Tigers in HD again. Terrible PQ. Blocking everywhere.

The BCS game, seeing pixelation when the BCS logo comes flying into the screen. Looks like I will be sending an email to ghe engineer asking to have the bw upped for both Tiger games and the Super Bowl. I hope other people do this also.

Hi Splam, welcome.

I'm going through the same issues antenna choice. I'm about 6-8 miles north of you, so a little closer to the towers. My current choice is indoor (set top) amplified in the attic. This could be an issue if wiring to the attic does not exist of is not easily accessible to run new cable. I tried a larger antenna up there but the results were better with the small and amplified. Those were my results but I really can't say how they might change with distance and direction.


My two cents for fixes while ravma is out of town is 5.1 on WPTY followed by PQ. If it works, I'll toss in another two cents for your next trip. I guess the next question would be how far out of town is necessary? Would you just have to leave the viewing area or is airfare involved? :)

laststop, I couldn't ever find WPTY or WLMT's HD feeds...

ravma479 to add to your list here are some I found scanning QAM from TWC tonight:

70-1 WPTY-HD
70-2 WLMT-SD
81-2 EWTN-SD
94-8 WREG-HD
104-8 Events on Demand PPV Promo
104-9 Events on Demand PPV Promo

lastStop I was unable to find your Encore channels at 90-20 and 110-8. What kind of tuner do you have?

Bill

Got the signal strength up to the high 60's on WMC, while keeping the singal in the high 80's-low 90's on the other stations, by moving the antenna from about 25 degrees to about 5 degrees. Everything looks good... just the occasional blockout on WMC.

The antenna is the outdoor version of whatever comes with D* these days. It's about 3 feet wide and looks like a glider wing. Boy, did that installer screw things up. 10-15 degrees of adjustment made all of the difference.

If anyone out there is getting D*, *insist* that the installer play with the singal based on the antennaweb info and don't let him leave until he gets it right.

This is about the only time I've enjoyed watching the Memphis mayor over a football game. Signal is pretty bad on 24-1. mx6bfast if you publish or PM the e-mail address I'll send a few complaints as well.

Thanks again guys for all the help.

Thanks for the update Bill, I'll be sure to check those channels tomorrow.

My tuner is whatever comes in the Mits 725 series set. It renumbers a lot of stations that ravma479 posted and I found that punching in the channels posted previously wouldn't tune in anything. Don't know if that's because they've been remapped or what. I have WLMT available but it's just 30, it is listed as a higher channel remapped but it only lists the base higher channel not the subchannel number.

mx6bfast if you publish or PM the e-mail address I'll send a few complaints as well.
I posted this before, but it is updated with WHBQ info.

Here is a list of email addresses to contact concerning HD questions (using emails from websites and approval to post publicly)

WREG: ron.walter@wreg.com (station president and GM)
WMC: not one showing, either im EngDave or email the station pres and gm hmeagle@wmctv.com
WKNO: wknopi@wkno.org
WHBQ: david.brant@foxtv.com chief engineer
WPTY: programming@abc24.com (will probably take a few days to get a response back, if you get one at all)
WLMT: programming@abc24.com

I hear that WHBQ-DT will be testing their flywheel UPS tomorrow morning. If all goes well, nothing should happen. If something goes wrong, the transmitter may burp off for a short time. It shouldn't last long.

Day 1 of CES is done! What an exciting day. There's so much to see out here. I'll try and get some pics tomorrow to show you guys.

BTW, Anyone else from this thread out here? There's the big AVS Forum party tomorrow night! That's going to be exciting. It's hard to believe this is my fourth CES show.

Anything get fixed yet? :)

Hey man, see if you can get some info on Comcast and Tivo. Like when is te HD-DVR going to be released, and when Tivo will build their products into Comcast's hardware.

Have fun out there.

No problem! Anything else you (or anyone) would like me to investigate?

Its a good thing you werent home tonight. WMC didn't turn the HD feed on. Called and the guy said he would tell them to turn it on and 10 seconds later it was on. If its that easy, how are they missing it? Dang.

What's up? Leno in 4x3? What gives? What's the number of the WMC station?

WMC dropped the ball lastnight.

"My Name is Earl" was in HD only half of the time.
Thankfully they left the HD on for all of "The Office".
The beginning of "ER " was in HD, but then it was SD until the last 10 minutes or so.

Annoying to say the least.

Why turn the HD off in between commercials? If they have a 2hr block of all HD shows, why not just leave it on?

Why turn the HD off in between commercials? If they have a 2hr block of all HD shows, why not just leave it on?

It was a three hour block (Will & Grace and Four Kings were also shown SD, as was Leno and Conan). They really screwed up the night.

But they can't just leave it in HD, since their local commercials are spliced into the SD feed which they have to switch to.

The annoying thing is that they can't be bothered to even MONITOR their own broadcast to see what they're transmitting.

Here (http://www.tivolovers.com/252572.html) some info I found on TiVo at CES. It doesn't have anything to do with the Comcast/TiVo deal but a sweet standalone product nonetheless.

I sent an email to EngDave to let him know what happened. He said he will look into it.

Looked into the problem last night and this is what I found.

We lost the programmable GPI box that automatically switches the HD switcher over to the the HD feed of NBC. Because of this the system did not switch automatically. The operator tried to switch manually but did not consistently switch us over when he was supposed to. Once you get used to an automatic system going back to manual with all his other duties is problematic at best.

We have repaired the box this morning and we should be back to normal. If you will remember this system has been working reliably for the last several months so I don't anticipate any problems tonight.

Sorry for the problems last night and we will continue to monitor the HD as best we can, but living in an SD world and trying to switch/monitor an HD signal is problematic as best.

David E
WMC

Meanwhile, some props for WREG. Last night they did a seamless switch from Letterman in HD to Craig Ferguson in SD (you could tell they switched to the SD feed from their ugly SD bug). Now if they could just duplicate this feat at the end of primetime programming, I'll be impressed.

Didn't watch WMC primetime last night (at the Grizz game) but Leno was in SD again.

Is it just me, or is SNL's audio sync off tonight? It took me a bit to catch WMC's signal, so I'm wondering if it's just me. It's off just enough to look like a bad lip-syncing performance.

And that FOX signal is so strong, I swear it makes my hair move. Good going!

We had a couple of games in HD this weekend on different channels, and this is my take/rank on them.

1) WHBQ - NFL. Great PQ, and it gets the nod over WPTY because of 5.1. Didn't see any blocking during the telecast at all. Just a tad sharper than the D* feed.
2) WPTY - NFL x 2.PQ looked a little sharper than WHBQ, but I did see blocking when the logos came flying in. Am I the only person that sees these? Anyways, if 5.1 was live, would've been tied with WHBQ.

HUGE difference in top 2 and bottom 2.

3) WREG - CBB & NFL. CBB looked horrible. blocking during movement on the screen. Same with the NFL game. HAs got to be one of the worse games I have ever seen on this channel. Plain and simple, ridiculous. 5.1 doesn't even do this justice. Seeing this makes me happy the Super Bowl is not on this channel.
4) WLMT - Tigers CBB. Still a lot motion blocking. Was told by the engineer he didn't see any during the last game. I viewed on 4 different tv's, 2 different stb's, and there was still a lot of blocking in each instance. I appreciate the fact that they are doing the games in HD, but the pq is severly lacking.

I've seen part of games on both CBS and ABC this weekend at CES, along with a recording of Nascar on NBC. These were on screens 40, 50 60 inches, and also on MASSIVE (and I do mean MASSIVE) projection screens. I only saw a SMALL bit of blocking on them, and that was when there was a LOT of movement on the screen.

Bottom line: CBS, ABC and NBC ALL look better on the Vegas affiliate.

mx: Tried to find out about the Comcast/TiVo deal, but no luck. And maybe here's why:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1483909

The relevant quote: "Last year, TiVo announced it would supply higher-end DVRs for Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable TV company. That's still on track with the first boxes expected to be available in mid- to late-2006, Denney said."

Oh, and the AVS party was AWESOME. :)

Am I the only person that sees these?Nope....I saw some football on WPTY, and must admit, I had to look pretty close to see any digital artifacts, but could detect just a little. Overall, I thought the picture was quite good. Didn't see any sports on the other networks, though.

I've seen part of games on both CBS and ABC this weekend at CES, along with a recording of Nascar on NBC. These were on screens 40, 50 60 inches, and also on MASSIVE (and I do mean MASSIVE) projection screens. I only saw a SMALL bit of blocking on them, and that was when there was a LOT of movement on the screen.

Bottom line: CBS, ABC and NBC ALL look better on the Vegas affiliate.

So, gotta go to Vegas to get a beautiful HD picture now. Must be nice to get a pretty much artifact free picture. Of course we used to have that here, but not anymore.

Lol, Sorry to make you feel bad... but you could probably go to Nashville... or Little Rock... or Jackson.. I dunno. But anyway, my point was that it's definately our affiliates (which we already knew..)

We'll keep fighting the good fight. We'll get our HD back or.... I dunno..

Something is going on on WKNO today. Around 8:30, the 10-1 feed switched to the usual 10-3 PBS HD feed. Now there is no 10-3, but a new sub channel 10-2 which says WKNO2 coming January 9. Wonder what's going on there?

Also, thanks for the CES updates!

And, I also saw the pixelization/blocking on the WLMT U of M Basketball games and wrote an email to them letting them know I appreciated the fact that it was in HD, but PQ seemed a bit off.

Something is going on on WKNO today. Around 8:30, the 10-1 feed switched to the usual 10-3 PBS HD feed. Now there is no 10-3, but a new sub channel 10-2 which says WKNO2 coming January 9. Wonder what's going on there?
I'll have to check it out when I get home. ravma posted this the other day about WKNO2:
From the Commercial Appeal:
Changes at WKNO

A lot is happening at WKNO-TV Channel 10.

On Jan. 9 the station will launch a new 24-hour digital channel, WKNO2, located at Channel 10.2 on digital television sets or at Channel 910 on Time Warner's digital cable service.

The new channel will present an opportunity for more programming. WKNO2 will feature KNO Kids programs, the best of PBS and local productions.

Additionally, WKNO2 will premiere a new public television service, Create, which features lifestyle and how-to-programming with shows like "Chefs of Napa Valley," "The Best of Joy of Painting" and "New Scandinavian Cooking."
And, I also saw the pixelization/blocking on the WLMT U of M Basketball games and wrote an email to them letting them know I appreciated the fact that it was in HD, but PQ seemed a bit off.
I mentioned it to the engineer of WLMT and he said he didn't notice any blocking during the game. Of course I saw it on 4 tv's. It's good to know that at least 1 other person saw it.

All through the weekend I had WMC going in and out. I had a signal strength of 67-71 on Thursday with a solid signal, then over the weekend the strength would go from 71 to 0, back to 71, etc.

Doesn't sound like a problem on my end, does it? Anyone know of anyting going wrong at WMC over the weekend?

I agree the football and basketball games on 3-1 and 30-1 were pretty bad with pixelation.

Sadly I doubt that our local station managers care enough to want to fix this. You know they have got to see what everyone else here is seeing.

I saw pixelation on 3-1 and 30-1 also... the engineer must be blind..


Jerry

Sadly I doubt that our local station managers care enough to want to fix this. You know they have got to see what everyone else here is seeing.
I think you are right, and I hate it. I mean how long have we been complaining about WREG and WMC? They still do what they want to. Screw the public's interest.

splam, what kinda of signal are you getting today? I'm wondering if the wind could've been the factor.

Dunno, this work gig I've got going during the day gets in the way of my HDTV viewing. On the way to work I noticed the antenna was leaning over laterally about 25 degrees... that might have something to do with it :)

At least it was still pointed towards Memphis so I could still catch the Steelers last night. I'll climb the ladder tonight and trying tightening all of the bolts. Wish I could remember the company that subbed out the D* work so I could write them a nice *thank-you* letter for their quality installation.

At least they figured out where north was on the second attempt.

...but I did see blocking when the logos came flying in. Am I the only person that sees these?

mx,

I watched basically the same programming over the weekend. It's somewhat mystifying that I continue to miss the blocking when everyone else sees it so readily. At the risk of being kicked off this forum, ;) the best local HD images I have seen were from WREG-DT. However, native 1080i always seems to outshine 720p on my screen. The Steelers/Bengals game (WREG-DT) looked better to me than the Panthers/Giants game (WHBQ-DT) and the two Saturday games on WPTY-DT.

Perhaps the screen size actually makes the blocking less noticeable. As I recall, you sit about 14' away from a 42" diagonal screen, while I am about the same distance from an 8' wide screen. Images framed for TV are very large, so it's virtually impossible to see close-up, foreground objects and the background at the same time -- particularly if either is moving.

I will try to get my hands on a smaller display to check this theory. Otherwise, I'm still scratching my head...

Chase

mx,

I watched basically the same programming over the weekend. It's somewhat mystifying that I continue to miss the blocking when everyone else sees it so readily. At the risk of being kicked off this forum, ;) the best local HD images I have seen were from WREG-DT. However, native 1080i always seems to outshine 720p on my screen. The Steelers/Bengals game (WREG-DT) looked better to me than the Panthers/Giants game (WHBQ-DT) and the two Saturday games on WPTY-DT.

...

