Must be a firewire specific issue as with Tivos Multi Room Viewing and Offloading to PCs works for all channels except premiums. Kudos to Cox OC for doing the right thing with regards to CCI settings.

Hi teague,

Specifically, you can try Food HD (756). I've tried several hard power cycles of the cable box to no avail.

Thanks for the help.

The information in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=649140&page=6

Indicates that the cable companies and courts have since treated the firewire FCC regulations as "quaint" and basically don't care.

*sigh*. It must be nice to have a monopoly on DVR capability (I know TiVos have CableCard but they can't tune *every* channel, right?)

The true irony is that I can go online and find any of these shows that they're trying to "protect" in less than a minute.

Hi teague,

Specifically, you can try Food HD (756). I've tried several hard power cycles of the cable box to no avail.

Thanks for the help.

Strange. Food HD 756 records fine with FireRecord for me.

Strange. Food HD 756 records fine with FireRecord for me.

Is the DCH-3416 a DVR or just a tuner?

Maybe I can call Cox and have an outside chance of getting some help...

Edit: I just tried another hard power cycle of the box, plugging in FireRecord before it ever touches the MythTV, and trying a recording on channel 756. Still no go.

is the dch-3416 a dvr or just a tuner?


dvr

dvr

Do you subscribe to the DVR service (or is that mandatory?)? Just wondering if the service level determines the output, though I doubt it...

Do you subscribe to the DVR service (or is that mandatory?)? Just wondering if the service level determines the output, though I doubt it...

Yes, I subscribe and pay about $18 per box.

From the cox.com/ocpv Website:

Cox’s DVR service is available to customers for $11.95 per month, plus the lease price for the integrated digital set-top box with DVR functionality, $5.25 per month. Customers must subscribe to Cox Digital Cable in order to take advantage of the new service. Customers can enjoy the flexibility of leasing their DVR set-top box from Cox and avoid upfront equipment costs.

This might be a dumb suggestion but if I remember correctly the DVR box has two firewire outputs. If this is the case did you try using the other port? In the past I remember one port not working as well for me as the other. I might be thinking of an older DVR model that I had. I cant access the back of my box easily right now so I cant check.

As far as recording over firewire I have had very few problems on non premium hd channels. Sometimes when I haven't reset the box after capturing several programs over firewire the box has issues. UniversalHD seems to be the most sensitive. It will start to record the beginning and then the file will go bad and cant be viewed. Thankfully I rarely watch that POS channel. A simple box reboot and things work again.

I just recorded a show on TNT HD without issues. I leave the firewire plugged in all the time and the box and my PC seem to have a great relationship. Even after cox put the 5c or CCI settings on the "premium" channels I was able to trick the box and record a tremendous amount of material from protected channels viewing the live stream in VLC player and hitting the SWAP button (much more is involved). Unfortunately since the last software upgrade this trick no longer works. It was a pain to do. There were no guarantees and it sometimes took several attempts, computer restarts, and many hours to get the box confused. It was still nice to be able record the stuff even though it was a headache. Whats truly maddening is non of this should have been or should be necessary. Now when I try this trick CapDVHS appears to record the program but only the first frame or two is viewable and the rest of the file is garbage.

The DCH 3200 does not output HD...the HDMI port is diabled and has a different GUI as well. Upgrade to the DVR model to get HD

This might be a dumb suggestion but if I remember correctly the DVR box has two firewire outputs. If this is the case did you try using the other port? In the past I remember one port not working as well for me as the other. I might be thinking of an older DVR model that I had. I cant access the back of my box easily right now so I cant check.

As far as recording over firewire I have had very few problems on non premium hd channels. Sometimes when I haven't reset the box after capturing several programs over firewire the box has issues. UniversalHD seems to be the most sensitive. It will start to record the beginning and then the file will go bad and cant be viewed. Thankfully I rarely watch that POS channel. A simple box reboot and things work again.

I just recorded a show on TNT HD without issues. I leave the firewire plugged in all the time and the box and my PC seem to have a great relationship. Even after cox put the 5c or CCI settings on the "premium" channels I was able to trick the box and record a tremendous amount of material from protected channels viewing the live stream in VLC player and hitting the SWAP button (much more is involved). Unfortunately since the last software upgrade this trick no longer works. It was a pain to do. There were no guarantees and it sometimes took several attempts, computer restarts, and many hours to get the box confused. It was still nice to be able record the stuff even though it was a headache. Whats truly maddening is non of this should have been or should be necessary. Now when I try this trick CapDVHS appears to record the program but only the first frame or two is viewable and the rest of the file is garbage.
Thanks for the info. Seeing that others are having success gives me hope that I can find a box that will work. Can I ask you what model box you're using? Thanks.

I think I've tried both ports, but I will try it again to make sure.

The DCH 3200 does not output HD...the HDMI port is diabled and has a different GUI as well. Upgrade to the DVR model to get HD

I can get HD on 702, 704, 705, 706, 707, 711, 713, 731, and 732. I saw it has an HDMI port and I assumed it worked but I haven't tried it yet.

I wonder if subscribing to the DVR service is mandatory to get a DCH-3416 box. I only ask because I really don't want to pay $12 a month. :p

The DCH 3200 does not output HD...the HDMI port is diabled and has a different GUI as well. Upgrade to the DVR model to get HD

Actually, I believe it does:

http://developer.motorola.com/products/settops/dch3200/

edit: I should add that it has component outputs, which, as jw pointed out, do output HD. It also has an HDMI output, but I'm not sure if Cox disables it. They haven't before (at least from what I recall), so it probably works, too. For those interested, the DCH3200 is not a DVR, just an HD box.

I wonder if subscribing to the DVR service is mandatory to get a DCH-3416 box. I only ask because I really don't want to pay $12 a month. :p

Yes, I'm pretty sure you do. It's more like $18 a month, unless you are just stating the incremental increase (DVR service) from your current DCH3200 lease cost.

Thanks for the info. Seeing that others are having success gives me hope that I can find a box that will work. Can I ask you what model box you're using? Thanks.

I think I've tried both ports, but I will try it again to make sure.

My DVR Info:

Motorola DCH3416 with Echo 3.0.082 Built Sep 24 2008, 11:48:31 (FW 18.45)

I'm going to call tonight and see what I can work out. It seems that one way or the other I need to get my hands on a 3416.

Thanks again all for the help.

This probably won't affect streaming video for now, but this is worth a read:

http://hothardware.com/News/Cox-Hops-On-Data-Discrimination-Bandwagon/

Ok, I think I've worked out my problem.

I went to exchange my DCH-3200 for a DCH-3416 thinking that was the problem. However, when I plugged the new box in, I still couldn't get the same channels I couldn't get on the 3200.

Out of frustration, I plugged in the HDMI to start setting up the Cox built in DVR. I started flipping through the "bad" channels and there was an error message saying I needed to subscribe!

I called the technical support. They did some sort of reboot/initialization of my box and now it works. I'm guessing that the DCH-3200 would have worked all along if I had known about this issue.

All in all I was pleased with Cox's support. They were pleasant and knowledgeable (and the 24 hour tech support is very nice). I was shocked when I didn't get "deer in headlights" when I brought up firewire.

Thanks again to everyone for the assist. If anyone ever attempts a MythTV setup and needs help with the firewire setup, let me know.

The same thing happened to me. They had to send some signal...same with a friends box...

Does anyone know what's up with Fox Sports Network HD? I tune it in and it's just rainbow bars.

Does the station work?

Does anyone know what's up with Fox Sports Network HD? I tune it in and it's just rainbow bars.

Does the station work?

Yes, they have very limited programming on this channel. Slide over to the right a bit and you'll see a Cal v. USC basketball game. There was discussion of this channel on this thread a while back, but basically most were upset that a channel was dedicated to HD, but not used much. I suppose now with channels like Planet Green HD it is not alonen - apology to those who like Planet Green HD.:confused:

Does anyone know what's up with Fox Sports Network HD? I tune it in and it's just rainbow bars.

Does the station work? As already stated it's only on the air occasionally for Lakers and Clippers games for example plus other regional sports teams. Look at guide listings to find what's scheduled.
BTW I really like that channel because they have the best broadcast of Lakers games. KCAL9 HD in comparison is a Mickey Mouse channel when it comes to HD.

Ok, appreciate the help. I'll tune in for the next home game.

The network only shows some games/shows, the rest of the day its color bars

It's a shame that FSN HD only shows Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Ducks, Kings, and certain NCAA basketball/football games in HD while everything else is filled with color bars. But sometime this year, FSN has promised that all of their channels (FSN West and Prime Ticket alike) will have their own 24/7 HD channel. Though I'm not sure when exactly this will take place, I do know that the FSN network in Houston already went 24/7 HD a few weeks ago. I hope this will take place before Summer arrives. But only time will tell.

It's a shame that FSN HD only shows Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Ducks, Kings, and certain NCAA basketball/football games in HD while everything else is filled with color bars. But sometime this year, FSN has promised that all of their channels (FSN West and Prime Ticket alike) will have their own 24/7 HD channel. Though I'm not sure when exactly this will take place, I do know that the FSN network in Houston already went 24/7 HD a few weeks ago. I hope this will take place before Summer arrives. But only time will tell.

Which means we'll get it in a year or so here in Orange County :(

I know the answers to these questions are probably "because they can" and "things aren't going to change" but I thought I would ask anyway. Why are new release movies on Pay Per View or On Demand usually $4.99-$5.99? I thought the argument back in the day was that they were that expesive to rent from a store (aka blockbuster) because of the lack of shelf space or cost of the dvd or tape themselves. Why the hell is it $5.99 when they dont need to spend money on shelf space or a dvd? Online disk space is insanely cheap and abundant nowadays. New releases should be no more than $2.99. I would order on a regular basis if they reached the $2 area. As it is now I dont recall the last thing I have ordered. It has probably been at least 5-6 years.

With other online services offering much more bang for your buck (Netflix in particular) do you think the prices will finally come down from COX? Does Cox really think the "convenience" of viewing immediately is worth it? I guess I shouldn't be shocked. There are people out there willing to pay 2-3 bucks via Xbox Live for a show they can view for free online. With that said I have to believe that Cox would make more money in the long run if they lowered the prices. I literally don't know anyone who orders movies on a regular basis and price is the main reason. The second reason is most likely picture quality.

With HD On Demand finally getting some attention from COX OC I would love to start ordering. I just can't justify it with the prices being so high. Hopefully they will add HBO HD On Demand and Cinemax HD On Demand. They seriously need to upgrade there StarzHD On Demand offerings as well. In the mean time I guess I will just keep my QAM tuner scanning in case one of my wealthy/dumb neighbors orders something.

Yes it's crazy. Netflix especially now with 1 at a time via snail mail plus addition of unlimited streaming for $9/month is a much better deal. Add to that if you really want more on demand type programming Amazon VOD (cheaper than Cox VOD). I really see no need for premium channels or VOD from Cox.
I do think you are correct that if the prices were much lower for Cox VOD they would make a lot more money on it in the long run.

Ok, I think I've worked out my problem.

I went to exchange my DCH-3200 for a DCH-3416 thinking that was the problem. However, when I plugged the new box in, I still couldn't get the same channels I couldn't get on the 3200.

Out of frustration, I plugged in the HDMI to start setting up the Cox built in DVR. I started flipping through the "bad" channels and there was an error message saying I needed to subscribe!

I called the technical support. They did some sort of reboot/initialization of my box and now it works. I'm guessing that the DCH-3200 would have worked all along if I had known about this issue.

All in all I was pleased with Cox's support. They were pleasant and knowledgeable (and the 24 hour tech support is very nice). I was shocked when I didn't get "deer in headlights" when I brought up firewire.

Thanks again to everyone for the assist. If anyone ever attempts a MythTV setup and needs help with the firewire setup, let me know.

If I plug the DCH-3200 into my computer via firewire I can record the cable channels? I ask because my dvico fusion card only records the Local HD channels which is fine because that's mostly only what I need to record. But being able to record HD cable channels when needed, would be great.

If I plug the DCH-3200 into my computer via firewire I can record the cable channels? I ask because my dvico fusion card only records the Local HD channels which is fine because that's mostly only what I need to record. But being able to record HD cable channels when needed, would be great.

Yes, it should work on all channels except KCAL and the movie channels. There was a list posted on what is tunable 3 pages back or so.

I don't know what program records in Windows, but I've used both MythTV on Linux and FireRecord for Mac with success now.

Good luck.

With HD On Demand finally getting some attention from COX OC I would love to start ordering. I just can't justify it with the prices being so high. Hopefully they will add HBO HD On Demand and Cinemax HD On Demand. They seriously need to upgrade there StarzHD On Demand offerings as well.

I couldn't agree more. I had an opportunity last night to watch Burn After Reading. It was available for $5.99 on EOD or for about a dollar less from Blockbuster for the Blu-ray version. Just for the convenience factor alone, had the price been the same, my decision MAY have been harder. However, when you factor in the fact that it is not Blu-ray quality (though clearly better than the really crappy SD EOD stuff - I will never pay for that), it does not have any extras, and the horrible interface it offers, the price would have to be at least a dollar less than a BB Blu-ray, if not $2 less.

The only time I have used the for-pay section of the EOD is when I got five free movies for the Discovery channel issue a while ago and when a recently received coupon came in the mail.

That said, I have said it before, but for me, I do see some value in the premium channels on EOD - like you, I just wish they had more to offer in HD. It's kind of a joke. They just don't seem to be really supporting it much, yet they advertise it quite a bit.

Cool. Looks like Cox OC just added Showtime HD On Demand. Very slim pickings right now. Only one movie and 1 episode of there most recent shows. Picture quality seemed even better than the regular HD station and I don't recall seeing any on screen logo. This is shocking and probably wont last but its nice to see.

Movie:
Bratz

Shows:
The L Word s6e3
The Tudors S2E7
Secret Diary of a Call Girl s2e3
United States of Tara s1e4

Cool. Looks like Cox OC just added Showtime HD On Demand. Very slim pickings right now.

If their anemic selection on the Showtime SD version of EOD is any indicator, not to mention the StarzHD offerings, it could be a while. Nevertheless, it's a move in the right direction, particularly if the PQ is up to snuff with the other HD EOD offerings.

Cool. Looks like Cox OC just added Showtime HD On Demand. Very slim pickings right now. Only one movie and 1 episode of there most recent shows. Picture quality seemed even better than the regular HD station and I don't recall seeing any on screen logo. This is shocking and probably wont last but its nice to see.

