Hi. I have TWC all the way up in Albany. Had a question. I have an SA 8300HD and I was wondering how you figure out if you get different channels in diagnostic mode rather than the normal mode? thanx

To enter Diagnostic Mode press and hold the "exit" & "select" botton on your box until "Diag" appears on the box. then enter the channel your curious about.

It doesn't SEEM like a horrible waste of bandwith, it IS a horrible waste of bandwith. UPN? Does anyone really watch UPN anyway? MSG HD please.

Veronica Mars and Everybody Hates Chris are both terrific shows, and I'm thrilled about the prospect of getting them in HD. Last yeat, ********** was the only way I could see Veronica Mars in its 16x9 OAR, since UPN doesn't letterbox the non-HD versions of most of their HD shows.

Yeah, I know, VM and EHC are only two shows, but I actually think that 9 and 11 are channels that TWC should be carrying in HD as a matter of general principle, for no other reason that they are local stations which have an HD feed. When a company like TWC is given a monopoly contract by the government, carrying all local stations in the best format available is simply the Right Thing to Do.

It doesn't SEEM like a horrible waste of bandwith, it IS a horrible waste of bandwith. UPN? Does anyone really watch UPN anyway? MSG HD please.

I'll second that!!!!

I'll second that!!!!

yeah, opening day is only 15 days away...please get us hockey in HD!

yeah, opening day is only 15 days away...please get us hockey in HD!

To add MSG/FSN-HD at this point in the year is nothing less than a slap in the face to Mets fans. If they add these channels, there had better be a guarantee that every single Mets game next season will be carried in HD on the new MES network. They've had years to get MSG/FSN-HD on TWC while they were carrying Mets games. I don't want to hear any bandwidth excuses come spring when it's time for the Mets to play if they add those channels in the fall...
-JMP

Veronica Mars and Everybody Hates Chris are both terrific shows, and I'm thrilled about the prospect of getting them in HD. Last yeat, ********** was the only way I could see Veronica Mars in its 16x9 OAR, since UPN doesn't letterbox the non-HD versions of most of their HD shows.

Yeah, I know, VM and EHC are only two shows, but I actually think that 9 and 11 are channels that TWC should be carrying in HD as a matter of general principle, for no other reason that they are local stations which have an HD feed. When a company like TWC is given a monopoly contract by the government, carrying all local stations in the best format available is simply the Right Thing to Do.
I agree. those 2 stations should just be there. If by some chance I want to tune into UPN of WB HD I should be able to do so without a problem. I was actually considering getting a set top ATSC tuner a while back just to get those 2 channels (as I have an HDTV monitor, no built in tuner).

If bandwidth is such a worry, they should just start getting rid of the analog channels. Phases them out a couple at a time and send a message to customers who still have analog STB's saying to get their lazy asses to the phone or the local cable store and get digital STB's if they want their channels back.

Tonight's game is actually a make-up of a rained out game ... perhaps it was just an oversight by whoever wrote the press release.


You’re absolutely correct—it was a rescheduled make-up game. That is why it wasn’t included. Fortunately, last nights game was in glorious HD. This is going to be one exciting week of baseball.

It doesn't SEEM like a horrible waste of bandwith, it IS a horrible waste of bandwith. UPN? Does anyone really watch UPN anyway? MSG HD please.
Yes, but it *is* being broadcast over the air locally, and isn't TWC obligated to carry all of the OTA signals?

So it would seems that by mandate, TWC must allocate its bandwidth for OTA programming first.

Personally, I fall on the "give us more HD movies" side over the "give us more HD sports", as I'm not much of a sports-watcher at all (though the sports content does make good demo material for my HDTV to my friends & family! ;-) ).

Scott

I'm getting UPN-HD on 709 in diagnostic mode also. And I'm definitely going to ask Mr. Watson about when we can receive this hidden HD channel without going into diagnostic mode and recording it manually.
This might not be the best tactic to take.

My guess is that more likely than not, this action will casue Mr. Watson to order his underlings to remove the channel from the diagnostic mode to keep us from complaining about it! Then we won't have it at all.....

This might not be the best tactic to take.

My guess is that more likely than not, this action will casue Mr. Watson to order his underlings to remove the channel from the diagnostic mode to keep us from complaining about it! Then we won't have it at all.....

Naahh... I think you’re giving the Keystone Cops, AKA bumbling idiots, AKA TWC, too much credit. I doubt that this anomaly discovered here is cause for concern. They shouldn’t worry about our smarts. They should just concern themselves with giving us better service—including more channels.

This is going to be one exciting week of baseball.


Though true, I couldn't help but laugh. Baseball and exciting aren't usually words spoken in the same sentence. :)

Can we discuss Yanks/Sox on Friday.... UPN usually has the Friday night Yanks games. ESPN also has the game. So will ESPN HD be blocked by UPN? Any chance if that's the case we can get the Friday night game in HD through the much discussed 709?

I'm assuming Fox and YES will take care of my HD needs on for games 2 & 3 of the series.

Baseball and exciting aren't usually words spoken in the same sentence. :)

:D

LOL
I agree!

And geeze, did you see that pitcher for Baltimore last night, Lopez, I think is his name? Ponderous!! Took more time to throw a pitch then it takes for a TWCSR to answer the phone. (Sorry, had to jab ‘em one more time.)

But with the DVR, (functioning), TV viewing, especially baseball, is so much more enjoyable--

-The game moves along at a great pace.
-I do my own replays.
-FF through the self promotions, commercials, etc.
-Pause when needed.
-Still catch other shows.

Like I need to explain to you folks. :rolleyes:

?

I'm assuming Fox and YES will take care of my HD needs on for games 2 & 3 of the series.


Don’t assume with FOX. In fact, I’d be stunned if it were to be in HD on FOX.

Yes, but it *is* being broadcast over the air locally, and isn't TWC obligated to carry all of the OTA signals?

The answer to this question is a resounding no. In fact, it's no twice over in this particular case. The rules requiring cable carriers to carry specific local channels do not (yet) apply to their digital (usually, but not always HD) channels.

Furthermore, check out the following bit from the FCC website (http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/csgen.html):
The 1992 Cable Act established new standards for television broadcast station signal carriage on cable systems. Under these rules, each local commercial television broadcast station was given the option of selecting mandatory carriage ("must-carry") or retransmission consent ("may carry") for each cable system serving the same market as the commercial television station...

...Every three years, every local commercial television station has the right to elect either must-carry or retransmission consent. The initial election was made on June 17, 1993, and was effective on October 6, 1993. The next election occurred on October 1, 1996, and was effective January 1, 1997. All subsequent elections will occur every three years (October 1 1999, to be effective January 1, 2000; October 1, 2002, to be effective January 1, 2003; etc.).

Generally, if a local commercial television station elects must-carry status, it is entitled to insist on cable carriage in its local market. Each cable system with more than 12 channels must set aside up to one-third of its channel capacity for must-carry stations. For example, if a cable system has 60 channels, it must set aside 20 of those channels for must-carry stations. If there are 25 stations in the market which elected must-carry, the cable operator may choose 20 to carry. On the other hand, if only 15 stations elected must-carry in the market, the cable system would have to carry all 15 of these stations. A must-carry station has a statutory right to a channel position, usually its over-the-air channel number, or another channel number on which it has historically been carried...

...A cable system is not permitted to carry a commercial station without the station's consent. Therefore, if the local commercial television station elects retransmission consent, the cable system must obtain that station's consent prior to carrying or transmitting its signal. Except for "superstations," a cable system may not carry the signal of any television broadcast station that is not located in the same market as the cable system without that broadcaster's consent. Superstations are transmitted via satellite, usually nationwide, and the cable system may carry such stations outside their local market without their consent. The negotiations between a television station and a cable system are private agreements which may, but need not, include some form of compensation to the television station such as money, advertising time or additional channel access.

Interestingly, most NYC area broadcast stations have declared themselves as "may carry," rather than "must carry." They can then demand that the cable carriers pay them in exchange for the right to carry their signals. This works especially well for the network affiliates. Remember the bad press TWC got a few years ago when their right to carry WABC expired?

So, in this case, it's the market, not the FCC that mandates that TWC MUST carry local broadcast stations...
-JMP

They shouldn’t worry about our smarts. They should just concern themselves with giving us better service—including more channels.
True enough, but what they *should* do and what they will do are 2 entirely different things!

;-)

Naahh... I think you’re giving the Keystone Cops, AKA bumbling idiots, AKA TWC, too much credit. I doubt that this anomaly discovered here is cause for concern. They shouldn’t worry about our smarts. They should just concern themselves with giving us better service—including more channels.

I dont know what to do? Should I email Mr. Watson and risk them pulling UPN off 709 or just stay quiet and have it as a hidden channel?

got 2 views on it already

I was just watching the Rangers & Devils game on FSN (SD) and the announcer mentioned that FSN was available in HD "ON CABLE TV". I thought they used to say "available on IO Digital Cable". Things are looking good, We just might be geting these HD feeds next week after all.

I hear TWC Firmware updates in San diego
has taken place. check out the link

http://hdtv.forsandiego.com/messages/2/3914.html?1127867590

AndyHDTV, thanks alot for the info!!!!

I dont know what to do? Should I email Mr. Watson and risk them pulling UPN off 709 or just stay quiet and have it as a hidden channel?

got 2 views on it already

Send the email and make sure you put in big bold red blinking font that you and many others on AVSForum will be royally pissed off if they take it off diag. So much so, we just might make a stop on front of the Time Warner bldg. with Anti Bob signs marching to his office and make terroristic demands to reinitiate channel 709. Nothing stops me from watching Veronica Mars in HD! NOTHING! MUHAHAHAHA!

Uh, so what were we talking about?

Can we discuss Yanks/Sox on Friday.... UPN usually has the Friday night Yanks games. ESPN also has the game. So will ESPN HD be blocked by UPN? Any chance if that's the case we can get the Friday night game in HD through the much discussed 709?

I'm assuming Fox and YES will take care of my HD needs on for games 2 & 3 of the series.


So as far as I can tell, the two biggest games of the baseball season, thus far, will not be in HD.

What the crap?

Friday night’s Bosox / Yankees game will be on UPN.
UPN does not cover their games in HD. Regardless of whether we get 709 legitimately or surreptitiously via diagnostics- it aint HD.

Now I know that the Boston network has full HD coverage for their local games the same as YES. It would be great if a deal could be worked out in time.

And the Fox game on Saturday is not listed in HD and there is no reason to think otherwise since they probably will be focusing their HD gear towards the football coverage.

Sunday’s game is on YES, so that will be HD.

Has anyone here had their box firmware upgraded? According to that post it looks like they've (finally) addressed the HDMI/5.1 digital audio issue in the new fw.

I can't check b/c my theater is out of commission for a spell :(

TM

Has anyone here had their box firmware upgraded? According to that post it looks like they've (finally) addressed the HDMI/5.1 digital audio issue in the new fw.

I can't check b/c my theater is out of commission for a spell :(

TM
Are they doing the firmware updates in NYC? That post above mentioned San Diego.

NYC is usually last on TWC's list when it comes to updates, new equipment, anything important. So, if they are doing San Diego now, we should be lucky if we get an update 6 months from now :(.

Is anybody getting the Yankee game on 708? All I am getting is a grey screen (on both my 8300HDs)?

Is anybody getting the Yankee game on 708? All I am getting is a grey screen (on both my 8300HDs)?
Wasn't on when the game started (no pre-game either), but the game just came on in HD (708).

-Terry

Never mind-it just came up.

Just saw the guide for WED and I did't see hockey on INHD or INHD2, so maybe we wont be getting the OLN-HD feed on those channels.


http://www.inhd.com/schedules/schedules.jsp

At least there's Hockey on HDNet later that night.

Is anybody getting the Yankee game on 708? All I am getting is a grey screen (on both my 8300HDs)?

:eek:
I had the same temporary horror last night too, freaking me out big time.

I called TWCS, ha, needed some light humor to clam me down. They said, “The YES network was up and running, it must be your problem.” They scheduled a house call, ha.

I started to watch the game on channel 30 and tried to leave 708 in the PIP box to see if and when it would be back on, but for some reason the PIP box was somehow switching to channel 1. So, I went upstairs to my bedroom set and put 708 on really loud, (to hope to hear it come back on). Went back to the living room to watch it on channel 30, moments later the set upstairs was blasting. I was happy.

One other unrelated rant-
The Bosox / Jays game was in SD on ESPN HD?? What the heck??
This was crap for the obvious reasons but also because the SD ESPN channel was delayed more than the ESPN HD channel. If I kept the SD ESPN in my PIP box, I had a full screen picture filling the PIP box but it was several steps behind. This was too much of a distraction because the Yankee announcers were commenting on the Sox game moments before I saw it in the PIP.
So, if I put the HD ESPN channel in the PIP box, it was synched fine but I had the damn ESPN HD side bars in the pip box- very annoying. This only reminded me that the game was not in HD.

I know, I know, this should be my biggest problem in life. Thank God my wife is into the same sports.

How often (% wise) are the ESPN baseball games NOT in HD?

TWC Direct connect to tuner shows UPN to be channel 1-9, what's the channel for WB HD? Does anyone know?

TWC Direct connect to tuner shows UPN to be channel 1-9, what's the channel for WB HD? Does anyone know?

I did a rescan of all digital channels 2 nights ago and could not find WB HD. I manually tried 1.11 and there was no signal there either.

How often (% wise) are the ESPN baseball games NOT in HD?

During the regular season, the ESPN exclusive games (Sunday night) are always in HD. Some of their Monday and Wednesday night games are in HD, but it seems like at least half are not. Of course, the games other than their Sunday night games are all subject to blackout in the local markets, which significantly diminishes the viewer base for most games during most of the season (this week being the exception).

