I don't think KKTV showed the Thursday afternoon Masters session I watched it on DirecTV channel 84. I didn't keep on checking KKTV, but they didn't have it on it at 2:00 PM.

Did anyone else see it on KKTV-DT yesterday? Turns out I can't check it out this afternoon or yesterday afternoon. Hope the weekend rounds are good competition and no rain in Georgia.

Well it's official now, I'm moving to Denver. I'll be around through the end of the month, and hopefully I'll have a chance to meet you all at Frank's house before I go.

It's been fun watching the HD scene developing here, slowly but surely, over the past year. Don't be too jealous when I'm watching ABC and NBC in HD up there! :)

Congratulations! We're all coming to your house on Sunday nights to watch Alias in HD.

Sounds good, I think I'm going to sell my big tube before I leave and get a RP widescreen of some kind. That thing is too heavy and it gives me a good excuse to get a bigger one.

Jennifer Garner in HD might be enough to get me started watching that show, although it might conflict with the Sops and Deadwood. Guess I'd better start saving for the HD-Tivo.

Just read this in an ilovehdtv.com email:

"FOX Sports HD NFL coverage sends an early warning shot across the bows of the other Major Network’s HD Ships. Meaning: HD Sports is coming to FOX Big Time, no better place than the NFL, every Sunday in the fall. FOX Sports has jumped in with both cleats. They announced that they will be “broadcasting up to six NFL games a week in HD 720p”. WOW! They claim 111 NFL games slated for the regular season… hmmm let me get my abacus. Let’s say they average only 5 games a week x 18 weeks. Heck that’s 90 HD NFL games outa 111 total! Well, if they go ahead and do six/week x 18 weeks its 108 HD NFL, throw in Thanksgiving and specials. Yup, seems their whole NFL season will be HD !!! (The NFL has an 18-week schedule with each team having 2 bye (off) weeks) Oh gee, I forgot the NFL postseason & preseason, Oh Boy! HD Football.. note to self: need to get portable HDTV setup for tailgate parties!

Very cool. Hope CBS will take this as a challenge and do more than one HD game a week. Also KXRM should be jumping up to 720p by the fall if what we heard a while back holds true.

I'm still noticing audio sync problems with KXRM-DT received OTA. Seems like sometimes more than other times?? I assume you all see the same thing OTA, right? What about KXRM digital over Adelphia - is their feed synced up? It's hard for me to watch Fox's digital channel right now between the vertical picture jitter (apparently a problem that only I have) and the audio sync issue. :mad:

Cool.. now I won't mind the Broncos being on Fox as much as I used to. I think our KXRM will do the switch smoothly. I also notice the picture gitter you're talking about. It's a LOT like what D* had in the beginning of the football season with their ED/HD games. Luckily, it doesn't bother me much, if at all. and sadly even though there are shows on Fox that I'd like to watch, I rarely do.

Originally posted by Vaggeto
I also notice the picture gitter you're talking about. It's a LOT like what D* had in the beginning of the football season with their ED/HD games.
So now I'm really confused. I thought no one else was seeing this so I concluded it couldn't be the station's problem. Plus one time I took my computer flat-panel monitor into the theater and hooked it up via DVI and didn't notice any jitter. So I've been pushing SoundTrack service techs to figure out what is wrong inside my Mitsubishi RPTV that makes it not display a 480p DTV signal over component cables correctly. Visually, it can make me dizzy though it's just a slight problem. Ugh...

Originally posted by Vaggeto
Luckily, it doesn't bother me much, if at all. and sadly even though there are shows on Fox that I'd like to watch, I rarely do.
I rarely watch Fox too, but Fox widescreen baseball is coming up this summer (including Red Sox-Yankees last night) and I want to be all set for the Fox HD NFL games in 4 1/2 months. Plus if there's a problem with my TV I need it to be fixed under warranty.

Anyone else want to weigh in on noticing audio sync problems with KXRM-DT, either OTA or on Adelphia?

I also get audio out of sync with KXRM digital. I get it ota.

Roy

I see the gitter issue on KXRM too. I was hoping that KXRM was fixing the problem when their DTV signal was down for a couple of weeks. However, when it came back up I still saw a wiggling image.

TallGuy, out of curiosity, what is your equipment. Maybe it's related. Mine is a Mitsubishi 55413 TV and a Samsung TS-160 receiver. I'm using a DVI connection from the receiver to the tv.

Originally posted by ryttingm
I see the gitter issue on KXRM too. I was hoping that KXRM was fixing the problem when their DTV signal was down for a couple of weeks. However, when it came back up I still saw a wiggling image.

TallGuy, out of curiosity, what is your equipment. Maybe it's related. Mine is a Mitsubishi 55413 TV and a Samsung TS-160 receiver. I'm using a DVI connection from the receiver to the tv.
Similarly, I have a Mitsubishi 65611 TV (2002 model, 65") and the Samsung SIR-TS160 also. But the TV doesn't have DVI so I have to use component to transmit the digital signal.

The interesting thing is that I see the same jitter using the HD tuner in the TV (i.e. not using the Samsung at all). So it's not the Samsung's fault.

Maybe I should try my DVI hookup out of the Samsung into my computer monitor again. I had concluded that DVI was fine but your scenario says not necessarily.

Maybe the bottom line on both the video and audio issues is that KXRM's current equipment is not that great (or not configured well). I believe they have to get some new hardware to move to 720p in the fall and hopefully both problems will go away then. It's amazing that the station could let this continue for months and months like this. We need to get the station engineer into this forum like we have Tim T. from KKTV.

I still wonder if KXRM's feed to Adelphia cable has the same problems or not. Joanr, are you reading? Anyone?

I thought the jitters were much better now than they were during football season, but I could be imagining things. I don't watch too much Faux widescreen now, I'll have to check out a baseball game. I've got a Sammy 160 hooked up via DVI to a Sony 36HS500.

KXRM's feed to Adelphia is unpredictable at best. It totally vanished for a few weeks or so just awhile back. I avoid watching Fox and ABC over the Moto box since neither is in HD and both look better bypassing the box. I've got the feed split for the analog channels. HDNET is now previewing over Adelphia and it's not half bad but nothing I'd subscribe to. I haven't noticed the jitter on Fox the few times I've viewed it via the box. Guess we'll just have to wait for the Fall and see how it's doing then. My gripe is that Adelphia is now offering all these super saver deals when you sign up for the HD services including a year of free premium HD channels and other discounts. When I signed up just a few months ago they offered none of this. It's going to be a slow process, probably another year or more to get NBC or ABC local to go HD. BTW, I haven't noticed PBS looking HD yet either. HBO's Deadwood is drop dead gorgous in HD and CBS continues to shine. I just hope Fox will be 720 by fall for football season.

Joanr:

Actually... everyone lost the signal from KXRM for awhile. Something broke that took awhile to fix. If possible, could you waiting for something like baseball to be on, and look for some white static graphic to look at and see if you see the slight jitter?

Apparently the HD equpiment has already been sent out to some stations.. hopefully KXRM gets it setup sometime soon and then they can move to 720p all the time :-)

Thanks

Originally posted by Jeremy Tebo
I thought the jitters were much better now than they were during football season, but I could be imagining things.
I agree, the jitter I'm seeing is much more minimal than during last baseball and football seasons. But it's still there. On Friday night, they had a 16x9 test pattern on after the Yankees-Red Sox game, and the horizontal lines were moving vertically. The worst seems to be the lower middle part of the screen.

I still don't know how they can not care that the audio doesn't match people's lips moving.

I'll check Fox out again tonight. I think my HD box is a POS. It really distorts the lower channels, lots of noise, more than ususal, 480p or i as default, doesn't matter, still looks awful. The DT & HD channels are not bad but the audio out is weak, I have to crank up the receiver well past normal levels to hear anything. I'll probably take it back for a new one and see if that helps. I'm not too impressed overall. After waiting years to get HD to my RPTV seems cable is not the best choice. It's a real PITA having to switch inputs all the time to get decent PQ. The TV does a much better job than the box. My brother is in Philly and has none of these complaints with his SA box or whatever they are using there.

I have a question for anyone else using the Adelphia Mot box. Viewing CSI or some of the other CBS HD programming, does your picture take on a reddish hue and look rather dark? I have to do a lot of adjusting when I switch to CBS. Miami CSi is the worst, the red is really overpowering. Would this be the filming process ( I think it would be) or the box? This doesn't usually happen with HBO HD or the HDNet channels. Does anyone use a different box with Adelphia or do we have to use theirs? Thanks.

Joanr,
Are you using the component cables provided by Adelphia/Motorola? I'm not a big advocate of High-End cables, but perhaps the component cables may be the root of the color issues your having.

Originally posted by Joanr
I have a question for anyone else using the Adelphia Mot box. Viewing CSI or some of the other CBS HD programming, does your picture take on a reddish hue and look rather dark? I have to do a lot of adjusting when I switch to CBS. Miami CSi is the worst, the red is really overpowering. Would this be the filming process ( I think it would be) or the box? This doesn't usually happen with HBO HD or the HDNet channels. Does anyone use a different box with Adelphia or do we have to use theirs? Thanks.

Nothing like this using the OTA signal so it must have something to do with the Adelphia box.

Originally posted by Joanr
Viewing CSI or some of the other CBS HD programming, does your picture take on a reddish hue and look rather dark?

I have noticed that peoples lips and such look a little too red as well. I have not noticed the darkness, but I will pay more attention to CSI this Thursday.

Brian

So the OTA color looks normal/good? I wonder then if it's the box or compression if in use creating the problem. The other HD channels look nice, it's just a CBS problem, and then not with all their programming, just some. But if OTA is ok, then it must be the box. Back it goes, since the audio has a problem also.
And I've yet to see much difference between the high priced Monsters and a good quality Radio Shack, but my Extron cables seem to work best. Anyhow, I'll take it back this weekend and see if that clears up the problem.
Thanks.

For those of you that are using Dishnetwork, take a look at channel 136. There is a mesage urging everyone to visit http://www.iwantmyhdtv.com/iwanthdtv/ . The site is looking to raise support to allow DBS companies to broadcast network HDTV signals to any subscriber that cannot receive a local OTA-HD signal. So anyone here would be able to get ABC and NBC from their DBS provider since these stations are not currently broadcasting an HD signal.

Check it out and sign up if you feel that it's the right thing to do, I did.

Wow... very cool thing they're supporting. But it's not fair that satellite would be able to offer those channels and cable companies can't. They need to change it to all providers.

Joanr... make sure you weren't watching Navy NCIS when you noticed that. That show has some terrible effects that make everything red and somewhat dark.

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
For those of you that are using Dishnetwork, take a look at channel 136. There is a mesage urging everyone to visit http://www.iwantmyhdtv.com/iwanthdtv/ . The site is looking to raise support to allow DBS companies to broadcast network HDTV signals to any subscriber that cannot receive a local OTA-HD signal. So anyone here would be able to get ABC and NBC from their DBS provider since these stations are not currently broadcasting an HD signal.

Check it out and sign up if you feel that it's the right thing to do, I did.
Thanks Frank. That absolutely needs to happen. I added my own sentences to the letter and generated it through their website. Good info.

Perhaps local stations will finally get the message that there is a large demand for HD broadcasts. At this point we can only wait and see if it makes a difference.

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
For those of you that are using Dishnetwork, take a look at channel 136. There is a mesage urging everyone to visit http://www.iwantmyhdtv.com/iwanthdtv/ . The site is looking to raise support to allow DBS companies to broadcast network HDTV signals to any subscriber that cannot receive a local OTA-HD signal. So anyone here would be able to get ABC and NBC from their DBS provider since these stations are not currently broadcasting an HD signal.

Check it out and sign up if you feel that it's the right thing to do, I did.

I certainly will be doing this. I just checked and ESPNHD has the Avs-sharks games on Monday and Wednesday. It also looks like Adelphia-32 has the game Monday which, if I am not mistaken, means I will not be able to watch it in HD... GRRRR. Maybe the Wednesday night game...

--Ron

And I don't have cable. So either I won't get the Avs game at all, or maybe ESPN-HD will only be blocked out in the Denver area since Adelphia-32 is really the feed from Denver's UPN-20. I can hope, can't I?

FS: Adelphia (http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/22/technology/adelphia.reut/index.htm)

I saw this in the Post this morning. It looks like Adelphia may finally be sold. Hopefully a cable Co. with a better slant on HD and programming may pick them up.

Brian

Originally posted by TallGuy
And I don't have cable. So either I won't get the Avs game at all, or maybe ESPN-HD will only be blocked out in the Denver area since Adelphia-32 is really the feed from Denver's UPN-20. I can hope, can't I?

Whenver Adelphia-32 has an Avs game, the ESPN2 feed is always blacked out. I assumed it would be the same for ESPN-HD...

--Ron

Ron - Yeah, you're probably right.

Did you get your DirecTV-HD-TiVo yet this morning? It's very cool, I gotta say. The guide is running slow right now as it indexes all the new data, so I'll be glad when that's over. The bottom line is that I've already watched more interesting HD timeshifted in the last 24 hours than I watched live in the last month or more.

Originally posted by TallGuy
Ron - Yeah, you're probably right.

Did you get your DirecTV-HD-TiVo yet this morning? It's very cool, I gotta say. The guide is running slow right now as it indexes all the new data, so I'll be glad when that's over. The bottom line is that I've already watched more interesting HD timeshifted in the last 24 hours than I watched live in the last month or more.

Still shown as out for delivery. My wife says that they usually come in early afternoon.

