San Francisco, CA - Comcast [Text View] - Page 18

keenan

01-22-05, 02:27 PM

Originally posted by davisdog
Comcast execs have already made a big media fanfare about rolling out digital simulcast to "most" of their systems by the end of 2005. Sadly for us 550Mhz systems, they've made it clear this does not free up bandwidth (it eats up bandwidth as you mentioned) and they are "not" forcing Analog customers to give up their service and get an stb as part of this.

one article about comcasts plans is here
http://www.cabledigitalnews.com/jan05/jan05-2.html

Here's an interesting article about Charter in Long Beach, who started digisimulcast in July (the first big system to do it)..its probably a benchmark for other MSOs to use.

http://www.broadband-pbimedia.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=122004&file=systemofthe.htm

From the first link,

"We're not forcing our customers to go digital," Fellows said. "I'm going to give [Comcast COO] Dave Watson the opportunity to incent customers, to get them to realize they really do want digital and not just analog HBO, but all of the on-demand that comes with being even a basic digital subscriber."

This looks to be how they will get around the FCC No STB Required rule. Entice customers to go with a STB instead of forcing them, which they can't do.

As you and MikeSM have indicated, none of this appears to be of any value to anyone on a 550MHz as the BW isn't there to do it. What I am reading, is that this is being done primarily to save/make money for the cableco. Lower STB costs, increase services such as VOD, increased picture quality on current analog channels by converting them to digital. Personally, and I'm sure I'm in the minority, none of this has any real value to me. I don't watch analog channels now and still wouldn't even if they were in digital, I'm 99% HD only, I don't care about VOD(except possibly for HD-VOD and if it's a PPV not likely) and as far as the cablco saving/making more money, that's great and looking at the big picture is a good thing, but I seriously doubt that that savings is going to trickle down to the sub level in the form of lower rates. When has a cableco ever lower rates simply because they found a less expensive way to do something?

Also from the first link,

" MSOs are particularly concerned that these high-value customers could be enticed to switch to competing all-digital satellite TV services."

Although this statement is not really in the context that I'm responding to it, for me, on a 550MHz, there is no competition, as I already get all four major networks from DirecTV in HD, DirecTV already provides a better solution-minus the DVR. Realistically, my present case being somewhat unusual as I am getting Fox and shouldn't be, by mid 2005 or sometime 3Q/05 DirecTV will be providing these networks in HD from the local stations to everyone who wants them and a DVR solution.

Some may ask why I still have Comcast or why do I participate in this thread if Comcast and/or my local franchise authority are not on a fast track to remedy the BW problem, well, the DVR at $5.00 a month is pretty cool and I like the group of people who post in this thread. :)

Okay, my Saturday morning blah-blah is over. :D

P.S. I've been getting some dark humor out of seeing the new flashy paint jobs on the service vans of late. The ones that announce in big black and red letters about VOD being "here, now!" while they travel around a city that has a system that is not capable of VOD.:p

SonomaSearcher

01-22-05, 02:38 PM

The only thing a 550 Mhz system could do is to go totally digital-- migrate all analog channels to digital, or at least enough of them to free up the requisite bandwidth.

As we've already discussed, going totally digital would require an STB at every TV in a house OR a digital to analog converter could be installed for analog only TV customers that would convert channels 2 to 82 back to traditional analog for their non-STB connected TV's.

keenan

01-22-05, 02:42 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
The only thing a 550 Mhz system could do is to go totally digital-- migrate all analog channels to digital, or at least enough of them to free up the requisite bandwidth.

As we've already discussed, going totally digital would require an STB at every TV in a house OR a digital to analog converter could be installed for analog only TV customers that would convert channels 2 to 82 back to traditional analog for their non-STB connected TV's.

Agreed, on both statements. Regarding the second one, does such equipment exist yet to do something like that? A converter box on the line before it is fed to the analog household?

keenan

01-22-05, 02:44 PM

From today's Mercury News,

"But you're missing the big picture here"

By John Ryan
Sat, Jan. 22, 2005
Mercury News

Anyone who has watched a game in high-definition TV knows that heading back is like going from a Lexus to a Ford Escort. So, to Bay Area HDTV subscribers shut out of Fox's broadcasts: Your Lexus will stay in the shop this weekend. But you might be able to drive it on Super Bowl Sunday.

Might.

``Cox wants this to happen. We want this to happen. We're working around the clock to get it finalized,'' Comcast Cable's Bay Area spokesperson, Erica Eusebio, said Friday. Cox Broadcasting owns KTVU.

Tim McVay, general manager of KTVU, said the ``long, complex, difficult, important negotiations'' are being handled at the national level by senior managers of Fox, which owns 15 stations. Representatives from all sides say the talks involve many issues.

(Morning Buzz can think of three: cash, jack and moolah.)

Would you believe that in this case, we'd benefit from the big network owning our affiliate? The networks gave cable and satellite providers the rights to their local stations' HDTV signals months ago. They create the programming, so they have much greater incentive to actually deliver it. Stations not owned by the networks are not similarly motivated.

How much difference does HD make, anyway? Jim Benson of Los Gatos has spent the season with 20th-century Fox -- and 21st-century CBS.

``You get the wide screen, so you see a lot more of the field,'' Benson said. ``But the details, it's amazing. You can sometimes see the blades of grass, you can see the cuts and bruises on these guys. Then you add the surround sound, it's like you're there.''

There's a way around it, by purchasing an antenna and, if needed, another receiver. But the price tag for those temporary adjustments could run upwards of $500.

Representatives from all sides assured us that they're working very, very hard and thinking of the customer.

So that should keep you happy as you go another weekend without the service you're paying for.

fender4645

01-22-05, 02:50 PM

Originally posted by keenan
So that should keep you happy as you go another weekend without the service you're paying for.

That's a great quote.

lpaxmember

01-22-05, 02:57 PM

I am not sure somebody already posted this ...

Just now I saw "The Terminal" and "Shrek 2" in HD on VOD.

Also several movies in widescreen & DD 5.1. (not HD though)

I think that's a pretty good start!

rsra13

01-22-05, 03:00 PM

If someone buys Shrek 2 on VOD can you make a review comparing it with the DVD version?

dartinbout

01-22-05, 03:24 PM

Mr. Burke's n the job this AM. I wrote"
To: Steve_Burke@cable.comcast.com
Subject: Long time Comcast Subscriber

"Mr. Burke,

I’ve had your HD service for 18 months or so and was one of the first to get a 6200 and a 6412. I love the DVR and VOD. I’ve thrown large parties showing off your service during the baseball and football playoffs using my HD projector. I know a half a dozen people who’ve made the investment to get your HD feed by spending large sums on equipment to enjoy your service. I don’t want to go to satellite, but you must successfully complete the negotiations with Cox too get the local KTVU HD feed. I won’t ask for the UPN or WB HD feed as yet, but the Super Bowl is coming up and you really need to understand what a colossal; mistake you’ll be making in the wake of the announcement of the availability of all the local HD feeds via a dish.

Keep me a customer,

DB

He replied,"We are very close and I think you will be happy with the result."

neoufo51

01-22-05, 03:35 PM

Originally posted by dartinbout
He replied,"We are very close and I think you will be happy with the result."
NICE. "Happy with the result" for me means seeing the Bowl and the rest of 24 in HD.

SonomaSearcher

01-22-05, 03:45 PM

Jim,

Try this USA Today article on for starters:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2003-06-12-cable_x.htm

This is what I suspect Comcast and the City Manager of Santa Rosa are contemplating doing-- installing these types of digital to analog converters at $70 or less per converter. I would think each house would only need one of them, where the signal enters the house (or simply before the first time the signal is split off to an analog only TV).

Note that the article is more than a year old, so costs to produce it may have come down. I assume the $70 price point requires a purchase in enough bulk to persuade Pace to sell them for that amount. (Pace isn't going to take an order for only 10,000 of these, for example, at $70 per-- it may want an order of 100,000 or even 500,000 to reach that price point-- I am just guessing at the numbers.)

For Comcast, it has to compare the cost of these converters to the cost of rebuilding to 860 Mhz. (Rebuilding to 860 Mhz or above probably will happen eventually regardless, but Comcast could probably defer it for 5 years or more-- if the Santa Rosa City Council agrees-- by going all digital and using these converters.) I am assuming no rental charge whatsoever for these types of converters.

Also, as Mr. Burke points out, there is potential revenue involved-- cable theft is a lot more difficult, leading some people to pay for cable instead of stealing it.

Also, Comcast gets the instant benefit of a lot more bandwidth versus a rebuild which would take a lot longer to complete. I have to believe it would be a LOT faster to simply hook each home in the City of Santa Rosa up with one of these puppies than it would be to rebuild to 860 Mhz.

And right away, Comcast gets the benefit of that marketing point of clear, digital standard definition pictures, just like satellite, for those with digital STB's, instead of waiting who knows how long until a rebuild is completed.

Hey, since Mr. Burke was quoted in the above article and he is so accessible to email, maybe it is time for you to email him about Santa Rosa's plight and enquire if going all digital is, in fact, in Santa Rosa's future. (He'll probably refer you to one of the Bay Area executives, but I bet you'll get at least a little more insight into what is going on, either from Mr. Burke or someone else.) :)

JasonQG

01-22-05, 03:56 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
I would think each house would only need one of them, where the signal enters the house (or simply before the first time the signal is split off to an analog only TV). I think you'd still need one per TV (or one per TV and VCR). If you look closely at the picture, it has an output labeled for TV output and one for VCR output. I'm guessing it can handle converting two channels at once, and it somehow detects what channel the TV or VCR is tuned to (I think that can be done). In order for it to work with just one for the whole house, it would have to be able to convert all the available channels at once, and that would take a lot more computing power. And if you're able to do that, I think they could just have one of those per node instead of per house.

SonomaSearcher

01-22-05, 04:05 PM

The other thing I forgot to mention was that before Comcast can go all digital (or even do a digital simulcast on 750/860 systems) is that it has to be able to digitally insert the local Comcast advertisements on the digital versions of what are now analog channels. That is part of what Comcast is doing right now with respect to digital simulcast on bandwidth-rich systems-- making sure the ad insertion hardware is working for the digital versions of the analog channels.

SonomaSearcher

01-22-05, 04:15 PM

Originally posted by JasonQG
I think you'd still need one per TV (or one per TV and VCR). If you look closely at the picture, it has an output labeled for TV output and one for VCR output. I'm guessing it can handle converting two channels at once, and it somehow detects what channel the TV or VCR is tuned to (I think that can be done). In order for it to work with just one for the whole house, it would have to be able to convert all the available channels at once, and that would take a lot more computing power. And if you're able to do that, I think they could just have one of those per node instead of per house. You are probably right.

Even at $70 per converter for each analog-only TV, I think it would be cheaper to supply them than to do a total rebuild to 750 or 860 Mhz.

Assuming an average of two converters per household and 50,000 households that would be $7 million. Hmmm ... maybe I'm wrong about the comparative cost ...

JasonQG

01-22-05, 04:26 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Assuming an average of two converters per household and 50,000 households that would be $7 million. Hmmm ... maybe I'm wrong about the comparative cost ... Translation: 16% club is screwed for a few more years

keenan

01-22-05, 04:41 PM

Originally posted by fender4645
That's a great quote.

Dead on the money. :D

MikeSM

01-22-05, 04:43 PM

You guys are completely underestimating the cost of deploying STB's and removing analog completely. It's not just the cost of the box, it's the cost of the truck roll to install the box, multiple boxes per house, and customer care on how to get your VCR to work with the box (err... not sure that will ever work for old VCR's), etc... Believe me, it's cheaper to rebuild the system, esp if no new fiber overlay has to be done.

I don't know who is telling you that digital simulcast will fix the capacity problem for HD in the short term. It's obviously the opposite. People will scream when the 5-6 analog channels go to digital. In a 550 Mhz system, you are not talking about tvland, golf channel, etc... like is likely here in 860 Mhz plant (maybe no changes at all needed on 860 - I think they have unused spectrum reserved for this). You may be talking scifi channel, food network, etc... things that will generate a lot of calls.

My friend is a senior person with Comcast, and knows the plans well. He wasn't familiar with the SF Bay Area, as they are distributing more control out to the divisions, so they have some discretion over this, but they are also held to hard P&L targets too.

With reduced churn from lowered defections to DBS, increased VOD customers, and cheaper STB's, they expect to more than make up the cost of boxes and the loss of the few analog channels in 750 and 860 Mhz systems. He didn't know if this plan was actually going to get executed on 550 Mhz systems - I guess that depends on tolerance for the pain of losing some fairly popular channels in analog and forcing subs to digital to recover them.