Movie:
Bratz

Shows:
The L Word s6e3
The Tudors S2E7
Secret Diary of a Call Girl s2e3
United States of Tara s1e4

Interesting, I also hope they soon add HBO and Cinemax HD. I also noticed a new area in the Freezone HD section for FX HD even though we don't yet have FX HD channel. There's a couple of movies in there also.

Interesting, I also hope they soon add HBO and Cinemax HD. I also noticed a new area in the Freezone HD section for FX HD even though we don't yet have FX HD channel. There's a couple of movies in there also.

good luck trying get an answer on FXHD. Omaha has it ondemand also and we can't get the csr's to see it and explain why we have it ondemand and not in the channel lineup. I do not think HBO or Cinemax ondemand are on any cable systems yet.

Yeah. Freezone has a ton of HD Channels that arent part of the normal lineup. I assumed that some of these were the TEST channels of the recent past but none have surfaced as actual viewable channels yet.

The ones I remember are:
Sundance HD
FX HD
VH1 HD
MTV HD
Dew Action Sports HD
Spike HD
Music Choice HD
Fuse HD

Over on the Cox Cable 6412 w/ Pioneer Passport Review and Discussion thread, ajwees41 just mentioned (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15792471#post15792471) that Cox Omaha is getting an extensive On Demand software upgrade. It may be this new interface (http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/01/06/cox-communications-talks-up-new-on-demand-platform/) mentioned recently on engadget. Let's hope we'll get this soon, too.

Over on the Cox Cable 6412 w/ Pioneer Passport Review and Discussion thread, ajwees41 just mentioned (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15792471#post15792471) that Cox Omaha is getting an extensive On Demand software upgrade. It may be this new interface (http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/01/06/cox-communications-talks-up-new-on-demand-platform/) mentioned recently on engadget. Let's hope we'll get this soon, too.

hate to burst your bubble, but it looks like it's the same interface as before, but 1000 times faster and video previews play while you are looking for a show.

I was on a launch channel and hit select and it let me in, but I will play with it more tomarrow to jude speed in interface

That's too bad, but perhaps it will come later. The speed has always been one of my largest issues, so glad that seems to have been addressed. Thanks for the update.

That's too bad, but perhaps it will come later. The speed has always been one of my largest issues, so glad that seems to have been addressed. Thanks for the update.



I could care less about the interface , but the speed improvement is huge.

The only real problem I have with the interface is that sometimes you cant read the titles. Sometimes they will have two versions of the same program (widescreen, standard, uncensored, directors cut, etc) but the text describing the difference is cut off. With it being so slow it was a real pain in the the ass to click on something, wait for it to load, and then have to exit out and view the other one because the one you clicked wasnt the correct item. Cant they have the text scrollable?

Also you really have to spend time and click through every catagory to find everything they have to offer. They should just be listed by channel.

Not like this example:

ON DEMAND/FREEZONE/CABLE TV SHOWCASE/GENRE/COMEDY/TV/CHANNEL/COMEDY CENTRAL/SHOWS/SPECIALS/etc...

It takes forever to do it that way and simply isn't worth the effort most of the time.

The only real problem I have with the interface is that sometimes you cant read the titles....Cant they have the text scrollable?

Yes, very frustrating. And if you were actually paying for the movie, then what?


It takes forever to do it that way and simply isn't worth the effort most of the time.


Agreed; I would be more tolerant of the interface if it were faster. Also, I actually like to see the small still picture of the movie when reviewing the description of a given movie. Some channels have it, some don't. Of course, the for-pay section does. Also, to have to go back and forth to view the descriptions of movies is ridiculous. Why not just be able to scroll through all the movies for a given channel - much like you described? I'd also like to see the star rating system (***) with the description. I realize that should not be the sole determinant for watching a movie, but it helps. If a movie is one star, I would probably avoid it. If it is four stars, I may check it out. Basically, I would like to see it more like the regular channel guide. I've seen it this way on other cable systems using this Moto box and this operating system, so I know they can do it.

Does anyone have experience with the free Cox Security Suite by McAfee? I saw it in the past and was interested but passed on it because anything free worries me. Earlier today I got a bug (XP Police Antivirus) that I believe I was able to fix (with some help from online tutorials) but I feel exposed more than ever. I think this is officially the first time since I have been the only one to use my PC that I have got a virus or malware.

This also comes at an interesting time as my family has several computers that have there antivirus programs expiring soon (20 days). I have been hesitant to add anything other than spybot search and destroy, Adwatch SE, and AD Aware SE to my own PC because the antivirus always seems to slow the computer an insane amount. With it being "free" that worries me a bit although I have heard of and probably used McAfee products in the past. Any help or advice is very much welcome.

Does anyone have experience with the free Cox Security Suite by McAfee? I saw it in the past and was interested but passed on it because anything free worries me. Earlier today I got a bug (XP Police Antivirus) that I believe I was able to fix (with some help from online tutorials) but I feel exposed more than ever. I think this is officially the first time since I have been the only one to use my PC that I have got a virus or malware.

It's essentialy the same package you can buy direct from McAfee. I already had McAfee running on two of my computers and used the Cox option to instal it on the rest as well. In addition to McAfee, I've used the Norton (Symantec) Security Suite and a free program called Avast. McAfee seems to be more stable than the Norton product was on Vista but both seem about equal on XP. Avast is OK but seemed to be a little slow.

McAfee is also our corporate standard and to my knowledge, we haven't had any significant virus issues in the five years I've worked for the company.

I don't think you can go wrong by using it.

The McAfee that is offered know looks like it was updated since cox first offered it. I have no problems using it on vista.

Ok. Thanks guys. I think I will give it a try.

Go get www.avast.com I have been using their free version for years, and is better than norton and mcafee. It only requires you to register every 14 months with an e-mail address...

Go get www.avast.com I have been using their free version for years, and is better than norton and mcafee. It only requires you to register every 14 months with an e-mail address...

I second that great software, uses barely any resources too, unlike other anti virus software, also updates on it's own.

Didn't see this posted, but we may be about to get a channel most folks won't really care about.

The FCC granted KVMD's must-carry complaint against Cox in OC and PV. In Orange County, KVMD has 60 days to deliver a useable signal to the headend. In Palos Verdes, where the signal is adequate, Cox has 30 days to put the station on or tell the FCC why it shouldn't have to:

FCC decision here (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-224A1.doc)

KVMD is, of course, filled with Armenian and Russian programming and infomercials.

But sister station KJLA got shot down trying to get on the Cox systems for now. It has to first file to redefine its market to include the communities covered by Cox.

KJLA decision here (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-220A1.doc)

KJLA runs LATV's Spanish-for-youth programming plus infomercials and brokered stuff.

Nothing to substantial but I got a juicy tid-bit dropped to me by a cox customer service rep about the tivo tuning adapter being deployed in beta in the Orange County market...

the back story...I called to get my $1.99/month HD receiver rental re-upped. The rep had no clue what I was talking about, put me on hold for a good 10 minutes twice...came back and said they were filled in on the whole tuning adapter deal by a supervisor. The rep then let slip that its unfortunate that I'm not on the head-end in orange county where they are actively conducting their beta test...when I pressed further the rep disclosed that there are several head-ends that they are actively conducting a beta.

...so bottom line, maybe with some more fishing we can get some details on what city this is being done in...and maybe get a time line for general availability. I for one can't wait for SVD & tuning adapters, maybe the cox HD PQ will improve with the extra bandwidth...otherwise I'm sure like the rest of the TivO junkies out there, its directv time as soon as their new mpeg4 tivo hd receiver is available.

bubu, out of curiosity, which channels are you wanting that you can't currently receive with your Tivo? At this point there are only a few channels I can't tune with Tivo, and none that I really care about.

This is probably a dumb question but you guys have helped me do things I didn't know were possible in the past so here it goes.

Is it possible to advance large amounts of time for an On Demand program like you can by pressing the Fast Forward button and then hitting the Right Arrow during normal programs? Sometimes I don't finish a show and want to return watching it several days later. Unfortunately the box has forgotten my place by then and I have to fast forward painfully slow to the spot were I left it last. Sometimes all I have remaining is 20 minutes on a 2+ hour movie. It would be nice to be able to advance at least close to that spot.

This is probably a dumb question but you guys have helped me do things I didn't know were possible in the past so here it goes.

Is it possible to advance large amounts of time for an On Demand program like you can by pressing the Fast Forward button and then hitting the Right Arrow during normal programs? Sometimes I don't finish a show and want to return watching it several days later. Unfortunately the box has forgotten my place by then and I have to fast forward painfully slow to the spot were I left it last. Sometimes all I have remaining is 20 minutes on a 2+ hour movie. It would be nice to be able to advance at least close to that spot.

the resume function only works if return to watch it in the 24 hour rental window.

Is it possible to advance large amounts of time for an On Demand program like you can by pressing the Fast Forward button and then hitting the Right Arrow during normal programs?

Unfortunately, no. If you or anyone else finds a way, let me know. It is a pain.

The Palos Verdes system just started testing five more HD channels in the 800 range. Dunno if these (other than KOCE) are on the Orange County system:

Planet Green HD
AMC HD
KOCE-DT (the PV system has been carrying KCET, not KOCE, although it does carry the OC Channel subchannel and KOCE's analog)
KPXN-DT (Ion)
Speed HD

The Palos Verdes system just started testing five more HD channels in the 800 range. Dunno if these (other than KOCE) are on the Orange County system:

Planet Green HD
AMC HD
KOCE-DT (the PV system has been carrying KCET, not KOCE, although it does carry the OC Channel subchannel and KOCE's analog)
KPXN-DT (Ion)
Speed HD

We've had those in the OC for a few weeks now...all except KPXN-DT.

moyekj,

I can't get Versus (for the NHL hockey)...with the TiVo...and FX-HD would be a goodsend, otherwise I'd be a happy camper. What I really wanna see is better bitrates on the HD streams, which will hopefully happen with the SDV roll-out.

So no one is upset about the approaching rate increases? How they raise their rates in such a severe recession and under increasing competition is beyond me. I guess it's because they can.

So no one is upset about the approaching rate increases? How they raise their rates in such a severe recession and under increasing competition is beyond me. I guess it's because they can.
Just took a look at rate increases and how they affect me based on:
http://gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/files/2009/01/cox_oc_09.pdf

I don't have Cox phone service or any Cox video equipment so those rate increases don't affect me.
Standard cable goes up $3: $47.99->$50.99
Additional outlet fees go down $0.50: $1->$0.50

So, since I have 4 cable cards which means 3 additional outlet charges currently my net increase is 3-1.50 = $1.50 more/month. I can live with that.

Just took a look at rate increases and how they affect me based on:
http://gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/files/2009/01/cox_oc_09.pdf

I don't have Cox phone service or any Cox video equipment so those rate increases don't affect me.
Standard cable goes up $3: $47.99->$50.99
Additional outlet fees go down $0.50: $1->$0.50

So, since I have 4 cable cards which means 3 additional outlet charges currently my net increase is 3-1.50 = $1.50 more/month. I can live with that.

Yes, I noticed that cable card customers are largely unaffected. I am affected by the telephone increase and a few other minor cable items. My entire bill will go up about $6, not too bad, but that is one Blu-ray rental per month or $72 per year.;)

Besides, it's not just the increase I'm concerned with; it's the entire price to begin with.

So has DirecTV or Dish resolved there hd-lite issues? I haven't been keeping up with recent events. The last time I saw there HD Channel lineup my jaw almost hit the floor and I started to drool. The hd movie channels alone almost make it worth switching.

Its also moments like this when I wish I still lived in Huntington Beach. Verizon FIOS is available there and I heard it is amazing. There channel lineup also looks amazing.

Hi- new member here. Sorry if this has been asked a 100 times before, please just direct me to the proper thread. Thanks...

I live in San Clemente, I'm only interested in who has better HD PQ, Cox or Direct???

So has DirecTV or Dish resolved there hd-lite issues? I haven't been keeping up with recent events. The last time I saw there HD Channel lineup my jaw almost hit the floor and I started to drool. The hd movie channels alone almost make it worth switching.

Hi- new member here. Sorry if this has been asked a 100 times before, please just direct me to the proper thread. Thanks...

I live in San Clemente, I'm only interested in who has better HD PQ, Cox or Direct???

oc user - welcome to AVS! The Rock posted a very similar question just before yours, but you may not have understood what he meant by "hd-lite." For a while there, both satellite providers were trying to compete with cable and the fledgling (at the time) Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse. Unfortunately, the quality of their signals left quite a bit to be desired - hence the "hd-lite" comment.

Fast forward to now and a lot has changed. Not only do the satellite providers carry more channels (they've since increased capacity), the quality is better than the "lite" days and better, at least in lack of compression artifacting, than Cox OC HD. If you just read back over the last few months of posts in this thread, you will see quite a bit of discussions on the quality of Cox OC HD.

For Cox, the quantity of channels used to be an issue, but they have since added a great deal of HD programming. Unfortunately, that has come at a cost of quality. Most of the issues stem from the over compression Cox must use to fit all the new HD channels - digital artifacting, including the dreaded macro blocking, or MB. Switched Digital Video (SDV) is coming and is supposed to help in this regard. SDV allows for much greater capacity, but we are unsure as to what it ultimately will do for Cox OC HD quality. It should improve such. We just hope that it will not affect anything else, such as channel changing speed. It will affect cable card customers, but help is available through a product called a tuning adapter.

You may learn more about SDV and tuning adapters and their impact to Cox OC by entering either or both terms in the "Search this Thread" tool located in the upper right hand corner of this and other threads (just below the page numbers).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v495/chris0/ScreenShot08-29-07210602.jpg



You may want to go over to this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=914047) to learn more about satellite.

Whatever happened with us having the ability to send shows from one DVR to another in our house? I heard this was something that was going to happen but nothing has materialized. Also has there been any word on us being able to hook up external hard drives for the Motorola boxes? This small amount of space is killing me. My box is always full and I always need to play the game of what program don't I absolutely need.

Those were 2 main reasons to move to Tivo DVRs for me. I wasn't going to hold my breath and wait forever for some crippled version of those capabilities to magically appear. 120/160 GB is laughably little space for a dual tuner HD DVR (even with bit starved Cox HD feeds). I remember not being able to record 3 NFL games (with padding) on Sundays because that would wipe out most of what I had saved on the DVR for the week.

