Nevermind, they fixed it this afternoon.

Hey guys. I just spoke to Tim Burt at Tele-Media. He said that they found the issue with WFSB-DT and WVIT-DT, and have ordered new equpment that will fix the problem. He told me that he doesn't have a timetable on when they will get the new equipment, n'or when it will be installed. As far as WTIC-DT goes, he said that Tribune is still playing hardball with them, and is not sure when a deal may be reached.

Fantastic news about WFSB and WVIT. At least they admitted there was a problem and even better that they found the issue.

This is SO frustrating with WTIC-DT. I hope they are able to work out something soon.

Another note: I noticed that Tele-Media has started to charge $4.95 for the HD Plus package (HDNet, HDNet Movies, ESPN-HD, InHD, and InHD2). A decent deal compared to what is out there. I wonder how Discovery and ESPN2 will effect the pricing?

My 3250's stopped cycling. Three days of no problems. Of course, now that I said this, watch them start cycling at night! :eek:

Bill, I turned in my 8000HD because it was an absolute disaster. I had two. Both would have frequent sound dropouts and picture stuttering with HD recordings. Especially with DD5.1 content. No matter what we tried, we could not figure out how to fix it. It was determined that their firmware was quite old. In fact, it was a dozen updates behind.

Have you ever experienced what I described? Many across the country have and report it went away once they had the very latest firmware.

I guess I have just been lucky because I have never experienced sound dropouts. I had picture stuttering (not frequent but annoying) for a several days in the beginning but I called customer service and they did something to it to make it better. I asked what they did and all I could get out of them is that they "re-sent the information to box and then rebooted." What ever they did fixed the issue and have been happy with the box except for the limited DVR software. The latest updates fixed the most annoying software issues so I am happy to have the HD-DVR.

I have been VERY happy with my 8000HD. Quality has been GREAT on all but the locals. My recordings have only had one problem and all be it a big one, about 12 recordings just vanished, that was the only problem I have had. Both HD and analog record perfectly. I only experience sound drop outs occasional once or twice a week.

Has anyone found an effcient way to get stuff off the 8000HDs hard drive and onto DVD?? OR maybe onto an external drive for more storage? I heard rumors of a SA External firewire drive...

razorhtought.com (http://razorthought.com/eve)

You are right. An archive solution is really needed. I do not think the USB or firewire ports are active. (I haven't checked with the new firmware upgrade.)

Regarding recordings disappearing, the default save time on all recordings is 2 weeks. Sometimes I forget to change the recording time to "Until Deleted" and when I go to watch them they have already disappeared. You can change the default recording time in the Preferences menu of the DVR. Just something to think about. :)

Where is WTIC-DT???

I'm still holding out for them to add WTIC-DT by tomorrow night for the World Series.... I know it probably won't happen though.

:( What a shame your wish did not come true.

According to the Hartford, CT - HDTV thread, Cox just added WTIC-DT to their lineup today. Let's hope this means things are moving in the right direction for other CT Cable companies.

Originally posted by BillN96
According to the Hartford, CT - HDTV thread, Cox just added WTIC-DT to their lineup today. Let's hope this means things are moving in the right direction for other CT Cable companies.

My gut says: "Highly unlikely". Plus, add to it the fact that they now realize they have a problem with their HD locals, and are waiting on new equipment to fix the problem. Perhaps this could prohibit them from even adding WTIC-DT even if they struck a deal.

Well the 3250HD STBs rebooted by themselves sometime around midnight last night and now are not passing HD via Firewire properly. The copy flags keep switching every few seconds. This is happening every Friday now. SOmetimes it's fixed in hours. Sometimes it takes days.

:mad:

At the present time, just one of the two has screwed up firewire. Very strange.

Any of you guys having problems tonight (Thursday night) with your recievers? I'm getting no guide, no program info, and no digital channels. All I get is analog channels. When I reboot the receiver, it never gets the time on the receiver, and eventually gives me a message saying "Advanced Services are unabailable at this time." I'm using a 3250HD box. Keep in mind, the same thing happened a few months ago to me when it rained pretty hard out, as it is now. Not sure if that has anything to do with it. Also, I noticed earlier this evening that On-Demand services were not working. Once again, not sure if there is any connection there.

I have an 8000HD and am not having any problems with regular TV, Digital, HDTV or the guides. All is fine in well over here in Wolcott....

I had no problems with my 8000HD last night either.

Must have something to do with my location, I guess. It's still not working as of 8:38 AM Friday.

I have a been searching through the forums and this tread seems pretty current. I may be off topic but the thread title seems to put me with the people that would know..

I am in the process of buying an HDTV .. I think... my current one is projection TV is having intermittent problems.. and I read how bad Tele-Media is on HDTV stations so I would like to know if I am wasting my time. We are not really big TV watchers but do like to watch DVD movies usually on the weekend.. it seems that from all that I read that if I'm buying an TV today I should seriously consider HDTV...

Is Tele-Media a worthwhile provider? Am I wasting my money with HDTV.. ?? I don't know much about Satellite so I will probably start with cable... as I have that in the house now.

Any Help? or should I really start a new thread??

Thanks for any help...

Jack

Originally posted by jackmd
I have a been searching through the forums and this tread seems pretty current. I may be off topic but the thread title seems to put me with the people that would know..

I am in the process of buying an HDTV .. I think... my current one is projection TV is having intermittent problems.. and I read how bad Tele-Media is on HDTV stations so I would like to know if I am wasting my time. We are not really big TV watchers but do like to watch DVD movies usually on the weekend.. it seems that from all that I read that if I'm buying an TV today I should seriously consider HDTV...

Is Tele-Media a worthwhile provider? Am I wasting my money with HDTV.. ?? I don't know much about Satellite so I will probably start with cable... as I have that in the house now.

Any Help? or should I really start a new thread??

Thanks for any help...

Jack

Hi Jack, welcome to this thread.

I believe that you should DEFINITELY get an HDTV, it's almost imperative that you do these days. You say you watch DVDs, well if you have an HDTV and a DVD player with component (RGB) outputs, and progressive scan, you can watch your DVDs in wide screen, so that it's like you're at the movie theater.

As far as HDTV programming goes, I think you should start with Tele-Media. The reason is because if you don't like it, you can always just cancel the service. If you went straight to satellite, you'd have to sign a year contract.

Tele-Media is working out the bugs they have with HDTV right now. The only one that really remains is the problem with the local HD channels. They supposedly have ordered, or received by now, new equipment to fix the problem with the locals. Once this is fixed, there really aren't any other problems with their HD service. And I believe you would end up staying with Tele-Media, since you get all of their HD offerings, with the exception of premiums like HBO-HD, Showtime HD, etc, for just $7 a month, that's a total of 8 channels currently. Future additions to their HD package will likely include FOX HD, to complete their HD locals, Discovery HD Theater, TNT-HD, and Bravo HD+. Also, expect Tele-Media to carry YES-HD by the beginning of baseball season, which would show New York Yankees games in HD. And, if Tele-Media can get an agreement with NESN, you will see NESN-HD, which would show Red Sox games in HD.

I hope this info helps.

Hi Jack. I agree with Paulie, as much as we may hate to admit it, Tele-Media does have a pretty good HD package. (Most of us go back a long way with Tele-Media and has left a very bitter taste that is difficult to get rid of.)

As far as their HD programming goes, I like it. There is a small problem with a couple local channels that is being addressed but other channels (especially ESPN-HD) to me look stunning. Hopefully FOX-HD and PBS-HD will be added soon so we have all the locals. There is also talk that Discovery HD, ESPN2-HD, and others will be added in the near future.

Good luck with your HDTV purchase and let us know if you have any questions.

Guys... thanks for these posts .. It is really what I wanted to hear.. I have had Tele-media since they strung Analog down my street in the 70's.. and if it works it's good but if not it is like pulling teeth to get it fixed...

I got their digital package installed when they offered a special deal and we never seemed that we used anything that was offered... even though I used S-Video from the box to my TV... and saw a little PQ upgrade.. so we eventually had it removed.

So I am 99% sure that I will buy a Mitz 62725 and use the HDMI input from a new DVD I am waiting for... Sony DVP NS975V.. not in the stores yet but it is shipping.. so other threads say on this BB.

So if I get the HD package I guess they give you a SA HD receiver..?? They don't offer Card Cable that I can tell... So the SA would use the HDMI interface and then create a problem for my DVD player... I don't want anything but the local HDTV channels, at this time... I gather that I will need to use the converter to unscramble the total package... because I will get a Digital Cable Ready tuner will I need a tele-media SA converter for local rebroadcast of what is available over the air???.... is that true??... nobody will say for sure.... or nobody knows... seems when you call the cable company no one is technical and anyone that knows won't tell you...

So my question: Does anyone see local channels without a SA HD converter... ??? I don't use a converter now so I don't want a converter if I don't need one.. especially if I bought/buy a HDTV with a tuner..

Don't use premium channels now and frankly every time we had premium channels we never made good use of them to cover the cost.... that is why we do DVDs..

Originally posted by jackmd

So my question: Does anyone see local channels without a SA HD converter... ??? I don't use a converter now so I don't want a converter if I don't need one.. especially if I bought/buy a HDTV with a tuner..

Don't use premium channels now and frankly every time we had premium channels we never made good use of them to cover the cost.... that is why we do DVDs.. [/B]

Jack, it is true. You are "supposed" to be able to receive your local HD channels over cable for free, granted you have a QAM tuner, or a TV with a built in QAM tuner. However, I cannot confirm the Tele-Media situation. I've posted the question a few times, as to which channels were unscrambled QAM from Tele-Media, and have recieved no responses. From reading other threads, I've also seen that some people are able to pull in other HD channels with a QAM tuner, not just their locals.

So I guess the bottom line is this: If you are getting an HDTV that has a built in QAM tuner, you'll find out what Tele-Media is offering up for free when you get your TV. Now, if you do this, and you don't get the locals like you are supposed to, then that's a whole other story. Having Tele-Media fix problems can be a pain. Also, when you do get your TV, let us know what you are getting over QAM, we're curious.

OK, I can do that... Next thing is QAM... is that a common tuner? or is there something I should look for with the equipment? I'll look at the Mitz website and see what they say on any specs...

Jack

Originally posted by jackmd
OK, I can do that... Next thing is QAM... is that a common tuner? or is there something I should look for with the equipment? I'll look at the Mitz website and see what they say on any specs...

Jack

QAM is pretty common in HDTVs, although mine didn't come with one. If you're HDTV doesn't come with a built in QAM tuner, you'll have to buy a seperate receiver. QAM receivers can be very expensive, usually to the tune of $500 or more. Although, I do believe that Samsung makes an ATSC/QAM receiver that goes for around $300, even cheaper on eBay.

Hmmm.. according to the glossary..

QAM Quadrature amplitude modulation - A digital modulation method in which the value of a symbol consisting of multiple bits is represented by amplitude and phase states of a carrier. 64 or 256 QAM is used for downstream transmission in cable systems.

The tuner in the Mitz says its tuner is... Digital/Analog Combined Tuner Air/Cable-ATSC/NTSC/CableCARD� 2nd Analog Tuner for PIP/POP image only. So no answer for me here...

But.. the Mitz is supposedly compatible with 'digital cable' because it uses Cable Card and that says it is compatible with cable transmission... does not specify types of transmission.. but how many kinds can there be. I can't (so far) find what types are in use.. So if QAM is common then QAM is probably what the Mitz does.. or at least one of the ones that it can handle..until I can find otherwise.. I'll take a leap of faith.. naw.. I'll be hunting some more...

Jack

Hmmm... I would think that any TV that supports Cable Card technology would utilize a QAM tuner. However, I looked around for a little while to find even a mention of QAM with the 62725, and I found nothing. I think that you should call Mitsubishi and ask them about this before you buy.

No, Cable Card and QAM do not go hand in hand. Just be prepared to have problems getting a working cable card from Telemedia. I know for a fact they are having huge problems in that regard. You will likely have to speak directly with someone like Bob Rearden or Ray Cenicola in Seymour to get one.

The Mitsubishi TV Jack is buying has no QAM tuner.

You know, us CT guys really need to get together for a night of HD something or other at somebody's place. Seriously. Hell, I'd host it. I do have a projector.

I am now receiving Discovery HD Theater on channel 776. There is no programming information being listed. Tele-Media suprising us again with a very good HD lineup.

Not that I am ungrateful, but I would still rather have WTIC-DT. Anyway, great addition Tele-Media and keep it up. The cost of the "HD Plus" package is justified with the addition of Discovery HD Theater in my opinion.

