Okay so there is a slight change we will not be launching

E! HD, Cartoon HD, and Travel HD tomorrow, but will get them as soon as we can.

Effective tomorrow the November 1st we will be adding the following channels in Charleston


Wow, this is exciting. Do you mean October 1st?

Wow, this is exciting. Do you mean October 1st?

With that many adds I was thinking it is through Nov. 1, but would be great if it is all tomorrow.

Travel HD should be awesome.


So, WCSC has the HD which watched this morning and looks good, but why still the SD commercials for their news? Also, 2 1/2 men at 7:30 was SD.

Don't expect everything to be in HD overnight. It's not likely that every piece of SD equipment was upgraded to HD. Notice that not even the news footage was in HD.
Maybe they haven't updated their tape operations yet. Their commercial server is probably still SD. Maybe they just started ordering HD commercials from the regional and national clients. Nobody is producing commercials locally in HD. It could be that they're still in the process of moving their commercial operations to a new server that's not online yet or still in testing. You don't mess with your revenue stream.

Due to budget restraints local stations are largely understaffed. Many people perform multiple jobs. A station going HD is a HUGE endeavor that requires many people to change they way they do their jobs. A phased in approach to going HD makes a lot of sense. Something that seems as simple as showing 2 and 1/2 men in HD actually requires a complete workflow change. Give them some time.

I thought the studio cameras looked pretty good and the weather maps looked great.

WCBD emailed me back on this issue after two weeks of asking. They don't have a receiver to pass the RAYCOM HD feeds for ACC football, so they won't be showing them.

Pitiful... same guys who are unable to send HD Jeopardy, etc. It is 2008 after all.

It's funny they can show it in HD on their sister station Channel 36.1.

I wish we could get CW in HD!! Smallville does not as good in SD.

It's funny they can show it in HD on their sister station Channel 36.1.


I think that Fox 24 is actually the sister station of channel 36 not WCBD. I could be wrong.

According to a reliable source, Charleston HD locals will be launched tomorrow, Oct. 1st, on D*. I guess the sun shines on a dog's butt every now and then.

Charleston HD locals are on D*. and they look great. No dropout on channel 2 at all. Looks better thatn OTA for 2 too.

Goodbye Comcast... and TiVo....

I think that Fox 24 is actually the sister station of channel 36 not WCBD. I could be wrong.

I just assumed Channel 36 was the sister station since they showed the game when Channel 2 was showing the Ryder Cup. It seems odd that they would not show it on a sister station.

D* locals look good so far, but what is up with Bill Walsh, his HD banners are huge, last night it was hard to watch the weather, the top banner came down so far....or was it just me, his graphics banner is taking up way too much realestate on the screen....

Ok everyone in Charleston/Goose Creek, if you can, give me an honest answer on this:

How often do you lose reception with Directv, I want to switch now that the HD locals are available. How is the PQ compared to Comcast on the new Directv HD locals?

Ok everyone in Charleston/Goose Creek, if you can, give me an honest answer on this:

How often do you lose reception with Directv, I want to switch now that the HD locals are available. How is the PQ compared to Comcast on the new Directv HD locals?

My 2-cents (from Crowfield): The only time I lose my D* signal is when there is really bad weather approaching/on top of us, and generally that weather is bad enough that you should have all of your electronics unplugged, much less on...in other words, the only outages I have really experienced have been during tornadic weather or hail or rain so thick you can't see across the street. The good news is that as long as you have a locked down dish assembly that won't get buffeted by the wind, your signal should come back on as soon as the weather passes or calms down. And the rain fade that might happen is generally more along the lines of pixelation or blocking as opposed to complete outage of all signals. I very rarely get the "searching for satellite" warning message. The newer 5-LNB dishes are pretty well locked in to the birds up there (again, a stable assembly done by a qualified installer are recommended) and the signals beamed down are strong enough not to be too terribly disturbed by normal everyday clouds and summer showers.

As for the quality comparison to Comcast, I can't help you there. I use OTA for my locals in HD, and when I noticed the locals were in HD tonight, I did a side by side comparison between ABC, CBS, and NBC. Fox and WMMP weren't broadcasting anything HD or I would have checked them too. But for the three net's that were showing HD, all of the signals were rock solid and looked as good as OTA on a cool crisp fall evening where wind and leaves aren't affecting your reception. In other words, it looked as good or BETTER than my OTA because the dish is not as susceptible to wind and trees blowing in the wind (or the 2-story house next door whose roofline is blocking the line of sight my 1-story chimney-mounted antenna). The only difference I noted was that OTA was about 1 second ahead of the D* signal. This could be due to D*'s reception of the signal locally, then beaming it to their uplink, then to the satellite, then back down to me...or it could be the buffering that is done on my HR20-700 DVR anytime you change to a new channel...or both. But audio levels were good...PQ was good...audio/video synch was fine...tune time was about identical.

All in all, I would say that this an exceptional time to make the switch if all you were waiting for was HD-LIL. It's here baby! Rejoice and spread the word!! :D :p ;)

Oh, and let me know if you want to get a discount signing up under the referral program. You and I would both get $10 off for 5 months on top of any other promotions or specials you sign-ups with. PM me if you are interested.

Don't expect everything to be in HD overnight. It's not likely that every piece of SD equipment was upgraded to HD. Notice that not even the news footage was in HD.
Maybe they haven't updated their tape operations yet. Their commercial server is probably still SD. Maybe they just started ordering HD commercials from the regional and national clients. Nobody is producing commercials locally in HD. It could be that they're still in the process of moving their commercial operations to a new server that's not online yet or still in testing. You don't mess with your revenue stream.

Due to budget restraints local stations are largely understaffed. Many people perform multiple jobs. A station going HD is a HUGE endeavor that requires many people to change they way they do their jobs. A phased in approach to going HD makes a lot of sense. Something that seems as simple as showing 2 and 1/2 men in HD actually requires a complete workflow change. Give them some time.

I thought the studio cameras looked pretty good and the weather maps looked great.

That all makes perfect sense, but it is kind of embarrassing that they spent the last few weeks touting that they would be the first to offer local news in HD, and then the very first story they broadcast was in SD. I agree that the studio cameras were good, and the weather maps are quite nice, but it sure would have been sweet if they had rolled out HD on their first HD broadcast. What's that old saying about making first impressions? ;)

But in all seriousness, kudos to WCSC for continuing their history of being the first in Charleston in so many ways. And hopefully this will light the fire under the collective butts of everyone else here. But I wouldn't count on it...some major metro areas that switched to HD still only have 1 or 2 of the networks doing locally-originated HD broadcasts. It may take some time, but hopefully this will be the spark of a big HD fire.

Folks,

I wanted to take a minute and share some changes at Comcast locally in Charleston.

Chris George has been promoted and now lives in Arkansas. I am monitoring the forum in interim till we can find someone permanently.
Effective tomorrow the November 1st we will be adding the following channels in Charleston

Fox News HD 428
American Movie Classics (AMC) HD 429
Cartoon HD 442
ABC Family HD 444
Disney HD 445
Science HD 446
Speed HD 450
FX HD 451
E! HD 457
Travel HD 458

(We added the Big Ten Network before the season if anyone missed it)

Additionally with the new Video on Demand platform we continue to be on track for 1,000 hours of HD on Demand by year end. I do travel to Augusta on a weekly basis (usually on Wednesday and Thursday ) so I apologize for any delay in responding.

I have a blackberry so if you need anything from Comcast

Andrews_mcilwain@cable.comcast.com

Regards,
Andrews

I'm guessing since nothing has come up yet that Nov. 1st is the date for all these.

That whole post is odd/confusing. Posted on 9-28, mention 'tomorrow' and then says November 1st. Hopefully for the Comcast subs there will be some clarification :)

Ok everyone in Charleston/Goose Creek, if you can, give me an honest answer on this:

How often do you lose reception with Directv, I want to switch now that the HD locals are available. How is the PQ compared to Comcast on the new Directv HD locals?


I have my Dtv sat on the ground (attached to a cemented pole) on the side of my house. Unless we are getting a very severe storm I do not lose reception. The night that we got skirted by the hurricane never lost reception at all which I was a little surprised with. Most of my neighbors were without cable for a couple of hours. Make the jump, D tv gives you so many more options than the cables companies could ever do. In 6 years I have only had one issue where they actually had to come out to fix something, other than that all other issues were resolved over the phone. Plus if you ever want to make some changes to channel line up (drop hbo add showtime, etc) you do it online and its done within a few min. Besides 10 bucks and all the hd we have, I do not think I have watched a non hd show in months. Last night I watched a high school football game from texas in hd!

I would suggest to you that it is worth the $5/mo to get the Protection Plan. It covers EVERYTHING and if you don't have it, to have a D* tech come out costs $70, regardless of the problem. So if your receiver goes bad, or there are signal reception issues that can't be resolved over the phone, or you need your dish repeaked (blown out of alignment by high winds) or whatever, it's "free".

Cable wants you to think our sat goes out every time it rains, funny thing is that cable get most of its program from sat

Cable wants you to think our sat goes out every time it rains, funny thing is that cable get most of its program from sat

That is the great mystery in life. Why would my small 3' oval dish last better than a 10' powered BUD? Hmmmm

The big 10 ft dishs pick C band sats. They only put out 10-20 watt signal. The DBS sats are over 200 watts output, that is why they are big, to get more gain for less signal.

So the BUD's at Comcast/Knology/TWC are less powerful than my 5LNB Slimline form D*? That hardly makes sense. Maybe I missed your point, but in my puny little brain, it doesn't make sense for my little dish (which only gets powered by the receiver sending juice through RG6 cabling to the LNB to filter out all but the requested channel/satellite) to be more powerful than the 10' BUD's at the headend which have power stations built next to them and 1-inch diameter cabling running from the back of the dish to the headend for redistribution.

Maybe you or someone else can clarify and explain the physics of that so that I can understand how my little dish is more powerful than the mega-million dollar corporate dishes. And if that is the case, why don't the cable companies switch to a small dish like what I have?

A large dish gathers more signal. Rocket science!

None of the dishes have any power, they pick up the signal and reflect it too the LNBs that amp up the signal and downconvert it to a frequncy that has the reciver can use. The DBS signal is around 12 Gig and is downconverted to 950-1450 The Cband is only 3.7-4.3 G and may not be downconverted (BIG cable to headend) The Cband sats are only 2 deg apart so they need a big dish with narrow beam. The DBS sats are 9 deg . The small dish would see more than one sat and would not work and do not have the gain for low power sats

None of the dishes have any power, they pick up the signal and reflect it too the LNBs that amp up the signal and downconvert it to a frequncy that has the reciver can use. The DBS signal is around 12 Gig and is downconverted to 950-1450 The Cband is only 3.7-4.3 G and may not be downconverted (BIG cable to headend) The Cband sats are only 2 deg apart so they need a big dish with narrow beam. The DBS sats are 9 deg . The small dish would see more than one sat and would not work and do not have the gain for low power sats

Thanks for the clarification. ;)

For those of you interested, the current Clear QAM breakdown for Charelston, SC Comcast. I live in Mt. Pleasant and am running a Hauppage 1250 tuner on Vista Media Center with TV Pack 2008. Locals are coming in HD, all others are SD but digital, so pretty good picture. I included the whole listing from ww.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels to show the channels that weren't working for me.
As far as Over the Air channels on my Avermedia ATSC tuner, I'm using a 4ft Grid antenna with 8 bowties ($70 off crutchfield) in my attic and picking up all locals as well.

qam256 37 1 HBO-Comedy
qam256 37 2 WOMAX
qam256 37 3 Max-Thriller
qam256 37 4 HBO-Zone
qam256 37 5 ATMAX
qam256 37 6 OMAX
qam256 37 7 5STARMAX
qam256 37 8 UNKNOWN
qam256 37 9 CSPAN3
qam256 37 10 Lifetime Movie Network
qam256 37 11 SOAP
qam256 37 12 Toon Disney
qam256 43 1 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 43 9 WCBDDT
qam256 77 3 WITVDT3
qam256 77 4 WTATDT
qam256 77 5 WITVDT2
qam256 81 101 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 81 102 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 81 103 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 82 101 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 83 101 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 84 101 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 84 102 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 87 1 Science
qam256 87 2 ID (Discovery)
qam256 87 3 Military
qam256 87 4 Green
qam256 87 5 BBC - America
qam256 87 6 Disney Kids
qam256 87 7 Encore5 - Action
qam256 87 8 Encore4 - Mystery
qam256 87 9 Encore 3 - Love
qam256 87 10 Encore2 - Drama
qam256 87 11 Encore 7 - Western
qam256 92 108 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 92 109 Unknown Spanish Channel
qam256 106 1 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 107 10 E! Doesn't Work right
qam256 109 1 NBATV
qam256 112 6 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 112 53 UNKNOWN - Doesn't Work
qam256 116 1 WCIVDT
qam256 116 2 WCSCDT2

So those movie channels are coming through unblocked on your PCTV tuner? Are you subscribed to those channels through Comcast on your addressable receiver(s)? I was thinking about getting a HD PCTV tuner card so that I could also run HD through my PC from a multi-format HDDVD/BD drive...if I get those other channels free and clear without subscribing to them, that would be a great bonus. :D Even if they are only SD. ;)

Just called and they said the engineers are on the way to get it fixed.