Whatever happened with us having the ability to send shows from one DVR to another in our house? I heard this was something that was going to happen but nothing has materialized. Also has there been any word on us being able to hook up external hard drives for the Motorola boxes? This small amount of space is killing me. My box is always full and I always need to play the game of what program don't I absolutely need.

Unfortunately, as usual, Cox has been silent on these issues. I would absolutely love to have both features, but, as moyekj stated, won't hold my breath.

Just this evening I have noticed that I cannot negotiate around either the Guide or the DVR list!

Pressing the buttons on either the COX Remote or my Harmony Universal Remote sometimes does nothing at all and other times moves VERY slowly. Browsing forward or backwards in the Guide is stop and go..no holding a direction button down and having the channels or times go into FF mode anymore???

Yes, changed to new batteries in both Remotes and that was not the problem.

I will call Cox Tech Support tomorrow if it doesn't clear up but am interested if anyone else with a DVR in So OC has a similar problem???

Chuck Proche

Just this evening I have noticed that I cannot negotiate around either the Guide or the DVR list!

Pressing the buttons on either the COX Remote or my Harmony Universal Remote sometimes does nothing at all and other times moves VERY slowly. Browsing forward or backwards in the Guide is stop and go..no holding a direction button down and having the channels or times go into FF mode anymore???

Yes, changed to new batteries in both Remotes and that was not the problem.

I will call Cox Tech Support tomorrow if it doesn't clear up but am interested if anyone else with a DVR in So OC has a similar problem???

Chuck Proche


Hopefully your box just needs a reset and isnt started to die on you. If I remember correctly my box became unresponsive right before one of the times it died and I had to replace it (losing all of my previously recorded programs). I would try doing a box reset. Simply press and hold down the power button on the front of the DVR for 10 seconds or so. Then let the box do its thing for around 5 minutes. Then turn the box back on.

None of my Cox STBs adjusted for the daylight savings time change earlier this morning. Did anyone's? (powering off and unplugging to reset had no effect).

None of my Cox STBs adjusted for the daylight savings time change earlier this morning. Did anyone's? (powering off and unplugging to reset had no effect).

So, I eventually called customer support on this issue. I was told that Orange County did not receive the midnight update which included time change for 2am; they were able to send a signal to my stbs which adjusted the time. I don't know how others are affected, but auto time change may not occur until tonight.

None of my Cox STBs adjusted for the daylight savings time change earlier this morning. Did anyone's? (powering off and unplugging to reset had no effect).

My downstairs box (HD-DVR) didn't reset, but the (NON HD) box upstairs DID reset...

Go figure. I haven't called Cox yet.

I called cox and they said the clock change signal went out, but HD-DVR boxes didn't accept the time change. They said they are tracking the issue to try and correct it in the future.

My DCH3416 reset fine.

My DCT3416 still shows the wrong time even after a reboot.

Both are HD-DVRs.

I called cox and they said the clock change signal went out, but HD-DVR boxes didn't accept the time change. They said they are tracking the issue to try and correct it in the future.

that makes more sense than what I was told - although I have only HD box, not HD-DVR and when they "manually" sent the time change signal it was accepted, maybe its a different type of signal.

My DCH3416 reset fine.

My DCT3416 still shows the wrong time even after a reboot.

Both are HD-DVRs.

Like you, my DCH3416 reset correctly, but my other DVR, DCT6412 III didn't.

My DCH3416 reset fine.

My DCT3416 still shows the wrong time even after a reboot.

Both are HD-DVRs.

just to clarify - I have the DCH3200 box(es) (HD but non-DVR) which did not reset (although they did reset properly last fall when dst ended).

My DCH3200 did not adjust the time.

I finally called Cox and told them that all my scheduled recordings were an hour off. "Chris" did something from his end, and the time was immediately corrected (DCT6416 III). I also asked for a daily credit and got it. :D

There's an automated message on the tech support line now saying the time should be updated within 48 hours... I didn't wait for a tech, but maybe I should have. This is kind of a pain :(

HD Box: correct time
HD-DVR: incorrect time
But my recordings were correct.

I have 3 x 6416 and 1 x 3416 ; only one 6416 was set properly yesterday am. However, on the boxes that weren't, the guide was also off, so everything recorded OK.

Mine seemed to have finally updated some time today while I was at work.

Mine finally updated about 8 pm last night (without a reboot, and it didn't mess up the recording in progress). Seeing the clock at 8-something I almost had a heart attack for a second when I thought it was already after 9, but no, the clock was finally right!

Mine finally updated about 8 pm last night (without a reboot, and it didn't mess up the recording in progress). Seeing the clock at 8-something I almost had a heart attack for a second when I thought it was already after 9, but no, the clock was finally right!

I find it strange that they originally couldn't fix the clock issue, but they could get the guide to match the incorrect clock. No complaints, as recordings worked fine; it just confused the heck out of my wife.

It's amazing how much I rely on that silly clock, particularly the one in the bedroom. When it's off, I'm off.

I find it strange that they originally couldn't fix the clock issue, but they could get the guide to match the incorrect clock. No complaints, as recordings worked fine; it just confused the heck out of my wife.
The guide listings are all in UTC time so the local time doesn't really matter for it to record at the right time. You could set timezone to Australia time zone and it would still work fine. A more serious problem I remember when I had the DCT/DCH boxes is Cox OC wasn't always good at keeping master server clock accurate and there would sometimes be enough clock drift where programs would start recording too late lopping off several seconds off the start of some of them. I remember calling them twice a year or so to get it fixed...
(NOTE: The clock drift wasn't on the units themselves since when I had 2 they both suffered the same problem, hence I knew it was the master clock to which they were synced that was the issue)

The guide listings are all in UTC time so the local time doesn't really matter for it to record at the right time. A more serious problem I remember when I had the DCT/DCH boxes is Cox OC wasn't always good at keeping master server clock accurate and there would sometimes be enough clock drift where programs would start recording too late lopping off several seconds off the start of some of them. I remember calling them twice a year or so to get it fixed...

Interesting. I hadn't heard of UTC, but checked it out. It sounds like it is basically GMT with some minor differences??

I can not recall any recordings over at least the last few months that started too late (or too early), so perhaps that is fixed. Of course, the occasional show runs over (American Idol). That said, I'll compare my DVR clock to this (http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?UTC/s/0/java) when I get a chance.

New on screen message forces you to re-select the channel you are currently viewing
or it switches to cox on-demand advertisement channel 1 . This was on channel 336 not a big deal but kind of annoying.

New on screen message forces you to re-select the channel you are currently viewing
or it switches to cox on-demand advertisement channel 1 . This was on channel 336 not a big deal but kind of annoying.

Not sure what you are trying to say. Perhaps a little more detail....

New on screen message forces you to re-select the channel you are currently viewing
or it switches to cox on-demand advertisement channel 1 . This was on channel 336 not a big deal but kind of annoying. That's a sign that Switched Digital Video (SDV) is deployed. 336 is one of those channels my Tivo can't tune so I'm pretty sure it's part of the SDV set of channels.

Part of SDV protocols is signaling between the box and the headend to establish if the SDV channel currently tuned is actively being watched. If it's determined that the currently tuned SDV channel is not actively being watched then box is forced to tune away from it so as to potentially free up bandwidth if that channel is not being watched by anyone in the neighborhood node.
i.e. The whole point of SDV is to not send channels down the pipeline that are not being watched by anyone in the node which is why usually the least popular channels make the most sense to be included in SDV set. This way there can be more channels in the lineup than physical bandwidth available to accommodate them all at once.

If designed properly I would expect the Cox DVR set to record on one of these SDV channels should periodically send messages to headend that the channel is active and thus the DVR will not be forced tuned away from the channel. Thus if you have a DVR and are watching one of these SDV channels and don't want to be bugged to re-select the channel, set DVR to record it while you are watching... If you have a non-DVR box perhaps just bringing up the guide occasionally or some other menu page is enough to signal you are actively watching.

Okay, then when does the message come up? In other words, if you are watching a channel, does it randomly come up and ask for confirmation, or does it just happen when first tuned, or some other interval?

Okay, then when does the message come up? In other words, if you are watching a channel, does it randomly come up and ask for confirmation, or does it just happen when first tuned, or some other interval? I don't have a Cox box to test with, but when you first tune to an SDV channel the timeout counter is reset. If you then sit on that SDV channel for some amount of time without using any set top box functions then eventually that message should appear. I don't know how long the timeout is set but redshift1 may be able to experiment and answer that question.
NOTE: It could be that SDV is being deployed in some nodes and not others, so maybe not everyone is seeing this yet.

It would be nice/wise if Cox OC is indeed deploying SDV widely now to have a web page with SDV FAQ and listing current set of SDV channels . I doubt we will see that though unless customer service gets inundated with calls about it.

P.S. Also, if they are indeed deploying SDV, where's my free Tuning Adapter ??

I don't have a Cox box to test with, but when you first tune to an SDV channel the timeout counter is reset. If you then sit on that SDV channel for some amount of time without using any set top box functions then eventually that message should appear. I don't know how long the timeout is set but redshift1 may be able to experiment and answer that question.
NOTE: It could be that SDV is being deployed in some nodes and not others, so maybe not everyone is seeing this yet.

If that's the case, that's very annoying. When I'm watching a movie, I don't want to be taken out of the element. That's one of the main reasons we watch movies - namely to escape. This is right up there with the annoying channel logos superimposed over the picture. Netflix anyone?

It would be nice/wise if Cox OC is indeed deploying SDV widely now to have a web page with SDV FAQ and listing current set of SDV channels. I doubt we will see that though unless customer service gets inundated with calls about it.

Cox? You're kidding right? :rolleyes:

If that's the case, that's very annoying. When I'm watching a movie, I don't want to be taken out of the element. That's one of the main reasons we watch movies - namely to escape. This is right up there with the annoying channel logos superimposed over the picture. Netflix anyone? Agreed, but remember that supposedly SDV will be relegated to less popular channels, so unless you are watching movies from less popular channels you won't be affected.

Agreed, but remember that supposedly SDV will be relegated to less popular channels, so unless you are watching movies from less popular channels you won't be affected.

Yes, like they'll supposedly limit HD channels to two per frequency...I know, they never promised that, but they probably didn't promise SDV "will be relegated to less popular channels" either.

If designed properly I would expect the Cox DVR set to record on one of these SDV channels should periodically send messages to headend that the channel is active and thus the DVR will not be forced tuned away from the channel.


Ouch, that brings me back to the frightening days of the zero recording bug.

It's certainly possible they could get too carried away with SDV, but it would be very inefficient use of the system to put popular channels in the mix since they would never time out anyway and only serve to annoy customers with these occasional prompts. I'm not exactly sure how they determine which are the less popular channels but for sure one they throw a channel into SDV they can collect statistics on exactly who (which box) is watching that channel and if it's never timing out in any node it should quickly become a candidate to be removed from SDV. I would assume it's a fairly dynamic environment where moving channels in and out of SDV is not too complicated, at least during the initial trial phases.

P.S. One thing I'm curious about is how much extra upstream activity this adds to the system. i.e. Now you have all this feedback upstream from individual boxes to the node going on and eating up the upstream bandwidth. The OOB data upstream pipe I don't think is very fat to begin with...

I'm not exactly sure how they determine which are the less popular channels...

They must have a way, otherwise I'm not sure how they could successfully sell advertising time that is channel specific.

P.S. This is a useful cablelabs document that describes many of the technical aspects of a SDV Tuning Adapter and how it interfaces with the headend. This is where I got a lot of information related to how SDV works:
http://www.cablelabs.com/specifications/OC-SP-TRIF-I01-080130.pdf

P.S. This is a useful cablelabs document that describes many of the technical aspects of a SDV Tuning Adapter and how it interfaces with the headend. This is where I got a lot of information related to how SDV works:
http://www.cablelabs.com/specifications/OC-SP-TRIF-I01-080130.pdf

Thanks, and you have way too much time on your hands - 50 pages, yikes!

I didn't time it but about every 15 to 20 minutes for the message to appear I'm in aliso viejo. Monthly bill increases while service decreases.

I didn't time it but about every 15 to 20 minutes for the message to appear I'm in aliso viejo. Monthly bill increases while service decreases.

Sure hope that's a test. Could you imagine the average cable viewer seeing that message every 15-20 minutes? Talk about interactive TV...

sure hope that's a test. Could you imagine the average cable viewer seeing that message every 15-20 minutes? Talk about interactive tv...

lol

Darn it, I was hoping we'd see Comedy Central pop up in HD since South Park is broadcasting in HD now and all the news mentioned Cox as being one of the providers.

New on screen message forces you to re-select the channel you are currently viewing
or it switches to cox on-demand advertisement channel 1 . This was on channel 336 not a big deal but kind of annoying.

I tried that channel (horse racing?) here in Irvine. No screen messages came up, so perhaps it is just a test in Aliso Viejo for now.

I haven't seen what you guys are talking about yet but I have had a problem recently. In the past 2-3 days I have watched 2 movies on Cinemax HD 724. On both occasions there were breakups and picture freezes several times during the programs. It didn't last long enough for me to stop watching but it was annoying.

I haven't seen what you guys are talking about yet but I have had a problem recently. In the past 2-3 days I have watched 2 movies on Cinemax HD 724. On both occasions there were breakups and picture freezes several times during the programs. It didn't last long enough for me to stop watching but it was annoying.

An every day occurrence for me....

Same problem today (thursday) on channel 336 in Aliso Viejo, message requiring reselect. Recording the channel disables reselect requirement. No other problems. I watched " W " on HD demand not bad but definitely below Blu Ray quality. They was a larger selection of movies available so not all is bad with Cox.

I recently noticed MOXI has changed their business approach to sell DVRs to consumers. Basically a competitor to Tivo, with more features than Tivo (Sans access to Netflix) with a lifetime fee of 799 for equipment and service.
http://moxi.com/moxi/index.html

If Moxi is here to stay it sounds better than Tivo.

Does anyone use MOXI in OC with Cox?

I'd get this if it would allow me to watch on a "cheaper" shell unit downstairs. (Networked DVR system) without having to buy 2-3 full DVRs.

The Moxi standalone DVR is neither cheaper or better than Tivo. With Tivo you can buy a Tivo HD unit for ~ $200 these days and pay $399 for lifetime service if it's your 1st Tivo, $299 otherwise. i.e. ~ $600 or less gets you a TivoHD unit with lifetime service.

