There is a story today in the News and Observer about Time Warner and their HD plans. I would post the link but I'm not able to yet. Perhaps someone else can post it for me.

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/855233.html

Nice find. Also has a sidebar comparing HD services and in summary, TWC are not expecting to have a competing service until Summer 08.

Cable giants aim to rule HD
Companies increase their offerings in high definition as customers upgrade their TVs
Frank Norton, Staff Writer
News & Observer
Jan 2, 2008

Time Warner Cable and its rivals are in the early stages of a torrid campaign to win the latest battle for America's dens: high-definition programming.
With thousands of new sets installed in the past year, satellite and cable service providers are touting plans to multiply the number of HD channels they offer. Until recently, Time Warner had the edge in the Triangle. Now, armed with new satellites, DirecTV can claim the most high-definition programming.

But Time Warner, the nation's second- largest cable company, is spending $50 million in North Carolina and South Carolina to allow what it says will be an unlimited number of HD channels by the middle of this year. The company does have some ground to make up: Its offering of 26 channels trails DirecTV's lineup of 85.

For its part, DirecTV promises dozens of new HD channels this year. Even AT&T, the phone company, is planning to elbow its way into the fight by spending $350 million in North Carolina to introduce high-definition TV programming.

For consumers, the programming blitz is a win, at least in the short term.

"I don't expect to see much change in monthly fees, but I do expect to see more channels added to the plans," said Alfred Poor, a founder of HDTVProfessor.com.

Time Warner declined to predict how many HD channels it will offer after its new "switched digital" technology is completed. The system will free capacity in Time Warner's network by limiting the broadcast signal to the channel being viewed. The current technology sends all signals for all channels simultaneously, whether they are being viewed or not.

With the upgrade, Time Warner will be able to broadcast as many HD channels as it has agreements to distribute, said Brad Phillips, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable in North Carolina. The company will automatically upgrade all customers by mid-2008 without any change in prices, he said.

"Customers want more HD, and we're doing all we can to provide it," Phillips said.

Time Warner added 10 HD channels last year, including three last month: HGTV HD (Channel 277), Food Network HD (Channel 278) and National Geographic HD (Channel 279).

New satellites early last year allowed DirecTV to make capacity improvements that resulted in new high-definition channels. With another satellite scheduled to debut during the first half of this year, the company expects to offer 150 national HD channels by year's end.

The new satellites, however, mean DirecTV's current standard-definition customers will need new dish receivers that require a far broader view of the sky to pick up the signals.

AT&T's plans for HD

AT&T, which acquired BellSouth's local phone business last year, also is investing heavily.

The company resells video service through a partnership with DirecTV. But AT&T's $350 million "U-verse" investment will upgrade its fiber-optic network to transmit TV signals over phone lines using Internet protocol. The company wants to increase sales of bundled packages of phone, Internet, wireless and TV service.

AT&T officials declined to say when U-verse HD service will debut in North Carolina or how much it will cost. The service began this month in Atlanta, where subscribers get about 40 HD channels.

"This will be the most robust video service available, as far as capabilities and applications," said Della Bowling, spokeswoman for AT&T in the Carolinas. She declined to discuss a timeline for introducing the service or whether it would match the breadth of programming now available from satellite operators.

Despite the abundant opportunity, not all providers are diving in head first.

Telecom company Embarq began selling TV service in North Carolina last year to complement its high-speed Internet and wireless services.

But rather than build its own infrastructure, the company will resell TV signals from the satellite provider Dish Network.

Cable penetration fell about 1 point to 61.3 percent from a year ago to the lowest penetration since 1990, according to a recent analysis of Nielsen data by the Television Bureau of Advertising.

Satellite, meanwhile, increased to 27.6 percent from 24 percent.

Telecom companies, which are just getting into the TV business, are expected to claw out 8 percent of the market by 2011, mostly at the expense of cable, according to research firm Gartner.

True or not, one thing is for sure: Consumers will not return to standard-definition formats once exposed to HD. That means more investment to come. "We'll continue to see content move to HD," Poor said.

About 40 percent of U.S. households own a high-definition TV, up from 26 percent last year and 16 percent in 2005, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

"We'll see content move to HD. The bottleneck is the investment in ... infrastructure," Poor said.


frank.norton@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-8926

Sorry if asked/answered, but search was unsuccessful. For all you TWC subscribers who use both a TWC box/DVR and a TV w/ a QAM Tuner and no box, what HD channels are you recieving currently?

I've reviewed Erik Garci's list, but it shows only the network channels. Am I to conclude that these are the only channels that are carried 'in the clear?' What about channels like Discovery, Versus/Golf, NGHD, and others that are not included in the tier?

TIA

Nice to see the N&O has decided to run marketing pieces pretending to be news. Of course they skipped any mentionthat there are substantial downsides to Switched Digital Video. When they "upgrade" people, it may just turn out to be a downgrade if you use a HD TiVo or other device that uses a Cablecard.

Do any of the current HD boxes from TWC output anamorphic content over the s-video jack or just letterboxed? I think the Pace 550 could do this, but not the SA boxes. Is the Pace still available from TWC in Raleigh?

Thanks!

I'm getting black screens when tuned to HGTV-HD, Food Network HD and National Geographic HD. The guide info is there but nothing else. Anyone else having trouble with these?

Thanks,
Charlie

Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but does anyone know if tonight's Carolina game is in HD on ESPNHD?

Thanks,
Charlie

Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but does anyone know if tonight's Carolina game is in HD on ESPNHD?

Thanks,
Charlie


It is not. For future reference, check http://www.hdsportsguide.com

I'm getting black screens when tuned to HGTV-HD, Food Network HD and National Geographic HD. The guide info is there but nothing else. Anyone else having trouble with these?

Thanks,
Charlie

No problem here. Probably time to reboot your cable box.

I'm curious. I'm new to HDTV and am wondering which, if any HDTV channels I should be able to access over Basic TWC in the Raleigh area. I have a Sony KDL-40W3000 and a cable connection with no box of any type.

Probably only the broadcasters locally.

I'm getting black screens when tuned to HGTV-HD, Food Network HD and National Geographic HD. The guide info is there but nothing else. Anyone else having trouble with these?

Thanks,
Charlie

That happened once a day after those channels launched, where National Geographic HD became a blank black screen, and Food HD and HGTV HD noticeably improved in quality during that problem. Apparently, there is something wrong with the statistical multiplexor TWC is using to try to mix three channels onto the same QAM channel, when 2 channels normally are mixed onto the same QAM channel. Mixing three or more HD channels onto the same QAM channel somewhat degrades the picture quality on all of the channels.

I'm curious. I'm new to HDTV and am wondering which, if any HDTV channels I should be able to access over Basic TWC in the Raleigh area. I have a Sony KDL-40W3000 and a cable connection with no box of any type.

If you search backwards in the thread far enough, you should find a complete answer. The summary is that you'll get just the Raleigh/Durham market over-the-air channels, which is exactly what you'll get with an antenna. The one advantage is that you'll get WUNC-HD 24 hours per day, and not just between 8pm and 11pm.

Drew

Hmmm.... Nat Geo is coming in like complete garbage since last night for me. It's unwatchable with stutters and drop outs. I was going to call TWC today to complain about it. I thought it might be my 8300HDC (p.o.s. if you ask me) and was going to swap it out.

-Andrew

Raleigh TWC just informed that in January 2008, anyone who has a Premium channel (HBO, Showtime etc), will be getting the On-Demand channel of that Premium for free. So Digital tier plus HBO will also net you HBO On-Demand now also..

has anyone gotten the free HBO On Demand yet?? Mine hasnt kicked in yet, i still see $6.95 to subscribe message when i go that chanell...

TWC told me that it should be active starting today.

Hi guys, I currently have an SA 3250HD and an SA 8300HD from our buddies at Time Warner. I called them yesterday to see if they had a more recent HD (non-DVR) box with an HDMI output on it, and they told me that they are no longer giving out SA boxes at all, they are switching to an OCAP box made by Samsung, but of course they do not actually have any of these boxes to give out.

He also mentioned there will be only one box, it is a DVR, and if you do not wish to pay for the DVR service then you would just use the box without the DVR functions. And the kicker, it has an HDMI output but it is not currently "active" (whatever that means)...

Anybody know if this is the straight scoop? If it is true, any ideas when the new boxes would be available?

Hi guys, I currently have an SA 3250HD and an SA 8300HD from our buddies at Time Warner. I called them yesterday to see if they had a more recent HD (non-DVR) box with an HDMI output on it, and they told me that they are no longer giving out SA boxes at all, they are switching to an OCAP box made by Samsung, but of course they do not actually have any of these boxes to give out.

He also mentioned there will be only one box, it is a DVR, and if you do not wish to pay for the DVR service then you would just use the box without the DVR functions. And the kicker, it has an HDMI output but it is not currently "active" (whatever that means)...

Anybody know if this is the straight scoop? If it is true, any ideas when the new boxes would be available?


that makes no sense. Buying and distributing hard drive enabled boxes for even the most basic users would be a massive waste of money. Sounds like he's confusing hardware with software. All boxes will eventually all use the same version of the Navigator IPG, the DVR portion of which will only become active on DVR boxes.

Still you're lucky you got through. Their phone numbers have been giving me busy signals for 2 days.

Picked up my non-OCAP box last week. They have both in Southern Pines.

I'm getting black screens when tuned to HGTV-HD, Food Network HD and National Geographic HD. The guide info is there but nothing else. Anyone else having trouble with these?

Thanks,
Charlie

I had this issue last week when I brought home my new 8300, but if I bypassed my splitter it was fine. They sent a guy out and he said my signal was strong and the splitter shouldn't be the issue. He mentioned something about the setup at the source and by the afternoon of the next day it was working. May be worth the hassle of a service call.

has anyone gotten the free HBO On Demand yet?? Mine hasnt kicked in yet, i still see $6.95 to subscribe message when i go that chanell...

TWC told me that it should be active starting today.

Well my HBO isnt getting HBO ONDemand free yet?????
Has anyone else had it kick in yet???
Sprague said yesterday they said it would be done by 1/3,,and it wasnt...

No HBO OnDemand here either...

Earlier today I checked and it wasn't working yet.

I emailed TWC and they told me to try unplugging for 3 minutes and then letting it reboot.

Now I have it.

Earlier today I checked and it wasn't working yet.

I emailed TWC and they told me to try unplugging for 3 minutes and then letting it reboot.

Now I have it.
My experience different. I didnt have and when I called they said for the % of customers who have kept the package they have since before Digipix 1500, 2000 etc you have to call TWC. Appranetently the software only carried over Digipix customers and couldnt handle you if you were not listed as a Digipix customer. I have HBO/Digital etc (which is DigiPix 1500) but its not listed as such in thier system cause I have had for years before the Digipix creation and I never changed since then...So if you have a premium but still no OnDemand for free, then odds are you are a older cable customer and when you call they will change your settings to the Digipx you in reality have. When they did it for me I had the OnDemand in 2 minutes without even rebooting..

The problem as I believe it to be is that I don't get the OTA as i believe I should. A friend told me that since I have digital cable for internet, I should be getting the OTA stations that are broadcast in HD over TWC system. My digital reception is as follows:

Always get:
UNCDH - 4.2
UNCKD - 4.3
UNCED - 4.4
UNCNC - 4.5
WRAL DT - 5.1
WRAL NE - 5.2
WRAL SD - 5.3
MyRDC - 28.1

I occasionally to seldomly get (with an unreliable signal):
NBC17HD - 17.1
NBC17SD - 17.2
NBC17WX - 17.3
WLFL - 22.1

I cannot seem to recieve (or find) digital transmission channels for the following stations:
ABC 11 (WTVD)
Fox (WRAX)

and I would like to get the NBC reliably.

Any further suggestions? If I understand my friend correctly, TWC should be required to transmit on the lifeline service the digital signals if they are available OTA.

Any further suggestions?
Try tuning to the channels in this list: Unencrypted Digital TV Channels in Durham, NC (http://home1.gte.net/res18h39/channels.htm)

The problem as I believe it to be is that I don't get the OTA as i believe I should. A friend told me that since I have digital cable for internet, I should be getting the OTA stations that are broadcast in HD over TWC system. My digital reception is as follows:

Always get:
UNCDH - 4.2
UNCKD - 4.3
UNCED - 4.4
UNCNC - 4.5
WRAL DT - 5.1
WRAL NE - 5.2
WRAL SD - 5.3
MyRDC - 28.1

I occasionally to seldomly get (with an unreliable signal):
NBC17HD - 17.1
NBC17SD - 17.2
NBC17WX - 17.3
WLFL - 22.1

I cannot seem to recieve (or find) digital transmission channels for the following stations:
ABC 11 (WTVD)
Fox (WRAX)

and I would like to get the NBC reliably.

Any further suggestions? If I understand my friend correctly, TWC should be required to transmit on the lifeline service the digital signals if they are available OTA.

Usually, if you subscribe to lifeline service only, cable companies generally install a filter on your line that wipes out high frequency channels, which usually includes the digital channels. You need at least standard cable to try that reliably. Also, the local Fox station is WRAZ.

My experience different. I didnt have and when I called they said for the % of customers who have kept the package they have since before Digipix 1500, 2000 etc you have to call TWC. Appranetently the software only carried over Digipix customers and couldnt handle you if you were not listed as a Digipix customer. I have HBO/Digital etc (which is DigiPix 1500) but its not listed as such in thier system cause I have had for years before the Digipix creation and I never changed since then...So if you have a premium but still no OnDemand for free, then odds are you are a older cable customer and when you call they will change your settings to the Digipx you in reality have. When they did it for me I had the OnDemand in 2 minutes without even rebooting..


I also did as you suggested and now have the OnDemand equivalents of my premium packages.

thanks for the head's-up on this!
LT

Usually, if you subscribe to lifeline service only, cable companies generally install a filter on your line that wipes out high frequency channels, which usually includes the digital channels. You need at least standard cable to try that reliably. Also, the local Fox station is WRAZ.Basic cable is enough to get all the local channels via QAM. That gets me everything the locals do OTA plus 24-hour UNC-HD instead of their limited OTA schedule.

Basic cable is enough to get all the local channels via QAM. That gets me everything the locals do OTA plus 24-hour UNC-HD instead of their limited OTA schedule.

True, but the OP was asking about lifeline cable, which is different than basic cable.

True, but the OP was asking about lifeline cable, which is different than basic cable.

I have lifeline cable through Time Warner here in Cary (~$11/month). When I switched from Basic to lifeline, they installed a filter that blocks the basic channels such as CNN, ESPN. However, I still get all the QAM channels I had previously. (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS)

True, but the OP was asking about lifeline cable, which is different than basic cable.
They are the same thing. The lowest tier that TWC offers is Basic service.

Maybe you are thinking of Standard service.

They are the same thing. The lowest tier that TWC offers is Basic service.

