FINALLY! The HDTV has come to COX ORANGE COUNTY!!!

Let's get some early reviews! What's the box like? How's the options?

A good source of information about our box, the Motorola DCT-5100, is located in the link below:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/miatasm/HT/5100FAQ.htm

Here is another good source of data from Motorola:

http://broadband.motorola.com/hdtv/dct5100.html


Mike

No call yet....not a big deal...I ordered the Cable I need (I hope!) and will order at Genesis if need be. I see the Programming is up, enjoy.

Is Cox providing component video cables as part of the box rental?

according to the pdf file that Mike (railniv) posted , the STB comes with 6' component cables. Anyone know for sure?

Robert

6ft from box to set and 12ft from box to audio. Anyone know if the stb has optical audio out? It has to have it for 5.1 right?

Also. If you have not received a call, CALL THEM. Someone has said there is 1700 on "the list". I called yesterday at 5pm, CSR hooked me up in less than 5 minutes and I'm getting my install Wed. 4-6pm.

Just checked the pdf flyer from Motorola. It does have optical out. Get that cable ahead of time if you don't have one.

Originally posted by JRDRY
6ft from box to set and 12ft from box to audio.

Personally, I'd rather the opposite. All my equipment is together in a rack, so I don't need long audio cables. Six feet will barely make it from my rack to the RPTV.

What's the final word on the package? It appears there's a $50 installation fee plus $10 for the box (which gives you HBO and Showtime if you have them plus NBC) and another $11 for ESPN and Discovery.

I think the 12 and 6ft lengths are used because they imagine everyone will actually use the STB as it's named, a "set top" box. You got it right for the pricing, and it was funny, the CSR guy told me about the $50 install and before I could object said "sorry, no way around that one" I did get a discount of 11.67 on either install or something, it wasn't clear, but it's because I have the whole COX package, Phone, Internet, Long Distance, TV.

I cancelled the playboy channel (theres enough free internet porn) and ended up having my bill go up only .79 a month!

Originally posted by JRDRY
6ft from box to set and 12ft from box to audio. Anyone know if the stb has optical audio out? It has to have it for 5.1 right?

The user manual I downloaded from Motorola shows both optical and coax SPDIF digital audio output. I haven't seen the actual Cox box yet, however.

I don't trust Cox with my home theater gear, so I've already run the component video and optical audio cables to the appropriate place on my Yamaha receiver. I'm hoping it will be a simple box swap ... out goes DCT-2000, in goes DCT-5100, plug in coax cable, plug in my pre-run wires for audio and video, turn it on, call Cox to "hit" the box, and leave the configuration for me.

I was really hoping Cox would surprise me and roll out the DCT-6200 box, but I'll be content with having something other than OTA HDTV to watch. Hmmm, wait a second.... I'll still be watching OTA because Cox couldn't negotiate a deal for retranmission consent during the past 6+ months that they have been delaying the release! If you haven't seen the features on the 6200, you can read the URL below and drool. ;)
http://www.gi.com/mso/product_information/dct6000.html

Mike

That 6200 would have been soooooooo nice.

I'm setup for installation on Wednesday, 10a-12p. I'm going to cancel most of my DISH service but keep it until COX announces the HD-NETs, and other channels that should be available by the end of the year (STARZ-HD, BRAVO-HD, CINEMAX-HD, etc.). I already get all the OTA stuff well (except KABC-DT, gotta fiddle around w/ it for a few minutes to lock in the signal). That's the only channel I really need COX to add to their HD lineup and I'll be a happy camper. Well, that and the new channels mentioned above.. :)

-T

Brenda told me they will come with the Component (I dont need) and Optical Cables (I do need). I'll go with their Optical cables for now...I have actually seen pretty decent cables from them in the past. Much better then the Crap my Philips HTB came with.

Are any of you guys going to sign up at Genesis this weekend?

Don't know...Cox reps know nothing of it. All previous deals were only applicable to new subscribers. I'n not comfortable enough that my current sub's to HBO/SHO would be covered for the next 6 months......

And the Genesis website is pretty weak...no info on the event either.

Well, Genesis isn't too far away from me for me to just go have a look so I'll probably give it a try. I can always walk over to Irvine BMW afterwards and go test drive a Z4 if nothing else. :)

I just read the 5100 FAQ/documentation and I'm a little unclear as to what the box is going to do with ordinary 480i analog channels (IE, everything under channel 100 on Cox). From what I gather it will scale the output to 720p/1080i and put black bars up on the sides. Can't say I'm too thrilled about that since I have a plasma.

The 5100 has Composite, S-Video, and Component Outputs.

That's the Composite Output(RF?)....like I do now I'll run that to my AV1 inputs. (Composite Cables or S-Video) I can run it as 4/3 or in Stretch modes (which I do now)


Doesn't your Plasma have several AV choices? (RJ45, Composite, and S-Video for non 480P (or higher) programming?

I have AV1 and 2 (each with all 3 choices of connections), AV3 on the side for Camcorders (Composite and S-Video)

AV4 and 5 are for 480P/1080i (Component and HD15 respectfully)

My Plasma has:

1) HD15/DB15 (either RGB or YPbPr, 480i-1080i)
2) 5BNC/RCA (either RGB or YPbPr, 480i-1080i)
3) S-video (NTSC 480i or PAL 576i)
4) Composite RCA (NTSC 480i or PAL 576i)
5) DVI-D (*not* HDCP; PC-compatible only)

It has "wide" and "zoom" stretch modes if you feed it a 480i or 480p signal. For 720p and 1080i, you get full 16:9 "full" only. So my concern is that if I want to use only one input for the 5100, let's say input 2, and I have the 5100 set to scale everything to 1080i (including 480i sources), then the 5100 will output a 4:3 480i video source scaled to 1080i with black bars on the left and right sides. My plasma doesn't have any zoom mode than can stretch it across the screen (thereby avoiding any burn-in worries). It doesn't sound like the 5100 has any ability to stretch or zoom a 4:3 mode when scaled to either 720p or 1080i.

I could probably switch the plasma over to the s-video input for non-HD channels and let it do the stretching but that's a major PITA. I already went through enough trouble setting up macros on my MX-500 remote :)

Are you using another source for TV signals? I'm pretty sure the Component output of the 5100 only outputs the HD content, I could be wrong. I wasn't aware of any TV's being able to handle all sources in one input. Isn't the DTV part of the 5100's output going to come from the other Outputs? (Composite, S-Video)

Just a note on the Genesis offer.

I tried to get the free 6 months of HBO/SHO and because I already have the channels the CSR said I'm not eligble. I explained that nowhere on the flyer does it mention current subscribers and he said "Don't worry, our legal dept. has that issue under control and is taking care of it" whatever that means.

Originally posted by andy92782
My Plasma has:

1) HD15/DB15 (either RGB or YPbPr, 480i-1080i)
2) 5BNC/RCA (either RGB or YPbPr, 480i-1080i)
3) S-video (NTSC 480i or PAL 576i)
4) Composite RCA (NTSC 480i or PAL 576i)
5) DVI-D (*not* HDCP; PC-compatible only)

It has "wide" and "zoom" stretch modes if you feed it a 480i or 480p signal. For 720p and 1080i, you get full 16:9 "full" only. So my concern is that if I want to use only one input for the 5100, let's say input 2, and I have the 5100 set to scale everything to 1080i (including 480i sources), then the 5100 will output a 4:3 480i video source scaled to 1080i with black bars on the left and right sides. My plasma doesn't have any zoom mode than can stretch it across the screen (thereby avoiding any burn-in worries). It doesn't sound like the 5100 has any ability to stretch or zoom a 4:3 mode when scaled to either 720p or 1080i.

I could probably switch the plasma over to the s-video input for non-HD channels and let it do the stretching but that's a major PITA. I already went through enough trouble setting up macros on my MX-500 remote :)

I'm not aware of any STB or display that will stretch a 720p or 1080i signal. The nice thing about the 5100 is that is always passes through the 480i signal. Just set one lcd button on your mx-500 to change you plasma to composite (it will likely be better the s-video) and another to change to bnc. If the composite is already set at wide, you don't need a macro. You'll have full for the hd, and wide for the 480i. Of course you'll still have to do some shuffling of buttons, but you'll likely have to do that anyway with the new box. Sounds like you have a 503cmx with a 5002 card? Correct? That's what I have.

Now that I've said all that, I seem to remember that some of the delay was getting the 5100 to stretch 480i content. If it's good, you can run everything through component.

We'll know soon...

Originally posted by turt
I'm not aware of any STB or display that will stretch a 720p or 1080i signal. The nice thing about the 5100 is that is always passes through the 480i signal. Just set one lcd button on your mx-500 to change you plasma to composite (it will likely be better the s-video) and another to change to bnc. If the composite is already set at wide, you don't need a macro. You'll have full for the hd, and wide for the 480i. Of course you'll still have to do some shuffling of buttons, but you'll likely have to do that anyway with the new box. Sounds like you have a 503cmx with a 5002 card? Correct? That's what I have.


Close enough.. I've got a 433cmx/5002. The 5100 manual states that the OSD menus/guides don't work on any of the 480i outputs IF you have the component outputs configured to 480p or higher. So that means if I switch my plasma over to s-vid/composite so I can stretch the non-HD stuff, I won't see any of the menus. What a bummer.

BTW, just so I understand you right.. did you say that I might expect *better* PQ using the composite input over the s-video input?

Originally posted by JRDRY
Just a note on the Genesis offer.

I tried to get the free 6 months of HBO/SHO and because I already have the channels the CSR said I'm not eligble. I explained that nowhere on the flyer does it mention current subscribers and he said "Don't worry, our legal dept. has that issue under control and is taking care of it" whatever that means.

That was clear as Mud! Are they going to honor it or not?

I'm in the same boat and that's the only reason I've not called Cox to set an appointment. Please follow up in here ASAP.

Talking to Brenda she's under the impression Genesis want's to sell STB's(her guess), and that they'll pay for the HBO/SHO. She's not aware of Cox covering it at all, but she's checking for me.....She did say Cox has none to sell at this time, and agreed with me why buy one now...they are still too new and changes are happening every 6 months....

Not that either of us really knows if Genesis is selling them.....

CSR said "NO" so I will not get HBO/SHO free for 6 mo. As far as bitching about it not saying anything on the flyer that's what the "Legal Dept" quote was about. They forgot to put it on there or it's not a part of COX but rather GENESIS. Bottom line, NO FREE HBO/SHO for current subscribers at least not from COX.

Originally posted by andy92782
Close enough.. I've got a 433cmx/5002. The 5100 manual states that the OSD menus/guides don't work on any of the 480i outputs IF you have the component outputs configured to 480p or higher. So that means if I switch my plasma over to s-vid/composite so I can stretch the non-HD stuff, I won't see any of the menus. What a bummer.


Oh yeah. I forgot about that! Crud.

BTW, just so I understand you right.. did you say that I might expect *better* PQ using the composite input over the s-video input?

Almost assuredly you will get BETTER PQ from COMPOSITE than from S-VIDEO. The plasma's excellent 3D comb filter is superior to the STB's. Try both, but don't be surprised who wins. Try it on your current box!

OK, thanks....looks like I have a Call to make in the Morning.

