Hey guys,

I have my Charter PVR coming next Saturday morning. Finally got called.

Is there anything I should look out for/test/etc... so I don't have to make a service call later in the day?

Tx!

dweebe,

I haven't seen enough of the Mits DLPs to form a definitive opinion. But I can categorically say they are light years better than the original Mits DLPs sold 3 or 4 years ago.

As a rule, I generally recommend steering away from any manufacturer's first-generation product. Although Mitsubishi has been in the DLP market previously and therefore these new DLPs aren't truly first-generation product, it has been a few years since Mitsubishi was building DLP sets and these new sets are obviously based on a different chassis and light engine design.

As a result, I think it's wise, at minimum, to thoroughly monitor initial customer feedback before laying down your credit card. There are plenty of places online to read about customer experiences with specific products, and I know there's been a lot of discussion about these sets on AVS and elsewhere.

As an example of what you want to avoid, both Samsung with its initial DLP RPTVs and Toshiba with its initial (and only) LCoS RPTV experienced serious teething problems and field service staff weren't much help in resolving customer issues. Problem sets were usually swapped out instead of repaired, and while that sounds great, it isn't so great if you can't get an immediate replacement.

Bear in mind that I'm not suggesting these Mitsubishi set will have major issues or that the company will stumble in addressing any problems that do occur. But personally, I'd wait a while to see how things play out on the performance and reliability fronts.

With all that said, I think anyone seriously considering the near-term purchase of one of the Mitsubishi DLPs (or any other first-generation brand/model) should only buy from a reputable LOCAL retailer. You definitely don't want to be in the position of dealing long-distance if major issues do come up.

As far as the extent of calibration, at the moment it's limited to grayscale calibration and adjustment of the user controls. There's still a lot unknown about the settings for these sets and I've been doing them on a provisional basis, meaning that I'll return and apply additional adjustments as they become available. I didn't remove the glare screen on either of the sets I've worked on so far. I understand that it leaves behind a ugly bracket, though there's an optional cost trim kit to cover this over.

If you have other questions or have specific calibration-oriented questions about these sets, feel free to send me a private message.

OK, what's going on? Something happened today that is big news for me. For the first time since I've been getting OTA digital channels, 46-1 UPN came in, and it held up pretty well to the air traffic interference I deal with out here next to Lambert Field. I can't believe it. The signal is about as strong as 11-1 for me, which I've been able to get from the beginning. I'm using a RadioShack powered antenna in my bedroom, which has done better than any rooftop I've tried. So, what does this mean? Did WRBU crank up the power? Is this why the signal was scrolling a few days ago? Those of you who get this channel, please check you signal meters. I've never seen this channel in my house until today. Now, I can watch Enterprise digitally with stereo sound(I still need you, Bob). Maybe they are headed towards other improvements, like actually showing some HD?

Is anyone experiencing lip sync problem with our digital FOX channel? I am using a Samsung TS160 D* STB, but am getting the signal via an OTA signal. Last night during the election coverage, the audio was way off from the video. So much so that I couldn't even watch it. I tried several other digital OTA channels (like CBS and NBC) and they appeared well synced. Also during the NLCS, I noticed some minor lip sync problems with FOX -- but those seemed to correct themselves after I changed channels (and then it back). I'm just wondering if anyone has seen this problem? BTW, I have a ReplayTV 5040 in my setup so I end up leavinh my Samsung powered on all the time. I wonder if that might causing some problems...

Hey Jedi,

Nice to know 46-1 is back. The scrolling thing completely trashed Brent Spiner's appearance on Enterprise.... Thank God for **********.

And nice to see you can get that channel for the first time.

I read Charter's most recent earnings report, and there were some interesting conclusions regarding high definition: high definition customers increased from 16,500 in December/03 to 76,000 by end of September/04. Also, DVR's have now increased to 61,000--as of Sept/30. I hope they now realizd that HD is the future, and to increase their channels.

I haven't heard back from notmestl, but here's an update.

My friend looking for a deal on an HD DirecTV receiver just got a great deal. New Hughes HTL-HD, Phase III dish, 5x8 multiswitch, OTA antenna and installation for $199 + Tax + shipping. Customer retention gave him a $200 discount on the $399 regular price.

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

Charter reported that third quarter revenues were $1.248 billion, an 8 percent increase when compared to pro forma third quarter 2003 revenues of $1.159 billion.

Net loss applicable to common stock was $3.295 billion, attributed to a large charge taken by the company.

Charter stock closed the day at $2.53, off 14 cents (or 5.24%) and compared with a 52-week high of $5.69 and a 52-week low of $2.15.

raborj,
So, did you finally get Charter to come out and install a Moxi dvr box? I've yet to get my call, and I got on the list in August. I'm wondering if I'll get any results if I call now(since they are rolling them out to their own employees).

I was called last Friday for the Moxi box install. The appt is set for this Friday. I will let you all know if it happens or not.

The following is from SkyREPORT E-News:

Charter Nets Basic Sub Loss, But Grows HD

Charter reported third quarter gains for its high-speed Internet business and other services, including HDTV, but the company also showed a 58,600 customer loss for its basic analog video offering.

The loss of those customers put Charter's basic subscriber base at 6.074 million as of the end of the third quarter. However, the company added 38,700 digital cable customers, for a total of 2.688 million, and 108,500 residential high-speed data customers, taking that customer base to 1.819 million.

Also, Charter said digital customers with high def services grew from less than 16,500 as of Dec. 31 to 76,000 at the end of the third quarter. Digital video recorder units grew to 61,000 as of Sept. 30, the company said.

Charter reported that third quarter revenues were $1.248 billion, an 8 percent increase when compared to pro forma third quarter 2003 revenues of $1.159 billion. Net loss applicable to common stock was $3.295 billion, attributed to a large charge taken by the company.

For more stories, go to www.skyreport.com

Charter came out with the box, I asked him to just let me hook it up but he wouldn't. Took him about 20 minutes to get it all set up. After he left I flipped around the HD channels, it looked horrid. Then I realized it was downconverting to 480p. Had to go into the settings and allow 1080i and Dolby Digital. Now it looks great.

I actually find the interface much more friendly then the interface on TIVO. I will keep my tivo active for now to record SD programs, as the SD quality on the moxi is just unwatchable at this point.

Last night I lost half my HD channels, had to "reboot" the moxi. After that all was fine.

All in all, I would say the moxi is the killer app from charter for HD. I have the mitsubishi VCR for OTA recording, but not being able to record movies in HD has been killing me. Now if charter could just get a few more HD channels released.

Originally posted by raborj
Charter came out with the box, I asked him to just let me hook it up but he wouldn't. Took him about 20 minutes to get it all set up. After he left I flipped around the HD channels, it looked horrid. Then I realized it was downconverting to 480p. Had to go into the settings and allow 1080i and Dolby Digital. Now it looks great.

I have a friend who has HD from Charter with just the Motorola box, no Moxi. He says the HD channels don't look that great from Charter and I figured the same thing is happening where he's getting 480p instead of 1080i.

Can someone give me a step-by-step instructions instructions of how to check/change this? I don't have Charter HD or I could go over and figure it out in a few minutes but he works different shifts. The more detailed the better: he's a HD newbie.

Thanks

Originally posted by Toeside
I haven't heard back from notmestl, but here's an update.

My friend looking for a deal on an HD DirecTV receiver just got a great deal. New Hughes HTL-HD, Phase III dish, 5x8 multiswitch, OTA antenna and installation for $199 + Tax + shipping. Customer retention gave him a $200 discount on the $399 regular price. That's not THAT great of a deal. Almost a year ago the CR gave me a $300 discount so it only cost me $99 with no shipping charges -- and to boot I got $500 on eBay for my old DTC-100 that I replaced!

I have a question about Charter's DVRs (both SD and HD ones). Can they be networked so that I could download recorded shows to my computer and burn them on DVD?

dweebe,

In order to change the output resolution on the Charter Cable box for HD (non-DVR version), turn the power off and then press the front-panel menu button.

This will bring up a screen showing the Component Video output as well as settings for the 4:3 override resolution.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
dweebe,

In order to change the output resolution on the Charter Cable box for HD (non-DVR version), turn the power off and then press the front-panel menu button.

This will bring up a screen showing the Component Video output as well as settings for the 4:3 override resolution.

Once the menu pops up what should he select?

dweebe,

Once you have the menu up on the screen, you should be able to use the arrow keys on the remote.

Here's links to the PDF versions of the two Motorola boxes that Charter has been using for its HD receivers -- the DCT-5100 and the DCT-6200:

http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/customer_docs/user_guides/487412-001.pdf

http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/customer_docs/user_guides/513392-001.pdf

Sorry I can't be more specific, but I don't have Charter Cable and what I've picked up on these STBs comes from working for customers who subscribe to Charter HD...

Originally posted by marlowsa
I was called last Friday for the Moxi box install. The appt is set for this Friday. I will let you all know if it happens or not.

FYI - Charter just installed it! More later, as I am also interested in transferring the shows if possible.

Scott

Originally posted by STL
That's not THAT great of a deal. Almost a year ago the CR gave me a $300 discount so it only cost me $99 with no shipping charges -- and to boot I got $500 on eBay for my old DTC-100 that I replaced!

Yeah, I understand that, but the $99 deal is long gone. Considering he was going to buy a used STB for almost that much, he got a great deal. I know better deals were available in the past, but whatcha gonna do?

Craig

Originally posted by Toeside
Yeah, I understand that, but the $99 deal is long gone. Considering he was going to buy a used STB for almost that much, he got a great deal. I know better deals were available in the past, but whatcha gonna do?I didn't realize that deal was gone. With the cable companies get more competitive in HD, I figured it was here to stay -- if you asked enough times (it took me twice).

Originally posted by STL
I didn't realize that deal was gone. With the cable companies get more competitive in HD, I figured it was here to stay -- if you asked enough times (it took me twice).

It took him 3 tries to get the $199 deal. Oh well...it's only money, right? :)

Originally posted by STL
I didn't realize that deal was gone. With the cable companies get more competitive in HD, I figured it was here to stay -- if you asked enough times (it took me twice).

It took him 3 tries to get the $199 deal. Oh well...it's only money, right? :)

RE: Smallville from 11/3...

Did anyone watch this? I just watched it tonight on my HD TiVo and the PQ was horrible in some spots--specifically during the football scenes.

Also, the audio was missing from the HD feed for a few minutes, so the feed switched from HD to SD a few times.

Anyone else see the PQ issues during this episode?

Craig

Yup, sure did. And at the same time, KDNL's showing of Lost was an SD upconvert for the first several minutes. Wednesday was not a good night for HD in St. Louis.

Just a follow-up on my post a few weeks ago, D* informed me that my waiver request to get HD CBS and NBC was denied by the local stations. I'm not really surprised. :rolleyes:

Mike

Hi Mike,

Can't say that surprises me, either. Back in 1999 when DirecTV first took away my CBS and Fox distant analog feeds, I applied for waivers from KMOV and KTVI. Got denied by both.

The denial from KTVI especially irked me...

Not only was KTVI a Fox O&O....

But the wording of the letter really aggravated me: "Because you are located in our service area, we are unable to grant you a waiver." Well HELLO, if I *weren't* in your service area, I wouldn't *need* to ask you for a waiver, would I?????

The letter also said, "You will still be able to keep the distant feed you have until February 28, 1999." The letter was dated March 12, 1999. 'nuff said.

OTA Sunday Football

No HD for Game 1,on CBS
Blockiness on FOX

Anyone else?

Same here. Looks to be the same for the Rams game as well, even though the brought to you by Sony HDTV is on my screen right now, all we are getting today for some reason is crappy SD?

Spoke with KMOV and they said it will be once the KC game is over

I noticed it took them a little while to throw the switch for the Rams game, but they finally got it done. I didn't notice the blockiness on Fox but I only saw a few bits and pieces because it was pretty busy at work.

KPLR showed the first Lord of the Rings flick in HD tonight. I was a little annoyed to see they blew it up to fill in the 16x9 TV frame, but PQ was excellent. And the 5.1 channel sound was fabulous!

I'd like to see OAR for future movies, but this was an excellent start for movies in HD on WB!

Thanks for the review of WBs LOTR tonight, Bob. I'm going to check out my dvhs taping of it in just a bit. What's funny is that I knew that I wasn't going to be home(I played in the orchestra for the 3 Irish Tenors at the Fox), and I also knew that WB would probably run the film from 7-10, since it's a long flick. I went out and borrowed a second dvhs deck from a buddy to catch that third hour, since nobody would be home to pop in another tape. Wrong!! WB must have chopped it up, and the film ran from 7-9. I found this out after I had spent the time to pick up the second deck. Oh well, I can still get a bunch of editing done on my hd tapes...maybe free up a few more tapes for hd.

Oh, and Bob I caught my first glimpse of Enterprise OTA on 46-1, and I'll have to say WOW!! It looked(and sounded) great....to bad we don't get to see it in full hd.

Ok gang, I get my nerve up to do this once a year, and I was curious what everyone's thoughts were on having an area get together in December?

If interested, I was thinking of Saturday December 11th. I would be posting this across the big 4 of the HT Sites (AVS, Home Theater Spot, Home Theater Forum, Home Theater Talk) and the "small 1" of enthusiast sites (Hitchhiker's Guide to Meridian)...

If a couple of folks in the area that post in this thread regularly say "Go for it", I will :)

Cheers,

John,

I'd definitely be interested in seeing your theater now that you've got everything in place.

If you decide to go ahead, you should count me in...

I've missed any previous get-togethers... count me in for this one!

Ok, that's enough already. I'll inform my wife, and start getting things in place :)

I'll post a link to the HT Meet page once I've posted it.

Cheers,

What's with KMOV? Why do they expand all their SD programming to over-fill the screen? Common sense would dictate that most DT viewers are watching via a 16x9 set. Whenever I watch a SD program on KMOV, it fills the screen alright, but all heads are cut off. Scrolling text is often off the screen as well.

If I want to see the entire frame, I'm forced to switch over to ANALOG channel 4.

How dumb is this??????

RE: LOTR

Last night was only part 1 of FOTR. It was 2:07 with commercials. Tonights installment is 2:00 exactly, according to the DirecTV guide. The guide also says it's the entended version, which I think is about 3 hours long+ commercials = 4:07?

As far as aspect ratio: Isn't HD, by definition, 16x9? Are movies on HDNet Movies shown in their OAR? I've never really noticed.

Craig

Craig,

Original production HD material is supposed to be 16x9, but there's some
flexibility in all of these standards.

HDNM does do OAR in most cases, unlike HBO is which is widescreen pan & scan for the overriding majority of 2.35:1 releases.

Originally posted by Toeside
RE: LOTR

... The guide also says it's the entended version, which I think is about 3 hours long+ commercials = 4:07?

...

Craig
This was definately NOT the extended version. Hopefully when HD-DVD arrives :)
Dug

Toeside, so are you saying that another film from the LOTR trilogy is on tonight too? Man, I've got to look that up, and set my vcr. Are they aiming to run the whole series this week?

Originally posted by jedi35
Toeside, so are you saying that another film from the LOTR trilogy is on tonight too? Man, I've got to look that up, and set my vcr. Are they aiming to run the whole series this week?

No. I think they are just showing LOTR #1 (Fellowship of the Ring) and splitting it into two nights. Two hours last night and two hours tonight (not sure how their filling four hours if its not the extended version).

Thanks, I caught it. I didn't watch all of my recording from Sunday, so I didn't realize that they were splitting it up.

GlendaleHDTV says:

No. I think they are just showing LOTR #1 (Fellowship of the Ring) and splitting it into two nights. Two hours last night and two hours tonight (not sure how their filling four hours if its not the extended version).

FIgure 20 minutes of commercials per broadcast hour. So 4 hours of broadcast gives you 160 minutes of program material.