So those movie channels are coming through unblocked on your PCTV tuner? Are you subscribed to those channels through Comcast on your addressable receiver(s)? I was thinking about getting a HD PCTV tuner card so that I could also run HD through my PC from a multi-format HDDVD/BD drive...if I get those other channels free and clear without subscribing to them, that would be a great bonus. :D Even if they are only SD. ;)

I can confirm that these channels are coming through on QAM unblocked. I can't imagine them being there for too much longer. HGTVHD and USAHD were on QAM but they were removed.

37-8 is ESPN News
92-109 is WAZS - Azteca America Affiliate
107-10 is Channel1 OnDemand without the menu

I see these on different channels:
qam256 116 1 WCIVDT
qam256 116 2 WCSCDT2
qam256 43 9 WCBDDT
qam256 77 3 WITVDT3
qam256 77 4 WTATDT
qam256 77 5 WITVDT2

I am experiencing severe video stuttering and audio problems with the new HD signal from Directv on channel 2 only. Anyone else having this problem? D* says they have not had it reported yet, but it's been this way all day on all of my receivers.

I am experiencing severe video stuttering and audio problems with the new HD signal from Directv on channel 2 only. Anyone else having this problem? D* says they have not had it reported yet, but it's been this way all day on all of my receivers.

Same problem here. Other HD locals look fine but severe A/V sync issues on WCBD. It seemed to happen after the HR21 freeze up issue we had earlier today which they seemed to have fixed.

Same problem here. Other HD locals look fine but severe A/V sync issues on WCBD. It seemed to happen after the HR21 freeze up issue we had earlier today which they seemed to have fixed.

The WCBD problem seems to have been fixed overnight. My receivers all are back to normal.

Red

I'm getting Directv installed on Friday, do I need to have Comcast shut down first? Also, for the HD-DVR (HD20, 21?) does it come with a RF remote, or do I need to order one. Right now I am using a USB IR Extender on my SA8300HD.

Why would you have cable shut down before Directv is up and working? Why do you need an IR externer or RF remote

Why would you have cable shut down before Directv is up and working? Why do you need an IR externer or RF remote

I am guessing D* will use the existing cable runs that Comcast is currently using from coming outside into all the runs to my house. My question is do I need Comcast to turn off the cable so that D* is not disconnecting any of their equipment.

I need an RF remote because I hide the HD-DVR and do not have clear line of sight too it. If the IR extender I have will not work, then I need to get a RF remote which I believe D* sells with the HD-DVR.

I am guessing D* will use the existing cable runs that Comcast is currently using from coming outside into all the runs to my house. My question is do I need Comcast to turn off the cable so that D* is not disconnecting any of their equipment.

I need an RF remote because I hide the HD-DVR and do not have clear line of sight too it. If the IR extender I have will not work, then I need to get a RF remote which I believe D* sells with the HD-DVR.

I would not call cable till dish is working, how hard is it to unhook a cable and unplug a cable box, any one can do that. They may not be able to use your old cable anyway.

Im tired of waiting for new hd channels with comcast. If we dont end up getting the new hd channels on nov. 1, im going to directv.

The WCBD problem seems to have been fixed overnight. My receivers all are back to normal.

Red

The sync issues are back on WCBD. The other locals look good so is this a D* issue or a local one?

The sync issues are back on WCBD. The other locals look good so is this a D* issue or a local one?

I have yet to experience any "receiving" issues or A/V on any of the HD-LIL channels. The only problems I have had are with the 30-second skip freezing when it gets where it's supposed to go, then when the audio catches up, the picture and audio are pretty well synched up again. And this only seems to happen when I am watching buffered material and two channels are recording; or when watching a program that is still recording and both tuners are in use. I have thought that this might be my specific box (more than a year old and has been thoroughly used and abused) as I haven't seen any other complaints like mine. Is this the type of problem you are referring to?

If not, you may simply need your dish peaked. I was having problems with a few select channels an they all were on one of the sat's. D* came out and repeaked my dish, and now all of those channels come in fine. But before the repeak, I was in the 50-60 SS range. Now I am floating in the upper 80's to mid 90's. 1 or 2 degrees repeak can make a sizable difference.

I am guessing D* will use the existing cable runs that Comcast is currently using from coming outside into all the runs to my house. My question is do I need Comcast to turn off the cable so that D* is not disconnecting any of their equipment.

I need an RF remote because I hide the HD-DVR and do not have clear line of sight too it. If the IR extender I have will not work, then I need to get a RF remote which I believe D* sells with the HD-DVR.

It's possible that a lazy installer would try to use your Comcast lines, but it is in your best interest to insist that they install new wiring that is approved for D* service. Plus, if you disconnect your Comcast lines in favor of D*, that means no internet (if you use Comcast high speed) and can limit your ability to augment your HD-LIL from D* with clear QAM channels from Comcast. Since D* doesn't now offer, nor will they anytime soon, PBS-HD, your only option for that would be OTA or clear signals from Comcast.

As for the RF remote, yes, D* sells RF remotes for like $10-$20 online. The older HD receivers had the RF antenna inside the box...the new one need the antenna to be screwed into the back. I have not used RF for my D* setup, but from what I have rad, it will work on the first or even second floor with the receiver in the basement. So 1-2 walls/floors separation should work fine for your needs.

Science HD finally on Comcast!

I may have to skip work.

/\/\
--------------------
Nerds Never Get Alzheimer's

I have yet to experience any "receiving" issues or A/V on any of the HD-LIL channels. The only problems I have had are with the 30-second skip freezing when it gets where it's supposed to go, then when the audio catches up, the picture and audio are pretty well synched up again. And this only seems to happen when I am watching buffered material and two channels are recording; or when watching a program that is still recording and both tuners are in use. I have thought that this might be my specific box (more than a year old and has been thoroughly used and abused) as I haven't seen any other complaints like mine. Is this the type of problem you are referring to?

If not, you may simply need your dish peaked. I was having problems with a few select channels an they all were on one of the sat's. D* came out and repeaked my dish, and now all of those channels come in fine. But before the repeak, I was in the 50-60 SS range. Now I am floating in the upper 80's to mid 90's. 1 or 2 degrees repeak can make a sizable difference.

No...I don't think that's the problem. The sync issue is apparent when I first tune to channel 2. So I tried what D* suggests on their website and reversed the program for about 10 sec. and skipped back to real time and everything is synced until the next scene change (about 5 - 10 sec.). The picture was jumpy as well. BTW I've got the HR21. The strange thing is it's only only ch. 2. Channels 4, 5, 24 look great and ch. 2 looked great yesterday.

I checked my sat reception and it looks like they're mostly in the 90's although I really don't know what I'm looking at. Tuner 1 & 2 were both @ 98%. I don't have the "protection plan" so I hope I don't need the dish peaked.

Another occasional issue that I can replicate on any channel at just about any time is the "too live" buffering error. Now this is on both of my HR20-700's, and I have never driven the -21's, so it may not apply. But what you mentioned about D*'s suggestion to "bloop" back (insert Tivo noise here) once when changing to a new channel can help alleviate the panic that the DVR goes through trying to deliver A/V as soon as you change to a new channel. Since the signal is coming in to the box, then being recorded to a HDD, and then being read from the HDD and presented on your TV, there can sometime be too little buffer for the system to flow smoothly. In other words, the HDD is being written and read simultaneously. By blooping back one time, you allow at least 5-6 seconds of buffered material to be built on as a foundation. If you skip too far forward in a live recording and actually catch up to "real live" programming, you can recreate this problem. And when it happens, it is jittery video and about 1 second of audio, followed by 1 second of silence, and repeat.

With all that said, what I am curious to know from anyone else who might have witnessed this problem recently, is whether or not the problem was visible only on a DVR (with HDD) or whether this problem also occurs on a receiver only (H20, H21, H23). If anyone out there has a plain HD Receiver (not recorder) can you please weigh in.

Another occasional issue that I can replicate on any channel at just about any time is the "too live" buffering error. Now this is on both of my HR20-700's, and I have never driven the -21's, so it may not apply. But what you mentioned about D*'s suggestion to "bloop" back (insert Tivo noise here) once when changing to a new channel can help alleviate the panic that the DVR goes through trying to deliver A/V as soon as you change to a new channel. Since the signal is coming in to the box, then being recorded to a HDD, and then being read from the HDD and presented on your TV, there can sometime be too little buffer for the system to flow smoothly. In other words, the HDD is being written and read simultaneously. By blooping back one time, you allow at least 5-6 seconds of buffered material to be built on as a foundation. If you skip too far forward in a live recording and actually catch up to "real live" programming, you can recreate this problem. And when it happens, it is jittery video and about 1 second of audio, followed by 1 second of silence, and repeat.

With all that said, what I am curious to know from anyone else who might have witnessed this problem recently, is whether or not the problem was visible only on a DVR (with HDD) or whether this problem also occurs on a receiver only (H20, H21, H23). If anyone out there has a plain HD Receiver (not recorder) can you please weigh in.

The problem did actually return yesterday morning and I posted the following description of it on DBStalk:

Well, unfortunately, the same problem came back on Wednesday morning on the same NBC HD channel only. I called Directv again in the afternoon when it didn't clear up. I didn't receive a very reassuring response that anything would be done although they said they would take a look at it. D* says there are not other reports about this but I've seen, in this forum, very similar problems reported in Myrtle Beach, Miami, and Jacksonville usually also limited to one station.

The problem is still here this morning on both HR-20s, the HR-21 and the H20. I did discover one unusual thing about it. If I hit the replay button the picture is stable and the audio is in sync. If I catch back up to live it's totally unwatchable again. And, I tried a test recording and it does not have the issues you see while watching live. Very strange. That helps with the DVR's but the H20 can't be helped any way I know of.

Tuesday this signal was totally fixed...all day. I think someone did something Monday night but the problem returned.

And, finally, the problem is not on the SD signal coming from 72.5 nor on the OTA signal from my antenna....only on the new HD signal.

Maybe someone from D* will see this and can figure something out.

Red
__________________
My Equipment:
H20-100
HR20-700 x2
HR21-200


The H20 is definitely affected as well.

Red

The sync issues are back on WCBD. The other locals look good so is this a D* issue or a local one?

You're right, it's back and it's not a local issue. See my other post in reply to ATP. Did you report the problem to D*?


Red

The problem did actually return yesterday morning and I posted the following description of it on DBStalk:

Well, unfortunately, the same problem came back on Wednesday morning on the same NBC HD channel only. I called Directv again in the afternoon when it didn't clear up. I didn't receive a very reassuring response that anything would be done although they said they would take a look at it. D* says there are not other reports about this but I've seen, in this forum, very similar problems reported in Myrtle Beach, Miami, and Jacksonville usually also limited to one station.

The problem is still here this morning on both HR-20s, the HR-21 and the H20. I did discover one unusual thing about it. If I hit the replay button the picture is stable and the audio is in sync. If I catch back up to live it's totally unwatchable again. And, I tried a test recording and it does not have the issues you see while watching live. Very strange. That helps with the DVR's but the H20 can't be helped any way I know of.

Tuesday this signal was totally fixed...all day. I think someone did something Monday night but the problem returned.

And, finally, the problem is not on the SD signal coming from 72.5 nor on the OTA signal from my antenna....only on the new HD signal.

Maybe someone from D* will see this and can figure something out.

Red
__________________
My Equipment:
H20-100
HR20-700 x2
HR21-200


The H20 is definitely affected as well.

Red

I certainly don't want to take the position of D* Tech Support, but have you tried re-downloading the current software? You mentioned in the post above that it was working fine on Monday. Well, something happened system-wide to D* on Monday that caused just about everyone's DVRs to lock-up. They claim it was not them pushing a new software, but it was something from their end.

Anyway, if you want to try to download the latest software, do these steps:
* Using the remote control, select Menu -> Parental, Fav's, & Setup -> System Setup -> Reset, and then choose Restart Receiver. You will also need to press the DASH (-) key to confirm. This is the safest way to do a reset.
* If the Menu reset fails, then try a Red Button Reset (RBR). Press the Red Button behind the access card door on the front right-side of the receiver.


