I didn;t see that but saw part of driven and that looked good

yes driven did look good.

mark 521,
sry to reply this late.my ota is exterior and mounted on the side of the chimney facing the city, but being blocked by our tree branches.im going to try to tilt it away from the obstacle and see what happens.it still will be somewhat pointing to the city but not as direct as it is now.btw, not to be a copycat, after watching the nba finals with dropouts, i did the same thing as you did, hooked up my signal from ccast and what do you know, i got abc-hd and a stable signal, so i guess i'll go with this for now til the weather gets comffy enough to get up on my steep roof and tilt that antenna.tnx again for the reply.

First phillies game on UPNHD tonight at 7:05 vs the Red Sox

Somehow I lucked into tickets for Sunday's game - I'll be watching that one in Ultra Hi-Def!
I think I'll record it on the SA8000HD anyway...

First phillies game on UPNHD tonight at 7:05 vs the Red Sox

Huh? I've watched at least three HD Phillies broadcasts on UPNHD since they started broadcasting home games in HD.

Huh? I've watched at least three HD Phillies broadcasts on UPNHD since they started broadcasting home games in HD.

well for us in South Jersey ;)

well for us in South Jersey ;)


Oh. Never mind, then...

First phillies game on UPNHD tonight at 7:05 vs the Red Sox

Everything looked great, except for the score ;)

Greetings,
Did anyone notice audio drop outs during commercial breaks? All was fine during the broadcast. I'm in King of Prussia.
b.

I did a quick search and came up empty but I'm hoping to get a little help here.

My set-up: HD RPTV using Comcast cable (central NJ but I get Philly and NY stations) and the Motorola 6412 HD DVR.

1) Do any of you have a problem on start-up where you have a split screen?

Basically, when I turn off my TV for a while then turn it back on (with the STB always on) I sometimes get a divided screen until I change stations where the picture then returns to a single image.

2) My TV uses gray pillar box bars on the sides of 4:3 content. I do not like the gray bars so to get black bars I change the 4:3 Override on the 6412 to "Off" so it passes black bars to the TV.

Problem: On the CBS HD affiliate (KYW, channel 233 on my cable system) I get the gray bars instead of the black bars. I have seen this before but I didn't note the station.

Anyone have an idea as to why I would get the gray bars instead of black bars on this station? The other HD stations seem to display the 4:3 content with the black bars perfectly fine.

3) Are your ESPN and YES stations in SD VERY poor on an HDTV? I recently purchased a HDTV and those stations and a bunch of others (cable stations <100) look HORRIBLE. I watch a TON of ESPN and YES and thankfully they are available in HD but other stations like CNN, A&E, The History Channel are not in HD and they are borderline unwatchable on a large screen HD RPTV.

Thanks.

Edit:Found the answer to number 2. KYW passes gray bars for liability reasons.

theswami;

1) Is a known issue with the moto box when using the DVI connection (I have it too). Just simply changing the channel takes care of it.

what happened with the game on fox sat?

it didnt show up hi def until half way into the game?


and there is still lots of flickering when i see the phils on upn.

and isnt anyone else annoyed with upn's use of a zoom mode that only zooms
alittle during anything that isnt hi def?

plus it isnt even zoomed properly.

I did a quick search and came up empty but I'm hoping to get a little help here.

My set-up: HD RPTV using Comcast cable (central NJ but I get Philly and NY stations) and the Motorola 6412 HD DVR.

1) Do any of you have a problem on start-up where you have a split screen?



Hi swami -
I've found that you can also avoid the problem by powering the set down when tuned to an HD channel such as Discovery Channel HD. I would often experience the problem if I powered the set down and restarted when tuned to WPVI so now I make sure to switch over to Discovery Channel HD before powering down. Consistently getting single screen now on startup. It seems to work so I've stuck with it.

Tiarella

WTF is Comcast doing in Central NJ?!?!?!? Where is the Yanks-Balt game in HD?!?!?!?!

Someone help please. YES in SD is not cutting it.

Yes, I gree the SD YES is pitiful to say the least. Ithink it may be on INHD1 but blacked out....

It's channel 236 for me in south jersey. Just noticed it over the weekend.

I also get that crazy flickering all throughout the broadcast of phils games on UPN. drives me crazy.

3) Are your ESPN and YES stations in SD VERY poor on an HDTV? I recently purchased a HDTV and those stations and a bunch of others (cable stations <100) look HORRIBLE. I watch a TON of ESPN and YES and thankfully they are available in HD but other stations like CNN, A&E, The History Channel are not in HD and they are borderline unwatchable on a large screen HD RPTV. Yes they all suck, this is old news for digital televisions dealing with analog broadcasts.
The bigger the set, the more zooming hence the more noticable the "crap".

Normally OLN is not one of my cable channels. However, last year Comcast added OLN to my lineup just for the Tour De France. Anyone know if this will happen again? If so, which channel?

Will the games from new york be in HD like they were last time?

Normally OLN is not one of my cable channels. However, last year Comcast added OLN to my lineup just for the Tour De France. Anyone know if this will happen again? If so, which channel?

Channel 99. Look for yourself and don't bother us with your problems.

Greetings,
Does anyone else think that last night's Phillies game looked out of focus? I'm referrng to the picture, not their usual playing performance on the field...
b.

CSNHD (200) was out yesterday for me from 5PM- atleast 2AM didnt get to catch the game did comcast have it in HD?

No. It was an away game. I can't remember an away game in HD.

The last time the Phils were in NY, one or two of the CSN broadcasts were definitely in HD.

CSNHD (200) was out yesterday for me from 5PM- atleast 2AM didnt get to catch the game did comcast have it in HD?

CSN out last night for me as well in South Jersey... it did come on briefly around 7:30 with horrible macroblocking, freezing, no audio...eventually locked up 6412 completely...couldn't channel up or down. Never went back...

were out last night. Anybody else?

Jersey got The Tennis Channel added on #277 overnight on the Sports Tier. Any scoop if PA/DE is getting this also?

Didn't have anything new on my lineup this AM when I Got up.

No dialogue channel during CSI on KYW-DT channel 3, over the air, on Thursday night. Is it me or is it the same for everyone?

csi problem for me too. It's a shame, there was nothing on TV, and thats the reason i watched Toy Story instead of it. cbs's loss

No dialogue channel during CSI on KYW-DT channel 3, over the air, on Thursday night. Is it me or is it the same for everyone?

Had the same OTA problem on my Dish 921, Dish 811 and Samsung SIR-T165.

The CBS-HD feed from New York on Dish was fine.

Noticed real low dialog problems with King of Queens on KWY-DT on Wednesday night.

I live in CC Philadelphia and I now think the Live 8 production (Stage, Verizon fiber optic, transmitters, etc.) are blocking my antenna's "line of sight" to the Roxboro antenna farm.
Anyone else with OTA ch. 6 and 10 problems???

Had the same OTA problem on my Dish 921, Dish 811 and Samsung SIR-T165.

The CBS-HD feed from New York on Dish was fine.

Noticed real low dialog problems with King of Queens on KWY-DT on Wednesday night.

I'm on Comcast HDTV -- and CBS audio has been screwed up for the last 2 nights.

CSI I could hear only the background noise (birds chirping, etc.) -- no voices. It appears that the main channels on the DD 5.1 feed were not working. Only the surrounds.

Had low volume issue the prior night.

This appears to be either a CBS problem or a local CBS affiliate problem (since I'm not over the air).

Does anyone watch House on FOX D? Great show with a strong presentation.

Same CBS problem as last night. The commercials have dialogue, but no main dialogue channel for the telecast itself.

Does anyone have a contact at KYW with the engineering staff?

We're using Comcast HD in South Jersey and had in-and-out audio on CBS-HD for the past two nights. Tonight, the main audio would return at times only to completely leave a few seconds later. We had background music but no dialogue. Glad to see that it wasn't my box.

caesar1
Bad de-embedder with no output on channels 1 and 2. Fortunately we had a spare. It's hard to find this type of problem because there is no 5.1 source to test with in the day time.
Unfortunately, we don't have a dual signal path for the HD side like we do for the analog side. Someday, but not now.
CUL Jim

James M. Chase
Director of Engineering
CBS COE
101 South Independence Mall East
Philadelphia, PA. 19106
jchase@cbs.com

For everyone here, thanks Jim for coming on the boards to give us an update on an issue, and it's explanation. It's refreshing to have the guys in charge of HD in our area to tell us about what's happening with the HD.

Bottom line, we really appreciate it.

thank you!

I live 40-50 miles Northeast of Philadelphia, near Reading, PA. I checked Antenna Web - it did not show any of the digital Philly stations. Does this mean that I should forget about HDTV reception with a built-in tuner and go for either Satellite or Comcast?

Also, I have directional antennae - it is approx 35 yrs old and DirecTV (round dish).

Thanks for your advice!

Tommy63

hi everyone,

this is my first post on avsforum...i've been a lurker for awhile, and have gained a tremendous amount of info over the past couple of months.

here is my situtation, and i was wondering if anyone had some insight, suggestions, commments.

i just moved into a new apartment in center city philadelphia. in anticipation of the move, i pre-ordered a samsung HLR 6168. i was all ready for big screen, high definition broadcasts. i have since learned that my apartment complex has an exclusive agreement with this cable company called Hotwire communications. at this time, they do not broadcast in HD. i have called them numerous times, and noone there knows when they will start broadcasting in HD. after some research, i found that they only serve a couple of apartment complexes in the city. i cannot get comcast cable. i also cannot get satellite tv. i am not permitted to mount a dish outside my window. i tried mounting inside my window. it would have worked, except my windows are double paned and tinted.

so as it stands now, i have this brand new 61 inch 1080p HDTV waiting to be shipped, and i have no HD sources. i have tried to do some research, and i have spoken to several audio-visual guys at some hifi stores. i guess my only option is an HDTV antenna. with this, i should be able to receive OTA HD broadcasts of local channels, is this correct? of course, i will not get any premium channels, any movie channels, etc.

i have never seen OTA HD in person; everyone i know has comcast digital or hi def cable. how does OTA compare?

this is really frustrating. no hbo, no espn, no comcast sportsnet...not even in standard def. Hotwire cable seems to really be lacking.

is there any recourse? does my apartment complex have a legal right to say no mounting of a dish?

one last question...anyone in the area have any suggestions on a quality, indoor, HDTV antenna?

thanks for any info

chris

I live 40-50 miles Northeast of Philadelphia, near Reading, PA. I checked Antenna Web - it did not show any of the digital Philly stations. Does this mean that I should forget about HDTV reception with a built-in tuner and go for either Satellite or Comcast?

Also, I have directional antennae - it is approx 35 yrs old and DirecTV (round dish).

Thanks for your advice!

Tommy63

Tommy -

Start researching Channel Master 4228. I live 43 miles from the Roxborough antenna farm, get everything fine. However, I just have farmland between me and Philly, and my house is on a low rise, so I get a good shot at the horizon. You may have to get more 'height' if you have anything between you and the antenna farm.

I wouldn't put much faith in a 35 year old antenna.

Read this thread - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=381623

Did anyone watch the Macy's fireworks on NBC HD on Comcast? Was it broadcast in HD? The PQ was so poor for me that either it was not in HD or I have a TV problem.

looked good here

Did anyone else feel that NBC-HD coverage of NASCAR was substandard to FOX-HD? On Comcast in SJ, looks as if it was heavily compressed (macroblocking). I have not watched much HD on NBC yet this summer, it may be a network issue.

etcarroll - Thanks for the thread reference. After reading the thread, I checked out my antennae. It looks like a CM 4-Bay. It is attached to the chimney of my 2-story house, so it has good height and its outdoors.

Also, in that thread, I saw a post from someone that lives close to me, and he is getting the Philly digital broadcasts.

Once again - thanks for the advice.

Tommy

etcarroll - Thanks for the thread reference. After reading the thread, I checked out my antennae. It looks like a CM 4-Bay. It is attached to the chimney of my 2-story house, so it has good height and its outdoors.

Also, in that thread, I saw a post from someone that lives close to me, and he is getting the Philly digital broadcasts.

Once again - thanks for the advice.

Tommy

Good, the CM 4221 is also a great unit, you may have to run new RG6 cable though, but try what's in place first.

Hi folks.

First post in a long time. My Dad is looking at a 42" plasma - either EDTV or HDTV. My question is - He has analog cable in his building ( senior living). Comcast will install an HDTV box for $7.95 a month. He will be watching quite a bit of SD. Which would be the batter choice for his cable options - I read that SD might look better with EDTV set. Tried a search here for this topic but couldn't find anything that answered this question.

