I can say something is going on cause my SNR is way off what it usually is.

Are there any digital channels at frequencies lower than 550MHz, or does everything below 550 have to be analog, and the only 550-750 MHz range can contain digital?

Originally posted by mgpt6
Are there any digital channels at frequencies lower than 550MHz, or does everything below 550 have to be analog, and the only 550-750 MHz range can contain digital?

You can sort of say that art the moment as channels 2-72 are all in use for analog programming and channel 72 is in the 512 516 mhz range.

Once the FULL ADS is online and a grace period requiring folks with standard cable to get digital boxes in order to cointinue getting extended basic. perhaps but not before.

What the h***? I can't get the NBA channel (257) on either of the tuners on my 6412. Anyone with the sports pack having the same problem?

Is anyone having a higher than "normal" audio drop out in the past few weeks? I've noticed 2-4 second gaps in audio on all types of channels. (<100, >100 & HD) no more than 3 per half hour.
I've got a 6412 w/ optical audio.

Originally posted by Ian Flux
What the h***? I can't get the NBA channel (257) on either of the tuners on my 6412. Anyone with the sports pack having the same problem?

Have you tried Channel 599?

Didn't know about 599. Both seem to work now - of course, the Celts game is long over. I wonder what happened. I just got the box yesterday; maybe it's just settling in, so to speak.

The game could have been blacked out. It was on ch.882 fsn hd

Originally posted by Kaiser-Soze
Is anyone having a higher than "normal" audio drop out in the past few weeks? I've noticed 2-4 second gaps in audio on all types of channels. (<100, >100 & HD) no more than 3 per half hour.
I've got a 6412 w/ optical audio.

KS:

I haven't noticed any audio drop-outs, though I have noticed that the base volume level on HD channels seems to have changed. I've noticed over the past few weeks that I need to turn up the volume on my pre-amp in order to get the same sound level I got on an HD channel the week before. This seems to affect only the HD channels, though they've always been "quieter" than the digital or analog channels.

FYI: I am using the digital coax ouput on the 6412 to my pre-amp.

I went back 10 pages and didn't see a reference to an issue I'm having, so I thought I'd post it. My apologies if this has been discussed earlier, I haven't followed this thread for a bit.

Some of our HD channels (in particular 807) will randomly freeze up. Freeze as in one second Leno is talking, and the next it's like someone hit the pause button. We can go to other channels, and he'll be live on the SD channel, but no matter how many times we go back to the HD channel, it'll still be frozen.

Turning off the box usually fixes this, but sometimes it remains frozen...in which case we watch the SD channel instead. Any suggestions on what this could be, or how we can fix it?

Thanks,

-JR

This issue has been discussed, I posted about it a couple weeks ago because I was having the same problem. And from the responses I got it seems the source of the problem is WHDH-DTV, although it seems to be a bit better lately. Maybe some of the senior members can chime in and give you more updated info about this problem .

I found this same error happening on whatever broadcast channel was showing "The Minority Report" recently. I was watching the HD channel, it froze like no one's business, and I had to switch to the SD channel to continue watching. Returning to the HD channel a few seconds later resulted in a normal picture.

I've also gotten some errors on the higher HD channels where I will tune to them but the picture will freeze on the channel I was coming from. I have to bounce around some other HD channels before going back to the one I want in order for it to display properly.

Sometimes, I think that HDTV, DVR, etc. is slight ahead of its time (to borrow Panasonic's slogan). Think iDrive for the new BMWs - great thing, WAY ahead of its time.

Sometimes, I think that the broadcasters are completely befuddled when it comes to doing anything differently from the way they've been doing it for the last half-century.

Other times, I think the broadcasters are doing everything they can to drag their feet on the whole thing to try to delay the FCC's implementation of DTV, at least until they can get the FCC to let them keep both channel allocations.

Other times, yeah, I think we're still riding on the bleeding edge here.

Originally posted by tennberg
I found this same error happening on whatever broadcast channel was showing "The Minority Report" recently. I was watching the HD channel, it froze like no one's business, and I had to switch to the SD channel to continue watching. Returning to the HD channel a few seconds later resulted in a normal picture.

I've also gotten some errors on the higher HD channels where I will tune to them but the picture will freeze on the channel I was coming from. I have to bounce around some other HD channels before going back to the one I want in order for it to display properly.

Sometimes, I think that HDTV, DVR, etc. is slight ahead of its time (to borrow Panasonic's slogan). Think iDrive for the new BMWs - great thing, WAY ahead of its time.

I had the same thing described during Minority Report and some other show - and now I can't remember if it was the same channel or different...hopefully it was just a temp broadcaster glitch and not something more ominous...

I was wondering if anyone hear the news this morning about a bill being draft ed by the Mass. Democrates about banning exclusive 1 cable company per town deals. I hope this happens because I sick and tried of the rates going up.

Originally posted by roachxp
I was wondering if anyone hear the news this morning about a bill being draft ed by the Mass. Democrates about banning exclusive 1 cable company per town deals. I hope this happens because I sick and tried of the rates going up.

There is nothing preventing other cable companies from coming into your town and running the hybrid fiber-coax networks it takes to provide cable tv to your home. Agreements like that are hashed out by YOUR town councils. If your town voted in an exclusivity agreement, then of course they have to abide by that until the agreement comes up for renewal. Not only that, but even if there is a non-exclusivity agreement, another cable company still needs to come in and spend the millions of dollars it would take to wire up your town to provide their cable service. Look at RCN, they came in to many towns and overbuilt... they were going full steam and then all of a sudden they almost stopped. Why? Because it costs bookoo bucks and their capital was drying up.

Originally posted by tennberg
I found this same error happening on whatever broadcast channel was showing "The Minority Report" recently. I was watching the HD channel, it froze like no one's business, and I had to switch to the SD channel to continue watching. Returning to the HD channel a few seconds later resulted in a normal picture.

Yup, this was a great case, sounds like it was widespread. We gave up watching it since it kept "freezing" and then starting again.

We get this mostly on late night shows, Leno being the biggest offender.

-JR

Originally posted by roachxp
I was wondering if anyone hear the news this morning about a bill being draft ed by the Mass. Democrates about banning exclusive 1 cable company per town deals. I hope this happens because I sick and tried of the rates going up. Natick is soon to have 3. The trick is forcing them to honor their contracts.

The "freezing" was occurring Saturday Night across multiple HD channels, so this was a Comcast issue. Hasn't happened since, so I'll leave it alone unless it happens again. Not to be confused with the problems on 807 WHDH-DT, they've been having their own issues for a while and are aware of it and "working" on it.

Originally posted by roachxp
I was wondering if anyone hear the news this morning about a bill being draft ed by the Mass. Democrates about banning exclusive 1 cable company per town deals. I hope this happens because I sick and tried of the rates going up.

what they ought to do is to make Tier buy through manatory and require that it apply to digital cable.

Originally posted by chitchatjf
what they ought to do is to make Tier buy through manatory and require that it apply to digital cable.

Thay what I'm hoping Verizon does the tier style selling. And sports should be a seperate package, thats one reson prices are so high. I remember paying 16.95 for Basic plus extended, and now I still have the same amount of channels and package and paying 43.95:mad:

NESN and FSN going basic both account for a large portion of the rate increases.

-Ken

Originally posted by kenvt
NESN and FSN going basic both account for a large portion of the rate increases.

-Ken

You mean Extended and that was because The dishes offered them as part of "Their" standard package.

ESPN itself charges around $3 per subscriber permonth (I assume EsPN2 and ESPN Classic are included)

I get basic with HD and digital plus. I still get the home games plus ESPN1. :)

Originally posted by roachxp
Thay what I'm hoping Verizon does the tier style selling. And sports should be a seperate package, thats one reson prices are so high. I remember paying 16.95 for Basic plus extended, and now I still have the same amount of channels and package and paying 43.95:mad:

The thing is Comcast WILL do it.

IOther systems that have a Lifeline package (just locals ) do NOT. Some require FULL STANDARD PLUS DIGITAL even to get HD LOCALS!

RCN dosen't even have a lifeline service.

Originally posted by roachxp
I was wondering if anyone hear the news this morning about a bill being draft ed by the Mass. Democrates about banning exclusive 1 cable company per town deals. I hope this happens because I sick and tried of the rates going up.

Thay what I'm hoping Verizon does the tier style selling. And sports should be a seperate package, thats one reson prices are so high. I remember paying 16.95 for Basic plus extended, and now I still have the same amount of channels and package and paying 43.95:mad: i remember $3.50 movies and $1 popcorn....we've been through this many times before, and its very tired. if prices are too high for you, cancel or reduce your service but for gawd's sake stop whining to the wrong audience. call email write and tell comcast not us. i'm not here to shop for other cable providers so i don't need nor want a sales pitch for verizon or whoever u think is better/cheaper.

(surpressing the urge to thread-fart)

good, and any other haters should follow your lead. ;) now for some tidbits: WB-HD thursday, UPN-HD 3 weeks, first ADS launch sometime in between.

I'm not a comcast hater.

Were it not for the fact that they raise their prices at twice the rate of inflation every year, I'd be perfectly happy with them.

