Checked with my contacts and there is no word on TNT-HD being added anytime soon.

Thanks.

I wonder why...

Originally posted by keenan
Thanks.

I wonder why...

Because they dont want you complaining that everybody in the bay area gets it but you and me...its the new equality rule (the rest of the Bay suffers along)

:D

Originally posted by davisdog
Because they dont want you complaining that everybody in the bay area gets it but you and me...its the new equality rule (the rest of the Bay suffers along)
But this is capitalist society, not communist state. :)

We don't have everyone suffering the same, we pride ourselves with
the "Haves and the Have nots"

Originally posted by bmark
Checked with my contacts and there is no word on TNT-HD being added anytime soon.

Then why in their press release did they state that "systems with the capacity" will get TNT-HD. I believe in SJ they have the capacity, so add the damn channel. Why is it so hard to put these channels on a system that can handle it? I can understand when contract negotiations hold up a channel from being added or capacity won't all for it, but I can't understand why they don't add a channel when the previous two reasons are not factors.

Come on Comcast, get off your arse and flip the switch. :mad:

Originally posted by davisdog
Because they dont want you complaining that everybody in the bay area gets it but you and me...its the new equality rule (the rest of the Bay suffers along)

:D

You might have made that statement in jest, but I wonder if there might be an element of truth in it.

web

Originally posted by davisdog
Because they dont want you complaining that everybody in the bay area gets it but you and me...its the new equality rule (the rest of the Bay suffers along)

:D

You know, I was thinking that very thing when I posted that, we Bay Area folks don't let Comcast get away with sh!t!! :p

I really doubt that's the issue, but, Comcast has received a load of bad press around here lately and they could very well be a bit gun-shy...:D

OTOH, it may very well be that the local Comcast people are not even aware that TNT-HD has been added to the corporate line-up. It's utterly amazing the lack of internal communication this company appears to have.

Originally posted by keenan
You know, I was thinking that very thing when I posted that, we Bay Area folks don't let Comcast get away with sh!t!! :p

I really doubt that's the issue, but, Comcast has received a load of bad press around here lately and they could very well be a bit gun-shy...:D

OTOH, it may very well be that the local Comcast people are not even aware that TNT-HD has been added to the corporate line-up. It's utterly amazing the lack of internal communication this company appears to have. As an example of that last...it seems that Comcast S.F. Bay is nearly alone in sending the OTA PSIP info down the wire along with the A/V packets. So we can see the Electronic Program Guide info provided by the broadcasters, but folks in other Comcast markets cannot. Go figure.

Originally posted by keenan
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5531646#post5531646
TNT-HD on Comcast! - AVS Forum
Looks like it's time to get Andy Johnson on the phone, eh?

Keenan: Do you have Andy's number or any other inside contact info
so we can try to follow up on what happened with the Bay Area? TIA!

No I don't. Mikef5 seems to have a repoire of sorts with the guy and did say he was going to try and connect with Johnson on the TNT-HD thing. I know that there have been email addresses posted in this thread for both Johnson and his boss, Steve Burke aways back.

Off the top of my head, I can't recall anyone posting they have it west of maybe Texas I think...?

The strange thing is, in the TNT-HD thread, it's being reported that customers have been told that there is no bandwidth, even on 750 systems...who really knows what the hell Comcast is doing....:rolleyes:

http://www.tvpredictions.com/comcasttnt042305.html
Comcast Launches TNT HD


News
Comcast Launches TNT HD
The cable operator adds the high-def version of the channel in selected cities.
Special to TVPredictions.com

Washington, D.C. (April 23) -- Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, added TNT HD in selected cities on Friday. The TV provider is expected to offer the channel in all markets later this year.

TNT HD, a high-def version of the channel's East Coast feed, has a lineup heavy on dramas, movies and sports. Popular shows include repeats of Law & Order, NYPD Blue and E.R.

The network also airs National Basketball Association games, including contests from the current playoffs.

On Friday, Comcast added TNT HD to several markets across the country, including some counties in the state of Maryland. However, some Comcast systems apparently do not have available space at this time to add another high-def channel.

TNT HD is not available on DIRECTV's satellite TV service. DIRECTV is arguably Comcast's top rival in the war between cable and satellite. However, TNT HD is available on EchoStar, the nation's second largest satcaster.

© TVPredictions.com

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My favorite part is "That problem is expected to be resolved soon." You gotta love the use of completely oblique qualifiers...:D

Originally posted by keenan
The strange thing is, in the TNT-HD thread, it's being reported that customers have been told that there is no bandwidth, even on 750 systems...who really knows what the hell Comcast is doing....:rolleyes:

Thanks Keenan.
I guess this finally puts us 750/860Mhz folks in the same boat as you 550Mhz types :rolleyes:
I wonder if TNT knows that Comcast is not rolling out their channel as was announced......
afterall, the release does say "....across the country...."

Originally posted by mds54
Thanks Keenan.
I guess this finally puts us 750/860Mhz folks in the same boat as you 550Mhz types :rolleyes:
I wonder if TNT knows that Comcast is not rolling out their channel as was announced......
afterall, the release does say "....across the country...."

I doubt that is the case. If it's not running even on 860 Mhz systems, I guarantee you it's not a spectrum issue. It maybe they don't have the equipment installed in Santa Clara to downlink TNT-HD from the satellite yet, or are waiting some parts to transmit it on the fiber ring, but it's definitely not a loop issue. I expect that will be fixed soon and it'll show up on the lineup. Sometimes HQ doesn't give the systems enough notice when they sign a programming agreement that requires extra gear to be installed in the field.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by keenan
The strange thing is, in the TNT-HD thread, it's being reported that customers have been told that there is no bandwidth, even on 750 systems...who really knows what the hell Comcast is doing....:rolleyes:
I now realize in every industry there are some default answers. On PCs,
if something goes wrong, the default answer is reinstall windows.

On cable systems if you don't get a channel, the default answer is there
is no bandwidth. :)

Originally posted by MikeSM
It maybe they don't have the equipment installed in Santa Clara to downlink TNT-HD from the satellite yet,
-Mike

TNT HD is on the C-Band satellite Galaxy 13 @ 127W Transponder 23 vertical polarity broadcast in Scientific Atlanta's Power Vu encryption. Possibly, some head-ends are without the equiptment to receive it. However, that same satellite also carries premium services in HD and NFL Channel HD on the same polarity. So their big antenna is already capable. To sum it up, the excuses Comcast doesn't have TNT HD are running thin.

Last night, I was doing some channel surfing at 8:45PM (Lost was essentially a repeat) and I noticed something of interest. The I-Guide showed INHD1 as having NBA Basketball. I went to the channel and there were player interviews going on. The backdrop showed NBA Playoffs and the TNT Logo was clearly evident. Tonight at 5:PM the I-Guide shows the same thing. Perhaps, we on the West coast can see the games this way. The programming that was supposed to be on INHD1 was showing on the Special Events channel.

InHD was showing the Wizards-Bulls game on NBA-TV. The feed may have been TNT but the announcers kept saying NBA-TV. They even had Stern on saying how great it was to be on NBA-TV.

Originally posted by bobby94928
Last night, I was doing some channel surfing at 8:45PM (Lost was essentially a repeat) and I noticed something of interest. The I-Guide showed INHD1 as having NBA Basketball. I went to the channel and there were player interviews going on. The backdrop showed NBA Playoffs and the TNT Logo was clearly evident. Tonight at 5:PM the I-Guide shows the same thing. Perhaps, we on the West coast can see the games this way. The programming that was supposed to be on INHD1 was showing on the Special Events channel.
During the interview, that wasn't TNT-HD. It was "advertising" TNT-HD
(as if to throw more mud in your face). The wizards games was broadcast
on INHD1, but the interviews were not part of the TNT-HD everyone else
was seeing as they were broadcasting the Grizzlies/Suns game while the
interviews were going on. After the NBA interviews (and prior wizards
game) the programming returned to normal, so it looked like a one off
thing and you'll need to check back frequently to see if there are any other
one offs.

So I guess the way it works is, there are 3 playoff games per night. TNT-HD
gets 2 of the games. The third goes to NBA-TV. NBA-TV is running free
preview Apr26-May3 (per this article)

http://www.nba.com/nba_tv/NBA_TV_Playoff_Coverage-139426-466.html

The advertising for/references to TNT-HD during the NBA-TV broadcasts
may confuse you into thinking this is TNT-HD, but it is not.

The confusion arrises because Turner "manages" live HD game broadcasts
for NBA-TV.
http://www.hdtvtwincities.com/mainframe.php/sport

NBA-TV to become 24/7 HD network

February 27, 2005 - NBA TV and Turner Broadcasting System have reached an agreement that will allow the NBA to distribute in high-definition all NBA TV programming and game coverage 24 hours a day beginning this fall. Under the arrangement, Turner will manage all NBA TV program integration from its operation headquarters in Atlanta.

In addition to HD, the programming will be distributed in both standard and international formats. NBA TV will continue to produce its non-game programming from its facility in Secaucus, N.J. Turner this season is televising its exclusive Thursday night NBA games in both standard format and high-definition on TNT, with the HD telecast available on cable operators' digital tiers.

Originally posted by techdood
TNT HD is on the C-Band satellite Galaxy 13 @ 127W Transponder 23 vertical polarity broadcast in Scientific Atlanta's Power Vu encryption. Possibly, some head-ends are without the equiptment to receive it. However, that same satellite also carries premium services in HD and NFL Channel HD on the same polarity. So their big antenna is already capable. To sum it up, the excuses Comcast doesn't have TNT HD are running thin.

Fair enough, but you need an IRD to transcode the video from the downlink format to 256QAM for insertion in the distribution ring. This shouldn't be a big deal, but I can't see any reason why the GM here wouldn't want TNT-HD on the network as soon as he can get it. There is no down side to this if you have the spectrum to transmit it on, which they do in most systems.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by John Mace
I seem to have completely lost 5.1 audio in the last few weeks. Seems like no matter which HD channel I'm watching at which time, I never get the 5.1 signal. I've tried different audio settings on the cable box, but nothing seems to work. Anyone else noticing this? Just wonderin if this is perhaps a broadcast problem and not a STB problem.

try this, use the SWAP button to swap tuners.

that has worked for me.

before, i would have to unplug the power and plug it back in. that would restore DD5.1.

but then it would a couple hours to get the guide back up.

but then someone here on this long thread mentioned switching tuners... sure enough, that did it for me...

Here is a link to an article about Comcast and how poor they are and their suffering in the market and yes, I say that with tongue in cheek....

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/ap/2005/04/28/ap1982952.html

I think you can trust Forbes on the accuracy of their articles. Strange that Comcast thinks the 550 MHz and below systems aren't cost effective to upgrade, costs to much ??? :(

Laters,
Mikef5

Comcast released some first 1/Q numbers today, and this company is in phat shape. I'm convinced all Comcast did with 550MHz systems is pull the AT&T logo down and stick up a Comcast logo and claim, okay these systems are upgraded..:p

Just read your link, same thing I saw from somewhere else...

Originally posted by keenan
Comcast released some first 1/Q numbers today, and this company is in phat shape. I'm convinced all Comcast did with 550MHz systems is pull the AT&T logo down and stick up a Comcast logo and claim, okay these systems are upgraded..:p

Just read your link, same thing I saw from somewhere else...

Yep, poor Comcast only quadrupled their profits, how can anyone survive on that ?? :p

Oh, and I'm still waiting for a response from Mr. Johnson on moving FSN-Plus to digital and giving us channel 720. I guess I must be persona non grata but I'll wait and see he might be out celebrating Comcast's windfall. :rolleyes:

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by Mikef5
Yep, poor Comcast only quadrupled their profits, how can anyone survive on that ?? :p

Oh, and I'm still waiting for a response from Mr. Johnson on moving FSN-Plus to digital and giving us channel 720. I guess I must be persona non grata but I'll wait and see he might be out celebrating Comcast's windfall. :rolleyes:

Laters,
Mikef5

I would like to say that my comments above are totally wrong. I assumed that since I had not heard from Mr. Johnson that he was not concerned about this problem with the 550 MHz systems. It seems that my service provider is having problems with it's email servers and my email was not sent until yesterday. Mr. Johnson did respond in less than 24 hrs on receiving my email. I wish to apologize to Mr. Johnson for my inappropriate comments. He does indeed care about the 550 MHz customers and I should learn to be more patient. Again, my apologizes to Mr. Johnson.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by Mikef5
I would like to say that my comments above are totally wrong. I assumed that since I had not heard from Mr. Johnson that he was not concerned about this problem with the 550 MHz systems. It seems that my service provider is having problems with it's email servers and my email was not sent until yesterday. Mr. Johnson did respond in less than 24 hrs on receiving my email. I wish to apologize to Mr. Johnson for my inappropriate comments. He does indeed care about the 550 MHz customers and I should learn to be more patient. Again, my apologizes to Mr. Johnson.

