The best way is to set up a FAVORITES list. When the Guide is on-screen, hit the FAV button and it will only display what is in your favorites (it will also reset the screen to start at the lowest channel.)
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Using_i-Guide/User_Setup#Favorite_Lists_Setup


Thank you!

Is there an easy way to activate close captioning?

Right now the only way I can get it to show is to turn off the cable box and go into setup and turn it on.

This is not very convenient.

Bump :confused:

Bump :confused:

I think that is the only way other buying a TIvo HD.

All-

I just had service installed. I have HD-DVR and the box given was the Motorola DCT3416. Any recommendations on a better HD-DVR box I should request, or is this a decent one?

well that is the latest model to roll out, so I think you're fine. But that's just my opinion since I too have a 3416.

Hi --

I posted this in the general HDTV forum and got no responses, and since I'm local to Chicago, I thought maybe someone in here would be able to help.

Here goes -- when connecting my Motorola Cable Box to my Samsung HDTV via HDMI, the picture shows for a second or two and then goes green. The Audio works fine. Component connection works fine - the problem is only with an HDMI connection.

I checked the config on the box and HDCP is set to "not enabled". After doing some research, I see that others have had the same problem whsn HDCP is not enabled. So, my question is, how to I enable HDCP? I found some suggested methods involving powering things off and plugging and unplugging the HDMI cable, but nothing seems to work. Anyone have any suggestions??

Or, is there a way to get HDMI enabled without enabling HDCP on the box?

The box has firmware version 18.34.

Thanks!
Andrew

Hi --

I posted this in the general HDTV forum and got no responses, and since I'm local to Chicago, I thought maybe someone in here would be able to help.

Here goes -- when connecting my Motorola Cable Box to my Samsung HDTV via HDMI, the picture shows for a second or two and then goes green. The Audio works fine. Component connection works fine - the problem is only with an HDMI connection.



I'm experiencing a similar issue with my Panasonic plasma, and based on what I've read in this forum it appears that the issue is poor HDMI handshaking with the Comcast boxes. The only "fix" I've heard of is to go component...

I'm experiencing a similar issue with my Panasonic plasma, and based on what I've read in this forum it appears that the issue is poor HDMI handshaking with the Comcast boxes. The only "fix" I've heard of is to go component...

I fear that you might be right about the "fix", although that seems kinda ridiculous that we can't use HDMI out.

I'm experiencing a similar issue with my Panasonic plasma, and based on what I've read in this forum it appears that the issue is poor HDMI handshaking with the Comcast boxes. The only "fix" I've heard of is to go component...

That's "great" news. I just have to completely reconfigure my mapped connection scheme for my as-yet-recieved HDTV. Dang. Upside there is that I can continue to use my receiver to video switch, but will not have as much flexibility with display settings.

Comcast has its issues, but there is nothing better, unfortunately. :mad:

I got so tired of this issue I ended up getting Dish Network for most of my house; I bought several other HDMI cables, and, when nothing else worked, I ended up with component cables...After awhile, I felt it was ridiculous to have to do that, and after endless calls, emails, letters, and tech visits, they ended up blaming the television, a new Sharp Aquos...
I am afraid its either component or nothing, if you are keeping Comcast on that TV..

Hi --

I posted this in the general HDTV forum and got no responses, and since I'm local to Chicago, I thought maybe someone in here would be able to help.

Here goes -- when connecting my Motorola Cable Box to my Samsung HDTV via HDMI, the picture shows for a second or two and then goes green. The Audio works fine. Component connection works fine - the problem is only with an HDMI connection.

I checked the config on the box and HDCP is set to "not enabled". After doing some research, I see that others have had the same problem whsn HDCP is not enabled. So, my question is, how to I enable HDCP? I found some suggested methods involving powering things off and plugging and unplugging the HDMI cable, but nothing seems to work. Anyone have any suggestions??

The following suggestions are from the How to Use a Motorola DVR Wiki (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR):

When turning the box on while using a digital video connection, the picture may not be visible or correct

* Cause: If you are using DVI or HDMI output, it may be because a proper HDCP handshake did not take place to allow the box to output the video to the TV. In this case, the DVI would display video for about 5 seconds then go blank or green. Occasionally, it may display video and put a big blue box saying there is an HDCP error (seen using a Sharp LC-45GD7U TV). On a Samsung TX-R2779H with a PII box and a DVI-to-HDMI cable, this led to multiple side-by-side images when watching a HD channel thru either DVI or component outputs.

* Remedies:
o Check to see if HDCP is enabled (obviously, while using component or other non-digital output).
o If using Firmware 16.20 or later, check to see if the HDMI/DVI OUTPUT MODE is set properly.
o This user (Doug) doesn't remember the exact sequence of events used to fix the problem, but it consisted of doing these things in a particular order after powering off the TV, the STB (fully powered off, as in unplug the power cord), and disconnecting the DVI cable:
+ Plug in STB
+ Turn on TV
+ Connect DVI cable
+ Power on STB
+ Note: After a few tries of various combinations, I got the DVI to work fine and the status display showed HDCP was enabled.
o If you constantly have HDCP handshake issues between a PI/PII box and an HDMI display thru a DVI-to-HDMI cable or adapter, replace them with a PIII box and a pure HDMI connection. On the Samsung above, this not only resolved the issue, but also improved analog picture quality and added digital sound. (Many cable companies in the United States will "swap out" leased PI/PII boxes for PIII boxes, if available, at their local offices for no charge.)

* Cause: The Motorola STBs with certain firmware revisions are known to have issues with HDMI/DVI repeaters, including most home theater receivers.

* Remedy: None. Motorola fixed the HDCP handshake to allow repeaters as of Firmware 12.35.

The DVI or HDMI output works intermittently or not at all

* Description: The DVI/HDMI connection can briefly show a picture, then revert to "high definition static" for about 3 seconds, and then repeat the sequence indefinitely. The connection also may not work at all.
* Causes:
o Firmware may have been upgraded to version 16.20. (How to check your firmware version.)
o Improper settings.
* Remedies:
o Use the component video connection as a workaround. A firmware upgrade will be required to resolve the issue. If using an HDMI to DVI converter, you may need to enter the HDMI advanced settings, and change the color space to RGB in HDMI mode or set it directly to DVI mode.
o The Phase II Motorola box running version 16.20 of firmware has a DVI connection that will often work with non-hdcp TVs (as confirmed by numerous users) - however the phase II DVI connection will NOT work with many hdcp TVs/LCDs (a specific example is the Sceptre x22wg-Gamer LCD monitor). For those monitors/tvs that do not have component inputs (like the sceptre x22wg-Gamer), the only current workaround is to freely exchange your phase II box for a phase III box at the local cable center - as the HDMI connection on the Phase III hosts with 16.20 firmware works - at least when running in 720p with a HDMI<->DVI cable to a sceptre x22wg-gamer LCD monitor (obviously the menu choice has to have HDMI selected instead of DVI).
o Try unplugging the HDMI cable and plugging it back in while both the display and box remain powered on.
o You have to do this viewing through the HDMI. This works specific to each port that you view through. Bear with it while it flashes on and off. Turn off the power to the digital box, then select menu. The first setting should be set to 1080i. Go to additional HDMI settings and select. If it is set to DVI, change to HDMI.


Hopefully something here will work for you.

The following suggestions are from the How to Use a Motorola DVR Wiki (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR):



Hopefully something here will work for you.

Thanks for the help --- the problem that I am seeing is the first one described in that entry. HDCP is set to "not enabled" on my box. I tried the suggested method of remedying the problem, though, and wasn't able to get it to change to "enabled".

I'm experiencing a similar issue with my Panasonic plasma, and based on what I've read in this forum it appears that the issue is poor HDMI handshaking with the Comcast boxes. The only "fix" I've heard of is to go component...

I have the green problem with DVR'd Bravo. What I do is it the guide button, the TV comes up in the little preview window, then I hit exit, and that fixes it.. don't know if that would work for you, but worth a try..

I just upgraded to high definition cable box and I have the following issues:

My Samsung HP-T4254 is connected to the cable box (motorola-don't know model number) via component video.

1. While viewing all stations I notice bands that extend the length of my screen scrolling horizontally up my screen. They don't block the image, they are really just bands of strangely tinted color that minimally distort the color of the image they are passing over. They are about an inch tall. One seems to have a greenish tint while the one that follows seems to be slightly pink. These bands continuously cycle up my screen. What is the issue here?

2. On some HD stations (especially Fox) there is hiccupping of my audio and video that lasts about .2 seconds briefly pausing the audio and causing a small amount of pixelation. I noticed this was particularly bad during American Idol Tuesday and Wednesday night this week. The hiccup was occurring every 3 minutes or less. Originally I was noticing this on ESPN HD as well but it seems to have stopped.

The tech from comcast I had here Monday said my signal was "+14" and that he thought I could run 6 boxes off of my signal. I dont know what +14 means, but he seemed to think I had a strong signal.

I'm in Evanston...don't know if that matters. If the model number of my motorola box is important I'd be happy to post it if you can tell me where to find it.

Thanks for any insight I receive!

Gianni

Edited to add: I think it might be worth noting that I don't have any of these problems while viewing dvds/bluray/gaming with my PS3 connected to the tv via HDMI. This makes me think it is probably an issue with the cable signal or the box rather than the tv.

Hi --

I posted this in the general HDTV forum and got no responses, and since I'm local to Chicago, I thought maybe someone in here would be able to help.

Here goes -- when connecting my Motorola Cable Box to my Samsung HDTV via HDMI, the picture shows for a second or two and then goes green. The Audio works fine. Component connection works fine - the problem is only with an HDMI connection.

I checked the config on the box and HDCP is set to "not enabled". After doing some research, I see that others have had the same problem whsn HDCP is not enabled. So, my question is, how to I enable HDCP? I found some suggested methods involving powering things off and plugging and unplugging the HDMI cable, but nothing seems to work. Anyone have any suggestions??

Or, is there a way to get HDMI enabled without enabling HDCP on the box?

The box has firmware version 18.34.

Thanks!
Andrew

I had the same problem -- here's how I fixed it. Make sure your HDMI cable is connected and the TV is on. Then, with the power OFF to your STB, press the menu button on the remote. That will bring up a config menu. From there you can toggle video output modes. My recollection is I had to change the default which was DVI ouput from the HDMI port (for those that use an adapter) and instead put it in direct HDMI output mode. I can't recall the exact sequence, but it will be fairly obvious.

Btw tonights Bulls game[a road one btw]is in HD on CSN

Btw tonights Bulls game[a road one btw]is in HD on CSN

It's also an ESPN-HD game. Probably picking up the ESPN-HD feed.

Press conference after the game was HD as well. I think it was CSNs feed. I didn't compare it with ESPN, but at one point during the game they were talking about Houston announcers and camera went to them.

I had the same problem -- here's how I fixed it. Make sure your HDMI cable is connected and the TV is on. Then, with the power OFF to your STB, press the menu button on the remote. That will bring up a config menu. From there you can toggle video output modes. My recollection is I had to change the default which was DVI ouput from the HDMI port (for those that use an adapter) and instead put it in direct HDMI output mode. I can't recall the exact sequence, but it will be fairly obvious.
Thanks for the advice. Still couldn't get it to work though -- I went in to the diagnostics screen like you said and set the output to HDMI, but still seeing handshake issues. Thanks anyway.

I thought all Bulls away games are going to be in HD starting this year? Lately I haven't noticed this. Anyone have any info on this? I know all the Cubs games are going to be in HD whether its home or away, but am unsure about the Bulls.

