Originally posted by bgoering
What is up?

If tradition holds true, we will get nothing from 52-1 probably tomorrow or Saturday.

When they are having antenna problems, they will not show HD, but SD for a couple of days and then go off air.

David, can you explain?

I will check with TW today and find out if they are having trouble getting us off air. We have not noted any problems with our over the air HD here at the station.

Has anyone noted problems with their over the air reception?

Here is a bit of information that NBC released to us today.

HD UPDATE (eff. March ‘05)

HD* LETTERBOX
MONDAY
7 FEAR FACTOR NO NO
8 LAS VEGAS YES NO
9 MEDIUM YES YES

TUESDAY
7 L&O: CRIMINAL INTENT YES NO
8 SCRUBS NO NO
8:30 THE OFFICE YES YES
9 L&O: SVU YES NO

WEDNESDAY
7 AMERICAN DREAMS YES YES
8 THE WEST WING YES YES
9 LAW & ORDER YES NO

THURSDAY
7 JOEY YES NO
7:30 WILL & GRACE YES NO
8 THE APPRENTICE NO NO
9 ER YES YES

FRIDAY
7 DATELINE NBC NO NO
8 THIRD WATCH YES YES
9 L&O: TRIAL BY JURY YES NO

SATURDAY
7 LAW & ORDER YES NO
8 L&O: CRIMINAL INTENT YES NO
9 L&O: SVU YES NO

SUNDAY
6 DATELINE NBC NO NO
7 THE CONTENDER NO NO
8 L&O: CRIMINAL INTENT YES NO
9 CROSSING JORDAN YES YES

* We anticipate the shows indicated above to be in HD, but due to delivery and technical issues, it may not be possible every week. If a program is not going to be in HD, it should be indicated as such in APT day of air.

Sorry about the formating its a little clunky but hopefully you can see what NBC has planned for prime time starting in March.

David E.
WMC
Director of Engineering

David,
For the past couple of nights HD shows were not in HD. As someone else noticed they were from the network since they were not stretched like local material is. But they were in 4:3. Last night after the news 5-1 went dark. I didn't check to get a signal, but my HD-Tivo did't say searching for signal. I'm hoping we get HD for MI tonight.

Is MI being dropped or is the season almost over? I don't see it above.

According to this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=507686), the problem is mainly coming from the NBC network itself.

I just hope NBC fixes the problem soon. Even my wife hates watching SD material. Especially on a 120" screen.

Jerry

for the past 3 days your 5.1 HD transmission has been SD with heavy digital bleed (pixilization) or blank screen. I first noticed it Wednesday night. If you read back you will notice some similar comments from other viewers.

Again, no HD. I called and spoke to an engineer and he said they were showing the HD feed being sent out. I'm getting it OTA. This feed is definately coming local, since it is stretched. It is also pixelating like Jim said every couple of minutes. Not to mention we don't get any audio for about 4 seconds after coming back from commercials.

No HD via OTA here also. I watched JAG, on CBS, and Space Camp, on HDNet Movies instead. I hope that cable also has the same problems, and WMC gets a lot of complaints. I know I called and complained.

Please give us the HD feed when it is available. If the problem is from the NBC national feed, then tell them to fix it. That is all I ask for. I love HD.

Sorry for the rant, but I love HD... I will not settle for less.

Jerry

No kidding. I too have watched other shows tonight instead. The national HD feed would be nice with all the HD problems WMC is having.

While WMC (and/or NBC) is struggling, lets give some love to WPTYdude. Last night's ENTERPRISE was one of the best HD presentations I have seen OTA. No missed switches, no flips into SD, just fabulous looking HD from start to finish. Too bad it's been cancelled, just as WLMT perfects showing it.

I didn't catch ST last night, but I have noticed on WLMT the UPN shows are crisp. I think One on One, Monday nights, is exceptional PQ.

It just goes to show how much multicasting will do to a picture. WMC, WLMT (including WB), WPTY all look beautiful. WREG and WKNO just don't have that crispness. Yeah its HD, but the others blow it away.

ST Cancelled?? I wondered if that was the case since they were saying catch the final episodes. Go to upn.com and using the "contact us" form, file a complaint regarding the cancellation. We NEED this show.

I am sitting here trying to watch the Gammy Awards and WREG is going in and out!! Anybody else having this problem? WREG has usually been my best OTA channel with no problems but this week I have been losing the signal quite a bit.

It was fine here... no problems

Jerry

Hi Gut,
No problems here either. WREG has also been my strongest OTA too and last night was no exception. Last week I had two days where I could not pick up ABC 24 OTA for no apparent reason. My rooftop antenna hadn't moved, all other channels coming in fine, but that one was searching for signal?!? It just as mysteriously came back on by itself.

I did notice some fair amount of blurriness or pixelization in the picture of the Grammy's especially when a lot of movement. I have heard this might be because of multicasting but I don' t know if that or my equipment. Also noticed the picture went SD after 10 o'clock even though the Grammy's were scheduled to run through 10:30. What's up with that?

Anyone (EngDave) know when the NBC shows will return to widescreen HD? Hopefully this week all will be fine.

I currently have D* service with a TiVo and basic cable. I get all of my HD ota but have no way to record it. Since it is going to be a while before Memphis will see the results of the new D* birds I want to down grade my D* service to basic and up grade my TW basic package to HD premium digipic 4000 with HD dvr. Can it be set up so that I can keep my TiVo box hooked up along with the SA8300? By doing this I could record HD content with the SA8300 and analog stuff with the TiVo!

Originally posted by mollerup
I did notice some fair amount of blurriness or pixelization in the picture of the Grammy's especially when a lot of movement. I have heard this might be because of multicasting but I don' t know if that or my equipment. Also noticed the picture went SD after 10 o'clock even though the Grammy's were scheduled to run through 10:30. What's up with that?


The pixelation is a combination of both multicasting and flashing lights. I didn't watch as much this year as I did last year, but when there is a strobe light there would still be some pixelation, multicasting or not. But since WREG multicasts, it was made worse. And during SEC and NFL games when there was movement on the screen there was a lot of pixelation. It's not your equipment.

If you notice WREG goes to SD at about 9:57 every night. Why they did it for a show that was supposed to run past 10, I dunno. Maybe its automated.

Originally posted by radar44
Can it be set up so that I can keep my TiVo box hooked up along with the SA8300? By doing this I could record HD content with the SA8300 and analog stuff with the TiVo!

Should be able to. You would have to either change inputs on the tv, use a video switcher, or physically plug/unplug the cables. You will have to keep the basic package with D* and Tivo service.

Turned out that my antenna in my attic had sort of drooped on me, had to go straighten it out. Had no problems after that. :)

Gut

Ok, mx6bfast (aka dennis)told me I should post my question here. Any feedback would be great.
I have an sa 8300 box, using component cables. HD channels fill up the whole screen and looks good. I have it set it set on component #2. Regular channels have bars at the sides when i try to go back to regular cable. If i press stretch, it fills it up but it is distorted and you dont get the entire picture.
The tv I have is 52" 16:9 LCD HDTV Monitor Projection Television.
If i switch over to ant/cable I get the regular channels on fullscreen but the HD channels are not in HD and have bars on the top and bottom.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Wingy

Whats up Keith, its Billy :)

SA8300HD tips and tricks. (http://hdtv.forsandiego.com/messages/3/2366.html?1103202883)

Hope that helps.

Jerry

Well guys. I still don't have my Time Warner Cable installed. The line has yet to be dropped even though the installer told me it would be max 7-10 days, but more than likely 3-5. Well, its day 11, and I'm driving myself mad. The orange lines were finally painted thursday or friday. Then yesterday, MLGW came out and painted a buch of red and green lines. I've talked to Time Warner like four times and I'm hoping they show up to drop the line today.

Originally posted by Wingdozer
Ok, mx6bfast (aka dennis)told me I should post my question here. Any feedback would be great.
I have an sa 8300 box, using component cables. HD channels fill up the whole screen and looks good. I have it set it set on component #2. Regular channels have bars at the sides when i try to go back to regular cable. If i press stretch, it fills it up but it is distorted and you dont get the entire picture.
The tv I have is 52" 16:9 LCD HDTV Monitor Projection Television.
If i switch over to ant/cable I get the regular channels on fullscreen but the HD channels are not in HD and have bars on the top and bottom.

Maybe you have tried this...not sure...

On your TWC remote, press the "settings" button twice. This will bring up your general settings menu. I forget the exact selection from here, but what you want to do is set the box to "pass through" mode. When I got my 8300, it was upconverting everything to 1080i, and this was causing some problems, depending on the mode I had my TV in. Setting the box to "pass through" solved it for me.

jsp2000,
Where did you get that tip:p ?

Thanks jerry and jsp! The article did help. I didnt have pass-through enabled to auto select the best screen for me. :)

jsp, i just read your post and edited mine, but you were exactly on the mark. Wish i woulda read that before i spent 30 minutes trying stuff haha..

Has anyone else noticed the EPG for 10-3 is now showing up? The same EPG info is also showing for 10-1.

I wish Fox 13 would get rid of their bug on the HD channel or at least get one that is clear. It is too bright.

Originally posted by redmikeu2
jsp2000,
Where did you get that tip:p ?

Some weirdo at work! :D

I agree with you, BTW, on the Fox 13 thing. Two weeks in a row I've been really annoyed with it during 24. They take it off during commercials...why not during programming as well?

Looks like WMC is hosed again tonight ;/

What is the problem with WMC 5-1? It has not had widescreen shows in widescreen HD lately. Just wondering if/when this will be resolved or what. I saw a mention in another post that it was a national problem. Is that true? I know ER tonight was not in widescreen, and something I saw a few nights ago also was not, but should have been. Also did not really look HD, but rather SD over the digital broadcast. Any news on this?