Cheers,

DirecTV Keeps NFL Sunday Ticket Exclusive

DirecTV is keeping its lock on NFL Sunday Ticket, announcing with the National Football League late Monday a five-year $3.5 billion agreement to extend and expand the satellite TV giant's exclusive rights to carry the sports package.

DirecTV said it will continue to have exclusive multichannel television rights to air NFL Sunday Ticket games through the 2010 season. In addition, DirecTV also extended its carriage agreement with NFL Network, which is part of DirecTV's Total Choice basic subscription package.

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

HDTV Magazine is reporting that Bravo HD+ will undergo a Dec 1 facelift and become Universal HD.

According to the HDTV Magazine report, the reworked channel will include expanded HD content, including films such as "Backdraft," "Back to the Future," "Billy Madison," "Far and Away," "Jaws," "The River Wild" and "Sea of Love;" and series including Sci-Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica," USA's "The District," "Karen Sisco," "Law & Order: SVU" and "Monk;" as well as sports programming such as the US Open and the 2004 Summer Olympics and performance arts and entertainment.

Battlestar Galactica in HD??????

Made my day!!!!!!!!!!

After the fantastic job CBS did with the Grammys earlier this year (HD and 5.1), the CMA's tonight are an upconvert?????????

You mean I have to stare at Shania Twain, Alison Krauss, and Faith Hill in plain ol' SD????????

What's wrong with the world today?

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
After the fantastic job CBS did with the Grammys earlier this year (HD and 5.1), the CMA's tonight are an upconvert?????????

You mean I have to stare at Shania Twain, Alison Krauss, and Faith Hill in plain ol' SD????????

What's wrong with the world today?

Glad to see that my set was not wrong but the world was. I agree what a shame. I rushed home from work just to see the women. Don't tell my wife.

Quick questions

1) With the Charter HD-DVR do you also need the Mot5100 HDTV STB? Or does the Charter HD-DVR do both functions?

2) How much does Charter HD-DVR cost over regular Charter HD?

3) Does the Charter HD-DVR do DVI? Is it encrypted or computer DVI?

4) Can the Charter HD-DVR also do OTA? Needed for channels like ABC.

Thanks a lot for the help. Went through the thread and looked at the Charter web site but could not find the above info.

-Jym-

Originally posted by Jym
Quick questions

1) With the Charter HD-DVR do you also need the Mot5100 HDTV STB? Or does the Charter HD-DVR do both functions?

2) How much does Charter HD-DVR cost over regular Charter HD?

3) Does the Charter HD-DVR do DVI? Is it encrypted or computer DVI?

4) Can the Charter HD-DVR also do OTA? Needed for channels like ABC.

Thanks a lot for the help. Went through the thread and looked at the Charter web site but could not find the above info.

-Jym-

1) The DVR box is a Motorola BMC, it will replace the box you currently use.

2) The DVR service is $9.99/mo.

3) The box has a DVI output, but it's not functional yet. A future software upgrade is supposed to fix that.

4) Nope.

Hope that helps.

Looks like I will be replacing my two Mot5100s with these boxes.

-Jym-

Has anyone switched from DirecTV to Charter Digital somewhat recently? I am curious to hear your likes/dislikes -- and to find out what you're paying compared to what you were paying. I looked all over Charter's website, and they don't seem to want to tell anymore what their programming packages cost. Currently I have D*'s Total Choice package (w/o locals) along with their HD package, but was wondering what the equivalent Charter package would cost me.

Originally posted by STL
Has anyone switched from DirecTV to Charter Digital somewhat recently? I am curious to hear your likes/dislikes -- and to find out what you're paying compared to what you were paying. I looked all over Charter's website, and they don't seem to want to tell anymore what their programming packages cost. Currently I have D*'s Total Choice package (w/o locals) along with their HD package, but was wondering what the equivalent Charter package would cost me.

Here's the message that was included with my last Charter Bill:

Charter currently offers three value packages: 1) Big Value Pak that includes: Basic and Expanded Cable and our Movie Tier with Showtime, TMC and Encore (or your choice of Family and Information or Sports digital tier) plus a digital receiver for only $52.99. 2) Bigger Value Pak that includes everything in the Big Value Pak plus HBO and Cinemax OR Starz Superpak for only $65.99. 3) Biggest Value Pak that includes everything in the Big Value Pak including HBO, Cinemax AND Starz Super Pak for only $68.99. DigitalTiers remain a great addition at $4.00 each tier.

It's an additional $3 for basic HD service, another $3.99 for extended HD service (ESPN-HD, HDNET, HDNET Movies), and another $9.99 for the Moxi DVR.

I currently pay $82.97 +tax (around $6) for both HD tiers, Moxi DVR, HBO, Cinemax, Basic and Expanded cable, and the Sports tier. I could substitute the movie tier or the family tier for the sports tier and pay the same price. I think the Charter website can show you what channels are included in each tier. Hope this helps.

EDIT: Found the channel lineup info: STL Channel Lineup (http://www.charter.com/account/lineup/channel.aspx?ID=1310)

Thanks for the info! I was thinking Charter would be closer to DirecTV pricing -- but that's obviously not the case. Charter's pricing reminds me why DirecTV and DISH are so popular.

Where Charter can be cost effective is when you have lots of TVs. With the Satellite services you have to pay per TV. If you have lots of TVs and analog cable is good enough then it is cheaper. This is atleast what I have found.

I know there are people that have 10 or more TVs in their house. One cable also gets you HDTV, Digital Cable, Analog Cable and broadband Internet.

-Jym-

Originally posted by Jym
Where Charter can be cost effective is when you have lots of TVs. With the Satellite services you have to pay per TV. If you have lots of TVs and analog cable is good enough then it is cheaper. This is atleast what I have found.

I know there are people that have 10 or more TVs in their house. One cable also gets you HDTV, Digital Cable, Analog Cable and broadband Internet.

-Jym-

It also depends on what channels you want/need. Excluding my HD-DVR (which requires a $1,000 up front investment w/DirectTV), I'm paying about $73. If I switched to DirectTV, I think I would pay:

$36 - Total choice w/o locals
$11 - HD Service
$12 - HBO
$11 - Sports Pack (I watch a lot of English Soccer on Fox Sports World)
$5 - Additional TV
$75 - Total

So the difference isn't too much in my case, but obviously in depends on your individual circumstances.

I find this pricing discussion interesting. I am currently a Charter sub with all channels, including HD, Moxi and every premium movie channel. The only tier I do not have is the sports tier. [We also have cable internet and phone service thru Charter]

There have been many times that I have been frustrated with Charter and have gone out and looked at DirecTV and/or returning to Dishnet. However when I do the math, it always would cost more per month for me to move to either of those satellite providers for the same channels as I have now.

So for me, price is a major factor why I stay with Charter...

As threatened earlier, I've posted in the area HT meets section, with information on a 12/11 get together at my house...

Of course it means that you will have to venture to the other side of the river, which could be a traumatic experience for some ;)

Here's the thread in the meets section. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=468201)

Regards,

I'm also one of the big money Charter customers. We have everything but the sports tier, 3 SD digital boxes, one Moxi DVR box, and 3MB internet. My total bill is in the $150-$160/mo range. The internet is the big kicker for me. I'm renting a house with 2 other people and we all have cell phones so we don't have a landline. Adding the cost of a landline to get DSL that is 1/2 the speed of Charter's internet service completely negates the idea of switching to dish for me. As far as the actual cable service goes, I have no gripes with Charter at all. Downtime is very minimal, cable internet has virtually no speed drops or packet loss, and now that they have DVR their offerings are pretty good. Now their installation techs are another story.....

bluedevil:

I'm close enough to the CO that I can get 6 Mbits/second for < $50 / month from SBC.

Cheers,

The following report appears in today's Evening Bridge (formerly mediabiz.com's MarketClose):

Analyze This

Tom Eagan of Oppenheimer and Co. initiating coverage of Charter with a "neutral" rating:

"On the positive side, the plant is largely upgraded and the company's digital and data penetration are in line or above the industry average. More negatively, however, the company's 9.4x debt to cash flow ratio is well above the sector average while our estimate of the company's 2.3-percent 2004 cash flow growth rate and 2.2-percent subscribers growth rate is well below average.

"Also, despite the company's deep penetration of digital and data customers (into its basic sub base), the company's $64.09 ARPU is relatively low. At those penetration levels, an ARPU in the mid $70's would be more in line with other operators."

Originally posted by GlendaleHDTV
It also depends on what channels you want/need. Excluding my HD-DVR (which requires a $1,000 up front investment w/DirectTV), I'm paying about $73. If I switched to DirectTV, I think I would pay:

$36 - Total choice w/o locals
$11 - HD Service
$12 - HBO
$11 - Sports Pack (I watch a lot of English Soccer on Fox Sports World)
$5 - Additional TV
$75 - Total

So the difference isn't too much in my case, but obviously in depends on your individual circumstances. I agree depends on what you want (note I didn't say need :) ). In my case, I'm only getting Total Choice w/o locals and that's only costing my $34/month. While I do watch my fair share of television, much of the programming I watch is network television -- that I am getting free via OTA (and the digital channels look as good or better than anything D*, E*, or Charter can offer). That being said, it seems silly for me to pay $75-100/month.

I am still happy Charter is offering a HD DVR for $10/month though! I plan to leverage that fact against DirecTV (to get them to offer a few hundred dollars in service credits) once the price of those HD DirectTiVos come down to a reasonable level.

I still haven't gotten my call from Charter about the Moxi box. Should I be worried??

Totally off topic: Is anybody planning on checking out the show Chicago at the Fox during the next 2 weeks? I highly recommend it. I'm the only violinist in the orchestra, and we're all sitting up on stage, as we are the main "prop" for the show. I'm right up front with the conductor, and most of the time I'm within inches of these beautiful sexy goddesses wearing hardly anything more than what looks like underwear and fishnets. These lovely ladies are bending and stretching all over the place, and I've found it quite difficult to look at my music. Is this the definition of cruel punishment or what?

Bob,
Can I put in my vote for Battlestar Galactica widescreen dvds, since I haven't bought the series yet? Are you going to record the new miniseries on SciFi in January?

If anyone has all three of the charter services TV / Internet / Phone. They have a new tripple play package. I am still waiting for my bill but I believe it will save around $30.00+ a month! Worth checking into

Scott

Originally posted by marlowsa
If anyone has all three of the charter services TV / Internet / Phone. They have a new tripple play package. I am still waiting for my bill but I believe it will save around $30.00+ a month! Worth checking into

Scott

Can you provide more details? I have all the services you mentioned....

I am still waiting for the Moxi call. They say I am on the list and that I was one of the early names in mid July. I live near the airport and know of no one around me that has gotten it yet.

Ron

Originally posted by comp1040
I am still waiting for the Moxi call. They say I am on the list and that I was one of the early names in mid July. I live near the airport and know of no one around me that has gotten it yet.

Ron

I just called Charter yesterday about getting Moxi and they scheduled me for an install this Friday...and I was never on a waiting list. Maybe it helps that I'm a new Charter TV customer (I have had Pipeline since the beginning of the year though).

I just wanted to post a quick note thanking everyone here for the helpful information provided in this thread. I've been lurking/learning here for a while and I now feel educated enough to make the plunge into HD. Thanks!

Maybe it's just the luck of the draw on my end, but it seems like KSDK-DT has completely forgotten where "the switch" is even located.

Is the problem there incompetence or apathy?

Too close to call, I suspect.

Charter called me last Friday to set up an appointment for the Moxi. Of course, I've already had it for about six weeks:rolleyes:

Seriously, I put my name on the list twice - once in early July and once in late August - so I'm assuming that's why I got called twice. It doesn't make sense that some of you haven't been called yet.

Everyone should read Gail Pennington's column in Todays Post-Dispatch, she talks about Charter's DVR service. Decent article, one glaring mistake as far as recording capabilities of the Moxi & I did email her about it. The article does state that Charter expects to be finished with the waiting list by next week and VOD by mid-December

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
Maybe it's just the luck of the draw on my end, but it seems like KSDK-DT has completely forgotten where "the switch" is even located.

Is the problem there incompetence or apathy?

Too close to call, I suspect.

Strange, 'cause I was thinking things were getting better.

We watch Joey and Law & Order: CI, and those have been switched properly lately (except last week's Joey that was switched back and forth, but it looked like they were trying to resolve a national feed issue).

Originally posted by wilkemp
Everyone should read Gail Pennington's column in Todays Post-Dispatch, she talks about Charter's DVR service. Decent article, one glaring mistake as far as recording capabilities of the Moxi & I did email her about it. The article does state that Charter expects to be finished with the waiting list by next week and VOD by mid-December

Here's the article for those interested: Article (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/columnists.nsf/gailpennington/story/3CC4A564FF5E75E186256F48003808D8?OpenDocument&Headline=Delirious+Viewer+Rejoices%3A+Charter+rolls+out+digi tal+recorde)

Toeside,

Leno wasn't in HD the past two nights and Law and Order also wasn't in HD last night (at least at the beginning). Because of that, I opted for CSI: NY (voting with my feet)

There have been a couple of other times recently where I was pretty certain the program was supposed to be in HD and there were black bars showing on KSDK.

Again, it might have been just bad timing on my part, but there's clearly a less than serious effort being made at KSDK to do this switch-flipping properly.

Based on my experience, it's certainly not getting any better than it's been over the past year or two.

I spoke to KSDK yesterday and they said their HD reciever was down and didn't know how long before it was fixed.

Tim

Originally posted by jedi35
Totally off topic: Is anybody planning on checking out the show Chicago at the Fox during the next 2 weeks? I highly recommend it. I'm the only violinist in the orchestra, and we're all sitting up on stage, as we are the main "prop" for the show. I'm right up front with the conductor, and most of the time I'm within inches of these beautiful sexy goddesses wearing hardly anything more than what looks like underwear and fishnets. These lovely ladies are bending and stretching all over the place, and I've found it quite difficult to look at my music. Is this the definition of cruel punishment or what?

Bob,
Can I put in my vote for Battlestar Galactica widescreen dvds, since I haven't bought the series yet? Are you going to record the new miniseries on SciFi in January?

Lucky duck.

BTW: Battlestar Gallatica will also be shown on the re-branded BravoHD called UniversalHD. There's a thread over on the HD Programming forum about this.

So the KSDK problem is due to hardware. I noticed that they apparently tried several times to do the switch, but were unable to do so. I guess that is what they were trying since there was a momentary interruption with a definite click.

There's a great article over at cnet on TiVo hacks:

http://news.com.com/TiVo+hacks+flourish/2100-1041_3-5447461.html?part=dht&tag=ntop&tag=nl.e703

I wonder how long before something similar surfaces with Moxi?

(Genuflecting in the general direction of the MPAA and speaking in best Seinfeld voice): Not that there would be anything RIGHT with that... ;)

New member checking in here. After lurking on this thread for a while, I jumped on board to test HD with a buddy's hand-me-down STB.

Geez! It's hard to believe this is FREE TV! With tv image/sound like this, I feel like I should be expecting a bill from the OTA stations. My kids love the extended availability of PBS cartoons.

Anyway - thanks for the wealth of backup info on this thread. I can get everybody in except for 46-1 with little to no antenna tweaking...

IssayM,

Welcome to the discussion.

I agree wholeheartedly with on how impressive OTA HD can be. It still puzzles me that local broadcasters and networks haven't done more to leverage the window of opportunity presented by OTA HD.

I thought this might be of interest here.

The link at the bottom of this note is for a web site run by Steve Martin, an ISF calibrator in the Dallas area. Steve is routinely monitoring the bit rates of his local digital afflilliates, as well as the HD channels on DirecTV. He does this via his HD TiVo and has the detailed mathematical formula in a linked blog entry.

This is excellent information and it would be great to have the ability to keep an eye on what's happening with our own locals in terms of incoming bit rates.

Anyone here with an HD-TiVo looking for a part-time hobby?

http://www.widemovies.com/dfwbitrate.html

So, let me see if I've got this straight......several of us are still waiting for our first call to get Moxi, some are getting multiple calls even after they've gotten it, and others are just calling up out of the blue, and getting setup right away? Sound fair???

