Finally saw the Mariners in HD last night. Very nice (especially compared to the NBA finals coverage from Detroit).

longing, RobbyD -> The newer Mot5100s and Mot6200s are the only ones with a DVI connector, and it's DVI-D HDCP only.

-eric

Ever since my 6200 was "upgraded" to 7.10, DVI has been unusable because of frequent horizontal lines running through the picture. Anyone else with this problem?

Since my 5100 was "upgraded" to 7.10 I've had no picture at all via DVI, which I assume is due to HDCP (my TV isn't HDCP enabled). The previous firmware update (7.07) enabled the DVI and I could use it, but it also for some reason made it impossible for me to use 720p (very sporadic flash of a frame, in the midst of a lot of blanks) -- even with component cable, for which it worked before. None of this bothers me too much, since I use the component 1080i setup by choice -- but one wonders what "feature" will appear next.

Unencrypted HD channels on Comcast Basic
I installed the Fusion 3HDTV Gold with QAM. I live on Mercer Island.

When connected to the "Basic" Comcast feed, it picks up some 10 digital channels, but it seems to me that whatever is fed by Comcast over these channels changes all the time.

I have - at various times - picked up KOMO (local ABC) (720p), 4 different KCTS (PBS) feeds including their 1080i HD signal, when available, Q13 (FOX) plus some unencrypted movie channels starting in the evening (HBO?).

But - I have so far not been able to pick up KING (NBC), although the station broadcasts HD OTA.

I wonder why? Is it due to a financial dispute between Comcast and the local NBC station (similar to the KIRO (BCS) dispute?)?

CVJ

There's a thread in the HTPC forum dealing with the Fusion card and QAM. I suspect you'd have better luck there.

I hadn't checked on this thread for a while. Am I correct in assuming Comcast hasn't added any more HD channels to their service?

I tried to get VOOM which looks like a great HD package but I have no line of sight thru the damn trees. It's pretty useless for most of us here in Seattle, as the VOOM bird is only ~15 degrees off the eastern horizon. I think the last time I saw that low on the horizon around here I was either on the ferry or on Mt Rainier. :D

Originally posted by cvj
Unencrypted HD channels on Comcast Basic
I installed the Fusion 3HDTV Gold with QAM. I live on Mercer Island.

When connected to the "Basic" Comcast feed, it picks up some 10 digital channels, but it seems to me that whatever is fed by Comcast over these channels changes all the time.

I have - at various times - picked up KOMO (local ABC) (720p), 4 different KCTS (PBS) feeds including their 1080i HD signal, when available, Q13 (FOX) plus some unencrypted movie channels starting in the evening (HBO?).

But - I have so far not been able to pick up KING (NBC), although the station broadcasts HD OTA.

I wonder why? Is it due to a financial dispute between Comcast and the local NBC station (similar to the KIRO (BCS) dispute?)?

CVJ
You're probably getting varying signal strength. I've had the card for a couple weeks and I've been able to get all the local channels with it. I believe they are all located between 110 and 114 in Seattle. Unfortunately INHD and ESPN must be encrypted here. I actually can even pull in Kiro with a Silver Sensor and I'm on the north end of Shoreline. The card works well, I just wish I could say the same for the software :( Here is the main thread for the card in the HTPC forum.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=401229

Originally posted by analog8
I tried to get VOOM which looks like a great HD package but I have no line of sight thru the damn trees. It's pretty useless for most of us here in Seattle, as the VOOM bird is only ~15 degrees off the eastern horizon. I think the last time I saw that low on the horizon around here I was either on the ferry or on Mt Rainier. :D

I'd heard Voom was having a hard time getting off the ground. :D

I have DirecTV, but if the direction for Voom is East, it wouldn't work for me either. Trees.

I have DirecTV, but if the direction for Voom is East, it wouldn't work for me either. Trees.

At this latittude it cannot be due east. If it is indeed 15% off the horizon, I would guess that the satellite is at ~120 degrees from due north (not magnetic). hopefully you don't have any trees in that direction.

Originally posted by Roto
You're probably getting varying signal strength. I've had the card for a couple weeks and I've been able to get all the local channels with it. I believe they are all located between 110 and 114 in Seattle. Unfortunately INHD and ESPN must be encrypted here. I actually can even pull in Kiro with a Silver Sensor and I'm on the north end of Shoreline. The card works well, I just wish I could say the same for the software :( Here is the main thread for the card in the HTPC forum.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=401229

Thanks for posting the main thread - where I found the solution to my problem. Someone recommended checking for old splitters and filters on the COMCAST coax feed - and after I removed a "AIRCOM" filter installed on the line some 20 years ago (by Viacom when they were the cable provider) I can now pick up all the local channels (including 4 movie channels in the evening).

I share your feelings about the software - and I hope that DVICO is following the main thread.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers,
Claus

Originally posted by Darrel McBane
Jeff28: How long untill we see HD-CBS and HD-UPN?
and discovery HD...

so you guys are saying you dont have those channels from comcast in seattle.

I will hopefully be up there living in about 6 months.

i pretty much need discovery HD...
anyone know where to get it from ? satellite or other cable provider?

sorry, i dont know much about the area yet
thanks

Originally posted by TheBobGoat
and discovery HD...

so you guys are saying you dont have those channels from comcast in seattle.

I will hopefully be up there living in about 6 months.

i pretty much need discovery HD...
anyone know where to get it from ? satellite or other cable provider?

sorry, i dont know much about the area yet
thanks

Both DirecTV and DishNetwork have DiscoveryHD, you can alos get it on the big dish systems with a 4DTV/HDD200 reciever/decoder setup.

I imagine we'll see it on Comcast eventually as well as the last two locals. We better have UPN by the next season of Enterprpise dammit.

As documented in this thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=411507 Comcast and Discovery Channel have signed a deal. Discovery HD has already appeared on the Baltimore system. Based on past history, Seattle should start looking for it next week, although it wouldn't surprise me at all if it appeared before then. It also wouldn't surprise me if it took a lot longer. But it should be here soon.

I appreciate it guys, If you have any suggestions on places to live near McChord AFB, PM me.

Originally posted by jeff28
Comcast is tentatively planning to launch ON DEMAND in Edmonds, WA on May 27, 2004. I know some of you have been waiting for that. If I catch wind of any revisions in that schedule I'll pass it on.

Just curious Jeff, do you have any idea when "on demand" will be made available in Edmonds, (and other neglected areas as well)?
A lot of members say it isn't a big deal but from the Comcast ads it seems that quite a few options are available - options to avoid the network wasteland of summer offerings and so-called (un)reality shows.

Still no VOD in Auburn, and I absolutely LOVE those Comcast ads that shows CSI when we don't get CBS HD here! I'd probably get HBO again when VOD hits this area.

Originally posted by nodrog2
Just curious Jeff, do you have any idea when "on demand" will be made available in Edmonds, (and other neglected areas as well)?
A lot of members say it isn't a big deal but from the Comcast ads it seems that quite a few options are available - options to avoid the network wasteland of summer offerings and so-called (un)reality shows.

Yes, I'm being told that the Edmonds On Demand launch is scheduled for June 24, 2004, but is still subject to change.

The same goes for Auburn.

I know this information is probably worth nilch, but I'll post it anyway.

About a week ago, I (finally) got hold of a Comcast CSR dude that was very talkative and somewhat of an HD enthusiast on the line. He basically hinted me that Comcast is working hard at getting those HD channels asap (~ the incoming month):

KIRO (highest priority)
HD Discovery (pretty high priority)

He also told me that others were on the way, but he couldn't tell me which ones...

When I asked about TNT-HD, he told me he didn't hear anything about it. And about UPN, he told me that since they have almost no HD programming, the priority for it is really low. So, I wouldn't hold my breath to watch the next season of Enterprise in HD. :/

-eric

Thanks for the info eric. I have no idea why I would want TNT-HD other than when the NBA starts again. HD Discovery may be enough to get me to keep basic cable a while longer, though I remember reading that they have a lot of reruns and after a few months you've could've seen everything they have.

I found out I can get KIRO with an indoor antenna, but I'd still rather have it through cable before football season.

I got something in the mail today from Comcast, showing me how to use On Demand, so maybe it actually will be in this area soon. Also, while spinning the channels the other night, I caught the beginning of a movie on TNT that had the "available in HD where available." If anything, it would be nice to have another channel that offers the occasional movie in HD.

Originally posted by ericjut
And about UPN, he told me that since they have almost no HD programming, the priority for it is really low. So, I wouldn't hold my breath to watch the next season of Enterprise in HD. :/
-eric

Arg! They got more than KONG. But KONG was a condition of KING I'm sure.

Originally posted by jeff28
Yes, I'm being told that the Edmonds On Demand launch is scheduled for June 24, 2004, but is still subject to change.

The same goes for Auburn. Well, I was told June 17, so it must have slipped a week.

I did get a flyer today announcing On Demand 'soon' (for Shoreline - old Chambers Cable area like Edmonds) - so we are getting closer.

On Demand is a big yawn as far as I'm concerned. It might be nice if you didn't have a Tivo, but it's nothing I use much. I've played with it a bit but the only thing I found that I wanted to watch was the free Heart concert, which was of really poor quality (and thus not worth watching).

I don't have Tivo, so it'll be a kick for awhile, at least. Also, a question for those out there, which has the better HD movies: HBO, STARZ, SHOWTIME? I'm not all that interested in original content. Thanks.

Originally posted by Malcolm_B
I don't have Tivo, so it'll be a kick for awhile, at least. Also, a question for those out there, which has the better HD movies: HBO, STARZ, SHOWTIME? I'm not all that interested in original content. Thanks.

