I have had my Moxi for 8-10 days now. Looking past the SD pq, I really am enjoying this box, especially the HD recording. The only other minor gripe I have is that there is really no channel grid that you can look ahead in time to see whats playing. But again, I categorize this as very minor.

And thanks to everyone for their projector input. I will sift thru everything and figure out what will work best for me. You guys rule.

abcward,

If you want to take a look at my Benq pj, just PM me.

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I'm hoping with this being the St. Louis post that someone may be able to help me (and that I've posted to the right place). Please bear with me if this has already been asked in the past. I'm having Audio-Video Sync issues "sometimes". It typically lasts for a whole program but when the next show starts, it usually returns to normal. I'm using an LG LST-3510A receiving strong signals. My video is excellent but I find that the audio delay can be unbearable. Has anyone else noticed this? Also, if this problem exists, is this a problem with the hardware? or a problem with our stations? Thanks, S

I've noticed it mostly with NBC lately.

Originally posted by sjs
Hi, I'm new to the forum. I'm hoping with this being the St. Louis post that someone may be able to help me (and that I've posted to the right place). Please bear with me if this has already been asked in the past. I'm having Audio-Video Sync issues "sometimes". It typically lasts for a whole program but when the next show starts, it usually returns to normal. I'm using an LG LST-3510A receiving strong signals. My video is excellent but I find that the audio delay can be unbearable. Has anyone else noticed this? Also, if this problem exists, is this a problem with the hardware? or a problem with our stations? Thanks, S

If you've got a Samsung DLP, you might want to check this thread:

Sound delay thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=295677)

How do people like their Dish TV 811 HD Receiver? How well does it pull in the the local OTA HD channels? I realize an antenna will be require for the OTA HD and wondering who is using what and how far from the towers?

I've heard that the Sammy DLPs have had this A/V Sync problem. My display is a Mitsu 65411. When the problem occurs it will occur thru the both the TV speakers and also thru a separate AV Processor (for full surround). This makes me think that it is either my receiver (LG LST-3510A) or our St. Louis stations. Almost always, when a TV program's A/V isn't in sync, my video is PRECEDING my audio. It's quite frustrating to the point that I've turned back to SD to watch these programs and wonder if it's time to return the receiver and wait till all the kinks can be worked out in the hardware AND local TV Stations.

I have a Samsung DLP (had a HLM617W, now have HLP6163). I've gotten lipsynch problems on both sets, mostly on OTA stations, and my STB does the 720p conversion before sending the video to the TV. I have not had problems on DVDs. This leads me to believe the TV is not the problem. It could be the STB, but I really think it's linked to the broadcast source more than anything else.

off-topic...

As I mentioned in last month's thread, I recently moved to St. Louis from Des Moines to help open the three American Furniture, Electronics, and Appliances stores in the area. Grand opening is Thursday, Oct 7th. However, the store manager gave us special invitations to give out to family and friends for our soft opening Tuesday and Wednesday. Since I don't really know anybody down here, I just wanted to extend my invitation to you guys here on AVS. Now we're definitely going to have some amazing sale items for the grand opening Thursday, but Tuesday and Wednesday we're offering Employee's Family pricing to everyone, which is half the markup on just about everything in the store. It's the biggest across-the-board sale we ever do. I'll be working at the Bridgeton location across the road from Mills Mall. The other locations are in Fenton, MO and O'Fallon, IL. So if you guys want to stop out Tuesday or Wednesday to check out the stores, come over and say hi!

Bob

What are the hours on Tues and Weds Emplyee Family thing. I saw the commercials for this place and wanted to stop in and check it out? Also is there going to be someone at the door asking who invited us or anything like that?

Originally posted by abcward
I have had my Moxi for 8-10 days now. Looking past the SD pq, I really am enjoying this box, especially the HD recording. The only other minor gripe I have is that there is really no channel grid that you can look ahead in time to see whats playing. But again, I categorize this as very minor.


I also agree, that aside from PQ on analog channels, I like the Moxi. There are definitely things that could be improved.

I also miss a grid view of the guide.
Other minor issues:
*When watching a show behind real-time, if you change the channel, you loose the 20-minute lag recording (e.g. accidentally)
*The remote does not control both a TV and a receiver.
*The "make room" dialog is a little confusing.
*There is no global setting option that I've found to set default recording policies, etc. (only keep x episodes, only record new episodes,...).
*There is no slow-motion option when pausing or frame by frame.
*There does not seem to be any "rewind to the beginning" option.
*I might be crazy, but it seems to occasionally get "remote button presses" even though the remote is not being touched.
*Occasional pauses in reaction to the remote (as others mentioned and presumably will be fixed in a near-future release).

I'll probably send these to the Charter e-mail address on the book they give you.

Originally posted by hall316
What are the hours on Tues and Weds Emplyee Family thing. I saw the commercials for this place and wanted to stop in and check it out? Also is there going to be someone at the door asking who invited us or anything like that?

It will be regular hours, 10am-9pm. No invitation is required to come in or get the special pricing. There should be a flyer of some kind in the Sunday paper to kind of show what the store is all about, and then I believe the ad for the actual grand opening will be in Thursday's paper.

Hey Bob, You may want to brush up on the AVS Forum rules. :rolleyes:

Please note that advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are very inappropriate on this forum.

Somebody show this guy the door ;)

Nice meeting with you today Doug. I learned a lot from our little conversation.

I have a "C3" installation going out next Wednesday. ;) She was diggin the day/night modes and I'm sure you will be hearing from her. Wait till you see/hear the audio gear in this rig. :eek:

Aw c'mon Tom, give the new Bob a break. :D

I've been known to throw in a plug or two for Costco (my own employer) when we're selling something germane to what's being discussed. :eek:

Thanks Bob for the Info.

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
Aw c'mon Tom, give the new Bob a break. :D

I've been known to throw in a plug or two for Costco (my own employer) when we're selling something germane to what's being discussed. :eek:

I hear ya Robert and I was half kidding with that post. I tossed in one of these ";)". I'm in the game too (Ultimate Electronics, Mid Rivers) but you don't see me posting about how I "Guarantee" the best pricing PERIOD including giving away products below cost to steal the deal from Bob. ;) If your in the area, stop by and say hello. :D

Welcome to STL Bob. I'll try to make it out to your shop this week. If I do, I'll stop and say hello. We welcome the competition to STL. Anything that brings more exposure to HDTV and high-end audio is a good thing for the marketplace.

now back to your regular scheduled programing...

That's funny. As I was reading though the posts, I was going to say, "You must work at Ultimate." Lol!

Tom,

It was great to finally meet you yesterday at Mid-Rivers and I enjoyed our chat. If there's anything at all that I can do to help you, you know where to find me. Don't hesitate to call.

I'll also look forward to hearing from your Elite customer and hearing her sound system. It's super to hear the feedback you guys are getting on the C3 calibration results.

NASCAR ALERT:

I called KSDK and got the Mater Control Room. I asked them to flip the switch. The guy said, well it's not in HD and I said, I know but it is supposed to be in Widescreen.

He's looking into it.

Originally posted by fireshoes
That's funny. As I was reading though the posts, I was going to say, "You must work at Ultimate." Lol!
A lot of Ultimate people made the move to American.

Originally posted by Tom Grooms
I hear ya Robert and I was half kidding with that post. I tossed in one of these ";)". I'm in the game too (Ultimate Electronics, Mid Rivers) ;) If your in the area, stop by and say hello. :D

Hey Tom, small world! I'm right across the parking lot from ya, so I'm in the area at least five times a week. :D If I'd known you worked there, I'd have bought my HD Tivo and Pioneer Elite receiver from you back in July (Kevin got that sale). A friend of mine named Dean is going to be starting with you in a couple of weeks.

Hey Doug, next time ya visit Tom at UE, take a stroll into Costco and pay me a visit too!

Robert,

You'd mentioned that you worked at Costco before, but I guess I never thought to connect the dots.

Next time I'm next door, I'll do my best to pop in.

Man I thought I saw that the Rams game would be in HD on 30 when I checked HDTV magazine online earlier today. Bummer.

Originally posted by hall316
Man I thought I saw that the Rams game would be in HD on 30 when I checked HDTV magazine online earlier today. Bummer.

It's on ESPN now.

a ya I know. as I said I could have swore it listed it as being in HD on 30 as well. my ota antenna doesn't seem to pick up ESPNHD:D

How did you like the way the locals behaved during football yesterday. Fox had so many dropped frames and audio studdering, I switched to firewire from Charter. No dropped frames but there was some audio problems. CBS didn't think the Indy, Jacksonville game should be in HD. They finally flipped the switch at halftime in the afternoon. ABC was showing the ESPN feed in SD. I also found out that the networks sell different commercial time for SD and HD feeds.

Walt

The dropped frames may have been the reciever and not the source. I have an OTA antenna hooked up to a HiPix HD PC Card and a Dish 811. With the 811 signal fluctuations can result in the picture dropping out. With the HiPix the same fluctuations will result in audio studdering. Before I readjusted my antenna last week I had a lot of issues. Once I adjusted most of them were eliminated. Chalk it up to the leaves falling from the trees I guess.


StLouG,
I like the 811, though I don't use it to watch anything but HD (OTA and Sat). I also use my HiPix card to record local OTA. Right now I'm using component and I'm very happy with the picture. I'm loking forward to getting my new projector so I can see the DVI output.

Dave

Not only was the Rams game not in HD (OTA) but none of the normal prime time stuff after the game was in HD either.


Hmmm...


Best
Dave

I think the lack of HD on the OTA broadcast of the ESPN Sunday Night football games has happened before. Apparently there's a contractual requirement for ESPN to provide/allow the Sunday Night game to be broadcast in the local markets so that local fans who don't have cable/sat don't get shut out. However, there's apparently no requirement for ESPN to provide anything apart from the SD feed.

I think it's safe to say that this an area where the "letter of the agreement" (rather than the spirit) is what rules the day.

Also, I recall reading here a year or so back that the only local broadcaster with the equipment needed to "time delay" OTA HD broadcasts from the network is KSDK -- and if true, I don't believe they've ever actually used it, though they've had innumerable Tonight Show opportunities.

Cost of that recording equipment probably explains why the local stations haven't ponied up on that front, and I'm pretty sure that's why we didn't see the delayed ABC network programming in HD last night.

Daves'

Antenna was not the problem. It is on a rotor. Had the same peculiarities on ATI HDTV Wonder, Myhd, and Sammy 360 even after adjusting the antenna. Charter's feed through firewire to my HTPC did not have the video problems.

I'm going to get a transcoder one of these days.

Doug

Do you think they need a Moxi box???? (lol)

Walt

Doug, your right on!
We don't get the option to pick up the HD ESPN feed. We get the exact same feed the SD cable channel gets. Also, if we had the equipment to delay the HD ABC programs, we would. It happens so infrequently, it's not cost effective at this time.
Jim

I have been watching ESPN's Sportcenter today and see information on tomorrow's Cardinals/Dodgers playoff game tomorrow. There is absolutely no mention of the game being on HD. Can anyone confirm/deny if this rounds games are in HD??

bruce

Earlier today, I checked out the ESPN-HD online schedule and it doesn't appear that they're doing any of the first-round games in HD.

I suspect (but would love to be wrong) that we probably won't see much HD playoff baseball until the LCS or World Series games.

Here's a link to the ESPN-HD schedule in case this is subject to change:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tvlistings/espnhd/index

why does that make no sense to me? MLB playoffs and no HD? The networks are dropping the ball on this one.

To the Bob from American....

I'm going to try to stop by at lunch time Tuesday.

To the Bob at Costco :) I still haven't stopped in, my wife wants our Sam's membership to expire before getting a Costco membership. Go figure. She's the frugal one... sometimes. :)

Tom at UE-- I bought my HD TiVo and Mits 55413 from John at Bridgeton. He's left now, so I'll need a new salesman with access to the best prices. :)

Now if only I could convince the wife that an ISF calibration is worth the expense....I'd get to meet up with Doug too. Still jonesing to play with an HD TiVo? Probably not, they are old news now that Moxi is in town!

Everyone --

I received a couple of private messages over the weekend and today from CPanther, who moderates the OTA section of the AVS forum. He was following up with me about the recent shift toward doing ongoing threads instead of monthly discussions. I assume that he contacted me due to the fact that for the past few months I've been doing the monthly switchover and re-posting the general information threads that I wrote up a year or so back.

As some of you know, AVS is requiring other cities to go to consolidated discussions, but because St. Louis has a reputation for being conscientious about starting threads on a monthly basis WITH summaries of key info, that hasn't been required for us.

Still, CPanther would like us to consider switching away from the monthly format. I didn't initially see the benefit of a long ongoing discussion thread, but after a couple of exchanges with him, I now see the light.

In a nutshell, there are two advantages to having a permanent (as opposed to monthly) St. Louis OTA discussion. They are:

1. Over time, there will be a lot of related information that's readily available to everyone who comes here (not just newbies) through the "search thread" functionality. When this information gets sliced up and diced up as a result of the monthly editions of the discussion, it's pretty much impossible to search for it -- and I know, because I've run into this problem several times in trying to link back to topics that had been previously covered.

2. The other problem with a monthly thread is that the link for this discussion is constantly changing, making continuity less of a sure thing. Of course, there are five or six dozen regulars here who have obviously mastered this riddle, but I think it's likely we've lost others along the way who might have been good contributors, because they didn't figure it out or couldn't be bothered to.

In the same vein, I often mention this discussion group to some of my customers who I think would benefit from having access to the discussion here. But it's difficult to give them a link to it, because it's always changing.

Granted, it would still be somewhat difficult to pass along the address for an ongoing discussion, due to the length of the URL, but if there's enough interest in that, I think we could get around it by looking into one of the free redirection services that would allow us to have a short and permanent link unique to our local discussion. Of course, we'd need to clear that sort of thing with CP, but I can't really see that being a problem if it increases the continuity, volume and quality of the discussions taking place here.

One other thought: If we were to go to a permanent thread, I think it would still be a good idea for someone to post a message every couple of weeks, linking back to the summary information posts at the beginning of the thread.