Chase

Sounds like this guy is a "plant" from one of those networks. ;) Just kidding!
I didn't see the blocking at first either, but once you do, you just about always notice it. It is especially noticeable during high movement when graphics are zoming on or off the screen, etc. It is more like a fuzziness of the the pixels rather than large blocks that sometime occur when you experience signal dropout. Anyway, if you don't see it, be thankful and don't look for it...you'll regret it once you find it.

Sounds like this guy is a "plant" from one of those networks. ;) Just kidding! I wish! Then I wouldn't really have to figure out what's happening.

I didn't see the blocking at first either, but once you do, you just about always notice it. It is especially noticeable during high movement when graphics are zoming on or off the screen, etc. It is more like a fuzziness of the pixels rather than large blocks that sometime occur when you experience signal dropout. I've seen blocking before (including the images mx posted) on other displays with other signals, but not here. Not yet. That's why I'm wondering if the screen size obscures the blocking to some degree. Do you guys still notice it when you move up very close to your screens?

Anyway, if you don't see it, be thankful and don't look for it...you'll regret it once you find it.Unless it signifies that there is something wrong in my video chain. If you guys all see it, then I should theoretically be able to see it, too. If I don't, there could be something wrong. I'd rather everything be right and see blocking than something be wrong and not see blocking -- just my nature, I'm afraid! :o

Chase

I sent WKNO an email concerning this. Today they added a channel, and in the process, deleted a channel. As many know, it used to be 10.1 for WKNO and 10.3 for WKNO-HD. As of today, 10.1 is WKNO-HD, 10.2 is WKNO-2, and 10.3 is blank. There is no longer any of the original WKNO programming on HD. I watch a lot of PBS and it really sucks, I had to changel to analog reception to get the newshour. Anyone have an explaination for this?

Chase,
Well I figured it out, your blind. :D

I dunno, maybe the size of your screen might be the culprit. I really have no idea. I see the blocking on my 42" Mitsubishi RPTV, and it looks even worse on my 32" Sharp Aquos LCD. I can't notice it as much on my 4:3 32" Samsung HDTV. When I stretch the pic vertically, it's harded to see the blocking than when I do it in wide mode. I get more of the pic that way, but but have the black bars at the top/bottom.

When get closer to my tv's, the blocking looks even worse. The worse channel is WREG, as far as the amount of blocking on the screen. Games on WREG can look good at times, but that is usually when the camera is far away, and there is very minimal amount of movement on the screen. But with their introduction of subchannels, the picture has degraded tremendously. Have you even seen the highlites of games on ESPN? Notice how much better the highlites look than what we get here? The pq we used to get from WREG was on par with that, if not just a tad better. The games and even primetime broadcasts used to have an amazing 3-d look to them. Now it's barely even 2-d.

Like mollerup said, maybe you shouldn't look for it. Once you do you will be sorry.

I'm watching Surface right now (HD even!) and the picture is extremely soft.

Greetings! I've been considering HDTV for a while and have just recently discovered this forum. The discussion about local HD reception has me pretty concerned - especially since my satellite company won't say exactly when they'll offer local channels in HD.

A few questions for now:

Will the problems with blocking and 5.1 sound go away when I'm able to get local channels from satellite?

Will a non-HD signal (SD is what it's called I guess) from my satellite look any different on an HD set than it does on my current set? Will the picture quality likely be better or worse than the picture on my current set?

My current set has the old picture ratio. Would I need to do anything to a new set, ratio-wise, depending on whether I was getting an HD signal or SD? Does this mean I'd have to make 'adjustments' between programs depending on the signal?

The problems with antenna HD reception and the limited amount of HD programming currently available almost have me convinced to wait for upgrading my TV - especially since my current set is still working.

I'm not asking for 'what should I do' advice but would appreciate any wise counsel.

Thanks.

I would like to also say I never see the blocking either. I have a 34 inch wide screen Philips TV. I have tried and tried to look for it as well and I never see it. Maybe you guys have some superman eyes or I am blind, but I don't have any issues.

As far as WKNO I did a scan last week and it was on then with the WKNO2 Coming Jan 9th screen with just a tone playing in the background.

On another note, I live in Marion and had the hardest time getting WMC to come in OTA, well all of a sudden a couple of months ago it started coming in great along with the other channels and with a decent signal strength. Well I was up in the attic a few weeks back and noticed that my silver sensor was pointing straight up in the air, so if you guys are having some issues, try pointing the silver sensor (if you have one) vertical and see if this helps, it is working wonders for me!

Greetings! I've been considering HDTV for a while and have just recently discovered this forum. The discussion about local HD reception has me pretty concerned - especially since my satellite company won't say exactly when they'll offer local channels in HD.
Welcome. If you have D* (DirecTV) we don't know when we will get them on satellite.
Will the problems with blocking and 5.1 sound go away when I'm able to get local channels from satellite?
Unknown as of now. I have read that D* will send thru what the station sends them. So if the station sends a 15 mb HD feed with no 5.1, that's exactly what you will get.
Will a non-HD signal (SD is what it's called I guess) from my satellite look any different on an HD set than it does on my current set? Will the picture quality likely be better or worse than the picture on my current set?
Some tv's might make the picture look a little better, but I doubt it will be as good as compairing the SD feed from sat to the SD feed from the digital station. But if you get a bigger tv, that SD picture has to stretch to fit the size of the tv.
My current set has the old picture ratio. Would I need to do anything to a new set, ratio-wise, depending on whether I was getting an HD signal or SD? Does this mean I'd have to make 'adjustments' between programs depending on the signal?
For the most part you shouldn't have to. On the main digital channel if the program is in SD, 99% of the time the picture will be in 4:3, old picture ratio as you call it, with black bars on the side. When in HD, the picture will fill the entire screen, 16x9 on a widescreen tv.

As far as WKNO I did a scan last week and it was on then with the WKNO2 Coming Jan 9th screen with just a tone playing in the background.
Looks like WMC is now the multicast leader. 3 total digital channels. Shooting for PAX now.
On another note, I live in Marion and had the hardest time getting WMC to come in OTA, well all of a sudden a couple of months ago it started coming in great along with the other channels and with a decent signal strength. Well I was up in the attic a few weeks back and noticed that my silver sensor was pointing straight up in the air, so if you guys are having some issues, try pointing the silver sensor (if you have one) vertical and see if this helps, it is working wonders for me!
I once had my antenna shooting straight up in the air too and got everything beatiful. Kinda wierd. Then I got the game room finished and they ran ducts where I had the antenna. Screwed me up for months!

What is on the new channel?

BTW, forgot to mention this. Dish Network said they plan to roll out Memphis HD Locals this year.

Eng Dave,

I am still having lip sync problems. What is being done to fix this problem?

I have read that D* will send thru what the station sends them. So if the station sends a 15 mb HD feed with no 5.1, that's exactly what you will get.

So even after the locals are carried on satellite, I'm subject to losing HD if Curley, Larry or Moe forgets to turn it on or falls asleep on the switch and turns it off?

This is making cable look better all the time - that is unless cable is subject to the same problem.

Cable is subject to the same issues.. :(

So even after the locals are carried on satellite, I'm subject to losing HD if Curley, Larry or Moe forgets to turn it on or falls asleep on the switch and turns it off?

This is making cable look better all the time - that is unless cable is subject to the same problem.
That's why its a good idea to know the channels websites by heart to get their main number to call and turn the HD feed on. But for the most part, when there aren't hardware issues, the HD feed is turned on. EngDave is usually pretty good about letting us know when there has been an issue.

Eng Dave,

I am still having lip sync problems. What is being done to fix this problem?

Me too. So I doubt is our equipment. It is the only station that I receive that has this problem.

Follow up on PBS. I talked to the programming manager and he stated than they dropped the digital signal for the original WKNO on 10.1 and replaced it with WKNO-HD, which used to be 10.3. Now 10.3 is dead and 10.2 is for WKNO-2. The original WKNO can now only be found with an analog signal/antennae. Keep in mind this is only for over the air reception. It will not be until 2009, when then they merge the WKNO-HD and the original station signals. He said the HD channel is running about 15megs. It looks good . Anyway I think this is pretty lousy, but I am probably the only one that watches PBS with a HD receiver.

Follow up on PBS. I talked to the programming manager and he stated than they dropped the digital signal for the original WKNO on 10.1 and replaced it with WKNO-HD, which used to be 10.3. Now 10.3 is dead and 10.2 is for WKNO-2. The original WKNO can now only be found with an analog signal/antennae. Keep in mind this is only for over the air reception. It will not be until 2009, when then they merge the WKNO-HD and the original station signals. He said the HD channel is running about 15megs. It looks good . Anyway I think this is pretty lousy, but I am probably the only one that watches PBS with a HD receiver.
Good info. I watch it everynow and then, and I don't think it looks good either. It doesn't have any pop to it. It barely scrapes the surface of being HD. I expected more, but figured we'd get less.

Is your username your phone number?

Me too. So I doubt is our equipment. It is the only station that I receive that has this problem.

I too am still having this issue ONLY on WMC-HD.

He said the HD channel is running about 15megs. It looks good . Anyway I think this is pretty lousy, but I am probably the only one that watches PBS with a HD receiver.

I have TWC and when filling out mx6bfast form, I mentioned that over cable wkno is very good pq. I am still trying to figure out what is going one with Wkno2, I can not even get a channel guide. Looks good though, as long as they keep the 15 megs don't lessen it then I will be happy.

I still don't know what the deal is with TWC, and Comcast I was thinking about getting an new STB with firewire, but since the change is so close, or so they say, I wanted to wait.

Also doe's anyone watch Discovery Channel HD, what do you guys think of the equator series shows. Talk about nice, I just wish more channels would have that quality.

Rthoreau

Well I figured it out, your blind. :D Rats! You discovered my secret! :cool:

I dunno, maybe the size of your screen might be the culprit. I really have no idea.Same here. I was totally shooting in the dark with that one.

I see the blocking on my 42" Mitsubishi RPTV, and it looks even worse on my 32" Sharp Aquos LCD.A friend of mine has a 32" Aquos. Maybe he'll let me borrow it -- along with several vintage wines. :rolleyes: Here's a different approach. Has anyone reading this thread seen our locals on a large front projection system? Did you notice the blocking on it?]

But with their introduction of subchannels, the picture has degraded tremendously.Sadly, I didn't tune in until after the multicasts had begun.

Have you even seen the highlites of games on ESPN?No. Wiring the house for cable is prohibitively expensive and D* can't get ESPN HD through the large (!) Oak in my neighbor's back yard. Perhaps that will change with the new birds.

The games and even primetime broadcasts used to have an amazing 3-d look to them. Now it's barely even 2-d.I agree with you there. I've noticed a significant deterioration in picture quality just since the beginning of football season.

Like mollerup said, maybe you shouldn't look for it.I wish I had that luxury. My system is not just for personal enjoyment. It is used for professional evaluation of program material (movies, music, TV, games) and A/V technology. Historically, the work has been strictly audio, but video work is beginning to pick up. I can't afford to be missing something that's there. If a picture is bad, it needs to look bad.

Chase

EngDave and DTV Dave,

Thank you guys so much for contributing to this thread! I know we all really appreciate the inside information on technical issues.

Yes, I have a question, too. Are you familiar at all with the Dialog Normalization feature of Dolby Digital? If so, do you set the DialNorm value on your broadcast equipment, or does the network set it on the feed they send you?

The Memphis stations are broadcasting at different DialNorm values, which may or may not be intentional. The result, however, is a rather dramatic difference in the playback level of the broadcast audio. Are you aware of it?

Sincerely,

Chase

Ugh, NO HD for Smallville.... Called em and told em, hopefully they'll fix it...

Still nothing :( Could someone else call?.... 321-7668

Got a reply:
"I am told by our master control operators that tonight's WB program will not be in HD. I will make sure and forward your email to our engineers.

Sorry for the inconvenience."


Well, that's great... It's not like I've been waiting for this episode for over a month now. I swear, I should never have come back from Vegas. Their affiliates were a lot better...

Ugh, NO HD for Smallville.... Called em and told em, hopefully they'll fix it...

Still nothing :( Could someone else call?.... 321-7668

Got a reply:
"I am told by our master control operators that tonight's WB program will not be in HD. I will make sure and forward your email to our engineers.

Sorry for the inconvenience."


Well, that's great... It's not like I've been waiting for this episode for over a month now. I swear, I should never have come back from Vegas. Their affiliates were a lot better...
Hey, I was disappointed too! What the ****? This has got to be one of the highest rated shows on WB and they can't get their act together for it to be in HD. I assume it is just a local problem and not WB network problem. Let us know if their "engineers" send any type of response. :mad:

The Memphis stations are broadcasting at different DialNorm values, which may or may not be intentional. The result, however, is a rather dramatic difference in the playback level of the broadcast audio. Are you aware of it?
It's been noticed here big time on WPTY. If I change off of that channel I have to have the remote ready to dial down 8 decibels.


The Tigers next 2 games are at home on WLMT. I'm not completely sure that both games will be in HD, but I'm guessing that at least the UT game will be. Tommorrow night they play SMU at 7 which might be HD. I would like for everyone here to watch the game and if it is in HD, let me know what you thought of the PQ. Was it better, worse, the same? Of course, if this weekends game isn't HD, we will have to wait till the next HD game.

About the poll, I didn't expect WHBQ-DT to be live so soon, so I will add to the poll. I'll try to get that out soon and will let you know when I do.

Originally Posted by home_theatre_man
The Memphis stations are broadcasting at different DialNorm values, which may or may not be intentional. The result, however, is a rather dramatic difference in the playback level of the broadcast audio. Are you aware of it?