Starz and HBO are a pretty close tie in my opinion - Showtime is a distant third (or maybe 4th behind Cinemax).

Please.....Someone must have some info on what’s happening with the negotiations for Comcast to broadcast KIRO in HDTV. The "Click" network has KIRO, what is up with Comcast.

Thanks

Originally posted by vion
Please.....Someone must have some info on what’s happening with the negotiations for Comcast to broadcast KIRO in HDTV. The "Click" network has KIRO, what is up with Comcast. The "Click" network isn't owned by one of Comcast's largest competitors (Cox Cable, aka Cox Communications, owners of KIRO).

Originally posted by jeff28
Starz and HBO are a pretty close tie in my opinion - Showtime is a distant third (or maybe 4th behind Cinemax).

You are kidding right????? Starz is the worst for HD content......a specific instance was when "Gangs of New York" was released to Cable...Starz had it and it was in SD......their content is a joke.

HBO....Cinemax....Showtime......INHD1 or 2 (for the older movies)....then maybe Starz......

Originally posted by vion
Please.....Someone must have some info on what’s happening with the negotiations for Comcast to broadcast KIRO in HDTV. The "Click" network has KIRO, what is up with Comcast.

Thanks

I think this is where things stand... I have not been able to find much else.

LATEST NEWS
March 17, 2004
NCAA tourney not available in HDTV to local cable users
Fans of the NCAA basketball tournament who want to see the CBS games in high definition this year from their cable provider in Seattle will be disappointed.

None of the tournament games on KIRO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Seattle, will be available in high definition over the Comcast cable company's local wires. Cox Enterprises of Atlanta, which owns KIRO, and Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. are apparently engaged in a national tiff over programming costs; a spat that dribbles down to Seattle. Seattle Comcast subscribers were also unable to watch CBS's coverage of this year's Super Bowl in high definition.

A Comcast spokesman said the cable company would love to carry KIRO's high-def signal locally.

"We've reached agreement with all the other channels" to carry their high-definition signals locally, said Comcast's Steve Kipp. "Except CBS. We very much want to carry CBS in high definition," he said.

KIRO general manager John Woodin said that talks between Cox and Comcast are "ongoing" and he'd like to see the dispute resolved "as fast as we can." (The station received "hundreds" of calls from viewers regarding the Super Bowl and high definition, he said.)

High-definition TV set owners do have an alternative: KIRO's high-definition signal is broadcast over the air and local electronics stores do carry the antennas required to pick up the signal.



© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.

Originally posted by miatasm
You are kidding right????? Starz is the worst for HD content......
Well, I don't know. I guess it's all a matter of opinion.
You're right that there's too much SD content on Starz, but that will improve. Almost all of their first run stuff is HD now and most of the older movies are as well.
Anyway - I was just meaning to say that, in my humble opinion, I think Starz has more good first-run movies than Showtime. If I was going to pick two premiums to subscribe to, Starz and HBO would be my picks.

Your are right........its just something that irritated me from the beginning and whenever I see a movie in SD I rant some more about them not doing it right.......

This morning's message, instead of promoting wrestling, tells us that Discovery HD will appear on 663 July 1.

Yes, I was expecting wrestling or a high speed internet ad! Good news indeed!

Wow... the Comcast CSR didn't lie or exagerated! :D

Now, let's hope he was also right about CBS! (knock on wood!)

-eric

Originally posted by Malcolm_B
Yes, I was expecting wrestling or a high speed internet ad!...

Me too, so I ignored it for half a day. I can't remember the last time I got useful information from a message.

I am really looking forward to Discovery HD! :D This was the channel I was waiting for!

Will this be an unencrypted channel, I wonder?

I believe it should be a part of the standard HD package so I'm assuming, no....but the members that have it already can tell you by using their diagnostics......"current channel status" on the first line you will see "enc" for encrypted or "clr" for in the clear.....

Comcast announced that later this summer they will also be adding more than 70 hours of monthly ON DEMAND programs from Discovery Networks at no extra charge to Digital Cable Customers.

I know Comcast has taken criticism on this board for being slow to add new HD channels. However, just to be fair, consider that virtually every other distributor passes along some kind of incremental charge for Discovery HD Theater - and we're not having to pay anything extra. Comcast has done a good thing here, negotiating hard for their subscribers.

I must admit that I was only going to try out Comcast Digital Cable with HD for a little while until either Voom started caring FSN but I must say that I have been very happy so far. Now with Discovery HD being added and who knows what else will be added, I may just end of staying with Comcast. Now if they would just add CBS, TNT and Biography.

From NBC's Olympics coverage website:

"For the first time by a U.S. broadcaster at a Summer Olympics, NBC will provide high definition coverage. NBC's separate, unique HDTV coverage on NBC's digital affiliates, presented by Sony Electronics Inc., will provide HDTV coverage on delay of six sports from the only main Olympic venues provided in high definition by the Olympic host broadcaster. Those sports include swimming, diving, gymnastics, track and field, medal rounds of basketball and the men's soccer gold medal final. The HDTV coverage will total 399 hours and is a completely different production from the standard definition broadcast on the network. NBC has 124 HDTV affiliates with the potential to cover 86 percent of the country."

This sounds like they plan to separate the NBC SD & HD broadcasting during the Olympics, rather than having the HD channel (i.e., 105) mirror the output on the SD channel (5).

I'll bet KING won't go for that. They may have to bring up a seperate channel to feed it to since KING will lose all their advertising dollars.

Originally posted by rverginia
I'll bet KING won't go for that. They may have to bring up a seperate channel to feed it to since KING will lose all their advertising dollars.

Actually, I'll bet they are quite happy about it, as they can sell their airtime twice, - one set of commercials on each channel.

We are paying extra for HD. When comcast first came out with their HD service up until Jan of this year, there was no extra 550ish charge for the box. This is their service charge for their HD channels hidden in a box rental charge. What should be really interesting is when open cable comes and you can buy your own box, if they will raise the rate for people that dont rent a box. I just hope the open cable boxes end up having a better pic on analog sd stations then the pos ones we have now.

There also is no excuse for not having CBS for how much money comcast is pulling in. If they really wanted to get it badly then they would already have it. Im also expecting another increase sometime in the next 6 months to cover VOD service, probably as a year end rate increase.

Still its the only service with HD locals so we are kinda stuck.(without OTA)

Originally posted by Calypse
There also is no excuse for not having CBS for how much money comcast is pulling in. If they really wanted to get it badly then they would already have it. Im also expecting another increase sometime in the next 6 months to cover VOD service, probably as a year end rate increase.

I have no idea what's in the negotiations of getting KIRO, but you cannot seriously be suggesting a cable company should just give in to whatever a station wants. If they did that you'd be paying $100 a month for limited basic.

As to your other point, I believe there are tuners you can buy that will pull in the HD channels (at least the locals). The Fusion PC card would be one.

Originally posted by Karyk
I have no idea what's in the negotiations of getting KIRO, but you cannot seriously be suggesting a cable company should just give in to whatever a station wants. If they did that you'd be paying $100 a month for limited basic.

Indeed. The feud between Comcast and Cox is well documented. I don't blame Comcast for sticking to their guns. KIRO/Cox did the exact same thing to Mellinium Cable. The funny thing is that Cox has nothing to gain by this, as they don't serve any customers here. They either charge Comcast a fee in line with the other stations or they get nothing. Right now they are getting nothing. How does that serve their business and shareholders?

Anyway it will be sorted out eventually, either by the parties involved or by the feds.

American Chopper coming in HD? Good deal.

Originally posted by mpestrada74
American Chopper coming in HD? Good deal.

If it's filmed in HD - I second that, but my suspicion is that it's filmed in SD, which will be upconverted to HD. But who knows.

Let's hope I'm wrong..... ;)

Originally posted by Karyk
On Demand is a big yawn as far as I'm concerned. It might be nice if you didn't have a Tivo, but it's nothing I use much. I've played with it a bit but the only thing I found that I wanted to watch was the free Heart concert, which was of really poor quality (and thus not worth watching).

I'm catching up with "Band of Brothers" with OnDemand VOD. I lent my DVDs to a friend and they are still gone. Anyway, I find the quality of both the audio and video to be quite good. Better than the usual 480i digital cable fare, and better than any of the analog feeds. No artifacting that I can see (on my 92" screen) but the image lacks the detail of DVD while being superior to anything broadcast short of HD or my BUD.

Originally posted by Wazzu94
If it's filmed in HD - I second that, but my suspicion is that it's filmed in SD, which will be upconverted to HD. But who knows.

Let's hope I'm wrong..... ;)

According to this, it's HD:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/news/n_monster_cars.shtml

"A production crew from Moody Street of Boston is shooting 'American Chopper' with Panasonic's AJ-HDC27F, a variable frame-rate DVCPRO HD camcorder that's also compatible with PAL and other international formats. (Pilgrim's analog shows are aired worldwide.) The camera can convert both 1080i and 720p to 1080p/24, serving as a 'universal master' from which 25 fps PAL and other TV formats can be derived."

Cool - I was wrong, which is good for a change :)

Only problem now is that I'm never around to watch the show live, so I have to Tivo it off the SD channels......

I know this has been mentiined before, but IMO it bears repeating.

Comcast, you better watch out. Check this out:

Standard HD Package Channel Line-Up
504 KOMO- ABC
505 KING - NBC
507 KIRO- CBS
510 KTWB - WB
511 KSTW - UPN
512 KBTC - PBS
513 KCPQ - FOX
540 Showtime - free to subscriber of Showtime
541 HBO- free to subscriber of HBO
542 Starz! - free to subscriber of Starz!
543 Cinemax - free to subscriber of Cinemax

HDTV Receiver Pricing
Customers with digital service $6.95
Customers with analog service $9.95

This is the offering from Click! (Tacomas alternative to Comcast). Notice that they already have CBS and UPN.

