Raleigh, NC - HDTV [Text View] - Page 3

Spencer#2

10-29-03, 08:06 AM

Long time lurker who took the plunge with a 50" Sony GWIII (thanks to all here for sharing information to help in that decision.

I emailed TWC in Raleigh about the DVI port on the 3250 STB and received this reply:
"The DVI output on the Scientific Atlanta 3250HD is currently not enabled. The output is disabled in software, and we do not currently have any information on when/if we will receive an update to enable it. As an alternative we should soon be offering a Pace High Definition Cable Box that will have an active DVI output. The only catch is that these boxes will probably not have the option of stretching or zooming so the component output will show non-HD channels with black bars on either side like the 3000HD does. I hope this answers your question, if you need anything else please let us know. Thank you for using Time Warner and have a great day!"

So maybe we'll need to track down yet another box????

Bob Michael

10-29-03, 08:57 AM

Originally posted by Spencer#2
Long time lurker who took the plunge with a 50" Sony GWIII (thanks to all here for sharing information to help in that decision.

I emailed TWC in Raleigh about the DVI port on the 3250 STB and received this reply:
"The DVI output on the Scientific Atlanta 3250HD is currently not enabled. The output is disabled in software, and we do not currently have any information on when/if we will receive an update to enable it. As an alternative we should soon be offering a Pace High Definition Cable Box that will have an active DVI output. The only catch is that these boxes will probably not have the option of stretching or zooming so the component output will show non-HD channels with black bars on either side like the 3000HD does. I hope this answers your question, if you need anything else please let us know. Thank you for using Time Warner and have a great day!"

So maybe we'll need to track down yet another box????

This might be good news. I've heard good things about the Pace box. I have no need for stretching and zooming, and black bars rather than grey would be a nice touch. Also, what SW and remote codes does the Pace use? I ask because I have both a 8000 DVR (for SD timeshifting) and a 3250HD for HD viewing. They both use the same remote-control codes! Makes it very interesting to try to control both in the same room.

Daryl L

10-29-03, 11:26 AM

According to the Pace DC550 manual it does have stretch and zoom modes.

http://www.pacemicro.com/products/manuals/Pace_DC-550_Operators_Manual.pdf

bagmouse7

10-29-03, 06:24 PM

I wish Raleigh TW would at least send out the update for the 3250 so that we could change the sidebar colors on SD broadcasts.
I also think that the SD scaler in the 3250 sucks. I find myself going to standard coax inputs on my TV (Samsung 437) to watch SD. The Samsung has a vastly superior scaler.
Maybe the Pace box will be better.....

Jbach

10-30-03, 05:13 PM

Seeing all this TW talk had me wondering about what I was missing in terms of HD programming - until I saw a TW ad in the paper - the only HD listed were OTA we get for free plus one Showtime and HBO and Cuban's network. This is depressing, at least to me. You can do better on Cband with a better picture. Do they at least promise to pick up ESPN HD or anything else?

Bob Michael

10-31-03, 03:58 PM

Originally posted by Jbach
Seeing all this TW talk had me wondering about what I was missing in terms of HD programming - until I saw a TW ad in the paper - the only HD listed were OTA we get for free plus one Showtime and HBO and Cuban's network. This is depressing, at least to me. You can do better on Cband with a better picture. Do they at least promise to pick up ESPN HD or anything else?

Jbach,
Of course, you can't get much better than Cband. But for those for whom it's not an option, and there are many, TWC is far from the worst cableco. There are cableco's out there, serving relatively sophisticated areas, offering only one or two HD channels. TWC has been saying for a while that they are negotiating to get ESPN HD, but no ETA yet.
Bob

sooke

11-04-03, 02:56 PM

I upgraded my 3100HD box to the new 3250HD box from TWC. My main reason for doing so was to control the output format (ie. use 720p for ABC, 1080i for everything else). I have a Samsung HLN467 DLP TV, which has native 720 line resolution. So I was expecting to see a difference when watching shows like Monday Night Football because it should remove any de-interlacing steps from the camera to my eyes.

Well, I can't see a difference. In fact, sometimes, I swear I can see artifacts that one would think would be the result of interlacing. Like when a scene completely changes and for a flash the last image of the old scene contains objects with every other line drawn. Did I describe that OK?

Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe my eyes just aren't good enough. Or maybe... TWC tranmits all their HD programming at 1080i (maybe cheaper? maybe easier?). Which would make controlling the format between the STB and my TV irrelevant (at least for ABC). In other words, it just moves the deinterlacing from my TV to the STB.

Anyone have any information or thoughts on this?

OK, more precise questions are:

Q1: Can anyone else perceive a difference when watching ABC by switching between the formats (particularly if you have a native 720 line display).

Q2: Can anyone with an OTA receiver perceive a difference between using 720p and 1080i from their receiver to their TV (particularly if your TV has 720 line resolution native).

Thanks,

Sooke

deArgila

11-04-03, 03:10 PM

Latest TWC update:

Here's the email I sent:

<<<
Rumor has it that TWC is going to add an HD tier with four new HD channels sometime in the relatively near future (presumably INHD, INHD2, ESPN-HD, and FSN-HD).

Can you confirm this information - or at least give an estimate of the date of launch and cost?

Carolina plays Illinois on Dec. 2 - a game that is supposed to be broadcast in HD via ESPN-HD. I would be VERY pleased if this tier was added prior to that game.
>>>

and here's the response:

<<<
There is some truth to your inquiry.

We are going to launch an HD Tier soon. It could be as soon as this month or as late as December. No date has been finalized due to unsigned Corporate contracts to carry certain channels. Also, no price has been determined.

Here is what we do know! The new tier at launch will include INHD and INHD2 and hopefully HDNet and HDNet Movies. It should also be noted that any HD game televised on NBA TV (which launches on Dec. 4) will be available on INHD2. Also, Fox SportsNet is looking into broadcasting up to 5 ACC college basketball games in 2004 (hopefully a couple of Carolina games!) on INHD2.

ESPN HD will be added to this tier once a contract is signed. Negotiations continue to take place on a Corporate level. It may be until next year until a deal is finalized, however we are optimistic that this could occur sooner. ESPN HD is our number one requested channel.
>>>

keefer37

11-04-03, 03:43 PM

Thanks for the update, deArgila.

My dad and I will be at the Carolina / Illinois game in Greensboro. Very cool! Too bad I don't have a way to record HD. (HD TiVO soon please!!). I'm a Carolina alum, my dad is an Illinois alum.

gillcup

11-04-03, 06:41 PM

Originally posted by sooke

Q2: Can anyone with an OTA receiver perceive a difference between using 720p and 1080i from their receiver to their TV (particularly if your TV has 720 line resolution native).

Sooke,

I have an OTA receiver, Samsung SIR-T165, and a Samsung HLN5065 DLP with 720p native resolution. I feel that switching the output to 720p definitely improves the picture. The improvement I notice isn't a lack of artifacts or smoother motion (maybe it is better, I just haven't noticed this to be the case) but a slightly sharper picture with a slight improvement in colors. I would describe the picture when I am watching ABC and the STB set to 1080i as "soft". When I switch to 720p, the picture looks a bit sharper. I also find it is best to let the 5065 scale any 1080i rather than the T165. I also find using a DVI cable improves the picture.
Regards,

WRoss

11-05-03, 07:55 PM

Two weeks ago I got an HD capable monitor - Sony 50" GWIII and I'm trying to sort out the options on getting a signal/receiver.

I've been using a combination of Chapel Hill TWC for the locals along with Dish and a two-tuner PVR for everything else. So now it looks like I can either: 1) Sign up for TWC's digital HD service and they'll supply the equipment, 2) Purchase on OTA HD receiver and keep everything else the same, or 3) Wait till Dish comes out with their new HD PVR which is supposed to have an OTA receiver cabability.

I'm leaning toward # 1 because I won't have to buy any equipment that will become obsolete before it should (i.e. - my $ 600 Dish PVR is only 1 year old and besides showing some glitches - I'll now be needing a HD unit). I'm concerned that if I get an OTA receiver my reception may be inadequate. (I'm on the north end of Chapel Hill a couple of blocks west of Wholefoods - Wellspring).

So - any advice, helpful suggestions, etc.? I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Ross

sooke

11-06-03, 01:38 PM

Thanks for the reply gillcup.

Sooke

rtp-resident

11-08-03, 11:56 PM

An odd event occured last week. My HD TWC signal went out. The 3100HD box did not reboot, forcing me to call TWC. They "rebooted" the system from the office and the signal returned.

However, before the reboot my bars were black - and one reason why I have not exchanged the 3100HD box for the 3250HD box, after this TWC reboot, the bars are now grey!!

Any thoughts on this? If it remains I suppose I will switch the box out as the only downside I saw to the 3250HD were gray bars.

aldamon

11-11-03, 11:34 AM

I also had to call TWC to reactivate my box. What was that all about?

keefer37

11-11-03, 11:48 AM

My parents had the same problem with Time Warner Saturday morning. They turned on the TV to find a message that their cable service had been shutoff.

The customer service rep told my father that they had done a system-wide upgrade and had caused a lot of boxes to be unsubscribed.

foxeng

11-11-03, 11:53 AM

For those unaware, the old HDTV list hosted at fortmill went belly up a little over a month ago. It has been reactivated in connection with the www.nchdtv.com site. If you were a member of the old fortmills list, you should have received an invite to join the new list. If you didn't receive an invite or wish to join, go to www.w4cl.net/mailman/listinfo and click on nchdtv and join.

The list is open to all with an interest in North Carolina HD and the areas that overlap from South Carolina and Virginia.

ssangste

11-16-03, 01:42 PM

Has anyone tried to use their DVI ports yet??

I had a tech out at my place this weekend because my roadrunner service was out, and although it came back on it's own before the tech got there, it was still not working properly.

Anyways, I was discussing the HDTV boxes with the tech. It seems that the DVI port is now enabled on the boxes. The last three installs that this tech did were specifically to use the DVI port and every one of them worked great.

Can someone check on this?? It seems they may have done the software update on the boxes..... this is the only thing holding me back from getting a box from them. My CRT projector only accepts RGBHV, and I categorically refuse to buy a transcoder box to convert component to VGA.... with the DVI enabled I can just use my DVI-VGA adapter plug...... at least I hope I can.... is the DVI port DVI-I or DVI-D?? any of that HDCP crap built into it??

I'm tired of fighting with my OTA antenna to get all of the stations. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm only going to get a couple and just forget about the others and use the cable box for them....

pbo

11-17-03, 11:51 PM

I just received 3 3250's from TWC and none of them having a working DVI.

Bob Michael

11-18-03, 06:36 AM

Originally posted by ssangste
Has anyone tried to use their DVI ports yet??

I had a tech out at my place this weekend because my roadrunner service was out, and although it came back on it's own before the tech got there, it was still not working properly.

Anyways, I was discussing the HDTV boxes with the tech. It seems that the DVI port is now enabled on the boxes. The last three installs that this tech did were specifically to use the DVI port and every one of them worked great.

Can someone check on this?? It seems they may have done the software update on the boxes..... this is the only thing holding me back from getting a box from them. My CRT projector only accepts RGBHV, and I categorically refuse to buy a transcoder box to convert component to VGA.... with the DVI enabled I can just use my DVI-VGA adapter plug...... at least I hope I can.... is the DVI port DVI-I or DVI-D?? any of that HDCP crap built into it??

I'm tired of fighting with my OTA antenna to get all of the stations. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm only going to get a couple and just forget about the others and use the cable box for them....

I re-booted my 3250HD this morning, and did not see the DVI option in the menu (as it should be if the port were enabled). I didn't physically try hooking it up. I'm in Durham - maybe it's being rolled out in stages, or the tech may have been mistaken (I had one wear it was enabled, too). Any others tried?
Thanks,
Bob

mhdiab

11-18-03, 07:29 AM

Have you guys gotten Inhd yet in Raleigh?
TW is putting it on around the country - charging in some places and not in others. In Charlotte it is free, but I think that is waiting for hdnet and ESPN to have a real package to charge for. The NBA game was on last night on inhd and in other areas that does not have inhd they put it on the special events channel - call them up there. They have a contract with FSN and NBA TV and even without Inhd they should be able to put their stuff on the special events channel.....

Erik Garci

11-18-03, 11:38 PM

Originally posted by ssangste
is the DVI port DVI-I or DVI-D??
The 3250HD has a DVI-D connector, which is for digital only (no analog). It is possible to tell just by looking at it.

Spencer#2

11-19-03, 09:35 AM

I've tried the DVI port on my 3250HD and it has no signal. Never has, still doesn't.
(I may have imagined it, but when the DVI was connected, it appeard the PQ via the S video and cable connections deteriorated, although I don't see any reason why a dead port should affect anything.)

Daryl L

11-19-03, 02:11 PM

You TWC customers of Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville area wanted INHD1 & INHD2, you got it starting Dec, 4 on ch. 291 & 292 along with a few other channel additions and some channel rearrangements. They added the INHD1/2 info today on the link below.

http://www.twc-nc.com/digital_cable/newchannels.htm

deArgila

11-19-03, 03:09 PM

Looks like there are some positives and some negatives ...

Negatives:

1. They're taking out FoxSportsWorld and the other regional Fox Sports stations off the digital tier and charging extra for them.
2. The new HD channels come at an additional $6.95

Positives:

1. Two new HD channels
2. A few new SD sports channels
3. They're keeping the current HD channels as part of the digital tier
4. They said "more channels will be added to the HD Suite at NO additional cost"

ssangste

11-19-03, 05:33 PM

thanks for checking on the DVI port for me guys....

I havent' actually looked at one of the 3250 boxes that closely online or in person. So I didn't know whether they were I or D... thanks for the info. It would seem that I have no choice but to do a component transcoding if I want a VGA signal sent to my CRT... YUCK!! nothing like killing the picture quality with extra electronics....

thanks again for checking and the info!!

billand20

11-19-03, 08:04 PM

Still no sign of ESPN HD, and football is almost over. Would be nice if they could add it for our local basketball games.

Kevin Johnson

11-24-03, 07:47 AM

Newbie here. I just got a Samsung TS-160. No major issues with DirecTV HD programming nor with CBS (WRAL 5-1) or Fox (WRAZ 50-1). However, I'm getting digital on WTVD (ABC 11-1) and WNCN (NBC 17-1) but only in 4:3 lately. The first night I had the box I watched Leno in true HD (16:9), but after that its been in 4:3. Quality wise its certainly digitial but not wide. Are there any issues with 11 & 17 HD broadcasting in the past week or is it just my box? I assume the later since I haven't see any comments related to this. Thanks.

Kevin Johnson

11-24-03, 01:33 PM

I emailed engineering for WTVD & WNCN. NCN replied saying that "Someone had locked the switcher out so it could not switch to an HD feed". Apparently, its been like this for awhile and they iddn't know they had a problem until my email. This amazes me.... I didn't think that I was exactly an early adopter... I would have expected that the would have gotten calls.

kenstr

11-24-03, 04:01 PM

Interesting about ABC... Last night Alias was in 16:9 for the first 15 min then started having audio and video problems and then dropped off and came back in 4:3

Kevin Johnson

11-25-03, 08:23 AM

Looks like both engineers at ABC and NBC stayed awake last night. MNFB and Leno looked great.

deArgila

11-25-03, 08:29 AM

I also noticed the problem during Alias (doh!) - and it continued for The Practice. I also noticed they had it back up and running for MNF.