Maybe we can twist their arms with some bad exposure in here? He He...

Originally posted by turt

Almost assuredly you will get BETTER PQ from COMPOSITE than from S-VIDEO. The plasma's excellent 3D comb filter is superior to the STB's. Try both, but don't be surprised who wins. Try it on your current box!


I thought it went...

Worse...

1. RG45 (or whatever that Cable is...)

2. Composite

3. S-Video

4. Component

5. Them new fangled connectors...DVI and others..

Best....

Jet-

All components being equal, you're right. Here's a couple similar threads I dug up, but none of these are the threads explains in more detail than my brief synopsis (which is all I'm capable of):

Thread 1 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=259738&highlight=composite+and+comb+and+plasma)
Thread 2 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=258259&highlight=composite+and+comb+and+plasma)

Speaking of breaking the "rules," RHarkness, if I recall correctly, prefers using s-video from his DVD player over component. And if you have read his posts (primarily in the plasma forum), you know that he knows his stuff.

It basically boils down to experiment. Everyone's system is different.

Was looking at the HDTV menu in the 700's of my digital box and it's showing NBC w/ east coast times i/e Leno @ 8:30pm WTF? Are we going to get a national NBC east coast feed rather than local KNBC?

That would be icing on the cake.

Originally posted by JRDRY
Was looking at the HDTV menu in the 700's of my digital box and it's showing NBC w/ east coast times i/e Leno @ 8:30pm WTF? Are we going to get a national NBC east coast feed rather than local KNBC?

I noticed the same thing Monday evening, forgot to mention it. Since about the best HD program NBC has is Leno, that might be ok. Other locals I'm not so sure about.


Turt....good points...always good to experiment and see what works best, or least "looks" best to "your" eyes... :D

We all look through our own set of rose colored glasses...err...eyes!


I do currently run Composite from my DTV STB....it has a S-Video port but it does not seem to be enabled. I'll have to experiment with the new box when it comes.....

Originally posted by JETninja
I thought it went...

Worse...

1. RG45 (or whatever that Cable is...)

2. Composite

3. S-Video

4. Component

5. Them new fangled connectors...DVI and others..

Best....

I think 2 through 4 are in the right order as far as best potential picture quality, given a good signal source. 1 and 5 might not really belong on this list as they aren't analog video standards.

For #1 I just meant that Cable that come outta the Wall! :D

Forget the name of it, thats all!

Right, but the signal in that cable that comes out of the wall has to be converted into composite, s-video, or component video, it's not a different version of a video signal. It's the source, not the output. I'm just being pedantic, I guess.

When Cox installed my 5100, they brought the component cables (which were actually a 5-cable bundle, having included 2 audio cables to go straight to your TV) and a seperate optical cable for 5.1. But the tech has to pick all the stuff up in the morning, so if they are not practiced on these installs, they may forget the cables (try to remind them before if you've got an install scheduled).

Overall, performance is pretty good. The only oddity I noticed is that the SD still looks better through the standard cable running through the 5100 instead of going through the component cables - so I switch inputs on my TV. However, this may very well be a function of my TV.

But the HD material is dangerously mesmerizing. I tend to forget what I'm watching and just stare at the picture.

-D

All the programming has been west coast feeds and times.

So the Menu is wrong, Ok no prob.

Does anyone know if you can get HBO/SHO without going thru the box? I have a tv in the bedroom that has replayTV integrated but I want to use the ReplayTV menu, can the installer "turn on" this signal or I guess premium content is scrambled? Would sure like to "tivo" some of my premium shows.

So who here is scheduled to get theirs installed? I called this morning to ask and the guy said he would give my name and number to the HD department or whatever.. I guess I'm awaiting "the call" that was mentioned previously...

I'm probably gonna go all-out and get the Discovery/ESPN package as well. Might as well, it's only money, what's another $10 or $20/mo to the $100/mo I'm giving them already (cable + internet).

Waiting right now. My time is 4-6pm wed.

Call the Customer Service line and tell them you want an appt. for install. I was on the list but was never called so I called Mon. at 5pm and got my install for today.

Mine is 10a-12p Wed. (next Wednesday... at least I hope they said next Wednesday cause they woulda been standing around at my house if it was today). And yes, Andy, just call and tell them you are on "the list" for HD install and you never got a call so you were told to call to setup an appointment.

I've got Disc, HBO-HD, and SHO-HD from Dish. It'll be interesting to A/B the feeds to see if there is any difference (there shouldn't be, to my knowledge).

-T

I just called and am scheduled for Saturday.

Based on some of the postings here, is it worth keeping the old box for the S-video output? I use an HTPC with the H3D card that produces a very nice picture for the digital channels on my projector. I don't want to sacrifice it for the extra HBO HD channel I will get (I already get all the OTA channels from San Diego).

I appreciate any advice.

I"m up and running!!!!

Initial observations....

1. DiscoveryHD is mesmerizing! All I can say is WOW!
2. KNBC has a better picture on ch 704 than 004 but has bars on the side. I think it has the bars because my tv thinks it's getting a hdtv signal. I usually have my tv stretch 4:3 to 16:9
3. The baseball game on ESPN is in HDTV right now. They seem to have only a certain # of HDTV cams because they went up to the booth and the picture sucked, then back to the field and crystal clear again. Hmmm?
4. My equipment is sensing the signals and sound is great, I am getting DD and PLII signals from some of the different HBO/SHO's
5. Ice Age on HBO HD was very crisp.

Tech guy said the following (he seemed like an a/v junkie and knowledgable, knew the ins and outs of calibration etc.)

1. He's had the 5100 stb for 4 months as a tester.
2. Next channels coming will probably be the other networks (he said UPN is close and the others are coming soon, they are "working very hard")
3. By end of year should have a new PVR box, and InDemand HD movies. Doesn't know if pvr will record HD.

If you have specific questions I'll try to answer here as best I can with my limited amount of knowledge.

Originally posted by JRDRY
I"m up and running!!!!

2. Next channels coming will probably be the other networks (he said UPN is close and the others are coming soon, they are "working very hard")
3. By end of year should have a new PVR box, and InDemand HD movies. Doesn't know if pvr will record HD.


Thanks for the update! Regarding the coming channels, they've been "working very hard" for over a year now.;)

The new box may be the Motorola 5200 (http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/dct5200.html) if it's coming as soon as this year.

Personally, I'm leaning harder towards switching to directv - in large part for a convenience issue. I have had an OTA tuner for a couple weeks for the locals, primarily for HD. Of course the PQ on all channels is far superior. So my wife has to navigate through 2 boxes (unless she watches the <gasp> analog channels :eek: It's not too tough with a programmable remote, but still not the easiest. I think once Cox gets all the locals and InDemand, etc. I may come back. Perhaps I'll sign up for a year to get a good deal then reevaluate.

JRDRY, I don't think you should be applying stretch to HD...it is naturally stretched. (you do have a widescreen tv?) Mine wont even allow it I think...Also, no way to get much of anything above the 70's I think without the 2100 STB.

neyugnt.....I just called this afternoon..told them I've been on the List for like 9 months. He said no problem, signed me up. (everything) Mine is currently Monday 10am....but I'm on a standby if someone backs out. I may see if I can move the Monday to later, I have to be here! :D


I may keep the 2100, move it to the Master Bedroom Can boot wife or kids there if need be! Cant put it in boys room, HBO/SHO get interesting at times as early as 9pm! :D

JRDRY-

What was the deal with cables? Did Cox provide everything you needed? I know how you feel about staring at picture. I get
HD OTA from San Diego and never watched so much public television in my life :).

Robert

I'm not stretching the HDTV content, just the regular stuff. And yes I do have widscreen, Hitachi 51swx...

All cables provided (1 component cable about 6ft, 1 Optical about 3-4ft) he set up the audio to go into the optical slot I made available and ran the analog signal to the respective channel.

I believe there is an issue w/ sound. Something like analog not going thru the optical feed?, so that you need 2 inputs? Does this sound right? I have no issues so either my Onkyo 6.1 receiver is detecting and decoding just fine or it's not an issue.

Originally posted by turt
The new box may be the Motorola 5200 (http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/dct5200.html) if it's coming as soon as this year.



I believe he said they have some 5200's that they are tinkering with right now. That one might be a purchase deal though as I don't see them swapping out the brand new 5100's they are just now installing.

I wish they'd set the menu to west coast time.....

JRDRY, what about the standard digital stations? Does the new box output them through s-video like the old one? This is important for the other HBO channels I watch...

I guess getting on the list did not do much after all, because they are just signing up callers. They did not check where I was on the list.

I also enjoy the San Diego stations ;) I hope that Cable HDTV has addressed the audio dropout problems that still keep happening on OTA HD broadcasts.

Regarding NBC - I think only the Tonight Show is in 1080i. Prime time is generally in 480p, I think. Looks OK but not hi-def and has the bars on the sides.

Hmmm?? I wonder if they did mean this Wednesday, although they did not leave a note that I could see. That'd be weird, since you called after me, and got a Monday install, and I'm set for next Wednesday? I'll have to call them tomorrow morning and sort it all out. =)

-T

JRDRY, any word on any of the HD-NETs? If they get the HD-NETs I'd pretty much cancel my whole DISH sub. Also, regarding ESPN-HD, how's the quality, compared to other sporting events you may have seen in HD?

-T

Originally posted by Rich4av
JRDRY, what about the standard digital stations? Does the new box output them through s-video like the old one?

It outputs them through the component wires. I have the option to watch the regular analog and digital through the coax the way he set it up. Not sure if s-video is an option, check the link that Turt posted for specs.

Regarding NBC - I think only the Tonight Show is in 1080i. Prime time is generally in 480p, I think. Looks OK but not hi-def and has the bars on the sides.

Last night was strange, back to back Law and Order, 9p-10p was 480i w/ black bars, 10p-11p was 1080i wide.

I fell asleep before LENO!!! Shucks. But with moving my business to a larger facilty I'm a little worn out.

As far as HDnet, I asked the tech and he said that he was also interested in HDnet but that COX cable was not particularly impressed with the content. Said that it was too repetitive which I don't really understand because there isn't much variety on DiscoveryHD. More than likely a money or Mark Cuban issue. He seemed to really think that the other broadcast networks were not that far off, as COX knows about reception issues for it's residents and the edge it would have if it had all the broadcast stations.

tech guy also gave me this link for broadcasts in HDTV. I'm sure most of you know of it.

http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html

Looks like I'll be waiting until they at least get the other major networks before I sign up (hopefully before the fall). Is NBC-HD currently free with the HD box rental or is there an additional charge for it? It would be great if I could just have the cable box for HD locals.

NBC (and HBO and SHO if you subscribe to them already) are all included with the rental of the 5100 box which is $10. Only ESPN and Discovery are extra.

My TV only allows HD through AV4 & 5. AV1-3 are for non HD, so I'l have to use the Composite or S-Video outputs for that. I select AV1-5 depending on the Source I want to watch.