--Ron

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
Still shown as out for delivery. My wife says that they usually come in early afternoon.

--Ron

Its here!!! Unfortunately, the CSR was unable to activate it. Hopefully, when her supervisor works on it, (s)he will be able to get it going... I do show a signal strength of 90+ on CBS, FOX, and ABC so that is good. Isn't PBS supposed to be showing up as well now (at least with digital like ABC)?

--Ron

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
I do show a signal strength of 90+ on CBS, FOX, and ABC so that is good. Isn't PBS supposed to be showing up as well now (at least with digital like ABC)?

--Ron
At 5:00, I ran signal strengths on the 4 stations on my HR10-250. CBS 11-1 was 86-88%, FOX 21-1 was 70-71, ABC 13-1 was 16-33 (couldn't lock the picture), and PBS 8-1 was 50-55 with a picture. Interesting that you get ABC so strong and no PBS, when both are UHF and are coming from nearly the same spot. Are you in Monument, IIRC?

BTW, I understand that signal strengths vary a lot from tuner to tuner, but at least our comparison of the same model is valid.

I just counted - I have 17 hours of HD shows recorded in my first 30 hours of owning this box. I can't even believe there was that much on the 5 HD channels (4 D*, + CBS) that was worth watching -- I hardly watched any full show in HD before in "live" mode...

Have a great weekend with the toy of the year!!

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
For those of you that are using Dishnetwork, take a look at channel 136. There is a mesage urging everyone to visit http://www.iwantmyhdtv.com/iwanthdtv/ . The site is looking to raise support to allow DBS companies to broadcast network HDTV signals to any subscriber that cannot receive a local OTA-HD signal. So anyone here would be able to get ABC and NBC from their DBS provider since these stations are not currently broadcasting an HD signal.

Check it out and sign up if you feel that it's the right thing to do, I did.
Frank, have you put out the word in any larger forum on AVS? I was thinking it should be its own thread to get a lot more people to see it and hopefully act. If you don't want to do it, I probably will.

Nathan

Actually I found out about it from WWW.DBSTalk.com. That thread is getting a lot of attention. Feel free to post it as many times as you like. The more people that know about it the better.

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
Its here!!! Unfortunately, the CSR was unable to activate it. Hopefully, when her supervisor works on it, (s)he will be able to get it going... I do show a signal strength of 90+ on CBS, FOX, and ABC so that is good. Isn't PBS supposed to be showing up as well now (at least with digital like ABC)?

--Ron

Ok, got it working now. Question still stands about PBS. Are we supposed to be getting it in digital?

Also, my memory tells me that ABC will be HD in 6-12 months and no one has any idea if/when NBC will be in HD. Is this correct?

--Ron

Originally posted by TallGuy
At 5:00, I ran signal strengths on the 4 stations on my HR10-250. CBS 11-1 was 86-88%, FOX 21-1 was 70-71, ABC 13-1 was 16-33 (couldn't lock the picture), and PBS 8-1 was 50-55 with a picture. Interesting that you get ABC so strong and no PBS, when both are UHF and are coming from nearly the same spot. Are you in Monument, IIRC?

BTW, I understand that signal strengths vary a lot from tuner to tuner, but at least our comparison of the same model is valid.

I just counted - I have 17 hours of HD shows recorded in my first 30 hours of owning this box. I can't even believe there was that much on the 5 HD channels (4 D*, + CBS) that was worth watching -- I hardly watched any full show in HD before in "live" mode...

Have a great weekend with the toy of the year!!

I live 1mi north of interquest pkwy. I rechecked and I have Fox and ABC at 90+. ABC does not show up and neither does PBS (my mistake). I have a large uhf/vhf antenna in the attic and it may not do UHF well. Since ABC and PBS are not yet in HD, I won't worry about that too much.

I am REALLY looking forward to this first weekend with it. WOO HOO! Sopranos and Deadwood in HD. I already set it up to record last weeks episode in HD to see what it looks like. :-)

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
I live 1mi north of interquest pkwy. I rechecked and I have Fox and ABC at 90+. ABC does not show up and neither does PBS (my mistake). I have a large uhf/vhf antenna in the attic and it may not do UHF well. Since ABC and PBS are not yet in HD, I won't worry about that too much.


Sorry to babble so much (just REALLY psyched to have HD). When I check the digital signal for 13, I don't get anything. However, 13-1 shows up in my guide and it is a rock-solid picture.

--Ron

For those who have the HD-Tivo, are you guys getting guide data for pbs and abc? I still don't see any guide data for these channels on my samsung ts-160.

Originally posted by ryttingm
For those who have the HD-Tivo, are you guys getting guide data for pbs and abc? I still don't see any guide data for these channels on my samsung ts-160.

ABC Yes, PBS, I don't show any signal and does not show up.

--Ron

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
When I check the digital signal for 13, I don't get anything. However, 13-1 shows up in my guide and it is a rock-solid picture.

--Ron
Remember that the signal meter screen on this box is reporting the broadcast frequency, not the digital channel # equivalent. So to see your signal strength for 13-1, you set it to test on 24 . Also, 11-1 is 10, 21-1 is 22, 8-1 is 26.

[edited to change 22 to 24]

Originally posted by ryttingm
For those who have the HD-Tivo, are you guys getting guide data for pbs and abc? I still don't see any guide data for these channels on my samsung ts-160.
Unlike Ron, I do get the PBS signal on 8-1 most of the time. But I believe KTSC is not sending any guide data through the appropriate middlemen to D* to us. Hopefully they will when they go to HD, which hopefully is still scheduled to be completed in May.

KRDO/ABC/13-1 just recently got their guide data out there. I couldn't get it to coincide with my picture on 13-1 until I forced a restart by unplugging the power cable on my Samsung TS-160.

Poor Samsung TS-160, it was so new and it's already been replaced by HD-TiVo. Time to find it a good home...

Originally posted by TallGuy
Remember that the signal meter screen on this box is reporting the broadcast frequency, not the digital channel # equivalent. So to see your signal strength for 13-1, you set it to test on 22. Also, 11-1 is 10, 21-1 is 22, 8-1 is 26.

Bit confused here. Are 13-1 and 21-1 both 22? I checked this morning and I get 90+ on 10, 22 and 26. 8-1 still does not show up in the guide. I would have expected it to show up with no program data available.

--Ron

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
Bit confused here. Are 13-1 and 21-1 both 22?

--Ron
Dang typo. I believe 13-1 is broadcast on 24, and 21-1 is sent on 22. Sorry. I'll edit above.

Nathan

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
I checked this morning and I get 90+ on 10, 22 and 26. 8-1 still does not show up in the guide. I would have expected it to show up with no program data available.

--Ron
You know, I think the same exact thing happened to me on my initial setup day before yesterday. Received signal on 26 but didn't have any 8-1 channel. I did a re-scan of a digital channels and then 8-1 appeared. Wonder why that would happen to both of us. ?

Can anyone link me to information on the HD PVR? I for some reason haven't read about it at all, and I browse the HD Hardware and software sub-forums a lot.

Also, any info on how you got it and how much it was? I've never had any PVR, but this is getting interesting with HD.

Originally posted by Vaggeto
Can anyone link me to information on the HD PVR? I for some reason haven't read about it at all, and I browse the HD Hardware and software sub-forums a lot.

Also, any info on how you got it and how much it was? I've never had any PVR, but this is getting interesting with HD.

I got in on a preorder at Value Electronics (http://www.*********************/avsTC.htm). The Hidef TiVo is in EXTREMELY limited quantities right now but tallguy and I both have one. It has been rock solid in the one day I have had it and, since the software is the same as the standard def TiVo, I don't anticipate any problems at all.

You can get more info on it at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=36.

--Ron

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
I got in on a preorder at Value Electronics (http://www.*********************/avsTC.htm). The Hidef TiVo is in EXTREMELY limited quantities right now but tallguy and I both have one.

Me too! :) I'm just a few miles south of county line and east of I-25 and all I pull in are CBS (60-70 signal strength) and FOX (50's). This with set-top rabbit ears. ABC guide data shows up, but not PBS. I plan on ordering a Winegard Squareshooter from Value Electronics shortly. Hopefully, that will improve things somewhat.

Sometimes on KKTV I notice the audio and video slightly out of sync. Anybody else?

Originally posted by Joanr
So the OTA color looks normal/good? I wonder then if it's the box or compression if in use creating the problem. The other HD channels look nice, it's just a CBS problem, and then not with all their programming, just some. But if OTA is ok, then it must be the box. Back it goes, since the audio has a problem also.
And I've yet to see much difference between the high priced Monsters and a good quality Radio Shack, but my Extron cables seem to work best. Anyhow, I'll take it back this weekend and see if that clears up the problem.
Thanks.

Any luck with a new box? I have the Adelphia box, and CSI looks much like what you describe, but it's not the box's fault. CSI is one of the most heavily processed television shows on the air. The image is processed via computer so that contrast is pushed to an extreme (which gives you the ultra dark shadows and extreme highlights) and the colors are deliberately over-saturated. There was an article in American Cinematographer that showed photos of the actual raw footage compared to what it looked like after processing. The images were nothing alike.

My favorite example of this from the show was one that took place in a Chuckie Cheese type pizza parlor. The colors were garish, and the pizza parlor was so dark that it looked like more like a haunted house attraction than a place where kids would go to have fun. These are typical Jerry Bruckheimer "style over substance" type visuals, and one of the main reasons I don't like to watch the show - the level of artifice added. Every time they go investigate a crime scene, they never turn on any lights, but always use their flashlights. David Caruso never speaks in sentences, but in pronouncements. The CSI lab looks like something out of a James Bond movie rather than a real crime lab. This is all part of the atmosphere that the producers are trying to create, and accounts for the extreme hyper look of the show.

Sorry about the diatribe - everyone loves CSI but me!

John

Originally posted by rvaniwaa
Whenver Adelphia-32 has an Avs game, the ESPN2 feed is always blacked out. I assumed it would be the same for ESPN-HD...

--Ron
Miracle of miracles, we're actually allowed to see our home team Avalanche in HD tonight!! Guess I'll TiVo it so I can watch it delayed without commercials. Let's hope their play is finally as sweet as this picture on ESPN-HD...

Originally posted by TallGuy
Miracle of miracles, we're actually allowed to see our home team Avalanche in HD tonight!! Guess I'll TiVo it so I can watch it delayed without commercials. Let's hope their play is finally as sweet as this picture on ESPN-HD...

I was all set with NHL radio, ready to listen to the game and then checked, just to make sure and, wonder of wonders, the game was on and it looked absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! The Avs did not but man, what a picture. Wednesday nights game is in HD as well. Hopefully, the Avs will get something past Nabakov...

-Ron

I got inspired on Friday to harass, I mean encourage, the HD scene in Colorado Springs since so little has happened lately. Here's the net result of my inquiries:

Gazette - their TV writer is working on the article (no idea how big) on HDTV. I traded emails with him and he has done his research on the local stations plus KUSA in Denver. Some details he mentioned were more focused on when there would be locally produced HD such as local newscasts, but other stuff will be in the article too. I offered this forum as a way for him to get input or quotes, and he might take us up on that next week. I look forward to the article coming out. I did my soapbox routine for him in the email, but I doubt that the headline will come out as I would write it:

Local HDTV viewers taking it in the shorts
NBC, ABC broadcasting in obsolete format

:)

KRDO (ABC) - "The ABC Network has scheduled us for the upgrade to our Satellite system in Feb of 2005. When that is complete we will be able to receive HDTV from the network. We will still need tp do some major upgrades to our equipment to be able to get it thru our plant and to the transmitter. There is no firm date for that to happen."
I wonder if they will be waiting for the 2007 deadline from the FCC before they spend a dime. Forget about Monday Night Football, the Oscars, the NBA Finals, Alias, etc. around here for a long time... I guess you can afford to be cheap when you have a monopoly on a certain specific product. But they may lose viewership over it in 2005-2006, I'd guess.

KOAA (NBC) - I'm told that the FCC is still chewing on the construction permit application (which has been at least 7 months or more) but there was some positive rumor about it 2 months ago. The station can't do anything at all until the interference issue with a Denver frequency is worked out and the FCC approval is granted. Then the construction would take up to a year after that (I forget the length of time exactly). So no Olympics or any NBC show in HD for probably 1-2 years. When I mentioned all the digital TVs people are buying in 2004, the guy sarcastically said 'yeah, there's got to be at least 24 of them out there now'. I said there are like 9 million or some number being bought in 2004 and he said about 3.5% of the local market has DTVs. So I don't know exactly how strong their motivation is after the FCC approval to build the HD transmitter - may be quick, maybe not.

I was trying to find out if the summer Olympics will be available on DirecTV on HDNet or PPV or channel 84 or something. I only found an article that seemed to say the NBC-HD feed from 2002 was put on HDNet. Sure hope they do something like that again, especially now that I can record HD.

KXRM (Fox) - I asked if they were working on the audio sync problem and haven't gotten an email back yet. Also would like to confirm that they're going to go 720p in September or so.

KTSC (PBS) - A few weeks ago, they thought they would get the HD signal up in May. So it could be soon. I've almost never watched PBS, but I'm sure there'd be something worth recording.

Overall, we'd be so much better off living a few miles north, and falling into the south edge of the Denver metro area... Sigh. The future is coming, it just takes a long time. Guess I can keep watching more and more of Discovery HD and CBS-HD, and less and less of ABC and NBC. :(

Hmm, Seems like a rather bleak forecast. Not much luckon the Distant HD network feeds via DBS either. The House Sub-Commitee that is reviewing SHIVA has pretty much squashed any chance of getting an out of area DTV signal via DBS. Some of the heavy weights from D* were dead set against it too! That is a mystery that I'll never figure out.