Anyway, I wanted to throw this out for group discussion, as I don't feel it's my place to decide this unilaterally (but then again, I see no need to consult with Jacques Chirac). :D


For reference, here's the most recent message I received from CPanther on this topic:

Quoting CPanther Private Message to DroptheRemote:
____________________________________________

There are some benefits to leaving a thread go no matter how big it gets. People can search the thread for specific info that may go back a year or two. The down side, and the reason many start a new thread periodically, is so newbies can be expected to catch-up before posting. Something you can't expect people to do with a 75 page thread. However the way to solve that problem is to keep the first post(s) updated with available channels, cable cos., etc.

Since you guys have a summary upfront, I'd recommend not starting a new thread each month and just letting the thread grow. As long as the initial post gets updated periodically, newbies will have a quick reference to "catch-up" before asking redundant questions.

Basically, starting a new thread each month is overkill, and actually historical information is lost when the old threads end up in the archives. A "bad" example is Detroit. They start a new thread every quarter with no summary up front, so newbies will have to jump back in time from thread to thread to try and garner the info they are looking for - something a newbie is not likely to do. The result is the same questions and answers over and over again.
____________________________________________

Robert,
Thanks for the heads up about the rebroadcast of LOST on KDNL last Sat. night. The hd picture was great, but maybe even more impressive was the sound. While not in 5.1, my Sony ES receiver has DPII, which can simulate 5.1. I'd never been quite that impressed with it, since it never seemed to live up to the seperation and dynamice range od DD 5.1. That idea was blown out of the water for the first time for me. To be honest, I'm not sure that a true DD 5.1 signal could have been any better. Bass was full and very extended. At one point a sound effect pannd through the room and ended up right above my left shoulder, proving that the rears were in stereo, very well seperated. Cool.

I also enjoyed the storyline, and will look forward to watching this every week. So, Bob, PM me when you're ready for that movie outing. I still haven't seen Sky Captain.

Toeside,

Yeah, the allure of the HD-TiVo has faded somewhat (though I still want one). I recently did some universal remote programming (iPronto) for a client with an HD-TiVo, so I more or less cured myself of the long-distance longing during the testing sessions.

Getting your wife to green light a calibration is admittedly a tall order. I've had very positive post-calibration feedback from a handful of spouses, but on balance I think it's safe (if not politcally correct) to say I get more of the "Back off buddy -- I could have bought new shoes and a handbag" looks.

However, one point that is well worth making is that calibrating your display will contribute to its longevity, which is beneficial from the standpoint of not having to buy another TV so soon, or preserving the resale value if you know you're going to upgrade at some point.

abc,

I think the issue on HD baseball is HD football. There simply aren't enough HD production units and equipment to go around.

I don't like the fact that baseball gets the second-cousin treatment on HD playoff coverage, any more than I like the fact that ESPN downgrades its overall baseball coverage (Sunday night game shunted off to ESPN2) once the NFL season starts.

But while I could care less about football (pro or college), I do understand the bigger audience (or advertisers) usually wins.

Some sports win. Football is that sport. Regular season football trumps Post Season Baseball. Regular season (maybe pre-season, does that get TV time?) trumps NHL.

Of course, we don't have to worry about the NHL this year. :(

As far as the single thread vs multiple thread topic goes....

I guess I'm indiferent. I like shorter threads, as they are easier to catch up on, but it does make sense for a single St. Louis thread. I guess if we go that route, we'll have to stay on topic more, huh?

FYI, I have several domains that are hosted by a great company. I can easily setup a redirected domain to this thread. There is no additional costs, other than the domain name itself--even that is only $8/year.

Doug, I have an idea for a domain, I'd rather not post it publicly yet--it's still available and I don't want someone swiping it. :)

Craig

Keep in mind that there is an easy way to access:

1) The first post
2) The first unread post
3) The last page

If the first post has current info (Channel assignments, cable offerings, etc.) it really doesn't matter for newbies or regulars whether there's 5 or 50 pages in the middle.

Just a comment on "The First Unread Post". Each time I click on that I get the last post, not the last post I have read. Am I doing something wrong?

John

Craig,

I'll look forward to hearing your domain idea, if we get that far with this...

I like the one thread idea. Much easier to find information that you remember seeing, but can't quite pinpoint.

Originally posted by JDKH
Just a comment on "The First Unread Post". Each time I click on that I get the last post, not the last post I have read. Am I doing something wrong?

John

Verify that you are logged in. An easy way to tell is look at the current time displayed or the time of the posts. They will be off 6 hours (GMT) if you aren't logged in.

Mike

I really like the monthly but I will still be checking it several times a day
no matter what is done.

I also find first unread takes me to last post. Logged in yes. Could
multiple computers be a problem?

Ron

Longtime lurker here, so my opinion may not count as much.....but I prefer the monthly threads. I don't often go back to look for previous month's info and it is hard enough for me to remember which page I last read when we're at the end of the month.
With respect to Jumping to the first unread post, those of you who are actively deleting the cookies from your computer will "lose" the ability to make the jump.

I'm jumping on this, regardless of monthly/single thread, I'm registering a domain that will redirect to whatever is current.

I'm not sure if the #newpost will redirect properly, so I have have it go to the first post, then you can just click "Go to first unread post" link. We'll have to see how this works.

I hope no one minds me jumping in to get a domain to use.

Craig

One other suggestion for those who may find it a hassle to find the last unread post.

Just click on the "Subscribe to This Thread" that is at the top of each page.

I've got my AVS profile set up to send me an eMail notification whenever there's a new post on this thread. The nice thing about how this works is that it won't send me another email until I check the forum to see the unread messages -- so there shouldn't be any concern about eMail overload. If this is a concern, create a rule and a separate folder to keep these notifications out of your main InBox...

Of course, if there's more than one unread message when I click the eMail link, I may have to scroll up to see what I've missed, but this works well for me.

I've registered a domain for the redirect, and it's already propagated to the Charter DNS servers.

Doug, should we reveal the domain to the masses?

Craig

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
One other suggestion for those who may find it a hassle to find the last unread post.

Just click on the "Subscribe to This Thread" that is at the top of each page.

I've got my AVS profile set up to send me an eMail notification whenever there's a new post on this thread. The nice thing about how this works is that it won't send me another email until I check the forum to see the unread messages -- so there shouldn't be any concern about eMail overload. If this is a concern, create a rule and a separate folder to keep these notifications out of your main InBox...

Of course, if there's more than one unread message when I click the eMail link, I may have to scroll up to see what I've missed, but this works well for me.

There's also a setting in your profile that can make thread subscription automatic whenever you post a reply to a thread.

Thanks again for running with this, Craig.

I really think that having a simple URL that we can pass on easily (verbally) to friends, co-workers, acquaintances will be a very good thing.

Craig, I just checked the URL and it has already hit the DNS server I'm going through.

Very cool.

I think you might as well let everyone know the URL now, with the understanding that it might not work in all cases for a few days.

I like the ideal of the ongoing thread instead of the monthly one. I am always searching for answers before asking questions. The new set up will allow for a better search.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
Craig, I just checked the URL and it has already hit the DNS server I'm going through.

Very cool.

I think you might as well let everyone know the URL now, with the understanding that it might not work in all cases for a few days.

I'm working on different redirect methods. Once I'm happy with the results,
I'll post the URL. It looks like the change I just made is working. I've tested on Firefox and IE 6.01.

Stay tuned.

Anyone know any place I can find this indoor antenna? Can't find it locally anywhere, and I don't want to get it online and have to deal with returning it.

Originally posted by CouchFrancois
Anyone know any place I can find this indoor antenna? Can't find it locally anywhere, and I don't want to get it online and have to deal with returning it.

I think I saw it at Sears at Chesterfield Mall. Terk makes one that looks like the Zenith, but I heard that Terk antennas are horrible.

I believe this is the Zenith Silver Sensor.

In the past, the SS was sold at most local Best Buys. It's been a while since I've looked for this item at BB, but I think it's at least one place you should check.

I looked for the Silver Sensor at Best Buy when I moved here, but they didn't have it. I found it at Sears for about $35 I think.

Craig, I should definitely be around. They are catering lunch in for us, so if you don't see me around, just ask someone to page me.

I think I'd enjoy having an ongoing thread, but the monthly works ok too, since I just subscribe to it every month.

I've tested on Firefox and IE 6.01

Wow, that's cool. I for the most part, don't even use IE anymore after downloading Firefox. I only have a few sites that I still go to that just don't look right on Firefox and I have to use IE. There is an Extension you can install in Firefox and adds "Open link target in IE" when you right click on a link in Firefox. I swear pages load a ton faster with Firefox, but I could just be crazy too.

I use advancedbrowser instead of IE. It uses IE's backbone but is much more stable and set up to block popups as well. Check it out at www.advancedbrowser.com - free download too...

Ok, I'll give the URL now. Please, keep in mind that it's still in "beta" as Doug and I try to figure out the best use of the new domain name.

For now, it redirects to this thread, using the "GETNEWPOST" function. Feedback is welcome.

http://www.stlhdtv.com

~Craig

PS, I checked out American today and met Bob (fireshoes). The store is HUGE! I didn't have a lot of time to hang out and talk, had to get back to work. :(

Moxi.... yikes

I've had mine since last week or the week before (yeah its that unexciting). I gotta say I hate this thing. They win hands down for the f*ing worst user interface i've ever seen in a pvr (and I've used them all).

If I had HD i'd probably keep it just for recording the HD stuff, but its useless compared to my Replay 3060. I will admit that one feature I hate not having (even though I don't use it so much) is the theme based recording. I like to have a few horror movies recorded on my machine at all times. :)

Its probably fine for people who don't know any better, but I just don't like it one bit. Its nice not having to mess with an IR blaster for the digital cable box. But other than that, the picture quality is WORSE and MAN is this machine laggy.

For as long as they had this thig in development you'd think they would have taken all the features of Tivo and ReplayTV and made sure every damn one of them was in there.

/rant mode off

Guys,

I just want to say that I appreciate that this isn't my decision alone to make...but if it was, I'd say we should go ahead and move to a single, ongoing, consolidated permanent discussion. In other words, I'd suggest we stop creating a new thread each month.

One of my reasons for favoring this is that I think it could be extremely useful to have the ability to search back through the historical posts here. In fact, I've asked CPanther if there was anyway he could retroactively consolidate our discussions going back a few months, so that we get some immediate benefit of making the switch.

Not only did CP say this could be done...he's already done it on a test basis. I took a quick look at this and the discussions go back to December of last year and total over 90 pages.

So...unless several folks here make a strong case against this, I'd like to let CP know before the end of the week that we'll be going with a single discussion from this point forward.

Let it rip, if you have major misgivings...

I just read an interesting article about the new season of Enterprise being shot using HD digital cameras. Here is the link http://trekweb.com/articles/2004/10/05/41629f31235a2.shtml The article has quotes from the producers that there was virtually no difference in picture quality compared to 35MM film. Also, since they could see immediate results on a monitor, it saved them production time by being able to re-shoot scenes immediately. Hmmm....Same picture quality and a savings in the bottom line....could this be the incentive need for more studios to convert their shows over to High Def??? Maybe this is the beginning of a complete HD conversion for all shows. Too bad the local UPN doesn't broadcast in HD. I would love to see the end result.

I can't explain what you heard, but I doubt there was truly a stereo surround track there. How would it have even been encoded? Unless KDNL is borrowing some Circle Surround encoders from ESPN or something.

I for one am sure wishing again I had 5.1 from KDNL for MNF, and now I'm watching Lost too, which I imagine uses 5.1 pretty well.

Originally posted by jedi35
At one point a sound effect pannd through the room and ended up right above my left shoulder, proving that the rears were in stereo, very well seperated. Cool.

Yeah, especially since they already posted here saying they would revisit the decision on HD when UPN had enough programming to justify it--which they now do. But we haven't heard another word about it.

Although I plan on seeing the end result--I just won't be able to Tivo it.

Originally posted by Scroft391
Too bad the local UPN doesn't broadcast in HD. I would love to see the end result.

Its probably fine for people who don't know any better,

Count me among the great unwashed;). I love this thing. Admittedly, my only other PVR experience was with a stand alone TIVO that I bought 2 weeks ago when it was obvious that the moxi wasn't going to be rolled out until after the fall TV season started. I had the moxi installed on Friday and took the Tivo back yesterday. I probably like the Tivo UI better, but I hadn't had it long enough for it to be a huge issue when I got the moxi.

My PVR needs are pretty simple - I want to timeshift primarily primetime TV and the occasional sporting event/movie to watch at a different time and I want to be able to pause live TV. For me, being able to do this in HD makes up for any difficiencies that moxi might have.

I too am having second thoughts on switching to cable. I really like my Directivos. If they would all the Tivo Home Media option to work on these it would be prefect. I tend to have too many shows that over lap. Sometimed there are 3 things on that I want to watch. I try to find the one that comes on again at another time (Resue Me, Nip/Tuck) so it seems to work itself out. But since I have another Directivo sitting in another room that doesn't get used that much, it would be nice to have it record a show every now and then and be able to transefer it to my tv in the living room.

From today's Evening Bridge (formerly mediabiz.com's MarketClose):

Charter Communications added MBC Network (soon-to-be the Black Family Channel) to its digital channel line-up in St. Louis, Mo.

And in other news, TV One and Charter agreed to make the network available on its Los Angeles-area cable systems as well as the company's St. Louis cable system.

Originally posted by hall316
I too am having second thoughts on switching to cable. I really like my Directivos. If they would all the Tivo Home Media option to work on these it would be prefect. I tend to have too many shows that over lap. Sometimed there are 3 things on that I want to watch. I try to find the one that comes on again at another time (Resue Me, Nip/Tuck) so it seems to work itself out. But since I have another Directivo sitting in another room that doesn't get used that much, it would be nice to have it record a show every now and then and be able to transefer it to my tv in the living room.
Apparently there are ways to add this functionality to the Tivos with USB on the back.
A google search will turn up a lot.
If this crosses any lines, let me know and I'll remove this post.
Dug
ps 1 gigantic thread is fine with me.