And (this was news to me) they are EXPANDING! This summer they are moving into University Place and Fircrest. Lakewood to follow after that (I'm in Lakewood!). In addition, several other HD offerings and also has broadband support. Ain't competition great!

So when is Click expanding to King County?

So when is Click expanding to King County?

Ummm.... (Sheepishly) Never. Its supplied and operated by Tacoma Power. You need to move. There's plenty of room for you in Pierce County ;)

I just got VOD in Auburn. Like the fact I can put on something like the "Black Hawk Down" episode from The History Channel. I'll probably use this more than I thought, and hope more content comes down the pipe.

Originally posted by ianken
Indeed. The feud between Comcast and Cox is well documented. I don't blame Comcast for sticking to their guns. KIRO/Cox did the exact same thing to Mellinium Cable. The funny thing is that Cox has nothing to gain by this, as they don't serve any customers here. They either charge Comcast a fee in line with the other stations or they get nothing. Right now they are getting nothing. How does that serve their business and shareholders?

Anyway it will be sorted out eventually, either by the parties involved or by the feds. Agreed. Our Cox-owned Fox affiliate (KTVU) and its digital signal are caught up in the negotiations between Cox corporate and Comcast corporate.

I don't think the feds will ever become involved, however. What will ultimately lead to a solution is the expiration of the analog contract(s) between Cox and Comcast for KIRO, KTVU, etc.

When the analog contracts expire, I am convinced that Comcast will not sign a new contract unless Cox agrees to digital (including HD) retransmission along with the analog. At that point, a huge battle might ensue, with the analog signals being pulled from Comcast's lineup temporarily until a resolution is reached.

Click appears to be missing KCTS HD, INHD, INHD2, DISCHD, and ESPN HD.

It only has CBS to crow about, but I'll take the five over the one.

Click appears to be missing KCTS HD, INHD, INHD2, DISCHD, and ESPN HD

Hmmm... Missed the KCTS HD. I don't watch sports so ESPN is not a big deal to me but I know thats a big deal to many of you. INHD and INHD2 are only offered by the cable company. Didn't know Comcast was offering DISCHD. What channel is it on.?

All that aside, I'm not sure I would switch to Click! The main point is, here is come serious competition for Comcast which in the end benefits all of us. (At least I think it does)

Discovery HD will be on 663 starting July 1. Really looking forward to that.

Thanks Malcolm. I was unaware of that! I'm looking forward to that also.

Anyone having PQ issues? For about a month now the edges of any image on the screen appear "squiggly" for lack of a better term. It's like a moving sawtooth edge. It happens on Comp Vid & Firewire. OTA & DVDs are fine. I haven't added anything new that would cause interferance. Anyone have any ideas?

I finally got On Demand yesterday. There was more there than I thought. Enough that I might use that instead of channel surfing when I don't have anything recorded on my Replay that I want to watch.

Now maybe INHD will work again for me once they get Discovery HD on. I always seem to get some HD problem whenever they've made upgrades.

Has anyone heard when Comcast Seattle will roll out the "Get Local" category for On Demand?

I am very disappointed to see such a limited menu of shows - missing all of the broadcast network shows - and cable shows like USA's Monk and FX' Nip/Tuck - and all the great BBC shows.

I noticed a pattern, in that VOD programs longer than 60 minutes appear in the Saved Program list and can be resumed where they were left off, while any programs 60 minutes or less will not appear in the Saved Program list. This seems to be true whether the program is a movie or not. For example, the series Band of Brothers #4 (60') is not resumable while #10 (63') is; the movie Angels in America (not recommended) #3 (58') is not resumable while #5 (64') is. Since the "fast" forward is pretty slow, that's something to consider when you have to interrupt watching a program -- it may be in the Saved Program list. It would be nice if they all were.

FYI

Click has a lot of HD channels to choose from, Sign me up!!! (as soon as they get to Lakewood)

Premium Package Channel Line-Up
520 ESPN HD
521 HDNet Movies
522 HDNet
523 Discovery HD Theatre

Premium Package Pricing
Customers with digital service $9.00
Customers with analog service $15.00

Standard Package Channel Line-Up
504 KOMO- ABC
505 KING - NBC
507 KIRO- CBS
510 KTWB - WB
511 KSTW - UPN
512 KBTC - PBS
513 KCPQ - FOX
540 Showtime - free to subscriber of Showtime

541 HBO- free to subscriber of HBO
542 Starz! - free to subscriber of Starz!
543 Cinemax - free to subscriber of Cinemax

HDTV Receiver Pricing
Customers with digital service $6.95
Customers with analog service

Originally posted by vion
FYI

Click has a lot of HD channels to choose from, Sign me up!!! (as soon as they get to Lakewood)
507 KIRO- CBS
511 KSTW - UPN


Now this just pisses me off. I wonder how much Click is paying for their KIRO feed VS what KIRO is asking from Comcast. And they have UPN. Sure, UPN only has one show in HD that's worth seeing in HD but it's still a show I cannot watch.

Grrrrrrrr.

Originally posted by ianken
Now this just pisses me off. I wonder how much Click is paying for their KIRO feed VS what KIRO is asking from Comcast. And they have UPN. Sure, UPN only has one show in HD that's worth seeing in HD but it's still a show I cannot watch.

Grrrrrrrr.

I don't see KONG-HD on the Click list. Wonder how they avoided that? I'd trade the 0 KONG shows for the 1 on UPN (no matter what it is).

yeah, isn't kong's hd channel just a joke?

has there ever been a single hour of HD broadcast on KONG's hd channel?

Rich

Doesn't KONG show NW Backroads and Evening Magazine?

In any case, Comcast's analog is so bad that watching SD on their HD system is almost mandatory.

Originally posted by Karyk
Doesn't KONG show NW Backroads and Evening Magazine?

In any case, Comcast's analog is so bad that watching SD on their HD system is almost mandatory.

My analog is OK, but the HD upconvert is definitly way better. The funny thing I notice is that most of these guys seem to use embarasingly primitive scalers. The amount of jaggies and other scaling/deinterlacing artifacts I see (particularly on KING) are pretty sad. I also see tons of dot crawl on KING and KONG on their SD->HD upconverts. You'd thing a big fancy braodcaster could afford something as simple as a three line combe filter in their video processor.

Originally posted by Karyk
Doesn't KONG show NW Backroads and Evening Magazine?

In any case, Comcast's analog is so bad that watching SD on their HD system is almost mandatory.

KONG shows SD tapes of those shows, and as far as I know haven't had any HD broadcasts. Since 106 is digital, the picture is much better than 6 (whether due to Comcast's effects on SD or just having it converted to digital further upstream).

Originally posted by wareagle
Since 106 is digital, the picture is much better than 6 (whether due to Comcast's effects on SD or just having it converted to digital further upstream).

You probably should add "digital and using HD bandwidth" to your statement above. IMHO, some Comcast digital SD channels have the worst quality currently available. The bandwitdh is just too small. Now, the local channels get HD bandwidth, which makes a world of difference on the PQ.

-eric

There is no Bandwith difference for the regular Digital Cable channels & HD Bandwidth......3 Mb/s is 3 Mb/s regaurdless if its an HD channel or a Digital Cable Channel....

The problem is that the regular Digital Channels are analog that are converted to digital (garbage in - garbage converted/compressed and then sent out).....& the channels you are saying are using "HD Bandwidth" (which is just like any other bandwidth) are digital & stay digital to the STB or TV.....

I was flipping through the HD channels and noticed the new ESPN format. When did they get rid of the Strech-O-Vision? I'll admit I haven't checked ESPN out for quite some time because of the way it was displayed but this is a very welcome change.

ESPN Strech-o-Vision

I think it was about three weeks ago, but I could be mistaken.

They finally activated their new HDTV Studio...........

They finally activated their new HDTV Studio...........

miatasm,

While I totally agree with you that an A->D will have an effect on the PQ, I'm not sure about your "3MB/s per HD channel" statement.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting my HD locals in 1080i right now, independently of the content being an HD program or not.

Are you saying that Comcast is recompressing MPEG2 1080i data into 3MB/s bandwidth? :)

In my last post, I just meant to say that it's more difficult to see compression artifacts on those channels compared to the SD digital channels.

-eric

Woke up to another HDCP synchronization message, which cleared up after a few moments. This was my cue to check the DVI input, which is now working again. Firmware is still at 7.10, but it appears there was a restart on the box overnight, since the menu cursor was positioned at the upper left selection "By Time".

Not sure if the DVI problem is fixed, but I can switch away from the DVI and back again without losing it.

The DVI quit working again when I switched to an SD channel, so I guess this was the result of a restart of the box and not a fix from Comcast.

Did they pull Deadwood off of VOD? I watched one episode last week and was all set to watch the second episode last night and when I went to the HBO menu and the sub-menu of Series, I didn't see Deadwood there. If they pulled it, then how long do they leave items on the menu? If it's still there, tell me what menu it's on.

Thanks Darryl

Same thing happened with the 2nd season of Six Feet Under. It was there one day......gone the next.....

Originally posted by darmad2002
Did they pull Deadwood off of VOD? I watched one episode last week and was all set to watch the second episode last night and when I went to the HBO menu and the sub-menu of Series, I didn't see Deadwood there. If they pulled it, then how long do they leave items on the menu? If it's still there, tell me what menu it's on.

