"Contact us" is easily found on the web site (WTVJ.com). I would imagine that "Technical Operations" is the place to go.

My OTA PQ was quite satisfactory. Yes, the audio was off, but only noticeable when the announcers were on camera. At such times, I tune out their interminable blabber. That is when I have not turned off the center speaker completely.


I sent a complaint. I'll post if I get a response.

Apologies to all you OTA people, but I have a Comcast question.

Rudy1, any word from Comcast about MHD? It obviously didn’t start September 5th as had been indicated.

Thanks
Bryan

You don't have to appologize as this is an all in one thread. If they were split in two, then you would be in the wrong thread.:) Maybe we can ask the mods for two seperate threads if there is enough interest.

Ericglo

Ericglo, that was a tongue-in-cheek comment!

Right now we all have to share the same thread and put up with each others comments and questions!

I agree, two threads would be ideal but I'm not sure there is enough overall traffic to warrant it!

Cheers!
Bryan

Apologies to all you OTA people, but I have a Comcast question.

Rudy1, any word from Comcast about MHD? It obviously didn’t start September 5th as had been indicated.

Thanks
Bryan

They didn't say what's causing the delay, but I'm now told it will be on next week.

I have Comcast HD service using the Motorola box. I could not get audio for the ND Penn State game except for muffled commercials. The picture was horrendous and looked like the SD picture in wide screen. When you show this on a 100 inch screen it really stinks. This isn't the first time I lost audio on NBC HD.

Anyone else have this problem or should I just go exchange the box again?

I also wonder if people were writing to either the TV Sports editor or TV editor Tom Jicha in the Sun Sentinel to find out why after paying so much for HD service and for digital TVs we get substandard effort from programmers.

My VOD is so slow and often freezes up until I call Comcast and they send a signal to the box.

PKinSFLA

My VOD on my HD Cable box isnt slow and i saw part of that game today and i didnt have any issue with the audio. You might want to swap the HD box for another one.

I have Comcast HD service using the Motorola box. I could not get audio for the ND Penn State game except for muffled commercials. The picture was horrendous and looked like the SD picture in wide screen. When you show this on a 100 inch screen it really stinks. This isn't the first time I lost audio on NBC HD.


I have 2 different receivers and was able to view the game in HD w/ audio on both of them, via Comcast Cable...

OK, Ohio State / Texas football on ABC/WPLG - NOT in HD.... i am not sure I have EVER seen a Saturday college football game on ABC/WPLG that is HD... I would "at least" expect the 8pm game to be in HD. is this a network decision or local decision?

edit -- ah, never mind - I had SD-WPLG instead of HD-WPLG added to my favorites (watching race at same time)... ugh

Whenj I turned on the ABC Texas-Ohio game I was treated to muffled sound as well. I had a hunch that maybe the probelm is in the audio chain . My Comcast Moto box is using optical for sound to a Denon reciever which is set to auto. All of the other stations sounded great except for NBC and ABC.

I hooked up some RCA patch cords from the box to the TV L R input and set the Denon to analog. That did the trick as I finally had some decent sound. My DVD occupies the digital input on the Denon as it has no optical out. I see light coming out of the cable so I assume it is not frayed. Maybe I will swap optical cables and see if the problem is there, in the optical jack of the box or maybe the reciever is not decoding properly. I get a muffled sound which seems to be only the LowFreq. subwoofer playing.

The Denon is set to Auto and just decodes whatever signal it recieves when you chose the source.

VOD is back to working OK for now.

PKinSFLA

I just moved to Plantation and have had Comcast for about a week now. I got 2 HD DVRs for the living room to help make up for the fact that I was losing my 300GB Directv Tivo. When the installer hooked them up one was DOA. He tracked down another one and swapped them. That DVR wouldn't hold guide data rendering it useless as a DVR. I took it to Comcast and swapped it. The one they gave me is DOA so I have to make another trip there. Does anybody at Comcast test these things before they give them out? I get the feeling that Comcast just swaps problem boxes since they didn't make any effort to record what was wrong with the box I turned in so they could make the necessary repairs. To all you Comcast HD subscribers out there, is it standard procedure to just keep swapping boxes until you finally get one that works? How well do they hold up once you have a working box? I'd hate to think that if I fall behind on a program during the season that the box will crash and I'll lose all of my recorded shows.

Hi isyp,

I also live in Plantation and have been there for quite awhile. I have had HD from Comcast since it initially became available, long before it was announced. When the installers came they didn’t know an awful lot about it and I was able to provide them with some education on the installation and set up of the original HD box (all based on what I had read here at AVS)!

When the 6412 became available I ordered one (I don’t think the 6208 was ever available down here). It was replaced once but only because I was having a VOD problem and they wanted to cover all bases, not because it wasn’t working. In both cases it was a brand new unit and both machines have worked almost perfectly.

I know a lot of people have had a lot of problems with them but I have been very fortunate. Oh, and BTW, against recommended procedure, I turn mine off when not in use!

My biggest complaint is the relatively small hard drive! When the 3412 becomes available I will probably order one of them.

My understanding is that while Comcast does run returned boxes through a series of tests, it does NOT actually hook them up to see if they work correctly. While this would be a nice thing to do, the time involved makes it impractical (I think).

Next time you exchange a box, insist on a brand new one!

I watched the college football games on ESPN, ABC, & NBC yesterday and did not experience any audio or video problems. I would suspect that some of the issues mentioned by Plantation area Comcast subs could be related to a less than adequate signal level on their line, so it might not be a bad idea to have this checked out by a Comcast tech.

The DCT3412 is still being tested, but it should be available soon. I don't consider it a major improvement over the DCT6412, but it is smaller and quieter. The DCT6208 was such a disaster (mine never went more than a couple of days without crashing) it was decided not to continue with deployment in this area.

VOD is prone to problems whenever the 40 or so streams are being heavily used. Inadequate signal levels at your end can also cause serious problems because you lose communication with the servers. However, improvements are being made at the plant which should alleviate some of the issues.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have adequate signal levels for the Motorola tuners. They are particularly sensitive to sudden and sporadic fluctuations in signal strength, so those of you with multiple units may want to look into getting amplifiers installed (you can actually buy a Motorola-recommended signal booster at Office Depot). The Motorola tuners can be a royal pain in the ass, but when they work they are excellent at what they do. I particularly like the fact that some TVs with FireWire ports (like the Samsung DLPs) can control the units.

I watched the games yesterday on NBC and ABC and both looked very good to me. I was watching OTA.

CBS' new NFL studio looks great.

Only 3 HD NFL games today. Two on Fox and 1 on NBC.

Next week the Dolphins/Bills game is on CBS in HD.

My audio problems appear to onvolve two things. A HD 5.1 audio signal sometimes does not get provide audio on occasion. This can switch between the networks when they have 5.1 as the Dolby digital light comes on the Denon. Other times, Dolby Pro Logic appears on the Denon and I have full sound.

In the audio menu of the box there is an "Audio" set up. When I leave it in basic stereo everything works fine. When I highlite "advanced" audio you then have a choice for compression. Now what is crazy is that in uncompressed I had no sound. Returing the settings to compressed then returned the sound.

To make this more bizarre, that screen for advnaced audio does not always show up. The only choice I have now is "TV Speaker" which controls the audio level to the reciever which is nice or just speaker.

You can forget asking most Comcast cust reps to figure out the settings as it is easier for them to just exchange the box. Somewhere on the site is a link to Motorola where you can get detailed instructions on the box. I found that very helpful as no one knew from Comcast CS that you can set the diplay for 1080, 720 or 480 i and p. You can only acces that pressing "menu" with the box off. All of my neighbors had their Comcast installed boxes set to a 480 I default on their HD TVs! My friends prudly showed off their TV's and then I had to break the news that they are not watching HD. After hooking everything up and resetting, I had friends for life to borrow tools from.

It was so bad that a few people had their video hooked up using one composite jack from the box with R and L audio hooked up with the 5 RCA pin cable Comcast provides you! No component video hooked up.

Anyone else have their box hooked up to a receiver using optical with issues? Or any advice on what the proper settings should be on the box to make sure 5.1 is decoded properly? I have a week before I return this box to Plantation Comcast if it does not resolve audio and VOD issues.

What a business.

PKinSFLA

Hey WSVN !!!! Channel 7 Miami/ Ft Lauderdale !!!!

Don't the morons at this station realize their local (News) HD transmissions are distorted ?

I just moved to Plantation and have had Comcast for about a week now. I got 2 HD DVRs for the living room to help make up for the fact that I was losing my 300GB Directv Tivo. When the installer hooked them up one was DOA. He tracked down another one and swapped them. That DVR wouldn't hold guide data rendering it useless as a DVR. I took it to Comcast and swapped it. The one they gave me is DOA so I have to make another trip there. Does anybody at Comcast test these things before they give them out? I get the feeling that Comcast just swaps problem boxes since they didn't make any effort to record what was wrong with the box I turned in so they could make the necessary repairs. To all you Comcast HD subscribers out there, is it standard procedure to just keep swapping boxes until you finally get one that works? How well do they hold up once you have a working box? I'd hate to think that if I fall behind on a program during the season that the box will crash and I'll lose all of my recorded shows.

I had mine for about 4 months and its been good, before the HD DVR, i had the regular HDTV STB and man, i had to swap that **** out at least 4 times before i found a good one. It would not suprise me that comcast just puts the broken STB with the working ones. :-D

hey...I live in plantation too! :)

geez, lots of us AVSers in Plantation!!! :D

roll call???

Hi from Margate Fl.
What's up with NBC 6-1? The OTA HD brodcast of NFL Colts-Giants started off with a blue ghosting and it doesn't look as good as FOX HD. Is it me or do I need to get my eye's checked?

Well, starting in mid October I'll also be in Plantation! Moving from Aventura.

heh, Plantation / Comcast also here. And I somewhat regularly PM a couple other members from Plantation

Hi from Margate Fl.
What's up with NBC 6-1? The OTA HD brodcast of NFL Colts-Giants started off with a blue ghosting and it doesn't look as good as FOX HD. Is it me or do I need to get my eye's checked?


It was a local issue with WTVJ. Luckily it only lasted about 10 minutes.

My audio problems appear to onvolve two things. A HD 5.1 audio signal sometimes does not get provide audio on occasion. This can switch between the networks when they have 5.1 as the Dolby digital light comes on the Denon. Other times, Dolby Pro Logic appears on the Denon and I have full sound.

In the audio menu of the box there is an "Audio" set up. When I leave it in basic stereo everything works fine. When I highlite "advanced" audio you then have a choice for compression. Now what is crazy is that in uncompressed I had no sound. Returing the settings to compressed then returned the sound.

To make this more bizarre, that screen for advnaced audio does not always show up. The only choice I have now is "TV Speaker" which controls the audio level to the reciever which is nice or just speaker.

You can forget asking most Comcast cust reps to figure out the settings as it is easier for them to just exchange the box. Somewhere on the site is a link to Motorola where you can get detailed instructions on the box. I found that very helpful as no one knew from Comcast CS that you can set the diplay for 1080, 720 or 480 i and p. You can only acces that pressing "menu" with the box off. All of my neighbors had their Comcast installed boxes set to a 480 I default on their HD TVs! My friends prudly showed off their TV's and then I had to break the news that they are not watching HD. After hooking everything up and resetting, I had friends for life to borrow tools from.

It was so bad that a few people had their video hooked up using one composite jack from the box with R and L audio hooked up with the 5 RCA pin cable Comcast provides you! No component video hooked up.

Anyone else have their box hooked up to a receiver using optical with issues? Or any advice on what the proper settings should be on the box to make sure 5.1 is decoded properly? I have a week before I return this box to Plantation Comcast if it does not resolve audio and VOD issues.

What a business.

PKinSFLA

I have come across at least seven people over the past couple of months whose STBs were set up exactly as you describe. I'm definitely passing this on to the headend manager, though I doubt it will do any good...he's not over the department that oversees installations.

Sunrise area....

Hey WSVN !!!! Channel 7 Miami/ Ft Lauderdale !!!!

Don't the morons at this station realize their local (News) HD transmissions are distorted ?


So far I don't think they care. They don't answer emails either about poor transmissions. I don't think anybody at the station even looks at the HD signal. Most of the time I end of watching the analog sd 7-0 due to getting fed up with audio and video drop outs.

LOL, i started writing to WSVN about stretching the video on local programming.. It makes me sick to watch local programming on both WPLG and WSVN.

LOL, i started writing to WSVN about stretching the video on local programming.. It makes me sick to watch local programming on both WPLG and WSVN.
Ditto here. I've e-mailed both WPLG-DT's GM and Dwight Lauderdale; haven't bothered with WSVN-DT as I doubt I'd get a response at all. Never got a response from WPLG-DT's GM, but I asked Dwight (and Laurie) if they realized how "fat" they looked on DT (trying to appeal to their vanity). Dwight ducked the question but thanked me for watching anyway.

Thank goodness there's a setting on my SIR-T451 to restore the pic back to somewhat normal. Of course, since WPLG-DT uses an anamorphic stretch, the picture is really never accurate...

Joe

Ditto here. I've e-mailed both WPLG-DT's GM and Dwight Lauderdale; haven't bothered with WSVN-DT as I doubt I'd get a response at all. Never got a response from WPLG-DT's GM, but I asked Dwight (and Laurie) if they realized how "fat" they looked on DT (trying to appeal to their vanity). Dwight ducked the question but thanked me for watching anyway.

