I want to hear from anyone using U-verse hd thru a projector (any model throwing a 102 in screen). How doe it look? as good as OTA HD thru a Samasung tuner or does it look like all the compressed image that come thru the cable companies. If you have a 102 in or more screen pleas reply. I would love to hear from everyone but if you are looking at a screen smaller then 77 in from 10 ft away your picture will not look good on such a large screen>

Thanks in advance.

I want to hear from anyone using U-verse hd thru a projector (any model throwing a 102 in screen). How doe it look? as good as OTA HD thru a Samasung tuner or does it look like all the compressed image that come thru the cable companies.I've never had U-verse, and I don't have a projector, but I do have a Samsung H260F, and from everything I've heard, I am certain that U-verse's HD can't possibly look as good as OTA HD though the Sammy on a 102", OR a 77" screen.

Does anybody know of any head-to-head comparisons with picture quality? I just left an AT&T store and was very disappointed with the HD picture quality. I would love to dump Comcast, but I need to be certain before I do.

www.naperville.il.us/uverse.aspx. (U-verse Finally in Naperville IL) -- At least work will begin...

It looks like Whole Home DVR (or Total Home DVR, as it was announced) finally started releasing.

http://www.uverseusers.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,2/topic,9673.0/

Does anybody know of any head-to-head comparisons with picture quality? I just left an AT&T store and was very disappointed with the HD picture quality. I would love to dump Comcast, but I need to be certain before I do.

I was disgruntled with what I considered to be price gouging by Comcast so when AT & T Uverse became available to northern Illinois I made the switch. I saved a few bucks and fell for the 4 show DVR claim. First, they promised that I'd only have to take one day off. Not. The phone was separate from the digital TV and internet installation. The installers were pleasant and competant. I got new and improved wiring at no extra charge which was good. But the picture was noticably worse than cable. The color is too saturated, the picture seems more grainy and the detail fuzzes during motion. There is no On-Demand HD movies like Comcast. The remote only works in front of the box and there is a delay in most commands. I will probably return to Comcast if next year if things do not improve dramatically.

Very disappointed.

I was disgruntled with what I considered to be price gouging by Comcast so when AT & T Uverse became available to northern Illinois I made the switch. I saved a few bucks and fell for the 4 show DVR claim. First, they promised that I'd only have to take one day off. Not. The phone was separate from the digital TV and internet installation. The installers were pleasant and competant. I got new and improved wiring at no extra charge which was good. But the picture was noticably worse than cable. The color is too saturated, the picture seems more grainy and the detail fuzzes during motion. There is no On-Demand HD movies like Comcast. The remote only works in front of the box and there is a delay in most commands. I will probably return to Comcast if next year if things do not improve dramatically.

Very disappointed.

Yikes!!!!!!!! Guess I will stay with TMC then for awhile longer. But I would have liked to get the better internet speeds! Just it is nice (and discounted) if you have an all-in-one package :(

Does anybody know of any head-to-head comparisons with picture quality?Lots, and none that I'm aware of favor U-verse.

September 8, 2008

AT&T announced the launch of AT&T U-verse Total Home DVR, giving U-verse TV customers the freedom to play back Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) recorded programs on any connected TV in the home.

U-verse Total Home DVR is now being introduced to customers in the Bay Area at no additional charge and is planned for deployment to all U-verse TV customers by the end of 2008.

AT&T U-verse Total Home DVR customers can:

-- Watch HD and SD DVR recordings on other connected TVs in the home. In
addition to your DVR, you can access, play, pause, rewind and fast
forward any recorded SD or HD program on up to seven additional
U-verse-connected TVs. All U-verse DVRs and receivers are HD-capable.
-- Pause a recorded show and pick up where you left off in another room.
-- Play back multiple, independent viewings of the same recorded show on
different TVs.
-- Play back up to four recorded shows at once. Up to three can be HD
recorded programs.
-- Watch up to five HD programs simultaneously throughout the home,
including two live HD programs and three recorded HD programs.
-- Record more of the show you want to see with soft padding, which
automatically adds 1 minute to the beginning and 2 minutes to the end
of each pre-scheduled recording.
-- Organize recorded content by series. Series recordings will be grouped
as a single heading in the recorded TV menu, making it easier for
customers to manage and select their recorded programs.
-- Store up to 37 hours of HD content or up to 133 hours of SD content,
which is more storage than most cable providers' DVRs.
-- Record up to four programs at once on a single DVR -- another feature
that is exclusive to AT&T U-verse TV.
-- Set the DVR while on the go from your PC or wireless phone. With AT&T
Yahoo!(R) Web and Mobile Remote Access to DVR, you can schedule
recordings from any Web-connected PC or compatible mobile phone
(wireless service charges apply) by using your AT&T High Speed Internet
account.

September 5, 2008

AT&T announced on the availability of both free and pay High Definition Video On Demand (HD VOD) titles as part of the company's AT&T U-verse TV Video On Demand library.

The AT&T U-verse VOD library reportedly features a selection of new releases in HD. This initial offering by AT&T is expected to be expanded over the coming months and on an ongoing basis. Current titles available under AT&T's U-verse VOD include 'Charlie Wilson's War' and 'Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins'. Upcoming releases include 'Leatherheads', 'Baby Mama', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' and 'The Incredible Hulk'.

AT&T said that all U-verse TV customers have access to the U-verse VOD library, which features a variety of free and rental VOD titles. U-verse VOD offers titles the same day as DVD releases, Spanish and international movies, modern classics, independent films, family and kids programming, television series on demand and exclusive content.

Also, three-day rental periods are available for select titles.

AT&T announced the launch of AT&T U-verse Total Home DVR, giving U-verse TV customers the freedom to play back Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) recorded programs on any connected TV in the home.

Sounds great, but I wonder if it will fail to live up to expectations on the HD side like everything Uverse has done so far.

I'm about as patient as they come when it comes to new technology. And AT&T's U-Verse service is new here, so of course there are going to be hangups. Well two technicians, calls all the way up to Tier 4 support, and four days of them basically living with me...and I finally got up and running on Monday. They had to do some serious work down at the fiber optic hub at the end of my street. Then someone at their division forgot to match the work done in the computer systems. Yadda yadda yadda. It's working. Sorta...

I'm thrilled with the internet connection. Despite having signed up for the mid-grade service, I'm getting premium speed. 9.4 mbps down, 1.4 mbps up, with about a 90 ms ping. That ping is actually a little higher than I'm used to; not sure how it will affect online gaming.

But the high definition TV is another story. In short: it is poor. It is hard to describe in words what is happening on these channels. I can liken it to this: when I make a video, I can choose to render it in high, medium, or low quality. The HD channels look like a video that has been rendered on low quality. Motion turns into macroblocking. Solid colors appear to jitter a little or pulse when it should be, well, a solid color. You can make out the gradations of brightness and it doesn't change smoothly as a sharp picture should. These abnormalities are a result of the TV signal being too compressed on their lines. This is something I read about from other users in advance and was worried would happen. With as critical an eye as I have for this, I don't think I'll be able to keep the TV service.

Further there is a firmware issue with the box that AT&T "may or may not know about". Simply, it is not passing Dolby Digital correctly through the HDMI cable to my receiver. Shows sounded like mush, comparatively to my Comcast signal. I tested this with an optical cable and it worked correctly--a nice, crisp DD sound. I also recorded the same show on AT&T and Comcast. The Comcast box passes the Dolby signal to my receiver; AT&T did not. So something is definitely wrong with the HDMI firmware.

I was so looking forward to this. No more Comcast; gain the ability to set a recording from anywhere with internet; no more Comcast; and no more Comcast. As much as I hate being their customer, their picture quality is (it's hard for me to write this) far superior to AT&T's. The third technician that came out saw what I was talking about. I feel like he knew what he was saying and he told me "I'm sorry to say that this may be the best quality that we offer." If that's the case, no thanks. I'll just stick with the internet.

Dish would have been ideal, because of the (now) four providers to choose from, they have the most superior system. But not having local HDs is a deal-breaker. DirectTV just added them two months ahead of schedule, so hopefully Dish won't be long. Unless AT&T cranks up their bandwidth over their lines, then their service is going nowhere. Well maybe they will...the average consumer buys into the fact that they are getting "high definition".

Anyone else have trouble getting 5.1 audio from their Uverse box? I have the HDMI cable plugged into my receiver but every channel shows up as 2.0 audio and not 5.1, even channels like HDNET which have to be 5.1.

Anyone else have trouble getting 5.1 audio from their Uverse box? I have the HDMI cable plugged into my receiver but every channel shows up as 2.0 audio and not 5.1, even channels like HDNET which have to be 5.1.

Yep, ever since I got U-Verse I have had to hook up the optical audio to get 5.1. HDMI doesn't work.

As for picture quality compared to Comcast. I have not experienced the difference that everyone else is reporting. My opinion is that U-verse is about the same or maybe a hair better than my old Comcast service. This, may be because Comcast in my area was not good. Either way, there are pluses and minuses to both Uverse and Comcast. For now I am keeping my Uverse.

My U-Verse +/- list
Positives:
-Fast channel changing
-Nice looking GUI
-Features like PIP
-Good picture quality (However, most people aren't getting the same)
-Remote DVR programming (Through the internet)
-HD out of any box in the house
-Watch DVR on any box (comming soon. Damn, I still don't have it!)

Negatives:
-DVR box is loud as hell
-No PBS kids/Noggin on basic 200 level service (had to pay extra for 300 level)
-No FSN HD
-Channel numbers are complex. Basically have to remember a pin number for the channels you want to watch. (NBC HD is 1004, ESPN is like 1602)
-Limited specifics on DVR programming (Can't set a series to 'keep only x number of episodes')
-Modem is a router/modem in one so can't use my Linksys. Its a 2wire. The interface is quirky. Can't do things like put a static IP device in the DMZ...? Does have other cool qualitys though (like pre-configured xbox routing)
-Remote still doesn't support my Olevia TV! Damn!
-On-Demand content no where near Comcast
-Ping time/Latency of Online gaming...?

-Channel numbers are complex. Basically have to remember a pin number for the channels you want to watch. (NBC HD is 1004, ESPN is like 1602)


All channels on all systems are represented by numbers that you have to remember. I like that U-verse made the HD channels related to the SD numbers. NBC HD is 1004 and the SD is 4. ESPN HD is 1602 and the SD is 602. Maybe you are used to cable where channels tend to be sequential. Uverse is set up more like a DBS provider with channels grouped by subject.

All channels on all systems are represented by numbers that you have to remember. I like that U-verse made the HD channels related to the SD numbers. NBC HD is 1004 and the SD is 4. ESPN HD is 1602 and the SD is 602. Maybe you are used to cable where channels tend to be sequential. Uverse is set up more like a DBS provider with channels grouped by subject.

Don't get me wrong. Their channel numbers are not a deal breaker. But it doesn't work perfect. We are talking 3 and 4 digit numbers instead of 2 and 3 digit channel numbers like most providers. Its one more digit to remember, like 202 is CNN and 1202 is CNN HD? what the hell. Its like 22 on Comcast. easier to remember two digit numbers than three. Thats all i'm saying.

My mom and my boss both lost their televisions this week. Both subscribe to U-verse and both had the same problem, the video is shot, and both have fairly new TVs. I saw on the internet today that another U-verse customer also lost the video in both of his TVs. In all cases, the TVs are unrepairable. When you spend thousands of dollars, this is costly damage, and I have no doubt that it is U-verse - related. Keep this post in case your TV breaks down all of a sudden.

My mom and my boss both lost their televisions this week. Both subscribe to U-verse and both had the same problem, the video is shot, and both have fairly new TVs. I saw on the internet today that another U-verse customer also lost the video in both of his TVs. In all cases, the TVs are unrepairable. When you spend thousands of dollars, this is costly damage, and I have no doubt that it is U-verse - related. Keep this post in case your TV breaks down all of a sudden.

Links to the story? More info? What exactly were the causes?

My mom and my boss both lost their televisions this week. Both subscribe to U-verse and both had the same problem, the video is shot, and both have fairly new TVs. I saw on the internet today that another U-verse customer also lost the video in both of his TVs. In all cases, the TVs are unrepairable. When you spend thousands of dollars, this is costly damage, and I have no doubt that it is U-verse - related. Keep this post in case your TV breaks down all of a sudden.
It is very unlikely that U-verse is responsible for a TV breaking. How were they connected?

The other story he's refering too was somebody who posted something similar on the internet last year..you can read for yourself here

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18974741-damage-to-tv

Ranbunctious also posted the same thing here today
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080914101251AAKFShN

I just picked these up via google...No other references found via Google for anybody with similar stories.

It is very unlikely that U-verse is responsible for a TV breaking. How were they connected?

If so, sounds like a lightning strike ..

From Ars Technica, by Matthew Lasar

AT&T will "temporarily reduce" speeds for U-verse customers

As AT&T disclosed at the Federal Communications Commission's summer hearing on network management practices at Carnegie Mellon University, it was rewriting its broadband service terms of service. The telco submitted them to the FCC on Thursday, and it looks like speed throttling is on the menu.

"In order to provide a consistently high-quality video service, AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet throughput speeds may be temporarily reduced when a customer is using other U-verse services in a manner that requires high bandwidth," the new language will warn. "This could occur more often with higher speed Internet access products. It may be necessary, for some AT&T High Speed Internet users, for AT&T to set a maximum downstream speed on a customer line to enhance the reliability and consistency of performance."

The disclosure concedes that these changes "will prevent some customers from obtaining the maximum downstream speed capability," but the overall speed will not be reduced from the tier that the customer purchased, promises AT&T. U-verse offers video, phone, and broadband services in a single package, all delivered over a phone line and powered by a fiber-to-the node system.

AT&T says these new conditions will go into effect starting October 18.

The company 's current terms of service for U-verse broadband mentions that throughput speeds "may be limited at AT&T's sole discretion, and such limitation will have no effect on whether the minimum speed is met." The telco's present contract terms for DSL say that "AT&T reserves the right to monitor or change your current plan speed at any time. No minimum level of speed is guaranteed."

This new agreement language takes a stab at explaining under what circumstances a customer's bit rate could be throttled, albeit a pretty general stab, the sort of stab that might be aimed at the heart and land instead on the big toe.

At least Comcast's new bandwidth cap policy sets a specific ceiling, 250GB, with a set of examples of how much data a customer would have to move to run afoul of the policy—20,000 high-res photos, 40 million e-mails, or 8,000 movie trailers.

Attack of the bloggers
Not surprisingly, blogging about this latest development has been quite brisk over the last few days. "Get ready to have your connection squeezed to a trickle," warns Gizmodo.

Public Knowledge's Mehan Jayasuriya suggests that the point of this new policy may be to get consumers to focus more on U-verse's TV services, in which AT&T has invested heavily. "If your Internet connection is slowed to a crawl, you're probably a lot more likely to put down the mouse and pick up the remote, which means more potential money in the bank for AT&T," he writes.

Ars contacted AT&T and was told by company spokesperson Brad Mays that the firm has no intention of "squeezing" its U-verse customers. "It's more a matter of the way data comes into and travels around a home," Mays said. "There are things (use of PCs, video, etc.) that can impact the throughput speed a customer gets. We are not doing anything to degrade the speed, it’s just a fact of the way data travels."

The telco will start sending out customer notices this week, AT&T says. Customer e-mails will announce that AT&T has "added new language to the service description to more clearly describe how we provide your high speed Internet connection, and to explain what factors can affect the performance of your high speed Internet service."

AT&T's Vice President James W. Cicconi promises in the FCC letter that the company "will provide clear information about the capabilities of our service and any meaningful limitations on the service." We'll see whether the Commissioners, especially FCC Chair Kevin Martin, concur with the broadband giant's new standard for clarity.

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/09/16/reuters-atandt-planning-to-integrate-iphone-with-u-verse/

Reuters: AT&T planning to integrate iPhone with U-verse
Reuters is reporting that AT&T is planning to capitalize on their iPhone exclusivity in the US and link it with their broadband and video service U-verse. Eventually this could allow U-verse subscribers to listen to their iPhone voicemail on their TVs or download shows from their DVRs to their iPhones. And taking a page from Apple, they're also talking about a remote control application for the iPhone to control the DVR, etc.

I think this sounds like an interesting value-added addition for AT&T customers. The main problem is that U-verse just isn't that widely available. Would you switch to U-verse to get this kind of iPhone integration?

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

Too bad their HD TV service sucks....

Searching the forums for ATT U-verse in CT, not much activity, anyone know of ATT U-verse Connecticut towns that are carrying CPTV HD?

