The fight will most likely be offered in HD, but not here on TWCNYC as they do not carry PPV-HD anymore.
Wait till next week and watch the HD replay on HBO.

Sucks to hear that TWC doesn't offer PPV, but I have people coming over for the fight so I'm getting it anyway.

tentatively universal hd will move to 722 and mynetwork added to 709. ppv on demand is out of the question until sdv. ppv hd will be available on an as needed basis. there has not been an hd event in quite some time.

Most systems have removed Cinemax and Movie Channel analog. Prayer Channel analog was removed from B/Q when it was added systemwide digitally on 97. There is very limited open bandwith (varies by system) and careful decisions have to be made on what to add and when. It's not based on just what people on avsforum want. Also some open bandwith on systems are not usable due to interference on parts of spectrum. Manhattan systems have a channel reserved so that some MDU's can insert security cctv camera onto the lineup.


D9,
I was wondering the same thing. How did TWC get enough bandwidth for 3 permanent HD channels, all of a sudden?
Did they remove analog channels?
Is SDV involved?
Was TWC improperly "claming" lack of bandwidth?

tentatively universal hd will move to 722 and mynetwork added to 709. ppv on demand is out of the question until sdv. ppv hd will be available on an as needed basis. there has not been an hd event in quite some time.

thanks for the inside info, great to see you back.

are we getting that new Mystro update soon?
Any news on when SDV will be active in NYC.?
and why cant FSNY-HD be on a HD specials channel?

thanks

TWCInsider, thanks for the info, hope to see you posting more here in the future.

What is MYNETWORK Ch all about? Will it be in HD?

PPV-HD would be a welcomed addition as long as the live events are showed in HD on that Ch & not in SD.

What is MYNETWORK Ch all about? Will it be in HD?



MyNetwork TV - locally WWOR Channel 9. WWOR HD channel has existed for some time (and had appeared hidden on our system before UniversalHD and WPIXHD showed up, when it was still a UPN affiliate)

Actual HD content on the channel is currently limited to 2 hours a night of telenovelas, although in September they began broadcasting their weekly Yankee game in HD (well, it was 1 game vs the Red Sox), so hopefully that will continue.

Sorry, but "MyNetwork 9" would be the LAST HD channel I'd want! I have been thinking that much like MSG HD going from part time to full time, the remaining "HD Specials" channel would become YES HD full time instead of part time as it does now.

More interesting is the fact that InHD (2 HD channels) is part of a paid tier. So those of us who get it are paying for it... and now we will lose 20% of the HD channels we are paying EXTRA for.

Ah, Mystro, that be the great question! As it seems SDV doesn't run on Passport, Mystro becomes the issue... so if past practices are any indication, it might start in Staten Island, then maybe move to another 'hood before it gets citywide deployment. That period of time could be 3-4 months. Doubt that ANY SDV action would happen until it was citywide AND had been in the field citywide for a few months. No special knowledge here, just what I think is fairly educated speculation!

There are plenty of better channels that should be broadcast in HD. How about Sundance, IFC, Bravo, TCM, F/X, SciFi, USA, AMC, ESPN2, NFL Network, A&E, History. WWOR? I think not.

No HD for the Giant's game on CBS? You gotta be Shi**in me!

Especially weak, seeing as it's the only local game this week.

No HD for the Giant's game on CBS? You gotta be Shi**in me!

Seriously, this blows! CBS SUCKS.

Seriously, this blows! CBS SUCKS.

No argument; my sentiments =exactly=. :(

It's supposed to be CBS' HD game!! So, WHY are we in NYC not getting this over-run in HD?? I"m sure the rest of the nation is seeing it that way. :mad: Not only =that=, even the CBS Sports desk just now was not in HD.

Can't believe how my Cowboys just lost this game to the Deadskins! :eek: Now I'm going to be mad & depressed until next wkend! :( :mad:

MYNETWORK9-HD is going to be CH.9? Oh well, least it's something in HD.

Arghhhhhh..this DAL loss burns man! :confused:

exact same thing happend to me the other night while watching a dvr recording of 'the nine'
Me Too

The 8300HD DVR here in NYC now has the HDTV listings for next Friday's Star Wars marathon.

Starting Friday night or Saturday 11/11 at 12AM, it's

1. Star Wars Phantom Menace HDTV 133 min Ends 220AM
2. Attack of Clones HDTV 143 min Ends 445AM
3. Revenge of Sith HDTV 140 min Ends 710AM
4. Star Wars HDTV 125 min Ends 920AM
5. Empire Strikes Back HDTV 124 min Ends 1130AM
6. Return of Jedi HDTV 133 min Ends 150PM

Get a new external hard drive or clear out that 8300HD DVR!

Since NYC TWC started 719 and 720 (Max-HD and Starz-HD), the 1080i quality of most of the HD offerings have been very stable with little to no distortions. This is especially true with HDB, SHO, HDNET Movies, and MAX. Let's hope the Star Wars 6 will look fantastic! SIN CITY looked great last night.

Paul

Anyone have any idea why my box is bugging out? It shut off randomly while I was leaving this morning and now that I'm back the LCD display is just stuck on "boot" and sometimes cycling to ---- and HAL2. The box is Explorer 3250HD and Im in Queens.

someone explain how we are getting crappy NY local channels in HD but no ESPN2 HD.

Seriously, is there more than 10 people that want MY9 in HD? I don't recall ever turning that channel on other than to say "oh the yanks is on the unwatchable FDTV (fuzy def TV) channel tongiht.


Figure it out TW, gotta get espn2 hd in there ASAP!

I'm in Queens and have both 3250HD and 8300HD. They are both ok.
Have you try unplugging 3250HD totally from both cable plug and electric plug? If not, try that for 2 minutes.

Paul

Anyone have any idea why my box is bugging out? It shut off randomly while I was leaving this morning and now that I'm back the LCD display is just stuck on "boot" and sometimes cycling to ---- and HAL2. The box is Explorer 3250HD and Im in Queens.

Has anyone noticed that ABC's uprezzing/upconversion of 480i to HD (e.g. in commercials and promos) is much inferior to CBS's and NBC's? Looks like far too much vertical edge enhancement is applied. A "hard" and unappealing picture.

Sorry if this is off-topic, but I don't know where else to post about it.

I'm in Queens and have both 3250HD and 8300HD. They are both ok.
Have you try unplugging 3250HD totally from both cable plug and electric plug? If not, try that for 2 minutes.

Paul

Hmm, I'll go get a new box tommorow and try it out. I want to record stuff, Do I need both the 8300HD and 3250HD and does it cost extra money?

Has anyone noticed that ABC's uprezzing/upconversion of 480i to HD (e.g. in commercials and promos) is much inferior to CBS's and NBC's? Looks like far too much vertical edge enhancement is applied. A "hard" and unappealing picture.

Sorry if this is off-topic, but I don't know where else to post about it.

Can't say I spotted it, but I have noticed an increase in the Widescreen SD feild reporting from WNBC4HD.
Looks pretty good.

Has anyone noticed that ABC's uprezzing/upconversion of 480i to HD (e.g. in commercials and promos) is much inferior to CBS's and NBC's? Looks like far too much vertical edge enhancement is applied. A "hard" and unappealing picture.

Started this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8550113&&#post8550113) on it recently and noticed the problem continued this weekend. Notice it mostly with golf matches--and the contrast with the crisp, clear weekday coverage on ESPN-HD (480i=>720p). There's a sublink in that thread that discusses ABC's routing that might be the problem. Recall seeing the same problem over a year ago before we had ESPN on ABC; (just ABC upconverting 480i).

This doesn't arise with NBC/CBS weekend station upconversions of 480i to 1080i compared to weekday 480i golf matches on USA, etc. Edge enhancement (EE), as CBS station engineer Lee Wood outlined (http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=400016#post400016), can improve video on small screen SD displays, ABC's largest audience. But, if ABC is routing crisp digital video (seen weekdays) through analog NTSC with added EE, fuzzing up the harshening the overall image (weekends) for TWC on 707 here, it's puzzling why CBS and NBC don't have this problem. Find myself bypassing most of the ESPN/ABC weekend (or Sunday-only) coverage because images are so bad. -- John

Great to see you back twcinsider!!!!!

No HD for the Giant's game on CBS? You gotta be Shi**in me!

So far this year, there have been 3 local teams games on CBS, 2 Jets games and yesterday's Giants game. All in SD. I can't imagine that somewhere lese in the country, any of these games was in HD. And to prove how bad they suck, the idiot kept calling Eli "Peyton Manning" and never once actually correcting himself. It got so bad that the color guy quickly jumped in and made some inane remark about Eli, but actually used his name.

The other thing I noticed is that during the Jets games, they had the gray sidebars, which are added at the source so our workaround doesn't work. So I witched to Ch. 2 so I got the back pillars. Yesterday it was black throughout.

Now I DO see a lot of commercials playing that were widescreen AR. But on this supposed HD channel? They play inside a 4:3 box, thus appearing with side AND top & bottom pillars!

Makes me want to carefully make a list of ALL the advertisers and write them saying this population of HD set owners plan to boycott and encourage others to boycott all these advertisers for the next year. THAT would shake some things up!

And while we're at it, I getting real sick and tired of the local NBC station calling themselves "Channel; 4-HD." BS, they have almost NO HD content! A few minutes per day of inside the news studio is it. Relentless promotion that "4-HD" was carrying the marathon and what? No HD. Even more insulting, they had several recorded pieces that were widescreen, but did they play that way? NOOOOOO, black pillars all 4 sides.

Since NYC TWC started 719 and 720 (Max-HD and Starz-HD), the 1080i quality of most of the HD offerings have been very stable with little to no distortions. This is especially true with HDB, SHO, HDNET Movies, and MAX. Let's hope the Star Wars 6 will look fantastic! SIN CITY looked great last night.

Paul

Indeed I have been kinda looking closely to see if the burden of the additional HD channels means a decrease in PQ on others... at first I thought it had, but with more watching, I can't say I've seen that much decrease.

Ah, Sin City; interesting movie in HD. Given the style, it isn't exactly a poster child for HD, but somehow it "felt" better. Then again, Carla Gugino's scenes early in the movie do put a smile on my face for a couple of hours!

Ah Carla...

That is great DEMO for 1080p!



.....Then again, Carla Gugino's scenes early in the movie do put a smile on my face for a couple of hours!

Started this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8550113&&#post8550113) on it recently and noticed the problem continued this weekend. Notice it mostly with golf matches--and the contrast with the crisp, clear weekday coverage on ESPN-HD (480i=>720p). There's a sublink in that thread that discusses ABC's routing that might be the problem. Recall seeing the same problem over a year ago before we had ESPN on ABC; (just ABC upconverting 480i).

This doesn't arise with NBC/CBS weekend station upconversions of 480i to 1080i compared to weekday 480i golf matches on USA, etc. Edge enhancement (EE), as CBS station engineer Lee Wood outlined (http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=400016#post400016), can improve video on small screen SD displays, ABC's largest audience. But, if ABC is routing crisp digital video (seen weekdays) through analog NTSC with added EE, fuzzing up the harshening the overall image (weekends) for TWC on 707 here, it's puzzling why CBS and NBC don't have this problem. Find myself bypassing most of the ESPN/ABC weekend (or Sunday-only) coverage because images are so bad. -- John

Thanks John. I've been noticing this on 707 for a long time. 702 (CBS), 704 (NBC) and 705 (Fox) seem to do a much better job of their 480i to HD conversion.

It's also interesting that when NBC's HD local news uses widescreen SD cameras for their location reports, the biggest give-away that the source is SD is the vertical edge enhancement. But it's not nearly as ugly as what ABC does.

...It's not based on just what people on avsforum want..
Well regardless, these additional HD channels (Starzz and Cmax) are exactly what I’ve been waiting for. :)
I called Friday night to add them on and for whatever reason the two channels combined are only costing me 5 bucks more. The CSR on the phone was wheeling and dealing. He hooked me up. Who knows, maybe I was overpaying before. I’m happy. :D

Even though we HD folks are considered a sliver in the TW pie, I bet that there’s going to be a very noticeable spike-- with all of the Starzz and Cmax new subscriptions.

And it’s great hearing from you twcinsider. :cool:

Can't believe how my Cowboys just lost ... I'm going to be mad & depressed until next wkend! :( :mad:
Arghhhhhh..this DAL loss burns man! :confused:I doubt that you’ll find much solace here. :p This is the land of the Blue (and I’m certainly not talking politics) And the Green. Can’t wait for next Sunday night’s game. :cool:

It's supposed to be CBS' HD game!! So, WHY are we in NYC not getting this over-run in HD?? I"m sure the rest of the nation is seeing it that way. :mad: Not only =that=, even the CBS Sports desk just now was not in HD.No one saw the Giants game in HD.
As has been mentioned here many times, CBS only carries a few (3 or 4?) Sunday games in HD. This was not one of them. That said, CBS still does stink and should invest some more money into HD.

And while we're at it, I getting real sick and tired of the local NBC station calling themselves "Channel; 4-HD." BS, they have almost NO HD content! A few minutes per day of inside the news studio is it. Relentless promotion that "4-HD" was carrying the marathon and what? No HD. Even more insulting, they had several recorded pieces that were widescreen, but did they play that way? NOOOOOO, black pillars all 4 sides.

I'm not sure what you're talking about--last time I checked, Channel 4 aired at least 8 hours of HDTV content daily (three hours of "Today" + three hours of primetime + Jay + Conan), and that's before factoring in local news, which they do from the studio in HD (granted, the field reports are mostly SD). I didn't see the marathon coverage, so I don't know if it was NBC-generated or originated with Channel 4, but I'd imagine the portability (or lack thereof) of HD cameras might have been an issue.

On Friday, I called TWC to make an appointment for the installation of two cable cards in the S3 TiVo that's en route to me, and the earliest they could slot me in was December 7. The guy I spoke to said he thought that might have been a mistake, but we made the appointment for that day anyway. Have any of y'all called lately and gotten appointments that weren't so far off, or is that 12/7 date about par for the course?

CBS can only manage 3 HD game a week currently.

They will be adding 1 to that capacity every year starting in '07 (it costs $$$$....) (supposidly that money for this year went to the new HD pregame studio).

Yesterday's Giants game was never scheduled to be HD, so there was no reason to expect it.

Have any of you experienced some blockiness on Starz-HD, MAX-HD, and SHO-HD since Sunday afternoon?

It's strange, but I started getting some of that old digital garbage on even slow moving scenes over the last 24 hours.

If not, then my equipment may need replacing again....

The 8300HD is all you need to record and it does for HD shows too.



Hmm, I'll go get a new box tommorow and try it out. I want to record stuff, Do I need both the 8300HD and 3250HD and does it cost extra money?

CBS can only manage 3 HD game a week currently.

They will be adding 1 to that capacity every year starting in '07 (it costs $$$$....) (supposidly that money for this year went to the new HD pregame studio).

Yesterday's Giants game was never scheduled to be HD, so there was no reason to expect it.

I think you, and Larry, missed my point completely. I was NOT specifically complaining about the GIANTS game not being in HD; i understood that CBS is really cheap with the HD games. I was talking about the "over-run" game, meaning the end of the CHI-MIA game. We got about 7 or so minutes of that as a "bonus coverage" sorta deal. You want to tell me that THAT game wasn't in HD for the rest of the nation?? Of COURSE it was! THAT is what i was talking about. When they cut to THAT game, why didn't WE see it in HD?? And when they cut to the NFL Today set, that TOO, appeared on =our= screens in SD. :mad:

I think you, and Larry, missed my point completely. I was NOT specifically complaining about the GIANTS game not being in HD; i understood that CBS is really cheap with the HD games. I was talking about the "over-run" game, meaning the end of the CHI-MIA game. We got about 7 or so minutes of that as a "bonus coverage" sorta deal. You want to tell me that THAT game wasn't in HD for the rest of the nation?? Of COURSE it was! THAT is what i was talking about. When they cut to THAT game, why didn't WE see it in HD?? And when they cut to the NFL Today set, that TOO, appeared on =our= screens in SD. :mad:

Well its part of the same thing...

Its no so simple to have a local channel switch from planned SD to HD - in fact it never happens....

The 1pm to 4pm block on WCBS was scheduled as SD... so it stays SD... very simple.

Well its part of the same thing...

Its no so simple to have a local channel switch from planned SD to HD - in fact it never happens....

The 1pm to 4pm block on WCBS was scheduled as SD... so it stays SD... very simple.

This was =after= 4PM...WAY after....so does the block still apply?? Or did someone forget to flick a switch somewhere?

This was =after= 4PM...WAY after....so does the block still apply?? Or did someone forget to flick a switch somewhere?


No - It means they aren't scheduled to start HD until the 2nd game.

Period

End of story.

Came across this article over @ the dslreports.com site...

" Tackling Cable's Bandwidth Crunch
Broadlogic offers new 'headend on a chip'

A Silicon Valley start-up is proposing a new way to sharply expand the capacity of cable networks, reports the Wall Street Journal. BroadLogic Network Technologies has announced a new chip that will eliminate the need for MSOs to broadcast bandwidth hogging analog signals over their networks.
Broadlogic proposes the MSO would install a small gateway with this "headend on a chip" either bolted outside the home or in the basement.