Yikes. Got home from work today and saw Discovery HD on the guide. I was all excited, until I tuned into the channel. IT LOOKS LIKE CRAP! Just like WFSB-DT and WVIT-DT. Come on Tele-Media, if you're going to give us Discovery HD, could you give it to use the way it's meant to be? Geez, this is frustrating, and I hope they fix this problem soon. I'll have to call Tim tomorrow, and hopefully get a hold of him and talk about this. Also, what's going on with INHD? It's black, no picture. Now, this could be one of three things.

1. Tele-Media screwed up and INHD is down, probably because of the Discovery HD addition.

2. INHD screwed up, and is down.

3. For some reason, the Timberwolves game is blacked out for us in CT???

Oh well. If I speak to Tim tomorrow and get any useful info, I'll post it here.

InHD basketball games are being blacked out in other Adelphia areas too. I think that Adelphia did not agree to that part of the contract to save a little money. I am sure it has nothing to do with the addition of Discovery but I would like to know why we are not able to get the basketball games. It just doesn't make sense to me. Either you get the channel or you don't.

I agree that I have noticed the Discovery HD channel does have major pixelization issues. I noticed it worse on Discovery than WFSB & WVIT but they all need to be fixed.

Paulie, please let us know what Tim has to say about this and if there is any progress on WTIC-DT.

Why would Adelphia do that? Why would they not agree to show the NBA games? That's rediculous! I'd say that sports is probably the most popular programming that peole want to watch in HD. I really hope this is not true. But if it is true, they had better damn be sure that they are getting TNT-HD so that we can see some HD basketball there. I'm pretty sure that TNT is broadcasting all of their NBA games in HD.

Also, what happened to PBS-HD? I remember asking about HDTV from Tele-Media before it was available. They said the only agreement that they in place for programming at the time was with PBS. They made sure to specifically say that we would be getting UCONN Womens games in HD. Does anyone else here remember that? But hey, Tele-Media, if you're going to give us any new channels, please do it right. Something tells me that it might not just be an equipment problem, but that someone in Engineering doesn't know what the heck they're doing.

I can't get a hold of Tim or Ray today. I've been leaving Tim voice mails every now and then, but he never calls back. I don't think he's intentionally not calling me back, because every time we speak he seems to enjoy our conversation. Maybe he doesn't check is voicemail often. Anyway, I guess we'll see if they accomplish anything today. I'll try to call Tim, then Ray later on today.

Okay, I just spoke to Ray Cenicola. I told him about this problem with WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Discovery HD Theater. He refuses to acknowledge the fact that there is a problem with these channels. He said that they can look at it on their monitors at the head end, and that they see no problems like we've described. He then tried to attribute it to the fact that I'm using compenent input, as apposed to DVI, which I know is not the case. I told him that HDNet, HDNet Moves, INHD, etc are all perfect. I told him how all of us on here are having the same problem, DVI, component, or whatever. He says that he will have it checked out, but he really didn't sound like he was too concerned about it, since he reassured me that there were no problems. This is very frustrating, trying to get them to realize they have a problem, but they refuse to. Maybe it's something they just can't detect.

Other stuff: He told me that they do not have an agreement to show NBA games on INHD. They are currently looking for alternate programming ot show when INHD shows NBA games.

They are getting "closer" to a deal for WTIC-DT, and hopes to have it up and running by the time the Super Bowl comes around in February.

Adelphia is "very close" to signing a deal for the NFL Network. This would add the following: NFL Netowork channel to be offered in their digital service, NFL Network On-Demand, which would deliver game highlights, NFL films, etc, and NFL Network HD, which would show the NFL Network Games of the Week eveyr week.

I have a bad feeling that nothing is going to get done here, and we're pretty much stuck with WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Discovery HD in their current lousy state.

I'll give him a call tomorrow after I check out the channels tonight for myself on the projector.

That is very discouraging news about WTIC-DT. I was hoping to be able to watch 24 in HD starting in January. I do not remember hearing that UConn Women's Basketball was going to be in HD. That seems to be very ambious for a public television station. It would be a VERY pleasent surprise if they did. I would just be happy with a better digital picture for the games.

You will need to file a complaint with the FCC to get anywhere.

Well, before I did anything like that, I would first have to find out what right we have to file a complaint like that about the quality of picture of our HDTV programming.


BTW: You said you were going to check the picture quality on your projector. Are you seeing the same problem?

Thats funny.because when I called Tele-Media they didnt even know what DVI was.I have an Exploer 8000 and my DVI output is not active.Who can i talk to to find any information about this.thanks

Originally posted by sonyman33
Thats funny.because when I called Tele-Media they didnt even know what DVI was.I have an Exploer 8000 and my DVI output is not active.Who can i talk to to find any information about this.thanks

I believe that Bill and Matt have the 8000HD, they could probably help you as far as DVI goes.

Are you, like the rest of us seeing the lousy picture quality of WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Discovery HD? Some of us have come to refer to this problem as a mix of pixelation and jittery.

I am sorry but I do not connect using the DVI output. It is my understanding that the port is not yet enabled on the 8000HD but it works on the 3250HD. In the HDTV Recorders section it is confirmed in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=462887) that it is not working yet from Scientific Atlanta but should be by the end of the year. Keep checking the HDTV Recorders forum for a sticky post when it is enabled. There are enough people who are waiting for it.

I talked to Tim Burt today, and he is sending an engineer to my house today to take an up close and personal look at the problme with WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Discovery HD Theater. Hopefully this will finally start the ball rolling to get this problem fixed.

Well, Tele-Media sent over 2 guys today. I believe one was a tech, and one was an engineer. I showed them channels 703, 730, and 776. Unfortunately, there wasn't any programming with too much movement on any of the channels at the time, but Discovery was showing some stuff that definitely showcased the jittery / pixelation problem to me. I'd say we were watching for about 10 minutes. I clearly saw the problem, but the two guys just didn't see it. There would be an instance of someone walking across the screen where it would get "jittery" and I'd say "there it was, but they said they did not see it. I told them that if they really want a good example of the problem that they need to watch a football game on 703 on Sunday. They said that they have a guy who's into HD working on Sunday, and they'll have him sit down and take a look during a football game.

I was very discouraged from the visit today. No one seems to realize that it's a real problem. They seem to just think that the way that these channels look is how it's supposed to be, or at least they don't see the difference between say HDNet and these channels. I think I'm just going to give up, because if I can't make the engineers see the problem, there's really nothing else that can be done. The only other thing I can think of is if you guys call up and tell Tim Burt that you are experiencing the same problem. This way if it's reported by numerous people, they might take a more serious approach to it. To get a hold of Tim, call 203-736-2692, extension 440. Thanks.

The guys they send out don't even have HD in their homes. These guiys look at a pink picture and think it is fine. They simply have no clue. Most people don't. They are Joe Six Pack.

I have not had a chance to sit down and look at anything on the projector this week. I am just too busy. I will try and do it tonight.

OK, I was finally able to snag 10 minutes to check DiscoveryHD and yes, there was macroblocking during fast motion. The program I watched was fine. A little soft, but fine. However, once it went to a commercial break and had one of those Discovery promos with fast cutting, there was breakup everywhere. Much more than you should see, so there is no doubt that the feed is compressed more than say HDNet or INHD.

Matt, I urge you to call Tele-Media and tell either Tim Burt or Ray Cenicola about this. They think that I'm nuts, they think I'm making this stuff up. It's rediculous. If they refuse to fix the problem, perhaps we should threaten them (all of us on here) to cancel our service with them. Maybe that would make them take us a little bit more seriously.

I got a message when I cam home on Wednesday night that Tim Burt had called me that evening. I spoke to him today, and his reason for calling me was to see how the visit from the guys went last Friday. I told him how the programming that on at the time wasn't the best for showing the problem (talk shows), as well as that even when I clearly saw the jittery movement and macroblocking that the guys couldn't see it. I also told him about how they were supposed to have someone monitoring the Jets game on Sunday, for a good example of the problem. His response was "So you weren't satisfied with the results?" I absolutely wasn't, but said that he should find out what the HD guy watching the Jets on Sunday saw. He said he was going to check with the GM on this issue. I'm hoping to hear more from him soon concerning this, and I continue to urge all you guys to call Tele-Media and let them know that you are having this problem. If it continues to be just me calling, they will think it's an isolated incident. Please call so something can get done.

A few weeks ago I posted asking if anyone could tell me if any local OTA HD stations were carried unscrambled on TeleMedia.

I finally had my HDTV delivered. It has a QAM tuner and is capable of looking at anything that is unscrambled delivered on the standard cable without any Telemedia supplied digital equipment. This was next to impossible to figure this out in advance. I had to read a lot into documentation and compare results from numerous web pages. In the end scanning the cable I found numerous digital stations but no 'local' HD stations. The tuner sees pay per view stations in HD.

So now it appears that I need to ask what experience this group has with getting the major network broadcast HDTV. I bought a indoor antenna and WTNH is spectacular off the indoor antenna. Until I saw that I was disappointed with the equipment.

I have a slot for Cable Card. I believe that the FCC has a mandate that all cable providers must have CC available as of August 2004.

Has anyone used or been able to obtain a CC with TeleMedia?

HD PPV? Nice. Area you actually getting the movies? Also, what other digital channels are you getting? As far as the locals, if they're not showing up for you, you should call Tele-Media and tell them this. But don't tell them you're getting HD PPV, hehe.

Well, I'm not sure... some sort of premium channel. I looked Friday night and there was Master and Commander.. and last night was SeaBiscuit. Pretty impossible to determine what is on and where it is. Nothing of value as it seems to jump from channel to channel as a method of presentation. If I leave a movie and come back it may or may not be there. It could also be another movie. However it is unscrambled and seems to continue on multiple channels at the same time.

I called Adelphia and they offer a CC and I think I will try to see what that gives me. They told me I would get the HDTV offering and that is basically all 4 networks. The operator did not know specifics... That is why I am trying to determine what I should be getting. It's less than $2 a month to lease the CC and that seems reasonable for the extra cost to Adelphia and the cost of providing the service that is supposed to be mandated. I guess I will see what that level of service gives us.

My wife and I don't have any premium channels at this time or even a converter. We did at times and even tried digital service with a digital converter but basically find that when we wanted to watch something it wasn't showing and wasted our money and did not see any advantage to having the digital service on our old RPTV..

I don't feel that the movies that I am seeing are worth anything at this time. I can't imagine that they don't know they are there. Looks like the movement scheme is deliberate and meant to discourage watching to accommodate some equipment that provides the movies on older telemedia supplied equipment.

The reason for the flipping of the HD PPV is probably for testing purposes. They currently do not offer HD PPV, however they have said that HD PPV will be available very soon. As far as the cable card goes, if they told you that you were going to get the 4 networks, they lied. You will not get Fox.

Well, I assume that the way the operator talked and searched for answers she did not know exactly what was available. At least I could understand her :-)

The QAM tuner should pick up the local HD stations. FCC regulations require that. But since when does any cable company follow FCC regulations? :(

Originally posted by Matt_Stevens
The QAM tuner should pick up the local HD stations. FCC regulations require that. But since when does any cable company follow FCC regulations? :(

Well, I hoped that it would have but at $1.75 for the Cable Card it will be much cheaper than putting up and outside antenna. The big question is will they get it right and what stations do I get? I scheduled them to come when I was here so I could ask questions.. Probably won't get any answers but I'm hoping that the technology is new enough that only a few 'TeleMedia' people actually will do the install. :cool: .... Realistically I know it probably will be the only person available.. :(

On a side note I can't believe how good the HD picture is from WTNH with a indoor antenna.

Unfortunely .. :(

I got a call to today from the Telemedia installer and he told me he doesn't have a cable card to install. How did I know this was not going to be painless. :rolleyes:

It seems they did not leave him the card and the warehouse is closed on Sunday so he can't check to see if it ever arrived. He told me that they had issues three weeks ago with another CC order and seemed to indicate that it was not installed yet either. The installer had no idea how to do the task and needed to call his supervisor during the week. :confused:

I guess I will have to put a trace on the CC myself because I feel that if I wait for them I'll probably wait forever...

Until today I was hopeful that because I had not heard anything that this might happen but I guess I was wrong.

I don't know what they need to do to the card or if they just need to input the cards number into the Telemedia system. Has anyone got a CC working with Telemedia?

This is ridiculous. I'm watching the Patriots game and it looks like complete crap. I've had it. I'm cancelling my Tele-Media HD. I'd appreciate it if you guys could inform me of if and when they ever fix their problems, the problems that they don't acknowledge, that is.

I talked with Ray Cenicola and he said all the channels are compressed the same and look fine to them. Three channels were QAM and THAT is the problem. Anything with high detail (HD Video used for sports, or on Discovery HD, etc) will have artifacting during motion. It cannot be avoided with three HD feeds per QAM channels because none of the channels are getting anything more than 13 mb/ps.

So we are stuck. Nothing we can do. Except get an antenna and a OTA receiver fore locals.