Thank goodness there's a setting on my SIR-T451 to restore the pic back to somewhat normal. Of course, since WPLG-DT uses an anamorphic stretch, the picture is really never accurate...

Joe

Joe,

I did some research into the stretch mode used at WPLG, and it is a non-linear stretch mode that their converter is set to (sometimes called "Panorama" on TVs). If it were a true anamorphic stretch, your Samsung STB would be able to "undo" it correctly.

Rudy

Does anyone here have Bellsouth Cable TV service, they are in the south FL region and i am just curious if anyone has them.

http://www.bims.bellsouth.net/bei_sfl/index.htm

Does anyone here have Bellsouth Cable TV service, they are in the south FL region and i am just curious if anyone has them.

http://www.bims.bellsouth.net/bei_sfl/index.htm

Interesting! Didn't know that before.

However, they are not in Plantation and they do not offer High Definition and they do not offer a DVR. Not much use to me for all of those reasons!

Yea it does sux they dont offer HDTV services

Will WPLG 10-1 show Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune tonight in HD?

Joe,

I did some research into the stretch mode used at WPLG, and it is a non-linear stretch mode that their converter is set to (sometimes called "Panorama" on TVs). If it were a true anamorphic stretch, your Samsung STB would be able to "undo" it correctly.

Rudy
Rudy, thanks for the info. But IIRC, didn't someone from WPLG's engineering department say that they were using some state-of-the-art "anamorphic" stretcher a while ago? I don't recall what it is, but in effect it stretches the sides a lot more than the center. Still looks pretty bizarre, especially when the camera pans across a scene.

At any rate, you are correct as usual. My Samsung can't "undo" WPLG-DT's stretch-o-vision correctly because of the particular distorter they're using. :confused: At least I can correct WSVN-DT's and WLRN-DT's distorted pic. :D

Speaking of WLRN-DT, their PSIP indicates they're broadcasting in SD and not HD. I don't recall - did they ever broadcast true HD?

Joe

Will WPLG 10-1 show Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune tonight in HD?
Nah, just good ol' strech-o-vision.

MHD is on 209 on Comcast cable. (WARNING: They're experiencing some issues at the moment)

Thanks Rudy1, just got home and found it there. Yes, some problems (screen going blank, etc.) but PQ looks excellent.

As promised, INHD2 has gone away.

Thanks again for all your updates!

Is any of the content on MHD going to be DD 5.1? So far tonight its been DD2.1.

PQ is great though. :)

Is MHD 1080i or 720p, and i also notice that its not 5.1

anyone else having problems receiving ESPN-HD? I was receiving it on 79-1/qam for about a week, seems it has been moved yet again...

comcast/plantation

In case anyone's curious, it looks like WBZL (39) is going to be showing the new production of Star Trek (the original series, with re-created digital special effects). The channel guide does not list it as HDTV.

http://www.startrek.com/imageuploads/200609/0809006-dig-enterprise-remasters/320x240.jpg

It would not surprise me that it isnt in HD, most of the rerun shows that CW39 runs that are filmed in HD are not shown on HD on CW39.

Any earlier problems appear to have been resolved (although, who knows for sure). :D

My guess is that it is 1080i (I believe that only FOX and ABC/ESPN do 720p).

Most of the programming last night appeared to be in 2.0 sound but the promos during the breaks were definitely in 5.1 (made me jump when it switched). According to posts over in the HDTV Programming forum most of the current shows were created in 2.0 but 5.1 will be used when available (concerts, etc).

The PQ is really amongst the best I’ve seen (even my wife commented on it so it must have been good :) ). The Destiny’s Child video just before the VMA repeat was just stunning! :eek:

anyone else having problems receiving ESPN-HD? I was receiving it on 79-1/qam for about a week, seems it has been moved yet again...

comcast/plantation


Yes...I was receiving it on Qam 89-1 but now its gone and replaced with yet another CBSHD. I now get CBSHD from 89-1 to 89-9. Comcast is really beginning to get on my nerves.

Is anyone picking up MHD with a Qam tuner or is it encrypted?

MHD is encrypted, and is broadcast at 1080i. There was one segment last night (a concert recorded in 2002) that was in DD 5.1. I expect there will be more to follow.

ESPNHD has moved to the frequency corresponding to channel 49 in the digital tier on Comcast; the digital version of SPEED has been moved as well...probably permanently.

Hey guys, Specially my Plantation Crew :D........ could you guys verify all the channels you are receiving in unscrambled QAM and the channel number mapped to?

I lost CBS-HD and ESPN-HD :(

Hey WPLG engineers, Why arent you broadcasting Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD...

Hey Guys, is it just me or when i select a HD movie from comcast HD VOD, it does not show it in HD... Is there an issue with comcast or it might be my box.

It would not surprise me that it isnt in HD, most of the rerun shows that CW39 runs that are filmed in HD are not shown on HD on CW39.
We gotta get them to air it in HD. There's no excuse for TOS not to be aired in HD, even if it's a "repeat". I can understand them not airing repeats, but this is a new airing and should be broadcasted in HD. Who should we contact to request they air it in HD?

Rudy, know anything about this? (http://www.tvpredictions.com/comcastuniversal080406.htm)

We gotta get them to air it in HD. There's no excuse for TOS not to be aired in HD, even if it's a "repeat". I can understand them not airing repeats, but this is a new airing and should be broadcasted in HD. Who should we contact to request they air it in HD?


I don't think anyone will be seeing it in HD! :( Check out this thread from the HDTV Programming forum. It's a long one but the last few pages tell the story.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=717628

Hey WPLG engineers, Why arent you broadcasting Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD...

Do we know what they are doing? The broadcasts did change this week and they are not in the same stretch mode I was seeing. It looks like some kind of HD but not as good as I would expect from a studio HD broadcast and slightly altered?

This is post #79 from the thread linked in the previous post:

Here's info from Paramount TV:


Quote:
The 2006/07 Season of STAR TREK runs 09/16/06 (week of 09/11/06) through 09/09/07.

STAR TREK is a one-hour, weekly show. It is pitched via Pathfire on Thursdays before the weekend window begins.

____________________________________________________________

STAR TREK is closed captioned and in stereo on Channels 1 & 2 and SAP Mono Spanish on Channel ?. Delivery is in standard definition.


As Pathfire is not being used for general HD distribution yet, these shows will very likely be distributed in SD only. If they were HD, they would probably be using linear satellite feeds like Wheel and Jeopardy are. Plus I think they would be making a bigger deal of this if it were to be shown in HD. Maybe once they get their feet wet with Wheel and Jeopardy Star Trek:TOS will be next.

The title of this thread is misleading. There is no solid evidence to its validity, and much to the contrary. It should at least have a question mark. The mods here are usually very diligent about maintaining such accuracy and it surprises me that hasn't been done with this thread.

I suspect it won't be long before punctuation is added with a big NO after it. If it's a YES, then that will be good too. A pessimist is never disappointed.

EDIT: Thread title was updated. However now it appears to question whether the remastered version is in HD. It is. What's in doubt is whether the Sept 16th syndication will include the HD version. I had meant the question mark should be at the end of the title.

I don't think anyone will be seeing it in HD! :( Check out this thread from the HDTV Programming forum. It's a long one but the last few pages tell the story.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=717628
Very cool, thanks for the info. At least we won't be the only ones getting gypped. ;)

where is my plantation Florida people at??! :p

c'mon fellas, post your channels and channel mapping..... I gotta see where all the stuff moved to ! ;)

Sorry, don't have QAM, just an older RPTV (Mits) and a 6412.

I'd like to help too but I'm also running 6412s for HD content.

I'm close to nob hill and Cleary....where are you guys? :)

maybe a meet is in order!! :p

I'm off University between Clearly and Sunrise. If the Packers are playing then I'm generally at Landlubbers on N. Pine Island. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. It's going to be a long season. At least the wings at Landlubbers are good and the beers priced right during game time.

where is my plantation Florida people at??! :p

c'mon fellas, post your channels and channel mapping..... I gotta see where all the stuff moved to ! ;)

from my posting with the new channel mappings from a few days ago, all the channels for me are the same, except I lost ESPN-HD and gained BET. bad trade-off.

I'm close to nob hill and Cleary....where are you guys? :)

maybe a meet is in order!! :p

Wow, if i throw a rock from my front door I can probably hit your garage...Nob Hill Estates.

I'm off University between Clearly and Sunrise. If the Packers are playing then I'm generally at Landlubbers on N. Pine Island. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. It's going to be a long season. At least the wings at Landlubbers are good and the beers priced right during game time.

Allu can eat shrimp and Sunday Night Football...lover Lubbers.

Hey guys, what is HDSE? I have seen the channel listed on comcast and you turn to it you just see the INHD logo with some stupid music looping.

Hey guys, what is HDSE? I have seen the channel listed on comcast and you turn to it you just see the INHD logo with some stupid music looping.

A "Special Event" Channel... it will show mostly NFL-HD games and stuff if i remember.

I'm off University between Clearly and Sunrise. If the Packers are playing then I'm generally at Landlubbers on N. Pine Island. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. It's going to be a long season. At least the wings at Landlubbers are good and the beers priced right during game time.


i go to landlubbers every sunday for the Browns game :eek:

plantation, off sunrise for me btw

hey any idea if this Time Warner/NFL Network will affect us?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aN2KleHmi.9Y&refer=home

" Time Warner alerted customers last month it will drop the channel if it can't reach a carriage agreement with the NFL for cable systems purchased in July from the Adelphia Communications Corp. and Comcast Corp. Time Warner set a Sept. 15 deadline."

i go to landlubbers every sunday for the Browns game :eek:

plantation, off sunrise for me btw

hey any idea if this Time Warner/NFL Network will affect us?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aN2KleHmi.9Y&refer=home

" Time Warner alerted customers last month it will drop the channel if it can't reach a carriage agreement with the NFL for cable systems purchased in July from the Adelphia Communications Corp. and Comcast Corp. Time Warner set a Sept. 15 deadline."

Comcast and NFL networks just signed a deal...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8430166&&#post8430166

Hey Guys, is it just me or when i select a HD movie from comcast HD VOD, it does not show it in HD... Is there an issue with comcast or it might be my box.

I checked out several VOD free HD movies last night and they were definitely all in HD!

Biggest disappointment was that they were all 2.0 sound - no 5.1! :eek: Hope that changes.

I'm close to nob hill and Cleary....where are you guys? :)
maybe a meet is in order!! :p

Sorry, I too have the Comcast HD box, not a QAM tuner. I'm in Plantation Isles off South of Peter's Road. I'm up for a meet-n-greet!

To all you Comcast folks out there. The WI Badgers football game is available in PPV tomorrow. Can anybody tell me how much Comcast charges for a single PPV game? I'm assuming that when I select buy that it's for a single game and I'm not buying a season of ESPN Game Plan.

Thanks,
Isy

I checked out several VOD free HD movies last night and they were definitely all in HD!

Biggest disappointment was that they were all 2.0 sound - no 5.1! :eek: Hope that changes.

I watched "Chronicles of Narnia" last night and it was in DD 5.1.

well, i guess i have to call Comcast, when ever i click on an HD movie from ON DEMAND, i get it in 4:3

I watched "Chronicles of Narnia" last night and it was in DD 5.1.

Hi Rudy,

What channel were you watching Narnia on? My guess it was the Starz HD channel. (See edit below).

I was referring to the free movies in the HDTV Movie section of VOD. The free movies do not appear to have 5.1 sound while the "buy" ones do!

I don’t subscribe to Starz so don’t normally get a chance to look at it. The free preview this weekend provides that opportunity and the Starz HD channel looks very good and has excellent 5.1 sound. But, when I go to the Starz section of VOD and try to view a movie there it tells me I have to subscribe!

That was last night, I tried again just now and there are "no listings available" in the Starz HD section (changed since last night) but I now can get at the Starz VOD non-HD movies.

On another note, The Tennis Channel is starting a months free preview on channel 277 (it will then become part of the premier tier).

Edit: Just read elsewhere that Narnia is definitely on Starz HD On Demand, a week before it will appear on the regular channel. But, as I just said, there is nothing listed under Starz HD OD. Hopefully that will change before the preview ends and non-subscribers will be allowed access.

where is my plantation Florida people at??! :p

c'mon fellas, post your channels and channel mapping..... I gotta see where all the stuff moved to ! ;)

Comcast is playing musucal chairs with their digital lineup. I suppose all the shuffling is to make room for new channels, like when we do a hard disk optimization with Norton.

I scan almost daily, (I live in Lauderdale By The Sea, same lineup as in Plantation I believe) to see if the 92X and 93X tuning problems have been addressed, and also lost ESPN-HD this week. Dont worry, because it comes and goes all the time at the moment. Today, 9/16/2006 it is on 49-2. It was on 79-1. If we lose it again, rescan and you will find it somewhere. I have gotten 2 Tubes, 2 CBS Analogs and 2 Speeds. Speed just moves around the most, wonder why? (Laugh)

The only movie I see on Starz HD on Demand is Flight Plan. I was really hoping to catch Narnia in HD during the free preview this weekend.

The only movie I see on Starz HD on Demand is Flight Plan. I was really hoping to catch Narnia in HD during the free preview this weekend.

It's not on there this morning, but it was last night. There was even a special promo about it for the sneak preview weekend. Anyway, there's four other movies on there right now.