Come to think of it, the show may have been Law and Order, but the audio video synch was so bad it was unwatchable. Can't remeber for sure though.

This sucks. Where's engineer Dave when we need him. No HD, No Wide Screen. No Explanation.

Dave? Are you aware of the problem? Is anyone working on fixing it?

Just axin'

Anyone know why the Standard Def WB Feed always runs behind the HD? Tonight, after She's All That was over (GREAT picture / sound btw, no issues of any kind), they cut to the SD feed on 30-1. I would think that the SD and HD would be synced up, so why arent they?

Just kinda curious really, I know they take the West Coast HD feed, but still, shouldnt the SD be going at the same rate?

The giant bug on Fox 13, if it's what I am thinking of, sounds a lot like the bugs I have seen from other Fox affiliates around the country. It sounds like a standard practice, unfortunately. Fox doesn't have a national 'Fox' bug on HD as far as I know. Course, I'd just be happy to have ANY kind of HD from Fox at this point. I've gotta call up Time Warner one of these days......

Well, after several weeks of deciding if I am going to let TW back into my house again I finally made the plung and ordered the SA8300HD box. That is about the only thing they got right so far! After the installer leaves my house I realize that I am not getting some of the HD channel's (just a gray screen) so I call around 1:30 yesterday afternoon and was told by dispatch someone would be out here around 2:30pm. In the mean time I discover that I am not receiving about 40 plus channel's! 4:00pm rolls around and still no TW, so I call dispatch again and they say "were sorry" someone will be out around 5:00pm. Next thing I know it is 6:00pm and NO TW!!!! I call yet again and was told, "sorry sir but no one is coming today and I have no record that they where suppose too"! I lose it about then and tell them what I think about their customer service! The best they can offer me is that someone will be out tomorrow (Friday) between 8am and 5pm!!!!!!!! WHAT!!!!! To top off the day I decided to record something on the few channel's that I do receive and guess what...the recordings had several black out spots in them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

Update to come later today...

Originally posted by mollerup
What is the problem with WMC 5-1? It has not had widescreen shows in widescreen HD lately. Just wondering if/when this will be resolved or what. I saw a mention in another post that it was a national problem. Is that true? I know ER tonight was not in widescreen, and something I saw a few nights ago also was not, but should have been. Also did not really look HD, but rather SD over the digital broadcast. Any news on this?


It is a local problem. There was one day last week where the HD feed wasn't sent, but since then HD was sent from the network. When I called last Friday the engineer said the HD feed was being passed. Of course it wasn't, but what can you say? WMC was in HD at least twice this week and not last night. I don't watch WMC anymore becuase it is normally not in HD, but I do watch SD for ER & MI. If it was more constantly in HD I would watch it more.

mx6bfast - "I don't watch WMC anymore becuase it is normally not in HD, but I do watch SD for ER & MI. If it was more constantly in HD I would watch it more."


I agree. ER was a program that I did not miss. Now I may not tivo it. I watch TILT instead.

The service at WMC seems to be deteriorating rather than improving. It has been 8-9 days without consistent HD reception. I thought when Eng Dave started monitoring the board, things would improve since they did not seem to know their broadcasts were askew until someone called them. The response I usually get is there aren't enough viewers to warrant the expense of equipment necessary to provide consistent quality HD Broadcasting, but they still refuse to allow waivers to viewers wanting to get the National feeds. Julie Scobey is the lady responsible for answering waiver requests and on my last attempt, she did say she would approach management about allowing waivers for HD National feed. However I suppose she wasn't successful if she did actually ask since I did not recieve the courtesy of a reply.

Jim - Email her again and see what she says. I know I am very interested in getting a waiver if it is available.

Me too. WMC's consistency is severely lacking. A waiver would be great.

NBC is going to send us a new HD Rcvr to replace our "failing" one. It has been unlocking periodically which has forced us to take the SD feed and up-convert. We hope to have a new receiver by Monday. As soon as it comes in we will install it.....

We also had a microwave problem that was causing periodic tiling of the picture. We are on our backup microwave and will need to send the primary radio out to be repaired.

Now your up to date from WMC.

David E
Director of Engineering

I called her instead of e-mail. Just call the WMC number and ask for her. You might have to leave voice mail for a call back. I would like to see everyone pursue this avenue and maybe that would get some attention if they see a number of people complaining and requesting waivers at the same time.Please try and post your response on this board.

EngDave,
Thanks for the update. Good to know what's going on.

well guys, Its day 15 since I had the order to get a line drop from TWC. The installer initially told me it would probably be 3-5 days, but at most 7-10. Well, they painted the lines on day 7. By then I had already called Time Warner twice confirming they were coming out. After day 7 I called them twice more. The second time they assured me they would be here on the 18th to do it. No call, no show. I called them on friday the 18th at 4:00pm and asked if they were still coming out. The TW CSR assured me they were. Big F'ing surprise. No shows.

I haven't even got my service from Twc and I'm already frustrated with their Customer Service. I'm going to call monday and tell them if they can't have it done within three days I'll have to sign back up with D*.

I really dont' know who to blame, TW or the installers they contract.

I'd say TW. Since they make money from the contractors, its up to TW to decide to keep them or not. In your case, these contractors should be fired.

Sucks man

Hey RedScare,
that sucks. I don't usually rant, but your frustration is welling up some old hard feelings inside of me too! I have had some of the most incompetent installers sent out by TW in the past. In fact that is what prompted me to switch to D* in the first place. I could go on and on about the ineptitude of the people at TW Memphis, but it would just make me madder and madder and really isn't on topic for this board. So, in other words, I feel your pain!

That being said, I hope you get your install (and HD) done soon. It will happen eventually, just on their time schedule, not yours. That seems to be the way TW works.

Originally posted by radar44
Well, after several weeks of deciding if I am going to let TW back into my house again I finally made the plung and ordered the SA8300HD box. That is about the only thing they got right so far! After the installer leaves my house I realize that I am not getting some of the HD channel's (just a gray screen) so I call around 1:30 yesterday afternoon and was told by dispatch someone would be out here around 2:30pm. In the mean time I discover that I am not receiving about 40 plus channel's! 4:00pm rolls around and still no TW, so I call dispatch again and they say "were sorry" someone will be out around 5:00pm. Next thing I know it is 6:00pm and NO TW!!!! I call yet again and was told, "sorry sir but no one is coming today and I have no record that they where suppose too"! I lose it about then and tell them what I think about their customer service! The best they can offer me is that someone will be out tomorrow (Friday) between 8am and 5pm!!!!!!!! WHAT!!!!! To top off the day I decided to record something on the few channel's that I do receive and guess what...the recordings had several black out spots in them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

Update to come later today...


Well, they finally showed up Friday! This time it was 2 Cable Tel guys and they knew what they where doing. They replaced half of the cables and all the spliters inside but I still had a problem with 813 and a few other channels on that same freq. Around the 4th hour they realized that it has to be the drop from the pole. They replaced the pole drop to my house and WOW now everything looks GREAT! They said I had some really bad wires inside and outside the house.

BTW: The cable tel guy gave me his card and told me he is certified by TW and I could call him directly for any TW problems and he would be out the same day to take care of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

heh - maybe radar44 should give RedScare that card!

I actually had fairly good luck with TW so far. Several years ago when they first started servicing my neighborhood; I made an appt. and they were on-time. They had to run the cable on top of the ground from the pole to the house. PQ wasn't great so they installed 8-port distribution amp that would probably set me back $100 if I had to buy it myself. They got all hooked up and it worked great. However, it took about 2 weeks for them to come back out and bury the cable.

More recently (January 2005) I upgraded to digital tier (Digipic 1000 + HD Premium) so now I required a set top box. Mendenhall office wouldn't give me one because it "had to be professionally installed." Well, component inputs were all taken up on my Sony so I requested either a box with DVI output or component pass-through. The installer (who came from the Somerville office) went the extra mile and found me a PACE 550 box that had both options for hookup -- seems the SA boxes don't (reliably anyway) support DVi! This wasn't a problem for me because I didn't require the TiVo. Only problem was the installer couldn't locate a DVI cable but luckily I had one already.

Good Luck RedScare - it appears your experience can only improve.

In the midst of much pixelation and screen freezes on WMC this morning during the Today Show, did anyone else see any surprisingly inappropriate content no doubt accidently spliced into the HD feed?

This was on TWC 805, I have no idea if it was on the regular analog broadcast. I have no idea if it was on the OTA 5.1/52.1 broadcast or on the regular analog channel 5.

It makes one wonder what they do at the station in their spare time!

Hee! I'm sorry I missed that. I usually have ESPN HD on in the mornings.

"Surprisingly inappropriate"?

Let me assure you that there is nothing of an inappropriate nature that is anywhere within our plant here at WMC. You were watching on cable and I promise you if you saw something of that nature it was not in our signal. We have stringent procedures that are designed to prevent anything of this sort from happening. If someone was to ignore our procedures let me assure you they would not be working for me very long.

I would suggest calling TW and find out if they have a problem on their end. I will contact TW this morning and look into it.

David E
Director of Engineering

Hi EngDave - I apologize, I shouldn't disparage the station. I wasn't even offended, just surprised! My original post was just looking for confirmation that someone else saw it :)

It could certainly have come from TWC (As I noted with my disclaimer to not knowing what went out OTA).