I am listening to the vice pres. debate. Nothing about HDTV? Don't they know what is important to us?

;) ;) ;)

I can only go back to December 2003 - beyond that the older threads are relegated to the archives. Still it looks like about 3000 posts of info in that time period.

I thought the only ones you could do the home media option with were actual tivos, not Directivo's. I will go check out tivocommunity again, but I don't remember seeing anything there.

Can St. Louis fans now realize the Don Dinkinjerk is not the worst base umpire in post season play?

Can you believe the blown calls by the guy at third in the Yankees/Twins game last night?

Do you think he will be in the next game?

Walt

Originally posted by DroptheRemote

Cost of that recording equipment probably explains why the local stations haven't ponied up on that front, and I'm pretty sure that's why we didn't see the delayed ABC network programming in HD last night.

Maybe I'm missing something ... Wouldn't a standard DVHS deck do the trick ? Under $1000

Originally posted by fireshoes
It will be regular hours, 10am-9pm. No invitation is required to come in or get the special pricing. There should be a flyer of some kind in the Sunday paper to kind of show what the store is all about, and then I believe the ad for the actual grand opening will be in Thursday's paper.

I am going to visit American today. Quick question on the 'special pricing'. Will these special prices be listed, or do we have to ask for the pricing when speaking to a salesperson?

Originally posted by Toeside
I think I saw it at Sears at Chesterfield Mall. Terk makes one that looks like the Zenith, but I heard that Terk antennas are horrible.

Thanks everyone, found it there, but it turns out my Samsung amped antenna worked better..... and yes Terk antennas are horrible.

Doug...

I just want to say that I appreciate that this isn't my decision
alone to make...but if it was, I'd say we should go ahead and move to a single, ongoing, consolidated permanent discussion. In other words, I'd suggest we stop creating a new thread each month.

Whatever the majority want... I'm OK with

Best
Dave

Originally posted by abcward
I am going to visit American today. Quick question on the 'special pricing'. Will these special prices be listed, or do we have to ask for the pricing when speaking to a salesperson?

You will have to talk to a sales person to see if it is the 5% or 10% discount (depends on the item). I was very impressed with the store look in Fenton.

ps. one thread is fine

Scott

Originally posted by marky2306
Just wait until Charter starts simulcasting all channels in a Digital Format. Dont disregard this so easily since Charter is already doing this in their Long Beach System.

Mark

Apologies if this has been posted before, but while looking around the Digeo site, I stumbled upon an old article from multichannel news ( full article hear (http://www.digeo.com/newsroom/newscoverage/news_20040510a_multichannel.jsp) ). It's an interview with Paul Allen from last May and he specifically addresses the conversion to all digital on Charter in St. Louis:

Allen also weighed in on the all-digital transition. Charter is simulcasting an all-digital and an analog/digital hybrid in Long Beach, Calif. Allen calls it "simultrans."

Allen said he was talking to one of his division managers, who lives in a subdivision full of satellite dishes.

The manager told Allen he's been unable to persuade his neighbors to switch to cable because of the analog signal quality. After the switch to simultrans in Long Beach, some of those neighbors did switch to cable, because the signal quality was better and cable offered local HD signals, Allen said.

He said Charter is weighing a similar setup in St. Louis. It's apparent that the all-digital transition strategy could help stem DBS losses - and perhaps win back customers - even before its bandwidth benefits are fully realized.

THE BEST PIPE
"We're looking at accelerating the pace of deployment, in St. Louis and other places," Allen said. "It lets us do a rolling conversion to all-digital. When we get to the point where we have a large enough digital penetration in a city anyway, then we convert everybody to all digital and recapture the analog spectrum.

You will have to talk to a sales person to see if it is the 5% or 10% discount (depends on the item). I was very impressed with the store look in Fenton.

Wow 5-10% is the big Friends and Family Discount? I got a 10% coupon in the mail for this weekend at Best buy as well as one for Circuity City.

I'm still going out today and check the place out. But is today the better day to go or tomorrow for the real grand opening?

I may soon be moving to the STL area from FL. I am from NE Missouri orginally, joined the Navy and am now job searching with a desire to move closer to home. How much power are the STL stations transmitting on? I guess my question is how far away are people picking up the HD transmissions with an antenna? I would rather rvc via OTA since I have Dtv and don't really want to go cable unless I would have too (due to low power or directional transmissions)
Thanks
Jamie

Jamie,

Welcome to the forum. I currently get my HD through Charter. I live in Lake St. Louis which is just west of St. Louis. I've got friends who get their HD OTA and don't have a problem with it. Hope this helps.

Tim

The problem with Charter (and Paul Allen) isn't what Charter says.

The problem with Charter is what Charter does -- when it finally gets around to doing what it says it will do.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
The problem with Charter (and Paul Allen) isn't what Charter says.

The problem with Charter is what Charter does -- when it finally gets around to doing what it says it will do.

The problem with Charter is because the company is for sale. Ever since AT&T sold its union cable operations Charter has been looking for a deal. When most of the Charter senior management quit you could make a bet that a buyout is in the works. The timing was off because of the high-tech bubble burst. Paul Allen is more interested in space travel.

Originally posted by hall316
I thought the only ones you could do the home media option with were actual tivos, not Directivo's. I will go check out tivocommunity again, but I don't remember seeing anything there.
It may not be discussed there because it is technically considered "Hacking".
Dug

cool, I wil have to google it. Would love that option.

Originally posted by hall316
Wow 5-10% is the big Friends and Family Discount? I got a 10% coupon in the mail for this weekend at Best buy as well as one for Circuity City.

I'm still going out today and check the place out. But is today the better day to go or tomorrow for the real grand opening?

Sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to anyone today. I had the whole work thing going on. The savings wasn't a flat percentage. It was half the markup, so if it was $3500 tv and cost was $2500, you'd get it for $3000. Some items are sold below cost, so there's no discount on them. Just wanted to clarify a bit. We run the Employee Family Pricing promotion about 3 times a year usually, so if you missed it and can wait longer, it will come around again. The grand opening is tomorrow. We'll have a 36-page circular if you want to take a look at it. The biggest eye-popping price I saw was the Samsung 46" DLP for $2488. They're giving away a $14,000 home theater package too. Anyway, I certainly don't mean to hijack the thread, so iif anyone has any questions just send me a PM and I'll do my best to get back to you promptly. I probably won't get to check my messages again until tomorrow night.

Back on topic, I haven't seen any kind of schedule for the Cards. Are they going to be on Fox at all? The widescreen Yankee-Twins game last night was pretty decent looking, and I'd definitely prefer that to analog.

Fireshoes,

Cards are in FOX Widescreen tomorrow night...

Excellent!

Didn't get a chance to stop by today. Was too busy arguing with Best Buy.

It will be nice to watch the cards in Widescreen. I still miss hockey. I will say though I did get the chance to see a game in HD once. This is what the NHL needs to do to really sell the sport. It makes it a lot easier to watch and follow the puck for people who are new to the sport. I think we'll see baseball do it long before hockey though.

fireshoes,

I visited the Fenton store last night. The store is pretty impressive...its huge with tons of different items to lust after. I already have a wishlist that might set me back 2-3 years salary.

FYI --

Based on the feedback here, I told CPanther this morning that he should go ahead and consolidate the St. Louis discussion into an ongoing thread.

I'm not sure when this will happen or how it will be handled, so I thought a "heads up" here would be useful. I'm not going to be online today as I have a couple of appointments to handle before the game tonight.

It's possible that this thread might be closed, but I've suggested that a link be provided to the new thread, which will include the discussion history going back to last December.

The thread is now combined. Doug, you still have the first few posts to use for updated St. Louis HDTV info.

Originally posted by CPanther95
The thread is now combined. Doug, you still have the first few posts to use for updated St. Louis HDTV info.

Looks like thread subscription needs to be fixed. My email notification link lead me to a "invalid thread" message.

CPanther -

It's great that you were able to do this in a way that results in no disruption to the current discussion.

I'm sure everyone here appreciates your help.

Many thanks.

The down side is I meant to hold a portion of the 10/04 thread active - just enough to provide a link here, but I merged it in it's entirety. My screw-up.

The link in the Official List is now correct, and this thread will remain active from here on out, so hopefully it won't be that much of a problem.

Originally posted by dwette
Looks like thread subscription needs to be fixed. My email notification link lead me to a "invalid thread" message.

Scratch that. Now it seems to work right again.

Jamie..

I live an average of 14 miles from most of the towers, and I have no problems with OTA from ABC,NBC,CBS and FOX. UPN is not HD and PBS is not in the same general direction as the rest.

I am using an OLD VHF\UHF antenna that was on my home when I bought it in 1987.

Hope this helps a bit.

Best
Dave

Uugh....Now I have to unsubscribe.

Gonna post this again - can anyone that uses OTA reception please verify that ABC has an HD issue? It again was unwatchable last night and I would really like to know if anyone else was having issues. I can watch all other channels fine, just not ABC. It is out of sync and "jumpy", the picture is clear as a bell except when it is skipping all over.

The last time I tried watching it, it was all messed. There's not a lot of stuff I watch on ABC so that's good.

I had no problems watching 'LOST' last night.

Originally posted by wschwart
I had no problems watching 'LOST' last night.

This was OTA?

Originally posted by notmestl
Gonna post this again - can anyone that uses OTA reception please verify that ABC has an HD issue? It again was unwatchable last night and I would really like to know if anyone else was having issues. I can watch all other channels fine, just not ABC. It is out of sync and "jumpy", the picture is clear as a bell except when it is skipping all over.

This has been an ongoing problem for at least 2 years. Sometimes the high-def program displays fine, but the low-def commercials stutter frame. Other times (like the prime time show on last night), the high def program stutters but the commercials are fine.

So far, only folks with the Zenith HDV-420 (like me), and the Samsung SIR-360 (?) have reported this issue. Others don't seem to experience it.

Jim (WRacer) at ABC has claimed several times that he is simply sending through the network feed and is not altering the format or bitstream in any way. Two years ago, the issue was apparently due to the multi-channel usage, but that has since been abandoned and can't be considered the culprit.

The bottom line is, we may have to buy a different STB if we ever want to watch ABC consistently :rolleyes: .

Rod.

Thanks for the reply.
Well, I guess we will see - my HDTivo is on its way either the issue will go away with it or it won't.

OK, with the advice of those here and some random research, I believe that I will be purchasing the InFocus ScreenPlay 4805 Projector.

I do have a couple questions:

1) Is the Infocus.com website where I can find the best pricing, or is there somewhere else I should be buying from?

2) Screens - They sell a 100" pulldown screen for $164. I honestly know very little about what screen i should be getting, or even if it would be better to do a DIY screen. Also, the details on their screens always mention 4:3. However I will generally use 16:9 as the output ratio. Is there 16:9 pulldown screens or does this detail even matter? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks, as always.

Bruce

Originally posted by notmestl
Gonna post this again - can anyone that uses OTA reception please verify that ABC has an HD issue? It again was unwatchable last night and I would really like to know if anyone else was having issues. I can watch all other channels fine, just not ABC. It is out of sync and "jumpy", the picture is clear as a bell except when it is skipping all over.

LOST on my HDTivo was fine last night as well.

Mike

I'm only (HD) TiVo'ing 8 Simple Rules, that's the only ABC show I'm watching right now. So far, no issues.

I need to TiVo Lost. I've heard good things about it. Too much to watch, too little time.

I need to TiVo Lost. I've heard good things about it.

I've been Moxi'ing;) it (in SD unfortunately - darn you Sinclair Broadcasting!!), and I can confirm it's a good show. Some of the comments I've seen on the programming forum regarding the HD aspects of the broadcast make it sound like it is some of the best PQ/5.1 quality out there.

imho, LOST is the best show of this season...

[start soapbox] I'm glad to see a slight bit less Reality TV these days and more dramas. All it seems to take to 'create' a new reality show is a camera, a stupid idea, and random goofballs who will give away vital organs to get on TV...plot or substance not required. [end soapbox].

From today's Evening Bridge (formerly mediabiz.com's MarketClose):

TOP STORY: Charter Communications pre-announced its third quarter results this morning.

In doing so, the company didn't meet the expectations of Wall Street analysts and fell short of some estimates.

Third quarter 2004 net losses of analog video customers are expected to be 55,000 to 60,000 compared to a pro forma net gain of approximately 11,000 in the third quarter of 2003.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
From today's Evening Bridge (formerly mediabiz.com's MarketClose):

TOP STORY: Charter Communications pre-announced its third quarter results this morning.

In doing so, the company didn't meet the expectations of Wall Street analysts and fell short of some estimates.

Third quarter 2004 net losses of analog video customers are expected to be 55,000 to 60,000 compared to a pro forma net gain of approximately 11,000 in the third quarter of 2003.

I got completely fed up with cable's lack of quality and poor customer service 6 years ago. Apparently that hasn't improved if those abandoning cable outnumber those adopting it. Serves them right.

FYI,

http://www.stlhdtv.com has been updated to point to the new, supersized thread!

Enjoy the shortcut.

Craig

CPanther95,
Thanks for all your hard work!!

turl,
You misunderstood me about the stereo rear surround effects that I hear when I watch Lost. I know that KNDL is not sending us true DD 5.1, or even Circle Surround. What I'm saying is that my Sony ES receiver is taking the excellent stereo signal that Lost puts out, and creating stereo rears using Dolby ProLogic II circuitry. This simulates the 5.1 effect, and it's been very subtle for me until I watched Lost. Now, it sounds as good as real 5.1 because the source material is so good to begin with. DPL II can take any stereo source and do this, but it's limited to the quality of the source. Make sense?

OK, what's up with HDNet and HDNet Movies on Charter these past couple of days? I got terrible audio drops and popping during the auto racing late last night. And tonight I'm getting very frequent freezing for a few secinds on both channels, but not on any other channels. Everything else in my system is fine, which leads me to think that something's up with Charter's feed of these 2 channels. Anybody else having problems???

