does anyone on here exclusively receive their tv from ota...meaning no charter, satellite, e* or d*? I'm not just talking hd either...who uses ota only?

I don't now - I did a couple years back. Put my DirecTV account on hold and went pure OTA. After about 4 months I went back to DirecTV - just not enough quality content for me. I missed some of the documentaries and sports.

Let's talk broadcasting innovation. CNBC has announced plans to provide "CNBC HD+" later this year, without any of the inconvenient effort or new spending that is normally associated with HD broadcasting.

How do they plan on pulling this off? Simple -- they have no intention of delivering any live HD programming.

http://www.isfforum.com/Video-Savant/Broadcast-and-Pay-TV/CNBC-HD+-Is-False-Advertising.html

It seems to clearer and clearer that NBC is leaning in a decidedly anti-HD direction. :rolleyes:

The CNBC fake HD story is all the more ironic considering its upcoming competition, Fox Business Network, will be doing real HD immediately upon launch.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6479032

Let's talk broadcasting innovation. CNBC has announced plans to provide "CNBC HD+" later this year, without any of the inconvenient effort or new spending that is normally associated with HD broadcasting.


All I can say is Wow! :eek:

Look at this buffoon:


"What we did was take a very nontraditional approach to HD," says Steve Fastook, CNBC vice president of technical and commercial operations. "It would be relatively easy for me to replace all the cameras, make the studios all hi-def and be all happy. But it doesn't give viewers anything different than what's on CNBC [in the traditional world]."

Hmm... lets see. It would be real easy for me to turn on your programming, watch the programming, provide your station ratings, and we can all be happy! But lets try the non-traditional approach - you spend the money, you broadcast this joke, and I won't watch. Lets see how the non-traditional approach works for you... :rolleyes:

Chris

1) E* people, how do the HD locals look compared to OTA? I've read many times that D*'s are nearly indistinguishable (guess that applies to St. Louis also?), but not much about the Dish side. And did those problems I was reading about here with blocking, etc. on a couple channels a month or so ago get fixed, or has it been ongoing?



I was quite vocal, but after better aiming and a new receiver, I am very happy with E* local satellite HD vs. OTA. OTA might be just a tiny bit better but the difference is moot unless I do a direct A-B comparison. Keep in mind satellite is a rebroadcast, so it can't possibly look better than OTA. Only AS GOOD in a perfect world. Also, I like the fact that the higher MPEG4 compression allows me to store many more hours on both my internal hard drive and my USB drive. OTA HD file sizes are a beast.

On a separate note, did anyone watch the Emmys last nite on Fox? I didn't notice a single glitch OTA. I'm hoping they finally nailed their reliability problems. Only time will tell though. Just in time for the new season (I hope!)

Yes, they quietly cleaned it up sometime during the last few weeks. I haven't noticed as man blocking artifacts, either.

Finally.

On a separate note, did anyone watch the Emmys last nite on Fox? I didn't notice a single glitch OTA. I'm hoping they finally nailed their reliability problems. Only time will tell though. Just in time for the new season (I hope!)
Lewis Black nailed it :D

It looked fine to me also, though I don't recall if I watched it SAT or OTA, I was flipping between receivers, watching the game and the Emmy's.

Moman--is that FF/REV jerky issue ironed out on your 622?

On a separate note, did anyone watch the Emmys last nite on Fox? I didn't notice a single glitch OTA. I'm hoping they finally nailed their reliability problems. Only time will tell though. Just in time for the new season (I hope!)

Anyone watch Prison Break tonight? If there's no glitches there, then I'd say problem solved. Haven't seen it yet so can't comment myself.

Reason I didn't see it was I was catching up on the last few episodes of Smallville. Season finale on KPLR was awful. Sync was okay this time, but more macroblocking and other assorted picture glitches than KTVI on its worst day. Too bad, 'cause it was a fantastic season finale... looks like Bizarro has come to Smallville! Can't wait for the premiere (anyone know if KPLR has fixed *its* problems?)................................

Anyone watch Prison Break tonight? If there's no glitches there, then I'd say problem solved. Haven't seen it yet so can't comment myself.

I haven't watched it yet, but I also forgot to record both OTA and 88 on D* so I could compare. Anyway, I won't be able to watch until Wednesday at the earliest and I'll report back after I do.

I woke up this morning to the following picture of the display on my Denon 2307. I can't get it to change. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tim

Haven't fully watched it yet, but I did edit the commercials out of last night's Prison Break premiere (recorded OTA with my Fusion card). Bit rate was 13.1mbps and file size after editing was 4.01 gigs. That's a LOT better than several of the last eps of 24 back in May (less than 9mbps and 2.9gig files). Didn't see any glitches, either. I'd say things just might be looking up at KTVI!

I woke up this morning to the following picture of the display on my Denon 2307. I can't get it to change. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tim

Do you have it set to XM input without XM?

Do you have it set to XM input without XM?

If I do, I don't know how I did it.

It works fine for the TV, I have sound and picture, just nothing on the display.

Tim

Did you yank the power yet?

Did you yank the power yet?

What-e-said, what-e-said.......the on/off switch can solve many problems were micoprocessors are involved.

Walt

I've turned it on and off, but have not "yanked the power". I will try that tonight.

Tim

Not sure if this thread is in the right area: I am looking for an independent Crestron programmer in the St. Louis metro area to program a Crestron ST-1550C wireless touchpanel and ST-CP controller.
I want to operate av only, no lights or drapes/shades,.
Thanks for any info.

I've turned it on and off, but have not "yanked the power". I will try that tonight.

TimWith many modern units the power switch is just a sleep switch and doesn't fully remove power from the system. Sometimes the microprocessor just needs a cold reboot (i.e. yank da cable).

does anyone on here exclusively receive their tv from ota...meaning no charter, satellite, e* or d*? I'm not just talking hd either...who uses ota only?

Yeah, I'm at the in-laws while my kitchen is being remodeled, so no dish right now...OTA only for the past few months, with at least a month to go :(

-Matt

Yeah, I'm at the in-laws while my kitchen is being remodeled, so no dish right now...OTA only for the past few months, with at least a month to go :(

-Matt

You da man, Matt. Thanks for coming through with the car. My nephew thanks you. The truck he borrowed to get him through until he could find a car is a real gas guzzler.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you meet the nicest people here on the St. Louis thread of the AVS forum. :)

For anyone who's still interested, Buy.com is taking preorders for Windows Home Server. Price is $178 (ouch).

http://www.buy.com/prod/1pk-win-home-svr-win32-dsp-oei-dvd-cd-dvd-10-clt-kit-only/q/loc/105/205631289.html

Kinda glad I went with UnRaid instead.

I think UnRaid makes a lot more sense for archivers/collectors like us, Bob. I'm sure WHS may be easier to set up, but the big strike against it is that it mirrors everything. You lose half your hard drive storage space. For archivers, that's a huge. I think there are a lot of people out there who don't know that about WHS, and if they did, they'd think twice before adopting it.

This question is for Doug or anybody else who would know.
My dad just bought a 50" Samsung plasma-FPT 5084.
I would like to know if there are certain settings he should start with.
Is there really a break in time-How long. Have you seen this TV yet and what did you think of it.

Moman--is that FF/REV jerky issue ironed out on your 622?

Sorry, I don't recall reporting such an issue, but I have noticed it's not as smooth as it once was. Especially in reverse. Have you confused me with the other "MO" or am I just getting senile?

Yeah, I'm at the in-laws while my kitchen is being remodeled, so no dish right now...OTA only for the past few months, with at least a month to go :(

-Matt

are you able to watch OTA HD or do they just have the old analog?

see, my wife and I are recent parents and we kinda want to raise our daughter without cable/sat. Not just because we want her growing up doing more productive things than watching TV and developing ADHD as a result (:p), but also to make sure that we aren't distracted ourselves.

I'm not very old, I'm only 27, but I still grew up without cable, as did my wife, and I am sure most on here did as well.

It seems that what was originally the biggest advantage of cable (i.e. "CATV") was the ability to always get in clear reception. No snow, no aluminium foil, no "channel 2 doesn't come in right" type stuff.

Now with digital technology, you can get quality, clear, sharp television programming with DD for free.

At this point it becomes a "what will I miss" from sat...I know that at least half, if not more, of what we watch is network. If you toss out sports, I'm sure that only a small portion of viewing comes sat/cable channels.

I'm asking, mostly because I am curious if anyone else came to the conclusion that thanks to HD and digital technology, having a "service-free" home doesn't really mean what it did 10 years ago...

Actually, the in-laws don't even watch TV. I brought my TV over and hooked up an OTA antenna. With the way this season went, having only one Cardinals game a week wasn't a big deal, and there was little new on network stuff this summer. I'm missing my DVR more than anything...

As far as reception, there are still times I have to switch over to analog reception becasue of breakup on the digital channel.

I look forward to getting back into my home so i can enjoy MY sattelite, MY DVR, MY surround system, etc.

-Matt


are you able to watch OTA HD or do they just have the old analog?

see, my wife and I are recent parents and we kinda want to raise our daughter without cable/sat. Not just because we want her growing up doing more productive things than watching TV and developing ADHD as a result (:p), but also to make sure that we aren't distracted ourselves.

I'm not very old, I'm only 27, but I still grew up without cable, as did my wife, and I am sure most on here did as well.

It seems that what was originally the biggest advantage of cable (i.e. "CATV") was the ability to always get in clear reception. No snow, no aluminium foil, no "channel 2 doesn't come in right" type stuff.

Now with digital technology, you can get quality, clear, sharp television programming with DD for free.

At this point it becomes a "what will I miss" from sat...I know that at least half, if not more, of what we watch is network. If you toss out sports, I'm sure that only a small portion of viewing comes sat/cable channels.

I'm asking, mostly because I am curious if anyone else came to the conclusion that thanks to HD and digital technology, having a "service-free" home doesn't really mean what it did 10 years ago...

Why was the Elvis special last night on ABC not in HD? When I tuned from OTA to D* channel 86 it was. Anyone else notice that?

are you able to watch OTA HD or do they just have the old analog?

see, my wife and I are recent parents and we kinda want to raise our daughter without cable/sat. Not just because we want her growing up doing more productive things than watching TV and developing ADHD as a result (:p), but also to make sure that we aren't distracted ourselves.

I'm not very old, I'm only 27, but I still grew up without cable, as did my wife, and I am sure most on here did as well.

It seems that what was originally the biggest advantage of cable (i.e. "CATV") was the ability to always get in clear reception. No snow, no aluminium foil, no "channel 2 doesn't come in right" type stuff.

Now with digital technology, you can get quality, clear, sharp television programming with DD for free.

At this point it becomes a "what will I miss" from sat...I know that at least half, if not more, of what we watch is network. If you toss out sports, I'm sure that only a small portion of viewing comes sat/cable channels.

I'm asking, mostly because I am curious if anyone else came to the conclusion that thanks to HD and digital technology, having a "service-free" home doesn't really mean what it did 10 years ago...

In case you didn't know. One of the great things about sat receivers is the ability to block channels you don't want your Daughter to watch. I guess you have to ask yourself if not being able to see 50% of what you watch is going to bother you?

Scott

In case you didn't know. One of the great things about sat receivers is the ability to block channels you don't want your Daughter to watch. I guess you have to ask yourself if not being able to see 50% of what you watch is going to bother you?

Scott


that's true, but its not the content we are concerned about. It's about the hours.

I don't know if it would bother me...going without Cards and Blues games is crazy to me. I think I could do it. :eek:

This question is for Doug or anybody else who would know.
My dad just bought a 50" Samsung plasma-FPT 5084.
I would like to know if there are certain settings he should start with.
Is there really a break in time-How long. Have you seen this TV yet and what did you think of it.Duvy, as far as user settings, the best bet, particularly with any Samsung product, is to watch in Movie mode; above all, you want to avoid Dynamic, which really should be labeled "Showroom" mode, as it puts an emphasis on brightness and exaggerated color. Samsung's Movie mode settings tend to be at least relatively sane if not standard, and with some Samsung products that allow it (DLPs) Movie mode actually reigns in the color gamut width, which makes images much more accurate.