Originally posted by avic
good, and any other haters should follow your lead. ;) now for some tidbits: WB-HD thursday, UPN-HD 3 weeks, first ADS launch sometime in between.

avic, Thank you very much for keeping us up to date as to where things are with Comcast. I, for one, appreciate the early heads up.

I noticed on the 6412 board that there is a 9.17 firmware that may be starting to roll out. So... three questions...

1 - is it for real, or is someone WAY out in front on this?

2 - what does it contain? (i.e., do I care?)

3 - when might the rollout occur in Metrowest (Hopkinton)?

Thanks again,

JS

Originally posted by avic
i remember $3.50 movies and $1 popcorn....we've been through this many times before, and its very tired. if prices are too high for you, cancel or reduce your service but for gawd's sake stop whining to the wrong audience. call email write and tell comcast not us. i'm not here to shop for other cable providers so i don't need nor want a sales pitch for verizon or whoever u think is better/cheaper.

This is why I am GLAD about Comcast's Tier buy through. The extended basic component runs 37.90 in my city. High speed Internet runs 42.95.

What do I want High spped Internet OR channels 24-69?

Give me the Internet anyday.

Enjoying Digital Plus with DVR and WITHOUT extended basic.

Originally posted by avic
good, and any other haters should follow your lead. ;) now for some tidbits: WB-HD thursday, UPN-HD 3 weeks, first ADS launch sometime in between.

I take it WB-HD is on 856,and UPN-HD will be on 838.

My friend who just ordered a service change from standard to Basic with Digital plus says TV one is being added on Ch 214,and Showtime's Flix movie service is being mapped to Channel 202 and will become part of Digital Classic.

So, what does this mean to us...better s/w on the horizon?

Deal could allow Comcast to use TiVo's software on DVRs

So, what does this mean to us...better s/w on the horizon?

Deal could allow Comcast to use TiVo's software on DVRs (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2005-03-14-tivo-usat_x.htm)

I will agree that comcast is a force you to buy what they sell co.

what I did ?

dumped HBO, turned in a HDTV box and bought a QAM tuner and kept one HDTV comcast box.


my bill is $35 less a month now and comcast even gave me 3 months free on my existing box. so thats even more savings than $35

around $50 a month is what my cable bill should be and it finally is. as for sopranos and six feet under. well since they are on once every 5 years :) I will not subscribe to HBO anymore as it makes me pay for HBO as I foget to cancel while waiting for new episodes to come on.

I will gladly wait for the season dvd's when released from now on and my wife and I can watch them when we want and own them for much less than subscription.


now I am in control! :)

Originally posted by wfp
So, what does this mean to us...better s/w on the horizon?

Deal could allow Comcast to use TiVo's software on DVRs (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2005-03-14-tivo-usat_x.htm)

The way the article on Boston.com words it as "it will supply its digital video recording system"

I think that the advantages are better. I predict that more people will now be making the switch to Comcast as most Tivo die-hards dont like the Comcast iGuide menus & searching, etc..

Originally posted by Kaiser-Soze
The way the article on Boston.com words it as "it will supply its digital video recording system"

I think that the advantages are better. I predict that more people will now be making the switch to Comcast as most Tivo die-hards dont like the Comcast iGuide menus & searching, etc..

a full article about this can be read at

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Feed=PR&Date=20050315&ID=4305855&Symbol=US:CMCSA


only downside is that the software is expected to be rolled out mid-to-late 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- TiVo Inc., the struggling pioneer of digital video recorders, said Tuesday it will make a customized version for Comcast cable subscribers.

This is a huge win for TiVo, a large improvement for Comcast subscribers, and a big middle finger presented to DirecTV.

The 6412 isn't bad, but it's no TiVo. With TiVo, we'll get :
- a superior interface
- far less bugs
- Home Media Option / Multi-room Viewing
- better guide data

Regarding the TiVo announcement, the version I read said that Comcast users could "choose" the TiVo functionality. Does that imply that one would be paying extra for TiVo features? Would the DVR run either the basic Comcast iGuide *or* TiVo?

Tony

I keep asking this on the 6412 thread and nobody responds. Does anyone know how to get rid of the phantom 1989 recording? The "record two HD programs at the same time and pull out the plug" trick does not work for me. I'm looking for the "re-format the hard drive" method, since I currently have no programming saved. Is anyone able to post that sequence?

Originally posted by avic
good, and any other haters should follow your lead. ;) now for some tidbits: WB-HD thursday, UPN-HD 3 weeks, first ADS launch sometime in between.

Any idea which pod they'll be added to? If it's the same as DiscoveryHD, StarzHD or INHD1 then it's no plus for me.

Originally posted by jadziedzic
Regarding the TiVo announcement, the version I read said that Comcast users could "choose" the TiVo functionality. Does that imply that one would be paying extra for TiVo features? Would the DVR run either the basic Comcast iGuide *or* TiVo?

Tony

Gee, lemme think about that one for a second.... Should I choose the basic and buggy iGuide platform, or the full featured and robust TiVo platform ? :)

The only way that TiVo loses out here is if the platform they deliver is one tuner, or non-HDTV, or is crippled by hard drive space. I can't see any of those happening.

Originally posted by capecodguy
Any idea which pod they'll be added to? If it's the same as DiscoveryHD, StarzHD or INHD1 then it's no plus for me.


since they are local hd chnls, UPN-HD & WB-HB would be added to the same pod as the other local HD chnls

Originally posted by Paul Simoneau
Gee, lemme think about that one for a second.... Should I choose the basic and buggy iGuide platform, or the full featured and robust TiVo platform ? :)

The only way that TiVo loses out here is if the platform they deliver is one tuner, or non-HDTV, or is crippled by hard drive space. I can't see any of those happening.

Or if they (TIVO) comes in at $13/mo.
The average new DVR user might not jump at the premium price even if the product is superior- they'd probably try the current (no cost) software first and stick with it .

Originally posted by Paul Simoneau
This is a huge win for TiVo, a large improvement for Comcast subscribers, and a big middle finger presented to DirecTV.

The 6412 isn't bad, but it's no TiVo. With TiVo, we'll get :
- a superior interface
- far less bugs
- Home Media Option / Multi-room Viewing
- better guide data Finally there is hope.... :) I would think that if you choose Tivo you would have to pay something extra. Maybe something like $5 extra per month? A no brainer. Hopefully the customized version doesn't mean "crippled" version.

larry

Originally posted by SuperVision2010
Or if they (TIVO) comes in at $13/mo.
The average new DVR user might not jump at the premium price even if the product is superior- they'd probably try the current (no cost) software first and stick with it .

You're right, to an extent. That would probably hurt the Comcast/TiVo offering a bit, but wouldn't guarantee its demise.

The $13/mo charge that TiVo has for its standalone units covers the massive array of stuff they need to have in place to support dial-up connectivity for the boxes to "phone home" to get stuff like guide data and account info.

DirecTV/TiVo is $5/month. There's no need for the dial-up infrastructure, since it gets most of its data off of the satellite.

It's likely that Comcast/TiVo will use a similar model to DirecTV/TiVo, since the box will obviously be able to pull data off of the cable line. So, I would expect a similar monthly cost.

oh man, a whole year ahead of speculation and analysis, do u love it? ;) well head on over to the new Tivo/Comcast thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=520407) and join the fun.

Originally posted by RScogland
I keep asking this on the 6412 thread and nobody responds. Does anyone know how to get rid of the phantom 1989 recording? The "record two HD programs at the same time and pull out the plug" trick does not work for me. I'm looking for the "re-format the hard drive" method, since I currently have no programming saved. Is anyone able to post that sequence? do you have service with comcast?

looks like u got your answer on the 6412 thread.

Originally posted by Paul Simoneau
You're right, to an extent. That would probably hurt the Comcast/TiVo offering a bit, but wouldn't guarantee its demise.

The $13/mo charge that TiVo has for its standalone units covers the massive array of stuff they need to have in place to support dial-up connectivity for the boxes to "phone home" to get stuff like guide data and account info.

DirecTV/TiVo is $5/month. There's no need for the dial-up infrastructure, since it gets most of its data off of the satellite.

It's likely that Comcast/TiVo will use a similar model to DirecTV/TiVo, since the box will obviously be able to pull data off of the cable line. So, I would expect a similar monthly cost.

I own both a TiVo and rent a Comcast dual tuner Moto box (for HDTV and HDTV recording, primarily). The TiVo software is definitely better than iguide, but not by -that- much. At least, not $5 a month more just for the TiVo software.

I'd stick with iGuide. At $15 a month for the box and the service, it is already priced up there with TiVo anyway. Why would I want to pay even more?

They would have to really pump the HMO features of TiVo.

I have had a Tivo. I HAVE the comcast DVR. Over a year before the DVR arrived from Comcast, I told Tivo I would most likely switch but not before.
I made a similar comment to my last dial up provider about broadband.

Although the Wishlist concept was cool,I didn't really need any Tivo like features that are not also on the DVR and since i had a SEries 1,it was much different then those with SEries 2.

The main reasons for the switchover include the ability to record HD programs IN HD, The ability to record 5.1 sound IN 5.1,the second tuner (A God send on Friday nights), having ONE Box as opposed to two,and the assurance that Ithe right channel would be recorded.

I would not mind using Tivo software in the 6412.