It looks as though ESPN and Fox will broadcast all of the MLB post-season in HDTV, except for one date where Fox is carrying two games, so the out of region one will be on FX. There are a few instances where we'll miss out on an HD game because ESPN will be carrying one on ESPNHD and another on ESPN2HD...
-JMP

MSG in HD!!!

Those with QAM tuners go to 87.3 right now!! Rangers vs. Islanders.

MSG in HD!!!

Those with QAM tuners go to 87.3 right now!! Rangers vs. Islanders.

You have got to be @#$%& kidding me! They wait until the baseball season is in its last week, and THEN add MSG-HD?

They'd better work out a way to carry 162 Mets games in HD next year, including whatever Fox wants to carry. After 5 years of listening to announcements that the games are being broadcast in HD, it's the least they can do for us Mets fans.
-JMP

I have heard from a source that TWCNY and CV have worked out a deal. The deal involves NY1 en espnaol being available in CV and News12 Brooklyn being available in TWC Brooklyn. I believe the deal also worked out the issues for MSG-HD and FSN-HD. They should be up any day now.

I hope my source is true

MSG in HD!!!

Those with QAM tuners go to 87.3 right now!! Rangers vs. Islanders.

I missed the live game. I saw the rebroadcast at 11 on 87.3 on my tuner.
It looked like an upconverted 4x3 video that was slightly stretched.

I think the next game is Sunday, I'll have to tune in LIVE.
and i'll keep checking 727

I missed the live game. I saw the rebroadcast at 11 on 87.3 on my tuner.
It looked like an upconverted 4x3 video that was slightly stretched.

I think the next game is Sunday, I'll have to tune in LIVE.
and i'll keep checking 727


True, the replay late last night was in 4:3. But there was no doubt that when it was live it was in 16:9, 1080i. The PQ was fantastic.

Funny, I saw the MSG game live on the Disc HD channel last night. I hate sports so I quickly turned the channel... :p

It was a surprise to me since I was trying to tune in to see what's going to be on Disc HD.

I seem to now be getting MSG HD on 712 (HD Specials-guide says "No Programming Available"), but no sound.
It's a start.

I seem to now be getting MSG HD on 712 (HD Specials-guide says "No Programming Available"), but no sound.
It's a start.

Yes....MSG HD is on 712. This channel didn't exist yesterday, we just had HD Specials on 708.

Yes....MSG HD is on 712. This channel didn't exist yesterday, we just had HD Specials on 708.

Do you have sound on 712?

I just read that the Yankees-Boston game tonight is on ESPNHD (channel 725). Is this true?

I just read that the Yankees-Boston game tonight is on ESPNHD (channel 725). Is this true?

According to the NY Times tv schedule, they have the White Sox / Indians game listed for ESPN. This would make sense and be better since if it were to be the Yankees game on ESPN, we wouldn't get it. It would be subject to blackout restrictions. I hope, I hope I hope that the Yankees game tonight is in HD but all indications are that it won’t be.

Do you have sound on 712?

Yeah, got sound on 712...

The guide is still saying no programming available however. I wonder if we're gonna receive FSNY HD as well?

According to the NY Times tv schedule, they have the White Sox / Indians game listed for ESPN. This would make sense and be better since if it were to be the Yankees game on ESPN, we wouldn't get it. It would be subject to blackout restrictions. I hope, I hope I hope that the Yankees game tonight is in HD but all indications are that it won’t be.

The ESPN broadcast will be blacked out anyway. Also, the game isn't being broadcast in HD by ESPN.

The ESPN broadcast will be blacked out anyway. Also, the game isn't being broadcast in HD by ESPN.


I know, I thought I just said that, maybe you were responding to Maurice2?

I know, I thought I just said that, maybe you were responding to Maurice2?

Sorry...Yeah, I meant to reply to the previous guy.

just a quick newbie question here....ive tried to read as much of the 175+ pages on this thread.....
does TWC cable offer a HD box that has HDMI and is NOT a DVR???? i just want a plain ole cable box with no gizmos on it. thanks vm!!!!

Yeah, got sound on 712...

The guide is still saying no programming available however. I wonder if we're gonna receive FSNY HD as well?

Interesting about the sound. As soon as you said you had it, I went back and checked-and I am not getting any DIGITAL sound-but if I switch my receiver to the analog sound outputs of the 8300HD, I have sound. Only a very few channels are like that-and 712 is the only HD one that I have to switch like that. Not a big deal, just very strange.

I have a SA 8300 HD hooked up to my Plasma and an eyeTV500 QAM HD tuner hooked up to my Mac. I usually rue watching the Yankees on Fridays on UPN 9 as their SD PQ is awful but last night I came across an HD version of UPN 9 on my eyeTV 500. It it 1080i and I was wondering if anyone else had seen this? Is there anyway to tune this new HD UPN on my cable box?

-Jerry C.

I have a SA 8300 HD hooked up to my Plasma and an eyeTV500 QAM HD tuner hooked up to my Mac. I usually rue watching the Yankees on Fridays on UPN 9 as their SD PQ is awful but last night I came across an HD version of UPN 9 on my eyeTV 500. It it 1080i and I was wondering if anyone else had seen this? Is there anyway to tune this new HD UPN on my cable box?

-Jerry C.

If you see the above postings, it is mentioned you can get HD UPN by putting the box in diagnostic mode and tuning to 709.

Do I get to channel 727 MSG HD by going into diag mode too?

Do I get to channel 727 MSG HD by going into diag mode too?

Just turn to channel 712.......MSG HD

Is the Yankee game showing in UPN9 showing it in HD?

Is the Yankee game showing in UPN9 showing it in HD?

No, it's in SD. How do you exit this Diag Mode.

No, it's in SD. How do you exit this Diag Mode.
Power off and back on.

And, is anyone else in Staten Island having luck with 709 and/or 711 in diagnostic mode? While I am able to tune to them all I am getting now is a grey screen with no audio on both.

Power off and back on.

And, is anyone else in Staten Island having luck with 709 and/or 711 in diagnostic mode? While I am able to tune to them all I am getting now is a grey screen with no audio on both.
Same here...

Is anyone having a problem with HBO HD?
I loose the picture every night between 2am and 4am.
Blank gray screen or frozen picture.
701 and 208.
No problem with the sound.

Watching Yankee game on Fox... seems like the sound is out of sync with the video. Is anyone else experiencing this, or is it something to do with my box? If its my box, how do you reset? I have the Pioneer 3150, I think.

Thanks

Looks like its the feed. The COMMERCIALS are fine. But when the game is on, the audio is obviously a second or two ahead of the video. Ugh. This is annoying.

Watching Yankee game on Fox... seems like the sound is out of sync with the video. Is anyone else experiencing this, or is it something to do with my box? If its my box, how do you reset? I have the Pioneer 3150, I think.

Thanks

It's a FOX problem. If you noticed when they go to commercial the sound/video sync is fine.

Yes....MSG HD is on 712. This channel didn't exist yesterday, we just had HD Specials on 708.

Confirming MSG HD on channel 712 in Staten Island!!!!! Am I dreaming??? I thought this day would never come!!! Thank you TWC and Bob Watson!! Can FSNY HD be far behind??

Confirming MSG HD on channel 712 in Staten Island!!!!! Am I dreaming??? I thought this day would never come!!! Thank you TWC and Bob Watson!! Can FSNY HD be far behind??

AWESOME. So this means Knicks games in HD this fall!

When is TWC gonna get UPN and WB HD. I dont have HD extra package, so when Giants are on ESPN, I have to watch in SD. Yuck.

Is the Yankees game on fox in 480p or 720p? It dosn't look too hot on my DLP display - at least the views of the batter from behind the pitcher. Looks better on my LCD but still not as good as it should look.

Is the Yankees game on fox in 480p or 720p? It dosn't look too hot on my DLP display - at least the views of the batter from behind the pitcher. Looks better on my LCD but still not as good as it should look.
480p upconverted to 720p

480p upconverted to 720p

That makes me feel better. Thought there was some issue w/ my display. Pretty pathetic that they can't move some HD cameras to Boston to cover this game.

AWESOME. So this means Knicks games in HD this fall!

When is TWC gonna get UPN and WB HD. I dont have HD extra package, so when Giants are on ESPN, I have to watch in SD. Yuck.


sign up for the HD package, you don't have HD unless you have INHD, HDNET and ESPN HD, why wouldn't you spend a little bit more to get them all in HD?

Odd, New Yorkers spend 10 bucks for a drink but won't spend it for something useful, weird ass city. :)

Anyone notice channel 720 today? HD Pay Per View! Its showing up in the guide and all but there arent any choices available for purchase yet.

sign up for the HD package, you don't have HD unless you have INHD, HDNET and ESPN HD, why wouldn't you spend a little bit more to get them all in HD?

Odd, New Yorkers spend 10 bucks for a drink but won't spend it for something useful, weird ass city. :)
10 bucks a month for 5 channels that dont always play anything worth watching? That 120 dollars I save at the end of the year can go towards a better investment. The main thing people are paying for with that additional HD teir is ESPN HD but since I hate sports, I dont need to shell out the extra cash for that :D.

wow...great news about MSG-HD. it's like my prayers have finally been answered! the Rangers may suck, but they'll have never looked better!

anyone know if the opening night game in Philly will be in HD on one of the INHD channels...it's supposed to be an OLN exclusive?

They eventually fixed the problem with the Yanks game - sometime in the 2nd inning I think. At one point there was a dropout of a few seconds, and then it was fixed...

Sorry, new here guys, and I've tried to go through previous pages to catch up - I know the Passport-SATA issue has been touched upon before, but I'm wondering how we can make this a reality. We must comprise a huge cluster of viewers in the NY metro area alone. How can we lobby the powers that be to enable that port already??

With so many good 1-hour dramas in HD to keep up with, it's becoming a chore for me to regularly watch and clear the HD of them - I'm sure I'm not the only one. Plus, I am often travelling and if I could only add capacity, I could catch up rather than missing out as I currently do. If only the port was active I would have already put a 400GB on it...

Sorry, new here guys, and I've tried to go through previous pages to catch up - I know the Passport-SATA issue has been touched upon before, but I'm wondering how we can make this a reality. We must comprise a huge cluster of viewers in the NY metro area alone. How can we lobby the powers that be to enable that port already??

With so many good 1-hour dramas in HD to keep up with, it's becoming a chore for me to regularly watch and clear the HD of them - I'm sure I'm not the only one. Plus, I am often travelling and if I could only add capacity, I could catch up rather than missing out as I currently do. If only the port was active I would have already put a 400GB on it...
I talked to a rep last week, she asked a floor manager about the SATA ports. He stated that Explorer 8300 boxes manufactuered on or after July 2005 have active SATA ports.

My 8300HD is from april 05. I would trade it in to try out the SATA but the box is working beautifully. I experiance none of the problems others mention. So I am afriad I may trade up and possibly get a box that gives me more headaches, even though I might have a working SATA.

I think I will hold off a bit, as there is a new Firmware being released on the west coast to update 8300HD's. I am hoping when that update comes over here, maybe it will activate the port finally.

Up until this weekend, non HD digital cable channels (except Food TV) worked on my TV with the 8300HD, now the only channels that get a signal at all are the HD ones. Still works on component though.

Anyone experiencing anything similar?

Up until this weekend, non HD digital cable channels (except Food TV) worked on my TV with the 8300HD, now the only channels that get a signal at all are the HD ones. Still works on component though.

Anyone experiencing anything similar?
Quite a glitch. Only a few locals, and I vaguely recall, the Food channel, are delivered in only analog form while all others are digital (QAM) or digital/analog (both). Not sure if setup menu options (480p, 720p, etc.) would block all the 480i (non-HD) channels from displaying. But before summoning TWC techs I'd want to check both my converter output settings and display input settings. My 1080i CRT RPTV won't display any 480i inputs to its YPbPr, but instead loses all synchronization; some sets might just go blank. Suggest setting the output to 1080i only just for a test. -- John

I just tried to schedule a recording of the yankees on 708 at 2pm, but I'm getting an "unrecordable channel" message. Anybody else having this issue? I guess I'll have to record channel 30 instead.

I just tried to schedule a recording of the yankees on 708 at 2pm, but I'm getting an "unrecordable channel" message. Anybody else having this issue? I guess I'll have to record channel 30 instead.

I'm getting the same message. Strange because I have recorded Yankee games on 708 before.

Their is a Rangers Game on MSG at 5:00, lets tune into 712 to see if it's on.

I'm getting the same message. Strange because I have recorded Yankee games on 708 before.
Yeah me too. I'm going to be out the rest of the day so won't be able to watch the game. Thanks to Ch.9, Fox, and now TWCNYC, I will have seen none of this weekends yanks-sox games in HD. Oh well, there's always the playoffs...

I'm getting the same message. Strange because I have recorded Yankee games on 708 before.

I tried to set up a recording of the game on 708 about an hour ago to see if I could, and had no problem. I also just hit record with the game on, and it let me do so also without a problem.

Really strange!!!

How many times do we get an opportunity to watch the same game on two different HD specs.
After watching the yankees on YES-HD and comparing the PQ to the same game on ESPN-HD I must say that 1080i is better than 720p.

The Mets have formally announced the launch of SportsNet New York. (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-29-2005/0004135060&EDATE=) It will apparently carry 125 Mets games, including HD broadcasts of all home games and select road games. The channel will also have HD studio content, including their morning and evening broadcasts.

It will be very interesting to see if TW, which owns 22% of the new network, will carry it in HD full time, or only when the games are on...
-JMP

Their is a Rangers Game on MSG at 5:00, lets tune into 712 to see if it's on.