Unfortunately, the dialnorm (Dialog Normalization) value in the Harmonic MV-400 ATSC Encoder cannot be easily changed. In fact, it's not obvious what it is set for. The default setting for AC-3 encoders is usually -27, so this may be what it is using. When Fox programming is on the air, the dialnorm value is set by Fox (or more properly, by the program supplier), and this value is passed on unchanged by the local station (using a splicer rather than decoding and encoding).

Also unfortunately, most stations don't have the equipment to determine what the dialnorm value should be. Since local programming is from sources that have no AC-3 encoding, stations would need a device that can adjust the dialnorm setting by measuring each program and selecting the right value for dialog based on what it finds. Dolby makes such a device, but it is probably a few years away, at least for most stations. Once programming is distributed as an encoded stream, the value would be selected by the people who made the show, and that value would be retained all the way to the viewer's DTV receiver. Of course, nothing would stop the used car dealer from mis-adjusting the dialnorm value on his commercial to make it louder than it should be. That's where a monitoring device at the station could detect the problem and reset the value, thwarting him.

All that being said, for now it is still possible for the stations to jack around the level of the analog feed going to the encoder to make things more even between the stations (within reason - you don't want to get so high that you hit the brick wall of digital audio maximum value, or so low that noise is a factor), at least on local programming. Just let them know which way they need to go to make the levels closer.

Couldn't have said it better myself. :D

I haven't seen any mention of this, does anyone know if 5-1 will turn off its subchannels during the Olympics? We've had to put up with so much from that station they at least owe us that.

I have TWC and when filling out mx6bfast form, I mentioned that over cable wkno is very good pq. I am still trying to figure out what is going one with Wkno2, I can not even get a channel guide. Looks good though, as long as they keep the 15 megs don't lessen it then I will be happy.

I still don't know what the deal is with TWC, and Comcast I was thinking about getting an new STB with firewire, but since the change is so close, or so they say, I wanted to wait.
I have noticed that WKNO got a better score from those who had cable than OTA.

I'm waiting on word about Comcast also...

Has anyone reading this thread seen our locals on a large front projection system? Did you notice the blocking on it I've got a Panasonic 900U and a 103" screen but I've been watching most of the locals on a 55" Mitsu in the living room. I've watched a couple of CSI's on the big screen and they looked great.

-Robert

I've got a Panasonic 900U and a 103" screen but I've been watching most of the locals on a 55" Mitsu in the living room. I've watched a couple of CSI's on the big screen and they looked great.
Did you see blocking on both the big screen and the Mits? Which one do you think looked better?

Right now I'm only using composite video between the Mitsu and the HR10-250 since I moved the receiver into the theater room. I mainly watch CBS shows and don't see any blocking at all. The Panasonic connected to the HR10 via HDMI has an amazing picture with no blockyness.

What shows can I check out to look for this? I'll record them and check on both TV's.

-Robert

Maybe picture size does have something to do about it. Once you get a massive screen maybe it masks the blocking? But I haven't watched HD thru composite, so I don't know what might be missing there.

As far as what to watch, WREG. :D I was watching CSI:Miami last night and I was seeing blocking when the camera would change from one person to another in the interrogation room. Also other shows that change screens quickly and has people running around or whatever. NCAA b-ball has an HD game, and there are 2 this weekend on WREG so I'm not sure which one will be. Last week the Sunday game was HD. But also there is an NFL game on too, check that out.

And also what I mentioned earlier about the Tigers HD game (if in HD)

I also see that NBC has a HD hockey game Saturday, I need to check that out. WMC usually forgets to flip the switch on weekends, lets see if they are on the ball this weekend.

Unfortunately, the dialnorm (Dialog Normalization) value in the Harmonic MV-400 ATSC Encoder cannot be easily changed. In fact, it's not obvious what it is set for. The default setting for AC-3 encoders is usually -27, so this may be what it is using. When Fox programming is on the air, the dialnorm value is set by Fox (or more properly, by the program supplier), and this value is passed on unchanged by the local station (using a splicer rather than decoding and encoding).

Also unfortunately, most stations don't have the equipment to determine what the dialnorm value should be. Since local programming is from sources that have no AC-3 encoding, stations would need a device that can adjust the dialnorm setting by measuring each program and selecting the right value for dialog based on what it finds. Dolby makes such a device, but it is probably a few years away, at least for most stations. Once programming is distributed as an encoded stream, the value would be selected by the people who made the show, and that value would be retained all the way to the viewer's DTV receiver. Of course, nothing would stop the used car dealer from mis-adjusting the dialnorm value on his commercial to make it louder than it should be. That's where a monitoring device at the station could detect the problem and reset the value, thwarting him.

All that being said, for now it is still possible for the stations to jack around the level of the analog feed going to the encoder to make things more even between the stations (within reason - you don't want to get so high that you hit the brick wall of digital audio maximum value, or so low that noise is a factor), at least on local programming. Just let them know which way they need to go to make the levels closer.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the detailed response. It sounds like you guys are pretty well aware of the situation -- as I was hoping.

As you probably know, the DialNorm (DN) system is being used very ineffectively right now, due largely to the fact that program providers choose DN values based on criteria other than actual Leq peak-to-average level measurements. Many choose DN 27 because it is the default, and it happens to be appropriate for most movie soundtracks mixed in dubbing stages. (That's why DN 27 is the default.) Others choose DN 31 because they think DN 27 reduces dynamic range by 4dB, and they don't want to do that. The reasons go on and on. I expect you would agree that very few providers are actually producing programs with an accurate DN value.

As a result, I have observed that the networks and their affiliates each appear to have picked what amounts to a default DN value for all their programming. For example, CBS programming that I have received OTA and from DirecTV has all been DN 31. The other networks/affiliates, including FOX, appear to be using DN 27. Here is a list of what the Memphis stations were broadcasting as of five minutes ago. The following values are consistent with what I have been seeing since my DTV system came online in September 2005.

3-1: 2.0 at DN 31 (WREG also uses DN 31 for 5.1 bitstreams.)
3-2: 2.0 at DN 27

5-1: 2.0 at DN 27
5-2: 2.0 Surround at DN 23 (Dolby Surround flag is engaged.)
5-3: 2.0 at DN 30

10-1: 2.0 at DN 27
10-2: 2.0 at DN 27

13-1: 2.0 at DN 23 (WHBQ switches to DN 25 for 5.1 bitstreams.)

24-1: 2.0 at DN 27

30-1: 2.0 at DN 27

50-1: 2.0 at DN 0 (Yes, that's right!)
50-2: 2.0 at DN 27
50-3: 2.0 at DN 27
50-4: 2.0 at DN 27

WHBQ is the only station that doesn't appear to follow the pattern. Do you know if WHBQ is intentionally broadcasting at DN 23 and 25? If the FOX NFL Sunday Ticket feeds from DirecTV are any indication, FOX uses DN 27. It would be great if WHBQ could switch to DN 27 all the time, because it would match most of the other local affiliates and be only 4dB, instead of 6-8dB, softer than WREG.

Regards,

Chase

Maybe picture size does have something to do about it. Once you get a massive screen maybe it masks the blocking?I will bounce this idea off a couple of my industry contacts. They should know.

Chase

Maybe picture size does have something to do about it. Once you get a massive screen maybe it masks the blocking?Picture size probably does have an effect, but I can't figure how it would make it less visible. My projector is out of commission right now, as I'm remodeling the home theater, so I can't compare. But I would think that any artifacts visible on a small screen, would be that much larger and obvious on a bigger screen.

Anyone who doesn't know what micro-blocking looks like, take a look at The Tube on 5-2, and you will see an exaggerated example of it. A completely still picture looks somewhat soft, but reasonably good. But whenever there is motion or a camera pan, the picture breaks up into a blur of tiny blocks. OK, now you know what to look for.

Now, when viewing programs, sports especially, on WREG (and others), you will see the same effect. It is just not nearly so pronounced as on the very low bitrate 5-2, but it is there. A still picture look fantastic! But motion causes the picture to blur, and fast motion causes the picture to turn into a blurring mess of tiny blocks. Sometimes you can't really see the individual blocks, the picture just turns soft and blurry. Thing is, it wasn't this way before the multi-casting began. And it appears that 1080i is more bitrate sensitive than is 720p. But the 720p stations (WPTY and WHBQ) aren't multicasting anyway. Now, over here in Jonesboro, KAIT is multi-casting the main 720p channel, plus two subchannels, and the picture still looks good (much better than WREG, anyway). Although I think WPTY looks better to my eyes. Not because of blocking, but KAIT is doing something that throws the color balance off. The color just looks more natural to me on WPTY.

Called and asked about the WB shows not in HD. LAdy said there is some type of problem with the feed but engineering is working on it. ravma did you get a response from "the engineers" yet?

Nope, I haven't heard back from them... Any issues with UPN programming recently? I didn't get to see Gilmore Girls on Tuesday (on our affiliate). Was it in HD? Have they had ANY HD shows this week on UPN 30?

720p is progressive scan, 1080i is interlaced. In addition, 720p is only 1280x720 pixels vs. 1920x1080. Perhaps the smaller size, plus the fact that it isn't interlaced, makes the blocking less visible.

720p is only 1280x720 pixels vs. 1920x1080. Perhaps the smaller size, plus the fact that it isn't interlaced, makes the blocking less visible.Yes, this is true. 720p carries 921,600 pixels @ 60Hz, where 1080i carries 2,138,400 pixels @ 30Hz which is equivalent to 1,069,200 @ 60Hz, for a more direct comparison. So it looks like to me, that ABC and FOX have slightly less data to transmit for HD than do the rest. And yet they are using all their available bandwidth for HD, where those that need more bandwidth for HD are using the minimum allocation. But, in the future, broadcasters will probably figure out how to use their equipment better, or the equipment will get better, and they will be able to broadcast an ever more compressed signal with less visible artifacts.

Someone please tell me that we didn't just lose the Seahawks/Redskins HD feed from WHBQ...

Chase

It's sputtering for me too, so it's not just you.

Find a friend or neighbor with Directv. The NY Fox feed is fine (thank the football gods).

Thank god for DirecTV... Iam watching the game on channel 88... I hope WHBQ gets the signal back up..

Jerry

Same thing for me. Missed the first half. Tivo recorded an entire first half of blocks.

88 is working, but the feed on 88 doesn't look nearly as good as WHBQ usually looks. Lots of noise.

But at least it's up. What's up with our affiliate?

Well good, at least its not my TV. :)

I also have a fluctuating signal for 13-1, that has previously been solid. What causes this type of fluctuation?

From a few posts back by ravma...

I've noticed that programs sometimes aren't sticking straight to the HDTV spec.

Battlestar Galactica, for example, is broadcasting in 1280x1080i at 30fps.

Most HD football games on CBS are at 1920x1080i at 60fps. 60fps makes the interlacing much less noticable (but takes up a BUNCH of space on a tivo).

So you never know what you're going to get. Depends on the show.

Are you watching BSG on Universal HD? Which provider do you have?

13-1 is solid again.

Yeah, UHD on D*.

WREG NFL game looks pretty good. Little blocky. Phil Simms still looks like a dork in HD.

It's been noticed here big time on WPTY. If I change off of that channel I have to have the remote ready to dial down 8 decibels.


The Tigers next 2 games are at home on WLMT. I'm not completely sure that both games will be in HD, but I'm guessing that at least the UT game will be. Tommorrow night they play SMU at 7 which might be HD. I would like for everyone here to watch the game and if it is in HD, let me know what you thought of the PQ. Was it better, worse, the same? Of course, if this weekends game isn't HD, we will have to wait till the next HD game.

About the poll, I didn't expect WHBQ-DT to be live so soon, so I will add to the poll. I'll try to get that out soon and will let you know when I do.

I am watching the game in HD on UPN (which I am still amazed everytime I see a local game/local broadcast in HD) and I still see some of the blocking. This is especially true when there are graphics coming on and off the screen and when someone else moves in front of the camera view (i.e. between a long shot across court and an official comes in view very close to the camera then out of view).

Also I tried watching on two different tv's a 30" and a 56" and saw it on both. Also, I switched from 1080i to 720p and couldn't tell a difference.

D* downconverts their HD to 1280x1080i. It's not Universal HD's fault.

I thought the PQ of the Tigers game was much better. I still saw some blocking, but not as much as usual. The colors also looked better, but still a little soft. The reason why I was asking was I was told that WLMT was previous sending 25 mbs from the FEF, and then sending 15 mb OTA. He was going to send 45 from FEF and 17 OTA. I could tell the difference. I just wish they would do that always, if not go up to 19 mb's.

I didn't get a chance to watch the NFL game on WHBQ as the feed was down at the time. And I just changed seme season passes off of the D* HD feed. Looks like those are going back.

I caught some of the NHL game on WMC, and wasn't really impressed at all. There wasn't any depth to the picture. I also saw some swimming blocks on the ice. But it was better than ND as in not as much blocking. No where near the quality of HDNet.

WREG's NFL HD attempt, pathetic. Took me 2 plays to realize it is extremely bad, just like last weeks game. Hey, at least the 5.1 is on, thats the only good thing about it.

I didn't get a chance to watch the NFL game on WHBQ as the feed was down at the time.WHBQ looked about the same as usual to me -- when they were actually transmitting, that is.