Also as far as capabilities last time I saw a review the Moxi has a few major things missing (as well as a bunch of other things I forget about):
* No OTA support
* No analog cable support (It's missing encoders but I think there may be an extra option to add an external dongle of some sort if you need this)
* No SDV Tuning Adapter support
* No show offloading or multi-room viewing support

One advantage it does have is ability to map QAM frequencies to channel numbers of your choice so that you can get guide listings for clear QAM channels without CableCards, something Tivo cannot do. However, if clear QAM is all you are after recording then an HTPC solution is a cheaper way to go.

For those interested, I just wanted to give a quick update on my continued dealings with Cox' billing department. In the past, I have mentioned that whenever a promotion expires, subscribers should call Cox and ask for a new promotion. I have been successful with this for quite a few years.

Today, my $10 per month charge for all four movie channels (HBO, Cinemax, Starz, and Showtime) expired again, as well did my $10 off 6-month promotion I had for Internet access (preferred). So I called Cox up to see what promotions I could get. This time they weren't so quick to help me out. In fact, when I threatened cancelation, they simply asked "when I would like that to be effective." I told them I would call them back, but that I wanted my movie channels cancelled immediately. At the last minute, I pushed a bit harder and asked one more time, and they referred me to their client retention department (which I asked to speak to from the beginning, but was told the billing rep would assist me). They were able to give me a blanket $15 per month deduction on my cable bill. This is only good for six months and is on top of the standard $5 per month bundle discount they already give.

My point is that they are becoming more strict. It still amazes me that they are doing this during this economy and with increasing competition, but that's their choice and they will suffer eventually.

Well, after all is said and done, I am saving about $20 a month, but no longer have the movie channels. It's time to get that Netflix subscription Moyekj and others have been espousing for quite some time.

Just a word to the wise, if you are not getting a current promotion, call the billing department, ask to be escalated to their client retention department, and ask for the $15 off per month cable promotion you heard about - just don't mention where you heard about it. :p

Increasing competition? Aside from satellite there is still no other provider available to me other than Cox. I think even AT&T Uverse which wouldn't be a worthy replacement anyway is not available to me. And problem with satellite is you are stuck with proprietary systems and DVR solutions. At least cable companies are forced into separable security (Cable Cards) and standards such as tru2way (formerly OCAP) which promotes more open CE solutions.

At some point I suppose IPTV providers will start to emerge using efficient compression codecs and offering same level of choices as traditional carriers, but I think it's several years about before that becomes mainstream and internet pipes all the way to the home are capable of handling the bandwidth requirements.

Increasing competition? Aside from satellite there is still no other provider available to me other than Cox. I think even AT&T Uverse which wouldn't be a worthy replacement anyway is not available to me. And problem with satellite is you are stuck with proprietary systems and DVR solutions. At least cable companies are forced into separable security (Cable Cards) and standards such as tru2way (formerly OCAP).

I agree that U-verse may not be a worthy replacement, at least for now. I have heard it is improving, but not sure how much. It is available to others in the OC, so it is part of the "increasing competition."

FiOS will be in more areas eventually.

For many, satellite is a worthy competitor, particularly when there are two providers to choose from.

Other competition includes Netflix. Look at it this way. I was giving $10 a month (with promotion) to Cox, but due to their attempt to charge me $30 a month for those channels, I have now cancelled all subscription movie channels and they are out the $10 per month. And the reason I am now comfortable switching to Netflix, is mostly due to the streaming. I would consider that competition that wasn't around before.

And there's Blockbuster....

All this is to say that there are a few options that were not around a few years ago. I would, by any definition, consider this to be "increasing competition," but understand others may not agree. :)

Ah yes if you include content such as Netflix/Blockbuster/Amazon/ITunes/Hulu/YouTube then I see your point. I kind of bundle that into a general IPTV bucket. Problem is with all those solutions currently Live Sports broadcasts for example are not available. TV shows are becoming more widely available as early as next day following TV debut broadcast which is encouraging. I'm hoping at some point VOD will expand to include more live sports options as well as distribution via IPTV (with support for clients such as Tivo). But I think it's a long way off before that becomes a reality and a reliable and good quality alternative to cable/satellite.
I see several at Tivo forums going to OTA only for network shows and complimenting with above mentioned solutions, but it's still much easier/convenient to get everything from 1 source instead of a hodge-podge of sources.
FIOS would be a wet dream to have but little to no hope we'll ever see it in AT&T areas such as mine...

Yes, hadn't even thought of those others you mentioned, mostly because I do not use them. I do like that most of the main primetime television shows are available online the next day, and the quality is good. As for sports, I see the limitations. There's some online programming, but it's very limited, at least in any kind of decent picture quality, let alone HD.

It all comes down to one's definition of competition. Perhaps my views are a bit more loose than others, but alternatives are slowly hacking away at Cox' (and other cable provider's) market share. And they know it. Cox is desperately trying to increase HD content, and we know how well that's going.

History shows that as more and more become disillusioned, Cox and the other cable providers will have to compete. They've been trying to compete based on programming, but eventually quality and price will be driving factors, too.

By the way, I agree on the one source comment, but, if necessary, technology will work around this. Just look at devices like the Playstation 3, Xbox, some Blu-ray players, etc. They are taking content from disparate sources and integrating them into a single interface. Sure, it has room to improve, but it will. Perhaps you would agree that TiVo is working hard at such integration and doing a great job, I might add.

Is anyone familiar with McAfee Security Center 9.3? I chose to do this free upgrade from Cox and have been pretty happy so far. The only problem I have with it is that it seems to tax my system resources.

It isnt a problem for most of the time but it seems to really effect my ability to record HDTV programs from my TV Tuner card. There are hiccups, picture freezes, and breakups when recording. It also affects my ability to edit these programs. It slows down my ability to advance and makes editing a show that once took 10 minutes now takes 20-30. This is usually caused by file errors. These things only used to happen in the past when I used photoshop and firefox a great deal without restarting my pc for a long time.

I looked online and there doesn't seem to be any way to turn if off Mcafee completely for temporary things. I saw the steps on how you can turn off each function one by one and have seen an improvement. But I still have issues at times which makes me think it is still running some features in the background even though I disabled everything. I heard going into Windows Task Manager and manually shutting them down does no good since they come back after a couple minutes. Does anyone know a way to completely shut this thing down when I don't need it? I have literally thought about uninstalling it for just one evening of recording and then installing it when I am done. This is crazy and unreasonable to me. My next step is to try and contact Mcafee.

I've been using www.avast.com for over 2 years without any problems on more than 10 computers in my familiy and have done firewire captures on more than half of those will no ill effects :)

Ah yes if you include content such as Netflix/Blockbuster/Amazon/ITunes/Hulu/YouTube then I see your point. I kind of bundle that into a general IPTV bucket.

I bet some more of that "increasing competition" probably makes you happy. :)

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/03/25/blockbuster-ondemand-comes-to-tivo-tivos-going-on-sale-at-bloc/

Thanks for the info. I might have to check that out if Mcafee continues to be a problem

Just when I thought Cox couldn't spew any more BS propaganda from there lips they do this. Has anyone else seen Cox's new commercial talking about how good a "value" there $5 on demand movies are? They compare it to a $70+ evening out to the movie theater. I literally gave my television the middle finger.

I've been using www.avast.com for over 2 years without any problems on more than 10 computers in my familiy and have done firewire captures on more than half of those will no ill effects :)

I will "second" the recommendation of Avast. Using it at home and on several
systems at work. Seems to be less of a "resource pig" than the mainstream
products. Figures most of these Viruses come from Eastern Europe and Avast is located in the Czech Republic.

I use AVG on 3 pc's at home, seems to work ok. Much lees CPU usage then Norton for sure...

In Aliso Viejo channels 335 and 336 are unavailable. They sent a technician out he was unable to fix and it appears its a problem related to SDV. Now its been passed on to the next hierarchy of repair, on the positive side no charges until its fixed on a prorated basis. Posted this info in case anyone else encountered this problem.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/03/27/cox-planning-to-roll-out-tru2way-stbs-this-summer/

I bet some more of that "increasing competition" probably makes you happy. :)

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/03/25/blockbuster-ondemand-comes-to-tivo-tivos-going-on-sale-at-bloc/ Blockbuster VOD to me is not very interesting at all since it's VOD downloads (pay per view) like Amazon with a 24 hour window to finish watching once you start watching it. The Netflix model of low monthly price with unlimited streaming and no expiration window is much more appealing to me.

The problem with VOD in general is that MPAA controls it and imposes stupid copyright and time restrictions and worse of all the price is just too much. $5/movie is much more than I'm willing to pay even for top notch HD. It would have to be in $1/movie range to be of any interest to me.

Blockbuster VOD to me is not very interesting at all since it's VOD downloads (pay per view) like Amazon with a 24 hour window to finish watching once you start watching it. The Netflix model of low monthly price with unlimited streaming and no expiration window is much more appealing to me.

The problem with VOD in general is that MPAA controls it and imposes stupid copyright and time restrictions and worse of all the price is just too much. $5/movie is much more than I'm willing to pay even for top notch HD. It would have to be in $1/movie range to be of any interest to me.

It looks like most downloads (http://www.blockbuster.com/download/rentDownload) are $2.99 to $3.99, the latter being the new-release price, but I agree, it's still too much. After all, for just $1, I can go across the street to my grocery store and rent a DVD. However, that is not really my point; I'm trying to drive home the point that competition is growing, albeit in disparate ways right now, but it is growing, and in my opinion, Cox will have to eventually acquiesce, be it in price or better quality.

After all, for just $1, I can go across the street to my grocery store and rent a DVD.
Ya know?! I love RedBox- and you can rent in one location and return in any other; I've been working in Salt Lake City (... ugggh ...) these last two months and I can rent there and return here and vice-versa.

Ya know?! I love RedBox- and you can rent in one location and return in any other; I've been working in Salt Lake City (... ugggh ...) these last two months and I can rent there and return here and vice-versa.

Yes, RedBox is great. The one right across from me is DVDPlay, which is not quite as nice (i.e. no online reservations), but still a great deal. Just a little bit farther is a redbox. I just don't know how Blockbuster can compete - okay perhaps the selection is better at BB (if it's not out of stock), but $1, wow!

FYI. I've been using Firefox for a long while now (hate Internet Explorer) and just discovered Adblock Plus plugin and boy what a difference it makes. Sometimes you have to wait a few seconds for those ads surrounding pages such as in this and other forums and sites in general. With Adblock Plus it completely filters a lot of them out and it makes surfing around much faster! Best part is you don't even have to setup filters yourself, you just subscribe to existing filters (with option of adding your own if you wish) so it couldn't be easier.

I got a guide update message from Tivo quite a while ago about 708=KPXNDT being added. I also see that zap2it has listings for it as well. Haven't been able to tune it yet so I assume this was a premature addition. I don't think I've ever watched anything on channel 8 so have no idea what that channel is (and by looking at listings nothing exciting) but just was curious if those with Cox boxes can tune the channel?
http://tvlistings.zap2it.com

I got a guide update message from Tivo quite a while ago about 708=KPXNDT being added. I also see that zap2it has listings for it as well. Haven't been able to tune it yet so I assume this was a premature addition. I don't think I've ever watched anything on channel 8 so have no idea what that channel is (and by looking at listings nothing exciting) but just was curious if those with Cox boxes can tune the channel?
http://tvlistings.zap2it.com

I believe that channel was formerly PAX TV, a religious-owned network. It now is called ion or something like that. Unless it was just added (like today), I don't think we have it in our line-up. As mentioned, it doesn't appear to have any exciting programming, unless you like repeats.

708 is not live on my boxes

No 708 for me.

Makes sense though. Cox has always been fantastic to add top notch channels to there HD lineup. :rolleyes:

No 708 for me.

Makes sense though. Cox has always been fantastic to add top notch channels to there HD lineup. :rolleyes: For this particular case I believe it's strictly a Tribune issue (parent company providing zap2it listings). Ever since the government mandated delay for digital broadcast switch (originally supposed to happen Feb 17) there has been a big confusion of some broadcasters going ahead with the switch anyway before the new summer deadline while others are not. As a result of the confusion Tribune removed some channels from analog lineup for a while, then added them back, then changed some of the frequencies for the digital channels, etc. and most of the actions were not correct. Probably this 708 addition is just part of that confusion and in no way indicates Cox plans to add it any time soon.

I'm somewhat curious for the local broadcast channels how Cox is going to provide the analog and SD digital versions of those channels (they have a commitment to do so at least to 2012). i.e. What source are they going to generate analog version from and what are the implications? For example in some cases like for CBS I believe the only digital source for that channel is the high definition version: KCBSDT
So if they generate an analog version from there and preserve the 16:9 aspect ratio then that means they will have to generate a 4:3 letterboxed (bars at top and bottom) version as the analog feed.
Same would apply to SD digital feed - it would have to be 4:3 letterboxed.

I suppose another more likely possibility is that they will continue to receive SD digital and/or analog feeds from the local broadcasters via land lines in which case nothing really changes...

For this particular case I believe it's strictly a Tribune issue (parent company providing zap2it listings). Ever since the government mandated delay for digital broadcast switch (originally supposed to happen Feb 17) there has been a big confusion of some broadcasters going ahead with the switch anyway before the new summer deadline while others are not. As a result of the confusion Tribune removed some channels from analog lineup for a while, then added them back, then changed some of the frequencies for the digital channels, etc. and most of the actions were not correct. Probably this 708 addition is just part of that confusion and in no way indicates Cox plans to add it any time soon.

Well, it looks like it is coming after all. Not that I want the channel, but even Cox shows it in their own line-up (http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/tv/channel-lineup.cox#14) now.

By the way, unless you go in through the new beta site (orange/yellow box at top of cox.com/ocpv), you won't see this channel in the regular channel line-up. It's definitely coming, though. It even has a "new" designation next to it.

edit: pretty cool new site, might I add. Same Cox, just a new site.

So after a bit of research it looks like HBO and Cinemax don't offer HD On demand for any provider. Is this true? The reason given is that they feel the analog feeds are too easy to capture by the pirates? I truly cant believe what a total load of crap that is. 99% of the movies that appear on those channels are ALREADY available to download online in HD. Sometimes in 1080p. Its like 5c. They claim its to stop Piracy but in the end it only hurts the tech savvy average viewer. I am SOOOO close to giving up this whole headache and sign up for Netflix and illegally download the rest. With all the on screen logos, obtrusive graphics, censorship, poor picture quality, lack of support, 5c, rising prices, constant on screen promotion of other shows, etc.... its just not worth it. They have literally done what I thought was impossible. Make me hate TV. Its moments like this when I wish I was Amish.