As noted - I have seen a lot of pixelation viewing through TWC 805 this morning. After I read your post I switched to 5.1 OTA signal and over the last 15 minutes or, it seems to be a lot steadier OTA. You might want to work with TWC to fix the delivery of your station in that respect also! Maybe they are not using enough FEC. (If they even use FEC on cable, I know that is what is used from satellite)

BTW ... did your new equipment come in so I might enjoy Joey this week in HD?

In any event - the incident occurred around 7:15 A.M. today. You might use that in your conversations with TWC to get to the bottom of it.

And to Cheep - yeah, I will just leave it at "surprisingly inappropriate" lol

Can you tell us?

Bgoering, no offense taken! I take a report of something like this very seriously because of our position in the community and our reputation is very important to me. Would you share with me your system configuration? I am working with TW trying to run down how what you saw happened. What model receiver do you have? Is it one provided by TW or is it one you purchased on your own? You mentioned that you can watch our OTA HD signal, is that with the same receiver? If you send me a PM, with that data that would be very helpful. Or if you just want to post it right here that will work as well.

Thanks

David E
WMC
Director of Engineering

Originally posted by EngDave
Bgoering, no offense taken! I take a report of something like this very seriously because of our position in the community and our reputation is very important to me. Would you share with me your system configuration? I am working with TW trying to run down how what you saw happened. What model receiver do you have? Is it one provided by TW or is it one you purchased on your own? You mentioned that you can watch our OTA HD signal, is that with the same receiver? If you send me a PM, with that data that would be very helpful. Or if you just want to post it right here that will work as well.

EngDave,

This happened during last week's Scrubs episode. About five minutes into the show, it because very pixellated and difficult to watch. I began fast-forwarding and saw a blip in the display. I rewound to see what it was and was very surprised to find a someone giving a very buxom woman a nice breast massage. Not believing what I saw, I rewound again and watched in amazement. The whole thing lasted about 15 seconds. It was crystal clear complete with sounds. It wasn't like the old days of scrambled soft porn. It was clearly visible. The show then returned to the pixellation and was unwatchable until the last 10 or so minutes. My receiver is TW's SA8000 HD DVR.

Timbeaux

I was watching Scrubs OTA and did notice a few times during the episode that it blacked out for roughly 30 seconds. Also the same with Joey (my wife loves Friends, and anything related to Friends). I did not notice the incident above, but would've. :cool: I wonder if this was also happening Thursday night because Joey broke up at least 5 times.

EngDave - Maybe timbeaux still has his recording to share with you. My setup includes a Pace 550 STB from TWC (I don't own the STB). I have a Sony KDF70XBR950 Television with an integrated tuner for HD. The Tuner has two inputs, one for TV and one for Cable. I receive the OTA through the TV input and a rooftop antenna. I also have a C-Band Satellite hookup to the TV utilizing a 7.5' BUD, Motorola DSR-922 4DTV Receiver and HDD-200 converter for the HD stuff over C-Band.

At 7:15 A.M. today I was watching TWC 805 through the Pace 550.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Still wondering if you got your new equipment set up!

P.P.S. I shouldn't have told my girlfriend about it...I found out tonight she got excited and called you as well as TWC...hope she wasn't too much trouble ;/ She gets a little wound up sometimes.

timbeaux, did you keep the recording? We would love to look at it to help us trouble-shoot the problem. If you would just PM directly to me I will get in contact with you directly.

NBC receiver update, just finally got a call back from the manufacturer of the receivers. They inform me the earliest they will have an HD receiver to us would be Thursday of this week. We will keep trying to use the old receiver just be aware if its not in HD it is because the receiver has come unlocked again.

Wish I had better news.

David E
Director of Engineering
WMC

When we aren't getting HD should we ask them to lock the reciever?

Has anyone noticed that Fox 13's OTA signal (SD) is kinda....... messed up? The Fox bug is WAYYYYY too low and the commercials are off centre. They show letterbox commercials, with the bottom letterbox cut off, so it just looks like a black bar at the top. The Idol voting number graphics are WAY too low as well. Can anyone with Fox 13 HD confirm if its doing this on the HD or not?

ravma, are you referring to the TW Fox 13 HD feed?

No no no, I wish ;)
I was referring to Fox's Over the Air, Standard Def, Analogue Channel. It just looked, kinda misframed. The bug was too low, and so were the graphics, Letterboxed commericals werent centred either.


Oh! Kind of off topic, but its important HD news!

Court questions FCC's broadcast flag rules
WASHINGTON--A federal appeals court on Tuesday sharply questioned whether the Federal Communications Commission has the authority to ban certain types of digital TV receivers, including peripheral cards, starting in July.

http://news.com.com/Court+questions+FCCs+broadcast+flag+rules/2100-1030_3-5585533.html

Hopefully this will protect our right to record programs in HD, such as the fine programs that I can recieve from Fox 13 with my antenn... aw, wait....

:)

Is PAX 50 off the digital air? I was getting all their channels but now I get none of them. Nothing on the scan either.

Still haven't solved the problem of nothing on 10-3. I have a signal strength of 95, same as10-1, but no pic or sound. I get 10-1 fine.

I'm getting 100% on PAX but not pic or sound.

What type of stb do you have? I have no idea why you can get 10-1 but not -3. Have you tried 10-2, or 29-2 or -3?

I have VOOM with the Motorola STB. I don't think that I have the option of channels that don't scan. I'm getting all the digital channels OTA.

I had good reception on PAX until abut a week ago, but now I don't get any signal. If you're not getting pic or sound, I guess that they're not transmitting.

I don't know a thing about the VOOM stb. You might want to take a look in the HW forum and see if anyone there has any info.

David, are we still going to get some info about the power issue? Also, when will you be able to pass thru 5.1?

Did anyone check out the Grizz game in HD last night. The PQ was AWFUL! I couldn't tell if it was HD.

Hmmm, I am getting all of PAX 50.1 .2 .3 &.4 (and all of the other local channels except FOX 13.1) just fine here OTA.

Originally posted by bgoering
Hmmm, I am getting all of PAX 50.1 .2 .3 &.4 (and all of the other local channels except FOX 13.1) just fine here OTA.

Are you getting audio/video? I'm getting the signal but no a/v.

I checked earlier about 2 hrs ago, and had all the PAX OTA's

Another perfect Enterprise. Not a single millisecond of SD (unless you count the switch at the very end while the credits were running).

Keep up the good work, WPTYdude!

Originally posted by mx6bfast
Are you getting audio/video? I'm getting the signal but no a/v.

Yup, just checked again...getting audio and video on all four of the PAX DTV channels

P.S. Sorry for the delay...have been too busy to check forum last few days

I have a TW cable box and have the Hd tier; even though I have a brand new state of the art Sony Wega Hd TV, all of the Hd programs from TW are in "letterbox"; black bars at the top and bottom. All of my TV settings are correct (I am somewhat of an expert in this area); I can't find any settings on the TW menu to change the aspect ratio or fill-in the black bar areas. Is this standard on all TW cable boxes?

rj.. sounds like you have a 4:3 tv and hd only comes in 16:9

100% on PAX but still no A/V. It's not like I am missing anything anyways

But.... but... what about all the fine programs... like, um, Diagnosis Murder? Ok, yeah, its Pax, and ever since Supermarket Sweep went off, there's nothing on there.
Actually, I like Diagnosis Murder. Dick Van Dyke is awesome. And America's Funniest Home Videos. But that's about it for the shows on Pax though.

No sound on UPN yesterday, and absolutely nothing on ABC.

well guys, its official. TWC is uselss. Guess who is finally getting his HD cable installed. Thats right, me! So, it took them 21 days and two no call, no shows to drop a cable line to my house that was supposed to take 3-5 days and 7-10 max.
Thats ok.

Cable installer shows up early today, they called and made sure that was ok. I said sure. I showed him around and told him where the HDDVR box was supposed to go. When I got to that point he said "HDDVR box?"

Thats right, no HDDVR box. Just an HD box. I said "You know what, I don't even care anymore, lets just install it."
He goes outside and I call TWC and they tell they are out of HDDVR boxes and I told them both representatives with whom I set my account up told me I'd have it (Had to set up service twice because they lost my info somehow.) Well, no HDDVR til at least the 15th.

The installer is outside of my house and I hear sawing like noises...
The line drop is fresh and it is right underneath where my sat line goes into the house, all he had to do was splice the two. What the hell is he doing with a hacksaw. Is this some sort of nightmare? We shall see

Wayne Phillips of PAX 50 emailed me that their power has not been reduced, but that "propagation has been bad lately". Seems to be a weather related problem for those of us that are far from the antenna.

Has anyone here gotten a cablecard from TWC? I just upgraded my 57" Toshiba to a 73" Mitsubishi (73615, which Dilday TV had for $1000 less than Best Buy, with free delivery and setup and no interest financing for 2 years), which has a cablecard slot. I scanned the cable input and it found 803, 805, 807, 809 and 810, but there's no 813 (or any other 8xx channels) and no audio or video on 805. Will a cablecard help?

Originally posted by memphistrumpet
No sound on UPN yesterday, and absolutely nothing on ABC.

Yup, and no sound on CBS tonight :(

Wayne Phillips at PAX 50 has gotten back with me and advises that they had a problem with their encoders, after all. They are back up now and I'm getting them fine. Are ok now Dennis?

Yes I am. Just got the chance to check. He emailed me too but I haven't responded. I will tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up Bob.

Well, 10-3 suddenly showed up for me on Sunday. I guess that WKNO had some sort of problem that they have now corrected. This gives me everything except 13 and 40 (if anyone watches that). I guess that's pretty good for Tipton County with the simple Winegard outdoor antenna furnished by Voom.

40? What the heck is on 40?