You would be surprised by how many people hate STB's. It's very confusing to most folks. My Mom still can't figure out she has to hit the TV button on her remote before hitting "power" to turn off the TV. She keeps hitting "power" and turning off the STB! So she has learned to get up and turn off her TV from the front panel rather than the remote! It's easier for her than figuring out the difference.

Thanks,
Mike

SonomaSearcher

01-22-05, 04:44 PM

This is what the Press Democrat story said last week about the Comcast network "rebuild" in Santa Rosa:

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.It is this last paragraph that is interesting as to what it means. I would like to know exactly what this previously "untested and untried" technology is.

keenan

01-22-05, 04:55 PM

Originally posted by JasonQG
I think you'd still need one per TV (or one per TV and VCR).

That was my first question after reading that.

But I think the bigger incentive for Comcast to use these devices is the ability for them to sell us more services(VOD,etc) and adding the channels that we don't have now would be secondary. Remember, currently Comcast is not going to make any more money from us in 550MHz systems by adding the ability to get what everyone else already does.

JasonQG

01-22-05, 04:59 PM

Personally, I hope Comcast fails and Santa Rosa gives them the boot. I'd love to have a different company come in. I used to have Charter cable when I was in college, and it was awesome. I was paying like $10 less per month than my parents in Santa Rosa and getting three times the number of channels. I know Santa Rosa is kind of a special case for Comcast, but still. Charter also knew how to run TechTV when they owned it. And the software on their cable boxes is SO MUCH BETTER. Man, I hate Comcast for so many reasons...

davisdog

01-22-05, 05:01 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
This is what the Press Democrat story said last week about the Comcast network "rebuild" in Santa Rosa:

It is this last paragraph that is interesting as to what it means. I would like to know exactly what this previously "untested and untried" technology is.

MikeSM's post here talks about what he thinks it is

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4982055#post4982055

JasonQG

01-22-05, 05:03 PM

Originally posted by MikeSM
You would be surprised by how many people hate STB's. It's very confusing to most folks. Oh, it wouldn't surprise me. It's frustrating to me, and I'm a big computer nerd. The things are sluggish and annoying. I only use mine when watching HD shows. I'd be willing to make the sacrifice if it meant I could see my precious Giants in HD, but I'd be severely annoyed to have to put up with those POS Motorola boxes on every TV.

keenan

01-22-05, 05:08 PM

Originally posted by MikeSM
He didn't know if this plan was actually going to get executed on 550 Mhz systems - I guess that depends on tolerance for the pain of losing some fairly popular channels in analog and forcing subs to digital to recover them.

Thanks,
Mike

But can they "legally" be forced? Or does the "No STB needed" ruling only for local station carriage?

You would be surprised by how many people hate STB's. It's very confusing to most folks. My Mom still can't figure out she has to hit the TV button on her remote before hitting "power" to turn off the TV. She keeps hitting "power" and turning off the STB! So she has learned to get up and turn off her TV from the front panel rather than the remote! It's easier for her than figuring out the difference.

I'm not surprised about this at all, in fact I think that is one of the reasons why the FCC mandates no STB required for a basic sub. Frankly, if I could get what I want without a STB I would be a happier camper as well. I all for one less box in my stack. Or at least be able to buy a STB that might perform better or have some other advanced useful features.

davisdog

01-22-05, 05:08 PM

Originally posted by MikeSM
You guys are completely underestimating the cost of deploying STB's and removing analog completely. It's not just the cost of the box, it's the cost of the truck roll to install the box, multiple boxes per house, and customer care on how to get your VCR to work with the box (err... not sure that will ever work for old VCR's), etc... Believe me, it's cheaper to rebuild the system, esp if no new fiber overlay has to be done.

whether you believe it or not..Rick Germano from Comcast (local VP of Ops) quoted it would cost $100 Million to upgrade our area from 550Mhz...I assume that means Saramilgatos since he was responding to a question from this area...And yes we already have fiber connecting to the HE.

Corporate turned down the funding so he said the alternative was wait until they start the conversion to "all-digital" in mid/late 2006 at the earliest (that was about 6 months ago..prior to the SF chronicle article..we'll see if they have rethought anything)

SonomaSearcher

01-22-05, 05:13 PM

I tell you one thing-- if I was on the City Council in a 2% area and Comcast was refusing to free up bandwidth or rebuild until late 2006, and the franchise agreement were coming up for renewal, there is no way Comcast would get a renewal unless it upped its bandwidth creation/reclamation timetable considerably.

keenan

01-22-05, 05:15 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Jim,
Hey, since Mr. Burke was quoted in the above article and he is so accessible to email, maybe it is time for you to email him about Santa Rosa's plight and enquire if going all digital is, in fact, in Santa Rosa's future. (He'll probably refer you to one of the Bay Area executives, but I bet you'll get at least a little more insight into what is going on, either from Mr. Burke or someone else.) :)

Yes, I plan to, and to get back with The City Manager and see what the current state of plans are. Been lazy about since I got lucky with DirecTV. As I have stated before, I would prefer to use Comcast exclusively, but that's only going to happen when the BW problem here is fixed, however they do it. And depending on the time line, I will probably drop Comcast until that happens, I'm nuts, but I'm not nuts enough to continue paying $150 to $200 a month for TV programming. :eek: :p

keenan

01-22-05, 05:23 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
I tell you one thing-- if I was on the City Council in a 2% area and Comcast was refusing to free up bandwidth or rebuild until late 2006, and the franchise agreement were coming up for renewal, there is no way Comcast would get a renewal unless it upped its bandwidth creation/reclamation timetable considerably.

Unless the City was getting some sweetheart deal for something they wanted. This happens all the time in "smaller" municipalities. Here in Santa Rosa, a certain company was successful in getting a city ordnance about a company sign size or placement ignored basically because one of the city council members was the spouse of the guy that ran the company with the sign issue.

But in general, you are correct, it will all boil down to how many and whose paying attention, and who even cares in these areas. I can see this sort of action being taken in another 2 yrs or so, but right now...I don't know..

rickmccamy

01-22-05, 05:33 PM

Originally posted by Desafinado being available in a couple of weeks seems unlikely.

To make matters worse, Astound doesn't actually serve my part of Walnut Creek, and I can't put up a dish or antenna because I rent and my porch is blocked by all kinds of trees.

Life goes on :cool: [/B]

The Comcast cable lines in Walnut Creek are to old to carry hd and it will be months, if not years before they are all replaced. Their digital offerings are meager inside W.C. city limits compared to surrounding areas.
I also had trees blocking my southern skies but I set a 8'-4x4 post 15' from my house with a clear view of the SSW sky. I also buried a length of 3/4" pvc conduit to carry the coaxial cables(2 any more would have required 1"). Direct encourages you to leave the dish behind when you move so your landllord would be able to offer his property as Directv ready. He may like that.

bmark

01-22-05, 05:38 PM

Originally posted by davisdog
whether you believe it or not..Rick Germano from Comcast (local VP of Ops) quoted it would cost $100 Million to upgrade our area from 550Mhz...I assume that means Saramilgatos since he was responding to a question from this area...And yes we already have fiber connecting to the HE.

That figure can't be right at all. It cost over $600 million to upgrade most of the bay area and there is no way it comes close to $100 million to upgrade Saratoga. Maybe 30-40 million is a better estimate imo.

keenan

01-22-05, 05:39 PM

Originally posted by MikeSM
I talked with a friend of mine who works for comcast tonight about the digital simulcasting they are planning to roll out...

Thanks,
Mike

The next time you talk to your friend, take him to dinner, yours/his choice, and see if he knows anything specific about the lower BW areas, or if he can find out.

Send the expense report to me and I will reimburse you.:)

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

You know, after re-reading some of my own posts a lot of you must think I'm a "black cloud", pessimistic sort of guy who always looks for the worst in things. That couldn't be further from the truth, really, honestly. :D :p

keenan

01-22-05, 05:41 PM

davisdog

01-22-05, 05:42 PM

Originally posted by bmark
That figure can't be right at all. It cost over $600 million to upgrade most of the bay area and there is no way it comes close to $100 million to upgrade Saratoga. Maybe 30-40 million is a better estimate imo.

Saramilgatos (in south bay comcast lingo) includes Saratoga, Milpitas and Los Gatos...the $100M figure came straight from Rick G and came in response to a specific question about what he was going to do about the lack of bandwidth in this area (or course it could include all the 550 areas in his region)

///MD

01-22-05, 05:47 PM

i'm new to learning about these lower bandwidth areas. How do you find out what area has what bandwidth? I'm in Cupertino.

TIA

dailowai

01-22-05, 06:59 PM

What bandwidth do you need to get all the channels? 750 or 860? I'm not sure which bandwidth system I am on, but I don't think 550 since I get InHD1/InHD2, but I don't Discovery, Starz, Cinemax and VOD.

edmc

01-22-05, 07:43 PM

While I'm with you all wanting KTVU-HD by the Superbowl (actually for the 50% of my DVR viewing which is currently on the worst Analog station, KTVU Ch. 2), I'd like to get back to the F/W download recently discussed.

Despite prior references to the contrary, the Comcast CSR I just spoke to knew absolutely nothing about any F/W download due to start updating our boxes starting yesterday, Jan 21st. All she could confirm is the iGuide S/W upgrade due "sometime in Feb.". Most discouraging as it is apparently the F/W upgrade which is claimed to resolve the box freeze up issue affecting so many (including me).

I objected since they had previously CANCELED a service call because they announced this F/W upgrade would resolve my issue - and was due "in the next 7 to 10 days" (the 10 days being 10 days ago).

So I insisted on a box swap. I was informed that the various Comcast outlets in my (East Bay) area all have them in stock now (as of last week apparently) and she invited me to simply take my current box in and get a replacement. That's my next plan.

For reference, my versions are:

F/W: 09.12
S/W: 71.44 - 1203

As has been reported earlier, these have been seen on 6412s way back in Nov'04...

neoufo51

01-22-05, 08:52 PM

Originally posted by edmc
Despite prior references to the contrary, the Comcast CSR I just spoke to knew absolutely nothing about any F/W download due to start updating our boxes starting yesterday, Jan 21st. All she could confirm is the iGuide S/W upgrade due "sometime in Feb.". Most discouraging as it is apparently the F/W upgrade which is claimed to resolve the box freeze up issue affecting so many (including me).

Yeah, somebody mentioned Feb 8th as the big upgrade day.

fender4645

01-22-05, 09:48 PM

Originally posted by rickmccamy
The Comcast cable lines in Walnut Creek are to old to carry hd and it will be months, if not years before they are all replaced. Their digital offerings are meager inside W.C. city limits compared to surrounding areas

Yeah, W.C. pretty much screwed themselves by letting in 2 different cable companies. When they signed the franchise agreement with Astound, AT&T (or maybe even TCI) was the main cable provider and all of the residents were unhappy for obvious reasons. Astound was supposed to "take off" and become the greatest thing since sliced bread. While they did "upgrade" a few areas, they're still way too small to really put forth the capitol it takes to keep a system current. And Comcast doesn't want to upgrade what little area it does control because it's just not worth it to spend the millions of dollars for just a few customers. I have a friend who recently moved to North Walnut Creek (off of N. Main), bought a brand new Sonly DLP, and can't even get HD.

davisdog

01-22-05, 09:48 PM

Originally posted by ///MD
i'm new to learning about these lower bandwidth areas. How do you find out what area has what bandwidth? I'm in Cupertino.

TIA

No easy way to find out on your own...

Cupertino is okay...at least 750Mhz

davisdog

01-22-05, 09:51 PM

Originally posted by dailowai
What bandwidth do you need to get all the channels? 750 or 860? I'm not sure which bandwidth system I am on, but I don't think 550 since I get InHD1/InHD2, but I don't Discovery, Starz, Cinemax and VOD.

750 has enough for all of the current channels and VOD etc...

Castro Valley is a weird area (cable wise)...I think its split on two different systems and one of them is missing some stuff (dont remember details but its come up before)

keenan

01-22-05, 09:52 PM

Can't you run through the channels and by using one of the screens in the diagnostic menu find the highest number indicating the bandwidth.

I guess that wouldn't be an "easy" way to do it, now that I think about it. :D :p

davisdog

01-22-05, 09:55 PM

Originally posted by edmc
For reference, my versions are:

F/W: 09.12
S/W: 71.44 - 1203

For what it's worth I have the same FW/SW and have never had any problem with my 6412 (no freezeups or anything)

hopefully its just your box..

MikeSM

01-23-05, 12:01 AM

$100 Million to upgrade a small city like Saratoga seems very high to me. Even if you had to lay new fiber, and do a full 860 upgrade, unless the franchise insisted on something special, I don't think it's reach that amount. The figure cited for how much comcast is spending on the whole area seems about right.