I don't think they are the same. "Lifeline" is the service that basically is going to give you channels 2-13. That's it. All the locals are within this group. It is not an advertised package. I think it is mandated by the FCC.

I don't think they are the same. "Lifeline" is the service that basically is going to give you channels 2-13. That's it. All the locals are within this group. It is not an advertised package. I think it is mandated by the FCC.
2-13 does not include all the locals. Namely, it does not include Telefutura and WRPX ION.

The FCC mandates a basic tier, which must include all locals that TWC carries, and I think that "lifeline" is just another name for it.

TWC's Basic service includes 2-24, 0/98, 100, 102, and 200-257.

I don't think they are the same. "Lifeline" is the service that basically is going to give you channels 2-13.Kevad in Cary stated that he pays ~$11 per month for "Lifeline." Basic in Raleigh is $11.90 per month before they add all those mysterious fees. So I think Basic is probably what he was talking about. But I'd certainly be interested in knowing about a local TWC tier that costs less than $11.90 a month.

2-13 does not include all the locals. Namely, it does not include Telefutura and WRPX ION.

The FCC mandates a basic tier, which must include all locals that TWC carries, and I think that "lifeline" is just another name for it.

TWC's Basic service includes 2-24, 0/98, 100, 102, and 200-257.

I'm guessing they are the same, since I specifically asked for the very cheapest plan they had, and these are the channels that I get. Just pulled out my bill, and it's $10.25 for what they call "Basic" service, plus $0.71 for NC Tax and $0.32 for FCC Tax. (I've got Road Runner as well, so the taxes might be lower if you only have the TV package)

I just upgraded to digital Time Warner this week because after looking at their packaging, (and because they raised prices), switching to digital was actually cheaper than keeping the standard cable + internet I had through them, at least for the next year.

They gave me an SA4240HDC, and I'm trying to get it to play nice firewire wise. My machine seems to detect it, but can't get anything off it. I'd have thought if the ports were completely turned off, it wouldn't even detect.

Anyone know anything about using one of these with firewire to MythTV, or know if I should be able to go back and demand another box? I don't really know what I'm talking about in this particular area, and I don't want to pay for a DVR box I don't need to use. I'm just concerned if I go back in there someone who ALSO probably doesn't know what they are talking about will just tell me it does work but it must just be my fault, and I'll have no way of contradicting that.

Anyone have suggestions?

Ry

Hello all. I'm new here...looking into getting my first hdtv. I am in Raleigh and have basic service only (02-25: I get USA at the moment whether I am supposed to or not). I want to make sure that if I get an hdtv that I will get the local broadcast channels in HD (WRAL, WUNC, etc). From what I have read so far, as long as I buy a tv with a QAM tuner then I will be able to get these in HD while still on the basic plan?

I just upgraded to digital Time Warner this week because after looking at their packaging, (and because they raised prices), switching to digital was actually cheaper than keeping the standard cable + internet I had through them, at least for the next year.

They gave me an SA4240HDC, and I'm trying to get it to play nice firewire wise. My machine seems to detect it, but can't get anything off it. I'd have thought if the ports were completely turned off, it wouldn't even detect.

Anyone know anything about using one of these with firewire to MythTV, or know if I should be able to go back and demand another box? I don't really know what I'm talking about in this particular area, and I don't want to pay for a DVR box I don't need to use. I'm just concerned if I go back in there someone who ALSO probably doesn't know what they are talking about will just tell me it does work but it must just be my fault, and I'll have no way of contradicting that.

Anyone have suggestions?

Ry

Search the PC or Mac or Linux forum as appropriate for you.

I can tell you that the 8300HD did NOT stream live broadcast via 1394.. you had to record it 1st.. which "consumed" the "Copy Once" flag such that you could not get that material to your computer (which is a truly wank, but not unexpected, move by TWC). dunno how their other 1394 boxes will behave.

Mike

From what I have read so far, as long as I buy a tv with a QAM tuner then I will be able to get these in HD while still on the basic plan?
You will.

One issue that you might encounter is that the trap interferes with physical channel 77, which carries the HD channels for WLFL and WRDC. If that happens, you could try asking TWC to remove the trap. (The trap is something that TWC installs to filter out channels 25 through 76.)

Hello all. I'm new here...looking into getting my first hdtv. I am in Raleigh and have basic service only (02-25: I get USA at the moment whether I am supposed to or not). I want to make sure that if I get an hdtv that I will get the local broadcast channels in HD (WRAL, WUNC, etc). From what I have read so far, as long as I buy a tv with a QAM tuner then I will be able to get these in HD while still on the basic plan?

Keep in mind that the free WRAL OTA antenna offer is still in effect, and our area's coverage is very good for OTA digital, so even if you don't get QAM working (incidentally, I couldn't get it to work for whatever reason, but I was trying to capture it with my HTPC not just plug a TV in) you've got options.

Search the PC or Mac or Linux forum as appropriate for you.

I can tell you that the 8300HD did NOT stream live broadcast via 1394.. you had to record it 1st.. which "consumed" the "Copy Once" flag such that you could not get that material to your computer (which is a truly wank, but not unexpected, move by TWC). dunno how their other 1394 boxes will behave.

Mike


I'll have to try posting there and asking, I'd already searched here and googled for SA4240 and it seems to be a bit of a black sheep. There's some info on the 4250 that doesn't seem to apply, so I was just hoping someone would have some personal experience so they could tell me something to ask for, so I could call them up and say, "This one doesn't work, I was told you should have Motorolla Whatchajiggers available, can I get one of those?"

Keep in mind that the free WRAL OTA antenna offer is still in effect, and our area's coverage is very good for OTA digital, so even if you don't get QAM working (incidentally, I couldn't get it to work for whatever reason, but I was trying to capture it with my HTPC not just plug a TV in) you've got options.

Thanks for the reminder. I did some quick searching and it seems like mostly the antennas provided by WRAL are large for mounting in attics or outdoors? I am in an apartment so that wouldn't work for me. Hopefully I won't have any QAM problems via TWC basic but if I do I'll probably have to try an indoor antenna. I used the antennaweb site and I am 17 miles from the main antenna farm 28.6 from the WUNC/PBS antenna and I actually do want PBS.

You will.

One issue that you might encounter is that the trap interferes with physical channel 77, which carries the HD channels for WLFL and WRDC. If that happens, you could try asking TWC to remove the trap. (The trap is something that TWC installs to filter out channels 25 through 76.)

Thanks Erik. I'll see what happens with those channels. I'm in an apartment and for awhile after I switched back to basic they did not put the trap back on but several months later they did. I wouldn't mind it being gone again :>

Anyone know how the OTA reception is around the Armerican Tobacco area in Durham? I was thinking about brining an HD box in to work to hook up to teh conference room system for ACC and NCAA Tournments and was wondering if I could get WRAL with an indoor antenna?

Anyone know how the OTA reception is around the Armerican Tobacco area in Durham? I was thinking about brining an HD box in to work to hook up to teh conference room system for ACC and NCAA Tournments and was wondering if I could get WRAL with an indoor antenna?

Any chance the room you're in faces the farm?

Antenna web (http://www.antennaweb.org/) predicts:

red - vhf WRAL 5 CBS RALEIGH NC 145° 30.1 5

You may be able to pick it up, but you'd definitely need a window facing the right direction, and depending on how tall your building is compared to other buildings, you may have some multipath issues.

We do face just about directly toward the antennas. Maybe 10 degrees more east facing while the farm is almost directly SE from here. The issue is that we are on the back side of the complex so out my widow, I can see a couple of buildings that are in my LOS, plus a giant metal structure that was once a coal conveyor. Not ideal.

We are toward the top of the long white building at the left. The building on the right near the stack is taller and then the next building is taller still.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=35.994301,-78.90438&spn=0.00112,0.002248&t=h&z=19&om=1

We do face just about directly toward the antennas. Maybe 10 degrees more east facing while the farm is almost directly SE from here. The issue is that we are on the back side of the complex so out my widow, I can see a couple of buildings that are in my LOS, plus a giant metal structure that was once a coal conveyor. Not ideal.

We are toward the top of the long white building at the left. The building on the right near the stack is taller and then the next building is taller still.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=35.994301,-78.90438&spn=0.00112,0.002248&t=h&z=19&om=1

Well that's about the limit of my knowledge and suggestions, other than saying, depending on the size of the room and tolerance of the office admin (any chance you're the boss?) you can always just bring an actual UHF antenna and set it on a chair or something instead of an indoor antenna.

My antenna was perched on a step ladder in the attic for a while while I was adjusting the orientation before I mounted the mast and it actually didn't much degradation from the unconventional mounting.

I've actually got a spare antenna in the attic I bought before the Channel Master from WRAL arrived (Much love to WRAL) that I can give you if you want to try that route but don't want to have to buy an antenna just for the occasion and are willing to come pick it up.

You just have to promise to not never bring it back. (Being too lazy to dispose of it properly is why it's still in my attic, aside from being perfectly good and recently purchased) PM me if you're interested.

Only 4 regular season ACC games in HD this year. :mad:
At least 2 out of the 4 are Carolina. :) It is sad that most of the coverage of the Number 1 conference looks like Number 2.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/10/raycom-serving-up-select-acc-mens-basketball-games-in-hd/

Only 4 regular season ACC games in HD this year. :mad:
At least 2 out of the 4 are Carolina. :) It is sad that most of the coverage of the Number 1 conference looks like Number 2.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/10/raycom-serving-up-select-acc-mens-basketball-games-in-hd/


Yeah 4 games sucks but it's better than the zero games we've gotten in the past. At least we'll get Dook-UNC this year since it'll be blacked out on ESPNHD. In the past the rest of the country got to enjoy it in HD while we were stuck with Raycom SD.

They play twice though. :(

They play twice though. :(


Yes but the first game is a split Raycom/ESPN game. The second game on March 8th isn't on Raycom...only ESPN. :)

Yes but the first game is a split Raycom/ESPN game. The second game on March 8th isn't on Raycom...only ESPN. :)

Good catch. I just looked and for us UNC fans we are only going to have 2 SD games on Raycom (Miami & FSU). Not guaranteed to have all our other games on ESPN, ABC & FSN in HD, but wouldn't want to switch with any other ACC team's TV schedule.

Only 4 regular season ACC games in HD this year. :mad:
At least 2 out of the 4 are Carolina. :) It is sad that most of the coverage of the Number 1 conference looks like Number 2.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/10/raycom-serving-up-select-acc-mens-basketball-games-in-hd/

You guys should really read the man HDTV Programming forum sometime, as this was posted in there almost 2 weeks ago :).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=966723

Has anyone in the RDU TWC area with an 8300HDC tried to get more recording space with an eSATA drive? If so, which one, and how are things working out?

You guys should really read the man HDTV Programming forum sometime, as this was posted in there almost 2 weeks ago :).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=966723

Things are posted in more than one place on the internet. Your link got its info somewhere too.

TWC will be moving some channels in mid-February, according to their site (http://www.timewarnercable.com/NC/programming/channelChangeUpdate.html). In particular, channels 75 and 76 will be moved. I wonder if 75 and 76 will carry digital channels, similar to how 77 was once an analog channel but now carries digital channels.

I wonder if 75 and 76 will carry digital channels, similar to how 77 was once an analog channel but now carries digital channels.Could be, but there may be another reason for the change. Since the filter doesn't cut off cleanly, I currently get a watchable signal on HGTV (76) with a Basic package. Maybe TWC wants to avoid signal bleeding in that area.

TWC will be moving some channels in mid-February, according to their site (http://www.timewarnercable.com/NC/programming/channelChangeUpdate.html). In particular, channels 75 and 76 will be moved. I wonder if 75 and 76 will carry digital channels, similar to how 77 was once an analog channel but now carries digital channels.


Hopefully it will be for 4 new HD channels..... I can dream cant I....

Hopefully it will be for 4 new HD channels..... I can dream cant I....

I would rather see three new HD channels instead of four, so that one of the three HD channels stuck on the 777MHz QAM will be moved out so that National Geographic HD, HGTV HD, and Food TV HD no longer get overcompressed and look like garbage to people who have better TVs than my family's old analog-only input CRT RPTV.

On an unrelated note, one possibilty is that TWC might have struck a deal to carry WRPX digital, which means four more SD channels and no HD channels, of which one of them is a duplicate of the analog channel. Ironically, only the analog duplicate subchannel seems saturated with infomercials, and the others are full of meaningful content. Another possibility is that WUVC may have a digital deal. Unfortunately, I don't speak Spanish. A digital deal with WUVC seems redundant because what I am finding out is that WUVC's subchannels are both SD versions of Univision and TeleFutura. (TWC already carries TeleFutura.)

One final possibility would be to use those channels for SDV.

I would rather see three new HD channels instead of four, so that one of the three HD channels stuck on the 777MHz QAM will be moved out so that National Geographic HD, HGTV HD, and Food TV HD no longer get overcompressed and look like garbage to people who have better TVs than my family's old analog-only input CRT RPTV.

On an unrelated note, one possibilty is that TWC might have struck a deal to carry WRPX digital, which means four more SD channels and no HD channels, of which one of them is a duplicate of the analog channel. Ironically, only the analog duplicate subchannel seems saturated with infomercials, and the others are full of meaningful content. Another possibility is that WUVC may have a digital deal. Unfortunately, I don't speak Spanish. A digital deal with WUVC seems redundant because what I am finding out is that WUVC's subchannels are both SD versions of Univision and TeleFutura. (TWC already carries TeleFutura.)

One final possibility would be to use those channels for SDV.

There is little doubt that they are clearing room for more national HD channels. This is a stop gap measure until SDV becomes operational, and it is not likely that they will unbundle the NGC/HGTV/FOOD cluster****.

There is little doubt that they are clearing room for more national HD channels. This is a stop gap measure until SDV becomes operational, and it is not likely that they will unbundle the NGC/HGTV/FOOD cluster****.

I believe they did unbundle the previous 3 Charlie Foxtrot (AE,TBS,Golf/Vs)... so maybe there is hope. I do agree that I would prefer 3 instead of 4 if that gets full BW.... Overcompression Sux.

edit: changed to overcompression

I believe they did unbundle the previous 3 Charlie Foxtrot (AE,TBS,Golf/Vs)... so maybe there is hope. I do agree that I would prefer 3 instead of 4 if that gets full BW.... Compression Sux.

I would not say that "Compression Sux", but that overcompression sucks. Uncompressed 1920x1080 at 30 interlaced frames per second would take up around 178 megabytes per second. Normal MPEG-2 compression without overcompression slims that down to a little less than 20 megabytes per second. Since a 256QAM channel carries a little over 39 megabytes per second, two good-quality HD channels should fit into one 256QAM channel without recompression. Uncompressed HD is only feasible from a PlayStation 3, XBox 360, an HD camera, or your computer. It is infeasible for broadcasting and would take up much more spectrum than NTSC does, which contradicts a goal for HD: clearing up radio spectrum to create an emergency services only band and to auction off the remaining spectrum for cash. The current spectrum used by emergency services, the radio dispatch band, is overloaded with Nextel users because it started as a radio dispatch service, not a cell phone service. This is causing radio dispatch dead zones where the police, ambulances, or firefighters in these zones cannot use their radios or be contacted due to interference from Nextel. Therefore, without compression, HDTV would have been stillborn.