This new technology would allow operators to shut off the analog signal across an entire node, freeing up between 450 and 500 Megahertz worth of spectrum, according to the company. When transmissions hit the gateway, the chip apparently converts an MPEG-2 stream into 80 NTSC-compliant analog channels plus 240 audio channels with VBI information. The upgrade may be a tough sell to cable providers; the Journal notes each gateway could cost as much as two set-top cable boxes.

Despite ample talk of a cable industry bandwidth crunch, a recent report suggested that cable providers currently have more than enough capacity to compete with telco fiber systems and offer additional HD and VOD services. It may simply take some work. Solutions include reclaiming analog TV spectrum, splitting fiber nodes, and, most importantly, employing switched broadcast video (SBV) techniques.

Time Warner Cable has improved their capacity by 50% in switched digital video trials. From that recent report:
"Each analog channel consumes 6 MHz of capacity (or roughly 1/125th of the total capacity of an upgraded cable plant). Re-claiming that channel slot frees up enough capacity to launch 2½ more channels in HDTV (each of which consumes about 2.4 MHz), or ten more digital channels (each of which consumes about 0.6 MHz), another ten QAMs, each capable of delivering an additional VOD stream, or another doubling of broadband [Internet] capacity (which today operates out of a single 6 MHz channel slot)."

This optimistic report is in contrast to a CableLabs report from August that suggested another round of multi-billion dollar upgrades might be in order and that MSOs might be better off just running fiber to the home."

It's also interesting that when NBC's HD local news uses widescreen SD cameras for their location reports, the biggest give-away that the source is SD is the vertical edge enhancement. But it's not nearly as ugly as what ABC does.

I watch NBC local for news. I have not see ONE 16:9 field camera shot, none. Well, I have seen maybe once or twice a widescreen camera shot from the chopper (as it's mounted, I wouldn't call it a field camera, as in mobile), but it sure didn't look like HD at all.

What I do see is that there seems to be a variety of PQ in the field; some field shots do kinda look HD, while others clearly don't. BUT all of them are 4:3.

FWIW, I immediately noticed when the studio camera went HD... it was about a week before the "official" roll out. I noticed the camera quality immediately. However, they side boxed (pillars, like 4:3) it until the official roll out.

I'm not sure what you're talking about--last time I checked, Channel 4 aired at least 8 hours of HDTV content daily (three hours of "Today" + three hours of primetime + Jay + Conan), and that's before factoring in local news, which they do from the studio in HD (granted, the field reports are mostly SD). I didn't see the marathon coverage, so I don't know if it was NBC-generated or originated with Channel 4, but I'd imagine the portability (or lack thereof) of HD cameras might have been an issue.

I'm talking about what Channel 4 produces... those 8 hours you quote are all network stuff, doesn't count. I sure do understand the difficulties, but HD field cameras are nowhere near what they had to be 5 years ago. My issue is the local WNBC, Channel 4 marketing themselves as HD; their HD produced content is miniscule.

As for the marathon, I wonder if they explored some sort of partnership with network? They might not get 100% HD coverage, but I think partial coverage would be OK. Then again, there may be folks who take a all or nothing approach, foreign as that would be to me!

No one saw the Giants game in HD.

But we sure as hell heard their announcer keep referring to Eli as Peyton Manning and never, ever apologizing or correctly himself.

WCBS is their frakking flagship station, in one of the largest markets in the NFL. So far 3 of our home teams games have bee in SD here on that flagship station in their largest market. AND they are clueless as to one of our quarterback's names. Totally unforgivable.

Thisis a good thread.

Have any of you experienced some blockiness on Starz-HD, MAX-HD, and SHO-HD since Sunday afternoon?

It's strange, but I started getting some of that old digital garbage on even slow moving scenes over the last 24 hours.

If not, then my equipment may need replacing again....
Nope....everything has been pretty clean for me in southern Manhattan.

Thisis a good thread.It sure is! Lots of good folks with helpful advice, welcome aboard! :cool:

But we sure as hell heard their announcer keep referring to Eli as Peyton Manning and never, ever apologizing or correctly himself.
Some of the gaffes that the announcers make today are unbelievable. I think they take this non corrective silent approach because if they correct themselves, they’ll bring more attention to their error and more people will know of their flub, so they just let their mistakes go. I find it difficult to believe that they don’t know they flubbed with all of the people involved in a broadcast. Michael Kay on the Yes network does it all of the time and never corrects himself.

So far 3 of our home teams games have bee in SD here on that flagship station in their largest market. AND they are clueless as to one of our quarterback's names. Totally unforgivable.
To quote you.... Indeed! :D

Some of the gaffes that the announcers make today are unbelievable. I think they take this non corrective silent approach because if they correct themselves, they’ll bring more attention to their error and more people will know of their flub, so they just let their mistakes go. I find it difficult to believe that they don’t know they flubbed with all of the people involved in a broadcast. Michael Kay on the Yes network does it all of the time and never corrects himself.

I think we all know who is the worst in sports broadcasting..

The one and only... Mr. Tim "Brandon Arroyo" McCarver.

I think we all know who is the worst in sports broadcasting..

The one and only... Mr. Tim "Brandon Arroyo" McCarver. :D LOL Forgot about that infamous one. Too funny.
Yo Timmy, he’s named after Charles Bronson not Michael Brandon :D

I see I am not the only one who thinks Tim McCarver is God awful.

I see I am not the only one who thinks Tim McCarver is God awful.

Quite the contrary...

I don't know of one person who thinks he's even remotely good...

I wonder who he's blackmailing at FOX... he might be making what should be the regular season HD money....

I watch NBC local for news. I have not see ONE 16:9 field camera shot, none. Well, I have seen maybe once or twice a widescreen camera shot from the chopper (as it's mounted, I wouldn't call it a field camera, as in mobile), but it sure didn't look like HD at all.

What I do see is that there seems to be a variety of PQ in the field; some field shots do kinda look HD, while others clearly don't. BUT all of them are 4:3.

FWIW, I immediately noticed when the studio camera went HD... it was about a week before the "official" roll out. I noticed the camera quality immediately. However, they side boxed (pillars, like 4:3) it until the official roll out.

This is odd. When NBC local news first went HD all field reports were 4x3, but recently I've seen more and more non-studio material in 16x9 (although it mostly looks like SD). Maybe we are watching at different times.

As for the marathon, I wonder if they explored some sort of partnership with network? They might not get 100% HD coverage, but I think partial coverage would be OK. Then again, there may be folks who take a all or nothing approach, foreign as that would be to me!

WNBC carried a live broadcast of the marathon, which was then edited and rebroadcast on the network in the afternoon as a condensed version. (Sort of like the 2 hour Ironman broadcasts they sometimes have.) Neither broadcast was HD. The local broadcast was branded as an NBC broadcast, not a WNBC broadcast, probably to facilitate the editing.

The marathon has always been a very complex broadcast. The primary cameras for much of the race are mounted on motorcycles, staying just in front of the lead packs, and a few other places (like in front of Lance Armstrong this year). Unlike standard remote shots, the cameras on the motorcycles can't exactly use microwave towers to transmit back to the station, so they either need to have a strong enough transmitter to get it there themselves, or transmit to a nearby truck that relays the signal. It would not surprise me if there were bandwidth issues in maintaining that many live HD feeds to the studio at once. As it is, the camera transmissions are tenuous enough that they cut out over the race's steel framed bridges.

The closest thing I can think of in terms of the motorcycle shots is the Tour de France. Was that in HD this year? Even so, the Tour only has one leader's pack, not three (wheelchair, women's, and men's). If the motorcycle shots couldn't be HD, there wouldn't have been much use in the broadcast itself being HD.
-JMP

I watch NBC local for news. I have not see ONE 16:9 field camera shot, none. Well, I have seen maybe once or twice a widescreen camera shot from the chopper (as it's mounted, I wouldn't call it a field camera, as in mobile), but it sure didn't look like HD at all.

What I do see is that there seems to be a variety of PQ in the field; some field shots do kinda look HD, while others clearly don't. BUT all of them are 4:3.

Just over the last week or so I've started seeing an occassional field shot that's certainly widescreen, and one or two have looked like HD.

I read that they're gradually upgrading all their remote trucks (but can't do them all at once, since it would require taking them out of service on the same day) to handle widescreen, with a few having true HD.

What I'm really waiting for is for their sports hilights to be in HD. If they have an HD studio and the appropriate support equipment, there's no reason they can't use the HD feeds from game broadcasts for their hilight packages. It should be a hell of a lot quicker and cheaper than upgrading all their remote trucks...
-JMP

This is very strange. As of 11:30 PM all 3 DT locals lost their HD feeds. Letterman and Leno are in SD and ABC's election coverage which was HD prior to the 11 PM news is now SD.

This is very strange. As of 11:30 PM all 3 DT locals lost their HD feeds. Letterman and Leno are in SD and ABC's election coverage which was HD prior to the 11 PM news is now SD.

I've heard that the networks told the affiliates to go SD tonight due to many locals needed to use the "breaking news" bar, which needs SD in most areas....

That explains NBC and CBS... dunno why ABC

DEMs win the House, back to rabbit ears and black & white..... :cool:


I've heard that the networks told the affiliates to go SD tonight due to many locals needed to use the "breaking news" bar, which needs SD in most areas....

That explains NBC and CBS... dunno why ABC

Good News from MSG-HD

Knicks road game vs Spurs on Saturday night will be in HD.

Hope more road games for Rangers and Knicks will be added as the season progresses...

This is odd. When NBC local news first went HD all field reports were 4x3, but recently I've seen more and more non-studio material in 16x9 (although it mostly looks like SD). Maybe we are watching at different times.

Wouldn't you know, the very evening after I made that post, what do I see? Field reports in widescreen! Seriously, this was the first time I saw this (uh, last night). I thought "OMG I better go find where I posted that to say I was now seeing it." I generally watch local from 5:30 to 6:30.

I suspect what is going on is that, much like the studio cameras, they ran HD in 4:3 for a long while. The widescreen field reports sure did look like HD. Part of the issue undoubtedly has to do with how they deal with both the HD and SD channel. I'd love to know the exact details, but I can only guess at this point (I know that if a widescreen image is fed in SD, it gets letterboxed top and bottom in 4:3 and all 4 sides on a widescreen display). My "guess" is they got a processor that crops the image to 4:3 so they can feed one signal to both and have automatic processes in the signal path to the SD broadcast.

What I'm really waiting for is for their sports hilights to be in HD. If they have an HD studio and the appropriate support equipment, there's no reason they can't use the HD feeds from game broadcasts for their hilight packages. It should be a hell of a lot quicker and cheaper than upgrading all their remote trucks...
-JMP

I know, on local I find it odd that they use a SD shot of a game that WAS in HD in the local HD channel. But I've seen this at a network level as well, say on a Fox game, the game is HD, the halftime is HD and they show SD clips from that game.

I suspect part of the issue is dealing with a 4:3 local and a 16:9 HD channel at the same time. At this point, my "attitude" is to go cheap, same signal, just letterbox is for 4:3 SD. Then again, what all I had WAS 4:3 SD, I "hated" letterboxed things! Amazing how rapidly our perspectives change...

BTW, I DO realize how daunting a technical task covering the marathon is. But I have worked at a broadcast network both on the busines and the technical side...

I know, on local I find it odd that they use a SD shot of a game that WAS in HD in the local HD channel. But I've seen this at a network level as well, say on a Fox game, the game is HD, the halftime is HD and they show SD clips from that game.

I suspect part of the issue is dealing with a 4:3 local and a 16:9 HD channel at the same time. At this point, my "attitude" is to go cheap, same signal, just letterbox is for 4:3 SD. Then again, what all I had WAS 4:3 SD, I "hated" letterboxed things! Amazing how rapidly our perspectives change...

Just look at how ESPN handles it. They use HD hilights where available. If you watch ESPN-SD, they just trim the edges off, since most widescreen sports broadcasts are shot so that the non-widescreen version just crops the image. You can tell when they have hilights from one of the CBS broadcasts that has the bug at the extreme edge, and the bug is cut off on the 4:3 version.

Anyway, with WNBC using the network's storage and editing stuff for HD now, and Today, SNL, and Conanl all broadcasting in HD from 30 Rockefeller Plaza, how long is it until we get to see Brian Williams in HD? I can't imagine it's a daunting technical task considering the upgrades they've already done in the building. It's got to be a much less complicated show technically than Today...
-JMP

Came across this article over @ the dslreports.com site...

" Tackling Cable's Bandwidth Crunch
Broadlogic offers new 'headend on a chip'

A Silicon Valley start-up is proposing a new way to sharply expand the capacity of cable networks, reports the Wall Street Journal. BroadLogic Network Technologies has announced a new chip that will eliminate the need for MSOs to broadcast bandwidth hogging analog signals over their networks.
Broadlogic proposes the MSO would install a small gateway with this "headend on a chip" either bolted outside the home or in the basement.

This new technology would allow operators to shut off the analog signal across an entire node, freeing up between 450 and 500 Megahertz worth of spectrum, according to the company. When transmissions hit the gateway, the chip apparently converts an MPEG-2 stream into 80 NTSC-compliant analog channels plus 240 audio channels with VBI information. The upgrade may be a tough sell to cable providers; the Journal notes each gateway could cost as much as two set-top cable boxes.

Despite ample talk of a cable industry bandwidth crunch, a recent report suggested that cable providers currently have more than enough capacity to compete with telco fiber systems and offer additional HD and VOD services. It may simply take some work. Solutions include reclaiming analog TV spectrum, splitting fiber nodes, and, most importantly, employing switched broadcast video (SBV) techniques.

Time Warner Cable has improved their capacity by 50% in switched digital video trials. From that recent report:
"Each analog channel consumes 6 MHz of capacity (or roughly 1/125th of the total capacity of an upgraded cable plant). Re-claiming that channel slot frees up enough capacity to launch 2½ more channels in HDTV (each of which consumes about 2.4 MHz), or ten more digital channels (each of which consumes about 0.6 MHz), another ten QAMs, each capable of delivering an additional VOD stream, or another doubling of broadband [Internet] capacity (which today operates out of a single 6 MHz channel slot)."

This optimistic report is in contrast to a CableLabs report from August that suggested another round of multi-billion dollar upgrades might be in order and that MSOs might be better off just running fiber to the home."

..........

The 8300HD DVR here in NYC now has the HDTV listings for next Friday's Star Wars marathon.

Starting Friday night or Saturday 11/11 at 12AM, it's

1. Star Wars Phantom Menace HDTV 133 min Ends 220AM
2. Attack of Clones HDTV 143 min Ends 445AM
3. Revenge of Sith HDTV 140 min Ends 710AM
4. Star Wars HDTV 125 min Ends 920AM
5. Empire Strikes Back HDTV 124 min Ends 1130AM
6. Return of Jedi HDTV 133 min Ends 150PM

Get a new external hard drive or clear out that 8300HD DVR!

Since NYC TWC started 719 and 720 (Max-HD and Starz-HD), the 1080i quality of most of the HD offerings have been very stable with little to no distortions. This is especially true with HDB, SHO, HDNET Movies, and MAX. Let's hope the Star Wars 6 will look fantastic! SIN CITY looked great last night.

Paul

I need to get an external drive with a quickness..... can anyone recommend a local place (in NYC) to pick up either an external one or the parts to make one for cheap?

BTW, anyone catch the NBA on ESPN last night (Suns/Spurs)? I thought the broadcast was garbage on my 61". Wondering if it's just my feed.

Just look at how ESPN handles it. They use HD hilights where available. If you watch ESPN-SD, they just trim the edges off, since most widescreen sports broadcasts are shot so that the non-widescreen version just crops the image. You can tell when they have hilights from one of the CBS broadcasts that has the bug at the extreme edge, and the bug is cut off on the 4:3 version.

Anyway, with WNBC using the network's storage and editing stuff for HD now, and Today, SNL, and Conanl all broadcasting in HD from 30 Rockefeller Plaza, how long is it until we get to see Brian Williams in HD? I can't imagine it's a daunting technical task considering the upgrades they've already done in the building. It's got to be a much less complicated show technically than Today...
-JMP

Oh boy, this story ain't seen the end yet! Absolutely WNBC is doing a lot more "field stories" in 16:9 HD, but they seem to also be almost adopting the TNT deal, taking 4:3 SD content and stretching it horizontally (sorry to those who think this is good, to me it's bush league). There was one report that had 16:9 HD, 4:3 with side pillars AND 4:3 SD stretched horizontally. I suppose one might give up an excuse that they are trying various things, etc. Total BS, these guys are very highly paid professionals who seem to be acting worse than some college student run broadcast facility (I did run a college broadcast facility, with others, that would never pull this kind of unprofessional antics).

I need to get an external drive with a quickness..... can anyone recommend a local place (in NYC) to pick up either an external one or the parts to make one for cheap?

Without having done any research on this at all, my "go to" place would probably be J&R Music & Computer World down near City Hall. It's bound to have all of the parts you need (SATA enclosure, SATA drive), as well as very competetive prices (though not necessarily the cheapest, they will be on the lower end of the scale), and they are a "reputable" business, with a reasonable return & support policy.

Without having done any research on this at all, my "go to" place would probably be J&R Music & Computer World down near City Hall. It's bound to have all of the parts you need (SATA enclosure, SATA drive), as well as very competetive prices (though not necessarily the cheapest, they will be on the lower end of the scale), and they are a "reputable" business, with a reasonable return & support policy.

Thanks. I've shopped at J&R many times when I used to work down on Wall st.. They do have good prices/selection

anyone else in forest hills/rego park area having major issues?