Well my 8300HD is recording it...hopefully it's actually on. My first Rangers game in HD. thank you TWC...i won't even complain about why it took so long. i can't even begin to say how much more enjoyable it will be to watch hockey in HD on my 112" screen. :)

Any word yet on the opener in Philly and whether it might be aired on INHD?

Wow! I just ordered TWC today coming from RCN and was happy to read your post in regards to MSG-HD being seen on TWC.

I was pissed off that RCN does not have this channel in HD. I have waited long enough to see Rangers hockey back and I sure as heck want to see them in HD.

Thanks for the good news.

I will have to wait til this Friday for TWC to install, but I will love seeing the hockey season in HD.

I have some questions about the TWC HD broadcasts that are VERy newb - but hopefully some kind soul wil lbe kind enough to answer.. i'll just put them in list form.

#1) Must it be an HD labeled station to get an hd broadcast. If i have something coming through like WB that says (broadcast in HD where available) will it come through in HD or no becuase it is a basic station not labeled as HD.

#2) I thought that all the HD levels were widescreen 480p, 720p, 1080i? Is this erroneous? Why am I seeing broadcasts from teh HD channels that appear to be 4:3. On my tv the four settings are side bar, s. stretch, zoom and stretch - I am really confused as to which the native setting is and which broadcasts will run at native mode. I have been watching at side bar and s. stretch, but then some things require zoom (like smallville) or there is a black border all around.

#3) using the 8300HD SA box - how can i make that get out of the equation? Logic would tell me that letting my tv do the adjustments that needed to be made would be the smart way to go. Changing the output formats seems to have ZERO effect on the picture - but at this point i don't know if i am even getting HD broadcasts.

#4) when using s video connection My tv is locked into the setting - it loses all those four choices listed about - this is when it seems that the SA box is doing all the work. Will HDMI be this way? I have an LCD and the bars are Grey which is REALLY annoying - but i want to use the better connections.

Thanks for helping a newb out.

1. You can only get HD through an HD-labelled station. Currently they're in the 701-725 range.

2. The HD stations do not carry 100% HD programming. In fact, generally only primetime shows and sports get carried in HD over the networks. Discovery HD and the premiums will be HD all the time (though sometimes in 4:3, as evidenced by Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage on HBO).

3. See #4. You're not getting HD signals. But as a general rule of thumb, you should enable all display options and let your TV do the conversion process as it undoubtedly has a better scaler than the 8300.

4. You're not getting HD signals. HD can only be carried over Component, HDMI or DVI. S-Video maxes out at 480i, so that's what every channel will be converted to before heading to your TV. Some channels when displaying 4:3 material broadcast grey bars (like CBS). There are tricks around it, but they generally involve futzing with your TV settings. Do some searches for your specific model TV.

I've done a search on this site, but I guess I'm not putting in the proper "keywords".

I'm a 8300HD DVR user (for the most part I am happy with the unit). I am trying to figure out if there is a way to set the 8300HD up to tape scheduled shaws past their time slot? For example, the new show "Extras" on HBO went a few minutes past the hour last night, so I missed the ending. Also, there have been a few shows on SpikeTV that start 5-minutes past the hour and end 5 past, so the end does not get recorded also. How can I fix this?

Once again I apologize if this has been talked about already...I couldn't find anything searching this forum.

Thanks for the help,
K

10 bucks a month for 5 channels that dont always play anything worth watching? That 120 dollars I save at the end of the year can go towards a better investment. The main thing people are paying for with that additional HD teir is ESPN HD but since I hate sports, I dont need to shell out the extra cash for that :D.

Actually, the main think I'm paying the extra money for the HD Tier is for the HDNet duo of channels -- they have tons of interesting & varied programming each month -- really superb movies on the HDNet Movie Channel (the full spectrum ranging from classics to action films to recent indie flicks, and even recently "day and date" premieres with movies in the theatre -- they had one last Friday), excellent music programming (rock, jazz, country, classical, and everything inbetween), news features, travel shows, etc.

HDNet & HDNet Movies make the HDExtra package worth every cent for the non-sports fan. INHD2 has an occasional interesting film or music program, but not nearly on the scale of HDNet, which has stuff I like to watch almost daily.

Scott

I've done a search on this site, but I guess I'm not putting in the proper "keywords".

I'm a 8300HD DVR user (for the most part I am happy with the unit). I am trying to figure out if there is a way to set the 8300HD up to tape scheduled shaws past their time slot? For example, the new show "Extras" on HBO went a few minutes past the hour last night, so I missed the ending. Also, there have been a few shows on SpikeTV that start 5-minutes past the hour and end 5 past, so the end does not get recorded also. How can I fix this?

Once again I apologize if this has been talked about already...I couldn't find anything searching this forum.

Thanks for the help,
K
Yes. Go to the guide and highlight a show you have scheduled to record. Hit the record button, select "record options", and set the end time to go over however many minuted you want.

I've done a search on this site, but I guess I'm not putting in the proper "keywords".

I'm a 8300HD DVR user (for the most part I am happy with the unit). I am trying to figure out if there is a way to set the 8300HD up to tape scheduled shaws past their time slot? For example, the new show "Extras" on HBO went a few minutes past the hour last night, so I missed the ending. Also, there have been a few shows on SpikeTV that start 5-minutes past the hour and end 5 past, so the end does not get recorded also. How can I fix this?

Once again I apologize if this has been talked about already...I couldn't find anything searching this forum.

Thanks for the help,
K
You can setup manual recordings for stations that screw up the time slots. You press list I beleive, and then press the record button, and the option will come up to make a manual recording.

I do this for "ER" as for some reason it has to start at 9:59 instead of 10:00 so if I tried to schedule it normally I cant is I am taping 2 channels from the hour before. So I set a manual recording for channel 707, thursday, 10:00 PM and it catches it every week, maybe missing a little from the beginning but since thats usually a recap from the week before its not a problem.


Actually, the main think I'm paying the extra money for the HD Tier is for the HDNet duo of channels -- they have tons of interesting & varied programming each month -- really superb movies on the HDNet Movie Channel (the full spectrum ranging from classics to action films to recent indie flicks, and even recently "day and date" premieres with movies in the theatre -- they had one last Friday), excellent music programming (rock, jazz, country, classical, and everything inbetween), news features, travel shows, etc.

HDNet & HDNet Movies make the HDExtra package worth every cent for the non-sports fan. INHD2 has an occasional interesting film or music program, but not nearly on the scale of HDNet, which has stuff I like to watch almost daily.

Scott


I looked at the HDnet channels a few times and never really saw anything that caught my interest. But, being that I dont have them I do not look at the guide for them very often. It sucks that TWC doesnt let you order certain channels anymore, just packages. I remember back in the 90's you could order Just HBO, Just Showtime, etc. Now you have to order packages to get them otherwise they charge just as much for the single channels, lol.

I recorded, on my 8300, CSI and With Out a Trace last Thursday 9PM to 11PM. I watched WOT and the recording was fine, started and ended the way it’s supposed to- on time. I deleted it after viewing.

Yesterday I watched the CSI episode. The recording ended 7 minutes before the actual ending- 9:53 PM. Boy is that annoying. No idea why or how this happened. That night I was watching a baseball game, there were no re boots or any unusual occurrences. If I would have looked at the “recording guide” before I played CSI, I would’ve seen the error in the time recorded, and saved my self the time and aggravation.

Never had this happened before, though plenty of times shows are recorded with lost beginnings or missed endings but that’s always do to changed start times. One obscure example is Stankervision, on MTV 2, (very funny, albeit sophomoric), never is on the exact times that it’s listed in the guide.

This is my first post season with HD. Question, can I count on ESPN and Fox doing all their games in HD in the postseason? And I guessing there's no way to access ESPN2 in HD for when the games switch over there, right?

This is my first post season with HD. Question, can I count on ESPN and Fox doing all their games in HD in the postseason? And I guessing there's no way to access ESPN2 in HD for when the games switch over there, right?

To answer your question, and my apologies to the non sports fans with this off topic post.. here is a posting from fedefa ( or whatever that dude's called) from another thread.

Here, from HD Sports Guide is the MLB playoff schedule.

(All time Eastern. All games are in HD.)

10/4/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 1:00 PM ESPNHD
10/4/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 4:00 PM ESPNHD
10/4/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/5/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 1:00 PM ESPNHD
10/5/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 4:00 PM ESPNHD
10/5/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 8:00 PM ESPNHD
10/6/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 4:00 PM ESPN2HD
10/6/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/7/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 4:00 PM ESPN2HD
10/8/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 1:00 PM ESPN2HD
10/8/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 1:00 PM ESPNHD
10/8/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 4:00 PM FOX HD
10/8/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD) 7:30 PM FOX HD
10/9/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary)(Time TBD) 12:00 PM ESPN2HD
10/9/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary)(Time TBD) 12:00 PM ESPNHD
10/9/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary)(Time TBD) 12:01 PM ESPNHD
10/9/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 7:30 PM FOX HD
10/10/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 4:00 PM FOX HD
10/10/2005 MLB Division Series (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/11/2005 MLB American League Championship Series - Game 1 (Teams TBD) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/12/2005 MLB American League Championship Series - Game 2 (Teams TBD)(Split-National Coverage w/ out of Region Game available on FX (not in HD)) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/12/2005 MLB National League Championship Series - Game 1 (Teams TBD)(Split-National Coverage w/ out of Region Game available on FX (not in HD)) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/13/2005 MLB National League Championship Series - Game 2 (Teams TBD) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/14/2005 MLB American League Championship Series - Game 3 (Teams TBD) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/15/2005 MLB National League Championship Series - Game 3 (Teams TBD) 4:00 PM FOX HD
10/15/2005 MLB American League Championship Series - Game 4 (Teams TBD) 7:30 PM FOX HD
10/16/2005 MLB American League Championship Series - Game 5 (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 4:00 PM FOX HD
10/16/2005 MLB National League Championship Series - Game 4 (Teams TBD) 7:30 PM FOX HD
10/17/2005 MLB National League Championship Series - Game 5 (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/18/2005 MLB American League Championship Series - Game 6 (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/19/2005 MLB National League Championship Series - Game 6 (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 4:00 PM FOX HD
10/19/2005 MLB American League Championship Series - Game 7 (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/20/2005 MLB National League Championship Series - Game 7 (Teams TBD)(If Necessary) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/22/2005 MLB World Series - American League City - Game 1 7:30 PM FOX HD
10/23/2005 MLB World Series - American League City - Game 2 7:30 PM FOX HD
10/25/2005 MLB World Series - National League City - Game 3 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/26/2005 MLB World Series - National League City - Game 4 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/27/2005 MLB World Series - National League City - Game 5 (If Necessary) 8:00 PM FOX HD
10/29/2005 MLB World Series - American League City - Game 6 (If Necessary) 7:30 PM FOX HD
10/30/2005 MLB World Series - American League City - Game 7 (If Necessary) 7:30 PM FOX HD

http://www.hdsportsguide.com/mlb.php

And I guessing there's no way to access ESPN2 in HD for when the games switch over there, right?


TWCNY does not give us ESPN 2 in HD, yet, so there is no way to get it.

And I guess this schedule that I just posted is subject to change. I just noticed that Wednesday’s Yankee game is listed in today’s paper as being on at 10:00 PM, not 8 PM. :eek: That sucks for East coast viewers.

Guess who's going to the game this friday :D? It'll be so high def it'll be like looking out a window ;) without the window!!!

TM

TWCNY does not give us ESPN 2 in HD, yet, so there is no way to get it.

And I guess this schedule that I just posted is subject to change. I just noticed that Wednesday’s Yankee game is listed in today’s paper as being on at 10:00 PM, not 8 PM. :eek: That sucks for East coast viewers.

well maybe for those of us who aren't hockey fans...but i'll be ready to watch the yanks after opening day action of the Rangers in Philly. still don't know if the hockey game will be in HD, but i'm hoping.

I talked to a rep last week, she asked a floor manager about the SATA ports. He stated that Explorer 8300 boxes manufactuered on or after July 2005 have active SATA ports.

My 8300HD is from april 05. I would trade it in to try out the SATA but the box is working beautifully. I experiance none of the problems others mention. So I am afriad I may trade up and possibly get a box that gives me more headaches, even though I might have a working SATA.

I think I will hold off a bit, as there is a new Firmware being released on the west coast to update 8300HD's. I am hoping when that update comes over here, maybe it will activate the port finally.

Whoah whoah hold the phone - this is for the 8300HD with TWC-NYC??? I have not seen PASSPORT compatability with the SATA port ANYWHERE - what region was this rep?

Whoah whoah hold the phone - this is for the 8300HD with TWC-NYC??? I have not seen PASSPORT compatability with the SATA port ANYWHERE - what region was this rep?
I called the staten island service number.

I am tempted to maybe trade in my 8000 SD for an 8300 HD just to see if the SATA works. My current 8300HD works perfectly, I experiance none of the problems others have posted about here (knock on wood), so I really would rather not trade it in and risk getting one that has other problems. My 8000 on the other hand, is and always will have some bugs, so exchanging it for another possibly buggy STB shouldnt be an issue, lol.

I have to find a good SATA hard drive to test out also. I am thinking ill just get an internal SATA drive and toss it into my firewire/usb 2.0 Hard Disk external case, but just hook it up with a SATA cable instead :D.

I called the staten island service number.

I am tempted to maybe trade in my 8000 SD for an 8300 HD just to see if the SATA works. My current 8300HD works perfectly, I experiance none of the problems others have posted about here (knock on wood), so I really would rather not trade it in and risk getting one that has other problems. My 8000 on the other hand, is and always will have some bugs, so exchanging it for another possibly buggy STB shouldnt be an issue, lol.

