KTVU in HD - The Latest Reply from Comcast (which isn't much)

Below is Comcast's reply to my inquiry about KTVU in HD before football season:


Hi Mr. ****,
Per our marketing department:
We are hoping to launch KTVU HD in the very near future but at this point we do not have a firm date.

Unfortunately this is all the information I have at this point.
Thanks,
******


The 'very near future line' is great, but I've worked with Marketing Departments and know that they're.... let's call it optimistic. Let's hope for the best.

Originally posted by davisdog
Unfortunately I think Saramilgatos is already considered a "rebuilt" cable system...and MikeSM definitions support that...we were just rebuilt at a point when 550Mhz was availabe about 5 years ago..



I think that's the case here in Santa Rosa also. It sucks, but we're victims of rapidly changing technology and having the "rebuilds" done at the "wrong" time.

Jim:(

Originally posted by Bill
Why not eliminate the HD OTA channels from the non 750mhz areas. We can get those channels with an antenna, in my case a UHF loop.

I think you need to change that "We" to "I". I would need a tower about half the size of Sutro to get those signals up here in Santa Rosa. In fact probably taller. :)

Jim

I think that's the case here in Santa Rosa also. It sucks, but we're victims of rapidly changing technology and having the "rebuilds" done at the "wrong" time.

Well, another way of looking at it is you got to enjoy high speed data for 5 years before San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland did - you even got to experience @Home's uncapped downloads that these other cities never had access to.

Comcast does have a goal of having all rebuilt systems, but the first rebuilds done were often 550 and not always 750. So I think Comcast considers these systems already rebuilt and upgraded by the traditional industry definition.

This is why I think complaining to Comcast isn't as helpful as beating up on your franchise authorities. Walk, Davisdog got my point exactly. The franchise authority can singlehandedly remove the those requirements if comcast would add additional HD channels. Believe me, comcast would love to do that! At least by pushing on this you can make them own the problem. Try it!

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by MikeSM

This is why I think complaining to Comcast isn't as helpful as beating up on your franchise authorities. Walk, Davisdog got my point exactly. The franchise authority can singlehandedly remove the those requirements if comcast would add additional HD channels. Believe me, comcast would love to do that! At least by pushing on this you can make them own the problem. Try it!

Thanks,
Mike

I have already gone that route, the reply from the Santa Rosa City Managers office is posted earlier in this thread. The response indicates the ball is Comcast's court. The bottom line was, Comcast is going to wait until better compression technology and/or analog channel depletion is possible before adding any more HD channels with maybe the exception of FOX-HD which I would think they have some BW reserved for. There are no plans at all to upgrade the system beyond the 550MHz that it is now. And we've never had HSI here. Comcast is just now testing and bringing it to market here. Both the CMO and Comcast have stated that is their focus at the current time.

So, taking the above into consideration, I do not expect to see anymore HD for quite some time, maybe 2-3yrs or more. By that time D* will have probably provided everything that I would want before then. I would rather stay with Comcast as the picture quality is usually better than the sat, but a less than perfect picture is better than none.

Jim :)

I have already gone that route, the reply from the Santa Rosa City Managers office is posted earlier in this thread. The response indicates the ball is Comcast's court. The bottom line was, Comcast is going to wait until better compression technology and/or analog channel depletion is possible before adding any more HD channels with maybe the exception of FOX-HD which I would think they have some BW reserved for. There are no plans at all to upgrade the system beyond the 550MHz that it is now. And we've never had HSI here. Comcast is just now testing and bringing it to market here. Both the CMO and Comcast have stated that is their focus at the current time.

I think you are missing my point. The classic approach people take is to get the franchise board to beat up on the cable operator until they do what they want. This is what your board did and got nowhere. What I am advocating is that you get your board to give comcast more spectrum by removing the requirement for comcast to carry all this useless public access programming. That is something the board can do that would enable more HD to be carried.

Don't press them to beat up comcast, press them to get off the dime and remove the useless channels. If they don't want to do that, then make sure they understand it's their responsibility to find another solution that can be implemented now. You could have new HD channels in a month if that requirement were removed!

Don't let them pass the buck, make sure they understand you are blaming them for not removing the public access requirement now. Don't let them squirm out of it and blame comcast.

Thanks,
Mike

Stupid comcast!!

Said I would have DSCHD today, but then this morning on my box there was a message that said it was a mistake and it won't be available. I hate when comcast bursts my bubble like that everytime :( :(

Just a quick update on my situation. I added this amp (http://www.cabletvamps.com/Products/EDA-EQ3100.htm) to my setup. My SNR and AGC are both in the good range. Lower analog cable channels are not overdriven and upper channels are greatly improved (snow is GONE).

I am very happy with this product. Now I will (when I get some time) go back to the 3-way (VCR, analog ANT1 input, and stereo reciever) from the 3-way and see how the analog looks. I'm predicting it'll be fine.

Reception on my other 2 tv's (analog) is much better on upper channels.

I recommend this product for others in a similar situation.

Best,
jeff

Originally posted by MikeSM
I think you are missing my point.
Thanks,
Mike

Mike, I do get your point, really. Currently we only have 2 public/local access channels that broadcast anything. There are 2 others where programming is non-existent. These are the "take backs" spoken of in the below statement. From the below excerpt from the response I received from the CMO it appears the City is doing it's part, it's Comcast that we are waiting on.

"There is nothing in our franchise that prevents Comcast from upgrading the system and offering these services now. Comcast prefers not to upgrade the cable plant to something beyond 550 MHz and instead utilize the less costly "backroom" technology improvement approach. To achieve this goal, Comcast has requested "take backs" from services they are currently obligated to provide the City so the services the City is utilizing will no interfere with the "backroom" technology they want to deploy. The City is willing to do this and our negotiators have agreed on the technical aspects of the franchise changes that are needed. The City, however, wants assurances in the form of performance bonds and penalties added to the franchise so it can feel confident Comcast will do what they say they are going to do. The City is waiting for Comcast's response to our proposal and hoping to receive it any day. As soon as we get their agreement, the franchise changes will be taken to the City Council for approval and Comcast can move forward with implementation."

I think the remark about "hoping to receive it any day" is a bit optimistic in regards to the answer from Comcast. Plus, we know already that these "backroom" technologies Comcast speaks of are not ready for deployment any time soon even if Comcast agreed to the proposal, hence the perf bonds and penalties. If you read between the lines it could be interpreted that Comcast is basically using a delaying tactic to avoid infrastructure upgrade costs at the current time. Due to the amount of above ground cabling currently still in use and the 100's of streams and creeks in the area, upgrading is no doubt a costly endeavor so the City made some concessions and gave Comcast what they asked for.

I have full confidence that our CMO/Franchise Authority is doing what we want. As I said earlier, it's time for Comcast to make good.

Jim :)

My question to the experts:

Can we ask the FOX network to look into this? they are also on the loosing side if all the investment they made to make HDTV available in this area are not successful, just because of whims of one affiliate.

Originally posted by mazman49
KTVU in HD - The Latest Reply from Comcast (which isn't much)

Below is Comcast's reply to my inquiry about KTVU in HD before football season:


Hi Mr. ****,
Per our marketing department:
We are hoping to launch KTVU HD in the very near future but at this point we do not have a firm date.

Unfortunately this is all the information I have at this point.
Thanks,
******


The 'very near future line' is great, but I've worked with Marketing Departments and know that they're.... let's call it optimistic. Let's hope for the best.

keenan, I read your note as saying the city is willing to release the requirement for analog transport of the public access channels when they do a conversion to an all digital system, provided that they meet various performance requirements in how they do this conversion.

What I am saying is before comcast starts working on such a conversion (which will take years!), the city could give back the analog channels for public access NOW, and have comcast add HD channels NOW with that spectrum.

Again, they are trying to shift the discussion to a future complete system conversion when this simple give back NOW could give you new HD channels NOW.

You should seperate the public access spectrum issue from the all digital conversion. This is the way to make quick progress on it.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by MikeSM

You should seperate the public access spectrum issue from the all digital conversion. This is the way to make quick progress on it.

Thanks,
Mike

I see what you are saying and it very well may be as you say, although without details of what "backroom technology" and 'take backs" are it's difficult to determine exactly what is happening.

I have sent another letter to the Santa Rosa CMO asking to clarify his points and to see if there was any response from Comcast to his statement "The City is waiting for Comcast's response to our proposal and hoping to receive it any day." The original letter from the CMO was dated Aug 01 2004. Hopefully I will have a response back in a few days. They were quite prompt the first time.

Jim

Does anyone have any updated information regarding HDTV in Redwood City? I remember reading some posts awhile ago re Emerald Hills and San Carlos areas getting HDTV, but I just called today and was told that they are just finishing a rebuild (end in December) and that HD will still not be available b/c the rebuild is only for high-speed internet. The CSR said that they are planning another rebuild for HD, but that is a year or two away!

That doesn't sound right to me, so I was hoping someone "in the know" had some different/better info.

ssupple

You don't need comcast for HD. Try Voom for the most HD. Supposedly they will be getting FSN-Bay area HD in the near future.

Voom is a bit "iffy" out here on the west coast. Because the satellite slot is actually out over the Atlantic ocean the look angle from here is pretty low. Unless you have a fairly tall structure to mount the antenna on with no obstructions to the south-east your odds of getting good signal strength from the Voom bird may be slim. Even if you can get it on a good, clear day you are looking through a whole lot of atmosphere so you stand a good chance of losing signal when the weather is not so nice (aka rain fade). I don't feel that Voom is really a good option for most of us out here on the "left coast". At least not with the slot that they currently have. However, your mileage may vary :D

Chris

Originally posted by Bill
ssupple

You don't need comcast for HD. Try Voom for the most HD. Supposedly they will be getting FSN-Bay area HD in the near future.

From what I saw, FSN-HD was an exclusive to comcast (for the 1st year at least)...I havent been able to verify that though...now if they did...and if their PVR came out on schedule...well

ssuple, the Emerald hills/ San mateo county system is fully upgraded to 860 mhz plant, and has max HD content on it. Redwood city is close to being finished with the same type of upgrade. It and San Carlos have had high speed data for some time, so the upgrades are primarily related to video service. It makes no sense to me that they will do another upgrade later - it's already running data so why do an upgrade at all if not to add video capability?

Thanks,
Mike

Voom currently only has FSN Ohio and Florida, but rumors say they will have the others in the near future. Voom is a great service especially if you get the highest package, only thing missing from it is the locals and inhd1/inhd2. I think in the long run comcast will out do voom, and then at that point I will only have comcast instead of Voom :) :) I hope comcast can release the DVR soon!

The launch of FSNBA-HD was a joint announcement by comcast and rainbow media (who owns FSNBA)

Rainbow does also own the FSN stations in Ohio and Florida (as well as Chicago and New England) so its possible...Rainbow also happens to be owned by Cablevision (who also owns Voom)...it's pretty incestuous so anything goes.

Hey - coming up for air after a couple of VERY BUSY weeks. Thought I'd pass along the HD channel list -

Channel - Previous Location - New Location
KNTV - (NBC) 185 - 703
KRON (Featuring HDNET) N/A - 704
KPIX - (CBS) 186 - 705
KGO - (ABC) 184 - 707
KQED - (PBS) 188 - 709
iN Demand HD - 1 195 - 719
iN Demand HD - 2 196 - 720
Discovery Theater HD N/A - 722
ESPN 193 - 723
HBO 197 - 730
Cinemax 199 - 732
Starz! 200 - 734
Showtime 198 - 736

Hi,

Has anyone run into situation that the STB keep crashing and rebooting?

I got the box about 3 weeks ago. It was working ok until yesterday when it started to crash so often after just a few channel changes or push the menu/info/guide button.

I have tried to un-plug it and plug it back in hoping that will reset it without much effect.

After crashing/rebooting, it lost all the channel guide info and even after overnight (I assume it did not crash during the night when no one was using it), it still does not have those info downloaded (or at least it says so).

Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

Best,

Originally posted by dys
Hi,

Has anyone run into situation that the STB keep crashing and rebooting?

Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

Best,

Sorry, that one needs to be returned. I've had the same - push MENU and it reboots ala power cycle. Not fixable by software.

Where is the authorization information (which package I subscribe to) stored? Does it depends on my account or depends on the STB unit?

Hey DCTDictator,
What's been keeping you busy? Anything interesting, like FE 1.7.

Andrew

Originally posted by fitzwest
Hey DCTDictator,
What's been keeping you busy? Anything interesting, like FE 1.7.

Andrew

Ha ha.

ha.

Internal Audit. Lots of talks, meetings, file pulling & hair pulling.

The olympics must have caused a rush - the month's allotment went in 3 weeks. Sent crews as far as Fresno to scrounge up 6200s.

School started - got two teens to shop for/with.

Just plain ol busy.

Originally posted by DCTDictator
The olympics must have caused a rush

boy, the olympic HD coverage also caused a rush on the Bay Area HD Yahoo Forum....I stopped looking through the posts

Hunderds of posts bitching about the 24hr delay and low bit rate from KNTV due to Multicasting (those divers sure look funny when they pixelate in a fast spin).

Personnally I didnt mind it so much (better than no HD and I fell a day behind anyway) but I pity the folks who bought TV's in anticipation of that...maybe comcast will rush to invest more in HD capabilities now :D

anyway...back on subject, I shouldnt stir that one up ;)

Originally posted by DCTDictator
Thought I'd pass along the HD channel list -



Not that I care really, but just curious, this was supposed to have happened on 9/1 up here in Santa Rosa and has not. Only thing in the 700's is 704, the KRON waste of space.

