throughout the whole game.

If the pixelation were the only problem, I would think that I wasn't getting a strong signal. The slow motion part is what's confusing me. I've had my antenna pointing in the same direction for at least a month, and definitely haven't noticed this problem on WCCB-DT(or any other channel) before last night.

I watched the game OTA and noticed no problems. What receiver are you
using?

I'm using the Samsung TS360.

Please PM me with your contact Info..

Any idea why on my HD channels, especially when watching the Olympics, the picture gets pixalized during any action or quick camera cuts? TWC says I have a strong enough signal and they even put a booster on my line. Is this to be expected for HD programming coming from TWC?

PAT

Tonight's game is coming through in DD 5.1 - When did WBTV upgrade to DD?

This is the first time I've noticed it. It sounds very good - fans all around, announcers focused on the center.

It's gonna be a great year for NFL football!

Wasn't the superbowl in DD5.1 - It seems they do it for football, but not regular programming - CBS shows are 5.1 aren't they?

I'm having a ridiculous number of audio dropouts tonight through my 8000HD. It's happening on both the Panthers game and the Bristol race. Is anyone else having a higher than usual number tonight as well? This is TWC in Charlotte.

I lost CBS-HD completley about 10 minutes ago (Time Warner). The SD channel is working fin (02) and other HD channels are working fine. Anyone else having this problem?

Originally posted by chief17
I lost CBS-HD completley about 10 minutes ago (Time Warner). The SD channel is working fin (02) and other HD channels are working fine. Anyone else having this problem?

Yes same here but it is both OTA and via TWC so something wrong on WBTV's end.

back up now.

Are the audio dropouts and audio synch problems confined to the 8000HD or does the 3250 have the same problems? I really like the DVR but these audio screwups are aggravating. Watching the local news on WBTVHD is like watching a bad Japanese monster movie, voices are 2 or even 3 seconds off. The SD WBTV is pretty close to a match, voice to picture.

I find watching local news on any channel HD or SD to be like watching a bad Japanese monster movie (especially Fox 18 (Sorry Bob!))...but that is another issue :D However, any station gets local news in HD on the air first wins some respect from me.

But to answer your question about the 3250...I don't know, but the Pioneer box, which I had before the DVR, worked very well on both SD and HD, with just the occasional sync problem (which may or may not be the fault of the STB).

With a name like Doppler - I'd think you'd love the local newscasts which have pretty much become dominated by the weather. The only newscast I watch any longer is FOX News Edge at 10:30. The others don't come close to the entertainment value of a Japanese Monster Movie.

Originally posted by doppler1
like watching a bad Japanese monster movie (especially Fox 18

hey, I do the hardware..and I can't comment on the programming! :D

TW came out and put an amp on my Pioneer HD box; now I get WBTVHD.

My SA DVR box (not HD) has occasional audio dropouts, but only on playback of recorded programs. And that only started in the last few months. I've had a DVR box since the first couple of weeks they were out.

My DVR has worked perfectly today. Its been on since about 9:00 this morning and I haven't noticed any dropouts. I'm wondering if the heat yesterday and the relative cool today are the difference. I know heat can affect the equipment outside.

Going HD shopping this week - SWMBO gave the OK. Is it worthwhile spending the extra green for a QAM tuner? I've got TWC.

Originally posted by Baler
Going HD shopping this week - SWMBO gave the OK. Is it worthwhile spending the extra green for a QAM tuner? I've got TWC.

Depends...with QAM, you will be able to tune the local HD's, DiscoveryHD, and TNT-HD. The INHD's and HDNet's are encrypted and won't work without a STB or CableCard. If you aren't going to subscribe to the HD Package and you really don't want to have a cable box, then I would get it.

A little heads up on the upgrade most of you will get tomorrow. If you've been reading this thread you know I've had some major issues with my upgrade which was done last week. I'm getting a new box on Wed. I've been told that about 10% of the boxes that have already been upgraded had problems but that means 90% were ok.

An upgrade is not meant to necessary fix problems but rather to provide continuity among the many boxes. It helps us from the standpoint that all boxes will be working the same way and can be adjusted accordingly.