Now, those channels get around 13 megabytes per second on average in that overcompressed bundle. My advice is that if you want them to take that little amount of throughput per channel, move to MPEG-4 Part 10 a.k.a. H.264 or VC-1 first (Yes, the 8550HD supports VC-1 as well as H.264. By the way, the 8550HDC got renamed as the 8550HD.).

I would not say that "Compression Sux", but that overcompression sucks. Uncompressed 1920x1080 at 30 interlaced frames per second would take up around 178 megabytes per second. Normal MPEG-2 compression without overcompression slims that down to a little less than 20 megabytes per second. Since a 256QAM channel carries a little over 39 megabytes per second, two good-quality HD channels should fit into one 256QAM channel without recompression. Uncompressed HD is only feasible from a PlayStation 3, XBox 360, an HD camera, or your computer. It is infeasible for broadcasting and would take up much more spectrum than NTSC does, which contradicts a goal for HD: clearing up radio spectrum to create an emergency services only band and to auction off the remaining spectrum for cash. The current spectrum used by emergency services, the radio dispatch band, is overloaded with Nextel users because it started as a radio dispatch service, not a cell phone service. This is causing radio dispatch dead zones where the police, ambulances, or firefighters in these zones cannot use their radios or be contacted due to interference from Nextel. Therefore, without compression, HDTV would have been stillborn.

Now, those channels get around 13 megabytes per second on average in that overcompressed bundle. My advice is that if you want them to take that little amount of throughput per channel, move to MPEG-4 Part 10 a.k.a. H.264 or VC-1 first (Yes, the 8550HD supports VC-1 as well as H.264. By the way, the 8550HDC got renamed as the 8550HD.).

Point taken.... Intention was 'additional compression' over typical ATSC sux.

Normal MPEG-2 compression without overcompression slims that down to a little less than 20 megabytes per second.

You tickled a pet peeve of mine: You're off by a factor of 8. You mean megabits per second (Mb/s), not megabytes per second (MB/s). The 19Mb/s of an ATSC channel is really only about 2.3MB/s which is a whole lot more manageable.

Drew

You tickled a pet peeve of mine: You're off by a factor of 8. You mean megabits per second (Mb/s), not megabytes per second (MB/s). The 19Mb/s of an ATSC channel is really only about 2.3MB/s which is a whole lot more manageable.

Drew

Oops. Sorry about that.

I am an HDTV Noob and in my opion the best HDTV PQ in Raleigh is WRAL morning news. Better than the aforementioned 3 channels which to me are pretty good.

I would not say that "Compression Sux", but that overcompression sucks. Uncompressed 1920x1080 at 30 interlaced frames per second would take up around 178 megabytes per second. Normal MPEG-2 compression without overcompression slims that down to a little less than 20 megabytes per second. Since a 256QAM channel carries a little over 39 megabytes per second, two good-quality HD channels should fit into one 256QAM channel without recompression. Uncompressed HD is only feasible from a PlayStation 3, XBox 360, an HD camera, or your computer. It is infeasible for broadcasting and would take up much more spectrum than NTSC does, which contradicts a goal for HD: clearing up radio spectrum to create an emergency services only band and to auction off the remaining spectrum for cash. The current spectrum used by emergency services, the radio dispatch band, is overloaded with Nextel users because it started as a radio dispatch service, not a cell phone service. This is causing radio dispatch dead zones where the police, ambulances, or firefighters in these zones cannot use their radios or be contacted due to interference from Nextel. Therefore, without compression, HDTV would have been stillborn.

Now, those channels get around 13 megabytes per second on average in that overcompressed bundle. My advice is that if you want them to take that little amount of throughput per channel, move to MPEG-4 Part 10 a.k.a. H.264 or VC-1 first (Yes, the 8550HD supports VC-1 as well as H.264. By the way, the 8550HDC got renamed as the 8550HD.).

Someone already quoted the above post, so I will not edit it but post corrections in this post to avoid the appearance of trying to make that person look like a fool when the blame is entirely on me.

The just over 39 megabytes per second figure of how much a 256QAM channel can carry should be just over 39 megabits per second. The little less than 20 megabytes per second figure of how nuch a normally compressed HDTV channel should take should take should be little less than 20 megabits per second. I calculated the 178 megabytes per second figure using bytes instead of bits, so it is still correct.

Someone already quoted the above post, so I will not edit it but post corrections in this post to avoid the appearance of trying to make that person look like a fool when the blame is entirely on me.

The just over 39 megabytes per second figure of how much a 256QAM channel can carry should be just over 39 megabits per second. The little less than 20 megabytes per second figure of how nuch a normally compressed HDTV channel should take should take should be little less than 20 megabits per second. I calculated the 178 megabytes per second figure using bytes instead of bits, so it is still correct.

Also note that the 20Mbit/s is usually divided among multiple channels (one HD 2 SD). So your ATSC HD signal is actually less then the 20Mbit/s.

Anyone know if TWC will have it for the Daytona 500 on 2/17?


--Gary

Anyone know if TWC will have it for the Daytona 500 on 2/17?


--Gary


Speed has the Gatorade Duel 150 on Speed Race 1 & 2 3 days prior to the Daytona 500, but the Daytona 500 will be on Fox in HD.

I'm not a nascar fan, but a quick look on foxsports told me that ;)

Duh, you are so right...I had the pre-qualifying races on my mind, but forgot to mention them,

Thanks-
Gary

This is only somewhat on-topic, but I've seen several anecdotal posts over on dslreports stating that there are Verizon FIOS billboards up on the Durham Freeway heading into the RTP area; one poster claims that (after talking to Verizon) most of the fiber is complete is in the Southpoint area and that the whole area is supposed to have FIOS rollout by summer. Of course, even if this were true, it doesn't mean FIOS TV (hence me saying this isn't totally on topic here), but I am finding it incredibly difficult to find any information about this anywhere on the web. Figured if there was any inside info to be had, you guys might have it.

(The thread on dslreports is under the Verizon Fiber forum, on the first page, has 'Durham' in the title..not sure if direct linking to another forum is kosher.)

I know all the reasons it's unlikely, just curious though why the billboards would be up. I guess it could be a marketing snafu.

Well, I drive on the Durham Freeway from I 40 to Downtown Durham each day. I remember seeing a Verizon billboard or 2 but can;t remember what they say. I will try to be on the lookout to at least confirm that much for you.

in other news:

Arbitrator Finds for MASN in Time Warner Cable Dispute

An arbitrator concluded in a strongly worded decision that there is "inescapable" evidence that Time Warner Cable discriminated against regional sports network Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in a North Carolina carriage dispute.

Following a Dec. 17 hearing, arbitrator Jerome Sussman of the American Arbitration Association took less than three weeks to rule (in a Jan. 7 decision) that “the conclusion that Time Warner deliberately discriminated against MASN is inescapable from the documents and testimony,” adding that Time Warner “had both motive and opportunity to discriminate" against MASN in favor of its own RSN.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6524190.html?desc=topstory

An arbitrator concluded in a strongly worded decision that there is "inescapable" evidence that Time Warner Cable discriminated against regional sports network Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in a North Carolina carriage dispute.Did TWC agree to binding arbitration?

in other news:

Arbitrator Finds for MASN in Time Warner Cable Dispute

An arbitrator concluded in a strongly worded decision that there is "inescapable" evidence that Time Warner Cable discriminated against regional sports network Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in a North Carolina carriage dispute.

Following a Dec. 17 hearing, arbitrator Jerome Sussman of the American Arbitration Association took less than three weeks to rule (in a Jan. 7 decision) that “the conclusion that Time Warner deliberately discriminated against MASN is inescapable from the documents and testimony,” adding that Time Warner “had both motive and opportunity to discriminate" against MASN in favor of its own RSN.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6524190.html?desc=topstory

Looks like half of the room TWC is hoping to reclaim by moving channels will wind up carrying MASN. The arbitrator will select from the various deals MASN and TWC will offfer. I guess the best case would be to untangle the mess involving three overcompressed HD channels on the 777MHz QAM cnannel, add MASN (which is SD only as of this writing), and add only one more HD channel.

On an unrelated note, I am living in Cary, and wish that ShopNBC instead of CSPAN was the one to be sent to channel 5. Since WRAL's analog antenna is very strong, it interferes with whatever is on channel 5 on cable. While I do not watch CSPAN, I think that its content is much more valuable than ShopNBC's trash. I consider all shop at home channels to be nothing but obsolete trash thanks to the Internet.

in other news:

Arbitrator Finds for MASN in Time Warner Cable Dispute

An arbitrator concluded in a strongly worded decision that there is "inescapable" evidence that Time Warner Cable discriminated against regional sports network Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in a North Carolina carriage dispute.

Following a Dec. 17 hearing, arbitrator Jerome Sussman of the American Arbitration Association took less than three weeks to rule (in a Jan. 7 decision) that “the conclusion that Time Warner deliberately discriminated against MASN is inescapable from the documents and testimony,” adding that Time Warner “had both motive and opportunity to discriminate" against MASN in favor of its own RSN.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6524190.html?desc=topstory

Great ... another reason for TWC to raise our rates.

Looks like half of the room TWC is hoping to reclaim by moving channels will wind up carrying MASN. The arbitrator will select from the various deals MASN and TWC will offfer. I guess the best case would be to untangle the mess involving three overcompressed HD channels on the 777MHz QAM cnannel, add MASN (which is SD only as of this writing), and add only one more HD channel.

On an unrelated note, I am living in Cary, and wish that ShopNBC instead of CSPAN was the one to be sent to channel 5. Since WRAL's analog antenna is very strong, it interferes with whatever is on channel 5 on cable. While I do not watch CSPAN, I think that its content is much more valuable than ShopNBC's trash. I consider all shop at home channels to be nothing but obsolete trash thanks to the Internet.

I wish we could just vote for what channels we want. I bet the people who would miss a lot of these garbage channels like shopnbc make up less than 1/10th of 1 percent.

Did TWC agree to binding arbitration?

That was one of the conditions of the buyout of Adelphia by Time Warner Cable and Comcast that the FCC imposed, to keep the buyers from getting away with favoring channels they owned compared to competitors' channels.

By the way, I would have preferred that such matters be settled by litigation instead of arbitration, because the proceedings in litigation are public and can be used as evidence in future conflicts, while arbitration usually happens behind closed doors. This also has the effect that biased judges can be detected, allowing an appelate judge to declare a mistrial, while arbitrators can be biased and nobody will be the wiser.

If I buy an Hd receiver on craigslist or ebay can I still get the free antennea from WRAL? If they give me a written receipt? Has anyone tried this yet?

Where the hell is USA and FX HD?

Where the hell is USA and FX HD?

Hiding behind all the other channels in a dusty HD drawer. I imagine it's very similar to the archives were the X-Files are stored.

SERIOUSLY THOUGH!

I have no idea what is going on in half this thread. I just need more HD!!

SERIOUSLY THOUGH!

I have no idea what is going on in half this thread. I just need more HD!!

Dont we all.....

Dont we all.....

not if you have DirecTV. Then you're just being greedy. ;)

not if you have DirecTV. Then you're just being greedy. ;)

HAHA.... Sad but true...... ;)

not if you have DirecTV. Then you're just being greedy. ;)

Is that HD, or is that HD Lite? I don't care too much about downsampling as long as it is not done too much, but I do have to take a principled stand against calling downsampled content HDTV. At best, I would call downsampled content EDTV. If DirecTV's and Dish Network's conversions to MPEG4 allows them to send full resolution without too many artifacts, they would be attractive options for HD extremists. If not, it is not HDTV and should be considered HD Lite or EDTV.

A similar argument could be stated for TWC's 3 HD channels on a single QAM channel mess, as overcompression creates many artifacts that detract from the picture and also softens the detail out of them.

As for me, I hate false advertising, plain and simple.

Is that HD, or is that HD Lite? I don't care too much about downsampling as long as it is not done too much, but I do have to take a principled stand against calling downsampled content HDTV. At best, I would call downsampled content EDTV. If DirecTV's and Dish Network's conversions to MPEG4 allows them to send full resolution without too many artifacts, they would be attractive options for HD extremists. If not, it is not HDTV and should be considered HD Lite or EDTV.

A similar argument could be stated for TWC's 3 HD channels on a single QAM channel mess, as overcompression creates many artifacts that detract from the picture and also softens the detail out of them.

As for me, I hate false advertising, plain and simple.

personally, i can't tell a difference between DirecTV MPEG4 HD locals versus OTA or TWC locals via QAM. they all look the same to me (I have all going to my main TV).

the other DirecTV MPEG4 HD channels look great to me. I haven't noticed any artifacts or anything.

I have noticed a slight softness and some artifacting in DirecTVs MPEG2 HD offerings. But, it isn't bad by any means. It is still pretty good. In fact, I have seen worse HD than DirecTV MPEG2 on local channels OTA.

AS a counterpoint, I will say I can tell a difference between OTA locals and DirecTVs MPEG 4 offering. Mostly in the backgrounds. I can see some posterization and artifacting when there are large areas of similar or slightly varying color on the MPEG 4. I can watch the same thing on OTA and it looks nice and smooth.

In fact, when my wife set all the recordings up on the machine when we got it, she set them on teh MPEG4 channels and I have had to change most of them back to the OTA. I can tell just about right away when we watch something that I ahve forgotten to change.

It still looks good though.

SERIOUSLY THOUGH!

I have no idea what is going on in half this thread. I just need more HD!!

I agree..there should be a separate thread for over the air HD people, cable and direct tv..this thread is over burdened with endless over air posts..hard to sift through for cable,,separate them for ease of use reasons..

I agree..there should be a separate thread for over the air HD people, cable and direct tv..this thread is over burdened with endless over air posts..hard to sift through for cable,,separate them for ease of use reasons..

I agree with you completely. OTA, satellite and cable should be in their own separate threads. I have cable, so I don't care about OTA and satellite TV issues, and I'm sure they don't care about cable issues. Separate threads makes sense to me......just my opinion:)

Long time TWC customer using Media Center. Sick of only being able to record the locals (unencrypted QAM). Considering a TivoHD.

Anyone have a list of which channels are copy protected and thus blocked for TivoToGo transfers? Is it only premiums like HBO, or are standard tier channels like ESPNHD and TNTHD also copy protected? If ESPN can't be transferred to my computer/Zune/etc then I'll just get a lousy DVR from TWC and not bother with the Tivo.