Jim

Originally posted by keenan
Not that I care really, but just curious, this was supposed to have happened on 9/1 up here in Santa Rosa and has not. Only thing in the 700's is 704, the KRON waste of space.

The two flyers that I got (yesterday and two weeks ago) said 9/8 -- I'm in the Delta Valley region. And don't forget the wonderful DiscoveryHD on 722!!! (Sorry, bad joke for the 2% folks).

Originally posted by fender4645
And don't forget the wonderful DiscoveryHD on 722!!! (Sorry, bad joke for the 2% folks).

I know my way around Moraga (dad's from orinda, wife went to Campo) so I may just pop over and cut your connection for that cheap shot :D

Originally posted by davisdog
I know my way around Moraga (dad's from orinda, wife went to Campo) so I may just pop over and cut your connection for that cheap shot :D

Yes, extremely poor taste.:D davisdog, I'll be the getaway driver!

Jim:)

Yikes!! Ok, tell you what. It's probably about 40 miles to Saratoga and 50 miles to Santa Rosa from Moraga. If you guys supply the cable, I will be more then happy to splice the cable for you. And the cool thing is that there's a bunch of retired people around here who don't even know what the Internet is...more bandwidth for us!!!! :)

I wouldn't get too worked up over Discovery HD folks... it's nice eye candy to impress your buddies but that's about it. Nature shows, nature shows, and ahh.... oh yeah, more nature shows. :P

Fact, the only stations I'd miss are INHD1/2 (for Giants games in HD and some good movies), ABC/CBS during football season, ESPN, and maybe HBO, though I'll probably cancel my HBO after the promotional, too many repeats and then they don't show widescreen movies in OAR (2.35:1)..

I'm in Petaluma and the channel lineup is the same old one. I didn't get a postcard either.

One does get the local digitals with Voom. They install an Antenna for you and their STB receives them.

Originally posted by Bill
On does get the local digitals with Voom. They install an Antenna for you and their STB receives them.

What does Voom do if you can't get OTA reception of the local channels?

Originally posted by fender4645
What does Voom do if you can't get OTA reception of the local channels?

Tells you to get comcast for locals and pay them for everything else :D

fender4645

Shouldn't be a problem in Saratoga. I'm sure they know in what areas locals can be received.

Originally posted by davisdog
Tells you to get comcast for locals and pay them for everything else :D

:D :D :D :D

Jim

Originally posted by Bill
fender4645

Shouldn't be a problem in Saratoga. I'm sure they know in what areas locals can be received.

Not to be obtuse, but, no they do not. It is hit or miss until they actually come out and try it, again and again. There are many horror stories abut this in the Yahoo Voom group.

Jim :)

So I was trying to watch my Doppler radar and it seems to have vanished. Checked the guide and it's missing, went on line to check the lineup and it's missing, what am I going to do for recreation now :)
Anyone in the 2% club getting the Doppler channel ??? or any other area for that matter.
Well, back to my corner and watch... no ... wait it's gone.... :(

keenan


No charge for trying and I am a happy Voom customer. Not a happy comcast customer. The nonrebuild is really pissing me off! I only have Comcast because of FSN. When Voom gets it, it is bye bye Comcast!

Originally posted by Bill
keenan


No charge for trying and I am a happy Voom customer. Not a happy comcast customer. The nonrebuild is really pissing me off! I only have Comcast because of FSN. When Voom gets it, it is bye bye Comcast!

I hear you, if Voom worked up here I would have tried also, too low in the sky, too much terrain in the way, plus they would never get anything from Sutro.

Jim

Originally posted by Mikef5
So I was trying to watch my Doppler radar and it seems to have vanished. Checked the guide and it's missing, went on line to check the lineup and it's missing, what am I going to do for recreation now :)
Anyone in the 2% club getting the Doppler channel ??? or any other area for that matter.
Well, back to my corner and watch... no ... wait it's gone.... :(

That's it!! The last straw, mine's gone too. Comcast, you're history.:D

Jim

No doppler channel here in south San Jose as well. Shame, I was really starting to enjoy it too. Oh well.

Originally posted by Bill
keenan

No charge for trying

Bill,

Unfortunately Voom raised their prices for new customers a month or two ago....I think they screwed themselves but with all the capital they invested...anyway...I agree if you got in earlier it was a good deal while it lasts (and probably worth trying)...

Currently...

Install is no longer free...$200 for the Basic Install...

The 1st Box is either $300 to buy or $10/mth to rent.

Additional TV's are $50 + $15/mth (ouch...)

Minimum Package is $50/mth

I meant no charge for them to see if they can install their system and get Voom plus locals. Here is the latest offer from Voom available from retailers and maybe not on the web site. http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=26299&page=1&pp=15

Anybody know when they are going to switch the hd channels to the 700s,recieved a mailing about the switch but channels have not been switched yet.Also when is the NFL network going to show up,thought i read somewhere it would be on comcast in sept.Thanks

Wed 9/8
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4295623#post4295623

Don't know about the NFL.

Sun/Monday labor-day weekend, doppler (CH 187) is missing and KRON-D 704 is dark (again)..... Oh noes I'm missing the Mark Cuban show! :p
edit: 194 ABC-NEWS ? is also dark...

When do the HD channels change to the new 700 positions on COMCAST? I have the line-up, but can't find a date at which this will take place.

Look 2 posts up.

Aahhh--thanks! I saw that post but overlooked the "eff 9/8".

Originally posted by MikeSM
ssuple, the Emerald hills/ San mateo county system is fully upgraded to 860 mhz plant, and has max HD content on it. Redwood city is close to being finished with the same type of upgrade. It and San Carlos have had high speed data for some time, so the upgrades are primarily related to video service. It makes no sense to me that they will do another upgrade later - it's already running data so why do an upgrade at all if not to add video capability?

Thanks,
Mike

So I am curious... I live in San Carlos, but according to Comcast we still don't have HD in the area. The newest line they have been giving me is that they began work on the area on August 10th, and would be done sometime in October. Does that sound about right?

Does anyone have an idea why Comcast did not due their "virtual Mapping" trick with the new HD channel numbers so we could set up the new locations on our own time..instead of having to worry about remembering to do it on the morning of September 8?

By that I mean, there was a discussion earlier that even though TechTV, and G4 were listed on 2 different channels, they were only using the bandwidth of 1 channel.
I wish they would have done that for the HD channels until they drop off their current locations so I could have set up my remote/cable box favorites.

I will be out of town when the change happens, and am not sure my brain will be working when I return...

For the past three days I've only been able to get KPIX (186) and INHD/HD2, along with 704 and 722. Although, SOMETIMES a highly pixelated picture paints after a few minutes.

After speaking to Comcast support three times on Saturday and exchanging my box twice (5100->6200->6200), I saw no improvement in channels that could be viewed.

The first rep suggested that he schedule a service call, but finally admitted that it might well be the box, so that's why I went for the box exchanges.

The last rep suggested that if it was signal strength, then only a service call would fix things. Not wanting to lose a day at work, I "suggested" they they could just send someone to check signals in my neighborhood, actually rep two suggested that. The rep said, "how will we know if we fixed it if you're not there?" I said it would be a binary deal, one or zero, and I'd call back if it didn't. --- We agreed to disagree, with me saying I'd call for an appointment if I saw no change.

Funny thing, today I turn on HD and ALL the channels are working fine. Duya THINK folks at the Cupertino office, seeing all these boxes get returned, might have checked some signal strengths in the neighborhood? <G>

I love coincidence. THANKS Comcast!

/T

Hey, I come back from vacation and find the Good Life TV channel is gone! What gives? I'm on 860 Mhz plant, and plenty of room, plus that channel doesn't cost comcast a thing as it's available off HITS for free. I love dthe old TV shows it had!

Anyone here know what happened?

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by TBoyd
Funny thing, today I turn on HD and ALL the channels are working fine. Duya THINK folks at the Cupertino office, seeing all these boxes get returned, might have checked some signal strengths in the neighborhood? <G>



I won't comment about the technical skills of the phone or counter reps. Sometimes I wonder about wild changes in issues or returns - only to be able to up their ration of boxes or make more trips (that office is supplied from 10th st).

If the problem seems fixed, it appears that there were a number of people did make service calls that could be caused by an issue with something in common. Troubleshooting starts with dispatch - several tileing calls in one area is a symptom of an area wide problem.

Totally and completely off the topic of HD...and TV for that matter: I have a bunch of Gmail invitations to give away and pretty much everyone I know has one now so if anyone here wants one, send me a PM. Sorry for the interruption.

I live in campbell, zip code 95008. This weekend, and tonight, when i was watching USA open and CSI miami, the picture goes out for a very short period of time about 5 seconds for every 5-10 mins. This has never happened before, and all other HD channels dont have this problem. Has anyone else noticed this with KPIX, CH185? btw, is 95008 750Mhz area?

thanks

Originally posted by elitelight
I live in campbell, zip code 95008. This weekend, and tonight, when i was watching USA open and CSI miami, the picture goes out for a very short period of time about 5 seconds for every 5-10 mins. This has never happened before, and all other HD channels dont have this problem. Has anyone else noticed this with KPIX, CH185? btw, is 95008 750Mhz area?

thanks

I also saw some freezing and dropouts during the US Open...and yes I think campbell is 750Mhz (similar to Santa Clara) but I'm not positive.

Originally posted by elitelight
Has anyone else noticed this with KPIX, CH185? btw, is 95008 750Mhz area?

thanks

Yes, it's been happening on and off for the last 2 weeks, and I think it's a local problem since I don't have the problem on my D* feed.

By local I mean somewhere from KPIX on..

Jim

Guys,
I've been watching SHO-HD, HBO-HD, CIN-HD, INHD, INHD2, etc. for a couple of weeks now. I'm convinced that Comcast is cheating us on bandwidth. During yesterday afternoons showing of DareDevil (forget which of the HD it was) in the final showdown between Kingpin and DareDevil when DareDevil trips the sprinklers, the picture was blocked into oblivion. I know what full bandwidth HD looks like (KRON's OTA broadcast of "spirit of Yosimite" for example). Is it my location (94550)? I checked and I was not getting any errors (correctable or uncorrectable). my SNR and AGC are both good.

In another thread (DVDplayers 318 info) this came up, because I can compare OTA, Comcast HD, Zenith 318 (dvd player that upconverts to 1080i over component) on my display. I've recently seen DareDevil and upconverted by this player is is absolutely stunning. the HD cable broadcast looked good, but any fast pans, full screen motion (raining), cause massive amounts of blocking.

Any suggestions on how to proceed, or is this the status quo? I hope it's not the latter.

Best,
jeff

Greeno, as far as I know, Comcast has no equipment that does on the fly transrating (that's doing inline transcoding to a different (typically lower) bitrate). I think they get their HD feeds for those channels from HITS, so I can't see where comcast is the problem here unless there is problem with BER. There may be a loss problem elsewhere in the system other than the HFC loop. Someone should look into this as this could be a problem affecting lots of folks.

DCTDIctator may have more info on this too.

Thanks,
Mike


Thanks,
Mike

HBO has macroblocking problems, as do most of the channels really... The cleanest picture seems to be InHD, and Discovery HD, but even on those once in awhile I will catch some macroblocking. Depends on how well it was mastered. It's a shame that HBO crops movies to 16:9 because if they used OAR for i.e. 2.35 movies the compression would be better...

During CSI Miami the picture broke up then disappeared for a second, then when it came back it was in SD.. lol idiots.

I agree that InHD is really really good. I've not noticed any issues there. I'm not up on all of the technical aspects of the HD delivery system, but what I'm getting at my location is sometimes unacceptable. My $160 upconverting DVD player is delivering a better picture overall.

I think this is a situation much like the Olympics and the poor pq that NBC delivered (HD feed - ignoring the extra time delay issue). On another forum, the local affiliate got flamed pretty mercilessly. If people don't complain then the providers don't think there is an issue when there is one.

Looking for some direction,
jeff

ESPN 2 HD slated for 05

ESPN, which is celebrating is 25th anniversary monday, said it will launch a
high-def version of ESPN 2 in january.

The network to be called ESPN 2 HD, will complement ESPN HD and offer
more than 100 live telecast in its first year of operation, including college
football games. college basketball, the little league World Series, and
Major League baseball, and National Hockey League games.

Like ESPN HD, the hd-def version of The Deuce will be simulcast in 720p
format. Combined, the two HD network initially will provide more than
6.000 hours of originally produced high-definition programs, the company
said.

ESPN HD, the company added, has carriage deals with operators that serve
85 percent of multichannel video homes

No word yet on carriage terms for ESPN2 HD or which operators have
agreed to carry it

wonder if Comcast will carry it in january 05

Originally posted by usc10
ESPN 2 HD slated for 05

ESPN, which is celebrating is 25th anniversary monday, said it will launch a
high-def version of ESPN 2 in january.

The network to be called ESPN 2 HD, will complement ESPN HD and offer
more than 100 live telecast in its first year of operation, including college
football games. college basketball, the little league World Series, and
Major League baseball, and National Hockey League games.

Like ESPN HD, the hd-def version of The Deuce will be simulcast in 720p
format. Combined, the two HD network initially will provide more than
6.000 hours of originally produced high-definition programs, the company
said.

ESPN HD, the company added, has carriage deals with operators that serve
85 percent of multichannel video homes

No word yet on carriage terms for ESPN2 HD or which operators have
agreed to carry it

wonder if Comcast will carry it in january 05
Has anyone been experiencing problems with ESPN HD? lately mine has been saying "this channel will be available shortly" sometimes it comes on, sometimes it doesnt. But the rest of my HD channels work just fine. Can anyone help with this? Thanks.