Now, here is what may be coming to Telemedia. HD-PPV is in the pipeline. TNT-HD (whoopdeedoo) and Bravo-HD (another whoopdeeedoo).

The story from Ray doesn't seem to make too much sense to me. I have a friend in Hamden who has Comcast. He has a QAM tuner and the channels that he receives with his QAM tuner blow our WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Discovery HD out of the water. This tells me that it's not a matter of if something is QAM or not. As far as I knew, ALL of the digital channels, including HD on Tele-Media, and pretty much all digital cable systems were in QAM.

Could you imagine if a store like Bernie's had hooked up one of their really nice HDTVs with Tele-Media HD, and had put, for example the Patriots game on to show off on Sunday? People would walk in the store, look at the TV and say "Man, what's all the fuss about HD? Looks like crap to me." Well, that's the reaction I've been getting from all my friends that I have over for Patriots games each Sunday. These are people who have never seen any HD before this, and only appreciate HD for what it is if I put something from one of the "not screwed up" channels on For God's sake, there is something severely wrong when someone so HD enthusiastic like me is watching my favorite team (Patriots) in HD on Tele-Media, and is forced to turn to the analog channel because it makes my viewing experience more pleasurable!!! Jesus Christ Tele-Media, get a f*cking clue and fix your goddamn HD service before you scare everyone away. I can tell you for a fact that NONE of my friends want to get your HD service because they have seen it, and I've recommended most of them to get DirecTV HD. Oh, and I can't wait for TNT-HD, Bravo-HD, WTIC-DT, and HD-PPV so that we have four more channels to bitch and moan about! I hope someone buys Tele-Media and comes in here and cleans this mess up. You don't have much time, Tele-Media, because pretty soon DirecTV should be offering pretty much all of the same HD programming as you, and I'm pretty confident that it will be a much better service unless you do something.

No, you misunderstand. By squeezing THREE HD channels into one QAM transponder, you do not have enough bandwidth. Comcast puts two HD feeds per QAM transponder and then a few SD channels, which allows the HD feeds to have much more bandwidth.

Comcast is one of the few companies that does it the right way and even then, it's only in a few areas. Most Comcast subscribers around the country get what we are getting through TeleMedia. I have seen Charter Cable's HD and it's as bad as, if not worse than TeleMedia. DISH is a bit less in quality than TeleMedia, except for DiscoveryHD and the HDNet's, which clearly look better.

As for DirecTV, THEY ARE WORSE! I have seen their HD and it's garbage. They not only cram the HD channels together, they actually soften the image first in order to avoid massive artifacting from too much detail. I have a number of DirecTV 169Time recorded flicks that I have compared to my recordings off of TeleMedia and DirecTV sucks. It makes TeleMedia look golden.

The only uncompressed non-local Networks HD out there that will stay that way is via C-Band (Big Ugly Dish) and how many of you are willing to make that commitment?

Originally posted by PaulieORF

Could you imagine if a store like Bernie's had hooked up one of their really nice HDTVs with Tele-Media HD........

I found it amusing that you said that.
Only because I went into bernie's looking for an HDTV at their new location in Waterbury (where Caldor's and Barnes and Noble used to be years ago, on Lakewood) and the picture quality was so horrible I just left.

They had a couple things at good prices, but it looked so bad, I didn't want to go through buying/returning TV sets because I couldn't get a good comparison in-store.
And when I say bad, I mean i've seen VCD's with better quality! (and that's saying something....)

At any rate, I just jumped on the 19.99 for 6 months broadband internet deal Telemedia/Adelphia was offering. (4-day sale, expired Saturday at midnight) and the CSR I spoke to gave me 3 months digital cable with every channel, HD, and DVR for free. I'm psyched.:D

The next 3 months are gonna be great.

She said that after the 3 months, I can get basic digital (no HBO etc....) for 10-15 a month, and the HD+DVR box and service is only $7 and change a month.
Man, COMBINED it's all cheaper than what I pay now for my DSL service. (49.99 a month. Because I joined SBC DSL 4 years ago, and it cost 49.99 at the time, they say i'm "locked" at that rate and refuse to lower it. So bye-bye-SBC hello cable internet!)

I look forward to the digital cable and HD service when it all arrives and gets hooked up.
True, it might be terrible by most standards, but i'm coming from a 5-year old 20 inch panasonic analog TV that doesn't even have S-video. (and going to a Zenith 27 inch CRT HD)
I figure even terrible HD will be better than the crap i'm used to.:D

I'll give my comments on Telemedia's HD service once it's all setup and i've had time to evaluate it.

I know this is a stupid Question but has anyone tried or heard about SBC HD.They seem to offer quite a bit of channels.I'm just wondering how the quality of the channels are.

It is my understanding that SBC just sells DirecTV. Whatever DirecTV has, SBC has.

SBC sells DISH.

Well, in about 5 years or so, we should have a choice in TV service. This is because SBC is going to start offering digital television in this area around then. This new technology will utilize Microsoft Windows Media compression, which is excellent from what I've seen of it. And 5 years from now, I'm sure it'll be even better. Not to mention that they will be offering a buffet of HD.

As far as DirecTV goes, I believe that in a year or so, once they have their new HD satellite setup and running, their HD programming will be superior to Tele-Media. That's what I was referring to, not DirecTV today.

Matt, I just did a little investigating. I went into diagnostic mode on my SA3250HD, and found this QAM breakdown:

703: 597.000 MHz
708: 597.000 MHz
730: 597.000 MHz
770: 585.000 MHz
771: 585.000 MHz
772: 621.000 MHz
774: 621.000 MHz
775: 585.000 MHz
776: 615.000 MHz

I do not subscribe to the premium services like HBO and Starz, so I can't get the information for those channels. However, I've come to the conclusion that what you've been told from Ray Cenicola cannot be the reason for the problems with WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Discovery HD.

Take a look above at the information I gathered. You'll notice that WFSB-DT, WTNH-DT, and WVIT-DT are all residing on the same QAM at 597 MHz. That supports your claim that the reason for the poor PQ is beacuse of three channels sharing one QAM. However, you will also notice that HDNet, HDNet Movies, and INHD2 all share the same QAM at 585 MHz. We can all agree that the PQ on these three channels is satisfactory, and that no one has complained about them. We can also all agree that the picture quality on these channels is FAR superior to the PQ on WFSB-DT, WTNH-DT, and WVIT-DT. This proves your theory wrong. And to further prove your theory (actually Ray's theory) wrong, look at Disovery HD Theater. It is sitting alone at 615 MHz (as far as I know, unless it's sharing a QAM with some of the premium channels). If it is in fact sitting alone at 615 MHz, then there is no reason for it to share the same picture quality problems as the three channels that are sharing 597 MHz, and it should actually have the best PQ out of all the channels, since it is the only one that has its own QAM.

Now, keep in mind that all of what I've said here is based on what I've gathered for the channels mentioned above, and do not include the QAM information for the premium HD channels. If anyone here subscribes to these channels and can gather this information for me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I just got a flyer in my mail today from Tele-Media. They are adding 9 new digital channels, but I found something interesting. They are eliminating analog PPV, and are eliminating In Demand Digital PPV on channels 307-330. I wonder, and pray, for this to mean more bandwidth available for HD. They are also moving Headline News to channel 71, and moving Turner Movie Classics to channel 54.

Paul, We'll have to see what the premium channels are on before making judgments. However, I can say this... Something has happened to STARZ-HD. It is, without a doubt, suddenly a massive mess of artifacts. The picture is now unwatchable, with moire patterns everywhere and constant pixel flashing from a lack of bandwidth. It looks like the old DVD's from Warner where a 2+ hour film was crammed on a single layer.

Case in point: ABOUT SCHMIDT. This HD transfer is a complete disaster. My DISH-PPV copy had a number of glitches so I recorded over it from Starz. Big mistake. The Starz version is terrible. The DVD looks three times as good.

RETURN OF THE KING is another example. Any time there is movement the picture breaks up. This is in your face on my projector and it is also present on my 47 inch HDTV.

So it's safe to say that nobody here is happy with their HD service from Tele-Media, right?

Well, I am happy with some of the channels. MAD MAX looked fantastic on HDNet Movies last night. But Starz still looks like bad DVD and will likely stay that way. Adelphia/TeleMedia leaves a lot to be desired.

We just got our TeleMedia HD receiver installed this morning and so far everything looks good.. HDNET and Discover-HD are incredible.. I'm watching the Pats game in HD now and it's simply amazing. The quality is on par with the ABC Monday night Football OTA broadcast from WTNH I got this past Monday night.. No complaints so far.


-Josh-

(New member, first post!)

jclark....what town do you live in? Also, it's VERY interesting that your picture for the Patriots game is on par with anything OTA. What model receiver did they give you?

You did not notice any kinda of "jitteryness" and macro-blocking on CBS or Discovery, especially during the Patriots game on CBS? I'm interested because as you can read in this thread, quite a few of us are far less than impressed with CBS, NBC, and Discovery HD. All the rest are fine, but these three, at least for us are far below the rest of the channels.

Josh, how large is your screen? Please list the brand and type.

Hi Paulie.

I'm in Oxford.. TeleMedia gave me the standard SA Explorer 3250HD. I'm using the Component out to my Sony TV. I watched several HD shows yesterday including the Pats game and the Sunday nigh Game on ESPN HD. Both were excellent, at least to my eyes.

I did see some problems on StarzHD after I posted my first message- I flipped to Nemo for a few seconds and during the scene when Nori (Dori? I forget) has a flashback and several images flash in rapid succession the screen pixelated to nothing and took a second or two to recover.. Not horrible but annoying.

I just wish we had Fox :)

-Josh-

Does anyone have any emails for customer service at the Seymour ofice?
The tele-mediacable website is down, so i can't get the info off of there.

I picked up my 8300HD DVR and new cable modem (yes) but I need more equipment to get it to work.

My TV will accept HD over RGB (15-pin VGA) only. I was told that if I found I did need it, I could let them know. But i'm at work and will not be able to call them.
I found the Scientific Atlanta part numbers I need, unit is part# 749790 and cable is 749978

I could always call later tonight, but i'd like to set it up for me to pick them up tomorrow morning....

If anyone has the email addresses or can help in any way, please let me know. Thanks!

I don't believe they have an email address that you can reach them at.

In other news:

Adelphia and the NFL have reached an agreement to offer us the NFL Network. Here is what's going on:

Some Adelphia systems around the country are airing a preview of the NFL Network on local community channels, kind of like channel 13. Starting January 17, they will be offering the NFL Network as a regular digital channel, not sure what channel number, however. I believe it will be somewhere in the 170's, they may move TVG and make it channel 178. The NFL Network HD channel will be on channel 778. This should also be accompanied by the NFL Network On-Demand. I'm not sure what the exact time table is for the HD channel or the On-Demand channel. But I'd say there is a pretty good chance that the HD channel will look like crap, just like all the latest additions to Tele-Media's HD lineup.

Here is a story from MultiChannel News, talking about Adelphia wanting to offer a digital simulcast of all of it's analog offerings in order to free up spectrum for more HD channels and new services...

-------------------------------------------------

Adelphia Talking Digital Simulcast

Another cable company is making plans to offer a digital simulcast of its analog programming.

Adelphia Communications Corp. has told federal regulators it plans to “to take several of its systems digital, in order to recapture analog spectrum” and make room for more HDTV services and more digital-tiering options.

A cable-industry source said Adelphia was referring to a digital simulcast, and not a complete conversion to digital that would reclaim all analog spectrum and require analog customers to obtain digital set-tops.

Adelphia disclosed its digital-simulcast plans in a Dec. 15 meeting with Federal Communications Commission officials that also touched on the company’s opposition to the July 2006 ban on cable-operator deployment of new integrated set-tops. Analog-only boxes are exempt.

Last week, Comcast Corp. chief technology officer David Fellows said his company would launch a digital simulcast across most systems by the end of 2005. Comcast is the largest U.S. cable company, with about 21 million subscribers.

Like Adelphia, Comcast is opposed to the integrated-set-top ban, saying that it would raise consumer-equipment costs and frustrate the company’s transition to an all-digital-transmission system.

If the ban goes into effect, cable operators would have to provide customers with set-tops with CableCards, devices that authorize receipt of encrypted programming services. Thousands of cable customers are using CableCards with their plug-and-play digital-TV sets.

NFL Network will be on channel 124, and NFL Network HD will be on channel 777. Expect these channels to be available next week, although NFL VOD may not be available for a few weeks. NFL Network and NFL Network HD are already active for Adelphia subsribers in New Hampshire.

Starz still looks like garbage. Massive amounts of block noise. Unwatchable on a projector.

Once the NFL Network HD is added, I assume it will have a horrible picture, and will also result in one or more other HD channels having further reduced PQ.