One other thing I did notice after the upgrade.........my HD PQ improved. I spend quite a while during the Olympics going back and forth between OTA and TWC and 99 % of all users will not be able to tell a difference. This, for me, was a huge improvement. I noticed a very slight overall difference in that the OTA picture appears to me to have a slight bit more depth, or 3D effect, than TWC. The amount of detail, how a face looks close up, is the same but the overall picture looks a hair better OTA and I'm really being picky. When I first got my box back in May there was quite a bit of difference and now it is negligible. Thanks TWC.

Originally posted by Baler
- SWMBO gave the OK.

I must admit I had to look it up:

SWMBO n. a woman in authority; a wife.
Acronym. English. [she who must be obeyed. ]
:eek:

Originally posted by HughScot
One other thing I did notice after the upgrade.........my HD PQ improved.

Thats good news... Did the SD picture improve at all?

Thanks for the update.

Originally posted by chief17
Thats good news... Did the SD picture improve at all?

Thanks for the update.

No change in SD that I can see.

Originally posted by HughScot
No change in SD that I can see.

Then they haven't done the conversion of analog channels to digital as they have promised (but with no timetable).

On the other hand, I'm pleased to hear about the HD picture improving with this new download; tomorrow we shall see. Doing A-B comparisons between TWC and OTA via component, OTA is the "clear" winner. TWC's HD, on every channel, is noticeably softer.

Originally posted by archiguy
Then they haven't done the conversion of analog channels to digital as they have promised (but with no timetable).


Someone said they are no longer planning on doing that. :(
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4200838#post4200838

Originally posted by archiguy
Then they haven't done the conversion of analog channels to digital as they have promised (but with no timetable).
archiguy,

The following info may or may not have anything to do with your quote above but according to a friend in my local TWC office (part of the Raleigh division) but he said on Sept. 1st the TWC Raleigh division is suppose to turn off the analog support for the old General Instrument analog cable boxes. Something to do with new regulations?

Hmmm, I dunno Daryl. I can simply report what my contact at TWC, whom I have great faith in, told me - and that was that they were aware of the sub-par SD video on the SA8000HD-DVR, and that "digitizing" the analog channels would address/remedy this issue. He gave me no timetable for how long it would take to get this done.

I'm more concerned with the softness on the HD channels, actually. Looks like over-compression to me.

SD encoders are $10k..

Originally posted by archiguy
..................I'm more concerned with the softness on the HD channels, actually. Looks like over-compression to me.

On my tv the softness is not present and as I mentioned before it is very hard to see the difference between OTA and TWC.

What's up with WSOCHD on TWC? No MNFootball.

Originally posted by jimnc
What's up with WSOCHD on TWC? No MNFootball.

I know... I can't get it through Time Warner. ABC-HD has not been working since I got home from work at 5:30 or so. Someone else posted that they couldn't even get it OTA in Charlotte. SD channel working fine though.

No WSOC-HD reception (picture and sound) on TWC since 4.15pm. SD channel sound is messed up. TWC said they will send a technician on 9/9/04!!!

WOLO-DT is fine with MNF..

I still have no signal at all OTA. I normally a VERY clear HD signal on ABC (Silver Sensor antenna).

Tonight, absolutely NOTHING, although my DTV receiver indicates that I am getting a very strong signal. I am getting ABC via DTV (although not in HD, of course).

It's weird... Any ideas?

Why can they get it right the other 364 days a year.. always when there is actually something to watch in HD on ABC.

Oh well! It's just preseason anyway!

Must be an issue with the WSOC I guess. It seems to be fine in other cities. Strange that I am getting the audio for the game but no picture from Time Warner.

I use OTA for ABC. All I have is DD audio no picture.

Video still out OTA.

Originally posted by CPanther95
Video still out OTA.

Video out via OTA and TWC as is the audio at my house. I get no signal whatsoever from the WSOC tower on 9-1.