AV1 - DTV (channel 2 though digital music channel 972, minus any 700 series HD channels)

AV2 - unused - VCR soon

AV3 - Camcorder (side of TV)

AV4 - Progressive Scan DVD (or HD is using Component Connections)

AV5 - HD (through HD15 Connector)


Working with Philips, they're little mistake in their documentation is affecting thousands of consumers, they keep getting calls looking for a "DB15" breakout Cable, and of course they have no source for those! I pointed out its a "HD15" and they wanted my Cable source, which I gladly gave. Expect a document revision soon! :D

Talked to a guy at Cox. He was VERY polite and helpful. Also very blunt. He said Cox is actively trying NOT to promote HDTV as this is a "soft" launch.

But since I've got all the other crap they offer, he gave me an install appointment of July 3.

If I get the HD and the HD Tier, I was able to add Showtime (all 10 Showtime channels plus the HD Showtime) for another 5 bucks.

Max package so far is $25 over and above current cable.

Thanks for the insight guys!

EDJ

JRDRY--

What's the scoop with ESPN?. Are they showing all the programs in HD or are they passing through the D signal. 16.9 or 4.3 ?

Robert

Originally posted by robhair
JRDRY--

What's the scoop with ESPN?. Are they showing all the programs in HD or are they passing through the D signal. 16.9 or 4.3 ?

Robert

ESPN is AWESOME, I have yet to see black bars (only watched NBA draft, Sportscenter, and yesterdays HD Baseball) but they seem to be passing thru a 16.9 signal on the regular D signal. The picture has been crystal clear and I have no use for the regular ESPN channel now. I'll let y'all know whether they pass thru a 16.9 for something like Toughman or Monster Truck rally :D

IMO $10 bucks has been worth it for Discovery and ESPN, the 2 best channel offerings I've experienced (HBO/SHO a semi-close second)

They(ESPN) have got to be pushing the D signal thru and transmitting in 16.9 since commercials are 16.9, does this sound right?

ESPN-HD has both original HD programming and upconverted regular programming. Check their website for what's on ESPN-HD at any given time.

Originally posted by mroll
ESPN-HD has both original HD programming and upconverted regular programming. Check their website for what's on ESPN-HD at any given time.

Can NBC do this? That would be nice.

I've have my HD COX install set up for 18 July and I have a couple questions:

I'm purchasing a Fujitsu P50XHA10US Plasma but it might not be delivered in time for the 18th install date. Meaning Cox would have to hook it up to my non-HD TV. Is this a "big" deal? Who will probably do the better set-up anyway: Cox or the place I buy the Plasma from?

Any recommendations for Plasma purchases in Orange County? Specifically for price.

Thanks

Setting up is not really that hard. Either can do it - or you can if you're so inclined.

If you already know that you want the P50, why wouldn't it be delivered by July 18? You're buying one of the most expensive plasmas, buy you want a recommendation specifically for price? My Dad got a decent price on the 42 inch Fujitsu at Reel Time in Dana Point. Send me a PM if you want more advice in dealing with Reel Time.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by NEWNEW
Meaning Cox would have to hook it up to my non-HD TV. Is this a "big" deal?

Newnew-

As far as I know your SOL with hooking up Moto 5100 to non HD TV. I suppose you could have the Tech just leave the box. I get the feeling that's not going to happen either.


Robert::confused:

The user manual linked to at the beginning of this thread shows you can set the box for 480i output for HD channels. That would work with a standard TV, wouldn't it?

Yes. He'll be fine. But when he gets the P50, WOW!!!! :D:D:D

Thanks for the info everyone. The only thing that's got me on the fence now is the announcement of the new Pioneer Elite PRO-1110HD 50" due out this fall. I saw the current Pioneer Elite sitting next to the Fujitsu P50 with the same signal and I actually like the Elite a little better. BUT I figured that the Elite must have been optimally set-up and the P50 basically just out of the box. The P50 is newer technology so it "should" have a bit better PQ than the older Elite, at least one would think so.

Thanks Turt, I'll send you a PM.

The P50 and the Elite are very close. It may be just personal preference as to which one you like better. Keep in mind that many on avs (including myself) have the pioneer 503cmx which is basically the same as the elite for thousands less.

Brand Specific Plasma Info (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=226765)

Cox has posted a manual for their HDTV box. It's REALLY crappy, so keep them expectations nice and low...

http://www.cox.com/OC/HDTV/COX-OC_HDTV_Manual1.pdf

Mike

The on-screen guide is available on all the video outputs, with 1080i HD setting, and 480i for non-HD. Some of the documentation seemed to suggest it would only be available on the component output.

The documentation also mentions variable audio out, and suggests setting at 75% as a starting point. I find there are only 2 settings: on or off. At zero bars it's muted, and from 1 bar to 32 bars it's at the same volume. I have both the digital optical and analog audio outputs connected. Does anyone get a different result with their box?

I figured out my audio-out question: The volume controls the analog audio out, but not the digital.

I'm using a 49TXi receiver. It detects what kind of digital audio signal it receives, and displays it: Prologic, THX Ultra, etc. This worked fine with the digital box, but with the HDTV box, every station from 2 to 7xx shows the same thing, Dolby PrologicII. Is the HDTV box not passing on the info, or has it all been converted to one format, or what?

Is there a menu setting on the 5100 for digital audio? Make sure it's set to bitstream and not downconvert.

Had HD installed today. Tech needed to install pre-amp at main cable box. Too many splitters, connections,TV's,Computers etc. ]
I liked the look of the all black DT box better.
HD seems about as good as the OTA HD I already get. I'm surprised. I was under the impression that cable HD would not hold it's own to OTA. I still need to tweak the new input with avia. The analog channels at first were really out of whack. I checked the settings and all my menu settings had gone to a factory default. Jaggy's and snow everywhere. I hope that I can tweak analog enough to be watchable.
I suppose there is always a direct connection to my receiver on another input?. ESPN HD audio is way out of line. When I switch to 715 the volume goes way up. I wonder If there is a fix for that?

Robert

Originally posted by robhair
[B]ESPN HD audio is way out of line. When I switch to 715 the volume goes way up. I wonder If there is a fix for that./B]

Channel 715 volume is much higher than other HDTV channels. Cox will have to change it on their end.

Good news for those using programmable remotes: The HDTV box uses the same remote the digital box did, so you don't need to change anything.

Cox now has the full information (and an 800 number to call) on HD installation, pricing etc. on their website. What I didn't realize previously is that you have to have the $52 package (standard service plus digital tier) to get the HD receiver (another $10). I was hoping to just add the HD service to the basic $16/mo. service. Since there's no way I can stand to watch their crappy analog channels anymore, I guess I won't be dumping DirecTv for Cox anytime soon. Time to look into OTA again. :rolleyes:

Mine is up and running....nothing earth shattering so far...need the room darker (baby trashed blinds...lots of afternoon sun escapes into room) but I have one problem. The 5100 has one set of Sound outputs (Component/RCA) but my TV needs seperate ones for each input (AV1 for DTV, AV5 for HD) so I'm looking for a Cable that splits one end into two, other wise it's a switch which I'm trying to avoid.

I'm guessing most of the ESPN is not HD? Looks stretched and no better then NBC when I saw some Tennis on each this morning.....

Originally posted by mroll
Cox now has the full information (and an 800 number to call) on HD installation, pricing etc. on their website. What I didn't realize previously is that you have to have the $52 package (standard service plus digital tier) to get the HD receiver (another $10). I was hoping to just add the HD service to the basic $16/mo. service. Since there's no way I can stand to watch their crappy analog channels anymore, I guess I won't be dumping DirecTv for Cox anytime soon. Time to look into OTA again. :rolleyes:

Getting my DirecTV this week. $33.99/mo. + $10 for the HD package starting July 1st. On Sunday I got the Zenith 520 Receiver, triple lnb dish, and installation for $550. Since I haven't cancelled the cable yet, I ran the feed through the Zenith instead of Cox's DCT 2000. The picture is a fair amount better, I swear.

You can't get OTA, huh Mike? I stuck a radio shack antenna in my attic and I get everything.::cool: I'm high on the hill off Camino Del Cerro. Location, location, location...


I'm guessing most of the ESPN is not HD? Looks stretched and no better then NBC when I saw some Tennis on each this morning.....


It looks like ESPN averages less than one HD show per day. ESPN-HD (http://espn.go.com/espnhd/schedule.html)

In 2004, SportsCenter is slated to be HD along with more events, of course.

I watched a few days of HBO-HD. On some movies, it looks great. On Attack of the Clones last night, some scenes were sharp and others were not (but it could have been the original film). I now understand the raging debate of OAR - the movie was zoomed in a bit and the sides were cut off.

The S-video output on the premium channels is very good. However, it is very bad on the analog channels (e.g. 2-13). Those look much worse than the older cable box. I will use the VCR's tuner to watch those with my projector.

Also, on the HD channels, the guide looks a bit worse (blocky letters).

On Saturday night, the digital audio on NBC was "pulsating". I switched to the analog channel.

The tech did tell me that quality can vary day by day, and that this is just an interim solution for Cox. He mentioned that only 1900 boxes were allocated for this deployment and that they are facing bandwidth issues. He did confirm that they are working on a PVR-integrated solution.

Got mine installed yesterday..

Bummed at the lack of HD content on ESPN-HD. Discovery-HD seems repetitive. Some of the Discovery shows look mind-blowing, others merely "somewhat" better than regular digital cable.

The HD stuff on HBO looks really, really good.

Good deal on the cable box: The component outputs only drive 1080i on the HD channels. If you switch to an analog or standard digital channel, they drop down to 480i output, so for people like me with a plasma or CRT rear projection set, you don't need to worry about black bars on the sides and not being able to stretch the picture.

Andrew

Originally posted by turt

You can't get OTA, huh Mike? I stuck a radio shack antenna in my attic and I get everything.::cool: I'm high on the hill off Camino Del Cerro. Location, location, location...


Ron, do you get SD or LA channels (or both)? I think I might have a shot at LA channels The nearest obstrution is a ridgeline about a mile away. According to antennaweb, a medium directional with preamp should work (plus I can buy one at cost :) )

Does anyone have a recommendation for an antenna installer in O.C.?

Mike,

I get the LA stations. No rotator necessary and, as I said, it's even in the attic which surprised me. I didn't think it would work and was not looking forward to spending the cash for an installer. I don't know of any to recommend.

I got the Radio Shack 2160 antenna on the advice of Gary Goodrum. The RS 1171 preamp works fine. You have to have power near the antenna though. It needs to be placed within 20 feet of the antenna (according to Gary) and it has an ac adapter plug. Otherwise the Channel Master 7775 preamp will work.

Thanks Ron. I think I'll give it a shot.

Has anyone had any trouble with ESPNHD? Twice now, both times before MLB the screen has gone black. The other HD channels are fine. Last week before the Cubs game it happened. I had Cox on the phone 4 times that day. I even had to set up a Tech visit. Right before the game it came back on, I canceled the visit. This morning at 10:00 ESPNHD went black again. Analog ESPN is fine. I set up a STB switch-out for Monday.

Robert

Robert I am also having a BLACK screen on ESPN-HD. What's the deal??? This is BS.

-T

Had my box installed yesterday. The installation was a bear... the installer tried three different boxes, fiddled with some stuff outside, added and amplifier, and changed out all of the coax. In the end it turned out to be something wrong with the signal they were sending from the office to the box for programming. Gotta hand it to the installer... he stuck with it until it was done... and on the evening before a holiday weekend.

