Really? ATT DSL advertises $35/mo for "Elite" (6mb/768kb). I only pay $25/mo for 3mb/512kb, currently.

I'm thinking of upgrading to Elite, which is available at my address, as opposed to switching to Comcast HSI for three main reasons:
- We can keep our email addresses.
- No blockage on P2P or streaming media. (With two Slingboxes, one incoming, one outgoing, I can't chance it.)
- Price

You can wrangle with AT&T, they practically begged me to stay with their DSL at the Elite speed for $25 a month(year contract). Problem was, I was only getting 2.5-3mbps DL speed, used to get a solid 5+mbps and until they have that problem worked out I decided to go with Comcast. With rebates and such, I'm getting about 8.5 mos of 6/384 for free. My hope is that by August/November U-verse will be available here.

As I've noted before, I really liked the reliability of the constant speeds with DSL, the up/down/slow/fast speeds with HSI drives me nuts. I've been waiting to see if that "fixes" itself when my area gets upgraded, but only the great cable-god in the sky knows when that will happen. Being that it's April already, that "by the end of 2008" statement is looking more and more likely.

So, anyone watching the Giants on Comcast Sports Net HD ?? Notice anything different ???
You may fire when ready Gridley ;)

I'm back to watching the game

Laters,
Mikef5

So, anyone watching the Giants on Comcast Sports Net HD ?? Notice anything different ???
You may fire when ready Gridley ;)

I'm back to watching the game

Laters,
Mikef5

It looks better on DirecTV?? Just kidding. :D

Looks the same on both providers.

It looks better on DirecTV?? Just kidding. :D

Looks the same on both providers.
Hi Jim,

Just thought more people would've realized that FSN-HD is no longer there, they've changed to Comcast Sports Net Bay Area. The same people just a new ownership but it could mean more local HD games. I mean, who's going to show the Giants now that they don't have Bonds and are in a rebuilding mode ??? Not the major networks that's for sure. Hopefully the Giants will get better as the season goes on ( yes, I'm dreaming :p ) but it's not looking good if today's game is any indication :(

Laters,
Mikef5

CSN schedule is here http://bayarea.comcastsportsnet.com/Schd_Giants.jsp

I count 140 games, 18 in HD

well that can't be right, no HD games after May 27th.. prob schedule is just not final

there's an ad they've been running that says 30-40 games in HD I think.

CSN shedule is here http://bayarea.comcastsportsnet.com/Schd_Giants.jsp

I count 145 games, 18 in HD

well that can't be right, no HD games after May 27th.. prob schedule is just not final

there's an ad they've been running that says 30-40 games in HD I think.
Walk,

I'm pretty sure some of those other games will be in HD on NBC since Fox is no longer the home of the Giants and NBC is sort of ( they're not doing their own productions, guess who is ??) but that's a whole other subject. I've got their schedule somewhere. I'll check between innings ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

140 games, there was some blank spaces..

that only leaves 22 games for NBC and/or FOX and ESPN.

don't know about NBC but all of FOX and ESPN games are in HD.

140 games, there was some blank spaces..

that only leaves 22 games for NBC and/or FOX and ESPN.

I just checked the schedule I got from NBC and it looks like 21 games in HD for them. Considering what the numbers have been in the past, that's a lot of them being shown in HD.

Laters,
Mikef5

Might check the below post, homcom has created a spreadsheet with all the games.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13360415#post13360415

Here is the schedule for games on NBC11:

S.F. GIANTS HD SCHEDULE ON KNTV-NBC11 - 2008

Date Airtime Team

(All Home Games unless noted)

Sat. Mar 15 3:00pm Seattle (Spring Training)

Tue. April 1 7:00pm @ L.A.Dodgers

Tue. April 8 7:00pm San Diego

Fri. April 25 7:00pm Cincinnati

Sat. April 26 6:00pm Cincinnati

Fri. May 9 7:00pm Philadelphia

Fri. May 16 7:00pm Chi White Sox

Sat. May 17 6:00pm Chi White Sox

Fri. May 30 7:00pm San Diego

Fri. June 13 7:00pm Oakland

Tue. June 17 7:00pm Detroit

Fri. June 27 7:00pm @ Oakland

Sat. June 28 6:00pm @ Oakland

Tue. July 1 7:00pm Chicago Cubs

Fri. July 18 7:00pm Milwaukee

Fri. July 25 7:00pm Arizona

Sat. July 26 6:00pm Arizona

Tue. Aug 26 7:00pm Colorado

Fri. Sept 12 7:00pm @ San Diego

Fri. Sept 19 7:30pm @ L.A. Dodgers

Fri. Sept 26 7:00pm L.A. Dodgers

Laters,
Mikef5

Might check the below post, homcom has created a spreadsheet with all the games.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13360415#post13360415

Jim,

I get a 404 error for the site that is referenced in that article :confused:

Laters,
Mikef5

Jim,

I get a 404 error for the site that is referenced in that article :confused:

Laters,
Mikef5

He must have moved it, I'll see if I can find it.

Looks like he combined his efforts with the below site,

http://www.hdsportsguide.com/homcom/

He must have moved it, I'll see if I can find it.

Looks like he combined his efforts with the below site,

http://www.hdsportsguide.com/homcom/
Thanks for the link. I downloaded the xls file and it looks pretty well updated, even had CSNBA instead of FSNBA already in there ;)

Of course the Giants are sucking today, 5 to 0 in the 8th, boy it's going to be a long season ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Thanks for the link. I downloaded the xls file and it looks pretty well updated, even had CSNBA instead of FSNBA already in there ;)

Of course the Giants are sucking today, 5 to 0 in the 8th, boy it's going to be a long season ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

The outcome of the game looked pretty good to me! :D

The outcome of the game looked pretty good to me! :D

I forgot you are a relocated Dodgers fan. I guess we all have our faults :D
The way the Giants played today, I'd say they're on par with where the 49er's are in football except 49ers have proven that they can win, the Giants so far haven't. ;)
Besides the Dodgers have Joe Torre, that's unfair :p

Laters,
Mikef5

I went to Comcast today in Livermore to pick up an additonal HD Set Top Box and they are now giving out the Motorola DCH3200. Looks good and seems to work well.

CSN schedule is here http://bayarea.comcastsportsnet.com/Schd_Giants.jsp

I count 140 games, 18 in HD

well that can't be right, no HD games after May 27th.. prob schedule is just not final

there's an ad they've been running that says 30-40 games in HD I think.

18 can't be right considering June-September the only conflict is the A's. Warriors and Sharks are off then (Well, NBA/NHL playoffs at that point will all be on national networks by June).

I bet it's just not finalized as you say. 30-40 sounds right.

Wow, that does seem high. In this case, if you get a TivoHD as a second DVR, you pay $6.95 add outlet, $1.79 dual cable card, plus whatever Tivo monthly charges:
a) If you get monthly with 1 year commit, it's $12.95/month for Tivo, or $21.69 total including the add outlet and cable card charges.
b) If you already have a Tivo, you can put the second Tivo on MSD discount at $6.95/month, and $15.96 total.
c) If you don't get MSD, but you can afford to go with a pre-pay, the cheapest 3 year pre-pay will be about $8.31/month, so $17.05 total.

So in the worst case, you can get Tivo HD for just ~70 cents more a month. And in many cases, you can get it cheaper than Comcast's HD DVR.You're leaving out the $250-$300 for the Tivo HD itself. (possibly times two)

And, that hardware and Tivo subscription will tie me to Comcast. I may want to switch to DirecTV in the not too distant future.

You're leaving out the $250-$300 for the Tivo HD itself. (possibly times two)

And, that hardware and Tivo subscription will tie me to Comcast. I may want to switch to DirecTV in the not too distant future.

The TiVo HD is supposedly $150 at Costco right now, plus TiVo has a Lifetime subscription offer going to celebrate their "Blue Moon" anniversary thing.

The TiVo HD is supposedly $150 at Costco right now, plus TiVo has a Lifetime subscription offer going to celebrate their "Blue Moon" anniversary thing.
I am planning on replacing my analog Tivo. Costco online still lists at 279. How do I get this?

oh Giants...

2 caught stealing (1 picked off)
2 inning-ending hit into DP
1 botched DP-shoulda-been-an-error that led to a run (poor Valdez, he did strike out Martin though)
1 wild pitch
2 passed balls

vs.

5 hits... 0 runs.

oh man.

don't get too excited beating the Giants, they stink, espeically Zito.

We'll see what Lincecum and Cain can do next.

LinceCain and pray for Rain!

yes SRM-20 is "no free streams" error or basically "the tubes are full".

dsl has it's own set of problems, namely the "CO" problem. must be nice to get 6mbits if you live next door to the "CO" but if you don't... the best I can get here in the office (no cable) is 1.1mb (384k up).

oh it's also $60/mo

I get 6 mbps and I'm almost 6 miles from the CO. And I pay $40. And since I have Sonic.net and not AT&T or Comcast, I get good customer support, no content filtering or speed throttling, full-speed binary usenet access, IMAP, a free domain name and hosting, etc. The only thing that annoys me is that new customers get a cheaper price than me ($35). Doesn't seem fair, but that's the price of dealing with AT&T-leased lines.

But the even better news is that Sonic has installed and is testing their own equipment in the Santa Rosa CO. We're gonna get ADSL2+ without wasting it on silly "advanced" TV! Finally, Santa Rosa gets something that the rest of the Bay Area doesn't.

yay go 0-1 giants!!

watching my recorded version right now. i like the CSN bar better, it doesn't stretch across the picture like the FSN one did.

Most likely it says unauthorized because NBC was moved (in your area) from 116 to somewhere else. The replacement is likely encrypted.

The reason your channel #s don't match is because potentially every head-end can have different channel locations. In many cases there are similarities, but you almost never see every single channel in the same location unless you are on the same head-end.

Rescan for new channels, then step through every one until you find NBC.

I just re-scanned and stepping through, but no luck. :-/

Anyone else in the Fremont area know of the NBC HD channel #? I'm in the 94539 zip code area.

I get 6 mbps and I'm almost 6 miles from the CO. And I pay $40. And since I have Sonic.net and not AT&T or Comcast, I get good customer support, no content filtering or speed throttling, full-speed binary usenet access, IMAP, a free domain name and hosting, etc. The only thing that annoys me is that new customers get a cheaper price than me ($35). Doesn't seem fair, but that's the price of dealing with AT&T-leased lines.

But the even better news is that Sonic has installed and is testing their own equipment in the Santa Rosa CO. We're gonna get ADSL2+ without wasting it on silly "advanced" TV! Finally, Santa Rosa gets something that the rest of the Bay Area doesn't.

Really? I may have to take a serious look at Sonic when my "free" period ends with Comcast.

Just did a quick look-see and that Sonic offering looks damn good, I'm tempted to give it a try before my free period is up.

I am planning on replacing my analog Tivo. Costco online still lists at 279. How do I get this?

Not sure, it was mentioned in the TiVo thread, you may have to go to the store itself.

Anyone else in the Fremont area know of the NBC HD channel #? I'm in the 94539 zip code area.Over here, on the San Mateo headend (I think), KNTV-DT and its Weather sub have moved from sharing rf 116 with ESPN-HD to sharing rf 120 with KCWB-DT--all PSIP-less, so far.

The TiVo HD is supposedly $150 at Costco right now, plus TiVo has a Lifetime subscription offer going to celebrate their "Blue Moon" anniversary thing.It's like $700. What a deal! (They do throw in a stuffed Tivo TV mascot toy thing, tho)
http://www.tivo.com/promo/bluemoon.html

The $150 Costco deal sounds interesting. I can't find it on any of the "deal" site forums, tho.

On the bright side, the Mets did great today.

oh Giants...

2 caught stealing (1 picked off)
2 inning-ending hit into DP
1 botched DP-shoulda-been-an-error that led to a run (poor Valdez, he did strike out Martin though)
1 wild pitch
2 passed balls

vs.

5 hits... 0 runs.

oh man.

don't get too excited beating the Giants, they stink, espeically Zito.

We'll see what Lincecum and Cain can do next.

LinceCain and pray for Rain!

