Originally posted by cedosada
Sorry. This is for the SF Area. But I think it goes for most of the country.
You'd think that the biggest TV day of the year would be on HD with Comcast.
Who's running that company?

I'm not sure which "day" you are referring to, but I think there are several days
involved.... with the NFL playoffs, Superbowl, Daytona 500, a new season of "24", etc.
I can't say how frustrating it is to watch three HD NFL games (ABC & CBS), and
then have to deal with terrible analog PQ on FOX. I don't see how Comcast can
stay competitive when DirecTV offers all the HD locals here. It's a damn shame :(

Originally posted by neoufo51
Ha, didnt notice that that was him in the picture. Looks like he's watching a Harry Potter movie?



Not Harry Potter. Princess Bride. A very good Rob Reiner movie that I had on JVC 30K tape. Nothing good was on when the photographer came over!

It was really very good of Todd and the SF Chron to do this story. Recently, the SF Chron has been more responsive to the South Bay community than the Merc, IMHO. Bravo for the SF Chronicle.

I was also frustated this weekend with no having Fox in HD.

For some reason I was thinking that I wasn't going to be able to watch the game, then I remembered that I have FOX in SD :p .

Originally posted by YuriLuzr
Yeah, it was pretty frustrating to see 3 of the games in HD then have to watch the Fox game in SD. Come on Comcast and FOX let's get it together by next weekend, which will have 2 games on FOX.

Not to mention 24.

Does anyone know why Football games on Fox in SD have absolutely horrible picture quality? Much worse than any other SD show I've seen. I also noticed in yesterday's game that close-ups were much better picture quality than typical farther distance camera angles used for most of the game. It looked like we were watching the game thru a blizzard!

Originally posted by John Mace
Not to mention 24.
Does anyone know why Football games on Fox in SD have absolutely horrible picture quality? Much worse than any other SD show I've seen. I also noticed in yesterday's game that close-ups were much better picture quality than typical farther distance camera angles used for most of the game. It looked like we were watching the game thru a blizzard!

I agree about "24"!
Regarding football PQ, what you describe has always been my experience when watching football games in SD - on any channel - even when I had Dish Networks, although at times yesterday there did seem to be severe degradation during the game. For analog/SD, I have my Comcast signal running directly into my TV (bypassing the 6412), and I find myself constantly adjusting the TV's video parameters in an unsuccessful attempt to improve the PQ. Although still lacking in PQ, "24" in SD was much better, so I think it's just a "football telecast" thing. Maybe someone here has a more technical explanation. Bottom line: WE NEED FOX HD!

Originally posted by John Mace
Not to mention 24.

Does anyone know why Football games on Fox in SD have absolutely horrible picture quality? Much worse than any other SD show I've seen. I also noticed in yesterday's game that close-ups were much better picture quality than typical farther distance camera angles used for most of the game. It looked like we were watching the game thru a blizzard!

I've been getting Fox-HD from DirecTV and their football broadcasts are not very good. As you noted with the SD version, closeups seem to be fine, but when you get a shot of the field, which is the majority of the time, the field itself is a mess. Much of the time the grass is a roiling mass of mosquito noise. CBS and ABC blow away Fox when it comes to football broadcasts. Scripted shows like 24 are much better but still not as good as the other networks. AVS Forum member foxeng made reference to some technical issue regarding the HD PQ that was in the process of being fixed. I think the SD broadcast is down-rezzed from the HD feed on Fox so that may explain why the SD version is so bad.

This is with both the East and West feeds of Fox. I know SonomaSearcher gets Fox from the SAC station, maybe he can comment on the OTA PQ, if it's any better or the same.

Originally posted by keenan
I've been getting Fox-HD from DirecTV and their football broadcasts are not very good. As you noted with the SD version, closeups seem to be fine, but when you get a shot of the field, which is the majority of the time, the field itself is a mess. Much of the time the grass is a roiling mass of mosquito noise. CBS and ABC blow away Fox when it comes to football broadcasts. Scripted shows like 24 are much better but still not as good as the other networks. AVS Forum member foxeng made reference to some technical issue regarding the HD PQ that was in the process of being fixed. I think the SD broadcast is down-rezzed from the HD feed on Fox so that may explain why the SD version is so bad.

This is with both the East and West feeds of Fox. I know SonomaSearcher gets Fox from the SAC station, maybe he can comment on the OTA PQ, if it's any better or the same.

Keenan,
I get Fox-HD OTA down here in the South Bay. I use an indoor antenna and the LG 4200a HD receiver. The picture quality is not that bad, I would say on par with ABC ( both of which transmit HD at 720p ). When I was watching 24 last night it was broadcast in Wide Screen not HD, and it was noted as such just before the show started. That being said it looked good and now I'm hooked on another show :) ( Lost being my favorite show ). I don't watch Fox SD because they transmit a digital signal for their normal shows and it looks as good as the other digital channels that I get. I think the quality of the signal has to do alot with your location and the equipment that you use. It would be nice if Comcast would carry Fox-HD but I'm not going to hold my breath, especially for here in the 16% club.

Laters,
Mikef5

Was watching it here in SF via OTA and it is in HD according to the little splashscreen at the beginning of the show. It however does say: Fox Widescreen on top as well and then underneath in smaller letters it says High Definition.

Titantv also reported it as in HD as well.

Russ

Originally posted by russwong
Was watching it here in SF via OTA and it is in HD according to the little splashscreen at the beginning of the show. It however does say: Fox Widescreen on top as well and then underneath in smaller letters it says High Definition.

Titantv also reported it as in HD as well.

Russ

I noticed that also, but Fox has a weird definition of what they consider as HD and since it said Wide Screen to me that means up-converted from 4X3 to 16X9 to make it look like a real HD screen. I don't think 24 is filmed in 16X9 and 720p which would be a normal HD program. Not that it matters, I'm still hooked on the show and will watch it just the same :)

Laters,
Mikef5

I've read nearly 30 pages of this thread and can't find the answer to a simple question I have. Perhaps another thread would have this info, or maybe one of you experienced HD members can help.

I've just moved to Alamo (east bay - east and a little south of Oakland). I've been getting service from DISH with their meager HD lineup and CBS-HD from LA. I love programming in HD and would like to get as many of the local channels in HD as possible, plus ESPN, HBO (or some premium HD channel), and movies if available. It looks like only Comcast has the local channels in HD. Is that correct? Also, is it "real" HD, or is it so compressed that the picture is no better than standard def? I'd hate to get locked into Comcast for local HD only to find out it's really no better than a good standard def signal.

Is there a way to get local channels in HD from Dish or Direct TV?

Originally posted by keenan
I've been getting Fox-HD from DirecTV and their football broadcasts are not very good ... CBS and ABC blow away Fox when it comes to football broadcasts.
I agree with keenan on this one. I'm in SF, receive Fox HD OTA, and have the same perceptions about the reduced image quality of NFL broadcasts vs. CBS, ABC, and ESPN. The images are nowhere near as sharp as they are on the other stations. This is most noticeable with the standard camera shot just before the snap, but is also apparent in close-up facials. It's kind of like a general haze is on the screen. I've got a friend who also receives Fox HD OTA in the South Bay and he has similar experiences.

FWIW, I'm using a Channel Master 4221 roof-mounted antenna and Samsung 150 OTA receiver connected to my display via RGB.

Originally posted by jwilock
I've read nearly 30 pages of this thread and can't find the answer to a simple question I have. Perhaps another thread would have this info, or maybe one of you experienced HD members can help.
I've just moved to Alamo (east bay - east and a little south of Oakland). I've been getting service from DISH with their meager HD lineup and CBS-HD from LA. I love programming in HD and would like to get as many of the local channels in HD as possible, plus ESPN, HBO (or some premium HD channel), and movies if available. It looks like only Comcast has the local channels in HD. Is that correct? Also, is it "real" HD, or is it so compressed that the picture is no better than standard def? I'd hate to get locked into Comcast for local HD only to find out it's really no better than a good standard def signal.
Is there a way to get local channels in HD from Dish or Direct TV?

There are lots of forums/newsgroups with this info scattered around, but it can be very subjective
as far as PQ, etc. I came to Comcast HD from Dish HD just a few months ago. If you go with an
OTA (antenna) system as I did with the Dish6000, there is more local HD such as FOX, WB,
and UPN. In the SF Bay, Comcast currently only offers KQED, KRON, KNTV, KGO, KPIX without any
OTA system. So, less channels, but no antenna to mess with. I don't have the technical specs, but
the PQ between the two appears essentially the same to me on my 65" RPTV. HD definitely looks like
HD -- it's the real thing. BTW, DirecTV is now offering local HD via satellite, but some waivers may
be needed.

since fox has gone to broadcasting football in HD, it's been clear to me that whatever version they are using isn't as good as football on CBS or ABC for that matter. Fox resolution , noise levels and sharpness of detail are all below what is being delivered by the other major networks. At least I get OTA broadcasts while Comcast conveniently forgets to mention they don't provide the National Footall league in HD.

Originally posted by Mikef5
Keenan,
I get Fox-HD OTA down here in the South Bay. I use an indoor antenna and the LG 4200a HD receiver. The picture quality is not that bad, I would say on par with ABC ( both of which transmit HD at 720p ). When I was watching 24 last night it was broadcast in Wide Screen not HD, and it was noted as such just before the show started. That being said it looked good and now I'm hooked on another show :) ( Lost being my favorite show ).

Laters,
Mikef5

From my perspective(Comcast for ABC-NBC-CBS and DirecTV for Fox-HD) ABC is much better than Fox-HD for football, although some games seemed to be a little better than others. Nothing on Fox-HD I have seen yet has that "blows you away" look of Lost for example, or CBS for football. Although I would like to see a better picture from Fox, to me, they are still a 4th rate network with a 4th rate picture. Some of our local TV that I can get OTA, KCSM and such have a much better picture than what I get from Fox via DirecTV. Of course most of that stuff is pre-recorded as opposed to having to produce as it's happening like football. Be interesting to see if the PQ is improved by the time DirecTV gets the LiL HD up or Comcast finally carries KTVU-HD.

It looks like only Comcast has the local channels in HD. Is that correct?

Comcast has some of the local channels. Still missing Fox/WB/UPN, Fox rumored to be coming shortly. Local channels are also available free over-the-air with an antenna and an OTA ATSC receiver, which most satellite receivers include.

Also, is it "real" HD
It is HD.

Is there a way to get local channels in HD from Dish or Direct TV?
Put up a TV antenna. You can also get LA feeds of ABC/CBS/NBC via satellite. DirecTV has announced HD local-in-local via satellite for later this year.

To me OTA is the best way to get Digital/HDTV channels - Most all the local
channels now have a digital transmission and if you can get it in your area
it is of the best quality.

I also subscribe to Directv HDTV for ESPN/Discovery/...

Most Dish/Directv HD receivers will also do over the air. Sony (and I think
Samsung) are also showing Cable HDTV boxes that also do OTA.

sam

Originally posted by jwilock
I've read nearly 30 pages of this thread and can't find the answer to a simple question I have. Perhaps another thread would have this info, or maybe one of you experienced HD members can help.

I've just moved to Alamo (east bay - east and a little south of Oakland). I've been getting service from DISH with their meager HD lineup and CBS-HD from LA. I love programming in HD and would like to get as many of the local channels in HD as possible, plus ESPN, HBO (or some premium HD channel), and movies if available. It looks like only Comcast has the local channels in HD. Is that correct? Also, is it "real" HD, or is it so compressed that the picture is no better than standard def? I'd hate to get locked into Comcast for local HD only to find out it's really no better than a good standard def signal.

Is there a way to get local channels in HD from Dish or Direct TV?

got my 6412 installed on 1/8/05. it's the first time to use my dvi connection on the 57" sony rp. the picture seemed slightly improved vs the previous 5100 box connected through component.

both the box and silver remote came sealed in separate clear plastic bags. it was probably one of the easier installs since i had the power, optic, dvi, and coax all ready to be plugged in.

cable guy said to leave the box on for a few hours in order to download the programming schedules and the box re-set itself once(that I know of) for some reason. after that, it downloaded all the info.

dvr works great, recorded 1 hr hd show which took 9% of the hard drive space.

the continuous sound of the hard drive spinning is kind of annoying coming from absolutely no sound from previous setup, but it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

no prevous experience with tivo so the new menu system is a great improvemetn.

now just waiting for vod which is delayed until 1/14.:)

I now have VOD. Think it came in this weekend. All of a sudden, there's video on demand :) its sweet :) I'm in mountain view.... all i need IS FOX IN HD!!!! GRR!!!

--Dima

Originally posted by keenan
From my perspective(Comcast for ABC-NBC-CBS and DirecTV for Fox-HD) ABC is much better than Fox-HD for football, although some games seemed to be a little better than others. Nothing on Fox-HD I have seen yet has that "blows you away" look of Lost for example, or CBS for football. Although I would like to see a better picture from Fox, to me, they are still a 4th rate network with a 4th rate picture. Some of our local TV that I can get OTA, KCSM and such have a much better picture than what I get from Fox via DirecTV. Of course most of that stuff is pre-recorded as opposed to having to produce as it's happening like football. Be interesting to see if the PQ is improved by the time DirecTV gets the LiL HD up or Comcast finally carries KTVU-HD.


Uhhh, doesnt FOX actually just broadcast in 480p but only recently announced that they had started 720p back in Fall 2004? Maybe they haven't completely finished the upgrade everywhere in the nation yet and the content is being filmed in 720p but is not transmitted up to standards here? Somebody fill me in?

Originally posted by neoufo51
Uhhh, doesnt FOX actually just broadcast in 480p but only recently announced that they had started 720p back in Fall 2004? Maybe they haven't completely finished the upgrade everywhere in the nation yet?

Uhhh...where have you been??? Fox has been broadcasting at 720p for almost 6 months now.

Originally posted by fender4645
Uhhh...where have you been??? Fox has been broadcasting at 720p for almost 6 months now.
Obviously been without FOX HD. I was just alarmed at the apparent "bad PQ" people were talking about just now, sorry.

Originally posted by neoufo51
Obviously been without FOX HD. I was just alarmed at the apparent "bad PQ" people were talking about just now, sorry.

I started the "bad PQ" discussion, but it was about the SD picture those of us get who don't have FOX HD. The SD PQ of the game yesterday was miserable.

Originally posted by John Mace
I started the "bad PQ" discussion, but it was about the SD picture those of us get who don't have FOX HD. The SD PQ of the game yesterday was miserable.

Yeah, the SD really was bad. Even if Fox HD PQ is not as good as CBS, etc., we still need the digital HD feed. I've contacted our friends at the Chronicle about this in hopes that they might be able to "push" Comcast on this like they did with the DVR distribution fiasco. They said they're working on it and are waiting to see what happens with the Superbowl.....

Originally posted by John Mace
I started the "bad PQ" discussion, but it was about the SD picture those of us get who don't have FOX HD. The SD PQ of the game yesterday was miserable.

Yes, and I took it off onto the HD PQ, basically for those that do not have Fox-HD like us with Comcast here, while the PQ is better than SD obviously, IMO, it certainly isn't as SOTA as I would consider ABC or CBS to be.

I've had my 6412 DVR for a couple of weeks now and it has worked great until now.

When the power is turned on there is no picture! Even if I turn the box off for a minute! The guides are there, I can change the channel, but only a blank screen. The only way I've found to get the picture back is to play a recorded program for a few seconds and then it's fine.

Searched the threads but couldn't find anyone with a similar problem. I'm hoping someone may know a fix that's short of swapping for a new box.

Thanks in advance.

T.

Originally posted by RTJohn
I've had my 6412 DVR for a couple of weeks now and it has worked great until now.

When the power is turned on there is no picture! Even if I turn the box off for a minute! The guides are there, I can change the channel, but only a blank screen. The only way I've found to get the picture back is to play a recorded program for a few seconds and then it's fine.

Searched the threads but couldn't find anyone with a similar problem. I'm hoping someone may know a fix that's short of swapping for a new box.

Thanks in advance.

T.

In the iGuide thread several have mentioned this problem and solution ... sorry I can't remember what it was.

Originally posted by mds54
I've contacted our friends at the Chronicle about this in hopes that they might be able to "push" Comcast on this like they did with the DVR distribution fiasco. They said they're working on it and are waiting to see what happens with the Superbowl.....
Good to hear that the Chronicle is working to shed light on this issue. I can only imagine the customer reaction would be when Feb 6th rolls around and Comcast is nowhere near getting FOX-HD.