Sorry for the rant

edit: pretty cool new site, might I add. Same Cox, just a new site.

Very cool indeed, finally something that is clean and appears to be uniform and not made individually for each region.

I am glad they have a URL.Ico file too as I sort my bookmarks with Icos not words.

I know this is a question that has been ongoing and answered years ago, but;

according to cox HD programing is "free with a digital subscription" so it isn't really free...
http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/tv/high-definition.cox

Our HD lineup features national favorites like Discovery, ESPN, National Geographic, CNN, TBS, TNT, A&E and many more. Plus, we're committed to bringing you the latest HD programming as it becomes available, so you always have the very best HD anywhere!

So how can I get this programming without a 5 dollar a month box?

So how can I get this programming without a 5 dollar a month box?

With a 3 dollar card :rolleyes:

Cox is very deceptive in there ads. But to be fair all of the cable/satellite companies are and most other consumer based companies as well. You can use the word "FREE" and have all sorts of stipulations and technicalities as long as you supply that information in the small print somewhere. "FREE" very rarely means free. Just as "NAKED" or "NUDE" rarely means those things when a news program reports that an actress is going to be appearing that way in a movie or magazine. Saying those things is a BS marketing ploy to try and make themselves look better and sell product.

PPV HD (channel 799) is now called INHD (iN Demand HD). Not sure why it was changed, and it still has the same PPV programming, but for some reason Cox decided INHD made more sense than PPV HD. It's just a strange choice as we used to have INHD and INHD2 which went away a number of months ago.

So am I right to assume that there is no way to watch the Angels in HD with the current channel lineup? All I get is FSN-PT which shows (*yak*) Dodgers games.

To say this is disappointing/irritating to me is the understatement of the century. I hope I'm wrong. :(

So am I right to assume that there is no way to watch the Angels in HD with the current channel lineup? All I get is FSN-PT which shows (*yak*) Dodgers games.

To say this is disappointing/irritating to me is the understatement of the century. I hope I'm wrong. :(

I believe there will be Angels HD games on 763, FSN HD. There are also some on KCOP HD (713) and some on ESPN HD - 715 (tonight, for example) and FOX (711).

Link: http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule?regionCategoryId=267 - and choose baseball and FSN HD - and the date you want.

So am I right to assume that there is no way to watch the Angels in HD with the current channel lineup? All I get is FSN-PT which shows (*yak*) Dodgers games.

To say this is disappointing/irritating to me is the understatement of the century. I hope I'm wrong. :( Well I suppose in the case of MLB there is MLB Extra Innings (http://www.cox.com/ocpv/indemand/mlb.asp) sports package which Cox sells so that you can watch any game you like. Don't know the cost and blackout restrictions, etc. I don't watch MLB but I am a big Lakers fan, and luckily all Lakers games are covered in HD with the following combination of channels: KCALDT/FSNHD/ESPNHD/ABCHD/TNTHD

Well I suppose in the case of MLB there is MLB Extra Innings (http://www.cox.com/ocpv/indemand/mlb.asp)sports package which Cox sells so that you can watch any game you like. Don't know the cost and blackout restrictions, etc. I don't watch MLB but I am a big Lakers fan, and luckily all Lakers games are covered in HD with the following combination of channels: KCALDT/FSNHD/ESPNHD/ABCHD/TNTHD

Is MLB Extra Innings in HD? If so, what channel?

I'm almost certain MLB:EI would be blacked out. I'd have to confirm.

Apparently ESPN is more interested in showing the ESPNNEWS coverage of the NCAA BB game.

Yay, $2k+ TV for 480i glory.

This is a dealbreaker for me. I'll have to look into DirecTV now.

Is MLB Extra Innings in HD? If so, what channel? Don't know. A call to Cox could probably answer that question. I know there are SD versions of those PPV channels but don't know if there are HD versions. Without a Cox box those are out of reach to me anyway.
jwbrown77, so does DirecTV have dedicated HD channels/packages for Angels games?

Don't know. A call to Cox could probably answer that question. I know there are SD versions of those PPV channels but don't know if there are HD versions. Without a Cox box those are out of reach to me anyway.
jwbrown77, so does DirecTV have dedicated HD channels/packages for Angels games?

DirecTV has dedicated channels for FSN-HD and FSN-PT-HD.

Looks like they finally cut to the Angels game after the entire Dodgers post game was complete.

If we were living in Los Angeles county I would understand the preference for the Dodgers. But since this is local, we should get Angels first.

Definitely going to call about it.

They televise both home teams. If the Angels' game had started first, Dodger fans would have been waiting. It is rare for a broadcast to cut away from a game's conclusion to bring you the beginning of the following game.

Don't know. A call to Cox could probably answer that question. I know there are SD versions of those PPV channels but don't know if there are HD versions. Without a Cox box those are out of reach to me anyway.
jwbrown77, so does DirecTV have dedicated HD channels/packages for Angels games?

DirecTV has dedicated channels for FSN-HD and FSN-PT-HD.

It looks like D* offers only "Up to 80 games a week — up to 40 in HD," so they may indeed have more Angels games in HD than Cox. jwbrown77, I would definitely call before switching.

Cox does not advertise MLB Extra Innings in HD, so I don't believe they offer such.

I'm also curious how the local black-out rules will affect ESPN HD, FSN HD, etc.

Angels in SD, blah. On opening day! OH THE HUMANITY. COX WAKE UP IN THERE!

I am really enjoying the new MLB.tv premium player, although at 2pm the bandwidth was really low, and it appeared to be a cox issue, not mlb.com. My brother who has comcast somehow got the GameHD feed of Angels, yet he doesn't subscribe it EI.

I think black outs are a terrible invention, the user should pick which network he wants to watch it on, FSN, ESPN, MLB, MLB.tv. Mlb protects their product like it is a formula for fusion.

I had a great opening day MINUS THE FACT we dont get MLB Network HD, which everyone and their brother is getting now.

Way to drop the ball yet again Cox. I like how they come late to "bat" with everything. I must also admit, sportsclips at the tustin district is sporting some pretty sweet stretchovision of SD sporting feeds. They must be on the same roll out as San Clemente SDV, I digress. :)

On another note, the ESPN rebrand looks fun (new grfx logos), it was meant to coincide with the opening day and launch of the ESPN LA Live studio (Which is nutzo on technology) Read this: 1080P! 60FPS (for a studio, it feels like overkill, but hey why not, our subscription fees at use for something other than mascot commercials http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/190791-ESPN_Readies_West_Coast_Wing.php Dual 10gbps pipes to New England, that can not be cheap.

It looks like half way through the day, they turned off the "new" bottom line and went back to circa 2008 :) I guess they had glitches, anyway look for the new stuff more and more in the coming weeks.
http://hoopshoops.blogspot.com/2009/04/espns-new-theme-for-sportscenter.html

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-espn6-2009apr06,0,421799.story

While we're complaining to Cox re: Angel's in HD, keep in mind that road games telecast by KCOP (713) last year did NOT use HD as the display was cropped with bars on the side as if it were in SD format. Thd Dodgers local televison affiliate at home that televised road games (I believe KCAL 709, may be wrong on that) were all in glorious 1080i or 720p. Angels fans are getting second rate treatment by their network.
When both teams are at home, the FSN-HD will televise both teams on 763 from a predetermined schedule in full HD.

They televise both home teams. If the Angels' game had started first, Dodger fans would have been waiting. It is rare for a broadcast to cut away from a game's conclusion to bring you the beginning of the following game.

Which brings me back to why Cox cannot have both FSN and Prime Ticket available at the same time for HD coverage. Direct does, Cox does not. This will be an issue all year long between Dodgers and Angels games.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/07/cox-prepping-a-multi-room-dvr-for-sometime-this-year/

:)

You are right. If nearly every Dodger and Angel game is being televised with HD cameras at the ballparks, we should expect each team to have their games in full HD brought into our cable-laden homes. When these 2 teams are both at home with the same starting times, some team's fans are going to be disappointed when they switch on to 763, surprised to see which one is shown in HD.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/07/cox-prepping-a-multi-room-dvr-for-sometime-this-year/

:) Wow multi-room DVR using MOCA? What a great new concept. :D

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/07/cox-prepping-a-multi-room-dvr-for-sometime-this-year/

:)

You know, I wish I cared about this, but I don't. The only thing I want from Cox in terms of DVR capability is a DVR that records 50-60 hours of HD. I don't care if it's internal or external, but ~12 hours is totally ridiculous. If I wasn't so concerned about running into endless cable card hassles, I'd have switched back to TiVo already.

They televise both home teams. If the Angels' game had started first, Dodger fans would have been waiting. It is rare for a broadcast to cut away from a game's conclusion to bring you the beginning of the following game.

So does this mean that with both games starting at the same time tonight, they'll be showing the Angels?

I think I actually figured it out now that I'm a bit more rational (but no less upset):

1. There are two FSN channels. We only get FSN-PT.
2. FSN-PT is the normal channel for the Dodgers.
3. Dodgers will always get priority over Angels on FSN-PT because of #2.
4. Because of #3, the Dodgers will be on FSN-PT tonight and we will be without Angels in HD.
5. If FSN-PT has nothing else to show (no Lakers and no Dodgers), it will play the Angel game purely as a way to try to capture an audience.
6. If Cox carried FSN-HD like DirecTV does, none of this would be an issue.

I just don't think it's acceptable that an Orange County cable provider doesn't carry the local team. This is a big reason why many people, including myself, even pay for cable.

Now all that said, if I'm wrong about #3, it'll go a long way. Doubt I will be though.

OFF TOPIC: Are there any jobs in OC, lost my job of 4 years last month. Looking for something with project management / travel / decent pay.

I am not motivated to work at Target, when EDD pays me 1900, but I have exhausted my contacts in just a few weeks.

Willing to relocate internationally.

So does this mean that with both games starting at the same time tonight, they'll be showing the Angels?

I think I actually figured it out now that I'm a bit more rational (but no less upset):

1. There are two FSN channels. We only get FSN-PT.
2. FSN-PT is the normal channel for the Dodgers.
3. Dodgers will always get priority over Angels on FSN-PT because of #2.
4. Because of #3, the Dodgers will be on FSN-PT tonight and we will be without Angels in HD.
5. If FSN-PT has nothing else to show (no Lakers and no Dodgers), it will play the Angel game purely as a way to try to capture an audience.
6. If Cox carried FSN-HD like DirecTV does, none of this would be an issue.

I just don't think it's acceptable that an Orange County cable provider doesn't carry the local team. This is a big reason why many people, including myself, even pay for cable.

Now all that said, if I'm wrong about #3, it'll go a long way. Doubt I will be though.

Well tonight's not an issue because the Angel game is on 713 (no HD I believe). KCOP still has some Angel games to broadcast, but like last year no HD from what I have heard. Cannot believe still that KCOP will not broadcast in HD the Angel games.

Well tonight's not an issue because the Angel game is on 713 (no HD I believe). KCOP still has some Angel games to broadcast, but like last year no HD from what I have heard. Cannot believe still that KCOP will not broadcast in HD the Angel games.

Ok, thanks for the update.

Obviously having no HD from KCOP is just a problem with the Angels/KCOP needing to get on the ball. But if the game is available in HD, it should be shown imo.

I'm hoping HD on KCOP will happen sooner rather than later, but I won't hold my breath.

Another question on this topic...

Did anyone see the signal for both the Dodgers game while it was on and the Angels game last night in later innings on FSN-PT-HD? This certainly isn't scientific but the Dodgers game looked *fantastic*, very sharp, while the Angels game looked good but for HD not nearly as good as the other game.

Can anyone with experience from last season's broadcasts corroborate that, or is it just my eyes playing tricks on me?

A new Baseball season is here, and that is good and bad news. The good, All Dodger games will be in HD on Ch. 9 and PT, most Angel games will be in HD on FSW. The bad: Ch. 13 games???? Based on last night pillar boxed 4x3, non HD...Very sad. Interestingly Seinfeld looked to be in HD right after the Angel game. We get both FS feeds on Ch 763 and we now know who gets priority when both teams are on at the same time...The Dodgers
Direc has an HD Ch. for both FSW and PT, I watched both games live in HD on Mon. night, when I wasn't watching the B'ball game or 24. The HD looked better on Directv switching back live, head to head between Cox and D. The Dodger game did look much better than the Angel game, [on both] much sharper and it was a road game vs. the Angel game being in Anaheim. Cox was doing some up-grade maint. in my neighborhood last week and I was talking to the tech, he said SDV has been implemented and some quams have 12 channels crammed together!!! Can't be 12 but that's what he said. Also said the 850 MHZ up-grade is done, 900 MHZ is next, then 3000 MHZ up-grade by 2013. He said the faster internet and Analog channels, with no cable box, are eating up the band-width. He agreed our picture quality is de-graded, and of course I said we still need FX, Fox News, Fox News Business etc. in HD. Thought I'd add me 2 cents to the debate.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/07/cox-prepping-a-multi-room-dvr-for-sometime-this-year/

:)

boy, I'd much rather they concentrate on getting more HD stations and with better quality!

SDV implemented in Aliso Viejo with some channels in the 300 range showing breakup, off and on problems for the last month. Cox has a special tech group working on the problems but still no resolution.

Ok, thanks for the update.

Obviously having no HD from KCOP is just a problem with the Angels/KCOP needing to get on the ball. But if the game is available in HD, it should be shown imo.

I'm hoping HD on KCOP will happen sooner rather than later, but I won't hold my breath.

Another question on this topic...

Did anyone see the signal for both the Dodgers game while it was on and the Angels game last night in later innings on FSN-PT-HD? This certainly isn't scientific but the Dodgers game looked *fantastic*, very sharp, while the Angels game looked good but for HD not nearly as good as the other game.

Can anyone with experience from last season's broadcasts corroborate that, or is it just my eyes playing tricks on me?

I don't think your eyes are playing tricks. This is one of my major complaints with HD broadcasting. We often do not see pixel for pixel display of an HD broadcast. Different stations use only a portion of the available bandwidth to transmit an HD program; they may use lower bitrates or smaller resolution to squeeze in more channels, reducing our video quality. What I don't know is the following: If Direct TV and Cox are transmitting the same broadcast, eg, FSN-PT, what is the likelihood that the transmission into one's home will be of identical video quality. Or in other words, does satellite or cable typically produce an advantage (or disadvantage) for those who want to see the fullest HD bandwidth that a broadcast station is bothering to transmit?