Originally posted by Matt_Stevens
Starz still looks like garbage. Massive amounts of block noise. Unwatchable on a projector.

I was watching Return of the King last night, and I believe it was on StarzHD. Absolutely horrible. Now I see what you guys are talking about.

I could not blieve how bad it was.

On a side note, is ANYONE having problems with VOD?

Free on Demand, HBO on Demand, etc... etc.... I get nothing.

I get some type of error code no matter what I choose. I've been trying for days now just to get one show to work, and nothing.

I talked to both Telemedia in Orlando (service desk?) and the local office, and they both tell me simply. "yes, we're having problems with VOD" and that's it. No further info, no estimated fix time, nothing.

So is it working for anyone? Or is everyone else in the same boat as me?

VOD seems to be off and on. Some days it will work, some it will not. Sometimes some of them will work, sometimes none of them.

Thanks for the reply, PaulieORF.
I was comparing my setup to a friend's. She's in the same town, about a mile away.
Her analog channels looked better than our digital channels. And all of her VOD worked perfectly, while I still have yet to get one single program via VOD, no matter which channel or program I try.

I wonder if there's an underlying issue here. Maybe a problem with our lines. They're quite old. And I mean old. The wires were run way way back when we first got cable, and our first A/B switch.

Think it's time for a new run? :)

Well, they should have run the new lines back in 2000 or 2001 in your area. However, the quality of your lines shouldn't just make a digital picture less attractive. A poor line quality would result in breakup of both sound and picture, or no picture and sound at all on digital channels.

Here (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041221/cltu003_1.html) is a press release detailing Adelphia introducing new VOD technology to a select few markets, which includes Waterbury. I'm not sure exactly what the N2 technology does specifically, but it's supposed to give us better VOD.

Folks, I am now seeing noticeable artifacting on HDNet Movies. Far more than ever before. IN COUNTRY was a mess of macroblocking during a scene where there was a thunderstorm. A movie trailer was shown yesterday where the green MPAA band was littered with block artifacts, instead of being a solid green like it always had been.

I'm getting beyond pissed here.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I talked to a (seemingly knowledgeable) Tele-Media engineer on December 23rd. He said that he heard in the office that Tele-Media stuck a deal with WTIC to carry their digital channel "the beginning of January." This is very good news considering the lineup and events coming up very soon including NFL Playoffs, SuperBowl, Daytona 500, and (my favorite) 24. Let's hope this is true. Can anyone confirm?

He also said that YES-HD will be added by the beginning of the season. (PauliePRF: At least you can see your Red Sox at least 18 times in HD.) That along with NFL Network HD and (I'm assuming) ESPN2HD coming around the corner, there is no disputing a very good Tele-Media HD lineup. Quality on the other hand....

Bill, thanks for the update. I haven't been able to get a hold of Tim Burt in a past few weeks. He has been at a lot of off-site meetings.

The forthcoming addition of WTIC-DT, ESPN2-HD, NFL-HD, and YES-HD, as you mentioned is very bittersweet. The good part is that we'll have new HD channels with much more HD content for us, especially sports. On the other hand, I believe it is quite evident that Tele-Media is out of bandwidth, and has been ever since the addition of the HDNets and INHDs back in June. It is likely that the current awful picture we are getting on the channels we already have will deteriorate even further with the addition of these new channels. I can only hope that Tele-Media has a plan to free up some room for these channels. Many other cable companies are now eliminating all premiums, such as HBO, Starz, Cinemax, from their analog lineup, in order to free up bandwidth for new HD channels. Please Tele-Media, do the same. Oh yeah, and strike a deal with NESN, and I swear that I'll stop complaining about the HD quality.

Sounds great that they're getting new channels! Although, I am not a sports guy, so it's kind of irrelevant to me.
What I would like is HD On Demand. I was checking that out a few towns over (Thomaston, not sure who the provider is). Very nice. Now THAT would be sweet.

On a sidenote, my VOD service is working perfectly now. Absolutely no troubles anymore. Seems like the cable gods have graced my TV. Although, the more I watch TV, the more pixelization and whatnot I see....not good Tele-media.

They must simply be out of bandwidth. And it's not just the HD channels, just take a look at most of the digital channels, yuck.

I used to have Telemedia and have now switched over to Direct TV because of the lack of NESN. I live in Seymour, CT about a mile away from the Telemedia tower. Does anyone know if you can receive OTA signals in HD for the local channels in our area.

I also forgot to mention that engineer told me that Tele-Media will be doing away with the analog local channels (WFSB, WTNH, WVIT, WTIC) very soon and and change them to digital. I do not know the specifics but I can only assume that this will only be the beginning of converting all their old analog channels to digital. As Paulie mentioned, this should fre up some bandwidth.

jmarchetti - The Hartford, CT - OTA thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=315169) is a great source for OTA questions. In Seymour you should be able to pick up WVIT, WTNH, WCTX and PBS with much trouble. Depending on what side of the mountain you live on will determine if you get WFSB or WTIC. The OTA thread should be able to give you more info. Good luck!

It's 8:09 PM on Monday and MSG on channel 40 has been a frozen screen, but with current audio, since sometime this afternoon. I'm trying to catch the Knicks game, but it appears that Tele-Media has screwed something up with MSG. Are you guys in the Seymour system having this problem as well?

Hmm, I was watching MNF on ABC-HD this evening and tjus tbefoe kick-off the picture disintegrated into gargage.. Something must be going on. All the other HD channels we OK though.

Strange

-Josh-

I also so that, and my guess is that it was something to do with either the ABC national feed, or WTNH itself, not Tele-Media. Mostly because it would normally take Tele-Media days to fix a problem, not seconds or minutes, hehe.

Originally posted by jmarchetti
I used to have Telemedia and have now switched over to Direct TV because of the lack of NESN. I live in Seymour, CT about a mile away from the Telemedia tower. Does anyone know if you can receive OTA signals in HD for the local channels in our area.

I live on a high point in Oxford and I am able to get 3 WFSB, 8 WTNH and 30 WVIT at 90-95 signal quality, 61 WTIC is around 55-60 signal quality. I have a Channel Master CM4228 with an CM9521A rotor mounted on the roof without a pre-amp. Additionally, I have a wavier from NBC and Fox to receive the HD feeds from NY and LA from DirecTV on channels 81/82 (NBC) 88/89 (Fox).

I was also told they want to switch most of the stations over to digital, since they are out of bandwidth. Doing that requires filing a notice with the FCC and other such paperwork/red tape.

I'm cancelling Starz because of the horrid drop in PQ.

mspicer1234 because I live in roughly the same area as you I assume I'm going to have to get a waiver for those channels also. What is process that I have to follow? Who should I contact about this?

Originally posted by jmarchetti
mspicer1234 because I live in roughly the same area as you I assume I'm going to have to get a waiver for those channels also. What is process that I have to follow? Who should I contact about this?

I requested it when I called to sign up for the HD package as DirecTV does not offer the Hartford locals in HD yet. The rep I talked to took the information and I received a letter within a couple of weeks indicating the Fox and NBC approved while ABC and CBS denied the request. I am charged a couple of bucks each month for out of area locals.

Little offtopic but i'm set to get HD Friday and was wondering if any of you guys knew a place i can get to calibrate my TV. Ive used Avia just there is only so much i can do with settings. I'm in the Derby/Ansonia area.

Originally posted by jmarchetti
I used to have Telemedia and have now switched over to Direct TV because of the lack of NESN. I live in Seymour, CT about a mile away from the Telemedia tower. Does anyone know if you can receive OTA signals in HD for the local channels in our area.

I have been waiting for Telemedia to get Cable Cards working... They admitted that they have a bug.. they didn't elaborate but they have 2 CC installs and neither work and they don't want to install mine until they have a reasonable chance for sucess...

So I have been dinking with OTA and I get about 4 HD stations.. unfortunately three are ABC oriented and one is PBS. WTNH WCTX WEDW and one other... I even tried to use a amplified antenna in my attic to try and get to the Hartford stations but no good. I can't even get a good analog signal from 30.. so not worth the effort and expense.. according to Titantv I should be able to get the Hartford stations 'good' as opposed to excellent for WTNH... with a 55 mile premium outside antenna with a rotor.. as they are 35 miles from me in Shelton.. I will do that only as a last resort.. I am trying this CC thing as I don't want a SA decoder box. I don't get any premium stations now and don't want them ... FWIW I just want to get the network HD broadcasts...

If all you want is the HD network broadcasts, I wouldn't even consider using a cable card or anything for them through Tele-Media, because as discussed in this forum, the picture quality on HD locals is atrocious. I have heard that they are trying to free up some bandwidth by eliminating some analog channels, PPV, etc. Maybe this will mean they can offer the local HD networks the way they are supposed to be.

Well, I thought that I would try Telemedia with a CC first. I have it... cable and the cost and convenience of the cable is there. With basic service and $1.75 extra for the CC rental per month it beats the cost of a premium OTA antenna and rotor. I also have INTERNET service bundled.. that also beats Sat service per channel used considering bundling. However I bought a premium TV with a integrated HD tuner and probably will need to throw some more money at this entertainment media.. I'm not much of a TV watcher.. but my wife likes the media better, she is definately hooked on HGTV... I am surprised at the quality of WTNH with a indoor unamplified antenna and it has wet my appetite for more. I probably will need some sort of cable/sat basic service because we do watch some cable only networks but the all all on the basic tier.. or ar available if you don't have to deal with a Telemedia supplied interface.

IMO.... They can't continue to provide poor expensive service. They need to change or they will go out of business. Twenty years ago I could not say that but today there is competition. Last week I went on my roof to inspect my chimney after I saw a piece of cement on the roof and I was amazed to the number of hidden dishes I saw. So there is an clear alternate in the neighborhood.

All I want is really some basic TV.. of course in HD. That is coming slower than I had hoped but nevertheless it is coming... I tried a Radio Shack OTA amplified antenna and returned it.. but since the posting of the CT OTA thread I have new interest in OTA, but at 114 pages it's a bit to read but I will get there sooner or later. This forum overall is a wealth of technical knowledge and the info sharing is great. I'll spend sometime reading the thread and make some choices... Reading is better than shopping and talking to counter or sales people.. most don't have a clue. The ones that have some understanding only want to talk in generalities.
:D

I am a former OTA person, and may be headed back that way soon if Tele-Media doesn't clean up their act.

I live in Prospect, and with a $60 antenna from Radio Shack, I was able to pull in the following channels:

WVIT-DT - NBC New Britian
WTXX-DT - WB Waterbury
WEDW-DT - PBS Bridgeport
WHPX-DT - PAX New London
WFSB-DT - CBS Hartford
WCTX-DT - UPN New Haven
WTNH-DT - ABC New Haven
WTIC-DT - FOX Hartford
WEDN-DT - PBS Norwich
WWLP-DT - NBC Springfield

And of course, the quality of these channels was insanely better than the picture that Tele-Media provides. And actually, looking at this list, it's very tempting for me to go out and get another OTA receiver.

Being in Shelton, I don't think you'd be able to pick up WFSB-DT or WTIC-DT, but you could possibly pick up WCBS-DT out of NYC. Looks like you would get no FOX digital at all.

I had a $79 amplified antenna from RS in the attic. It allowed me with one position to receive all the stations I can get from my TV area that is in the lowest floor at ground level by moving a Terk indoor.. There was no antenna rating on the RS antenna so I don't know how good it was supposed to be.

My attic has room that I could put a large single plane antenna and swing it... if it is not outrageous in size. The more I read the more this sounds like a plan. I don't want to go on the roof but if I could get something it might be worth it over the long haul. I know it would be better to go outside but once the antenna goes outside then I have storm related dependencies (ice and wind) that I would like to avoid.

It is amazing that when Telemedia came down the street with cable they sewed up the business and because they can't deliver anymore the 'quality' that they need to keep the business I'm considering an antenna. Things have definitely changed.

I'm getting this with essentially new-age rabbit ears..

WEDW-DT - PBS Bridgeport
???? 52,2 CPTV from Bridgeport
WCTX-DT - UPN New Haven
WTNH-DT - ABC New Haven

All are excellent. I get nothing marginal or what I consider as marginal. Unfortunately only WTNH has something that I would like to watch. The PBS station has some things but not necessities.

I tried to get WCBS-DT from NYC but didn't know what station they were on so it was difficult to find them. I have more knowledge now and if I make another antenna attempt I will have a better game plan before I start. All I was tried to do on a whim was get WVIT after the RS people said I could return that antenna that I was looking at if it didn't work..

The good thing about the cable is I believe I can cut the cable back to basic and get almost all the stations that we would like. Internet service is currently the reason I am with Telemedia. It has finally improved so that is is good to excellent. At first I was extremely disappointed in that.