After Reseting your receiver, you will start the download:

1. Once you have restarted your recorder, make sure you can access the receiver. In a few seconds, you will need to type in a special code to start the download process.
2. When the reset process starts, the LEDs on the front of the receiver will turn off, and the TV will go black.
3. Once the first blue screen is displayed on the TV, you can start keying in the special code.
4. Press 0 2 4 6 8. You will need to press the keys slowly and deliberately. An easy way to think of this is zero-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, four-one-thousand, six-one-thousand, eight-one-thousand. Make sure that you ONLY type in the 5 numbers and nothing else.
5. After a few more seconds, you should see a screen that indicates that the download process has started. If you get a screen that indicates the receiver is booting, and shows step 1 of 2, the download did not start. You may restart the receiver and try the download code again (you can restart by pressing the red reset button under the front-right access card door).
6. Now, just sit back and relax as the update process will take about 10 minutes to complete. It may appear to "stick" at several points along the download and rebooting afterward. This is normal. Do not reset the receiver unless it is stuck on the same screen/percentage for at least 10 minutes.
7. Note: Do not restart the system again after the download process is complete.
8. Remember - this process may take upwards of 15 minutes.

This process has worked for other people in other situations and there may not always be a specific reason for it, but just getting a fresh copy can help. If this doesn't work for you, then I am tapped out on any other ideas. ;) Good luck and keep us posted.

I appreciate the reply, ATP, but logically this problem doesn't point to a receiver. I've tried my own restarts like all those who had the Monday issues. It fixed their problem but not mine. I never had any lockups on any of my three DVR's. And once again, it's also on the H20. Plus, Tuesday, after my Monday call to Tech Support, all was fine...all day. On all receivers. In a way I'm disappointed that you're not having the problem since it seems like it should be DMA wide (not wishing you had it though!).

Thanks for the excellent instructions on downloading new software, although I do that regularly through the CE program. :)

Tech Support did say yesterday that since my HD OTA signal was not affected and the SD signal was fine and all the other new HD channels were fine it seemed to be a problem on their end. We'll see...

Red

...Thanks for the excellent instructions on downloading new software, although I do that regularly through the CE program. :)

Well, heck, why didn't you say so ;) Well, hopefully someone else will come along and find value in these posts even though they may not directly address your issues.

As for me not having the issue, I only watch 2 for local/national evening news and a few primetime shows. I haven't watched Heroes from Monday night, so I may in fact be experiencing the same issues, but just don't know it yet. The joys and pitfalls of using the DVR "on my schedule" is that I am sometime late to the party on problems/issues with signals. But I am now 100% using HD-LIL where available, and OTA only for PBS and sub channels. So I will watch Heroes with a critical eye tonight and report back if I see anything odd.

I'm debating not getting Directv based on how much my internet will go up each month. Is it considerably better than Comcast? I know I will get more HD channels, but only a few I really care about (Fuel, NHLHD, etc.)

Anyone who can give a comparsion please do.

I'm debating not getting Directv based on how much my internet will go up each month. Is it considerably better than Comcast? I know I will get more HD channels, but only a few I really care about (Fuel, NHLHD, etc.)

Anyone who can give a comparsion please do.

One thing you may want to consider is what I have done...downgrade your cable to the $11 ultra basic level (i.e. Channels 2-13), and you still qualify for bundled service. Granted, I never watch Comcast cable unless something happens to my sat signals or receivers, but you still gt your locals in HD over cable, plus a few other channels, and you still benefit from the discounted bundle rate. So in essence, your internet rate might go up, but it will only go up by a very small amount because of the difference in what you are dropping package wise, and what you will still qualify for in terms of the bundled rate.

Give Comcast a call and do a price breakout on Internet alone vs. Internet with the ultra basic bundle. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

So in general, you are pleased with Directv? Comcast is just so expensive for what I am getting, even with the increased price of internet, I would still be paying basically what I am now.

Absolutely. But every option has benefits and drawbacks. I don't mind paying a little more for my entertainment options "in home" since I don't go out to movies or sporting events. I always find that my barcalounger is far more comfy than "stadium seating" in theaters or real stadium seats.

D* offers far more sporting options, now HDLIL, and the DVR is fine for my needs. The networking tools are showing promise, but are currently limited. And I am sure that someone else here will make a similar case for any other provider. Just keep in mind that with cable, there is no commitment...D* requires 24month contracts...E* offers 18 month contracts.

FWIW...sometime between 7pm and 8pm the problem with channel 2 disappeared on all of my receivers. Hope it's a permanent fix this time.

Red

I am experiencing severe video stuttering and audio problems with the new HD signal from Directv on channel 2 only. Anyone else having this problem? D* says they have not had it reported yet, but it's been this way all day on all of my receivers.

Well, I finally got to watch Heroes from Monday night and I have to say, it was not just you. For a large portion of the program (and this was only one hour out of the day that you had) it was way off on audio synch. The video was jumpy like it was trying to synch the audio and video, but man, that was kinda rough.

I hope that you mention above about the fix going into effect tonight was accurate for all of us because I don't think I want to watch Must See TV like that all night.

So I guess all of my suggestions WERE ineffective ;) Oh well.

I remember that there is a way to enable all post to be emailed to me in real time.
I don't remember how. Can someone either PM me (andrews_mcilwain@cable.comcast.com)
or post it.

Thanks,
Andrews

Well, I finally got to watch Heroes from Monday night and I have to say, it was not just you. For a large portion of the program (and this was only one hour out of the day that you had) it was way off on audio synch. The video was jumpy like it was trying to synch the audio and video, but man, that was kinda rough.

I hope that you mention above about the fix going into effect tonight was accurate for all of us because I don't think I want to watch Must See TV like that all night.

So I guess all of my suggestions WERE ineffective ;) Oh well.

I'm sure someone at D* did something to fix the problem for all of us. We started watching a recorded episode of Terminator (which was pretty awful on it's own with audio burps and momentary video hangs) about 7pm and channel 2 was still broke. When the program finished and the dvr went back to live the problem was gone. Checked all the other receivers and they were good too. Still good this morning.

Keep making suggestions....it never hurts to try to help.

Red

Is nobody getting this audio/video problem with FOX 24?

I watched a recorded "Prison Break" from last week and week before. Awful video freezing for a second and then audio tries to catch up and makes a buzzing noise.

Almost unwatchable.

I noticed it today also during football, but not as often as Prison Break. I'm going to have to goto non HD FOX to record until D* or local FOX fixes this problem.

Is nobody getting this audio/video problem with FOX 24?

I watched a recorded "Prison Break" from last week and week before. Awful video freezing for a second and then audio tries to catch up and makes a buzzing noise.

Almost unwatchable.

I noticed it today also during football, but not as often as Prison Break. I'm going to have to goto non HD FOX to record until D* or local FOX fixes this problem.

Same problem here thru both games and it seems to be getting worse. No problems on CBS, ABC, or NBC. It's got to be a D* problem.

Is nobody getting this audio/video problem with FOX 24?

I watched a recorded "Prison Break" from last week and week before. Awful video freezing for a second and then audio tries to catch up and makes a buzzing noise.

Almost unwatchable.

I noticed it today also during football, but not as often as Prison Break. I'm going to have to goto non HD FOX to record until D* or local FOX fixes this problem.

My recording of Terminator from last week was the same way. Almost unwatchable. It needs to be reported to D* if it's still doing that. I think we finally got the channel 2 problem fixed after I called mutiple times last week. Maybe someone can call and ask them to fix this one. We all should probably call so they know there's an area wide problem.

Red

Incredibly, the same problem with the same single HD channel has returned today for the third time since we got our locals on Oct 1st. The video stutters and the audio gets further and further out of sync. As before, it's on all the receivers and does not happen on the SD signal or on my OTA HD signal. I just spoke with D* again about it and they said they would escalate it up....

Red

Incredibly, the same problem with the same single HD channel has returned today for the third time since we got our locals on Oct 1st. The video stutters and the audio gets further and further out of sync. As before, it's on all the receivers and does not happen on the SD signal or on my OTA HD signal. I just spoke with D* again about it and they said they would escalate it up....

Red
I still haven't "upgraded" to the locals over D*; OTA still works fine and I can't see paying for what I can get free.
That being said. NBC OTA still has occasional break-ups even with a signal strength over 95%. This happens on four different OTA tuners, on three different antennas, so I don't think it's me.
I wonder if these break-ups are the source of the D* issues?

Incredibly, the same problem with the same single HD channel has returned today for the third time since we got our locals on Oct 1st. The video stutters and the audio gets further and further out of sync. As before, it's on all the receivers and does not happen on the SD signal or on my OTA HD signal. I just spoke with D* again about it and they said they would escalate it up....

Red

Yeah...I saw it this morning too. I have found that if you back up the live feed for 5 to 10 sec. it makes it watchable - at least on the DVR models.

My recording of Terminator from last week was the same way. Almost unwatchable. It needs to be reported to D* if it's still doing that. I think we finally got the channel 2 problem fixed after I called mutiple times last week. Maybe someone can call and ask them to fix this one. We all should probably call so they know there's an area wide problem.

Red
I have just spoken with D* engineering and they have told me they will look into the problem and open a ticket. As far as I can tell the problem is on their end. Our over the air HD signal, that also feeds TWC and CC looks good with no problems with the picture or the video. With luck they will have this fixed shortly. I will keep checking this board daily to see if there are still problems

Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

I have just spoken with D* engineering and they have told me they will look into the problem and open a ticket. As far as I can tell the problem is on their end. Our over the air HD signal, that also feeds TWC and CC looks good with no problems with the picture or the video. With luck they will have this fixed shortly. I will keep checking this board daily to see if there are still problems

Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

Thanks Michael. Appreciate your help on this. Fox 24 looked and sounded pretty bad last night on both House and Fringe. Lots of video and audio dropouts. But it's nice to have a friend on the "inside". Don't suppose you can call one of your "buddies" at WCBD and get them to call D*. A/V sync issues last night on Channel 2 but looked OK this morning but no telling for how long.

Wanted to poll the crowd here to find out if you guys ever pin a billable rate on your own time when it comes to pursuing different options.

For instance, if you save $20 a month by opting for a certain HD service provider but you spend an hour every month troubleshooting issues (including visiting forums to seek help form others) ... what that means is if your billable rate is less than $20 an hour ... you have come out ahead ... else not.

The caveat here is, for quite a few us, its fun to muck with the stuff. But I suspect that begins to get old after a while ... and you move on to some other exciting stuff to waste your time on.

Does anyone here have Dishnetwork and know if / when the local HD channels will be carried? I will be moving soon and am trying to make a decision wether to switch to Direct or stay with Dish.

Sorry to go OT, but can anyone recommend a local shop to look at my sub-woofer? It's a Paradigm and I took the last blown one to Peachtree Acoustics, but not sure they are still in business.

This is my 2nd one and not sure why they are blowing as I never crank anything up and all is on a surge protector, but would like to find out what is wrong with it. This time I'm not getting the light to come on, so may be a board issue and not the speaker itself. Thanks.

What the F is going on with WCSC coverage today? In HD before they accidentally send us to the BUF/SD game. Then they come back to the CIN/PIT game in SD. Switches in and out every now again, but mainly in SD.

Also, I don't tend to watch the CBS evening network news, but have been watching local in HD and have noticed they sometimes don't show the evening news in HD, but immediately go to HD for the local news. Seems funny.

Is anyone in the area seeing a digital signal on physical channel 29? WAZS-LP 22 supposedly either will build or had built a digital signal on channel 29. I've heard a report of a weak signal on channel 29 in the area, and can find no other stations that could explain it...

If you do see it, how's it mapping, and what programming are on its subchannels, if any?

- Trip

lancer1991 - This is late in replying to your post yesterday but apparently they had power issues in Buffalo yesterday creating the issue you saw.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/27268175/

Panthers not in HD?
Was the Panthers vs Saints really not in HD or did Fox 24.1 just not show it in HD?

Does anyone in the Charleston, SC area with Dishnetwork and OTA HD have a problem with the guide data not showing up correctly? My Local OTA HD from FOX (WTAT) on channel 024-01 shows up as "Digital Service". The dish feed of the local on channel 024-00 guide data shows up correctly. Also 036-01 WMMP (MyTv) shows up as the guide data that should be on 024-01 WTAT.

This is a pain because when I schedule something to record like "Prison Break", it only schedules it to record form the SD channel off Dish, 024-00 and not the HD OTA channel 024-01 because the guide data does not match. I can't easily go to 9pm and just press record because it wants to record the remainder of the day. I have to manually go in to the menu and set a timer. I have tried to delete all the local channels and re-scan them but it does not fix anything. This is on a VIP-622 DVR.

I attached a photo of the guide data showing the problem. 024-00 and 024-01 should be identical and 036-00 and 036-01 should be the same.


Thanks,
James

lancer1991 - This is late in replying to your post yesterday but apparently they had power issues in Buffalo yesterday creating the issue you saw.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/27268175/

Panthers not in HD?
Was the Panthers vs Saints really not in HD or did Fox 24.1 just not show it in HD?