Laters,
Mikef5


Good to hear (although I've always believed he does really care...there are other things within Comcast etc that make it difficult to get a solution in the timeframe we want (which is now ;)

btw...to plug Comcast...maybe you should switch over to using Comcast as your ISP....I've never had a problem with their mail server :D

An early sighting of TNT-HD in California...:p

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5551141#post5551141
TNT-HD on Comcast! - AVS Forum

Ok, I just got off the phone with Mr. Johnson, glad he has a sense of humor. :) He did tell me what Comcast's plans are for the 550 MHz systems and as a matter of fact for all of the Bay Area. What they are NOW doing is changing from 64 QAM and shifting all channels to 254 QAM. After that is complete they will go to digital simulcasting for ALL of the Bay Are, including the 550 MHz systems and yes I have been assured that there is enough bandwidth to do it for all systems and that the 550 MHz and below systems are a priority for this. Once all the bugs are ironed out they will drop the analog channels and issue boxes to those people that are getting analog only.
This is what Comcast is doing right now. When will this be complete ??? I couldn't tie him down on a specific time frame ( I really didn't think he could ) but it is my feeling that it will be sooner than later, I hoping for the end of this year ( my time frame not Mr. Johnson's ).

This is why they can't for now change the FSN plus or FSN to the digital tier. One do to contract agreements and the problem of offering a channel and then later having to take it away so they can do the simulcasting. It is also why you have not seen TNT-HD on Comcast in the Bay Area, digital simulcasting is coming soon to the Bay Area.
Anyway, Mr. Johnson was very candor in his talk with me and cleared up alot of what was bothering me. I think the major problem is a lack of communication on what is or is not happening but he did let me know that there was something that he was thinking of doing to help with this problem but I can't elaborate on this much more but it makes a lot of sense if it gets followed through with.
So, for the time being we are waiting for these things to happen and until these things happen we will not see much added to our system but my gut feeling is they are indeed working on these things as I speak.
Thanks to Mr. Johnson for clearing these things for me. I feel a little better now. Now if I could just be a little more patient..... :)

Laters,
Mikef5

"DISH Network Expands high-Definition Package with Addition of VOOM Programming
Lineup Will Include 10 Original VOOM HD Channels"
--------------------------------------------

Damn! :(
NO WAY can Comcast say it's "The Leader in HDTV" now......

Originally posted by keenan
An early sighting of TNT-HD in California...:p

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5551141#post5551141
TNT-HD on Comcast! - AVS Forum

Ah but you have to remember that S.Cal doesnt really mean anything for us....

I've never learned the reason why, but the S.Cal parts of Comcast are managed as part of their East Region.

The Bay Area, NorCal, Washington etc.. are part of the Western Region (and managed by a different group (Andrew Johnson etc..) that can have separate plans).

For instance, that's why you saw LA rollout 6208 DVRs along with the East Coast Region but the Western Region (us) made the decision to skip the 6208 (and the first DVR in the West Region was the 6412)

Originally posted by davisdog


I've never learned the reason why, but the S.Cal parts of Comcast are managed as part of their East Region.



That's right, I forgot about that, SoCal might as well be in China as far as we are concerned.

Originally posted by Mikef5
He did tell me what Comcast's plans are for the 550 MHz systems and as a matter of fact for all of the Bay Area. What they are NOW doing is changing from 64 QAM and shifting all channels to 254 QAM. After that is complete they will go to digital simulcasting for ALL of the Bay Are, including the 550 MHz systems and yes I have been assured that there is enough bandwidth to do it for all systems and that the 550 MHz and below systems are a priority for this. Once all the bugs are ironed out they will drop the analog channels and issue boxes to those people that are getting analog only.

I do hope they improve the digital simulcasting from the, apparently
experimental, ones they have now TVLAND, OLN, GOLF (listed in this post)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5539303#post5539303

The digital simulcast versions are *significantly* softer than the analog
counterparts, enough so that I much prefer analog version.

Two possibilities I can imagine: this is just an issue with experimental
simulcasting or the simulcasting is weighted more towards freeing up
bandwidth than to providing good picture. The ramifications of the latter
being higher compression ratios to squeeze the channels onto 550Mhz
systems resulting in worse picture than analog. I know they are capable
of sending better quality 480i digital because 832/95.2 PPV Previews looks
significantly better.

I'm watching on Sharp Aquos 45" LCD.

Originally posted by keenan
That's right, I forgot about that, SoCal might as well be in China as far as we are concerned.

The Socal markets are old Media One, and the Bay Area/Seattle/Portland markets are old TCI. I expect they'll consolidate these eventually, but I think they are on different systems now which makes the transition between back office packages hard.

Thanks,
Mike

I am not very happy with Comcast's HD programming (both quality and quantity) in general. Several channels that are available in the neighboring areas are not available in Sunnyvale. No VOD either. I also see some pixelization on the HD channels that are available, especially HBO on fast moving scenes. I am pretty sure its a problem with a signal and not the TV.

Switching between 720p and 1080i on the Motorola box is also not very easy, need to power it off every single time to do the switch.

Has anyone figured out a way around these problems? What works best for you, 720p or 1080i? Or are we just stuck until they upgrade their system?

Thanks so much in advance!

According to most recent info on San Francisco, CA - Comcast thread,
550Mhz seems to be be red headed stepchild which won't be upgraded.
Instead there is a plan to slowly move from analog to digital to free
up bandwidth.

Threads merged.

I've had Comcast here in San Francisco for about two weeks. In the past few days, when local stations broadcast in HD, I often can not receive them. I get a "One moment please, This channel should be available shortly" message on my 6412. And it stays there forever. Anybody else have this problem?

Also, VOD *never* works for me. Gives me an error saying to try again. The few times it's displayed anything, it's been the wrong program. Any ideas?

"Any ideas?"

Bad STB? Sounds as though you need a service call.

Originally posted by who_the
In the past few days, when local stations broadcast in HD, I often can not receive them. I get a "One moment please, This channel should be available shortly" message on my 6412.

I get that same message when there is a signal problem to my 6412. I've had to modify the cable runs in my house and, at times, used temporary crimp on connectors. Those bad fittings caused high attenuation on the upper hyper-band channels, 70's, and major ingress. After investing into some good compression fittings, the same ones the cable company uses in fact, my troubles went away. I would look into some kind of signal trouble to your 6412. You can use some of the readings from the test parameter screens in the 6412 (power off then immediately press OK on the remote.) Maybe that'll give you some kind of reference when troubleshooting.

Also, VOD *never* works for me. Gives me an error saying to try again. The few times it's displayed anything, it's been the wrong program. Any ideas? [/B]

Bad box or bad signal forward and/or reverse?

my VOD never works either, but it has Never worked before. Some areas of Sacramento haven't been turned on yet, so I'm waiting to see exactly what programming is available on demand. I've heard about some Kung-Fu flicks worth catching on it.

Originally posted by who_the
I've had Comcast here in San Francisco for about two weeks. In the past few days, when local stations broadcast in HD, I often can not receive them. I get a "One moment please, This channel should be available shortly" message on my 6412. And it stays there forever. Anybody else have this problem?

Also, VOD *never* works for me. Gives me an error saying to try again. The few times it's displayed anything, it's been the wrong program. Any ideas?

I had the same thing with my original 6412. The VOD didn't work or when it did it had a different program. I brought mine into the Comcast office and they exchanged it. VOD works fine now. You should do the same. Hmmmm.... maybe they gave you my old box....... Are you in the North Bay?

Originally posted by walk
The web site says DVR isn't available in my area yet either, but the tech who fixed my (non dvr) box last week said it is, he just installed one that morning... Don't trust the web page.

I have the so-called Limited Basic (analog) service combined with HDTV service since all we want to watch are the HD channels. Has anyone managed to get a DVR with this combination? The CSR says I have to upgrade to digital service before tey will upgrade my STB.

Thanks.

Originally posted by who_the
Also, VOD *never* works for me. Gives me an error saying to try again. The few times it's displayed anything, it's been the wrong program. Any ideas?
I think you have a few possibilities:

1) your area doesn't have VOD
2) your box is defective
3) your splitters (or other wiring distribution device like amplifier) do not
allow return path
4) your signal is too weak either in forward or reverse direction

Originally posted by keenan
That's right, I forgot about that, SoCal might as well be in China as far as we are concerned.



Originally posted by MikeSM
The Socal markets are old Media One, and the Bay Area/Seattle/Portland markets are old TCI. I expect they'll consolidate these eventually, but I think they are on different systems now which makes the transition between back office packages hard.

Thanks,
Mike

Looks like Comcast won't even be in SoCal anymore, their trading properties with Time/Warner as part of the Adelphia deal.

"For instance, Comcast's Miami/West Palm Beach cluster will serve 1.53 million subscribers, roughly 57% of the homes in South Florida. Time Warner will serve 3 million customers in the Los Angeles region."

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5557499#post5557499
Comcast and Time Warner to swap assets: Comcast to leave Dallas - AVS Forum

Originally posted by Mikef5
...I hoping for the end of this year ( my time frame not Mr. Johnson's ).

This is why they can't for now change the FSN plus or FSN to the digital tier. One do to contract agreements and the problem of offering a channel and then later having to take it away so they can do the simulcasting. It is also why you have not seen TNT-HD on Comcast in the Bay Area, digital simulcasting is coming soon to the Bay Area...

I wonder does this mean we will not see TNT-HD in the Bay area until the digital simulcasting transition is complete, even on the systems that have available bandwidth. And if that is the case, based on the above that will not be until much later this year.

web

Originally posted by web
I wonder does this mean we will not see TNT-HD in the Bay area until the digital simulcasting transition is complete, even on the systems that have available bandwidth. And if that is the case, based on the above that will not be until much later this year.

web

The info that I relayed was basically for the 550 MHz and below systems, which is where I am located. Whether or not you can receive TNT-HD, when it is available, will probably depend on how upgraded your area is. The problem is that not all systems are created equal, some areas are more equal than others, so it depends on location, location, location.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by unmesh
I have the so-called Limited Basic (analog) service combined with HDTV service since all we want to watch are the HD channels. Has anyone managed to get a DVR with this combination? The CSR says I have to upgrade to digital service before tey will upgrade my STB.

Thanks.

You MAY have to get at least Digital Classic,but you CAN Get Limited basic AND digital Classic withOUT extended basic,well in Boston you can.

Originally posted by Mikef5
The info that I relayed was basically for the 550 MHz and below systems, which is where I am located. Whether or not you can receive TNT-HD, when it is available, will probably depend on how upgraded your area is. The problem is that not all systems are created equal, some areas are more equal than others, so it depends on location, location, location.

Laters,
Mikef5

Thanks for the reply. It appears none of the SF-Bay area systems have TNT-HD no matter what type. I am in Mountain View and certain that this is at least a 750 MHz system, so I would guess there is bandwidth available.

web

Originally posted by chitchatjf
You MAY have to get at least Digital Classic,but you CAN Get Limited basic AND digital Classic withOUT extended basic,well in Boston you can.

That makes sense...it would be a little ridiculous to require a full Analog Subscription in order to get a "digital" video recorder

Originally posted by Mikef5
, so it depends on location, location, location.

Laters,
Mikef5

Damn...I need to have a talk with my Relator...They said this house was great because of location, location, location...but they didnt realize that the most important thing was how much bandwidth Comcast provided to the premise!

DAMN

:D

That makes sense...it would be a little ridiculous to require a full Analog Subscription in order to get a "digital" video recorder

Ridiculous or not, I spoke with three different reps a few months back who all insisted that an extended basic subscription was required in order to get a DVR.

Please let me know if you get a different answer.

Originally posted by davisdog
Damn...I need to have a talk with my Relator...They said this house was great because of location, location, location...but they didnt realize that the most important thing was how much bandwidth Comcast provided to the premise!

DAMN

:D Just think for $1M less you'd be in 860Mhz Comcast land.

Hmm, how many AV toys could you buy with that? :)

Didn't your realtor ask you to list your priorities?

Originally posted by rocket_ed
Ridiculous or not, I spoke with three different reps a few months back who all insisted that an extended basic subscription was required in order to get a DVR.

Please let me know if you get a different answer.
What happens when you order basic, extended basic, and digital classic
all a-la-carte, get your DVR, then cancel extended basic only?

At Comcast, the head doesn't talk to the tail.

Originally posted by sfhub
What happens when you order basic, extended basic, and digital classic
all a-la-carte, get your DVR, then cancel extended basic only?

At Comcast, the head doesn't talk to the tail.

They won't let you. Basic+Extended Basic=Standard. To get Digital Starter-Digital Classic you have to have Standard.

But anything is worth a try...

Originally posted by davisdog
That makes sense...it would be a little ridiculous to require a full Analog Subscription in order to get a "digital" video recorder

That's exactly what Comcast does here, full analog or Standard Cable, plus the entry level digital tier, Digital Starter, which combined with Standard Cable is called Digital Classic, then you can have the DVR.

If you went with just a digital package, if such a thing was allowed, you wouldn't get the HD locals which are included with the Limited Basic.

In a perfect world, I'd like to see an HD only package with DVR. :)

I do think having a Limited Basic($16) plus Digital Classic($10) plus DVR($10) would be cool, but we know that will never happen.