Anyone else in the area have "communucation error" when trying to use On-Demand?
Started last night for me

I thought all Bulls away games are going to be in HD starting this year? Lately I haven't noticed this. Anyone have any info on this? I know all the Cubs games are going to be in HD whether its home or away, but am unsure about the Bulls.


I haven't heard anything about that. I know that CSN HD has most Bulls away games in Widescreen, but I don't know of any announcement for Bulls away games for this year or in the future. All I've heard about, like you said, is the Sox/Cubs info.

I thought all Bulls away games are going to be in HD starting this year? Lately I haven't noticed this. Anyone have any info on this? I know all the Cubs games are going to be in HD whether its home or away, but am unsure about the Bulls.

WGN said HD away games will start with the 2008 season for Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls, so I take it to mean the Bulls will start in November 2008. The following is from the Feb. 2008 issue of Chicago Magazine:

...WGN-Channel 9 has been broadcasting Chicago Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls home games in HD since 2004 and intends to include the teams' away games starting with the 2008 baseball season, says Tom Ehlmann, WGN-TV's general manager.

Anyone else in the area have "communucation error" when trying to use On-Demand?
Started last night for me
Just wait and try again later. There can be occasional issues if it's out of available slots. If it still doesn't work after a few hours or the next day, you may have a poor signal, especially upstream.

I'm thinking about getting the Comcast Triple Play deal where it says I get the digital cable, internet, and phone for $99. I also want to use this with a S3 TiVo for HD.

What TV cable package is included with this $99 triple play? On the Comcast website, it says it's digital cable with on demand, then the link says enhanced cable, but that isn't listed anywhere. The lowest digital package normally offered appears to be Digital Starter. Is that the one that is part of the $99 triple play? Also, if so, what HD channels come with that one? I am mainly hoping for ESPNHD, ESPN2HD, and Comcast Sports HD.

I am in Cary, IL.

Thanks!

Digital Starter. It's basically the same channels as extended basic analog, with free On Demand thrown in. The only HD channels are the locals. I don't believe you'll be able to use the On Demand with your TiVo, though. Actually, you could split the signal and still use the On Demand, just not with the TiVo (at least I don't think).

(And hello from the next town over. Actually, I'm right on the western Cary border.)

Last weekend I had Digital Starter installed. Up until then I had Expanded Basic service and I was receiving the local HD stations through my QAM tuner by just plugging in the coaxial cable. I wanted to keep getting my local HD stations so after the box was installed I got a splitter and split the incoming cable. One goes directly to Antenna 1 on my TV for the local HD. The other goes through the cable box to Antenna 2 on the TV. Everything works in the set-up except for the On Demand. For some reason if I go with this set-up I lose On Demand but if I unplug everything and don't split the cable and just go right to the cable box On Demand works.

Has anyone tried successfully to split the cable and still keep On Demand? How did you do it?

Thanks for any help!

Last weekend I had Digital Starter installed. Up until then I had Expanded Basic service and I was receiving the local HD stations through my QAM tuner by just plugging in the coaxial cable. I wanted to keep getting my local HD stations so after the box was installed I got a splitter and split the incoming cable. One goes directly to Antenna 1 on my TV for the local HD. The other goes through the cable box to Antenna 2 on the TV. Everything works in the set-up except for the On Demand. For some reason if I go with this set-up I lose On Demand but if I unplug everything and don't split the cable and just go right to the cable box On Demand works.

Has anyone tried successfully to split the cable and still keep On Demand? How did you do it?

Thanks for any help!
The final split to your line may reduce your signal just enough so that your signal isn't strong enough. Look up at the post andyross just made. The same may apply to you - your upsteam signal may not be strong enough.

Make sure you are using a quality 2-way splitter rated at least 1ghz. The splitters Comcast uses are pretty good, but not great.

Not so funny story - I had a signal problem last month. Comcast came out. I basically told them what the problem was. They ignored me when they saw I had a radio shack splitter on my line. It was a pricey gold plated splitter rated higher than 1ghz. The guy went on to tell me how he was sure this was my problem, because he took this type of splitter apart before, and it was inferior. I let him swap it. My daughter came home and went to watch her tv later and found the picture was all *&^^% up. I put my "inferior" splitter back on the line and all was well.

That is my long way of thowing out the possibility that a higher quality splitter may do the trick. Or, you may need a digital signal booster.

Digital Starter. It's basically the same channels as extended basic analog, with free On Demand thrown in. The only HD channels are the locals. I don't believe you'll be able to use the On Demand with your TiVo, though. Actually, you could split the signal and still use the On Demand, just not with the TiVo (at least I don't think).

(And hello from the next town over. Actually, I'm right on the western Cary border.)

Hi neighbor, thanks for the feedback.

The whole TriplePlay pricing seems out of whack to me. When I go to the Comcast.com site, it has the lowest end TriplePlay for $99 (has the Digital Starter apparently). The TriplePlay with Digital Preferred is $129.99. Why is it $31 more? When I compare just the cable packages (without any promos), Digital Starter is $56.98 and the Digital Preferred is $70.98 (only a $14 difference).

Shouldn't then the TriplePlay preferred be something like $113 then? What, they give you a significantly lower discount for spending more money? Just doesn't make sense to me.

Can anyone in the Chicago area explain to me why channel 255 is still saying 'to be announced' for the past six months? Someone from Comcast told me that it's reserved for a particular network. If that network is the Big Ten then Comcast can just forget about it & add something like MGM HD or Science Channel HD for that particular slot because they're refusing to give their customers the Big 10 anyway due to costs, sports tire packages, etc. Comcast is such a waste!

Last weekend I had Digital Starter installed. Up until then I had Expanded Basic service and I was receiving the local HD stations through my QAM tuner by just plugging in the coaxial cable. I wanted to keep getting my local HD stations so after the box was installed I got a splitter and split the incoming cable. One goes directly to Antenna 1 on my TV for the local HD. The other goes through the cable box to Antenna 2 on the TV. Everything works in the set-up except for the On Demand. For some reason if I go with this set-up I lose On Demand but if I unplug everything and don't split the cable and just go right to the cable box On Demand works.

Has anyone tried successfully to split the cable and still keep On Demand? How did you do it?

Thanks for any help!I bought the Motorola signal booster from amazon and things work great. I have a splitter going to the tv coax antenna input, the dvr and 2 dvd recorders. Before I got the booster I would lose the hd channels and the dvr always was rebooting at times. no problems since.

Digital Starter. It's basically the same channels as extended basic analog, with free On Demand thrown in. The only HD channels are the locals. I don't believe you'll be able to use the On Demand with your TiVo, though. Actually, you could split the signal and still use the On Demand, just not with the TiVo (at least I don't think).

(And hello from the next town over. Actually, I'm right on the western Cary border.) Digital starter gives you sportschannel, espn hd, usa, tnt, and other hd stations besides the locals. I just updated from expanded basic for $2 more because of that. I don't have the triple play, just the cable and internet.

Last weekend I had Digital Starter installed. Up until then I had Expanded Basic service and I was receiving the local HD stations through my QAM tuner by just plugging in the coaxial cable. I wanted to keep getting my local HD stations so after the box was installed I got a splitter and split the incoming cable. One goes directly to Antenna 1 on my TV for the local HD. The other goes through the cable box to Antenna 2 on the TV. Everything works in the set-up except for the On Demand. For some reason if I go with this set-up I lose On Demand but if I unplug everything and don't split the cable and just go right to the cable box On Demand works.

Has anyone tried successfully to split the cable and still keep On Demand? How did you do it?

Thanks for any help!you should still be getting the local hd thru the cable box unless they didn't give you a HD cable box?

Digital starter gives you sportschannel, espn hd, usa, tnt, and other hd stations besides the locals. I just updated from expanded basic for $2 more because of that. I don't have the triple play, just the cable and internet.Not here they don't. You're lucky.

Me Too is on channel 247. Comes up as WCIU2.

Me Too is on channel 247. Comes up as WCIU2.

Programming starts tomorrow. Today is a nonstop preview loop of shows that will be on.

So apparently they will continue carrying the old WFBT programming on 248? I wonder how they are getting 247's feed. Broadcast 48 is still WFBT's programming (as of Friday evening.)

So apparently they will continue carrying the old WFBT programming on 248? I wonder how they are getting 247's feed. Broadcast 48 is still WFBT's programming (as of Friday evening.)

Probably from 26.3 digital.

Probably from 26.3 digital.Yes. And WFBT-DT is now 26.6.

Right now, things are a bit messed up. 247 is carrying the new WMEU programming, but the guide is showing WWME's programming (223). 248 has WMEU's program guide, but it is airing a bunch of animal E/I shows as of Sat morning.

Broadcast-wise, 48 is airing WMEU programming.

Last weekend I had Digital Starter installed. Up until then I had Expanded Basic service and I was receiving the local HD stations through my QAM tuner by just plugging in the coaxial cable. I wanted to keep getting my local HD stations so after the box was installed I got a splitter and split the incoming cable. One goes directly to Antenna 1 on my TV for the local HD. The other goes through the cable box to Antenna 2 on the TV. Everything works in the set-up except for the On Demand. For some reason if I go with this set-up I lose On Demand but if I unplug everything and don't split the cable and just go right to the cable box On Demand works.

Has anyone tried successfully to split the cable and still keep On Demand? How did you do it?

Thanks for any help!

Are you using Antenna 2 for your HD signal from the box, or are you using Component\HDMI cables. You should be using Component or HDMI cables from the box to the appropriate inputs on the TV. If I read your post correctly, you will only be getting the RF signal through Antenna 2 which could expain why you are not getting On Demand. Probably not getting much more than locals in HD, either.

Mike K.

Hi neighbor, thanks for the feedback.

The whole TriplePlay pricing seems out of whack to me. When I go to the Comcast.com site, it has the lowest end TriplePlay for $99 (has the Digital Starter apparently). The TriplePlay with Digital Preferred is $129.99. Why is it $31 more? When I compare just the cable packages (without any promos), Digital Starter is $56.98 and the Digital Preferred is $70.98 (only a $14 difference).

Shouldn't then the TriplePlay preferred be something like $113 then? What, they give you a significantly lower discount for spending more money? Just doesn't make sense to me.

I know what you mean. However, I just signed up online for the $129.99 Triple Play + HD Free. My bill came in and looks like:
Comcast Bundled Services $109
Dual Tuner DVR Service $13.99 (grrr)
High Speed Internet + Voice Equipment $3.00
Comcast Digital Voice Connectivity&Regulatory $5.64

Has the new guide software been rolled out in Chicago proper yet? I live in Lincoln Park, and don't have it yet, but my parents in Evanston do. I know there aren't any huge improvements, but it does seem to be a little more efficient.

I have called comcast on several occassions about the new guide.
Apparently it has only been rolled out in the North.

I've heard each os these responese from Comcast:

It will be rolled out in a few weeks

It will be rolled out as soon as possible

The rollout has been suspended and no info about when it will return.

Bottom line, I don't have it and Comcast can't tell me if/when I can get it.

you should still be getting the local hd thru the cable box unless they didn't give you a HD cable box?

I don't have an HD cable box. Just the regular cable box that comes with Digital Starter. I was able to get everything working. I split the cable from the wall and one went directly to the TV for my local HD stations. The other goes to the box and now On Demand works. In the previous set-up I had the cable going through a surge strip. Once I disconnected it from that everything worked. I guess the strip was causing On Demand not to work?:confused:

Do you know what the breakdown will be once your Triple Play + HD promo ends? Per the AT&T storybook commercial - What's 'The End'?