KRDO has always, and will always be behind the curve on any new technology. They were the last local station to broadcast in stereo, and yhe last to put up a web site. Looks like they're 1 over par right now.

KOAA could be doing a lot more to get FCC approval, but they're dragging their feet in a big, big way.

In a city of this size it really is frustrating to have to contend with such small town thinking. I don't know about you folks, but I'm keeping my dial set on KKTV, they've won me over.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by angilasaurus
[B]Any luck with a new box? I have the Adelphia box, and CSI looks much like what you describe, but it's not the box's fault. CSI is one of the most heavily processed television shows on the air. The image is processed via computer so that contrast is pushed to an extreme (which gives you the ultra dark shadows and extreme highlights) and the colors are deliberately over-saturated.

They really do overkill with the contrast and saturation. It's even more annoying when watching in HD. Anyhow, the box change didn't help the audio problem. Must be something with the digital coax out. I'm using the fiber input to my receiver for the DVD player, not the box. Maybe I'll switch em out tomorrow and see if that's the problem.

Well it would have been nice to have seen the run for the roses in HD, maybe HDnet Sports will re-broadcast it, wishfull thinking. If Fox doesn't have 720P going for football season here locally, I'm moving. LOL

Interesting about your audio problem - my box seems to work just fine. If you want to come by and check it out, or try yours on my system, let me know.

Re: Adelphia. Could I actually be becoming a fan? They've added quite a bit more HD in the last few weeks, with more to come. And picture quality is stunning. Supposedly they are not compressing the HD feed at all, and it looks it (I have not been able to independently confirm this). Here's what I've discovered in the last few days. The new channels just show up without any fanfare, so I just keep scanning through to see what is available:

HDNET - the best picture out there, bar none. The image is so clean I wanna cry!

HDNET MOVIES - as above, depending on the state of the film itself. They show a lot of older movies, which is OK by me, and they usually look stunning.

ESPNHD - I just caught this yesterday, but everything being shown was upconverted standard def. Not Adelphia's fault...

INHD - not up yet, but showing up in the guide

INHD2 - " "

HBOHD - great picture. The newer transfers are clean without artifacting, and most are OAR now.

SHOWTIME HD - ditto

STARZHD - just got this, so far it does not look as good as HBO or SHOWTIME, but it could just be the movies they were showing last night and their transfers.

CINEMAXHD - I'm supposed to have this, but no sign of it yet. Looks like a call to Adelphia is in order.

LOCALS - these have been discussed in detail here, so I'll take a pass on making any comments.

Adelphia tells me they plan to come out with a PVR, so we'll see! At that point, I will be totally satisfied.

John

Good to see they are adding channels...

But: "HBOHD - great picture. The newer transfers are clean without artifacting, and most are OAR now."

They haven't really haven't shown anything within the last 3 years that is OAR. The only OAR material you see from there is from the older transfers. They are on a seemingly strict pan&scan policy now.

Yep, I noticed the ESPN on 733 last night. They never sent a message saying they were adding this. It's as you said, all upconverted SD stuff. The HDNET stuff, I doubt if it will remain a freebie much longer, they said it was a demo when they first turned it on. Have you seen the surfing yet? It's just beautiful. And the racing looks very cool in HD.

The audio is still a problem, but I think it's my setup. I'm going to switch the coax for the fiber connector and see if that helps, but I really want that for the DVD player anyway. All in all the PQ on the channels that are truly HD is awsome, except of course for CSI....lol.

What is PVR?

I suddenly lost kxrm-dt 21 and krdo-dt 13 on OTA. I am using powered rabbit ears and had no problems receiving these channels. Did they change something. or do I just need to play around with the rabbit ears to get them working?

Originally posted by Joanr
What is PVR?
PVR and DVR are basically the same thing. Personal Video Recorder or Digital Video Recorder. They are both hard disk recorders.

Originally posted by Vaggeto
Good to see they are adding channels...

But: "HBOHD - great picture. The newer transfers are clean without artifacting, and most are OAR now."

They haven't really haven't shown anything within the last 3 years that is OAR. The only OAR material you see from there is from the older transfers. They are on a seemingly strict pan&scan policy now.

Yes, you are right. My mistake. MATRIX 2 looked incredible last night, but was definitely NOT 2:35 to 1.

On the other hand, HDNET continues to impress. They showed the 1994 movie ANDRE last night and the image was not only OAR, but amazingly clean and sharp as well.

John

It appears the problem is only with the KXRM signal feed. I called Circuit City and they weren't able to pick it up either. Anyone Here picking up OTA locals in Colorado Springs? Can you receive Fox ok?

I could fine last night.

Lately, I had no problems with Fox 21-1, and now it's gone last night and tonight. Is anyone besides Vaggeto getting it? I wonder if they would have had a drop in signal strength but are still transmitting...

I can't ever get ABC 13-1 anymore so I can't test that one.

Also, CBS 11-1 was not in HD for Navy NCIS at least at 7:10 tonight. I'll check again later.

I'm getting everything right now. And still the terrible lip-sync on Fox.
100 on all channels except KKTV which is an 80.

I got a hold of the engineer for kxrm, said the cheap set top box they have there for testing works. But said he is doing diagnostics since I left him a message earlier and would call me back by the end of the week. The problem I think for me is for some reason you need several more seconds than the other stations to gain a lock on the picture, and my box can't handle or doesn't wait long enough. If I do a signal strength test from the set-top box, I actually do get a strong signal. I am thinking of switching boxes even if they fix it because you never know when this will happen again. My friends Samsung box is able to get a lock after like 6 seconds or so.

As far as getting KRDO-DT, Tall Guy, are you using an outdoor antenna? or good powered rabbit ears? I had some cheap rabbit ears at first and couldn't get anything. Then I bought an RCA powered rabbit ears, and after minor tweaking on the power level, I am able to get it now.

KXRM - From my location, it sure seems like something changed because it hasn't been a problem at all before. I'm confused. Guess I'll recheck everything.

KKTV - Again tonight at about 9:10, I checked 11-1 and received it but not in HD. Has anyone gotten CBS in HD tonight, and at what time?

KRDO - My 6' Radio Shack antenna is in the attic (so it really shouldn't have moved or anything) and it got a picture on 13-1 at about 20% signal strength some of the time with the Samsung box. Can't lock the picture at all with the HD-TiVo. But in 29 years when they go HD, I'll see if they've upped the power on their signal. Maybe I should try a preamp but this signal isn't worth getting at this point.

KTSC - forgot to check it.

Sheesh - bad night for OTA DTV at my house...

Update-

KXRM - My HD-TiVo says it's getting about a 75% signal strength (or signal quality or whatever), but it will only lock on to the signal about 1 out of every 10 times I change the channel to 21-1. I had the HD-TiVo for 3 weeks before this problem started up. The Mits HD tuner pulls in 21-1 fine. Strange. Wonder if an antenna preamp would help it or overload it.

KKTV - Last night, we watched Everybody Loves Raymond recorded Monday night from 11-1. It was not HD, just an upconvert. So that's 3 shows that I know of between Monday and Tuesday that should have been HD on CBS but weren't. Think I'll send Tim at KKTV a PM to see if they're having equipment problems.

:confused:

TallGuy,

KXRM - Coming in fine for me last night, as it usually does, when my wife was watching American Idol. I get between 70% and 80% signal strength normally.

KKTV - I didn't notice if it was in HD or not. It was coming in fine when we clicked through the channel, but that was for maybe 5 seconds. I never see anything less then about 80% signal strength with this channel.

KTSC - Comes in clean and clear with about a 60% signal strength, but I hardly ever watch anything on this channel. Not sure what it was doing last night.

KRDO - I haven't been able to get KRDO for a couple of months. Every since they had that hardware trouble a while back. I used to get them just fine before that with signals in the 40%-50% range if my memory serves correctly.

My hardware is a MyHD 120 card in my HTPC, and a Channel Master 120" UHF/VHF ANT on the roof with mast preamp (forget which model now). I've also had a couple of Samsung STBs that had similar results, but where not quite as sensitive as the MyHD card. I can actually get channel 2 out of Denver with this setup if I point my ANT in the other direction.

--Eric

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=400149

That is the link on the HDTV hardware area that I started. Someone thinks it could have something to do with the PSIP data.

Has anyone heard more about the audio sync problems with KXRM? Last night it was just ridiculous.

Adelphia users, we now get INHD and INHD2. I'm blown away, these broadcasts look beautiful. Fenway park last night and so much more, 2:35 movies on INHD2. Yesterday they were showing Battle of the Bulge in HD. Anyway, I'm starting to like my Adelphia HD more and more. Just keep fingers crossed that they won't charge us for the additional HD content.

Maybe this is the problem?:

Transport stream errors included errors in video and audio buffer usage, as well as jitter and frequency errors in the Program Clock Reference (PCR). The decoder uses the PCR information to synchronize its 27 MHz system clock with that of the encoder. Errors in frequency or excessive jitter in the PCR signal can have a devastating effect on the decoder's operation. Buffer errors can degrade the quality of video or audio (depending on which buffer is affected), and can cause lip-sync errors, but PCR errors can cause even more serious problems, such as not being able to decode the data at all.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/Tech-Corner/f-rh-dtv-station.shtml

Well whatever the problem the audio is lagging a good half second behind the video, or is it the other way around?? LOL. You just can't watch FOX anymore through the HD box. Is the audio sync problem occuring OTA also?

Sure is. You might want to check your AV receiver or preamp and see if you can set the video delay to get a better match between the video signal and the audio signal. Not all receivers/preamps have the ability to do so, but it's worth a look at your manual.

Originally posted by Joanr
Adelphia users, we now get INHD and INHD2.
And Adelphia surpasses DirecTV (and Dish Network too, I think)! Who knew it was possible from a bankrupt company?!

Come on, DirecTV, let's get that new satellite working!

Well KKTV seems to be falling off the HD wagon, or having equipment issues. Tonight, King of Queens was HD from 8:00-8:13, but after the commercial break, no HD for 8:15-8:30 or in Everybody Loves Raymond from 8:30-9:00.

Are they having equipment problems or a new guy falling asleep at the switch? Guess I'm deprived of my new HD shows fix for this week.

Tried the Motorola HD100 and it has sound but no picture. I know the Samsung works in getting KXRM. I will call up the station next week and ask about their PSIP data.

Hello all -

If anyone here is interested in attending a home theater/projector expo up in Denver, we're having a pretty big event the weekend of June 5th and 6th. Lots more info is in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=402182

If anyone is interested here in Colorado Springs, I may be doing a smaller shootout at my house next weekend. I will have the new Screenplay 7205 720p DLP projector, plus the Screenplay 7200. 5700, and the Studio Experience 2HD to show (this is a clone of the Sanyo PLVZ2, a true 720p LCD projector in the $2000 + price range).

I'm not planning a "sales" event, just a casual get together like we had at Frank's a few weeks ago. Anyone interested in seeing some projectors in action?

John

Everyone is welcome!

John

John,
I'll try to be there, kind of depends on how much I get accomplished this week.

Also sent ya a PM on another matter.

Who bought Adelphia? Comcast? That would explain some things. Anyhow, INHD2 was previewing a new service that is supposed to start up next week called ORDER IN. PPV HD content. I don't know if that means it will be a new service via the Adelphia system or not but the movies previewed looked very nice.

CBS was in and out of HD all weekend, anyone else notice this?

The KXRM engineer called me. Said the signal test were good. Told him, yes, I receive the signal is good, just that the PSIP data might be bad. He didn't have an answer for that, stating that the box they use has no problems. But the good news is that they are scheduled to go High Def for this fall's Football games. As long as they get the HD equipment from Fox in time. With all the equipment change out, maybe that lip-sync issues will disappear.

Think I've figured out that my KXRM-DT reception problems are due to multipath reception, not to weak signal strength. The HD-TiVo gets no picture on 21-1 but gets like a 75 signal reading, which is better than KTSC-DT which does get a picture. About 1 time in 10 it will interpret the signal into video and audio on 21-1. Wonder if multipath could also be the reason for my long-running vertical picture shaking on KXRM-DT.

I've ordered a Winegard SquareShooter SS-1000 antenna to try out. It is supposed to be good at avoiding multipath reception, as it can't get signals from the sides or rear. And it's not a 6-foot mess of silver metal to try to hang outside without breaking neighborhood covenants...

Will report back in a week or so.

BTW, I don't have the PSIP problem since D* provides the program info for OTA channels somehow.

Found this on the web:

There are still technical challenges in the transmission of digital audio-video to the home (multipath for you OTA’ers). Speaking of OTA multipath, a new generation of HD receivers is being developed that deals much better with this issue....
http://www.amateurhometheater.com/Steve%20Brown%20RANTS/Digital%20Rant%20TWO%20Year%20Anniversary.htm

Hello all -

Here is the most up-to-date info on the Denver Home Theater Projector Expo we are holding at the Marriot Tech Center June 5th and 6th. Everyone is welcome:

Dates - June 5th and 6th

Location - The Marriott Tech Center
4900 South Syracuse Denver, CO 80237 USA
Phone: 1 303-779-1100 Fax: 1 303-740-2523

Toll free 1-800-444-2206, specify Tech Center Marriott

Room rate $69.00 single/double

Projectors:

Screenplay 777 (new 3 chip DLP from Infocus)
JVC HX1
Sharp XVZ12000
Screenplay 7205
Studio Experience 50HD
Optoma H76
NEC HT-1100 (with anamorphic lens)
Screenplay 5700
Studio Experience 2HD (Sanyo Z2 clone)
Screenplay 4805

We're still trying to get a SIM HD2+ for the show.