On Comcast here in Chelmsford Channel 990 is listed as local programming but is always "not authorized", and now all of a sudden there is a channel 991 displaying the same message. Any idea why these channels are listed, and what is their purpose ?


Thanks,

Ken

controller2k, your right on the mark. Better product but not worth shelling out even more $. In a corperate enviroment of 2% rasies that don't even keep up with the cost of living its hard to justify another expense on a product that will provide baiscly the same functions in an easier format.

Originally posted by kenvt
On Comcast here in Chelmsford Channel 990 is listed as local programming but is always "not authorized", and now all of a sudden there is a channel 991 displaying the same message. Any idea why these channels are listed, and what is their purpose ?


Thanks,

Ken

Maybe they are test channels?

For any college basketball fans, here is the schedule for tomorrow and Friday. I also asked about multicasting, and the reply was that their contract didn't allow for it. Interesting, as there are other CBS affiliates that are doing multicasting of the games per the HD programming forum.

Dear John,
There will be different analog and HD games on Thursday and Friday.
Here is the schedule-
Thursday Analog:
Pitt/Pacific
BC/Penn
Wake Forest/Chattanooga
Texas Tech/UCLA

Thursday HD:
Alabama/Wisc-Milwaukee
BC/Penn
Wake Forest/Chattanooga
West Virginia/Creighton

Friday Analog:
Minnesota/Iowa State
UConn/UCF
Syracuse/Vermont
Michigan State/Old Dominion

Friday HD:
Charlotte/NC State
UConn/UCF
Syracuse/Vermont
Michigan State/Old Dominion

Thanks,
Amy Margulies
Programming Department

That is good information on the NCCA schedule. Thank you.

Looks like 991 is going to be the WB - WLVID. It's showing up in the iGuide but is not yet showing content. Maybe when I get up tomorrow it will be there .. If I dream, it will come!

Originally posted by MickeyGee
That is good information on the NCCA schedule. Thank you.

The RI CBS station is doing the same thing but will use their FOX sister station also, that should improve the quality some for thoses able to pick it up in OTA.

CBS is offering more HD is 4 days then ESPN-HD does in 1 week:rolleyes:

Originally posted by whitecity
Looks like 991 is going to be the WB - WLVID. It's showing up in the iGuide but is not yet showing content. Maybe when I get up tomorrow it will be there .. If I dream, it will come! that was testing, 991 is now unmapped again. i'd still look for WB 856 and UPN 838.

It is 856 and up and running this morning. avic, thanks for giving the heads up about the new channels. You were right on!

QAM tuner
I was able to get the Celtics game last night with my QAM tuner. Is this a mistake or is Comcast going to carry all of the home sports teams home games on INHD2 without encoding them?

How Ironic that we get WLVI-DT on a day that they have no HD programming !! Still glad to see it is here though.

-Ken

FYI - I asked about this a week or so ago. I did some checking with a contact I have at motorola and there is indeed a version of the 6412 with HDMI output. I believe they are still testing the firmware/software on it but hopefully it will be available soon.

Originally posted by kenvt
How Ironic that we get WLVI-DT on a day that they have no HD programming !! Still glad to see it is here though.

-Ken What HD program does WLVI offer anyways? Smallville? I can't think of anything else.

dozens- Why do you need HDMI output? Can't you just use a DVI-HDMI cable? The only thing you're missing is audio.

Originally posted by avic
that was testing, 991 is now unmapped again. i'd still look for WB 856 and UPN 838.

So is UPN 838 live as well today?

Smallville and Gilmore Girls are their big shows that are shown in HD. I'm not really familiar with the rest of their offerings. Consult the master "what's in HD" post from the HD Programming forum HERE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=1297963#post1297963)

A quick survey of TitanTV reveals the following in HD on 856 for the next week:

What I like about you
Reba
Summerland
Gilmore Girls
Smallville
Jack and Bobby

-Ken

DaveFi - There are many problems with DVI to HDMI. I am no expert but it has something to do with different color spaces. HDMI color space is bigger then DVI and when you convert from one to the another, if the two devices are not in sync, then you can get black and white crush.

Originally posted by kenvt
A quick survey of TitanTV reveals the following in HD on 856 for the next week:

What I like about you
Reba
Summerland
Gilmore Girls
Smallville
Jack and Bobby

-Ken Oh well, Smallville is the onky one of those I watch, and since I planned on catching it on DVD (because we didn't have HD) at the beginning of the season I haven't bothered.

Dissapointing. I really hope HDNet comes through one of these days. We'll probably have HD DVD before then.

Originally posted by dozens
DaveFi - There are many problems with DVI to HDMI. I am no expert but it has something to do with different color spaces. HDMI color space is bigger then DVI and when you convert from one to the another, if the two devices are not in sync, then you can get black and white crush.

Whoa, wait a minute here. I thought HDMI was simply a different form-factor for DVI, additionally providing encryption and optionally including digital audio.

DVI already provides encryption, hdmi adds audio.

-Ken

Right. HDCP is included in both DVI and HDMI, but the colorspaces are the same, correct ? That was my main point.

Originally posted by deathstroke
So is UPN 838 live as well today? no as i said before, first week in april. they are going to try and get it up before the Sunday 4/3 Red Sox season opener which is also the first WSBK HD broadcast.

and in time for the next new Enterprise on Saturday 4/16. last five eps in HD, i'll take it.

Thanks a million Avic. Keep that great info coming. Anyu chance of Universal? God how I want battlestar in HD
FREAK!

Originally posted by Paul Simoneau
Right. HDCP is included in both DVI and HDMI, but the colorspaces are the same, correct ? That was my main point.

There is a pretty detailed htread about it here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=486428) . It looks like DVI is natively done in RGB and HDMI is YCbCr and problems happen when ouputing HDMI and converting to DVI.

That post deals with colorspace handling of output from DVD players. DVDs are encoded in NTSC (using YCrCb or YPrPb component colorspace). HDTV is encoded in the ATSC (using RGB colorspace), which is similar to NTSC but just different enough to make a difference.

So, to bring this post back on topic, the question concerns the output of the Comcast HD box outputting DVI or HDMI. In either event, you're attempting to output a signal that's already been ATSC colorspace encoded over a particular physical interface. NTSC or component colorspace never enters the equation.

Re-read the post in question and see if you agree with me now... Thanks!

Originally posted by metallicafreak
Thanks a million Avic. Keep that great info coming. Anyu chance of Universal? God how I want battlestar in HD
FREAK!

metallica: I feel the same way. I basically wet myself (pardon me) when they showed the mini-series on NBC-HD. The quality was absolutely...stunning! With WB-HD, UPN-HD, and ADS already or soon to be implemented, perhaps now Comcast will be able to focus more on adding HD content.


avic: You mentioned the first wave of ADS will happen sometime within 3 weeks. What is Comcast's target for having all analog channels mapped to ADS?

Will doing that get rid of HBO on 72 for digital users as they already get it on 3xx and, like me with HD, also get it on 870? It's the only channel I can think of where I get it three times.

u know how dates tend to change but seems the target is still within Q2 and so far testing has gone very well so next is going forward with headend launches within the next weeks but again, baby steps as far as what channels go ADS first. this is a huge and complex undertaking and comcast wants to make sure they do it right not fast. as far as HBO it can be unmapped anytime for digital customers since it is redundant. however, due to contractual reasons, analog customers will still have the HBO option on 62. once ADS is complete then HD channel additions can be revisited, at which point they'll have to figure out where to get the bandwidth. ESPN2, TNT, Universal, TMC all seem likely once there's room. the HDNet saga is another story.

avic: What options now exist for Comcast to add additional bandwidth? Can it simply be increased by adding bigger pipes or is there a fixed amount and Comcast needs to juggle channels around, move some from analog, etc. to free up bandwidth?

I imagine they're freeing up a decent amount of space cutting over from 64QAM to 256QAM on the digital channels via the ADS effort. Once all the digital channels are cut over, their options get a little tougher to swallow.

Once ADS is complete, they could decide to alter their package offerings such that the only analogs offered are "lifeline" type channels (locals, weather, local access, etc), and remove the analogs that had been replicated digitally by ADS. This would free up quite a bit of bandwidth, and wouldn't be that difficult to roll out. However, they'd likely be very careful in doing so as to not anger their current analog-only customers.

They could cut over to use MPEG-4 compression, rather than MPEG-2. This would require a large amount of hardware swaps at both the headend and customer premises, and is very unlikely.

They could decrease the bandwidths used by the compression algorithms allocated to the digital channels in order to squeeze more channels in. This would adversely affect picture quality (see all the DirecTV HDLite arguments in the other HD forums).

avic: Care to tell anymore about the HDnet story? I'm sure I don't want to hear, but..

Thanks,
Chris

re: bandwidth, how to get it is what they're working on but when they get it, rest assured it will NOT compromise PQ. no MPEG-4. and no HDNet scoop, last i heard it wasn't moving too well. in a not too distant future i imagine a Comcast HD tier will ALL available channels. how we get there will be slower than we'd like.

Thanks for holding out on PQ.

To be honest, every time I see DirecTV's PQ, I'm impressed - and not in a good way.

Is WLVI-DT available in the clear? That is can I get it with QAM tuner?

Originally posted by stephenju
Is WLVI-DT available in the clear? That is can I get it with QAM tuner?

