Does the Test patterns help optimize your TV's performance?,I have been very stiafied with the HD and SD perfomance but have always wondered if it can look better. Maybe not, in my view, however one it dooesn't hurt to try.
This is what you'll see on HDNET.....and inHD:
http://www.hdtvtotal.com/gallery-displayimage-album-95-pos-3.html
and how you can use them (YMMV):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5175424#post5175424
http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetpatterns.html
http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetoverscan.html
Don't be surprised if you don't see the entire pattern, due to overscan....
This can be a "good thing" cuz it obscures data bursts in top few display lines.

Individual color drive adjustments are difficult without any human faces
and you need to "know" when you see "right" colors....esp brown/yellow and red/green...
That's what an ISF calibration is supposed to do....
Or try DIY with live programs to reduce "red blooming" (samsung LCD),
excessive orange (my Hitachi Plasma) or whatever bothers you.

And oh-by-the-way, the settings are probably different for DVD and STB/DVR inputs.

After using the Grey Scale test (whether HDNET, inHD or DVD test disc),
I find my brightness level (and sometimes color level) needs to be lowered for actual viewing.
And tweaked....and retweaked....nearly every time I change channels....

Basic cable network TBS will launch a high-definition version come Sept. 1 called "TBS in HD," Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin announced today.

The new service, a 1080-line interlace (1080i) simulcast of TBS' East Coast feed, will initially only be carried by DirecTV as part of its well-publicized HD expansion, though Turner is in carriage dicussions with other affiliates, says a spokesperson. TBS in HD will add comedy to the high-definition sports and dramas that Turner currently offers on TNT HD. The lineup includes TBS original series "My Boys" and "The Bill Engvall Show," which are being shot in high-definition; first-run series like "Tyler Perry’s House of Payne"; sitcoms "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Sex and the City"; and comedy specials like "World’s Funniest Commercials."

“With the launch of TBS in HD, we will bring an outstanding line-up of comedy programming to our viewers in a video format that is on the fast track to becoming the industry and consumer standard,” said Koonin in a statement.

TBS in HD will carry sports, too, such as TBS’s exclusive coverage of Major League Baseball’s dvisiional playoffs and the National League Championship Series.
- Broadcasting & Cable mag

This plus the 26 HBO feeds already announced.

I wish they would hurry up and increase our capacity. It's crazy that in TW's home base, their cable company can't supply the HD programming their networks are making available.

As Scott said, that won’t fix the problem and to answer the second question, you would not lose the stored recordings on the DVR.

Since folks have been chiming in here with their audio break-up problems, I’ve tried to stay away to avoid the inevitable jinx. :rolleyes:

The only audio freeze ups that I’ve experienced are the normal once every 90 minute or so minor hiccup. Nothing that a quick little rewind, a pause and a switch to closed captioning hasn’t taken care of. This usually happens during inclement weather or when I have my hard drive closer to full. This is nothing compared to the constant audio break ups I encountered with the original 8000 unit a few years ago.

2nd time in TWO NIGHTS: had to unplug the box and re-boot tonite, when i suddenly had nothing but a totally grey screen, and a completely non-responsive cable remote. :mad:

I really want this channel for no other reason than the MLB playoffs

Basic cable network TBS will launch a high-definition version come Sept. 1 called "TBS in HD," Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin announced today.

The new service, a 1080-line interlace (1080i) simulcast of TBS' East Coast feed, will initially only be carried by DirecTV as part of its well-publicized HD expansion, though Turner is in carriage dicussions with other affiliates, says a spokesperson. TBS in HD will add comedy to the high-definition sports and dramas that Turner currently offers on TNT HD. The lineup includes TBS original series "My Boys" and "The Bill Engvall Show," which are being shot in high-definition; first-run series like "Tyler Perry’s House of Payne"; sitcoms "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Sex and the City"; and comedy specials like "World’s Funniest Commercials."

“With the launch of TBS in HD, we will bring an outstanding line-up of comedy programming to our viewers in a video format that is on the fast track to becoming the industry and consumer standard,” said Koonin in a statement.

TBS in HD will carry sports, too, such as TBS’s exclusive coverage of Major League Baseball’s dvisiional playoffs and the National League Championship Series.
- Broadcasting & Cable mag

This plus the 26 HBO feeds already announced.

I wish they would hurry up and increase our capacity. It's crazy that in TW's home base, their cable company can't supply the HD programming their networks are making available.

Hi, Guys,

I'm living in Queens/NY with Time Warner Cable basic service. I returned the Cable Box to save some money (I'm a graduate student). My TV comes with QAM tuner. So I use the QAM tuner to receive HDTV channels. However, I can't find NBC HD. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Does the Test patterns help optimize your TV's performance?,I have been very stiafied with the HD and SD perfomance but have always wondered if it can look better. Maybe not, in my view, however one it dooesn't hurt to try.
HDNet's Saturday 6:30 am ET test patterns show whether the complete delivery path, including STB and display can resolve the full test pattern resolution (converging vertical wedges) at 1920X1080. As mentioned above, most resolve only about 1300 lines instead of ~1920. Test pattern resolution differs from maximum program resolution because non-sampled test patterns needn't undergo the Nyquist filtering of sampled programming (cameras, telecines).

But if a live TV show delivers resolvable detail at an equivalent maximum horizontal resolution of 1450--1600 lines and the delivery system and/or STB limits resolvable details to ~1300 lines, some changes (new STB?, less head-end rate shaping?) should boost PQ. This recent post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10794734&&#post10794734) in the calibration forum gets into more minutia, following member GeekGirl's finding that HDNet's pattern via Verizon's FIOS also maxes out at about 1333 lines instead of ~1920. A Manhattan TWC subscriber with a Sony Ruby FP and 8300HD posted a 1335-line HDNet measurement not long ago. -- John

Hi, Guys,

I'm living in Queens/NY with Time Warner Cable basic service. I returned the Cable Box to save some money (I'm a graduate student). My TV comes with QAM tuner. So I use the QAM tuner to receive HDTV channels. However, I can't find NBC HD. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.Hey OC, I can’t answer your question specifically, don’t have a QAM tuner, but if you get no replies here, you might want to check out this thread. It is our local “Over the Air” thread.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=275729

Edit.... This is a useless response… I’m confusing QAM with ASTSC tuners

OK - I'm sure this has been answered before in some form or another but I haven't found the right thread.

I have a TWC NYC via an Explorer 8300HD connected to a Panasonic 42" plasma. I need a new DVD player, and was thinking OPPO, but my Panasonic plasma has only one spot for HDMI/DVI (unless I want to ditch the composite port, which I still use to watch the odd video cassette). Here are my options:

1. Get an HDMI switch to toggle between the OPPO and HD cable. Will this work? I notice there are some HDCP handshake problems now and again - usually because the cable has turned on before the plasma (and always corrected by turning the plasma off and then on). Will using a switch cause all hell to break loose? If not, is there a particular switch to get?

2. Run HD cable through component. Will I even notice a difference on 42" plasma?

3. Get a different DVD player that has component. Is that better or worse than option 2?

Many thanks in advance for any advice!

Alex

I have recently started seeing a touch of what I would call more "audio dropouts" than skippage. The skippage always involves a combination of a video glitch accompanied shortly after by an audio glitch. But the new thing that you're describing and what I'm seeing is an audio dropout which is NOT accompanied by a video glitch.

In my own observation, I haven't seen it frequently enough (West Village) to raise any flags, but I have seen it on occasion.

Interesting, my pal is seeing it a LOT and at times I'm seeing it a lot. But not constantly. Anecdotal, but I'd guess much more frequently over, say, each 48 hour period than a month and back ago.

I've noticed an increase in audio dropouts too! At first, I thought it was just a buffering issue, but it has persisted. Then I looked on here and no one has posted anything so I figured that it was probably just something with my box or maybe locally since the line up change. The other reason is that I've been watching mainly HDnet Movies the last few weeks and so I wasn't sure if it was just the one channel. To hear that others are experiencing this too makes me think it is a bigger problem.

Indeed figuring out where the issue lies can be difficult. I'm making my judgement based on watching a large variety of different things over more than 2-3 days. I like to be convinced I really see definite trends, and I sure do with audio dropouts over the past 3-4 weeks ad opposed to the past 6 months up until a month ago. I've seen many folks upset over some "glitch" and they can only attest to one instance of that happening! ESPECIALLY in things that rely on technology, once or twice is 100% meaningless. 10 times in a half hour aren't that meaningful (last nighties latest Yankee disaster had some MAJOR audio and video glitches for about 1/2 hour, but was very clean later one before I vomited over their "play").

I have been having similar problems, too. And this MORNING, a rare time for it to happen, i was having screen freeze and audio drop issues during the 6-7AM hour....i NEVER got that before, and that's including watching FOX 5, an SD station as part of my PIP! SO, my question has to do with a previously discussed possible solution: is it true that if we UNPLUG the box overnight, the screen freezes will STOP?? And we =won't= lose whatever we've saved up on the DVR side?? Thanks for your help. :(

OK, seems me and me bud ain't the only ones noticing this pattern. AND from more than our 2 head ends. Pure speculation, but my gut is telling me it's the last 2 HD additions we got that could play a role here. Before we got the last 2, we DID hear there could be no more until new tech (SDV) is rolled out (or like SI, more analog channels got dropped). I mean, drop ONE frakiing analog and this additional audio glitching may get back to the level it was doing 2 months ago, which was far less than now!

This is what you'll see on HDNET.....and inHD:
http://www.hdtvtotal.com/gallery-displayimage-album-95-pos-3.html
and how you can use them (YMMV):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5175424#post5175424
http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetpatterns.html
http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetoverscan.html
Don't be surprised if you don't see the entire pattern, due to overscan....
This can be a "good thing" cuz it obscures data bursts in top few display lines.

Individual color drive adjustments are difficult without any human faces
and you need to "know" when you see "right" colors....esp brown/yellow and red/green...
That's what an ISF calibration is supposed to do....
Or try DIY with live programs to reduce "red blooming" (samsung LCD),
excessive orange (my Hitachi Plasma) or whatever bothers you.

And oh-by-the-way, the settings are probably different for DVD and STB/DVR inputs.

After using the Grey Scale test (whether HDNET, inHD or DVD test disc),
I find my brightness level (and sometimes color level) needs to be lowered for actual viewing.
And tweaked....and retweaked....nearly every time I change channels....
Thanks for the info.

Hi, Guys,

I'm living in Queens/NY with Time Warner Cable basic service. I returned the Cable Box to save some money (I'm a graduate student). My TV comes with QAM tuner. So I use the QAM tuner to receive HDTV channels. However, I can't find NBC HD. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.


You returned the box, meaning you are not usuing TWC anymore, or just using their cable into the QAM tuner. First off I didn't know this was allowed. Also the box is included with your basic service so, how are you saving money?
Anyway, with that said. NBC should be one of the first stations you find. If you check back on this thread or to the settings thread, there are people that use the QAM everyday. Look from the begining more then the current post.

Hi, Guys,

I'm living in Queens/NY with Time Warner Cable basic service. I returned the Cable Box to save some money (I'm a graduate student). My TV comes with QAM tuner. So I use the QAM tuner to receive HDTV channels. However, I can't find NBC HD. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.


Try 104.1 on your QAM tuner.

You returned the box, meaning you are not usuing TWC anymore, or just using their cable into the QAM tuner. First off I didn't know this was allowed. Also the box is included with your basic service so, how are you saving money?
Anyway, with that said. NBC should be one of the first stations you find. If you check back on this thread or to the settings thread, there are people that use the QAM everyday. Look from the begining more then the current post.

Returning the cable box is allowed by TWC. With the box, the monthly fee for basice service is about $20. Without it, the monthly fee is about $12. I guess the $8 is the cable box monthly rent fee.

Try 104.1 on your QAM tuner.

Thanks for the reply. But I don't have 104.1. I checked the channel lists, it jumps to 108.1 directly from 101.15.

Returning the cable box is allowed by TWC. With the box, the monthly fee for basice service is about $20. Without it, the monthly fee is about $12. I guess the $8 is the cable box monthly rent fee. Doh’ …so my response to you was useless… I mixed up QAM with ATSC tuner… :o :cool:

Thanks for the reply. But I don't have 104.1. I checked the channel lists, it jumps to 108.1 directly from 101.15.

Enter it manually. Or you can try 1.4 to see if you are one of the few that actually have it mapped correctly.

Anyone hear anything about these?

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/06-28-2007/0004617139&EDATE=

Be interesting if this will work with the TWCNYC boxes.

Adam

Enter it manually. Or you can try 1.4 to see if you are one of the few that actually have it mapped correctly.

I can't enter it manually if it is not in the channel list. I do have 1.4, but it's thetube, not NBC HD.

I can't enter it manually if it is not in the channel list. I do have 1.4, but it's thetube, not NBC HD.


OK - so you have the same problem everyone else has.

You SHOULD be able to type in a channel manually. If so, NBC is on 104.1. Or try a rescan to see if it gets picked up.

Returning the cable box is allowed by TWC. With the box, the monthly fee for basice service is about $20. Without it, the monthly fee is about $12. I guess the $8 is the cable box monthly rent fee.


Color me dumb for a min, you are only paying 12 dollars a month for cable? Who are you sleeping witb that works with TWC and give me her number :) :p ;) Am I missing something? Please explain further. My bill was $85 before extra's but it did include three boxes. $59 including one box+10for additional+10for additional box. this is before I upgraded to DVR and HD.
All that aside, if you go through the QAM, aren't you only getting Locals in HD?

Anyone hear anything about these?

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/06-28-2007/0004617139&EDATE=

Be interesting if this will work with the TWCNYC boxes.

Adam
It should work, but you might be taking a chance if it doesn't. You know TWC usual response

"Time Warner does not support (insert any new technology), maybe in the future."

But it is nice to know that it works with the SA8300 so it is designed for this box so it must have a correct connection and hopefully plug and play capabilities. That is a very good find, I will look to see if I can find one. The only backstab with this item is that it came to late. If you beleive something I read here or maybe somewhere else. SA8300's might be replaced. I think it was new Pioneers. But that may take some time to convert

Well I figure the worst case scenario is you could use the drive some place else either with the supplied enclosure or take the drive out and put it in another enclosure.

Adam

Color me dumb for a min, you are only paying 12 dollars a month for cable? Who are you sleeping witb that works with TWC and give me her number :) :p ;) Am I missing something? Please explain further. My bill was $85 before extra's but it did include three boxes. $59 including one box+10for additional+10for additional box. this is before I upgraded to DVR and HD.
All that aside, if you go through the QAM, aren't you only getting Locals in HD?

$85/month? Man, you're rich! My bill is cheap because it's basic service without cable box. Just it. And yes, I'm getting Locals only in HD (For basic service, even with the cable box, what I can get is local HDs too).

OK - so you have the same problem everyone else has.

You SHOULD be able to type in a channel manually. If so, NBC is on 104.1. Or try a rescan to see if it gets picked up.

Thank U, pdroth. I'll try again later.

I thougt it's me only who has this problem. Is this issue caused by TWC? or QAM tuner itself?

Thank U, pdroth. I'll try again later.

I thougt it's me only who has this problem. Is this issue caused by TWC? or QAM tuner itself?


I think they have 2 channels mapped to 1.4 - Tube and NBC-HD. The funny thing is that you can only get Tube using QAM - it's not available on the 8300!!!! I just wish they would map it somewhere else to not interfere.

Also - WOR-HD doesn't map to 1.9. I think that QAM is 93.1 or 93.2 (One is My9 and the other is TNT-HD)

Anyone hear anything about these?

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/06-28-2007/0004617139&EDATE=

Be interesting if this will work with the TWCNYC boxes.

Adam
Apricot also makes external eSATA drives for SA8300HD:
http://www.apricorn.com/product_detail.php?type=family&id=37

The eSATA thread has user reviews for these and DIY alternatives:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10911825#post10911825

I think they have 2 channels mapped to 1.4 - Tube and NBC-HD. The funny thing is that you can only get Tube using QAM - it's not available on the 8300!!!! I just wish they would map it somewhere else to not interfere.

Also - WOR-HD doesn't map to 1.9. I think that QAM is 93.1 or 93.2 (One is My9 and the other is TNT-HD)
If you are using PASSPORT ECHO OS, you could enter Extended Diagnostic Menu
and try to "stumble" onto The Tube via TUNING menu....

If you know QAM freq, try various Program Numbers....
Or try to "guess" the Source ID number, based on other similar numbers.

You may discover the requisite Display Channel number you can then punch into R/C.