You're leaving out the $250-$300 for the Tivo HD itself. (possibly times two)

And, that hardware and Tivo subscription will tie me to Comcast. I may want to switch to DirecTV in the not too distant future.

Yeah you are right, I forgot the HW cost. I got my Tivo HD for $255 on Amazon, a while ago Woot had refurb Tivo HD for $190. Not sure what you mean by times two though. My Tivo HD is on MSD at $6.95/mon, so in ~3 years I figure the saving in not paying for the Comcast HD-DVR will cover the HW cost of Tivo HD.

It looks like DTV is charging for $100 for the box and DTV still owns it after it, so it's a lease fee. I'm not sure how I would feel about paying $100 for a box that I don't get to own. A lot of people seem to be able to get DTV to drop that charge, in that case I would be OK with it.

Looking at the HD content and cost, DTV is probably the best value. But Tivo has a few features that I got so used to and will not give up in any case. When Comcast gets SciFi HD, I think I'll have pretty much all HD channels I need that would satisfy me for a while.

Does anyone of you have reception problem for KTVUHD (702) and KTVUDT2 (188), my comcast box has now and then image freeze and sound drop but my pc qam tuner cannot have a lock on them.

I am in zipcode 94041 Mountain View.

I'm guessing it goes without saying that UFC Fight Night 13 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_Fight_Night_13) wont be available to Comcast subscribers via PPV.

Just came back from the Cupertino Comcast office to try and swap out my DVI HD receiver with an HDMI equipped HD receiver. They didn't have any in stock and she suggested I try the San Jose office. While there, I asked about new HD channels. She said that they will be turning on 5 new channels on 4/15/08 for the Cupertino and Los Altos area. The five are:

Sci-Fi - Channel 736
Food Network - Channel 747
Animal Planet - Channel 751
TLC - Channel 752
CNN - Channel 759

Travel Channel please!

i hope FX HD is in the next batch.

i hope FX HD is in the next batch.

Agreed. The Shield in HD...oh daddy!!! :D

Agreed. The Shield in HD...oh daddy!!! :D

Well, the way Comcast is going it will be in a widescreen format, but I'm not so sure it will qualify as HD.

It's too bad that the providers have become the arbiters of what qualifies as "HD" rather than the FTC/FCC settings some rules/regs back when the digital TV rules/specs were first established. As it is, anyone can call anything "HD' if they want to, it's become a throwaway marketing term. It's even being used by online video providers, how can an unmolested OTA feed from KPIX be termed the same as a 1.5mbps video stream from network online site?

On the bright side, the Mets did great today.vs the Marlins dude.


the Marlins.

Do we know when they will start to degrade our HD signals here with their compression?
Last night I seemed to have some of the worse HD PQ I've ever seen with Comcast, but I just bought a new TV which has not been optimized/calibrated yet, so I'm not sure which is which.

Well, the way Comcast is going it will be in a widescreen format, but I'm not so sure it will qualify as HD.

It's too bad that the providers have become the arbiters of what qualifies as "HD" rather than the FTC/FCC settings some rules/regs back when the digital TV rules/specs were first established. As it is, anyone can call anything "HD' if they want to, it's become a throwaway marketing term. It's even being used by online video providers, how can an unmolested OTA feed from KPIX be termed the same as a 1.5mbps video stream from network online site?

you know I love a good comcast bashing as much as the next guy but they have no control over what the providers fill their channels with. in fact wasn't it one of comcast's ceos the other day saying something like "lot of these channels don't even deserve to be in hd"?

but, the dish guys are pouring on the "more channels" hard sell, I guess cable feels they have to keep up, who cares if it's 97% stretched SD.

for example CNN.. what is the point of news in HD? do they even have any HD content? more importantly do people even watch CNN anymore except in the 24 hours after a huge major disaster?

Do we know when they will start to degrade our HD signals here with their compression?
Last night I seemed to have some of the worse HD PQ I've ever seen with Comcast, but I just bought a new TV which has not been optimized/calibrated yet, so I'm not sure which is which.
Look at AETV, HGTV, SHO. If they are on the same channel in the diagnostic screen then you are likely already seeing degraded quality during primetime.

I don't have Sho but AE and HG are both on RF 369 or something like that. I didn't see any noticeable PQ loss with The Matrix on AE.

Just came back from the Cupertino Comcast office to try and swap out my DVI HD receiver with an HDMI equipped HD receiver. They didn't have any in stock and she suggested I try the San Jose office. While there, I asked about new HD channels. She said that they will be turning on 5 new channels on 4/15/08 for the Cupertino and Los Altos area. The five are:

Sci-Fi - Channel 736
Food Network - Channel 747
Animal Planet - Channel 751
TLC - Channel 752
CNN - Channel 759

Will all upgraded systems be getting these new channels come the 15th?

Upgraded on Friday! :)

Anyone know if the Blast Internet service is available in Los Gatos yet?

vs the Marlins dude.


the Marlins.It is still what we like to refer to as a W.

It is still what we like to refer to as a W.

oh noes... the phillies are 7 games back with 17 to go... time to panic in NY!!

you know I love a good comcast bashing as much as the next guy but they have no control over what the providers fill their channels with. in fact wasn't it one of comcast's ceos the other day saying something like "lot of these channels don't even deserve to be in hd"?

but, the dish guys are pouring on the "more channels" hard sell, I guess cable feels they have to keep up, who cares if it's 97% stretched SD.

for example CNN.. what is the point of news in HD? do they even have any HD content? more importantly do people even watch CNN anymore except in the 24 hours after a huge major disaster?
a. The degradation he was referring to was not due to source content, but to Comcast squeezing three channels into a space meant for two, thus reducing actual signal specs below that of true HD, and its resulting loss of visual PQ.

b. CNN studios are HD-equipped, and more and more of their ENG crews are being so-equipped. (Not to mention the local affiliates, where they get much of their feeds, also equipping for HD.)

c. I watch CNN on a daily basis. It's one of the few channels I watch.

Not sure, it was mentioned in the TiVo thread, you may have to go to the store itself.The Tivo thread here at AVS? Or, on a Tivo users forum?

I'm really interested in this.

you know I love a good comcast bashing as much as the next guy but they have no control over what the providers fill their channels with. in fact wasn't it one of comcast's ceos the other day saying something like "lot of these channels don't even deserve to be in hd"?

but, the dish guys are pouring on the "more channels" hard sell, I guess cable feels they have to keep up, who cares if it's 97% stretched SD.

for example CNN.. what is the point of news in HD? do they even have any HD content? more importantly do people even watch CNN anymore except in the 24 hours after a huge major disaster?

I was referring to the additional compression applied to the 3-pak channels, FX-HD will probably become one as well, and Comcast has every bit of control over how they handle those signals, afterall, they're the one's compressing them further from how they are received from the content producer.

As far as actual content on some of these channels, yes, I agree, there's a lot of non-HD on many of these channels, that situation Comcast doesn't have any control over.

But destroying the quality of the channels they do get? Definitely, that is a Comcast issue and since there's no recognized standard/regulation for what constitutes HD, only public outcry and/or subscribers leaving will prompt them to do anything about it.

It took an FCC hearing and months of public discussion/findings for Comcast to finally admit, after months of flat-out lying, that they were disrupting P2P internet traffic. Chairman Martin has even asked for a date when Comcast will discontinue the practice, why? because he doesn't trust them as they have a history of, shall we say "bending the truth".

Creating a lot of noise is one way of getting them to listen, sadly, there's nothing the FCC will do about additional compression of HD channels

The Tivo thread here at AVS? Or, on a Tivo users forum?

I'm really interested in this.

The TiVo thread here, a few posts before and after the one that comes up below. I haven't been to Costco myself to verify.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=722696&page=133

Oh. I thought you were talking about the stretched widescreen stuff "not actually HD".

:)

The info in that 3>1 thread is getting more and more widespread throughout the 'net by the day. A NYT tech writer has already has posted about it. Comcast must be starting to feel the heat, at least that's the hope anyway.

They really need to start moving those Extended Basic channels to digital. Why do they always take forever to do anything? They're not Comcastic. They're Comcastosaurs.

:)

The info in that 3>1 thread is getting more and more widespread throughout the 'net by the day. A NYT tech writer has already has posted about it. Comcast must be starting to feel the heat, at least that's the hope anyway.

I've got emails into Comcast executive "fast-track" customer service, and am in the middle of conversations with them about this, including giving them the link to the degradation thread. Don't know what more any of us can do .....

:)

The info in that 3>1 thread is getting more and more widespread throughout the 'net by the day. A NYT tech writer has already has posted about it. Comcast must be starting to feel the heat, at least that's the hope anyway.

Good to see the publicity. Thats a great thread. very well presented. I saw it mentioned on multiple big blogs.

They really need to start moving those Extended Basic channels to digital. Why do they always take forever to do anything? They're not Comcastic. They're Comcastosaurs.

Part of the problem is they're too big, think of the US Congress on a bit smaller scale.

Not only that, but they don't have a lot of reason to make large changes, for all the bitching I do I'm still with them, so are you, and everyone else here as well. We're all still giving Comcast our money, until it hits them in their wallet, why change?

Truth be told though, I would expect to see even more sub loss when the first quarter numbers come out, and I would expect to see even more gains with DirecTV. Apparently they're launching some more channels Wed, ABC-Family and some other stuff, don't recall. Brings their total to around 90 HD channels I think?? Meanwhile, Comcast is cramming 3 to a QAM and still has maybe 1/3 of the D* lineup.

...and we still only have 11 HD channels in the majority of Santa Rosa - that's freaking pathetic.

Look at AETV, HGTV, SHO. If they are on the same channel in the diagnostic screen then you are likely already seeing degraded quality during primetime.

You don't understand the issue. Even if they aren't on the same channel, they are still being degraded. The processing comcast does is at HITS, which uplinks the video to all the headends, not just for Comcast but several other MSO's too.

Once the video is trasrated there, it doesn't matter if it is packed 3:1 or not.

Look over on the what's the Next HD channel for Comcast thread...Quotes an article where comcast says of course we compress our signals like everybody else, and a new motto somebody made.

COMpressionCAST

:)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13532118#post13532118

I saw that, pretty funny. :D

From another poster's signature,

The REAL Triple-Play from COMpressionCAST...

High prices, over-compressed HD channels, and DVR's that don't work

:p

<sarcasm>Really enjoying the premiere of Sharks Hockey on Comcast Sports Net Bay Area</sarcasm>

PQ looks craptastic (way beyond Comcastic...)!

When the gradient in the score/time overlay has major artifacts (so bad that a static graphic has moving artifacts), you're a bit over-compressed, guys. Any chance you'll be putting the games on YouTube after the original air date? That way I could watch them at my leisure (I don't have a box, so no OnDemand), and I wouldn't be missing anything PQ-wise...

Hell of a way to make a first impression...

I'm going to switch to Directv if Comcast doesn't do something about this. I became a Comcast customer because of the quality they offered their customers in their TV service. This is outrageous.

I'm going to switch to Directv if Comcast doesn't do something about this. I became a Comcast customer because of the quality they offered their customers in their TV service. This is outrageous.

I can appreciate that. I used to be glad I had Comcast, versus friends with DirectTV -- yeah, they had more channels, but at least mine were watchable. Now my PQ is just as bad (or worse).

If the only way to have your discontent acknowledged is through your wallet, switch to DirectTV, and don't do it quietly.

I'm a little surprised that I haven't heard more folks complaining a little louder. You're paying ~$1200 a year for this.

If I was in a non-upgraded area, I would just attribute crappy PQ to the limitations of the system, but since I'm in an upgraded 1GHz area, there's absolutely no excuse.

I'm here in the bay area and who else is having
trouble with the audio cutting out and excessive "tiling issues"???

I lost count how many times the audio cut out on my tv tonite.
Even happened when I began to watch my DVR.
What is the problem?
What is going on over at Comcast?

I have never been so upset.
All I wanna do is watch tv and not have the audio cut out every minute or have the picture "tile up" and scramble every other second.

Just curious who else is having similiar trouble???