I knew about the power issue, but that wasn't the game we were suppose to have. It eventually got back in check, but was annoying to say the least.

I hate to say it, but I think that was their HD you saw on FOX. I don't know why, but the coverage on FOX is always horrible for me. Pre game show tends to show very grainy on my end.

Charleston FOX 24 HD on DirecTV still having audio/video dropouts/problems. Noticed it very bad during Prison Break last night.

Hate it. Now I have to record in SD or hook my OTA antenna up again. Absolutely awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off Topic- Just switched to DTV. Anybody know how the rebate works? Do I need to send something off?

What rebate are you talking about?

I was told my first bill would be the regular amount and then I had to do something with a rebate to get the special $49.99 a month deal for the next 12 months.

Yes you are OT. But someone might help you if you stated the service your getting but accurate details for that can probably only be obtained from the service provider.

DTV is off air digital TV and it is free. Are you alking about Directv.

Yeah, DirecTV, sorry. I got the $49.99 for 12 months deal (Choice Xtra w/ HD-DVR). Supposedely, the first month is $68 or $69 and I have to do something with a rebate to start the $49.99 the next billing cycle. Any ideas?

Yeah, DirecTV, sorry. I got the $49.99 for 12 months deal (Choice Xtra w/ HD-DVR). Supposedely, the first month is $68 or $69 and I have to do something with a rebate to start the $49.99 the next billing cycle. Any ideas?

Only Directv can answer that

Sorry to go OT, but can anyone recommend a local shop to look at my sub-woofer? It's a Paradigm and I took the last blown one to Peachtree Acoustics, but not sure they are still in business.

This is my 2nd one and not sure why they are blowing as I never crank anything up and all is on a surge protector, but would like to find out what is wrong with it. This time I'm not getting the light to come on, so may be a board issue and not the speaker itself. Thanks.

I had a pair of Advent speakers blow many years ago and took them to Read Brothers at King & Spring for repair. Not sure if they are still doing repairs, but worth calling them for advice/info.
Website: http://www.readbrothers.com/stereo.html

Panthers not in HD?
Was the Panthers vs Saints really not in HD or did Fox 24.1 just not show it in HD?

Was in HD for me via HD-LIL with D*

Oh, and no severe audio/video drops that I can recall.

Anybody else have a problem on DirecTV with the guide not going past a certain point? Everything shows up as To Be Determined or something like that.

Wanted to poll the crowd here to find out if you guys ever pin a billable rate on your own time when it comes to pursuing different options.

For instance, if you save $20 a month by opting for a certain HD service provider but you spend an hour every month troubleshooting issues (including visiting forums to seek help form others) ... what that means is if your billable rate is less than $20 an hour ... you have come out ahead ... else not.

The caveat here is, for quite a few us, its fun to muck with the stuff. But I suspect that begins to get old after a while ... and you move on to some other exciting stuff to waste your time on.
I will say this: my billable rate did not wash in my favor when I was 100% OTA for local HD. No matter how tightly I tamped down my antenna mast, it seems that a storm could knock me off alignment enough that I was on my roof every few weeks tweaking things.

Now that D* is carrying HD-LIL, I have not been back up on the roof. But that is not to say that there haven't been some growing pains with that transition. But I have not spent too much time personally dealing with it. I feel more confident that D* can get things lined up and smoothed over with some attention to details.

I do need to go back on the roof to pin point the antenna for ETV reception, and then I should be good. So glad that D* picked up all the local net's aside ETV. Wasn't really expecting MNT/CW to come through HD-LIL.

Anybody else have a problem on DirecTV with the guide not going past a certain point? Everything shows up as To Be Determined or something like that.

The guide data is designed to show up to 14 days in the future. However, yesterday or the day before, D* had some technical glitch with a lot of their receivers and forced a software upgrade to try and fix it. This fix had the side effect of potentially deleting your recordings, to do list, and guide data. But not everyone exerienced the really bad aspects. For me, I didn't lose any recordings, my to do list is still fine, and my guide data was unharmed.

The complete guide data should be fully updated within 24-48 hours of a major software upgrade.

I just spoke with an engineer over at D*, and he has informed me that they have found a problem in their primary receiving equipment. Today they have started picking up the WTAT HD signal with their backup receiver. If anyone who has D* is planing on watching game 2 of the world series tonight in HD. would you please email me at mkordek@sbgent.com to let me know if there are still issues or if things are working. That way I can relay the information onto D* engineering.

Thanks
Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

I just spoke with an engineer over at D*, and he has informed me that they have found a problem in their primary receiving equipment. Today they have started picking up the WTAT HD signal with their backup receiver. If anyone who has D* is planing on watching game 2 of the world series tonight in HD. would you please email me at mkordek@sbgent.com to let me know if there are still issues or if things are working. That way I can relay the information onto D* engineering.

Thanks
Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

Will do, and thanks again for being an advocate and listening to vox populii. :)

The guide data is designed to show up to 14 days in the future. However, yesterday or the day before, D* had some technical glitch with a lot of their receivers and forced a software upgrade to try and fix it. This fix had the side effect of potentially deleting your recordings, to do list, and guide data. But not everyone exerienced the really bad aspects. For me, I didn't lose any recordings, my to do list is still fine, and my guide data was unharmed.

The complete guide data should be fully updated within 24-48 hours of a major software upgrade.

Thanks, I got a software upgrade today so maybe it will fix it soon.

Anyone with Comcast, can you check to see if you can get HD shows to play via On Demand? I tried last night and it would just start to show a picture and then kick back to the menu. When I selected a SD show, it played fine, just HD was an issue.

I had a pair of Advent speakers blow many years ago and took them to Read Brothers at King & Spring for repair. Not sure if they are still doing repairs, but worth calling them for advice/info.
Website: http://www.readbrothers.com/stereo.html

Thanks I'll give them a call.

Anybody else seeing NBC on D* in letterbox? I have to zoom it for it to fill the screen. All other channels look great.

Anybody else seeing NBC on D* in letterbox? I have to zoom it for it to fill the screen. All other channels look great.

Letterbox via Knology as well

+1

I just spoke with an engineer over at D*, and he has informed me that they have found a problem in their primary receiving equipment. Today they have started picking up the WTAT HD signal with their backup receiver. If anyone who has D* is planing on watching game 2 of the world series tonight in HD. would you please email me at mkordek@sbgent.com to let me know if there are still issues or if things are working. That way I can relay the information onto D* engineering.

Thanks
Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

Have not/Did not watch the entire game due to recorder conflicts on the DVR, but tuned in a little after 10pm and looked good and sounded good. However, just about 10:20, there was a video skip/stutter and audio garble at the same time. Tuned to something else about 10:30, so that was the only thing I saw/heard that was suspect. And not sure if those are the types of errors others have complained about. If that is the issue, it was minor and temporary...well, within the 15 minutes I watched anyway. I can certainly see how that could be annoying during the normal play of an entire game/show.

Anybody else not getting HD on Comcast on NBC Crusoe tonight?

NBC national broadcasts the last two nights have had problems being in HD. I haven't watched all of the recordings from last night on my DVR, but the national news has been in SD. I could understand/excuse tonight's SD feed because of the weather alerts, but last night's was a mystery. And this is on D*, not Comcast.

Okay, just watched "Office" from last night and it was micro-letterbox. Either NBC national has a feed delivery problem, or more likely Channel 2 has a retransmission issue to figure out. Quite annoying actually. And they may not know about it since the Channel 2 logo that shows up in HD was still showing up in the same relative location, so they may think they are outputting an HD stream and not looking at the feed on an HD monitor.

I'm in the upstate visiting family and the NBC broadcast of Crusoe on Friday was in HD.

I'm in Summerville and getting SNL over both Time Warner and OTA in a micro SD letterbox. Something messed up. I'd bet Channel 2 has the problem.

Judging by the Evening News, looks as though WCBD wasn't able to fix whatever is wrong. Gonna be a bummer watching Heroes and Chuck in SD.

How spoiled are we, but hey I spent the money, so I want to see it in HD.

I am new to this forum, though I have had reason to keep up with this thread because I too am having a multitude of the same problems everyone else is having and would really like to see some resolution.

Addressing Director Kordek, I was also having the same issues with WTAT and had been since the local switch to HD, but it seems to be significantly better since they switched recievers. I havent watched any primetime shows aired since then, but the MLB game I watched seemed clear with no stutters during the game. However I did notice small stutters (nothing like before) during the commercials, so it isnt completely gone.

However, for WMMP I cant say the same thing, which by your signature is also one of you channels. It has significant synch issues. The sound is always leading the video by about 15-20 seconds and there is almost continous video stutter, though very little stutter in the sound.

All of the other channels seem to be fairing well for me, just WTAT and WMMP. Is anyone else having issues with WMMP? Only concern for me is the upcoming show Legend of the Seeker that will be shown on that channel in Charleston.

It is to the point where I am going to have to switch back to the SD version of the WMMP channel. Any help or light you could shed would be much appreciated. I have yet to contact DirecTv though I will be calling them once I get a moment now that I know it isnt just a problem I am having alone.

FOX still not fixed. I noticed it over the weekend (not as bad during baseball game) and my buddy called me last night asking if I had a problem with FOX audio/video. Said the Panthers game was unwatchable.

This is horrible. I'm ready to switch back to my antenna or watch in SD channel.

Has anyone here had ANY contact with WCBD about their HD mini-letterbox retrans issue? I don't want to call and complain if they have acknowledged their issues and have announced any resolution time frame. But if no one has shared their thoughts/concerns with them, then someone obviously needs to get them on the horn.

Has anyone here had ANY contact with WCBD about their HD mini-letterbox retrans issue? I don't want to call and complain if they have acknowledged their issues and have announced any resolution time frame. But if no one has shared their thoughts/concerns with them, then someone obviously needs to get them on the horn.

I have not talked to anyone at the station. This is limited to our local station, right?

Red

WCBD appears to be airing correctly right now. I too noticed the micro letterbox when I watched the office the other day, and Heros from last night was also in a letterbox, however my wife is watching Oprah and it appears to be a normal broadcast.

Has anyone here had ANY contact with WCBD about their HD mini-letterbox retrans issue? I don't want to call and complain if they have acknowledged their issues and have announced any resolution time frame. But if no one has shared their thoughts/concerns with them, then someone obviously needs to get them on the horn.
I submitted a post on their website yesterday but did not hear back from them. When my customers contact me I try to get back to them within a day, guess their business is so good they don't need to reply.

WCBD appears to be airing correctly right now. I too noticed the micro letterbox when I watched the office the other day, and Heros from last night was also in a letterbox, however my wife is watching Opera and it appears to be a normal broadcast.
Unless I missed Oprah HD going live on 2, you would not see the problem on that program since it is broadcast in 4:3. If NBC Nightly News is not in HD at 6:30 then we know the problem still exists.

Unless I missed Oprah HD going live on 2, you would not see the problem on that program since it is broadcast in 4:3. If NBC Nightly News is not in HD at 6:30 then we know the problem still exists.

Well...the problem still exists. At least they fixed the sync problem they had a couple of weeks ago.

Fox still most definitely not fixed. Problems exactly as bad as before during House and Fringe... : /

Somebody got the job done! HD is back on Channel 2 :)

Some new HD channels showed up on the Comcast program guide today. None active yet.

FOXN 428
AMC 429
FAM 444
DISN (Disney) 445
SCI (Science) 446
SV (Speed) 450
FX 451
CNN 494
VS 495

CNNHD is already on 423 and VS/GOLF is on 405. Not sure if they're moving

Some new HD channels showed up on the Comcast program guide today. None active yet.

FOXN 428
AMC 429
FAM 444
DISN (Disney) 445
SCI (Science) 446
SV (Speed) 450
FX 451
CNN 494
VS 495

CNNHD is already on 423 and VS/GOLF is on 405. Not sure if they're moving

This was suppose to be the new channel list below so maybe they messed a few on the inputting, but would be nice if they split the Golf Channel and VS.

Fox News HD 428
American Movie Classics (AMC) HD 429
Cartoon HD 442
ABC Family HD 444
Disney HD 445
Science HD 446
Speed HD 450
FX HD 451
E! HD 457
Travel HD 458

Just got 2x Cablecards installed in my Tivo Series3 from Comcast. Took about 5 hours of work with the tech calling dispatch for hits. My best advice is reboot the Tivo after every hit. Everything is working now.

I feel for you. I've been through that ordeal many many times. They ALWAYS send someone who's never done cablecards before or don't know much about it. The tech was constantly calling someone else for advice. The only time they sent someone that knew what they were doing, they brought bad cable cards. The guy that came back with good ones was a disaster.

Apparently the Saturday crew at WCSC not sure about HD as local breaks in the morning show nor the CBS morning show were in HD this morning.