WCBS-DT out of NYC is on channel 56.

We should have the NFL Network HD on channel 777 pretty darn soon, especially since it's already listed on the channel lineup at tele-mediacable.com. Usually it takes them months to put new channels on the website after the new channels are actually available. I was kind of disappointed to not see WTIC-DT or ESPN2-HD on there, but am still hopeful that we'll have them shortly.

PaulieORF, if you get all those in Prospect, I should be fine in Naugatuck.
I'm really disappointed in the quality of the locals also, and the lack of local channels. Such as WTXX, which is less than 5 miles away. Why do I not have that as an HD local?

Looks like I might drop them for HD and get an OTA STB and antenna.

Anyway, it seems as all of my VOD channels have now disappeared. Less than a week after they got fixed. What the hell.
Do I need to expect this kind of stuff dealing with Tele-Media?
Argh....Time to give them a call....

Hmmm... My VOD has been up and running fine without any problems for quite a few weeks now. Not sure why they disappeared for you? Are the actual 900's channels disappeared from your program guide, or are the channels just not working? Sounds like it might be a Seymour vs. Waterbury problem.

I am on the Seymour setup, actually.
They are on the guide, but when I try to access them either via the guide or manually by inputting the numbers it either gives a black screen, or says unavailable. The 8300 skips right over them if I am changing channels.
And yes, before anyone asks, I am subscribed to them. (i'm subscribed to everything)

It happened right when I was changing channels, selecting a VOD movie to watch. I was in the process of selecting the movie, and suddenly the channel changed to Cartoon Network, and I haven't been able to get into VOD since. Weird.

What make and model is your receiver?

Yet again the 5C flags went nutso and all High Def was downconverted to 480i by my equipment. It fixed itself today, however, HDNet Movies, which is my favorite channel, is now set to either Copy Restricted, or semi-Copy Freely, which causes my equipment to pass through a blank screen with no sound.

TeleMedia has no idea what is wrong. This happens every few weeks, but normally 48 hours is the max amount of time before everything is fixed. I am 70+ hours right now.

This is BS. :mad:

It's too bad that you're the only guy on this forum that has firewire. But are you even surprised that Tele-Media has screwed that up?

No, not in the least. It's just frustrating. If it was Starz, or INHD, I wouldn't give a sh!t. But HDNet Movies is the #1 HD channel out there. OAR all the time and they keep getting great catalogue titles. This is day 4 of the problem.

Paulie, I have an SA 8300HD.
VOD has been fixed now. Let's hope it stays up for a week or so. haha.

Matt, your posts have convinced me to never ever run firewire with Tele-media.
Sorry for all your troubles. I hope it all gets sorted out soon.

The fewer people that have it = the less chance they will ever get it right.

They fixed it (finally) this afternoon. Thank God.

The NFL Network is now live on Tele-Media digital cable channel 124 as of this afternoon. However, the NFLN-HD (channel 777) is not yet live. My gut feeling is that they may roll out NFLN-HD at the same time they activate ESPN2-HD on Thursday (1/6). And who knows, maybe we'll be seeing three new HD channels on Thursday; ESPN2-HD. NFLN-HD, and WTIC-DT. I'd love to have WTIC-DT in time for this weekends playoffs. And of course, I would love the bonus of some good quality on these channels, if possible. Is that too much to ask for?

I now know why Starz-HD looks so bad. They have compressed it more. It's an experiment. A bad one. Got this from the horse's mouth, folks. They realize now that they cannot compress the channels that much and are working on ways to solve their bandwidth crunch. I was also told they will go in and fix Starz-HD this week.

But I do fear that as they keep adding HD channels they will run out of room and we will get non-HD HD. TeleMedia simply does not have the resources to expand bandwidth. :(

Matt,

Who did you speak to? And also, did they mention that they are only going to fix Starz-HD, or did they also mention channels such as WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Discovery HD?

Has anyone heard anything from Tele-media about them trying to get Fox in HD before the Superbowl? I would call but I figured I would ask here first.

jmarchetti,

Bill has reported here that he heard from someone at Tele-Media that they had struck a deal that would allow Tele-Media to begin offering WTIC-DT starting this month. We'll see.

I cannot say publicly who I spoke to. But he's at the top. Nothing is going to be done about the other stations because they think they are fine. We know they are not, but what can we do?

Paulie, check your PM's.

Hey- I just got a recorded call from Telemedia saying that they are required by the FCC to inform me that WTNH-HD is being pulled from the channel lineup. The message went on to say that they will continue to negotiate with WTNH, and look for alternative sources of ABC in HD.

Well that stinks.

Figures! Just in time for the NFL Playoffs (not to mention new episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives). I am not sure where I should direct my anger yet. WTNH was the last station I thought would have negotiation problems. They were the first HD channel to be on Tele-Media and have been providing their digital OTA channel the longest of any channel in CT. This comes as a shock to me. I hope whoever is in charge of these negotiations realize how big of a blow this is IMO.

At least we are getting 2 and hopefully 3 new channels tomorrow. That takes the sting out of WTNH leaving for a couple days but I will sure miss it this weekend. Time to pull of my antenna again.

Originally posted by jclark42
Hey- I just got a recorded call from Telemedia saying that they are required by the FCC to inform me that WTNH-HD is being pulled from the channel lineup. The message went on to say that they will continue to negotiate with WTNH, and look for alternative sources of ABC in HD.

Well that stinks.


Well, I'm waiting patiently for them to fix their CC problems.. If they don't have the local HDTV stations I'll start seriously looking at OTA.. I do WTNH-DT and PBS-HD OTA now... all the over compression stories are having me rethink Telemedia for HDTV...

Jack.. :(

Originally posted by jackmd
Well, I'm waiting patiently for them to fix their CC problems.. If they don't have the local HDTV stations I'll start seriously looking at OTA.. I do WTNH-DT and PBS-HD OTA now... all the over compression stories are having me rethink Telemedia for HDTV...

Jack.. :(

Unfortunately, living in Shelton (depending on location) you will only get WTNH-DT, PBS-DT, and on good days WVIT-DT. If you get a larger antenna with a rotor you will have better luck.

I just came in to state my anger over WTNH being pulled, and see that others beat me to it.
I was looking forward to LOST tonight very excitedly, only to come home to this.
One of the reasons I subscribed to the HD service was to watch this show.
New channels coming mean nothing to me. Forgive me for saying so, but I could really not give a crap about football. Or any other sport for that matter. I can't stand them.

Man, this is very disappointing. WTNH gone from the HD lineup, no other ABC to replace it. No WTXX, even though it's less than 5 miles from my house, so it sure is a local.

Y'know, I think it's time to look at a set-top STB or a MyHD card for locals.

Well, there goes my plans for Saturday. I invited a bunch of my friends to come over and watch the two NFL playoff games on Saturday. I emphasized the fact that they are in HD, so my friends anxiously await this. I'm going to have to tell them that there will be no HD. I can't believe this, I really didn't see this one coming. I just can't imagine what the issue would be that would prevent Tele-Media from renewing its agreement with WTNH. My gut is telling me that LIN Televisoin, the owners of WTNH and WCTX, may be trying to bundle WTNH-DT with WCTX-DT, and probably forcing anyone who re-ups with them to carry both channels. I can't imagine that it would be an issue squarely over money. The reason I think it's not about money is because they said they will explore other ABC HD outlets, the only real available one being WABC-DT out of NYC. And wouldn't you think that WABC-DT would be more expensive than WTNH-DT? Ugh. I'm VERY frustrated with Tele-Media right now, I'm so pissed. Not to mention that WTNH-DT was the only local HD channel Tele-Media offered that didn't look like complete crap. I will pursuit getting a hold of Tim Burt as soon as possible to get further info on this, and to let him know about how outraged we are about this.

Thanks, Paulie. I, as well as others, look forward to whatever info you can gather.

I have filed my complaint on Adelphia.com and I have called them asking them for an explaination. If all of us do this then we will be heard. This may not get WTNH turned back on right away but it may speed up getting it put back on. Also, it will make them think again about pulling a stunt like this.

Okay everybody, here's the deal.

Tim Burt actually called me just after 9:00 tonight. He told me that he knows about my passion for HD and wanted to make sure I knew what was going on.

Tele-Media never actually had an agreement with WTNH to carry their digital signal. Tele-Media was carrying WTNH-DT as a benefit to Tele-Media customers while the two parties negotiated. Today WTNH sent Tele-Media a letter telling them that they may no longer carry their digital signal without an agreement. The reason they did this is so that it will put more pressure on Tele-Media to get an agreement done. And without a doubt, WTNH did this just before this weekends NFL playoff games, as well as the premiers of several popular series as part of their plan. They want Tele-Media's customers to get enraged and to put even more pressure on Tele-Media to get an agreement done. WTNH is playing hardball with Tele-Media, that's the bottom line.

He went on to tell me that he does not know if or when an agreement could be reached with WTNH. It diddn't sound like it could or would happen anytime soon.

ABC HD Alternative...

He said that part of their carriage agreement with WABC in NY includes carriage of WABC's digital signal. That's great news. He said that the only problem with us getting WABC could be getting the signal. He said that engineering started working on trying to obtain the signal OTA. If they are unable to get the signal OTA, they would then have to work out a deal with another MSO (Comcast, Time Warner, Cablevision) in the area for them to get a fiber transmission of WABC-DT to Tele-Media. If either of the above is possible, it could happen relatively soon. Especially if they can get it OTA, in that case it could be very soon.

Other stuff....

They did sign a deal with ESPN today to carry ESPN2-HD and ESPNU. ESPNU is an all college sports channel that will be launched at the beginning of March. It will be a digital channel, on either the digital basic or plus level. The level for this channel hasn't been determined yet.

They are currently waiting on equipment to get NFL-HD up and running.

They are very close to a deal with Tribune, the company that owns WTIC. This agreement not only includes WTIC-DT, but also WTXX-DT. I forgot to ask if it includes WGN, but I'll ask him next time we speak. But this is great, as I believe we will be the only cable company in CT that will carry WB in HD. He said he is hopeful to have the agreement in place, and the channels up and running in time for the Superbowl. With some luck, maybe in time for some playoff games prior to the Superbowl.

WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Dicovery HD Picture quality issue....

I asked him about this again, and he gave me the response that I've always gotten from him. When he looks at the TVs they have running at the office, he doesn't see the problems that we all see with these channels. I explained desperately to him that there is an extreme difference in PQ when comparing these three channels to the HDNets, INHDs, and ESPN-HD. I stressed this to him greatly. I told him that he may not notice it that much during the day at the office because there really is no programming on that exhibit the problem at those hours. I told him how football on WFSB-DT on Sundays is one of the best examples of the problem, as well as NASCAR on WVIT-DT. He told me that he thinks that he's just going to have to come over to my house to take a look, he just thinks that it's come down to that. So he's going to get back to me on when he could come over, if it comes to that. I told him that if possible, a Sunday during NFL football would be the best example.

I brought up the QAM sharing issue, and he said he'd have to check on that. He did inform me that it is NOT a bandwidth issue. And as a matter of fact, the system that Tele-Media is on has a very large amount of bandwidth available, and that can simply not be the problem.

I told him to keep me aware of anything new. That's about it. I'm glad he called me and told me all this, it makes things a lot clearer.

Thank you very much Paulie (and Tim Burton) for providing details of this issue. I am very disappointed in WTNH for not thinking of their customers during the contract negotiation (although I do recognize it is a very good bussiness decision). I hope something can be worked out before to long. Also, great news on the progress of WTIC and a surprise addition to WTXX. Sooner the better for FOX.

There are two more On Demand Channels that are now live: NFL On Demand and Events On Demand. I do not see ESPN2-HD yet but I am sure it will be up before the college basketball TRIPLE-HEADER tonight starting at 7pm.

DePaul vs Cincinnati
Memphis vs Texas
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara

I will get a good look at the new channel tonight.

Tim Burt needs to be asked why, if they have so much bandwidth, don't they stack two channels per QAM instead of the current three. Three HD channels per QAM is too much. Period. It requires a lot of compression.

Bill,

I don't know if we'll have ESPN2-HD by the triple header tonight. I just have the feeling that we won't, especially since Tele-Media is waiting on equipment for NFL-HD. I would think that the same applies to ESPN2-HD. Right now Adelphia and DirecTV are the only outlets that ESPN has a deal with for ESPN2-HD. I'm pretty sure most Adelphia systems won't have it in time for launch tonight at 7pm, but I'm pretty sure that DirecTV will have it up and running by then.