Originally posted by fsquid
40? What the heck is on 40?

TBN, Trinity Broadcasting Network. It doesn't come in but it will show up in the EPG. Same as 18 WDAT? from Jackson. Actually I have picked up some other analog stations EPG when I do a scan from my E86 but can't actually recieve them.

Oh, and uhhh, 13-1 :D

Did anyone else have problems during Law & Order (5-1) last night? The vocals (center channel) did not have sound. The picture looked great.

This is one of the reasons it is getting harder and harder to watch anything on NBC. It is always something with NBC.

Last night was our first try on passing Dolby Digital 5.1. We have to reconfigure our audio path and switch between our NBC IRD and our locally up-converted signal. I am sure that is why you had difficulties with your audio. We did not notice the problem here at the studio. We will do some additional testing tonight and will monitor the forum tomorrow for results.

Thanks for your understanding.

David E
WMC

I noticed that Leno wasn't in HD Monday night.

What shows on NBC are broadcast in 5.1?

Eng Dave, thanks for your prompt reply. I also had problems with Channel 5 HD yesterday, primarily no audio except at commercials. Don"t know about Monday as I was out of town.

Dave,
Got a couple of questions for ya.

1) Have ya'll recieved the new piece of equipment that was failing?
2) Will this end the thing when it changes from the national broadcast, or vice-versa when the A/V stops or is delayed?
3) Have you given consideration to not stretch local broadcasts? There is a line along the viewers right side of the screen.

We have gotten the new IRD from NBC and it has been installed. This will not "fix" the glitching when we switch between HD material and our locally up-converted signal. We have installed an HD frame sync that should minimize this particular issues impact. We are stretching to about 14x9 on all our locally up-converted pictures. Are you requesting that we not do this mild stretch? Do you want us to just up-convert and keep a 4x3 aspect ratio?

Will consider it if there is support in the HD community. The 14x9 is just a compromise.

David E
WMC

EngDave,

Thanks for your participation in this forum. All the info and your work to improve the HD broadcast are much appreciated.

On the stretch question, I vote just upconvert and leave it at 4:3.

Originally posted by msd
On the stretch question, I vote just upconvert and leave it at 4:3.

Me too

I don't have a problem with the 14:9. I am watching on a 16:9 set and I don't find the picture size objectionable, but 4:3 wouldn't be any worse, as far as I'm concerned. If it's not 16:9, it's not an improvement.

I would like to express my appreciation to Dave for keeping us informed about the update process at Channel 5. We are fortunate to have him on the forum. I would encourage everyone to be patient and kind in our remarks. This process of upgrading won't be without difficulties and errors. Most of you probably think that there has always been tv, but a few of us old farts remember a test pattern showing up in the middle of a drama, or when a lost line from the telephone company took all the programming from our single station down.

Thanks Dave. Keep up the good work!

Eng Dave,

Thanks for letting me know. The audio mix was off again last night.

I agree with everyone here that it is good that you participate in this forum. For me, I can understand the glitches if I know they are there. Otherwise, it looks like it is not working.

As for the aspect ratio, I vote for 4X3.

The audio sync problem persisted last night. We actually watched the satelite feed instead of the OTA feed.

I agree with everyone else, if it isn't 16x9, simply leave it 4x3.

Thanks for asking us our opinion.

Dave, do you have a list of what shows on NBC are DD5.1?

EngDave, I too want to offer my thanks for continuing to monitor this forum and keeping us informed. I am not extemely technical so my vote for the upconverted size is whichever provides the sharpest picture. I don't mind side bars but prefer an undistorted image with the best quality.

I will look at changing the aspect ratio in the next few days. We will leave it at a straight 4x3.

As for a list of Dolby 5.1 shows, there is some question on which are truly 5.1 and which just simulate. We are going to shelve until next week our attempts to pass through this signal because we are going to be working on some other HD issues that I will announce next week. :)

I have requested the Dolby info from our NBC rep and will pass on the info when I get it.

Next week will be an exciting one.

David E

I vote for upconverted 4:3.

Thanks Dave for contribution to the board, and the HD community here in Memphis. It's really awesome that you act on concerns and questions we have.

fyi...I sent an email to Russ at WKNO and mentioned the jumping of the picture and about passing DD5.1, here is his response....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First, you are right, there is sometimes a motion jerking on some of the programs. This is a problem with the latest version of software released for our PBS satellite receivers. This release was to correct a problem that prohibited our broadcast of required closed captions, but as is often the case it seems that it has created another problem. We were the first station to report this new problem. As such, and given the fact that it does not occur on every program, PBS has asked us to if possible continue to use the updated receiver and call them each time we experience the problem. This should help them in isolating the problem. We have agreed to continue for a few more days but not indefinitely. It is a real catch 22, be legal and have closed captions but have motion problems in the picture, or dump the captions, be illegal, but have smooth motion. I want both.

As far as 5.1 audio goes, we are still having problems with it here at the studio. We may not have all of the right processing equipment, and until we can get it right I don’t want to turn it on. We will get it up and running just as soon as possible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave--

While you're working on the 5.1 issues, it would be a big help if you could pass through the closed captioning. When WREG forgets to turn on 5.1 and we get no center channel, I just turn on closed captions to follow the dialog. But during West Wing there was no center channel and no closed captions, making for a worthless broadcast.

And add another vote for 4:3.

Originally posted by wiggo
While you're working on the 5.1 issues, it would be a big help if you could pass through the closed captioning. When WREG forgets to turn on 5.1 and we get no center channel, I just turn on closed captions to follow the dialog. But during West Wing there was no center channel and no closed captions, making for a worthless broadcast.

And add another vote for 4:3.

I echo these comments and also thank EngDave for keeping us informed and actually caring about the quality of WMC's HD broadcasts.

Been out of town for a week, but wanted to also say a big thanks to EngDave for keeping us up to date and while it seems the issue has been decided, my vote would have also been for 4x3.

I made the change we are now keeping the original 4x3 aspect ratio. I am attempting to save it in our system but it tends to fight you sometimes when you want to make changes. We are working on some HD surprises for everyone in the next few days so as the say, "stay tuned".

David E
WMC

EngDave, THANK YOU!
This looks SO much better. Thanks for switching the AR for us. No more stretching, FINALLY!
Keep us informed on what's happening. :)

Originally posted by ravma479
This looks SO much better.

I completely agree.

However, I still do see the line on the viewers right side of the screen about an inch from the edge of the picture. But I am happy with the 4:3

I have been looking at our CC over the last few days since the earlier comment about us not passing NBC captioning. I have been checking NBC Prime-time and every time I check it we have CC there. Can I get some specifics on which shows you are not seeing CC on?

Glad everyone is happy with the 4X3 aspect ratio.

David E
WMC

Anyone using an indoor antenna in the East Memphis area near Clark Tower? Won't be able to put up an outdoor one for a few more weeks, was wondering how successful people are with using an indoor one. THANKS

Dave--

Last week West Wing had no captions (and no center channel, which made it useless, as there was no dialog).

Let's both check tonight, and I'll let you know if I can get the captions.

Hey fsquid,
I live over by Oak Cour Mall, not too far from Clark Tower. I have used a Zenith Silver Sensor indoors which gets decent reception when moved around a little for each station. However, I put a 4-bay bowtie on the roof and have really had good luck with it. I also tried the big square Terk one they sold at Best Buy. It worked about as well as the Silver Sensor, but was a lot more $$$, so I returned it.

4-bay bowtie? sounds like an indoor one.

EngDave--

Tried to get CC on West Wing tonight. Tried all combinations, and no go. Fortunately, didn't need them.

So far no HDTV from WREG. I called and told them there was already a game in HD and he said he would check on it. I thought being home sick would be worthwhile. Doubt it.

Back from commercial and no HD. I got an email back the other day stating they would be monitoring the HD feed, yeah right.

They finally went HD right at halftime...

Finally got HD, at halftime.

Anybody notice that we have 5-3 now? It is a weather now from WMC. I just hope that it does not kill the bandwidth on 5-1.

Jerry

Originally posted by jawilljr
Anybody notice that we have 5-3 now? It is a weather now from WMC. I just hope that it does not kill the bandwidth on 5-1.

Me too. During HD programs on WREG I see what multicasting has done to WREG. They used to be pristine, now not near as sharp as it used to be.

Is this one of those exciting things from WMC? Not what I was hoping for.

We are working on some HD surprises for everyone in the next few days so as the say, "stay tuned".

Don't think the weather in SD would be what Dave refers to as "HD surprises"

I called and spoke to an engineer at WREG, who then switched the game to HD less than 10 seconds after I got off the phone with him, but he said they were only supposed to pass thru the SD signal unless we called in and asked for the HD feed. So in case they are showing the SD feed of a game and you want to see the HD game, please give them a call and ask to show the HD game. He said I was the first person to call about it.

they were only supposed to pass thru the SD signal unless we called in and asked for the HD feed.
What kind of a stupid idea is that?

I like the weather on WMC. I wonder how much bandwidth it uses. If it doesnt effect the quality of the HD broadcasts, I say go for it! This is really nice actually. It's weird not having music or something, but that would probably take more resources.

Engdave: Is the multicasting going to effect picture quality? Can you tell us how much of your total bandwidth it's using?


The non-hd WREG broadcast reminded me to ask. Has anyone else in East Memphis had problems with WREG's signal? I havent gotten 3-1 in almost 2 months. I've just been to lazy to ask about it... :-/

Originally posted by dogpoobob
What kind of a stupid idea is that?

The exact same thing I thought. After the HD game was over my wife wanted to watch something she tivo'd so we watched it and came back to all SD coverage. I didn't feel like calling again. Excpet for 3 seconds where they passed HD thru, but then put it back on SD.