I noticed the earlier post about someone being out in the area of the airport, and not being called. Maybe that's it, I'm in that area too, and don't know of anyone near me having Moxi. Perhaps they're just not doing this area yet, but there's still time to be finished by next week, right??

Looks like Channel 30 will be joining in the hysteria and will NOT be showing "Saving Private Ryan" tonight.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/tvradio/story/8A2CA8BB80ED25F786256F490019A2CE?OpenDocument&Headline=Channel+30+pre-empts+%22Saving+Private+Ryan%22

It's sad to observe the volume of truly childish nonsense unleashed by one little nipple.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
It's sad to observe the volume of truly childish nonsense unleashed by one little nipple.


AMEN!

My parents are about to buy my 53" Hitachi HDTV. It will replace their 32" Mitsubishi TV. They watch a lot of analog (CSPAN, MSNBC, Fox news) along with the standard locals. They will also be getting a MOXI box soon after.

Do you find the analog channels watchable through the MOXI? I know they will be upgrading the software eventually to improve it.

BTW, my Dish DVR921 is on the way...

Dave

I assume that the Moxi works off the digital cable feed and not the analog feed. Is this correct? I would think it would be like the DirecTV Tivo. Down in mpeg2 or mpeg4 and stored directly to harddrive. So when best quality is used the picture is as good as digital cable.

-Jym-

Originally posted by Jym
...the picture is as good as digital cable. But just how good is that really? Just because a channel is digital doesn't necessarily mean it's better (picture quality wise) than analog.

I'm by no means an expert, but my understanding of cable is that channels 1-99 are analog, everything above that is digital. Even if you have a "digital cable box" channels 1-99 are analog. This is in contrast to satellite which is 100% digital. So the analog channels definitely do not look as good as digital cable on the Moxi.

My experience with Moxi has been:

HD Channels (770 and up) - Look great. The same as before to my eyes.
Digital Channels (100 - 769) - Look good. The same as with the old box.
Analog Channels (1-99) - Not good. Definitely not as good as before for reasons that have been well documented (analog to digital conversion).

I don't watch a lot of analog cable, so this doesn't really bother me. I have to admit, when I'm watching an analog show (Lost, NYPD Blue, anything else on ABC) the picture quality isn't that big a deal. However, football on ABC really looks bad. If your parents find that the analog quality is unacceptable (which I bet they will, since they are also going to a larger TV), they may want to split the cable before it goes into the Moxi and run one connection straight to the TV. You will lose the Moxi functions, but the picture will be better.

Originally posted by Jym
I assume that the Moxi works off the digital cable feed and not the analog feed. Is this correct? I would think it would be like the DirecTV Tivo. Down in mpeg2 or mpeg4 and stored directly to harddrive. So when best quality is used the picture is as good as digital cable.

-Jym-

Jym,

The moxi takes the analog channels and converts them to digital so that they can be recorded and buffered. In the conversion process, the pq gets worse.

Tim

Learn something new. I guess I should never have assumed. So the Moxi is no improvement over a regular Tivo for channels 1-99 except the changing of the channels.

-Jym-

I have a few things that I DVR off analog stations. The PQ isn't great, but I wouldn't say it's unwatchable by any means. Then again I'm watching two cartoons and poker, so PQ isn't a great concern :).

The Matrix Trilogy is airing later today via Voom on MAX-HD, featuring the premiere of Matrix:Revolutions. Does anyone know whether or not MAX movies eventually wind up on HBO too? If so, then I can get firewire copies on dvhs through my Charter stb.

Greetings.
I've got a question about my 52" Zenith LCD.
I've had it for about a year. Really love it. However, about a month ago a small dot of light appeared on the screen. It's as if you hung a black curtain in front of a window and stuck a pin through the material and there is just this one pin point of white light. It is not noticable if it is a white screen like a snowy hill or white clouds. But if its a night scene or the like you can see it. If I get into the show I'll forget its there, but when I do notice it its annoying.

Anyone else ever experience anything like this with a LCD TV. Any suggestions or solutions?

Thanks

Sounds like a dead pixel to me. You may get more of them over time. How's your warranty? You might want to try and get service.

Hey,

I got my Moxi install this morning. However, after numerous reboots by the tech, it would still not pick up the subscriber info. So I can record, but no programming info. Of couse, the box # was wrong in their computer for the first 15 minutes.

Any tips on what I need to tell them to get this thing working? It has an ip address. Just no info coming through.

oj

Is anyone else watching the Georgia/Auburn game on CBS-HD? I am watching it via my Moxi/Charter and I am seeing lots of hiccups. Almost every 1-3 minutes or so.

Anyone else having these issues?


Bruce

Got it working finally. Lovin life!

I hope this post doesn't offend anyone.

I'm selling a new, in-box Harmony 688 remote on ebay, item 5732041196.

Background: My 688 died last week, and I called tech support. They are awesome and replaced my remote. While waiting on the replacement, a friend of mine bought a 680 and I like it better, so I'm selling the replacement 688.

The remote I'm selling is new in box, full retail package that came directly from Harmony/Logitech.

Any interest? I won't post a link to the auction, but enter the item number in the search and you'll find it.

Craig

Hello group,

It 's sure has been a while... I've been traveling and happy to be working in the industry I love since being laid off from Charter. Glad to be away from Charter but close enough to know what's really going on. I have talked to several friends and business acquaintances at Charter in St. Louis and it is obvious to their employees that they are in a steep nosedive. We can only hope that they are purchased and saved by another MSO.

I have been working with several MSO's across the country launching various services including telephony, DVR and HD of course.

I have been very impressed with the MSO's out west, Time Warner in particular. From their engineering departments all the way down to the CSR's and techs, they seem to really have it together. I can say that HD is still a mystery to most working within the industry, but it keeps people like me employed.

I am happy to see many of you getting your DVR's. I just wish I was tuned into the group during the initial launch as I have been involved with the unit for several years.

A friend of mine called me when I was in California during his DVR install. The were about to reschedule his install due to a "bad box' before I got involved. It was obvious that the techs & CSR's were not trained very well.

His problem was that the tech plugged in the box before the CSR had the account set up... this is a fatal mistake in the installation process.

If you are still waiting for your DVR install, watch the tech very closely. He should be waiting for the CSR to tell him/her when to apply power to the box. All connections can be made, but the power cannot be applied until the CSR gives the go ahead by radio or telephone.

There are several steps to the install. You can follow the steps below to verify that your install will be successful... keep in mind that a majority of the techs and CSR's at Charter may not know this information.

Your install should go something like this...

1. Tech installs MOXI, making all connections except power. If you are not home, make sure the wife calls so that you can remind the tech to use Y/Pb/Pr cables and to connect your D5.1 using a digital coax cable or an optical cable provided by you (Charter does not stock D5.1 cables).

2. In the meantime, the tech tech should have already called the CSR who should be entering the DOCSIS number into the "CSR Tool" database and the XC number into "ICOMS" billing database.

3. The CSR "balances" the account if necessary... if you remember when the Motorola 5100 was launched, boxes didn't work and channels were missing... this was sometimes due the the CSR's not "balancing" the account. (Long story, but we don't need to understand this process).

4. The CSR should now call the tech and tell him/her to plug in the the MOXI... never sooner. After the tech confirms, the CSR then sends an initialization hit. (This is where most problems occur with the install... many techs will plug in the MOXI before this and your box may never display the guide properly and/or you may be missing channels)

5. At this time, the box will download the software, channel lineup, etc at 384k... much faster than the 5100. This should take about 10 minutes.

6. The tech should now go the the diagnostics menu (hold power and menu in the front panel for two seconds) to verify that the box has obtained a 24.XXX.XXX.XXX CPE IP address and has loaded your customer info (name, address, phone, etc.)

7.The tech should then go to the installer tool (MOXI menu/highlight settings/back/next/back/next), adjust the settings and select "submit changes".

8. Next, the tech should verify picture on several channels and in the perfect world, show you how to use the unit... at a minimum, the tech should play "intro to MOXI" while he/she is cleaning up and finishing your paperwork.

That's it, you should be enjoying your DVR and the tech should be long gone.

If you have any questions, just PM me and I suppose I will be notified by email.

I will be off to New York on Monday to launch IP Telephony in the city and surrounding areas with Cablevision. I must say...I love my job.

I will be checking back occasionally.

I watched the Auburn/ Georgia game on CBS OTA and didn't see any problems.

Originally posted by Toeside
I hope this post doesn't offend anyone.



Whew! For a second I thought you were gonna put up an avatar of yourself flashing your breast.... :eek:

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
Whew! For a second I thought you were gonna put up an avatar of yourself flashing your breast.... :eek:


I could. ;)


But I won't. :D

4113,

Welcome back!! Thanks for the info. It'll certainly help me when Charter gets around to calling me for my Moxi install. It's good to know how to get it done right.

I know that a lot of people don't have Voom, but I watched (and taped)the Matrix Trilogy on MAX-HD last night, and I must say that it was glorious. The picture and sound quality were outstanding. My only complaint is that they teased me with OAR for the first few seconds of each film, and then switched to 16x9. Still, I enjoyed the eye candy very much!! My Voom box doesn't have a firewire connection for true hd recording, and who knows when they will release the dvr unit. However, I can record the analog inputs digitally, and the highest quality setting gives me a picture that's darn near hd quality. Played back through my Sammy T165, which can upconvert to 1080i, it looks extremely close to an hd signal.

Did CBS screw us on the HD feed of the afternoon football game?

I live in Creve Coeur with outside UHF antenna. All DT channels come in fine in the 90 range except 11 & 46, which hover around 49% and never lock on my Dish 811 receiver.

It's been this way for a week or so. Is it me? Or, are others experiencing similar issues?

For a movie listed in today's HDTV Magazine as being in HD, KMOV's showing of "Day of destruction" is looking awfully SD-like. Looks like KSDK isn't the only channel having problems flipping the switch.

Channel 11 always came in strong but two or three weeks ago 11's signal strength dropped considerably.

46 I had been unable to get and it suddenly started to come in and then a week or so ago they were doing something and the signal was coming in rolling and in black and white but is now strong again.

Ron

Thanks for the Moxi instructions. Wish I had them Saturday.

I love this thng! Time shifting, skipping, pausing. My life is now complete.

Originally posted by orljustin
Thanks for the Moxi instructions. Wish I had them Saturday.

I love this thng! Time shifting, skipping, pausing. My life is now complete.

I agree I thought that I forget to record the last ten minutes of the Day OF Destruction. Then I realized the Moxi had done it for me. So use to setting the time frames on the VCR.

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
For a movie listed in today's HDTV Magazine as being in HD, KMOV's showing of "Day of destruction" is looking awfully SD-like. Looks like KSDK isn't the only channel having problems flipping the switch.

I watched it on dtv 80 because kmov can't seem to ever flip the switch. What is up with the St. Louis locals? No 5.1 sound on DTV 80 however.

Scott

Hey Scott,

How'd you manage to get channel 80 from *D? I'm told I don't qualify. :(

Originally posted by comp1040
Channel 11 always came in strong but two or three weeks ago 11's signal strength dropped considerably.

46 I had been unable to get and it suddenly started to come in and then a week or so ago they were doing something and the signal was coming in rolling and in black and white but is now strong again.

Ron

Ron,

Where do you live? 11 and 46 in DT are nowhere to be found on my TV and I'm trying to isolate the issue. Not sure if it's my antenna, multipath or my Dish 811 (can you spell B-U-G-G-Y?) receiver.

My money's on the receiver.

moman19,

I live in Creve Coeur near Olive & Graeser and get all OTA stations fine on my 811. I'm using a ChannelMaster 4221 Outdoor antenna. Ever since I turned off the picture in guide, along with software version 2.81, I haven't had any issues. I used to have to reboot it everyday but now it's down to once a week at most.

Originally posted by moman19
Ron,

Where do you live? 11 and 46 in DT are nowhere to be found on my TV and I'm trying to isolate the issue. Not sure if it's my antenna, multipath or my Dish 811 (can you spell B-U-G-G-Y?) receiver.

My money's on the receiver.

Phoenician,

Thanks for the response. We live close, so the difference should be minimal. I too, have an outside antenna and all channels come in in the 90s EXCEPT 11 and 46 on my 811, which seem stuck on 49 and then go blank. I can't help but wonder if my receiver is flakey. I read something on another board about an infamous Dish 811 "49 issue". Do you know anything about this? Dish offers no help.

Originally posted by moman19
Phoenician,

Thanks for the response. We live close, so the difference should be minimal. I too, have an outside antenna and all channels come in in the 90s EXCEPT 11 and 46 on my 811, which seem stuck on 49 and then go blank. I can't help but wonder if my receiver is flakey. I read something on another board about an infamous Dish 811 "49 issue". Do you know anything about this? Dish offers no help.

Make sure you check your software version and your receiver is running version 2.81. Several "49 bugs" were pretty much resolved in 2.80 and 2.81. The Dish 811 receiver does not deal well with multipath. In my case, I had the same "49 signal" issue with channel 2. I resolved it by raising my antenna about 7 inches and now I get it at 90%. It also helps that I'm using a UHF only antenna. As Doug and others have stated in this forum, a UHF only antenna makes a big difference.

Thanks. I'll try that.

I have read that SBC will be constructing their fiber-optic network--"project lightspeed", which will offer television channels to customers. Hope they include St. Louis, as that would mean non-satellite competition to Charter, and maybe a viable alternative (with more hd).

Bob, you've got a PM from me.

I have Charter coming tomorrow with my DVRs. I have some questions on connecting them. It was very difficult to get a strong enough single when I orignally had HDTV installed in my house. Charter could only get one HDTV feed to work. I played with it and using an AMP was able to get three to work. Now I understand the Moxi has a cable modem built in and will be two way over the cable. I am thinking the Moxi will have problems going through an AMP.

I do have live Ethernet ports where the DVRs are going to be installed. Is it possible to have the Moxi use Ethernet instead of the cable modem for updates?

Thanks for any help.

-Jym-

Jym,
That sounds like a question for 4113 or Moxiguy. You might want to PM one of them if they don't respond to your post.

When I went home today I was scrolling thru the Moxi Guide, went to HD channels and NFL network (405) was listed as an HD channel, however the game they were showing, Ravens and Jets was not HD.

Let the speculation begin!

NFL Network has been touting HD content since its beginnings - not sure if they actually have any HD content at this time, but maybe they're ready to roll some out.

According to the L.A. Times, TiVo is planning to insert advertising messages when a user "skips over commercials" in pre-recorded programming.

___________________________

TiVo Will No Longer Skip Past Advertisers

The tool that lets viewers control the TV will soon sport 'billboards' and track viewing habits.

By Gina Piccalo, Times Staff Writer

When it debuted in 1999, TiVo revolutionized the TV experience by wresting control of screen time from advertisers, allowing viewers to record shows and skip commercials. TiVo's slogan said it all: "TV your way."

Behind the scenes, though, TiVo was courting advertisers, selling inroads to a universe most customers saw as commercial-free. The result is a groundbreaking new business strategy, developed with more than 30 of the nation's largest advertisers, that in key ways circumvents the very technology that made TiVo famous.

By March, TiVo viewers will see "billboards," or small logos, popping up over TV commercials as they fast-forward through them, offering contest entries, giveaways or links to other ads. If a viewer "opts in" to the ad, their contact information will be downloaded to that advertiser — exclusively and by permission only — so even more direct marketing can take place.

By late 2005, TiVo expects to roll out "couch commerce," a system that enables viewers to purchase products and participate in surveys using their remote controls. More


___________________________


For the full story:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-et-tivo17nov17,1,7409270.story

DirecTivos lack many features of the standalone Tivos, such as Tivo to Go, downloading via ethernet instead of phone line, etc.

Hopefully these "billboards" will be yet another "feature" that's "lacking" in DirecTivos.

