Las Vegas, NV - HDTV [Text View] - Page 16

GeorgeLV

09-02-06, 08:16 PM

USDTV is back, and they've done a channel shuffle so KVCW could go HD.

KVBC (RF2)
3-1 NBC HD (1080i DD5.1)
3-2 NBC Weather+ (480i)

KVVU (RF9)
5-1 Fox HD (720p DD5.1) 15.5 Mbps (peak)
5-2 Fox 5 24/7 Weather (480i) 3.2 Mbps

KLAS (RF7)
8-1 CBS HD (1080i) ~14 Mbps
?FUTURE SUBCHANNEL? (null packets) ~4.5 Mbps

KLVX (RF11)
10-1 PBS HD (1080i) up to 12 Mbps
10-2 Local PBS SD (480i) 2.4 Mbps
10-3 Create (480i) 2.3 Mbps
?DATACASTING? ~850 Kbps

KTNV (RF12)
13-1 ABC HD (720p DD5.1) 14.0 Mbps
13-2 KTNV 24 Hour Traffic (480i) 3.8 Mbps

KINC (RF16)
15-1 Univision (480i)
15-2 Telefutura (480i)
99-4 Disney (USDTV)
99-5 Toon Disney (USDTV)
99-7 Discovery (USDTV)
99-8 TLC (USDTV)

KVMY (RF22)
21-1 My Network TV HD (720p DD5.1) 10.0 Mbps
21-3 The Tube (480i) 2.0 Mbps
99-10 Lifetime (USDTV)
99-50 Starz! (USDTV)

KVCW (RF29)
33-1 CW HD (1080i DD5.1) 9.9 Mbps
99-1 USDTV GUIDE
99-11 LMN (USDTV)
99-12 Fox News (USDTV)

KBLR (RF40)
39-1 Telemundo (480i)
99-2 ESPN (USDTV)
99-3 ESPN2 (USDTV)
99-6 Food (USDTV)
99-9 HGTV (USDTV)

doormat

09-03-06, 03:08 AM

So you must be using a QAM tuner connected to the cable line? As I mentioned earlier, if you were tuning from OTA, you would see the same thing, with all the local channels. People have been complaining that the PSIP data was missing and you had to scan to find channels, but now that it being passed through, nobody wants it?

vegggas

Heh, I was one of those who wanted PSIP data on Cox. I was just figuring they'd add it to the main channels (n-1) as opposed to all of them.

lakerstan

09-03-06, 04:01 PM

GeorgeLV

09-03-06, 07:58 PM

Newbie question time:

If CW HD is being broadcast OTA on 33-1, why can't Cox just pass this along? Do I need to buy an outdoor antenna to see this channel? I subscribe to Cox and would like to see some of these sub-channels.

Cox and Sinclair haven't worked out a retransmit agreement for their HD channels in Las Vegas. Therefore, you'll need an anteena, but an indoor should be fine (I'd recommend a $2 radio shack bowtie since you're just missing 21-1, 21-3 and 33-1.)

It's a long story, but I'll try to condense it. Traditionally, cable companies never paid for local channels. When the DBS satellite companies came along, broadcasters realized that they could sell their signal. So, now, broadcasters (this was started by Sinclair, but many more are taking the same position) are saying that the cable companies should pay for thier signals too.

Most analysts think that cable companies will eventually pay for local channels. However, until cash for carriage becomes rountine for the big four, a cable company isn't likely to accept such demands for a netlet.

lakerstan

09-05-06, 12:03 AM

Thanks, George. Up and running now! Wife will enjoy Gilmore Girls, Smallville and Veronica Mars in HD now (ok - I probably will too). :D

vegggas

09-05-06, 07:47 PM

More local TV subchannels were launched on Cox today.
The earlier mentioned PBP Create is on 112.
The ABC traffic and weather subchannel from KTNV is on 121.

So their current subchannel lineup now consists of:
112 PBSC - PBS Create
121 Traff - KTNV ABC Traffic, cams, and weather
122 ABC - ABC Digital SD
123 NBCD - ABC Digital SD
124 NBCW - NBC Weather
125 FOXD - FOX 5 Weather
128 CBS - CBS Digital SD

355 PBSKS - PBS Kids Sprout national feed -not technically a subchannel?

vegggas

lvthunder

09-05-06, 08:56 PM

Do we really need three channels about the weather? This is Las Vegas. It's not like Florida where there might be a hurricane coming or something. Plus if it were they would interupt all the other channels anyways. I also don't see why Cox would want digital and analog versions of the same channels. That sounds like a waste of bandwidth to me.

Also my parents have been complaining that during the day about the local channels going blank but the HD channels in the 730's are fine. Has anyone else experienced this?

vegggas

09-05-06, 10:03 PM

Yeah, 3 local TV station weather channels plus The two actual Weather channels on channel 44 and the Las Vegas edition on channel 328. Ironically, none of them are ever showing the same temps and forecasts. I guess it's like the news channels, where each one give a different slant on a news story...???
It looks like Cox has agreed to carry all of a stations subchannels, except those that are USDTV. As for carrying analog and digital channels, Cox is/will be carrying all channels in digital format for it's digital subscribers. The analog channels can't be removed without a lot of political tradeoff's with the local franchisers.

vegggas

GeorgeLV

09-05-06, 10:44 PM

smithy123

09-05-06, 11:55 PM

Vegas very quick question, you mentioned "Numbers I heard were 10Mbps." for the speed any idea of a release date? and what will the upload speeds be Thanks

vegggas

09-06-06, 12:08 AM

AFAIK, all of the information I've heard has been slated for release in calander year 2006. Exact times and dates are up to Cox and when they hit milestones with their upgrade process and when testing doesn't hit any snags.

vegggas

foghorn2

09-06-06, 12:42 AM

Anyone know which station will broadcast the remastered Original Star Trek series beginning Sept 16? Will it be in HD?

lvthunder

09-06-06, 12:45 AM

Do any of the stations show the Original Star Trek now in SD? It would probibly be them.

GeorgeLV

09-06-06, 01:12 AM

foghorn2

09-06-06, 01:14 PM

KVMY 21-1 My Network TV HD is now 720p. (And it is passing some fairly decent HD. However, the SAP track is being mixed in the audio, so it's unwatchable.)

Is KVCW 33-1 working for everybody? I'd like to know if they're down or if my DirecTV H10 is bugged on it again.

33-1 is working perfectly using both the tv's tuner and the Dish Network Vip622. It shows up as 1080i and DD.

Turns out the Original Star Trek series will start on this channel on Sat 16 @ 5pm!

Lets hope it is in HD format. Finally something to watch on this channel :)

So glad Gold 33 is dead.

DeDondeEs

09-06-06, 01:47 PM

Do we really need three channels about the weather? This is Las Vegas. It's not like Florida where there might be a hurricane coming or something. Plus if it were they would interupt all the other channels anyways. I also don't see why Cox would want digital and analog versions of the same channels. That sounds like a waste of bandwidth to me.

I agree. And everytime where it looks like there is going to be some weather and you flip over to that channel, there isn't any current radar or other informaion. Instead there is some recorded forcast that the meteorologist recorded earlier that day. A total waste of bandwidth.

GeorgeLV

09-06-06, 11:38 PM

vegggas isn't the only one with fancy transport stream analyzing toys anymore. :)

(I picked up a USB ATSC tuner for my PC.)

KVBC (NBC 3)
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4075/kvbcvx8.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kvbcvx8.jpg)

KVVU (Fox 5)
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5821/kvvuak6.th.jpg (http://img245.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kvvuak6.jpg)

KLAS (CBS 8)
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/1096/klasgp2.th.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=klasgp2.jpg)

KLVX (PBS 10) [PID 0x002a is some sort of datacasting? moviebeam?]
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/623/klvxuh7.th.jpg (http://img157.imageshack.us/my.php?image=klvxuh7.jpg)

KTNV (ABC 13)
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3489/ktnvcf1.th.jpg (http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktnvcf1.jpg)

KVMY (My Network TV 21)
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/7141/kvmykv4.th.jpg (http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kvmykv4.jpg)

KVCW (CW 33)
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/812/kvcwka6.th.jpg (http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kvcwka6.jpg)

NON-HDTV

KINC (Univision 15/Telefutura 27)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/9663/kinclu9.th.jpg (http://img56.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kinclu9.jpg)

KBLR (Telemundo 39) [Note that 544x480i isn't one of the ATSC "standard" formats.]
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8559/kblrua2.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kblrua2.jpg)

jb1219

09-07-06, 12:19 AM

vegggas isn't the only one with fancy transport stream analyzing toys anymore. :)

(I picked up a USB ATSC tuner for my PC.)

]

What does that thing do for you?

GeorgeLV

09-07-06, 12:24 AM

What does that thing do for you?

Mostly, I'll use it as a DVR for OTA programming. The ATSC analysis is a bonus.

vegggas

09-07-06, 01:29 AM

Notice that ALL the stations are multicasting more lately... Get ready for a lot more macroblocking this fall season.
vegggas isn't the only one with fancy transport stream analyzing toys anymore. :)

(I picked up a USB ATSC tuner for my PC.)

KVBC (NBC 3)
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4075/kvbcvx8.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kvbcvx8.jpg)

1 HD MAIN and 2SD - SD NBCW + SD Simulcast

KVVU (Fox 5)
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5821/kvvuak6.th.jpg (http://img245.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kvvuak6.jpg)

1 HD MAIN and 2 SD - FOXW + SD Simulcast

KLAS (CBS 8)
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/1096/klasgp2.th.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=klasgp2.jpg)

1 HD MAIN and 1 SD Simulcast

KLVX (PBS 10) [PID 0x002a is some sort of datacasting? moviebeam?]
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/623/klvxuh7.th.jpg (http://img157.imageshack.us/my.php?image=klvxuh7.jpg)

1 HD MAIN (national feed) and 3 SD + Datacast - SD Simulcast + PBS Create + PBS SPROUT + datacasting service

KTNV (ABC 13)
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3489/ktnvcf1.th.jpg (http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktnvcf1.jpg)

1 HD MAIN and 1 SD - KTNV Traffic & Weather

KVMY (My Network TV 21)
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/7141/kvmykv4.th.jpg (http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kvmykv4.jpg)

1 HD MAIN and 4 SD - Tube + USDTV + USDTV + USDTV

KVCW (CW 33)
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/812/kvcwka6.th.jpg (http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kvcwka6.jpg)

1 HD MAIN and 4 SD - USDTV + USDTV + USDTV + USDTV

NON-HDTV

KINC (Univision 15/Telefutura 27)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/9663/kinclu9.th.jpg (http://img56.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kinclu9.jpg)

KBLR (Telemundo 39) [Note that 544x480i isn't one of the ATSC "standard" formats.]
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8559/kblrua2.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kblrua2.jpg)

vegggas

GeorgeLV

09-07-06, 02:28 AM

GeorgeLV

09-07-06, 02:43 AM

So you Cox cable only folks can see what you are (or aren't) missing here some caps from Desire on My Network TV HD from KVMY:

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6048/mntvjr4.th.png (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mntvjr4.png)
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9225/mntv1tf4.th.png (http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mntv1tf4.png)
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/9789/mntv2wp2.th.png (http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mntv2wp2.png)

primet

09-07-06, 07:05 PM

In the next few weeks, Cox is giving your Internet service a boost in
speed! These faster speeds will allow you to have more fun and be
even more productive online. The changes you can look forward to are:

Downstream current speed of 5 Mbps will go to 10 Mbps, an increase of
2X Faster
Upstream current speed of 768 Kbps will go to 1 Mbps, an increase of
30% Faster

We hope you find the faster speeds exciting and a great value to your
existing service.

Thank you for being a valued Cox High Speed Internet customer. We
know you have a choice of Internet service providers. Cox is proud to
provide you with the best Internet service in Southern Nevada.
There’s never been a better time to be a Cox Communications customer.
We truly appreciate your business and will continue to work hard to
bring you the best products and services available in the cable
industry.

