From the main moxi thread:

Yesterday 08:02 PM

gjlowe
Senior Member

Registered: Aug 2002
Location: Asheville, NC
Posts: 264
I AM GETTING TNTHD on CHARTER IN ASHEVILLE RIGHT NOW!!! Ch. 774!!!!

It looks like a raw feed as well...no commercials!!!


Last edited by gjlowe on Yesterday at 08:08 PM

What are the chances we get it soon?

tcfila,

I want EVERY possible HD channel added to Charter, but honestly TNT-HD is way down on my wish list. They need to add ABC-HD, ESPN2-HD, and Discovery-HD if I had my way. But sadly the silence is deafening...

Other people have been reporting Cinemax HD, and Starz HD, on other Charter systems.

Who knows what in the hell St. Louis will end up with.

PS--seems like everytime I turn on ESPN HD, its not HD.

I hear ya on the ESPN thing...

Last week they were onsite for the superbowl. This week they are onsite for the Daytona 500. Hopefully hey will get back to the HD studio when baseball starts.

Can't wait to see the cardinals in HD. BTW - Has anyone heard about Fox Sports Midwest in HD? They currently have a few other markets in HD.

No official word on Fox Sports Midwest in HD, but I think two factors work against it happening in the near term:

* First, the network's calling card is the Cards' games and I think it unlikely that they'll lay down even temporary infrastructure for HD games in Busch until they move into the new ballpark;

* Second, Charter is the leading vehicle for FSMW distribution and Charter shows no genuine, legitimate interest in providing more HD channels. That means that FOX Sports will be in no hurry to roll out an HD version of FSMW until Charter shows some (any) sign of life.

Grrr....

I have a hunch we'll be seeing HD Cardinal games on KPLR long before we see them on Charter....

I'm back in the dark ages, wondering which antenna to get for my attic. I'm in the Antonia area (south, near intersection of Hwy M and Old Lemay Ferry Road).

Hi Don,

I'm down in Crystal City and am using the channel master 4 bay bowtie (4228 I think). and get everything pretty solid. Try the Channel Master or the Antenna Direct equivalent. Good luck- antennas are voodoo not science.

Am I mistaken or did KMOV go to 4:3 instead of their crop and zoom?

Hey you're right! The 10PM news on 4-1 is 4x3, with grey sidebars filling up the rest of the 16x9 frame.

While I still find the grey bars annoying, the 4x3 instead of 14x9 zoom and crop is a HUGE improvement!

Agree.

KMOV: One Thumb Up

bah, I liked seeing larry conners' bald head as large as possible, I could even turn off the lights in my living room because the glare was so bright. I'm ALL for saving on electricity...

Personally, I believe that the FCC should also make people start filming everything in 16:9 instead of 4:3 when they switch over to HD next year (or whenever they finally get around to it). I despise 4:3.

if anyone from kmov reads this forum, finally!

we don't want more FCC involvement do we?

All you Charter fans (and those of us that are, well, less so) will really enjoy what's going on in the DILBERT comic strip the last few days. Dogbert is working tech support for the cable company!

http://www.dilbert.com

Originally posted by tcfila
Am I mistaken or did KMOV go to 4:3 instead of their crop and zoom?


Well the timing seems to correspond to the message I sent on Thursday night when I was frustrated with the aspect ratio watching Survivor.

Walt replied Friday. I guess they made a decision. THANKS Walt.

From: "Walt Nichol"
Date: Fri, February 18, 2005 8:49 am

We are in the process of making the decision as to whether to switch to the 4X3
letterbox format. I expect a decision within a couple of weeks.


Walt Nichol
Director of Engineering

>>> <John Kramer> 02/17/05 07:26PM >>>
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!

Fix the aspect ratio of you standard def programming on the digital
channel. ALMOST ALL HDTV owners in STL hate the Zoomed ratio you are
using. Watching Survivor right now it's really annoying when captions are
cut off at the bottom of the screen and the picture is cropped. This
really needs to be addressed. Every other Digital station in St. Louis
that has watchable digital channel uses a standard 4x3 aspect ratio for
their standard def programming. This allows the users to decide if they
want to stretch the material themselves though a function of their TV.