When you say microblocking, do you refer to the pixelation effects on fast moving scence? For some reason, I have not noticed any of those effects from comcast cable. I've tried to look for them from HBO, showtime, etc.. I wonder if those effects is the result of poor signal instead of comcast trying to compress the signals?

Comcast allegedly does not compress. The best examples of macroblocking were on the Olympic coverage of diving...NBC really needs to get their act together.

elitelight,
Yes I'm refering to pixelation effects on fast moving scenes. It is not weak signal. both snr and agc are in the good range. I've got not errors (correctable or uncorrectable).

On Kron (local channel 4 here in SF bay area) sometime ago they showed a film in HD called "the spirit of yosemite". There was a scene that lasted about 30sec of fast moving water (rapids) with the camera dead still. There was no pixelation at all, as there should be when one gets full bandwidth. this scene is very similar to the one in DareDevil I refer to above. This sort of artifact (mpeg-2 when starved for bandwidth) drives me nuts.

I've posted in the local HD group for the area and I'm not alone. Others are annoyed by these artifacts as well.

comcast may not be compressing their signal, but someone is reducing bandwidth somewhere.

Best,
jeff

jeff, et al--

The pixelation you describe is frequent also these days on all the OTA HD stations using multicasting (particularly KRON's HDnet stuff and KQED-HD). I doubt that Comcast is at all to blame--and that there will be any improvement anytime soon, since we squeaky wheels are so few still.

Anyone know if comcast will broadcast WB in HD? or is that OTA only?

I watched Navy NCIS on KPIX-HD last night, and in addition to the pixelation and dropouts, there was a severe red push. All of the actors looked like George Hamilton clones.

Is this normal for CBS network shows on KPIX?

"Is this normal for CBS network shows on KPIX?"

Sometimes. Define "normal". :)

NCIS is supposed to look that way. Just like each of the CSI's have their own color. It's for dramatic effect.

Just be thankful that KPIX does not multicast and gives us full-bandwidth.

Oh as for their drop-outs and pixelation, they know there's a problem and they're working on it.


Best,
jeff

Originally posted by greeno
NCIS is supposed to look that way.

I have heard this before so I guess it must be true, but I have yet to read an explanation of why. What is the artistic intent, the characters are in the Navy, so they must be sunburned all the time? :confused:

Jim

All my HD channels seem to have moved. Anyone else?

rb

Originally posted by rbalaian
All my HD channels seem to have moved. Anyone else?

See post 2022 of this thread. This is epected. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4295623#post4295623

Using the Sasem OnAir USB2 box, I have been able to receive every unencrypted broadcast 'til now. I've done a clean install on a new HTPC setup and so haven't held things constanct, but Comcast does appear to have changed things for the worse for me anyway.

I do note that D79.2 has appeared - Can you say HDNet?!?!

But my ABC/KQED (D117 .1 & .2) are now iffy and NBC/ESPN no longer come thru (on D116 .1 & .2).

I haven't been home to catch when FSN-HD preempts InHD2 on D105.2, but I should be able to test that this evening (BOS @ OAK 7:05pm).

Others seeing these degradations?

edmc,

Where did you get the Sasem OnAir USB2 box ?? Locally or online ?? The only place I've seen it offered is at CopperBox and I'm not real familiar with that company, I would like to deal with a local BM but if this company is reputable then I'll give them a try.
TIA
Mikef5

After Comcast moved all the HD channels today, I can't see any of them on my Fusion Gold QAM card on my HTPC. Has anyone gotten this to work?

Originally posted by dmunjal
After Comcast moved all the HD channels today, I can't see any of them on my Fusion Gold QAM card on my HTPC. Has anyone gotten this to work?

Some other people are reporting the same thing with their QAM tuners. While I can see Comcast taking the opportunity to encrypt the non-network channels once and for all, I would very surprised if they did this for the network channels (KPIX, KNTV, etc.). Did you do a re-scan? Maybe the actual frequencies were changed as well (highly unlikely though).

As of today in Fresno, CA I no longer Receive INHD's and ESPNHD via QAM tuner in my Toshiba. They all say "channel encrypted".:(

Originally posted by TPeterson
"Is this normal for CBS network shows on KPIX?"

Sometimes. Define "normal". :)

I emailed their engineering department and got more or less the following response a few days ago...

I said,


KPIX Engineering (I'd assume):

For the past couple of weeks (noticed post Olympics), KPIX-HD has not been coming in reliably. When it works, it is fine. However, for example, last night during CSI Miami, all would be going fine, then suddenly enormous pixelation would happen, often followed by a green screen (all blank in a lovely shade of green).

This is happening over delivery via Comcast in Fremont. However, survey of various message boards indicates that it is a problem to Comcast sites other than Fremont. I understand that there has been some work in upgrading or other repairs to Sutro tower, so these may be related -- I don't know the structure of the feed from KPIX to Comcast in the bay area.

Any information on these issues would be appreciated.


to which I got the following response


CBS 5 has been experiencing problems with our HD telecasts. We've sent your email to our Engineering Department. We hope to have the problems with our HD telecasts resolved shortly.

So they are aware of the issue and presumably working on it...

Mikef5> Where did you get the Sasem OnAir USB2 box ??

I actually got it directly from Sasem as I offered to work with them on getting QAM "user tested" here in Pleasanton.

From what I understand, the box I have is identical to the box folks bought prior to Sasem's support for QAM. Originally, the existing GUI App was used with a special/hidden Registry Setting. When Sasem updated the GUI App, they put this support in so the Registry Setting was no longer required. The driver hasn't changed at all, apparently.

As for Coppercom, I have no experience with them. They are used by many folks here, though - perhaps someone else will respond. Didn't others (e.g. DigitalConnection) pick up this box also?

Originally posted by fender4645
Some other people are reporting the same thing with their QAM tuners. While I can see Comcast taking the opportunity to encrypt the non-network channels once and for all, I would very surprised if they did this for the network channels (KPIX, KNTV, etc.).

AFAIK, they wont unless the network sources want them encrypted.

Jim

In fact, I don't think the FCC allows the network stuff to be encrypted do they? Or is that just for OTA?

Earlier, I wrote:

"I haven't been home to catch when FSN-HD preempts InHD2 on D105.2, but I should be able to test that this evening (BOS @ OAK 7:05pm)."

I'm happy to report FSN-HD has preempted the encrypted InHD2 on D105.2 and the Sasem box successfully displays the A's/RedSox game.

Alas, it's not as good news for the A's here in the 3rd where a bases loaded walk followed by a run-scoring fielder's choice now has the score at 5-0 RedSox. And now Johnny Damon is up... Man the Sox are hot...

Originally posted by edmc
Alas, it's not as good news for the A's here in the 3rd where a bases loaded walk followed by a run-scoring fielder's choice now has the score at 5-0 RedSox. And now Johnny Damon is up... Man the Sox are hot...

Aww - And I've got a few employees at that game today - hosted by ESPN in some luxury suite. I think they are more football fans anyway - the tickets were an employee appreciation award.

All,

I just noticed an "I want Moxi" sign up form went up on their Website.

https://secure.digeo.com/contacts/moxiform.jsp


If we get enough action from the bay area, hopefully it will make its way to the decision makers at Comcast so they choose the Bay Area as one of the areas they roll it out later this year (Comcast has already bought 40,000 of the Moxi dual tuner HD-DVR's for use in select areas)

For those that don't know about the Moxi, it's a Dual Tuner HD-DVR which competes with the 6208/6412 and includes a much slicker interface than the simple "TV Guide" interface that comcast is using on the 6xxx currently.

Info on the Moxi is available here
http://www.digeo.com/prodserv/moxi_menu.jsp

(warning it will be painful to read since we currently have nothing like this available to us via comcast...so use the form and hopefully Moxi passes the input on (I'm sure they will))

When is fox moving to HD? I want the niner games! ARGH!

The Moxi is a nice box, and has some nice options for expansion that the DCT's don't, but it's more expensive, and the MSO's like dealing with folks that will be around for a long time, plus Moto will do a lot to prevent losing the business to a startup.

I wish them the best luck, esp. since Comcast rightly (from their perspective) avoids testing things in the SF Bay Area market. We'll probably have to wait for a mass rollout before we get the new stuff. We as a region complain a lot about bugs in new products.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by davisdog
All,

I just noticed an "I want Moxi" sign up form went up on their Website.

https://secure.digeo.com/contacts/moxiform.jsp


If we get enough action from the bay area, hopefully it will make its way to the decision makers at Comcast so they choose the Bay Area as one of the areas they roll it out later this year (Comcast has already bought 40,000 of the Moxi dual tuner HD-DVR's for use in select areas)

For those that don't know about the Moxi, it's a Dual Tuner HD-DVR which competes with the 6208/6412 and includes a much slicker interface than the simple "TV Guide" interface that comcast is using on the 6xxx currently.

Info on the Moxi is available here
http://www.digeo.com/prodserv/moxi_menu.jsp

(warning it will be painful to read since we currently have nothing like this available to us via comcast...so use the form and hopefully Moxi passes the input on (I'm sure they will))

Just put my vote in. If they are anything like they are showing it will put what we have to shame ( of course that is not to hard ). There is a Moxi thread here on the forums and a Moxi guy is putting input and support there, worth a read.

Originally posted by cleoent
When is fox moving to HD? I want the niner games! ARGH! I'm assuming you want to know when the local FOX affiliate's HD signal (which may or may not start this Sunday, 9/12) will show up on Comcast's HD lineup.

The answer is not likely to be any time soon. More likely to be at the very end of 2004 or beginning of 2005, assuming the existing analog contract expires on 12/31/2004.

The reason is that KTVU's owner, Cox Enterprises, wants extra compensation from Comcast (something that all the other owners of Bay Area network affiliates-- ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS-- did not require).

We will likely see WB HD and/or UPN HD on Comcast in the Bay Area (at least in 750 and 860 areas) before we see FOX HD.

Originally posted by MikeSM
The Moxi is a nice box, and has some nice options for expansion that the DCT's don't, but it's more expensive, and the MSO's like dealing with folks that will be around for a long time, plus Moto will do a lot to prevent losing the business to a startup. The Moxi hardware is made by Motorola. Digeo does the software. I don't know to what extent Digeo influenced the design of the hardware.

that is not at all what i wanted to hear....

After spending the evening with the new channel line-up, I think I like it better than the way it was. It's more organized looking. Also, it might be my imagination, but I was watching a bit of HBO-HD (Steven Segal movie I think) and I didn't notice any pixelization like I did this weekend.

Also, KPIX seems solid (also solid on OTA also), so maybe they're getting a handle on their issues of late.

I skimmed the Moxi stuff. Software and firmware are what makes a product good or bad (of course the capabilities must exist in hardware and be exposed to firmware/software). I say let the market decide what's good and bad. And that means choice.

Best,
jeff

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
The Moxi hardware is made by Motorola. Digeo does the software. I don't know to what extent Digeo influenced the design of the hardware.

Yes, Motorola has a vested interest in Moxi/Digeo Succeeding (they probably make as much or more Money from each Moxi/BMC box that is deployed vs a DCT.) Digeo has also been around for a while and has some high profile investors.

Here is the spec sheet from motorola on the current box (I think there are a couple newer versions coming out also with more features/expansion)

http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/product_documents/508869-001-a.pdf

The Moxi sign-up is more wishful thinking on the part of Moxi marketing department. If you read the comcast SEC filings you get the impression that VOD is more important to Comcast than DVR functionality. From this I would conclude that we will not see a DVR until the VOD rollout is complete. I would really like to be wrong. Trying to debug a VOD and DVR + software rollout would turn into vendor finger pointing exercise.

AT&T did offer Tivo at one point. Question : Did Tivo get a exclusive rights deal to AT&T markets as part of this arrangement?

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
I'm assuming you want to know when the local FOX affiliate's HD signal (which may or may not start this Sunday, 9/12) will show up on Comcast's HD lineup.

The answer is not likely to be any time soon. More likely to be at the very end of 2004 or beginning of 2005, assuming the existing analog contract expires on 12/31/2004.

The reason is that KTVU's owner, Cox Enterprises, wants extra compensation from Comcast (something that all the other owners of Bay Area network affiliates-- ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS-- did not require).

We will likely see WB HD and/or UPN HD on Comcast in the Bay Area (at least in 750 and 860 areas) before we see FOX HD.

Great. Isn't Fox broadcasting the MLB postseason games in HD? Would have been nice to witness it.

Originally posted by zooey91
Great. Isn't Fox broadcasting the MLB postseason games in HD? Would have been nice to witness it.

Not to mention the NFL games we wont see in HD.

Jim

We will likely see WB HD and/or UPN HD on Comcast in the Bay Area (at least in 750 and 860 areas) before we see FOX HD

Is there room reserved for these (Fox/WB/UPN) in the 550 Mhz areas, or are the systems already maxed out? I can live without INHD & Starz/Cinemax etc. since I would probably never subscribe to those anyway, but if I have to wait years just to get the local networks, it would make shelling out the $1K plus to shift to HD-DirecTV-Tivo easier to swallow.

Everytime I hear Comcast's ad on the radio, touting "HD local networks not available via satellite", I get riled up about the deceptive advertising.

Originally posted by Stephen Tu
Is there room reserved for these (Fox/WB/UPN) in the 550 Mhz areas, or are the systems already maxed out?