Uninterrupted or error-free service not guaranteed. Actual speeds
will vary. E-mail access available from any Internet-connected
personal computer with a standard Web browser. © 2006 Cox
Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. :D

PT

jflatt

09-07-06, 07:59 PM

Funny how the 5mbit service is realistically 1.5mbit service. So this should be like having 3mbits

foghorn2

09-07-06, 10:34 PM

I urge basic non large downloaders to downgrade to the "Value" service. It can save you $120 or $240 dollars a year!

vegggas

09-07-06, 10:44 PM

Funny how the 5mbit service is realistically 1.5mbit service. So this should be like having 3mbits
I don't see how you get those results, unless you have some PC problems?
I pay for 4Mbps Down 512k Up.
I just ran a speed test for the cox network (test.lvcm.com) on my modem, using real data files. The data is transferred across the city of Las Vegas across the Cox owned network and their servers in their main plant (downtown?) See attachment 9_7_06_Speedtest.jpg below
My speed is:
Download = 4,102,608 bps
Upload = 519,664 bps
or
4.1Mbps Down and 519 Down, which is greater than advertised speeds, even though this is high traffic time.

Where I have problems is when servers OUTSIDE the Cox network, and THEIR UPLOAD speed limiting my downloads. You are at the mercy of the upload speed of the server you are connected to, divided by it's users, and network traffic outside of Las Vegas across the sonnet ring.

Testing outside of the Cox network, on DSL reports on a SanFran test server, I get the following: Look at attachment 9_7_06_Speedtest_DSL.jpg below. The data here has to go through the LA servers to get to SF.
dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-09-07 22:14:39 EST:
3631 / 496
Your download speed : 3631 kbps or 453.9 KB/sec.
That is 6.8% worse than an average user on cox.net

Your upload speed : 496 kbps or 62 KB/sec.
That is 26.6% worse than an average user on cox.net

PS: Welcome to dslreports.com!
So a real world test sending data across the country across the outside network and through the MAJOR city of LA gives me 3.6 Mbps Download and 496KBps Upload.

Going straight to LA and back I get a bit better results. See attachment 9_7_06_Speedtest_DSL_LA.jpg
dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-09-07 22:33:27 EST:
3969 / 474
Your download speed : 3969 kbps or 496.1 KB/sec.
That is 1.6% better than an average user on cox.net

Your upload speed : 474 kbps or 59.3 KB/sec.
That is 29.9% worse than an average user on cox.net

PS: Welcome to dslreports.com!
So a real world test sending data across the country across the outside network and to the MAJOR city of LA gives me 3.969 (4) Mbps Download and 496KBps Upload. Exactly the speed and service that I pay for.

So, I would look at you PC and network to see what's slowing you down.
BTW, I'm doing these tests, via built in laptop wireless, with low to average signal strength and default MS Internet Explorer with McAfee Viruscan running. Without the viruscan, and other applications, my speed may be higher.

vegggas

vegggas

09-07-06, 10:50 PM

I urge basic non large downloaders to downgrade to the "Value" service. It can save you $120 or $240 dollars a year!
I actually agree. Especially with the increase in the default "value" speed going up, and not getting much of a return from the rest of the world. You would rarely notice a difference for the casual to heavy user.

vegggas

vegggas

09-07-06, 10:57 PM

vegggas, Cox is getting all of those SD simulcasts/PBS Sprout/etc somewhere, but they're not in the ATSC transport streams.

KVBC 3 2 services (1xHD NBC 1xSD Weather)
KVVU 5 2 services (1xHD Fox 1xSD Weather)
KLAS 8 2 services (1xHD CBS 1xSD future [4.5 Mbps null])
KLVX 10 4 services (1xHD PBS 2xSD PBS SD/PBS Create 1xDatacasting)
KTNV 13 2 services (1xHD ABC 1XSD Traffic)
KINC 15 6 services (2xSD Univision/Telefutura 4xUSDTV Disney/Toon Disney/Discovery/TLC)
KVMY 21 4 services (1xHD MyTV 1xSD Tube 2xUSDTV Lifetime/Starz!)
KVCW 33 4 services (1xHD CW 3xUSDTV Guide/LMN/Fox News)
KBLR 39 5 services (1xSD Telemundo 4xUSDTV ESPN/ESPN2/Food/HGTV)

31 services / 9 ATSC channels = 3.44 services per channel average.
George,
Did I see the Null Packets data bar graph and think that was the SD simulcast?
I think they are actually doing the SD multicast, not OTA, but sending that directly to Cox via fiber. Either that, or they are just reducing their bit rate for the sake of having null packets that do not carry any data. NBC, which just lost the HD feed of tonights game :mad: , and CBS are MAXING out their OTA broadcast datarates, while still preserving the null packet size for an SD sub-channel. The space is in the total mux, but not mixed into the OTA broadcast. Watching an agressive feed in HD, hardly ever touches the "null packet" stream, while it pixelates and macroblocks.

vegggas

GeorgeLV

09-07-06, 10:58 PM

KVBC dropped the HD feed of the Steelers/Dolphins at the start of the 4th quarter for some reason.

GeorgeLV

09-07-06, 11:06 PM

Given the bandwidth constraints Sinclair has, I'm impressed by the HD quality on the CW HD. Smallville looks fairly decent (and it it better than the picture on the old KVWB HD by default since that encoder had a black bar on the bottom and cut off the top of everybody's head, thankfully the picture on KVCW fills the whole 16:9 area and is centered properly.)

foghorn2

09-07-06, 11:19 PM

I actually agree. Especially with the increase in the default "value" speed going up, and not getting much of a return from the rest of the world. You would rarely notice a difference for the casual to heavy user.

vegggas

Yeah, I used to be the biggest computer geek and internet user/downloader. I was one of the first using BBS's, AOL (Dos and Geos), Compuserve (OS/2 version), DSL and so on.

It's not the same anymore. The Microsoft Monopoly has withered the market and interest away. Also the internet is now full of the very same people I used the internet to escape from :eek: , full of ads, religious nuts, misinformation, and corporate and government monitoring and control of speech.

I'd rather use the money I saved on unused bandwith for my newer hobby, HT.

I applaud Cox decision on this and no longer contemplate moving over to WildBlue or the dreaded Embarq/Sprint DSL ripoff service. I have moved on from Cox for TV services but will remain with them for good reliable fair priced internet service.

Cheers to Cox :)

foghorn2

09-08-06, 12:19 AM

Some good news for sports fans looking for sports in HD, this morning several RSN HD channels have been uplinked to Dish Networks satellites and may be available real soon! Also with the shuffles, INHD remains uplinked but still not available.

vegggas

09-08-06, 02:36 AM

It was rumored a while back that KLAS was going to redo their news room to be HD. It was reported today that KLAS has ordered the HD equipment from Grass Valley to do the upgrade.
No dates for the first broadcasts, but expect KLAS to hype it up once it gets close.

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=19830

New orders for Grass Valley’s HD news solutions included installations in the USA, Europe, and the Middle East, such as in the USA for CBS Network owned & operated stations KCBS (Los Angeles) and KYW (Philadelphia), CBS affiliate station KLAS (Las Vegas), ABC affiliate KMGH (Denver); in the Middle East for Al-Jazeera International (Doha, Qatar and London); and, in Europe for VTM (Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij, Brussels). This includes a significant commitment to the Grass Valley Aurora HD suite, which features the industry’s fastest quick-turn editor and which will be highlighted at Grass Valley’s main IBC pavilion, stand 11.551.

vegggas

GeorgeLV

09-08-06, 03:00 AM

^^ Hopefully, they'll finally do 5.1 while they're at it. :)

GeorgeLV

09-08-06, 03:19 AM

Everybody remember to call Cox and ask them to carry the CW HD.

Some caps from tonites Smallville and Supernatural:

Smallville
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/9162/smallvilleclarkml1.th.png (http://img245.imageshack.us/my.php?image=smallvilleclarkml1.png)
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5905/smallvillelanalexmx1.th.png (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=smallvillelanalexmx1.png)
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8691/smallvillechloe2nj4.th.png (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=smallvillechloe2nj4.png)
[I had to crop the cap with Chloe to fit it in 1.5MB]

Supernatural
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/1212/supernatural1by7.th.png (http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=supernatural1by7.png)
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1679/supernatural2hx6.th.png (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=supernatural2hx6.png)

-------
I have caps that show more HD detail, but I like to post in lossless PNG to avoid introducing any additional artifacts and can only post files up to 1.5MB through ImageShack.

foghorn2

09-08-06, 09:00 AM

gvc

09-08-06, 10:58 PM

have you seen the new italian hottie weather gal channel 8 hired to replace Kevin Janison?

gvc

09-08-06, 11:03 PM

Who do we contact at KLAS and KVVU to influence what NFL games they show? KLAS chose Denver/STL over the superior (IMO) matchup of Cincy/KC. (Fox picks aren't up yet.)

http://www.gribblenation.net/nflmaps/

This is exactly why I broke down and got Sunday Ticket (besides being able to watch my beloved hometown Colts kick ass everyweek) . I absolutely love being able to watch any stinkin game I choose to watch no matter whats on local stations. I just wish ALL the CBS games were in HD this year instead of just 3 / week.

gvc

09-08-06, 11:06 PM

Thank you for being a valued Cox High Speed Internet customer. We
know you have a choice of Internet service providers. Cox is proud to
provide you with the best Internet service in Southern Nevada.
There’s never been a better time to be a Cox Communications customer.
We truly appreciate your business and will continue to work hard to
bring you the best products and services available in the cable
industry.

PT

Now ...if they could only make nice with ESPN so we can get ESPN360 and mabey ESPN 2 HD for TV !!

GeorgeLV

09-09-06, 12:09 AM

My guide data shows KVBC 3-1 carrying Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD starting Monday 9/11. Hopefully, they've made the upgrades for HD syndication and it's true.

vegggas

09-09-06, 01:33 AM

My guide data shows KVBC 3-1 carrying Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD starting Monday 9/11. Hopefully, they've made the upgrades for HD syndication and it's true.
Same for the Cox Guide data too. Hmmm... HD starting at 6:30? So NBC will have mostly HD from 6:30PM - 1:36AM, when the full primetime lineup is in HD (i.e not showing "Dateline" for the 10th time in a week!), as next Thursday is. So for the 7 hour blocks of programming, only Access Hollywood (0:30) and the 1100:PM news (0:30) will be SD. That's 6 hours a night of HD, Plus the 3 hours in the morning with the Today Show for a total of 9 hours of HD possible every weekday.

vegggas

foghorn2

09-09-06, 09:14 AM

have you seen the new italian hottie weather gal channel 8 hired to replace Kevin Janison?

(Why is Kevin leaving? They should get rid of that Philipino guy with marbles in his mouth.)

No, when is she on?

Maybe they should dress or undress up those digital weather channels with these gals and make the bandwith productive.

foghorn2

09-09-06, 09:17 AM

Man, 21 and 33 looks great in HD! What a treat for us Vegans finally.

Now they better show Star Trek, the original series, in HD.

GeorgeLV

09-09-06, 11:02 PM

Man, 21 and 33 looks great in HD! What a treat for us Vegans finally.

Now they better show Star Trek, the original series, in HD.

There's was a miscommunication in the press release. Just like with Seinfeld, it turns out that Star Trek will not be shown in HD anywhere yet. It's been remastered in HD, but they don't have any way to distribute the HD feed.

doormat

09-10-06, 01:34 AM

have you seen the new italian hottie weather gal channel 8 hired to replace Kevin Janison?

Yea there was an article in NORM's column about it I think a few weeks ago, Kevin said something about him not being able to look good as he got older. Sad, he probably knows his stuff, but they have to bring in some hot girl because he is getting old. Well, I hope he finds gainful employment somewhere..