Yep, it's 84-2

Originally posted by whitecity
Looks like 991 is going to be the WB - WLVID. It's showing up in the iGuide but is not yet showing content. Maybe when I get up tomorrow it will be there .. If I dream, it will come!

I told you it weas going to be 856!

its encoded here in Lowell, MA

Originally posted by avic
re: bandwidth, how to get it is what they're working on but when they get it, rest assured it will NOT compromise PQ. no MPEG-4. and no HDNet scoop, last i heard it wasn't moving too well. in a not too distant future i imagine a Comcast HD tier will ALL available channels. how we get there will be slower than we'd like.

I had heard that Concast NE was willing but Mark is holding out for a national deal.

Originally posted by sbourgeo
Yep, it's 84-2

You are right. But here it's 82-2. And my Fusion III can't find it. The Panasonic Plasma does.

Originally posted by FAiello
QAM tuner
I was able to get the Celtics game last night with my QAM tuner. Is this a mistake or is Comcast going to carry all of the home sports teams home games on INHD2 without encoding them?

anyone have an answer for this ? I will have to check now. I know INHD & INHD2 are scrambled. but, like he said. will comcast broadcast home celtics or redsox unencrypted ? guess I will check the next home game. I assumed they were scrambled.

Originally posted by bruman
anyone have an answer for this ? I will have to check now. I know INHD & INHD2 are scrambled. but, like he said. will comcast broadcast home celtics or redsox unencrypted ? guess I will check the next home game. I assumed they were scrambled.

Likely they might've been doing testing, hence why you saw it unencrypted with your QAM tuner.

I meant to check before leaving this morning. Does anyone know what version of iGuide we have on boxes ?

I just want to say thank you avic for all the info you share with the board. You have been a great resource and I hope you continue to keep us updated. I appreciate your input.

Originally posted by JTMav
I just want to say thank you avic for all the info you share with the board. You have been a great resource and I hope you continue to keep us updated. I appreciate your input.

Thanks to avic for tellin' it like it is !

Hey Gang,

A local audio/video shop has a great deal on a Hughes HIRD E8 HD DirectTv receiver. I want to get it to use with my Infocus. However, does anyone know, A. Does this reciever have the capability to do OTA HD, and B. Do I need the DirectTV card to use if for such a purpose? It doesn't have one.

Thanks!

Originally posted by midfiman
Hey Gang,

A local audio/video shop has a great deal on a Hughes HIRD E8 HD DirectTv receiver. I want to get it to use with my Infocus. However, does anyone know, A. Does this reciever have the capability to do OTA HD, and B. Do I need the DirectTV card to use if for such a purpose? It doesn't have one.

Thanks! It will work for all analog/digital OTA channels. But you will not get any programming information as this receiver does not get PSIP information but relies on data sent down from the DIRECTV satellite for its programming guide. Also these receivers run notoriously hot, and this affects getting stable reception on OTA channels.

Originally posted by dozens
There is a pretty detailed htread about it here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=486428) . It looks like DVI is natively done in RGB and HDMI is YCbCr and problems happen when ouputing HDMI and converting to DVI. You're confusing terms. SD and HD use different color spaces. They can both be represented with RGB and
YCbCr. The color space problem is where an upscaling DVD player uses SD color space for 720p or 1080i and the display expects HD color space when it sees the HD resolution. This usually results in greens being exaggerated, IIRC. The HDMI->DVI problem occurs with some devices when converting YCbCr to RGB for the DVI target device. The problem is that some HDMI chips will incorrectly convert video black (16) to PC black (0) and "clip" below black video information (1-15). Same thing happens at the other end - video white (235) is converted to PC white (255) and above white video info is lost. The color space problem shouldn't happen in a HD box, but the other problem may. And, it would be had to determine because you can't pop in a DVE disc and look for below black video.

larry

Just to change subject slightly, for those that have been watching the NCAA tourney in HD, CBS has not been doing their typical "Switch over" during the waning minutes of the game. I noticed last night they did not flip over to the final seconds of what seemed to be an exciting Kansas-Bucknell game - however on the SD CBS, they did. Unfortunately, I realized it a little too late.

Also, Has anyone heard from CBS what games they are going to show today and tomorrow - SD and HD?

Today is fairly easy to figure out, there is only 1 game @ 1pm (Texas Tech/Gonzaga) and one game late (WVa/Wake Forest). BC plays at 5:30, so that game will certainly be on here. For the remaining game, Oklahoma/Utah will be in HD, Washington/Pacific won't be, so hopefully we get that on the analog channel.

Sunday there is more overlap with only 3 time slots, but I'm guessing we'll get MSU/Vermont, NC State/UConn and Villanova/Florida.

Originally posted by rookiewill
Just to change subject slightly, for those that have been watching the NCAA tourney in HD, CBS has not been doing their typical "Switch over" during the waning minutes of the game. I noticed last night they did not flip over to the final seconds of what seemed to be an exciting Kansas-Bucknell game - however on the SD CBS, they did. Unfortunately, I realized it a little too late.

Also, Has anyone heard from CBS what games they are going to show today and tomorrow - SD and HD?

I noticed the same thing and it was to late for me also, obviously someone at CBS fell asleep at the switch so to speak :D

anyone having analog picture quality issues and no internet in the chelsea, ma area?

Anyone out there using a DVHS to record HD off of a 62xx box? I'm reading over in the recording forum that bitrates less than 14mb/sec make the box click over into another mode and cause glitches... I think Comcast usually sends out the full 19mb/sec right?

Thanks,
Chris

Originally posted by Schlotkins
Anyone out there using a DVHS to record HD off of a 62xx box? I'm reading over in the recording forum that bitrates less than 14mb/sec make the box click over into another mode and cause glitches... I think Comcast usually sends out the full 19mb/sec right?

Thanks,
Chris

Comcast sends out whatever comes in. So if they are receiving a 14mbps stream from the source, then that is what they are sending out.

Originally posted by JDLIVE
Today is fairly easy to figure out, there is only 1 game @ 1pm (Texas Tech/Gonzaga) and one game late (WVa/Wake Forest). BC plays at 5:30, so that game will certainly be on here. For the remaining game, Oklahoma/Utah will be in HD, Washington/Pacific won't be, so hopefully we get that on the analog channel.

Sunday there is more overlap with only 3 time slots, but I'm guessing we'll get MSU/Vermont, NC State/UConn and Villanova/Florida.

Looks like Boston gets NC State/UCONN followed by MSU/Vermont, followed by Duke. NO NOVA-FLORIDA which makes me very sad. Oh, looks like we'll get the Louisville game on HD when DUke is on SD

Originally posted by ScoopsHD
Comcast sends out whatever comes in. So if they are receiving a 14mbps stream from the source, then that is what they are sending out.

I assumed sending the full 19mbps feed was a condition of carrying WBZDT.

Originally posted by chitchatjf
I assumed sending the full 19mbps feed was a condition of carrying WBZDT.

Again, if Comcast receives 14mbps, they will send it out. If they receive 19mbps, they will send it out. Whatever the provider sends out is what Comcast is contractually bound to retransmit right now.

I think Scoops is not including null packets. Also, remember that if a channel has subchannels, the primary is not going to be 19mb/sec. I'm not sure at this point who is and isn't broadcasting subchannels.

Chris

I understand that the movie channel FLIX was moved to channel 202 and added as an ENCORE channel. I see it is available on 202 but is "not authorized" for me even though I get the other ENCORE channels. Does anyone else get this channel as a package with encore ?

Thanks,

Ken

Originally posted by kenvt
I understand that the movie channel FLIX was moved to channel 202 and added as an ENCORE channel. I see it is available on 202 but is "not authorized" for me even though I get the other ENCORE channels. Does anyone else get this channel as a package with encore ?

Thanks,

Ken

if you have a grandfathered package you wouldn't be able to get this channel.

Originally posted by kenvt
I understand that the movie channel FLIX was moved to channel 202 and added as an ENCORE channel. I see it is available on 202 but is "not authorized" for me even though I get the other ENCORE channels. Does anyone else get this channel as a package with encore ?

Thanks,

Ken

Flix is owned by Showtime networks. Ch 202 is really mapping Ch 366.
There is NO HD version of Flix at this time,but there IS An ENCORE HD.

ENCORE HD will shutdown on 3/31/2005.

Slightly OT:

Avic, do you know of anyone in the CT area that knows about the status of upgrades to our Comcast system (new HD locals/nationals coming or system upgrades to open up bandwidth)? There doesn't seem to be anyone that visits our "Hartford, CT - HDTV" thread that knows any inside info.

Specifically, we don't get FSN HD (celtics games), INHD2 or Discovery HD (getting NESN HD broadcasts on INHD). Also curious if we'll be getting our local WB in HD.

Thanks in advance,
Scott

Originally posted by roachxp
ENCORE HD will shutdown on 3/31/2005.

I belive that only applies to Voom.

Originally posted by chitchatjf
I belive that only applies to Voom. Unfortunate because IMO Encore-HD was better than Starz, and had more HD content.

Originally posted by chitchatjf
I belive that only applies to Voom.

It was stated on a Encore press release, I guess not enough subscribers and the cost, but in the future it will come back.

If you've been following in the main forum, it's doubtful Encore-HD will ever return considering how the higher-ups at Starz feels about HD.
The fact that Encore had more HD content and they're concelling it does not bode well for Starz.