Searching the forums for ATT U-verse in CT, not much activity, anyone know of ATT U-verse Connecticut towns that are carrying CPTV HD?

https://uma.att.com/general/201-AMSS-X-DMA2-POPUP.html

Also, State based U-Verse forums here (including Conn)

http://www.uverseusers.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,2/

Searching the forums for ATT U-verse in CT, not much activity, anyone know of ATT U-verse Connecticut towns that are carrying CPTV HD?

https://uma.att.com/general/201-AMSS-X-DMA2-POPUP.html

Also, State based U-Verse forums here (including Conn)

http://www.uverseusers.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,2/

Thank you for the links.

AT&T CTO Banks On Better HD Compression

Telco Sees Improved MPEG-4 Compression Letting It Boost HDTV Capacity

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/18/2008 9:44:00 AM

New York—AT&T chief technology officer John Donovan stayed the course on the telco’s video-over-copper strategy, telling attendees at an investment conference here that more efficient MPEG-4 compression will allow it to boost the number of high-definition channels it can pipe into customers’ homes.

Donovan, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference Thursday, said improvements in video-encoding equipment will allow AT&T to deliver three live HD streams in 2009.

The telco’s U-verse TV service currently delivers MPEG-4 video in the range of 6 to 8 Megabits per second. In the first quarter of next year, Donovan said, AT&T expects to squeeze that down to 5 Mbps and added: “In the labs we’re looking at technologies that take the compression further.”

Last week AT&T launched Total Home DVR, initially in San Francisco, which lets U-verse TV deliver five simultaneous HD streams: two live and three from the DVR.

Next year, with the compression enhancements, Donovan expects that to move to seven total: three live and four recorded. Cable operators use the less-efficient MPEG-2 standard to deliver video.

AT&T’s decision to launch Internet protocol TV—which predated Donovan’s arrival in April—was “aggressive, he said, and it was based on a series of underlying technology bets. For example, when the IPTV strategy was announced in 2004, there weren’t MPEG-4 hardware encoders on the market and the (VDSL) standard wasn’t complete yet.

Donovan defended the video-over-DSL strategy, which AT&T executives have contrasted with the more expensive path picked by Verizon Communications’ fiber-to-the-premises FiOS buildout.

“If you’re late [to market] and wrong, customers punish you,” he said. “If you’re early, you’re punished in a different way” by not attaining a return on investment.

Later, commenting about expanding the number of viewable HD streams, Donovan said, “To try to win an arms race about something customers don’t care about—I’m sure it’s not economical to do that… We feel pretty good about the flexibility we have with the IP network.”

He added that AT&T “feels comfortable” with its guidance on capital spending and said it’s focused in three areas: wireless, video and IP. “The explosive growth in mobility and video really drives us toward more IP techniques, not only for efficiencies but for integration,” he said.

Speaking about the dramatic growth of Internet traffic, Donovan noted that video now exceeds 40% of AT&T’s total IP backbone traffic whereas three years ago it was negligible.

“If you download one HD video movie, it’s the equivalent of 35,000 rich-content web pages, or 2,000 songs,” Donovan said. “So it’s very, very dramatic.”

AT&T operates a 30-Gigabit-per-second IP backbone today, which handles 15 petabytes of traffic daily, Donovan said. He added that AT&T has tested out 100-Gbps networking equipment in trials in 2006.

The growth in broadband data is driving the telco’s content-distribution network services, which replicate Internet content. AT&T will invest $70 million this year tripling CDN storage and server capacity, according to Donovan.

The CDN is “the foundation of trying to keep busy-hour video off our network,” he said. “Now we’ve got to get out there and get the customer-facing side done.”

Donovan oversees the telco’s global technology strategy and development road maps, including network and engineering operations, AT&T Labs and the security and intellectual property organizations. Previously he was executive vice president of product, sales, marketing and operations at VeriSign, a provider of Internet infrastructure services.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6597339.html

I've put in another call about my HD quality again. Talked to Tier 2. Gave him my spiel. I got another "this is as good as it gets" talk. If I'm understanding things correctly and from what I've read on this forum and others...D* and E* are compressing to roughly 18 mbps. I'm getting 25 mpbs into my house, 10 of which is dedicated to internet. So 15 is for TV. It therefore follows that I'm not getting as good quality as with my current provider. Right?

But this article is talking about 6-8 mbps compression???? This just doesn't make sense. The quality suffers so much, why would they do this? I thought the answer was "crank up the bandwidth" but apparently not....

If I'm understanding things correctly and from what I've read on this forum and others...D* and E* are compressing to roughly 18 mbps.Nah, it's gotta be less than that I would think. Especially for the mpeg4 channels, which are more efficient (meaning they can get away with a lower rate).

Of course, what do I know.

A few things on U-Verse, as a 4 some month subscriber...

Yes, the DVR has issues - no 5.1 over HDMI, and 5.1 over optical is prone to audio drops - they come and go, but are regular when occurring, every X seconds. Only occurs on channels that are sending 5.1 - 2 channel over optical never drops. Very close to an ender right there.

Picture... looks good on my end, 71" DLP, 47" LCD, 37" LCD, all look pretty good. I do, however, think 10Mbps should be a channel minimum, especially for sports at 1080i.

Latency used to be much worse - high 40's - I can get to Verizon across Level 3 from ATT in 23ms. Everything in the Dallas NAP seems available in the low 20ms, which is fast enough.

Whole House DVR is out in DFW. Pretty cool - BUT, you cannot pause live TV anywhere else but the DVR - another potential ender.

All in all, I am sticking with it, mainly because for $120 I get 10Mbps internet, UVerse200, and two phone lines from ITP... whereas 2 phone lines and DSL from that whore Ma Bell alone cost well over $140, and Comcast was up to almost $80 a month with the same crappy HD channel selection. Eff that brutha...

(For those just tuning in, just search my user name in this thread for details of my installation history and problems.)

I went to the AT&T store today to get a comparison of their HD signal vs. mine. It was markedly better. So that told me there HAD to be something going on at my home to get this poor quality of TV. I put in another call to tech support. Asked to be immediately transferred to Tier 2. Enter Dustin. If blessings do indeed come in even small places, Dustin is the prime example of it. He shares my affinity for home theater and offered ideas that no other technician has. I have enough expertise that I was able to work through the things he described without having a technician come back out. And between the two of us, the picture quality was improved VASTLY over what I had been getting. No comparison. And along the way of this 90 minutes support call, we chatted about different TVs and surround sound options and this and that. It was great! Like talking to a friend! I was so impressed by his level of service, I asked for his manager's contact info so that I could commend him. Too often managers only get angry correspondence, but I wanted to make sure he got the accolades he deserved. He made me feel valued as a customer and has most likely saved me from having to be a Comcast customer for a long while.

There's still an audio issue...the HDMI firmware is not allowing surround sound to pass. So I'm going through an optical cable, but it has its own issue with sound going in and out. No work around presently, but at least he knew about the issue. No other person has.

Three in-home technicians; several phone support calls...and HE was the first and only one to work out a fix.

Is the picture quality BETTER than what I have with Comcast? It's debatable now. But one thing is for certain, all the people I badmouthed this service too, I'm going to have to go back and tell them that AT&T stuck with me to the end. Be patient with the new service/technology and eventually a livable quality will be reached. For the money, this will do.


Yes, the DVR has issues - no 5.1 over HDMI, and 5.1 over optical is prone to audio drops - they come and go, but are regular when occurring, every X seconds. Only occurs on channels that are sending 5.1 - 2 channel over optical never drops. Very close to an ender right there.


Just curiously, what do you do? Deal with the in-and-out or go without surround? I can't decide which is more annoying...

(For those just tuning in, just search my user name in this thread for details of my installation history and problems.)

And along the way of this 90 minutes support call, we chatted about different TVs and surround sound options and this and that. It was great! Like talking to a friend! I was so impressed by his level of service, I asked for his manager's contact info so that I could commend him. Too often managers only get angry correspondence, but I wanted to make sure he got the accolades he deserved. He made me feel valued as a customer and has most likely saved me from having to be a Comcast customer for a long while.

There's still an audio issue...the HDMI firmware is not allowing surround sound to pass. So I'm going through an optical cable, but it has its own issue with sound going in and out. No work around presently, but at least he knew about the issue. No other person has.

Three in-home technicians; several phone support calls...and HE was the first and only one to work out a fix.

Boy, at least there was a local store to go in to! Back a few years ago when I had DirecTV and was changing over to their HD DVR, the problems I had took months!!!!! But compared to TWC, I much preferred DirecTV and their equipment was very good.

As for your comment about all too often managers only get complaints, and too few compliments? I am there with you 100%!!!! I even go out of my way at restaurants, or anywhere else, to give high praise for those who do well by me. I always hoped that what goes around, comes around. The only problem is, when you had managers like *I* had, no compliment in the world, even from the CEO himself, ever mattered. If they don't like you, no matter what, they stuff all that away where no one else can find them. And when it came time for our department to be outsourced, she made it where I didn't get hired by the new outsource company!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRrrrr. But, that will never stop me from giving praise to others who go above and beyond!

As for your HDMI problem as maybe something to sooth you, on my TWC HD DVR, I used to use the HDMI cable for everything. But their damn unit has a weird problem of NEVER saving the setup changes! So I kept having to turn it off, go into settings, and set the 4:3 signal to OFF (options were OFF, 480P, and pass through). Anything other than off, and the TV would show I was getting a 480i signal for SD TV. Turn it off, and it would get upscalled to 1080i. Now with my new Pio AVR, I use it with component out and optical for audio. WOW! Never have to change a setting again, all shows now come in at 1080i and the audio is just fine - comes as it is sent (mono, stereo, and DD 5.1). So this is one time I am actually GLAD I am not using HDMI.

So there are no plans to increase total bandwidth to each home, either through VDSL2 or maybe actually converting to FTTP?

Do they offer services, like data, a la carte?

Had anyone had any experience with the whole house DVR? They just rolled it out here in STL and I'm wondering how the HD signal is over it as I'm looking for a reason to ditch my pricey DirecTV.

I've been playing with it for almost a week (I'm in STL too) and the HD looks as good as it does on my main TV. It's pretty nice feature with it's own quirks. Like not being able to pause live TV from a non-DVR but that's not a huge issue.

Really? That is kinda wierd. But I can understand that. I'll probably make the jump here next week.

So there are no plans to increase total bandwidth to each home, either through VDSL2 or maybe actually converting to FTTP?

There's no way you're going to see a FTTP build out from AT&T. Unfortunately they (stupidly) have putt all their eggs in a copper basket.

It's more that they don't need to than they don't want to. FiOS while very exciting from a technology standpoint is killing Verizons bottom line. It's expensive, labor intensive, and no where near nessicary yet.

Look at the Ethernet standard. Gig-E can deliver 1000Mbs over copper just fine. VDSL doesn't use anywhere near that and the cabling is nearly identical. There's plenty of room left in the cable. As data transmission specs change, things will become more efficent.

Except Gig-E uses all 4 pairs of a CAT5 wire at < 300 ft, while U-Verse VDSL uses 1 pair at < ~3,000 feet .

In the future they're looking to use 2 pairs and VDSL2. My current line is pretty far out but can handle 48mbps. Still, it doesn't seem like AT&T is too eager to go past 25mbps per home. Instead they're now doing a 19mbps profile for people who are futher out.

I think AT&T's FTTN strategy makes total sense but it seems they undershot the bandwidth requirements by quite a margin. They really should have pushed the nodes a little closer to homes and shot for 50mbps. That would have enabled them to be much more cutting-edge.

The THDVR is really, really nice. We love it. HD works great. Much better than paying over $20/month for a second DVR from Time Warner for our bedroom HDTV that gets light usage.

So it sounds like its not worth a switch from Time Warner to Uverse?

Has anyone tried to drive the UVerse boxes with thier Harmony remote? Any problems? I've heard there's trouble with it because the Uverse uses toggle states.

Has anyone tried to drive the UVerse boxes with thier Harmony remote? Any problems? I've heard there's trouble with it because the Uverse uses toggle states.

I have the Xbox 360 compatible Harmony and it works with U-verse without any problems.

Has anyone tried to drive the UVerse boxes with thier Harmony remote? Any problems? I've heard there's trouble with it because the Uverse uses toggle states.

I have U-verse and an XBOX 360 Elite, both of which are solely controlled by my Harmony 890 remote. I think the Harmony is easier and more efficient than the U-verse remote.

I have enough expertise that I was able to work through the things he described without having a technician come back out. And between the two of us, the picture quality was improved VASTLY over what I had been getting. No comparison.

What did you change/fix to get such a huge difference in picture quality?? :confused:

What did you change/fix to get such a huge difference in picture quality?? :confused:

The STB output was probably not set for HD.

(For those just tuning in, just search my user name in this thread for details of my installation history and problems.)

Is the picture quality BETTER than what I have with Comcast? It's debatable now. But one thing is for certain, all the people I badmouthed this service too, I'm going to have to go back and tell them that AT&T stuck with me to the end. Be patient with the new service/technology and eventually a livable quality will be reached. For the money, this will do.


Could you provide us with some details on what was done to improve your quality? I was just hooked up with Uverse yesterday and watching football is painful with Uverse "HD". The motion blur is bad. I really like all the other features, but if I can't improve the HD picture quality, then I'll have to try DirecTV I guess.

It is very unlikely that U-verse is responsible for a TV breaking...

I also doubt that U-verse can directly harm equipment, but ever since switching from Comcast to AT&T my Denon 3808 has had difficulty synching between the plasma and the U-verse feed. It usually takes several minutes of flashing white screens. Also for no apparent reason viewing will degrade to a white screen for a rrew seconds intermittantly. The problems never occured with cable. I worry what several minutes of flashing white screens will do to my Kuro over time. I'm switching back to Comcast or to a Dish as soon as At&T sends us the $100 rebate owed us that is well overdue.

From Telepresence Options, by Peter Burrows

Beam Me Up, Scottie: Consumer Telepresence May Arrive Sooner Than You Think

I wrote a story this week about high-def corporate videoconferencing and "just like being there" telepresence systems. Turns out interest is picking up,(as we predicted back in early 2007) thanks to more affordable systems from the likes of LifeSize and cost-cutting pressure on corporations to lower travel expenses and be more green. But consumer videoconferencing? After all the excessive hype over the years, few pundits or technology companies even dare to make projections on that score. Even Cisco Systems, self-appointed cheerleader for all networked services, has tread somewhat carefully.

And yet it turns out that Cisco plans to introduce a $1,000 consumer videoconferencing system in coming months, possibly at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, according to two sources. "We are going to go into the home," confirms Marthin De Beer, head of Cisco's emerging technologies unit. That's a huge jump down from Cisco's current low-end price of around $40,000 for a corporate telepresence system. The timing isn't set in stone, as challenges remain - particularly in getting the cost of the HD cameras down to consumer-friendly levels, and getting the system to work without requiring ridiculous amounts of bandwidth.

But whenever Cisco figures out the technology, look for AT&T to aggressively market the service to people who want videoconferencing on their big-screen TV. Ma Bell, which famously demonstrated a PicturePhone at the 1964 World's Fair in New York, is already working with Cisco to enable corporate Telepresence customers to arrange virtual meetings with other companies that own Telepresence systems (previously, companies could only set up meetings with sites on their own corporate network). But by next year, AT&T will likely offer a videoconferencing channel on its U-Verse consumer broadband offering, says AT&T chief technology officer John Donovan. "It will be a U-Verse offering," says Donovan. "I think you'll see it expand in 2009, and see some reasonably substantial take-up in 2010."

He wouldn't go into details of how it would work. My guess is there would be a basic videoconferencing service, but also specific services on top of that. Cisco has hinted at plans to deliver videoconferencing-based services aimed at healthcare, education and wealth management (handy for those times when screaming at your broker on the phone just isn't good enough).

Of course, right now may not be the best time to roll out some super-slick--and super-expensive--new service. Two sources (not De Beer or Donovan) figure AT&T will charge $25 to $50 extra to U-Verse customers to have videoconferencing on their big-screen TVs. That's likely on top of the upfront cost for the special camera, the high-def audio and other technology. "We think we can get that near that $1,000 price point," says Donovan. "That's a lot for most people. But if you're mother isn't doing well, it might be worth it to you."

Then again, many people are already using Skype or Apple's iChat in such situations. "Consumers' expectations are that videoconferencing should be free. If I can do it on Skype or on my Mac, why should I pay for it?," notes IDC analyst Nora Freedman.

Personally, I think there will be a market for paid videoconferencing as the price comes down. And I'm surprised that Cisco, which has been happily charging corporations as much as $340,000 per Telepresence room (which in turn requires those companies to spend three to five times that amount to upgrade the underlying network to handle the traffic), is pushing as quickly as it is to commoditize the technology. I guess De Beer and his colleagues at Cisco really do see an opportunity to make two-way video a part of everyday life - and a truly massive market. "Think of the next-generation social network, where you don't sit down and type things to people but you sit down and talk with them, instead."