I would refer you to www stlhdtv com were this has been discussed may
times. Search on keywords KMOV. Burn-in is not an issue on most HDTV sets
today so please fix this so your standard def programming is watchable on
the digital channel.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
Agree.

KMOV: One Thumb Up

Ditto!

FInally, they're in sync with the rest of the planet and we can choose to expand the SD picture if we so desire. I wonder how many letters/complaints it took for them to see the light.

Alright KMOV!!!

Now they need to broadcast the news in HD. Use that gray bar real estate KMOV!!!!

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
I have a hunch we'll be seeing HD Cardinal games on KPLR long before we see them on Charter....

I just received a letter from Charter's Government Relations Manager stating that ..."KPLR-TV Channel 11 has agreed to join our family of HDTV programming services in the Metropolitan St. Louis area, effective April 1, 2005."

It goes on to state that "The station will be broadcasting at least 10 St. Louis Baseball Cardinal home games in HD" and points out that WB programming will also be broadcast in HD as it becomes available. Look for KPLR-TV HD on channel 781.

Steve

April 1st.....hhmmmm. Could this be a set up for some kind of April Fools Joke? I hope not but with Charter you never know.

Originally posted by hizhonor
I just received a letter from Charter's Government Relations Manager stating that ..."KPLR-TV Channel 11 has agreed to join our family of HDTV programming services in the Metropolitan St. Louis area, effective April 1, 2005."

It goes on to state that "The station will be broadcasting at least 10 St. Louis Baseball Cardinal home games in HD" and points out that WB programming will also be broadcast in HD as it becomes available. Look for KPLR-TV HD on channel 781.

Steve

A letter? Something that physically came in the mail, or an email? I would love more details on this since it appears that no one else received any correspondence.

Interesting news on Charter and KPLR.

I am a little surprised that the first we'd hear about HD Cards' games on KPLR is via Charter and not through the station's own announcement and/or promotion. Or maybe that's already happened and most of us just missed it.

Maybe Greg from KPLR can let us know more about this.

Of course, this is a good thing as well in terms of FOX Sports Midwest getting the HD religion. If Charter is really going to be adding channels, and one of FSMW's sports programming competitors is gearing up for HD, that should concentrate minds at FOX.

Originally posted by abcward
A letter? Something that physically came in the mail, or an email? I would love more details on this since it appears that no one else received any correspondence.

Yes, an actual letter.

As an elected official, I'm notified in advance of pending changes to cable service which may have an impact on our municipality. I often receive early notification of lineup changes and price changes. I was regularly updated on the progress of the digital rebuilt that was recently completed in North County.

Charter's letter indicates that "Customers are being made aware of this new service on their cable bill and through a digital converter message" They further state, " ... (now) that our contractual arrangements with KPLR-TV has just been completed ... we are required to provide these services to our customers on the date announced"

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the info and welcome aboard. The people on this thread are always thirsty for information so you can really be a valuable participant.

Hopefully we can also see some positive movement with Sinclair soon too. It would be great to get ABC-HD too.



Bruce

Originally posted by abcward


Hopefully we can also see some positive movement with Sinclair soon too. It would be great to get ABC-HD too.



Bruce

Speaking of Sinclair... I guess I am not the only one that noticed OTA they are the ONLY ones that don't have PSIP info on my HD?

Originally posted by dominicr
Speaking of Sinclair... I guess I am not the only one that noticed OTA they are the ONLY ones that don't have PSIP info on my HD?

Well .... unless you want to count WRBU :rolleyes:

In fact, it's the "unofficial" policy of this discussion group to withhold "diplomatic recognition" of WRBU as a certified local television station.

They are the HD broadcasting equivalent of a "rouge state"... :)

If they (WRBU) broadcasted a little stronger signal, they would actually be picked up by my US digital. That's why I didn't know about their PSIP info. Funny thing is, my old analog TV hooked up to the same antenna, WRBU comes in pretty darn good.