Long time TWC customer using Media Center. Sick of only being able to record the locals (unencrypted QAM). Considering a TivoHD.

If it was me, I'd wait a few months until the H.264 component capture widgets are shipping from Hauppage, buy one, and connect it up to a TWC STB and avoid the DRM hassle. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=974885

If you follow the link into the SageTV forum, it sounds like at least Sage will have support for this device relatively quickly.

Drew

I agree..there should be a separate thread for over the air HD people, cable and direct tv..this thread is over burdened with endless over air posts..hard to sift through for cable,,separate them for ease of use reasons..

I don't see what the problem is. There are plenty of users who use cable and sat who also use OTA. I don't use OTA and have no problem keeping up.

There's a search button at the top of this thread if you want specific information and considering the lack of progress TWC is making in the HD department this thread is obviously going to be more busy with OTA. When TWC actually make progress it will start talking about cable again.

If you want to keep up with sat and cable HD programming then head over to the HD Programming forum. There are dedicated threads for both those subjects.

I don't see what the problem is. There are plenty of users who use cable and sat who also use OTA. I don't use OTA and have no problem keeping up.

There's a search button at the top of this thread if you want specific information and considering the lack of progress TWC is making in the HD department this thread is obviously going to be more busy with OTA. When TWC actually make progress it will start talking about cable again.

If you want to keep up with sat and cable HD programming then head over to the HD Programming forum. There are dedicated threads for both those subjects.

no, it makes sense to have separate,,most people interested in one,,for the few who want all, so be it,,
individual is the ease of use way to go,,search idea is silly IMHO..singular threads would be SO much easier,,

I don't know about having the admins split all the old messages into the different forums, but maybe it would be a good idea to go ahead and start splitting them out like some of the other DMAs have done.

no, it makes sense to have separate,,most people interested in one,,for the few who want all, so be it,,
individual is the ease of use way to go,,search idea is silly IMHO..singular threads would be SO much easier,,

there are already specific threads about sat and cable services (with plenty of TWC NC users)if you bother to look and there are no local issues that cannot be found by using a search here. If you look back through this thread you'll find pages where it's all cable and you don't see OTA users complaining.

There is nothing going on with TWC Raleigh at the moment that justifies separate discussion. Start a thread about it yourself and see how it goes.

there are already specific threads about sat and cable services (with plenty of TWC NC users)if you bother to look and there are no local issues that cannot be found by using a search here. If you look back through this thread you'll find pages where it's all cable and you don't see OTA users complaining.

There is nothing going on with TWC Raleigh at the moment that justifies separate discussion. Start a thread about it yourself and see how it goes.

dont get your panties in a wad..
who cares if OTA users dont complain,,I just said it would be more ease of use...
get over yourself,,

---Quote (Originally by Richard Berg)--- Long time TWC customer using Media Center. Sick of only being able to record the locals (unencrypted QAM). Considering a TivoHD.
---End Quote---


Another reason I'm waiting is to see how well/easy the switched digital dongle works and what channels become available to the Tivo.

http://www.tivoblog.com/archives/2007/11/26/ncta-tivo-announced-sdv-dongle-for-2008/

dont get your panties in a wad..
who cares if OTA users dont complain,,I just said it would be more ease of use...
get over yourself,,

Says the nube with 11 post. :rolleyes:

There are plenty of forums out there; find one you like. If you can't find one, create your own. This forum has finally got to the point where anything Raleigh\HD is relevant even if it is SAT, Cable, OTA or local stations doing HD over the internet (WRAL, WHEN??).
This thread can be dead for days and weeks as it exist now. Dividing it up would kill it and is NOT an option. You will find if you have a question or some interesting observation, you will find plenty of replies here. Sifting thru old post is always a chore. You will find though if politely asked even old tired questions get re-answered. ;)

Funny, I often have to wade through cable posts to get to the OTA I care about. I think part of the problem was this thread was active earlier than many area due to WRAL. Add to that the fact that TWC did not get HD going that early, coupled with the fact that we never had any big issues with stations like other areas (Denver comes to mind) so teh posting was somewhat low and it just evolved that we had one thread, whereas some areas have seperate threads for Cable and OTA. I suppose we could ask a moderator to seperate them as they have done it in the past I beleive.

Or we can just scan through stuff that does not interest us like we've been doing.

personally, i like having it all in one thread. it promotes the idea that there are multiple options to get programming in this area. it keeps me, and i assume others, informed about all of the options in case i want to switch. personally, i use 3 of the options, direcTV, OTA, and TWC via QAM. and besides, like someone else said, if we split these up, the threads would be dead. this thread will go days without a post as it is. this thread is easy to keep up with, even if i only check it twice a week.

Fox Sports South in HD on TWC?
UNC @ FSU is at 2pm Sunday is it going to be in HD?
I am going to be at a buddies and wanted to know what to expect.
Thanks.

Fox Sports South in HD on TWC?
UNC @ FSU is at 2pm Sunday is it going to be in HD?
I am going to be at a buddies and wanted to know what to expect.
Thanks.
College hoops in HD on Channel 291!

A number of ACC and Pac-10 college basketball games will be available in High Definition this season! These games will be produced by Fox Sports Net HD and will be shown on Digital Cable Channel 291 (MOJO) for all HD subscribers.

For more information about HDTV, click here!

Jan. 31 10:30 PM Arizona at Southern California
Feb. 3 2:00 PM North Carolina at Florida State

Yesterday I noticed that TWC added three new HD channels: HDTV-HD (ch 277), FoodNetwork-HD (ch 278), and NationalGeographic-HD (ch 279). I'm not sure if this is common knowledge already, but I just wanted to let everyone know.

Yesterday I noticed that TWC added three new HD channels: HDTV-HD (ch 277), FoodNetwork-HD (ch 278), and NationalGeographic-HD (ch 279). I'm not sure if this is common knowledge already, but I just wanted to let everyone know.


Thanks for letting us know but they were actually added over a month ago back on December 21. :)

Says the nube with 11 post. :rolleyes:

There are plenty of forums out there; find one you like. If you can't find one, create your own. This forum has finally got to the point where anything Raleigh\HD is relevant even if it is SAT, Cable, OTA or local stations doing HD over the internet (WRAL, WHEN??).
This thread can be dead for days and weeks as it exist now. Dividing it up would kill it and is NOT an option. You will find if you have a question or some interesting observation, you will find plenty of replies here. Sifting thru old post is always a chore. You will find though if politely asked even old tired questions get re-answered. ;)

you are just wrong..
so be it..

you are just wrong..
so be it..

lol, how can an opinion be wrong?

I agree, there is ZERO reason to split it up, it's not that active. Even when I have cable, I want to hear about OTA, D*, FIOS, etc. This is the one stop shop for all of that. By having it all together, then I won't miss out on the fact that something cool and new is happening in the Raleigh area, that might make me want to switch from whatever choice I currently have.

lol, how can an opinion be wrong?

I agree, there is ZERO reason to split it up, it's not that active. Even when I have cable, I want to hear about OTA, D*, FIOS, etc. This is the one stop shop for all of that. By having it all together, then I won't miss out on the fact that something cool and new is happening in the Raleigh area, that might make me want to switch from whatever choice I currently have.

OK, you are wrong also ;)

WRAL's home page is saying (up top) that they are carrying tomorrow night's State v. Duke game in HD. My guide for DTV does not verify this. I give props to the WRAL web site. Cable? OTA? Sat? Only cable (SPIT!)?

What intrigues me is this. Does this finally mean a breakthrough with Raycom (or whatever it is this week) or is WRAL re-broadcasting someone else's shot (Fox maybe?)? I know the ACC has a long-term contract with JP/Raycom so I'm sure WRAL is broadcasting a Raycom feed.

Is this a hopeful sign of things to come or just one of those "proof of concept" Things like they did once last year (like HD needs proof of concept on ACC basketball LMFAO!!!)?

Anybody know for sure?

Thanks,
bob in wilson

dont get your panties in a wad..
who cares if OTA users dont complain,,I just said it would be more ease of use...
get over yourself,,

I think you need to. As a new poster it's pretty arrogant to go into a thread that's been working fine for 7 years and attempt to dictate how it should operate, just because you can't be bothered to use the search function or read another thread which is more relevant.

If you want only specific information about TWC in Raleigh read the TWC thread in the HD programming forum as I said. If you want to know about the general state of HD and get answers from network engineers about transmissions across all forms of broadcasting in the Raleigh area, this is the thread to post them in.

Splitting it is just going to make direct feedback to those engineers from WRAL, NBC etc harder to see for us and them.

WRAL's home page is saying (up top) that they are carrying tomorrow night's State v. Duke game in HD. My guide for DTV does not verify this. I give props to the WRAL web site. Cable? OTA? Sat? Only cable (SPIT!)?

What intrigues me is this. Does this finally mean a breakthrough with Raycom (or whatever it is this week) or is WRAL re-broadcasting someone else's shot (Fox maybe?)? I know the ACC has a long-term contract with JP/Raycom so I'm sure WRAL is broadcasting a Raycom feed.

Is this a hopeful sign of things to come or just one of those "proof of concept" Things like they did once last year (like HD needs proof of concept on ACC basketball LMFAO!!!)?

Anybody know for sure?

This is supposed to be one of four (I believe 4) Raycom HD productions this season. They will be covering the ACC Tourney in HD again this year, but only managed these handful of regular season games.

Here's a link to the AVS thread about this: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=966723&highlight=acc+hd+basketball+2008

This is supposed to be one of four (I believe 4) Raycom HD productions this season. They will be covering the ACC Tourney in HD again this year, but only managed these handful of regular season games.

Here's a link to the AVS thread about this: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=966723&highlight=acc+hd+basketball+2008

If it is HD and is done in a similar manner to last year's ACC tournament, expect the PQ to be outstanding. I really dislike Raycom for a number of reasons, but I think they did HD right last year. I hope they do the same this year.

This is supposed to be one of four (I believe 4) Raycom HD productions this season. They will be covering the ACC Tourney in HD again this year, but only managed these handful of regular season games.

Here's a link to the AVS thread about this: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=966723&highlight=acc+hd+basketball+2008

Actually the game will be on ESPN2 HD for the country, may well be a collaborative effort with Raycom announcers over the ESPN2 video rather than a totally seperate video feed.(???) I am not sure how we will determine whether it is different cameras for Raycom HD or not.

Bob

you are just wrong..
so be it..

Posg can attest that I am never wrong. :D

Actually the game will be on ESPN2 HD for the country, may well be a collaborative effort with Raycom announcers over the ESPN2 video rather than a totally seperate video feed.(???) I am not sure how we will determine whether it is different cameras for Raycom HD or not.

Bob

If it is Raycom it will be on WRAL and ESPN2 will be blacked out with another broadcast of something on at the same time.

Posg can attest that I am never wrong. :D

You may have been wrong about Universal HD. It does seem to be evolving into a reasonably decent channel. At least they dumped Knight Rider.:D:D:D

You may have been wrong about Universal HD. It does seem to be evolving into a reasonably decent channel. At least they dumped Knight Rider.:D:D:D
I concede that. It is infinitely better than TBS and TNT for my taste. Expect to see them bring Kit back for another lap when the Knight Rider movie hits theaters. ;)

^^Ummmm, Ive got to disagree on Universal. Sure, they are reshowing some quality shows (BSG, FNL, Jericho), but commercials during movies, cropped movies, and a perma-bug? Thats DEvolving. They havent started editing movies for content yet, but it could still happen...

^Knight Rider movie is a TV movie. I imagine the only Knight Rider that might show up will be that same movie and the series if it does get picked up.

I think you need to. As a new poster it's pretty arrogant to go into a thread that's been working fine for 7 years and attempt to dictate how it should operate, just because you can't be bothered to use the search function or read another thread which is more relevant.

If you want only specific information about TWC in Raleigh read the TWC thread in the HD programming forum as I said. If you want to know about the general state of HD and get answers from network engineers about transmissions across all forms of broadcasting in the Raleigh area, this is the thread to post them in.

Splitting it is just going to make direct feedback to those engineers from WRAL, NBC etc harder to see for us and them.

http://www.chevroncars.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/tired-yawn.jpg

^Knight Rider movie is a TV movie. I imagine the only Knight Rider that might show up will be that same movie and the series if it does get picked up.

He was talking about the original Knight Rider show from the 1980s...

http://www.knightridermovie.com/
Yea, it is a tv movie and yes it will end up on Universal some time.
Too bad with all of universals back catalog they don't make a push for a premium movie channel that ONLY plays premium movies. The only way they were justified in having a channel up to this point was that there was no USA-HD or SciFi-HD. The last thing we need is another OLD rerun channel, even if it is HD. :(

http://www.chevroncars.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/tired-yawn.jpg

Yep, that sort of attitude will help you in the future. :rolleyes:

my friend just got a new HDTV...TWC gave her a SA 8240PVR. should we take that back and get the 8300PVR?

my friend just got a new HDTV...TWC gave her a SA 8240PVR. should we take that back and get the 8300PVR?

That's interesting. I've never heard of the 8240 being used around here before. I didn't even realize that model existed.

edit: I just looked that up at SA and the only physical difference I can see is that it doesn't have the front AV inputs, which never worked anyway. The only difference I can see in the literature is that it doesn't mention eSATA even though it has a port for it.

Did she get the HD version or the SD version? I'm wondering if this is going to be the model they use for non-HD customers from now on.

another edit: according to the blurb "Our Explorer® 8240™ Series Digital Only DVR will only tune digital channels and cannot support analog channel signals."

So does that mean Raleigh has gone 100% digital now?

That's interesting. I've never heard of the 8240 being used around here before. I didn't even realize that model existed.

edit: I just looked that up at SA and the only physical difference I can see is that it doesn't have the front AV inputs, which never worked anyway. The only difference I can see in the literature is that it doesn't mention eSATA even though it has a port for it.

Did she get the HD version or the SD version? I'm wondering if this is going to be the model they use for non-HD customers from now on.

another edit: according to the blurb "Our Explorer® 8240™ Series Digital Only DVR will only tune digital channels and cannot support analog channel signals."

So does that mean Raleigh has gone 100% digital now?

Raleigh is not 100% digital yet. If it was, no SDTV will work without a digital converter. There might be student protests at North Carolina State University in Raleigh if TWC went 100% digital because there are many students in dorms with analog only TVs. All that having an 8240 series DVR working means is that every analog channel is simulcast in digital. And no, you do not want to try to trade it in unless it is broken. If TWC is handing out 8240s, there is no reason that the missing analog circuitry that is present in the 8300 series will help you at all. Maybe the removal of the analog circuitry may help it be cooler than the 8300HDC, which seems to be a product that was rushed out the door and overheats many times like a Netgear WGR614 or an XBox 360. Maybe the 8300HDC needs a ring of green LEDs that turn red when it fails ;).

All that having an 8240 series DVR working means is that every analog channel is simulcast in digital.