For those of you at work, we are getting the HD game on 3-1 and a different SD game on 3. So maybe the engineer I spoke to last night was confused. Even tho it did take WREG about 15 minutes to switch the same game from SD to HD.

yesterday it was SD on 3-1

At night it was, but during the day there were 2 different games on.

that's what I meant, at night. I wasn't lucky enough to be at home!

what's it doing now?? Which game is on 3 and which one is on 3-1?

Same game on both channels, they are passing HD UCONN/UCF, but only 2.0

Is the Loserville NCAA game supposed to be in HD?? If so, I need to call because those asshats didn't flip it.

??

Just got home. Yes it was supposed to be. Were any of these in HD?

7:10 PM Louisiana-Lafayette #13 vs. Louisville #4 HD
7:10 PM Vermont #13 vs. Syracuse #4 HD
9:40 PM Old Dominion #12 vs. Michigan State #5 HD
9:40 PM George Washington #12 vs. Georgia Tech #5 HD

Well, the week's over and I didn't see any exciting HD happenings on TV-5. Was the weather on 5-2 it, Dave, or is there more to come that we should look forward to?

2nd half of the Loserville game was in HD, they didn't have anything in HD for the second games. What is their number to call?? I tried 543-2333 and got a recording.

543-2111, ask for engineering.

Still seeing a lot of pixelation in today's games when the camera is up close.

Ok this is wierd.

E86: 5-1, the contender. 52-3 which changes to 5-3, weather plus
HDTivo: 5-1, the contender. 52-3, the contender. searching for signal message on 5-3, no weather plus

I noticed last night that I had a new option when creating a new recording. When you create a scheduled recording there is an option for "first run episodes only". I checked the firmware and it had not changed. Just wondering if anyone else in the Memphis area had noticed this and is it only an option on the 8300.

IMHO NBC Weather Plus on 5-3 is a complete waste of bandwidth.:( Seems to be nothing I'd want to watch for over 20 seconds. I get more information with Weatherbug!

Same thing with 3-2. It is a news loop. Almost as bad as the sportscenter loop everyday.

Originally posted by dogpoobob
IMHO NBC Weather Plus on 5-3 is a complete waste of bandwidth.:( Seems to be nothing I'd want to watch for over 20 seconds. I get more information with Weatherbug!
I've got to agree with this. During the 10 o'clock news yesterday I put it on this channel, thinking maybe I would see something about our "impending doom due to rain" and it was a national map of temps. While in theory it is a good idea, over half of the time I switch to that channel it is displaying a city temperature OTHER THAN Memphis's. It also doesn't have much information other than high/low, weather. IF it needs to be kept put it on one of the PAX subchannels.

Originally posted by Jeffrey T
Same thing with 3-2. It is a news loop. Almost as bad as the sportscenter loop everyday.
You don't know how bad I want this gone. It is killing the main channel's PQ. It killed football and during this weekend, when they were showing the HD feed, close shots showed pixelation like a mug. WREG's answer, we are monitoring the feed and it looks fine on their end. Can they see pixelation if they only monitor the stream, and not the picture? That's why I ask everyone to write to ron.walter@wreg.com and tell him you disapprove of the PQ. Maybe if they get enough complaints they will do the same thing Dave did, and listen to the public and make changes based on feedback. I can't tell you how many times I go to this channel and there is either no sound or its in Spanish.

I just hope that once NBC starts doing sports in HD that we don't see the same thing with the multicast that is going on with CBS, which is massive pixelation.

The signal that is up on 5-3 over the last few days is Weather Plus in its infant stages. We will be adding locally produced weather cut-ins complete with up to date local radar. It also will pass through all the weather alerts as the National Weather Service puts them out. Please withhold judgment until we are done putting this together. I understand your concerns for PQ being degraded by extra channels eating up all bandwidth. We are working to address this issue and I hope to have more info shortly.

Thanks for your patience
David E
WMC

Hey EngDave,
I think the weather channel on 5-3 has potential if it is focused more on Memphis and surrounding weather.

One thing I have missed as a Satellite subscriber is the local weather channel/radar that many have on Time Warner, or at least I used to when I had Time Warner--is it still there?

Keep in mind that very few people will watch this channel for any extended period of time. So, a focused radar/5-day forecast/current weather info, preferrably on the screen at one time, would be why most people would take even an occasional glance at this channel.

With that in mind, if this does degrade PQ, is it really worth it?

EngDave,

Please remember that those of us that have rear projection HDTVs do not like static images. Also, any moving banner is also considered a static image because the background around the text never really moves. Likewise on a weather map. The map is a static image even though "fronts" may be moving.

I'm not sure what would be healpful for a weather station other than a map but this map should not be displayed for more than several minutes at a time. If you aren't going to have sound, maybe you can alternate the map with text for current and 5 day forecast on a colored background (rotate different background colors each time the text is displayed). Maybe use colors not associated with the major colors on the map?

We already have issues with channel "bugs" (logos in the lower right corner). In fact, there are several shows and movies on Spike TV that I would like to see but I do not view that channel because of their "bug".

I'm sure you are aware of all of these issues but I just wanted to get them out in the open if you aren't.

Thanks for participating here and helping us.

I sure hope that WREG does something today because their PQ for the games since Thursday has been absolutely horrendous. Any movement causes pixelation.

Originally posted by mx6bfast
I sure hope that WREG does something today because their PQ for the games since Thursday has been absolutely horrendous. Any movement causes pixelation.

Hey guys,
Long time lurker who finally registered. I moved from Memphis to Dallas for almost a year and my job has landed me back in Memphis for a while. I remember when I moved to Dallas I thought the picture quality for CBS here looked beautiful. Then down in Dallas it looked just as good with no sudchannels. Now that I have been back for a few months, we have more channels in HD, which is great. But I have to agree with the poster above, the HD feed from wreg is tremendously BAD. Looks absolutely nothing like it did last year. I only caught a few NFL and SEC games late in the season, and those looked very bad also. I have seen most of the games since I am a big NCAA fan and was frustrated with them not showing the HD games all the time. Even though they have done better with it since last week, I am reminded just how much a subchannel can do to the main HD feed. You guys don't know how bad this channel looks now compaired to how it used to. Like wmc, there was not any pixelation during any HD sports. Now, it is more the norm to have pixelation than to not have it. My suggestion is to do like someone mentioned earlier, email the programming email on the wreg website and tell them you disapprove of the picture quality on the channel. I am going to email him right now.

Originally posted by EngDave
I understand your concerns for PQ being degraded by extra channels eating up all bandwidth. We are working to address this issue and I hope to have more info shortly.

Dave, thank you for your contribution to this forum. I hope you have been watching wreg and can see what a subchannel will do to what should be a great image.

rant off.

I noticed the engineer for wpty used to post on here. What happened to him?

Originally posted by tiger bob
I am going to email him right now.

Good. We need more people to do this. WREG has looked unbelievably bad. Proof here that it isn't a network issue. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=524431 I mean there was pixelation even when guys were in the huddle and they moved. C'mon WREG. I almost feel like calling off my NCAA finals party.

Did anyone notice there's audio on 5-3 now?

It has always had audio, (but not all receivers could find it) one of our PSIP tables had some garbage in it that would confuse certain receivers. We re-initialized our processing gear and it updated the tables. (cleared out the junk) That allowed all receivers to identify that there was in fact audio to be decoded. (The wonderful world of digital)

Glad to hear that the audio is active for everyone now!

David E
WMC

Eng Dave,

You mentioned some time back that great things are coming. I have been on vacation and busy at work. What were the great things.

I saw a post from mx6bfast on another thread saying that some of the Grizzlies games on FSN have been available in HD on D*. I thought the Griz/Bulls game last Monday would be one such, but it was "Not Available in [my] Area" on the HD channel (96). What gives? Does anyone know when the next HD Griz game is?

I started a thread about it Monday night, http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=525032. I was on the phone with D* to find out why we weren't getting it. Some dude says the game was a product of Chicago, not FSS. But I did run across this today, http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/1530967. There will be 3 more games in HD by FSS. We should get those.

Also, some Cardinals games are gonna be in HD this year. If you subscribe to the sports pack or TC premier (the one that gets all the channels) we will get FSS, FS Mid west, and FS Cincy. Since the Cards games are on FSMW, and some of those are in HD, we might be able to see some of those games. I'm not sure but let's hope.

Originally posted by tscallions
I noticed last night that I had a new option when creating a new recording. When you create a scheduled recording there is an option for "first run episodes only". I checked the firmware and it had not changed. Just wondering if anyone else in the Memphis area had noticed this and is it only an option on the 8300.

I noticed this for the first time a couple of days ago. This has always been an option on my TiVo and I was wondering if the good people at Scientific Atlanta would every build it into their software. I went back and selected the "first run" option for most of my season passes.

Anyone else get all crazy upset last night (like I did) when they broke into the last few minutes of Lost with some silly weather crap? I didn't call, but I bet they got an earful. It was such an intense episode otherwise.

I was really upset about it. I'll probably obtain a copy from "other" places so I can see the five extremely crucial moments I missed.

Me and mollerup got ya covered. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5411644#post5411644

btw, yes I was a little upset. They should keep that on the SD channel, at least during Lost. :cool:

Yes that was terribly unnecessary! I hate it when they break in to a show for a non-emergency related warning--basically to tell us it was going to rain. I can understand a tornado warning or other SEVERE weather, but come on, that was just sensationalizing a lot of nothing last night--especially during LOST.