Sounds reasonable, but be warned: Marthin is as passionate an evangelist for video technology as you're likely to run into, so it's possible reality won't keep up with his vision. For example, he believes that in five to seven years we'll be able to attend videoconferences holographically. "If you walk behind [the seat the holographic Marthin is sitting in], you'd see the back of my head," he explains.

So what about you? Any chance you'll fork over $1000 to be able to have videoconferences from the comfort of the couch?

Is U-Verse fast enough to run video iChats?

.....but I am not giving up, nor am I bashing it. I am as much of a audio/Video phile as they come. I am not the guy that buys his TV and is satisfied with the picture outta the box. I have the set up calibration discs. I tune and tweek till it looks the way it should. I have always been the guy that looks at the TV's on display at the store and say "My picture looks better then that". And my TV is 2 years old now. Top rated at the time and never had any issue before. I have been watching Blu-rays, DirecTv and Time Warner Cable all in HD for years now and have been very satisfied.

But my Uverse picture looks like complete sh*t. Please spare me the we have you made sure this is alike that en dah dah dah. NO, I can pop my Time Warner box back on switch the cables back and my picture will be great again.

So my question is; Since I have no basis for comparison, is this the way Uverse is? They are having a tech come back on Friday, but I all reay know where this is going. "No problems sir". "Picture seems fine to me". I hate having to explain to the guy that doesn't know how HD should look that mine doesn't look right.

HELP!

TJ

Since I have no basis for comparison, is this the way Uverse is?
Yes. And they have announced plans to degrade the quality even further. If you care about PQ at all, Uverse is simply not for you.

It is generally acknowledged that U-verse has inferior HD picture quality compared to D*, E*, FIOS or Cable companies.

I currently have DirecTV for television and Road Runner for internet. I want to dump the Road Runner for Uverse DSL and love my DirecTV. I can't just get Uverse DSL apparently so I plan to get the TV and DSL deal then cancel the TV part a few weeks after install which should allow me to keep the Uverse DSL. I just have a couple of questions that I hope can be answered.

1. How does the Uverse enter the home? Can Uverse use the coax that is currently in use by Road Runner? Cut into the RG6 line outside the home?

2. My home is currently not wired for landline as my wife and I use cell phones. After remodeling, I never rewired for phone. Can Uverse use the existing RG6 in the home for each receiver and the DSL modem?

3. From some of the pictures I have seen of the modem, it appers to also function as a wireless router with 4 eithrnet ports. Will I no longer need my 4 port wireless router?

4. Are there any contracts with Uverse when someone signs up?

5. Is there a "trial" period on the TV to avoid cancelation fees?

Thanks in advance for all your help. I don't know what I would do if it wern't for online forums and users who currently have the service.

Wrong Forum

Topics merged.

Well too bad for me this has been merge and now will be lost among everyone else's issues.

But anyway. I called At&T and they are having a rep come back. Also I cleaned up my wiring and made sure there were no power and data/video cables close to each other. The picture seems a bit better, but still awful IMO. I have to manipulate my tv's settings to smooth out the picture. The guy on the phone said maybe if they run a Firewire to the Uverse box rather the the RG6 that is supplying the video now it may improve.

I currently have DirecTV for television and Road Runner for internet. I want to dump the Road Runner for Uverse DSL and love my DirecTV. I can't just get Uverse DSL apparently so I plan to get the TV and DSL deal then cancel the TV part a few weeks after install which should allow me to keep the Uverse DSL. I just have a couple of questions that I hope can be answered.

1. How does the Uverse enter the home? Can Uverse use the coax that is currently in use by Road Runner? Cut into the RG6 line outside the home?

2. My home is currently not wired for landline as my wife and I use cell phones. After remodeling, I never rewired for phone. Can Uverse use the existing RG6 in the home for each receiver and the DSL modem?

3. From some of the pictures I have seen of the modem, it appers to also function as a wireless router with 4 eithrnet ports. Will I no longer need my 4 port wireless router?

4. Are there any contracts with Uverse when someone signs up?

5. Is there a "trial" period on the TV to avoid cancelation fees?

Thanks in advance for all your help. I don't know what I would do if it wern't for online forums and users who currently have the service.

U-verse can enter the home multiple ways. When I first tried it out, they ran a cable from phone box on the outside of the house and tied it into the incoming coax cable line into the house. After I canceled and later signed up for the u-verse internet, the tech did a lot of work on one of the phone jacks and somehow brought it into the house through the phone jack into the room with the router. You'll have to read the fine print to see if there is a contract. When I first signed up 18 months ago, they had at least a 30 day money back guarantee. I don't remember exactly how long. It should be somewhere in the terms of service. The modem has a built in wireless router. It is really big, but I keep it out of sight.

The guy on the phone said maybe if they run a Firewire to the Uverse box rather the the RG6 that is supplying the video now it may improve.
There is nothing you can do. Seriously. You can't make the crap they're sending out look like the HD other providers give you. It's impossible.

I found this presentation (dated April 10, 2008) while looking up some info on MPEG-4 AVC Mbps and how it applied to Uverse. I have my install coming up soon and I was curious to find out IF at&t was planning on upgrading the picture quality of their HD anytime soon seeing as many here say its crappy.

Anyway, I thought it was pretty interesting as far as to what at&t's business plan is so I thought I would share what I found. Enjoy!

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/36/23/40460750.pdf


Updated to fix my grammar, were => was.

They're using AVC?

I thought U-Verse was using a Microsoft platform.

I have read that at&t is using AVC (H.264) in many different places (e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-verse)

I believe at&t was originally planning to use VC-1 but they changed their minds, however, I don't know the reason for the change.

I have read that at&t is using AVC (H.264) in many different places (e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-verse)

I believe at&t was originally planning to use VC-1 but they changed their minds, however, I don't know the reason for the change.


This is getting way too confusing!

I do have a little secret though. The guys came on Friday and couldn't fix my issues. As a matter of fact I am wathcing Saturday Night Live as we speak (Normally the best HD picture I ever seen) and the picture is IMO horrible. They told me as of February they will offer DirecTv as there Uverse alternative. Makes me happy since I still have my HR20 and will gladly reconnect that without any concern! :D

I'm not impressed with U-Verse, either; I'm actually very displeased. PQ is dreadfull. I've always complained about video processing on my TV, but I've always bragged about its color accuracy, and U-Verse makes my TV look like its on its deathbed. Way too dark, and way too red flesh tones; those being at the top of the list. Almost as if the light engine lamp on my SXRD has had the power cut in half. Video singal is compressed beyond belief. Pulsing blotchy-ness in the background too; there really isn't one good thing about it. SD on my old CRT looks infinitely better and more detailed than this "HD" crap AT&T is pushing out. Simply pathetic. DVR box has more bugs than an anthill colony, and the wireless modem can't even transmit a good signal to my PC's which aren't more than 25 feet away with only 1 wall between them. As soon as my 3 month special offer expires, I'm switching to TW. I can't stand it! lol

(For those just tuning in, just search my user name in this thread for details of my installation history and problems.)

I went to the AT&T store today to get a comparison of their HD signal vs. mine. It was markedly better. So that told me there HAD to be something going on at my home to get this poor quality of TV. I put in another call to tech support. Asked to be immediately transferred to Tier 2. Enter Dustin. If blessings do indeed come in even small places, Dustin is the prime example of it. He shares my affinity for home theater and offered ideas that no other technician has. I have enough expertise that I was able to work through the things he described without having a technician come back out. And between the two of us, the picture quality was improved VASTLY over what I had been getting. No comparison.


Mind sharing the tweaks you made? I've been struggling to get "livable" PQ with U-Verse for weeks now . . .

Their Internet service still has to be better than regular DSL, right?

Too bad they don't offer a la carte.

Their Internet service still has to be better than regular DSL, right?

Too bad they don't offer a la carte.

Have TV and Internet installed, then cancel TV. You can keep Uverse Internet with no price increase. :D

Their Internet service still has to be better than regular DSL, right?

Too bad they don't offer a la carte.It's the same as their regular AT&T DSL.

Their lowest tier one is only $10.00/mo. to new subscribers, but you kind of have to search for the info on the website. They don't exactly go out of their way to advertise that "deal".

I have the next one up, and I can tell you, it's plenty fast.

Uverse DSL is actually VDSL whereas regular DSL is ADSL. VDSL has it's advantages over ADSL. I'm sure a simple search on google would show the pros to each.

So what does your bill go down to, if you remove video?

Didn't realize that. I thought a couple of people around here somewhere said they didn't notice any difference between comparable speeds. Was just going by that.

I found this at: http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Programming&thread.id=19493&view=by_date_ascending&page=5

Looks like Uverse is going to have a whole bunch of HD channels.

1. Smithsonian Channel HD
2. MGM HD
3. MTV HD
4. VH1 HD
5. FUSE HD
6. THE WEATHER CHANNEL HD
7. AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS HD
8. CARTOON NETWORK HD
9. FOX NEWS CHANNEL HD
10. FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HD
11. BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL HD
12. CHILLER HD
13. TENNIS CHANNEL HD
14. NHL NETWORK HD
15. PLANET GREEN HD
16. SPEED HD
17. FX HD
18. LIFETIME HD
19. INDEPENDENT FILM CHANNEL HD
20. COUNTRY MUSIC TELEVISION HD
21. DISNEY CHANNEL HD
22. TOON DISNEY HD
23. ESPNEWS HD
24. ABC FAMILY CHANNEL HD
25. QVC HD
26. NICKELODEON HD
27. RFD-TV HD
28. SPIKE TV HD
29. TRAVEL CHANNEL HD
30. WE TV HD

THESE WILL BE ADDED FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE PER MONTH: (VOOM NETWORKS)

1. EQUATOR
2. GAMEPLAY
3. HDNEWS
4. VOOM HD MOVIES
5. WORLDSPORT
6. ULTRAHD
7. TREASURE HD
8. RUSH HD
9. RAVE HD
10. GALLERY HD
11. FILMFEST
12. ANIMANIA
13. MONSTERS
14. FAMILY ROOM
15. FU HD

My uverse box has 8 empty HD channel slots which just showed up today. It shows the channel number, but with no callsign or program info available. Just FYI.

Also I wanted to throw in a bone for uverse's picture quality. In my case it has been outstanding. I'm not sure if we're just a special case but I've had all the major TV providers we can get in this area and uverse has been the best. It does pixelate some on occasion, but that's an occurance we had with all the other services as well. We are ~2200' from the VRAD, and use ethernet to connect the individual boxes. I love the media center style interface it uses, and the whole home DVR has been awesome so far. They also carry far more HD channels than our cable market does. The internet, while not quite as fast as cable, has been very consistent and reliable. It's usually ~750KBps download speeds and we have the 6Mbps package. In all it's been a great service so far and it is improving all the time. Being as there's no contract required, I think it's a no brainer to at least give it a shot if it's available in your area.

As of now, some subscribers are already seeing MGM HD (1116), Smithsonian HD (1118), FX HD (1128), ABC Family HD (1178), FOX News HD (1210), FOX Business HD (1211), The Weather Channel HD (1225) and MOJO HD (1114) on the EPG

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/10/17/8-new-hd-channels-added-to-atandts-u-verse/

Oh cool. Found the full list off the read link:

All these by November 3rd apparently:
264 NASA TV
657 Setanta Sports
680 Outdoor Channel
1210 Fox News Channel HD
1211 Fox Business Network HD
1225 The Weather Channel HD
1254 Travel Channel HD
1420 QVC HD
1465 Planet Green HD
1652 Speed HD
1680 Outdoor Channel HD
1794 Hallmark Movie Channel HD
1805 HBO2 HD - West
1808 HBO Signature HD
1812 HBO Zone HD
1814 HBO Latino HD
1834 MoreMax HD
1836 ActionMax HD
1838 ThrillerMax HD
1840 5StarMax HD
1842 WMAX HD
1844 OuterMax HD
1846 ATMax HD
1854 Showtime Too HD
1856 Showtime Showcase HD
1858 Showtime Extreme HD
1884 TMC Xtra HD
1904 Starz Edge HD
1910 Starz Comedy HD
1932 Encore HD
1128 FX Network HD
1360 Lifetime Television HD

I got uverse 2 days ago and still have comcast. So I can compare pictures with 2 clicks. Uverse is "softer" looking but otherwise great picture. The uverse dvr is much nicer and more channels for less money. Can't wait to tell comcast adios.

I got uverse 2 days ago and still have comcast. So I can compare pictures with 2 clicks. Uverse is "softer" looking but otherwise great picture. The uverse dvr is much nicer and more channels for less money. Can't wait to tell comcast adios.


NewMorphy, I am surprised you have a good picture after I read that
U-verse only runs fiber to the neighbothood node. From there they use your old
thin copper wire to carry the HD signal. Have I heard wrong?
Did they install fiber to your house?

Keith, they do not run fiber all the way to your house, you are correct. It's essentially a very high performance DSL line, capable of up to ~50Mbps or so depending on your distance from the VRAD ("neighborhood node" as you put it). At your house, they use a balun that splits off of your copper phone lines and modulates it into your house's existing coax. From there it goes to your residential gateway box (basically a router) and out to your TVs. It is more than enough bandwidth to run the 2HD/2SD streams they currently feature. Being a psuedo IPTV and a digital signal, the copper cable does not have any effect on the picture quality.

NewMorphy, I am surprised you have a good picture after I read that U-verse only runs fiber to the neighbothood node.
"Good picture" is subjective. As far as I'm concerned, U-verse doesn't provide a "good picture" at all. It's worse than the worst HD I've ever seen from DirecTV.

Jeremy, how is your opinion any less subjective than NewMorphy's?

Jeremy, how is your opinion any less subjective than NewMorphy's?
Where did I say that my opinion was less subjective?

I do feel that it's a better-informed opinion, because I have to doubt anyone who would use the word "good" to describe U-verse HD PQ. But it's still subjective.

I got the tech to run all Cat5 lines in my house and component from the dvr. The picture is great, as good as my Comcast was. All of my friends are jealous of the picture. Some people don't get great hd, I guess I'm lucky ;o)

Jeremy, are you implying that I don't know what a good hd picture looks like? My picture is of dvd quality, is that good enough?

Where did I say that my opinion was less subjective?

I do feel that it's a better-informed opinion, because I have to doubt anyone who would use the word "good" to describe U-verse HD PQ. But it's still subjective.
You say it's subjective, and yet feel your opinion is better informed? :confused:

In other words, it's subjective if it disagrees with your opinion. :rolleyes:

For someone who thinks the service is so bad you seem to enjoy reading this thread.


Back on topic:
Another PQ difference I noticed over Comcast and my buddy's D* was the SD channels were noticeably cleaner.

I got the tech to run all Cat5 lines in my house and component from the dvr. The picture is great, as good as my Comcast was. All of my friends are jealous of the picture. Some people don't get great hd, I guess I'm lucky ;o)

Jeremy, are you implying that I don't know what a good hd picture looks like? My picture is of dvd quality, is that good enough?

So you get "great" picture quality? What kind of display do you have? When was the last time that you had your eyes checked? (I really don't mean this as an insult. I thought my vision was fine before I visited an ophthalmologist and got a decent prescription for the first time.)

Comcast is known to apply excess compression and degrade HD channels. If Uverse's picture quality looks comparable to Comcast but somewhat fuzzier, that may not be the height of picture quality.

Have you had an opportunity to compare a movie on Blu-Ray with the same movie on Uverse? If so, what differences did you observe between the two presentations of that same movie???

My picture is of dvd quality, is that good enough?
No way. A decent HD channel should blow away DVD in terms of quality.

Anyone know if its firewire ports are enabled?

So you get "great" picture quality? What kind of display do you have? When was the last time that you had your eyes checked? (I really don't mean this as an insult. I thought my vision was fine before I visited an ophthalmologist and got a decent prescription for the first time.)

Comcast is known to apply excess compression and degrade HD channels. If Uverse's picture quality looks comparable to Comcast but somewhat fuzzier, that may not be the height of picture quality.

Have you had an opportunity to compare a movie on Blu-Ray with the same movie on Uverse? If so, what differences did you observe between the two presentations of that same movie???

I have a year old Panasonic 50"(TH-50PX75U). My eyesight is 20/20. I never said "fuzzier", I said "softer". I don't have a blueray player.

No way. A decent HD channel should blow away DVD in terms of quality.

I believe that my oppo dvd player has equal if not better picture quality and I think most would agree.