Thanks for your help.

GH

Did anyone else feel that NBC-HD coverage of NASCAR was substandard to FOX-HD? On Comcast in SJ, looks as if it was heavily compressed (macroblocking). I have not watched much HD on NBC yet this summer, it may be a network issue.

Didn't see the NASCAR coverage, but HD in general in Comcast in South Jersey has noticeably diminished in quality over the last month. I know...Comcast doesn't compress...blah blah blah...but the macroblocking, specifically during transitions, motion camera, etc., has been very noticeable of late. Even those channels with outstanding HD (DiscoveryHD, INHD/INHD2...) have all displayed the same diminished quality...not horrendous...but not quite the same.

It's definitely the incoming source signal, as I have installed a Motorola signal booster inside but had no effect...anyone else in SJ noticing the same?

Chris.

I'm in SJ and I don't think it's diminished at all. If you look at the major programming on the networks, not the specials, they have been consistent since I have had HD (november). Sometimes live events do not look as good as taped HD, and NBC isn't exactly the best network for HD. Another thing is that you get so used to HD that it just doesnt look as good as it does when you first see it, even though it still is great.

etcarroll - Thanks for the thread reference. After reading the thread, I checked out my antennae. It looks like a CM 4-Bay. It is attached to the chimney of my 2-story house, so it has good height and its outdoors.

Also, in that thread, I saw a post from someone that lives close to me, and he is getting the Philly digital broadcasts.

Once again - thanks for the advice.

Tommy

I live in Shillington and I can get CBS, NBC, FOX, WB & UPN from Philly with a 5ft Yagi antenna I got from voom. ABC comes and goes. It all depends on what side and how you are in relation to the Pagoda mountain for some that totally blocks the signals.

Didn't see the NASCAR coverage, but HD in general in Comcast in South Jersey has noticeably diminished in quality over the last month. I know...Comcast doesn't compress...blah blah blah...but the macroblocking, specifically during transitions, motion camera, etc., has been very noticeable of late. Even those channels with outstanding HD (DiscoveryHD, INHD/INHD2...) have all displayed the same diminished quality...not horrendous...but not quite the same.

It's definitely the incoming source signal, as I have installed a Motorola signal booster inside but had no effect...anyone else in SJ noticing the same?

Chris.

I have noticed NBC's digital channel seems more compressed than others, I remember watching SD coverage of Arena Football and comparing the digital channel (232) to channel 010 and remarking about the compression. Fast motion and relatively still pictures all had it, especially when bright lights or whites were present. Any ideas, maybe JWhip can shed some light?

...Fast motion and relatively still pictures all had it, especially when bright lights or whites were present. Any ideas, maybe JWhip can shed some light?

A good example is the DiscoveryHD Bumber that runs between shows, with the fast transitions and roller coaster shots, etc...another is ESPNHD's 3D SportsCenter graphics which rotate and move around...these are no longer crisp, the blocking occurs for split seconds during movement, etc...

Basically, the HD is still wonderful...but I am not crazy...it does appear to be some type of compression...or something has changed. It may be subtle...but it is clearly not the same quality as it has been.

Chris

I have not noticed this at all. My HD is as crisp as ever.

I have not noticed this at all. My HD is as crisp as ever.

Translation:

You are crazy.

( :) j/k ),
Frank

... i cannot get comcast cable. i also cannot get satellite tv. i am not permitted to mount a dish outside my window. i tried mounting inside my window. it would have worked, except my windows are double paned and tinted.
...

Pup,
They probably can't restrict you from mounting a dish on your patio, balcony, etc. You can get creative if there is nothing there. Depends on how much of a fuss you wish to raise in your new "neighborhood."
Here is a link that specifically spells out your rights. See if that helps?

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

Good luck.

Pup,

They probably can't restrict you from mounting a dish on your patio, balcony, etc. You can get creative if there is nothing there. Depends on how much of a fuss you wish to raise in your new "neighborhood."

Here is a link that specifically spells out your rights. See if that helps?






Good luck.

adam,

thanks for the info. i have read the FAQ. the problem is i don't have a patio, balcony, or anything that is "exclusively my own property" in my apartment. management has specifically stated that they do not want anyone mounting a dish/antenna on an exterior wall of the building.

its ashame, because i'm not alone in my dissatisfaction. other residents of my building feel the same way.

for now, i will await arrival of my new hdtv, try and OTA indoor antenna, and hope for the best. if that fails, you're right, i can get creative, i will probably push the issue with management.

thanks for the advice

chris

At my old place, I had the same rules as you. I could not mount anything on the exterior walls, even in my balcony. Okay. Well, I wanted a dish for satellite service. I went to Home Depot, bought a 5 gallon bucket, ready mix concrete and a 5 foot steel pipe with the correct diameter for mounting the dish. I used a carpenter's bubble balance and voila, instant dish mount. I am sure the same could be said for a TV antenna. I am sure you could place something near a window or such and pick up a signal.

At my old place, I had the same rules as you. I could not mount anything on the exterior walls, even in my balcony. Okay. Well, I wanted a dish for satellite service. I went to Home Depot, bought a 5 gallon bucket, ready mix concrete and a 5 foot steel pipe with the correct diameter for mounting the dish. I used a carpenter's bubble balance and voila, instant dish mount. I am sure the same could be said for a TV antenna. I am sure you could place something near a window or such and pick up a signal.

yes, i have heard of people doing that. and that was my intention. in fact, the directv people came out and starting building an indoor mount for a dish. they were not able to lock onto a signal however. my windows are double paned, extra thick, and are tinted. they could not get any signal. a soon as they took the dish outside my window, they got a signal. but nothing inside.

its extremely frustrating, as i live on the 7th floor, have a big corner room, and my whole apartment is windows, facing the southwest. i definitely would have been able to get satellite.

oh well. i'll just have to wait and see how the indoor ota antenna works. hopefully i'll be able to at least get some local broadcasts in HD. not only can't i get HD through Hotwire cable, but i won't be able to watch any flyers, sixers, or phillies home games, since they're on comcast!

chris

You may want to consider moving. Just a thought!

I just moved to Conshohocken. Is there a list of Comcast and OTA HD channels?

OTA you have 3, 6, 10, 12, 17, 29 and 57 in Philly with 52 in NJ that actually show HD. Comcast carries all except 52 in addition to Comcast Sportsnet, ESPNHD, Discovery, INHD, INHD2, HBO and Showtime and in the fall, TNT-HD and ESPN2HD.

Don't forget Cinemax HD and Starz HD on Comcast.

My Bad. I forgot them.

Jwhip...what would cause the macroblocking on motion and brights that I am seeing here in SJ...HD looks great, but everytime there is fast camera movement or flashing brights for example, the macroblocking is severe...I can capture it by backing up on the 6412 and advancing frame-by-frame to see the blocking...is it time to place service call to check my incoming signal strength...

I am noticing problems now also, especially on CSN HD

I am noticing problems now also, especially on CSN HD

Shades...I am going to try to talk to a headend engineer over hear on Monday to see whats going on...this is definitely some type of signal related issue. It maybe related to the digital simulcasting/bandwidth transitions going on in the area...compression possibly?? I don't know...I'll post any explanation I receive. Do you have any Comcast contacts at the Turnersville shop?

Chris.

Macroblocking is a by product of MPEG2 on bright strobing lights and fast pans with 1080i feeds. It can be exacerbated by compression but is there all the time it you stand close enough to your display. I will sk around to see if there is any word inside Comcast on this issue.

I believe user "Miatasm" works out of Comcast Turnersville.

Macroblocking is a by product of MPEG2 on bright strobing lights and fast pans with 1080i feeds. It can be exacerbated by compression but is there all the time it you stand close enough to your display. I will sk around to see if there is any word inside Comcast on this issue.

There have been occasions in the past where it was noticable but very subtle...for the last 3 weeks or so it has been extreme. The PQ is absolutely fine until the pans or strobing brights as you put it...The Phillies game Friday night displayed quite a bit and last night I watch iRobot, which overall is dark, but contains plenty of bright flashing and high speed pans and motion...the blocking was horrible, nearly unwatchable...now it is noticable on almost every program.

Thanks JWhip...I will post anything I discover and will be interested in seeing if you hear anything from inside.

Chris

I live in Voorhees NJ, which according to antennaweb.org is only about 21 miles from the Philly broadcast towers. It says I am basically a yellow zone. I figured HD should be easy here since I have seen a friend in cherry hill use indoor rabbit ears when he first got his HD set. Now to the Dilemma.
DirectTV was out today to install HD Tivo, Dish, and OTA antenna. The dish and all went fine. The OTA is a winegard gs2200 that they mount above the dish. It is high in the air since my house is basically 3 stories where the setup is mounted. The HD OTA uses a diplexer at the antenna and claims to draw power from the lnb for the amplified antenna.
My cables go into the attic and down a conduit to a multiswitch where they then distribute to the TV locations.

I get virtually no OTA HD signal at the Tivo. It measures a 15-19 range and the unit can not pick up a single station. I am very surprised by this and hoping some of the experts here have a suggestion. A couple of more thoughts I will mention:

1) the directTV installer was very nice and helpful. He seemed to think it needed line of site and the tree tops were a problem. Since I have seen antennas that can be installed in the attic I doubt trees are a problem.
2) I have a run from essentially the roof 3 floors up down to the basement multiswitch. Then they put the antenna through two diplexers to get it out to the Tivo. I am wondering if this is just to long a run. If so would a power amp help, and where in line do I put it.
3) Should the winegard 2299 work from here or do I need a bigger antenna. What are people in this area using?
4) is it possible the installer just messed up the diplexer direction on the roof or some such mistake. What should I look for and how to test.

Hopping someone here has a suggestion as I am surprised to have trouble here.

What is the latest on TNT-HD in our area on comcast? Is there any date set yet?

I live in Voorhees NJ,

1) I wouldn't recommend that antenna.
2) I would run a dedicated coax run from the antenna to the receiver.

And... I have a friend that lives in Voorhees and uses a Radio Shack 15-2160 in his attic and gets all Philly channels at +90%.


So... take it for what it's worth.

What is the latest on TNT-HD in our area on comcast? Is there any date set yet?

JWhip recently suggested that TNT-HD and ESPN2-HD would be available some time this fall.

since when has there been a deal with espn2?

great news!

Anyone notice the sub par picture on PBSHD over comcast(princeton NJ)? PBS use to be my star channel, but lately its just been macroblocking like crazy.

Anyone notice the sub par picture on PBSHD over comcast(princeton NJ)? PBS use to be my star channel, but lately its just been macroblocking like crazy.

Down here in Southern Jersey the macroblocking across the board has been noticably worse for the last few weeks...there has been mention here and in other threads of some possible causes...digital simulcasting transition going on in certain areas and possibly some increased compression, etc...

I will say that it hasn't been as bad the last 2 nights, but the last few week were pretty bad.

Chris.

There is problem with CSN HD, even when not broadcating in HD , the top part of the picture seems to pixelate every few seconds

It may be underscanning. This could be resolved via the TV's service menu(s).

Does anyone else hear Chris Wheelers breathing on Phillies HD telecasts???

ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone with Comcast notice a delay on the Yanks/Sox game on INHD2 (YES HD)? The delay is maybe a second. Essentially what happens is a pitch is made and as it approaches the plate I hear the bat hit the ball or the umpire make a call as the ball is crossing the plate. Normally, you wouldn't hear a call until the catcher has the ball in his mitt.

BTW, this is delay is not normal and I do not have it on other channels.

Interesting...some numb nut changed the broadcast to SD (4:3) for a minute or two and the delay was gone but now it is back. WTF is going on over there,why would the broadcast go to SD then back to HD? Is this technology that difficult to handle? I think my 6 month old could hit switches better than some of the donkeys they have working at these places.

Greetings,
I didn't notice the delay as much as the lack of surround in the Yankees broadcast. The Phillies game was like being in the stadium with people talking, vendors hawking, etc.
Also, while the Phillies game looked great, the Yankees game looked even better. This might have been discussed before, but can anyone describe why that game looked so much more "vibrant" on my Samsung 5674? There was nothing wrong with the look of the Phillies game, but the Yankees game just sort of jumped out at me...almost like it had more definition or edge to it. YMMV, however...
b.

That is NOT Chris Wheeler but Harry the K. TOO much smoking.

Greetings,
I didn't notice the delay as much as the lack of surround in the Yankees broadcast. The Phillies game was like being in the stadium with people talking, vendors hawking, etc.
Also, while the Phillies game looked great, the Yankees game looked even better. This might have been discussed before, but can anyone describe why that game looked so much more "vibrant" on my Samsung 5674? There was nothing wrong with the look of the Phillies game, but the Yankees game just sort of jumped out at me...almost like it had more definition or edge to it. YMMV, however...
b.