Anyone get any details from them as to why no capabilities to HD for recorded shows, i.e. 2 1/2 Men at 7:30?

Just sent the following to ch WCBD 2-1. Anyone else have this?



I believe you have a ATSC Broadcast signal error. The following started 11/01

All following units on same OTA antenna.

one dtv, no problem strong signal

one dtv will not see WCBD or CW at all

HTPC using MS MCE 2005 says no signal

Insignia converter box picks up signal but shows as the frequency (50-1, 50-2) rather then the normal call letters WCBD

No other channels have a problem. All equipment has been working fine for over a year.

They have messed up PSIP data , that is why you get them on 50.1 and 50.2 and not on 2.1/2.2

Thanks, basicaly what I was thinking.

Hey guys,
I just moved from where I had Knology HD to an area that only has Comcast (Carolina Bay - West Ashley). Needless to say, I signed up with Comcast. I have noticed a pretty big reduction in the quality of the HD channels (local included) - lots of compression artifacts (blockiness during motion, for instance). With Knology, it seemed that most HD broadcasts were pretty close to original broadcast quality (can someone verify?). I think this would be caused by the fact that since Comcast offers so many MORE HD channels than Knology, they have to compress each channel more. Does anyone know if this is, in fact, what's happening, or am I imagining things?

I'm also wondering if DirecTV is about the same, in terms of HD picture quality, as Comcast, or is it better? I really don't care about the number of HD channels - I would rather have fewer HD choices if it meant that those channels were better quality. Anyone have actual bitrate figures for each HD channel for Knology, Comcast, and DirecTV?

Thanks.

I will be speaking with D* engineering again this morning. As for the WMMP problem I have not noticed this on the HD but I will look into it

Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

Hey guys,
I just moved from where I had Knology HD to an area that only has Comcast (Carolina Bay - West Ashley). Needless to say, I signed up with Comcast. I have noticed a pretty big reduction in the quality of the HD channels (local included) - lots of compression artifacts (blockiness during motion, for instance). With Knology, it seemed that most HD broadcasts were pretty close to original broadcast quality (can someone verify?). I think this would be caused by the fact that since Comcast offers so many MORE HD channels than Knology, they have to compress each channel more. Does anyone know if this is, in fact, what's happening, or am I imagining things?

I'm also wondering if DirecTV is about the same, in terms of HD picture quality, as Comcast, or is it better? I really don't care about the number of HD channels - I would rather have fewer HD choices if it meant that those channels were better quality. Anyone have actual bitrate figures for each HD channel for Knology, Comcast, and DirecTV?

Thanks.

First off, welcome to the forum. I am sorry that I can't answer your questions with cold hard facts, only my own perception. I have D* HD-LIL as well as OTA for the locals. The D* HD-LIL is as good as OTA...hardly tell a difference. The one exception being that Fox apparently has some retransmission issues that are being worked on (see comments from directork). D* is beaming a maximum of 5 channels per transponder, so their compression is pretty low (better PQ)...not sure about cable's compression as it all comes through the same cable and not a series of transponders.

Your issues could be simply related to slightly inferior cabling in the house, neighborhood or trunk...or it could be overcompression. If you are able to, you may want to try an antenna at your house and see how the locals look that way, and you can extrapolate that into how it will look for D* (or better depending on your antenna capabilities/reception).

And lastly, as far as my D* reception, even during the deluge from last Friday, I never lost a single bit/packet of data. It would take a fairly serious weather event to knock out the sat signal (if installed properly). Plus, with D*, you would be getting a high volume of HD choices as well as better/less compression.

So again, these may not be cold hard facts, but this is how I see it...others may have a different view.

First off, welcome to the forum. I am sorry that I can't answer your questions with cold hard facts, only my own perception. I have D* HD-LIL as well as OTA for the locals. The D* HD-LIL is as good as OTA...hardly tell a difference. The one exception being that Fox apparently has some retransmission issues that are being worked on (see comments from directork). D* is beaming a maximum of 5 channels per transponder, so their compression is pretty low (better PQ)...not sure about cable's compression as it all comes through the same cable and not a series of transponders.

Your issues could be simply related to slightly inferior cabling in the house, neighborhood or trunk...or it could be overcompression. If you are able to, you may want to try an antenna at your house and see how the locals look that way, and you can extrapolate that into how it will look for D* (or better depending on your antenna capabilities/reception).

And lastly, as far as my D* reception, even during the deluge from last Friday, I never lost a single bit/packet of data. It would take a fairly serious weather event to knock out the sat signal (if installed properly). Plus, with D*, you would be getting a high volume of HD choices as well as better/less compression.

So again, these may not be cold hard facts, but this is how I see it...others may have a different view.

Thanks for the response. Perhaps I did overreact because I was frustrated at the quality of the Sunday Night Football game on NBC (lots of blockiness). In looking at other channels this morning, there doesn't seem to be the same issues that I saw during the game. Perhaps it was a just a not-so-good live feed? I will look more closely at each channel and post back - though it did seem that Discover HD was a bit more "blocky".

I'll be more reserved in my judgment of Comcast till then :)

...I was frustrated at the quality of the Sunday Night Football game on NBC (lots of blockiness)...

NBC Sports is blocky at best. You might be able to find better HD cameras at Best Buy for about $300. ;) OTA, D* and Comcast all show bad (or at least very noticeable) macroblocking on just about all of NBC's live sporting events...if that's all you look at, then you would definitely think your reception was bad. NBC also has a problem with some sort of "focus degauss" every 5-10 minutes. Not sure what that is all about. But take a look at CBS (probably best signal in lowcountry) and other major national networks.

You mentioned Discovery...if you are talking about DiscoveryHD Theater, then that is not optimistic for you provider since it is all shot in HD. But if you are talking about the mothership and their HD feed, keep in mind that a lot of their programming is not native HD and is upconverted. The current seasons of Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, etc, are all shot in HD; older seasons are upconverted and do not look as good.

NBC Sports is blocky at best. You might be able to find better HD cameras at Best Buy for about $300. ;) OTA, D* and Comcast all show bad (or at least very noticeable) macroblocking on just about all of NBC's live sporting events...if that's all you look at, then you would definitely think your reception was bad. NBC also has a problem with some sort of "focus degauss" every 5-10 minutes. Not sure what that is all about. But take a look at CBS (probably best signal in lowcountry) and other major national networks.


On Time Warner Cable none of that is true. The Olympics, Sunday night football, Saturday Night Live, etc. all look great.

On Time Warner Cable none of that is true. The Olympics, Sunday night football, Saturday Night Live, etc. all look great.

I will agree that SNL looks good, but those are static studio cameras and there isn't much fast moving live action. Football (and other live sporting events) are a different animal. The prime time studio shows all look fine...the national news looks fine...it's the sports that stink. Please do an honest comparison of Fox, CBS, ESPN and NBC for football coverage. Of those four, I would have to say (current WTAT retransmission issues excluded) FOX and CBS are about tied, ESPN is a close third, and NBC is a distant 4th. And that has nothing to do with announcers, graphics, etc...just simple audio/video feed.

Of course, this may be subjective, and I have never seen HD on TWC, but based on Comcast QAM, OTA and D* HD-LIL, the above statements are constant and, in my opinion, valid.

Oh, and NBC's Football Night in America looks okay too, but again, this is a studio show and must use different cameras/processing equipment.

All local and national HD over WMBF, Myrtle Beach, is excellent and comparable to the other networks on TWC.

Of course, this may be subjective, and I have seen HD on TWC and the above statements are constant and, in my opinion, valid.

Ahhh, one major point not previously noted: WMBF is not the same as WCBD. So while you may be getting a good clean picture on your NBC sports programming from Myrtle Beach, down here in Charleston it is not quite the same. So this further enforces the issue that for mc_hambone and any others here in this affiliate coverage area that experience the blockiness or focus degauss, that maybe there is an issue locally and no matter the source (DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, Knology, TWC, or OTA) we all experience some level of dissatisfaction with the PQ. So maybe I was wrong to say it was a national network issue, but seeing as how we can't get NBC around here but from one source, it doesn't really matter to us. NBC is NBC.

So maybe I was wrong to say it was a national network issue, but seeing as how we can't get NBC around here but from one source, it doesn't really matter to us. NBC is NBC.

I think you get my point.

You might be able to find better HD cameras at Best Buy for about $300. ;)

I would be willing to wager this is a bit of an exaggeration also.

Also WMFB is instantly becoming one of the best locals around. All local news in HD (even remote cameras), HD picture remains during alerts, small unobtrusive radar overlays, etc.

Oh, i was definitely going for hyperbole on the $300 camera ;) And now I am considering moving to Myrtle Beach... :)

On Time Warner Cable none of that is true. The Olympics, Sunday night football, Saturday Night Live, etc. all look great.

So you don't get the focusing issue on live football on your NBC carrier? This was an issue a while back and was stated in the Programming Threads that it was local issues and some sort of setting. If you're not getting it, then may be time to get a hold of Sam Barclay again and let him know of this issue has risen again.

I'm amazed that these local affiliates don't have their own employees watching shows and notifying them right away of issues. In my job, if one of us visits a site and find something wrong, we let the others know, just seems like the right thing to do.

So you don't get the focusing issue on live football on your NBC carrier? This was an issue a while back and was stated in the Programming Threads that it was local issues and some sort of setting. If you're not getting it, then may be time to get a hold of Sam Barclay again and let him know of this issue has risen again.


I do not know how to be any more clear. My NBC HD is pristine. Also note that TWCSC has always maintained they relay all HD exactly as they receive it.

I do not know how to be any more clear. My NBC HD is pristine. Also note that TWCSC has always maintained they relay all HD exactly as they receive it.

And we are jealous of you for that. ;) We simply want to know if we can maybe borrow your signal or at the very least maybe you can send down a tech from WMBF to visit WCBD for a day or two and get their equipment in tip top shape.

And when any provider says they provide the network signal exactly as they receive it, that is why I say that D* HD-LIL for all the local net's is as good as my OTA, or better since their receiver location is closer to the signals than I am in Goose Creek. I think the D* receiver location is actually at either Channel 2 or 4 in Mt Pleasant. So if TWC claims to resend the data as received, then I am sure it's fine. But if the problem is the sender (in our case WCBD) then it doesn't matter how good a receiver D* or Comcast or TWC has if they are simply passing garbage in-garbage out.

And I really don't want to come off as being over the limit on my criticisms of WCBD. Their signal is not unwatchable...it just stinks when their is motion artifacts or macroblocking or focus degauss from time to time and we KNOW that it isn't supposed to be that way...especially when we hear that just up the road none of that exists.

Hey, maybe they just need to send an intern out to scrub the pigeon droppings from the dish. :)

I think the difference with TWCSC is we were among the first in the country to get Switched Digital Video. I imagine Comcast has it now also. If there are more than a dozen or so HD channels they most likely do. With SDV there is little need for extra compression and when they do feel the need for some they do it on SD channels. Our SD is not the best. The trade off with SDV is sometimes when you tune a channel that is "switched out" there is some hesitation before it comes in.

So I suspect the bottom line with WCBD is they do not have their equipment tweaked right or Comcast does not have SDV tweaked right or they are still applying some compression for some reason or I could be way off base altogether because I am not exactly a broadcast engineer.

SDV could be an inssue, but I think I recall reading that SDV was not in play in Charleston yet. I think they were playing with it in Cola or Gr/Sp and were working out the kinks...but I could be way wrong on that. Bottom line on your issue though is that they see the value in making the HD the premiere quality compared to making better SD. With D*, we are getting good overall PQ on pretty much every channel and since we don't use SDV, I am leaning towards the issue being WCBD not having their stuff together as best as they can.

OTA only here. WCBD quality has been downhill for a long time and the trend line has no up ticks. Basicaly it sucks compared to the other locals and that is a shame because for me there are a lot of programs that I have watched but regularly find myself switching because the quality is so bad or even unwatchable.

Thanks, basicaly what I was thinking.

Today it comes in on both 2.1 and 50.1

Yep, Checked last night and everything works again.

I presume not many here watch PBS-HD ... but here goes fwiw ...

This morning I spoke with ETV Columbia about the poor quality of their HD broadcast (I am on Comcast - Charleston).

The guy was shocked that I was seeing macroblocking on the channel whenever there was camera panning or moderate motion. I told him we had stopped watching the channel quite a long time ago when we felt the channel was unwatchable.

He promised to look into it.

Max

PBS HD on TWC looks great.

I presume not many here watch PBS-HD ... but here goes fwiw ...

This morning I spoke with ETV Columbia about the poor quality of their HD broadcast (I am on Comcast - Charleston).

The guy was shocked that I was seeing macroblocking on the channel whenever there was camera panning or moderate motion. I told him we had stopped watching the channel quite a long time ago when we felt the channel was unwatchable.

He promised to look into it.