As far as Santa Rosa is concerned, from the posts here it seems to me like the franchise board is more cocerned about their inistitutional net than HD channels for others. I'll say it one more time. If that's what your franchise authority is spening their political capital with Comcast on, you shouldn't be surprised by you not having HD but seeing lots of little traffic cams up on poles. You get what you push for, and they aren't pushing what the residents of the city are clamoring for.

From what I know about walnut creek, fender is exactly right. Worst case economics are if the cable subs are split between two different infrastructures. Both get lousy economics. An alternate provider to a comcast only really works if they are WAY ahead, otherwise the numbers just don't work. You can't expect an MSO to put in a lot of cable into a system that they don't think they can get a large amount of subs. Comcast did rebuild areas that RCN was in, but RCN's penetration was low enough that I think Comcast figured they could really pummel them with an advanced network.

I'll see what my friend says about the 550 areas, but I thought Comcast's plan was to take pretty much everything to at least 750. I think some of the systems had "special" requirements and that got their rebuilds delayed, and then Comcast figured eventually they wouldn't need the extra bandwidth, and so backed off until after the digital conversion would be complete, which is awhile from now... The divisions really make these decisions though, so I would doubt he'd know the plan for a specific market. The best bet is to go buy one of the Comcast engineers in Walnut Creek a dinner, and they'd know what the plan was (if any exists)...

Like I said, the best thing if you want the dominant provider to invest capital in your plant is to not be "special"...

Thanks,
mike

JasonQG

01-23-05, 12:26 AM

To my fellow Santa Rosans,

Since we're all so fed up with Comcast, perhaps we should start urging the city council to not renew the franchise agreement with them. I sent an email to the City Manager's Office at the address listed here (http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/default.aspx?PageId=89). Not sure if that's who we should be contacting, but I think that was posted by keenan or somebody a while back as being the proper contact. I went so far as to actually suggest Charter cable, since I personally had a good experience with them. But really, as long as it's not Comcast, I'd be happy.

Also, I probably won't be getting around to it, but it would probably be beneficial if somebody was motivated enough to actually go to a city council meeting to bring this up. Probably better than an email.

millerwill

01-23-05, 12:31 AM

Are any of the HD programs tonight in DD5.1? The only thing my AVR is giving is PLxII.

Mikef5

01-23-05, 12:47 AM

Originally posted by MikeSM
$100 Million to upgrade a small city like Saratoga seems very high to me. Even if you had to lay new fiber, and do a full 860 upgrade, unless the franchise insisted on something special, I don't think it's reach that amount. The figure cited for how much comcast is spending on the whole area seems about right.

As far as Santa Rosa is concerned, from the posts here it seems to me like the franchise board is more cocerned about their inistitutional net than HD channels for others. I'll say it one more time. If that's what your franchise authority is spening their political capital with Comcast on, you shouldn't be surprised by you not having HD but seeing lots of little traffic cams up on poles. You get what you push for, and they aren't pushing what the residents of the city are clamoring for.

From what I know about walnut creek, fender is exactly right. Worst case economics are if the cable subs are split between two different infrastructures. Both get lousy economics. An alternate provider to a comcast only really works if they are WAY ahead, otherwise the numbers just don't work. You can't expect an MSO to put in a lot of cable into a system that they don't think they can get a large amount of subs. Comcast did rebuild areas that RCN was in, but RCN's penetration was low enough that I think Comcast figured they could really pummel them with an advanced network.

I'll see what my friend says about the 550 areas, but I thought Comcast's plan was to take pretty much everything to at least 750. I think some of the systems had "special" requirements and that got their rebuilds delayed, and then Comcast figured eventually they wouldn't need the extra bandwidth, and so backed off until after the digital conversion would be complete, which is awhile from now... The divisions really make these decisions though, so I would doubt he'd know the plan for a specific market. The best bet is to go buy one of the Comcast engineers in Walnut Creek a dinner, and they'd know what the plan was (if any exists)...

Like I said, the best thing if you want the dominant provider to invest capital in your plant is to not be "special"...

Thanks,
mike

Mike,
The $100 million was for the rebuild of Saratoga, Milpitas, Los Gatos and Santa Rosa. I dealt directly with Mr. Germano and it was his intention to get the funding to do the rebuild. That option fell through and these areas will never be upgraded pass the 550 Mhz. What they intend to do is to wait until they adopt the new compression codec and do the digital conversion but from what I've been able to nuke out is that on a 550 Mhz system this will be next to impossible there just isn't enough bandwidth to do it. I have talked with many techs both in the field and those that are doing the rebuilds and they all have said that all the areas will eventually be upgraded. I have also dealt with 2 Vice Presidents of Comcast and several other Comcast officials and they all have said that we will not ever be upgraded pass 550 Mhz. So, who do you believe ?? I prefer the believe the techs but the V.P.'s control the money that is necessary to do the work. As far as getting Fox-HD here in the 16% area, I'll wait until the Super Bowl and see if we get it or not. For me it does not matter, I get Fox-HD OTA , so I'll get it in HD whether or not Comcast broadcasts it but for the rest of the people of this area it will be a great shame if it's not available to them. It's really sad that a company like Comcast treats their customers like this but then again it's only Tv......

Laters,
Mikef5

JasonQG

01-23-05, 01:36 AM

Originally posted by millerwill
Are any of the HD programs tonight in DD5.1? The only thing my AVR is giving is PLxII. Aladdin on ABC was. I don't know about anything else; I was watching the Warriors get whooped most of the evening (16% club, so that's not HD for me).

I watched Aladdin for a few minutes and saw colors I didn't know existed. The colors were so bright that it hurt my eyes. The genie was some kind of radioactive blue. It was ridiculous. Though I'm impressed that my TV is capable of producing impossible colors from another dimension...

GlennGeo

01-23-05, 01:41 AM

Originally posted by fender4645
Yeah, W.C. pretty much screwed themselves by letting in 2 different cable companies. When they signed the franchise agreement with Astound, AT&T (or maybe even TCI) was the main cable provider and all of the residents were unhappy for obvious reasons. Astound was supposed to "take off" and become the greatest thing since sliced bread. While they did "upgrade" a few areas, they're still way too small to really put forth the capitol it takes to keep a system current. And Comcast doesn't want to upgrade what little area it does control because it's just not worth it to spend the millions of dollars for just a few customers. I have a friend who recently moved to North Walnut Creek (off of N. Main), bought a brand new Sonly DLP, and can't even get HD.

I'm in Walnut Creek and I have the DVR/HD/Digital and all the fixins. I hear some ares of the W.C. are SOL though.

-Glenn

fender4645

01-23-05, 02:18 AM

Originally posted by GlennGeo
I'm in Walnut Creek and I have the DVR/HD/Digital and all the fixins. I hear some ares of the W.C. are SOL though.

Where in WC do you live? (you can PM me if you want to take this offline) I think some of the outlining areas are actually on a different city's headend so they were, in turn, upgraded to 750MHz.

keenan

01-23-05, 02:53 AM

Originally posted by JasonQG
To my fellow Santa Rosans,

Since we're all so fed up with Comcast, perhaps we should start urging the city council to not renew the franchise agreement with them. I sent an email to the City Manager's Office at the address listed here (http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/default.aspx?PageId=89). Not sure if that's who we should be contacting, but I think that was posted by keenan or somebody a while back as being the proper contact.

This is the correct email address. Or you can go to Marc Richardson who is evidently the one in the City Manager Office that handles the cable franchise issues as he is the one that has corresponded with me and he is also mentioned in the Press Democrat article. His email is MRichardson@ci.santa-rosa.ca.us

I am going down Monday to see if there is anything on the calender regarding cable and will post the info, if there is any, here.

keenan

01-23-05, 03:01 AM

Originally posted by Mikef5
As far as getting Fox-HD here in the 16% area, I'll wait until the Super Bowl and see if we get it or not. For me it does not matter, I get Fox-HD OTA , so I'll get it in HD whether or not Comcast broadcasts it but for the rest of the people of this area it will be a great shame if it's not available to them.

Laters,
Mikef5

What will be interesting to see is what people think of Fox-HD when it finally shows up on the cable system. Especially if it shows up by Super Bowl time. I can already see the posts coming about the picture quality. It will be nice to finally have it, but to the uninitiated, it will be the worst picture quality out of the four major networks that we will have.

rogo

01-23-05, 03:14 AM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
I merged your thread/post into this one.

I am sure there are participants in this thread in the Palo Alto area who have posted that they have had 6412's installed. You must be getting some bad CSR's when you call.

If I were you, I'd stop by your local Comcast office when you get a chance, as they will be much more accomodating and accurate about the availability of DVR's. And while you are there, be sure to complain about the misinformation you are getting over the telephone. If you are a current subscriber, they might even let you take one home with you (unlikely, but worth a try-- technician installs are usually required).

Yeah, you did merge it, but since you didn't leave a "Moved" tag, I found it only through hunting and pecking.... :)

I did get one today, but now I'm confused about another thing.

* On the phone they say, "It's $9.95 + $6.95 but if you return the existing digital converter it's only $9.95."

* At the office they say, "Why are you bringing back the digital converter? You get that as part of Digital Silver and the DVR is $9.95 + 6.95 anyway."

* On the website, by pretending to order new service, it's $9.95 only even while keeping the digital converter from Digital Silver.

So which one is it?

Does anyone have a clue?

JasonQG

01-23-05, 03:33 AM

Originally posted by keenan
This is the correct email address. Or you can go to Marc Richardson who is evidently the one in the City Manager Office that handles the cable franchise issues as he is the one that has corresponded with me and he is also mentioned in the Press Democrat article. His email is MRichardson@ci.santa-rosa.ca.us Cool. I have emailed him as well.

keenan

01-23-05, 04:15 AM

Originally posted by rogo
Yeah, you did merge it, but since you didn't leave a "Moved" tag, I found it only through hunting and pecking.... :)

I did get one today, but now I'm confused about another thing.

* On the phone they say, "It's $9.95 + $6.95 but if you return the existing digital converter it's only $9.95."

* At the office they say, "Why are you bringing back the digital converter? You get that as part of Digital Silver and the DVR is $9.95 + 6.95 anyway."

* On the website, by pretending to order new service, it's $9.95 only even while keeping the digital converter from Digital Silver.

So which one is it?

Does anyone have a clue?

If the only box you will have is going to be a 6412, then it is $9.95 a month, that includes the non-premium HD channels(ABC-CBS-KNTV-KQED-KRON). This is on top of whatever package you go with. If you keep the 5100-6200 then add the $6.95(includes remote rental etc.) on top of all that. Essentialy, the DVR is $5.00 more a month than just having a 5100-6200.

If you are pretending to order new service on the website, I have to assume that Comcast assumes you don't have a STB already, therefore it's the $9.95 only.

Mikef5

01-23-05, 12:38 PM

Originally posted by keenan
What will be interesting to see is what people think of Fox-HD when it finally shows up on the cable system. Especially if it shows up by Super Bowl time. I can already see the posts coming about the picture quality. It will be nice to finally have it, but to the uninitiated, it will be the worst picture quality out of the four major networks that we will have.

Keenan,
I don't know if maybe the signal that you are getting for Fox is bad or what but I get a rock solid signal and the picture is just as good as the rest of the stations. Maybe the 720p is not displayed properly on your set but on mine it's just as good as ABC. I think that 1080i gives a sharper picture and the 720p gives a soften look to it so for sports the 1080i looks better but for movies, like 24, it looks good. I guess it's a matter of taste. What I have noticed is that when I hook my LG-4200a to the Comcast cable and use the native mode on the LG the picture looks way better than when it goes through the Motorola box. I think the Motorola box does a poor job converting the incoming signal. I wish the box had a native mode so I could let the Tv do the signal conversion. Anyways, poor Fox-HD is better than no Fox-HD. :p

Laters,
Mikef5

keenan

01-23-05, 01:07 PM

What I'm referring to is the soft film grain like picture on House or 24, and the mosquito noise in the field grass during football games. The grass looks as if there's millions of bugs in constant movement. I'm sure that different types of reception and display equipment will give different results, but the problem is a known one that as been acknowledged by members of this forum who are connected/work for Fox Network.

This is from this thread here,

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5042064#post5042064
What can FOX do to improve PQ for the Super Bowl? - AVS Forum

Originally posted by FOX guy
for clarification sake.

'technicaly' and mathmaticaly speaking bandwidth is a fixed value.
But in our discussion what is in a state of shortage is data payload or data rate in relation to the varrious factors involved in digital compression. A plan is underway to increase the data rate but cannot be implemented until all of our affiliates can recieve the higher rate reliably.

The data rate is established in the modulation phase of transmission just prior to the uplink. The available data payload information is also entered into the multiplex and encoder configuration so they know how much data payload is available.

It's like putting stuff in the bed of a pickup, you can put more weight in the same 8' bed if you got the right suspension to carry the load. 3/4 ton vs. 1/2 ton. But even if you have the 3/4 ton truck, you cant carry more than you can unload before the junk yard closes. And yes alot of our programing is junk.