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Aug-22-Tue-2006/news/9196823.html

Also of note is Nate Tannembaum's return to TV, on Fox 5.

doormat

09-10-06, 01:42 AM

vegggas

09-10-06, 11:54 AM

I think the increase are across the three residential speeds. Here are my guesses, based on reading various emails from diffrent users, etc. Final results may differ though.
Residential services starting in October
Value service from 256Kb D/L to 1.5Mb D/L for about $30
Regular service from 4Mb D/L to 6Mb D/L for about $40
Premium service from 5Mb D/L to 10Mb D/L for about $50
Prices are $10 more if you don't have cable service, and there are always online specials, etc.

Not too sure of the upload speed increases, but if you really need that for a server, it's better to go with a business plan and static IP anyway for guaranteed speeds and service levels.

vegggas

citizen

09-10-06, 03:12 PM

Thanks, veggas.
Was wondering 'bout that......went searching and couldn't find "value" service; considered downgrading. For $10 month I'd rather have 6Mb D/L than 1.5 Gonna keep "regular" setup.

doormat

09-10-06, 04:57 PM

Hmmm 1.5/256 for $30/mo. That does sound good.

foghorn2

09-10-06, 06:44 PM

Hmmm 1.5/256 for $30/mo. That does sound good.

I don't have TV service so for me thats $40/month and thats a fair price considering Embarq requires an overpriced land line to get slow and lousy high latency internet.

I pair it up with Vonage for a better deal. Screw Sprint/Embarq.

foghorn2

09-10-06, 06:47 PM

Yea there was an article in NORM's column about it I think a few weeks ago, Kevin said something about him not being able to look good as he got older. Sad, he probably knows his stuff, but they have to bring in some hot girl because he is getting old. Well, I hope he finds gainful employment somewhere..

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Aug-22-Tue-2006/news/9196823.html

Also of note is Nate Tannembaum's return to TV, on Fox 5.

Yeah, Kevin's pretty ugly but he was the best weatherman in Vegas. So good, the job in vegas would be too easy for him.

Too bad, they should have kept him. :(

foghorn2

09-10-06, 06:50 PM

There's was a miscommunication in the press release. Just like with Seinfeld, it turns out that Star Trek will not be shown in HD anywhere yet. It's been remastered in HD, but they don't have any way to distribute the HD feed.

They have no way to distribute the HD feed? How the flock do they do it with all the other shows?

GeorgeLV

09-10-06, 07:38 PM

They have no way to distribute the HD feed? How the flock do they do it with all the other shows?

Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are the only syndicated shows that have a HD distribution path currently. Satellite transponder space is expensive and most local stations haven't been upgraded to record and delay HD programming--they can only pass through the feed of their network. Star Trek, Seinfeld, etc. will probably have to wait until Pathfire (the main distribution hub for syndicated programming) gets HD integrated into their system.

GeorgeLV

09-10-06, 08:18 PM

Kudos to KLAS for showing the Cincy/KC game instead of Denver/STL, but please either launch your subchannel or stop robbing the HD feed of bandwidth. Nobody enjoys blocking on the hd feed caused by a subchannel, but asking us to tolerate blocking on the hd feed for null packets is a little much.

citizen

09-10-06, 08:32 PM

Yeah, Kevin's pretty ugly but he was the best weatherman in Vegas. So good, the job in vegas would be too easy for him.

Too bad, they should have kept him. :(

.......certainly I'm speculating; just wondering if his recent litigation victory prompted his removal (sponsors demands?).
Already forgot details of his multi-year court process.....I wish him well.

hdtvxpert

09-11-06, 12:46 PM

I have been informed that Directv has been installing the new MPEG4 HD-DVRs in Vegas. My friend is an installer for Ironwood Comm. the local installer for D*. However, he reports the ATSC tuners do not yet work due to a firmware issue! That's really nice, since they don't have Vegas local HD on line yet, nor will they carry all our channels when they do. Has anyone seen one of these receivers in the valley yet? I Also saw Cox's new attack commercial warning Dish network's customers of the DVR shutdown. Also, now D* has to take TNT HD off the air on Sundays to accomodate HD Sunday Ticket due to bandwidth constrictions. Pretty pathetic I say. It looks like Cox is going to get my business pretty soon.

gvc

09-11-06, 04:10 PM

.......certainly I'm speculating; just wondering if his recent litigation victory prompted his removal (sponsors demands?).
Already forgot details of his multi-year court process.....I wish him well.

All I know is that probably the only reason he was given a favorable rulling was because of his notoriety as an on air personality type. IF it was me or you asking for the variance for the hoop I sincerely doubt we would have gotten past stage 1.

ALSO... Kevin was recently given the National Weather Service weatherman of the year award.. now who has egg on their face?? but he should get the last laugh because with that award in his pocket he'll probably get to write his own ticket if he has a decent agent and is willing to move to another market.

doormat

09-11-06, 10:17 PM

ALSO... Kevin was recently given the National Weather Service weatherman of the year award.. now who has egg on their face?? but he should get the last laugh because with that award in his pocket he'll probably get to write his own ticket if he has a decent agent and is willing to move to another market.
Yea I read that this morning, he gets canned and then wins Weatherman of the Year.

foghorn2

09-11-06, 10:57 PM

foghorn2

09-11-06, 10:58 PM

Yea I read that this morning, he gets canned and then wins Weatherman of the Year.

Channel 8 news is getting worse everyday. Looks like I'll be switching soon.

citizen

09-11-06, 11:11 PM

Channel 8 news is getting worse everyday.

Sadly, seems that way. Epitomized by one-in-particular sensationalist male reporter.
Though more restrained lately, like someone had a few words with him.....GOOD!!!

Demodave

09-11-06, 11:52 PM

I've been at work. Did anyone switch from the MNF game on ESPNHD long enough to notice if Jeopardy and WOF were in HD on Channel 3? If so...how did it look?

GeorgeLV

09-12-06, 12:09 AM

I've been at work. Did anyone switch from the MNF game on ESPNHD long enough to notice if Jeopardy and WOF were in HD on Channel 3? If so...how did it look?

The guide data was wrong, no Jeopardy and WoF in HD on channel 3 yet.

vegggas

09-12-06, 01:11 AM

doormat

09-12-06, 01:48 AM

Really? The emails that got sent out said 6/512. Oh well, I'll take more upload speed. No issues here.

Also the Series 3 HD TiVo was released tomorrow (9/12 12AM EDT). Too bad its $800. I guess I'll be waiting until the first price drop to get one (probably after the superbowl in Feb 07).

vegggas

09-12-06, 02:10 AM

lvthunder

09-12-06, 11:06 AM

I bet some cable companies will goto switched digital just to stop the S3 TiVo. Also if you have an S1 or S2 with lifetime you can transfer that for $150. My mom's S1 TiVo has been around 5 years so with an additional $150 she can get 5 more years out of it unless Cox pulls the dirty trick of saying only our equipment will work (IE switched digital).

So what's to stop the cable companies from forcing everyone to rent there equipment from them if they keep changing the standard every year or two.

vegggas

09-12-06, 11:25 AM

Switched digital is nothing new. It's been on the cable roadmap for several years, just like sat's use of Mpeg4. It still uses QAM, but requests specific streams at specific frequencies to eliminate the unused channels when they are not viewed.
There is no difference in the fact that better transmission improves the overall amount of HD content you can get.
Tivo decided to release the S3 WITHOUT a return mechanism, making it obsolete for all return path technologies, of which, cable has been moving all of their services torward. Tivo could have included the hardware, but chose NOT to do so. SDV will need a return mechanism, just like all existing digital cable boxes already use for IPG, VOD and PPV. The cable card is only the decryptor for the stream and will authenticate a return signal with a unique mac for a session request.

vegggas

VegasFlyby

09-12-06, 12:13 PM

Anyone know if any of our local news channels have plans for going HD?

lvthunder

09-12-06, 12:21 PM

GeorgeLV

09-12-06, 12:31 PM

GeorgeLV

09-12-06, 12:35 PM

Anyone know if any of our local news channels have plans for going HD?

It's been reported in trade publications that KLAS has ordered the equipment to upgrade their newsroom to HD. KLAS hasn't announced a launch date.

vegggas

09-12-06, 12:54 PM

So what's the technology going to be to render third party boxes useless after switched digital. Will they then switch to MPEG4 like the Sat companies. I think the cable companies don't want the compitition from companies like TiVo so they will do everything to mess them up unless the cable company is the one providing the TiVo. I also thought the TiVo had support for the newer two way cable cards when ever they come out. So I wonder what kind of fee Cox will charge to have two cable cards in the same unit.
SDV is like I explained in my previous post. If a hardware maker doesn't support the return path signal, then it won't work with SDV. This is irregardless of who makes the hardware. TV's are now being announced and introduced with OCAP navigation and D-CAS (Downloadable Conditional Access Service) for decryption services. Tivo does NOT support two-way services (forward and return), but it may be capable of getting two one-way service streams with a multistream capable card, instead of renting two single stream cards, although it has not been seen working yet.
Contrary to popular belief, cable companies DO NOT WANT TO PROVIDE STB'S! They welcome 3rd party support so they do not have to spend billions a year on propriatary STBs that only do a limited function, and wind up destroyed by users. They still want STB manufactures to include the same basic functionality as current cable STB's, which are two way devices.

vegggas

lvthunder

09-12-06, 01:12 PM

Just by looking at the cable companies record on this Vegggas I have to disagree with the fact that cable companies don't want to provide STB's. When the first HD channels went on cable in some markets they were 8VSB like OTA. Then they switched and said oh now we are going to send them in QAM. So the industry came up with the cable card so people that don't want a STB can watch cable like before with analog cable. Now they are saying they want to switch to switched digital. Now is what should of happened was instead of doing it three different ways within the last 5 years to go with switched digital back then and stop making all this obsolite hardware. It isn't just cable that I'm upset with in this regard. The Sat companies are just as bad with making hardware that is going to be obsolite in a year or two.

Maybe I'm just bitter, but I bought my HDTV 5 years ago and only have component jacks on my TV. So if someone downrezes on the component jack I'm screwed.

This whole transition to HD has been in baby steps when it should of been one big leap like going from B/W to color. At least I'm assuming that was one step. I'm a little too young for that transition.

lvthunder

09-12-06, 01:14 PM

Yeah but who knows when TiVo will be available here. It is going to be in other Cox markets first because the software isn't for the SA boxes that we have.

foghorn2

09-12-06, 05:53 PM

Sadly, seems that way. Epitomized by one-in-particular sensationalist male reporter.
Though more restrained lately, like someone had a few words with him.....GOOD!!!

Was that the one who was drinking and pulled over?

foghorn2

09-12-06, 05:54 PM

EDIT found out more about the above post about speeds increase in Oct.
1.5Mb / 384Kb
6.0Mb / 768kb
10.0Mb / 1Mb

Also, Additional HD launch in Oct, but NO DETAILS, so don't ask. If I know, I'll post.

vegggas

So the uploads do increase, more good news!

foghorn2

09-12-06, 05:59 PM

I could be wrong about the speed - We were watching football and having some very cold frosty beverages :D

I'm laughing at the TiVo reviews coming out too... :p
Let's see...
$800.00 up front
$150.00 yearly TiVo fees
No HD menus
No Tivo To Go
No Archiving
Records the digital signal bit for bit
Obsolete rather quickly as cable moves toward Switched Digital Video, just like D* Mpeg4 channels rendering the HDTivo unusable for those channels and OTA reduces bandwidth and quality, etc...

So it's basically just like the cable DVR's, but with a thumbs up symbol and an annoying bleep at every button press.
Oh, I forgot, it also plays MP3's

vegggas

Dish Vip 622:

200 up front, 200 in credits = free
no yearly fee if first receiver
HD 16:9 menus
multiroom dual tuner+ working ATSC tuner box and 100% compatible with Slingbox,
archive to pocket dish and usb storage coming soon
MPEG 4 to save space

A better Tivo than the Tivo.

KRiS1

09-12-06, 06:13 PM

With COX,

If you opt not to get the SA 8300 DVR, what box do you get?

foghorn2

09-12-06, 06:30 PM

With COX,

If you opt not to get the SA 8300 DVR, what box do you get?