Originally posted by keenan
If you went with just a digital package, if such a thing was allowed, you wouldn't get the HD locals which are included with the Limited Basic.
If we are talking theoretical, with the way things are setup right now,
you would get HD locals, because HD locals are broadcast clear QAM
unencrypted.

I guess they could potentially tell your STB to not display those channels
but they couldn't tell your QAM capable TV or PC based QAM tuner to skip
those channels, other than by encrypting the locals, which seems to go
counter to what the networks who provide the HD locals content would
demand.

As it stands today, the content protection is either encrypted or
unencrypted. If it is unencrypted, you get the channel. If it is encrypted,
you need your CableCard or STB to get authorized. There's no mechanism
(that I know of) in the current setup to deny you an unencrypted QAM
channel, so you would get HD locals with a "theoretical" digital only
package (w/o needing to subscribe to limited basic)

Originally posted by sfhub
What happens when you order basic, extended basic, and digital classic
all a-la-carte, get your DVR, then cancel extended basic only?

At Comcast, the head doesn't talk to the tail. Originally posted by keenan
They won't let you. Basic+Extended Basic=Standard. To get Digital Starter-Digital Classic you have to have Standard.

But anything is worth a try...
According to this post, they let you do just that with Comcast in Boston:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5562047#post5562047

So I guess as long as the cancellation department is located in Boston,
it will work. :) :)

Originally posted by sfhub
If we are talking theoretical, with the way things are setup right now,
you would get HD locals, because HD locals are broadcast clear QAM
unencrypted.



True, but if the cablecos get what they want, everything will get encrypted as a theft deterrent.

Originally posted by sfhub
So I guess as long as the cancellation department is located in Boston,
it will work.

I suppose in Boston it's possible as Comcast does different things in different areas. I wish they did that here.

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel,
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/May/03/local/stories/08local.htm
Comcast subscribers finally get HDTV By GWEN MICKELSON SENTINEL STAFF WRITER May 3, 2005

Comcast subscribers finally get HDTV

By GWEN MICKELSON
Sentinel staff writer

Beginning today, Comcast Corp. will offer cable subscribers with high-definition-ready televisions seven HDTV channels for a $5 per month equipment fee, a service that has been available to other Comcast customers in the Greater Bay Area, including most of Monterey County and many neighborhoods in San Jose, since last fall or before.

In Santa Cruz County, Comcast subscribers were forced to wait longer for HDTV because of network upgrades done in stages along with quickly evolving cable technology that has left some cities with outdated networks.

"I think the simplest way to say it is, there’s always new technologies coming out," said Erica Eusebio, a Comcast spokeswoman in San Ramon. "One of the technologies we were able to take advantage of in this situation was a better compression technology."

Proponents of HDTV technology claim it provides video and audio that is clearer, sharper and more vibrant.

"HDTV remains the fastest-growing segment in the (consumer electronics) industry," said Megan Pollock of the Consumer Electronics Association in Arlington, Va.

In 2004, according to Pollock, 7.3 million units of digital TV products were sold; that number is expected to more than double to 15 million in 2005.

With the addition of HDTV service, Comcast will compete with satellite providers that have supplied high-definition channels to local subscribers for some time.

"We’ve already had HDTV for a couple years," said Rocky Taylor, owner of Taylorvision Satellite in Santa Cruz, which sells Dish Network and DirecTV systems.

According to Taylor, satellite subscribers have been able to receive TNT in HD, ESPN HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, Discovery HD Theater, HBO HD and Showtime HD.

Comcast is offering four broadcast networks with high-definition programming — KCBA, KION, KQED and KSBW — along with Discovery HD Theater, ESPN HD and HBO HD.

The county’s other cable provider, Charter Communications, does not offer high-definition programming here yet, according to its Web site.

Viewers who wanted to receive local network high-definition programming have been able to do so via an antenna and high-definition equipment.

Both of the area’s dominant satellite providers said they would not be affected by Comcast’s entry into the local high-definition market.

"It’s going to take awhile for the cable companies to catch up, in terms of number of channels, variety and equipment," said Steve Caulk, of EchoStar Communications Corp. of Englewood, Colo., whose Dish Network has more than 11 million customers nationwide.

Friday, Dish Network gained the right to provide high-definition programming from Voom, the money-losing satellite TV venture of Cablevision Systems Corp. of Bethpage, N.Y., adding 10 high-definition channels to its lineup for a total of 19.

Jade Ekstedt of DirecTV Group Inc. of El Segundo, which has more than 14 million subscribers, said, "Essentially, DirecTV has been in business for more than 10 years, and we were the first company to deliver digital-quality programming. We don’t really see this as a threat."

DirecTV provides seven high-definition channels and recently launched new satellites to begin offering local high-definition network feeds to 12 initial markets.

Interesting spin there...

"It’s going to take awhile for the cable companies to catch up, in terms of number of channels, variety and equipment"

"DirecTV provides seven high-definition channels"

"Comcast is offering (seven HD channels)" (it's 13 in my area)

"We don’t really see this as a threat."

:rolleyes:

Originally posted by keenan
That's exactly what Comcast does here, full analog or Standard Cable, plus the entry level digital tier, Digital Starter, which combined with Standard Cable is called Digital Classic, then you can have the DVR.

I do think having a Limited Basic($16) plus Digital Classic($10) plus DVR($10) would be cool, but we know that will never happen.

There really isn't any technical reason they require Expanded Basic to get the DVR. They could even put a high pass filter on the line and block all of the analog channels, and still give you HDTV and the DVR for digital channels.

The real reason is $$$. Comcast has to pay for the DVR they put in your house. Unlike a "free" cell phone, Comcast does not require you to sign a 1 or 2 year contract. You can return it at any time. These things have to cost Comcast a bit of $, and they have to recover it somehow. (Anyone know their wholesale price?) The rental price will eventually recover the cost, but maybe not as fast as they would like. So it seems that Comcast has chosen to help recover those costs by forcing you to subscribe to a higher level of service then you may want.

Please don't flame me about the high cost of Comcast. I agree they charge a lot. And I would love to see a cafeteria type service, where I can select and pay for only the channels I want. If we had that, we could start exerting market pressure back on the cable channels that keep raising rates, which the service providers pass on to us. You know, like all the $$$ that ESPN paid for Monday Football. How soon will it take for that to be reflected in an increase in our cable costs?

Anyone having any problems with their DVR lately? For some odd reason when I switch tuners the picture on one of the tuners goes black and I have to switch the channel to get the picture back. I'm wondering if this is a poor signal issue or something else.

My cable signal disappeared last night (got the 'searching for signal' on my DVI input). A call to COMCAST, though, restored it almost instantaneously.

Have anybody's SD digital channels converted to 256QAM yet?

Wondering what the schedule is. None of them have been converted in Fremont yet.

Originally posted by kevini
Have anybody's SD digital channels converted to 256QAM yet?

Wondering what the schedule is. None of them have been converted in Fremont yet.

Only the HDTV signals are QAM256 in Cupertino. The others are QAM64.

Originally posted by kevini
Have anybody's SD digital channels converted to 256QAM yet?

Wondering what the schedule is. None of them have been converted in Fremont yet.

256QAM conversion will start on May 10th and run until mid August.

Originally posted by bmark
256QAM conversion will start on May 10th and run until mid August.

All areas....?

Originally posted by bmark
256QAM conversion will start on May 10th and run until mid August.

Thanks bmark!

Originally posted by keenan
All areas....?

South bay starts May 25th.

Originally posted by bmark
South bay starts May 25th.

Okay....any word on north bay..specifically Santa Rosa...? :p

Originally posted by bmark
South bay starts May 25th.

Pardon my ignorance. ;)

But what does this mean to us?

Originally posted by YuriLuzr
Pardon my ignorance. ;)

But what does this mean to us?

You probably won't notice anything until they start to use the added space by adding new channels.

Originally posted by YuriLuzr
Pardon my ignorance. ;)

But what does this mean to us?

It means the start of digital simulcast. Basically if you have a digital cable box or DVR the channels 2-82 will now be sent analog and digital from the headend so the box does not have to have an analog tuner and in the case of the DVR an MPEG encoder.

To us it means a less noiser but probably softer picture if you have digitial cable. And more SD capacity on the DVR.

To comcast it means much cheaper digital set top boxes, cheaper DVR's and the chance to say 100% digital cable!

To do all this more bandwidth is needed so the existing SD digital cables are being converted from 64QAM to 256QAM

With those "softer" pictures, I think folks (who aren't aware already) are
going to start realizing digital doesn't mean "better". It all looks fine on
the smaller CRTs, but on larger 42+" flat panels, it looks like you need new
glasses. There are 3 channels being simulcast right now, GOLF, TVLANDP,
and OLN. They all look significantly worse (but noise-free) on the digital
SD simulcast.

Hi there from Oakland

I am sorry if this is somewhere within this or anothere thread but I'm new to HD OTA and am struggling.

I have purchased an LG 4200 receiver and an indoor Terk antenna

I have auto tuned a pile of channels and receieve outstanding PBS. A pile of junk channels, ABC and no CBS or NBC. I cannot find FOX and this is bugging me because of 24.

Can anyone help me? Or do i need an external antenna?

Rob

I don't imagine that any of that "new" BW will be spent on increasing the resolution of those SD broadcasts, huh? (Currently, they seem mostly to be 528x480i--fuzzy, indeed on a HT screen!)

Originally posted by Robert Holloway
Hi there from Oakland

I am sorry if this is somewhere within this or anothere thread but I'm new to HD OTA and am struggling.

I have purchased an LG 4200 receiver and an indoor Terk antenna

I have auto tuned a pile of channels and receieve outstanding PBS. A pile of junk channels, ABC and no CBS or NBC. I cannot find FOX and this is bugging me because of 24.

Can anyone help me? Or do i need an external antenna?

Rob Rob, if you're getting "outstanding" PBS, then you should be getting ABC, CBS, and FOX about the same--since they all originate at the same Mt. Sutro tower.

But your question is off topic for this thread, which is for Comcast (i.e., cable) issues.

Originally posted by TPeterson
I don't imagine that any of that "new" BW will be spent on increasing the resolution of those SD broadcasts, huh? (Currently, they seem mostly to be 528x480i--fuzzy, indeed on a HT screen!)

Some are even worse at 480x480! They definitely sucks on my HT screen. One thing to note though is that they are no worse than DirectTv which also uses 528x480 or 480x480 for most channels.

My analog is very good so the Digital simulcast does not excite me. At least it can give 720x480

How can you guys tell if the picture is 480x480, 528x480, or 720x480?
720 would be nice (that's DVD quality).
528 should be about what the analog channels have.
480 would suck.

Most (but not all) video gear has some method to display the actual received picture resolution. (The "720" that Kevini mentioned is the highest conversion available for most Analog Capture equipment and isn't a "real" data resolution--however, good quality analog signals are significantly better than an effective 528 dots/line!)

They can decrease the bandwidth needs by sending fewer pixels or they
can increase the compression. I think we are getting both ends of the
shaft with the digital simulcast. I hope I'm proven wrong. inDemand
preview channel looks fine on the SD digital transmission, so I know
they can make it look good if they want to.

Maybe they can be nice and choose to only simulcast the channels we
care about, so they can save bandwidth and transmit more pixels at
less compression.

After all, all those station clamor to be on analog to reach the biggest
audience, so they shouldn't care if they get simulcast on digital or not,
and most of the agreements probably carry a guarantee the station
will be on analog but no such provision for digital.

When they eventually get more bandwidth, then they could put the
whole lineup on digital simulcast. After all, I'm guessing this is a
transition point to all digital that will take some time to work out all
the kinks, so they might as well give us something to make us happy.

Originally posted by keenan
Okay....any word on north bay..specifically Santa Rosa...? :p

North bay starts on the 25th as well.

Originally posted by TPeterson
Rob, if you're getting "outstanding" PBS, then you should be getting ABC, CBS, and FOX about the same--since they all originate at the same Mt. Sutro tower.

But your question is off topic for this thread, which is for Comcast (i.e., cable) issues.

I think Robert is talking about the Comcast cable feed into his LG4200A.

Robert, there have been some posts further back in this thread about what channels you will find those stations on. KTVU-HD may be a sub-channel of another main channel. For example, KPIX may be ch 117.1 and KTVU may be ch 117.2 and so forth.

bmark, thanks...:)

Originally posted by sfhub
After all, I'm guessing this is a
transition point to all digital that will take some time to work out all
the kinks, so they might as well give us something to make us happy.

As well as more services like VOD...

Originally posted by keenan
I think Robert is talking about the Comcast cable feed into his LG4200A.Well, then his problem must be that Terk antenna, huh? :D

Rob, in case you weren't talking about OTA, CBS and FOX share Ch 79, NBC's on 116 together with ESPN-HD, and ABC and PBS share 117. InHD is on 105 and DISC-HD is on 115.

I called Comcast today to ask if their boxes with DVI had HDCP turned on. I explained I wanted to know because the $450 dell 20" LCP flat panel would made a kick-ass bedroom HD screen. The 24" does have component in, but if I put the 20" in the bedroom I'd like to go in via DVI. They said they don't use HDCP.