Whew...survived the box upgrade, and now I no longer have that annoying stretch bug!!! Plus, I can now select more than one output format, but it still doesn't want to pass through 480i - if I select 1080i, 480p, and 480i, it will output at 480p even though the source is 480i. Not really a big deal, I guess I will continue to use the box's stretch mode now that the bug has been corrected. HD PQ does look slightly improved, but it's really hard for me to compare as TWC is my only HD source.

Other than that, I didn't really notice any new features per say, but there is quite a bit more information in diag mode.

Anyone know what's wrong with WSOC-D? They were off the air last night (or almost - audio was coming through) OTA, and the TWC feed was absent altogether, as others have reported. Another weird thing is that it takes anywhere from 30-60 seconds for my E*6000 STB to lock onto the WSOC-D signal (90+% signal strength so that's not it), but once it does, it's fine from then on. Bizarre. :confused:

So I'm certainly glad to hear that we may be lookin' at some improvement in HD pic quality from the software upgrade, but does anyone know or have noticed any other changes? Just curious...

LOL, SWMBO. Anyone remember Rumpole of the Bailey?

Hi... we're thinking about moving to Huntersville, NC. Anyone know which Cable company services that area, and if their HD lineup is any good?

We currently live in Orange County, CA. and have Cox cable. While I'm not too crazy about Cox in general, their HD offering is rather good. Hopefully I won't be disappointed with our new cable company! :-)

Thanks for the help!

I'm not sure, but I think it is Adelphia... which would not be good. :(

Originally posted by netspots
Hi... we're thinking about moving to Huntersville, NC. Anyone know which Cable company services that area, and if their HD lineup is any good?
Thanks for the help!

I'm in Huntersville too. There really isn't a distinction between Huntersville and Charlotte, its just a collection of subdivisions around two freeway exits. Your cable provider should be Time Warner which dominates the "MetroLina" area.

I say should, because there are a few areas around what passes for a downtown in Huntersville that are serviced by Adelphia for reasons I just don't get. I would avoid anyplace that is served by Adelphia.

>> I would avoid anyplace that is served by Adelphia

Hi swamphhh. Thanks for the reply. We are looking at a new community called MacAuley. Ever heard of it? I believe it is right next to the Birkdale community, off exit 25.

Any idea how I can tell if this community is covered by Adelphia? Based on your reply, I sure hope it's not!

By the way, how do you like living in Huntersville. We haven't been there yet (we're coming out very soon) but we here it's a nice place to live.

Originally posted by swamphhh
I'm in Huntersville too. There really isn't a distinction between Huntersville and Charlotte, its just a collection of subdivisions around two freeway exits.

The people who have lived all their lives in Huntersville are going to shoot you.:D Huntersville has a distinct city limits. Adelphia is in several spots and why I don't know, but Davidson also has Adelphia to name one.

Well, I guess time was that there was a large enough gap between the various small cities in Mecklenburg county that they could have a distinct identity. But these days, its all Charlotte really. Not that I'm complaining about the tax break of not living in "the city". And I'm with you Hugh about the pockets of Adelphia around the area. I just don't understand why they exist surrounded as they are by the superior TWC.

Anyway, back to the original caller. Yes NetSpot, I've heard of MacAuley. Nice development. I looked there myself. But unfortunately, it is serviced by Adelphia. I'm not sure if they have a set geographical footprint or something more random. My home is in SkyBrook which is much farther east than MacAuley and we have TWC here.

Now before you get too upset, Adelphia does have a few things that we TWC customers do not. At least according to their channel line-up, you would be able to get Starz-HD and ESPN-HD. What you don't get is HD NBC, ABC, TNT, PBS, UPN, WB. The rest of the line-up is weaker than TWC as well. I don't know anything about their equipment or other services.

Swamp

>> What you don't get is HD NBC, ABC, TNT, PBS, UPN, WB.

Oh no -- that's EXACTLY what I'm most interested in. This is NOT good.

Well... what do you guys suggest? Should I get Adelphia, but put up my own antenna to pick up the HD network channels? or should I look into Satellite service?

Any suggestions? I've always had cable, so I'm at a bit of a loss here.