I would bet almost for certain that there is room reserved for at least FOX, the others, with very little HD, I not so sure.

Jim

in the thread under HDTV Programming there is an article (weblink) i think on the last page that says that they are going to go live this sunday! It was dated 9/5/04

So let's bring up another sore spot for the 2% club, Video on Demand. Is that going to be available to us or are we excluded from that also ??? I've asked several people that question and got different answers ( imagine that ) . Anyone got a good source to ask ??

Originally posted by Mikef5
So let's bring up another sore spot for the 2% club, Video on Demand. Is that going to be available to us or are we excluded from that also ??? I've asked several people that question and got different answers ( imagine that ) . Anyone got a good source to ask ??

Isn't VOD a pay service? If it is, you can bet they'll find a way for us to get it. :rolleyes:

Jim

VOD is mixture of fee based (PPV) and subscription based (Starz, HBO etc. ) and free to watch content. The fee base programs are replacements for the current PPV channels. If you get Starz or HBO etc then you will get the On Demand version of the channels.
I think VOD will be rolled out to 550Mhz systems, with VOD all the PPV channels can go. Even the MLB,NHL and NBA channels could be moved onto a VOD system eventually. VOD may very well do more for 550 Mhz than it does for 750 or 860 Mhz systems.
Just think, all those movie channels could be removed from the system and replaced by the ON Demand. Of course, the on Demand will use up some of this bandwidth but it should free up more than it uses.

VOD is driven more by node size than it is frequency. They aren't doing HD VOD yet, so you can cram 12 VOD channels in the space of 1 HD channel. Since these are different streams in different neighborhoods, the math works - spatial reuse is great!

Too bad they can't do this with HD multicasting. Only send KRON down the pipe if someone is watching it... Of course, that would probably require a contract renegoiation.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by MikeSM

Too bad they can't do this with HD multicasting. Only send KRON down the pipe if someone is watching it... Of course, that would probably require a contract renegoiation.

Thanks,
Mike

I certainly have a pipe in my bathroom I'd like to send it down. :D

Jim

Originally posted by fitzwest
AT&T did offer Tivo at one point. Question : Did Tivo get a exclusive rights deal to AT&T markets as part of this arrangement?

AT&T was just a reseller of the Tivo (and they stuck an AT&T sticker on it)..I think the only difference between this box and what you bought elsehwhere was they tracked serial #'s of who had them and enabled the serial link via software after a while so you could use that (vice IR) to switch channels on your STB...It still was not a "Cable DVR", just a standalone unit like any other Tivo or replay.

I believe Comcast does understand the importance of offering an integrated DVR...at least to stop the lose of customers to Sat

We might as well help steer them towards the better solution (and Moxi on a Motorora BMC is certainly better than a Motorola 6XXX with a Gemstar Guide.)

Originally posted by keenan in a different thread
fender, have we determined when that contract is up yet? Aren't these both public companies, shouldn't that info be accessible? You would think that Cox would begin to start to feel at least a little pressure when the FOX-HD comes on next week, no more WS and being in what might be an area(SF-Bay) with a large HDTV in-home base.

I don't think anyone's been able to 100% confirm that it expires at the end of this year but most of these types of contracts do expire at the end of the calendar year (a-la CBS O&O last year). I think as long as there's a current contract in place, not much can happen as Cox pretty much holds all of the cards. However, the second the contract expires, the tables will turn. I did a quick search of Cox's corporate site and couldn't come up with anything, although I did see that many of the Cox markets on the East Coast do carry Comcast Sports Net. This, to me, means that they've at least played nicely in the past. I have an old college friend who works at KTVU in their sales department. She probably doesn't know anything off hand but maybe she can find out. I'll shoot her an email.

Originally posted by MikeSM
Only send KRON down the pipe if someone is watching it... Of course, that would probably require a contract renegoiation.

From a memo [sent today, :rolleyes: ]

Effective Monday August 30th, KGO DT Weather Channel is no longer being broadcast. KGO has decide to stop transmission of this channel and have no current plans to launch another weather channel.

I saw something in a thread (can't remember where!) about COMCAST waving the $5/mo HD charge if one had the Digital Silver, Gold , or Platinum plan. I called them, and they said 'no way'. Does anyone know the complete story on this? Is this waving of the $5 HD fee only done in some (other) parts of the country?

Yeah if you order DVR ($12/mo?) that gets you a 6208? anyway, so I guess they waive the HD fee in that case. We don't have DVR here yet, though.

I recently sent an e-mail to Jeff Block of KTVU, he said that there is no news on the comcast front. I don't think that at KTVU they will be able to provide any information on this issue. We have to keep sending mails to comcast and cox.


Originally posted by fender4645
I don't think anyone's been able to 100% confirm that it expires at the end of this year but most of these types of contracts do expire at the end of the calendar year (a-la CBS O&O last year). I think as long as there's a current contract in place, not much can happen as Cox pretty much holds all of the cards. However, the second the contract expires, the tables will turn. I did a quick search of Cox's corporate site and couldn't come up with anything, although I did see that many of the Cox markets on the East Coast do carry Comcast Sports Net. This, to me, means that they've at least played nicely in the past. I have an old college friend who works at KTVU in their sales department. She probably doesn't know anything off hand but maybe she can find out. I'll shoot her an email.

Originally posted by fender4645
[B]I don't think anyone's been able to 100% confirm that it expires at the end of this year but most of these types of contracts do expire at the end of the calendar year (a-la CBS O&O last year). /B]

I did some searching through some of the Cox companies 10k reports to see if the contracts would show up. Under Cox Communications I didn't see any reference to KTVU, but CoxCom is just one of many companies owned whole or in part by Cox Enterprises Inc, which is a private company so there would be no way to find the info there. I did see where the principles of CEI want to take CoxCom back private, though I don't think that matters in any way to us. These people are very, very wealthy BTW.:D

Jim

Originally posted by millerwill
I saw something in a thread (can't remember where!) about COMCAST waving the $5/mo HD charge if one had the Digital Silver, Gold , or Platinum plan. I called them, and they said 'no way'. Does anyone know the complete story on this? Is this waving of the $5 HD fee only done in some (other) parts of the country?

I was told I mis-read that post also, there is still the $5 box rental, evidently the poster was paying another $5 fee on top of that which was waived.

Jim

If I didn't live in an apt. I'd have a Dish so fast...
Don't get me wrong, I like Comcast for the most part. But no baseball playoffs, no 49ers and no SUPERBOWL in HD is teh sux.

Originally posted by walk
If I didn't live in an apt. I'd have a Dish so fast...
Don't get me wrong, I like Comcast for the most part. But no baseball playoffs, no 49ers and no SUPERBOWL in HD is teh sux.

Agreed, that's why when D* starts with Fox-HD I will suddenly have my weekend place in "Cloverdale" which will just happen to need a D* setup. :D

Jim

Fox Sports Net Bay Area says it is carrying Giants and A's games in HDTV. BUT only on Comcast.

I left Comcast for DirecTV for multiple reasons that I don't have room to list but that included deceptive advertising, poor customer service and crappy reception (terrible ghosts and fuzzy sound on Channels 2-7 that it could never fix). I don't want to go back, but . . . . does anyone know whether DirecTV will add the HD broadcasts from FSN Bay Area?

I haven't gone HD yet, but I'm evaluating my options.

I apologize if this has been asked elsewhere but I did search!

FSN Bay Area HD won't be on DirecTV or Dish this year (including 2004-2005 Warriors and Sharks). Beyond that (A's and Giants starting April 2005), it's anyone's guess. Comcast has exclusivity (except for VOOM) until at least April 2005.

FSN Bay Area HD might show up on VOOM, just like FSN Florida HD and FSN Ohio HD have already shown up. (Cablevision owns a majority interest in these FSN's and also owns VOOM, so that's why.)

I read in the Chronicle 9-10-04 that KTVU (Channel2) will begin HDTV transmission Sunday, with the Fox telecasts of the Bucs-Redskins and Falcons-49ers games. Fox will do HD telecasts of up to six NFL games every Sunday.

Does someone know what HDTV Channel this will be? Thank you.


Same article CBS plans to offer three HD NFL telecasts everyweek.

FiloD,
No Fox HD in Bay area on Comcast, OTA and Directv only.

Originally posted by hiker
No Fox HD in Bay area on Comcast, OTA and Directv only. It won't be available on DirecTV for most DirecTV subscribers in the Bay Area. If you are lucky, you already have a grandfathered DNS or a waiver from KTVU which might give you Fox HD via DirecTV. Or if you live outside KTVU's grade B coverage, you don't need a waiver (like, we can all meet up at Jim's "weekend place" in Cloverdale to watch Fox HD :D ).

One other option: if you can't get KTVU's digital signal OTA for whatever reason, try getting the Sacramento Fox station's digital signal OTA-- that works where I am. Sorry, KTVU-- your advertisers won't be getting my eyeballs for Fox HD. :)

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
It won't be available on DirecTV for most DirecTV subscribers in the Bay Area. If you are lucky, you already have a grandfathered DNS or a waiver from KTVU which might give you Fox HD via DirecTV. Or if you live outside KTVU's grade B coverage, you don't need a waiver (like, we can all meet up at Jim's "weekend place" in Cloverdale to watch Fox HD :D ).

One other option: if you can't get KTVU's digital signal OTA for whatever reason, try getting the Sacramento Fox station's digital signal OTA-- that works where I am. Sorry, KTVU-- your advertisers won't be getting my eyeballs for Fox HD. :)

I think you will have better odds at winning the lottery than you will at getting a waiver from KTVU.:rolleyes:

I'm waiting until Fox-HD actually goes online with D* before I activate my virtual Cloverdale "address". :)

That's amazing you can get SAC from where you are at, you must be west Petaluma. How high is your antenna?

Jim

Originally posted by keenan
Agreed, that's why when D* starts with Fox-HD I will suddenly have my weekend place in "Cloverdale" which will just happen to need a D* setup. :D

Jim

Does your weekend place qualify for both Distant Networks and SF locals? In other words, in Cloverdale do you qualify to receive Fox on Channels 388 & 389 (NY & LA) plus KTVU 2 via Directv?

Originally posted by tivoyahoo
Does your weekend place qualify for both Distant Networks and SF locals? In other words, in Cloverdale do you qualify to receive Fox on Channels 388 & 389 (NY & LA) plus KTVU 2 via Directv?

My "weekend place" is not currently built as it were.;) I don't know whether 388 and 389 would be received or not but I believe so. My goal with my "weekend place" is to have an address that qualifies for DNS so I can get the LA/NYC feed of Fox-HD. I'm not interested in getting any SD channels at all really, very rarely do I watch anything nowadays unless it's in HD. D* is starting with NBC on 9/16 but we already get that through Comcast, but when D* starts with Fox-HD we wont get it through Comcast because of contract issues and KTVU is not an O&O affiliate.

Jim

For those interested in the Santa Rosa Comcast situation, I received a response today from the Santa Rosa City Manager's Office.

>>>>>>>>

Jim-
I'm not a cable engineer and I am not able to give you the details you
most likely need. Generally, it relates to using similar to "MPEG 4" to
do video-- something Comcast indicates may be 18-24 months away from
wide commercial availability. Currently the City uses part of the return
capacity on the commercial side of Comcast's network for what we call
the "Sub i-Net". This works great for data transmission but Comcast
doesn't like it for our video transmission because it could potentially
interfere with their use of the video returns near the same frequency. The
solution is to switch the City's return to a digital format and use the
developing MPEG 4 technology. The City needs the video for our intended
use of the system to improve traffic circulation using the Intelligent
Transportation System (ITS) technology. The ITS uses a video images to
analyze traffic flows and adjust signal timing. The funding for the ITS
project is currently not in hand and may certainly take a few years to
develop; therefore, the City can wait for the "MPEG 4" technology to
develop within the 18-24 month timeframe, allowing our agreement with
Comcast to move forward now. We know the current agreement with Comcast
would allow our ITS system to work, we are willing to switch and use the
new technology because it will be less expensive for the City in the
long run-- provided we know Comcast will make it work and we are not
totally giving up our existing capability. So, yes, your recognition of why
we need performance bonds and penalties is right on target. The current
status is that Comcast did give us a revised proposal on the penalties
and performance bonds that the City Attorney is currently reviewing. I
remain hopeful the agreement can be finalized very soon.

>>>>>>>>

Jim

hmmm...

Jim, I would start building that "weekend" place...I think it will be ready long before you see bandwidth freed up out there...Maybe you could add an extra "bedroom" out there that I could put a box in also?

Since I could probably get OTA, I'm watching the Voom developments (as well as D*)...If Voom adds FSNBA-HD (which is possible since Cablevision owns them) and the DVR is in fact near term... I will likely kiss Comcast goodbye if things stay as they are.

Originally posted by davisdog
hmmm...

Jim, I would start building that "weekend" place...I think it will be ready long before you see bandwidth freed up out there...Maybe you could add an extra "bedroom" out there that I could put a box in also?

Since I could probably get OTA, I'm watching the Voom developments (as well as D*)...If Voom adds FSNBA-HD (which is possible since Cablevision owns them) and the DVR is in fact near term... I will likely kiss Comcast goodbye if things stay as they are.

Yeah, I'm just waiting for a concrete date for Fox-HD and then it will be "built" overnight.

The City's response was pretty much what I had expected. And folks up here are pretty zealous about their community access channels so I don't expect to see any one of the few we have to disappear anytime soon.

So that leaves waiting for mpeg4 development and by the time that happens D* will probably have everything that Comcast could add here already.