I have Comcast in Sunnyvale connected through component cables to my TV. The comcast box is a motorola 62xx with output set to 1080i. I have a Monster surge protector+clean power unit for all power sources.

What I notice is some active background (snow like) when the background is out of focus. It is more noticeable on light colored backgrounds. Its very had to see it on Discovery and ESPN (bright colors). I see it quite a bit on HBO and locals. It is not too much but just enough to make me concentrate on the background rather than watch TV.

Is this a common problem? Any one else see this and what have you done?

Originally posted by packerzz
What I notice is some active background (snow like) when the background is out of focus. It is more noticeable on light colored backgrounds. Its very had to see it on Discovery and ESPN (bright colors). I see it quite a bit on HBO and locals. It is not too much but just enough to make me concentrate on the background rather than watch TV.

If the foreground looks fine it is probably some type of compression
artifact. If you see it in dark areas on DVDs, HD, etc. it might be a
problem with display and low level grayscale. Although my recollection
is HBO-HD is pretty high bitrate so usually you don't see too many
problems.

Are these mostly static images or fast motion?

Originally posted by JakiChan
I called Comcast today to ask if their boxes with DVI had HDCP turned on. I explained I wanted to know because the $450 dell 20" LCP flat panel would made a kick-ass bedroom HD screen. The 24" does have component in, but if I put the 20" in the bedroom I'd like to go in via DVI. They said they don't use HDCP.
On Dell 2001FP I could only get 480P working. The 720p would come up
in the wrong aspect ratio, however I have pretty old 2001FP, 3+ years
old, so they may have changed the 2001FP behavior since then.

This is with DCT-5100.

The DVI worked fine with Sharp Aquos 16:9 LCD, so the DVI output
is fine and the problem was with the 2001FP.

I suggest you save yourself trouble and get the 24" 16:9 display.
HD will look much better on that display.

Thanks for the quick response. I see this problem on static images mostly. If its fast moving, this is hard to notice as the background is not still. There is some pixelization at times with fast moving scenes on HBO, but I can live with it.

Also, there is no problem with DVD. I am thinking about calling Comcast to check on the signal strength. Besides that, I am totally stumped.

Originally posted by sfhub
If the foreground looks fine it is probably some type of compression
artifact. If you see it in dark areas on DVDs, HD, etc. it might be a
problem with display and low level grayscale. Although my recollection
is HBO-HD is pretty high bitrate so usually you don't see too many
problems.

Are these mostly static images or fast motion?

packerzz, signal-strength problems with DTV generally show up as major picture defects (huge blocks, frozen frames, etc.) and not tiny defects, such as the snow that one sees with analog. It's possible that what you're describing is either intentional dithering of large background objects or artificial film-like graininess that some producers seem to like.

Team

Thanks for the replies. I did not realize this was a cable thread. Apologies.

My question was OTA so i'll go else where.

Rob

So, on May 25th they will just be switching to QAM256, any timeframe for switching to digital simulcast? I read the posts that said the picture looks softer, but would you say it is as good as satellite? One of my main reasons for staying on satellite is the broadcast channels look a whole lot better than the comcast analog channels.

Originally posted by YuriLuzr
So, on May 25th they will just be switching to QAM256, any timeframe for switching to digital simulcast? I read the posts that said the picture looks softer, but would you say it is as good as satellite? One of my main reasons for staying on satellite is the broadcast channels look a whole lot better than the comcast analog channels.

I can't anwser on the time frame but if your satellite locals look better than analog cable then DS (Digital simulcast) will be as good as satellite.

Dish/Directtv locals are normally the most compressed and worst looking channels in their lineup. Comcast's digital compression is often less so I would expect it will be better. Of course with the amount the are trying to squash in on the 550Mhz systems who knows.

In my case the analog Comcast is much better than my dish locals. The analog comcast is about on par with what I get analog OTA. Of course the OTA digital even SD blows them both away since OTA digital even on an SD channel like KTEH is full 720x480.

Actually, OTA SD (KTEH) is 704x480, but who's counting? ;)

Originally posted by TPeterson
Actually, OTA SD (KTEH) is 704x480, but who's counting? ;)

Thanks for the clarification. I was wondering about that. Are any of the local
SD ones full 720. ATSC defines so may resolutions!

Originally posted by kevini
Thanks for the clarification. I was wondering about that. Are any of the local
SD ones full 720. ATSC defines so may resolutions! No, 704 seems to be the "standard" for Standard Definition. When KQED transmits a "Widescreen" show, which I think may be 720x480, they send it up-converted to regular 1080i on 9.1--er, "709"--so you never see the 720 original.

Originally posted by packerzz
Thanks for the quick response. I see this problem on static images mostly. If its fast moving, this is hard to notice as the background is not still. There is some pixelization at times with fast moving scenes on HBO, but I can live with it.

Also, there is no problem with DVD. I am thinking about calling Comcast to check on the signal strength. Besides that, I am totally stumped.

Your DVD & Comcast STB boxes use different component cables to the TV, right?

In my case, I had some herringbone-type interference patterns, coming from both my old Samsung OTA HD, and occasionally the 6412.

I wiggled my (HD) component cables around, and it was fixed :)
either was a bad connection, or just cables picking up RF or power interference, or...

but try this, sometimes low-tech solution helps :)
You might also try more heavily shielded component cables, if you're using the cheapy RCA ones comcast gave w/ the box.

Have I missed something? Where is the iGuide??

I'm in the SF Marina District, and have two 6200 HD boxes, one connected to an HD LCD, the other to an HD plasma.

I'm still plagued by the old, bogus, low-res TV Guide onscreen stuff - where's the iGuide?

Originally posted by TPeterson
No, 704 seems to be the "standard" for Standard Definition. When KQED transmits a "Widescreen" show, which I think may be 720x480, they send it up-converted to regular 1080i on 9.1--er, "709"--so you never see the 720 original.
Most of the stuff I see on 9.1 doesn't look to be widescreen 480p
upconverted to 1080i. It looks to be 1080i or 720p source. The
difference between 480p upconverted and 1080i source is very distinct
in my experience.

Originally posted by sfhub
Most of the stuff I see on 9.1 doesn't look to be widescreen 480p
upconverted to 1080i. It looks to be 1080i or 720p source. The
difference between 480p upconverted and 1080i source is very distinct
in my experience. If you watch the opening credits (or subscribe to Red Dana's email newsletter) you can tell the difference. The true HD presentations are labeled such ("presented in High Definition") while the widescreen shows (including many Novas, e.g., and "Secrets of the Dead") say "presented in Widescreen Definiition". Yes, there is a clearly apparent difference between the up-rezzed WD and the true HD shows.

Originally posted by dcci
Have I missed something? Where is the iGuide??

I'm in the SF Marina District, and have two 6200 HD boxes, one connected to an HD LCD, the other to an HD plasma.

I'm still plagued by the old, bogus, low-res TV Guide onscreen stuff - where's the iGuide?

For some reason they have issues with the Iguide and the 6200..I'm not sure when they will be able to release it...maybe Barovelli has an update.

FYI..it does work fine on the 6412 DVR...and the HD-DVR function + IGuide is well worth the extra $4.95/month in my mind

I guess it depends on your system. Here in Pothole-uma the analog service is marginal, at best. For the most part the digital channels look "better" - maybe not sharper (or maybe a little bit) but far less noise, dot-crawl, etc..

Originally posted by walk
I guess it depends on your system. Here in Pothole-uma the analog service is marginal, at best. For the most part the digital channels look "better" - maybe not sharper (or maybe a little bit) but far less noise, dot-crawl, etc..

Yes it does depend on the system and distance from the node . I have lived in two houses in Fremont, One in the newer South Fremont and now one in Central Fremont.

The house in south Fremont had brand new underground cable. No ingress issues and the digital SNR was excellent. The Analog was pretty crappy though.

In Central Fremont the whole plant is Aerial and once they fixed the ingress from a squirrel chewed cable the digital and the analog is perfect. I've traced it back and I'm only one amp from the node. The number of amp's from the node makes a big difference on analog.

So even on the same headend you can have excellent analog and crappy analog depending on how far down the chain you are. The Aerial plants are much easlier to work out how they are configured just by walking around even though they look terrible.

Kevin

Originally posted by TPeterson
If you watch the opening credits (or subscribe to Red Dana's email newsletter) you can tell the difference. The true HD presentations are labeled such ("presented in High Definition") while the widescreen shows (including many Novas, e.g., and "Secrets of the Dead") say "presented in Widescreen Definiition". Yes, there is a clearly apparent difference between the up-rezzed WD and the true HD shows.
I just looked in my guide and I didn't realize they had this many
upconverted shows.

I'm used to the old days before KQED started this hekyl/jekyl pre/post
8pm super multicast business. Back then it was the "goto" HD demo
channel with 24/7 of WETA digital HD. We used to joke that we had
never seen so many flowers, birds, and choo choo trains until getting
HD :)

I turned it on recently and it happened to be showing an HD show, so I
never realized they switched over to upconverted SD for much of the
content. I thought SD content was only for their other subchannels and
after 8pm they had all HD shows on 9.1 just like they had in the old days
24/7.

I tried different component cables (100$ monster ones), different power supplies (monster, belkin, some other brand), tried cable through monster clean power and without, different levels on noise reduction feature on TV and nothing helps.

Next logical step is to replace the Moto and then the TV. very frustrated! Will update you if I find something that fixes this problem.

[
QUOTE]Originally posted by cgould
Your DVD & Comcast STB boxes use different component cables to the TV, right?

In my case, I had some herringbone-type interference patterns, coming from both my old Samsung OTA HD, and occasionally the 6412.

I wiggled my (HD) component cables around, and it was fixed :)
either was a bad connection, or just cables picking up RF or power interference, or...

but try this, sometimes low-tech solution helps :)
You might also try more heavily shielded component cables, if you're using the cheapy RCA ones comcast gave w/ the box. [/QUOTE]

Originally posted by bmark
South bay starts May 25th.
Not sure if this is part of regular Comcast reordering or early May 25th
cleanup. Bunch of music channels got reordered. inhd1/2/dischd clearQAM
no longer tune. HD special events got moved to 105.1 from 105.3, ABC
and KQED rearranged themselves on 117.[1-7], bunch of SD clearQAM
no longer tune.

Originally posted by sfhub
Not sure if this is part of regular Comcast reordering or early May 25th
cleanup. Bunch of music channels got reordered. inhd1/2/dischd clearQAM
no longer tune. HD special events got moved to 105.1 from 105.3, ABC
and KQED rearranged themselves on 117.[1-7], bunch of SD clearQAM
no longer tune.


So does this mean that the south bay head end will start simalcasting all digital soon?

Originally posted by Paradox-SJ
So does this mean that the south bay head end will start simalcasting all digital soon?
Don't know, Comcast seems to reorder stuff all on their own every few
weeks w/o need for some impending event like digital simulcast. It could
be just part of regular maintenance or it could be the start of things to
come.

Greetings,

Has anybody been having spotty reception of KTVU during the last couple of weeks? The Sutro stations have been coming in fine for me in Belmont with my 4228 antenna, and Fox has been very reliable until maybe a month ago. It may be that I'm starting to pick up some problems from nearby trees as spring foliage comes, but before I climb on the roof I wanted to ask.

Also, a friend says he's getting Fox-HD on DirecTV. Anybody else? I get CBS and NBC, but I thought Fox was not available in our area?

Mike--

This is the Comcast thread...but I'll tell you that I haven't seen any changes in KTVU D56 OTA down here in San Carlos lately.

Here, on ch 184 I think, they simulcast "KGO-DT" (the standard def signal, not the HD feed) and side-by-side with the analog channel 7, even going straight to my tv instead of thru the 6200, which normally looks better, the digital picture is clearly superior, no contest. This is on a 46" Sony HDTV too.

So, QAM64 vs QAM256, is that like 16-bit computers vs 32-bit? More bits, higher bandwidth, etc?

Originally posted by walk
Here, on ch 184 I think, they simulcast "KGO-DT" (the standard def signal, not the HD feed) and side-by-side with the analog channel 7, even going straight to my tv instead of thru the 6200, which normally looks better, the digital picture is clearly superior, no contest. This is on a 46" Sony HDTV too.

So, QAM64 vs QAM256, is that like 16-bit computers vs 32-bit? More bits, higher bandwidth, etc?
Actually KGO-HD, KGO-DT, and all the KQED variants are simulcast together.
The numbering on your cable box is for user convenience. It usually has
little relationship to the actual frequencies that are being used.

7.1 707 117.1 KGO-HD ABC HD
9.3 190 117.2 KQED-W KQED World
9.2 189 117.3 KQED-E KQED Encore
9.1 709 117.4 KQED-DT KQED HD
9.5 192 117.5 KQED-K KQED Kids
7.2 194 117.6 KGO-DT ABC DT
9.4 191 117.7 KQED-L KQED Life
QAM256 yields about 1.5 times more bandwidth than QAM64.

I don't think KGO-DT is the best example of what digital simulcast of
the analog channels will look like. I think bravo or scifi are better
examples. Briefly I was able to see tvlandp, oln, and golf channel
simulcast and they looked pretty soft, significantly worse than KGO-DT.