P.S. This is a useful cablelabs document that describes many of the technical aspects of a SDV Tuning Adapter and how it interfaces with the headend. This is where I got a lot of information related to how SDV works:
http://www.cablelabs.com/specifications/OC-SP-TRIF-I01-080130.pdf

Hey moyekj - not sure if you've seen this (http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/08/cisco-sta1520-sdv-tuning-adapter-impressions/#continued), so thought I'd pass it along.

Hey moyekj - not sure if you've seen this (http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/08/cisco-sta1520-sdv-tuning-adapter-impressions/#continued), so thought I'd pass it along. Thanks, yes I'd seen it. Our headend is interesting since AFAIK Cox OC is one of the first Motorola headends deploying SDV publicly (i.e not still in trials), so of course we will be using the Motorola Tuning Adapter instead of that Cisco one. So far all SDV deployments I've seen (primarily TW and Cox Virginia & Phoenix) have been in Cisco headends with the Cisco TA.

If Cox is monitoring this thread note that I would be willing to be a volunteer to test the Motorola Tuning Adapter with my Tivos now that it appears SDV has been rolled out everywhere in OC.

Thanks, yes I'd seen it. Our headend is interesting since AFAIK Cox OC is one of the first Motorola headends deploying SDV publicly (i.e not still in trials), so of course we will be using the Motorola Tuning Adapter instead of that Cisco one. So far all SDV deployments I've seen (primarily TW and Cox Virginia & Phoenix) have been in Cisco headends with the Cisco TA.

If Cox is monitoring this thread note that I would be willing to be a volunteer to test the Motorola Tuning Adapter with my Tivos now that it appears SDV has been rolled out everywhere in OC.

Interesting. Do you know for sure that it is being deployed, or is the evidence more anecdotal at this point?

Interesting. Do you know for sure that it is being deployed, or is the evidence more anecdotal at this point?
redshift1 has pointed out specific issues with SDV deployment for Aliso Viejo just recently:
see here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=16225374&postcount=4915)

Also earlier in this thread redshift1 pointed out one of the annoyances typical of SDV where it tries to time out the channel when you are tuned to it:
see here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=16020420&postcount=4837)

So I would say that qualifies as more than anecdotal evidence even though personally I cannot confirm for sure that SDV is deployed in OC and certainly not the extent to which it is deployed and the specific set of channels affected.

If you can tune to channel 336 and sit on it for a while with your Cox box I guess you can verify if you get the channel re-select message (or whatever it's called). That would be a sure sign SDV is deployed for your node.

(I don't have a Cox box so cannot experiment myself - the SDV channels simply don't map to a frequency for Tivos without a tuning adapter so can't be tuned)

redshift1 has pointed out specific issues with SDV deployment for Aliso Viejo just recently:
see here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=16225374&postcount=4915)

Also earlier in this thread redshift1 pointed out one of the annoyances typical of SDV where it tries to time out the channel when you are tuned to it:
see here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=16020420&postcount=4837)

So I would say that qualifies as more than anecdotal evidence even though personally I cannot confirm for sure that SDV is deployed in OC and certainly not the extent to which it is deployed and the specific set of channels affected.

If you can tune to channel 336 and sit on it for a while with your Cox box I guess you can verify if you get the channel re-select message (or whatever it's called). That would be a sure sign SDV is deployed for your node.

(I don't have a Cox box so cannot experiment myself - the SDV channels simply don't map to a frequency for Tivos without a tuning adapter so can't be tuned)

Okay, thanks. I do know of the posts you refer to, but I hope you didn't take any offense to my question. I honestly wanted to know if there is more concrete evidence because I tried the "sit on it for a while" a week or two ago and did not see anything from it. My guess it is being deployed in a few neighborhoods first and then will get deployed fully later on.

Okay, thanks. I do know of the posts you refer to, but I hope you didn't take any offense to my question. I honestly wanted to know if there is more concrete evidence because I tried the "sit on it for a while" a week or two ago and did not see anything from it. My guess it is being deployed in a few neighborhoods first and then will get deployed fully later on. No offense taken at all. Interesting, when you tested parking on a channel did you use 336 or some other?

New on screen message forces you to re-select the channel you are currently viewing
or it switches to cox on-demand advertisement channel 1 . This was on channel 336 not a big deal but kind of annoying.

No offense taken at all. Interesting, when you tested parking on a channel did you use 336 or some other?

336 as redshift1 had mentioned, but I also tried a few others - can't recall which others though.

Well Ion HD 708 is now active and has listings for me. Doesn't look like they offer anything in HD though. Calling it Ion HD seems like false advertising to me but I guess its a sexier name than Ion DT. Guess the FCC is too busy saving us from nipples or sideboobs to notice. I just feel bad for the newbies who actually think they are watching high definition when they view this stuff.

Well Ion HD 708 is now active and has listings for me. Doesn't look like they offer anything in HD though. Calling it Ion HD seems like false advertising to me but I guess its a sexier name than Ion DT. Guess the FCC is too busy saving us from nipples or sideboobs to notice. I just feel bad for the newbies who actually think they are watching high definition when they view this stuff.

I can't wait to get home :rolleyes:. Hey, at least Cox can increase their claimed HD channel count:eek:

Heh, I have the opposite complaint from jwbrown77 as now the Angel game is being shown on 763 so no HD Dodger game even though the Guide says it should be :(

I think I actually figured it out now that I'm a bit more rational (but no less upset):

1. There are two FSN channels. We only get FSN-PT.
2. FSN-PT is the normal channel for the Dodgers.
3. Dodgers will always get priority over Angels on FSN-PT because of #2.
4. Because of #3, the Dodgers will be on FSN-PT tonight and we will be without Angels in HD.
5. If FSN-PT has nothing else to show (no Lakers and no Dodgers), it will play the Angel game purely as a way to try to capture an audience.
6. If Cox carried FSN-HD like DirecTV does, none of this would be an issue.

I just don't think it's acceptable that an Orange County cable provider doesn't carry the local team. This is a big reason why many people, including myself, even pay for cable.

Now all that said, if I'm wrong about #3, it'll go a long way. Doubt I will be though.

Heh, I have the opposite complaint from jwbrown77 as now the Angel game is being shown on 763 so no HD Dodger game even though the Guide says it should be :(

What about channel 798, Game HD? It shows as HD Pay-Per-View in the Cox channel line up (http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/tv/channel-lineup.cox), but the guide shows the Angels playing right now. Maybe it is showing the Dodgers game. :confused: Does anybody get...um...pay for the channel?

Could you imagine getting a cell phone from these guys?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/08/cox-communications-set-to-launch-a-cellular-network/

New on screen message forces you to re-select the channel you are currently viewing or it switches to cox on-demand advertisement channel 1 . This was on channel 336 not a big deal but kind of annoying.

336 as redshift1 had mentioned, but I also tried a few others - can't recall which others though.


Okay, I've been on channel 336 for 30 minutes now and haven't seen any messages pop up, so I'm guessing we don't have SDV in north Irvine, at least yet.

My bad. Looks like Ion HD DOES offer some HD programs. I watched a bit of Boston Legal and it looked pretty good. There logos are extremely obnoxious though.

Okay, I've been on channel 336 for 30 minutes now and haven't seen any messages pop up, so I'm guessing we don't have SDV in north Irvine, at least yet.

You are correct that message no longer appears. As of this morning channel 336 is still ghosting with occasional tiling. Cox sent another tech on Tuesday and he verified that the problems did in fact exist and when he called RSM they could see it as well. The problem is apparent when horizontal motion occurs, the lack of signal strength causes a distorting pulse like effect.

I can remember that at one point channel 336 had good reception for a non-HD channel. I can't prove it by doing a side by side comparison but overall the non-HD channels seem to have lost some clarity in the SDV conversion. Also Cox confirms this is a SDV problem and they are working to resolve.

During the early afternoon hours TVG is broadcast on both channel 63 and 336 so you have a good chance to compare and see the effects of SDV here in Aliso Viejo. Dodger games can preempt TVG on channel 63 so today comparison might not be available

Okay, I've been on channel 336 for 30 minutes now and haven't seen any messages pop up, so I'm guessing we don't have SDV in north Irvine, at least yet. I wouldn't be surprised if there is something in box diagnostics pages that makes it obvious if a channel is SDV or not. I suppose redshift1 since you have SDV for your node for sure it may be interesting to check diagnostics while tuned to 336 versus tuned to another non-SDV channel such as channel 7. I assume the old methods for getting to diagnostics are still working...

I wouldn't be surprised if there is something in box diagnostics pages that makes it obvious if a channel is SDV or not. I suppose redshift1 since you have SDV for your node for sure it may be interesting to check diagnostics while tuned to 336 versus tuned to another non-SDV channel such as channel 7. I assume the old methods for getting to diagnostics are still working...


Had to go back quite a bit to find it, but here it is.

...You can get this info from the diagnostics page which last time I had a DCT3416 box you could bring up as follows:
1. Press Menu to display Quick Settings Menu
2. Press Down, B, Up, B (within 5 seconds)

Don't know if any of this is useful but here is the difference between 336 and 7 when I hit POWER SELECT SELECT and go to Current Channel Status.

For channel 7:

IB TUNER 2
TYPE: DIGITAL
STATUS: Acquired Not Playing
PREVIEW: NO
PURCHASABLE: NO
PURCHASED: NO
EPOCH Num: 000
Auth Reason: ox18
Service: 0 Status: 0 ID:0x000000
CH: 007 Tuned Frequency: 237.0000MHz
VCT ID: 10
CCI: 0x00 APS: 0x00 RC Flag: 0x00
CIT: 0x00 DRM: 0x00 RS: FOREVER



For channel 336:

IB TUNER 1
TYPE: DIGITAL ENC
STATUS: Acquired Not Playing
PREVIEW: NO
PURCHASABLE: NO
PURCHASED: NO
EPOCH Num: 160
Auth Reason: ox12
Service: 0 Status: 1 ID:0x02002F
CH: 65535 Tuned Frequency: 705.0000MHz
VCT ID: 10 SOC: DISABLED
CCI: 0x00 APS: 0x00 RC Flag: 0x00
CIT: 0x00 DRM: 0x01 RS: FOREVER

The only part that looks a little out of the ordinary to me is in bold below:
CH: 65535 Tuned Frequency: 705.0000MHz

Guess we would need more samples of SDV and non-SDV channels to see if that CH: # means anything.

The only part that looks a little out of the ordinary to me is in bold below:
CH: 65535 Tuned Frequency: 705.0000MHz

Guess we would need more samples of SDV and non-SDV channels to see if that CH: # means anything.

I took a look at the diagnostics for various channels (336, 7, 707, etc.) last night and couldn't make sense of any differences. There are 15 pages to go through, so it is tough to find a) what we're looking for and b) any differences. Of course, I may not even have SDV in my neighborhood, so that complicates it further. Moyekj, you really need to get a Cox DVR again:eek:

INBAND STATUS and CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS pages I think are the only ones that may contain some relevant information. As I mentioned that CH number under CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS looks like the most interesting so I would keep an eye on that. If someone can post or look at INBAND STATUS that may have some other clues.

My mistake its actually channel 335 not 336 that has the problem. In my dotage I was thinking 335 and typing 336. I talked with Cox today Friday and they are still working on the problem we are into the third week of trouble shooting without a resolution. The good thing is that it only appears to be 1 channel. They were experiencing the same problem in the RSM Cox Cable offices.

My mistake its actually channel 335 not 336 that has the problem. In my dotage I was thinking 335 and typing 336. I talked with Cox today Friday and they are still working on the problem we are into the third week of trouble shooting without a resolution. The good thing is that it only appears to be 1 channel. They were experiencing the same problem in the RSM Cox Cable offices.

Just to clarify, when you say "that has the problem" you are referring to the "ghosting with occasional tiling" issue you reported yesterday, right? Assuming yes, then please confirm that channel 336 - HRTV? - is the channel that was using SDV previously. Perhaps it's both 335 and 336 with SDV, but I don't want to test a channel that is not confirmed to have SDV.

Angels in HD on 763

Just to clarify, when you say "that has the problem" you are referring to the "ghosting with occasional tiling" issue you reported yesterday, right? Assuming yes, then please confirm that channel 336 - HRTV? - is the channel that was using SDV previously. Perhaps it's both 335 and 336 with SDV, but I don't want to test a channel that is not confirmed to have SDV.

Sorry for the confusion. TVG Channel 335 has the ghosting and tiling. What makes this more problematic is that SEVERAL channels within the 300 range are broadcast via SDV and ARE NOT consecutive channels within the 300 range. If I remember correctly there are about 8-15 channels within the 300 range using SDV one of which is TVG channel 335 the others are unknown to me.

Sorry for the confusion. TVG Channel 335 has the ghosting and tiling. What makes this more problematic is that SEVERAL channels within the 300 range are broadcast via SDV and ARE NOT consecutive channels within the 300 range. If I remember correctly there are about 8-15 channels within the 300 range using SDV one of which is TVG channel 335 the others are unknown to me.

Thanks, redshift1. I went ahead and tried 335, but no SDV here. When you say, "...SEVERAL channels within the 300 range are broadcast via SDV..." how are you determining that? Do you get the popup message? Have you had a chance to look at the diagnostics and see if there is anything different about the SDV channels? Thanks again.

Thanks, redshift1. I went ahead and tried 335, but no SDV here. When you say, "...SEVERAL channels within the 300 range are broadcast via SDV..." how are you determining that? Do you get the popup message? Have you had a chance to look at the diagnostics and see if there is anything different about the SDV channels? Thanks again.
phdeane, I'm pretty sure that the CH=65535 (or some other high/strange number) under CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS indicates SDV. Otherwise CH should match the channel number you are tuned to if it is not SDV. I went through several channels on my neighbor's Cox DVR that I can't tune with my Tivos (hence suspecting SDV) and they all had the above number. Ones that I know are not SDV (I can tune with my Tivos) had CH matching channel number. So it looks to me like SDV is deployed in Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo and likely a bunch of other places (if not everywhere in OC) at this point.

It would be nice if Cox OC listed which channels specifically are SDV so we don't have to uncover them the hard way...
Oh, and where's the free Tuning Adapter Cox??

Thanks, redshift. I went ahead and tried 335, but no SDV here. When you say, "...SEVERAL channels within the 300 range are broadcast via SDV..." how are you determining that? Do you get the popup message? Have you had a chance to look at the diagnostics and see if there is anything different about the SDV channels? Thanks again.