You don't understand the issue. Even if they aren't on the same channel, they are still being degraded. The processing comcast does is at HITS, which uplinks the video to all the headends, not just for Comcast but several other MSO's too.

Once the video is trasrated there, it doesn't matter if it is packed 3:1 or not.
I understand *if* we get the HITS version we get the transrated version and it doesn't matter what channel grouping they use, the quality degradation is before we even get them. I just don't have knowledge for *specific* channels whether we are getting the HITS version or not. I pointed out the 3-pak because I'm pretty sure we are getting the HITS version for those vs Comcast pre-arranging the layout using the older direct feed versions in preparation for full 3-pak and the HITS versions on Apr 15.

Part of the reason I can't tell if we are getting the HITS version is many of the channels on the list often look like they are just upconverted SD so they just look bad no matter whether they are trans-rated or not.

I'm confident the 3-pak I listed is using the HITS version because I have personally observed HGTV go from 15Mbps during the day to 12Mbps during primetime as AETV went from 9 to 12Mbps. At the same time I've seen the overall spare bandwidth on that channel drop to almost zero from around 2.5Mbps.

If you are saying once a Comcast area gets any channel from HITS then all their channels are from HITS, then I wasn't aware of that. I was under the impression some could be transrated versions from HITS while others might be direct feed and Comcast was only mandating the affected channels use the HITS transrated versions, which means by Apr 15 they will definitely be the HITS versions but right now during transition they could be either.

This is a joke, NatGeoHD is 8.3 mbps right now ...

I'm going to switch to Directv if Comcast doesn't do something about this. I became a Comcast customer because of the quality they offered their customers in their TV service. This is outrageous.

more incentive for you....Directv is adding 3 new channels today :)

ESPNews HD
Disney Channel HD
Toon Disney HD

Keenan can tell you about any quality differences between his Directv and Comcast signals (and he doesnt even have COMpressionCAST yet)

more incentive for you....Directv is adding 3 new channels today :)

ESPNews HD
Disney Channel HD
Toon Disney HD

Keenan can tell you about any quality differences between his Directv and Comcast signals (and he doesnt even have COMpressionCAST yet)

Already up. ESPNHD-News looks really good, and the cartoon channels, even with SD currently playing, the colors are freakishly vivid.

I understand *if* we get the HITS version we get the transrated version and it doesn't matter what channel grouping they use, the quality degradation is before we even get them. I just don't have knowledge for *specific* channels whether we are getting the HITS version or not. I pointed out the 3-pak because I'm pretty sure we are getting the HITS version for those vs Comcast pre-arranging the layout using the older direct feed versions in preparation for full 3-pak and the HITS versions on Apr 15.

Part of the reason I can't tell if we are getting the HITS version is many of the channels on the list often look like they are just upconverted SD so they just look bad no matter whether they are trans-rated or not.

I'm confident the 3-pak I listed is using the HITS version because I have personally observed HGTV go from 15Mbps during the day to 12Mbps during primetime as AETV went from 9 to 12Mbps. At the same time I've seen the overall spare bandwidth on that channel drop to almost zero from around 2.5Mbps.

If you are saying once a Comcast area gets any channel from HITS then all their channels are from HITS, then I wasn't aware of that. I was under the impression some could be transrated versions from HITS while others might be direct feed and Comcast was only mandating the affected channels use the HITS transrated versions, which means by Apr 15 they will definitely be the HITS versions but right now during transition they could be either.

I am unaware of a Comcast headend (excluding the systems they have bought from adelphia) that does not get it's national HD programming feed from HITS. I'm now doing some capturing of HD content via my R5000-HD however and am going to run some bitrate analysis on it so I should be able to confirm that. It sure looks like the bitrates that BFDTV is seeing on the east coast at this point though.

They couldn't have found a faster way to lose their elite but growing number of HD customers......

What a damn shame.....

Comcast Debuts ‘Wideband’ in Twin Cities

First DOCSIS 3.0 Service In U.S. Priced At $150 Per Month(:eek:) For 50 Mbps

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13542396#post13542396

Comcast Debuts ‘Wideband’ in Twin Cities

First DOCSIS 3.0 Service In U.S. Priced At $150 Per Month(:eek:) For 50 Mbps

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13542396#post13542396
That's actually cheaper than Surewest's 50 mbps offering, except Surewest offers symetrical 50 up/50 down:

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2007/06/18/story9.html

(Although this article is almost a year old)

That's actually cheaper than Surewest's 50 mbps offering, except Surewest offers symetrical 50 up/50 down:

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2007/06/18/story9.html

(Although this article is almost a year old)

50/50 is a bit different than 50/5, although still very expensive.

I'm curious what ADSL2+ is going to cost.

Comcast Debuts ‘Wideband’ in Twin Cities

First DOCSIS 3.0 Service In U.S. Priced At $150 Per Month(:eek:) For 50 Mbps

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13542396#post13542396

What a ripoff for 50/5 service. Interesting to note though that it appears from this article the Twin Cities went from 6/8 down to this, no blast in between. Since we just got blast, I bet Comcast won't bring this here for a long while. Even with that said, I wouldn't have minded waiting a few weeks (or month or so) and then have us be the first Comcast Docsis 3.0 market. That would have been sweet.

Hopefully by the time this comes here, we'll get symmetrical service. Hell I'd even take 50/20, but 50/5?

I am unaware of a Comcast headend (excluding the systems they have bought from adelphia) that does not get it's national HD programming feed from HITS. I'm now doing some capturing of HD content via my R5000-HD however and am going to run some bitrate analysis on it so I should be able to confirm that. It sure looks like the bitrates that BFDTV is seeing on the east coast at this point though.
I've setup a real-time bitrate monitor here in Mountain View. I'll be posting some all day (18 to 20 hour) graphs soon. Preliminary results here are that MHD, MOJO, ESPN are still 18 Mbps and HBO still 14.2 Mbps.

I wish I had started this sooner, so that I had a baseline to compare against. Many video streams have the sequence header bitrate changed to 38.81070 Mbps, so any possible bitrate "hint" is gone (although A&EHD still says 18.1 Mbps).

MHD and MOJO feeds appear to be on AMC 10.

http://www.lyngsat.com/amc10.html

Ron

She told me that only rebuilt areas will see these new channels.

BTW, I thought that HD is only available in rebuilt/upgraded areas only?

The non-rebuilt areas (ie 550Mhz) do have some HD channels

This is a joke, NatGeoHD is 8.3 mbps right now ...Holy crap. Damn shame. It was my favorite HD channel. So much better than the dumbed down Discovery shows about dysfunctional motorcycle builders and ****** jobs.

no comments on the 3 giants games so far? CSN and KNTV seem to be using the same production crew (same graphics package) and PQ is VERY GOOD. good to know we didn't lose much going from KTVU to KNTV.

WTF happened to the Giants game?

i immediately take back all the nice things i said about CSNBA. at exactly 11pm sharp the hd feed went to the "HD SPORTS" loop. SO ANNOYING. turn back the feed, the game is still on, idiots!

Bases loaded, 2 outs, and they cut out! Heidi!!!

i heard lincecum struck out martin. so i heard.

oh YES. someone flipped the switch back on. THANK GOD. i can watch my 0-2 giants now.

The non-rebuilt areas (ie 550Mhz) do have some HD channels

Yeah, we have a few of them up here. :rolleyes::D

two more comments cuz i'm still awake

- i do like how CSNBA provides extended pregame and postgame coverage. i hear they are building a local studio too, hopefully it'll be THE channel for all my local sports fix.

- why does that annoying looping "HD SPORTS" music have to be played? what are they trying to do? scare you into changing the channel? i much preferred the soothing beach noises the old FSN one had.

- why does that annoying looping "HD SPORTS" music have to be played? what are they trying to do? scare you into changing the channel? i much preferred the soothing beach noises the old FSN one had.

I was thinking the same thing!! The other day I came home and turned on the TV and I'll I heard was this "horror/thriller" type music playing. I looked up and there was the fun spinning logo.

CSN is ok so far. A couple of notes:

1. At 11:15 pm I don't need score updates from around the league, especially when I just spent an hour rain-delay watching Baseball Tonite and Sportscenter. I NEVER need you to "squish" the screen to put that stuff on there. In HD there's PLENTY enough screen space to overlay some scores without resorting to that, so knock it off please!

2. I liked the old orange/black graphics (for Giants, green/gold for A's,etc) color scheme. I realize they use the same colors for all teams but that blue streak looks too much like Dodger blue !

oh yeah 3. when the game isn't over yet please don't cut the HD feed THANKS!

Oh I have some more feedback for the crew too...

* Don't think I need to mention what a terrible idea the whole "Christian Slater" thing was. Kruk basically summed that one up nicely...

* Likewise watching video of the exhibition game played at LA Coliseum DURING a live Giants at-bat wasn't the best idea either. I think it was Jon Miller at that point who said "oh and by the way, Castillo just struck out and the inning is over".... Save that stuff for the pre-game or something.

* Get some better material for rain delays! Certainly I will admit that I was a lot more likely to watch BBTN or SC during the delay than whatEVER you put on there but geeez whatever that show was... was terrible. Did I really see something about hockey thrown in there? Ouch.

... I NEVER need you to "squish" the screen to put that stuff on there. In HD there's PLENTY enough screen space to overlay some scores without resorting to that, so knock it off please!


AAAAMMEENNNN!!! To that, I would add my favorite rant: the top of the screen banner (showing current score, outs, balls/strikes, etc) is both way too large and too close to the center of the screen. That banner is right in the field of vision and is very distracting.

ESPN/FOX does this too (NFL, NASCAR) - the banner is identical to the SD simulcast. But it need not be! For HD or most digital displays, overscan is rarely an issue so put the damn banner close to the top and reduce the size (with HD, I don't need large fonts!).

And, yes, it's more work to have two banners - one for SD and one for HD. Too bad - they manage to place the HD logo on only one of them.

Preliminary results here are that MHD, MOJO, ESPN are still 18 Mbps and HBO still 14.2 Mbps.

Glad to see that they are not scrimping on bandwidth for all that super programming on Mojo like the reality series where they take geeks electronic toys away.

Already up. ESPNHD-News looks really good, and the cartoon channels, even with SD currently playing, the colors are freakishly vivid.

Keenan, my apologies if you've posted this elsewhere in the thread, but what's your thinking about why to keep Comcast given your satisfaction with DirecTV? My wife hates the notion of a dish on the roof, but I've never pressed the issue because I needed (until this season, at least) Comcast to get HD Giants' games and because I've bought into the notion that cable HD is better than satellite. My wife is now more flexible because her beloved tennis coverage has been getting bumped lately on FSN because of baseball (and because I've told her we can probably pick the tennis up in low def on some flavor of FSN on satellite even if CSN-BA drops it in favor of local programming). But if we were to make the switch, I would wonder why we would keep Comcast at all?

Well, yeah no change in CSN HD compared with FSN HD, something that was expected. Last night I actually was checking the giants early and the Warriors and CSN HD looked a lot better than ESPN HD.

Btw, I was watching in a 92'' screen.

Keenan, my apologies if you've posted this elsewhere in the thread, but what's your thinking about why to keep Comcast given your satisfaction with DirecTV? My wife hates the notion of a dish on the roof, but I've never pressed the issue because I needed (until this season, at least) Comcast to get HD Giants' games and because I've bought into the notion that cable HD is better than satellite. My wife is now more flexible because her beloved tennis coverage has been getting bumped lately on FSN because of baseball (and because I've told her we can probably pick the tennis up in low def on some flavor of FSN on satellite even if CSN-BA drops it in favor of local programming). But if we were to make the switch, I would wonder why we would keep Comcast at all?

Good question. There's a couple of reasons why I retain both providers, at least for the near term.

1) Since I already have a Limited Basic sub, I got a good deal on the HSI product. Basically, I'm getting 6/384 internet for free for about 7.5 mos when taking the cash rebates into consideration. That will end sometime in July/Aug at which point I'm hoping AT&T and/or Sonic will have their higher speed solution available and I may switch internet providers at that time, depending on cost/availability of course.

2) I've already made the investment in the S3 TiVo, which is easily the best DVR on the market, bar none(although the D* unit is no slouch either), and my TiVo subscription is paid up until Sept 2009.