Based on these comments from Walt I wouldn't expect the grey bars on KMOV to go away anytime soon. Oh well I guess it's better then what we had....

I expect the dislike of the gray bars is because they are different. The fact that
they will reduce the chance of the center of the display getting darker relative to
the sides probably won't register.


Walt

>>> <jkramer@forteisp.net> 02/19/05 11:53AM >>>
Walt there are a lot of happy St. Louis based HDTV viewers with the recent
switch to 4x3, most still don't like the grey bars but agree it's a BIG
improvement. Thanks.

www stlhdtv com if you care to see the comments.

That's great news about KPLR on Charter, but please forgive me if I say "I'll believe it when I see it". I just don't have a lot of faith in Charter.

I spent a part of the afternon and evening at Channel 5, appearing on the air as a phone representative for Volunteer 5. A friend asked me to help out for the school she works at. Afterwards we got a tour of the station, which was kind of fun. I was on good behavior, as I didn't try to nail anyone for forgetting to flip the switch on HD broadcasts, but I did make it known that I belonged to a web forum of STL HDTV watchers, and we notice everything. I was impressed to see a nice Sony direct view HD television sitting out front in the lobby area. However, every HD display I saw in the building was incorrectly set to stretch SD material to fill the widescreen. Oh well....atleast they don't do that for the actual broadcast.

I tuned in for Vegas tonight, and noticed that the first few minutes featured problems switching to HD and 5.1 sound.

KPLR DT will be available on Charter's HD tier starting April 01, 2005. This debut will be followed by our HD broadcast of the Cardinals home opener April 08, 2005. The final Cardinals HD schedule has not been released - however we anticipate broadcasting 11 games on WB11 in HD during the 2005 season.

Thanks for your interest!

KPLR Technical

Great news on having a few Cardinal games in HD!! Now we have to start 'leaning' on FSMW to get prepared for 2006 in the new stadium....it would be a dream come true if, once the Cardinals are in their new stadium, that FSMW would broadcast their games in HD.

Please tell me I'm not crazy to anticipate that for 2006.

Greg,

Thanks for confirming the news on KPLR on Charter and the prospect of Cardinal games in HD this season on your station.

Having the home opener in HD is excellent. I want to thank you and your company for the considerable efforts required to make this happen.

KPLR HD would make nine HD channels on Charter. This breaks the "eight HD channel bandwidth limit" for Charter which we have debated on this forum. If we are lucky Charter has done some upgrading and about eight more HD channels are soon to come! I can dream.

Hopefully the upgrades are not due to compression.:confused:

Originally posted by redwine


Hopefully the upgrades are not due to compression.:confused:

In other words you're hoping Charter is not upgrading via the DirecTV method...

Well so much for 5.1 on 5-1.

The 5.1 channel Dolby Digital indicator is lit on my receiver, but Jay Leno's coming from the left and right fronts. No center and no rears.

Hey, is anybody else watching Carnivale on HBO? Pretty cool show, huh? The other day I was teased with a few images from 46-1, and I rushed to reposition my antenna, only to lose what little signal that was coming through altogether. Pretty frustrating, seeing now that Enterprise has been canceled, and I won't get to watch a digital airing of it on my set.

The is now a small stack of funds sitting where my pj used to be, and it's large enough to purchase the new pj now. However, I have to hold off, since there are some other pressing bills. How sad it would be to buy the new pj, and have the lights go out on ya. The wait goes on.....

Appeals Court Criticizes FCC on Digital Copy Protection

The following is an excerpt of a Reuters newswire story:
________________________________

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday said that regulators had overstepped their authority by imposing a rule designed to limit the copying of digital television programs.

"You crossed the line," Judge Harry Edwards told a lawyer for the Federal Communications Commission during arguments before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

"Selling televisions is not what the FCC is in the business of," Edwards said, siding with critics who charge the rule dictates how computers and other devices should work.

But it was unclear whether the judges would strike down the FCC's 2003 rule, since doubts were also raised about whether the American Library Association and other opponents had legal standing to challenge the rule in court.