The following is from SkyREPORT E-News:

Charter Reports Sub Loss, Are More MSO Losses on the Way?

Is cable setting itself up for another big loss of customers?

A number of cable companies reported hefty subscriber losses during the second quarter. For the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, at least one cable operator said when taking an early look at the books it expects losses in the tens of thousands for its analog subscriber base.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public Thursday, Charter said third quarter net losses among its analog video customers are expected to be in the 55,000 to 60,000 range, compared to a pro forma net gain of about 11,000 in third quarter 2003. The SEC filing was a preliminary snapshot of the company's third quarter performance, Charter said.

While there were losses among the analog video customer base, Charter said it expects to gain between 35,000 to 40,000 customers for its digital cable product for the third quarter, compared to a pro forma net gain of about 58,500 for third quarter 2003. Third quarter 2004 net gains of high-speed data customers are expected to be 105,000 to 110,000 compared to a pro forma net gain of about 137,400 in third quarter 2003, the company said.


For more SkyREPORT E-News, go to http://www.skyreport.com.

jedi,

I think the problem that you're seeing on HDN and HDNM may be related to sun spot activity. I'm not sure about this, but I've been having problems over the past 4 or 5 days with a number of channels via DirecTV, including HDNM and HBO. Another friend who's a DirecTV subscriber on the West Coast mentioned the same thing to me.

OTOH, it's possible that some of my reception problems are related to dish aiming, and it may be time to hop up on the ladder to fine-tune my dish.

However, I know that during one of the ballgames on Wednesday that the entire ESPN feed (ch 206) was temporarily lost. This was a head end problem, as DirecTV actually put a notice up on the screen for about 10 minutes, talking about periodic problems with the sun.

FWIW, this is the first time I've seen this particular DirecTV notice and I have to say it was extremely poorly written and could easily leave a newcomer with the impression that satellite television can't be received on sunny days. In fact, the issue is the solar flares that periodically impact all sorts of telecommunications devices around the world.

Anyway, I think it's possible that the problems you were seeing with HDN and HDNM on Charter was a problem with Charter's incoming feed for those channels.

With Charter losing subs and money at such a rapid pace--what does that mean for future HD channel additions? I'd say the prospects are not good.

Try one of the sponsers at the top of the page. I ordered my AE700 from Projector People. They have a 7 day 4 lamp hour/no charge return policy.

RE: Charter

I'd actually consider Charter as a viable option if they'd partner with TiVo. It amazes me that as user-friendly as the TiVo software is, that all providers aren't knocking down their doors to license it.

Until there is a TiVo box for all providers, I'm sticking with DirecTV. Unless, of course, something BETTER than TiVo comes out. From what I've heard, MOXI isn't better than TiVo, though it is cheaper. Lots cheaper (for HD).

Question: Does the MOXI have ATSC tuners for OTA reception? This is extremely important considering KDNL-DT isn't available via Charter.

Craig

Craig,

For whatever reason, TiVo hasn't been able to sign a single cable company anywhere in the country. Maybe it's the alliance with DirecTV that has the cableheads shying away from TiVo, maybe it's something else.

There's widespread belief that TiVo's days (at least as an independent company) are in short number, and the fact that they haven't been able to crack the cable market will likely go down as a major contributor to their (possible) demise.

TiVo only has a couple of months before DirecTV unleashes its second source of DVRs from NDS. I'm hoping TiVo will be able to hang on at least long enough to slash the price of it HD box by 50% or 60%.

Originally posted by Toeside
RE: Charter

I'd actually consider Charter as a viable option if they'd partner with TiVo. It amazes me that as user-friendly as the TiVo software is, that all providers aren't knocking down their doors to license it.

Until there is a TiVo box for all providers, I'm sticking with DirecTV. Unless, of course, something BETTER than TiVo comes out. From what I've heard, MOXI isn't better than TiVo, though it is cheaper. Lots cheaper (for HD).

Question: Does the MOXI have ATSC tuners for OTA reception? This is extremely important considering KDNL-DT isn't available via Charter.

Craig

As a Moxi user (and former Tivo user, although for a very limited time) I would agree that Moxi is not better than Tivo, but I wouldn't say it's a lot worse either, just different (and a lot cheaper for HD, as you point out). I think people who are used to the Tivo user interface would probably struggle with the Moxi interface for a while, but for me, it wasn't a big deal. The biggest problem is the well documented storage space limitation, which is really unrelated to the Moxi software. The analog PQ issue is no different then the analog PQ issue I had on my old stand alone Tivo, and most of the other issues that have been pointed out by Moxi users in other markets have been corrected with the latest software upgrade.

You did touch on one weakness, at least in our market - there is no ATSC tuner on the Moxi, so you can't get ABC in HD.:(

--Tyler

Doug,

I really hope TiVo finds a way to survive. Maybe with DirecTV selling it's stake in TiVo, cable companies will feel less threatened. I don't know they they should, as I feel TiVo is a superior product to all other DVRs out there. You'd think that cable companies would want TiVo-branded DVRs in their lineup to try to lure that audience.

I also hope the HD box drops 50-60%. If it gets near $400, I'll buy a 2nd one. :)

I still wish ReplayTV would do an HD DVR. Or at least Denon (Replay's current owners) would use Replay technology in a Denon HD DVR. After six years of using ReplayTV's, even after four months of my HD Tivo, I still hate the Tivo's interface. Too bad Replay's finances are even more uncertain than Tivo's.

Tivo AND Replay ought to make a major push to sign up cable companies...

Hey all,

I just purchased my first HD set (Hitachi 50VS810) and have a couple of general questions. Hopefully my fellow St. Louisans (especially GlendaleHDTV) can help me out! :D

1) My Dish 811 receiver allows selection of the output resolution to 720P or 1080I. Since my HDTV has a native resolution of 720P, I'm assuming I should select that option on the 811. Is this a correct assumption? Is there any reason to select (or not) the 1080I option?

2) It seems that certain certain HD feeds look better than others, even though they're the same resolution. For example, the Rams game last Sunday looked much better to me than the Cards games this week. I believe they're both broadcast in 720P so shouldn't the image quality be comparable? Or is it possible to have what seems to be a wide disparity in PQ?

Originally posted by Catastrofe
Hey all,

I just purchased my first HD set (Hitachi 50VS810) and have a couple of general questions. Hopefully my fellow St. Louisans (especially GlendaleHDTV) can help me out! :D

1) My Dish 811 receiver allows selection of the output resolution to 720P or 1080I. Since my HDTV has a native resolution of 720P, I'm assuming I should select that option on the 811. Is this a correct assumption? Is there any reason to select (or not) the 1080I option?

2) It seems that certain certain HD feeds look better than others, even thought they're the same resolution. For example, the Rams game last Sunday looked much better to me than the Cards games this week. I believe they're both broadcast in 720P so shouldn't the image quality be comparable? Or is it possible to have what seems to be a wide disparity in PQ?

Yes, set the output of your STB to the TV's native resolution. If you were, for example, to set it to 1080i and had a 720p source, the STB would scale it to 1080i and then the TV would deinterlace it and scale it back to 720p, resulting in 2 conversions you want to avoid.

The Rams game was in HD. The Cards game was in 480 widescreen upconverted. That's why you saw the difference in quality.

Thanks for the quick response Dean! I thought my eyes were going bad on me!! :D

What's the best source (if there is such a thing) for a consolidated listing of HD programming on our local OTAs?

Originally posted by Catastrofe
Thanks for the quick response Dean! I thought my eyes were going bad on me!! :D

What's the best source (if there is such a thing) for a consolidated listing of HD programming on our local OTAs?

Welcome to the forum, fellow Glendalian (is that a word?)!! I'd be interested to hear how your OTA reception is in our area.

As for HD listings, I personally like the new one at HDTV magazine: Link (http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/programming/)

Once you register for free, you can customize it for your channels.

Robert,

It seems that we think alike on ReplayTV. While I haven't used TiVo for any sustained period of time, my limited experiences with it are that it's overly clever but I think I could get used to it in a few weeks.

I'd love to see a satellite capable HD version of ReplayTV, but I think the chances of that happening are virtually zero unless both Replay and DirecTV embrace Firewire at some point down the line. Maybe DirecTV's position on Firewire will change as a result of the recent change in ownership, but I'm doubtful.

My ReplayTV recently gave up the ghost, so I'm already suffering "time shift" withdrawal symptoms. I'm resigned to getting the HD TiVo at some point, but won't do that until the price is substantially lower. I'm hoping that there will be additional options by the time that happens.

Thanks Tyler.

I started with a Terk TV55 which gave me lousy OTA reception, but last Sunday I picked up a "roof top" unit at Radio Shack (based on the recommendations from Antennaweb.org). I don't have it mounted yet (I'm thinking about stuffing it in my attic as a test), but I've got pretty good reception with it laying on a shelf in my garage (5' off the floor). After fiddling around with orientation, I think there's going to be a very small sweet-spot but I'm hoping that once I get it elevated my reception will be satisfactory.

Any suggestions from your own experience?

:D

A couple of other points that I think are worth making about FOX Widescreen:

Although the ultimate display resolution is 480p (or in some cases 720p), it is a very poor example of the potential of true 480p picture quality.

The cameras and production process used for FOX Widescreen are wedded to the NTSC system, which means the source signal is interlaced video. Also as part of the NTSC legacy, the video format is composite video, which means the color portion of the video signal has been seriously compromised to fit into the limited bandwidth available for NTSC.

While it is relatively simple to take film fields/frames from a DVD and line-double them to produce a high-quality 480p image, it is much more challenging to line-double video fields/frames. Likewise, there's no way to restore color information that is lost once the signal enters the composite video domain.

All of these source limitations were clearly evident in the images shown during last night's Cards game on FOX, as they are in other FOX Widescreen presentations.

Granted, FOX Widescreen is better than standard NTSC, but frankly I think the majority of the benefit is in the widescreen presentation -- the underlying video images were mediocre and there's not much that can be done to raise them above that level.

Originally posted by notmestl
Gonna post this again - can anyone that uses OTA reception please verify that ABC has an HD issue? It again was unwatchable last night and I would really like to know if anyone else was having issues. I can watch all other channels fine, just not ABC. It is out of sync and "jumpy", the picture is clear as a bell except when it is skipping all over.

I see the same on most HD programming on KDNL with My Samsung TXP direct view.

The issue is with most recorded shows but not Monday Night Football. MNF is always clear.

A couple others have noticed the same thing but nobody seems to have an answer. KDNL was reportedly upgrading their gear in September to provide DD 5.1 pass-through but I never saw it go on-line. I was kinda hoping the new gear might fix this problem as well.

Originally posted by Catastrofe
Thanks Tyler.

I started with a Terk TV55 which gave me lousy OTA reception, but last Sunday I picked up a "roof top" unit at Radio Shack (based on the recommendations from Antennaweb.org). I don't have it mounted yet (I'm thinking about stuffing it in my attic as a test), but I've got pretty good reception with it laying on a shelf in my garage (5' off the floor). After fiddling around with orientation, I think there's going to be a very small sweet-spot but I'm hoping that once I get it elevated my reception will be satisfactory.

Any suggestions from your own experience?

:D
Bob - I can't help you with the OTA, I'm a Charter subscriber. However, I know a friend of mine in Warson Woods had a lot of trouble with reception until he put the antenna in the attic. No problems since then.

Just got MOXI installed and I am confused. The older I get the more I realize that things are just getting just way too complicated for me. Since this is my first try at this TiVo type usage I know it will take a little bit of reading and a large learning curve. :)

IS the Hughes HTLD HD a good reciever? I found one for $179.

Originally posted by davesalaman
I see the same on most HD programming on KDNL with My Samsung TXP direct view.

The issue is with most recorded shows but not Monday Night Football. MNF is always clear.

A couple others have noticed the same thing but nobody seems to have an answer. KDNL was reportedly upgrading their gear in September to provide DD 5.1 pass-through but I never saw it go on-line. I was kinda hoping the new gear might fix this problem as well.
I also suffer from this problem with my Zenith Over-the-air (OTA) tuner, and the root cause is a design flaw in our recievers which causes "stuttering" only of 720P broadcasts. Almost a year ago on this forum we pulled together a list of manufacturers and models which were susceptible (they probably all share a common chip set). Zenith customer service was very unhelpful, denied a "flaw" and said it was a compatibility problem which only occurs with "some" 720P broadcasts. I am resigned to no watchable ABC-HD until I get a replacement receiver some day.
Bill Lipscomb
Saint Charles

Aside from the dropout problems on HDNet lately for me, I'd have to say that I enjoyed the use of DD 5.1 sound during the auto racing the other night(when it wasn't popping). The rear speakers didn't just produce ambient sounds, but cars panned through the room in relation to what was seen on the screen, much like some of the better DD videogames. Delightful. Also, it is a pleasure to watch Smallville season one episodes(I know they are upconverted hd, and cropped) but the sound is 5.1, and we get to listen to the closing credits music all the way to the end, with no ads. Nice touch.....KPLR interrupts it, like so many other networks and their shows.

I just made a huge discovery concerning my component video switcher. I viewed some Charter hd through the switcher box last night, and then ran the box directly into the pj. Man, wow!! Big difference....much more of the 3D effect, and a cleaner, tighter image. I had previously though that the switcher box didn't take much away from the signal, but now I remember that I did that test on my Pioneer rptv. I think my svga dlp pj registers higher resolution, atleast to the naked eye. (Hmmm, I wonder how it would look to a clothed eye???) Now I have a switching problem again. Anybody know of a component switcher that won't show signal loss on a dlp pj?

Hey Jedi,

I read somewhere that the first season of Smallville was indeed HD, just not broadcast that way at the time by the WB because WB was not yet broadcasting HD.

I've not had a chance to look at those episodes on HDnet. :(

Originally posted by jedi35

I just made a huge discovery concerning my component video switcher. I viewed some Charter hd through the switcher box last night, and then ran the box directly into the pj. Man, wow!! Big difference....much more of the 3D effect, and a cleaner, tighter image. I had previously though that the switcher box didn't take much away from the signal, but now I remember that I did that test on my Pioneer rptv. I think my svga dlp pj registers higher resolution, atleast to the naked eye. (Hmmm, I wonder how it would look to a clothed eye???) Now I have a switching problem again. Anybody know of a component switcher that won't show signal loss on a dlp pj?