Is there any way to renogotiate w/Comcast to keep the promo rate beyond the limited time?

I know what you mean. However, I just signed up online for the $129.99 Triple Play + HD Free. My bill came in and looks like:
Comcast Bundled Services $109
Dual Tuner DVR Service $13.99 (grrr)
High Speed Internet + Voice Equipment $3.00
Comcast Digital Voice Connectivity&Regulatory $5.64

Do you know what the breakdown will be once your Triple Play + HD promo ends? Per the AT&T storybook commercial - What's 'The End'?

Is there any way to renogotiate w/Comcast to keep the promo rate beyond the limited time?

Sure there is; tell them that ATT (or Dish/Direct TV) made you a offer you couldnt refuse, and you are switching if they dont extend your rate another 6 months or 1 year..
They will respond with some type of offer to get you to stay..

had a cablecard installation today for my TivoHD. never called between 1-5, called at 5:30 and said they didn't send him the order until right then and he didn't have any cablecards - and the warehouse was closed. even though i specified twice i needed a cablecard, and an M-card at that. i have to pick the card up on Monday and install it myself.

A+ Comcast, A+.

:sigh:

I've noticed varying degrees of the audio being unsynchronized with the video on my new monitor. It doesn't happen at all on the analog cable channels, but it sometimes very apparent on the hdtv feeds of the same program, while other times it is hardly perceptible.

At this point, it could be my set and cablecard or it could be an issue with Comcast. I haven't had a HD set top box to compare, yet. Anyone else notice similar issues with Comcast HD signals on cablecard? If so, what brand/model tv?

I've noticed varying degrees of the audio being unsynchronized with the video on my new monitor. It doesn't happen at all on the analog cable channels, but it sometimes very apparent on the hdtv feeds of the same program, while other times it is hardly perceptible.

At this point, it could be my set and cablecard or it could be an issue with Comcast. I haven't had a HD set top box to compare, yet. Anyone else notice similar issues with Comcast HD signals on cablecard? If so, what brand/model tv?

I too notice audio lag, mostly on ABC and mostly during prime time hours. At the moment, early afternoon Sunday, son is watching basketball game on ABC/HD and no audio problems. Later in the evening after prime time, like local news time, the audio lag disappears. I've called Comcast and they said they'd look into it, whatever that means. No STB or cable card here, cable plugged directly into the HDTV.

All other sources, PS3 Blu-Ray, etc. - no audio lag, so I think the TV (Vizio GV47L btw) is not gulity. I've also called Vizio on this issue and this is one of the most asked questions according to them and the issue falls squarely in the lap of the network broadcasters.

It took me months and a threat to report them to the BBB and the AG's office before I got the CableCard issues all sorted out. I did get a free month of cable in the end, though. Still, not even close to worth it.

Edit: This is a reply to Brian's post, hit wrong button, lol.

:)

yeah, Comcast is inept in general. Although the lady i got when i called to complain really was awesome. She didn't give me anything, which i would've asked for something if she wasn't so knowledgeable. I was really impressed. She knew all about Cablecards, and what model of Tivo i need, etc - and she wasn't just reading off a card, I could tell. So, i don't know if it's regional or what but if you call in Chicago ask for Wanda. She knows her sh*t.

in Chicago, what HD channels come with Digital Starter? they are not specific on the site, they just lump them all into the "HDTV" channel list. i don't want any premiums, but i want stuff like Food, SciFi, and Discovery for sure. i asked the guy and he seemed to think i got all listed except Premiums, but i doubt that. He's also the one who took down my order wrong.

in Chicago, what HD channels come with Digital Starter?As far as I know, just the locals, which are included in any pack anyway.

Digital Starter's just basically the digital version of extended basic analog, and you normally can't order the HD package unless you have a higher, digital tier.

You might have to pay extra for an HD tuner to get those locals, though - since they normally only give you an SD one with the DS package.

So if your TV has a QAM tuner which will pick up all the unencrypted digitals, it might be cheaper to split the signal.

At least that's how it is out here - Chicago could be different, though. Or maybe it's just a temporary "starter" deal if he says you get them.

As far as I know, just the locals, which are included in any pack anyway.

Digital Starter's just basically the digital version of extended basic analog, and you normally can't order the HD package unless you have a higher, digital tier.

You might have to pay extra for an HD tuner to get those locals, though - since they normally only give you an SD one with the DS package.

So if your TV has a QAM tuner which will pick up all the unencrypted digitals, it might be cheaper to split the signal.

At least that's how it is out here - Chicago could be different, though. Or maybe it's just a temporary "starter" deal if he says you get them. I get tnt, usa, espn, csn, disc... in west suburbs. Just paid $2 extra to got from extended analog to the dig starter

Just double-checked, and we definitely don't get them here, right up the river from you. At least they're not normally included in the package.

They're not in the list, nor listed at the bottom - it just says "Other HD channels are available with digital starter" at the very end of the paragraph. So it looks like you possibly might not need the higher digital tier, but there's some sort of extra cost involved.

I know that my sister here in town has digital starter and I *think* she pays a bit extra for an HD tuner so she can get the locals in HD, but she definitely doesn't get any of those others in HD.

When did we get AMC HD? I noticed it on channel 171 this morning!

When did we get AMC HD? I noticed it on channel 171 this morning!

Must have shown up last night... a pleasant surprise.

FYI, looks like w/Digital Starter in Chicago you get most of the channels in HD except for the Premiums, Nat'l Geo, HGTV, and a couple others.

oh and my Cablecard still won't accept their signal, just bounces it back. they're calling me back tonight. :sigh:

I'm in a chicago suburb and, call me crazy, but it seems to me that sometime in the past week or so my 2,5,7,11 local Clear-QAM HD channels experienced a noticeable uptick in quality level. That is, less blocky noise and and fewer compression artifacts, like they raise the bitrate or something.

Has anyone in Chicago area also noticed this? If so, did the PQ of all HD channels jump or just the locals?

When did we get AMC HD? I noticed it on channel 171 this morning!
Unfortunately, it looks like they use Stretch-O-Vision. Yet another reason to never watch.

Unfortunately, it looks like they use Stretch-O-Vision. Yet another reason to never watch.

I don't know first hand, but I would guess that at least Mad Men and Breaking Bad are in true HD.

I don't know first hand, but I would guess that at least Mad Men and Breaking Bad are in true HD.

I wonder what AMC HD looks like on satellite? If it does the stretch? But I agree that mad men and breaking bad should be in HD.

Still waiting for FX to be in HD!
Animal planet HD on 224. How long has that been on?

came home today and the M-card was magically working.

i get Digital Starter, so no SciFi, AMC, etc. :( but oh well. eventually a lot more HD channels will be included i'm sure.

why no FX????

i need FX and Bravo to cover all the normal shows we watch, i think. oh and VH1.

Animal planet HD on 224. How long has that been on?

Over a month - since Valentine's Day, I think.

anyone know why i wouldn't get HGTV in HD w/Digital Starter? I get it in SD, so it would follow that i would get it in HD too. also, I can find the AMC HD channel but it just says "No Channel Info." i wonder if it still has to roll to my area.

anyone know why i wouldn't get HGTV in HD w/Digital Starter? I get it in SD, so it would follow that i would get it in HD too. also, I can find the AMC HD channel but it just says "No Channel Info." i wonder if it still has to roll to my area.

You shouldn't be getting HGTV with Digital Starter, so that's probably why you aren't getting it in HD. Looks like you need digital Classic at least to get HGTV.

i'm still not understanding why i shouldn't be getting it w/DS. it's not a "premium" channel, it's the same as something like TLC, and I already get it in SD. the other channels i understand, like SciFi, History, etc - because i don't get them in SD. it's the only oddball.

i'm still not understanding why i shouldn't be getting it w/DS. it's not a "premium" channel, it's the same as something like TLC, and I already get it in SD. the other channels i understand, like SciFi, History, etc - because i don't get them in SD. it's the only oddball.


Comcast doesn't automatically give you an HD version of an SD channel you are subscribed to except for the OTA networks. You have to subscribe to the HD package to get those. On our system HGTV is not a part of any basic or Digital starter package, you have to subscribe to Digital Classic to get it. Digital starter looks to only add Movieplex & some Digital OTA channels to the Expanded basic package, along with access to On Demand. It doesn't add any "Cable" networks. But just having a channel in SD does not give you the ability to get it in HD without getting the HD package.

It's just odd that that's the only one. all others match up with my SD subscription. oh well.

Just lost my cable feed with 5 seconds to go in the Drake/WKY game. Internet is still up. Hope they fix it soon!

Here's an article you may want to read about Comcast HD-Lite:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271

Here's an article you may want to read about Comcast HD-Lite:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271

Is that why CNN-HD has been stuttering and almost unwatchable at times for me lately?

I've really noticed to quality of Comcast HD going down. This would explain it.

Anyone else have weird audio from NBC HD? Gets high pitched and distorted at times.
Noticed Thurs night and again Sunday morning.

Anyone else have weird audio from NBC HD? Gets high pitched and distorted at times.
Noticed Thurs night and again Sunday morning.

Yes. This happened all last week during part of Conan for me. No other problems with any other NBC shows though. For whatever reason, NBC HD has always been quirky with sound a picture.

that's odd - i think MHD is one of the best looking channels.

Yes. This happened all last week during part of Conan for me. No other problems with any other NBC shows though. For whatever reason, NBC HD has always been quirky with sound a picture.

that's odd - i think MHD is one of the best looking channels.

Were you referring to my post? I agree that MHD looks AND sounds great. We were discussing NBC though.

I'm pretty new to Chicago and Comcast (even though people in Cleveland complain about Time Warner constantly, and there certainly are more channels in HD on Comcast, the quality on Comcast seems comparatively lousy, and I'm not a big fan of the Motorola boxes).

Just my initial 2 cents about Comcast.

Regarding NBC--I've noticed a ton of crackling and distortion of sound, and it might just be during NBC News that I've noticed it--either Today Show or Nightly News. I was thinking it's in the hookup with 30 Rock Plaza that did it, maybe? Someone mentioned Conan...that's in the building, but I didn't notice any sound issues with SNL.

sorry no, i was looking at the thread you mentioned - looks like MHD takes one of the biggest percentage hits.

I noticed the audio issues on my DVR recording of Leno a few days ago. It sounds like two audio streams, just a tiny bit out of sync, are being mixed together, causing some weird sound effects.

i've noticed a lot of syncing problems on my TivoHD if programs run for awhile, and also some breakup of signal. and my strength is always in the 80% range.

Looks like we are getting Disney HD and ABC family HD soon.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/guide has them already listed on channels 197 and 198.

Starter? or do you think we'd have to have Classic/Premier?

I don't have Comcast, but I've got OTA 5.1 NBC acting randomly strange with the audio. Distant, hollow, tinny, scratchy sound. I've experienced it at least a few times now in the last week with all sorts of programs. It lasts for seconds or a few minutes at a time.

My sister who is in the area and who DOES have Comcast told me that her digital/hd NBC channel has been experiencing some of the same type of sketchy audio as well.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/guide is showing programming on Disney HD(197) and ABC family HD(198) starting on March 30th.

There's a station airing clear through QAM on channel 85-31 in Chicago Area 2, almost all infomercials but occasionally some other programming. · (There used to be another like it on 85-34.) · I can't manage to identify it with any channel number out of the decoder box, the way QAM channels 86-10 and 86-11 are the same as decoder output channels 114 and 115 respectively.