I have no problem with the billboards, as long as it doesn't slow down my ability to fast forward.

According to the information in the Family Video Act thread in the dvd software area, if passed, it could be the end to fast forwarding at all. That would be a shame. Billboards, IMO, are workable.

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
DirecTivos lack many features of the standalone Tivos, such as Tivo to Go, downloading via ethernet instead of phone line, etc.

Hopefully these "billboards" will be yet another "feature" that's "lacking" in DirecTivos.

You're a "Glass is half full" kind of guy, aren't you :)

My main problem with this is, most of the stuff I watch is Live. Then I rewatch later Tivo'd. I shouldn't have to watch the commercials 2x or look at banners. I'm afraid this tactic and the D* building of their own DVRs may just be what kills Tivo.

I recently moved to the new millenium by getting my Tivo in Sept. I love it, I love the software, I love the fact, that if I am techie enough, I can add storage to it. I think the Tivo is great, but if they start "Big Brothering" me to watch what I don't want to, I'll be POed. Although, I don't doubt there will be ways to avoid this if it actually happens.(wink-wink-nudge-nudge)

Ok, off my soap box.

Dug

Wow! I really like having HDTV PVRs. I have had Tivo since the very beginning but having Tivo capbility in HDTV is incredible. Plus two tunners makes a big difference.

One thing I can't figure out how to do with the Moxi is move foward and backward by frame. The Tivo could do this and it was great for football and instant replays. I would know before the announcer, sometimes, that a call was the wrong call.

Does anyone know how to do this with the Moxi? The manual was no help. Thanks!

-Jym-

Mr. Bester,

I think your final point is the correct one:

"The genie is out of the bottle and he ain't going back in..."

Whether it's a single business, an industry or an entire country, efforts to resist -- or even dictate the boundaries of -- new technologies almost always end in failure and/or the accelerated demise of the would-be controllers.

Originally posted by Jym
Wow! I really like having HDTV PVRs. I have had Tivo since the very beginning but having Tivo capbility in HDTV is incredible. Plus two tunners makes a big difference.

One thing I can't figure out how to do with the Moxi is move foward and backward by frame. The Tivo could do this and it was great for football and instant replays. I would know before the announcer, sometimes, that a call was the wrong call.

Does anyone know how to do this with the Moxi? The manual was no help. Thanks!

-Jym-

Moxi currently doesn't have frame advance/rewind. Not sure if its planned for a future release.

The other one that seems to be missing compared to Tivo is the skip in chunks. Tivo had buttons to go to the end, beginning and skip ahead and back 15 minutes at a time. Moxi has skip to end with the skip button but can not find a way to skip 15 minute either direction. It also does not seem to have a button to go to the beginning.

One way to do slow motion is hold the pause button. It is not perfect but it emulates slow motion.

I hit the next and back buttons a couple of times in a row and shocked to end up with a strawberry on the screen, then an egg, lemon, etc. Another button made the egg splat. Very weird.

-Jym-

Jym,

I think the advance button actually skips ahead 15 minutes (or to the end of less than 15 minutes remain). It used to skip ahead 30 seconds, but Charter changed the button behavior a few weeks ago. Lots of discussion about these issues as well as future enhancements and the "food" easter egg you found in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4686510#post4686510).

Jym,
Skip back and forward by chunks will be in the next major software update (we expect it around the turn of the year). As for slo mo and frame advance, it's not currently on our roadmap. But we've had a few requests, so we're considering it for a future release.

I have a new Samsung 32" LCD TV (LT-P326W) which has two different inputs into it:

1) Dish Network 501 (?) DVR box via S-video for non-HD satellite feed
On this setup the picture size(s) are fine, and the wide and panorama settings fill the whole screen, as you would expect.

2) a Zenith SilverSensor antenna going to a LG HG tuner/DVD player combo (model is LST-3510A) attached to the TV via DVI.

Picture quality on #2 isn't bad, except that the picture size does not behave as I would expect.

On all the local Digital channels except channel 4, the "wide" setting is about as wide as 4:3, with wide black bars on the right and left sides. The 4:3 setting is even narrower, definitely squished looking. On local channel 4, the "wide" setting fills the whole screen as you would expect, except for about an inch on each side.

I have tried setting the picture size on both the TV and on the LG set-top box, and neither settings seem to fix this. The LG lets me change the resolution of the feed going to the TV to 720p or 1080i and neither of those seems to work. Component input and DVI input both do the same thing. Setting it to 480p gets me a different set of option (like letterbox, etc.) and those do seem to work right.

Is there any other thing I am failing to check or change? Or is this the way it's supposed to work?

Or is this just an incompatibility between the LG box and the Samsung TV? Should I just take back the LG set-top box and just get Voom or a Dish Network HD box? (I've been holding off waiting on Voom for the DVR... and on Dish for the 942).

suebd,

Mine does the same thing. What you want to notice is how the HD broadcasts are. Are they ok? If so, dont worry about it. I'm guessing that it is only the SD programming on the HD channels that give you trouble.

Tim

Sue,

Channel 4 (KMOV-DT) applies a "zoom and chop" treatment to most of their 4x3 standard-definition content. Basically they are enlarging the picture to the point where the sides nearly reach the edges of the 16x9 picture area. As a result of the zooming, the top and bottom of the original 4x3 image are chopped off. This probably will be most obvious during advertisements as the graphics are often cut in half at the top and bottom.

No one knows why KMOV uses this totally pointless "zoom and chop" solution to SD presentation. The "zoom and chop" doesn't actually solve any problem (black bars are smaller but still visible) plus it has the additional drawback of "throwing away" a significant part of the image.

Ok my last question about the Moxi:). Will it work through an AMP? A friends saids his does. The Charter Tech that came out said no. On one of our Moxis I can not get NBC or Fox. Had this same problem with the Mot5100 until I added an AMP. The tech removed the AMP. I would like to add it. It is a little ridiculous that the Charter Tech leaves without testing all the channels.

-Jym-

Anyone see Voom's new promotion? $1 for up to 3 installs. $5 per box rental fee. Only have to sign a 6 month contract as well. The promotion runs til March of '05. Voom needs to hurry up with their dvr boxes.

"3 Rooms for $1.00" Promotional Offer

* Valid November 17, 2004 through March 1, 2005
* For new customers only
* Not valid in combination with any other offer
* $1.00 for installation and activation for up to 3 VOOM Receivers
* 6-Month commitment to VOOM Basic Programming at regular rates
* $5.00 monthly equipment fee per VOOM Receiver
* $250 early termination fee
* $49 installation fee for additional VOOM Receivers 4 through 6
* Additional charges apply for all subsequent visits after initial installation

My Moxi has been running just fine with an amp.

The amp has been part of the system for a few years and the tech did not ask or look to see if an amp was used.

The Charter Pipeline needs to run on a non amplified line but the Moxi is working just fine with the amp.

Ron

Originally posted by hall316
Anyone see Voom's new promotion? $1 for up to 3 installs. $5 per box rental fee. Only have to sign a 6 month contract as well. The promotion runs til March of '05. Voom needs to hurry up with their dvr boxes.

"3 Rooms for $1.00" Promotional Offer

* Valid November 17, 2004 through March 1, 2005
* For new customers only
* Not valid in combination with any other offer
* $1.00 for installation and activation for up to 3 VOOM Receivers
* 6-Month commitment to VOOM Basic Programming at regular rates
* $5.00 monthly equipment fee per VOOM Receiver
* $250 early termination fee
* $49 installation fee for additional VOOM Receivers 4 through 6
* Additional charges apply for all subsequent visits after initial installation

As soon as Voom offers DVR I may have to seriously consider them. And from what their website says, DVR is coming in 2005.

Thanks, Doug and Tim.

The HD stuff on the local channels is fine - you're right in that it's only the SD stuff that won't stretch.

I guess I won't worry about it, esp because with the LCD screen burnout from the bars isn't a huge issue. Weirdly enough, if I look at the local channels on the satellite feed, it stretches appropriately.

Tim, do you have the same tuner I do, or does your some-other-tuner do the same thing?

Thanks!

suebd,
I had that same LG box for awhile, but took it back because I needed the money back for something. It is praised as having just about the best OTA tuner out there right now. I had mine connected through a component to vga adapter, and didn't notice anything that shouldn't have been happening with a digital tuner here in St. Louis. The reason you got different results with your Dish satellite receiver is because those images are SD(480i), and your tv is free to do all the filling and stretching it wants to do, or however much you want. However, our local digital stations are formatting the picture modes before they reach our tuners, and they are locked in. I don't think we can change them. They are deciding for us what the channels should look like on our sets, and that's not right. As Doug mentioned, we are subject to losing quite a bit of picture area because of this. I think your unit is working fine.

Say, did you know that the LG box will upconvert your dvd images to 720p or 1080i as well? You must go through dvi for this. However, you can get component and rgb to do it if you make a backup copy of the dvd, as it doesn't have the CSS copy protection signal.

I've recently started a Frequently Asked Questions message at the top of this discussion topic.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2995791#post2995791

So far I've only included questions and answers on three topics: SD-to-HD upconverts; screen formatting for local digital stations; and Dolby Digital 5.1 broadcasts.

If anyone has comments or finds errors in these FAQ entries, let me know and I'll revise as needed. Likewise, feel free to suggest any additional topics that you think worth covering.

One thing I wasn't clear on is whether TNT-HD on DISH is available in DD5.1. I checked around AVS and also read through the TNT-HD press release, but could find no mention of 5.1 capability; as a result, I've assumed it's only sent in stereo.

Just a short note that HDNet will be broadcasting a couple of NCAA Division I basketball games this coming Saturday, November 27.

12 noon - Illinois v. Gonzaga

2:30p - Cincinnatti v. Purdue *

*approximate start time; depends on the end of the first game

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
I've recently started a Frequently Asked Questions message at the top of this discussion topic.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2995791#post2995791



Doug,

Thanks for the FAQ. Extremely helpful. I too, can make no sense out of KMOV's decision to blow up & chop up their SD image. Totally stupid. My e-mails to them go unanswered. Don't they realize what they're doing?

Originally posted by jedi35
suebd,
However, our local digital stations are formatting the picture modes before they reach our tuners, and they are locked in. I don't think we can change them. They are deciding for us what the channels should look like on our sets, and that's not right. As Doug mentioned, we are subject to losing quite a bit of picture area because of this. I think your unit is working fine.

Makes sense, thanks. Guess I'll keep the LG box :) I need a DVD player anyhow. It is confusing, though, because the TV and tuner *act* like you have a choice over how the picture is formatted, so to have that do nothing is a little weird. Or to have it say "wide" (in my case) when it's clearly not...

Say, did you know that the LG box will upconvert your dvd images to 720p or 1080i as well? You must go through dvi for this. However, you can get component and rgb to do it if you make a backup copy of the dvd, as it doesn't have the CSS copy protection signal.

I had it hooked up via component originally, and tried a DVD then, but then I forked out the bucks for a DVI cable and hooked it up that way and haven't tried a DVD since. I'll have to do that!

And Doug, thanks for the FAQ! The bit about the black bars coming in the broadcast was an Aha moment ;)

Sorry, in retrospect, if that has been discussed here a zillion times already :rolleyes:

Sue

Sue,

Glad the FAQ was helpful for you.

Don't worry about asking questions here, there are plenty of folks here that are ready to help. For months now, I've actually been meaning to work up a FAQ for the most-common issues and your question yesterday (the very definition of "frequently asked") was what finally got me to do that.

So, I should probably be thanking you, because now we'll be able to refer some of these sorts of questions in future to the FAQ.

Also, don't know if you noticed but the two messages right before the FAQ also contain some potentially useful information about OTA broadcasts. If you haven't already seen these, they might be worth a read when you have some spare time.

Finally, on your aspect control, I would expect that you should be able to change the screen format for your display when you're not viewing HD programming. But I'm not familiar with your specific display, so I could well be wrong. Sometimes using DVI will limit your ability to make screen mode changes, but this would normally be possible for 480i component (or S-Video/composite) sources and perhaps for 480p component, too.

What is the appropriate forum to discuss the new Charter Moxi DVR? I have run into some issues with the box I wonder if others are experiencing.

Let me start out by saying having DVR capabilities with HDTV is the ultimate and overall I really like the Moxi box.

I have two Moxi DVRs and I am having the same issue with both. I pause/rewind/FF a lot. I mean a real lot. I have found that after a couple of days of pausing/rewind/FF the Moxi becomes very sluggish. At first it will take a long time to respond. After a while it will take a minute or two to stop it from FF or Rewinding. Which is really frustrating? I have found if I reboot the box it fixes the problem for a day or two.

Both boxes have the same problem. I wonder if it is a bigger problem for me because I basically only use them for football and I pause/Rewind/FF so much.

I believe there is some kind of memory leak situation with the software. Curious if this has already been reported and if other are experiencing the same condition.

I am having other issues but I want to rewire through my AMP before discussing as I want to be sure they are issues with the box and not signal strength.

I look at the Moxi DVR as being version 1.0. I love the Moxi but there is a lot of room for improvement. I purchased one of the very first Tivos. What was amazing about the Tivo is that it was a very polished product from the beginning. There were few bugs through the years and none show stoppers.

I have had Tivo for several years and I can’t believe what a difference two tuners makes with the Moxi. I did not realize how deprived I was :)

-Jym-

Originally posted by Jym
What is the appropriate forum to discuss the new Charter Moxi DVR?...There are a number of threads on Moxi on this forum. Most of the action is on a thread that started here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=412846) back in June, with current stuff running through here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4687612#post4687612). I'll pass your issue on to our development team.

The following news story is from SkyREPORT E-News:

______________________________

Congress Moves on Key Legislation

Congress moved on critical satellite TV legislation, passing items during the weekend that include an eventual phase out of a two-dish solution for satellite-delivered local TV channels used by EchoStar.

The legislation, the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004, was part of a large $388 billion spending bill passed by both the Senate and House. As part of the bill, satellite TV would have 18 months to phase out a two-dish solution for reception of a certain set of locals, an item that targets EchoStar and its use of two dishes for receiving a select set of local TV channels for a number of markets.

In a statement, EchoStar said it appreciates the bipartisan efforts to pass legislation that considered the needs of diverse interests. But the company said it was disappointed "that the bill inappropriately singles out EchoStar for unfair treatment with respect to channel positioning."

The company added, "The bill gives EchoStar only 18 months to eliminate its two-dish solution while at the same time forcing us to wait up to three years to provide distant digital signals. However, EchoStar will work with local broadcasters, Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to meet this tight deadline and to minimize the impact on consumers."

In addition to the two-dish issue, the legislation includes a provision allowing satellite TV to deliver "significantly viewed" stations to consumers who live outside the station's home market. There's also royalty rate language that allows the parties involved to negotiate their business arrangements rather than going through a CARP process. And the bill extends for five years the compulsory license that allows DBS platforms to provide superstations and distant network signals.

The bill also allows for the creation of a "digital white area," which will allow satellite TV companies to deliver distant broadcast digital and high def signals to consumers who cannot receive a local digital TV signal.
______________________________

For more SkyREPORT stories, go to: www.skyreport.com

Thanks MoxiGuy. I have posted over in HDTV recorders.

-Jym-

It get all of the St. Louis digital channels through an off-air antenna. However, channel 30-1 is fine for SD programming, but during HD programming the picture jumps and the sound preceeds the picture by about one second. The signal strength meter on my Samsung Directv receiver indicates the strength of the signal on 30-1 is not steady - it jumps form 10 to about 75, but normally is around 45. The strength on the other channels is only about 45, but it is constant and the picuture is fine on those channels. I am using a Radio Shack amp. at the TV to boost the signal. Does anybody know if my problem is just a weak signal, or is it a mulit-path problem, or something else? Any help is appreciated.