Matt,

While talking to Tim, I asked him about them cramming these HD channels onto one QAM, the way they do. He told me that he's not an engineer, so he doesn't know exactly what method they are doing as far as channel distribution per QAM, but will check it out. But as far as actual compression, he told me that Tele-Media compresses all of their HD channels with the same method, meaning all HD channels picture quality should be equal, which we all know is not true. He mentioned that he has Comcast where he lives. Comcast uses more compression for their HD channels than Tele-Media does, and he does not notice a problem with any Comcast HD picture quality. So that puts to rest the possible compression issue. In my opinion, it almost certainly is because of the QAM sharing among 3 channels. What else could it be?

We all know that channel 708 disappeared yesturday from the channel guide. I am looking at the Channel Guide now and channel 708 is back and now listed as VCS. It is just a black screen. Does anyone have any ideas about what VCS stands for? Could they be getting ready to test WABC?

I too noticed the VCS thing on channel 708. When I tune to it, I see a purple screen that says "WTNH-TV has forced Tele-Media to remove WTNH HD effective immedietly. ABC programming can be seen on channel 8."

Thanks, Paulie. Good info there. I welcome the addition of WTIC and WTXX. It would be nice to have WB in HD. I watch WTXX a lot. (as if you couldn't tell from my other posts saying how I want WTXX! haha)

Also good news an the replacement of WTNH. I hope WABC gets added soon.

I will say though, while I have noticed the horrible PQ of STARZHD, and the other locals, DiscoveryHD for me has been crystal clear lately. No problems whatsoever. Figured i'd mention that, because a lot of you seem to be having a problem with it.

zx7ninja,

I guess we shouldn't describe the problem with Discoery, WFSB-DT, and WVIT-DT as a picture quality issue. It's more of a "motion quality" issue. If you took a snapshot of one of these channels, the image would be crystal clear. However, any kind of motion or movement, and you get an effect that I'm not sure how to describe. During sports and programming with a lot of motion, you will see it almost as jitteryness with anything that's moving. It's a sever problem. It is less obvious a lot of times on Discovery HD because there is usually not a lot of camera movement or rapid movement. But trust me, if you watch the football game on WFSB-DT this Sunday, you'll see the problem as clear as day.

Here is a snapshot of the message that I'm getting on channel 708.

I went into diagnostic mode on my SA3250HD and discovered tha the "VC" in VCS stands for virtual channel.

Paulie, sometimes people think they know what they are talking about, when in fact, they don't. Some of the folks at TeleMedia are in that category. It's a fact that the problems we are seeing are due to compression and bandwidth issues.

Why are different channels of differing quality? Easy. Because some Networks use inverse telecine and some do not. This means that some stations require more bandwidth than others to look good. When you have a one size fits all solution, you get what we are seeing every darn day.

I've spoken to many experts on this issue. I don't mean would be experts. I mean people who work in the field, in the industry. I've even talked with some JVC MPEG engineers. TeleMedia is trying to fit square pegs into small round holes. So are most other cable companies. :(

Are you telling me we don't have 708 no more.That is where playoffs are on sat.I invited a bunch of people over to both NFL games in HD.Now you are telling me TMedia is not going to broadcast the games in HD.Who do i call on this matter.This sucks,no fox no espn2 now this.:mad: :mad:

It will take a miracle for us to be able to watch the playoffs on Saturday in HD. I think they only way would be if Tele-Media were able to get WABC's digital signal OTA, and could have it up and running in time for Saturday afternoon. I say that it's highly unlikely that they could even get it OTA, so don't hope too much for this to happen.

I live in the white hills section of shelton does anyone think i can get wtnh with an antenna.I can fit one in my attic.I have an antenna now for fm reception, itried hooking that one up and it came in but not very good.I quess i have to get the proper antenna.thanks

I've heard of people much further away from New Haven than you who were able to pick up WTNH-DT with an indoor antenna. I'm in Prospect and I was (when I had my OTA receiver) practically able to pick up WTNH-DT with a coat hanger. They are very high power, so maybe if you just tried an amplified antenna you could pull 'em in no problem.

Sonyman - You would definitely be able to get WTNH over the air in White Hills. The signal is very strong from New Haven. I would be willing to bet most people in the forum would be able to get it with an indoor antenna placed next to a window. I don't know if most people have an OTA antenna. I know I will be breaking out all my old OTA equipment to watch the games on Saturday.

I was very disappointed to not see ESPN2-HD in the lineup last night. But I should have expected as much dealing with Tele-Media. I should stop getting my hopes up.

Originally posted by sonyman33
I live in the white hills section of shelton does anyone think i can get wtnh with an antenna.I can fit one in my attic.I have an antenna now for fm reception, itried hooking that one up and it came in but not very good.I quess i have to get the proper antenna.thanks

Sonyman33.. I live down along the river a few miles south of RT8 and I use an unamplified antenna next to my TV on the bottom floor of a two floor house and WTNH-DT is crystal clear. The antenna doesn't need to be pointed any specific direction. It just needs to be connected. To get WCTX I need to be more directional but not WTNH... If you can't get WTNH-DT your antenna isn't connected :D I wish I could get the Harford area DT stations as good. If I did TeleMedia would be only a bad memory in my house.

Jack

Thanks everyone.Went to RShack and purchased HD antenna that i put in attic.I pick up wtnh fine, actually it looks better than cable.

One more thing.Channel 8 comes in lear but doesnt look HD.Am doing anything wrong.

sonyman...

You are tuning to channel 10 with an ATSC HD receiver, right? That's the channel you'll need to tune to in order to get WTNH's digital signal.

Originally posted by sonyman33
Thanks everyone.Went to RShack and purchased HD antenna that i put in attic.I pick up wtnh fine, actually it looks better than cable.


Once you the HD picture... is it equal to the cable?... If not, want is the difference.

Did you guys do your OTA installation yourself or did you get a business to do it for you. If you got a business would you mind recommending one in the area, I live in Seymour. I'm really trying to get HD all set for the playoffs.

This is my fault.I didn't realize that a ota receiver was required.So now i need to shell out 200.00 to get maybe 3 channels.doesn't seem worth it.when can we expect wtic hd?

WTIC-DT and WTXX-DT likely sometime before the Superbowl. Cross your fingers.

Originally posted by jmarchetti
Did you guys do your OTA installation yourself or did you get a business to do it for you. If you got a business would you mind recommending one in the area, I live in Seymour. I'm really trying to get HD all set for the playoffs.

I used Allied Satellite, I found them via the Yahoo Yellow Pages.

Guys,

INHD and INHD2 are not working for me, and haven't been working since this morning, I believe. Are you guys also in the dark as far as INHD and INHD2 go, or is it just me?

InHD and InHD2 are also not working for me as well.

I doubt it is related but WFSB-HD was out last night for some time. I know at least 11pm - 1am. Maybe this means that they are trying to install the new equipment to turn on the new HD channels. :)

Maybe with the new equipment they will "unknowingly" fix the problem that they "don't know about".

Hmmm....I noticed WFSB HD out, and INHD was out, but I still had INHD2. That was early though, and INHD2 may have gone out after.
I hope it's really a sign of good things to come, although I suspect it may just be that the storm the other night caused them some problems.

Now INHD and INHD2 are back on for me, but WVIT-DT is out. I believe that WVIT-DT being out is not on Tele-Media's end, because I've heard that WVIT is doing some funky stuff in the past day or 2 with adding multi-cast channels for weather and stuff.

Have any of you tried this with the 8000HD or had any success with our Adelphia (tele-media) service?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403695&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

It's a thread that explains how to use the firewire port to copy and play your videos in Windows XP via the FireWire port!!!

We now have Discovery Channel On Demand on channel 914. This is, in my opinion, the best on demand channel we have. It has TONS of shows from the entire family of Discovery networks.

I'm watching the Tonight Show on WVIT-DT rigiht now, and it seems that the problem that we've seen on this channel (as well as WFSB-DT and Discovery HD) has gotten a lot better. Although the quality does not meet that of HDNet, ESPNHD, and INHD, it still seems to me that it has improved.

Has anyone else noticed this on WVIT-DT, or have i gone insane?

LOL. You are insane. :D Actually, I have not looked at it lately. I'll go ahead and take a look.

I've looked at it some more today, SD stuff, and although the motion problem that WFSB-DT and Discovery HD have seemed to be not so prevalent, the actual picture looks worse than before. It almost looks like they have softened the image or something.

Lost tonight, and still no ABC. It's been two weeks.
Man, am I disappointed.

Any news on the ABC HD situation?

I've been trying to get a hold of Tim Burt the past few days for an update, but haven't gotten him in his office at all.

Edit: I just spoke to Tim. He said there really is nothing new to report on ABC HD. Things are pretty much at the same point that they were a few weeks ago. He said that right now, getting FOX HD in the lineup is a priority because of the Superbowl in a few weeks.

That's understandable.
At least it's not gone and forgotten.
Fox and WTXX(if it happens) will alleviate the ABC situation a good bit.

I agree. If Tele-Media is able to add FOX before the SuperBowl I will cut them a lot of slack on the ABC front. Tele-Media has been known to wait until after teh big event to add channels to save a couple extra dollars. To get FOX before the SuperBowl would be a big accomplishment for them. I would imagine that the NFL-HD and ESPN2-HD would be added very soon after FOX.

Just want to add my 2 cents on WVIT. Not very much blocking on the projector, but it is soft. ESPNHD and HDNET sports content looks clearly superior. Also, the sound sync WVIT has had since the start is still there from time to time. They suck. But not as much as WTNH.

Originally posted by Matt_Stevens
Just want to add my 2 cents on WTNH. Not very much blocking on the projector, but it is soft. ESPNHD and HDNET sports content looks clearly superior. Also, the sound sync WTNH has had since the start is still there from time to time. Theysuck.

Do you mean WTNH, or are you talking about WFSB or WVIT?

Sorry, I meant WVIT. My bad.

Okay Tele-Media, you are on the clock. You have until Sunday February 6th at 6:30pm to add WTIC-DT to out lineup. You are practically obligated to do so now that the Patriots are playing in the Superbowl. Also, make sure that it doesn't look like CRAP like WFSB-DT, and while you're at it, FIX WFSB!!!!!

Uh, yeah. I'm sure they are going to listen. :D

ESPN2-HD is now live on channel 778. Let's hope they continue to add HD channels. We are still waiting for NFL-HD but most importantly WTIC-HD could be around the corner. Let us all cross our fingers....

I'm pleasantly surprised with the addition of ESPN2HD. I'm even more surprised that it does not suffer from the same motion issue that WFSB, WVIT, and Discovery HD do. Now if only Tele-Media could figure out what their problem is with those channels.

Also, I noticed that they took the VCS channel on 708 off. Could this mean that they will be adding WABC-DT soon? We'll see.

I won't be able to speak to Tim Burt about any of this until next week because he is out of the office on business until then.

I just spoke to Ray Cenicola and got some bad news.

He said that Tribune is holding out on them, and it is very unlikely that we'll have the Superbowl in HD.

He also told me that they cannot come to terms with WTNH, and are still exploring WABC.

Yeah, I can confirm that. I spoke with him Tuesday.

I'll be watching ESPN2 for a good 2 hours tonight (Friday Night FIghts) and will post back what I think of the PQ. Of course, since the show is going to be SD upconverted, the bandwidth won't really be tested with major detail.

Last night I sat down and watched Friday Night Fights on ESPN2. I viewed it on my Sanyo Z2 projector, which gives me a 95 inch screen in a light controlled room. I have to say that ESPN2 looks as good as ESPN, with none of the Network HD problems we have been seeing. I did not detect any jitter. Not did I detect any propblems with artifacting due to motion or detail. The show I was watching was not HD, so there was not a very high level of detail. However, I did watch 10 minutes of some NFL show which was in HD and it looked quite good.

So there you have it.

I agree. ESPN2 HD looks equal to ESPN HD. I watched the NFL Live replay, which I watched when it was live on ESPN HD, and it looked exactly the same.

The replay of the Knicks game which was broadcast in HD on ESPN HD was not shown in HD on ESPN2 HD. I hope that this is just a mess up, and that they will be showing sporting event replays in HD on ESPN2 HD in the future.

Man, it is just such a shame that I can't watch the Patriots win their third Superbowl in HD.

You have to be kidding me! We are not going to have the SuperBowl in HD!!! WTF!!!

Nope. No Superbowl in HD for us this year. Maybe in 3 years when it's on Fox again, we might have it.

Well, although they are neglecting the quality of some of their HD channels, and are not offering us FOX HD for the Superbowl, Tele-Media does continue to add to their On Demand lineup. This morning I found a channel called Cable Favorites On Demand on channel 909. It does offer shows about cooking and home improvement and such.

Not huge news, but I figured I'd post it.

I just spoke to Tim Burt this morning. He did confirm that negotiations with Tribune for WTIC-DT are not going well. But he told me that he is not going to give up until kickoff on Sunday evening. He said that equipment-wise, they are ready. He said that if an agreement was reached today, that he could have the channel live in our living rooms within an hour.