It is a good idea to observe a break-in period with any displays, and it's probably most important for phosphor-based displays such as CRT and plasma. I normally advise a pre-calibration break-in period of at least 100 hours before attempting calibration. That's probably not relevant for your dad (but if I'm wrong, you know where to find me :)), but the idea is two-fold -- one to develop some initial wear on the phosphors (they degrade very quickly early on and then much more slowly over time) and two to make sure that the TV is a keeper.

The other part of the pre-calibration break-in is to take the TV through at least a half dozen complete, start-up/warm-up/shutdown/cool down cycles, as this has the effect of exposing the various components to the extremes of normal operating conditions. TVs don't really get this exposure at the factory, so if they are going to fail, it's most common to happen early on, as going through these operating extremes will tend to expose any marginal components. This is mostly important so as to avoid spending money on calibration for something that may need to be repaired or returned. I do provide some protection on this for my customers, but there is still a minor additional cost if re-calibration were necessary after a service issue.

But even if the display isn't going to be calibrated, it's a good idea to take it through this break-in process. I would also advise trying to minimize viewing of images during the first 6 months where there are black bars on the sides or top/bottom. That's not to say you can't watch occasional programming with black bars, whether it's 4x3 standard-def or 2.35:1 movies, but you should try to limit this to no more than 20% of overall viewing.

The idea here is that you want to do everything you can to ensure even exercising of the phosphors across the entire panel. Think of it as "seasoning" the panel. Because of the way the phosphors degrade, once you have gotten past around 500 hours, the risk of developing "burn in" is significantly reduced. Of course, current generation plasma TVs are much more resistant to burn-in that models from 3 or 4 years ago, but it can still occur.

Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Samsung's Movie mode settings tend to be at least relatively sane if not standard, and with some Samsung products that allow it (DLPs) Movie mode actually reigns in the color gamut width, which makes images much more accurate.
I support that observation, with one difference: the picture on my Samsung 50" DLP looked good in Movie Mode for movies, but for news and sports I thought it was a bit too warm.

I created a Custom Mode that is about 2/3 of the way (in warmth) from Standard to Movie, and the bright colors on race cars look better. As I recall, I also reduced contrast in the Custom Mode, but not as much as Movie does.

I've turned it on and off, but have not "yanked the power". I will try that tonight.

Tim

Well?

The other part of the pre-calibration break-in is to take the TV through at least a half dozen complete, start-up/warm-up/shutdown/cool down cycles, as this has the effect of exposing the various components to the extremes of normal operating conditions.


Doug not sure I know excatly what you mean here. Do you mean just turninig it on and off? Have you heard anything good or bad about this TV.
Samsung FPT-5084.

Well?

Does, in a box waiting for UPS tell you anything?

The frustrating thing is that it is only 2 months old. BB said there is nothing they could since I didn't get their warranty. Why would I pay more for a warranty when the mfg's is 2 years? I might consider one when the mfg's is up but not in the beginning.

I'm contemplating just buying a new one and returning the old one.....shoot, did I just say that?

Does, in a box waiting for UPS tell you anything?

The frustrating thing is that it is only 2 months old. BB said there is nothing they could since I didn't get their warranty. Why would I pay more for a warranty when the mfg's is 2 years? I might consider one when the mfg's is up but not in the beginning.

I'm contemplating just buying a new one and returning the old one.....shoot, did I just say that?

What did DENON say? Just wondering in case something happens to mine.

Doug not sure I know excatly what you mean here. Do you mean just turninig it on and off? Have you heard anything good or bad about this TV. Samsung FPT-5084.

duvy,

The idea is to turn the TV on from a cold start, let it warm up all the way (figure on an hour though it may not actually take that long) and then turn it off and let it cool all the way down (figure another hour) before turning it on again.

I haven't seen the newest Samsung plasmas, but I have heard promising reports. In general, the cream of the crop for plasma in the past has been Panasonic followed by Pioneer, with everyone else lagging a good way behind. But as I say, I have heard really good buzz about the new Samsungs, but I haven't had a customer call about them and I haven't had a chance get my hands on one myself to check it out. I'm going to check one out next week, among a couple of other new displays I want to see.

What did DENON say? Just wondering in case something happens to mine.

That I should send it back to them. I pay shipping to them, they pay it back to me.

I'm dreading the shipping fee, those things are heavy.

They do have a local service center (Best Sound), but all they said they would do is send it in. Why bother dragging it to them and having to pick it up?

Tim

So they didn't say it was a bad board or anything?

Who is "they"?

Best Sound said they would do a cursory check for things like blown fuse, but said they would probably just send it in.

Denon has no idea until they get it.

Tim

duvy,

The idea is to turn the TV on from a cold start, let it warm up all the way (figure on an hour though it may not actually take that long) and then turn it off and let it cool all the way down (figure another hour) before turning it on again.

I haven't seen the newest Samsung plasmas, but I have heard promising reports. In general, the cream of the crop for plasma in the past has been Panasonic followed by Pioneer, with everyone else lagging a good way behind. But as I say, I have heard really good buzz about the new Samsungs, but I haven't had a customer call about them and I haven't had a chance get my hands on one myself to check it out. I'm going to check one out next week, among a couple of other new displays I want to see.

Doug, Thanks for your help. If pop mentions a calibration I will give him your name. If you hear anything good or bad about this TV I in the next 25 days (time to take it back) I would appreciate it. When we looked at the Samsung side by side with the new Panny the Samsumg just looked a little sharper and brighter. We did make adjustments to the TV's. Thanks again.

Who is "they"?

Best Sound said they would do a cursory check for things like blown fuse, but said they would probably just send it in.

Denon has no idea until they get it.

Tim

DENON. I would have thought they could have said, oh that....yeah that is
a bad board. No biggie, just wondering.

Well, I just watched the HD DVR recording of Monday's Prison Break and I didn't notice any problems with the OTA picture quality....no glitches :) Looks like KTVI might have gotten their act together.

I wish I already had another HDTV so I could check my old receiver and see if that is glitch-free too.

I think it's a pretty sure bet that Fox finally got its act together. I haven't noticed anything for a while now. No glitches, a higher bitrate - good news for the beginning of the fall season! And Bones and House are together again on Tuesday nights. I never could get into the CSI's, but I enjoy a medical mystery/comedy mix.

Don't know if most people here realize it, but HD DVD just added support for a 51GB triple layer HD DVD disc, erasing Blu-ray's final advantage. Of course, Blu-ray proponents are dismissing it as mere showmanship - forgetting perhaps that they made the larger disc size a key selling point when it favored Blu-ray. (Sony, meanwhile, is having issues getting even double layer Blu-ray yields very high. HD DVD yields are much higher.)

Also, Rupert Murdoch said (according to TVPredictions) that Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD because of better image quality - this despite the fact that the two formats use the same video codecs and HD DVD has some advantages when it comes to audio.

Don't know if most people here realize it, but HD DVD just added support for a 51GB triple layer HD DVD disc, erasing Blu-ray's final advantage. Of course, Blu-ray proponents are dismissing it as mere showmanship - forgetting perhaps that they made the larger disc size a key selling point when it favored Blu-ray. (Sony, meanwhile, is having issues getting even double layer Blu-ray yields very high. HD DVD yields are much higher.)

Also, Rupert Murdoch said (according to TVPredictions) that Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD because of better image quality - this despite the fact that the two formats use the same video codecs and HD DVD has some advantages when it comes to audio.

Not sure it's Blu's final advantage. I still think the 40MB/s vs 30MB/s data transfer rate is a huge advantage when it comes to providing hi-bitrate video/audio. They may not be pushing the envelope now, but to me, more headroom is better.

Dave

Does, in a box waiting for UPS tell you anything?

The frustrating thing is that it is only 2 months old. BB said there is nothing they could since I didn't get their warranty. Why would I pay more for a warranty when the mfg's is 2 years? I might consider one when the mfg's is up but not in the beginning.

I'm contemplating just buying a new one and returning the old one.....shoot, did I just say that?


I had an issue with my 2807 which I bought from UE without the extended warrenty. After 6 months I lost video upconversion over HDMI. I sent it to Denon, got it back 3 weeks later and it still didn't work. They sent me prepaid shipping to send it back a second time. Antoher 3 weeks and I have my 2807 back working fine.

I am also now rethinking the extended warrenty issue.

Dave

No issues on the new show "Back to You," either. 12mpbs bit rate and almost 2 gigs in file size after editing (for a half hour show). Thumbs up to KTVI, finally!

I'll be interested in whether KPLR has fixed its issues by next week, too........

I am also now rethinking the extended warrenty issue.

Dave

I find it totally unaccectable that we are contemplating a Big Box extended warranty, because the mfg is not stepping up!

No issues on the new show "Back to You," either. 12mpbs bit rate and almost 2 gigs in file size after editing (for a half hour show). Thumbs up to KTVI, finally!

I'll be interested in whether KPLR has fixed its issues by next week, too........

I missed that show. I thought it aired next week. What did you think of it?

Not sure it's Blu's final advantage. I still think the 40MB/s vs 30MB/s data transfer rate is a huge advantage when it comes to providing hi-bitrate video/audio. They may not be pushing the envelope now, but to me, more headroom is better.

Dave

I don't think as long as we're talking about our current HD system that HD DVD's more limited bitrate will be an issue. Even with a lossless audio track, it's hard to imagine film titles that will need a video bitrate high enough to exceed what HD DVD can do. If you need a video bitrate that high, you're not going to get much content on a 50GB (Blu-ray or HD DVD) disc to start with - probably not enough for a 2-hour movie, even without extras.

I don't think this argument falls in the same category as "640K of RAM will be enough for anybody." If the relative bitrates become an issue, we're talking about needing a storage medium that will exceed both Blu-ray and HD DVD's capacities.

I don't think as long as we're talking about our current HD system that HD DVD's more limited bitrate will be an issue. Even with a lossless audio track, it's hard to imagine film titles that will need a video bitrate high enough to exceed what HD DVD can do. If you need a video bitrate that high, you're not going to get much content on a 50GB (Blu-ray or HD DVD) disc to start with - probably not enough for a 2-hour movie, even without extras.

I don't think this argument falls in the same category as "640K of RAM will be enough for anybody." If the relative bitrates become an issue, we're talking about needing a storage medium that will exceed both Blu-ray and HD DVD's capacities.

Those are both peak bit rates and not constant....Just a clarification for those that don't know....(not aimed at you Joe, just easier to quote you because you were more recent)

Those are both peak bit rates and not constant....Just a clarification for those that don't know....(not aimed at you Joe, just easier to quote you because you were more recent)

Understood. Virtually all commercial titles will use variable bit rate (VBR), because it's so much more efficient that constant bit rate (CBR) encoding. With titles that use the VC1 codec, I haven't seen any HD DVD title so far that has had a problem with typically difficult Hollywood shots, such as ones with fast motion, explosions (i.e. lots of inter frame changes). It's these types of shots that demand a higher peak bit rate. I just don't see Blu-ray's 40mbps peak rate as a huge advantage. I could create in Photoshop and Premiere a video that would exceed the peak bit rate of both HD DVD and Blu-ray, but that kind of video would never be seen in real world movie making.

Understood. Virtually all commercial titles will use variable bit rate (VBR), because it's so much more efficient that constant bit rate (CBR) encoding. With titles that use the VC1 codec, I haven't seen any HD DVD title so far that has had a problem with typically difficult Hollywood shots, such as ones with fast motion, explosions (i.e. lots of inter frame changes). It's these types of shots that demand a higher peak bit rate. I just don't see Blu-ray's 40mbps peak rate as a huge advantage. I could create in Photoshop and Premiere a video that would exceed the peak bit rate of both HD DVD and Blu-ray, but that kind of video would never be seen in real world movie making.