Must have been a software guide error, NFL network no longer shows in the HD listings. I am not crazy though, it was there, I scrolled thru channel guides back to Hd guides etc....and NFL network was in the HD guide. I get glitches in the "Matrix" like this occasionally.

hey guys... anyone know if charter will pick up espn2 hd when in debuts jan 6th???


also all my charter digital stations from 100-500 are out. this happen to anyone else??? movie channels above 500 and hd channels still work.

Over the weekend there was an article in the paper, about whats wrong in St. Louis. One of the things on the list was the Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate here. The author was critical of the fact they gave up on the news, pre-empted popular shows, would not show certain national movies/shows like Saving Private Ryan, and that they had dismal ratings.

I'm not surprised, as I never watch this channel since its not in HD on Charter. Of course, I can think of one thing that would increase their ratings within the community....

Originally posted by oby
Over the weekend there was an article in the paper, about whats wrong in St. Louis. One of the things on the list was the Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate here. The author was critical of the fact they gave up on the news, pre-empted popular shows, would not show certain national movies/shows like Saving Private Ryan, and that they had dismal ratings.

I'm not surprised, as I never watch this channel since its not in HD on Charter. Of course, I can think of one thing that would increase their ratings within the community....

Here's the column from Gail Pennington:

KDNL (CHANNEL 30)


KDNL has a history of disappointing St. Louis TV viewers. But the station is also a disappointment to ABC, the network that carries its programs.

In St. Louis, ABC shows, whether news or entertainment, draw a fraction of the ratings they do nationally. The chicken-or-egg question is whether blame falls on the station (the UHF signal can be difficult to pick up clearly in some homes without cable) or the network.

In fact, viewers tended to reject ABC even when it was on KTVI (Channel 2). The network arrived belatedly, in 1969, more than 20 years after NBC, and audience loyalties already lay elsewhere.

The August 1995 affiliate switch, when KTVI joined Fox, bumping ABC to KDNL, was a blow from which ABC has never recovered. The results are clear. "Good Morning America" is barely a blip on local screens; "World News Tonight With Peter Jennings" is No. 2 rated nationally among evening audiences but averages just 2 percent of the viewership in St. Louis, to 28 percent for NBC's Tom Brokaw.

But KDNL and owner Sinclair Broadcast Group have contributed to the problem with a series of viewer-unfriendly decisions, ranging from killing all local news in 2001 to dropping "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "Politically Incorrect" (and, before that, "Port Charles") to barring a "Nightline" reading of the names of war dead. Most recently, after ordering its stations to air a controversial pre-election film examining Sen. John Kerry's war record, Sinclair stirred more controversy by opting not to air "Saving Private Ryan" on Veterans Day, citing concerns about language.

ABC ranks KDNL as one of its weakest affiliates but has nowhere to move. It turns out, however, that St. Louisans will watch ABC under certain circumstances. Those circumstances include "Desperate Housewives," which - although not reaching its national average - is finishing third in its time slot on Sundays. On KDNL, that's as good as a victory.

- Gail Pennington

Originally posted by hothawk
It get all of the St. Louis digital channels through an off-air antenna. However, channel 30-1 is fine for SD programming, but during HD programming the picture jumps and the sound preceeds the picture by about one second. The signal strength meter on my Samsung Directv receiver indicates the strength of the signal on 30-1 is not steady - it jumps form 10 to about 75, but normally is around 45. The strength on the other channels is only about 45, but it is constant and the picuture is fine on those channels. I am using a Radio Shack amp. at the TV to boost the signal. Does anybody know if my problem is just a weak signal, or is it a mulit-path problem, or something else? Any help is appreciated.

I've been told this is an incompatibility between KDNL's broadcast equipment and the chipsets used in some of our HD receivers.

Have a look at Monday Night Football tonight. If it looks OK, and the audio is in sync, your receiver suffers this phenomena. Welcome to the club :rolleyes:

From today's SkyREPORT E-News:

______________________________

VOOM Plans Big Expansion

Cablevision subsidiary Rainbow Media Enterprises said Monday its VOOM satellite TV service will dramatically expand its services next March, growing from its current 39 high-def channels to more than 70 HDTV channels covering the continental United States.

The increase in VOOM's HD channels slate from 39 to more than 70 "will allow us to continue to provide more high-definition video services than any other cable or satellite provider," said Tom Dolan, CEO of Rainbow Media Enterprises. In addition to expanding the HD slate, Dolan said VOOM also plans to simultaneously add nearly 200 standard-definition channels.

To facilitate the expansion, the VOOM service will utilize 16 transponders on the SES Americom AMC-6 satellite, which VOOM refers to as "Rainbow 2." Programming transmitted by both the Rainbow 1 satellite already in orbit and Rainbow 2 will utilize a new encoding system from Harmonic, initially configured to run in MPEG-2 and software upgradeable to MPEG-4.

In addition to the AMC-6 announcement, Rainbow Media said it filed with the Federal Communications Commission a recently completed contract with satellite manufacturer Lockheed Martin for construction of five Ka-Band satellites for VOOM. The satellites, the first of which is set for completion and launch in about 34 months, will enable VOOM to increase its channel capacity to more than 5,000 high-definition channels when operating in spot beam mode, the company said.

Rainbow said the Ka-Band capacity will enable VOOM to have spot beams covering the entire United States including Alaska and Hawaii. And the satellites will be operated at the company's orbital locations at 62 degrees, 71 degrees, 77 degrees, 119 degrees and 129 degrees.

______________________________

For more SkyREPORT E-News: www.skyreport.com

It was fine for Monday Night Football. So, there is an imcompatibiliy with the chips, huh. I have had trouble watching Lost and Desperate Housewives, how many other programs will this effect, and why is MNF okay?

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
VOOM Plans Big Expansion

Cablevision subsidiary Rainbow Media Enterprises said Monday its VOOM satellite TV service will dramatically expand its services next March, growing from its current 39 high-def channels to more than 70 HDTV channels covering the continental United States.

The increase in VOOM's HD channels slate from 39 to more than 70 "will allow us to continue to provide more high-definition video services than any other cable or satellite provider," ....[/url]

Wow thats good news. That may be where I head to next. Voom is also expected to have DVR in 2005. Once those two things occur I will probably be giving them a call. Thanks Doug!

wow, 70 hd channels and over 200 sd. I didn't know there were that many of either kind out there. Funny how the voom promotion I posted in here ends in March just before all this would happen. If the dvr is out before March, I'm pretty sure I'm jumping ship.

Wow, I agree that this is great news about Voom. I'm sticking with them, and wil look forward to even more channels and the dvr unit. I will certainly try Charter's Moxi box until the Voom unti is ready. At that point, I probably will still maintain Charter's non-dvr hd box, as it has firewire recording options. I wonder if Voom will finally get the INHD channels in March, as well as HDNet/Movies. I also wonder if having so many channels will cause the signal to be compromised by the sharing of digital bits. I hope not. We'll see.

Bob,
PM sent.

I think it's probably no better than 50-50 that VOOM will survive as long as March 2005. Cablevision is getting hammered by Wall Street analysts and they're looking desperate to spin it off. Assuming they can find potential investors, it's a given that they're going to continue to hold a significant chunk of VOOM equity and that the medium-term funding requirements for the business are going to be a substantial burden.

Also, the VOOM HD expansion plan sounds remarkably similar to News Corp.'s plan for DirecTV, and I suspect that this has as much to do with putting a good face on VOOM for potential investors as it has to do with any real commitment to deliver expanded programming in the near term.

In fact, the question raised by jedi is particularly relevant, because VOOM from "day one" has built into its STBs the ability to switch from MPEG-2 to WM9 or MPEG-4 compression, which would allow a significant increase in the number of channels carried without any increase in satellite capacity or a major hit on picture quality.

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense for a fledgling company like VOOM to expand capacity through the investments already made and infrastructure that is underutilized, rather than spending tens of millions of dollars on additional satellite capacity? Granted, capacity gained through compression upgrades probably isn't a long-term solution, but what's the point of planning for the long term if your biggest problem is short-term survival?

For a bit cheerier reading, check out the latest Widescreen Review which has an extensive review of the VOOM service.

I'm moving to St. Louis from Indiana come Dec. 1st. Upon settling in, we plan on upgrading to a HDTV television.

We currently use Dish Network with a DVR for SD television. However, I was thinking of switching to Charter since there will be fewer out-of-pocket expenses. Another way of saying this is that I don't want to spend over $500 on a new dish network HDTV DVR receiver if its a piece of junk and will likely be replaced.

I havn't had "cable" television in probably 10 years, so perhaps you guys would be friendly enough to answer some questions for me. (Forgive me if they have been asked before... there are almost 200 pages to this thread and I've read many of them).

1. With Charter, I believe you can receive the local networks in HD. Does this mean you don't need a separate antenna and the DVR will record them?

2. If I subscribe to their digital cable package (and HD upgrade), are all of the channels digital? I've heard that some channels are digital, but others are analog.

3. How is the picture quality of digital cable compared to satellite with regards to SD? Are they similar?

Thanks a bunch for your opinions. Joe.

Joe,

Here's my view on your questions and possible options:

1. Charter does not carry all of the local digital channels. As of now, they only have FOX, CBS and NBC, which means that ABC, WB, PBS and UPN are MIA. The box that Charter uses for its HD service has no provision for an OTA antenna, so you're basically stuck until Charter gets its act together.

2. On Charter, and in fact most cable systems nationally, the channels that are provided on analog cable are only available on digital cable in analog format. The reason for this is that analog subscribers still make up the overriding majority of the customers for most cable systems, so it's necessary to continue to provide those channels via the cable network in analog. And because of bandwidth contraints, most cable companies aren't able to justify duplicating the basic analog channels in digital format as well.

Therefore, on Charter's digital service, all channels from 2-99 are analog, and everything from 100 and above is digital.

3. Neither cable nor satellite quality for SD channels is anything to write home about. I'd give satellite the slight edge, due to the fact that ALL channels are digital.

One additional thought for you. You should call DISH and DirecTV and see how much they'd like to keep/gain your business.

Tell DISH that you're moving and you're thinking of going with cable unless they can come up with a great deal on getting you upgraded to HD service and that they provide any new equipment and do the install on an attractive basis. You should do the same with DirecTV to see what kind of incentive they will offer you to jump ship.

Of course, you can try the same with Charter, but I think you'd get more productive results by talking to the wall. :(

Good luck with your move and welcome to the area...

Originally posted by jhegyi
I'm moving to St. Louis from Indiana come Dec. 1st. Upon settling in, we plan on upgrading to a HDTV television.

We currently use Dish Network with a DVR for SD television. However, I was thinking of switching to Charter since there will be fewer out-of-pocket expenses. Another way of saying this is that I don't want to spend over $500 on a new dish network HDTV DVR receiver if its a piece of junk and will likely be replaced.

I havn't had "cable" television in probably 10 years, so perhaps you guys would be friendly enough to answer some questions for me. (Forgive me if they have been asked before... there are almost 200 pages to this thread and I've read many of them).

1. With Charter, I believe you can receive the local networks in HD. Does this mean you don't need a separate antenna and the DVR will record them?

2. If I subscribe to their digital cable package (and HD upgrade), are all of the channels digital? I've heard that some channels are digital, but others are analog.

3. How is the picture quality of digital cable compared to satellite with regards to SD? Are they similar?

Thanks a bunch for your opinions. Joe.

#1 No, They currently don't offer UPN (No Big Deal), ABC,WB or PBS.
#2 No, Most of the channels are analog. The only channels that are digital are over 100, you may be able to find a channel list on their website.
#3 I don't know. I dumped Charter 2 years ago and vowed never to return, however, there are a lot of people that love them, It was just the service and quality I received.
Dug

\edit Doug, your fingers are quicker than mine :)

Dug,

Ah, but you said essentially the same thing with only 10% of the verbiage... :)

1. With Charter, I believe you can receive the local networks in HD. Does this mean you don't need a separate antenna and the DVR will record them?

I believe the latter part of this question was never answered. If you go with Charter and get the Moxi DVR, YES you can record all HD programming with this dvr. That includes the local channels of NBC, CBS, and ABC. There are not tons of advantages to Charter, but being able to record HD content without shelling out $1k is clearly one of them.

Doug and Dug,

Thanks for both versions. I liked the suggestion to call Dish and tell them about my consideration of another provider, and to see what they will do to keep me. This leads me to a followup question about Dish Network.

My understanding that Dish does not provide local channels in HD. You can get a receiver that decodes their SD and their national HD content and the receiver also has an input for an OTA antenna. We currently own a Dish DVR for SD.

If we only really record the local networks, and with Dish, the locals have to come OTA, there is not much use for the HD DVR? If I stick with the equipment I have now, I could keep my Dish the same and record locals in SD, then watch all HDTV content via OTA with a built-in tuner?

Not that I would necessarily go that way, but I'm trying to understand my options. I'll call Dish and see what deal they can give on their HD DVR.

Thanks again. Joe

Joe, one quirky off-the-subject fact for you: The word HOOSIER has a quite different meaning here in St. Louis. Ask around...

Welcome to St. Louis!

Couple of comments:

I'm a Charter subscriber and have had their HD and PVR pretty much ever since they were available. Charter's customer service deficiencies are well documented, but I have to admit I've never had any major problems that have required customer service intervention.

As for them not having all the locals in HD, I'm not sure what the deal is with UPN or WB (I don't watch those channels), but don't hold your breath on ABC. Sinclair Broadcasting owns the ABC affiliate here, and they have yet to reach an HD carriage agreement with an MSO in ANY market where they own stations. There's a thread discussing Sinclair's position over on the HD programming forum if your interested.

As for the quality of analog (channels 1-99 as Doug points out), there would be probably be a slight edge to satellite in terms of quality if you weren't planning on using a PVR. However, with the Moxi (and other standalone PVR's) the conversion from analog to digital causes a significant degradation in the quality of the analogs. In my case, the ability to get the HD PVR with no up front cost outweighed the analog quality issue, based on my viewing habits.

If I stick with the equipment I have now, I could keep my Dish the same and record locals in SD, then watch all HDTV content via OTA with a built-in tuner?

I am in a similar boat at the moment. I just got a new HDTV and have the old Dish SD service with a DVR (but it's rented). I have a Zenith Silver Sensor antenna with a little amp on it and can get all the locals OTA in HD. So I think for now when I have to record something I will do it on the satellite dish in SD. With my TV, I have to say that the picture quality is pretty darned good even that way. I thought about Charter too but there's lots of stuff on ABC that I watch, so I don't think I'm going to go that way.

I'm trying to decide if I should take Voom up on their cheap installation offer... but then I would lose the DVR altogether... Dish didn't want to rent me an HD tuner and said if I wanted an HD DVR I would have to buy it separately ($600) unless I wanted to get their whole HD package with a TV and everything, but the customer rep did suggest I check back after Dec 1 because they were going to have some new promotions, etc. Not sure if that's accurate or what the promotions are, but I'm going to check it out.

Decisions, decisions :)

Anybody else having issues with network captioning on KMOV?

During the news it's fine, but during 7-10p, only the last half of the captioned phrase appears on-screen...

Originally posted by jhegyi
If we only really record the local networks, and with Dish, the locals have to come OTA, there is not much use for the HD DVR? If I stick with the equipment I have now, I could keep my Dish the same and record locals in SD, then watch all HDTV content via OTA with a built-in tuner?


Joe, I'm not clear what you mean when your say "stick with the equipment I have now."

If I understood your previous messages correctly (no sure thing on my part), it sounds like you don't have any HD Dish equipment today. If that's the case and you're not planning on obtaining some sort of HD receiver (short of the HD DVR), then watching HD OTA would NOT be an option, because the SD DISH equipment doesn't include an OTA HD tuner.

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your situation, but thought it was worth trying to clarify this...

I don't really want to beat a dead horse, but I also can't resist taking one more swing at it...

Granted, Charter can claim a free pass on KDNL (ABC) because of the situation with Sinclair, but that doesn't begin to explain the absence of the WB and PBS. I'm especially puzzled by the lack of PBS, because I find it difficult to believe that KETC is looking to pick Charter's pocket in return for digital carriage of KETC.