WREG's NFL HD attempt, pathetic. Took me 2 plays to realize it is extremely bad, just like last weeks game.Well...something to report here at last. I finally saw artifacts in WREG's transmission. It seems two things have been throwing me off in the past.

First, I would not really classify what I saw today as blocking (although technically it may be). It was certainly nothing like the severe blocking I have seen on 5-2 and other DTV transmissions. When there was a close-up of a player running with the crowd in the background, I noticed a very slight, patchy loss of detail in the fast-moving crowd behind the trailing edge of the player. Faint, wispy vertical shadows accompanied the loss of detail. However, I never saw anything remotely resembling a distinct edge.

Second, the artifacts were barely discernible. I could only see them when I made a concerted effort. Even then it was hit or miss because the affected image area was so large and moving so fast that it was mostly a blur anyway. If I let my eyes follow their natural course and watch the primary subject of each shot, I never saw the first sign of an artifact. In fact, I doubt I would have found them at all if I hadn't just watched the afternoon game on WHBQ. All of those images were clean.

The short and tall of it is that the artifacts I saw today didn't bother me. I would never see them if I didn't specifically look for them. Now, the gradual loss of image depth and demensionality that I have noticed in the last six months does concern me. It makes me think the projector is always going out of focus... :(

Chase

Originally posted by home_theatre_man
WHBQ is the only station that doesn't appear to follow the pattern. Do you know if WHBQ is intentionally broadcasting at DN 23 and 25? If the FOX NFL Sunday Ticket feeds from DirecTV are any indication, FOX uses DN 27. It would be great if WHBQ could switch to DN 27 all the time, because it would match most of the other local affiliates and be only 4dB, instead of 6-8dB, softer than WREG.

WHBQ-DT can't easily change the dialnorm for their local programming, but they can jack up the audio level by 4 dB to make up for it. The dialnorm for FOX programming is set by FOX, and can't be changed by the affiliate without decoding and re-encoding (which would add unwanted artifacts to both the audio and video).

By the way, the WHBQ-DT transmitter had a crowbar issue on Saturday that caused it to automatically turn itself off, and had to be reset by hand at the transmitter site. The amount of crowbars seems excessive, so the transmitter manufacturer is being consulted for a fix.

Please stay on for "24"... Please stay on for "24"... Please stay on for "24"...

Please stay on for "24"... Please stay on for "24"... Please stay on for "24"...
No kidding

Here is a question that is probably a dumb one. Can anyone with a TW Scientific Atlanta 8300HD box here in Memphis tell me if it's HDMI port is turned on. I know some cable systems will sometimes disable feature on their set top boxes. I've been running on the composite cables for the past year, and would like to compare the difference with HDMI, but I don't want to drop the money for the HDMI cable if the port isn't active on the rear of my cable box. Thanks!

Please stay on for "24"... Please stay on for "24"... Please stay on for "24"...

I second that!! My brother's watching the last 7 episodes of Season 4 right now, so he can be ready for it tonight.

JSP: Not sure about that, but you could always get a cable and take it back if it's disabled.

This is odd. I got an HDTV capture card, and scanned. I'm picking up TWO WPTY's. WPTY_DT and WPTY_DT2. Anyone know anything about this?

Here is a question that is probably a dumb one. Can anyone with a TW Scientific Atlanta 8300HD box here in Memphis tell me if it's HDMI port is turned on. I know some cable systems will sometimes disable feature on their set top boxes. I've been running on the composite cables for the past year, and would like to compare the difference with HDMI, but I don't want to drop the money for the HDMI cable if the port isn't active on the rear of my cable box. Thanks!

Personally if your using composite I would switch now, as your most likely to have a degraded signal and pq. Most people use componet, the red, green, blue, cable for hookup. Also most people can't tell the difference between componet and hdmi. I also would save that connection for Blu-Ray or HD-DVD as they require a hdmi connection for full 1080p playback for Blu-Ray and 1080i for HD-DVD.

Also I would not buy a hdmi cable locally, as most will try to sell you monster cable, or something like that. Even the cables at Radio Shack are over priced. You really can get a good cable online for a fraction of the price, places like monoprice.com, and others that can be found in these forums.

Rthoreau

I agree with rthoreau on buying the cable online, but again, just to test to see if its active, it's a better idea to buy locally, so you can return it.

And about those two WPTYs.., This is really weird, WREG is coming up as WPTY_DT2 on my decoder... Go figure.

And about those two WPTYs.., This is really weird, WREG is coming up as WPTY_DT2 on my decoder... Go figure.
Maybe WREG wishes their pq was as good as WPTY, so they are trying to trick us. :p Actually, sometime last year I was getting 25-1 & 25-2, but it was the same program, not taking extra bandwidth away.

Watching the 2 HD programs so far, again see much blocking on both of them. NFL on WREG looks good on the far away shots, and once there is movement on the screen, blocking occurs. Same with the dog show on NBC.

I got an HDTV capture card...Which card did you get? Just curious.

It was a cheap $100 one at CompUSA. It has both Analog and Digital inputs, but the software isn't working very well, so I think it's going back.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=333086&pfp=SEARCH

Personally if your using composite I would switch now, as your most likely to have a degraded signal and pq. Most people use componet, the red, green, blue, cable for hookup. Also most people can't tell the difference between componet and hdmi. I also would save that connection for Blu-Ray or HD-DVD as they require a hdmi connection for full 1080p playback for Blu-Ray and 1080i for HD-DVD.

Also I would not buy a hdmi cable locally, as most will try to sell you monster cable, or something like that. Even the cables at Radio Shack are over priced. You really can get a good cable online for a fraction of the price, places like monoprice.com, and others that can be found in these forums.

Rthoreau

I meant component. Sorry. I always confuse the two.

WHBQ-DT can't easily change the dialnorm for their local programming, but they can jack up the audio level by 4 dB to make up for it."I understand. Local stuff is a little soft.

The dialnorm for FOX programming is set by FOX, and can't be changed by the affiliate without decoding and re-encoding (which would add unwanted artifacts to both the audio and video).No, you definiely don't want to recode the audio. I'm a little curious, though, why DirecTV Fox feeds were DN 27 if Fox is sending out DN 25. I wouldn't think DirecTV would recode, either.

By the way, the WHBQ-DT transmitter had a crowbar issue on Saturday that caused it to automatically turn itself off, and had to be reset by hand at the transmitter site. The amount of crowbars seems excessive, so the transmitter manufacturer is being consulted for a fix.We noticed. ;) Thanks for fixing it!

Please stay on for "24"... Please stay on for "24"... Please stay on for "24"Please no crowbars during "24"... Please no crowbars during "24"... Please no crowbars during "24"...and I assure you I will stay on!

Chase

Originally posted by home_theatre_man
No, you definiely don't want to recode the audio. I'm a little curious, though, why DirecTV Fox feeds were DN 27 if Fox is sending out DN 25. I wouldn't think DirecTV would recode, either.
That's a great point! I'm not sure what, if anything, DirecTV is doing to the HD Fox feed. I don't even have any way of seeing it. What do they run during non-network time, such as daytime? Do they cover up the gaps in the primetime feed that would be the local station's commercial breaks? The normal Fox network feed has a few seconds of black, then an animated Fox logo full-screen while the local stations run their breaks.

What I'm getting at is that DirecTV may be doing something funky with the feed that makes it different from what Fox affiliates see. I need to find a way to display the dialnorm value on the various Fox feeds that come out of the C-band Fox satellite receiver at the local station (there are several feeds in one ASI stream) and compare them to the one that comes out of the splicer. I can't think of why they would change it. Unfortunately, the Pixelmetrix stream analyzer can't decode the dialnorm value. I'll have to find something else that does.

Thanks for the info!

That's a great point! I'm not sure what, if anything, DirecTV is doing to the HD Fox feed. I don't even have any way of seeing it. What do they run during non-network time, such as daytime? Do they cover up the gaps in the primetime feed that would be the local station's commercial breaks? The normal Fox network feed has a few seconds of black, then an animated Fox logo full-screen while the local stations run their breaks.I'd be happy to tell you, but I can't get the Fox NY feed from DirecTV. Bloody trees. How about it, guys? Anyone who gets Fox from DirecTV want to comment?

What I'm getting at is that DirecTV may be doing something funky with the feed that makes it different from what Fox affiliates see. I need to find a way to display the dialnorm value on the various Fox feeds that come out of the C-band Fox satellite receiver at the local station (there are several feeds in one ASI stream) and compare them to the one that comes out of the splicer. I can't think of why they would change it. Unfortunately, the Pixelmetrix stream analyzer can't decode the dialnorm value. I'll have to find something else that does.My knowledge of broadcast is very limited, but I can contact some guys who might have a thought. I'll ask around. If there's any way to get a Dolby AC-3 S/PDIF or AES/EBU output from the C-Band receiver or the splicer, I have equipment that will display the DN value.

Thanks for the info!You're welcome. Whatever I can do to help.

Chase

What do they run during non-network time, such as daytime? Do they cover up the gaps in the primetime feed that would be the local station's commercial breaks? The normal Fox network feed has a few seconds of black, then an animated Fox logo full-screen while the local stations run their breaks.
Yes, we get local commercials for WNYW in NY. It's What New Yorkers Watch. :)

Also wanted to add, the FOX pq looks bad, both OTA and D*. Totally not what I was expecting. Just not sharp on the main camera.

Also wanted to add, the FOX pq looks bad, both OTA and D*. Totally not what I was expecting. Just not sharp on the main camera.Same here. The image looks very soft. Thought it might be my new calibration settings, but apparently not.

Well, all I can say is, from a producer's/writer's standpoint, this is a GREAT story, but from a fan's standpoint, I'm PISSED.

Yeah, 24's back.... :-p
I've noticed a LOT of pixelation though. Maybe that's normal for HD? At this point, I wouldnt know otherwise.

Yeah, 24's back.... :-p
I've noticed a LOT of pixelation though. Maybe that's normal for HD? At this point, I wouldnt know otherwise.
hahahaha.

I saw it thru D* a lot. Were you watching OTA or D*?

OTA. How bad was it on D*?

OTA. How bad was it on D*?
The beginning shots were pretty bad, but after the first 10 minutes I didn't notice it as much. I'll try watching it OTA tomorrow night. I was going to change the season pass to WHBQ, but after the crowbar issue I re-thought that decision.

I think maybe WREG has downgraded their multicast signal. I was flipping channels during the game and their multicast channel(through a Time Warner cable box) was blocky....not sure about the PQ. Could this have been the reason that the football games looked solid?

Does anyone have problems with audio sync on WMC-HD? Every other Channel that I watch in HD through my TW Cable looks fine.

I think maybe WREG has downgraded their multicast signal. I was flipping channels during the game and their multicast channel(through a Time Warner cable box) was blocky....not sure about the PQ. Could this have been the reason that the football games looked solid?

Does anyone have problems with audio sync on WMC-HD? Every other Channel that I watch in HD through my TW Cable looks fine.

Yes, it seems that most people have experienced the audio sync issue on WMC-HD or 5-1 whether OTA or on cable. We are not sure what the resolution is, but it does seem to be a station problem and not your equipment for two reasons. First, just about everyone has noticed it on a variety of different equipment and second, it is the only channel that this problem has been noticed on.

If I remeber correctly, EngDave (the engineer at WMC) gave some type of explanation for the problem quite a few posts ago if you want to search for it.

redmikeu: NC3 Anytime always looks that blocky. I personally didn't see any improvement yesterday on 3-1.

DTV Dave,

Are you receiving Dolby E from FOX, then retransmitting as Dolby Digital?

Chase

How can the Golden Globes, which honors TV, not even be in HD or is it just not on HD locally?

It's on NBC. What did you expect? :confused:

It's national, not local. NBC doesn't have enough equipment.

It's on NBC. What did you expect? :confused:

It's national, not local. NBC doesn't have enough equipment.

Yeah, you're right, I should have known! :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by: home_theatre_man
DTV Dave,

Are you receiving Dolby E from FOX, then retransmitting as Dolby Digital?

Chase

WHBQ-DT sends the MPEG-2 ASI output of the Fox splicer directly to the DTV transmitter and to Time-Warner Cable via fiber. The format of the audio stream (and the video stream, as well) is maintained as Fox transmits it via their C-band satellite link to the affiliates. Fox transmits the audio as Dolby Digital when it is available (before the splicer, it was distributed as Dolby E). The splicer takes the MPEG-2 ASI stream from the Fox C-band receiver at the local station and "splices" to and from the MPEG-2 ASI output from the station's DTV encoder (usually upconverted NTSC). The big advantage of the splicer is that it eliminates the need to decode the Fox MPEG-2 stream back to 720p HD-SDI video and AES audio for switching between the Fox feed and local programming, then re-encoding it back to MPEG-2 (and Dolby) for transmission. It can also key a logo, as is so painfully obvious here!

By the way, the WHBQ-DT audio (for local programming) will be jacked up by 4 dB shortly - we'll see how well it matches everyone else. I'm still looking for a way of displaying the dialnorm value without buying a box just for that.

UPN 30 is STILL down. Gilmore Girls in SD tonight.

Here is a question that is probably a dumb one. Can anyone with a TW Scientific Atlanta 8300HD box here in Memphis tell me if it's HDMI port is turned on. I know some cable systems will sometimes disable feature on their set top boxes. I've been running on the composite cables for the past year, and would like to compare the difference with HDMI, but I don't want to drop the money for the HDMI cable if the port isn't active on the rear of my cable box. Thanks!