Folks,

Some questions:

FYI: my OTA is connected to a Dish DVR 921.

- I get NBC in Cupertino, CA at channel 48-2 ... It is rock solid. However, the channel info says that is a Spanish channel. I read on the this thread that KNTV-NBC will be at 12-1. Anyone else have this "problem"?

- The signal at channel 7-1 (ABC) and 13-1 (CBS) is very good at times. Do you normally see something when there is no HD broadcast? It is usually very good after 8:00PM on weekdays (on the face of it makes sense as only a few programs are broadcast HD)

- Most channels (KICU, etc.) above 20+ seem to be broadcasting regular TV even though they are supposed to be HD. Are you folks observing the same thing?

- Channel 9 (PBS 9-1 thru 9-5) is exteremely spotty. I am wondering if it is my antenna problem or the station?

- Absolutely no KTVU -- :mad: I really want to watch the superbowl in HD. Any tips on how I could get it. I am wondering if I have to adjust the orientation of the antenna.

Thanks in advance.

Sri

Originally posted by bpearse
Well, us 2%ers are actually 16%ers, according to Comcast. Not sure that makes me fell any better. Todd's article was published today in the SF Cron.

Underserved by Comcast (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/10/BUG94AMKVV1.DTL)

Received a call on my machine from Comcast today referring to 'the story'. Wonder what they want.

BTW, the article says there is not VOD in 550MHz areas. Is that true? I thought VOD was available in Saratoga and Los Gatos, etc.

First off, you might get better answers in the San Francisco OTA thread here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=369015) as this thread is for Comcast (cable) instead of OTA.

But when I played with an OTA receiver (Samsung 351) awhile ago, I also remember getting NBC in HD on 48-2. In the third post of the other thread they mention it's the Telemundo simulcast. If I recall correctly, the "regular" NBC transmission is a VHF transmission so if your antenna is good at UHF only the 48.2 rebroadcast might be your best bet.

KTVU is (according to AntennaWeb) transmitting from Oakland, so you might need to re-orient your antenna.

For others helping out in the OTA thread, it would speed things along if you mention what type of antenna you're using, and where you're located in the Bay Area. best of luck!

Originally posted by bpearse
Received a call on my machine from Comcast today referring to 'the story'. Wonder what they want.

BTW, the article says there is not VOD in 550MHz areas. Is that true? I thought VOD was available in Saratoga and Los Gatos, etc.

If it's from Mr. Johnson, it will be interesting to see what he has to say about this little problem. The last time I talked to him, he had a good story to tell but I see no indication that any thing is happening in our non-upgraded system. Let us know what they have to say. As far as I know there is no VOD in the 16% areas and from what I've read it is not recommended to put VOD on a 550 system and that's from a trade web site.
Right now we are in a catch 22 situation. In order to get more bandwidth, they have to get rid of the analog channels and move them to digital. To avoid customer shock they plan on simulcasting both analog and digital, except we don't have the bandwidth to do that. They could try a different compression scheme but how hard that is to do is anyone's guess. I really don't know why they just don't bite the bullet and upgrade all the systems the same but that's another story. Let us know what you find out and thanks for going the extra mile for us in the 16% areas, it is really appreciated.

Laters,
Mikef5

Well, one of the rumors from last week--that Cox and Comcast would settle their differences and we would have FoxHD over Comcast by Jan 9--has fallen by the wayside. Hopefully the secondary rumors--that we will have it by SB Sunday--will come to fruition!

Originally posted by Mikef5
If it's from Mr. Johnson, it will be interesting to see what he has to say about this little problem.

Laters,
Mikef5

They probably want bpearse to know they are going to run a special fiber line right to his house to provide all the goodies Comcast has so he will refrain from contacting the media about Comcast's failure to provide all of us with sufficient BW. :D :D :p

I recently sent an email to FSN to see if they knew anything about FSN HD being added to the Santa Rosa lineup. This is the response I got. Nothing too promising, but at least it's something.

Unfortunately the Santa Rosa system was one that then AT&T now Comcast inherited from Post Newsweek and the system needed and still needs a major re-build. Comcast has poured a ton of $$ into the overall Bay Area since taking over but has not been able to complete Santa Rosa yet so HD may still be aways off.
I've spoken to the folks at Comcast and they remain hopeful that Santa Rosa will be upgraded by the fall of 2005 but can't commit.

Chris Geer
Vice President, Sales and Affiliate Relations
FSN Bay Area
77 Geary Street, 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-296-8900
415-402-4138 (direct)
NEW E-MAIL "cmgeer@fsnbayarea.com

Originally posted by JasonQG
I recently sent an email to FSN to see if they knew anything about FSN HD being added to the Santa Rosa lineup. This is the response I got. Nothing too promising, but at least it's something.

Yeah, it's something. I noticed the other day the Comcast is working in the neighborhood east the JC, what they were doing I don't know. I still think it's ridiculous the largest city in the North Bay has what is currently a bottom-of-the-barrel cable system.

Originally posted by RTJohn
I've had my 6412 DVR for a couple of weeks now and it has worked great until now.

When the power is turned on there is no picture! Even if I turn the box off for a minute! The guides are there, I can change the channel, but only a blank screen. The only way I've found to get the picture back is to play a recorded program for a few seconds and then it's fine.

Searched the threads but couldn't find anyone with a similar problem. I'm hoping someone may know a fix that's short of swapping for a new box.

Thanks in advance.

T.

T,

I have the same problem. I have looked at the 6412 i-guide recorder thread and found no permanent solution. If I play a recording from the DVR and then switch back to live tv, the picture comes back. This problem happens to me only if the machine is shut off and turned back on. The best solution for now is just keeping the machine on, unless you want to go to the trouble of calling up Comcast and getting another DVR. If you find a better solution, please let us know.

KNTV's primary broadcast is from Loma Prieda south of San Jose. It is rebroadcast from Mt. Alison as a sub of 48.1 which is telemundo which KNTV also owns. Mt. Alison is a fair bit east of loma prieda.

but wait there's more. KNTV is moving from Loma Prieda to san bruno where KTSF (26.1) currently is. It's not clear if the Mt. Alison re-broadcast will continue then.

jeff

Originally posted by srikumarc
Folks,

Some questions:

FYI: my OTA is connected to a Dish DVR 921.

- I get NBC in Cupertino, CA at channel 48-2 ... It is rock solid. However, the channel info says that is a Spanish channel. I read on the this thread that KNTV-NBC will be at 12-1. Anyone else have this "problem"?

- The signal at channel 7-1 (ABC) and 13-1 (CBS) is very good at times. Do you normally see something when there is no HD broadcast? It is usually very good after 8:00PM on weekdays (on the face of it makes sense as only a few programs are broadcast HD)

- Most channels (KICU, etc.) above 20+ seem to be broadcasting regular TV even though they are supposed to be HD. Are you folks observing the same thing?

- Channel 9 (PBS 9-1 thru 9-5) is exteremely spotty. I am wondering if it is my antenna problem or the station?

- Absolutely no KTVU -- :mad: I really want to watch the superbowl in HD. Any tips on how I could get it. I am wondering if I have to adjust the orientation of the antenna.

Thanks in advance.

Sri

Originally posted by bpearse
Received a call on my machine from Comcast today referring to 'the story'. Wonder what they want.

BTW, the article says there is not VOD in 550MHz areas. Is that true? I thought VOD was available in Saratoga and Los Gatos, etc.

Nope...No VOD (at least not yet and I dont expect it)...from what I heard its difficult on 550Mhz systems...Although I do get to watch commericials all the time on Comcast in Saratoga about the wonders of Comcast and VOD..mixed in with commercials about shows Discovery HD and Fox Sports HD on Comcast (grrrrr, just stick that knife in).

I'm definetly interested in what they have to say to you.

-Steve

Well, the message had nothing to do with the article in the SF Chronicle. It was simply about confirming a credit to my account due from when I canceled my cable service with Comcast (but kept my internet service).

I do not think Comcast will take any action to address the poor service for Saratoga, Los Gatos, et al. But DirecTV and DishNetwork are happy to jump in and take our business! (as they have mine).

Originally posted by bpearse
But DirecTV and DishNetwork are happy to jump in and take our business! (as they have mine).

Yes, I'll probably wait around until march to see if anything happens from comcast and see how the resent Satellite Provider announcements pan out. I may even play with Voom if the investment up front is minimal. They showed their DVR last week at CES (available in March) and are planning some more channels. There's a risk they may fail, but heck Comcast will always take me back..the worst I would have is a whole lot of HD for a while

But DirecTV and DishNetwork are happy to jump in and take our business! (as they have mine).

Since I'm lucky enough to get all 4 networks in HD via DirecTV I'm really only staying with Comcast because I'm having so much fun with their DVR. The DirecTV DVR is too expensive and may be obsolete when the LiL HD rolls out. Expensive situation, although I can probably pare it down to $125 a month or so and get everything I want. Maybe even less, haven't looked at the numbers yet.

Originally posted by bpearse
Received a call on my machine from Comcast today referring to 'the story'. Wonder what they want.


Maybe you were number 10,000 on The List, but when they found out you canceld they called this person:

dvrinfospot.com/archives/2005/01/comcast_celebra_1.html#more

"Comcast Celebrates Overwhelming DVR Response by Giving Away a New HDTV to Its 10,000th DVR Customer"

....To celebrate the landmark occasion, Comcast is awarding a brand-new, flat screen high-definition (HD) television set to its 10,000th customer: Joann Larkin of Sunnyvale, CA.

Originally posted by rfb2000
T,

I have the same problem. I have looked at the 6412 i-guide recorder thread and found no permanent solution. If I play a recording from the DVR and then switch back to live tv, the picture comes back. This problem happens to me only if the machine is shut off and turned back on. The best solution for now is just keeping the machine on, unless you want to go to the trouble of calling up Comcast and getting another DVR. If you find a better solution, please let us know.

rfb2000,

turning off the box for a minute then unplugging it for another minute solved the blank screen on power up problem, but the picture still freezes occasionally.

I'll live with it 'till there's a firmware upgrade.

BTW I didn't lose any recordings, future series or otherwise by unplugging.

T.

I'm on the Oakland/Berkeley Border and VOD is finally working!

I subscribe to HBO but still get a message to call an 800 number to subscribe to HBO On Demand. Funny thing is, I don't get Speed Channel but I am getting Speed On Demand.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the video quality. IMHO some of it's nearly DVD quality, or at least better than most digital cable.

DVR and VOD in the same month! I'm beginning to be impressed!

T.

Is there any VOD in HD?

Looks like VOD for everything is available, including the premium channels.

But none of the menu choices show how much it costs.

Hope people aren't surprised by their cable bill.

Ok, what indoor antenna do you recommend to get FOX-HD. I live in a townhouse and have a patio. I guess I can do it ghetto style and just toss an outdoor antenna on my patio. It's just for 1 day... But any suggestions on indoor antennas?

Actually this post should be in the OTA thread, not Comcast. But since you ask a UHF antenna will work pointed towards Sutro Tower. You don't give your location, so use antennaweb.org to see which direction that is and how far you are. This will determine what sort of antenna you need and where you have to put it. Also, you'll need an ATSC tuner to decode the OTA broadcast.

jeff
Originally posted by cedosada
Ok, what indoor antenna do you recommend to get FOX-HD. I live in a townhouse and have a patio. I guess I can do it ghetto style and just toss an outdoor antenna on my patio. It's just for 1 day... But any suggestions on indoor antennas?

Originally posted by RTJohn
rfb2000,

turning off the box for a minute then unplugging it for another minute solved the blank screen on power up problem, but the picture still freezes occasionally.

I'll live with it 'till there's a firmware upgrade.

BTW I didn't lose any recordings, future series or otherwise by unplugging.

T.

Thanks T, I will try that.

Anyones VOD in south San Jose not working properly as of today? I can go to the VOD menu, but when I choose a program to watch I get a message saying that they are having trouble with the video and to try again later. Anyone else having this problem?

As excerpted from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. There are some interesting statements about bandwidth and Comcast finalizing a 'strategic plan' for rebuilds in the Bay Area. (Comcast took over from AT&T Broadband how long ago, and a strategic plan has not yet been reached?)

Other than the City of Walnut Creek (a 330 Mhz system), Santa Rosa must be the last part of the Bay Area to get HSI.

At last, SR to get cable Internet

After years of waiting, fighting with city, Comcast promises service to all in city within 90 days

Thursday, January 13, 2005

By Bob Norberg
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
bnorberg@pressdemocrat.com


Cable giant Comcast is delivering on a long-awaited promise to provide high-speed Internet service to Santa Rosa, the last city in Sonoma County where the service is not widely available.

The new service, due to reach all Santa Rosa customers in 90 days, comes as the city's relationship with Comcast has hit a low point and as the city was threatening to re-open Comcast's franchise agreement.

Santa Rosa and Comcast for a year have been embroiled in a dispute over the city's use of part of Comcast's cable network, which Comcast said blocked the ability to provide the Internet service.

On Jan. 6, Santa Rosa sent Comcast a letter expressing frustration with the negotiations and demanding an answer by Friday.

"We are extremely disappointed in and frustrated by the manner in which Comcast has conducted itself during this entire process," said the letter from Assistant City Manager Marc Richardson.

On Wednesday, he said he and other city officials were unaware of Comcast's new promise.

Comcast spokesman Andrew Johnson said Wednesday the issues raised in the negotiations no longer are relevant because Comcast now can expand its network without affecting Santa Rosa's system. He said the city had been notified of the changes.

Johnson said Comcast started installing new equipment within the past 45 days and began extending its cable modem service. All of Santa Rosa's 66,000 customers will have access within three months, the company said.

After the Internet service, Johnson said Comcast plans to continue improving its 8-year-old cable system to deliver more premium TV channels, more high-definition programming and video-on-demand, which is available in most of Sonoma County.

"High-speed modem service was first and foremost. Then we will tackle the additional channels and the more advanced services when we finalize a strategic plan for the Bay Area," Johnson said.

High-speed Internet service comparable to DSL over phone lines is a promise that was made to Santa Rosa residents since 1996. Comcast's predecessor, CableOne, spent $12.5 million to build a system that at the time was state-of-the-art.

CableOne was taken over by AT&T Broadband in 2000, uniting all of Sonoma County under one cable TV provider. In 2002, Comcast bought AT&T Broadband.

As part of the franchise agreement Santa Rosa negotiated with CableOne, the city received a portion of the bandwidth to link fire stations, schools, libraries, police and the community access TV station. For the future, the bandwidth was to provide a traffic control system.

A year ago, Comcast said it needed the city's bandwidth to expand Internet service to Santa Rosa customers. In return, Comcast agreed to build the city its own network.

But negotiations deteriorated, with Santa Rosa saying Comcast reneged on many of the provisions. Comcast complained Santa Rosa kept adding new conditions.

In the meantime, Johnson said Comcast was rebuilding its network to provide advanced services.

"We spent the time during negotiations investigating this system, and we reached the decision the new network architecture will work (without the city giving up its bandwidth) and we told the city," Johnson said.

The same network rebuild had been proposed by Santa Rosa a year ago, but Johnson said the technology was untested and untried then. It was only recently that Comcast had proved it would work.

Comcast extended high-speed Internet - a $45-a-month service - to 6,000 Santa Rosa residents near Sutter Medical Center a year ago, when the agreement with the city was first reached.

In the past 45 days, Comcast said, it has added the service to 13,000 customers and will extend it to 7,000 more next Thursday.

Within 90 days, the remaining 40,000 Santa Rosa customers will be able to receive the service.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050113/NEWS/501130306/1036/BUSINESS

The "... network rebuild ... proposed by Santa Rosa a year ago ..."-- I wonder exactly what type of 'rebuild' that is ....

And what did Comcast do to prove that it "work[s]"?

Originally posted by Ace of Space
Anyones VOD in south San Jose not working properly as of today? I can go to the VOD menu, but when I choose a program to watch I get a message saying that they are having trouble with the video and to try again later. Anyone else having this problem?

I'm in South San Jose (95111), but I'm not able to check my TV right now. I can say that I had lots of problems Tuesday night, with a black VOD screen and an error message saying to call Comcast service. Wednesday night everything worked fine. I'll check it again when I get home tonight, but it does seem like something's happening with VOD on their end. I'll post here if I see the same problem.

So that sounds really good for Santa Rosa and maybe it is an indication that Comcast may upgrade the rest of the 16% areas but I have heard promises before and without people complaining to the media alot of what has happened recently wouldn't have happened or would have happened much later down the line.. I recently received an email response to why Video on Demand was not available in the Milpitas area, this is their response.