I'm on the road and my wife is sitting home (not too tech savvy) with no internet and no cable.

I called TWC and they told me noone could go out until Saturday morn.

I'm beyond frustrated with the lack of service from TWC, i have no other choice but to wait, i can't go to any competitor, thye can charge me whatever they want and when something goes wrong, i'm over a barrell with a corn cob up my pooper.

Hi Folks,

Recently got the Explorer 8300HD box from TWC in NYC. I am having trouble with some of the display options. In general, trying to figure out if I want 720p or 1080i resolution, and also if I want to pick zoom, letterbox or stretch for both the widescreen (16:9) and the standard (4:3). At this point those are my two biggest questions. I have a Panasonic Plasma, TH-50PX600U.

I think I have my settings on stretch right now and some shows just do not look right. If I put up letterbox I get side bars, even on the HD channels. So I think I am doing something wrong.

Any help would be appreciated. I find the menus to be somewhat confusing for an HD newbie like myself.


Thanks!

Does anyone know if there's an option to change the grey side bars to black for SD channels? Burn in isnt an issue on my display (LCOS) and the light grey bars are very distracting.

Zlot: What is your plamsa's aspect set on? Make sure it's on Full.

I believe it is set on full. I will double check Friday night, as I am travelling so I am away from the TV. I just know that the HD box lets me choose letterbox, stretch or zoom and I am not happy with the way things are set, but I am sure I am missing something simple.

I believe it is set on full. I will double check Friday night, as I am travelling so I am away from the TV. I just know that the HD box lets me choose letterbox, stretch or zoom and I am not happy with the way things are set, but I am sure I am missing something simple.


Be careful about HD channels - many aren't always showing HD content (such as the local broadcast networks) - so they will have sidebars during certain programming and many commercials.

Test your settings on a normal HD channel, such as DiscoveryHD.

anyone else in forest hills/rego park area having major issues?

I'm on the road and my wife is sitting home (not too tech savvy) with no internet and no cable.

I called TWC and they told me noone could go out until Saturday morn.

I'm beyond frustrated with the lack of service from TWC, i have no other choice but to wait, i can't go to any competitor, thye can charge me whatever they want and when something goes wrong, i'm over a barrell with a corn cob up my pooper.

Here in Jackson Heights, it's all working.

Go into your setting on the cable remote, hit settings, more settings, look for aspect ratio choice(choose wide screen 16:9, 4:3 stretch). Secondly hit settings again, more settings, look for Output Formats and choose 480p and 1080i. Now go to your Panny TV remote and tune into a SD channel and hit your Aspect button on your Panny remote, choose Just. This will make your non HD channels look much better than the cable box stretch mode. I have last year's model(PX50U) and this procedure looks fine on my display. Good luck

thanks berk and koz. great answers. I'll start to fool around tomorrow when I am back home and I'll keep you all posted.

2 question though, why would I choose 480p and 1080i when I have this all connected via HDMI? Wouldn't I want to choose 720p? And secondly, I remember when I choose the aspect ratio on the cable box first I have to pick 16:9 or 4:3. ok so for 4:3 you say pick stretch, but I do not think there is a "widescreen" option for the 16:9, i I think it says zoom, stretch or letterbox. Do I want to choose letterbox? If I do, if its an HD channel with non HD content will it show bars on the side?

In general, if I follow your steps what will the channels look like, I want to make sure I did it right. for instance, HD channels with HD content will be in 16:9, but SD and HD channels with non HD content will be in 4:3 with bars on the side?

Thanks again.

I'm on lower east side manhattan and my 705 and 711 is down. 705 was pixellating on and off during game 1 of the World Series on saturday. Today it is just a gray screen. 711 was working fine saturday but pixellating on and off before and now just a gray screen. Does anybody have this problem? Please check your TV and let me know if it's just me. :( Thanks.


Greenpoint

Blank screen on 705 and 741, and several others, since 10-28-06. Also, since then, various channels come in and out intermittantly.

Observation: There are three methods to navigate to a channel:
1. Pressing the Guide button on the remote, scrolling to a listed channel, and pressing the Select button.
2. Entering the channel # directly using the remote.
3. Using the ch+ and ch- buttons on my SA8300HD box.

I have found that various channels behave differently (blank screen or viewable) using the different methods. Also, on Wednesday, 11-7-06, for a period of time, I had reception on all channels, including 705 and 741. The problems then reverted back.

Time Warner is scheduled to arrive on Saturday. I will post their diagnosis and/or resolution.

Anyone have any success with convincing TWC to boost their signal? I had a tech come check my signal (because of bad pixelation) and all he was willing to do was change out the splitter and fittings. He claims there was a 4db boost from that and that my signal was 'good' to begin with. :rolleyes:

It's acceptable (barely) on my 50" but on my new 61" (50% larger screen area), the noise is much, much more apparent and make sports/fast action stuff look like poop. Last night I connected the coax directly into my tv to check my signal strength, and the meter showed a lousy ~56-58 out of 100! :mad:

Anyone have any success with convincing TWC to boost their signal? I had a tech come check my signal (because of bad pixelation) and all he was willing to do was change out the splitter and fittings. He claims there was a 4db boost from that and that my signal was 'good' to begin with. :rolleyes:

It's acceptable (barely) on my 50" but on my new 61" (50% larger screen area), the noise is much, much more apparent and make sports/fast action stuff look like poop. Last night I connected the coax directly into my tv to check my signal strength, and the meter showed a lousy ~56-58 out of 100! :mad:

I don't quite know exactly what is going on, but the direct feed from TWC not running through a cable box has gotten noticeably worse over recent months. I don't know if this is something they are doing on purpose to get people to switch to digital cable, or what, but it's annoying.

I have a 17" LCD TV in my kitchen without a box, and it's really gotten somewhat unwatchable lately. I can only imagine how bad it would look on a big screen. But my signal coming out of my cable box on the bigscreen in my living room has been fine from what I can see.

If you are in Manhattan, go to J&R or B&H Photo
If you're in Queens, go to COMPUSA on Queens Blvd or the Circuit City nearby.

Any sub $200 external eSATA drive at 7200ROM should work fine.

I have 100GB saved for tonight and at least 13 people ready for the all nighter!
Feels like college once again!

Paul




I need to get an external drive with a quickness..... can anyone recommend a local place (in NYC) to pick up either an external one or the parts to make one for cheap?

BTW, anyone catch the NBA on ESPN last night (Suns/Spurs)? I thought the broadcast was garbage on my 61". Wondering if it's just my feed.

On aspect rations and sidebars...

1. When setting up the 8300HD, and setting the aspect ratio of your TV, I believe the 4:3 and 6:9 settings don't seem to work consistently. To have it work correctly on the current 8300 software version, I had to use 4:3 (though my TV is 6:9), and I remember other people reporting similar things, and that this varies as the 8300 software version changes

2. Grey sidebars....
a) when viewing HD channels, any sidebars you see will be added by the broadcaster; some use black, some use patterns, some use grey. I recall some tricks for overriding that using squeeze and stretch on your TV and 8300 have been reported earlier in this thread.
b) when viewing SD, either the 8300 *or* your TV will handle the sidebars.
i) If your 8300 is set to output only HD (720 or 1080), the 8300 will create a 'fake' HD 6:9 image, by adding grey sidebars. As far as your TV know, it's a 6:9 HD image, and it shows what it gets.
ii) If your 8300 is set to also/only output SD (480 in any form), it will be sending the SD channels to your TV in SD 4:3 format. Your TV then decides how to display those, and will tack on its own sidebars (or alternatively, stretch the image)

Why TWCNY can't add a menu option to choose sidebar color is beyond me...

(BTW, anyone else note that Spitzer named the CEO of TimeWarner to his transition team? Does not bode well for getting NY State pressure on the cable companies...)

I notice that I never have sidebars on my HD channels, for commericals, non-HD programming content, etc, which leads me to believe things are not set up right. I think that is because I have the stretch option selected for 16:9. heinriph and others have given me some good ideas, and I got time saturday afternoon to fool around so I will let you know what works and what did not work.

If you are in Manhattan, go to J&R or B&H Photo
If you're in Queens, go to COMPUSA on Queens Blvd or the Circuit City nearby.

Any sub $200 external eSATA drive at 7200ROM should work fine.

I have 100GB saved for tonight and at least 13 people ready for the all nighter!
Feels like college once again!

Paul

Thanks Paul. I was too busy yesterday to run to a store. B&H closes too early on Fridays. J&R's a pain to get to... so I decided to just order it through newegg late afternoon yesterday. I just checked my order and it's out for delivery! Newegg freakin rules!

Is this one the right type of drive? Not too up to speed on external drives for dvr's. TIA

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Western-Digital-External-Hard-Drive-WDG1U2500N/sem/rpsm/oid/145402/catOid/-12973/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

I notice that I never have sidebars on my HD channels, for commericals, non-HD programming content, etc, which leads me to believe things are not set up right. I think that is because I have the stretch option selected for 16:9. heinriph and others have given me some good ideas, and I got time saturday afternoon to fool around so I will let you know what works and what did not work.

If you have the box set to 16:9 and 4:3 stretch (and your Panny set to full), it shouldn't stretch the HD content, only SD.

SD doesnt look great on stretch so I just have it set to sidebars to keep the original aspect ratio with grey side bars.

Is this one the right type of drive? Not too up to speed on external drives for dvr's. TIA

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Western-Digital-External-Hard-Drive-WDG1U2500N/sem/rpsm/oid/145402/catOid/-12973/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do


No. You need to find a drive with an eSATA interface. The cheapest way is to buy the drive and case and assemble it yourself.

a few combo examples from newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductComboList.asp?ItemNo=N82E16817173041&Subcategory=92&PageSize=10&SortField=0&Page=1)

Ah cool. Thanks for the information.

No. You need to find a drive with an eSATA interface. The cheapest way is to buy the drive and case and assemble it yourself.

a few combo examples from newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductComboList.asp?ItemNo=N82E16817173041&Subcategory=92&PageSize=10&SortField=0&Page=1)
I personally got the exact Rosewill/Seagate combo listed here, and it's been working splendidly!

Scott

I personally got the exact Rosewill/Seagate combo listed here, and it's been working splendidly!

Scott

...and, its quite attractive (brushed black aluminum) and quite, too.

So far so good. All my drives working well into the 1st hour.

http://paulchiu.zoto.com/img/50/4de30418efc0e37be99931203ed958fa-.jpg

Above capture of my 1080p 37w3 panel using 8300HD DVR as primary and 3250HD as secondary through a D-VHS firewire recorder.

http://paulchiu.zoto.com/img/50/332d7361d2c6428d397a8ab1a6257589-.jpg

Above with 3250HD through D-VHS and Component as primary and 8300HD through DVI as primary

http://paulchiu.zoto.com/img/50/a2d7838cd65412e584617ef72836db1d-.jpg

D-VHS recorder connected to 3250HD and recording via firewire. Will know PQ after marathon....

http://paulchiu.zoto.com/img/50/bd470a6bed6428448ddb607687212a4b-.jpg

3250HD on left and 8300HD DVR on right

http://paulchiu.zoto.com/img/30/ab2730c5969a5288884ebe1c22698512-.jpg

Drives working hard with 8300HD


There you have it. The recorders working hard and hot in my office. People partying in living room watching another HDTV with 3250HD. Most kids still up and interested.....

Later....

Paul

Everybody fell asleep including myself halfway into Star Wars 3.

I just woke up finding out that the DVR stills works and Star Wars (1) looks fabulous! As good as any HDNET old movies look. Star wars in 1080i looks way better at the native 235:1 today than my DVDs, my Japanese imported Laserdisks, an the special edition S-VHS tapes.

This is the one!

Now, the greatest of them all, The Empire Strikes Back!

Anyone have any success with convincing TWC to boost their signal? I had a tech come check my signal (because of bad pixelation) and all he was willing to do was change out the splitter and fittings. He claims there was a 4db boost from that and that my signal was 'good' to begin with. :rolleyes:

It's acceptable (barely) on my 50" but on my new 61" (50% larger screen area), the noise is much, much more apparent and make sports/fast action stuff look like poop. Last night I connected the coax directly into my tv to check my signal strength, and the meter showed a lousy ~56-58 out of 100! :mad:


Had a tech come by this morning as the living room/computer just crapped out and stopped working at all 3 days ago.

He said there was something wrong with the wire in the wall and i need to set up an appt. for someone to come and install a direct line to the living room rather than run it all the way from the back of the apt to the living room.

Now, i'm out of town and my wife is actually the one that was home. Good thing I wasn't there as I would have asked this assclown

1: Why don't you just run a new line right now?

2: Why was it working until 3 days ago if I need a whole new f'n line

3: Why can't i find a compentant TWC or Directv tech in all of NYC??

Ridiculous, I'm beyond frustrated, Do techs not set up lines? I really have to set up a new appt for an installation?

you were all helpful with my aspect ratio problems. Put the TV on full, figured out how to set the aspect ratio on the cable box (man those menus make no sense) and now its all working well.

thanks for the help!

D-VHS recorder connected to 3250HD and recording via firewire. Will know PQ after marathon....


Paul,

How did D-VHS recording go with the 3250HD? I gave up on FireWire with my 8300HD after the "upgrade" to 2.5.066.

-Mike

Mike,

Excellent for Star Wars (4) and Empire Strikes Back (5), with merely a handful of artfifacts. By the time we got to Return of Jedi (6), maybe due to overheating of either D-VHS recorder or 3250HD, the dropouts were too many for the tape to be acceptable.
I already have all 3 of the current TRIO on D-VHS, DVR, or computer TS...

PS.
Firewire on the 8300HD DVR with 2.5.066 still do not work.

Paul




Paul,

How did D-VHS recording go with the 3250HD? I gave up on FireWire with my 8300HD after the "upgrade" to 2.5.066.

-Mike

For those who didn't know because I certainly didn't see any announcements. We have 2 more HD channels. MaxHD(719)and StarzHD(720). It is about time! Maybe they might make a deal with NFLnetHD before thursday's game and we could have 3 new ones in a week.
It would be nice if I subscribed to those channels but I guess I have to just bit the bullet and decide which one would I watch more.
People that do have it, enjoy the new choice.

For those who didn't know because I certainly didn't see any announcements. We have 2 more HD channels. MaxHD(719)and StarzHD(720). It is about time! Maybe they might make a deal with NFLnetHD before thursday's game and we could have 3 new ones in a week.
It would be nice if I subscribed to those channels but I guess I have to just bit the bullet and decide which one would I watch more.
People that do have it, enjoy the new choice.


You just beat me to the message LOL. I just added MAXHD and StarHD five minutes ago. If, you have cinimax and star regular you are good to go, they are 5 dollars more each, however, TWC is giving you Cinimax free for the Month.. Finally!!

The funny thing is I had to call twice, the time warner people did not even know they added the two new Channels, so I had to tell them just add regular Cinimax and Star, and then I switched to 719 and 720 and it was good.

You just beat me to the message LOL. I just added MAXHD and StarHD five minutes ago. If, you have cinimax and star regular you are good to go, they are 5 dollars more each, however, TWC is giving you Cinimax free for the Month.. Finally!!

The funny thing is I had to call twice, the time warner people did not even know they added the two new Channels, so I had to tell them just add regular Cinimax and Star, and then I switched to 719 and 720 and it was good.
really? I have checked and I haven't had any freebies this month, Last month only showtime for the weekend.

For those who didn't know because I certainly didn't see any announcements. We have 2 more HD channels. MaxHD(719)and StarzHD(720). It is about time! Maybe they might make a deal with NFLnetHD before thursday's game and we could have 3 new ones in a week.
It would be nice if I subscribed to those channels but I guess I have to just bit the bullet and decide which one would I watch more.
People that do have it, enjoy the new choice.

Both 719 and 720 were added on November 1. If you go back a couple pages you'll see a good bit of talk about it. Hopefully NFL HD isn't far behind.

Both 719 and 720 were added on November 1. If you go back a couple pages you'll see a good bit of talk about it. Hopefully NFL HD isn't far behind.
I started a thread somewhere else and the post was redirected here. I really didn't know so I am sorry to be giving old news but it would have been nice if TWC gave us some notice.
Like I said I don't have these channels but if I knew earlier I would have made the change.
Now I have a new thread that I can chat it up with my fellow NYers which is cool.

Oh, they did actually (sorta, kinda) did give a notice... rumors began to fly 2 days before 11/1. Get this, the "notice" was a crawl on the weather channel. So if you intently watched the weather channel for 30 minutes, you might have caught it.

I just turned on the plasma for football....no audio at ALL on the TV side. It was FINE earlier today. On the radio everything's fine, also when i play a VCR tape everything's fine. WTF??!

I just turned on the plasma for football....no audio at ALL on the TV side. It was FINE earlier today. On the radio everything's fine, also when i play a VCR tape everything's fine. WTF??!

I called up TWC...did a cold boot...it's working fine now. :o

Anyone have any success with convincing TWC to boost their signal? I had a tech come check my signal (because of bad pixelation) and all he was willing to do was change out the splitter and fittings. He claims there was a 4db boost from that and that my signal was 'good' to begin with. :rolleyes:

It's acceptable (barely) on my 50" but on my new 61" (50% larger screen area), the noise is much, much more apparent and make sports/fast action stuff look like poop. Last night I connected the coax directly into my tv to check my signal strength, and the meter showed a lousy ~56-58 out of 100! :mad:

Over the summer I was having major signal problems. At various points, each of the three boxes in my apartment stopped getting guide data, dropped signals, etc.