Would anyone know what's airing on 85-31 in Chicago Area 2? · Thanks.

There's a station airing clear through QAM on channel 85-31 in Chicago Area 2, almost all infomercials but occasionally some other programming.Might be WJYS-DT.

Might be WJYS-DT.

Thank you, but WJYS-DT comes on channel 80-16, and it carries religion much of the day, while 85-31 is almost all infomercials all day long. · Only once, late in the evening, did I see anything else on 85-31. · It was a subtitled drama (possibly a movie); I couldn't recognize the language, but a bug reading "ACS" or "ASC" was in the lower right.

For a couple of weeks almost all the airtime (cabletime?) on 85-31 was for one credit company, whose name I perhaps shouldn't mention as it might be seen as advertisting, but it means "large canine," as in the PBS series "Clifford the ___ Red ___," or as Carl Perkins sang in "Matchbox," "let me be your little dog, till your ___ ___ comes."

EDIT:

Right now it matches cable-decoder channel 110 ("CMP" - Cable Marketplace). · But I'm sure I've compared them before, so that may be just a temporary coincidence.

here in Schaumburg, these are the channels on analog 85:

34 34 591 85 256 TBS Superstation
39 39 591 85 256 The Weather Channel
50 50 591 85 256 fX
51 51 591 85 256 Turner Network Television
57 57 591 85 256 ABC Family Channel
66 66 591 85 256 Fox News Channel
102 x 591 85 256 Cable Marketplace 2
103 x 591 85 256 ACCES
109 x 591 85 256 SoapNET
110 x 591 85 256 Local Advertising

seems like occasionally i notice captions or words near the bottom of the screen are cut off. especially noticeable on commercials. also, the station logos are usually cut off on the right edge. this is while viewing in HD. my TV letterboxes HD.

i'm using a Sony KV27HS420 27 Inch FD Trinitron Wega Hi-Scan TV w/Component 1080i.

any ideas? is it overscanning somehow? it seems the ratio is correct, so i'm not sure what to do about that.

seems like occasionally i notice captions or words near the bottom of the screen are cut off. especially noticeable on commercials. also, the station logos are usually cut off on the right edge. this is while viewing in HD. my TV letterboxes HD.

i'm using a Sony KV27HS420 27 Inch FD Trinitron Wega Hi-Scan TV w/Component 1080i.

any ideas? is it overscanning somehow? it seems the ratio is correct, so i'm not sure what to do about that.

Why are you letterboxing HD? is your TV 16:9? How do you have the cable box set as to TV type?

seems like occasionally i notice captions or words near the bottom of the screen are cut off. especially noticeable on commercials. also, the station logos are usually cut off on the right edge. this is while viewing in HD. my TV letterboxes HD.

i'm using a Sony KV27HS420 27 Inch FD Trinitron Wega Hi-Scan TV w/Component 1080i.

any ideas? is it overscanning somehow? it seems the ratio is correct, so i'm not sure what to do about that.

It depends on which station you're watching. A lot of stations which have HD simulcasts zoom their SD broadcasts to better fill widescreen displays. If the text wasn't placed in the central "safe zone" then they spill outside the display when zoomed in for widescreen presentation. This is usually seen in commercials, but unfortunately I've seen this happen on regular programming, too - usually during an interview where the person's name and title are displayed but chopped off the side/bottom of the screen.

i figured that may be the problem. once i get a plasma i wonder if setting it to dot-for-dot would change anything? either way, i guess it's no big deal.

and dag16, it auto-squeezes HD to the correct proportion. it's a 4:3 TV that does HD with HDMI/Component up to 1080i. I'm using a TivoHD box.

Discovery HD zooms SD to give narrower bars on the sides. That tends to result in the picture being trimmed on the top and bottom.

The standard safe title area is 10%, and safe action is 5%. This allows for overscan on most TV's. Better TV's should be 3-4%. Even many digital TV's overscan, even with a digital signal. Part of the reason is that there still tends to be garbage at the extreme edges, especially when SD is upconverted.

On my motorola box, I am positive I was getting proper 5.1 through my Yamaha system, now every digital/hd channel is just sending a digital signal, but no 5.1. Any other problems out there? I can't see any adjustment that needs to be made on my end.

Thanks.

On my motorola box, I am positive I was getting proper 5.1 through my Yamaha system, now every digital/hd channel is just sending a digital signal, but no 5.1. Any other problems out there? I can't see any adjustment that needs to be made on my end.
The first thing I would try is a simple reboot (unplug from power for a minute.) Odd things happen.

If that doesn't fix it, some have found messing with the audio settings in the setup can fix it, even though those are only supposed to affect the analog outputs.

Some details here:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Using_i-Guide/User_Setup#Audio_Setup

I'm moving to the north suburbs of Chicago where Comcast and Direct TV will be my only options.

I'm going to have a bunch of tv sets in the home (probably 3 HD and around 5 SD) and am trying to figure out my best way for having pictures on all at a reasonable cost.

2 of the HD sets will need to have DVRs and the other one just needs an HD picture. The other 5 sets (probably will be 20-30" LCDs) don't need to be able to pull in HD and only need basic cable. With the shutting off the analog tv signals does this mean I will need a cable box/tuner from Comcast or Direct TV on all of these televisions? How much does a basic cable box cost? If I get a tv with an internal QAM tuner (or buy an external one) will that get me access to basic cable? Are cablecards a better way to go?

I'm currently in Chicago with RCN and I know with their digital transition you need an RCN box or a cablecard to get any picture at all. Is it the same with Comcast?

Any help would be appreciated. I realize that having 8 working tv sets will cost me some money, but I'm really hoping I don't need to pay an additional $150-200 just to have cable boxes or tuners on each of these sets.

Thanks.

If you can have Direct why can't you have Dish? Dish has dual-tunered receivers which only count as one. I don't know how many you're allowed these days, but it should knock some off the bill at least. Dish (and I think Direct) also have lower-priced tiers of SD packages where Comcast doesn't (except for the Family Tier, which doesn't give you jack - especially Comcast's version - Dish's Family Tier isn't bad), so you could save there, too, if you find a package you (and your family) can live with. As these darned package prices go up so much year after year, this is a good option to have.

Otherwise maybe you could use wireless video extenders to some of the sets. Bigger cost upfront but will eventually pay for itself (found at places like BB & CC, but probably cheaper online).

That's if you wanted to be able to view more than the locals on each set. If you would be satisfied with just the locals, yes, QAM tuners in the sets should get you those. Even if they shut off the bulk of the "analogs", they should at least leave the locals available (in analog and digital), and you shouldn't need their box for those (with Comcast, anyway).

I don't know exactly what the rental charge for either an HD or SD box or a CableCARD is these days - as far as Comcast, someone else here can answer that for sure (the CableCARD price might be more area-dependent).

About the only standalone box-style QAM tuner available out there right now that I know of is the Samsung DTB-H260F (available at BB & CC, but often found a bit cheaper online). There may be a cheapo, no-name internet model or two out there, but I'm really not too up on that. You'll have to check the Hardware or Reception threads for that (there's a "sticky" thread on tuners somewhere over there).

The first thing I would try is a simple reboot (unplug from power for a minute.) Odd things happen.

If that doesn't fix it, some have found messing with the audio settings in the setup can fix it, even though those are only supposed to affect the analog outputs.

Some details here:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Using_i-Guide/User_Setup#Audio_Setup
Thanks I will give it a try.

By the way I was chatting with a Comcast CSR rep the other night (after they were closed) and they suggested I just "don't use a 5.1 system" as my solution to the problem. I was flabbergasted.

Is anyone watching the baseball games today? I was watching the Cubs and Sox games. Cubs are currently in a rain delay and Sox are getting smoked in Cleveland.

I have to say that I like the new graphics that WGN has for the score on the top of the screen, but I think they could move it up a little. Its too far down and should be farther up.

As far as CSN HD, the White Sox were being shown in HD on that channel. I must say that the picture did not look HD at all. It looked more like widescreen digital. It wasn't that good of a picture. I don't know who their fooling, but this is definitely not HD! Did anyone else notice this? There is a big difference between the Cubs game in HD versus the White Sox game in HD.

Is anyone experiencing color flicker on FX during The Riches?
It only happens during the show - not the commercials (or any other channels).

And are there plans for an FX HD channel?

Is anyone experiencing color flicker on FX during The Riches?
It only happens during the show - not the commercials (or any other channels).

And are there plans for an FX HD channel?

I don't watch the Riches, but I love FX. Comcast doesn't have a deal with FX HD nationally. Until that happens there is 0% chance of getting it here in Chicago.

Is anyone experiencing color flicker on FX during The Riches?
It only happens during the show - not the commercials (or any other channels).

And are there plans for an FX HD channel?

so weird i was just about to post this. it gets more and more purple and then goes back, over and over. bugs the hell out of me.

so weird i was just about to post this. it gets more and more purple and then goes back, over and over. bugs the hell out of me.

I'm just glad to know it's not just me (or more importantly - my plasma)

anyone in Chicago watching TLC HD yesterday afternoon for the "My First Home" mini-marathon? my girlfriend was and it was breaking up over and over again. i was afraid it was my TivoHD. but no other channel seemed to do it. i had just switched cabling and splitters (but the same config) so i also thought it might be that. but there was no reason for it.

so i thought i'd check.

Probably is widescreen SD. While WGN is doing HOme & Road games in HD this year, I thought CSN was just doing Home games in HD. They have picked up widescreen SD feeds from some road cities in the past, I'd bet that is what they are doing today. I'm at the office watching it on a little 13" TV

who are you responding to? the white sox post?

who are you responding to? the white sox post?

Yes. But @ satellite guys they are also complaining that E* is not carrying the game in HD & the D* picture has the HD logo but the game looks to be in widescreen SD. According to people there CSN IS advertising that all home & road games will be HD this year. I hadn't seen that. It is being replayed by CSN tonight, I'll look at it then to see how bad it looks.

I'm watching the Cubs game, but I switched over to see what the Sox were doing on CSN HD and it had the HD logo on the screen, but now they took it off. Its just a standard widescreen picture. I thought that CSN along with WGN would have all road games in HD.

From CSN's Website:

All White Sox games (home and road) will be available in HD on Comcast SportsNet!
All Cubs games (home and road) will be available in HD on Comcast SportsNet!

Sounds like something didn't go as planned.

Edited to add that Hawk supposedly made an announcements that their HD feed was down today & should be back for Thursday's game.

DisneyHD - 198
ABC Family HD -197

Both are on for me in Lincoln Park... guide still shows to be announced.

DisneyHD - 198
ABC Family HD -197

Both are on for me in Lincoln Park... guide still shows to be announced.

Not tunable yet in Area 2 on the Northwest Side, maybe by morning.

DisneyHD - 198
ABC Family HD -197

Both are on for me in Lincoln Park... guide still shows to be announced.

Not seeing it in Channahon yet. But I do only have cablecards and if Comcast is using SDV I will not get it.

Both are up in Joliet. DisneyHD has guide data, ABC Family HD does not.

Both are up in Joliet. DisneyHD has guide data, ABC Family HD does not.

Same situation in Chicago Area 2 now: around 8 AM the new stations weren't there, but at 10 they were as JolietConvict describes.