The part about being able to view traffic so they can control the lights sort of makes me laugh. The only thing that is going to alleviate congestion here is to build more crosstown throughways. I grew up in LA and getting around down there was way easier than it is here. Too much growth too fast and clinging to a small town mentality when it comes to infrastructure development has created a real mess here.

BTW, no problem with the extra bedroom. :D

Jim

Originally posted by keenan
My "weekend place" is not currently built as it were.;) I don't know whether 388 and 389 would be received or not but I believe so. My goal with my "weekend place" is to have an address that qualifies for DNS so I can get the LA/NYC feed of Fox-HD. I'm not interested in getting any SD channels at all really, very rarely do I watch anything nowadays unless it's in HD. D* is starting with NBC on 9/16 but we already get that through Comcast, but when D* starts with Fox-HD we wont get it through Comcast because of contract issues and KTVU is not an O&O affiliate.

Jim

You're interested in the primetime content, right? Or are we talking about Fox NFL games?

You can check the DNS eligibility here:
http://directvdnseligibility.decisionmark.com/app/AddressEntry.asp

Originally posted by tivoyahoo
You're interested in the primetime content, right? Or are we talking about Fox NFL games?

You can check the DNS eligibility here:
http://directvdnseligibility.decisionmark.com/app/AddressEntry.asp

Yes, both, and that link is where I figured out where I need to "move" to.

Jim

Originally posted by keenan
Yes, both, and that link is where I figured out where I need to "move" to.

Jim

I asked about whether you meant Fox primetime programming because isn't DirecTV now carrying NFL HD games from Fox?

See:
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/directvusa101.html

70 NFL CBS HD Channel
71 NFL Fox HD Channel

Those I presume are national feeds (since they are on satellite 101) and not spotbeamed by region. Cloverdale would qualify under DNS, but they wouldn't necessarily carry the 49ers and mirror KTVU 2 programming (unless that was the national game) if that's what you're after. But there is additional Sunday Ticket HD programming as well that might carry the 49ers. Cloverdale might avoid the blackout rules for Sunday Ticket due to DNS. It would for the Raiders when they are carried on 381 CBSW which is the LA affiliate/distant network.

I don't know if this is the right place to ask...

Has anyone here done a critical comparison of Comcast versus DirecTV?

I'm interested in how the two compare with regards to PQ on the national HD channels, such as Discovery HD Theater, and on the SD channels.

Originally posted by tivoyahoo
I asked about whether you meant Fox primetime programming because isn't DirecTV now carrying NFL HD games from Fox?

See:
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/directvusa101.html

70 NFL CBS HD Channel
71 NFL Fox HD Channel

Those I presume are national feeds (since they are on satellite 101) and not spotbeamed by region. Cloverdale would qualify under DNS, but they wouldn't necessarily carry the 49ers and mirror KTVU 2 programming (unless that was the national game) if that's what you're after. But there is additional Sunday Ticket HD programming as well that might carry the 49ers. Cloverdale might avoid the blackout rules for Sunday Ticket due to DNS. It would for the Raiders when they are carried on 381 CBSW which is the LA affiliate/distant network.

I am more interested in getting the Fox-HD feed for primetime and whatever football game happens to show up on any given sunday for the LA feed is pretty much fine with me. I could be wrong but I think more often than not that game would be a California team so that gives me a pretty good chance at seeing a game I would want to see.

Yes, I'm pretty sure Cloverdale is beyond the blackout area.

70 and 71 are HBO-HD and SHO-HD, not sure what that Lyngsat page is referring to.

Jim

Originally posted by Jerry Gardner
I don't know if this is the right place to ask...

Has anyone here done a critical comparison of Comcast versus DirecTV?

I'm interested in how the two compare with regards to PQ on the national HD channels, such as Discovery HD Theater, and on the SD channels.

As far as HD channels, the only ones I can compare are HBO, SHO, ESPN and CBS as they are the only ones with commonality between the two. Of those, only CBS and ESPN can be compared realtime back and forth as the movie channels on D* are east coast feeds.

In general, the difference between CBS and ESPN is very little if anything at all, in fact D* seems to have gotten a little better lately after seeming softer for quite sometime. I don't know if there is a real reason for that or if it's just me.

As far the movies channels, Comcast seems to be sharper than D* most of the time but it depends on the material to a large degree.

True 1080i-HD material like Discovery on D* looks by far the best of what I can get from either service keeping in mind I can't compare Disc with Comcast because they don't offer here.

A good OTA signal is the best, one that has a generous amount of bitrate like CBS-KPIX, not for instance NBC-KNTV which transmits with lower BW. I am curious to see how NBC looks on D* when they start on Thursday. I'm willing to bet the signal will be much better although I don't know what bitrate the LA station transmits at so it could be worse.

With SD channels, the little comparison I have done, D* does a noticeably better job with those, it seems the Comcast HD box has trouble with analog and SD cable signals.

Hope this helps, although what I have mentioned doesn't really pick a clear winner.:)

Jim

It was interesting (and maddening) to see KTVU's ad during the 49er game yesterday, playing up their HD content and how it was FREE.

They mentioned a link on their website which discusses getting an over the air antenna. I guess KTVU doesn't realize that there are HILLS in the Bay Area which prevent us from getting their OTA signal.

Originally posted by mazman49
It was interesting (and maddening) to see KTVU's ad during the 49er game yesterday, playing up their HD content and how it was FREE.

They mentioned a link on their website which discusses getting an over the air antenna. I guess KTVU doesn't realize that there are HILLS in the Bay Area which prevent us from getting their OTA signal.

I didn't see the ad but it sounds like the same thing Sinclair has been doing with some of their stations. To me this is nothing but a ploy to be used against Comcast in regards to KTVU coming to a carriage agreement on their digital signal. IMO, when it all said and done we will have KTVU-HD on Comcast and I bet it will be closer to what Comcast wants than what Cox wants.

In fact, if HD ratings were being tracked, I think we would get it very soon and Cox is playing a game of chicken on how much they can get before it becomes evident that they will actually be losing market share by not allowing carriage of their digital signal, especially given the demographics of the SF bay area.

Jim

Originally posted by keenan
I am more interested in getting the Fox-HD feed for primetime and whatever football game happens to show up on any given sunday for the LA feed is pretty much fine with me. I could be wrong but I think more often than not that game would be a California team so that gives me a pretty good chance at seeing a game I would want to see.

Yes, I'm pretty sure Cloverdale is beyond the blackout area.

70 and 71 are HBO-HD and SHO-HD, not sure what that Lyngsat page is referring to.

Jim

You're of course right about 70 & 71 on Dtv and lyngsat shows HBO & Showtime properly here on the other 2 positions at 119 & 110:
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/directvusa119.html
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/directvusa110.html

Perhaps the space/transponder has been allocated and that's why lyngsat is showing it, but obviously it can't be live on those channels (unless it's like INHD2 and FSNHD where Giants & A's pre-empts - which isn't the case). Someone probably knows the status and can post.

My guess is that the NFL Fox HD Channel is probably still in test mode and hasn't gone live but Lyngsat would still show the transponder allocation. I'd take it as a good sign that you may be nearing your "overnight build/move" in Cloverdale. Of course, Sunday Ticket HD in Cloverdale may be the ticket right now for you to finish the "build".

By the way, sorry for this Dtv post in the comcast forum if anyone is wondering, but since comcast doesn't carry Fox HD the question is where can we get it other than OTA due to LOS problems, particularly now with football starting and the baseball playoffs nearing (and the Raiders subject to home blackout).

For example, Comcast won't carry Niners at Saints this Sunday in HD. But Dtv has it on their Sunday Ticket HD schedule:

http://www.directvsports.com/Schedules/Packages/NFLSundayTicket/

Sunday Ticket HD in Cloverdale should escape local blackout rules, which would mean Niners in HD via Sunday Ticket. Again, a football/Dtv expert out there probably knows the answer for sure and can post.

Without having to subsricbe to Sunday Ticket, Cloverdale should qualify for the HD mirror of ch 380 which is 80 WCBS-DT (CBS - New York) which is carried on 101. This would be a source to see the Raiders if carried by NY CBS affiliate that day, even if it was blacked out locally. Also, I think if the Raiders were to play an NFC opponent then I think it goes to Fox so it becomes the same situation as niners (no HD on comcast).

Also, 81 KCBS-DT (CBS - Los Angeles), which is the HD mirror of 381 and wouldn't be subject to the Bay Area blackout rules would mean Raiders home games vs. AFC opponents in HD vs. no broadcast locally even in SD via comcast. I don't know if Dtv has a blackout mechanism based on the service address, but even if they do then Cloverdale should be beyond the blackout area.

Originally posted by tivoyahoo

By the way, sorry for this Dtv post in the comcast forum if anyone is wondering, but since comcast doesn't carry Fox HD the question is where can we get it other than OTA due to LOS problems, particularly now with football starting and the baseball playoffs nearing (and the Raiders subject to home blackout).



The only way to get Fox-HD is when D* goes live with it, hopefully soon. I have thought about getting ST and probably will depending on how things develop as far as Fox-HD and D*.

Jim

Originally posted by davisdog
TivoYahoo,

Yes, you can get it from that link if you look at the diagnostic submenu.
Signal Acquired at 548.996 MHz (download)
SNR: 34.6 dB Frequency: 22 MHz (upload)
Received Signal Strength: -11.2 dBmV Power Level: 39.0 dBmV
Micro-Reflections: 17 dBc Channel ID: 1
Modulation: 64 QAM Modulation: QPSK

and losgatos would be the same
I havent found the cap value yet in the menus.

The above is from a post in June (#1052 in this forum) regarding the comcast cable modem. Here is the link to the post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3979970#post3979970

I can no longer get into the cable modem config file and diagnostic submenus as before ever since the 3mb upgrade from 1.8mb that happened in saramilgatos not long ago. Anyone else had this issue? Do you get the same screen that I do? I have an RCA/Thomsom Cable modem. I'm able to run a speadtest at sfo.speakeasy.net and get a 3mb speedtest result so I know the upgrade has happened, but it appears the config file has changed and I can't get into it as before using:

http://192.168.100.1

I'm curious with the channel realignment if the cable modem would still show the same frequencies as before:

548.996 MHz (download) 22 MHz (upload)

These were for saramilgatos (at least in June) and I want to know if they are still the same now. I get the new screen below (in html page form) when I use 192.168.100.1. The page looks different than before and there don't seem to be any other screens or links to go to. Anyone know the trick to get into the cable modem post-3mb upgrade? The info I posted before from June seems to be outdated. I assume the cable modem got a new config file in the upgrade process and it looks they have made it difficult (or impossible) to get into the modem like before. Or maybe I'm missing something simple??

The info at "The Unofficial Bay Area 3Mb Upgrade List" site hasn't been updated since April and doesn't offer any new help:

http://lackatee.home.comcast.net

Also wondering if anyone is getting the 4mb "Pro" service mentioned at the link above.

Any help is appreciated.

The only screen I can get is this (mac address omitted):

-----------------------
THOMSON CABLE MODEM DIAGNOSTICS

USB: Inactive
Ethernet: 100 BaseT
USB VendID: 06 9b

Cable Signal: Ready
Tuning Complete
Ranging Complete

Data Service: Ready
Connecting Complete
Configuring Complete
Registering Complete

Configuration Parameters:
Computers Allowed by Service Provider: 1
Computers Detected by Modem: 1

HOW TO GET A WAIVER?

I live buried in the hills of Marin County, & OTA is impossible. Has anyone tried to get a waiver from KTVU for the LA Hi-Def feed of FOX? I presume the waiver has to go through COX/KTVU.

What process does one go through to request a waiver, and what reasons work best? If anyone has tried it, it would be very helpful to know what happened & what they did.

bstubenrauch,
I live in Novato and requested a D* wavier for DNS for all the networks a few years ago, right after KNTV became the BA NBC affiliate. I was granted waivers for ABC, FOX, and CBS. KNTV and NBC was the only one to decline and I recently called D* and asked them to try again for a NBC waiver. Haven't heard anything yet, they told me it takes about 45 days.

hiker,

You don't need a waiver to get NBC HD on DirecTV. KNTV is an O&O, so should automatically be eligible for at least the West Feed of NBC HD on D*.

As to FOX HD on D* and KTVU, it's worth a shot to request a waiver from Cox (KTVU), but don't count on it being approved. Request it through D* first, then if that doesn't work go directly to KTVU.

Yes thanks, I know I don't need the waiver for NBC HD, but I want the eastern NBC affiliate so I can time shift and get Leno at 8:35. :)
As I understand it, we won't get KNTV-DT, but the NYC and/or the LA NBC stations.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher

As to FOX HD on D* and KTVU, it's worth a shot to request a waiver from Cox (KTVU), but don't count on it being approved. Request it through D* first, then if that doesn't work go directly to KTVU.

My understanding is the waiver must be requested through the satco first, they forward it to KTVU and KTVU has 30 days to deny or approve. If no response is forthcoming from KTVU within that 30 days the waiver is automatically granted.

If KTVU denies the waiver then you have to go through the signal testing procedure. And I really doubt KTVU will go to the extent of having the signal testing done.

Do you think it matters whether to request the waiver now before Fox-HD is even on D* or would it be wiser to wait until after? In other words is D* even accepting waiver requests for Fox-HD yet being it is not even carried yet? Not that KTVU will even grant the waiver but in order to get the DNS you have to go through the procedure.