I have to find a good SATA hard drive to test out also. I am thinking ill just get an internal SATA drive and toss it into my firewire/usb 2.0 Hard Disk external case, but just hook it up with a SATA cable instead :D.

Is the 718# Staten Island? I just assumed it was Queens of Brooklyn -

I just had my 8300HD replaced a few weeks ago so I'm assuming I have a new one, anyone know how to check it??

Again this is the first I'm hearing that Passport will see it...

Is the 718# Staten Island? I just assumed it was Queens of Brooklyn -

I just had my 8300HD replaced a few weeks ago so I'm assuming I have a new one, anyone know how to check it??

Again this is the first I'm hearing that Passport will see it...
I would imagine the sticker on the back of the unit will say the manufacturing date. If it is on or after July 2005 maybe it would be worth you trying out an SATA drive with it.

The number I called was (718) 816-8686 is that the same number they give to call from Brooklyn and/or Queens?

last night I tried to tune to MSG-HD (712) and it looks like it has been removed.
anyone else experience this?
anyone still getting MSG-HD?

last night I tried to tune to MSG-HD (712) and it looks like it has been removed.
anyone else experience this?
anyone still getting MSG-HD?

My wife just checked and it's gone :(

My wife just checked and it's gone :(

In-DEED it's gone...and the question now becomes, will it come back, but ONLY for Knicks and Rangers?? One can only hope, because the station was viewable on my Ch 712 all weekend long, with the "MSG" bars on either side of my screen for the non-HD programming. I'm only a little nervous because, i've read absolutely NOTHING about an agreement between MSG and Cablevision about this.

Anyone else shed some light on this?? :confused:

In-DEED it's gone...and the question now becomes, will it come back, but ONLY for Knicks and Rangers?? One can only hope, because the station was viewable on my Ch 712 all weekend long, with the "MSG" bars on either side of my screen for the non-HD programming. I'm only a little nervous because, i've read absolutely NOTHING about an agreement between MSG and Cablevision about this.

Anyone else shed some light on this?? :confused:
My guess: they'll turn it on only when there are HD events taking place (rangers and knicks)

In-DEED it's gone...and the question now becomes, will it come back, but ONLY for Knicks and Rangers?? One can only hope, because the station was viewable on my Ch 712 all weekend long, with the "MSG" bars on either side of my screen for the non-HD programming. I'm only a little nervous because, i've read absolutely NOTHING about an agreement between MSG and Cablevision about this.

Anyone else shed some light on this?? :confused:

When TWC started offering HD, they put the US open on 708 (InHD at the time). When the event was over, they forgot to termiate the feed and we had InHD for a few weeks before they realized it. I'm guessing this might have been a similar case. Although I'm hoping that when hockey and basketball are on, they turn the feed on, similar to 708 / Yankees.

My guess: they'll turn it on only when there are HD events taking place (rangers and knicks)


That’s what I’d wager but I’d feel more comfortable if MSG were designated to a whole new different channel number rather than the supposed PPV channel.

I felt much better with the way YES was originally phased in- first the announcement, then the blank channel.

To enter Diagnostic Mode press and hold the "exit" & "select" botton on your box until "Diag" appears on the box. then enter the channel your curious about.

I just tried this with my SA8300 box....absolutely NOTHING happened. HOw long are you supposed to hold it??

That’s what I’d wager but I’d feel more comfortable if MSG were designated to a whole new different channel number rather than the supposed PPV channel.

me too...plus it makes it a lot easier to record the shows when there are actually program descriptions for them in the channel guide. i guess i can just make a Rangers channel to record them anytime they're on.

Looks like the Rangers vs. Flyers game will be made available in HD, on INHD


http://inhd.com/product.jsp?prodId=38054&mp=cb2&mp=cb2

For those who aren't following the master 8300 thread, check out this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6297748&&#post6297748

Looks like there are going to be some great new features in future versions of Passport including:

1) Disc remaining gauge

2) Ability to filter what channels appear in the IPG - favorites only for example

3) Ability to group shows into folders in the Recorded Programs List

4) A mosaic feature showing what's on numerous channels in little thumbnails

A bunch of others.

Certainly could be a while b/f our cutting edge friends at TW upgrade to this but seems like a major upgrade.

For those who aren't following the master 8300 thread, check out this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6297748&&#post6297748

Looks like there are going to be some great new features in future versions of Passport including:

1) Disc remaining gauge

2) Ability to filter what channels appear in the IPG - favorites only for example

3) Ability to group shows into folders in the Recorded Programs List

4) A mosaic feature showing what's on numerous channels in little thumbnails

A bunch of others.

Certainly could be a while b/f our cutting edge friends at TW upgrade to this but seems like a major upgrade.
Someone should really find a way to do these updates ourselves. For someone with a degree in electronic engineeing how hard could it be to build a device to capture the firmware update from an area currently receiving them, and then another device to trick the device into an auto update once the firmware is downloaded.

I know, its just wishfull thinking, but I am surprised no body has tried it yet. I mean, every major electronic device that comes out has people making "hacks" and add ons for them, why not STB's :D (and by that I dont mean piracy).

If you go to Thurs. nite at 7PM on ch 712 in the guide, they have the rangers-canadiens game listed.

Looks like the Rangers vs. Flyers game will be made available in HD, on INHD


http://inhd.com/product.jsp?prodId=38054&mp=cb2&mp=cb2

Thanks for the info! You totally made my night...my cousin (diehard Rangers fan like me) is coming over tomorrow to see my projector in action for the first time and to watch the game. Now we'll both really be able to enjoy it...well, the picture at least, as we're probably 2 goal dogs in this one.

Has anyone else had channels 702, 704, and 707 go out at about 9:30 PM ? I was taping a few things and then all of a sudden the channels just cut off. I rebooted the box and tried viewing them again and all I get is a grey screen. 703, 705, and 710 all still work fine.

I lost them also. Still getting a gray screen.

Has anyone else had channels 702, 704, and 707 go out at about 9:30 PM ? I was taping a few things and then all of a sudden the channels just cut off. I rebooted the box and tried viewing them again and all I get is a grey screen. 703, 705, and 710 all still work fine.

I'll third that.. (Staten Island) Thought it was my DVR... Wife's mad, lost Closer to Home and SVU.. Still out as of 11:10pm

Out here on Upper West Side of Manhattan too as of 11:40 - no 702, 704 or 707 - just a gray screen.

I'll third that.. (Staten Island) Thought it was my DVR... Wife's mad, lost Closer to Home and SVU.. Still out as of 11:10pm
I was trying to catch that Close to Home also but all I got was an hour of grey screen :(.

Did anyone also notice, not only was there no audio/video but the DVR also got very sluggish when going to those channels? I thought it froze a couple of times but it came out of it eventually.

I also got locked out of 702,704,707.
tuning to one of these channels takes a long time before you can tune out of them too.
It didnt record my SVU :(

Same problem here (Manhattan UES). The SD versions of the channels worked fine. Fortunately Fox was unaffected so I could watch the Yanks in HD. Baseball is painfull to watch in SD once you've seen it in HD.

I just tried this with my SA8300 box....absolutely NOTHING happened. HOw long are you supposed to hold it??
For diagnostics mode: Find that holding down EXIT and SELECT several seconds works. DIAG appears on the 8300HD. Press EXIT and SELECT again, briefly, and my 8300HD tunes to the diagnostic channel number 1999. Tapping in 1999 should work, too.

[Called TWC yesterday regarding billing and they had a brief recorded message while waiting warning of service disruptions. That might account for the 9:59 pm start/9.59 pm end, with a gray screen, for my recording attempt with CBS's "Close to Home."] -- John

This game is listed for regular MSG...anyone have any idea if it's on MSG HD? Or if we'll even get that channel tonight? Can't find that anywhere....712...727...nada.

Still hoping for FSN HD...

Anyone hear/see anything?

I also got locked out of 702,704,707.
tuning to one of these channels takes a long time before you can tune out of them too.
It didnt record my SVU :(

those channels was not working even on my tv tuner, i was getting Fox-HD

This game is listed for regular MSG...anyone have any idea if it's on MSG HD? Or if we'll even get that channel tonight? Can't find that anywhere....712...727...nada.

Still hoping for FSN HD...

Anyone hear/see anything?

prob. wont get the HD feed for this, being a Islander away game.

Jeez, can I just say again how absolutely desperate I am for them to have FSNY HD and MSG HD

[QUOTE=John Mason]For diagnostics mode: Find that holding down EXIT and SELECT several seconds works. DIAG appears on the 8300HD. Press EXIT and SELECT again, briefly, and my 8300HD tunes to the diagnostic channel number 1999. Tapping in 1999 should work, too.


=============
Thanks for your help, BUT...FWIW, the diag mode function is definitely =NOT= working for me. I've tried several times, following your directions to the letter, but not a THING is changing on the 8300 box. No big deal, however.....i'll wait till UPN 9 eventually comes on in hi def thru the "normal" channels, probably in 2007. :confused:

Thanks for your help, BUT...FWIW, the diag mode function is definitely =NOT= working for me. I've tried several times, following your directions to the letter, but not a THING is changing on the 8300 box. No big deal, however.....i'll wait till UPN 9 eventually comes on in hi def thru the "normal" channels, probably in 2007. :confused:[/QUOTE]

MikeM1, Excuse the question but just to make sure---

You are attempting this action on the box, not on the remote?

Got two of these yesterday. One had 2 firewire ports, the other had none. The installer did not know if the firewire, or more importantly, the HDMI and SATA ports were enabled by TWC-NYC software. Anyone know?

those channels was not working even on my tv tuner, i was getting Fox-HD


Those three HD local channels were out in Queens too last night, never checked to see if they’re back today, are they?

I too was very pleased that FOX was not down. Maybe TW brains were reshuffling the bandwidth around a bit to give us a couple of new channels, :) or, maybe they were gearing up all of that new great sounding Passport software :) EricScott was informing us about.
Naaahhh, probably just some TW exec spilt his kool-aid and gummed up the works. :rolleyes:

Looks like the Rangers vs. Flyers game will be made available in HD, on INHD


http://inhd.com/product.jsp?prodId=38054&mp=cb2&mp=cb2


I hope this game isn't blacked out in NY since we're in the market. Is the game also broadcast on MSG? It is listed on OLN (Channel 721, i think).

Drew

PS: Several HD channels were grey-screened last night! :( :mad:

I hope this game isn't blacked out in NY since we're in the market. Is the game also broadcast on MSG? It is listed on OLN (Channel 721, i think).

Drew

PS: Several HD channels were grey-screened last night! :( :mad:

It shouldn't be drew. INHD is doing nothing but rebroadcasting the OLN "HD" feed.

Has anybody gotten word if the Center Ice package on TWCNYC will be broadcasting games in HD. Supposedly D* and Comcast does this for their customers.

my email to TWC

"From what I've seen this Sunday MSG-HD will be available on HD specials chan. 712. Will FSN-HD be available on HD specials chan. 708 since their is no YES-HD coverage for the month of October?"

reponse

"Thank you for your recent correspondence to Time Warner Cable.
In reference to your inquiry, we are currently testing this channel. As of now we will air certain games and programming but may not carry the channel full time.
We apologize for any inconvenience."

Thanks for your help, BUT...FWIW, the diag mode function is definitely =NOT= working for me. I've tried several times, following your directions to the letter, but not a THING is changing on the 8300 box. No big deal, however.....i'll wait till UPN 9 eventually comes on in hi def thru the "normal" channels, probably in 2007. :confused:

MikeM1, Excuse the question but just to make sure---

You are attempting this action on the box, not on the remote?[/QUOTE]
===================

Hmmmmmmm....i'm =pretty= sure the directions i read on the previous post said to do it from the REMOTE. Are you saying that it has to be done on the box instead?? That's the first time i'm reading that.

MikeM1, Excuse the question but just to make sure---

You are attempting this action on the box, not on the remote?
===================

Hmmmmmmm....i'm =pretty= sure the directions i read on the previous post said to do it from the REMOTE. Are you saying that it has to be done on the box instead?? That's the first time i'm reading that.[/QUOTE]

Yep, do it on the box, this will work. :cool:

===================

Hmmmmmmm....i'm =pretty= sure the directions i read on the previous post said to do it from the REMOTE. Are you saying that it has to be done on the box instead?? That's the first time i'm reading that.

Yep, do it on the box, this will work. :cool:[/QUOTE]
==============
Thanks Larry! :)

I just tried it. Very cool. SO, does this mean, if something is being broadcast on UPN HD i'll be able to see it in diag mode?? Because i definitely just had access to ch 709 for the first time, but there were black bars on either side.

I just tried it. Very cool. SO, does this mean, if something is being broadcast on UPN HD i'll be able to see it in diag mode?? Because i definitely just had access to ch 709 for the first time, but there were black bars on either side.

UPN has HD programming between the hours of 8-10 on certian days, at certian times.

702, 704, and 707 were out for most of last night and all of them came back in various intervals late last night.

UPN has HD programming between the hours of 8-10 on certian days, at certian times.


So we’ve actually had HD programming from UPN available? Pretty cool. I only tried the channel last Friday to watch the Yankees game which looked a little bit better on 709 than on 9.

So we’ve actually had HD programming from UPN available? Pretty cool. I only tried the channel last Friday to watch the Yankees game which looked a little bit better on 709 than on 9.
= = = = = =
I wish i had known this =sooner!=. Oh well, i'll be interested in checking this out. The game =has= to look better on 709 than on ch 9, which normally looks AWFUL on my screen when they do the Yankee games. :(

My recordings of The Office and Commander in Chief crapped out at 9:32pm last night, which I thought was the result of my 8300 being too full to hold any more HD content (Nip/Tuck on FX recorded just fine at 10pm), but I guess it was actually because the channels went grey, based on what you guys are saying. I deleted a whole ton of stuff I wanted to keep awhile longer to free up room for recording Lost, Invasion and Veronica Mars tonight, but maybe I didn't really need to. Oh well...