______________________________

Dear James,


Thank you for contacting Comcast.
Unfortunately, your area is still listed in a To Be Determined status in
regard to OnDemand. We do not have any estimated time frames for when
that feature will be available to you. I do apologize for the
inconvenience.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions. You may
respond directly to this email. Thank you for your interest in Comcast.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.
_______________________________________

So again what Comcast says in the newspaper and what they actually do or say to their customers are quite different. I would like Comcast come out with a definitive plan for the 16% areas and publish that plan so that there are no mistakes or unfulfilled promises. So Comcast how about an OFFICIAL statement on what is or is not going to happen with the 16% areas ????
and make it publicly available, I'm sure Mr. Wallack would be very happy to print your plan, and yes, I'm tired of being treated like a second rate customer.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
As excerpted from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. There are some interesting statements about bandwidth and Comcast finalizing a 'strategic plan' for rebuilds in the Bay Area. (Comcast took over from AT&T Broadband how long ago, and a strategic plan has not yet been reached?)


Sounds good, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say. There have been promises for years.

I think part of the blame also lies with the city of Santa Rosa, but that's a different story.

Kevin

Well this explains a lot. It looks like the city got CableOne to agree to turnover a good chunk of spectrum in the reverse for this service, which created a shortage of decent spectrum to run data carriers over. I'm not surprised the system is so hosed up.

Comcast is probably adding a additional reverse lasers and a WDM overlay to put all the city's reverse spectrum back on a different set of wavelengths to free up spectrum that feeds the cable users, and thereby enabling enough reverse for Internet and VOD etc...

These cities always try to get to the trough first, forget what the citizens lose out on - they aren't using their appreciable leverage for more HD service, they want to avoid spending money on a real network for their employees. You folks iin Santa Rosa sure are lucky to have people in city government looking out for you!


Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by Mikef5

So again what Comcast says in the newspaper and what they actually do or say to their customers are quite different. I would like Comcast come out with a definitive plan for the 16% areas and publish that plan so that there are no mistakes or unfulfilled promises. So Comcast how about an OFFICIAL statement on what is or is not going to happen with the 16% areas ????
and make it publicly available, I'm sure Mr. Wallack would be very happy to print your plan, and yes, I'm tired of being treated like a second rate customer.

Laters,
Mikef5

I agree. It's nice to see this in the media but I'm not holding my breath. What's aggravating, but understandable from Comcast's point of view, is they are adding revenue generating services(HSI) before they address the lack of BW for the additional programming the other 84% of the Bay Area gets, while I pay the same price. Everything in the article was touched on with my emails with Marc Richardson and I am happy to see The City is getting tough with Comcast, I wasn't sure they had it in them. :p

Originally posted by MikeSM
These cities always try to get to the trough first, forget what the citizens lose out on - they aren't using their appreciable leverage for more HD service, they want to avoid spending money on a real network for their employees. You folks iin Santa Rosa sure are lucky to have people in city government looking out for you!


I don't have knowledge of all the negotiations that took place between the city and CableOne/AT&T/Comcast, but there are pieces missing from the documented record.

In '98, the local paper ran a similar story to today's saying that CableOne was nearly done with the upgrades and that HSI would be available within 8 months.

This was was about the time that CableOne and AT&T began negotiations for their region swap deal. When this was announced, we were told that CableOne HSI rollout was done but being put on hold so that AT&T could make decisions about how they wanted to proceed.

Once the AT&T take-over was complete, all talk of HSI evaporated.

I guess I am one of the lucky ones - at least I have DSL available.

Kevin

Originally posted by MikeSM
You folks iin Santa Rosa sure are lucky to have people in city government looking out for you!

Thanks,
Mike

Yes, we are, I would like to think that my pounding Richardson with emails about the "Rose of Sonoma County" being a second class city when it comes to it's cable company might have done some good. :D

Originally posted by keenan
What's aggravating, but understandable from Comcast's point of view, is they are adding revenue generating services(HSI) before they address the lack of BW for the additional programming the other 84% of the Bay Area gets, while I pay the same price.

Comcast is losing money due to the lack of BW available for par-level services. I refuse to pay a cent more than I am paying now for analog cable until I know that I will actually get the service that everyone else has for the same price.

SBC is starting to tout their internet-based cable service that they announced for late this year, and I am watching it closely.

Kevin

Originally posted by avekevin
I don't have knowledge of all the negotiations that took place between the city and CableOne/AT&T/Comcast, but there are pieces missing from the documented record.

In '98, the local paper ran a similar story to today's saying that CableOne was nearly done with the upgrades and that HSI would be available within 8 months.

This was was about the time that CableOne and AT&T began negotiations for their region swap deal. When this was announced, we were told that CableOne HSI rollout was done but being put on hold so that AT&T could make decisions about how they wanted to proceed.

Once the AT&T take-over was complete, all talk of HSI evaporated.

I guess I am one of the lucky ones - at least I have DSL available.

Kevin

I remember a lot of this, lots of talk and then nothing. The changes in ownership probably contributed to the mess in a large degree.

I can get cable HSI here, been active for around 3 mos or so but DSL is perfectly fine for my purposes.

Any update on when we can expect to receive Fox HD over Comcast?

It looks like CableOne agreed to an unwise deal, and then the terms kept being passed along as the system changed hands. The way the MSO's look at this is if some city insists on being different, and needing a different design to meet franchise requirements, they will get to it, but they'll exclude it from the standard deployments they contract for for the other systems. That is, if they have a deal with CanAM to upgrade San Mateo county, Mountain View, etc..., but those designs can't apply to Santa Rosa becuase of this strange city requirement, it naturally gets put on the back burner.

"Special requirements" always get you slower service. Even at Burger King... :-)

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by MikeSM
You folks iin Santa Rosa sure are lucky to have people in city government looking out for you!


Amen, Mike. The City of Saratoga has done absolutely for me in the past 9 months on this issue. They handle Comcast like Comcast is the boss. If I didn't know better, I would think they all work for Comcast.

Originally posted by mds54
I'm in South San Jose (95111), but I'm not able to check my TV right now. I can say that I had lots of problems Tuesday night, with a black VOD screen and an error message saying to call Comcast service. Wednesday night everything worked fine. I'll check it again when I get home tonight, but it does seem like something's happening with VOD on their end. I'll post here if I see the same problem.

Thanks, at least it's not only me having a VOD problem. I just got off the line with tech. support, if you can call it that, and they reset my 6200, but after 1 hour, the VOD problem is still there. Seems to be a Comsast problem, hopefully they can clear it up soon. One funny thing, I asked about the new i-guide and when it would be available to me. She didn't even know what it was. Oh well.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by bpearse
Amen, Mike. The City of Saratoga has done absolutely for me in the past 9 months on this issue. They handle Comcast they Comcast is the boss. If I didn't know better, I would think they all work for Comcast.

Same in LG, I think. It's difficult, because you don't really know the source of the problem with there being so many players-- the town, the networks, and the cable company. In the end, though, we all see Comcast and they have to deliver. I, too, would like to see a plan. Sandbag it if they have to, and surprise me on the upside. Of course, it probably works to Comcast's advantage if we don't know the truth, continuing to think an upgrade is "just around the corner".

Originally posted by MikeSM

"Special requirements" always get you slower service. Even at Burger King... :-)

Thanks,
Mike

That's a fact, and the silly-ass traffic camera system just irritates me to no end. Anyone who is familiar with Santa Rosa traffic knows that the only way to solve the traffic problem here is more thoroughfare style roads. The haphazard development here coupled with one N/S and one E/W highway has made traffic insane. I has a much easier time getting around LA when I lived there than I do here. :D

Originally posted by Ace of Space
Thanks, at least it's not only me having a VOD problem. I just got off the line with tech. support, if you can call it that, and they reset my 6200, but after 1 hour, the VOD problem is still there. Seems to be a Comsast problem, hopefully they can clear it up soon. One funny thing, I asked about the new i-guide and when it would be available to me. She didn't even know what it was. Oh well.:rolleyes:

I've got the 6412 DVR w/iGuide, so it will be interesting to compare notes to see if I have the same problems. At least we would know that it's probably not our receivers.

Originally posted by avekevin
SBC is starting to tout their internet-based cable service that they announced for late this year, and I am watching it closely.

Kevin [/B]

I haven't heard about this. Anybody got a link?

Originally posted by bpearse
Amen, Mike. The City of Saratoga has done absolutely for me in the past 9 months on this issue. They handle Comcast they Comcast is the boss. If I didn't know better, I would think they all work for Comcast.
I've contacted the City of Milpitas about Comcast and lack of HD channels and, although they were sympathetic, just referred me to their Comcast contact. This person didn't have a clue about HD service offerings in my area and said he would look into it and get back to me. Not surprisingly, I never heard from him again.

Originally posted by rshaw
I've contacted the City of Milpitas about Comcast and lack of HD channels and, although they were sympathetic, just referred me to their Comcast contact. This person didn't have a clue about HD service offerings in my area and said he would look into it and get back to me. Not surprisingly, I never heard from him again.

I got the same story when I tried going through the city council. All they would do is look into it and that was the last I heard from them. I was going to the next city council meeting but I got called up for jury duty, ( a real fun time :) ) and missed it. Don't know if it would do any good to try again or not but it's getting really old being treated like a red-headed step child.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by neoufo51
I haven't heard about this. Anybody got a link?

It was first announced in November:

http://www.sbc.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=21463

There has been more noise in the last few days, I suspect related to CES:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1749484,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594

Kevin

Originally posted by millerwill
Any update on when we can expect to receive Fox HD over Comcast?

I was at the Comcast office in Mountain View today, and the guy gave me the usual "Real Soon Now" (tm)

He said it should be here very soon since East Coast just got it recently, so we should be next.

Nothing official..... ofcourse......

:(

I don't think the East Coast getting it has anything to do with the situation in the Bay Area. KTVU is owned by Cox, a competitor to Comcast.

That is why they're so hardball on the negotiations.

Other Fox affiliates not owned by Cox have apparently reached deals with Comcast in various cities.

I thought that KTVU was an independent. In fact, the owner of the station is part owner of the SF Giants.

Kevin

Originally posted by avekevin
I thought that KTVU was an independent. In fact, the owner of the station is part owner of the SF Giants.

Kevin

Nope...It is owned by Cox Enterprises. The battle is between Cox and Comcast. Until it is settled Cox is not letting comcast carry any of the stations it owns in HD.

Here is a list

http://www.coxenterprises.com/corp/operating_companies/television.htm?Vermenu=operatingcompanies&Hormenu=television


and as WCO stated, the fact comcast has added Fox in other markets has no bearing on us...those are either Fox owned stations or owned by other companies.

I understand they are making progress (which you all could have gathered from the SF Chronicle blurb). But it's never over until all the lawyers have finalized all revisions, until every last contingency has been dealt with and spelled out in mutually agreeable wording for all the contract documents.

What complicates matters is Comcast is simultaneously negotiating with Cox for the HD signals for several other stations throughout the U.S., plus only God knows what (VOD rights, multicasting carriage, digital simulcasting of analog, etc., etc.)

So, whether we will see the Super Bowl in HD is still subject to further developments. They have been at this in one form or another since mid to late 2003. (Comcast's HD Service in the Bay Area started up in June 2003 and Fox started getting serious about widescreen 480p and future HD plans in the fall of 2003, IIRC.)

Apparently the hardware is ready to go-- it has been since mid to late 2003-- so when everyone has signed on their respective dotted lines, all Comcast should have to do is "flip" the proverbial switch.

Originally posted by davisdog
Nope...It is owned by Cox Enterprises. The battle is between Cox and Comcast. Until it is settled Cox is not letting comcast carry any of the stations it owns in HD.

Here is a list

http://www.coxenterprises.com/corp/operating_companies/television.htm?Vermenu=operatingcompanies&Hormenu=television


and as WCO stated, the fact comcast has added Fox in other markets has no bearing on us...those are either Fox owned stations or owned by other companies.

All true. A minor point, the actual license is in the name of KTVU Partnership which might indicate some minority ownership. This name also shows up for a station license in Texas I believe.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
So, whether we will see the Super Bowl in HD is still subject to further developments.

At this point, I would consider the chance of this to be somewhere between slim and none. I would love to be proven wrong.

I very much doubt that our desire to see one program in HD has any bearing on a timely resolution of the current negotiations.

Kevin

Originally posted by mds54
I've got the 6412 DVR w/iGuide, so it will be interesting to compare notes to see if I have the same problems. At least we would know that it's probably not our receivers.

Ace of Space:
No problems on my system with VOD last night (Thursday).

As of last night, Thursday, mine is still not working. It had been working great for the last couple of weeks. I'm in zip 95123. I'll check it again when I get home from work today, otherwise I'll have to call them again. Rats!

I'm in 95136 and VOD is working fine.

Originally posted by avekevin
I very much doubt that our desire to see one program in HD has any bearing on a timely resolution of the current negotiations.

With all the advertising that Comcast has been doing lately (DVR, VOD, HDTV, etc.) you'd think that they'd do whatever it takes to jump on the chance to be able to say that Comcast is bringing us the Superbowl in HD. Seems like a corporate advertising no-brainer, IMHO......

Snagged this from the 6412 thread, Brian Roberts of Comcast talks at an investor conference. Additionally, AVS member Mark J Renna indicates that Comcast has started live testing of Digital Simulcast on his system in NJ.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=118591&eventID=956059
Comcast - Event Details

It's about 40 mins, but it's interesting. Mentions SF with regard to cable telephony..

Regarding programming the remote (skip, swap, etc)......
I have the 6412 silver Comcast remote with the Setup button. In my area, hitting the "OnDemand" button brings up channel "19", which is not VOD. My VOD is on channel 1. Does anyone know how to reprogram the "OnDemand" button to invoke channel 1 versus 19?

Originally posted by mds54
With all the advertising that Comcast has been doing lately (DVR, VOD, HDTV, etc.) you'd think that they'd do whatever it takes to jump on the chance to be able to say that Comcast is bringing us the Superbowl in HD. Seems like a corporate advertising no-brainer, IMHO...... It is a no-brainer, but in the opposite direction. If Cox was asking cash for digital retransmission rights, and Comcast caved in, it would have set a precedent that would cost Comcast hundreds of millions of dollars per year and (since Comcast is not going just eat that cost) consumers like you and me hundreds of millions of dollars per year (collectively) through incrementally raised subscription rates.

However, it appears Cox has essentially come to its senses and dropped its request for cash compensation. Instead of cash, Cox will get something else not nearly so costly to Comcast (possibly like bandwidth/carriage for Cox's local news channel in the Pittsburgh, PA area, additional advertising buys by Comcast on Cox-owned stations, VOD compensation, etc.).

If they have an agreement in principal (but lawyers are still hashing out the fine print), I would suspect Cox will let Comcast show the KTVU digital-HD feed for the Super Bowl. Such a temporary arrangement has happened in other contexts so I would not be surprised it that happened here, given the recent reports of substantial progress in the negotiations.

Originally posted by mds54
With all the advertising that Comcast has been doing lately (DVR, VOD, HDTV, etc.)

I get these damn flyers for VOD seems like every two weeks, it just seems discourteous to be sending these to subs that cannot have these services.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
It is a no-brainer, but in the opposite direction. If Cox was asking cash for digital retransmission rights, and Comcast caved in, it would have set a precedent that would cost Comcast hundreds of millions of dollars per year and (since Comcast is not going just eat that cost) consumers like you and me hundreds of millions of dollars per year (collectively) through incrementally raised subscription rates.

However, it appears Cox has essentially come to its senses and dropped its request for cash compensation. Instead of cash, Cox will get something else not nearly so costly to Comcast (possibly like bandwidth/carriage for Cox's local news channel in the Pittsburgh, PA area, additional advertising buys by Comcast on Cox-owned stations, VOD compensation, etc.).

If they have an agreement in principal (but lawyers are still hashing out the fine print), I would suspect Cox will let Comcast show the KTVU digital-HD feed for the Super Bowl. Such a temporary arrangement has happened in other contexts so I would not be surprised it that happened here, given the recent reports of substantial progress in the negotiations.


I was talking to a tech in our local Fox affiliate here and he told me that he had more faith a couple of weeks ago about seeing the superbowl in HD. I hope I get proven wrong but I don't have a lot of faith and have already begun the process of receiving FOX OTA.