Jim

Originally posted by keenan
Do you think it matters whether to request the waiver now before Fox-HD is even on D* or would it be wiser to wait until after? In other words is D* even accepting waiver requests for Fox-HD yet being it is not even carried yet? I decided to apply for the NBC wavier now. I already have the FOX KTVU wavier I was granted a couple of years ago. You should go for it now since it takes a while for a decision. The wavier application process has been in effect many years now since D* started providing the DNS.

Haven't seen it posted yet so I thought I'd mention the NFL Network is now on in Alameda on ch. 417

Originally posted by hiker
I decided to apply for the NBC wavier now. I already have the FOX KTVU wavier I was granted a couple of years ago. You should go for it now since it takes a while for a decision. The wavier application process has been in effect many years now since D* started providing the DNS.

You're right, since I basically only watch HD that's where my thinking was at, getting the waiver for KTVU analog would do the job since if you get that you will get the HD. I plan to do so and fully expect KTVU to deny the waiver, so it will be interesting to see what happens after that because I plan to push it all the way to testing if need be.

Jim

I didn't see any other recent San Jose activity in a search, so I decided to start a new thread.


A while back channel 703 was added to the HD lineup. This channel is KRON (I think), and offers HD material partly from HDNET, and other original (or something?) HD material. The International CES coverage last weekend (I think) was pretty cool.

And sometime this month they moved all of the HD stations up to the 700s, instead of having 184-199 or so, with a few in the 700s.

So we have NBC, KRON, ABC, CBS, some local educational channels, INHD 1 & 2, and Discovery HD Theater on 723, ESPN HD on 724, and above that the premium HD channels. There's plenty of open slots in this range, so I can't wait to get FOX or Bravo in HD.


Other than that, the compression is kind of frustrating, like with the synchronized swimming competition they had on KRON/HDNET. Not that I was actually watching it, but seeing the compression artifacts/boxes as they splashed around made it almost unwatchable. Seeing it like in a club with flashing lights, or as previews switch from one scene to the next in rapid succession, you can really see the compression. The static or near-static PQ is great, but hopefully in the future things won't have to be so compressed. I'm glad for all the HD we get, though, so this isn't a complaint. ;)

Im sure this has been answered before, but Im trying to get a technical version of the answer for a friend of mine. Any help would be appreciated. Why is it that on HBO HD, not all the shows are in widescreen 16:9 format, and sometimes in 4:3 instead with black bars on the side? I thought everything in HD was supposed to be in widescreen?

Originally posted by Neo57
Im sure this has been answered before, but Im trying to get a technical version of the answer for a friend of mine. Any help would be appreciated. Why is it that on HBO HD, not all the shows are in widescreen 16:9 format, and sometimes in 4:3 instead with black bars on the side? I thought everything in HD was supposed to be in widescreen?

It is. If you're seeing a 4:3 screen it's because the current programming is not in HD. Not all of HBO programs are in HD -- some of their original programming is shot/displayed in SD.

Is it possible to get a waiver from KTVU even if you're not currently a D* subscriber? I figured it would be worth getting one now if I ever decide to make the switch from cable.

if you look in the hdtv info and reception forum there is a very active bay area thread..most of what you have said has been commented on..

Thanks

Merged

Originally posted by fender4645
It is. If you're seeing a 4:3 screen it's because the current programming is not in HD. Not all of HBO programs are in HD -- some of their original programming is shot/displayed in SD.

But I was on the HBO HD channel, and watching a show, I dont believe it was a movie, and it wasnt widescreen. But I know it was HD signal cause of the clarity, much clearer and crisp than normal sd or digital channel.

Originally posted by Neo57
But I was on the HBO HD channel, and watching a show, I dont believe it was a movie, and it wasnt widescreen. But I know it was HD signal cause of the clarity, much clearer and crisp than normal sd or digital channel.

HBO does upconvert its SD programming so it will usually look a lot better then what's shown on the SD channel. However, it's still not HD. Because one of the basic requirements of HD is the 16x9 (or wider) aspect, I'm 99.9% sure what you saw was not HD.

Originally posted by cyberbri
Other than that, the compression is kind of frustrating, like with the synchronized swimming competition they had on KRON/HDNET. Not that I was actually watching it, but seeing the compression artifacts/boxes as they splashed around made it almost unwatchable. Seeing it like in a club with flashing lights, or as previews switch from one scene to the next in rapid succession, you can really see the compression. The static or near-static PQ is great, but hopefully in the future things won't have to be so compressed. I'm glad for all the HD we get, though, so this isn't a complaint. ;)

Just to be clear, Comcast does NOT re-compress any of its HD programming. If you're seeing pixelated or "blocked" pictures it's most likely a problem with your line/equipment (either personally or your local area). Comcast takes the feed from the broadcast station and passes it on directly without any re-compression. On what channels were you seeing this?

I specifically remember it on the KRON/HDNET synchronized swimming, and then I think INHD or INHD2, with previews (between shows) switching between shots. There was also a show, can't remember which one but I think it was on one besides the big 3, with people in a dark club or dance and the lights were flashing and it was really bad.

That's besides the Olympic coverage on NBC a few weeks ago, which was really bad with the swimming events.


Whether it's compressed before it gets to Comcast, or compressed by Comcast, it doesn't change the fact that it's still being compressed.

Originally posted by cyberbri
Whether it's compressed before it gets to Comcast, or compressed by Comcast, it doesn't change the fact that it's still being compressed.

Of course it's compressed...all digital TV signals are. If they weren't then each of us would need a fiber line coming directly into our TV in order to come up with that kind of bandwidth. The only "pixelating" problems I've seen lately were on KPIX and that was a whole different issue alltogether. I haven't been watching KRON lately and the only thing on INHD I've seen in the last week are the baseball games and those looked fine. I would really check the diagnostics on your box and see what your signal is like. DCTDictator services your neck of the woods so he may have a better idea as to what's going on.

Baseball looks fine here too. There's no rapid movement. Football and soccer games are fine too.

It's the scene changes, where the whole image, or most of the image, changes (new shot/scene, or lights flashing), or lots of movement all over the screen (like water splashing in a pool). Did you see any of the Olympic swimming events on NBC? Surely I'm not the only one who noticed...

Thanks, I will check the signal strength tonight.

cyberbri--

KRON's HDNET feed is pixelated OTA (as was NBC's HD Olympics coverage). The bandwidth restrictions don't originate with Comcast.

Thank you, TPeterson.

Originally posted by fender4645
Is it possible to get a waiver from KTVU even if you're not currently a D* subscriber? I figured it would be worth getting one now if I ever decide to make the switch from cable.

Good question, and I think the answer is yes, you just ask the station for the waiver instead of requesting that the satco do it for you.

Here's a link to a fact sheet with Q&A on it, there's also a 800 number for the FCC.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/shva/shviafac.html
Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act Fact Sheet

Jim

Bringing this thread back OT, the NFL Network is up on Comcast here in Santa Clara (channnel 417) but I did have to subscribe to a sports tier in order to get it. I had only the Digital Classic package (plus the HD stuff) so the NFL Network came up as "Not Authorized". For another $4.95/mo I now get a boatload of sports channels including the Speed channel which I was really wanting as well.

Chris

Originally posted by ilikemyHT
Haven't seen it posted yet so I thought I'd mention the NFL Network is now on in Alameda on ch. 417

Another channel I don't get here in Santa Rosa.....

Jim

Originally posted by TPeterson
cyberbri--

KRON's HDNET feed is pixelated OTA (as was NBC's HD Olympics coverage). The bandwidth restrictions don't originate with Comcast. This is correct. Comcast passes along all local HD channels at the same bandwidth it receives them, although they are converted to QAM 256 of course.

Thanks for the link, Keenan. I shot an email off to KTVU...you can never be too prepared. :)

By the way, did anyone get a chance to look at the KCSM contour map that was uploaded to the Yahoo group? Since KTVU broadcasts from the same location, the thresholds should be the same. There's a nice "white space" right where Moraga is which, if I'm reading it correctly, should prove that I can't receive a Grade B signal (or any signal for that matter). It looks the same for much of the west portion of the North Bay as well.

Yes, NFL Network has shown up today on 417 off the Rohnert Park head end. College Sports TV (CSTV) also has appeared on 418.

A's Rangers game on InHD2 right now is 4:3 pillar boxed. More growing pains...

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
A's Rangers game on InHD2 right now is 4:3 pillar boxed. More growing pains...
Ya, same here in Alameda. I was looking forward to watching it too.

On a positive note, the NFL Network looks great. The best of any of the SD channels. I'll be glad when they get with it on the HD feed for the Game of the Week, but I'm pretty happy in the meantime with just the last 15 mins I caught of it today. Very nice PQ. :)

In San Francisco, I am getting "Not Authorized" for NFL Network and College Sports TV. What do I need to subscribe to get these channels. I am currently on Digital Silver.

Originally posted by keenan
Another channel I don't get here in Santa Rosa.....

Jim

same here with your 2% cousins in Saramilgatos

Yeah, my number 1 complaint with HD right now is over-compression.
I would like more HD content, but when the content that is there is unwatchable/annoying to watch do to overcompression it is annoying.

I stopped watching any of the HD(day delayed) Olympics due to the artifacts in the diving, swimming, and other sports with rapid movement.

It happens alot on HBOHD in movies with a lot of explosions/lightning strike type effects. Attack of the Clones(particularly in the droid factory), Terminator3, Identity(during lighning strikes)

Originally posted by takeshi
In San Francisco, I am getting "Not Authorized" for NFL Network and College Sports TV. What do I need to subscribe to get these channels. I am currently on Digital Silver. You should definitely be getting NFL Network. I don't know about CSTV. Call the 800 number and ask the CSR to authorize NFL Network (and CSTV if applicable) for you-- they will send an authorization "hit" to your box.

Originally posted by fender4645

By the way, did anyone get a chance to look at the KCSM contour map that was uploaded to the Yahoo group?


Yeah, those maps are great aren't they? I just happen to be in a white area between two "good" areas also. It would have been nice to have some more reference points on the map but with the PDF version you can zoom it way up and get a pretty good idea where you're at without losing resolution.

BTW, are you guys still getting breakups and green screens on KPIX? I heard that they were aware of the problem but not sure if it was supposed to be fixed by now.

Jim

Originally posted by davisdog
same here with your 2% cousins in Saramilgatos

This is a SD channel isn't? Why wouldn't we get it?

Jim

Originally posted by Zappcatt

I stopped watching any of the HD(day delayed) Olympics due to the artifacts in the diving, swimming, and other sports with rapid movement.

It happens alot on HBOHD in movies with a lot of explosions/lightning strike type effects. Attack of the Clones(particularly in the droid factory), Terminator3, Identity(during lighning strikes)

That's why it's going to nice for us with D* when KNBC-LA starts, they fill the pipe, whereas, KNTV seems to think their limited BW signal is 'good enough".

HBO sends less than full BW also, I think it around 13-15Mbps.

Jim

Was just surfing by InHD channel 720 (in San Ramon). The program guide says "Beyonce Knowles in Concert", but instead it's an HD version of the NFL Network's Game of the Week, Oakland Vs. Pittsburgh.

Awesome!! Not 5.1 sound, but still, awesome!

I called Comcast and found out that NFL and CSTV are part of a tier package. Extra 4.95/month that also includes speedvision, Fox sports (other regions), GOL, etc.

Yes, takeshi, that's pretty much what I said about 16 posts ago :D

It was a little confusing at first talking to the CSR (imagine my surprise :rolleyes: ) but the woman that I talked to seemed to get a handle on it pretty quickly and she did admit that they only learned about the addition of the NFL Network the previous day. At first it sounded like the NFL Network was only available in a sports tier with a few other channels for $4.95/mo while the Speed Channel was in yet another package for $4.99/mo. Since I really wanted both I quizzed her about it and, after she checked, she came back to say that the sports tier containing the NFL Network also contained all of the channels from the other package for a few pennies less. It didn't seem to make much sense but I said "sign me up!" and within minutes I had access to everything that I was after plus more than I'll ever watch or even give a sh*t about. Just to make sure that I understood her correctly about the pricing (even though I did repeatedly ask "are you sure it's only $4.95 for all that?") I went and checked my account online this morning and it shows the addition of the "Sports Tier" for a monthly total increase of $5.20 (incl. franchise fee).

Now I just need to figure out how to find the time to watch all of the extra stuff especially with a MotoGP race from Japan coming on during Sunday's football schedule. I guess that maybe I really do need a DVR :D

Chris

Originally posted by Mr. Cuddles
... the addition of the "Sports Tier" for a monthly total increase of $5.20 (incl. franchise fee).

Chris

Is this "sports tier" something that is available in certain areas only? I have never heard of it, but of course I have never of a lot of things. :p

Jim

In Petaluma, now getting NFL Network on ch 720 instead of InHD2.
Looks like some of it is HD and some is SD (480i)..
In the non-HD spectrum, NFL is on ch 417.
CSTV? is on 418 but I'm "not authorized" ... which is strange because I pay approx. 45 million dollars a month for cable ... ?l

Originally posted by takeshi
In San Francisco, I am getting "Not Authorized" for NFL Network and College Sports TV. What do I need to subscribe to get these channels. I am currently on Digital Silver.
Beats me because I am on Digital Silver ($27.95/mo) and I get NFL (but not CSTV..)

Originally posted by walk
... which is strange because I pay approx. 45 million dollars a month for cable ... ?l

Sheesh, and I thought my 39mill was high, maybe being a 2% clubber does have it's benefits...

Jim:p

I'm also seeing NFL network on 720 even though the guide says INHD2. It's currently showing highlights in HD of the Raiders/Steelers game.