They shoulda put that update on the Weather Plus channel <sarcasm>

Woah! I just turned on 53-1 and there it is! Fox 13 High-Def!!
This is so AWESOME!!!
















Alright.. I lied. April Fools.. Sorry, I Couldnt resist. (Kinda sad though that I can use this joke still...)

punk

You know, since DTV turned on the HD national FOX feed for us, I could care less if Fox13 ever gets its act together. And have you seen the NYC Fox news? Oh man, it's full of sensationalistic bombastic histrionics. Every report sounds like something off of Inside Edition. Hilarious.

ravma479

That was just wrong!!! I made it thru the entire day without one of those. What's worse, I got up, went in the other room and searched for the signal.....Before I read the bottom of the message!

I echo mx6bfast, PUNK ;-)

Originally posted by Cheep
You know, since DTV turned on the HD national FOX feed for us, I could care less if Fox13 ever gets its act together. And have you seen the NYC Fox news? Oh man, it's full of sensationalistic bombastic histrionics. Every report sounds like something off of Inside Edition. Hilarious.
I have watched their news a couple of times and you got that right.

As far as the national Fox D* feed, I'm right there with ya. I don't know when the last time was that I watched WHBQ. Actually, it was a few weeks ago when I realized that I didn't change my Mad TV season pass to 88. Other than that, no reason to watch it.

Other than that channel, I wish that we could get the national CBS feed from D*. I am cringing when I think of what the PQ was last week, and what it will look like this week for the games.

Dave, when 5-3 is on, how much bandwidth are you dedicating to 5-1?

WPTY and WLMT still look really good.

WKNO, well, even tho I don't see pixilation, the programs are grainy and not clear at all.

Bandwidth allocation for multi-casting is very confusing. I have talked to Engineers that swear you can use 12Mbits for your HD channel and it will work fine. I have my doubts about that...... I feel you need at least 15Mbits to pass HD cleanly, so that is what we have allocated for our HD stream. The other channels will be allocated to 2Mbits each. You have just over 19Mbits to work with in your transport stream.

The real answer for Multi-casting will be to use Statistical Multiplexing. This means you can throttle back certain signals when they don't need the bandwidth to maintain your HD quality. The problem is the cost is very steep, the last multiplexor I saw was ~60K. Since we have yet to make a penny with our HD signal its a tough pill to swallow.

I myself have not gotten an HD set yet for my home. I think in the next 12 months that will change but up till now I have not felt the value was there. I think Multi-casting is here to stay and over time it will actually grow as the math and the equipment get better.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

David E
WMC

Does WMC have an HD setup at the station to monitor the feed? Or is it watched by the data stream? I don't know how its done but it would be cool to know. Like what things do you look for, and stuff?

Also, I'm not sure if you are able to answer this or not, has DirecTV been in contact with WMC fo carry the digital feed when the news sats are up?

Cheep, I agree...Fox News NYC is funny. Wish there was some way to get all the National HD feeds through D*.

Yes we do have a receiver setup in Master Control to monitor our over the air HD signal. We will be getting an HD box from TW to install in Master Control as well. We have a monitoring system in place that will tell us if we loose our signal. We have several parts of the monitoring automated, if we have Sat trouble we get an alert automatically from NBC. If the problem is on our side we have to catch the problem ourselves. Over the next year we will be adding some redundancy to our system to try and minimize our down time. We have built a new Master Control and will be moving into it in 2006 when we get phase 3 of our remodel going. This will add to our reliability when we get moved.

We have been contacted by one of the 2 Sat guys. They are looking for a central receive site here in Memphis. We would be glad to hook them up here at our studio. We will see how it goes.

David E
WMC

Originally posted by EngDave
The problem is the cost is very steep, the last multiplexor I saw was ~60K. Since we have yet to make a penny with our HD signal its a tough pill to swallow.


David E
WMC


What will determine if the affiliates are "making a penny" on HD signal?

Thanks for the response David.

Sorry for the lame humor, I was just joking...
It's not worth it for me to pay 300 bucks for a receiver plus a monthly fee for one HD channel. I dont need much of anything on cable, so there's no reason to get it. Over the Air is my only shot.
I didnt mean to offend you mx6bfast and HDTV_Duffus. Sorry!

BTW, did anyone notice this comment from David:
The other channels will be allocated to 2Mbits each. You have just over 19Mbits to work with in your transport stream.

The key there being other channelS. Is there something else in the works we dont know about? :)

Yeah I knew you were joking. It's just that getting WHBQ-DT is one of those things you wish would happen, but you know it wont anytime soon, but even a small thing like that will get you excited. No hard feelings.

I didn't catch that until I re-read it. He said earlier that 5-1 was given 18 mb's, but now it's getting 15mb's. So that leaves them with another subchannel stream at 2mb's to equal 19. I guess we will see what it looks like whenever NBC does a sporting event.

ravma479

No offense taken, I was joking as well......except for the part where I ran to the receiver to check the Fox signal. That was true. I actually went to the dang receiver to check, got nothing, THEN read the bottom of the message.



EngDave

Thanks for the info! IMHO, that is the best explanation of the process/problems/solutions that we have had on this forum. I think everyone on your end would be surprised at the support they could receive from the folks on our end if they were honest and straight forward, as you have been. Again, thanks!


Ha Fox guy, are still lurking on this site? If so, how about an update......

Anyone watching the games tonight? Bad pixilation, as usual. Way to go WREG!!

Tiger Bob, if you don't mind me asking, did you send your email and get a responce from WREG?

mx6bfast

I agree, this was the first time the pixelation actually bothered me. At every camera swing any solid line became jagged and with any fast movement the image became blurry. Has anyone seen complaints on the national sites or was this just a Memphis issue?

I'll search for that email address and send an email today.

If you are talking about the lines around the court that appeared to be a national problem. But as far as the pixilation, all local. Here is the thread. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=526677

I sent the email, but not until late this week. No I have not recieved a response yet.

Well, I see that 10-3 is gone again. I had it for two or three weeks, but all I get is black screen and no sound as of today.

Originally posted by dogpoobob
Well, I see that 10-3 is gone again. I had it for two or three weeks, but all I get is black screen and no sound as of today.

Got it here.

Well, I notice a little bit of improvement, still seeing a lot of macroblocking. 3-2 is a static WREG-TV/DT image. I wonder if they gave some extra bandwidth to 3-1 for the game. But if they did, why do they need to have the image there, or the channel even on.

David, how easy is it to turn a sub-channel off and then back on?

I have noticed a drop in PQ on WREG for some time. I emailed and got this response:

Thank you for watching News Channel 3. Forgive me for not responding sooner, but I've been on vacation. We are currently running News Channel 3 Anytime on our second digital channel. Prior to launching the station, we did test the effect on our HD channel and found that it was negligible. Based on your comments, we will test it again.

News Channel 3 Anytime is a 24 hour repeat of our latest newscast. The beauty of the station is that the latest news can be accessed 24/7. As a result the channel has a following and we feel the need to have it available at all times.

Thanks for your input and I hope you will keep watching the excellent HD programming that CBS is broadcasting.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now here is my question...........how many people with the equipment to tune in ATSC.......RIGHT NOW........are going to be turning to WREG as their source for 24 hour news. We are overflowing with news channels, and if you have OTA only, and need to know what is going at a 2am, that is what the million and one news sources on the WWW are for.

Or go real old school and turn on the radio.

Originally posted by dirk1843
The beauty of the station is that the latest news can be accessed 24/7. As a result the channel has a following and we feel the need to have it available at all times......Thanks for your input and I hope you will keep watching the excellent HD programming that CBS is broadcasting.


1) Since when did WREG start broadcasting the digital channel 24/7? I thought they usually turned it off at 12-12:30.

2) If it has such a following why don't they put it on an SD channel. For those that really care they would see what it does to the HD pq. Why punish the DT viewers?

3) What it should say is "the beauty of the station is you can't enjoy the excellent HD programming that CBS is broadcasting "

Unfortunately reconfiguring to "turn off" a digital sub-channel is not an easy thing. We have to reconfigure our system and reboot the entire HD rack for it to propagate properly. (remember our sort of audio on Weather Plus) If we built separate "maps" that did not have the connections for the sub-channels it could be done. But again not quick and easy.

On another note the FCC just required (April 1st) all HD broadcasters to replicate their NTSC coverage times. Which for us means leaving the transmitter on 24/7, at a very considerable electric bill I might add. MLGW loves us! I think WREG transmits 24/7 as well so they are under the same FCC rule.

David E
WMC

I'm considering switching from D* to TWC. I'd be interested to hear pros & cons. I notice that the TWC website claims to include all the local DT signals (main channels). It also lists all the D* HD channels except UHD, along with several that D* doesn't.

But the miserable TWC website is totally silent about cost and what's included. I mean, does the Digital 2000 package (which is about my price point) include any HD, assuming I have the HD stb? If so, how many of the listed channels are included.

I had both D* and TWC back in November 2004.

You would get the local HD channels along with TNT-HD and PPV-HD with the Digital 2000 package. To get INHD 1 & 2, ESPN-HD, HD-Net & Hd Movies will cost $11.95 extra a month. At least that is what it used to be back in November.

TWC HD channels should look better than D* HD channels. They were about the same back in Nov before D* compressed them more. But TWC Local HDs will not look as good as OTA.

TWC analog channels looked awful on a HDTV. Most of their digital channels, at least where I am, wasn't as good as D* even with all the compression that D* has.

TWC STB lease price (which is not a part of the package deals) is higher than D* mirror charges. Also, with TWC you'll pay the DVR service fee on each DVR you have. Where D* charges only one charge for all DVRs you have.