In case anyone is interested, these are the HD channels I've been able to find:

MY9 = 93-1
TNT = 93-2
FOX = 103-1
CW = 103-2
NBC = 104-1
ABC = 104-2
CBS = 105-1
PBS = 105-2

Anyone having rebooting issues?

My 8300 decided to up and reboot-- three times Saturday.

On another issue, I had it set up a for a 9PM recording, when I tried to play it a few hours later it only recorded a minute.

I guess it’s time to replace the box.

Even though it’s not full I have several hours of irreplaceable HD that I will be very upset to lose with the swap out.

Anyone having rebooting issues?

My 8300 decided to up and reboot-- three times Saturday.

On another issue, I had it set up a for a 9PM recording, when I tried to play it a few hours later it only recorded a minute.

I guess it’s time to replace the box.

Even though it’s not full I have several hours of irreplaceable HD that I will be very upset to lose with the swap out.

I didn't have these issues tonite, BUT as i said in a previous post, i was forced to re-boot twice in 2 nites recently....terribly annoying. AND, i can't TELL you how often i've had DVR recordings RUINED, thanks to all the screen freezes and audio drops. :mad:

The blackout messed up the connection between my 8300 and external HD. Any shows I tried playing on the external drive gave me error messages. Recyling the power on the drive didn't work...I had to disconnect the data cable and reconnect. Fortunately everything was still there.

RE Apricot drives, etc, other external SATAs:


My one BIG question: Has ANYONE here in NYC managed to use this external drdive or anything like it? Of course, when I call TWC, I keep being told the port is de-activated.

Also, does anyone know how to access the main menu in order to see how much space you have left on your TWC DVR? I have tried a few different key combos, but no luck.

Yes, I am a noob. If anyone can throw me a line, I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks!

3M in Astoria

I read through the first 10 or so pages and that was it lol

question:

I am going to be getting an HD Box from TWC this friday,,,
I can just trade in my old SD box for the HD box at my local TWC center correct? (free installation kit)

second:

what connections does it come with if any??? HDMI? Composite? VGA? DVI?? none???

third:

does the HD box give ALL the channels better PQ??? (minus the HD channels itself...thats obvious)

I didn't have these issues tonite, BUT as i said in a previous post, i was forced to re-boot twice in 2 nites recently....terribly annoying. AND, i can't TELL you how often i've had DVR recordings RUINED, thanks to all the screen freezes and audio drops. :mad:

It was back in this thread, but I asked if anyone noticed that the audio drop-out thing stated happening a LOT about 2-3-4 weeks ago... right around the time when a pal who I've been trying to convince to go HD finally made the step... only to be confronted with TONS of audio drop-outs (great introduction to hi-tech eh?).

Somewhat anecdotal, but for the prior 4 months or so, I got very few audio drop-outs. The frequency really racheted up recently. Naturally, on the surface there MAY be a connection with the channel shuffling AND addition of ESPN2 HD...

RE Apricot drives, etc, other external SATAs:


My one BIG question: Has ANYONE here in NYC managed to use this external drdive or anything like it? Of course, when I call TWC, I keep being told the port is de-activated.

Also, does anyone know how to access the main menu in order to see how much space you have left on your TWC DVR? I have tried a few different key combos, but no luck.

Yes, I am a noob. If anyone can throw me a line, I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks!

3M in Astoria
Hi Threemoons, welcome...

To access the menu...

Go into the 8300’s diagnostic mode.
This is done by pressing on the set top box, (not the remote)

Exit & Select

When diagnostic appears on the STB tuning display-- tune to channel 1999 with the remote.

Scroll down to the DVR information.
:cool:

There are plenty of members here that successfully utilize an external hard drive. I don’t. There is this other thread that covers the external drive with tons of information. Refer to the information regarding our system, which is Passport.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559

I read through the first 10 or so pages and that was it lol

question:

I am going to be getting an HD Box from TWC this friday,,,
I can just trade in my old SD box for the HD box at my local TWC center correct? (free installation kit)

second:

what connections does it come with if any??? HDMI? Composite? VGA? DVI?? none???

third:

does the HD box give ALL the channels better PQ??? (minus the HD channels itself...thats obvious)

1) Yes, you can just trade-in

2) I have the HD-DVR box, and it has an HDMI output, so I use that. (not 100% sure about the non-DVR box at this point)

3) The HD box only allows you to receive the glorious HD channels. All regular SD channels will look the same.

thanks for answering

when you got the HD-DVR box did it come with hookups???

and dear lord the PQ with a SD box is HORRIBLE!!! on my TV...everything is somewhat jagged....so what youre saying is that it doesnt improve the PQ for the regular channels not even a little??? then whats the point?!?!? lol

if that doesnt help than is there anything I can do???

my PQ on my SD Sony is better than my HD set with SD
arrgghhh!!!

"my PQ on my SD Sony is better than my HD set with SD
arrgghhh!!!"
==============================
that indeed, is the reality shock (something the salesmen at the stores don't TELL you) of these HDTVs: as fantastic as they look when giving you programs in HD, they weren't built for SD programming....consequently, you're RIGHT about SD programs looking better on an OLDER, non-HD set than they will =ever= look on your brand new HDTV. you can mess with the aspect ratios and the output formats all you want, but you'll NEVER get your SD programs to look anywhere as good as the HD stuff. :(

oh man that is just beyond ******

how many channels do we get with TWC that are HD and how much is it per month???

I might not even bother then

thanks for answering

when you got the HD-DVR box did it come with hookups???

and dear lord the PQ with a SD box is HORRIBLE!!! on my TV...everything is somewhat jagged....so what youre saying is that it doesnt improve the PQ for the regular channels not even a little??? then whats the point?!?!? lol

if that doesnt help than is there anything I can do???

my PQ on my SD Sony is better than my HD set with SD
arrgghhh!!!


The box did came with component cables (although i had it installed from the start, since I've only had TWC for 2 years - so I don't know if they do give cables on a trade-in, but I'd guess they should)


HD sets don't make SD look better..... nobody ever claimed they did.... In fact... they enhance the crappiness of SD... thats why they can look even worse.

Don't worry - most of the main channels have HD channels already (or have announce that they will have them within the next year)

HD Channels (no extra charge) currently include:
702 WCBS-HD (CBS)
703 TNT-HD
704 WNBC-HD (NBC)
705 WNYW-HD (FOX)
707 WABC-HD (ABC)
709 WWOR-HD (MyNetworkTV)
711 WPIX-HD (The CW)
713 WNET HD (PBS - note this is NOT an HD feed of the Normal 'Thirteen', but a PBS-HD, so the schedules are not the same)
718 Discovery HD Theater (24/7 HD) (not the Discovery channel itself, but a DiscoveryHD is planned)
726 SNY-HD
727 MSG-HD
728 ESPN-HD
729 ESPN2-HD
730 YES-HD
740 Universal-HD (24/7 HD) (no SD counterpart)

Premium HD (including with corresponding movie packages)
776 CinemaxHD
777 StarzHD
779 ShowtimeHD
780 HBOHD

HDXtra Package (also includes the Sportspack - which is SD only right now)
796 MOJOHD (formerly known as InHD) (24/7 HD)
797 HDNet Movies (24/7 HD)
798 HDNet (24/7 HD)

(Staten Island gets a few more... A&E-HD, FSNY-HD, MHD, and The Movie Channel-HD... we figure the rest of NYC will seem them "soon" - along with some other channels that are on the way, like TBS-HD, which starts up just in time for the MLB playoffs)

NOTE: most of the HD channels do not show actual HD 24/7! You will see black bars (or pillars) on the sides of the screen when the content isn't wide-screen HD. Sometimes content will be widescreen , but still SD (good quality SD... seen on FOX sometimes, as well as PBS and major sporting events from other countries on ESPN and ESPN2). Then there is TNTHD - which likes to confues everyone with its policy of stretching all non-HD content and try to pretend its ok.... the difference is obvious....

"713 WNET HD (PBS - note this is NOT an HD feed of the Normal 'Thirteen', but a PBS-HD, so the schedules are not the same)"
==========================

not =always= the case, but generally so. for ex, this past THUR, (i think that was the date) the Paul Simon in Wash DC special was simulcast on =both= channels....altho i had to tune away/change channels/ a couple times from the HD version, because the screen freezes early on were so AWFUL. :mad:

SD only looks ****** on fixed-pixel HD sets (ie. anything but CRT.)

On a CRT HD set, SD looks just fine.

SD only looks ****** on fixed-pixel HD sets (ie. anything but CRT.)

On a CRT HD set, SD looks just fine.


Ah yes.... for some reason I tend to forget about CRT HD sets altogether...

The box did came with component cables (although i had it installed from the start, since I've only had TWC for 2 years - so I don't know if they do give cables on a trade-in, but I'd guess they should)


HD sets don't make SD look better..... nobody ever claimed they did.... In fact... they enhance the crappiness of SD... thats why they can look even worse.

Don't worry - most of the main channels have HD channels already (or have announce that they will have them within the next year)

HD Channels (no extra charge) currently include:
702 WCBS-HD (CBS)
703 TNT-HD
704 WNBC-HD (NBC)
705 WNYW-HD (FOX)
707 WABC-HD (ABC)
709 WWOR-HD (MyNetworkTV)
711 WPIX-HD (The CW)
713 WNET HD (PBS - note this is NOT an HD feed of the Normal 'Thirteen', but a PBS-HD, so the schedules are not the same)
718 Discovery HD Theater (24/7 HD) (not the Discovery channel itself, but a DiscoveryHD is planned)
726 SNY-HD
727 MSG-HD
728 ESPN-HD
729 ESPN2-HD
730 YES-HD
740 Universal-HD (24/7 HD) (no SD counterpart)

Premium HD (including with corresponding movie packages)
776 CinemaxHD
777 StarzHD
779 ShowtimeHD
780 HBOHD

HDXtra Package (also includes the Sportspack - which is SD only right now)
796 MOJOHD (formerly known as InHD) (24/7 HD)
797 HDNet Movies (24/7 HD)
798 HDNet (24/7 HD)

(Staten Island gets a few more... A&E-HD, FSNY-HD, MHD, and The Movie Channel-HD... we figure the rest of NYC will seem them "soon" - along with some other channels that are on the way, like TBS-HD, which starts up just in time for the MLB playoffs)

NOTE: most of the HD channels do not show actual HD 24/7! You will see black bars (or pillars) on the sides of the screen when the content isn't wide-screen HD. Sometimes content will be widescreen , but still SD (good quality SD... seen on FOX sometimes, as well as PBS and major sporting events from other countries on ESPN and ESPN2). Then there is TNTHD - which likes to confues everyone with its policy of stretching all non-HD content and try to pretend its ok.... the difference is obvious....
thanks for the info on channels...that was my next question lol

ahhhh I guess Ill get it anyway if it comes with those free HD channels
hopefully a lot more become HD

You rock, thank you so much!

Oh man, my cable is HORRIBLE today. Picture and audio is freezing constantly. Scenes are repeating and getting pixelated. This is VERY frustrating.

anyone know if the non DVR HD box comes with an HDMI output!?!

I kinda ran out of component inputs on my TV so Im hoping to hook up my HD box via HDMI

anyone have any info on it??? or what other connections it has that will allow high quality picture?

anyone know if the non DVR HD box comes with an HDMI output!?!

I kinda ran out of component inputs on my TV so Im hoping to hook up my HD box via HDMI

anyone have any info on it??? or what other connections it has that will allow high quality picture?
No, it has a DVI output and a seperate TOSlink digital audio output.

You can use a cheap, commonly-available DVI-to-HDMI adapter to connect it to your set with no quality loss.

This may NOT be a local issue, but could be. HBO HD seems to be consistently showing Flight of the Choncords as letterboxed inside a 4:3 box (black bars all 4 sides). All new episodes seem to be done that way AND I tuned into a rebroadcast and it TOO was black bars all 4 sides. It "seems" to have the resolution of real HD...

press Exit & Select on the Cable Box, for a couple of seconds.
Then tune till channel 1999Did that but it didn't give me ability to follow the set of instructions below.


From another thread:

Here is a little tip for people with this TV (I have 50pz700u) using a 8300HD DVR/cable box. This will allow as much up-scaling to be done by the TV instead of the cable box (the 8300hd has a crappy scaler). But best of all, SD channels will fill the screen by default instead of you having to change the Panasonic's Aspect or the STB's Zoom button everytime you change channel from HD to SD. This really minimizes the amount of times that I have to use the TV's Aspect button or the STB's Zoom button.

Enter the 8300HD's advanced set-up:
1) Turn 8300HD power off
2) Press Guide-Info buttons at the same time

Choose 16:9 and advanced setup. Follow the instructions to activate only 3 of the 6 resolutions:
1080i (top left option)
720p (top right)
480p Standard (bottom left)

So you should have only these 3 things in the list of display modes with green dots next to them in the STB's advanced setup. After that, when watching TV again use the STB's remote to make sure Picture setting is set on "DVI/HDMI" instead of Fixed or Upscale.

FYI, while viewing television, you can use the Recall button on the Panasonic remote to see what signal that channel is coming into the TV as. After following the above setup recommendations you should see 480p for all analog or digital SD channels, and 1080i or 720p for all HD channels.

Now whenever you change channels to an SD channel, that is a channel that is coming into your TV from the cable box as 480p, the SD channel will automatically default to the "JUST" Aspect ratio on the Panasonic. The image will fill the screen without any side-bars and without cutting things off the way the Zoom modes cuts things off.

HD channels, that is channels that are coming into your TV from the box as 1080i or 720p will of course will default to the "FULL" aspect ratio.

Now the only time you will see sidebars is when an HD channel is displaying 4:3 content material.

And the SD channels look fantastic being upscaled by the TV and displayed in the JUST aspect ratio. Especially if the SD channel is being broadcast digitally. Sometimes I find myself using Recall just to confirm that it's really only SD since the picture looks so good. If your SD channels look crappy, chances are they are analog SD channels and you have a not-uncommon crappy signal.

I learned this trick from a Cable TV technician who came to my house to troubleshoot a bad signal. He saw I had all the green dots in the advanced setup on and he goes, "I can fix this so it will almost always fill the screen, and this will be better". And he did. And it is!

ps: I have my stb hooked up via HDMI don't know if this will work otherwise.

Edit: Just confirmed that it's not that the TV defaults to JUST in 480p, instead the TV remembers what display mode you're in for 480p. So if you follow my Advanced Setup recommendations then set a 480p channel to FULL it will be FULL when I switch to any 480p channel. If I set to JUST it will stay JUST for all 480p channels. It was just coincidence I had 480p at JUST which is what I like anyway

anyone know if the non DVR HD box comes with an HDMI output!?!

I kinda ran out of component inputs on my TV so Im hoping to hook up my HD box via HDMI

anyone have any info on it??? or what other connections it has that will allow high quality picture?
If you can get it, the new Samsung SMT-H3050 HD-STB has HDMI:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/09/15/samsung-cedia-cable-card-2-0-hdtv-receiver-smt-h3050/
http://www.samsungbusiness.com/samsungbusiness/pages/products/product_detail.aspx?content_id=230&product_key=36

Does anyone know if:

-the samsung inserts grey bars in 4:3 like the SA 3250HD?

-the samsung has RF cable in and out?

...-how I can use Just Scan on a Samsung 4661 tv with my cable box.

Thanks.

Woo Hoo! It says that SATA is enabled...so....does that mean I'm good to go with an external drive?

Happy Indepedence Day to all Of my NY conterparts and to any families that have troops overseas trying to protect us from terroism, I am not that religious (bad catholic) I will say a prey for them all. Go USA and we love our troops!!!!!!!

hey guys....just upgraded to the Samsung HD box and on the SD channels I have 2 black bars on both sides...how do I get rid of them???

resolution on the box is set to 1080i

At least on =my= set, i keep getting 3 seconds of Martha Stewart's show, the same scene, and then it freezes at exactly the same spot....over and OVER again!! No such problems on any of the OTHER HD stations, so a re-boot seems excessive and ridiculous at this point. This has been going on my set for a couple HOURS now. And =only= on NBC HD! :mad: :(

and NOW, some freeze up issues on NBC SD, -too-. :mad:

hey guys....just upgraded to the Samsung HD box and on the SD channels I have 2 black bars on both sides...how do I get rid of them???

resolution on the box is set to 1080i

Well having the box set to "1080i only" is your problem.

Your TV thinks its getting a 16:9 image at all times, since the box includes the black bars with the SD image and flags it as 1080i (people will use the term "upconverting" for this.... I'm just explaining what it really is)

So you have 2 options.