-Glenn

Originally posted by GlennGeo
I was talking to a tech in our local Fox affiliate here and he told me that he had more faith a couple of weeks ago about seeing the superbowl in HD. I hope I get proven wrong but I don't have a lot of faith and have already begun the process of receiving FOX OTA.

-Glenn

I say we just all go over to Keenan's and watch it on his D* feed of FoxHD

get their early though because the overflow room will only have his Analog Comcast feed of the game...(that's why he has two homes :-)

Originally posted by keenan
Snagged this from the 6412 thread, Brian Roberts of Comcast talks at an investor conference. Additionally, AVS member Mark J Renna indicates that Comcast has started live testing of Digital Simulcast on his system in NJ.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=118591&eventID=956059
Comcast - Event Details

It's about 40 mins, but it's interesting. Mentions SF with regard to cable telephony..

Keenan,

Thanks for the link, that was very interesting and got my jets fired up again. Everything that he talked about was N/A for the 550 systems. If I lived in a fully upgraded system I'd be jumping for joy but I don't and again we're going to take it in the short end. I really don't see how they are going to be able to do simulcasting in our area, or VOD for that matter, there just isn't the bandwidth that is necessary and without that we are stuck where we are indefinitely. I noticed Mr. Roberts said that simulcasting had started back East, New Jersey I think, not the West coast, the land of silicone and the chips that makes it possible for Comcast to do what it does, thanks for nothing Comcast. Well, I've got 6 more months with Comcast, that's when the credit that Comcast gave me will run out. If Voom actually releases their DVR in March, I'll go with them until they fold up tent and then I'll go with D*. I like the Home Media Center idea that D* is touting, so that maybe another way to go. Comcast is just dragging their feet way to long for me and are way to vague on their plans or lack of plans for the 16% areas.

I miss my Doppler radar channel..... :)

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by davisdog
I say we just all go over to Keenan's and watch it on his D* feed of FoxHD

get their early though because the overflow room will only have his Analog Comcast feed of the game...(that's why he has two homes :-)

No problem. I have room for 5-6 comfortably and another 3-4 with folding chairs. 55" RPTV with 9.2 surround sound. You guys bring the food and drink. Santa Rosa Creek-side view during the commercials.

Originally posted by Mikef5
Keenan,

Thanks for the link, that was very interesting and got my jets fired up again.

Laters,
Mikef5

Yeah, it was irritating to hear him say that their re-build was done. Talk about a slap in the face.

Originally posted by Ace of Space
As of last night, Thursday, mine is still not working. It had been working great for the last couple of weeks. I'm in zip 95123. I'll check it again when I get home from work today, otherwise I'll have to call them again. Rats!

Schedule a service call. My original 6412 had this problem. Tech ended up swapping it out. All good now.

Bill

Originally posted by davisdog
I say we just all go over to Keenan's and watch it on his D* feed of FoxHD

get their early though because the overflow room will only have his Analog Comcast feed of the game...(that's why he has two homes :-)

I'm in.:D

Originally posted by Bill Ball
Schedule a service call. My original 6412 had this problem. Tech ended up swapping it out. All good now.

Bill

Mine started to work again Friday afternoon and it's been working good so far. I'll keep an eye on it.

Just wanted to let everyone know that the 6412 is indeed available now in Alameda. Made the call yesterday, got my box today. Still no VOD though.

iGuide may not be ideal but it is head and shoulders above the old TV Guide system. I wish the hard drive was bigger. Anyone heard anything on making this happen? :D I looked around in the 6412 thread but couldn't see much. 109 pages is a lot to go through.

Also, good to hear about the Cox / KTVU negotiations making some progress. I'll be crossing my fingers for that HD superbowl. :)

A comcast rep told me today that the i-guide is only for the DVR's and not for the non-DVR boxes like the 6200. I was under the impression that it would be used for all models. Anyone know anything official?

Originally posted by Ace of Space
A comcast rep told me today that the i-guide is only for the DVR's and not for the non-DVR boxes like the 6200. I was under the impression that it would be used for all models. Anyone know anything official?

The plan is to roll it out to existing 6xxx, 5xxx, and I think 2xxx series STB's at some point. They were supposed to begin rollout at the end of '04 however that obviously didn't happen. This thread was being used for this discussion: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=449214

Comcast finally upgraded my area from 550 MHz. Got HDTV as well. The installer couldn't tell green from blue among other things...I gave him clear instruction not to use any of the connections on the back of my set except for the one labeled "DTV." The others only work with 480p signals. He ignored me and he spent 15 minutes scratching his head and fiddled with the DVR's settings.

Well, I have to say that once you get it, it's great...I only had to wait about 2 years. :P

The only niggling issue I have with the DCT6412 is how the HDD is positioned right underneath the ventilation holes with no sound insulation. You can very clearly hear the head clicking away when it's recording unless your volume is way up.

And I also hear their HSI is going to be boosted to 4000/384 for the standard tier and 6000/768 for the gold and home networking tiers? Good stuff, finally. :)

Originally posted by yoog
Comcast finally upgraded my area from 550 MHz. Got HDTV as well. The installer couldn't tell green from blue among other things...I gave him clear instruction not to use any of the connections on the back of my set except for the one labeled "DTV." The others only work with 480p signals. He ignored me and he spent 15 minutes scratching his head and fiddled with the DVR's settings.

Well, I have to say that once you get it, it's great...I only had to wait about 2 years. :P

The only niggling issue I have with the DCT6412 is how the HDD is positioned right underneath the ventilation holes with no sound insulation. You can very clearly hear the head clicking away when it's recording unless your volume is way up.

And I also hear their HSI is going to be boosted to 4000/384 for the standard tier and 6000/768 for the gold and home networking tiers? Good stuff, finally. :)

Yoog,
Just a quick question. You said that you upgraded from 550 Mhz, are you sure ?? or were you upgraded to 550 Mhz. If you were upgraded past 550 Mhz to what were you upgraded to. If you just got HDTV then you were 330 Mhz and were upgraded from there. I would be interested to see what you are at now. Also, what city are you in? I'm in a 550 Mhz system and there will be no upgrades past that and that's a real sore spot with me right now, but enjoy the HD it is nice.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by yoog
Comcast finally upgraded my area from 550 MHz.

yoog, it would help all of us to keep abreast of what Comcast is doing if you put your location in your profile.. :)

Originally posted by Mikef5
Yoog,
Just a quick question. You said that you upgraded from 550 Mhz, are you sure ?? or were you upgraded to 550 Mhz. If you were upgraded past 550 Mhz to what were you upgraded to. If you just got HDTV then you were 330 Mhz and were upgraded from there. I would be interested to see what you are at now. Also, what city are you in? I'm in a 550 Mhz system and there will be no upgrades past that and that's a real sore spot with me right now, but enjoy the HD it is nice.

Laters,
Mikef5
Oops, I'll elucidate. I'm in Hillsborough right around highway 92. Everything I observed in the past indicated I was on a 550 MHz system. My HSI downstream channel was locked at 549 MHz. My analog cable stopped at channel 79 (also got stuff on channel 97, which I am told is actually ~102 MHz). When I ordered the the DCT6412 installed, I was worried I wouldn't be getting channels like InHD and Discovery HD since my cable modem's status page still indicated "549 MHz." When I got those channels without issue, I started wondering. I checked the analog cable channels and now I get OLN and the Golf Channel which are both in the 80s. I checked my cable modem again a few days later and now my downstream channel is 705 MHz. I'm not sure what my cable system is at now...probably 750 MHz.

I only just got HDTV because I think my neighborhood is part of a one-off system that wasn't fully integrated with the rest of Comcast. I've had HSI ever since Excite@Home days.

yoog, you are definitely NOT on a 550MHz system, most likely 750MHz or even 860MHz.

Originally posted by yoog
Oops, I'll elucidate. I'm in Hillsborough right around highway 92. Everything I observed in the past indicated I was on a 550 MHz system. My HSI downstream channel was locked at 549 MHz. My analog cable stopped at channel 79 (also got stuff on channel 97, which I am told is actually ~102 MHz). When I ordered the the DCT6412 installed, I was worried I wouldn't be getting channels like InHD and Discovery HD since my cable modem's status page still indicated "549 MHz." When I got those channels without issue, I started wondering. I checked the analog cable channels and now I get OLN and the Golf Channel which are both in the 80s. I checked my cable modem again a few days later and now my downstream channel is 705 MHz. I'm not sure what my cable system is at now...probably 750 MHz.

I only just got HDTV because I think my neighborhood is part of a one-off system that wasn't fully integrated with the rest of Comcast. I've had HSI ever since Excite@Home days.

Thanks for the update and it's interesting to see that a 550 Mhz system WAS UPGRADED unlike what I was told by Comcast. From the info that you supplied it looks like you are definitely above 750 Mhz.
Now where did I put Mr. Johnson's phone number :)
I wonder what BS he'll try and sell me this time on why only certain areas are being upgraded.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by Mikef5
I wonder what BS he'll try and sell me this time on why only certain areas are being upgraded.

Laters,
Mikef5

Well, it is Hillsborough we're talking about, don't they have about one residence per square mile there, pretty easy to upgrade 100 or so folks... :D :p

It's not just hillsborough. Redwood City and San Mateo were also 550 systems, and they are just now being completed with 860 Mhz upgrades. I believe they also pulled additional fiber, and reduced the node size. Hillborough is a stub off the Burlingame headend from what I understand. Note my system, San Mateo county did get upgraded before the 550 systems here, but it was an old 450 system with little fiber in it.

As far as I know, the whole central peninsula is going to 860 Mhz. Comcast had a lot of issues with the plant in this area, and rather than patch things they decided to do an areawide upgrade.

Of course they didn't have to dedicate any bandwidth to municipal city traffic lights or institutional networks, so it was a simple contract to Can-AM for the upgrades. :-)

As far as I know, these upgrades were contracted some time ago when the whole bay area capital budget was set. I think there were some systems that got missed because of special requirements and now comcast's policies have changed to not upgrade 550 Mhz plant anymore because of all digital architecture plans...

Like I said before, you don't want to have special requirements - it puts you on a seperate track from the mainstream and the money may not be there by the time the special work is done. Thank your city governments for looking out for you.


Thanks,
Mike

(below concerns Comcast in San Francisco Bay Area)


I've been having problems with reception of some of the HD channels for the last week. Mostly, it was with 707 and some minor problems with 703. Yesterday, a few hours after installation of my 6412, I could only receive 705, 719, 720, 722 and 725. I should be getting 730 (HBO) as well as 703, 707, 709 and 723. In a few cases, the picture tries to come in, but is severely pixelated. Mostly, I get a message about the channel being "available shortly". I actually checked 703 and 707 yesterday afternoon during the installation before the tech left to be sure those stations were coming in, and they were. A few hours later, they were gone.

Does this appear to be a box issue? I haven't seen any mention on this or any other boards of some Bay Area wide problem so I figured it must be either a local signal quality issue, or problem with the box. But, if it's either of those two, why do I get any HD channels at all? BTW, the ones I DO get look just fine.

Oh yeah, I called Comcast last night and they reset the box to no effect. A tech is scheduled to visit on Wednesday but I'd like to find out what is the likely source of the problem first.

Thanks in advance,
Alan

Alan,

Post your exact location (city and/or zip code). Putting it in your profile is the easisest way to do it for future posts.

It's possible there are issues in that specific area, which other users can confirm. If not, it sounds like something with your signal.

Does HBO HD say 'One Moment Please' or 'Not Authorized'?

Is anyone getting any programming on 725 HDSE?

The technicians that turned on the HD on my 2nd 6412 said it's essentially pay-per-view, but that wasn't my understanding from the threads here.

> Post your exact location (city and/or zip code). Putting it in your profile is the easisest way
> to do it for future posts.

Sorry. Los Altos Hills, ZIP 94022, near Page Mill/I-280.

> Does HBO HD say 'One Moment Please' or 'Not Authorized'?

It says "One Moment Please". I can watch regular HBO on channels 550-560 w/o any problems at all. The problems are with high-def channels only.

ABG

Recording snafu: last Monday's (Jan 10th ) DOUBLE episodes of "24".....
During setup, my guide showed the red recording dot for the entire two hour listing, as did the program description stating 120 minutes. I watched the program live during the recording, and the red recording light on the 6412 remained on for the full two hours. When I went to play back the recording this weekend, only the first hour had been recorded and the counter stated only 49 minutes, yet the recorded program description still stated 8-10pm and 120 minutes. Why would it seem to perform a two-hour recording yet only record less than one hour? (there's more than 50% space available on the drive).

Is anyone else getting the dreaded "One Moment Please" message when selecting KTVU, with no picture ever appearing afterwards? This started happening to me about a week ago, and it's the only channel that does this. If I select another channel and then come back and select KTVU, I will finally get a picture, but that seems to be the only way to do it. Any ideas?

Re: Recording Snafu's

I think that recording analog content with the box is problematic. I had a 35 minute recording of last Fridays Enterprise and one recording of MI-5 had the audio go on and off every two seconds.

I still love the thing. We actually get more done at home now we don't have to watch HD live.

I've comcast HD service in SFO/bayarea (zip: 95051), with Motorola HDTV receiver box and Samsung DLP TV. Unfortunately, comcast don't offer Fox HD . What's the best way for me to get Fox HD (for Super Bowl!)? What additional hardware do I need? TIA!

Originally posted by mds54
Recording snafu: last Monday's (Jan 10th ) DOUBLE episodes of "24".....
During setup, my guide showed the red recording dot for the entire two hour listing, as did the program description stating 120 minutes. I watched the program live during the recording, and the red recording light on the 6412 remained on for the full two hours. When I went to play back the recording this weekend, only the first hour had been recorded and the counter stated only 49 minutes, yet the recorded program description still stated 8-10pm and 120 minutes. Why would it seem to perform a two-hour recording yet only record less than one hour? (there's more than 50% space available on the drive).



SAME exact thing happen to both of my 2hr recordings of 24.
Box showed 123 minutes on the fw/rew screen, and 120minutes on the DVR menu, but somehow only recorded about 1 hr and 23 minutes.
I think the guide had something to do with the mixup with the 2hr special shows..
I recorded the 4hr NFL games this weekend and the problem did not happen.

Originally posted by whitehorn
SAME exact thing happen to both of my 2hr recordings of 24.
Box showed 123 minutes on the fw/rew screen, and 120minutes on the DVR menu, but somehow only recorded about 1 hr and 23 minutes.
I think the guide had something to do with the mixup with the 2hr special shows..
I recorded the 4hr NFL games this weekend and the problem did not happen.

Did you guys set up a Series Recording or a one time recording? The reason I ask is because I set up a Series Recording and it picked up all 2 hours on both Sunday and Monday. I don't think it was a problem with guide as it saw it as a single 2-hour show...not 2 1-hour shows shoved in one time slot.

Originally posted by fender4645
Did you guys set up a Series Recording or a one time recording? The reason I ask is because I set up a Series Recording and it picked up all 2 hours on both Sunday and Monday. I don't think it was a problem with guide as it saw it as a single 2-hour show...not 2 1-hour shows shoved in one time slot.

I set mine up as a one-time, single recording with the remote record button.

I just got my 6412 last week. Whenever the dvr starts to record something I scheduled, it goes into MUTE mode, and I can't hear anything, even if I switch channels. The recording turns out great, but I can't hear anything while it is recording. If I record manually it does not do this.

Does anyone else have this problem? I'm in san carlos.

Originally posted by xeenman
I just got my 6412 last week. Whenever the dvr starts to record something I scheduled, it goes into MUTE mode, and I can't hear anything, even if I switch channels. The recording turns out great, but I can't hear anything while it is recording. If I record manually it does not do this.

Does anyone else have this problem? I'm in san carlos.

I noticed this problem if the box was powered off when a recording starts. There is some discussion of it somewhere in the Comcast 6412 / iGuide thread.

I worked around the problem by mapping the "mute" button on the Comcast remote to the STB's mute function (as opposed to a receiver or tv's mute), and pressing that when the box is stuck in "mute" mode. In my earlier post here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4843277#post4843277) I provided a link to the instructions for this in the other thread here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4718737#post4718737). Hope this helps!

Originally posted by Poochie
I noticed this problem if the box was powered off when a recording starts. There is some discussion of it somewhere in the Comcast 6412 / iGuide thread.

I worked around the problem by mapping the "mute" button on the Comcast remote to the STB's mute function (as opposed to a receiver or tv's mute), and pressing that when the box is stuck in "mute" mode. In my earlier post here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4843277#post4843277) I provided a link to the instructions for this in the other thread here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4718737#post4718737). Hope this helps!

or just leave the 6412 "on" all of the time...That's what many people do to solve the problem...