Max

I think our problem here in Charleston is they are carrying 2 sub channels with the HD signal on OTA, so I believe they run into bandwidth issue because of this.

PBS HD on TWC looks great.

Does your PBS carry sub channels as ours does? If so, I wonder how yours would be better if I assume your TWC would be pumping the same OTA signal one would get without cable.

If I recall this was discussed a few years back and also believe a PBS rep was on here and mentioned the compression issue (could be recalling wrong though).

Does your PBS carry sub channels as ours does? If so, I wonder how yours would be better if I assume your TWC would be pumping the same OTA signal one would get without cable.


I do not do OTA. I do not know why you would assume sub channels would affect TWC's PBS HD.

I do not do OTA. I do not know why you would assume sub channels would affect TWC's PBS HD.

I say that because a previous rep of TW that was on here stated that TW had received their signal for a station differently than Comcast. Basically saying that Comcast received their signal OTA. So, if the local affiliate has many sub channels that they broadcast OTA, then it wouldn't be far fetched that a cable company that gets their feed OTA would send out the same crappy signal. I didn't realize it was that hard to understand.

Anybody else with Directv having a problem not getting ESPNHD (ch. 206), ESPN2HD, and different programming on TNTHD (college football channel instead of TNT)?

WJWJ PBS 16.1/16.2/16.6 Is good ,no problems (18 miles N of Beaufort)

Anybody else with Directv having a problem not getting ESPNHD (ch. 206), ESPN2HD, and different programming on TNTHD (college football channel instead of TNT)?

All of these look normal here...

Red

I say that because a previous rep of TW that was on here stated that TW had received their signal for a station differently than Comcast. Basically saying that Comcast received their signal OTA. So, if the local affiliate has many sub channels that they broadcast OTA, then it wouldn't be far fetched that a cable company that gets their feed OTA would send out the same crappy signal. I didn't realize it was that hard to understand.

Well I have to tell you it is still pretty hard to understand. If Comcast gets their signal OTA and TWC does not TWC's would be better, I would think. I already said TWC's PBS HD is excellent.

I will be speaking with D* engineering again this morning. As for the WMMP problem I have not noticed this on the HD but I will look into it

Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

WMMP has been fixed for a couple days. I hadnt had time to post, but the the voice/video lag is gone for the most part the channel is fine.. still not to best looking, but I think that is based on source material. WTAT however as of last night, still having the issues.. hopefully the engineers can figure it out.

I say that because a previous rep of TW that was on here stated that TW had received their signal for a station differently than Comcast. Basically saying that Comcast received their signal OTA. So, if the local affiliate has many sub channels that they broadcast OTA, then it wouldn't be far fetched that a cable company that gets their feed OTA would send out the same crappy signal. I didn't realize it was that hard to understand.
I"ll double check...but I am pretty sure we have direct local fiber connections to all the local affiliates (NBC, ABC, FOX, and CBS). I don't think we are taking anything over the air.

Andrews

Comcast

I"ll double check...but I am pretty sure we have direct local fiber connections to all the local affiliates (NBC, ABC, FOX, and CBS). I don't think we are taking anything over the air.

Andrews

Comcast


Both WTAT and WMMP's HD signals are being picked up OTA for all cable and Satellite companies at this time. TW has talked about putting in fiber equipment and so has home telco.

I am still working with Directv engineering but it looks like we may be getting closed to the problem with the WTAT HD signal on their system.

Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

Dug back through and old e-mail I had with Sam Barclay of WCBD back in 2006 and sent a reply to give him the heads up of the Fuzzy Transitions on live broadcasts. Back then it was a setting with their equipment, so hopefully it will be an easy fix again.

Maybe it's just my perception, or maybe I didn't watch enough of the Sunday Night Football coverage, but last night's game looked better to me than previous weeks. I would assume that NBC uses the same cameras and trucks from week to week and nothing really hanges from stadium to stadium, so maybe something got tweaked for the better.

Or did I just happen to not be watching during the focus degausses?

Maybe it's just my perception, or maybe I didn't watch enough of the Sunday Night Football coverage, but last night's game looked better to me than previous weeks. I would assume that NBC uses the same cameras and trucks from week to week and nothing really hanges from stadium to stadium, so maybe something got tweaked for the better.

Or did I just happen to not be watching during the focus degausses?

I didn't watch much, but the spot I saw it was during the halftime show. I think it was when they were coming back from a highlight clip and then went to Collinsworth at the desk.

Does anyone have Dish and local OTA HD channels? My guide data for Fox-DT 24.1 does not show anything except "Digital Service" so it will not record anything from that channel. The other related weird thing is that 36.1 shows what should be on Fox/24.1. I have tried deleting the channels in the setup for local channels and rescanning and manually adding them. Nothing seems to work. I contacted Dish but they could not help me. Using PVR-622.

Thanks,
James

Both WTAT and WMMP's HD signals are being picked up OTA for all cable and Satellite companies at this time. TW has talked about putting in fiber equipment and so has home telco.

I am still working with Directv engineering but it looks like we may be getting closed to the problem with the WTAT HD signal on their system.

Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP

Just for an update, in case you're interested, both Fringe and House from last night were probably worse than they have ever been since the problem started. I have Directv and it's just impossible. I'm going back to my antenna so I can see and hear all of the programs. It's taking them too long to fix it, I think. But, thank you for following up on it for us.

Red

Does anyone have Dish and local OTA HD channels? My guide data for Fox-DT 24.1 does not show anything except "Digital Service" so it will not record anything from that channel. The other related weird thing is that 36.1 shows what should be on Fox/24.1. I have tried deleting the channels in the setup for local channels and rescanning and manually adding them. Nothing seems to work. I contacted Dish but they could not help me. Using PVR-622.

Thanks,
James

Call dish again, talk to tec support, this has been a problem for some time now with Fox 24

No HD for the Duke/Clemson game....ugh

No HD for the Duke/Clemson game....ugh

On what? It's HD on TWC.

On what? It's HD on TWC.

CRAP, but you are watching on MB's NBC affiliate. When I called WCBD, they told me it wasn't them, that Raycom was beaming it to them in SD. Even though Raycom said that it was "broadcast in HD (where available)". So it sounds to me like WCBD is just being lazy or their HD retransmission equipment is on the blink.

If it's broken, I can understand that. :rolleyes:
If it's laziness, that just pisses me off. :mad:

WCBD needs to get the sh*t together and start working!

Yep, showing 1080i. Navy/ND much better game anyway.

Yep, showing 1080i. Navy/ND much better game anyway.

Probably, but living in Clemson territory and having my Devils doing as well as Clemson (or poorly if your a Clemson fan) is fun to watch. ;)

What channel is that Navy game on? I don't see it in my EPG.

CRAP, but you are watching on MB's NBC affiliate. When I called WCBD, they told me it wasn't them, that Raycom was beaming it to them in SD. Even though Raycom said that it was "broadcast in HD (where available)". So it sounds to me like WCBD is just being lazy or their HD retransmission equipment is on the blink..........!

If WCBD told you that Raycom was only broadcasting in SD they were lying. I have seen the Raycom ACC football games in HD in the upstate.

The problem is the station does not have the proper gear to get the HD feed that is needed. Wsav NBC is Sav Ga. is the same way

Didn't we see an early season Raycom game in HD on 2-2? Or was that 13/36 (WMMP)?

Didn't we see an early season Raycom game in HD on 2-2? Or was that 13/36 (WMMP)?
I think when NBC was showing the Ryder Cup, the game was switched to OTA Ch 36.1 and was shown in HD.

Another thought - Does this mean no ACC basketball in HD? If so it will really be bad news.

Another thought - Does this mean no ACC basketball in HD? If so it will really be bad news.

If you're a Puke or Carowhina fan, it won't matter since 90% of their games are on ESPN/ESPN2. :rolleyes:

If you're a Puke or Carowhina fan, it won't matter since 90% of their games are on ESPN/ESPN2. :rolleyes:

Yeah, and that's the way we like it!!! :) GTHC

The UNC/NCSU football game this weekend is scheduled for HD on CW, part of the WCBD family. If that game is in HD, then A) we can call BS on the claim that they can't rebroadcast RLF feeds in HD; and B) we can be hopeful that they might retrans some HD basketball once the season gets going for real.

We already know that whenever Raycom is picked up by WCSC, if the HD feed is available in HD, it should be shown in HD.

What the he!! is going on with FOX 24 on D*? First their HD signal is absolutely horrible so I've been recording shows on the SD channel. Now SD channel is skipping audio and freezing video during Prison Break tonight and some shows last week.

This is now officially an unwatchable channel on DirecTv and I cannot wait to cancel my subscription.

I dont know what the deal is with Fox, but I agree it is getting to the point of not even trying to watch it.

As of right now (4:15pm) WTAT on DirecTV is showing the following:
"No need to call us -
Your local station is working to restore their signal as soon as possible
This TV station is having technical difficulties"

As of the same time, WTAT via OTA is coming in just fine showing the Dallas game.

So which is it? Is it DirecTV's problem, or WTAT's? If I can get it via OTA, and that is how D* gets it, then it seems to me the problem is with D*.

Good thing I didn't take down the antenna yet. ;)

I am OTA only but I don't know why you guys would ever take down the ant? Like throwing away the life jacket because the boat is "unsinkable". :)

So very true. But I have removed the OTA channels from my "favorites" line-ups since the HD-LIL intro. And since the HD-LIL, the only thing I have watched on Fox is NFL, so I havent' been dealing with the other issues that others have reported. But it certainly seems to have not been a happy transition so far.

Well the 24 movie was horrible tonight. The video constantly froze, and the sound stuttered and even cut out completely for 5 or so seconds at a time. Is this just a DirecTV issue or was it an issue with the OTA signal as well?

Can't say wasn't watching.

Well the 24 movie was horrible tonight. The video constantly froze, and the sound stuttered and even cut out completely for 5 or so seconds at a time. Is this just a DirecTV issue or was it an issue with the OTA signal as well?

You're right, it was horrible on the Directv feed. The OTA signal was perfect with none of the D* problems present. It's hard to believe this has been going on this long.

Red

Well the 24 movie was horrible tonight. The video constantly froze, and the sound stuttered and even cut out completely for 5 or so seconds at a time. Is this just a DirecTV issue or was it an issue with the OTA signal as well?

That was just on D*. I hooked up my antenna again and it was perfect. I took it down initially since 24 would freeze (due to indoor antenna). Now it's good.

I'm over D* not fixing this issue. I used to be able to watch the SD FOX 24 of Directv, but that is now worse than the HD feed. Looks like antenna for me and I'll probably cancel D* in 8 months when contract expires.

I'll probably cancel D* in 8 months when contract expires.

Wow, there was nothing but I can't wait to dump cable for D* talk around here for months. :eek:

Well now CBS is acting up. Just a poor transition. Prices keep going up. I call them (knowing they are working on it) and get "Have you tried resetting your receiver" and "We can send someone out for $80 to check it out".

Over it. I have NFL ticket and have been annoyed that they charge extra $100 for HD, I mean "Superfan". Joke!!!

Price on Ticket has gone up so much it's now cheaper to goto a bar with Mrs. and watch Jets games.

I do like their DVR better than Comcast though.

Wow, there was nothing but I can't wait to dump cable for D* talk around here for months. :eek:

Overall, I am still satisfied. Though I would hope that they would fix the retrans issue(s) and make it at least as good as OTA. But then I have OTA as a back-ups so not skin off my nose. At least I have the ability to record OTA HD if the primary signal gets dorked.

But based on the problems that have been reported, I cannot hold it against anyone for wanting to change (back) to cable. Ahhh the freedom of choice and availability of options. At least we all have that. :)

Yeah there's just that annoying little commitment thingy. ;)

Yeah there's just that annoying little commitment thingy. ;)

Yeah, and for those of us who aren't interested in changing for whatever reason, we tend to be the ones that no longer have any commitment. Been with D* since 2001 and have outlived any/all of my previous commitments.

What I usually tell recent converts who are not 100% satisfied right off the bat is that change can be rough and to give it time. But for anyone who just absolutely is not getting the service they want or feel they deserve, go ahead and find greener pastures. No sense wallowing in pity for another 23 months. You can usually back out of any 2-year deal within the first 30-60 days depending on how the contract is written.

Are there any ISF calibrators in the Charleston area? I had to send my Mits HD projector for some warranty work and now cannot get the settings back good again. When I bought it they calibrated it for me before sending it to me.

Are there any ISF calibrators in the Charleston area? I had to send my Mits HD projector for some warranty work and now cannot get the settings back good again. When I bought it they calibrated it for me before sending it to me.


I havent found anyone with a good, verifiable reputation locally. Your best bet might be to look online. In most cases the "better" calibrators go on a sort of "tour" and post the areas that they be traveling in. If the calibrator will be going out of their way to see you, some ask that you try to get two or three other clients close by your location to make the travel worth their while.