Anal oge

foghorn2

09-12-06, 06:32 PM

GeorgeLV

09-12-06, 06:41 PM

Dish Vip 622:

200 up front, 200 in credits = free
no yearly fee if first receiver
HD 16:9 menus
multiroom dual tuner+ working ATSC tuner box and 100% compatible with Slingbox,
archive to pocket dish and usb storage coming soon
MPEG 4 to save space

A better Tivo than the Tivo.

Dish is the HD-Lite leader. Now they're doing 4 mpeg2 HD-Lite channels per transponder (at bitrates of 7-12Mb/s). Almost all of their 1080i HD channels are downrezzed to 1280x1080i or 1440x1080i. If you want quantity right now you need dish, but if you can afford it, subscribe to cable as well for real hd quality.

lvthunder

09-12-06, 06:55 PM

Dish Vip 622:

200 up front, 200 in credits = free
no yearly fee if first receiver
HD 16:9 menus
multiroom dual tuner+ working ATSC tuner box and 100% compatible with Slingbox,
archive to pocket dish and usb storage coming soon
MPEG 4 to save space

A better Tivo than the Tivo.

But for how long. Dish can't delay the court case forever. Also from what I heard Dish wasn't using MPEG 4 yet. They just had the channels tagged MPEG4 so people would get the new receivers for when they really start MPEG4.

GeorgeLV

09-13-06, 02:08 AM

If you didn't read today's paper, KLVX is making a lot of changes. First, they are rebranding themselves to Vegas PBS.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/989/pbspt9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

More importantly they will be get a new facility (the rendering is in the print paper, but it's not on the online R-J). The new facility, the $64.7 million Educational Technology Campus is to be located on Flamingo and McLeod and will house seven studios. It will break ground in March, so get your donations ready for the pledge drive. :) (Don't worry, corporate doners have already paid most of the bill.)

2 new channels of PBS are coming in January, a Spanish channel and a public affairs channel. No word on whether either will be on the DT mux or if they're Cox only.

Also, the article identified the mystery datacasting stream in the DT mux, it is the Las Vegas Digital Emergency Alert System.

Read the whole article, it's very informative.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-12-Tue-2006/news/9543077.html

bruin95

09-13-06, 02:44 AM

Dish is the HD-Lite leader. Now they're doing 4 mpeg2 HD-Lite channels per transponder (at bitrates of 7-12Mb/s). Almost all of their 1080i HD channels are downrezzed to 1280x1080i or 1440x1080i. If you want quantity right now you need dish, but if you can afford it, subscribe to cable as well for real hd quality.

Then explain to me how Dish's HD channels look better than Cox's on my TV.

GeorgeLV

09-13-06, 02:50 AM

Then explain to me how Dish's HD channels look better than Cox's on my TV.

Probably a STB issue. Unless Echostar can violate the laws of entropy, Cox's unaltered passthough of HD channels must have a higher PSNR that E*'s decoded to baseband, downrezzed and recompressed to low bitrate HD. Unless you can demostrate that Cox is recompressing or rate shaping it's not even a debatable topic.

Or for a less technical analogy, claiming E*'s HD is better than Cox is like claiming a mp3 of a song sounds better than from cd it came from. You might run into a bad cd player, but (with the emphasis that only internet slang can deliver) it's UNPOSSIBLE that a mp3 is better than the cd it came from.

bruin95

09-13-06, 04:32 AM

Or for a less technical analogy, claiming E*'s HD is better than Cox is like claiming a mp3 of a song sounds better than from cd it came from.

My eyes don't lie. Everyone who has seen both sources, at my house, have said the same thing.....Dish looks better. There is NO argument.

citizen

09-13-06, 04:42 AM

Was that the one who was drinking and pulled over?

Don't know nothin' 'bout that, or who that was.......just know I change the channel whenever a certain reporter with initial(s) A. has a story. :mad:

foghorn2

09-13-06, 08:12 AM

My eyes don't lie. Everyone who has seen both sources, at my house, have said the same thing.....Dish looks better. There is NO argument.

I wholehaerdedly agree, the Dish PQ on HD channels looks way better than HD from COX. Forget the numbers, its what the eyes see. The HD-Lite complainers are simple cable supporters, or they are somehow archivig the HD and are bitter thay can't archive the original feeds.

foghorn2

09-13-06, 08:16 AM

Probably a STB issue. Unless Echostar can violate the laws of entropy, Cox's unaltered passthough of HD channels must have a higher PSNR that E*'s decoded to baseband, downrezzed and recompressed to low bitrate HD. Unless you can demostrate that Cox is recompressing or rate shaping it's not even a debatable topic.

Or for a less technical analogy, claiming E*'s HD is better than Cox is like claiming a mp3 of a song sounds better than from cd it came from. You might run into a bad cd player, but (with the emphasis that only internet slang can deliver) it's UNPOSSIBLE that a mp3 is better than the cd it came from.

I took "Vapor Trails" from Rush and remasterd it my self and played the MP3's to my friends and they swear it sounded better than the original cd.

lvthunder

09-13-06, 10:51 AM

Well guys maybe the resolution of your TV is not 1080. I mean it's not a huge difference and you probibly got to sit close to the screen on some shots, but an unaltered source will always be better then one that is monkeyed with. Once Directv has there new MPEG4 National sats up next year they shouldn't be messing with the signal except converting MPEG2 to MPEG4.

Now as for the song you took from Vapor Trails it might sound better because Rush didn't get it from the CD.

primet

09-13-06, 11:22 AM

Well as of 2am this morning cox flipped the switch and the Las Vegas speed upgrade happened.

I'm in 89122 but folks all over the valley have reported the increase.

Hard to believe Cox gave us a 10m connection..and my modem is provisioned to over 11m down.

I use multithreaded/multiconnected software (Newsleecher) to download from usenet and see 1.27-1.35m dowloads..too cool!!

PT

gvc

09-13-06, 12:52 PM

Just bought a new DVD Recorder with HDD recording. For the very first time since using the SA8300 DVR I decided to try the "copy to vcr" function. I found out the picture issues using this feature is still "buugy" and an issue with this unit. But I also have read that there is a firmware fix for this problem. Is it not available yet in Cox Vegas?

bruin95

09-13-06, 02:50 PM

Well guys maybe the resolution of your TV is not 1080.

I have a 1080p TV. The Toshiba 62HM195 to be exact.

bruin95

09-13-06, 02:53 PM

foghorn2

09-13-06, 03:00 PM

I have a 1080p TV. The Toshiba 62HM195 to be exact.

Now what excuse are they coming up with to CONvince you that Cox HD looks better than Dish when it isn't?

GeorgeLV

09-13-06, 07:35 PM

lvthunder

09-13-06, 10:48 PM

Now what excuse are they coming up with to CONvince you that Cox HD looks better than Dish when it isn't?

Can you really think that you can reduce the number of lines and reduce the bitrate and it be better? That just isn't possible. Now if you can see the difference depends on a whole number of variables. Now maybe the Cable STB isn't outputting as good of a signal as it's getting and the Dish STB is. Who knows? All I know is when a provider takes the signal decompresses it takes out some lines of resolution and compress it at a lower bit rate can't provide a better signal then they got orginally.

lvthunder

09-13-06, 11:00 PM

So what's everyone getting speed wise on the cable modem now. I ran the tests Vegggas did a couple pages back and at the Cox site (test.lvcm.com) I get 6241k/567k, at the LA test 3529/544 and the SF 3161/547 so it looks like Cox needs a bigger pipe to the rest of the internet now.

So Vegggas what would be your best guess on when Cox here would go swtched digital. Also couldn't an external box take care of the switching much like a Dish's multiswitch.

GeorgeLV

09-13-06, 11:13 PM

Here's the speed I'm getting from Embarq:

http://www.dslreports.com/stest

Los Angeles

dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-09-13 23:09:23 EST:
4154 / 495
Your download speed : 4154 kbps or 519.3 KB/sec.
That is 93.9% better than an average user on embarqhsd.net

Your upload speed : 495 kbps or 61.8 KB/sec.
That is 1.5% worse than an average user on embarqhsd.net

Miami:

dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-09-13 23:12:26 EST:
4025 / 628
Your download speed : 4025 kbps or 503.1 KB/sec.
That is 87.9% better than an average user on embarqhsd.net

Your upload speed : 628 kbps or 78.5 KB/sec.
That is 24.8% better than an average user on embarqhsd.net

foghorn2

09-14-06, 01:31 AM

You can believe whatever you want, but your Dish 622 doesn't make DCT coeffecients appear out of thin air. If you need to imagine that Dish PQ is all rainbows and gumdrops to justify your purchase than by all means go ahead. Just don't expect me to drink the Kool-aid when there are dozens of threads on this site and SatGuys extensively documenting Dish's slide into worse-than-DirecTV HD-Lite.

The vast majority of Dish customers and Satguy posters do not compain about the quality of the HD channels. Its the same dozen or so whiners that post in ever thread how bad the PQ is and but still continue (or claim to) to subscribe to Dish.

Lets put it this way, When I or anyone else say how great the PQ is on Dish, and how it is better than Cox, you can just move on instead of whining about this so called HD-Lite.

And if you think a majority of posters on those forums are saying that D*'s HD is better than E*'s, you might as well make friends with Michael Jackson and live with him for the rest of your life in NEVERLAND.

vegggas

09-14-06, 01:58 AM

HiHoStevo

09-14-06, 02:00 AM

Veggas.......

Any idea on when/what Cox will be replacing the 8300 with?

GeorgeLV

09-14-06, 02:40 AM

So this doesn't drag out too long, here's (hopefully) my final take on the subject of picture quality between providers.

1) Obviously, if your provider is the only one carrying the channel, your provider wins.

Dish Network is currently the only place to see NatGeo HD, Food HD, HGTV HD, and Voom.

Cox is currently the only place to see INHD and Cinemax HD.

DirecTV is currently the only place to see Sunday Ticket HD.

2) The provider the least alters the source signal wins.

Dish rate shapes (TNT HD, Discovery HD, HBO HD, Showtime HD) or downrezzes and recompresses (i.e. Voom at 1280x1080i, most other 1080i channels at 1440x1080i).

Cox passes through what they get from the big dish unaltered.

DirecTV downrezzes at recompresses all 1080i HD channels to 1280x1080i.

3) Equipment and connections play a role in PQ.

Set top boxes and televisions can have any number of things in the video pathway that alter quality. There could be a high frequency rolloff filter in there or velocity scan modulation, etc. Unless you have an unencrypted transport stream on a pc there's not much you can do to avoid these factors.

foghorn2

09-14-06, 09:15 AM

I guess I was wrong about the upload speed for 6Mb. My own email even said 512k, not 738k. It must have been the frosty beverages and hot wings affecting my memory. Oh well.
As for internet speeds, Cox has about the largest pipe to the backbone possible, including their OWN nationally owned backbone. They transmit voice, video, and data services and another large portion of the pipe is used for cellular and other carriers without their own backbone.

For Dish, I compared it myself too. I didn't find it any better across multiple displays (1080i & 1080P), using the same inputs and wiring moving from box to box. I seemed to notice more of something along the lines of edge enhancement or extra enhanced contrast or VSM, where black lines were increased in width obscuring detail, but looking "sharper" without the detail. An example was looking at a dark suit, where on the 8300, I clearly saw the contrasting stitching and faint pinstriping, but on the Dish, I saw only a dark suit, and a "hint" of pinstriping, but no stitching. Also dark details showed more gradients in darkness on the 8300, where the dish equipment seemed to just show black, but moving to the digital displays aggravated both STB's compared to the CRT.
Across multiple displays, the HDMI did appear cleaner (edge enhancement? Contrast enhancement?) on the dish equipment, but still lacked as much detail. I can only describe it like some of those weird ESPN llive events where they push the edge enhancement to look more 3D. Some of the NFL games did this in the past. It was visually striking to the casual user, but looked wrong and introduced other issues. Maybe the dish gives more memory headroom to process the signal and then reconstitutes the arriving signal to a flatter less detailed image, but more contrasty image?

sorry if I'm starting to ramble and become incoherent, I'm falling asleep (knocked out actually) as I type this and can't keep my eyes open anymo r.......