It's interesting how some who have poor uverse hd picture come to this thread and basically attack those who state that they have good quality hd picture. So I will agree to disagree with them this last time. My only "subjective" point was that not everyone with uverse has bad quality hd picture. So to Jimbo and Jeremy, maybe y'all should look elsewhere for your hd service and quit wasting your time trying to convince others that uverse is horrible. ;o)



.

I believe that my oppo dvd player has equal if not better picture quality and I think most would agree.
I'm sure it does, but you're admitting that U-verse PQ is not as good as an upconverted DVD.

I'm sure it does, but you're admitting that U-verse PQ is not as good as an upconverted DVD.

Now Jeremy, don't try to twist my words.

I originally said, "My picture is of dvd quality, is that good enough?"

To which you said, "No way. A decent HD channel should blow away DVD in terms of quality."

Then I said, "I believe that my oppo dvd player has equal if not better picture quality and I think most would agree", meaning a decent hd channel in general DOES NOT "blow away" a dvd player.

Now you twist my words saying, "you're admitting that U-verse PQ is not as good as an upconverted DVD."

I said ""My picture is of dvd quality" and I stand by my original statement. Now go argue with someone else.

.

Anyone know if its firewire ports are enabled?
Oh neat, an actual question about U-verse amongst the continued pointless flak from the PQ pundits.

No, the firewire ports are not enabled for anything yet.

Oh neat, an actual question about U-verse amongst the continued pointless flak from the PQ pundits.

LOL, good one impala.

a decent hd channel in general DOES NOT "blow away" a dvd player.
You are completely and utterly wrong. You obviously don't know what you're talking about, so I'm going to stop arguing with you since it's pointless. Enjoy your U-verse service.

I believe that my oppo dvd player has equal if not better picture quality and I think most would agree.You are confused. This explains quite a bit about where you are coming from on the image quality issue.

It's interesting how some who have poor uverse hd picture come to this thread and basically attack those who state that they have good quality hd picture. So I will agree to disagree with them this last time. My only "subjective" point was that not everyone with uverse has bad quality hd picture.Due to it's system architecture, U-verse delivers the same HD image quality in all its service areas, unless there is a technical problem.

I've had a chance to see U-verse a number of times. My perception agrees with any number of members here who have had the chance to do A/B comparisons with U-verse and various other services, both DBS and cable. U-verse HD simply does not look as good as most other providers.

He's probably never actually seen really good HD.

He's probably never actually seen really good HD.
Exactly. He thinks upconverted DVD looks about the same as HD.

DVDs have lower PQ than good SD.

You are confused. This explains quite a bit about where you are coming from on the image quality issue.

Due to it's system architecture, U-verse delivers the same HD image quality in all its service areas, unless there is a technical problem.

I've had a chance to see U-verse a number of times. My perception agrees with any number of members here who have had the chance to do A/B comparisons with U-verse and various other services, both DBS and cable. U-verse HD simply does not look as good as most other providers.

I still have my Comcast cable and can compare channels with 2 clicks and they are equal in quality and equal to my oppo dvd. That's agreed to by several of my friends who have viewed the comparison. I have had Comcast/TWC for 10 years and hd for 1. I went in based upon my research thinking that u-verse would be unacceptable but decided to try it since it would be free if I didn't like it. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm sure now you will say I probably just have bad cable to which I can only say that my oppo doesn't look any better. To which you will probably say my panasonic tv is poorly adjusted. All of my friends tell me it's the best picture they've seen.

I guess I'll remain happily "confused". I don't post often here and now I remember why.

edit: The experts have descended. They must read every thread; even those about things they don't like evidently.

I still have my Comcast cable and can compare channels with 2 clicks and they are equal in quality and equal to my oppo dvd. That's agreed to by several of my friends who have viewed the comparison. I have had Comcast/TWC for 10 years and hd for 1. I went in based upon my research thinking that u-verse would be unacceptable but decided to try it since it would be free if I didn't like it. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm sure now you will say I probably just have bad cable to which I can only say that my oppo doesn't look any better. To which you will probably say my panasonic tv is poorly adjusted. All of my friends tell me it's the best picture they've seen.
Display you use?

Display you use?

I have a year old Panasonic 50"(TH-50PX75U).

He said it further up.

I am interested in the comparison vs Comcast. Where we live, satellite is not an option (due to line of sight and trees, I have had installers come out 3 times and leave, not an option).

So I am stuck with COmcast pricing and poor hardware, and I look forward to U-verse as at least an alternative.
Comcast SD is a compressed mess (last night for example older Lost on G4 was nigh unwatchable, major macroblocking and color shift every 2 seconds) and this is typical not a rare occasion. And HD is decent on most channels but not stellar and not close to our Blurays.

So if Uverse is comparable overall, I am switching in a jiffy if nothing else for the whole home DVR and better pricing and even without those I would switch just to light a fire under COmcast's ass and get them to improve.

In my area, U-verse PQ is better than Comcast. I A/B'd both services for several days while transitioning. I had Comcast for quite a while and it was the best PQ I'd seen until they upped the compression back in February. That was my sole reason for switching in fact. The fact that U-verse has way more HD channels and nicer equipment was just a bonus.

Those of you who are bashing U-verse's PQ, when was the last time you watched it and where are you? This continued bashing is pointless, and I'm suprised a moderator has joined in. Nobody has said U-verse is the best PQ on the planet. But it certainly looks great to me. You don't have to be #1 to be good. I don't waltz over to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar forums talking about how bad a player he was because Michael Jordan was so good. And yes, I know what good HD looks like. I have had an HD-XA2 and a panny BD30 blu-ray player since they came out, as well as a calibrated Sammy HLS6187. You guys trying to catch Morphy saying something wrong just so you could go "SEE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT GOOD HD IS" are pathetic and need to find something better to do IMHO.

You guys trying to catch Morphy saying something wrong just so you could go "SEE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT GOOD HD IS" are pathetic and need to find something better to do IMHO.That could go both ways, depending on how you look at it.

How could it go both ways?

You're keeping it going.

Pretty ironic that you say that...

Enough bickering.

Can I ask for some Guide screenshots and impressions? And also some HD channel screenshots?

Also, how is the hardware when compared to Comcast's Motorola boxes. Where would you guys place U-verse on a scale including Comcast, Tivo, and others in terms of hardware and features and usability?

Can you delete channels from the guide (like Tivo). Can you program/reprogram the remote with a commercial skip button or a quick rewind (15-30 seconds). Is the box loud? Can you upgrade the hard drive? When recording two channels, can you watch a pre-recorded show?

software is by MicroSoft. 'nuf said.

Those of you who are bashing U-verse's PQ, when was the last time you watched it and where are you?
Last month, in the Metro Detroit area. And like Ken H said, it doesn't matter where you are, U-verse is going to look the same everywhere. So when I look at the PQ, I know it's the same PQ you and everyone else in this thread is seeing. So if you're going to try and tell me it's great, I'm going to tell you that you're wrong.

Let's not forget that AT&T has also announced plans to even further degrade the PQ of their HD channels in the near future.
software is by MicroSoft. 'nuf said.
Now that's just pointless bashing. For all of the complaints I have about U-verse, the software on the box isn't one of them. Be specific, don't just be a troll and say that it sucks because it's Microsoft.

Andy:

-I don't have screenshots right off hand, but it is very similar to Windows Media Center in look and operation. I definitely like the software better than the SARA software I had with Comcast. Another nice feature is being able to access your DVR from the AT&T site.

-Yes you can remove channels from the guide.

-The remote does have a 30 second skip, and a 7 second rewind button built in.

-The box is pretty much completely silent.

-I have seen threads on uverseusers.com where people are attempting to upgrade the hard drive, and have not seen a successful one yet, but supposedly they're very close.

-You have 2HD/2SD streams from the provider. You can use them however you wish (i.e. you can record four shows at the same time if you want). But, watching a DVR'd show does not count against those. Only the live streams actually count. That said, if you're recording 2 HD and 2 SD streams, and then try to watch some DVR'd shows from two different TVs or something, your box will probably wig out. After all, the thing is basically a small computer. My powerhouse computer at home could probably not munch through all of that too easily, much less a weaker computer like the U-verse box. For normal operation though, it works great. I record 2 streams and watch a 3rd all the time with no issues.


Let's not forget that AT&T has also announced plans to even further degrade the PQ of their HD channels in the near future.
That's fine. They haven't done it yet, and if/when they do and it affects the service in a bad enough way, I'll do the same thing I did with Comcast and drop them for something else. I like the fact that U-verse isn't a contract based service so I can easily switch if I choose to.

Last month, in the Metro Detroit area. And like Ken H said, it doesn't matter where you are, U-verse is going to look the same everywhere. So when I look at the PQ, I know it's the same PQ you and everyone else in this thread is seeing. So if you're going to try and tell me it's great, I'm going to tell you that you're wrong.
You're telling me I'm wrong because I think something is "great"? Do you think Frosted Flakes are grrrreat? If you do I think you're wrong. 10 people I know say they're not :rolleyes:. As I said before, something doesn't have to be the best to be good. Does that even register with you?!? This is a U-verse thread, not a "which service has the best PQ" thread. You've said your piece, we got it, you think U-verse's PQ is not great. There's no need to badger every single person who posts here that doesn't agree with you. I'd think this would be against the rules of the forum. Now unless you have questions or something constructive to say about U-verse, please leave this thread alone. I don't see what further purpose you have posting in here except to continue to argue opinions which is utterly pointless. Go ahead and have the last word as I'm sure you must, then please leave.

Now unless you have questions or something constructive to say about U-verse, please leave this thread alone.
I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I needed to agree with you in order to post in this thread. I certainly will not be leaving this thread alone, so feel free to ignore me if my posts cause you that much anguish. All of my posts have been on-topic, and I am not breaking any rules.

See PM Jeremy.

Got a note in the mail today that Universal HD is moving up the "premium" package. But then it had a nice P.S. that they are adding more HD channels in the near future.

Bah.

Wish they'd get the HDMI firmware fixed.

I noticed someone said they have "announced plans to further reduce PQ". I'm sure they didn't come out and say that, but is it inferred based on the soon to be released packaged of new HD channels? Trying to cram more in the same pipe? Though I thought that didn't matter since you only get the data for whatever channel you are on (which is different from cable where you get it all.)

Mind sharing the tweaks you made? I've been struggling to get "livable" PQ with U-Verse for weeks now . . .

I thought I posted them, but just in case the two MAIN things that got my PQ livable were:

1. Re-grounded the line. That helped with the macroblocking issue.

2. My TV has a MPEG Nose Reduction setting deep in the advanced menu. Turned it on, the poor image rendering (noise) went away.

As other say, the PQ is not quite up to *D or *E, but for the price and to not be a Comcast customer, I can deal with it.

Let's not forget that AT&T has also announced plans to even further degrade the PQ of their HD channels in the near future.



They said they have planned to reduce bitrate, not quality. So far they have managed to reduce bitrates and increase quality at the same time. I am going to guess they still have room to improve both bitrates and quality at this point.

So far they have managed to reduce bitrates and increase quality at the same time.
Right. Unless they're swapping out their encoders every year, which is highly unlikely, there is no way they're maintaining the same PQ with a reduced bitrate.

Right. Unless they're swapping out their encoders every year, which is highly unlikely, there is no way they're maintaining the same PQ with a reduced bitrate.

I dont know if they upgrading or swapping them out, but it does appear that the codecs are definatly a work in progress.

software is by MicroSoft. 'nuf said.
Actaully, no, it's not "'nuf said".

One of the best DVRs at one point was the UltimateTV offered by DirecTV. It ran on a variant of what was considered by many to be a horrible Microsoft invention: Windows CE. Despite that, the unit ran like a top, had great features and would have developed into a great alternative to TiVo had Microsoft not bailed on the project in favor of pursuing Windows Media Center.

Of course, you may also be forgetting that little game thingy called the "X-Box" that is currently killing the Playstation in the marketplace.

The fact is, Microsoft seems to excel when it comes to closed systems where the user can't download viruses, spyware or other exploits. It's those pesky home computers that seem to trip them up.

AT&T has already reduced bit rates over the lifetime of the U-verse service. They did it through new encoders once, and then with encoder optimizations and adjustments the second time. It's silly to say that compression will automatically degrade HD quality, as true uncompressed HD video with the new audio codecs runs at around 4Gbps, and even Blu-ray brings that down to ~25-30Mbps. Of course, it can degrade quality, but it's not a certainty.

Also the reduction in bitrate isn't so they can "fit more channels in". That's not how U-verse works. They don't broadcast all channels all the time to your home like cable or satellite. It is an IP based service, so the limiting factor here is your total bandwidth available. The projected encoder improvements for 2009 are so they can offer a 3rd HD stream.

AT&T has already reduced bit rates over the lifetime of the U-verse service. They did it through new encoders once, and then with encoder optimizations and adjustments the second time. It's silly to say that compression will automatically degrade HD quality, as true uncompressed HD video with the new audio codecs runs at around 4Gbps, and even Blu-ray brings that down to ~25-30Mbps. Of course, it can degrade quality, but it's not a certainty.
OK, let's be real here. No one works in an uncompressed environment for HD. I work on backbone feeds and the most we ever do is 45Mb/s. In addition, regarding your Blu-Ray example, 25-30Mb/s is still a far cry better than the 7-9Mb/s AT&T is exploring.

Also the reduction in bitrate isn't so they can "fit more channels in". That's not how U-verse works. They don't broadcast all channels all the time to your home like cable or satellite. It is an IP based service, so the limiting factor here is your total bandwidth available. The projected encoder improvements for 2009 are so they can offer a 3rd HD stream.
In a way, it is to "fit more channels in"...to your home. If they didn't compress the way they do, you'd still be stuck with 1 HD channel at a time.

OK, let's be real here. No one works in an uncompressed environment for HD. I work on backbone feeds and the most we ever do is 45Mb/s. In addition, regarding your Blu-Ray example, 25-30Mb/s is still a far cry better than the 7-9Mb/s AT&T is exploring.
I wasn't directly comparing U-verse to blu-ray, simply mentioning how bit rates do not tell the whole story.

In a way, it is to "fit more channels in"...to your home. If they didn't compress the way they do, you'd still be stuck with 1 HD channel at a time.
The comment I was responding to was someone (can't seem to find it now) mentioning they thought U-verse was lowering bandwidth in order to acquire more HD networks. I was merely explaining how that is not that case. U-verse's channel lineup is not dependent on the amount of throughput to the customer.

What the bandwidth of Comcast channels? I know they stuff 2-3 channels per QAM frequency, and the quality suffers visibly. In the past 2-3 months, non network HD channels have become nigh unwatchable at non primetime hours.

And is the bandwidth for HD on U-Verse affected in any way by the Internet speed you select? I know the capacity is 25 mb/s and 10 are reserved for Internet, but if one only gets the 3mb internet, do the other 7 go wasted? They could add a nice 3rd HD stream in there at the expese of Internet options.

I believe here in Houston, pre-February some Comcast HD channels were measured (you can find the exact measurements in the Houston Comcast thread) at 15-18Mbps and post February the same channels were measured around 13-15. They went from putting 2-3 channels per QAM freq to 3-4 I believe.

What the bandwidth of Comcast channels? I know they stuff 2-3 channels per QAM frequency, and the quality suffers visibly. In the past 2-3 months, non network HD channels have become nigh unwatchable at non primetime hours.

I have noticed this with Cablevision as well. Watching the 49ers & Patriots game a few weeks back was unbearable. It was only being shown on CBS 3 (non-HD)...It looked like pure crap. This is one of the things I'm looking forward to when my Uverse is finally installed this Saturday. It will be nice to have CT locals in HD.

And is the bandwidth for HD on U-Verse affected in any way by the Internet speed you select? I know the capacity is 25 mb/s and 10 are reserved for Internet, but if one only gets the 3mb internet, do the other 7 go wasted? They could add a nice 3rd HD stream in there at the expese of Internet options.

I am not certain what would be involved in doing something like this but I don't think it would be that difficult. I would think it would be as simple as setting a flag to say either YES, use full internet speed or NO, do not use full internet speed. You could then easily squeeze in a third HD stream.

AT&T could possibly offer a 4th HD stream if they offered an HD only "Tier".
5.5 Mbps (their future compression goal) * 4 = 22.2 Mbps + Internet (3 Mbps tops, most likely 1.5 Mbps though).

Whatever, I'll see what it's like Saturday.

They went from putting 2-3 channels per QAM freq to 3-4 I believe.
I'm not aware of any cable company that puts 4 HD channels on a single QAM channel. With MPEG2, 3 is the maximum, and 2 is ideal.