As for NBC, I never watch them - so I wouldn't have noticed.

Lee L

11-25-03, 08:36 AM

I have called WNCN at least 15 times over the last couple of years and they always tell me that I'm the first one to call. They have their master control run out of Miami, FL along with a few other NBC owned stations and they just can;t seem to get things right. The only reason I have not called recently is because I have only been watching ABC and CBS shows live in HD and recording the NBC stuff. When the HD DirecTico comes out I guess I will have to be pissed off after the fact when the NBC recordings turn out to be of non HD content.

pkscout

11-25-03, 09:22 AM

Originally posted by Lee L
I have called WNCN at least 15 times over the last couple of years and they always tell me that I'm the first one to call. They have their master control run out of Miami, FL along with a few other NBC owned stations and they just can;t seem to get things right. The only reason I have not called recently is because I have only been watching ABC and CBS shows live in HD and recording the NBC stuff. When the HD DirecTico comes out I guess I will have to be pissed off after the fact when the NBC recordings turn out to be of non HD content.

The only HD station that seems to have any consistency for me is WRAL (and FOX for the most part). Even though basically everyone is on the same tower, theirs is the only signal of a consistent strength to prevent dropouts and such. So the only HD content I feel comfortable recording would be off those two stations. Stuff like Alias and West Wing I'll be likely to either not record in HD or record in both HD and standard. That seems like a bit of a waste, but until the other stations decide to up their power to match WRAL, it's the only reach choice.

Trip in VA

11-25-03, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by pkscout
The only HD station that seems to have any consistency for me is WRAL (and FOX for the most part). Even though basically everyone is on the same tower, theirs is the only signal of a consistent strength to prevent dropouts and such. So the only HD content I feel comfortable recording would be off those two stations. Stuff like Alias and West Wing I'll be likely to either not record in HD or record in both HD and standard. That seems like a bit of a waste, but until the other stations decide to up their power to match WRAL, it's the only reach choice.

WTVD-DT is already at max power. When tropo is good, I usually receive WNCN-DT before everything but WUNC-DT. Then WRAL, WTVD, WRAZ, WUNP, WLFL, WRPX, WFPX, and WRDC.

WRAL owns FOX50. Fox doesn't even DO HD yet, they do DVD-quality 480p and WRAZ upconverts it to 1080i (the only other station I know of that does it is WGHP in Greensboro which upconverts to 720p, the format Fox will eventually be using.).

I certainly wish I was maybe 20 miles south so I could watch Raleigh instead of Roanoke. Y'all are very lucky to have WRAL. Minneapolis also has a station doing a bunch of HD during the day from what I hear.

- Trip
Bitstream Admin

Jbach

11-26-03, 04:36 PM

I noted the problem on Alias Sunday - A similar problem kept cropping up last night as well on NYPD Blue.

Also, did anyone else notice NBC 17 was not doing HD Sunday night? I was able to get HD from 12-1 in Greensboro/WS, so it wasn't the network.

Kevin Johnson

11-29-03, 09:15 PM

I know, I'm not telling you guys anything new. Their HD feed is screwed up more times then its right. They must not think that anyone is actualy trying to watch their HD content. Have they've always been this crappy? Has anyone emailed the general manager?

ssangste

12-01-03, 03:25 PM

yeah... I'm feeling pretty dumb right now...... after lots and lots of reading, lots and lots (and did I say lots) of testing, I now have every single HD channel on the Garner towers. all are amazingly strong, steady signals, and get even better when tropo is advantageous.

It took a lot of tweaking of positionning, running plenum RG-11 and actually removing the preamp to get everything working just right. The lightbulb went on over my head when I was actually getting better reception during bad weather than during good. With the preamp in the mix, I was actually overdriving the input on my HD card. I'm an idiot because when I moved to the new house, I didn't even bother to try the setup without the preamp. In my old location, where I didn't really have line of sight and relied on reflection, the preamp was actually needed because the signal strength was so low. But high above the roofline on my new place, with direct line of sight to the towers, I got a much stronger signal. Throw the preamp into the mix and I was overdriving things a bit (the oscillations were not pretty to look at :) hehehe).... by taking out the preamp all together, I got enough signal to lock onto all the stations. Replacing the crappy RG-6 coax with the RG-11 gave me enough gain back that it is just about perfect (this stuff only has about 4dB drop per 100foot run!)

ahhhhhhhhh.... it's so nice to watch all the high def shows without having to pay for them. It's so satisfying to know that I don't have to pay time warner cable to watch free OTA High Definition material.

Now each station still has it's quirks... NBC can not get their head out of their derriere to save their lives.... which makes it a good thing that I watch virtually nothing on NBC except a couple Thursday night shows.... I got so aggravated when night after night they wouldn't flip the switch for Leno, that I gave up. I sent email after email and didn't even get an acknowledgement that there was a problem and someone was going to do something about it.... I do like the various Law and Order shows... but they never seem to flip the switch for those either.... oh... and the gamma is waaaay off on their feed. Very noticable difference when directly comparing against the other stations.

ABC - still has the same issues they've had for months and months and months - picture dropouts. Every once in a while, regardless of signal strength, they'll drop the image for a split second. It annoyed the crap out of me during the hockey games last spring. Alias did it a few times last night as well. It happens on both of my HD cards. Maybe others don't experience the same thing.... the differences in audio level between programs and commercials is annoying as well....

anyways, enough rambling.... off to watch more high def stuff :)

aldamon

12-03-03, 09:23 AM

Originally posted by deArgila
Looks like there are some positives and some negatives ...

Negatives:

1. They're taking out FoxSportsWorld and the other regional Fox Sports stations off the digital tier and charging extra for them.
2. The new HD channels come at an additional $6.95

Positives:

1. Two new HD channels
2. A few new SD sports channels
3. They're keeping the current HD channels as part of the digital tier
4. They said "more channels will be added to the HD Suite at NO additional cost"

I don't watch those extra sports channels anyway, so good riddance. I'll be adding the HD Suite tomorrow. $6.95 is pretty reasonable if considerable and fast expansion is planned with the package. If INHD and INHD2 are the only channels for the next year, bubbye!

dtcarson

12-03-03, 06:39 PM

Originally posted by aldamon
I don't watch those extra sports channels anyway, so good riddance. I'll be adding the HD Suite tomorrow. $6.95 is pretty reasonable if considerable and fast expansion is planned with the package. If INHD and INHD2 are the only channels for the next year, bubbye!

Ditto for me--I'm not into sports, although I have caught a few 'Canes games in HD that were very nice. But I know a lot of people are, and it seems like the people backing HD seem to push the sports angle of it.
I browsed HD suite, or rather, InHD and InHD2, and to me, the content isn't there yet. Add to that, the fact that I can rarely watch 'live' tv, due to family and work, and I'm more interested in this next tidbit TWC mentioned:

"You also may be interested to know that Scientific Atlanta has designed a High Definition DVR. Smaller Time Warner Cable Divisions will test this new box in the next two months. We hope to have HD DVRs available in the 1st Quarter of 2004. Once a launch date is received, we will send out another email."

I'm all over that one! Currently I get more use out of my DVR than the HD box, although I do certainly enjoy the HD box [Discovery HD is the most consistently watchable, even if just for 'eye candy']. But add a DVR to that, that can record in HD, and I'll check the HD suite again.

As much as I don't like some aspect of cable, TWC-NC is making it easy and affordable [other than the tv] to get into HD, and I applaud them for that.

deArgila

12-03-03, 06:45 PM

Yeah - the best news about the HD Suite is that they'll be adding more channels at no additional charge - and they specifically said they would add ESPN-HD to the HD Suite "as soon as they could", citing next year as the likely date.

EDIT: In "hidden mode" - they have the channel bar for 290 as ESPN-HD, 293 as HDNET, and 294 as HDNET Movies. None are showing programming - just a black screen.

NICE!

Until there are more than the two INHD channels, I'll skip out on the HD Suite. Especially since it seems that the NBA games on INHD will be available to "all HD customers." Did anyone else read that the same way I did?

sooke

12-05-03, 04:59 PM

deArgila, please forgive my ignorance: What is "hidden mode" and how do you enter it?

Thanks,

Sooke

Originally posted by deArgila

EDIT: In "hidden mode" - they have the channel bar for 290 as ESPN-HD, 293 as HDNET, and 294 as HDNET Movies. None are showing programming - just a black screen.

deArgila

12-05-03, 05:03 PM

Yeah - sorry about that. "Hidden mode" refers to the diagnostic mode.

What you do is hold down the "enter/select" button and the "exit" button at the same time until the word "diag" appears on the front of the box. Note: this must be done on the box itself, not the remote.

I was able to enjoy a two-week free preview or so of INHD and INHD2 while they were still testing it! Enjoy.

sooke

12-06-03, 11:06 PM

Cool! Thanks!

Sooke

phitheta219

12-07-03, 09:12 AM

Does anyone know where the towers are in the raleigh area? I'm in coats.. about 30 miles away, and I get all the channels... however, I get the PAX [like 5 subset channels] feeds... but nothing on them.. this happen to anyone else?

Also, anyone notice that for OTA, UPN and WB are going crazy lately...

it seems like every other night the channels change on them? Does this make sense?

Scooper

12-07-03, 03:01 PM

ALL the Raleigh DTV stations (except PAX and WUNC) are located within .5 miles of each other just east of Clayton - all of them except WNCN and WTVD are on the same tower ! WUNC's DTV is co-located with their analog tower close to Chapel Hill , and PAX is basically co-located with their's (WNW of Rocky Mount) (or down there by Fayetteville).

WB and UPN in the Raleigh area are operated by Sinclair Broadcasting - draw your own conclusions given Sinclair's "support" of DTV (not necessarily that of all their employees - just the "Corporate" position)...

Bob Michael

12-08-03, 03:27 PM

Last week, I noticed a very odd thing with my TWC service and my 3250HD cable box. I think I'm just beginning to figure out what happened, and it's kinda interesting.

I program all the HD channels into the "Favorite Channels" on my box. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that all the Favorite Channels above about channel 300 disappeared. Any attempt to re-program them wouldn't "take."

Then, shortly after the channel line-up change (was it Dec 4th?) all my previous Favorite Channels magically appeared again, ...with the new channel numbers! Obviously, TWC made some provision for moving people's favorite channels over to the new lineup. I'd always thought this was a "dumb" feature (it stores a list of channel numbers, period) but it appears there is some link between the network and the cable box for this feature.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting....

On another note, I signed up for INHD the other day. At first, the picture was horribly pixellated, but everything's cool now. I'm not sure it's worth the money at this point, but the programming is intermittently interesting (World According to Garp), and the PQ seems a little better than HBOHD and SHOHD.

Rob!Todd

12-08-03, 05:53 PM

.... you gotta wonder if TWC is getting closer to having something arranged with ESPNHD. Instead of having a black screen on channel 290 (in "diag" mode) there is a notice that looks like one of the screens you get when you tune into a channel that you haven't paid for.

Rob

gillcup

12-08-03, 06:40 PM

I e-mailed the General Manager of WTVD (ABC) regarding the green flash/drop-out problems they've been having lately and he said he would look into it.

sooke

12-09-03, 11:01 AM

Yeah, I noticed the same thing as Bob M. did. At first I was annoyed because I couldn't get HBOHD to "stick" in the favorite list. Now I have two HBOHDs, one at 411, the other around 285 or there abouts. Adding one automatically adds the other. (They are the same content).

Sooke

Rob!Todd

12-09-03, 11:34 AM

Originally posted by gillcup
I e-mailed the General Manager of WTVD (ABC) regarding the green flash/drop-out problems they've been having lately and he said he would look into it.

Hopefully they'll find the problem and fix it soon... it has been happening now for what seems like several weeks on just about all ABC Primetime HD content.

Rob

Chris Sharp

12-09-03, 04:38 PM

Wow...great thread.

Question....I will be getting an HDTV pretty soon. I currently have Directv and I will be looking for an OTA. I live in a townhouse and I don't really want to mount anything more on my roof, and I think putting it in the attic would be a real hassle.

I was wondering if anyone in the area has tried the Radio Shack 15-1880 or the Zenith Silver Sensor indoor antennas. How well do they work?
I live near Lynn Rd. and 70.

Thanks for any advice!

Chris

pkscout

12-09-03, 07:06 PM

I had the Silver Sensor and it was OK. I had to put it in an upstairs room on a certain side of the house to reduce the amount of "house material" it had to receive through. I finally stuck a Channel Master up in the attic and get *much* better reception now, but if your against attic or roof, it's worth a try.

Honestly, roof is always best (provided you can get a clear path to the towers). I'd seriously consider putting my OTA antenna on the roof if I didn't hate climbing on the roof and if I could put it on the back side of my house (I really don't want the antenna to be visible from the street). :p

Lee L

12-10-03, 11:04 AM

Well, over there, it will be hit or miss and really depend on your exact location, given the topography of that area. One side of the hill and you are good to go and the other you might not have a line of sight and suffer from severe multipath which is difficult even with HDTV.

Chris Sharp

12-10-03, 04:05 PM

Lee,

I'm new to all this so excuse my ignorance...but what is multipath?

Chris

aldamon

12-11-03, 07:59 AM

Did anyone watch the Orlando/Washington game on INHD last night? It was awful! The compression or dithering was so high that each player's upper arm was one smudged texture. The screen was also stretched vertically so the scores were cut off. Yuck! INHD and INHD2 were also a few clicks brighter than my other stations so the black level was messed up. What a PITA. Needless to say, my first day with INHD was not too impressive.

Lee L

12-11-03, 08:23 AM

Chris, multipath is when the signals bounce off of something, terrain, houses, buildings, etc that causes an antenna to receive the same signal twice, but because of the bounce, at slightly different times. On regular analog broadcasts, this results in a ghost. On digital, it can cause random loss of signal or keep the receiver from locking on to the signal in the worst case.

WildBill

12-11-03, 07:37 PM

Good description Lee. In case anyone wants to see multi-path in action then just give me a yell. :(

Here in Apex, I am sooo close to the towers but unfortunately I am on the lower side of a fairly large hill (or apex as it might be called) and even with a 10 foot antenna I can't get close to line-of-site to the towers. Thus ABC is sometimes strong and sometimes non-existent. At least I get CBS and FOX with some assurance but even NBC is iffy. And if I tune in CBX/FOX then I ALWAYS lose PBS. I wish they would have placed their transmitter where most everyone else did.

Ah well, I keep calling TWC to see about 'cheap' HDTV access. All I want is their basic package (locals) plus HDTV locals. I don't want or need all the other channels although ESPN would be nice.

You would think this would be possible but they won't break up the service that way. They(twc) want me to purchase the basic + standard package + the digital package. I just can't stand paying close to 100 (after Road Runner is added in) for as little TV as we watch even though when we do watch I prefer HDTV.