JasonQG

01-23-05, 01:13 PM

Originally posted by keenan
If the only box you will have is going to be a 6412, then it is $9.95 a month, that includes the non-premium HD channels(ABC-CBS-KNTV-KQED-KRON). This is on top of whatever package you go with. If you keep the 5100-6200 then add the $6.95(includes remote rental etc.) on top of all that. Essentialy, the DVR is $5.00 more a month than just having a 5100-6200.

If you are pretending to order new service on the website, I have to assume that Comcast assumes you don't have a STB already, therefore it's the $9.95 only. Just to clarify one thing (or complicate them further), there's a $5 equipment fee if you don't have digital cable. If you do have digital cable, then it's just $9.95.

keenan

01-23-05, 01:14 PM

Originally posted by Mikef5
Anyways, poor Fox-HD is better than no Fox-HD. :p

Laters,
Mikef5

No question about that. :D

Mikef5

01-23-05, 01:18 PM

Keenan,
Well, the good thing is the game today you won't see the million bugs in the grass, unless they are snow bugs. :)

Laters,
Mikef5

keenan

01-23-05, 01:18 PM

Originally posted by JasonQG
Just to clarify one thing (or complicate them further), there's a $5 equipment fee if you don't have digital cable. If you do have digital cable, then it's just $9.95.

Jason, have you received a recent bill? Got mine Friday and the Franchise Authority is now listed as County Of Sonoma, 2300 County Center Dr which is over by the courthouse. It doesn't list the City Of Santa Rosa anymore. I wonder what that's all about.

keenan

01-23-05, 01:22 PM

Originally posted by Mikef5
Keenan,
Well, the good thing is the game today you won't see the million bugs in the grass, unless they are snow bugs. :)

Laters,
Mikef5

Really. :D The only reason I brought up the PQ was for when Comcast starts carrying the channel people will know why the PQ is not the crystal clear look of say CBS at 1080i or ABC which does a great job at 720p. :)

ilikemyHT

01-23-05, 04:00 PM

Well I for one won't be too disappointed if KTVU's PQ is just ok, so long as it's better than KNTV. I mean seriously, I don't know how it could be worse. Did anyone here not cringe watching the Olympics? Pixelation was horrendous. And does anyone remember Hawaii? Terrible show, but a prime example of why you can't starve the bandwidth of a HD signal. But still, even if it is just as bad as the KNTV signal, it'll still be better than the grain factory analog signal I get now. :)

keenan

01-23-05, 04:12 PM

Originally posted by ilikemyHT
Pixelation was horrendous.

With Fox pixelation isn't the problem. It's a general less than crisp picture during long shots. The close-ups are decent and in fact the game today seems to better as far as long shots but you still have no discrete detail in the long shots, such as a wide one of the field. But Fox is working on it and it will look better, just not in time for the SB.

fender4645

01-23-05, 04:19 PM

Anyone get the 'New Guide' message on their STB? I got it this morning on my 6412 but I'm curious if anyone got it on their non-DVR STB?

keenan

01-23-05, 04:23 PM

Didn't get it on my 6412. What did it say?

fender4645

01-23-05, 04:30 PM

It just had a link to 'http://www.comcast.com/newguide/'. I was just curious if they've begun rolling it out to non-DVR STB's.

Mikef5

01-23-05, 04:34 PM

Originally posted by keenan
With Fox pixelation isn't the problem. It's a general less than crisp picture during long shots. The close-ups are decent and in fact the game today seems to better as far as long shots but you still have no discrete detail in the long shots, such as a wide one of the field. But Fox is working on it and it will look better, just not in time for the SB.

What it looks like is on some of the long shots they are using SD cameras and up-converting them to 720p ( and doing a lousy job at that ). The other cameras are HD but it looks like they are using a sharpening filter to help with the focus problems. What I am doing is up-converting the 720p signal to 1080i and letting my Tv do the converting back to 720p, this lessens the sharpening and makes it much better to view, and look no snow bunnies.... :D
That being said, it's a great game, hard to pick a winner.

Laters,
Mikef5

davisdog

01-23-05, 04:46 PM

Originally posted by fender4645
It just had a link to 'http://www.comcast.com/newguide/'. I was just curious if they've begun rolling it out to non-DVR STB's.

They are planning on rolling it out ~ Feb 8th to non-DVR STB's...got the message in Saramilgatos this am (said it was coming soon)

ilikemyHT

01-23-05, 04:50 PM

Well that does sound annoying. Not as annoying as KNTV, but still undesirable. However, I just had a problem with the analog signal turning into unwatchable bars, and beyond that it is the most consistently worst looking channel in my lineup, so bring on your HD woes. :D

fender4645

01-23-05, 04:53 PM

Originally posted by davisdog
They are planning on rolling it out ~ Feb 8th to non-DVR STB's...got the message in Saramilgatos this am (said it was coming soon)
Yeah, I just re-read the message and it says "A new guide is coming soon."

keenan

01-23-05, 04:54 PM

Originally posted by Mikef5
What it looks like is on some of the long shots they are using SD cameras and up-converting them to 720p ( and doing a lousy job at that ).

Laters,
Mikef5

Looks like it, but they are HD cams. That's one of the problems. It goes into more detail in that other thread.
Briefly, with the splicer setup that Fox uses for it's stations, evidently some custom equipment is needed to solve a BW transmission problem. Fox does there affiliate feeds differently than the other 3 majors.

If Vick doesn't stop running around like a chicken with it's head cut off I think Atlanta is doomed. The wind is really causing problems with the throwing game.

millerwill

01-23-05, 04:54 PM

Need some help re the Audio Setup on the 6412:

I was playing around with different settings in the Audio Setup, and I changed the "Optimal Stereo" from "No" to "Yes". I think I would like to change it back to "No", but don't seem to be able to do it.
Any help would be appreciated!

My present settings in Audio Setup are

Default audio track: English
Optimal Stereo: Yes (which I would like to change to No)
Audio Output: Advanced
Compressiion: None
Stereo Output: Matrix

I send the audio fromthe 6412 to my AVR via a digital optical cable.

keenan

01-23-05, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by millerwill
Need some help re the Audio Setup on the 6412:

Not using mine right now(DirecTV for the game) otherwise I would check it out for you...

ilikemyHT

01-23-05, 05:30 PM

You have to change the volume on your cable box.

This should work:
1. Press Cable
2. Depress Setup until Cable blinks twice
3. Press 9-9-3 and then Vol- once. Cable button should blink 4 times.

This should have unlocked you cable box's volume control and you should now be able to play around till you get the volume you like back. "Optimal Stereo" is just a certain volume level. It's like 85% or 95%.

Ace of Space

01-23-05, 05:46 PM

Originally posted by fender4645
Anyone get the 'New Guide' message on their STB? I got it this morning on my 6412 but I'm curious if anyone got it on their non-DVR STB?

I got the "new guide coming soon" message on my 6200 this morning.

millerwill

01-23-05, 05:57 PM

Originally posted by ilikemyHT
You have to change the volume on your cable box.

This should work:
1. Press Cable
2. Depress Setup until Cable blinks twice
3. Press 9-9-3 and then Vol- once. Cable button should blink 4 times.

This should have unlocked you cable box's volume control and you should now be able to play around till you get the volume you like back. "Optimal Stereo" is just a certain volume level. It's like 85% or 95%.

Thanks much. Yes, this did set the "Optimal Stereo" back to "No".

Another related question: is there anyway to adjust volume so that the HD channels are not so much quieter than the SD channels (requiring one to contiually adjust the volume when changing between them)?

ilikemyHT

01-23-05, 06:07 PM

Originally posted by millerwill
Thanks much. Yes, this did set the "Optimal Stereo" back to "No".

Another related question: is there anyway to adjust volume so that the HD channels are not so much quieter than the SD channels (requiring one to contiually adjust the volume when changing between them)? You're welcome. And sadly no. It has to do with compression, and it's like that before it gets to your box. Think of it like you think of the difference in volume between Programs and Commercials.

keenan

01-23-05, 06:10 PM

Do what I do, and not watch any SD programs...:p

P.S. The Steeler-Patriot pre-game show looks spectacular...:)

ilikemyHT

01-23-05, 06:14 PM

Originally posted by keenan
Do what I do, and not watch any SD programs...:p

P.S. The Steeler-Patriot pre-game show looks spectacular...:) haha. I can't forsake Battlestar and MI-5. :p

And yes, the pre-game does look very nice. More Bonnie please. :D

davisdog

01-23-05, 06:34 PM

Originally posted by keenan
Do what I do, and not watch any SD programs...:p

P.S. The Steeler-Patriot pre-game show looks spectacular...:)

Yes it does...and the Eagles game looked like total crap on a 6412/Analog signal...you were worried about bugs crawling on the grass on the HD signal...I could barely make out the football

millerwill

01-23-05, 06:36 PM

Originally posted by keenan
Do what I do, and not watch any SD programs...:p

P.S. The Steeler-Patriot pre-game show looks spectacular...:)

Is this being broadcast in DD5.1, or only in stereo? My AVR is only showing PLIIx, indicating that it is receiving only a stereo signal.

keenan

01-23-05, 06:40 PM

Originally posted by millerwill
Is this being broadcast in DD5.1, or only in stereo? My AVR is only showing PLIIx, indicating that it is receiving only a stereo signal.

Dolby Digital 5.1

keenan

01-23-05, 06:41 PM

Originally posted by davisdog
Yes it does...and the Eagles game looked like total crap on a 6412/Analog signal...you were worried about bugs crawling on the grass on the HD signal...I could barely make out the football

:( :D

millerwill

01-23-05, 06:44 PM

Further Audio question: what do most of you prefer re the "Compression" setting on the Audio Setup of the stb?

ilikemyHT

01-23-05, 07:09 PM

Originally posted by millerwill
Further Audio question: what do most of you prefer re the "Compression" setting on the Audio Setup of the stb? I keep it at 'None'. I'm pretty sure everyone else does as well. At least 99% of them anyway. The Moto boxes aren't outstanding in any repsepct when it comes to A/V quality. Heck, the tuners aren't even QC tested that well. :rolleyes:

keenan

01-23-05, 07:12 PM

Originally posted by ilikemyHT
At least 99% of them anyway.

99.1%...:)

mikel51

01-23-05, 07:29 PM

Originally posted by millerwill
Further Audio question: what do most of you prefer re the "Compression" setting on the Audio Setup of the stb?

I had to set it to high. In the none position, I had to turn the sound on my TV up all the way to hear HD programs, and then the sound on commercials blew me out of the living room. With compression set to high, the sound is of normal loudness for HD programming, and the commercials are the same volume as the programs.

Barovelli

01-23-05, 07:30 PM

Originally posted by Ace of Space
I got the "new guide coming soon" message on my 6200 this morning.

Hmm, AFAIK iGuide rollout is to 2000, 1800 and 2500 boxes - not yet to 5100, 6200 or 6208s.

millerwill

01-23-05, 07:38 PM

Originally posted by keenan
Dolby Digital 5.1

I still can't get the Patriots game audio to be DD5.1. It says PCM input to the AVR and will only do PLIIx. Is this the 6412, or a setting I've screwed up on my AVR. (I have audio going straight from the 6412 to the AVR via optical digital.)

ilikemyHT

01-23-05, 07:49 PM

Originally posted by millerwill
I still can't get the Patriots game audio to be DD5.1. It says PCM input to the AVR and will only do PLIIx. Is this the 6412, or a setting I've screwed up on my AVR. (I have audio going straight from the 6412 to the AVR via optical digital.) Well, on the 6412 make sure your audio is set to Matrix. On the AVR make sure it's pulling the audio off the optical connection and not the analog, and try switching from a PCM input setting to a Dolby Digital or Auto input setting. Also double check that optical connector on both ends to make sure it's plugged in.

ilikemyHT

01-23-05, 07:50 PM

Hehe. Well the game looks great. Just wish the Steelers were actually in it. :p

JasonQG

01-23-05, 07:57 PM

Originally posted by keenan
Jason, have you received a recent bill? Got mine Friday and the Franchise Authority is now listed as County Of Sonoma, 2300 County Center Dr which is over by the courthouse. It doesn't list the City Of Santa Rosa anymore. I wonder what that's all about. The most recent bill I have is December, and it's still listed as Santa Rosa. I guess it switched for the new year for some unknown reason. Hmm...

Well, if it means we'll magically get the same service that the rest of the county gets, I'm all for it!

millerwill

01-23-05, 07:58 PM

Originally posted by ilikemyHT
Well, on the 6412 make sure your audio is set to Matrix. On the AVR make sure it's pulling the audio off the optical connection and not the analog, and try switching from a PCM input setting to a Dolby Digital or Auto input setting. Also double check that optical connector on both ends to make sure it's plugged in.