Originally posted by netspots
>> What you don't get is HD NBC, ABC, TNT, PBS, UPN, WB.

Oh no -- that's EXACTLY what I'm most interested in. This is NOT good.

Well... what do you guys suggest? Should I get Adelphia, but put up my own antenna to pick up the HD network channels? or should I look into Satellite service?

Any suggestions? I've always had cable, so I'm at a bit of a loss here.

Depending on your specific location you will have no problem getting CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, WB, UPN and PBS with an outside antenna. TWC does a super job with all those all plus the others. In addition you can get a HD box with a built in DVR. I have no idea what Adelphia has to offer in HD-DVR equipment.......none probably. Sat. is also an option if you are clear to the southwest.

All these little towns we are talking about were totally separate with miles of land between them. In the mid fifties we had about 120,000 people and now we have 500,000, so these town are no longer separated by anything. Just one big sub-division. Eventually the county will become the city.

Ok, now my box seems to be messed up. Everytime I turn it on on the HD channels there are grey bars on the top and bottom. I have to hit the video source buttom on the remote and switch through the aspect ratio options to get it back to fullscreen. Anyone experiencing this?

Originally posted by netspots
Hi... we're thinking about moving to Huntersville, NC. Anyone know which Cable company services that area, and if their HD lineup is any good?

We currently live in Orange County, CA. and have Cox cable. While I'm not too crazy about Cox in general, their HD offering is rather good. Hopefully I won't be disappointed with our new cable company! :-)

Thanks for the help!

i have a close friend who is on adelphia, definitally not a good choice for hd :( i think they only have hbo, starz, espn, fox, cbs, inhd1-2, hdnet and hdnet movies and no HD-DVR

There may be some hope for you though, 6 months ago they didnt have any hd offerings at all!

Originally posted by dvdguru
Ok, now my box seems to be messed up. Everytime I turn it on on the HD channels there are grey bars on the top and bottom. I have to hit the video source buttom on the remote and switch through the aspect ratio options to get it back to fullscreen. Anyone experiencing this?

Sounds like you have a widescreen TV, but have the settings on the box set to 4:3 tv | letterbox widescreen... Check Settings; A (for more settings); then Aspect Ratio (just in case anyone doesn't know how to change the AR settings).

That's exactly what I have everything set to but it didn't produce grey bars like that before. Must be something from the update I guess.

Originally posted by swamphhh
Adelphia does have a few things that we TWC customers do not. At least according to their channel line-up, you would be able to get Starz-HD and ESPN-HD.

Swamp

Novel concept... ESPN-HD!!! Not to mention the NFL Network. I've called many times over the past month as football season nears, oh wait... has arrived. One CSR told me that ESPN wanted me to pay for ESPN-HD. She didn't quite get it when I asked if ESPN "had singled me out by name and directed I pay for ESPN-HD for everyone." They should at least order immediate upgrades for their collective sense of humor.

Sorry, my bitterness abounds!!!

BTW, here is a question for you all: Saturday night while watching the Bristol race on TNT-HD (well not really HD, but channel 281). I was using my HD-DVR to record the race. While watching the race, I left PIP on to watch another channel. When TNT would go to a break, I'd 'swap' sources on the PIP.

The sources would switch, then the previously 'small' source would go back to where recording had begun. Either 30 minutes prior or whenever I originally switched on the PIP function. Keep in mind, I had not directed the DVR to record this channel, it was just recording to the drive as DVR's do. I would hit 'live' and it would jump ahead to 'live' action.

The commercial break on TNT would end, I'd hit swap again. Likewise, TNT would go back to where recording had started at 7:30pm. Whether I hit swap at 8:30, 9:45 or 10:00, it always went back to the initial recording time at 7:30. Again, I'd hit 'live' to catch back up.

Here's the question... Why? If I want to watch two live events, I should be able to simply swap back and forth. If I'm recording one or both sources, it should still at least provide me the option to not re-start at the original recording start point every time. The TWC CSR explained the functions of 'swap,' 'live' and how a DVR works, but firmly believes what I'm explaining is just how it works. Any ideas?