Some of the existing "digital" SD cable channels are transmitted as
[528,480]x480i frames and have high compression resulting in pretty
poor pictures, on my display the digital SD is worse than analog. I much
prefer the analog. So the big question is which flavor of digital
simulcast are we going to get? The 480x480i highly compressed
crappy version or something along the line of 704x480i KGO-DT.

walk--

64 v. 256 QAM has nothing to do with picture quality (i.e., resolution or bit rate) but rather with squeezing more bits within a given r.f. bandwidth. The KGO-DT simulcast looks better than the other "digital cable" channels not because it happens to be 256QAM, but instead because it's a 704x480i picture and not a 528x480i one. 704x480i is enough pixels so that the image on a large-screen DTV has a chance to outshine the analog version, even with a clean analog signal. However, most often, the bit rate of the SD transmissions is low enough that you'll see significant macro blocking in fast-changing scenes--and these (at least for new DTV viewers) tend to be more annoying than the more accustomed "snow" noise in analog pictures.

Is the Giants game on in HD right now, it's not in the Sac. area.

Yes, the Giants game is in HD, on FSN.

Originally posted by sfhub
Not sure if this is part of regular Comcast reordering or early May 25th
cleanup. Bunch of music channels got reordered. inhd1/2/dischd clearQAM
no longer tune. HD special events got moved to 105.1 from 105.3, ABC
and KQED rearranged themselves on 117.[1-7], bunch of SD clearQAM
no longer tune.

I'm in Mountain View and have the same problems as of today 5/6.
I tried to see what was on INHD/INHD2/Discovery HD and the Digital
Cable (SD) channels for naught. The Motorola STB kept telling me
"Not Authorized". I called support, the remotely rebooted my STB
but to no avail. As of this evening, I still don't receive these channels.

:mad:

I like the prospect of getting DTV versions of the analog channels.
My only fear is that they'll all be the crappy, overly compressed
versions we get for SciFi, BBC America, et cetera.

I keep hoping Comcast will use the 64 QAM to 256 QAM upgrade to
improve the quality (i.e. reduce compression) of the Digital cable
channels. Then again, I keep hoping I'll win the lottery too.

Does anyone have both DirecTV and Comcast? How do channels
such as Discovery, Animal Planet, BBC America compare on PQ
on their HD sets (preferably experiences on plasma)?

If DirecTV PQ is equivalent to or better than Comcast analog
channels (discounting the problems with local channels being too
compressed on DirecTV), I may switch and buy an antenna.

Thanks.

This morning in San Carlos, all the QAM clear channels seem to be back in their usual spots, following yesterday's odd blackout....

Ditto Cupertino.

And 732 and 734 say "This channel should be available shortly" while 730 puts up the usual "Subscription Service HBO HD."

But 704 is also "This channel should be available shortly" as of 10:40 AM.

Originally posted by TPeterson
This morning in San Carlos, all the QAM clear channels seem to be back in their usual spots, following yesterday's odd blackout....

I don't know how long this will last. Here's what Comcast support e-mailed me last night:

Thank you for contacting Comcast.

After reviewing your account, I do show that you are not authorized to
view the channels in question. All digital channels and INHD, INHD2
and Discovery HD require a minimum subscription level of Digital Classic

What? This is not indicated on their Web site!

I then looked at the printed guide (version SRCA80MV 0105) they gave me the other day when the HD cable box was installed:

INHD: You must subscribe to the Digital Clasic Tier to receive these channels.

I only have "Expanded Cable" + "HDTV" which means might equate to "HDTV Limited Basic" and not "HDTV Digital Classic".

With all this nickel and diming, getting an ariel antenna and DirecTV is beginning to look more and more appealing ... especially if PQ is equivalent to or better than current analog cable (non-local) channels and Digital Classic channels.

BTW, I've been assuming that Comcast does not publish anywhere the r.f. channel assignments of their digital menu, since the translation into the published 3-digit numbers is handled transparently inside their STB--and also, I imagined that most of the 64QAM "clear" channels aren't supposed to be clear. But now that there are QAM-capable (and cablecard?) DTV sets that may not make that translation internally...and there's talk of A/D simulcasting...I'm wondering if it's (still) true that the physical assignments are not published? Anybody have light to shed on this??

From what I can tell, even if they did publish the RF assignments, unless
they updated weekly, it would be out of date pretty quickly. They seem
to be tweaking the RF constantly. Maybe that will all calm down once
digital simulcasting completes.

Disc-HD moved from 115.3 to 115.1. I think one of the inhd channels
moved one subchannel also. A lot of the SD clear QAM got moved
around.

I think Comcast prides itself in being able to change the RF at will and
having 99.9% of their customers not realize a thing. The guy assigned
to digital RF probably has a wry grin on his face whenever he's changing
the digital RF, thinking "I pity the fool assigned to analog RF" and all the
bells and hoops they'd have to go through to reassign analog RF.

I think QAM and CableCard are such a miniscule portion of their user
base that there is pretty low chance they will publish RF to benefit so
few people, and introduce a maintenance issue to keep the RF listings
in sync with their changes.

I tried to watch Discovery HD last night bvut it said I didn't have a subscription to that channel. I tried again today and it's back to normal. I've been getting Discovery HD since they added KTVU in January. I was just getting read to do battle with Comcast when the channel is back today. I wonder if this was a result of the QAM changes?

Threads merged.

Originally posted by rshaw
I wonder if this was a result of the QAM changes?
Two things happened.

First, Disc-HD RF changed from 115.3 to 115.1. This would be transparent
to you if you are using STB. 2nd thing happened was Disc-HD went from
clear QAM to encrypted. This would be noticeable to you unless you had
appropriate package.

Today, Disc-HD kept the 115.1 RF, but went back to clear QAM.

Wonder why KTVU didn't see fit to carry the NASCAR race in HD?

Advantage : DirecTV....:p :D

I'm in South San Jose and Showtime HD, Cinemax HD, Starz HD and KRON HD are all displaying the dredded "channel will return shortly" message screen. Anyone else having this problem? My cable has been working great for many months. Maybe Comcast is tweaking things again. Any info.?

Originally posted by Ace of Space
I'm in South San Jose and Showtime HD, Cinemax HD, Starz HD and KRON HD are all displaying the dredded "channel will return shortly" message screen. Anyone else having this problem? My cable has been working great for many months. Maybe Comcast is tweaking things again. Any info.?

In Fremont KRON and SHOWTIME HD are down and have been down all day.

Also they cannot "hit" anything currently. If you call them they have a message saying all digital cable is having issues.

So it is not just you it is an area wide problem. Probably something to do with the 256 QAM migration.

Originally posted by kevini
In Fremont KRON and SHOWTIME HD are down and have been down all day.
I think it is down in most places.

Thanks, I kind of had the idea it was a wide spead thing. I'm sure they'll clear it up eventually. Cheers.

Originally posted by kevini
In Fremont KRON and SHOWTIME HD are down and have been down all day.



In Santa Rosa, KRON and Showtime-HD have been down since early February...:D :p

Originally posted by keenan
In Santa Rosa, KRON and Showtime-HD have been down since early February...:D :p

Ahh maybe comcast is trying to make us 550Mhz :D:D:D

Originally posted by keenan
In Santa Rosa, KRON and Showtime-HD have been down since early February...:D :p

Keenan, you are soooooo cruel...:D :p
I guess we just don't know what we are missing.. :)

Laters,
Mikef5

Every channel became "This cahnnel should be available shortly" this afternoon.

Right now, only KRON/HDNET is having problems in south bay.

I live in the Blossom Hill/Highway 85 area of South San Jose and Showtime HD, Starz HD, Cinemax HD and KRON HD are still down.

Originally posted by Ace of Space
I live in the Blossom Hill/Highway 85 area of South San Jose and Showtime HD, Starz HD, Cinemax HD and KRON HD are still down.

Same here in Fremont. I looks like they are moving them to new freqencies and have not told the STB where to look. The "Current Channel Status" shows blank which is very wierd.

Has anybody with a TV with a built in QAM tuner able to tune Showtime HD, Starz HD, Cinemax HD and KRON HD?

Has anybody noticed that certain channels in the SD line up are currently
256QAM?

I know KQED, KGO and KNTV multicasts are but I noticed today that TVG, NFL network and MTV Jams are also 256QAM.

The strange part is that all three of those channels run @ 704x480 and look fantasic. I wonder is comcast put them on 256QAM from the start since they are higher res or if they are going to increase the res when they go 256QAM.

Unfortunately I know they are probably not going to change the res they are just going to get some bandwidth back. I is just something good to hope for :)

Kevin

Originally posted by Ace of Space
I live in the Blossom Hill/Highway 85 area of South San Jose and Showtime HD, Starz HD, Cinemax HD and KRON HD are still down.
Sorry, you may be right on the pay channels. They are encrypted so
they display the same behavior whether they are working or not.

Originally posted by Ace of Space
I live in the Blossom Hill/Highway 85 area of South San Jose and Showtime HD, Starz HD, Cinemax HD and KRON HD are still down.

I'm in the Monterey/Branham area of SSJ and have lost the same channels.
I can't believe this group is so quiet about losing the premium HD channels
that we have fought for and pay for. Three days now and counting......
That extent of a major outage is unacceptable, IMO. :mad:

I live in the Capitol/highway 87 and I don't have the premium channels either.

I guess we can ask for a refund of the days we don't have service.

Originally posted by rsra13
I guess we can ask for a refund of the days we don't have service.

Yes you can, and I already have. The CSR said I'll be credited ~$4 per day for the
loss of those channels. But that's not the point - I really want those channels back!

Originally posted by Mikef5
Keenan, you are soooooo cruel...:D :p
I guess we just don't know what we are missing.. :)

Laters,
Mikef5

Hey, I call it like I see it, I'm paying for them, so as far as I'm concerned they are down...in fact, that includes all the other stuff we don't get either. Now if Comcast would give us a discount because we don't get the full line-up then I might see it differently.

The bottom line is, I don't really care what their problems are as far as providing those channels to us, if I pay the same as someone who does get them, then I am being cheated, plain and simple. :)

Originally posted by keenan
Hey, I call it like I see it, I'm paying for them, so as far as I'm concerned they are down...in fact, that includes all the other stuff we don't get either. Now if Comcast would give us a discount because we don't get the full line-up then I might see it differently.

The bottom line is, I don't really care what their problems are as far as providing those channels to us, if I pay the same as someone who does get them, then I am being cheated, plain and simple. :)


So sounds like you should be getting $4/day credit..just like the guys in San Jose where the channels are down because of problems

;)

Originally posted by keenan
Hey, I call it like I see it, I'm paying for them, so as far as I'm concerned they are down...in fact, that includes all the other stuff we don't get either. Now if Comcast would give us a discount because we don't get the full line-up then I might see it differently.

The bottom line is, I don't really care what their problems are as far as providing those channels to us, if I pay the same as someone who does get them, then I am being cheated, plain and simple. :)

Keenan, I was being facetious, pulling your leg :)
I agree 1000% with you but it's like beating your head into a wall sometimes when you deal with Comcast. I've decided to put my money were I get the most bang for my buck, if it's Comcast, so be it, if not then someone else but things need to move faster on the Comcast things, I'm not getting any younger :p

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by kevini
Has anybody noticed that certain channels in the SD line up are currently
256QAM?

I know KQED, KGO and KNTV multicasts are but I noticed today that TVG, NFL network and MTV Jams are also 256QAM.

The strange part is that all three of those channels run @ 704x480 and look fantasic. I wonder is comcast put them on 256QAM from the start since they are higher res or if they are going to increase the res when they go 256QAM.

Unfortunately I know they are probably not going to change the res they are just going to get some bandwidth back. I is just something good to hope for :)

Kevin

This is part of the plan to move to 256QAM system wide. 256QAM however has nothing to do with the compression being used - it's just the modulation of the bits over the RF plant. You do get more capacity by running 256 QAM, so they can use a less aggressive compression, but that decision is made at HITS not locally, so I doubt the compression rates have changed. As far as I know, HITS does not uplink 2 versions of the channel at different compression rates as a general practice, though this may the case for some specific channels.

Once their new terrestrial network is in place, they will have enough bandwidth to play games like that, but I'm pretty sure HITS isn't doing that, in fact I don't believe Comcast does any of it's own encoding for national feeds.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by Mikef5
Keenan, I was being facetious, pulling your leg :)


Laters,
Mikef5

I know, but it gave me an opening to express my opinion. :D

I'm with you on the best bang for the buck and I could care less about HSI, VOD, VoIP or any other "service" the cableco "thinks" I want. Only thing I'm interested in is HD programming, Comcast can keep the rest of that crap. :)

Originally posted by davisdog
So sounds like you should be getting $4/day credit..just like the guys in San Jose where the channels are down because of problems

;)

Yeah right, and have Roberts get less than $30 million this year...I mean, how is the guy going to survive...? :p

Originally posted by MikeSM
This is part of the plan to move to 256QAM system wide. 256QAM however has nothing to do with the compression being used - it's just the modulation of the bits over the RF plant. You do get more capacity by running 256 QAM, so they can use a less aggressive compression, but that decision is made at HITS not locally, so I doubt the compression rates have changed. As far as I know, HITS does not uplink 2 versions of the channel at different compression rates as a general practice, though this may the case for some specific channels.