Also noticed that the digital audio out is not set up for dd by default so you need to check your settings in the setup menu to make sure that it is set to pass the dd signal.

lish

T-
Thanks for the reply. I got the signal back an hour or so later. It must be ESPN feed? I'll ask at a San Diego forum I know of and see if they also lost ESPN.

Robert

Yep Robert, the feed came back on a while later...

Wasn't too impressed w/ ESPN-HD picture quality... I've seen much better OTA via CBS. While others would say just be happy it's in HD and not SD, I would say if everyone took that attitude we'd probably still be in the dark ages.

-T

The one complaint I have about ESPN-HD is the lack of HD content. It's almost always SD stuff that's upscaled. Last night they had the Dodgers/Diamondbacks game on which was clearly HD and looked excellent.

One thing that sucks about their baseball HD broadcasts - I don't like how the ESPN score display in the upper left is formatted for 4:3 - on a 16:9 picture it's too close to the center of the screen and distracting.

Next year Sports Center will be HD. I've yet to catch the little HD that ESPN currently has, and NBC for me is a no big deal...Leno looks fantastic, but I see it only on Fridays (get up at 4am) and don't watch much of their other programming(you'd think SatLive would be HD also?)...I NEED CBS/ABC/Fox(HD in '04)....

DiscoveryHD is brilliant! The Flying over Ireland blew me away! Last night a great show on Sharks, some of the footage even had the wife commenting on it finally. (though she did joke about HD Bubbles...LOL!)

HBO/SHO...good but not great...could be the material I'm watching but not much wow factor. I need to run a DVD-HD slit screen comparo sometime...

And why do they have so much in 4:3? They are supposed to be 24H HD, and HD by definition is Widesreen. Not happy with that so far....

JET,

Some of the movies on HBO/SHOW have been quite good (Panic Room, Stuart Little 2, etc.) I viewed them on my 34" 16:9 HDTV and the picture looked like film! NBC has little interesting content.

Showtime seems to upconvert a lot and older movies look pretty bad.

Sometimes, both HBO-HD and Showtime-HD have a lot of short, uninteresting programs in prime time and HD movies late at night (or early am). That's frustrating for sure!

Here's what puzzles me - the same movie on a standard digital channel has Dolby Digital but the HD one does not (in fact, the trailer at the beginning on the movie says 5.1 audio "not available on HBO-HD." What's up with this?? Do I have to chose between audio or video?

I had Tech scheduled 4-6 to replace moto5100 box. He got some sort of high voltage shock when he was outside the house at the my cable box. He turned out to be non HDTV experienced, some sort of paperwork error. Could the amp that they hooked up when they originally installed 5100 have caused higher voltages to flow through cable? Someone else is coming Sat. to replace 5100.
Last Night I was having audio problems with all of Cox's HDTV stations. Did anyone else experience this? Tech thinks box might have short.

Robert

Robert,

Don't know about the voltage, but I was having audio problems with NBC last night... all others seemed ok.

Lish

Originally posted by lish
I was having audio problems with NBC last night... all others seemed ok.
Lish

Since getting a 5100 box, I've noticed the volume on various channels (analog, digital, and HD) is varying all over the place. I have to turn my amp way up to hear channel X, then when I switch to channel Y I'm blasted from my chair. It's not consistent, either, which is why I'm not mentioning specific channels. That might suggest Cox is fiddling with it, I guess.

I've noticed the varying volume problem as well... but last night there was no audio at all on 704 (NBC) for about 2 hours. Not that big of a problem considering the lack of decent content on NBC.

Anybody heard anything about when channels will be added to the lineup?

I too was noticing the volume jumping up and down a lot, specially on 334 OLN (Le Tour) but it's gotten better lately.

FYI, I emailed TitanTV Monday, they were not showing HD for Cox yet. I gave them the details and he showed me how to customize it for my use.


TitanTV receives its programming information from an outside data provider. I will forward the information about Cox Cable's new HD channels to our data provider so they can add it to the channel lineup.

For now I would use TitanTV's customization feature to add the new channels to your Digital Cable guide page so you could begin seeing their channels' programming information immediately.

Here is how to add those channels to your guide page, if you wish to do so.

- Go to the Digital Cable guide page and click the green Customize My Guide
button near the top right corner of the page.

- This takes you to a page listing all the channels you're receiving from
Cox Cable.

- In the Channel # field, enter 700 and HBOHD in the Call Sign field then
click the Add button.

- Repeat the above step with the channel numbers that correspond to each of
these call signs: KNBCDT, ESPNHD, D-HDTV, SHOHD. (704, 715, 721, and 740 respectfully)

When finished, click the Save Changes button. The new channels and their
programming will appear when you return to the Digital Cable guide.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Let me know if you have any
other questions or comments.

Ken Nelson
Technical Services
Decisionmark Corp.
Cedar Rapids, IA
.


And it works! Shows some of the current SHO movies are not HD, thats interesting!

Further TitanTV info:

The new HD channels should begin appearing by default in the next couple of days once our data provider adds them to Cox Cable's lineup. Their turnaround time on modifications to the lineups as been running two or three days recently.

Once that happens, the new channels may be duplicated in your guide since you've manually added them. There's no harm in leaving them there, but if you'd like to get rid of them, just click their box in the Remove column.

Now that's I'm hooked up I have two rants and one question...

Rant#1:
I paid $50 for an installer to spend 12 minutes in my house. That's the equivalent of $250/hr. Hell, even plumbers charge less than that! I know they had to charge a lot because people have complex home theater systems and they didn't all pre-wire their system to accept the 5100 as a plug-n-play unit.

Rant#2:
Like others, I am also disappointed with the volume differences between various HD channels. I'm hopeful that Cox can tweak the gains on their end to compensate for this. Would one of y'all that know Brenda please email her with that gripe?

Question#1:
I'd like to second Lish's question... Does anyone have an inside contact with Cox that is knowledgable about the local channel retransmission consent negotiations?

Well, I guess I won't be following this thread much any more. I cancelled Cox today and have DirecTV up and running. When Cox asked me why I was cancelling I told him that I had really been looking forward to the new high definition service and was not happy with what Cox was able to come up with. Hopefully they'll increase offerings and work out the bugs quickly. FWIW, I've got:

DirecTV Total Choice $34 + Sports Pack $12 + HD $11 = $57. I get all the locals OTA.
Paid $550 for receiver, satellite and installation. $50 for OTA antenna and preamp.

HD:
CBS
NBC
ABC
KCET
HDNET
HDNET MOVIES
ESPN
DISCOVERY

:)

Turt, did you also check out Dish Sat? If so what was the difference between Direct & Dish?

Are all your local channels OTA? Or does Direct have some also?

With HD Direct is it one sat dish or two? (I think Dish needs two for HD).

Thanks

Originally posted by NEWNEW
1. Turt, did you also check out Dish Sat? If so what was the difference between Direct & Dish?

2. Are all your local channels OTA? Or does Direct have some also?

3. With HD Direct is it one sat dish or two? (I think Dish needs two for HD).

Thanks

1. I checked out Dish. They offer most of the same programming. The main thing that swayed me toward DirecTV is hardware options. They have Sony, Zenith, and Hughes all with HD boxes. Competition! Lower price and better features. Dish sells its own receiver. I don't remember who makes it but from what I read here on avs leads me to believe it's a bit more buggy. One main selling point for Dishers is they do have CBSHD but I don't need it. The other thing some people are holding out for with Dish is the "promise" of 50+ HD channels. I'll believe it when I see it and I don't think DirecTV will just roll over and die. They'll come up with something.

2. All my locals are OTA but you can get them from DirecTV. You pay $5 more if you want to get them. However, though DirecTV has a bit better picture than Cox, nothing compares to OTA. I watched wimbledon on NBC last week and it was VERY nice. Even though it wasn't filemed in HD, the LA NBC upconverts all its broadcasts (as do CBS and ABC) to HD. They all look nice. And when true HD is broadcast, wow!

3. With D*, you can get a triple LNB dish which picks up 3 different satellites. This is another plus for D* over E* which uses 2, as you say. (At least until the "superdish" arrives). I learned a lot in the HDTV Hardware forum. Learned a lot about OTA from this huge thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=191672&highlight=orange+county+results) .

There are no local HD channels on Directv and you only need one oval dish with a triple LNB.

BTW, Ron, I had the Sports Pak for awhile thinking I could watch all the various games from the regional Fox Sports networks. Unfortunately, they black out all of the pro sports and even college football, so you're left with little more than what you could get on the local Fox networks.

I'm working on the OTA HD locals next. ;)

Mike,

Good luck with the OTA! I actually got the sports pack when I realized Fox Sports West and West 2 aren't included in Total Choice. I'd miss all my USC football games. >( So I'm shelling out $12/mo primarily for the local Foxes. Of course adding OLN, Golf, and a couple others helped justify it.

And it's good to restate that you do not get locals in HD from D*.

Ron,

You might want to check into that further. I don't have the Sports pak or Total Choice Premier, but I get both Fox Sports channels. They don't advertise it but I believe it is included in Total Choice.

For Sat to have 50+ HD selections will take a major change in Bandwidth, no way they can even carry the Locals and few Premiums together like Cable anytime soon.

I tried to email some rants, suggestions, and a wish (free HDnet to any Cable operator for the Road America CART race) to Brenda on 7/2...it was bounced back a couple days later saying I need to use my own local support. (Brenda is San Diego) I resent last night with additional info on Sound and DTV picture quality and told them to get it to Brenda, we have a 9 month history on this! :D We'll see....


While it bugs me I don't have all the locals or PBS yet, it's not the Fall (or Football/NBA) season (so I aint missing much!) so in reality all I'm missing really is HDNet, but trying to justify spending a grand for OTA, DirectTV, Antenna's......just to have to bin it all cause I trully believe Cable will have the edge as we grow to 20+ HD Channels sometime in the next 2 years..so I'll have little use for all that hardware. I can wait....besides, there are so many DVD's I've not seen yet! :D

What ever you do, enjoy!

Originally posted by mroll
Ron,

You might want to check into that further. I don't have the Sports pak or Total Choice Premier, but I get both Fox Sports channels. They don't advertise it but I believe it is included in Total Choice.

That's what I had originally thought - that they included the local Fox Sports Station (or in our case, there's 2). But then when I looked at the list the other day, it made no mention of it. I'll call them right now. Thanks!

Okay, just called. The CSR said there's no Fox Sports with the total choice. He said that if you subscribe to MBL or NBA, etc. that might include Fox Sports. I think I'll ask over in the DBS forum too...

That's strange. I have Total Choice, HBO, Starz, Showtime, Local Channels and the NFL Sunday Ticket. I haven't always had the NFL Sunday Ticket, but I've always received both Fox Sports channels. The listing for Total Choice used to list "Regional Sports Network" (which was Fox Sports West) as one of the channels, but now it doesn't. You could always cancel the Sports Pack, see what happens and add it back if necessary.

Problem solved (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2418158#post2418158)

Cool! Now you can use the money you saved for HBO, regular and HD. :D

I read this PR announcement today...
BURBANK - July 10, 2003 - NBC Cable Networks today announced programming for Bravo HD+, NBC's first cable network dedicated to the delivery of high-definition (HD) content, launching July 31, 2003. Bravo HD+ is the first and only arts, culture and entertainment HD service.
Since NBC seems to be the only network Cox can negotiate with, we might have a shot at getting this before the end of this summer.