I think it really comes down to Charter not being interested in doing any more HD than they have to do.

Edit: I should have noted the lack of Discovery, too.

First of all, thank you to everyone who responded. I'm already looking forward to the hospitality in St. Louis... except for that HOOSIER crack ;) (I'm not sure if that was related to Indiana University. If so, it doesn't bother me because I went to PURDUE!)

I don't own any HD equipment now. I was going to start with the TV after getting settled in. Depending on what provider I used, I would then buy a new receiver/DVR, and dish if a different dish antenna is needed for HD.

Doug, when I said "stick with the equipment I have now", I meant the SD Dish Network receiver/DVR that I currently own. I could use that to record all programming, so long as its standard def. If I purchase a TV with a built-in HD tuner (or is the proper term "receiver"?), I could then use an OTA antenna to receive local HD. However, I would not be able to record ANY HD quality content.

One last question (for now). The Moxi recorder is separate from the HD receiver? aka TWO set top boxes?

Originally posted by jhegyi
One last question (for now). The Moxi recorder is separate from the HD receiver? aka TWO set top boxes?

No, it is one stand alone box.

I don't know if anyone has posted this, but I noticed Fox Sports is playing "Classic" Blues games on Wed nights. It's not HD, but tonites game is from 1981, so I don't remember how it ends.
It's in OT, anyone want to bet, I think the Blues may win.
Dug

Ok, I have my Moxi boxes now working through an amp and things are a lot, lot better. I actually now have the exact setup used with the old Mot HDTV boxes.

What I find puzzling is why did the Charter tech spend three hours here changing everything around so that the Moxi boxes would not go through the amp. Then he proclaims things are working but actually some channels were not working. He also tells me not to touch it or they will have to come out and fix it and they will charge me.

He also told me over and over again that the Moxi would absolutely not work through an amp.

He leaves and I put everything back the way it was and all channels now seem to be working. I actually bought into that there is a cable modem in the Moxi and it will not work through an amp just like Pipeline. A friend of mine had told me his Moxi was working through an amp. I told the tech this and he told me my friend was crazy because it was not possible.

If the Charter Tech had left everything alone he could have been in and out in 30 minutes.

So if you are having signal strength issues you might try an amp.

-Jym-

This morning had a message on the charter box that they were doing away with all the interactive channels to make room for channel improvements. Does anyone know what this means? I hope more HD channels.

I'm not a fan of interactive TV -- as far as I'm concerned, it's an idea that's dumber than a bucket of hair... ;)

So my guess is that removal of the interactive channels IS the only Charter improvement that we'll be seeing.

Joe,

Thanks for clarifying what you were planning on.

That does make sense, though I really do think the time is right to bite the bullet and get a more expanded HD line-up from either cable or satellite. If Charter had all the locals, it would be a pretty much a no-brainer, even without Discovery and Bravo -- especially when the HD-DVR can be rented at a relatively reasonable rate. Too bad the upfront satellite cost is so high.

Then again, if you're not going for an HD pay package now, you'll have no excuse not to have your new set properly calibrated.

And yes -- that's a totally shameless, self-promoting holiday season commerical plug.

< Insert Christmas Muzak here >

Doug having something negative to say about Charter? That's shocking. :p

Seriously, i'm guessing the iTV deletion is probably because there was no profit associated with it, yet there were frequent support calls on it. I personally never used it - same with the Moxi games and ticker. Personal preference, just not my thing.


** Doug, I will be contacting you in early 2005 - once I have a new 34 inch HDTV for upstairs. Then you can calibrate that new TV and my current 51 Toshiba projection. I look forward to seeing my HDTV properly!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE

Originally posted by StLouG
This morning had a message on the charter box that they were doing away with all the interactive channels to make room for channel improvements. Does anyone know what this means? I hope more HD channels.

I didn't get that message. All I had was a PPV Boxing event reminder message. I've got the interactive channels up right now. Strange.

Yes, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I'm smoking a turkey right now.....Muhah hah ha hah....

Jym,

The story on signal amplifiers and Moxi is this: A one-way amp can block the two-way communication through the built-in cable modem. Shouldn't be used. On the other hand, a two-way amp is fine and may improve your picture quality.

abc,

Just what I wanted to hear -- another reason to be thankful.

I'll look forward to hearing from you when you're ready to get something scheduled.

Originally posted by dweebe
I didn't get that message. All I had was a PPV Boxing event reminder message. I've got the interactive channels up right now. Strange.

The message stated that the changes would take effective December 1, 2004. I wish we had a Charter insider.

I think that is what I will do. Keep the standard definition Dish with the DVR I have now, but then use an OTA antenna to get as much HD I can pull off the local airwaves.

For a while I was just thinking of just pitching the whole idea of a new TV and HD until the cable company and satellite providers get things hashed out with regards to the new technology. However, I'm going to lose my finished basement, which means I'm going to lose my 100" front projection setup for watching movies (at least until I can think about finishing the basement).

So to tide me off I will probably get a 60" Sony XS955 and a new DVD player that upconverts to 720 or 1080. The OTA HD will be a bonus.

And yes, I will probably flip the dime to get the setup calibrated.

The Seinfeld special is in HD tonight...everywhere, that is, but on KSDK-DT.

Not exactly surprising...

Hey Joe,

You might want to think about LG's HD PVR. It's OTA only, 120gig hard drive. Would compliment your Dish SD PVR nicely.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Robert,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into that HD DVR. Sounds like a great idea.

Joe,
You have a couple of other options. I think you can still get the Dish Network 811 for 5.00 per month + the HD Package. I did this until the 921 dropped to $550 (also the new 921 software should be out by the end of the year and they are hoping to add local channel info for digitals)

In addition I use a HiPix HD receiver card in a pIII 800 mhz PC which I use for recording and archiving OTA HD. The HiPix can still be found, or I hear the MyHD card software is now under development by AVS forum members.

One benefit of this is upconversion of DVD to HD.

Dave

Does anybody know (or know where to ask about it) what the remote control code for the LG LST-3510A DVD/HD tuner is?

I am able to get my Dish 50x remote to control the TV, but I also want to at least be able to turn the LG on and off and change channels with it, but I can't get it to work and can't find the code listed anywhere. Maybe it's not possible?

I have heard talk that Charter is very interested in doing a digital simulcast in the local area. Charter will take all the channels in the analog range and make them digital on a different frequencies. Any person who has a digital box will get all the channels digitally. Has anyone else heard this?

Originally posted by StLouG
I have heard talk that Charter is very interested in doing a digital simulcast in the local area. Charter will take all the channels in the analog range and make them digital on a different frequencies. Any person who has a digital box will get all the channels digitally. Has anyone else heard this?

If it is true, what are the chances that it will be implemented before we die?

Originally posted by tcfila
If it is true, what are the chances that it will be implemented before we die?

I believe that this is already being done in the Long Beach, California area. So it is being done and might be tested here. I hope that we will be a test site. Could be interesting to see.

I read recently that analog channels occupy close to 50 % of the total available bandwidth in the average cable system. Obviously that's an extremely poor use of a finite and valuable resource.

I'm sure that Charter, like most cable operators, would like to rid itself of the analog bandwidth hog, so I don't think that converting the analog channels to digital and consuming even more bandwidth is a viable plan, at least not without a very short-term plan to shut down analog service.

In Long Beach, Charter did recently shutter analog cable, presumably forcing customers onto digital cable or losing them entirely. I'm not sure how this plan worked out, but I doubt that's likely to happen on a larger scale, for several reasons:

* Charter can't be happy about the natural customer attrition they're already dealing with; the idea of a plan that would result in additional customer losses can't be appealing unless they can strictly contain the losses to those customers that provide no bottom-line benefit;

* Charter's financial situation works against them pushing customers to digital cable service due to the upfront capital cost for digital tuners. It's possible that customers could be given a financial incentive to buy their own box, but I suspect that sort of plan would still result in an unpalatable rate of customer disconnects at the drop-dead date. The hit on cash flow (incentives) would probably be the lesser of two evils, but would still be difficult for Charter to swallow; and

* We've seen an alarming lack of basic competence by Charter when it has rolled out new services to a relatively small number of customers over the past few years (HD service, MOXI). Tackling the much larger number of Charter's analog customers and moving them to digital cable seems far beyond their organizational abilities and capacity, even if the plan was spread out over several years in each of their markets. Granted, digital cable is a more basic and known entity within Charter, but I still think that tackling a project of that size would require an incredible leap of faith.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
I read recently that analog channels occupy close to 50 % of the total available bandwidth in the average cable system. Obviously that's an extremely poor use of a finite and valuable resource.

I'm sure that Charter, like most cable operators, would like to rid itself of the analog bandwidth hog, so I don't think that converting the analog channels to digital and consuming even more bandwidth is a viable plan, at least not without a very short-term plan to shut down analog service.

In Long Beach, Charter did recently shutter analog cable, presumably forcing customers onto digital cable or losing them entirely. I'm not sure how this plan worked out, but I doubt that's likely to happen on a larger scale, for several reasons:

* Charter can't be happy about the natural customer attrition they're already dealing with; the idea of a plan that would result in additional customer losses can't be appealing unless they can strictly contain the losses to those customers that provide no bottom-line benefit;

* Charter's financial situation works against them pushing customers to digital cable service due to the upfront capital cost for digital tuners. It's possible that customers could be given a financial incentive to buy their own box, but I suspect that sort of plan would still result in an unpalatable rate of customer disconnects at the drop-dead date. The hit on cash flow (incentives) would probably be the lesser of two evils, but would still be difficult for Charter to swallow; and

* We've seen an alarming lack of basic competence by Charter when it has rolled out new services to a relatively small number of customers over the past few years (HD service, MOXI). Tackling the much larger number of Charter's analog customers and moving them to digital cable seems far beyond their organizational abilities and capacity, even if the plan was spread out over several years in each of their markets. Granted, digital cable is a more basic and known entity within Charter, but I still think that tackling a project of that size would require an incredible leap of faith.


I think that you are right in your above points but take a look at this article and tell me what you think. It is a possiblity that it could be done.

http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2004/0904/09a.htm

By LESLIE ELLIS 7/26/2004In this story:

Funny how things come back around again. It’s no secret that cable providers are examining ways to make better use of the bandwidth surging through their $70 billion pipes — without ever having to revisit a backhoe.

At least six techniques are underway: There’s “all digital/less analog,” which Charter Communications Inc. put on the map with its digital simulcast effort in Long Beach, Calif.


BANDWIDTH HELPERS
Then, there are bandwidth extensions, at least to 860-MHz. And there’s optical resegmenting of plant, to lower the number of people sharing bandwidth legs. Advanced forms of modulation and codecs often wind up on the “bandwidth options” list. That’s four.

Fifth are the better methods to “groom” digital traffic onto carriers, known in the lingo as “statistical multiplexing,” or “stat-muxing,” for short. The vendor community often calls it “rate-shaping,” too.

The sixth is the subject of this week’s translation: Switched broadcast video. It appears under several labels, like “switched digital video,” or just “switched video,” or “switched digital.”

If you’ve been around since the last time the telcos attempted a video attack, this one may jangle a distant discord. Switched digital video: Wasn’t that the pitiable technical option for people with “bandwidth issues”?

One of the payoffs for taking verbatim notes over the past 15 years is the merriment in reminding people of what they said in prior industrial chapters. The response to switched broadcast from cable’s most distinguished technologists, back in the early to mid 1990s, was amusingly gruff. “Switching video is frivolously expensive!” they harrumphed. “Gold-plated!”

GIG-E REVIVAL
At the time, the essence of those exclamations was true. It was expensive.

Now, thanks to the flourish of Gigabit Ethernet gear to pump more bits faster, it’s not so improbable to picture a switch plunked in near the pump. Instead of sending all channels to the back of the TV set (including the stuff nobody watches), put the lightly-viewed channels into a switching pool. Make passage only when people tune to them.

The space they formerly inhabited, and the bandwidth it represents, suddenly becomes available for other purposes — more VOD, HDTV, or broadband offerings, for example.

By my count, two of the top five MSOs are testing the technologies associated with switched broadcast.

That means a switch, for the headend, to mind things, made by companies like BigBand Networks. There’s also a minor piece of “client” software, for the set-top box.

Neither MSO is ready to go on record with the who, where and what yet. Both agreed to background-elaborate on the “how and why.”

How?

Understanding how video delivery changes with switches starts with knowing how it works without switches.

Say that’s you, there on the couch with the remote. You tune to a lesser-watched program. (Let’s pick on my own esoteric viewing habits, and say it’s Victory Garden, before PBS ruined it.)

SWITCHED WORLD VIEW
Your digital-cable box consults its internal channel map. Say you asked for channel 222. The channel map correlates what frequency and multiplex holds channel 222, “points” to it, converts it from digital to analog (your TV likely needs analog), and sends it to the TV, for display.

In a switched world, perhaps Victory Garden is deemed low enough in viewership to be put on a switch. Still, you tune in. The box consults its channel map, and sees a placeholder: This is a switched channel. Proceed to the headend.

There, the switch assesses the situation: Somebody in service group X wants channel 222. Is anyone else in service group X already watching it? If so, you join that session. If not, the switch readies your stream from its channel pool. It opens up a session, not unlike establishing a VOD stream.

So far, engineers say they like it (big time like it) for two reasons. One, it’s the least expensive of the six options. Two, channel changing happens way faster than with “regular” digital channels. (The latter strikes me as glorious news, as a digital cable customer.)

They don’t like it because it’s the same technology being used by anyone contemplating “IP video,” which means — you guessed it — the telcos.

And, switched broadcast isn’t without a helping of politics. It is, by its nature, dependent upon a two-way network. (How else will that channel map placeholder get up to the switch for handling?)

CHEAPEST ALTERNATIVE
Anything that isn’t two-way won’t work on a switched broadcast architecture, which includes those digital TVs with the CableCARD slots.

Conundrum.

Nonetheless, switched broadcast will likely emerge as an active technology, especially as bandwidth-hungry services, like HDTV, continue to fuel bandwidth efficiency techniques.

Plus, switched video carries attributes that please several constituencies. It doesn’t touch the plant, which makes Wall Street happy. It barely touches the set-top and is comparatively easy to implement, which makes engineers happy. It opens the way for more services, and lets digital customers change channels appreciably faster, which makes marketers happy.

And it’s the cheapest of the alternatives, which makes everybody happy.

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

StLouG,

Very interesting article -- thanks for passing it on.

I think that something like a $50 digital tuner is a requirement for both the cable companies and customers. At that level, a majority of customers, given a reasonable incentive, will buy the box and for those remaining that don't or won't, the capital investment hit is more manageable, especially in a volume purchase.

I also think from the vendor perspective, the cost of a house call to convert a customer is a big problem, and it's made worse by the fact that the quality of the service provided often ends up being a long-run negative in how the customer views the cable company. This sort of thing needs to be VERY simple, so that a customer can do the upgrade themselves, if they choose to, or face a service charge if not.

I don't think a customer would mind doing their own install if the instructions are clear and there's little special technical knowledge required (DSL is a case in point); likewise, I don't think customers would mind a service charge, if they were given a realistic DIY option.

I seem to recall reading here that Charter has insisted on doing the HD and Moxi installs, even though many of the installers appeared to be clueless. Not sure if Charter charged for that, but if they did it's the worst of all possible worlds.

I've also heard from a number of my customers that Charter is reluctant to provide CableCARDs, and the service people seem to be particularly resistant to this idea. That sort of "protect my own turf" is another obstacle that has to be dealt with.

Bottom line: Yes, I think this is possible, and one way or another, analog cable has to go away. The issue is how to do so that it doesn't cost a fortune in service calls, hardware and attrition.

UPN issues

OK, I know, I know. Nobody here watches UPN 46-1 on a regular basis(except Bob and me for Enterprise). However, I am still pleased that a short time ago the station just suddenly appeared on my OTA tuners, whereas I had not been able to get it before. My guess is that they finally upped the power at the tower. Has anyone else here noticed an improved signal level on 46-1, or are there others who are now getting it for the first time?