1: Activate a SD resolution on the box (480p or 480i.... activate both at first and see what most SD channels use.... I keep on getting confused) - so it can pass 480 thru and let the tv deal with stretching the image.

2: Use the box's stretching option (which doesn't look very good....)

Woo Hoo! It says that SATA is enabled...so....does that mean I'm good to go with an external drive?

"Probably"

Just note that the drive will only work with that box alone.... can't get anything onto a computer... and cant take the drive with you to another person's box...

There are a few known, unresolved issues.... (such as possibly losing the ability to pause and rewind live tv if the buffer is using you external drive (you need to hit record when you tune in to a channel...).... you don't have control over what drive is being used at any given time...)

Well having the box set to "1080i only" is your problem.

Your TV thinks its getting a 16:9 image at all times, since the box includes the black bars with the SD image and flags it as 1080i (people will use the term "upconverting" for this.... I'm just explaining what it really is)

So you have 2 options.

1: Activate a SD resolution on the box (480p or 480i.... activate both at first and see what most SD channels use.... I keep on getting confused) - so it can pass 480 thru and let the tv deal with stretching the image.

2: Use the box's stretching option (which doesn't look very good....)
ok thanks

So i set the boxes native resolution to 720p

in the settings menu i selected 480i/480p/720p
and i selected 16:9 and stretch

now some of my HD channels have black bars
boooo

heres the HD channels with black bars
702
705
707
726
741
776

I picked up a non-dvr box from Time Warner today at the 219th St store in Manhattan.

They gave me a Samsung smt-h3050.
It has an hdmi output.
Also a component output. They included component cables in the box.

I am expecting to get delivery on my new HDTV today. It is a Samsung LNT4665F 46" 1080p LCD HDTV from Amazon.

anyone know if the non DVR HD box comes with an HDMI output!?!

I kinda ran out of component inputs on my TV so Im hoping to hook up my HD box via HDMI

anyone have any info on it??? or what other connections it has that will allow high quality picture?

ok thanks

So i set the boxes native resolution to 720p

in the settings menu i selected 480i/480p/720p
and i selected 16:9 and stretch

now some of my HD channels have black bars
boooo

heres the HD channels with black bars
702
705
707
726
741
776

Well.... you dont need both 480i and 480p... just pick one (see which one is used on most SD channels....) And be sure you want to use 720p instead of 1080i - some people like having both active - others prefer to have the box so the conversion and only select one (the one that is native for your tv..... unless its a 1080p tv....) - note that if you use both 720p and 1080i - they will each have their own "official" settings - which can get confusing...

And of course- many HD channels aren't showing HD 24/7 - especially the local channels.... they put in their own black bars when showing SD content on HD channels (some use pillars instead - like ESPN and MSG)

apprently our friends in the bronx who have cablevision now enjoy a crappload more hd channels than we do.
I love paying more for less

ok i took off 480i and I have both 720 and 1080 selected...now my HD channels look a lot better

sd channels still suck ass but thats expected...hopefully more will come soon

apprently our friends in the bronx who have cablevision now enjoy a crappload more hd channels than we do.
I love paying more for less


Well that's the Voom package..... There really isn't much there worth watching.... so dont be too worried about it.

apprently our friends in the bronx who have cablevision now enjoy a crappload more hd channels than we do.
I love paying more for less

And to think I moved from Cablevision'ed Brooklyn into Queens to get stuck with TWC. :mad:

<---Brooklyn....TWC :)

Enter the 8300HD's advanced set-up:
1) Turn 8300HD power off
2) Press Guide-Info buttons at the same time




This didn't do anything for me what am I missing?

This didn't do anything for me what am I missing?What is it you’re trying to get it to do for you?

You’re quoting Trublue's post. :rolleyes: Why don’t you pm him. :rolleyes:

If you are trying to get into the diagnostic mode try it with the power on.

If you are trying to get into the diagnostic mode try it with the power on.that didn't work for me either.

that didn't work for me either.

Hold "Exit" and "Select" on the cable box for a few seconds until it dings.

Then go to channel 1999

Hold "Exit" and "Select" on the cable box for a few seconds until it dings.

Then go to channel 1999
I can get into that menu but there are no options to make the tweaks I posted earlier. i assumed there's another "advanced menu".

I picked up a non-dvr box from Time Warner today at the 219th St store in Manhattan.

They gave me a Samsung smt-h3050.
It has an hdmi output.
Also a component output. They included component cables in the box.



I understand that the SMT-H3050 and SMT-H3070 (the DVR version) have FireWire connectors as well. Has anyone tried to use them yet?

Also, has anyone asked for and received an SMT- H3070 DVR box from any TWC office yet?

-Mike

I can get into that menu but there are no options to make the tweaks I posted earlier. i assumed there's another "advanced menu".I’m guessing that you are referring to the “settings” button on the remote control and then the "more settings" within that feature? This is where you have the ability to change the set top box video-- 480, 1080 etc.

Hold "Exit" and "Select" on the cable box for a few seconds until it dings.

Then go to channel 1999

Mmm, every time I tried "going to channel 1999" it failed. I do the "HOLD-SEL" for 2 seconds until 'diag" appears, let up then press them again and the box goes by itself to 1999. 100% repeatable.

I've added a Seagate external drive to my 8300HD on TWC in NYC. Everthing works great except.... Now it won't automatically record the stations that the tuners are set to. This means no more rewinding live TV unless I set the channel to record. It also means that I can't "record into the past." Is there some setting that may have been changed?
I love having the extra storage but I really miss the other features.

I've added a Seagate external drive to my 8300HD on TWC in NYC. Everthing works great except.... Now it won't automatically record the stations that the tuners are set to. This means no more rewinding live TV unless I set the channel to record. It also means that I can't "record into the past." Is there some setting that may have been changed?
I love having the extra storage but I really miss the other features.

edit:
Its a well known flaw....

The system can't do live recording as you are used to with the external hard drive...

and there is no way to select which drive you want to be using at any given time.

Has anyone noticed HDMI handshaking problems when starting the system on an HD channel? My TV is a JVCFH97. HDMI handshaking was not a problem before the most recent channel shuffle...

Thanks,
Adam

Its a well known flaw....

The system can do live recording as you are used to with the external hard drive...

and there is no way to select which drive you want to be using at any given time.

Thanks for the info. I'm not entirely sure what you mean though. As I understand it the dvr records to the drive with the most amount of free space. As I've just added an empty 500G drive that should obviuosly be this drive, but the usual recording isn't working! Did you mistate and mean the internal drive??

Thanks,

bak_phy

Has anyone noticed HDMI handshaking problems when starting the system on an HD channel? My TV is a JVCFH97. HDMI handshaking was not a problem before the most recent channel shuffle...

Thanks,
Adam

I've always had HDMI handshaking problems with my SA8300HD and Panasonic TH-42PX60U. The solution is usually to switch to an SD channel then turn back to the HD channel. I'm guessing (hoping) that this is a problem with my SA box and not my TV.

Thanks for the info. I'm not entirely sure what you mean though. As I understand it the dvr records to the drive with the most amount of free space. As I've just added an empty 500G drive that should obviuosly be this drive, but the usual recording isn't working! Did you mistate and mean the internal drive??

Thanks,

bak_phy


typo... mean't "cant"

so yea some of my HD channels have the black bars on the sides

can anyone help me out?
what does this mean???

so yea some of my HD channels have the black bars on the sides

can anyone help me out?
what does this mean??? You already asked this and Berk32 already told you...
And of course- many HD channels aren't showing HD 24/7 - especially the local channels.... they put in their own black bars when showing SD content on HD channels (some use pillars instead - like ESPN and MSG)

I've always had HDMI handshaking problems with my SA8300HD and Panasonic TH-42PX60U. The solution is usually to switch to an SD channel then turn back to the HD channel. I'm guessing (hoping) that this is a problem with my SA box and not my TV.

I have the same TV & box and have had the same issue. Maybe it's something with that model of Panasonic TV? Great picture, though.

I have the same TV & box and have had the same issue. Maybe it's something with that model of Panasonic TV? Great picture, though.

I don't think it's the TV. I have a JVC with the exact same issue. I can also solve it by switching to an SD channel and then back the the HD channel, but I lose anything in the buffer.

Has anyone else dealt with this?

Thanks,
Adam

typo... mean't "cant"

Thought so. So sometimes when I'm lucky I can but usually I can't? weird. I guess I can just set everything I'm watching live to record and then problem solved. Sorta. :(

Brooklyn/Queens TWC is offering discounted pricing for 1 & 2 year commitments. Here's the link: http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/Products/Cable/packagesandpricing.html

It is basically a 5% (1 yr) or 10% (2 yr) discount/month on your monthly charges. I converted to the two (2) year commitment and saved $15.50/month. There is a no penalty if you cancel within 30 days of signing up. After that, there is a $75 ETF for the one year commitment and $150 for the two year deal. You can change service levels within the commitment period as long as they are listed on the discounted service list without penalty. I've been with TWC for 25+ years at the same location and I'm not going anywhere in the next two years. If FIOS does show up, I'll just change my TWC plan to video only. No big deal.

Regards....JL

I wonder when MDN is launching?

they have pdf on their website now, as well as alot of their videos on answers OnDemand showing MDN.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrary/4/50/Content%20Management/Products%20And%20Services/documents/TheNewGuide-QuickTips_web.pdf

Brooklyn/Queens TWC is offering discounted pricing for 1 & 2 year commitments. Here's the link: http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/Products/Cable/packagesandpricing.html

It is basically a 5% (1 yr) or 10% (2 yr) discount/month on your monthly charges. I converted to the two (2) year commitment and saved $15.50/month. There is a no penalty if you cancel within 30 days of signing up. After that, there is a $75 ETF for the one year commitment and $150 for the two year deal. You can change service levels within the commitment period as long as they are listed on the discounted service list without penalty. I've been with TWC for 25+ years at the same location and I'm not going anywhere in the next two years. If FIOS does show up, I'll just change my TWC plan to video only. No big deal.

Regards....JL

congrats to BK & Qns, you can now save more money on your bill.
I could see it taking another 6 months before us in Manhattan is offered the service contract, why? cause of no looming competition from verizon.

I don't think it's the TV. I have a JVC with the exact same issue. I can also solve it by switching to an SD channel and then back the the HD channel, but I lose anything in the buffer.

Has anyone else dealt with this?

Thanks,
Adam


I get the same using a Sony KDS60A2020. I don't lose anything in my buffer though.

You can also just go into the dvr and play a non HD show and then go back to live and ur buffer will not be erased.

You already asked this and Berk32 already told you...

Come on Larry, that is unlike you. :) You are usually full of good answers. :cool: Some people just forget answers that were given to them. These Technologies can be very difficult for anyone that is new to it. The 24 fps and 60 fps still throws me some times. It is summer time, time to be cool :cool: and releaxed ;) Just read and give the simple responses when we can because we all know the hard responses will be coming in Aug & Sept.

I've always had HDMI handshaking problems with my SA8300HD and Panasonic TH-42PX60U. The solution is usually to switch to an SD channel then turn back to the HD channel. I'm guessing (hoping) that this is a problem with my SA box and not my TV.


You are right, this is a SA problem. Your TV is safe. It happens occasionally with my TV but not enough to be considered a problem. I am sorry that it happens every time with your STB. Did you ever try to change boxes? A different STB can sometimes cure the problem. Especially since you have a serious problem. Also a quick fix would be to program the box to start up on a specific channel. For us it would be NY1 and then change it to a HD channel.

edit:
Its a well known flaw....

The system can't do live recording as you are used to with the external hard drive...

and there is no way to select which drive you want to be using at any given time.
Actually, if you fill up the external drive and clear some space off the internal drive, then you get back your live buffer (and ability to rew/ff). As soon as there is more free space on the internal drive than the external, you get this ability back.

So if you manage things correctly (though it's not easy) you can get your buffer back.

Actually, if you fill up the external drive and clear some space off the internal drive, then you get back your live buffer (and ability to rew/ff). As soon as there is more free space on the internal drive than the external, you get this ability back.

So if you manage things correctly (though it's not easy) you can get your buffer back.


Thats basically what i was getting at....

Controlling which drive you are using is the problem

Thats basically what i was getting at....

Controlling which drive you are using is the problem
Yep. At some point I got to a "happy medium" where both drives were mostly full, and if I try to make sure to always watch something on the internal drive as a priority before watching something on the external drive, I can generally mange to keep my buffer.

Pain in the butt, though. Can't wait till we get a version of the OS with proper external drive support (assuming that one is in the works....)

You are right, this is a SA problem. Your TV is safe. It happens occasionally with my TV but not enough to be considered a problem. I am sorry that it happens every time with your STB. Did you ever try to change boxes? A different STB can sometimes cure the problem. Especially since you have a serious problem. Also a quick fix would be to program the box to start up on a specific channel. For us it would be NY1 and then change it to a HD channel.

It only happens occasionally on my TV as well. The problem is not frequent enough for me to endure the dreadful TW line to exchange boxes.

congrats to BK & Qns, you can now save more money on your bill.
I could see it taking another 6 months before us in Manhattan is offered the service contract, why? cause of no looming competition from verizon.

Available to SI as well, my bet would be Bronx is covered. Of course, this also means they are 100% jacking all their customers in Manhattan. Clearly, the franchise agreement must say that TWC can charge customers by where they live, something that just should be impossible for them to do, it's simply discrimination (oh, you can afford to pay Manhattan rents, then we can make you pay a lot more for the same thing). We sure as hell DO have a lot of middle and lower income folks living in manhattan, this is an affront to their more limited means.

I agree it may very well be looming FIOS. Still, there are sections of the outer boroughs not covered by TWC or where folks have a lot more choices than Manhattan (like satellite that the majority of Manhattan can NOT get). And I seriously doubt they'll ever start such discount plans in Manhattan... they know full well how long it will take to get manhattan wired (they went through the same scenario of lying fiber a while back).

Not sure exactly how, but we need to get a message to TWC that we Manhattanites will en masse switch to FIOS when available. No matter how TWC sweetens the pot, we are now paying 20% MORE than the rest of the city and no matter how they try and sweeten it, as son as I can buy FIOS, I'm there. AND I will attempt to convince anyone who will listen to vote with their wallets.

Actually, if you fill up the external drive and clear some space off the internal drive, then you get back your live buffer (and ability to rew/ff). As soon as there is more free space on the internal drive than the external, you get this ability back.

So if you manage things correctly (though it's not easy) you can get your buffer back.

I had thought it was based on percentage free space, not amount???

Reminds me, a while back I posted about an excessive number of audio dropouts that seemed to start around the channel shuffling and addition of ESPN2 HD. I'm finding it more frequent on HDNet than other channels, but am still seeing it (perhaps the frequency has gone down a tad). I know this issue relates to both Manhattan North and South... has anyone seen any change?

One of my SA 8300HD boxes failed and so I went to the Manhattan TW office and made the swap this morning. They gave me an SA 8300HDC box which looks nearly identical except for an M-Card slot on the back. Also, it has the new interface system! I only had a couple minutes to make sure the basics worked. For the most part it looks similar to our Passport interface (and matches the screenshots posted way earlier in this thread) and on quick glance the basic features were there. It is about as sluggish as Passport or perhaps a little more sluggish. Will be testing further during the week. Unfortunately I do not have an extra e-SATA drive to try it with. Anyone else have one of these new 8300's?

Yep. At some point I got to a "happy medium" where both drives were mostly full, and if I try to make sure to always watch something on the internal drive as a priority before watching something on the external drive, I can generally mange to keep my buffer.

Pain in the butt, though. Can't wait till we get a version of the OS with proper external drive support (assuming that one is in the works....)


but how do you know which drive something is on :confused:
Given that my external drive is 500G vs 160G for the internal it would seem that I would almost always be using the external drive :(

I had thought it was based on percentage free space, not amount???

Reminds me, a while back I posted about an excessive number of audio dropouts that seemed to start around the channel shuffling and addition of ESPN2 HD. I'm finding it more frequent on HDNet than other channels, but am still seeing it (perhaps the frequency has gone down a tad). I know this issue relates to both Manhattan North and South... has anyone seen any change?
On Question 1, it's not about percentage of free space, it's purely based upon raw bytes of free space. So whichever drive has more raw free space on it currently will get the buffer on it.

#2, the problem seems to have subsided in general for me.