3) Having both DirecTV and Comcast allows me to avoid recording conflicts where I want to record 3 or more programs at the same time. Obviously, this can be done with having 2 DVRs from either provider, but since I already have the S3...(I should add that I do have 2 D* DVRs, they gave me the 2nd one for free - first cost $80 as a current customer, not sure what current deals are for new subs)

As far as Comcast's other products, digital voice means less than nothing to me. With the proliferation of cell phones(I think cell phone numbers overtook land line numbers last year) and internet phone services like Skype(I talked to my brother every night at length while he was in Hong Kong for a week - cost? just paying for internet service - all of my family is cell phone/internet phone capable, and internet phone includes video conferencing) who needs Comcast Digital Voice?

Never been a fan of OnDemand, although I realize that's a product many like, and, DirecTV has an on demand product as well.

I would say, setting internet service aside, and if you haven't made an investment in a TiVo cable/OTA DVR, then I see no reason to stay with Comcast. If you enjoy sports, there's no comparison, DirecTV is the easy/only choice. You mentioned your wife likes tennis, DirecTV has the Tennis Channel HD and is ramping up their HD programming. Right now it's showing an old match between Henin-Hardenne/Martinez and while it's pillarboxed, there's no artifacting and looks remarkable good given it's an old SD broadcast.

DirecTV has some 90+ HD channels now and is still adding more. Sure, there may not be much/any HD programming on many of those channels, but at least you have the choice, something that Comcast make take years to provide.

With D*'s MLBEI package(free preview this week) I've watched probably 7-8 HD baseball games in the last 3 days, it will be up to 10 by late tonight. Can Comcast provide that?

As I try and say everytime this subject comes up and there's a question about quality, find a way to go see DirecTV on a reasonably sized screen, bigger the better, and make your own decision. I'm viewing on a 73" CRT RPTV and I'm happy with what I see, anything smaller and I don't see how anyone would be unhappy.

Hope that helps. :)

Glad to see that they are not scrimping on bandwidth for all that super programming on Mojo like the reality series where they take geeks electronic toys away.Could it be because Comcast OWNS Mojo? Nah.

i immediately take back all the nice things i said about CSNBA. at exactly 11pm sharp the hd feed went to the "HD SPORTS" loop. SO ANNOYING. turn back the feed, the game is still on, idiots!

I watched the Warriors live, and the stupid Comcast DVR recording of the Giants game never made it anywhere near that far. It froze up at 2:23 into the recording, and there was nothing after that. Probably the only win they'll get all season, and I missed it. Anyone know of a torrent or something I can get?

no but here's the only interesting part you may have missed...

9th inning, giants up 2-1

Brian Wilson on the mound
Aurilia botches a routine grounder, error, man on 1st. Furcal? I forget...

Juan Pierre lays down a bunt, comebacker to the mound, Wilson spins around and gets the out at 2nd, daring move, but it pays off bigtime when....

next batter (some bum who cares) strikes out looking, with Pierre trying to steal 2nd.
Molina throws him out, great throw, with a nice pickup and tag on the play by SS Bocock.
my favorite double-play, strike-em-out throw-em-out. Game Over.

Hope that helps. :)

It more than helps. Now I just have to figure out if I can "hide" the dish on the garage out back so that our "beautiful" remodeled house roofline is untouched.

why the frak isn't BSG in HD for me tomorrow???

Comcast internet has been great, so I'll keep that, but before I plunk down more cash for MLB Extra Innings I can't see why I'll stay with Comcast. 40 or so MLB games a week in HD on D* is just one more reason to make the switch. I'm paying 150+/month - 2000/yr to Comcast and I can get D*'s everything package + Comcast internet for the same or less. Better DVR, all premium channels, etc. etc.

What are the best deals out there now to make the switch? Does the Costco D* package beat what's available on their website?

I hope the Comcast exec who monitors this forum is reading. Real world feedback on why D* is winning, and I'm voting with my wallet.

Here's the first bitrate graph. 12 hours of Showtime captured yesterday.

http://www.w6rz.net/showtime.png

It's fairly easy to see the bitrate of each movie. The graph starts with the last half hour of "Bad Boys" (Sean Penn version), and then shows the entirety of the following movies.

Deep Impact
Out-Of-Towners
California Dreaming
Milk Money
Godsend
Akeelah and the Bee

And then the first hour or so of "Capote". "Milk Money" required the highest bitrate, almost the whole movie was pinned at 14.2 Mbps.

Ron

If that graph reads similar to like a spectral analysis of an audio file, then I'm guessing it means when it's pegged at the top it's starving for more bandwidth, no?

why the frak isn't BSG in HD for me tomorrow???

I was wondering the same thing but who knows! Somehow, I don't think that Comcast cares. One consolation is knowing that it will be there in about 10 days. I do wish I could have seen the first couple of episodes in HD but I can only hope that SciFi reruns the episodes soon or Comcast makes it available in VOD.

I did watch the 2 catchup episodes last night on USA HD. Who knows maybe they will show it on that channel soon?

Comcast coupon

I'm in Sunnvale 94087, and sadly not upgraded yet. Last week I received a $10 off coupon in the mail from Comcast, thanking me for being a loyal Comcast customer. Maybe it is a gesture to placate those of us still not upgraded.

The thing that bugs me a bit is why not just take $10 off my bill. Instead they mailed me a coupon, and tell me to mail the coupon back to them in order to have the $10 deducted off next month's bill. I can't even do this coupon thing online. I think they must be hoping that not everyone will mail it back in :).

Comcast coupon

I'm in Sunnvale 94087, and sadly not upgraded yet. Last week I received a $10 off coupon in the mail from Comcast, thanking me for being a loyal Comcast customer. Maybe it is a gesture to placate those of us still not upgraded.

The thing that bugs me a bit is why not just take $10 off my bill. Instead they mailed me a coupon, and tell me to mail the coupon back to them in order to have the $10 deducted off next month's bill. I can't even do this coupon thing online. I think they must be hoping that not everyone will mail it back in :).

Be warned it takes more than one month for that 10 dollar credit to show up on your bill. Expect it to take about 3 bill cycles.

Comcast coupon

I'm in Sunnvale 94087, and sadly not upgraded yet. Last week I received a $10 off coupon in the mail from Comcast, thanking me for being a loyal Comcast customer. Maybe it is a gesture to placate those of us still not upgraded.

The thing that bugs me a bit is why not just take $10 off my bill. Instead they mailed me a coupon, and tell me to mail the coupon back to them in order to have the $10 deducted off next month's bill. I can't even do this coupon thing online. I think they must be hoping that not everyone will mail it back in :).
I think they send those out randomly. If you use the coupon, make sure you check your bill for the next few months. I received one of those coupons last summer, and the $10 was not taken off of my bill. I had to call in, but even then the CSR said there was no indication on my account that they received the coupon. I pressed the issue and they took it off of my next bill.

I was wondering the same thing but who knows! Somehow, I don't think that Comcast cares. One consolation is knowing that it will be there in about 10 days. I do wish I could have seen the first couple of episodes in HD but I can only hope that SciFi reruns the episodes soon or Comcast makes it available in VOD.

I did watch the 2 catchup episodes last night on USA HD. Who knows maybe they will show it on that channel soon?

So is the April 15th launch date of SciFi-HD confirmed?

So is the April 15th launch date of SciFi-HD confirmed?

Yes...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=13437258&postcount=5788

yeah, we have to suffer with BSG on Sciffy-Lo-Def until then.

Ah yes...I'll be watching one of the greatest shows ever to be on TV start it's final season in glorious HD tonight. :)

Oh..sorry guys, I forgot this was Comcast Bay Area thread. :p:D


ssssssss... (the sound of salt being poured into that wound)

yeah, we have to suffer with BSG on Sciffy-Lo-Def until then.

Hey, it takes them awhile to install the downrating hardware in Denver so they can squeeze the bitrate to fit... They can't just use the feed that DirecTV has been using after all... :-)

Hey, it takes them awhile to install the downrating hardware in Denver so they can squeeze the bitrate to fit... They can't just use the feed that DirecTV has been using after all... :-)

Another added note to my above post comparing Comcast/DirecTV. DirecTV/Microsoft are coming out with a dual tuner PC card/device to enable DirecTV on the PC. Not sure of the details, but apparently it's already in the wild being beta tested.

Thought it might be of interest to you.

Ah yes...I'll be watching one of the greatest shows ever to be on TV start it's final season in glorious HD tonight. :)

Oh..sorry guys, I forgot this was Comcast Bay Area thread. :p:D


ssssssss... (the sound of salt being poured into that wound)

There are other ways to see it in HD tonight. ;) I'll be all over that which we do not speak of.

Completely non-HD and Comcast related, but I'm hoping that ya'll can help me out with some travel related info in a PM...

I'm going to be out in San Jose for a few days in May and want to hit the Giants home game on May 18th and an A's home game on 19th/20th.

I've been reading up on the transit systems, trying to figure out how to get to ATT Park and McAfee Col for games. Looks like the Caltrain runs right from SJ to ATT Park, however, I can't figure out how to get to and from McAfee on game night.

If anybody can shoot me a PM, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

Completely non-HD and Comcast related, but I'm hoping that ya'll can help me out with some travel related info in a PM...

I'm going to be out in San Jose for a few days in May and want to hit the Giants home game on May 18th and an A's home game on 19th/20th.

I've been reading up on the transit systems, trying to figure out how to get to ATT Park and McAfee Col for games. Looks like the Caltrain runs right from SJ to ATT Park, however, I can't figure out how to get to and from McAfee on game night.

If anybody can shoot me a PM, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

walk or bus it from AT&T to market st., powell station, and take bart to mcafee.

Ah yes...I'll be watching one of the greatest shows ever to be on TV start it's final season in glorious HD tonight. :)

Oh..sorry guys, I forgot this was Comcast Bay Area thread. :p:D


ssssssss... (the sound of salt being poured into that wound)

Man I'm thinking of cutting down some trees. Two D* guys came out and couldn't see even one satellite with all the trees around (I was with D* previously)! But, I do have to say my TiVo HD is one amazing little box. And now I also that I find that Friday Night Lights' next season will be on HDnet. I would give up OnDemand for HDnet, and HDnetMovies, but, being in the backwaters of Comcast I'm stuck so far.

As we say here "It's Comcastic". Also looking to change my HSI due to what seem to be lots of DNS problems, or maybe because I haven't been using any peer-to-peer recently they feel the need to reduce my bandwidth just 'cause.

Wow, we got a hanger on our door today that seems to imply that Comcast will be starting work in my neighborhood next week. It gave no indication of when they'll be done, just that there may be interruptions.

I've adjusted my estimate to December 2009.

Hello to all, My name is curtis and Im from San Ramon. I've been an avid reader of this forum for the past few months but i just recieved some valuable information regarding the new hd channel additions in our area so I decided to register and post something for the first time. My best friend works for Comcast as a repair CSR and he mentioned that all the folks there recieved a communication today with the list of the channels and the launch date so here's a quick rundown:

Sci-Fi HD - Channel 736
FOOD Network HD - Channel 747
Animal Planet HD - Channel 751
TLC HD - Channel 752
CNN HD - Channel 759

Launch date :april 15th

This will be available to all customers in rebuild areas ( 750 systems) who at least have the digital starter package. We're supposed to have mgs sent to our cable box's over the next few weeks to make people aware of the change. Hope this info is helpfull to all who were curious.

Curtis

On KCBS 740 this morning I heard a COMCAST commercial saying that Bravo HD is being added.

walk or bus it from AT&T to market st., powell station, and take bart to mcafee.

The Powell St. station is too far, walk up 2nd St, turn left on Market and a half a block is the Montgomery station.

Of course your games are on different days. You can't get from SJ to the McAfee directly by Bart. You must go through San Francisco. If you can find a way to get from San Jose to Fremont, you can grab Bart there and head north to McAfee.

Comcast coupon

I'm in Sunnvale 94087, and sadly not upgraded yet. Last week I received a $10 off coupon in the mail from Comcast, thanking me for being a loyal Comcast customer. Maybe it is a gesture to placate those of us still not upgraded.