The delay was confirmed by a Yanks/Sox thread in the HDTV Programming forum.

Regarding the PQ, apparently, YES HD is seen by many as offering superior PQ to most of the the other MLB HD broadcasts.

Personally, I have only seen a few HD games on ESPN and almost all of the YES HD broadcasts and the YES HD broacasts blow the ESPN programs to bits. I can't speak to the Philly games.

There is something really wrong with CSNHD, constant pixelezation even when there is no movement. it is the only channel like this

Greetings,
I didn't notice the delay as much as the lack of surround in the Yankees broadcast. The Phillies game was like being in the stadium with people talking, vendors hawking, etc.
Also, while the Phillies game looked great, the Yankees game looked even better. This might have been discussed before, but can anyone describe why that game looked so much more "vibrant" on my Samsung 5674? There was nothing wrong with the look of the Phillies game, but the Yankees game just sort of jumped out at me...almost like it had more definition or edge to it. YMMV, however...
b.

Not just YESHD but all INHD games look better. The San Diego game last night looked great.

Someone posted pics (in the HDTV Recorders forum) of a new 6412 unit with HDMI. Anyone know if they're available in Philly/South Jersey?

I just got mine two weeks ago, but it doesn't have an HDMI input. Speaking of HDMI, I recently read that although HDMI will reduce the clutter of wires to and from receivers, it doesn't sound as good as today's analog receivers, but cost more money. If that is true, I have no intention of buying one.

Speaking of HDMI, I recently read that although HDMI will reduce the clutter of wires to and from receivers, it doesn't sound as good as today's analog receivers, but cost more money. If that is true, I have no intention of buying one. Well yes and no. HDMI carries both digital video and audio in one cable. If you use an HDMI cable to go directly from the cable box to the TV, then yes the sound probably wouldn't sound as good because it would be coming through the TV speakers instead of the A/V receiver. But in reality, an HDMI connection carries exactly the same audio data that a SPDIF connection would carry. So the best way to use HDMI is: Cable box --> A/V receiver --> TV. Unfortunately, A/V receivers that have both HDMI inputs and outputs are still rather high end. Until prices come down, the best thing to do is use HDMI for video only straight to the TV and continue to use SPDIF to feed the A/V receiver.

Anyway, enough off-topic discussion from me. :) I too would love to get my hands on a 6412 with HDMI, because using the DVI connection with my Pioneer plasma has always been a little flaky. Plus, I'd LOVE to be able to add external storage through the new SATA port (if Comcast/Motorola enables it).

There is something really wrong with CSNHD, constant pixelezation even when there is no movement. it is the only channel like this

Shades...It was pretty bad again last night. The blocking appears to be occurring on a cycle every 8-10 seconds. The CSN issue is a little different than the other issues which seem to be occurring in SJ. The macroblocking on the bright strobing lights and fast pans continues to be quite noticable across the board.

On a side note...the INHD MLB games from San Diego and San Francisco are far superior to anything else I've seen...what are they doing that makes their production so much better compared to what CSN and even ESPN are doing.

Chris.

Chris, there must be a problem in your area as I do not see any of this here. I also think that CSN's HD looks better than either SD or SF and is second only to NESN. All are way ahead os ESPN though. I am watching on a 42" ed and a 50HD plasma. Complain to your local office. Are you on a SA or a Motorola system?

Anyone with Comcast and the 6412 notice that the channel information when you change stations no longer shows the digital designations for the audio and video. It used to appear in the lower right hand corner when you tune in a new station.

Chris, there must be a problem in your area as I do not see any of this here. I also think that CSN's HD looks better than either SD or SF and is second only to NESN. All are way ahead os ESPN though. I am watching on a 42" ed and a 50HD plasma. Complain to your local office. Are you on a SA or a Motorola system? J--I gotta agree with the other members...I've had CSNHD since it's birth, they have improved things, and we are VERY fortunate to see all our temas in HD (last night was AWESOME in the 10th) BUT, the fact is
CSNHD games are ALWAYS softer than INHD games.
I tend to wonder if you're a bit biased, as a handful of HD friends all confirm that INHD is where it's best. My house in Limerick, brother in Souderton, friends in Montgomeryville, all Comcast, different TV types, all agree. It's not just the Phillies...Sixers are great, but not the "window effect" of a NBA game on INHD.
They look at me as to why a game from California looks better than here in PA ???????

Chris, there must be a problem in your area as I do not see any of this here. I also think that CSN's HD looks better than either SD or SF and is second only to NESN. All are way ahead os ESPN though. I am watching on a 42" ed and a 50HD plasma. Complain to your local office. Are you on a SA or a Motorola system?

JWhip...this area is a Motorola System. I am going to call today to see what's been going on. I'm not complaining about CSN's HD for games because it is damn good...I just seem to be impressed every time I see a game on INHD from out west...image quality is outstanding. Unfortunately, we can't get NESN HD.
As far as some of the other issues, I'm sure that its a problem in this area only...if it were occurring everywhere this board would be jammed with complaints. For now its just myself, Shades and a few others in this region who are seeing it.

Chris.

This story isn't about HD specifically, but still it's interesting.. I think we'd see a lot more HD hockey (which, I think, IMO, is one of the best sports to watch in HD)...

Comcast may bid to televise NHL
By Tim Panaccio, Inquirer Staff Writer
July 19, 2005

When Comcast Corp. named former Fox cable guru Jeff Shell as president of programming in February, the idea was to expand the company's national portfolio in a big way.

He might just do that with the NHL.

According to sources inside and outside the company, Comcast is preparing an offer to televise NHL games for the 2005-06 season.

Comcast has not made a formal proposal to the league, but the company has informed officials that it intends to become a major player in the bidding rights.

"Talks haven't reached a price figure, but there is definite interest there on Comcast's part," one source said.

In April, ESPN chose not to exercise its $70 million option to televise the NHL for 2005-06 and 2006-07. Some confusion remains about whether ESPN still retains those rights.

The NHL has a two-year agreement with NBC to televise games when play resumes this fall. In Canada, the league has deals with the CBC and the Sports Network.

The league's previous five-year TV deal with ABC and ESPN was worth $600 million. Because of the lockout and canceled season, media observers don't foresee a deal approaching that figure in the league's immediate future.

Comcast spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick declined to comment on the company's interest in the NHL yesterday, and Shell could not be reached.

"The Comcast networks are always interested in compelling new content, including sports," Fitzpatrick said. "But our policy is not to comment on programming rumors or speculation."

Locally, Comcast, which owns the Flyers and 76ers, televises both teams, as well as the Phillies, on its cable channel.

To facilitate national telecasts in areas where Comcast does not have a presence, it would have two choices: Create a new national network or use one of its other networks - E! or Style or Outdoor Life, among others - to telecast games. Because the discussions are in the preliminary stages, the source said, Comcast has not decided which avenue it would pursue.

"It's not something we can talk about right now, at this stage," said Jack Williams, president of Comcast's regional sports television.

Flyers chairman Ed Snider also would not confirm that Comcast is a major player in the league's next national TV contract but said he hopes Comcast gets its foot in the door.

"We have to wait and see how it all plays out," Snider said. "I am not going to comment on it. There are other cable providers out there. There are over 200 channels. ESPN does not have a lock on everything.

"The bottom line is, obviously, there are all kinds of networks out there. There is Spike, which is men's programming. They all need programming.

"I don't think Comcast is any different. That doesn't mean any one is going to step up to the plate and do what the league needs, but I hope they do."

In its failed bid to acquire Disney last year, Comcast reportedly decided to increase its programming reach on a national level. Delivering NHL hockey would be a major step in achieving that goal.

"[Comcast chief executive officer] Brian Roberts is the smartest guy in this whole industry, the way he has quietly put together a sports behemoth. The only question is, where does he want to take it?" said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp, a Chicago sports media consultancy, in an interview earlier this year. "He could start a new national sports channel and be in a quarter of the cable homes in the country right off the bat."

The company's latest figures, from March, show that Comcast cable reaches more than 21.5 million homes.

Shell was formerly the president of the Fox Cable Networks Group, where he oversaw the network's entertainment and sports cable programming businesses, including Fox Sports Net, FX and the National Geographic Channel. He was most recently the chief executive officer of Gemstar TV Guide International.

Vote scheduled. The NHL said yesterday that its board of governors will meet Friday in New York to vote on ratification of the collective-bargaining agreement, formulate the selection order for the 2005 NHL entry draft, and consider rule changes.

Sure we can get NESN. All of the Red Sox games either in Boston or on the road on INHD are NESN feeds. They are the best IMHO. PG, I do not see how anyone thinks the Padres' games are better than CSN. I just do not see it. I have tapes of both and CSN is better, at least on my display. The Padres games show an edginess that I do not like as well as more noise. In addition, their colors are not as good. Comcast's color pallette is spot on. Perhaps people see this and think it is a sharper picture? To me, it is like the sharpness control on a set pumped all the way up. Similar thing. I see the same thing on ESPN albeit to a much larger extent to the point that I think their games are really terrible. Hey we are all entitled to our opinions, I just do not get the love of the Padres games, or the Giants or A's from Fox Sportsnet in the Bay area.

I'm a new Comcast HD user in central New Jersey, and, although I don't know the correct technical way to explain it, the image quality of CSNHD is downright horrible compared to the other HD channels I get.

Just adding myself to the list who have the problem.

Ken

Sure we can get NESN. All of the Red Sox games either in Boston or on the road on INHD are NESN feeds...

My error...you're right we can get NESN via INHD...however, I will add that I put the NESN feeds on par with CSN's quality. I find that the RedSox, Phillies (CSN)and the occasional Orioles games on INHD to all be about the same quality...just my opinion...

Chris

I don't have the time or inclination to do a search of the various other local HD threads, but I am curious if anyone who scours those threads can report how people in other markets compare the various INHD MLB feeds (how do people in Boston view the Philly/Baltimore INHD feeds compared to NESN, etc.). It would be interesting to see whether local prejudices have an impact on peoples' subjective judgments of HD quality.

I have e-mailed a contact high up the food chain at CSN about the issues mentioned here in SJ. I will let you know should I get any useful information back.

I will be out ot the country, WAY out of the country for a good chunk of August . Should I hear something before I leave, I will post it here. Otherwise, it will have to wait till I get back.

I have e-mailed a contact high up the food chain at CSN about the issues mentioned here in SJ. I will let you know should I get any useful information back.

Thanks J...appreciate it. Have a great trip.

Chris.

Anybody else missing the Dolby Digital sound on all channels? All just regular sound. Pleasantville, NJ Comcast system.

Never mind. Restart of 6412 fixed it.

Sure we can get NESN. All of the Red Sox games either in Boston or on the road on INHD are NESN feeds. They are the best IMHO. PG, I do not see how anyone thinks the Padres' games are better than CSN. I just do not see it. I have tapes of both and CSN is better, at least on my display. The Padres games show an edginess that I do not like as well as more noise. In addition, their colors are not as good. Comcast's color pallette is spot on. Perhaps people see this and think it is a sharper picture? To me, it is like the sharpness control on a set pumped all the way up. Similar thing. I see the same thing on ESPN albeit to a much larger extent to the point that I think their games are really terrible. Hey we are all entitled to our opinions, I just do not get the love of the Padres games, or the Giants or A's from Fox Sportsnet in the Bay area.

That's a good point. I had earlier said that I thought the Padres game looked better then the Phillies game. Is it possible that the tv is the culprit? I have an older Sony 34" CRT HDTV and I think it smooths things out to a certain extent. This is a double edged sword - I recorded last night's UPN show Veronica Mars and it did not look good - sort of 16X9 SD!

Either way, have a great trip, but don't stay away too long. We need the info...

Right now I have Comcast. When my wife and I moved into our house in Nov of 04, the previous owners left their dish on our roof. I never got satellite because I always heard about when bad weather was around you'd lose your TV. Lately, though I've been thinking of switching. I'm tired of paying the ridiculous prices that Comcast has put forth. We pay $120/mo with cable and internet. I'm trying to weigh the cost effectiveness of switching. Can anyone care to weigh in on the subject?

Might be better to ask in your Local HDTV Info forum. Comcast's lineup and prices vary by market, and you may or may not be able to save a few bucks.

IMHO, people tend to exaggerate both the problems satellite subscribers have with rain fade and the amount of money they save long-term by switching from cable.