Also, as a side note, for anyone who's been around on this board long enough, you'll remember a while back I was complaining about really bad picture smearing on WNET-HD.....well, whatever was causing it seems to have been corrected, as I am no longer seeing any smearing of picture on that channel (I watched Macy Gray on Soundstage last night, and no smears).....There is still evidence of some bandwidth constraints, but they are now in line with other local broadcast channels that are sharing their bandwidth with multiple SD subchannels (NBC, ABC).

but how do you know which drive something is on :confused:
Given that my external drive is 500G vs 160G for the internal it would seem that I would almost always be using the external drive :(
Easy -- set one tuner to ch. 1000, press swap and set the other tuner to 1002. You'll see hard drive access stop (my external drive has an access light that blinks when it's in use). Then choose any program you've recorded and play it. If you see the light blinking, it's on the external drive. If the light's not blinking, it's on the internal drive.

Actually, once both the internal and external drives are full (and it's pretty easy to fill them up if you want -- even if you fill them up with junk that you don't care about and can delete later when you need the space), it just becomes about picking something off of your internal drive to delete when you want your buffer back.....

I know that it seems sort of roundabout, but if you want your buffer back, that's how to do it.

On Question 1, it's not about percentage of free space, it's purely based upon raw bytes of free space. So whichever drive has more raw free space on it currently will get the buffer on it.

#2, the problem seems to have subsided in general for me.

Also, as a side note, for anyone who's been around on this board long enough, you'll remember a while back I was complaining about really bad picture smearing on WNET-HD.....well, whatever was causing it seems to have been corrected, as I am no longer seeing any smearing of picture on that channel (I watched Macy Gray on Soundstage last night, and no smears).....There is still evidence of some bandwidth constraints, but they are now in line with other local broadcast channels that are sharing their bandwidth with multiple SD subchannels (NBC, ABC).

Ah, thanks Scott.

Ha, back last spring I maintained I had little or no motion blur until I watched a PBS music concert. Ugh, talking heads with motion blur. YOU provided the right info, too much multi-casting on their channel. I think by last fall, they seemed to get 100% better.

MAYBE the dropouts are getting slightly less??? Just saw the Moodies on HDNet, during the concert everything was OK, but before it started and during the credits, tons of audio dropouts! Had to sit through a (recorded) Lifetime SD movie with the woman last night and it had tons of breakups, both audio and video.

I think we now qualify with the lowest number of HD channels of any system of any kind in the entire country. What irony that a city with all the huge entertainment outfits having headquarters gets so short changed! AND we have SI paying less than us (they get the discount deals, we do not) and getting more (4 addition HD channels) I'm sure some exec at TW is qualifying for multi-million dollars bonuses.

I think we now qualify with the lowest number of HD channels of any system of any kind in the entire country. What irony that a city with all the huge entertainment outfits having headquarters gets so short changed! AND we have SI paying less than us (they get the discount deals, we do not) and getting more (4 addition HD channels) I'm sure some exec at TW is qualifying for multi-million dollars bonuses.
I hear you on this....

But I do have to say from a systems engineering POV, implementing any of their potential options to increase our bandwidth in Manhattan is going to be a major project, and speaking strictly from a "systems engineer" POV, implementing any new technology is usually done in your largest market LAST, so that you can get all of the kinks worked out in the smaller markets (i.e. the outer boroughs) first.....

Of course from a selfish standpoint I wish it were happening here first. You could always move to one of the other boroughs! ;-)

Scott

Of course from a selfish standpoint I wish it were happening here first. You could always move to one of the other boroughs! ;-)
Or get a really long HDMI cable.

Or get a really long HDMI cable.
LOL!

Don't know if this has been mentioned or addressed before...

Since the lineup changes, I get programs on two stations, i.e. YESHD on 708 AND 730. To record a ballgame, the SA8300HD DVR will use BOTH tuners, so we cannot record anything else. One cannot cancel one recording, it will cancel both.

Is there a way around this issue?

I get programs on two stations, i.e. YESHD on 708 AND 730. To record a ballgame, the SA8300HD DVR will use BOTH tuners, so we cannot record anything else. One cannot cancel one recording, it will cancel both.That didn’t happen to me.

Did you actually record a Yankees game and then try and watch or record something else at the same time and you couldn’t?

Or are you assuming that 708 and 730 occupies both tuners?

I record just about every Yankees game and watch them delayed while watching something else with no problem.

Don't know if this has been mentioned or addressed before...

Since the lineup changes, I get programs on two stations, i.e. YESHD on 708 AND 730. To record a ballgame, the SA8300HD DVR will use BOTH tuners, so we cannot record anything else. One cannot cancel one recording, it will cancel both.

Is there a way around this issue?

it works for me as well.

Don't know if this has been mentioned or addressed before...

Since the lineup changes, I get programs on two stations, i.e. YESHD on 708 AND 730. To record a ballgame, the SA8300HD DVR will use BOTH tuners, so we cannot record anything else. One cannot cancel one recording, it will cancel both.

Is there a way around this issue?

730 and 708 are sent on the same signal.

The box considers them to be one channel... so there's no way for both tuners to record the same channel.....
(just try creating 2 manual recordings.... you'll see)

That didn’t happen to me.

Did you actually record a Yankees game and then try and watch or record something else at the same time and you couldn’t?

Or are you assuming that 708 and 730 occupies both tuners?

I record just about every Yankees game and watch them delayed while watching something else with no problem.

I had tomorrow's Yankee game scheduled to record. I tried to schedule another recording at the same time, and the box would not let me, saying that there was ONE recording scheduled, (the Yankee game), not two, that I would have to cancel the ONE recording to schedule any other. IOW, I cannot schedule two recordings if one is on YESHD.

Please (anyone) try this to see if you have the same issue.

I had tomorrow's Yankee game scheduled to record. I tried to schedule another recording at the same time, and the box would not let me, saying that there was ONE recording scheduled, (the Yankee game), not two, that I would have to cancel the ONE recording to schedule any other. IOW, I cannot schedule two recordings if one is on YESHD.

Please (anyone) try this to see if you have the same issue.Just for the heck of it cancel the Yankees recording. Make sure it’s really cancelled. Then try and set up your other recording first. After that is set up, try and set up the Yankees recording.

Just for the heck of it cancel the Yankees recording. Make sure it’s really cancelled. Then try and set up your other recording first. After that is set up, try and set up the Yankees recording.

Ooops -- sorry everyone, I was wrong about this. :o Someone had scheduled another recording which i didn't see or know about -- that was causing the conflict, not the yankee game. The DVR didn't mention the second recording, for some reason.

;) :cool:

:o :o :o

Ooops -- sorry everyone, I was wrong about this. :o Someone had scheduled another recording which i didn't see or know about -- that was causing the conflict, not the yankee game. The DVR didn't mention the second recording, for some reason.

Skanter should be confined to a 5x5 cell room and given only 1 gallon of water and hard bread and a PS3 & suffer! :p

I have an Avermedia A180 card with the latest drivers/application software that provide QAM decoding (vs just OTA ATSC).

So, I've been checking out the various QAM channels that appear in the App. Of course, they're not remapped. They show up as their QAM channel numbers.

I was flipping through yesterday afternoon, and I'm pretty sure it was one of the first QAM channels that came up --somewhere around 84.x-- and all of the sudden I see what appears to be a Real Sex episode from HBO on the "Bunny Ranch" in Carson City, NV. There was no HBO identifier; just part of the episode.

This occurred while I was trying to guage the CPU difference in having DXVA (hardware acceleration) enabled/disabled for the card, and it was disabled at this point. Eventually the picture just froze and I had to restart the app. Of course, by that time, I couldn't get the channel back again. It's possible that the picture didn't freeze, but that the feed just stopped on that channel.

Other oddities I've seen on QAM:

Channel 110.89 (from memory, lol) has a banner that says "Adult Programminng", but there's never really anything there.

The second to last channel (132?.x) is for InDemand HDPPV. Don't know if that will ever be "in the clear" if they actually show something on that channel.

I also get three channels of Brooklyn Community Access Television that I don't recall seeing on my regular DVR. I'm in Queens, btw.

I have an Avermedia A180 card with the latest drivers/application software that provide QAM decoding (vs just OTA ATSC).

So, I've been checking out the various QAM channels that appear in the App. Of course, they're not remapped. They show up as their QAM channel numbers.

I was flipping through yesterday afternoon, and I'm pretty sure it was one of the first QAM channels that came up --somewhere around 84.x-- and all of the sudden I see what appears to be a Real Sex episode from HBO on the "Bunny Ranch" in Carson City, NV. There was no HBO identifier; just part of the episode.

This occurred while I was trying to guage the CPU difference in having DXVA (hardware acceleration) enabled/disabled for the card, and it was disabled at this point. Eventually the picture just froze and I had to restart the app. Of course, by that time, I couldn't get the channel back again. It's possible that the picture didn't freeze, but that the feed just stopped on that channel.

Other oddities I've seen on QAM:

Channel 110.89 (from memory, lol) has a banner that says "Adult Programminng", but there's never really anything there.

The second to last channel (132?.x) is for InDemand HDPPV. Don't know if that will ever be "in the clear" if they actually show something on that channel.

I also get three channels of Brooklyn Community Access Television that I don't recall seeing on my regular DVR. I'm in Queens, btw.

Currently - you can see whatever people in your area are watching with on-demand. (you'll see it rewinding and fast-forwarding randomly...) - obviously the channels and programs will be "random". Cable companies don't feel its necessary to encrypt them right now

I'm not 100% sure - but i don't think the pay-per-view channels are "in the clear" though.... The HD-PPV channel has been used for boxing and UFC so far since it was added a few months back... but I'm guessing that is encrypted.

Currently - you can see whatever people in your area are watching with on-demand. (you'll see it rewinding and fast-forwarding randomly...) - obviously the channels and programs will be "random". Cable companies don't feel its necessary to encrypt them right now

I'm not 100% sure - but i don't think the pay-per-view channels are "in the clear" though.... The HD-PPV channel has been used for boxing and UFC so far since it was added a few months back... but I'm guessing that is encrypted.

Well, that makes sense. Thanks, Berk.

I hear you on this....

But I do have to say from a systems engineering POV, implementing any of their potential options to increase our bandwidth in Manhattan is going to be a major project, and speaking strictly from a "systems engineer" POV, implementing any new technology is usually done in your largest market LAST, so that you can get all of the kinks worked out in the smaller markets (i.e. the outer boroughs) first.....

Of course from a selfish standpoint I wish it were happening here first. You could always move to one of the other boroughs! ;-)

Scott

Having paid off my mortgage on my co-op, I'm NOT about to move (besides, I'm kinda sorta retired). Yes I can appreciate the engineering aspects, but I don't think it's all that difficult. First, they COULD have ditched 2 or so analog channels and made sure we all got the same frakking HD lineup. It was their choice NOT to and keep us "in the dark." No major engineering effort there. Hell, drop all 33 or so of them and they can take far longer to roll out SDV. They made the effort to do that in SI, no reason they couldn't have made the same effort over a wider area.

In my dotage, I seem to have morphed into a vote with my wallet kind of guy. Which is why as soon a FIOS is really an option, I'm gone.

Having paid off my mortgage on my co-op, I'm NOT about to move (besides, I'm kinda sorta retired).
I was joking, of course....

But your other points about dropping the analog channels is both an engineering and customer service effort. There are TONS of people who subscribe to TWC and still have the old analog boxes. Those people are getting many of their channels the old analog way, and would lose service that they are paying for if the analog channels were dropped.

They will need to be forced to swap their ancient analog boxes (that some of them have probably had for 15 years!) for digital ones, otherwise TWC will not be able to continue to charge them for their service (since their channels will just disappear otherwise). The most populous borough will require the largest effort in forcing this change upon its subscribers....hence the reason it will be done here last.

Think about it this way -- each year new technology comes out in cable boxes. This means that the previous generation of technology becomes cheaper. Well, think about the cost that TWC will have to incur up front in presenting their customers with a new digital box to swap to (even though they will get to charge the customers a bit more for the digital box). It's in their business interest to make the most populous borough the last one to drop the analog channels, as many of those customers will not need the "latest and greatest" in cable box technology....

Yeah, FIOS will be cool when it gets here.... :)

I'm trying to figure out what I will pay to upgrade to Digital/HD in South Manhattan, and different TWC reps and sources have given me different answers (go figure...)

Basic starting point: One HD set, one analog set, road-runner (not intro), one DVR. I don't care about all the channels, so Digital Starter is fine, though a 2-play package with DTValue looks to be cheaper since it includes one converter.

It's the converter that's the issue. An additional converter is $7.49, apparently, but there's disagreement over whether the converter includes DVR. I can't imagine it does (website says $8.95 extra), but the TWC people say it does. [Interestingly, unless the DVR is fan-less or really, really quiet, I don't want a second one even if it is the same price -- does anyone know about the noise output too?]

But maybe it's the case that the DVR includes all I need, so the converter included with the package goes on one set, and the DVR (perhaps $8.95 instead of $7.49) goes on the second set? Which is stunning, since that would mean the whole setup is $13 less than I pay now (even with an extra converter + DVR charge, it will end up being less...perhaps that's the root of my confusion; I can't imagine having a smaller cable bill, even by a few dollars).

The DVR box itself is the same price as any other box, but DVR service is $8.95/mo in addition to the rental fee for the box, which is $7.49 with Digital Starter or $9.65 with DTValue. Whether the box supports HD or not has no bearing on the price.

So you would be paying for:
Your basic package (includes the first converter) +
1 Extra Converter ($7.40 with Digital Starter or $9.65 with DTValue) +
the DVR fee ($8.95).

anyone having problems viewing the hd extra channels? i havent been able to view them for the past few days. i called tw and they said the package was turned off because its now free and that i shouldnt have a problem viewing them. they made me reboot the box a few times and couldnt get them to come up. so they are sending a tech out. since when did the hd extra package go free?

anyone having problems viewing the hd extra channels? i havent been able to view them for the past few days. i called tw and they said the package was turned off because its now free and that i shouldnt have a problem viewing them. they made me reboot the box a few times and couldnt get them to come up. so they are sending a tech out. since when did the hd extra package go free?
The HDXtra package still exists and still costs money. It's just that ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD were moved into Digital Starter. HDXtra now has MOJO HD, HDNet and HDNet Movies, plus it includes Sports Pack.

The DVR box itself is the same price as any other box, but DVR service is $8.95/mo in addition to the rental fee for the box, which is $7.49 with Digital Starter or $9.65 with DTValue. Whether the box supports HD or not has no bearing on the price.

So you would be paying for:
Your basic package (includes the first converter) +
1 Extra Converter ($7.40 with Digital Starter or $9.65 with DTValue) +
the DVR fee ($8.95).

that's weird. I do not get charged for my 2 DVR boxes on my DTV Value package.

I was joking, of course....

But your other points about dropping the analog channels is both an engineering and customer service effort. There are TONS of people who subscribe to TWC and still have the old analog boxes. Those people are getting many of their channels the old analog way, and would lose service that they are paying for if the analog channels were dropped.

They will need to be forced to swap their ancient analog boxes (that some of them have probably had for 15 years!) for digital ones, otherwise TWC will not be able to continue to charge them for their service (since their channels will just disappear otherwise). The most populous borough will require the largest effort in forcing this change upon its subscribers....hence the reason it will be done here last.

Yeah, FIOS will be cool when it gets here.... :)

Customer service effort absolutely, engineering not so much. Still I don't buy the "most populous" theory. They have far more customers to LOSE in Manhattan, especially those that realize what TWC is doing here. One could make a cogent argument that they SHOULD have stated the process of replacing those old analog boxes 2 years ago. I recall issues with them for my parents old analog box... 5 years ago. Even back then, they sure as hell had a very compelling marketing message to get folks to replace those boxes (2 come to mind, multiple premium channels for the same price, plus pretty much everything above 130 or something like that). For the same price (cost to customners) you'd ONLY get all the music channels with a "digital" box.

They sure as hell could have done it over that period of time. Would have actually cost them far less than to try and do it now. By their own stupid inaction and hope their total monopoly would last for years and years is now going to bite them in the balance sheet.

If I was a big shareholder, I'd be FURIOUS with them.

The HDXtra package still exists and still costs money. It's just that ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD were moved into Digital Starter. HDXtra now has MOJO HD, HDNet and HDNet Movies, plus it includes Sports Pack.

I thought the 2 HD ESPNs were on Value and not Starter... damn, their website still has NOT updated their channel listings to reflect post 6/14. What a bunch of lazy fraks.

I have the same TV & box and have had the same issue. Maybe it's something with that model of Panasonic TV? Great picture, though.