Yes it is active and I use it on my 8300. Lots of peope have more than one digital input and can use HDMI for more than one source as I do. Depending on the size of your display you may or may not see much difference. I can easily see the difference and the digital connection is much cleaner.

Called and asked about the WB shows not in HD. LAdy said there is some type of problem with the feed but engineering is working on it. ravma did you get a response from "the engineers" yet?

I called about this today as I am a "Smallville" fan and the show is hardly watchable in SD. The person I talked to said it was a closed caption issue. Something about a digital to analog conversion and losing the CC. They are required to have CC and since it doesn't work with the HD broadcast they are broadcasting in SD. I will probably quit watching and rent the DVDs or watch it on HDNet next year. I really hate all the banners on WB anyway, they are really annoying and now it is in SD.

Are you joking? It's a CC problem? That's just pathetic.
I emailed them, and still haven't gotten a reply.

You'd better watch, though. I doubt you'll be able to avoid spoilers, with, well. you know what's gonna happen in two weeks.. :-p

Are you joking? It's a CC problem? That's just pathetic.
I emailed them, and still haven't gotten a reply.

You'd better watch, though. I doubt you'll be able to avoid spoilers, with, well. you know what's gonna happen in two weeks.. :-p
What's even stranger is they used to show the them in HD WITH cc until they got rid of the captions.

It's hard, but I am currently watching season 4 on HDNet. I'm always going to be a season behind.

mx: You are REALLY going to have to isolate yourself. The 100th ep is coming up, and what happens is going be everywhere, I'm sure.

It's hard to believe that Smallville's 100th is in 2 weeks. It doesnt seem like it's been that long.

I say show em in HD with CC. Better than SD. Smallville is letterboxed, so you get black on ALL FOUR sides on the screen on an HDTV.

Guys,

Where do I get to see the Superbowl on TV (HD) this year in Memphis? Also, I live in Collierville what antenna should I get to watch the programming?

Thanks for your help

SriPos

I called about this today as I am a "Smallville" fan and the show is hardly watchable in SD. The person I talked to said it was a closed caption issue. Something about a digital to analog conversion and losing the CC. They are required to have CC and since it doesn't work with the HD broadcast they are broadcasting in SD. I will probably quit watching and rent the DVDs or watch it on HDNet next year. I really hate all the banners on WB anyway, they are really annoying and now it is in SD.

That just sucks! I too have been a Smallville fan, but it really is horrible in SD. It sounds like that is a questionable explanation with "digital to analog"? Anyway, I'm going to email them as well, maybe if enough of us email them, they'll hurry up and fix it. :mad:

Guys,

Where do I get to see the Superbowl on TV (HD) this year in Memphis? Also, I live in Collierville what antenna should I get to watch the programming?

Thanks for your help

SriPos

The Superbowl will be carried on Fox ABC this year and luckily Memphis Fox just got their HD tower up after a 2+ year wait. Anyway, you have several options. DirecTV will have it on their national Fox HD feed, which you can request and get in the Memphis area. You could also use Time Warner Cable. Finally if you have OTA capability on your TV, you can use anything from an indoor set top antenna (my personal favorite is the Zenith Silver Senor) to a roof mounted bowtie antenna. You will probably need to go to Antennaweb (http://www.antennaweb.org/) and type in your address to find out the proper antenna and orientation or someone else in this forum from Collierville may be able to give you some location specific guidance.

The Superbowl will be carried on Fox this year and luckily Memphis Fox just got their HD tower up after a 2+ year wait. Anyway, you have several options. DirecTV will have it on their national Fox HD feed, which you can request and get in the Memphis area. You could also use Time Warner Cable. Finally if you have OTA capability on your TV, you can use anything from an indoor set top antenna (my personal favorite is the Zenith Silver Senor) to a roof mounted bowtie antenna. You will probably need to go to Antennaweb (http://www.antennaweb.org/) and type in your address to find out the proper antenna and orientation or someone else in this forum from Collierville may be able to give you some location specific guidance.
Actually, it's on ABC this season. But I would still use the website above to figure out what you will need to get the signal OTA. That is if you don't have TW.
I can tell you a co-worker who just recently went HD lives south of Collierville and he can get WPTY-DT with no problem. He has an outdoor antenna in his attic.

Actually, it's on ABC this season. But I would still use the website above to figure out what you will need to get the signal OTA. That is if you don't have TW.
I can tell you a co-worker who just recently went HD lives south of Collierville and he can get WPTY-DT with no problem. He has an outdoor antenna in his attic.

Doh!!! Well let me take my foot out of my mouth real quick...Ok there. Well, sorry about the misinformation on the Network. :o

I'll also going to edit the orginal post so nobody reads it and gets confused (or thinks I'm a big dufus)!!!

Gentlemen,

Thanks a lot for the info...
I have one more question....
I'm currently subscribed to DishNetWork HD (SuperDish). The cable from the Satellite dish come to my living room thru the attic. Now, my question is... if I choose to use an outdoor antenna for the local programming and stick it in the attic, is it possible to combine the signal from the Dish and the signal from the antenna? So that I donot have to run 'another cable' from attic to my living-room? Has anyone tried this before? I was in RadioShack lastnight and found a good one (well... the store guy suggested) for $45.00. But I think this should be placed in the attic rather than in the living room. Please guide me....

Thanks for your kind help.

SriPos

Gentlemen,

Thanks a lot for the info...
I have one more question....
I'm currently subscribed to DishNetWork HD (SuperDish). The cable from the Satellite dish come to my living room thru the attic. Now, my question is... if I choose to use an outdoor antenna for the local programming and stick it in the attic, is it possible to combine the signal from the Dish and the signal from the antenna? So that I donot have to run 'another cable' from attic to my living-room? Has anyone tried this before? I was in RadioShack lastnight and found a good one (well... the store guy suggested) for $45.00. But I think this should be placed in the attic rather than in the living room. Please guide me....

Thanks for your kind help.

SriPos

Well, you probably could try combining signals with a diplexer. I tried it with my rooftop antenna that is split between two tv's. When I did, I noticed some loss of signal to the tv that was using the diplexer vs. the one that had its own dedicated cable so I ended up running another cable.

So, I'm not sure if it was my diplexer I was using or just the fact that any diplexer will reduce the signal somehwat. Anyone else have suggestions?

I am using a multiswitch in the attic so each cable can be either an OTA or satellite run. I don't know what the back of your stb looks like, but you could combine them and then use the diplexer to split them if there are separate satellite and OTA inputs at the stb.

btw...I added new pics from the NFL and NCAA b-ball game from Sunday to the website. Thanks to ravma for them. the website is www.sugarplumgals.com/hd/pictures_of_wreg.htm

Front page of the CA.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6952971&posted=1#post6952971

Universal HD is now on the schedule on channel 862. I think they told me it would be Feb 10th before it is available. I had asked about it when I called them asking about the problem with UPN30 not showing Smallville in HD. I don't know if this will be part of the HD package or an extra charge. I would't pay much for it.

So did WPTYdude get a new job? First WLMT loses HD for the WB, and this morning the infamous Tivo-stutter is back on WPTY (it's unwatchable--constant freezeups and stutters, but only on the HD-Tivo). It's like we're going back in time to the HD Dark Ages.

I modified the poll with a new page for WHBQ OTA, and updated overall results. The direct link to the WHBQ OTA only is http://sugarplumgals.com/hd/whbq_ota_hd.htm . Please retake the 2 parts if you have taken it previously. If not, take it from the beginning.

I am using a multiswitch in the attic so each cable can be either an OTA or satellite run. I don't know what the back of your stb looks like, but you could combine them and then use the diplexer to split them if there are separate satellite and OTA inputs at the stb.

btw...I added new pics from the NFL and NCAA b-ball game from Sunday to the website. Thanks to ravma for them. the website is www.sugarplumgals.com/hd/pictures_of_wreg.htm

Thanks for posting the new pics. Yeah, something's wrong. I totally see the blocking here, but not on my projector. I'll go figure out what's up. Until then, ignore my ravings... :eek:

BTW, the problem with WREG I posted about last week showed up on WHBQ, so it must not be related to transfer-rate -- unless they were running lower due to the crowbar issues.

Chase

Thanks for posting the new pics. Yeah, something's wrong. I totally see the blocking here, but not on my projector. I'll go figure out what's up. Until then, ignore my ravings... :eek:
If you can't see the blocking on your projector I've got to get me one like yours!

So did WPTYdude get a new job? First WLMT loses HD for the WB, and this morning the infamous Tivo-stutter is back on WPTY (it's unwatchable--constant freezeups and stutters, but only on the HD-Tivo). It's like we're going back in time to the HD Dark Ages.


UGGHHH!!! that is horrible. I remember the "stutter" from when I frist go thte HDTivo and thankfully haven't seen it in a long long time. But you are correct, it is back and unwatchable. Has anyone else here heard what's going on with this? Is there any apparent problem on non-HDTivo (because you know they'll blame it on our equipment) cable or OTA? Anyone remember what the problem was before?

Also, I noticed that I am getting poor signal from 5-1, which seems to happen evertyime the wind kicks up.

Also too bad the Memphis vs. UT game wasn't in HD last night, that would have been a good one!

mx: Thanks for posting the pics. :)

Can't believe about those twins on Idol. That's just crazy.

mollerup: 5-1 and the subchannels always seem to be the weakest ones for me too. I always have to adjust the antenna to get it to work properly.

I think I'm going to have to put up my massive outdoor antenna again...

Can anyone confirm the UPN shows have been in HD? Or is it just WB programming?

Well, I just called about the stuttering problem that is once again showing up on HDTivos on 24-1. I asked to speak to engineering/programming and all I got a voicemail so left a message. Also, I emailed about the problem with the WB shows 2 days ago and never got a response.

MX...didn't you have a complete list of all the station's contacts somewhere? I searched the posts in this forum, but didn't find them...anyway if you do have that list still, please repost or direct me to it. Thanks!

WREG: ron.walter@wreg.com (station president and GM)
WMC: not one showing, either im EngDave or email the station pres and gm hmeagle@wmctv.com
WKNO: wknopi@wkno.org
WHBQ: david.brant@foxtv.com chief engineer
WPTY: programming@abc24.com (will probably take a few days to get a response back, if you get one at all)
WLMT: programming@abc24.com

Did anyone Tivo Lost or Invasion last night and see the stuttering then?

Did anyone Tivo Lost or Invasion last night and see the stuttering then?
First, thanks for the list again.

I tivod LOST last night and did not see any stuttering or other problems except one lost signal for about 5 seconds. Otherwise it was perfect the entire show.

Is there any apparent problem on non-HDTivo (because you know they'll blame it on our equipment) cable or OTA?

I have the same problem OTA on WPTY-DT with a non-Tivo D* H10. Signal is stable at 100% and sound is locked. Picture breaks up periodically.

5-1 and the subchannels always seem to be the weakest ones for me too. I always have to adjust the antenna to get it to work properly.Ditto.


Chase

I have the same problem OTA on WPTY-DT with a non-Tivo D* H10. Signal is stable at 100% and sound is locked. Picture breaks up periodically.

I saw this periodically on my E86's back when it first started happening, but not as bad as on the HDTivo.

mollerup: 5-1 and the subchannels always seem to be the weakest ones for me too. I always have to adjust the antenna to get it to work properly.
I got an email from Dave at WMC a few weeks ago saying they were having some equipment problems and they had to decrease the power. But then again, everyone I have spoken to or read on here say WMC is the hardest to get.

Did you get a new capture card yet? I wonder if the stuttering will show up on your pc too.

Nope, I haven't ordered it yet. I've been trying to find a good deal.
(Anyone know of one? Looking for the FusionHDTV5 Gold. USB preferred..) I wish there was some place to get it locally.

I DID get a new nVidia card, and its AMAZING how much better my PC looks connected to the HDTV compared to my old Radeon.

UGH, UPN 30 just ran a promo for Smallville, and it said that it's on at Midnight tonight. Why? I don't know, but there DEFINATELY won't be any HD for Smallville tonight.

Might want to check at 10 though, there isnt supposed to be anything on tonight besides UPN and WB programming.

Definately seeing the pausing on WPTY with my HDTivo, but not so far on my E86. Looks like I will be sending an email tomorrow.

Update: No reason Smallville should be on at 12. UPN programming's on now, and in HD.
So, either it's fixed, or it's a WB problem.

Flipped over to WPTY, no pausing on my TV. Breaking up a bit, but I think that's an antenna problem/

UGGHHH!!! that is horrible. I remember the "stutter" from when I frist go thte HDTivo and thankfully haven't seen it in a long long time. But you are correct, it is back and unwatchable. Has anyone else here heard what's going on with this? Is there any apparent problem on non-HDTivo (because you know they'll blame it on our equipment) cable or OTA? Anyone remember what the problem was before?

Also, I noticed that I am getting poor signal from 5-1, which seems to happen evertyime the wind kicks up.

Also too bad the Memphis vs. UT game wasn't in HD last night, that would have been a good one!


It was on in HD on TW Cable. It was on INHD (CH851) and I'm almost sure they will reshow it during the next week. They always ran the football games 2 or 3 times.

WPTY is back to normal this morning. Whatever it was, they fixed it.

Now, about Smallville in SD yet again...

One thing's certain: It's a WB problem. UPN programming was in HD last night.

I spoke too soon. WPTY just started stuttering again (it was fine until about five minutes ago). And I just checked my Zenith STB, and it's freezing sporadically as well.