Gotta move, jack up the house about 50 feet, quit being so cheap or think of a way to beat the system. :)

Bill, from a low spot in the 'peak of good living' city aka - Apex

mhdiab

12-11-03, 08:05 PM

There has been a discussion out there what is your legal right per the FCC. However, most cable companies have given in to the fact that you have a legal right to get basic cable and then rent the HD box to get the local digital channels. So you should be paying whatever that is - of course you wouldn't get inhd or HBOHD etc

WildBill

12-11-03, 09:10 PM

mhdiab,
That's just it. If they would offer the basic + local HD, event at a low additional cost I would go for it. But I have called 3 times and they won't break apart the services. I am forced to spend 40 more bucks than I am now to get what I almost have. The last person actually understood what I wanted and spoke to a 'manager' about it but got rejected.

Thanks for responding but mostly I am just venting. I am sooo close to having OTA free that it bothers me that my location is the killer. While 6 years ago a house with a decent yard and a nice stream behind it sounded good. Now I know.... Water = 'low spot' in NC. :)

mhdiab

12-12-03, 07:34 AM

WildBill - I will see if I can find the threads that discussed this exact issue. This was not an option the way it was disscussed on the main board a few weeks / months ago. will get back to you / search the main forum for HD programming about the topic / put a post

Found it -
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=329606&highlight=FCC

Check Ken's post the second one in the thread. TW's policy is that they must provide you - hence ask for a manager - if that isn't enough tell him to call corporate and get his stuff straight

deArgila

12-12-03, 08:08 AM

Disclaimer: what I'm about to say is purely speculative, and I don't have anything to back this up.

A lot of people think that HD locals must be provided with the basic package, where available, at no additional charge. While some people in some areas have been successful getting their cableco's to comply, other people in other areas have not. (we're apparently in one of the "have not" areas). I'm pretty confident there is not a government mandate to do so.

I think that TWC Raleigh's perspective on this is that they ARE providing the HD locals at no additional charge. It's simply part of their digital tier (as opposed to their own tier). Just because you get fox sports net with standard cable, doesn't mean you're entitled to fox sports world, fox sports atlantic, etc. In the same way, just because you get WRAL analog, doesn't mean you're entitled to WRAL digital. They are two different channels.

With that being said - I do suggest you fight this as high up as you can take it. What do you have to lose?

mhdiab

12-12-03, 08:31 AM

I think that TWC Raleigh's perspective on this is that they ARE providing the HD locals at no additional charge. It's simply part of their digital tier (as opposed to their own tier). Just because you get fox sports net with standard cable, doesn't mean you're entitled to fox sports world, fox sports atlantic, etc. In the same way, just because you get WRAL analog, doesn't mean you're entitled to WRAL digital. They are two different channels.

This example with FSN is almost irrelevant. There is no law surrounding if they have to provide you FSN etc but there is regarding the locals. As stated the interpretation is different between different companies. However, TW has a national main office that per Ken's response (which is usually correct) has stated that they have to provide the HD for free. Now does the CSR know any of this - no they don't and as you and I agree - push the issue up the chain.

You know there are laws out there that gives you the legal right to get HBO as well without digital package as well, "nobody" knows and trust me I have never talked to a CSR that knew.....

Plastic

12-12-03, 03:13 PM

I called up to get the price on INHD, get the sports package, and get rid of the package that used to contain DIY - at 10pm one night. Like others have mentioned, I looked at the programming on the INHD channels and decided it wasn't worth the $6.95 ... yet. The strange thing is, I got a really intelligent CSR that late at night who offered me a couple of deals.

Relevent to this forum, and something I had completely ignored, are the new DigiPic packages they've been advertising. The middle package includes the HBO's and either Cinemax or Showtime. They have a special right now where it's $58.95/6 months and you get all three movie networks instead of two. This turned out to be only $0.95 more than I'm currently paying.

I'm experiencing HBOHD and SHOHD for the first time. Plus you get all of the On Demand premiums as well. Not bad for $0.95. The other deal was the digital sports package free for 2 months.

Also, I was able to enjoy a two-week free preview or so of INHD and INHD2 while they were still testing it!
I didn't have my box in "hidden mode" and saw them as well, so I don't think it had anything to do with it.

WildBill

12-12-03, 05:03 PM

Thanks for the feedback and the link about "HDTV & cable/legal issues". I will review the posts and try again. I will have more options and possibilities next week when I finish the sale of my current STB and the new one arrives. Ordered an LST-3100A from Audio Advice in Raleigh. Giving up the DST3000 which I don't use for DirectTV anyway, just OTA.

dxg190

12-18-03, 11:10 AM

Hey -- Has anyone heard when the Time Warner here is going to add HDNET and HDNET movies? I read somewhere on this site (i think in the programming section) that Time Warner has just announced that they are going to start carying them. Any ideas?
Thanks

deArgila

12-18-03, 11:23 AM

There has been mention on the Charlotte thread that it could be before the end of the year in Raleigh - though other locations have mentioned the first part of January as a date.

Though I'd like to see HDNet and HDNet Movies as part of the new HD Suite - I'll still probably hold off until they either add ESPN-HD or the HD-DVR is released.

sooke

12-18-03, 06:12 PM

Yeah I'm waiting for 4 things from TWC:

1) HDNET

2) DVI on the 3250 STB to be enabled

3) HD DRV (which would make #2 moot)

4) ESPNHD

They all seem to be right around the corner...

Anyone tried "hidden mode" since the HDNET announcement 12/17 to see if HDNET is being tested?

Sooke

sooke

12-18-03, 06:14 PM

Originally posted by sooke
Yeah I'm waiting for 4 things from TWC:

1) HDNET

2) DVI on the 3250 STB to be enabled

3) HD DRV (which would make #2 moot)

4) ESPNHD

They all seem to be right around the corner...

Anyone tried "hidden mode" since the HDNET announcement 12/17 to see if HDNET is being tested?

Sooke

Good lord!! Is that enough acronyms for one post? :D

Sooke

deArgila

12-18-03, 06:19 PM

I have tried hidden mode as recently as right now ;) - and still a black screen.

Daryl L

12-19-03, 12:44 PM

I just looked at the channel lineups for the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville area and sometime early today they added this to the channel lineups:

293 HDNet - COMING SOON!
294 HDNet Movies - COMING SOON!

http://www.twc-nc.com/cf/line_ups/index.cfm

Bama

12-19-03, 02:18 PM

Will we be required to pay extra for the HDNET and HDNET-Movies?

sooke

12-19-03, 02:59 PM

Originally posted by Bama
Will we be required to pay extra for the HDNET and HDNET-Movies?

I believe they will be part of TWC's HD tier, so yes. If you already subscribe to the HD tier, then no change in cost.

Right now they have INHD and INHD2 on the tier. At $6.95 a month it is not real compelling yet. I have not found INHD content to be very interesting. Some of it is pretty to look at, but otherwise worthless. IMHO. They do put occasional sports on the INHD channels which some will like.

Sooke

Bama

12-19-03, 03:15 PM

Originally posted by sooke
I believe they will be part of TWC's HD tier, so yes. If you already subscribe to the HD tier, then no change in cost.

Right now they have INHD and INHD2 on the tier. At $6.95 a month it is not real compelling yet. I have not found INHD content to be very interesting. Some of it is pretty to look at, but otherwise worthless. IMHO. They do put occasional sports on the INHD channels which some will like.

Sooke

Thanks, I might drop Showtime at the end of Dec.

WildBill

12-20-03, 12:14 PM

Just picked up a LST-3100A. Hoped it would resolve my multi-path reception issues and it did. Last night for the first time I had NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, PBS all with good PQ and stable. WAHOO.

Previously I had a DST3000 which I sold and picked this up.

NOW FOR THE INTERESTING PART....(and some less than desirable to me)
Since this unit is QAM capable I plugged in my cable. I have the basic tier which only has about 12 channels mostly local and Road Runner.

I picked up about 25 digital channels. The local HD offerings I had hoped to get plus a few others. A few good ones, a couple I-Control advertising channels, some unexpected surprises and some undesirable channels.

Either way, this receiver is GREAT OTA and has the added benefit of QAM reception. Since I will mostly watch the above mentioned channels I will just block what I don't want and enjoy. :)

NOTE: I don't have a digital package from TWC or the standard package.

Erik Garci

12-22-03, 11:23 AM

Does TWC show any of the HDTV games from NBA TV (http://www.nba.com/nba_tv/NBA_TV_HIGHDEFINITION_GAME_SC-87271-466.html)?

Daryl L

12-22-03, 02:11 PM

Originally posted by Erik Garci
Does TWC show any of the HDTV games from NBA TV (http://www.nba.com/nba_tv/NBA_TV_HIGHDEFINITION_GAME_SC-87271-466.html)? Yes, on InHD channel. One was on lastnight and Orlando vs. Philly is on InHD1 tonight in HD.

Erik Garci

12-22-03, 02:51 PM

Do you need to subscribe to INHD in order to watch NBA HDTV? Or subscribe to the Digital Sports tier? Or both?

Is NBA HDTV really part of INHD's programming, or does TWC just use the same channel for both INHD and NBA HDTV?

Daryl L

12-22-03, 07:08 PM

Subscribe to HD Suite $6.95. NBATV and InHD worked out a sports deal.

Rob!Todd

12-23-03, 09:48 PM

For those that would like to preview HDNet and HDMovies on TWC you can access them at channels 293 and 294 in "hidden" mode. They are currently showing Billiards and the movie Barry Lyndon.

Rob

Bama

12-24-03, 01:56 PM

For those of you with a 3250HD STB from TWC, you can get into “hidden mode” by tuning to channel 999, go to tuning, then channel, and then enter 0293 or 0294 hit select. To remove the grey screen, press the “yellow triangle A” until removed. If this has already been posted sorry for the repeat.

Daryl L

12-24-03, 03:34 PM

I have the 3250HD, I press Enter & Exit till Diag is on display then I can tune directly tune to 290(ESPNHD), 293(HDNET1) and 294(HDNET MOVIES) but there's just a subscription screen showing.

Daryl L

12-24-03, 03:42 PM

Originally posted by Bama
For those of you with a 3250HD STB from TWC, you can get into “hidden mode” by tuning to channel 999, go to tuning, then channel, and then enter 0293 or 0294 hit select. To remove the grey screen, press the “yellow triangle A” until removed. If this has already been posted sorry for the repeat. I just tried this method on my 3250HD, after hittin select it says Not Authorized in red letters next to channel number.

Bama

12-24-03, 05:29 PM

I get not authorized when trying to use chanel 0290.

Bama

12-25-03, 04:40 PM

Has anyone had any luck with the DVI? I noticed other TWC subscribers west of us are able to use the DVI connection.

Daryl L

12-29-03, 06:48 PM

Well I've watched HDNet & HDNet Movies all day today in hidden diagnostic mode on the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville devision. They were turned on sometime early this morning. On the website they added today that they'll be available Dec. 30th.

http://www.twc-nc.com/digital_cable/hdtv.htm

Raleighwood

12-29-03, 06:53 PM

Greetings, folks:

I finally pulled the trigger on an HDTV yesterday, and am looking at TWC digital cable with HD. What box is TWC handing out these days for HD? Does that box have DVI output?

What else should I know about TWC HD? What other preparations should I make? What should I be aware of/potentially avoid?

Can't wait to join the Triangle HD community!

Best wishes to all for a great 2004!

Dan

Midlife Crisis

12-29-03, 09:05 PM

Originally posted by Daryl L
Well I've watched HDNet & HDNet Movies all day today in hidden diagnostic mode on the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville devision. They were turned on sometime early this morning. On the website they added today that they'll be available Dec. 30th.

http://www.twc-nc.com/digital_cable/hdtv.htm

I'm over in Apex and Both HD net and Movies are broadcast in the clear, at least as of 9:PM. I just dropped ShowTime Saturday and added the HD channels, timed that just about right.

Midlife Crisis

12-29-03, 09:20 PM

Originally posted by Raleighwood
Greetings, folks:

I finally pulled the trigger on an HDTV yesterday, and am looking at TWC digital cable with HD. What box is TWC handing out these days for HD? Does that box have DVI output?

What else should I know about TWC HD? What other preparations should I make? What should I be aware of/potentially avoid?

Can't wait to join the Triangle HD community!

Best wishes to all for a great 2004!

Dan

The current Box is a Scientific Atlanta 3250 HD. I picked mine up at the Cary office. Yes it has DVI but unfortunately I hear the DVI is not functional as yet. My projector is DVI equipped but does not support HDCP so it may not matter to me. Not much to be wary of, the output of the box seems to be slightly darker than the output from my DVD player, but I tweaked the presets to equalize them. The addition of HDnet/movies INHD 1+2 Discovery HD to go with the locals make an exceptional package. I moved a year ago and Scottsdale AZ is a HD wasteland compare to here. After 7 years of Direct TV I have found a comparable cable company. Not HD related but Time Warner should be hooking up the digital phone service here tomorrow

Raleighwood

12-29-03, 09:44 PM

Originally posted by Midlife Crisis
The current Box is a Scientific Atlanta 3250 HD. I picked mine up at the Cary office. Yes it has DVI but unfortunately I hear the DVI is not functional as yet... The addition of HDnet/movies INHD 1+2 Discovery HD to go with the locals make an exceptional package. I moved a year ago and Scottsdale AZ is a HD wasteland compare to here. After 7 years of Direct TV I have found a comparable cable company...

Thanks for the info, Midlife.

DVI not ACTIVE?!? :mad: Does anyone know when that's supposed to change?

Glad to hear that you like the local offerings. From what I understand, I've been living in an HD mecca of sorts and haven't been taking advantage of it.

How do you like the TWC signal/service vs. the DTV you got in Scottsdale?

Bama

12-30-03, 11:06 AM

On the Charlotte system DVI is activeated. Hope we are next.

Daryl L

12-30-03, 12:35 PM

Originally posted by Midlife Crisis
I'm over in Apex and Both HD net and Movies are broadcast in the clear, at least as of 9:PM. I just dropped ShowTime Saturday and added the HD channels, timed that just about right. Yet they added them to the EPG for all to get shortly after 7pm yesterday(after my previous post).

Raleighwood,

You might want to ask about the Pace DC-550 HD cable box. My Lumberton(just below Fayetteville) TWC office just got 5 Pace boxes yesterday and their sending me one tomorrow afternoon to try out(replacing my SA3250HD). So I'm sure Raleigh should have some available. I think the DVI is active on them.

Raleighwood

12-30-03, 06:21 PM

Originally posted by Daryl L
Raleighwood,

You might want to ask about the Pace DC-550 HD cable box. My Lumberton(just below Fayetteville) TWC office just got 5 Pace boxes yesterday and their sending me one tomorrow afternoon to try out(replacing my SA3250HD). So I'm sure Raleigh should have some available. I think the DVI is active on them.

GREAT news, Daryl! I'll definitely look into it. Thanks for the info!

Curious--Is there an updated list of the HD programming we can receive in the Triangle and surrounding areas via OTA and cable/sat? Maybe channels, programs and times? Are there any magazines or anything that I need to be subscribing to?

Thanks for the info!

GreggD

12-30-03, 08:51 PM

Hi,

For the last week or two, I have been getting garbled audio on ABC (WTVD-HD) via my OTA receiver. Is anyone else having this problem? The picture is fine, and the audio on the other channels is fine, so I'm guessing that it is not my receiver. Can someone post the URLs for complaining about transmission problems with the local HD stations? Thanks,

Gregg

pkscout

12-31-03, 08:04 AM

Originally posted by Raleighwood
GREAT news, Daryl! I'll definitely look into it. Thanks for the info!