I think I finally noticed a couple of changes, but just to the IPG. For one, they added the TVGuide logo (which I am pretty sure I didn't have before), as well as full channel names in the top left portion of the screen...but I came from a much older version than others, so these may have already been part of the guide.

Originally posted by TeddyTV
The TWC CSR explained the functions of 'swap,' 'live' and how a DVR works, but firmly believes what I'm explaining is just how it works. Any ideas?
It probably is "just how it works" - that said, it may not be how it should work, but that's something alltogether different. I am not trying to defend SA or Pioneer, but they are probably working on several other important issues and future products, and many of these minor annoyances will probably never be addressed.

Originally posted by doppler1
It probably is "just how it works" - that said, it may not be how it should work, but that's something alltogether different. I am not trying to defend SA or Pioneer, but they are probably working on several other important issues and future products, and many of these minor annoyances will probably never be addressed.

And maybe I should have asked to speak with someone else. Not to try and go above her, but to offer what I'm referring to as something maybe they could/should address.

It would be nice if we had a list of all of the known "bugs", and a way to submit problems to either Time Warner Cable or Pioneer. At least then, there would be a warm feeling inside that the problem might some day be fixed :)

Originally posted by doppler1
At least then, there would be a warm feeling inside that the problem might some day be fixed :)

Oh, I get a warm feeling inside everyday when I call and ask if we might someday enjoy high-definition broadcasting from the "worldwide leader in sports."

Just doing my little part...

I got the upgrade and NOW I can't stretch 4x3 programming on any of the high def channels...I just keep getting those damn black bars on both sides. It still works for the SD channels, but it used to work for my high def channels too. I HATE HATE HATE those black bars, I don't mind a stretched image because otherwise that is wasted space on my expensive wide-screen set. DOES TIME WARNER THINK ABOUT ANYTHING THEY DO!!! Think about it, if any of us were to do half of the things wrong that Time Warner does wrong we would all be fired in our jobs by now! They better hope that cable competition never comes to Charlotte otherwise they would be out of business!!! I've never even heard one good thing about them EVER!!!!

Sorry to rant, but its a never ending battle with them.

I hope they fix this problem!!!! Anyone else experiencing this same problem?

Originally posted by rickncharlotte
I got the upgrade and NOW I can't stretch 4x3 programming on any of the high def channels...I just keep getting those damn black bars on both sides. It still works for the SD channels, but it used to work for my high def channels too. I HATE HATE HATE those black bars, I don't mind a stretched image because otherwise that is wasted space on my expensive wide-screen set. DOES TIME WARNER THINK ABOUT ANYTHING THEY DO!!! Think about it, if any of us were to do half of the things wrong that Time Warner does wrong we would all be fired in our jobs by now! They better hope that cable competition never comes to Charlotte otherwise they would be out of business!!! I've never even heard one good thing about them EVER!!!!

Sorry to rant, but its a never ending battle with them.

I hope they fix this problem!!!! Anyone else experiencing this same problem?

Since this is your first post perhaps you are not aware of the situation involving the upgrade. I'd suggest you go back through a few pages and see the problems I've had. TWC said that this was true for about 10% of the boxes after the upgrade. Tomorrow morning I'm getting a new box so we shall see. TWC really does a great job and if you compare them to any other cable company or the sats you should agree. I would suggest you do a reboot and see if it helps. If not ask for a new box.

Well, in my business a 10% failure rate would NOT BE ACCEPTABLE. As would probably be in most business. Still whether you like them or not by default, this forum thread alone proves that they are one of the most incompetent companies in Charlotte. Now I have to deal with them again to get a replacement box for something that was just working fine...only God knows how long that will take! BOY, I hope they send out some of those "expert" techs that forget remotes or bring HD boxes that aren't even digital boxes.

Originally posted by rickncharlotte
Well, in my business a 10% failure rate would NOT BE ACCEPTABLE. As would probably be in most business. Still whether you like them or not by default, this forum thread alone proves that they are one of the most incompetent companies in Charlotte. Now I have to deal with them again to get a replacement box for something that was just working fine...only God knows how long that will take! BOY, I hope they send out some of those "expert" techs that forget remotes or bring HD boxes that aren't even digital boxes.