We will have screens and samples from Stewart, Dalite, Vutec, Carada, and Screen Research.

Infocus may have representatives in person for a presentation on the 777, 7205, and 4805 PLUS have given us free reign to use them INDEPENDENTLY in the shootout.

We will have a Bravo D1 DVD player as a giveaway on day one, a D2 as a giveaway on day 2.

Projectors will be shown sequentially with about an hour devoted to each - we are thinking 5 a day.

We hope to have all projectors ISF calibrated prior to the event.

Tentative schedule:

Day One: 10 am - 12 pm: General Front Projection/HDTV Presentation plus Q and A OR Infocus presentation

12 - 1 pm - Lunch Break

1 - 6 pm - Projector Shootout

After 6, we're all heading to the bar and restaurant. Inebriated Q and A session to follow, for anyone wanting to hang around!

Day Two: 10 am - 12 pm: Screens! Comparison between greys and whites

12 - 1 pm - Food!

1 - 6 pm - Projector Shootout part two

The actual schedule may be massaged a bit, but the dates and location are now LOCKED IN.

E-mail me or Brad at the addresses below for more. We hope to see many of you there!

John

Wow, sounds cool. Down the road, after my $3500 RPTV is written off in my head, that kind of event sounds very helpful to choose a projector.

Fox over the weekend was a real challenge. I don't know what the heck they were doing with their audio. It sounded terrible. Like a tin version of Dolby. I sure hope it wasn't their new equipment or we are in for a terrible football season.....lol.

INHD continues to impress, I'm really enjoying their content over the two INHD channels. It's the best PQ of any of the HD channels I receive, and most of the programming has 5.1 audio. I read the other day that 6.1 broadcasts are not far off? Anyone else hear of this? Also, any Adelphia users find out anything more about the PPV Order IN and if we will get it?

I noticed this also... almost like an echo between the front and the back speakers. It was doing this last week also. I really hope INHD comes to Voom before too long, or I will start looking into digital cable. (still get basic cable)

You guys are torturing me with talk about these things I can't get: KXRM-DT and INHD. Sigh.

I talked with the Gazette's TV reporter last week and he said the HDTV feature should be published on a Sunday around mid-June, hopefully a big Life section cover story. He really has a good handle on the scene around here and has talked to a lot of the stations.

Sounded like KRDO management said something like 'why should we spend money on HDTV when we don't think we can make more money doing it?' We need to convince them that they are going to lose viewership and therefore ad revenue, maybe not noticeably this year, but for sure beginning next year. Wish I was a Nielsen household so my not watching them would affect their numbers. KRDO doesn't sound like they ever want to pass through the full quality that ABC can give them.

And why have hundreds of stations around the U.S. invested in HDTV? Just because it's cool, and not for any increased revenue? I thought cable stations have been eating into network ratings every year for a long time now. I don't get it.

Okay folks lets see if we can get our local broadcasters attention. Many of HD/Home theater addicts are vocal in our desire for more HD content and more HD stations. Unfortunately there are only a few of us that post here on a regular basis. It's come to my attention that some of our local stations believe that there are only 5-6 people that are seriously into the whole HD thing! Without more people making their voices heard, our local station management may never get a handle on how many HDTV owners there really are here. So what do we do? Simple, have everyone that you know that owns an HDTV post a simple message here...."HD NOW!!"

I have it on good authority that at least 1 media outlet is watching this thread and is very interested in what our local stations are doing with regards to HD.

This is your chance to be heard and to have an impact, so start firing off those emails, make a few phone calls, visit your neighbors, etc. Give everyone a link to this page and ask for his or her help to get the message out to our local broadcasters.

HDTV NOW!!

HDTV NOW!!

HD NOW!!

HDTV NOW!

And each one that posts here represents 100 other HDTV owners that don't know or care about this site.

HD now!!

But I fear most wont register at this site to make a post, but I hope they do.

HD now!

At least we have KKTV and I suspect that PBS will be second.

HDTV NOW!

Sure wish I was two miles further north in the Denver locals area

Originally posted by TallGuy
HDTV NOW!

And each one that posts here represents 100 other HDTV owners that don't know or care about this site.


Good Point!

Originally posted by bnelson
At least we have KKTV and I suspect that PBS will be second.
Yeah, if PBS can do it for their 29 viewers (OK, I'm exaggerating), why not the big guys?

HDTV NOW!!

HD now. I want to see Monday Night football in HD

HDTV now!!!! If you broadcast it, they will come.

I had no problem, in the past, dumping the Broncos on KKTV for whatever game FOX was broadcasting simply because I preferred the surround sound on FOX over the mono broadcast that KKTV had at the time. If my loyalties can be swayed that much by audio quality, imagine what HD can do.

HD NOW!! :)

I recently moved to Colorado Springs. I enjoyed having ALL the major networks available in HD where I used to live. It's sad to move to such a beautiful area, and only have one HD affiliate. I want my HDTV!!

HDTV NOW!!

Guess we have a long wait for HD on KOAA.

http://www.koaa.com/community/listens/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1463

Originally posted by Tandem
I had no problem, in the past, dumping the Broncos on KKTV for whatever game FOX was broadcasting simply because I preferred the surround sound on FOX over the mono broadcast that KKTV had at the time. If my loyalties can be swayed that much by audio quality, imagine what HD can do.
98% of the time, I would rather watch anything that's on in HD than what's showing all grainy in SD.

So more CBS, more Fox, less NBC, less ABC!

Is anyone listening??!

HDTV now!

Well, I have finally given into the "dark side"...today I switched from DirectTV to Adelphia HD cable.

I already had digital cable in order to have the broadband cable-modem Internet access that I need for my computer business at home. We also had the high-level premium pack because my wife likes all of the movie channels, but that digital STB is hooked up to the TV in the family room.

Down in the Home Theater, I had DirectTV set up with the HDTV subscription. For local channels, like CBS, I was using a OTA antenna. My HDTV STB was a Panasonic HDS20. It's about 2 years old now, There hasn't been a whole lot of advancement in STB for DirectTV that I've seen. I didn't like the Panny box because it could not output S-Video at the same time as Component, so I couldn't hook up my ReplayTV to it. Also, switching between satellite channels like HDnet and OTA CBS took the box about 10-20 seconds to lock in. And I was really getting tired of trying to tune in Fox and the other local channels since every different HD format required the same long retuning time.

Given that Adelphia recently added HDnet, HDnetMovies, and ESPN-HD, I decided to investigate this more closely. They are charging me an extra $7.95 a month for the additional HD STB (because I still want the other digital box upstairs). By turning off the extra DirectTV services that I didn't need and even still sticking with my one-year committement (which still has 6 months before it runs out), I'm still saving money.

The tech came out today to install the Adelphia HD STB. Fortunately, I got someone who respected my knowledge of HD. He was blown away with my system...I guess he hasn't done many high-end installations in this area yet. I had to show him what HDTV was really meant to look like using HDnet as the test channel. Other than a problem with my digital audio cable being bad and having to swap cables, the install went *very* smoothly. I basically just pulled out the Panasonic box and put the Adelphia Motorola 5100 in it's place.

So, now I've got:
HD: INHD1, INHD2, CBS, ESPNHD, HBOHD, SHOHD, STARZHD, HDnet, HDnetMovies

Digital: ABC, PBS, Fox

Even after the research that I did on the Motorola STB, I was surprised at a couple of nice features:

1) The S-Video is ALWAYS output along with the component signal. So, Ive got my ReplayTV connection back.

2) EVEN WITH A HD Channel, the STB *downconverts* and outputs a 480i signal on the S-Video that has *VERY* high quality...better than any of the other digital channels. So, even though I can't record anything in HiDef, I can at least record normal definition from sources like HDnet, which is nice for special programming.

3) Even though ABC and PBS are not yet HiDef signals, the digital signals are MUCH higher quality than the normal lower 1-99 channels. The tech confirmed that channels 1-99 are not really digitial and are just conversions of their normal analog signals. So, 1-99 have always looked pretty crappy, with 100+ looking decent. Well, 700+ look even better even when not in HiDef.

All in all, I'm very happy with the new setup. The only thing I miss is the Discovery HD channel. INHD1 and INHD2 somewhat make up for that. And Adelphia seems to be adding channels pretty quickly, so I'm guessing we'll see Discovery sometime soon.

Too bad NBC is still not even giving a digital signal. Looks like the Olympics are going to be disappointing. I'm really hoping that HDnet can put together some kind of arrangement like they did with the Winter Olympics a couple of years ago. Otherwise we are out of luck, and I'll be one of many writing nasty letters to both the national and local NBC stations.

Anyway, if you already use Adelphia for the Internet access and don't mind giving more money to the big cable conglomerates, maybe this post will help with your decision.

I know that DirectTV plans to make some big HDTV announcement in June. I hope it's not something that I'll regret. Hopefully any new channels they add will also be added by cable. Adelphia seems to at least understand they have to compete.

I'm not sure this is as good as something like VOOM, but I wasn't about to pay $79 a month on top of my normal Adelphia cable-modem bill.

If anyone is interested in a *great* deal on a used Panasonic HDS20, let me know ;)

Hmm... We're now currently only on Voom and basic cable, along with Adelphia Powerlink. I'd like to have INHD and HDNets again.

How much is the digital package that would give me the INHDs and HDNets? Do they require a certain HD programming package to get?

I currently have access to all the others on Voom and OTA.

That STB lockin problem is odd... is that just because of the signal strength? My E86 and Voom STB both lockin very quickly.

Also, with the cable box, can you make the screen graphics transparent?

HD and HDDVD NOW!!! I'm an optimist.

MikeP, InHD is showing The Living Sea on Monday night and two shows on Sunday night that will really impress you. It's Imax stuff this weekend. I don't know what display you are using but the previews of these broadcasts on my RPTV were just outstanding. Can't wait to see these.

With the Mot box, are you noticing a defeat in volume when tuning to the HD channels? Are you going into a receiver with the optical or coax? I really have to crank it up when watching the HD channels and haven't found an answer to this yet. I don't know if it's equipment or station related and haven't had the time to ring things out properly.

Well it's time to email FOX about their audio. Not only is it out of sync, but now it sounds like an echo chamber. Someone turned on the Stadium DSP. It couldn't get worse. Don't these guys monitor their broadcasts?

HDTV NOW!!! :D

Vaggeto: Currently Adelphia isn't putting the HD channels in a package, other than the obvious bit of not receiving them without the HD STB for $7.95 a month. When they added the ESPN and HDNet channels a few weeks back, a message came along mentioning the "free preview" of the channels, but nothing (then or since) about pricing of them. My thought? If we are already paying extra for the box, some channels (ESPN, HDNet, INHD, hopefully DiscoveryHD) should be part of that price. HBO, Starz, and Showtime should be piped through if that respective package is purchased. Or, one slightly higher price for an all-inclusive HD package, movie channels included. I'd be really disappointed to see them to try some sort of a la carte pricing for individual channels.
I just discovered the INHD channels tonight, always a nice surprise to find new channels such as these. Not sure how long they've been up, but great to have more good-looking programming. Caught a couple of the IMAX broadcasts tonight, looking forward to the Living Sea show Joanr mentioned.
Joanr: I've been using an optical cable since I first hooked the box up, and haven't noticed any volume issues, other than the ridiculous Fox issue, which I/we have no control over. Are they too busy watching other channels in their broadcast booth? :p
Adelphia seems to be adding HD channels every couple of weeks, hope they can keep this up for a while!

I'm glad Adelphia is adding HD because it is so much easier for the masses to plug in one cable and have everything work, especially local digital channels, than to go through the antenna madness I've been fighting with for a year. And I want a lot of people in Colorado Springs to adopt HD, so we can get past this stupid chicken and egg situation with HD viewers and HD programming.

I guess the only reason I stick with DirecTV and OTA nightmares is because TiVo kicks butt, and I finally have the long-awaited HD-TiVo. My life schedule hardly ever coincides with the networks' schedules, and I missed a lot of great HD in the first year I had an HDTV because I wasn't free at the right time. If there was ever an Adelphia-HD-TiVo (doubt that will happen), preferably-TiVo brand, that might be the best of all worlds. I would love to never care about OTA signal strength again.

HDTV NOW

That's the spirit folks!

Keep 'em coming!

Good to hear from those who often lurk but don't post.

Adelphia users, are you getting the premium HD channels now for free? Yesterday I lost HBO HD and called Adelphia. They said wait and see if it comes back on, if not schedule a service call. Yeh right. Anyhow about 8pm last night my HBOHD came back and so did StarzHD and SHOHD, which I do not subscribe to. A glitch or do they like the "all inclusive" idea? Anyhow I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

I pulled out my av rack yesterday and seems I'm going from the MOT STB out to my receiver using a fiber TOS link. I'm also using stereo cables into the TV when I don't want to use the receiver. Testing several HD channels with the receiver on, the loss only occurs when they are broadcasting in 5.1. So, I've narrowed down the problem, just don't understand the "why".

I am getting very low signal on 11-1. Is anyone else having similar problems. I thought the wind may have messed up my alignment, but I get ABC and FOX digital signal the same as before the wind.

All 100s here... with the occasional 93 on 24

"Adelphia users, are you getting the premium HD channels now for free?"