From the Commercial Appeal Jan. 20, 2006.

Public TV to resume air signal
Shelby Farms tower taken out of service Wednesday

By Michael Lollar
Contact
January 20, 2006

WKNO-TV hopes to be back on the air today for about 112,000 customers who receive their transmissions through antenna service.

The station's tower on Raleigh-LaGrange in the Shelby Farms area was taken out of service Wednesday when a malfunction was discovered during routine maintenance, said Teri Sullivan, WKNO promotions manager.




Sullivan said station engineers have not yet determined the exact cause of the problem, but, depending on weather conditions, they expect to make repairs by today.

The station serves 658,250 households in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, and most of them receive their broadcasts through cable services, including Time Warner Cable, which were not affected by the outage.

The radio stations in Memphis (WKNO FM 91.1) and Jackson, Tenn., (WKNP FM 90.1) were unaffected by the outage, but sister stations in Dyersburg (WKNQ FM 90.7) and Senatobia (WKNA FM 88.9), lost their feeds from the tower. Broadcasts from the stations, which are heavily oriented to news-talk radio, will resume when the tower is repaired. In the meantime, WKNO has routed the FM 91.1 signal to those listeners.

Didn't see anyone here say anything about it yesterday. Is anyone at home able to check it now?

10-1 and 10-3 both showing PBS-HD no OTA service of the regular WKNO programming.

Nope, I haven't ordered it yet. I've been trying to find a good deal.
(Anyone know of one? Looking for the FusionHDTV5 Gold. USB preferred..) I wish there was some place to get it locally.

I DID get a new nVidia card, and its AMAZING how much better my PC looks connected to the HDTV compared to my old Radeon.

Are you going to use it for the OTA options, if so then you could get a cheaper card that only does OTA. If your going the cable route I would hold off, as it all depends on the cable company not encrypting the local channels. If they use 5C then I your really going to be in a world of hurt.

Also they are supposed to release cable cards, that will allow you to do the same thing anytime now. This will allow you to record any channel you have paid for on cable. Also if you have satellite service, it might be worth waiting also.

Rthoreau

I've read about the cable cards for the PC, but I'm not going to wait that long. Plus, I'm sure there's going to be lots of DRM attached.

TWC does unencrypted HD broadcasts of local stations, but my mail goal is OTA. I just want a card that's very stable and people recommend highly. The FHDTV5 is what I hear recommended most often.

The Fusion cards are fine (I have a F3T). But their software is not yet a reliable DVR solution. They may get there someday, but some of us have been dealing with almost monthly software updates for over two years, and they are not there yet. From what I've read, the people happy with their Fusion cards are using it with MythTV on linux.

I sent an email to WPTY about the WB not in HD and haven't gotten a response, but I have a theory why we aren't getting it in HD anymore. I noticed local commercials on the DT station last night. We never had that with the national HD feed.

I sent an email to WPTY about the WB not in HD and haven't gotten a response, but I have a theory why we aren't getting it in HD anymore. I noticed local commercials on the DT station last night. We never had that with the national HD feed.
I sent an email and left a voicemail on the 18th and still haven't heard a thing.

mx: That was my thought too.... So we get screwed over yet again? Shows that they just don't care about us.
I too haven't gotten a reply.

Neil: I would be using it with either MythTV or Snapstream. My other card was so generic though, I couldn't get it to work with either or those, and the software included kept crashing.

Is there something you would recommend?

mx: That was my thought too.... So we get screwed over yet again? Shows that they just don't care about us.
I too haven't gotten a reply.
If it is true, then I will stop watching WLMT and cut down WPTY. I watch clse to 10 shows on both combined, not counting the news. Of those there are 2 that I can't miss, Reba and Grey's Anatomy. The other will be off my Tivo.

Just turned on the game on WREG, blocking everywhere. What should I expect? The only good thing is is Duke loses Memphis should go up a spot.

Grey's Anatomy: Nice choice. :)

I agree, I'll stop watching them too. I already didn't watch Smallville. I'm going to get it in HD from 'friends'. (And I don't give a crap, cause clearly they don't either...)

Grey's Anatomy: Nice choice. :)

I agree, I'll stop watching them too. I already didn't watch Smallville. I'm going to get it in HD from 'friends'. (And I don't give a crap, cause clearly they don't either...)

I wish us boycotting would make a difference, but unfortunately our numbers are just too small for them to even care. Probably the only thing that might make any difference is if we bombarded the advertisers with letters or emails about the fact that they are losing viewers. That might actually make them think about things in a different way.

I would be using either MythTV or Snapstream. Is there something you would recommend?Not really. I own a Fusion, a MyHD and a Air2PC. I use the MyHD the most, but don't like everything about it. I got the Fusion for QAM, but looks like my cable company encrypts everything. :( And the Air2PC was for it's Linux drivers, but now the newer kernals support Fusion card natively, but I havn't had time to play around with 'em. I used to own a HiPix card. None of them work as smoothly as a Tivo, but I hope to find time soon to try MythTV again.

Us boycotting won't make a difference, just the same as WATCHING a show won't make a difference, because none of us are Nielson families (unless there's something I don't know! :)), so they have no way of knowing whether or not we are actually watching...

Ah the flaws of the TV system..


Thanks for the advice Neil. I'm going to go ahead and get a Fusion. I always love tinkering around with stuff that doesn't work right. ;)

Just about to move my 4228 outside. It is currently in the attic and I'm having problems getting 13 now that it is on. Yesterday I found this
Channel Lineups when analog goes dark (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2649A2.pdf)

It seems channel 5 and 13 will be going back to 5 and 13. Therefore, the 4228 won't be the best antenna to get all of the locals.

Does anyone know if this is correct?

Just about to move my 4228 outside. It is currently in the attic and I'm having problems getting 13 now that it is on. Yesterday I found this
Channel Lineups when analog goes dark (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2649A2.pdf)

It seems channel 5 and 13 will be going back to 5 and 13. Therefore, the 4228 won't be the best antenna to get all of the locals.

Does anyone know if this is correct?
WHBQ-DT plans to move its digital signal to Channel 13 when the transition period is over (whenever that is), so any antenna that now picks up analog signals on Channel 13 well will work just fine on DTV. Since some Memphis stations will be remaining on the UHF band, you could either combine separate VHF and UHF antennas together, or use a combination VHF/UHF antenna.

I'm actually looking forward to WHBQ-DT going to channel 13, because I seldom get enough signal from 53, but analog 13 comes in pretty good on my CM4228.

Channel 5 is another story though. The 4228 has negative gain on channel 5, and I get fair reception on 52.

I suspect we have a few years yet before analog shutoff. I'm all for the transition, but I'm not going to make any antenna changes until then.

Well, I'm getting the "stutter" on ABC 24-1 on my HDTIVO again. Anyone else having the problem. I have a solid 92 signal strength, but the picture is stuttering. My wife really wants it cleared up by the time Desperate Housewives comes on. (Yes, even that show looks better in HD) :)

Well, I'm getting the "stutter" on ABC 24-1 on my HDTIVO again. Anyone else having the problem. I have a solid 92 signal strength, but the picture is stuttering. My wife really wants it cleared up by the time Desperate Housewives comes on. (Yes, even that show looks better in HD) :)

Yep, stutter's back here.

Just about to move my 4228 outside. It is currently in the attic and I'm having problems getting 13 now that it is on. Yesterday I found this
Channel Lineups when analog goes dark (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2649A2.pdf)

It seems channel 5 and 13 will be going back to 5 and 13. Therefore, the 4228 won't be the best antenna to get all of the locals.

Does anyone know if this is correct?

I cannot believe the FCC is going to assign a permenant low-vhf channel for DTV. :mad: Here, we have KETS (our PBS/AETN station) operating digital on channel 5 but it has applied for channel 7 (KATV's soon to be vacated channel), and channel 10 as a second choice. You will need a second antenna for WMC when they go live on low vhf. There are issues with impuse noise that cause audio and sometimes video dropouts and maybe some E-skip QRM. However, the 4228 will work with channel 13. I use a small 8 (really 4 dipole) element log-periodic and combined it with the 4228 and it works well in my location. I would recommend a CM 7777 preamp since it has switchable seperate vhf/uhf inputs, but two antennas can be combined with equal lengths of cable provided there is proper vertical seperation between the two antennas. Of course, YMMV.

H.

Lincoln County, AR

Yep, stutter's back here.
Noticed it on my E86 also.

If you can't see the blocking on your projector I've got to get me one like yours!

I finally saw the blocking today on WREG. Dude, it is bloody awful! Why haven't you guys been complaining about it!? ;)

So how come I suddenly saw it after all this time? I found a way to freeze the picture on screen, and BANG there it was big as life! :eek: For some reason, I still don't notice any blocking when the picture is moving. I'm really surprised considering the severity. Perhaps my eye is not experienced enough to recognize it on a big screen in the midst of all that motion.

May I have my Anti-Blocking Club membership card now? :D

Chase

Welcome to the club.. Fun, ain't it?

*sigh* DEFINATELY no HD for the 100th Smallville on Thursday. It won't air until Midnight because of basketball.

Why can't they run the UPN shows AFTER the WB shows? I mean, this IS the 100th episode...

Not sure if anyone noticed but on Friday night we setup our Dolby Encoder to pass the 5.1 from NBC. We turned it back off for the weekend (if it did not work did not want to ruin everyones weekend) but will be turning it back on tonight. If I could get some feedback that would be great. We are hoping that the new AES reference generator we bought may stabilize the lip sync issues. I can promise you that we are going to find a way to solve that issue. If we have to go through 10 digital IRD's from NBC to find one that is stable we will.

Please let me know how it sounds tonight.

David E
WMC

Sweet.

Is Surface 5.1? I'll be watching that tonight. If not I think Medium is. I'll sneak a peak at that.

Anyone see this thread about getting your local ABC affiliate to turn off the sub-channels for the Superbowl?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=634561

I think this is a great idea. Isn't there someone from WPTY on the board here? Hint Hint!

Yeah he's registered, but not actually here. :) If he was, we would have some kind of answer to the WB not in HD.

What we need to do is email programming@abc24.com and ask to have the full bandwidth sent for the game (which they don't do anyways), with DD 5.1. The person on that thread says to email the suits, but they aren't listed on the site. Maybe need to put a blurb in the email asking to send it to the station gm.

What we need to do is email programming@abc24.com and ask to have the full bandwidth sent for the game (which they don't do anyways), with DD 5.1.


Do you mean that they are already streaming full bandwidth for 24.1 or they are not currently at full bandwidth? I guess I dont get what you are saying in parenthesis.

They dont have DD 5.1 now, and chances are, I dont see them getting it going in 2 weeks. However, running the game at full bandwidth is entirely possible. Whats the holdup on 5.1 again?

I have sent an email about the WB but then went out of town. Sounds like they haven't fixed that yet.

EngDave since you are back, what are the chances of cutting off the multicasting for the Olympics? I didn't have HD during the 2004 Olympics, and I am really looking forward to them this year. If you don't make the decisions can you pass it up the chain?

Do you mean that they are already streaming full bandwidth for 24.1 or they are not currently at full bandwidth? I guess I dont get what you are saying in parenthesis.

They dont have DD 5.1 now, and chances are, I dont see them getting it going in 2 weeks. However, running the game at full bandwidth is entirely possible. Whats the holdup on 5.1 again?
They only send WPTY-DT and WLMT-DT at 15 mb's. They don't run any subchannels for either station, so there isn't any reason why they can't send the full bandwidth. I've asked repeated times about sending the full bw and not wasting the rest, and don't really get an answer to it. I guess one saving grace is the engineer said he finally saw the blocking we are complaining about here during the Tigers most recent HD game. He mentioned he was going to up the bw to 17 mbs next time.

No telling what the holdup on 5.1 is. The engineer is working 3 stations, WLMT & WPTY, and one in Jackson, TN. Maybe he needs some help.

I will pass your request up the chain. That decision is above my pay grade, as the saying goes.

I will check tomorrow for your comments.
Thanks

David E
WMC

Not sure if anyone noticed but on Friday night we setup our Dolby Encoder to pass the 5.1 from NBC. We turned it back off for the weekend (if it did not work did not want to ruin everyones weekend) but will be turning it back on tonight. If I could get some feedback that would be great. We are hoping that the new AES reference generator we bought may stabilize the lip sync issues. I can promise you that we are going to find a way to solve that issue. If we have to go through 10 digital IRD's from NBC to find one that is stable we will.

Please let me know how it sounds tonight.

David E
WMC

I will definitely check WMC-DT audio tonight, but it will have to be around 24.

Do you receive Dolby E from NBC and recode, or do they send you Dolby Digital ready to transmit?

Chase

They only send WPTY-DT and WLMT-DT at 15 mb's. They don't run any subchannels for either station, so there isn't any reason why they can't send the full bandwidth. I've asked repeated times about sending the full bw and not wasting the rest, and don't really get an answer to it. I guess one saving grace is the engineer said he finally saw the blocking we are complaining about here during the Tigers most recent HD game. He mentioned he was going to up the bw to 17 mbs next time.

No telling what the holdup on 5.1 is. The engineer is working 3 stations, WLMT & WPTY, and one in Jackson, TN. Maybe he needs some help.

I'll start asking them about the bandwidth and 5.1 audio, too. I'll send an e-mail today. Unless we're all missing something, there's no reason they should be broadcasting only 15 Mbps.