Your switcher might not have had the bandwidth to carry a HD signal. I believe the minimum needs to be something like 35 MHz. So when you didn't notice a difference you may have only been using a 480i signal. Many of the newer AV receivers with component switching have 50 MHz or higher. Although I don't use it, my AVR has 100 MHz bandwidth for component video.

Dean

I briefly saw some of the Smallville episode on HDNet this week and it sure didn't look like HD. I assume that if it were available in HD that Mark Cuban and company would have gotten hold of it.

FWIW, it looked very soft and slightly out of focus to me. It actually left me rubbing my eyes.

Mark Cuban on Smallville:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=452399

The thread is supposed to be people complaining about the picture quality over the air, but the HDnet showings are mentioned, and Mr. Cuban throws in his two cents.

man i had no idea HDNet was showing Smallville - how many ep's have i missed so far?

Robert,

Thanks for pointing out the Cuban response. I'll watch to see if it looks better the next time around, but I definitely remember thinking at the time "WTF?"

FWIW, the first season of the Sopranos DVDs were (IMO) a significant cut below the subsequent seasons, in terms of image quality. I mention this because I think the broadcast situation is the same as for Smallville -- the first season of the Sopranos wasn't originally shown by HBO in HD.

I'm thinking that maybe when the Sopranos were transferred to HD that they were dealing with second- or third-generation film when the HD conversion process took place. Maybe something along the same lines has happened "after the fact" with Smallville.

As we know, not all film-to-HD transfers are created equally.

Originally posted by Bill787
I also suffer from this problem with my Zenith Over-the-air (OTA) tuner, and the root cause is a design flaw in our recievers which causes "stuttering" only of 720P broadcasts. Almost a year ago on this forum we pulled together a list of manufacturers and models which were susceptible (they probably all share a common chip set). Zenith customer service was very unhelpful, denied a "flaw" and said it was a compatibility problem which only occurs with "some" 720P broadcasts. I am resigned to no watchable ABC-HD until I get a replacement receiver some day.
Bill Lipscomb
Saint Charles

Strange though ... FOX HD is 720P and I've had no trouble whatsoever with live or recorded content there.

The problem doesn't seem to be too widespread. One of the few references I saw like it was about the ABC affiliate in San Diego. The problem apparently mysteriously disappeared one day without explanation.

My set is less than 4 months old. Whatever compatibility problem may exist is still in production, at least in the low end gear.

A year or so ago, I had trouble with KDNL-DT stuttering on my Sony HD100 (this model was from back when Sony made its own HD receivers instead of slapping their name on LG equipment like they do now).

But I'm not noticing any similar problems on either the HD Tivo or the HTL-HD.

Well I got my Hughes Directv HD box all hooked up tonight. I thought had everything working. Turns out I need a cascading multiswitch. I onl have to wires going to the tv and I can't run anymore. I thought I could just throw on a 3x4 multiswitch and I would be able to have the hd box as well as the directivo all running on the same tv. Problem is, if I put the HD box on a HD channel, the directivo gets no signals. After doing some research I figured out I need a cascading multiswitch instead of a regular one. At least I talked Directv into not extending my contract a year when I added the Hughes.

Is there a place locally that sells cascading multiswitches?

hall,

Try Skywalker in O'Fallon, MO.

You might also want to consider a multiswitch that provides more outputs, rather than going with a cascading switch. I don't have any experience with cascading switches and they may work fine, but as long as you've got to buy something new anyway, it might be worth considering something that designed from the ground up for more than four outputs.

I use a 5x8 multiswitch that costs around $55 wholesale. Not sure what the markup would be on that.

the problem is I can't run any more cables to where my living room tv is. I only have 2 cables and from those two cables I need 3 sat signals and a ota signal.

hall,

OK -- now I see the problem. I guess that you will need some sort of cascading solution, but to be honest I'm not sure how that will work.

If you go to Skywalker route, I'd suggest that you explain to them exactly what your situation is and that the cascading approach will work.

will do thanks.

dwette,

You make a good point about my component switcher box. It's the Pelican System Selector Pro, and can handle up to 8 component sources, svideo and composite, analog sound inputs, 3 optical digital inputs, and 3 ethernet connections. The box it came in doesn't mention anything about being hd capable(I can't find the instruction sheet for specs). I do know what hd looks like, and the image through this box seems to have the eye candy that you would expect. My pj recognizes all the proper hd resolution settings I'm sending to it. I'm just saying that things just got bumpd up a level in terms of image clarity and richness when I went direct. Wow!! It could just be that the signal is now running directly to the pj, without being diverted through one more piece of equipment.

Doug,
I going to have to agree with you. Smallville on HDNet has been disappointing. I think it looks pretty good on WB, but it looks like upconverted SD on HDN. Bob, thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Now that I'm having to do so much manual switching to keep my new crisp picture, I've discovered some other things that are amiss in my system. Fumbling with cables behind the surround receiver and my preamp causes the front speakers(which are electrostatic) to fizzle and pop a bit. This is a new development. Also, if I take a heavy enough step in the room to shake the floor, the speakers will pop. Hmmm....I then noticed that I was getting a hum in my side surround channels(not the rears), and strangely, the RCA connectors on my component to vga adaptors will spark a bit when they touch the outer casing of my Charter cable box.

After the sparking, which does send a slight charge through my fingers, the pj must have gone into some kind of protection mode, and it stopped showing all HD images. I could still see SD, however, but HD material just showed up as a white screen or the image colors were bright pink(yuck!!). Unplugging and rebooting brought things back to normal color. At one point something touched that shouldn't have, and sent my surround processor into shutdown/protection mode. Recently, I've had an electronic crossover to fail in one channel, and one of my big Krell amps now blows fuses everytime I try to turn it on. All this is leading me to believe that I have a serious ground loop issue with my Voom installation. The cable input for Charter has a ground loop protector, but Voom does not. The hum in my speakers goes away when I unplug the sat. input of the Voom receiver. I do see a spark as I begin to plug the Voom cable in. The installer grounded everything the first time, but maybe something has changed. Does anyone know where I can get a ground loop isolator that will work for satellite receivers? It has to be able to handle 2 GHz.

This is a newbie question but it has to do with the MOXI box. First of all I agree with the others SD is bad. HD is good and so is the sound. The question is while viewing a recorded program how do you stop the showing so I can come back to it later. Basic questions since this is all new to me.

You should be able to hit either "stop" or "Live TV", and the next time you pull up the recorded program, one of your choices should be "resume".

Did anybody else notice problems with the OTA digital broadcast of the Yankees Twins game early in the broadcast? I just want to make sure it wasn't just happening to my Sony HD-200

Thanks

Originally posted by GlendaleHDTV
You should be able to hit either "stop" or "Live TV", and the next time you pull up the recorded program, one of your choices should be "resume".

Thanks!

At the start of the game this afternoon there were a number of audio problems where it would sound like a stuck record or just drop out. I noticed the picture went to stretched mode several times apparently in an attempt to correct the problem. I don't know if it was Fox or channel 2 that was doing that.

I seem to have a problem with OTA HD Fox reception - particularly during the football games every week (heavy pixelization and audio drops). This does not appear to be as great a problem for the regular network shows at night ... Other channels' reception is just fine.

I have a Winegard antenna in the attic and the HR10-250 DTV receiver. The signal strength on Fox peaks at about 88, but tends to breakup every 10 or 15 minutes. I currently do not have any sort of amplifier for the signal.

In any case, if this is not a Fox issue, I'll appreciate any recommendations or advice on resolving this problem (which always seems to occur at the most critical times in the game!).

Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by TDH
I seem to have a problem with OTA HD Fox reception - particularly during the football games every week (heavy pixelization and audio drops). This does not appear to be as great a problem for the regular network shows at night ... Other channels' reception is just fine.

I have a Winegard antenna in the attic and the HR10-250 DTV receiver. The signal strength on Fox peaks at about 88, but tends to breakup every 10 or 15 minutes. I currently do not have any sort of amplifier for the signal.

In any case, if this is not a Fox issue, I'll appreciate any recommendations or advice on resolving this problem (which always seems to occur at the most critical times in the game!).

Thanks in advance.

I didn't notice the same problems today that you are describing. I can't say I noticed any audio drops or pixelization during the games today. I have a Radio Shack rooftop antenna in my attic feeding a Sony HD-200 receiver.

I was watching HDNET last night as I couldn't sleep. Hardcore Midget Wrestling. I couldn't stop laughing.

Originally posted by GlendaleHDTV
You should be able to hit either "stop" or "Live TV", and the next time you pull up the recorded program, one of your choices should be "resume".
But, it's not quite bug free. I was trying to use this feature to watch two football games at once while recording both. When I would switch between them by pressing pause and then choosing play or resume on the other (from the recorded menu), it would often only offer play and not resume when I tried to switch back.

I would be really nice if Moxi could come up with a way to switch back and forth easily, with PIP maybe (allowing the PIP to be paused, etc.).

---Little rant, sorry:
I also, missed about 15 minutes of the Rams game today because of the annoying phantom changing of channels without anyone touching the remote. Unfortunately, it looses everything when you are watching behind real-time (by pausing) and the channel is changed! Very frustrating. Also, when I've been watching behind real-time for a while, it will sometimes, start stuttering and then jump ahead 10-15 minutes with no way to go back.

So, I've decided to start recording the whole program when I'm watching something I care about behind real-time. That seems to make it a little more reliable. But, of course, if the sporting event runs long, it won't record the end and then you end up with one of those skip situations if you are more than a certain number of minutes behind real-time.

In the end, if you really care about the thing you are watching, record it explicitly, hope it doesn't run long, and put the remote somewhere that nobody can touch it.

It seems to me that some of these features are not quite ready for prime-time.

---End of rant

I guess it's still preferable to paying $1000 for an HD Tivo.

bl,

I'm not familiar with Moxi, but I assume that there should be a way that you can "pad" a recording beforehand.

For example, with ReplayTV you can specify that you want a program recorded from the program listings guide to start recording X minutes earlier than listed, or to continue recording X minutes beyond the guide-specified duration.

While ReplayTV didn't include this feature in the very first version of the system, it was added as an automatically downloaded upgrade shortly after the product was launched. I'm sure that TiVo has something similar, and I'd be extremely surprised if Moxi didn't have the same feature implemented by now.

Originally posted by bl7385

---Little rant, sorry:
I also, missed about 15 minutes of the Rams game today because of the annoying phantom changing of channels without anyone touching the remote. Unfortunately, it looses everything when you are watching behind real-time (by pausing) and the channel is changed! Very frustrating. Also, when I've been watching behind real-time for a while, it will sometimes, start stuttering and then jump ahead 10-15 minutes with no way to go back.

So, I've decided to start recording the whole program when I'm watching something I care about behind real-time. That seems to make it a little more reliable. But, of course, if the sporting event runs long, it won't record the end and then you end up with one of those skip situations if you are more than a certain number of minutes behind real-time.

In the end, if you really care about the thing you are watching, record it explicitly, hope it doesn't run long, and put the remote somewhere that nobody can touch it.

It seems to me that some of these features are not quite ready for prime-time.

---End of rant



As Doug suggests, one of the options in recording options is to "pad" the recording ( I think the choices are 1 minute, 5 minutes, 1 hour and 2 hours). This is a must on any sporting event, since the guide data won't have an accurate end time. As far as the Moxi losing everything when you switch channels, it is my understanding that most PVR's operate this way. They buffer the channel you're watching, and that's it (although I note the HD-Tivo can use its dual tuners to buffer two channels, as long as you're not recording anything). If you want to be able to switch back and forth, you have to record both. As far as the phantom channel changes, or the jumping ahead randomly, I haven't seen any of that on my box, but that would be a huge pain.

Some friends of mine were at the house this weekend and I was showing them the difference between HD and "the old stuff". The quality difference made his wife say "WE NEED THAT!". Unfortunately, the HD TiVo is out of their budget right now, so they are looking for a set top ATSC Receiver, or a DirecTV Combo.

Since the only HD Receiver I have any experience with is the HD TiVo, what do you guys recommend? What should he stay away from? Does anyone have a receiver they aren't using and would sell for a good price (PM me for that)?

Thanks!

Craig

Last week someone was asking about whether the Moxi box includes an ATSC tuner, presumably so it would be possible to receive the OTA digital stations not currently provided by Charter.

I'm not sure if that question was ever conclusively answered, but I was reading the latest edition of Ultimate AV (November 2004) this morning and noticed an article on page 23 about a new R&D facility that Sony has opened north of San Diego.

In it, the article mentions new set-top boxes that Sony is planning to sell that include NTSC, ATSC and CableCARD tuners, along with hard-disk recording capability.

According to Ultimate AV, two versions will be sold -- the DHG-HDD250 ($799) will include a 250GB hard drive capable of recording 30 hours of HD or 200 hours of SD; and the DHG-HDD500 ($999), which will double the storage potential of the entry-level model.

Both units will include the TV Guide EPG at no additional cost.

Although these units would involve a steeper upfront cost than the Moxi, the ability to receive and record OTA in addition to the HD offered by Charter is at least a workaround for anyone who is wedded to Charter and tired of waiting for a complete local channel lineup.

Unfortunately no date was given for the release of these Sony STBs.

Originally posted by GlendaleHDTV
As Doug suggests, one of the options in recording options is to "pad" the recording...

As far as the Moxi losing everything when you switch channels, it is my understanding that most PVR's operate this way. They buffer the channel you're watching, and that's it (although I note the HD-Tivo can use its dual tuners to buffer two channels, as long as you're not recording anything). If you want to be able to switch back and forth, you have to record both.

As far as the phantom channel changes, or the jumping ahead randomly, I haven't seen any of that on my box, but that would be a huge pain.

Thanks for the replies. I have used the pad option, I just sometimes forget because I hadn't been burned by it and it is not as convenient to set that option.