I have not seen any effects with regards to internet speeds & TV stream's bandwidth. Don't quote me on this but I believe they simply have a specific throttle for the internet traffic separate from the TV traffic. I do not believe they overlap. The installer mentioned to me that the 10Mbps internet speed was available to me if I wanted to upgrade. So I think the current system is probably capable of higher bandwidth allotted to TV traffic or for a 3rd HD stream, but they're rather conservative with their bandwidth allotments in order to provide more consistent service (which it definitely is). My internet speeds are roughly 800KBps all day long, all the time and my PQ is very consistent.

I'm not aware of any cable company that puts 4 HD channels on a single QAM channel. With MPEG2, 3 is the maximum, and 2 is ideal.
My mistake. It was them going from 2 per channel to 3. Not 3 to 4.

A few more questions on U-verse.

How is it run in the house? Via the cable or via ethernet? Our house is wired for both in every room with a central hub in the garage.
In reading a bit it seems they install a router/modem in a central hub and it has a wireless router built-in as well? Any info on this device?

I'm not aware of any cable company that puts 4 HD channels on a single QAM channel.

Cablevision does with the exception of the broadcast channels, RSN's and ESPN's.

Cablevision does with the exception of the broadcast channels, RSN's and ESPN's.
Really? 4? They must look awful.

Really? 4? They must look awful.

Yep

A few more questions on U-verse.

How is it run in the house? Via the cable or via ethernet? Our house is wired for both in every room with a central hub in the garage.
In reading a bit it seems they install a router/modem in a central hub and it has a wireless router built-in as well? Any info on this device?

It can run over either. The Conventional Wisdom says Cat 5e or higher is best and preferred to coax. My house is set up over coax and I never have issues. The router is decent enough although it only runs Wireless G. If needed it can act as a pass through to another router. The product is made by a company called 2wire. The specs are at http://www.2wire.com/index.php?p=106 and the model is the 3800HGV.

If needed it can act as a pass through to another router.You can always turn off the 2Wire wireless function, or leave it on, and connect a second wireless router (with better function) via Ethernet.

YepWow.

Do they still offer extended basic analog?

If that were the only choice I had for a pay-TV provider in your area or situation, I think I'd be inclined to just stick with the analog.

You can always turn off the 2Wire wireless function, or leave it on, and connect a second wireless router (with better function) via Ethernet.
This is what I did with mine. I left my whole router/switch/wireless AP setup alone, and just plugged it right into the RG and set it as DMZ.

Cablevision does with the exception of the broadcast channels, RSN's and ESPN's.

Well that explains why the SD channels look like crap, especially sports (on the locals).

Well that explains why the SD channels look like crap, especially sports (on the locals).

No it doesn't, I was talking HD channels.

This is getting quite off topic for this thread. We can talk about Cablevision here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=446219&page=159

No it doesn't, I was talking HD channels.

This is getting quite off topic for this thread. We can talk about Cablevision here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=446219&page=159

My mistake, however, my point still stands, Cablevision SD looks like crap.

Thanks for the thread link.

...or do they?

About 6-7 years ago I worked on an early version of video (DVD movies) over phone lines. I specifically worked on a repeater/loop extender. My goal was to have it powered off the phone lines as well as refining the gain stages and the distance it could reach.

Long story short, it worked but not well enough because 1) I was just out of school and didn't know nearly enough, and most importantly 2) The engineer overseeing the project left and a not so good (to put it kindly) engineer took over (looking back I can see how bad he really was).

The company I worked for had a test site in Georgia where my repeater/loop extender (placed around the 6k-10kft mark) allowed the video to reach a distance around 20k-22kft. This was one stream only with POTS service & no internet, however, there was room for slow "high" speed internet. If I recall correctly the highest frequency sent down the phone line was around 2Mhz.

It didn't need to be powered by the phone line (that was a pie in the sky deal at the time), however, if they were powered in a box like the Vrad it should allow you to reach further distances/reach higher speeds (without pair bonding) than what AT&T currently offers.

The only thing I can think of is that our field test was clearly not indicative of a manifold use so there are limitations of which I'm not aware.

The version of the Loop Extender on which I worked on didn't cost more than $30 to $50 assembled. There are IC's that now do what I was doing at the time.

Is anyone here currently involved with this type of work? I'm curious to know why the repeater/loop extender was never pursued as it would allow you to reach outliers (beyond the 3000-3500ft mark).

Here is a graph from a wikipedia article which would probably indicate why they don't use them:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/57/ADSL_Loop_Extender.JPG

As you can see, there are decent gains from using the extender, but the U-verse service functions on having a reliable 20-25 Mbps at the least, so while the extender seems to give significant gains, it's still not enough to provide the full, consistent U-verse service.

Here is a graph from a wikipedia article which would probably indicate why they don't use them:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/57/ADSL_Loop_Extender.JPG

As you can see, there are decent gains from using the extender, but the U-verse service functions on having a reliable 20-25 Mbps at the least, so while the extender seems to give significant gains, it's still not enough to provide the full, consistent U-verse service.

If you look at the graph closely (basing it on the slope of the curve) it seems to suggest that around 5kft, using 26AWG which is worst case, the Loop Extender line is a good amount above the 20Mbps (possibly at 25Mbps). Using an extender would allow you to reach that one customer that is just out of reach. I would think that the cost of the device (assuming its no more than $50 & not counting labor as that could be part of the initial install) could easily be made up by getting that new customer.

Any chance you could post the Wiki link?

I don't want to join the pissing match here, but I do have some subjective observations since switching from Comcast to U-Verse a couple of months ago. First, the PQ was definitely different and in my opinion worse on AT&T vs. Comcast, especially in HD programing (I rarely watch SD so I can't really say if there was a noticle difference in SD channels). I found the U-Verse HD picture to be more saturated in color (maybe some prerfer this) and fuzzier. I missed HD On Demand which U-Verse does not offer in Chicago yet. But my biggest complaint was immediately after switching from cable to U-Verse, my Denon 3808 began to have syncing difficulties with about 5 minutes of flashing white screens until it synced up. It appears not to be the box because I sync up fairly well when I bypass the AV revceiver and go directly via HMDI to my Kuro. I have yet to install the firmware on the Denon which I hope resolves the problem, but my point is the Denon synced the Comcast signal no problems. Finally, despite my belief that U-Verse had a noticably poorer picture than Comcast when I switched, it also seems to me that the U-Verse picture (without equipment adjustments) has improved since I switched. I have no way of knowing whether this is a phenomenon of my getting used to the picture or some improvements AT&T has made to their signal recently. Anyway, if firmware doesn't fix the problem I'm going bact to Comcast. I miss HD surround.

Challkhmc,

I'm a huge Bulls fan in CT. Besides saving money, I'm specifically signing up for WGN-America (more Bulls games for me) so while I hope AT&T has improved (and continues to improve) their HD PQ, I'll stick with them for at least this NBA season.

I'm willing to temporarily subject myself to inferior HD PQ as long as I can watch the Bulls games.

Man, what sports fans do to watch their teams, I hope my eyes can take it :)

(Yes, I'm too busy, aka cheap, to sign up for the league pass).

GO BULLS!!!

You can always turn off the 2Wire wireless function, or leave it on, and connect a second wireless router (with better function) via Ethernet.

Would this function as two separate networks? It also should be noted that the 2wire box is 10/100 and does not support gigabit via ethernet.

Would this function as two separate networks?
As long as you set the router to access point mode, no.

There have been rumors of expanded HD lineups as of 11/3 and it appears there is some validity. I received a postcard today telling me to tune to channel 400 for information about new channel line ups coming 11/3. Of course channel 400 says nothing but the rumors are saying there will be lots of additions including Voom.

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Programming&view=by_date_ascending&message.id=20575#M20575

264 NASA TV
657 Setanta Sports
680 Outdoor Channel
1210 Fox News Channel HD
1211 Fox Business Network HD
1225 The Weather Channel HD
1254 Travel Channel HD
1420 QVC HD
1465 Planet Green HD
1652 Speed HD
1680 Outdoor Channel HD
1794 Hallmark Movie Channel HD
1805 HBO2 HD - West
1808 HBO Signature HD
1812 HBO Zone HD
1814 HBO Latino HD
1834 MoreMax HD
1836 ActionMax HD
1838 ThrillerMax HD
1840 5StarMax HD
1842 WMAX HD
1844 OuterMax HD
1846 ATMax HD
1854 Showtime Too HD
1856 Showtime Showcase HD
1858 Showtime Extreme HD
1884 TMC Xtra HD
1904 Starz Edge HD
1910 Starz Comedy HD
1932 Encore HD
1128 FX Network HD
1360 Lifetime Television HD

Note the top 3 are SD channels.

There have been rumors of expanded HD lineups as of 11/3 and it appears there is some validity. I received a postcard today telling me to tune to channel 400 for information about new channel line ups coming 11/3. Of course channel 400 says nothing but the rumors are saying there will be lots of additions including Voom.

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Programming&view=by_date_ascending&message.id=20575#M20575

264 NASA TV
657 Setanta Sports
680 Outdoor Channel
1210 Fox News Channel HD
1211 Fox Business Network HD
1225 The Weather Channel HD
1254 Travel Channel HD
1420 QVC HD
1465 Planet Green HD
1652 Speed HD
1680 Outdoor Channel HD
1794 Hallmark Movie Channel HD
1805 HBO2 HD - West
1808 HBO Signature HD
1812 HBO Zone HD
1814 HBO Latino HD
1834 MoreMax HD
1836 ActionMax HD
1838 ThrillerMax HD
1840 5StarMax HD
1842 WMAX HD
1844 OuterMax HD
1846 ATMax HD
1854 Showtime Too HD
1856 Showtime Showcase HD
1858 Showtime Extreme HD
1884 TMC Xtra HD
1904 Starz Edge HD
1910 Starz Comedy HD
1932 Encore HD
1128 FX Network HD
1360 Lifetime Television HD

Note the top 3 are SD channels.

The rumors are of about 5-10 free HD channels and the Vooms going into a Premium HD tier for extra money.

If only they would add CSNBA-HD in the SF Bay Area, which is our local/regional sports Network ..they only have it in SD and that's a show stopper for me. They are the only provider that doesnt have it here

Challkhmc,

I'm a huge Bulls fan in CT...

I'm willing to temporarily subject myself to inferior HD PQ as long as I can watch the Bulls games.

Man, what sports fans do to watch their teams, I hope my eyes can take it :)

(Yes, I'm too busy, aka cheap, to sign up for the league pass).

GO BULLS!!!

Derrick Rose looks like he's the real deal. Unfortunately, they have a long way to go.

I wish I had stayed with Comcast.

I'm willing to temporarily subject myself to inferior HD PQ as long as I can watch the Bulls games.Only problem is I think the Bulls may actually end up being more inferior than the picture quality this season. ;)

(And I'm from the Chicago area, so I can say that. :))

Lol

Only problem is I think the Bulls may actually end up being more inferior than the picture quality this season. ;)

(And I'm from the Chicago area, so I can say that. :))

:eek:

Based on some of the comments here about HD PQ I don't think that's possible :)

I can't recall if I read about games being blacked out here in this thread or in some other forum.

So with that being said, anyone here sign up for the Sports Package?

If so, have you had any issues with games being blacked out that are not supposed to be blacked out? Was the issue resolved?

For $10 more I may sign up for it since the pro teams I follow are all over the country.

For example: I'm in CT, would I have any trouble watching any sports coming out of Chicago, Pittsburgh and San Francisco?

For example: I'm in CT, would I have any trouble watching any sports coming out of Chicago, Pittsburgh and San Francisco?
Yes, of course you would, because it's supposed to be blacked out. You can't just get the $10 Sports Pack and bypass the triple-figure specialty sports packages. The leagues aren't stupid.

Derrick Rose looks like he's the real deal. Unfortunately, they have a long way to go.

I wish I had stayed with Comcast.


So they HD picture quality is better with Comcast?
I have U-Verse available in my area.

So they HD picture quality is better with Comcast?
I have U-Verse available in my area.

It seems to still be up in the air. And it depends a lot on the Comcast quality you have. Unlike U-Verse, it seems Comcast varies quite a bit across the US.

The phone sales guy seem to indicate 3.

I only have one HDTV but would like to be able to connect at least 4 tv sets.

Thanks,

mgh

Yes, of course you would, because it's supposed to be blacked out. You can't just get the $10 Sports Pack and bypass the triple-figure specialty sports packages.

I take you have the Sports Package and you've checked out all of the channels any time a pro team played/plays. Or are you just making assumptions? I know there are black out rules. I was just curious as to how they applied to Uverse's Sports Package.

Why pay $10 for the entire Sports Package if you can't see any games on certain channels? (Unless I'm mistaken and the Sports Package is for sports like soccer, horse racing, college sports, & underwater basketweaving).

The leagues aren't stupid.

Thank you Captain Obvious! I had no idea the leagues were in business to make money!

I don't expect to get every game for free but being able to watch a small percentage of games would be nice and better than nothing. Perhaps I should have been more clear. What I should have asked is: Is every Pro game blacked out or are a few actually shown?

It was a simple question that didn't require your hostile response.

Now, if I misunderstood you, then I apologize, if not, then why not let someone else answer my question.

Let's make this very plain and clear, if you don't live in the pro sport's affiliate area, you are blacked out. That's the league rules. That's the simple answer.

If people seem upset it's because the blackout question comes up a lot. Someone always thinks they are going to beat the system. The only games that aren't blacked out that you wouldn't get on your local RSN are baseball games that are in your home market. For instance around here we get Reds and Indians games for free. With the sports pack we could also watch Pittsburgh Pirates games because they claim Columbus as a home market.

The phone sales guy seem to indicate 3.

I only have one HDTV but would like to be able to connect at least 4 tv sets.

Thanks,

mgh
You can connect as many sets as you would like to. Each set will have to have a box. The first (main) box is included in the price, and each additional box is $5/mo. We currently have six boxes. Now keep in mind though, you currently only have four streams total available (2 HD, 2 SD). If you try to use more than that, you'll receive a dialog box saying you can shut down another TV to free up a stream. Playing back DVR'd material does not count against that total though.

Can you watch the same stream in multiple rooms at once? Say have the football game on in 2 or 3 rooms at once?

I don't want to join the pissing match here, but I do have some subjective observations since switching from Comcast to U-Verse a couple of months ago. First, the PQ was definitely different and in my opinion worse on AT&T vs. Comcast, especially in HD programing (I rarely watch SD so I can't really say if there was a noticle difference in SD channels). I found the U-Verse HD picture to be more saturated in color (maybe some prerfer this) and fuzzier. I missed HD On Demand which U-Verse does not offer in Chicago yet. But my biggest complaint was immediately after switching from cable to U-Verse, my Denon 3808 began to have syncing difficulties with about 5 minutes of flashing white screens until it synced up. It appears not to be the box because I sync up fairly well when I bypass the AV revceiver and go directly via HMDI to my Kuro. I have yet to install the firmware on the Denon which I hope resolves the problem, but my point is the Denon synced the Comcast signal no problems. Finally, despite my belief that U-Verse had a noticably poorer picture than Comcast when I switched, it also seems to me that the U-Verse picture (without equipment adjustments) has improved since I switched. I have no way of knowing whether this is a phenomenon of my getting used to the picture or some improvements AT&T has made to their signal recently. Anyway, if firmware doesn't fix the problem I'm going bact to Comcast. I miss HD surround.

Wow, it sounds like you and I have the exact same experience. I'm connected via component and optical cables since they are having firmware issues with the HDMI. I get the same "flashing white screens" particularly in commercials. A lot of them end in a white screen with their product information and the image just goes to pot, then comes back. Or the Apple commercials are not viewable. Even white-fade transitions in shows blink on the screen. I thought it was my TV and tried putting settings back one by one with no results. Glad to hear it's not just me.

Other ongoing issues: the optical sound going in and out every minute or so. Ideally, I'd like to be connected via HDMI, but as we all know, it is currently not passing surround sound....with no ETA of a fix. So the lesser of the evils there is the optical.

I like how you are honest about your uncertainty of the PQ going up b/c they are getting better or b/c you are used to it. I'm the same way. Is it the best? Definitely not. Is it livable and does it seem better? Yes.

I have a Denon receiver and have found that it works much better to turn the receiver & TV on first. Not sure if that helps you guys but figured I'd throw it out there.

Can you watch the same stream in multiple rooms at once? Say have the football game on in 2 or 3 rooms at once?
Yes, think of it only in terms of streams. If two or more TVs are watching the same channel, that still only counts as one stream.

Yes, think of it only in terms of streams. If two or more TVs are watching the same channel, that still only counts as one stream.

Fantastic. That solves a lot of my concerns over total streams. Since there's only 2 of us, it will work perfectly.