The first time I called, I spoke with a rep who boosted the signal remotely, and said that it should fix the problem once and for all. I asked if I should set up an appointment in case it didn't fix the problem, but she insisted it was fine. A few days later the same thing happened, and I was livid, especially since I'd just entered a period at work during which I would not be able to wait for a 4 hour window. (I would have had the first rep scheduled the appointment.)

I raised hell and they sent an entire crew to my apartment, including a foreman. It turned out that some frequencies were coming in with too much signal, while others had not enough. They swapped out a couple of connections in my apartment and tapped the line right outside to read the signal, then had crews working their way down from the 33rd floor tuning all the amplifiers in the main riser going down. Apparently, they had guys all over the building for several hours after I left that morning.

I wonder how often a high rise installation needs a full retuning like that, and whether or not they schedule such a thing as regular maintenance or wait for things to break badly...
-JMP

Now, i'm out of town and my wife is actually the one that was home. Good thing I wasn't there as I would have asked this assclown

1: Why don't you just run a new line right now?

2: Why was it working until 3 days ago if I need a whole new f'n line

3: Why can't i find a compentant TWC or Directv tech in all of NYC??

Ridiculous, I'm beyond frustrated, Do techs not set up lines? I really have to set up a new appt for an installation?

Apparently, it's a union thing. The guys who come to troubleshoot are on a different contract than the guys who run cables. You can get a competent TWC tech, but only if you present a sufficiently interesting case and make enough noise about it. (I was getting competent techs by the time my 8 appointment install process neared its end back in 2003. If I'd gotten competent techs from the beginning, it would have been a one appointment install process.)
-JMP

Apparently, it's a union thing. The guys who come to troubleshoot are on a different contract than the guys who run cables. You can get a competent TWC tech, but only if you present a sufficiently interesting case and make enough noise about it. (I was getting competent techs by the time my 8 appointment install process neared its end back in 2003. If I'd gotten competent techs from the beginning, it would have been a one appointment install process.)
-JMP
They seem to escalate the quality of the Tech based on the Number of call backs. After my second HDTV was installed earlier this year, my signal crapped out and the march of TWC techs began. After the initial tech ( who was good) came the power folks to check the risers and amplifiers in the building, Then the new wiring tech. Finally the real trouble shooter who installed an amplifier in my apt. and arranged for the modem to be direct wired from the incoming junction box/splitter, rather than at the tail end of the apt's wiring . Things had been good until the upgrade of the s/w. Now, pixelation and freezes are back. hate to waste my time with the march of the tech's again. Will wait and see for some more!!

Has anyone experienced this? I have a lot of noise coming through the spekers when there is no dialog. it is like a buzzing, hissing or staic sound. I have changed all my wiring when I purchased the TV and the noise was lower but still there. It doesn't interfer with the dialog or music. I hear that clearly, but during any break in sound it is very noticable. Is this a normal thing with TWC. I have the SA3250HD box. Do you think this would cause problems to my PQ? Thank you for any help you guys can give.

I have a lot of noise coming through the spekers when there is no dialog. it is like a buzzing, hissing or staic sound.

Any chance your remote is controlling volume on the 3250 rather than the TV?

On the older SA boxes, you could - and I did - end up in a situation where the volume on the TV was fixed at a high volume, and the volume control was being done by the cable box. In effect the volume on the TV was blasting at all times, while the cable box was delivering a 'strangled' low volume to the TV.

The net effect was that the background hum that just about any signal has was coming through very loud - when there was dialogue or music, you would not hear it, but in silent sequences.... Your cable box should always output almost full volume, and you TV should then control how loud to play that source.

Don't know if this scenario is even possible on a 3250, but worth mentioning as a possibility.

Any chance your remote is controlling volume on the 3250 rather than the TV?

On the older SA boxes, you could - and I did - end up in a situation where the volume on the TV was fixed at a high volume, and the volume control was being done by the cable box. In effect the volume on the TV was blasting at all times, while the cable box was delivering a 'strangled' low volume to the TV.

The net effect was that the background hum that just about any signal has was coming through very loud - when there was dialogue or music, you would not hear it, but in silent sequences.... Your cable box should always output almost full volume, and you TV should then control how loud to play that source.

Don't know if this scenario is even possible on a 3250, but worth mentioning as a possibility.
thanx for the feedback, but no this isn't my problem, I have the Box at the recoding level of 92 or at max vol and it still sounds the same. The remote controls only the TV volume the box volume never changes unless I change it manually.

ESPN-HD was acting crazy earlier Mon morning into the afternoon for me, pixels & audio issues, but it ceared up around 6pm.

Is 5 Mbps the average speed for RoadRunner in Manhattan?
Thank you.

nutty, new cables lessened the effect? That's a good clue that this induced noise is coming from the cables. Generally speaking, anything carrying power should be a 90 degrees from anything carrying audio/video. Try and avoid parallel runs. Beyond that, there can be an issue with one component that just isn't as well shielded as it should be. Sometimes, repositioning equipment may lessen this.

Yes I know it's a bloody pain, but "buy all new equipment" isn't exactly a helpful suggestion!

Caught Memories of a Geisha on Starz... Scott was right, not HD. BUT it was widescreen (I checked, the Guide information does NOT have this info), and honestly I have not seen any other movie on a premium channel that was SD and widescreen, the SD stuff they put on their HD channels always seemed to use a 4:3 AR.

I very much felt it was exactly like a DVD, with it's very clean image filling my whole panel. Could it have used the extra resolution? Absolutely, this movie COULD be a poster child for HD. But it wasn't bad at all, definitely better than a 4:3 CRT.

But the issue I'm most curious about is why... we're talking about a very recent film. I can't imagine any even vaguely logical reason why this one is SD.

Of course, the other issue is IF these guys are going to put SD on their HD channel (like they all very much do) why not in widescreen?

Is 5 Mbps the average speed for RoadRunner in Manhattan?
Thank you.

yes, but remember that the more people get on the slower your speed gets.

Hi Folks,

Too many remote controls, and I have had trouble programming all of the DVD player functions and Audio functions into the remote control that comes with the 8300HD box. I am thinking about buying a new universal remote, but I want to make sure it will keep all of the DVR and menu functions that you need to operate TWC.

Any suggestions?

Hi Folks,

Too many remote controls, and I have had trouble programming all of the DVD player functions and Audio functions into the remote control that comes with the 8300HD box. I am thinking about buying a new universal remote, but I want to make sure it will keep all of the DVR and menu functions that you need to operate TWC.

Any suggestions?

I have a Harmony 659 remote which works very well with my TWC SA8300 HD DVD setup.

...and, its quite attractive (brushed black aluminum) and quite, too.
While it may be pretty quiet, I noticed that the fan on mine did not come turned on by default. And there were no instructions on how to turn it on. There is a little switch that you have to slide over on the back to enable the fan. You might want to doublecheck that it's turned on in your setup. My setup is such that the gear does not get much ventilation at all, so the fan is a must!

Scott

Just a reminder to set the DVR tomorrow Nov 15 11:30AM, Discovery HD.
It's going to be great!.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748109

Just a reminder to set the DVR tomorrow Nov 15 11:30AM, Discovery HD.
It's going to be great!.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748109
that is tomorrow, damm I just saw it in the news today. I know they will show it again. But I think this is the live one where you get the true reaction. 11:30 est, or Central?

I have a Harmony 659 remote which works very well with my TWC SA8300 HD DVD setup.


For me, I'm looking for a remote with all (or at least almost all) of the following functions. Does the Harmony do this?

A,B,C
Page+ Page-
Live
List
Fav
Record
Replay 30 sec
Vol+, Vol-
Ch+, Ch-
Mute
Prev Ch
Guide
Info
Exit
4-way cursor
Play
Stop
Pause
FF
Rewind
Numbers 0-9
PIP: on, move, swap, [ch+, ch- ]
Menu (settings)

hey, i'm about to get a panny50px600u, it has builtin qam also so what channels would i be able to get if i just run a splitter from my cable internet to the tv. also are there "good" splitters or any will do, also are there "good" coax cables? thx a lot

Speaking of RoadRunner... we all noticed a few months back that we had been slipstreamed better specs, going from 5Mb down, 384k up to 6Mb down and 512k up. For the past week or so, I could swear that they have reverted to the old specs. Or much worse, I just got 678kb down!

Naturally, I'm speculating that this may be a part of the 2 additonal HD channels we got 11/1. I don't think they ever said anyting about the better specs, so it was easy to "take them back."

I wonder if anyone can get TWC to actually admit this... or someone with inside knowledge that can confirm it.

Just a reminder to set the DVR tomorrow Nov 15 11:30AM, Discovery HD.
It's going to be great!.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748109

Damn I'm home but just missed it. I'll have to set my DVR to record the 9pm replay. Should be as sweet to view as a Tony Romo bomb to T.O.!

Speaking of RoadRunner... we all noticed a few months back that we had been slipstreamed better specs, going from 5Mb down, 384k up to 6Mb down and 512k up. For the past week or so, I could swear that they have reverted to the old specs. Or much worse, I just got 678kb down!

Naturally, I'm speculating that this may be a part of the 2 additonal HD channels we got 11/1. I don't think they ever said anyting about the better specs, so it was easy to "take them back."

I wonder if anyone can get TWC to actually admit this... or someone with inside knowledge that can confirm it.

Not sure if you frequent Broadband Reports for Roadrunner, but you are not the only one with issues on the service. The forums there are in flames for NYC RR.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/cable,rr

Has anyone experienced this? I have a lot of noise coming through the spekers when there is no dialog. it is like a buzzing, hissing or staic sound. I have changed all my wiring when I purchased the TV and the noise was lower but still there. It doesn't interfer with the dialog or music. I hear that clearly, but during any break in sound it is very noticable. Is this a normal thing with TWC. I have the SA3250HD box. Do you think this would cause problems to my PQ? Thank you for any help you guys can give.

Let me ask, was this a problem with a new installation or did it happen over time? I think I might be having a similar problem with an SA8300. It was working fine for a few months, but then I started getting the buzzing noise just after the software update. If I tried repositioning the cables or cold booting it would get a little better but only for a day or so and then go back to its original level of badness (the cold booting might suggest a ground loop issue, since unplugging and replugging SHOULD give a discharge to ground). The SA8300 is the only component that does this and I tried changing the cables and connecting to different ports on the set but it did not help.

The only thing that did fix the problem is switching to HDMI (since the audio is then digital), which is what I ended up doing even though I prefer the look of SD content on component. But I'm still curious if TWC did this with software or that the timing of it was just a coincidence. I know I could get yet another new box (this is the 3rd), but I don't want to lose my programming and this box is generally pretty stable (knock on wood)...

Oh well best of luck

For me, I'm looking for a remote with all (or at least almost all) of the following functions. Does the Harmony do this?

A,B,C
Page+ Page-
Live
List
Fav
Record
Replay 30 sec
Vol+, Vol-
Ch+, Ch-
Mute
Prev Ch
Guide
Info
Exit
4-way cursor
Play
Stop
Pause
FF
Rewind
Numbers 0-9
PIP: on, move, swap, [ch+, ch- ]
Menu (settings)


Yup.So does the Monster Control's mcc av 100. Ihave it hooked upto.
1.my sony 30 in 955sx hd tv.
2.my s.a.8300 dvr hd
3. my ps 2 dvd remote
4. my old tivo
5. my surround sound sony dvd player system
6. my xm satrad inno
7&8 my fan and heater
9. my imac 17 in c2d 2.16ghz cpu.

Monster Cable from what Ive heard created the Harmony remote series as a subcontractor to Logicteh or whichever company sells the Harmony remote. The remotes on both sides ARE NOT cheap.

however they boast a bright lcd screen, backlit buttons, rechargable batteries and honestly its as easy as choosing what type of device you are adding to the remote and then putting in the model number of the unit and viola. the thing is programmed.

ofcourse you can program the 8 lcd screen buttons to set your hot keys for your most used buttons if you wish, or you can scroll through the "pages" for all the button features of the remote.

Not sure if you frequent Broadband Reports for Roadrunner, but you are not the only one with issues on the service. The forums there are in flames for NYC RR.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/cable,rr

Well I have noticed what I'd call a different issue; the past 2-3 days it seems there a MAJOR issue during daytime hours, the whole thing goes to modem speeds, like under a meg down (I did read through a too many posts alluding to this). I'm not as concerned about that as it's a major issue in and of itself. It's when this is NOT happening that I notice we're back at the old "standard" speeds. I'm looking for confirmation from other NYers that they are noticing the same issue, i.e. not that there are severe daytime issues, but the "normal service level" ain't what it used to be.

Unfortunately I HAD to read about how upstate NY got revved to 10 down 1 up! Pisses me off that AFAIK, we are all paying the same price, but are not even close to getting the same service. Then again, it also may be true that we (NYCers) are getting more HD than the upstate guys with the great RR speeds.

Like I said, it seems plausible this may be the trade-off for the additional HD channels.

After two (2) years, TWC has finally upgraded their CC firmware. I received the upgrade this morning. It is now OS Build: 2.3.149.3, dated May 10, 2006. There is no update log so I don't know what was changed. All I know is that I still lose the DD 2.0/5.1 audio on encrypted channels and have to switch to standard L/R RCA audio on my AVR or use the 8300HD. :(

Regards....JL

Well I have noticed what I'd call a different issue; the past 2-3 days it seems there a MAJOR issue during daytime hours, the whole thing goes to modem speeds, like under a meg down (I did read through a too many posts alluding to this). I'm not as concerned about that as it's a major issue in and of itself. It's when this is NOT happening that I notice we're back at the old "standard" speeds. I'm looking for confirmation from other NYers that they are noticing the same issue, i.e. not that there are severe daytime issues, but the "normal service level" ain't what it used to be.

Unfortunately I HAD to read about how upstate NY got revved to 10 down 1 up! Pisses me off that AFAIK, we are all paying the same price, but are not even close to getting the same service. Then again, it also may be true that we (NYCers) are getting more HD than the upstate guys with the great RR speeds.

Like I said, it seems plausible this may be the trade-off for the additional HD channels.


I was just upstate in October near Woodstock/Kingston they have the same identical hd channel listings as we do.

Did any one have no service on Road runner last night? In New York city

Did any one have no service on Road runner last night? In New York city


I think due to the storm lots of people were out. I'm in Queens, and while I don't have RR, I do have Earthlink over TWCNYC. Same cable, obviously. I lost both TV and Internet for awhile. Had to reboot my cable boxes after it was restored to get TV back, too.

Interesting news in regards to overbuilder RCN here in NYC and other RCN markets. I am sure TWC is going to look at this very closely.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6391938.html?display=Breaking+News

Let me ask, was this a problem with a new installation or did it happen over time? I think I might be having a similar problem with an SA8300. It was working fine for a few months, but then I started getting the buzzing noise just after the software update. If I tried repositioning the cables or cold booting it would get a little better but only for a day or so and then go back to its original level of badness (the cold booting might suggest a ground loop issue, since unplugging and replugging SHOULD give a discharge to ground). The SA8300 is the only component that does this and I tried changing the cables and connecting to different ports on the set but it did not help.
Yes, I've known other people with the same ground loop problem. This is more of an issue with the wiring in your building.

If you do a search online for details on how to fix a ground loop, you can find some solutions.....

In fact, I've specifically found this page for you, which describes your exact (it seems to me) problem:
http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/home_solving.html

After two (2) years, TWC has finally upgraded their CC firmware. I received the upgrade this morning. It is now OS Build: 2.3.149.3, dated May 10, 2006. There is no update log so I don't know what was changed. All I know is that I still lose the DD 2.0/5.1 audio on encrypted channels and have to switch to standard L/R RCA audio on my AVR or use the 8300HD. :(

Regards....JL

i got this update today... managed to knock all my inputs out on my sammy tv... what's funny is i'm a service tech for twc and they haven't told us anything about this update nor does anyone i work with know that it even happened

I've been working in Phoenix since oct 12 (come home monday) and the cable at the place i'm staying just got StarzHD/lost INHD2 but added ESPN2HD last night at the stroke of midnight.

How pissed am I? I'm sitting in Phoenix watching the college hoops in glorious HD on ESPN2HD while I wait to go home and not have this.

Ridiculous the amount of HD channels other states get, just another penalty to living in New York ****** :)

Interesting news in regards to overbuilder RCN here in NYC and other RCN markets. I am sure TWC is going to look at this very closely.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6391938.html?display=Breaking+News
Thanks for the post. Mentions a theoretical Verizon buyout of RCN. Might work well for NYC. With dual cabling in my building, I've used both TWC and RCN on and off. Seems like a buyout might give Verizon more rapid expansion into NYC multidwelling units. Believe Verizon isn't running fiber to each apartment in some cases, so technically it seems feasible. If TWC adds switched broadcasting here shortly, with lots of new HD sources, perhaps it would come down to PQ differences between the two. -- John

I've been working in Phoenix since oct 12 (come home monday) and the cable at the place i'm staying just got StarzHD/lost INHD2 but added ESPN2HD last night at the stroke of midnight.

How pissed am I? I'm sitting in Phoenix watching the college hoops in glorious HD on ESPN2HD while I wait to go home and not have this.