I thought I saw these as average with peaks of 36 (HD-DVD) and 54 (Blu)

I guess I'm looking forward to when they start using PIP, etc for showing storyboards etc, and figured the extra bandwidth would come in handy.

Dave

I think you're right about the peak bit rates - I'll have to check it. Still, even with extra features, the HD DVD transfer rate ought to be able to handle very demanding content. I doubt it will ever become a serious issue with either format.

I missed that show. I thought it aired next week. What did you think of it?

Far as "Back to You" goes, if you liked Kelsey Grammer as Frasier, you'll like Back to You too. Instead of a pompous psychiatrist, he plays a slightly less pompous newscaster. I won't be archiving every episode like I do most action/scifi shows, but I'll set the DVR for it every week.

For anyone like me who have been wavering on adding additional storage to their HR20 this week BB has the Seagate FreeAgent 750GB external drive on sale for 199. Just got mine tonight and I'm ordering the cable online. Anyone know the connectors type on the esata cable (LL, LI, or II) needed off the top of their head. I can't get to the reciever and the HD to check until I get the little ones to bed.

For anyone like me who have been wavering on adding additional storage to their HR20 this week BB has the Seagate FreeAgent 750GB external drive on sale for 199. Just got mine tonight and I'm ordering the cable online. Anyone know the connectors type on the esata cable (LL, LI, or II) needed off the top of their head. I can't get to the reciever and the HD to check until I get the little ones to bed.You need an eSata to eSata cable. Newegg has them. Some don't work well, or have fit problems on the HR20. I bought the SIIG brand ones. They are a bit pricier, but work well and I figured hundreds of hours of recorded programming is worth s few extra bucks spent on cables.

You need an eSata to eSata cable. Newegg has them. Some don't work well, or have fit problems on the HR20. I bought the SIIG brand ones. They are a bit pricier, but work well and I figured hundreds of hours of recorded programming is worth s few extra bucks spent on cables.

Sorry I went to a site that had me a bit confused. The L type cable is SATA while the I type cable is eSATA so I need the II AKA eSATA to eSATA. Already got it on order from NewEgg.

Now from what I have seen on the site the external drive will "replace" the built in drive. What happens to the content I already have???

So....I'm watching the season premier of Don't Forget the Lyrics tonight, and after about the first 10 minutes, I realize FOX is doing it in HD this season.

Low budget game shows in HD...Sweet!
Now that's moving in the right direction! :)

Now from what I have seen on the site the external drive will "replace" the built in drive. What happens to the content I already have???

You won't have access to it as long as you're using the eSata drive. If you unplug the drive and reboot, your content on the internal drive will be available again.

What's the latest word on the DTV "two-tier" HD plans? Last I heard, the HD version of existing SD shows would continue as at present, but any channels offering stand-alone HD programming would be a new tier with new subscription costs.

What's the latest word on the DTV "two-tier" HD plans? Last I heard, the HD version of existing SD shows would continue as at present, but any channels offering stand-alone HD programming would be a new tier with new subscription costs.There will be an HD Extra package for 4.99. Current HD Access subs will get it free until Dec 15.

There will be an HD Extra package for 4.99. Current HD Access subs will get it free until Dec 15.When and what channels will be free until Dec 15? Is the new SAT functioning now? Sorry, if I missed this in an earlier post.

When and what channels will be free until Dec 15? Is the new SAT functioning now? Sorry, if I missed this in an earlier post.

Technically D10 is broadcasting. 498 started last night to confirm your setup works.

Rumors yesterday were that some of the HD would go live today, but now there are reports it may be the 29th or 30th. :(

The plan for the 4.99 fee is reported to be for all HD channels that don't have an SD counterpart like HDNET.

Mike

When and what channels will be free until Dec 15? Is the new SAT functioning now? Sorry, if I missed this in an earlier post.

Edit: Full list
HDNet, HDNet Movies, Universal, MGM, MHD, Smithsonian

Edit: Full list
HDNet, HDNet Movies, Universal, MGM, MHD, Smithsonian

Wasn't HDNet and HDNet Movies already part of the existing HD package?

Wasn't HDNet and HDNet Movies already part of the existing HD package?They are changing the whole thing. HD Access is just a switch to enable receiving HD channels, and doesn't include any specific channels per say. HD Extra will be the package that gives you HD channels that don't have a regular tier SD equivalent.

You won't have access to it as long as you're using the eSata drive. If you unplug the drive and reboot, your content on the internal drive will be available again.


Thanks for the info, that really stinks. I guess my Moxi had me spoiled the external drive was an add on not a replacement.
Good news is Newegg shipped the cable today so I should have it by Monday.

Hopefuly some good news on the DirecTV front. Article goes out of its way to point out this is NOT confirmed fact, BUT we could be seeing the end of HD Lite!

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-hd-discussions/108108-what-we-hearing.html

Hopefuly some good news on the DirecTV front. Article goes out of its way to point out this is NOT confirmed fact, BUT we could be seeing the end of HD Lite!

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-hd-discussions/108108-what-we-hearing.html

Hallelujah!!! Dish has to respond. I'm still a Dish subscriber, because I like being able to record all that MPEG4, but the main thing this means is that Dish will have to answer the challenge, hopefully when their new birds go up next year. Meanwhile, it's Dish's turn to hear the HDLite complaints. And they will hear them.

Either my eyes are playing tricks but my PQ does seem to be better with Direct today.I thought my mind was playing tricks but people at dbstalk are reporting better PQ also.I cant explain it but it does look better.

If anybody else is still up this late, DirecTV is testing National Geographic HD and Discovery HD in MPEG-4 on channels 9300 and 9301. This is apparently only going to be for a few hours, so I hope anyone interested reads this in time.............

Haven't been around much because I got a new toy.

http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/28259/2000810249995475097_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000810249995475097)

Are there any other riders here?

If anybody else is still up this late, DirecTV is testing National Geographic HD and Discovery HD in MPEG-4 on channels 9300 and 9301. This is apparently only going to be for a few hours, so I hope anyone interested reads this in time.............

So are you going to change your signature line this week :D

I take it you got them with no issues? They definitely are having authorization issues - I guess not to be unexpected when you have so many new channels being added, but definitely disappointing.

I ordered my 2nd HR20 yesterday. Supposed to be here on Tuesday. Waiting for my HR10 to "fail" ;) so I can get my 3rd HR20 from the service plan.

Chris

No authorization issues for me... both test channels came in fine and dandy. Kind of hard to gauge Discovery Channel's quality, though... they were running an SD show upconverted in 4x3.

I'd like nothing better than to be able to change my tagline. We'll see... (no guarantees I won't change it to a rant about the 30 second "slip")................

Haven't been around much because I got a new toy.

http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/28259/2000810249995475097_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000810249995475097)

Are there any other riders here?

I'm pretty sure women don't like to be referred to as toys, Scott, and does your wife know? :D

No authorization issues for me... both test channels came in fine and dandy. Kind of hard to gauge Discovery Channel's quality, though... they were running an SD show upconverted in 4x3.

I'd like nothing better than to be able to change my tagline. We'll see... (no guarantees I won't change it to a rant about the 30 second "slip")................

You'll find a lot of 4x3 upconverts on the regular Discovery HD channel. National Geographic HD tends to be a little soft of Dish.

I ordered my 2nd HR20 yesterday. Supposed to be here on Tuesday. Waiting for my HR10 to "fail" ;) so I can get my 3rd HR20 from the service plan.

Chris

No need to wait for it to "fail".

I had my first HR20 installed on Friday just for asking.

I got it free (even the $19.95 S/H was waived), got to keep my HR10 for another room, plus I got 12 months of the HD package for free and 3 months of Starz w/o having to renew my agreement (which I would have if they had asked anyway).

No need to wait for it to "fail".

I had my first HR20 installed on Friday just for asking.

I got it free (even the $19.95 S/H was waived), got to keep my HR10 for another room, plus I got 12 months of the HD package for free and 3 months of Starz w/o having to renew my agreement (which I would have if they had asked anyway).

First is easy - second is "interesting" - third is hard.

The first I got by using the "HD-Tivo" replacement program. The second goes in on Tuesday, which I got by negotiating down to a $150 cost with 12/mos of $10 service credit (already have 12 months no HD charges). So with the 2 $10 credits, and 2 HR20s, and a 2 year commitment there's not much leverage left for the desired 3rd HR20.

So - when I had the first one installed I moved the HD-Tivo to the bedroom and activated the service plan for $5/mo. In a month or so when the HD-Tivo "fails" I make the call, and a replacement HR20 magically appears on the doorstep - making #3.

So anyhow, thats what I meant by the HD-Tivo needing to fail ;)

Chris

Someone asleep at KMOV?

It's a shame at this point in the game we still have these problems.

Someone asleep at KMOV?

It's a shame at this point in the game we still have these problems.

OK, well at least it's not my equipment....I saw it too.

Usual mediocre PQ by KSDK.

At least it's in HD, unlike KMOV.

Best Buy has a Western Digital 1 TB SATA internal hard drive on sale this week for $259.99 ($90 off). That's a pretty good price for a 1 TB drive. I'm waiting for them to hit $100 before I reinvest, but that's not much more than I paid (per GB) for most of the 500 GB drives I'm using in my UnRaid servers.

I'm pretty sure women don't like to be referred to as toys, Scott, and does your wife know? :D

You know, after writing that I knew someone would go there. :p

It was too easy, but I couldn't resist.

Someone asleep at KMOV?

It's a shame at this point in the game we still have these problems.

Same with Shark. Dissapointing....... :mad:

I could not believe my eyes when I fired up my OTA recordings of Cold Case and Shark.:mad: Are these people stupid or what?:rolleyes: The new season launch and they forget to throw the switch. I deleted the recordings without watching. Now I'm going to be in trouble with the wife. She is a Cold Case fan.:eek:

It was a great football game for 3 quarters... four if you're a Dallas fan.

Walt

I could not believe my eyes when I fired up my OTA recordings of Cold Case and Shark.:mad: Are these people stupid or what?:rolleyes: The new season launch and they forget to throw the switch. I deleted the recordings without watching. Now I'm going to be in trouble with the wife. She is a Cold Case fan.:eek:

It was a great football game for 3 quarters... four if you're a Dallas fan.

Walt

I couldn't believe they forgot to flip the switch. How do we get them to figure this out????????????????????

BTW it was a good game for all FOUR quarters. :D

They are changing the whole thing. HD Access is just a switch to enable receiving HD channels, and doesn't include any specific channels per say. HD Extra will be the package that gives you HD channels that don't have a regular tier SD equivalent.

Last I heard, it was still unclear whether or not customers who've already had these channels would be "grandfathered" in or not.

D* has kept everyone in the dark so far about their plans for existing customers. But they've always let people keep their channels when they switch things around, so it would be kinda weird for them to not do that here.

It is true that new customers will have to pay for both "HD Access" and the new "package"...total of $14.98 a month.

I suppose its possible that older customers will get to keep HDnet, HDnet Movies and UHD...but not MGM, Smithsonian and MHD.

9300 and 9301 are up and working in the St.Ann area.

It is true that new customers will have to pay for both "HD Access" and the new "package"...total of $14.98 a month.


I know what you meant - but for clarity. You do not HAVE to pay $14.98 - only $9.99. If you want the additional channels thats where the extra charge (4.99) comes in. But for the majority of DirecTV HD channels - the charge is $9.99.

In fact, Dish would probably have me as a customer today if they would have separated the VOOM channels from their standard HD channels. I didn't like the idea of paying $20 for HD. I for one most likely will NOT get the HD Extra package (if/when there is a charge for it).

Chris

9300 and 9301 are up and working in the St.Ann area.