It's back to INHD2 now... maybe it's doing double duty for NFL and INHD2. Actually, it would be tripple duty with FSN....

Russ,

Yep, "triple duty" is a good way to put it. This is a good reason for Comcast to create an HD special events or HD PPV/Special events channel that can take these types of HD shows when there might be a conflict.

GOTW will be on Wednesday and Thursday nights this fall, which I am sure will conflict with a lot of Warriors and Sharks [assuming no NHL lockout] games on FSN HD.

FSN is supposed to be getting a channel all to itself soon.. anyone know when that will happen?

SonomaSearcher, you mentioned getting the Sacramento FOX station OTA in Petaluma, what channel is that? I threw up my old rabbit ears in the bedroom, the only channels I got with any strength at all were 22 (KRCB, PBS aff. I think) and 50 (whatever 50 is..)

KTXL-40 is the Sac Fox affiliate and the transmitter is in Walnut Grove, God only knows how SonomaSearcher gets that signal.

50 is KFTY located on Mt. St Helena and KRCB is on Sonoma Mtn.

Jim

Yeah, I can get 25-1 (KOVR CBS) and 55-2 (KTXL FOX) from Sacto, but have to adjust antenna for one or the other so I can't get both at the same time. But I really only want FOX since it is missing from Comcast in the Bay Area.

Right now, I have a Radio Shack 15-2185 (amplified outdoor), but I am going to return it and get a CM 4228 with pre-amp to strengthen my signal. You won't get much with rabbit ears.

You can also try Radio Shack's amplified indoor antenna (on sale now for $40 or $50) which might work for you depending on your location. Or the old double bowtie with an amplifier.

Right now, KTXL is apparently only sending out its digital/HD OTA on weekends. During the week, it is working on its transmitter to boost its current 290,000 kilowatts to 1,000,000 kilowatts.

Yep, "triple duty" is a good way to put it. This is a good reason for Comcast to create an HD special events or HD PPV/Special events channel that can take these types of HD shows when there might be a conflict
I, for one, wish Comcast would allocate separate channels for these stations/events.

Believe it or not, there are those of us out here who don't believe the world revolves around the NFL.

Originally posted by Jerry Gardner
I, for one, wish Comcast would allocate separate channels for these stations/events.

Believe it or not, there are those of us out here who don't believe the world revolves around the NFL.

And I, for one , wish Comcast would allocate the channel period, for us 2%'ers.

Jim :D

Originally posted by keenan
For those interested in the Santa Rosa Comcast situation, I received a response today from the Santa Rosa City Manager's Office.

<snip> That doesn't sound encouraging at all. I want to move.

Originally posted by keenan
This is a SD channel isn't? Why wouldn't we get it? Bandwidth. We're missing a ton of digital channels. I don't understand why anybody in Santa Rosa would subscribe to a digital package. What do you get? 10 lousy channels or something? Whoopie.

I just got a new HDTV up and running on Comcast and the HD channels look great and the SD channels not so great (although better than I anticipated). I did notice that the NFL channel,which I know is SD, looks really good. Anybody else see this??

As a follow up to my earlier post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4344645#post4344645), I was finally able to access my RCA DCM245 cable modem's diagnostics by using the information at these links:
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/7363
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/cmtips/signal.html

For Los Gatos (Saramilgatos, 2%), the diagnostics show downstream frequency of 549 Mhz and Modulation: QAM 64. I found this post which looks to be from Mountain View and reports 705Mhz and Modulation QAM 256:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,11247046~mode=flat

I think it's interesting that not only is Saramilgatos limited to 550Mhz, but it appears to be behind the curve in utilizing QAM256 as well at least for HSI. In June (post #962), DCTDictator wrote: "There are other solutions to the bandwidth issue - 256 QAM, all digital or other new technology to add services and content."

I was hoping that the channel realignment this month might have brought with it some technical improvements that opened bandwidth, rather than just a VCM change. There are reports in this thread that QAM tuners were having problems corresponding with the channel realignment. Perhaps that is the result of a frequency change, but it likely could be due to a QAM 64/QAM 256 change that corresponded with the realignment. As an example, dmunjal reported in post #2082 that his Dvico fusion gold card isn't working whatsoever post-realignment.

However, using the Motorola Diagnostic screens, it seems that in Saramilgatos the only channels using QAM 256 are the HD 700's and 189 - 192 (KQED multicasts) & 194 (ABC News). I'm wondering if anyone has noticed any QAM 256 changes in the Bay Area. Is Comcast using QAM256 on other systems for any channels other than the ones I mention? For instructions on how I checked the diagnostic screens for each channel, see:

http://cjhengineering.com/hdtv/cablehdtv/dctdiag.htm

The bottom line is that I'm wondering if the 2% club might have some hope that Comcast has actually taken some steps to pave the way for more content by making (or at least planning) technical changes that don't involve the capital investment involved in a 550mhz upgrade, which we have to assume is a long ways off given Comcast's lack of commitment to Saramilgatos. It would seem that a QAM 256 shift would be a priority for 2% systems. Maybe someone has some info that progress in that direction is being made.

Highly doubtful if the older digital boxes (DCT-1000, etc) would all have to be replaced.. $$$$

Only HD is spec'd as requiring 256QAM for transmission. Everything else is 64 QAM, though the DCT-2000's can support 256 QAM if needed. The demods already support it. It would however require a a fair amount of headend equipment swapout, and also mean the system would have to keep it's downstream pretty clean. 256QAM requires a better C/N than 64 QAM.

If they are running the DOCSIS carrier at 549 Mhz on a 550 plant, that's a little dicey, as they are pushing things into the rolloff at the end of the band. I'm surprised they are doing that with DOCSIS...

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by walk
Highly doubtful if the older digital boxes (DCT-1000, etc) would all have to be replaced.. $$$$

Nothing wrong with that - DCT1000 & 1200 are being recalled in my system. Can't do VOD or 256QAM, so who needs 'em? (maybe Adelphia ;) )

Got mail from comcast on Saturday saying that they are working on upgrading my area. This is the second mail I've gotten from them. Hoping that they
will roll out HDTV on Oct 21st like what CSRs have told me.

The mail showed areas that were already upgraded. Doesn't show
that emrald hills has been already upgraded, although someone reported emrald hills already has HDTV.

Emerald Hills is now all 860 Mhz plant, with the max HD you will find. The latest stuff the industry has to offer in network. :-)

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by MikeSM
256QAM requires a better C/N than 64 QAM.

If they are running the DOCSIS carrier at 549 Mhz on a 550 plant, that's a little dicey, as they are pushing things into the rolloff at the end of the band. I'm surprised they are doing that with DOCSIS...


What is "C/N"? Carrier vs. noise? same as SNR - signal to noise?

By the way, my cable modem diagnostics report:
Received Signal Strength: -15.1 dBmV

Apparently that's outside docsis parameters. My SNR is 34.5 dB which is fine apparently. Perhaps the rolloff you mention could be contributing to that first value (RSS) being off. My modem speedtests at 3mb however, but it does seem like there is some latency. Would that RSS value result in such a problem? What symptoms should I look for? Should I schedule comcast to come out to get the value within the Docsis parameters? The cable modem is at the end of a fairly long run of rg-59 that is buried in the walls and between the first and second floors and thus almost impossible to replace with rg-6. I'm wondering if that's the source of the value being off due to signal loss over the line, but yet my SNR value is fine. What might correct the RSS value? does Comcast ever supply amplifiers if the signal is weak inside? What about a tap since the cable modem is off a splitter at the distribution point outside (that is the only splitter on the line to the modem however).

also, davisdog got the same frequency (549) for his cable modem - posted here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3979970#post3979970

He is saramilgatos as well and saramilgatos is 550Mhz.

Some news about our friends Comcast from ConvergeDigest,

http://www.convergedigest.com/DSL/lastmilearticle.asp?ID=12367
Last Mile News

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

Comcast: Size and Content Build Value

"Size really does matter", said John R. Alchin, Executive Vice President, speaking at the Banc of America Investment Conference in San Francisco. Comcast's 21.5 million subscribers has enabled it to cut better deals with content providers, such as MGM and the National Football League, while increasing its advertising power. Some highlights of the presentation:

* Comcast's video on demand service currently has a content library that includes 7,000 movies and over 30,000 TV episodes
* HDTV is now available across 90% of the plant and 600,000 HDTV boxes have already been deployed
* Comcast has the capacity for all local HDTV channels in all markets
* Comcast is working with Gemstar and Microsoft on advanced On-Screen Guides
* Comcast is still "setting the stage" for a major VoIP rollout in 2005. The company aid 50% of its plant will be VoIP-ready by year end 2004, and 95% of the plant will be VoIP-ready by year end 2005
* VoIP features will include E911 capabilities, battery back-up and one bill integration with other Comcast services.
* Comcast currently has 1.2 million circuit-switched telephony subscribers
* For 2004, Comcast will have generated $2 billion in free cash flow


http://www.comcast.com
21-Sep-04

* Comcast Cable ended Q2 2004 with more than 6.0 million subscribers, a 36.8% increase from the same quarter last year. During quarter, Comcast Cable added 327,000 high-speed Internet subscribers resulting in a penetration rate of 16.1% of available homes. Comcast Cable added more than 1.1 million homes to its cable modem footprint in quarter, and this service is now available to 37.3 million, or 92.6%, of homes passed. Average monthly revenue per high-speed Internet subscriber was $43.52 in Q2, in line with Q2 2003 and a $1.07 increase from the $42.45 reported.

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

Comcast has the capacity for all local HDTV channels in all markets

I wonder...

Jim

VOD, VOD, VOD!!! That's all you pretty much hear from Comcast these days. You'd think it was the second coming of Christ! :) I say DVR, DVR, DVR!!!

In all honesty, VOD definitely has potential but I don't think they're quite there yet. For those who have it probably know what I'm talking about. First, you have to go to a whole separate menu system and then navigate through pages and pages of categories before you finally get to what you want to watch. And while I'm sure this will improve when we get rid of the 'CrapStar' IPG, I would like to see a tighter integration of VOD with the basic channel lineup. For example, click on a show that's in the guide and have the option to pull up all related shows that are available via VOD.

In regards to "Comcast has the capacity for all local HDTV channels in all markets", it would be suicide if they didn't. Network TV still brings in the most money for advertising and a lot money would be missed if they decided to substitute KTVU-HD with the "Under Water Basket Weaving HD" channel.

I searched the thread to see if this problem had been reported and found nothing.
I have a DCT5100 and notice that every time the Giants/A's game appears on InHD2 the screen initially goes black when they switch from regular InHD2 programming to the game. Then I have to change the channel to another and back to InHD2 to get the video. All is ok until the game is over and they cut back over to regular InHD2 programming and the screen goes black again and I have to change channels again.
Anyone know what's going on with this? It might be a problem with the 5100 failing to sync to a different stream?

Originally posted by hiker
I searched the thread to see if this problem had been reported and found nothing.
I have a DCT5100 and notice that every time the Giants/A's game appears on InHD2 the screen initially goes black when they switch from regular InHD2 programming to the game. Then I have to change the channel to another and back to InHD2 to get the video. All is ok until the game is over and they cut back over to regular InHD2 programming and the screen goes black again and I have to change channels again.
Anyone know what's going on with this? It might be a problem with the 5100 failing to sync to a different stream?

I have the same problem with my 6200. oh well.

The more bothersome part to me is the HUGE discrepency in audio volumes across the SD and HD channels. drives me crazy. Last night i had to put my volume on MAX to watch Discovery hd. can't remember if i have the same problem with digital. i vaguely remember the SD commercials from HD content being really loud. anyone else?

Jizzay1,
I had same problem with the audio level and gave up on digital audio and went with analog audio for normal TV watching and got the Terk VR-1 volume regulator. This is an amazing little device that I have been very happy with. You can get on eBay or online stores like Crutchfield.

Try different Audio Output settings (TV, Stereo, Advanced -> Light/Heavy compression).

I usually watch TV through my TV's speakers, and only use the surround sound for movies or primetime dramas. I forgot what I have it set to, but I've tried going back and forth between a couple louder non-HD channels, then some HD channels (like NBC in HD and SD) - trying this with different settings. I think one setting gets them closer, so you don't have a huge jump in volume when you change to another channel.

Originally posted by fender4645

In regards to "Comcast has the capacity for all local HDTV channels in all markets", it would be suicide if they didn't. Network TV still brings in the most money for advertising and a lot money would be missed if they decided to substitute KTVU-HD with the "Under Water Basket Weaving HD" channel.

I agree, it would be suicide, but what is there, 20 plus local channels in the Bay Area? If all those channels went to HD Comcast is saying they have the capacity to carry all those channels? I seriously doubt this to be true, especially on a 550Mhz system. I think this statement is more of a "mines bigger than yours" response to the recent news about D* and it's plans for LiL HD with their new sats.

Is VOD even possible on a 550Mhz system? DCTDictator any ideas?

VoIP, personally, I could care less, my POTS works fine.

For 2004, Comcast will have generated $2 billion in free cash flow

^^ But not enough to upgrade 550Mhz systems. :rolleyes:

Jim

Did any of you who don't get FSN Bay Area HD (because no InHD2) contact the FSN Bay Area person to ask them when you will get FSN Bay Area HD on your system?

I would think FSN Bay Area would be on your side on this one.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Did any of you who don't get FSN Bay Area HD (because no InHD2) contact the FSN Bay Area person to ask them when you will get FSN Bay Area HD on your system?

I would think FSN Bay Area would be on your side on this one.