Well, I have been watching it since it is a new digital channel in my house, and I've noticed a strange effect in the picture. After a show starts up, a few seconds into the broadcast the picture suddenly gets quite a bit dimmer. Then, a few seconds before a commercial break begins, the picture brightens back up to normal levels. What's going on? I checked other channels to see if there is a problem with my pj or my tuners, but no other channel is doing this. So it has to be coming from 46-1. Anybody else notice this? It doesn't seem to happen during the Enterprise broadcast, just the regular sitcom type programs that abound on UPN. I realize as I'm typing this that in order for this question to be answered, there would have to be other regular 46-1 viewers, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Bob,
Another PM sent.

Jedi, I get Enterprise too on 46-1, but I *just* installed everything a week or two ago, including an amp on the OTA antenna, and 46-1 comes in reasonably well. So I can't really speak to the issue of whether it is better now than it was before. I also don't watch much else on UPN besides Enterprise so I can't speak to whether there are weird picture issues on the other shows.

I just wanted to let you know somebody else is out there watching UPN, at least for Enterprise ;)

Enterprise is currently the only thing I watch on 46-1.

Veronica Mars is also a pretty good show (kind of like Buffy the Vampire Slayer without the vampires) but I've found that even with three PVR's in the house, I just never had time to watch it. Of course, if 46-1 were to broadcast it in its intended 16x9 HD instead of 480i 4x3 SD, I might be more inclined to MAKE time (hint, hint to WRBU).

I'll agree that 46-1 must have upped its power a few months back. When I first got my HD Tivo in July, the pixellation and macroblocking made that channel unwatchable. That suddenly stopped and the channel's been rock solid since at least some time in September. I attributed it to a Tivo firmware upgrade that came came out around that same time (an audio dropout problem on HDnet disappeared around then, too).

But since I don't watch anything but Enterprise, I can't confirm or deny the dimness problem you're experiencing....

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DroptheRemote
[B]StLouG,

Very interesting article -- thanks for passing it on.

I think that something like a $50 digital tuner is a requirement for both the cable companies and customers. At that level, a majority of customers, given a reasonable incentive, will buy the box and for those remaining that don't or won't, the capital investment hit is more manageable, especially in a volume purchase.


Doug take look at this link. If my rumored information is correct this is one of the new boxs charter could be looking at.

http://www.aminocom.com/products/aminet110.html

StLouG,

I checked out the additional link and this box looks pretty interesting.

I wasn't able to tell for sure from the web page write-up, but I suspect that this box is probably too complex for the average customer to set up (and might well be beyond the capabilities of the average installer). It seems like there's an unavoidable trade-off between flexibility and complexity (you can't have one without the other).

While I understand that the cable companies want to have the flexibility to provide a wide range of new and future services via their cable coax, I think the more pressing need is simplicity, as the majority of their (especially analog) customers simply want to turn on the TV and "channel up" and "channel down" with a minimum of fuss.

I think the more pressing need for Charter and other cable companies is a very simple, cheap, plug-and-play box that can transform an existing analog cable customer into a digital cable subscriber. Having another box -- either for rental or purchase -- that provides advanced services can be addressed after they've figured out how to retain the substantial revenues locked into an unsustainable analog system.

Do you have any info on what sort of hardware Charter used in its Long Beach conversion? I'd find it hard to believe that they used the standard-issue Motorola gear due to the hardware and service call costs...

They did not buy any new boxes. The Long Beach system is a Scientific Atlantic system. Any person who had a digital box at the time of the switch received the digital broadcast instead of the analog broadcast.

Links:
http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2004/0204/02b.htm

http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2004/1104/11c.htm

http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/DCT700.html


Charter flips all-digital switch in Long Beach

Jeff Baumgartner, CED

Charter Communications is turning the all-digital dream into reality in Long Beach, Calif., a system that supports about 188,000 homes passed.

There, the MSO is delivering analog-free programming to customers. Charter's all-digital system includes two primary elements: a digital compression system that encodes the entire program line-up and a digital program insertion system.

Harmonic Inc.'s DiviCom MV 50 variable bit-rate encoders and DiviTrackXE closed loop statistical multiplexing system are powering the all-digital system, Charter said.

The MSO did not disclose which vendors are supplying the system's set-tops and conditional access system.

The migration to all-digital was the centerpiece of this week's SCTE Conference on Emerging Technologies in Dallas, where panelists covered the methods available to cable operators and the potential pitfalls they might encounter. Among the benefits, a migration to all-digital will enable cable operators to reclaim analog spectrum to expand bandwidth-intensive services such as high-definition television and video-on-demand.

Though other operators have discussed plans to conduct all-digital trials this year, Charter is the first MSO to come forward with specific details.

"With the introduction of our all-digital service, the future is now," said Wayne Davis, Charter's senior vice president of engineering and advanced technology, in a statement. "This all-digital delivery system will result in significant improvement in picture quality for our customers."

He added that the service can be activated remotely, eliminating the need for expensive truck rolls.

ARGH!!!

I'm watching the NE/Balt game on CBS-HD. There are glitches almost every 2-3 seconds where the picture hiccups for a second and the sound cuts out then back on. Sadly, I have been seeing this a lot lately with sporting events on HD channels.

WTF is this going on? And what good is HD if you frequently have to change to SD because of all the irritating glitches??

Irritated, Bruce

I just did a little non-scientific research on the HD hiccups I mentioned earlier...one hiccup every 3 seconds or so. Currently EVERY hd channel that I have is doing this except SHO-HD, NBC-HD and FOX.

Listening to ESPN's sportscasters sounds like a nasty rap song thats being bleeped for bad words every second. Utterly ridiculous....

Guess its time for a glorious bonding experience with a Charter csr! But before i do call, is anyone else experiencing this issue?

Bruce,

I'm not having any dropouts at all.

Tim

I only noticed a handful of slight dropouts, but it was under 10 for the entire game. I was watching OTA on my new Dish DVR921. It's nice to finally be able to pause/rw live HD. So far it's been working like a champ. No glitches, no 0 sec recordings. Knock wood.

Dave

duihlein, you obviously dont have Charter. tcfila, what do you have?

Its sounding more and more like this is a Charter-only issue...

Bruce,

I've got Moxi through Charter and didn't see any dropouts on the Denver/Oakland game. However, I only watched about the last 10 minutes of the first half, plus halftime.

I also watched the balt/ne game for maybe 10 minutes and didn't notice anything.

StLouG,

OK -- now I see what they've done. In fact, they are continuing to send the analog channels in analog format, and they're also providing the analogs in digital format.

Right -- I guess that's where this conversation actually started. Mark me down for "duh"... :)

Based on what I've read, I'm curious about where the compromise was made. Even the most-efficient digital compression means that carrying a hundred or so channels in both digital and analog is going to result in a bandwidth hit somewhere -- presumably either lower digital video quality than in a completely digital pipe, or fewer overall channels/services.

I know that the article claims improved digital quality, but I'd be surprised if that were demonstrably true on anything larger than a 27-inch screen. In my experience, the quality of the Charter's digital channels here isn't all that great anyway.

I was also surprised by the relatively small number of households in the Long Beach service area (180,000 homes passed). No doubt that's why Long Beach was chosen as the test, as it's probably one of Charter's more manageable markets in terms of actual subscribers served.

It will be interesting to see if the Long Beach system is a taste of things to come, or a one-off. I suspect the latter, in view of the fact that the LB plan was probably drawn up and work begun before Charter hit hard times financially. Of course, a lot would depend on the total cost to convert an individual system and what sort of bottom line benefit it actually provides in the short term.

I continue to think that Charter is positioning itself to be acquired, or at least to divest itself of some part of its systems. Until that happens and/or the financials are looking better, short-term cash flow will take priority over investment on projects that have only a medium- or long-term payback.

Originally posted by abcward
tcfila, what do you have?

Charter

Originally posted by abcward
duihlein, you obviously dont have Charter. tcfila, what do you have?

Its sounding more and more like this is a Charter-only issue...

That's correct. I have Dish Network. I get my locals OTA via HiPix and my Dish DVR921. Both sources had minimal dropouts I attribute to my location/trees and the weather. Some days/seasons are better than others, but most do not drop enough to be a nuisance.

Dave

abcward,
Good luck with trying to get someone competent at Charter to come out and find the problem, much less fix it. You might do better by checking the indoor cable route and connections yourself. If it's outside, oh boy. Keep us posted.

Doug,
My research into the complexities of dvi hdcp led me to believe that we would never see a dvi to vga transcoder that was hdcp comliant. However, I have recently come across a box that does just that, for what seems to be a reasonable amount of money. It's available at digitalconnection.com, and retails for about $259. How is this possible? Isn't the very nature of dvi hdcp to prevent content viewing unless the video transmission is digital (and being fed to a device that can do hdcp handshaking)? Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly thrilled by the news, which should excite others who have tvs or pjs that don't have dvi.

Now, I'm wondering how much of a benefit, if any, this would provide for us. The strength of dvd lies in its digital purity, right? So, by actually changing the signal back into analog, isn't there a danger of the re-introduction of artifacts? If the picture is better, then I'm all for it, as I have 4 boxes that have dvi out, and I could finally see what this looks like, sort of. But if the new transcoder simply reduces dvi to the limits if a vga signal, is it worth it? Or is a dvi to vga signal still better than component?

Jedi35 asks these questions of Doug, but I'm going to stick my nose in anyway...

My research into the complexities of dvi hdcp led me to believe that we would never see a dvi to vga transcoder that was hdcp comliant. However, I have recently come across a box that does just that, for what seems to be a reasonable amount of money. It's available at digitalconnection.com, and retails for about $259. How is this possible? Isn't the very nature of dvi hdcp to prevent content viewing unless the video transmission is digital (and being fed to a device that can do hdcp handshaking)? Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly thrilled by the news, which should excite others who have tvs or pjs that don't have dvi.

Simple, the box spoofs the source device by handling HDCP handshaking. It will also have the decryption algorithm in firmware, and decrypts the datastream. After decryption, you are left with RGB(HV) data, which is given a D/A conversion before output as an RGBHV signal.

Now, I'm wondering how much of a benefit, if any, this would provide for us. The strength of dvd lies in its digital purity, right? So, by actually changing the signal back into analog, isn't there a danger of the re-introduction of artifacts? If the picture is better, then I'm all for it, as I have 4 boxes that have dvi out, and I could finally see what this looks like, sort of. But if the new transcoder simply reduces dvi to the limits if a vga signal, is it worth it? Or is a dvi to vga signal still better than component?

It really is going to depend on the display device. It could be worse, it could be about the same.

You aren't going to be introducing any more D/A and A/D cycles to the equation if the unit doesn't accept DVI in, so the potential for artifact introduction will be the same as for any other signal.

VGA (actually RGBHV) can go to quite high resolutions, so for practical purposes it won't be the limiting factor.

Cheers,



It will be of modest benefit in my opinion.

jedi,

I'm not an expert on DVI and HDCP, but here's my initial take on your questions and I'll try to dig further and confirm or revise as necessary.

My understanding is that HDCP is devised to regulate DIGITAL copying. It's digital copies that have Hollywood and content owners in a perpetual lather -- chiefly the fact that there's no generational loss between successive copies of copies of digital content. Thus, HDCP is designed to thwart unfettered digital copying.

As for the DVI-to-VGA conversion, the device you've noted appears to be one of the first outboard converters that takes a DVI-D/HDCP signal and coverts it to analog video, but a similar conversion happens inside a CRT (analog) display that accepts DVI, though that conversion is more commonly to component video.

Of course, a device such as this one opens the door to copying of HD content via component/RGB/VGA, but as I'm sure you've noticed the only recorders capable of taking these sort of signals and recording them are professional models intended for the broadcast or video production market -- at prices that make them impractical for the average consumer (though not necessarily for a determined pirate).

I've long believed that if Hollywood gets Congress and CE firms to impose draconian limitations on consumer time-shifting via DVI/HDCP (or other schemes) it will simply create a market for analog recording devices that have the necessary horsepower and storage capacity to record analog HD. While such products would initially be limited in appeal to hardcore enthusiasts (at still-hefty prices), they would come down over time as volume rises and technology advances.

In that scenario, devices (or circuitry) like this one are a necessary piece of the overall puzzle.

FWIW, I think the recent actions of Hollywood and the recording industry are unwittingly "baiting" the hackers and pirates, and if I had to bet my last dollar on the winner of that eventual battle, I'm definitely not backing "the suits." Maybe Hollywood and the record companies are doing us all a favor -- given a choice, I'd much rather have the "best talents" of the hacker community focused on undermining the "security" of HDTV, HD-DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, rather than working to create the "mega" worm/virus/Trojan Horse that makes online computing even more hazardous than it already is.

Back on topic: I don't think there's any major benefit in using this device with your non-DVI/HDCP displays, apart from convenience in the event that one or more of your devices doesn't have available analog component/RGB outputs.

As for component vs. VGA, theoretically there shouldn't be a major difference. However, VGA/RGB signals would have the benefit of bypassing some extraneous video processing, such as the typically misaligned color decoder that a component connection would be subject to.

The following story is from SkyREPORT E-News:

________________________________

Report: NDS/DirecTV DVR Out in Mid-2005

A DVR deal between NDS Group and DirecTV may be around the corner, and some are speculating what that may mean for DirecTV's current DVR partner TiVo, USA Today reported Monday.

The newspaper said a NDS DVR for DirecTV could debut in mid-2005, and possibly as early as April. TiVo wouldn't comment about the NDS talk to USA Today, but the company told analysts last week to watch out for what could end up being vaporware from the TV technology company.

NDS has said in the past that it's working with DirecTV to develop and launch a DVR system for the satellite TV company, yet the news Monday propelled more talk about a pending deal between the two companies, both of which are controlled by News Corp.

For previous SkyREPORT stories on NDS and DirecTV partnering, see:

http://www.skyreport.com/viewskyreport.cfm?ReleaseID=1521, and http://www.skyreport.com/viewskyreport.cfm?ReleaseID=1452).

________________________________

Doug,

RGBHV (aka VGA) does have one advantage over component. Generally speaking, component is sent as 4:2:2 (1 chroma for every two horizontal and one vertical pixel) or 4:2:0 (1 chroma for every two horizontal and vertical pixels) which does lessen the amount of color detail as compared to RGB(HV). I could have horizontal and vertical reversed for 4:2:2 but the point is the same regardless.

I'm not saying it will always be worse, and some of this would depend on what (if any ) color processing the display performs.

If for example, the display performs color processing on Component, and the display has to transcode between RGBHV and component to do so, then there would be (IMO) little benefit to using the DVI output.

In addition, if the processing is digital (and it usually is) the number of conversions from D/A and A/D aren't going to be changed, the only thing that changes is where the first conversion is from D/A.

Worthwhile or not, it's impossible to say, although I suspect not.

Best Regards,

Can we get back to the charter bashing? At least I understand that...

:-)

lol @ tcfila

I believe that John was giving detailed information on splitting an atom. Either that, or instructions on how to make fluffy pancakes on the moon...i'm still unsure which...

Component 4:4:4

One pixel of chroma (color) for every pixel of luma (brightness).

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_2/images/chroma-figure-1.jpg

Component 4:2:2
One pixel of chroma for every two pixels of luma. For a 1280x720 image, you would have 640x720 pixels of color. So the smallest piece of color information would be 2 pixels from left to right.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_2/images/chroma-figure-2.jpg


Component 4:2:0
One pixel of chroma for every four pixels of luma. For a 1280x720 image, you would have 640x360 pixels of color. The smallest piece of color information would be a 4 pixel square with two horizontal and two vertical pixels.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_2/images/chroma-figure-3.jpg

Credit where credit is due. These images are from an article at Secrets of Home Theater and HiFi on the chroma bug. The article in its entirety can be found Here. (http://128.121.62.219/volume_8_2/dvd-benchmark-special-report-chroma-bug-4-2001.html)

Regards,

John,

I thought about the color sampling issue but didn't have the numbers at hand; I was still waking up when I wrote my note and didn't have the energy to go look them up.