In any event, I'd be willing pay for another premium movie channel, something with a decent amount of content that's OAR. Something akin to a TCM-HD.

Originally posted by roachxp
It was stated on a Encore press release, I guess not enough subscribers and the cost, but in the future it will come back.

I looked at their web site and no press release. They also have April listings for EncoreHD

sox preseason game vs cinci is listed on boston.com's nesn page as HD tonight......i'm seeing stretched SD on inhd2......anyone else?

macd23:

I've got the same thing on the sox game. What gives?

not sure.......its only preseason and they're getting killed so i won't sweat it.

I was pretty disappointed with the PQ toinght too. Definitely was looking forward to checking out my first Sox game in HD. Oh well, I guess I'll be waiting a little while longer.

There must be some way to convince NESN to not stretch SD programming on NESN-HD !!

Originally posted by kenvt
There must be some way to convince NESN to not stretch SD programming on NESN-HD !!

when NESN shows SD stretched, i change my display fom widescreen to "normal" and it unstretches it.....looks much better than the regular analog NESN channel too.........thanfully this season we shouldn't need to do it much.

mac:

Many of us do not have that option. Keeping the SD unstretched is the fairer way to go. NO ONE ELSE that I know of stretches SD programming.

-Ken

i'm talking with a NESN exec tomorrow and will try again to convince him that stretching is for the gym. i can't unstretch either and most displays can't and i will let him know that. if they'd broadcast in 16:9 they could just put up their HD sidebars.
anyway they are having problems tonight with the HD feed otherwise u will not see stretched SD ever on any games since the 882 feed only switches over for HD games. but for the HD games my peeve is the damn commercials, they have a dude sitting there flipping back and forth all game long from HD to stretched 4:3 and he's late coming in and out half the time. it blows. i'll let u know what he says and post his email address if he wont budge so u can all hit him up. i'm hoping WSBK wont follow their nasty lead. we'll find out April 3rd.

Originally posted by avic
i'm talking with a NESN exec tomorrow and will try again to convince him that stretching is for the gym. i can't unstretch either and most displays can't and i will let him know that. if they'd broadcast in 16:9 they could just put up their HD sidebars.
anyway they are having problems tonight with the HD feed otherwise u will not see stretched SD ever on any games since the 882 feed only switches over for HD games. but for the HD games my peeve is the damn commercials, they have a dude sitting there flipping back and forth all game long from HD to stretched 4:3 and he's late coming in and out half the time. it blows. i'll let u know what he says and post his email address if he wont budge so u can all hit him up. i'm hoping WSBK wont follow their nasty lead. we'll find out April 3rd.

Speaking of channels stretching SD content, I was either watching 825 or 856 late one night and they were showing infomercials. I think this was around 11pm or midnight. Lo and behold, they were stretching the infomercials so the guy on the screen trying to sell me land with potential in Florida looked extra-wide :-)

I can't remember exactly which channel it was or the exact date, but it was odd to see an HD channel (besides NESN) doing that.

I was watching WB in HD last night on Comcast, and I was wondering if anyone is starting to get it?

Has anyone noticed poor picture quality on TBS via Comcast in the Framingham area? I plugged in my new Samsung last night and TBS had a terrible picture. It was like watching an old film projection. I wasn't sure if it was the TV or the feed. TBS was the only station like this.

ADS will be here in the beginning of April. Hang in there.

Originally posted by xbigjoe
ADS will be here in the beginning of April. Hang in there.

What was the priority again for ADS? Extended cable first, then basic cable, then broadcasts, then community channels?

Originally posted by avic
i'm talking with a NESN exec tomorrow and will try again to convince him that stretching is for the gym. i can't unstretch either and most displays can't and i will let him know that. if they'd broadcast in 16:9 they could just put up their HD sidebars.
anyway they are having problems tonight with the HD feed otherwise u will not see stretched SD ever on any games since the 882 feed only switches over for HD games. but for the HD games my peeve is the damn commercials, they have a dude sitting there flipping back and forth all game long from HD to stretched 4:3 and he's late coming in and out half the time. it blows. i'll let u know what he says and post his email address if he wont budge so u can all hit him up. i'm hoping WSBK wont follow their nasty lead. we'll find out April 3rd.

avic: While you're at it, try to talk to an HBO exec and tell them to show their HD movies in the original aspect ratio. For any movies in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, it will start off in that aspect but then HBO will do chop off the left and right sides so that the image takes up the entire screen. Very annoying. I am in the camp that believes movies and TV shows should be viewed in their original aspect ratio.

Originally posted by foti
I was watching WB in HD last night on Comcast, and I was wondering if anyone is starting to get it? I got it last thursday, exactly when avic told us we'd get it. I assumed everyone got it at that time...

Originally posted by scooterboy
I got it last thursday, exactly when avic told us we'd get it. I assumed everyone got it at that time...

I did as well. I watched a few minutes of Gilmore Girls to look at the PQ and wasn't WOWed. I'll do again with Smallville tonite.

Originally posted by Kaiser-Soze
I did as well. I watched a few minutes of Gilmore Girls to look at the PQ and wasn't WOWed. I'll do again with Smallville tonite.

I watched a little bit of Summerland and thought the quality was really good. Definitely a lot better than some of the shows on, say, CBS (e.g. CSI and Cold Case).

OK Avic is WSBK-DT still on deck for 4/1,or is it just Red sox games?

WSBK-DT will be a full time channel and up next week

Originally posted by avic
WSBK-DT will be a full time channel and up next week

Good Deal! So now the 50 cent question is are the Sox games going to be HD as well? OTQ: Who announces these games?

Originally posted by Kaiser-Soze
Good Deal! So now the 50 cent question is are the Sox games going to be HD as well? OTQ: Who announces these games? It's been confirmed earlier in this thread that some of the UPN38 games beginning April 3rd will be in HD. Orsillo and Remy are the announcers on both NESN and UPN38.

my NESN guy is avoiding me, but i aint giving up. the UPN Red Sox HD debut is on Sunday 4/3 on ch. 838 Again 4 of 28 games are SD:
Fri 4/8 - 3 PM @ TOR
Fri 4/22 - 7 PM @ TB
Fri 5/13 - 10 PM @ SEA
Fri 8/19 - 10 PM @ ANA
Though don't forget that still means a digital broadcast on 838 so even those 4 wont be terrible. same deal with the NESN SD games. so ZERO analog baseball this season kids.

Excellent news avic, once again. Thanks for keeping us informed. While the sports stuff doesn't do anything for me, it's the one thing that will continue to drive the early adoption of it and it gets it all out of the way for the other material to be looked at next.

Avic,

Any hope for the April 3 game in HD outside the Boston DMA? It's not listed on NESN's website as an HD game because of the UPN 38 HD broadcast, I'm guessing. Just hoping they'll throw those of us outside the Boston DMA a bone and be able to get that game in HD or Digital at worst.

Thanks,
Scott

Originally posted by avic
my NESN guy is avoiding me, but i aint giving up. the UPN Red Sox HD debut is on Sunday 4/3 on ch. 838...
Thanks, Avic. Do you know if Comcast will add 838 prior to April 3rd to make sure everything is working properly before the big game?

Mickey

I still think the April 3rd game will be blacked out on UPN, ESPN2-HD wants people to complain and ask their cable operaters to add it. I know NESN will have it no matter what.

Originally posted by roachxp
I still think the April 3rd game will be blacked out on UPN, ESPN2-HD wants people to complain and ask their cable operaters to add it. I know NESN will have it no matter what. Why would UPN38 be blacking out ITS OWN PRODUCTION???

Originally posted by avic
my NESN guy is avoiding me, but i aint giving up. the UPN Red Sox HD debut is on Sunday 4/3 on ch. 838 Again 4 of 28 games are SD:
Fri 4/8 - 3 PM @ TOR
Fri 4/22 - 7 PM @ TB
Fri 5/13 - 10 PM @ SEA
Fri 8/19 - 10 PM @ ANA
Though don't forget that still means a digital broadcast on 838 so even those 4 wont be terrible. same deal with the NESN SD games. so ZERO analog baseball this season kids.

That sucks about the 5/13 game.

I'm having a few folks over to see Enterprise's series finale in HD. It is a pity the game won't be in stunning 1080i 16:9 as well :(

Originally posted by MickeyGee
Thanks, Avic. Do you know if Comcast will add 838 prior to April 3rd to make sure everything is working properly before the big game?

Mickey that's the plan.

Originally posted by chitchatjf
That sucks about the 5/13 game.

I'm having a few folks over to see Enterprise's series finale in HD. It is a pity the game won't be in stunning 1080i 16:9 as well :( the enterprise finale would be that saturday the 14th , all episodes in the boston DMA will air saturdays beginning april 9 because of friday night baseball. so you'll have to avoid spoilers for 24 hours.

Originally posted by Addicted2HD4Now
Avic,

Any hope for the April 3 game in HD outside the Boston DMA? It's not listed on NESN's website as an HD game because of the UPN 38 HD broadcast, I'm guessing. Just hoping they'll throw those of us outside the Boston DMA a bone and be able to get that game in HD or Digital at worst.

Scott NESN is in the process of trying to carry the WSBK feeds directly for their outside Boston DMA viewers.