My complaint about it losing everything is mostly because of the phantom channel changes or my kid accidentally pressing a button on the remote. It would be nice if I could somehow recover from these situations without always having to explicitly record what I'm watching.

I wonder if there is some other electronic appliance in my house which is causing the channel changes (sometimes multiple) or if it's some kind of bug. Has anyone heard of something like a microwave or some other thing causing this type of problem?

This is starting to sound a little OT for this thread, sorry.

bl,

I agree that "padding" isn't always convenient and it's easy to forget.

However, if Moxi works in a way similar to ReplayTV, you can at least address this if you remember the possibility of "overtime" once the recording has already started. The solution is just to go to the program guide and record the next scheduled program (or programs, depending on length) so that you pick up the entire game.

Obviously this workaround works best for one-off recordings, rather than something that you're recording every day/week at the same time, in which case you'd need to set this up as a regularly scheduled recording with "padding."

Sorry I can't help you with the other problems, but it sounds to me more like a defective unit than interference with other household appliances. Hopefully someone with more "hands on" Moxi experience will be able to offer some suggestions or ideas.

BL,

I had a similiar problem at one time with my Tivo box. In my case it would periodically fail to respond to the remote. Turned out one of the remotes we had sitting in a basket had a button being pushed by the weight of other of its brethern.

Terry

I want to take this opportunity to let everyone know what a great job Doug did on the calibration of my Panasonic RPTV. After exchanging email and discussing on the telephone we arrived at the list of calibrations to be done. The list was:

Basic Calibration
Restack of the glare protective screen
Geometry & Convergence for 16:9 and 4:3
Gray Scale and Color Balance for the HD cable signal and DVD

Doug arrive at 4:30 and worked until 2:30 the next morning! There was no detail that he did not pursue until it was resolved. Toward the end I was ready to surrender on clearing up the last little bit of convergence error, but Doug wouldn't quit. The final result was a beautiful picture for both HD and DVD and much better focus for NTSC.

I would highly recommend his service.

Terry

p.s. Ask about his birthday special!

I just wanted to remind everyone that the resource information that used to appear as the first couple of messages in our monthly threads can still be found in the new consolidated thread. In fact, it now appears as the first two messages in this permanent thread.

Here's a link to that information:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=454301&perpage=30&pagenumber=1

My intention is to continue to maintain this information, though it obviously won't be necessary to repeat it each month. However, I am interested in amending and adding to it in order to make it more useful for anyone who visits here.

So if anyone has any suggestions for changes or additions, let me know and I'll make the changes when time allows.

Craig,

I think for the most part that all of the ATSC-only tuners and the DirecTV combo tuners work pretty well. In my calibration work, I've seen most of the different DirecTV tuners that are available, and I can't recall any customer complaining about their experiences with their chosen brand/model.

However, there have been intermittent problems reported here with "stuttering" on KDNL programming with some Zenith and Samsung tuners, and StLRod mentions these in his post here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4466149#post4466149

(Being able to search back through this thread is GREAT!).

I expect to be selling my RCA DTC-100 in a few months, once the price of the HD TiVo (or the other model sold by DirecTV) comes down to a more earthly level. Feel free to check in with me once your friends get ready to start their shopping.

Hi, everyone.
I watch High Def channels via a rooftop antenna. My judgement is that NBC's HD picture as broadcast on UHF 35 by KSDK contains an unacceptably high amount of artifacts especially when things are in motion. This is an annoying kind of fine-detail pixelation (sort of like a screen mesh in front of the picture). Certainly not the best HD has to offer.

I assume this is due to channel 5-DT's insistence on continuing to run 5-2 (a very awful looking standard def simulcast) on their finite bandwidth of channel 35.

Will annyone join me on this soapbox or am I just too critical?

Bill787
(Saint Charles)

Doug,

I've had one hit from a fellow STL person on their DirecTV HD receiver. I think my friend Joe is ready to shop now. :) We just have to confirm that he can get reception in Hillsboro. Mileage and direction look good, but he said he's in a ridge. That's not such good news. FYI, he's in Hillsboro.

Anyone else here live in Hillsboro?

Has DirecTV announced a non-TiVo HD DVR yet? That'll be interesting. For lesser watched HD shows, that could be a good alternative to buying ANOTHER HD TiVo. If such an animal will exist sometime soon. For the record, I'm still a loyal TiVo guy...but as a 2nd unit, something non-TiVo could be usable...if the price is right.

Craig

Craig,

I don't know if DirecTV has made an official announcement about an alternative to the HD TiVo, but it's fairly well-known they have one in the works. This has been reported in SkyREPORT news several times in the past month or so.

News Corp., which owns DirecTV, also runs satellite television businesses in the UK, Europe, Asia and Latin America. As part of those operations they have an affilliate company, NDS, that produces the equipment used in some of those markets.

NDS is reportedly working on a DirecTV PVR that is supposedly coming to market sometime in 1Q 2005. I haven't seen any sort of product detail, including whether it will be support HD, but considering how much attention HD is getting at DirecTV these days, I'd be surprised if it wasn't HD-compliant.

In fact, it's the NDS development that has many market analysts predicting tough times ahead for TiVo, as a very significant chunk of TiVo's new sales comes from the DirecTV relationship.

Hope things work out for your friend for OTA reception.

Bill, you are correct.

KSDK is "stealing bits" from HD in order to provide the SD subchannel. This wouldn't be nearly as big a deal if KSDK's subchannel was a traffic camera or a radar weather map, but as it's duplicating a normal NTSC channel, it's wasting major bits and that likely explains the artifacts you are seeing.

Maybe we should use this forum and the stlhdtv.com redirect to get more aggressive about highlighting where local and national broadcasters are making bad decisions that undermine picture quality.

I'm sure that a lot of these knuckleheaded decisions get made because the management or engineers at local stations don't really believe anyone is watching or that those who do watch aren't paying any attention.

Maybe they need some education... :rolleyes:

My new projector will be here tomorrow, so I am selling my Hitachi 53UWX10B to my folks. They live about 3 miles away.

Can anyone recommend a local delivery company with fair prices that will handle this move with care?

Thanks

Dave

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
Bill, you are correct.

KSDK is "stealing bits" from HD in order to provide the SD subchannel. This wouldn't be nearly as big a deal if KSDK's subchannel was a traffic camera or a radar weather map, but as it's duplicating a normal NTSC channel, it's wasting major bits and that likely explains the artifacts you are seeing.

Maybe we should use this forum and the stlhdtv.com redirect to get more aggressive about highlighting where local and national broadcasters are making bad decisions that undermine picture quality.

I'm sure that a lot of these knuckleheaded decisions get made because the management or engineers at local stations don't really believe anyone is watching or that those who do watch aren't paying any attention.

Maybe they need some education... :rolleyes:

Let's do it!

I didn't even know 5-2 was still active. It's not in my program guide on the HD-TiVo, but that does explain some of the PQ issues I've noticed on KSDK-DT.

Maybe another email to the VP of Gannet and President of KSDK is in order?

KSDK needs to get better at "flipping" the switch IMHO anyway. They "forget" until 5 minutes into a show, they always turn it off 5 minutes before the end of a show. horrible!

Probably the best station I can tell in handling HD is CBS right now. I have never had a problem with any of the HD shows they broadcast, in terms of broadcast quality.

ABC, now that's another story all together..... and UPN uhhh, do they ever broadcast in HD or is that channel there to take up space? They actually broadcasted on the HD channel for Enterprise, but it wasn't in HD! der...
At least I could watch without the ghosting effects on D*. :p

I can confirm that there is no ATSC tuner on the Moxi.

On the KSDK 5-2 issue, I agree whole-heartedly that a little "educational campaign" may be in order. The channel doesn't show up in my Moxi guide usually, but last week I did a keyword search for something (don't remember what) and I noted that 5-2 (channel 786 on Charter) did show up. I haven't had any problems recording NBC, but I could see this potentially causing issues (i.e. the moxi tries to record 5-2 instead of 5-1).

S&P cuts Charter's ratings outlook to negative
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2004/10/11/daily11.html?f=et82

I haven't seen any PQ issues on 5-1, but then the only things I watch on NBC are Jay Leno and Meet the Press. :D

5-2 is still there, but for some reason it, along with 9-4, still has no guide info (both channels show nothing but "regular schedule" 24/7 on the HD Tivo).

I actually kind of like having 5-2 there. Even though it's nothing but a 4x3 afterthought, it has better PQ than the "ST5" provided by DirecTV, and lets Meet the Press fill the screen in its proper aspect ratio. That said, I wouldn't mind a "bit" :D if KSDK cut its bitrate some more to fix any pixellation issues on 5-1.

Originally posted by bl7385
I would be really nice if Moxi could come up with a way to switch back and forth easily, with PIP maybe (allowing the PIP to be paused, etc.).
Here are some tips. It doesn't do exactly what you want. But it's pretty good for now. It's for watching two games in real time.
1. Tune to your first game. Press record. Choose record once.
2. Tune to your second game. Press record. Choose record once.

This locks both tuners and keeps the buffer going on both of them. Now you can use the jump button to toggle back and forth between the games. (Since you're switching tuners, and not actually tuning, you not only get to keep both buffers, but the switch is nearly instantaneous.)

What's missing? This technique won't hold a pause position. Each time you jump, you'll be at realtime live and you'll have to back up if you want to catch a play you missed.

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
I actually kind of like having 5-2 there. Even though it's nothing but a 4x3 afterthought, it has better PQ than the "ST5" provided by DirecTV, and lets Meet the Press fill the screen in its proper aspect ratio. That said, I wouldn't mind a "bit" :D if KSDK cut its bitrate some more to fix any pixellation issues on 5-1.

I agree wholeheartedly! It is way better than on Directv (sad) and the aspect ratio is nice when a show is not in HD. I too wouldn't mid a bit if they improve 5-1 though.

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
I actually kind of like having 5-2 there. Even though it's nothing but a 4x3 afterthought, it has better PQ than the "ST5" provided by DirecTV, and lets Meet the Press fill the screen in its proper aspect ratio. That said, I wouldn't mind a "bit" :D if KSDK cut its bitrate some more to fix any pixellation issues on 5-1.
Robert, I understand your point, but I fear that this sort of comment is all a broadcaster (or cable or satellite provider) needs to hear to reach deeper into the dung pile and carry on with the only strategy these guys have ever known -- quantity over quality.

The ironic thing is, if cable and satellite weren't destroying the SD signal in the first place, there'd be no need for duplication on the digital airwaves.

Personally, I'd like to encourage digital broadcasters to load up to the max with subchannels any time there's no HD programming available, but then to shut down ALL of the SDs whenever HD is being transmitted.

But multi-channel programming should mean something more than just mindlessly replicating the same old tired content in a different picture format.

Originally posted by notmestl
KSDK needs to get better at "flipping" the switch IMHO anyway. They "forget" until 5 minutes into a show, they always turn it off 5 minutes before the end of a show. horrible!


Speaking of this, Las Vegas was not in HD for the whole show...dammit.

Anybody else noticing bad pixelization on CSI: Miami? Or how about, a slight lip-sync problem on MNF?

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
Robert, I understand your point, but I fear that this sort of comment is all a broadcaster (or cable or satellite provider) needs to hear to reach deeper into the dung pile and carry on with the only strategy these guys have ever known -- quantity over quality.



Well, if the 5-2 feed is causing problems with the 5-1 feed, definitely bitstarve the 5-2 or dump it altogether (the only thing I watch on 5-1 is Leno which doesn't have a lot of fast motion). With apologies to Ford, quality on the HD channel is job 1.

But IF, and ONLY if, they can do a 4x3 5-2 WITHOUT causing a problem on 5-1, I have no objection.

I also find it amusing that the analysts are gushing about all this extra capacity DirecTV will be adding for more HD channels, while *D currently is bitstarving HDnetMovies and ShowtimeHD so badly that neither one looks better than a plain ol' DVD right now. (Begin sarcasm) Bright side to that is, I suddenly have a lot more space on my HD Tivo without having to add another hard drive. :D

Hey Kurt,

Haven't looked at CSI Miami yet (it's HD-Tivo-ing), but haven't noticed any problem with MNF, other than Green Bay not playing worth diddley squat.

Originally posted by MoxiGuy
Here are some tips. It doesn't do exactly what you want. But it's pretty good for now. It's for watching two games in real time.
1. Tune to your first game. Press record. Choose record once.
2. Tune to your second game. Press record. Choose record once.

This locks both tuners and keeps the buffer going on both of them. Now you can use the jump button to toggle back and forth between the games. (Since you're switching tuners, and not actually tuning, you not only get to keep both buffers, but the switch is nearly instantaneous.)

What's missing? This technique won't hold a pause position. Each time you jump, you'll be at realtime live and you'll have to back up if you want to catch a play you missed.

Thanks for the reply! I tried this, but it takes a long time to REW to the point I want and I have to remember what I last watched. Also, I don't want to REW because I will partially see the things I intend to watch before I watch them (not good for sports). The resume feature almost worked when I was recording both, but it kept reverting to play about 1/2 the time.

Do you have any advice on the phantom channel changing or ways that Moxi might address this in the future by allowing me to keep the buffer after a channel is accidentally changed.

I feel like this is becoming OT, so, this will be my last post about this subject. I'll move to the HDTV Recorders forum (after reading a reply hopefully).

I haven't seen any posts regarding recent Moxi installs. Plus I know I signed up (twice) early in the list and I haven't gotten a call yet. What is going on?

Has anyone who lives in the Clayton/ Richmond Heights/ Maplewood/ U City area had a call about getting the Moxi installed?

Just wanted to mention that I watched "The Cincinnati Kid" on HDNet Movies last night and I thought it looked really, really good for a 40-year-old movie.

Of course, there's nothing in this flick that's particularly challenging in terms of action or special effects, so even with the slightly constrained bandwidth given to HDNM by DirecTV, it was extremely enjoyable and I noticed very little in the way of artifacts.