Originally posted by JETninja
For Sat to have 50+ HD selections will take a major change in Bandwidth, no way they can even carry the Locals and few Premiums together like Cable anytime soon.


Absolutely. I don't even bother trying to follow all the discussion on the technical side of it. All I know is, they can't do it with what they've got now.


While it bugs me I don't have all the locals or PBS yet, it's not the Fall (or Football/NBA) season (so I aint missing much!) so in reality all I'm missing really is HDNet, but trying to justify spending a grand for OTA, DirectTV, Antenna's......just to have to bin it all cause I trully believe Cable will have the edge as we grow to 20+ HD Channels sometime in the next 2 years..so I'll have little use for all that hardware. I can wait....besides, there are so many DVD's I've not seen yet! :D

What ever you do, enjoy!

I agree. I think within 2 years cable will have it all. But if football season rolls around and Cox hasn't gotten locals yet, consider ota. I'm so glad I did. The picture is SOOOOO much better, even when it's not HD.

KCET is showing a cool little live concert right now with Tom Petty in HD. They show a HD demo loop 24/7.

Receiver (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?cat=3996&dept=3944&product_id=2138687&path=0%3A3944%3A3996%3A115061) $300 new. Can probably pick up one cheaper on the net or ebay
Antenna (http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F002%5F000&Page=1) $22
Amplifer (http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F003%5F001&Page=1) $30
Add some coax. You're looking at $400 max. Get $100 back when you sell it on ebay down the road. The big hit is if it needs to be professionally installed or if you are able to do it yourself.

But, as you say, enjoy whatever your choice may be! And be thankful that HD is finally becoming a reality. :D

Thanks for the info Turt! I do think about OTA now and then..I'll be watching Cox closely for sure! 20 years ago before I got into Aerospace, I was a Elec Tech at Western Digital, then Rockwell. Installing this stuff is Cake! :D

Before I got serious about it, I'd probably see if I could get a member to show up with his OTA STB and Silver Surfer or something, and verify I can even receive OTA, got a lot of Ridge running NW to S behind my house....(Close to Barcelona Hills School)


I did finally get a hold of Brenda yesterday, she is forwarding our concerns/rants. I expect to have more info tonight, I'll pass on anything good.

Sure wish OLN was HD, can only imagine what the French Countryside looks like during the Tour if it was in HD....maybe next year!

JETninja,

Someone with a STB and Silver Sensor may not be a good measure of your reception capability. I bought a Silver Sensor early on and was only able to get in 1 station out of LA and my reception would cut in and out. I then installed a Winegard Sensar antenna (model# GS-1000, without an amplifier) on my rooftop and I receive every station out of LA with very good reliability.

I realize that the Silver Sensor is an easy to handle measuring stick, but it is a crappy measuring stick.

I live right off of Oso Parkway, just east of where Oso hits Antonio Parkway. Based on a map I generated at Yahoo Maps for Bareclona Elementary School, I would think that we have a very similar line of sight to the broadcast towers on Mt Whitney.

What concerns me is the ridge behind me (next street up) about 70' up..though it tapers down in that direction, so maybe it would work from the roof...though there are hills in that direction between me and Los Alisos. You know this town, all up and down and curvy roads, one of the reasons I live here! :D

According to the Cox web site:

"To work with our first generation HDTV offering, your HDTV set or monitor must have a YPbPr component input or an RGB input."

Has anyone implemented Cox HDTV using an RGB input to your display? I have 9" Sony CRT in Mission Viejo waiting to try it out, it does not have a component input.... Is Cox supplying a component to RGB converter?

Thanks

Originally posted by edsuski
According to the Cox web site:

"To work with our first generation HDTV offering, your HDTV set or monitor must have a YPbPr component input or an RGB input."

Has anyone implemented Cox HDTV using an RGB input to your display? I have 9" Sony CRT in Mission Viejo waiting to try it out, it does not have a component input.... Is Cox supplying a component to RGB converter?

Thanks
I do not believe that they are. Those adapters cost over $100 and Cox is not likely to eat that kind of expense. If you go looking around at local stores just be careful that you get a Component-to-RGB converter and not an RGB-to-Component converter.

JETninja,

I'm having pretty good luck with the Silver Sensor and CM 7775 preamp where I am at Oso and Felipe. Every OTA situation varies here in OC with
the varied terrain. Trail and error is the only real solution. There are plenty of members around to get ideas from. I can bring a Silver Sensor and box over if you want to try it.

Bruce

Thanks for the offer Bruce!

I don't think I'm ready to look into that option soon....oldest of 4 boys is starting HS....Holy Cow! Bus passes alone will be about $600 for 2 boys, plus all the other crap for HS adds a good $300+....Cant wait! ;)

Sure wasn't like this when I went to HS! LOL!

I'll keep you mind towards th end of the year if it looks like Cox is on their duff....

Cheers!

Cox has added 702 (CBS) to it's HD lineup. I hope it's going the Vegas route and adding all that's available for it's subscribers.

Robhair

Yeah CBS is a nice addition. Hopefully they keep adding channels like this.

ESPN's quality on baseball games is starting to get old. The last yankee's/red socks game started out great but the quality turned to ugly by halfway thru.

Too cool! Was this on last night? I never looked...would've been nice to see CSI in HD......

Yes Boston/Yankees game was a big disappointment. I understand it was a power failure at the stadium. ESPN not only lost HD feed, but analog espn also. They wound up using a Mexican feed that happened to be running on a gasoline generator.

Robert

http://www.cox.com/oc/HDTV/programming.asp

Cox now has CBS listed on channel 702. I'll have to check that out when I get home from work tonight. This makes me quite happy. Just on time for college football. :D

Anyone else get a call yesterday from Cox?


Cox: "Hello" "Were pleased to announce we now have CBS-HD avalible!"

Wife: "Uhh...My Husband already knows, been watching it for days......."

Cox: "Uhhh...It's Channel 702!"

Wife: "We know, Thanks...."

Cox: "Uhhh..Ok.....Bye!"

:D


On to more serious stuff...where is the HDNET stuff! I see other Cable Co's having Tiers made up of DiscHD/ESPNHD/HDNET/HDNETMovies for $7-$11. Adding HDNet sure would make that $10 more palatable......

And too bad no ABC-HD yet....the game was a yawner but I bet Lisa looked nice in HD. We do get Thursday's preseason game in HD on ESPN-HD.

Anyone notice the score overlay is almost in the middle of the screen (1:20 3rd) in tonights game? Otherwise this is F*&$ing GREAT HDTV is so cool!

Can't wait for CSI tonight!

We have NFL football in HD on ABC starting tomorrow and still no ABC HD on this freaking Cox. Unreal every other cable company has it, what seems to be the issue here? anybody know?

and why does COX san diego have ABC and OC dosen't

I cannot wait for COX, I ordered the STB and enjoy HD as much as I can.

I too am losing patience with Cox. Luckily I have OTA also and get ABC San Diego. It's a shame that they(cox) don't,can't ,won't get their act together.I'm not so sure they are ready to set up all the HD STB's if they offered more. I have more then a few neighbors that just can't justify the expense vs. the product offered.

Robert

Hey all,

Been lurking for a while, appreciate all the info I've learned here. Got an HD big screen a couple months back and been looking at forums trying to decide the best way to get programming.

For me, locals is our primary consideration because we watch mostly series TV on the major networks. Since the only way to get locals right now seems to be Cable or OTA, this kind of narrowed it down. Also, have Phone and Internet from Cox and have always thought they had a pretty good network.

When it came right down to it, there wasn't much to lose trying Cox. Just add digital to our existing service, add the HD box rental and pay the $50 installation charge. So, out of pocket cost to try it was $50, and the new service/box added about $16 to my monthly service. All I got for now is the locals, so it boils down to paying $16 a month for CBS and NBC in HD. Kind of steep, but we watch CSI, CSI Miami, ER and several other shows that are HD on these networks. Worth it for now(I think), and I'm only out a $50 install charge if I decide to bail on it.

All other options(OTA & Satellite) required a large up-front investment of $300-600 for tuners, antenna, dishes, etc. to even SEE what it looked like. With OTA that investment comes not even knowing for sure that I'll be able to GET any reception. There's a big hill and ridge blocking line of sight to Mt. Wilson from my home in RSM, so it's really a gamble.

Report: Based on just one night of viewing (CSI, CSI, & Without A Trace), I will say WOW on the picture, it was fantastic. Cox guy also put in a needed signal amp so all my other channels look better than they did before on all my TV's. The CBS & NBC channels on 702 & 704 look better even when they are playing SD content, because they're digital vs. analog at channels 2 and 4.

Learned a couple of things I didn't know and haven't seen posted here. Even when you have Cox digital cable, all stations below 100 are sent in analog ONLY. According to the Cox rep, they orignially sent these in digital as well, but that meant sending all this content twice(once for analog customers and once for digital) and this just used too much bandwidth. So, all you folk who think you get a better picture on 1-100 when you switch to Cox digital, nope, same old analog junk.

Also asked him what up with ABC and whether he thought they might get it by the 9-28 season premiere of Alias. He didn't know but said that ABC was by far the hardest network to negotiate with. Think Disney and Disney Lawyers on this one. Apparently ABC is incredibly hard-nosed about making ANY change at all to an existing contract. Since Cox's current contract with ABC goes through the end of the year, it is possible ABC may hold out to put it in the new contract for next year. This really sucks since Alias is right in top few shows we'd like to watch in HD. I guess really anything could happen, we'll see. He sited an example when Time Warner had no ABC nationwide on their system a few years back, all over a contract negotiation. Think Disney lawyers vs. Ted Turner on this one, then look in the dictionary under "egomaniacs".

I know Cox has ABC in San Diego and wonder if they didn't get it into a 2003 contract from the beginning for down there.

I'd be interested in hearing anything more on the Cox/ABC situation if anybody has insight/news on it.

Cheers

Great post....

Right there with you on most points....Wonder whats up with PBS and FOX also, I know FOX is not yet HD, but even their Widescreen Digital is way better then that analog crap and I enjoy 24 and the NFL to no end!

The unfortunate thing is I know A LOT of football fans who will not be seeing Monday Night Football in HD (on ABC) who have CoX as their only source for HD. Luckily for me, my significant other lets me play with some of our money, so I have OTA, CoX, Dish Network, JVC-3K, ...

-T

neyugnt,

I watch the MNF HD with a low budget, I bougth the SIR 151 from Cosco and an antenna from RS. Total for less than 300.00. I think the true football fans can do it.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tiresius
[B]Hey all,

GET any reception. There's a big hill and ridge blocking line of sight to Mt. Wilson from my home in RSM, so it's really a gamble.



What's 180 degrees away from Wilson?. That's the General direction of San Diego stations. About 330 if my memory serves me. I live in Portola Hills and believe me I have no line of sight either way, but Get San Diego and a LA Stations.

Here's the thread you should read if you want South County OTA HD.!http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=191672

Robert

Are you ready for some football? Cox OC adds channel 7!!!! Turn to 707 now!!!

SWEET!!!!!!!! Was watching OTA all night. As a lark switched to 707 and BAM! there she blows. Now INHD and INHD2 is next!@!!!!!!!