That's what I'm talking about, it got lost in translation. Previously they only had about 3/4 digital and some analog thrown in. That was one of DirecTV's main boasting points - "All Digital, not like cable".

So somewhere along the line they must have recently added those missing simulcast channels. That may be why I noticed a slight improvement on ABC Family. I can't say I've noticed it anywhere else though.

So does that mean Raleigh has gone 100% digital now?

TWC is still providing analog, but I think they are simulcasting any of that as digital. So while they aren't 100% digital, I guess they can provide a box that only does digital tuning without any impact to the customer.

Sorry to jump in here just giving and update. Got my antenna in about a week from WRAL nice antenna and they give you the one that you ask for. Thanks for the heads up on them.

TWC is still providing analog, but I think they are simulcasting any of that as digital. So while they aren't 100% digital, I guess they can provide a box that only does digital tuning without any impact to the customer.

What I'm saying is that they finally have a 100% digital service available now. Before the "digital package" used to be a mix of analog and digital channels because they didn't simulcast some of them.

Sorry to jump in here just giving and update. Got my antenna in about a week from WRAL nice antenna and they give you the one that you ask for. Thanks for the heads up on them.

I actually just got mine today too. It works really well. The problem I am having though is that everything comes in fine no matter what position except the 4.x and 47.x channels. I can get one perfectly clear without sound or video hiccups one direction, and the other fine in another. I am going to have to research the thread and see where people say the Ion channels are coming from, and where the PBS channels are coming from. I think PBS is Wake Forest, and I vaguely remember someone saying Greensboro for the Ion channels. I was trying to avoid pointing it at my neighbors house...but maybe that will be the best way to get both signals bounced back to it? Going to experiment tomorrow.

47.1 is up east of Louisburg, and 4.x is out at Chapel Hill. Both of these are co-located with their analog antenna. Another PBS is out of Roanoke Rapids, and there is another out towards Greenville. Ain't nothing in Wake Forest transmitter-wise - it's all out east of Garner or in the locations previously mentioned.

As far as receiving all stations - without extra antennas / a rotator - it ain't happening from your location. It IS possible to get them, just not so you can leave one antenna in one location.

Watching SD content on the WRAL HD channel, via Dish Sat, I'm occasionaly seeing slowly scrolling upward bands of light and dark areas, especially noticeable when the video material is rather dark.

This kind of problem is usually caused by poor DC regulation on equipment somewhere in the chain, with the errant 60hz AC riding over DC and beating against the 29.xx screen refresh rate.

I haven't seen it on any other channels, so far, and it appears only on some of WRAL's SD material. I'm really hoping it isn't anything on my end. Anyone else seeing this?

I see it mostly on their SD upconverted feeds from other locations either from their field crews or from other stations. And I'm watching WRAL news HD via OTA.

I see it mostly on their SD upconverted feeds from other locations either from their field crews or from other stations. And I'm watching WRAL news HD via OTA.

Thanks for the feedback, Scooper. It does show up mostly on the news feeds, but I also noticed it last night on 48 Hours Mystery. I wonder if that one was a direct network feed, or if it was recorded and replayed locally.

I think I'll send them a note about the issue, since it appears it's generated at their end.

I actually just got mine today too. It works really well. The problem I am having though is that everything comes in fine no matter what position except the 4.x and 47.x channels. I can get one perfectly clear without sound or video hiccups one direction, and the other fine in another. I am going to have to research the thread and see where people say the Ion channels are coming from, and where the PBS channels are coming from. I think PBS is Wake Forest, and I vaguely remember someone saying Greensboro for the Ion channels. I was trying to avoid pointing it at my neighbors house...but maybe that will be the best way to get both signals bounced back to it? Going to experiment tomorrow.

47.1 is up east of Louisburg, and 4.x is out at Chapel Hill. Both of these are co-located with their analog antenna. Another PBS is out of Roanoke Rapids, and there is another out towards Greenville. Ain't nothing in Wake Forest transmitter-wise - it's all out east of Garner or in the locations previously mentioned.

As far as receiving all stations - without extra antennas / a rotator - it ain't happening from your location. It IS possible to get them, just not so you can leave one antenna in one location.

Thanks for the info. I went to antennaweb.org and saw where I need to point. I went out and bought a 3 foot piece of galvanized pipe at Lowes and hammered it into the ground by our AC units and mounted the channel master to it. I aimed it at the Ion channels tower and then disconnected all the house coax jacks except for the two TVs (projector sitting idle until we get cable or D* again minus gaming and HTPC duties). Between the aiming, mounting, and disconnected the extra signal draws, all channels come in and never lose lock so we are happy campers.

On another note, does anyone know the reasoning behind why UNCHD is only prime time for OTA? Such a shame, because they show some good stuff during the day on there.

I would also like to add, for any WRAL people lurking, that I think WRAL giving out antenna's is a very cool thing. I know they want more viewers, but they could just be smug and assume people will watch them regardless. They know they have to work for your viewership. It's a very nice service, and before this I liked WRAL and it is usually what we watch for news, and even moreso now. I grew up watching NBC, no matter where I was. It's one of those things that you do, because it's just what your parents did, or what you were used to (kind of like claiming you are a Republican or Democrat long before you actually know what either of those mean!) Between their technology, and care for the community, they have converted me.

Directv has Super Bowl up on channel 700 SD and 701 HD!

I am fairly certain the head of ABC engineering indicated previously that WTVD would be doing local HD newscasts by end of 2007. Anyone know what's going on?

I have just gotten my first HDTV and would appreciate any information you can give me about HDTV reception in Chapel Hill. I am wowed by the quality of the small amount of HDTV I have been able to see with my rabbit ears (snatches of WUNC, WRAL, WTVD). I know little about digital TV. I have read the past 40 pages or so of posts on this forum and have learned much but would appreciate some specific advice on how to proceed.

We don't watch much TV, but we do like to see WUNC (PBS), sports, and the local news occasionally. We've been getting by with rabbit ears on a 19 inch analog TV (WUNC reception is tolerable with WRAL and WTVD generally poor). I can't justify the cost of a standard cable or Sat package just to get ESPN. Although I have a bias against TWC, I could swallow that and spend $14/month for basic cable if that is the best option. With regard to possible OTA reception, I do not want to put up an outdoor antenna, but I do have a large open attic, without metal, with a window which faces the Garner antenna farm according to AntennaWeb. We live on the eastern slope of Chapel "Hill" looking out over University Mall about 100 feet above the Bolin Creek floodplain. With the exception of a large cedar tree about 150 feet away and several open pines somewhat beyond that, we have a clear view of the horizon toward the Garner farm through this attic window. If I move back from the window, I have a "view" of the Garner farm through the shingled roof surface without going through the cedar tree. I would need a cable run of 60-80 ft from attic to TV which can be done easily. I don't currently have a power outlet in the attic, but could add one if power is needed.

With regard to cable, is it true that if I buy the basic package from TWC ($14/month), in addition to analog channels 2-24, I also get all the digital (including HD) output associated with those channels, and I don't need a cable box to receive them? TWC did not advertise this when I called them. Is it true that the location of these channels changes? Will all transmission on cable be digital (including HD) when the switchover occurs next year? Will TWC do something to try to charge more for this or otherwise screw the consumer when this happens? Is there any downside to the basic cable option other than it is $14/month and requires dealing with TWC?

With regard to OTA (which in principle is more appealing to me), I would like to be able to receive WUNC, WTVD, WRAL, and WRAZ in HD at a minimum and an NBC affiliate if possible. According to AntennaWeb, when I enter my location for an outdoor antenna with no obstructions, the analog and digital versions of all these channels (except WRAL analog) are in the yellow zone. For an outdoor antenna with obstructions (?cedar tree), WUNC-DT is in the yellow, WTVD-DT, WRAL-DT, and WRAZ-DT are in the green, and the analog channels are in the red. If I do go OTA, do I need to get the analog stations at all, that is, is there any content on analog channels which is not simultaneously broadcast on the digital stations?

Do you have any suggestions for how to proceed? I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff that doesn't work. Is it worth trying the OTA option or is this doomed to failure? I am aware from this forum that WRAL will send me a free antenna (Is this still true, and if I request one, should I specify antenna type or let them select one based upon my situation?). I presume that this would be a directional (probably UHF?) antenna which I could try in my attic. My impression from the forum is that even if I could receive these stations, I would either need an antenna rotater or a second antenna with a switch to get WUNC which comes from another direction.

I would appreciate any feedback on the choice between cable and OTA, and any specific antenna/wiring/amplification recommendations.

Thanks in advance,

Philip

I have just gotten my first HDTV and would appreciate any information you can give me about HDTV reception in Chapel Hill. I am wowed by the quality of the small amount of HDTV I have been able to see with my rabbit ears (snatches of WUNC, WRAL, WTVD). I know little about digital TV. I have read the past 40 pages or so of posts on this forum and have learned much but would appreciate some specific advice on how to proceed.

We don't watch much TV, but we do like to see WUNC (PBS), sports, and the local news occasionally. We've been getting by with rabbit ears on a 19 inch analog TV (WUNC reception is tolerable with WRAL and WTVD generally poor). I can't justify the cost of a standard cable or Sat package just to get ESPN. Although I have a bias against TWC, I could swallow that and spend $14/month for basic cable if that is the best option. With regard to possible OTA reception, I do not want to put up an outdoor antenna, but I do have a large open attic, without metal, with a window which faces the Garner antenna farm according to AntennaWeb. We live on the eastern slope of Chapel "Hill" looking out over University Mall about 100 feet above the Bolin Creek floodplain. With the exception of a large cedar tree about 150 feet away and several open pines somewhat beyond that, we have a clear view of the horizon toward the Garner farm through this attic window. If I move back from the window, I have a "view" of the Garner farm through the shingled roof surface without going through the cedar tree. I would need a cable run of 60-80 ft from attic to TV which can be done easily. I don't currently have a power outlet in the attic, but could add one if power is needed.

With regard to cable, is it true that if I buy the basic package from TWC ($14/month), in addition to analog channels 2-24, I also get all the digital (including HD) output associated with those channels, and I don't need a cable box to receive them? TWC did not advertise this when I called them. Is it true that the location of these channels changes? Will all transmission on cable be digital (including HD) when the switchover occurs next year? Will TWC do something to try to charge more for this or otherwise screw the consumer when this happens? Is there any downside to the basic cable option other than it is $14/month and requires dealing with TWC?

With regard to OTA (which in principle is more appealing to me), I would like to be able to receive WUNC, WTVD, WRAL, and WRAZ in HD at a minimum and an NBC affiliate if possible. According to AntennaWeb, when I enter my location for an outdoor antenna with no obstructions, the analog and digital versions of all these channels (except WRAL analog) are in the yellow zone. For an outdoor antenna with obstructions (?cedar tree), WUNC-DT is in the yellow, WTVD-DT, WRAL-DT, and WRAZ-DT are in the green, and the analog channels are in the red. If I do go OTA, do I need to get the analog stations at all, that is, is there any content on analog channels which is not simultaneously broadcast on the digital stations?

Do you have any suggestions for how to proceed? I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff that doesn't work. Is it worth trying the OTA option or is this doomed to failure? I am aware from this forum that WRAL will send me a free antenna (Is this still true, and if I request one, should I specify antenna type or let them select one based upon my situation?). I presume that this would be a directional (probably UHF?) antenna which I could try in my attic. My impression from the forum is that even if I could receive these stations, I would either need an antenna rotater or a second antenna with a switch to get WUNC which comes from another direction.

I would appreciate any feedback on the choice between cable and OTA, and any specific antenna/wiring/amplification recommendations.

Thanks in advance,

Philip

I would be surprised if you were not able to get all the channels you listed with an antenna in your attic. NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS take very little, and at your range, you should have no problem. I also don't forsee any real problems with UNC (PBS) or the Ion channels, you are in a good spot.

I do not believe you will get the HD channels for the locals with the $14 TWC, but I may be wrong.

As for OTA, go to WRAL and submit a request for a free antenna. You'll just need to send the form on their site + a copy of your TV receipt, and you should get an antenna shortly. Mine did not take nearly as long as they said it would. I think it came in about 2-3 weeks.

With regard to cable, is it true that if I buy the basic package from TWC ($14/month), in addition to analog channels 2-24, I also get all the digital (including HD) output associated with those channels, and I don't need a cable box to receive them?
Yes, you should be able to receive them as long as you have a QAM tuner. You don't need to rent a box from TWC.

Here is a list of channels in Durham. Chapel Hill is similar.
Unencrypted Digital TV Channels in Durham, NC (http://home1.gte.net/res18h39/channels.htm)
Is it true that the location of these channels changes?
If they ever change (which rarely happens), you can just do an "auto scan" to find them again.

Yes, you should be able to receive them as long as you have a QAM tuner. You don't need to rent a box from TWC.

If they ever change (which rarely happens), you can just do an "auto scan" to find them again.

Hi,

I have an HDTV with a QAM tuner. I can receive some unencrypted digital channels just fine, even with just the basic TW service. Here is my question.

I looked at the link you posted, but I was not able to decipher everything. Your list is for Durham and I live in Raleigh, so I don't know whether that changes things. Mainly I am concerned about HD channels. I am able to get the HD versions of CBS on 5.1, ABC on 11.1, and FOX on 50.1, but I can NOT figure out how to get PBS or NBC. I tried punching in 4.1 and 17.1, but nothing happens. I have rescanned a few times, but my TV does not seem to find those two HD channels. Is there some other way to get them?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Gregg

I am able to get the HD versions of CBS on 5.1, ABC on 11.1, and FOX on 50.1, but I can NOT figure out how to get PBS or NBC. I tried punching in 4.1 and 17.1, but nothing happens. I have rescanned a few times, but my TV does not seem to find those two HD channels.

For various reasons that I myself do not always understand, the QAM channels via Time Warner do not always carry with them the proper map-down information... so from time to time the local channels do not map down to where you would be looking, in this case your 4.1 and 17.1

If you have done a scan and added all found channels, you probably will find other channels with "strange" numbers. More than likely you have 4.1 and 17.1 in there somewhere, but they might be 92.5 or who knows what. Time Warner moves things around sometimes, and when the mapdown info is gone you have to re-find your channels every once in a while from what I've seen in other posts.

I am watching WTVD and WRAL from Fort Mill SC. I also can get WFMY in Greensboro and WITN in Greenville.

For various reasons that I myself do not always understand, the QAM channels via Time Warner do not always carry with them the proper map-down information... so from time to time the local channels do not map down to where you would be looking, in this case your 4.1 and 17.1

If you have done a scan and added all found channels, you probably will find other channels with "strange" numbers. More than likely you have 4.1 and 17.1 in there somewhere, but they might be 92.5 or who knows what. Time Warner moves things around sometimes, and when the mapdown info is gone you have to re-find your channels every once in a while from what I've seen in other posts.