Without knowing what kind of dish you have and where it's aimed, nobody can give you much in the way of specifics. In general, you should be able to get a new customer discount that will save you money for the first 6-12 months. After that, the savings might be less than you think, especially if you decide to keep your broadband connection.

But you may also be sacrificing PQ. Comcast doesn't compress or downrez HD signals like D*, and you'll find lots of people around here arguing about "HDLITE."


I recently went through the same mental exercise.

D* wasn't very tempting at present because their HD lineup is limited, PQ is not the greatest. They have big expansion plans, but outside HD LiLs which I already get from Comcast, the crystal ball is cloudy and buying their hardware now doesn't make sense with MPEG4 around the corner. MAYBE we'll get some of the answers in August.

E* looks better and has the option of getting some of the Voom channels. Frankly I didn't see enough of a savings to justify dumping cable and switching to DSL.

After a lot of soul-searching, I decided to stick with Comcast. Your needs and the lineup in your area may be different.

That means doing your own homework, and you're in the right place.

I just looked on Comcast's site and they've raised the non-cable subscriber internet price to $57.95/mo. So basically it looks like I won't save any money. Oh well I guess I'll be staying with cable.

I live in Central NJ and went back to Comcast about two years ago. I just went back to Directv and other than the current few selection of HD channels, I am very happy.

Here are my opinions of Comcast.

Good HD quality. There are some artifacts, but currently the PQ is better than D* and the selection of channels is greater.

Standard Definition PQ ran from good to average. The good PQ was on the digital channels, which were still somewhat soft on my HDTV. The analog channels varied, with some just being noisy.

Customer Service was rock bottom. Unwilling to budge on billing matters, price increases, etc.

Directv gives me better channel selection and IMO, I feel that their SD channels are far superior to Comcast. There is a consistency to PQ on all channels. Colors pop and there is a depth to the picture that was not there with Comcast. I can also cancel and add channels instantly on line. I want to cancel HBO. Click it is gone.

The only extended rain fade I experienced was during the monsoon that hit my area this weekend. Otherwise, the signal has been rock solid. Even in snow storms.

I have DSL from Verizon and get 3.0 mbps down at 29.95 per month. More than fast enough for me. If you are going to go D*, wait till August first and see what deals on new equipment may be available. If you live in the NYC area and are a Yankees fan, know the E* does not carry YES. That was why I ended up cancelling Dish.

I just looked on Comcast's site and they've raised the non-cable subscriber internet price to $57.95/mo. So basically it looks like I won't save any money. Oh well I guess I'll be staying with cable.Can you get DSL? Bundled with your local and long distance it might be the solution. Then see if that added to DirecTV is less expensive.

Jwhip---on another note, inthe HDTV Programming forum, there's a thread regarding NFL Network broadcating preseason games in HD next month.
Do you know Comcast plans on providing these to us.? (via INHD2 maybe)
Thanks

Wait for Direct tv's august 4th conference call. It should give you all the details of their mpeg4 conversion, they could quickly put themselves back on top if they do this right.

I'd look into getting DSL too, new SBC users can get DSL for $15 a month now through DSL Extreme and Yahoo promotions.

I do not know, seems reasonable though. I will not know until I get back.

After 9 years without cable, I'm planning to take the plunge with Comcast here in SJ. Are you guys/gals happy with Comcast? How's the PQ? I'm still going to subscriber to DirecTV though. I'm planning on taking Comcast up on their $29.99 per month special for the first six months. I'm only doing this because I want to compare HD quality between the two providers. The DirecTV HD PQ is ok. The only channel I watch is ESPN HD. I plan to drop the DirecTV HD package, I've realized that I'm missing my local sports team coverage. I'm really looking forward to watching the Flyers and Sixers home games on ComcastSportsnet HD.

I've read most the posts here but can someone confirm that TNT HD, UHD, and ESPN2 HD will be added this fall?

Is there anything I need to know before the installer comes next week? I live in Medford, if this helps. Thanks for any help you can provide

Comcast HD quality is generally very good...occasionally there are some issues which are locally isolated, but usually nothing major. Once the Flyers and Sixers start you will be in HD heaven...as far as TNT HD, UHD, and ESPN2HD...there are some "insiders" around in these threads, but confirmation of any HD additions are hard to come by...rumors however are not.

Being in Medford you may be in SA territory and not Motorola when it comes to your STB...if you happen to be in Motorola territory and are getting a dual tuner (6412), make sure Comcast give you the correct remote (w/swap button) otherwise you will be scouring the threads for remote mods...Comcast should be able to confirm the type of STB for you in advance.

I would be surprised if you were disappointed after the switch...and based on your member name, you will be happy to know that INHD MLB coverage usually includes quite a few SD Padres games in HD (which look great!).

Chris.

I was advised today that the all digital simulcast is complete in the Philly area. Has anyone noticed any significant improvement in PQ? The addition of any new HD channels soon does not look good though in this market, sorry to say. It is nice that all available bandwidth has been taken up by ADS.

I was advised today that the all digital simulcast is complete in the Philly area. Has anyone noticed any significant improvement in PQ?

Significant? No, just slightly better. And I don't get the Weather Channel on the digital side (but I do get all the other analogs on the digital side).

JWhip, When you say this area (no HD soon), does that include SJ?

Has the channels gone all digital in SJ yet? Do they appear on a different channel number?

The Philly area includes SJ. They are the same channel number. The digital cable box no longer pics up the analog channels that have digital counterparts, just the digital ones.

So, what you say, "the addition of any new HD channels soon does not look good"... does that mean... no TNT or ESPN2 in the Fall as was speculated?

I was advised today that the all digital simulcast is complete in the Philly area. Has anyone noticed any significant improvement in PQ? The addition of any new HD channels soon does not look good though in this market, sorry to say. It is nice that all available bandwidth has been taken up by ADS.
I haven't checked my TV yet today, but the DS channels, that I have seen so far, are definately better, they all look similar now. So, the poorer the Analog reception was on a given channel, the better the Digital looks in comparison.

So, how exactly is the bandwith issue affecting the HD plans you had told us about?
IIRC, it was TNT by the end of Oct. for NBA; then ESPN2; then later Universal.

Do you really prefer DS over more HD?
At this point, I don't, but I understand they have to appeal to the masses.

I can see the ads now: 'For each TV that has Comcast Digital Cable, you now have 100% Digital Quality' (or something to that effect) :)

I was just on the Comcast web site and happened to look at the channel lineup for Center City, and it's been completely changed. Most of the channels are in different places, the premiums have been removed from analog, and a few digital tier channels are now in the analog tier. Also, a few channels that were available only in the NE Philly system have been added (Game Show, Fox Movies).

I was on the Comcast web site just a few days ago, and it was showing the normal lineup then. Does anyone know if this new lineup is just an error or is it really changing?

Ok,

one more time.

What is the best deal if you want to have standard cable with high speed internet?

(NO digital or anything like that)

The channel lineup looks the same here in south jersey, and the channels are supposed to be the same as philly. I think it must be an error.

I haven't checked my TV yet today
I checked my TV last night, and the DS is not complete on the Willow Grove system (eastern Mont. Co., PA). A number of channels still don't have DD sound, as an indicator of a Digital feed.

JWhip, I guess they will roll it out very soon?

I was just on the Comcast web site and happened to look at the channel lineup for Center City, and it's been completely changed.
Willow Grove, PA has no changes, but maybe CC is the first to change. Analog premiums are disappearing everywhere, some places earlier than others. I don't know why they would move Digital channels to Analog, though. And, of course, they periodically restructure the channel positions.

If anyone is interested, I've made a table comparing the two channel lineups.

Does anyone currently have the supposed new lineup? I'm trying to figure out if the web site is just confused and gave me a lineup for a different area. (Although that's unlikely because it includes Philadelphia public access channels, which should only be available in the city.)

Firstly, channel lineup in south jersey is different from both of those in the pdf file. secondly, DS is also not complete in South Jersey system. I'd say at least half. Any word about that?

Wow, my lineup is totally different then either of those. I guess its because I get both phili and NYC locals (just phili HDs though).

Wow, my lineup is totally different then either of those. I guess its because I get both phili and NYC locals (just phili HDs though).

where are you located? Trenton Comcast has the same lineup as you said (Phille/NY but only Philly HD)

If anyone is interested, I've made a table comparing the two channel lineups.

Does anyone currently have the supposed new lineup? I'm trying to figure out if the web site is just confused and gave me a lineup for a different area. (Although that's unlikely because it includes Philadelphia public access channels, which should only be available in the city.)

I was not able to download this file. Anybody else have this problem?

I have a new plasma and I am calibrating all the different inputs.

Does Comcast transmit any test patterns at all? Even 'after hours' would be OK because I could record it on the DVR.

PS. I am in Center City

If anyone is interested, I've made a table comparing the two channel lineups.

Does anyone currently have the supposed new lineup? I'm trying to figure out if the web site is just confused and gave me a lineup for a different area. (Although that's unlikely because it includes Philadelphia public access channels, which should only be available in the city.)

You know, maybe this will be the lineup in your area very soon, and they just changed it early.

is it just me....or should this thread be renamed philadelphia - comcast?

Some of us keep ignoring the Comcast posts. Perhaps there should be a new thread for Comcast - Delaware/Lehigh Valleys??

is it just me....or should this thread be renamed philadelphia - comcast? So instead of discussing new HD channels, Philly HD sports, digital transition, etc. you'd rather have all of us read about your elementary installation problems like "I lost 10.1 last night, anybody else?".

After 9 years without cable......I plan to drop the DirecTV HD package, I've realized that I'm missing my local sports team coverage. took 9 years of surfing to figure that out???
Seriously, I didn't here you mention Sunday Ticket, so why keep DirecTv.?

There used to be a lot of OTA discussion here, that I wasn't interested in, and I was thinking there should be separate threads; now it is the opposite.

Los Angeles has two threads, and Boston, NY, and SF have OTA threads, so I am sure, they have at least one CableCo. thread, each. Heck, this is a large market, we have enough post traffic to support Comcast and OTA threads, respectively.

We would have to get a Moderator to rename this thread 'Philadelphia, PA- Comcast'. And, after that, IIRC, anyone could start a 'Philadelphia, PA- OTA' thread, but maybe a Moderator has to start it.

So instead of discussing new HD channels, Philly HD sports, digital transition, etc. you'd rather have all of us read about your elementary installation problems like "I lost 10.1 last night, anybody else?".

Not everyone has (or wants) digital cable in the Philly area. I'm sure that many of the "OTA only" users would like a thread to discuss issues other than, "digital transition", when will ESPN2 be available and other 'elementary" cable woes. :rolleyes:

yeah....i personally have digital cable, and what I was trying to say was that we should have two threads, because it gets annoying coming in here to find posts about signal issues and things like that.

Speaking of Comcrap... err.. Comcast. I have much dislike for them as well as other cable companies. Did anyone read the Philadelphia Inquirer today? Seems like residents of Philadelphia who subscribe to Comcast get shafted. :mad:
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12214295.htm

Speaking of Comcrap... err.. Comcast. I have much dislike for them as well as other cable companies. Did anyone read the Philadelphia Inquirer today? Seems like residents of Philadelphia who subscribe to Comcast get shafted. :mad:
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12214295.htm Copy and Paste the important part...the Inquirer wants us to register...easier for me to post this, and you to paste for us all to see.
I don't feel shafted watching the Phillies run for the playoffs (ALL home games in HD)...and soon Flyboys and then Sixers in HD.! ;)

I don't feel shafted watching the Phillies run for the playoffs (ALL home games in HD)...and soon Flyboys and then Sixers in HD.!If you are a fan of those teams, great. :rolleyes: I could careless about those teams.

Consumer Watch | Why Comcast still requires converters

By Jeff Gelles

Inquirer Columnist

Weary of watching her Comcast bill rise each year, Joyce Edge thought she'd finally found a way to make it fall. She also thought she'd caught the nation's largest cable company being deceptive.

She was at least partly wrong on both counts, but she wasn't without evidence, either. And the questions her story raises reveal much about today's feckless cable-TV regulation.

The key question: Why are Comcast's Philadelphia customers, unlike any other Comcast customers in the region, required to rent a set-top converter box and remote control?

The converter is the main reason Comcast's Philadelphia customers pay about $5 a month more than most of their suburban counterparts for "expanded basic" service, the popular tier that includes CNN, SportsNet, MTV and dozens of other channels.

Moreover, Comcast raised the price tag for the converter and remote about 20 percent this year to $4.55 a month - a hefty jump even in an industry notorious for raising its prices at twice the rate of inflation.