But now that I'm awake (mostly) I think that, in practice, this is really more of a limitation of the mastering process rather than the physical video connection at the consumer end of the chain.

I believe most (all?) DVD mastering is done at 4:2:0 and the image is upsampled in decoding to 4:2:2. In effect, the compromise has already occurred before the bits leave the disc. I'm not positive, but from what I can tell most HDTV programming is produced for delivery to viewers as either 4:2:0 or 4:2:2.

While RGBHV is capable of handling 4:4:4 sampling, I believe that's only really relevant in the image acquisition and production stage. I've read some things that leave me with the impression that 4:4:4 component would be feasible, but I think it's more theoretical rather than something that actually exists in either the professional or commercial market.

The difference in color compression is obvious in comparing S-Video to component (even component 4:2:0), but the difference between 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 is considerably more subtle due to the limitations of the human eye.

I agree with you that the benefits of jedi converting his DVI output to VGA/RGBHV is not worth the cost; I doubt he'd see any real difference over the native component output.

Ok John where did you get that eye chart? Ii is a eye chart?

I am thinking about dropping Charter and going with a dish service. Any recommendations as to who is the better provider. I am not a sports fan so ESPN-HD is not important but I do like the movie channels. Who has the best deals right now? who has the best service? I also enjoy the Moxi box with charter. Does any dish provider have a similar service? Thanks for the help.

Scott

Doug,

Good point on DVD-Video. The "damage" is already done with mastering, and the chroma bug actually manifests itself when going from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2.

Best,

StLouG,

See the information below the last image. It's from Secrets of Home Theater and HiFi, and I reference the article in the link.

Best,

As long as the compression subject is still on the table, let me try to explain in simple terms why color compression is possible without a serious impact on image quality. The key thing to know here is that the human eye is much more capable of seeing detail in black and white than it is in color.

One example of this is to think about standing on a beach and looking out across the ocean and seeing a ship in the far-off distance. From that distance, your eyes can make out enough detail to determine whether you're seeing a sailboat, an oil tanker or a cruise ship, but you probably can't tell what color(s) it is, at least not until the vessel is close enough to you for your eyes to be able to resolve the color detail.

The same thing effectively applies to a video image. Most of the detail in the picture is black and white information, and you can prove this by temporarily disconnecting the color difference component cables (red and blue) -- the remaining image is (or should be) black and white. This demonstrates that the majority of the picture detail occurs in the luminance (black and white) channel.

And this is why it's important for a display device to produce neutral grayscale. Because RGB displays only have a three-word vocabulary (red, green and blue), the only way a black and white image can be produced is through the correct combination of red, green and blue. Get the wrong combination (too much blue, too much green, etc.), and the foundation of the picture is tinted and no amount of adjustment of the user controls will ever eliminate that incorrect tint, even after the color detail is added.

Bottom line: I'd much talk about this sort of thing (and plug my calibration services) than bash Charter...but I suspect that the Charter stuff is more amusing. :)

Originally posted by Scroft391
I am thinking about dropping Charter and going with a dish service. Any recommendations as to who is the better provider. I am not a sports fan so ESPN-HD is not important but I do like the movie channels. Who has the best deals right now? who has the best service? I also enjoy the Moxi box with charter. Does any dish provider have a similar service? Thanks for the help.

Scott

I might be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time (I am married you know :D),
but I believe only DishNetwork and DirectTV have HD DVR's.

In reading other forums people just bash the DISH 921 though. I am
completely happy with my HD Tivo for DirecTV. I think I use it more to
record the locals than anything though. Although on Sundays I do flip
back and forth between a couple of HD football games on DirecTV.

If sports aren't the deciding factor, I don't know what to tell you. TNT-HD
is available on Dish, but sometime in my lifetime, it should be on DirecTV.

Voom just scares me. They have no subscriber base to talk of but they are
saying they will have 70 HD channels sometime. WHAT HD channels???

I don't know of 70 HD channels I would want. Besides, they don't have
a DVR yet.

Who ever you switch to, get a good deal. Nickel and Dime the provider
to death to get a good new subscriber deal.

Originally posted by Scroft391
I am thinking about dropping Charter and going with a dish service. Any recommendations as to who is the better provider. I am not a sports fan so ESPN-HD is not important but I do like the movie channels. Who has the best deals right now? who has the best service? I also enjoy the Moxi box with charter. Does any dish provider have a similar service? Thanks for the help.

Scott

I have a Dish 721 (2 Tuner SD DVR) & 921 (2 Sat/1 OTA HD DVR). So far the only issue I have is no OTA Program Guide on the 921. They are releasing a software update anytime now that will include this feature. It is working on the 811. The 921 and 721 have the exact same feel so it has a high WAF.

I chose Dish because I did not need NFL ST and preferred the programming options (More WB/UPN)

I can't comment on movies as I don't carry those channels.

Dave

Doug and John,

Wow, thanks for tackling my issues so skillfully. That's why I love this forum. Let's approach this from another angle(can you tell that I really want this new transcoder to work well enough to buy??). Doug you've pointed out to me in the past that I should send as high a resolution as my source boxes can put out to my svga dlp pj, and let the pg scale it to its native resolution. Might it be true that dvi has the advantage over component in terms of resolution and quality? If so, and rgb can handle high resolution signals like John said, isn't there still a possibility that this box would do the hdcp handshaking, and send a higher quality signal via vga to my pj, thus giving me better picture quality than I had with just component video? The bottom line is that I could always just buy the box, try it out, and send it back for a refund if it doesn't do anything for me. Digital Connection is pretty good about giving refunds in a timely manner.

Originally posted by jedi35
Might it be true that dvi has the advantage over component in terms of resolution and quality? If so, and rgb can handle high resolution signals like John said, isn't there still a possibility that this box would do the hdcp handshaking, and send a higher quality signal via vga to my pj, thus giving me better picture quality than I had with just component video?
jedi,

In this sort of scenario, I don't believe that DVI has any inherent resolution edge over component, at least once the DVI signal is converted to analog.

Assuming we're talking about a DVD player, both a component-only signal path and a DVI-to-VGA signal path are going to be subject to one digital-to-analog conversion. I've recently seen it suggested that it's best to do the digital conversion as close as possible to the display device, but frankly I think that's starting to venture into the "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" region, particularly if you're using decent quality component cables with your DVD player.

I think the main benefit for this sort of device would be if you knew the color decoder in your display was misaligned and there wasn't any way to adjust out the errors. At that point, if the display included an RGBHV input, you could go from DVI to RGBHV and entirely bypass the color decoding process.

I'm not familiar with the color decoding process in your BENQ projector, but I would be disappointed if it was set incorrectly. Color decoding issues are more common in mainstream consumer gear. Mitsubishi RPTVs are legendary for their "red push" but all RPTVs have that problem to some degree. With some effort and special equipment, it's usually possible to reprogram the Mits color decoders, but some brands don't make the color decoder accessible (Pioneer Elites, for example). In that case, it's nice to have the option to connect an HD receiver via RGBHV, and with this sort of DVI-to-VGA converter you could do the same for DVD (though you'd need an RGBHV switcher if you had more than one RGB source).

Maybe it's the Christmas season bringing out the crass commercial beast in me, but here comes another unadulterated, shameless plug:

If you're prepared to spend money on a converter that's uncertain to have any benefit, why wouldn't you invest in having your projector properly calibrated?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't be looking to optimize your picture quality by examining the signal path for potential tweaks, but I'd try to prioritize this sort of undertaking in way that going to deliver the best bang for the buck. And I think you're looking at a very marginal area with this transcoder.

Also, after calibration you'd also know if there was a color decoding issue with your projector and you'd know whether the transcoder was actually going to solve some real, defined problem.

Thanks Doug,
Since you were quite honest with me, I owe you the same. The cost of the transcoder box is well below the cost of proper calibration. This is a big factor in the "risk" I'd be taking in buying the box, although I know I 'd get my money back if I weren't happy with the results. If the "marginal" improvements, if any, would encourage me to keep my pj a bit longer, and finally give me some use out of all these dvi outputs I have, then I'd say that it is to my advantage to get this transcoder box before calibration. The reason for it is this....if the box doesn't do anything for me, then my next step is to do the big one: upgrade to a new pj that has 720p resolution, and hdmi/dvi. I'm reading up on the Sony HS51 right now, and it sounds amazing, even though its lcd. Calibration on my dlp right now costs about half of what the pj sells for, even though I know it would make the pj better, but still no dvi useage. Now, calibration on something like the HS51 is another story, giving me long term usage and enjoymemt of my dvi sources. I just basically feel that as good as my Benq 6100 is, for me it's just a transition pj. I;d probably gripe about having to spend the $400 or so bucks to replace the bulb when it's time. Cheaper tweaks for this pj make more since for me right now.

I remember telling you before that using your wonderful talents on my Pioneer rptv in my second theater setup is something that I ultimately want to do. However, I want to settle the pj issue first, as I spend much more time watching it. If I wind up with a new pj altogether, you know I'd have you calibrate it before my rptv. If I stick with my pj for awhile longer, then you might still be hearing from me to calibrate my rptv, which isn't going anywhere. I haven't called you yet because I haven't had the extra money, but things are about to change in that area.

From the Wall Street Journal Online:
____________________________________

Charter Sells $500 Mln Floaters To Help Keep It Afloat

By TOM SULLIVAN
December 1, 2004 2:28 p.m.
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -- Just two weeks after pricing a $750 million issue of convertible securities, troubled Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) is back in the debt markets selling $500 million of floating-rate securities.

The highly-leveraged St. Louis-based cable company plans to use proceeds to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.

"The basic premise is to get interest savings (from lower rates), boost liquidity and get incremental increases in cash flow," said Aryeh Bourkoff, analyst at UBS Investment, who doesn't own Charter stock. UBS does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. UBS AG, its affiliates or subsidiaries owned Charter securities as of last month.

...

Charter had about $18.5 billion in long-term debt outstanding as of Sept. 30, 2004.

While floaters aren't usually a big draw for the high-yield market, "people are having trouble finding places to put money" to work, said Matthew Wilcox, analyst at Montpelier, Vt.-based high-yield research firm KDP Investment Advisors.

As for Charter, "it's probably the best rate they can get," he said.

Officials at Charter weren't immediately available to comment.

...

The rub, however, are the ratings.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's rates the issue a highly-speculative triple-C-minus with a negative outlook. That's just barely above a default rating.
____________________________________

The full story can be read at www.wsj.com

I wish Charter would just go under or get sold to a respectable Cable Co. This watching them circle the drain while never going down is seriously getting old.

Doug, you mentioned earlier that you had doubts about Voom. I was considering a switch to Voom in early 2005 if they make good on their two announcements of DVR and additional HD channels. Should I not consider them as a viable option for my entertainment dollar?

Thanks
Bruce

Bruce,

I do think VOOM's survival is a big question mark, but from what I've read recently and seen in their TV offers, there's relatively little upfront monetary risk to new customers.

VOOM is doing new customer installations for virtually nothing, and I don't believe you have to buy any hardware. Of course, that would mean a STB rental charge per device, but as long as it's comparable with what Charter would charge per STB, that probably shouldn't be a deal-killer.

If you're offered the option of buying hardware, think hard, because the incentive would have to be pretty remarkable to offset the risk that you're stuck with mostly useless gear should they exit the market. You should also be aware that VOOM prohibits resale of their equipment -- yes, you can actually sell it, but the buyer won't be able to activate it, so it would probably come bouncing back at you.

As long as you don't have to make a big upfront investment in equipment and installation, and the monthly fees (including equipment rental) and contract term are palatable, the only remaining negative is the potential inconvenience of finding a replacement if they suddenly exit the market.

If you've had it with Charter and you think VOOM is the most attractive package alternative, go for it.

I have heard that Charter is going to getting new VOD servers. I think they are getting nCube VOD servers. Since I am not that tech savvy not sure what all these means. I believe one server had the guide software implemented last night and the new VOD server goes live in that area on the 8th. The other server will get the new guide software implemented on the 7th and goes on line by the 14th. Just something I heard.

Originally posted by StLouG
I have heard that Charter is going to getting new VOD servers. I think they are getting nCube VOD servers. Since I am not that tech savvy not sure what all these means. I believe one server had the guide software implemented last night and the new VOD server goes live in that area on the 8th. The other server will get the new guide software implemented on the 7th and goes on line by the 14th. Just something I heard.

Maybe what you're saying had something to do with what I experienced this morning. My youngest son decided that 4:30 a.m. would be a good time to start our day, so while on the couch I had on the TV. Every channel read "to be announced", the menu grid had a ton of empty spaces, and all my personal settings had been reset like auto tune, flip bar time, etc. Eventually everything went back to normal, but the whole thing seemed odd at the time.

We used to be addicted to VOD, however that was many months ago when it actually used to work consistantly...

Bruce,
If you want to see Voom live and in action, you welcome to pop over for a visit. Just PM me. I have just about all the channels they offer right now.

Hi,

I have a Moxi issue. When I do a search on "Christmas" for a keyword, I get 150 or so shows. When I go to the left to select some, the menu gets as far as "E" and stops. For "Holiday", 250+ shows, and gets to "B" and stops. Seen this?

Also, When X show is on at 8, and again at 12, is there a way to know this? I had a time when I had things conflicting, and thought that I would just miss out on one of them. Turns out, it was showing overnight, so I caught it then, just by scanning the schedule and getting lucky.

oj

jedi,

I appreciate your feedback. I wasn't aware that you were looking to upgrade from your BenQ, which certainly changes the equation.

Still, I think having it calibrated would help you maximize resale value, and while you definitely wouldn't recover all of that cost, maybe the improvement gets you to the point where you're comfortable delaying the upgrade until prices come down further.

(See, all of those pre-Turkey Day Christmas commercials on TV have had a profound impact on me... ;) )

Seriously, I appreciate the update on your plans and look forward to helping you out when you decide which direction you're moving in terms of upgrades.

In the meantime, I'd appreciate hearing your assessment of the transcoder if you do end up getting it, and I assume others here would also be interested.

Did anyone watch Channel 4's news last night? I heard a "tease" about cable rate hikes, but didn't get a chance to see it.

Tim

I saw it - they are raising regular analog cable rates somewhere between 8% - 150% in the St. Louis area. Now before you freak out like I did when hearing that, this is only referring to analog basic cable. If you have the expanded tier, digital cable, or HDTV cable, your rates will not be affected, only those with the bottom most channels.

I suspect this might be a ploy to get those 'dinosaurs' to switch to digital cable, but who knows....

FYI - stltoday.com has a small article on this hike if anyone wants further details.

There is an article in the P-D about that, the rate increase is for the very basic plan only all other package prices remain the same. I do recall a raise in the price for High Speed internet.

Here is the quote about high-speed internet:

"Charter also will add $10 to the bills of customers who get high-speed Internet service from Charter but take no other services from the company. The extra fee affects about 22,000 customers in the metro area. The service now will cost $49.99 a mont if ordered a la carte. Customers who get two or more services from Charter will pay $39.99 for cable modem service after any promotional or introductory pricing period expires. All internet service customers are being upgraded to download speeds of 3 megabits per second."


I find that odd since Charter used to force a $13 fee on Internet-only customers saying they had to have some sort of basic cable. Then earlier this year it was revoked because it was ruled an illegal practice. Obviously just a little re-wording has allowed Charter to keep up the underhanded practices they frequently use. Classy.

Damn that irritates me since I plan to jump ship to either Voom or DirecTV in early 2005, leaving me as one of those Charter Internet-only customers. I am just a hair too far away from the proper position to get DSL, I even checked again on that this week. I have no technical complaints on Charter's internet service, but I will not be pleased to pay $50 for it. Is there any other option?