Your not saving much by actually turning it off anyway...since being a DVR it never really is powered down...its always alive (hard drive spinning and all) even when you power it "off "

Originally posted by davisdog
or just leave the 6412 "on" all of the time...That's what many people do to solve the problem...

Your not saving much by actually turning it off anyway...since being a DVR it never really is powered down...its always alive (hard drive spinning and all) even when you power it "off "

Yes, that should work too (and would also probably work around another annoying 6412 quirk ... if you have it off, then it turns itself on to record something, and you start using it mid-recording for playback, it turns itself off when the recording finishes. Not that this happened during a certain Jets/Steelers playoff game while I had a crowd over to watch it in HD or anything, but I digress). I just happen to like to turn it off so I don't have to see its LED display while watching movies. Unless there was a way to really dim or kill the LED display...

Originally posted by Poochie
Unless there was a way to really dim or kill the LED display...

Move the box, I have so much crap with lights in my angle of view now I have made my next project to move all the equipment to an area out of view.

Originally posted by foobar007
I've comcast HD service in SFO/bayarea (zip: 95051), with Motorola HDTV receiver box and Samsung DLP TV. Unfortunately, comcast don't offer Fox HD . What's the best way for me to get Fox HD (for Super Bowl!)? What additional hardware do I need? TIA!

In addition to just getting the OTA hardware, you might also try sending an email to the CEO at comcast

Steve_Burke@cable.comcast.com

(address from //hdtvtechno.netfirms.com/EmailContacts.htm)

Who knows, if hundreds of people from the Bay Area send emails, maybe it will push things forward a bit.

Originally posted by davisdog
or just leave the 6412 "on" all of the time...That's what many people do to solve the problem...

Your not saving much by actually turning it off anyway...since being a DVR it never really is powered down...its always alive (hard drive spinning and all) even when you power it "off "

I got the mute "virus" this weekend, also. I reprogramed the remote and was able to turn off the mute. The recorded programs were not muted, but I couldn't watch TV (ie, couldn't get audio) until I turned off the mute.

Originally posted by whitehorn
SAME exact thing happen to both of my 2hr recordings of 24.
Box showed 123 minutes on the fw/rew screen, and 120minutes on the DVR menu, but somehow only recorded about 1 hr and 23 minutes.
I think the guide had something to do with the mixup with the 2hr special shows..
I recorded the 4hr NFL games this weekend and the problem did not happen.

I wonder if you guys are getting the dreaded DVR freeze-up I've been writing about. It manifests itself, during recording, exactly as you described. It happened to me taping the "33" episode of the new Battlestar Gallactica. I only got the first 47 minutes. Have you ever had the picutre and audio freeze up while you were watching live TV?

For reference, I checked out all the frequencies at which my HD channels are coming in.

KRON HD, KPIX HD: 555 Mhz

INHD, INHD2, HDSE: 681 Mhz

MAX HD, STARZ HD: 711 Mhz

Discovery HD : 717 Mhz

HBO HD, SHO HD: 741 Mhz

KNTV HD, ESPN HD: 747 Mhz

KGO HD, KQED HD: 753 Mhz

Note that 3 HD channels are coming in on one 6 Mhz slot: INHD, INHD2 and HDSE. Most of the time, HDSE is just a static image, albeit a 1080i static image. I am going to check HDSE when it has actual programming to see if it's still coming through at 681 Mhz. Interesting ...

Also note that Discovery HD is alone by itself at 717 Mhz (assuming SD channels are not taking up the remaining bandwidth). So there is a ready made slot for the next HD channel to be added. (Sorry 16% club ...)

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
So there is a ready made slot for the next HD channel to be added. (Sorry 16% club ...)

haha....just put a knife in us...and I just had to sit through a comcast commercial extolling the virtues of their new VOD service

:mad:

Originally posted by John Mace
I wonder if you guys are getting the dreaded DVR freeze-up I've been writing about. It manifests itself, during recording, exactly as you described. It happened to me taping the "33" episode of the new Battlestar Gallactica. I only got the first 47 minutes. Have you ever had the picutre and audio freeze up while you were watching live TV?

I haven't seen many "freezes" while watching live TV, but my recording failures continue....After eight attempts, I have yet to be able to get an analog recording to complete successfully. I've swapped tuners, used manual settings, watched live TV while recording, etc. All my programmed 30-minute recordings never made it past 9-20 minutes, with some stating that the recording was interrupted. Tonight I recorded "24" with the remote button and the playback counter actually revealed 1:00 of recording time, but the entire 2nd half of the show was gone -- it just skipped from the 9:30 newsbreak to the closing credits. This is becoming unacceptable......

Originally posted by mds54
I haven't seen many "freezes" while watching live TV, but my recording failures continue....

Many or any? If you've seen some, I'd be interested since no one but me seems to have this problem.

After eight attempts, I have yet to be able to get an analog recording to complete successfully. I've swapped tuners, used manual settings, watched live TV while recording, etc. All my programmed 30-minute recordings never made it past 9-20 minutes, with some stating that the recording was interrupted. Tonight I recorded "24" with the remote button and the playback counter actually revealed 1:00 of recording time, but the entire 2nd half of the show was gone -- it just skipped from the 9:30 newsbreak to the closing credits. This is becoming unacceptable......

Was there an Amber alert during 24? I didn't notice one, but there was an alert in the hour before, while I was watching something I had recorded a few days ago. Surprisingly, the recording was interrupted to display the Amber alert.

You might want to have your DVR swapped out for a new one.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
For reference, I checked out all the frequencies at which my HD channels are coming in.

KRON HD, KPIX HD: 555 Mhz

INHD, INHD2, HDSE: 681 Mhz

MAX HD, STARZ HD: 711 Mhz

Discovery HD : 717 Mhz

HBO HD, SHO HD: 741 Mhz

KNTV HD, ESPN HD: 747 Mhz

KGO HD, KQED HD: 753 Mhz

Note that 3 HD channels are coming in on one 6 Mhz slot: INHD, INHD2 and HDSE. Most of the time, HDSE is just a static image, albeit a 1080i static image. I am going to check HDSE when it has actual programming to see if it's still coming through at 681 Mhz. Interesting ...

Also note that Discovery HD is alone by itself at 717 Mhz (assuming SD channels are not taking up the remaining bandwidth). So there is a ready made slot for the next HD channel to be added. (Sorry 16% club ...)

That's an interesting pattern of frequencies. It happens to match the HD channels I get/don't get, if I'm missing frequencies higher than 717 MHz.

Alan

Originally posted by AVWH
Is anyone getting any programming on 725 HDSE?

The technicians that turned on the HD on my 2nd 6412 said it's essentially pay-per-view, but that wasn't my understanding from the threads here.

It's not pay per view, per se. Programming very sparesely scheduled on that channel. Search ahead in time on iGuide listings for that channel and you will see some late evening programming a few nights a week.

Bill

Originally posted by Bill Ball
It's not pay per view, per se. Programming very sparesely scheduled on that channel. Search ahead in time on iGuide listings for that channel and you will see some late evening programming a few nights a week.

Bill

Sheesh, those 750MHz plus systems have so much bandwidth they even have one that broadcasts dead air...excuse me while I go firebomb my local Comcast office...:p

Originally posted by John Mace
Many or any? If you've seen some, I'd be interested since no one but me seems to have this problem.

The only freezes I've seen have been on KTVU, which also displays "One Moment Please" at times, and the only way I can get it is to select another channel and then come back to KTVU. All other stations are fine.

KRON HD, KPIX HD: 555 Mhz

INHD, INHD2, HDSE: 681 Mhz

MAX HD, STARZ HD: 711 Mhz

Discovery HD : 717 Mhz

HBO HD, SHO HD: 741 Mhz

KNTV HD, ESPN HD: 747 Mhz

KGO HD, KQED HD: 753 Mhz



Interesting the area's all have similar layouts then. In fremont I have the exactly the same frequency layout except Discovery HD which is at 110Mhz.

It blasts in down at that frequency. I always get a SNR of 36db or above. The rest all get between 32 and 34db.

My INHD, INHD2, HDSE @ 681 Mhz still don't come in because of the Telemundo OTA DTV channel 49 sneaking in.

Comcast are still working on it...........

They had better get it resolved before they move the internet to 256QAM.

Kevin

We get freezes almost always on KTVU, too, discovered when we first turn on the TV.

Here's a new one.
While watching PBS-HD (Ken Burns' special on Jack Johnson) last night, the broadcast suddenly became KTVU's programming (didn't recognize the show, but the Fox logo was prominent)! The 6412 still displayed channel 709, the swap and channel up or down did nothing to change channels on the tuner. Even power off and on did not fix it.

After about two minutes, changing channels suddenly worked again. This was around 10:30 last night. Any plausible explanations for THAT?

Originally posted by AVWH
Here's a new one.
While watching PBS-HD (Ken Burns' special on Jack Johnson) last night, the broadcast suddenly became KTVU's programming (didn't recognize the show, but the Fox logo was prominent)! The 6412 still displayed channel 709, the swap and channel up or down did nothing to change channels on the tuner. Even power off and on did not fix it. Was the KTVU programming formatted in HD (720p for KTVU), or was it standard def 480i?

Very interesting, perhaps the engineers at your head end were testing a potential KTVU HD signal. We could have Fox HD sooner than we think.

Oh, if KTVU HD is the next HD channel, I am absolutely sure the 550 Mhz areas will also get it, as has been discussed before.

Originally posted by Bill Ball
It's not pay per view, per se. Programming very sparesely scheduled on that channel. Search ahead in time on iGuide listings for that channel and you will see some late evening programming a few nights a week.

Bill

HDSE in Baltimore County is used for INHD programming when NBA-TV pre-empts it. But even when this happens the guide doesn't show it. It also shows the NFL-TV HD games on Wednesdayand Thursday.

Rich N.

Originally posted by raidbuck
HDSE in Baltimore County is used for INHD programming when NBA-TV pre-empts it. But even when this happens the guide doesn't show it. It also shows the NFL-TV HD games on Wednesdayand Thursday. Rich,

Is your HDSE channel on the same frequency as INHD and INHD2? Comcast normally limits HD channels to two per 6 Mhz slot (thus allowing roughly 19.3 Mbps per HD channel), but our HDSE comes in on the same frequency as INHD and INHD2 (681 Mhz).

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Was the KTVU programming formatted in HD (720p for KTVU), or was it standard def 480i?

Very interesting, perhaps the engineers at your head end were testing a potential KTVU HD signal. We could have Fox HD sooner than we think.



Unfortunately, it appeared to be the old signal - SD 480i (I would have REALLY been stunned if Fox were suddenly HD!).

Originally posted by mds54
The only freezes I've seen have been on KTVU, which also displays "One Moment Please" at times, and the only way I can get it is to select another channel and then come back to KTVU. All other stations are fine.

Interesting. KTVU for me is Ch2, so it's the lowest frequency channel and usually has the highest level of noise on the signal. If, as I suspect, the "freeze" problem is signal quality related, that might explain things. I've gotten "freeze" on channels at least as high as Ch68, but whenever the picure and audio freezes on one analog channel, it will be frozen on whatever analog channel the other tuner is set to, as well. Have you ever checked that? If you get "freeze" on KTVU and you use the swap function to view the other tuner, is it frozen also?

Originally posted by mds54
Recording snafu: last Monday's (Jan 10th ) DOUBLE episodes of "24".....
During setup, my guide showed the red recording dot for the entire two hour listing, as did the program description stating 120 minutes. I watched the program live during the recording, and the red recording light on the 6412 remained on for the full two hours. When I went to play back the recording this weekend, only the first hour had been recorded and the counter stated only 49 minutes, yet the recorded program description still stated 8-10pm and 120 minutes. Why would it seem to perform a two-hour recording yet only record less than one hour? (there's more than 50% space available on the drive).

Yep, mine too did the same exact thing. It happened on Sunday night with the 2 hr premier of "24" and AGAIN the next night of Monday's 2 hr episode. I used the recording option of finding it in the iguide and setting a recording for both nights. And yes I did notice it had the red dot recording signal. The the next day (Tuesday) I checked "my DVR" menu to see if it recorded and found that both nights episodes showed up as 120 minute recordings. Then a few nights later, when I actually go to watch it, I find it only recorded the first 49 minutes or so of each night. I just thought it was a fluke or that maybe I didn't notice a second hour or something in the iguide when I set up the recording. At least I know now it wasn't something I did wrong. Guess I will have to keep a watch on this problem.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher

Very interesting, perhaps the engineers at your head end were testing a potential KTVU HD signal. We could have Fox HD sooner than we think.

Oh, if KTVU HD is the next HD channel, I am absolutely sure the 550 Mhz areas will also get it, as has been discussed before.

I really hope you are right but here's the problem. Since we are on a bandwidth challenged area, if you add another HD station how are you going to do Video on Demand and how are you going to do the digital simulcasting to change to an all digital cable ?? Now, if there IS enough bandwidth to do all that why have they waited so long and caused so much aggravation ?? They need to come out with a plan for the 550 and below areas and let the people of those areas know what is happening and I don't mean the company line that " We have a plan ". I have a plan and right now it doesn't include Comcast.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by John Mace
Interesting. KTVU for me is Ch2, so it's the lowest frequency channel and usually has the highest level of noise on the signal. If, as I suspect, the "freeze" problem is signal quality related, that might explain things. I've gotten "freeze" on channels at least as high as Ch68, but whenever the picure and audio freezes on one analog channel, it will be frozen on whatever analog channel the other tuner is set to, as well. Have you ever checked that? If you get "freeze" on KTVU and you use the swap function to view the other tuner, is it frozen also? Yes. I'm getting the exact same behavior with my 3-week-old 6412.

Last night, I was watching 24 live on channel 2 while recording it. When it froze, I went to the other tuner, which was tuned to another channel and also frozen. Moving to another channel and back again un-froze the picture temporarily. I had to do this a couple of times on each tuner before it stopped.

This is awfully annoying. I guess I'll go back to ye olde SVHS VCR for recording 24; since the picture quality on KTVU is so poor to begin with, it won't make much difference.

Originally posted by Mikef5
I really hope you are right but here's the problem. Since we are on a bandwidth challenged area, if you add another HD station how are you going to do Video on Demand and how are you going to do the digital simulcasting to change to an all digital cable ?? Now, if there IS enough bandwidth to do all that why have they waited so long and caused so much aggravation ?? They need to come out with a plan for the 550 and below areas and let the people of those areas know what is happening and I don't mean the company line that " We have a plan ". I have a plan and right now it doesn't include Comcast.

Laters,
Mikef5

If Comcast and KTVU come to an agreement, you can bet 550MHz will get it as well. I haven't logged what channels are using what frequency but I'll bet there is room for KTVU-HD. As far as VOD, I don't think we will see that until there is some technological change in how we get our signals, like knocking node size down to every 5 households. :p I think the digital simulcast thing can be done but it's going to require a box at every TV to de-compress the analog channels back to real analog for those sets. And I still don't know how Comcast how plans on getting around the "no STB required" rule.

My plans include going to the Comcast office and see if I can knock my sub back down to basic and still keep the DVR. It's really the only reason I have Comcast now since I get everything I want from DirecTV, minus their too expensive and soon to be obsolete DVR.

Originally posted by ///MD
In addition to just getting the OTA hardware, you might also try sending an email to the CEO at comcast

Steve_Burke@cable.comcast.com

(address from //hdtvtechno.netfirms.com/EmailContacts.htm)

Who knows, if hundreds of people from the Bay Area send emails, maybe it will push things forward a bit.

I took your advice. Here is my message to Steve Burke and his surprisingly prompt reply.

==================================================
Dear Mr. Burke:

It has been a real pleasure to have Comcast HD service over the past year.
Like many, many people I bought my new HDTV system and started Comcast
service right before the Super Bowl last year. Wow! What a great game made
doubly enjoyable by the best HD technology.

As this year's Super Bowl got closer and closer, I became somewhat agitated
at the prospect of having nothing good to watch this year on Super Bowl
Sunday. I rely on Comcast for all HD service, as in my area I cannot
receive any OTA HD channels.

I hope the negotiation with Cox is moving along. DirecTV seems to have
largely resolved this issue, and I trust you will be able to do the same in
a timely manner and pick-up a huge number of new subscribers as well as
assure existing customers that Comcast provides the leading edge in HDTV
to its customers.