Curious--Is there an updated list of the HD programming we can receive in the Triangle and surrounding areas via OTA and cable/sat? Maybe channels, programs and times? Are there any magazines or anything that I need to be subscribing to?

Thanks for the info!

I use TitanTV (http://www.titantv.com) to build a guide of all the HD programming I can receive. I don't have digital cable, but it looks like you can include that info as well as OFA and satellite stuff. HD content is marked with a big red HD on the guide.

pkscout

12-31-03, 08:11 AM

So here's the thing. I've decided that when the new HD TiVo comes out I'm going to switch from TWC to DirecTV. When I get the dish installed, I'm also going to see if I can have them move my OTA HD antenna onto my roof (I don't really want to deal with putting a grounding post in and bonding it to the house's ground system). I'd like to get some recommendations on a good installer in the Durham area who could do this work as well as come out (for a fee if necessary) to confirm that the location for the dish and HD antenna are really OK. I've been up on the roof with a compass, and it looks fine to me, but I'm planning on running the cabling from the central closet to the roof myself so the installer doesn't have to do that (and I don't have to pay for it). I'd hate to run the cable and have it be in the wrong place.

Related to the antenna, has anyone actually done a roof install and all the grounding? How hard was it really? What sorts of supplies and tools did you need?

TIA.

Bama

01-01-04, 10:32 AM

Originally posted by Daryl L
Yet they added them to the EPG for all to get shortly after 7pm yesterday(after my previous post).

Raleighwood,

You might want to ask about the Pace DC-550 HD cable box. My Lumberton(just below Fayetteville) TWC office just got 5 Pace boxes yesterday and their sending me one tomorrow afternoon to try out(replacing my SA3250HD). So I'm sure Raleigh should have some available. I think the DVI is active on them.

How about a review on the new STB, does the Pace DC-550 HD have DVI enabled? I went by my local TWC office in Goldsboro and they had no clue on the new STB but thats standard for them. :(

Daryl L

01-01-04, 11:44 AM

Well, I'm not much at reviewing but I'll say a few things. They brought the Pace DC-550 to my house yesterday around 3:00pm. The Pace seems to tune to channels slightly faster than the previous SA3250HD or SA3100HD did. The picture on the Pace seems a bit more stable, on the Pace the weather channels picture doesn't shake sideways like it did on the SA3250HD.

The Pace has black sidebars while the 3250HD had grey (some areas were able to switch to grey or black on the 3250 butnot on the one I had). The Pace has format options 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and PASS (PASS passing all received formats unconverted straight to the tv). I like PASS because now anytime I go from a SD channel to a HD channel the box switches to the stations native format automaticely. Now I only have to manually choose formats when I turn to ABCHD (WTVD11) or FOX (WRAZ50) because both of them are sending out a 720p signal and my tv won't accept or display 720p natively.

The Pace outputs to Component and Composite simultaniously like the 3250HD did but with the Pace you can view the EPG through the Composite outputs which the 3250 wouldn't allow. When switching format manually or the stretch/zoom modes on the Pace you don't do it in the boxes PASSPORT software menu, it's done in the Pace's seperate software, by pressing the # key on the remote switches stretch/zoom modes and if you hold the # key a blue window pops up on screen allowing you to adjust Format, Aspect Ratio and Closed Caption.

EDITTED

The Pace box has a more prestigious streamline look than the SA3250HD box. I have no problem with the EPG data loading 7 days in advance completely or loosing data like I did with the SA3250HD but I have only had the Pace for 20 hours. If you turn to a HD channel that's upconverting a 4:3 show with black bars the Pace box can stretch/zoom the HD image to hide the bars if you want.

The only problem I've come accross so far is when using the digital outputs and I switch from a digital channel to an analog channel my receiver (H/K AVR8000) has problem detecting the PCM signal as if the PCM signals voltage is too low (one other reasons I can think of is The box switches to the PCM audio so fast my receiver hasn't unlocked from the DD mode). I have to either switch from and back to the receivers input, switch audio modes or turn the Pace off and back on to get the receiver to unlock from DD and lock onto the PCM signal. I didn't have this problem with the SA3250HD. Even with this minor annoyance I still prefer the Pace over the SA3250HD.

I'm sorry I can't test the DVI because I don't have a DVI jack on my tv (Toshiba 57HX81).

Here's the Pace website for the DC-550
http://www.pacemicro.com/products/products.asp?id=550

Here's a link to download the manual
http://www.pacemicro.com/products/manuals/Pace_DC-550_Operators_Manual.pdf

Here's a link to download the specs
http://www.pacemicro.com/products/manuals/DC550_spec.pdf

Raleighwood

01-01-04, 12:07 PM

Excellent review, Daryl! Sounds like a really solid box.

I called the Raleigh TWC office yesterday, and they're out of HD boxes of any make/model until at least a few days from now. I got the name of a guy there who should know about them--his last name is Ayres (sorry, it's at work.) He was at lunch when I called, so I couldn't ask him about the availabilty of the Pace HD boxes here in Raleigh.

Additionally, here's a link to the press release announcing the release of the DC-550:

http://www.pacemicro.com/pressroom/newspopup.asp?section=release&id=10021

Bama

01-01-04, 07:47 PM

Thanks Daryl L, now only if I could get my hands on one.

rtp-resident

01-02-04, 11:19 AM

Daryl - Thanks for the review - good one! I was going to take my 3250 boxes to exchange them this weekend, but from the posts figure I should just wait.

Has anyone compared the PQ from component output to DVI output on their systems? Several techs have told me that PQ is much more a personal opinion between DVI and component than actual technical improvement. The two outputs are roughly comparable.

Thoughts?

jdt

01-05-04, 08:17 PM

So if I take my 3100HD to the local Cary TWC office will they give me a 3250HD? I have a 4:3 HDTV so I could use the stretch/zoom feature to watch 4:3 HD signals with out four sides of bars.

John

willobandb

01-06-04, 12:39 PM

Originally posted by jdt
So if I take my 3100HD to the local Cary TWC office will they give me a 3250HD? I have a 4:3 HDTV so I could use the stretch/zoom feature to watch 4:3 HD signals with out four sides of bars.

John

Doesn't sound like it! Just talked to TWC rep on the phone, she checked and indicated that ALL of the local offices in Raleigh/Durham/Cary were out of the HD boxes. She said that they were all snapped up by folks that got new HDTV's over the holidays and that it may be a week before they get restocked. She did not know which model (or models) would be available when restocked. If anyone has better info, would love to hear it.

Bob

kenstr

01-06-04, 04:19 PM

I have the 3250HD box and it regularly loses the guide data. Is there a way to force it to re-load the program data ?

I have the PVR also and it has never lost the guide data. I wish they would get an HD-PVR soon.

Ken

aldamon

01-07-04, 12:28 PM

Still waiting for DVI on the 3250 and a fix for the guide in S-video :(

tme

01-09-04, 12:13 PM

Does anyone know of any local stores that sell Channel Master antennas? Specifically the 4228. Thanks.

splogue

01-09-04, 12:51 PM

Hold down the power button on the box (not the remote) while it is on. After five seconds or so, the box will reboot and reload the software and channel guide.

My 3250 also loses the guide data. Interestingly, my 3100HD box in a different room has also been some having guide difficulties in the past few months (though not as many as the 3250). I suspect the cable company may be at fault.

Sean

ganymebe

01-09-04, 06:53 PM

I got a Channel Master 4228 antenna at Consumer Direct Warehouse. I think they do most business via the web and catalog, but they have a small store off Old Wake Forest Rd. in Raleigh, about half a mile inside the Beltline.

- Steve

tme

01-09-04, 07:24 PM

Thanks ganymebe! I'll check them out on Monday.

daggerNC

01-12-04, 10:48 AM

Recently converted from dish to TWC primarily for HD content (OK, maybe the real reason was for a LOCAL Weather Channel :D ). My system consists of a Sony HS10 HD PJ/Stewart Firehawk (110"D) screen/Marantz 18EX receiver/Def Tech surround system/Panny RP-82 DVD. After a false install start (came on a Saturday to install 3 basic when I ordered a digital PVR downstairs and the HD upstairs), they came back and installed, but all he had was a refurb SA3100. Not very happy with that and called and they were suppose to exchange for a new HD box this past Saturday but they didn't show as they had no boxes. Called again and they said no new boxes until Feb. 1, so I'm scheduled for the 2nd.

I read Daryl's review of the Pace box and went to their website for the box specs. I don't see the same info on SA's site for the 3250? As they said I will have a choice of which box, I'd like more info/recommendations. I'm leaning towards the Pace550 but would appreciate any further data on the SA box.

Thanks,
dagger

Raleighwood

01-13-04, 07:42 AM

Good news for Time Warner folks--I spoke with Matt in the Raleigh office yesterday, and apparently ESPN HD and "some other new HD channels" will be available on TWC "sometime in the next month or so". If someone has a way of getting more specific information, I hope you'll post it here.

FWIW,

Dan

splogue

01-13-04, 03:02 PM

More high def channels are always a good thing.

I'm wondering when we'll see HD versions of the WB and UPN. Seems like a strange oversight given that we get HD versions of the other broadcast channels. Has anyone heard any news on this?

I'm a little disappointed to see them adding other channels without adding these, though I can certainly see why folks are interested in HD ESPN. I'm not into sports at all, but they look so good in HD it (almost) makes me want to tune in.

Sean

Trip in VA

01-13-04, 03:43 PM

Well, Sinclair has no plans for UPN or WB in HD on many of their stations that I know of; this has nothing to do with cable.

No point in putting a standard-definition version of something available on regular cable on the HD section, right?

- Trip

sooke

01-13-04, 04:43 PM

Originally posted by Trip in VA
Well, Sinclair has no plans for UPN or WB in HD on many of their stations that I know of; this has nothing to do with cable.

No point in putting a standard-definition version of something available on regular cable on the HD section, right?

- Trip

True.

Ofcourse, after Buffy the Vampire Slayer was cancelled I personally don't watch UPN or WB.

Ahhhh, to have seen Buffy in HD... sigh...

Brings tears to my eyes.

;)

Sooke

sooke

01-13-04, 04:45 PM

Originally posted by Raleighwood
Good news for Time Warner folks--I spoke with Matt in the Raleigh office yesterday, and apparently ESPN HD and "some other new HD channels" will be available on TWC "sometime in the next month or so". If someone has a way of getting more specific information, I hope you'll post it here.

Thanks Raleighwood.

Any word on when they will enable the DVI output on their cable boxes?

Sooke

etk29321

01-13-04, 04:57 PM

I was looking at the stats on the SA3250HD on SA's website, and it claims an option for firewire out. Whats the chance us TWC customers could get ahold of such a box. If nothing else, the fact that this option is aval should mean that the 169time folks could fix the box and enable it I would hope. Of course, I want this so I can PVR HBOHD off TWC.

box specs here:http://www.sciatl.com/news/03Apr07-3250HD.htm

For that matter the Pace 550HD has a firewire option too.

Raleighwood

01-13-04, 05:32 PM

Originally posted by sooke
Thanks Raleighwood.

Any word on when they will enable the DVI output on their cable boxes?

Sooke

I believe the new Pace DC-550 box that Daryl reviewed and that TWC is now handing out has a DVI port, and I assume (danger Will Robinson) that it's enabled--that's what I hope to pick up this week and hopefully use to connect my TV. I guess there's no guarantee that it's enabled, though! Does anyone know anything certain?

LazyTom

01-13-04, 06:57 PM

Re: SA3250 trick

I have the SA3250 box. I accidentally hit the bypass button on the SA3250 remote and got a message saying that there was a mismatch between my display mode and the signal from the box ... along with (incorrect) instructions to fix the problem.

So I go into to settings and adjust the display settings correctly ... instant increase in PQ of the image! Not very significant, by enough to notice.

aldamon

01-14-04, 10:12 AM

Originally posted by Raleighwood
I believe the new Pace DC-550 box that Daryl reviewed and that TWC is now handing out has a DVI port, and I assume (danger Will Robinson) that it's enabled--that's what I hope to pick up this week and hopefully use to connect my TV. I guess there's no guarantee that it's enabled, though! Does anyone know anything certain?

Good luck. Everyone is trying to get an HD box for the Super Bowl. TWC is out of boxes. I'm getting kind of annoyed with the DVI situation. The warranty is running out on my TV and I still can't test the DVI port. Grrr. I'd get the Pace box in a heartbeat if they were available. The quirks on the 3250 (no DVI, no guide in S-Video and a tendency to reboot after stopping an iControl movie) are getting annoying.

Daryl L

01-14-04, 12:56 PM

I have confirmation yesterday from the guy in my local TWC office that sent me my Pace DC-550 that the DVI ports IS ENABLED. He got one of the Pace boxes when I did and he got a DVI cable from the Morrisville office yesterday and hooked it up to his Sony KP46WT500 tv and it worked and that he did notice improved picture quality.

tme

01-14-04, 01:00 PM

Hi,

For those who use over the air, I'm trying to decide between a Channel Master 4228 and 4221. I am 21 miles from the stations. The 4221 has a range of 45 miles. Do you think I will benefit from the 4228 and try to go for that? Also, do you think its ok not go get a rotator so I can get all channels except PBS?

Did you have any trouble with home owner's associations and either antenna? They want me to fill out a request with drawings etc, and I thought the 4228 might be too big.

Thanks.

Lee L

01-14-04, 01:36 PM

Unless you live in a multi unit condo and do not have control over a patio or something like it, the HOA can;t say crap about an antenna used to receive OTA signals. Even them telling you to let them know before installation is against the FCC rules.

tme

01-14-04, 02:47 PM

Thanks Lee. You're right. I found the FCC ruling for over the air antennas. I'll call the HOA and tell them this.

keefer37

01-14-04, 02:51 PM

Can you post a link to this. I'm thinking I may have the same issues when I put up an antenna at my new place.

tme

01-14-04, 10:18 PM

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

Scooper

01-14-04, 11:25 PM

You don't have to tell the HOA diddly-squat (except maybe print out the OTARD to give to them as an attachment to your response to tell them to pound sand ) - just put it up if you want to. At most, if they can get the local FCC field office to agree that their restrictions are valid (not too bloody likely), after you get that notification, you still have 30 days to take it down,. But I rather doubt if anything will come of your putting the antenna up in the long run except YOU enjoying HDTV. Do READ the OTARD so you know exactly where you stand.

tme

01-18-04, 08:00 PM

I couldn't wait untill my install of a outdoor antenna (next weekend), so I went to BB to purchase a Silver Sensor. They were out of them, but they had a Jensen TV920. I thought I would just try it anyway. It works perfectly. I can get pretty much all the channels.. except PBS is kind of weak. I live about 20 miles away from the towers.

The TV920 doesn't look bad either. I put it behind my center channel and you can't really see it. Just thought I would share my experience.

I'm not sure I need to install the Channel Master now :)

daggerNC

01-19-04, 11:05 PM

Just installed TWC digital cable 2 weeks ago. However, Friday I noticed the D3 and D4 channels from WRAL (256/257, or something close to that?) were not available any more. Called cust service and they had to check and then they told me it was likely Marketing and that they would need to talk to them to find out and get back to me some time this week.