The thing that bugs me a bit is why not just take $10 off my bill. Instead they mailed me a coupon, and tell me to mail the coupon back to them in order to have the $10 deducted off next month's bill. I can't even do this coupon thing online. I think they must be hoping that not everyone will mail it back in :).Not only that. But, when you do mail it in, they don't credit your account for the $10. I had to call them over and over. I think I finally got them to give me the credit after about 4 months. Maybe 6.

If I walk in to a local office, let's say Milpitas, Santa Clara, or San Jose, on a Saturday, will I be able to pick up CableCard(s) for a Tivo HD? I'm thinking of stopping by Costco to see if they have them cheap like somebody mentioned. If so, I'd like to get it running ASAP, so Saturday p/u is important.

Also, will I need two cards for the two tuners, or a single "multi" card?

tvpredictions.com reports today Comcast in Utah is getting:

The new channels are: American Movie Classics HD, CNN HD, HGTV HD, Food Network HD and the Sci-Fi Network HD.

AMC is not on the list for the Bay Area that I've seen.

If I walk in to a local office, let's say Milpitas, Santa Clara, or San Jose, on a Saturday, will I be able to pick up CableCard(s) for a Tivo HD? I'm thinking of stopping by Costco to see if they have them cheap like somebody mentioned. If so, I'd like to get it running ASAP, so Saturday p/u is important.

Magic 8 ball says "Chances are good"

check pm . .

Man I'm thinking of cutting down some trees. Two D* guys came out and couldn't see even one satellite with all the trees around (I was with D* previously)! But, I do have to say my TiVo HD is one amazing little box. And now I also that I find that Friday Night Lights' next season will be on HDnet. I would give up OnDemand for HDnet, and HDnetMovies, but, being in the backwaters of Comcast I'm stuck so far.

As we say here "It's Comcastic". Also looking to change my HSI due to what seem to be lots of DNS problems, or maybe because I haven't been using any peer-to-peer recently they feel the need to reduce my bandwidth just 'cause.

Friday Night Lights will premier on DirecTV's ch 101-HD in Oct and then be reran on NBC sometime in Feb. It won't be on HDNet. So you'll still get it, just 4-5 mos later than DirecTV subs.

Wow, we got a hanger on our door today that seems to imply that Comcast will be starting work in my neighborhood next week. It gave no indication of when they'll be done, just that there may be interruptions.

I've adjusted my estimate to December 2009.

lol...hey, at least you have that, I'm still thinking 2012 for my area...meanwhile, I see a DirecTV truck practically everytime I go out anywhere.

Whoops, gotta go, in about 10 mins I'll be sitting down to watch Battlestar Galactica in HD. :p:D

Magic 8 ball says "Chances are good"

check pm . .


They need to promote you to VP of Customer Service ;)

Another added note to my above post comparing Comcast/DirecTV. DirecTV/Microsoft are coming out with a dual tuner PC card/device to enable DirecTV on the PC. Not sure of the details, but apparently it's already in the wild being beta tested.

Thought it might be of interest to you.

Well, let's just say I know the engineers at DirecTV, and while I am in general very impressed by what they do, the PC DVR crowd is really not their target. Whether that device ever sees real market deployment is questionable in my mind after talking with them.

Others on the forum say that DirecTV is completely committed to this, that it's in beta test now, and will be shortly available to the public. But that isn't the impression I get.

Plus, if it's completely neutered the way cablecard is and limited to being used with VMC and not any other platform (like SageTV which is what I use), then it's really not all that useful to me.

I'll put up with the image quality issues because of the R5000-HD and it's integration with SageTV. Once you have that, you can't go back. When I outlined my setup to a couple of the DirecTV guys, they said, well, you are not like 99.99% of the consumer base. To which I replied, that's true, and I am proud of it.


But if I had the same capability I have with the R5000-HD with this new PC tuner, I'd be gone in a heartbeat. I'd keep Comcast for locals and HSI, but dump the video really quickly. Not just because I'd get more HD channels with better quality for less, but also a bigger choice on SD and better quality there too.

12 hours of A&EHD.

http://www.w6rz.net/aehd.png

Still getting some 18 Mbps peaks.

Ron

but have to suffer through KICU's absolute crap SD broadcast of the live game?

Thanks for the transit info :)

you can't pick up Cablecards they have to be installed and authorized by a tech (or 2 or 3 or 4...)

I've been watching closely A&E and HGTV and NatGeo the last week or so and don't notice anything like PQ degradation. None at all, everything looks great. Of course we'll see if we get squeezed after April 15 (on 750mhz system here)...

you can't pick up Cablecards they have to be installed and authorized by a tech (or 2 or 3 or 4...)


At least in the South Bay you can...Barovelli's Magic8 Ball is never wrong ;)

you can't pick up Cablecards they have to be installed and authorized by a tech (or 2 or 3 or 4...)

I've been watching closely A&E and HGTV and NatGeo the last week or so and don't notice anything like PQ degradation. None at all, everything looks great. Of course we'll see if we get squeezed after April 15 (on 750mhz system here)...


How can you tell how many mhz your area is? I haven't a clue what my local comcast is using in my area? Anyway if the PQ is bad when we get the new channels, I'll probably be switching to D*... why stay and get crappy quality with a few select HD channels when I can leave and get a huge amount of crappy HD quality, without having to pay as much? Makes no sense why anyone would stay if that happens. I am with Comcast only for the quality of HD!

At least in the South Bay you can...Barovelli's Magic8 Ball is never wrong ;)

Yep, I self installed a TivoHD M card about 2 months ago without issues. Just went to the office and they gave me a card.

How can you tell how many mhz your area is? I haven't a clue what my local comcast is using in my area? Anyway if the PQ is bad when we get the new channels, I'll probably be switching to D*... why stay and get crappy quality with a few select HD channels when I can leave and get a huge amount of crappy HD quality, without having to pay as much? Makes no sense why anyone would stay if that happens. I am with Comcast only for the quality of HD!

i would also like to know what system comcast is using n my area

My Vista Media Center (dual cablecard) EPG updated this morning and now lists the following new channels (they dont work yet). Generally every time VMC tells me of new channels they are already working, but I'm guessing these will kick in sometime during the next week (the EPG updates every weekend, but downloads guides for 2 weeks).

736 SciFiHD
751 APLHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD
769 AMCHD

My Vista Media Center (dual cablecard) EPG updated this morning and now lists the following new channels (they dont work yet). Generally every time VMC tells me of new channels they are already working, but I'm guessing these will kick in sometime during the next week (the EPG updates every weekend, but downloads guides for 2 weeks).

736 SciFiHD
751 APLHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD
769 AMCHD

AMC?? what happened to food?

AMC?? what happened to food?

oh, yeah, FoodHD at 747... it is there, not working yet either.

Magic 8 ball says "Chances are good"

check pm . .Thanks. But, the Tivo HD's are $249 at Costco. THat $150 price I've seen mentioned in a coupla threads must have been regional or limited-time.

For $150, I'd jump on it. For $249, I'll hang with the DCH. Plus, I'll most likely bolt to DirecTV if they ever pick up TV Japan. (wtf is their problem with that, anyway? Everybody else carries it.)

So is it pretty much guaranteed that Comcast will degrade PQ when these new channels come out? Has that been the case *everywhere* they have added these channels?

So is it pretty much guaranteed that Comcast will degrade PQ when these new channels come out? Has that been the case *everywhere* they have added these channels?

At least for Comcast, yes. Comcast headends get their HD feeds from HITS, and that's where the transrating is being done.

At least for Comcast, yes. Comcast headends get their HD feeds from HITS, and that's where the transrating is being done.

So why then are people waiting for these new channels? I say time to jump ship. Why wait til it sinks? Jeez, I'm gonna start enjoying *alot* more channels elsewhere. Sure some may be HD-lite, but hell it beats the few HD channels Comcast will be offering, *all* in HD-lite! Not to mention the fact that it's also expensive! :mad:

So are other providers going to degrade their HD channels also?..or is this just a Comcast thing? I literally am about to jump ship...can't believe the quality!...just terrible here in the South Bay. What's a good provider?..Dish? Direct?

Apparently peoples' sensitivity to reduced PQ varies wildly.

Thanks. But, the Tivo HD's are $249 at Costco.
It is my impression there are no Costcos in the South Bay or Peninsula that carry TiVo HD at this time.

Tried to record Sat. Night Live tonight and my eyeTV 500 reports that KNTV-HD [OTA 11.1] also known on Comcast cable as Ch703 and transmitting on cable at Ch 116.1 was Encrypted. :(:(

My MITS HDTV with a cable card had no trouble with it but eyeTV could not decode the signal and so could not record in HD. I thought that Comcast was prohibited from encrypting OTA local channels on cable.

Any body else notice this?

Comments?

JetPilot

TitanTV and Comcast Channel Guide both list 734 A&EHD. I have a MITS HDTV with a cablecard and do not get this channel here in Los Altos.:(

I went to the Comcast office in Cupertino, CA and they demonstrated that they were receiving it at the office.

Anybody?

Youre right! I can confirm that channel 116.1 is not encrypted. Has the QAM channel moved to a new location?

Tried to record Sat. Night Live tonight and my eyeTV 500 reports that KNTV-HD [OTA 11.1] also known on Comcast cable as Ch703 and transmitting on cable at Ch 116.1 was Encrypted. :(:(

My MITS HDTV with a cable card had no trouble with it but eyeTV could not decode the signal and so could not record in HD. I thought that Comcast was prohibited from encrypting OTA local channels on cable.

Any body else notice this?

Comments?

JetPilot

TitanTV and Comcast Channel Guide both list 734 A&EHD. I have a MITS HDTV with a cablecard and do not get this channel here in Los Altos.:(

I went to the Comcast office in Cupertino, CA and they demonstrated that they were receiving it at the office.

Anybody?

In my house, I have seen situations where poor cable drops such as the one in my bedroom caused one or two channels to not work. In my case its possible there is some noise along the way or the signal gets weaker or something.

However the TV in our family has no problem.

You might want to double check your channel issue at a drop location as close as possible to the demarc point.

...my eyeTV 500 reports that KNTV-HD [OTA 11.1] also known on Comcast cable as Ch703 and transmitting on cable at Ch 116.1 was Encrypted.You don't say where you are, so it's anybody's guess as to what QAM channel you'll find KNTV-HD on now. It used to be on D116.1 for me too, but has recently moved to D120 (120.2, IIRC, 120.1 is KBCW-DT) and has, as yet, no PSIP, so rescanning does not cause it to show up properly as "11.1 KNTV-HD" on my DTV tuners. D116.1 on my cable now contains, evidently, premium programming that is encrypted.

Tried to record Sat. Night Live tonight and my eyeTV 500 reports that KNTV-HD [OTA 11.1] also known on Comcast cable as Ch703 and transmitting on cable at Ch 116.1 was Encrypted. :(:(


I wanted to do that too to see if Christopher Walken did another episode of The Continental. Fell asleep before the opening sketch and missed his monologue. 116-1 on my older LG DVR shows this channel as encrypted/scrambled. I'd like to get NBCHD back but can't seem to find where that channel is. I've used suggestions for channels on this thread but still don't have it. :mad:

JetPilot are you in an upgraded area? Mine has been upgraded for about a month and we still get A&EHD on 734.

TPeterson, you mention channel 120. My LG DVR shows 120-1 to 120-4 as inDemand hockey channels. 120-5 is FSN... Ohio??? There is an awfully soft SD Reds/Phillies game on as I write this. 120-6 and -7 are MLBEI inDemand. 120-8 has a Sport South game on with the Mets/Braves. I guess on occasion I'll get some non-Bay Area RSNs from time to time?

KNTV moves around on me sometimes.

If it was 116.1 before, try 116.2 or 116.3

You don't say where you are, so it's anybody's guess as to what QAM channel you'll find KNTV-HD on now. It used to be on D116.1 for me too, but has recently moved to D120 (120.2, IIRC, 120.1 is KBCW-DT) and has, as yet, no PSIP, so rescanning does not cause it to show up properly as "11.1 KNTV-HD" on my DTV tuners. D116.1 on my cable now contains, evidently, premium programming that is encrypted.