You hit the nail on the head! Yes Cox does send the signal unaltered and if you look close enough to the screen, you might see more detail and a more realistic picture in the long run.

The re-sized and recompressed Dish signals might loose some detail and realness to the picture, but they are also at the same time probably "enhancing" the picture to give the appearance of a better picture. A normal viewer not 5 inches from the screen will probably say the Dish picture is better, while the HD obsessive compulsive obsessing over the numbers will swear the Cable signal is better.

Thats the same thing with my re-masterd Vapor Trails Cd's and Mp3's.

Thats the same thing with the "enhanced" sound from radio stations. The songs sound louder with more low end and and pronounced highs but when measured, they are of lesser quality then the CD versions.

So when I really like a song from the radio stations, or mp3's off the internet, I will actually go out and by the actual cd or SACD/DVD-A.

In the future when you see that movie on HD-TV that you love, you will go out and buy a HD-DVD player and that movie in HD format to get the "best" experience. This is what I predict will happen and you may someday see Cox doing the same thing as Dish.

GeorgeLV

09-14-06, 01:07 PM

The Today Show is now available in, um, "HD-filtered".

http://img.photoamp.com/i/vu327b.JPG (http://www.photoamp.com/img.php?img=QMVp0kPzfL.png)
Click for full 1920x1080 PNG

GeorgeLV

09-15-06, 11:41 PM

As HD has developed in Las Vegas and some of the old local regulars have left this forum the first page of this thread (in particular the first post) is no longer able to be effectively maintained to reflect current and relevant information on Las Vegas HD info. (see below for the maintaince options)

There's no way to reassign the first post to another member. The times I did something similar in the past, it was by splitting off an old post (from the new "maintainer") from another thread - then merging that post into the Local DMA thread. The catch is the old post has to pre-date the original OP's post. Now that the Local forum has the oldest threads on the board, and archiving has become more frequent, it is very rare to find any post older than the original post.

The only clean option is for someone that will keep the area info up-to date to start a new thread - then close the old thread. Everyone just needs to get the word to update their bookmarks and subscriptions. A more temporary solution is to send me a link to a post that has the area summary, and I can copy it into the first post of the thread. Obviously, that will become more of a problem as the frequency of updates and the number of threads needing maintainance increases.

I agree with CPanther95 that a new thread is the best option, so I'd like to see if the rest of the group agrees. If there's consensus, we'll select a maintainer for the first post (should contain basic OTA and Cable, and satellite HD LiL info and a link back to the original thread), start the new thread, and the moderators will close this thread.

So...let's hear your two cents:

doormat

09-16-06, 01:26 AM

Why not just nominate vegggas to get the first post. He seems to know the most.

foghorn2

09-16-06, 09:33 AM

Why not just nominate vegggas to get the first post. He seems to know the most.

He is biased towards COX by a million miles.
I really do not see what is wrong with the current thread.

foghorn2

09-16-06, 10:04 AM

Anyone watching Star Trek OS remastred on 33 today?

I'm a gonna DishTivo it and DVDR it at the same time. My new Phillips DVDR has component in :)

tenguru

09-16-06, 02:35 PM

Hey Vegas
I got my new mitsu and I would like to know if I should get a cheap ota ant for hd.. I have the cox 8300 but would like to archive to my firewire network off my tv...
We talked about this before..
I also have an old voom up on the roof and it has a giant ant for ota hd can I use that somehow or can you suggest a cheap one indoor that would do a good job.
Thank "Teach"

LVKeith

09-16-06, 03:39 PM

Got my cable bill yesterday and Cox will be adding MTV HD on October 17th on channel 725. No mention of anything else so it like that's it for a while. Oh, and high speed internet will be going up by $2 (1.96 actually) on October 1st. Now that you can get 1.5/256k for $30 ($32 Oct 1) I think I will just downgrade. I don't download all that much and for surfing the web 1.5 should be OK....

Keith

coyoteaz

09-16-06, 04:13 PM

He is biased towards COX by a million miles.
I really do not see what is wrong with the current thread.Having a first post will information regarding HD channel availability really helps those who are new to the area or who are visiting. It only carries the facts regarding which channels are available on which service, with no discussion of which is better. It really helps people who are new to the area to find information about local DTV. Check out the Phoenix (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=451563) and Tucson (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=131829) threads for examples.

foghorn2

09-16-06, 06:01 PM

Having a first post will information regarding HD channel availability really helps those who are new to the area or who are visiting. It only carries the facts regarding which channels are available on which service, with no discussion of which is better. It really helps people who are new to the area to find information about local DTV. Check out the Phoenix (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=451563) and Tucson (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=131829) threads for examples.

I agree, maybe we should have a Las Vegas, NV - HDTV and a Las Vegas, NV - COX Cable threads and Vegass can launch the Cox one if he and the others want to continue to promote Cox here while stating everything else is not as good when it ain't.

gworkman

09-16-06, 07:58 PM

There actually was a day when Foghorn was pushing Cox :)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5083624#post5083624

bftlg

09-16-06, 08:37 PM

GeorgeLV

09-16-06, 09:06 PM

bftlg

09-16-06, 09:13 PM

Well as of 6:10 is it on 732. I checked periodically from 1pm to 5pm and had nothing but a gray screen. The HD feed seems fine now.

I guess my posting must have fixed it! :) I should have posted sooner!

-bob

Demodave

09-16-06, 09:13 PM

Here is some cool NEWS for Las Vegas HD:

KLAS-TV will start broadcasting the local Eyewitness News in HD starting Monday September 18. Even the weather graphics will be HD. Cool Stuff!!

Here is the official link from KLAS-TV:

http://www.klastv.com/Global/link.asp?L=206505

KRiS1

09-16-06, 09:48 PM

anyone know why cox is showing the ABC football games (oregon vs. OK and USC vs. Nebraska) on the SD channel(13) but not on the HD channel (732)? All I get on 732 is a gray screen.....

If it were a black out issue wouldn't it be off both? I don't have an OTA tuner or I would check.....

-bob

Im using my TV's QAM and cox basic and when I first tuned in, It dispalyed "no signal" It is back now but it there has been problems with the signal dropping, and issues with the audio

foghorn2

09-16-06, 10:41 PM

There actually was a day when Foghorn was pushing Cox :)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5083624#post5083624

and this is what I wrote:

Well, if you have a good local cable company (COX), do what I did.

I just got 2 plasma HDs and wasn't about to fork over a grand for a HDTivo
and have it obsolete in a few more months.

I called my cable company and gave me every channel including premiums, HD service, DVR for less than total choice!

This was the best path for me a I wait for the Satellite companies to figure out what they are going to do for us. If nothing, I'm sticking with my SA 8300 PVR.

Well I did wait a while and waited for the Satellite companies to do something. Well Dish Network did with the VIP622 DVR and I just watched and recorded Star Trek OS in pure digital 5.1 quality using an OTA antenna like I've never seen before.

I also get 30 channels in HD that neither COX nor Erect TV can provide (waiting for the HD-Lite complainers).

foghorn2

09-16-06, 10:43 PM

lvthunder

09-17-06, 07:41 PM

Actully channel 8 has the news in HD right now. So they are doing it a day early. It looks pretty good too. You can tell that the graphics are meant for the 4X3 crop though.

GeorgeLV

09-17-06, 08:13 PM

Actully channel 8 has the news in HD right now. So they are doing it a day early. It looks pretty good too. You can tell that the graphics are meant for the 4X3 crop though.

Looks great, I'll make sure to record the 6:30 broadcast.

LVseller03

09-17-06, 09:48 PM

KLAS just raised the bar for all other news departments in the Las Vegas Valley! The news just looks awesome in HD. Anyone know when KVBC, KVVU, or KTNV will get their news in HD?

GeorgeLV

09-17-06, 10:07 PM

KLAS just raised the bar for all other news departments in the Las Vegas Valley! The news just looks awesome in HD. Anyone know when KVBC, KVVU, or KTNV will get their news in HD?

HD News isn't even common in the top 10 DMAs, KLAS just raised the bar for all the other news departments in the country.

LVseller03

09-17-06, 11:02 PM

so I take it then with HD news not being common in the top 10 dmas.... KVVU, KVBC, or KTNV will not be broadcasting their news in HD anytime soon :(

having recently worked at one of the two major Spanish television stations in LV, I know that LV HD Spanish news is a good 5-7 years away. We did order HD cameras though...but cameras are just one small part in the puzzle known as High Definition news :)

GeorgeLV

09-17-06, 11:37 PM

Screenshots from Channel 8 Eyewitness News in HD.

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8288/ch8introtf8.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ch8introtf8.jpg)
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4116/ch8studioip8.th.jpg (http://img179.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ch8studioip8.jpg)
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8994/ch8colleenlz9.th.jpg (http://img91.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ch8colleenlz9.jpg)
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9746/ch8weather1im6.th.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ch8weather1im6.jpg)
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/8397/ch8weather2ph6.th.jpg (http://img101.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ch8weather2ph6.jpg)

michaelc

09-18-06, 03:39 PM

HD News isn't even common in the top 10 DMAs, KLAS just raised the bar for all the other news departments in the country.
I've seen HD news before in Seattle (been that way for a long time I know, as well) and San Francisco within the last year, but it's never been all their stations. And as a resident of both areas, SF's stations have traditionally made Vegas' stations look downright amateurish when it comes to production and professionalism.

Really, we ought to be kind of happy that we're catching up with the dot-com cities so quickly. Channel 8's new look is actually quite nice, I just watched the noon broadcast and the only real problem is that the weather gal's shadow caused noise on the bluescreen that isn't noticeable in SD. Maybe tolerance can be adjusted?

gvc

09-18-06, 07:13 PM

imo, it also seems a bit more bright than other stations. but the clarity is fabulous. looking forward to see the new weathergal on the evening broadcast :)

GeorgeLV

09-18-06, 07:59 PM

Stations with HD Local News Studios

DMA #1 New York, NY
WNBC 4

DMA #2 Los Angeles, CA
KABC 7

DMA #4 Philadelphia, PA
WPVI 6

DMA #8 Washington, DC
WUSA 9

DMA #9 Atlanta, GA
WXIA 11

DMA #14 Seattle, WA
KOMO 4 KING 5

DMA #16 Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
KARE 11

DMA #17 Cleveland, OH
WKYC 3 WJW 8

DMA #18 Denver, CO
KUSA 9

DMA #19 Orlando, FL
WFTV 9

DMA #21 St. Louis, MO
KSDK 5

DMA #29 Raleigh, NC
WRAL 5

DMA #43 Las Vegas, NV
KLAS 8

Comfirmed Launches:
DMA #13 Phoenix, AZ
KPNX (11/2/06)

Stations with HD Helicopters

DMA #1 New York, NY
WNBC 4 WNYW 5 WABC 7

DMA #2 Los Angeles, CA
KABC 7

DMA #3 Chicago, IL
WLS 7

DMA #4 Philadelphia, PA
WPVI 6

DMA #5 San Francisco, CA
KGO 7

DMA #18 Denver, CO
KUSA 9

DMA #29 Raleigh, NC
WRAL 5

Comfirmed Launches:
DMA #13 Phoenix, AZ
KPNX (11/2/06)

(Adapted from Ken H's list in the Official AVS HDTV Programming Synopsis)

lvthunder

09-18-06, 09:41 PM

Part of the brightness of color has to do with it being HD. Just the difference in color between a regular DVD and a progressive DVD is shocking (or at least it was to me).

NVTanner

09-19-06, 09:29 AM

Maybe GeorgeLV can do a screenshot of the weather gal for us. We do like to look at her!

effseesee

09-19-06, 12:14 PM

I believe KSL in Salt Lake City also does their local news in HD.

GeorgeLV

09-19-06, 12:41 PM

I believe KSL in Salt Lake City also does their local news in HD.