I have the same problem but with a different tv - Sony plasma, so I'm thinking it is a problem with the box.

I thought the 2 HD ESPNs were on Value and not Starter... damn, their website still has NOT updated their channel listings to reflect post 6/14. What a bunch of lazy fraks.

so which HD channels would you loose if you switch from DTV Value to DTV Starter?

so which HD channels would you loose if you switch from DTV Value to DTV Starter?
You will lose A&E HD and FSNY HD. Both channels are only available in Staten Island, so if you don't live in SI, you won't lose access to any HD by downgrading from DTV to Digital Starter.

I have the same problem but with a different tv - Sony plasma, so I'm thinking it is a problem with the box.

Yeah, I finally tried a hard reboot. If that doesn't help I'll either switch boxes or switch to component.

Hi. I just switched to a HDMI cable between my Time Warner HD box (Samsung I believe) and a 32HL67 32inch Toshiba LCD TV. Once I did this the HD channels are great with sound but any Standard Definition channel comes up blank with a "no video signal" message. The cable box is set to output at 1080i I believe, which is the way my main Sony TV is set up. Anyone have any thoughts?

Speaking of transitioning from analog to digital boxes, one of the shareholders in a coop I manage on 63rd street (which hasn't upgraded their wiring) received a letter indicating that she was going to lose her cable service if she didn't upgrade her set top box to a digital one by August 15th. Apparently TWC is starting to get proactive and require that people start swapping out the old boxes. A TWC rep I spoke with (in the real estate side) said he believed that they were going to start dropping analog service one block at a time. He's supposed to get back to me regarding whether this is really going to happen, as this would effectively lose them up to 100 customers since none of the residents in this particular building could actually use a digital box because of the wiring issue I mentioned.

Hi. I just switched to a HDMI cable between my Time Warner HD box (Samsung I believe) and a 32HL67 32inch Toshiba LCD TV. Once I did this the HD channels are great with sound but any Standard Definition channel comes up blank with a "no video signal" message. The cable box is set to output at 1080i I believe, which is the way my main Sony TV is set up. Anyone have any thoughts?

dunno, I have been having problems with my hdmi for a couple weeks now. I'm just using the component cables now.

Speaking of transitioning from analog to digital boxes, one of the shareholders in a coop I manage on 63rd street (which hasn't upgraded their wiring) received a letter indicating that she was going to lose her cable service if she didn't upgrade her set top box to a digital one by August 15th. Apparently TWC is starting to get proactive and require that people start swapping out the old boxes. A TWC rep I spoke with (in the real estate side) said he believed that they were going to start dropping analog service one block at a time. He's supposed to get back to me regarding whether this is really going to happen, as this would effectively lose them up to 100 customers since none of the residents in this particular building could actually use a digital box because of the wiring issue I mentioned.

that's very good to hear. hopefully they do a block a day.

keep it up with ur TWC contact, would love to hear some more details about this.

Speaking of transitioning from analog to digital boxes, one of the shareholders in a coop I manage on 63rd street (which hasn't upgraded their wiring) received a letter indicating that she was going to lose her cable service if she didn't upgrade her set top box to a digital one by August 15th. Apparently TWC is starting to get proactive and require that people start swapping out the old boxes. A TWC rep I spoke with (in the real estate side) said he believed that they were going to start dropping analog service one block at a time. He's supposed to get back to me regarding whether this is really going to happen, as this would effectively lose them up to 100 customers since none of the residents in this particular building could actually use a digital box because of the wiring issue I mentioned.
Nice! This is what we (in Manhattan) have all been waiting for!!!

Drop the analogs so we can get more HDTV!!!! 8)

Speaking of transitioning from analog to digital boxes, one of the shareholders in a coop I manage on 63rd street (which hasn't upgraded their wiring) received a letter indicating that she was going to lose her cable service if she didn't upgrade her set top box to a digital one by August 15th. Apparently TWC is starting to get proactive and require that people start swapping out the old boxes. A TWC rep I spoke with (in the real estate side) said he believed that they were going to start dropping analog service one block at a time. He's supposed to get back to me regarding whether this is really going to happen, as this would effectively lose them up to 100 customers since none of the residents in this particular building could actually use a digital box because of the wiring issue I mentioned.

This is a good sign. I just wish that that TWC would get on board already with dropping some analog channels like Comcast recently did in Chicago, which has nearly every demographic need that NYC has, where they are today launching 4 new HD channels: A&E HD, Food Network HD, Home & Garden Television HD and National Geographic Channel HD. TWC should take notice to the fact that consumer complaints about dropping the analog channels fell dramatically over the past months.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6461118.html?industryid=47194

This is a good sign. I just wish that that TWC would get on board already with dropping some analog channels like Comcast recently did in Chicago, which has nearly every demographic need that NYC has, where they are today launching 4 new HD channels: A&E HD, Food Network HD, Home & Garden Television HD and National Geographic Channel HD. TWC should take notice to the fact that consumer complaints about dropping the analog channels fell dramatically over the past months.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6461118.html?industryid=47194
I was a bit upstate (in Westchester) over the weekend, and was visiting a family member's house that has IO Digital Cable (from Cablevision, I believe), and was quite jealous that they had all of the awesome VOOM channels that we don't have (plus quite a few others, like NGC-HD, and a couple of extra sports HD networks).

On the other hand, they don't have the HDNet channels, the picture quality of their HD seemed FAR below the quality that we get from Time Warner (much more compressed), and they have the crappy SARA OS on their cable boxes (SLOW; and you have to go through 3 keypresses to get the guide).

So, in some ways they've got it better than we do (LOTS more HD channels), but in other ways, we make out better (better pic. quality, better OS on our boxes).

C'est La Vie....

... and was quite jealous that they had all of the awesome VOOM channels that we don't have (plus quite a few others, like NGC-HD, and a couple of extra sports HD networks).

On the other hand, they don't have the HDNet channels, the picture quality of their HD seemed FAR below the quality that we get from Time Warner (much more compressed), and they have the crappy SARA OS on their cable boxes (SLOW; and you have to go through 3 keypresses to get the guide).Not that anyone would ever be able to choose between the two but I’ll take TW over CV—any day, it’s no contest. They can keep those stupid VOOM channels, big deal. The Dolans should have worked out a deal and had them on CV a long time ago.

Maybe 6 or 7 years ago, before I ever heard of this Forum and I had that lonely feeling-- like I was the only person in the world watching HD, I would have kissed the ground for those channels. That was back in the day when I happily watched Visions of Italy, some show about Azaleas, and whatever else I could find in HD over and over and over.

Those VOOM channels are just cheap filler giving CV something to talk about in their commercials, a marketing point. It’s like “hamburger helper” only in this case it’s "HD helper”. It is there only to boost their appearance in their ads. And as you said, they don’t have the HDNet channels (majoor bummer for them) and I think they don’t have ESPN2.

Regardless, at this point in time (in my life) the PQ is paramount. Then comes content-- but without great PQ—what the heck good is HD?
It’s all about PQ.

Don’t get me wrong, I always want more HD but give me some of the quality channels out there first—not that this is even an issue since only CV will carry the VOOM filler.

Not that anyone would ever be able to choose between the two but I’ll take TW over CV—any day, it’s no contest. They can keep those stupid VOOM channels, big deal. The Dolans should have worked out a deal and had them on CV a long time ago.

Maybe 6 or 7 years ago, before I ever heard of this Forum and I had that lonely feeling-- like I was the only person in the world watching HD, I would have kissed the ground for those channels. That was back in the day when I happily watched Visions of Italy, some show about Azaleas, and whatever else I could find in HD over and over and over.

Those VOOM channels are just cheap filler giving CV something to talk about in their commercials, a marketing point. It’s like “hamburger helper” only in this case it’s "HD helper”. It is there only to boost their appearance in their ads. And as you said, they don’t have the HDNet channels (majoor bummer for them) and I think they don’t have ESPN2.

Regardless, at this point in time (in my life) the PQ is paramount. Then comes content-- but without great PQ—what the heck good is HD?
It’s all about PQ.

Don’t get me wrong, I always want more HD but give me some of the quality channels out there first—not that this is even an issue since only CV will carry the VOOM filler.
Personally, I liked the RAVE-HD channel a lot, being a big music fan. Yes, they do seem to repeat a lot of stuff endlessly (not too unlike Mojo and MHD when eventually we get it), but I liked everything I saw on that channel.

I did like seeing a 24 hour HD news network (though I can only assume we'll get one when CNN-HD is launched in October, as I believe that CNN is owned by TWC; assuming that we've got the bandwidth for it by then).

It also looks like they get a few cool movie channels (World Cinema and Film Fest) that show some decent/interesting films.....Though none of them are as truly spectacular in their selection as HDNet Movies is. I guess it could be argued that HDNet is like a condensed version of the many VOOM channels into one....

Oh well....

But the argument of quantity vs. quality doesn't really come into play with Voom, does it? I don't see any technical reason that they couldn't be as good quality as any other HD network, right?

Speaking of transitioning from analog to digital boxes, one of the shareholders in a coop I manage on 63rd street (which hasn't upgraded their wiring) received a letter indicating that she was going to lose her cable service if she didn't upgrade her set top box to a digital one by August 15th. Apparently TWC is starting to get proactive and require that people start swapping out the old boxes. A TWC rep I spoke with (in the real estate side) said he believed that they were going to start dropping analog service one block at a time. He's supposed to get back to me regarding whether this is really going to happen, as this would effectively lose them up to 100 customers since none of the residents in this particular building could actually use a digital box because of the wiring issue I mentioned.

Has to be over 4 years ago, I was helping family members sort their cable TV stuff out (82 year old mother & aunt). I was trying to get them to swap their analog box for a digital one (at that time, HD played no role, it was simply that the digital box got far more channels for the same price as the old analog box could, certainly a VERY compelling reason to swap the frakking boxes). The TW folks said they aggressively getting folks to swap.

THAT turned out to be a colossal miscommunication (the corporate term, it's plain old lying & deceiving). It is very clear now that they only did that in SI, which is why they get so much more than we do (HD channels).

Don't think you explained the "wiring" issue. I'm in a co-op and the only "wiring" thing they did in 25 years was to encase all their internally running wire into 6" conduit. It was all the same wiring, just much more secure. The distribution boxes were new, but fully locked and enclosed so folks couldn't just tap in.

For my homies... picked up some interesting tidbits over on the Navigator forum. One guy reports that the trick play bug is dead in Navigator. Someone reported his pals IN Manhattan got new boxes having just moved, the non DVR was a Samsung, the DVR was the 8300HDC (cable card equipped) running... Navigator.

I tried to get him to convince those folks to sign up to AVS and make sure they visited this thread. The guy posting said he saw their setup and says Navigator seemed very slow compared to his 8300HD/Passport.

Oh, Navigator seems to have a very visible free space percentage right on the normal guide. Expressed as percentage used. Apparently, he never read of the 109856 voodoo ways to get an external drive functioning, he plugged it in and saw his used space go from 60-70% or so to 8%.

Obviously the BIG question is Navigator on 8300HDs like pretty much all of us have/use.

Also, I read there were two version of navigator, ODN and MDN and that one was for older boxes, the other for newer boxes. Anyone know anything about that?

I liked the RAVE-HD channel ...I did like seeing a 24 hour HD news network ....a few cool movie channels (World Cinema and Film Fest) Yes... these are good.

But the argument of quantity vs. quality doesn't really come into play with Voom, does it? I don't see any technical reason that they couldn't be as good quality as any other HD network, right?These VOOM channels should be as good as any of the rest of CV HD channels but as you said, they lack in PQ compared to TW perhaps because of compression.

For my homies... picked up some interesting tidbits over on the Navigator forum. One guy reports that the trick play bug is dead in Navigator. Someone reported his pals IN Manhattan got new boxes having just moved, the non DVR was a Samsung, the DVR was the 8300HDC (cable card equipped) running... Navigator.

I tried to get him to convince those folks to sign up to AVS and make sure they visited this thread. The guy posting said he saw their setup and says Navigator seemed very slow compared to his 8300HD/Passport.

Oh, Navigator seems to have a very visible free space percentage right on the normal guide. Expressed as percentage used. Apparently, he never read of the 109856 voodoo ways to get an external drive functioning, he plugged it in and saw his used space go from 60-70% or so to 8%.

Obviously the BIG question is Navigator on 8300HDs like pretty much all of us have/use.

Also, I read there were two version of navigator, ODN and MDN and that one was for older boxes, the other for newer boxes. Anyone know anything about that?
VERRRY interesting.

This would indicate to me that they are ramping up to deploy Navigator to all of us at some point in the near future. They won't want to support 2 completely different platforms on the same cable network for very long.

I just hope by that point Navigator is up to the task....Would be nice to stop out the Trick Play bug.....

... IN Manhattan got new boxes having just moved, the non DVR was a Samsung, the DVR was the 8300HDC (cable card equipped) running... Navigator....Also, I read there were two version of navigator, ODN and MDN and that one was for older boxes, the other for newer boxes. Anyone know anything about that?That’s interesting...

Just as a side note to this, I called TW to add on their phone service.

Right now I have a Verizon land line and AT&T cellular. I only use the Verizon for incoming calls and with that minimal usage it's still around 30 something a month. TW will let me try out their phone service for two months free with no commitments. After that trial period it will be cheaper than having Venison.

The point of this is-- the TWCSR told me that if I want to utilize the caller ID on my television screen I would have to turn in my SA 8300 HD DVR for a new version. Unless others here have the TW phone service and they have the caller ID on their screen with the current boxes then I would think that this is the new can of worms you are talking about. I have no idea.

I am in no hurry to exchange my box for a number of reasons—it’s pretty full with good stuff on it and it’s currently not acting up.

The only reason I’m getting rid of Verizon and adding TW’s phone is because I’ll save a lot of cash and now I’ll have Verizon banging on my door to get me back—especially if we finally get FIOS in my neighborhood.

I’ve had Verizon for …30 years (?) a hell of a lot longer than I’ve been paying TW. Verizon will come knocking and I’ll be listening.

The point of this is-- the TWCSR told me that if I want to utilize the caller ID on my television screen I would have to turn in my SA 8300 HD DVR for a new version. Unless others here have the TW phone service and they have the caller ID on their screen with the current boxes then I would think that this is the new can of worms you are talking about. I have no idea.
This is because Navigator supports the onscreen caller-id.

Eventually all of our boxes will be "flashed" with the Navigator software; but if you want it NOW, then you'll have to swap your box.

Don't think you explained the "wiring" issue. I'm in a co-op and the only "wiring" thing they did in 25 years was to encase all their internally running wire into 6" conduit. It was all the same wiring, just much more secure. The distribution boxes were new, but fully locked and enclosed so folks couldn't just tap in.

Residents in this building can not receive HD programming or VOIP service (I'm not sure about digital cable) because the wiring has not been upgraded. I'm not exactly sure what the specs of the current cable are (30+ years old?), but the shareholders have been begging for the board to allow TWC to proceed with the upgrade so they can take advantage of or buy HD sets. Currently the cable wires are run up though the closets and into each apartment. The new wiring would be installed behind moldings running along each public hall. However, in this building the moldings would not be up by the ceiling, but rather all over the place because of various soffits and architectural obstacles. As a result, we held off from the upgrade. Finally we discovered that we can have the new cable run underneath the carpeting, but this would have to be done in conjunction with the installation of new carpeting, which we have now decided to move forward with.

VERRRY interesting.

This would indicate to me that they are ramping up to deploy Navigator to all of us at some point in the near future. They won't want to support 2 completely different platforms on the same cable network for very long.

I just hope by that point Navigator is up to the task....Would be nice to stop out the Trick Play bug.....


Trick Play bug????????

This is because Navigator supports the onscreen caller-id.

Eventually all of our boxes will be "flashed" with the Navigator software; but if you want it NOW, then you'll have to swap your box.I haven't heard anything positive regarding Navigator.
I'll wait :cool:

Trick Play bug????????
If you don't know what it is, then you are not affected by it. ;)

(If you're especially curious, it has to do with losing your ability to REW/FF "live" TV on the DVR when you've got an external drive hooked up)

Someone reported his pals IN Manhattan got new boxes having just moved, the non DVR was a Samsung, the DVR was the 8300HDC (cable card equipped) running... Navigator.

I tried to get him to convince those folks to sign up to AVS and make sure they visited this thread. The guy posting said he saw their setup and says Navigator seemed very slow compared to his 8300HD/Passport.