However, you can always check TWC out and if you don't like it you can cancel at any time.

If you order the DigiPic 2000 it will cost you $68.50 per month. You get 200 channels plus your choice of two premiums. If I were you, I would choose HBO and Showtime because if you subscribe to those you will receive the High Definition broadcasts of both the East Coast and West Coast feeds. The $68.50 includes the high definition box. As far as what HD channels you get free they are as follows:

CBS
NBC
ABC
FOX
PBS
UPN
Discovery HD
TNT HD
Memphis Grizzlies channel (but only certain games)
(HBO HD & HBO West HD)
*This is included if you choose this as your premium
(SHO HD & SHO West HD)
*This is included if you choose this as your premium
Movies On Demand HD (Pay Per View HD)

Now for $7.95 extra per month you can add the following high definition channels:

INHD
INHD2
ESPN HD
HDNet
HDNet Movies

The $68.50 does not include any taxes.

Originally posted by rp3
I'm considering switching from D* to TWC. I'd be interested to hear pros & cons. I notice that the TWC website claims to include all the local DT signals (main channels). It also lists all the D* HD channels except UHD, along with several that D* doesn't.

But the miserable TWC website is totally silent about cost and what's included. I mean, does the Digital 2000 package (which is about my price point) include any HD, assuming I have the HD stb? If so, how many of the listed channels are included.

Hi...I am a long time hater (not really a stong enough word imo) of TWC because of several very poor customer service and installation problems. Once I switched to D* a while ago I've never even considered going back.

Anyway, on a more unbiased note, I have heard that TWC does indeed have all the HD local channels, whereas D* obviously does not...yet. D* is supposed to be putting some new satellites into service soon. Once these are in place the plan is to start carrying local HD programming, much like they now carry local SD programming.

In the meantime, if you stay with D* you can always go with OTA signals for HD programming. I currently use a rooftop UHF antenna and receive all the channels OTA with a very good reception and picture. You can go to antennaweb.org for more information on antennas. Many people even have success with indoor antennas such as the Zenith Silver Sensor or attic mounts of larger UHF antennas. Also, you can get the National HD FOX feed through D* right now because the local FOX doesn't broadcast or isn't strong enough for anyone to receive.

Sorry, but I don't know anything about pricing for D* future HD's or for TWC. I'm sure someone else will answer that shortly. Hope this has helped.

For individuals that are switching from D* or E* to TWC, TWC from time to time offers a "dish win-back" program with very attractive pricing. I switched from E* to TWC in September to the Digipic 2000 program with HBO and Showtime and an HD DVR for $40 per month (price guaranteed for a year). YMMV.

Anyone else noticed the static image on 3-2? I checked last night after the Grizz lost :( and saw it again this morning. I didn't watch CBS last night, can anyone comment on the PQ? For those on TW, are ya'll getting the static image on the News Anytime channel or are you getting the normal stuff?

I hate to say it but I do watch the news channel 3 Anytime channel. Not religously or anything but I do watch it from time to time. During Tiger basketball season they have the Tigers Tonight show which I can't live without.

Also, I don't see as much pixelation as others say. I watched the final four and the championship game and I really didn't see anything. I have a Phillips 34 inch WS with the Silver Sensor and have no issues and I live in Marion. During the college football season last year I did see some issues but they were resolved by the bowl season. Take it for what it's worth. BTW, my D* receiver is the RCA DTC-210.

ooops, my first post was duplicated

I noticed that there was no news on 3-2 this morning. I thought they were updating or something. I don't usually watch it, but occasionally, I'll check it between newscasts or if I miss the 10:00 news, watching something else, I'll tune in to catch the highlights. There's not really much on the local news to interest those of us in Tipton County. All Memphis and Shelby, not even a decent coverage of state issues, except John Ford, of course.

Round 1 of the Masters is on UHD in HiDef from 3-6 PM

Well, maybe. Raining in Augusta.:mad:

I just got home from being in training all day. Has WREG been showing the Master's at all? It's not right now.

It was supposed to be on CBS and UHD (Don't understand that). Channel 3 evidently chose not to show the feed, which was to be in HD. UHD carried the action today, in HD, ith a few glitches, but nevertheless, very satisfying. Augusta National looks good in HD.

I figured WREG wouldn't show the Master's in HD today, and possibly tomorrow. It was like pulling teeth to show the 1st and 2nd round NCAA games in HD.

Augusta will look better from WREG, just wait.

Looked in on 3-2 and LO, Bill Lund is speaking Spanish. Another lame attempt by WREG to find something to sell cars and pharmaceuticals?

Masters PQ much better on CBS than on UHD, Thursday and Friday. No telling how good it might look without 3-2.

Originally posted by dogpoobob
Masters PQ much better on CBS than on UHD, Thursday and Friday. No telling how good it might look without 3-2.

No blocking, crystal clear HD shots, 3-d looking, you could actually see the breaks on the greens, not to mention the wording or mark's the players made of their balls. That's what it looked like last year. This year, some shots looked good.

WREG needs to learn from David how to run a subchannel without coomprimising the main feed's PQ.

Umm... been watching the Masters all day, looks decent. But at 3:50, the OTA signal disappeared completely. Everybody else seeing that too?

Back now, ten minutes later.

I just got home. Anyone getting it now?

Nope. It only back for a few minutes, then went out again.

I called and asked for engineering and the chick who answered was like "They know about the problem sir!" I was in the process of saying OhhK (hangup) haha

Frustrating.

I guess that'll teach us to complain about PQ. What we had was better than none at all.

Eng Dave, I was trying to watch Leno last night and kept getting broken audio on 5.1 but everything was ok on 5. Was it just me?

Originally posted by dogpoobob
I guess that'll teach us to complain about PQ. What we had was better than none at all.

haha that's right. Although I hated the PQ when it was black. I told my wife I blamed it on 3-2, she agreed. :D

On a side note, and I'm sure this was local, how many other people's tv's were blocking up when Tiger moved an inch in his red shirt. Only a couple of times could you see the lines in his short. But once he started moving, looked awful.

Yeah. Frankly, I was amazed at the picture quality when things moved during the Masters. Still shots were great. But ANY sort of movement, like a club swing or someone walking, and the blocking was very bad. Makes me think that this fall's NFL season is going to look absolutely horrible.

Do you normally get The Tonight Show in 5.1? We have been trying to get NBC to tell us which shows are produced in 5.1 and which are not. They have said something to the effect that all shows in HD are produced in 5.1 though we have not seen that hold true. I did not get any other calls on an audio problem, so I would assume it was an isolated incident. Please let me know if you continue to have problems.

Thanks
David E
WMC

Dave, I think he means 5-1, ie: The HD digital channel, not 5.1 Surround Sound.

"Eng Dave, I was trying to watch Leno last night and kept getting broken audio on 5.1 but everything was ok on 5. Was it just me?"

Eng Dave, sorry about the confusion on the Tonight show. I did mean 5-1, but you have to overlook my mistakes. I am lagging behind on terminoligy. Everything was fine last night, so must have been a temporary problem. Thanks for responding

I'm always amazed that changing scenes on all CSI's cause blocking on WREG. Unbelieveable. I have already started watching more WMC.

Originally posted by mx6bfast
I'm always amazed that changing scenes on all CSI's cause blocking on WREG. Unbelieveable. I have already started watching more WMC.

"blocking" I don't see that on the CSI shows. See it on that "Numbers" show though.

Dang WLMT!! Hot green Orion women on Enterpirse and no HD.

Originally posted by fsquid
"blocking" I don't see that on the CSI shows. See it on that "Numbers" show though.

I see it when they change scenes. It was real bad from CSI:NY Wednesday night. Example, when the guy with the glasses was talking to the dark straight haired girl, I counted all 4 times when they changed to her there was blocking. Regardless, it shouldn't be there no matter what show.

btw...The Grizz game looks great on D* tonight. So much better than WREG. And damn, can the Grizz not start out slow against the Nuggets?

The Grizz game does look good... but I'm flipping back and forth the the Cavs-Wizards game on ESPN HD, and there's really no comparison. The ESPN game is just amazing.

Sorry to tell you guys we are having a problem with the HD transmitter. We had a part flown in today from Thales that partially fixed the problem. We can make power now but we cannot get the correction circuits to get the signal into specs. (means no picture for everyone at home) We are calling it a night and will make another attempt on Sunday. Hopefully we will be back on-line soon. We will have a fiber circuit to TW setup next week so that should help our TW customers have some redundancy.

David E
WMC

UPDATE (4/18/2005) We got back on the air around 1:00PM yesterday thanks to the hard work of my Chief Engineer. We are not completely happy with how it is working but we are on the air! We will be doing some more work on the transmitter over the next couple of days. There may be short outages as we work on the correction circuits. Thanks for your patience.

David E
WMC

Great to know what is going on. Thanks for letting us know.

:( Boo Hoo! VOOM is ceasing operation as of 4/30. I really hate that. If those of you who have D* or E* would care to share your experience, especially where HD is concerned, I would be most appreciative. I seem to find a general disatisfaction with the HD on both services, when I browse other fora. Since there is either a significant startup cost or longtime committment, I'm really unsure of a path of action.

I just switched in Jan from E* to D*, Dish really has no future plans for HD. If it were me I would go with D* and you can get FOXHD from them and they show some of the HD Griz games (If you are into that). Dish doesn't have FOX nor did they show the Griz games in HD. D* equipment is also more stable than Dish. FWIW

I also have D*. I went with D* over E* for this exact reason, HD. Happy customer.

Still want more channels. But, I always will.

Since E* bought the V* satellite, you would think that they are going to increase the number of channels, with HD, hopefully.