One more thing to add is that HD channels can be watched on non-HD TVs. The box will downconvert and letterbox the channel to fit.

One more thing to add is that HD channels can be watched on non-HD TVs. The box will downconvert and letterbox the channel to fit.

Interesting. What HD channels are there without a non HD counterpart? Mojo is the only one I can think of on Comcast, and its getting discontinued.

Well HDNET would be an example, but that's not why I mentioned it. So say you're watching a game on ESPN2HD in your living room on a HDTV. But someone else in your house is watching the same game on a non-HD TV. If you watch ESPN2HD, and that person watches ESPN2 (non-HD) that counts as 1 HD and 1 SD stream. If you both watch ESPN2HD, you're only using one stream.

Not that you really will run out of streams. I live in a house with two other people and six TVs, and almost always have at least 2-3 TVs going at once, and the DVR records stuff all the time, and in the six months or so we've had U-verse, we've only hit that point like twice, and then it was just because someone left the house with 2-3 TVs on. As you said you only have two people so I seriously doubt you'll ever encounter this unless you really try to on purpose. I can't wait til January I'm moving out and getting my own place. All four streams to myself :).

Well HDNET would be an example, but that's not why I mentioned it. So say you're watching a game on ESPN2HD in your living room on a HDTV. But someone else in your house is watching the same game on a non-HD TV. If you watch ESPN2HD, and that person watches ESPN2 (non-HD) that counts as 1 HD and 1 SD stream. If you both watch ESPN2HD, you're only using one stream.

Not that you really will run out of streams. I live in a house with two other people and six TVs, and almost always have at least 2-3 TVs going at once, and the DVR records stuff all the time, and in the six months or so we've had U-verse, we've only hit that point like twice, and then it was just because someone left the house with 2-3 TVs on. As you said you only have two people so I seriously doubt you'll ever encounter this unless you really try to on purpose. I can't wait til January I'm moving out and getting my own place. All four streams to myself :).

Good point and I understand what you mean.

Another question, does the box provide for close captioning through the box, or does it pass the info the TV and let the TV deal with it?

With Comcast you have to turn off the box to turn on CC, which is a deal breaker. We use CC at night when one falls asleep and the other wants to stay up and finish the movie/show.
Also, if it passes to the TV, I guess we will need to still keep 2 remotes around...

I'm not sure of that as I do not use CC. I'll give it a shot when I get home and let you know.

Ok, yes CC is an option on the box's settings.

I am going to be getting U-Verse installed here on Nov 6 and was just wondering if there is anything I should know to ask about/for or anything I should know to do prior to it? I also had a few questions...

1) I was thinking that it might be a good idea to pull my TV stand and dresser out from the walls that I am going to want the network jacks put in on so its easier to get to. Is that a good plan for any place where the network jack goes, or are they pretty good usually about getting to the areas pretty easily?

2) Also, if I am going to have the gateway in my computer room/office area, will they put like a multi-jack plate in the wall and run multiple Cat5e's up to the attic and then down the necessary walls?

3) And, in the off chance I would maybe want to move one receiver between two different bedrooms, you guys think they would be willing to jack both bedrooms for me so that I can do that? Or will they only jack as many rooms as receivers that I am getting? See, I will have a receiver in the living room (naturally), the computer room where the gateway will be, and my son's bedroom, but I might sometimes wanna move that box from his room to my master bedroom and thought it would be easier/nice to have a jack in both rooms for that purpose. Think they will be willing to do that? That would mean putting a jack in the living room, his room, and my bedroom (the computer room wouldn't need one since its right next to the gateway).

4) Also, just to make sure I have it in my head right, they will be bringing the service into the NID on the outside of my house across the copper from the pole or wherever its coming from, then from the NID into the house wiring where the gateway will be plugged into the house wiring in my computer room, then from there the TV service will be carried across Cat5e or Cat6 to each receiver? I don't really want them messing with my coax runs as they will continue to be hooked up to my DirecTV dish during my testing out of the U-Verse service. I just don't know if I will want to keep U-Verse as I have heard a few stories (especially from bpeacock22) about the U-Verse picture not being that spectacular. I love my DirecTV, but I am just sick of being put across the barrel every month for them to have their way with me. :)

I think thats about all my questions right now, if you guys can answer each of these for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch in advance.

Steve

Edit: One more question, is there usually a good place to go to find out about possible channel additions other than here? I just wanna keep an eye out for when they add stuff like Cartoon Network HD and MLB Network (when it goes live in January).

Edit: One more question, is there usually a good place to go to find out about possible channel additions other than here? I just wanna keep an eye out for when they add stuff like Cartoon Network HD and MLB Network (when it goes live in January).

Watch this thread...sounds like fairly reliable sources think more channels coming about 11/10...and even more before the end of the year

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Programming&thread.id=19493

ps...I dont have Uverse yet so I can't answer your install questions (waiting for them to add our local Sports Network in HD (CSNBA-HD))

Ha ha. Especially me huh? I definitely don't want to scare anyone off. You'll find most, if not all, people report AT&T on the lower end of quality from available providers. I have a critical eye however, as a videographer, but I find it good enough. No complaints tonight, for example, with the world series. No macroblocking, noise, etc to speak of.

steveken:

1,2,3) Did you set it up with them to have ethernet run all over your house? Running ethernet (especially through interior walls) is not cheap and definitely not included in the install. They will use your existing coax setup (albeit rewired from the main splitter, and with a special splitter for the RG) unless you already have your own ethernet in place. Obviously the box that's near the RG can just be plugged in no problem, but unless you set up something special with them, they're not going to network your whole house during the install. I personally have most of the house using coax with the exception of my HT and all of them still great, so I don't see it being a big deal.

4) The service will come into your telephone box then to a balun with a coax output, and from there into your existing coax. If your house had cable TV before then I'd think they'll use that, but they may have to change around your coax some to make sure they get it all the way to wherever you want to put the RG. Running both services in tandem might not be possible unless you run them all as ethernet (as mentioned above they do not do this for you unless you set it up with them special or something). But the run from the outside to the RG is definitely coax.

5) http://utalk.att.com/utalk

Press Release Source: AT&T Inc.


AT&T U-verse TV Significantly Expands HD Channel Lineup and Ethnic Programming
Monday October 27, 9:30 am ET
U-verse TV Strengthens HD Channel Lead Over Cable; Adds Chinese, Polish, Russian, French and European-Sports Packages

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081027/aqm033a.html?.v=4

Still no Comcast SportsNet Bay Area HD though (but they did add many other RSNs) :(

THE FOLLOWING HD CHANNELS ARE BEING ADDED TO THE AT&T U-VERSE TV LINEUP: (starting 11/3)

@Max HD
5StarMax HD
ActionMax HD
Comcast SportsNet Chicago HD
Comcast SportsNet New England HD
Encore HD
Fox Business Network HD
Fox News Channel HD
FSN Detroit HD
FSN Florida HD
FSN Midwest (Kansas City) HD
FSN Midwest (St. Louis) HD
FSN Ohio (Cincinnati) HD
FSN Ohio (Cleveland) HD
FSN Prime Ticket HD
FSN South HD
FSN Southwest (Dallas) HD
FSN Southwest (Houston) HD
FX Network HD
FX Network HD - West
Hallmark Movie Channel HD
HBO Latino HD
HBO Signature HD
HBO Zone HD
HBO2 West HD
Lifetime Television HD
Lifetime Television HD - West
MoreMax HD
Outdoor Channel HD
OuterMax HD
Planet Green HD
QVC HD
Showtime 2 HD
Showtime Extreme HD
Showtime Showcase HD
Speed HD
SportsSouth HD
SportsTime Ohio HD
Starz Comedy HD
Starz Edge HD
Sun Sports HD
The Travel Channel HD
ThrillerMax HD
TMC Xtra HD
Weather Channel HD
Wmax HD

steveken,

Everything impala454 is correct.

My install was this past Saturday. I was told by the tech that techs have a 5 hour time limit on your install. If its going to take longer than that the MAY start charging you AND/OR the bosses will swing by to check on the install.

My install took about 5.5-6 hours. My existing coax homerun is on the opposite side of my house. So the tech ran a new coax from the NID side of the house (through my garage and into my basement) into a special splitter. He then ran new coax cable where I needed (yes, needed) both systems side by side (for more reasons than just A/B comparison) and replaced any existing coax that was garbage. I have only one of my boxes connected via Cat5.

The tech was a good guy and he did a great, neat job. He even left me his personal cell phone # in case I had any issues.

As far as Uverse goes, so far so good. The HD PQ really depends on the program and not necessarily the channel (IMO;and of course the display). In my theater room (113" screen) you can definitely see that the HD picture is softer. On my 42" plasma not so much.

However, I believe its easy to see when you know what to look for. The non-expert (not that I am one) will have a tough time seeing a difference on smaller displays. For me, right now, it's more than good enough.

Also, Uverse PQ in general seems to have a red push and more color.

As far as the rest of the features go...I really like it so far but I still have a lot more playing around to do.

Our house is 12.5 years old and all the rooms were pre-wird with RG6 from the garage wall where the cable service and phone lines enter the house. We dropped the cable service over 10 years ago and have been with Direct TV ever since. We did have cable service for internet only at one point. Our internet is now ATT DSL. The DSL modem is in my office and it runs to a D-Link router. The PC in my office in plugged direct into the D-Link and all other PC's in the house are wireless. Does this sound like a pretty painless install? I would think with the existing RG6 to all 5 rooms I want service it shouldn't be a big deal. Any thoughts? Does U-Verse take care of stopping the ATT DSL service, or will I have to handle that?

My house is over 20 years old and never had any cable in it until we moved into it 6 years ago. Even then the coax wasn't run in a very desirable manner. Plus I have to go on what the sales people said, and yes, I definitely know to never believe what they say, but was hoping in this instance would be accurate because they act like they really really want customers around here. The sales people said several times that it involves installing Cat5 and mentioned coax maybe once. They also said several times that the install would be completely free while mentioning the Cat5.

If they do insist on using coax for the install, then I will not get the service because I do not want my existing setup compromised or screwed up in any way by something I may or may not keep. Everything I read on the internet said that the RG can be fed via the phone line just as a DSL modem can be and that the coax was just an alternate method of supplying the feed.

Given the trouble I had getting the coax for my satellite feed tucked under the siding around the house, plus the fact that it would take a good long while to figure out which coax goes to where due to the bundling and complexity of the sat coax, I think it would 300 times easier to do a simple network drop on 3 walls rather than screw with coax and no, it can't be run on top of the siding as my wife would have a major conniption if that were to happen.

Besides, there are no coax connections in my son's room at all, so that would mean a new coax run would have to be run around the house which would not be desirable in the slightest for the installer or my family. I say not desirable for the installer because there is a huge azalea bush on the side of the house that he would have to crawl into to get the install done, plus the siding and few prickly weeds that are in there.

So, given what was said by the sales people about getting Cat5 installed for free, the trouble that would be encountered in getting the coax situation figured out, and the fact that there is siding on the house that can never have holes put in it that will be tolerated, I can't see as how this will work out well at all if they are unwilling to do 3 drops. I guess we will just have to wait and see though.

I have a Denon receiver and have found that it works much better to turn the receiver & TV on first. Not sure if that helps you guys but figured I'd throw it out there.

impala, is there a firmware update for your Denon, and have you tried it? Did it help with teh white screen?

Others, is there some problem the AT&T boxes have with HDMI?

My installer ran all new Cat-5 cables to the RG in my computer room and from there to the dvr and one other tv. He ran it all in the attic and did drops in the walls. I requested the Cat-5 and there was no extra charge. He was very friendly and did an excellent job.

My installer ran all new Cat-5 cables to the RG in my computer room and from there to the dvr and one other tv. He ran it all in the attic and did drops in the walls. I requested the Cat-5 and there was no extra charge. He was very friendly and did an excellent job.
Thank you very much for posting this information. That is exactly what I thought they would do. I kind of figured the others who posted otherwise had an installer that didn't quite do like they should have. It would only make sense for the company to do what was required to make the customer happy and, since this is a new service essentially, that would require making connections possible in the cable format native to the stb's. It really seemed like a stretch for them to make people take coax over Cat-5 even if it is already available.

My installer ran all new Cat-5 cables to the RG in my computer room and from there to the dvr and one other tv. He ran it all in the attic and did drops in the walls. I requested the Cat-5 and there was no extra charge. He was very friendly and did an excellent job.

When did you have Uverse installed? I ask because I get the distinct impression that since AT&T is trying to reach their goal of 1 million installs before the end of the year that they are trying to install Uverse the easiest/fastest way possible.

If I didn't need to have my Cablevision cable it would have taken about 1-1.5 hours less. It also worked out in more ways than one as I would have run out of Ethernet connections on the RG for all of my equipment. Since two of my boxes are connected via coax I didn't run into that issue.

The tech told me that they'll install whatever you want, however, they are the ones that catch flak for long installs. That's why the supervisors might show up on a long install. It sure doesn't seem fair to me.

To my tech's credit, the guy didn't take a break. He didn't even accept water until he was done.

Well all these install impressions are pretty good news.

I hope they can do it over coax for us, as I like having the ethernet free for other things (I have a laptop in the bedroom I plug in sometimes, the PS3 uses the living room ethernet, and the computers in the office). But I am going to try to get them to rerun one of the coax runs. I use it without a box of any kind and we get severe interference on 3 channels (ghosting of the image) which leads me to believe there is something wrong. Otherwise we have nice clear strong signal everywhere.

Well all these install impressions are pretty good news.

I hope they can do it over coax for us, as I like having the ethernet free for other things (I have a laptop in the bedroom I plug in sometimes, the PS3 uses the living room ethernet, and the computers in the office). But I am going to try to get them to rerun one of the coax runs. I use it without a box of any kind and we get severe interference on 3 channels (ghosting of the image) which leads me to believe there is something wrong. Otherwise we have nice clear strong signal everywhere.
Granted you use up ethernet ports when you do it with Cat-5, but that doesn't limit you in the other rooms when you have other ideas for ethernet. For instance, a low cost 10/100 hub can be plugged into any ethernet port to branch it off for multiple devices. That way you have the following options:

For your laptop: most should have a wireless card in it anymore by default, so you could use the wireless in the RG for access and it would be just as good if you use MAC address filtering

The PS3: it also has a wireless card built into it (again with MAC filtering, you don't have to worry about security unless someone spoofs your MAC).

The computers in the office: run them off of a standard router if it is configured to not be a DHCP server itself (assuming you are already using a router with your old service provider).

I am willing to bet that the reason you don't use your current wireless options is because you are hearing all of these "reports" about people getting their wireless signals used by unauthorized people. Some places would recommend you use encryption like WEP or WPA to secure your connection. I don't like that way because it results in a long Hex key that I have trouble dealing with. Instead, I use MAC Address Filtering on my wireless connection. That ensures that only that machine gets onto the internet with that MAC address. Of course, this can be compromised by people that "spoof" the MAC address, but people around my area are not sophisticated enough to be able to do that, so I am not worried about it.

In any case, I know that I can pretty well handle any problems that the lack of ethernet ports will bring me, so am not worried about it. I just think coax is not a very attractive connection given that the boxes don't have coax on them and given the fact that ethernet is much more flexible and easier to work with than stiff coax.

Oh, and your problem about the ghosting on 3 channels on that one coax run, I would think that if it were something wrong with the run itself, then you would have ghosting on a lot more than 3 channels. I would think that it would be a solid issue all the way across the channels.

Granted you use up ethernet ports when you do it with Cat-5, but that doesn't limit you in the other rooms when you have other ideas for ethernet. For instance, a low cost 10/100 hub can be plugged into any ethernet port to branch it off for multiple devices. That way you have the following options:

For your laptop: most should have a wireless card in it anymore by default, so you could use the wireless in the RG for access and it would be just as good if you use MAC address filtering

The PS3: it also has a wireless card built into it (again with MAC filtering, you don't have to worry about security unless someone spoofs your MAC).

The computers in the office: run them off of a standard router if it is configured to not be a DHCP server itself (assuming you are already using a router with your old service provider).

I am willing to bet that the reason you don't use your current wireless options is because you are hearing all of these "reports" about people getting their wireless signals used by unauthorized people. Some places would recommend you use encryption like WEP or WPA to secure your connection. I don't like that way because it results in a long Hex key that I have trouble dealing with. Instead, I use MAC Address Filtering on my wireless connection. That ensures that only that machine gets onto the internet with that MAC address. Of course, this can be compromised by people that "spoof" the MAC address, but people around my area are not sophisticated enough to be able to do that, so I am not worried about it.