On the 709 front, I had been able to tune it in simply by hitting 709 with no need to enter diagnostic mode, but as of this morning it's no longer possible. TWC are such big teases...

This is very strange. MSG HD is on 712 in Staten island tonight showing the SD broadcast of the Islander game from Buffalo. Why show an SD game on 712 when the Devils / Penguins game is on FSNY HD?

Is there reason to not stay in diagnostic mode once you're there. Will everything function normally?

Is there reason to not stay in diagnostic mode once you're there. Will everything function normally?

everthing operates fine to my knowledge, but then again i'm no expert.

Got two of these yesterday. One had 2 firewire ports, the other had none. The installer did not know if the firewire, or more importantly, the HDMI and SATA ports were enabled by TWC-NYC software. Anyone know?




DOH! Chewitt - do you have a DVHS deck with a fw input to try archiving HD to tape?

TM

Got two of these yesterday. One had 2 firewire ports, the other had none. The installer did not know if the firewire, or more importantly, the HDMI and SATA ports were enabled by TWC-NYC software. Anyone know?

The HDMI port works, altough there are some issues with 5.1 sound.

the SATA port does not yet work.

I don't know about the Firewire port.

-barry

So, what's the post-mortem on the NY Rangers game in HD on OLN? I wasn't at home so I couldn't check. Was the game carried by INHD, or did TWC use channel 712?

Also, I've got 712 in my guide but when I tune to it, it tells me that it is a subscription service (I last tried this Mon pm). I pay for the HD package and called TWC, but the service rep said that they haven't released that service in my area (upper east side). Should I try again, or are other people seeing the same thing? On other HD channels (ie: 708) I see a gray screen when no programming, so this is definitely being treated differently by my 8300HD, though it may well be something I'm already paying for.

If I use diagnostic mode do people think I can see MSG HD that way?

FYI my cable guide shows the Rangers/Montreal game (at home in MSG) in the program guide for tonight (thurs.) but it is 'unrecordable' for me, most likely b/c TWC has blocked the channel as a subscription service.

Thanks.

So, what's the post-mortem on the NY Rangers game in HD on OLN? I wasn't at home so I couldn't check. Was the game carried by INHD, or did TWC use channel 712?

Thanks.

The game was carried on INHD channel 721.

The game was carried on INHD channel 721.

Yes it was on INHD in glorious HD. I stumbled across it by accident-- the guide listed it as some type of Kung Fu fighting type show, can’t remember the exact name. :D

This is OT from the subject matter, but its related to digital cable. I've been put in charge at my job to get digital service for the building, however when I call they say its not available yet. I'm a bit dumbfounded by this. Ofcourse I can't get a straight answer from the person at TWC, but my question is are commercial cable customers on different lines than residential customers?

Thanks

This is OT from the subject matter, but its related to digital cable. I've been put in charge at my job to get digital service for the building, however when I call they say its not available yet. I'm a bit dumbfounded by this. Ofcourse I can't get a straight answer from the person at TWC, but my question is are commercial cable customers on different lines than residential customers?

Thanks
Sometimes commercial buildings (example, those with large parking lots that are set far back from the street) are too far away from the utility lines to have cables run. That was the case at the retail store I used to work at. The owner asked me to look into broadband options for him. DSL and Satelite were the only options, so we had to go with DSL :(.

We have digital cable in my office (got a nice big TV right next to my desk actually) but for some reason TWC charges rediculous rates for HD boxes for business ... it's not the same as for residential use apparently. Which is a shame because my workplace is literally covered by flat panel LCD televisions (37 inch and 45 inch Sharp Aquos, to be specific).

This is OT from the subject matter, but its related to digital cable. I've been put in charge at my job to get digital service for the building, however when I call they say its not available yet. I'm a bit dumbfounded by this. Ofcourse I can't get a straight answer from the person at TWC, but my question is are commercial cable customers on different lines than residential customers?

Had a Verizon tech here recently for a phone line problem. He mentioned some businesses in the city are now wired with their fiber optics, also being installed into some homes around the country. Perhaps an optional work around to TWC. Verizon has ambitious SD/HD plans--if the publicity pans out. -- John

Thanks for the replys guys. I actually should have mentioned I work on 75th and 5th ave. its a really small company. I'm just surprised that digital TV service is not available for us, considering we're mainly in a residential neighborhood.

John, thanks for that info. Not for my job, but myself. :D Seems like verizon is getting really serious with there fiber network. About time there is some competition for TWC NYC. Some competition is already is starting in Tampa, FL.

DND, I used to do work for TWC as a surveyor in your neighborhood, and as far as I know digital service is available. Does your company own the entire building? Is the structure under Landmark status? The only service you shouldn't be able to recieve is PPV and HBO et al., other than that all channels should be there.

Hi Gary we do own the entire building and I believe its under landmark status.

theres been bandwith changes to add public access and all local UHF channels to digital. Some channels were upgraded from 64QAM to 256QAM.

to the person asking about digital service in commercial, many commercial buildings especially in manhattan still have 550mhz plant and can't accomodate anything other than analog. it's due to access issue, union issues, agreements with building, etc



Those three HD local channels were out in Queens too last night, never checked to see if they’re back today, are they?

I too was very pleased that FOX was not down. Maybe TW brains were reshuffling the bandwidth around a bit to give us a couple of new channels, :) or, maybe they were gearing up all of that new great sounding Passport software :) EricScott was informing us about.
Naaahhh, probably just some TW exec spilt his kool-aid and gummed up the works. :rolleyes:

I would imagine the sticker on the back of the unit will say the manufacturing date. If it is on or after July 2005 maybe it would be worth you trying out an SATA drive with it.

The number I called was (718) 816-8686 is that the same number they give to call from Brooklyn and/or Queens?



that # and 212-358-0900 and 718-358-0900 all go to same place

Hi,

I just called up TWC and they told me that it will cost me $8.95 per month to switch to an HD capable cable box. I thought the switch was free - or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance.

I am a newbie to the HD world. Just got a Panny th42px500u and have it connected to the Pioneer HD box from TWCNY via component video and/or DVI/HMDI adapted. On SD channels the picture quality is VERY poor. I get the 700 - 720 or so in HD, but only 701 HBO HD is of superb quality and most other "HD" channels are pretty poor (= standard at best). Before I call TWC and get into a two week argument, any advise on what I can do to make sure it's not a problem on my end (if it's a problem at all)? Is upgrading to the DVR box (SA8300HD) an option I should explore? The overall experience of watching TV is so bad right now that I am second-guessing this whole endeavor (and it was one with the TV and getting it hung on the wall + all the expense!!)

These questions may have already been addressed in the 180 pages on this thread, but I am unable to locate the answers.

Advise would be highly appreciated.

Is anyone having any issues with HBO HD?
Every night btwn 2AM and 5AM?
Blank gray screen or frozen picture.
No problems with the audio though.

Antoher thing:
Last night though, even analog channels were freezing.
It's like you pushed the pause button for 5 seconds.
Maybe the weather.

Hi,

I just called up TWC and they told me that it will cost me $8.95 per month to switch to an HD capable cable box. I thought the switch was free - or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance.

Do you currently have digital or standard service? There is no charge for switching from a digital STB to an HD STB. There is a charge for upgrading standard service to digital.

Hope this helps...JL

twcinsider, thanks for that info.

"Is anyone having any issues with HBO HD?
Every night btwn 2AM and 5AM?
Blank gray screen or frozen picture.
No problems with the audio though.

Antoher thing:
Last night though, even analog channels were freezing.
It's like you pushed the pause button for 5 seconds.
Maybe the weather."

What I have noticed the past few nights, some channels look a bit fuzzy or there is some noise that usually isn't there. It reminds not too long before my area was upgraded to DTV service, I used to see some channels like this. A bit surprised I'm seeing it again.

I am a newbie to the HD world. Just got a Panny th42px500u and have it connected to the Pioneer HD box from TWCNY via component video and/or DVI/HMDI adapted. On SD channels the picture quality is VERY poor. I get the 700 - 720 or so in HD, but only 701 HBO HD is of superb quality and most other "HD" channels are pretty poor (= standard at best).
Welcome to the forums. Likely additional details and advice can be found in the flat panels forum and HD recorder/players forum if you get a 8300HD. Recall an earlier post(s) here suggesting the Pioneer wasn't very good with SD, while others claim it's better than the 8300HD for HD. The outdated 8000HD, I found, has less output resolution (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5175424#post5175424) (890 lines) than your panel maximums (1024X768).

The SD channels need to be upconverted for your display and the HD channels downconverted. It takes some experimenting to see what converter output settings (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i ) provide the best images, or whether to feed 480i, 720p, and 1080i out, as received, and let the Panny do all the upscaling/downscaling. It's best to minimize this scaling because the process can degrade image quality, especially if it's performed twice, once by the converter then again by the display.

If the Panny has inverse telecine, which extracts 24-fps movie frames and displays them at 48, 60, or 72 fps, that might account for HBO HD looking good, although other HD/SD movie channels should, too. Circuits that deinterlace 1080i video, as opposed to 24-fps movies, might not do as good a job. But other SD and HD channels should appear okay, especially premium movie channels. Comparisons with images on other more conventional displays should provide clues whether various settings and upscaling/downscaling is creating problems. HDMI should provide an all-digital setup with a plasma, but consider using only YPbPr (analog) if it looks better. -- John

Thanks SRFast !

Welcome to the forums. [...]
The SD channels need to be upconverted for your display and the HD channels downconverted. It takes some experimenting to see what converter output settings (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i ) provide the best images, or whether to feed 480i, 720p, and 1080i out, as received, and let the Panny do all the upscaling/downscaling. It's best to minimize this scaling because the process can degrade image quality, especially if it's performed twice, once by the converter then again by the display. [...]
-- John

Thanks John. Is the upconversion something that I need to do at the STB level? Thanks again.

Is there any way to keep my cable box on after a cable reset? Every few days I notice that it is off, and my previously scheduled programs did not record.

theres been bandwith changes to add public access and all local UHF channels to digital. Some channels were upgraded from 64QAM to 256QAM.

I'm not that knowledgeable about stuff like this, but does that mean that our DTV boxes are now displaying every single channel digitally? opposed to some analog and some digital?

I'm not that knowledgeable about stuff like this, but does that mean that our DTV boxes are now displaying every single channel digitally? opposed to some analog and some digital?There are still some analog channels, and many others are still analog but go through "digital encoding."

Thanks John. Is the upconversion something that I need to do at the STB level? Thanks again.
If you select only 1080i output from a STB, then 480i SD signals and 720p Hd wojld be upconverted to 1080i, only to be downconverted to 1024X768 by the panel. Experimenting might show it's better to output all signals as delivered and have the panel upconvert or downconvert. -- John

I'm not that knowledgeable about stuff like this, but does that mean that our DTV boxes are now displaying every single channel digitally? opposed to some analog and some digital?
A few years back I logged data from the diagnostics mode for ~50 channels, finding that 21, 25, and a few other UHFs and perhaps the Food channel, were 'switched analog', meaning unlike all channels viewed with digital converters delivered as 64 or 256 QAM (digital modulation), they were still analog--about the same signal you see with a direct cable connection to a NTSC tuner. Sounds like they've all been converted to QAM delivery, but getting into diagnostics would confirm particular channels. Unfortunately, since they hog lots of bandwidth that could be used for new HD, lots of analog channels--at 6-MHz bandwidth each--are still being delivered, too, to customers without digital STBs. -- John

A few years back I logged data from the diagnostics mode for ~50 channels, finding that 21, 25, and a few other UHFs and perhaps the Food channel, were 'switched analog', meaning unlike all channels viewed with digital converters delivered as 64 or 256 QAM (digital modulation), they were still analog--about the same signal you see with a direct cable connection to a NTSC tuner. Sounds like they've all been converted to QAM delivery, but getting into diagnostics would confirm particular channels. Unfortunately, since they hog lots of bandwidth that could be used for new HD, lots of analog channels--at 6-MHz bandwidth each--are still being delivered, too, to customers without digital STBs. -- John

It boils my blood when I walk into certain bars and pizzerias and see those old analog general instument boxes. Those people are keeping more HD channels from being added.

It boils my blood when I walk into certain bars and pizzerias and see those old analog general instument boxes. Those people are keeping more HD channels from being added.

...there are things that TWC can do to for those customers to make it worth their while to upgrade to digital service -- how about removing the $9.95 fee for digital service and forcing even "Standard Service" customers to use the digital boxes -- i.e. anyone who has those old boxes MUST trade them in for DTV boxes (and no longer supporting the old analog boxes)? They must have tons of SD-DTV boxes around with everyone upgrading to DVRs, right?

Yes, it would be a pain for all of the customers who have no choice but to trade in their boxes [or cancel service], but TWC could make the argument that they're getting a free upgrade in their service (picture & sound quality-wise) just for swapping out the boxes.

...there are things that TWC can do to for those customers to make it worth their while to upgrade to digital service -- how about removing the $9.95 fee for digital service and forcing even "Standard Service" customers to use the digital boxes -- i.e. anyone who has those old boxes MUST trade them in for DTV boxes (and no longer supporting the old analog boxes)? They must have tons of SD-DTV boxes around with everyone upgrading to DVRs, right?

Yes, it would be a pain for all of the customers who have no choice but to trade in their boxes [or cancel service], but TWC could make the argument that they're getting a free upgrade in their service (picture & sound quality-wise) just for swapping out the boxes.

You've hit the nail on the head. The central problem is that TWC charges less for a service that uses up more of the resources that have to be shared by everyone.