Thanks Darryl

If the setup is similar to our area, there were a number of shows that were only available through 6/27. Each listing in the VOD guide shows how long it will be available but the offerings are normally updated about once per week here.

Discovery Hd is up on Channel 663. Now how about KIRO?

Now how about KIRO?
I'd be happy if they manage to get KIRO in time for the new fall season, and since they surprised me with Discovery HD, well I won't put them down too much.

Originally posted by darmad2002
Did they pull Deadwood off of VOD?
Thanks Darryl

They pulled it off but that's just how they do it, they rotate different stuff in and out of there on a weekly basis. HBO maintains a web site with information about their current and upcoming VOD offerings at http://www.hbo.com/hboondemand/index.html

Hope that helps!

Anyone got any experience with D* OTA antenna? I live on the plateau in Renaissance Ridge. Any success with picking up a good signal from there or should I just bite the bullet and go with Comcast for local HD? Thanks.

You should have a clear shot from there -- we are in a good spot up on the plateau. I live over in Heritage Hills next to Sahalee C.C. and there are just too many trees for me to get a good signal with the antenna DirecTV provided. I'm sure if I got a different antenna and messed around with it I could make it happen, but Comcast for just hi def locals is relatively inexpensive and no hassle.

Live in Bothell and channel 663 has been saying "Unauthorized" all day. Anyone else having this issue? Have already contacted Comcast, they sent out a couple of signals but still no Discovery HD.

The tech was just at my house and I believe that 663 Discovery hasn't been launched yet even tho it's suppose to be. Maybe tomorrow.

Steve

Originally posted by alma321
Live in Bothell and channel 663 has been saying "Unauthorized" all day. Anyone else having this issue? Have already contacted Comcast, they sent out a couple of signals but still no Discovery HD. Same problem here in North Bend: "Not Authorized"

Yep...not authorized in shoreline yet either...channel is there, just no feed...

rich

Guess we wont know when we will get it as no one at Comcast is to helpful. They told me it would be up in an hour as it has not been luanched in my area yet. (That was at 7 this morning) That was after 20 minutes of troulbeshooting. Anyone here have more info?

It is active here in Bellingham, WA. Problem is both video and audio stop every 5,10,20 seconds or so for about a second, then it restarts... Pretty much means you can't really watch it.

// Dean

Discovery HD has been active in the Bellevue Crossroads area all day today, with no problems for me. Does it require that you have the same packages as INHD does in order for it to be available?

Not sure but I do have the Platinum package.

Active in Woodinville now.

It has worked for me in Des Moines since this morning, when 663 didn't have a channel name and said "To Be Announced".

Originally posted by boykster
Yep...not authorized in shoreline yet either...channel is there, just no feed...

rich
I also had the "not authorized" problem. I called and found out that my Digital Gold Package no longer existed (it had been replaced by a lesser package that was also called Digital Gold) and that Comcast was only adding DSC-HD to current valid packages. The CSR told me that I could add DSC-HD by changing my current Digital Gold to a new Digital Gold package (by dropping either Starz, HBO, or Showtime) or by signing up for a different package.

As it turns out, Comcast had a deal on Digital Platinum that was $19.99/month for the first six months (over and above the $39.99/month for extended basic), which worked out to be much cheaper than what I was paying for Digital Gold. By going to Platinum, I added Cinemax (including Cinemax HD) plus TMC and DSC-HD. I just need to remember to downgrade again at New Year's.

What sort of extra cost am I looking at to get Discovery HD added if all I get is the locals in HD from Comcast right now?

well poo....I have a good package, but not the platinum one (probably the demoted gold one).

Why do I feel like I'm buying a used car everytime I call comcast about my service....they change their tune faster than the lakers lost the title....

I want my Discovery HDTV!

Rich

The Comcast policy if you have a package that only exists because you signed up for it under AT&T seems to be that when you then sign up for something like HD you won't get any channels that are subsequently added to the new option. Seems like a sneaky way to force you to abandon the grandfathered AT&T package. Perhaps I'm wrong. But perhaps not.

I can hardly wait to sign up for a useless Digital cable Gold-Plated, Super-Platinum Extreme Edition Package of 250 channels just so I can get Discovery HD! If ever there was a time for a la carte, this is it.

Discovery HD was available here in Auburn since first thing in the morning yesterday without a problem.

You don't have to sign up for a Super Gold Plated Extreme Edition Platinum Package... you should get DHDT if you had at least Limited Cable ($13.14/mo or less depending on area) as well as Digital Classic ($11.99/mo). you will also get the INHD channels, ESPNHD, Comcast ON DEMAND and the local broadcast HDTV.

After saying "Not Authorized" all day yesterday, Discovery HD showed up just fine this morning here in North Bend. After reading the other posts here I was surprised, because I also have the now-obsolete AT&T "Digital Gold" package. My guess: it's because I also subscribe to an obsolete AT&T $5.99/mo add-on package called "Digital Premier Pack".

well cool....I'll have to check it out when I get home....

For the record, I have the "Ticket-to" package (whatever that is) and it looks similar to the silver package (but missing some of the higher # digital channels - not premium stuff) and has 2 premiums...

Here's crossing my fingers! =D

Rich

Here in Seattle (Fremont), my Comcast picture through the Motorola HD cable box occasionally turns to a full screen of white snow. Doesn't affect the sound though. To get rid of it, I have to either change the channel to anything else and then right back again - or sometimes have to turn the Motorola HD cable box off and then right back on again. Minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless. Anyone else have this problem...?

After getting the same run around as some of you have gotten from Comcast customer service about needing to upgrade or loose a premium package in order to get Discovery HD I was surprised to discover the channel was active when I got home this evening.

I have had several tense e-mails back and forth with Comcast since last night, and had just received word that my issue was being forwarded to management after I threatened to go dish. I find it funny that my channel became active after I got that response. Although it is probably coincidence.

Perhaps there were enough other complaints from consumers with old AT&T packages that they gave up trying to force upgrade on everyone.

I also called Comcast and they gave me the "you are on an old package so you don't get Discovery HD" line. I asked that CSR the net loss/gain and it appears that they my current Platinum package would lose about 5-6 channels (Bravo and a few others) in order to gain Discovery HD.
I need to do more research, but after reading this thread I popped on 663 and it was active.
Has anyone created a tracking sheet that shows Comcast's current packages and how they compare to old AT&T ones?

Have Discovery HD in Bremerton. Didn't realize it until My TIVO told me a lineup change had occured.

Speaking of TiVo, I received a message that Comcast is no longer providing cable service on the Eastside (it just shows Millenium Digital). Chowderheads. Sent them an email asking to have it added back.

We also showed "Not Authorized" for DHDT for about a day, but now it's happy. I'm on Digital Silver, I think. It is a Comcast package (not a grandfathered AT&T package).

Originally posted by Vespa
Has anyone created a tracking sheet that shows Comcast's current packages and how they compare to old AT&T ones?

Probably not worth the time and effort needed to do this. Most people just call the CSR and complain about new channel X not working. CSR figures out that it will cost Y amount of dollars to convert over and get the channel working. Usually, the customer just agrees to the conversion to get the new channel, and avoid this problem happening again for the next new channel.

However, here is an updated list of what is in Comcast's digital tiers, in case people are missing channels and want to know what tier it is in.

Digital Classic:
101 Weatherscan Local, 120 Noggin, 121 Disc Kids, 136 G4TechTV,160 Sci-Fi Channel (we get this on analog 59), 161 GSN, 162 BBC America, 163 TV Land, 180/181 Bravo (analog 66), 183 style, 202/203 HGTV (analog 68), 220 Disc Health, 232 BYU TV, 233 EWTN, 251 CCTV Intnl, 270/277 History Channel (analog 37), 272 Sci Chan, 273 Nat GEO, 401 Fox Sports World, 402 ESPN News, 403/407 ESPN Classic, 404 OLN (analog 34), 405 Golf (analog 69), 410 ESPN2 (analog 32), 482 Major Broadcast Corp Network, 484 GAC, 486 Word, 501 TCM, 502 Women's Entertainment, 503 IFC

Digital Plus
122 Toon Disney, 126 Nick Toons, 135 MTV2 (analog 64), 201 Disc Home, 203 DIY, 204 Fine Living, 215 Nick G&S, 222 FitTV, 230 Trinity Broadcasting Net, 231 Insp Life, 271 Disc Times, 274 Disc Wings, 275 BIO, 276 Hist Intl, 471 VH1 Country, 472 MTV Hits, 473 VH1 Classic, 474 VH1 Soul, 504 LMN, 516 WAM, 517 ENC E, 518 ENC W, 519 ENC Love E, 520 ENC Love W, 521 ENC Myst E, 522 ENC Myst W, 523 ENC Westerns E, 527 ENC True E, 528 ENC True W, 529 ENC Action E, 530 ENC Action W

Digital Extra
123 Goodlife TV, 125 NWI, 128 Bloomberg TV, 137 Trio, 138 Wisdom, 182 Ovation, 240 Intl Channel (analog 70), 294 G4TechTV, 406 Outdoor Channel, 408 Speed Channel (analog 33), 413 Fox Digital Atlantic, 414 Fox Dig Central, 418 Fox Dig Pacific, 416 NBA TV, 476 Fuse, 481 BET Jazz, 505 Sundance, 506 Fox Movie Channel

I must say that KING did a great job with their HDTV broadcast of the WaMu fireworks show last night. Looked really nice. I TiVo'd KOMO since they were in Digital SD 4:3 (as was KCPQ) and watched it afterwards. Looked mighty muted in comparison. :) I was kind of surprised about KOMO, as their ads during the day were in 16:9.