Yes - 9300/9301 are back up for testing. DBSTalk is running a survey where they want the receiver, software version and status of the 5 test channels.

498 - D10 test
480 - BBC test (odd)
481 - BBC test (even)
9300 - HD Test
9301 - HD Test

kSDk comes crashing out of the fall television season gate in finely tuned, midseason form.

"Chuck" debuts with black bars -- ALL THE WAY AROUND.

Great job, guys!

kSDk comes crashing out of the fall television season gate in finely tuned, midseason form.

"Chuck" debuts with black bars -- ALL THE WAY AROUND.

Great job, guys!

Come on man up you should be watching prison break anyway.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

That's why I really wish *D could give us access to WNBC-HD from New York!

So is Heroes the same way?

(I'm not watching at the moment, giving myself a Supernatural mini-marathon to hope fully catch up before THAT show's season premiere)

BTW, the *D program guide shows the Chuck pilot will repeat Saturday night at 8.

Bad news is, it will still be on kSDk so they may very well screw it up again.

I flipped over a couple of times and it looked like "Heroes" was OK -- getting ready to watch it after the ballgame...

Argh! Fusion software puked and crashed when it was time to start recording CSI Miami.

Anybody here got suggestions for third party PVR software that will work with multiple tuner cards at once (I have two Fusion cards and plan on an HDhomerun in the future) and records in native transport stream format?

I'd try MediaPortal on this PC since I already use and like it on my HTPC, but it records in dvr-ms format... which I want nothing to do with.

Suggestions appreciated....

Thanks!

Yes - 9300/9301 are back up for testing. DBSTalk is running a survey where they want the receiver, software version and status of the 5 test channels.

498 - D10 test
480 - BBC test (odd)
481 - BBC test (even)
9300 - HD Test
9301 - HD Test

How have your guys' signals been on 103b?

Last week mine was all in the upper 80's/lower 90's...now its in the 60's? I believe the tp for the test channels was 70...that's still low, but I'm hoping they aren't at full power right now? :confused:

How have your guys' signals been on 103b?

Last week mine was all in the upper 80's/lower 90's...now its in the 60's? I believe the tp for the test channels was 70...that's still low, but I'm hoping they aren't at full power right now? :confused:

Mine have not changed. All low to high 90s and one 89.

Is it raining where you are?

Mine have not changed. All low to high 90s and one 89.

Is it raining where you are?

no it was last night. haven't checked yet today

I found this on an unrelated board I frequent...thought some of the fellow sports enthusiasts here may be interested.

NFL HD Replay (http://www.harris.com/NFL_VNR1.asx)

I found this on an unrelated board I frequent...thought some of the fellow sports enthusiasts here may be interested.

NFL HD Replay (http://www.harris.com/NFL_VNR1.asx)

Sweet, but all that technology won't help the Chargers win! :mad:

Scott

Sweet, but all that technology won't help the Chargers win! :mad:

Scott
If they secretly tap into, and feed it into their coaching booths, it may :D

First wave of channels launched at 5:00am central!

Got to all channels in guide.

Edit: tune to ch 77 for slide show of channels

D* web site has been updated.

The first of DIRECTV’s new HD channels have arrived: We’ve just added 21 new HD channels to our lineup. And there’s plenty more to come. In October, you’ll have over 70 of your favorite channels in HD — and up to 100 by the end of the year.

Another Edit:
265: A & E HD
282: Animal Planet HD
220: Big Ten HD
202: CNN HD
278: Discovery HD
206 / 73: ESPN HD
209 / 72: ESPN2 HD
70/501/509: HBO HD East
269: History Channel HD
76: HD Theater (was Discovery HD Theater)
79: HDNet
78: HDNet Movies
280: Learning Channel HD (TLC HD)
244: Movie Channel HD
212: NFL Network HD
284: Science Channel HD
538: SHO Too HD
71/537/543: Showtime HD
540: Showtime HD West
267: Smithsonian HD
519: Starz Comedy HD
520: Starz HD East
521: Starz HD West
522: Starz Edge HD
518: Starz Kids and Family
247: TBS HD
245 / 75: TNT HD
74: Universal HD
604: Versus HD / Golf Channel HD
362: Weather Channel HD

First wave of channels launched at 5:00am central!

....
244: Movie Channel HD
....

Is that supposed to be SciFi HD? That's scifi's channel number.

I guess I could check at D* Website, but I'm lazy.....or should that be 544?

Is that supposed to be SciFi HD? That's scifi's channel number.

I guess I could check at D* Website, but I'm lazy.....or should that be 544?Must be 544. SciFi channel at 244 is going HD next month.

Is that supposed to be SciFi HD? That's scifi's channel number.

I guess I could check at D* Website, but I'm lazy.....or should that be 544?


i just posted from a link. 244 is SciFi--SD. No SciFi HD until Oct.

No one has commented on the quality yet, so I will:

The new channels look fantastic. Comparing the "duplicates" that are MPEG2/MPEG4 it is easy to see the quality jump DirecTV has made. Lets hope they keep it.

What I noticed was the color depth, sharpness, and "noise" artifacting are all improved on the MPEG4. Blocking during fast movement appeared to be less on ESPN MPEG4 and I didn't see "grass crawl" either.

So, I look forward to continuing to turn off my SD channels and finally living in a quality HD world. I just hope we don't start seeing bit starving or resolution downgrades.

Chris

No one has commented on the quality yet, so I will:

The new channels look fantastic. Comparing the "duplicates" that are MPEG2/MPEG4 it is easy to see the quality jump DirecTV has made. Lets hope they keep it.

What I noticed was the color depth, sharpness, and "noise" artifacting are all improved on the MPEG4. Blocking during fast movement appeared to be less on ESPN MPEG4 and I didn't see "grass crawl" either.

So, I look forward to continuing to turn off my SD channels and finally living in a quality HD world. I just hope we don't start seeing bit starving or resolution downgrades.

Chris

I have been up all night hanging out in the DBS chat room. It was a lot of fun. Great bunch of guys.

The DBS Programming (http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=125) thread has individual discussion threads for each channel.

Such a good day....:)

CNN-HD is amazing!

What I noticed was the color depth, sharpness, and "noise" artifacting are all improved on the MPEG4. Blocking during fast movement appeared to be less on ESPN MPEG4 and I didn't see "grass crawl" either.

Chris

I'll correct myself here. The VBR must not have had a lot to fight with this morning when I was looking at ESPN. The "remapped" ESPN is currently still MPEG2. Must've been that 6am high from the new channels... :D

Does anyone know if today's Woot is a good deal or a decent TV? Sorry for the OT post.

Edit: It would be used for an infrequently used spare bedroom TV.

Does anyone know if today's Woot is a good deal or a decent TV? Sorry for the OT post.

Edit: It would be used for an infrequently used spare bedroom TV.

I vote "bad" for the TV.

Viewing angle - 140/125. Good is in the 170 range.
Contrast - 450:1. Really poor. Colors will likely seem washed out. 1000:1 is low, 5000:1 is good. 10000:1 or more is better. (its not that simple, but 450 seems really low)
Response Time - 16ms. Abysmal. You are likely to see "blur" on even moderate movement.
Connectivity - no HDMI.
Price - 299. Great price, but I wouldn't expect much from the TV.

Thanks Chris. I have been looking for something good and economical to replace an ancient 20 inch Sansui. Biggest PIA is that we can't even get the Dish remotes to program for the TV and the Sansui remote does not work well. Oh yeah and did I say it is an ancient 20 inch Sansui, lol.

With direct and the new hd channels are the St.louis locals mpeg 4 or 2?I must say the new hd channels are outstanding.

The Sat locals have been mpeg 4 all along. The only way to get mpeg2 is to get them OTA.
Dug

The Sat locals have been mpeg 4 all along. The only way to get mpeg2 is to get them OTA.
Dug

Anyone with the HR20 - do you setup your recordings for the Mpeg4 D* locals, or OTA locals?

I'm assuming that if I setup a network recording for OTA, it's going to take up more space on the hard drive compared to DirecTV's mpeg4 version? If so, how much space are we talking about? I'm debating if I should go through and re-do about 25 series recordings and switch them to the mpeg4 instead of OTA...

I still have them setup for OTA on my HD Tivo, in case of a bad storm where I'd have rain fade on the mpeg4 version from D*.

Suggestions?

Hello. Long Time Lurker. With the rollout of the new HD Channels on Direct TV, It has come time to upgrade my Dish (from the 3-lnb) and Tivo Unit. I just got off the phone with Customer Service, who is trying to get me to pay $300 to switch to the DirectTivo. :mad: I currently lease my Tivo unit and when I leased it was told when I decide to switch that because I was leasing that the upgrade would be free.:) From months to years of reading, I remember a Rentention # being posted on here. Would anyone happen to have it handy? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BigDog,
For retention, just ask for them when you get to first level CSR or say cancel service.

JDiehl,
I have recorded all my big 4 network shows from satellite. The only ota recording I do is on 11 and 9. I couldn't compare the space issue though.

Dug

BigDog,
For retention, just ask for them when you get to first level CSR or say cancel service.

JDiehl,
I have recorded all my big 4 network shows from satellite. The only ota recording I do is on 11 and 9. I couldn't compare the space issue though.

Dug

Mr. Bester,
I was able to get the $300 waived, but, I had to pay the $19.99 s/h. Not free but beat the alternative. I'm set-up for 8-12 Friday a.m. Looking forward to the new channel line-up. Thanks for your reply and help. Another quick question does the multi-switch need to be replaced with the new dish? I have a HDTivo, a SDTivo, & (5) regular receivers. Thanks again.

Mr. Bester,
I was able to get the $300 waived, but, I had to pay the $19.99 s/h. Not free but beat the alternative. I'm set-up for 8-12 Friady a.m. Looking forward to the new channel line-up. Thanks for your reply and help. Another quick question does the multi-switch need to be replaced with the new dish? I have a HDTivo, a SDTivo, & (5) regular receivers. Thanks again.

The installation will replace the multiswitch with a WB68 (8 outputs).

Chris

Has there been any talk as to what channels are gonna be coming in each wave? (October, & by the end of the year)

Anyone with the HR20 - do you setup your recordings for the Mpeg4 D* locals, or OTA locals?

I'm assuming that if I setup a network recording for OTA, it's going to take up more space on the hard drive compared to DirecTV's mpeg4 version? If so, how much space are we talking about? I'm debating if I should go through and re-do about 25 series recordings and switch them to the mpeg4 instead of OTA...

I still have them setup for OTA on my HD Tivo, in case of a bad storm where I'd have rain fade on the mpeg4 version from D*.

Suggestions?


It should be about a 30% to 40% savings vs. OTA. But OTA will be marginally better quality. You could just go buy an eSata drive and get more space! :)

Chris

The installation will replace the multiswitch with a WB68 (8 outputs).

Chris

Budshark,
Thanks for the reply. When I spoke to the CSR, he wasn't sure and said to ask the installer. I figured someone here would know. Thanks again.

It should be about a 30% to 40% savings vs. OTA. But OTA will be marginally better quality. You could just go buy an eSata drive and get more space! :)

Chris

That's what I figured... I'd save some space, but give up some quality. I'll probably redo all of my series recordings for the mpeg4 channels as I'm probably going to be loading up on alot more HD movies now with five StarzHD channels.

For D* retention, just say "cancel" right when you call to the automated message.

You should be able to get a free HR20. I even got them to waive the $19.95 S&H and they threw in 3 months of Starz and 12 months of free HD access (normally $9.95).

First night with the new channels (I know, its a sickness)...

It sure is nice flipping through the guide and having so many HD channels! The "hide duplicate SD" feature is currently in the latest CE for the HR20 and should be making the rounds soon which will also be nice.