Ridiculous the amount of HD channels other states get, just another penalty to living in New York ****** :)

Now that we have Strarz & Cinemax, I don't think we're lagging anyone by much (keep in mind that we go get 2 full time HD local sports channels). Purely speculation, but I'm guessing we'll get ESPN2 HD as a replacement for InHD2 on the HDXtra pay tier. HDXtra already has ESPN HD...

I just had a technician leave my house. I called TWC because my optical output doesnt seem to work anymore. I told the phone rep that this seemed to happen after the most recent software update, but they knew nothing of course.

The tech came and pretty much agreed with me. He told me to try switching to the coax output instead, which I should be able to do it's just a bitch to get behind my wall unit, it's a huge peice of furniture (which is not designed with a home theater enthusiest in mind).

Anyway, has anyone else lost the optical output? For a while it was still working on SD channels, just not the HD ones. But now it doesnt work on any channels.

I have my 8300HD setup to output over component also if that makes a differance. When I got my OPPO player I now use the DVI on my set for that instead as the 8300 PQ didnt seem to change too much on my set when switching from DVI to component outputs. Anyway the technician thought the optical out might only work now if HDMI is in use (which is kind of pointless since HDMI carries the audio itself, but oh well).

Also, anyone else having problems with the Guide shutting off after like 10 seconds? It's happening on every box accept my 8300HD's. It was doing it on them as well for a while but now it only seems to be happening on my non-DVR boxes.

Purely speculation, but I'm guessing we'll get ESPN2 HD as a replacement for InHD2 on the HDXtra pay tier. HDXtra already has ESPN HD...

I was going to ask the very question that you answered (just your opinion of course.) Seems like some systems around the country are replacing INHD2 with National Geographic or MHD. I'm assuming we WILL get something if/when INHD2 signs off.

For me, I'm looking for a remote with all (or at least almost all) of the following functions. Does the Harmony do this?

A,B,C
Page+ Page-
Live
List
Fav
Record
Replay 30 sec
Vol+, Vol-
Ch+, Ch-
Mute
Prev Ch
Guide
Info
Exit
4-way cursor
Play
Stop
Pause
FF
Rewind
Numbers 0-9
PIP: on, move, swap, [ch+, ch- ]
Menu (settings)

I have had the Harmony 880 for nearly a year now and I swear by it. I never have to go back to the original remotes. I use it to control my DVR, TV, Reciever, DVD player, DVD recorder, XM Radio, AC and CD Player all without problems.

Hi. I'm =not= gettting DD 5.1 audio on either ABC or NBC today/tonite. Meanwhile, my receiver indicates Dolby Digital sound for BOTH those stations, but i'm hearing NOTHING from the side and center speakers on those stations. On every OTHER station where the DD signal is on, however, i =am= getting proper 5.1 surround sound. I first noticed this YESTERDAY. Any idea what's going on here?? Thanks. :confused:

Hi. I'm =not= gettting DD 5.1 audio on either ABC or NBC today/tonite. Meanwhile, my receiver indicates Dolby Digital sound for BOTH those stations, but i'm hearing NOTHING from the side and center speakers on those stations. On every OTHER station where the DD signal is on, however, i =am= getting proper 5.1 surround sound. I first noticed this YESTERDAY. Any idea what's going on here?? Thanks. :confused:
How is your audio hooked up to your receiver? HDMI Passthrough, Coax, Optical? Do you use HDMI/DVI or Component for hookups? Just curious. As I posted above my optical output is pretty much useless right now.

How is your audio hooked up to your receiver? HDMI Passthrough, Coax, Optical? Do you use HDMI/DVI or Component for hookups? Just curious. As I posted above my optical output is pretty much useless right now.

Well, keep in mind that all the OTHER stations that i'm getting the Dolby Digital designation with are working and sounding FINE, so i suspect it's a network issue with NBC HD and ABC HD, but, to answer your question: i'm using HDMI *and* component hookups, switching from one to the other via my PIoneer plasma remote...and in either case, the sound is identical. I also am using an Optical audio hookup on my receiver box.

tentatively universal hd will move to 722 and mynetwork added to 709. ppv on demand is out of the question until sdv. ppv hd will be available on an as needed basis. there has not been an hd event in quite some time.

Re: ESPN2, INHD2 etc

The above post appeared on Nov 4.

Well, keep in mind that all the OTHER stations that i'm getting the Dolby Digital designation with are working and sounding FINE, so i suspect it's a network issue with NBC HD and ABC HD, but, to answer your question: i'm using HDMI *and* component hookups, switching from one to the other via my PIoneer plasma remote...and in either case, the sound is identical. I also am using an Optical audio hookup on my receiver box.
True, true. But for a while the issue with me was only with the HD channels, now it's alltogether gone.

True, true. But for a while the issue with me was only with the HD channels, now it's alltogether gone.

Well that REALLY sucks!! Not the same issue for me, as HBO, SHOW, CBS, etc, all sound GREAT on my system, in full DD 5.1 surround sound. It's only on TWO stations, NBC and ABC, that i'm NOT getting the sound as advertised.

Like they recently did with MSG HD it looks like TWCNYC has made YES HD a full time channel on 708. No longer will have to endure the many times when they forgot to turn the channel on for Nets and Yankee games.

Well that REALLY sucks!! Not the same issue for me, as HBO, SHOW, CBS, etc, all sound GREAT on my system, in full DD 5.1 surround sound. It's only on TWO stations, NBC and ABC, that i'm NOT getting the sound as advertised.
Well, I went and bought a 12 foot digital coaxial cable and ran that from the box to my receiver and now my digital audio works again. Keep in mind right now the nice blue cable is draped right along the front of my wall unit, as there's no way I am going to start climbing on top and squeezing behind the behemoth at this time to try and run it the right way, lol.

While I was out buying the cable I bought a new Onkyo receiver w/ component switching as well (almost bought a Sherwood one with HDMI switching, but figured it would be overkill). Damn TWC, making me spend money left and right, lol.

As a replacement for INHD2 being dropped, I'd vote for Comcast's upcoming Golf/Versus (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=751387) channel over ESPN2-HD. Next year The Golf Channel will be handling all the weekday PGA Tour matches (early rounds), so assume the new HD channel will offer 1080i weekdays for the many true-HD matches planned for weekend network coverage. They'll be lots of other sports options on the Versus portion. Better yet, crank up the SDV hardware and offer both sports channels, plus VOOM (see new marketing director's query (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8868186&&#post8868186)) and other HD sources, too. -- John

Not sure I get that more youse ain't grousing about TWC downgrading the service level for Road Runner around the time of the new HD channels. I've gotten confirmation of tests I've made from three different locations in Manhattan, same results. We got downgraded from 6Mb/512kb to 5Mb/384kb.

Is anyone else having cable issues? I am on the UWS and two of my dvrs spontaneously went out.

Edited to add that they just went back on.

As a replacement for INHD2 being dropped, I'd vote for Comcast's upcoming Golf/Versus (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=751387) channel over ESPN2-HD. Next year The Golf Channel will be handling all the weekday PGA Tour matches (early rounds), so assume the new HD channel will offer 1080i weekdays for the many true-HD matches planned for weekend network coverage. They'll be lots of other sports options on the Versus portion. Better yet, crank up the SDV hardware and offer both sports channels, plus VOOM (see new marketing director's query (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8868186&&#post8868186)) and other HD sources, too. -- John


Seriously, Golf is easily the worst HD sport ever, half the time it still looks bad. Not having espn2 hd on TWC is an embarassment

HD Specials no more.

YES-HD is now the official channel name of 708 in our channel guide. (no website update yet)

As it had been mentioned earlier, 708 went 24/7 a day or 2 ago....

Is anyone else having cable issues? I am on the UWS and two of my dvrs spontaneously went out.

Edited to add that they just went back on.

Had no problems by me at all today - I'm UWS as well.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the NFL Network in response to the discussion about new channels. I don't care about having it full time, but I want to be able to see the national broadcasts they carry in HD.

Given that TWC is holding out on this network, have they got extra phone reps working over the holiday to field the angry calls from people who assumed TWC would carry it?
-JMP

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the NFL Network in response to the discussion about new channels. I don't care about having it full time, but I want to be able to see the national broadcasts they carry in HD.

Given that TWC is holding out on this network, have they got extra phone reps working over the holiday to field the angry calls from people who assumed TWC would carry it?
-JMP


Well... its not a bandwidth issue... nor is it an HD availability issue...

It's also not a TWC-NYC local issue...

If we had the NFL Network - the live games would be on INHD... as it is for many systems without a 24/7 channel.

There are plenty of other places to complain about it.... I think at this point there's nothing that can be done here....

Thanks for the post. Mentions a theoretical Verizon buyout of RCN. Might work well for NYC. With dual cabling in my building, I've used both TWC and RCN on and off. Seems like a buyout might give Verizon more rapid expansion into NYC multidwelling units. Believe Verizon isn't running fiber to each apartment in some cases, so technically it seems feasible. If TWC adds switched broadcasting here shortly, with lots of new HD sources, perhaps it would come down to PQ differences between the two. -- John


No problemo. Here is an updated article for you to read. http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6393311.html

I too live in a building with both RCN and TWC as a provider and use both. I use RCN for my high speed internet and am really looking for Verizon to buy out RCN in the hopes that this will speed up installation of FiOS in my building since RCN built their network around fiber. Since RCN's fiber is already in the ground, I hope Verizon can take advantage of this.

Was I the only one with recording issues tonight? First Heroes only recorded from 9:00 to 9:34. Then Studio 60 only recorded from 10:01 to 10:04. During this same time House and CSI: Miami recorded without incident. Anyone know what would cause this? It's really frustrating when your shows get cut off in the middle for no reason. :(

No problemo. Here is an updated article for you to read. http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6393311.html

I too live in a building with both RCN and TWC as a provider and use both. I use RCN for my high speed internet and am really looking for Verizon to buy out RCN in the hopes that this will speed up installation of FiOS in my building since RCN built their network around fiber. Since RCN's fiber is already in the ground, I hope Verizon can take advantage of this.
As I have learned Verizon wants this company so it can add the 400,000 cable coustomers to it's base and then offer FIOS when they have it installed and active. So it is my understanding that they are laying new cable in any market they take over. They will not be using existing cables at all. But people that have RCN or others will have the option to change over to FIOS. So I guess they will have a second tier of TV service when the time comes. Or just advertise it as RCN brought to you by Verizon. But like that article says it will not be decided until early next year at the earliest.

Was I the only one with recording issues tonight? First Heroes only recorded from 9:00 to 9:34. Then Studio 60 only recorded from 10:01 to 10:04. During this same time House and CSI: Miami recorded without incident. Anyone know what would cause this? It's really frustrating when your shows get cut off in the middle for no reason. :(

I had no issues recording NBC 9-11 and CBS 10-11

Was I the only one with recording issues tonight? First Heroes only recorded from 9:00 to 9:34. Then Studio 60 only recorded from 10:01 to 10:04. During this same time House and CSI: Miami recorded without incident. Anyone know what would cause this? It's really frustrating when your shows get cut off in the middle for no reason. :(I had difficulty setting up a manual recurring recording tonight.

Each time I tried to set up a Monday to Friday recurring recording, the day indicated on the set up would default back to Monday.

For members here wanting more news on FiOS deployment in the NY area, here is a link for you.

http://www.nytvchoice.com/

For members here wanting more news on FiOS deployment in the NY area, here is a link for you.

http://www.nytvchoice.com/

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2006/verizon-and-rainbow-media.html

Good to see FIOS and "Rainbow Media Holdings" (aka Cablevision) finally coming to an agreement to finally allow MSG and FSNY to be shown.

If that includes HD, then I'd be all set.... :)
well... as son as FIOS becomes available in Manhattan...

Does anyone who subscribes to HDNET & HDNET movies notice that the movie channel is a bit "cloudy"? HDNET is crystal clear, with some of the most vivid colors. HDNET Movies however isn't even close.

I realize some of the films that are shown are older and have more grain, but I still notice artifacting and it's barely better in quality than TNT HD.

I recently watched Superman which I recorded and did a comparison with my DVD - the DVD was actually better.

I'm wondering how the rest of you perceive the quality of this channel, and will use your comments to decide whether I should place a service call to TWC to have things checked out. My other channels (except for TNT HD of course) are absolutely fine.

Thanks in advance.

I think we tend to forget that filmmakers have a lot of control over the actual film part of their film. As in they instruct the actual film be handled in very specific fashions. I have a good friend who uses Fuji stock AND has the lab develop specifically for oversaturated colors. Her works looks like the chroma control boosted way too high. Grain is frequently actually not a by-product of film, but something that is "forced" to get that gritty look.

A lot of this absolutely is not "corrected" by increased resolution. In certain cases, it sure CAN make it seem more obvious. So I suspect that what you see as "less than what it should be" may just be that which is sought for by the filmmaker.

As for FIOS in Manhattan... it's not at all what it might be n other areas in that I doubt there's going to be much fiber INTO the home (apartment). From everything I've read, it looks like it's going to be very similar to TWC, fiber to some point in the street, then copper. Couple that with my feeling that it's going to be at least 2 years before it's fully deployed across Manhattan. HOWEVER, what I AM very excited about is that it WILL give TWC a bit of a run for it's (our) money. By that time, TWC's system should be fully SDV, so there should be much less issues with bandwidth. Plus you KNOW Verizon is going to be pretty aggressive about pricing if it hopes to put any dent in TWC's monopoly, so that should also put pressure on TWC to be more price competitive. So I think in about 2 years, Manhattan's digital entertainment options could be exploding with all sorts of good things.

Was I the only one with recording issues tonight? First Heroes only recorded from 9:00 to 9:34. Then Studio 60 only recorded from 10:01 to 10:04. During this same time House and CSI: Miami recorded without incident. Anyone know what would cause this? It's really frustrating when your shows get cut off in the middle for no reason. :(
Not an issue for me. Studio 60 recorded perfectly on my end....

For about the last few weeks I have noticed that the reception of ESPN HD is terrible, in fact, it is not watchable. I have several different TV's and I only experience the problem on one TV. I suspect that it might be the cable box (8300HD DVR), but all of the other HD channels are fine. Is anyone else experiencing this problem or experienced it in the past. Could it be the box or does TWC have issues with their ESPN HD signal?

I have a problem with espn2 hd actually


It won't show up on my cable box at all!

I have a problem with espn2 hd actually


It won't show up on my cable box at all!

yeah, I don't know whats up with that.
It's been missing on my guide for almost 2 years now.
It launched on 01/01/05, and never seen it?
LOL

For about the last few weeks I have noticed that the reception of ESPN HD is terrible, in fact, it is not watchable. I have several different TV's and I only experience the problem on one TV. I suspect that it might be the cable box (8300HD DVR), but all of the other HD channels are fine. Is anyone else experiencing this problem or experienced it in the past. Could it be the box or does TWC have issues with their ESPN HD signal?
Haven't tuned it in a week or so, but there have been lots of complaints about PQ in some programming forum threads regarding ESPN HD. Noticed a college football I tuned had terrible 'swimming grass' and edge enhancement artifacts, and others noted basketball PQ was bad. Might be a ESPN problem in general. -- John

I have a problem with espn2 hd actually


It won't show up on my cable box at all!
First off, you have ESPN2 HD? Where are you and why don't I have it? I m in Queens we never got it. No fair if you have it and we don't.

I am sitting at home after a day of shopping, not much on but I stumble across TNTHD, they are showing Titanic. I know a lot of people have complained about TNT and their strech-o-vision, But I have yet to see shows that have that streched look. Maybe it is the TV that makes the strech more compliant. I don't know. Titanic, oh my god is it looking great tonight. Fridays are my usual whcih picture on SD should I expect day, the good the bad or the ugly. But the SD's were looking good and Titanic in SD was good but in HD amazing. WOW is the only word. The dolphins look cool and the water sparkled. I have an Sony 40"xbr2. Is there anyone else seeing what I am seeing?

I am sitting at home after a day of shopping, not much on but I stumble across TNTHD, they are showing Titanic. I know a lot of people have complained about TNT and their strech-o-vision, But I have yet to see shows that have that streched look. Maybe it is the TV that makes the strech more compliant. I don't know. Titanic, oh my god is it looking great tonight. Fridays are my usual whcih picture on SD should I expect day, the good the bad or the ugly. But the SD's were looking good and Titanic in SD was good but in HD amazing. WOW is the only word. The dolphins look cool and the water sparkled. I have an Sony 40"xbr2. Is there anyone else seeing what I am seeing?


I turned it on for a few mins and saw tons of artifacting.

If you think this is a good picture all I can say is you haven't watched a good HD program yet.

First off, you have ESPN2 HD? Where are you and why don't I have it? I m in Queens we never got it. No fair if you have it and we don't.

TWC doesn't have ESPN2 HD in NYC. He was probably thinking of ESPN HD.

I don't see any of that, no dullnees, no shadows, But I happy with my screan that makes me aviod having to look for defrect

First off, you have ESPN2 HD? Where are you and why don't I have it? I m in Queens we never got it. No fair if you have it and we don't.

No, i meant ESPN2 HD

I just can't believe we don't have it yet and was using sarcastic humor to get my point across!

I should be getting directv set up agina in the next week so i can finally dump my cable, i think i may have found someone that can install a KA/KU dish, but i won't believe it until I see it

TWC doesn't have ESPN2 HD in NYC. He was probably thinking of ESPN HD.