Originally posted by Al Shing
here is an updated list of what is in Comcast's digital tiers, in case people are missing channels and want to know what tier it is in.


Although I have these digital packages, and have recently switched from an old AT&T deal to Platinum, I do not have the digital channels which have analog counterparts (in particular 408 vs. 33 for Speed). The digital channels I don't have don't show up at all. Who gets them????? I'd love for Comcast to dump as many analogs as possible.

The KING HD fireworks presentation was excellent, and didn't have what I hate in usual shows...the shots of the audience staring upward! I was VERY surprised by KOMO and their 4:3 presentation. I expected that from Q13, but not KOMO.

Originally posted by wareagle
Although I have these digital packages, and have recently switched from an old AT&T deal to Platinum, I do not have the digital channels which have analog counterparts (in particular 408 vs. 33 for Speed). The digital channels I don't have don't show up at all. Who gets them????? I'd love for Comcast to dump as many analogs as possible.

The Channel Guide lists those as digital channels in the appropriate tier, but locally, Comcast has decided to make those analog channels, probably because of local agreements, or local channel demand. When they're moved to analog, they are removed from the digital side.

I can't answer to digital channels not showing up at all, since I have Platinum with Digital Extra. All the premium foreign languge channels show up, even though I don't subscribe to most of them.

When I was missing channels in the past, I had to call the CSR to deal with it. Usually, they did something at the headend that fixed it by the next day. Sometimes it resulted in some error in the account record.

Originally posted by Al Shing
The Channel Guide lists those as digital channels in the appropriate tier, but locally, Comcast has decided to make those analog channels, probably because of local agreements, or local channel demand. When they're moved to analog, they are removed from the digital side.

I can't answer to digital channels not showing up at all, since I have Platinum with Digital Extra. All the premium foreign languge channels show up, even though I don't subscribe to most of them.

When I was missing channels in the past, I had to call the CSR to deal with it. Usually, they did something at the headend that fixed it by the next day. Sometimes it resulted in some error in the account record.

I didn't mean to be misleading; I was only referring to the digital versions of the analog ones as not showing up. But what is "The Channel Guide" -- and what meaning does it have if it has no basis in reality?

The Channel Guide is the monthly magazine that you can subscribe to from Comcast. It covers all the Comcast systems in the state, so it is necessarily generic.

As far as basis in reality? I don't know what you mean, but there are systems in this state that likely have HGTV, Speed, and International Channel on the digital side instead of the analog side. The Channel Guide has far more accurate information about local Comcast systems than Comcast's web site.

I assumed that some of these channels - Golf and HGTV, for example - were moved to analog right after Comcast purchased those networks. Analog channels = larger audience = more advertising revenue. Might as well give the advantage to their own in-house networks.

Anyone having problems with INHD and INHD2? I've gotten the message "This channel will be available shortly" for the past week or so and it never clears up. Called Comcast and they have no idea why it's doing that and they're sending out a tech, but I was wanted to know if anyone else was having a similar problem.

I must say that KING did a great job with their HDTV broadcast of the WaMu fireworks show last night. hehe my wife and I sat on the side of the freeway in the express lanes and watched it:) hehe so did hundreds of other people on I-5 it was quite amusing really.

Originally posted by Jeremyfr
hehe my wife and I sat on the side of the freeway in the express lanes and watched it:) hehe so did hundreds of other people on I-5 it was quite amusing really. Cool - how do you watch HDTV from I-5? Some new high-speed wireless from Comcast that you're beta testing, Jeremy? ;)

I missed King's HD broadcast of the fireworks...I was too busy on my boat in elliott bay seeing it in living color from a few hundred feet....

Very cool

Rich

I have to say that after watching Discovery HD for the last couple of days, it has become one of my favorite channels. I especially like Discovery HD Theater.

Anyone else see American chopper in HD on Wednesday? it looked awesome!:)

Oh man, I missed American Chopper in HD! I never watched the show until I caught the Father's Day marathon and then I got hooked! Gotta write myself a note a watch it next time.

Has anyone heard if the All-Star Game on FOX Tuesday night will be in HD (aka FOX Widescreen)? I don't see any mention of it on their web site.

-Matt

Originally posted by djmattyb
Has anyone heard if the All-Star Game on FOX Tuesday night will be in HD (aka FOX Widescreen)? I don't see any mention of it on their web site.

-Matt

Haven't been able to track it down yet (probably 16x9, 480p -- the best they have). The Home Run Derby is in HD on ESPN tonight 5-7.

The first 3 innings were in FOX widescreen but then the screen flickered in the top of the 3rd and it went to what looks like true 1080 HD. Weird! I love it so I won't complain.

Hey All,

I'm wondering what STB I'll get with the HD package and if it will give me component and S-video simultaneously. Thanks for any info.

Yes the dct 6200 outputs all video connections at the same time incl. Firewire

Originally posted by Lodep
Hey All,

I'm wondering what STB I'll get with the HD package and if it will give me component and S-video simultaneously. Thanks for any info.

Welcome to AVS...check out the DCT FAQ below.

The first 3 innings were in FOX widescreen but then the screen flickered in the top of the 3rd and it went to what looks like true 1080 HD. Weird! I love it so I won't complain.

Dang, that's what I get for not bothering to check out 113!

But then the FOX widescreen came back on after the commercial break. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. Anyways, it was good that FOX had it on. The only thing that was lame is that because it was on FOX they had 2 Americal Idol's sing at the game. Ugh. Gimme a break.

NBC claims they will have a wide coverage of the Olympics in HDTV. they have something called "NBC HDTV". anyone knows what that? do we have it ? will we have it?

from NBC website:

The Olympic flame burns outside the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.
The most in-depth Olympic broadcast in history is coming August 11-29 to the NBC Universal networks (NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo, NBC HDTV).

thanks

my understanding is that they are referring to the regular NBC-HD feed on channel 105.

i found the following information at http://www.tvbarn.com/ticker/archives/021458.html

¡For the first time by a U.S. broadcaster at a Summer Olympics, NBC will provide high definition coverage. NBC’s HDTV affiliates will offer separate, in-depth coverage in high definition from several venues in Athens. The high definition coverage on NBC digital affiliates totals 399 hours and accounts for the vast majority of the increased coverage. The USA Network coverage will be 49 total hours.

and

HDTV For the first time by a U.S. broadcaster at a Summer Olympics, NBC will provide high definition coverage. NBC’s separate, unique HDTV coverage on NBC’s digital affiliates, presented by Sony Electronics Inc., will provide HDTV coverage on delay of six sports from the only main Olympic venues provided in high definition by the Olympic host broadcaster. Those sports include swimming, diving, gymnastics, track and field, medal rounds of basketball and the men’s soccer gold medal final. The HDTV coverage will total 399 hours and is a completely different production from the standard definition broadcast on the network. NBC has 124 HDTV affiliates with the potential to cover 86 percent of the country.


Is king considered to be affiliate? and are they part of the 124? will they have different programing on ch 105 then ch 5?

I just found this page:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/tvlistings/5016759/detail.html

To me, it looks as if they have a separate HDTV channel that is dedicated to broadcasting only the Olpympics in HD.

Hey Jeremy, is there anyway you contact some friends at Comcast and find out what the real deal is here?

After a little more digging, I found this link:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/tvlistings/5016748/detail.html

Here's a description of the HDTV channel:

[channel logo here]
24 hours a day

For the first time by a U.S. broadcaster at a Summer Olympics, NBC will provide high definition coverage. NBC's separate, unique HDTV coverage on NBC's digital affiliates, presented by Sony Electronics Inc., will provide HDTV coverage on delay of six sports from the only main Olympic venues provided in high definition by the Olympic host broadcaster. Those sports include swimming, diving, gymnastics, track and field, medal rounds of basketball and the men's soccer gold medal final. The HDTV coverage will total 399 hours and is a completely different production from the standard definition broadcast on the network. NBC has 124 HDTV affiliates with the potential to cover 86 percent of the country.

Well if KING will be carrying the "normal" SD NBC broadcast in digital 4:3 on 105, maybe they will dedicate KONG 106 to the HD 16:9 feed?

Now that "On Demand" is here, will the "iN Demand" feature be dropped, freeing up resources for less redundant things -- like HD On Demand and additional HD channels?

The online Comcast response to the FAQ:

"Will I continue to get Pay-Per-View as well as ON DEMAND from Comcast Digital Cable? "

says:

"Initially, movies will be available on both ON DEMAND from Comcast Digital Cable and Pay-Per-View. You will continue to get the same great events and live shows on Pay-Per-View that are currently available."

Use of the word "initially" seems to hold out promise.

Originally posted by Nausicaa
Well if KING will be carrying the "normal" SD NBC broadcast in digital 4:3 on 105, maybe they will dedicate KONG 106 to the HD 16:9 feed?
Comcast's tv spots indicate that NBC's HD Olympics coverage will be on 105. But, who knows???

Well, http://www.nbcolympics.com/tvlistings/5016748/detail.html notes that HDTV coverage will be "on delay", so perhaps 105 will carry the SD stuff live and then show the HD stuff later.

Athens is GMT+1, so I'm not sure how "live" the Live coverage will be.

Originally posted by Nausicaa
Well, http://www.nbcolympics.com/tvlistings/5016748/detail.html notes that HDTV coverage will be "on delay", so perhaps 105 will carry the SD stuff live and then show the HD stuff later.

Athens is GMT+1, so I'm not sure how "live" the Live coverage will be.
I suspect they'll handle this Olympics like they did the last one. Edit together eight hours of HD coverage, then start it at some fixed time and run it three times, then start over with the next days's HD package. Seems like last time the first run was less than 24 hours' delay, like late the same night...or early the next morning.