After hearing arguments, the court usually takes several months to issue a ruling.
________________________________

For the complete story, go to:

http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=7703873 (2 pages)

NHL Hopes HDTV Will Help (Eventually) Lure Fans Back

The following is an excerpt from an SI.com story:

____________________________________

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The changes might be drastic enough to tempt 44-year-old Wayne Gretzky into coming out of retirement.

After years of lobbying for a more scoring-friendly and fan-appealing league, Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux is convinced the NHL is ready to grant his wish. The only problem is ending the lockout that has doomed this NHL season and could threaten another before owners and players agree on a labor contract...

...The NHL is also counting on the ever-growing popularity of high-definition television to boost TV ratings that are respectable on a regional basis but minuscule nationally. Both ESPN2 and NBC plan HDTV telecasts once the league returns, though ESPN2 first must pick up its options for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.

Hockey, like football, is well-suited for HDTV's movie screen-like wide picture, which is five times sharper than conventional analog TV. The league is also excited about the ever-expanding acceptance of HDTV, which saw more than 1 million sets sold recently during the run-up to the Super Bowl.

To aid the impression that hockey is a fast, edgy game, NHL uniform supplier Reebok plans to outfit players in flashier, sleeker and more formfitting uniforms next season.

"HDTV helps all sports, but it really helps hockey," Pilson said. "Fans unfamiliar with the game can see passes being made and collected without a skip in the picture -- it helps with fans who haven't played the game."
____________________________________

Doug,

When I have been involved with discussions around the water cooler about how to fix the NHL I have frequently brought up HD. I loved watching the NHL games that HDNet would broadcast. IMHO there is no sport that would benefit more from being on HD than hockey would.

The speed of the game, the small size of the puck, the action that takes place away from the puck - it all translates much better on a 16 x 9 HD picture rather than the standard crap we have been subjected to for years.

Hopefully when the NHL gets their problems resolved they can eventually get a decent television contract which includes as much HD as possible. It is a beautiful sport that needs to be seen in the most stunning manner possible.

Originally posted by abcward
Steve,

Thanks for the info and welcome aboard. The people on this thread are always thirsty for information so you can really be a valuable participant.

Bruce


Thanks for the welcome. I've been lurking almost a year -- reading and learning. I'm glad I'm in a position to pass along information that's of interest to this group.

It's a bit unusual to receive two communications from Charter in such a short time, but it is what it is. Converting the analog channels to digital is mentioned frequently in the forum. I thought I'd pass along the following letter I received from Charter regarding their plans. No specific completion date was mentioned, but it is encouraging news.

BTW, OCR software being what it is, any typos are the result of the software and not the Charter official.


VIA US MAIL

The Honorable Steven Wegert
Mayor, City of Ferguson
110 Church St.
Ferguson, MO 63135

Dear Mayor Wegert:

As your franchise partner, it is Charter Communications' ("Charter") responsibility to keep you informed and to educate you when technological advancements take place regarding our cable system in your community. This communication is to notify you that Charter is initiating an innovative project called Charter All Digital that will improve picture quality for our digital customers in the St. Louis Metropolitan area.

Under the Charter All Digital project, Charter will launch digital simulcasts of the programming that is offered on our analog services. The digital simulcasts will deliver a 100 percent digitized channel line-up (including both local broadcast stations and cable networks) to all upgraded Charter customers within the St. Louis market who have digital set-top boxes.

In addition to providing a high-quality programming signal, by launching Charter All Digital, we anticipate a higher level of customer satisfaction with a completely digitized service line-up. We also want to assure you that Charter All Digital will not interfere in any way with signal reception for the broadcasters and cable networks providing service on our system.

In the coming weeks, we will be providing more information to you about Charter All Digital and the steps necessary to make this effort a reality. Charter is also developing a plan that will more thoroughly inform and educate you about this important project, including a presentation from Charter technical staff involved with Charter All Digital.