Hi Rudy,

What channel were you watching Narnia on? My guess it was the Starz HD channel. (See edit below).

I was referring to the free movies in the HDTV Movie section of VOD. The free movies do not appear to have 5.1 sound while the "buy" ones do!

I don’t subscribe to Starz so don’t normally get a chance to look at it. The free preview this weekend provides that opportunity and the Starz HD channel looks very good and has excellent 5.1 sound. But, when I go to the Starz section of VOD and try to view a movie there it tells me I have to subscribe!

That was last night, I tried again just now and there are "no listings available" in the Starz HD section (changed since last night) but I now can get at the Starz VOD non-HD movies.

On another note, The Tennis Channel is starting a months free preview on channel 277 (it will then become part of the premier tier).

Edit: Just read elsewhere that Narnia is definitely on Starz HD On Demand, a week before it will appear on the regular channel. But, as I just said, there is nothing listed under Starz HD OD. Hopefully that will change before the preview ends and non-subscribers will be allowed access.

I just checked and it's not on there this morning, though there's four other movies on there. Sorry you missed it...it looked (and sounded) fantastic. There was even a special promo short about the movie just before it started, and it the promo was obviously shot on HD tape...it looked just like the HD demo reels that PBS used to run when WPBT first went on the air with their digital signal.

Still "No Listings Available" for me this afternoon on Starz HD VOD; non-HD is fine.

Anyone else having issues with WFOR-DT (CBS 4) signal dropping like crazy? Since yesterday trying to watch any of the College Football games I watched the signal go from 80% then 20%, pretty much back and forth the whole game making it unwatchable. I was hoping it would be better for the Dolphins game today, but it has not been any better at all! :( My antenna is in the same place it has been 1+ years and last week it was working fine and all of last year it also worked fine. :(

Still "No Listings Available" for me this afternoon on Starz HD VOD; non-HD is fine.
Just checked and Flightplan is available on Starz HD VOD. No other movies were though.

To my surprise, WFORD is actually showing the Dolphins game in HD!

Anyone else having issues with WFOR-DT (CBS 4) signal dropping like crazy? Since yesterday trying to watch any of the College Football games I watched the signal go from 80% then 20%, pretty much back and forth the whole game making it unwatchable. I was hoping it would be better for the Dolphins game today, but it has not been any better at all! :( My antenna is in the same place it has been 1+ years and last week it was working fine and all of last year it also worked fine. :(

you weren't the only one.... i thought it was my antenna... so I went crazy adjusting it and since it's in the attic, it made it a pain. I didn't get a chance to see it today, but yesterday was pissy.

Well I feel better knowing I wasn't the only one. I hope they plan on fixing whatever the issue is soon! Today was pretty much the same for me. Had to watch the game in Standard Def via Adelphia cable. Blah! :(

Well I feel better knowing I wasn't the only one. I hope they plan on fixing whatever the issue is soon! Today was pretty much the same for me. Had to watch the game in Standard Def via Adelphia cable. Blah! :(

I didn't have any problems with WFOR but the way the Dolphins played it really didn't matter. Don't know why they waited until the last 3 minutes to start throwing the ball down field (can you say offensive line). Other good news for me was I was able to reel in 29-1 from WPB and watch the end of the NYG-Philly game, that was a great ending.

No problems at all in downtown Fort Lauderdale with CBS's OTA HD broadcasts this weekend. Steady, strong signal and excellent sound and PQ.

I didn't get the signal, which is no surprise. I don't get as strong of a signal during the day as I do at night. I may try my UHF Yagi and see if I can pull in Fox with it. If so, then I may go that route. Besides Lost, is there any reason to watch ABC?

Ericglo

I didn't get the signal, which is no surprise. I don't get as strong of a signal during the day as I do at night. I may try my UHF Yagi and see if I can pull in Fox with it. If so, then I may go that route. Besides Lost, is there any reason to watch ABC?

Ericglo

less interference at night giving stronger signals... and KyleXY wasn't that bad.

Is anybody here with Comcast or ABB using the new TIVO S3 (HD) which requires 2 cablecards? I would like to have feedback on how reliable it is with our cablecos. I had a cablecard on my Mitsubishi TV replaced 4 times already but The S3 seems to be all I want for Christmas.

Thanks

Sergio

Is anybody here with Comcast or ABB using the new TIVO S3 (HD) which requires 2 cablecards? I would like to have feedback on how reliable it is with our cablecos. I had a cablecard on my Mitsubishi TV replaced 4 times already but The S3 seems to be all I want for Christmas.

Thanks

Sergio

I don't think anyone here's taken delivery of one of these units as yet. I read reports elsewhere to that effect, and it seems to be a widespread problem. In my opinion, if the cablecos can't get single cablecards for TVs working right on the first try, they sure as hell won't do much better with the dual cablecards on the Tivo S3.

less interference at night giving stronger signals... and KyleXY wasn't that bad.

Yeah, I realize that. I guess I could surround the antenna in chicken wire to help with that. Of course, it would be nice if ABC went to UHF or increased the power.

Ericglo

I scan almost daily, (I live in Lauderdale By The Sea, same lineup as in Plantation I believe) to see if the 92X and 93X tuning problems have been addressed, and also lost ESPN-HD this week. Dont worry, because it comes and goes all the time at the moment. Today, 9/16/2006 it is on 49-2. It was on 79-1. If we lose it again, rescan and you will find it somewhere. I have gotten 2 Tubes, 2 CBS Analogs and 2 Speeds. Speed just moves around the most, wonder why? (Laugh)

as mentioned previously several times, the problem with 92-x and 93-x is all COMCAST with invalid PSIP data streams. unless they move the channels off of 92-x and 93-x and therefore need to re-write the PSIP stream logic for those channels, dont expect them to ever work with certain tuners (like Toshiba)...

there is another range - 101-x I think, that does the same thing for me as 92-x on one of my tuners with re-directing the entire sub-channel range...

as for all the channels moving around, I just put it down to ComCast messing with us folks who dont pay for the digital boxes...

anyone is the ft laud/miami area receive the 6.3 software upgrade from dtv for their HR10-250 HD tivo's yet?

greg

I don't think anyone here's taken delivery of one of these units as yet. I read reports elsewhere to that effect, and it seems to be a widespread problem. In my opinion, if the cablecos can't get single cablecards for TVs working right on the first try, they sure as hell won't do much better with the dual cablecards on the Tivo S3.

Thanks Rudy.

I am a Tivo lover and would like to replace my junky Explorer 8300 by the S3 but I agree that cablecards can be a bad surprise. I couldn't find any S3 available in our area and I want to buy from a place with a nice return policy just in case it doesn't work as expected. The guys at Atlantiv Broadband have no clue about installing CC on a Tivo but at least they didn't say no, yet.

I sent an email to ABB about a possible software upgrade to the 8300 (I still have an old version, 1.87) that would make this DVR much better but they didn't answer. It's very tough to get any news about ABB .

Sergio

How can they possibly F*** up the HD feed on their premier new show?????? Studio 60 has bars on the side !!!! Where the F*** is the High Def ??????

Hey WPLG engineers, Why arent you broadcasting Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD...

Quite expensive to do, and a last minute decision by the distributer to send in HD. (we have to "record and play back", not a cheap or easy proposition...we are currently only passing through ABC network fare).

We have it as a capital project for early 2007. It is something we badly want to do.

Steve Ellis
WPLG

It is still streched. Sorry!

Steve Ellis
WPLG

How can they possibly F*** up the HD feed on their premier new show?????? Studio 60 has bars on the side !!!! Where the F*** is the High Def ??????
As you probably know now, they fixed it shortly after the show started. However, this is not the first time WTVJ-DT has been asleep at the wheel. For a while there, Leno was starting off in SD more often than not.

You'd think that for a premier show they'd at least be somewhat attentive down there... BTW, the show itself was pretty good.

Joe

It is still streched. Sorry!

Steve Ellis
WPLG
Steve, a lot of us are getting real tired of watching Dwight and Laurie all streteched out and fat. Plus, I get pretty queasy during those fishbowl-like pan shots.

Can you please tell management to broadcast a distortion-free picture for us? We'd certainly appreciate that. If management doesn't want to listen, just tell them that viewers are switching over to 4 and 6 to watch undistorted news.

Thanks,
Joe

less interference at night giving stronger signals... and KyleXY wasn't that bad.

Interference might become more of an issue if these requested permanent channel assignments are granted:

WSCV is currently at channel 52; they want to move to channel 30 (WTVJ is at 31).
WPTV is currently at channel 55; they want to move to channel 12.
WSVN is currently at channel 8; they want to move to channel 7.
WPLG is currently at channel 9; they want to move to channel 10.

You'd think WSVN & WPLG would want to move to the UHF band. They would probably increase their viewership by 50% if people could actually get a steady signal on their OTA tuners.

As you probably know now, they fixed it shortly after the show started. However, this is not the first time WTVJ-DT has been asleep at the wheel. For a while there, Leno was starting off in SD more often than not.

You'd think that for a premier show they'd at least be somewhat attentive down there... BTW, the show itself was pretty good.

Joe

I spoke to the HD engineer this morning and he's looking into what happened last night (he does not work evenings anymore). I reminded him that L&O premieres two of its series tonight, and I'll be watching with my phone in hand. ;)

You'd think that for a premier show they'd at least be somewhat attentive down there... BTW, the show itself was pretty good.

Joe
What's odd is aren't the shows before it in HD so shouldn't it just go right through?

Quite expensive to do, and a last minute decision by the distributer to send in HD. (we have to "record and play back", not a cheap or easy proposition...we are currently only passing through ABC network fare).

We have it as a capital project for early 2007. It is something we badly want to do.

Steve Ellis
WPLG


Thanx Steve for answering my question.... I just wish WLPG would stop stretching the picture. :-)

What's odd is aren't the shows before it in HD so shouldn't it just go right through?

Not if the engineer on duty forgets to switch back to the network HD feed when they break away for the local stuff. FWIW, I had a voicemail message waiting for me when I got home this afternoon, stating that they don't expect any problems tonight. But of course, there's no guarantees.

Not if the engineer on duty forgets to switch back to the network HD feed when they break away for the local stuff. FWIW, I had a voicemail message waiting for me when I got home this afternoon, stating that they don't expect any problems tonight. But of course, there's no guarantees.
Rudy, thanks again for your insight and information. It's great to have someone with your connections letting us "regular viewers" know what's going on behind the scenes. I think I can speak for many when I say we appreciate your posts!

Joe

Yea Rudy, thanx for the insider tips.

I spoke to the HD engineer this morning and he's looking into what happened last night (he does not work evenings anymore). I reminded him that L&O premieres two of its series tonight, and I'll be watching with my phone in hand. ;)
Rudy, with your post in mind, I watched the first L&O. At 9:11pm, I noticed that when WTVJ threw up the crawl for some other NBC show (or whatever it was - I've already forgotten), the blue side curtains appeared and the show flipped into SD. This wasn't during a commercial, it was during the actual show. This lasted for around 10-15 seconds, then flipped back to HD for the remainder of the show after the crawl disappeared. I remembered the time because it was nine-eleven.

Joe

Rudy, with your post in mind, I watched the first L&O. At 9:11pm, I noticed that when WTVJ threw up the crawl for some other NBC show (or whatever it was - I've already forgotten), the blue side curtains appeared and the show flipped into SD. This wasn't during a commercial, it was during the actual show. This lasted for around 10-15 seconds, then flipped back to HD for the remainder of the show after the crawl disappeared. I remembered the time because it was nine-eleven.

Joe

Sorry...I didn't explain what I meant by "local stuff". The HD feed is now required to follow the SD feed, so any interruptions to the regular programming should be reflected in the HD broadcasts. When they put the wallpaper up during the second L&O they ran an alert regarding the baby that was kidnapped. The guy who's doing the evening shift is new, and still having some difficulty keeping it all together. But I'll keep monitoring the station (I actually only watch L&O, but I'll see if I can catch a few of the other shows) and report back to the HD engineer during the daytime.

Sorry...I didn't explain what I meant by "local stuff". The HD feed is now required to follow the SD feed, so any interruptions to the regular programming should be reflected in the HD broadcasts. When they put the wallpaper up during the second L&O they ran an alert regarding the baby that was kidnapped. The guy who's doing the evening shift is new, and still having some difficulty keeping it all together. But I'll keep monitoring the station (I actually only watch L&O, but I'll see if I can catch a few of the other shows) and report back to the HD engineer during the daytime.
Thanks for the explanation of what's going on. I guess the last few minutes of last night's "Kidnapped" (which, btw, was pretty good) reverting to SD after the last set of commercials was due to the "new guy" as well.

Not to complain (as WTVJ-DT still doesn't use stretch-o-vision for local content), but I'd think that tv stations in general would put their best foot forward regarding their primary product, i.e., what they send out over the air. A glittering generality, but perhaps stations as a whole don't take DTV too seriously yet?

Joe

Thanks for the explanation of what's going on. I guess the last few minutes of last night's "Kidnapped" (which, btw, was pretty good) reverting to SD after the last set of commercials was due to the "new guy" as well.

Not to complain (as WTVJ-DT still doesn't use stretch-o-vision for local content), but I'd think that tv stations in general would put their best foot forward regarding their primary product, i.e., what they send out over the air. A glittering generality, but perhaps stations as a whole don't take DTV too seriously yet?