Once their new terrestrial network is in place, they will have enough bandwidth to play games like that, but I'm pretty sure HITS isn't doing that, in fact I don't believe Comcast does any of it's own encoding for national feeds.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike, I know the res etc is all done by HITS and Comcast just puts it stream straight onto the cable. I was wondering if those have always been 256QAM or if it is a change. MTV Jams seems a strange channel to be at full SD res!

HITS BTW is "Headend in the Sky" It was setup by AT&T broadband I believe to make digital cable easier to distribute.

Mike can correct me if I'm wrong.

Actually HITS was set up by TCI initially, with agreements with the other operators to facilitate digital migration by the MSO's. It's been there for quite awhile, and has substantial transponder resources.

I think these channels are all pretty new, so I think they have been added at 256 QAM. Eventually everything will be 256 QAM after any plant and STB issues are resolved. I am not sure that any of the older digital channels are sent in 256 QAM yet, but as I said, I think that will happen over time.

Thanks,
Mike

I believe comcast now use a fiber based network that they lease from a third party for the programing distribution. It's why they can keep inhd on cable systems. If the channel is delivered by Satellite it must be made available for E* and D* to try to purchase. There was a press release on the comcast web site about them leasing capacity from Level 3. It appears to be mainly for the delivery of VOD content but with it's projected capacity, it could easily by used for programing.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20041207/PHTU01307122004-1.html

HDNET is back on 111.1

Originally posted by fitzwest
I believe comcast now use a fiber based network that they lease from a third party for the programing distribution. It's why they can keep inhd on cable systems. If the channel is delivered by Satellite it must be made available for E* and D* to try to purchase. There was a press release on the comcast web site about them leasing capacity from Level 3. It appears to be mainly for the delivery of VOD content but with it's projected capacity, it could easily by used for programing.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20041207/PHTU01307122004-1.html

It's not operational yet. I know the folks working on it. :-)

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by sfhub
HDNET is back on 111.1

awww i was hoping it would be gone forever :o

Originally posted by IndigoBlu
awww i was hoping it would be gone forever :o

If you dont have it you never now what you are missing:D

especially since its not HDNet...just year old tapes of stuff they'd shown in years past (always love watching repeats of those Division 2 Baseball games from 2003) :p

Is that part of KRON's bandwidth, are they testing equipment, is it a placeholder? KQED used to loop HD stuff all day, now they have actual content, even though it's only at night. So what's the deal with the HDnet repeat loop anyway?

Originally posted by thatdude90210
Is that part of KRON's bandwidth, are they testing equipment, is it a placeholder? KQED used to loop HD stuff all day, now they have actual content, even though it's only at night. So what's the deal with the HDnet repeat loop anyway?

KRON uses old HDnet tapes to fill up their Digital channel when they dont have original content to air (and they never really have original content)...

DISC-HD 115.1 seems to be having troubles now.

So we traded working DISC-HD for KRON/HDNET loop.

Net loss IMO.

Eventually we will be on par with 550Mhz systems :(

Maybe somebody heard, DISC-HD pops in and out every few minutes now.

Hmm...over here in Santa Cruz, looks like eveything is back except HBO. It's just a blue screen that says HD/SE (Hi-Def Special Events).

I don't know if it is my imagination, but the contrast seems to have
improved on the KRON/HDNET loop. Before it seemed the brightness
or blacklevels were turned up a little. Now it has that 3d look that other
channels have.

INHD1/FSBAHD - 105.4/719 seems to be out now. Don't know if it is
because of problems or blackout for the A's baseball game.

yes...is very annoying. inhd1/dhdt are out over here. i was hoping to catch the las vegas show on dhdt..oh well, hopefully it's back up by the replay/s.

edit: yay, inhd1 is back, baseball on inhd2..but still no dhdt

While watching 'Blind Justice' last night, there were a couple of times when I got a loud screech from the tv (through a Pio 1014 AVR). It lasted only a few seconds, but was very loud. Did anyone else have this problem; i.e., was it a problem in the signal? Or do I need to look for something in the tv, etc.?

I had it as well, a couple of times toward the end of the hour. I noticed the volume was real low overall again also.

There seemed to be some bad edits as well last night, musical pieces cut off mid-note, weird...

This show has some great picture quality, that scene with Karen with the blue wall in the background was fantastic, I don't know how it could get any better than that.

Anyone else been getting movies on INHD2 instead of the FSBA Giants games
as listed on the guide this week?

Originally posted by millerwill
While watching 'Blind Justice' last night, there were a couple of times when I got a loud screech from the tv (through a Pio 1014 AVR). It lasted only a few seconds, but was very loud. Did anyone else have this problem; i.e., was it a problem in the signal? Or do I need to look for something in the tv, etc.?

Same thing here (Comcast-Mountain View). Happened at least 3 or 4 times. Also, some freezing and breakup during the episode. Noticed some questionable edits/transitions. I have seen all of the episodes and this is the first broadcast with these issues.

web

Just yesterday, I no longer get DiscoveryHD. The DVR had recorded something on Monday morning, but yesterday (Tuesday) I started getting the "not authorized" screen for that channel. other HD channels including ESPN-HD continue to operate fine, and when I went into the diagnostic screens I saw what looked like reasonable signal strengths (incl. 0 uncorrectable and 0 correctable errors). I also noticed the "channel status" screen had an "authorized: no" value unlike other channels.

I called Comcast earlier today, the first CSR sent a reset to the box and told me to call back in awhile if the problem persisted. That didn't seem to do the trick, so the second CSR I spoke with is sending a technician out tomorrow. I had asked her to insure I'm supposed to receive the channel, she confirmed I should be getting it (I'm one of those "all analog + HD DVR" accounts, no digital package / tier, so thought maybe they changed their policies)

Anyone else have this problem? or anyone else in Sunnyvale able to get DiscHD? I'm trying to figure out if it's a local issue for me, or a system-wide problem that a tech visit won't actually solve... thanks in advance!

Just finished watching the James Dean special on channel 709 (HD PBS). Excellent program, but the audio and video were grossly mis-timed; this was lip-sync at the worst I've ever seen. Was it that way for others?

I was channel surfing earlier this evening, saw something in black & white on KQED briefly, and the sound was way off sync.

Poochie--

No DISC-HD here either at the moment.

Miller & Dude--

709 lip-synch seemed perfect to me just now using MyHD MDP-130.

Originally posted by Poochie
I had asked her to insure I'm supposed to receive the channel, she confirmed I should be getting it (I'm one of those "all analog + HD DVR" accounts, no digital package / tier, so thought maybe they changed their policies)



"all analog + HD DVR"

What sort of account is that? How do you get DiscoveryHD and ESPN-HD without any digital package? How long have you had them?

Here in SF, right now watching "Tracks Ahead," KQED is still off sync. Tried it with a MyHD 130 & a Fusion 3T, same lip-sync problem. Heh, at least we still have Disc-HD. :)

No Discovery HD last night either. It stopped a few days ago and then came back. I also tried to watch James Dean on KQED-HD and the audio was way out of sync; unwatachable.

Is this all because of the QAM changes in the bay area?

Originally posted by keenan
"all analog + HD DVR"

What sort of account is that? How do you get DiscoveryHD and ESPN-HD without any digital package? How long have you had them?

I rent a townhouse in Sunnyvale. Part of the rental includes the analog cable channels, which is through a group account with Comcast's business accounts division. This is what I believe is "standard cable" ... analog channels 2 through 70-something. But I might be confused by the labeling (the "standard" / "expanded basic" terminology seems to trip people up). This is on a 550MHz system.

About 1 year ago I signed up for a HD STB rental (6200), for which they charged me directly ~$5/month. The STB would tune the HD locals (CBS/NBC/ABC/KQED/KRON) and ESPN-HD, but not the HD premium channels unless they were on "free promo" times.

In December I got the 6412/DVR, for which they charged an additional ~$10/month. Channel lineup stayed the same.

In early Feb., they sent out a snail-mail letter saying they were removing SHO-HD and KRON from our lineup, to add KTVU and DiscHD. IIRC, someone else scanned a copy of that letter. So I've had DiscHD from that day through earlier this week.

Discovery HD is part of the Digital Classic package ($10/month). They may give it free to new DVR customers for a while, but not forever.

I'm in a 550MHz city also, and I got the same letter saying Discovery-HD is free, but it's only "free" if you pay for the Digital Classic package. ESPN-HD is free for everybody.

Check your bill carefully. If you don't get the Digital Classic package they may also be charging a $5/month equipment rental fee for the DVR. They wave this with the digital classic package, so it's only $5/month more net.

On the subject of Discovery HD, how does that channel pay for itself w/o commercials? Anyone know how long that's going to last (ie, no commercials other than upcoming DSC HD shows)? There aren't a whole lot of good shows on that channel, but the few that are good are very, very good.

Discovery HD is working again for me. it was still dead early this morning (~2am), and I had written down all the diagnostic info for the upcoming tech visit (signal strengths, channel status, etc). but of course when he arrived they had fixed the problem already, so it was quite a brief visit. I'm not sure what exactly was fixed.

Yes, my bill has the $5/month fee to rent the DVR, and $9.95/month for DVR service. So I suppose I could get Digital Classic for a net of $5/month more, but right now I don't seem to need to as the digital SD lineup has no appeal to me. The letter I got back in Feb looked like the one in post #4797 (page 240) here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5105010#post5105010), which did not mention the need for a digital package/tier. I'm glad it appears that this is still true.

[edited to add a URL]

Yup Discovery HD is back.

I pay only the basic and $5 for the Moto box (non-DVR).

Discovery HD is boring though. They could use more travel shows. Since they own the Travel Channel, why not convert some of their filmed pieces to HD and show it on Discovery HD instead? Are those nature shows and people on motorcycles or that home makeover show really that much more popular?

I prefer the travel shows on InHD and occasionally on KQED-HD.

yeah i also find it sad that with all the good shows DHDT has access too, they show the same old boring shows. Every now and then they show something great that aired on one of their other channels in HD, but then it's usually a one off thing or there are hardly any repeats. i also ponder the choice in playing those home makeover / car series on a daily basis...those hours could be so better spent! bah! it's annoying knowing that they have so much good stuff "in the back". but i'm really looking forward to alien planet on sat. good thing dhdt is back :) (hopefully it stays)

also getting krondt on 111.1 instead of old hdnet. --nm it swirched back

..and it seems there's an HBO HD free preview again. nm again, it went then came back..this is all too wierd.

Originally posted by John Mace
On the subject of Discovery HD, how does that channel pay for itself w/o commercials? Anyone know how long that's going to last (ie, no commercials other than upcoming DSC HD shows)? There aren't a whole lot of good shows on that channel, but the few that are good are very, very good.

The cost is built into the subscription rate you pay the cable company.

I'm curious about the people who are getting the channel without a digital subscription though. I understand what the deal is in Poochie's case, but is anyone else getting DiscoveryHD with just a basic sub? I thought we had figured out that the letter I posted turned out to be a load of BS.

Based on what I've read here lately, I see people saying they are getting DiscoveryHD and ESPN-HD with just a basic sub...is that a correct assumption...?

Originally posted by wco81


Discovery HD is boring though. .

Generally I agree with this, but Supervolcano that was on a week ago was great.

DISC-HD is gone for me again.

Various channels switched RF again.

719 105.4 -> 105.3 INHD/FSBAHD
725 105.3 -> 105.4 HDSE

722 115.1 -> 115.3 DISC-HD

11.1 703 116.2 -> 116.1 KNTV-DT
11.2 186 116.3 -> 116.2 KNTV-W
723 116.1 -> 116.3 ESPN-HD
723 116.1 -> 119.1 ESPN-HD
ESPN-HD is now duplicated on RF 116.3 and 119.1.

Hopefully ESPN-HD on 119.1 is placeholder for TNT-HD. I guess one
can always wish.

Anybody else watching the Giants / Astros in HD on FSNBA right now?

All the transport controls are locked out while watching on this channel.

Other channels (including HD) work fine, I even went ahead and recorded it, but the transport controls still don't work.

Just my box?

Brian

Originally posted by sfhub
DISC-HD is gone for me again.

Various channels switched RF again.

719 105.4 -> 105.3 INHD/FSBAHD
725 105.3 -> 105.4 HDSE

722 115.1 -> 115.3 DISC-HD

11.1 703 116.2 -> 116.1 KNTV-DT
11.2 186 116.3 -> 116.2 KNTV-W
723 116.1 -> 116.3 ESPN-HD
723 116.1 -> 119.1 ESPN-HD
ESPN-HD is now duplicated on RF 116.3 and 119.1.

Hopefully ESPN-HD on 119.1 is placeholder for TNT-HD. I guess one
can always wish.

Looks like this may only be in 860Mhz areas. Channel 119 is at 763Mhz which is definitely out of the 750Mhz range. We may have our first seperation of 750 and 860.