They don't, but they have produced some local events like parades in HD.

foghorn2

09-19-06, 08:02 PM

Dish Network Vip622 is the winner:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6474_7-6546224.html?tag=cnetfd.ld3

GeorgeLV

09-19-06, 09:48 PM

Dish Network Vip622 is the winner:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6474_7-6546224.html?tag=cnetfd.ld3

I'm not exactly sure where you're drawing your conclusion from. The SA DVRs Cox uses aren't even considered. There's no editors review of the DirecTV HR20. And on the user reviews, the HR20 is currently scored higher than the Dish 622.

lvthunder

09-19-06, 10:50 PM

The only reason the S3 is lower is because people don't like the price (IE not subsidised by anyone) and the fact that CableLabs has forced them to turn off TivoToGo and Multi Room Viewing. In my mind the jury is still out until the Tivo vs. Echostar case is resolved. I don't see how you can do a review of a product you have never used.

foghorn2

09-19-06, 11:09 PM

I'm not exactly sure where you're drawing your conclusion from. The SA DVRs Cox uses aren't even considered. There's no editors review of the DirecTV HR20. And on the user reviews, the HR20 is currently scored higher than the Dish 622.

Did you read the part: "The cable alternatives will likely lack the slick interface and many of the extra features available on most of the TiVo and satellite models below" ?

Also if you click on the Vip622 review you will see this quote: "In our experience, the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, a common high-def cable box, does an inferior job downconverting HD shows to standard-def"

There are other references to the SA boxes and their underperformance.

As for the HR20, if you read user reviews on the sat guys and DBS Talk, a majority of users are not satisfied with the units and would rather have an upgraded HR10. For the life of me I don't know why D* won't do that seeing as how they have a contract with Tivo anyway. This plays to the theory that Murd Doc and Tivo are just playing games with the stupid patents to get at Ergen. But that ain't working so now he is offering his "turd bird" to Malone.

GeorgeLV

09-19-06, 11:23 PM

KLAS has bumped their bitrate of their HD signal back up to 17Mbs so the NFL football games next Sunday should look much better.

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/57/klas91906hk0.th.png (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=klas91906hk0.png)

JoustGod

09-20-06, 03:05 AM

Also if you click on the Vip622 review you will see this quote: "In our experience, the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, a common high-def cable box, does an inferior job downconverting HD shows to standard-def"

Hmm. Excuse me, but I can't help but wonder why you would have an 8300HD if you weren't going to watch HD shows in HD. So what's the point of that quote?

hdtvxpert

09-20-06, 03:10 AM

OK, Don't mind me, I just need to vent! I am watching 5-1 via off air on a 10-250 Tivo. every 5 secs. the picture tiles and freezes so bad it is just unwatchale. It is pretty much the same on most of the Vegas HDs. I live near Decauter and 95, have a good RCA 35 mile outdoor antenna on a 10 foot high mast above my single story roof looking right at Henderson. Signal strength on all channels in the mid 90s. Can anyone tell me what's so *%#@ hard about getting a picture that won't break up? Picture is usually fine during the day. Cox is too expensive, Dish too expensive, New D* DVR does not have OTA capability enabled. For being the second highest city in HD penetration, this place is a joke to get an HD signal that is watchable. My cable lines are clean and tight. My only guess is could planes flying in and out of Mccarren be interupting the signal? Please help!

GeorgeLV

09-20-06, 04:26 AM

tinpaul

09-20-06, 07:40 AM

foghorn2

09-20-06, 08:00 AM

Hmm. Excuse me, but I can't help but wonder why you would have an 8300HD if you weren't going to watch HD shows in HD. So what's the point of that quote?

Hmm. Excuse me, but I can't help but wonder why you would not to expect some users not to use DVD recorders. Do you get the point?

foghorn2

09-20-06, 08:06 AM

lvthunder

09-20-06, 10:51 AM

If you have only one cable box but want to send the signal from it to more then one TV. When I was a kid we did this with our C Band Dish. One receiver hooked up to three TV's.

hdtvxpert

09-20-06, 12:06 PM

Thanks everyone for your input. I know those tuners are first gen, and they indeed suck. I will try attenuation next. Here's something I read today you may find of interest:

DirecTV Class Action Waiver Held Unconscionable

By a MetNews Staff Writer

An arbitration clause in a cable television service agreement that barred classwide arbitration of claims was unconscionable, this district’s Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.
Div. Eight unanimously affirmed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter D. Lichtman’s order denying DirecTV’s motion to compel arbitration in a class action lawsuit over its High Definition Television services.
Filed in November 2004 by DirecTV customer Phillip Cohen, the complaint alleged that DirecTV damaged its customers and engaged in unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business practices by switching some of its channels to a lower, sub-standard resolution in September 2004. Cohen had been a DirecTV customer since 1997 and received HDTV services starting in 2003.
Two months after enrolling for services, Cohen received along with his monthly bill an amended customer agreement containing an arbitration clause. In October 2004, after DirecTV allegedly degraded its signals, Cohen received an amendment to the arbitration clause that further prohibited the joinder or class litigation of claims in arbitration.
In response to Cohen’s complaint, DirecTV filed a motion to compel arbitration. Cohen argued the arbitration clause was unenforceable because DirecTV added the clause unilaterally, and the clause’s ban on joinder or class litigation of claims was unconscionable.
Denying the company’s motion to compel arbitration, Lichtman agreed with Cohen.
The appellate panel concurred with the trial judge that the clause was both unconscionable and, because it expressly prohibited the severance of the class action waiver from the remainder of the arbitration clause, was unenforceable in its entirety.
Applying principles the California Supreme Court announced in Discover Bank v. Superior Court (2005) 35 Cal.4th 148, the justices concluded the class action waiver in DirecTV arbitration clause was unconscionable, as it potentially exempted DirecTV from responsibility for its own fraud or willful injury to its customers.
Writing for the court, Justice Paul Boland explained that the arbitration clause amendment, sent in the form of a bill stuffer, was an adhesion contract. He also said that a class action was the only practicable means for consumers to take issue with DirecTV, since individual disputes involved only small damage amounts, arising out of the $10.99 monthly service fee for HDTV and the approximately $1,000 equipment fee.
Additionally, Boland pointed out, Cohen’s allegation—that DirecTV initially promised to provide “astonishing picture clarity” but later reduced its HDTV transmission quality to levels below the specified standards and bandwidth—amounted to a claim that the company carried out a scheme to cheat large numbers of customers out of their money. This contributed to the agreement’s unconscionability, Boland said, rejecting DirecTV’s contention that Cohen failed to allege hidden charges or undisclosed costs.
But Boland wrote:
“In every case, whether sooner or later, the scheme becomes apparent to the consumer, whether it is the appearance on an invoice of an improper charge or the appearance on the television of an inferior image. In either case, the customer is being deliberately cheated, because he is either paying for something he has not agreed to pay for . . . or paying for something he is not receiving (image clarity from DirecTV).”
The case is Cohen v. DirecTV, Inc., B184630.

hdtvxpert

09-20-06, 12:07 PM

First part of D* lawsuit:
DIRECTV Sued Over
HDTV Picture Quality
Viewer claims the satcaster diluted the high-def picture after he signed up.
By Phillip Swann
Washington, D.C. (September 20, 2006) -- A DIRECTV subscriber has filed a class action lawsuit against the satcaster, claiming it reduced its High-Definition TV picture quality after he signed up for the service.

Peter Cohen, the subscriber, filed the lawsuit in November 2004. The complaint alleges that DIRECTV engaged in unlawful or fraudulent business practices by lowering its HDTV picture resolution in September 2004.

Cohen first signed up for DIRECTV's $10.99 monthly HDTV programming package in 2003. He says DIRECTV at that time promised that HDTV would provide "astonishing picture quality." However, he claims that DIRECTV broke that promise by lowering the picture quality in 2004.

DIRECTV spokesman Robert Mercer yesterday said the lawsuit was without merit.

foghorn2

09-20-06, 12:28 PM

I agree all providers should provide the best quality possible, but these lawsuits are not going anywhere.

lvthunder

09-20-06, 12:42 PM

foghorn2

09-20-06, 02:28 PM

Great so now my bill will be going to cover the high dollar Directv lawyers instead of better equipment when all this guy had to do was put his receiver up on ebay and switch to another provider that isn't doing HD-light.

Talk about a lawsuit happy society. It's a no-no to sue your Doc for taking out the wrong testicle, but go ahead and sue you sat company for giving you a little less than you expected when you could go elsewhere :(

lvthunder

09-21-06, 02:59 PM

Has anyone heard when D* is going to put our locals on the MPEG4 bird?

hdtvxpert

09-21-06, 03:47 PM

D* website says September for Vegas locals. But then they say they are the best provider too, what does that tell you. This much I know, many local HD markets they have recently added such as Seattle, and Portland, OR only got 2 local HD channels. It's unlikley they will have all the Vegas HD locals. And the new HD-DVR does not yet have the OTA tuners activated. They say early October for that. Fat chance.

JoustGod

09-21-06, 04:00 PM

Hmm. Excuse me, but I can't help but wonder why you would not to expect some users not to use DVD recorders. Do you get the point?

You're not very good at assessing your own posts. Do you actually read what you type?

My question concerned the fact that 8300HD was panned for its conversion from HD to SD. My point was, why would you want to have an HD converter from ANY provider if you don't have HD capability? I'm not questioning the opinion of the conversion quality. I'm only wondering what purpose it serves to have that setup. If no one else responds to this other than you, then I know this is only another one of your personal issues of your own world. Please stop with the witless mocking unless you are actually going to make a valid counterpoint.

foghorn2

09-21-06, 09:05 PM

You're not very good at assessing your own posts. Do you actually read what you type?

My question concerned the fact that 8300HD was panned for its conversion from HD to SD. My point was, why would you want to have an HD converter from ANY provider if you don't have HD capability? I'm not questioning the opinion of the conversion quality. I'm only wondering what purpose it serves to have that setup. If no one else responds to this other than you, then I know this is only another one of your personal issues of your own world. Please stop with the witless mocking unless you are actually going to make a valid counterpoint.

You're not very good at assessing your own posts. Do you actually read what you type? Please stop with the witless mocking unless you are actually going to make a valid counterpoint.

foghorn2

09-21-06, 09:10 PM

You see, some people just cant see beyond their own liitle world.

One would really like the SD quality to be great if it came from a HD source so they can get a good archive of it on a DVD recorder (this was very clear in my last post) or modulate it to other TV sets like a poster above did respond that the above Jouster did not care to catch.

Evidently he wants to "Joust" here, but I'm going to inflame his flamming me so we can continue to "Joust".

JoustGod

09-22-06, 02:54 PM

foghorn2

09-22-06, 04:26 PM

Don't bother furthering this. I realized I was communicating with someone who thinks MP3 is a superior sounding format. Enough said.

Thank You, actually MP3's are superior sounding in realtion to what its being compared to.

d-v-c

09-23-06, 08:15 AM

Curious if anyone knows if if CBS 8 is shooting street video in HD or 16:9 SD?

foghorn2

09-23-06, 09:15 AM

Curious if anyone knows if if CBS 8 is shooting street video in HD or 16:9 SD?

It looks like stretched SD :(

GeorgeLV

09-24-06, 02:10 AM

Curious if anyone knows if if CBS 8 is shooting street video in HD or 16:9 SD?

Most of location video they produce appears to be 16:9 480i component, but for some reason on live broadcasts they have to send it composite so it has analog artifacts like ringing. On the 11pm newscast, when they have the tapes back in the studios, the blurry footage you saw at 6pm now looks very nice and difficult to tell from hd sometimes. I have no idea why foghorn thinks it's streched, because it's not. (For some reason they sports highlights from FSN West/Prime Ticket are sterched, while all other highlights are 4:3 pillarboxed.)

bjp_lv

09-25-06, 12:16 PM

I called Cox Friday to try and get them to upgrade my SA8300HD to SARA 1.88. After bouncing through a few people, I think I got my point across why I wanted it, the "Kick out to Live" fix. No word back from them though. The Cox person on the other end of the line seemed to want the upgrade as well though after I explained what it did.