Thanks very much for trying to help! It seems I had screwed up the settings on the 6412 remote. So I did the thing described in the remote broshure and was recommended above:

press 'cable' once, then press and hold 'setup' until 'cable' flashes twice. Then enter 9-3-3 and press 'cable' once.

After that, DDEx appeared on my AVR display.

Sure wish this weren't so confusing!!

edmc

01-23-05, 08:03 PM

Actually, the Steelers-Patriots game looks like TOTAL CRAP - if you consider a 24-3 score at half-time and an inexplicable game plan by the Steelers important. Oh, well - at least the only two teams in the playoffs with credible defenses will be represented in the Superbowl...

keenan

01-23-05, 08:14 PM

Originally posted by JasonQG

Well, if it means we'll magically get the same service that the rest of the county gets, I'm all for it!

Yeah..and the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl.. :p :D

JasonQG

01-23-05, 08:16 PM

Originally posted by keenan
Yeah..and the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl.. :p :D As they say, there's always next year... :p

(at least you didn't use the 49ers for your analogy)

davisdog

01-23-05, 08:58 PM

Originally posted by keenan
Yeah..and the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl.. :p :D

It ain't over yet...just give Bettis the ball a few more times and you may have a chance at being the first area in country to have a 1Ghz Cable Infrastructure :D

CSonntag

01-23-05, 09:28 PM

I don't have my HDTV yet, so does anybody know of any places (restaurants, bars, etc) that will be showing the game in HD? I'm in the east bay, in Danville. BTW, did a search and didin't find anything on this.
Thanks much guys,
Chris

SonomaSearcher

01-23-05, 10:16 PM

Good question.

I would like to compile a list of Bay Area restaurants, bars, etc. that have HDTV's that display actual HD. I am seeing HD (or ED plasmas) all over the place but places that actually have them showing HD are few and far between.

Everybody please post of any such locations you know where true HD is shown. Thanks.

rickmccamy

01-23-05, 11:17 PM

Originally posted by GlennGeo
I'm in Walnut Creek and I have the DVR/HD/Digital and all the fixins. I hear some ares of the W.C. are SOL though.

-Glenn
Glenn my friend, if you live in the city limits, not county areas, you may want to consider Direct. Comcast has a walk in office on Arroyo (side st. at the DMV) and they can tell you if they can deliver HD to your address. Good Luck!

GlennGeo

01-24-05, 12:59 AM

Originally posted by rickmccamy
Glenn my friend, if you live in the city limits, not county areas, you may want to consider Direct. Comcast has a walk in office on Arroyo (side st. at the DMV) and they can tell you if they can deliver HD to your address. Good Luck!

Rick, I think you misread. I DO get HD/DVR/Digital and all the fixins:D all from comcast. Now I just need to the the Superbowl and I'm all set.

Thanks though.

-Glenn

rogo

01-24-05, 01:17 AM

Originally posted by keenan
If the only box you will have is going to be a 6412, then it is $9.95 a month, that includes the non-premium HD channels(ABC-CBS-KNTV-KQED-KRON). This is on top of whatever package you go with. If you keep the 5100-6200 then add the $6.95(includes remote rental etc.) on top of all that. Essentialy, the DVR is $5.00 more a month than just having a 5100-6200.

If you are pretending to order new service on the website, I have to assume that Comcast assumes you don't have a STB already, therefore it's the $9.95 only.

So if we return the 5100, we will cut the bill $6.95 then?

That's what they told us on the phone, but then they told us something entirely different when I was there.

I had already disconnected the 5100 and tried to turn it in and they said, "That won't save you any money."

But apparently it will.

Any thoughts on how to get this billed correctly?

GlennGeo

01-24-05, 02:21 AM

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!

So I did the "unlock the volume" on the cable STB but now when I hit a DVR button, it lights up the AUX and nothing happends (as I have nothing mapped to the AUX functions). Also, now when I hit the volume button, it ALWAYS goes to the CABLE STB for volume control...and I don't want that. I liked it better changing just the TV volume.

How do I put it back to where the default is:

Channel Changing = cable STB
Volume = TV
Mute = cable STB

A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING.
:(

Thanks,
Glenn

lmsyl

01-24-05, 02:48 AM

Originally posted by GlennGeo

Channel Changing = cable STB
Volume = TV
Mute = cable STB

A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING.
:(

Thanks,
Glenn [/B]

It is impossible. Mute and Volume control are in same control group. You have to control either TV or STB.

GlennGeo

01-24-05, 03:03 AM

Originally posted by lmsyl
It is impossible. Mute and Volume control are in same control group. You have to control either TV or STB.

Eureka!

I've done it.

1. Hit the cable button
2. Press and hold the Setup button
3. Enter 993
4. Hit TV (instead of Cable)

and all your dreams come true...I'm very pleased and the the MUTE stayed with the cable box....and all the DVR functions are automatically mapped to the cable controls....

Awesome.

keenan

01-24-05, 03:58 AM

Originally posted by rogo
So if we return the 5100, we will cut the bill $6.95 then?

Any thoughts on how to get this billed correctly?

With just the DVR as the only STB, you should be paying 9.95 a month. This is what my current bill looks like. I tried to upload a copy of the current rates for everything as an attachment but the AVS server keeps saying it's too large even though it's only 640x800 at about 60kb

Monthly Charge(s)
01/25 - 02/24 Digital Platinum Package.......................................53.95
Includes: Digital Classic, Digital Plus, HBO, HBO Plex,
Cinemax, Cinemax Plex, Showtime, Showtime Plex,
TMC, TMC Plex, STARZ, STARZ Plex, Encore,
Encore Plex, Music Choice, Digital Converter
and Remote, If Applicable.

01/25 - 02/24 Standard Cable.....................................................43 .99
Includes: Limited Basic and Expanded Basic Service

01/25 - 02/24 DVR Service With HDTV...........................................9.95

Subtotal.................................................... ...........................107.89

Adjustment(s)
12/14 Install - Add'l Services - Adjustment................................ -15.99
Taxes & Fee(s)
01/16 Franchise Fee......................................................... ..........5.61
01/16 FCC Regulatory Fee......................................................... ......06
01/16 Franchise Related Costs/peg.................................................42
01/16 Forced Relocate Costs....................................................... ....15
01/16 City Utility Tax......................................................... ............4.88

Subtotal.................................................... ............................11.12

Balance Due......................................................... ................... $ 103.02

SonomaSearcher

01-24-05, 11:29 AM

Wow, almost $11 per month in franchise-related fees/taxes seems pretty high. I wonder what "Forced relocate costs are" ?

It would be interesting to see who has the lowest and highest franchise fees/taxes in the Bay Area and what type of system/services they get for it (550, 750, 860)...

walk

01-24-05, 02:06 PM

So any more word on the SuperBowl?

What about full-time FSN-BA? I noticed that sometimes they have Warriors games on INHD1 (pre-empt), why the hell they do that instead of using that new "HDSE" channel, thought that's what that was for....??

UPN? Bravo? TNT/TBS?

Whoever said most of the HD is filler-demo-eyecandy is right. A couple of times per week there's a good movie on INHD, but I mean, old crap on HDNET, filler on INHD1/2 most of the time and all the time on DiscoveryHD.. and one whole HD channel devoted to a title screen.. seems like such a waste of what little b/w we got. Nevermind upgrading, how bout using what we do have better? I mean does anyone really want to watch 17 nature shows per day?

keenan

01-24-05, 02:22 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Wow, almost $11 per month in franchise-related fees/taxes seems pretty high. I wonder what ?

It would be interesting to see who has the lowest and highest franchise fees/taxes in the Bay Area and what type of system/services they get for it (550, 750, 860)...

Yeah, amazing huh, and I have no idea what "Forced relocate costs are". Probably a fee to pay for the moving costs whenever subscribers find out where they are and pounce on them for the crappy cable service. :D

What's interesting this month is the County appears to be Franchise Authority now instead of The City of Santa Rosa. What does it say on your bill?

SonomaSearcher

01-24-05, 02:47 PM

I think the reference to the County as franchise authority on your bill is an error, unless the City ceded the neighborhood you live in to the County. :)

Or maybe the Santa Rosa franchise agreement expired on 12/31/04, so Comcast's bills are defaulting to the County information, as technically there is no franchise anymore. Unlikely though.

keenan

01-24-05, 03:13 PM

Not likely, on either count, and I am about 2 miles from City Hall. :p

I'm going to try and get by the County address today and see what the deal is.

Have you received a bill yet this year? This authority change on the bill coincided with my first bill of 2005.

JasonQG

01-24-05, 03:16 PM

I got an interesting reply to my email to Marc Richardson (MRichardson@ci.santa-rosa.ca.us):Thank you, Jason-

I think you are right on target with your comments. We are tentatively planning on bringing this issue to the City Council on February 22. Basically, what Comcast has offered in the newspaper does not provide a guarantee that they actually will do what they say they will nor does not improve our system’s capacity beyond 550 MHz to a 750 MHz or 860 MHz system like SLO. Generally, this means the next time new services are available (more high definition channels, video on demand, telephone service, for example) we will still have a limited capacity system constricting our community’s ability to enjoy them. We are moving ahead to bring this issue to the City Council on February 22 so we ask the City Council to “reopen” the franchise and put Comcast in the position to answer questions about why our system has not been upgraded and what their plans are to bring us up to speed. Through the “reopener” process the City’s interests would be to obtain a fixed schedule for a system upgrade-- enforceable under our franchise-- and be reimbursement for all our costs.

Marc(FYI, the SLO reference is because I had mentioned how much better my cable service had been when I lived in San Luis Obispo)

I also got a decent response from Bob Blanchard (BBlanchard@ci.santa-rosa.ca.us) (apparently, he's the vice mayor of the city council; my email to the City Manager's office got forwarded to him) :Thanks Jason for your thoughtful comments re: Comcast. The Council has this issue on the radar screen and have expressed displeasure with their service to our community. Your voice helps to keep the heat on.

Thanks for your note.
Regards, Bob Blanchard, 543-3007

So, at least it looks like things are happening. Of course, this could just be an opportunity for Santa Rosa to screw things up even worse.

JasonQG

01-24-05, 03:21 PM

Oh, and if we want to be real pests, I found this page with some more people to bother:
http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/default.aspx?PageId=376

:)

keenan

01-24-05, 03:40 PM

Good work Jason. What I find interesting is that Richardson et al, are more up to speed about cable system "features" that he(they) were during my initial emails with them. They seem to have become more knowledegable IOW, which is a good thing, but OTOH, it gives us a little insight to the somewhat less than desirable attention they have been paying to it in the past. Hopefully, it was people like you, me and others that have lit the burners under their buts to get with the program.

On the down side, unless Santa Rosa has another cablco waiting in the wings to step in, re-opening the franchise can only cause further delays in getting anything done.:(

Hopefully, Comcast is retained but with certain guarantees as to performance and required technology. Even then, this will will mean further budget re-alignments and back and forth approvals within Comcast to finally get things going.

So essentially, it appears that the two parties are at an impasse, meaning things are dead in the water. Not good news for Santa Rosans.

I hate to say it, but IMO, DirecTV is no doubt going to blow right past Comcast as far as being the best provider here in Santa Rosa, at least for the next year or so as I don't see anything major happening before then.

I will be at that Council meeting on Feb 22. It better be an open meeting although Santa Rosa has a history of holding some of these meetings behind closed doors. :rolleyes:

JasonQG

01-24-05, 03:47 PM

Originally posted by keenan
On the down side, unless Santa Rosa has another cablco waiting in the wings to step in, re-opening the franchise can only cause further delays in getting anything done.:( Unfortunately, probably no other cable company wants to touch us, since the city is such a pain in the ass demanding bandwidth for stupid things.

I'm still gonna dream that somebody else will come and save us from Comcast...

keenan

01-24-05, 04:03 PM

Originally posted by JasonQG
Unfortunately, probably no other cable company wants to touch us, since the city is such a pain in the ass demanding bandwidth for stupid things.

I'm still gonna dream that somebody else will come and save us from Comcast...

Probably true, but I have to think Santa Rosa is hardly unique among all the franchises Comcast has across the country. I think because of the nature of this city, diverse sections of very old to the very new, multiple obstacles such as the various street designs, streams and so forth, that Comcast simply doesn't want to tackle the task of re-building. Along with City imposed impediments as well. But again, I don't think Santa Rosa is unique with regards to those issues as well.