I think someone's leg was being pulled. :p

I am sitting at home after a day of shopping, not much on but I stumble across TNTHD, they are showing Titanic. I know a lot of people have complained about TNT and their strech-o-vision, But I have yet to see shows that have that streched look. Maybe it is the TV that makes the strech more compliant. I don't know. Titanic, oh my god is it looking great tonight. Fridays are my usual whcih picture on SD should I expect day, the good the bad or the ugly. But the SD's were looking good and Titanic in SD was good but in HD amazing. WOW is the only word. The dolphins look cool and the water sparkled. I have an Sony 40"xbr2. Is there anyone else seeing what I am seeing?

I did come across it in doing my manic channel surfing (I refuse to watch movies that are censored and have commercials), yes it was not stretched. However, I have in the past noticed several newish movies they show in 4:3 stretched, even though the movie was in widescreen.

Any update on the status of the 8300HD (Passport) and HDMI switching receivers? Last I heard (several months back) TWC still hadn't activated the HDMI repeater functionality. I'm in the market for a new AV receiver, and want to get one with several HDMI inputs. However, I'd really like to hold off until the 8300HD will play nicely as I don't want to bypass it around the new receiver.

This is from the latest TWC website in my billing statement online.
IN THE KNOW:

Attention Customers with HD Cable Boxes - HD Channels launched effective Nov 1: MSG-Ch 712, Cinemax-Ch 719 & Starz-Ch 720.

Launching Dec 1: YES-Ch 708, Events OnDemand-Ch 300 & 1020 & Outrageous OnDemand-Ch 328.

On Dec 27: INHD2- Ch 722 will no longer be available with HDXtra.

Effective Dec 1, the following New OnDemand channels will launch: Free Movies-Ch 1008, Music Choice-Ch 1027 & 1028 & Espanol Movies-Ch 800. Spanish Answers OnDemand moves to Ch 799.

Moving to the Basic Tier with a digital box: ITV-Ch 503, TAC-Ch 507, NGTV-Ch 509, TKC-Ch 511, MKTV-Ch 512 & Azteca-Ch 807.

I recently emailed TWC about when they plan on adding the NFL Network to their lineup. Here's their response, I thought it was an interesting read: (Sorry if this has already been posted)

Thank you for your recent correspondence to Time Warner Cable.

In reference to your inquiry, Time Warner Cable is in difficult negotiations with the NFL Network to carry the channel on our cable systems throughout the U.S. Our business goal is to place NFLN on a sports tier with financial terms acceptable to TWC and our customers. The NFL Network has announced it’s spending $100 million to bad mouth Time Warner Cable. They think the power of the NFL name will force us too accept any terms they dictate. The fact is we want to carry the NFL Network, but not on just any terms.

Most fans don’t realize their home team games will be brought to them regardless of whether Time Warner Cable concludes a deal for the NFL Network or not. Many fans don’t realize Time Warner Cable already provides over 100 regular season games on ESPN, CBS, Fox and NBC. In fact, the eight out-of-market games, which the NFL Network is offering, were stripped out from these other networks. So in a very real sense, the NFL Network wants to charge us a premium for games we already paid for.

I encourage you to find out more about what is really going on here. Visit our website, “NFL Get Real,” --- www.nflgetreal.com - and encourage others who may have an interest in NFL football to do the same.

Take Action:
• Contact the NFL Network and ask them to allow Time Warner Cable to make the NFL Network available everywhere today. NFL: 212-450-2000 or NFL Network 310-840-4635.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

If you have any additional questions or need future assistance, please contact us at support@twcnyc.com or call our 24 hour Customer Support Line at 212 or 718-358-0900.

Sincerely,

Time Warner Cable
Customer Support

Welcome DeCo, not sure what "CSR" stands for but we'd love to get an inside voice, for sure.

Some personal questions:

1. When is the next roll out of remaining HD channels? TMC, ESPN2, National Geographic, Playboy, HBO2, etc

2. Is the inability to record with firewire (1394) from any boxes; namely 3250HD, 8300HD, 8300HD DVR conscientious? There are probably a thousand posts with folks trying to use their D-VHS or computers to record HD programming legally. It has been some 15 or more months that TWC has walked around the problem without any detailed explanations.

3. TWC has said for a long long time that the lack of more HD programming was due to a lack of bandwidth. For those of us with technical background, that really did not make much sense. Is this real or is this because of legal and contractual reasons?

Thanks and welcome again!


Paul

not sure what "CSR" stands for but we'd love to get an inside voice, for sure.


CSR = Customer Service Representative ;)

Welcome DeCo, not sure what "CSR" stands for but we'd love to get an inside voice, for sure.

Some personal questions:

1. When is the next roll out of remaining HD channels? TMC, ESPN2, National Geographic, Playboy, HBO2, etc

2. Is the inability to record with firewire (1394) from any boxes; namely 3250HD, 8300HD, 8300HD DVR conscientious? There are probably a thousand posts with folks trying to use their D-VHS or computers to record HD programming legally. It has been some 15 or more months that TWC has walked around the problem without any detailed explanations.

3. TWC has said for a long long time that the lack of more HD programming was due to a lack of bandwidth. For those of us with technical background, that really did not make much sense. Is this real or is this because of legal and contractual reasons?

Thanks and welcome again!


Paul

BUMP

I'm watching it tonite, and to the poster who said it's mucho better than on HBO...you are RIGHT!! PQ and SOUND Q are =awesome= on TNT HD. I don't know WHY it is, but it IS.

As for my previous post about ABC HD =not= broadcasting in DD 5.1...it's STILL an issue tonite, while watching ND-USC....the PQ is fine, but the AUDIO?? NOTHING is coming out of my rear and center speakers. Doesn't =anyone= know why this is happening?? The sound on TNT is PERFECT, full out DD 5.1, but on ABC?? not the case at all, even tho my receiver is indicating dolby digital for both channels.

I'm watching it tonite, and to the poster who said it's mucho better than on HBO...you are RIGHT!! PQ and SOUND Q are =awesome= on TNT HD. I don't know WHY it is, but it IS.

As for my previous post about ABC HD =not= broadcasting in DD 5.1...it's STILL an issue tonite, while watching ND-USC....the PQ is fine, but the AUDIO?? NOTHING is coming out of my rear and center speakers. Doesn't =anyone= know why this is happening?? The sound on TNT is PERFECT, full out DD 5.1, but on ABC?? not the case at all, even tho my receiver is indicating dolby digital for both channels.

WABC-DT always broadcasts what looks like 5.1-channel sound. However, most of their sound is stereo. Instead of properly constructing 5.1 channels from this which could easily be done by any Pro-Logic circuit, they just connect the two stereo channels to the left and right channels. This gives an echoey, hollow sound in my home theater and is very annoying. The only time they actually put out real 5.1-channel sound is when a network program has 5.1-channel sound. In addition the NBC network (but not local WNBC-DT programming) has been doing the same thing: always putting out 5.1-channel sound with only the left and right channels carrying a signal (except again when the program actually has 5.1-channel sound). Examples of the bad sound can be heard on "The Tonight Show" and Conan O'Brian.

I sure hope these channels wake up soon and construct their audio correctly. In the meantime, I force my receiver to create a center channel and a surround channel using Pro-Logic by switching to analog audio input when the incorrect audio is being broadcast.

Cynthia

WABC-DT and WCBS-DT always broadcast what looks like 5.1-channel sound. However, most of their sound is stereo. Instead of properly constructing 5.1 channels from this which could easily be done by any Pro-Logic circuit, they just connect the two stereo channels to the left and right channels. This gives an echoey, hollow sound in my home theater and is very annoying. The only time they actually put out real 5.1-channel sound is when a network program has 5.1-channel sound. In addition the NBC network (but not local WNBC-DT programming) has been doing the same thing: always putting out 5.1-channel sound with only the left and right channels carrying a signal (except again when the program actually has 5.1-channel sound). Examples of the bad sound can be heard on "The Tonight Show" and Conan O'Brian.

I sure hope these channels wake up soon and construct their audio correctly. In the meantime, I force my receiver to create a center channel and a surround channel using Pro-Logic by switching to analog audio input when the incorrect audio is being broadcast.

Cynthia

THANKS for explaining, Cynthia. I =knew= it wasn't my imagination! And i definitely know what you mean about that echoey sound, too.

Hello all, Relatively new to the forums, and brand new to the thread, But I've worked for TWCNYC as a CSR and now I'm in broadcast operations. If anyone has any questions they'd like answered I can try to help out. I didn't read all 300x pages of this thread so there may be someone else out there more qualified then me, but if not i'll try to lend a hand. Oh and regarding the NFL thing above I don't know if its been convered, but if not just say so and i'll give you teh relatively bullshit free reasons TWCNYC doesn't carry it(we're not really the villains here). Although the letter the previous poster put up really does about cover it.
-DeCo-
Oh If you want to complain I really don't care, I didn't care when you were calling to bitch at me and I really don't care now.

welcome, I haven't been calling TWC but I definitely been emailing them, both local and corporate.

Any news on when SDV (switched digital video) will be put in place, and any news on any other new HD channels would be welcomed.

thanks

If anyone has any questions they'd like answered I can try to help out.

I would like to know when TWC will have the SA8300HD box's HDMI repeater functionality enabled so that it can pass a signal though an HDMI switching AV receiver. Thanks, and welcome.

I haven't been following this thread for a couple of weeks, so I don't know if this has been covered, but I thought I would share it.

I have an external 500GB eSATA drive hoked up to my 8300HD. When I first installed it, I experienced the same problems others had: No buffering being the worst of it. I just noticed that it is now working the way that it should. It is buffering, rewinding, replaying and pausing just as it used to. A couple of things have happened since first installing, so I don't know if there has been a firmware upgrade or if one of the other things has had an impact. Last week I changed the enclosure to an enclusre with a fan. To make the switch I had to unplug the cable box. So the reboot might have solved the problem. I also switched from HDMI to component last week because my box will not send 1080i over HDMI for some reason(Something I am definitely going to need to be fixed before my 1080P projector arrives early next year). So it could be the switch from HDMI to component.

Hmmm, one thing really struck me (the TWC announcements)... InHD2 is being dropped from a pay tier but nothing is replacing it? Something is wrong with that!

Also, are any of the added "On Demands" HD?

Why do I find is way odd that there's no talk/discussion about PPV HD? Shouldn't ANY PPV be in HD?

Shifting gears a bit, we got Starz almost a month ago and I find some very curious things going on. Obviously, not all of the content on their HD channel is HD. Matter of fact, their "Saturday Night Premiere" last night was not HD.

HOWEVER, as opposed to HBO and SHO, it seems Starz shows SD in widescreen format. Maybe it's mostly psychological, but widescreen SD movies do not look bad at all. In point of fact, they should have identical PQ to any standard DVD (widescreen, there are some 4:3 DVDs but not too many). Matter of fact, while I sure DO see a difference between widescreen SD and full HD, I do not find the difference as huge as it might be. Keep in mind we are talking movies here; it's just not near as easy to tell the difference between SD and HD than in video sources. There can very well be several scenes that are impossible to tell if it's SD or HD, ESPECIALLY if both are shown in widescreen.

BTW, there are several threads devoted to issues with using external drives with 8300th, you might be better off reading and posting there.

Regarding audio, an awful lot of folks don't understand that, like everything else, there is good sound design and there is bad sound design. None of this has anything to do with technology, only how well one uses the technology. The only difference between 5.1 and Pro Logic is that 5.1 has 2 DISCRETE rear channels and Pro Logic only one. I've heard much Pro Logic where the rear channels was not used at all; and I've heard (very rarely) Pro Logic that really uses that rear channel to an ambiance or spaciousness to the music that is very noticeable.

There's even an issue of how the multiple channels are actually mixed. For just about all football games, I do hear crowd noise in the rear channels...BUT they are mixed so low as to be barely perceptible. Oddly enough, for baseball games on YES HD, I found the crowd mix to be ay better balanced; i.e. the rear channels are "correctly used" to the point where you really feel you are there. BTW, I used a decibel meter to set the reletive volume levels from all my 5 channels, they are all absolutely equal as they should be.

Sound design is an art form; as such there are good purveyors and bad ones!

I haven't been following this thread for a couple of weeks, so I don't know if this has been covered, but I thought I would share it.

I have an external 500GB eSATA drive hoked up to my 8300HD. When I first installed it, I experienced the same problems others had: No buffering being the worst of it. I just noticed that it is now working the way that it should. It is buffering, rewinding, replaying and pausing just as it used to. A couple of things have happened since first installing, so I don't know if there has been a firmware upgrade or if one of the other things has had an impact. Last week I changed the enclosure to an enclusre with a fan. To make the switch I had to unplug the cable box. So the reboot might have solved the problem. I also switched from HDMI to component last week because my box will not send 1080i over HDMI for some reason(Something I am definitely going to need to be fixed before my 1080P projector arrives early next year). So it could be the switch from HDMI to component.

I'm really sorry, I spoke too soon. It was working on ESPN when I first turned on my system this morning. It is no longer working. I tried turning off the cable box and back on to see if it was becasue ESPN is my power on channel. No luck. Still, it's a little promising that it was working at all. Seems to prove that it shold be easy to fix, no?

CBS usually carries three games in HD. Jets were not supposed to be one of the three. Has CBS picked up a fourth HD crew?

CBS usually carries three games in HD. Jets were not supposed to be one of the three. Has CBS picked up a fourth HD crew?

No - CBS switched HD coverage with Cin-Cle.

It was "announced" during the Thursday game (via on screen graphic schedule) - but the webstie wasn't updated.

Guess we got lucky.

No - CBS switched HD coverage with Cin-Cle.

It was "announced" during the Thursday game (via on screen graphic schedule) - but the webstie wasn't updated.

Guess we got lucky.Great, pleasant surprise, the Jets in HD, both are looking good. :cool:

Why is the Giants game not listed as in HD on the guide? :confused:
I guess I’ll know soon enough- if it’s in HD.
In other words, whether I’m watching it or not. :rolleyes:

Great, pleasant surprise, the Jets in HD, both are looking good. :cool:

Why is the Giants game not listed as in HD on the guide? :confused:
I guess I’ll know soon enough- if it’s in HD.
In other words, whether I’m watching it or not. :rolleyes:

Well... FOX only has 6 games this week... so it is assumed that it will be HD.

only national games are broadcast in HD

Oh well, no HD for Big Blue.
Looks like that FOX SD widescreen crap.

As bad as this looks, I’ll take it any day over those SD CBS games.

Umm... Giants on FOX is HD right now.

This is not FOX-SD Widescreen

I did come across it in doing my manic channel surfing (I refuse to watch movies that are censored and have commercials), yes it was not stretched. However, I have in the past noticed several newish movies they show in 4:3 stretched, even though the movie was in widescreen.

River I really was getting ready to sleep that is how I ended up watching Titanic anyway. I fell asleep way before "iceberg straight ahead."

I have noticed that sometimes also(the 4:3), but sometimes I change the TV to an SD channel then back and the signal catches on and the TV re-adjust itself to the proper 1080i widescreen version that is suppose to be shown. I have seen this effect on all the tv's I have been able to watch in a home. They aren't all upgraded I do believe that! However, from what I have seen when it says HDTV in the guide, the HD channel should get a properly upconverted picture. A lot of the stretch-ovision happens when people let the STB do the converting. I have seen a list somewhere in this form that list all the "HDTV movies" that TNT shows. and there are some newer ones that are not shown in HD which suprised me.

Either way it did look pretty good and since the game doesn't impress me tonight, plus I go back to work after my vacation. I might watch Titanic today because I need to sleep early tonight.

Go JETS!!!!! I can't believe they were given one of the HDTV spots. I guess they have impressed the suits enough to let them get the extra HD coverage. But CBS did do 4 games this week because they had an extra one on thursday. So I guess the Jets lucked out because of the thursday game and the additional one the (Denver v KC) NFLN picked up which would have been shown on CBS. Plus CBS lost out on the flex (Philly at Indy)game that would have been one of the HD games for CBS.
The picture looked great and if you have petmic's or Cnet's you really wouldn't be disappointed.

WABC-DT always broadcasts what looks like 5.1-channel sound. However, most of their sound is stereo. Instead of properly constructing 5.1 channels from this which could easily be done by any Pro-Logic circuit, they just connect the two stereo channels to the left and right channels. This gives an echoey, hollow sound in my home theater and is very annoying. The only time they actually put out real 5.1-channel sound is when a network program has 5.1-channel sound. In addition the NBC network (but not local WNBC-DT programming) has been doing the same thing: always putting out 5.1-channel sound with only the left and right channels carrying a signal (except again when the program actually has 5.1-channel sound). Examples of the bad sound can be heard on "The Tonight Show" and Conan O'Brian.

I sure hope these channels wake up soon and construct their audio correctly. In the meantime, I force my receiver to create a center channel and a surround channel using Pro-Logic by switching to analog audio input when the incorrect audio is being broadcast.
Cynthia
I know you guys want a good sound and no echoing, But is 5.1 really "always" necessary? I know for movies it should because you want the backround sound and get the best possible. But Live shows like Conan and the tonight shows and the NEWS. Why would one need it? There is just one voice most of the time and not much background sound. Wouldn't it just be better to hear the voices from the front speakers anyway? You don't want to counds coming behind you in the middle of the night do you? (I am kidding about that) I have heard the echo tht is not good, but just hearing the sound in 2.0 ins't that bad. Am I wrong? Am I missing something? Thanks guys and gals.