I don't have a QAM tuner to see if it is on an equivenant system here in Fremont (750Mhz system).

The Digital simulcasting they are trying on channel 82 etc also only seems to be happening on the 860 Mhz systems.

They must be waiting for all 256QAM before trying anything on the 750Mhz and below.

Originally posted by keenan
The cost is built into the subscription rate you pay the cable company.

I'm curious about the people who are getting the channel without a digital subscription though. I understand what the deal is in Poochie's case, but is anyone else getting DiscoveryHD with just a basic sub? I thought we had figured out that the letter I posted turned out to be a load of BS.

Based on what I've read here lately, I see people saying they are getting DiscoveryHD and ESPN-HD with just a basic sub...is that a correct assumption...?

I was getting it in Milpitas since February. It's been gone for the last two days, but I'm now getting many other digital stations I never got before. I was checking last night and came across 7 or 8. I don't remember them all, but some were: Discovery Health, Discovery Kids, National Geographic, BBC America, NOG, and others. I don't understand what's happening but it's an adventure each night now seeing what new and different stations I'm receiving. I only subscribe to Expanded Basic and pay $5 additional for the HD STB.

Originally posted by sfhub
DISC-HD is gone for me again.



<AOL>Me too!</AOL>

My Discovery HD was working fine when the tech came to visit. But later in the day it went back to 'not authorized' like before. Oh well, we'll see if another call can get it straighted out one way or the other.

Not sure why they are sending tech out. It's a problem at their end,
not yours.

Not sure why they are sending tech out. It's a problem at their end,

Um... So they can charge you extra money?

I had some problems with Channel 2 & Channel 5 HD about a week ago, they were pixelizing, and they wanted to set up an appointment to check my end. I told them what the problem was and they went through some BS about signal strength on my end and the tech needed to check it.

That might have worked... If they hadn't just done this back in February when I installed my HD box! The funny part of it was that they double billed me for the work they did. They billed it in the March bill, and then billed it again in my April bill.

The CSR claimed they delivered my HD box and had to do a separate service call... Funny, I remember picking the box up at their office, and the service call was after I had the problems with the signal.

On a more pleasant, or ominous, note. I recently received a message that my digital service may be messed up for a while starting on May 17th, could this mean they will finally be upgrading the Bay Point area to 750MHz? Or is it the 256 QM deal everyone's been talking about.

fitprod

Originally posted by fitprod
On a more pleasant, or ominous, note. I recently received a message that my digital service may be messed up for a while starting on May 17th, could this mean they will finally be upgrading the Bay Point area to 750MHz? Or is it the 256 QM deal everyone's been talking about.

fitprod Got same message in San Francisco.

Originally posted by sfhub
Not sure why they are sending tech out. It's a problem at their end,
not yours.

Don't worry, I had tried to tell them not to send one out last time, but they persisted in doing so. Obviously the tech visit wasn't what fixed it so I'll make sure that's not the route we take this time.

Looks like they've finally reset their policies on who gets (or doesn't get) Discovery HD to only include digital classic. The CSR and her supervisor were surprised I was even getting ESPN-HD without any of the digital tiers. I decided to pony up the extra $5/month to get digital classic, and the changes were immediate - Discovery HD came right back. Now I can no longer be considered one of those "standard cable + HD DVR" users I guess...

Almost hesitate to mention this.... but as of yesterday anyway, I'm getting all the premium channel vod stuff... *all*. I sub' to hbo, but not the others...

Anybody gettings lots of "Pops" and short video breakups on ESPN-HD?

116.3 ESPN-HD has the pops and breakups
119.1 ESPN-HD has none and works great

I guess we'll have to see if our regional office puts out a PR like this one from the Dallas Comcast area regional office....does anyone ever remember Comcast Western putting out any press releases about anything....

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050513/daf045.html?.v=5
TNT in HD Coming to Comcast Customers

Originally posted by keenan
I guess we'll have to see if our regional office puts out a PR like this one from the Dallas Comcast area regional office....does anyone ever remember Comcast Western putting out any press releases about anything....

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050513/daf045.html?.v=5
TNT in HD Coming to Comcast Customers

Keenan,

The West Marketing Group puts InHD ads on all of the time :)
and the trucks are all painted up with pretty ads for VOD..what more do you want.

Oh I forgot...We dont get either of those around here despite the ads (Time to put a tack strip in the street the next time one of those trucks drives by)

Originally posted by davisdog
Keenan,

The West Marketing Group puts InHD ads on all of the time :)
and the trucks are all painted up with pretty ads for VOD..what more do you want.

Oh I forgot...We dont get either of those around here despite the ads (Time to put a tack strip in the street the next time one of those trucks drives by)

:D :D :D

We'll have to sneak in and paint big targets on those service trucks and a sign that says "I'm a liar, hit me!". :p

I know a guy in Washington that should get one first.

Originally posted by fitprod
On a more pleasant, or ominous, note. I recently received a message that my digital service may be messed up for a while starting on May 17th, could this mean they will finally be upgrading the Bay Point area to 750MHz? Or is it the 256 QM deal everyone's been talking about.

fitprod

I got the same message in Rohnert Park. To be more specific, the message alluded to making the digital picture better. We are already a 750MHz area so I'm guessing that it's the 256 QAM idea. Perhaps that might include digital simulcast, please....

Originally posted by bobby94928
I got the same message in Rohnert Park. To be more specific, the message alluded to making the digital picture better....Ooo! That does suggest that they'll use some BW for higer-res. encoding. Here's hoping that they go all the way to 704x480i!

Originally posted by TPeterson
Ooo! That does suggest that they'll use some BW for higer-res. encoding. Here's hoping that they go all the way to 704x480i!

Man I hope so, the 704x480i channels look amazing. Since the res is controlled by HITS it could be tricky to do.

They could probably make a lot of HD owners happy by having some 704x480 anamorphic channels (I hear they do that in Europe). But they're probably worried their CSR's would be busy trying to explain to the rest of the crowd why "everyone looks so skinny on my tayvay." :)

The Motorola STB should be able to convert 480p widescreen to 4:3
letterbox. It is able to do it for 720p/1080i widescreen. I haven't tested
it, but I'm guessing it can do this, so there is no reason stopping them from
do this.

looks like i can't watch alien planet on dhdt tonight :(

You can if you pay for it.

SF Comcast is like the energizer bunny, it just keeps on working. :) There's an early showing of Alien planet on right now. It's pretty cool, with great PQ.

Originally posted by thatdude90210
SF Comcast is like the energizer bunny, it just keeps on working. :) There's an early showing of Alien planet on right now. It's pretty cool, with great PQ.

I'll not give the credit to Comcast, except, that they have it available, God is it good.....

Is anybody else seeing breakups on CBSHD, FOXHD, ESPNHD, INHD1, HDSE?

It's been going on for a few days and I'm surprised no one is complaining.
Maybe it is just me.

I've been having a hard time tuning in to KQED 88.5 on my FM tuner, when I read on the KQED Reception page (http://www.kqed.org/help/radio/radio-tips.jsp) that some cable companies carry FM broadcasts on the cable (see below).

Does anyone know whether Comcast in SF offers FM tuning, and if so is anyone using this? Is the cable feed plugged right into the COAX FM input on the tuner, or does one need a special type of FM tuner to receive these broadcasts?

Cable
Many television cable companies also carry FM signals on their cable. If your neighborhood is served by a cable system, call the company to see if KQED-FM is carried on the cable.

Most cable systems use separate processing for FM signals. A separate receiver is tuned to each FM station carried on the cable. If a station is not on the list, it is not on the cable.

A few cable systems use what is known as a broad band receiver for FM. FM reception, except for local stations, usually is not satisfactory with this kind of receiver.

Some cable systems change the frequency of FM stations when they put them on the cable. KQED-FM can be found at 88.5, 88.7, 88.9, 89.5, and 101.5 on different cable systems in this area. Ask the cable company for the frequencies of the stations you want to hear.

Comcast cable in SF - do they carry radio stations?

Comcast SF carries 22 FM channels, most off tuned to prevent OTA interference.
KQED-FM is carried at 89.1. Just plug a cable feed into a coax input on your FM receiver.

Originally posted by shortstop
Comcast cable in SF - do they carry radio stations?

Comcast SF carries 22 FM channels, most off tuned to prevent OTA interference.
KQED-FM is carried at 89.1. Just plug a cable feed into a coax input on your FM receiver.

Shortstop: What do you mean, how would I hookup my cable to my receiver? I don't have a coax input for FM. Could I simply hook the cable to the FM antenna input?

rshaw,
Comcast has dropped the FM signal in some areas, like Marin for example. Check with your local office to make sure your cable has FM.

If you have Comcast FM and your receiver has a FM tuner with only 300-ohm twin lead antenna input, then you need to get a 75-ohm to 300-ohm matching transformer like the RS 15-1140.

Here's a question for the *insiders* of this forum. What's the reason for not having ABC-HD in Santa Cruz? We've got Fox, CBS, NBC, Dis-HD, ESPN-HD, HBO-HD but no ABC? What gives?

Originally posted by shortstop
Comcast SF carries 22 FM channels, most off tuned to prevent OTA interference.
KQED-FM is carried at 89.1. Just plug a cable feed into a coax input on your FM receiver.
Thanks, shortstop ... are you using the Comcast cable service for your own FM tuner? I'd despaired when I heard on another list (HDTV-in-SFBay) that Comcast had removed FM broadcasts a few years back ... but I'm _hoping_ that your info is more recent!!

Would you know where I can find this list of 22 FM stations, and the frequency on which they're carried over cable?

Don't count on the quality of these signals being very good. It's a real pain to distribute these and not run into problems.

Thanks,
Mike

Would you know where I can find this list of 22 FM stations, and the frequency on which they're carried over cable?

The SF Comcast system still carries FM service, and has for decades. I have used it with various tuners for years. It has been removed on other systems , but not SF. Here is a list of channels:
KQED 89.1
KPOO 89.9
KSFB 90.5
CityCollege 90.9
KCSM 92.6
KRZZ 93.7
KPFA 94.1
KYLD 95.3
KOIT 96.9
KLLC 97.3
KISQ 97.7
KEMR 99.3
KFRC 100.1
KSFS 100.7
KIOI 101.7
KDFC 102.5
KBLX 102.9
KALW 103.3
KFOG 104.1
KITS 104.9
KMEL 105.7
KKSF 107.3

Excellent!! Many thanks, shortstop!!

So just to confirm - one can just split the cable signal going into the cable box, and feed one part via coax to the tuner's 75ohm "FM radio" input? No danger of overloading the tuner w/this technique?

Originally posted by Richo
Here's a question for the *insiders* of this forum. What's the reason for not having ABC-HD in Santa Cruz? We've got Fox, CBS, NBC, Dis-HD, ESPN-HD, HBO-HD but no ABC? What gives?

What ABC market are you in? If it's not San Francisco it may be Salinas which may not have an agreement with Comcast for the signal.

Originally posted by Richo
Here's a question for the *insiders* of this forum. What's the reason for not having ABC-HD in Santa Cruz? We've got Fox, CBS, NBC, Dis-HD, ESPN-HD, HBO-HD but no ABC? What gives?

I image it has to do with the logistics of either

a) Getting the ABC7 their HD feed over the hill from SF to Santa Cruz Headend
or
b) Comcast inserting the HD signal into their system

If I remember right...The ABC Station that served your DMA (Santacruz/Salinas/Monterey) shut down a while ago (so their is no OTA ABC station in your Area) and the Cable Company (now Comcast) got a special deal where they would serve the DMA via Cable using the ABC7/SanFrancisco Feed as the base and insert stuff locally (so Comcast is essentially the ABC affaliate over their)...maybe they cant get the HD Signal or dont have the equipment at their production center to insert the local stuff into the HD Feed?

Originally posted by netarc
Excellent!! Many thanks, shortstop!!

So just to confirm - one can just split the cable signal going into the cable box, and feed one part via coax to the tuner's 75ohm "FM radio" input? No danger of overloading the tuner w/this technique?

I don't think there is any danger of overloading, but you might be cutting down on the signal your cable box gets. Depends on what your signal strength for your cable feed is. I just tried this weekend to split off a line direct to my TV and the signal drop at the cable box was enough that I lost, or had very pixelated picture on DiscoveryHD and HBO-HD. This was with a 2GHz splitter, took the splitter out and everythings fine.

P.S. You might induce a low frequency hum when connected to the receiver as well so you might consider an inline DC blocker if that happens.

I'm getting a very annoying high-pitched whirring sound which I assume is the fan.
I'm guessing that it's only being noticed now as the weather heats up and my TV room
temperature becomes much warmer, thus activating the fan for hours on end. Are all
6412 fans this noisy, or should I try my luck with a replacement DVR?

Originally posted by keenan
This was with a 2GHz splitter, took the splitter out and everythings fine.

There is no sense in using 2GHz splitter for Comcast cable which runs below
1GHz. Many times the 2GHz splitters have slightly more signal loss below
1GHz than the pure 1GHz splitters. Use the smallest splitter that meets
your needs. 4 splits is about 60% less signal than 2 splits, whether you
have something connected or not. Also you might want to consider high
quality Electroline drop amp where the cable comes in from Comcast.