Though they should have significant input, I don't like the idea to have marketing calling (all?) the shots. The other digital channels from the other locals are still there. On their cable station line up online still shows we should have these channels. Perhaps it was something to do with D3 and D4 seemed to duplicate most (all?) shows. However, I really don't want to watch analog WRAL/CBS on channel 3 - much poorer PQ than the digital channel was. Of course on the high def system it's usually great, but casual watching and show recording is done on the TV downstairs.

I called in a lodged a complaint. I encourage others to do the same so that we have more impact/get WRAL back on digital tier (note not talking about their 24 hour news channel D2)??

dagger

PS. Who's got the email address of TWC-Raleigh for tech support/inputs?

deArgila

01-19-04, 11:12 PM

I'm not sure the TWC rep you talked to knew what he/she was talking about. D3 and D4 are almost always turned off - in fact, the only time I've seen them activated is during the NCAA tournament, when WRAL broadcasts all the games.

The reason for this is bandwidth. Rather than dividing the bandwidth for various multi-cast channels, WRAL chooses to dedicate the bulk of the bandwidth for their high defintion channel and one low-bandwidth 24-hour news/weather channel.

There's nothing to complain about - this is how it should be done in order to get the best high def picture possible.

Hope that helps.

mbakman

01-20-04, 04:14 PM

I recently got a new HDTV and been battling with TWC to get an answer on when they will have more HD Receivers. After reading this forum I'm glad to find out I'm not the only one waiting for one. Has anyone been able to receive any news or actual HD receivers in the last few weeks?

deArgila

01-20-04, 04:23 PM

Just a suggestion for those waiting on TWC HD receivers for the Super Bowl- go to Best Buy and get yourself a samsung t-151 HD tuner and an antenna. Return them after the Super Bowl.

You might want to do this now so you can have a week or so to tweak antenna placement.

I saw a segment last night on the WRAL local news that there was a waitlist for HD boxes, and that it's unlikely they'll have more in stock come Super Bowl time - I don't know where they got that info, but if I were you - I'd go to Best Buy just in case.

mbakman

01-20-04, 04:26 PM

Actually right after I wrote to this thread I thought about the same exact thing. Now researching what is the best indoor antenna. Can someone send a link to where the towers are located so I can decide if a indoor antenna is even an option. I live in Raleigh NC area

daggerNC

01-20-04, 05:13 PM

deArgila - I can think of a few other digital and analog channels they should get rid of if bandwidth is an issue. In fact I think they should convert all the standard channels to digital and eliminate that tier. Would save them bandwidth and money and could justify lowering Digital package as compensation. (OK, cable lowering pricing won't likely happen without regulation/competition). Are you aware of the current bandwidth utilization and available on their HFC system? They said they would get back to me latter this week.

On HD boxes - I was given a refurb 3100 that has menu display focus issues. I'm getting a replacement. I checked again yesterday and they said Feb 1 is next scheduled shipment date.

Cheers,
dagger

PS. I'd like to know the location of the HD tower(s) also. Garner and Chapel Hill only? Others?

mattdb

01-20-04, 05:16 PM

you can go to www.antennaweb.org and it will give you all of the antennas.

Matt

deArgila

01-20-04, 05:19 PM

oops

deArgila

01-20-04, 05:19 PM

dagger - it's not TWC that has the bandwidth restrictions, it's WRAL.

Each local station is alotted something like 22 Mbps of bandwidth (someone, I'm sure can provide the actual number ... or maybe I'll do some research and update the thread). They allocate the bulk (18Mbps or so) to the high def channel, and the other 3+ to the 24-hour weather/news station.

During the NCAA tournament, for example, when they have all four digital channels activated, they alot like 5-6 Mbps for each SD channel.

You'll also notice that PBS does the same thing OTA - from 8:00 pm on, they turn on their HD channel, give it lots of bandwidth, and turn off two of their SD channels to compensate. TWC actually gets the feed a different way, so they leave all 4 or 5 channels on all the time.

Scooper

01-20-04, 07:12 PM

mbakman - ALL the Raleigh DTV transmitter towers (except WUNC) are located east of Clayton along I-40. However, I wouldn't necessarily count on indoor antennas pulling in the DTV signals - you might need an outdoors antenna to get them reliably. And for now, they are all UHF.

Scooper

01-20-04, 07:14 PM

Oh - and the DTV channel (undivided) is on the order of 19.2 Mbps .

Trip in VA

01-21-04, 06:40 AM

For the person trying to get the Superbowl.

I'd also suggest going with an over-the-air solution. I think you should try and get either the Zenith HDV420 (this tuner is more sensitive to weak signals, so it would be easier to receive the channels with this) or the Samsung T160, 165, 151, 351, etc.

As far as antennas go, try the Zenith Silver Sensor first. It's highly directional, so if it becomes too much of a hassle, see if Radio Shack has the Double-Bowtie available.

- Trip

mbakman

01-21-04, 05:40 PM

Thanks for great Antenna info guys but I just got a call from TWC saying they finally know when the HD STBs are arriving which is this coming Monday. I've asked them about running out by the time I get to their office and they assured me that they have ordered plenty more than demanded. Crossing fingers

I've asked them about the STBs and they said we would be getting the new Pace STBs.

Raleighwood

01-21-04, 05:50 PM

Originally posted by mbakman
Thanks for great Antenna info guys but I just got a call from TWC saying they finally know when the HD STBs are arriving which is this coming Monday. I've asked them about running out by the time I get to their office and they assured me that they have ordered plenty more than demanded. Crossing fingers

I've asked them about the STBs and they said we would be getting the new Pace STBs.

EXCELLENT news, mbakman!! What office did you talk to that said that it would have the Pace boxes?

Along with finally being able to make the delivery appointment for my new TV, your news has made my day!

Dan

mbakman

01-21-04, 08:16 PM

I've received the news from one of the Customer Support Managers in the Raleigh office. I would say this I wouldn't keep my hopes too high on this because this is not the first time they told me that these boxes would be in on Monday :confused:

But I gave up on trying to get a honest answer from TWC

Eidolon

01-24-04, 05:26 PM

I know this is an HD forum, but I have quick question about Time Warner's local SD signal quality.

Im considering buying an HDTV and was looking at a Gateway 56" DLP in Cary last week. The picture looked great on the satellite HD feed they had going. I asked them to switch to an SD feed so that I could see what that looked like. They put on a basketball game and the picture was absolutely horrible. Since I watch a lot of ACC basketball (produced by raycom, etc), which I suspect is not always broadcast in HD, the prospect of having to deal with a horrible picture after spending a lot of money on a new TV is really holding me back. Im hoping that the poor picture quality was due to a bad SD signal coming from the satellite.

So my question is, are the owners of HDTVs happy with the SD picture quality coming from TW signal in Raleigh? Am I correct that the raycom ACC games are broadcast in SD?

Thanks for any help.

deArgila

01-24-04, 05:34 PM

There's no question about it - SD feeds aren't going to look so good blown up to 50+" and it's not going to make a lick of difference whether your feed is satellite or TWC.

I have TWC and watch most of my SD stuff through a Tivo/DVD-R combo with the Faroudja DcDi chipset (Pioneer dvr-810H)- so it looks pretty decent. (on a 65" Mits, for reference purposes).

And yes, all the Raycom/JP games are SD.

But don't let that stop you from hooking up an HDTV - HD material is incredible, as are DVD's on an HD set. SD just isn't going to look very good when it's that big - there's not much that can be done about that.

My vote = get the HDTV, enjoy the HD programming that's out there, and don't stress about the SD picture quality - at least the picture will be a lot bigger ;)

ewtroan

01-24-04, 06:02 PM

I'm not overly happy with TWC's analog channels. I do watch them on my 50", but the
picture isn't that good. The digital SD channels are much better, and I'd guess (but I don't know) that a satellite system would look more like TWC's digital channels then the rest.

For the basketball games, you should be able to watch those in digital SD; that is from the digital channel but still at 480i. Those look quite sharp, but you may not be able to stretch it full screen (it depends on the TV), and watching too much letterboxed material on a plasma isn't a great idea (which is a big reason I don't own one).

Erik

Brian Grant

01-27-04, 11:07 AM

Originally posted by mbakman
Thanks for great Antenna info guys but I just got a call from TWC saying they finally know when the HD STBs are arriving which is this coming Monday. I've asked them about running out by the time I get to their office and they assured me that they have ordered plenty more than demanded. Crossing fingers

I've asked them about the STBs and they said we would be getting the new Pace STBs.

Has anyone heard anything else about this shipment of HD STB's? It would be really nice to get one this week and not miss the SB....

SoYLeNt ReD

01-28-04, 10:17 AM

Hey guys my first post here. Been reading these forums a good bit while making my decision on a new TV. My new 50" Sammy DLP is being delivered this afternoon :D(delayed b/c of the snow :mad: ).

I called TWC (Atlantic Ave. office) last week to set an appointment to have digital cable put on my account and made an appointment for them to bring / hook up my new STB this upcoming Saturday before the Super Bowl. According to her they had plenty of HD boxes and they are bringing one out for me on Saturday. I also asked her if they had a DVI output and she said yes but they are not enabled yet. Hopefully she was not just ignorant to the supply and they really will bring me out an HD box this Saturday.

mbakman

01-28-04, 10:50 AM

I've picked mine up this morning and they seem to have plenty of them. If I were you I would still go down and pick it myself in the next few days and not wait until Saturday. From what I can tell they did receive a lot of new Pace HD STBs but there is a huge demand. Even this morning there were 2 people there to pick up HD STBs before I got there at 9:00am.

Brian Grant

01-28-04, 12:08 PM

Success! I just picked mine up about 11:00 am. They still had a bunch if folks still need to get down there. They are handing out both SA's and Pace boxes, so make sure you specify which one you'd prefer. My Pace box looks a little dinged up but hopefully it will do what it needs to tonight!

thiruvil

01-28-04, 04:41 PM

I just called the Raleigh Office and they said they only have Scientific Atlantics HD boxes that came in yesterday but still don't have Pace boxes yet. Did you get a Pace box or Scientific Atlantic?

Thanks

Brian Grant

01-28-04, 04:46 PM

Originally posted by thiruvil
I just called the Raleigh Office and they said they only have Scientific Atlantics HD boxes that came in yesterday but still don't have Pace boxes yet. Did you get a Pace box or Scientific Atlantic?

Thanks

I picked up a Pace this morning and saw a gentleman at the window next to me also getting a Pace box. Perhaps they were really low on Pace stock and ran out this morning? I did have to ask for it since the woman at the window grabbed a SA initially. They still had at least one cabinet full of boxes when I left, although those may have been SA's.

sooke

01-28-04, 05:00 PM

So, has anyone with a Pace box tried the DVI output?

Sooke

Raleighwood

01-28-04, 05:46 PM

Originally posted by Brian Grant
I picked up a Pace this morning and saw a gentleman at the window next to me also getting a Pace box. Perhaps they were really low on Pace stock and ran out this morning? I did have to ask for it since the woman at the window grabbed a SA initially. They still had at least one cabinet full of boxes when I left, although those may have been SA's.

From the small world department, that was me standing beside you in line, Brian. No surprise that AVSers would be among the first on hand to grab their Pace boxes when the getting was good! Oddly, the box they gave me also appeared to be a bit dinged up, though there was one of those sticky cellophane window protectors on the front display...

There was a mini-run on HD boxes during the short time I was there. I was considering going there after work instead of before--glad I chose to go early, as my TV is being delivered tomorrow (fingers crossed, what with the recent weather and any havoc it may have wreaked on the delivery schedule) and I didn't want to be disappointed.

Can't wait to finally lay eyes on HD in my home, after more than 2 years of procrastination and working the wife acceptance factor!

Raleighwood

01-28-04, 05:51 PM

Originally posted by sooke
So, has anyone with a Pace box tried the DVI output?

Sooke, I'll be trying it tomorrow. Gonna go get a DVI cable tomorrow before the TV arrives... Any suggestions on makes/models/local vendors? Man, those things are expensive for what they are... I'm told to get the higher-quality cable with better shielding, better conductivity, etc. Is the Monster DVI cable adequate, or should I look for something else? And also, aren't there 2 types of DVI cables? Which type should I get? Any advice is welcomed.

Thanks all,

Dan

sooke

01-28-04, 06:22 PM

I've read posts in the RPTV forum that you don't need the real expensive DVI cables (like Monster). Rationale is since it is digital you don't have to worry as much about signal degredation as analog (like Component).

Generally, don't buy longer than you need. I've read if they get too long you start to see "sparkles". I think < 10' should be good.

I have a 1 meter Monster (which I bought before reading about them on AVSForum).

Some members have posted good results with DVI cables from PacificCable.com. They're cheaper than Monster by quite a lot.

Don't know of a local store that sells anything but Monster.

Sooke

aldamon

01-29-04, 07:43 AM

If the DVI port is ever enabled on the SA-3250HD, I'm going to use a DVI cable from Dell. They come with every Dell at work, so they had a ton laying around.

gwall

01-29-04, 12:00 PM

I'm new to this forum. It's good to see a few of you from Apex- the peak of good living.

I have the SA 3250HD box and have had no problems with it. Tested the Pace box for a few days and was dissatisfied. There seemed to be some glitches with the Pace boxes (some channels not coming in and unstable picture when there is an abundance of white displayed).

BTW for all of you interested in the DVI port on the 3250HD- got word from TWC that a mass software upgrade will take place within the next few months. It will most likely be March (at the latest?) when the DVI will be activated.

Brian Grant

01-29-04, 01:24 PM

Originally posted by Raleighwood
From the small world department, that was me standing beside you in line, Brian. No surprise that AVSers would be among the first on hand to grab their Pace boxes when the getting was good! Oddly, the box they gave me also appeared to be a bit dinged up, though there was one of those sticky cellophane window protectors on the front display...

That's too funny! I called as soon as I read mbakman's post (actually within 30 seconds I think). The CSR I spoke to said I might want to hurry down there to get it. I'm glad I did now!

After getting everything hooked up and finding a HD channel with a couple of talking heads, my wife's first reaction was "There are some people who shouldn't be on HDTV!" The clarity improvement over SD is really quite impressive with a good source.

Raleighwood, once you get your box hooked up, please post if you have any issues with the guide. With the box set on PASS, anytime I access the guide on an HD channel the box basically locks up and requires unplugging to fix it. The guide works fine on all non-HD channels, however. Folks over in the HDTV hardware forum haven't seen this (other than a couple posts) so I assume I've just picked up a bum box. Since everything else is working I'll probably just wait a bit to swap it out.

I'm also going to try other resolution settings tonight and see if that helps (or hurts).

aldamon

01-29-04, 04:25 PM

Originally posted by gwall
I'm new to this forum. It's good to see a few of you from Apex- the peak of good living.

I have the SA 3250HD box and have had no problems with it. Tested the Pace box for a few days and was dissatisfied. There seemed to be some glitches with the Pace boxes (some channels not coming in and unstable picture when there is an abundance of white displayed).

BTW for all of you interested in the DVI port on the 3250HD- got word from TWC that a mass software upgrade will take place within the next few months. It will most likely be March (at the latest?) when the DVI will be activated.