That would be me. We're all in Manhattan. Im running an 8300HD with Passport. They're running the Samsung and 8300HDC with Navigator. Unfortunately, none of us have a spare SATA drive to hook up to the eSATA port (although I do have an enclosure that has eSATA), so I can't test out the trick play bug on Navigator. But if there are any things people would like me to look for or try out on Navigator, ask away and I'll try and write it up on here. This is my first time in this thread so I'm not informed of all the things people are curious about.

But I can tell you this for sure: Navigator = SLUGGISH

So since I don't care about caller ID, and my current box has been behaving itself - I'm probably better off waiting for them to update the software?

Anyone have any clues as to when we may see a universal update?

...But I can tell you this for sure: Navigator = SLUGGISH

Does your comment apply to BOTH SA and SAM boxes running Navigator?? If so, UGH :(

-Mike

Does your comment apply to BOTH SA and SAM boxes running Navigator?? If so, UGH :(

-Mike

Actually... I think I only used it on the DVR box. I'll remember to test out the Samsung box next time.

I upgraded to my Samsung 3050 HD Cable box from Time Warner after purchasing a nice new Samsung TV and Onkyo Receiver... Naturally, I ran into the issue of HDCP Handshaking problems when I try to pass the cable through receiver into the TV using HDMI.

Time Warner keeps pointing at Onkyo and Onkyo keeps pointing at Time Warner...
After doing a few days of research... I figure my cable box doesn't have the "HDCP Repeating" thing thats is apparently impossible to get Time Warner to admit. :/

So in short, Are there any fixes short of switching to FIOS or Direct TV (I really really really dont want to)

And to confirm the previous few pages of posts :/ I hate ODM (ODN?) so far :/ Its a lot slower, and its always an extra fun step as tech's toss you from one ot another.

-Andrew

Residents in this building can not receive HD programming or VOIP service (I'm not sure about digital cable) because the wiring has not been upgraded. I'm not exactly sure what the specs of the current cable are (30+ years old?), but the shareholders have been begging for the board to allow TWC to proceed with the upgrade so they can take advantage of or buy HD sets. Currently the cable wires are run up though the closets and into each apartment. The new wiring would be installed behind moldings running along each public hall. However, in this building the moldings would not be up by the ceiling, but rather all over the place because of various soffits and architectural obstacles. As a result, we held off from the upgrade. Finally we discovered that we can have the new cable run underneath the carpeting, but this would have to be done in conjunction with the installation of new carpeting, which we have now decided to move forward with.

I dunno, that just sounds "odd." I very vividly recall that a good bus in alphabet city got digital TV, phone service, etc. long before I did. I found out the why... it had to do with the fact that TWC started in lower Manhattan to install their fiber backbone. So he got all these services (including Road Runner) as soon as they had a functioning fiber node close to him.

None of these services were available to me until they got to my upper west side location. Bingo, as soon as they had a functioning node (1/2 block from me) I was able to get everything he had for the preceding 2 years. This was all over 5 years ago. I'm damn sure they did NOT run new cooper from that node to every building; all out local streets would have been dug up for months and months.

As for the building interior, still more odd (based on my experiences). What we HAD was all sorts of loose wires running up and down the stairwells, with exposed wire going through the hallways and into apartments. They told us they were going to encase all that stairwell wiring. We said "no, we do not want you to do that, we know about your security concerns, we are running multiple co-ax/telco wiring from the basement to every apartment all totally concealed in-wall." Which would be even better security for them AND avoid their cost. But NOOOO, they wanted to put this whole encased 6" conduit through the stairwells. We got with the lawyers and eventually it turned out that the franchise agreement with the city permitted them to do this whether we wanted it or not (not to mention the fact we were about to have a much BETTER/MORE SECURE system that we would pay for.

Now co-op boards are a while 'nother matter. Unfortunately I know (and have personally experienced) way too many things that should get them hauled out and shot/hanged!

I dunno, that just sounds "odd."
I do know that there was some sort of upgrade to the wiring necessary in older buildings some number of years ago that provided support for the "2 way" cable interaction where in addition to receiving broadcast signal from TWC, your box (+ now cable modem/VOIP) could send a signal back to the head-end at Time Warner [this is how PPV worked; now everything depends upon it -- the guide on digital cable, on-demand shows, cable modem, etc.]. I suspect that this is the issue they are having in this building in particular.

To get this to work, in buildings that had "good" wiring, they at least had to come in and replace the cable splits to the 1Ghz versions (I think the old ones were 800Mhz).

Scott

Nice! This is what we (in Manhattan) have all been waiting for!!!

Drop the analogs so we can get more HDTV!!!! 8)

PLUS I am of the opinion that a LOT of the audio drop-outs, glitches etc. will disappear if they only drop 3 of the 32 or so analog channels. Drop 2 more and we can then get the same HDs SI gets. Then we have to work on the fact that SI gets more and pays less than we do for... less.

Unfortunately, I'd bet you it will happen from one head end long before the other and I also suspect YOU will get it before us poor Manhattan North customers get it.

Then again, I can stroll around my pal's 10th & A 'hood and every half block can point to some major rape, electrocution, robbery with death that occurred in the past 2 years. Still, I still harbor some resentment that he got RR 2 years before I got it, so I had to suffer with the totally lame DSL.

If you don't know what it is, then you are not affected by it. ;)

(If you're especially curious, it has to do with losing your ability to REW/FF "live" TV on the DVR when you've got an external drive hooked up)

Thought that's what it was was and yes I am affected. Just wanted to make sure

I saw an ad for "HD On Demand" watching the HBO On Demand channel but can't seem to find any HD offerings on channel 1000, or a dedicated HD OD channel. What are they talking about? TWC customer service has no clue.

I saw an ad for "HD On Demand" watching the HBO On Demand channel but can't seem to find any HD offerings on channel 1000, or a dedicated HD OD channel. What are they talking about? TWC customer service has no clue.

maybe the ad was not local, but a national ad letting customers know that HBO-HD is avalible OnDemand.

I saw an ad for "HD On Demand" watching the HBO On Demand channel but can't seem to find any HD offerings on channel 1000, or a dedicated HD OD channel. What are they talking about? TWC customer service has no clue.


FYI - any future OnDemand HD that we may eventually get would not be found on an existing regular SD On Demand channel.

Hey guys... quick question.

My dad finally bought a 50" Panasonic HDTV... 77 series model. He need to get TWC HD service.

I assume the 8300HD is still the option for DVR. I have two questions:


1) Is the HDMI port operational (looking quickly through thread I see it is - just want to be sure)

2) Using the HDMI cable do you get full 5.1 surround if the station is broadcasting in it? I remember a while back (a few years ago) there was a bug with the HDMI cable and only getting 2.0 surround. Wondering if this was ever fixed.


Thanks in advance.

maybe the ad was not local, but a national ad letting customers know that HBO-HD is avalible OnDemand.

It was actually an ad for "HD Movies on Demand" so the channel 1000 for HD. They sometimes runs ads on HBO on Demand for what's on 1000. It definitely looked like its own channel. Had its own logo and everything.

maybe the ad was not local, but a national ad letting customers know that HBO-HD is avalible OnDemand.

Which also tells me "Oh, we have this great HD OnDemand everywhere... except not in NYC where our headquarters lies. But not to worry, all our execs live far outside the city and can get it by satellite hook-ups."

Sheesh, I really wasn't THAT cynical until I got a HD TV...

Hey guys... quick question.

My dad finally bought a 50" Panasonic HDTV... 77 series model. He need to get TWC HD service.

I assume the 8300HD is still the option for DVR. I have two questions:


1) Is the HDMI port operational (looking quickly through thread I see it is - just want to be sure)

2) Using the HDMI cable do you get full 5.1 surround if the station is broadcasting in it? I remember a while back (a few years ago) there was a bug with the HDMI cable and only getting 2.0 surround. Wondering if this was ever fixed.


Thanks in advance.

Yes HDMI works on the 8300HD. Some folks have had issues with it, but it's worked fine for the past year for me.

You need to understand something about HDMI and audio. IF the source device (your STB) does NOT see DD decoding equipment, it will only send 2 channel PCM. That's is how it was designed. HDMI typically (but not always) goes to the TV... no TV's have such equipment, so the source STB does NOT send DD 5.1. If you have an AVR that your route the HDMI cable to from the STB, you SHOULD be able to get DD goodness. Most of the rest of us (probably 98%) will run an optical cable to our older AVRs that have NO HDMI interface at all.

Finally, you should end up with the 8300HDC, a box that functions via a built in cable card. Operationally, it should work exactly the same, but it seems the HDC boxes TWC NY is handing out are running Navigator, a band new IPG (wanna learn more, go to the Navigator thread).

Here is a reply to a question I asked in the Navigator thread... and think important enough to post for my homies:

MDN (Mystro Digital Navigator) will be used or all legacy boxes, the boxes without cable cards. Such as all Pioneer boxes, SA 1000 to 4250 boxes, SA8000, SA8000HD, and SA8300HD.

ODN (OCAP Digital Navigator) will be used on all the new boxes that have cable cards (boxes with numbers ending in C, like SA8300HDC or SA4250C).

From what I understand legacy boxes don't have enough memory to support ODN. Both MDN and ODN are suppose to operate similarly as customers will have both platforms in their homes for a long time. Until the legacy boxes die a natural death.

:( I'm glad I only changed one box.

It took about 10 minutes to completley boot-up, My caller ID On TV function seems not to be working, changing channels and navigating the Access Menu & Guide seems to be a little on the slow side. And my new DVR menu has completedly lost its luster.
I miss Passport!

Egerly Anticipating updates soon.

What channel is it to see what version software you have? I tried doing a search of this thread but came up with a millions unrelated posts. Thanks

What channel is it to see what version software you have? I tried doing a search of this thread but came up with a millions unrelated posts. Thanks

1999 - after you go into diagnostic mode by holding select and exit on the cable box (or just hold it twice to go to 1999 automatically)

Eventually all of our boxes will be "flashed" with the Navigator software.

if this happens, won't we lose everything recorded on the dvr?

Hey guys, has anyone had any problems with their on-demand channels? I had the problem on only one of my TV"s, the dreaded 8300 box again. I just wanted to know if there was any other 8300 on-demand issues. It happened during the weekend. I was going to call TWC when I got home to have the reboot fun if I it was still not loading the on-demand shows.

if this happens, won't we lose everything recorded on the dvr?No (assuming things go as planned).

if this happens, won't we lose everything recorded on the dvr?
Nope. This "flashing" of the boxes with new software is a somewhat common (and usually, invisible to most users) procedure. They flash the system with updates once or twice a year (though it used to occur MUCH more often than that).

The only difference here is that we'll be getting a completely new platform flashed onto our boxes. Hopefully they will wait until the software is stable, (relatively) bug-free, and someone peppier than has been reported before they foist it on the general public.

As long as things go well, people generally do not lose any recordings on their DVRs -- though occasionally people have reported mysterious behavior when their boxes have been updated that caused some programming to be lost. But this is not common.

Scott

Nope. This "flashing" of the boxes with new software is a somewhat common (and usually, invisible to most users) procedure. They flash the system with updates once or twice a year (though it used to occur MUCH more often than that).

The only difference here is that we'll be getting a completely new platform flashed onto our boxes. Hopefully they will wait until the software is stable, (relatively) bug-free, and someone peppier than has been reported before they foist it on the general public.

As long as things go well, people generally do not lose any recordings on their DVRs -- though occasionally people have reported mysterious behavior when their boxes have been updated that caused some programming to be lost. But this is not common.

Scott
Scott, I haven't been keeping up on my AVS pages. TWC is changing our 8300 software? Is that what I am reading? No more PasportEcho!!

Scott, I haven't been keeping up on my AVS pages. TWC is changing our 8300 software? Is that what I am reading? No more PasportEcho!!
At some point we're getting their new in-house developed "Navigator" software. Reviews are not great (it's slow, a bit clunky), but the bug that haunts people who install external SATA drives is gone, so it's a double-edged sword.

At some point we're getting their new in-house developed "Navigator" software. Reviews are not great (it's slow, a bit clunky), but the bug that haunts people who install external SATA drives is gone, so it's a double-edged sword.
Does that mean externals are in? Or is TWC going to say, "TWC DOESN"T SUPPORT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES, YOU NEED TO PURCHASE ANOTHER DVR UNIT"

So this is a new tech that TWC techs made themselves. Which is suppose to pop up the menu faster and change channels faster, etc. But early feddback is stay with Echo. That doesn't sound to good to me. I know updates are the nature of the beast to make computerized things work better but, why go backwards?

Don't you think this is a risk on TWC behalf with FIOS in the distance? Any prolong flaw and with franchise agreements weeks away don't they think they will lose more in the long term. Just a thought. With the TV season exactly 8 weeks away I want to make sure all the kinks are gone well before then.

Any idea when this change will happen? I know you said "at some point" but I was hoping for a better guesstimate.

Thanks for the info Scott

I have a TWC SA8300 HD DVR (NYC, Passport Software) feeding my Olivia 532H LCD TV via HDMI. When I fast-forward a DVR recorded program, after a few seconds my LCD screen goes blank, and I get a "No Signal" message box generated by my TV. Pressing "play" gets the picture back again.

This glitch makes fast-forward very tiresome, and commercial-skip next to impossible.

Anyone else with same problem? Is there a fix?

Thanks in advance.

Does that mean externals are in? Or is TWC going to say, "TWC DOESN"T SUPPORT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES, YOU NEED TO PURCHASE ANOTHER DVR UNIT"

... why go backwards?


Any idea when this change will happen? I know you said "at some point" but I was hoping for a better guesstimate.
My understanding is- the PASSPORT replacement-- NAVIGATOR is TW’s in house system that was primarily developed to get OCAP going, which has interactive capabilities. If someone else has a better answer-- chime in. ;)

If you want NAVIGATOR now, instead of waiting for the "flashing" :eek: , you can swap out your box. There are new boxes available with this new platform. Regardless, I don’t think even with NAVIGATOR, that TW will ever support the external drives, whether they’re bug free or not.

I have a TWC SA8300 HD DVR (NYC, Passport Software) feeding my Olivia 532H LCD TV via HDMI. When I fast-forward a DVR recorded program, after a few seconds my LCD screen goes blank, and I get a "No Signal" message box generated by my TV. Pressing "play" gets the picture back again.

This glitch makes fast-forward very tiresome, and commercial-skip next to impossible.

Anyone else with same problem? Is there a fix?

Thanks in advance.

A better TV. :p ;) Come on I am kidding!!! I have had that happen occassionally but I think it has been STB oriented because when I restart, (pess play)the show didn't continue while the screen was off. It starts where I wanted it to. Maybe with this new sotfware all the 8300's glitches that we have lived with will be a memory.

My understanding is- the PASSPORT replacement-- NAVIGATOR is TW’s in house system that was primarily developed to get OCAP going, which has interactive capabilities. If someone else has a better answer-- chime in. ;)

If you want NAVIGATOR now, instead of waiting for the "flashing" :eek: , you can swap out your box. There are new boxes available with this new platform. Regardless, I don’t think even with NAVIGATOR, that TW will ever support the external drives, whether they’re bug free or not.
If that is true Larry, does that mean they are going to be like Cablevision where you can play games and shop for cars, on top of the other interavtive things we do like On-demand? I am for anything that gets me a box that is trouble free. the better the tech gets the worse the components get. Most of us had those analog boxes that only went up to 60 channels for 10 -15 years problem free. Now we get DigitalTV and we are changing every 3 years.

.. you can play games and shop for cars, on top of the other interavtive things we do like On-demand? .Sounds like it to me.. ;)

I found this information on OCAP.
The potential apps include interactive games, shopping, music, news, weather, local information, sports, advertising, polling, banking and other services. The OCAP platform also supports e-mail and chat on TV and is compatible with IP telephone if connected to a TV device.
http://www.ctam.com/ocap/index.htm

Sounds like it to me.. ;)

I found this information on OCAP.
The potential apps include interactive games, shopping, music, news, weather, local information, sports, advertising, polling, banking and other services. The OCAP platform also supports e-mail and chat on TV and is compatible with IP telephone if connected to a TV device.
http://www.ctam.com/ocap/index.htm

ok, yeah that is it, it is just like Cablevision has. Minus the VOOM, which I wouldn't mind getting. More HD yes, more interactive play NO!!!!!!! Like I always say TWC is always catering to the majority SD users even though these new features will never be used by that same majority while us minority HD users would really watch any HD channel thrown at us.