I think an email to the announcers of the games would help, if they would put it out on the air that NOT ALL areas can get the games in HD. I'm tired of all the excuses from Comcast for not upgrading our system, I think it's time for them to explain in public why they are not upgrading our system, not enough money, my dieing arse.

I received a VOD is available mailer yesterday. It's not, but I thought I would share with you guys that it must be coming really soon if they are mailing my house saying that it's here already.

Russ

Originally posted by Mikef5
I think an email to the announcers of the games would help, if they would put it out on the air that NOT ALL areas can get the games in HD. I'm tired of all the excuses from Comcast for not upgrading our system, I think it's time for them to explain in public why they are not upgrading our system, not enough money, my dieing arse.

Come on, 2 billion in cash is not near enough. :rolleyes:

BTW, are you the Mike that was contacting the Western Region Comcast exec?
Ever get a response?

Jim

I haven't noticed any major differences in audio volume. I use digital audio full time (via optical to an Onkyo AVR).

Go to the Setup, Audio, set output to "Advanced", compression "None" and output type "Matrix Stereo", that works for me.

Originally posted by russwong
I received a VOD is available mailer yesterday. It's not, but I thought I would share with you guys that it must be coming really soon if they are mailing my house saying that it's here already.

Russ

In the announcements today - the remainder of SF launches VOD today. Check channel 0!

Originally posted by DCTDictator
In the announcements today - the remainder of SF launches VOD today. Check channel 0!

Umm.. could you be a little more specific on what SF means? Are you saying the City of? I take it this does not go for 550Mhz systems?

Jim

Originally posted by walk
I haven't noticed any major differences in audio volume. I'm sure you've at least noticed the blaring sound from some commercials? They do it intentionally. The only way to compensate for it is to install an automatic sound leveler like I mentioned. Also some TVs I understand have the sound leveler circuitry now built-in, but I'm not sure if it works if you're using a STB.

Of course commecials are louder but I'm used to that.
I thought you meant large volume difference between different channels.

Originally posted by DCTDictator
In the announcements today - the remainder of SF launches VOD today. Check channel 0! Any news/estimates on the North Bay? Specifically the Rohnert Park headend?

Originally posted by keenan
Come on, 2 billion in cash is not near enough. :rolleyes:

BTW, are you the Mike that was contacting the Western Region Comcast exec?
Ever get a response?

Jim

Yes, I contacted Mr. Germano and he gave a mixed response to my email. He is either blowing smoke up my arse or is really trying to get the funding to upgrade the Saramilgatos area. He said he would have a definitive answer in a month, which should be the first week of October. I plan on following up on this and I'll let you know what his final decision is. I'm willing to give them the benefit of a doubt but it's really getting old to see the rest of the areas get upgraded and new channels put in and we get squat, except the cable bill.

Originally posted by Mikef5
and we get squat, except the cable bill.

And of course the Comcast commercials about things we can't have either, and media reports and press releases about how things are so great in Comcast World. When D* gets FOX and when/if they get ABC then I will have to decide if the PQ is good enough on D* to dump Comcast. I'm crazy, but not crazy enough to continue buying two services each month.

Thanks,

Jim

Originally posted by keenan
Umm.. could you be a little more specific on what SF means? Are you saying the City of? I take it this does not go for 550Mhz systems?

Jim

Not too familiar with SF - memo today states that one headend went on yesterday and another today.

From what I read, I would say that it means SF County and San Mateo County. Are there 550 systems there?

Looks like in conjunction with the mailer I received yesterday, this morning the cable box had the dl symbol on it and was churning away. I'll check when I get home, but maybe this is the VOD getting pushed down?

Russ

Originally posted by MikeSM
Emerald Hills is now all 860 Mhz plant, with the max HD you will find. The latest stuff the industry has to offer in network. :-)

Thanks,
Mike

Question: what is the dividing line between Emerald Hills and Redwood City, with regard to Comcast? The Comcast web site says I could be in either.

Can anyone in SJ 95111 area confirm current HD channel availability?

I just got off the phone in which I was given a survey about my local cable/internet. Most of the questions centered around Public Access channels and if I thought we needed them or not. They also asked who should pay for the necessary equipment (cable co or local government) and whether or not I wanted the channels, even if it meant regular channels would need to be dropped. The survey was done by a third party but I was told it was initiated by Comcast. I know you guys in the 2% Club have been talking about this so I thought I'd give you a heads up in case you get called as well.

Originally posted by fender4645
I know you guys in the 2% Club have been talking about this so I thought I'd give you a heads up in case you get called as well.

Who was the third party? I usually don't answer calls if I don't know who it is but I would definitely put my 0.02 in about the 2% related problems if I get a call. :D

Jim

Originally posted by keenan
Who was the third party? I usually don't answer calls if I don't know who it is but I would definitely put my 0.02 in about the 2% related problems if I get a call.
I can't remember but the call did come up as "unknown" on my caller ID.

Fender,

I hope your reply was favorable to us 2% 'ers

remember, we know where you live (and are slowing trenching our way to your house so we can leech of your cable system)

Hahaha! Yeah, it was definitely favorable. It was kind of funny because the guy doing the survey was obviously reading from a script and all of the questions were either 'multiple choice' or 'yes/no'. When he asked if I thought the "cable company" (they never actually used the Comcast name) should continue to carry Public Access channels, I launched into this 2 minute answer about how it all depends on if the channels were analog or digital and exactly how much bandwidth they would take up. When I finished he just said "Uh...so is that a yes or a no?". :)

Originally posted by davisdog
Fender,

I hope your reply was favorable to us 2% 'ers

remember, we know where you live (and are slowing trenching our way to your house so we can leech of your cable system)

I thought we weren't going to say anything until we got to his front yard? Now we'll have to go with the tunnel plan. :D

Jim

FYI,

VOD is up in San Francisco. I wasn't too impressed, but I didn't look around too much either. Anyone else try it out?

Russ

Anybody else notice the dead pixels right in the center of the camera that is behind home plate on the Giants HD telecast? Very distracting.

I'm still waiting for that new on-screen guide, guys. Wasn't it only a few months ago when they said it would only take a few months? *taps fingers*

Originally posted by michaelc
I'm still waiting for that new on-screen guide, guys. Wasn't it only a few months ago when they said it would only take a few months? *taps fingers*

Somebody posted on another thread that the new IPG will start being rolled out in mid-October at the earliest will full-scale rollout by November. Not sure how accurate this info is though. It was mentioned that a few bugs were found and are now being dealt with.

You must be referring to the i-Guide by TV Guide, which still has bugs and is projected at late October at the earliest for the New England area.

But I hope we never get it. I would much rather have Microsoft Foundation Edition, even if we have to wait an extra month or two.

However, with all the bugs in the i-Guide, I am willing to bet that FE will be ready to go (if it's not ready already) quite a bit before i-Guide. Whether that readiness translates into more widespread deployment is another matter.

Seattle will be the first to get the 6412 (with FE), I am sure. Maybe sometime in October for paying customers (Comcast employees are beta testing it there right now). Other than that, we will have to cross our fingers and see what happens.

Sonoma, will FE work on non-DVR boxes? (i.e. 6200, 5100, etc.) If not, will there be a mix of FE and iGuide depending on which box you have?

Perhaps a little off topic, but I viewed the 10:00 news from KTVU for the first time and was blown away by the beauty behind the newscast, Sara Sidner. This woman could easily be in the Miss Universe contest, and win!
Has anyone else seen her on this newscast, and is she ever broadcast in HD? Thanks.

Originally posted by fender4645
Sonoma, will FE work on non-DVR boxes? (i.e. 6200, 5100, etc.) If not, will there be a mix of FE and iGuide depending on which box you have? I am almost certain FE works on non-DVR boxes. I believe the plan in Seattle is to try it on the 6412's and, depending on the results, later expand it to the 6200's, etc.

I've seen 1.5 and 1.7 on a DCT2000. It definitely works on the 2000 series boxes as well as 62XX and 64XX. The website for FE should have a list of all the supported boxes.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher

But I hope we never get it. I would much rather have Microsoft Foundation Edition, even if we have to wait an extra month or two.



Sorry - no FE yet.

The new On-Screen guide will be loaded on Motorola 1800, 2000, 2500, 5100, 6200 and 6208 (single tuner DVR) set top boxes.

hmmm - what about 6412s, huh

3 column programming grid

No 'panel ads'

Yeeeah!

Something called a Mini guide - browse listings while watching live TV.

The old IPG does that

More as it comes in..

Thumbnails would be nice.

Originally posted by igreg
Perhaps a little off topic, but I viewed the 10:00 news from KTVU for the first time and was blown away by the beauty behind the newscast, Sara Sidner. This woman could easily be in the Miss Universe contest, and win!
Has anyone else seen her on this newscast, and is she ever broadcast in HD? Thanks.

She's the weekend anchor.

http://www.ktvu.com/station/3301024/detail.html

Originally posted by dandrewk
She's the weekend anchor.

http://www.ktvu.com/station/3301024/detail.html

Another reason Cox needs to get on the ball and provide the KTVU HD feed to Comcast!!!!

How about htey get on the ball and freakin provide me with HDTV in general!!! OMG I hate Comcast. Watch mark my words, HD will be available right after the MLB playoffs are over, no hockey this year, no FOX HD, wow shockers!!!! Ubelievable. They obviously dont care. I jsut switched my cable internet to DSL and I AM SO MUCH HAPPIER. Next switch is either VOOM, DISH, or DirectTV.

Originally posted by v10king
I jsut switched my cable internet to DSL and I AM SO MUCH HAPPIER.

Really!? That's surprising. My Comcast internet service is great, often runs at 3Mbps and rarely less than 2Mbps. We can't even get DSL service where we live, but I'm sure it would cost us a lot more for a similar level of service.

-Steve

Originally posted by v10king
They obviously dont care. I jsut switched my cable internet to DSL and I AM SO MUCH HAPPIER. Next switch is either VOOM, DISH, or DirectTV.

Heck, get all three and be three times as happy. Along with your internet service that would make you 4 times as happy, except all that happiness still will not get you FOX-HD...

Jim

Really!? That's surprising. My Comcast internet service is great, often runs at 3Mbps and rarely less than 2Mbps.
The biggest problem I have with Comcast Internet is their draconian rules prohibiting servers and other interesting stuff. With DSL, there are no restrictions on these; I can do pretty much whatever I want.

I think AT&T actually used to claim their cable Internet service was for "recreational" (e.g. web surfing) use only.

With SBC DSL, I have my own mail server, web server, DNS server (and my own domain). All of these things are prohibited by Comcast, which is pretty much a moot point anyway, since they don't offer the static IP addresses that are required to properly implement these things.

I don't know how reliable Comcast is these days, but I've had less than 6 minutes of downtime with DSL over the past three years.

Originally posted by Jerry Gardner
The biggest problem I have with Comcast Internet is their draconian rules prohibiting servers and other interesting stuff. With DSL, there are no restrictions on these; I can do pretty much whatever I want.

I've run one or more of these services from my home at one point or another without any problems at all. I don't think Comcast has a problem with running servers from your home...they just don't want you to do it in a "commercial" manner. Most people who've been dinged by this were transferring extremely large quantities of data on a pretty consistent basis. If this is what you want to do then I agree, DSL is probably the way to go, although you'll be paying more for it (higher upload speeds, static IP, etc.). And in regards to static IP's, while Comcast doesn't technically offer them, they do base the IP address on the MAC address of the first device it comes into contact with (besides the cable modem). I had the same IP address for over 2 years (I even kept it during the AT&T switchover) and it didn't change until I upgraded my wireless router. That was about 6 months ago and I still have the same IP address I had the day I upgraded.

Originally posted by slb
Really!? That's surprising. My Comcast internet service is great, often runs at 3Mbps and rarely less than 2Mbps. We can't even get DSL service where we live, but I'm sure it would cost us a lot more for a similar level of service.

-Steve

WEll I think your wrong there. I had cable internet since hte @home days. Everything was all fine and dandy until AT&T broadband bought out TCI and @home went belly up. Then the days of over-sturation started. You may get good pings during most of the odd hours but during prime time 5-12pm, I would experience nothing but problems. I game a lot and let me tell you my pings and ltaency was terrible. I would get spikes, drop offs, etc. Then I switched to DSL ahh so much better.

As far as price you are wrong there as well. I pay 36.99 for the SBC Pro Package which syncs at 3000k. I get consistent downloads and a higher upload rate as well. Oh and I used to pay 42.99 plus 3.00 dollars through Comcast. They are a rip-off. Sounds like you work for Comcast or somthing.:p :p

Originally posted by keenan
Heck, get all three and be three times as happy. Along with your internet service that would make you 4 times as happy, except all that happiness still will not get you FOX-HD...

Jim

Hey I didnt ask for smart ass opinions. Next time keep them to yourself thank you very much. You probably have HDTV through them. I do not I'm just sick of seeing people complain about not having enough HDTV and I cant even freakin get 1 channel. Please keep you wise cracks to yourself in the future. I was just venting and dont need jokers like you commenting.

v10king, I don't think keenan meant anything personal by his comment. This is a public group where opinions are welcome and encouraged.

Where are you located? You might want to update your personal profile and put the general area where you live (i.e. San Jose, Saratoga, etc.). That way, people who are local to you can give you their opinions since you share the same head end. The Bay Area is very diverse when it comes to its infrastructure and can vary quite a bit. For example, in Moraga I get consistent 2.2 to 2.5 Mb/s on my cable modem and have probably had 2 hours of downtime in the last 2 years.