The upgraded software is already in use in Charlotte and other parts of the country. This delay is frustrating!

gwall

01-29-04, 05:02 PM

It could be as early as February, however. I'll post here when it's active.

From what I hear, due to the size of the systems- the Charlotte and SC Divisions were the test markets for activating the DVI port.

KLebda

01-29-04, 08:30 PM

Originally posted by Brian Grant
...
Raleighwood, once you get your box hooked up, please post if you have any issues with the guide. With the box set on PASS, anytime I access the guide on an HD channel the box basically locks up and requires unplugging to fix it. The guide works fine on all non-HD channels, however. Folks over in the HDTV hardware forum haven't seen this (other than a couple posts) so I assume I've just picked up a bum box. Since everything else is working I'll probably just wait a bit to swap it out.
...

It's not just you. Saw a note of the same problem in anther thread. And I traded a 3250 in on the pace box last saturday, and had the guide lockup problems until wednesday. There was a message on the display that I cleared before I recognized what it was, but I think it said the box had been updated the previous night. I have had NO lockups since then.

However, I do have some compatibility problem between the box and my sony gwIII. Most of the time the dvi connection is a hassle, because the hdcp test fails. Have to re-boot to clear that. Gonna call twc as soon as I can get a chance during the day.

LazyTom

01-29-04, 10:10 PM

Tell us first impressions of DVI on 1080i programming. My component out is stunning, I would like to hear about what ever potential delta I might expect.
Thanks

gwall

01-30-04, 01:52 PM

For those of you in need of an HD box, visit a TWC payment center in Cary or Raleigh - both have boxes (SA and Pace)

Addresses;
Cary- 193 Highhouse Rd.
Raleigh - 2505 Atlantic Ave.

gwall

01-30-04, 02:55 PM

another tidbit-
HD DVRs (SA Explorer 8000) are being tested in smaller divisions like Green Bay and S. Carolina.
The Raleigh Division will have these available in the spring (March or April).

bmduncan

02-01-04, 06:07 PM

All,

Is there a consensus yet as to which is the preferred box here in the Triangle - Pace 550 or SA3250? Just got the 3250 at the Cary office as they were out of the Pace but a TWC supervisor called me to say they could deliver a Pace if I preffered. My display is a Sony GWIII LCD RPTV. I know the Pace DVI is activated and the SA3250 is not but I hear some shady things about using DVI with my TV. So far the component on 3250 looks nice w/o any tweaking...

Also, if you go to the Cary office try to deal with Tanya as she was great!

TIA,
Brian

swebsurf

02-02-04, 05:32 AM

Hi folks,

I picked up my box this past Wed. At first all seemed well with the exception of my On Demand movie channels. Called them and had to reboot. Didn't really fix it, but I was able to view Channels I wasn't subscribed to for a bit; not a bad trade off. I have since gotten that fixed. The next day I came home and turned everything on; no picture, but the sound was fine. A reboot resolved this problem. The latest problem is with the Guide. I can't get the Guide or the Info to display on my screen on the lower channels unless I pass a channel (seems arbitrary) where the Info happens to pop up; seems to work fine when accessing the movie channels.

As far as my DVI experience, I hooked up the DVI cable and disconnected the Component cables. Turned everything back on and got the message that my device was not HDCP compliant. BZZZT! Wrong answer: I have the Sony VPL-HS10 which is HDCP compliant. I haven't had a chance to read through this entire thread so has anyone heard of similar problems with the Pace box and DVI? The picture with Component is fantastic, but I'd still like to try the DVI :-)

thanks,

Scott

jmarkan

02-02-04, 01:52 PM

Scott,

I am having similar issues. I discussed this with Pace and they confirmed this to be an issue with some sets (I have the Sony kV34XBR910) due to timing issues. They said a firmware fix for this will be ready in a few weeks and should resolve the issue. For now, the best fix appears to be unplugging/replugging the DVI connector to reset it.

Another issue I think I finally got around is the inability to use the zoom feature due to the TWC remote not having a # key. Pace said the Universal Remote UR4-EXP will work (which TWC doesn't have.) After talking with about 6 TWC people claiming that they can't help, I finally found out that you need to request the AT8400 remote. I just got mine and am anxious to see if the zoom will now work.

Jay

Raleighwood

02-02-04, 08:03 PM

Greetings, Jay, Scott, and other Triangle-area TWC-over-DVI aspirants:

BIG disaster today on the TWC front. As noted in a previous post, I was also having the problem with the DVI cable connection and the Pace box reporting that it wasn't HDCP compliant. However, I discovered that by turning on the TV (Sony 34XBR910) and THEN the Pace box instead of leaving the Pace box on all the time, the DVI setup worked fine. The Super Bowl on WRAL HD last night over DVI with the Pace box was nothing short of stunning. My guests couldn't stop talking about how amazing it looked, particularly the promo montage of CBS HD programs at one commercial break. It was truly breathtaking, and I very rarely use such hyperbole.

However, being the perfectionist that so many of us are, I called a tech out today to iron out that "HDCP compliant" error message kink so that I could just leave the Pace box on and turn on the TV when needed without having to deal with the HDCP error message. It was working 95% perfectly, so why not iron out this last problem, I thought? I was at work when the tech arrived, but my wife was there to let him in, and I talked to him over the phone.

The tech said that the Pace boxes were lower quality than the Scientific Atlanta boxes, that he had had a Pace box in his home and had switched it back for an SA box, that I should let him do the same for me, that the DVI would work fine (danger Will Robinson), and that the image quality on the SA box would be better than the Pace box. Like a knuckle-dragging moron and against my better judgment, I allowed the tech to switch out the Pace for an SA box, hoping that he knew what he was talking about and that indeed the DVI would work without quirks, and that image quality would be even better as the tech claimed. BAD mistake on my part.

So I get home, and immediately notice the nice 5-foot rut in my lawn beside the driveway that the tech so considerately supplied. I head inside, and note that the DVI cable is connected to the Scientific Atlanta box, but so is a set of component cables. Not a good sign. Sure enough, the DVI on my 34XBR910 (Video 7) is not receiving a signal, the lower SD channels look like @#%@# over component, and HD channels don't look anywhere near as good as they did over DVI (no big surprise).

Further, there's grey pillarboxes on the sides of 4:3 content in normal mode instead of the Pace's less intrusive black pillarboxes, AND the wide modes of the TV have been magically disabled in favor of the SA box's wide and zoom modes! My spouse was already happy using the 910's wide zoom mode for 4:3, and now she can't access it--they're greyed out and inaccessible in the 910's menu. She (and I) are NOT HAPPY about this at all.

The first guy at TWC I talk to by phone tonight tells me that the fact that the DVI connection worked at all on the Pace box was a "fluke", and that NO HD boxes in the TWC network are supposed to support DVI until a large-scale software upgrade to their HD boxes at the end of March. That was not what I wanted to hear. Of course, I asked for my "fluke" Pace box back, but no dice. "So there's nothing that can be done about this?!?", I ask incredulously. "Uh, no." Freaking great.

After that, I notice that I was left no documentation for the SA box either. Thoroughly infuriated now, I call back and talk to a 2nd guy who welcomes me to either come exchange the box, or he'll send out another tech later this week to do it. I'm ripping out the SA box and will be down there tomorrow AM at opening to exchange it for another hopefully equally "flukey" Pace box.

So, moral of the story--if you've got a Pace box that has the HDCP compliance error message issue with a DVI connection, do what I did before, and turn your display on before powering up the Pace box--doing that, you should be fine, or at least that was my experience. Under no circumstances let TWC lead you to believe that the SA box will be a better option.

Thanks for reading all this.

Quite irate, :mad: :mad: :mad:

Dan

willobandb

02-03-04, 07:06 AM

Originally posted by Raleighwood
Greetings, Jay, Scott, and other Triangle-area TWC-over-DVI aspirants:

So, moral of the story--if you've got a Pace box that has the HDCP compliance error message issue with a DVI connection, do what I did before, and turn your display on before powering up the Pace box--doing that, you should be fine, or at least that was my experience. Under no circumstances let TWC lead you to believe that the SA box will be a better option.

Thanks for reading all this.

Quite irate, :mad: :mad: :mad:

Dan

Dan,

As one of the TWC-over-DVI aspirants, I appreciate your report. Sorry you had such a painful experience with TWC but hopefully your reporting can save a group of us the same hassle. Will be going to TWC in the next day or so and will definitely not be talked out of the Pace box. If it works as advertised I will be lookng for an cost effective DVI switch so that I can have DVI for both the Samsung DVD and TWC connections.

Thanks again, sorry you had such a PIA day with TWC.
Bob

keefer37

02-03-04, 07:31 AM

Is the Smith Center not Wired for HD or something? I see the 3/6 Carolina at Duke game will be in HD, but this coming Thursday night's matchup is not. I've yet to see any game from UNC in HD. Is there a technical reason why?

jmarkan

02-03-04, 09:00 AM

Originally posted by Raleighwood
Greetings, Jay, Scott, and other Triangle-area TWC-over-DVI aspirants:

BIG disaster today on the TWC front. As noted in a previous post, I was also having the problem with the DVI cable connection and the Pace box reporting that it wasn't HDCP compliant. However, I discovered that by turning on the TV (Sony 34XBR910) and THEN the Pace box instead of leaving the Pace box on all the time, the DVI setup worked fine. The Super Bowl on WRAL HD last night over DVI with the Pace box was nothing short of stunning. My guests couldn't stop talking about how amazing it looked, particularly the promo montage of CBS HD programs at one commercial break. It was truly breathtaking, and I very rarely use such hyperbole.

Dan

Dan,

Sorry to hear about your TWC misfortunes.... I've had a few big ones myself lately and can relate including a tech (actually a subcontractor) that showed up 2 hours past the window last week and quickly left without checking anything out... he even left the analog block installed.

I too have the Sony KV34xBR910 and was also extremely impressed by the Super Bowl! Thanks for the tip on the DVI trick, I will try it out tonight... sounds a lot easier than replugging it each time. I am trying to do an assessment to see how much improvement i get with DVI over Component and can't say I notice much difference yet. Additionally, I'm trying to evaluate a Monster DVI compared to a generic cheapy DVI and a Monster Component with a cheapie (TWC supplied) component. I will see if the Avia DVD will lead me to any clear winners.

My new AT8400 TWC remote now has the # button and for the first time can take advantage of the Pace zoom feature..... nice! It just amazes me that I had to work so hard with TWC to get it.

Even with a couple quirks, I really like the Pace and cannot imagine that the SA would be a better box. The only benefit I see on the SA over the Pace is that it has an RF output if that is the least bit important to anyone.

Jay

Lee L

02-03-04, 09:15 AM

As far as the UNC Duke stuff goes, I have not checked but will venture a guess that the Game this Thursday, 2-5, is a regional Raycom/JP sports game and the MArch game is either an ESPN game or a national CBS production.

keefer37

02-03-04, 09:19 AM

The March game is definitely ESPN HD. I hadn't checked on Thursday's game either, but TarHeelBlue.com lists it as RJ/ESPN2, so yeah it is a local feed this week.

But I was just wondering why there haven't been any HD games ever at the Smith center as far as I'm aware of.

swebsurf

02-03-04, 11:01 AM

Dan,

I tried your suggestion and it worked! I'll follow your other advice and not request a new box, although the Guide/Info glitch is a bit annoying.

thanks,

Scott

jmarkan

02-03-04, 11:17 AM

Originally posted by swebsurf
Dan,

I tried your suggestion and it worked! I'll follow your other advice and not request a new box, although the Guide/Info glitch is a bit annoying.

thanks,

Scott

Scott,

I too had the annoying issue with the Guide button. TWC swapped out the Pace with another Pace unit and it solved the issue. It sounds like you also have a faulty box and need to swap it out.

Jay

Chris001

02-03-04, 12:32 PM

jmarkan,

I've also been struggling to get a remote with the # key. I went to the Durham TWC office today and they claimed no AT8400s were available and that the UR3-EXP was the only remote offered. Who do I need to speak to at TWC to get this straightened out?

Chris

jmarkan

02-03-04, 03:53 PM

Originally posted by Chris001
jmarkan,

I've also been struggling to get a remote with the # key. I went to the Durham TWC office today and they claimed no AT8400s were available and that the UR3-EXP was the only remote offered. Who do I need to speak to at TWC to get this straightened out?

Chris

Chris,

It amazes me how TWC makes things so difficult. I picked mine up yesterday at the kiosk at Southpoint Mall and they seemed to have a bunch there. This is the remote made for the DVR and I seriously question that they don't have abundant stock in all offices as they told me that I could go to any office to get one, I just happened to go to Southpoint. I don't know who I talked to specifically but it took me about 6 attempts of talking with TWC before getting anywhere. What i did though was arm myself with knowledge by reading the Pace manual from their website (pacemicro) and personally talking with Pace support folks. Pace suggested using the universal Remote UR4-EXP remote which TWC unfortunately does not carry. On my last call yesterday to TWC, I told them the exact model I wanted (UR4-EXP), that Pace recommended this to get their product to work right, and referenced the last 2 pages of the Pace manual. Perhaps because I seemed determined or knowlegable about what i was asking for they finally relented and said that the other remote they have AT8400 that is used for their DVR customers also has the # sign and would work. It does amaze me that not one person in about 10 I talked to at TWC seems to know anything about the Pace box.... two techs even argued that various features didn't exist. I know it's a new box for them but they really need to be better educated so they can adequately provide support and the right equipment to use with their products.

Jay

Raleighwood

02-03-04, 07:34 PM

Greetings, all:

I'm happy I was able to help others with my workaround for the HDCP compliance issue on the Pace box, and I'm also really pleased by the amount of interaction going on in this thread RE: these TWC issues.

I hope someone with some clout at the local TWC unit will take it upon themselves to monitor this thread and to assist us however they can, if only by PM'ing users with recommended people to call, etc. I will say that I came home from work tonight to find that I had received a PM from a tech at PaceMicro who was reading this thread today and who wanted to get in touch to talk over these issues!! VERY impressive indeed!!! :D

Anyway, here's what happened today. I had been told last night to come to the Atlantic Ave. office first thing this AM with the SA box, where I would be able to exchange it for a Pace box. Well, I walk into the Atlantic office this AM at 5 after 8, and the woman behind the window apologetically drops the bombshell that the guy on the phone last night was clue-free, and that the Atlantic Ave. office was OUT of Pace boxes, and would not have any more until at least the end of this month. The woman behind the window called other offices in the area, each of which reported being out of Pace boxes as well. :mad:

I explained that I had been assured that there would be a Pace box there this AM, and if not, could the person at the window please try to contact the tech who had been at my house yesterday and who presumably could still locate the Pace box he had replaced. A few more calls were made, and the subcontractor supervisor of the techs told her to tell me that indeed they would be able to make another house call and deliver said box sometime this week.

To their credit, the woman at the window was very helpful and kind, and made at least 5 or 6 calls on my behalf. The tech supervisor asked her to apologize to me for the inconvenience, and offered to schedule the visit at any time that would be convenient for me. The tech (supervisor?) named Bob that my wife talked to this PM was also apparently a nice and helpful guy. Well done, TWC!