Good luck. We're counting on you,

Bill Ball
Alamo, CA

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

I understand your concern...this is a very unique situation with Cox...we
are certainly working on it. Thanks for the email.

Steve Burke

wow, thats great you got a reply. Maybe if EVERYONE emails we can push it forward a little :)

Originally posted by keenan
If Comcast and KTVU come to an agreement, you can bet 550MHz will get it as well. I haven't logged what channels are using what frequency but I'll bet there is room for KTVU-HD. As far as VOD, I don't think we will see that until there is some technological change in how we get our signals, like knocking node size down to every 5 households. :p I think the digital simulcast thing can be done but it's going to require a box at every TV to de-compress the analog channels back to real analog for those sets. And I still don't know how Comcast how plans on getting around the "no STB required" rule.

My plans include going to the Comcast office and see if I can knock my sub back down to basic and still keep the DVR. It's really the only reason I have Comcast now since I get everything I want from DirecTV, minus their too expensive and soon to be obsolete DVR.

Oh, I'm sure that if we don't get it that the fuss that was made with the DVR's will pale in comparison to what it will be if we are excluded again.

The way digital simulcasting was explained to me was that they would broadcast both the analog and the digital channels at the same time so if you just had and old analog Tv you would still get the basic Comcast programming. It would be later when the shift to all digital that the digital to analog boxes would be available to people with analog only sets so they could get the digital channels on their analog sets. Like I said Comcast needs to be clear on what the plan is or is not.

I like what D* is doing with the Home Media Center but that's at least a year away at best. I've been thinking of going with Voom until they go under and then hopefully D* will have the HMC's ready by then :)

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by John Mace
If you get "freeze" on KTVU and you use the swap function to view the other tuner, is it frozen also?

I haven't specifically checked for that yet, although I have swapped tuners randomly.

How about this........any explanations???
After playing with my 6412 system late last night, but not doing anything really specific, everything suddenly started working perfectly! I was able to get KTVU on the first click for the first time in weeks -- with no freezes or "One Moment Please" screens. I test-recorded two analog programs, and they both recorded perfectly -- for the first time ever! I rechecked everything this morning and it's all still working flawlessly! The only thing I did differently last night was record a digital SD channel that I knew should work, which it did. There was a bit of hard drive noise, then everything started working properly. Is there a "break-in" period that needs to happen? Did I inadvertently do something to "wake up" or "recalibrate" the drive? It seems that perhaps the valid digital SD recording may have "reset" or "repaired" some parameters and/or damage done by the string of aborted analog recordings??? I can't explain it, but I'll take it!!!:D

Originally posted by Mikef5


The way digital simulcasting was explained to me was that they would broadcast both the analog and the digital channels at the same time so if you just had and old analog Tv you would still get the basic Comcast programming. It would be later when the shift to all digital that the digital to analog boxes would be available to people with analog only sets so they could get the digital channels on their analog sets. Like I said Comcast needs to be clear on what the plan is or is not.


Yes...with digital simulcasting they leave the Analog channels exactly where they are so the non-STB TVs still get them...They also use additional bandwidth to send Channels 1-80 as a digital signal (the A->D is done prior to transmitting from the Headend). This uses an additional part of the spectrum...It takes roughly the space of 14 HD channels!!!! to do complete digital simulcasting of channels 1-80...assuming there are about 70 channels in there and the ratio is 8 Digital to 1 Analog...ie no digital simulcasting for 550Mhz

At the STB they load a virtual channel map to make the digital channel appear in place of the analog channel (so STB uses wont even see the analog channels...when you tune to channel 2 you will see only the digital channel...but when you use your non STB TB it will still see the Analog channel that is sitting at 57Mhz (and taking up 6Mhz of bandwidth)

Originally posted by davisdog
Yes...with digital simulcasting they leave the Analog channels exactly where they are so the non-STB TVs still get them...They also use additional bandwidth to send Channels 1-80 as a digital signal (the A->D is done prior to transmitting from the Headend). This uses an additional part of the spectrum...It takes roughly the space of 14 HD channels!!!! to do complete digital simulcasting of channels 1-80...assuming there are about 72 channels in there and the ratio is 8 Digital to 1 Analog...ie no digital simulcasting for 550Mhz

At the STB they load a virtual channel map to make the digital channel appear in place of the analog channel (so STB uses wont even see the analog channels...when you tune to channel 2 you will see only the digital channel...but when you use your non STB TB it will still see the Analog channel that is sitting at 57Mhz (and taking up 6Mhz of bandwidth))

Originally posted by davisdog
Yes...with digital simulcasting they leave the Analog channels exactly where they are so the non-STB TVs still get them...

The way it was explained to me was that the analog portion was compressed at the head end and then de-compressed at the STB. Which of course means each analog TV would need a STB. This method would mean that it is very doable within the current bandwidth constraints, you would actually gain bandwidth as the analog portion would be taking up less space in the pipe overall. That's why I was so interested in your co-worker getting a STB for non-digital service. Again though, I still don't know how this works with the FCC mandate of no box needed for a basic sub.

Originally posted by Mikef5
I like what D* is doing with the Home Media Center but that's at least a year away at best. I've been thinking of going with Voom until they go under and then hopefully D* will have the HMC's ready by then :)

Laters,
Mikef5

Yes, I think DirecTV is positioned well to leap frog over the cablecos sometime mid to late 2005. For my purposes, HD viewing, DirecTV has already pulled even with cable. Other than the DVR issue, and if I felt like spending $750 the DirecTV TiVo is a far better unit than the Comcast box but the TiVo unit itself is going to be obsolete for LiL HD from what I can tell.

Originally posted by keenan
The way it was explained to me was that the analog portion was compressed at the head end and then de-compressed at the STB. Which of course means each analog TV would need a STB. This method would mean that it is very doable within the current bandwidth constraints, you would actually gain bandwidth as the analog portion would be taking up less space in the pipe overall. That's why I was so interested in your co-worker getting a STB for non-digital service. Again though, I still don't know how this works with the FCC mandate of no box needed for a basic sub.

That's different than digital simulcasting...

Originally posted by davisdog
That's different than digital simulcasting...

Yes, it is, and of course I cannot say that the info I got was of any value, only that's how one of the methods of increasing programming on 550MHz systems was explained to me. And that it was the method that supposedly was being looked at/planned on for the Santa Rosa area. I plan on mining what meager sources I have within Comcast again in another 2 mos or so to see what I can find out.

I agree, I really don't see how digital simulcasting would work on a low BW system.

Originally posted by keenan
Yes, it is, and of course I cannot say that the info I got was of any value, only that's how one of the methods of increasing programming on 550MHz systems was explained to me. And that it was the method that supposedly was being looked at/planned on for the Santa Rosa area. I plan on mining what meager sources I have within Comcast again in another 2 mos or so to see what I can find out.

I agree, I really don't see how digital simulcasting would work on a low BW system.

I think what you are referring to is the new compression codec that Comcast and the rest are getting ready to impliment ( Mpeg-4 codec ). That will help freeing up bandwidth but can the existing boxes decode that codec or do you need new boxes ??

Another thing I just found out. Motorola just bought out Ucentric Systems Inc. This is the company that makes the software for the new HMC that D* and Voom will be using so it looks like the hardware that they will be using might be made by Motorola. Actually, I think Voom already uses Motorola boxes, I'll have to check again to be sure. What it may mean in the long run is that Comcast may bring out a HMC of their own to compete with D* and Voom.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this.

Laters,
Mikef5

I thought comcast was already evaluated the Ucentric system back east. I read a press release about this about a year ago. Will comcast deploy a Home Media Center system before D*?

Hey everybody -

SonomaSearcher started a Super Bowl poll for SF - Comcast subs. You can vote here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=497911

Originally posted by mds54
I haven't specifically checked for that yet, although I have swapped tuners randomly.

How about this........any explanations???
After playing with my 6412 system late last night, but not doing anything really specific, everything suddenly started working perfectly! I was able to get KTVU on the first click for the first time in weeks -- with no freezes or "One Moment Please" screens. I test-recorded two analog programs, and they both recorded perfectly -- for the first time ever! I rechecked everything this morning and it's all still working flawlessly! The only thing I did differently last night was record a digital SD channel that I knew should work, which it did.

That wasn't my experience. I've recorded lots of digital SD and HD programs, and still get "freeze" intermitently on analog. Keep your fingers crossed-- I can go several days w/o any "freeze" and then suddenly get "freeze" 3 times in 20 minutes.

Originally posted by Mikef5
I think what you are referring to is the new compression codec that Comcast and the rest are getting ready to impliment ( Mpeg-4 codec ). That will help freeing up bandwidth but can the existing boxes decode that codec or do you need new boxes ??

Laters,
Mikef5

That could very well be it, makes sense. And no, I'm fairly certain the current boxes are not capable. And yes, Voom does use Moto boxes and they were talking about MPEG4 way back in August I think it was for rollout this year. Plus, if you recall from that investor conference, Roberts indicated that STBs are getting cheaper and cheaper, down to I think the $50 range, IIRC.

Thanks CPanther95.

Here is that link again:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=497911

The gist of the poll is: What are your plans if Comcast does not have Fox HD in the Bay Area in time for the Super Bowl?

Still no OnDemand in San Mateo. I think we are the last to get everything!

Comcast only needs to keep the ota channels analog from what I have read. They can free up plenty of bandwidth on the 550mhz systems by digitizing all the cable channels. Hopefully they would make them all tuneable by TV's with Qam tuners.

Since there has been a lot of disapointment and uncertainty about whether Comcast will have KTVU-HD by the time the Super Bowl is here, and I have a complete OTA setup that I have no use for, I asked SonomaSearcher if it would be okay to post this as I would like to see if a fellow AVS member can take advantage of the equipment to get the KTVU-HD signal.

Equipment includes,

LG LST4200A-- about 4 mos old with about 20HRs on it
CM 4228 antenna
CM 7777 or 7778 whichever is the UHF model, can't remember
CM 9521A rotor
and some masts

PM me if interested, very, very reasonable. I hope somebody can take advantage of it as it's just sitting gathering dust at my place.

Sonoma, if this post needs editing, go right ahead and fix it.
:)

FWIW, I received an email reply yesterday from a senior level Northern California Comcast employee who is "very confident" that the Super Bowl will be in HD on KTVU.

Comcast & Cox apparently have reached an agreement in principal, but the agreement has been with Cox's attorneys for the past two weeks. [insert attorney jokes here]

Hopefully things will work out in time, but I'd definitely make alternate plans for watching the SB in HD just in case.

Originally posted by mazman49
FWIW, I received an email reply yesterday from a senior level Northern California Comcast employee who is "very confident" that the Super Bowl will be in HD on KTVU.

Comcast & Cox apparently have reached an agreement in principal, but the agreement has been with Cox's attorneys for the past two weeks. [insert attorney jokes here] You can bet if Cox's attorneys were Comcast HDTV subscribers in the Bay Area, they would have turned around their revisions in three business days or less. :) But their office is probably in Atlanta or DC.

I am still rooting for KTVU-DT to be turned on before the NFC Championship game, but that looks pretty unlikely at this point. (It will be interesting to see what Vick is able to do against the Eagles' defense.) Glad I am able to pull down the Sacramento Fox affiliate's digital signal OTA.

Comcast will be happy to get Fox HD in the Bay Area from a competitive standpoint since DirecTV subscribers can get ABC HD, NBC HD and CBS HD but typically not Fox HD (to get Fox HD from DirecTV you have to "move" to Cloverdale :) or another area outside KTVU's [and KTXL's] Grade B coverage or otherwise get lucky with a CSR or the waiver process).

Of course, it will be a relatively short-lived competitive advantage for Comcast since DirecTV will have LIL HD in the Bay Area starting sometime in the second half of 2005.

Originally posted by Bill
Comcast only needs to keep the ota channels analog from what I have read. They can free up plenty of bandwidth on the 550mhz systems by digitizing all the cable channels. Hopefully they would make them all tuneable by TV's with Qam tuners.

I think this is right by the FCC regs, maybe plus a few other channels per agreements, but it's not a lot.

The big issue has never been the regs though. Tons of people (including myself) have TV's in the house that are directly connected to the CATV plant. Even if the box was given away for free, things like VCR's will stop working, and a lot of the wiring is going to have to be changed around leading to a lot of consumer dissatisfaction. People will complain to their franchise authorities which will hose things up.

Let me give you a story. There was a system where AT&T was deploying telephone service on, not VOIP, but the old switched stuff that ran over cable. As part of that, they wanted to install boxes on every house (the CATV would get wired through this device) in the city, so that if a consumer wanted to get telephone service from them, they would just have to call up and it would be easy to switch their service.

It's a lot cheaper to do this all at once than incrementally. So they started to do this. One lady refused them. They said it wouldn't cost any thing. She said she didn't want it. They said she might change her mind in the future. She said she didn't like the color of the box, and besides, it was her house. She filed a complaint and the whole process got stopped.

A few people like this calling up will also stop this migration. Because the regs are set locally, resolving it in one system doesn't mean its resolved in other systems.

I wouldn't be betting any money on their ability to do this is less than glacial time periods.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

Good points. But what of the situation where the franchise authority is on Comcast's side as far as going all digital. This appears to be the situation in Santa Rosa-- at least the city staff seems to be of a mind to "create" bandwidth by going all digital, as I understand the situation. (Of course, it will be interesting to see what the City Council does when it comes on the agenda for a meeting and public comment.)

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
(to get Fox HD from DirecTV you have to "move" to Cloverdale :)

Actually, I didn't have to "move", I called, they turned it on, the HD gods were watching over me during that phone call. :D

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
(Of course, it will be interesting to see what the City Council does when it comes on the agenda for a meeting and public comment.)

In my experience, there's typically about 5-6 people at these things, rather apathetic populous up here. They make the noise when it's already a done deal. :D

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Mike,

Good points. But what of the situation where the franchise authority is on Comcast's side as far as going all digital. This appears to be the situation in Santa Rosa-- at least the city staff seems to be of a mind to "create" bandwidth by going all digital, as I understand the situation. (Of course, it will be interesting to see what the City Council does when it comes on the agenda for a meeting and public comment.)

Well, if people scream these guys will backpedal faster than Janet Jackson's costume designer when getting calls from the FCC. I would not count on them for much. This whole matter is so peripheral to their core business they will not be willing to burn political capital over it.

I don't think the problem will be getting agreements. It'll happen when Comcast starts sending out STB's to folks who have no STB today. This will prompt a set of conversations like I discussed earlier re: telephony. It will be at this point that people will call up the city council to complain. This will then result in a delay while the council studies the issues and determines the impact based on "new information".

Comcast will then get upset that they had a deal and that the city is trying to back out, then put the whole thing on hold while they try out the approach in a different city, and nothing will happen in Santa Rosa until the next franchise renewal. :-)

But I could be wrong of course. :-)

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by mazman49
FWIW, I received an email reply yesterday from a senior level Northern California Comcast employee who is "very confident" that the Super Bowl will be in HD on KTVU.

Comcast & Cox apparently have reached an agreement in principal, but the agreement has been with Cox's attorneys for the past two weeks. [insert attorney jokes here]

Hopefully things will work out in time, but I'd definitely make alternate plans for watching the SB in HD just in case.
I hope his confidence is well warranted. I don't want to have to get an OTA setup.

Late last week, my 6412 forgot all its future program listings and needed to download them again. It may have happened due to a very brief power outage. The same thing (lost listings) happened on Sunday to my next-door neighbor when I was showing her how to use the DVR and adding a 30 second skip to her remote. Are others having problems with the box losing the program guide?
It is good to read the encouraging news about the super bowl. I told a Republican friend that large-corporations-behaving-badly is normal during Republican administrations, but he asserts that both parties share equal credit for our bizarre communications policies.

Originally posted by neoufo51
I hope his confidence is well warranted. I don't want to have to get an OTA setup.

Can one assume that once KTVU-HD goes live for the superbowl, KTVU-HD will continue for all other programming? (girlfriend loves The OC)

"I am hopeful but it is not final."

I got this from a Cox exec. Dou you guys think this is positive?

I think it's the equivalent to a glass of water being called half full, or half empty...

Originally posted by lpaxmember
"I am hopeful but it is not final."
I got this from a Cox exec. Dou you guys think this is positive?

Nope. It's standard corporate PR talk. It means absolutely nothing.
Afterall, we're all hopeful, and we know it's not final. :(

cgw, your problems are not unique. Check out the iGuide thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4594762#post4594762) and call Comcast. Comcast will likely tell you two things: 1 - Make sure the 6412 is not deprived of open air, and 2 - a Software Download is set to take place sometime over the next week to address the so-called "lock-up" problem.