These boxes were brought out because of the high demand for a HD-DVR and not because they were perfect. Enough people on here said they'd take them with faults just to have the convenience of a HD-DVR. I got the first one back in May and until the upgrade I only had a couple of minor issues with it. They anticipated the upgrade might not go perfectly but they tried it anyway. Personally, I'll put up with the inconvenience.

LOL...I'm glad that stretch bug is gone, he's not - I guess we can't all win :)
I'd much rather have it stretch none of the HD than having to go back and turn off stretching before watching true HD.

Anyway, it was my understanding that most televisions have a simple stretch mode for HDTV with sidebars, but YMMV and of course that is another remote to mess with.

I could be wrong rick, but I think the stretch issue you are talking about was a "bug" and not a "feature." When you get black sidebars, that is part of the 16:9 image that is being broadcast and you aren't supposed to be able to stretch it (digital/hd channels). When you see grey sidebars, you are getting a 4:3 image and the box is making the bars... you can stretch this image and get rid of the side bars.

Has anyone tried to record 2 programs at the same time since the upgrade. I am no longer able to record both HD & SD content at the same time - & be able to watch the SD content - it locks in on the HD content only - tells me I must cancel one of the recordings to switch? I can record 2 SD programs & switch between them without any problem.

Since I have been a huge supporter of TWC, and I try to always be fair in reporting my experiences, I must report a negative experience. As somone who has been in marketing and sales all my adult life, good customer service is an absolute must.

On Mon. I called and after a long conversation with a CSR, during which time she got all my information and had the name of the individual who ask me to call, she set up a service call for this morning. No one showed and when I called back I was told that no one had been into my file since 6/9. There was no work order, it was as if I had never called on Mon.

I know what happened, the CSR I spoke with on Mon. was incompetent and never got into my account or it would have shown up on their computer today. There are a few CSRs at Time Warner Cable that do not have a clue and I got one on Mon. I usually get excellent help from the CSRs at TWC and they are very polite and nice to do business with but some of them are not up to handling the job and need to be weeded out.

Same here. I called for cablecard a couple of weeks ago. I knew the rep didn't know what I was talking about. He put me on hold for 20 minutes hoping I would hang up. When he realized I wouldn't hang up he finally came back on and said "call back tomorrow as no cablecard reps are here at the moment". In other words, anything to get me off the line...

Also, I'm noticing something else different now. Now I can change the tv's aspect ratios even when on hd channels. I wasn't able to do this before. If I put on a SD program it won't let me use a stretch mode in the tv to fill the screen now either. It keeps the grey bars on the sides which can give me burn-in. Is my box faulty?

Same this happened to me about 6 months ago Hugh... I think there are more than a few bad apples though. I took off work early to meet a tech. After he is a hour late, I call and they say that I have no appointment set up. I have since started writing down the name of the rep I talk to and time each time I call.

Originally posted by dvdguru
Same here. I called for cablecard a couple of weeks ago. I knew the rep didn't know what I was talking about. He put me on hold for 20 minutes hoping I would hang up. When he realized I wouldn't hang up he finally came back on and said "call back tomorrow as no cablecard reps are here at the moment". In other words, anything to get me off the line...

Well I just spoke to a very nice one named Blenda and she was very helpful and a new box will hopefully be delivered tomorrow morning. She was first class and knew what she was doing. And I was able to get her by name so I will ask for her from now on.

Originally posted by doppler1
LOL...I'm glad that stretch bug is gone, he's not - I guess we can't all win :)
I'd much rather have it stretch none of the HD than having to go back and turn off stretching before watching true HD.

Anyway, it was my understanding that most televisions have a simple stretch mode for HDTV with sidebars, but YMMV and of course that is another remote to mess with.