Charter is committed to providing quality cable programming services in the communities we serve, and we feel our efforts in the Metropolitan St. Louis area with Charter All Digital will be the first step in making our cable system one of the most technologically advanced and customer-friendly in the United States.

We look forward to providing you with more information about Charter All Digital in the near future. As always, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 314-288-3767.

Sincerely,

Paul G. Berra
Director of Government Affairs & Franchise Relations

Steven,

Thanks again for contributing to our little community. This too is good news, maybe even more important than adding an additional HD channel here or there. We Charter subscribers who have Moxi DVRs have complained frequently about the quality of SD channels via the Moxi. Getting all channels in digital would greatly improve the quality of channels 2-99.

I'm not getting my hopes up that all is well in Charter-land, but these last two letters are at least news on the positive side.

Thanks again Steven - We appreciate the info!


Bruce

While the intial thought of Charter All Digital is enough to make me think about dropping Dish for Charter, I hope this is accompanied by more video servers to provide more bandwidth. It does not appear as though this move will mean the elimination of the Analog signal (which currently uses more than half the available Charter Bandwidth)

If, on the other hand, this change AND the addition of more HD channels is due to new equipment that is great news. If not, then it seems they will be mounting 3 HD channels per Frequency and introducing more compression artifacts. This is what D* is now doing and most D* customers do not seem happy about it.

I'll stick with E* for now, but if Charter has indeed expanded their hardware I may make the move to Charter sooner rather than later.

On a side note, my cousin (Peter Uihlein) was a guest on the Golf Channels Academy Live (it actually aired on Monday, but will be rebroadcast today at 2:30pm and Friday at 5:00 am) He is 15 and number 15 in the country per Golfweek.com 's amature player rankings with an average round of just over 71. Gotta say I'm more than a bit jealous.

Dave (struggling to break 100)

I wonder if they will charge more for Charter All Digital. If not, I might finally switch back to cable for awhile. I would love the ability to record HD and the only reason I haven't switched back yet was from reading how bad the analog channels look. I remember how bad they looked last time I had cable in the city, but that was due to poor cable lines. I find I watch more regular channels (ota) throughout the week than any of the others. Discovery and Spike are really the only other channels I do watch. I wonder if they can roll this Charter All Digital out the same time they are suppossed to roll out KPLR in HD as well. I guess we will see in another month or so. I can't see it really taking that long to get it going. It's not like they have to replace the lines in areas they already rebuilt.

As for NHL in HD this will be soo huge for them. The ice just looks so beautiful in HD and it's almost like being there. All sports look better in HD, but hockey really shines. It's a shame how the players don't realize how they are hurting the game they love so much as well as hurting their own careers by making this season get cancelled. ESPN has already said they will not be doing NHL Tonight anymore, it's just a matter of time before they give up on the NHL all together. It's just sad.

Ok gang... couldn't tell from the search. Are the Moxi boxes firewire (or even USB 2.0) enabled?

I'm getting increasingly frustrated with Dish and their lack of expansion in the HD arena.
Also, if FIrewire or USB are working, has anyone passed these signals to an HTPC to record HD content and playback at a later time?

Cheers,

John,
I feel your pain as I too am waiting for Dish to announce what their plans are for the new VOOM sat they purchased. From my understanding the current MOXI's have USB but they are not enabled. There have been threads that indicate a new MOXI to be released "in the future" that will have firewire. It has not been stated how local digitals and non premium (HBO/SHO) programming will be handled with respect to HDCP/Broadcast flags.

Until more info becomes available I'll continue with Dish suing their DVR921. It has been fairly stable for me, but I usually only record OTA programs. There is a new upgrade to be released some time in March. I am hopeful it will fix possible DVI compatibility issues with my Panasonic AE700.

Dave

Congress Debates Digital Transition, Analog Shutdown

Below is an excerpt from an interesting TV Technology NewsBytes story that summarizes recent Congressional hearings on the digital television transition and discussions about setting a "hard" deadline for an analog broadcasting shutdown.

Be warned that this is almost as entertaining as a Barry Bonds press conference. It's also irrefutable evidence that the US government should be involved in industrial policy only as an absolute, drop-dead, last resort.