Robert

YYEESSsS!!!

Haven't seen it yet because I'm out of town tonight, but I had my wife tune in and check it out. Sure enough there it was. The football game was over so it was SD content by then, but the channel is there now.

They made it in time for Alias next sunday! Thanks for the heads up Sydor.

LOL...I stay away a week or two and miss it! I by chance looked over the 700's like I do every now and then in hope of discovering something new...YES! 707! Schwing! Alias and MNF Football! Then the wife mentions a phone message she only got the tail of, something about Football in HD.....

Bah, coulda had it 2 days sooner! LOL!

What's everyone's opinion of the "expand" version of L.A.s 707 sd signal? I get ABC OTA from San Diego and they send it out 4.3, unless it's HD.

Robert

Originally posted by robhair
What's everyone's opinion of the "expand" version of L.A.s 707 sd signal? I get ABC OTA from San Diego and they send it out 4.3, unless it's HD.

Robert

I'm sorry, but it is broadcast in 4:3. It just shows the over-scan that is normally blocked by your TV. Flip on Jeopardy! (or any show with a static image) to see what I mean. You can see more of the sides on channel 707 vs. 007. The only "expand" channel is ESPN and they said that they aren't going to change.

I also asked about the WB being added and was told by COX that they have no intention of adding the channel. Please, write or call COX to let them know that you want the WB in HD. Even if it isn't a full HD signal it is still way better than SD analog.

James

KABC-DT takes the 4:3 source material and stretches it to a 14:9 aspect ratio, in a similar way that ESPN takes its 4:3 (non-HD) source material, and stretches it to a 16:9 ratio to fill the screen. I've received KABC-DT OTA for over a year now, and all COX is doing is retransmitting the signal.

I get the WB OTA as well. It's okay, most of the episodic stuff is marginally good quality "HD" in my opinion. Definitely better than the SD counterparts, but nowhere near the crisp looking CBS film transfers. Only WOW-factor I've seen on KTLA-DT (WB) was the Rose Parade, and a Lakers vs Clippers NBA game last season which was a piggy-backed transmission from a Japan company...

-T

Any of you OC'ers compared Sat (Dish, Direct,..) HD signal to Cox Cable HD? In November I need to make a decision between Cox Cable HD or Dish HD (PVR921 and Super Dish if it's out by then).

I've heard that "basically" Cox just uses a large Sat dish to get the HD signals and then uses some kind of compression to transmit the HD signal thru their cable line. I was told this method degrades the signal compared to Sat. Any opinions?

Thanks
Mike
(P.S., OTA antenna is not an option)

NEWNEW,

I haven't compared the PQ between the two, but does satellite have local networks in HDTV? How do you plan to watch ABC, CBS, NBC, etc without an OTA antenna?

When I had OTA, I had a very hard time getting ABC to come in and so I went with COX because I knew that they would be adding ABC later and I couldn't watch ABC OTA anymore, too distracting.

Dish has CBS at this point, and I'm sure others will be added soon.

I get all the locals out of San Diego OTA and all the locals out of LA from Cox. NO differance in PQ IMO.

Robert

Originally posted by NEWNEW
Dish has CBS at this point, and I'm sure others will be added soon.

Unless some new compression tool (without loss) comes out, you'll never get a major pallet of HD shows on any Sat for the forseable future, and the disparity will only widen. Sat is extreemly bandwith challenged as it is....for every HD channel they add, means dropping several SD channels.....and someone loves those SD channels and dont give a hoot about HD. Good luck!

For 2003-04 a combo of OTA and SAT vs Cable....go what works for you $$$ wise and the channels you want. I'm 99% sure post '04 it wont even be an issue any longer...if you want all the HD content, you'll use Cable. I don't see Sat carrying everything...

Locals (cbs/nbs/wb/abc/fox/???)
HBO/SHO/????
HDNET/HD1/HD2?
Bravo
INHD1/INHD2
ESPN
DiscHD
PBS

and who nows what surprises are coming.....

And the PQ depending on source can be outstanding...beyond desription!

I find it odd that COX has been able to negotiate the "difficult"contracts such as CBS and ABC, yet we have no PBS deal? Anyone care to prognosticate on the arrival of INhd1 and 2? I have a feeling a fee increase is coming, they will add hdnet and inhd to the DiscHD and ESPN bundle and then up the charge.....IMO. Not that my opinion is worth much....

I suggest we fight them on that...I see other Cable Co's offering DiscHD, ESPN-HD, with HDNET and HDNET Movies in the $7.99 to $9.99 range. And no way has ESPN been worth $5 pm these past couple months....Me thinks they owe us a bit! :D

I have been enjoying some of the movies on HBO-HD and Showtime-HD ;)

Do you guys know about new Cox HD settop boxes with DVI output?

See second posting at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=256230&perpage=20&pagenumber=5

I PMed him for confirmation but did not get an answer...

Yes, Anyone know when Cox OC plans to roll out Hi-DEF PVR via the new MOT 6208 STB? I am ready to buy a Dish 921 (and change to satelite) if they do not do it soon. COMCAST CABLE is already starting in other markets.

http://www.cox.com/OC/DigitalTV/lineUp.asp

For you NBA junkies you'll be pleased to know Cox Orange County is bringing back NBA-TV to its Digital Sports & Information Tier on November 4, 2003. What this means for the HD games to be shown on NBA-TV, I still don't know, but this brings us one step closer...

-T

Well, seeing as how every game since around '93 (according to Stern) has been shot in HD, and he himself has commited to having 24H NBA in HD avalible to everyone ASAP, I hope Cox gets there stuff together and gets it into the HD Tier also.....

Anyone else having problems with audio hiccuping? Happens pretty regularly in my home... only on the HD service... the standard digital cable doesn't suffer from this.

By the way, NBA-TV is back (as of Oct. 28). Good to see it back, now can't wait for IN-HD or whatever the heck we need to see the NBA-TV in HD games.

-T

Same here...watched a little on it. Cox is already signed with IN-HD, just as usual LA Area is one of the last to get it implemented.

Was hoping that the NY game last night would be in HD since MSG does their own production, but no HD. I still watched them on the HD feed since it looks 100% better then the standard ESPN BB feed on Channel 15 (on my big screen) even if it is SD signal.

For those of you waiting for the the upcoming (Tivo-like) Digital Video Recorder service in Orange County, I got the following from Cox yesterday:


Thank you for using our email system at Cox.Com to ask your question
about DVRs.

Although we have been listing the devices under Future Services, there
is no imminent date for adding this option in Orange County.

Our main focus at the moment is HDTV, which was made available on
June 23rd. After that, we will begin focusing on a target date for a
digital video recorder.

If I were to make a "best guess" about when this will be available in
Orange County, I would say that it could be available by the end of
the year, but I doubt if it would be much sooner than that.



Given how long it took to get HD rolled out in Orange County, I take this to mean there's another long wait ahead...

Steve,

I got a totally different email today from Cox (saying it WAS available) so I called to order. I was told the PVR is in beta testing and could be available soon. The salesperson said the PVR will not do HDTV.

Whatever answer you seek, you will find it from Cox ;)

I was clicking through the 700's on the menu and 716 was now being tested. I wonder what this could be? Everything so far has been quite logical. 702 cbs, 707 abc, etc. 716 would be espn2, that doesn't make any sense. Anyone have any thoughts on the matter.
Robert

I saw the same thing and I checked the ESPN web page to see if they are going to have two HD channels. Doesn't look like ESPN 2 is going HD any time soon. Maybe it just a test to check bandwidth if they add another channel. Maybe the WB, PBS or INHD?

I sent an e-mail, I'll post if I get a response.

Here is a synopsis of Brenda's reply from Cox Communications:

I honestly don't want to guess, because that would not be fair to you,
and at this point, your guess would be as good as mine as to what will
actually become of channel 716. As soon as we know, we will be glad to
let you know!

Yes- Brenda gives me those kind of answers as well. I can't help from wondering why they don't find the answer out. Isn't that what CS is? Isn't there a chain of command they can follow? Who is we? "As soon as we know, we will be glad to let you know!" Someone, I'm sure many people know the answer. Oh well, The leadership at Cox doesn't trust their employees.

Robert

Oh well, the channel is MIA now. :(

Stars is supposed to launch Starz HD this month (per the HDTV Programming thread). Maybe that's what is coming. I assume that Cox and other cable companies must be watching Voom with some concern. I got their mailer too and am considering it...

EDIT: Yes, I meant "Voom."

Originally posted by Rich4av
I assume that Cox and other cable companies must be watching Zoom with some concern. I got their mailer too and am considering it...


I've not heard of this - can someone please bring me up-to-speed?

Any.

Actually, it is Voom. Go to www.voom.com. It is a sat system claiming lots of HD programming. I think it includes an OTA antenna. They did a massive (I assume) snail mailing.

There is a long thread up top in the HDTV Programming forum.

My only concern is that there seem to be a lot of installation problems unless you are lucky enough to get an experienced installer who also brings the optional (but free) OTA tuner module the first time and knows how to aim the dish...

Wow- INHD and INHD1 are what came our way. I was surfing around this morning and 716 and 717 were here! So far looks pretty good. I noticed the Laker game is scheduled for Tues, wonder if blackout applies? Sweet and Cox Cable if your reading this ---Thanks

Robert

Cox cable has two new HD channels up as I'm writing this.

CH 716 "In HD 1"

CH 717 "In HD 2"

OH YEAH BABY!!!!!

-T

Anyone wanna bet on whether or not Cox will call us within the next day or two to let us know they added INHD1 and INHD2? :)

COX still missing PBS

Hey qpham I'm assuming you're unable to get PBS (KCET) OTA right? Well, in my amateur opinion PBS is so bad right now, it's not even worth it. They're multicasting over 2 channels, and not delegating the full 19.3 MBps to their HD feed, thus their HD loop (which doesn't even run that often anymore) sucks majorly. And didn't I read somewhere else that the PBS loop is going bye bye? I'll have to check the other sub-forum.

-T

OK, dumb question. What is In HD? Pay-per-view?

-chuck-

Chuck, In-HD 1 and 2 are In-Demand's High Definition channels. They are not PPV, but are kinda like a knock off of "HD-NET" carrying various sports, movies, and other miscellaneous documentary type eye candy. Visit www.inhd.com for what it's all about!

-T

I hope that we will also get Starz HD :)

Too cool! Song Remains the Same tonight!

Not seen any mention of NBA on thier site though....

My bad....I forwarded the menu to tonight and yahoo!!!! Lakers vs Knicks in HD!

Enjoy Sports Fans! My first Basketball game in HD.....seeing as how good it makes Football look I'm pretty damn exited!

Originally posted by neyugnt
Chuck, In-HD 1 and 2 are In-Demand's High Definition channels. They are not PPV, but are kinda like a knock off of "HD-NET" carrying various sports, movies, and other miscellaneous documentary type eye candy. Visit www.inhd.com for what it's all about!

-T

A very poor knock off of "HD-NET". These two channels are pretty worthless right now. I would rather have the WB, UPN and HDNET. There is nothing on INHD that I want to watch.

Is HD-NET exclusive to satellite?

I'd like those too.....but....