Last I heard, E* wasn't sure what it was going to do with the new sat. Personally, I think they will roll out MPEG-4 before putting up anymore HD. But that's just a wild guess on my part.

Also, E* has filed with the FCC a few months back wanting permission to down-rez their HD channels. So it looks like E* wants to join the HD-Lite crowd. Up to that point I thought E* was doing the rigght thing. They said they weren't going to add anymore HD anytime soon. At least E* kept the HD channels they have a full bandwidth.

I have D*. For the most part I like it. Not enough HD and to much compression on a bunch of the SD channels. But if I was a V* sub I would probably go with someone that didn't require a commitment. And wait a few months and see what D* & E* are going to do. E* & TWC doesn't require commitments or equipment purchases. D* will require a commitment and equipment purchase.

I have D* and love it.

FWIW I never recieved a response from WREG when I emailed them a couple of weeks ago.

Hey, I'm gonna throw this out here again. I haven't received WREG-HD in over 2 months (Over the Air). I gather from you all that TWC's feed is working fine. So, can anyone confirm that they are still broadcasting?

BTW, I just noticed tonight that ABC24 isn't passing the Video Description Service during Blind Justice, or at least I cannot access it. Anyone had any luck? Just curious because I'm sure there must be someone in Memphis who could benefit from it, and I was kind of interested in hearing how it works.

Just wanted to check if anyone that watched The Office had audio sync problems. I watched it on my DVR so I don't know if I should blame the DVR or if it was like that for everyone. Thanks.

I havent been able to get the HD feed tonight on WMC, but last night during Leno, the audio on the feed was HORRIBLY out of sync. A few days ago EngDave posted that WMC was having problems with the feed, so I imagine they haven't worked them out yet.

It stinks not having HD for The Office. :( At least NBC letterboxes it, ala E.R.

Originally posted by ravma479
Hey, I'm gonna throw this out here again. I haven't received WREG-HD in over 2 months (Over the Air). I gather from you all that TWC's feed is working fine. So, can anyone confirm that they are still broadcasting?

I've been getting them fine for the past 2 months.

I also have D* and am happy. Some of the HD channels look really good, and some look ok. If you want to stay with dbs, I'm sure you know what D* is doing with launching the new sat's. I'm guessing we will be able to get our digital Memphis feeds by early next year, possibly even sooner. Not only that there will be room for more national HD channels. So they appear to be commited to expanding HD. Not to mention we get the national FOX HD channel. There are rumors floating around that D* will change to a leasing program instead of buying the hardware and then having to pay a mirroring fee. Of course if you sign up for D* you have to agree to a 1 year agreement to have at least the lowest programming package out there.

I've been happy with it and was thinking about changing to TW. But I talked to a few friends and read posts on here and that changed my mind. Of course I want more HD, but I've got a feeling we will get more in a few months.

Thanks for the response rav. I stopped by a TWC office this morning and swapped my 8300 out for a new one because the HD quality has dropped ever since I went from the 8000HD DVR to the 8300HD DVR. Maybe the audio sync was my DVR. Man isn't it hard to watch shows when the sync is off. I finished The Office because it was on 30min but I had to look at their eyes instead of their mouths because it was giving me a headache trying to match up the two. Really puts the brain in overtime when that happens.... haha.

No problem receiving WREG.

Has anyone noticed that during Gilmore Girls, I don't watch I just flip thru, there will be a different episode on 30 than on 30-1? Does this happen to any other shows? I have like 3 months on Smallville's Tivo'd, the OTA and D* feed.

Also, Dave, I missed Revelations tonight. Will it be on again this weekend? How is the testing for the DD5.1 going?

Thanks for your input on service. I don't have access to any cable systems out here, so it's either E* or D*. If you get the local channels from E*, do you get Fox in HD? The only thing I watch is 24, but I'd enjoy that if I could get it in HD.

mx6, I record both the OTA and the D* feeds of Gilmore Girls and Smallville too (in case I forget to aim the antenna!) I've never noticed different eps before, but I'll have a look. I record the OTA Smallville even though it's not in HD-- the quality of the D* feed for that show is horrendous. All the blacks look red! Yecch.

Never mind. I called E* and they deliver locals only in SD. OTA antenna would be required for HD (not provided). They actually have a better price than D*, all things considered, since you get Encore and a bunch of additional music channels that D* doesn't offer. Plus 4 million other channels that have nothing on to watch.

I think pretty much ALL SD shows on WLMT on D* is red. It is horrendous.

bob, to get locals in HD thru D* you also need an antenna, for now. But at least with D* you do get the national FOXHD channel.

I decided to go with E*, mainly because they offer the Encore channels and TMC for $7.00 more than the D* Total Choice Plus package. Since 24 is the only thing I watch on Fox, and there are only 2 or 3 hours left in this season, I guess that I can continue to live with SD on FOX. Thanks, for all your input.

I can't believe that there can be so many channels that don't interest us. BYU-TV(?)

Originally posted by dogpoobob
I can't believe that there can be so many channels that don't interest us. BYU-TV(?)

I agree, I wonder if they were to get rid of some of the really fringe channels, if it could free up enough bandwidth for more/higher PQ HD programming?

I did a quick search and saw got no hits on 28-3.

Earlier tonight 28-3 was broadcasting the same as 3-1 on my HDTiVo. I do not remember if there is an issue with them using the -3 subchannel for the -1, but a search came back empty.

Is WREG up to 3 subchannels now??

Checked with our Programming Coordinator and she says the Revelations that aired this past Wednesday (hour 2) will not be repeated. Next Wednesday will be hour 3. Sorry.....

We have not been able to do any more testing of 5.1 audio, we will try and move forward on that project when we clear a few things off our plates.

Sorry for the delay on the audio project, but our News Dept keeps us pretty busy. LOL (huge understatement)

David E
WMC

I wouldn't be surprised by how bad the PQ is if they are running 2 sub's now. I checked and was getting the same thing on my HDTivo, but not on my E86's. I have also seen this with WPTY showing the same thing on 24-1 & 25-2. I don't think it is officially a subchannel, just maybe some remapping. Maybe David can help us out here.

mx6bfast,
Actually, what I think happens is that 30 and 30-1 start at the same time, but there are less commercials on 30-1, so 30 falls behind and takes longer. Thus, after the HD feed is finished on 30-1, they go SD and repeat the last few minutes of the episode/program in SD. I think the commercials are the cause, but I know that they run the same episode on both channels.

BTW, there's nothing wrong with liking Gilmore Girls. ;)

I'm still picking up the same 12 channels. Still no picture or sound on 10-3. Had it for three weeks, then it went away. Atmospheric juju or else there is something at WKNO that goes out and is not evident.

Even though it seems as most people here have off air antennas or satellite service, I figured I'd post this for the few TWC customers that do post here. Comcast will be taking over cable services here in the mid south. Part of the joint purchase of Adelphia. No word on when the move is to take place. Internet services will not be affected by the switch.

Originally posted by tscallions
Even though it seems as most people here have off air antennas or satellite service, I figured I'd post this for the few TWC customers that do post here. Comcast will be taking over cable services here in the mid south. Part of the joint purchase of Adelphia. No word on when the move is to take place. Internet services will not be affected by the switch.

I wonder what changes this will bring to TWC customers in the Memphis market?

It makes me worry that we won't have access to the same cutting-edge equipment and content that TWC provides. I know Comcast's other markets in Arkansas were about two years behind TWC Memphis. Based on Comcast's Little Rock offerings, the pricing will be more also.

At least one area cannot get any worse. I don't see how any company could provide a poorer customer service system than TWC. (It is a shame when a company has a great product and the inability to support it well.)

How will Internet services not be affected by the switch?

Timbeaux.

Lo! another miracle. 10-3 has reappeared this morning. Who knows what evil lurks in the troposphere? (or wherever)

Maybe the new sat that launched this morning sent out waves that fixed it for you?

Originally posted by tscallions
Even though it seems as most people here have off air antennas or satellite service, I figured I'd post this for the few TWC customers that do post here. Comcast will be taking over cable services here in the mid south. Part of the joint purchase of Adelphia. No word on when the move is to take place. Internet services will not be affected by the switch.

What does TWC have to do with Comcast or Adelphia?
If this is true I guess I'l go to antenna and DVD only, until Direct gets those new birds up and running.

Originally posted by locomo
What does TWC have to do with Comcast or Adelphia?
If this is true I guess I'l go to antenna and DVD only, until Direct gets those new birds up and running.

Comcast owns a small part of TWC. Comcast and TWC are buying Adelphia's assets, which are in bankruptcy administration. TWC is trading some of its markets for Comcast's ownership interest in TWC and they are both trading markets to improve their penetration in markets gained from the Adelphia assets.


Timbeaux.

Pardon this interruption while I get my posting count above five so I can include URLs in the replies.

Timbeaux.

Sorry for not including this in the original reply, but I had to get my posting count high enough to include URLs.

You can read the press release on TWC's web site: http://www.timewarnercable.com/InvestorRelations/PressReleases/TWCPressReleaseDivDetail.ashx?PRID=494&MarketID=25

Anyone see Conan tonight?! I didn't check the HD feed, but it was letterboxed on the SD channel! The widescreen revolution is here. :)

Here's the Press Release:
http://nbcumv.com/entertainment/release_detail.nbc/entertainment-20050421000000-nbcsquotlatenig.html

At the bottom of the page:

To Comcast

From Time Warner
Minneapolis
Memphis
Jackson
Louisiana (principally Shreveport and Monroe)
Florida (principally Cape Coral and St. Augustine)

Come on D*, get those sats up.