Originally posted by roachxp
I still think the April 3rd game will be blacked out on UPN, ESPN2-HD wants people to complain and ask their cable operaters to add it. I know NESN will have it no matter what. please don't post misinformation based on what you "THINK" will happen. i go out of my way to get good inside facts and don't appreciate you flaming off. gracias. ;)

avic:

Any word from Comcast or Motorola on a possible firmware fix for iGuide freezing? I have been getting severe freezing in iGuide over the past couple weeks, where the guide will freeze up for at least a minute and the 6412 will not respond to any remote commands. It will then unfreeze and perform all the actions I entered while it was frozen.

mine use to freeze. been atleast 2 months now it has not.

Originally posted by bruman
mine use to freeze. been atleast 2 months now it has not.

There were two types of freezing problems with the boxes. One was related to Closed Captioning issues on Analog channels. That was fixed in this last go round of software upgrade. The problem Tennberg is having is with input lag. There is a process in the TV Guide software that runs every 15 minutes. If you happen to catch it at just the right moment in that process, it'll just queue up the key presses until the process is done.

avic, u da man!

looking forward to UPN HD and most importantly friday night Sox games!


If it happens that would push the HD game total this season to a potential 127 games!!!

Originally posted by avic
the enterprise finale would be that saturday the 14th , all episodes in the boston DMA will air saturdays beginning april 9 because of friday night baseball. so you'll have to avoid spoilers for 24 hours.

No it will be FRiday the 13th as the REd sox game dosen't start until 10pm.

Originally posted by ScoopsHD
The problem Tennberg is having is with input lag. There is a process in the TV Guide software that runs every 15 minutes. If you happen to catch it at just the right moment in that process, it'll just queue up the key presses until the process is done.

Ah-HA thank you for the explanation. Happened to me last night. rewinding 5 seconds to look at something took 2 minutes :)

Originally posted by ScoopsHD
The problem Tennberg is having is with input lag. There is a process in the TV Guide software that runs every 15 minutes. If you happen to catch it at just the right moment in that process, it'll just queue up the key presses until the process is done.


So when will this be fixed?

My 6200 box freezes a lot, so I must be catching this process quit often.

Originally posted by FAiello
So when will this be fixed?

My 6200 box freezes a lot, so I must be catching this process quit often.

Unless Avic has heard anything... beats me? :)

FAiello - can you go screen d08 and tell me what number is next ASTB or tcas. I know someone who might know.

Originally posted by FAiello
So when will this be fixed?

My 6200 box freezes a lot, so I must be catching this process quit often.

Faiello:

The process must be updating itself every 2-3 minutes on mine, as I always catch it. I've nearly deleted a few shows because of the lag and inputting entries via the remote.

dozens:

Should I check my diagnostic screen as well for the number next to ASTB? I am using a 6412, so I'm not sure if this would apply to me as well.

Originally posted by dozens
FAiello - can you go screen d08 and tell me what number is next ASTB or tcas. I know someone who might know.


tcas6402 ver. 64.02 status: enabled

Originally posted by avic
that's the plan.

One thing Comcast can now honestly say is we have ALL LOCAL HD programming!

Motorola 6412 here:

d08 diagnostic menu:

tcas4913 49.13 enabled

It looks like we have the latest version of tv guide.

O.K. Starting today impossible to choose any setting on 6412 v.9.15. Highlights running without stopping from left to right, top to bottom and reverse depending on which arrow button was pressed. Same with volume. Is it just me? I live in Peabody and have this box since X-mass. Did not experienced any problem before. Should I call Comcast or wait a bit?
Alexander

I can honestly say that Comcast NE may have the best HD programming available on any system bar none, except for maybe Voom. I think its very encouraging that Comcast NE is adding UPN 38 in HD and they have already added WB in HD. All that is really missing is HDNet/HDNet Movies, ESPN2 HD, and TNT HD. Not sure if TBS is available in HD yet or not. As soon as I pick up my new HDTV, I am either going to Comcast or Voom. I currently have RCN. They have to be the worst at adding HD channels or anything period.

I can honestly say that Comcast NE may have the best HD programming available on any system bar none, except for maybe Voom.


I just wish they included CT in the "NE" system. Our HD is lacking compared to the rest of NE.

I had my 6412 from nov never had any major issue.
Last couple of days when I turn on the 6412
I see no picture from channels. I can see channel guide menu, info about the show by pressing info button. but no picture from the channel I am watching.

The workaround I have found is go to mydvr start watching previously recorded show and then stop the show and the picture from the channels starts showing up.


Anyone else have this issue.

Originally posted by scorpion74
I had my 6412 from nov never had any major issue.
Last couple of days when I turn on the 6412
I see no picture from channels. I can see channel guide menu, info about the show by pressing info button. but no picture from the channel I am watching.

The workaround I have found is go to mydvr start watching previously recorded show and then stop the show and the picture from the channels starts showing up.


Anyone else have this issue.

I had that happen once after I had been out of town for a week, but that was the only time..
personally, i never turn it off..

Originally posted by scorpion74
I had my 6412 from nov never had any major issue.
Last couple of days when I turn on the 6412
I see no picture from channels. I can see channel guide menu, info about the show by pressing info button. but no picture from the channel I am watching.

The workaround I have found is go to mydvr start watching previously recorded show and then stop the show and the picture from the channels starts showing up.


Anyone else have this issue.

I've had my 6412 DVR for about 2 months....what you describe has happened twice....hasn't become an issue yet.

Originally posted by scorpion74
I had my 6412 from nov never had any major issue.
Last couple of days when I turn on the 6412
I see no picture from channels. I can see channel guide menu, info about the show by pressing info button. but no picture from the channel I am watching.

The workaround I have found is go to mydvr start watching previously recorded show and then stop the show and the picture from the channels starts showing up.


Anyone else have this issue.


what you have to do is uplug the box from the power outlet for 10 seconds, plug it back in & you'll be fine

Getting on to HD programming I watched Jersey Girl last night on 875.

It seemed only the first 30 minutes or so were in FULL WS then it went to 16:9 on 875 and 4:3 on 321.

Although it wa not in HD,it sure looked like it on my set.

Originally posted by L Supreme
what you have to do is uplug the box from the power outlet for 10 seconds, plug it back in & you'll be fine yes and then you'll have cleared all data with a painfully slow recovery which takes up to 24 hours. :( i never turn my box off and this bug still comes up from time to time and it blows, hope it gets fixed. -- first ADS next week kids. same area that got 256 QAM first. ;)

Originally posted by avic
yes and then you'll have cleared all data with a painfully slow recovery which takes up to 24 hours. :( i never turn my box on and this still happens from time to time and it sux. hope it gets fixed. -- first ADS next week kids. same area that got 256 QAM first. ;)

true, but thats why you do it before u turn off the box for the night & you won't feel it as much.

Originally posted by L Supreme
what you have to do is uplug the box from the power outlet for 10 seconds, plug it back in & you'll be fine

I have heard there is a problem with timers getting screwed up. Which might also make the unresponsive IR happen more then every 15 minutes. Two unrelated problems but one mght be making the other worse. Resetting the box once a week or so might be a good idea.

Originally posted by dozens
Resetting the box once a week or so might be a good idea. Sounds like my ReplayTV; it automatically reboots once a week, with the general conjecture that was necessary to clean up lost memory, stale resources, etc. :rolleyes:

Tony

Yeppers, Tony, that's exactly why your ReplayTV reboots. The code is known to have a memory leak, and don't even get me started...

It used to be every two days. Count your blessings.

UPN-HD launch countdown underway, tic-tock...tic-tock...Friday 8pm could be quite special. ;)

Thanks muchly for the heads up, sir.

Even though it's a rerun, I s'pose trekkies might have a treat in store?

Originally posted by avic
UPN-HD launch countdown underway, tic-tock...tic-tock...Friday 8pm could be quite special. ;)

avic. Thanks for the headsup. Any info on ADS.

avic:

You said that the first area that got QAM256 would be the first to get ADS. My question is this: Will the ADS rollout be on a similar schedule as the QAM rollout was? It seemed like 2 months passed between the time the first people got QAM256 and the time Medford (where I live) got QAM256. Assuming ADS starts rolling out next week with the first wave of channels, and going by the QAM schedule, Medford won't be getting ADS until late May :-P Say it ain't so?

After grumbling for a while about price increases and no new HD channels, I have to say it's great to see the recent (and upcoming) additions. Thanks to avic and L Supreme for keeping us in the loop.

Now if I could only get Battlestar Galactica in HD ... ;)

Tony

Well, failing HD Galactica, I guess we can at least count on the next season in ADS at least.

Ditto grumbling about rate increases and happiness over new additions.

Avic or anyone with knowledge of this can simply respond, but I have read where DirecTV and DISH have cheapened their HD broadcasts by not utilizing the Full HD resolution of their channels. Instead of displaying them in their full resolution, they have cut the resolution. Maybe they are overcompressing to fit more channels in their respected bandwidth, but I don't like the fact that they are cutting corners just to squeeze in more channels to sacrifice quality. I hope Comcast isn't doing this.

Yes, that's much to our moles. We really appreciate the info when you can give it. It's nice to have some information ahead of time so we can look forward to additions.