Ive been told that the calibrations need to be done in your home so that you can have the actual viewing environment (lighting, viewing distance, etc.)that will be used on a regular basis.

I found this website. Has anyone heard of any of these companies?

http://www.isfforum.com/sobi2/ISF-Forum-Calibrators/Americas/United-States/South-Carolina.html

I know it's not the same, but I used a Spyder3TV for my own calibration and it made a fairly significant difference in the final settings. The Spyder from DataColor is about $200 and can be run as often as you want/need.

http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-ht.php

I found this website. Has anyone heard of any of these companies?

http://www.isfforum.com/sobi2/ISF-Forum-Calibrators/Americas/United-States/South-Carolina.html

No personal experience with any of them, but you do have ClearPoint in Greenville, and several others in the SouthEast willing to travel. Might not be a bad idea to see if anyone else on here wants to share the travel costs and schedule several for one day/two days. $500 for two sources plus travel costs (shared) doesn't seem too far out of line if your goal is the best possible end result.

But I would still suggest trying the Spyder3TV or something like that first for half the cost and do it yourself any additional time in the future for no more additional cost. I know mine is not perfectly calibrated, but in less than an hour, I had mine looking 100x better than it did before calibration. And I used it on my LCD and Plasma with the same improvements.

I know it's not the same, but I used a Spyder3TV for my own calibration and it made a fairly significant difference in the final settings. The Spyder from DataColor is about $200 and can be run as often as you want/need.

http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-ht.php


I have the Spyder as well...and im very satisfied with the results.

I checked out the Spyder, but do not think it will work with my projector. The website says front projectors, but the video does not show or mention a front projector. At least I do not think so. I quit watching it when they started to show how to do the actual adjustments. In the beginning it did not mention front projectors.

I checked out the Spyder, but do not think it will work with my projector. The website says front projectors, but the video does not show or mention a front projector. At least I do not think so. I quit watching it when they started to show how to do the actual adjustments. In the beginning it did not mention front projectors.

It works with my Samsung DLP and my Vizio LCD. Heck, Ive even used it on my gaming PCs LCD monitor and my Dads Panasonic HD CRT set.

The issue is mounting the spyder onto a flexible screen with projectors. The screen does not heat up so measuring the temperature would be impossible. The picture would be coming in from the back of the spyder.

The "temperature" being measured is not the physical temperature reading of the screen....it is the color temperature (cool is too blue; warm is too red). And you have a good point about the front projecter issue. For that, the Spyder may not be an option unless it is designed to sit on the three lenses independently, but I don't know if it can do that. So for you, you may need to call in an expert with the equipment designed for front projecters. I must have missed that aspect of your earlier post.

Although, that said, here is the quote from the Spyder page:
Features & Benefits

* Ultimate Color Accuracy for your Home Theater
View your images the way the director intended. Get accurate colors, lifelike skin tones, and clearly defined shadow and highlight detail. Spyder3TV™ precisely calibrates all of your Plasma, RPTV, DLP, LCD, CRT TVs and Front Projectors.

So it may be possible and just not shown in the sample video.

Yeah, and for those of us who aren't interested in changing for whatever reason, we tend to be the ones that no longer have any commitment. Been with D* since 2001 and have outlived any/all of my previous commitments.

What I usually tell recent converts who are not 100% satisfied right off the bat is that change can be rough and to give it time. But for anyone who just absolutely is not getting the service they want or feel they deserve, go ahead and find greener pastures. No sense wallowing in pity for another 23 months. You can usually back out of any 2-year deal within the first 30-60 days depending on how the contract is written.

I've actually been with them since 2004, but have commitment for past year and a half from upgrading 2 boxes with new boxes with filters from latest HD additions. Did you not have to do that or are you using old boxes?

I've actually been with them since 2004, but have commitment for past year and a half from upgrading 2 boxes with new boxes with filters from latest HD additions. Did you not have to do that or are you using old boxes?

I had "owned" my HDTivo's from D* from day one and when they introduced the MPEG4 DVRs that would be able to receive the new satellite (D10), I called and "swapped" my owned boxes for two new leased HR20-700's. Since I went from owned to leased, they cut me some slack on the "upgrades" and no new commitment was necessary. I know that may be the exception to the rule, but when you rarely if ever call and complain about things, they tend to respond better when you do call for help.

How long is the USB cable on the Spyder3TV? I don't have a laptop.

how long is the usb cable on the spyder3tv? I don't have a laptop.

6'

I had "owned" my HDTivo's from D* from day one and when they introduced the MPEG4 DVRs that would be able to receive the new satellite (D10), I called and "swapped" my owned boxes for two new leased HR20-700's. Since I went from owned to leased, they cut me some slack on the "upgrades" and no new commitment was necessary. I know that may be the exception to the rule, but when you rarely if ever call and complain about things, they tend to respond better when you do call for help.

Crap. I owned my Tivo and other HD receiver also. I didn't "swap" them because they never said anything when they came or I would have. They are sitting in my closet. Actually, I'm now using the HD Tivo in spare room, which had no box orig. That is why I'm in contract now. Until 9/19 of next year.

The first Tivo they took back...the second one was never removed from the premises or from the account. So when the time comes for the children to have their own TV, I still have the extra one like you. The one where I "swapped" and they took the old tivo was a contract extension of two years, but that time has come and gone. The second one was never an extension.

For what it's worth, I think the reason for the limited extension/non-extension was that I was and still am under the Protection Plan. Or it could be my good looks, charm, and easy going demeanor whenever I've talked to them. ;)

Spyder3TV ...
http://support.colorvision.ch/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=785&nav=0

I see MOJO was finally dumped from Comcast. It was a good channel. Three Sheets was great.

I had heard it was going dark, just didn't know when.

So is anyone watching WTAT via D* anymore? I can't believe they haven't solved the problem yet. I can watch it OTA but then can't use the DVR (HR21 and no AM21). I know we've beat this issue to death but just in case our friend from FOX 24 was still following this thread...I didn't want him to think it was fixed.

I dunno...I watched the Panthers game on Sunday via OTA and D* looking for differences and while I did hear one or two instances of the audio jitter, I never saw a video stutter and at no time was it unwatchable. Maybe prime time is different, and I will have to keep that in mind as January rolls around and Idol is back on. But as far as Sunday afternoon football, it looked okay to me...not perfect, but watchable.

FOX 24 is not fixed. I just use OTA. The game wasn't too bad, but it got horrible after that.

I'm sure it's not a big priority now, but when the Idol fanatics (no offense. well not too much) start going to cable or rasinig he!!, then they'll work on it.

I've written, called, you name it. Everytime - "Reset your receiver" or "We can send someone out to check on your dish and equipment for $80". Unreal.

FOX 24 is not fixed. I just use OTA. The game wasn't too bad, but it got horrible after that.

I'm sure it's not a big priority now, but when the Idol fanatics (no offense. well not too much) start going to cable or rasinig he!!, then they'll work on it.

Absolutely no offense taken here ;) I crack wise about myself as far as my indulgence for Idol. My excuse for watching is usually to make fun of the idiots who think that they have talent. Now, for me, I know I don't have talent, so I am confident in my heckling. :p

But I do agree that it may take a very highly rated seasonal show to get the attention of those who have the power to fix the issue, wherever it might be.

I've written, called, you name it. Everytime - "Reset your receiver" or "We can send someone out to check on your dish and equipment for $80". Unreal.
Do you pay for the Protection Plan with D*? If you do, there should be no charge for dish alignments/tech visits.

I am not being an apologist or suggesting that the issue is yours alone. It is clear from several other posters that this is not an isolated issue. But I pay for the Protection Plan and have had D* out here for one previous re-alignment right after the D11 light-up and there was no charge. And when mine was repeaked, it increased my SS by up to 10-15 percentage points. So there may be some validity to my claim that it's not entirely unwatchable and that yours is.

The other option, as you are aware, is that you could hound D* until they cave and force them to give you an AM21 so you can integrate OTA. The worst case scenario is that you pay $50 for the AM21. But I think that if you make enough of a case that you have called, emailed and complained to them and WTAT since the switch, they may bow to your pressure and just send you an AM21 to get you off their backs. ;) Hey, it's worth a try.

Well I emailed comments@wtat24.com and got the following reply in less that 30 minutes. At least they are aware of it.


"We have been working on the with both direct and fox for the past
several weeks and we are trying to get this fixed asap."

So is anyone watching WTAT via D* anymore? I can't believe they haven't solved the problem yet. I can watch it OTA but then can't use the DVR (HR21 and no AM21). I know we've beat this issue to death but just in case our friend from FOX 24 was still following this thread...I didn't want him to think it was fixed.


Yes we are still working on this. Still working with both D* and FOX to find and resolve this issue.

Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP
Charleston, SC

Oh my COMCAST ... what did you do ?

Comcast has heavily throttled all the channels. The ticker bar on all relevant channel now move in a jerky manner. The credit roll at the end of a show jerks so badly that it gives one a headache. This happens on all channels (HD, SD etc.)

This morning while watching Good Morning America on Comcast ... I decided to plug in a antenna and compare with OTA broadcast.

Goodness ... what a difference, looked smooth and better !!!!! I am paying $100+ for Comcast and this is completely unacceptable !!

Anyone else care to chime in ?

Oh my COMCAST ... what did you do ?

Comcast has heavily throttled all the channels. The ticker bar on all relevant channel now move in a jerky manner. The credit roll at the end of a show jerks so badly that it gives one a headache. This happens on all channels (HD, SD etc.)

This morning while watching Good Morning America on Comcast ... I decided to plug in a antenna and compare with OTA broadcast.

Goodness ... what a difference, looked smooth and better !!!!! I am paying $100+ for Comcast and this is completely unacceptable !!

Anyone else care to chime in ?

Could it be a bad cable box? Try and run the cable straight out of the wall directly into the back of the TV

Could it be a bad cable box? Try and run the cable straight out of the wall directly into the back of the TV

Oops ... false alarm ... reset power to the box ... and all is fine. Never seen that kind of a problem in the past several years I have been with Comcast.

Okay, I was slow to fully see and appreciate the issues with WTAT & D*. I set the DVR to record Secret Millionaire on Fox tonight and when I watched it, I can now see what the fuss is all about. This is not what my football viewing experience has been like. There must be something different about the A/V stream during live sports vs. pre-produced/studio programming (not that Secret Millionaire was worth the time to watch it anyway).

It was almost as if D* was using a coat hanger for an antenna...and then to really make things fun, they put that coat hanger somewhere around Orangeburg.

Thank goodness I still have the OTA option...if not, I would be raising holy hell with D* as well. :eek: I am somewhat heartened by the statement from directork that the issue is still being worked on, but I am now officially removing WTAT via D* from the EPG on my DVR's until I read on this board that the issue is resolved.

Just read that D* is rolling out a large collection of PBS HD channels that were not previously rolled out with the other HD-LIL net's.
A) Hopefully we can be on that activation list soon since the PBS-HD via OTA is the weakest of the net's (at least in my location)
B) Hopefully D* has better success with their PBS-HD rollout here than they did with WTAT. :p

I'm not in a position to say anything definitive, but I wouldn't expect to see SCETV-HD from DirecTV before 02/17/09. Right now, SCETV's HD channel is literally piping the national 24/7 PBS-HD feed from the satellite to their transmitter. I know this because I use WRLK-DT in Columbia for my guide listings on the local station here in Virginia using the same feed.

That 24/7 satellite feed will go away on 02/17/09, at which time I assume that SCETV will start treating their primary signal (currently in SD only) like the network stations do, doing HD when available and upconverting otherwise.

- Trip

What about a "fail safe" of using the national HD feed for markets that do not have their own HD content? Is that possible?

I don't know that D* currently has a national PBS-HD feed, though I know one is in the works.

- Trip

Did anyone out there happen to watch Kitchen Nightmares last night on D*. We made a few adjustments yesterday and I was trying to see if it made a difference.

Thanks
Michael Kordek
Director of Engineering and Operations
WTAT/WMMP
Charleston, SC

Watched a few minutes of the football coverage and didn't see anything. But didn't watch for any great length of time. Also, it was more the non-live stuff that was bad, so using the football coverage as the yardstick isn't helpful. Will try to remember to watch something during primetime this week and share my opinions...thanks for the continued efforts, even if it isn't 100% right yet...at least you're trying to get it there. :)

I watched the most recent Prison Break from this week and it appeared flawless. I sure hope that the problem is fixed for good. Appreciate the hard work of everyone involved in the process.

Via Comcast, watching DVR of the beginning of House on WTAT and stuttering with no audio. Flipped to Live and all is well.

Looks like just prior to the intro it went to SD and it cleared, but still showing some stuttering through it.