I'm digging INHD so far! The Song Remains the Same last night in HD was great! I see all sorts of movies and sports (Lakers!) that I and others will be ecstatic over! To each there own of course....

I'd like HDNet too......

And no, it's not just for Sat...buddy next to me has Time Warner.....he gets HD-Net in a Tier package 12/15 for $10......

Originally posted by JETninja

I'm digging INHD so far! The Song Remains the Same last night in HD was great! I see all sorts of movies and sports (Lakers!) that I and others will be ecstatic over! To each there own of course....


I thought the Lakers are on NBA TV? Won't it be blacked out because of FSWest? There is nothing on the INHD web page. It lists college hockey, which I would watch, but it is on at 9 am. :(

A lot of it's programming is similar to Discovery-HD. I just would have liked to see more networks first or the more established HD-Net. But I guess more HD is better than no HD. :D

Pretty much guarantee that tonight's game will be blacked out in the LA/NY areas. Quite a bummer! But tomorrow's game (Washington Wizards vs. Someone) should be viewable here in OC...

-T

Just a note....I contacted TitanTV.com and the schedule now reflects all of our HD choices.....

Quick work....it was fixed 5 minutes after my message! Thanks to Ken Nelson at TitanTV!

"I thought the Lakers are on NBA TV?"


INHD is telecasting for NBATV (I think). I wonder if Cox will broadcast the Laker game. I understand they have to contract for the NBA telecast.

Robert

Anyone have any information on getting firewire hd boxes from Cox? I emailed them recently and we went back and forth on it. They were not even aware that they are required to make them available as of April 1, '04 to anyone who asks for one.

Anyone else have any info on the status of new hd boxes? I also heard that they were beta testing the new boxes, but Cox new nothing about that.

Looks like Fox Digital (HD sometime in '04) is soon to be here....a 711 Testing channel is up right now.....

Good news for us 24 and NFL fans! :D

Darnit! I've been hoping and asking for FOX SPORTS WEST HD... well, at least this is a good starter sign.

-T

Originally posted by neyugnt
Darnit! I've been hoping and asking for FOX SPORTS WEST HD... well, at least this is a good starter sign.

-T

Ditto-Ditto-Ditto-Lakers-Lakers-Lakers

Robert:) :) :)

Man, the Lakers are what it's all about bro... Sad thing is that my brother who lives up the way in Fountain Valley gets Time Warner. Their Cable system is FRICKIN SWEET. They have a ton of HD channels including both InHDs and both HDNets, and free VOD for certain networks (watch Pulp Fiction, anytime, with the push of a button, includes fast forward, rewind, etc.), and also a TIVO-type recorder (only for SD as of today).

Oh yeah and the topper, they get Fox Sports West HD, including the last few Laker home games in HD (and I'm told pretty much the rest of them and all of the home games next season). I am so jealous.

-T

I just got Cox HDTV installed just to watch CBS, ABC, and NBC. I am watching the Fiesta Bowl, which I assume is in HDTV, but the picture is not true 16x9. It is not 4x3 though, it seems to be in between. Is this typical or is there something wrong? I don't want to burn in black bars on the side of my TV. I thought all HDTV would be in 16x9 format.

Its normal. The Fiesta Bowl is not in High Def. I believe the NFL playoffs will be in HD, and if you think this looks good, NFL should look amazing.

Smitty, forgot to ask you what cable box did Cox give you? Motorola 5100 or a newer one?

Does anyone know why the Fiesta, Rose and Orange bowls were not in HDTV? ESPN had a game of the week everyweek, but they can't show the major bowl games in Hi-Def? :(

Looking forward to the Denver @ Indy game on CBS Sunday in HDTV. :cool:

Originally posted by rdenichilo
Smitty, forgot to ask you what cable box did Cox give you? Motorola 5100 or a newer one? I"m not sure what they gave me. I don't see a model number anywhere on the box and I didn't seem to get any type of manual for the receiver. Is there a way to tell?

The Cox web site said that the Fiesta bowl would be in HD; I wonder why it was not.

I have also noticed that the color on CBS-HD is not right. It looks fine on the regular cable feed, and my colors look good on my satellite, but when I switch to CBS-HD, the faces are overly red. Does this sound like a problem with the box?

The new Motorola HD boxes have both firewire and DVI ports. I don't think there is anything on the front of the box that distinguishes the DCT6200/6208.

Has anyone else been told by Cox that they will only let you have one HD box per household? I have had a DCT5100 in my living room since they started providing HD service. Now I have bought an Sony GWIII for my bedroom and they tell me the only way to get another HD box is buy one. So far I haven't found any store that sells them.

Flip, do you know if the firewire and DVI ports are active on the 6200? Does anyone have them in OC yet?

Originally posted by flip831
The new Motorola HD boxes have both firewire and DVI ports. I don't think there is anything on the front of the box that distinguishes the DCT6200/6208.

Has anyone else been told by Cox that they will only let you have one HD box per household? It looks like my box has a firewire and DVI out.

I was also told that they will let you have only one HD box per household for now.

Any responses on the issue of the colors on the HD channels being different than the standard broadcast?

I haven't noticed a problem with color on my box. I get both OTA and Cox HD, and the colors are about the same. It appears to be an issue though. The motorola thread at ***************.com has some discussion on it.

Do the Firewire and DVI ports on your box actually work, or are they just there?

Well, the color seems to have righted itself (it may have been a loose component cable), but I have also noticed that the picture on CBS especially is very dark (NBC is pretty dark also). I noticed it last night on Joan of Arcadia, and it is dark tonite again on The Mask of Zorro. I had my set ISF calibrated some time ago so that all of the settings are at 0, but to get a picture on CBS-HD that I am not straining to see, I have to pump up the black level to 15 , which is quite a ways up there. On the standard broadcast CBS picture, however, the black level can be set at about 3 to match what the CBS-HD channel gives at a 15 black level. Is anyone else experiencing this?

I'm not sure if the firewire and DVI outputs work. I don't have any way to test them.

Originally posted by flip831
The new Motorola HD boxes have both firewire and DVI ports. I don't think there is anything on the front of the box that distinguishes the DCT6200/6208.

Has anyone else been told by Cox that they will only let you have one HD box per household? I have had a DCT5100 in my living room since they started providing HD service. Now I have bought an Sony GWIII for my bedroom and they tell me the only way to get another HD box is buy one. So far I haven't found any store that sells them.


When I went to the Genesis opening they had them and were selling them..they are located by the new BestBuy at Lake Forest near the El Toro Y..


And to my knowledge the Firewire/DVI ports do not work, they are enabled by firmware....

Finally got my gear wired up this weekend, and was surprised that all the HD channels were coming thru in 2 channel (including ABC last night). Does Cox OC broadcast anything in 5.1? Have they made any announcements?

Eric

Eric,

I can tell you that COX definitely passes through the DD 5.1 audio when available. NFL HD on CBS, ABC sitcoms, the HBO and Showtime that has the 5.1 DD also gets through fine on my setup (via the AC-3 Toslink Digital Audio Out)...

-T

Originally posted by hansonec
Finally got my gear wired up this weekend, and was surprised that all the HD channels were coming thru in 2 channel (including ABC last night). Does Cox OC broadcast anything in 5.1? Have they made any announcements?

Eric

Eric,

I noticed the same thing last night. All but one of the HBO channels came in as Pro Logic; Starz and Showtime were OK. HBO HD was Pro-Logic at 7 PM. I spent one hour checking my equipment but nothing was wrong. Then, at 9PM, a movie came on HBO-HD and it was Dolby Digital. I think HBO has problems on many of their channels and is broadcasting in Pro-Logic...

has anyone received the newer boxes with DVI and Firewire? Just curious to know of they work with either.

Those functions are not enabled in the boxes yet...takes a firmware upgrade. I imagine Cox wants to limit their support issues for awhile before they start adding functionality to the boxes. HD itself has been a challenge, I'm one of the first, on the day they came out they fried two boxes in a row! :D

What is the new box number? I have the Motorola 5100. Is Cox offering the upgraded box if requested. The reason I ask is because SD programs just look terrible with the 5100. My old Digital box from Cox produces a much clearer picture. So currently, I have two cable boxes connected to my WS-55813. One for SD and another for HD.

I thought the 5100 replacement was a 5200 from what I read last week but cannot find it on Motorola's website. Only one on there now is the 6200.

Here is Motorola's main page for all there Home Entertainment products which interestingly includes a combination Digital Cable box, DVD and 5.1 receiver in one unit for those wanting things simplified.

Motorola Home Entertainment (http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/home_entertainment.asp)


Also, this isn't accessible from the above page for some reason but the DVR version of the 6200 can be found here:-
Motorola 6208 HD DVR (http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/)

I saw an ad in the paper this morning - it listed KTTV (11) as included with the Cox HD service. Will they finally flip the switch on ch 711?

Switch Flipped at 6:00 P.M. when I turned the Mits on. Too bad no football. Will Fox have any 480P widescreen to watch soon? I know HD will be in the fall.

Robert

Screw Fox KTTV -- I want FOX Sports West HD! Lakers Lakers Lakers!!

-T

Originally posted by neyugnt
Screw Fox KTTV -- I want FOX Sports West HD! Lakers Lakers Lakers!!

-T

We'll, I want Both! I never miss an episode of 24.....That and football are about all I watch on Fox. And of course since they flipped the switch, not one 480p thing to see yet! LOL!

Anyone else surprised by Cox adding Fox before the WB and HDNet, among other channels that are showing true Hi-Def?

I don't know how many times I was told that they wouldn't be adding any channels without HD content. Well, almost all of the WB prime time schedule is now 1080i and Fox has nothing. I was flipping channels last night and came across Independence Day on Fox last night and it looked worse than the DVD. Was that 480p enchanced widescreen or not?

What do we need to do to get HD Net? I would love to have that added to our lineup. So far ESPN HD is not worth even broadcasting. Nothing is in HD on it (other than Sunday Night Football) and few other games.

Other than HD Net, does anyone know of some other channels we should being hounding Cox to get?

Off the top of my head (for me, at least):

FOX Sports West HD
Starz HD
Cinemax HD

-T

Did anybody else have problems watching 24 on 711 last night? I tried to watch it but it was so choppy I ended up switching back to SD and watching it old school.

I have this problem with all of my HD channels to some degree... even had the guy out to look at it two weeks ago (of course everything worked fine while he was there... although I wasn't home at the time, just got the report from my girlfriend when I got home.) But fox is by far the worst.

Anybody else having/had these problems? What did you do about them?

lish

24 was fine for me on 711, other than not being true HD. I have had few dropouts from time to time, but nothing major.

I would like to see them add HDNet, Fox Sports West and the WB next.

I guess it's time to call COX again... the "dropouts" are unbearable. It was like 10 times a minute.

I'd like to see Enterprise in HD, which means UPN. Bravo-HD would also be wonderful.

Yes, Yes, Yes, We would all like to see more choices for HD programming. My question is when are we going to be able to take advantage of the DVI out? Comcast has allowed its users this output for both the Motorola 5100 and 6200 (8) for some time now! I realize that not everyone will see a difference with DVI (it is known to be very set specific), but I would love to see the difference for myself.

niesman

How come no ones complaining about the multiple Fox bugs?