I looked through all of the channels, but I did not see any that looked like the HD versions of PBS and NBC. I found the SD versions, but not the HD versions. I'll keep trying, but the few times I've scanned for channels, I could not find those. Thanks,

Gregg

UNCHD, 4.2, the HD PBS channel only shows HD content from 8-11pm. It's very annoying. The rest of the time the channel displays a message saying that it will resume at 8pm.

And 17.1 is the HD channel, but most of the time you aren't going to be seeing HD content on it, or any of the HD channels for that matter. During prime time, you will likely see HD content, and maybe a soap opera during the day.

UNCHD, 4.2, the HD PBS channel only shows HD content from 8-11pm. It's very annoying. The rest of the time the channel displays a message saying that it will resume at 8pm.


UNC-HD is 24/7 on TWC. The message only applies for OTA broadcasts.

I have to admit, the UNC TV situation Sucks. Why should they take public money and donations (even some from me over the years), but only allow Cable viewers to get the signal all the time? I have also had issue recording This Old House over the past few years. IT seems like every year, they do a pledge drive and move it or mess with the guide data so I miss the last couple of episodes.

Anybody else have audio dropouts during the Cane's game last night on VsHD on Time Warner? I got some pixelation dropouts as well, but the audio just disappearing was regular, frequent, and annoying. I did not have that issue on other channels.

UNC-HD is 24/7 on TWC. The message only applies for OTA broadcasts.

I see, I thought Vbgregg was receiving his content OTA.

Anybody else have audio dropouts during the Cane's game last night on VsHD on Time Warner? I got some pixelation dropouts as well, but the audio just disappearing was regular, frequent, and annoying. I did not have that issue on other channels.

Audio dropouts often happen when I watch WEC WrekCage on Vs./Golf HD. I did not know about the Canes game, so I cannot comment on that instance.

I have to admit, the UNC TV situation Sucks. Why should they take public money and donations (even some from me over the years), but only allow Cable viewers to get the signal all the time? I have also had issue recording This Old House over the past few years. IT seems like every year, they do a pledge drive and move it or mess with the guide data so I miss the last couple of episodes.

One thing you have to remember is that there is roughly 19Mb/s available in an ATSC (over the air) frequency, and this is enough for 4 SD subchannels, or 1 HD subchannel and 1 SD subchannel (or one crappy HD subchannel, and 2 crappy SD subchannels, which is what they do). QAM, however, has room for twice as much (38Mb/s) of bandwidth. Hence, on TWC they can "have it all" and run the HD subchannel, plus all 4 SD subchannels at the same time. Over the air, they have to choose between the extra 2 SD channels, or the HD channel.

I like the fact that their pledge drives interrupt *only* 4-1, and not the HD channels.

I think their biggest problems are:

1) They try to do too much, and sacrifice HD quality by having the kids channel on 24/7. If they'd just turn that off from 8-11 and reallocate the bandwidth to the HD channel, the HD quality might not suck so badly.

2) Their antenna location pretty much guarantees it will be a pain in the neck for anybody in the RDU area to pick up WUNC at the same time as the commercial stations. Why, why, why can't they put their antenna near all the others!?!?!

BTW, is anybody here picking up the PBS digital feed directly from a non-comercial (eg, free and legal) satellite? Since I've got a dedicated tuner/antenna setup for PBS anyway, it isn't that much further to just get a DVB-S card and get the national HD PBS feed before WUNC downgrades it.

Drew

One thing you have to remember is that there is roughly 19Mb/s available in an ATSC (over the air) frequency, and this is enough for 4 SD subchannels, or 1 HD subchannel and 1 SD subchannel (or one crappy HD subchannel, and 2 crappy SD subchannels, which is what they do). QAM, however, has room for twice as much (38Mb/s) of bandwidth. Hence, on TWC they can "have it all" and run the HD subchannel, plus all 4 SD subchannels at the same time. Over the air, they have to choose between the extra 2 SD channels, or the HD channel.

I like the fact that their pledge drives interrupt *only* 4-1, and not the HD channels.

I think their biggest problems are:

1) They try to do too much, and sacrifice HD quality by having the kids channel on 24/7. If they'd just turn that off from 8-11 and reallocate the bandwidth to the HD channel, the HD quality might not suck so badly.

2) Their antenna location pretty much guarantees it will be a pain in the neck for anybody in the RDU area to pick up WUNC at the same time as the commercial stations. Why, why, why can't they put their antenna near all the others!?!?!

BTW, is anybody here picking up the PBS digital feed directly from a non-comercial (eg, free and legal) satellite? Since I've got a dedicated tuner/antenna setup for PBS anyway, it isn't that much further to just get a DVB-S card and get the national HD PBS feed before WUNC downgrades it.

Drew

There probably is no national PBS feed. Schedules vary from state to state. I found out the hard way when trying to find out the time that the "Christmas in Belmont" concert where my brother was playing a marimba was going to be broadcast on PBS. WUNC only had it in HD at one time and never broadcast it in SD. Other PBS stations in other states had it in HD and/or SD at different times.

I see, I thought Vbgregg was receiving his content OTA.

I have a TV with a QAM tuner and I have TW cable with just the basic service. I have no TW cable box -- my cable is connected directly to my TV's RF input. With this set-up, I can get some unencrypted HD channels, but I can NOT get HD versions of PBS or NBC over the cable. For example, if I am currently watching CBS (5.1) and I punch the buttons for NBC (17.1) on my TV's remote, it just leaves me on 5.1 (and the same for 4.1). I can get 17.1 (and 4.1) over the air if I connect my antenna, but I was hoping to get it over the basic cable since I have a QAM tuner.

CAN ANYONE IN RALEIGH get 17.1 or 4.1 with a QAM tuner and basic TW cable plugged directly into the TV (i.e. no cable box)? If so, then maybe it's my TV. That is part of what I am trying to figure out. I have rescanned a bunch of times and I have tried to input the channel number directly, but it never works.

Thanks,

Gregg

I'm in Raleigh (near the art museum)... and only pay for RR service through TW (no cabletv services at all). I can pickup on my cable coax connection (no box) foxhd (50-1), abchd(11-1), nbchd (17-1), cbshd (5-1), cwhd(22-1), and unchd(4-2). Using the Toshiba Regza 42HL67.

Anybody else have audio dropouts during the Cane's game last night on VsHD on Time Warner? I got some pixelation dropouts as well, but the audio just disappearing was regular, frequent, and annoying. I did not have that issue on other channels.

Yes...frequently. Annoys my children more than me, but a nuisance.

anyone else watching the basketball game over QAM?

Raycom must be the most ghetto-ass company on the planet. took them 20 years to finally bring it in HD, now there is no commentary in the HD broadcast over QAM, only audio from the arena.

And to top it all it's only 2.0 .

They just can't anything right, lame...

EDIT: and finally after almost 10 minutes of no audio they switched the SD feed into their HD broadcast. make that 2x lame...

sheesh.

Same thing out of New Bern. No commentary audio. They have not gone back to SD in New Bern yet.

I have a TV with a QAM tuner and I have TW cable with just the basic service. I have no TW cable box -- my cable is connected directly to my TV's RF input. With this set-up, I can get some unencrypted HD channels, but I can NOT get HD versions of PBS or NBC over the cable. For example, if I am currently watching CBS (5.1) and I punch the buttons for NBC (17.1) on my TV's remote, it just leaves me on 5.1 (and the same for 4.1). I can get 17.1 (and 4.1) over the air if I connect my antenna, but I was hoping to get it over the basic cable since I have a QAM tuner.

CAN ANYONE IN RALEIGH get 17.1 or 4.1 with a QAM tuner and basic TW cable plugged directly into the TV (i.e. no cable box)? If so, then maybe it's my TV. That is part of what I am trying to figure out. I have rescanned a bunch of times and I have tried to input the channel number directly, but it never works.

Thanks,

Gregg

no problem here, did you try a rescan?

I had a philips DLP and now with vizio lcd and it works just fine over QAM.

New Bern now has the HD feed with commentary for the game.

Got audio in New Bern now on HD version, getting some break ups in the last minute or 2.

Hi,

I have an HDTV with a QAM tuner. I can receive some unencrypted digital channels just fine, even with just the basic TW service. Here is my question.

I looked at the link you posted, but I was not able to decipher everything. Your list is for Durham and I live in Raleigh, so I don't know whether that changes things. Mainly I am concerned about HD channels. I am able to get the HD versions of CBS on 5.1, ABC on 11.1, and FOX on 50.1, but I can NOT figure out how to get PBS or NBC. I tried punching in 4.1 and 17.1, but nothing happens. I have rescanned a few times, but my TV does not seem to find those two HD channels. Is there some other way to get them?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Gregg

also FYI, 4.1 is the regular SD channel. the PBS HD channel is on 4.2 .

I can't believe WRAL chose SD with Billy Packer over HD with crowd noise and blissful silence from the booth.

WRAL needs to phone Raycom. New Bern engineer did and it's all good now.

Same thing out of New Bern. No commentary audio. They have not gone back to SD in New Bern yet.

Finally after about 20 minutes into the broadcast they solved their issue with the commentary audio.

But the broadcast is still only 2.0 . I guess they still use 8-track over there @ Raycom, 3x lame...

Anybody else have audio dropouts during the Cane's game last night on VsHD on Time Warner? I got some pixelation dropouts as well, but the audio just disappearing was regular, frequent, and annoying. I did not have that issue on other channels.

It's common on the station. Whenever I watch any of their NHL broadcasts there's lots of break ups, pixelation and audio dropouts. Not sure what end it's on, but it's always there.

the buttons for NBC (17.1) on my TV's remote, it just leaves me on 5.1 (and the same for 4.1)

What happens when you tune to the "real" channels (90.2 for PBS-HD, and 111.2 for NBC17-HD)? Does your TV allow this? Does it have a way to measure signal strength?
How does the strength on those channels compare to one you can get, like WRAL?

There are 2 possibilities I can think of without any other information:

- PBS and NBC are among the weakest QAM channels I get, and if/when cables are loose (or when I had an old VCR between the wall and the TV) I could not get NBC and could barely get PBS while everything else came in fine. Try checking your cabling, and rescanning after removing any splitters, surge protectors, old VCRs, etc, and using the shortest, best quality cable you've got. If that still doesn't help, try adding an amplifier.

- TWC is notorious for botching the metadata which does the "real" channel (90.2) to "virtual" channel (4.2) mapping for QAM (I think this is called the Cable Virtual Channel Table). Their own boxes remap channels differently so they don't notice/care when this is messed up. They screwed up 113 (Fox/ABC) for the better part of a year. This tends to confuse new TVs, but it also tends to be a region wide problem. So since other people can get the channels with no problem, I'd be surprised if this was it.

Drew

There probably is no national PBS feed. Schedules vary from state to state. I found out the hard way when trying to find out the time that the "Christmas in Belmont" concert where my brother was playing a marimba was going to be broadcast on PBS. WUNC only had it in HD at one time and never broadcast it in SD. Other PBS stations in other states had it in HD and/or SD at different times.

I think there is a national feed, in the sense that the local stations record and rebroadcast a mix of national programs and local material on their own schedule (and not live, like, say, NBC would do). According to the LyngSat site, there is an unencrypted PBS-HD and PBS-X-East on AMC3 ku band. This makes me wish I hadn't stupidly discarded the old satellite dish that was bolted to our deck when we moved in 5 years ago. Ah well, yet another in a long list of projects for rainy day and a different AVS forum thread :)

Drew

I get audio dropouts and digital blocking on all VS HD programming. Even the NHL All Star game. I've been tempted to call TWC (Raleigh) to complain, but I'm afraid they'll try to "upgrade" me to a Navigator DVR.

I get audio dropouts and digital blocking on all VS HD programming. Even the NHL All Star game. I've been tempted to call TWC (Raleigh) to complain, but I'm afraid they'll try to "upgrade" me to a Navigator DVR.

This was on my Navigator DVR, so that won't help them ;)

I would not say that "Compression Sux", but that overcompression sucks. Uncompressed 1920x1080 at 30 interlaced frames per second would take up around 178 megabytes per second. Normal MPEG-2 compression without overcompression slims that down to a little less than 20 megabytes per second. Since a 256QAM channel carries a little over 39 megabytes per second, two good-quality HD channels should fit into one 256QAM channel without recompression. Uncompressed HD is only feasible from a PlayStation 3, XBox 360, an HD camera, or your computer. It is infeasible for broadcasting and would take up much more spectrum than NTSC does, which contradicts a goal for HD: clearing up radio spectrum to create an emergency services only band and to auction off the remaining spectrum for cash. The current spectrum used by emergency services, the radio dispatch band, is overloaded with Nextel users because it started as a radio dispatch service, not a cell phone service. This is causing radio dispatch dead zones where the police, ambulances, or firefighters in these zones cannot use their radios or be contacted due to interference from Nextel. Therefore, without compression, HDTV would have been stillborn.

Now, those channels get around 13 megabytes per second on average in that overcompressed bundle. My advice is that if you want them to take that little amount of throughput per channel, move to MPEG-4 Part 10 a.k.a. H.264 or VC-1 first (Yes, the 8550HD supports VC-1 as well as H.264. By the way, the 8550HDC got renamed as the 8550HD.).

I am sorry that I reported that the 8550HDC got renamed the 8550HD. Apparently, the 8550HD box is a non-US model that uses integrated security. It turns out that the renaming never happened. Cisco just only put up the 8550HD spec sheet without putting up the 8550HDC spec sheet.

In a related note, the 8552HDC, 8542HDC, and the 8540HDC got announced. You can find their spec sheets on this page (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps8613/products_data_sheets_list.html) on Cisco's website.

Also, this is not the first mistake caught in this post. There is a mistake where I swapped "megabytes" for "megabits" everywhere except on the 178MB/s figure for uncompressed video.

In a related note, the 8552HDC, 8542HDC, and the 8540HDC got announced. You can find their spec sheets on this page (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps8613/products_data_sheets_list.html) on Cisco's website.

that's an ugly ugly box. And it still has a 160GB drive as standard. So even the new hardware is a step backwards. In the promised age of 100 channels of TWC HD, that capacity is going to be useless.

I have an HD set with an integrated QAM tuner. I am considering TWC's lifeline service in Raleigh. I think they call it "basic" for about $15/month.

What channels can I expect to get in the clear? Is it true that TWC is legally obligated to provide all OTA channels in the clear? Where can I find these w/ my QAM tuner? I know that many cable systems purposely put some of the "in the clear" stations at frequencies that most consumer grade QAM tuners cannot reach (effectively forcing people to pay extra for these "free" stations). Does TWC do this?

Does TWC move these stations around periodically?

I have an HD set with an integrated QAM tuner. I am considering TWC's lifeline service in Raleigh. I think they call it "basic" for about $15/month.