Overall I am impressed with the quality. Looking forward to more new channels. Someone asked what is "next"... here's the list:

BravoHD
Cartoon Network
Cinemax (E/W)
CNBCHD+ (Complete joke, please boycott)
Food Network
Fox Business
Fuse
FX
HBOHD West
HGTV
MGM
MHD
NBA
National Geographic
Sci-Fi
Speed
USA HD

And in Nov/Dec:
Bio.HD
CMT
MTV
Nick
Spike
VH1
CSTV
Tennis
The 101

First night with the new channels (I know, its a sickness)...

It sure is nice flipping through the guide and having so many HD channels! The "hide duplicate SD" feature is currently in the latest CE for the HR20 and should be making the rounds soon which will also be nice.

I just made use of the 2nd custom channel lineup. The 1st one is my normal one (channels I receive, minus the stuff I'll never watch). The 2nd one I made HD-only.

I found myself only using that guide last night. :)

Oh, all you mpeg 4 posers think you're so cool with all your HD channels. Like I care. BTW, what is Directv's #?

Scott

Budshark,
Thanks for the reply. When I spoke to the CSR, he wasn't sure and said to ask the installer. I figured someone here would know. Thanks again.

There is a checklist of installation tips over at DBS Talks. You can grab the PDF link from here:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67769 The list includes what equipment is needed.

Here is the number for the installer company: Premier, 800-210-0355

If you go here: http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=115 You will find a FAQ, Undocumented Tips & Tricks and more.

I just made use of the 2nd custom channel lineup. The 1st one is my normal one (channels I receive, minus the stuff I'll never watch). The 2nd one I made HD-only.

I found myself only using that guide last night. :)

I use both lists too. I did the same thing before the new channels and added the new ones to Custom 2 I will watch to it. Actually I renamed both Custom Lists and Custom 2 is labeled simply HD.

I'm happy for you guys, now that D* has entered the 21st century with a true HD product offering. When did this become a D*-only Forum? :D

When the charter people ran away :p

Has there been any talk as to what channels are gonna be coming in each wave? (October, & by the end of the year)

I realize BudShark answered your question, but D*'s site has the info posted there as well.

I realize BudShark answered your question, but D*'s site has the info posted there as well.

Mo & Budshark,
Thanks for the links and tips.

Someone may have mentioned it and I missed it, but did anyone notice all the Big Ten HD alternates on Dish now? Will they all be on for games? I know we got the alternates on the SD channels a few weeks ago, but I just noticed all the HD alts.

Someone may have mentioned it and I missed it, but did anyone notice all the Big Ten HD alternates on Dish now? Will they all be on for games? I know we got the alternates on the SD channels a few weeks ago, but I just noticed all the HD alts.

DISH?? They are still around? :D

Someone may have mentioned it and I missed it, but did anyone notice all the Big Ten HD alternates on Dish now? Will they all be on for games? I know we got the alternates on the SD channels a few weeks ago, but I just noticed all the HD alts.
I think you'll find the answers here. I'm not up for reading through all 23 pages again, and it's not like you don't have any spare time on your hands.:eek:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=89823

Bill,
I only wish they had uplinked 50 or so more. It's about time the industry gets to see a major leap in HD programming. The networks, affiliates, and cables have made it very clear of their move towards HD production, leaving the providers no choice but to figure a way to bring it to the consumers.

And, of course, we Dish subs, truly appreciate all of DirecTV's hard work. :)

Bill,
I only wish they had uplinked 50 or so more. It's about time the industry gets to see a major leap in HD programming. The networks, affiliates, and cables have made it very clear of their move towards HD production, leaving the providers no choice but to figure a way to bring it to the consumers.

And, of course, we Dish subs, truly appreciate all of DirecTV's hard work. :)

Competition is good. I'm like you. The more DISH gives it's subs, the better off DirecTV customers will be.

EDIT: Except for when one ups their fees, then the other follows.

Competition is good. I'm like you. The more DISH gives it's subs, the better off DirecTV customers will be.

EDIT: Except for when one ups their fees, then the other follows.
Is FSNMW-HD on DTV yet?

Is FSNMW-HD on DTV yet?

No, but occasionally they'll show a Cards game on FSNMW-HD via channel 95.

No, but occasionally they'll show a Cards game on FSNMW-HD via channel 95.
Anyone know why? I recall there being some discussion back when the sale of DTV/News Corp took place.

KSDKS forgetting to flip the hd switch happened on the office and er.....

KSDKS forgetting to flip the hd switch happened on the office and er.....


I think it might have been a network issue, during Earl the nightly news started up, then during office an Earl scene popped up. I was going to check the national HD programming thread though, it could very well be kSDk....

edit...It was definately kSDk, not network....freakin pos hd leader my @ss

Watching office off recording, suppose the whole damn thing is not in HD.

How many months till the mandatory digital? Suppose they will have an automatic monkey to flip the switch by then?

I enjoyed the news during Earl as well. Don't really care if network or local it is a major screw-up. Inexcusable.

Another disaster evening for KSDK-DT, the HD "leader".

What a joke.

PHONE:
Main Switchboard:
314-421-5055

Theres their number if anyone wants to call i emailed the engineering dept.

PHONE:
Main Switchboard:
314-421-5055

Theres their number if anyone wants to call i emailed the engineering dept.
dhummert@ksdk.gannett.com
Lead Engineer

What a disaster for NBC, season premier night for all these shows and they fud the HD broadcast. It's like watching ER in the stone age!

Yeah now they got the video fixed for HD, Lenos in HD WITH NO SOUND

While we're all complaining about local HD, anybody else notice how MUDDY the soundtrack of KPLR's Smallville was tonight? I know there's nothing wrong with my system because Jedi35 and I watched Monday's Heroes before tonight's Smallville, and Heroes was fine.

But at least Smallville was in sync, unlike the last several episodes of last season.

This was on the *D HR20, via OTA.

Yeah now they got the video fixed for HD, Lenos in HD WITH NO SOUND

As opposed to its usual two fifths of the sound (stereo flagged as 5.1 so the sound comes ONLY from the left and right front channels). :mad:

I sent an email to KSDK's lead engineer. I record episodes of The Office on my Series3 TiVo and my HD tuner on my Mac (for viewing later on the AppleTV or iPod).

It's a shame that we had to watch the premiere letter-boxed in a pillar box. It'll be unwatchable on the iPod.

It's a shame that we had to watch the premiere letter-boxed in a pillar box. It'll be unwatchable on the iPod.

We ended up using the screen format feature on the TV to zoom The Office and ER to fill the screen.

It looked pretty good when I squinted. Sorta like an upconverted SD DVD.

If anyone is having issues with the new Starz HD channels showing up with error 721 there is a thread on http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/108640-starz-hd-channels-channel-not-purchased-721-error-info.html
that explains how to get it fixed with the CSRs at DirecTV. I was on the phone for an hour with an HD specialist and he was about to give up and schedule a truck roll when I did a google search and found that thread. When I asked him to do what they suggested I was up and running 10 seconds later.

Yeah now they got the video fixed for HD, Lenos in HD WITH NO SOUND

The premier of Bionic Woman had a minute or so of no sound also. Do they actually have someone manually flipping switches between full screen/side bars, local audio/network feed audio ?!?!?! If so, they had better get someone who can stay awake on the job!

dhummert@ksdk.gannett.com
Lead Engineer

What a disappointment for the affected shows on NBC.

I just sent an email. Thanks for posting it.

The premier of Bionic Woman had a minute or so of no sound also. Do they actually have someone manually flipping switches between full screen/side bars, local audio/network feed audio ?!?!?! If so, they had better get someone who can stay awake on the job!

Yes they do. I was watching the football game the other night and they
didn't switch so I called and asked for engineering. As soon as engineering
got on the phone and I said Hi, he said...oops I see it...There ya go.

Yes they do. I was watching the football game the other night and they
didn't switch so I called and asked for engineering. As soon as engineering
got on the phone and I said Hi, he said...oops I see it...There ya go.

Amazing :confused:

If these guys were running an FM radio station, everything would be in mono!

KSDK continues to push the envelope.

Just wanted to post an update on the new 5 lnb install with the new Direct TV HD-DVR. I had an 8-12n appointment for this morning. The installer showed up at about 8:30 am. He switched out the dish on the roof, swapped the multi-switch, & installed the new DVR. Started checking out my channels and the new HD's and Movie packages were all there but no locals. He called Direct TV CSR had them switch the locals on and within seconds the locals were on. All in all it took him about an hour and a half. He leaves and I start messing around with new unit and now all of the new HD stations are coming up witha banner in the lower third stating "Channel not purchased (721)". I the call D* CSR did the usual restart, send the box a signal nothing, transferred to tech support, same routine as before, transferred to advanced tech support, the gal looks at my account to see what I have, realizes someone enterred my account info wrong, blows everything out, re-enters everything and boom everything worked. I didn't get a whole lot of time to play around with the unit, as I had to come into work. But what little I did I liked. The number one plus, so far, for me is the priority list. Moving season passes instantaneously to were you want them with no wait. I really loved my HDTivo and was reluctant to switch (as you can tell since I waited til' thwe last minute) but, as of right now even with minor headache in set-up I'm glad I did. Can anyone give an estimate as to when the complete guide will finish loading up? By the time I left, it had got thru today. So, I was able to get my stuff in for tonight. Also, they let me keep my HDTivo and I'm wanting to move it into my bedroom, were I already have an SDTivo. My question is this, The stuff that I have recorded on my HDTivo is recorded in HD. Unfortunately, at this time, I do not have a HD set in my bedroom. When I go to play back HD content to my SD TV is gonna go off the screen or is there some kind of a menu adjustment I have to make or is this even possible?

It should show up just fine, but letterboxed.
Dug

It should show up just fine, but letterboxed.
Dug

Dug,
That was the answer I was hoping for. I've still got an episode of Heroes, My Name Is
Earl, & The Office to catch up on. Thanks for responding so quickly.

I have a small issue when receiving OTA HD channels...(most noticebly KSDK 5)
I notice that during the national news when a commercial is shown for the local news, the sound gets static-e for a second while the switch is made from national to local broadcast. Same thing happens when they go back from local to national. It only lasts a second, but its very annoying (drives the wife nuts!)
I also notice this in the late evening when they go from the news to Jay Leno. Again, it only lasts a second. Other than that, everything looks and sounds fine.
Could this be from the fact that Im using a cheapo RCA indoor antenna?($12-$15)
Would a proper HD receiver clear this up?:confused:

Im new to HDTV, Ive only owned my Samsung LNT-4671f for about a month.
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me.

The number one plus, so far, for me is the priority list. Moving season passes instantaneously to were you want them with no wait. I really loved my HDTivo and was reluctant to switch (as you can tell since I waited til' thwe last minute) but, as of right now even with minor headache in set-up I'm glad I did. Can anyone give an estimate as to when the complete guide will finish loading up? By the time I left, it had got thru today. So, I was able to get my stuff in for tonight.

That's my #1 favorite feature so far as well (after having it for a week). The speed of everything is just awesome and it never hangs or has to think (and my season pass list is full with 50 shows).

As for how long it will take to fill the complete guide? Mine had the first day done in an hour or two, and most of the next week done in about 6-8hrs. Give it a good 24hrs to completely fill in for the next 7+ days though.

I have a small issue when receiving OTA HD channels...(most noticebly KSDK 5)
I notice that during the national news when a commercial is shown for the local news, the sound gets static-e for a second while the switch is made from national to local broadcast. Same thing happens when they go back from local to national. It only lasts a second, but its very annoying (drives the wife nuts!)
I also notice this in the late evening when they go from the news to Jay Leno. Again, it only lasts a second. Other than that, everything looks and sounds fine.
Could this be from the fact that Im using a cheapo RCA indoor antenna?($12-$15)
Would a proper HD receiver clear this up?:confused:

Im new to HDTV, Ive only owned my Samsung LNT-4671f for about a month.
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me.

Welcome!