Imagine if cable pricing were treated like the commodity it is. I envision a pricing scheme something like this:

* You pay a flat monthly rate for the physical connection into your home.
* For each channel you receive, you pay a fee directly to the channel's originator. The fee is set based on what the market will bear. (Imagine if ESPN, instead of getting $.25 from every cable subscriber got $.50 from all the subscribers who feel it's worth that much.)
* Additionally, for each channel you receive, you pay a fee to TWC based on the bandwidth used by that channel. If you want analog, you're welcome to it, but you'll pay a lot more for it. Sure, HD channels would cost more than SD channels, but I'd bet that a lot of the channels currently in the lineup would be dropped for lack of demand.

If structured correctly, TWC could substantially reduce their costs, as they'd be able to delay the bandwidth crunch for quite some time by eliminating the channels that no one would actually pay for. I would have no issue with paying more for HD on the grounds that it uses more resources, as long as analog users are similarly penalized...
-JMP

Great concept jmp but it will never happen. For one the channel operators would balk at it (other than ESPN and those who could really charge a premium for carriage). Secondly it would become way too complicated for the cable cos to manage. Third, your average user probably doesn't want to have to figure out what channels they want to pay for.

Definitely would be better value and ultimately quality for the consumer but it will never happen IMHO, especially as consolidation continues in the cable industry.

is there a dual tuner box available from TWC?

is there a dual tuner box available from TWC?

TWC STB's have PIP capabilities. Is there a specific reason why you need dual tuners?

Regards....JL

Does anyone know what non-DVR HD boxes TWC is currently giving out (particularly, what's available at the 23rd st location)? Is the 3250hd available? What will they give you if you schedule an appointment and request a non-DVR HD box?

Also, what non-HD DVRs are they giving out? Are they still giving out SA 8000s, or has the 8300 replaced the 8000, like the 8300hd has replaced the 8000hd?

Thanks!
David

Great concept jmp but it will never happen. For one the channel operators would balk at it (other than ESPN and those who could really charge a premium for carriage). Secondly it would become way too complicated for the cable cos to manage. Third, your average user probably doesn't want to have to figure out what channels they want to pay for.

Definitely would be better value and ultimately quality for the consumer but it will never happen IMHO, especially as consolidation continues in the cable industry.

There is one way it would happen. That would be if either the FCC or the courts removed the rule allowing bundling of services. The FTC and the courts have already ruled the practice illegal in other areas (ie: Microsoft being forced to offer Windows without IE), but the FCC specifically allows cable carriers to bundle services for their customers and require customers to buy whole tiers to get individual channels. Furthermore, that encourages owners of large number of channels to specify that if a cable carrier wants to carry their most popular channels (ESPN. CNN, etc.) in low level service tiers, they must also carry other channels in higher tiers. Have you ever counted the number of variants of the Discovery channel there are in the channel 100-200 range?

If the FCC, Congress, or the courts decreed that customers had to be given the option of buying only the channels they want a la carte without price penalties, it would fundamentally change the cable industry...
-JMP

There is one way it would happen. That would be if either the FCC or the courts removed the rule allowing bundling of services. The FTC and the courts have already ruled the practice illegal in other areas (ie: Microsoft being forced to offer Windows without IE), but the FCC specifically allows cable carriers to bundle services for their customers and require customers to buy whole tiers to get individual channels. Furthermore, that encourages owners of large number of channels to specify that if a cable carrier wants to carry their most popular channels (ESPN. CNN, etc.) in low level service tiers, they must also carry other channels in higher tiers. Have you ever counted the number of variants of the Discovery channel there are in the channel 100-200 range?

If the FCC, Congress, or the courts decreed that customers had to be given the option of buying only the channels they want a la carte without price penalties, it would fundamentally change the cable industry...
-JMP


That is a way it could happen, but it's simply never going to.

The media companies just own too many senators and congressmen to let that happen. Despite the Broadcast Flag being ruled illegal and general public distaste for the idea (at least the part of the public that knows about it), they just today bought 20 congressmen to put out a letter in support of the flag.

There's just too much money behind keeping bundles the way they are.

Ironically, the political party with the most officials obviously purchased (*cough*ORRINHATCH*cough*) by the Media cartel is the same one with its base most demanding an end to bundling ... the religious right. None of those people want to pay for Spike TV or FX or any of the channels with "immoral" programming, and they're one of the only groups pressuring their elected officials to end bundling.

Despite all their efforts, we're far more likely to see fast fiber connections delivering broadband and HD than we are to see cable companies go a la carte.

I just noticed that all the TWCNYC channels are now broadcasted as digital signals. It appears all the analog channels, i.e. 21, 50 have been converted to digital. I was never able to receive the analog channel audio on my CableCARD+AVR, but I now receive the audio as DD 2.0. Unfortunately, the loss of audio on encrypted channels is still a problem on my Mits 52525+CC+AVR set up. I wish Mits+TWC+SA CC would get their act together to correct the incompatibilites. The audio issue is the last problem.

Regards...JL

Hi. I've been researching & getting ready to buy my first hd television. I'm a TWNY customer and was planning on getting a cable card (deciding between pioneer, panasonic, & hitachi plasmas). After reading a good chunk of these 182 pages, I'm feeling pretty discouraged about what's possible. It sounds like people are having problems with cable cards and hd coverage in general. It leaves me thinking I should wait a year or two for them to hammer out some more of the kinks. Am I on the right track - or it just like with many forums, where what gets posted are the problems and not what's working well?

Are you glad you went high-def? What makes it worth it in spite of the billions of problems reported here?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

is there a dual tuner box available from TWC?
All of the DVRs that TWC offers feature two tuners.

Are you glad you went high-def? What makes it worth it in spite of the billions of problems reported here?
Yes, and it's worth it for the super spectacular clarity and fidelity of the picture. It actually ruins SD TV for me. It's hard to watch non-HD channels on my set, or on non-HD TVs.

Scott

Vashti,

Welcome! As Scott said, HD is definitely worth it. Not sure how much you're willing to spend on that first HDTV (check out the new Sony 50 and 60" SXRD rptvs in addition to the plasmas you're looking at....) but you'll find over time that any show not in HD will pretty much drop off your regular viewing schedule. On the right set, it's that good. Really.

As for the STBs, yes there are problems, but the 8300HD is good enough - barely - at the end of the day. HD recording, DVR functionality, 2 tuners, etc. Go fot it.

Namaste.
TM

...It leaves me thinking I should wait a year or two for them to hammer out some more of the kinks.... Am I on the right track... Are you glad you went high-def? What makes it worth it in spite of the billions of problems reported here?


Can’t agree more with Anthony’s points, since I have a fair share of gripes, I feel obliged to state, I would not want it any other way- for the good and the bad, HD is the only way!
Go for it and enjoy it!

All,
I've been experiencing serious audio/visual dropouts for the HD recordings of various shows (CSI, West Wing, Threshold, Alias, Lost, etc) for the past 2 weeks. I rarely watch live TV so I don't know if this is a problem with my box or the signal coming into it. And since I'm a week behind on shows, I keep hoping it was just a minor TWC signal problem that will go away once I get to the next batch of recordings. Well it hasn't gone away. So my question is...

Is anyone else experiencing this? And if I call TWC will they have any clue what I'm talking about? Or will they just tell me to swap my box (which I can't do because I have shows saved on it)?

Thanks, and sorry for the long winded question.

Can anybody help me with DVR'ing channel 712? Right now 712 is where TWCNY is putting the MSG HD feed for NY Rangers games. Unlike channel 708 which shows grey when there is no programming, 712 has a screen that says 'subscription service' or something like that.

The good news is that when there is programming, I can tune to 712 and watch it. The bad news is that I cannot record it with the DVR - it tells me that this is an unrecordable channel/program. I've even tried a manual recording, but it won't accept that either.

Hopefully somebody can help...

All,
I've been experiencing serious audio/visual dropouts for the HD recordings of various shows (CSI, West Wing, Threshold, Alias, Lost, etc) for the past 2 weeks. I rarely watch live TV so I don't know if this is a problem with my box or the signal coming into it. And since I'm a week behind on shows, I keep hoping it was just a minor TWC signal problem that will go away once I get to the next batch of recordings. Well it hasn't gone away. So my question is...

Is anyone else experiencing this?

Up until tonight, I've only experienced the occasional pixelation and screen freezes, which clears up in couple of seconds. Tonight, I was watching a recording I made of Commander in Chief in HD from last night and had extensive video dropouts in the middle of the recording. Audio remained steady throughout. I'm not sure if this occurred during the broadcast or if it was a problem with the 8300HD.

Doug

Can anybody help me with DVR'ing channel 712? Right now 712 is where TWCNY is putting the MSG HD feed for NY Rangers games. Unlike channel 708 which shows grey when there is no programming, 712 has a screen that says 'subscription service' or something like that.

The good news is that when there is programming, I can tune to 712 and watch it. The bad news is that I cannot record it with the DVR - it tells me that this is an unrecordable channel/program. I've even tried a manual recording, but it won't accept that either.

Hopefully somebody can help...

Doug, I was just coming here to post the exact same problem. why is 712 labeled an "unrecordable channel"? i won't be home tomorrow night until well after the game begins and i'm going to be very angry if i can't record it. hopefully someone knows how we can resolve this.

Are you glad you went high-def? What makes it worth it in spite of the billions of problems reported here?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hello Vashti. I've certainly been one of those people with the billions of problems, but for the MOST part, my problems haven't been as a result of the Pioneer plasma that i bought...i absolutely =love= the clarityof the hi def pic, and the incredible DD5.1 sound that comes out of my speaker system, esp for movies shown on HBO, Showtime, etc is INCREDIBLE. The things that drive me MOST crazy tho, are the freeze ups and audio drop offs that i've experienced on MANY occasions. Initially i thought it was due to the SA 8000 DVR box, since this NEVER happened prior to my getting the DVR box....it was really making me crazy, because once the pic freezes, it seems to happen in BUNCHES. I eventually got the TWC guy out here to swap boxes, giving me the 8300 box that i've heard so much about. The first two weeks, MAJOR improvement, but, over the last week or two, the pic freezes have cropped up again, in BUNCHES again! The audio keeps going, but the freeze on the pic was HORRENDOUS, often lasting 10 seconds or more. I don't know what the answer is, but...in general, i'm VERY happy with the pic quality of the hi def programming.

I =may= be wrong, but i think the Pioneer plasma pic quality on SD programming is WORSE than on a regular set. I guess hi def TVs were made ONLY to show hi def, because channels like UPN 9 really look HORRIBLE when viewed on my plasma, MUCH worse than it looked on my non hi def SONY set. O well, you can't have =everything= i suppose.

Now if only we had more HD =programming= to view, i'd be a very happy man.

BTW, nice pic! :)

daparker_nyc,

The problem with Commander-in-Chief was with WABC. Not only did the blacks-outs occur on TWC, but also over the air. The following program, Boston Legal, had no problem.

Cynthia

Hello Vashti. I've certainly been one of those people with the billions of problems, but for the MOST part, my problems haven't been as a result of the Pioneer plasma that i bought...i absolutely =love= the clarityof the hi def pic, and the incredible DD5.1 sound that comes out of my speaker system, esp for movies shown on HBO, Showtime, etc is INCREDIBLE. The things that drive me MOST crazy tho, are the freeze ups and audio drop offs that i've experienced on MANY occasions. Initially i thought it was due to the SA 8000 DVR box, since this NEVER happened prior to my getting the DVR box....it was really making me crazy, because once the pic freezes, it seems to happen in BUNCHES. I eventually got the TWC guy out here to swap boxes, giving me the 8300 box that i've heard so much about. The first two weeks, MAJOR improvement, but, over the last week or two, the pic freezes have cropped up again, in BUNCHES again! The audio keeps going, but the freeze on the pic was HORRENDOUS, often lasting 10 seconds or more. I don't know what the answer is, but...in general, i'm VERY happy with the pic quality of the hi def programming.



Thanks, Mike! Did you ever try the cable card? I keep hearing that gets a better picture but am afraid it will block sets TV listings or prevent 5.1 output. Which Pioneer do you have? Also, it seems that are even more complaints about the card than set top boxes. I would think this many years in, the cable companies would have been able to figure this out.

Supposedly HD is hard to add because of Bandwidth constraints, but why is it that most of the channels in the 800's are repeated? Seems its a complete waste of bandwidth. Even premium channels in the 900's are a waste which are broadcasted in Spanish, the premium channels in the 200's have the SAP function.

It will also help to eliminate those darn analog channels, all they have to do is send a cable guy out there and swap a box. As mentioned earlier they must have tons of dtv boxes to install.

Up until tonight, I've only experienced the occasional pixelation and screen freezes, which clears up in couple of seconds. Tonight, I was watching a recording I made of Commander in Chief in HD from last night and had extensive video dropouts in the middle of the recording. Audio remained steady throughout. I'm not sure if this occurred during the broadcast or if it was a problem with the 8300HD.

Doug

I was watching this live yesterday and noticed that the screen kept going to complete black for a second and then back to normal. I assumed it was my HDMI cable which every now and then gets slightly unseated. But maybe it was a problem w/ the feed.

Sounds like you were getting pixelation. I didn't see any of that just a complete drop out. IIRC, audio was fine even during the dropouts.

Edit: Just read Cynthia's post - that's good to hear.

Supposedly HD is hard to add because of Bandwidth constraints, but why is it that most of the channels in the 800's are repeated? Seems its a complete waste of bandwidth.
Haven't tried it in a while, but a few years back, while comparing channels in diagnostic mode, I discovered that the Discovery Science channel and the higher-numbered duplicate had the same frequency. Think TWC here puts ~8 SD channels in each 6-MHz-wide slot, and they might be duplicating the Spanish one that way. Also might be the higher-numbered channel is simply a remapped version, with the same video signal but different audio. Suspect a check would show all other higher-numbered channels are the same. Audio requires only a tiny sliver of bandwidth compared to video.