Joanr: I noticed the HBO outage yesterday also, but didn't call. I also subscribe to Starz, and it was still on. When HBO came back up, Showtime was active also. I checked the SD Showtime channels, but they're not active, just the HD channel. Hoping it's not a glitch but a step towards an all-inclusive package, guess I'll keep my fingers crossed!
So far I'm very impressed with the INHD channels, gorgeous picture and some good programming. It's quickly getting to the point that if I'm just surfing, I'll check HD programming and if there's nothing I'm interested in then I turn it off or turn on the Xbox. Getting spoiled by the pretty picture and having less and less desire to settle for SD channels!

Originally posted by smithdj
I'll check HD programming and if there's nothing I'm interested in then I turn it off or turn on the Xbox. Getting spoiled by the pretty picture and having less and less desire to settle for SD channels!
Exactly!

Hence our new mantra....

HDTV NOW!!!

I think it's safe to say that KTSC/PBS won't make their revised goal of HD during May. Here's hoping for June.

And June could be a big month. DirecTV is supposed to announce new HD channels in June. Wooohooo!

Eye Candy lovers, be sure to catch The Living Sea tonight on INHD2. I think it's 7PM, not sure.

The premium HDs are still turned on, maybe just for the holidays, hopefully forever! I'm liking Starz HD programming, at least the movies are newer releases. HBO HD movies are stale but the time they get broadcast, but last night's Something God Made, was awsome.

Any video expert, here's a question. My Sony RPTV does not do 720p native, just 480p and 1080i. In the manual it says it down-converts any 720p signal to 480p. So what does that mean to me? When Fox goes 720p will the Adelphia Mot box upconvert it to 1080i or will I be watching it in 480p because of what the TV does? Hope not the latter. I'm wondering if Sony has an upgrade card for the model I have. This years model has a DVI input and does all modes. I should have waited a year more..........

Hopefully the cable box will have an option to upconvert(or should I just say convert) to 1080i... if it passes it through as it receives it, then it will send it at 720p, and it wil lbe downconverted by your TV to 480p.

At the risk of sounding stupid. (if that's possible while typing) is 24-1 a repeat channel of 11-1? A few weeks ago, I was watching Swordfish on 11-1. It was also playing at the same time on 24-1. However, the description for 24-1 said "Die Hard With A Vengeance."


I am still having problems with 11-1 and 24-1. I tried moving my Square Shooter and got no results. I am using an amplifier, witch helped tremendously. I live in a valley by Cottonwood park. Any ideas???

Also, Does Adelphia broadcast the local channels in digital and HD where applicable?

11-1 is KKTV (CBS)
24-1 is KXRM (Fox)

I don't believe Adelphia is carring the HD-locals.

I know this is not the HD Recording forum but I thought someone in this group could give me first hand local knowledge.

Is anyone recording HD off their Adelphia cable box? If so, what equipment are you using?

With all this new HD content on Adelphia these days I would love to archive some of the movies for future viewing?

Thanks,
Brian


p.s. HDTV NOW!

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas


I don't believe Adelphia is carring the HD-locals.

I'm pretty sure they do... or that's what I've always thought. I know a recent post here mentioned not using an antenna is a good way to boost people to want local HD through Adelphia.

Hmmm, pretty damn obvious that I'm a DBS guy!
D'OH!!

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
11-1 is KKTV (CBS)
24-1 is KXRM (Fox)

I don't believe Adelphia is carring the HD-locals.
Wow, I've never known Frank to be wrong yet, especially twice in one post. :)

21-1 is KXRM (Fox) - broadcast over channel 22
13-1 is KRDO (ABC) - broadcast over channel 24
8-1 is KTSC (PBS) - broadcast over channel 26
11-1 is KKTV (CBS) - broadcast over channel 10

Adelphia is trying to carry the "HD-locals", although technically that is singular "HD-local" as in KKTV/CBS. The others are digital but not HD, regardless of how Adelphia (mis)states it sometimes.

Originally posted by brianblank
Is anyone recording HD off their Adelphia cable box? If so, what equipment are you using? With all this new HD content on Adelphia these days I would love to archive some of the movies for future viewing?
Sorry, don't know. There aren't too many Adelphia HD people here yet speaking up, though the numbers should be growing. I tell you, recording HD is so worth it. You get to see many more HD shows that interest you, on your time schedule.

TallGuy is correct regarding Adelphia passing local HD signals. They're grouping all their HD channels as 700-series channels, usually corresponding with the SD channel (example; CBS HD is 711, Fox is 721). Channels are set aside for PBS and ABC, but since those stations are not sending an HD signal yet, it's only an additional SD broadcast.

I'm suprised they don't use 703 for fox, and 710 for KKTv since thats what Cable people would be used to.

24-1 is KRDO... I knew that! I was thinking about, umm, something else obviously....it was, it was, it.....

Hell I dunno what I was thinking!

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
24-1 is KRDO... I knew that! I was thinking about, umm, something else obviously....it was, it was, it.....

Hell I dunno what I was thinking!
Does your KRDO show up as 24-1, or 13-1?

Neither, They aren't on my OTA list cuz they ain't in Stinkin HD!!

Actually it does show up as 13-1 when I tune it in. Problem is the signal is so lousey that I just removed it from my OTA list.

Here is the schedule for our Home Theater Projector Expo this weekend. A quick reminder:

Where: The Denver Tech Center Marriott
When: June 5th and 6th (Saturday and Sunday)

Admission is free. In fact, we are giving away a Bravo D2 DVI enabled DVD player each day.

Please keep in mind that this could change if a projector doesn't show up, work, or we have a strong request from those present to change the order:

Saturday, June 5th

10-11 am: Front Projection basics, Q and A
11-12 am: Infocus presentation
12-1 pm: Break for Lunch
1-2 pm: Screenplay 777
2-3 pm: JVC HX-1
3-4 pm: Screenplay 7205
4-5 pm: Sharp XV-Z12000
5-6 pm: Studio Experience 50HD

Sunday June 6th

10-11 am: Screens
11-12 am: BenQ PE8700
12-1 pm: Break for Lunch
1-2 pm: Optoma H76
2-3 pm: Screenplay 4805
3-4 pm: Screenplay 5700
4-5 pm: NEC HT-1100
5-6 pm: Studio Experience 2HD (Sanyo Z-2 clone)

That's it! I have not heard from JVC today regarding the HD2K. As soon as I do, I will let everyone know.

Just to make things clear, we are not buying everyone lunch! There are plenty of places to eat in and around the Marriott, most of them chains (Colorado is chain crazy, for some reason).

We are excited to meet everyone and we will do our best to put on a good show!

John

Joanr, sorry it took me a few days to get back and reply...

I'm using the fiber digital output for watching direct HD via my home theater. I also send the analog audio over to my replay box along with S-video. I don't notice any volume issues at all. I remember reading something about them though...you might go over to the HDTV Hardware forum and look for the official thread on the Motorola 5100 box. There is a link to the manuals and much discussion of it.

I know it sounds silly, but remember that the STB has it's own volume control. Make sure you use the remote to turn it up to 100 so that you have the full signal going into your amp/receiver.

I admit I haven't watched any 5.1 on HBO yet, so I can say if the sound problem is just isolated to 5.1 or not. 5.1 on HDnet seems fine though.

I'm loving the two INHD channels. They have a great variety so far. Sort of a melding of HDnet and DiscoveryHD kinds of programming. I still miss DiscoveryHD, but not as much as I thought I would ;)

And yes, to also confirm, Adelphia DOES carry the HD locals. That is, CBS and FOX (sort of) so far. ABC and PBS are in digital in the 700 range, and look MUCH better than their 1-99 channels, even though they are not HD. I don't see *anything* for NBC though...no digital, no nothing. We really need to keep calling them and bugging them. With the new Adelphia package, the local NBC station needs to know that there are many people not watching them at all because of their lack of DTV.

Is anyone else going to the projector shootout in Denver tomorrow? I'll be there all day Saturday, but not on Sunday. I look forward to seeing what the high-end really looks like. I'm really proud of what I've been able to do with my system here at home and never really have had a chance to look at high-end projectors, so it should be interesting. Too bad I don't get my new glasses for another week though...I'll be squinting all day :)

Oh, and I subscribe to the full Adelphia package with *all* the movie channels. I had assumed that you needed to appropriate HBO/SHO/STARZ package to view the HD channels, but maybe they are doing a promotion. Or maybe they are still figuring out how the HD feeds work :)

MikeP, thanks for your audio comments. I'll try the volume control with the box remote and see if that helps. The premium HD channels are still coming through, if this continues I'll cancel the HBO package since I usually only watch the HBO-HD channel. But I don't want to alert them to anything right now if they are feeding these by mistake. Seems unlikely, they are probably including them now for their HD subscribers.

Unlike yourself, my analog channels look terrible through the box. I've got to split the signal going coax straight into the TV for viewing 2-99. The box really screws up the lower channels at my home. But we never had good reception from Adelphia in this neighborhood. Their equipment is always frying out at the headend down the street, especially when it's been storming or the temperature changes radically. Old area here.

I agree, INHD is spectacular. It looks at times too clear to be real. I don't view the great outdoors with such clarity with my own eyes, so when I watch these HD shows it's almost unatural. LOL, I even watch the baseball games just to look at the picture.

I emailed Fox and their engineer Mike replied back that they were more or less experimenting with the audio delay equipment. He said it sounds fine to them at the broadcast studio and inquired what STB I was using. I told him the Mot 5100 but that the problem was also occuring for the OTA users, but that it's ok when viewing the SD Fox channel. We'll see what he says next.

Oh, yeah, definitely the lower analog channels 1-99 look horrible. But that's true on all of my Adelphia connections, even the normal digital STB upstairs. What I meant is that the digital feeds of the local networks in the 700 range are *really* good, even for those stations like ABC that are not yet HD. I basically do all of my TV watching in the 700+ channel range now.

Hey all...

Does anyone know when Adelphia will be rolling out DVRs? I just called AGAIN and the girl told me it was suppose to be last month but it did not happen. I didn't know if anyone has some "inside" info on when this will happen. I am holding out on uping my package until they get these things out. Thanks!! Also.....watched the NBA Finals Gm 1 yesterday, I guess it is not in HD. I would have thought for sure that is was. Boo to ABC for not making the series in HD. And for that matter, the Stanley Cup Finals!!

Originally posted by shippy1973
Does anyone know when Adelphia will be rolling out DVRs? I just called AGAIN and the girl told me it was suppose to be last month but it did not happen. I didn't know if anyone has some "inside" info on when this will happen. I am holding out on uping my package until they get these things out. Thanks!!
Yeah, if they don't have regular DVRs, how long until they can release HD DVRs? They seem to be lagging the rest of the country's cable companies by a large margin. My decision of DirecTV HD over Adelphia HD is entirely due to having an HD DVR vs. not having one.

Also.....watched the NBA Finals Gm 1 yesterday, I guess it is not in HD. I would have thought for sure that is was. Boo to ABC for not making the series in HD. And for that matter, the Stanley Cup Finals!!
ABC is doing the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals in HD, along with Monday Night Football, Alias, etc. In the majority of U.S. cities our size and larger, you would get it. But KRDO in Colorado Springs has decided that you can't have it.

Not that I'm bitter or anything...

Not that I'm bitter or anything...

When the world gives you lemons, throw 'em at somebody! Works for me!!:D

I found an interesting website this morning that might be of interest to anyone that would like to broaden their knowledge with regards to HD/DTV broadcasts.
http://www.pbs.org/opb/crashcourse/
Kind of long, but a very good read.

Originally posted by TallGuy
Yeah, if they don't have regular DVRs, how long until they can release HD DVRs? They seem to be lagging the rest of the country's cable companies by a large margin. My decision of DirecTV HD over Adelphia HD is entirely due to having an HD DVR vs. not having one.

Believe it or not...I was HOPING that they would be HD DVRs. :rolleyes: I am using a Replay right now but I would love an HD recorder. So if anyone wants to donate one to me I would be most grateful :D

ABC is doing the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals in HD, along with Monday Night Football, Alias, etc. In the majority of U.S. cities our size and larger, you would get it. But KRDO in Colorado Springs has decided that you can't have it.

Not that I'm bitter or anything...

Unbelieveable. I REALLY was looking forward to atleast the NBA Finals in HD. I take back what I said about ABC then. Way to go KRDO. :mad:

Here's a thread you guys might be interested in: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3900134#post3900134

I always though our Fox station was in good shape to go HD because they were doing 480p, and Fox would send out and install the equipment to let them go HD. Turns out they already need to make the investment to go HD before Fox will send out the equipment to let them receive the HD signal. Do we have any idea if our Fox is already HD capable? I would hate for all this HD football to not be available around here.

Fixed my local digital reception. I totally changed the direction and orientation of my square shooter. I thought I would try it like the Sprint broadband dishes. It worked... I am now getting all digital channels in the good range of my Hughes STB.

Does anyone know when 8-1 is going to be available? Is it going to have High Definition programs or what?

I WANT MORE HIGH DEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by Vaggeto
Do we have any idea if our Fox is already HD capable? I would hate for all this HD football to not be available around here.
I traded emails with their engineer last month. I asked him that and a few things about the lip sync, and he didn't directly answer about a live date. I'll email him specifically about the HD live date now and let you know.

Originally posted by rohnald
Does anyone know when 8-1 is going to be available? Is it going to have High Definition programs or what?
The newest rumor is that KTSC/PBS will be HD here in June. Of course I don't know if we have to take that with a grain of salt because the first date was February and the second date was May...