"There is no sense in using 2GHz splitter for Comcast cable which runs below
1GHz."

Way below 1 gig for some folks--550 MHz, to be precise--but that doesn't apply to you, huh, keenan? ;)

Originally posted by TPeterson
"There is no sense in using 2GHz splitter for Comcast cable which runs below
1GHz."

Way below 1 gig for some folks--550 MHz, to be precise--but that doesn't apply to you, huh, keenan? ;)

Funny..:D

I used a 2 gig because that's what I had on hand. I'm getting a CableCARD installed Thursday and I wanted to see what splitting off the signal direct to the TV would do....and I found out, not good...be interesting to see what the install guy does about the low signal.

Originally posted by keenan
Funny..:D

I used a 2 gig because that's what I had on hand. I'm getting a CableCARD installed Thursday and I wanted to see what splitting off the signal direct to the TV would do....and I found out, not good...be interesting to see what the install guy does about the low signal.

They will probably install a drop amp. They would rather not mess with the network and if they can't find any drop faults or splitters to remove they normally just install a drop amp.

My cousin had an old piece of RG-59 from the turret to his house and rather than replace it they just stuck an equilizing amp. I guess it does depend on the tech you get.

keenan/davisdog, I assume that my DMA is Santacruz/Salinas/Monterey and yes, there is no OTA signal for any ABC programming. I would think that since the headend here in Scotts Valley has several huge sat dishes, they should be able to provide some kind of ABC feed, but I'm pretty illiterate in the mechanics of it all. Hoepfully they'll get it together soon.

Originally posted by shortstop
Would you know where I can find this list of 22 FM stations, and the frequency on which they're carried over cable?

The SF Comcast system still carries FM service, and has for decades. I have used it with various tuners for years. It has been removed on other systems , but not SF.

Boston has had it cut since 1996. This is generally because they put programming on channels 95 and 96.
Usually third rate stuff that hardly anyone watches,though for a few years PPV1 and 2 were there.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by davisdog
I image it has to do with the logistics of either

a) Getting the ABC7 their HD feed over the hill from SF to Santa Cruz Headend
or
b) Comcast inserting the HD signal into their system

If I remember right...The ABC Station that served your DMA (Santacruz/Salinas/Monterey) shut down a while ago (so their is no OTA ABC station in your Area) and the Cable Company (now Comcast) got a special deal where they would serve the DMA via Cable using the ABC7/SanFrancisco Feed as the base and insert stuff locally (so Comcast is essentially the ABC affaliate over their)...maybe they cant get the HD Signal or dont have the equipment at their production center to insert the local stuff into the HD Feed? [/QUOTE

From what I remember the Bay fiber ring doesn't interconnect with the Santa Cruz market. That means they have to downlink all the video down in the Monterey area and distribute from there. I doubt the ABC7 HD is uplinked to satellite, so they have to find a terrestrial path for transporting the signal. That's why it's a pain... They can install equipment to do this, but may not have found a good path or gotten agreement from some entity to hang a couple new antennas somewhere.

Too bad they don't have that national fiber system running yet - it would make this pretty easy to do.

Thanks,
Mike


There may be some contract issues too.

I just got off the phone with "Julie", a supervisor at Comcast. I was calling to, once again, complain about lack of HD channels in my area of Sunnyvale. As almost everyone here knows, it has been impossible to get any information from Comcast on the schedule to increase bandwith in the system.

She told me (hold on to your seats) that starting today, May 17th, 2005, they are beginning the phased implementation of greater bandwith and channel availability in my area of Sunnyvale, to be completed in August.

She told me that, by the end of August, we should have all available HD channels in Sunnyvale.

Is this non-informed smoke-blowing? Can anyone confirm this? Is this too good to be true?

Originally posted by rjcrum
I just got off the phone with "Julie", a supervisor at Comcast. I was calling to, once again, complain about lack of HD channels in my area of Sunnyvale. As almost everyone here knows, it has been impossible to get any information from Comcast on the schedule to increase bandwith in the system.

She told me (hold on to your seats) that starting today, May 17th, 2005, they are beginning the phased implementation of greater bandwith and channel availability in my area of Sunnyvale, to be completed in August.

She told me that, by the end of August, we should have all available HD channels in Sunnyvale.

Is this non-informed smoke-blowing? Can anyone confirm this? Is this too good to be true?

This is the conversion to 256QAM. With the extra bandwidth gained by changing the SD channels from 64QAM to 256QAM they should have enough bandwidth to add more channels.

If they can add all the HD channels and Digital simulcast remains to be seen. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Originally posted by rjcrum


She told me that, by the end of August, we should have all available HD channels in Sunnyvale.

Is this non-informed smoke-blowing? Can anyone confirm this? Is this too good to be true?

"all available" can mean different things in different areas, hopefully it means every HD channel Comcast has, not just what they can fit on a particular system. Everytime I get a flyer from Comcast about a new service, there's that ubiquitous "where available" in fine print at the bottom.

I hope it's all because Comcast looks to be my provider of the future based on recent actions by DirecTV.

Hi guys-

There may be hope for us 550mhz denizens as part of this switch to 256QAM - when I first signed up for Comcast service here in Hayward back in March, under the 'What's in my Area' for HD, it listed the usual old 550mhz lineup, ABC/NBC/FOX/CBS/ESPN/HBO/DHDT/KQED.

Well, this morning before I went into work, my HBO HD was not working, along with a bunch of other digital channels. I called into Comcast, and got a recorded message stating that 'as of midnight last night, the entire Bay Area was being upgraded and reconfigured, and we are aware of problems and are working on them', etc.

So now when I go to 'What's in my Area' for HD in Hayward, it lists the old lineup + INHD 1/2, FSN, KRON, and all the rest!

We'll see if this actually means the channels are there in the days/weeks to come.

I wouldn't go by what the web site says. It's wrong half the time.

Just half..? :p

FYI, I just got off the phone with CS to confirm my install for Saturday. She assured me that the upgrade that is occuring in SJ is scheduled to be completed well before my install. Actually, it's scheduled to be completed today. (Of course, "scheduled" to be complete, and "actually" complete are two different things.)

Originally posted by davisdog
I image it has to do with the logistics of either

a) Getting the ABC7 their HD feed over the hill from SF to Santa Cruz Headend
or
b) Comcast inserting the HD signal into their system

If I remember right...The ABC Station that served your DMA (Santacruz/Salinas/Monterey) shut down a while ago (so their is no OTA ABC station in your Area) and the Cable Company (now Comcast) got a special deal where they would serve the DMA via Cable using the ABC7/SanFrancisco Feed as the base and insert stuff locally (so Comcast is essentially the ABC affaliate over their)...maybe they cant get the HD Signal or dont have the equipment at their production center to insert the local stuff into the HD Feed?

Sounds like the last line - not yet capable of localizing the SF ABC HDTV station for the area.

More dual broadcast HD channels. NBC joins ESPN-HD at RF 119.x :

11.1 703 116.1 KNTV-DT NBC HD
11.2 186 116.2 KNTV-W NBC Weather
723 116.3 ESPN-HD ESPN HD

723 119.1 ESPN-HD ESPN HD
703 119.2 KNTV-DT NBC HD
186 119.3 KNTV-W NBC Weather

Anyone here with any experience with CableCARD? Barovelli maybe..?:p

Had one put in today and although it has all the correct channel numbers, identical to the box, the TV only displays the 2-74 range. I can punch in say 702 and the TV goes to that channel, but it's just a white screen.

When installing the card it automatically maps and memorizes the channel, they just don't display. We tried two different cards and each one received multiple hits. I'm trying to determine if it's the display(Mits 73615) or something on Comcast's end.

2-74 are not digital channels in South Bay. Nothing under 99 (on the cable
box) is digital for us.

Is it possible your Mistubishi has a separate input select for "digital"
channels? My Sharp Aquos has separate antenna inputs for analog
and digital. Analog handles everything under 99 and digital uses the
real RF channel rather than the Comcast mappings.

The only "digital" channels which map to 2-11 are the local HD channels,
which have PSIP data.

5.1 705 79.1 KPIX-DT CBS HD
2.1 702 79.2 KTVU-DT FOX HD

11.1 703 116.1 KNTV-DT NBC HD
11.2 186 116.2 KNTV-W NBC Weather
723 116.3 ESPN-HD ESPN HD

7.1 707 117.1 KGO-HD ABC HD
9.3 190 117.2 KQED-W KQED World
9.2 189 117.3 KQED-E KQED Encore
9.1 709 117.4 KQED-DT KQED HD
9.5 192 117.5 KQED-K KQED Kids
7.2 194 117.6 KGO-DT ABC DT
9.4 191 117.7 KQED-L KQED Life

Originally posted by sfhub
2-74 are not digital channels in South Bay. Nothing under 99 (on the cable
box) is digital for us.



Same here, but they are the only channels that are viewable, all the rest of the channel numbers are auto programmed, 120 on up to the 900s, but nothing shows on the screen for those channels.

The impression I get is the card is not de-crypting the digital channels. All these cards do is say "yes " or "no" for passing the signal to the display's tuner as far as I know.

If I pull the CableCARD out and have the TV search for channels, it gives the normal 2-74, but it also gives me ESPN-HD and a bunch of music channels. Funny thing is with the ESPN-HD, it does not have a channel number displayed, just ESPN-HD. That tells me that the tuner in the TV is working, I think.

With straight cable to the TV,

Cannot get these,



5.1 705 79.1 KPIX-DT CBS HD
2.1 702 79.2 KTVU-DT FOX HD


I can get these.

Originally posted by sfhub

11.1 703 116.1 KNTV-DT NBC HD
11.2 186 116.2 KNTV-W NBC Weather
723 116.3 ESPN-HD ESPN HD

7.1 707 117.1 KGO-HD ABC HD
9.3 190 117.2 KQED-W KQED World
9.2 189 117.3 KQED-E KQED Encore
9.1 709 117.4 KQED-DT KQED HD
9.5 192 117.5 KQED-K KQED Kids
7.2 194 117.6 KGO-DT ABC DT
9.4 191 117.7 KQED-L KQED Life

Scratch my previous posts, turns out the TV needs a firmware upgrade that Mits is sending out to me.

Thanks anyway sfhub...:)

So, Keenan, you've upgraded....... My son just got the 65615, loves it.

Originally posted by bobby94928
So, Keenan, you've upgraded....... My son just got the 65615, loves it.

Yeah, I extended the room about 6' and the 55" wasn't cutting it anymore, had to go with the 73". I'll tell ya, IMO, CRT is still the best picture. :)

Originally posted by keenan
Yeah, I extended the room about 6' and the 55" wasn't cutting it anymore, had to go with the 73". I'll tell ya, IMO, CRT is still the best picture. :)

Man, I was starting to think I was the only person who felt that way. I've been watching HD shows on a Sony 32XBR400 and 36XBR200. I've been looking for a replacement for the 36" but for the life of me, I can't find anything else out there that I like. My friend has a 50" DLP and I feel both my CRTs look better. I have another friend with a 42" plasma and I get the same feeling....

I can't find something I want to buy that is bigger then the 36" and does HD with the picture quality of my CRT.

Any ideas? So far my only hope seems to be SED...

Sorry for off topic...

Originally posted by keenan
Anyone here with any experience with CableCARD? Barovelli maybe..?:p

Had one put in today and although it has all the correct channel numbers, identical to the box, the TV only displays the 2-74 range. I can punch in say 702 and the TV goes to that channel, but it's just a white screen.

When installing the card it automatically maps and memorizes the channel, they just don't display. We tried two different cards and each one received multiple hits. I'm trying to determine if it's the display(Mits 73615) or something on Comcast's end.

I remember a strain of sets that needed a firmware upgrade to use the release version of cards. Guess you have one.

I'm really curious how to update the firmware on your TV. Visions of a floppy drive inserted somewhere while you hold 'Channel Up' and power on the set.

Originally posted by russwong
Man, I was starting to think I was the only person who felt that way. I've been watching HD shows on a Sony 32XBR400 and 36XBR200. I've been looking for a replacement for the 36" but for the life of me, I can't find anything else out there that I like. My friend has a 50" DLP and I feel both my CRTs look better. I have another friend with a 42" plasma and I get the same feeling....

I can't find something I want to buy that is bigger then the 36" and does HD with the picture quality of my CRT.

Any ideas? So far my only hope seems to be SED...

Sorry for off topic...

As another 36XBR400 owner, I have to agree. It's that is does a real great job on all non-HD channels as well for me.

Guess when about 75% of programming is widescreen is when I'll give it up..

Originally posted by Barovelli
I remember a strain of sets that needed a firmware upgrade to use the release version of cards. Guess you have one.

I'm really curious how to update the firmware on your TV. Visions of a floppy drive inserted somewhere while you hold 'Channel Up' and power on the set.

You forgot standing on your head while chewing gum also...:D

There's a USB port on the set and the firmware is on one of those little USB storage devices. Just plug it in and it does it's thing, I guess, it will be a week before I get it from Mits.