Yes, most widescreen TVs have the option to stretch the image...only not through a component connection. The HD cable box controls the image with a component or DVI connection not your TV. The TVs stretch functions only work for standard RCA, S-Video, and standard cable connections. My SA8000HD used to work perfectly:

- If I wanted to watch HD channel's 4x3 programming in widescreen I would just stretch the image (aspect ratio) with the SA8000HD.

- I always kept my SD channels in the stretched widescreen mode with no problems.

- I could change from the HD to SD or the SD to HD channels with the channels all keeping the proper aspect ratio.

- Programs that were on the HD channels in the proper 16x9 widescreen format would switch to the proper format without me having to "undo" the stretched mode aspect.

But since this damn upgrade, only the SD channels can use the stretch aspect ratio mode.

I think I might try to talk to the same CSR that HughScot spoke with to hopefully resolve this issue.

Originally posted by rickncharlotte
But since this damn upgrade, only the SD channels can use the stretch aspect ratio mode.

I think I might try to talk to the same CSR that HughScot spoke with to hopefully resolve this issue.

Just remember that the lady I spoke with cannot answer your questions about specific problems. I'm sure no one has even heard of these issues, much less has an idea as to how to correct them without using a new box. If you have rebooted.....a total reboot.....and still things that used to work don't, then either they do another upgrade or they replace the box. For instance, my box will not provide audio on any channels above 78. Picture is fine but no audio. The lack of audio and the fact I can't pause a live program, and have a program permanently burned into the buffer occurred because of the upgrade. Tough problems I would assume.

Don't forget, I have the HD-DVR box and these may be the only boxes affected negatively by the upgrade.

Hugh

Originally posted by rickncharlotte
Yes, most widescreen TVs have the option to stretch the image...only not through a component connection. The HD cable box controls the image with a component or DVI connection not your TV. The TVs stretch functions only work for standard RCA, S-Video, and standard cable connections. My SA8000HD used to work perfectly:

- If I wanted to watch HD channel's 4x3 programming in widescreen I would just stretch the image (aspect ratio) with the SA8000HD.

- I always kept my SD channels in the stretched widescreen mode with no problems.

- I could change from the HD to SD or the SD to HD channels with the channels all keeping the proper aspect ratio.

- Programs that were on the HD channels in the proper 16x9 widescreen format would switch to the proper format without me having to "undo" the stretched mode aspect.

But since this damn upgrade, only the SD channels can use the stretch aspect ratio mode.

I think I might try to talk to the same CSR that HughScot spoke with to hopefully resolve this issue.
My TV Mitsubishi RPTV will stretch the 4:3 HDTV image to remove sidebars, I guess I assumed incorrectly that most could.

Oh, and it isn't so much the input that determines what you can stretch as it is the input format...you can stretch 480i/p, but not 720p or 1080i.

There is really no way for the box to be able to tell when the programs on the HD channels are 4:3 with sidebars as the sidebars are added by the channels before being broadcast and are received by the box as 16:9 and it has no clue that there are sidebars. Besides, if your TV cannot stretch it, why should the [probably] inferior (with regards to electrical components and/or software) cable box be able to stretch it?

Originally posted by rcasenc
Has anyone tried to record 2 programs at the same time since the upgrade. I am no longer able to record both HD & SD content at the same time - & be able to watch the SD content - it locks in on the HD content only - tells me I must cancel one of the recordings to switch? I can record 2 SD programs & switch between them without any problem.


I had a similar but nit identical problem last night. I was recording 2 shows at the same time (1HD and 1 SD). It would let me watch the SD program while it was recording, but when I switched to the HD program, it was stuck on a still image and would not let me watch it. I had to stop recording it and just watch it live.

My new box arrived this morning and everything seems to be ok. The upgrade caused a number of things to happen. When the service guy called in the number off the back of the new box the girl said my account showed no DVR service. This was the reason given for me not being able to operate the remote control functions for instant replay. There was no explanation given for the box having buffered a portion of a program that lasted about three hours and my not being able to delete it. I have a thought on this.....perhaps the upgrade somehow deleted my HD-DVR service and therefore prevented me from eliminating the buffered material. It really sounds crazy and after we installed the new box and got it working we both wondered if the old box would have been fine if the account had simply been changed to reflect DVR service.