I did find out that NBC's HD coverage of the Olympics is going to be very weak, as in a few hours per night delayed by at least 24 hours, and nothing on Bravo HD. So we're not as screwed as I thought. But it still would be nice to watch a cleaner digital 480i picture vs. the analog or compressed satellite methods we get from KOAA now.

Here's hoping the upcoming article on local HDTV in the Gazette will draw attention to the subject!

I sent an email to the FCC in regards to KOAA delay in gettings its CP. I will see if I get anything back from them. Maybe we need to get a petition, or at least get a bunch of people to let them know we want it now.

It appears that Adelphia is going to roll out an HD Plus Tier service. I looked at their channel lineup and INHD is labeled Plus Tier, HDnet is labeled Broadcast HD etc. The premium HD channels have no tier designation yet, but they are still available on my box without a subcription. So something is going to change soon. If they do an all inclusive HD Tier for a charge I'll just cancel regular HBO and use the money for the HD Tier as long as it includes all the premium HD channels.

MikeP, gotcha, the lower channels are even worse through the HD box if that's possible. The digital local channels have a better PQ but for some reason my widescreen zoom gets disabled when viewing them via the hd box and they are mostly 4:3 anyway, so I end up watching them on the SD channel via coax instead of using the box. Are you letting the MOT box convert your SD signals to 480P? I tried that setting and the results were not as expected. The PQ was no better than at 480i, it even seemed to degrade the PQ on some SD channels. Guess the box is not a good source for scan conversion.

I still haven't heard back from FOX again after their original reply regarding the audio sync problem. I don't think I'm going to hear from them again. I wasn't exactly polite when I emailed them the first time. LOL

I checked to make sure the volume was maxed out on the box remote, and it wasn't. Soon as I cranked it up it helped the problem somewhat, but still not with the 5.1 broadcasts. I always have to crank up the receiver to over 45 to hear those at all. Very strange. No audio compression is turned on anywhere so why it's doing this is still a mystery.

Sorry if this has already be discussed to death, but does anyone have info on whether Adelphia plans to provide a HD-capable PVR in the future? Right now I have SD DirecTIVO. If I have to choose between HD without a PVR and SD DirecTivo, I choose Tivo. I can't bring myself to fork over a grand for HDTivo. But if Adelphia would offer an HD PVR, even if it's not as good as feature-wise as Tivo, I'd be VERY tempted to switch.

Thanks,
Sean

Here is an useful link, showing statuses of DTV station in the nation.

http://www.fcc.gov/oet/dtv/start/dtv2-69.txt

Originally posted by ay221
Here is an useful link, showing statuses of DTV station in the nation.

http://www.fcc.gov/oet/dtv/start/dtv2-69.txt

Interesting that the list doesn't have KTSC PBS channel 26. It says it has the status as of June 5, 2004.

Actually it does, It's listed under Pueblo, as well as KOAA.

My bad

Originally posted by TallGuy
I did find out that NBC's HD coverage of the Olympics is going to be very weak, as in a few hours per night delayed by at least 24 hours, and nothing on Bravo HD. So we're not as screwed as I thought.
Now I'm reading that there's a new announcement that NBC will provide 399 hours of HD Summer Olympics, so we're back to being screwed on that...

I'm told that KXRM has all of the HD equipment in place and is ready to pass through the Fox HD signal this fall when the national network moves up to 720p! (September)

Also, they've looked at the lip sync issues and there's no significant problem on their test receiver. They're still trying to figure it out for the rest of us...

Joan, I actually have it set to the default 480i for non-HD signals just so I can retain the program guide and OSD (as bad as it is). I didn't see any difference in quality between 480i and 480p for non-HD channels, but since I feed that into a HTPC that deinterlaces and scales it, I'm not very surprised. I haven't tried directly connecting the box to my projector.

Regarding the local NBC affiliate and the Olympics. Could someone re-post the contact information for sending the local NBC station a letter and/or email? Of, if you have inside information, do you know if it's even worth our time to at least ask them to start broadcasting in digital even if they don't have HD ready?

It's just insane how far behind the times our local NBC station is. And here is a once-every-4-years event, from Athens even, and they can't use this as an opportunity to step up their broadcasting? I'll definitely write a letter if you think they are even listening.

Originally posted by TallGuy
I'm told that KXRM has all of the HD equipment in place and is ready to pass through the Fox HD signal this fall when the national network moves up to 720p! (September)

Also, they've looked at the lip sync issues and there's no significant problem on their test receiver. They're still trying to figure it out for the rest of us...

Hmm... so they should be added to the list in the link I provided a few posts up?

Or are they just ready to have the coupler installed by the network?
Wonder why they don't test upconverting. I'm sure they see how nice KKTV looks upconverted.

Originally posted by MikeP
Regarding the local NBC affiliate and the Olympics. Could someone re-post the contact information for sending the local NBC station a letter and/or email? Of, if you have inside information, do you know if it's even worth our time to at least ask them to start broadcasting in digital even if they don't have HD ready?

It's just insane how far behind the times our local NBC station is. And here is a once-every-4-years event, from Athens even, and they can't use this as an opportunity to step up their broadcasting? I'll definitely write a letter if you think they are even listening.
Supposedly KOAA has zero ability to move on this right now until the FCC works out the interference issue with some signal in Denver and the FCC is taking forever. According to http://www.koaa.com/info/:
KOAA and HDTV - Updated 06-01-04
KOAA currently does not have a construction permit (CP) from the FCC to begin construction of KOAA-DT (KOAA's HDTV).
The FCC has shown some movement in the area so it is possible that with in 4 to 6 months KOAA will have our CP for KOAA-DT. Construction will begin immediately after the CP is received and we should be on the air in less than a year after that date.
IIRC, the FCC has had KOAA's application/request for the better part of a year. Seems ridiculous.

According to http://www.koaa.com/community/listens/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1463,
It does not matter what any one believes, KOAA still does not have a CP, and that is not due to "late applying". ALL stations were assigned frequencies at the same time, the stations DID NOT "apply" for frequencies. KOAA is not the only station in the country in our size market that is still waiting for their DTV CP, There are about 20% of the stations of our size in the US that are caught up in on technicality or another. Yes there is something wrong, there is an interference issue that the FCC is trying to clear up, that is their job. On a side note, what the governments "goals" are and what reality is, rarely even remotely resemble each other.
if you would like to do some "investigating" try http://www.fcc.gov

Thank you for your question and keep them coming!!!

Quentin Henry
KOAA-TV
It's interesting how our priorities are different between viewers. Since my OTA signal on KRDO-DT is so weak, it's unwatchable. Since ABC seems to have a lot more good HD stuff than NBC, I think KRDO (and their budget decisions) are the biggest problem. But since other viewerss say that the KRDO digital channel on Adelphia looks good, in their view KOAA (and the FCC) are the biggest problem.

Still doesn't make me consider Adelphia HD cable - if I can't record the show I want, I'll probably end up missing it.

:mad:

Originally posted by Vaggeto
Hmm... so they should be added to the list in the link I provided a few posts up?

Or are they just ready to have the coupler installed by the network?
Wonder why they don't test upconverting. I'm sure they see how nice KKTV looks upconverted.
KXRM is now in the list in that forum, I think based only on the information from me that I posted both in that forum and this one. I wasn't given enough details to be clear about the coupler or the splicer or whatever. I'm just taking their statement of being ready for HD in the fall at face value...

Sometimes I can be an optimist (but rarely)...

Is there anyone out there in the Monument area that is getting HD via Adelphia?

I noticed that by switching to the various 7xx channels numbers that I can get sound, and a very occasional glimpse of a picture, so I'm sure the signal is getting sent to my house. I decided to call them and order it. The girl on the phone said that one system said it was available, but then when she went to schedule the install, it did not list a HD install option, only a digital service option. She scheduled it anyway and made notes for the service tech to indicate that it was actually a HD "install". She also told me that the Motorola 6200 cable box was an option (with the firewire)!
I guess I'll see what happens on Thursday.

Would be kind of nice if this works out. I like CBS OTA and all, but having only one true HD channel is getting old.

--Eric

Let us know how it goes, and how much it costs.

So sad watching the entire Lakers-Pistons exciting final game, knowing that it was televised in HD but it died in the final 25 miles to my house... I made sure to skip all the commercials to spite KRDO. Come on, KRDO! Spend a few bucks! Join the 21st century! Get some viewers back!

Anyone heard anything about UPN 57? I didn't see them listed on the FCC site that was posted a few days ago.

Originally posted by TallGuy
Let us know how it goes, and how much it costs.

The price was $9.95 for the HD box rental, as compared to the $4 standard box rental. There are no additional programming charges, other then the charges for normal HBO or Showtime packages if you order them, which will then include the HD version as well. I don't subscribed to any of those packages, just digital cable. I get 2 iNHD channels, HDNet, HDNet Movies, ESPN-HD, and the digital locals for my standard cable price. It should work out to about $100/mo for my entire cable bill w/broadband Internet service package.

I'll let you know how the install does or does not go later this week.

--Eric

This is for anyone locally who has a Mitsubishi RPTV. Don't think I'l have it done due to the price, but I am confident he would warn me I wouldn't see much improvment in the picture because I have tweaked with the TV so much.

Hi John,

We are planning a calibration tour for the Denver area starting the end of June / first part of July. If you are still interested in having your set calibrated by us please send us your address and phone numbers so we can plot a route and set the dates.

Please let us know either way by email or phone that way we know you received this email and we won't miss you on this tour.


Thanks !!

Craig and Sue

MG Home Theater Calibrations
www.MGHomeTheater.com
(909) 519-2090

I'm getting a Mits calibration from a Denver guy for $400-500 for 2 scan rates. I looked at Craig's site last week but couldn't swallow the $750. Sounds like he does great work though.

Just heard that KTSC/PBS has delayed going HD until the fall.

Also, supposedly KOAA/NBC thinks there's some movement by the FCC that's promising, so they could be built out by the first part of 2005.

Hey Tallguy, I hope the Denver guy does a good job for you. When I looked around a couple years ago I couldn't find anyone around who could do half of what Craig does and it was worth an extra $250 for me to know that it was perfect. Best money I've spent on my set.

Tallguy... I'm not sure if you're familiar with CraigM or not, but he's probably the best Mits calibrator around. There are tons of posts in the Mitsubishi section of the ***************.com forums, and I've never read a single bad thing about him. The worst that I have seen is people not having it done by him because he doesn't think they'll see a difference that's worth what it costs. Then again I do understand because $750 is a lot, and is the reason I'm not having it done. I only use 1080i though, wish there was some way for him to charge for a single scan rate. It really would take many hours of the work away.

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
Anyone heard anything about UPN 57? I didn't see them listed on the FCC site that was posted a few days ago.

I haven't heard anyting about UPN. When the FCC started assigning DTV frequencies they didn't do the LP (Low Power) stations for the most part, so you won't see UPN 57 go digital for along time, IMO. Check out this article for some detailed info:

http://www.fcc.gov/oet/faqs/dtv-tvtx.html

In one part of that article it mentions:
The Commission has not yet adopted general rules for DTV operation by TV translators and LPTV stations.

I'll let you know how the calibration goes. I guess I'm in the middle - if I spend $400-500 some people would think I'm crazy to waste money and some people would think I'm being too cheap. I'm hoping that I end up getting 80% of Craig's standard work for 60% of the price.

I can't pull in KTSC-DT tonight and the strength numbers were between 3 and 25 instead of their normal mid-50's. I wonder if it's the weather or the station. The other station levels were normal.

Last night I noticed KXRM-DT had a real widescreen show on, but no audio. Later on like 10:30 they had a test pattern on. Sometimes KKTV still forgets to switch from SD to HD in the middle of an HD show. The stations' growing pains in making this new technology consistent are interesting to observe.

DO'H!
Forgot about UPN being a Low-Power station, thanks for the reminder.

TallGuy,
Talked to Andie a few days ago on the phone, he said the print date is the 27th.

Well, the cable guy came on time and every thing went smooth for a change. He brought out the Motorola 6200, as asked for, and got me setup in just a few minutes. It was his first HDTV install, so he was a little unsure of the settings for the cable box, but I helped fill him in on the details. ;)

First Impressions (after a single night of watching):

iNHD 1 & 2 Looks amazing. This is what HD is supposed to look like.

HDNet and HDNetMovies also look great. The difference between film and HD video is apparent, which I guess just goes to show the level of quality these stations broadcast. Film converts retain the softer film look while HD video content has a sharper picture, and the detail is some what more apparent.

ESPN-HD - Wasn't broadcasting anything in HD last night and simply had the standard ESPN 4:3 stuff up-converted and pillar boxed. They are adding their own ESPN-HD graphics in the pillars, which I haven't decided if I like or not.

The broadcast networks look no different then what I get OTA, which is a good thing I guess. At least they are not further compressing the signals.

They have also turned on/are not blocking HBO-HD, Showtime-HD and Stars-HD. I'm sure that at some point I will loose these channels, as I don't subscribe to any of these packages. Each of these channels were showing movies originally done on film and they had an apparent softer look to them as well. More so then the film content on the iNHD or HDNet channels, but it may have simply been the particular transfers.

Next up is figuring out how to get the FIREWIRE working with my HTPC so I can record some of the content.

Over all I'm satisfied with the service. I was very seriously considering canceling my entire cable package, especially now that I can get DSL for internet access. However, given that I can't get SAT, the extra HD content is enough to keep me as a customer for the time being.