Doesn't this intefer with the triple play package. Why pay for online service if you get it all on your TV included with basic service? I really don't think before they try these new things. TV internet failed horribly. Why try again? But I guess for every car they sell or game they get played is a dollar extra for them for having it broadcast on their TV. Talk about milking every dolloar out of the consumer. It is a business first.

ok, yeah that is it, it is just like Cablevision has. Minus the VOOM, which I wouldn't mind getting. More HD yes, more interactive play NO!!!!!!! Like I always say TWC is always catering to the majority SD users even though these new features will never be used by that same majority while us minority HD users would really watch any HD channel thrown at us.

Doesn't this intefer with the triple play package. Why pay for online service if you get it all on your TV included with basic service? I really don't think before they try these new things. TV internet failed horribly. Why try again? But I guess for every car they sell or game they get played is a dollar extra for them for having it broadcast on their TV. Talk about milking every dolloar out of the consumer. It is a business first.Cablevision is a SARA based system. We “have” Passport. The SARA system is capable of way more interactivity that Passport isn’t.

The new NAVIGATOR system will be capable and give TW an entire new bunch of carrots to dangle in our face—and charge us for each one. I can’t even imagine what new crap they will roll out.

Here is a post by hols ands from another thread. Be sure to take a peak at the links posted there… :rolleyes: This could be the tip of the ice berg for new things.

Fantasy Football Tracker is a two-way INTERACTIVE application to explore new ways
for customers to interact with their "television"....and eventually generate more fees:
http://www.cable360.net/ct/video/21014.html
http://www.timewarnercable.com/Inve...1346&MarketID=0
http://www.timewarnercable.com/sana...alltracker.html

TWC-San Diego has had Interactive News (usually via menus), Games and
On-line Bill Payment for quite awhile....
but it's been extremely slow and buggy, buggy, buggy.

Let us know how well the next generation INTERACTIVE system works....
Don't you also have INTERACTIVE access to News, Weather, Stock Prices,
TWC Bill Paying and maybe Sports.....

================================
I saw a report TWC-Staten Island (like TWC-Hawaii) had the new PHOTOSHOW-TV feature:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6360698.html
http://www.oceanic.com/OceanicWebAp.../PhotoShow.html

Perhaps you'll let us know what it's like going through the TWC Censor Committee....

===============================
Can you "see" what software type/version is being used?
Most TWC systems have a channel (usually very high number) that displays this info....

Extended Diagnostic entry for Samsung is unknown, but might be same as SARA:
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/11880
If this doesn't work, try holding down two front panel keys at the same time.
[Hint: Samsung H10 (DirecTV) diagnostic entry keys are ACTIVE and RIGHT ARROW

What is the max size external hard drive that the 8300 can support?

What is the max size external hard drive that the 8300 can support?
I do not have one but you can chexk here for info:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11102624#post11102624

If I remember correctly you really do not want that much bigger because when you have them both hooked up it still records evenly between the 2 so you might have space you will never be able to use. Don't quote me on that because I can be missing somethine in my research. Either way, that thread should help you better. I was looking for one but have decided against it. At least for now.

Cablevision is a SARA based system. We “have” Passport. The SARA system is capable of way more interactivity that Passport isn’t.

The new NAVIGATOR system will be capable and give TW an entire new bunch of carrots to dangle in our face—and charge us for each one. I can’t even imagine what new crap they will roll out.

Here is a post by hols ands from another thread. Be sure to take a peak at the links posted there… :rolleyes: This could be the tip of the ice berg for new things.
Thanks Larry. It all makes sense, except we always hear Bandwith that and bandwith this and now they are just going to add more crap to these lines that nobody will use. I always have this feeling that bandwith is not anything near the problem they make it seem.
TWC is making major moves slowly. This new stuff will be a cash cow for them which in turn will give them the money needed for switch video and in turn the bandwith needed for the 100 HD channel space they are looking to free up. Don't get me wrong all this will be good for cable in the long run because of all the off setting Cost by TWC being able to sell advertisment space or even (like the article said)take in a percentage from sales sites like E-Bay. I guess we just should sit back and see how this pans out. It should be an interesting ride.

If I remember correctly you really do not want that much bigger because when you have them both hooked up it still records evenly between the 2 so you might have space you will never be able to use. Don't quote me on that because I can be missing somethine in my research.
That certainly wasn't my experience: I added a 250GB drive and when it was full it definitely used more than 320 GB (or 2x the space on the installed drive). Also, not all shows were striped between the two drives: I could remove the drive and still watch some recorded shows and if I deleted enough shows so that the drive was empty (which meant nearly everything), trick-play came back even though the drive was still connected.

Since the 8300HDC box comes with a cable card, (I'm assuming 1). Does that mean it's a multi stream capable card? It would have to be wouldn't it, considering the box have 2 tuners?

Reason I ask is because the new Tivo's can take multistream cards, and I'd much prefer a single card, then trying to convince TWC that I need 2.

Regards,

Adam

Thank you Nutty. A colleague of mine added a 400G drive and claimed no problems using the added space. I was looking at a 500G western digital drive at a cost of $125! He said, however, that 8300 may only support up to 400G.

OMG, that thread has 180 pages!

OMG, that thread has 180 pages!The first page has just about all of the information you will need. ;) There is a detailed list with first hand experience from many folks with various set ups. :)http://www.baseportal.com/baseportal/xnappo/passport

Do you think we'll get the ability to choose our camera angles in baseball?

Thank you Nutty. A colleague of mine added a 400G drive and claimed no problems using the added space. I was looking at a 500G western digital drive at a cost of $125! He said, however, that 8300 may only support up to 400G.

OMG, that thread has 180 pages!

I've connected a 500G Seagate with no problems (exept the trickplay bug)

Since the 8300HDC box comes with a cable card, (I'm assuming 1). Does that mean it's a multi stream capable card? It would have to be wouldn't it, considering the box have 2 tuners?

Reason I ask is because the new Tivo's can take multistream cards, and I'd much prefer a single card, then trying to convince TWC that I need 2.

Regards,

Adam
the 8300 doesn't come with a cable card. Am I missing something? I know it has a card slot. But it looked empty.

Guys, you seem to not be mentioning the BIGGEST reason why we want Navigator... it's all about SDV.

SDV means the possibility of us getting a LOT more HD channels. It frees up the "stuck by bandwidth" excuse for keeping us way behind pretty much every other system now-a-days.

The other plus of Navigator is that is SEEMS (gotta use that term because we don't have that many folks experiencing it yet) that it fixes the trick play bug us NYC/Passport folks are stuck with.

I've connected a 500G Seagate with no problems (exept the trickplay bug)
Since you guys are taling about it, what is the trickplay bug? Is that the big problem that has made a lot of people talk me out of even trying to hook up a external drive.

you seem to not be mentioning the BIGGEST reason why we want Navigator... it's all about SDV..
You are absolutely right. It is all about Switched Digital Video. This will give TW the opportunity to free up major bandwidth, although I believe it’s all about creating new streams of revenue rather than providing us with additional HD channels.

Guys, you seem to not be mentioning the BIGGEST reason why we want Navigator... it's all about SDV.

SDV means the possibility of us getting a LOT more HD channels. It frees up the "stuck by bandwidth" excuse for keeping us way behind pretty much every other system now-a-days.

The other plus of Navigator is that is SEEMS (gotta use that term because we don't have that many folks experiencing it yet) that it fixes the trick play bug us NYC/Passport folks are stuck with.

Not true River I did mention SDV earlier in regards to the Navigator, but I went the other route. TWC gets Navigator(they set up all the extra channels) which means increased revenue for them then they can pay the company that offers the SDV technology. Then Tomorrows technology will be ours. Which means more HD.

I know this is the begining of the major changes that we all need and want to see. But again. Like I mention a long time ago and I think you agreed with me. This is all good and dandy, but all the major changes can not take effect until TWC has 100% DTV service out there. There are still people that have those old analog boxes or in the some apartment complexes have the cable going straight through their analog TV's. Until then we will always have a dual signal going through our cable line eating up very valuable space. Plus adding phone and internet doesn't help.

You are absolutely right. It is all about Switched Digital Video. This will give TW the opportunity to free up major bandwidth, although I believe it’s all about creating new streams of revenue rather than providing us with additional HD channels.
Larry, Me and you are seeing eye to eye with the revenue. That article you sent earlier said it best. This will open a E-bay channel on your TV and TWC will take a % of every sale not to mention the sale of ad space money it stands to make.

Just think about when we are all at work and we switch between games, the pop up ad during load-up. the ads on surrounding the game. No picture doing the same thing on TWC games or looking at a shopping channel, the weather pop-up that will be sponsered. All this will now go to TWC. Our rates better stay stable after this.

the 8300 doesn't come with a cable card. Am I missing something? I know it has a card slot. But it looked empty.

I thought the new box, that comes with Navigator, comes with a card.

Adam

I thought the new box, that comes with Navigator, comes with a card.

Adam
That I do not know Adam, but I think the box will be pre-programmed with Navigator or preset to accept or run the Navigator software when the box orginally boots the first time. plus all us other lowlifes will have to wait for the early morning updates and see a big change when we wake up one day. Unless we decide to swap out our boxes earlier. Who knows until it is wide spread. But I still think our boxes will be cardless.

Cablevision is a SARA based system. We “have” Passport. The SARA system is capable of way more interactivity that Passport isn’t.

The new NAVIGATOR system will be capable and give TW an entire new bunch of carrots to dangle in our face—and charge us for each one. I can’t even imagine what new crap they will roll out.

Here is a post by hols ands from another thread. Be sure to take a peak at the links posted there… :rolleyes: This could be the tip of the ice berg for new things.
I'm not sure if Navigator runs under Passport or SARA as its base operating system (or if it could run on both?).

TWC could surely remotely flash a Passport box with SARA or a SARA box with Passport if they wanted to....

Scott

Scott, didn't TWC have SARA at one point? Do they still have it running with the 3250 box? I am trying to remember when and where I use to see it.

Scott, didn't TWC have SARA at one point? Do they still have it running with the 3250 box? I am trying to remember when and where I use to see it.
Never here in NYC. TWC-NYC (and most of TWC's properties across the country, I believe) are on Passport.

Scott

Never here in NYC. TWC-NYC (and most of TWC's properties across the country, I believe) are on Passport.

Scott
Could I be thinking pre-DTV, maybe those Panasonic boxes were SARA? I just really thought I saw it here. Unless it was Cablevision.

I'm not sure if Navigator runs under Passport or SARA as its base operating system (or if it could run on both?).

TWC could surely remotely flash a Passport box with SARA or a SARA box with Passport if they wanted to....

Scott

the 8300HDC boots up with SARA then Mystro kicks in.

I'm not sure if Navigator runs under Passport or SARA as its base operating system (or if it could run on both?).

TWC could surely remotely flash a Passport box with SARA or a SARA box with Passport if they wanted to....

Scott

I have been under the impression that Aptiv/Power TV has a RTOS that is the "underlying OS." Passport & SARA are the high level applications.

My guess would be that the RTOS is not the same for each of those platforms. I'm not so sure they can flash one of our boxes to SARA because their head ends only talk to Passport.

Andy, what borough are you in? If Manhattan, South or North?

I have been under the impression that Aptiv/Power TV has a RTOS that is the "underlying OS." Passport & SARA are the high level applications.

My guess would be that the RTOS is not the same for each of those platforms. I'm not so sure they can flash one of our boxes to SARA because their head ends only talk to Passport.

Andy, what borough are you in? If Manhattan, South or North?

I'm in M-Sounth

the 8300hdc actually goes into powerTV, then SARA, then MYSTRO.

Sounds like it to me.. ;)

I found this information on OCAP.
The potential apps include interactive games, shopping, music, news, weather, local information, sports, advertising, polling, banking and other services. The OCAP platform also supports e-mail and chat on TV and is compatible with IP telephone if connected to a TV device.
http://www.ctam.com/ocap/index.htm

I'm doing R&D on OCAP at my company. It's basically a version of Java that runs on cable boxes. It bumps up the interactivity a notch but being it's Java it's clunky.

I have been under the impression that Aptiv/Power TV has a RTOS that is the "underlying OS." Passport & SARA are the high level applications.

My guess would be that the RTOS is not the same for each of those platforms. I'm not so sure they can flash one of our boxes to SARA because their head ends only talk to Passport.
Oh, they could flash our boxes with whatever they want.....

And if the new Navigator has SARA as its underlying platform, it makes sense that the buffer bug would go away since SARA doesn't have the buffer bug...

Scott

I'm thinking about getting a new Tivo HD box. Was wondering if anyone here has gotten one yet? I've been reading in some of the Tivo boards that TWCNYC recenty applied a firmware update to their cable cards which have caused lots of issues with the original S3 boxes. Anyone have any experience with that?

Also is TWC offering the m-cards yet, or would I still need 2 separate cards?

Thanks

Adam

Do you think we'll get the ability to choose our camera angles in baseball?
only if there is a way MLB and TWC can figure out how to charge us for it.

I was on the line with TWC yesterday. (My on-demand wasn't letting me make demands) I had a nice coversation with Sharron. Nothing about HD sorry. She let me know if my reverse something on the staus board in less that 30 (mine was at 25.500) you have a low signal. Needless to say they will be by on Mon to "FIX" the problem. Hopefully they can fix the blinking problem. My 3250 doesn'r blink at all only the 8300.
Anyway with that said. I did ask about Navigator and to my surprise she knew what I was talking about. WOW! She did not have a turn on date or load up for us, but she did mention that all the new boxes are equiped with Navigator. She knew of people that have been swaping out their boxes just to try the new program because of the 8300 still being questionable at times.

I wish I had an exact date for you guys, Sorry for that. But maybe part one of the major changes is to give better training to the CSR's. Wish me luck wsith my signal upgrade, My HD already looks great, but if it can look better. I am all for it.

I'm thinking about getting a new Tivo HD box. Was wondering if anyone here has gotten one yet? I've been reading in some of the Tivo boards that TWCNYC recenty applied a firmware update to their cable cards which have caused lots of issues with the original S3 boxes. Anyone have any experience with that?

Adam
i am also considering the new Tivo HD. At the $299 (or less) price point, everyone using TWC boxes should consider the benefits and price differentials. Tivo has a far superior interface, and could be cheaper in the long run.

i am also considering the new Tivo HD. At the $299 (or less) price point, everyone using TWC boxes should consider the benefits and price differentials. Tivo has a far superior interface, and could be cheaper in the long run.

The only thing that stops me from getting TiVo is losing OnDemand... now I don't use it so often, but I still like the idea that its there when I want it. Also, having Passport makes it easier not to want to drop my current HD-DVR. I'm also waiting for TiVoToGo to support HD, which is currently in discussion.

So, I am also totally psyched to get back to my TiVo which I had to abandon a few years back when I got my HD set...$299 TiVo with HD is all you needed to say - sold in a heartbeat. I called TWCNYC just now to inquire about the Cablecard.

The rep was pretty clueless, but did say "Oh yeah, we just got new Cablecards in...available July 1st". He said they were smaller than their predecessor, but didn't know what the difference was. "About the size of a credit card". I don't understand why they would change to something that was just smaller, but maybe it's just me.

Anyway, I thought perhaps he meant that they were rolling out Cablecard 2.0/M-Card, but he was also talking about how I was going to lose the IPG and VOD services, so I really don't know what the change is. The price tag to install (I have to have a guy come out)...$33 and change for the first card, plus an additional $19.99 for the second card. Plus an afternoon out of the office. Then, a $1.75 monthly fee for each.

Does anyone know what this "new" card is all about? Anyone have any early reviews on the TiVo HD (besides the Gizmodo and PC World reviews)?

So, I am also totally psyched to get back to my TiVo which I had to abandon a few years back when I got my HD set...$299 TiVo with HD is all you needed to say - sold in a heartbeat. I called TWCNYC just now to inquire about the Cablecard.

The rep was pretty clueless, but did say "Oh yeah, we just got new Cablecards in...available July 1st". He said they were smaller than their predecessor, but didn't know what the difference was. "About the size of a credit card". I don't understand why they would change to something that was just smaller, but maybe it's just me.

Anyway, I thought perhaps he meant that they were rolling out Cablecard 2.0/M-Card, but he was also talking about how I was going to lose the IPG and VOD services, so I really don't know what the change is. The price tag to install (I have to have a guy come out)...$33 and change for the first card, plus an additional $19.99 for the second card. Plus an afternoon out of the office. Then, a $1.75 monthly fee for each.

Does anyone know what this "new" card is all about? Anyone have any early reviews on the TiVo HD (besides the Gizmodo and PC World reviews)?