Has anyone had any success getting their SA8300HD upgraded by Cox in LV yet?

DeDondeEs

09-25-06, 05:30 PM

Curious if anyone knows if if CBS 8 is shooting street video in HD or 16:9 SD?

It looks like a combination of the two. Perhaps they have a few HD cameras and they changed the settings on their existing equipment to 16:9. I applaud Channel 8 for catering to us 16:9 ratio folks.

VegasFlyby

09-26-06, 08:45 PM

Just wondering if anyone else is having troubles with 3.1. I get it OTA and it's been really choppy lately...worse than usual.

foghorn2

09-26-06, 09:06 PM

Just wondering if anyone else is having troubles with 3.1. I get it OTA and it's been really choppy lately...worse than usual.

No problems here.

VegasVec

09-26-06, 09:15 PM

3.1 is good here, from Southern Highlands.

GeorgeLV

09-26-06, 10:10 PM

Just wondering if anyone else is having troubles with 3.1. I get it OTA and it's been really choppy lately...worse than usual.

Yes, it was horrible last night in the Mountain's Edge area. My recordings of Heros and Studio 60 were completely trashed to the point that even mpeg2repair couldn't help. Also, I noticed KVMY-DT's transmitter went down sometime last night when I tried to tune to South Park.

VegasFlyby

09-26-06, 11:10 PM

I'm just not sure what's going on. I have a D* hr10-250 that is hooked up to a terk tv44 out door antenna. I have signal strength of 88-90%. I've been getting horrible pixelization and audio drop out the last week (ch 3.1 only, all others are fine). I've gone outside and adjusted the antenna but it does no good. All connections appear fine. Anyone have any suggestions? Oh...and I live Camino Al Norte/Ann area 89031.

hdtvxpert

09-27-06, 11:31 AM

lvthunder

09-27-06, 12:05 PM

How did you find out about this hdtvxpert? Too bad it's not 8 and 13. Those are two of the channels I can't get OTA. I suspect though that the others we come online soon. I doubt D* likes the fact they can only show 2 channels.

VegasFlyby

09-27-06, 12:37 PM

D* launched Local HD channels for Las Vegas today. And what a grand offering it is! Out of seven available HD channels, we get just channels 5 and 13! Pathetic. And with the OTA tuner disabled on the HD DVR, I see no reason to give them anymore business.

This is highly disapointing. I was really looking forward to dumping the antenna and getting them through the dish. Does anyone know what is was like when D* started offering SD locals? Did they all come on one day or each get turned on here and there?

GeorgeLV

09-27-06, 12:37 PM

D* launched Local HD channels for Las Vegas today. And what a grand offering it is! Out of seven available HD channels, we get just channels 5 and 13! Pathetic. And with the OTA tuner disabled on the HD DVR, I see no reason to give them anymore business.

Wow. Don't be suprised if several of the local HD channels disappear from Cox for a few weeks when their current retranmit consent agreements expire. Remember, 13 is owned by Journal which still hasn't made an agreement with Cox in Tucson. If they can make a deal and 3 and 8 apparantly can't, then I wonder just how much their demands must be. I can understand 8 a bit more since they actually produce local HD, but the only thing that sets 3 apart is their signal is more difficult to receive ota because of the low-vhf allocation. Also, DirecTV has the CW HD in a few markets, so I wonder if they've made any attempts to negotiate with Sinclair for 33.

tinpaul

09-27-06, 01:36 PM

Hey! it's a start and am happy :D

foghorn2

09-27-06, 02:16 PM

This is highly disapointing. I was really looking forward to dumping the antenna and getting them through the dish. Does anyone know what is was like when D* started offering SD locals? Did they all come on one day or each get turned on here and there?

Well we here at Dish do not get HD locals yet, just the standard ota analoge stuff retransmitted.

BUT with the Dish Vip622, its OTA digital tuner is active and should be able to pull all the HD/Digital locals with the right antenna. With this setup you are able to record up to 3 locals at the same time, or three channels one being local ota at the same time while viewing 2 separate recorded programs on 2 sets at the same time with just one box.

Come on over, it really is greener over here.

lvthunder

09-27-06, 02:26 PM

That's great foghorn. If your Vip622 will get 8 and 13 at my house I'll buy you a second one. Every antenna I've tried to get 8 and 13 I can't get the signal strength off 0. OTA is not an option for everyone.

gvc

09-27-06, 04:10 PM

I have a D* H10 HD receiver with a generic tv antenna hooked up to the "off-air" antenna in jack on the back of the unit and get all digital OTA stations coming though except 3-1.

bjp_lv

09-27-06, 07:25 PM

hdtvxpert

09-27-06, 11:13 PM

If you go to D* website and look up local channel information, type in a Vegas Zip code, you will see the 2 local HD channels listed. Also, I called their retention dept. today. They will swap out my 2 10-250 HD Tivos with the HR20 DVR and install the new 5 lnb dish for free. I had to give up $234. up front on a credit card. And then they applied that amount to a full credit on my bill. So basicly the upgrade was free. I won't have to pay a bill for a few months. And I will just keep one of my old HD Tivos hooked- up with the off- air antenna on a separate input until the OTA tuner is activated on the new DVR.

lvthunder

09-28-06, 01:18 AM

OK you'd of thought Directv would send out a flyer or something. Thanks for the information hdtvxpert.

hdtvxpert

09-28-06, 11:46 AM

Anyone know how to change your screen name on this forum. I picked my name back when I worked satelite, and I was hard pressed to find anyone in this town that had a clue about HD info. But in this forum you are all experts, and I know my name sounds a bit pompus! I'm really not.- Jim

lvthunder

09-28-06, 11:55 AM

I think the only way to do that is to register again but if I were you I wouldn't worry about it. You might also send a PM to one of the mods and see what they say.

hdtvxpert

09-28-06, 02:32 PM

Thanks Thunder,

I do try to verifiy my sources well, and try to post useful information based on my own experiences in the best interest for everyone!

GeorgeLV

09-29-06, 12:33 AM

I really hope the people at KVCW figure out how to switch on the HD feed correctly soon. The obviously tried about three times for Smallville, but they could never get it dialed in. They had it working last week, so there's got to be somebody in the building that knows how to do it.

gvc

09-29-06, 11:22 AM

jedster

09-29-06, 11:42 AM

jedster

09-29-06, 11:46 AM

gvc

09-29-06, 06:24 PM

apparently cbs hates defense!

According to the channel 8 program director, CBS will allow them to switch a game that is normally scheduled for this area of the country if the point spread is 18 or more !!! that almost never happens! unless, if its Oakland... :D

Demodave

09-29-06, 11:03 PM

Does anybody have any updates on when KLAS is going to start providing DD5.1? I was sad to see CSI:NY bcast in DD2.0 and CSI again in DD2.0. DD5.1 is so much better. Especially for sports. Hard to believe they can do such a nice newscast but can't get their act together on DD.

Also another question: Do you know if the NBC affiliate retransmits the HD signal it gets cleanly, or does it do compression? I've noticed that there are lots of interlacing issues and also lots of blurry motion issues with NBC here that i don't recall from the NBC affiliate in seattle when i lived there.

I sent an email to the chief engineer at KLAS:

Hi Doug. I want to compliment you on the new HD newscast. It looks really great! As for the CBS programming, do you have plans to start carrying the DD 5.1 audio?

And his reply:

Thank you for your email regarding KLAS-TV. We do not anticipate broadcasting in 5.1 in the near future.

Doug Kramer

KLAS-TV

:( :( :(

GeorgeLV

09-29-06, 11:29 PM

I sent an email to the chief engineer at KLAS:

Hi Doug. I want to compliment you on the new HD newscast. It looks really great! As for the CBS programming, do you have plans to start carrying the DD 5.1 audio?

And his reply:

Thank you for your email regarding KLAS-TV. We do not anticipate broadcasting in 5.1 in the near future.

Doug Kramer

KLAS-TV

:( :( :(

That's a shame. If I'm reading Dolby's website correctly, the equipment to pass through CBS 5.1 audio is an incredibly minor expense compared to upgrading their studio to HD, with the parts costing less than $20,000. http://www.dolby.com/professional/pro_audio_engineering/solutions_digital51.html

bruin95

09-30-06, 02:33 AM

Channel 8 has elected to show a non-HD NFL game this Sunday morning since we are a west coast market and the SanDiego@Baltimore game was not selected for HD by CBS this week. well, at least their News department looks good in HD!!

Channel 8 has no say over what game is shown. It is the CBS national network that makes the decision. There are NFL coverage maps on the net, and even on this site, that show what areas are getting what games for the upcoming week. CBS is showing the San Diego game to practically the entire west coast. The only early game on CBS in HD this week is Colts-Jets. That game will probably result in a blowout, so CBS is actually giving Vegas a potentially more competitive game, albeit in SD.

zik

09-30-06, 03:09 AM

Firstly, forgive me if this question has been answered before, but I'm not reading 132 pages.

1. Using Cox, can I view any HD channels without using their receiver? I'm not referring to the movie channels, just the locals and possible ESPN (which says it's free on the cox website). What I would like to do is plug the coax from the wall into a HD card.

pkscout

09-30-06, 08:06 AM

That's a shame. If I'm reading Dolby's website correctly, the equipment to pass through CBS 5.1 audio is an incredibly minor expense compared to upgrading their studio to HD, with the parts costing less than $20,000. http://www.dolby.com/professional/pro_audio_engineering/solutions_digital51.html

It's not just ashame it's criminal. I'm moving from Raleigh, NC to Las Vegas in January. I've gotten pretty spoiled here. 5 networks broadcasting in HD from the same tower (thus one antenna), all of them doing 5.1, and one (WRAL) was the first in the country (I believe) to do local news in HD (including all their location shots).

Going backwards to Dolby Surround 2.0 is going to be painful...

Turd

09-30-06, 08:36 AM

please answer this simple question...

The new MPEG-4 HD-DVR from D*...

A) has a built in HD Off air tuner that is not yet enabled...

or

B) has no built in HD Tuner for Off air at all, so it will never be able to receive OTA HD locals.

VegasFlyby

09-30-06, 09:53 AM

LVseller03

09-30-06, 10:02 AM

Going backwards to Dolby Surround 2.0 is going to be painful...

don't worry.....you'll live

bjp_lv

09-30-06, 11:04 PM

GeorgeLV

09-30-06, 11:26 PM

zik

09-30-06, 11:40 PM

The local channels are clear QAM, but everything else is encrypted.

By HD card do you mean a cable card or a hdtv tuner card for your PC?
HD tuner card for my PC.
And thanks for the help.

GeorgeLV

10-01-06, 12:17 AM

HD tuner card for my PC.
And thanks for the help.

You might want to just connect an antenna to your card then. That way you can also get the two HD locals Cox doesn't carry, the CW and My Network TV.

GeorgeLV

10-01-06, 12:30 AM

Chadowe

10-01-06, 02:32 AM

gvc

10-01-06, 12:54 PM

BTW, thank you Mountain West Conference, CSTV, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, and Dish Network for not working together therefore saving us the embarassment of watching the Rebels lose repeatedly on television.

yeah.. I gotta side with Cox on that one. BUT,, I will forever be pissed off with Cox regarding their poor relations with ESPN. I'd even pay an extra charge if they would carry ESPN2HD, ESPNU, and have ESPN 360 available for internet coverage.

Turd

10-01-06, 05:21 PM

Does anyone have the new D* HD-DVR and have any comments on how it opperates compared to the 10-250 ?

GeorgeLV

10-01-06, 07:53 PM

yeah.. I gotta side with Cox on that one. BUT,, I will forever be pissed off with Cox regarding their poor relations with ESPN. I'd even pay an extra charge if they would carry ESPN2HD, ESPNU, and have ESPN 360 available for internet coverage.