Hope this provides some clarification.... apparently the confusion is that the NBC-HD feed on channel 105 will not mirror the SD feed on channel 5. It will be a completely different broadcast designed specifically for HD. There is no "new NBC-HD" channel for Comcast to pick-up.


Comcast delivers gold medal HDTV programming from the Summer Olympics on Channel 105 (WWA) or 106 (Spokane). First time by a US broadcaster at a Summer Olympics: unique HDTV coverage on NBC’s digital affiliates with 399 hours of coverage, one day delay, 6 – 8 hours looped. Completely different production from the standard definition broadcast on the network there are six favorite sports in High-Def: Swimming, Diving, Gymnastics, Track & Field, Medal rounds of basketball and Men’s soccer gold medal final.

I now have good signal and a 6200 box, with DVI and firewire. What can I do with the firewire? What do I need to use it?

Ciao,

Now that we have firmware ver 7.10 here in the Seattle area, you can use the firewire port to:
record ANY HD channel to a "5C" compliant device, such as a JVC DVHS VCR. record any NON-ENCRYPTED HD channel (local HD channels only) to a PC as well. See this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403695).

sastimac,

As far as HD on a PC is concerned, follow those instructions found at the top of the thread to the letter and everything should be fine.

Also, I suggest you try the VLC player first. IMHO, even if it has a lot of bugs, it's definitely my favorite of the bunch (and it supports real-time streaming directly from the Firewire input).

BTW, I hope you have a relatively beefy machine. You'll need it. :)

-eric

Had my HD install today (I have Comcast broadband but haven't had cable tv since '98 - had to have Speedvision ya know - oh and a new "drop" was installed to my house with the broadband) and apparently the installer nor I actually tuned in any of the HD channels at the time and I left for the day. So I get home tonight and all the HD channels are diagonally rolling. Phoned Comcast and they reset the box with no luck and of course think it is something with my connections and I told them that we disconnected my OTA STB and plugged the wires right into their box. Dispatch will be calling me tomorrow to try to get somebody out here. I'm wondering if the installer didn't do everything he needed to do up on the pole and it's as simple as that. DOH!

Well heck now it's been working for about the last hour - weird.
That Discovery HD sure looks good.

Man what the heck is taking so long? They promised this before end of the year LAST year. Come on Comcast. Get it done.

Is KIRO broadcasting the Hydros OTA in HD? Not that I'll be able to watch with Comcast as my provider, but I was just curious.

Anyone else having major PQ problems (digital signal breakups) with Discovery HD? It has been unwatchable for the last few days. All other HD channels are fine. Time to call Comcast I guess. I live in Newcastle (South of Bellevue).

SUNSPOTS I tell you! SUNSPOTS! :)

I SWEAR these HD channel breakups sometimes seem to correspond to major solar flare activity. A big one peaked last night, according to www.spaceweather.com. Of course, Disc-HD looks just fine here in North Bend right now. So it's either just a coincidence, or the solar flares have subsided for now.

This seemed to happen with INHD/INHD2 for a couple weeks last fall, also during a major solare flare outbreak.

I haven't noticed any video breakup (hockey pucks). The thing I notice is that the audio volume levels really fluctuate from station to station, and program to program. Even though Discovery HD doesn't have commercialsm they do insert self promos that really blast the sound level. Do I have a wrong setting on my TV or is it just that Comcast doesn't pay enough attention to this?

In case you haven't noticed, 114 KOMON showed up on the system. It is the ABC 24/7 digital news channel covering the DNC.

It looks like h*ll, and the audio is horribly out of sync.

Originally posted by Al Shing
In case you haven't noticed, 114 KOMON showed up on the system. It is the ABC 24/7 digital news channel covering the DNC.

It looks like h*ll, and the audio is horribly out of sync.

Audio out of sync -- just like 104, when the audio doesn't completely fade away.

Originally posted by Al Shing
In case you haven't noticed, 114 KOMON showed up on the system. It is the ABC 24/7 digital news channel covering the DNC.

It looks like h*ll, and the audio is horribly out of sync.

turn to INHD 1 :)

Originally posted by WiFi-Spy
turn to INHD 1 :)


Looks great - fantastic picture!

Anyone know if the latest firmware update to the Motorola's fixed that DVI protection error?

So far so good....

Just noticed PPVHD on Channel 800. The only thing scheduled is the Tyson Boxing match tomorrow. $44.95 from 6PM-10PM.

Now here's a shock - KCTS HD was in DD 5.1 Saturday night during Over California. I'll have to watch Soundstage this week to see if it will be in DD 5.1 as well.

There was a rumor several months back that we would be getting HD DVRs sometime this fall and that the guide would be switched over to Microsoft. Hope that's true. At the Mot site they have a very funny (not real informative) demostration of MS TV starring Pat Cashman.

Check this out. (http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/dct6412_multimedia_demo.asp)

Go to Interactive Program guide and follow the links to the Micrososft TV Launch Video link.

BTW: The TV Guide demo is extremely lame. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Added Starz yesterday (with the $5.99 a month for 3 months deal) and I have to say, with On Demand, it is a whole lot more tempting to keep after the deal is over. I like being able to turn on a movie when I feel like it, like Big Trouble in Little China. Looking forward to watching Lost in Translation in HD soon.

Originally posted by Malcolm_B
Added Starz yesterday (with the $5.99 a month for 3 months deal) and I have to say, with On Demand, it is a whole lot more tempting to keep after the deal is over. I like being able to turn on a movie when I feel like it, like Big Trouble in Little China. Looking forward to watching Lost in Translation in HD soon.

That may not happen (Lost IT in HD) -- The Starz HD page doesn't list it:
http://www.starz.com/se/starz/hdtv.html

Seems strange, since there's a "wide screen" version available OnDemand. We may not know for sure until the 9PM Saturday Starz HD channel movie either is or is not in HD.

Originally posted by wareagle
Audio out of sync -- just like 104, when the audio doesn't completely fade away.

It's a Comcast problem. The sync is fine on the original boradcast. Those of you wiht ATSC tuners can add 4.2 and get this feed in all of its 2mbps glory.

Grrrr. Multicasting is evil. look at the macro-block fest that is KCTS HD. I can only hope that modern MPEG2 encoders can give us good HD at 17.2 mbps.

Originally posted by wareagle
That may not happen (Lost IT in HD) -- The Starz HD page doesn't list it:
http://www.starz.com/se/starz/hdtv.html

Yeah, since I posted I've read on another post that Starz track record of presenting HD movies is spotty, at best; may switch back to HBO at the end of this 3 month special.

I watched the OnDemand version of "Lost in Translation" last night. To keep this message in conformance with the forum, I'll just say that I doubt that HD would save this overrated film.

Originally posted by wareagle
I watched the OnDemand version of "Lost in Translation" last night. To keep this message in conformance with the forum, I'll just say that I doubt that HD would save this overrated film.

Totally agree. I watched it on DVD about a month ago, I don't know may be I was not in the right mood or something, but I didn't get it. I kept waiting it to get better at some point, but it never happened and all of a sudden it ended :confused:

Originally posted by scorpi0
Totally agree. I watched it on DVD about a month ago, I don't know may be I was not in the right mood or something, but I didn't get it. I kept waiting it to get better at some point, but it never happened and all of a sudden it ended :confused:

Uneventful, to say the least. I've liked a lot of movies that most of the current moviegoers would walk out of, but this one just seemed to lie there. I think it was the expectations that did it -- by the time I figured out nothing was going to happen, it was too late to appreciate it for whatever was there. Seems similar to your experience.

(I would apologize for wasting bandwidth on an off-topic discussion, but no one seems to be standing in line to grab the mike!)

Glad it's not just me. I didn't get it.

I really liked it, but perhaps it's having lived in Japan as a gaijin that helped. Then again, it might have had nothing to do with it. :)

I just realized that my wife and I have changed viewing habits without even noticing....

We seem to have stopped watching KIRO completely because the HD channels are so much more engaging. (The tuner just never gets turned on these days)

Are others doing the same?

I wonder if the KIRO advertisers realize that they are starting to lose eyeballs?

KIRO gets TiVo'd. I won't watch it live, even if it is the only thing on (like CSI). I'd rather watch it the following day and skip past the commercials.

I still watch more shows on CBS then ABC or NBC, so when Cox does eventually decide to allow Comcast to carry KIRO in HD, then they will become my most-watched station and their advertisers will get full exposure to my eyeballs. But until then, they get nothing.

I ONLY watch HD besides sporting evernts. It makes me feel so relaxed to not have to concentrate nearly as much. But HANDS DOWN....the best thing is the lack of go awful commercials. Kiro offers nothing for me..... You are not alone!

I spent a month in Korea last year for business. So, I can relate to "Lost In Translation" and Bills character there. I liked the movie a lot. I guess you had to be there!? ;)

I only watch "2 1/2 MEN" and Letterman on KIRO. David is still the king of late night. I do wish KIRO and Comcast would stop their pissing contest and take care of their viewers though.

I've been watching "Soundstage" in HD this past week. Cindy Lauper was great the four time I saw her set.

I wish channel 114 was more consistent in its audio sync to video. And the picture looks even worse than standard digital stations.

Originally posted by JasG
I just realized that my wife and I have changed viewing habits without even noticing....

We seem to have stopped watching KIRO completely because the HD channels are so much more engaging. (The tuner just never gets turned on these days)

Are others doing the same?

I wonder if the KIRO advertisers realize that they are starting to loose eyeballs?