The "lock-up" problem for me is often followed by the power-down/reset which results - for some odd reason - in an EPG reload. Why I say this is odd is because the box is still able to recall the previous recordings both made and scheduled.

Originally posted by mazman49
FWIW, I received an email reply yesterday from a senior level Northern California Comcast employee who is "very confident" that the Super Bowl will be in HD on KTVU.

Comcast & Cox apparently have reached an agreement in principal, but the agreement has been with Cox's attorneys for the past two weeks. [insert attorney jokes here]

Hopefully things will work out in time, but I'd definitely make alternate plans for watching the SB in HD just in case.

Do you know if the agreement would cover network affiliates that Cox owns in other markets? I'm an Atlanta Comcast subscriber, and Cox owns the ABC affiliate here.

Originally posted by ///MD
Can one assume that once KTVU-HD goes live for the superbowl, KTVU-HD will continue for all other programming? (girlfriend loves The OC)
Course it will. However, they may just use 725 for the feed?

Has anybody seen the "Super Bowl Shopping tips" from Comcast yet?

http://www.comcast.com/hdtvtips/

Originally posted by neoufo51
Course it will. However, they may just use 725 for the feed?

Has anybody seen the "Super Bowl Shopping tips" from Comcast yet?

http://www.comcast.com/hdtvtips/

They forgot "Get a New Cable TV Provider To See The Super Bowl In High Definition". :)

That's too funny, and IMO borders on deceptive advertising.

Kevin

When watching an HD program the sound level
is very low compared to non-HD programs. The
commercials however are at the "normal" level.
So I have to turn the volume way up to hear
the program and then get blasted at the
commercial break if I don't hit mute fast
enough. (I am getting good at running
the dvr just enough to miss all the commercials
too). Does anyone see this?

I have not checked all the HD channels but
its definitely on NBC (West Wing).

Originally posted by ///MD
Can one assume that once KTVU-HD goes live for the superbowl, KTVU-HD will continue for all other programming? (girlfriend loves The OC)

Yes

Originally posted by ubell
When watching an HD program the sound level
is very low compared to non-HD programs. The
commercials however are at the "normal" level.
So I have to turn the volume way up to hear
the program and then get blasted at the
commercial break if I don't hit mute fast
enough. (I am getting good at running
the dvr just enough to miss all the commercials
too). Does anyone see this?

I have not checked all the HD channels but
its definitely on NBC (West Wing).

Try setting the audio compression on the box to heavy (Audio Options). Some shows are matix stereo (5.1) but commercials are normally broadcast in stereo. All the sound is compressed into the two stereo channels, increasing the relative volume of the commercials. Its my understanding of the issue, Heavy compression sets the box to compress the matrix channels into the stereo channels. The same thing happens when going from HD channels to the analog/SD channels. But then again commercials are just louder.

Originally posted by bravo890
Do you know if the agreement would cover network affiliates that Cox owns in other markets? I'm an Atlanta Comcast subscriber, and Cox owns the ABC affiliate here. One would think there is a simultaneous agreement or agreements which cover WSB-DT. However, you never know if for some strange reason this was a KTVU-DT only deal.

Someone in the Pittsburgh Comcast thread said it was not a national deal, but he was going to do some follow-up checking.

What you should do is email Steve Burke's office and ask him if the soon-to-be-completed KTVU deal with Cox also encompasses WSB (or if they are signing simultaneous but separate deals for both stations' digital signals). He or his assistant will email you back fairly quickly and you should get a pretty definite answer.

Steve Burke's email is found in the following thread (which is a poll for San Francisco area Comcast users about the Super Bowl on Fox HD):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=497911

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
However, you never know if for some strange reason this was a KTVU-DT only deal.



My thinking is that these are individual agreements per station, market value for the KTVU signal wouldn't be the same as say, Odessa, Texas for example. Plus, although I am not sure about this, but the name KTVU Partnership would seem to indicate some other, possibly minority, ownership of KTVU which may have some influence on any negotiation.

Whoever the limited/minority partner(s) is/are in KTVU Partnership, I don't think it/they/he/she had any influence on Cox's approach. Cox controls all its broadcast enterprises tightly and has the first and last say on cable retransmission agreements.

And Comcast typically likes to handle these negotiations all at once-- witness the O&O agreements, including CBS. Cox also has more negotiating leverage by wielding all its retransmission rights at once.

Here is an interesting tidbit. A San Mateo company that filed for bankruptcy (now dismissed) may have been a linchpin to push the negotiations to completions:

Excerpted From Bloomberg News (January 11, 2005)


Comcast Corp., the world's largest cable television operator, and Cox Communications Inc. on Monday agreed to buy Liberate Technologies Inc.'s North American business for about $82 million to add software for digital cable systems.

Comcast, based in Philadelphia, is majority owner of the joint venture — called Double C Technologies — that is buying the assets, according to Liberate, which is based in San Mateo, Calif. Cox, the nation's third-largest cable television operator, holds a minority stake.

The joint venture will offer jobs to about 130 of Liberate's employees, mostly in Canada. Liberate, which makes software for television set-top boxes, will retain its European business.

The deal "enables us to continue to work with Liberate on our interactive-television project," said David Grabert, a spokesman at Cox. Tim Fitzpatrick, a spokesman at Comcast, confirmed the acquisition.

The sale of Liberate's North American operations won't be complete until the company drops its pursuit of a bankruptcy case. In September, Liberate's bankruptcy petition was dismissed after the court said the company had enough cash to cover liabilities. Liberate said it planned to file a motion in the U.S. District Court for Northern California to drop its appeal of that decision.

We currently are subscribed to Comcast non-digital cable in the South Bay. I noticed that our new HDTV picked up a couple of HD local channels with its internal tuner, KGO(0.0?) and KQED (9.1?). The remainder of the Comcast HD local channels in our area I don't see. Are we allowed to pick up these HD local stations without a decoder, and if so, at what channels would I find the other HD local stations (KNTV, KPIX, KRON)?

Thanks,

Michael

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Here is an interesting tidbit.

Interesting, I wonder if the recent stock buyback to turn Cox parent corp private may have also speeded up a resolution/new working agreements.

Originally posted by keenan
Interesting, I wonder if the recent stock buyback to turn Cox parent corp private may have also speeded up a resolution/new working agreements.

That's what I was thinking. But I'll bet this played a role in it as well.

You know, Comcast seems to be buying a lot of stuff lately, and supposedly has a few billion in liquidity, yet they wont fix my simple little cable system. :p

I know, it's not that simple, but it gives me something to gripe about. :D

So are we getting this with Comcast for the Superbowl?

Originally posted by cedosada
So are we getting this with Comcast for the Superbowl? The Magic Tea Leaves Say:

You're probably in luck. Check again soon.

Apologies to Ken H for the poor imitation...;)

Is it too much to ask to get it online by this weekend for the NFC Championship game?

And so next Monday's 24 is also in HD?

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
We currently are subscribed to Comcast non-digital cable in the South Bay. I noticed that our new HDTV picked up a couple of HD local channels with its internal tuner, KGO(0.0?) and KQED (9.1?). The remainder of the Comcast HD local channels in our area I don't see. Are we allowed to pick up these HD local stations without a decoder, and if so, at what channels would I find the other HD local stations (KNTV, KPIX, KRON)?

With my Sony ATSC tuner, I have found the following channels on Comcast in Cupertino.


Logical Phys Comcast Freq
Channel Channel Channel MHz Station
-----------|----------|-----------|-------|--------
4.2 79.8 704 555 KRON-HD
5.1 79.7 705 555 KPIX-HD
7.1 117.1 707 753 KGO-HD
7.2 117.7 194 753 ABC News
9.1 117.2 709 753 KQED HD
9.2 117.3 189 753 KQED Encore
9.3 117.4 190 753 KQED World
9.4 117.5 191 753 KQED Life
9.5 117.6 192 753 KQED Kids
11.1 116.1 703 747 KNTV-HD

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
The Magic Tea Leaves Say:
You're probably in luck. Check again soon.
Apologies to Ken H for the poor imitation...;)

Could it really be???
I've got a whole bunch of folks on hold for a HD SB party
because I won't host one again without having an HD broadcast.
(I don't have OTA as an option this time).

Who will break it first? Ken H???
I'll be checking every 10 minutes...... ;)

Originally posted by gfbuchanan
With my Sony ATSC tuner, I have found the following channels on Comcast in Cupertino.


Logical Phys Comcast Freq
Channel Channel Channel MHz Station
-----------|----------|-----------|-------|--------
4.2 79.8 704 555 KRON-HD
5.1 79.7 705 555 KPIX-HD
7.1 117.1 707 753 KGO-HD
7.2 117.7 194 753 ABC News
9.1 117.2 709 753 KQED HD
9.2 117.3 189 753 KQED Encore
9.3 117.4 190 753 KQED World
9.4 117.5 191 753 KQED Life
9.5 117.6 192 753 KQED Kids
11.1 116.1 703 747 KNTV-HD

Thanks for the reply. I'll check our TV later to see which of these channels out TV picked.

BTW, I read your other post here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4860624#post4860624) and encountered a similar situation. When we first got our new Sony HDTV, we let it auto-program the cable TV on 12/15, and the TV's tuner found some of the same channels you mentioned, like INHD, plus a few SD channels available to digital subscribers, like NickToons and a history/biography channel.

We needed to exchange our TV for a new one (possible defective component video board), and when we performed the same auto-program function on 12/23, we lost most of the channels we found on 12/15. I was starting to think that either our 2nd TV's tuner had a problem or Comcast figured out we were getting some HD programming.

But if I understand the regulations correctly, since we are paying for basic and extended cable with Comcast, we are allowed to pick up the available HD local channels from our feed without a box/decoder. Is that correct?

Once again, thanks. :)

Michael

FYI the I-Guide is going to be released to most digital cable boxes on February 8th in the Bay Area.

Originally posted by mds54
Could it really be???

I've got a whole bunch of folks on hold for a HD SB party...

I'll be checking every 10 minutes...... ;) The Tea Leaves are starting to align themselves ... I can start to make something out ... it says... yes, I think it says .... "Keep your friends on hold until the fat lady sings." ;)

Originally posted by bmark
FYI the I-Guide is going to be released to most digital cable boxes on February 8th in the Bay Area. Thanks for the update.

Have basic with HD for almost a year and have been getting all HD channels except for the premium channels (HBO, SHOW, etc). Recently, DiscoveryHD and HDSE went to the Not Authorized Screen. However, INHD and INHD2 are still there.

Anyone else in SF with basic cable still getting discovery? Should I call them to tell them to reboot my box? Or will I just end up loosing INHD and INHD2...

Originally posted by russwong
Should I call them to tell them to reboot my box? No. You wouldn't lose INHD or INHD2, but it would be a complete waste of your time.

If they say "Not Authorized", that means they are now being encrypted. Which means you have to subscribe to the Digital Classic tier, at a minimum, to get them. That will cost you an additional $10 (last time I checked) per month.

Previously, they were unencrypted-- Comcast was giving you some freebies, since a basic analog subscription does not include those HD channels. Now Comcast is starting to take away the freebies.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
The Tea Leaves are starting to align themselves ... I can start to make something out ... it says... yes, I think it says .... "Keep your friends on hold until the fat lady sings." ;)

Yes, but are the planets and their moons aligned and will the fat lady be singing in DD 5.1 surround? :D :p

LOL.

To answer the the second part of your question, I think Star Jones is singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl ..... ;)

Fox HD should be in place on Comcast systems before the Superbowl. It will be on channel 702 once available. There is a deal in progress.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
I think Star Jones is singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl ..... ;)

http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/ROTFLMAO.gif

Originally posted by bmark
Fox HD should be in place on Comcast systems before the Superbowl. It will be on channel 702 once available. There is a deal in progress.

bmark:
Please tell.......how reliable is your information?
Do you know of an official announcement?

Originally posted by mds54
bmark:
Please tell.......how reliable is your information?
Do you know of an official announcement?

I'll vouch that bmark's sources have been pretty realiable in the past (not perfect but gets better info then us subscribers...I wont tell how)...just add this to the continuing tidbits of hope (although I'll be in Tahoe for the superbowl)

guys i read back somewhere that comcast will be replacing the horrible tvguide software with microsoft software? am i smoking some good stuff or is there any truth to this rumour? also, an ETA on it if it is in fact true...

Thanks!

Originally posted by gdebruyn
guys i read back somewhere that comcast will be replacing the horrible tvguide software with microsoft software? am i smoking some good stuff or is there any truth to this rumour? also, an ETA on it if it is in fact true...

Thanks!


The MS Guide was deployed on 6412's in Seattle only (ie where MS is home). The rest of the Motorola areas (like us) will be getting the I-Guide. That is also a TVGuide (ie Gemstar) product but its much better than what you have now.

I havent seen any plans to deploy the MS Guide beyond seattle but who knows...


Those of us w/DVRs in the area already have the IGuide and its light years better than what you have right now.

thanks.

i have 2 DVR's.

light years....you are quite generous. i think its buggy and horrible to navigate. almost as bad as the previous HD box software.

i guess i'll just have to deal with the current software.

Originally posted by bmark
Fox HD should be in place on Comcast systems before the Superbowl. It will be on channel 702 once available. There is a deal in progress.
You wouldnt believe how happy that post made me. I just hope that your source is accurate because when I see a big "702" on my guide I will jump for joy and call people as soon as possible.
:D

Originally posted by neoufo51
You wouldnt believe how happy that post made me. I just hope that your source is accurate because when I see a big "702" on my guide I will jump for joy and call people as soon as possible.
:D

You got that right! If so, let the HD SB parties begin!
I figure that I'll see an official announcement somewhere
here before I actually see the new channel on my guide.

This is so much more than just the SB....it's also "24", and
the Daytona 500, Giants baseball, next season's NFL NFC
games, etc.....and a watchable picture on KTVU for a change!
Here's to renewed hope!

Originally posted by mds54
bmark:
Please tell.......how reliable is your information?
Do you know of an official announcement?

I believe my information to be 99.9% reliable. I don't make my posts based on wild guesses or misinformation. There will be an official annoucement once the deal is done.

Yeah it would make the price increase a bit more palatable. Not completely, but a bit more.

although I'll be in Tahoe for the superbowl

Which happens to be a great place to watch the superbowl - preferably in the bar at a ski area!

Originally posted by mds54
This is so much more than just the SB....it's also "24", and
the Daytona 500, Giants baseball, ... As to Giants baseball, it has never been in HD on KTVU. But 2005 would be a good year for KTVU to start, as the HD truck used by Comcast should be available for KTVU at a reasonable price (unless it's already part of the soon to be signed Comcast-Cox deal, which is entirely possible).

So KTVU will have to make the financial commitment to producing its Giants games in HD, unless Cox has already negotiated that for KTVU.

Third time's the charm...:D :D

And this one was it, too. I clicked but it didn't show up on my thread list. Bizarre.

Originally posted by bmark
I believe my information to be 99.9% reliable. I don't make my posts based on wild guesses or misinformation. There will be an official annoucement once the deal is done.
***Crosses fingers and adds bmark to his "favorite persons" list***

Remember, the direct fiber feed of KTVU's digital signal to the Comcast headends is supposedly already live and has been so for quite some time. Comcast takes it from the base of Sutro just like it does for all the other Sutro-transmitted digital signals (KGO, KQED, KPIX, KRON).

So, all Comcast has to do is flip the switch (and make sure the head ends have the proper modulation, channel mapping, etc.).

What this means to me is that as soon as the Cox executives sign the contractual documents, Comcast should be able to take KTVU-DT live on 702 within one or two business days (or even on the weekend if necessary-- just pay those non-salaried engineering employees a little bit of overtime :) ).

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
But if I understand the regulations correctly, since we are paying for basic and extended cable with Comcast, we are allowed to pick up the available HD local channels from our feed without a box/decoder. Is that correct?
l

That is my understanding. If you read the fine print on the Comcast site, it seems to say that the local HD channels are available with the limited basic service. They say you may have to pay an equipment rental fee. But since your TV has a cable capable tuner, you don't even need their HD box.

However, it seems that Comcast likes to fuss with their channel alignments. I think that is what happened back in December. A couple of weeks later, the signals came back up (i.e. were in the clear), but on new logical channels. At that point I started seeing all of the KQED channels, (9.1-9.5) along with CBS and ABC (5.1 & 7.1). Interestingly, KNTV (NBC) shows up as 11.1 instead of 3.1. Guess that they are sending the 11.1 logical channel for their OTA folks.