If you've been along for a ride on the recent Hold 'Em poker bandwagon and haven't seen this film, it probably did more to popularize (and mythologize) poker than an army of Chris Moneymakers and Phil Helmuths could achieve and is worth checking out for that reason alone.

Of course, its centerpiece is 5-card Stud, not Texas Hold 'Em...

There's also a lot of great performances (Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Edward G. Robinson, Ann-Margaret, Tuesday Weld, Rip Torn), a cool story and it looks superb...

I did notice several instances of pixelization on CSI Miami last night. I was watching the OTA signal.

According to a thread in the HDTV Programming Forum, the FOX out-of-market HD feeds are supposed to go live on DirecTV today.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=453936&perpage=30&pagenumber=10#newpost

It's not completely clear from the exchange on this topic that this has happened or that it's definitely going to happen today, but indications are that FOX-HD is likely to be available soon.

This probably isn't a major deal, unless you're a DirecTV customer in an area where KTVI-DT reception is poor. I don't recall seeing too many people here with that particular OTA reception problem, but if that's been a problem for you, help may be around the corner.

Now I haven't had a lot of time to mess with my Directv hd tuner and watch a lot of shows, but I have noticed that they don't always look that great. The boxing event on HBO was nice, but then I tried watching some movie on there and it was blurry almost. I wonder if the reception though Directv for these stations will be worse that what we get over the air now? I have no issues with my over the air signals, the picture is great.

hall316,

Based on the fact that DirecTV has recently increased compression to accommodate the NFL Sunday Ticket in HD, I would expect that OTA FOX would be superior to what DirecTV sends out.

However, the fact that FOX is 720p and compression of progressive video is significantly more efficient than compression of interlaced video (1080i or 480i), the results might not be so bad.

Originally posted by Dave Beebe
I haven't seen any posts regarding recent Moxi installs. Plus I know I signed up (twice) early in the list and I haven't gotten a call yet. What is going on?

Has anyone who lives in the Clayton/ Richmond Heights/ Maplewood/ U City area had a call about getting the Moxi installed?

This is what I got from an email:
-----Original Message-----
> From: Schwartz, Marty
> Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 2:34 PM
> To: Schneider, David
> Subject: RE: DVR waitlist
>
> We are preparing to launch in all areas later this week. He is very high
> on the list, so he should be getting a call later this week, or beginning
> of next...
>
> Marty Schwartz
> HSI Specialist
> Video Specialist
> DVR Specialist

tcfila,
Would you mind providing us with an email address for Marty Schwartz? It could come in handy when trying to figure out where we are on the list, or how soon we might get called.

Does anyone know whether or not Charter will leave a message if we're not home to answer the call for our Moxi installation? I generally don't like to answer "out of the area" or "unknown" calls, but realize that this Charter call may have a blocked ID. I don't want to miss it, but I hate talking to telemarketers.

Doug,
A couple of questions. I have managed to get my hands on the service manual for my Pioneer SD-532HD5 rptv. It's about 3 generations old now. If it's not too uncool to ask, can you suggest what a user like me could possibly attempt to tweak in the service menu? I'm not talking about the big things that a trained professional like you would do, but simple things, like turning some setting on or off, up or down. I heard that defeating the velocity scan modulation on a rptv could improve the picture. Would this be a menu item?

Also, I have a dlp pj that has svga resolution. Right now, all my hd source boxes are set to output 1080i. Should I choose something else, like 480p, since my pj scales everything to 800x600, or something close to it?

jedi,

At the risk of sounding proprietary, the Pioneer service menu is among the most complex and convoluted of any manufacturer, so I'd advise proceeding with caution. At the very least you will need to spend a lot of time reading through the service manual, particularly the table that shows the various settings and offset groupings. I'd also suggest that you should get a Home Theater Spot membership and thoroughly read through the Pioneer Tweaks section before entering the service menu.

As you probably know from the user menu standpoint, Pioneer uses a system of "picture offsets" or "overlays" to allow the user to set up the television up for different signal types, viewing conditions etc. This offset system carries through to the service menu, and in fact, is expanded upon quite a lot to provide a servicer/calibrator an unparalleled level of flexibility in how the system can be configured.

In short, there is a baseline configuration (STD) that impacts all of the various offsets, and then individual offsets for the different picture modes (MOVIE, STD, GAME), color temperatures (NEWS, FILM, B&W, LIVE) and signal types (15K, 31/33K, RGB). These can be used singly and in combination to tailor the image quality for a virtually unlimited number of different components/inputs and viewing conditions.

But Pioneer's system is 100% faithful to the adage that with flexibility comes complexity. Changing the STD mode, which is effectively the default setting when you get to the first level of the picture settings in the service menu, impacts all of the other modes. So it's fairly easy create a chain reaction of unintended consequences. What you really need to do is make adjustments to the individual offsets for the signal types you're using (for example, 15K is 480i), picture mode and (possibly) color temperature setting.

FWIW, I've helped a couple of other calibrators get to grips with how the Pioneer offset/overlay system works, and it takes a while for the clouds to part and the light to shine through. However, once that happens, there's appreciation for the flexibility and logic that runs through the system. Personally, I really like the Pioneer approach and it's regrettable that it's not being carried over to their plasma displays now that Pioneer has officially exited the business of making CRT-based televisions.

One other thing to be aware of. If you do go into the service menu to explore or just to get a feel for the lay of the land, be aware that when you come back out of service mode, ALL of your user settings will be reset to the factory default. So, the usual warning about writing down service menu settings before making any changes also applies to the user settings for things like picture mode, color, tint, black level, etc for each active input.

FWIW, even though your set is approaching 4 years of service, it's still worth considering calibration -- so long as it hasn't been abused. CRTs are still "king of the hill" in terms of picture quality and even an older set such as yours can be calibrated to look better than the day you took it out of the shipping carton.

On the alternatives for how to feed your projector, I answered this previously here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4021635#post4021635

(Love that SEARCH THREAD function) :cool:

I'm not sure as it came from a csr who emailed marty, but if it is like the others, it will be marty.schwartz@chartercom.com

Tim

jedi,

One other point about entering and exiting service mode on your Pioneer set.

I believe that when you go into service mode, when you exit it MAY erase any changes you've previously made to the user convergence.

It's possible that this only happens if changes are made to the service convergence section while in service mode, but because I always do geometry/convergence adjustments in the service menu when I calibrate a Pioneer, I'm not exactly sure how the user convergence reset works.

It's possible that the user convergence settings will hold so long as service convergence isn't touched, but again I'm not sure what exactly triggers the reset.

So what are your general comments about the first HighDef baseball program on Fox last night (the Red Sox/Yankees game)?

At first it only appeared to be in Fox widescreen mode, but later on certain cameras appeared to be high def. But I was not blown away by any of the coverage, like I typically am during high def football, hockey, or basketball games.

Is it possible our local affiliate simply downconverted the high def program material into plain old widescreen mode? If it *was* just widescreen, then I admit it looked very good for that mode.

My AE700 was delivered yesterday. I'm pretty amazed at the picture for both DVD and regular E* sat. This is my first projector so I may still just be overwhelmed by the size of the screen. I have a 106" DIY Blackout Cloth screen. I set the projector up just behind me. Fan noise was barely audible at about 18".

DVD
My DVD player is Panasonic XP30 connected via component. It is progressive scan but not upconverting. I ran through Bugs Life, Star Wars, LOTR to get a quick idea how the picture will look with DVD's. The picture is far better than I expected. No VB at all. Out of the box colors were very good. I scanned through several picture modes, but I can't recall which I used the most. Contrast was good even with a little ambient light added. I hope to run through VE so I can better judge the picture.


HD
I then watched the final 8 minutes of the Rams comeback victory over the Seahawks to see how HD football looks. Had it recorded on my HiPix. WOW. I am gonna really enjoy this!! Football looks amazing. Like your sitting on the 50 yard line. After watching my replay of the Rams victory I switched to my Dish 811 via DVI. Settled in to watch the Yanks outlast the Red Sox.

Hopefully the Cards game tonight will be in HD.
Now I just have to get my old TV out of the basement...

Doug,
Have you done any LCD projector calibrations. I assume I should wait for the 100 hour mark. From what I understand measurements on color have been pretty good out of the box, but I would love to know what the true readings are. Perhaps once I get it set up and calibrated, I can have everyone over who would like to see it. Unfortunately, the room does not fit many people.


Dave

Originally posted by jedi35

Does anyone know whether or not Charter will leave a message if we're not home to answer the call for our Moxi installation? I generally don't like to answer "out of the area" or "unknown" calls, but realize that this Charter call may have a blocked ID. I don't want to miss it, but I hate talking to telemarketers.



When I got mine, Marty just left a message and I called him back.

When I called a couple of weeks ago to check where I was on the list, I was told that Marty had called and no one answered. I asked why he didn't leave a message and was told that he did. There was no message. I have been trying to get someone out since with no luck. I was on the list twice - end of July and end of August. I was told I would be called when they got to me on the August list. Bummer, there was no message left.

Kirk

Dave,

I've done a few of the LCDs, but none of them were Panasonics.

If you're interested, maybe you could email or "snail mail" me the section of the install manual that includes information about about the advanced or service settings.

In addition to the user settings (contrast, brightness, color, tint, sharpness), I'd like to know what sort of access is available for the white balance controls for each input (might be called cuts/drives or gains/bias), gamma level and color decoder (this set of controls could go by any of a number of different names). These are the key things that would be needed to optimize your projector, but I'd like to understand the full range of adjustments that are possible.

Waiting 100 hours is definitely in order so that the bulb can stabilize. If you notice any shift in picture quality in the run-up to 100 hours, it's most likely the bulb settling in, rather than a problem with the projector (so long as it stabilizes at some point).

I'm out most of the day today, but drop me a private message or eMail, or call me this evening and we can figure out what works best in terms of getting access to the manual.

Maybe it's available online? It seems like more and more manufacturers are doing that, which is a very good thing.

Merged in Post #3464

If you look a few pages back, or search on my tag in this forum, you can find links to what our UPN station says about HD. Unfortunately, they haven't updated their status since UPN started showing 4 nights a week of HD . . .

Originally posted by notmestl
ABC, now that's another story all together..... and UPN uhhh, do they ever broadcast in HD or is that channel there to take up space? They actually broadcasted on the HD channel for Enterprise, but it wasn't in HD! der...
At least I could watch without the ghosting effects on D*. :p

Tivo (and now HD Tivo) have held the pause fine for years, at least as long as I can remember. It is invaluable for football game watching.

Going back and forth in HD is nice too ;)

Not that I have any other option with DirecTV anyway . . . but I am continually amazed by Tivo's 5 year old UI. Not that it is perfect . . .

Originally posted by MoxiGuy
What's missing? This technique won't hold a pause position. Each time you jump, you'll be at realtime live and you'll have to back up if you want to catch a play you missed.

Looked good to me. I did not compare with WRSP out of Springfield, because I didn't notice any glitches. It was much sharper than the widescreen Astros/Braves clincher, which was fresh in my mind (and still on my Tivo, but I didn't compare).

With all this talk about 480p vs 720p Fox and some people not seeing much difference (its in the programming forum too), you have to wonder if some people's equipment doesn't handle 720p as well as others.

Originally posted by StLouisRod
Is it possible our local affiliate simply downconverted the high def program material into plain old widescreen mode? If it *was* just widescreen, then I admit it looked very good for that mode.

Originally posted by tcfila
This is what I got from an email:
-----Original Message-----
> From: Schwartz, Marty
> Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 2:34 PM
> To: Schneider, David
> Subject: RE: DVR waitlist
>
> We are preparing to launch in all areas later this week. He is very high
> on the list, so he should be getting a call later this week, or beginning
> of next...
>
> Marty Schwartz
> HSI Specialist
> Video Specialist
> DVR Specialist

Thanks a lot tcfila; I appreciate you taking the time to contact your Charter insider.

Bummer though; I'm on vacation this week.

I was blown away by the quality. I am receiving FOX OTA.

Even the people's faces in the stands were recognizable. I am using the LSS 3200A into a Z2.

Best
Dave

Doug,

Thanks for all you kind advice. Very wise. It sounds like you've had quite a bit of experience with the Pioneer service menu. I hadn't given much thought to getting this set calibrated since it's so old, and it's not in my main theater setup. However, I might reconsider if money permits. I think I'd rather have you do a job on my Benq pj first. Someone else mentioned to me that I could find Pioneer tweaks over at the Home Theater Spot. I checked out the site, and couldn't easily find info on subscribing prices. I'll try again, it might be worth it. All the posts I've read about the Pioneer service menu interface talk about how difficult it is to navigate, but you are the only one who has praised it's complexity. I think it's nice to know that so many things are possible with this set.

Sorry, I totally forgot that I had already asked you about resolution settings for my pj. Yes, it's good to have this search feature. That way, you don't have to answer the same things over and over again.

tcfila,
Thanks for the email address. I'll give it a shot.

duihlein,
Congrats on the new pj. The xga pj with dvi bug is starting to poke me. Could you PM me with info on what you paid and where you got it, if you don't mind? I'd really love to see the picture after it burns in and you get it calibrated.

Bob,
Man, those SW dvds look pretty good, in my opinion.....as good as the laser discs. Thanks. And wow, the Odyssey 5 dvd is killer. Can't wait to see what LOST looks like.

duihlein,

I have my eye on the InFocus SP4805 Projector which has DVI. I am a self-confused virgin with projectors. Am I making a huge mistake by going with this instead of the AE700 that you received?

I'm getting in a review product and thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to receive FM broadcasts with this product. So, yesterday I stuck a splitter inline so that I have a feed for the OTA input of the satellite and for FM.

I was quite surprised to see that my OTA reception is actually better with the splitter than before. Has anyone else seen this behaviour?

Not that it's directly relevant, but the receiver is a Dish 811.

Cheers,

Just got the call from Charter on the DVR. They actually wanted to charge me a service call....After much whining they waived it.

John,

The only thing I can think of is that you were getting too much signal previously and splitting the feed acted as an attenuator.

Fox and Fox Sports are showing the two baseball games tonight. Please tell me the Cards/Astros game is on Fox so its as least in widescreen...