The big picture is, cable in Santa Rosa is not going to get better for a long time.

keenan

01-24-05, 04:08 PM

Originally posted by keenan
I will be at that Council meeting on Feb 22. It better be an open meeting although Santa Rosa has a history of holding some of these meetings behind closed doors. :rolleyes:

Or maybe it will be on the public access channel, one of the channels that prevents us from getting more HD channels..:D

MikeSM

01-24-05, 04:25 PM

Franchise fees technically compensate the city for access to it's rights of way for the cable network. In reality it's more of a kickback to the city - some cities extort - err - require a larger contribution than others, I'm not sure what the numbers around the bay area are for this, but I think they are generally in a certain range.

Some cities have settled for higher franchise fees and more public access channels instead of rebuild committments from the cable operator, but I have no data re: Santa Rosa. Comcast generally feels upgrades are in it's interest and does them for business reasons unlike other MSO's, but the "special requirements" issues still apply.

Like I have said before, you folks should demand the franchise authority stop screwing around with special projects and pissing away spectrum on public access channels, and instead focus on things that benefit far more residents, like more HD lineups and internet service expansions. If you don't push for this, the system will default to the special projects that benefit city departments instead of people like you. If you don't complain about the priorities the franchise authority uses with Comcast, don't complain about not getting upgrades.

Thanks,
Mike

SonomaSearcher

01-24-05, 04:31 PM

You ALWAYS have a right to public comment before and/or after any closed-door session of a City Council. And if you bring up something of interest, the City Council members can ask you questions about your comments or otherwise respond to your comments in open session before/after they go into closed session.

JasonQG

01-24-05, 04:47 PM

Originally posted by MikeSM
Like I have said before, you folks should demand the franchise authority stop screwing around with special projects and pissing away spectrum on public access channels, and instead focus on things that benefit far more residents, like more HD lineups and internet service expansions. If you don't push for this, the system will default to the special projects that benefit city departments instead of people like you. If you don't complain about the priorities the franchise authority uses with Comcast, don't complain about not getting upgrades. Yeah, I've brought this up in previous emails, but never got much of a response out of anybody. Now that people are actually talking to me, I will bring it up again.

SonomaSearcher

01-24-05, 05:06 PM

One thing you can realistically do re PEG channels is push them to go digital with them in a "win-win" situation, such as:

Take two of the existing PEG channels digital and have Comcast give you another 3 or 4 (or even more) digital PEG channels. Taking them from analog to digital gives Comcast and customers more bandwidth for HD, and the City gets a lot more channel slots for PEG with the only catch that analog-only customers will get fewer PEG channels. Any such agreement should require Comcast to use the additional bandwidth for HD.

The loss of some PEG channels to analog-only customers would be temporary, until the analog to digital migration is completed or a digital to analog converter is made available.

There would be costs to modify the PEG facilities to digital transmission to Comcast's head end, but that should pale in comparison to the bandwidth that is freed up.

masoo

01-24-05, 05:44 PM

I was able to get a second 6412 box today in Berkeley by just taking my old non-DVR box in and swapping it. Have to pay extra for it, of course, but it was easy to do, and I didn't need a technician to install it ... they just gave it to me.

Plus, my current service had been changed so many times by so many people that the resulting spaghetti code was unintelligble. The person in the office fiddled for a long time, got help from two others, called a fourth person on the phone, while I waited ... result was I ended up with the same channels, plus an extra DVR, for about $20 less a month, and then, because I had to wait so long, they threw in $10 off a month on my Internet for the next 12 months and $10 off a month for my teevee service for 12 months as well.

Sometimes even Comcast does good.

SonomaSearcher

01-24-05, 06:10 PM

Here are a couple of articles from today about competition for cable franchises, focusing on Comcast's tactics and strategy against Verizon (mostly in Texas, Florida and Massachusetts).

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050124/BUSINESS/501240451/1060

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6860335

JasonQG

01-24-05, 06:42 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Here are a couple of articles from today about competition for cable franchises, focusing on Comcast's tactics and strategy against Verizon (mostly in Texas, Florida and Massachusetts). Perhaps a preview of things to come here, except with SBC instead of Verizon (once they get IPTV going)...

fender4645

01-24-05, 07:04 PM

Originally posted by JasonQG
Perhaps a preview of things to come here, except with SBC instead of Verizon (once they get IPTV going)...

Having the other main telcos coming in to the area is our best bet at really getting some honest to good competition. As we see with Astound and RCN, building your own infrastructure from the ground up is just not feasible to make a significant dent in Comcast's revenue stream. With company's like Verizon and SBC, they already have much of the infrastructure already in place and they can reach 80 to 90% of a market almost immediately. I'm definitely looking forward to SBC entering the cable market...it should be interesting.

wco81

01-24-05, 07:05 PM

I hope SBC and Comcast get into a protracted price war. :D

JasonQG

01-24-05, 08:20 PM

Did anyone see the demo SBC did of IPTV during the Microsoft keynote at CES? It was pretty impressive.

You can watch it streaming online, if you're interested. There's actually a lot of HDTV stuff covered:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/ces2005/default.mspx

(Sorry if there was already a discussion about this earlier. I was unable to come here for a while.)

neoufo51

01-24-05, 10:57 PM

Originally posted by wco81
I hope SBC and Comcast get into a protracted price war. :D
Me too...oh so much.

ilikemyHT

01-24-05, 11:17 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Wow, almost $11 per month in franchise-related fees/taxes seems pretty high.

It would be interesting to see who has the lowest and highest franchise fees/taxes in the Bay Area and what type of system/services they get for it (550, 750, 860)...
Well my fees are:
Franchise Fee................ 7.55
FCC Regulatory Fee....... .06
City Utility Tax.............. 10.29
Subtotal ...................... 17.90

So pretty high. :p I also just got the DVR so that came with it's 15.99 installation fee. :rolleyes:

On the brighter side of things, here in Alameda they've been slowly but surely building up their own Cable company. I check their site about once a month to see if I can finally set myself free of Comcast. What's been holding me back is the lack of HD channels. But now, not so much. Imagine my suprise when I learned that they have FOX HD right now. Along with HD Net, HD Movies, UHD, and KBWB (WB). They're only really missing KPIX, Discovery, Starz, and INHD. I'm debating how much I'll miss those right now. Since it's only a matter of time till they get them, things aren't looking good for Comcast. :D Anyways, here's the channel lineup: Alameda Power & Telecom (http://www.alamedapt.com/cabletv/channels.html)

The site seems to say they have an HD DVR, just doesn't say what model. I'll be checking into that tomorrow with a phone call.

avekevin

01-25-05, 12:23 AM

Originally posted by keenan
On the down side, unless Santa Rosa has another cablco waiting in the wings to step in, re-opening the franchise can only cause further delays in getting anything done.

I completely agree, and I think the cable company churn that we've had is one of the major reasons why we are in the position that we are in.

Anyone who might step in would require at least several months to a year to assess the current systems and draw a plan for upgrades.

Kevin

keenan

01-25-05, 03:31 AM

Originally posted by ilikemyHT
So pretty high. :p I also just got the DVR so that came with it's 15.99 installation fee. :rolleyes:

That should get knocked back off on the next bill, they credited my bill this month.

keenan

01-25-05, 03:32 AM

Originally posted by avekevin
I completely agree, and I think the cable company churn that we've had is one of the major reasons why we are in the position that we are in.

Anyone who might step in would require at least several months to a year to assess the current systems and draw a plan for upgrades.

Kevin

Absolutely, what has it been, like 4 in the last 10yrs?

keenan

01-25-05, 03:33 AM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6860335

This link gives me a blank screen.

keenan

01-25-05, 03:51 AM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
One thing you can realistically do re PEG channels is push them to go digital with them in a "win-win" situation, such as:

This is something I plan to bring up. I sent an email today and received a response from both the vice-mayor and the mayor.

Mr. Blanchard,
>
> I am a citizen of Santa Rosa who is woefully
> unsatisfied with the
> performance of Comcast in providing what almost 90%
> of the rest of the
> Bay Area receives in the way of High Definition
> channels,
> Video-On-Demand and other services. From
> correspondence you have had
> with another of my fellow citizen/enthusiasts I
> understand there is to
> be a City Council meeting to discuss the Franchise
> Agreement with
> Comcast on Feb 22, 2005. Is this meeting to be an
> open, public invited
> meeting? I dearly hope so. I would prefer to
> retain Comcast as a cable
> TV provider, but by mid 2005, DirecTV, a satellite
> provider will provide
> a far, far better alternative, for less money per
> month.
>
> I consider Santa Rosa the jewel, or Rose as it were
> of the entire North
> Bay, and to have what is now considered by the cable
> industry as the
> bottom of the barrel cable system in this City is an
> affront to the City
> and it's citizens.
>
> Thank You for time and I look forward to a response
> regarding the
> Meeting and any additional information you can
> provide about the status
> of Comcast within the City of Santa Rosa.
>

"Couldn't agree with you more Mr. Jim. The Council has had it with
Comcast and has asked the City Manager to provide options on the franchise.
When this matter comes before the Council for discussion your presence
not only would be helpful but a appreciated. I moved to Direct
satellite several years ago, but continue to use Comcast for local
broadcasting. Thank you for your comments and please stay tuned....we will need
your help.
My best, Bob Blanchard, Vice Mayor 543-3007"

"Dear Jim--

I appreciate your views and agree that we have not been well-served by Comcast. Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Jane"

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

This is encouraging and I plan to be at the meeting and hopefully give some input. I plan to make a list of the problems and also try and bring up some of the technology alternatives that SonomaSearcher and others here have provided.

One of the things to keep in mind though, we are really only hearing one side of the story. The Council can be as upset as they want, but if some of the impediments are actually because of Council wants and needs then they will hear that from me as well.

"Mr.Jim" :p

keenan

01-25-05, 03:58 AM

Originally posted by MikeSM
Like I have said before, you folks should demand the franchise authority stop screwing around with special projects and pissing away spectrum on public access channels, and instead focus on things that benefit far more residents, like more HD lineups and internet service expansions. If you don't push for this, the system will default to the special projects that benefit city departments instead of people like you. If you don't complain about the priorities the franchise authority uses with Comcast, don't complain about not getting upgrades.

Thanks,
Mike

Agreed, 100%. As I noted in my previous post, the City says they are not happy, but we don't have the details on what they are requesting from Comcast either, other than the silly-ass traffic cam system. What is that thing worth if there is no real alternate routes anyway? This city is choking on it's traffic.

You folks see the news about the hill sliding above the shopping center? Talk to the City Council about that mess.. :rolleyes:

avekevin

01-25-05, 04:02 AM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6860335

A very telling quote from the Verizon spokesman.

We are optimistic we will be awarded these franchises, but the process is what it is," Hoey said. "If we did get bogged down in a community, we would move on to a community that is more receptive.

Sound familiar?

Kevin

keenan

01-25-05, 04:05 AM

That link still does not work for me..

avekevin

01-25-05, 04:11 AM

Originally posted by keenan
You folks see the news about the hill sliding above the shopping center? Talk to the City Council about that mess.. :rolleyes:

Wait until the hill that they built on FountainGrove starts to slide from under the $1M+ homes. Then heads will roll. When money is involved, the city council throws sense and judgement out the window.

In your discussion with the city folks, you might want to bring up the SBC cable plan. If things turn out as they showed during the Microsoft keynote at CES, SBC has a real winner there.

Kevin

keenan

01-25-05, 04:21 AM

No kidding, that whole Fountaingrove thing just irritates me to no end.

Do you have a link to what SBC plans to do? I am going to make a list to use as "firepower". I have seen some of it, but something to the point and concise would be great.

Can you copy and paste that MSNBC article as my browser refuses to open the link for some reason...

wco81

01-25-05, 09:38 AM

I've read other articles. SBC plans Fiber to the Node or FTTN for most existing homes. They would do FTTP or fiber to the premises for new homes. Verizon by contrast is exclusively FTTP, which should yield greater speeds.

With FTTN, SBC would be shooting for in the range of 20-30 Mbps. This doesn't seem sufficient for a lot of HD streams. So I wonder if a household has a HD PVR and maybe they try to access as many as 3 HD streams simultaneously, what would happen. Even with VC-1 compression, that doesn't seem enough.

Plus they want to deliver VOIP and high-speed data over the same connection. So if a bandwidth "hog" household was trying to tune into several channels at once, while using the data connection, would things hold up?

And how would such a household affect the neighborhood running from the same node?

But SBC has said things like they would bundle VOIP, data, video and wireless (cell phone) for $100 a month. Those products now if purchased separately would be more like $200. Could turn out to be too good to be true.

SamEdwards

01-25-05, 10:34 AM

Still no word on the Superbowl? Time is getting short...
Sam

avekevin

01-25-05, 11:18 AM

Originally posted by wco81
With FTTN, SBC would be shooting for in the range of 20-30 Mbps. This doesn't seem sufficient for a lot of HD streams. So I wonder if a household has a HD PVR and maybe they try to access as many as 3 HD streams simultaneously, what would happen. Even with VC-1 compression, that doesn't seem enough.