Agree that whatever they're piping down the cables they've been choked for years. Looking forward to some of the rumored 'cures', such as TWC's switched video (http://www.bigbandnet.com/news/inTheNews/2005/news_053105a.php) tinkering, or perhaps Comcast's approach, outlined this summer in a hardware-forum thread, that involves--at some locations--dropping most of the analog channels instead of just duplicating them with digital QAM delivery as TWC here did several years back. Believe that involved eliminating ~70 analogs at one Comcast site. Here that would mean leaving only about 30 analogs, and gaining the bandwidth from the 60-70 dropped ones. That's ~60 X 6 = 360 MHz bandwidth, or enough for ~360/2 = ~180 new HD channels. -- John

Agree that whatever they're piping down the cables they've been choked for years. Looking forward to some of the rumored 'cures', such as TWC's switched video (http://www.bigbandnet.com/news/inTheNews/2005/news_053105a.php) tinkering, or perhaps Comcast's approach, outlined this summer in a hardware-forum thread, that involves--at some locations--dropping most of the analog channels instead of just duplicating them with digital QAM delivery as TWC here did several years back. Believe that involved eliminating ~70 analogs at one Comcast site. Here that would mean leaving only about 30 analogs, and gaining the bandwidth from the 60-70 dropped ones. That's ~60 X 6 = 360 MHz bandwidth, or enough for ~360/2 = ~180 new HD channels. -- John

Thanks for that info, John...i checked out the link, and altho the article is dated from MAY/2005, i can only hope that this is something they are actively working on right =now= over at TWC, and that we'll indeed see an elimination of all that wasted bandwidth capacity, which will supposedly result in more HD capable channels. Are there any updated articles detailing a progress report, if any?? Thanks.

Thanks, Mike! Did you ever try the cable card? I keep hearing that gets a better picture but am afraid it will block sets TV listings or prevent 5.1 output. Which Pioneer do you have? Also, it seems that are even more complaints about the card than set top boxes. I would think this many years in, the cable companies would have been able to figure this out.

Hi Vashti, and you're welcome. I have the Pioneer PDP-4340HD model. Bought it two years ago in June, so it's highly doubtful you'll find it now. At the TIME, it had the BEST picture = I = ever saw, at least in comparison to every other plasma and DLP model in the PC Richards showroom. And it was =not= cheap, running me about $5000, + even more for extended warranty service. But i'm not complaining, when it comes to HD programming, it's been worth every expensive penny.

As for the cable card question, this one doesn't come equipped for that, so it's not even an issue for me. This plasma comes with an external "Media Receiver". Hooked up to my Yamaha AV Receiver, I have never had a single sound issue with it.

Are there any updated articles detailing a progress report [on switched broadcasting], if any??
Did a llittle Googling a week or so back and didn't uncover anything. Also asked in the Austin cable forum where that trial is supposedly going on. Didn't get a reply as of last week. A while back, twcinsider here suggested switched broadcasting might only serve for foreign language cablecasts :(-- John

Up until tonight, I've only experienced the occasional pixelation and screen freezes, which clears up in couple of seconds. Tonight, I was watching a recording I made of Commander in Chief in HD from last night and had extensive video dropouts in the middle of the recording. Audio remained steady throughout. I'm not sure if this occurred during the broadcast or if it was a problem with the 8300HD.

Doug

I had the same problem with Commander In Chief.

Did a llittle Googling a week or so back and didn't uncover anything. Also asked in the Austin cable forum where that trial is supposedly going on. Didn't get a reply as of last week. A while back, twcinsider here suggested switched broadcasting might only serve for foreign language cablecasts :(-- John

OK; thanks John. :(

Cablecard is supercool, but just not ready for use. I'm on my third card in six months with many malfunctions, and am finally caving and getting an HD/DVR (I guess the SA8300, which I'd dig some information about if anyone has any advice to give-I'm pairing with a Sharp Aquos). Even the tech who came out last from TWC said that he gave up trying to get his cablecard to work and went HD/DVR. Maybe in a year or two I'll try it again...

Now is you chance to set a recording for a future date on 712 while it's unlocked. Their is a couple of Knicks games scheduled and some more Rangers games.

Now is you chance to set a recording for a future date on 712 while it's unlocked. Their is a couple of Knicks games scheduled and some more Rangers games.
how do you know when something is scheduled without looking through every hour????

how do you know when something is scheduled without looking through every hour????

pull up the guide, highlight 712 and hit the "Day" button.

why do they lock and unlock the channel?

why do they lock and unlock the channel?
I had the same problem with 708 trying to record the last regular season yankee game. I think it was just a mistake and has now been fixed (permanently I hope)

Morning folks. I'm new around here and I've got a quick question for the other NYC TWC people. I'm in Queens, if it makes a difference. Anyway, what HD boxes is Time Warner offering at the moment? The local website mentions a single box, but doesn't really tell me what it is and the national site talks about one SA and one Pioneer. I'm asking because I want (need?) to have the one with the DVI/HDMI output for my new TV.

On a similar note, do any of you know if any of the stb's are controllable via computer (like a serial or USB/firewire connection)? I could set up an IR blaster, but a direct connection is much cleaner, I think. Anway, thanks for the info.

CT

pull up the guide, highlight 712 and hit the "Day" button.
wow theres a day button??? I ended up scrolling through every hour until i seen the knicks game on sunday. Thanks, i'll check when i get home.

Hi all,

Just bought a Sony 42" RPLCD (the A10 series), and I have a few question about upgrading my cable. I've read through a lot of the info here and run searches, so anything I'm asking about I haven't found or would like to confirm.

1) Is it more advantageous to visit the payment center to get a new box? I'm up in Washington Heights, so it's fairly easy for me to get to the 218th St. location. This gives me a greater chance of getting the box I want, right?

2) It seems as though the box of choice is the 8300HD. Is this true? What if this box is not available? I see a mish-mosh of boxes discussed after this one...what should I look for if this box isn't available, if it should be my top choice in the first place. I want a HD-DVR box.

3) Does TWC provide any cables?

4) Can I get the HD-DVR box and hook it up to my old CRT before I take delivery of my new HDTV. The tv is coming Tuesday, but I would probably like to get the box before then.

Thanks!

I had the same problem with 708 trying to record the last regular season yankee game. I think it was just a mistake and has now been fixed (permanently I hope)

Last night I tried to set up a recording for today's game but found the channel (712) locked again. What are they doing? Looks like I'm going to miss two games in a row in HD.

Last night I tried to set up a recording for today's game but found the channel (712) locked again. What are they doing? Looks like I'm going to miss two games in a row in HD.


When the channel was last unlocked, tried to set up a series rule to record "NBA Preseason Basketball" just to see what would happen. A preseaon basketball game showed up scheduled for Sunday. However, when the channel got locked again this disappeared from the "Scheduled Recordings" screen.

Since I set this up under Series Manager, I assume that this will reappear when they unlock the channel again.

has anyone called up TWC to inquire about the channels being locked? the value of the DVR is diminished when you can't set it to record programs that you are paying to receive. i'm sure they will work this out eventually, but it seems strange that the channel keeps switching between locked and unlocked status...not to mention very frustrating that i have to schedule the recording of the SD programming which pales in comparison.

has anyone called up TWC to inquire about the channels being locked? the value of the DVR is diminished when you can't set it to record programs that you are paying to receive. i'm sure they will work this out eventually, but it seems strange that the channel keeps switching between locked and unlocked status...not to mention very frustrating that i have to schedule the recording of the SD programming which pales in comparison.
It just let me schedule a recording of tonights hockey game on 712 so it's unlocked again (at least for me on SI)

Hi all,

Just bought a Sony 42" RPLCD (the A10 series), and I have a few question about upgrading my cable. I've read through a lot of the info here and run searches, so anything I'm asking about I haven't found or would like to confirm.

1) Is it more advantageous to visit the payment center to get a new box? I'm up in Washington Heights, so it's fairly easy for me to get to the 218th St. location. This gives me a greater chance of getting the box I want, right?

2) It seems as though the box of choice is the 8300HD. Is this true? What if this box is not available? I see a mish-mosh of boxes discussed after this one...what should I look for if this box isn't available, if it should be my top choice in the first place. I want a HD-DVR box.

3) Does TWC provide any cables?

4) Can I get the HD-DVR box and hook it up to my old CRT before I take delivery of my new HDTV. The tv is coming Tuesday, but I would probably like to get the box before then.

Thanks!

Jordan,

1. I visited the 23rd Street Payment Center to exchange my cable box for a HD Box today. The process went very smoothly but it was crowded and it took me 45 minutes to see a customer service rep. The rest of the exchange was less than five minutes.

2. I got the 8300HD DVR. They looked like they had plenty so if that's the box you want you can always go to 23rd street if they don't have any at the 218th street location.

3. They gave me component video cables and stereo composite audio cables. I had already ordered some new cables on line so I probably won't use the ones TWC supplied.

4. I have the same issue as you. My new TV won't be here till Monday so I asked the rep if I could use the new HD box with my old TV. He said no and would not recommend even connecting it to the old TV. I don't know if he is correct but I will swap out the box from my bedroom for a couple of days and listen to him.

Hope this helps.

One question I have for the forum is when I told him I wanted to upgrade to the HDExtra channels, he asked me if I wanted the 5 extra channels for $8.95 or the 10 or so channels for $15. He didn't know what the extra channels were. I only thought there was the one option for 5 extra channels. Does anyone know if there is a second option for more channels? I will be waiting till Monday and then ordering the extra channels over the phone.

Thanks for your help

Has anybody else tried PIP on their 8300HD today? i just tried it twice and it crashed both times. The box rebooted on its own.

Jordan,

1. I visited the 23rd Street Payment Center to exchange my cable box for a HD Box today. The process went very smoothly but it was crowded and it took me 45 minutes to see a customer service rep. The rest of the exchange was less than five minutes.

2. I got the 8300HD DVR. They looked like they had plenty so if that's the box you want you can always go to 23rd street if they don't have any at the 218th street location.

3. They gave me component video cables and stereo composite audio cables. I had already ordered some new cables on line so I probably won't use the ones TWC supplied.

4. I have the same issue as you. My new TV won't be here till Monday so I asked the rep if I could use the new HD box with my old TV. He said no and would not recommend even connecting it to the old TV. I don't know if he is correct but I will swap out the box from my bedroom for a couple of days and listen to him.

Hope this helps.

One question I have for the forum is when I told him I wanted to upgrade to the HDExtra channels, he asked me if I wanted the 5 extra channels for $8.95 or the 10 or so channels for $15. He didn't know what the extra channels were. I only thought there was the one option for 5 extra channels. Does anyone know if there is a second option for more channels? I will be waiting till Monday and then ordering the extra channels over the phone.

Thanks for your help


I exchanged my 8300HD DVR today at the 23rd street location at 10 AM and was in and out within 5 minutes. You can't expect the location to be any quicker during peak hours. You just have to go when its off peak.

The same thing happened to me after trying the "swap" function with my SA 8300HD box.

One question I have for the forum is when I told him I wanted to upgrade to the HDExtra channels, he asked me if I wanted the 5 extra channels for $8.95 or the 10 or so channels for $15. He didn't know what the extra channels were. I only thought there was the one option for 5 extra channels. Does anyone know if there is a second option for more channels?

Never Heard of 10 extra Hd channels, either he is completely clueless or this is something new.

Jordan,

4. I have the same issue as you. My new TV won't be here till Monday so I asked the rep if I could use the new HD box with my old TV. He said no and would not recommend even connecting it to the old TV. I don't know if he is correct but I will swap out the box from my bedroom for a couple of days and listen to him.

That is actually not true. You can use an HD box on a SD TV. You will even get to watch HD stations, just not in HD, and it will be letterboxed. I changed out my SD box for an HD box BEFORE I had my new HD TV for my bedroom (went to 23rd st).
They NEVER asked me to prove to them I bought an HD TV.

Quite frankly, I would do this EVEN if you NEVER plan to by an HDTV - WHY? Because the HD box DOESN'T COST ANY MORE than a SD box, yet you will receive additional stations( TNTHD, DiscoveryHD, WNETHD, and 2 other stations) for no extra cost (assuming you have digital service).

Has anybody else tried PIP on their 8300HD today? i just tried it twice and it crashed both times. The box rebooted on its own.

ABSOLUTELY, Jason. Exact same thing happened to =me=...twice! After the 2nd time i didn't even TRY it again till about an hour later, around 10PM or so, tonite. THEN it worked OK. :confused:

It just let me schedule a recording of tonights hockey game on 712 so it's unlocked again (at least for me on SI)

well i finally called customer service this afternoon. after speaking with a friendly rep for a few minutes she put me through to their tech department. spoke with someone their who admitted that he wasn't an expert on HD so he gave my number to a co-worker "down the hall" who called me back a few minutes later. he informed me that channel 712 shouldn't have any restrictions on it as far as recording is concerned...and that it is a hardware problem with my box (8300HD.) i told him that i was certain others were experiencing the same issues. that being said we set up a service call for a tech to come out in a couple weeks and check the box. not sure what else i can do at this point.

as of right now 712 still comes up as unrecordable for me. :( guess i'm gonna have to record hockey games in SD for a while.

That is actually not true. You can use an HD box on a SD TV. You will even get to watch HD stations, just not in HD, and it will be letterboxed. I changed out my SD box for an HD box BEFORE I had my new HD TV for my bedroom (went to 23rd st).
They NEVER asked me to prove to them I bought an HD TV.