Joe

Joe,

The main problem is that staff are required to monitor the analog broadcast 24/7, and there is seldom anyone in master control who can pay continuous attention to the HD feed. At NBC6, the HD engineer used to have to go to another area just to see what I was seeing at home! We've discussed this many times, and it is basically a matter of setting aside enough money to purchase adequate 16:9 monitoring equipment. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen overnight as the equipment is ridiculously expensive. For example, they're still using antiquated VGA resolution plasma displays in the studio (you can see them during the newscasts), and he wants to upgrade to 1080p capable displays, but it is an uphill battle to get management to part with the money when 4:3 analog is what's keeping them in business right now. If advertisers were to embrace HD, there would be a radical shift in priorities, and the digital signal would certainly take priority. As far as I'm concerned, 2009 can't come fast enough. ;)

Rudy

Rudy,
Do the stations have numbers for viewership of both analog and digital feeds? As I mentioned elsewhere, I met for the first time in 20-25 years someone receiving OTA analog when I moved down here. I would like to know just how many people are receiving OTA analog. I bet there are more people watching the digital signal than the analog.

Ericglo

Rudy,
Do the stations have numbers for viewership of both analog and digital feeds? As I mentioned elsewhere, I met for the first time in 20-25 years someone receiving OTA analog when I moved down here. I would like to know just how many people are receiving OTA analog. I bet there are more people watching the digital signal than the analog.

Ericglo

I believe there's some misunderstanding about what the stations mean when they refer to the "analog" signal. They are primarily concerned with the analog signal that is distributed via satellite and cable TV services to their viewership. That is where they concentrate most of their efforts...the NTSC signal. The ATSC signal is the one WE are concerned with here, but most subscribers to cable and satellite services are viewing the NTSC signal. It is the ATSC signal (particularly the HD programming) that they have difficulty with. The bulk of resources are dedicated to ensuring the NTSC signal is perfect (because the number of ATSC-enabled viewers is still relatively small).

I've tried unsuccessfully in the past to get Comcast to replace the NTSC feed for all of the local stations with the available ATSC feeds. Apparently, there are technical as well as legal reasons why they cannot do so until the analog broadcasts are officially terminated. In my opinion, the numbers of analog signal viewers nationwide who rely exclusively on antennas is not as high as current estimates indicate. Most of these estimates are obviously based on outdated demographic information that assumes that certain rural areas and people in certain income brackets do not have access to cable or satellite TV services. Based on what I've observed over the past few years, this is simply not true.

Rudy,
Somehow I knew you were going to say that.:) You may have already answered my question, but why can't it be left to the satellite and cable providers to take the ATSC signal and convert it to NTSC or SD or whatever?

Ericglo

Rudy,
Somehow I knew you were going to say that.:) You may have already answered my question, but why can't it be left to the satellite and cable providers to take the ATSC signal and convert it to NTSC or SD or whatever?

Ericglo
My guess is that cable providers are taking the least expensive route, as most cable subscribers won't know (or care about) the difference anyway. As was previously pointed out, a lot of those digital cable boxes are installed @ 480i and nobody is the wiser.

I also suspect that this low opinion of subscribers/viewers is the reason why WPLG-DT and WSVN-DT use stretch-o-vision: they think their viewers will actually think that they're watching HD because the picture fills the whole screen even though it's simply stretched.

I agree with Rudy: I can't wait for the death of analog!

BTW, Eric, for the record I've been viewing TV OTA for about 14 years now. You wouldn't believe how much junk mail I get from Comcast... ;)

Joe

Rudy,
Somehow I knew you were going to say that.:) You may have already answered my question, but why can't it be left to the satellite and cable providers to take the ATSC signal and convert it to NTSC or SD or whatever?

Ericglo

Eric,

Cost. There's far more NTSC content and broadcast/distribution equipment in use than there is ATSC. Everybody's looking at their bottom line, and for now NTSC is the cash cow. As more and more "popular" cable channels begin offering HD programming, it will become more lucrative for satellite and cable operators to invest in the infrastructure needed to use the ATSC signals. I believe the law that prohibits cable operators from downgrading the ATSC signals to analog will help to speed up the transition, in part because the analog tier on cable systems is expected to become progressively smaller and smaller over the next couple of years as MSO's move more and more channels into the digital tiers.

Rudy

Joe,

The main problem is that staff are required to monitor the analog broadcast 24/7, and there is seldom anyone in master control who can pay continuous attention to the HD feed. At NBC6, the HD engineer used to have to go to another area just to see what I was seeing at home! We've discussed this many times, and it is basically a matter of setting aside enough money to purchase adequate 16:9 monitoring equipment. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen overnight as the equipment is ridiculously expensive. For example, they're still using antiquated VGA resolution plasma displays in the studio (you can see them during the newscasts), and he wants to upgrade to 1080p capable displays, but it is an uphill battle to get management to part with the money when 4:3 analog is what's keeping them in business right now. If advertisers were to embrace HD, there would be a radical shift in priorities, and the digital signal would certainly take priority. As far as I'm concerned, 2009 can't come fast enough. ;)

Rudy


uh, I absolutely refuse to believe that a local station such as WTVJ or WPLG or WSVN or WCIX or whomever, cant afford or even refuses to purchase a decent 1080p or even 1080i monitor. a smart consumer can get one for under 2G these days...... the monitors we see in the background on news broadcasts are not the same as what the engineers use to review broadcasts.

and I also cant believe that a station such as those above would allow - or even be allowed - to let an unmonitored signal go out over the airwaves, whether that be analog OR digital...

Except as stated to be my personal opinion, my posts reflect information I've been given by industry sources. Broadcast organizations, I've been told, are not in the habit of purchasing consumer grade equipment, though I know for a fact that exceptions have been made locally in the past (but those were early OTA tuners used mainly for testing purposes). Broadcast monitors can average thousands of dollars per unit for tiny screens (averaging 13" diagonal), and that's for NTSC units. My mention of the studio monitors at NBC6 was meant to illustrate how tightly the budget is controlled by management, and had no bearing on the station's ATSC signal monitoring ability. Most stations have displays which reflect what viewers are seeing, but they are for the most part not conveniently placed to allow for the engineers to monitor them constantly (they are outside of the control booth). As for the ATSC signals being broadcast by the local stations, I can only convey what I've been told by the engineers I've spoken to: at this point in time, their efforts are concentrated on the NTSC signals.

What we see happening in South Florida is typical of most of the major TV markets, and I think that we should consider ourselves fortunate to have at least a few individuals in the business who are sympathetic to our needs and concerns. The apparent lack of "quality control" is due primarily to the way in which the government chose to implement the transition: there are few laws, and very little means of enforcement beyond punitive fines (which are often NOT imposed). Frankly, if it had been up to me the transition would've been written into law to take exactly ten years, and included provisions to mandate the production and broadcast (via antenna, cable and satellite) of ALL programming in either 480p widescreen or 1080p hidef from the first year of the ten year transition period. And, most importantly, I would not have left ANYTHING up to market forces...particularly the sale of 4:3 aspect ratio displays. Those would've been banned from the first year of the transition. Quite dictatiorial, I admit, but it would've made more economic sense in the long run than what has actually happened.

By the way, maybe the next time I'm invited to take a tour of broadcast facilities I'll ask some of you to come along. ;)

IMO the whole issue of standards tends to fall apart when working with the government. Standards require a dictorial view and decision making that is in the best interest of all. Government is built on the foundation of democracy where competition and market forces drive solutions. The end result is a very slow process for change with the result frequently not being the optimal solution. I think when we look at general public services like broadcasting, telephony and the internet strong regulation produces the best results. Without that you end up with more options but those options seem to cost more and provide less.

The lack of true standards in the industry inadvertently shows us the real "personality" of TV stations. For example, Orlando's WFTV has taken it upon themselves to broadcast local content in true HD, whereas some local stations here don't even monitor their HD feeds to the general public.

At the very least, it gives us some insight into each station's management philosophy and their attitude to their viewing audience. Wish I lived in Orlando... ;)

Joe

Thanks Rudy.

I am a Tivo lover and would like to replace my junky Explorer 8300 by the S3 but I agree that cablecards can be a bad surprise. I couldn't find any S3 available in our area and I want to buy from a place with a nice return policy just in case it doesn't work as expected. The guys at Atlantiv Broadband have no clue about installing CC on a Tivo but at least they didn't say no, yet.

I sent an email to ABB about a possible software upgrade to the 8300 (I still have an old version, 1.87) that would make this DVR much better but they didn't answer. It's very tough to get any news about ABB .

Sergio

Sergio,

To whom at ABB did you address your letter? I too would like an upgrade do the 8300 (I still have version 1.85) and I think we should keep bugging them until they do. I haven't been able to find any e-mail address for ABB Tech Support in Miami and would appreciate any info on how to contact them by writing. Of course I've tried the phone but I might as well be speaking Sanskrit.

Like you, I would like to exchange the 8300 for a Tivo Series 3 but I think I will wait until the dust settles on those cable cards...

Thanks,

Francisco

How good is the quality of their HD channels?

Are they sending out full 1920x1080 HD, unlike Directv's HD lite?

What channels are you able to get right now?

Has anyone had Directv HD and switched to Comcast HD and can report 1st hand on the comparison?

A little help?

I found this article (http://www.hometheatermag.com/news/062105CEA/index.html) while looking for something else.

I agree with Rudy on how they should have been more dictorial in the transition. I probably would have went with 480p widescreen by 2000. Then move to 720p in 2005 and finally 1080p in 2010. Those would be hard mandatory dates. Stations could adopt higher resolutions before the hard dates and probably would. They would also be at 60 frames a second. No more 50 different formats. This really isn't a democracy or free market situation. If it was, then you would have more than one of each network in each market. That would create real competition, as one ABC would have to out compete another ABC for example.

Ericglo

Sergio,

To whom at ABB did you address your letter? I too would like an upgrade do the 8300 (I still have version 1.85) and I think we should keep bugging them until they do. I haven't been able to find any e-mail address for ABB Tech Support in Miami and would appreciate any info on how to contact them by writing. Of course I've tried the phone but I might as well be speaking Sanskrit.

Like you, I would like to exchange the 8300 for a Tivo Series 3 but I think I will wait until the dust settles on those cable cards...

Thanks,

Francisco

Hi Francisco

I sent 3 emails but got only one reply with a canned answer. The email address is FLCustomerService@atlanticbb.com

If your version is the 1.85 you can at least get the 1.87.21 just going to ABB office and swapping your 8300. The version 1.88 is the one we should be bugging for.

One more thing: Apparently ABB is using old cablecards from SA. For the second time in one month, I got a msg about "cablecard firmware upgrade" on my Mitsubishi TV. When this happens, there is nothing we can do and the "upgrade" is never completed even after waiting more than 7 hours. The cablecard is useless after this and the only solution is to call ABB and request a CC replacement. There are very few reports about people with the S3 and the same problem but none with ABB.

If you go for the S3, ask the customer service to send you brand new cards. ABB loves to give us old stuff.

Good luck!

Sergio

Hi Francisco

I sent 3 emails but got only one reply with a canned answer.
If your version is the 1.85 you can at least get the 1.87.21 just going to ABB office and swapping your 8300. The version 1.88 is the one we should be bugging for.

One more thing: Apparently ABB is using old cablecards from SA. For the second time in one month, I got a msg about "cablecard firmware upgrade" on my Mitsubishi TV. When this happens, there is nothing we can do and the "upgrade" is never completed even after waiting more than 7 hours. The cablecard is useless after this and the only solution is to call ABB and request a CC replacement. There are very few reports about people with the S3 and the same problem but none with ABB.

If you go for the S3, ask the customer service to send you brand new cards. ABB loves to give us old stuff.

Good luck!

Sergio


Sergio,

After my post to you I finally got through to someone at ABB headquarters in Boston, explained the situation and pointed out that ABB is charging $9.95 a month for what is essentially an outdated product. Five minutes later the local head of Engineering for ABB in Miami called, knew exactly what I was talking about and assured me that he will personally see to it that all 8300HD boxes in the Miami area are automatically updated to the latest SARA version 1.88 ASAP!!! He promised to call me next week with an update. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

I didn't want to ruin the moment by asking him about cable cards. I'll cross that bridge when the time comes...

Francisco

I found this article (http://www.hometheatermag.com/news/062105CEA/index.html) while looking for something else.

I agree with Rudy on how they should have been more dictorial in the transition. I probably would have went with 480p widescreen by 2000. Then move to 720p in 2005 and finally 1080p in 2010. Those would be hard mandatory dates. Stations could adopt higher resolutions before the hard dates and probably would. They would also be at 60 frames a second. No more 50 different formats. This really isn't a democracy or free market situation. If it was, then you would have more than one of each network in each market. That would create real competition, as one ABC would have to out compete another ABC for example.

Ericglo

My biggest issue with the way ATSC came into being is that the Japanese had already done the "dirty work" for us (by perfecting their MUSE system)...all we had to do was make it digital. But there were too many special interests involved, none of which had the best interest of the American consumer in mind. Everybody (the computer industry, Hollywood, and other various groups) got what they wanted when they wanted it except the taxpayers. Legal battles have kept DTV antenna towers from being erected, and several manufacturers developed a sudden apathy towards the DTV transition when they finally figured out 8VSB was not going to dominate the civilized world.