What you'r hearing (that annoying static/popping noise) is exclusive to KSDK and there's nothing wrong with your equipment. It happens on all of my HD sets no matter if I'm watching OTA, on the DirecTV national KSDK feed, recorded or live, etc.... It's obviously an issue locally with KSDK. Yet another blackmark for the self proclaimed HD leader.

It's not totally exclusive to kSDk. KMOV does it too, though nowhere near as loud and nowhere near as annoying.

At work I've actually had a few people returning their new HDTV's because they think that kSDk glitch is something wrong with the TV. Took me a while to convince them they'd have that glitch no matter which TV they buy and no matter how many TV's they buy.

I sent an email to KSDK about not flipping the switch on ER and received the following back from the Director of Technology: Thank you for your inquiry. We experienced problems with our HD feed from the network yesterday evening and the problem has been corrected.


E-Mail : dhummert@ksdk.gannett.com | Phone : (314) 425-5347

I sent an email to KSDK about not flipping the switch on ER and received the following back from the Director of Technology: Thank you for your inquiry. We experienced problems with our HD feed from the network yesterday evening and the problem has been corrected.


E-Mail : dhummert@ksdk.gannett.com | Phone : (314) 425-5347

I'm surprised you got a reply. Perhaps you should hit REPLY and ask why they cannot seem to get the audio correct with Leno and any other show that is NOT in Dolby 5.1?

That's my #1 favorite feature so far as well (after having it for a week). The speed of everything is just awesome and it never hangs or has to think (and my season pass list is full with 50 shows).

As for how long it will take to fill the complete guide? Mine had the first day done in an hour or two, and most of the next week done in about 6-8hrs. Give it a good 24hrs to completely fill in for the next 7+ days though.

jdiehl,
When I got home from work last night eveything had been filled in on the guide. Didn't get quite as many season passes but close, 46 shows. If I had to complain about anything it's getting used to the ff/rew. I had the Tivo down. I guess this one will come with time.

Here's the text of the message I sent to KSDK the other day. Strangely, I *didn't* get a response. Usually, I would have been a bit more diplomatic in my comments, but being PC doesn't seem to help with Ch. 5.

"Dear Mr. Hummert,

Can I tell you how disappointed I was this past week with KSDK's failure to switch the digital signal to HD on numerous occasions? This was debut week for many of the new fall shows, and you forced us to watch them in upconverted, windowboxed SD. As more and more people buy HD sets, and as you promote yourselves as the HD leader in St. Louis, how can you justify being so careless? Someone in engineering was asleep at the wheel and you have alienated your HD viewers even more than in the past. One might expect that as time passes your HD service would get better. Instead, it's getting worse. You degraded your primary signal with a multicast weather subchannel of dubious value, and you apparently have no priority to see to it that you even provide an HD signal on a consistent basis. Have you ever thought of asking your viewers whether they'd rather have a weather channel or a higher quality HD signal on the main 5.1? If that decision is out of your hands, I can tell you that a very active core of KSDK viewers in St. Louis is upset with the dramatic negative impact multicasting has had on picture quality. Please feel free to pass that along up the chain at NBC.

It is not an exaggeration to say that HD on KSDK is a JOKE among HD enthusiasts in the St. Louis area. If you hop on the AVS Forum and look for the St. Louis thread, you will find more than enough comments to corroborate that statement. One of these days, we're going to get so frustrated that we're going to stage a demonstration to let others know how poor your committment to HD really is. It wouldn't be quite so bad if you didn't boast so strongly about being the HD leader. That makes the problems even harder to swallow.

Joe Clark"

I'm still up for a demonstration picket outside KSDK, if anyone is interested. Even a relatively small group, if we can get some other radio or TV stations to cover us, might help get their attention. e-mails don't seem to do it.

WOW! That was rather strong. While I agree with you completely, he probably just wrote you off and tossed the note into the trash. He's surely not going to show anyone at the station with authority what a crappy job his staff is doing. The "HD Leader" tag line was probably penned by a Marketing Puke that works for a PR firm in another state. Obviously, just lip service.

I know how to write PC. It just never seems to work. What I'd really like to do is follow up on the threat to stage a demonstration at the station. I've said that before. If anyone is interested, I'd be glad to help put together information about the problems and do a polite and informative picket - hopefully before it gets cold. That would be a way to get the attention of everyone at the station at the same time.

More tame and controlled than I would have been. Good job, Joe.
You should go on the Gannett Website, and forward the email to every @gannett.com email address you can find....Directors, other Gannett-owned broadcast stations and newspapers, both locally and across the country, etc. While you're at it, send it to the local competitors as well.
See if we can get ksdk's peers to see what a sham the actually are.
I'm sure they all talk among themselves.

Have you guys noticed any recent degradation of the Channel 5 HD video via satellite? Lately, I've noticed artifacts cropping up during sudden scene changes and/or camera changes. It doesn't happen all the time, but I noticed it last night on Vegas a few times and also nightly on Leno. Just some quick, minor breakup. I'm not sure this is a KSDK issue or an E* issue as I only tend to notice this when I watch it on E*. I have not seen this OTA, but the video just looks more bit-starved than the other locals on satellite. So I'm not sure if the cause is by E* or just the sub channel somehow interfering with the main channel when E* receives the signal.

moman,

I've been seeing the same thing on kSDk recently, watching OTA. This happened a few times during the rebroadcast of the "Chuck" pilot, which, at least, was in HD this time around (thanks again for pointing out the rebroadcast, Bob).

Looks like a decent show, but boy oh boy, the HD is not kind to the blonde eye candy...

FWIW, the black flashes also happened several times during Saturday Night Live.

I recently wrote an item for the ISF Forum about how local broadcasters are doing a poor job overall with the transition to digital and HDTV and that they are largely blind to their failings. I could probably write something like this every couple of weeks, what with all the new ammunition local TV stations provide us with...

http://www.isfforum.com/Video-Savant/Broadcast-and-Pay-TV/Local-Broadcasters-Are-Not-Meeting-HDTV-Viewer-Expectations.html

Also, I've started a weekly item at the Forum that summarizes key stories from the past week relating to HDTV, home theater, broadcast/pay TV networks, digital rights/copyright, etc.

http://www.isfforum.com/Video-Savant/News-Summary/Week-in-Review-09292007.html

Comments welcomed...

Hmmm, I'm trying to remember the last time both the Cardinals and Rams seasons ended on the same day.

Hmmm, I'm trying to remember the last time both the Cardinals and Rams seasons ended on the same day.

Lol,I picked up on that one.I might be getting hand me down tickets again.

Hmmm, I'm trying to remember the last time both the Cardinals and Rams seasons ended on the same day.

I'm NOT looking forward to going back to work Tuesday..... LOTS of Dallas Cowboy snobs at my workplace. :mad:

So, when is the first Blues game in HD this season? :D

Welcome!

What you'r hearing (that annoying static/popping noise) is exclusive to KSDK and there's nothing wrong with your equipment. It happens on all of my HD sets no matter if I'm watching OTA, on the DirecTV national KSDK feed, recorded or live, etc.... It's obviously an issue locally with KSDK. Yet another blackmark for the self proclaimed HD leader.

It's not totally exclusive to kSDk. KMOV does it too, though nowhere near as loud and nowhere near as annoying.

At work I've actually had a few people returning their new HDTV's because they think that kSDk glitch is something wrong with the TV. Took me a while to convince them they'd have that glitch no matter which TV they buy and no matter how many TV's they buy.

Thanks for the responses. I had a feeling it wasn't my equipment. I did notice that Thursday night while I was watching CSI the same type of annoying static popped through before and after the news commercials. I guess both KSDK and KMOV have some work to do!:p

KPLR-DT 11-2 now displaying a card that reads that The Tube has ceased operations.

While the death of TheShaft, I mean TheTube, is good news, there's some bad news....

That same card reads, "KPLR-DT plans to bring you new programming on this channel in the near future."

Hopefully at least in the meantime, they'll put 11-2's bitrate down to almost zero.

During the Giants/Eagles game last night, when the storm warnings started, I noticed motion artifacts and video judders. I had to check to make sure the wife didn't swap my CRT for a digital. Did anyone watching OTA see this? I was watching with Charter because the PC was recording.

Walt

TBS bites...IMO. Their SD isn't watchable, the HD is not much better, I don't like the announcers, and a whole 6 camera angles. One of the big "selling points" was to be unique camera angles...perhaps they're keeping them for the N/ALDS and NLCS?

It's hard to believe MLB is depriving roughly 40% of American households, who do not subscribe to cable, from watching baseball playoff games.

Sometimes I wonder if Selig would sell out his own daughter, if the bid was high enough.

I'm watching it on playback, so I don't know the outcome yet, but I'm pullin' for ya, Scott :)

The TBS game looks good to me. Then again, I was streaming it to my laptop via Slingbox while watching the football game on my HD TV.

Ken,

FWIW, the number of households that don't receive some sort of pay TV service is only around 20% (probably closer to 15%).

In fact, a recent survey on poverty in America showed that even 60% of households "defined as poor" have some sort of pay TV service. I won't get into the definition issue, as that's best left to the political whacko sites.

But anyway, the playoff baseball deprivation is a lot smaller than you think.

I guess it depends on who you ask....
"...About 40 percent of America’s 112 million households with televisions still do not subscribe to cable, according to SNL Kagan Research..."
Citing an MSNBC article written on Sept 30, 2007, taken from survey research by SNL Kagan Research:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20911509/

Though the 112m households with televisions sounds consistent with other articles/surveys I've read, as you pointed out, "a recent survey on poverty" households is a good indicator that any survey is only as good as its participants. Simply put, just who they actually survey.

I'll come down to 30%, if you go up to 25%...."Bud" :D

Ken,

FWIW, the number of households that don't receive some sort of pay TV service is only around 20% (probably closer to 15%).

In fact, a recent survey on poverty in America showed that even 60% of households "defined as poor" have some sort of pay TV service. I won't get into the definition issue, as that's best left to the political whacko sites.

But anyway, the playoff baseball deprivation is a lot smaller than you think.

The TBS game looks good to me. Then again, I was streaming it to my laptop via Slingbox while watching the football game on my HD TV.
HD is not as bad, but in SD, it has those rainbow color artifacts across moving white parts of uniforms, and that jagged foul line effects. Reminds me of what KPLR looked like 3 years ago.

The announcers (other than Cal, who is in-studio) would be better suited for Sunrise Earth.

Not to be argumentative (well, maybe I am :)), but the reporter seems to be focusing on CABLE television. Using the numbers provided by the quarterly Bridge reports, there are just under 62 million cable (27m digital) households in the US, which works out to about 55% of all households.

Add in another 30m households with satellite or teleco TV (DirecTV with 16.2m and DISH with 13.4m), and the percentage is a tad under 82%. No doubt there is some overlap, but I doubt it's 10% (though it's possible in view of households that have cable Internet and keep basic cable TV as a backup).

So your 75% is probably a good number -- and a long way more representative than the numbers in the story.

The thing about the original number quoted by the reporter is that it TOTALLY ignores satellite households. Typical 21st century media nonsense -- write the story and then arrange the facts to fit the angle/bias of the reporter.

Personally, I don't see the problem with the playoffs being available only on pay TV. If it's really important for someone without cable/satellite/teleco to see these games, there's friends, there's family and there's sports bars. No one is being deprived.

If anyone is interested, here is the Bridge data that I used for the previous note (PDF file).

If anyone is interested, here is the Bridge data that I used for the previous note (PDF file).
A much more concise set of facts/figures, and far more logical.
BTW, that pdf does not play nice with my computer.:(

I suppose my issue is more with the current state of MLB and the Selig régime/era, than it is with the stats of free vs. pay TV. Clearly, and by no mistake, all facets of MLB is geared towards offense, and we all know the reasons why....another topic, for another day, and another place :)

I agree, anyone who does not have pay TV, and wants to see the games, can easily find the means. As you mentioned, friends, family, sports-bars, etc.
I just believe those that are responsible for the backing of the game, the fans, if they want to watch the playoffs, and don't have, or perhaps cannot afford pay TV, should not have to leave their living-room, and spend hours upon hours, days upon day, displaced elsewhere, to participate in what should actually be theirs to begin with.