Now the audio problem is something else. The box is putting out audio on all channels when I connect the audio out direct to the tv rather than through my Denon receiver. I changed nothing and did have coax cable going from the box to my Denon. For some reason when the upgrade occurred it caused something to change with my receiver. So when we ran analog cables from the box direct to the tv it worked fine. This baffles me. So far I have not figured out the problem with the Denon but that is my problem and why the upgrade would affect it is beyond me.

Sorry for the long post but I thought perhaps someone else might benefit. I don't believe the upgrade hurt my box except to somehow delete me from DVR service.

Hugh

Just moved to Charlotte last month - great thread! Quick question regarding the HD DVR box (my 61 inch JVC DILA arrives next week). I have read through the thread but want confirmation from HD DVR owners. For Video, is the DVI out active or only component out. For Audio, is the digital out coaxial or optical? Thank you.

Originally posted by kuzzy
Just moved to Charlotte last month - great thread! Quick question regarding the HD DVR box (my 61 inch JVC DILA arrives next week). I have read through the thread but want confirmation from HD DVR owners. For Video, is the DVI out active or only component out. For Audio, is the digital out coaxial or optical? Thank you.

The DVI is not active. The audio out is coaxial.

Hugh

Anyone knows if one can hook up the DVR to an HDTV and SDTV simultaneously? I can do that with the HD STB currently.

Does the S-video and Cable out work when the component outputs are in use?

Originally posted by HughScot
The DVI is not active. The audio out is coaxial.

Hugh

Will they be coming out with a new model or update on the curent DVR to make the DVI output video?

Thanks

Originally posted by rvenky
Anyone knows if one can hook up the DVR to an HDTV and SDTV simultaneously? I can do that with the HD STB currently.

Does the S-video and Cable out work when the component outputs are in use?

You cannot get SD out from the box unless you choose to save a program to VCR or you are using PIP (and you will get the PIP video out from the SD outputs. In other words, no - you cannot.

Originally posted by Panzer948
Will they be coming out with a new model or update on the curent DVR to make the DVI output video?

Thanks

No one really knows a lot about the status of the Pioneer version of the Explorer 8000HD (well, I'm sure someone does, just not really anyone that is willing to post such information)...The SARA version of the box had the DVI upgrade slated for September or October but I haven't really heard anything recently, as I stopped following the other thread and the representative from TWC-SC stopped posting there :(

The Sci Atl Explorer 8300HD is (or was) slated for the end of the year, but who knows if/when Charlotte would see it or what features it would support out of the box.

Well, after about a month my HD-DVR box is broken. I turned it on this morning and press list and it says "there may be a problem with your hard drive." I tried rebooting and I get the same thing. I can't watch anything I've recorded and I can't record anything new. Time Warner is bringing a new box this week. But the good news is I get a 38 cent credit for being without my DVR service for a few days. :rolleyes:

I hope this box is just a dud and this doesn't start happening frequently.

Where can I find listings of what will actually be in HD in Charlotte on a weekly basis? For example, I want to know if the FSU/Miami game will be in HD on Friday night. Where do I look? Thanks.

Originally posted by jimnc
Where can I find listings of what will actually be in HD in Charlotte on a weekly basis? For example, I want to know if the FSU/Miami game will be in HD on Friday night. Where do I look? Thanks.

Go to Titantv.com and follow the directions.

I have a question about the audio dropouts, and occasional freezing of the picture. Mine was doing it really bad last night on Fox, then I switched to the regular fox channel and it was doing on that channel also. So, I changed channels, to see if clearing the recorded buffer helped, but it only got worse. Finally, I unplugged the box, plugged it back in and the problems were gone. So, my first question is how do you reset the box without having to unplug it?

And, has anyone else noticed if rebooting fixes the freezing and audio dropouts? If so, I might try rebooting my box everyday the first time I watch tv, to see if it gets better. Seems like it may be some poor programming when the buffers start to get filled? Maybe some memory management problems, which would make sense that it gets better after a reboot.