During the Microsoft keynote at CES, the SBC rep said that they will support up to 4 simulatneous streams per home, all at HD quality.

The keynote can be watched here: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/ces2005/default.mspx

The SBC presentation begins at the 47:15 mark of the presention.

The SBC solution uses WMV-HD, so compression is quite a bit higher than standard MPEG-2 HD streams.

Kevin

SonomaSearcher

01-25-05, 12:07 PM

Originally posted by keenan
That link still does not work for me.. If you had Comcast HSI, I'd say someone out there doesn't want you to read that article ... :)

Here it is (MSNBC republished it from the Boston Business Journal):

Cable collision course
As Verizon rolls out TV service, it faces formidable competitors: Comcast and local approvals

By Alexander Soule
Boston Business Journal
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Jan. 23, 2005

Verizon Communications Inc. is ready to wage war for Comcast Corp.'s 1.55 million cable customers, but it faces a distinctly Massachusetts challenge: town-by-town approval for the privilege of building out its high-speed fiber network.

As it rolls out television service to 19 Massachusetts towns, Verizon faces a gauntlet of municipal committees from which it must win franchise approval -- and an adversary in Comcast that has deployed aggressive tactics to defend its franchises.

Comcast has already fought competing cable television services in Braintree and Concord. Last fall, it skirmished with Verizon in Texas over Verizon's request to deliver broadcasting there over fiber-optic cables spooled directly into homes.

"They have been fighting us tooth and nail in the Dallas area," said Jack Hoey, a Verizon spokesman in Boston. "We haven't got to that point here yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if it happened here, because their impulse would be to protect their monopoly."

Verizon also said this week it will add Rhode Island to its roster of a dozen states where it plans to sell television service. Verizon faces essentially a one-stop regulatory shop in Rhode Island, where cable-franchising authority lies exclusively with state regulators.

In contrast, should Verizon decide to push fiber to residences in every Comcast town in Massachusetts, it ultimately faces 100 such approval processes -- and a deep-pocketed competitor in Comcast that has shown it is willing to put up a fight.

New technologies and cheap equipment prices are enabling Verizon's fiber buildout, and the new economics are also allowing small organizations to plan cable networks. But the attractive cost model becomes frayed if established cable TV companies succeed on the local level in thwarting competitors, say several who have tussled with Comcast in the past.

Comcast this week was required to furnish the Mass. Department of Telecommunications and Energy with answers about its business practices against Braintree Electric Light Department, which has accused Comcast of attempting to push it out of the cable business. It is not the first time Comcast has faced such criticism -- Concord Municipal Light Plant says the Philadelphia giant pulled out all the stops last year to quash its bid to win voter authorization for cable television service it may offer.

Comcast has issued a written general denial of BELD's allegations, but would not grant repeated requests for an interview with New England chief Kevin Casey to discuss specifics of the DTE's investigation and Verizon's imminent entry into the television market. A spokeswoman returned a call at deadline this week to say that Comcast is confident no competitor can match its product mix of on-demand, high-definition and digital video recording offerings.

Dominant Mass. share
Comcast dominates Massachusetts, with approximately a 76 percent market share, statistics from DTE show. It gained 44,600 Massachusetts cable subscribers in 2003 for 1.55 million total, recouping losses between 2001 and 2002 as AT&T Broadband was absorbed into Comcast.

Currently, 10 organizations offer cable television service in Massachusetts, including Norwood Light Department, which signed up 2,300 customers in 2003, its first offering cable TV.

As a telephone company, Verizon is accustomed to pressing the pressure-points of state regulators and the Federal Communications Commission, said Thomas Steele, general counsel for RCN Corp. in Massachusetts, which offers cable TV service in parts of Boston and in 15 other towns.

Comcast, in contrast, is used to maneuvering with town officials. The difference was never more evident than in the transition of AT&T Broadband into Comcast, Steele said.

"When AT&T was here, we had a luxury because they were primarily a telephone company (and) did not do much with the cable business," Steele said. "We knew Comcast, coming in, was a classic cable company -- a street-fighting company. We knew we were in for a different type of battle."

BELD says it got caught in Comcast's crosshairs in 2004, but Steele said that Comcast had rehearsed similar tactics in previous years against RCN.

BELD general manager William Bottiggi says Comcast chopped its discount introductory price in Braintree nearly 40 percent below its normal rate and 20 percent below BELD's price, and extended its discounts for 16 months. It sent salespeople door-to-door targeting BELD customers, Bottiggi said. Fliers followed. And the DTE is asking Comcast about its marketing relationship with Circuit City Stores Inc. and Best Buy Inc., which both cross-market Comcast subscriptions in their Braintree outlets.

Why would Comcast go to such lengths against a competitor with fewer than 5,000 subscribers, especially with Verizon on the horizon?

"There is a lot of interest in cable TV -- that is what is behind all this," Bottiggi speculated. "If the little guys start getting into the game, I don't think Comcast is going to want to have to face a thousand municipal light plants around the country."

Answering inquiries
This week, DTE required Comcast to answer questions about its business practices in Braintree, examining whether it could reap a profit at the discounts it offered; how many customers it has picked up during the promotion period; and its relationship with Best Buy and Circuit City.

Concord Municipal Light Plant also was the subject of a Comcast campaign when it began examining whether to offer cable TV a few years ago. Concord bylaws require two favorable votes over consecutive years to approve a new cable TV entrant, and in 2003 Concord Light Plant won the initial vote it needed from voters as a first step to building a cable television network at its discretion.

"Our view was, let's get the second vote, let's get it on the books and that's one less hurdle we need to clear," said Daniel Sack, general manager of Concord Light Plant. "Comcast paid very little attention on the first vote, but they brought out the artillery on the second vote."

Comcast hired a Concord resident and attorney to speak out at town meetings. Sack claims that Comcast operators called residents with a push-poll designed to raise doubts in voters' minds. It arranged for flyers to be mailed to residents' homes, and arranged for full-page ads in the local newspaper.

And in a lightning eight-week job in January, 2004, Sack added, Comcast also re-engineered its cable network to offer high-speed Internet access to residents -- for the first time.

None of it worked -- the town voted overwhelmingly a few months later to approve Concord Light Plant's request. The utility is now talking with a variety of vendors on how to deliver services to residents using fiber, wireless, or perhaps over its own electric utility lines.

Although RCN's Steele pokes holes in some of the complaints raised by BELD and Concord Light Plant -- for one, Comcast has been slow to bring high-speed Internet to town systems it acquired from Cablevision, he surmised, because Cablevision was not as technically advanced as former AT&T Broadband properties -- he believes the towns have some legitimate concerns. Steele said RCN also has complained about Comcast's tactics to DTE, the Massachusetts Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice, without avail.

"We made our point about predatory pricing, but it is difficult for regulators to be opposed to something that lowers prices," Steele said. "But at what point does it, in fact, become anti-consumer? With the huge base that Comcast has, you take your losses and you cause us to lose our customers to the point where we can't offer a service anymore. It's like obscenity -- you know it when you see it. But the charge of antitrust is real hard to campaign on."

'Difficult' reputation
Others are wary of competing with Comcast. A consulting firm called the Merton Group LLC is moving its headquarters from Pennsylvania to Plymouth, N.H., in order to help New England towns plan and build fiber-optic networks. The company uses loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that aim to encourage broadband deployment in towns with fewer than 20,000 residents.

Merton Group Partner Terrence McGarty says under the USDA program, his company would pay monthly costs of $10 per subscriber, a cost low enough to permit towns to meet or beat average cable rates of approximately $45.

But McGarty flatly says his company's general rule is to avoid building networks in Comcast territory, due to the company's reputation for erecting time-consuming roadblocks.

"We've seen evidence of this type of behavior by Comcast in New Hampshire, too," McGarty said, using the words "difficult" and "obstreperous" to describe Comcast, and offered contrast with its Baby Bell competitor. "Our approach with Verizon is to be as positive as possible. We are saying, 'Let one little guy survive off on the corner, and that shows everyone how nice you are.'"

But Verizon, too, has thrown its weight around. Recently in Pennsylvania, it attempted to restrict the rights of Philadelphia and several other municipalities to install citywide wireless networks. And New York-based Fibertech Networks LLC accused Verizon of hamstringing its efforts to build a business-class network in western Massachusetts. After lengthy delays led Fibertech to fear it would lose customer commitments, the firm strung up its own cables over a weekend without Verizon permission. Verizon successfully persuaded the DTE to sanction Fibertech, saying its actions amounted to telephone "vigilantism."

The current franchise and rights-of-way approval system "was designed for a monopoly world," Verizon spokesman Hoey said, and does not fit the fast-paced changes in the television and networking markets. As it prepares to offer cable television service in Massachusetts, Verizon, too, is prepared to spin on a dime depending on its reception in each town it approaches, he added.

In Massachusetts, the Department of Telecommunications and Energy regulates rates and service levels, and it oversees the award and renewal of franchises by town authorities. The buck stops with DTE -- in 2003, it overruled 11 towns' bids to deny the transfer of cable franchises from AT&T Broadband to Comcast. But the system still requires cable franchise applicants to work through each town's bureaucracy.

"We are optimistic we will be awarded these franchises, but the process is what it is," Hoey said. "If we did get bogged down in a community, we would move on to a community that is more receptive."

© 2005 Boston Business Journal

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6860335/

rogo

01-25-05, 05:47 PM

Even if they could get 30 megabits -- and they won't average more than something in the 20s -- they can't offer 4 HD streams without some seriously bad compression.

You might be able to get a typical 19 megabit / second ATSC-type stream recompressed down to 8 megabits with a non-realtime encoder and eliminate most of the artifacts well, but in single-pass realtime, to take the bitrate down to 5-6 megabits / second is going to entail severe losses in picture quality.

And since they can't possibly be planning on multiple, dynamically adjusting streams of the same channels, they are either (a) not going to deliver 4 streams (b) not going to deliver good HD or (c) be forced to run a second pair of wire and a 2nd VDSL modem to make this work. I'd argue that 2 HD streams is probably as good as they really could get while still providing decent internet and QoS-based voice.

Perhaps it's two modems if you want more than two streams?

rogo

01-25-05, 05:51 PM

Originally posted by keenan
With just the DVR as the only STB, you should be paying 9.95 a month. This is what my current bill looks like. I tried to upload a copy of the current rates for everything as an attachment but the AVS server keeps saying it's too large even though it's only 640x800 at about 60kb

Monthly Charge(s)
01/25 - 02/24 Digital Platinum Package.......................................53.95
Includes: Digital Classic, Digital Plus, HBO, HBO Plex,
Cinemax, Cinemax Plex, Showtime, Showtime Plex,
TMC, TMC Plex, STARZ, STARZ Plex, Encore,
Encore Plex, Music Choice, Digital Converter
and Remote, If Applicable.

01/25 - 02/24 Standard Cable.....................................................43 .99
Includes: Limited Basic and Expanded Basic Service

01/25 - 02/24 DVR Service With HDTV...........................................9.95

Subtotal.................................................... ...........................107.89

Adjustment(s)
12/14 Install - Add'l Services - Adjustment................................ -15.99
Taxes & Fee(s)
01/16 Franchise Fee......................................................... ..........5.61
01/16 FCC Regulatory Fee......................................................... ......06
01/16 Franchise Related Costs/peg.................................................42
01/16 Forced Relocate Costs....................................................... ....15
01/16 City Utility Tax......................................................... ............4.88

Subtotal.................................................... ............................11.12

Balance Due......................................................... ................... $ 103.02

Keenan, thanks for this. We are going to return the regular converter and make them call the 1-800-Comcast number at that time if they don't agree it'll cut the bill by $6.95. They seem to think that because the converter is included in Digital Silver, I can't make the DVR the one and only converter.

Let me say, though, that right now I find the DVR to be a hunk of worthless junk and I can't imagine keeping it. Right now, it likes to just freeze the picture and only a channel change will clear that. Not an acceptable situation.

John Mace

01-25-05, 05:58 PM

mds54: Did you get picture freeze while watching "24" last night? It happened about 5 times while I was watching. I've had CNN on for about 1/2 hour today and it's been going crazy-- freezing up every 1 or 2 minutes.

I just got off the phone with Comcast, and they now say that think they know what the problem is, although they're not sure of a soluton. I was told my best bet was to wait 3 weeks for the next software download, and that might do the trick.

edmc

01-25-05, 06:11 PM

Yet anothe "fix is in the mail" story from Comcast :-(.

First it was "keep the box cool" - didn't matter...
Next it was "Jan 21st firmware download" - didn't happen...
Then it was "Feb 8th iGuide download" - only brings non-6412 users to iGuide
Now it is "wait 3 more weeks" - ya, right...