Also, I don't think 5.1 is in the standard, just high quality digital sound is. So should it be expected on all HDTV broadcast?

search (http://www.hdsportsguide.com/nfl.php) Umm... Giants on FOX is HD right now.

This is not FOX-SD WidescreenYou’re right, I mispoke but I had to search (http://www.hdsportsguide.com/nfl.php) to believe it.

It looks pretty lousy. There should be a crime against this sub par transmission.
And usually, when Fox is broadcasting a show in HD, there are those annoying HD tags before and after the commercials.

search (http://www.hdsportsguide.com/nfl.php) You’re right, I mispoke but I had to search (http://www.hdsportsguide.com/nfl.php) to believe it.

It looks pretty lousy. There should be a crime against this sub par transmission.
And usually, when Fox is broadcasting a show in HD, there are those annoying HD tags before and after the commercials.
How bad is your PQ? I don't understand what you guys are seeing that I am not. This is the third SD picture for a game(2 jets & 1st giants) that I have seen that look great. It has surprised me that they could get a PQ that can look this good. Compared to the SD channel (5) my HD channel (705) look 100% better. 4x3 has every problem imaginable. 16x9, no blurs, no stretch, no over scan, nothing! The screen does have a small look, but that might be my only problem. They had the up close view of the talking heads and I was seeing the defined shots that I usually get but not as clear as the HD would look. I wish I knew you guys so we could compare because I am not seeing anything like you guys describe. I wish we could get to the bottom of this. Don't get me wrong this wasn't always the case, Fox baseball with their SD was hard to watch. However, football has been a pleasant surprise this year.

Which leads me to my question, why does the HD channels come in much clearer than the SD? Even when it is a non-hd program these stations are always have better PQ.

I know you guys want a good sound and no echoing, But is 5.1 really "always" necessary? I know for movies it should because you want the backround sound and get the best possible. But Live shows like Conan and the tonight shows and the NEWS. Why would one need it? There is just one voice most of the time and not much background sound. Wouldn't it just be better to hear the voices from the front speakers anyway? You don't want to counds coming behind you in the middle of the night do you? (I am kidding about that) I have heard the echo tht is not good, but just hearing the sound in 2.0 ins't that bad. Am I wrong? Am I missing something? Thanks guys and gals.

Also, I don't think 5.1 is in the standard, just high quality digital sound is. So should it be expected on all HDTV broadcast?

I think you misunderstand my post. I am not complaining because the sound on the Tonight Show is not 5.1. My complaint is that NBC pretends that is is while actually broadcasting stereo. When the sound is broadcast as 5.1 channels, my receiver, and I am sure every receiver, assumes that there are 6 valid channels and thus doesn't switch to ProLogic, which could create a center channel. If they actually broadcast 2-channel digital sound, my receiver would switch to ProLogic and create a center channel, giving a better balanced sound. The fact that it also creates a surround channel from any out-of-phase sound (normally the ambiance) is an additional benefit.

Cynthia

I think you misunderstand my post. I am not complaining because the sound on the Tonight Show is not 5.1. My complaint is that NBC pretends that is is while actually broadcasting stereo. When the sound is broadcast as 5.1 channels, my receiver, and I am sure every receiver, assumes that there are 6 valid channels and thus doesn't switch to ProLogic, which could create a center channel. If they actually broadcast 2-channel digital sound, my receiver would switch to ProLogic and create a center channel, giving a better balanced sound. The fact that it also creates a surround channel from any out-of-phase sound (normally the ambiance) is an additional benefit.

Cynthia
OK Cynthia I think I understand, the show is suppose to broadcast in stereo 2.0 which wouldn't be a problem if it was sent as 2.0, but for some reason NBC is still sending a pure HD sound signal which seperates the sound into a 5.1 which in turn makes some speakers work (L & R) but no center which would sound much better. If they would just leave it at a 2.0 so the receiver would do seperate the sound evenly. Am I understanding that correctly. If I am that is a big problem. Have you tried the SD channel? Is the problem there also?

How bad is your PQ? . This is the third SD picture for a game(2 jets & 1st giants) that I have seen that look great. .The game was in HD as Berk32 noted but picture quality appeared inferior (not to mention the despicable performance by the Giants) to other HD viewings.

I’ve always preferred the 1:00 PM game to be on Fox (in HD) and the 4:00 PM game to be on CBS (in HD). I like to go up in picture quality. It’s hard to go from CBS HD to FOX HD.

Which leads me to my question, why does the HD channels come in much clearer than the SD? Even when it is a non-hd program these stations are always have better PQ.
HD channels have ~19 Mbps available compared to SD channels with only ~4 Mbps. Stations usually upconvert their 1080i/720p sourced from 480i SD with high-quality pro hardware. So, if the original SD isn't messed up, upconverted images on the HD channel look better. If they're 4:3 with side pillars, stretching or zooming them usually degrades images somewhat: (noise and fuzziness, besides geometric distortions).

TWC's 6-MHz-wide 256-QAM, ~39-Mbps channel slots may carry 2+ HD channels (upconverted or true HD), or 2 HDs and an SD, or about 10 SD sources. With statistical multiplexing, bandwidth allocations and bit rates can vary with motion and image complexity from each source. TWC also apparently uses rate shaping requantization (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8011489&&#post8011489) that can lessen bandwidth requirements 'on the fly' (without decompression) by altering the digital signals. -- John

Hmm, I watched both games and found the PQ to be equally excellent on both.

I don't believe a AC/3 encoded audio portion will automatically create a Pro Logic rear channel. While it is not needed for news shows, the late night talk shows DO have bands AND always have a musical guest, plus an audience. 6 months ago, I remember a concert in a small, very club like venue. Don't remember the artist, but I remember this production was of excellent sound design. I felt very much in the middle of the club, clapping, clinking glasses, sneezes etc. all happened at equal volume all around me.

Thanks John, A little bit too technical but very satisfying as an answer. But in human terms you are just saying HD channels just broadcast on a better speed then their sister SD channel which in turn gives us the better signal even for the SD shows on a HD channel. Am I right?
Also your response brought out another question. You said "Stations usually upconvert their 1080i/720p sourced from 480i SD with high-quality pro hardware."
Are shows that are broadcast in HD not filmed in HD(like the night time network schedule)? Is everything we see upconverted? Or are you saying that everything that is SD on a HD channel is upconverted to look better even though it is not a true HD program? Just trying to make sure I am reading right, thanks again John

Stations usually upconvert their 1080i/720p sourced from 480i SD with high-quality pro hardware. John

I might have written about this before, but am I the only one who thinks ABC's upconversion of SD is far inferior to the other networks? The pictures seem to have overly aggressive EE, making them hard looking and unpleasant. (ABC's HD looks fine.)

I might have written about this before, but am I the only one who thinks ABC's upconversion of SD is far inferior to the other networks? The pictures seem to have overly aggressive EE, making them hard looking and unpleasant. (ABC's HD looks fine.)
Yes, recall that post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8828298#post8828298), and listed a sublink theorizing about ABC's signal routing. As mentioned just above, this sure is a case where the 480i is screwed up to start with.

Sunday's golfing Skin Match on ABC from Calif. wasn't too bad on TWC's 707--at least they weren't nearly unwatchable as ABC's golf images seem to be. But the shoulder-carried 480i cameras, over-EEed (edge enhanced) on virtually all broadcasts, delivered terribly fuzzy pictures. -- John

Thanks John, A little bit too technical but very satisfying as an answer. But in human terms you are just saying HD channels just broadcast on a better speed then their sister SD channel which in turn gives us the better signal even for the SD shows on a HD channel. Am I right?
Exactly. The upconversions to 1080i or 720p require that higher bit rate.
Also your response brought out another question. You said "Stations usually upconvert their 1080i/720p sourced from 480i SD with high-quality pro hardware."
Are shows that are broadcast in HD not filmed in HD(like the night time network schedule)? Is everything we see upconverted? Or are you saying that everything that is SD on a HD channel is upconverted to look better even though it is not a true HD program? Just trying to make sure I am reading right, thanks again John
When the original source is 480i, usually programs appear 4:3 on HD channels after upconversion to 1080i or 720p. There are tricky exceptions. Watched a nature show from WNET HD last night about a lake system near Croatia. It originally was 480i 16:9, and after upconversion the remarkably crisp images fooled me during an earlier viewing into thinking it was true 1080i. But upconversion to 1080i from 480i can't provide details to make all images look like true 1080i. So shots of distant forests at the end of this PBS nature show revealed how fuzzy finer details were, distinguishing between SD and true 1080i.

Shows such as NBC's Leno are recorded (tape/disks) and broadcast at 1080/60i (true HD). They're crisper (as well as live 1080i or 720p) because there's no intervening conversions from film. Also, filming captures images at 24 frames per second (fps) and some programming is taped at 24PsF (segmented frame), emulating filming. Motion with 24 fps capture (1/48-sec exposure/frame) is blurred more than with documentaries/travelogues, live TV, Leno, etc. captured at 60 'snapshots' (540-line half-frames) per second for 1080/60i. Elaborated on some of this in a Blu-ray forum post (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7408766&&#post7408766). -- John

Yes, recall that post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8828298#post8828298), and listed a sublink theorizing about ABC's signal routing. As mentioned just above, this sure is a case where the 480i is screwed up to start with.

Sunday's golfing Skin Match on ABC from Calif. wasn't too bad on TWC's 707--at least they weren't nearly unwatchable as ABC's golf images seem to be. But the shoulder-carried 480i cameras, over-EEed (edge enhanced) on virtually all broadcasts, delivered terribly fuzzy pictures. -- John

Thanks John,

Amazingly it's the commercials (the guys who are paying the bills) that look so bad during ABC's HD programs - unless, of course, the ad is also HD.

Go JETS!!!!! I can't believe they were given one of the HDTV spots. I guess they have impressed the suits enough to let them get the extra HD coverage. But CBS did do 4 games this week because they had an extra one on thursday. So I guess the Jets lucked out because of the thursday game and the additional one the (Denver v KC) NFLN picked up which would have been shown on CBS. Plus CBS lost out on the flex (Philly at Indy)game that would have been one of the HD games for CBS.
The picture looked great and if you have petmic's or Cnet's you really wouldn't be disappointed.

Just a minor correction. Philly at Indy would have been on Fox. For games that fall under the Fox/CBS contracts, it is the road team that determines whether Fox (NFC) or CBS (AFC) broadcasts the game. So, every team will have home games broadcast by both networks over the course of the season...
-JMP

Just a minor correction. Philly at Indy would have been on Fox. For games that fall under the Fox/CBS contracts, it is the road team that determines whether Fox (NFC) or CBS (AFC) broadcasts the game. So, every team will have home games broadcast by both networks over the course of the season...
-JMP
really you see I always thought it was the other way. I thought the home TV stays with their home network, But now that you have said this their is a shift of inter league games that end up playing on the other network. Are all interleague games treated this way?

Either way the Jets and the lowly texans get an HD game, what an early christmas present!!

Exactly. The upconversions to 1080i or 720p require that higher bit rate.

When the original source is 480i, usually programs appear 4:3 on HD channels after upconversion to 1080i or 720p. There are tricky exceptions. Watched a nature show from WNET HD last night about a lake system near Croatia. It originally was 480i 16:9, and after upconversion the remarkably crisp images fooled me during an earlier viewing into thinking it was true 1080i. But upconversion to 1080i from 480i can't provide details to make all images look like true 1080i. So shots of distant forests at the end of this PBS nature show revealed how fuzzy finer details were, distinguishing between SD and true 1080i.

Shows such as NBC's Leno are recorded (tape/disks) and broadcast at 1080/60i (true HD). They're crisper (as well as live 1080i or 720p) because there's no intervening conversions from film. Also, filming captures images at 24 frames per second (fps) and some programming is taped at 24PsF (segmented frame), emulating filming. Motion with 24 fps capture (1/48-sec exposure/frame) is blurred more than with documentaries/travelogues, live TV, Leno, etc. captured at 60 'snapshots' (540-line half-frames) per second for 1080/60i. Elaborated on some of this in a Blu-ray forum post (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7408766&&#post7408766). -- John
Thanks John for the tech savy explanation but heros is starting in 3 minutes so I have to watch that is it's HD glory. I will get back to you with a response at 1001

OK Cynthia I think I understand, the show is suppose to broadcast in stereo 2.0 which wouldn't be a problem if it was sent as 2.0, but for some reason NBC is still sending a pure HD sound signal which seperates the sound into a 5.1 which in turn makes some speakers work (L & R) but no center which would sound much better. If they would just leave it at a 2.0 so the receiver would do seperate the sound evenly. Am I understanding that correctly. If I am that is a big problem. Have you tried the SD channel? Is the problem there also?

I can't exactly remember which STATION it was (i think it was ABC), but i =did= switch on Sunday to the SD version of an event that was NOT heard in DD5.1 on the HD channel, despite saying it *was* DD on my AV receiver....and indeed, the SD version DID have full surround....there WAS rear speaker sound, whereas the HD version had NO rear (and no center).

OK Cynthia I think I understand, the show is suppose to broadcast in stereo 2.0 which wouldn't be a problem if it was sent as 2.0, but for some reason NBC is still sending a pure HD sound signal which seperates the sound into a 5.1 which in turn makes some speakers work (L & R) but no center which would sound much better. If they would just leave it at a 2.0 so the receiver would do seperate the sound evenly. Am I understanding that correctly. If I am that is a big problem. Have you tried the SD channel? Is the problem there also?

The SD channel (channels 4 and 7) include only stereo sound which comes in as Dolby Digital 2.0. My receiver uses ProLogic to derive a center and a surround channel. However, to my eyes the SD channels don't have the video quality of the HD channels (704 and 707) even though the video is upconverted from 480i. Of course for the Tonight Show I want to see it in HD, so I have to adjust to its sound error by switching my receiver to analog input and use ProLogic decoding.

Incidently, I connect my 8300HD by both the digital audio connection to get 5.1-channel sound and also the left and right channel analog audio connections. This allows me to switch to analog audio when appropriate.

Cynthia

really you see I always thought it was the other way. I thought the home TV stays with their home network, But now that you have said this their is a shift of inter league games that end up playing on the other network. Are all interleague games treated this way?

Either way the Jets and the lowly texans get an HD game, what an early christmas present!!

Take a look at http://www.gribblenation.net/nflmaps/ for more information about the Fox/CBS coverage of the NFL. The rules are very confusing, but carriage by Fox or CBS is definitely decided by the road team.
-JMP

The SD channel (channels 4 and 7) include only stereo sound which comes in as Dolby Digital 2.0. My receiver uses ProLogic to derive a center and a surround channel. However, to my eyes the SD channels don't have the video quality of the HD channels (704 and 707) even though the video is upconverted from 480i. Of course for the Tonight Show I want to see it in HD, so I have to adjust to its sound error by switching my receiver to analog input and use ProLogic decoding.

Incidently, I connect my 8300HD by both the digital audio connection to get 5.1-channel sound and also the left and right channel analog audio connections. This allows me to switch to analog audio when appropriate.

Cynthia
I am with you Cynthia the locals look far superior on the HD channels even when it is a SD show. It isn't even close in PQ between 4-704, 2-702, 7-707 etc. I would have to live with the sound issue on the HD channels when the lower SD channels look so bad.

At least you have an option, to combat your problem. But all these issues are good learning tools for when I decide to buy a TV for the living room.

Thanks for the site JMP, I always wanted to know how the broadcast rights are divided for inter-league NFL games. I will read it and decipher it and let you know what is my interpretation.

Nothing to add other than I thought Monday night football looked very good last night. In the world of ok, so so, and great hd broadcasts, it was definitely a great.

Nothing to add other than I thought Monday night football looked very good last night. In the world of ok, so so, and great hd broadcasts, it was definitely a great.Agree, as per usual, ESPN HD MNF looks great.
The glistening snow on the field helped spark up the picture too. Kind of like the way the wet down streets do in a “Hollywood” production.

Some advice needed, please, thanks!

I haven't touched aspect controls on either my 16:9 plasma or the 8300 HD cable box in months. Suddenly the picture looks squeezed. I don't know what might have changed, except:

As I posted on the SA 8300HD forum, my box has been deleting saved shows at random even with room to spare on the drive, so I called TWCNYC and they sent me a 'new signal'. It seems this aspect problem has been happening since then.

Nothing I can do seems to change the problem. When I try to get the aspect to normal, it seems squeezed. Is something wrong with my default settings? I have the cable box setting at widescreen 16:9, with 4:3 sidebar. For the plasma (Panasonic 42PHD8UK) usually we have it at normal. The picture is definitely distorted when I try to use these settings now.

Any help appreciated, thanks.

Anyone know what bleeping channel hte Knicks are on tonight?

Can not find MSG2

Anyone know what bleeping channel hte Knicks are on tonight?

Can not find MSG2

Same here! I tried to find it, and gave up. :(

Anyone know what bleeping channel hte Knicks are on tonight?

Can not find MSG2

I guess i "spoke" too soon! They've picked it up in progress(?) on MSG HD now. Not sure if it's "live" or not, but there it is.

Anyone know what bleeping channel hte Knicks are on tonight?

Can not find MSG2
I know I'm late to answer (and doesn't matter now anyway) but it was Ch. 60.

MSG2 and FSNY2 are almost always either 51 (TV Guide Channel) or 60 (CSPAN2).
(fortunately no more Knicks or Rangers home games on MSG2)

Why didn't you try going to MSG.com to find out the channel?