What channels can I expect to get in the clear? Is it true that TWC is legally obligated to provide all OTA channels in the clear? Where can I find these w/ my QAM tuner? I know that many cable systems purposely put some of the "in the clear" stations at frequencies that most consumer grade QAM tuners cannot reach (effectively forcing people to pay extra for these "free" stations). Does TWC do this?You'll get all the local channels you would get OTA plus WUNC-HD 24/7 rather than just at night, which is when they transmit it OTA.

Does TWC move these stations around periodically?Not really, although there was a period when TWC didn't send digital data for channel re-mapping for WTVD and WRAZ. That seems to be OK now though.

What happens when you tune to the "real" channels (90.2 for PBS-HD, and 111.2 for NBC17-HD)? Does your TV allow this? Does it have a way to measure signal strength?
How does the strength on those channels compare to one you can get, like WRAL?

There are 2 possibilities I can think of without any other information:

- PBS and NBC are among the weakest QAM channels I get, and if/when cables are loose (or when I had an old VCR between the wall and the TV) I could not get NBC and could barely get PBS while everything else came in fine. Try checking your cabling, and rescanning after removing any splitters, surge protectors, old VCRs, etc, and using the shortest, best quality cable you've got. If that still doesn't help, try adding an amplifier.

- TWC is notorious for botching the metadata which does the "real" channel (90.2) to "virtual" channel (4.2) mapping for QAM (I think this is called the Cable Virtual Channel Table). Their own boxes remap channels differently so they don't notice/care when this is messed up. They screwed up 113 (Fox/ABC) for the better part of a year. This tends to confuse new TVs, but it also tends to be a region wide problem. So since other people can get the channels with no problem, I'd be surprised if this was it.

Drew

Hi Drew,

Thanks for the help. When I punch in 90.2 or 111.2 on my remote, nothing happens, so I can't get my TV (a Samsung LN-T4669F) to go to those channels. Thus, I don't know how to measure the strength of the signals on those channels, since I can't even get to those channels. I do have several splitters in the mix, plus I go through a DVR type unit before getting to the TV. On the other hand, I do have an amplifier. Should I try taking out as many splitters as possible to see if I can get these 2 channels to scan? Will this do me any good in the long run? Or will I have to choose between getting these signals or using the splitters to feed other TVs and the DVR?

Thanks again,

Gregg

Hi Drew,
Should I try taking out as many splitters as possible to see if I can get these 2 channels to scan?

I'd try taking everything out, and plugging the TV as directly into the cable feed as you can & rescan. Then, if you get PBS and NBC, gradually add stuff back and potentially re-arrange stuff so you've got fewer splitters, extra devices, etc, between the TV and the wall.

Good luck!

Drew

is it just me or WB22 HD feed dropped dead?

both on QAM and OTA.

like larc919, i get nothing on 28.1 as well.

I'm not getting anything on QAM 22.1 or 28.1 either.

DirecTV has a slide up on their HD feed for 22 that states they know the channel is down. The SD (analog) feed is still there.

-Matt

Funny, I often have to wade through cable posts to get to the OTA I care about. . I suppose we could ask a moderator to seperate them as they have done it in the past I beleive.

.
no, they can just leave here what they have but rename this thread:
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV OTA and then add two more:
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV Cable
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV Satellite

easy as pie...

is it just me or WB22 HD feed dropped dead?

both on QAM and OTA.

like larc919, i get nothing on 28.1 as well.

When I checked using my family's rented 8300HD box, I am getting both 222 (22.1) and 228 (28.1) fine. It is possible that the trouble is fixed.

When I checked using my family's rented 8300HD box, I am getting both 222 (22.1) and 228 (28.1) fine. It is possible that the trouble is fixed.Must have been a fairly short problem since I'm getting them both now too.

no, they can just leave here what they have but rename this thread:
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV OTA and then add two more:
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV Cable
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV Satellite

easy as pie...

Is it really necessary to drag this discussion back out and beat it some more? I certainly sensed some consensus from the community here about the suggestion. I'm sorry that consensus doesn't meet with your satisfaction, but continuing to harass us about it isn't likely to change any minds.

Is it really necessary to drag this discussion back out and beat it some more? I certainly sensed some consensus from the community here about the suggestion. I'm sorry that consensus doesn't meet with your satisfaction, but continuing to harass us about it isn't likely to change any minds.

I really don't see the harm in splitting up the thread. Lots of other markets have done it, some bigger, some smaller than this one. I guess it seems to work well for them.

Is it really necessary to drag this discussion back out and beat it some more? I certainly sensed some consensus from the community here about the suggestion. I'm sorry that consensus doesn't meet with your satisfaction, but continuing to harass us about it isn't likely to change any minds.

I was not going to say anything, because I have nothing good to say to him, but since you brought it up...

He posts here on Feb 1, then comes back 9 days later to make his next post. I personally care very little about the opinion of someone who comes that infrequently, and only has 15 posts, and almost all of those posts have been his personal crusade to get this thread split up.

If we are taking votes, my vote is to not split it. I care about OTA, cable, and satellite, regardless of which I have.

I was not going to say anything, because I have nothing good to say to him, but since you brought it up...

He posts here on Feb 1, then comes back 9 days later to make his next post. I personally care very little about the opinion of someone who comes that infrequently, and only has 15 posts, and almost all of those posts have been his personal crusade to get this thread split up.

If we are taking votes, my vote is to not split it. I care about OTA, cable, and satellite, regardless of which I have.

+1

no, they can just leave here what they have but rename this thread:
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV OTA and then add two more:
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV Cable
Local HDTV Info and Reception > Raleigh, NC - HDTV Satellite

easy as pie...

Isn't "Local HDTV....HDTV Satellite" a little contradictory ??? Not really too much "local" about satellite last time I checked.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Isn't "Local HDTV....HDTV Satellite" a little contradictory ??? Not really too much "local" about satellite last time I checked.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

LIL?

Isn't "Local HDTV....HDTV Satellite" a little contradictory ??? Not really too much "local" about satellite last time I checked.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Not exactly, when dealing with satellite locals. Your point is noted though, that it's one more reason not to split this up, it makes up such a small part of this thread.

Not exactly, when dealing with satellite locals. Your point is noted though, that it's one more reason not to split this up, it makes up such a small part of this thread.

DirecTV offers 5 Raleigh HD locals. Dish has none. How much discussion is required ??????:confused:

DirecTV offers 5 Raleigh HD locals. Dish has none. How much discussion is required ??????:confused:

Would you care to revise that statement ?

Dish has CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX in HD as well as all of the analog channels.

I feel that having all three in one place does aid in diagnosing problems. For example, if one service has a failure, having cable, OTA, and satellite users post can help us isolate the problem, and know which friends to call up or which bars to go to when there is a failure blocking reception of a local channel that is showing the big game.

I'm interested in all 3, so I would prefer having them in the same place. I agree that having a central thread helps in diagnosing problems too.

One could make the argument that there has been more confusion in this thread recently while discussing whether it should be split... than there has been confusion over the content otherwise.

If I was new to the thread, I would be much more distracted by that conversation than the OTA/satellite/cable actual information.

It seems that there's a fairly low average post-per-day count, and following the individual topics isn't difficult. I feel like splitting up the thread would only make it more difficult for people who just want to check in and see what the latest area "talk" is. I also think a split would keep new questions from being answered as quickly. For the most part, the regulars can answer questions related to any of the proposed 3 topics. Greensboro's thread isn't split and I haven't seen any talk of doing such.

Don't split 'em is the vote here

Would you care to revise that statement ?

Dish has CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX in HD as well as all of the analog channels.

ooops.:o:o:o

Another vote for do not split

Since I was not clear before, I also would prefer it to stay the same.


Also, does anyone know if WRAL will be running the additional NCAA games on the subchannels this year like they have in the past?

Isn't "Local HDTV....HDTV Satellite" a little contradictory ??? Not really too much "local" about satellite last time I checked.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
and not too much "HD" about TWC last time I checked. :D

I always thought of this thread as "HD options", "HD news" and of course plenty of "General HD gab" directed at those living in the Raleigh area.

But if we were to vote I say you get one vote for every post you have on any topic other than the split. ;)

ooops.:o:o:o

With all the misinformation you have posted about SATs in the past, why the "semi" retraction?
You must be getting soft in your old age. ;)

I vote for making a separate thread about splitting/not-splitting this thread. ;)

I vote for making a separate thread about splitting/not-splitting this thread. ;)

lol, seriously. You know, the more I look back at the past couple of days, I think SouthernJet could very well be baiting us. It had totally gone away, this discussion, and then he brought it all back up again. So, I will do my part and no longer post about this issue on this thread.

So, back on topic:

Another day, no changes :(

http://www.timewarnercable.com/NC/programming/channelChangeUpdate.html

I keep waiting to see something. I hear a lot of TWC markets getting Weather, CNN, and a few other mixed bag of HDs we don't have yet. Albany has been the big mover, and the Austin/San Antonio area has seen some adds too. Hopefully we will get another 2-5 HD channels soon.

another option instead of splitting, is to start every reply with the content, i.e. 'HDTV OTA' and then a line-break and then the content.

oh, and I also don't think the split is needed.

...
I keep waiting to see something. I hear a lot of TWC markets getting Weather, CNN, and a few other mixed bag of HDs we don't have yet. Albany has been the big mover, and the Austin/San Antonio area has seen some adds too. Hopefully we will get another 2-5 HD channels soon.
It has been quiet on the DISH front as well. Maybe a storm is a brewing or at least "higher than normal" humidity. :D

Now I like shpitz's idea -

another option instead of splitting, is to start every reply with the content, i.e. 'HDTV OTA' and then a line-break and then the content.
Or you could just write it in the "Title" of your post, like I did here.

If this same guy walked into a restaurant and told them they had to stop serving a variety, he would politely be told to order or leave. Which is what I propose here.

If you all want to change the way you format a post, great more power to you. But forgive me if I just go on with business as usual before the complainer wondered in off the street and started telling us we need to do things his way.

Tried to follow the last suggested convention :rolleyes:

I have asked this before, but would like to know if anyone else notices this LOCAL D* issue.

The 11 PM news on WRAL-HD via D* (mpeg4) has audio sync issues on both my HR20-100's, but OTA seems fine. Does anyone else notice lip sync problems on WRAL via D* or OTA?

another option instead of splitting, is to start every reply with the content, i.e. 'HDTV OTA' and then a line-break and then the content.

oh, and I also don't think the split is needed.

It would be better if that was in the title field, not the body of the content. However, having HDTV in the title would be redundant. Therefore, something that affects TWC (like Navigator or the idiotic backhoe operator who failed to call and therefore dug up our internet and cable lines, giving us the term "backhoe fade") would have a title in this format: "TWC: rest of title here". Something about OTA would have the prefix "OTA:" Dish and DirecTV would have "E*:" and "D*:" prefixes respectively. We can come up with other prefixes as needed. We can use something like "D*, E*, and OTA:" for things that affect multiple methods, and an "ALL:" prefix to tell us when something that could affect us all, like WRAZ's "NC Most Wanted", which is produced and broadcast in HD, or the Durham Bulls broadcasts on one of WRAZ's SD subchannels.

Also, this convention could be expanded to handle things that could not be handled with split boards. For example, the TV tower is destroyed by an ice storm. (This happened to WRAL, according to Wikipedia's article on WRAL-TV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRAL-TV)) If WKFT (now WUVC) did not rent out its tower to WRAL quickly, some of us would want to know if we needed to subscribe to cable (which WRAL has eiter a T3 or fiber connection to TWC because one antenna channel cannot hold all of the basketball games alongside some of the HD duplicates during the March Madness tournaments that show up on cable) or one of the satellite companies to get WRAL. Also, we need to know how to handle things that affect all TV watchers in this DMA, similar to the situation in Chicago when some idiot drove his van into WLS-TV (which is ABC's O&O affiliate and appears to be Chicago's uber-HD station there like WRAL and WRAZ are in this DMA. This idiot spent Christmas in jail being videoconferenced with a courtroom on closed circuit TV for a bond hearing. There is nothing like spending Christmas in the courtroom). I hope there is nobody here dumb enough to copycat this crime here.

EDIT: It seems that I was beaten to the punch by Erik Garci!

Tried to follow the last suggested convention :rolleyes:

I have asked this before, but would like to know if anyone else notices this LOCAL D* issue.

The 11 PM news on WRAL-HD via D* (mpeg4) has audio sync issues on both my HR20-100's, but OTA seems fine. Does anyone else notice lip sync problems on WRAL via D* or OTA?

i haven't noticed any problems OTA. i very rarely watch D*'s mpeg4 WRAL. if i can remember, i will check the D* feed tonight and evaluate. i will note however, that discussions on the dbstalk.com forums indicate that others are seeing lip sync issues on some mpeg4 channels. i haven't really been reading those posts, because i haven't noticed any problems.

I have issues with lip sync with my HR20 pretty regularly. Usually a pause/play or skip back will fix it as it is not in the actual broadcast. If it does not fix it maybe a call to DirecTV is in order.

Tried to follow the last suggested convention :rolleyes:

I have asked this before, but would like to know if anyone else notices this LOCAL D* issue.

The 11 PM news on WRAL-HD via D* (mpeg4) has audio sync issues on both my HR20-100's, but OTA seems fine. Does anyone else notice lip sync problems on WRAL via D* or OTA?

These are almost always receiver\software specific. You will probably find others with the same problem in a D*\HR20 forum as typically not everyone with your setup will have the problem but in order to have your problem they will need your setup. Hope that made sense.

in case this may have been missed (and because TWC have never announced it as far as I can see), HD Movies on Demand (502) is now available for all digital users. Previously it was part of the HD Suite which meant it was a pay on demand channel that you had to pay to receive.

Selection is pretty good, but largely irrelevant to me now since it took them so long to move it out of HD Suite that I converted to Netflix just to get decent widescreen quality.

i haven't noticed any problems OTA. i very rarely watch D*'s mpeg4 WRAL. if i can remember, i will check the D* feed tonight and evaluate. i will note however, that discussions on the dbstalk.com forums indicate that others are seeing lip sync issues on some mpeg4 channels. i haven't really been reading those posts, because i haven't noticed any problems.

i checked 11pm WRAL news broadcast last night. i didn't notice any lip sync issues on the OTA or D* MPEG4 feed.

Hi,

I can't figure out why I am having so much trouble getting the unscrambled HD channels on my QAM tuner. I live in Raleigh and have the basic TW service. I have never been able to get 17.x or 4.x via cable, though I can get them over the air. Someone suggested removing all of the splitters and other boxes on the way to my tuner, and also an amplifier was recommended. I did all those things and now it's worse. Now I also can't get 22.1 and 28.1 after rescanning. I only ended up with 5.x, 11.x, and 50.x this time. What am I doing wrong?

Gregg

I have an HD set with an integrated QAM tuner. I am considering TWC's lifeline service in Raleigh. I think they call it "basic" for about $15/month.