It would seem that they have the M-Stream cards if they are rolling out 8300HDCs which use the card and those are of course dual tuner.

BTW, a quick search of CC shows several stores show the Tivo in stock and ready for in store pickup :rolleyes:

August 30:
ESPN U launches on channel 170
ESPN Classic moves from (Analog) channel 84 to channel 171
ESPN News moves from channel 120 to channel 172


Not so fast people! Just when you thought an analog channel was being cut off.
.
.
The Hallmark Channel moves from 107 to 84

Anyway, I thought perhaps he meant that they were rolling out Cablecard 2.0/M-Card, but he was also talking about how I was going to lose the IPG and VOD services, so I really don't know what the change is. The price tag to install (I have to have a guy come out)...$33 and change for the first card, plus an additional $19.99 for the second card. Plus an afternoon out of the office. Then, a $1.75 monthly fee for each.

Does anyone know what this "new" card is all about? Anyone have any early reviews on the TiVo HD (besides the Gizmodo and PC World reviews)?

There is a good explanation of CableCard 2.0 and M-cards within this article, including some discussion of OCAP requirements holding back TiVo and Media Center devices: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/06/22/cablecard-2-0-is-ready/

Okay, so reading this thread, I called back TWC and got a new operator, and took a bit of a different tack. I lead with "do you have the 8300HDC", which she answered "yes", but mentioned that they weren't necessarily available for us to just swap out...they're only giving it out to new accounts. I then asked what the difference was, and she mentioned the IPG and the interface, etc.

So then I pressed for info on the M-Card, pointing out that the box used and M-Card. She said yes, but that the card "wouldn't be accessible as it's already connected to the back of the box". I just left that one alone.

Anyway, so then I got to the point, and asked that, given that they have the M-Card with the 8300HDC, whether the technician that was coming by on Tuesday to install the two cablecards would be bringing the M-Card and not the CC 1.0 card. She put me on hold for a while, came back, and said that it was a 1-way card that he would be bringing, and that there were no plans to start rolling out the "2-way" cards (which I assume was the M-Card).

So I don't really think I'm getting the M-Cards on tuesday. But, does anyone know whether the new $300 TiVo HD will lack any functionality or be generally less-cool with Cablecard 1.0?

I don't think it will lack any functionality. It's the matter of paying for 2 cards, and to have to potentially troubleshoot issues with 2 cards instead of 1. Looking forward to hear how the the install goes. When did you call for your appointment btw?

Adam

So, I am also totally psyched to get back to my TiVo which I had to abandon a few years back when I got my HD set...$299 TiVo with HD is all you needed to say - sold in a heartbeat. I called TWCNYC just now to inquire about the Cablecard.

The rep was pretty clueless, but did say "Oh yeah, we just got new Cablecards in...available July 1st". He said they were smaller than their predecessor, but didn't know what the difference was. "About the size of a credit card". I don't understand why they would change to something that was just smaller, but maybe it's just me.

Anyway, I thought perhaps he meant that they were rolling out Cablecard 2.0/M-Card, but he was also talking about how I was going to lose the IPG and VOD services, so I really don't know what the change is. The price tag to install (I have to have a guy come out)...$33 and change for the first card, plus an additional $19.99 for the second card. Plus an afternoon out of the office. Then, a $1.75 monthly fee for each.

Does anyone know what this "new" card is all about? Anyone have any early reviews on the TiVo HD (besides the Gizmodo and PC World reviews)?

300 tivo HD?
so they came out with a new cheaper one?
i'm guessing it probably has a smaller HD than the original $800 version?

300 tivo HD?
so they came out with a new cheaper one?
i'm guessing it probably has a smaller HD than the original $800 version?

It's got a few design differences, but it's mostly that it's only 180 hours of SD (I think 30 hours of HD) vs. the significantly larger Series 3 hard drive. Review here:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/breaking/300-tivo-hd-unboxed-and-fondled-verdict-hell-yes-281624.php

I don't think it will lack any functionality. It's the matter of paying for 2 cards, and to have to potentially troubleshoot issues with 2 cards instead of 1. Looking forward to hear how the the install goes. When did you call for your appointment btw?

Adam

Actually, I was quite surprised...I called yesterday (thursday) and got a Tuesday 2-6pm slot. I'm betting the install is a complete mess.

so it 's only $1.75 for cable card? any additional fees?

so it 's only $1.75 for cable card? any additional fees?

Per card, plus the Tivo fee.

Adam

There is a good explanation of CableCard 2.0 and M-cards within this article, including some discussion of OCAP requirements holding back TiVo and Media Center devices: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/06/22/cablecard-2-0-is-ready/
thanks for the aritcle. but let me get this straight. The cables co's have their own boxes for rental which within five years we would pay for twice for. TIVO is available and CAN be used for TWC, but you need to get their cards installed, but with their cards you would miss out on all the fun things TWC advertises as their catch On-demand, instant and all-day PPV, and the soon to be coming interactive shopping. Plus if you own a TIVO or cable card slot you only have a $1.75 rental fee for the card. Reading this, why wouldn't more people get TIVO? I know in a couple of years you might have to upgrade your box, but the same will be true of the SA8300's.

Playing both sides, why would I want people to BYOD(bring your own device)? TWC is a company first, it is their right to make as much profit as possible. Those old analog boxes made TWC a fortune, they have had little if any problems and they lasted forever, plus they charged us that fee monthly and didn't blink. My old analog box would still be working if I didn't switch to DTv. It there is a 2 way compatility issue it is solved with just getting a TWC box. Why would you spend on a TIVO box if it has been rumored to be b"BUG" filled? Especially if you will not be able to enjoy the complete cable experience.

Does all this sound right? I know we need competition to keep things honest. That damm "checks and balances" thing we all learned years ago in government. But that article does make it seem like these cards (the 2.0)favor the cable companies more. Not a competitor like TIVO.

I don't think there is any financial advantage for any cable provider to supply cable cards, single or multi stream. They're being forced to by the FCC.

Also, let's face it, with the earlier Tivo line, you even had people that weren't very technical going out and buying a Tivo. That's definitely not going to be the case now. I consider myself an early adopter of various technologies, and I dread having to work through the hassles of getting 2 cable cards installed.

There is an interesting article that talks about some of these issues:

http://www.multichannel.com/blog/100000410/post/1870012387.html

Adam

I don't think there is any financial advantage for any cable provider to supply cable cards, single or multi stream. They're being forced to by the FCC.

Also, let's face it, with the earlier Tivo line, you even had people that weren't very technical going out and buying a Tivo. That's definitely not going to be the case now. I consider myself an early adopter of various technologies, and I dread having to work through the hassles of getting 2 cable cards installed.

There is an interesting article that talks about some of these issues:

http://www.multichannel.com/blog/100000410/post/1870012387.html

Adam
Good, article, but right along the lines of what I was talking about with added points. You have Comcast joining forces with TIVO, but you back right into the problem I mentioned before. Comcast will chrage a rental fee for these boxes while we could easily by them out right the only difference is the Comcast box might have the necessary tools installed for the on-demand and other 2 way services while a regular TIVO box will not. What a scam!!!!! TWC, seems like they look to maximize profits as far as they can (why do we get doubled charged for a DVR box?)so to give anything to a "friend" just doesn't seem like it will happen freely.
At the end of the day it comes down to each individual person, you need to ask yourself. How much 2 way use do I need? There are many of us here at AVS that don't waste the time with on-demand(becasue it isn't in HD). But someone like me with 3 boxes in the house. I Wouldn't mind a nice savings of $10 to 20 a month if I owned the boxes.

A good example, I just showed my mother on-demand this week, sure she knew about PPV on-demand, but she didn't know about TNTon-demand. She was upset that she missed The Closer the last 2 weeks and I told her go online. She has no time at work for that and the computer is too slow, so I told her to watch it on cable. I showed her all the "FREE" on-demand that was available and long story short she is hooked. Now that is one box that I hope TIVO gets the 2 way capability for.

I am like every other american looking for anyway to save a dollar and TIVO seems like the way if they find a common ground between themselves and the cable industry. Right now it seems the cards are stacked against TIVO making it mainstream however this is TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Anyone out there with TWC that is able to use TIVO? What do you consider to be the advantages and disadvantages? The one time charge and the monthly fees are a given, I am looking for convincing issue for and against.

FIOS update::The second biggest "city" in NYS is up next. Yonkers could have a franchise agreement as soon as September. Sure there are still hurdles but this is as close to the way the NYC agreement process will go. Plus NYC will be a lot closer to full wire installtion then Yonkers is right now.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070706/NEWS02/707060335/1018/NEWS02

Didn't they say late June the agreement for NYC will be signed, still waiting!!

Anyone out there with TWC that is able to use TIVO? What do you consider to be the advantages and disadvantages? The one time charge and the monthly fees are a given, I am looking for convincing issue for and against.

I think that if you've ever owned a TiVo and had it taken away from you (well, I bought an HDTV and had to submit to the 8300HD), you'd understand. Its just the way it feels. It's just, better.

So question for the group, apologies if this is off-topic but with all the cablecard talk I have a burning question. Anyone know if there is an affect of the cablecard, either positive or negative, on picture quality? A friend of mine has a panny with both the cablecard and the 8300HD (separate video inputs) and the box is clearly a much better picture quality than the card. I was surprised by this, but wasn't sure if it was an issue with the TV, or the technology. Anyone know anything on this?

$33 to install the first card and $19.99 for each additional card installed during the same service call.

So question for the group, apologies if this is off-topic but with all the cablecard talk I have a burning question. Anyone know if there is an affect of the cablecard, either positive or negative, on picture quality? A friend of mine has a panny with both the cablecard and the 8300HD (separate video inputs) and the box is clearly a much better picture quality than the card. I was surprised by this, but wasn't sure if it was an issue with the TV, or the technology. Anyone know anything on this?
It is exactly the same digital bitstream whether you are using the cablecard or a non-cablecard box. So if there is a difference in picture quality, it's not because you're using cablecard or not.

I'm not trying to shill for the cable company here, but I think people are mischaracterizing TiVo as a discount product. It's not. It carries a significant monthly premium.

Maintaining a DVR on TWCNYC costs $9.65 for the box and $8.95 for the service, totalling $18.60.

Maintaining a TiVo HD on TWCNYC will cost $16.95 for the service plus $3.50 for two CableCards per month, totalling $21.45. And that's after the startup costs, $300 for the box and $53 to have the two cablecards installed. You can mitigate the monthly cost for the TiVo if you pay in bulk or sign a long-term agreement, but at the end of the day, it's a higher cost, and you won't get access to some of the content you pay for on the cable bill.

Is TiVo really worth paying that much more? I used to think so, but nowadays I'm not so sure. I would rather buy a Windows Media Center PC with CableCARD support. The startup costs are very high--in the thousands--but you are getting a fully-spec'd PC for that money, and it will save you $15 off your bill, which compensates for not being able to access on-demand or SDV.

August 30:
ESPN U launches on channel 170
ESPN Classic moves from (Analog) channel 84 to channel 171
ESPN News moves from channel 120 to channel 172


Not so fast people! Just when you thought an analog channel was being cut off.
.
.
The Hallmark Channel moves from 107 to 84


sorry andy you are wrong, channel 84 is not analog and has not been for sometime. the former "metrochoice" tier on ch81-ch93 was digitized years ago.
only analog channel between ch81 and ch99 is ch93 because its a "must carry" city channel.

in staten island and western queens there are only 30 channels or so of analog. rest of the systems have about 75.

So question for the group, apologies if this is off-topic but with all the cablecard talk I have a burning question. Anyone know if there is an affect of the cablecard, either positive or negative, on picture quality? A friend of mine has a panny with both the cablecard and the 8300HD (separate video inputs) and the box is clearly a much better picture quality than the card. I was surprised by this, but wasn't sure if it was an issue with the TV, or the technology. Anyone know anything on this?
CableCard users have long claimed better PQ. One way to confirm (numerically) is with HDNet's Saturday 6:30 am test patterns, using this technique (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5175424#post5175424). Typical 8300HD readings are ~1300 lines maximum horizontal resolution (effective, not format) instead of ~1920 lines. Readings with a CableCard, or the new 8300HDC and Samsung STBs, ideally using known full-resolution 1080p displays--although 1366X768 ones might work for max horiz. rez (if still ~1300 lines)--would be interesting. -- John

sorry andy you are wrong, channel 84 is not analog and has not been for sometime. the former "metrochoice" tier on ch81-ch93 was digitized years ago.
only analog channel between ch81 and ch99 is ch93 because its a "must carry" city channel.

in staten island and western queens there are only 30 channels or so of analog. rest of the systems have about 75.
Thanks for the update. This suggests why other head ends are getting more HD channels. Hope Manhattan and other areas get more bandwidth for HD--ASAP. -- John

Oh, they could flash our boxes with whatever they want.....

And if the new Navigator has SARA as its underlying platform, it makes sense that the buffer bug would go away since SARA doesn't have the buffer bug...

Scott

Interesting... makes sense. The odd thing is that one would think Navigator replaces SARA... even if it based on that code base. Then again, we are al making educated guesses here, I just wish we could get an authoritative answer from TWC (i.e., a technical FAQ).

Of course, the real question here is when will they roll out Navigator to non-HDC boxes? AND, is it a good idea to swap our current boxes for the HDC? I have read that the HDC has more application space memory as it is apparently needed to run Navigator... so exactly what does that really mean?

i am also considering the new Tivo HD. At the $299 (or less) price point, everyone using TWC boxes should consider the benefits and price differentials. Tivo has a far superior interface, and could be cheaper in the long run.

I dare say they are in far better shape at 300 initial up front cost. But no way it will EVER be less expensive, especially in the long run.

That's not to say their software isn't better, the question will always start with "is the additional financial burden worth it?"

The inability to do SDV seems to me to be the first and most major reason why for our market, a TiVo is not recommended. Even if you judge the extra cost worth it. The bottom line is that you will NOT be able to get some HD channels that others do get.

300 tivo HD?
so they came out with a new cheaper one?
i'm guessing it probably has a smaller HD than the original $800 version?

From what I've read, yes it's a slightly smaller HD and a box's front display is gone. Extremely minor; and telling me that the 800 price was way overpriced. If I had gone for the 800 box, boy would I be pissed, big time!

To be extra clear...

TiVo = NO SDV!

To be extra clear...

TiVo = NO SDV!

What does your magic 8 ball say is the time frame for TWC Manhattan moving over to SDV?

in staten island and western queens there are only 30 channels or so of analog. rest of the systems have about 75.Since parts of Queens are on par with SI, can you tell us why Queens hasn’t been graced with the additional HD channels too?

Can you tell us when Queens will get more since it is bandwidth worthy?

sorry andy you are wrong, channel 84 is not analog and has not been for sometime. the former "metrochoice" tier on ch81-ch93 was digitized years ago.
only analog channel between ch81 and ch99 is ch93 because its a "must carry" city channel.

in staten island and western queens there are only 30 channels or so of analog. rest of the systems have about 75.


twcinsider

thanks, that's good to hear. any info on:
standard analog elimination in Eastern Queens, Bkyln & Manhattan?
SDV arrival in NYC?
More HD channels for Queens, Bkyln & Manhattan?
software upgrades for current mystro software?

So, just doing some reading on another TiVo board, and apparently all of the new Cablecard installs going in to TiVo S3 boxes in Manhattan (I assume including the TiVo HD) from Time Warner have been failing...something about a firmware update that doesn't load. Anyone know anything about this? Don't want to spread rumors, but it was mentioned as "the last two days", all installs haven't worked.

The only thing that stops me from getting TiVo is losing OnDemand... now I don't use it so often, but I still like the idea that its there when I want it. Also, having Passport makes it easier not to want to drop my current HD-DVR. I'm also waiting for TiVoToGo to support HD, which is currently in discussion.

This may be a silly question but I'm too knowledgeable with all things TiVo - but I was under the assumption that it was a DVR in the same vein as an 8300HD, except you owned it instead of leasing it from the cable company. Also based on a lot of posts here, I'm gathering that you can only use a TiVo box with a cablecard, or can you still use a STB (like the 3250) in conjunction with it? I can see the need for not wanting to have another STB taking up space but if it meant less problems (aka cablecard issues) I'd be fine with another box on the shelf.

I almost bought a TiVo last year, but at the time they didn't support HD recording so I passed on it - when I saw these $300 debut, I thought I'd revisit them and maybe give them a try but only if I can maintain my current setup & programming from TWC.