Chase

I will pass your request up the chain. That decision is above my pay grade, as the saying goes.

I will check tomorrow for your comments.
Count me in too.

Yippeee. I finally got a response from Scott Prentis, chief engineer at ABC 24 (and I assume UPN). I have been playing phone tag with him but for those experiencing the stuttering, this is the problem I was calling him about. I left him a message detailing that this used to be a problem about a year ago and then it was "fixed" somehow. Does anyone recall what the problem was or solution before. IIRC when the equipment was swapped between 24 and 30 the stuttering stopped on one and began on the other. Anyone else with information and I'll pass it along when I get back in touch with him.

Thanks.

P.S> Thanks for the info EngDave...I'll check out the 5.1 on 5-1 tonight!

Yippeee. I finally got a response from Scott Prentis, chief engineer at ABC 24 (and I assume UPN). I have been playing phone tag with him but for those experiencing the stuttering, this is the problem I was calling him about. I left him a message detailing that this used to be a problem about a year ago and then it was "fixed" somehow. Does anyone recall what the problem was or solution before. IIRC when the equipment was swapped between 24 and 30 the stuttering stopped on one and began on the other. Anyone else with information and I'll pass it along when I get back in touch with him.
Yeah that's what I remember him doing, swapping the equipment. I have an email from him saying he reset the transport stream input on their transmitter. If you need the string send me an im and I'll forward it to you.

I watched the shows from my HDTivo last night and didn't see the stutter, but when I watched the beginning of DH from my E86, it happened 3 times around 8:06

Not sure if anyone noticed but on Friday night we setup our Dolby Encoder to pass the 5.1 from NBC. We turned it back off for the weekend (if it did not work did not want to ruin everyones weekend) but will be turning it back on tonight. If I could get some feedback that would be great. We are hoping that the new AES reference generator we bought may stabilize the lip sync issues. I can promise you that we are going to find a way to solve that issue. If we have to go through 10 digital IRD's from NBC to find one that is stable we will.

Please let me know how it sounds tonight.

David E
WMC

I tuned in to Surface for just a moment. You are sending a 5.1 bitstream with a DialNorm value of 27. But there's something wrong. All the channels seem to contain the same audio program. It sounds like 5.1-channel mono. Check your settings.

I didn't stick around long enough to check the sync. I'll tune in later.

Chase

I was watching Smallville in HD at 7. Yeah, that's right HD. Season 4 on HDNet :)

Tuned in to watch Surface, and it sounds like it did when you first tried 5.1. It sounds like the same audio is coming out of all of the speakers. Then my wife fell asleep so I can't watch it anymore due to the changes in audio.

edit: looks like chase beat me to it, had this page up ready to give my thoughts.

btw....I saw the stutter during AFV from last night. I deleted the show before the first set of clips.

Fox 13 just showed a promo with a NEW logo. I had the audio off, but it said something onscreen along the lines of "The ONLY station in town". I noticed Fox got a new set last night.

I'm thinking 13's going HD for news.

Fox 13 just showed a promo with a NEW logo. I had the audio off, but it said something onscreen along the lines of "The ONLY station in town". I noticed Fox got a new set last night.

I'm thinking 13's going HD for news.
I asked him about that today since I saw the last part of the commercial. He said pretty mcuh a new logo and set soon. "Nothing cool like HD news" darn

Seeing the set for the first time, and it looks kinda high schoolish just plain white in the background.

I noticed that. i actually thought that it was a High School news broadcast, since i saw it at around 3 am last night.... No joke.

What did they mean by "The ONLY station in town" then?

I tuned in to Surface for just a moment. You are sending a 5.1 bitstream with a DialNorm value of 27. But there's something wrong. All the channels seem to contain the same audio program. It sounds like 5.1-channel mono. Check your settings.

I didn't stick around long enough to check the sync. I'll tune in later.

Chase

Sync on Medium looks OK. Audio is definitely mono in all the main channels. Could a downmix or channel format parameter be set wrong somewhere?

Chase

Has NBC moved their HD bug? It looks higher and closer to the centre.

I'll echo (pun intended :)) other comments here. Mono on 5.1. There's gotta be a setting wrong somewhere; it does this every time WMC tries to pass 5.1.

Lip sync may be better on 5-1, but it's still off. And like you guys, I'm getting 5.1 from all around. Weird effect-- sounds like the show's inside my head.

I was watching Smallville in HD at 7. Yeah, that's right HD. Season 4 on HDNet :)

Tuned in to watch Surface, and it sounds like it did when you first tried 5.1. It sounds like the same audio is coming out of all of the speakers. Then my wife fell asleep so I can't watch it anymore due to the changes in audio.

edit: looks like chase beat me to it, had this page up ready to give my thoughts.

I immediately noticed Surface sounded like it was playing inside a barrel. I switched to DTS and it sounded normal. I'm sure I wasn't getting the 5:1 sound but the sound was clear on Dolby or DTS. I could hardly understand it on 5:1.

Is there anybody out there who is actually happy with their HD signal quality and programming? I can't say that I've heard anything positive and I'm wondering why I would want to spend big bucks - or any bucks for that matter - when I've got plenty of things that frustrate me already.

:confused:

Is there anybody out there who is actually happy with their HD signal quality and programming? I can't say that I've heard anything positive and I'm wondering why I would want to spend big bucks - or any bucks for that matter - when I've got plenty of things that frustrate me already.

:confused:

Well, I am happy with all my HD programming compared to all SD Programming. However, comparing apples to apples, some HD programming quality used to be much better as many will attest. So, if you want a significant improvement over SD, then HD is your best option.

HD could be better but it is still way better than SD. The sound problems are the first real problems I've had since I switched from D* to TW cable. Picture quality is better on cable than D*. I had both cable and D* for several months and could easily A:B the picture quality. Most of the time cable won, but sometimes they were very close depending on the channel and what was showing. I also used OTA and could compare this with cable and cable was very close in quality to OTA signal. I almost never watch anything in SD. Sometimes a little news or a Memphis ball game if they are not broadcasting in HD.

Seeing the set for the first time, and it looks kinda high schoolish just plain white in the background.

That's not the new set. They are broadcasting the news from their Studio B while the new set is being built in Studio A. :o

Is there anybody out there who is actually happy with their HD signal quality and programming? I can't say that I've heard anything positive and I'm wondering why I would want to spend big bucks - or any bucks for that matter - when I've got plenty of things that frustrate me already.
Well, that's a 2 part question. My answers are yes and a little bit.

Programming – yes I’m happy with it. I watch a lot of sports and more and more sporting events are in HD. ESPN & 2HD are showing a lot of college basketball and NBA games in HD now. Also a lot of the primetime programming is in HD. Most shows that aren’t are reality shows, and news shows like Dateline. Out of all the shows I have on my Tivo, 3 aren’t in HD. AFV, Family Guy, and Scrubs. Other than that the rest of network programming for me is in HD.

Of course there could always be more, but considering I have had HD since early 2003, we have tons more programming in HD now than we did back then.

Picture quality – some yes, some no. I’ve had HD thru D*, and back when I first got it we had HDNet and the PQ was amazing. Even when DHDT first came out that was much better than it was now. But since they have been squeezing more channels on D*, the pq has declined. So from D*, the answer is no. But, Comcast is supposed to take over TW sometime soon locally, and Comcast doesn’t alter it’s HD signals. People who have Comcast for the most part rave about the PQ coming from D*. I’m seriously looking at changing to Comcast when it’s officially changed over from TW. But I’m going to keep my eye out for what’s going on with D* at the same time.

WREG – no. Back in the day WREG didn’t multicast and they had the best picture I have ever seen, especially during football games. Their games, and programming, had a true 3-d look to them. I would watch in amazement as there were no artifacts on the screen at all, even during high movement times. But then they decided to stick NA on 3-2 and royally fudge up the pq. They don’t seem to care what they are putting out, and their engineer is not the brightest of the bunch (see emails from Jim Ahnelt on other pages).

WMC – ½ yes and ½ no. The first half yes is because EngDave listened to our complaints and turned down the bandwidth for the subchannels when they went live. And even with 2 subs, WMC still manages to have better pq than 1 from WREG. Which leads me to the other half. No is because I have seen the PQ decrease with the subchannels. Sporting events on WMC looked very bad with blocking on the slightest of movement, and swimming grass even when the camera wasn’t moving. Hopefully the subchannels will be shut off during the Olympics so we can get a picture that isn’t filled with blocks.

WKNO – personally, I don’t watch this channel enough to really care. But if I had to make a choice, I’d say no. I have seen some of the same programming on HDNet and it looked better on HDNet

WHBQ – now that they finally went live OTA, yes. The best thing they have going for them is no plans to multicast, and sending us the full 19 mb bandwidth. Even though FOX doesn’t send out the best HD right now (which they are working on), it’s good to know that we are going to get all of it from WHBQ.

WPTY – yes. There are still some shots in shows like Grey’s Anatomy of the Seattle skyline that are very nice. NFL football looks pretty good, and the Super Bowl is the last chance at seeing NFL on ABC. The college football games that were in HD looked pretty good also, although the BCS games seemed to differ in pq. They just need to get the 5.1 up that they have been promising for half a year now. In addition to not wasting the extra bandwidth they aren’t using.

WLMT – not really. I’ve emailed the engineer telling hi the pq isn’t what it used to be, even as late as last year. He said he hasn’t made any changes to the data stream. Again, they only send 15 mb’s. The depth isn’t there as much, and more blocking during motion scenes. The best thing is we are getting most of the Tigers home games in HD. But, we temporarily lost the WB in HD.

Is there anybody out there who is actually happy with their HD signal quality and programming? I can't say that I've heard anything positive and I'm wondering why I would want to spend big bucks - or any bucks for that matter - when I've got plenty of things that frustrate me already.

:confused:

I suspect we are all a bit jaded, and it comes across. I, for one, was totally blown way with the picture quality when I first tuned into our local HD broadcasts. They were so far above anything I had ever seen on my screen that I could hardly imagine anything being better. However, six months of careful evaluation (and reading this thread) revealed some issues I hadn't noticed at first. I'm still pleased with the quality of HD compared to SD, but my focus has shifted to addressing issues that are preventing the HD picture and sound quality from reaching their full potential. I suspect there are others on this thread with similar stories.

What is particularly frustrating to some of us is that we feel several of our local affiliates can do things to improve their HD broadcasts, but aren't, for a variety of reasons. It's unlikely our small group could have any affect on large-scale HD providers like D* and the cable companies, but the local HD stations could be a different story. So, we continue to discuss problems as we encounter them in hopes our local stations will listen.

Chase

I just caught the tell end of a story on Channel 3 news. It said that UPN and WB were going off the air. And a new station will be put in it's place.

Did I hear this correctly?

Yes, Holy crap. The WB and UPN are MERGING.
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/pr.cgi?id=20060124cw01

No more tape delayed WB, I guess.
This is NUTS. It's looking like most big shows are staying. This could actually be GREAT for Veronica Mars. Pair that with a show like Smallville, and it could really take off.

Most likely, the only shows surviving from UPN are Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris, Top Model and Smackdown. (Only one of which was the only show I ever watched on UPN anyway.)

This actually could be great for ALL the shows. Now, there will be more affiliates, and less competition, so indivdual ratings could go higher. Of course, now the standards will be higher too..

Yeah, if this improves the quality/reliability of the HD on Gilmore Girls, Smallville, and Veronica Mars, I'm all for it. Of course, WB and UPN shows are already on the same channel in Memphis. But yeah, it would do away with the tape delay, which is good.

Well, it sounds like this could be a good thing. I thought I might lose Smallville and I would have to catch it on HD a season behind.

Yeah, anything mentioned in the press release (Smallville, GG, Mars) is definately safe.
Now if we could just get that Veronica Mars / Smallville crossover. ;)

By the way, While we're on the subject of mergers and whatnot, I saw a report in a local business newspaper yesterday that places a date for the TW to Comcast change in April 2006.

I wonder how/if this will effect the relationship between WREG (CBS) and WLMT (UPN)? Just please please please don't put this on a subchannel on WREG.

But yeah, it would do away with the tape delay, which is good.
The tape delay actually helped me more than I thought it would. I can Tivo shows later at night than durng primetime, when I might be taping 2 other shows at the same time.

Why would they? This REPLACES UPN and The WB. What airs from 7-9 on UPN now, will be where this new network's shows air.

I know, I'm kinda going to miss the tape delay.

I could not find an answer on here, and do not have the time to look deeper.

I get hdtv ota, so some channels are broadcast in 720 and 1080

If you get hdtv on cable, is the signal that is sent from time warner 720 or 1080, or is it upconverted with the hdtv set top box?
If they are sending at 1080, that is alot of bandwidth.
They only offer 8megs down for online service.
Do you get the subchannels?
How does D* sent their signals?

If you get hdtv on cable, is the signal that is sent from time warner 720 or 1080, or is it upconverted with the hdtv set top box?
If they are sending at 1080, that is alot of bandwidth.
They only offer 8megs down for online service.
Do you get the subchannels?
How does D* sent their signals?
TW sends the channel how it is broadcast. If the channel is in 720, TW sends it in 720.
TW does broadcast NewsAnytime, and Weather +, excuse me, -. Don't know about the Tube.
D* sends them as they are broadcast also. If you are asking if D* sends the Memphis channels in HD, not right now.

Update!