So why do we need them?

I always assumed the answer was crime, but now I think it's more about punishment. Philadelphians embrace Comcast. We wink at its behavior as a virtually unregulated local monopoly because it's our star company. It draws attention. It builds skyscrapers.

But while it hugs us back, it's also squeezing people like Joyce Edge.

The converter technology was developed, of course, to guard against theft. It works by decoding channels that are "scrambled," or encrypted. Without it, Comcast says, you can't get its service in Philadelphia.

But a recent experience made Edge a skeptic. She hooked up a new "cable-ready" television directly to her cable, and got every single channel.

Convinced the converter was a waste of money, Edge took it back to Comcast - where she was warned that if she turned it in, her service would be terminated.

Edge says a Comcast staffer blamed the requirement on the Federal Communications Commission. She called the FCC, and says an agency employee blamed it on "a deal between Philadelphia and Comcast."

Edge's angry conclusions: "They're ripping off people in Philadelphia, and they're lying."

Well, I doubt anybody actually lied. More likely, they were confused, as I was when I began seeking answers.

It turns out Edge may indeed have gotten all the channels, but not because Comcast doesn't scramble, says spokesman Jeff Alexander. He says the process is sometimes shut off while engineers adjust the system.

Nor does Comcast, which is investing heavily in new and pricier digital technologies, currently have the ability to scramble all analog channels.

But why do honest Philadelphians have to pay an extra five bucks each month for security when there must be cable thieves in the suburbs, too? Why not share those costs more widely?

Comcast's answers to those questions are a little less persuasive.

Asked about theft trends, Alexander referred me to an industry group that says analog-signal theft dropped more than 50 percent from 2000 to 2004.

Are there more theft attempts in Philadelphia than in every suburb Comcast serves? Alexander won't say.

What he does say is this: Philadelphians have the privilege of paying for converters because the city system was built after scrambling technology, the best deterrent available, was developed.

Ironically, there's a grain of truth in the finger-pointing Edge ran into. Equipment fees are among the last items still covered under cable-price regulation, which Congress gutted in 1996 in the mistaken belief that competition would swiftly follow.

That 20 percent hike in converter fees? It was indeed OK'd by the city, but under FCC rules that city officials say leave them no real discretion.

What will alter this landscape? True competition from innovative technologies, coupled with smarter regulation that genuinely levels the playing field.

Until then, we're stuck.

Damn, that stinks!

If you are a fan of those teams, great. :rolleyes: I could careless about those teams.[/I] Well, was born in Albert Einstein hospital, lived in NE until 4, parents moved to Montgomeryville, lived at Drexel U for 5 years (90-95), have my own home in burbs, ie born, raised, and always lived in Philly, therefore yeah, I'm a fan of those teams.
If you're a guest in our city, I understand your indifference to our history. ;)

Well, there seems to be a lot of Comcast bashing here, but I for one am pretty satisfied with the HDTV lineup that I'm getting. The service is pretty good, with occasional dropouts, but this could be transmission errors from the source.

I think the pricing could be lower, but isn't that true with everything? I'm glad that I don't have to buy a STB that could be obsolete in a few years.

My biggest complaint with cable TV in general is that channels are added that are really niche channels - I wish there were a real rating system to see which stations are popular and which could be eliminated.

Tonight I'm getting Comcast installed mostly for their HD. I haven't had cable for almost 9 years. I've been a very devoted DirecTV customer. I know that all Flyers, Sixers, and Phillies home games are in HD. Is anything else carried in HD? Hopefully, Comcast HD looks better than DirecTV's. I should be receiving a SA HD box since I live in Medford, NJ. Anyone have any comments or suggestions for me on how to best use this box? I have a Sony LCD TV, should I output 1080i or 720P? Any help is much appreciated!

Right now, when there is no home HD game on Daily New Live is usually but not always in HD. In the near future, Daily News Live, the post game shows and the news shows like Sportsnite will be in HD also.

Right now, when there is no home HD game on Daily New Live is usually but not always in HD. In the near future, Daily News Live, the post game shows and the news shows like Sportsnite will be in HD also.

JWhip, September/October timeframe? Thanks for the quick response!

One question I forgot to ask - What SA HD box model should I receive? I'm not getting the DVR unit.

Comcast came to install cable this evening, but unfortunately it was not to be. The cable from the outside to my house somehow must be cut. A couple of years ago I had some trees cut down (with roots removed) and they must have cut the wire. Comcast says it will take 4-6 weeks for a new line to be buried. They were willing to hook it up with the wiring laying my front yard, but I don't think my neighbors would like that to much! Oh well, I'm really only getting to watch the Flyers and Sixers on Comcast Sportsnet HD. Even with the delay it should be installed prior to the Flyers first game on October 5th.

Maybe by than DirecTV will have their act together concerning MPEG-4.

any word on whether we'll get any more away phillies games in hd?

They were willing to hook it up with the wiring laying my front yard, but I don't think my neighbors would like that to much!

If your neighbors can't deal with a little orange wire in the front yard, it's time for new neighbors. :D

btw - Comcast told me it would take 6 weeks or more to bury my temporary line - the crew showed up to bury it in less than 2 weeks.

... or cover it with duct tape! :)

... or cover it with duct tape! :)

Nice...how 'bout wrapping it in green christmas garland (the stuff that looks like grass)...toss it on the lawn and no one will even notice! Just don't cut the grass 'til October...

If your neighbors can't deal with a little orange wire in the front yard, it's time for new neighbors. :D

btw - Comcast told me it would take 6 weeks or more to bury my temporary line - the crew showed up to bury it in less than 2 weeks.

WAF also was very low.

Tell ya what.... I'm basically right around the corner!

I have a B&D "Edgehog" that also trenches. Have them run the line and for a few $$ (and beer) I'll run a temporary trench for you.

No one should be without the maximum channel opportunities for that long. ;)
(Send the bride to the mall or lunch with the girls. We can get it done in 1 hr.)

I'm really starting to get fed up with the HD quality on Comcast lately. I know they are transitioning a lot of analog stations into digital ones, but the HD quality on all channels stinks right now. I see macroblocking on everystation - including INHD and Discovery which have been pristine in the past. Hopefully once the digital transition is completed they will pump up the resolution - but knowing Comcast they will squeeze more lower quality stuff in rather then increasing the bandwith to the current channels.

The 400 MB xvids I download are starting to look better then the HD stuff comcast is sending me!

in a few years there will be no HD really, just called that, with the compression the channels will look almost as bad as the compressed digital channels, enjoy it now

Yeah... gotta love OTA.

Yeah... gotta love OTA.


:)

I'm really starting to get fed up with the HD quality on Comcast lately. I know they are transitioning a lot of analog stations into digital ones, but the HD quality on all channels stinks right now. I see macroblocking on everystation - including INHD and Discovery which have been pristine in the past...

I've been complaining about this for several weeks, via phone calls and emails. I rec'd several emails that a headend engineer or tech would be contacting me but I have yet to receive the call. I have been very specific about what was happening...macroblocking, especially during motion pans, and flashing brights, etc...its absolutely the incoming comcast signal as the blocking can be captured on the 6412 and played back frame-by-frame.

If this is a result of the DS transition that would be fine...I just wish there was a way to confirm or an admissions that this is what is occurring. I can live with it for now if there was confirmation and a return to the previous quality in the near future. Keeping everyone in the dark and not responding to inquiries about the recent reduction in HD quality isn't helping anyone.

Chris.

When has Comcast ever been known to disclose anything about their network to a customer? To be fair though - DirecTV and Dish are just as bad in this aspect.

Its to bad I live spot in the middle of NYC and Phili - I need to install the biggest directional outdoor antenna avail just to get either signal.

(stupid question) Can I split an antenna signal? I have two HDTVs now ...

When has Comcast ever been known to disclose anything about their network to a customer? To be fair though - DirecTV and Dish are just as bad in this aspect.But, I've never had problems with Macroblocking or anything related to HDTV PQ on Dish, like those w/ Comcast are now having. And after reading some news in recent days, Comcast Sportsnet may be on the satellite services.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/12221552.htm

Satellite TV: Broaden SportsNet

Two networks have leverage in their latest Comcast battle.

By Tony Gnoffo

Inquirer Staff Writer

Satellite television networks DishNetwork and DirecTV are trying once again to liberate Comcast's SportsNet channel.

Comcast Corp. has long refused to sell rights to its regional sports channel to satellite competitors, much to the consternation of Philadelphia sports fans who don't want to subscribe to Comcast.

There's little reason for Comcast to share: The Philadelphia cable company gets a competitive advantage from its exclusive use of the channel - which carries most home games of the Phillies, Sixers and Flyers. And federal rules that would otherwise require Comcast to share the channel don't apply to SportsNet because of a technical loophole.

But now the satellite firms have a bit of leverage. The Federal Communications Commission is considering whether to approve the proposed purchase of bankrupt cable operator Adelphia Communications Inc. by Comcast and Time Warner Inc.

The commission asked interested parties to comment on the deal; in their comments, the satellite firms suggested that, as a condition of approval, Comcast should be required to make SportsNet available to them...

how can the FCC make deals like that? Comcast has the right to their own channel, just like voom never gave comcast its channels. How can they not approve that when they're doing everything legally...(at least it seems so).

how can the FCC make deals like that? Comcast has the right to their own channel, just like voom never gave comcast its channels. How can they not approve that when they're doing everything legally...(at least it seems so). Well I think the point is that Comcast distributes CSN to other cable companies in this market (RCN, Urban Cableworks, etc.) without any problems, but they refuse to let DBS companies carry it for competitive reasons. And because CSN has never used satellites for transmission (they use fiber and microwave), they are not required to offer it to DBS companies under current FCC rules. That's the technical loophole the article refers to.

The FCC says that if you distribute a channel to one competitor, you must at least make it available to all competitors. The loophole allows Comcast to get around this with a channel that is very lucrative for them. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but CSN is the only channel grandfathered under this loophole. And, no other companies are allowed to exploit this technicality anymore. For example, even if Cablevision in New York switched transmission of MSG from satellite to fiber in order to exploit the loophole and gain a competitive advantage over DBS in the New York market, the FCC wouldn't allow it.

Furthermore, any money Comcast loses by people switching to DBS when CSN is finally made available will be more than offset by the exorbitant fees Comcast will no doubt charge the DBS companies for the privilege of carrying CSN. And no doubt the DBS companies will accept those fees because they know their current and potential subscribers in this market really want that channel.

Well I think the point is that Comcast distributes CSN to other cable companies in this market (RCN, Urban Cableworks, etc.) without any problems ....

The FCC says that if you distribute a channel to one competitor, you must at least make it available to all competitors.

But Comcast and RCN don't compete ;) Dontcha love monopolies?

They do compete. In some parts of Delaware county you have a choice between RCN and Comcast.

The point is that Comcast is just enjoying its unique position in Philadelphia. They offer CSN to other local cable companies because they pose little to no threat and actually end up making more money for Comcast. RCN serves a relatively small area of the Philadelphia market, so no big deal. Besides, not many people choose RCN over Comcast anyway. (Have you seen RCNs financials lately?) UCW serves an area of the city (West Phila, parts of NW Phila) that Comcast doesn't serve at all, so by offering CSN on UCW they actually make money because the channel would otherwise be unavailable in those areas.

But Directv and Dish serve the entire Philadelphia market...which would be a bigger deal if they could carry CSN. However, the "new" CSNs Comcast has launched or is about to launch around the country (Balt/Wash, Chicago?, elsewhere?) are carried by DBS since they aren't allowed to be grandfathered under the loophole. Comcast is doing pretty good in those markets in spite of full DBS competition. They're just exploiting the Philadelphia loophole as long as they can to make a few extra bucks.

Should this come to pass, Comcast is not going to go bankrupt or see a mass defection to DBS. The Philadelphia market has among the lowest DBS penetration rate of any major market. CSN on DBS will -- if anything -- just even the playing field and possibly bring the DBS market penetration to more "normal" levels in Philadelphia.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but CSN is the only channel grandfathered under this loophole.
You are wrong. :D There is a Cox Cable RSN, in San Diego, for the Padres that is cable only. I think there is another one (maybe more?) that carries one local team, maybe two, but certainly not three, like Phila.

But, I've never had problems with Macroblocking or anything related to HDTV PQ on Dish, like those w/ Comcast are now having. And after reading some news in recent days, Comcast Sportsnet may be on the satellite services.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/12221552.htm

Satehem... Thanks for the find.! This is the first news I've heard on this topic in years. I guess the problem is Comcast will lose more money by losing customers, than they gain by selling CSN.
Comcast is locked on in my house for one reason...CSN(HD).