Me too... out of sight, out of mind

I don't even know what is on KIRO anymore. The last thing I wanted to see on KIRO was the Superbowl. I usually flip through my favorites which includes all the HD channels plus a few extra (Food Network, Comedy Channel). If KIRO ever shows up in HD I guess I'll see what I have been missing but until then, who cares

Originally posted by Darrel McBane
I wish channel 114 was more consistent in its audio sync to video. And the picture looks even worse than standard digital stations.

Indeed. If Comcast can't do anything for us as far as getting KIRO-HD, at least they could do something about improving the technical quality of what they have -- either by working on it themselves or exerting influence on the real culprits. KOMO-HD audio is usually out of sync, and often the picture freezes. Last night the Tonight Show video on KING-HD was replaced by a static slide for a considerable time around midnight. The SD picture was OK during this period.

My neighbor was asking me about Comcast Digital and I was not sure about one of his questions: if you switch from analog to digital do you lose the ability to hook old TV's directly to the cable for analog channels? In other words, is there a filter or something that blocks the analogs when you convert to digital?

TIA

Nope...I have digital cable and HDTV and am still able to hook up TVs without a box and get a ton of channels.

Thanks - I'll pass that along. :) What are they charging for additional boxes?

About $5/month, I believe, but the Comcast page should note the specific.

It's on Starz right now and is definitely HD. Don't know why it wasn't showing up on the Starz web site. Oh well, I agree with everyone else, it's a pretty anti-climactic movie.

For those with OTA HD, did KIRO carry the hydros in HD?

Originally posted by jeff28
It's on Starz right now and is definitely HD. Don't know why it wasn't showing up on the Starz web site. Oh well, I agree with everyone else, it's a pretty anti-climactic movie.

I flipped over to it for a few minutes last night and it was wide, but I couldn't tell if it was HD. Looked more like the current Fox idea of HD.

Originally posted by quarque
My neighbor was asking me about Comcast Digital and I was not sure about one of his questions: if you switch from analog to digital do you lose the ability to hook old TV's directly to the cable for analog channels? In other words, is there a filter or something that blocks the analogs when you convert to digital?TIA

No. All digital cable means is that in addition to the analog services you also get access to the digital services. The digital services require a set top box.

IE: tune Ch 5 on your DCT6200 and it is still the same crappy analog signal you get with a regular TV.

Hydros were not HD. How could u even think they might do it in HD when they're too cheap/broke to do thier news in HD? What a let down for the last race anyway. Four tenths of a second. guh

Anyone going to watch the Hall of Fame game tonight in HD? I may watch the first half.

Has anyone heard anything further on 6408 deployment? The Olympics are only days away, and I'm having a devil of a time getting HDTV Firewire recording working properly, despite all the help on AVSForum.

Originally posted by drbenson
Has anyone heard anything further on 6408 deployment?

Only that it will be 6412. That in itself will be excuse enough for further delay.

6412 would mean two tuners and 120 gigs of storage, then? That's good. Further delays in getting them out to us, bad.

Originally posted by Malcolm_B
Anyone going to watch the Hall of Fame game tonight in HD? I may watch the first half.

At least the audio seems to be all in-sync tonight. Maybe we have finally seen the last of this issue with ABC Network Sports. Does anyone know for sure... is FOX doing the Super Bowl this year? They're supposed to be broadcasting in "True HD" by the time their NFL coverage begins... With Comcast and Cox locked in a stalemate, I hope CBS will not have the Super Bowl again this year.

Originally posted by jeff28
Does anyone know for sure... is FOX doing the Super Bowl this year?

"The 2004 NFL on FOX season, one that will culminate with the live presentation of SUPER BOWL XXXIX, premieres Sunday, Sept. 12..."

The schedule from NFL.com shows:

Super Bowl XXXIX
Sunday, Feb. 6 (FOX)
Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Fla

http://www.nfl.com/schedules

Looks like it's true.

Originally posted by drbenson
6412 would mean two tuners and 120 gigs of storage, then? That's good. Further delays in getting them out to us, bad.

With this and OpenCable on the horizon there's cool stuff comming for cable users.

I wish that 'horizon'- and the cool stuff- would make it to Kitsap County soon!

Is anyone else still having problems with the DVI input? I can't get the hdcp to sync up correctly with my PLV-Z2. I get all kinds of green lines and crap on the screen, although I can still see the picture. Component works fine.

Does it look like this:

http://www.cjhengineering.com/640.jpg

If so its probably a bad cable.........

I've seen this many times before........Does your cable have White Ends? Who makes it?

So, I was awake around 4 this morning and noticed that my box was downloading something; does it download every Thursday? I didn't see anything new. Just curious, being awake at that time (hurt my shoulder and it was really talking to me at that time) and waiting for it to finally get done.

New Firmware Upgrade and new Guide.

Firmware: 7.15

Way Better way clear WOW!


Im in the Seattle Area BTW!

This upgrade seems to have fixed the DVI handshake issue when changing inputs. I no longer have to unplug the DVI cable if I switch to the DVI input with the cable box on. However I do get a screen that appears to be split - almost like it is out of horizontal sync. This goes away if I switch channels or power cycle the cable box.

This is a big relief because my family seemed to keep forgetting to power off the cable box when switching inputs.

Nice to have this upgrade :-)

PS. The split screen issue seems only to happen when switching from one input (in my case 480p) to a HDTV signal (720p).

markhs,

Just a thought, but have you tried to change your cable box output to 1080i? I had similar sync problems with the 720p.

-eric

Hey do you guys get audio with DVI?

I hooked up my DVI cables and hooked up the optical out to my tv from cable box and no audio!


Must I use the component audio jacks or what do i need to do to get soundz?

Originally posted by ericjut
markhs,

Just a thought, but have you tried to change your cable box output to 1080i? I had similar sync problems with the 720p.

-eric

Thanks for your suggestion, however, my TV has a native resolution of 720p so I prefer to not have the signal go through one more conversion. Actually this isn't much of a problem really and I can easily live with it.

Originally posted by Bremerton
Hey do you guys get audio with DVI?

I hooked up my DVI cables and hooked up the optical out to my tv from cable box and no audio!


Must I use the component audio jacks or what do i need to do to get soundz?

DVI is video only, you need to feed audio through component. My TV has audio component jacks right next to the DVI input.

Originally posted by Bremerton
New Firmware Upgrade and new Guide.

Firmware: 7.15
Way Better way clear WOW!


Well I'm seeing 7.15 but everything pretty much looks the same to me. rats. what's new about the guide over there?

One of the menu items got changed to "Olympics".

S/W level is now 51.88. I think it was 51.22(?)

HDCP still is not fixed.

Got 7.15 in Lakewood.

Ever since I got 7.10 my JVC30k recordings are garbage. Random and frequent pixelation and sound drop out. I've scheduled two HD recordings to occur tonight. Hopefully, they'll actually work.

BTW: So far, just watching live on my JVC30K I have not seen any dropouts on HD. Anectodal, but too me it seems better than it was before.

7.15 here in Sammamish, came in last night. Still the same old crappy (compared to DirecTV) guide though.

Originally posted by Al Shing
HDCP still is not fixed.

Al - what issue with HDCP are you still having problems with? it looks like 7.15 at least addressed the DVI with HDCP issue where the box wouldn't sync with the tv if the box was on first (or on a different set of inputs) (thus having to turn on the tv first, then the box). is it something else?

Originally posted by Bremerton
New Firmware Upgrade and new Guide.
Firmware: 7.15
Way Better way clear WOW!
Im in the Seattle Area BTW!

I do think they've tweaked the video a bit. Some of the analog channels look a bit clearer than usual. The HD stuff looks HD, cannot really tell if there's any difference.

Still the same crappy Gemstar/TVGuide software. How has it changed. Am I missing something?

Originally posted by brente
Al - what issue with HDCP are you still having problems with? it looks like 7.15 at least addressed the DVI with HDCP issue where the box wouldn't sync with the tv if the box was on first (or on a different set of inputs) (thus having to turn on the tv first, then the box). is it something else?

It comes up with the blue screen saying the HDCP has been compromised and to use the component outputs. The DVI output is black screen. Pretty much works the way it did under 7.10 for me.

Also, when the box is first turned on, the HD picture on the component outputs is screwed up and you have to flip away from the channel and back again to fix it.

I got both of these screen error messages (DVI and component) after getting 7.15 in Baltimore. But they do go away by playing with it. I don't ever turn off the 6208 so I only got the DVI once, but I've gotten the screwed up picture on components twice (it comes up in split screen). It hasn't impacted my viewing, fortunately.

Rich N.

weird. that's exactly the problem that 7.15 cleared up for me.

what tv do you have? (I have a fujitsu plasma) maybe someone else here has the same and can confirm there's still a problem...

also, I have noticed that when I turn the box on with the tv already on, initially I may get a screen full of "noise" (almost like an analog signal with no connection) and a second later the picture comes on. I noticed this with INHD1 this morning. maybe just waiting for the hdcp sync up?

channel 800 says: PPVHD and the info states On Demand in HD. Hmmmm. Any clue when this will be started?

That PPVHD channel may be where they offered the Tyson fight in HD for like fifty bucks a week or so ago.

Originally posted by markhs
Thanks for your suggestion, however, my TV has a native resolution of 720p so I prefer to not have the signal go through one more conversion. Actually this isn't much of a problem really and I can easily live with it.

Are you aware that any 1080i content (which is the majority of what we're getting on Comcast) will get converted to 720p on the cable box that's using mediocre resampling technology? I don't know what pj/tv you're using, but you may get better results letting your pj/tv doing the resampling instead of the 6208. It's worth a try at the least.