I would be glad to look at the diagnostics what are the steps to check. The Cox Techs dealing with SDV stated there were several channels involved but we could only isolate problems on 335 with the exception of 2 days when both 335 and 336 were dark but that was at least two weeks ago. They never told me which specific channels were involved other than 335 and 336. Either this issue is not a priority with Cox or its much more complex than anticipated. They implemented this knowing their customers would be the Guinea Pigs.

Just in case you haven't watched AMC HD recently I must tell you how truly horrid it is. First I was excited to finally get the HD channel mainly to watch the show Mad Men. Tonight I recorded Bride Of Chucky mostly because I have a crush on Katherine Heigl. I have literally been waiting years to see this movie offered in HD so I was psyched even though it would be censored. What struck me first about this recording was the following: I recorded for a little over 2 hours yet the file ended up being only 8.95 GB. Thats before editing or commercial removal. Thats about half of what it should be in a perfect world. Surprising to me the picture quality wasn't that bad. There were macro blocks and breakups on some of the scenes but for that file size I was expecting the picture itself to look truly terrible. And it did. Not because of the transfer or file size but from the insane amount of bugs/logos/overlays they use. These people give TNT HD a run for there money. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they were both run by the same company. If I wasn't so mad right now it would literally be laughable at how bad this channel is. Here are some quick examples. Every now and then they would just have the AMC logo on the right hand but it didn't last long and the norm was attachment 5. I for one will not watch Breaking Bad. Its a shame too because the promos I saw (during actual commercial time) made it look good.

I would be glad to look at the diagnostics what are the steps to check. The Cox Techs dealing with SDV stated there were several channels involved but we could only isolate problems on 335 with the exception of 2 days when both 335 and 336 were dark but that was at least two weeks ago. They never told me which specific channels were involved other than 335 and 336. Either this issue is not a priority with Cox or its much more complex than anticipated. They implemented this knowing their customers would be the Guinea Pigs.

Hey redshift1 - I posted it a couple days ago (see #4933), but you may have missed it. Here it is:

------------------------------------------------------
1. Press Menu to display Quick Settings Menu
2. Press Down, B, Up, B (within 5 seconds)
------------------------------------------------------

See moyekj's post just before yours to see what you are looking for.

I'm going to check it out now and will post back. If you could do the same, it would be great. Thanks.

EDIT: Actually, it's better to a) power off the box from the DVR or remote, b) hit Select two times (again from the box or remote). Your TV needs to be on and you'll see another screen entitled, "DIAGNOSTICS."

phdeane, I'm pretty sure that the CH=65535 (or some other high/strange number) under CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS indicates SDV. Otherwise CH should match the channel number you are tuned to if it is not SDV. I went through several channels on my neighbor's Cox DVR that I can't tune with my Tivos (hence suspecting SDV) and they all had the above number. Ones that I know are not SDV (I can tune with my Tivos) had CH matching channel number. So it looks to me like SDV is deployed in Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo and likely a bunch of other places (if not everywhere in OC) at this point.

Okay, I didn't realize that TheRock was looking at a different diagnostics than I was. Anyway, I did his method and I get the same information he got for 7 and 336 - namely CH = 65535 for channel 336 and CH = 007 ("Bond, James Bond") for channel 7. So if this means I have SDV here in north Irvine, then perhaps Cox is able to shut off at will the popup screen asking if you want to stay on the channel. Of course that would defeat the purpose, so would probably only be during this testing period.


It would be nice if Cox OC listed which channels specifically are SDV so we don't have to uncover them the hard way...
Oh, and where's the free Tuning Adapter Cox??

It's been a long time since we've seen any Cox employees around here. The guy probably quite Cox and went to work for Best Buy.:rolleyes: You still holding out hope?:)

Just in case you haven't watched AMC HD recently I must tell you how truly horrid it is. First I was excited to finally get the HD channel mainly to watch the show Mad Men. Tonight I recorded Bride Of Chucky mostly because I have a crush on Katherine Heigl. I have literally been waiting years to see this movie offered in HD so I was psyched even though it would be censored. What struck me first about this recording was the following: I recorded for a little over 2 hours yet the file ended up being only 8.95 GB. Thats before editing or commercial removal. Thats about half of what it should be in a perfect world. Surprising to me the picture quality wasn't that bad. There were macro blocks and breakups on some of the scenes but for that file size I was expecting the picture itself to look truly terrible. And it did. Not because of the transfer or file size but from the insane amount of bugs/logos/overlays they use. These people give TNT HD a run for there money. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they were both run by the same company. If I wasn't so mad right now it would literally be laughable at how bad this channel is. Here are some quick examples. Every now and then they would just have the AMC logo on the right hand but it didn't last long and the norm was attachment 5. I for one will not watch Breaking Bad. Its a shame too because the promos I saw (during actual commercial time) made it look good.

That's awful. It's funny, the networks forget the whole reason we all want HD in the first place - quality - yet they give us all these commercial overlays. Look, I realize they know we all skip the commercials, but to give us a decent picture, only to cover it with crap really just defeats the purpose. Of course, I've heard that nearly half of HDTV owners aren't even receiving HD programming, so we'll see how far we get with our complaints.

sigh....the last few days, it appears that either my 6 month old tv is crapping out or Cox has done something to reduce the hd quality even further. Everything looks softer and not as sharp as before. I'm currently debating whether to switch to Direct TV.

sigh....the last few days, it appears that either my 6 month old tv is crapping out or Cox has done something to reduce the hd quality even further. Everything looks softer and not as sharp as before. I'm currently debating whether to switch to Direct TV.

Yes, I'm doing the same thing. I just keep hoping things will improve, but with the ever-increasing cable rates and ever-decreasing PQ, D* is looking better all the time.

BTW, I haven't noticed any decrease in PQ here over the last few days.

Hey redshift1 - I posted it a couple days ago (see #4933), but you may have missed it. Here it is:

------------------------------------------------------
1. Press Menu to display Quick Settings Menu
2. Press Down, B, Up, B (within 5 seconds)
------------------------------------------------------

See moyekj's post just before yours to see what you are looking for.

I'm going to check it out now and will post back. If you could do the same, it would be great. Thanks.

EDIT: Actually, it's better to a) power off the box from the DVR or remote, b) hit Select two times (again from the box or remote). Your TV needs to be on and you'll see another screen entitled, "DIAGNOSTICS."

Thanks, I can pull up the 15 pages of info:

For channel 335 Tuner 1 705000 Tuner 2 237000

For channel 7 Tuner 1 237000 Tuner 2 237000

What other info can help? and yes the problem still exists. Sorry for the delay I just bought a new G37s and was bouncing back and forth with the dealership.

Thanks, I can pull up the 15 pages of info:

For channel 335 Tuner 1 705000 Tuner 2 237000

For channel 7 Tuner 1 237000 Tuner 2 237000

What other info can help? and yes the problem still exists. Sorry for the delay.

I added a different diagnostics screen to go into. Give the following a try and report back. Also, if you look back to my post 4947 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16245513#post16245513), you will see I actually am on SDV, too.


EDIT: Actually, it's better to a) power off the box from the DVR or remote, b) hit Select two times (again from the box or remote). Your TV needs to be on and you'll see another screen entitled, "DIAGNOSTICS."



I just bought a new G37s and was bouncing back and forth with the dealership.


I'm on my second G35. I love it and look forward to my lease expiring early next year so I can get a G37.

Yup I recorded the Spirit Awards on AMC for my friend who was in it a month or two ago, and it was actually worse I think it was 8.1GB or it could have been like 7.9GB that was exactly 2 hours.

Just in case you haven't watched AMC HD recently I must tell you how truly horrid it is. First I was excited to finally get the HD channel mainly to watch the show Mad Men. Tonight I recorded Bride Of Chucky mostly because I have a crush on Katherine Heigl. I have literally been waiting years to see this movie offered in HD so I was psyched even though it would be censored. What struck me first about this recording was the following: I recorded for a little over 2 hours yet the file ended up being only 8.95 GB.

Anyone else here excited for the hockey playoffs in HD starting tonight?

I added a different diagnostics screen to go into. Give the following a try and report back. Also, if you look back to my post 4947 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16245513#post16245513), you will see I actually am on SDV, too.


I'm on my second G35. I love it and look forward to my lease expiring early next year so I can get a G37.

Ok I can get diagnostics screen and the channel is 65535. Right now the same program is being broadcast on channel 63 and the picture is fine. I also called Cox today and they have the same breakup on channel 335 as I do.

By the way Mission Viejo Infiniti is selling the 2009 g37s for 3 to 4k below sticker.

Ok I can get diagnostics screen and the channel is 65535. Right now the same program is being broadcast on channel 63 and the picture is fine. I also called Cox today and they have the same breakup on channel 335 as I do.

By the way Mission Viejo Infiniti is selling the 2009 g37s for 3 to 4k below sticker.

Thanks, at least there is some good to come from a recession. ;)

Finally got an HD box, well, two.
It's great, except that I was under the impression Cox was supposed to have Comedy Central HD, Cartoon Network HD, and Nickelodeon HD, and yet I don't see them in the guide for either box. Does Cox actually not have these channels? Or is it something to call in about?

Finally got an HD box, well, two.
It's great, except that I was under the impression Cox was supposed to have Comedy Central HD, Cartoon Network HD, and Nickelodeon HD, and yet I don't see them in the guide for either box. Does Cox actually not have these channels? Or is it something to call in about?

They have not shown up yet on my boxes in Irvine.

That'd be it (irvine as well), then.

Never heard of those being offered in Orange County. Just made a google search and it looks like Cox in San Diego offers those. They even offer HBO HD and Cinemax HD on Demand. I didn't know those even existed.

http://ww2.cox.com/residential/sandiego/tv/channel-lineup.cox#15

Finally got an HD box, well, two.
It's great, except that I was under the impression Cox was supposed to have Comedy Central HD, Cartoon Network HD, and Nickelodeon HD, and yet I don't see them in the guide for either box. Does Cox actually not have these channels? Or is it something to call in about?

Never heard of those being offered in Orange County. Just made a google search and it looks like Cox in San Diego offers those. They even offer HBO HD and Cinemax HD on Demand. I didn't know those even existed.

http://ww2.cox.com/residential/sandiego/tv/channel-lineup.cox#15

We generally follow Cox San Diego by a few months, so I'm sure we will eventually get those channels, but there has been no official notice from Cox for us to get those channels in OC.

Just an update regarding the SDV issue in Aliso Viejo on channel 335. Called Cox today to report my weekly complaint, according to technician they are working on the bandwidth problem but have no resolution date. Amazing that a huge communication enterprise like Cox cannot fix a reception problem within a months time. Maybe Direct TV could help them solve the problem.

We generally follow Cox San Diego by a few months, so I'm sure we will eventually get those channels, but there has been no official notice from Cox for us to get those channels in OC.

About how many months are we talking?

About how many months are we talking?

It's hard to say, but could be up to six months. It looks like San Diego got those channels in October of last year (http://www.know-todays-news.com/cox-communications-to-launch-six-new-hd-channels-in-san-diego-california-on-oct-15/), late December of last year (http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/12/13/cox-bringing-5-new-hd-stations-to-san-diego-california/) (along with Fox News HD which I want), and January of this year (http://www.cox.com/sandiego/newsroom/service/2009/20090129-comedyhd.asp), so it may happen before the end of June or July. Of course, a number of factors (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16244232#post16244232) could delay this, but that's been the general trend.

Oh NO. Faux News in HD. Is there no god ? :eek:

Going to need to block that channel when it shows up in the OC. :)

Oh NO. Faux News in HD. Is there no god ? :eek:

Going to need to block that channel when it shows up in the OC. :)

Good, then if Cox implements SDV for the channel, there will be more bandwidth resulting in pristine HD for me and the millions of others who watch. :rolleyes:

I would prefer we stay away from political comments on this forum.



edit: okay, now it makes sense:

So last night. I get home and Cox is doing its normal uglies.

1. MSNBC is so out of Sync and pixelated its not watchable.
The HD channels are hesitating and almost as bad.

Nobody mentioned politics did we ? :cool: LOL

Seems like it makes sense to kick these channels off at the same time.
Comedy Central HD, Cartoon Network HD, Nickelodeon HD, Fox News HD.
All very similar programming. :p

So where is my MSNBC in HD ? :(

Personally I am coming to an end with my patience with Cox.
The Dish and DSL will be my choice next time. Seems like every few
months the bill goes up another few points. They really are good at
sneeking those charges up. My HD and Internet is like $ 175 a month now.

PS.
The Idea of seeing Kruthhammer in HD.
That would scare anybody. :)

I must say I'm skeptical and don't like the Amazon VOD model but since they recently started offering HD titles I thought I would try it out. I tried a couple of Amazon HD downloads to my Tivos (there are some free downloads available) and must say the video quality from what I've seen thus far is better than what we get from Cox. An example is NBC's Parks & Recreation which I happened to record from 704 as well. I guess for that one I can't really lame the blame on Cox as from former testing the OTA broadcasts are mostly passed through untouched, but still it does point out major limitation of mpeg2 HD.

Another example is Yes Man [HD] title I tried last night (I had a coupon for a free Amazon download). That was most excellent quality. Not Blu Ray of course but better than most anything I've seen on any Cox HD channel. The Yes Man file size was just under 6 GB for about 100 minutes of video, but remember this is H.264 not mpeg2.

So I'd say it's pretty clear that H.264 encodings can offer better quality for less bandwidth. Hope the transition away from mpeg2 starts soon.

I must say I'm skeptical and don't like the Amazon VOD model but since they recently started offering HD titles I thought I would try it out. I tried a couple of Amazon HD downloads to my Tivos (there are some free downloads available) and must say the video quality from what I've seen thus far is better than what we get from Cox. An example is NBC's Parks & Recreation which I happened to record from 704 as well. I guess for that one I can't really lame the blame on Cox as from former testing the OTA broadcasts are mostly passed through untouched, but still it does point out major limitation of mpeg2 HD.

Another example is Yes Man [HD] title I tried last night (I had a coupon for a free Amazon download). That was most excellent quality. Not Blu Ray of course but better than most anything I've seen on any Cox HD channel. The Yes Man file size was just under 6 GB for about 100 minutes of video, but remember this is H.264 not mpeg2.

So I'd say it's pretty clear that H.264 encodings can offer better quality for less bandwidth. Hope the transition away from mpeg2 starts soon.

Sounds like more of that competition...:) I also heard the downloads offer DD 5.1. That would be nice, too.