Last night all the HD movie channels started showing up for me (HBOHD,STZHD,SHOHD,MAXHD) HBOHD is the only one that works, anyone else getting free HBOHD :)?

Last night all the HD movie channels started showing up for me (HBOHD,STZHD,SHOHD,MAXHD) HBOHD is the only one that works, anyone else getting free HBOHD :)?

SSHHHH...Not for much longer now that its out in the open!!! :D

is it still showin up free?

nope :(

Sometime in the last few days, all of my QAM tuned HD channels lost audio. the picture still comes through fine, and on the same tuner, all the analog channels come through fine. Has anyone else experienced this, or have any ideas what I might do about it. I scanned for channels again, but this didn't change anything. I have a Pioneer Elite 920HD.

About a week ago, Iwas supposed to have Comcast istalled but the cable wire from to box to my house had somehow been cut. They are coming in the next few weeks to run a new line. I was planning on getting the current special with is digital cable plus Showtime for $29.99 (six months).

Maybe the dish buyback program is a better option. Has anyone had experience with this program? I have an old receiver if they need one. I have not called Comcast yet to see what they have to offer.

Also does anyone have an e-mail address to someone at Comcast who could help me. About six months ago, I exchanged e-mails with a Comcast rep and she offered me a pretty good deal. I declined and unfortunatley I have lost her e-mail as well as her e-mail address.

Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Attached is the e-mail I sent last night and their response.

____________________________________________________________ _____

Dear William,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately, we are unable to assist you via the online forum. Please call us
at 1-800-COMCAST or 1-856-354-1660 so we can better assist you.

If you need further assistance, please feel free to respond directly to this
email. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Rose
Comcast Customer Care Specialist

********************************

I have been a DirecTV subscriber for 9 years. Recently, I contacted Comcast
concerning their cable special which included digital cable plus Showtime for 6
months for $29.99. The first appointment they failed to show up at all. After
rescheduling for a couple of days later, the installers showed up on-time to
complete the installation. I showed both techs what I need to be done. I told
them that I needed 4 rooms installed, but that 3 of them already had wiring and
that they only needed to run one new wire. I showed the tech what room needed
the new wiring and he said he would just add a splitter to the closest room and
run the wiring along the floor. To me this is unacceptable. Fortunately, the
installation could not be conducted due to the outside wiring leading to my
house being cut.
One reason I left Comcast many years ago, was the poor job that your techs do
during installation. At my previous house, they put several holes in my wall
trying to fish the cable through it. They promised that someone would be back
to fix it. After about a month, I figured Comcast wasn't coming back so I fixed
myself. My opinion is that the techs want to complete the job as quick as
possible, and will sacrifice quality to accomplish their goal.
In the next month, Comcast has told me they plan to run new wires up to my
house. They have tentatively scheduled me for installation on August 20th.
So where do I do, I really have two options:
1) Cancel my Comcast installation and stay with DirecTV
2) Have Comcast installed later this month and hope that I get installers that
want to complete the installation professionally.
I've also read that Comcast has a dish buyback program. I'm looking for digital
cable plus HD. For HD service, I would need 1 HD converter (non-DVR). I would
not need any other boxes. If you can also price out how much each additional
premium would be I might be interested in subscribing to some of them also.
Sorry for the long winded e-mail. I really want to give Comcast a try again.
My recent experinces have put some doubt in my mind that I'm not making a wise
decision. I look forward to hearing back from you concerning some of my above
mentioned issues as well as your dish buyback program.
Thanks for your time,

I usually call Comcast every few months to find out what "deals" they are running. I found that if you explain what it is you are looking for they can try to find the best package for you. I recently inquired about all of the "new customer" promotions and asked what they could do for long time customers like myself...the CSR put together a Platinum package, HD/DVR, HSI...the works for well below advertised pricing. I will say that not all CSRs are the most "customer friendly" though...I can usually tell in the first 10 seconds whether or not this is the CSR who is willing to work with me...when inquiring about the pacakge above, one CSR simply told me the prices "are what they are." I simply called back an hour later and got a CSR who looked at my account, saw that I was an HD customer, etc., and said "let's see what we can do to get you everything you want."

Here's what Comcast has offered me.

Digital Cable with HBO plus HD DVR for 12 months at $39.90.

Installation scheduled for next week.

After 12 months the package returns to its regular price. Hopefully by than DirecTV will have their new HD services up and running. So I have a year to compare the two services. After the year is over I will decide what service is best for my family needs. I will be cutting back on my DirecTV service for the next year.

without any premiums or dvr....does comcast offer any deals on previewing a premium or getting a deal on regular digital cable?

What HD DVR should they bring me? I live in Medford, NJ so should it be the SA8300 or SA8000? What's the difference between the two? Does it require two cable runs because it has two tuners? Has South Jersey received the new program guide yet? Any information you can provided is much appreicated! Sorry if these are remedial questions. I haven't had cable in along time. Installation is Tuesday night.

Has anyone lost Fox Digital (29-1) and/or PBS HD (23-5) over the past couple of days?

I live in Center City Philadelphia, and Thursday night lost these two channels. I tune in to HD via OTA. I have a Samsung HDTV w/built in HD tuner.

I've re-tuned and reprogrammed the tuner, still can't get those channels.

Just wondering....

-c

I recently came back to Comcast and currently have an SA-8000 box. I have noticed that during DVR playbacks of certain shows (it seems mainly isolated to CBS), I get audio drop outs or interference. Has anyone else experienced this and know of a fix?

Has anyone lost Fox Digital (29-1) and/or PBS HD (23-5) over the past couple of days?

I live in Center City Philadelphia, and Thursday night lost these two channels. I tune in to HD via OTA. I have a Samsung HDTV w/built in HD tuner.

I've re-tuned and reprogrammed the tuner, still can't get those channels.

Just wondering....

-cYes, I have not been able to get 29-1 either. I get a signal strength from them, but no picture/sound. I haven't tried 23-5 yet.

Anyone see the Bos-Minn MLB game on INHD this afternoon? Quality was excellent, HOWEVER, motion artifacting on Comcast across the board continues to kill the HD experience. It continues...and the better the quality of the HD content, the more noticeable the motion and flashing bright blocking is. My real concern is the upcoming Flyers and Sixers on Comcast, and the coming NFL season. The nature of this type of programming is going to really expose the results of compressing signal (artifacting). I have sent off my third detailed email to Comcast Customer Support (ECare) expressing this very concern. I think that many who may not have noticed it yet will see very clearly for themselves once the football and hockey seasons begins...unless Comcast adresses the issue beforehand.

Chris.

yeah....it is starting to get more noticeable. Although I'm not seeing it as much on ESPN...its very noticeable on INHD and CSNHD. It may be because of the interlaced vs. progressive, because I don't believe i'm seeing it on ABC either. Anyone else noticing the same thing?

I have also sent them an e mail. The response follows.

Dear Howard,

We are sorry to hear of the difficulties you have been experiencing with your service.

At this time, we are unable to confirm a system wide problem with Comcast SportsNet in your area. We may need to determine if a service call is required to correct the problem or if it can be resolved from our office.

I have sent a signal to your box in an attempt to reauthorize the service.

It is recommended that you please try some of these basic troubleshooting tips. First, check your connections beginning at the splitter and ending with the TV to ensure all of your fittings are secure and as tight as they can be without the use of tools, such as a wrench. Once you have verified that the connections are good, you can manually reset the Digital box by unplugging the box's electric cord from the wall socket. After about 10 seconds, plug the cord back into the wall. Be sure to wait approximately 5 minutes before turning the box power on. Keep in mind, it could take up to 3 hours for the on-screen guide and OnDemand services to load up.


Unfortunately, some issues cannot be properly diagnosed or resolved through e-mail communication, and need a more free flowing dialogue to work through. If the problem persists, we request that you please call our 24-hour Customer Call Center at 1-800-COMCAST or 856-354-1660, so that we may thoroughly troubleshoot the issue. We appreciate your patience and understanding and we look forward to being able to properly assist you via the telephone.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Ed
Comcast Customer Care Specialist
**************************************************
The response contained in this message is intended for the addressee only and may vary from other responses depending on geography, promotional campaigns or other factors. If you are not the intended recipient of this response, please delete this message. Any unauthorized use or dissemination of the information contained in this message is prohibited.
**************************************************

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Comments:
I have noticed that on Comcast Sportsnet HD channel 200, that the picture will go blurry or become heavily macroblocked about every 30 seconds or so. I waited until an HD game on UPN to see if it was only form Citizens Bank Park, the picture on UPN is flawless. It is in the transmission of Sportsnet HD. This is the only HD channel that I have noticed this on. Please advise.
Sincerely
Howard Bromberg
------------

sdpadres i find that very offensive to Comcast employees. You should understand that they were simply trying to get you your service as fast as they felt would please you. this issue as been taken into advisement and will be handled accordingly.
I have spoken to the manager of the medford office and he may contact you in the next few weeks.

On a separate note, is there anyone from ocean county who is on this forum?! i cant find anyone and i feel left out. Also, Scientific Atlanta set top boxes are superior to the Motorola set top boxes, especially with high def programs.

Hey Mike,

Do you have an affiliation with Comcast, maybe you could look into the problems with HD on Sportsnet and as some have noticed (progear and neeshu89) on other channels. I am reluctant to schedule a service call because I know the problem is system wide. Comcast just won't admit it or don't know about it.

Anyone with Comcast watching the YES HD broadcast vs CWS tonight?

I'm getting periodic picture beakup (series of distorted boxes appearing randomly). Only portions of the picture have the boxes for a 1/2 second or so. It has happened like 6 times and it is only the bottom of the 1st.

... I am reluctant to schedule a service call because I know the problem is system wide. Comcast just won't admit it or don't know about it.

It may or may not be system wide...maybe be regional..who knows. The type of artifacting that I am seeing is clearly compression related and likely present across larger service areas. Signal strength issues would result in a different type of blocking, freezing, or drops and eventual "catch-up." The motion artifacting and flash artifacting is associated with some type of compression.

The Comcast Sportsnet issue observed on the cycle or interval is isolated and unique to that particular station or feed...while UPN's HD game did not exactly display the same cyclical split second pulse of macroblocking, there was still a "twitch" present in the broadcst on a similar cyclical basis...this may point to a production or feed issue at the Sportsnet HQ (since the feed is coming from the same production facility).

Lets just hope that our feedback, calls and emails to Comcast leads them to take a serious look (hopefully before the Flyers and Eagles start)...and I'm sure that our "insider" friends here at AVS are passing along our observations. The object of all of this isn't to bash Comcast, but to provide useful constructive feedback to make the product better for all of us.

Chris.

Mike, I wasn't making a blanket statement about all Comcast employees. If I offended you please accept my apology. Just out of curiousity, how do you know where I reside? The only way I can think of was you somehow saw the work orders for Medford and figured out who I was. Are you affliated with Comcast? Where is the Comcast office in Medford? Do you have a local phone number?

Do you know which box they will be brining me? Is the 8300 the latest HD DVR? If so, that would work. Any news on any additional HD channels in the near future?

CSN HD is terrible, the picture breakups are making it impossible to watch

.......................... Just out of curiousity, how do you know where I reside? The only way I can think of was you somehow saw the work orders for Medford and figured out who I was. .................................

It is in your profile description to the left of your post, just where is says "Location" :)

It is in your profile description to the left of your post, just where is says "Location" :)

I know that. He said he contacted the manager of the Medford office and that I might be hearing from him. How is the Medford manager going to contact me if he doesn't have my number?

Through your billing information. I will not answer any more questions.

I have scheduled a service call for next Monday re: Sportsnet.
I advised the CST of the macroblocking and he thinks it may be wiring related. I tend to think it is more digital compression related and that the resolution may not be simple. I will advise the board of the answers when I get them. I have set a deadline of October 5 for some sort of solution. I have the HDTV, I have the Flyers back, I would like to see how good it can be.

I have scheduled a service call for next Monday re: Sportsnet.
I advised the CST of the macroblocking and he thinks it may be wiring related. I tend to think it is more digital compression related and that the resolution may not be simple. I will advise the board of the answers when I get them. I have set a deadline of October 5 for some sort of solution. I have the HDTV, I have the Flyers back, I would like to see how good it can be.

Just so you know, the feed for UPN, during Phillies HD games, is the same feed that CSN uses. UPN has a fiber connection to the Park. It is all the same equipment, so a service call is what you need, and you seem to have that scheduled.

Do you really think that UPN bought all new HD gear for the few Phillies games they do?