Just after the upgrade for me (Sunnyvale 94087) KNTV-HD was at 116.1, then later moved to 92.x along with KBCW-DT without PSIP for a while. Some days later the PSIP started working and a re-scan showed 11.1 and 44.1 respectively (physical channels still 92.x for both). BTW, 116.1 is now encrypted for me also. You both may still be in transition :rolleyes:

FWIW, Jim

I just did a rescan on my HDHomeRun.. and currently it working on the bellow channel mapping. This is the first time I've experienced a QAM channel change since I've had my HDHomeRun (about 10 months now).


http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h283/mkanet/Screenshot-0121.jpg

It's on 116.3 for me right now, and the PSID has never worked for that channel.

I hardly ever use the QAM tuner though

Just after the upgrade for me (Sunnyvale 94087) KNTV-HD was at 116.1, then later moved to 92.x along with KBCW-DT without PSIP for a while. Some days later the PSIP started working and a re-scan showed 11.1 and 44.1 respectively (physical channels still 92.x for both). BTW, 116.1 is now encrypted for me also. You both may still be in transition :rolleyes:Evidently so...although the "upgrade" for my cable was performed about 2 years ago. :D

KNTV moves around on me sometimes.

If it was 116.1 before, try 116.2 or 116.3

Geez, stuff has been all changed around on the san mateo headend. I am going to have to remap all my QAM channels again. Thanks again Comcast! :mad:

Geez, stuff has been all changed around on the san mateo headend. I am going to have to remap all my QAM channels again. Thanks again Comcast! :mad:

Making room for those 3-pak'ers, making some open QAMs available?

Making room for those 3-pak'ers, making some open QAMs available?

Yup. Looks like most all the HD channels are now 3 for 1 QAM carrier... Channel 78 is carrying 2 HD signals though, both encrypted. Channel 79 has KPIX in HD, and KTVU in HD and SD. So they have really changed around all the mappings.

Making room for those 3-pak'ers, making some open QAMs available?
I believe so. My head-end did that re-arrangement about 3 weeks ago. They aligned all the channels with the 3-pak groupings in bkdtv's post.

IMO if your NBC moved location there is a good chance that was in conjunction with reorganizing your channels for 3-pak.

Whether you are currently getting a HITS re-encoded version of a channel or a full rate version is not implied by the 3-pak re-org. You might already be getting the HITS version or you might get it later, but it is either there already or coming (for the affected channels).

I believe almost all the Apr 15 channels are already being broadcast but our setups haven't been told they are available. This is from observing that 3 HD streams are on most HD channels (on bkdtv's list) with 2 known channels and 1 unknown (from CableCARD channel mapping standpoint)

IMO if your NBC moved location there is a good chance that was in conjunction with reorganizing your channels for 3-pak.Actually, Hub, I think that the reassignment of KNTV was benign. Its two subs (KNTV-HD and NBC-Weather) had been grouped on 116 with the encrypted suchannel for ESPN. This combination evidently caused difficulty for several DTV tuners over the past two years. Now on the San Mateo headend the NBC HD and SD pair are together with KBCW-DT on 120, so that there are no encrypted subchannels for the tuner to deal with. The total bandwidth "crammed" onto the channel is the same as before: 2 HD + 1 SD (and it's a low data rate SD, at that). It's not close to the crowd that's always been on 117, which includes 2 "HD" (KQED-HD and KGO-HD) and 3 SD subs (Encore, KGO-D2, and KGO-D3).

On re-reading your post, however, I realized that you meant that the movement was driven by the new premium lineup of 3pers. That's very likely so, I guess.

On re-reading your post, however, I realized that you meant that the movement was driven by the new premium lineup of 3pers. That's very likely so, I guess.
Sorry I wasn't more clear. What I meant to say was Comcast is choosing to re-org KNTV at the same time they do the re-org for 3-pak. I didn't mean to imply in any way that KNTV was being trans-rated.

KNTV however is the most visible change a clear QAM user would notice during this re-org process (since the other channels being re-org'd are encrypted)

These channels are the only ones left that are 2 HD per channel (on my system)

ESPN2/TNT
KICU/NFL
FOX/CBS
KBCW/KNTV
MTV/?
MOJO/FSBA-CSN
KRON/SHO
TBS/ESPN
KQED/KGO

The rest are all broadcasting 2 know HD channels with 1 unknown (from the standpoint of CableCARD channel map), except for AETV, HGTV, STRZ where all three channels are known.

edit: I realized when I was writing SHO, I meant to be writing Strz-HD. That is corrected now.

Tried to record Sat. Night Live tonight and my eyeTV 500 reports that KNTV-HD [OTA 11.1] also known on Comcast cable as Ch703 and transmitting on cable at Ch 116.1 was Encrypted. :(:(

My MITS HDTV with a cable card had no trouble with it but eyeTV could not decode the signal and so could not record in HD. I thought that Comcast was prohibited from encrypting OTA local channels on cable.

Any body else notice this?

Comments?

JetPilot

I have a HDHomeRun. I just reran a channel scan and I can confirm that 116.1 is now encrypted :( I am on the San Mateo head end. Must be some mistake as it was fine a couple months ago. How can we get this fixed?

Edit:
Channel moved, 120.3 is now KNTV-HD. No PSIP information yet.

You don't need to get it "fixed". Tune KNTV-HD on 120.2.

You don't need to get it "fixed". Tune KNTV-HD on 120.2.

Thanks. I hadn't read to the end of the thread. My bad.
Looks like there's no PSIP info, so my scan didn't show the channel move. However, for me, 120.2 is KBCW-HD and 120.3 is KNTV-HD.

That's weird. For me, I do get PSIP data on the new channel mappings, but it's not 120.x. On 120.x its encrypted channels. For me, its 107.1, 107.3 for KNTVDT1 and KNTVDT2, respectively.

Though in many cases there are some commonalities, potentially every head-end can have different channel locations.

That's weird. For me, I do get PSIP data on the new channel mappings, but it's not 120.x. On 120.x its encrypted channels. For me, its 107.1, 107.3 for KNTVDT1 and KNTVDT2, respectively.

It's on 120 for me too in Redwood City. Must be a difference between 750 and 860 plant...

I'm pondering a TivoHD - anyone know if Comcast will be doing SDV around here in the near future (meaning before the USB dongle comes out)?

Though in many cases there are some commonalities, potentially every head-end can have different channel locations....and PSIP or not. Nothing weird about it...just patchwork quilting. :D

It is my impression there are no Costcos in the South Bay or Peninsula that carry TiVo HD at this time.You're not very good at doing impressions. There was a pile of them at the SJ Costco. But, as I said, they are $249.

You're not very good at doing impressions. There was a pile of them at the SJ Costco. But, as I said, they are $249.
I called Foster City and Mt View. Both said TiVo HD was not in stock. I asked each to check inventory at the other stores in the Bay Area. Again they said none in stock.

Not believing them (because I've seen them before), I checked SJ Almaden, Santa Clara, and Mt View and indeed none of them had any TiVo HDs. I know Santa Clara used to have them because I've seen them there.

So which SJ Costco had TiVo HDs? Automation or Senter?

KNTV was 116.1 here, it moved to 116.3 ... I don't even know when exactly, I noticed it about a week ago. KCBW44 moved also. If they are "3-packing" anything it all still looks good to me. At least as good as it did before, which is to say, macroblocking on some scenes with rapid changes - strobes and "lightning" flashes being the worst, i.e. MHD music concerts, which were pictured in that "sky is falling" thread and yet you list it as one of the ones that's still 2-per....

KNTV was 116.1 here, it moved to 116.3
...
MHD music concerts, which were pictured in that "sky is falling" thread and yet you list it as one of the ones that's still 2-per....
KNTV 116.1 to 116.3 isn't really a move. That is a program # change within the same channel.

I can only speak for conditions on my head-end. MTV is currently between 17-18Mbps. It is sharing with one other HD channel which is at 11Mbps. There is around 10Mbps of spare bandwidth on the channel.

So which SJ Costco had TiVo HDs? Automation or Senter?
I called the 2 other San Jose Costcos.

Automation shows they have 5.
Senter shows they have 9.

The rep told me the reason the rest of them tell me they don't have stock is because it shows up as "Pending Delete" in their system, which means they will no longer be carrying the units.

If they are "3-packing" anything it all still looks good to me. At least as good as it did before, which is to say, macroblocking on some scenes with rapid changes - strobes and "lightning" flashes being the worst, i.e.
As mentioned before, 3-pak channel organization, by itself, doesn't tell you whether you have the HITS trans-rated version or not. It gives you a clue it is either coming, or is already there. Unless you can compare to a baseline or have access to the bitrates, you might have had the HITS version for months or you might still have a full bitrate version. If you see that the channel has 3 broadcasts then it is highly likely that is the HITS trans-rated version you are watching.

After watching HDT for about 30 minutes on 2 occasions, I think what I noticed the most is a softening of the images, similar to when you apply a pre-filter prior to mpg encoding. It doesn't look horrible, but doesn't look as good as before. I'm comparing "similar" style content today, to Planet Earth recorded last year. Admittedly the source of the softness could be the content itself, but it feels soft even to what I saw (but didn't record) a couple of weeks ago when HDT was 17-18Mbps. HDT in the current config on my system is around 13Mbps. I'm watching on a 1080p display.

I'm pondering a TivoHD - anyone know if Comcast will be doing SDV around here in the near future (meaning before the USB dongle comes out)?

Well, considering how fast Comcast is on upgrading the Bay Area I would think you'll be safe for a while, but, maybe they'll surprise us;)

I called the 2 other San Jose Costcos.

Automation shows they have 5.
Senter shows they have 9.

The rep told me the reason the rest of them tell me they don't have stock is because it shows up as "Pending Delete" in their system, which means they will no longer be carrying the units.

Hmm new model on the horizon that might support SDV?

Last week I sent Comcast two emails for updates on the network in San Lorenzo. I sent one email to the new customer service VP and got no real response. I also sent email to customer service for a timeframe on the upgrade. They asked that I visit the local Comcast office for my answer.

The next day, I stopped by the Hayward office and spoke to a rep which wasn’t very friendly, but she did tell me San Lorenzo would be upgraded by mid-June.

When I heard the news, I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad, mad or just frustrated. I received an upgrade notice in September and then didn’t hear a peep. Why can’t Comcast communicate and keep people in the loop? Second, should I just bite the bullet and wait for Comcast or look for alternatives? Will Comcast have the network updated by mid-June?

I’ve been waiting a long time for these upgrades and I’m close to giving up. The alternatives are there, Sat is offering tons of HD and AT&T is working hard to build the network in our area.

What would you do?

With your upgrade pain, and now the HD PQ degradation issue, I would go elsewhere.
I'm wheeling and dealing with DTV right now. Comcast has made it a no-brainer.
Good luck!

Can someone help me here.
I'm on the Peninsula.
Does Comcast in my area offer UNI HD or Sci-Fi HD???
1st time I heard of this channel was today and I can't find
out whether or not my area offers this channel or not.

Thanks in advance

any news/rumors are on new Comcast HD channels coming to the bay area? Mike?

I found the answer

Channel 739

Had to phone Comcast for this info

apart from Sci-Fi, CNN, Food, etc that are going to be released in Apr 15?

apart from Sci-Fi, CNN, Food, etc that are going to be released in Apr 15?

736 SciFiHD
747 FOODHD
751 APLHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD
769 AMCHD

Thanks all for your help over the last few years, this is truly a great forum. Incredibly knowledgeable, helpful people here... hope the DirecTV forum is as good!

They put up the dish this AM and I've got 5 different MLB games in HD to choose from right now; PQ looks fantastic. I can't speak for everyone, but as a sports (particularly baseball) fan they are a far better choice than Comcast. Also, since my buddy is a subscriber, I used their referral program and got each of us a $50 discount.