Corporate bug in lower right as always......"Fox LA Digital Widescreen" Bug in the lower Left!!!!! (and overscanning into L/H side out of the picture!)

It was frigging bogus to look at. The LA bug was less transparent, and plain stupid to see two bugs!

This was during 24, the one and only time I've watched 711 since it was switched on.

I need to verify if it is still on, and find someone to complain to if it is.

I realize this stuff is new, but why is it ran by Bozo's that done even watch it??????


And during the same broadcast, lots of quick picture rolling during things like Gun shots or Explosions....not very well done at all.....

Yes, the Fox bugs are annoying. But I am happier to get Fox...

Do you guys think that, by April 1st, we will be able to ask for and get STB's with Firewire outputs? Time shifting would be nice now ;)

FYI, an email I received from COX regarding availability of STB's with Firewire enabled:

Hello Mr. DeNichilo,

This is a follow up email to my earlier response to you regarding the
availability of digital cable boxes with FireWire capability.

We will have boxes with the 1394 (FireWire) port enabled by the April
1st deadline. We will find out more information in March regarding the
arrangements to be made to swap existing boxes for the boxes with the
1394 port enabled.

I'll send you another email when I find out what and when everything
will be available.

If we can be of any additional service to you, please do not hesitate to
contact us again.

Sincerely,

Brad
Cox Communications - Video/Telephony Tech Support
Online Support Team

rdenichilo,

Thanks for posting this update. This is great news!

Got to see HD properly last weekend at Mother-in-laws. DirectTV on 5)" rear projection....very nice.

Watched about 2 hours of HDNet which seems to be a good channel but not one that Cox carries, right ?

Still waiting for my Sony HS20 which is now due anytime now (only 15 on back order at CDW and I am near top - almost 4 months wait - big discount though)

What is lead time for requesting HD and getting it installed by Cox ?

When COX first came out w/ the HD service, it was about 1 week lead time, I'm sure it's around 1-3 days now to get service. In reality you can just install it yourself if you already have cable or digital cable (just plug in the STB and hook up the cables) but they want to charge you the non-waivable installation fee.

You'll be pretty pleased w/ the COX offerings. In Orange County we currently have CBS/NBC/ABC/KTTV Digital, HBO/Showtime, Discovery/ESPN/INHD1/INHD2. You will find INHD and INHD2 to have similar offerings as what HD-NET has, minus Bikini Destinations unfortunately...

-T

So I can just go down to Cox and pick up A HD STB after my projector arrives and call them if I have problems after installing it ?

Hopefully, they will be giving out the 6200 STB by then ;)

ukaussi,

You misread the post. Installation involves removing filters on the cable before it enters your residence and replacing splitters along the way. They measure the signal before the box connection to make sure it's strong enough. That is why they need to come out and charge you $49.95. It's not as simple as wiring the box.

Thanks for the info

Also noticed today at Best Buy they were using a Motorola 6200 to demo HD on a total setup with amp speakers, plasma etc.

Direct TV was on all the main HD displays

I just talked with a COX rep and tech. They said if you have a 5100 box, then it will be switched out to whatever the newer box is that they offer. If you have a 5200 (which has a Firewire port), it will be activated through software in April.

They both also said that they will have a third box which has a PVR built-in and that this box will have both Firewire and DVI. They said this box will be available in July.

He also said that they are in the final stages of adding the WB, UPN & StarzHD by this summer, but that is still tentative.

I beleive him on the boxes because I have heard this from several sources. I have a COX tech that lives a few doors down from me.

HD projector arrived yesterday.... wow, what a picture even compared to my old projector (800x600) !!

Cox scheduled to install HD this Wednesday so will let you know what box I get.

Great to see UPN is on the cards as one of the few shows I regulalrly watch is "Enterprise".

Originally posted by skfields01
I just talked with a COX rep and tech. They said if you have a 5100 box, then it will be switched out to whatever the newer box is that they offer. If you have a 5200 (which has a Firewire port), it will be activated through software in April.

They both also said that they will have a third box which has a PVR built-in and that this box will have both Firewire and DVI. They said this box will be available in July.

He also said that they are in the final stages of adding the WB, UPN & StarzHD by this summer, but that is still tentative.

I beleive him on the boxes because I have heard this from several sources. I have a COX tech that lives a few doors down from me.

Cool!!!! I have a 5100....looking forward to it as I'm redoing the Family Room / HT....New Speakers are in, Sub soon and a Receiver.

ukaussi! Great news! Glad you got it up and working....also expect to See TNT HD, unless IN-HD just picks up the feed, they (TNT) will show all the NBA playoffs in HD. (like the All-Star was done by them in HD and shown on In-HD) Hows the Klipsch sounding!

That is what I have also, 5100. I just can't wait to get the unit with Firewire/DVI and the built-in PVR. I just hope that the PVR is capable of recording HD programs. Lets pray we get all these new toys soon.

I had a COX technician out to the house over the weekend to checkout my poor signal and he replaced my box with a 6200. Has firewire (not enabled I suppose... haven't checked) and DVI (haven't checked that either).

By the way... he seems to have fixed my problems. everything looks great now.

Has that improved your DTV picture at all? My one complaint (saw many agree in the Moto 5100 thread in the Hardware forum over the months) is this box (the 5100) makes DTV look much darker then the old DTV (2100) unit ever did. Was always hoping a firmware upgrade would fix it...

The 6200 has vastly improved both my DTV and HDTV pictures. But I wouldn't use my situation as a benchmark... my picture quality and reception was terrible before this weekend... so a pair of rabbit ears would have been an improvement (maybe I'm exagerating a bit).

He did say that they are replacing a lot of bad boxes that were installed around June/July/Aug of last year.

And he did make some changes outside and he mentioned that my signal was too strong (didn't know that was possible).

Lish... What area do you live in. If this is the case, then maybe we can all call them out and see if they will begin to replace the boxes.

I'm in Trabuco Canyon/Portola Hills area.

Thanks for the info Lish. I live in Lake Forest... so you are right around the corner from me. I called Cox today and they are coming out tomorrow with the new box for me. So everything looks good.

Lish,

How's' channels 2-99. The 5100 analog is horrible. BTW I also live in Portola.

Robert

Robert,

Not in front of the TV right now... I'll check it out completely tonight and give a detailed report.

But for starters... I have to say they are much better... at least in my set-up. Don't know if that is a result of the new box or the adjustments the tech made.

I tend to use my tuner in my mits for any analog I want semi clear PQ for. I watch channel 9 and 64 for instance- direct from the wall to mits. PQ for HD is as good as OTA. I switch between the two every now and then to insure bandwidth is same.

Robert

skfields01,

what did you tell Cox to have them replace your box? My reception is OK so what's a good, um, reason to replace the 5100? ;) I can use DVI when it is turned on, and can use Firewire by April 1.

I just told them that a friend got one over the weekend and I also wanted the 6200 because it has a better analog tuner. They said OK and would be here Tuesday, but the firewire and DVI won't be active till June. I said that was fine... just bring me the new box.

The 5100 really does have a crappy analog tuner. It looks terrible on my Mitsubishi WS-55813 55" RPTV. It was so bad that I took one of COX's Digital boxes from another room and put both on my Mitsu TV. I only use the 5100 for HD and the Digital box for everything else.

Skifield-- How's the analog compared to the 5100?

Robert

I've been doing a lot of flipping since I've been home... Checked all the channels and then I hooked up one of my other boxes and switched between that and the 6200 for analog... they look the same to me. The lower channels look the worst... they get better as you go up.

So, my conclusion... the 6200 has better analog pq than the 5100 but not better than the sd digital cable box from COX.

By the way... you can switch between 480i, 480p, and 1080i output for non hd channels but I can't see a difference in pq. You can also switch the HD channels between 1080i and 720p.

Also, (sorry for rambling... just kinda thinking and typing at the same time) I read somewhere that the 6200 scales the standard definition video for output via the component connection and that this may be the reason for the poor quality. So maybe running the component video connection for HD programming and then an s-video connection for SD programming could yield better results? I'll let you know what I find out.

I don't have my 6200 unit yet... so I can't give you any personal recommendations yet, like lish has done. From what I have read about the 6200 HD unit is that it has a better analog processor. The 5100 had numerous problems with its analog processor. Most people agree with lish about the 6200 unit, in that the analog processor is far better than the 5100, but it is pretty much the same as the COX Digital boxes they currently have.

Since I currently have both the 5100 (for HD) and the Digitla box (for SD) on the same TV, I can say that the 5100 just plain sucks for SD. Like I said... it was so bad looking that I threw on my Digital box to the TV just to watch SD shows.

This will all change when the activate the firewire and DVI ports on the 6200. Then both HD and SD will look gorgeous.

My complaints about the 5100 are probably stronger than most people. I am looking at this through a 55" Mitsubishi Diamond 16x9 RPTV and I can see all the imperfections in the picture. Most people are probably viewing this on a smaller screen or a lower-end unit. I am definetly looking foreward to the DVI aspect of the 6200.

On my Tuned Philips 55" I almost puke with the SD coming from the 5100 at times. Sometimes its not so bad, but other times....(night of the Oscars, HD had a drop out...went to ABC 7...ugh...dark, orange looking, just awlful PQ. Went back to HD and all was bliss again. :D

Any large HD capable set will quickly show the bad PQ of that box. (our 2100 STB is connected to the bedroom 27"...a much better picture on SD)

I don't need the DVI, I just missed out on that when I got my set. Reading the Moto5100/6200 thread here, I don't knwo if I'm missing anything yet anyway.

I am calling Cox today, I want that 6200 ASAP! Almost a year of this has been long enough!

Edit, just got off the phone with them. Beware, could have been easier. First the Women tried denying they had the boxes yet, then talked forever on how nothing is different with it compared to mine and maybe I have a problem. I finally got her to be quiet, and shared with her what I have experienced since day one with this box (as an early HD customer) as well as hundreds of other users on many cable systems. I told her I'd be happy for them to check my lines etc...but make sure you bring the box. So thats what they're doing tomorrow night. :D

I am going through the same thing. Cox has repeatedly told me that they do not have the 6200 and that I must be having signal problems. " there is nothing wrong with the 5100". Today I finally got a tech rep who acknowledged that they have the 6200 but could not guaranty that the service rep would have one for me. We will see tomorrow @ 6:00 PM.

I got the same response from Cox. Maybe they are getting too many calls requesting the 6200. They claim that if there is no problem with analog "reception", they would not replace it. They also won't guarantee that the tech will have a 6200. I hope that they don't decide to charge me $44 for coming over if they do not agree that there is a reception problem...

Well... they came and gave me the 6200 with no problems. The unit looks identical to the 5100. As the picture quality goes... I cannot see any differences between the old 5100 and the 6200 through Component connections for either HD or SD. This is how I have it hooked-up.

The good thing about the 6200 is that it has the DVI and 2 Firewire and 2 USB 2.0 ports, along with Ethernet. So in the next few month, when they finally active the Firewire and DVI, is when the picture quality will go way up.

Thought this might help.

P.S. They didn't give me a DVI cable... so I will have to go out and buy one.

Try digital Connection (www.digitalconnection.com). They have a store in Huntington Beach and have good quality DVI cables in various lengths. That's where I picked mine up at a decent price.

I use a projector so I hope I can see more of a difference ;)