I know it is the same equipment, that is why I waited until a UPN HD game. That way I could tell them that the problem is specific to Sportsnet.

Anyone have an idea as to why the Yanks-CWS game is not on YES HD tonight on Comcast? YES is broadcasting the game in HD per the in "High Definition where available" announcement at the beginning of the game.


Edit: Called Comcast in the 3rd and by the time I got back home in the 4th it was on in HD.

I've tried rescanning, but my audio problem still exists. I'm trying to determine if there's something going on with the TV, or if it's with Comcast changing something.

I have a Pioneer Elite 920HD, and am using the QAM tuner on Tuner A to decode the HDTV channels over analog OTA. This worked fine for months, but a little over a week ago, the audio just stopped working. On the same tuner, all the analog channels in the lower numbers (75 and below) work fine and have audio. Is this something I should contact Comcast about, or am I just out of luck and should look at buying an antenna (since I'm not planning on paying $30 more a month just for four HDTV channels, not being interested in ESPN)?

For that matter, is anyone in Chester County currently getting OTA channels without a cablecard with no problems?

Hi,

Currently I have comcast std analog cable w/ high speed internet service in bucks county, north east of Philly. I am looking to buy a HDTV set soon. Many TV's have VSB/QAM tuners built-in. My question is, can I use the built-in QAM tuner to get local HD channels, I really don't want to get the comcast STB if possible. From the channel line up, the HD local channels are in channels above 200. The QAM tuner built-in the TV only tunes up to channel 135.

Also, I heard of digital simucast. Does it mean I can receive digital 480i program using my TV's QAM tuner in the lower channels (say, less than 75)?

Thanks.

Seems like this is a very real possibility now.

Per the "NHL deal done" thread in the HD programming section, apparently OLN-HD VOD is available right now in the Richmond VA area. And apparently it is NOT a PPV item! The OLN website shows OLN-HD VOD "coming this fall"?

My questions:
Does anyone in the Philly region get OLN-HD VOD right now? (I don't in Berlin NJ)

Comcast gurus, are there any plans to roll it out in the Philly area?

TIA

Also, while I've got you Comcast folks on the line...

It seems that Comcast will have to release the NHL games to satellite as part of the agreement. Does that mean they'll lose their "loophole" exclusivity on local sports? Or does that not apply as OLN is the "channel" that will be carrying the games? Or does that just mean no Flyers home games on the NHL national TV schedule?

Anyone see the Bos-Minn MLB game on INHD this afternoon? Quality was excellent, HOWEVER, motion artifacting on Comcast across the board continues to kill the HD experience. It continues...and the better the quality of the HD content, the more noticeable the motion and flashing bright blocking is. Can you explain the flashing bright blocking.?
I have none of your issues, but I DO get very quick white flashes every 10-20 secods over hte entire screen.
Whatsmore, the plasma reacts from this blast of contrast and dims the screen for a slpit second.
I get this phenomenon only on INDOOR sporting events, had Comcast out, they saw it, ans it seems to be the cameras reaction to other camera flashes.
So I'm screwed.

Dave...I'm not one of the Comcast folks, but one of the articles I read on this issue (I will post the link if I can find it...) pointed out that the Comcast-OLN-NHL deal discussion was kept entirely independent of the Flyers and its local deal (CSN) as to not jeopardize its local "exclusivity" loophole. This deal would have no effect on Comcasts Flyers coverage on CSN whatsoever. The thought was that OLN would be the channel to carry games, and the yet to be determined number of HD games "could" be made available in Comcast regions via agreements with its other HD content providers such as INHD/INHD2...although not likely to use CSN as a vehicle for OLN-HD games which could give satellite operators a loophole to knock out Comcasts local exclusivity deal.

Chris

Can you explain the flashing bright blocking.?
I have none of your issues, but I DO get very quick white flashes every 10-20 secods over hte entire screen.
Whatsmore, the plasma reacts from this blast of contrast and dims the screen for a slpit second.
I get this phenomenon only on INDOOR sporting events, had Comcast out, they saw it, ans it seems to be the cameras reaction to other camera flashes.
So I'm screwed.

I didn't experience any of this flashing bright blocking or more disturbingly, the motion artifacts until the last month or so...I know exactly what you are referring to on a plasma and not surprisingly Comcast had no resloution for you. If you have a DVR and notice the blocking, pause and reverse frame-by-frame to see if the actual blocking was captured by the digital recording. If you can freeze the blocking its definitely signal compression, or something other than your plasma.

Chris.

If anyone here is from Jersey I would suggest that you start a new thread for that state. The "Philadelphia" system handles PA & north DE. Jersey is on a different system so problems you see there may not be occuring in the other. You also have different boxes than the pa/de system which adds a further wrinkle to your problems.

The Philly area includes SJ. They are the same channel number. The digital cable box no longer pics up the analog channels that have digital counterparts, just the digital ones.

Jwhip considers SJ to be part of the Philly system.

I can guarantee you that SJ is NOT part of the PA/DE system.

ok

If anyone here is from Jersey I would suggest that you start a new thread for that state. The "Philadelphia" system handles PA & north DE. Jersey is on a different system so problems you see there may not be occuring in the other. You also have different boxes than the pa/de system which adds a further wrinkle to your problems.

Only certain pockets of the SJ system have different boxes...most of SJ uses the same Motorola hardware and the programming and channel assignments are almost identical. There may be problems occurring in Newtown Square that aren't occurring in South Philly so breaking up this thread and knocking SJ out isn't going to accomplish anything...In addition, this thread has many knowledgeable and often "inside" contributors from both sides of the river that help all of us.

I think we've been down this path before...

Chris.

I think we've been down this path before...

We have...
any possibility to split off Comcast and OTA discussion for the area?

Hi,

Currently I have comcast std analog cable w/ high speed internet service in bucks county, north east of Philly. I am looking to buy a HDTV set soon. Many TV's have VSB/QAM tuners built-in. My question is, can I use the built-in QAM tuner to get local HD channels, I really don't want to get the comcast STB if possible. From the channel line up, the HD local channels are in channels above 200. The QAM tuner built-in the TV only tunes up to channel 135.

Also, I heard of digital simucast. Does it mean I can receive digital 480i program using my TV's QAM tuner in the lower channels (say, less than 75)?

Thanks.

If you have a QAM tuner, you should get all the local HD stations and the digital simulcast channels as well. You will see everything appear on a different channel number than the analog side (for example, Channel 57 will be at QAM 110.4 instead of "channel 5"). The QAM channels I have range from 76.1 to 119.2. I have analog cable, and the only station I don't get on my Sharp's QAM tuner is the Weather Channel. You may also pick up a boatload of digital music channels.

I have a small excel spreadsheet of all the QAM channels if you are interested (send me a private message), although in your area the exact channel numbers may be different. My brother lives 5 miles away and his QAM channels are slightly different.

We have...
any possibility to split off Comcast and OTA discussion for the area?

I agree...that would be a more logical split than Philly/SJ.

Chris.

Splitting SNJ out of the Philadelphia local HDTV Info thread is ridiculous. NJ has been represented in this thread since post #4 of this nearly 5000 post thread.

Splitting OTA, cable, and satellite makes sense to me though. As a former OTA-er, I feel bad for those guys. This thread was started by OTA, and now seems dominated by Comcast issues. If OTA had it's own thread, I think they'd get more use from it.

Splitting OTA, cable, and satellite makes sense to me though. As a former OTA-er, I feel bad for those guys. This thread was started by OTA, and now seems dominated by Comcast issues. If OTA had it's own thread, I think they'd get more use from it.

I use both cable and OTA, and I would vote to keep it just as it is...It is really easy to just read the posts that interest you...isn't it?

Zach

I am just trying to offer an apples to apples situation. The people who will contribute to the thread will still do it but it will be more focused. I do agree with the breakout of OTA.

.It is really easy to just read the posts that interest you...isn't it?



For those that have read the 5000 posts from day one, yes. For someone new, I don't really think that they want to sit and parse through all 5000 of them. Keeping OTA and cable only leads to redundant questions.

Thanks to those that agree.

I use both cable and OTA, and I would vote to keep it just as it is...It is really easy to just read the posts that interest you...isn't it?

Zach

Not a problem for me. I can easily ignore the few OTA questions posted here. I've got Comcast.

When informed, experienced, Philly area OTA people stop visiting this thread, because they can't get a word in edge-wise, and this thread ceases to be a source of current local OTA info... it still won't be a problem for me. BUT, where are YOU gonna get your OTA info then?

Just a thought.

Gents/Gals I need a little help. I'm a Comcast sub in Central NJ where we get Philly and NY major networks. I purchased an HDTV a few months ago and only today did I realize that it is possible that I will see few, if any, of my NY Giants football games in HD.

Last football season I was pumped because I got access to NY and Philly stations for NFL BUT I just puked when I realized that I only have Philly HD which means Eagles, not Giants, games in HD. This isn't important during the offseason but for football this is critical.

Anyway, does anyone have an idea of how to solve my problem? Going to satellite is not an option and neither is OTA since my TV does not have a tuner.

Frankly, this is a real problem for me. Can Comcast change my access somehow? Since they have SD for the NYC major networks does this mean that they also have HD for the major networks out of NYC? The thought of watching the Giants in crap SD when I have an HDTV is literally making me sick.

not sure how far you are from ny - how 'bout an OTA set-top tuner?

not sure how far you are from ny - how 'bout an OTA set-top tuner?


Approx 60 miles.

BTW, I'm even sicker now that I spoke with Comcast and they told me that counties further south in NJ than I am get NY HD. Football in the major scheme of things is so unimportant but figuring this out has just ruined my week. I need to see my kid tonight so I can put this in perspective because right now I want to return my TV and move into a cave.

If you have a QAM tuner, you should get all the local HD stations and the digital simulcast channels as well. You will see everything appear on a different channel number than the analog side (for example, Channel 57 will be at QAM 110.4 instead of "channel 5"). The QAM channels I have range from 76.1 to 119.2. I have analog cable, and the only station I don't get on my Sharp's QAM tuner is the Weather Channel. You may also pick up a boatload of digital music channels.

I have a small excel spreadsheet of all the QAM channels if you are interested (send me a private message), although in your area the exact channel numbers may be different. My brother lives 5 miles away and his QAM channels are slightly different.

This is how it used to be for me, up until a little over two weeks ago. Then all the digital/HD channels went quiet. I still get the picture, and the tuner reports that it's getting mono or stereo...but no actual sound comes out of the speakers on any channel on my qam tuner over 78 or so (with the exception of channel 80, 95 and 97, which are analog channels). I checked with Pioneer, and they figure it must be Comcast.

My main reason for not wanting to go digital is that I don't want to lose my TiVos...and digital would render them instantly useless (and from what I've seen, comcast's dvr is abysmal). So I guess I'll give Comcast a call shortly, or consider going to an antenna for the QAM tuner. C'est la vie.

Does anyone know when Verizon FIOS will be available in Marlton and Medford? Wonder if they have an agreement to carry ComcastSportsnet? Sorry if these questions have been asked before!

Okay, so I called Comcast tonight and spoke with an uninformed but helpful guy, and explained the situation to him. After talking with three of his techs over the course of 20 minutes, he said they didn't know how I was even getting the picture without an STB or cablecard, but that I shouldn't be (they not really understanding the idea of QAM tuner decoding channels without my getting digital service). I'm not sure that's actually the case, but no worries. Either way, they didn't see anything they could change to restore the sound to my HD channels, since from their perspective, I shouldn't even be able to get the service in the first place.

Now here's the question, then: according to them, getting digital service will NOT remove the capability of analog in the rest of the house. In other words, all they'd be doing is brining an STB or a cablecard, but my Tivos would continue to see and read the analog channels, just as they always have done.

Can anyone confirm that this information is correct? Does anyone have this sort of configuration, currently?

They are correct... having digital service will not alter analog service.

Yep, they are correct. I've got HD boxes in family room and theater. Regular analog in living room and bedrooms.

Groovy. That makes it much more attractive to pick up. Because I'm not willing to sacrifice my TiVos...especially with the new functionality from Galleon. :)

Thanks for the confirmations.

Do the STBs have HDMI connections?

Okay, so I called Comcast tonight and spoke with an uninformed but helpful guy, and explained the situation to him. After talking with three of his techs over the course of 20 minutes, he said they didn't know how I was even getting the picture without an STB or cablecard, but that I shouldn't be (they not really understanding the idea of QAM tuner decoding channels without my getting digital service).
Comcast sends HD Locals in the clear, that is how you get it, as does every sub who has a QAM tuner. Yes, apparently they never heard of a retail clear-QAM tuner.