I asked him about WNYW-DT out of NY. He said that he's not sure about if they have a carriage agreement with them for their digital channel, but he said he'd ask about it today.

As far as WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and Discovery HD "jittery" issue, he said that there is a new HD manager who started working at Tele-Media last week. He said that he bumped into him in the hall today and brought up the issue with him, and the guy said he will look into it within the next few days.

Finally, he noted that they have their equipment all setup for NFL Network HD to launch. He said that if things go as planned, it will be up and running on channel 777 later today.

Will we be able to watch the SuperBowl in HD on 777 then???

No, 777 is just the NFL Network HD channel. The Superbowl can only be seen on FOX.

I don't even really care for watching sports... I just LOVE HD and an excuse for a PARTY!!!!

I am really happy that it seems like Tele-Media is really trying to get WTIC-DT live before kickoff and are prepared to turn the channel on in a moments notice. They are saying all the right things. Hopefully they can reach an agreement soon.

Also, I hope all these new HD channels keep coming with the change of the HD manager. Tele-Media has done (in my opinion) a great job in adding HD channels. The HD package is great. When they finally get the rest of the locals and maybe UniversalHD Network (another 24/7 HD network) it may be the best HD lineup in the nation with the exception of VOOM.

I agree. As far as the actual lineup, we already may have the best, or close to the best in the state. I just really hope they can fix the issue with the often mentioned problematic trio of WFSB, WVIT, and Discovery.

NFL Network HD is now on channel 777 for us. As was the case with ESPN2 HD, the picture quality is awesome, and it does not suffer from the jittery motion problem. The only thing is that when stuff that is not HD is showing, they put ugly grey sidebars instead of black.

I have heard that some cable companies around the country that don't currently offer FOX in HD have somehow gotten a hold of the WNYW-DT signal out of NYC and are going to have that available for Super Bowl Sunday. I just hope that if Tele-Media can't get it done with WTIC, they can do this.

It all depends on if the station is owned by the Network. WFSB is not, therefore they had to make a deal withthem or not have an HD CBS feed. No idea about the others.

I watched BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA on Cinemax-HD last night. Exceptional quality. Cinemax, HBO and HDNet Movies continue to look great. Starz is hit or miss. Last week it looked good.

I just called Tele-Media and spoke to a secretary. She said that she was told that we will not have the Superbowl in HD tomorrow. She said there is no chance for it, it's a fact that we will not have it. ugh. People who live in Canada are going to be watching the Superbowl in HDTV tomorrow, while people living in New England will not be.

Originally posted by PaulieORF
I just called Tele-Media and spoke to a secretary. She said that she was told that we will not have the Superbowl in HD tomorrow. She said there is no chance for it, it's a fact that we will not have it. ugh. People who live in Canada are going to be watching the Superbowl in HDTV tomorrow, while people living in New England will not be.

No, most people in New England will be watching Super Bowl in HD. You need to put up an antenna. WTIC signal is strong. Tele-Media is part of Adelphia and they are bankrupt. I am surprised they provide any HD at all.
They might be bought by TWC and Comcast.
Besides Comcast and Cox in CT both carry Fox HD and they cover most of the state.

I think you need to put more effort and not just complain that Tele-Media has no Fox HD. Did you try OTA antenna as I suggested?.

I understand all of this. I was just saying that we live in New England, you know, where the Patriots are from? I wasemphasizing the fact that it's the Patriots home area. Adelphia being bankrupt is a complete seperate issue from Tele-Media adding local channels. Adelphia being bankrupt could screw up Adelphia affiliation agreements, such as adding TNT-HD or Universal HD to all of its systems. Tele-Media has the money to and resources to get WTIC in time for the Superbowl, I just believe they are very dead set in their approach, and don't just agree to the first deal proposed.

I had gotten rid of my antenna and ATSC receiver because cable became available. I just assumed that we'd have FOX in time for the Superbowl, especially if the Patriots were in it. I guess I was wrong.

Originally posted by CKNA
No, most people in New England will be watching Super Bowl in HD. You need to put up an antenna. WTIC signal is strong....I think you need to put more effort and not just complain that Tele-Media has no Fox HD. Did you try OTA antenna as I suggested?.

This is the dumbest statement ever. First of all, most people can not put up a full size OTA antenna for various reasons whether it be cost, space, wife, etc. I have tried to pick up the WTIC-DT with the amplified indoor antenna that I have but the signal if NOT strong enough. (I am able to pick up WTNH, WVIT, WTXX, and PBS with the same antenna)

Also, Adelphia has turned on 15+ HD channels while they have been bankrupt so this is no excuse. If they are going to have an HD package, the local channels should be top priority. This is the only thing that separates cable from DBS providers. They have screwed up the ABC and FOX contracts and almost screwed up WFSB. If Adelphia wants to play the game then they are going to be held to the same standard as everyone else.

The fact is that Adelphia should have had digital channel contracts in place with the five major networks in the area (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS) when Adelphia decided to offer HDTV. Period!

I agree Bill.

And think about this one:

We have 15 HD channels. 13 of them are through Adelphia affiliation agreements, meaning that Adelphia (the whole company, not just the Tele-Media branch) has agreements to carry channels such as ESPN-HD ESPN2-HD, INHDs, HDNets, and so on, on ALL of their cable systems.

The other 2 channels that we have are WFSB-DT and WVIT-DT. These are the only high definition channels that we have because of the people at our local office, Tele-Media. That's all they've done for us, as far as HDTV.

Tele-Media has a great cable system, a very robust one that is capable of carrying high amounts of bandwidth for many more HD channels. They obviously have the equipment, and seem to get the new "Adelphia affiliation agreement" channels up and running as soon as Adelphia has the agreements. So that's not a problem.

Tele-Media has a problem negotiating, it appears. They have been offering HDTV for some time now, and still only give us 2 local channels. They've had all this time to get the deals done for just 2 more channels, that's all they had to do. But nope. I was told by people at Tele-Media last summer that we'd have FOX HD in time for the MLB Playoffs. Never happened. Then in November, I was told we'd have it in time for the Super bowl, maybe even earlier. I was even told a little over a week ago that we'd have the channel in time. Well here it is, the night before the Super bowl, and they tell me that they didn't get it done. I don't know what else to say.

Well, I have just about had it with TeleMedia and their unreliable Firewire connection. There always seems to be a problem. Lately it is a problem of the signal dropping out completely, making tapes useless because they have massive glitches lasting 30 to 60 seconds. TeleMedia is, of course, clueless. They don't have a clue what's wrong.

If this keeps up I am canceling the service. It's just not worth the headache.

I had a conference call with TeleMedia the other day about the 5C issues in regards to the Networks (they are not shown through Firewire because the flags are wrong) and more importantly, the crap Firewire signal that results in constant 30 to 60 second glitches when recording. They now have a JVC 40K at the Waterbury office and will use it for testing.

In addition, they are working on the 5C issues.

Also, the 3250HD boxes should receive updated software next month (that may fix the 5C crap).

Also, all HD-DVR's must have Firewire enabled by July per FCC regulations, so expect that software update in July of 2007. ;)

Paulie,

Any word on FOX now that it is a week after the SuperBowl? Tele-Media should now get its discounted price they were looking for after missing yet another big event. Daytona 500 and other shows (like 24 and American Idol) would be nice to see in HD.

I spoke to Tim on Thursday concerning NESN, but did ask him about FOX and ABC. He said there really is nothing new to report about them.

I have been in contact with with TeleMedia on this issue and Don Jones, who is one of their top engineers is working on the problem. Unfortunately, it looks like they want to blame the Firewire recording problems on the JVC D-VHS decks. The problem is with TelemEdia and their low bit rate, which is now dipping below 13mb/ps and every time it does, the SA3250HD STB forced the D-VHS decks into a lower recording mode, which causes a massive glitch lasting nearly a minute.

Every single HD recording device on the market will be affected in this manner, not just the JVC decks. TeleMedia's bit rate must stay above 13mb/ps or this will continue to happen. Anything under 14.5mb/ps is too low anyway.

FYI -

WFSB has finally installed and turned on their Dolby Digital 5.1 equipment last night. Tele-Media has began passing the DD5.1 feed last night also. It sounds great. Should be fun for March Madness that is coming up very soon.

I just saw a commercial for Tele-Media digital cable where a satellite installer whips out an OTA antenna, another guy says "is that a...?" the instructor says, "yeah, customers want local hi-def". the other guy says "well isn't lousy reception on those the reason for this whole satellite/cable thing?" I just thought it was absolutely hilarious that Tele-Media uses this commercial for their HDTV service. #1, they only offer two locals, with OTA I was able to get up to 9. #2, the picture quality on the locals on Tele-Media makes me want to vomit, while the quality of OTA locals is as good as it gets, and absolutely puts Tele-Media to shame.

Tele-Media has started charging for the HD Plus tier today. Here's how it works:

If you subscribe to a digital package of any kind, you get the HD Plus tier free.

If you don't subscribe to a digital package, you must pay $7.95 a month for the HD Plus tier.

Here is what you get for free if you don't pay for the HD Plus tier: WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, and ESPN-HD.

The HD Plus tier consists of: HDNet, HDNet Movies, INHD, INHD2, Discovery HD, NFL HD, and ESPN2 HD.

The Bronze Digital package costs $10.95. I am one of those people who decided to pay an extra $3 to get the digital channels along with the HD Plus tier.

The amount of money I pay Tele-Media is ridiculous. Now that they are charging for the HD Plus tier I am sure they can take some of that money to cover the cost of adding WTIC-DT and WTNH-DT. I am loosing may patience with the lack of local HD channels. There is no reason for this. All of the other cable companies in Connecticut seem to be smart enough to add all the local channels! What is happening!?!

I hate them. I hate them hate them hate them.

I found this little bit of interesting info on another forum on the internet.

If you go to the Comcast High Speed Internet Availability (http://online.comcast.net/ComcastAffiliate/1.asp?affiliateid=106900) page on Comcast's new HSI website and enter your address, or the address of anyone in Connecticut that is currently serviced by Tele-Media, as well as other Adelphia customers around the county, it tells you that Comcast High Speed Internet is available in your area, and shows you the packages that are available, as you can see in the image below (I blurred out my street address in Photoshop):

http://www.hallaway.net/comcastavailable.jpg

Notice that if you click on a plans info, the last line of the marketing comments it talks about accessing your "Adelphia email". So this can't be a mistake, because of what I just mention, plus the fact that if you enter the address of someone who is not either a Comcast or Adelphia customer, it says it's not available. Very interesting........

These rates are very expensive compared to what I pay for SBC DSL. If DSL is an option for you I would seriously consider it. I have had it for 6 years now and have been extremely happy with it (unlike some other utilities we know).

Bill, the prices listed from the Comcast site are the prices for High Speed Internet without having cable TV service. They do match the exact price that Tele-Media charges for the same thing.

I have had the Tele-Media internet service for years now, and in the past 2 years it has been fantastic. And actually, starting they past Saturday our download speeds have increased from 3 MB to 5 MB, and uploads have gone up from 256k to 512k. It's an exceptional deal when you own your own modem and don't pay Tele-Media the extra $5 or so a month to lease one. And not to mention the fact that you don't need to sign a contract, and o have the option of dumping them at any time,

I stand corrected. Thanks for the clarification.

I have Netplex for DSL here in CT. It's reliable, way better than SBC) but expensive at $62 with tax. I am having TeleMedia come in next Friday to try the Cable Net. It's $20 a month for three months. After that it will be about $40 with my current package. If I am happy with it, I'll drop DSL.

How many here have TeleMedia's Internet access? What's your average download and do you have much down time?

I've been using Telemedia as my provider for the past 16 months. So far I haven't had any downtime at all. I'm online constatnly throughout the day since I primarily work out of my home office . I can't provide an exact number upstream/downstream rate offhand. I also can't rate their customer support either since I've never had a reason to call.

-Josh-

Matt, I am extremely happy with Tele-Media HSI. Their speeds are so fast. This is really the one thing that Tele-Media offers that exceeds what my expectations were. Their advertised speeds are 5000 kbps down and 512 kbps up. Download speeds are always hovering somewhere between 400 kbps and 512 kbps, and downloads since the speeds upgrade have never dropped below 4500 kbps for me. It has not gone down in about 3 years for me. It's always up and running. Here are the results of a speed test that I just ran:

http://www.hallaway.net/speedtest_nyc.jpg

Paulie,

Was this throughput test run from a website or is it something you downloaded/purchased? I'm curious to find out how fast my connection is.

5Mbit/sec for $40/month is a good deal, IMHO. Could you have imagined having a pipe that fast five years ago?