We found a problem with the programming of the PID's. This prevented your systems from understanding how to decode the 5.1 audio. We are going to try again tonight, please let me know. I will admit now we don't have the ability to monitor 5.1 in our Master Control, we are looking into it. We currently monitor our off air signals both SD and HD, Time Warner, DirecTv, The Tube and Weather Plus so adding another audio source that is not just another stereo source is going to be fun.

Thanks!

David E
WMC

mx: Got the whole WB/UPN thing straightened out? ;)

Does anyone know if WMC is going to turn the subchannels off for the Olympics? I'd really love to see quality HD for it.

Hey, Dave! Just the person to ask...
Thanks so much for working to get 5.1 online! I'll check it out tonight.

NBC and Sci-Fi should merge or something.. (I know they're both Universal, but I'd love to see BSG in HD)

Update!

We found a problem with the programming of the PID's. This prevented your systems from understanding how to decode the 5.1 audio. We are going to try again tonight, please let me know. I will admit now we don't have the ability to monitor 5.1 in our Master Control, we are looking into it. We currently monitor our off air signals both SD and HD, Time Warner, DirecTv, The Tube and Weather Plus so adding another audio source that is not just another stereo source is going to be fun.

Thanks!

David E
WMC

Great! Glad you found the problem! I'll also check the feed tonight to make sure the audio is coming through correctly.

If you have any questions about 5.1 monitoring, I'll be happy to take a stab at answering them. My company designs and calibrates audio controls rooms all over the world.

Chase

Checked into Fear Factor. It's not in true 5.1 but it already sounds a LOT better than last night. Everything is coming from the front. We'll see how it goes when a 5.1 show comes on. (I THINK Scrubs is 5.1, cause the DVDs have a 5.1 track, but I'm not sure.)

It's better on SVU. The front channels are separated now, but there's still an echo.
The rear channels are not separated from the front channels.
Keep at it, Dave! You're SO close.

HD's still down. Gilmore Girls in SD tonight.

Has ANYONE gotten a response from UPN 30?!

It's better on SVU. The front channels are separated now, but there's still an echo.
The rear channels are not separated from the front channels.
Keep at it, Dave! You're SO close.

I still received multi-channel mono for SVU, but this time it was only L/C/R. There was nothing in Ls/Rs. I couldn't tell what, if anything, was coming across in the LFE channel because my controller with channel level meters isn't hooked up to the OTA feed right now.

Keep flipping switches!

Chase

Conan is coming across CORRECTLY when I flip into Dolby Pro Logic II! Dialogue centered, audience coming from the rear!

But its wrong on Spdif/5.1!!

I still received multi-channel mono for SVU, but this time it was only L/C/R. There was nothing in Ls/Rs. I couldn't tell what, if anything, was coming across in the LFE channel because my controller with channel level meters isn't hooked up to the OTA feed right now.
I turned on WMC for Scrubs for a couple of seconds and that was in 5.1. Is that show supposed to be in 5.1?

Later I turned on SVU just so I could hear the sound, and I noticed a lack of bass. That's not a bad thing. Some CBS shows crank it up to like 30000% during music. So maybe not LFE last night, or just very minimul.

I was trying to listen for rears, and didn't hear anything either. Usually in CSI you can hear some other background noise or an echo from the rears, but nothing here. I didn't pay attention to the fronts.

HD's still down. Gilmore Girls in SD tonight.

Has ANYONE gotten a response from UPN 30?!

I'll send a reminder email.

What, you can't wait until the fall to get GG in HD? :D

mx: NO. :)

I'll send one too later, begging, pleading, since its Smallville's 100th tomorrow.

I've heard a L&O 5.1 track. There's ALWAYS stuff coming from the rears. If there was nothing coming from the rears, then the 5.1 still isn't set up right.

mx: NO. :)

I'll send one too later, begging, pleading, since its Smallville's 100th tomorrow.

I've heard a L&O 5.1 track. There's ALWAYS stuff coming from the rears. If there was nothing coming from the rears, then the 5.1 still isn't set up right.

Well, I finally got a response from them about why there is no HD and will be no HD at the present time. As was previously mentioned it does have to do with the closed captioning. Here is the response I received via email:

Dear Jeff,

OK, here’s why we are no longer broadcasting the WB in HD. It’s difficult to understand, and is basically the result of new government regulations regarding Closed Captioning, and the fact that we are still working on our HD installation.

Effective January 1st, the FCC required that closed captioning be included in most programming. At this point in time, we do not carry all the local commercial breaks on our WB HD signal that we have on our normal, regular UPN 30 signal. Therefore the normal, or channel 30 analog signal has more commercial time in the WB than the HD signal, so the two broadcasts are not a simulcast.

The problem comes with the Closed Captions requirement. Until we get our full HD setup installed, the HD closed caption information comes from our regular analog signal. Normally this is not a problem because the two signals broadcast the same material at the same time. However, during the WB broadcast, the HD signal ends up being ahead of the normal signal by a few minutes due to having less amount of commercial time on HD. As a result, the closed caption information on HD ends up not being in sync with its own program material. Because the closed caption information doesn’t match up with the program content, it is a violation of the FCC regulations, and could result in a substantial fine for the station.

Presently, there is no way around this problem, so we have temporarily had to suspend our HD broadcasts for the WB.

It is regrettable, and as soon as we can get the closed captioning issue resolved, we will resume broadcasting the WB in HD.

It is unfortunate, but at the moment, due to the new regulations, our hands are tied. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Best regards,
Marshall Hart
Director of Operations
Clear Channel Television
Memphis / Jackson

I also told the guy about this forum and for him to come on here and discuss with us if he could. So, we'll see if he does or not.

son of a bitch

so, uhhh, like I said. Can't wait until Fall for GG in HD.

I swear, disband the FCC. They're doing nothing but causing problems.

So we're screwed. Period.


http://www.hklaw.com/Publications/Newsletters.asp?IssueID=631&Article=3337

Beginning January 1, 2006, new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules will require every television station to provide “closed captioning” services for 100 percent of the English language programming broadcast on the television station.1 Closed captioning is a technology designed to provide access to television for persons with hearing disabilities. Through captioning, the audio portion of programming is displayed as text superimposed over the video.


"Petitions for Exemption of Individual Programs

In addition, a video programming provider or distributor may file with the FCC a petition for an exemption for specific programming if supplying captions for that programming would result in an “undue burden” for the provider or distributor. Few petitions have been granted to date, largely because the petitioners have failed to make an adequate showing that their programming satisfies the “locally produced” requirement cited above.2 The exemption is obtainable, but it must comply with FCC specifications. Parties interested in filing a petition for exemption should retain counsel experienced in preparing FCC petitions. While the petition is pending, the program in question is exempt from closed captioning requirements."

Doubt they'd get that, but maybe they could try.

I still received multi-channel mono for SVU, but this time it was only L/C/R. There was nothing in Ls/Rs. I couldn't tell what, if anything, was coming across in the LFE channel because my controller with channel level meters isn't hooked up to the OTA feed right now.

Keep flipping switches!

Chase

Hi Dave,

The 5.1 on L&O is much better tonight. It sounds like the channel format may be set correctly now. The L/R and Ls/Rs seem very low compared to the center, but it is probably just the mix. The re-recording guys are still experimenting with different ways to mix 5.1 for TV, so there's really no telling what you'll get for a given show.

Chase

By the way, While we're on the subject of mergers and whatnot, I saw a report in a local business newspaper yesterday that places a date for the TW to Comcast change in April 2006.
I wonder what kind of deals there will be for new subs? I wonder if HDNet will be dropped or kept on?

And most importantly, what kind of HD-DVR will they offer? With all of its annoyances (mainly speed), I would really miss my HDTivo. But I'd switch if they can show me something decent and functional. I'm tired of messing with my antenna, and I'm tired of DTV's bandwidth scrunching.

And most importantly, what kind of HD-DVR will they offer? With all of its annoyances (mainly speed), I would really miss my HDTivo. But I'd switch if they can show me something decent and functional. I'm tired of messing with my antenna, and I'm tired of DTV's bandwidth scrunching.
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. Comcast (is it C*?) signed up with Tivo, but I don't know how long it will take to get the Tivo interface in their hardware. Also another thing I am interested in is price. I already have RR, and I'm sure they can bundle that and save me some money.

If I do end up switching over to Comcast, I will still watch D* with their new sat's and what people are saying about their pq. I don't know if cable can compete with all of the space that D* will have since I don't read as much about cable than I do with D*.

5.1 sounds much better tonight. I am hearing something out of the rears. I hear a little dialouge in the rears and front l/r, but my center speaker is higher so I can't tell if most of the voices are coming from there.

I just flipped on ER for a few minutes. The audio was back to L/C/R mono with no surround.

Chase

I just flipped on ER for a few minutes. The audio was back to L/C/R mono with no surround.

Chase

That is what I heard during Will & Grace and Four Kings as well, but I don't know if either of those is supposed to be 5.1.

That is what I heard during Will & Grace and Four Kings as well, but I don't know if either of those is supposed to be 5.1.
I heard what I posted during Earl.

ARGGHHH!!! I was looking forward to seeing this game in HD all week. Got about 3 seconds of HD before they switched it back to SD. What the hell?

Did you call em up?

I did, and got a recording saying their office hours were M-F. I got the Dave Brown voice menu, and of all the options, WMC Programming sounded closest. Am I calling the wrong #? (726-6670)

Call the Newsroom and ask them to do it.

Well, they told me the HD that I saw for a few seconds was a mistake, that the game was not transmitted in HD. What I saw looked like a typical sports HD broadcast -- the non-action part had the special graphic borders on the left and right, and when they went to the ice before the faceoff, it was full screen. Odd that a nationally broadcast NHL game isn't in HD, but they would know better than I would.


Sooo ... is the Arena Football game in HD tomorrow??

For the 2nd straight week, our area was set to get one of the SD games. The HD game today is NY/Pitt

Man, they must plan these HD options at the beginning of the season, because I'd rather see a game between division leaders in HD (Det and Dallas) than a meaningless game between a division leader and the division bottom-dweller in HD.

I haven't seen a hockey game in HD yet, so yeah, I was kinda pumped about this. Hopefully the playoffs will be better.

I have been reading through this thread for quite some time, but haven't been able to find an answer to my question. I am currently using an indoor Radio Shack Antenna and I am getting all the HD locals at good signals 84-98. The only one that is problematic is Fox. It is 87 but it varies a great deal. What type of amplifier should I use, or is there a better solution to this?


Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Greg, don't use an amp! Your problem is not a weak signal. Likely you have multi-path issues, or some other kind of interference (a strong signal that drops out frequently is the clue). Moving you antenna a little may make the difference. You might want to even try an attenuator, that might block out the offending signal or interference, and still leave you with plenty of signal for you tuner to lock solid.

Neil

Thanks so much for your reply. Can I get an attenuator at the local Radio Shack? I have tried moving the antenna around to limited success.

Can I get an attenuator at the local Radio Shack? I have tried moving the antenna around to limited success.
Yeah they have them at RS.

Did anyone watch the NBA games on WPTY yesterday? I only caught a few minutes of the first one, but the 2nd one was the game in HD. I'm wondering if they had it in HD since the movie Saturday night was in SD the whole time.

I checked WMC last night and they didn't have the HD feed on either, and had the tunnel surround sound.

Neil

Is this what I would use? I just copied this from the Radio Shack web site.

Radio Shack Model: 15-678

TV/VCR problem solver
A valuable switch to have in your home, the attenuator adjusts to reduce picture distortion caused by strong signals. With its bi-directional ability, it works with digital cable or the Internet and is loaded with a 75-ohm input and output.


Bi-directional
75-ohm

Yeah they have them at RS.

Did anyone watch the NBA games on WPTY yesterday? I only caught a few minutes of the first one, but the 2nd one was the game in HD. I'm wondering if they had it in HD since the movie Saturday night was in SD the whole time.

I checked WMC last night and they didn't have the HD feed on either, and had the tunnel surround sound.

I had to cal WPTY 3 times to get them to turn on the HD feed... It didn't get turned until the second quarter...

Jerry

Neil

Is this what I would use? I just copied this from the Radio Shack web site.

Radio Shack Model: 15-678

TV/VCR problem solver
A valuable switch to have in your home, the attenuator adjusts to reduce picture distortion caused by strong signals. With its bi-directional ability, it works with digital cable or the Internet and is loaded with a 75-ohm input and output.


Bi-directional
75-ohm

That should work.

Jerry

David Brant -- Local audio for the 9:00 PM news was not correctly synced. The preceding episode of 24 was fine.

Dave E -- Network audio for Medium was still LCR mono with no apparent surround. It was also out of sync. The commercials' 2.0 stream decoded with Dolby ProLogic II actually sounded better than the 5.1.

I guess this is bad audio night. :rolleyes:

Chase

What the heck is up with the WB programming? Are they stretching it to 16x9?!!

And just when I thought UPN 30 couldn't make the WB any worse....

ARGHH!!! I need help. I am new to this ota digital tv thing. I have an antenna in my attic and have a 10db amp. At night, everything comes through fine except channel 30 and it comes through and then drops and comes through and drops and so on. During the day, I get channel 3 and 24 and that's about it. I have tried rotating the antenna with little success. I live in the vicinity of Austin Peay Hwy and Old Covington Pike. Would I be better off buying another antenna? I have tried the indoor jobs and I didn't like any of them. Does anyone have a recommendation for a multi-directional antenna and where to pick it up at.

Thanks in advance,

Mike