On the other hand, you would always resample and 720p channels would get resampled twice, so I understand where you're coming from. :)

-eric

Originally posted by jeff28
That PPVHD channel may be where they offered the Tyson fight in HD for like fifty bucks a week or so ago.

Yeah, you're right! I haven't taken a spin through all the channels in a long time and it was wishful thinking finding that On Demand HD channel.

HDCP Problem - If you switch the TV's input to the DVI and then power off/power on the DCT, it brings the DVI back online. I don't know if that worked on the 7.10 firmware because I never tried it. Beats having to unplug/replug the box, or disconnecting/reconnecting the DVI connector.

PPVHD Channel - The PPVHD label has been removed from Channel 800 on my box, it just says To Be Announced now. So now there's two channels like that - 800 and 998.

Well looks like it's going to be good... I was a little concerned by posts in other thread saying they were just seeing the SD feed 4:3 with black bars in other markets... the announcers sound a little funny though, don't they? Maybe it's just me?#~

I'm also noticing a twangy sound with the HD Olympics NBC broadcast. This might be a result of their Dolby Digital 5.1 output? The picture quality is top-notch though.

I'm getting the 2002 Olympics on Comcast. Am I getting a subchannel or what? I didn't think Comcast did subchannels.

According to the Portland thread the HD is an hour delayed (beyond the SD delay). I'll check it out later.

They just switched back to the 2004 ones...

So weird that they showed the 2002 Winters for a while though... (especially that channel 5 was showing the 2004 all along).

I have the new firmware 7.15 and I seem to have lost my Dolby Digital signal. Does anybody know if the 6200 needs to be reconfigured for DD? I have not changed anything but seem to be getting only a stereo signal out of the SPDIF connection. I only noticed this tonight watching The Italian Job on showtime HD. Perhaps it was not broadcast in 5.1? I checked other channels after the show ended and only got stereo on all of them. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I have not changed any settings on my processor (Lexicon MC12) and all the other inputs (such as dvd and xbox continue to work in DD 5.1

Thanks for pointing out the change in sound output after the firmware upgrade. I've been watching the Opening Ceremonies in ProLogic for the past three hours. I went into the Comcast Menu and played with the Audio setting. I really didn't do anything that I can attribute the change to but...when I switched back the Olympics on KING was in Dolby Digital 5.1. Go figure. I also noticed that the weather channel on 101 is also in 5.1 and sounds great. Right now at 11:00pm:

Dolby Digital

101
105
108
550
663
664

I went back into the Menu and set the Audio back to where I think it was earlier tonight. "TV" and... still on 5.1???

Art in Seattle

I've also lost 5.1 output with firmware 7.15. I fiddled with the Audio setting and tried powering the box off, unplugging it, changing channels, etc. with no luck. Anyone else seeing this problem, or able to fix it?

- Mike

Nevermind... I got 5.1 working... I tried fiddling with my audio settings again and got things working by selecting the "Advanced" option. It seems that this is intended to enable 5.1 output despite the dumbed down name. But I've found that it's buggy and enabling and disabling it doesn't quite work as expected. After enabling it, I had to wait a few seconds and change the channel before it went into effect... and I thought I'd tried this earlier. Once I had it enabled, disabling it had no effect unless I unplugged the box.

- Mike

I am watching the re-broadcast of the Opening Ceremonies right now and while it looks good, it doesn't look "HD". The Mariner's broadcast last night looked sharper, not to mention the stunning clarity of stuff on DiscoveryHD and the two INHD channels. Looks kind of like a really-good digital non-HD broadcast (like we get on FOX right now).

Well, now they just went to the bumper-shots of the Greek countryside and that's more what I expected. I can count the tiles from space on the houses and blades of grass on the lawn. :)

Maybe they are using better HD cameras for the location shots... Is there an HD film standard that looks a lot better then live HD TV?

And while the NBC HD hosts are not doing it "Mystery Science Theatre 3000-style" like Costas and Couric (I swear I was waiting for Crow and Servo to do on-location shots), they sure jaw a ton. Even though it is in SD, I am probably going to watch CBC a good deal more then NBC like I did in Sydney 2000 and SLC 2002 (when I did not have HD) just because they don't spell out every single bleeding action.

I thought the artistic content and presentation was great but the commentary sucked. Way too much and annoyingly patronizing. The SONY commercials really killed it.

Originally posted by quarque
I thought the artistic content and presentation was great but the commentary sucked. Way too much and annoyingly patronizing. The SONY commercials really killed it.

Yep, the comentary is pathetic.

I too was only getting stereo. Setting my audio to advanced also brought 5.1 in! I just hope that takes care of the sound "skipping".

Marcus

I watched a bit of the Olympics this weekend and it really didn't look HD "sharp" to me. Sort of like a movie with filtering.

Yeah I also thought the HD quality was a little sub-par for the olympics. Almost like its over compressed, with a little texturing and noise. Very little of course and way better then SD but poor for a HD feed.

I just sent Comcast a "suggestion" to get CBS HD in Seattle as soon as possible. Here's the link for those that are interested in doing the same:
http://www.comcast.com/ContactUs/customerservice.asp

Funny, the PGA Championship was on yesterday. I saw it in the paper and then thought to myself, “Oh I don’t get CBS”. I refuse to watch the SD channel and so I guess in mind I just don’t get CBS at all. So I watched something else instead.

Will the Seahawks game at Green Bay tonight be blacked out on ESPN-HD, for the benefit of the pathetic SD analog version on KSTW?

Originally posted by miatasm
Does it look like this:

http://www.cjhengineering.com/640.jpg

If so its probably a bad cable.........

I've seen this many times before........Does your cable have White Ends? Who makes it?

It doesn't look quite that bad but there are green lines going through the pictures. Basically it's watchable but really crappy looking. The cable was made by pacific cable and yes it has white ends. Should I try another cable? Actually the old cable is too short since I'm moving into a new house next week so I have to buy a new one anyway. Will be quite a long run in my home theatre. Any recommendations for a high quality dvi cable?

Originally posted by codawg
I just sent Comcast a "suggestion" to get CBS HD in Seattle as soon as possible. Here's the link for those that are interested in doing the same:
http://www.comcast.com/ContactUs/customerservice.asp

I've about given up, so perhaps it's worth a try. If this works, next "suggest" they hurry the 6412 deployment -- and a digital channel for Speed would also be nice.

Originally posted by wareagle
I've about given up, so perhaps it's worth a try. If this works, next "suggest" they hurry the 6412 deployment -- and a digital channel for Speed would also be nice.

FWIW, I was in a Comcast customer service office last week and they had a DVR hooked up. (I didn't notice the model.)

Apparently the employees are beta testing it, I would think it wouldn't be that long. I don't recall when she said it would be available to customers, within a few months.

I could swear we heard that last year about this and CBS.

Originally posted by poppa
FWIW, I was in a Comcast customer service office last week and the had a DVR hooked up. (I didn't notice the model.)

Apparently the employees are beta testing it, I would think it wouldn't be that long. I don't recall when she said it would be available to customers, within a few months.

Originally posted by wareagle
I've about given up, so perhaps it's worth a try. If this works, next "suggest" they hurry the 6412 deployment -- and a digital channel for Speed would also be nice.

What's wrong with the analog channel for Speed Vision?

Originally posted by codawg
I just sent Comcast a "suggestion" to get CBS HD in Seattle as soon as possible. I believe that there is more of a problem with KIRO than with Comcast.

I just sent a note telling KIRO that I no longer watch their analog channel on Comcast because the other locals in HDTV are so much better.

Email link to KIRO here:

http://www.kirotv.com/contact/index.html

Jasg

I was flipping through the sports channels this morning and stumbled on a promo loop for Blackbelt TV on SPPV1. It looks like a channel I wouldn't mind having.

Since it's going to be originated from the Comcast Media Center, does this mean it might be available on Comcast? Anime Network also originates from there, but it's a VOD only channel so far.

Originally posted by Al Shing
What's wrong with the analog channel for Speed Vision?

Only that it isn't as good a picture as it would be if it were digital. You can see the difference in any other SD offerings available in both analog and digital. Formula 1 would be awesome in HD, but it would be nice at least to have it digital.

I had a guy out here fixing my cable internet access the other day and he said Comcast would be dumping all analog channels in a year. He said something about them getting FCC permission.

Originally posted by Tom_Oliver
I had a guy out here fixing my cable internet access the other day and he said Comcast would be dumping all analog channels in a year. He said something about them getting FCC permission.

I assume that would mean moving the analogs to digital. I wonder what will happen to their analog customers (probably the reason they need permission). With the advent of OnDemand, I suppose they could use all those unnecessary digital ppv movie channels for more productive things. Are the ppv and OnDemand movies the same vendor and the same selections?

Originally posted by wareagle
Only that it isn't as good a picture as it would be if it were digital. You can see the difference in any other SD offerings available in both analog and digital. Formula 1 would be awesome in HD, but it would be nice at least to have it digital.

I just switched my cable box for one that has DVI output, the picture is significantly improved on my Samsung DLP.

My wife was concerned about me standing precariously on a chair arm, as I switched the DVI outputs between the DVD player and the cable box. She said we should get a DVI switch box for it. I told her we could get one for about $250.

She then thought a step stool might be a good idea ...

Originally posted by wareagle
Only that it isn't as good a picture as it would be if it were digital. You can see the difference in any other SD offerings available in both analog and digital. Formula 1 would be awesome in HD, but it would be nice at least to have it digital.

Have you seen Fox Sports World?

It is supposed to be on the new Digital Sports Tier, but as of this morning, it continues to be the worst looking channel on the system. All of the channels on that tier still look horrible.

I wouldn't expect Speed to look as good on digital as it currently does on analog.