It will be interesting to see whether the "hard deadline" for NTSC broadcasts is extended when the date looms closer. One industry spokesperson has already said that if Congress doesn't hurry up and sell the analog spectrum they'll end up having to PAY someone to take it off their hands. :D

How good is the quality of their HD channels?

Are they sending out full 1920x1080 HD, unlike Directv's HD lite?

What channels are you able to get right now?

Has anyone had Directv HD and switched to Comcast HD and can report 1st hand on the comparison?

A little help?

I have only seen one HD broadcast on DirecTV (a movie), so I cannot provide a truly informed personal assessment of how their PQ compares to the local Comcast HD signal. However, I have two friends who switched to Comcast when they first noticed DirecTV's so-called "HD Lite" broadcasts, along with two other friends who went with Comcast when Voom went dark. They all like the PQ they're getting from Comcast, and one of them verified (through the use of his video card) that the signal was indeed 1920x1080 (viewing Discovery HD Theatre, which is unfortunately no longer available in the clear). Your best bet would be to sign up for their premier service level (with all the movie channels), keep it for a month or two, then decide which channels you like best and downgrade your subscription accordingly. Just go their website and input your location info to obtain pricing and features of the packages:

http://www.comcast.com/localization/localize.ashx

Sergio,

After my post to you I finally got through to someone at ABB headquarters in Boston, explained the situation and pointed out that ABB is charging $9.95 a month for what is essentially an outdated product. Five minutes later the local head of Engineering for ABB in Miami called, knew exactly what I was talking about and assured me that he will personally see to it that all 8300HD boxes in the Miami area are automatically updated to the latest SARA version 1.88 ASAP!!! He promised to call me next week with an update. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

I didn't want to ruin the moment by asking him about cable cards. I'll cross that bridge when the time comes...

Francisco

Great job, Francisco! The 1.88 has the "play from the beginning" option when watching a recording program and a 4X FF. It also enables the firewire port. With these changes I think I can wait for the S3 a little more.

Sergio

so are any comcast customers that use a QAM receiver (not using any comcast digital boxes) receiving ESPN-HD anymore? if so what channel/sub-channel?

I have a question regarding the Comcast HDTV package, which is listed at $5/month. I currently have just the basic cable package (channels 1-27) but via my QAM receivers I am able to get digital simulcasts of many channels.

The only reason I would be interested in the HD package at this time, is really for ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD and Discovery-HD (which I dont have at the moment)... The comcast web site (which itself is very confusing, especially since they "upgraded" it) makes it sound as though those would be available as part of the "basic" HD package, along with TNT-HD. However I was on the phone with a comcast rep but she confused me more than helped me. according to her I would only be able to receive the channels my current package allows, which would be just the local HD channels. I would need to upgrade my current package to receive additional HD shows such as ESPN and DISCOVERY through the HD box.

I would appreciate if someone could confirm what channels the "basic" HD box allows, and what I would need to have in order to receive at a minimum Discovery-HD. It would be completely pointless to have the HD box if I already get all the channels it would provide me under my existing plan.

Hi Patrick:

If I may…

Comcast does NOT have an HD package. All of the HD channels are part of their respective tiers – Basic, Standard (or Enhanced), Digital Classic or Digital Plus. Likewise, the premiums are also only available if you subscribe to that specific premium channel.

The $5 is for the HD box rental ($9.95 for the DVR), regardless of which tier you subscribe to.

I’m not sure which tier the ESPNs belong to, but whatever tier the SD versions are in, subscribing to that should get you the HD versions. I'm guessing that Discovery HD is in the Classic tier. Can anyone confirm?

So the CSR was correct, if you get an HD box and you only have the Basic tier, you will only get the HD versions of the networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW and PBS) via the box.

Hope this helps some!

yeah thats pretty much what I figured, just between the website seemingly saying one thing (false advertising?) and the comcast rep being totally clueless (I had to put the words in her mouth practically about just receiving the local HDs on my current subscription), just wanted confirmation...

so what HD-PBS channels would be on comcast/west broward? would the PBS-DT be in true HD or would it be just standard def digital like I already get off the QAM receiver?

Just curious, am I the only one getting a TBA message on the guide for channel 214 (for Comcast HD)?

Just curious, am I the only one getting a TBA message on the guide for channel 214 (for Comcast HD)?
Nope, you aren't the only one. It seems WBZL changed it call letters to WSFL for the CW change over, and comcast hasn't seem to update these on the digital channel leaving everything blank.

I live far enough north to get some West Palm Beach channels, and tonight during Heroes WPTV-DT had major issues with the audio! The center channel was either missing or distorted.

so what HD-PBS channels would be on comcast/west broward? would the PBS-DT be in true HD or would it be just standard def digital like I already get off the QAM receiver?

The standard PBS-DT channel. Some in 4:3, some in 16:9 SD and some in HD.

I live far enough north to get some West Palm Beach channels, and tonight during Heroes WPTV-DT had major issues with the audio! The center channel was either missing or distorted.
Meanwhile, back in MIA/FTL, WTVJ-DT is still flipping back to SD with the blue curtains whenever they run the promo crawl - very annoying. I wish somebody over there would get the "new guy" up to speed already...

Joe

so are any comcast customers that use a QAM receiver (not using any comcast digital boxes) receiving ESPN-HD anymore? if so what channel/sub-channel?

Its gone into Comcast Heaven, joining Discovery HD and ESPN2 HD. --But Hark! You now have the tennis channell!

Hey Rudi, did you not say that only ESPN2 HD was going into the Comcast premium tier, at the time of its demise?

For those who care (my guess is , nobody) ABB HD NBC is freezing every 2 minutes or so since yesterday. As ususal, waiting for a tech guy to report any problem is a 40 minutes or more on hold. What I really hate with cable companies is the fact that there is no choice and without a south view satellite is not an option.

Comcast, please buy out ABB!

Sergio

For those who care (my guess is , nobody) ABB HD NBC is freezing every 2 minutes or so since yesterday. As ususal, waiting for a tech guy to report any problem is a 40 minutes or more on hold. What I really hate with cable companies is the fact that there is no choice and without a south view satellite is not an option.

Comcast, please buy out ABB!

Sergio

Sergio,

I share your pain. I just waited 35 minutes to get somebody on the phone to report the very same problem. I also have an OTA receiver so I know the problem is with ABB and not Channel 4. The lady who finally answered immediately wanted to reset my box (which apparently is the only thing they know how to do) and it took me a while to convince her that the problem was theirs and not mine. She finally said she would make a note of it and tell "them" about it. After hanging up I called Berry Kerr, Head of Engineering, and left a message describing the problem and told him it's been going on for over 24 hours now. Let's wait and see how long it will take before they do anything about it.

I am also totally frustrated with ABB and seriously considering switching to Dish Network for TV and Bell South DSL for Internet. Dish Network has many more HD channels than ABB ever wil,l at a much lower price. The only problem is that friends who have it tell me that, with the frequent thunderstorms in South Florida, signal loss is a real problem. What to do? Is Comcast really any better?

Still waiting to hear about the 8300HD firmware update...

Francisco

Francisco

Got some news today on the software upgrade. An ABB supervisor came to my place trying to solve a cablecard problem that seems to be my Mitsubishi fault (they brought 4 cards and the problem is the same with all of them). He told me that they are working on the release of a new software for the 8300 soon. He actually called a guy (Carlos) who is supposed to be the final answer on that matter and he confirmed that they are "working" on it.

Let me tell you my experience so far with several providers:

Dishnetwork: I had it in Central Florida and was happy with the service overall. I had the dreadful 921 DVR which made me switch to

Directv: Great HD DVR (Tivo). Once Tivo, always Tivo. Picture is so compressed that the SD looks like an old VHS tape. On my 73 " this was unbearable and I switch to

ABB: To be honest, I never had a picture so good. SD looks pretty decent and compared to Directv is night and day. Service is terrible, people is clueless and the 8300 with the 1.87 sucks. The new S3 would be my option but after 6 cablecards replaced I will wait until it is more reliable. ABB told me they are getting a new batch of CC.

One good news from ABB: They are going all digital "very soon" to free space for new "in demand" and more HD channels.


If you are Brazilian , I guess you want Globo, right? With Dish you will need two dishes , facing SW and SE to get Globo and all the HD channels. Dish line up is the best and the new DVR (622) is very good and reliable. If you can, go Dish.

Sergio

Nope, you aren't the only one. It seems WBZL changed it call letters to WSFL for the CW change over, and comcast hasn't seem to update these on the digital channel leaving everything blank.
Well at least I'm not the only one. Now if Comcast could fix this problem, I can set up my recording for Smallville.

Just curious, am I the only one getting a TBA message on the guide for channel 214 (for Comcast HD)?

I also get this on my comcast boxes too

Originally Posted by yanksno1
Just curious, am I the only one getting a TBA message on the guide for channel 214 (for Comcast HD)?

I also get this on my comcast boxes too

If I am not mistaken the TBA in the guide for channel 214 is not a Comcast problem. The data displayed in the guide is supplied by a third party; in this case I think it is TV Guide. All that Comcast does in display the data they are provided with.

While Comcast may not be able to correct the problem I certainly hope they are pressuring TV Guide (or whomever) to do so!

If any of this information is incorrect, please correct me!

Its gone into Comcast Heaven, joining Discovery HD and ESPN2 HD. --But Hark! You now have the tennis channell!

Hey Rudi, did you not say that only ESPN2 HD was going into the Comcast premium tier, at the time of its demise?

That is correct. All the B2 services are supposed to be encrypted. I'll try to get some more info tonight and post here when I have a spare moment.

Francisco

Got some news today on the software upgrade. An ABB supervisor came to my place trying to solve a cablecard problem that seems to be my Mitsubishi fault (they brought 4 cards and the problem is the same with all of them). He told me that they are working on the release of a new software for the 8300 soon. He actually called a guy (Carlos) who is supposed to be the final answer on that matter and he confirmed that they are "working" on it.

Let me tell you my experience so far with several providers:

Dishnetwork: I had it in Central Florida and was happy with the service overall. I had the dreadful 921 DVR which made me switch to

Directv: Great HD DVR (Tivo). Once Tivo, always Tivo. Picture is so compressed that the SD looks like an old VHS tape. On my 73 " this was unbearable and I switch to

ABB: To be honest, I never had a picture so good. SD looks pretty decent and compared to Directv is night and day. Service is terrible, people is clueless and the 8300 with the 1.87 sucks. The new S3 would be my option but after 6 cablecards replaced I will wait until it is more reliable. ABB told me they are getting a new batch of CC.

One good news from ABB: They are going all digital "very soon" to free space for new "in demand" and more HD channels.


If you are Brazilian , I guess you want Globo, right? With Dish you will need two dishes , facing SW and SE to get Globo and all the HD channels. Dish line up is the best and the new DVR (622) is very good and reliable. If you can, go Dish.

Sergio

Sergio,

Thanks for all the info. I agree that ABB"s picture is very good and I'm glad to hear they are going all digital soon. Would Dish Network's quality be any better?

Francisco

Steve, a lot of us are getting real tired of watching Dwight and Laurie all streteched out and fat. Plus, I get pretty queasy during those fishbowl-like pan shots.

Can you please tell management to broadcast a distortion-free picture for us? We'd certainly appreciate that. If management doesn't want to listen, just tell them that viewers are switching over to 4 and 6 to watch undistorted news.

Thanks,
Joe

And Steve, will you also pass on that I have not looked at what used to be my favorite 11 PM news with Dwight and Laurie, and have found 6.1? I got dizzy looking at Laurie's W I D E face!

Sergio,

Thanks for all the info. I agree that ABB"s picture is very good and I'm glad to hear they are going all digital soon. Would Dish Network's quality be any better?

Francisco

No, Dish would not be better because they are also in the HD-LITE business, specially with the former VOOM channels. The big difference is the DVR but we don't know if the TIVO lawsuit can make the 622 worse in the future. I like Dish but would wait few more weeks to see what ABB is up to.

Sergio

Anyone else notice wtvj-dt time 3 or 4 minutes slow? It caused the info of the show now playing to be wrong. This was at 10:02 pm.

No, Dish would not be better because they are also in the HD-LITE business, specially with the former VOOM channels. The big difference is the DVR but we don't know if the TIVO lawsuit can make the 622 worse in the future. I like Dish but would wait few more weeks to see what ABB is up to.

Sergio

Sergio,

This morning the famous Carlos, Head Technician for ABB in Miami, called me and said they have already contacted Scientific Atlanta about getting the new 1.88 code for the 8300HD. He assured me they will update all boxes as soon as they have it. I also mentioned to him the NBC HD freeze up problem and he said they are aware of the problem and are working on it.

I'll take your advice and stick with ABB for a while longer. It seems that at least they are making an effort to correct problems and they'll listen to you if you bug them enough.

Again, I did not raise the cable card issue. I guess I'll let you fight that battle.

Later,

Francisco

I'm having a problem with my 42 LCD Vizio, it has a QAM tuner. I go into the menu to skips channels I do not want. When I turn the TV back on it does not hold those deleted channel in memory so they return.

Vizio sent me a new TV and the same thing is happening but now only the digital channels reappear. The guy at Vizio thinks it can be the type of signal that comcast is sending.

So here are my questions;
Anybody being serviced by comcast pompano that has a QAM tuner able to delete digital channels and they do not return?

Does anybody know what type or how comcast sends their signal from the headend?

Lastly does anybody have this problem outside of the pompano service area?