Cable is not "everywhere" in America, and many rural residents cannot afford satellite, some not cable either. Not everyone has 4 displays, 6 tuners, and 2 DVR's. Look how many still have analog displays...so many so, the government is prepared to subsidise the digital switch-over. I think we sometimes lose site of that, and surely MLB has long since.

If it were only 1m, that, for whatever reason, are forced to find an alternate means of viewing, just so MLB can reap yet another hunk of revenues and profits, IMO, it is wrong. Some regular season games on cable, like ESPN, that I would have no issue with...but 5 of the 7 playoff rounds on cable...I'll never be convinced.

The announcers (other than Cal, who is in-studio) would be better suited for Sunrise Earth.

:D

For those of you who haven't watched Sunrise Earth, the order of the morning is silence.

I don't think that alienating and excluding a large portion of your audience for the sake of the quarterly bottom line is in the long term interest of baseball. Out of sight, out of mind - tell me that you don't care about me and I'm likely to turn my gaze elsewhere.

Did anyone notice the very cool "Lost" Easter Egg in "Chuck" last night?

TBS bites...IMO. Their SD isn't watchable, the HD is not much better, I don't like the announcers, and a whole 6 camera angles. One of the big "selling points" was to be unique camera angles...perhaps they're keeping them for the N/ALDS and NLCS?

It's hard to believe MLB is depriving roughly 40% of American households, who do not subscribe to cable, from watching baseball playoff games.

Sometimes I wonder if Selig would sell out his own daughter, if the bid was high enough.

I'm watching it on playback, so I don't know the outcome yet, but I'm pullin' for ya, Scott :)
At least you can get TBS HD.
E* sub here.
Piss poor that I have to watch a playoff game in SD.

I think what's most interesting about the Bridge data is the fact that nearly 10 years down the road, less than half of all cable customers (44%) have converted to digital cable, and the fact that satellite actually leads cable when it comes to digital customers.

Put another way, cable is not very appealing to the most profitable customers available. And if cable weren't offering broadband and local phone service (or if satellite was), it would be much worse.

Did anyone notice the very cool "Lost" Easter Egg in "Chuck" last night?

Yes, the reference to Oceanic Flight 815 being "shot down". My wife and I noticed that one immediately.

A couple of notes on TBS HD:

1) I'll give them a pass since the game last night had less than a 24 hour setup window. It may have been rented equipment, setup quickly. A lot of people thought it looked good - but I thought there was a lot of noise in the picture (noticeable in the darker colors on the Rockies). But the actual playoff games had better be "cleaner".

2) DirecTV showed the game in MPEG2 and MPEG4 allowing side by side comparisons. Very interesting. MPEG2 was ahead in timing, had richer audio, and color depth appeared to be "more" to my eyes. MPEG4 had much less motion artifacts.

3) For some reason DirecTV converted it to 720P, when the source is 1080i. No one knows why yet. This might have affected the sharpness (it seemed a little soft on both MPEG2/MPEG4 to me).

Chris

Thanks moman for the E* HD locals quality report a couple weeks ago. :) I guess Dish has guide data for all the OTA channels, like D* (inc. KETC subs.)? Should be moving this month, and still thinking we'll switch to Dish, and hope the TV2 RF output quality is OK on a 27" analog, etc.


2) I saw some posts on DBSTalk about reception issues on the 129 sat. Do you guys have the 1000+ dish and are all the signals good around here? Anyone have knowledge whether E* is more prone to rain fade than DirecTV?

3) With CenturyTel + Dish, can the ClubDISH referral thing still be used? Is tstolze the only one who has that bundle and might know?

Any answers about these 2?? :)


BTW, CTel's site is really pathetic as far as Dish info. I know tstolze mentioned the $5 discount, but their site lists the "Double Savings Bundle" (phone/1.5 DSL) for $59.95 and "Triple" with Dish's AT100 as $89.95 -- $30 difference, and 1 cent more than Dish charges for AT100! :confused: And these are promotional prices, so where's the savings?? :rolleyes:

I e-mailed CTel about this, and their answer:

The current promotion for Triple Play Bundle is $89.95 per month, which includes unlimited local, long distance , optional calling features, up to 1.5M high-speed internet and America Top 100, does not include local channels.
The saving is under phone, long distance and high-speed internet service of $10.00 per month for 12 months. After 12months Triple Play Bundle will be
$99.95 per month before any applicable Federal Fees and Taxes.

This implies that there is no savings on the Dish service, even with promo pricing. :rolleyes: Well, hope tstolze's info is right and they're wrong.


In other CenturyTel news... Since about 10 days ago they are BLOCKING forwarded e-mails from my Web host! :mad: The bounce message indicates a carrierzone.com service. Probably the whole datacenter IP range is blocked do to "abuse." How can they be allowed to block legitimate mail?! :mad: Before this, about 6 weeks ago, the original e-mail account just quit working, and I had to make a new one; still nothing gets to it, just disappears. Wonder how hard it'll be to get the e-mail problems fixed? :( Yet another CTel complaint -- after static still on the voice line for 2 years (first 6 months were fine until speed increase), sloooow DNS, and overpriced service... Luckily the Internet service otherwise works well. :rolleyes:

Quick question for anyone who can help. I recently got the new D* HDDVR from the old HDTivo. On the old Tivo unit, if I had a conflicting show that was already recording 2 shows in that time slot, The Tivo would look ahead for a different time to record that show at a later date. The new D* HDDVR unit, I've noticed, will record the top 2 in the priorty list ,but, for the third one that airs at the same time, but also repeats later in the week, will not schedule the show that airs later in the week. Is there something I can do in set-up to fix this or is this something I have to check daily go into episodes and manually pick to record as I have been doing? I'm hoping there is a fix. Any help is much appreciated.

Another quick question, I season pass "Poker After Dark" on NBC. It always starts with 5 min. of "Oprah" starts the show and ends 5 min. short of the completion of "Poker After Dark". I know on the old unit I set up the season pass to record 5 min after scheduled time and that worked out perfect. I can't figure this one out on the new unit. Any ideas?

Anyone catch Sports Science on FSNMW last night? (Sunday's 9PM)
If you're into sports, and the latest high-tech technology, this show is for you.
I enjoyed it.

I'm wondering if anyone here knows any additional background on the end of "Higher Definition," hosted by Robert Wilonsky on HDNet. The only thing I have heard is that he is going to be co-hosting with Richard Roeper the movie review series originated by Ebert and Sisklel.

I don't watch every single week, but always record it and catch it when I can. I watched last week's episode and Wilonsky made an elliptical reference to not hosting the program much longer, and then this week he noted that this would be the last episode. There were about 5 minutes of highlights shown at the end.

I'll admit to having a soft soft for HDNet and Mark Cuban for backing HD when it was pretty much an orphan, but seriously the programming on HDN is very hit and miss. "Higher Definition" was the one really high quality program originated by HDNet and I think the lineup will suffer quite a lot as a result (eternal repeats notwithstanding). For my money, Wilonsky is an exceptional interviewer, and it seems unlikely those talents will be on display much via the Roeper gig.

Maybe it was inevitable, as Wilonsky seems to be a rising star and HDNet probably would have had a hard time keeping him on for the long haul. But it's too bad they couldn't have kept him on, even with reduced frequency, a while longer as he tackles other gigs.

Anyone know anything more about this? Oddly, Google and Google News searches don't turn up anything current.

I'm wondering if anyone here knows any additional background on the end of "Higher Definition," hosted by Robert Wilonsky on HDNet. The only thing I have heard is that he is going to be co-hosting with Richard Roeper the movie review series originated by Ebert and Sisklel.

I've been Tivo'ing Ebert and Roeper every week for about 4yrs now, and after Ebert went down with his health problems they've been rotating guest co-hosts for forever. Recently, Wilonsky has been a regular and has co-hosted the last month it seems.... I kinda figured that they were going to make it permanent at some point, they seemed to make comments here and there about it.

channel 231-1

St. Louis Blues 2007-2008 FSN Midwest HD Schedule has been released:

Wednesday, Oct. 10 Nashville 7:30 PM
Friday, Oct. 12 Colorado 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Nov. 21 at Detroit 6:30 PM
Sunday, Nov. 25 Calgary 5:00 PM
Friday, Nov. 30 at Minnesota 7:00 PM
Wednesday, Dec. 26 Detroit 7:30 PM
Tuesday, Feb. 5 Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Tuesday, Feb. 26 Dallas 7:30 PM
Wednesday, March 5 at Detroit 6:30 PM
Tuesday, March 25 Detroit 7:30 PM

Ten total HD games.

Source: http://blues.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=338852

Jon,

Thanks for that. I'll make a point to record this. I should probably know this, but which channel and is it HD?

NBC has messed up again.....conan is in sd when it was in hd earlier, and they had to bring up the station logo for a bit cause they kept messing up...

DIRECTV - has added 11 additional channels in high definition! 6 NEW and 5 Nationally Available RSNs

Cinemax East (Channel 512)
Cinemax West (Channel 514)
HBO West (Channel 504)
Bravo (Channel 273)
SciFi Channel (Channel 244)
USA Network (Channel 242)
Comcast SportsNet Chicago HD (Channel 640)
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD (Channel 629)
New England Sports Network/NESN HD(Channel 623)
SportsNet New York HD (Channel 625)
YES HD (Channel 622)

Food Network was added earlier yesterday and then removed. It may have been on for testing. It was 231-1

The bold is mine! :)

Jon,

Thanks for that. I'll make a point to record this. I should probably know this, but which channel and is it HD?

Ebert and Roeper you mean...? It was always on KPLR at 10:30am on Sunday, but it hasn't been on for over a month now. :confused: :( The site's "station finder" still lists that info...

Ebert and Roeper is on 46 now. It is on at 1 or 2 in the morning sunday into monday.
Dug

Been waiting for Sci-Fi with baited breath, but now that it's here, I'm not seeing anything coming up that's actually listed as HD. Even the "Sci-Fi Pictures Originals" are showing "letterboxed," not HD. Which means on my 4x3 CRT HDTV, they'll have black bars on all four sides of the picture.

But on the bright side, looks like Sci-Fi HD is doing original aspect ratio, not Stretch-O-Vision like A&E.

Been waiting for Sci-Fi with baited breath, but now that it's here, I'm not seeing anything coming up that's actually listed as HD. Even the "Sci-Fi Pictures Originals" are showing "letterboxed," not HD. Which means on my 4x3 CRT HDTV, they'll have black bars on all four sides of the picture.

I think only their original shows like BSG, SG, etc. are in HD. It may take a while to show up as I tried to change my series link for SG Atlantis and no HD icon showing up yet. Will have to wait and see.

But anyway, the playoff baseball deprivation is a lot smaller than you think.

I agree. The little old widow next door has the $15 basic cable from Charter, which has TBS. If a little old lady on a fixed income can afford $15 a month, everyone can!

My in-laws also have that package (just because they are cheap), so they have it too.

I just have a feeling those that care that much about the playoffs already have some kind of cable or sat service or commonly hang out in sports bars.

As for people in rural communities...radio. They are probably used to listening to the games that way anyhow.

I'm all for the playoffs being on pay tv...one of the reasons the games are on so late is because of the networks...maybe that will change now.

Ebert and Roeper is on 46 now. It is on at 1 or 2 in the morning sunday into monday.
Dug

Thanks! :o I never pay attention to WRBU-46, or notice it in the guide... Just checked, and it's on at 12:30am to be exact. :) I should've asked sooner, thought it was just gone from St. Louis for now.

Can any of you D* subs let us know if all the new channels are full 1920x1080? I read that Discovery HD Theater was reported as being full res HD, but what about all the rest?