In any case, I know that I can pretty well handle any problems that the lack of ethernet ports will bring me, so am not worried about it. I just think coax is not a very attractive connection given that the boxes don't have coax on them and given the fact that ethernet is much more flexible and easier to work with than stiff coax.

Oh, and your problem about the ghosting on 3 channels on that one coax run, I would think that if it were something wrong with the run itself, then you would have ghosting on a lot more than 3 channels. I would think that it would be a solid issue all the way across the channels.

I know I have alternatives. But the point to me is to use what I have the best that I can.

I already have wireless N router with security and all that that I use for my laptop. We have a 3 level house and the office and router is on the bottom, the master bedroom on the top, so signal is sometimes spotty up there, which is why I use ethernet occasionally.

The PS3 is far faster via ethernet, especially since I have a server hooked up in the office with all my media shared centrally. And the office already has a hub that splits to the 3 computers there.

My point was to use coax so that it does not go unused, and also so that I don't have to buy 2-3 more hubs to get the ease and efficiency I have now.

As to the channels, I dont know whats with those, but even another plug in the same room has perfect signal on all channels, its just across the room from where the TV is. The problem run is the only cable that was run after the house was built, likely by a Comcast guy, and also probably why it has problems.

I know I have alternatives. But the point to me is to use what I have the best that I can.

I already have wireless N router with security and all that that I use for my laptop. We have a 3 level house and the office and router is on the bottom, the master bedroom on the top, so signal is sometimes spotty up there, which is why I use ethernet occasionally.

The PS3 is far faster via ethernet, especially since I have a server hooked up in the office with all my media shared centrally. And the office already has a hub that splits to the 3 computers there.

My point was to use coax so that it does not go unused, and also so that I don't have to buy 2-3 more hubs to get the ease and efficiency I have now.

As to the channels, I dont know whats with those, but even another plug in the same room has perfect signal on all channels, its just across the room from where the TV is. The problem run is the only cable that was run after the house was built, likely by a Comcast guy, and also probably why it has problems.
Heh, ok, I'll shut up now. LOL Just was being lame. hehe

Yeah, guess the 3 floor thing could be a pain in the butt. I haven't had much of an ability to try to use the PS3 as a media device cause I tend to use my 360 more, its a little easier to use to me for media stuff. I got a program for my mac that helped with the PS3 sharing, but I thought it was a little expensive to justify how much I use it. I might use the ethernet at some point to see how much quicker it is.

Yeah, I suppose using the coax instead of letting is sit dormant would be a good idea. I didn't even think that far ahead. I am still on the fact that this may or may not be a permanent thing with the U-Verse. Gotta see how it looks first. It might be cool to get rid of some of the coax under my carpet in the living room to reduce the lumps.

impala, is there a firmware update for your Denon, and have you tried it? Did it help with teh white screen?

Others, is there some problem the AT&T boxes have with HDMI?
I did not ever have any white screen, but if I turn on the box before the receiver, it will flash like once or twice while handshaking. No big deal to me. Not sure if there's any firmware updates.

Is the promo they are running online this week the best it gets, or is there a coupon code or something to sweeten the deal?

Do they supply any needed HDMI cables, or not?

About the installs, that is great to hear that they will do the cat5 for free. I hope that is the case. When I had mine installed about six months ago they told me it would cost me $X for each interior wall drop done, so perhaps they've changed that policy. It was no big deal to me, as my RG was going to be near the DVR near the HT anyways. And the coax going to other TVs, still looks great. Though if I could have basically had my house networked for free, I'd have definitely done it ;).

I will also throw in that the installer did a great job with my install as well. I think he was rather elated with me though that I had all my wires so neatly arranged and labeled in the attic!

Steven, which promo are you referring to?

Yes they do supply HDMI cables.

I just think coax is not a very attractive connection given that the boxes don't have coax on them and given the fact that ethernet is much more flexible and easier to work with than stiff coax.

If you are referring to the AT&T set top boxes then you are incorrect, they do have coax connections on them. I do agree about the Cat5 being more flexible, however, I don't remember seeing any shielding on the Cat5 wire unlike coax with it's heavy shielding which can prevent/eliminate noise issues.

Steven, which promo are you referring to?

Yes they do supply HDMI cables.

If you get the 200U or up package you get $200 cash back. There's an extra $50 cash back if you order by the 31st.

Sounds like a great deal to me. I am actually moving into a new place on Jan 1st, wonder if I can snag that deal too.

If you are referring to the AT&T set top boxes then you are incorrect, they do have coax connections on them. I do agree about the Cat5 being more flexible, however, I don't remember seeing any shielding on the Cat5 wire unlike coax with it's heavy shielding which can prevent/eliminate noise issues.
Ok, hadn't looked at the back of the AT&T box well enough to remember it having the coax. As far as the shielding of coax, I just don't think its as big of an issue with network cable as you don't get it bleeding off the line as bad. Let's put it this way, I have never had an issue with network cable and interference in the past, even run next to power conduit.

Well, I went and placed the order. Set up the install for 11-17 with 5 receivers. I was able to get the chat agent to give me an extra $100 cash back. We'll give it a couple months and if the service is not good after we receive the rebates, we'll go back to Direct. One of the reasons we're leaving Direct is that we would have to upgrade our dish and equipment at anyway, and they don't offer any incentives to existing "10 year" customer's. If you call customer retention is "let's make a deal" time and that's just wrong! If we go back in a few months we'll be considered new customers and get a better deal anyway. Having 5 receiver's installed. Will cost additional for 2, however I hope the installer doesn't charge too much since the Coax is already everywhere.

Ok, hadn't looked at the back of the AT&T box well enough to remember it having the coax. As far as the shielding of coax, I just don't think its as big of an issue with network cable as you don't get it bleeding off the line as bad. Let's put it this way, I have never had an issue with network cable and interference in the past, even run next to power conduit.

If the network cable was run next to metal conduit than you should never have an issue as the metal is grounded and acts like shielding.

If the conduit was plastic and you didn't have issues that's a good thing, however, if there was was some noise in that power line (via hair dryer, blender, etc.) its possible that you would see something.

If it works in the end then that's what really matters anyway.

The only interference issues I've heard of with ethernet cabling are when you run it close to fluorescent lights.

The only interference issues I've heard of with ethernet cabling are when you run it close to fluorescent lights.
Yeah, thats pretty much it. And that only happens when you run it parallel to the light within a really close area. If you simply run it across a light, then its not as likely to get interference.

FYI on the offer, I looked it up, it lasts til 1/31/09:
$200 Cash Back Offer: Online Orders Only. Offer ends 1/31/09. AT&T U-Verse service is only available in limited areas. Residential customers ordering new AT&T U-verse 200 or higher with AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet plans. $200 Cash back redemption requires customer to retain qualifying service a minimum of 30 days and at time processing of reward is completed. Check will be sent within 4-6 weeks following redemption of reward to eligible customers. Check may not be used to pay for local telephone service provided by AT&T. Geographic and service restrictions apply to AT&T U-verse services. Call or go to www.uverse.att.com to see if you qualify.

When did you have Uverse installed? I ask because I get the distinct impression that since AT&T is trying to reach their goal of 1 million installs before the end of the year that they are trying to install Uverse the easiest/fastest way possible.

I got tired of comcast's poor service and poor dvr software. Since Uverse was free to try I decided to give it a shot 2 weeks ago. I had comcast still connected so I could compare hd channels with 2 clicks of my tv's remote. When I saw that Uverse was equal in picture quality I got rid of comcast.

FYI for those in Houston, to keep the Comcast thread happy, we have created a separate Houston - U-verse thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1079347

Has anybody received cash back from the U-Verse offers? The chat rep told me I would be receiving emails with a coupon to fill out within 2-3 days after I placed my order online. So far, I've received nothing. How has this worked for any of you current subscribers?

Has anybody received cash back from the U-Verse offers? The chat rep told me I would be receiving emails with a coupon to fill out within 2-3 days after I placed my order online. So far, I've received nothing. How has this worked for any of you current subscribers?
My wife got ours yesterday I think it was. We placed the order last week, thursday I think. It will take a couple days.

EDIT: By ours, I meant the email with the coupon to fill out. Not the rebate.

My wife got ours yesterday I think it was. We placed the order last week, thursday I think. It will take a couple days.

EDIT: By ours, I meant the email with the coupon to fill out. Not the rebate.

OK-Sounds like I should get something in a couple days. Thanks for the info.

Well, we haven't filled ours out yet cause we weren't sure what all was needed. Plus, the wording on it made it sound like you might only get one chance at it or something, so, again, we are holding off. :)

I placed an order today for my 3 boxes to be installed by 11/20/2008. I will be upgrading from Comcast. I will keep you guys posted.

Chris

My install is for the DVR and 4 additional receivers. Do they really only supply you with 1 remote? How do they expect that to work?

My install is for the DVR and 4 additional receivers. Do they really only supply you with 1 remote? How do they expect that to work?

You get a remote for every receiver.

You get a remote for every receiver.

Thanks. That makes more sense.:D

Had my install done today (Oct 31), and was pleasantly surprised to have the THDVR (Total Home DVR) installed. Previously I had AT&T DSL and AT&T phone service with Comcast as the video provider. I decided to go with the U400 package, upgraded my DSL to 6.0 megs d/l, and Voip phone service. Installation window was 8-10am and the installers called about 9:15, saying they would arrive within 30 mins. Install went smoothly. The Vrad was very close to my house and the signal was good. They ran the service through the existing coax. They were unable to install the gateway in my loft where my network hub was located, so I had to activate my Airport on my Mac, and they provided a wireless card (2Wire) for my pc. Speed is definitely up (consistently getting 4 meg d/l). I have to re-configure a printer that was attached to my network hub. Not a big thing, but was a byproduct of having the gateway located in the bedroom where the 2nd installation was. Wireless signal is good throughout the house.

Phone works fine. Still setting up voicemail, and have not tested the information available through the TV. I have the main box downstairs and the 2nd box upstairs. Both tv's are HD. Was able to watch to HD feeds at the same time. The HD seems comparable on the channels that have the HD symbol in the Guide. The ones without the HD symbol are definitely softer, but I attribute that to a the source being not true HD. Some of the channels are HD channels are in the "Coming Soon" mode, so hopefully they will be on-line soon.

The total installation took about 3 and 1/2 hours. The installers were very competent and one works part time in the Apple Genius Bar (Carlos), so he was very competent in setting up the wireless options on the Mac as well as the PC.

I was comfortable with the picture quality to return my Comcast boxes and cancel Comcast service. Reduced tv content cost with increased channel selection, faster internet, and reduced rate on phone service made this a viable decision for me.

THDVR worked. Kind of a neat feature. Time will tell if the recording capacity is too small. With Comcast I had two HD boxes with hard drives in each box. Really would like to have the slow motion/frame by frame option (mostly for sports e.g., golf), so hopefully that will be an option later. Was very happy to return my boxes to Comcast.

Has anybody received cash back from the U-Verse offers? The chat rep told me I would be receiving emails with a coupon to fill out within 2-3 days after I placed my order online. So far, I've received nothing. How has this worked for any of you current subscribers?

You'll receive a letter in the mail with your Uverse account # and the pin you selected. You'll then eventually receive a card telling you to go here:

https://rewardcenter.att.com/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Enter your Uverse account # and start the process. Entering your phone number instead of your Uverse acct. # might not work; it didn't for me.

Not to beat a dead horse but...ah, what the hell, let's beat it some more.

I got a new 42" 1080P Panasonic Plasma this weekend and was able to compare HD PQ between Cablevision (using the TV's tuner) and Uverse. I had trouble seeing a difference on my older 42" POS plasma (RIP). However, not on this TV. I used used football as the test material. The Cablevision signal was running about 4-5 seconds ahead of the Uverse signal so I was able to quickly change inputs at the end of a play.

The Cablevision HD PQ was noticeably better. Up to 8-10 feet away I could definitely see Uverse has a higher level of compression. Although, at about 12+ feet away it was harder to see the difference except on scenes where there was a lot of the playing field in the background.

It's been over a week since my install and other than the degraded HD PQ I'm loving Uverse.

This is NOT a blackout question!!! Well, not exactly anyway.

I have U-400 right now (only for my free month). According to the Uverse site U-400 includes the Sports Package which mainly consists of Fox Sports channels, however, I'm not seeing them.

I would have thought the channel would be there just not showing anything (like other channels do) when a pro game is showing.

Anybody else have this issue? Or are the non-local Fox Sports channels supposed to be missing because of blackout rules?

That happens to be something I am wondering about myself. Currently, with DirecTV, I get the Sports Pack which gives me FSN Midwest so, when there are Cardinals games on, I get to see them. When we get installed, we will get this "Sports Package" for the extra $10 a month.

Does this "Sports Package" include all the FSN's like DirecTV's sports pack does? I am really hoping it does and that I do get FSN Midwest as part of this pack because I am only getting it for the Cardinals games next season. I am not sure if it matters like it does with DirecTV and only if you are within a certain area do you get certain FSN's all the time, but my zip code is 72211. So, if anyone knows the answer to this query, I would appreciate the answer.

OK-Sounds like I should get something in a couple days. Thanks for the info.

Within the past week and a half I have received 2 Visa check cards, 1 for $100 and one for $50, plus a regular check for $50.

They are also sending another check for $40.

That happens to be something I am wondering about myself. Currently, with DirecTV, I get the Sports Pack which gives me FSN Midwest so, when there are Cardinals games on, I get to see them. When we get installed, we will get this "Sports Package" for the extra $10 a month.

Does this "Sports Package" include all the FSN's like DirecTV's sports pack does? I am really hoping it does and that I do get FSN Midwest as part of this pack because I am only getting it for the Cardinals games next season. I am not sure if it matters like it does with DirecTV and only if you are within a certain area do you get certain FSN's all the time, but my zip code is 72211. So, if anyone knows the answer to this query, I would appreciate the answer.
Let me revise my question a little bit. If you go to DirecTV's website I have linked at this address http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageIF.jsp?assetId=3450006&footernavtype=-1 and enter 72211 for the zip code (which is mine), you will see that you get FSN SW as my native regional sports network with FSN MW available if you buy the sports pack or the premium package. This allows me to see everything on that channel without blackouts (unless you are blacked out in that market anyway for an event, but those don't happen real often) like Cardinals games.

When I do a basic channel lineup for U200 on the U-Verse site, it shows that I get all of the iterations of FSN Southwest, but there isn't anywhere on the site like the DirecTV one I posted above so you can see specifics like if you can get FSN Midwest as if you were actually in the market like DirecTV tells you. I just figured that someone on here might be between two markets like I am (pretty much 5 hours or so both ways to Dallas or St. Louis) that has the Sports Package that could give me an answer on something like this. I would hate to keep paying $10 a month all through the off season just to find out when the first Cardinals game comes on that I won't be able to see it.

I just wanna know if I will be treated the same as I am on DirecTV in this respect so I can know if I should waste my time or not. :) So, if this revision to my question helps any more, I would appreciate any insight anyone could give on it. Thanks!

I would hate to keep paying $10 a month all through the off season just to find out when the first Cardinals game comes on that I won't be able to see it.
So then why don't you just hold off on ordering the Sports Pack until you can actually see what happens?

So then why don't you just hold off on ordering the Sports Pack until you can actually see what happens?
Because, foolishly, I thought someone here could provide a little insight into it for me. I guess I was just mistaken. *sigh*

This is NOT a blackout question!!! Well, not exactly anyway.

I have U-400 right now (only for my free month). According to the Uverse site U-400 includes the Sports Package which mainly consists of Fox Sports channels, however, I'm not seeing them.

I would have thought the channel would be there just not showing anything (like other channels do) when a pro game is showing.

Anybody else have this issue? Or are the non-local Fox Sports channels supposed to be missing because of blackout rules?

Never mind, all of the channels were there last night. I'm not sure what happened.

Well they just added quite a few channels, could have been a minor hiccup or two.

Here in the Chicago metro, we got:

· @Max HD
· 5StarMax HD
· ActionMax HD
· Comcast SportsNet Chicago HD
· Comcast SportsNet New England HD
· Comcast SportsNet Southeast HD
· Encore HD
· Fox Business Network HD
· Fox News Channel HD
· FSN Detroit HD
· FSN Florida HD
· FSN Midwest (Kansas City) HD
· FSN Midwest (St. Louis) HD
· FSN Ohio (Cincinnati) HD
· FSN Ohio (Cleveland) HD
· FSN Prime Ticket HD
· FSN South HD
· FSN Southwest (Dallas) HD
· FSN Southwest (Houston) HD
· FX Network HD
· FX Network HD - West
· Hallmark Movie Channel HD
· HBO Latino HD
· HBO Signature HD
· HBO Zone HD
· HBO2 West HD
· Lifetime Television HD
· Lifetime Television HD - West
· MoreMax HD
· Outdoor Channel HD
· OuterMax HD
· Planet Green HD
· QVC HD
· Showtime 2 HD
· Showtime Extreme HD
· Showtime Showcase HD
· Speed HD
· SportsSouth HD
· SportsTime Ohio HD
· Starz Comedy HD
· Starz Edge HD
· Sun Sports HD
· The Travel Channel HD
· ThrillerMax HD
· TMC Xtra HD
· Weather Channel HD
· Wmax HD

I believe this was a nationwide add.