Why are they showing two games at the same time anyways? Doesnt make much sense financially, but what do i know?

Cool. The Cards/Astros are on Fox 2-1,
and the Yankees/Sox are on D* Fox 88, which just went live.

Breakthrough Charter Technology.
Clearly the marketing group at Charter has been hard at work. In my Mailbox today came this advertisement:
"ESPN Broadband offers you high definition Internet access...."

Originally posted by abcward
duihlein,

I have my eye on the InFocus SP4805 Projector which has DVI. I am a self-confused virgin with projectors. Am I making a huge mistake by going with this instead of the AE700 that you received?


abcward,
I would not say you are making a huge mistake. The decision of LCD v DLP is an ongoing war over in the Digital Projectors under $3500. Bottom line is there are a lot of happy 4805 owners out there. It looks to be an excellent unit. 2 things drove me to wait for the AE700. Full HD resolution and the concern about the rainbow effect. It may not have bothered me, but I didn't wan't to take a chance.

With the LCD I was concerned about contrast levels and Vertical Banding. So far with the AE700 I'm thrilled with the contrast/black levels and VB is non-existant. Keep in mind I also had a larger budget to start with (I planned on spending $2000)

I figure I'll keep this unit till the 3 chip DLP units drop under $4000. I estimate 2 years. Maybe 3.

If your source is DVD the 4805 is definately a great unit. If you want HD you may want to look at some of the new LCD's that are coming out.

I know I couldn't be happier.:D

Dave

Doug,

That's what I'm guessing as well.

Cheers,

Dave,

What do you mean when you say that your new AE700 features full HD resolution, which is one of the reasons that you waited for it? Are you getting more than XGA or 720p resolution? I didn't think that digital pjs were offering full HD resolution at 1080i for a reasonable cost. Enlighten me.

jedi35:

The 4805 is a roughly 1/4HD projector. There's a noticable jump going from there to 720p. In the strictest technical sense, 720p is "full HD", in that 1280x720p is being resolved pixel for pixel.

Until manufacturers release some product with TIs xHD3 chop on board, all digital projectors are progressive so it would have to be a 1080p projector. That said, only the Sony and JVC units (that I'm aware of) are available with 1080p resolution.

Regards,

I finally got the "Call" last nite for my DVR, they will be coming out Friday, when she was setting up the appointment she mentioned that at this time Florissant has quite a few customers waiting for installs they are a little behind out there but I guess not many in the City are rushing to get theirs.

Forgive my question, but is it possible to record HD premium channels (HBO, HDNET, etc) with the Moxi box?

Originally posted by Dyaus
Forgive my question, but is it possible to record HD premium channels (HBO, HDNET, etc) with the Moxi box?

Yes. You can record any channel that you receive (including pay per view channels).

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
Well, if the 5-2 feed is causing problems with the 5-1 feed, definitely bitstarve the 5-2 or dump it altogether. With apologies to Ford, quality on the HD channel is job 1.
Robert-- A good heads-up from you that while I'm complaining about the 5-2 simulcast stealing bits from 5-1 HD, there are others who find 5-2 useful. It's good to be reminded of other perspectives.

I knew that the mini-dishes bit-starved their standard def channels to within an inch of their lives, but stunned to hear they look as bad or worse than 5-2. I'm a real geek when it comes to Picture Quality and actually return to analog channel 5 (you know, VHF at 76 to 82 MHz) when there's no High Def picture on 5-1. I find it crisper than the magnified SD upconvert that's put on 5-1. But I'm equipped with a rooftop antenna in St. Charles and am ghost and noise free on all the VHFs in town.

Meanwhile, some things haven't changed in the last 18 months. Channel 5 has always had "flip the switch" problems. It's tempting to think that if just ONE person cared at their station then a process would be implemented which would make them look like professionals.

Is there anyone from channel 5 here on the forum with us?

Why is there a need to actually "flip the switch" ? I mean what would it hurt to just leave it on all the time?

hall,

Flipping the switch is necessary for a number of reasons, including the fact that apart from prime-time, most programming on KSDK-DT originates locally and is upconverted for the digital channel.

But even more importantly from the station standpoint, "flipping" is necessary throughout the prime-time portion of the scehdule in order to insert local commercials, because that's where the money comes from.

I agree that the problem is the lack of attention and poor execution by whoever at KSDK is ultimately responsible for ensuring that HD programming is shown in its entirety.

It's obvious they don't care or they would have figured out how to get it right by now. Other stations have mastered this and it makes KSDK's incompetence all the more obvious. In a perfect world, there would be a way to earn waivers when there's sufficient physical evidence that a local station has its head up its ass...

Doug,

How do you really feel about KSDK? :)

I really thought things were getting better after the whole Hawaii fiasco. If you remember, I emailed the VP of Gannett and President of KSDK about Hawaii and the "flipping the switch" issues. They assured me that they were retraining everyone so they would properly flip the switch for all HD programming.

I guess they haven't finished that training yet.

thanks for explaining it. You'd think they could find some body to hire during the prime time hours to take care of this.

I got the call from Charter too. They'll be here tomorrow (Friday) morning to install my DVR box. I'm in the south city.

John,

Why is it surprising that you added basically a second antennae inline to your 811, and the reception improved? Makes sense to me. With analog channels, that could get you mutli-path and therefore ghosting issues, but with digital you obviously won't see that in the picture.

In fact, I did the same thing you did just before the Kentucky Derby race this year. I had guests over to witness the wonder of high def, and suddenly channel 5's digital sig strength fell below usable levels. Pciture gone... people laughing... ARGHHH!!!!

So I quickly rigged up a spliter and fed in an extra "rabbit ear" antenna into my existing antenna feed, and BINGO! Signal strength improved by 30%, enough to watch the Derby without picture loss!

Rod.



Originally posted by John Kotches
I'm getting in a review product and thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to receive FM broadcasts with this product. So, yesterday I stuck a splitter inline so that I have a feed for the OTA input of the satellite and for FM.

I was quite surprised to see that my OTA reception is actually better with the splitter than before. Has anyone else seen this behaviour?

Not that it's directly relevant, but the receiver is a Dish 811.

Cheers,

Originally posted by Bill787
Robert-- A good heads-up from you that while I'm complaining about the 5-2 simulcast stealing bits from 5-1 HD, there are others who find 5-2 useful. It's good to be reminded of other perspectives.

I knew that the mini-dishes bit-starved their standard def channels to within an inch of their lives, but stunned to hear they look as bad or worse than 5-2. I'm a real geek when it comes to Picture Quality and actually return to analog channel 5 (you know, VHF at 76 to 82 MHz) when there's no High Def picture on 5-1. I find it crisper than the magnified SD upconvert that's put on 5-1. But I'm equipped with a rooftop antenna in St. Charles and am ghost and noise free on all the VHFs in town.



Hey Bill,

DirecTV's non-local channels aren't that bad. It's primarily the "locals" on DirecTV that suck dishwater. Bad as KSDK on *D is, KPLR is even worse with ghosting out the wazzoo. While watching Charmed (a non-HD show), I really miss the SuperStations I used to have on Dish Network.

I have excellent reception on KSDK's analog feed over the air, but the HD Tivo does not include an analog tuner. It picks up DirecTV standard chanels, DirecTV HD channels, and over-the-air digital/HD channels. No analog. Which is why I'd like to Tivo Meet the Press from 5-2 if the Tivo ever gets guide info for it. But I'll agree with Doug when 5-1 is actually showing an HD program, choke 5-2 so 5-1 looks like it should!

By the way, DirecTV is currently bitstarving even some of the HD channels to within an inch of their lives! It's the downside of all those HD Sunday Ticket games.

Anyone watching Game 2 of NLCS? I was very surprised to see replays from last night's game were actually in HD!

I didn't get to watch the game last night in HD-- I was there! :) But PQ of baseball in HD is phenomenal!

Craig

Welp, I finally got the call from Charter yesterday to setup my Moxi box. They should be here sometime today between 1 and 5.

How do you guys have your box connected to your TV, DVI or component? I currently am using DVI with my cable box, but didn't know if the cable guy or the moxi box are going to want me to use component. Thanks.

The DVI is not enabled on the Moxi box. You will have to go component.

Did anyone notice that CH 88 was carrying game 2 last night as a Network HD feed, except it had a "call ext. 721" message? I called DirecTV last night to find out why we were not getting it and apparently it was blacked out here, although the CSR said I should have been able to get it it. I get a decent OTA signal, so it didn't prevent my seeing the game, but that isn't good news for those who aren't so fortunate.

According to threads over in the Programming section, we would be getting the full East and West Fox HD feeds by now on 86 & 87, but Dish threatened a lawsuit. Hopefully it will be worked out soon, but if all local sports are blacked out on it, that will severely limit its usefullness.

Mike

Originally posted by MSloss
Did anyone notice that CH 88 was carrying game 2 last night as a Network HD feed, except it had a "call ext. 721" message? I called DirecTV last night to find out why we were not getting it and apparently it was blacked out here, although the CSR said I should have been able to get it it. I get a decent OTA signal, so it didn't prevent my seeing the game, but that isn't good news for those who aren't so fortunate.

According to threads over in the Programming section, we would be getting the full East and West Fox HD feeds by now on 86 & 87, but Dish threatened a lawsuit. Hopefully it will be worked out soon, but if all local sports are blacked out on it, that will severely limit its usefullness.

Mike

Do you have a Samsung SIR-TS360? D* downloaded firmware upgrades to these units last week, and many people are getting this x721 message as a result of a bug that affects some units.

I have not been affected by this problem, and received 88 Fox, although it had some lipsynch issues and I ended up switching to OTA for the game.

The problem is being discussed in the thread The Master Samsung 360 topic (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=364689)

Originally posted by dwette
Do you have a Samsung SIR-TS360? D* downloaded firmware upgrades to these units last week, and many people are getting this x721 message as a result of a bug that affects some units.

I have not been affected by this problem, and received 88 Fox, although it had some lipsynch issues and I ended up switching to OTA for the game.

The problem is being discussed in the thread The Master Samsung 360 topic (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=364689)

No, I have an HD Tivo.

MSloss,

I think the DirecTV rep you spoke with must have been a Charter refugee... :D

Seriously, I had the same issue with the x721 message, but I called DirecTV and explained that I was in a FOX owned & operated market and that channel 88 should have been turned on for me automatically.

It took the better part of 15 minutes on the phone while the CSR checked with his supervisor, but it was ultimately turned on just before the game.

What I found interesting is that AFTER the game, the channel was available but instead of showing whatever was being broadcast by the NY FOX station, DirecTV was showing the blue and white DirecTV logo slide. This makes me think that channel 88 will be available ONLY when there' s something shown in HD.

That seems a strange way to approach this, but maybe it was just a one-off occurrence.

Edit: My DirecTV receiver is the DTC-100. I didn't notice any lip-sync problems with Channel 88, and by and large there wasn't any major picture quality difference between it and OTA.

The following is from SkyREPORT E-News:

DirecTV Talks HD, Dual-Carriage Issues at FCC

As it prepares for an expansion of high-def programming, including local HD, DirecTV approached the Federal Communications Commission with concerns about possible future mandates and restrictions that could challenge its HD future offerings.

In a presentation recently given to staff with the FCC's Media and International bureaus, DirecTV executives said any dual carriage requirement, which would require delivery of both broadcast digital and analog signals, would reduce the number of markets that it could provide local TV service. DirecTV executives also said that any dual carriage requirement may violate the Constitution.

"DirecTV is making a significant investment in the infrastructure necessary to provide the best consumer experience by adding significant HD programming," the satellite TV company said in its presentation.

DirecTV said high-def places much greater burdens on DBS when compared to cable operators since satellite TV has limited capacity, a larger number of stations to carry from coast to coast, and since HD carriage increases - rather than decreases - bandwidth demand. In addition, DirecTV said that continued use of compression is critical for any HD carriage.

In its presentation, DirecTV detailed its future satellite launch plans, in which two Spaceway satellites set for flight next year will deliver 500 local HD channels and two additional satellites set for launch in 2007 will have capacity for an additional 1,000 local HD channels.

DirecTV said the Ka-Band satellites will increase capacity available for HD programming through higher order modulation, more advanced compression and the better use of spot beams. However, "Any HD carriage requirement prior to launch of all four satellites would severely limit DirecTV's ability to serve local markets," the company said.

Those meeting with FCC officials on DirecTV's behalf were Romulo Pontual, executive vice president and chief technology officer, and Susan Eid, stated the company's filing at the commission.

For more SkyREPORT news, go to http://www.skyreport.com

Consensus around other areas of AVS seems to be that DirecTV channels 88 and 89 are currently special event channels for the playoffs/World Series only, and that Fox HD on a regular basis is still a ways off. :(

You would think from how Fox touts its HD during the MLB games that it is the leader on HD and broacasts everything in HD. We know that not quite right...

Watching the Cardinals last nite I noticed what could be the undoing of HD. A close up shot of the Astro pitcher revealed the remnants of sunflower seeds in his teeth, what a lovely shot.

Isn't HD great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

Wilkemp,

you're not kidding there:D We commented on that many times last night. "eww, some of these guys are NOT hidef material."

Let's see....between the nose picking, kernels of corn teeth, snot blowing, seed spitting video shots..... time to flip back and forth to HDNET swimsuit to offest:D

Robert,

Interesting info on the FOX "HD special event" angle.

I'm not saying that's not the correct explanation, but it does seem pretty wasteful to provide both East and West coast feeds if this isn't intended to be the out-of-market HD feeds. Considering the apparent bandwidth constraints that DirecTV is wrestling with as a result of the NFL Sunday Ticket, this is a strange way to allocate precious bits.

Or maybe only one of the feeds (East Coast) has been activated?

Hey Jedi,

On that LG 3510 of yours, how well does the program guide work? I hear it's PSIP-based. My old Sony HD100 used PSIP data for the OTA part of the program guide, but since no stations were broadcasting PSIP data at the time, all OTA channels showed nothing but "local programming" 24/7. I presume your 3510 doesn't have that problem?

Thanks,