There are channel mnemonic problems as well: 197 is "DISHD," which conflicts with their use of the same for Discovery HD on channel 218 (TitanTV calls the latter "DISC-HD").  That will cause problems with some DVRs, as I understand.  198 has no name and no guide data nor even skeleton schedule: just half-hour cells of "To be announced."

The list of HD channels at Menu->HD shows 197 but not 198.  However, 198 can be tuned in and the upconversions of ABC Family (whose SD feed is on channel 15 here) come in just fine.

Both new stations are on 213 MHz (I don't have andyross63's chart handy to see what else is shared). And as dattier mentioned above, 198 doesn't have an identifier in the channel listings.

So we're finally moving to Crystal Lake (yeah!!!). I called yesterday to set an appointment to have service activated. Unfortunately we weren't able to finish it because the previous owner hasn't canceled yet, even though they moved almost 3 weeks ago. :(

But along the process the CSR, mentioned a $100 deposit for the DVR. Has anyone encountered this before? She said it would be refunded when we cancel Comcast (yeah, sure I believe that).

Thanks!


tim

Security deposit for a DVR? I didn't have to pay for mine, so that's either a new policy or the CSR is mixed up.

Wow! Seems like a lot of great things are happening.

The Cubs and Sox home and road games on Comcast Sports net in HD!, (been waiting for this for a long time), (and yes I do work both sides of town. (I have both Cub and Sox jerseys in my closet) Fan of the game, or whoever is doing better in the standings!). and 2 new HD channels.

How much of the programming on Disney and ABC family will actually be HD is my question?

Also did anyone notice that HGTV is now simulcasting their SD channel on the high def one? The high def one only used to broadcast just HD programming. Now everything'll be upconverted that wasn't show in HD.

How much of the programming on Disney and ABC family will actually be HD is my question?

I'm actually impressed with Disney. Most of the shows this morning have been in HD.

I'm actually impressed with Disney. Most of the shows this morning have been in HD.


So is that Jo Jo, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Einsteins, and Kola Bros? How about Wiggles and Hannah Montana?

So is that Jo Jo, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Einsteins, and Kola Bros? How about Wiggles?

Sounds like our kids are the same age. I was just thinking the same thing. ;)


tim

Sometimes for cartoons in wide screen it can be hard for me to tell if its an upconvert, or HD.

Sounds like our kids are the same age. I was just thinking the same thing. ;)


tim

Ha Ha! Looks like it! I think the adults care more about HD then the kids do, huh?!:p

Wow! Seems like a lot of great things are happening.

The Cubs and Sox home and road games on Comcast Sports net in HD!, (been waiting for this for a long time), (and yes I do work both sides of town. (I have both Cub and Sox jerseys in my closet) Fan of the game, or whoever is doing better in the standings!). and 2 new HD channels.

How much of the programming on Disney and ABC family will actually be HD is my question?

Also did anyone notice that HGTV is now simulcasting their SD channel on the high def one? The high def one only used to broadcast just HD programming. Now everything'll be upconverted that wasn't show in HD.

Also, WGN games home & road in HD as well!

So is that Jo Jo, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Einsteins, and Kola Bros? How about Wiggles and Hannah Montana?

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friend Tigger & Pooh, Bunnytown, Lilo & Stitch, Emperor's New School have all been in HD so far.

Are there any ESPNews HD sightings in Chicagoland?

Any word on when ESPNews HD will be coming to Comcast in Chicago?

Thanks!

Also did anyone notice that HGTV is now simulcasting their SD channel on the high def one? The high def one only used to broadcast just HD programming. Now everything'll be upconverted that wasn't show in HD.

There was a PR release that said effective March 31 HGTV and Food Network will mirror their main SD channel's programming on the HD channels.

Also, WGN games home & road in HD as well!

WCIU as well.

Disney HD is DISHD. Discovery HD has finally been renamed DSCHD (was DISHD, before that it was TDCHD), to match the SD's name of DSC.

Both of the new HD's are on 213MHz (analog 13). Versus/Golf HD was there, but is now at 825MHz (analog 129). The Comcast Central channels were also on 213MHz, but I can't verify if they also moved as I don't have them anymore.

I haven't had a chance to scan to see if the two new are part of a triple or not.

At least neither one appears to use Stretch-O-Vision.

Edit: On another forum, they mentioned finding Science HD (Science Channel HD) as the 3rd. It's not displayed in the Guide, yet. This would be a 720/720/1080 triple, which may be somewhat OK.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13526828#post13526828

Same observations as Andy Ross about the presentation: as of about 4 PM CDT, 198 bore the name FAMHD and 218 had been renamed DSCHD (197 kept DISHD), and there was guide information for 198 through mid-evening.  About 8 PM there was guide info for a few days more.

The Comcast Central channels were also on 213MHz, but I can't verify if they also moved as I don't have them anymore.

Comcast Central is on channel 960 (630 MHz) - you can punch that in directly or hit the MENU button twice to get to the on screen option.

disney and ABC Fam is not in HD res.

disney and ABC Fam is not in HD res.

Some shows are. I would much rather have FX HD though, but I won't complain.

disney and ABC Fam is not in HD res.


Had to be home for awhile this AM & flipped on Disney HD. Had a cartoon on & it was in HD. I don't know of anything that ABC Family is broadcasting in HD. ESPNews HD or FXHD would have been a better choice, but I believe carraige of these 2 channels was a package agreement between Disney & Comcast.

WCIU as well.


Looks to me like the only games that won't be available in HD are the CSN+ games which go to CLTV. It would be nice if we had an HD special Events channel that could be used to show those games.

Looks to me like the only games that won't be available in HD are the CSN+ games which go to CLTV. It would be nice if we had an HD special Events channel that could be used to show those games.

Get out of Dodge!! This is hard to believe. So, Home and Road games Sox, Cubs on WGN, CSN, and WCIU HD. Everything's going to be high def. What a nice treat!

I wonder why they couldn't do this with the Bulls? Maybe next year, huh?

From the announcement yesterday the Blackhawks are supposed to be in HD also on Comcast Sportsnet and WGN, (all the games). I suppose both home and road games are going to be in HD, then?

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friend Tigger & Pooh, Bunnytown, Lilo & Stitch, Emperor's New School have all been in HD so far.

Yes, I saw Mickey today in HD, but Handy Mandy had blackbars, (no stretch o-vision like Andyross says).

I agree on the ABC family, most everything shown on this channel is a syndication or canceled program. What would be the possible shows that they could broadcast in HD?:confused:

Is it just me, or is anyone else having audio drop, and pixelation/tiling problems every 10 seconds or with their Comcast service? It used to happen at our place when the weather got cold out, now it seems like every other day?

Yes, I saw Mickey today in HD, but Handy Mandy had blackbars, (no stretch o-vision like Andyross says).

I agree on the ABC family, most everything shown on this channel is a syndication or canceled program. What would be the possible shows that they could broadcast in HD?:confused:

Nice to hear about no stretching on Disney HD (although I'm sure I'm the only one in my house that cares ;)

I'm guessing ABC Family went HD for Greek. They have been advertising it a lot (yes, my wife watches it).


tim
less than 3 weeks until I get HD back :D

Get out of Dodge!! This is hard to believe. So, Home and Road games Sox, Cubs on WGN, CSN, and WCIU HD. Everything's going to be high def. What a nice treat!

I wonder why they couldn't do this with the Bulls? Maybe next year, huh?

From the announcement yesterday the Blackhawks are supposed to be in HD also on Comcast Sportsnet and WGN, (all the games). I suppose both home and road games are going to be in HD, then?


All Home & Road Bulls games next year will be as well. Same scenario, just the CSN+ games unless they work out a solution for that. I'd even have looked at the MLB EI package this year if they would have be like D* & show 40 some games /wk in HD. But I'm not paying extra for crappy SD coverage.

Is it just me, or is anyone else having audio drop, and pixelation/tiling problems every 10 seconds or with their Comcast service? It used to happen at our place when the weather got cold out, now it seems like every other day?

Last night I was getting it during Wheel of fortune and some other show, but the problem seemed to clear up by the time american idol started.

I agree on the ABC family, most everything shown on this channel is a syndication or canceled program. What would be the possible shows that they could broadcast in HD?:confused:
ABC Family does have new shows like Greek, Kyle XY, and a few others. Also the occasional movie.

Comcast Central is on channel 960 (630 MHz) - you can punch that in directly or hit the MENU button twice to get to the on screen option.
That's the issue: I do not have Comcast Central at all. Not in the menu, not at channels 960+. They disappeared during one of those numerous reboots back in Nov/Dec after the software update. I haven't rebooted it since then (showing 118 day uptime as of April 2.)

Also, 630MHz is not a standard frequency. Typo?

ABC Family does have new shows like Greek, Kyle XY, and a few others. Also the occasional movie.

Don't confuse me for a Pat Robertson fan when I say this, but I was flipping through the channels and saw that the 700 Club was in HD on ABC Family.

That's the issue: I do not have Comcast Central at all. Not in the menu, not at channels 960+. They disappeared during one of those numerous reboots back in Nov/Dec after the software update. I haven't rebooted it since then (showing 118 day uptime as of April 2.)

Also, 630MHz is not a standard frequency. Typo?

Yeah, I goofed. Channel 960 is on 675 MHz.

For point of comparison, here's what I have for code versions (D08 in the diagnostic menu):

Boot code: 4.01
Platform: 16.42
TC_CS_CB: 16.42
Tv_Guide: 75.58
SEACVOD_: 5.22

I'm switching between the Blackhawks game on CSN and the Whitesox game on WCIU and the Whitesox game looks to be closer to digital widescreen quality than the Hawks game which looks to be real HD quality[the grass in the Sox game looks a little blurry imho].......are they having the same problems they had on Monday w/the HD broadcast?

I'm switching between the Blackhawks game on CSN and the Whitesox game on WCIU and the Whitesox game looks to be closer to digital widescreen quality than the Hawks game which looks to be real HD quality[the grass in the Sox game looks a little blurry imho].......are they having the same problems they had on Monday w/the HD broadcast?

Tonights Sox game was HD for us. Comcast probably has more bandwidth delegated to CSN. You should switch to OTA for the REAL hd quality. :D

Disney HD is DISHD. Discovery HD has finally been renamed DSCHD (was DISHD, before that it was TDCHD), to match the SD's name of DSC.

Both of the new HD's are on 213MHz (analog 13). Versus/Golf HD was there, but is now at 825MHz (analog 129). The Comcast Central channels were also on 213MHz, but I can't verify if they also moved as I don't have them anymore.

I haven't had a chance to scan to see if the two new are part of a triple or not.

At least neither one appears to use Stretch-O-Vision.

Edit: On another forum, they mentioned finding Science HD (Science Channel HD) as the 3rd. It's not displayed in the Guide, yet. This would be a 720/720/1080 triple, which may be somewhat OK.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13526828#post13526828








When will Science Channel HD be added to the Chicago market? Does anybody knows?

Spoke to a Comcast rep today. She told me that a cablecard only costs a one time fee of about $31 and there is no monthly cost. Is this correct? If so that would make a TV with a CC slot much more appealing to me.

I'm assuming with CC you do get the HD channels, is that correct? If so that means that on two of my HD sets that I don't need a DVR I can save $7 a month for each.

Just want to make sure that the CSR didn't give me misinformation (I'll be in one of the North suburbs of Chicago BTW).

Thanks.

They seem inconsistant about the one time fee. Some I've known were charged, some weren't. Also the first card is free I've heard, but multiples are something like $2.00. I don't know how easy it is to find a CC TV. The ones I know are using it for Tivo. I think the cable companies aren't too fond of this technology.