Unfortunately, Disney/ESPN doesn't want you money. They want the money of people that never watch sports (and in the case of ESPN 360 people that don't even watch cable tv). They won't sell you their service at any price, presumably because there is more money to be had by taking money from people that don't even want their service.

gvc

10-01-06, 08:15 PM

Channel 8 has no say over what game is shown. It is the CBS national network that makes the decision. There are NFL coverage maps on the net, and even on this site, that show what areas are getting what games for the upcoming week. CBS is showing the San Diego game to practically the entire west coast. The only early game on CBS in HD this week is Colts-Jets. That game will probably result in a blowout, so CBS is actually giving Vegas a potentially more competitive game, albeit in SD.

Well, both games turned out to be pretty damn good going down to the wire so even the SD broadcast was good to watch.

gvc

10-02-06, 06:58 PM

LVseller03

10-02-06, 07:08 PM

while I am not George, I can tell you that KVCW Digital 33-01 is coming in fine here in Silverado Ranch.

GeorgeLV

10-02-06, 07:42 PM

I cannot seem to get a picture coming in on OTA channel 33-1. I have an antenna strength signal of 80% which is fine on all other digital channels but no picture on 33-1. George,,you getting this station coming through?

It comes in just fine for me, however, for a long time DirecTV H10 boxes couldn't tune the channel, presumably because they ignored PSIP. We DirecTV updated the local channel guide data to reflect the new affialitions it started working.

I've always been able to tune it with my pc hdtv tuner card.

gvc

10-02-06, 07:47 PM

Well, thats the receiver I have,, the H10... the signal strength gets as high as 93% but no audio or video...like some of those 99- channels. All other channels come in great (except 3-1 which I could never get)

This is a fairly recent development as the box was pulling in the channel just fine about a week to 10 days ago. now nothing

LVseller03

10-02-06, 07:52 PM

GeorgeLV

10-02-06, 07:53 PM

gvc

10-02-06, 07:58 PM

believe me..you aren't missing out on much

Mabey so, but there is one show, Runaway, that I started to watch last week and I'd much rather tune in to the HD version than what Cox has. The pic quality is night/day. I guess I could attach my OTA antenna directly to the TV to receive it since its obviously a D* problem, but I like having it on my Sat receiver to record to DVD.

gvc

10-02-06, 08:22 PM

Try resetting your receiver, tuning to the satellite 33 then up to 33-1.

I have reset, rescanned to with no change. Actually, no regular VHF/UHF channels are scanned in...only the digital channels come in. 33-1 is scanned as a valid channel with high signal strength. If I manually tune to 33 all I get is the message that I haven't subscribed to that channel..lol

GeorgeLV

10-02-06, 08:27 PM

I have reset, rescanned to with no change. Actually, no regular VHF/UHF channels are scanned in...only the digital channels come in. 33-1 is scanned as a valid channel with high signal strength. If I manually tune to 33 all I get is the message that I haven't subscribed to that channel..lol

I looks like you need to call DirecTV and ask them to send you a rehit for local channels then.

gvc

10-02-06, 08:43 PM

I looks like you need to call DirecTV and ask them to send you a rehit for local channels then.

Actually, I don't subscribe to the locals.. I dont need them since I also have cox. Its an extra $3 /month with D*. The only locals that show up using the off air antenna input for the H10 receiver are the digitals, including the problematic 33-1.

d-v-c

10-03-06, 03:55 AM

I called Cox Friday to try and get them to upgrade my SA8300HD to SARA 1.88.

Has anyone had any success getting their SA8300HD upgraded by Cox in LV yet?

1) Assuming we can get 1.88 -- will that finally activate FireWire output?

2) Aren't updates sent to ALL -- how can one ask for it?

GeorgeLV

10-03-06, 11:24 PM

Good: KVCW is passing HD tonite.
Bad: The audio is missing.
Ugly: Me, if they don't fix it by the time Veronica Mars comes on.

foghorn2

10-04-06, 08:45 AM

Contrary to what the COX supporters are saying:

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061003/20061003006230.html?.v=1

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH - News) issued the following statement regarding recent developments in the Tivo Inc. v. EchoStar Communications Corp. lawsuit:
ADVERTISEMENT

"We are pleased the Federal Court found that EchoStar has a 'substantial case on the merits' and blocked the Texas decision for the duration of the appeal. This action by the Federal Court reinforces our belief that the Texas court made significant errors during the trial process and we look forward to complete vindication of our position.

As a result of the Court action, our customers will not be disrupted and all of our DVR models will continue to be available through the EchoStar distribution system."

GeorgeLV

10-05-06, 12:57 AM

Flipping channels, it looks like KVCW was able to do One Tree Hill in HD, so hopefully we can look forward to a great Smallville broadcast tomorrow.

tinpaul

10-05-06, 01:53 PM

Anyone knows when DirecTV lights NBC and CBS up via satalite. :p

HiHoStevo

10-05-06, 08:45 PM

I called DTV last week and they told me the locals were available in HD with the Mpeg4 receivers in Vegas......... did they fib???

GeorgeLV

10-05-06, 09:18 PM

I called DTV last week and they told me the locals were available in HD with the Mpeg4 receivers in Vegas......... did they fib???

DirecTV currently offers only Fox (5) and and ABC (13).

HD Locals in Las Vegas:

KVBC 3 (NBC): OTA 3-1, Cox 733
KVVU 5 (Fox): OTA 5-1, Cox 735, DirecTV 5
KLAS 8 (CBS): OTA 8-1, Cox 730
KLVX 10 (PBS): OTA 10-1, Cox 731
KTNV 13 (ABC): OTA 13-1, Cox 732, DirecTV 13
KVMY 21 (MyTV): OTA 21-1
KVCW 33 (CW): OTA 33-1

--------------
OTA 7 of 7 HD locals
Cox 5 of 7 HD locals
DirecTV 2 of 7 HD locals
Dish Network 0 of 7 HD locals

HiHoStevo

10-05-06, 09:21 PM

Sorry to hear I was mis-informed..........

Unfortunately the new Mpeg4 DVR from DTV (HR20-700S) does not have the OTA activated yet... they say it will be a another couple of months before the OTA is active.

I guess for DTV customers in Vegas the HD-Tivo is still the best way to go!

lvthunder

10-05-06, 09:25 PM

GeorgeLV

10-06-06, 12:06 AM

KVCW had the first 40 minutes of Smallville in HD...then the final 20 were in murky SD. The day when "flipping the switch" is no longer a problem can't come soon enough.

DeDondeEs

10-06-06, 10:37 AM

GeorgeLV

10-06-06, 12:27 PM

gvc

10-06-06, 05:30 PM

KVCW had the first 40 minutes of Smallville in HD...then the final 20 were in murky SD. The day when "flipping the switch" is no longer a problem can't come soon enough.

well... something is better than nothing I suppose... I still can't tune 33-1 with my H10 receiver. BTW... I heard a rumor that D* should have all the HD locals available soon instead of just 5 and 13.

HiHoStevo

10-06-06, 08:52 PM

I am going to be moving soon. Currently I have a DirecTV Tivo HD-DVR, with OTA antenna to get the locals. I am very happy with the quality of the locals. In this new place I am not looking forward to drilling a bunch of holes to run two sat cables and an antenna and am pondering switching over to COX and their DVR. From other peoples experiences, will I be disappointed with the quality of the COX locals vs the OTA locals? And I will be going from a Tivo interface to Cox's DVR interface. Besides suggestions and the sound effects, is their a huge difference?

Yes there is a "large" difference in software between the HD-Tivo and the SA DVR that cox uses currently. The guide only goes out 7 days instead of ##(I think my Tivo goes out 18 or so days). When you search you will only come up with a single program so you will have to do repeated searches to get things set up... My kid's who have the SA DVR whine about them compared to my Tivo's and ReplayTV's (which they grew up around), but then ANY DVR is better than No DVR! :D

hdtvxpert

10-08-06, 03:13 PM

doormat

10-08-06, 04:38 PM

Yea, Fox HD (5-1) seems to be broke, what a disappointment!! I want to see TO get creamed in HD!

alagol

10-08-06, 05:29 PM

I am getting all the broadcast networks in SD , not just 5-1 and it is both D* and Cox........is it just me?

foghorn2

10-08-06, 05:57 PM

I get all that are in HD in HD OTA with the Dish Vip622.

jedster

10-08-06, 06:00 PM

I am getting all the broadcast networks in SD , not just 5-1 and it is both D* and Cox........is it just me?

It's not a national issue, it's a local issue. Fox in LV is b'casting SD for some reason. Fortunately, I have D* NFLST so I get the games in HD. I wonder what is wrong at Fox. Quite lame.

also the CBS broadcast of the football game is SD, not HD (this is also national, intentional believe it or not)

jedster

10-08-06, 06:02 PM

Well, I got my two free HD-DVRs installed today from D*. Yes indeed, they are quite a disapointment. Only one local HD channel works; 13. Fox 5 HD is offline. And of course the OTA does not work, so you get a whopping one local HD channel. I wonder how much free *&%$ customer retention will give me to keep their business when I call them tommorrow?

The FOX issue is a local affiliate issue, it is both OTA and D* (I have both). It's not a national problem. It started around 11.30 or so (about half-time of the morning game).

jedster

10-08-06, 06:05 PM

I am going to be moving soon. Currently I have a DirecTV Tivo HD-DVR, with OTA antenna to get the locals. I am very happy with the quality of the locals. In this new place I am not looking forward to drilling a bunch of holes to run two sat cables and an antenna and am pondering switching over to COX and their DVR. From other peoples experiences, will I be disappointed with the quality of the COX locals vs the OTA locals? And I will be going from a Tivo interface to Cox's DVR interface. Besides suggestions and the sound effects, is their a huge difference?

Cox's DVR totally sucks in every sort of way. I prefer the buggy-as-heck HR20 to Cox's DVR. If you don't want D*, I would suggest getting a Tivo Series3, or, if you have a media center computer, hooking it up and buying a tuner card (you'd lose ability to record digital channels though).

But the DVR is truly truly terrible and awful. Makes no sense at all to me.

Biggest thing you'll miss is probably 30 second skip. But as I recall, it would sometimes just not record shows. And other weird issues. I hated it.

jedster

10-08-06, 06:12 PM

well... something is better than nothing I suppose... I still can't tune 33-1 with my H10 receiver. BTW... I heard a rumor that D* should have all the HD locals available soon instead of just 5 and 13.

where did you hear this? when is soon?

ravedog

10-08-06, 11:27 PM

DirecTV HD Tivo with OTA for locals... and NBC 3-1 has been absolutely unreliable for the past 4 weeks - have had to purchase Studio 60 off iTunes because it's been unwatchable...

Using a VHF/UHF directional antenna in attic with signal over 93 (at Buffalo/Sahara) and been using it for over 2 years with no issues... all other locals are fine. Nothing in my configuration has changed.... no new buildings/development or plant life.... and I'm at a loss of what to do.

Any ideas? (Remember, nothing has changed with my environment)....

hdtvxpert

10-09-06, 12:48 AM

I noticed the same issues last Thursday as well. Perhaps a call to KVBC is the next step?

VegasFlyby

10-09-06, 01:05 AM

using DirecTV HD Tivo with OTA for locals... and NBC 3-1 has been absolutely unrelaiable for the past 4 weeks - have had to purchase Studio 60 off iTunes because it's been unwatchable...

using a VHF/UHF directional antenna in attic with signal over 93 (at Buffalo/Sahara) and been using it for over 2 years with no issues... all other locals are fine. Nothing in my configuration has changed.... no new buildings/development or plant life has changed.... and I'm at a loss of what to do.

Any ideas? (Remember, nothing has changed with my environment)....

I thought I was the only one having this issue. In a way I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one! I have the same equiptment as you with a signal strength of 88% and 3.1 has either been either fine or totally unwatchable (mostly the latter for the last 3 weeks). I've been driving myself nuts trying to fix it. I went to the kvbc website looking for some contact info for engineering but was unable to find anything. I have noticed that the last 3 days have been much better, at least when I was watcing. Maybe they have fixed whatever problem they had (if there was one)?