Late update: I got a call from the tech who was supposed to come switch out the box, and alas, the only other tech he could find in the area with a Pace box is in Durham, and that guy won't get in to Raleigh until at least 10 this evening. Keeping in mind the golden rule, I told him to hold off until tomorrow. Sigh.... Thanks to your input, I asked him to bring along an AT8400 remote with him so we can see what happens with the Pace box. He thought it was only compatible with the SA boxes.

Keefer, still love that sig of yours. Though I have no idea what it requires, I wouldn't be surprised if the Dean Dome is simply lacking the infrastructure for HD broadcasting. I hate to say it, but the DD has a number of significant shortcomings that will require addressing sometime in the next few years if we Tarheel faithful intend for it to continue to be a viable ACC-caliber venue, particularly in the areas of luxury suites, advanced signage, and media accommodations.

ESPN HD is 720p, isn't it? IMHO, there was simply no comparison between the ABC HD presentation of the last round of the Phoenix Open golf tournament on Sunday and the Super Bowl--to my eyes, CBS's 1080i simply blew away ABC's 720p, at least on my set and on those broadcasts. Granted, I'm sure CBS had their very best hardware and staff on hand for the Super Bowl. I'll be happy to see ESPN HD in our TWC lineup soon, but I do hope that ABC/ESPN/etc. decide to standardize on 1080i at some point.

Jay, how does the zoom feature on the Pace box differ from the zoom mode on the 910? I sure hope this new Pace box brings back my "wide" and "wide zoom" modes which were greyed out by the SA box. RE: your DVI cable comparison, I was using the supplied component cables with the SA box last night, and that combination vs. my M-Series Monster DVI cable was simply no contest. Sure, I expected there to be a difference between component and DVI, but this was quite a larger difference than I expected. I actually eventually just quit watching the SA/component combo last night because it was so frustrating, in comparison with the previous Pace/DVI setup which I had moronically allowed to be dismantled on Monday.

Thanks again for reading all this stuff, and thanks to everyone for their contributions to this great forum!

Tomorrow's another day,

Dan

Chris001

02-03-04, 07:35 PM

Thanks, Jay! The Southpoint TWC kiosk was the answer. The man who works there said several people have been by asking for the AT8400.

Chris

keefer37

02-03-04, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by Raleighwood

Keefer, still love that sig of yours. Though I have no idea what it requires, I wouldn't be surprised if the Dean Dome is simply lacking the infrastructure for HD broadcasting. I hate to say it, but the DD has a number of significant shortcomings that will require addressing sometime in the next few years if we Tarheel faithful intend for it to continue to be a viable ACC-caliber venue, particularly in the areas of luxury suites, advanced signage, and media accommodations.

Dan, thanks on the sig. :) Sorry about your mishaps with TW Cable's HD boxes, but I have nothing to add.. using DirecTV here, though I do keep an eye on the TW stuff as my parents have a SA HD box from them. Once the demand settles down, I'll have them swap it out for one with active DVI on it.

As for the Heels, my fear is exactly the things you expressed, though I don't think other ACC venues have us beat out by much. Dook certainly doesn't, though they obviously have the ability to produce HD. I can't believe the Smith center doesn't or wouldn't be able to get the fiber up and running.

But then I think back to my days at the dorm when the Internet was installed in visible troughs down the hallway... so maybe the Smith Center is as low tech.

Lee L

02-04-04, 08:49 AM

I did go back and check and the Thursday night game is a regional broadcast by Raycom/JP Sports, they just discovered stereo a couple of years ago and are not doing any HD broadcasts. The March UNC-Duke game is a Saturday game on ESPN, hence the HD broadcast.

My guess is that they will just have to run whatever cable then need to run at Cameron whcih should be a little easier given the size and design of the place does not leave too many places to put a camera anyway.

jmarkan

02-04-04, 02:52 PM

Originally posted by Raleighwood
Greetings, all:

Jay, how does the zoom feature on the Pace box differ from the zoom mode on the 910? I sure hope this new Pace box brings back my "wide" and "wide zoom" modes which were greyed out by the SA box. RE: your DVI cable comparison, I was using the supplied component cables with the SA box last night, and that combination vs. my M-Series Monster DVI cable was simply no contest. Sure, I expected there to be a difference between component and DVI, but this was quite a larger difference than I expected. I actually eventually just quit watching the SA/component combo last night because it was so frustrating, in comparison with the previous Pace/DVI setup which I had moronically allowed to be dismantled on Monday.

Dan

Dan,

Thanks for the tip on syncing the DVI with the Sony 910... it works great!
Regarding the zoom feature on the Pace, it does pretty much emulate the Sony 910 zoom. The normal setting is 'Normal". when the # key is pressed it goes into "Stretch" mode thus filling the 16*9 screen with a 4*3 image. Pressing it again it goes to "zoom" mode blowing up the whole image (I only use the "stretch mode" which is like the wide zoom on the 910.)

In my testing thus far, I will definately say I notice an improvement with DVI over component, but I wouldn't consider it drastic. Unfortunately, my DVD player with Avia disk cannot test the DVI port and I can only rely on HDTV programming so the test is not scientific. I can't say I can tell a difference though between the $100 Monster DVI and a cheapie DVI as they both look fantastic... I wish TWC had a high defination test pattern so I could test this more throughly. In short, I think the DVI connection is the way to go but not sure if buying expensive cables is worth it.

Jay

aldamon

02-05-04, 08:00 AM

Originally posted by jmarkan
but not sure if buying expensive cables is worth it.

No, it's not. I've searched this board and HTF in the past, and a lot of people are using $10 - $15 DVI cables from Ebay with no problems. Digital is digital, but I'm sure this has been debated to death in other threads.

codecannon

02-05-04, 12:49 PM

I went to the High House Road office on monday - they told me the boxes they had were the Scientific Atlanta boxes had some problems, and that I should wait on new boxes. They also told me that the Pace boxes weren't available - now I see that they apparently received a shipment last week wednesday. The 1-886 number told me that they did receive a shipment but the lady at the window sternly denied it, saying she had been to the warehouse the past sat and that they only received the SA boxes. I have a new Toshiba 46H83 HDTV ws, anybody have problems with those and the TW SA boxes? The set has a DVI-D port, so that would be ideal. Does the SA box do 1080i ok? I've read that the first SA HD box distributed was a poor performer. What SA number should I try to get if the pace's aren't there, and does anybody know when more will come in?

Thanks.

--Codecannon

kenstr

02-05-04, 01:21 PM

Sorry this is way OT. I have been trying to get a billing problem fixed for the last 3 months (Durham TWC)- the CSR's at the 595-4twc have been no help at all. If anyone has a name of a customer service manager or accounting dept manager at the main morrisville office 573-7000 (I think it is the main office) - could you please pm me with details....

Thanks

bclinton23

02-05-04, 01:29 PM

I also have the Toshiba 46H83, looks great with the SA 3250 HD box. 1080i channels are beautiful -- I've only had the TV a month, so I'm still getting used to how great it looks. Even Fox's pseudo-HD (480p) doesn't look half bad. I went ahead & got the HD Suite (INHD, INHD2, HDNet, HDNet Movies), even though there's not that much on those channels just yet. At least they show NHL & NBA games occasionally. If TWC and Disney can get their act together and give us ESPN-HD, I'll be all set.

As for the TWC High House Rd office, I found them very helpful, especially Brenda.

Will try the DVI port at some point (after it is enabled), but I'm certainly not going to trade in my SA box that works just fine for a Pace box just to be able to use DVI. As I learned from Raleighwood, if it ain't broke....

bmduncan

02-05-04, 03:03 PM

I'm also using the sa3250 off a 2 way splitter on my Sony GWIII with no problems. I do prefer using my 8000 DVR for SD though and just use the 3250 for HD as it causes to much graininess for me on SD. Might try to get a Pace when they become available again so I can try DVI.

bmduncan

02-05-04, 03:06 PM

kenstr,

YGPM.

WildBill

02-05-04, 06:46 PM

"codecannon"
ROTFL
Ahhhhh. That's good. And true. Rock on Mike

Bama

02-05-04, 07:16 PM

The Goldsboro office has the new Pace STB, for those that want a Pace STB and are willing to make the drive.

swebsurf

02-05-04, 10:17 PM

Hi folks,

Just a quick update on an issue I posted about earlier. I stated that I was not able to see the Guide or Info when viewing the lower channels. I now know why. I had previously switched the resolution and aspect ratio on the HD cable box to 1080i and 16:9 respectively for viewing on an HD projector. The next time I watched on our non-HD 27" TV, the Guide and Info graphics were gone. Well I finally read all the way through page 16 of the Pace DC550P manual which states that "Unless you set the resolution to 480i, there will be no graphics (menus, program guide, etc.) at VIDEO OUT and S-VIDEO OUT." While viewing the TV I switched the settings back and the Guides were back.

Moral of the story: RTFM :-)

Scott

codecannon

02-06-04, 11:19 AM

Originally posted by WildBill
"codecannon"
ROTFL
Ahhhhh. That's good. And true. Rock on Mike

Been using that handle for about 15 years:)

codecannon

02-06-04, 11:24 AM

Originally posted by bclinton23
I also have the Toshiba 46H83, looks great with the SA 3250 HD box. 1080i channels are beautiful -- I've only had the TV a month, so I'm still getting used to how great it looks. Even Fox's pseudo-HD (480p) doesn't look half bad. I went ahead & got the HD Suite (INHD, INHD2, HDNet, HDNet Movies), even though there's not that much on those channels just yet. At least they show NHL & NBA games occasionally. If TWC and Disney can get their act together and give us ESPN-HD, I'll be all set.

As for the TWC High House Rd office, I found them very helpful, especially Brenda.

Will try the DVI port at some point (after it is enabled), but I'm certainly not going to trade in my SA box that works just fine for a Pace box just to be able to use DVI. As I learned from Raleighwood, if it ain't broke....

Thanks! I have my wife on the way - apparently there is a rush on these. The cary office only has a few left, they said they probably had more people in line at the moment then what they had left, so I sent her to the raleigh office - it is closer to her work. The CSR said they have alot of 3100 available, they received a shipment of them. Why is TWC shipping an older model? Is the only difference between the 3100 and the 3250 the resizing of the screen?

gwall

02-06-04, 11:39 AM

FYI
TWC is expecting additional HD boxes in payment centers and the field early next week- particularly SA3250 and Pace.

It seems that a lot of folks have switched out the SA3100 to pick up the 3250 or Pace. That is why there are a lot of 3100's available- the shipment you are referring to are most likely the extras in the warehouse.

daggerNC

02-06-04, 04:46 PM

TWC showed up on schedule!!! Monday morning. However, he only brought a new SA3250 instead of the Pace which his work order indicated (he said there were no Pace units available). At least this SA3250 is better than the refurb 3100 they originally put in ( menu's were out of focus, no aspect ratio controls for SD content, analog channels only output analog audio so digital audio connection would go dead when I dropped out of digital tier). I'm dissappointed I didn't get the Pace as they put my work order in 2 weeks ago and I see a number of people did get them on the 30th :(

Please pass on to me the contact numbers to ask tech questions into TWC as well as email address. I only have the general local and toll free TWC numbers to use. Thanks.

I noticed some people losing zoom features on their displays when hooked up to these HD boxes. Please note that if the HD box is configured to upconvert the SD channels to HD (1080i for example as the SA3100 does all the time) then the display device will sense this full HD signal and disable those features. The 3100 has no built in stretch/zoom features and so pillar-boxes 4:3 content and then upconverts that to 1080i output. Depending how you configure the SA3250 and Pace550 the same scenario could occur.

Some info on the WRAL D3 and D4 channels that were on when I first turned up service 1st week of January (channels 257 and 258) but are now not on menu. A cust svc rep from TWC said that it is controlled by WRAL - that they turn those channels on and off as they see fit. They said to expect them back on during March Madness. I want them on all the time due to the digital tier is much better quality than analog channel 3. Time to call WRAL everyone?

Speaking of, do most of you DVR owners notice even further PQ degradation when you record any of the analog channels? I wish we could have a PQ setting on the DVR for the analog recordings (here's an example of the need for an email address for me to submit this feature request). I assume they record the digital tier in the native transmitted bitstream (ie., no digital to analog back to digital conversions)??

It seems there are more positives for the Pace over the SA3250, though there are some who prefer the SA's. Anybody have the opportunity to do a side by side comparison? A feature I want on the Pace is the component pass through (ie., I can run my component cables from my DVD player into the Pace and pass through to the component output to my PJ. This will save me 1 set of component cables). Can anybody confirm the quality of this feature on the Pace boxes? Again I need your feedback to make the decision to trade in this SA for the Pace when the next shipment comes in.

Cheers,
dagger

jmarkan

02-06-04, 05:27 PM

Originally posted by daggerNC
A feature I want on the Pace is the component pass through (ie., I can run my component cables from my DVD player into the Pace and pass through to the component output to my PJ. This will save me 1 set of component cables). Can anybody confirm the quality of this feature on the Pace boxes? Again I need your feedback to make the decision to trade in this SA for the Pace when the next shipment comes in.

Cheers,
dagger [/B]

Dagger,

I do presently use the component pass-thru on the Pace and I think it looks excellent... I can't say i can tell any difference using this vs. running the DVD directly into the TV. I am using Monster Video3 DVI component cables but don't how much that factors in or not, but the Pace IMO does not appear to degradate the signal.

Jay

sooke

02-06-04, 06:15 PM

Originally posted by codecannon
Is the only difference between the 3100 and the 3250 the resizing of the screen?

I've had both. Noticed these differences:

1. 3100HD has no DVI output. 3250HD does (though currently not enabled).

2. 3100HD will not show current channel in the guide window (upper right) or have audio if that channel is HD. SA3250HD has no problems with this.

3. 3250HD will pillar box 4:3 content with grey bars (which some find distracting). 3100HD has black pillar boxing.

Sooke

Chris001

02-07-04, 09:48 AM

I don't get any pixelation or sound trouble watching DVDs, but the HD content on TWC (whether 1080i, 720p, or 480p) is vulnerable to frequent motion artifacts and broken up sound. I don't recall seeing any of this during the Superbowl but the prime time this week has been really obnoxious. I'm using the Pace 550 STB and a Sharp LCD connected via component cables. Is anybody else out there experiencing this?

jmarkan

02-07-04, 12:16 PM

Originally posted by Chris001
I don't get any pixelation or sound trouble watching DVDs, but the HD content on TWC (whether 1080i, 720p, or 480p) is vulnerable to frequent motion artifacts and broken up sound. I don't recall seeing any of this during the Superbowl but the prime time this week has been really obnoxious. I'm using the Pace 550 STB and a Sharp LCD connected via component cables. Is anybody else out there experiencing this?

Chris,

I had this same issue initially on about half the HD channels. Because of many issues including the guide freezing on the screen, I got the original Pace swapped out and have not had the artifact issue since. I'm not sure if it had any bearing or not, but I also provided the Pace with a cable that was a much better signal off the original splitter coming into the house... it is also possible that the artifacts were because of a relatively weak signal and not a defective box.