They seem inconsistant about the one time fee. Some I've known were charged, some weren't. Also the first card is free I've heard, but multiples are something like $2.00. I don't know how easy it is to find a CC TV. The ones I know are using it for Tivo. I think the cable companies aren't too fond of this technology.

Thanks, that makes sense about the first one being free but a charge after that. The main tvs I'm looking at that have it are any of the Pioneer plasmas.

Spoke to a Comcast rep today. She told me that a cablecard only costs a one time fee of about $31 and there is no monthly cost. Is this correct? If so that would make a TV with a CC slot much more appealing to me.
i don't know if charges differ by area as well but there's also a monthly digital access fee of $5.99 i think, for all boxes/cablecards beyond the first one.
if this is your only cable tv connection then i don't think you'll have any monthly charge.

came home today and the M-card was magically working.

Brian,

I'm hoping for some cablecard magic this afternoon in my Woot TiVo HD - so far I'm 0 for 5.

Mon. 2 techs arrive to Triple Play me, but no cablecards available?? The phone does work and the 2 Moto 6200 HD tuners work (one had to be reset in 3 hrs).
Called CSR to complain - Wed PM is only time in next month for a cablecard?

Wed. 1 20-something tech brings card, seems familiar w/TiVo, installs, calls to activate and leaves while Channel Search ball is turning. Search fails and CSR arranges another service call for Thur. PM.

Thur. 2 more mature techs arrive, check the signal strength at the TiVo HD and decide to run a new cable - probably a good thing. They finish the cable and install the 'new' cablecard (has same S/N?), call to activate, call several other techs to ask about TiVo experience. Finding none they read the instructions and the card looks like it's been activated - w/full info on Diagnostic screen. They get to the channel search ball screen, wait ~ 15 min. and then depart. No joy when search ends in failure and CSR can't make anything work. New appt Fri. from 4-7 PM and my internet is gone for good measure. Nice CSR gal walks me through modem and router reboots and internet is back. Explore network stuff available on TiVo HD - radio, pictures, etc. At least my DIY Cat 5 cable from router to TiVo is working OK...

Fri. I've got all the TiVo HD cablecard instructions and troubleshooting guides printed and ready. Now I need some of your magic...

BTW - I bought 2 of the Woot refurbs, and my son had his cablecard installed Wed. with only an issue with the other Moto HD box that the CSR fixed.

Any advice would be appreciated...

maifimd.. you are probably best off looking here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316310

The thread is huge, but there is some info in there.

If I remember right, the FIRST CableCard PER DEVICE is free. If a device needs two cards (like the Tivo3 and TivoHD), then there is a charge for the second card.

Where is it?
When's it coming?

Just saw a message on the DVR indicating that Cubs and Sox games that air on CSN will be available OnDemand (Local/Chicago Sports/Comcast Sports Net) for 48 hours. I see today's Cubs game out there, but unfortunately in SD. It's a good start, but would be great if they could do it in HD.

Has anyone compiled a list of the clear QAM channels and their channel numbers?

Has anyone compiled a list of the clear QAM channels and their channel numbers?

They vary depending on which headend you're attached to. Do a search through this message thread - many people have posted QAM data in the past.

They vary depending on which headend you're attached to. Do a search through this message thread - many people have posted QAM data in the past.

Most of the lists I have seen in the thread are very old.

i'm getting this cutoff on channels like ABC with their logo:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/shadowravenz/ABCLogo.jpg

kinda hard to see, sorry - but look at the ABC HD logo - you can only see half the "H"

also, i'm getting text cutoff on most channels, but here's an example on TLC:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/shadowravenz/TextCutoff1.jpg

here's another one where you can barely make out the tips of words at the bottom that should be there:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/shadowravenz/TextCutoff2.jpg

here's my setup:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/shadowravenz/SetUp.jpg


any ideas? or is this kind of overscan normal?

i'm getting this cutoff on channels like ABC with their logo:


kinda hard to see, sorry - but look at the ABC HD logo - you can only see half the "H"

also, i'm getting text cutoff on most channels, but here's an example on TLC:


here's another one where you can barely make out the tips of words at the bottom that should be there:

here's my setup:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/shadowravenz/SetUp.jpg


any ideas? or is this kind of overscan normal?


Brian,

I removed the screen shots just to save space, but it looks like you have a 4x3 TV and HD feeds are in 16x9 format, so you will cut off part of the picture on each side. My in-laws have the same thing. You should be able to achange it & get a 16x9 picture on there, but you will get black bars on the top and bottom because the 16x9 picyure will not fill out the entire screen on a 4x3 screen.

yes, it is a 4X3 TV but it squishes 16X9 format. that's what the pictures show, above. it just seems to overscan zoom it too much - does anyone with a plasma/lcd in Chicago get the same thing, or is it just the fact that it's a CRT?

yes, it is a 4X3 TV but it squishes 16X9 format. that's what the pictures show, above. it just seems to overscan zoom it too much - does anyone with a plasma/lcd in Chicago get the same thing, or is it just the fact that it's a CRT?

The top picture (from Miss Guided) definitely shows clipping. On my 65" set, I can see the ABC logo plus the letter H and most of the D.

However, I'd be careful about the screen caps from TLC. While the onscreen logo says TLC HD, they still zoom/upconvert older episodes, and lots of text outside the safe zone gets clipped. I see this type of thing all the time, especially during commercials and documentaries where you get a lot of text put on the screen.

Just a note that Discovery HD, and I think TLC HD, zoom up SD programming so that the pillarboxing is minimal. This chops off the top and bottom. I'd rather have that than Stretch-O-Vision.

Is your TV one of the Sony HS series? Those have a low resolution CRT, so you are not getting much better than SD resolution, even with HD.

As for the true HD, it's possible your TV has alot of overscan, at least for HD. Being a 4:3 set, Sony may have set it up to overscan the sides a bit to keep from letting the picture get too small. I have a widescreen XBR910 series, and don't have any serious cutoff. From test patterns, I have roughly 3-4% overscan on HD, and 2-3% on SD. 5% or less is considered good.

Just a note that Discovery HD, and I think TLC HD, zoom up SD programming so that the pillarboxing is minimal. This chops off the top and bottom. I'd rather have that than Stretch-O-Vision.

Is your TV one of the Sony HS series? Those have a low resolution CRT, so you are not getting much better than SD resolution, even with HD.

As for the true HD, it's possible your TV has alot of overscan, at least for HD. Being a 4:3 set, Sony may have set it up to overscan the sides a bit to keep from letting the picture get too small. I have a widescreen XBR910 series, and don't have any serious cutoff. From test patterns, I have roughly 3-4% overscan on HD, and 2-3% on SD. 5% or less is considered good.

mine is the KV-27HS420, so yes. however, for a CRT I think the resolution looks really sharp, especially on HD.

What happened to the HD feed of the Cubs game? I got home and its in 4:3. Very disappointing!

What happened to the HD feed of the Cubs game? I got home and its in 4:3. Very disappointing!

Technical difficulties. There was no picture whatsoever for about an inning.

Unbelievable. I had a strong feeling this would happen for some reason. First it was the White Sox on CSN and now its the Cubs on WGN. I hope this isn't a sign for things to come.

WGN has always had a poor HD feed

Unbelievable. I had a strong feeling this would happen for some reason. First it was the White Sox on CSN and now its the Cubs on WGN. I hope this isn't a sign for things to come.

The Sox on WCIU was fine. :D

^ Yeah, the Sox game came in really nice on WCIU against the Indians. I don't have Comcast, I have WOW, but I watched part of the game via OTA antenna and it came in crystal clear. Sox are on WCIU again on Wednesday I believe.

^ Yeah, the Sox game came in really nice on WCIU against the Indians. I don't have Comcast, I have WOW, but I watched part of the game via OTA antenna and it came in crystal clear. Sox are on WCIU again on Wednesday I believe.

Yeppers.

I have Comcast & was thinking about upgrading to their HD STB. From what I've read, it appears the latest STB is the DCH3200. Is this correct?

I looked at Motorola's web site & it shows this STB having HDMI, component & S-video outs. And it looks like both optical & coax digital audio outs.

Can I feed HDMI or component to my HDTV, and S-video to my DVD recorder and use them at the same time? Or does configuring the HD output disable the S-video? Will the S-video output a full 16:9 WS picture for recording?

Mike

maifimd.. you are probably best off looking here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316310

The thread is huge, but there is some info in there.

Thanks! I armed myself with TiVo cablecard installation and troubleshooting FAQ's with screen shots for the Friday visit. It was clear that the revolving ball screen I'd become so familiar with on the first two attempts, is a sign the card is not activated.

The tech that came Friday had no TiVo experience, but he did have a 'good' M-card and the set-up over the phone went smoothly with successful results. After the activation signal was sent, the card found and displayed a real channel almost immediately and the Tech was happy to move on to his next job.

My new Impossible Mission is getting the TiVo remote to operate the TV and AVR for WAF. Advice again appreciated.

Mike

I have Comcast & was thinking about upgrading to their HD STB. From what I've read, it appears the latest STB is the DCH3200. Is this correct?

I looked at Motorola's web site & it shows this STB having HDMI, component & S-video outs. And it looks like both optical & coax digital audio outs.

Can I feed HDMI or component to my HDTV, and S-video to my DVD recorder and use them at the same time? Or does configuring the HD output disable the S-video? Will the S-video output a full 16:9 WS picture for recording?
When displaying HD material, the S-Video/composite/RF outputs will downconvert and output letterboxed. Interestingly, CC signals are converted too. One issue is that menus will NOT appear on those outputs when downconverting.

You can check the DVR Wikibook, as the basic settings are the same for all of the Motorola HD boxes, both DVR and non-DVR.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup

When displaying HD material, the S-Video/composite/RF outputs will downconvert and output letterboxed. Interestingly, CC signals are converted too. One issue is that menus will NOT appear on those outputs when downconverting.

You can check the DVR Wikibook, as the basic settings are the same for all of the Motorola HD boxes, both DVR and non-DVR.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup


Thanks for the reply. I did look at the wiki material previously (and saw your name there). I realize the signal will be downconverted, but I'm not sure how the letterboxing is going to look on a 16:9 HDTV. Is this going to give me the "floating" letterbox" image with black borders on all four sides? Or does letterbox in this context mean WS 16:9?

Currently when I record clear QAM CBS HD with my DVD recorder the recorded image is full full screen 16:9, just like the original. Can I do the same using the Comcast STB?

My new Impossible Mission is getting the TiVo remote to operate the TV and AVR for WAF. Advice again appreciated.
Mike

Get a Harmony remote. My wife loves it.

I'm not sure how the letterboxing is going to look on a 16:9 HDTV. Is this going to give me the "floating" letterbox" image with black borders on all four sides? Or does letterbox in this context mean WS 16:9?
It depends on how your TV is set up to play back 480i material. If it's set to a normal mode, you will get a mini-picture. If you use a standard ZOOM, just as you would with any letterboxed SD, it will look normal.

It's very confusing these days with all the various ZOOM modes on TV's. On my Sony, the un-letterbox is called ZOOM, as it expands both vertically and horizontally the same. FULL is used for anamorphic material (typically DVD's) and only stretches horizontally (like History HD!!). WideZoom is the fishbowl look. NORMAL is standard 4:3.

Anyone know what HD channel for the cubs game is tonight. They claim EVERY game in HD but I did not know CSN+ had a HD channel

I am getting the HD feed of Comcast Sportsnet Plus HD on Channel 174 MOJO!