Thanks

Mitchell

Well at least I'm not the only one. Now if Comcast could fix this problem, I can set up my recording for Smallville.
Comcast fixed it just in time for smallville!

Anyone else notice wtvj-dt time 3 or 4 minutes slow? It caused the info of the show now playing to be wrong. This was at 10:02 pm.
Last night I noticed that WPLG-DT was about 3 minutes off. WTVJ-DT was pretty much on, although they still don't know how to show the crawl in HD. :confused:

Joe

There is no excuse in this day and age for the clock to be wrong. Computers can sync to an atomic clock very easily and is done all the time. TV statiosn run everything by time just like trains and planes, it is really surpising that they cant get it right.

There is no excuse in this day and age for the clock to be wrong. Computers can sync to an atomic clock very easily and is done all the time. TV statiosn run everything by time just like trains and planes, it is really surpising that they cant get it right.
Agreed. And last night WPLG-DT's clock was off by 10 minutes. Maybe that stretch-o-vision has affected their ability to tell time... ;)

Joe

Anybody notice that during the 'Today Show', while they were doing a segment on upgrading to High Def, WTVJ-DT was broadcasting the show in SD with the blue side curtains ?

I thought it was kind of ironic.....

Walt

Agreed. And last night WPLG-DT's clock was off by 10 minutes. Maybe that stretch-o-vision has affected their ability to tell time... ;)

Joe

I have sent WPLG the following email:

am sure you guys have very accurate clocks in you studios since the news start at the exact right time. Why is it then that you can't keep the time correct on WPLG-DT. The time is 13 minutes fast! This is not only annoying but also causes the digital program info to be WRONG! Please fix this and maybe sync it to one of those free atomic clocks.

is anyone else having 5 to 10 second audio dropouts on ota 7-1?

thanks
greg

I have sent WPLG the following email:

am sure you guys have very accurate clocks in you studios since the news start at the exact right time. Why is it then that you can't keep the time correct on WPLG-DT. The time is 13 minutes fast! This is not only annoying but also causes the digital program info to be WRONG! Please fix this and maybe sync it to one of those free atomic clocks.
They must've gotten your e-mail, Steve. The clock was right last night. ;)

Joe

Why does our local NBC outlet so frequently botch HD broadcasts? Studio 60 pilot, the first 15 minutes in SD. Kidnapped the last 15 min. in SD. WTVJ must be the worst NBC station in the country. Their engineers are clearly asleep at the wheel.
These screw-ups have been going on for over 3 years now. So this isn't just a symtom of teething problems. Clearly WTVJ doesn't care about their digital viewers or even their own reputations, which are now nothing but a joke. No other station of this size has such frequent HD missteps.
While some members want to dream up apologies for this abject incompetence, but I don't believe there are any valid excuses for this continued shoddy performance any more.

They must've gotten your e-mail, Steve. The clock was right last night. ;)

Joe
Funny thing is I got every email bouncd back to me by the mail server saying it was spam. I had used their online web site form to mail them. On Tuesday moring I called them on the phone and left a message with the technical department and Tuesday night is was fixed. Let see how long it takes to drift again.

Why does our local NBC outlet so frequently botch HD broadcasts? Studio 60 pilot, the first 15 minutes in SD. Kidnapped the last 15 min. in SD. WTVJ must be the worst NBC station in the country. Their engineers are clearly asleep at the wheel.
These screw-ups have been going on for over 3 years now. So this isn't just a symtom of teething problems. Clearly WTVJ doesn't care about their digital viewers or even their own reputations, which are now nothing but a joke. No other station of this size has such frequent HD missteps.
While some members want to dream up apologies for this abject incompetence, but I don't believe there are any valid excuses for this continued shoddy performance any more.

My theroy is they need to get rid of the blue HD sidebars and then the switcher might work automatically. It would also help viewers with 4:3 digital TVs view the 4:3 material correctly.

Anybody notice that during the 'Today Show', while they were doing a segment on upgrading to High Def, WTVJ-DT was broadcasting the show in SD with the blue side curtains ?

I thought it was kind of ironic.....

Walt
I was LMAO when I saw that.

This forum has got to be THE funniest place on the web...truly hysterical. Anyway, the network has mandated the standardization of some equipment used at the stations, including the upconverters. You will see the results onscreen over the next few days. I have all the details, but I think this time I'll keep them to myself...wouldn't want anyone to think I'm dreaming up apologies. :rolleyes:

OMFG.... are all the local stations doing upconverts now.... my eyes cant take it anymore.

Looks like we're in a timewarp. WFORD says Nick Saban's still coaching LSU. :D Picture looks great though.

Hmm.. anyone had issues with WSVN today. I was watching the Giants game and mid way in the second quarter, it was switched to SD.

I switched to 29-1 to watch the Giants game.

Also, is anybody having audio issues with 4-1. My receiver keeps switching from DD5.1 to DD2.0 and back. This happened a lot during todays Dolphins game. Every time it switches, I lose audio for 1-2 seconds.

Anyone get a message saying comcast will update the guide tomorrow? It gives a URL that doesn't work, http://www.comcast.com/improveguide

Anyone get a message saying comcast will update the guide tomorrow? It gives a URL that doesn't work, http://www.comcast.com/improveguide

Haven't seen the message yet but it looks like someone left a "d" out. Try:

http://www.comcast.com/improvedguide

Anyone get a message saying comcast will update the guide tomorrow?

ziltomil: What area are you in? I didn't check the guide here in Plantation this morning but there was no such message on my box yesterday.

Rudy: Is it likely that Comcast may update the guide in some areas of South Florida and not others? They seem to want the want to keep the whole area on the same page and this goes against the grain.

ziltomil: What area are you in? I didn't check the guide here in Plantation this morning but there was no such message on my box yesterday.

Rudy: Is it likely that Comcast may update the guide in some areas of South Florida and not others? They seem to want the want to keep the whole area on the same page and this goes against the grain.

The alert should've appeared in your Messages folder two or three days ago. Everyone with a DVR will get the update to the Guide eventually. ;)

Thanks, Rudy!

The new guide is a good thing but I certainly never received any notification regarding it.

All I get is stuff about sports PPVs! :confused:

What's up with WSVN-DT broadcasting in stretched SD!?

I have a question regarding ComCast and unencrypted QAM reception. I currently have the basic cable package (27 channels only) and have 2 QAM capable receivers, which pickup a number of digital channels beyond which the "basic" package provides, which is cool. I understand I would probably need to upgrade my package to receive channels that I dont currently get, such as ESPN-HD and Discovery-HD, which I really would prefer not doing (additional $60 for 4 or 5 channels I would actually watch, ugh)... I have talked to ComCast reps over the phone, and they are less than helpful, as in "you get the HD equivalent of channels you already receive", but wont (or cannot) tell me what those channels are.

SO, my question is, for comcast (I am in sunrise), can I get feedback from one or more persons who are receiving HD channels, what HD channels are actually available in my area, and what additional equiptment and packages I would need if any (digital cable box, HD cable box). I dont currently use a cable box and prefer not to.

if I could only get ESPN-HD and Discovery-HD and nothing more for a small additional monthly fee I would be happy but doubt that is possible

What's up with WSVN-DT broadcasting in stretched SD!?


I thought I was seeing things or I needed to play with my CRT. Fortunately, the pj is ok.:) This is really messed up for one of Fox's big sporting events.

Tune to 29-1 if you can. They are showing the game in HD.

Steve...

FYI, the side curtains are a result of a command from the switcher and not the other way around.

I have a question regarding ComCast and unencrypted QAM reception. I currently have the basic cable package (27 channels only) and have 2 QAM capable receivers, which pickup a number of digital channels beyond which the "basic" package provides, which is cool. I understand I would probably need to upgrade my package to receive channels that I dont currently get, such as ESPN-HD and Discovery-HD, which I really would prefer not doing (additional $60 for 4 or 5 channels I would actually watch, ugh)... I have talked to ComCast reps over the phone, and they are less than helpful, as in "you get the HD equivalent of channels you already receive", but wont (or cannot) tell me what those channels are.

SO, my question is, for comcast (I am in sunrise), can I get feedback from one or more persons who are receiving HD channels, what HD channels are actually available in my area, and what additional equiptment and packages I would need if any (digital cable box, HD cable box). I dont currently use a cable box and prefer not to.

if I could only get ESPN-HD and Discovery-HD and nothing more for a small additional monthly fee I would be happy but doubt that is possible

In order to view any digital channels that are not broadcast "in the clear", you will need a set top box from Comcast. ClearQAM tuners will pick up and decode any digital channels that are not currently encrypted, but that changes on a monthly basis...channels you receive today may not be available to you that way tomorrow. Discovery HD Theatre and ESPN-HD are B2 channels, so they are encrypted. I believe the minimum service level necessary to view them is the Digital Classic package, but you still need the STB so the best thing to do is to go with the DVR rather than just a tuner. I think your total cost (including taxes, etc.) should be around $85.

I got the guide update today on both my boxes (one HD DVR and a standard digital), not much differences though.

Tune to 29-1 if you can. They are showing the game in HD.

I can't get 29. Are we in for more of the same tonight? Wait, tonight is a new episode of Lost. Who care about baseball?:)

Ericglo

I tried posting this in this thread once before but didn't get any replies. Let me try once more.

I've tried searching this forum but have not had any luck in finding out whether it is possible to get NBA League Pass with Atlantic Broadband on Miami Beach (33139). I called ABB a while back but got the run around from incompetent people who didn't even understand what League Pass was. One person told me that they carried it then transferred me to someone who said they didn't. Can anybody provide some insight on this subject? Thanks!

No NBA League Pass on ABB Miami.

They should put audio controls on sound levels, especially with commercials. I can't stand that they blast the sound. All I do is control the volume while watching HD shows.
It seems that when you have 5.1 working that the volume is all over the place!

Then when they swithch to SD, that sound level is so much louder than 5.1

I got the guide update on my DVRs here in Plantation. Agreed that there isn't much difference. The option to change tuners while watching something that is already recording is appreciated.

I also got the guide update on my DVRs here in Tamarac. However my guide does not want to populate more than a few days.

Mitchell

Talking about guides, It appears that the guide is updated for a few hours, then a day or so. After overnight I can get out to about a week.
But if you unplug the DVR, it then takes hours to get reasonable updates.

So rudy....give me the scoop...whats' the deal for additional HD channels this year?

chnl 200 (FSNHD) and channel 208 (HDSE) are basically sitting there doing nothing...any ideas if they will reinstate iNHD2 or add NGTHD or something else?

this is killing me.

So rudy....give me the scoop...whats' the deal for additional HD channels this year?

chnl 200 (FSNHD) and channel 208 (HDSE) are basically sitting there doing nothing...any ideas if they will reinstate iNHD2 or add NGTHD or something else?

this is killing me.

They are currently in negotiations for NGTHD, but I also heard that UHD is being reconsidered...it was announced recently in the trade media that their programming lineup is being revamped, so Comcast might bring the channel back. We are supposed to get another 2 HD channels by the end of the year, but I haven't received confirmation as to which two they will be.

Congratulations to WSVN 7-1. They stopped stretching the picture for their morning news and commercials today. Hopefully, they continue to do this. Now if we can get 10-1 to stop stretching their picture.

They are currently in negotiations for NGTHD, but I also heard that UHD is being reconsidered...it was announced recently in the trade media that their programming lineup is being revamped, so Comcast might bring the channel back. We are supposed to get another 2 HD channels by the end of the year, but I haven't received confirmation as to which two they will be.
well I hope it's soon.....we are in the middle of OCtober :p

keep us informed man.... ;)

Congratulations to WSVN 7-1. They stopped stretching the picture for their morning news and commercials today. Hopefully, they continue to do this. Now if we can get 10-1 to stop stretching their picture.
Actually, they stopped the stretch-o-vision on the 11th as reported by FLTV (http://fltv.exigi.com).

I wonder whether this was a conscious decision, or if something broke and it's just a matter of time until stretch-o-vision returns to 7-1. :rolleyes:

And what's up with WPLG-DT 10-2 showing 10-1 content in SD? Is this to appease those of us who resent stretch-o-vision on 10-1? ;)

Joe

where the crap is the tigers and yankees game on fox wsvn? suppose to be on now but it's not????

I switched to 29-1 to watch the Giants game.

Also, is anybody having audio issues with 4-1. My receiver keeps switching from DD5.1 to DD2.0 and back. This happened a lot during todays Dolphins game. Every time it switches, I lose audio for 1-2 seconds.

Mike,

Switching between DD5.1 and DD2.0 is normal and does occur frequently during HD NFL games. Most HD programming on CBS is in DD5.1 and SD content is Stereo 2.0. The switching is controlled by metadata carried within the signal and normally occurs during the transition between events. I've not noticed a loss of audio during the switching so I don't have an explanation for what you experienced last Sunday. Let me know if it happens again and under what conditions. i.e. going to a commercial or when returning to the program.

Maybe S. Fl. got tired of seeing so many Yankees, and they pulled the plug.

Where the hell is the baseball game? Are you kidding me? The other night they botch the Hi-Def feed of the game, and now no game at all?

WTF??????????

I gotta watch Deco Damn Drive instead of the American Pastime? What are they smoking down there?

Just pathetic !

Anybody else experiencing problems with ESPN-HD / ESPN2-HD on Comcast? I am getting bad, bad dropouts on them in Plantation.