-Josh-

Originally posted by jclark42
Paulie,

Was this throughput test run from a website or is it something you downloaded/purchased? I'm curious to find out how fast my connection is.

5Mbit/sec for $40/month is a good deal, IMHO. Could you have imagined having a pipe that fast five years ago?

-Josh-

It is a test that is run from a website. The site is: http://nyc.speakeasy.net/

It is amazing, the speeds we have now. I could never go back to dialup.

Wow. Guess I'm not going to cancel my Friday hookup. I just hope the professional install isn't some guy handing me a box and saying have fun. I will need some information on how to switch my email (using my own domain name) from netplex's mail hosting to TeleMedia's.

I just had surgery and my right arm barely works, so I really need someone else to do the work. Hell, typing this post has taken me about 5 minutes. :(

Hmmm, the Showtime free preview is over, and it looks like Tele-Media forgot to turn off Showtime HD for people who don't subscribe to it. I wonder how long it will take for them to realize this?

Side note:

I spoke to Tim Burt last week, and he said there is no new news on getting ABC or FOX in HD.

Well, well, well. TeleMedia was at my place Friday morning to install the Net access and also to check out my HD recording troubles. Long long story short, they had to run a second line from the pole to support the bandwidth needed for two HD feeds, a Cable feed and two analog sets. I no longer have a three way splitter. I have a two way for the HD 1 & 2 and a three way for the Net and two analog sets.

Hasn't made a damn bit of difference in regards to HD recording, but I was able to show some senior engineers that yes, their signal will drop down low enough to confuse the D-VHS recorder into switching into STD mode, which causes huge glitches. So that's progress.

Also, so far the Internet access rocks. It is faster than my DSL line 75% of the time by at least a full meg and sometimes more. SO far so good.

Wow, Showtime HD is STILL on for us non-Showtime customerse. The free preview for Showtime has been over for quite a few days now. Wanna place bets on how long we have it for free?

I was afraid to say anything. Here's to free Showtime! :)

I posted this in the other forum but I have been very impressed with WFSB showing all HD games of the NCAA Tournament on the digital channel and that normal telecast on the analog channel. Not everyone in the country are as lucky as us.

On the flip side, I have so much disgust for Tele-Media right now with how they are not providing local channels. No other cable providers seem to have an issue with this. Will someone...anyone please buy Tele-Media and save us!

Showtime-HD is not viewable via Firewire for about a wek now, due to screwed up copy flags.

I thougth they would have noticed that Showtime HD was still live for everyone when they added ESPNU on Friday, guess not!

Hmmm... I wonder if the switch to the free preview started the problem?

Originally posted by Matt_Stevens
Hmmm... I wonder if the switch to the free preview started the problem?

Oh I'm sure it did. I think that they just forgot to turn off the HD channel when they turned off the SD ones.

No more free Showtime HD. :(

Yeah well I still do not have Showtime-HD via Firewire and worse, then pushed out a quick update to my box tonight that has all the copy flags set wrong. Now all my HD is being downcoverted to 480i. This is an almost daily nightmare with these company.

I have heard grumblings that Tele-Media may be sold soon. I'm not talking about Adelphia, but talking about Adelphia's 80% of Tele-Media being sold, and the other 20% being sold as well. If this is indeed true, it could be why we haven't really seen any new stuff from Tele-Media in the past few months. The only new additions to our service that we've seen has been as a result of Adelphia as a whole, not Tele-Media.

Wouldn't surprise me.

By the way, my HD is back this morning, but still no Showtime.

Originally posted by PaulieORF
I have heard grumblings that Tele-Media may be sold soon. I'm not talking about Adelphia, but talking about Adelphia's 80% of Tele-Media being sold, and the other 20% being sold as well.
This is the best news I have heard since Tele-Media started providing HD! With any luck it will be a cable company who already has contracts with all the local channels and some new ones like Universal HD or NESN-HD (for Paulie :) ) Here's to someone...anyone...buying 100% of our little cable company. In these rumbling have you heard who may be interested? I would love for Comcast to come in because of their interest in the new Mets Network. Selfish I know but at this point anyone should be better.

My guess is that if Comcast and Time Warner buy Adelphia, Comcast will get Adelphia's 80% of Tele-Media, then probably puchase the remaining 20% from Tele-Media.

Side note: Cox in Meriden, who services Cheshrie, Meriden and Southington has added NESN this month, along with Cablevision of Litchfield. Tele-Media is now the only cable company in the country that has the ability to broadcast NESN, but doesn't.

TeleMedia's refusal to carry the so called Red Sox station made the Waterbury paper today.

I am actually getting ready to dump Tele-Media altogether, even though their high speed internet beats the crap out of DSL. I really just don't want to give my money to those basards anymore.

Who will you go with? Both DISH and DIrecTV have inferior HD picture quality.

I am not sure if I like this. Cablevision has placed a bid for Adelphia. It is a single cash offer so this may be more attractive. I have heard great things about their iO Service but it seems like they are always fighting some channel and right now they do not have the Mets in some sort of dispute. I think I still like the Comcast/Time Warner deal better.

The link to this story is:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=acc3Y8pGhKE8&refer=us

Any thoughts on who will win or who you want to win? To tell you the truth, I just want my local channels in HD. :(

Bill,

Whether it be Cablevision, Comcast or Time Warner, I'm pretty sure we'll be okay. I do believe you are a little confused as far as the Mets situation goes. Cablevisoin owns MSG and FSN New York, the 2 channels that carry Mets games. It is Time Warner Cable that has pulled the plug on MSG and FSN New York, because they are unable to reach an agreement with Cablevision. However, starting (tentatively) next year, Comcast and Time Warner will launch the Mets very own RSN, leaving MSG and FSN NY without Mets games. At this point, Cablevision would have to sign an agreement with the new Mets Network, however they will still offer MSG and FSN NY because of the fact that they own those networks. I personally believe that Cablevision will be canning MSG Network in a few years anyway.

You can pretty much count on Comcast and Time Warner systems carrying the new Mets Network because of the same reason Cablevision carries MSG and FSN NY right now.

As far as local channels in HD goes, I have talked to Tim at Adelphia again, and he gave a pretty good summary:

They currently don't have a large number of HD customers. The parent companies of WTNH (LIN) and WTIC/WTXX (Tribune) are making offers to Tele-Media that are hard to justify with the current amount of HD customers they have. Some other cable companies either signed on for all the major networks in HD because they may have a larger HD audience. It's a tough situation, which should rectify itself in time when more and more people sign up for HD.

They started negotiations with YES Network for YES-HD recently. They're still working on TNT-HD and Universal-HD. And of course, they are still negotiating with NESN.

I would much reather have ABC and FOX instead of YES, TNT, Universal, and what ever stupid cable channels they decide to add in HD.

I would trade having my Mets in HD for the rest of the local channels. Not having local HD is ridiculous! I am fed up with this! Bastards!!!

So COMCAST has purchased Adelphia. OK, good. But will TeleMedia be included in the buyout? That be the question.

Originally posted by Matt_Stevens
So COMCAST has purchased Adelphia. OK, good. But will TeleMedia be included in the buyout? That be the question.

I would think that Comcast would offer to buy the remaining 20% of Tele-Media, so that it would be 100% Comcast.

I have called Tele-Media and they forwarded me to a woman at Adelphia headquarters who is taking calls regarding the purchase. She said they (Adelphia) have not released any "official" information regarding the buyout and can not comment on whether the purchase would include the Tele-Media stake is included in the buyout.

I guess we will just have to wait until the deal is completed. Right now it is only an agreement in principle.

I spoke to Tim Burt about the potential purchase a few weeks ago, and the way he spoke about it, Tele-Media would likely become Comcast. I just assumed that Comcast would buy the rest of Tele-Media that Adelphia owns.

Just a guess but the Norwich Adelphia system is surronded almost completely
by Comcast so I would assume that system would be a Comcast system.
About a year ago Norwich and Waterbury were put into the same region as
far as management (they answer to the same poeple in the northeast Adelphia
region).
So most likely your system would become a Comcast.
Good luck !

I talked to Tim on Monday. He talked a little about Comcast. He still thinks that Tele-Media's area would become Comcast, however he believes they may not buy the 20% that Tele-Media owns. Do not be discouraged, however. He did say that there would be major changes as far as employeeds, at all levels, including his job.

He did tell me that he belives that if Comcast takes over, we'll get NESN, and NESN HD of course, since all other Comcast systems in CT (minus Fairfield County) also have NESN.

I would still like to see Tele-Media out of the picture all together but if Tele-Media makes major changes like they say they are then I will give them one more chance to win me over. I do like the prospect of Comcast taking over because of the new Mets channel next year, being able to get NESN, and we should get the rest of our local HD channels.

As I am writing this a see a commercial from Tele-Media focusing solely on being able to get local HD channels through them. 2 local HD channels hardly constitutes a great local HD lineup. All I can do is just shake my head at this joke of a cable provider.

(And the phone number that is on the commercial 1-866-743-8474 is the wrong number. It goes to some Wachovia agent.)

Found something pretty funny. Try going to http://www.tele-mediacable.com . Here is just another example of how poorly run this company is. The only reason I could see for not renewing the domain in time to keep it up is that they might just be ditching their individual website, and just going with the Adelphia website.

Am I still the only poor sap that has Firewire?

It's official, posted on Comcast, Time Warner, and Adelphia's websites. Comcast and Time Warner have announced the purchase of Adelphia. Below is a breakdown of who will get what properties:


DISTRIBUTION OF PRINCIPAL PROPERTIES

To Time Warner
--------------

From Adelphia
New York (principally Buffalo)
California (principally Los Angeles)
Ohio (principally Cleveland)
Carolinas
Maine (Portland-Bangor)

From Comcast
Dallas
Los Angeles
Cleveland

To Comcast
----------

From Adelphia
Florida (principally Palm Beach and Miami)
Virginia (principally D.C. area)
New England (Boston area, Hartford area, Vermont) <---Includes Tele-Media
Pennsylvania (principally Pittsburgh area,
Johnstown area and Scranton area)
Colorado Springs

From Time Warner
Minneapolis
Memphis
Jackson
Louisiana (principally Shreveport and Monroe)
Florida (principally Cape Coral and St. Augustine)


I will see if I can get any information on a timetable or anything when I speak to Tim Burt next. I hope that this acquisition does not mean he loses his job. He's done a great job at Tele-Media, and I hope that Comcast will keep him around.

This is fantastic news that the purchase includes Tele-Media. Let's hope Comcast wants to make a good first impression and really straighten things out.

Well with any luck, come time this year we will have all our locals in HD along with TNT-HD. Also, I really hope that Comcast gives us NESN, which would of course give us NESN-HD as well.

Originally posted by PaulieORF
Well with any luck, come time this year we will have all our locals in HD along with TNT-HD. Also, I really hope that Comcast gives us NESN, which would of course give us NESN-HD as well.

I would even expect that once this deal is finalized things will happen pretty fast. Comcast already have existing deals in place with the locals and with NESN. And the infrastructure is already in place from Adelphia. I do not see anything stopping this other than where it gets positioned on the priority list. Then we will all be happy.

Are there other HD channels besides TNT that may be added in the near future through the Comcast take over? Do they carry MSG-HD or Universal-HD?

Just a side note: The last week and a half I spent with my brother in Tampa. (Beautiful weather) He gets his cable through BrightHouse. He gets ALL local channels in HD including PBS, WB, UPN, etc. with ALL of their sub-channels. I could care less about the subs but it just shows how BrightHouse is willing to pass along whatever is provided by the locals. Also, he had over 35 On Demand channels. It just opened my eyes to how far behind we actually are with Tele-Media/Adelphia. There is a much better world out there. Hopefully Comcast will help bring us up to speed with everyone else.

Curious about how the HD channel lineup is going to shake out, I sent an e-mail to Comcast and here is the response that I received:
Thank you for taking the time to write us. Unfortunately I do not have any specific information to provide regarding the HD channel lineup; I can only assume that no changes will be made to your current offerings and any channel that we offer but you do not currently receive will become available to you.
New channels will include WTNH, WTIC, PBS, TNT-HD, and I'm not sure if the Red Sox or Yankee games will be preempted on InHD2. Maybe NESN-HD will be turned on our lineup now. Anyway, if this is correct information and we just get the additions we are going to have one fantastic HD lineup!

I am anxious to see what Tim Burt has to say about how the channels are going to shake out.

I know many people here use cable for their high speed Internet. While I was looking around the Comcast website for CT this is what I found.

4 Mbps/384 Kbps - $42.95 for Comcast subscribers
6 Mbps/768 Kbps - $52.95 for Comcast subscribers

4 Mbps/384 Kbps - $57.95 for non-Comcast subscribers
6 Mbps/768 Kbps - $67.95 for non-Comcast subscribers