I find myself almost prefering the Auto Industry's model - i.e. where they don't acknowledge a defect until they develop a fix and announce the recall...

emiburke

01-25-05, 06:47 PM

Originally posted by John Mace
mds54: Did you get picture freeze while watching "24" last night? It happened about 5 times while I was watching. I've had CNN on for about 1/2 hour today and it's been going crazy-- freezing up every 1 or 2 minutes.

I just got off the phone with Comcast, and they now say that think they know what the problem is, although they're not sure of a soluton. I was told my best bet was to wait 3 weeks for the next software download, and that might do the trick.

These freezes are happening to me all the time now too. I haven't been following this issue too much on the forum. I don't recall any freezes for the first few weeks I had the 6412, it just really became noticeable last week. I guess I shouldn't even bother calling Comcast or would a box switch maybe help?

John Mace

01-25-05, 07:05 PM

Originally posted by emiburke
These freezes are happening to me all the time now too. I haven't been following this issue too much on the forum. I don't recall any freezes for the first few weeks I had the 6412, it just really became noticeable last week. I guess I shouldn't even bother calling Comcast or would a box switch maybe help?

I got a new box, and it didn't help. You might try it, though, as it probably won't hurt. I have to think this is a problem with the signal, not the the box.

FYI, I started this thread, where it's probably more apporpriate to discuss this problem:

Comcast 6412 DVR picture freeze-- is there a solution? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=494056)

keenan

01-25-05, 07:11 PM

Originally posted by rogo
Let me say, though, that right now I find the DVR to be a hunk of worthless junk and I can't imagine keeping it. Right now, it likes to just freeze the picture and only a channel change will clear that. Not an acceptable situation.

Exchange it. I have had mine since Nov-Dec(?) and it has worked almost flawlessly, although I use it exclusively for HD. Others have noted some freezing with some of the analog channels. Froze up once, unplugged and plugged back in and it worked fine. The last couple of nights though I have a complete loss of audio and video for about a minute and then it comes back. Not sure what that is all about.

You might want to check this thread on the 6412, it can tell you how to program the remote for the un-mute and 30 sec

skip.http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5059447#post5059447
Official Comcast 6412 w/ iGuide Discussion - AVS Forum

P.S. BTW, how can you have a society with only one member? :p

mds54

01-25-05, 07:41 PM

Originally posted by John Mace
[b]mds54: Did you get picture freeze while watching "24" last night? It happened about 5 times while I was watching. I've had CNN on for about 1/2 hour today and it's been going crazy-- freezing up every 1 or 2 minutes. /B]

John:
Due to the terrible analog PQ, I watched "24" directly over the cable, bypassing the 6412, so
I couldn't say if I would have had freezes with the DVR. BUT, I recorded "24" also, and only the first
30 minutes recorded okay - the rest was just a black screen - again. :mad:

P.S. I assume you are talking about "real time" (live TV) freezes? I'm not really seeing live
freezes, but my analog recordings are aborting before completion.

Almighty1

01-25-05, 10:15 PM

Originally posted by ilikemyHT
You have to change the volume on your cable box.

This should work:
1. Press Cable
2. Depress Setup until Cable blinks twice
3. Press 9-9-3 and then Vol- once. Cable button should blink 4 times.

This should have unlocked you cable box's volume control and you should now be able to play around till you get the volume you like back. "Optimal Stereo" is just a certain volume level. It's like 85% or 95%.

Speaking about the Optimal Stereo, so is it better to put the volume all the way to the max on the STB if you're going to use the TV volume or is it better to leave it at the optimal stereo level? I guess what's needed is a line level volume level instead of a higher/lower volume.

MikeSM

01-25-05, 11:32 PM

And since they can't possibly be planning on multiple, dynamically adjusting streams of the same channels, they are either (a) not going to deliver 4 streams (b) not going to deliver good HD or (c) be forced to run a second pair of wire and a 2nd VDSL modem to make this work. I'd argue that 2 HD streams is probably as good as they really could get while still providing decent internet and QoS-based voice.

They are planning on using Windows Media compressed HD - it's about as efficient as MPEG-4, so 3-5 Mbps per 720p stream. Quality isn't bad, but it's going to be transcoded from MPEG-2 feeds, so there may be some loss of quality. I believe the original feed comes from Dish. Dish is planning to move to MPEG-4 based HD transport too. They may also transrate the HD stream's peaks to a lower bitrate to avoid running out of bandwidth, so there may be some quality impacts from that.

Thanks,
Mike

wco81

01-25-05, 11:38 PM

3-5 Mbps? Ugh.

MikeSM

01-25-05, 11:45 PM

Originally posted by wco81
3-5 Mbps? Ugh.

I've seen it -it looks pretty good actually... It wasn't hooked up to an Qualia of course, but it's a pretty good codec. You can't afford the bandwidth to do full MPEG-2 in that context.

Thanks,
Mike

GlennGeo

01-26-05, 12:46 AM

Originally posted by John Mace
I got a new box, and it didn't help. You might try it, though, as it probably won't hurt. I have to think this is a problem with the signal, not the the box.

FYI, I started this thread, where it's probably more apporpriate to discuss this problem:

Comcast 6412 DVR picture freeze-- is there a solution? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=494056)

I too have been experiencing the FREEZE. I have dealth with it by just changing channels or turning on/off but this time, it happened during a recording of my wife's Gilmore Girls....you do not mess with the wife's shows...

She is ready to destroy this thing. I hope they come up with a fix soon.

-Glenn

Raf39

01-26-05, 12:56 AM

Got the freeze today half way through recording AI. Has anyone got Comcast to give them credit on their bill for this problem?

GlennGeo

01-26-05, 01:49 AM

Originally posted by Raf39
Got the freeze today half way through recording AI. Has anyone got Comcast to give them credit on their bill for this problem?

I plan to get my bill prorated for every day that it messes up the recordings...it makes the unit unusable.

I'll let you guys know tomorrow if the go for it.

keenan

01-26-05, 02:23 AM

Originally posted by wco81
3-5 Mbps? Ugh.

Low bitrate does not have to mean low PQ if a capable codec is used. MPEG4 and WM9 or H.264(?) are coming, so we better get used to it. If done right, there really should be no difference in quality.

gdebruyn

01-26-05, 02:34 AM

guys, i've been digging through posts but cannot find my answer. please let me know about the FOX HD question. did we get a date when it might be released or is it any day now?

neoufo51

01-26-05, 02:42 AM

Originally posted by gdebruyn
guys, i've been digging through posts but cannot find my answer. please let me know about the FOX HD question. did we get a date when it might be released or is it any day now?
No date set, at least not yet. However, its becoming more and more increasingly certain according to posters with "reliable sources" as well as newspapers and emails from Comcast people that you will see Fox HD before the Super Bowl. So you will see it on before Feb 6th, Super Bowl Sunday. I believe somebody here mentioned that "turning it on" would take 1-2 business days, so its probably going to be ready to go sometime late next week. Keep your eyes on this thread because you know somebody is going to rush to their computer and say "its on, its on, omg" and you will have the latest info next to actually checking your box.

Till then. Have patience. Whole lot of 24, Idol, etc that we will have in HD left to watch this season. Only a matter of days now.

caltvdude

01-26-05, 07:41 AM

Hey, did anybody else here record Commited in HD on NBC today?

About 15min.(1/2way) through the show at the end of a commercial break I have the NBC Turkey moving and dancing on my screen for about 1 and a half minutes. The turkey was rather small in the center of the screen, everything else was just a black background. Then all of a sudden the show came back on. Just wondering if that weirded anyone else out.

cityscapex5

01-26-05, 10:24 AM

I saw it several times on Monday's tongiht show in HD. It was strange as each one was a different animation and it lasted quite a while. Not sure if it was also on SD.

SonomaSearcher

01-26-05, 10:52 AM

It was a subliminal attempt by NBC to brainwash you to only watch their network. Did you notice the message that flashed along with the peacock?

Actually, that's where the local affiliate is supposed to insert its local commercial or teaser for the news coming up at 11. I suppose KNTV didn't have its act together for that particular time slot. It used to be that KNTV never used those slots on its digital channel. Of course the slot is always used on the analog signal-- very valuable time based on the number of viewers versus digital.

John Mace

01-26-05, 12:26 PM

Originally posted by mds54
John:
Due to the terrible analog PQ, I watched "24" directly over the cable, bypassing the 6412, so
I couldn't say if I would have had freezes with the DVR. BUT, I recorded "24" also, and only the first
30 minutes recorded okay - the rest was just a black screen - again. :mad:

I often do that, too, since the PQ from the direct cable feed is so much better.

P.S. I assume you are talking about "real time" (live TV) freezes? I'm not really seeing live
freezes, but my analog recordings are aborting before completion.

I'm talking about both. I've had real time freezes (like what I described happening during "24" this week) and freezes on recorded programs as well. The live ones are very annoying, but easy to fix. The recorded ones, obviously, ruin the whole program.

neoufo51

01-26-05, 01:08 PM

Originally posted by cityscapex5
I saw it several times on Monday's tongiht show in HD. It was strange as each one was a different animation and it lasted quite a while. Not sure if it was also on SD.
I saw it too. No big deal, just something instead of advertisements since they didnt have their act together.

keenan

01-26-05, 01:26 PM

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
It was a subliminal attempt by NBC to brainwash you to only watch their network. Did you notice the message that flashed along with the peacock?

Actually, that's where the local affiliate is supposed to insert its local commercial or teaser for the news coming up at 11. I suppose KNTV didn't have its act together for that particular time slot. It used to be that KNTV never used those slots on its digital channel. Of course the slot is always used on the analog signal-- very valuable time based on the number of viewers versus digital.

I think it has to do with KNTV is in the processing of doing some work/moving their broadcast facility. These had been gone for a long while and now they are back. I like it, once the Peacock(turkey) graphics stop and the flag goes it's exactly 5 or 10 secs, can't remember which at the moment before the program starts again. It's a great un-mute reminder.

SonomaSearcher

01-26-05, 01:52 PM

By the way, those with their own QAM 256 tuners should scan for new channels when they can. Assuming that Fox HD will be added sometime during the next week, if you have such a tuner, you may be able to view Fox HD before the channel is mapped to the STB's (and thus can break the news to us all).

hongcho

01-26-05, 02:09 PM

> They are planning on using Windows Media compressed HD - it's about as efficient as MPEG-4, so 3-5 Mbps per 720p stream.

Even for VC-1 (the SMPTE standard name for Windows Media Video 9) and MPEG-4 AVC HP, 3 to 5 Mbps for 720p is too low. 5 Mbps might work for more static materials.

If they are using the < 20 Mbps MPEG-2 feeds, then it will be more problematic. If they are using the network feed to local stations (mostly close to 45 Mbps), then it would be better.

Hong.

JasonQG

01-26-05, 08:05 PM

It's official! KTVU-HD will be online tomorrow night!!!

http://www.ktvu.com/station/4133387/detail.htmlKTVU FOX 2 Announces H-D Deal With Comcast

POSTED: 4:07 pm PST January 26, 2005
UPDATED: 4:16 pm PST January 26, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO -- KTVU FOX 2's High Definition signal will be available to Comcast digital service subscribers on Channel 702 beginning at 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 27th in time for Sunday's Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.

KTVU On HD-TV
# What Is HDTV?
# Frequently Asked Questions About HD-TV
# What Kind Of Antenna Do You Need?

"We're very happy to announce that the important negotiations between COX Television and Comcast have been successful, allowing Bay Area viewers to enjoy the high definition telecast of the Super Bowl via Comcast High Definition Service as well as over the air on KTVU-DT 56," said Tim McVay, Vice President and General Manager of KTVU-TV.

KTVU's coverage of Super Bowl XXXIX from Jacksonville, Florida begins at 8 a.m. on Sunday, February 6, 2005. KTVU FOX 2 viewers can also watch the colorful special telecast of "The Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade" in HDTV. In addition, the FOX primetime schedule is loaded with weekly HDTV broadcasts including the action-packed "24," "The O.C.," "Bernie Mac," and the critically acclaimed "Arrested Development".

HDTV offers six times the picture clarity of traditional analog, providing the clearest picture available today. The agreement between Cox Broadcasting, Comcast and Charter Cable provides carriage of the digital signals of COX Broadcasting television stations including stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

Comcast is the largest provider of cable and broadband services in the United States, serving more than 21 million cable television subscribers and more than 6 million high-speed Internet subscribers.

KTVU FOX 2 is owned by Cox Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, Inc., a leader in broadcasting, newspaper publishing, broadband communications/cable, and automobile auctions. Cox Broadcasting includes television stations, national TV sales representation firms, a television production company and a research firm. Cox Enterprises is majority owner of publicly-traded Cox Radio, Inc. (NYSE: CXR).

Copyright 2005 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Now, to see if it shows up for 550 MHz folks (it should, but I won't be completely confident until I see it).