I hoped the reason MSG was taking over the game in progress was becuase they'd have it in HD... The halftime show (first thing i saw) even had an MSGHD banner behind Mike Breen and Walt Fraiser.....

I know I'm late to answer (and doesn't matter now anyway) but it was Ch. 60.

It's good to know in general, tho, so....thanks! I made a note on my calendar for future reference. :o

MSG2 and FSNY2 are almost always either 51 (TV Guide Channel) or 60 (CSPAN2).
(fortunately no more Knicks or Rangers home games on MSG2)

Why didn't you try going to MSG.com to find out the channel?

I hoped the reason MSG was taking over the game in progress was becuase they'd have it in HD... The halftime show (first thing i saw) even had an MSGHD banner behind Mike Breen and Walt Fraiser.....


dude, it's the Knicks, i didn't find it and then i didn't care :)

I just like to know what channels to surf as fast as i can

Yeah, MSG2 usually is on 60 or 51. On Saturday the Ranges were on MSG2, but TimeWarner Cable Brooklyn forgot to flip the switch on Channel 60. Instead of showing the Rangers vs Pittsburgh game they were showing the Knicks game on both MSG and MSG2. I logged into a NY Rangers Bulletin Board and asked if the game was on MSG2 and people in Manhattan and Staten Island said yes. I then called TW of Brooklyn and told them they had a programming problem. The operator was telling me that the game would be on at 7:30 I told her that it was now 7:15 and there should be the Rangers pre-game show. I then told her that TW of Manahttan and SI had it, she responds back that TW Brooklyn has different programming. BS. I ask to speak to a supervisor and sit on hold for about 30 minutes, when the game finally gets switched on to MSG2 around 7:40, missing 10 minutes of the game. What was also an insult was that the game was also being carried by HDNet, but due to blackout restrictions, it wasn't on. Blackout rules are dumb!!

Some advice needed, please, thanks!

I haven't touched aspect controls on either my 16:9 plasma or the 8300 HD cable box in months. Suddenly the picture looks squeezed. I don't know what might have changed, except:

As I posted on the SA 8300HD forum, my box has been deleting saved shows at random even with room to spare on the drive, so I called TWCNYC and they sent me a 'new signal'. It seems this aspect problem has been happening since then.

Nothing I can do seems to change the problem. When I try to get the aspect to normal, it seems squeezed. Is something wrong with my default settings? I have the cable box setting at widescreen 16:9, with 4:3 sidebar. For the plasma (Panasonic 42PHD8UK) usually we have it at normal. The picture is definitely distorted when I try to use these settings now.

Any help appreciated, thanks.

Don't really have time to get into trouble shooting, but the first thing you should always try when you have a problem with aspect ration(i'm assuming you have a wide screen tv) is go to one of the high def chan that is always broadcast wide screen (DiscoveryHD, or PBSHD are what I use) and try to determine if the picture looks correct. If the picture fits your screen perfectly with the box set to normal, not zoom, or stretch, then its likely not a problem with the box, if it looks off then you have a starting point to work off of. Try that and see how it looks.

Some advice needed, please, thanks!

I haven't touched aspect controls on either my 16:9 plasma or the 8300 HD cable box in months. Suddenly the picture looks squeezed. I don't know what might have changed, except:

As I posted on the SA 8300HD forum, my box has been deleting saved shows at random even with room to spare on the drive, so I called TWCNYC and they sent me a 'new signal'. It seems this aspect problem has been happening since then.

Nothing I can do seems to change the problem. When I try to get the aspect to normal, it seems squeezed. Is something wrong with my default settings? I have the cable box setting at widescreen 16:9, with 4:3 sidebar. For the plasma (Panasonic 42PHD8UK) usually we have it at normal. The picture is definitely distorted when I try to use these settings now.

Any help appreciated, thanks.

Squeezed in which direction (horizontal or vertical)? On what "kind" of channel, HD or SD? And what happens when you switch to a similar kind of channel that you see an issue with? Also, are you aware that there are times when the channel sends out a horizontally distorted image... as in taking a 4:3 image and stretching it to 16:9? TNT is notorious for doing that. If it's sent that way, there absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I think there are 2 locations where you can swap your box, you might want to get a new box to deal with your "deleting shows" issue.

Don't really have time to get into trouble shooting, but the first thing you should always try when you have a problem with aspect ration(i'm assuming you have a wide screen tv) is go to one of the high def chan that is always broadcast wide screen (DiscoveryHD, or PBSHD are what I use) and try to determine if the picture looks correct. If the picture fits your screen perfectly with the box set to normal, not zoom, or stretch, then its likely not a problem with the box, if it looks off then you have a starting point to work off of. Try that and see how it looks.

Thanks. I turned on the remote and the PIP was active (we NEVER turn it on) -- weird -- seems like settings on the remote change every time I turn it off. I did as you suggested, and the picture did fill the screen (in HD). I then hit the show guide, because the guide has been extremely squeezed since this problem has happened, and it still looked like that. I then checked 'video source' to see the box aspect ratio, and sure enough it said 16:9>stretched, even though I had set it to normal with last use. What gives? I set it back to normal and all seems OK now. Again, it's as if the remote has a mind of its own. I'll remember to check HD pictures first from now on.

Squeezed in which direction (horizontal or vertical)? On what "kind" of channel, HD or SD? And what happens when you switch to a similar kind of channel that you see an issue with? Also, are you aware that there are times when the channel sends out a horizontally distorted image... as in taking a 4:3 image and stretching it to 16:9? TNT is notorious for doing that. If it's sent that way, there absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I think there are 2 locations where you can swap your box, you might want to get a new box to deal with your "deleting shows" issue.

Riverside Guy,

We should have lunch sometime! I'm wondering where you are! I can see the river from the roof of our building on 145 and St. Nick. OT: Our building has announced they're going to permit DirecTV -- I don't know what to think about that.

It's SD channels that appear weird, althought the guide looks squished what looks like ertically, as in smooshed in from the sides. It was the guide that really alerted me to the issue. As I just posted, I checked on an HD channel, changed the box aspect ratio from stretched to normal (even though it was on normal last I saw), and things seem fine now. Maybe I have a short in the remote AND a bad box. Perfect storm!

I'm doing a test of the deleting shows issue. I've got most things set up with diamonds, as in manual erase. Then I have other less-important shows just waiting for the box to delete, if it dares.

Thanks for the help! Gosh it's amazing how much time and energy we put into this stuff. I love this forum.

Squeezed in which direction (horizontal or vertical)? On what "kind" of channel, HD or SD? And what happens when you switch to a similar kind of channel that you see an issue with? Also, are you aware that there are times when the channel sends out a horizontally distorted image... as in taking a 4:3 image and stretching it to 16:9? TNT is notorious for doing that. If it's sent that way, there absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I think there are 2 locations where you can swap your box, you might want to get a new box to deal with your "deleting shows" issue.

OK, here's an addendum to my previous post. It thought all was fine for live TV, but on going to a saved SD show (ESPN), once again, the broadcast seemed squeezed vertically, with extra bars on the side in addition to the usual gray bars on the side. This is definitely a new glitch -- never had this problem before.

In going to general settings>aspect ratio, what should be the normal settings for my 16:9 screen in regards to 4:3 picture? In playing with it, 'stretch' seems most dealable.

I'm a little confused as to why this has become all of a sudden an issue after 10 months.

My feeling is that any distortion in the picture is unacceptable. However, I do use the ability to "distort" the picture in 2 specific instances. Remember back to your 4:3 all SD CRT days, there were a number of TV shows that were broadcast letterbox, meaning the image was a 16:9 one playing on a 4:3 screen. Black bars top and bottom. On a typical HD set, that will result in black bars on all 4 sides (because it's a SD channel, my TV has been setup that it goes into 4:3 mode for SD channels, more on that later). Prime example is many of the SciFi channel shows (Dr. Who & Battlestar Galactica). For such shows, I use the zoom function (on the TV, not the 8300). The image will fill th screen, nothing is distorted but I do loose a tiny bit of picture all around.

My second scenario is kind of a hack. When I first got my HD, I noticed a lot of sidebars being light gray. My understand was it was specifically done that way mostly for plasma owners; supposedly using back bars for extended periods would leave "burn-in" telltales, something I'm not concerned with as I use a LCD display. I found the gray HUGELY distracting. Like it kept shouting at me. As I watch mostly in a darkened room, black bars at times "disappear" from my consciousness. Anyway, if I tune to a SD channel and set the TV for 4:3 mode, what I get is a picture that inside the TVs 4:3 box looks vertically elongated as the sidebars DO appear inside that 4:3 box. So I then set the 8300 to stretch SD content. Bingo, black sidebars and no distortion in the image.

This last one is an unspecified hack/trick.

In summary, my TV is set for 4:3 when tuned to a SD channel and 16:9 when tuned to a HD channel. The 8300 is set for 16:9 HD, 4:3 stretch. Two caveats, sometimes the "4:3 stretch" setting for the cable box reverts to 4:3 normal, so I get a distorted picture, vertically elongated. Second, CBS HD sends out 4:3 content with gray sidebars added at the head end. No way to eliminate those.

Like I said, TNT is one channel that will aggressively distort their images; notice that every commercial fills the screen? Well, they are all horizontally stretched. Notice how a LOT of content they show seems to have short, squat, fat people? Old TV shows AND I've even seen movies shown that way. The other area I've caught is NBC HD, specifically in local news. The made a bog deal about being "news in HD" and while they have never mucked with in the studio stuff, I DO see a lot of externally shot segments displaying horizontally stretched. The pisser is that some of those shots sure look like they came from a HD camera in the first place!

You must be in a tall building, I did some casual checking into satellite. The DTV bird is around 232 degrees, about 30 degrees up. I DO have a reasonable view of it sneaking between 2 much taller buildings than mine (I live on the top/10th floor). Anyway, my understanding is that they expect you to use a OTA antenna to get all the local HD channels... while I haven't actually bought an antenna to try it, when the signal came from our beloved towers, forget it. My guess is that I have even more obstructions to the Empire State bldg. than I did to the WTC. Still, competition for TWC is ALWAYS a good thing!

OK, here's an addendum to my previous post. It thought all was fine for live TV, but on going to a saved SD show (ESPN), once again, the broadcast seemed squeezed vertically, with extra bars on the side in addition to the usual gray bars on the side. This is definitely a new glitch -- never had this problem before.

In going to general settings>aspect ratio, what should be the normal settings for my 16:9 screen in regards to 4:3 picture? In playing with it, 'stretch' seems most dealable.

I'm a little confused as to why this has become all of a sudden an issue after 10 months.
ok from what I am reading you seem like you need a new remote or to be more careful. More careful. I have the same prblem I sometimes change the cahannel and at the same time press the bottom on right near the 0, when you press that button you change the STB output from strech, to normal, to full or which ever one you were not on. This could be the problem that would give you lines on top and on side or both. You woiuldn't be able to notice the change because once you change the channel the infor about the change dissappears. You next solution is the remote itself. We all know we have drop these things many times. How long have you had it? It just might be times for a new one. Changing them are a breeze just go to TWC and they switch it with no question asked. If you have another TV just use that remote on that tv and see if you have the same problem. Godd luck barrianne

Any word what new HD CH. will replace INHD2?

Any word what new HD CH. will replace INHD2?

Rumors were that Universal HD would be moved to 722, and we would be getting WWOR-DT on 709.

While it is important to have all the HD locals on our system.... I'd rather have ESPN2-HD (or even FSNY-HD)

Rumors were that Universal HD would be moved to 722, and we would be getting WWOR-DT on 709.

While it is important to have all the HD locals on our system.... I'd rather have ESPN2-HD (or even FSNY-HD)
that is miserable news, I am all for more HD plus it is a local so we should have it anyway. But what the h@#$ do they show in HD on my9 other then yankees sames during the summer time. A bunch of primetime soaps. BOOO HISSSSS! Moving Universal out it current sot of Channels just messes with my presets.
Where did you read this info?
At least TWC is making good on their promise of new channels by the end of the year. 2 that went full time and 2 brand new ones so far this fall. I am still shocked they haven't gotten FSNY, but what do they carry now? Which team is missing?

that is miserable news, I am all for more HD plus it is a local so we should have it anyway. But what the h@#$ do they show in HD on my9 other then yankees sames during the summer time. A bunch of primetime soaps. BOOO HISSSSS! Moving Universal out it current sot of Channels just messes with my presets.
Where did you read this info?

Someone posted that here a few weeks ago.

(And a move may not mess with your presets - I had all NHL games on FSNY set to record for a time - and when TWC moved the channel from 26 to 79, then to 48, I dind't need to update anything)

At least TWC is making good on their promise of new channels by the end of the year. 2 that went full time and 2 brand new ones so far this fall. I am still shocked they haven't gotten FSNY, but what do they carry now? Which team is missing?

FSN NY has the Devils and Islanders (and the Rangers when the other hockey teams aren't playing but the Knicks are - there will be one Rangers home game on FSN NY-HD this season on 1/31)

OK, thanks. I guess the TV season has been just good enough that I haven't watched any Hockey this year so I haven't notice who own's which teams broadcast rights.

OK, here's an addendum to my previous post. It thought all was fine for live TV, but on going to a saved SD show (ESPN), once again, the broadcast seemed squeezed vertically, with extra bars on the side in addition to the usual gray bars on the side. This is definitely a new glitch -- never had this problem before.

I'm a little confused as to why this has become all of a sudden an issue after 10 months.

okay, I thought I was going crazy tonight, but this is exactly what happened to me. Suddenly on SD channels I am getting DUAL bars...both grey bars AND black bars...and no matter what I select the picture is squished, I cannot get it to fill the screen even with zoom or wide zoom. HD channels are fine.

I can't swear I haven't done something wrong, because I'm a newbie at this...only had the TV a few weeks (Sony 32XBR2) and this is with the SA 3250HD box. TWCNYC in Brooklyn. But this definitely wasn't happening a few days ago, and I don't THINK I changed anything. I spent all night fiddling with the settings, nothing seems to make a difference.

I'll be interested in seeing if barrianne gets this figured out!

Haven't tracked this 'dual bars' discussion back here, but often get this viewing SD channels upconverted to 1080i (8300HD) on my CRT RPTV. AIUI, this just means it's a 4:3 program (gray side pillars) and it's letterboxed, too (top/bottom black bars). Prefer this for SD channels because pressing #/ZOOM with the remote fills my 16:9 screen without distorting figures, etc. too much, although zoom isn't feasible if foreign language translations appear in the bottom black bar (cropped out). The letterbox/side-pillar combination often appears with IFC, Sundance movies, PBS programs, and others. Forgetting to change from zoom mode spoils other programming. Likely mentioned already, but strange image ratios on all channels usually means some basic STB/display setting has been altered and you should go back to basic screen-shape and ratio settings until the right combination is reached. -- John

It's very helpful to remember there are screen modification possibilities in both the TV and the STB. You have to take BOTH into account; example, I have SD channels on the TV set for 4:3, so any modification I do from the STB appears inside that 4:3 box the TV is defining. So if I want a over all the screen zoom, I have to use the TV controls, not the STB... those need to stay on "normal."

Haven't tracked this 'dual bars' discussion back here, but often get this viewing SD channels upconverted to 1080i (8300HD) on my CRT RPTV. AIUI, this just means it's a 4:3 program (gray side pillars) and it's letterboxed, too (top/bottom black bars).

Thanks, I appreciate the suggestions, but this isn't what I (nor I think barrianne) were referring to...in this case there are both vertical black bars and vertical grey bars ---and the actual screen image content is squished in the middle of these so that its very narrow. So black, grey, image, grey, black. This has nothing to do with letterboxing.

I will go in tonight with a clear head and reset everything to default, then start over. Or I may just give up and watch Battlestar Galactica on the old SD box, probably a better bet anyway!

I've been experiencing alot of Drop outs, pixilation, freezes (for a few seconds) with my 8300HD DVR. It doesn't happen as much when I watch SD, only HD. I think it is bandwidth issue. What do you think? Can TWC fix this issue if I call them?

I've been experiencing alot of Drop outs, pixilation, freezes (for a few seconds) with my 8300HD DVR. It doesn't happen as much when I watch SD, only HD. I think it is bandwidth issue. What do you think? Can TWC fix this issue if I call them?
When you're getting lots of dropouts, etc. in HD, first try warm booting your DVR -- press and hold the power button until it says "boot". Then let it do its thing.

If this doesn't help, try cold booting (when the DVR isn't recording, pull out the plug, wait 30 seconds, then plug it back in).

If this doesn't help, schedule an appointment with a TWC tech and make sure to tell them to test the signal strength. A signal that is not up-to-spec will cause lots of skipping.

Scott

I've been experiencing alot of Drop outs, pixilation, freezes (for a few seconds) with my 8300HD DVR. It doesn't happen as much when I watch SD, only HD. I think it is bandwidth issue. What do you think? Can TWC fix this issue if I call them?


I'm in the rego park/forest hills border area (67th ave) and every time it rains the HD locals break up, i've had 20 techs out, none of them fix it, it just happens every time it rains, a real Pain in the bleep.

As soon as i get a dish tech that can install my Ku/KA dish, i'm dumping TWC, they suck it

Anyone haveing massive pixelation and audio dropouts on channel 60, which is MSG2 right now and should be showing the Rangers vs Buffalo game.