Quite frankly, I would do this EVEN if you NEVER plan to by an HDTV - WHY? Because the HD box DOESN'T COST ANY MORE than a SD box, yet you will receive additional stations( TNTHD, DiscoveryHD, WNETHD, and 2 other stations) for no extra cost (assuming you have digital service).Not to mention that you will get tons more DD 5.1 sound if you have a receiver. I have an HD box hooked up to my SDTV and it works great.

Jordan,

1. I visited the 23rd Street Payment Center to exchange my cable box for a HD Box today. The process went very smoothly but it was crowded and it took me 45 minutes to see a customer service rep. The rest of the exchange was less than five minutes.

2. I got the 8300HD DVR. They looked like they had plenty so if that's the box you want you can always go to 23rd street if they don't have any at the 218th street location.

3. They gave me component video cables and stereo composite audio cables. I had already ordered some new cables on line so I probably won't use the ones TWC supplied.

4. I have the same issue as you. My new TV won't be here till Monday so I asked the rep if I could use the new HD box with my old TV. He said no and would not recommend even connecting it to the old TV. I don't know if he is correct but I will swap out the box from my bedroom for a couple of days and listen to him.

Hope this helps.


Much appreciated. I will be at home on Tuesday to take delivery of the TV, so I figure if I go Tuesday morning it won't be terribly crowded. I was going to get it today, but over the phone they told me that you can't have the HD box with a SD television. I didn't really believe it, but was getting towards closing time at the center anyway so I decided to hold off until Tuesday.

You just bring the old box with you when you go? Nothing else needed?

well i finally called customer service this afternoon. after speaking with a friendly rep for a few minutes she put me through to their tech department. spoke with someone their who admitted that he wasn't an expert on HD so he gave my number to a co-worker "down the hall" who called me back a few minutes later. he informed me that channel 712 shouldn't have any restrictions on it as far as recording is concerned...and that it is a hardware problem with my box (8300HD.) i told him that i was certain others were experiencing the same issues. that being said we set up a service call for a tech to come out in a couple weeks and check the box. not sure what else i can do at this point.

as of right now 712 still comes up as unrecordable for me. :( guess i'm gonna have to record hockey games in SD for a while.

I guess the weekend staff is more clueless than the weekday staff.

That is actually not true. You can use an HD box on a SD TV. You will even get to watch HD stations, just not in HD, and it will be letterboxed. I changed out my SD box for an HD box BEFORE I had my new HD TV for my bedroom (went to 23rd st).
They NEVER asked me to prove to them I bought an HD TV.

Quite frankly, I would do this EVEN if you NEVER plan to by an HDTV - WHY? Because the HD box DOESN'T COST ANY MORE than a SD box, yet you will receive additional stations( TNTHD, DiscoveryHD, WNETHD, and 2 other stations) for no extra cost (assuming you have digital service).
I didn't think he knew what his he was talking about. I was pretty sure I could use the HD box with a SD TV.
Thanks for the info.

You just bring the old box with you when you go? Nothing else needed?
Just bring the box and the remote. That is all you need.

One question I have for the forum is when I told him I wanted to upgrade to the HDExtra channels, he asked me if I wanted the 5 extra channels for $8.95 or the 10 or so channels for $15. He didn't know what the extra channels were. I only thought there was the one option for 5 extra channels. Does anyone know if there is a second option for more channels? I will be waiting till Monday and then ordering the extra channels over the phone.

Thanks for your help

I think the guy at TW got a little confused (shocker!) - the HDExtra package costs $8.95 if you don't get the HD DVR. However, if you do get the HD DVR (which you obviously did) you would also need to pay an $8.95 monthly fee for the DVR service, so TWC offers a mini-bundle for $15.00 where you get the channels plus the DVR service (effectively $6.05 extra for the HDExtra package).

As far as how many extra channels you get, basically you get 2 InHD channels, 2 HDNet channels and ESPN HD (most people who get the package do so just to get ESPN HD), which are channels 721-725. Not sure if YES HD (708) and MSG HD (712) are only available if you have the Extra package (I have it and I get those channels so I couldn't tell you). Either way it's not 10 channels.

That is actually not true. You can use an HD box on a SD TV. You will even get to watch HD stations, just not in HD, and it will be letterboxed. Quite frankly, I would do this EVEN if you NEVER plan to by an HDTV - WHY? Because the HD box DOESN'T COST ANY MORE than a SD box, yet you will receive additional stations( TNTHD, DiscoveryHD, WNETHD, and 2 other stations) for no extra cost (assuming you have digital service).
I have the SA3100 with my 27" SDTV -- and digital service. If I exchanged this box for a HD one (say the Pioneer Voyager 3510HD), will I get a better PQ (for all SD programs)? or will it be essentially the same?

Thank you.

As far as how many extra channels you get, basically you get 2 InHD channels, 2 HDNet channels and ESPN HD (most people who get the package do so just to get ESPN HD), which are channels 721-725. Not sure if YES HD (708) and MSG HD (712) are only available if you have the Extra package (I have it and I get those channels so I couldn't tell you). Either way it's not 10 channels.

I'd have accepted the offer for $15 for 10 extra HD channels, then insisted that TWC was obligated to provide 10 extra HD channels. I'm curious what they would come up with in such a situation...
-JMP

for those of you who had the problem with channel 712 being unrecordable, it appears that it has been fixed. who knows for how long.

just a reminder to Rangers fans, Monday's game is on 722, since it is an OLN game they simulcast it on INHD2. Wednesday's game is back on 712.

Let's Go Rangers!

for those of you who had the problem with channel 712 being unrecordable, it appears that it has been fixed. who knows for how long.


Still got a subscription service message on 712, they turned it off after the knicks game.

Morning folks. I'm new around here and I've got a quick question for the other NYC TWC people. I'm in Queens, if it makes a difference. Anyway, what HD boxes is Time Warner offering at the moment? The local website mentions a single box, but doesn't really tell me what it is and the national site talks about one SA and one Pioneer. I'm asking because I want (need?) to have the one with the DVI/HDMI output for my new TV.

On a similar note, do any of you know if any of the stb's are controllable via computer (like a serial or USB/firewire connection)? I could set up an IR blaster, but a direct connection is much cleaner, I think. Anway, thanks for the info.

CT

I'm in Queens too. Go to Queens Center Mall and get the 8300HD DVR box and don't look back. Your world will change once you can record HD material.

Still got a subscription service message on 712, they turned it off after the knicks game.

very odd. i'm wondering if my future recording for the game Wednesday will actually go through. it shows up in Red, but when i select it the unrecordable channel tag appears again. guess i won't cancel my service appointment for next week just yet.

I have the SA3100 with my 27" SDTV -- and digital service. If I exchanged this box for a HD one (say the Pioneer Voyager 3510HD), will I get a better PQ (for all SD programs)? or will it be essentially the same?

Thank you.

I have used an HD box with an SD TV-- "27 Panasonic and found the picture to be improved when watching HD channels as opposed to the corresponding SD channels. Also, it allows you to see shows in widescreen, if you prefer that, since HD broadcasts are widescreen.

A couple of caveats, though. First, make sure your set has a component video connection-- that's the only way to connect with an HD box (or an HDMI connection, which no SD set has). Second, your set will only be able to process 480i signals, so you will need to get a cable box that allows you to choose (i'd make sure to get the SA 8300 HD box). And may need a friend with the same box to walk you through the initial process going through the settings, since when you first plug it in, you will probably have a blank screen, since your set won't process the default signal-- 1080i I think. So, you'll need to be told "press settings, then advanced settings, then up arrow three times, etc. And third, don't tell TW that you don't have an HDTV, or they might not give you the box.

picked up my box today. currently have it hooked up to my regular SD tv, as my new TV will be delivered later today (knock on wood).

I had a question about the HD channels, and DVR service.

So I didn't actually sign up for anything (HDXtra or DVR service), but when I got home, I saw that I had all HD channels working (including HBO and Showtime), and my DVR works as well.

Are these all going to simply be charged to my account now?

I don't have regular HBO or any of those movie premiums...is it going to let me keep HBO HD and SHO HD?

Am I the only one here all bent out of shape That rangers fans are getting their team in HD but us ISLANDER fans are stuck with horrid FSNY in SD?

If anyone from TWC reads this, please PLEASE throw us a bone!!

:(

Am I the only one here all bent out of shape That rangers fans are getting their team in HD but us ISLANDER fans are stuck with horrid FSNY in SD?

:(

YES!!

Lets go Rangers!!!

(Sorry, just couldn't resist!! :D )

Am I the only one here all bent out of shape That rangers fans are getting their team in HD but us ISLANDER fans are stuck with horrid FSNY in SD?

If anyone from TWC reads this, please PLEASE throw us a bone!!

:(

No, hopefully it's on it's way.

Is tomorrow's game on MSG or FSN?

picked up my box today. currently have it hooked up to my regular SD tv, as my new TV will be delivered later today (knock on wood).

I had a question about the HD channels, and DVR service.

So I didn't actually sign up for anything (HDXtra or DVR service), but when I got home, I saw that I had all HD channels working (including HBO and Showtime), and my DVR works as well.

Are these all going to simply be charged to my account now?

I don't have regular HBO or any of those movie premiums...is it going to let me keep HBO HD and SHO HD?
This is the typical situation. It takes 24-48 hours until your box "properly" programs itself and learns from TWC what channels you're actually subscibed to. Until then, most boxes seem to give you most of the premium channels (although it does seem to be somewhat random which ones you get).

Better fire up the DVR and grab some of the movies you won't have access to later! :-)

The game is on MSG-HD tomorrow, and when thier isnt any Rangers games on I do find myself tuning in to devils and islanders games. So I do hope TWC adds FSN-HD soon. I email Mr. watson about this as well as the fact that channel 712 is unrecordable at times. No response yet.

from what I've read, 712 is in "test" mode and is not officially a HD channel.
This might explain why sometimes you cannot record it.

Does any one know if you can get a 8300HD BOX WITH FIREWIRE AT 23ST?

I have 2 TWCNYC 8300HDs, one connected HDMI --> HDMI, the other HDMI --> DVI. I had the first TV calibrated today, and for reasons not important here, swapped the DVRs between the 2 TVs. After the swap, I suddenly was able to get DD5.1 on the HDMI --> HDMI TV. I checked the Passport firmware version on that box and discovered that it's 1.8.103 (dated 3/16/05). I then checked the version on the other 8300HD (which still can't deliver DD5.1 when hooked up HDMI --> HDMI) and find that it's still 1.8.095 (dated 12/14/04). Unless I'm missing something here, it looks like one DVR has received a firmware upgrade within the last day or two that's fixed the old DD5.1 bug, and the other hasn't.

I have 2 TWCNYC 8300HDs, one connected HDMI --> HDMI, the other HDMI --> DVI. I had the first TV calibrated today, and for reasons not important here, swapped the DVRs between the 2 TVs. After the swap, I suddenly was able to get DD5.1 on the HDMI --> HDMI TV. I checked the Passport firmware version on that box and discovered that it's 1.8.103 (dated 3/16/05). I then checked the version on the other 8300HD (which still can't deliver DD5.1 when hooked up HDMI --> HDMI) and find that it's still 1.8.095 (dated 12/14/04). Unless I'm missing something here, it looks like one DVR has received a firmware upgrade within the last day or two that's fixed the old DD5.1 bug, and the other hasn't.



That's great news ... where do you check the firmware on an 8300 again? I seem to have forgotten.

That's great news ... where do you check the firmware on an 8300 again? I seem to have forgotten.

On the box (not the remote), press EXIT and SELECT simultaneously until DIAG appears on the box; release then re-press the same 2 buttons. Exit Diagnostics by punching in any regular channel number.

I have 2 TWCNYC 8300HDs, one connected HDMI --> HDMI, the other HDMI --> DVI. I had the first TV calibrated today, and for reasons not important here, swapped the DVRs between the 2 TVs. After the swap, I suddenly was able to get DD5.1 on the HDMI --> HDMI TV. I checked the Passport firmware version on that box and discovered that it's 1.8.103 (dated 3/16/05). I then checked the version on the other 8300HD (which still can't deliver DD5.1 when hooked up HDMI --> HDMI) and find that it's still 1.8.095 (dated 12/14/04). Unless I'm missing something here, it looks like one DVR has received a firmware upgrade within the last day or two that's fixed the old DD5.1 bug, and the other hasn't. I have the same Passport firmware on my 8300HD box.I had this box for about 3 months. I swapped my old box for this one.It also dated 3/16/05 I do not get DD5.1 on my HDMI? Any one get this :confused: :confused:

I have the same Passport firmware on my 8300HD box.I had this box for about 3 months. I swapped my old box for this one.It also dated 3/16/05 I do not get DD5.1 on my HDMI? Any one get this :confused: :confused:

To be clearer than I was in my first post on this subject: I am not getting "DD5.1 on my HDMI." The old Passport bug disabled DD5.1 on all the DVR's audio outputs when the DVR detected that its HDMI port was connected to a TV incapable of accepting DD5.1 via HDMI. This new Passport version allows DD5.1 on the optical and coax audio ports when HDMI is used for the video signal.

To be clearer than I was in my first post on this subject: I am not getting "DD5.1 on my HDMI." The old Passport bug disabled DD5.1 on all the DVR's audio outputs when the DVR detected that its HDMI port was connected to a TV incapable of accepting DD5.1 via HDMI. This new Passport version allows DD5.1 on the optical and coax audio ports when HDMI is used for the video signal.


If working, that's great news and I can finally go HDMI. So, are you going HDMI ----> HDMI on the TV and optical or Coax to a receiver w/ surround speakers, and if so, do you notice any lag-type issues between the sound and picture?