Same here via D*. First 30 sec. was terrible but they switched to micro-LB and looked OK. Sound seems off though. Isn't House usually in DD? BTW...watched both games on Fox Sunday and they looked great.

Fox WTAT 24.1 OTA was off the air when I checked at around 8:50 PM last night. I switched to the Comcast HD Fox WTAT channel (434) and it was also off at the same time. The SD channel (6) was on.

WCBD appears to be off the air tonight, I am not picking up there digital signal on any of my OTA receivers, they have had a lot of problems the last few months starting with PSID data going out, numerous times, than about a month ago something happened at their transmitter which I was told forced them to lower the power slightly, I noticed this power drop here on Daniel Island, but they claimed no one should notice, they had no immediate plans to fix that problem, and now they are off the air tonight, I will try to call in the morning and find out what is going on.

David

WCBD is still down, they are playing on DISH Network but every 10 to 15 minutes the screen goes solid pink, and we loose audio for about 10 seconds, before it goes back to normal, the Dish Network feed has been like this consistently since last night.

Do you mean WCBD OTA 2.1? It is screwed up also.

Yes WCBD was what I meant, already corrected previous posts, I have been calling the station trying to find out when they will be up and running, but no one is answering the phones over there.

Please post if you get any info! They are broadcasting but the signal is Very weak. I have an Insignia converter box and an Insignia DTV that are able to lock on to the signal. But my HTPC and Toshiba plasma can not even see WCBD. !@#$ wish it were the opposite! The ones that won't pick it up are my main use and since they have dropped ch2.1 the guides on both will be screwed up which will affect recording schedules and ... !@#$ this is going to cost me a number of hours to get all straightened out when they finanlly get it fixed!!

NBC and CW are probably my most watched nets. Anyone who sees it corrected give a shout here please.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Reply to my email about problem just received from CH 2, time 1:50PM:

We are working on the issue. Should be resolved soon.

Rick Lipps
Vice President General Manager
WCBD-TV News 2
Lowcountry CW

WWW.COUNTON2.COM
p: 843-216-4870
m: 843-810-9411

WCBD Local News

5:00PM, WCBD is back with Strong signal.

I would not use the info from Escapevelocity
He has in his performance rating the CM 4220 w 7777 amp as best. If you look at solidsignal.com that will cost you $112.93 w shipping and you have an antenna that is rated for up to 30 miles and NO VHF
The CM 4228 is $77.40 w shipping rated for 60 miles and will give you High band VHF as well as UHF. The 7777 amp will not make up for a low gain antenna.
Bring a 4220 or a DB 2 down here you will get nothing, but the 4228 will bring in all the Charleston stations.
I will agree with one thing, the 4220 will do better than any over priced indoor antenna.

I live in town here in Summerville and I can't put an antenna outside. Is there one you could recommend for attic installation? It would need to be compact and there's no room for rotation.

Same here via D*. First 30 sec. was terrible but they switched to micro-LB and looked OK. Sound seems off though. Isn't House usually in DD?

I concure with this. Though my Prison Break the day before was HD perfect with no glitches, House was unbearable for the very beginning until it went to an SD type broadcast. The sound was also very poor quality. I had only the right front and center channel. No surrounds or left. Seems odd with the previous nights primetime being so flawless.

I'm a Time Warner customer in Summerville. How does Dish Network or Direct TV satellite service compare to TW both in reception and pricing? Is any one of the three superior to the others?

Thanks for your opinions.

I'm a Time Warner customer in Summerville. How does Dish Network or Direct TV satellite service compare to TW both in reception and pricing? Is any one of the three superior to the others?

Thanks for your opinions.

You're likely to get a bunch of different opinions here, so I will share mine knowing that others may disagree and/or fill in some blanks. First off, I am not a TW customer. I have Comcast, but primarily I am a DirecTV sub. Since October 1st, we have been getting HD locals (except PBS) from D* and the quality of the picture and audio has been equal to OTA - with the glaring exception of recent problems with Fox, which are being worked out. But the nice thing about D* (and E*) is that you can integrate your own OTA signal (if you can find one for your situation/location) into the DVR to augment what is coming from the sat's. This is something that you cannot do with a cable DVR.

The HD from D* is (I think) now entirely in MPEG4. Good quality compression method that produces a cleaner image (IMHO) than MPEG2. D* (and E*) DVR's also allow you to augment or replace the internal harddrive on the DVR with a larger external ESATA harddrive so you can go from 50 hours of HD to several hundred hours of HD space. Again, I don't think this is something that you can do with cable DVR's.

The pricing is hard to comment on since there are various levels you can choose from with just about any carrier. But I am paying about $100/month and that includes the sports pack (regional RSN's from around the country, not available on cable) and HBO and about 100 channels that I don't watch.

But for me, the price is acceptable and the selections are better on satellite than on terrestrial cable systems. The cable co's have better/faster VOD, however, D*'s VOD selection is continually growing and the speed is like downloading a video from the web as opposed to clicking on a title an immediately beginning to watch it. So if VOD is something you cherish, you may do better with cable.

If you decide to go with DirecTV, PM me and we can get you set up under the referral program where you get $10 off for the first 5 bills, on top of any other discounts/promotions they might be offering. Granted, I get a discount too, but it is a good deal ;)

One thing I failed to mention is that SD signals from cable might just beat out SD signals from D*. I really don't watch any SD programming anymore, so this may not be as much of a factor anymore.

How is frame rate of HD channels on D* ? I have Comcast and fast scenes are quite jerky. Only a few of the channels like CNN-HD and locals HD have good frame rates ... most others are not up to par. Bear in mind, my reference is my other HD source - PS3 ... so perhaps my expectation is unreasonably high //

I may have my numbers off on this, but I believe the frame rate you are seeing from your PS3/BluRay is 60fps. But from most every transmission device (cable box, sat receiver, etc) you are either only going to get 24 or 30 fps. Other than some VOD selections (from both D* and E*) 1080p is not a broadcast standard and is generally only available from HD-DVD/BluRay source material. That's not to say that plugging a 1080p monitor to your receiving unit isn't going to produce a better image than 720p/1080i, or that plugging a 120hz monitor to your receiving unit won't compensate for transmission shortcomings or jutter.

Bottom line: Higher end HDTV's are more "powerful" than the bulk of the source material that can/will be shown on them.

I hope that helps answer your question...

I wanted to mention that Comcast has made some changes to our HD viewing choices.

On 12-08 Mojo HD went off air. This channel was taken down by the programmer and everyone lost it. It is our understanding that they will continue to provide content via HD on Demand. By the end of the year in Charleston we will be 1,000 HD choices on Demand at any time. We are very close know to 1,000 choices, and have added substantial content in the last couple of months

12-08 Golf/Versus HD have split into two separate HD channels.
o Golf HD is on channel 405
o Versus HD is on channel 448

12-15 We are launched 2 more HD channels. That will give us a total of 41 HD channels plus 1,000 HD on Demand Choices in Charleston!!!
o E! HD is on channel 457
o Cartoon Network HD is on channel 442

12-17 We are launching MLB Network on channel 279 (this is a digital channel)

As a reminder I am helping on this board for Comcast, but have several other things going on. I would expect more channels to launch, but do not know sometimes until we launch.

Regards,

Andrews Mcilwain
Comcast

Andrews_mcilwain@cable.comcast.com

Thanks a bunch for the info!

I'm not excited that Mojo is gone from Comcast, but adding new HD channels is always positive. But what's the deal with FSNHD and CSSHD? There is rarely any programming shown and for the few broadcasts, program info isn't usually available.

12-15 We are launched 2 more HD channels. That will give us a total of 41 HD channels plus 1,000 HD on Demand Choices in Charleston!!!
o E! HD is on channel 457
o Cartoon Network HD is on channel 442



Thanks for the info. However you've got the CartoonHD and E! HD switched. Cartoon HD is coming in on channel 457 and E! HD is coming in on 442.

I wanted to mention that Comcast has made some changes to our HD viewing choices.

On 12-08 Mojo HD went off air. This channel was taken down by the programmer and everyone lost it. It is our understanding that they will continue to provide content via HD on Demand. By the end of the year in Charleston we will be 1,000 HD choices on Demand at any time. We are very close know to 1,000 choices, and have added substantial content in the last couple of months

12-08 Golf/Versus HD have split into two separate HD channels.
o Golf HD is on channel 405
o Versus HD is on channel 448

12-15 We are launched 2 more HD channels. That will give us a total of 41 HD channels plus 1,000 HD on Demand Choices in Charleston!!!
o E! HD is on channel 457
o Cartoon Network HD is on channel 442

12-17 We are launching MLB Network on channel 279 (this is a digital channel)

As a reminder I am helping on this board for Comcast, but have several other things going on. I would expect more channels to launch, but do not know sometimes until we launch.

Regards,

Andrews Mcilwain
Comcast

Andrews_mcilwain@cable.comcast.com

FYI that there is no guide info for Golf Channel HD (405) now and the quide still says VS, but logo is correct.

but adding new HD channels is always positive.

No it's not, not always. Unless they remove some channels elsewhere or free up some bandwidth. Comcast HD looks HORRIBLE. Everything is so compressed you can't watch action movies on HBO anymore unless you can see past all the macroblocking. I wish they'd quit adding channels and work on making the channels they have look better. I'd rather have 12 high quality HD channels than having 30-40 crappy channels with nothing on them, half of them just upconverted SD or strech o vision. But of course everyone is dying for MORE MORE MORE HD and Comcast is delivering because nobody is complaining about the quality on their 36" 1024x768 wal-mart LCD. I remember the quality of HBO used be very good, I saw very little compression artifacts. Then they added a bunch of HD channels, and now crap. :mad:

No it's not, not always. Unless they remove some channels elsewhere or free up some bandwidth. Comcast HD looks HORRIBLE. Everything is so compressed you can't watch action movies on HBO anymore unless you can see past all the macroblocking. I wish they'd quit adding channels and work on making the channels they have look better. I'd rather have 12 high quality HD channels than having 30-40 crappy channels with nothing on them, half of them just upconverted SD or strech o vision. But of course everyone is dying for MORE MORE MORE HD and Comcast is delivering because nobody is complaining about the quality on their 36" 1024x768 wal-mart LCD. I remember the quality of HBO used be very good, I saw very little compression artifacts. Then they added a bunch of HD channels, and now crap. :mad:

I question why the add of E! HD as looking at the guide, it didn't appear they have any HD shows.

I did flip on ABC last night and the picture on Comcast appeared to have a little grain to it, so I switched to OTA and noticed the same. Will need to keep a better eye on the locals since that is the only comparison I can make from the upgrades.

I gave up on watching the Colts vs Jaguars last night on Comcast channel 406 NFL HD due to the crappy signal. It was really macroblocking and the sound kept cutting in and out. I finally had to switch to the SD channel to watch the game.

No Signal on WCBD 2.1 OTA again since yesterday. Anyone else?

No Signal on WCBD 2.1 OTA again since yesterday. Anyone else?

I have both WCBD and CW showing on OTA.



On another note, anyone understand QAM? I have 2 Vizio TV's with QAM and I went to rescan one yesterday and where ABC was 4-1 and actually said WCIV below it has now remapped to 116-1 and doesn't have the sub text to say WCIV. WCSC moved also, the only channel to stay was WCBD. Weird thing is, the 2nd Vizio I didn't do a rescan and all the channels still come in on the old setup. All on Comcast.

No Signal on WCBD 2.1 OTA again since yesterday. Anyone else?

I have no signal on Channel 2 OTA either this morning.

Red

I gave up on watching the Colts vs Jaguars last night on Comcast channel 406 NFL HD due to the crappy signal. It was really macroblocking and the sound kept cutting in and out. I finally had to switch to the SD channel to watch the game.

OK, so I stand corrected. It appears Comcast HD signal is horrible now. This is one of many posts recently about their PQ. I know it was great a couple of years ago when my brother had it.

Guess I will be staying with D* (in lieu of FOX 24 issue). I'll probably get rid of NFLST though. Several Jets games are starting to be on CBS anyway. Definitely get rid of Superfan next year. Can't believe they charge extra $100 for HD games. Oh and the gamemix channel. Robbery!!!

I have both WCBD and CW showing on OTA.



On another note, anyone understand QAM? I have 2 Vizio TV's with QAM and I went to rescan one yesterday and where ABC was 4-1 and actually said WCIV below it has now remapped to 116-1 and doesn't have the sub text to say WCIV. WCSC moved also, the only channel to stay was WCBD. Weird thing is, the 2nd Vizio I didn't do a rescan and all the channels still come in on the old setup. All on Comcast.

Not sure what you are receiving but I haven't had WCBD 2.1 OTA or on cable since early yesterday (Friday) and it is still out now at 11:40AM this morning.

I also am not receiving WCBD-HD OTA, usually it comes in full strength.

I hope it's up again by tommorow for Sunday Night Football! :)