Here, Comcast's site, and recently their pamphlet, clearly state that HD Locals are part of Ltd. Basic, HD 'Cable' channels such as ESPN, etc. are part of Digital Classic, and HD Premiums are part of the respective Premiums.

Now, it is always debated whether or not HD Locals can be encrypted or not, because some cablecos. still do. At worst, one would need a CableCard, but with Comcast you shouldn't. Apparently, they are having a transmission problem. IOW, a CC or STB would probably not make a difference.

Now, it is always debated whether or not HD Locals can be encrypted or not, because some cablecos. still do. At worst, one would need a CableCard, but with Comcast you shouldn't. Apparently, they are having a transmission problem. IOW, a CC or STB would probably not make a difference.

Maybe, but since comcast says they don't see a problem, there's not much I can do about it. I don't intend to call Comcast a dozen times to find someone who might be willing to fix it, assuming they could be asked to bother. There was something of a 'well, you're not paying for HD, so....' tone to the discussion.

And while it might not change the situation, it then presents something that they can't deny is their problem to fix....and it would give me the ability to record HD shows without having to create my own HD PVR. Considering how every person at comcast gives me a different answer when I ask, I'm somewhat at my wits end.

Maybe, but since comcast says they don't see a problem, there's not much I can do about it. I don't intend to call Comcast a dozen times to find someone who might be willing to fix it, assuming they could be asked to bother. There was something of a 'well, you're not paying for HD, so....' tone to the discussion.


Other possibilities (unlikely, you probably ruled these out already) - there may be something wrong with the digital tuner in your set or the digital volume might be set to zero. On this last point, if I leave my Sharp on "mute" for more than a few minutes, it sets the volume to "zero" so when I turn the mute off, I still need to turn up the volume.

Other possibilities (unlikely, you probably ruled these out already) - there may be something wrong with the digital tuner in your set or the digital volume might be set to zero. On this last point, if I leave my Sharp on "mute" for more than a few minutes, it sets the volume to "zero" so when I turn the mute off, I still need to turn up the volume.
It's possible something's goofed in the tuner, but I tend to doubt it. It worked fine for seven months prior to this sudden change, and still detects the channels with clarity. As for the volume, I've turned it up so high I could hear the speakers buzzing from across the room....and the same tuner gets proper audio with no changes from the standard analog channels.

Right now, I'm thinking the best option is to get HD service and an HD DVR, and use that purely for HD access; it would be rather nice to time-shift HD content, like Lost (come the fall). If the price isn't too obnoxious, in any case.

I'd like to stick with just the QAM, but I'm not seeing what I can do to fix the situation.

It's possible something's goofed in the tuner, but I tend to doubt it. It worked fine for seven months prior to this sudden change, and still detects the channels with clarity. As for the volume, I've turned it up so high I could hear the speakers buzzing from across the room....and the same tuner gets proper audio with no changes from the standard analog channels.

I'd like to stick with just the QAM, but I'm not seeing what I can do to fix the situation.

On my Sharp, if I set my built-in speakers to act as a center speaker in 5.1 mode, they will act the same way your set is acting on a digital channel if I don't have the set connected to an external audio source. Just another thought.

On my Sharp, if I set my built-in speakers to act as a center speaker in 5.1 mode, they will act the same way your set is acting on a digital channel if I don't have the set connected to an external audio source. Just another thought.

Thought about that, but I've checked all of the audio settings (and reset them to factory default as a test), plus I have the TV outputting to my Denon receiver and it's still silent. It merely stopped working one night; at 7PM it worked. When we turned the TV back on at 8PM, it wasn't working.

Maybe, but since comcast says they don't see a problem, there's not much I can do about it. I don't intend to call Comcast a dozen times to find someone who might be willing to fix it, assuming they could be asked to bother. There was something of a 'well, you're not paying for HD, so....' tone to the discussion.

And while it might not change the situation, it then presents something that they can't deny is their problem to fix....and it would give me the ability to record HD shows without having to create my own HD PVR. Considering how every person at comcast gives me a different answer when I ask, I'm somewhat at my wits end.
I understand your frustration. But, I would point out again, that you are paying for HD Locals as part of Ltd. Basic. I am sure it is in your pamphlet and/or local site, like it is here.

As I outlined before, there is no HD service per se. They, of course, have HD STBs, but you don't have to use them, yet they still must support you getting what they promise.

If they want you to get a CC, then get that, and most probably it won't work. But, as you said, they will fix the problem. Then you could take out the CC, and I bet it will still work, and you can return it.

I would, though, recommend the HD DVR $10, but that would require the lowest Digital tier, here that is $10, so it would be $20 total extra.

Anyone in Bethlehem Township getting HD OTA signals from Phila or NYC? If so, what equipment would you recommend and any installation suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm stuck with Service Electric cable who apparently has no date planned for HD on their Easton network. :rolleyes:

I understand your frustration. But, I would point out again, that you are paying for HD Locals as part of Ltd. Basic. I am sure it is in your pamphlet and/or local site, like it is here.

As I outlined before, there is no HD service per se. They, of course, have HD STBs, but you don't have to use them, yet they still must support you getting what they promise.

If they want you to get a CC, then get that, and most probably it won't work. But, as you said, they will fix the problem. Then you could take out the CC, and I bet it will still work, and you can return it.

I would, though, recommend the HD DVR $10, but that would require the lowest Digital tier, here that is $10, so it would be $20 total extra.

See, that's the thing, though: I've never been able to find where they promise that. Pageslike this (http://www.comcast.com/Buyflow/default.ashx?LocResult&Zip=19355) indicate that HDTV service requires equipment from them. Even then, they don't want to use the phrase cablecard. You have to search long and hard, to find it on page four of their FAQ on digital cable.

About the only thing I've found similar to what you're saying is on this page (https://www.comcast.com/Benefits/CableDetails/Slot4PageOne.asp) at the very bottom of the boilerplate information. It still isn't ironclad, though.

How would you suggest I approach it on a follow-up call? Indicate that I think there's a problem with the line or the transmission? I'm willing to call them again, I just want to actually have something to request of them.

This is how it used to be for me, up until a little over two weeks ago. Then all the digital/HD channels went quiet. I still get the picture, and the tuner reports that it's getting mono or stereo...but no actual sound comes out of the speakers on any channel on my qam tuner over 78 or so (with the exception of channel 80, 95 and 97, which are analog channels). I checked with Pioneer, and they figure it must be Comcast.

My main reason for not wanting to go digital is that I don't want to lose my TiVos...and digital would render them instantly useless (and from what I've seen, comcast's dvr is abysmal). So I guess I'll give Comcast a call shortly, or consider going to an antenna for the QAM tuner. C'est la vie.

Forgive me if this has been answered in a later posting, but I didn't see it:

I'm in the lower Bucks area and have a Toshiba DLP (46HM94) with CableCard, and around the date of your post (8/11) lost sound on all my digital channels. I was able to restore the audio by briefly removing, repowering TV, then reinserting the CableCard.

What I suspect happened is that Comcast made a global change on which PID the audio appears for all their digital channels. Reinserting the card made the TV rescan the channel map, and updated the PID mapping. If my theory is correct, it's a little disappointing the CC didn't notice the change itself. But it tracks with what I've heard elsewhere, that sometimes people with CC lose their digital service and have to do some kind of reset.

For those using a non-CC QAM tuner, I'd suggest a full rescan (or whatever your box does) to make sure it is using the correct mappings of the transport stream.

See, that's the thing, though: I've never been able to find where they promise that.

How would you suggest I approach it on a follow-up call? Indicate that I think there's a problem with the line or the transmission? I'm willing to call them again, I just want to actually have something to request of them.

First, take the others advice and do a channel re-scan. If it doesn't work, read on.

It your lines are fine, and nothing happened at that time, then it is something with their transmission.

My local pamphlet has this info., and from my local Willow Grove system site, it links to a page, obviously, for the entire Phila. metro area.

Look here, scroll nearly half way down the page:
http://www.comcast.com/phlhdtvtvg/

*HDTV broadcast feeds are included in limited basic service. A subscription to HBO, Showtime, Cinemax or Starz! is required to receive the HDTV channel from that service. HDTV programming is limited to the programs delivered to Comcast in HDTV format by the underlying program provider. Programming is subject to change. Comcast SportsNet, Discovery HD Theater, ESPN, INHD and INHD2 are included with a subscription to Comcast Digital Cable. An additional monthly equipment charge may apply.

Then they probably won't say that you need an STB, because they know customer-owned Digital-Cable Ready STBs/TVs were mandated to be supported as of July 2004.
(I don't have a link for that, but you should be able to find it.)

If they say to get a CableCard, you could look up how the FCC says Digital Locals should be in the clear. Others are receiving them just fine, as I have read.

Just had my service call RE: Comcast Sportsnet flashing and macroblocking. Tech feels it is a feed problem. Promises to pass it up the chain to engineering. Meanwhile I still have a substandard picture on Comcast's flagship HD channel.
Any Comcast people out there have any ideas?

Just had my service call RE: Comcast Sportsnet flashing and macroblocking. Tech feels it is a feed problem. Promises to pass it up the chain to engineering. Meanwhile I still have a substandard picture on Comcast's flagship HD channel.
Any Comcast people out there have any ideas?

Not surprised...I was pretty sure it was feed problem back several weeks ago when I posted the same observations. If any Comcast techs need a detailed description the Comcast Sportsnet issue, it is a cyclical pulse of blocking every 10-15 seconds or so...while UPN's HD game last week from CBP did not exactly display the same cyclical split second pulse of macroblocking, there was still a "twitch" present in the broadcast on a similar cyclical basis...which points to a production or feed issue at the Sportsnet HQ (since the feed is coming from the same production facility). It was also very noticeable during DNL as well. Considering that quite a few people have observed this in various locations it was a safe bet that it wasn't a signal strength or connection problem at your house...hopefully it does make it up the chain eventually to the same people who have rec'd my emails of the last month describing the same issue.

Lets just hope its addressed before the start of the Sixers and Flyers.

Chris.

CBS And NBC for teh past few months have not looked very good but the last few days the quality seems to have increased dramatically. don't know if that was a comcast issue or network issue, anyone else notice a difference

I have just sent an E-Mail to Comcast SportsNet through there website with Chris's explanation of the problem. Let's see what that does for us.

JWhip or others - Just returned from my local Comcast office trying to swap out a traditional digital cable box to an HD DVR. Despite the fact that several people I know have multiple HD DVRs, they would not give me a 2nd one because they are "in high demand". Anyone know how long this policy is supposed to last? Seems kind of silly to me, there are DVRs in stock at the site, and I didn't hear anyone take their offer for one waiting in line. So wouldn't it make sense to get those boxes out to someone who will pay for them?

edit - added Comcast as provider

JWhip or others - Just returned from my local office trying to swap out a traditional digital cable box to an HD DVR. Despite the fact that several people I know have multiple HD DVRs, they would not give me a 2nd one because they are "in high demand". Anyone know how long this policy is supposed to last? Seems kind of silly to me, there are DVRs in stock at the site, and I didn't hear anyone take their offer for one waiting in line. So wouldn't it make sense to get those boxes out to someone who will pay for them?


My Cable company tried to pull that same s@#! with me. I told them that if I could not have the same experience I had with Directv where I had a DVR for every tv; I would go back to Directv that day. They thought I was joking, so I had them look at the notes on my account where it was noted that I was keeping my Directv equipment and just giving my cable comany a try.

I told them I could disconnect from them right now and then have Directv reactivate my DVRs with in an hour. They let me pick up two extra DVRs that day.


Good luck to you.

Have not been reading the entire thread so I don't know if this has been reported or not. While watching the Phillies in HD I noticed a lot of shimmer/pixelization. It seems to only happen during the phillies games. Has anyone had this problem? Tv= 50 H81 , Scientific Atlanta box (rats, dont' recall the model number )

thanks

I am a Directv sub, with an HD-TiVo from them. I also use that receiver for OTA in here in Philly. I want to add Comcast, for a while at least, to check out the Flyers.
Equipment wise, I want twin-tuner HDTV & DVR functions, and perhaps a second digital box for an old Replay TV unit that's not doing anything right now. What should I be asking the rep to have installed?

Also, are there any specials cable package offers now? What about internet access specials?

Thanks.

Larry,
Read higher on this page, as well as a few pages back. I am waiting for a reply from Comcast Sportsnet regarding this issue. Please e mail comcast and let them know you see the problem, the more people who complain the easier it will be to get it resolved.