Biggest complaint now is Comcast says I'll have to pay 58.95 a month for internet since I downgraded my service! How's that for a kick in the pants on your way out the door...:mad:

Thanks all for your help over the last few years, this is truly a great forum. Incredibly knowledgeable, helpful people here... hope the DirecTV forum is as good!

They put up the dish this AM and I've got 5 different MLB games in HD to choose from right now; PQ looks fantastic. I can't speak for everyone, but as a sports (particularly baseball) fan they are a far better choice than Comcast. Also, since my buddy is a subscriber, I used their referral program and got each of us a $50 discount.

Biggest complaint now is Comcast says I'll have to pay 58.95 a month for internet since I downgraded my service! How's that for a kick in the pants on your way out the door...:mad:

what sucks is that he's speaking directly to my wants... but i can't switch because i have too much invested in my tivoHD (1TB baby) and hate having holes drilled into the house. comcast better really just suck before i change. i do want EI in HD.

Thanks all for your help over the last few years, this is truly a great forum. Incredibly knowledgeable, helpful people here... hope the DirecTV forum is as good!.....

Congrats!
I'm working on doing the same thing. But for me, the sports attraction is NFL Sunday Ticket. I'm getting introductory offers, and my house is aready cabled for sat dishes. So now that Comcast has degraded their HD PQ, there are no more excuses. (Looks like I'll suffer the same fate as you with their HSI, because I'm completely happy with that).

Do you have any tips or advice for us?
Where is the DirecTV forum here? (I only found SF, CA - DBS)

Congrats!


Do you have any tips or advice for us?
Where is the DirecTV forum here? (I only found SF, CA - DBS)

I think the man for tips & advice would be Keenan... he's been w/ DirecTV for a while.

Thanks! I have been following Keenan's posts on this too.

So which is better PQ, DISH OR DIRECTV?

So which is better PQ, DISH OR DIRECTV?

Directv, I've heard, and by the way Make the jump already! Screw comcast and their outrageous prices, and since they are degrading PQ, you might aswell go. I just switched to D* today, and honestly the pq of the Mpeg4 HD channels is every bit as good, *if not better* than I was getting with comcast on some channels. SD looks better to me aswell. I am impressed with the amount of HD channels they have. I'm honestly ticked off at myself that I haven't done it sooner! I've always been scared off by all the "HD-lite" talk...lol, aside from those mpeg2 HD channels, all the HD looks full to me.:rolleyes:

Congrats!
I'm working on doing the same thing. But for me, the sports attraction is NFL Sunday Ticket. I'm getting introductory offers, and my house is aready cabled for sat dishes. So now that Comcast has degraded their HD PQ, there are no more excuses. (Looks like I'll suffer the same fate as you with their HSI, because I'm completely happy with that).

Do you have any tips or advice for us?
Where is the DirecTV forum here? (I only found SF, CA - DBS)

HR21 HD DVR
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=931226

Generic D* MPEG4 install etc
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=690198
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=914047

16.75 hours of UHD.

http://www.w6rz.net/uhd.png

Starts 15 minutes into 2001. Then Full Metal Jacket, Jericho, Friday Night Lights, Kidnapped, Andy Barker P.I., The Slugger's Wife, 2001 again and then Serenity parts 1 and 2 twice.

Ron

I called Foster City and Mt View. Both said TiVo HD was not in stock. I asked each to check inventory at the other stores in the Bay Area. Again they said none in stock.

Not believing them (because I've seen them before), I checked SJ Almaden, Santa Clara, and Mt View and indeed none of them had any TiVo HDs. I know Santa Clara used to have them because I've seen them there.

So which SJ Costco had TiVo HDs? Automation or Senter?It's the one off Lundy. I guess that's Automation. (I basically live around the corner from that one. So, I'm pretty happy they opened it, especially the gas station.)

Ron--

Thanks for obtaining and posting your recent graphs of various feeds' bitrates. Seems to me that they show: (1) For the most part, Comcast is allocating appropriate bandwidth to accommodate the MPEG-2 streams, as encoded, and (2) The encoded rates are generally far below 18 Mbps, but frequently exceed 1/3 of 38.8 Mbps so that they would not be happy co-tenants in a 3-per rf assignment as-is.

What they don't speak to directly is how much PQ-degradation the MPEG-2 streams now contain as a result of encoder bandwidth constriction. But I suppose that one can infer from the symmetry and overall pattern of the "grass" (e.g., lack of a generally flat top) that this is probably not a significant issue now, right?

--Terry

I called the 2 other San Jose Costcos.

Automation shows they have 5.
Senter shows they have 9.

The rep told me the reason the rest of them tell me they don't have stock is because it shows up as "Pending Delete" in their system, which means they will no longer be carrying the units.I think these things are being discontinued. That would explain the $150 price not too long ago, and the way Tivo is blowing them out on their own online store.

http://www.tivo.com/promo/nea_specialoffers.html

My guess is that a newer model with OnDemand and SDV is about to be released. (Or...they are giving up on digital-cable-ready boxes altogether.)

After watching HDT for about 30 minutes on 2 occasions, I think what I noticed the most is a softening of the images, similar to when you apply a pre-filter prior to mpg encoding. It doesn't look horrible, but doesn't look as good as before. I notice the same "softening" effect when switching between OTA HD broadcasts, and the same channels from my Comcast DCH.

Are they doing the 3-per with local HD channels, too?

Where is the DirecTV forum here? (I only found SF, CA - DBS)There are two major DBS forum sites:

dbstalk.com (owned by AVS, I believe) but heavily censored and filled with power-drunk and arrogant moderators.

and

the superior SatelliteGuys.us, a much better dbs site, which has DirecTV forums including one specifically for the "secret" cutting edge (beta) software releases that offer new features and bug fixes before regular subscribers get them.

BTW - For any AAA members who are planning on switching to D*, there is a $240 discount. ($10 per month for 24 months) in addition to whatever other perks, promos, and discounts DirecTV offers.

I'm tellin' ya. If D* had TVJapan, Comcast would be looking at a Gary-shaped puff of smoke where my account used to be.

Biggest complaint now is Comcast says I'll have to pay 58.95 a month for internet since I downgraded my service! How's that for a kick in the pants on your way out the door...:mad:Switch to ATT DSL Elite (6/768) for $35/mo.

Money talks! In fact, it's probably the only thing that Comcast hears.

Does anyone know if Vacaville is going to be getting the new HD channels on the 15th?

I've just received an update from my Comcast management source that they are in the process of pushing out the new codes for these units now. This involves the new Guide/A25 and both software & firmware updates,
including the fix for the red recording lights. This is expected to hit our area sometime in May.

I think the man for tips & advice would be Keenan... he's been w/ DirecTV for a while.
The threads you linked to already are pretty much the one's I follow. SatGuys and DBSTalk that garypen linked to are good as well although those sites seem to generate 100's of threads a day so sometimes it's hard to find something.

There's a local bay area DirecTV thread, but it doesn't get too much traffic as the only real difference between it and the national threads are the local channels.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13583601#post13583601

Ron--

Thanks for obtaining and posting your recent graphs of various feeds' bitrates. Seems to me that they show: (1) For the most part, Comcast is allocating appropriate bandwidth to accommodate the MPEG-2 streams, as encoded, and (2) The encoded rates are generally far below 18 Mbps, but frequently exceed 1/3 of 38.8 Mbps so that they would not be happy co-tenants in a 3-per rf assignment as-is.

What they don't speak to directly is how much PQ-degradation the MPEG-2 streams now contain as a result of encoder bandwidth constriction. But I suppose that one can infer from the symmetry and overall pattern of the "grass" (e.g., lack of a generally flat top) that this is probably not a significant issue now, right?

--Terry

Except for that very first one.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13555214#post13555214

If I'm reading it right it looks the content is pegged at the upper allocated limit as Ron notes for Capote and Milk Money. I wonder what that looks like visually, if there's any visual degradation of the image.

i'm ready to strangle someone at comcast.
i'm in los gatos and comcast is working in our neighborhood on the upgrade.
we've lost our internet connection for 5 days now. we've called about a dozent times and been disconnected 3x and promised return phone calls twice, of course which were never made. still no service. my kid had a paper due this morning and my wife had to drive him to my office so he could access the internet.

what a joke. i guess i'll have to see if dsl is available.
way to take care of your customers. i'm paying $60.00 a month for this?

So which is better PQ, DISH OR DIRECTV?

I was never happy with the Dish local 1080i channels, there always seem to be some issue with them. I should say that I haven't really looked at them over the last 5-6 mos though and as of last month put my Dish account in "pause" mode so I can't do any current comparisons.

Larry Kenney(AVS member, retired from KGO), whose judgment I put a lot of weight in, loves his Dish PQ so he might be one to ask about current Dish quality. I do know that Dish over the past year has been squeezing more and more out of their existing sat fleet, and their recent launch appears to be a failure. Per their PR dept they say it will not affect their future HD plans, yet their SEC filing says the opposite, so I would consider Dish with caution.

Except for that very first one.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13555214#post13555214

If I'm reading it right it looks the content is pegged at the upper allocated limit as Ron notes for Capote and Milk Money. I wonder what that looks like visually, if there's any visual degradation of the image.Yes, that was the one that was not "for the most part". ;)

My guess is that Milk Money looked like h3ll.

I've just received an update from my Comcast management source that they are in the process of pushing out the new codes for these units now. This involves the new Guide/A25 and both software & firmware updates,
including the fix for the red recording lights. This is expected to hit our area sometime in May.
What is "the new Guide/A25"?

736 SciFiHD
747 FOODHD
751 APLHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD
769 AMCHD

My TiVo Series3 just received an update with the new channel lineup:

736 SCIFIHD
747 FOODHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD
862 APLHD

No mention of AMCHD however. Of course the channels aren't active yet.

My TiVo Series3 just received an update with the new channel lineup:

736 SCIFIHD
747 FOODHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD
862 APLHD

No mention of AMCHD however. Of course the channels aren't active yet.

So they are just placeholders? (dont have a tivo so sorry)

So they are just placeholders? (dont have a tivo so sorry)
Just got the message too on my S3. If you try and tune, you get the standard "Channel not available".

So they are just placeholders? (dont have a tivo so sorry)

Pretty much until Comcast releases the channel mapping to tell my cable cards how to tune to these channels, it won't do anything.

What is "the new Guide/A25"?

Check out this AVS thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604142&page=166

My TiVo Series3 just received an update with the new channel lineup:

736 SCIFIHD
747 FOODHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD
862 APLHD

No mention of AMCHD however. Of course the channels aren't active yet.

I just got the TiVo message as well, but I got the following added (in the city of SF):

736 SCIFIHD
747 FOODHD
751 APLHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD

(note that Animal Planet is on 751 as in other areas, not 862 as reported above)

I just got the TiVo message as well, but I got the following added (in the city of SF):

736 SCIFIHD
747 FOODHD
751 APLHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD

(note that Animal Planet is on 751 as in other areas, not 862 as reported above)

751 sounds right. 862 is like right under the PPV/adult channels.

Check out this AVS thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604142&page=166

From what I've been able to gather, they seem to be skipping A25, and are jumping to A26.

I don't really care about the nomenclature, though, as long as they get rid of those stupid space-wasting ads. They can fit two more lines of guide info there.

My TiVo Series3 just received an update with the new channel lineup:

736 SCIFIHD
747 FOODHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD
862 APLHD

No mention of AMCHD however. Of course the channels aren't active yet.

weird... no AMC here, but i have:

736 SCIFIHD
747 FOODHD
751 APLHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD

on my tivoHD.... not active yet...

Larry Kenney(AVS member, retired from KGO), whose judgment I put a lot of weight in, loves his Dish PQ so he might be one to ask about current Dish quality. I do know that Dish over the past year has been squeezing more and more out of their existing sat fleet, and their recent launch appears to be a failure. Per their PR dept they say it will not affect their future HD plans, yet their SEC filing says the opposite, so I would consider Dish with caution.

I'm still very satisfied with the picture quality from Dish. I have a 52-inch Sony XBR4 and watch lots of HD on it from Dish. Compared to the signal from the OTA tuner, the sateliite signal might be slightly less sharp, but not enough to notice unless you're really looking for it. Some of the HD from the satellite looks absolutely amazing!