Frank

Finally, AT&T U-Verse should finally be coming to Chicago Ridge this year. And I'm finally going to able to call Comcast and say what I've wanted to say for too long now, "YOU'RE FIRED!" After having Comcast since 1994 I've learned something that at least applies to my area in Chicago Ridge. When Comcast adds channels or upgrades anything? It takes them literally months to finally resolve an issue . . . before it happens again of course. I live in a 96 unit condo complex and I've seen more Comcast trucks in our complex in the last few months than I'd seen in the last 2 years. They've got a huge problem in this area anyway and sure aren't in any hurry to fix it. They sure aren't trying very hard to resolve it, not from what I've experienced first hand and have heard from many other unit owners also. One of our 4 buildings was even 'out' as in "completely and totally out / dead" for 6 straight days just recently before they finally found one unit owner had 'tapped in' trying to pirate their service and that's what knocked out the entire address of 12 units! Gee, how hard 'should' that have been to detect when an entire side of one building was totally knocked out?

I won't even bother waving goodbye once they're gone from my unit after turning off my service.

Nutt

I am getting the HD feed of Comcast Sportsnet Plus HD on Channel 174 MOJO!

Frank
Yea this is great........Full screen stunning HD picture of the Cubs game........
This Mojo broadcast is much better than Comcast Hd channel or WGN

Yea this is great........Full screen stunning HD picture of the Cubs game........
This Mojo broadcast is much better than Comcast Hd channel or WGN
or WCIU (Sorry hvs10) or ESPN. That is about the best HD baseball I've seen on Comcast.

WCIU used to be the best for baseball OTA, but not since they added MeToo. Lost all it's "3-D-ness", more noise and fuzziness, and I had to turn the sharpness (along with the noise reduction) way up tonight for the Sox game. Didn't look all that much better than a good, SD DVD to me and lost that "looking out a window/you are there" look that at least the Sox games (not so much the Cubs) used to have. Looked like a one-dimensional painting. I'm very disappointed to say the least, as I had really gotten used to the high quality after they went 720p. Believe it or not, even the OTA analog feed looks better on my 50" Pio with older, B&W, native SD material at times. It doesn't have that same "fuzziness". Don't know if the difference shows so much on Comcast, though.

I'm very picky about PQ, and one of the main reasons I finally decided to go HD was the OTA HD PQ, mostly for sports, PBS-HD and the late-night talk shows, along with maybe a couple of primetime shows. Never had much interest in movies, Hi-def or otherwise. Now that's steadily disappearing as they add all these new subchannels on PBS and WCIU (never cared about anything PAX had to offer anyway).

Don't have any interest in satellite HD, or Comcast either, since they're starting to really degrade the PQ now, too (if it hasn't reached your area yet, it will). With the programming and PQ they offer, to me it's not really worth the prices they charge.

Seriously thinking of selling the Pio now and going back to a smaller CRT. Everything still looks great on the 32" analog in the other room.

Very depressing.

It depends on how your TV is set up to play back 480i material. If it's set to a normal mode, you will get a mini-picture. If you use a standard ZOOM, just as you would with any letterboxed SD, it will look normal.

It's very confusing these days with all the various ZOOM modes on TV's. On my Sony, the un-letterbox is called ZOOM, as it expands both vertically and horizontally the same. FULL is used for anamorphic material (typically DVD's) and only stretches horizontally (like History HD!!). WideZoom is the fishbowl look. NORMAL is standard 4:3.


I have a Sony HDTV also, and it seems the ZOOM crops quite a bit off the mini-picture. Or it may be just my perception. I don't expect to use that mode when watching TV with Comcast's STB, but I was hoping to record a proper anamorphic WS signal.

WCIU used to be the best for baseball OTA, but not since they added MeToo. Lost all it's "3-D-ness", more noise and fuzziness, and I had to turn the sharpness (along with the noise reduction) way up tonight for the Sox game. Didn't look all that much better than a good, SD DVD to me and lost that "looking out a window/you are there" look that at least the Sox games (not so much the Cubs) used to have. Looked like a one-dimensional painting. I'm very disappointed to say the least, as I had really gotten used to the high quality after they went 720p. Believe it or not, even the OTA analog feed looks better on my 50" Pio with older, B&W, native SD material at times. It doesn't have that same "fuzziness". Don't know if the difference shows so much on Comcast, though.

I'm very picky about PQ, and one of the main reasons I finally decided to go HD was the OTA HD PQ, mostly for sports, PBS-HD and the late-night talk shows, along with maybe a couple of primetime shows. Never had much interest in movies, Hi-def or otherwise. Now that's steadily disappearing as they add all these new subchannels on PBS and WCIU (never cared about anything PAX had to offer anyway).

Don't have any interest in satellite HD, or Comcast either, since they're starting to really degrade the PQ now, too (if it hasn't reached your area yet, it will). With the programming and PQ they offer, to me it's not really worth the prices they charge.

Seriously thinking of selling the Pio now and going back to a smaller CRT. Everything still looks great on the 32" analog in the other room.

Very depressing.

You watching on Comcast or OTA last night?

Some shows are. I would much rather have FX HD though, but I won't complain.

Me too would much rather have FX HD ....any idea when will comcast make FX HD available?

I have a Sony HDTV also, and it seems the ZOOM crops quite a bit off the mini-picture. Or it may be just my perception. I don't expect to use that mode when watching TV with Comcast's STB, but I was hoping to record a proper anamorphic WS signal.
On mine, when in ZOOM mode, you can adjust the vertical size in one of the menus. It's normal for it to chop a little bit more than the letterbox. One issue is that not all channels are vertically centered. Before ADS, there was a noticeable difference between analog and digital. Now with ADS, most are pretty much the same.

I've also roughly 'calibrated' mine with various test DVD's and the test patterns INHD used to air. Some involved using the service menu to adjust position and size to minimize overscan. I have roughly 2.5% on SD, and about 3.5% on HD.

You watching on Comcast or OTA last night?OTA. Never had digital Comcast and never will, unless the PQ ever gets better, instead of worse like it's been getting.

Don't care about quantity - just quality.

Looks like Comcast will show all of the CSN+ games in HD on ch 174. Excerpt from todays Daily Herald:

Remotely interesting: Comcast SportsNet Chicago will carry both the Cubs' and the White Sox' games in high definition today: the Cubs in Philadelphia at 6 p.m. on CSNC and the Sox at 7 on CSNC Plus. No surprise, Comcast cable will make room for all Plus HD games on Channel 174.

Looks like Comcast will show all of the CSN+ games in HD on ch 174. Excerpt from todays Daily Herald:

Remotely interesting: Comcast SportsNet Chicago will carry both the Cubs' and the White Sox' games in high definition today: the Cubs in Philadelphia at 6 p.m. on CSNC and the Sox at 7 on CSNC Plus. No surprise, Comcast cable will make room for all Plus HD games on Channel 174.

Thank you! I just was about to ask where can I find tonight's Sox game in HD...hehe, thanks! I also just found this. (http://chicago.comcastsportsnet.com/view_content_0p.asp?ID=64592)

Can anyone get firewire extraction to work on Channel 205 (Discovery Theater)?

I have recoded a show on monkeys 3 different times, and my extraction fails to produce a useable video file. Copy Flag looks clean (I think).

Any suggestions?

It depends on how your TV is set up to play back 480i material. If it's set to a normal mode, you will get a mini-picture. If you use a standard ZOOM, just as you would with any letterboxed SD, it will look normal.

It's very confusing these days with all the various ZOOM modes on TV's. On my Sony, the un-letterbox is called ZOOM, as it expands both vertically and horizontally the same. FULL is used for anamorphic material (typically DVD's) and only stretches horizontally (like History HD!!). WideZoom is the fishbowl look. NORMAL is standard 4:3.


I picked up a new Comcast Motorola DCH3200 HD STB. The S-Video provides only the floating postage stamp letterbox image with a black border all around. I can zoom on my TV, but this does not help with recording a full size anamorphic picture. At least I'm not any worse off than I was without the STB.

Can anyone get firewire extraction to work on Channel 205 (Discovery Theater)?

I have recoded a show on monkeys 3 different times, and my extraction fails to produce a useable video file. Copy Flag looks clean (I think).

Any suggestions?


I'm sorry I can't help you, but I recorded a Cubs game last year on ESPN where I appeared on camera, and it's still sitting on my DVR.

These copy restrictions are very upsetting since I have no clue how to get this thing off my DVR. What happens when I get a new box? I lose my memories? :(

Maybe it's just my imagination, but the video on local HD channels looks better if I set the STB (a Motorola DCH3416) to send it to the TV in the same resolution that the station uses for its OTA HD feed: 720p for WCIU, WPWR, WLS, WFLD, and WTTW-D, or 1080i for WMAQ, WBBM, and WGN.  Either way the TV is going to convert it to its native resolution, I know, but it seems that avoiding one conversion along the way helps.

So, to get the same advantage for the encrypted HD channels, how does one find out the resolution in which they come down the coax before reaching the DVR?

Maybe the answer is just to view HD material both ways and see which looks better, regardless of the reason ...

So, to get the same advantage for the encrypted HD channels, how does one find out the resolution in which they come down the coax before reaching the DVR?

All you need to do is look through here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=164671).

Can anyone get firewire extraction to work on Channel 205 (Discovery Theater)?

I have recoded a show on monkeys 3 different times, and my extraction fails to produce a useable video file. Copy Flag looks clean (I think).

Any suggestions?

I was curious, so I fired up my laptop and tried recording from channel 205. I just successfully recorded a few minutes of that auto auction show, so I'm not sure why you're having problems.

All you need to do is look through here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=164671).

Ah!  Thank you.

I was curious, so I fired up my laptop and tried recording from channel 205. I just successfully recorded a few minutes of that auto auction show, so I'm not sure why you're having problems.

Thanks. All of my other extracts work fine, but this show is driving me nuts. Sometimes I get glitches in the stream that prevent me from getting a useable file, but have taped it 3 different times now, with the same result.

Ah!* Thank you.

I find this guide a lot easier to get through:
http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/

I'm in Chicago and have had major problems with Comcast SportsNet and ESPN HD today..anybody else? Thanks Dan

Comcast Sportsnet is prett bad for the Bulls game right now. I haven't noticed anything with ESPN though.

My Comcast Sportsnet feed was great today. I had some studdering yesterday with NBC during hockey but I remedied the situation by manually changing the output to 720p and it looked much better without studder. Then, I manually changed it back to 1080i output and the shudder was still absent. I assume it would work for anyone.

I have a favor to ask. If anyone has TS Reader or something comparable and can tell me what bitrate Comcast is running WCIU-HD at? Just curious after watching the HD tier this weekend at a buddies house.

I have a favor to ask. If anyone has TS Reader or something comparable and can tell me what bitrate Comcast is running WCIU-HD at? Just curious after watching the HD tier this weekend at a buddies house.

I just recorded a minute of Jury Duty, and TS Reader says 10.05 Mbps. If you want the sample file, I can post it later.

I just recorded a minute of Jury Duty, and TS Reader says 10.05 Mbps. If you want the sample file, I can post it later.

Thanks for the info. If you can PM the sample file that would be great, otherwise you can post it.

Thanks for the info. If you can PM the sample file that would be great, otherwise you can post it.

Well, the sucker is around 75 MB, so let me find a place to post it and I'll PM you the details shortly.