--Eric

Here is a webpage I found that shows tower wattage of local stations.

http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/co/tv.asp

Eric-

Glad your install went well. Please keep us updated with your progress trying to record off your cable box.

bb

Originally posted by ay221
Here is a webpage I found that shows tower wattage of local stations.

http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/co/tv.asp
That list was really interesting, and confusing. For one thing, I didn't know we had a KOAA-DT (:rolleyes: ), and for another thing, why does 20kW KKTV-DT come in much stronger for me than 200kW KRDO-DT and 1000kW KTSC-DT? I would think they're all about the same spot on Cheyenne Mountain pointed in the general same direction.

Originally posted by brianblank
Eric-

Glad your install went well. Please keep us updated with your progress trying to record off your cable box.
Same here

Tall Guy, Yeah, not sure about that. the KOAA seems correct, since KOAA website mentions itself the 100kw transmitter in Pueblo and a 10kw here in Cheyenne mountain. but I agree KKTV-DT comes in strong. Wish I knew a more reliable site. Oh and btw, the 850kw for KOAA-DT, I am hoping maybe that is the strength they plan to use(they probably had to submit all the setup designs to the FCC). 880kw would come in great with no cutoffs.

As usual, I stress a little when a station drops a lot in signal strength from "normal", just wondering if my antenna setup isn't good enough and I'll have to go through more hassle to improve it. This week is KTSC/PBS which has dropped to between 3-20 where it's normally in the 50s for me. I wonder if they're having technical problems - I almost hope they are, so that it's not my problem.

I know it doesn't matter much until they go HD, and even then how many of their shows will be captivating?, but does anyone else notice a drop from your normal level of KTSC-DT?

Weather?

Maybe, but it wasn't raining this evening. The other UHF channels' signal strengths seemed unaffected...

Originally posted by TallGuy
I know it doesn't matter much until they go HD, and even then how many of their shows will be captivating?

As a long time Nova fan, I've been wanting to see it in HD for years. That and Austin City Limits are the only two shows I regularly watch. However, I don't believe ACL is in HD. Plus, our local PBS doesn't show ACL. Thankfully, the two Denver affiliates do. Anyway, I highly recommend both shows.

Well I have had good success with recording HD from my STB. I followed the directions in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3818890#post3818890) and it worked like a charm. CapDVHS is a fairly basic application with some limited scheduling capabilities, but it did record just fine and the files play back great from the myHD 120 card in my HTPC.

As it stands, the current applications leave something to be desired in the way of a normal TIVO like experience, but this has proved to me that it is possible. I'm gonna play around with it some more and see if I can integrate this into my current myHTPC with guide info and IR remote control functionality.

Anyone further interested in this topic might want to check out the thread above, as well as this one (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194404).


The only problem I'm experiencing with this setup is related to DVI and the Motorola 6200 STB. I guess the latest version of the STB's firmware has a HDCP handshake issue. This makes watching via DVI a PITA, because you can't power the TV off before the STB, and you can't switch video inputs on the TV while the STB is on. Doing so causes the STB to lock out the display device and forces you to disconnect and reconnect the DVI cable. As a result, I'm watching most of my HD stuff via Component until they get a new firmware version released.

--Eric

An HTPC has always sounded like fun to me, but I doubt it would pass the WAF! :)

Originally posted by TallGuy
An HTPC has always sounded like fun to me, but I doubt it would pass the WAF! :)

I can certainly understand that issue. My intent is to get the HTPC functioning just like a STB where you can control everything from a menu driven system via remote control. I've come close, after many hours of tweaking and experimenting. I have a menu system that provides access to my digital music collection, recorded TV content, home movie collection, DVDs, digital photo albums, and a weather page all accessible via remote control. I still have some tweaking to do to get the scheduling of recordings to work for the MyHD tuner card via remote, as wells as the newly acquired cable STB.

My wife just didn't understand the whole draw to the HTPC at first. She's starting to come around though. She does a lot of digital photography and was really impressed that her digital photo albums made on her laptop upstairs where "magically available" from the TV down stairs, and that they looked so good. :)

--Eric

Anyone in the market for a Dishnetwork 921DVR?

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=29081

No Affiliation.

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
[B]Anyone in the market for a Dishnetwork 921DVR?
As long as you like bugs... :) (just kidding, but not entirely...) :p

Does anybody know what is going on with fox? They are not broadcasting the widescreen versions and the image quality has degraded. The audio syncing problem is still present.

Anybody else see this in today's GO section?

"COMING SUNDAY

Colorado Springs is way behind the curve when it comes to embracing HDTV, the future of TV. "

Should be an interesting read. :)

Originally posted by chanceG
Anybody else see this in today's GO section?

You mean people still read news papers these days? ;)

--Eric

Originally posted by EHHoffman
You mean people still read news papers these days?

Isn't that the truth. I stopped subscribing to the paper version a while back and just get the online version.

It's supposed to be a pretty big article Sunday. I'm looking forward to it -- to the extent I agree with how they present it, of course... ;)

They probably talked to a few A/V geeks....could be rather humorous.;) ;) ;)

I got an email from Mike at Fox this past week. He swears that nothing is wrong with the audio sync at their end as they are monitoring it and asked me to call Adelphia and have them monitor at their headend with the STB they are distributing. Apparently no one at Fox has ever tried to call local Adelphia. It's impossible, you have to drive over to Union and Bijou. I used to have a service number for the local office but it doesn't work anymore.

Yesterday I got a flyer from Adelphia giving me until July 15th to upgrade my HD account. Just as I suspected, they are going to turn off all the freebie HD content and give us the option to subscribe to HD PLus Tier. We'll lose HDNETs and INHDs and ESPN HD and any premium HD stuff like Starz HD unless we subscribe to the standard premium stuff.

In our case here in the Springs, we are only getting count' em 1 true HD channel via reg. Broadcast and that's KKTV (CBS) with the Adelphia HD service. The other channels are bogus. I think they should at least let us continue to get the HDNet and INhd free until we get more local HD content. But that's just wishfull thinking.

Someone has a Motorola 6200 box from Adelphia? What extra's are you getting with that model? Does it convert 720p to 1080i or is the DVI the only added feature?

I picked up a new antenna today for my HT. I got tired of adjusting the Rabbit Ears when ever I changed from one OTA station to another. Picked up one of these...
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?vertical=ELEC&pid=05768514000&bidsite=&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

Sears at Chapel Hills had 5 when I picked mine up, now down to 4.:)
Major improvement in signal strength and I haven't had to move it around to maintain a good signal for CBS, FOX, or PBS. ABC isn't on the air at this time so ?????

Sure beats the heck out of my $9.00 rabbit ears.

Originally posted by Joanr
Someone has a Motorola 6200 box from Adelphia? What extra's are you getting with that model? Does it convert 720p to 1080i or is the DVI the only added feature?

I just got the 6200 about a week ago. I'm not sure what is on the 5200, but here is what I've got.

DVI - Active, but has a HDCP handshake bug, so unless you keep your tv on the DVI input and make sure to turn the STB off before your TV and your TV on before your STB, you loose DVI. I'm currently working around it by using Component or disconnecting/reconnecting the DVI cable when I want DVI output. I do see an improvement in HD PQ over DVI on my Samsung DLP.

Firewire - Active and working. I've been able to record from all of the STB channels including all the HD ones to my HTPC. Still need to find a good scheduling solution, as it is all manual right now.

HD out - can be set to scale everything to 1080i/720p/480p plus has a separate config option for 480i content. 480i content is only scaled to 480p or left as is. There is no option for "Native", so you have to pick one HD output mode.


--Eric

Joan, can you tell Mike at Fox that I have used a Zenith HD420 STB and Dishnetwork 811 and both of these units exhibit the audio sync problem. This is not an issue with Adelphia as I am recieving their signal OTA. The picture quality is not as clear and sharp as it has been. They have not been broadcasting the widescreen version of the shows that are applicable. Something has changed. I was hoping it was preparation to going to true HD at 720P. Does Mike have an email address at Fox? Maybe if he receives more questions he will attempt another method of troubleshooting. I would really like to see it resolved before the NFL season starts.

Yes,I would like an e-mail address as well. I have Direct TV and am using a Samsung HD receiver and am receiveing the FOX signal OTA and have noticed the audio problem and poor video. The NASCAR races used to be shown in widescreen, but the past 3 weeks theose pesky black bars are being shown as well. Very annoying!!!!.

Anyone read todays Gazette? I wasn't too surprised by some of the comments made by rep's from our local stations. They do have to make a huge investment in order to go HD, hopefully enough people will contact them and let them know that they are also looking forward to seeing their favorite programming in HD.

It's a Catch-22 for all concerned. Stations are unwilling to make the investment because they feel that there are not HDTV viewers to justify the cost, yet the average consumer is not willing to invest in an HDTV because they want more content. Hopefully the situation will improve in the not to distant future, but I have serious doubts about KRDO ever broadcasting an HD signal, they've lost me already. KOAA seems hopeful that their issues with the FCC will be resolved near term and that they can get moving on their construction of a new tower. Hopefully that will happen fairly soon, because we are all missing out on some great programming from NBC. Fox will get some of my attention after they get their 720p signal on the air, until then.....nope. PBS? I was hoping that they'd be up and running by now. Hopefully soon.


Kudo's to Nathan (AKA TallGuy) for pushing hard to get the Gazette to report on the local HDTV scene!!

I haven't seen the article yet since I'm out of town. Is it interesting enough for me to pay the $5.60 to subscribe to the Gazette online to read it? Or maybe someone here has the online sub and could copy and paste it into a PM for me. Oh well, I'll read it when I get back soon.

I hope they at least made the point that most of the rest of the stations in the country have figured out the economics of going HD; why can't Colorado Springs?

Wait till you get home. Basically the same things we've been discussing here since day one. Andy did a good job putting the article together.

And of course there was a great picture of Frank and his kids with his cool HT setup in the background.

Good lookin' kids...But that geezer in the middle....Arrgh! They got my daughters age wrong though, she's 8, not 6. I'm gonna start getting the Rockie Mtn. News instead!!;)

Good article... lets everyone know where we're at.. but no real call to action to try to get people to make the stations aware of how many viewers there are. Also.. basically says it's not a smart investment since as far as the stations know, there might only be 100s or possibly 1000s of viewers, which wouldn't be wroth the high investment cost.

Hi,

Mike Dunlap is the man to email at FOX. He'll be real interested to hear from all of you regarding your equipment, OTA or cable/sat etc. I don't think he believes me...lol. mdunlap@kxrm.com

Eric, thanks for your info. Re-checking the box I see that the last one they gave me is the 6200, my mistake. So the outs are active? I'm going to have to try the firewire into my laptop to record some of that INHD stuff. What are you recording to? Too bad no HD DVD as yet. But I could store the stuff until next year.... I think I see a USB port also...........hmm the possibilities.

Originally posted by Joanr
What are you recording to? Too bad no HD DVD as yet. But I could store the stuff until next year.... I think I see a USB port also...........hmm the possibilities.

I'm running a HTPC so I'm just recording to the HD right now. I've got about 400gig of on-line storage so I can archive quite a few movies with it. I'm hoping the next gen of DVD-Burners comes out soon so I can get a few of these movies archived of onto DVD-R.

The USB ports don't seem to be active, nor is the Ethernet port or the IR Blaster and serial ports from what I can tell. At least the FW port is active. If you want to get going on recording with the firewire, check out one of my earlier posts, as it has links to other threads with information you will need.


BTW Frank,

I happen to catch the HDTV article in the paper this weekend. I was eating at the local ZIO's and they had the paper out in the waiting area, so I actually read the hard copy. :) Something I don't think I've done in years.

Your theater setup looks nice. Very close to what I'm working towards building. What are you using for a projector?

--Eric

Eric,
Thanks!!
I'm using a Sony VPL-HS20

Originally posted by Joanr
[B]Hi,

Mike Dunlap is the man to email at FOX. He'll be real interested to hear from all of you regarding your equipment, OTA or cable/sat etc. I don't think he believes me...lol. mdunlap@kxrm.com


Thanks for the e-mail link, Joan. I e-mailed Mike D today, and explained my concerns about the KXRM-DT audio sync issue. Maybe if all of us e-mail Mike, he'll get the hint. :cool:

Done!!

I email him also.

I have emailed Mike Dunlap also. I'm hoping that I receive a response.

Thanks to all who emailed Mike Dunlap. Maybe they can get it straightened out before Fall.

I called Adelphia to ask for pricing for the new HD Plus Tier. I had to get a supervisor and even he didn't have the pricing yet. He did however let it slip that Discovery HD would be activated soon. That will be a nice addition. But soon, in Adelphia's time frame, could be within a year, or two...lol.

I'd been emailing Mike before it came up here and he was working on the audio sync issue. It was really puzzling them because it was OK on their test box. He seemed very sincere about trying to fix it and so I didn't want to put his email address here and get him buried in emails. Also, I think the switch to 720p in September brings with it a new signal path at the station through new equipment, so I thought that might take care of it.

Well I haven't said anything here about the Gazette article (just been way too busy) but I thought they did a great job. Yeah, we knew most of this information but most of the public (or most of the TV-watching public) didn't, so it was informative. I hope KRDO in particular was a little embarrassed by parts of it, like the HD station listings from the other towns our size. I know it will take a long time to see progress, but every little push helps.

In general, the mindset of KRDO does not reflect the chance of losing HD-minded viewers to other HD cable/satellite channels. You'd be hard-pressed to watch SD ABC over Discovery-HD, HDNet, INHD, etc... So they just need to realize that while our numbers are small today, they are on the rise. If they bury their head in the sand for 3-5 years, trying to ignore HD, they'll wake up down the road and then wonder why their ratings are dying... Hopefully they're saving up the budget but just not telling us. (I have a little optimism from time to time.)