I can't give you a Dish-DirecTV comparison. I've only seen DirecTV once over at a friend's home. It looked really good, but I don't know how it compares to the Dish picture. I'd have to compare the two on the same TV. If you go to Radio Shack, most have Dish HD showing on their monitors... (they're Dish dealers)... so that could give you an idea of what their quality looks like.

I have to say that the Dish DVR beats them all. CNet even said so... better than DirecTV, better than Tivo and definitely better than Comcast.

As Keenan said, Dish had a launch failure, so the new satellite isn't in the right orbit. They say they can move it slowly into place, but how long it will take and whether or not it'll work, who knows? DirecTV at this point has more HD channels, but Dish promises lots more as soon as the satellite space is available. Both have A LOT more HD channels than Comcast!

Larry
SF

12 hours of HDT.

http://www.w6rz.net/hdt.png

BTW, these graphs are using a running average over 300 frames (10 seconds for 1080i and 5 seconds for 720p). The bitrate "spikes" on the graph aren't instantaneous peaks, but a bitrate that was sustained for at least 300 frames.

Ron

I just got the TiVo message as well, but I got the following added (in the city of SF):

736 SCIFIHD
747 FOODHD
751 APLHD
752 TLCHD
759 CNNHD

(note that Animal Planet is on 751 as in other areas, not 862 as reported above)

I received the same updated in Redwood Shores...CNNHD? Really? There was nothing else to add?

I received the same updated in Redwood Shores...CNNHD? Really? There was nothing else to add?

what's so bad about cnn?? its about time we received an HD news station... it was actually on my wishlist. i hear they are using some HD field cams too, that'd be pretty neat.

I received the same updated in Redwood Shores...CNNHD? Really? There was nothing else to add?

You have to remember there are essentially "bulk" carriage deals for most of these channels.

When Comcast negotiates to carry ABC HD; ESPN HD, ESPN 2 HD, ESPN NEWS HD, DISNEY CHANNEL HD and TOON DISNEY HD are likely included.

When Comcast made their deal with Turner Broadcasting to pick up TNT HD, it probably had a clause that they would have to carry additional Turner Networks in HD, such as TBS, CNN and Cartoon Network in high def. The same goes for their deals with NBC/Universal and Discovery Networks.

Unfortunately, Comcast doesn't carry everything we want. Personally, I would have preferred that ESPN NEWS HD be added first, but the channel just launched, so I didn't expect it until late summer anyways. (Remember how long it took to get ESPN & ESPN 2?)

I bounce between residences between Northern California and Southern California. Be grateful, as much as Direct TV blows away Comcast for HD Channels, Comcast smokes TWC in So Cal. The only thing they have that I'd like up here in the Bay Area is HDNET & HDMOVIES.

TWC still doesn't have any Discovery channels outside of Discovery Theater. They don't have A&E, History, National Geographic, USA, Sci-Fi pr the Vs/Golf beast. Plus the don't carry NFL network at all.

fitprod

12 hours of HDT.

http://www.w6rz.net/hdt.png

BTW, these graphs are using a running average over 300 frames (10 seconds for 1080i and 5 seconds for 720p). The bitrate "spikes" on the graph aren't instantaneous peaks, but a bitrate that was sustained for at least 300 frames.

Ron
Hi Ron,
Would you happen to have baselines for any of these channels from a couple of months ago?

I'm thinking these graphs show that the trans-rated versions are not starved for bandwidth. However that doesn't tell us about the change that was made. Going from memory, I remember many months ago, many HDT shows were doing 17-18Mbps. Current versions almost never get above 14-15Mbps. I cannot compare A to B, but visually to me it feels like some of these channels have passed through a filter to remove high-end making the pictures look softer. However without A/B comparison, it could just be my mind playing tricks on me.

And same update here in Daly City when I manually forced it this morning. (Sorry to bump you sfhub, because your question is much more interesting!)

From what I've been able to gather, they seem to be skipping A25, and are jumping to A26.

I don't really care about the nomenclature, though, as long as they get rid of those stupid space-wasting ads. They can fit two more lines of guide info there.

A little birdy told me a few days ago that the south bay (at least) is getting TVGuide A25 2.2 next month (like mds heard also).

Sounds good.

TWC still doesn't have any Discovery channels outside of Discovery Theater. They don't have A&E, History, National Geographic, USA, Sci-Fi pr the Vs/Golf beast. Plus the don't carry NFL network at all.


Sounds like Santa Rosa. :mad:

what's so bad about cnn?? its about time we received an HD news station... it was actually on my wishlist. i hear they are using some HD field cams too, that'd be pretty neat.


Nothing wrong with, but I haven't watched news on the TV in years...especially CNN. I don't know anyone else that does either, suppose I am in the minority if they added it though. Doesn't seem like a good candidate, since its mainly talking heads (or is CNN a reality channel now?)

Hi Ron,
Would you happen to have baselines for any of these channels from a couple of months ago?

I'm thinking these graphs show that the trans-rated versions are not starved for bandwidth. However that doesn't tell us about the change that was made. Going from memory, I remember many months ago, many HDT shows were doing 17-18Mbps. Current versions almost never get above 14-15Mbps. I cannot compare A to B, but visually to me it feels like some of these channels have passed through a filter to remove high-end making the pictures look softer. However without A/B comparison, it could just be my mind playing tricks on me.
that graph does show peaks of 17-18mb

Hi Ron,
Would you happen to have baselines for any of these channels from a couple of months ago?
I wish I did, but I just assembled my test setup this month. However, I should be able to detect any major changes moving forward, especially after the new channels are added.

I'll also be doing some video quality measurements soon.

Ron

Switch to ATT DSL Elite (6/768) for $35/mo.

Money talks! In fact, it's probably the only thing that Comcast hears.

Better yet, go with Sonic.net. Better service, more features, same cost. If you live in California, you'd be stupid to use AT&T.

Menlo Park just got SciFi, CNN and Food. Finally, I can watch BSG in HD.

Better yet, go with Sonic.net. Better service, more features, same cost. If you live in California, you'd be stupid to use AT&T.

I gave that up 2 years ago...

By the way, I'm sure I'll find the warts soon, but I'm blown away with HD sports tonight on DirecTV w/ mlb, Sharks and NBA!

that graph does show peaks of 17-18mb
It used to sit between 17.8 and 18.3 for the whole show on HDT.

It still does that for MTV.

Menlo Park just got SciFi, CNN and Food. Finally, I can watch BSG in HD.

its active for you now?? still not active in palo alto.

Not working for me either. Maybe he just sees them in his guide...

I've seen the RHCP Milan show on MHD before(last year) and I saw it again Monday night. It was clear that Comcast isn't adding the additional compression yet here in SJ, or at least not to the extent that it shows in the infamous comparison.

The quality was good, nowhere near what was shown in those pictures. Subjective but still..

True, it's in the guide. I haven't seen it on yet. I was going to reboot but I'm Tivoing CSI.

Better yet, go with Sonic.net. Better service, more features, same cost. If you live in California, you'd be stupid to use AT&T.What are the add'l features? The prices and speed levels seem to be the same. The actual DSL connection seems to be provided by ATT. They even call them by the same names. (Elite, Pro, etc.)

I have no complaints as an ATT DSL customer. Don't feel stupid at all. Tell me again why I should go thru the hassle of changing my email addresses?

Sounds like Santa Rosa. :mad:

Trust me, I've been there in the frustration department. My Bay Area residence is stuck in one of the 550mhz area. Fortunately, Comcast finally got it up to speed earlier in 2007.

It'll happen eventually... Unfortunately, we live in a "I want it now!" society. Thus, being a Blu-ray owner, I'm currently steamed at Paramount over Sweeny Todd and There Will Be Blood.

Bastards, I'm not doing HD PPV... :D

fitprod

Any rumors when Blast! will Blast us in Sunnyvale?

They already screwed the PQ, at least cheer me up with Blast :\

Hey folks.

I live in the Richmond area and yesterday my TivoHD informed me of the new HD channels, including Sci-fi HD, that were added to the lineup. They are not working for me right now though. I've been hearing about the April 15th launch date but can't seem to find out the source of this information.

Last night I called Comcast and they seemed to be saying that the channels should be active and they set up an appointment for an installer to come out today to check it out. The weird thing for me is that a couple of other HD channels like UHD(739) and NFLHD(730) have not been working for me and exhibit the same lack of signal problems as these new HD channels, yet they have been part of the HD lineup much longer.

Maybe there are two separate issues going on here.

Update: Well I called Comcast again on a whim and this time I got someone who immediately knew about the April 15th launch date. So that explains the no Sci-fi HD yet.

As for the NFLHD, that turned out to be a subscription channel that I don't subscribe to. But UHD should be working and they tried sending a hit to my cable cards which didn't work. Seems like a completely separate issue. The installer is still coming out and hopefully I can at least get that resolved. I also requested a M-card, which they didn't have when I first had cards installed last year. No sense getting charged for an extra card and maybe that will fix the problem.

I gave that up 2 years ago...

By the way, I'm sure I'll find the warts soon, but I'm blown away with HD sports tonight on DirecTV w/ mlb, Sharks and NBA!well yes DSL uses phone wires but I don't know if you need an actual telephone number from the phone company to use it. You used to but I think there was some de-bundling regulations passed a couple of years ago.

Any rumors when Blast! will Blast us in Sunnyvale?

They already screwed the PQ, at least cheer me up with Blast :\

Any rumors when the rest of Sunnyvale will be upgraded? :(

Mountain View here; I forced a reset this morning and no new channels. I have head nothing about new channels in a long time.

Hey folks.

I live in the Richmond area and yesterday my TivoHD informed me of the new HD channels, including Sci-fi HD, that were added to the lineup. They are not working for me right now though. I've been hearing about the April 15th launch date but can't seem to find out the source of this information.

Last night I called Comcast and they seemed to be saying that the channels should be active and they set up an appointment for an installer to come out today to check it out. The weird thing for me is that a couple of other HD channels like UHD(739) and NFLHD(730) have not been working for me and exhibit the same lack of signal problems as these new HD channels, yet they have been part of the HD lineup much longer.

Maybe there are two separate issues going on here.

Update: Well I called Comcast again on a whim and this time I got someone who immediately knew about the April 15th launch date. So that explains the no Sci-fi HD yet.

As for the NFLHD, that turned out to be a subscription channel that I don't subscribe to. But UHD should be working and they tried sending a hit to my cable cards which didn't work. Seems like a completely separate issue. The installer is still coming out and hopefully I can at least get that resolved. I also requested a M-card, which they didn't have when I first had cards installed last year. No sense getting charged for an extra card and maybe that will fix the problem.

Thanks a ton for the Sci-Fi HD info, that was driving me crazy. CNN HD and National Geographics are both showing up on my TiVo now, but I'm not receiving them... are they showing up for you?

Now I'm wondering if some of these channels will show up a couple weeks later than the 15th in some areas. The last channel additions took two additional weeks where I live and I recall it did for some other areas.

Hey folks.

I live in the Richmond area and yesterday my TivoHD informed me of the new HD channels, including Sci-fi HD, that were added to the lineup. They are not working for me right now though. I've been hearing about the April 15th launch date but can't seem to find out the source of this information.


I also got the notice from TiVO in Oakland. I checked a few of the new channels and didn't see any signal. However, this is much better than the last changeover where TiVO had to catch up with moves and adds after the fact. It is a bit simpler when no moves are involved.

Any rumors when the rest of Sunnyvale will be upgraded? :(

Well, today's April 10th, so the countdown begins for my neighborhood I guess (near Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road/Remington). Per the Comcast notice, April 10th - May 13th is when we should be upgraded. I actually checked this morning, thinking that just maybe there would be a pleasant surprise. Nope. Not yet.

Tell me again why I should go thru the hassle of changing my email addresses?

Tell you what....best move I ever made was switching to Gmail (and never again being tied to an ISP because I didnt want to have to contact everybody about my "new" isp)..that way you never think twice about switching to whoever is best for speed/cost/reliablity etc.... :D

Gmail has everything I would ever need for email (wife uses yahoo, which works as well)