Here's hoping for some bandwidth in the next 6 months for some more HD channels!
Chris

Originally posted by avic
UPN-HD launch countdown underway, tic-tock...tic-tock...Friday 8pm could be quite special. ;)

not necessarily for me.

JOA has a new episode,and I'm also starting to get into the WB comedy What I like about you.

WILAY takes priority over an Enteprrise RERUN. NEW episode,well that's different.

I'm also going out Friday night so the two tuners will be on channels 804 and 856.

May 13th WELL that is a diffferent story. :)

I'm sorry guys, I'm new to this. Could someone please tell me what ADS and QAM 256 are?

Thanks.

ADS - All Digital System. That means that even the locals (all the channels < 100) get transmitted as digital in parallel with the usual set of digital channels we get now.

256QAM - the modulation technique they use to transmit 38.4 Mbps on a 6MHz channel. They recently upgraded the older, non-HD digital channels from 64QAM, which only does something like 24Mbps on a 6MHz channel.

So, 256QAM upgrade means more bits worth of bandwidth
ADS means nicer picture on the locals if you have a digital cable box.

THANKS!

While I'd like to shout out a big ole "Who cares?" to the additions of WLVI-DT and WSBK-DT -- with the exception of Sox games -- that would be churlish. While I personally watch next to nothing on WB and UPN, I think we should applaud Comcast for adding anything at all. We seem to be pretty lucky with HD content here in the Boston area, and as long as Comcast keeps adding new HD networks...well, it makes it more likely they'll keep adding new HD networks.

Next on the wish list: HDNet, Universal HD, and TCM-HD (assuming they ever get it off the ground). Then I'll be very happy.

Oh, and toots: thanks for the explanations; I've been wondering about all that myself.

I wasn't sure either what ADS and QAM meant, so thanks. Now that it seems that Comcast is pushing ahead with adding more HD channels (HDNet/HDNet Movies, ESPN2 HD, and Universal HD on my short list), would it be possible to add Out-of-Market Sports Networks, like Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Comcast SportsNet Midwest, the FSN's, and the YES Network? Not sure if I should bring this up here in the Boston/Comcast Forum, but I was always wondering why digital cable never offered the RSN's like DirecTV and DISH do. These RSN's might come in handy for the professional sports packages, should these networks broadcast games in HD.

Originally posted by tennberg
avic:

You said that the first area that got QAM256 would be the first to get ADS. My question is this: Will the ADS rollout be on a similar schedule as the QAM rollout was? It seemed like 2 months passed between the time the first people got QAM256 and the time Medford (where I live) got QAM256. Assuming ADS starts rolling out next week with the first wave of channels, and going by the QAM schedule, Medford won't be getting ADS until late May :-P Say it ain't so?

it should be smoother, there was a minor snag in some areas with the 256 QAM upgrade so it was delayed a bit. ADS should go much quicker.

Originally posted by toots
ADS - All Digital System. i like that toots but just to keep u straight it stands for A-nalog D-igital S-imulcast. ;)

Originally posted by SonyHD
Avic or anyone with knowledge of this can simply respond, but I have read where DirecTV and DISH have cheapened their HD broadcasts by not utilizing the Full HD resolution of their channels. Instead of displaying them in their full resolution, they have cut the resolution. Maybe they are overcompressing to fit more channels in their respected bandwidth, but I don't like the fact that they are cutting corners just to squeeze in more channels to sacrifice quality. I hope Comcast isn't doing this. rest assured they are NOT.

Originally posted by SonyHD
I wasn't sure either what ADS and QAM meant, so thanks. Now that it seems that Comcast is pushing ahead with adding more HD channels (HDNet/HDNet Movies, ESPN2 HD, and Universal HD on my short list), would it be possible to add Out-of-Market Sports Networks, like Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Comcast SportsNet Midwest, the FSN's, and the YES Network? Not sure if I should bring this up here in the Boston/Comcast Forum, but I was always wondering why digital cable never offered the RSN's like DirecTV and DISH do. These RSN's might come in handy for the professional sports packages, should these networks broadcast games in HD.

Won't happen as the out of market regionals are blacked out during the pro games to protect the packages.

I understand that these games are blacked out, that's why they have the Out-of-Market Sports packages. My reasoning was because if those games are available in HD by the RSN, then that feed should be available to the Sports Package. Lets take the upcoming MLB season for instance. If the White Sox are playing a home game this season, like NESN, those games will be in HD from Comcast SportsNet Chicago. That feed could be made available on the MLB Extra Innings package. This is why I am hoping that Comcast N.E. take a look at this. DirecTV and DISH do carry all of the Regional Sports Networks. I'm sure that once they are able to, they will take the HD feeds from those networks.

How can you tell if you're getting 256QAM or 64QAM? Is there a way without calling Comcast?

Originally posted by Addicted2HD4Now
How can you tell if you're getting 256QAM or 64QAM? Is there a way without calling Comcast?

everyone has 256 QAM its only on digital chnls

Originally posted by SonyHD
I understand that these games are blacked out, that's why they have the Out-of-Market Sports packages. My reasoning was because if those games are available in HD by the RSN, then that feed should be available to the Sports Package. Lets take the upcoming MLB season for instance. If the White Sox are playing a home game this season, like NESN, those games will be in HD from Comcast SportsNet Chicago. That feed could be made available on the MLB Extra Innings package. This is why I am hoping that Comcast N.E. take a look at this. DirecTV and DISH do carry all of the Regional Sports Networks. I'm sure that once they are able to, they will take the HD feeds from those networks.

Keep in mind the 600 series channels... MLB, NHL, MLS... they carry out of market games. As for D* TV carrying these Regionals in HD... unlikely. Cable has more bandwidth available than the D* does, unless they are willing to launch more sattellites (which they are doing but will also require a new receiver to support MPEG 4).

So do we know for sure if the Red Sox opening game this Sunday will be available on an HD channel? I'd like to know before I invite a bunch of people over to watch it.

The Red Sox game should be available in HD on UPN 38, if the channel is added by then. Rumor is by sometime this Friday.

So once the RSN's broadcast their feeds in HD, does that mean we'll see them available in the Out-of-Market-Sports packages, like the MLB E.I. package?

When ADS is in [place, will we know by announcement or advertising or just by a better picture? Also , will there be a stereo and SAP signal coming out of RF output of the Digital Moto boxes , or will you have to get stereo only out of the RCA outputs only, and what about SAP?

Originally posted by SonyHD
The Red Sox game should be available in HD on UPN 38, if the channel is added by then. Rumor is by sometime this Friday. rumor?! no respect. ;) i don't post rumors, comcast engineers are hard at work trying to get WSBKDT up and running by Friday.

Bill Griffith's column from today's Boston Globe:

Comcast announced yesterday that it is adding Channel 38 to its high definition tier, meaning Sunday's Red Sox opener at Yankee Stadium will be available. "Our obligation was to make sure we had the high-definition feed ready to go, said Julio Marenghi, president and general manager of Channel 4 and Channel 38." The addition of Channel 38 to the HD tier means Comcast has gone from five channels when it launched the tier in February 2003 to 17....
-Ken

17 Channels?

To count NESN and FSN as HD channels is a little misleading...since they technically disable access to InHD2 when they pass the games along.

It would be more appropriate to say they have 17 sources of HD content across 15 HD channels.

But then again, it is better than it was one year ago.

17 HD channels ?

4 Movie (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz)
6 Locals (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN, WB)
2 InHD
2 Other (ESPN, Discovery)

Looks like 14 to me. Did I miss any ? I guess Comcast is counting their time-sharing channels: NESN, Celtics channel and NFL Network.

Calling UPN 39 HD in itself is miss leading as how much hd content do they really have anyway , but you are correct that it is an improvement.

Originally posted by dozens
17 HD channels ?

4 Movie (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz)
6 Locals (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN, WB)
2 InHD
2 Other (ESPN, Discovery)

Looks like 14 to me. Did I miss any ? I guess Comcast is counting their time-sharing channels: NESN, Celtics channel and NFL Network. You forgot PBS.

I guess someone should contact their marketing team and tell them they have 18 channels because the NFL Network was shown once a week in HD :)

BTW - I am happy to have these "18" channels. If you like sports then Comcast has by far the best HD lineup of any provider. If they could add HDNet then you could argue the best lineup period.

I would still like to know if the Regional Sports Networks' broadcast is in HD, ie Comcast SportsNet in Chicago or Baltimore, will the MLB Extra Innings package have the HD feed available to air on Comcast? Yes, I would like to see Comcast add HDNet and HDNet Movies too. HDNet has exclusive coverage of the MLS in HD.

We now have enough sports, I want HDNET next, followed by Universal.

-Ken

My friend in Maine has a better HD package with TWC IMHO. He has HBO X2, Showtime X2, cbs, nbc, fox, abc,pbs, nesn,dsc,tnt, inhd x2, hdnet and hdnet movies and espn.

-Ken

Originally posted by kenvt
My friend in Maine has a better HD package with TWC IMHO. He has HBO X2, Showtime X2, cbs, nbc, fox, abc,pbs, nesn,dsc,tnt, inhd x2, hdnet and hdnet movies and espn.

-Ken

Wow, if he has all those channels in HD then that is very impressive. Does his TWC has a DVR ?

yes he had a dvr long before comcast had it available, and it is only $5 per month extra.