Sci Fi in HD - that's going to bring D* a lot of new subscribers. (I have a friend who told me he was thinking about getting an HD DVD player because The Fugitive was available in the format. Some people will pay a lot for their passions.)

Can any of you D* subs let us know if all the new channels are full 1920x1080? I read that Discovery HD Theater was reported as being full res HD, but what about all the rest?

Sci Fi in HD - that's going to bring D* a lot of new subscribers. (I have a friend who told me he was thinking about getting an HD DVD player because The Fugitive was available in the format. Some people will pay a lot for their passions.)

I don't believe the MPEG4 devices let people see into the stream like the MPEG2s did, so there is no independent confirmation. However, all indications and DirecTV internal sources are saying "Full Resolution".

Chris

St. Louis Blues 2007-2008 FSN Midwest HD Schedule has been released:

Wednesday, Oct. 10 Nashville 7:30 PM
Friday, Oct. 12 Colorado 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Nov. 21 at Detroit 6:30 PM
Sunday, Nov. 25 Calgary 5:00 PM
Friday, Nov. 30 at Minnesota 7:00 PM
Wednesday, Dec. 26 Detroit 7:30 PM
Tuesday, Feb. 5 Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Tuesday, Feb. 26 Dallas 7:30 PM
Wednesday, March 5 at Detroit 6:30 PM
Tuesday, March 25 Detroit 7:30 PM

Ten total HD games.

Source: http://blues.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=338852


Ten games that's it, What a joke. That's very dissapointing. Is KPLR doing Blues games?
When is D* going to add FSMWHD?

I don't believe the MPEG4 devices let people see into the stream like the MPEG2s did, so there is no independent confirmation. However, all indications and DirecTV internal sources are saying "Full Resolution".

Chris

Great! Keep the info coming.

Ten games that's it, What a joke. That's very dissapointing. Is KPLR doing Blues games?
When is D* going to add FSMWHD?
KPLR is doing Blues games. They will not be in HD.

KPLR is doing Blues games. They will not be in HD.

Now that is a joke.

Ten games that's it, What a joke. That's very dissapointing. Is KPLR doing Blues games?
When is D* going to add FSMWHD?

Hopefully by the end of the year.

From D*'s site: The first of DIRECTV’s new HD channels have arrived: We’ve just added 27 new HD channels to our lineup. And there’s plenty more to come. In October, you’ll have over 70 of your favorite channels in HD — and up to 100 by the end of the year.

KPLR is doing Blues games. They will not be in HD.
I don't like it any more than the next Blues fan. However, NBC made a habit of broadcasting their weekend regular season games in HD towards the end of last season, so there's a chance for a couple more HD games on NBC.

I sent KPLR an email asking what games are in hd. The following is the response:

There are no games in HD.

Gwendolyn Moore
KPLR-TV Programming
2250 Ball Drive
St. Louis, MO 63146
314-447-6346
314-447-6433 (fax)
gmoore@tribune.com

I followed up with why and her response was

The Blues are not sending us the game in HD.

GM

FWIW, I think one of the primary reasons that KPLR isn't doing any HD Blues games is the fact that Tribune Company, which owns KPLR and several other TV stations around the country, has been (or still is) in the process of selling these stations. Any time a company is put up for sale it tends to screw down any and all optional costs in order to ensure there aren't any surprises during the sale process.

I suspect that this may also explain why KPLR didn't maintain a TV relationship with the Cardinals, resulting in the move to kSDk.

At the same time, I wouldn't assume that this situation will automatically revert back once the sale of KPLR is complete. A lot will depend on the new owner and its business philosophy.

FWIW, Tribune seemed to be one of the more forward-looking media companies in terms of HD programming, and the chances are probably better than 50-50 that a new owner won't be as proactive, though of course the overall trend toward more programming in HD will probably cancel out some of that impact.

I followed up with why and her response was

The Blues are not sending us the game in HD.

GMThis is down to KPLR not arranging for the games to be broadcast in HD. Not sure who the production company is that does these (Bud Sports?) but KPLR would be responsible for making arrangements with them and paying the extra costs for any HD presentations.

The reply by GM is at best clueless and more likely disingenuous.

MHD (Channel 332)

I followed up with why and her response was

The Blues are not sending us the game in HD.

GM

I was really hoping our new ownership would get more involved and provide more Blues in HD. I think he did that in New York.

Does anyone think they might add more HD games during the Blues season? Didn't we get additional "suprise" HD games from the Cards/FSNMW this year?

I sent KPLR an email asking what games are in hd. The following is the response:

There are no games in HD.

Gwendolyn Moore
KPLR-TV Programming
2250 Ball Drive
St. Louis, MO 63146
314-447-6346
314-447-6433 (fax)
gmoore@tribune.com

On my guide it shows this Saturdays game against Los Angeles as HD. Hopefully thats true If its wrong then TV guide needs to fix their listings.

MHD (Channel 332)

MHD rocks! I watch it on Charter. I really like some of the programming. Storytellers is one of my favorites as well as Music with Altitude.

This is down to KPLR not arranging for the games to be broadcast in HD. Not sure who the production company is that does these (Bud Sports?) but KPLR would be responsible for making arrangements with them and paying the extra costs for any HD presentations.

The reply by GM is at best clueless and more likely disingenuous.

I asked her:
GM,

Could I have further clarification on your comment of "The Blues are not sending it to us in HD"?

I was under the impression that it was the station/production company that was responsible for producing the game in HD. Since the Blues do not produce the telecast, how are they responsible for "not sending" the game in HD.

Thanks,
Tim


Her response was:

The Blues are responsible for production of the games and they determine which games are in HD and which are in SD and which outlets get each feed.

Bud Sports is responsible for the production/HD portion and who gets what.

Hello everyone. I am an incredibly frustrated Charter subscriber here and I'm looking for a change. I was interested in Dish Network, because I read that their HD DVR only needs one line running to it from the dish. Does anyone know if this is correct? Also, does anyone no a place in town that has experience installers that I could talk to about the hookup in my home? When I call Dish Network directly the people I talk to don't seem to know much of anything. My ideal setup would be 2 HD DVRs and then 2 standard boxes. I don't really want to run any new coax lines in my house. Does anyone know if this is possible? Thanks for the help. I'm almost at my breaking point here.

With the proper switching hardware, you can run one cable into the home that can be split inside the house and fed into two boxes. In the case of the 622 or 722 HD DVRs, this one cable will feed the dual sat tuners.

I asked her:
GM,

Could I have further clarification on your comment of "The Blues are not sending it to us in HD"?

I was under the impression that it was the station/production company that was responsible for producing the game in HD. Since the Blues do not produce the telecast, how are they responsible for "not sending" the game in HD.

Thanks,
Tim


Her response was:

The Blues are responsible for production of the games and they determine which games are in HD and which are in SD and which outlets get each feed.So, we're supposed to believe that which games are in HD and which are SD only is totally a matter of chance, and that whenever the Blues flipped the proverbial coin to determine which games were to be in HD, they all came up in favor of Fox Sports Midwest?

If so, then KPLR must be the unluckiest television station in the entire country and their executives should scrupulously avoid making any vacation arrangements for Las Vegas. :rolleyes:

It think its slightly more likely that KPLR has recruited its program management from a pool of kSDk rejects, with the final decision based on who incorporated the most interesting and unlikely fiction into his/her resume. ;)

For those of you without TBS HD, the Yanks/Indians game is on TNT HD as we speak. I'm not sure if the whole game will be there, or if it was because the other game went long.

Anyone catch Sports Science on FSNMW last night? (Sunday's 9PM)
If you're into sports, and the latest high-tech technology, this show is for you.
I enjoyed it.

Ken,

I'm a teacher and am wondering if you think any of this show is educational enough to show to students in math or science class. I'll have to set up a timer and check it out.

Mike

For those of you without TBS HD, the Yanks/Indians game is on TNT HD as we speak. I'm not sure if the whole game will be there, or if it was because the other game went long.

OK, it's gone now

But MAN was that half inning of HD sweet!!! ;)

Ken,

I'm a teacher and am wondering if you think any of this show is educational enough to show to students in math or science class. I'll have to set up a timer and check it out.

Mike
IMO, I'd say yes...age 13+....science, not math. Basically, it delves into the more common sports things we all know...
-why some Basketball players can jump higher than others
-why some Baseball players can throw/hit harder
-why a thrown baseball will move, etc

...and then applies science via high technology to analyse and explain how/why it is. They attach a multitude of sensors to the athlete to recreate the process via computer graphics. Looks much like a video game, but the character is the actual athlete going through the event, allowing the viewer to see through his/hers transparent skin, and see all the different muscles firing and how they interact together.

There were a few words used by the athletes, unsuitable to a teaching environment, but they were bleeped...that may be an issue.

TBS bites...IMO. Their SD isn't watchable, the HD is not much better, I don't like the announcers, and a whole 6 camera angles. One of the big "selling points" was to be unique camera angles...perhaps they're keeping them for the N/ALDS and NLCS?


I'm not being smart, but do any of us, E*, D*, or C have TBS in HD?

I agree with the opinion of some that ESPN is too "loud" with their broadcasting, but some of the TBS guys don't even know basic MLB rules. The batter cannot run on a dropped 3rd strike with first base occupied and less than 2 outs. I think I have seen TBS announcers miss this twice now.

But do ANY of us have TBS in HD?

Edited for my stupidity! It happens to the best of us, except JimGlobe, ;)

JMO....the lack of Blues HD presentations is completely unacceptable.
I, for one, plan on letting the Blues head offices know my opinion.
I'll draft and send them a note tomorrow...yeah, like they'll listen, eh :rolleyes:

The HD segment of market is no longer a insignifigent percentage, and after the coming holiday season, will grow even greater. Someone over at Scottrade needs to wake up!

Even Lynn Beall saw this one coming...what's that say:eek:

I'm not being smart, but do any of us, E*, D*, or C have TBS in HD?

I agree with the opinion of some that ESPN is too "loud" with their broadcasting, but some of the TBS guys don't even know basic MLB rules. The batter cannot run on a dropped 3rd strike with first base occupied and less than 2 outs. I think I have seen TBS announcers miss this twice now.

But do ANY of us have TBS in HD? And Ken how did you say TBS HD is not much better than SD? What is E* doing for you that they aren't doing for the rest of us? ;)
I believe it's only available on DirecTV....maybe Charter, I'm not sure.

I will say, I take back what I said about their camera work, it's pretty good.
But, I agree, the announcers bite. I too have heard them make several basic rule-type mistakes, and given the fact, many viewers who watch the playoffs, are casual baseball spectators, I think it is essential to get the rules right.

2nd week in a row for an Office screw-up on your HD leader. Sound out for about 5-6 minutes watching on E*.

But do ANY of us have TBS in HD?


I do :D Its on DirecTV now.

And quite honestly, its about the best quality sports HD I've seen. Its even putting OTA to shame on artifacts and sharpness. Especially in Arizona. I noticed the Cleveland game wasn't quite as good, but the Arizona games have been sharp sharp sharp.

As far as the announcers... they are about what I've come to expect. At least Cleveland had Gwynn in the booth, maybe they'll move Cal into the booth for the Championship series to give us at least a knowledgeable person for each booth team.

Chris

2nd week in a row for an Office screw-up on your HD leader. Sound out for about 5-6 minutes watching on E*.

NO sound dropouts on Charter tonight.

I believe it's only available on DirecTV....maybe Charter, I'm not sure.

I will say, I take back what I said about their camera work, it's pretty good.
But, I agree, the announcers bite. I too have heard them make several basic rule-type mistakes, and given the fact, many viewers who watch the playoffs, are casual baseball spectators, I think it is essential to get the rules right.

Charter doesn't have TBS HD...infact they will probably be last company in the country that will pick up TBS HD...or Universal HD for that matter.