Maybe S. Fl. got tired of seeing so many Yankees, and they pulled the plug.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

I was checking Advanced Cable's website and it shows that they added ESPN2HD, National Geographic HD, and NFL Network HD. Still no CBS HD.

Noticed ESPN2HD Sat night on advanced during the FL game. Hard to imagine that some marketing guy at Att/ESPN think that circle vision thing is worth watching. Silly concept. NGHD will be nice but I really want CBS, Advanced still won't say anything but that they are negotiating. I think I'll fire some e-mails off to WFOR.

Anyone else getting pixilation on ER tonight on NBC 6 via comcast?

NBC6 got tonights program details wrong on the digital info over the air. This morning I looked on yahoo's tv guide and it said Las Vegas premier was tonight. So I made sure I was home ready to see the show. 9pm comes and there is Deal or no deal on but no Las Vegas. Ok so blame yahoo BUT....when I press info on my remote to see the program details on digital 6.1 it say Las Vegas also! Doesn't anyone at the station look at their own guide and what is actually showing and insure it is correct? That is like putting up the wrong flight info at the airport, not a good thing.

NBC6 got tonights program details wrong on the digital info over the air. This morning I looked on yahoo's tv guide and it said Las Vegas premier was tonight. So I made sure I was home ready to see the show. 9pm comes and there is Deal or no deal on but no Las Vegas. Ok so blame yahoo BUT....when I press info on my remote to see the program details on digital 6.1 it say Las Vegas also! Doesn't anyone at the station look at their own guide and what is actually showing and insure it is correct? That is like putting up the wrong flight info at the airport, not a good thing.


The EPG info is generated by a company hired to do so by the stations. I doubt very much that any station is equipped to change the data on the fly if there are changes or errors. I've just checked the program guide for NBC6 and noticed a few problems which I'll pass on to the engineers.

The EPG info is generated by a company hired to do so by the stations. I doubt very much that any station is equipped to change the data on the fly if there are changes or errors. I've just checked the program guide for NBC6 and noticed a few problems which I'll pass on to the engineers.

Great thanks. The whole idea is to improve the viewers experience.

Great thanks. The whole idea is to improve the viewers experience.
I'm noticing the same thing with digital TV in general, at least in SoFla. There's simply a lot more to be concerned with as opposed to analog, and stations (a) just don't care, or (b) just don't have the resources to keep on top of the digital side of things.

Either way, it's pretty sad that stations have been broadcasting literally for years in digital but just can't keep it together for any length of time.

I'm sure there will be reasons/excuses for all of the above, but the bottom line is that until analog goes away, stations simply will not put the same effort into the digital side of things as they do with the analog side. It's truly a shame.

Joe

I'm noticing the same thing with digital TV in general, at least in SoFla. There's simply a lot more to be concerned with as opposed to analog, and stations (a) just don't care, or (b) just don't have the resources to keep on top of the digital side of things.

Either way, it's pretty sad that stations have been broadcasting literally for years in digital but just can't keep it together for any length of time.

I'm sure there will be reasons/excuses for all of the above, but the bottom line is that until analog goes away, stations simply will not put the same effort into the digital side of things as they do with the analog side. It's truly a shame.

Joe

Joe,

The REALLY sad thing is that many of the engineers I've been dealing with over the years are very enthusiastic about HDTV, and would like to dedicate more resources towards their digital signal. Unfortunately, this is not the prevailing attitude of management at many stations. The high cost of the digital equipment and the "small number of digital-capable" viewers are often cited as their reasoning for putting so much emphasis on maintaining the quality of the soon-to-cease analog broadcast signal. To be honest, I must say that the attitude of station managers is slowly changing, but there was a time a few years ago when I got the distinct impression (when talking to management) that most stations were hoping that the government would simply drop the whole digital transition thing and keep NTSC going forever.

---Rudy

Joe,

The REALLY sad thing is that many of the engineers I've been dealing with over the years are very enthusiastic about HDTV, and would like to dedicate more resources towards their digital signal. Unfortunately, this is not the prevailing attitude of management at many stations. The high cost of the digital equipment and the "small number of digital-capable" viewers are often cited as their reasoning for putting so much emphasis on maintaining the quality of the soon-to-cease analog broadcast signal. To be honest, I must say that the attitude of station managers is slowly changing, but there was a time a few years ago when I got the distinct impression (when talking to management) that most stations were hoping that the government would simply drop the whole digital transition thing and keep NTSC going forever.

---Rudy
It's the eternal battle between bean-counting management and technically adept staff. Staff obviously knows the benefits, but management won't justify the expense due to the profit loss.

Well, hopefully the cutover will be exercised and everyone will be forced into digital anyway. It's just a matter of time. I hope...

Joe

I tuned into Without A Trace last night, and to my dismay it was broadcast in SD over WFOR-DT 4-1. I thought it might be the local outlet, so I tuned into WPEC-DT (12-1 in WPB) and they too were broadcasting the show in SD.

Was the network feed SD? It's hard to believe that two stations in different markets accidentally failed to flip the digital switch.

Joe

Along the same lines, I was watching the Heroes block last night. The last ten minutes of the third episode ended up in SD. I wonder if this was nationwide or local.

What's going on with NBC-HD, ch 6-1? National feeds in standard definition, like Deal or no Deal and 1X100 have a terrible picture and the Dolby Digital has no sound from the center channel. Hi-def programs are OK and local news and local comercials are fine. The standard channel (ch 6) has a better sound and picture than the digital one for those shows. This is true for both OTA and cable.

Sergio

Hi Sergio...

Not all NBC programming is provided in Hi-Def. Deal and 1 v.s. 100 are produced in SD and are fed in Dolby 2/0, there is no center channel. As far as your question regarding the PQ of the upconverted shows, are you comparing them on the same display?

I will make it a point to check Deal next Monday on my Tosh. I normally watch it on an analog set!

Best regards...


Don

Don

Thank you very much for your attention.

I know that not all programs are in hi-def, that's why I mentioned "Deal or no Deal" ans "1X 100". The bad picture happens only with SD and only with few shows. Local programs in SD are OK.

Yesterday I was watching "Deal or no deal" on ch 6-1 and sound and picture were pretty bad. I switched to the regular ch 6 (analog) and the picture and sound were OK, better than the digital channel. as I mentioned, I tried both the OTA and the cable with the same result.

There is something wrong with the audio. I understand that the DD 2.0 has no center channel but my receiver detects your transmission as being 5.1 and not 2.0. Although it's 51 (according to my receiver) , only 2 channels are actually active resulting in a much lower volume than any other channel. Any other digital station shows programs in 5.1 or 2.0 and my receiver switches from Dolby Digital to Dolby Prologic accordingly. NBC seems to be always in 5.1 but sometimes with only 2 active channels. Again, the hi-def programs are OK and this only happens with SD.

I am not only comparing NBC to other digital channels, I'm also comparing NBC with NBC. Every time the blue drapes are present , it looks like the picture is normal and the sound is OK. When the black bars replace the blue drapes , picture is significantly worse and audio is lower. Obviously I'm talking about SD programs.

I am watching on a 73" Mitsubishi TV and using a Pioneer receiver. If you need any help you can count on me .

Sergio

I'm using a Motorola DCT6412 STB provided by Comcast. Are the firewire and DVI outputs active on this box?

Hi Sergio...

TNX for that extra information.

I'm watching DATELINE right now on 6.1 (black bars) and it is certainly cleaner than my cable feed.

There should be no difference in video quality between the black bar and the blue curtain path. I will do some research regarding the video paths and your 5.1 and 2/0 question.

Best regards...


Don

Don

Thanks. I also watched Dateline today and everything was fine as far as the picture is concerned. No difference today between the blue or black bars. Only issue was the audio: During Dateline , the 2.0 transmission was showing 5 active speakers on my receiver (should be only 2) but real sound was only on the 2 front speakers (as it should since the 2.0 is stereo and not 5.1). Here is my observations that I hope can help you debug the audio problem:

With the blue bars (local programs?) the audio comes in stereo, 2.0, and my receiver detects a stereo sound and switches to Dolby Pro-Logic (as it should)

With Hi-def programs, everything is fine. Picture is great and sound comes 5.1 DD. Receiver shows all channels active and audio is perfect.

With SD programs with the black bars (National feed?) audio comes in 5.1 Dolby Digital with only front channels active. Here is the problem: It should come as 2.0, like the programs with the blue bars. Since the receiver "thinks" this is a 5.1 audio, it remains in Dolby Digital with no sound from the center and surrounds. The result is a very por audio. ABC,FOX and CBS send 5.1 audio only when it's actually 5.1, The 2.0 comes as 2.0.

Please see "Deal or no Deal" on Monday and check the picture and audio. The picture today was fine but as I said it is only bad with few programs.

I appreciate your help and your time here. Thank you very much.

Sergio

You want to know why you have trouble with NBC, the following may give you a hint:

http://www.tvpredictions.com/whipnbc102706.htm

http://www.tvpredictions.com/zuckerhd102606.htm

Seems that NBC has decided to save money by broadcasting as little as possible in HD, and betting that the viewing public will not leave.

Hi Sergio...

TNX for the confirmation regarding Dateline video. I will check the video on Deal
on my Tosh Monday evening.

Also TNX for the further observations on the audio.

Best regards...


Don

I'll get back to you on everything...

I'm using a Motorola DCT6412 STB provided by Comcast. Are the firewire and DVI outputs active on this box?


they should be, on mine the DVI output is active.

Don,
I did see some problems with the Nascar feed today. It was stuttering at one point during the telecast. Outside that, I have to give credit to NBC as I have never had any problem with receiving the signal. Yours is the only one that I can say that about.

Joe,

The REALLY sad thing is that many of the engineers I've been dealing with over the years are very enthusiastic about HDTV, and would like to dedicate more resources towards their digital signal. Unfortunately, this is not the prevailing attitude of management at many stations. The high cost of the digital equipment and the "small number of digital-capable" viewers are often cited as their reasoning for putting so much emphasis on maintaining the quality of the soon-to-cease analog broadcast signal. To be honest, I must say that the attitude of station managers is slowly changing, but there was a time a few years ago when I got the distinct impression (when talking to management) that most stations were hoping that the government would simply drop the whole digital transition thing and keep NTSC going forever.

---Rudy

I would like to add a bit of trivia to this. Rudy, as you know Comcast has/is switching their analog tier to digital. If I tune a analog station and then switch to the new digital version with my remote, there is a 2 second delay in picture and sound. Is Comcast outsourcing the analog signal for digital conversion to India, accounting for this time delay???

Just a bit of humor. By the way, are they finished switching yet? CNN and others is not available on digital yet.

Hi Eric...

We were having a frame synchronizer problem during the NASCAR race,
but that problem was resolved before Prime Time.

Appreciate your kind comments.


Don

Hi Eric...

We were having a problem with our HD frame synchronizer during the Nascar race,
but the problem was resolved before Prime Time.

TNX for your kind comments.


Don

Harry...

Regarding Comcast Analog v.s. Digital; there will be a delay in the digital signal
because of processing time, compared to the analog.

Look at the delay between OTA analog and Dish or DirecTV Local Into Local.

About 4 seconds of delay.

The Earth-to-Space-to-Earth delay is only about 0.25 seconds.

The rest is processing (compression) time!


Don

Hi Sergio...

I watched Deal on 6.1 and via Comcast, and as with Dateline, the 6.1 feed was cleaner.

I will get back with you regarding the 5.1 v.s. 2/0 question.

Best regards...


Don

Is this the tech support forum for WTVJ... or the forum for the whole miami/fort lauderdale.... anyways, thanks DonW4WJ for answering people questions.

Hi Don

Thanks. There is something unusual with the picture on "Deal or no Deal". You are right when you say the picture is clean but I think it is TOO clean. It looks like the sharp is way high and the whites look like "sparkling" whites. Soon after Deal was over the picture was back to normal. The Deal picture looked so bright that I thought all my settings were at maximum levels. Trust me, this is far from a normal picture and completely different from the rest of the NBC programming.

The audio came 5.1 instead of 2.0 but with only the 2 front channels active. Other programs on NBC today were fine with the audio 2.0. I understand that maybe I'm being too picky but I always have my A/V receiver turned on. Most people don't care because few of them will watch Deal using a receiver. TVs don't detect 5.1 and the audio will sound "normal" through the speakers.

Thank you very much for your help and interest, anyway.

Sergio

Hi Sergio...

I watched Deal on 6.1 and via Comcast, and as with Dateline, the 6.1 feed was cleaner.

I will get back with you regarding the 5.1 v.s. 2/0 question.

Best regards...


Don
Isn't OTA digital always cleaner than digital cable, especially with HD?

Joe

Isn't OTA digital always cleaner than digital cable, especially with HD?

Joe


Hi Joe...

I was referring to an earlier post. Sergio was asking me about the PQ of Deal on OTA 6.1 v.s. analog cable v.s. OTA Channel 6.0. Digital cable was not in the mix.

However, to answer your question: OTA will always be better than either Digital cable or Digital Satellite. By OTA, I mean BOTH digital AND analog!!

Digital cable PQ is no better than Dish or DirecTV. The provider is trying to pack as many channels as possible into a fixed amount of space. As the number of channels increase the PQ decreases. More channels means more compression.

The uninformed are dazzeled by the term "digital", thinking that this is the best! But all of the informed know how BAD digital cable looks on a good display!