Originally posted by kenvt
Calling UPN 38 HD in itself is miss leading as how much hd content do they really have anyway , but you are correct that it is an improvement.

Although the HD programming MAY be limited,since they aRE devoting a channel to it,it counts as a channel.

Like i said in an earlier post,this means that ALL local HD programming is on Comcast.

Originally posted by kenvt
My friend in Maine has a better HD package with TWC IMHO.
-Ken *STOP FARTING PLEASE*

Avic,

I was not thread crapping. I was responding to someone else who said that Comcast had the best HD package around, when clearly they do not (IMHO).
-Ken

Hey, I just put a QAM receiver on my cable tonight and found digital copies of the local SD channels, in addition to the HD copies.

Seems like at least a piece of ADS is already underway.

Originally posted by mgpt6
When ADS is in [place, will we know by announcement or advertising or just by a better picture? Also , will there be a stereo and SAP signal coming out of RF output of the Digital Moto boxes , or will you have to get stereo only out of the RCA outputs only, and what about SAP? you'll know because of the significant PQ improvement especially if you view analogs through the DVR. to test whether a channel is in ADS, you can tune to the analog channel you want to check and if you see the dolby or 5.1 designation on the flip bar then the channel is now digital. you can also check it in the service menu. apples and oranges with respect to your RF question which would not be affected by ADS.

Hey. Just did a rescan with my Fusion and found all the locals in digital! Wow. This is way cool.

For those in my area with QAM tuner, they are in 76 and 77 sub-channels.

Hmm. Even the shopping channels are in ADS.

So, if I get this right, when ADS is implemented, everything will be digital. How is that going to impact people like me who plug their basic, analog cable directly into an old 27" tv? Will I need a box? I don't know if its gotten better, but, when I tried digital cable a couple years ago, the lag when channel flipping was pretty lame (albiet, it was not comcast, maybe they implimented better than cox in DC). Does ADS mean that an extended basic subscriber will have a lag when flipping channels? I guess I could use the guide - but that isn't quite as annoying to anyone else in the room.

Originally posted by dc_pilgrim
So, if I get this right, when ADS is implemented, everything will be digital. How is that going to impact people like me who plug their basic, analog cable directly into an old 27" tv? Will I need a box? I don't know if its gotten better, but, when I tried digital cable a couple years ago, the lag when channel flipping was pretty lame (albiet, it was not comcast, maybe they implimented better than cox in DC). Does ADS mean that an extended basic subscriber will have a lag when flipping channels? I guess I could use the guide - but that isn't quite as annoying to anyone else in the room.

I beleive that this has been covered in the past, but in the immediate future, you can still plug directly in. There will be a time where you need some type of box. This is not a Comcast thing, but rather the FCC eliminating analog broadcasts.

The "S" in ADS stands for "simulcast." In other words, both the analog and digital versions of the channel are sent down the wire. Your 27" TV connected (and, for that matter, any old analog cable boxes still out there) directly will see the same analog channel it's always seen, while the cable box will be told to use the digital version of the same channel.

Whether the number of channels simulcast will decrease is largely dependent on when and for what Comcast needs additional bandwidth for, and whether they're willing to invest in the rather large number of digital boxes (and installations) they'd need to provide to their existing analog customers (yes, they'd recoup costs through rentals at some point.) It'll surely happen at some point, but I've got no idea how rapidly that would occur. I'd guess that analog locals will continue to be simulcast for as long as analog locals exist.

Thanks Dennis and Alan - that makes sense. I am going to be upgrading to a cable-card capable HDTV soon anyways (and maybe the DVR), but figured the 27" might live on in a bedroom or elsewhere. Good to know.

Yah, if'n I had to buy/rent a cable box for every TV, TiVo, ReplayTV and {gasp} VCR I have, I'd be single handedly supporting Comcast.

I read somewhere that comcast was looking for a digital converter that cost $50 or less. This would take the sting out of getting everyone to digitial.

-Ken

Once everything is all digital, meaning government banning analog distribution, there will be 3rd party compnies that will sell digital cable boxes.

I can't wait for ADS to be completed because then the new digital boxes will be available & from what I've been told, they will be smaller than current analog boxes.

Originally posted by stephenju
Hey. Just did a rescan with my Fusion and found all the locals in digital! Wow. This is way cool.

For those in my area with QAM tuner, they are in 76 and 77 sub-channels.

Hmm. Even the shopping channels are in ADS.

not yet in Lawrence. :(

just checked not there :(

I know this is probably too simplistic, but could Comcast be rolling out ADS alphabetical by town name ? We have both Bedford, NH and Bedford, MA with ADS.... just a thought.

-Ken

Originally posted by toots
Yah, if'n I had to buy/rent a cable box for every TV, TiVo, ReplayTV and {gasp} VCR I have, I'd be single handedly supporting Comcast.

the HD digital boxes are a little pricey considering you also have to pay a few extra bucks on top of the box to get your digital package on the extra set.

The 5100/6200s are IMHO better then the black 2000s (I didn't even know they still made them My friend got a NEW one recently when she made the move from Standard for $46 to Basic and Digital Plus for $24)

They tunre in the channels faster and downconvert the hD channels to a letterboxed NTSC signal. (Acceptable if i want to catch something on INHD on my other set.)

Don't have a lot of knowledge of this, but I would think that once ADS is up and running to full capacity, every town will be getting it at the same time. Again I'm not positive, but I would assume that's what will happen. Correct me if I'm wrong. By the way, how far along are they?

Originally posted by kenvt
I know this is probably too simplistic, but could Comcast be rolling out ADS alphabetical by town name ? We have both Bedford, NH and Bedford, MA with ADS.... just a thought.

-Ken

Then your town isn't too far away. Right? :)

We did get 256QAM pretty early in the process. So Comcast might be doing ADS in the same order.

Also, I don't think I find NECN in the ADS channels. Will look again tonight.

I would assume the only channels you're going to get with a clear QAM tuner - that is the only unencrypted channels you'll find - are the locals. I assume that NECN would be encrypted, and therefore not easily tuned by a third-party QAM tuner.

Originally posted by toots
I would assume the only channels you're going to get with a clear QAM tuner - that is the only unencrypted channels you'll find - are the locals. I assume that NECN would be encrypted, and therefore not easily tuned by a third-party QAM tuner.

NECN (not NESN) is in the lineup for basic cable. So I expect it will be avaible in ADS?

Chronicle is doing a show on HD. "HD 101"

Overview of topics covered and more links
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/chronicle/4311359/detail.html

Originally posted by kenvt
Bill Griffith's column from today's Boston Globe:

Comcast announced yesterday that it is adding Channel 38 to its high definition tier, meaning Sunday's Red Sox opener at Yankee Stadium will be available. "Our obligation was to make sure we had the high-definition feed ready to go, said Julio Marenghi, president and general manager of Channel 4 and Channel 38." The addition of Channel 38 to the HD tier means Comcast has gone from five channels when it launched the tier in February 2003 to 17....
-Ken

Just called comcast to confirm my transfer of service.
While there they confirmed WSBKDT!

Avic,when the local broadcast channels get converted to ADS, will we still get their SAP audio from the Moto Digital box for either the RCA audio output or from the CH.3 RF output, or from the optical digital output? Thanks for info and your input to the thread. mgpt6.

As of noon today, no WSBKDT.

Originally posted by kenvt
As of noon today, no WSBKDT. Patience...still 79 hours till gametime.

Patience...still 79 hours till gametime.

True, but I was looking forward to Enterprise tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Still plenty of time I know !

-Ken

Ooops....forgot about DST. Only 78 hours now!

WSBKDT will be up tomorrow, thanks to the kick-ass engineers at Comcast. ;)

Thank you.

WSBKDT will be up tomorrow, thanks to the kick-ass engineers at Comcast

Nothing at all in HD on SBK today anyway.

-Ken

Originally posted by avic
WSBKDT will be up tomorrow, thanks to the kick-ass engineers at Comcast. ;)
Many thanks to both Comcast and WSBK for making this happen in time for the Sox/Yank (good vs. evil) battle on Sunday. I'm not sure you've noticed, but the Sox have been playing better since going HD.

Mickey

Originally posted by MickeyGee
Many thanks to both Comcast and WSBK for making this happen in time for the Sox/Yank (good vs. evil) battle on Sunday. I'm not sure you've noticed, but the Sox have been playing better since going HD.

Mickey Must be able to see the ball better in 1080i than 480i.

Originally posted by avic
WSBKDT will be up tomorrow, thanks to the kick-ass engineers at Comcast. ;) I don't watch Enterprise or the Sox, but I do appreciate the updates you provide here, as I'm sure many others do also.

:)

Originally posted by kenvt
True, but I was looking forward to Enterprise tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Still plenty of time I know !

-Ken

We'll get it in time for Enterprise. :)

WSBKDT is on tonight with my QAM tuner.

Is NESN available on unencrypted QAM on Comcast (Southie)? Looking to get the Sox home opener with my EyeTV 500 unit and was going to mail it out east for that game.

Originally posted by Joseph S
Is NESN available on unencrypted QAM on Comcast (Southie)? Looking to get the Sox home opener with my EyeTV 500 unit and was going to mail it out east for that game.



No, it is encrypted.