U-Verse has recently become available in my area and I'm considering switching from cable (Charter). I have 3 tv's - 2 of them HD. I currently have 2 HD DVR's. Charter is very limited relative to U-Verse on HD programming from what I've read on their website and here.

Here's my questions:

1. Do you experience any interruption of service? (ie, in comparison to satellite rain fade, etc)

2. I've read here that secondary tv's cannot pause live tv. Is that still true? Any known plans to add this capability?

3. Is CAT-5 the ideal wiring choice?

4. Any problems with ease of use of the DVR functions?

5. I've read of some possible problems with receiving 2 HD streams if the VRAD is too far away. Has anyone experienced this?

6. How does the level of internet access affect tv viewing? I mean, if I get the top tier internet package, will my tv viewing suffer? Or vice versa, will my tv viewing improve if I get the lowest tier internet?

7. It looks like I need to add a receiver / STB for each secondary tv for an additional charge. Is that correct?

My feeling is that I'd rather have the additional HD programming U-Verse offers over Charter, even if the PQ is weaker, up to a certain extent. I'm thinking poor to average HD quality is always better than SD.

I'm a little concerned about DVR capacity since I'd be going from two DVR's to one. But the offset to that is I can watch recorded programs from any tv. The lack of pausing capability on the secondary tv's concerns me some as well. But I suppose I could work around that by recording what I'm watching there and watch the recording instead of live tv.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Please forgive me if someone else has posted this solution to the Uverse box intermittent audio issue. I have the audio out from my Uverse box via optical so I can take advantage of surround sound (and because I have yet to upgrade to an HDMI-switching receiver). From day one I notice the audio cutting out intermittently on all HD channels. Resetting the box did not work, getting a new box from ATT did not work. It finally occurred to me when I was browsing YouTube.com one evening that perhaps it's a buffering issue similar to online audio/video stalling whenever it reaches a point where the content has yet to stream in.
My not-so-elegant solution:
Rewind live programming 10 seconds or more and watch it after it's completely streamed in. I'm not sure if that's how the box handles content, but whenever I do this the audio output is solid and never cuts out. Unfortunately it does not work with recorded programming and every time I change channels I have to remember to rewind a bit. I also have to put up with preplay hollering from my neighbors moments before it reaches my screen. Annoying when you know a fumble or great play is coming before they've even snapped the ball.
Has anyone else tried this with similar results.
Bottom line... ATT, UPDATE A FIX FOR YOUR HARDWARE!:mad:

randy, what version is the software on your box? I wonder if this is more of a localized thing, as I also use the optical out and haven't had any difficulties at all with it. Have you tried having AT&T swap for a different box?

noob:

1. None that I've seen. Definitely no weather effects.

2. Only the DVR box itself can pause live TV. Yes there are plans to add it, but no timeline as of yet.

3. It's generally accepted that CAT-5 is better, although I have done A/Bs until my eyes bled and did not notice any difference. Keep in mind these are digital streams so they're not as sensitive to interference as your cable signal is.

4. Not at all. The DVR software is great. It's very similar to Windows Media Center in operation, and the functionality to program it from the AT&T site is a huge plus for me

5. I have not heard about this, though we are 2100' away and receive 2 HD streams without any problem.

6. AFAIK your internet access is a separate part of the streams, so they operate independently of each other. Not as though there is one bandwidth "pool" they both pull from.

7. Every TV must have a receiver, your main DVR is included, and each secondary box is $5/mo.

My advice to anyone considering switching from cable is, GO FOR IT! The worst thing that could happen is you turn the stuff back in and go back to cable. That's the beauty of not having a contract.

Anyone have any experience using a Windows Media Center box as a DVR for a standard UVerse box? From what I have seen, there is the issue of not getting the guide data necessary and I don't know if its possible or not for the remote blaster to work with the box.

Just wondering. Today is install day, so thoughts are swimming around my head at a furious pace.

randy, what version is the software on your box? I wonder if this is more of a localized thing, as I also use the optical out and haven't had any difficulties at all with it. Have you tried having AT&T swap for a different box?
Impala, Any help would be appreciated as ATT has failed to solve it.

-Current firmware: I assume the firmware is this # 1.6.5686.1 in my system settings. Let me know which # it is if that's not it.

-I have swapped out the box with another without any change to the issue.

-I have swapped out the optical cable without any change.

-I have tried changing the physical input to the receiver w/o any change (confirmed by the fact that all my other optical in devices are working fine on all other inputs)

-Also tried test with the RCA stereo cables only and sound came in fine, but only w/2-channel audio which isn't acceptable for me.

ATT tech support has walked me through this and have finally offered no other help except to acknowledge that it seems to be a widespread issue with the hardware and that it's probably an issue they'll fix in the future. I have no idea when.
If you or anyone else has any other ideas I'd be very happy to resolve this issue. It's the only problem I have with this new service. I do have to say that every other aspect of the service, installation and subsequent tech support has been excellent.

So if the STB is hooked up through HDMI for both audio and video is there any audio drop issues? I appologize for not digging enought through the thread. Though a re-summary of when this issue occurs could be useful for those just starting to look into Uverse. I'm still awaiting the install in my town which I have been told will happen but just hasn't yet.

noob:

1. None that I've seen. Definitely no weather effects.

2. Only the DVR box itself can pause live TV. Yes there are plans to add it, but no timeline as of yet.

3. It's generally accepted that CAT-5 is better, although I have done A/Bs until my eyes bled and did not notice any difference. Keep in mind these are digital streams so they're not as sensitive to interference as your cable signal is.

4. Not at all. The DVR software is great. It's very similar to Windows Media Center in operation, and the functionality to program it from the AT&T site is a huge plus for me

5. I have not heard about this, though we are 2100' away and receive 2 HD streams without any problem.

6. AFAIK your internet access is a separate part of the streams, so they operate independently of each other. Not as though there is one bandwidth "pool" they both pull from.

7. Every TV must have a receiver, your main DVR is included, and each secondary box is $5/mo.

My advice to anyone considering switching from cable is, GO FOR IT! The worst thing that could happen is you turn the stuff back in and go back to cable. That's the beauty of not having a contract.

Thanks Impala!

Anyone have any experience using a Windows Media Center box as a DVR for a standard UVerse box? From what I have seen, there is the issue of not getting the guide data necessary and I don't know if its possible or not for the remote blaster to work with the box.

Just wondering. Today is install day, so thoughts are swimming around my head at a furious pace.
I am going to set it up at my new place in January, and will report back.

Impala, Any help would be appreciated as ATT has failed to solve it.

-Current firmware: I assume the firmware is this # 1.6.5686.1 in my system settings. Let me know which # it is if that's not it.

-I have swapped out the box with another without any change to the issue.

-I have swapped out the optical cable without any change.

-I have tried changing the physical input to the receiver w/o any change (confirmed by the fact that all my other optical in devices are working fine on all other inputs)

-Also tried test with the RCA stereo cables only and sound came in fine, but only w/2-channel audio which isn't acceptable for me.

ATT tech support has walked me through this and have finally offered no other help except to acknowledge that it seems to be a widespread issue with the hardware and that it's probably an issue they'll fix in the future. I have no idea when.
If you or anyone else has any other ideas I'd be very happy to resolve this issue. It's the only problem I have with this new service. I do have to say that every other aspect of the service, installation and subsequent tech support has been excellent.
Yeah I have heard about the problem, but have yet to experience it myself. How long have you had U-verse? I have only had it about six months so I'm wondering if newer installs have newer box versions or something. Will check your SW version against mine when I get a chance.

So if the STB is hooked up through HDMI for both audio and video is there any audio drop issues? I appologize for not digging enought through the thread. Though a re-summary of when this issue occurs could be useful for those just starting to look into Uverse. I'm still awaiting the install in my town which I have been told will happen but just hasn't yet.
Dolby Digital audio does not work through HDMI at this time. That is the main issue most people have. AFAIK they are working to implement a fix.

Ok but then I'd just switch to using Component for the video (I assume you can get HD 1080i through it like I did with my Comcast SA8300HD) and either a Coax (SPDIF) or Toslink (optical) for digital audio.

With that setup is there any issues with Dolby Digital audio? I really hope that their isn't but I'm a bit confused with some of the discussion. Fortunately I have the option to setup with either HDMI (which has the issue) or the Component video and digital audio hookup.

Thanks for the info. (oh and it's post #800 for me! I see Impala just got there too!)

AT&T Customers Connect Faster With New 18 Mbps U-verse High Speed Internet Service

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081106/aqth518.html?.v=28

AT&T Customers Connect Faster With New 18 Mbps U-verse High Speed Internet Service

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081106/aqth518.html?.v=28

Methinks it's time to upgrade my Internet service! :D

Only $10 more than the previous top speed of 10, not bad. I wonder if the other tiers will drop in price any.

Well, I am fully installed now. Only complaints so far is that I was promised 2HD and 2SD streams and I am not getting it. Supposed because of my distance they had to bump me down to the lower level bit. Guy gave me a number to call to complain about that since I am only getting 1HD and 3SD streams at once. Hopefully I can get something out of them to help with the disappointment and hopefully they will figure out something in the future to help fix this with people with the problem.

I am not getting some of the channels, however, like FBN HD, MGM HD, Smithsonian HD, PG HD (whatever that is), HMC HD. It says I am not subscribed to them. Is that not part of U200? Actually, thinking about it, they probably aren't. They are probably U300.

Well, I am fully installed now. Only complaints so far is that I was promised 2HD and 2SD streams and I am not getting it. Supposed because of my distance they had to bump me down to the lower level bit. Guy gave me a number to call to complain about that since I am only getting 1HD and 3SD streams at once. Hopefully I can get something out of them to help with the disappointment and hopefully they will figure out something in the future to help fix this with people with the problem.

I am not getting some of the channels, however, like FBN HD, MGM HD, Smithsonian HD, PG HD (whatever that is), HMC HD. It says I am not subscribed to them. Is that not part of U200? Actually, thinking about it, they probably aren't. They are probably U300.

That's weird; I get the 2/2. Perhaps they are still rolling out it throughout the city. I'm missing the same channels you are, out of the new ones added. Can only assume they are U300.

AT&T is capping their bandwidth usage I hear, following in Comcast's footsteps. Wonder if that includes Uverse service.

Got something in the mail that we get 4 free days of U400 later in November. Fun!

I am not getting some of the channels, however, like FBN HD, MGM HD, Smithsonian HD, PG HD (whatever that is), HMC HD. It says I am not subscribed to them. Is that not part of U200? Actually, thinking about it, they probably aren't. They are probably U300.

Those channels (and their SD equivalents) are not available on U-200. You need to upgrade to a higher tier to pick those up. MGM HD and Smithsonian HD are part of the upcoming Premium HD tier, along with Universal HD. That's why those two aren't accessible.

Those channels (and their SD equivalents) are not available on U-200. You need to upgrade to a higher tier to pick those up. MGM HD and Smithsonian HD are part of the upcoming Premium HD tier, along with Universal HD. That's why those two aren't accessible.
Ok, so how about NASA TV? It shows on the information screen that it should be available as is another (I think Outdoor TV or something like that), but it tells me that it is not. Is it one of those 300 or up channels too? Seems to me something like NASA TV that they want EVERYONE to get free of charge should be viewable by me.

Yeah I have heard about the problem, but have yet to experience it myself. How long have you had U-verse? I have only had it about six months so I'm wondering if newer installs have newer box versions or something. Will check your SW version against mine when I get a chance.
here's a good link that looks to explain the audio issue and it's fix scheduled for next year:
http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&thread.id=3228&view=by_date_ascending&page=3

I'm noticing that there are some channels missing for me from the 30 new HD channels that got added on the 4th. Main thing I noticed was a few of the HD FSN's. I guess it must be a slow rollout around Little Rock for those. And on the FSN's in HD, are they usually dark until something special gets put on it? Its just odd to go from DirecTV where the HD version of the FSN is always on to this and see the HD FSN channels say "Off Air".

AT&T is capping their bandwidth usage I hear, following in Comcast's footsteps. Wonder if that includes Uverse service.


I think it only applies to their low entry tier. The 15-20 dollar a month DSL. The cap discussions were all related to it.

I think it only applies to their low entry tier. The 15-20 dollar a month DSL. The cap discussions were all related to it.
From the stories I saw and heard, the caps are starting out in Reno, NV first as a test, then, if it works out, rolled out in other locations. Aside from that, the low end is getting a cap at like 20GB I think while the higher levels are going to have a cap of 150GB. This is ridiculous to me because even Comcast's cap is 250GB.

Anyone here have issues with HDMI crushing blacks?

If I use component cables I get much more shadow detail, however, I also see much more grain & compression artifacts (i.e. a worse picture). The picture also slightly washes out which I can fix by adjusting my TV.

With an HDMI cable I can not adjust either the Picture or Brightness settings on my TV enough to get the shadow detail I see with component cables.

I made sure the TV had the same exact settings for the HDMI & Component inputs. Is this a known issue with the AT&T Uverse set top boxes?

I do not believe this is an issue with Panasonic Plasma's as I get great shadow detail with my HD-DVD player (I tried the same HDMI input).

Any info would be appreciated!

Does anyone else have issues with white backgrounds not rendering correctly? The image tears and blinks and divides. I'm on component cables (since HDMI isn't up to par on this box). I've only seen one other person who described a similar issue. It happens at the end of many commercials, throughout the entire Apple Switch ads, and often during white fades of a show.

P.S. Disappointed by NASA TV being in U300, too.

P.P.S. To the HDMI post above, the HDMI connection is generally considered FUBAR all around. Steer clear until a fix, IMO.

From the stories I saw and heard, the caps are starting out in Reno, NV first as a test, then, if it works out, rolled out in other locations. Aside from that, the low end is getting a cap at like 20GB I think while the higher levels are going to have a cap of 150GB. This is ridiculous to me because even Comcast's cap is 250GB. Full test cap details can be found at this link:

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/More-Specifics-On-ATTs-Cap-Plans-98907

Reports are that only Reno and one more market will be involved in this test this year. A nationwide implementation is not certain, but seems likely since the AT&T website is already being modified to allow people to monitor their usage amounts. I was going to immediately jump to UVerse once the VRAD is turned on in my area (should happen in the coming months), but this development has me very hesitant now. I swore that I would never use Charter as an ISP, but I will if they are my only uncapped option.

Their caps are insanely low. comeon, 150GB??????? most people will use that up or most of it pretty easy.

You wanna hear something really messed up? I had to be bumped down to the lower level service because I am right at 3000' from the VRAD that serves the houses around here. Well, the biggest bitch about that is the fact that there is ANOTHER VRAD 800 feet away from my house!!!!!!!! If they would bother running a new run or something from that VRAD to my house, I could get the 2HD and 2SD streams they promised me! I am really pissed about that. They really need to fix that or else I won't stick around as a U-Verse customer.

EDIT: Well, a U-Verse TV customer anyway. The Internet part is still pretty on par speed wise with Comcrap.

Some insider info for Uverse users.

The new Max 18 package is a $10 upgrade from those on Max 10 currently. As a promo you will receive a $10 a month credit for 12 months when going from Max 10 to Max 18, making it free for a year.

Vdsl2 is on the horizon, dual dedicated pairs to the prem, line speed of 100megs at 1500 feet, new profile to push the service to 5000 feet, talk of 8 streams.

iNid is coming, this is a combined network interface device and residential gateway, makes installs easier in certain situations. Wireless set top boxes are coming sometime next year.

THDVR will be getting an update that allows recordings to be scheduled from any box, and you'll be able to delete a program from any box also. Pausing live tv from any box will come in later update.

People seem to be confused about the 2 hd 2 sd feeds vs 1 hd and 3 sd feeds. It all comes down to wire feet. If you are within 3000 feet of the vrad, then you will most likely get 2/2, beyond 3000 feet the signal degrades and we drop the profile to 1/3. The 2/2 profile operates at 25megs, 10megs dedicated for internet, and 15megs for tv services, the 1/3 is a 19meg speed, with 10 for internet and 9 for tv services. Lately I have been seeing customers who only have 1 sd tv getting set to the 19meg profile regardless of their distance from the vrad.