Well Conservative Ne-I mean FOX News HD, sounds okay I suppose, but I was actually looking forward to watching cartoons in HD. PBS isn't at ALL entertaining me for that.

Also, aside for the universal remote control manual they give you, is there anywhere we can get a list of codes? Namely for a Sony HT-SS2300, none of the codes in the booklet seem to work.

Thanks for the info about amazon hd. Been curious about that.

Well it looks like the Jimmy Kimmel show finally went HD after all these years. Picture quality is OK although it looks a bit soft. Not nearly as bad as Regis and Kelly though.

Well after looking a bit more at amazon's hd downloads I must say the following.... HOLY CRAP THOSE ARE OVERPRICED! Why would I spend $2.99 for an episode of Chuck when I can watch it free legally elsewhere? $62.79 for the 21 episodes I see offered?!! Insane. Makes a person want to go to the torrent sites and download the entire season in HD for free. You also need fairly proprietary devices to even view the HD movies. BS.

Well after looking a bit more at amazon's hd downloads I must say the following.... HOLY CRAP THOSE ARE OVERPRICED! Why would I spend $2.99 for an episode of Chuck when I can watch it free legally elsewhere? $62.79 for the 21 episodes I see offered?!! Insane. Makes a person want to go to the torrent sites and download the entire season in HD for free. You also need fairly proprietary devices to even view the HD movies. BS.

Ya really the first season of chuck on bluray is around 30 though Amazon has the second season on pre-order for 72!!!! so I guess it's slightly cheaper to download it :rolleyes::p;)

Oooh, that'll change, they have the DVD version of season 2 listed at $39. Still, it might be best to download it, honestly, because the first season Blu-Ray looked worse than the DVD version (after upscale).

what the heck is channel 796?? do we really need an "hd" station for infomercials?

what the heck is channel 796?? do we really need an "hd" station for infomercials?

It is a waste of bandwidth...

what the heck is channel 796?? do we really need an "hd" station for infomercials?

WHAT!!! Why wasn't I informed, finally an HD infomercial station YES! .... :rolleyes:

what the heck is channel 796?? do we really need an "hd" station for infomercials?

Well its about time we get this amazing HD channel. :rolleyes:

Probably nobody here watches Dancing With The Stars but... the picture quality on 707=ABCHD was horrendous last night for that show. It looked incredibly bit starved with artifacting all over the place. Didn't get a chance yet to see if it was just that show or if it's 707 in general. I sure hope it's not something Cox is doing. I've got antenna disconnected at the moment so no easy way to compare to OTA broadcast.

Okay, Best Buy put the Slingbox Solo (not the Slingbox PRO-HD - heard I should stay away from that one) on sale for $150, so just couldn't resist and pulled the trigger. I have to admit, this thing is pretty cool. I can now watch whatever is on my DVR in near-HD quality (well, at least Cox' version of near-HD quality) from any computer within range of my router or via any computer outside of my network, as long as it's connected to the internet.

The PQ is great within my house, and at work, it is not bad. I can completely control the DVR from work now - schedule recordings, watch shows, watch Live TV, etc. The latest software installed on my laptop even allows me to see seven days of guide data. It has its own buffer, but the benefit of that is negligible for a DVR. I guess for any other video source it could be beneficial. You can even have up to three video sources hooked up at once. The only caveat is one has to be component, one s-video, and one composite video.

On top of that the iPhone / iPod app is coming any day now.


And now I'll get even more done from work....:cool:

Okay, Best Buy put the Slingbox Solo (not the Slingbox PRO-HD - heard I should stay away from that one) on sale for $150, so just couldn't resist and pulled the trigger. I have to admit, this thing is pretty cool. I can now watch whatever is on my DVR in near-HD quality (well, at least Cox' version of near-HD quality) from any computer within range of my router or via any computer outside of my network, as long as it's connected to the internet.

The PQ is great within my house, and at work, it is not bad. I can completely control the DVR from work now - schedule recordings, watch shows, watch Live TV, etc. The latest software installed on my laptop even allows me to see seven days of guide data. It has its own buffer, but the benefit of that is negligible for a DVR. I guess for any other video source it could be beneficial. You can even have up to three video sources hooked up at once. The only caveat is one has to be component, one s-video, and one composite video.

On top of that the iPhone / iPod app is coming any day now.


And now I'll get even more done from work....:cool:
Do you have preferred or premier internet?
I have an old Slingbox AV ($90 on sale a couple years back at Circuit City). For me the picture quality is pretty atrocious when viewing over internet (on the LAN it's fine). I have preferred package which has 768Kbps upload limit and usually at peak times I'm lucky to get 512 Kbps when using slingbox. At that rate the picture quality is lousy and I can barely read text. Preferred package bumps upload limit to 1.5 Mbps which may actually yield a much better picture but it's hardly worth the $15/month increase in price. (It doesn't help that the client side is usually an old IBM Thinkpad notebook with a pretty lousy graphics card, but even with better clients the picture quality @512Kbps is not good enough for me). So it's fine for scheduling things you may have forgotten about, but I wouldn't consider watching a real show using it.

Do you have preferred or premier internet?
I have an old Slingbox AV ($90 on sale a couple years back at Circuit City). For me the picture quality is pretty atrocious when viewing over internet (on the LAN it's fine). I have preferred package which has 768Kbps upload limit and usually at peak times I'm lucky to get 512 Kbps when using slingbox. At that rate the picture quality is lousy and I can barely read text. Preferred package bumps upload limit to 1.5 Mbps which may actually yield a much better picture but it's hardly worth the $15/month increase in price. (It doesn't help that the client side is usually an old IBM Thinkpad notebook with a pretty lousy graphics card, but even with better clients the picture quality @512Kbps is not good enough for me). So it's fine for scheduling things you may have forgotten about, but I wouldn't consider watching a real show using it.

Preferred, but I typically get over 2,000Kbps upload and sometimes closer to 3,000Kbps. My download is typically between 12,000Kbps and a whopping 20,000Kbps. So far so good. The PQ quality is fine here at work (dedicated T1). Sometimes it decreases the resolution, but as long as the Slingplayer statistics show 750Kbps or greater, it's good enough for at least a 10" viewing size.

I think they have improved the codecs on the newer boxes.



edit: I should add, the main reason I got it was for watching DVR-recorded shows from other rooms in the house. I have a couple areas where I use my laptop and getting a cable line there would be too difficult. Being able to watch and control from outside locations is an extra-added benefit. By the way, from within my network at home, I can watch DVR'd programs on a 24" computer monitor at full size. I have a Belkin N+ router that helps that a great deal.

At 2Mbps+ it would look good. When viewing on my LAN where bit rate is not constrained by upload speed the picture looks really good. You get sustained > 2Mbps with preferred for a period of several minutes? I just tried right now for about 10 minutes and it hovered around 500-800Kbps for me with a couple short bursts to 1 Mbps, certainly nothing like you're getting. You must have some low tech neighbors or just a better upload infrastructure where you live.

At 2Mbps+ it would look good. When viewing on my LAN where bit rate is not constrained by upload speed the picture looks really good. You get sustained > 2Mbps with preferred for a period of several minutes? I just tried right now for about 10 minutes and it hovered around 500-800Kbps for me with a couple short bursts to 1 Mbps, certainly nothing like you're getting. You must have some low tech neighbors or just a better upload infrastructure where you live.

Agreed. I added another couple comments to my previous post. I do realize that if I eventually get neighbors who like to look at a lot of porn adult entertainment, it may suffer some.

...You get sustained > 2Mbps with preferred for a period of several minutes?

Yes, but I've only been checking it regularly for the last few days. Perhaps there are times when it will go below that, but, yes, sustained > 2,000Kbps (2Mbps) so far - and that's on a wireless laptop. I imagine the heaviest peak is about 8pm on a weeknight, so I'll test again tonight.

Probably nobody here watches Dancing With The Stars but... the picture quality on 707=ABCHD was horrendous last night for that show. It looked incredibly bit starved with artifacting all over the place. Didn't get a chance yet to see if it was just that show or if it's 707 in general. I sure hope it's not something Cox is doing. I've got antenna disconnected at the moment so no easy way to compare to OTA broadcast.

OTA Channel 7-2 recently went HD, so 7-1 (the source for 707) may be starved for bandwidth as a result. I'm assuming the channel 796 mentioned earlier is OTA 7-2.

OTA Channel 7-2 recently went HD, so 7-1 (the source for 707) may be starved for bandwidth as a result. I'm assuming the channel 796 mentioned earlier is OTA 7-2. I checked OTA channel 7-1 tonight and it is indeed degraded which explains why 707 is too. Even the ABC network logo had some artifacting around it very often now when I was watching. I guess there's no hope it will be fixed before Lost airs tomorrow. KABCDT used to be one of the better channels - certainly not so any more. :mad:

Tried the Hava instead of the slingbox.

Tried the Hava instead of the slingbox.

And how did you like it - or not?

I just read that Dish network is currently beta testing (http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingguide) Sling on their DVR, so maybe the placeshifting (http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2009-01/slingloaded-dish-vip-922-details/) concept will get more popular.

Well I just previewed a show I recorded on ABC HD from last night. First things first. Normally for a half hour show (720p) the file is around 2.5-3gb. This 33 minute recording was 1.32gb. The picture quality was horrid. It reminded me of when I actually tried to watch UniversalHD and amazingly it might even be worse. It was soft, muddy, and there were breakup artifacts on even the most basic of motions. Like moyekj said. There were even artifacts on the logo. Just horrible. The other alleged "HD" ABC channel is even worse. Looks like a first generation xvid dvd rip at the lowest setting. I swear, I literally think these network people who claim this crap is HD should be put in jail.

Well I just previewed a show I recorded on ABC HD from last night. First things first. Normally for a half hour show (720p) the file is around 2.5-3gb. This 33 minute recording was 1.32gb. The picture quality was horrid. It reminded me of when I actually tried to watch UniversalHD and amazingly it might even be worse. It was soft, muddy, and there were breakup artifacts on even the most basic of motions. Like moyekj said. There were even artifacts on the logo. Just horrible. The other alleged "HD" ABC channel is even worse. Looks like a first generation xvid dvd rip at the lowest setting. I swear, I literally think these network people who claim this crap is HD should be put in jail.

Yep, as long as the program is 720p or better, they can claim it as HD. That is the problem with today's "HD" marketing. It's solely focused on resolution, when, in reality, there are other factors that can make HD worse than the SD of old. It's very sad.

I've recorded and saved every episode of Lost in HD that has been aired the last 5 seasons and this is a first: a 62 minute "HD" episode that is 3GB! Normally they are 5-6GB in size before commercial removal! Utterly ridiculous. KABC is going to be getting flack for this for sure. I encourage everyone to send them nastigrams.

There's a whole thread on this ABC HD fiasco. The stupid new "HD" sub-channel was introduced in many of the major TV markets and has killed the quality of the primary "HD" channel for all of them:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1142333

Pretty bad when now it looks like you have to resort to torrents to get decent quality versions of your favorite shows...

There's a whole thread on this ABC HD fiasco. The stupid new "HD" sub-channel was introduced in many of the major TV markets and has killed the quality of the primary "HD" channel for all of them:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1142333

Pretty bad when now it looks like you have to resort to torrents to get decent quality versions of your favorite shows...

Well hopefully many of those people will contact ABC like I plan to do later today. I never thought I would say this but I really miss the good old days when HD wasn't mainstream. There were only a handful of HD shows and channels but they usually looked great. I remember vividly watching movies like The Mummy, Gladiator, Lilo And Stitch, Fast And The Furious, and many more on ABC HD and they looked amazing. Programs on NBC also looked great back then. The fist time I saw Leno in HD my jaw almost hit the floor. I really wish multicasting was never invented. It's also the worst time to start pulling this crap. Many people are literally being forced to switch to digital and this is how you introduce them to HD? No wonder many aren't amazed by HD and think its just a fad.

from another forum: Cox San Diego to get more new HD channels on Monday.

Ch. 701 HBO2 HD
Ch. 719 ABC Family HD
Ch. 752 Disney HD
Ch. 768 BET HD

Source (http://hdtv.forsandiego.com/messages/3/7484.html?1241108122)

from another forum: Cox San Diego to get more new HD channels on Monday.

Ch. 701 HBO2 HD
Ch. 719 ABC Family HD
Ch. 752 Disney HD
Ch. 768 BET HD

Source (http://hdtv.forsandiego.com/messages/3/7484.html?1241108122)

I wouldn't mind getting those. Although i think I would only watch BET HD for the high quality booty shots.

from another forum: Cox San Diego to get more new HD channels on Monday.

Ch. 701 HBO2 HD
Ch. 719 ABC Family HD
Ch. 752 Disney HD
Ch. 768 BET HD

Source (http://hdtv.forsandiego.com/messages/3/7484.html?1241108122)

I wouldn't mind getting those. Although i think I would only watch BET HD for the high quality booty shots.

I'm sure HBO2 HD will have some of that at night.:eek:

At the rate Cox OC/PV adds channels, it could be a while. It used to be within a few months, six at most, but that seems to be slipping. Besides, do we really want more HD lite....uhh, can't even call it that. How about HD wannabe instead of HD TV?

Does anyone know why we have things like IFC and Sundance available in HD off OnDEMAND but no HD channel for either of the two?

Speaking of On Demand.... does anyone know who is responsible for the programming for the On Demand shows we receive? Is it Cox? Is it the networks (Showtime, HBO, etc...). Sometimes they skip HD episodes of a show and its really annoying. For instance: Starz HD has episodes 1,2,4,5,6 of the show Party Down but for some reason they skipped episode 3. It is present in the SD section but not in the HD one. I think I also recall in the past Shotime HD On Demand skipped an episode of The L Word. I would also like to know who is responsible for the On Demand programming because I have some requests.

Speaking of On Demand.... does anyone know who is responsible for the programming for the On Demand shows we receive? Is it Cox? Is it the networks (Showtime, HBO, etc...). Sometimes they skip HD episodes of a show and its really annoying. For instance: Starz HD has episodes 1,2,4,5,6 of the show Party Down but for some reason they skipped episode 3. It is present in the SD section but not in the HD one. I think I also recall in the past Shotime HD On Demand skipped an episode of The L Word. I would also like to know who is responsible for the On Demand programming because I have some requests.

I'm pretty sure it is determined by Cox. Even if it were someone else, you would have to go through them anyway. I'm just not sure if it is our local Cox office you call or corporate. I would start with local and go from there.