TallGuy,

Mike actually encouraged us to email him with all our different configurations in an attempt to zero in on what was happening and with what equipment. Otherwise I wouldn't have posted his email addy here. I think what surprised him most was that OTA was out of sync also. He didn't say anything about expecting a resolution to the problem with new equipment. Hopefully he'll get some ideas from a few more folks as the weeks progess. I think he tweaked down the reverb problem a tad, but it's still unwatchable.

Out of sync football means I finally get to turn off the audio and watch the game without announcers? Maybe that's a plus, at least when Madden is announcing.

Yeah, Mike's had a great attitude all along. He wants it to be right.

Random question: Why are there so few pictures for the members in this forum? It would be more fun reading here if we had a face, personality or weird picture to put with it. I tried to make mine go with my username, but they made me change it to include a face over at TivoCommunity.com. It's really easy to set up in the user Control Panel here. Just get a JPEG picture first and resize it to no more than 65 by 65 pixels. For that, I used a free little utility called JPEG Resizer from http://software.virtualzone.de/resizer/. Go for it!

I received a very quick and friendly reply from Mike during the week, asking questions about when and how bad the audio sync issue is. I recorded several shows from KXRM-DT OTA on my DirecTv-HD-TiVo, so that I could compare. :D

I was then able to send Mike an informative reply. Hopefully it will help! :) BTW, it seems to me that the local news on KXRM-DT is fine, the local commericals have a small audio sync issue, but the national feeds are worse. Weird. I hope Mike can fix it.

Tallguy.... I agree. A picture is worth a thousand words. ;)

Hey guys,

I'm going to be moving to Colorado Springs (or possibly Denver) here in the next couple of months and I was wondering what the status on local HD programming is for the Springs? AntennaWeb seems to show everything as live, except NBC... is that accurate?

Thanks!
Matt

We wish! CBS is HD, FOX is 480p but ready for 720p in September, ABC is an upconverted DTV only with no plans for HD, PBS is an upconvert with plans for HD by fall, and NBC wants to build the transmitter but is waiting for the FCC to resolve some interference issue. UPN and WB ... years away.

Denver's stations are really low power but probably OK over cable. But Colorado Springs is a better place to live. :) YMMV

I'll send you a PM with last week's newspaper article about the scene here. Welcome.

Nathan

Wow, that does suck. Here in Tucson we have all the major networks in HD, except FOX which hasn't switched over yet of course and the WB is upconverting to DTV. At least CBS and FOX will be ready for the NFL season there, that is what is most important to me.... But I think the Super Bowl is on ABC next year, so that will stink!

I thought the Superbowl was on Fox next year, but I could be wrong.

Para 4 @ msn.foxsports.com/story/2238972 says
fox has Super Bowl XXXIX (in HD of course).

Thanks for the link, and welcome to the forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=387277&perpage=30&pagenumber=3#post4021005

Sorry for a slightly off-topic post, but since there are lots of good folks here, I'm hoping someone can help. Anybody around the Denver Front Range area have an NEC CRT projector? I have mine calibrated at about 75-80% right now, but still having a few keystone/pincushion issues. The picture is certainly viewable, but it's hard to pull myself away from a movie or two to work the calibration more. I don't have any screen shots right now, as I want to work on it a bit more.

But if there is anyone in the area that would be willing to help a CRT/NEC newbie, I'd try and make it worth your while. I don't think I'm ready yet for a full ISF calibration, especially since I have only had the PJ for about a month and still running a loaner line doubler until the new Lumagen scalers are released. I'd like to get in the 85-90% range and live with that for a while before spending $$ on ISF'ing the machine. Timing is pretty open, but I'll be taking a short vacation in mid-July to show off our new baby to the grandparents. Certainly open to help later in July. Thanks much!!

SoundTrack is having a 10% off sale through the 29th of July.. I just bought my HR10-250 HD DirecTiVo and they honored the 10% off. I've seen some sites that said they wouldn't/shouldn't because it was a fixed price from DirecTV, and when I called the first time to ask, they said they couldn't. But I showed up (at the south store) and talked to a young (kid?) there and he said it was no prob to honor the 10% off.

So, if you try and they say no, try someone else!

Total price paid: $957.65.. on 1 year no interest CC.

Cool. Great box, huh?

I realize that Denver transmits with very low power, but has anyone been able to receive any Denver Hi Def stations, assuming the best available
roof-mounted high gain directional antenna is used???
JCH
spectrascan@prodigy.net

Originally posted by TallGuy
Cool. Great box, huh?
Ah, I don't know yet - I forgot to put that in the post. I have to pick it up (hopefully) tomorrow - they ship it in from their Denver warehouse. So we'll see.

Jan,
I doubt that any antenna located in the Springs would pick up the Denver stations. From what I've read/heard they are all fairly low powered.

Jan,
I was able to pull in CBS, NBC and PBS from their low power broadcast on Republic Plaza when I lived just west of Loveland, about 50 miles as the crow flies.

I would guess that the terrain will prevent reception from the Springs, but I'm currently at about 7400 feet elevation near the north border of El Paso county, and I'm sure going to give it a shot when I get my antenna up on the roof.

Chances will be a little better when they get the new tower on Lookout Mountain, in 2 or 10 years.

Originally posted by Jan C. Hoigaard
I realize that Denver transmits with very low power, but has anyone been able to receive any Denver Hi Def stations, assuming the best available
roof-mounted high gain directional antenna is used???
JCH
spectrascan@prodigy.net

When I was setting up my Ant, I made an attempt at getting Denver stations. I was able to pick up Denver's 2 but it came and went every few seconds. This was using a MyHD 120 card. My STB never saw anything from Denver with the same setup. None of the other digital channels came in at all and when I had my Ant pointed up North, I got nothing from the Springs (of course). Now, with it pointed towards the Springs, I still get all of the Denver analog channels to varying degrees, so once the digitals go HP, I would guess it would be possible.

I'm in Woodmoor just south of CO105 at about 7200ft and am using a 120" Channel Master Ant mounted on the roof.

--Eric

Thank you MalcolmG and EHHoffman, for the information. What is happening with Lookout Mountain ? Why as long as 2-10 years?
I read in the Denver Post a while back,that the local residents were very much against the antenna.
EHHoffman,at least you give us a little hope. I live in the north-east end of
town, at about 6800 feet, in a two and one half story house. I already have a medium range, stearable antenna, moumted on a mast, fastened to the chimny. and I get all the Denver analog stations very well. It may be
worth a try with a long range antenna.
Please keep me posted on any sucsesses.
JCH
spectrascan@prodigy.net

I Think the audio synch problem is gone on KXRM. Saw a part of the O.C. I think it was that today. saw a long close up of some faces and the lip synch seemed to be dead on.

PS
Are any of yoy planning to attend the CES (Consumers Electronics Show)
In Las Vegas in early January, 2005 ?? I did last year, and bugged
DIRECTV on getting more Hi Def. The standard answer was the lack of
bandwidh, since it reqire 3 to 5 times more. I suggested they cut out a
lot of the bull that no one is watching.
JCH
spectrascan@prodigy,net

Originally posted by ay221
I Think the audio synch problem is gone on KXRM. Saw a part of the O.C. I think it was that today. saw a long close up of some faces and the lip synch seemed to be dead on.
I checked them out an hour ago and the lip sync was OK, but the weird effect on their voices was there. Also the left channel was louder than the right. ?

Originally posted by Jan C. Hoigaard
PS
Are any of yoy planning to attend the CES (Consumers Electronics Show)
In Las Vegas in early January, 2005 ?? I did last year, and bugged
DIRECTV on getting more Hi Def. The standard answer was the lack of
bandwidh, since it reqire 3 to 5 times more. I suggested they cut out a
lot of the bull that no one is watching.
JCH
spectrascan@prodigy,net
CES sounds like fun. Don't know if I'll ever get there. DirecTV should be ready to announce something, it seems, since their new 7S satellite was launched successfully at least a month ago. You'd think there would at least be good rumors about new HD channels at this point...

I dont have this hooked up to a good stereo system. just from the tv, I didnt notice any weird sound effects. maybe a better system can pick that up. Anyways that show there showing now, The Casino. MAN! I wish it was in HD. that girl was wearing a dress that showed just about everything.

I also noticed it seemed to be much better... thought I was seeing/hearing things... just in time for the All Star Game!

Maybe even in HD if that could somehow happen.

Yeah, but the people who seem to know say it's only going to be HD on the Houston Fox affiliate. The rest of us will be downconverted from the HD production to 480p Fox widescreen!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4049790#post4049790

Originally posted by TallGuy
Cool. Great box, huh?

And yes.... yes it is. It's my first Tivo, so it's even that much cooler. :)

Has KXRM given up on the medium-rez widescreen? I tuned in to the All-star game last night but it looked like an SD broadcast so I switched it off. Is this their solution to the audio-sync issue?

Yes.. it was a terrible picture. I was looking forward to at least the FoxWS from HD cameras.

I emailed KXRM about it. Here's the response:
While we transition to FOX true HD, scheduled for this fall, we have
found that we cannot cleanly switch between upconverted local content
(analog video) and the FOX widescreen feed (SDI) without causing other
problems (major lip-sync errors, or complete loss of audio).
The equipment we will use to pass the FOX HD feed this fall will obviate
this problem, but in the meantime we will upconvert all of our content
(both local and network) from analog.
This upconvert process may be causing the current weird audio too!
If I had known that FOX was offering the HD version of last night's
game, I would have tried to pass it--it looks like the word did not get
out to all the affiliates.
Dang, any of us could have thought to email him on Tuesday and we might have had HD for the All-Star game last night.

KXRM should be 720p HD using the new equipment by early September for the NFL. Let's hope time flies! Then I'll have to change my tagline here...

Adelphia users, today is the day they are supposed to cut off HDNET, INHD and ESPNHD unless we pay $5.00 more a month to get the new HD Tier. I called a few days ago to sign up and they couldn't even do that for me because the HD Tier account billing information wasn't in the database yet.

Chances are they won't turn it off today, but I'll see when I get home tonight. It was all still there before I left for work at 7:15 this morning.
Anyone at home today let us know if it get shuts down so I can call them from work today and try to get it activated. Thanks.

I'm not sure how many of you follow what's going on at www.iwantmyhdtv.com , but I do. I had previously used their site to send a letter to congress informing them of my support for more HDTV options. I just received this in my email.

--Eric

--------

HDTV Legislative Alert!

On July 13, Senator John Ensign (R-NV) introduced S.2644, the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Rural Consumer Access to Digital Television Act of 2004 which allows consumers to receive an HDTV feed of ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX via satellite when not available from their local broadcasters.

This Ensign bill is a significant step forward in responding to the needs of consumers and ensuring that digital television will be more widely available. The bill will bring consumers more choices and greater access to digital television. It will also motivate broadcasters to move more quickly to achieve the goal of returning the analog spectrum to the taxpayers.

The Senate will soon be considering this legislation, and it is critical that consumers across the country continue to show support for making digital television widely available and to allow satellite providers to offer an HDTV network signal when it is not offered by a local broadcaster. Even if you have already sent a letter to Congress, we're asking you to send a second letter today to encourage Congress to support this legislation!

Please visit www.iwantmyhdtv.com to learn more and to send a letter to Congress in support of the Ensign bill.

Thank you.

Originally posted by Joanr
Adelphia users, today is the day they are supposed to cut off HDNET, INHD and ESPNHD unless we pay $5.00 more a month to get the new HD Tier. I called a few days ago to sign up and they couldn't even do that for me because the HD Tier account billing information wasn't in the database yet.

Chances are they won't turn it off today, but I'll see when I get home tonight. It was all still there before I left for work at 7:15 this morning.
Anyone at home today let us know if it get shuts down so I can call them from work today and try to get it activated. Thanks.

When I called on Tuesday, I was told that they will only shut it off if you ask them to; if you do nothing, they will bill you in the next cycle (I called the 800-number instead of local).
I also asked about DiscoveryHD and other upcoming channels, and was told that they will be added to the package as contracts are signed. DiscoveryHD, specifically, is supposedly to be on the air in August.

Originally posted by EHHoffman
I'm not sure how many of you follow what's going on at www.iwantmyhdtv.com , but I do. I had previously used their site to send a letter to congress informing them of my support for more HDTV options. I just received this in my email.

--Eric


I was just coming to write the same thing... this could be a great motivator for locals like COS getting their act in gear, and until then it would be nice to have a back up solution! I haven't read it yet, but it sounds promising!

I wonder when it would go into effect.... if it passed.

Originally posted by TallGuy
I emailed KXRM about it. Here's the response:

This upconvert process may be causing the current weird audio too!

Dang, any of us could have thought to email him on Tuesday and we might have had HD for the All-Star game last night.

KXRM should be 720p HD using the new equipment by early September for the NFL. Let's hope time flies! Then I'll have to change my tagline here...

Hmm...

The only stations that could have broadcast it were not the ones ready for the new Fox HD system.. they were the ones who had done the Independence day HD test years ago. They had to have the traditional HD system, which was very rare.

They tried to have it ready for the new Fox system which would have allowed a lot of stations to carry it, but they couldn't get it done in time.

Originally posted by EHHoffman
Please visit www.iwantmyhdtv.com to learn more and to send a letter to Congress in support of the Ensign bill.
We need to do this, everyone! If and when KRDO and KOAA invest in HD, we can watch them then. For now, we should be able to watch ABC and NBC in HDTV from NY or LA. You can send the letter through this web site in about 2 minutes. Go for it.