Jay

Chris Sharp

02-08-04, 08:40 PM

Is anyone else having problems receiving NBC 17 OTA tonight. I can't get a signal. Everything else looks good. Could their tower be down? Watching grammy awards now...looks good :-)

SteveFitz1

02-09-04, 08:01 AM

Chris,

I went out to watch Law and Order on Channel 17 OTA last night and got no signal either.

Steve

bmduncan

02-09-04, 10:22 AM

I've noticed on 3 different nights recently where the SD and HD signal was down. I'll file another complaint with my contact at NBC17.

bmduncan

02-09-04, 12:04 PM

Reply from NBC17 regarding recent issues:

We had a distribution amp totally fail at our transmitter site last night, and I suspect the previous nights' outages were a result of it gradually failing. We have it bypassed right now, and will get it replaced ASAP. We can run without it with no problem.

Thanks for making sure we knew about it, we really do appreciate it..

Chris Sharp

02-09-04, 02:24 PM

Thanks for the update bmduncan....

I tuned in around 10:30pm last night and all was well again.

Chris

jmarkan

02-10-04, 10:20 AM

Originally posted by jmarkan
Chris,

I had this same issue initially on about half the HD channels. Because of many issues including the guide freezing on the screen, I got the original Pace swapped out and have not had the artifact issue since. I'm not sure if it had any bearing or not, but I also provided the Pace with a cable that was a much better signal off the original splitter coming into the house... it is also possible that the artifacts were because of a relatively weak signal and not a defective box.

Jay

Update to above reply. I noticed last night while watching a couple HD channels that the pixelization artifact issue had reappeared and was really bad to the point of not being able to watch the stations. I boosted the incoming cable signal with an amp (about 15db I think) and the problem immediatelty went away on all channels and the picture was now solid. It now seems even more apparent to be that the biggest culprit of this condition is a lack of signal strength and not the Pace box itself...most likely the HD stations are a lot less tolerant of a weaker signal.

Jay

Bob Michael

02-10-04, 02:17 PM

Originally posted by jmarkan
Update to above reply. I noticed last night while watching a couple HD channels that the pixelization artifact issue had reappeared and was really bad to the point of not being able to watch the stations. I boosted the incoming cable signal with an amp (about 15db I think) and the problem immediatelty went away on all channels and the picture was now solid. It now seems even more apparent to be that the biggest culprit of this condition is a lack of signal strength and not the Pace box itself...most likely the HD stations are a lot less tolerant of a weaker signal.

Jay

Jay,
Where did you put the amp? Where the cable comes into your home, or just before your TV?
Thanks,
Bob

daggerNC

02-11-04, 05:26 PM

Jay,

It would be interesting to see which box, the SA or Pace is more sensitive, ie., using the feed without the signal booster would the SA provide a more stable picture than the Pace or other way around? Anybody compare this aspect of the 2 boxes?

dagger

jmarkan

02-12-04, 02:40 PM

Originally posted by Bob Michael
Jay,
Where did you put the amp? Where the cable comes into your home, or just before your TV?
Thanks,
Bob

I put the amp in my wiring closet which is about 1/2 way between the cable entrance and the TV. If you have a choice, I'd get as close to the cable entrance as possible.

Jay

daggerNC

02-12-04, 03:34 PM

Called TWC in Cary today to ask a question about changing menu color schemes and while I had them on the line I asked about if they knew any info on next shipment of Pace boxes. She said they just got them - so I drove out to Cary and they did! Will install shortly.

Get them while they're hot,
dagger

daggerNC

02-12-04, 11:06 PM

OK, the Pace box is in, and........, RTFM is the first advice. After that, I was able to configure everything and I'm impressed. This box seems a little faster/more responsive than the SA3250 - tunes a little quicker, the menu on channel surfing displays faster. May be fooling myself, but the up-conversion of the analog channels seems better done with less artifacts than the SA.

I have a question for all with the Pace box. What setting for output do you use/prefer. 1080i or 720p or PASS? I have the Sony HS10 PJ and the scaler is pretty decent. In fact until I go DVI the unit upconverts any signal to its native 1366x768 resolution (and yes the HD channels look incredible at this resolution). I kind of like the idea of PASS as that lets the native resolution of the HD channels pass through with no conversion until it reaches the Sony - that should eliminate one conversion process and thus might improve the final PQ. However, channel changes take a little longer as the Sony has to resync on channel changes. The Pace box set to 1080i or 720p has to do the same as it needs to sync to the incoming cable signal so I be wrong on this. Anyway, what is the opinion/preference of Pace users: 720p, 1080i, or PASS?

I think I see a bug/difference than the manual. It says if PASS is selected than SD (480i) signals are converted to 420p. However, it doesn't - it sends 480i to the Sony. Is this correct (or could it only apply to an HDTV station that is transmitting 480i is converted to 480p)?

Cheers,
dagger

PS. I also made sure she gave me the AT8400 remote (# button allows for remote changing of the zoom/stretch/normal selection).

kenstr

02-13-04, 09:25 AM

Anyone know how to make the # key work with the 3250 - mine used to work but I re-booted the box to get the guide data to refresh and now when I press the # key the current mode comes up on the screen but it will not toggle anymore.

Daryl L

02-13-04, 01:49 PM

daggerNC,

I suggest leaving the Pace box on Pass and let your tv do the conversion. I'm pretty sure the tv does a better conversion job.

The manual must have a typo. In Pass 480i is output at 480i.

jbalfour

02-13-04, 03:28 PM

Hi all. I'm new to HDTV this week and I have a question.

I have just installed a Samsung TS360 DirecTV/OTA receiver. I have a Radio Shack antenna mounted in the attic pointed toward Clayton, NC. I live south of Mebane and Antennaweb.org says that I am about 47 miles from the towers. I can receive WRAL-DT, WNCN-DT, and WTVD-DT without a problem. With WRAZ-DT, I appear to receive no signal at all. I don't even get an occasional picture or pixelation. The signal meter on the TS360 is worthless.

Does anyone know of any reason why I could be receiving WRAL but not WRAZ?

I have searched the forums, and I am beginning to think I am the only one with HDTV in my area.

Thanks.

P.S. I have some trouble with WUNC which is only 11 miles away.

Scooper

02-13-04, 03:51 PM

That's kind of strange, since WRAL and WRAZ (And WLFL-DT and WRDC) are all on the same tower.

Your WUNC - you may need to get a rotor.

jbalfour

02-13-04, 03:54 PM

That's kind of strange, since WRAL and WRAZ (And WLFL-DT and WRDC) are all on the same tower.

It is strange. I can't get WLFL either. I don't know about WRDC.

Are they all running at the same power?

Trip in VA

02-15-04, 08:38 AM

WUNC 893.2 kW (HD)
WRAL 1000 kW (HD)
WTVD 1000 kW (HD)
WNCN 525 kW (HD)
WLFL 9.2 kW-STA
WRDC 9.1 kW-STA
WRAY 95 kW-STA
WUVC 500 kW-STA (Can anyone receive this yet? They have an STA and I heard a report that it was on the air)
WRPX 180 kW
WRAZ 200 kW-STA (HD)
WFPX 1000 kW

WRAZ is at 1/5 the power of WRAL and may have something to do with it.

- Trip

WildBill

02-15-04, 04:21 PM

Anyone else get nasty breakups for the NBC Daytona HD via cable feed?

Wayne Estabrook

02-15-04, 06:16 PM

I was watching WNCN-DT NBC ststion over the air and about half way through the race I was getting nasty breakups and lost it altogether later on so had to finish watching in analog. The audio lip sync was way off also. The audio seened ok when the video broke up so not sure what the problem was.

Regards

Wayne:confused:

kevineck

02-15-04, 06:22 PM

Long time reader, first time poster.....

I've been getting my HD via TWC for awhile now and just recently purchased an accessDTV card to allow me to do some recording and play around with OTA reception. So far I'm just using the SilverSensor that came with the card and I've been playing around with positioning. Right now I've got it in the attic. WRAL comes in great and I get a pretty strong signal. I'm able to get FOX, NBC, and ABC as well, but not on a consistent basis. Friday I was pulling in ABC pretty well and today I'm not getting a very good signal without having moved the antenna. I tried playing around with positioning some, but no luck. I am pulling in Fox better today than before and having a hard time getting NBC. (I didn't expect to be able to get WB or UPN, but was surprised to actually pull in UPN for stretches of close to a minute without losing the signal) I think that multipath might be a factor in this as I'm seeing the signal meter jump all over the place on any of the stations except for WRAL. I'm planning to get a larger antenna to try out and am wondering if the 4221 will be sufficient, or if I should go ahead and get the 4228. (I'm guessing the answer is "you won't know until you try :) ) I plan to initially try to put the antenna in the attic of my two story house. I'm located in SE Durham (Southpoint mall area) and according to antennaweb am 27.4 miles from the towers.

Thanks!

Kevin

WildBill

02-15-04, 07:51 PM

Thanks Wayne.
I was seeing the same thing via HD-CABLE and while I could have hooked up OTA (still have the antenna wire ready to go) I thought this looked like an issue from either NBC at the track or the local NBC-17.
It got much worse about mid-way thru. I gave up and went out with the wife and kids.

jbalfour

02-16-04, 08:58 AM

WRAZ is at 1/5 the power of WRAL and may have something to do with it.

Thanks Trip. Now I can just relax, since I know it is not on my end.

Does anyone know if they plan to up the power in the future?

daggerNC

02-16-04, 10:30 PM

Pace was very responsive to the email I sent. They also recommend running it in PASS mode if my display can handle all the different formats (it can and it's now set to PASS).

I also mentioned the screen blacked out while channel surfing thru SD to HD channels, and they are aware of it and have a fix that TWC should send out in near future.

Cheers,
dagger

swebsurf

02-17-04, 02:44 AM

Dagger,

When you set the Pace for PASS, is your image size much smaller than it would be for 1080i? I also have he HS10 and when I tried tonight (using Component, not DVI) the image with PASS was greatly reduced when the 1:1 setting was selected. It ended up looking best with the Pace set to 1080i. Might I be setting the HS10 up wrong?

thanks,

Scott

jmarkan

02-17-04, 05:01 AM

Originally posted by swebsurf
Dagger,

When you set the Pace for PASS, is your image size much smaller than it would be for 1080i? I also have he HS10 and when I tried tonight (using Component, not DVI) the image with PASS was greatly reduced when the 1:1 setting was selected. It ended up looking best with the Pace set to 1080i. Might I be setting the HS10 up wrong?

thanks,

Scott

I have exactly the same issue with the Pace set to Pass. My Sony KV34XBR910 works best with Pace set to 1080i. With Pace set to Pass, as long as I'm watching true 16*9 HD content everything is fine, but with all other content I can't fill the screen even in stretch mode. I've had my Pace set to 1080i instead and do not have any issues with this setting. Both component and DVI work the same in both these settings as well.

Jay

keefer37

02-17-04, 03:35 PM

Sorry if this is outdated.. been in the process of moving and setup my TV at the new place and DirecTV doesn't get installed there til Saturday. So I'm stuck with just OTA til then. Anyway, I turned on Fox 50 last night and they had the Canes game in HD... looked great. I know that 50 has been doing HDNet during the day, but when did they start doing primetime HD stuff?

ewtroan

02-17-04, 06:43 PM

Originally posted by keefer37
Sorry if this is outdated.. been in the process of moving and setup my TV at the new place and DirecTV doesn't get installed there til Saturday. So I'm stuck with just OTA til then. Anyway, I turned on Fox 50 last night and they had the Canes game in HD... looked great. I know that 50 has been doing HDNet during the day, but when did they start doing primetime HD stuff?

They've been doing Hurricanes games in HD since at least last year; they were one of the first things I saw when I got HD. No if only the games were worth watching most nights...

Erik

sooke

02-18-04, 01:55 PM

Can anyone recommend an ISF calibrator for my Samsung HLN467?

I called NOW A/V and they said they can do it but they have never done a DLP before. I was hoping to find someone with a little experience.

Thanks,

Sooke

jbalfour

02-18-04, 02:10 PM

Can anyone recommend an ISF calibrator for my Samsung HLN467?

I haven't used them, but you could try Audio Advice (http://www.audioadvice.com/) on Glenwood Ave.

They sell DLP products, and I am pretty sure they do calibrations.

kenstr

02-18-04, 02:26 PM

Has anyone heard any updates on ESPN-HD ? I talked to a CSR last week and got the same old - still working on it...

sooke

02-18-04, 02:59 PM

Originally posted by jbalfour
I haven't used them, but you could try Audio Advice (http://www.audioadvice.com/) on Glenwood Ave.

They sell DLP products, and I am pretty sure they do calibrations.

Thanks jbalfour. I gave them a call and they don't calibrate products they don't sell. :(

He also said it wouldn't be worth my money anyways because my TV is not in a "light controlled environment". He said if I calibrated my greyscale my TV would suddenly be to dark for my living room.

Hhhmmm...

Sooke

jdt

02-18-04, 03:12 PM

Does anyone know if the Pace HD box supports zooming 4:3 source on a 4:3 HDTV?

I have Zenith 27" 4:3 HDTV and I want to use my cable box to watch shows that aren't always in 16:4 mode. Problem is that my TV shows the 4:3 image in a little box centered in the screen.

I was going to try and trade my SA3100 for a different model. Also I will need a second HD box soon, does anyone know the extra cost for a 2nd box?

John

gwall

02-18-04, 05:05 PM

Originally posted by kenstr
Has anyone heard any updates on ESPN-HD ? I talked to a CSR last week and got the same old - still working on it...

The TWC Corporate office is still in negotiations with ESPN.

Have you guys seen games on ESPN HD? My dad lives in GA and has Comcast. He noted that some of the games look kinda funky (SD upconvert and all 720p content). I see they're broadcasting some of the conference tournaments in March- nice.
I'm not so sure ESPN HD is the killer app just yet. Once they complete their new HD studios and have at least 75% of their programming in HD- then it'll be intriguing.

Picked up Pace box today- gonna give it another whirl.

daggerNC

02-18-04, 10:12 PM

Scott and Jay - I do not have that problem of a smaller picture centered on the screen. The HS10 is set to Full (ie., I'm using the unit's scaler for full resolution/anamorphic correction). I have the Pace set to PASS. Now, on SD channels I do get a smaller picture, but I use the zoom feature on the remote (AD8400?) (# key) and it then completely fills the screen and seems to remember the setting for that type of channel output. When I was playing with the initial setup and multiple HS10 configs combined with different Pace output configs I also saw the smaller box in the center output (looks similar to a Full Through 1:1 mode with lower resolution input) but I can't remember the exact combinations that caused it. Note that the SD channels are output in 480i as confirmed on the Sony's display mode parameters page and thus using Full mode it does the stretch thing whereby the picture is slightly distorted to fill the 16:9 screen. Note that I am also using the Component interface.

John - trade in that SA3100. It has no output scaling control and always outputs 1080i for all channels. The SA3250 and Pace 550 boxes let you configure what output you want to send. Also, some display units have specific inputs formats they can accept as well as lock out certain functions based on input received (for example, HS10 disables zoom control with 1080i via component). I haven't tried the zoom on a 4:3 display with the Pace, but I have a feeling that it would work (need the remote with # key or you I think there is a button on the faceplate that will work - but that's alot of work!).

And for all of you, just a reminder to check that the correct display aspect ratio value is set depending on what box you have.

Cheers,
dagger