What channels can I expect to get in the clear? Is it true that TWC is legally obligated to provide all OTA channels in the clear? Where can I find these w/ my QAM tuner? I know that many cable systems purposely put some of the "in the clear" stations at frequencies that most consumer grade QAM tuners cannot reach (effectively forcing people to pay extra for these "free" stations). Does TWC do this?

Does TWC move these stations around periodically?
I have the basic as well. I thought TWC is either mandated or contractually obligated to make the same stations available to even basic customers that are transmitted OTA.

I called TWC, but got nowhere, since their only answer is to upsell to a more expensive package, which I dont want. I'm happy with the stations I get, I only want them in the HD that I could get OTA.

I get 4.x and 5.x, but no NBC, FOX, ABC stations etc.

Can anyone recommend how I can get the right answers from TWC rather than a sales pitch?

Hi All,

In my never-ending quest to build a HTPC, I believe I'll need to outsource the antenna installation to someone more knowledgeable about these things. I live in Rougemont (north of Durham but still in Durham County) and wanted to know if any of you have any recommendations for antenna installers in my area.

Thanks and have a great day!

chris

in case this may have been missed (and because TWC have never announced it as far as I can see), HD Movies on Demand (502) is now available for all digital users. Previously it was part of the HD Suite which meant it was a pay on demand channel that you had to pay to receive.
Thanks for the heads up. I get HD Movies On Demand now, and I don't even subscribe to a DIGIPIC package.

By the way, I tried to get HBO On Demand for free, since I already subscribe to HBO, but they told me I would have to pay $55 extra. :eek:

I get 4.x and 5.x, but no NBC, FOX, ABC stations etc.


4.x and 5.x are on physical channels 85 and 90, while NBC is on 111 and FOX/ABC share 113.
I wonder if you either have a filter, or old/bad cabling, which is causing problems for the higher frequencies.

Heck, it might be worth it to subscribe for a short period of time to their HD service just to get your signal issues sorted out.

Drew

From Time Warner's Raleigh Website:

February 14, 2008: HD Showcase On Demand, a free on demand channel featuring HD content from a variety of networks will be launching February 14 on channels 298/558. HD content from AMC and Music Choice will be available. Content from MOJO will be available on Friday, February 15 and content from other networks (Showtime, HDNet and more) will be available in the near future.

Is it really necessary to drag this discussion back out and beat it some more? I certainly sensed some consensus from the community here about the suggestion. I'm sorry that consensus doesn't meet with your satisfaction, but continuing to harass us about it isn't likely to change any minds.

listen skippy;
I was answering LeeL's post..I hadnt said anything tillLee L brought it up..
You seem to be the one with agenda,
quite afew expressed a desire to have it separated..

get off your soapbox

I was not going to say anything, because I have nothing good to say to him, but since you brought it up...

He posts here on Feb 1, then comes back 9 days later to make his next post. I personally care very little about the opinion of someone who comes that infrequently, and only has 15 posts, and almost all of those posts have been his personal crusade to get this thread split up.

If we are taking votes, my vote is to not split it. I care about OTA, cable, and satellite, regardless of which I have.

Oh so you subscribe to the Braniac philosophy that only suggestions from mega-posters count..some people have lives and dont sit on a forum all nite posting,,and I see you ignore the many posters who agree with me..

keep posting ..and posting...and posting ...and posting

I for one don't think the number of posts is ever as important as the content of the posts. Newbies are certainly as capable of coming up with good ideas as those who have been around for a while. And even somebody with 1,000 posts can come up with a crummy idea just as somebody with 17 posts can. Splitting this group up is a crummy idea no matter how many times the person who came up with it has posted. :p

I for one don't think the number of posts is ever as important as the content of the posts. Newbies are certainly as capable of coming up with good ideas as those who have been around for a while. And even somebody with 1,000 posts can come up with a crummy idea just as somebody with 17 posts can. Splitting this group up is a crummy idea no matter how many times the person who came up with it has posted. :p

I agree completely. The only reason I mention the posts is not because I put less value on someone with less posts, but that when 100% of that persons post history is about a major forum change, then I have a problem with it.

I for one don't think the number of posts is ever as important as the content of the posts. Newbies are certainly as capable of coming up with good ideas as those who have been around for a while. And even somebody with 1,000 posts can come up with a crummy idea just as somebody with 17 posts can. Splitting this group up is a crummy idea no matter how many times the person who came up with it has posted. :p


Dead horse here... please stop beating me...

From Time Warner's Raleigh Website:

February 14, 2008: HD Showcase On Demand, a free on demand channel featuring HD content from a variety of networks will be launching February 14 on channels 298/558. HD content from AMC and Music Choice will be available. Content from MOJO will be available on Friday, February 15 and content from other networks (Showtime, HDNet and more) will be available in the near future.

Anybody actually getting anything on this channel yet? All I get is a "Check back periodically for exciting Video on Demand programming" message.

Anybody actually getting anything on this channel yet? All I get is a "Check back periodically for exciting Video on Demand programming" message.

Yep, same here. Another example of TWC not being able to deliver on promised potential.

Anybody actually getting anything on this channel yet? All I get is a "Check back periodically for exciting Video on Demand programming" message.
Same here.

Dead horse here... please stop beating me...

OK, that was funny!

Anybody actually getting anything on this channel yet? All I get is a "Check back periodically for exciting Video on Demand programming" message.

Yes, I watched some stuff early yesterday morning. Slim Pickens however.


LT

Directv subs dont forget that Directv will have Nascar Hotpass in free preview Sunday,
HD and SD

STANDARD DEFINITION
==========================================================
790 TONY STEWART SD
791 DALE JR SD
792 JEFF GORDON SD
793 KEVIN HARVICK SD
794 FOX SD NATIONAL FEED WITH 13 DRIVERS SELECTABLE IN CAR AUDIO.

HIGH DEFINITION WITH HR20/HR21/H20/H21 SYSTEM
==========================================================
795 TONY STEWART HD
796 DALE JR HD
797 JEFF GORDON HD
798 KEVIN HARVICK HD
799 FOX HD NATIONAL FEED WITH 13 DRIVERS SELECTABLE IN CAR AUDIO

Hey all,

moving to Wake Forest area, just over into Franklin co actually, but the zip is 27587. Looking for your thoughts on best internet and HDTV service. Not sure we are going to get a home phone since its all cell now anyway, so not sure about DSL. Appreciate any feedback. The usual, high speed internet and HDTV (TWC v Direct v Dish). Thanks....

Looking for your thoughts on best internet and HDTV service. Not sure we are going to get a home phone since its all cell now anyway, so not sure about DSL. Appreciate any feedback. The usual, high speed internet and HDTV (TWC v Direct v Dish). Thanks....Opinions on HDTV may vary, but Internet via TWC is the only logical choice for high speed IMHO. Standard at 5Mb/sec (around 600KB in practice) beats any other affordable format.

Nascar Hotpass on Directv is now up in free preview,
HD 795-799
SD 790-794

FOX HD 799
FOX SD 794

Hey all,

moving to Wake Forest area, just over into Franklin co actually, but the zip is 27587. Looking for your thoughts on best internet and HDTV service. Not sure we are going to get a home phone since its all cell now anyway, so not sure about DSL. Appreciate any feedback. The usual, high speed internet and HDTV (TWC v Direct v Dish). Thanks....

Embarq has DSL with speeds up 5mb, with 10mb being introduced in some areas. Embarq is also a reseller of Dish.

Hi,

Earlier I asked why I could not get 4.x and 17.x through my QAM tuner over the basic TW cable. At the time, I could get 5.x, 11.x, 22.x, 28.x, and 50.x, but after rescanning I no longer get 22.x or 22.8. Things are getting worse! I tried rescanning several times, but now I only get 5.x, 11.x, and 50.x.

Someone suggested removing all the splitters and pass-thrus between the street and my HDTV. I tried this, but there was no improvement. Someone also suggested an amplifier, which I already had, so this was not the answer.

I think someone also mentioned that the problem could be bad or old coax cable. Well, if old cable could explain things, then it might be true in my case. I don't know how old it is, but it's at least 15 years old. Have improvements been made in coax cable, or do they somehow wear out, or are there just different quality levels and mine might be a low-end cable? I'm pretty sure it must be the cable originally provided by TW when the previous owners lived in our house. If a coax cable upgrade is a plausible possibility for a solution to my problem, what type of coax should I buy and where can I get it at a reasonable price? I don't mind running the cable myself, but I'm not sure where to buy it at a good price and what quality level to look for.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks,

Gregg

Opinions on HDTV may vary, but Internet via TWC is the only logical choice for high speed IMHO. Standard at 5Mb/sec (around 600KB in practice) beats any other affordable format.

I just switched from TWC to AT&T DSL. (I have directv for tv)
* It took $3 off per month
* $5 off per month for bundling with Directv
* $125 rebate for switching from cable internet
* faster speed (6mb download, 512k up)
* AND (my favorite part) it comes with espn360.com, which TWC does not.

I would definitely recommend it over roadrunner.

Hey all,

moving to Wake Forest area, just over into Franklin co actually, but the zip is 27587. Looking for your thoughts on best internet and HDTV service. Not sure we are going to get a home phone since its all cell now anyway, so not sure about DSL. Appreciate any feedback. The usual, high speed internet and HDTV (TWC v Direct v Dish). Thanks....

There are two traditional phone companies in Wake Forest. One is Embarq, which is the result of Sprint spinning off its local phone business. The other is CT Communications, which just got bought out by Windstream.

I am the son of a former Sprint local land line customer. Sprint local service was bad. Occasionally, there were week long analog phone outages. Eventually, someone discovered that Sprint was taking money from the local phone division to boost its cell phone business, therefore leaving the landline division with not enough money to maintain its equipment. Hopefully, the spinoff will allow Embarq to finally generate enough money to start maintaing its analog landline equipment without having it taken to boost a wireless division. However, their DSL was rock-solid reliable. The possible downside of their DSL is that it is outsourced to EarthLink, which is a downside if you dislike the Church of Scientology (EarthLink was founded by Scientologists and still has Scientologtists at the upper management level). The thought of Scientologists running an ISP makes me scared. See Wikipedia's entry about Scientology and the Internet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_and_the_Internet) and either Operation Clambake (http://www.xenu.net/) or its mirror site (http://www.clambake.org/) for reasons I do not want a Scientologist to have any position in an ISP.

Road Runner is great for downloads and services that are not highly interactive like Web browsing and email, but is bad for highly interactive services like ssh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell) (which is used to control a Unix, Linux, or Mac OS X-based computer in a secure manner) and gaming because of limitations on cable that prevent cable modems from listening to everything that is going on in the upstream channel, forcing cable to adopt a protocol that adds loads of latency to uploads. If you mainly do downloads, video over the Internet, or email, Road Runner is great. Gamers and SSH users should consider Road Runner only if there is something wrong with the local DSL or fiber to the premises service; like the above concerns regarding Embarq; the fact that BellSouth, my local phone company, allowed lottery spammers to reside on its network for so long that SORBS blacklisted it, causing many ISPs to start firewalling all emails from bellsouth.net to shut off the flood of spam; or that Verizon bought out MCI, which was the Internet's biggest spamhaus for many years, turning Verizon into a spamhaus.

I do not know anything about CT Communications other than it got bought out by Windstream Communications, and that it offers DSL.

I just switched from TWC to AT&T DSL. (I have directv for tv)
* It took $3 off per month
* $5 off per month for bundling with Directv
* $125 rebate for switching from cable internet
* faster speed (6mb download, 512k up)
* AND (my favorite part) it comes with espn360.com, which TWC does not.

I would definitely recommend it over roadrunner.

There are problems with that. First, AT&T thankfully does not serve that area. See Wake Forest's newcomer information page (http://www.ci.wake-forest.nc.us/residents/newcomerinfo.aspx?rId=928) to see that Embarq and CT Communications serves Wake Forest. If they did, you will have email troubles because many smaller ISPs use the SORBS blacklist, and AT&T/BellSouth's DSL email servers are listed in it, causing your email to be firewalled off. BellSouth was dumb enough to allow a bunch of lottery spammers to send spam through its email servers, causing them to get blacklisted by SORBS. Second, the rebate will not apply because this is a new customer, not an angry customer looking for a switch. Third, that 6Mb/second figure is only good for DSL Xtreme 6.0, which is not available in some areas, like my neighborhood. One person in my neighborhood found out the hard way that his landline was too far from the DSLAM (basically the DSL head end) to support 6Mb/second when he inquired about it. 3Mb/second is the max here for DSL. Fourth, I have read that DirecTV and Dish sell only HD Lite (which is HDTV that has been downsampled or compressed much more than what the codec was designed for). TWC has three HD lite channels (Food Network, HGTV, and National Geographic HD which are overcompressed), but the rest of the HD channels are true HDTV channels.

Correction - Earthlink is no longer providing the ISP services for Embarq.


I've been a Sprint/Embarq DSL customer since it was first offered.

So freaking typical. I write out this big email to TWC Raleigh, because if you try and call and talk to someone, they just want to sell you cable on the phone before hanging up. Email form is broken.

They are making it hard for me to go back to TWC. I love the bundles, but I am not signing back up for cable with no information on when they are adding more HD. TWC needs a gameplan, and it seems like they have none at all. They feel mom and pop, and DirecTV, DISH, FIOS have 1-12 month plans for new HD channels.

Over the years, I found communication has always been TWC achilles heel. THey have improved their service by leaps and bounds, but they almost make it impossible to make a truly informed decision to use their service.

Embarq has DSL with speeds up 5mb, with 10mb being introduced in some areas.Don't you have to live practically next door to the phone company to get those highest speeds? People I know who have DSL always seem to get lower speeds than advertised in normal day-to-day use.

Correction - Earthlink is no longer providing the ISP services for Embarq.A bit OT, but maybe of interest: rumor is Earthlink is having severe financial problems and is trying to find a buyer. That failing, they are not likely to survive the year.

... I have read that DirecTV and Dish sell only HD Lite (which is HDTV that has been downsampled or compressed much more than what the codec was designed for). TWC has three HD lite channels (Food Network, HGTV, and National Geographic HD which are overcompressed), but the rest of the HD channels are true HDTV channels.
:rolleyes:
I just read your post... that doesn't make it true.
TWC, D* and E* all compress to balance between quality and quantity. For every post you find stating quality is superior on one you'll find one stating the opposite.
DISH to me has the best quality HD picture out right now thanks to their newer MPEG4 codecs. D* has the best quantity and TWC would be my last choice. TWC does have great HD quality for CBS and FOX.

A bit OT, but maybe of interest: rumor is Earthlink is having severe financial problems and is trying to find a buyer. That failing, they are not likely to survive the year.
I heard Earthlink may be considering buying AOL off of TW's hands. You can't ever tell who will be around a year from now and in what capacity. One thing is for certain TWC will be around and serving up the fewest HD channels.