Anyone notice we got another HD channel on Friday, AMC HD? Its on channel 172.

Anyone notice we got another HD channel on Friday, AMC HD? Its on channel 172.


Been on for quite awhile. It was first mentioned in this thread on 3/18 in post# 6808. And it's on ch 171 here, 172 is TV One.

Anyone notice we got another HD channel on Friday, AMC HD? Its on channel 172.

We got that in mid-March on 171.

Well, the sucker is around 75 MB, so let me find a place to post it and I'll PM you the details shortly.

:eek:

Anyone else having sound issues with ESPN2HD tonight? Watching the Rush game & the sound has dropped off about 10 times, sometimes up to 8-10 seconds at a time.

I have a favor to ask. If anyone has TS Reader or something comparable and can tell me what bitrate Comcast is running WCIU-HD at? Just curious after watching the HD tier this weekend at a buddies house.


Here is the live screenshot of the whole mux. My50 is running at 11.5 and WCIU at 10.27 Mbps. Nice to see there is 8.45 Mbps just sitting around in null packets.

My Comcast Motorola DCH3200 HD STB stopped working after Comcast tried to enable the On Demand service.

I just got the STB a few days ago & had it connected thru my DVD recorder which has an RF pass thru. On Demand did not work & Comcast said to connect the STB before the recorder, and perhaps the recorder was blocking the signal. I thought could be, that maybe the RF pass thru is not bi-directional. So I reconfigured things today.

I called Comcast & they were going to reactivate my service. I waited about an hour & still no On Demand, and probably half my channels came up with a blue screen & "One Moment Please, This channel should be available shortly". It seemed to be hit or miss. Some analog, some HD, some not.

Called them back and they tried to do another reset. Well now I have nothing coming out of the box. Just the blue screen with One Moment Please.... So they want to send out a tech. I said OK since I'm getting nowhere on the phone.

I previously had the STB set to 720p output. But now the STB front panel displays 480i and I cannot change it. I went thru the power off > menu process & the Comcast menu on the TV displays 720P. I did the reset to defaults & the TV now shows 1080i, but the STB front panel still indicates 480I and cannot be changed.

It appears the STB is locked up. Is there a way to do a complete reset?

Thanks in advance.

Check the reset in the Wikibook:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Resets

Check the reset in the Wikibook:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Resets


I had tried that reset, but I did not get a "n dl" on the display. I had something like d01 and could cycle to d02. But I did get it to reboot, however it made no difference. Comcast showed up and checked several diagnostic screens. There is supposed to be an IP address, but mine was all zeros. The tech didn't know why & perhaps whatever Comcast did to reset things multiple times got things screwed up. Or the STB was defective from the beginning. He swapped with another new box & everything works fine now. In this case it was a good thing a tech came out.

Thanks for the reply,
Mike

Is there a comedy central HD channel yet?

Is there a comedy central HD channel yet?

No. Remember, you can always look here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1016467) to see what channels are available and who carries them.

My latest bill has this information:
AZNTV (240) shut down on April 9.
On April 23, mun2 will replace Canal 52MX on channel 603, and it will be added to Digital Classic.

On May 15, CSPAN will move from 29 to 98, and Travel will move from 75 to 70. (Analog frequency-wise, neither 70 [501MHz], nor 98 [111MHz] appear to be in use here.)

Hvs10trk,

I'm not seeing the HD feed of WCIU on any clear QAM scans on Comcast systems connected to the Comcast McHenry headend.

Might be an oversight on Comcast's part, since ALL locals are *supposed* to be carried in the clear on all cable systems?

Is anyone else able to receive WCIU-HD via clear (unencrypted) QAM on their Comcast system? If so, please post your general location and what headend you're on.

Regards,

Randy

Hvs10trk,

I'm not seeing the HD feed of WCIU on any clear QAM scans on Comcast systems connected to the Comcast McHenry headend.

Might be an oversight on Comcast's part, since ALL locals are *supposed* to be carried in the clear on all cable systems?

Is anyone else able to receive WCIU-HD via clear (unencrypted) QAM on their Comcast system? If so, please post your general location and what headend you're on.

Regards,

Randy

Probably an oversight. I think I'm fed off of McHenry in CL as well and I would check for ya but I dont have a working cable line to my house.

on the local channels[WLS,WFLD,WBBM etc]i'm getting a"one moment please this channel should be available shortly"message......anyone else having trouble with these channels?......i've been having trouble since early afternoon[maybe the high wind has something to do with it].....I'm also having trouble with some of the National channels[MOJO,NFL Network,History,TLC,SciFi,,HBO,HD Theater,Discovery HD,,USA,]btw.

on the local channels[WLS,WFLD,WBBM etc]i'm getting a"one moment please this channel should be available shortly"message......anyone else having trouble with these channels?......i've been having trouble since early afternoon[maybe the high wind has something to do with it].....I'm also having trouble with some of the National channels[MOJO,NFL Network,History,TLC,SciFi,,HBO,HD Theater,Discovery HD,,USA,]btw.

All channels are coming in fine here - maybe it's a local problem.

I posted this in the Chicago Local HDTV thread but I was told to post this here:

I get WCIU HD on both my HD boxes (Ch. 183) but I cannot get it on my 20" LG HDTV in my kitchen. I get most of the other local channels in HD with the standard cable hookup, i.e., WBBM, WMAQ, WLS, WGN, WTTW, Fox, but I cannot seem to find WCIU HD.

Figured it would be 26-1 but there's no signal for it and yet I get 9-1, 5-1, etc.

Thanks, in advance.

Is anyone else able to receive WCIU-HD via clear (unencrypted) QAM on their Comcast system? If so, please post your general location and what headend you're on.It's coming in just fine on 26-1, Randy, in Area 2 on the city's Northwest Side, but I've no idea which headend that is nor how to find out.

on the local channels[WLS,WFLD,WBBM etc]i'm getting a"one moment please this channel should be available shortly"message......anyone else having trouble with these channels?

Yes! We lost all the unencrypted digital channels yesterday. We only have basic cable, so I'm left with just analog. I'm in 60091 (Wilmette).

I've been looking for an excuse to run some new RG6 and go back to OTA... this might be it.

Does anyone know when Science Channel HD & other channels will be added in the Chicago area? As usual the CSR doesn't know a darn thing.

According to Ted Cox's column in the sports section of today's Daily Herald, Comcast will be adding Horse Racing TV to the Sports Tier April 30. Hopefully, some of the other channels that are out there will be added soon, especially the HD channels, like Science HD, ESPNEWSHD, & the Big Ten Network, including the HD feeds of all live games.

Haven't seen this mentioned. If I start watching OnDemand show on one box, I can see it in the Saved Programs list on my other box.

Haven't seen this mentioned. If I start watching OnDemand show on one box, I can see it in the Saved Programs list on my other box.

In the thread about the Next HD channel for COmcast, it was mentioned that that was active in NJ on Motorola boxes, hadn't heard about it being available in Chicago area.

Who do we contact to get guide data corrected? As of last night, my guide showed the following for CBS tonight:

7pm - The Big Bang Theory "The Bat Jar Conjecture"
7:30pm - How I Met Your Mother : "Sandcastles in the Sand"
8pm - The Big Bang Theory "The Bat Jar Conjecture"
8:30pm - How I Met Your Mother : "Sandcastles in the Sand"
9pm - Two and a Half Men : "Rough Night in Hump Junction"
9:30pm - Rules of Engagement

According to CBS.com and all the previews on CBS this weekend, there is supposed to be a new CSI: Miami on tonight at 9pm. What's even odder is that tvguide.com and Yahoo TV both show this same Comcast schedule for tonight. The national listings on tvguide.com have it correct but Comcast doesn't. Do tvguide.com and Yahoo TV get their schedules from directly from Comcast?

If you want to record "CSI: Miami" but you don't want to go through the manual recording settings, you can select the mistimed "Two and a Half Men" and set the recording to stop a half hour late ... or 1 1/2 hours late in case Comcast fixes the schedule today and has "Two and a Half Men" at 8 PM CDT when the time comes.

I have just received a non-hd box for a spare tv. When the channel is changed, the info box at the bottom of the picture changes instantly. The actual picture seems to "jump" a couple of times before settling in. I don't notice anything remotely close to this on my sets connected to hd boxes. Anyone with any thoughts?

Just curious as to which box you have.

You should look for a thread for it over in the cable subforum and see if it's a common complaint.

[I]t is just the black non-hd box. Probably an older model because it is as large as the current hd boxes.

Who do we contact to get guide data corrected? As of last night, my guide showed the following for CBS tonight:

7pm - The Big Bang Theory "The Bat Jar Conjecture"
7:30pm - How I Met Your Mother : "Sandcastles in the Sand"
8pm - The Big Bang Theory "The Bat Jar Conjecture"
8:30pm - How I Met Your Mother : "Sandcastles in the Sand"
9pm - Two and a Half Men : "Rough Night in Hump Junction"
9:30pm - Rules of Engagement

According to CBS.com and all the previews on CBS this weekend, there is supposed to be a new CSI: Miami on tonight at 9pm. What's even odder is that tvguide.com and Yahoo TV both show this same Comcast schedule for tonight. The national listings on tvguide.com have it correct but Comcast doesn't. Do tvguide.com and Yahoo TV get their schedules from directly from Comcast? The TV Guide data on my Panasonic dvd recorder had the same info as my Comcast dvr.

As of last night (Sunday), the local digital channels are back. I'm not sure why the outage would have affected only certain neighborhoods, but that seems to have been the case.

Looks like Comcast is now passing through channel mapping data. I can tune ABC as 7.1 instead of 108.1 (I don't have a cablecard), which is great! If they were doing that before, I hadn't found it.

Anyone else having a problem with the CSN+HD feed on 174? Was on for awhile here with no sound, now it's not there at all. Supposed to preempt an NBATV HD game on MOJO.

I am also getting no sound on Ch. 174 Cubs game. This stink.

I've got sound.

Fixed now. Jumping back & forth between the 2. Also, 173 has ESPNewsHD. Please Comcast, add this ASAP! It is awesome.

It was being shown in SD for awhile, the HD feed just popped up.

is comcast sports net chicago doing any chicago fire games in HD ? or have in the past ?

Fixed now. Jumping back & forth between the 2. Also, 173 has ESPNewsHD. Please Comcast, add this ASAP! It is awesome.

It was being shown in SD for awhile, the HD feed just popped up.

I'm guessing it was because last night's Sox game was on both Comcast Sportsnet and ESPN. Instead of blacking out ESPN, they gave us ESPNNewsHD.

And yes, it was nice to see that. Hopefully it gets added soon.


tim
enjoying having HD back after 3 years w/out it :D

I'm guessing it was because last night's Sox game was on both Comcast Sportsnet and ESPN. Instead of blacking out ESPN, they gave us ESPNNewsHD.

And yes, it was nice to see that. Hopefully it gets added soon.


tim
enjoying having HD back after 3 years w/out it :D

Yea, that's why. They've done it a couple of times already with blackouts. Comcast is supposed to have an agreement to carry this, just wish they'd add it, along with ESPNU.

CSN doesn't do Fire games[only WPWR/Espn2/Fox Soccer Channel or HDNET]......and only HDNET and Espn2 does MLS games in HD.

Doesn't anybody at Comcast watch their signals? The analog feed for Cartoon Network is overboosted or something and almost looks like a negative. It seems to have started Wednesday, and is still doing it today.

It's Friday, and analog Cartoon Network is STILL F***ED up.