Early adoptees of DirecTV know what I mean. In the beginning, all the channels looked good. Now, those channels look "pasty."

A compression scheme simply removes information from a data stream, passes that modified stream along, then attempts to duplicate and reinsert the
removed data at the end. The algorithims that are doing the work are good, but they are not perfect.

Off my soap box now!! Sorry!!

Don

Hi Joe...

I was referring to an earlier post. Sergio was asking me about the PQ of Deal on OTA 6.1 v.s. analog cable v.s. OTA Channel 6.0. Digital cable was not in the mix.

However, to answer your question: OTA will always be better than either Digital cable or Digital Satellite. By OTA, I mean BOTH digital AND analog!!

Digital cable PQ is no better than Dish or DirecTV. The provider is trying to pack as many channels as possible into a fixed amount of space. As the number of channels increase the PQ decreases. More channels means more compression.

The uninformed are dazzeled by the term "digital", thinking that this is the best! But all of the informed know how BAD digital cable looks on a good display!

Early adoptees of DirecTV know what I mean. In the beginning, all the channels looked good. Now, those channels look "pasty."

A compression scheme simply removes information from a data stream, passes that modified stream along, then attempts to duplicate and reinsert the
removed data at the end. The algorithims that are doing the work are good, but they are not perfect.

Off my soap box now!! Sorry!!

Don

No need to get off the box!:)

The better quality of OTA digital is the reason I will never pay cable or dish money to receive a lesser quality local signal. I know there are a lot of people clamoring for HD locals from Direc, but unless there are extenuating circumstances I can't understand why someone would go that route.

I go that route because my OTA is not always reliable, and may not exist after a hurricane blows my antenna off my roof. Also because some OTA channels do not come in for me without problems, whereas the DirecTV OTA allows me to view them. Now you can understand why someone would go that route. It's not as simplistic as just better quality. As for quality, I have viewed DirecTV HD locals side by side with my OTA signal, and only on my bigger sets did I see a noticable difference worth talking about.

No need to get off the box!:)

The better quality of OTA digital is the reason I will never pay cable or dish money to receive a lesser quality local signal. I know there are a lot of people clamoring for HD locals from Direc, but unless there are extenuating circumstances I can't understand why someone would go that route.

Let's see I get access to an additional 14 HD stations, a HD DVR for $5/mo and seemless access to another 100+ stations without switching. Sorry but OTA is Ok for backup but I prefer cable for the majority of my viewing. In most cases cable is passing the bandwith the station is broadcasting so you get the same as OTA quality.

Don: Thanks for the reply. Agreed 100% except possibly for OTA analog. Unless you have near-perfect reception with an antenna, I'd think that cable would provide a better picture only from the standpoint of reception. Of course, not so with digital. BTW, kudos to you and your staff for providing one of the most consistent digital signals in the area. And a BIG thanks for NOT stretching SD content over 6-1! (OT: WKPX-FM 88.5 being between me and the analog tower still affects my Ch. 6 reception; Ch. 58 is still a bit too weak.)

Eric: Agreed 100% unless reception is an issue.

Jeff: If a hurricane blew down your antenna, do you think your sat would still be working properly without a realignment?

Jeff & stonecrd: IMO there's no way any 2nd-hand delivery could be better than direct delivery. The fact that the signal passes through another entity (i.e., the cable/sat provider) implies degradation.

Joe

I take my dish (reflector portion) down before a hurricane, no realigment needed. I can't get to my antenna easily, so I leave it up. It's good to Cat 2, by experience, anyway.

I wasn't saying at all that second hand delivery was better, I said the difference was not noticeable unless you are on a larger set. On my 35" LCD's and my smaller legacy tubes, I really don't notice. On my 65" rear projection, it is noticeable. Note that I state this from direct personal experience, not spouting re-treaded heresy from some random internet forum.

I take my dish (reflector portion) down before a hurricane, no realigment needed. I can't get to my antenna easily, so I leave it up. It's good to Cat 2, by experience, anyway.
My antenna got pretty bent up last year during Wilma, but it still provided a picture. I've since replaced it with the same thing for $35 and an hour of my time.


I wasn't saying at all that second hand delivery was better, I said the difference was not noticeable unless you are on a larger set. Note that I state this from direct personal experience, not spouting re-treaded heresy from some random internet forum.
Have to disagree about noticing the difference, although it's certainly subjective. And what's this nonsense about spouting heresy, eh? Might want to go easy on the afternoon caffeine...

Joe

I tend to get testy when people try to tell me what I see and recognize with my own eyes is wrong. And typically on these forums, these same people are contradicting not out of their own experience, but from reading about other's experiences.

Jeff:

a) In no way did I tell you what you saw.

b) You might not want to assume that any given post is always "heresy".

Now go have a beer and watch some fuzzy analog with rabbit ears. ;)

Strat pretty much replied for me.

Stone,
I have Direc and get the HD package.

Jeff,
I said extenuating circumstances. If you don't want to take down your antenna, secure it better or put up another one, then fine. I had an antenna outside on an old telephone pole and it withstood all of the hurricanes for the past two years.

As for the HD locals, you are correct in that I have not seen them. I have seen the issues with the HD package on Direc and I am well aware of the bandwidth limitations. They may or may not be doing this with the locals, but the picture can only be as good as OTA not better. I am not willing to give Direc $60 a year for that.

My response was for Comcast and Advanced. They are pulling the signal directly and passing it through with no compression that anyone has been able to determine. D* of course is currently bandwidth limited by their Sats and has been doing compression for some time i.e. HDLite. I do watch OTA for CBS because Advanced does not carry it yet, I see no difference in the HD picture on CBS from ABC or NBC on primetime. So for me having the additional channels and DVR make cable a better solution than OTA.

There is also the fact that in Weston we have no choice but to pay for the cable. If I had a choice I would probably choose FIOS or Comcast followed by E*.

97Strat, whatever you real name is, I assume nothing, except that you irritate me with your snide little side comments. Go have a beer yourself.

Eric - I have no problem with my antenna, it has withstood the last 5 wind events. You must be thinking of another post.

Fear On Demand on Comcast has 3 HD movies playing currently, including one of my favorites: "Bram Stoker's Dracula".

Fear On Demand on Comcast has 3 HD movies playing currently, including one of my favorites: "Bram Stoker's Dracula".

Is anyone not picking up channels on fearnet? It says "No channels available" under all my fearnet menus. I have digital classic so I believe I should be receiving it.

Of course when I call Comcast they are clueless and do not even know what fearnet is! :)

Thanks!

cubanismo,

I have Digtal Plus One and like you every menu under FearNet say "No Listings Available". Not one one solitary movie available!

Rudy, How come you have listings and we don't? Does it vary by area within South Florida? Is this a local bandwidth issue?

cubanismo,

I have Digtal Plus One and like you every menu under FearNet say "No Listings Available". Not one one solitary movie available!

Rudy, How come you have listings and we don't? Does it vary by area within South Florida? Is this a local bandwidth issue?

I don't know what is going on. When I go to that channel in the guide, it says "FearNet On Demand"; when I select it, the box goes into the On Demand system and it brings up a submenu with several other choices, including one for FearNet HD. If I select that, it brings up 3 movies: "Carrie", "Dracula", and "Flatliners". :confused:

I don't know what is going on. When I go to that channel in the guide, it says "FearNet On Demand"; when I select it, the box goes into the On Demand system and it brings up a submenu with several other choices, including one for FearNet HD. If I select that, it brings up 3 movies: "Carrie", "Dracula", and "Flatliners". :confused:

I think it may just take some time to reach everyone. My cousin in Pembroke Pines had it since the 31st. I am in Sunrise and still don't have it.

Rudy, I see fearnet On Demand. I see all the sub-menus but there are no channels listed in them.

Hopefully I will have it by the weekend. . . wishful thinking?

This month, Cinemax is having a marathon Star Wars showing of all six episodes. They will be available in HD and will be shown in OAR (Yeah!)

According to VideoGrabber in the first post of a rather lengthy thread on the subject over at HDTVProgramming, the planned broadcast dates are:

The 14 hour (13h,45m) Marathon starts on Saturday, Nov11, with an "all-day" showing of all 6 episodes I-VI back to back, starting at Midnight. Then it starts over again at 1:50pm on Saturday, then again (and again) on Sunday. 4 times in a row! Saturday through Sunday, until Monday morning at around 7:30am.

- 12:00am, Nov11
- 1:50pm, Nov11
- 3:40am, Nov12
- 5:40pm, Nov12

Then they're breaking it into two segments, on 2 consecutive days:

I-III back to back: 5:15pm, Nov16

IV-VI back to back: 5:45pm, Nov17

Then we finally get the "order restored" version, with IV-VI, then I-III airing daily at noon, from Nov20-25.

Lastly, another daily run of I-VI in the 10pm time-slot, from Nov26-Dec01.

If you are interested, the thread link is:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=730975

The HD versions are also available on OnDemand/Premium/Cinemax/Star Wars HD until December 28th; in fact, episodes I through IV are there now (at least for me) and I trust the other two will show up shortly.

Of course, you need to subscribe to Cinemax to access these movies.

They will show up on HBO next year.

Enjoy!

PS: Apparently Episode II is NOT OAR. All six are in 5.1 sound.

Don Murray from NBC6 - Is there any way you can turn off the weather subchannel from 8 PM - 11 PM every night so we can receive full bandwidth on the main HD channel (6-1)? This would be appreciated by all especially with the huge Sunday Night Football game this week between the Colts and Patriots.

Don Murray from NBC6 - Is there any way you can turn off the weather subchannel from 8 PM - 11 PM every night so we can receive full bandwidth on the main HD channel (6-1)? This would be appreciated by all especially with the huge Sunday Night Football game this week between the Colts and Patriots.

I don't think they could turn the Weather Plus channel off even if they wanted to...corporate decided that all stations would carry it. It was not a local decision.

Damn, I'm not getting Episode 6 in HD!

Damn, I'm not getting Episode 6 in HD!
It was there the last couple days (all six were, now just Eps I-IV), not today. I also noticed somehow ESB got moved to my saved programs (even though I didn't start watching it yesterday) and is out of the Cinemax HD OnDemand menu. Seems like they're moving stuff around.

Has anybody been hearing sound cut-outs from WSVN (digital) the last week or two? I'm starting to wonder if my OTA antenna is out of alignment. It happens on all programming on 7-1, no matter what the show, and it happens pretty much all the time.

Basically the show will be going along and then the sound will stop for 30 seconds to a few minutes, and then there'll be a short freeze and a pixelation and it'll return to normal (as if someone woke up and mashed a button at WSVN).

It doesn't happen on any other station, though, so I don't think it's my equipment.

Has anybody been hearing sound cut-outs from WSVN (digital) the last week or two? I'm starting to wonder if my OTA antenna is out of alignment. It happens on all programming on 7-1, no matter what the show, and it happens pretty much all the time.

Basically the show will be going along and then the sound will stop for 30 seconds to a few minutes, and then there'll be a short freeze and a pixelation and it'll return to normal (as if someone woke up and mashed a button at WSVN).

It doesn't happen on any other station, though, so I don't think it's my equipment.

If you have a HR10=250, it is indeed your equipment. The good news is that this is a nationwide problem suffered by HR10-250 users who view the FOX network stations OTA. No one seems to know the cause or when it will be fixed. But it apparently began with the 6.3a upgrade.

Yours is the only report -- that I have read -- that mentions audio stoppages of "30 seconds to a few minutes". Others have reported random audio drops of about 8 seconds followed by the freeze you describe.

For more on this, see the 5.3a thread in the TiVo Forum
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=319575

This post from our sister forum, seems to indicate the problem comes from a certain
piece of equipment used by FOX and other nets.....
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4547353&&#post4547353
He works for FOX and has been able to elimate the problem by taking certain equipment
out of the stream. What we can do about it? I do not know until/unless a ver 6.3b is
released!

If you have a HR10=250, it is indeed your equipment. The good news is that this is a nationwide problem suffered by HR10-250 users who view the FOX network stations OTA. No one seems to know the cause or when it will be fixed. But it apparently began with the 6.3a upgrade.

Yours is the only report -- that I have read -- that mentions audio stoppages of "30 seconds to a few minutes". Others have reported random audio drops of about 8 seconds followed by the freeze you describe.

For more on this, see the 5.3a thread in the TiVo Forum
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=319575

Wow, I would never have guessed that. You're right, I just got that update (with the folders) so that makes sense.

Thanks very much for the heads-up! :-)

And just as a F.Y.I.....yes D* is aware of the problem, and as I understand it, they have
requested Tivo to rewrite a version 6.3b to fix it....time will tell.

I'm new to Comcast (having moved to Plantation from Aventura, where I had ABB). Does Comcast carry any of the NHL games in HD that are on Versus? The Versus SD channel 37 is terrible, a really snowy picture. Is that normal? The HD picture on Comcast is great, I just wish the SD channels were a bit more clear....

I'm new to Comcast (having moved to Plantation from Aventura, where I had ABB). Does Comcast carry any of the NHL games in HD that are on Versus? The Versus SD channel 37 is terrible, a really snowy picture. Is that normal? The HD picture on Comcast is great, I just wish the SD channels were a bit more clear....

yes, its on INHD, but check the schedule on INHD website of upcoming NHL games.

Is anybody having trouble receiving 39-1? I can't get a signal on either of my 2 satellite boxes.