One other thing. Comcast is broadcasting Showtime channels in the clear right now. That includes all of the Show.... channels, as well as ShowHD. Don't know how long this promotion will last. But have your TV search for new HD channels, then go through the found list to unhide the ones that you want to see.

As far as I can tell, the main disadvantage of using the builtin Cable tuner is that you don't get the Comcast channel assignments. You have to figure them out yourself.

I can send you a spread sheet with the ones I have figured out . Let me know.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
So, all Comcast has to do is flip the switch (and make sure the head ends have the proper modulation, channel mapping, etc.).


Maybe it will happen right after the FW push to the STBs tomorrow. :cool:

Re "all of the KQED channels" - Are the KQED channels 9.1 through 9.5 in HD? My understanding is that these channels come through the cable box on 189-192, and they are not in high definition when I checked a few minutes ago. If the OTA channels are HD, why wouldn't get them via cable in HD, (bandwidth maybe)? If they are not broadcast OTA in HD, why would an ATSC tuner pick them up?

Originally posted by cgw
Re "all of the KQED channels" - Are the KQED channels 9.1 through 9.5 in HD? No. Only 9.1.

An ATSC tuner picks up digital OTA. Some digital OTA is HD (9.1), some is not (9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5).

Originally posted by cgw
Re "all of the KQED channels" - Are the KQED channels 9.1 through 9.5 in HD?
No.

If the OTA channels are HD, why wouldn't get them via cable in HD, (bandwidth maybe)?
See above answer.

If they are not broadcast OTA in HD, why would an ATSC tuner pick them up?
Because they are in digital. HD is just one type of digital format.

:)

Originally posted by cgw
Re "all of the KQED channels" - Are the KQED channels 9.1 through 9.5 in HD? My understanding is that these channels come through the cable box on 189-192, and they are not in high definition when I checked a few minutes ago. If the OTA channels are HD, why wouldn't get them via cable in HD, (bandwidth maybe)? If they are not broadcast OTA in HD, why would an ATSC tuner pick them up?

Sorry. I didn't mean to imply that all of the KQED channels are HD. Only the 9.1 channel on KQED is HD. The others are digital, but just SD. The point was that if you have a TV that works with digital cable (has a cable card slot), then you can see all five KQED channels on Comcast.

The ATSC tuner on the new Sony TVs not only support OTA digital (SD and HD), but also digial cable encoding (QAM). You need a digital capable tuner to see the digital channels. And digital channels can be SD or HD.

Originally posted by gfbuchanan
However, it seems that Comcast likes to fuss with their channel alignments. I think that is what happened back in December. A couple of weeks later, the signals came back up (i.e. were in the clear), but on new logical channels. At that point I started seeing all of the KQED channels, (9.1-9.5) along with CBS and ABC (5.1 & 7.1). Interestingly, KNTV (NBC) shows up as 11.1 instead of 3.1. Guess that they are sending the 11.1 logical channel for their OTA folks.

I can send you a spread sheet with the ones I have figured out . Let me know.
I noticed that the Auto-Program deleted channel 0.0 (KGO-HD) and added 7.1. So, Comcast has switched the channels around from the last time I ran the Auto-Program function.

BTW, I noticed that the same KQED-HD channel shows up on 9.1 and 117.2, but the Auto-Program function did not pick up the 117.2 channel. I have to manually enter it in to see it (the Show/Hide function on the Sony LCD RPTV won't let me add it to the channel list). No big deal, since I see it at channel 9.1.

Further, the Auto-Program feature did not add any channels in the 116 range, yet I can manually enter in 116.1 and pick up KNTV, the same as 11.1. Again, no big deal, except if you enter 116.2. At this point, I think I am picking up a station that I am not allowed to (part of the digital package and not a HD local channel). I can't put it into the channel listing, but I can add it to favorites.

I would be curious to see what your list looks like, to see if you have picked up channels that our TV didn't (bad or weak signal?). If you don't mind sending it to me, use the PM button above my post. Thanks.

Michael

Anyone having an issue with the audio on kpix-dt during csi? it's all background with LOW vocal track...

Hop eit clears up....

jeff

Originally posted by greeno
Anyone having an issue with the audio on kpix-dt during csi? it's all background with LOW vocal track...


I had the same problem, but they've finally fixed it now. BTW, I am getting it OTA, so it's not Comcast's fault this time.

Originally posted by gfbuchanan
Sorry. I didn't mean to imply that all of the KQED channels are HD. Only the 9.1 channel on KQED is HD. The others are digital, but just SD. The point was that if you have a TV that works with digital cable (has a cable card slot), then you can see all five KQED channels on Comcast.

The ATSC tuner on the new Sony TVs not only support OTA digital (SD and HD), but also digial cable encoding (QAM). You need a digital capable tuner to see the digital channels. And digital channels can be SD or HD.

The purpose of the cable card is to unencrypt encrypted channels. As long as a channel is unencrypted you should be able to receive it with a standard QAM tuner -- cable card or no cable card. I'm not sure as I don't have a built-in QAM tuner but all of the KQED subchannels should be unencrypted, hence you should be able to receive them without a cable card.

Originally posted by fender4645
The purpose of the cable card is to unencrypt encrypted channels. As long as a channel is unencrypted you should be able to receive it with a standard QAM tuner -- cable card or no cable card. I'm not sure as I don't have a built-in QAM tuner but all of the KQED subchannels should be unencrypted, hence you should be able to receive them without a cable card.

Yeah, that is what I ment. Just didn't say it well. The idea was that not all ATSC tuners support digital cable (QAM). But if your tuner has a cable card slot, then it supports QAM.

BTW, anyone successfully using a cable card in our area?

Originally posted by gfbuchanan
Yeah, that is what I ment. Just didn't say it well. The idea was that not all ATSC tuners support digital cable (QAM). But if your tuner has a cable card slot, then it supports QAM.

BTW, anyone successfully using a cable card in our area?

Gotcha.

I don't think anyone here has posted a successful cable card installation -- most of us are HD veterans and our TV's are too old to have them :D . I do have a buddy that got it installed...works good I guess. He doesn't get the guide or VOD but encrypted channels come in fine.

Oh yeah, regarding Showtime: there's a free 3-month trial going on right now. I think we're about 2 months into it.

That is great news that Fox is finally coming in HD....

Now if we can just get WB in HD I can finally see Kristin Kreuk in HD and life will be good...

Originally posted by Doc Tonic
That is great news that Fox is finally coming in HD....

Now if we can just get WB in HD I can finally see Kristin Kreuk in HD and life will be good...
I know. She's the cutie of cuties. We need another "Bad Lana" episode. :D

Cable card installed july 2004,After a few install problems this card works great.Automactic updates and no loss of signal quality.No vod or pvr features but i dont use them anyway.

Here's the latest from Steve Kroner of the Chronicle, from his column in today's edition:

Comcast/KTVU HD update: For NFL fans with high-definition TVs, we'll put it in these terms: Don't expect to see the NFC Championship Game on Comcast cable in HD, but you should be safe in planning a Super Bowl party around watching an HD telecast on Feb. 6.

A dispute between Comcast and Cox Broadcasting, the parent company of KTVU (Channel 2), has kept KTVU's HD signal off the Comcast lineup in the Bay Area.

Three weeks ago, we reported that a source familiar with the negotiations between Comcast and Cox said the dispute was nearly over, and that it was "possible" Channel 2's HD signal would be available for Fox's wild-card playoff telecast Jan. 9 and "likely" that the signal would be in place for the Super Bowl on Feb. 6.

KTVU's HD signal still hasn't made it onto Comcast's lineup, and on Thursday, that source said that it's "unlikely" the dispute officially will end before Sunday.Looks like Cox's attorneys are going to sit on it for a little while longer. Hopefully sometime next week the Cox executives will sign, if not sooner. Cross your fingers that there are no last minute snags. Like Yogi said, it ain't over until the fat lady sings.

By the way, with Steve Kroner's interest in this topic, I believe he must have an HDTV with Comcast service, or is very close to someone that does.

It would be a nice good faith gesture on the part of KTVU to show this weekend's playoff game in HD, though I doubt that will happen.

On another note, is there any word on ESPN2-HD coming to Comcast soon?

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Here's the latest from Steve Kroner of the Chronicle, from his column in today's edition:

Looks like Cox's attorneys are going to sit on it for a little while longer. Hopefully sometime next week the Cox executives will sign, if not sooner. Cross your fingers that there are no last minute snags. Like Yogi said, it ain't over until the fat lady sings.

Thanks for the udpate! So if we get the superbowl in HD does that mean comcast will have full access to fox HD, or just for the superbowl? I'm ready for show's like 24, OC, Idol and stuff to be on HD>

Originally posted by cleoent
Thanks for the udpate! So if we get the superbowl in HD does that mean comcast will have full access to fox HD, or just for the superbowl? I'm ready for show's like 24, OC, Idol and stuff to be on HD>
If Cox does sign, yes, that means we will have a 702 in our lineup from now on.

Originally posted by mazman49
It would be a nice good faith gesture on the part of KTVU to show this weekend's playoff game in HD, though I doubt that will happen.

On another note, is there any word on ESPN2-HD coming to Comcast soon?

IMO, most of the InHD and DiscoveryHD nature stuff is brilliant demo material, but in a novelty sort of way - it's captivating when you're "new" to HD, but it won't usually be enough to get Joe Sixpack to say "I gotta have a HD TV", even though HDTV prices are finally reaching the mass market (my last visit to Costco, I must have seen 10 or 12 different floor models of big, flat panel TVs as soon as I entered the store - more than half were HD; all but one was HD or ED. And most were in the $1700-2900 range - not the $5000 to $9000 I saw a year or more ago.).

I think the "bread and butter" sales for subscription HD will be sports - which Comcast fails miserably until Fox and ESPN2 are HD. Not just for the SB, but all regular season Giants baseball, regualr season NFL NFC games, all NCAA basketball and football games on ESPN and ESPN2, etc.

There HAS to be more programming than the current primetime schedule of 2 or 3 networks and the specialty stuff on Discovery and InHD to make HD a "winner" for Comcast's subscription numbers.

Originally posted by AVWH
IMO, most of the InHD and DiscoveryHD nature stuff is brilliant demo material, but in a novelty sort of way - it's captivating when you're "new" to HD, but it won't usually be enough to get Joe Sixpack to say "I gotta have a HD TV", even though HDTV prices are finally reaching the mass market (my last visit to Costco, I must have seen 10 or 12 different floor models of big, flat panel TVs as soon as I entered the store - more than half were HD; all but one was HD or ED. And most were in the $1700-2900 range - not the $5000 to $9000 I saw a year or more ago.).

I think the "bread and butter" sales for subscription HD will be sports - which Comcast fails miserably until Fox and ESPN2 are HD. Not just for the SB, but all regular season Giants baseball, regualr season NFL NFC games, all NCAA basketball and football games on ESPN and ESPN2, etc.

There HAS to be more programming than the current primetime schedule of 2 or 3 networks and the specialty stuff on Discovery and InHD to make HD a "winner" for Comcast's subscription numbers.

I wouldnt lose too much sleep over not having ESPN2 right now...we are missing 50 showings of "TILT" and a handful of assorted mens/womens NCAA games over the next month...ESPNHD still has the primary stuff.

As far as local sports in HD...Having exclusive rights to FSNBA-HD is a pretty good marketing tool for comcast locally (as long as you are not on a 550Mhz network :(

That's what I love about this forum, as soon as one new HD channel comes in we got to have more, more, more. :D Come on Comcast just get it all out there, and we might be satisfied, well for at least a week. ;)

Originally posted by YuriLuzr
That's what I love about this forum, as soon as one new HD channel comes in we got to have more, more, more. :D Come on Comcast just get it all out there, and we might be satisfied, well for at least a week. ;) Ya. Where is HDNET? It's about time we had this too. :D

Originally posted by AVWH
IMO, most of the InHD and DiscoveryHD nature stuff is brilliant demo material, but in a novelty sort of way - it's captivating when you're "new" to HD, but it won't usually be enough to get Joe Sixpack to say "I gotta have a HD TV", even though HDTV prices are finally reaching the mass market (my last visit to Costco, I must have seen 10 or 12 different floor models of big, flat panel TVs as soon as I entered the store - more than half were HD; all but one was HD or ED. And most were in the $1700-2900 range - not the $5000 to $9000 I saw a year or more ago.).


One problem is that most people don't know or realize they don't have to have an HDTV to enjoy some of the benefits of these HD broadcasts. I've been watching HD content on my 6 year old analog Sony Wega TV for over 3 years now. First via OTA and now with cable too.

The picture is 10 times clearer then SD, you get 16x9 viewing, 5.1 surround is often available, and did I say the picture is much much better? Granted on an HDTV, the picture will be even better, but when my friends see HD on my regular TV, they are still surprised at the brightness and clarity.

So for any of you who are not diving into HD, because you don't have an HDTV, you are missing out!!! The Comcast HD boxes can be used on non-HDTVs. I have 2, one for my HDTV and one for my non-HDTV. Unfortunately, the good soundsystem is on the larger non-hdtv.... I guess I'll have to wait for it to "break" so I can get that 50" flat screen!!!

Is there anyone in Solano County receiving their locals in HD? I'm in Fairfield and we get both SF and Sac locals, but none of them in HD.

Originally posted by Radioflyer
Is there anyone in Solano County receiving their locals in HD? I'm in Fairfield and we get both SF and Sac locals, but none of them in HD.

Radioflyer, you have PM.

Just wanted to give an update for those that might be in the Santa Cruz area:

Latest word is that HD content is "supposed" to be rolled out by the end of this quarter. (March) We'll see about that since that's been the MO for literally the last year. Is there anyone in the know that can confirm or deny?

Secondly, DVR's are now listed as being available on their web site. (Usually, it's just the standard disclaimer saying "That service is not yet available...." So, I went ahead and signed up for one. The order went through, but as pointed out by several others in this thread, it's by no means a guarantee.

Anyway, just wanted to add my $.02 for those on this side of the "Hill," and I'll keep ya'll posted about the DVR thing.

Rich

Hey,

I got my comcast HD setup w/ PVR about a week ago. I'm pretty psyched with the HD channels, but I don't get all of them. After much work w/ Comcast, they determined that the signal is dropping really badly as it goes from the cable closet for my condo complex to my apartment. It's about 200 ft, and there's a pretty crappy wire being run that they say loses 6dB or more per 100 ft. They put an amp in for my wire in the closet, and now I get

704, 705, 719, 720, 722

But I don't get 703, 707, 709 or 723 (No ESPNHD!)

My question is:

1. Should I try to add another amp in the closet? They say the signal I'm getting out of there is +25. Is there a point where it won't get amplified anymore?

2. Should I try to add another amp at my apartment? I'm worried that I'll be amplifying too much noise if I do that.

As a last resort, I could get them to run another wire, but I need to go through my HOA, and I know it's going to be a pain to deal with that. Suggestions?

I was in your situation a few days ago. But I was getting only 704 & 705 and showtime. Comcast came back, and installed an amp. The amp didn't help much. I still wasn't getting any more HD channels. Then the tech went down to look at the wires down at the box again. He came back and I got all my channels :) :). He yanked out some device that was hooked up a long time ago apparently. That thing was dropping 9dB on my line. He said that it was installed when they were planning on upgrading the area, but the upgrade never happened and they never took out the device. Note that I've had 4 techs' come over, and the other 3 missed this thing. The other 3 said that the wiring sucked too. I still need ot use the amp to get all my channels, and that's something that I can live with.

Originally posted by boydster2
Hey,

I got my comcast HD setup w/ PVR about a week ago. I'm pretty psyched with the HD channels, but I don't get all of them. After much work w/ Comcast, they determined that the signal is dropping really badly as it goes from the cable closet for my condo complex to my apartment. It's about 200 ft, and there's a pretty crappy wire being run that they say loses 6dB or more per 100 ft. They put an amp in for my wire in the closet, and now I get

704, 705, 719, 720, 722

But I don't get 703, 707, 709 or 723 (No ESPNHD!)

My question is:

1. Should I try to add another amp in the closet? They say the signal I'm getting out of there is +25. Is there a point where it won't get amplified anymore?

2. Should I try to add another amp at my apartment? I'm worried that I'll be amplifying too much noise if I do that.

As a last resort, I could get them to run another wire, but I need to go through my HOA, and I know it's going to be a pain to deal with that. Suggestions?