______________________________

Congress Sorts Through Set-top Scenarios

Three certainties emerged from Thursday's congressional subcommittee hearing on "The Role of Technology in Achieving a Hard Deadline for the DTV Transition:"

1) There is not consensus on a Dec. 31, 2006 deadline.

2) Several lawmakers are technologically challenged.

3) Twenty years in Congress hasn't hurt Joe Barton one bit.
______________________________

For the full story, go to:

http://www.tvtechnology.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2754

I very proud to see that such great news about Charter is coming by way of Ferguson, which is where I live. Cool.

On a side note, I may just be able to pop for my new pj tomorrow morning.

Party at jedi's house this weekend!

Question for everyone...
Last night I watched NYPD Blue on 30-1. After it ended, they started showing My Wife and Kids. I thought this was odd that it was already in syndication, then I noticed it was HD. I switched to analog 30 and Millionaire was on.
Does ABC30 always reshow the primetime lineup in HD at 10:00 or was this just a glitch?
Thanks
Dug

I am an employee of Charter in the St. Louis area.
I have been told that the next couple of channels coming our way in hi-def are Discovery HD Theater and TBS.

Love my MOXI!

-hanjke

Originally posted by abcward
Party at jedi's house this weekend!

I'm soooooooo there! :D

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DroptheRemote
[b]Congress Debates Digital Transition, Analog Shutdown

Below is an excerpt from an interesting TV Technology NewsBytes story that summarizes recent Congressional hearings on the digital television transition and discussions about setting a "hard" deadline for an analog broadcasting shutdown.

Be warned that this is almost as entertaining as a Barry Bonds press conference. It's also irrefutable evidence that the US government should be involved in industrial policy only as an absolute, drop-dead, last resort.

______________________________

Congress Sorts Through Set-top Scenarios

Three certainties emerged from Thursday's congressional subcommittee hearing on "The Role of Technology in Achieving a Hard Deadline for the DTV Transition:"

1) There is not consensus on a Dec. 31, 2006 deadline.

2) Several lawmakers are technologically challenged.

3) Twenty years in Congress hasn't hurt Joe Barton one bit.
______________________________


What I find very amusing in this story is that Rep. Lee Terry from Neb. was a television news anchor in Omaha for many years. Nice grasp of technology!!!!

Originally posted by hanjke
I am an employee of Charter in the St. Louis area.
I have been told that the next couple of channels coming our way in hi-def are Discovery HD Theater and TBS.

Love my MOXI!

-hanjke

I also live in St. Peters and have the HD tier...what is the charge for MOXI and how would I go about getting it?

Ok, let me clear this up. I'm hoping to "order" the new pj on Thurs. morning, which means that if it's in stock, I might see it sometime next week....then we can have the party. Hehe...

TiVo Stock Jumps on Sale Rumors

The following excerpt is from tvpredictions.com:
___________________________

Washington, D.C. (February 23) -- TiVo's stock jumped 18.4 percent on Wednesday on rumors that it will soon be purchased by an unnamed company. Several companies were cited as possible buyers, including cable operators Comcast and Time Warner, but most attention seemed to be focused on Apple.

The Digital Video Recording service has denied that it's for sale. However, Apple, or another company, could be preparing a takeover bid. TiVo's stock finished today at 4.38.
___________________________

For the complete story, go to:

http://www.tvpredictions.com/tivorumor022305.html

Husker,

In the United Kingdom, they refer to television news anchors as "newsreaders."

I always liked that label, because it seems to me a much more precise description of the talent of the people involved. This seems especially true when it comes to local news.

Seems like Fox (maybe I never noticed before) has joined KSDK in switching the feed from HD before the show is actually over. How hard is it to actually wait until they actually see the credits before switching :mad: It's just downright annoying.

*rant off*

Originally posted by hanjke
I am an employee of Charter in the St. Louis area.
I have been told that the next couple of channels coming our way in hi-def are Discovery HD Theater and TBS.

Love my MOXI!

-hanjke

TBS or TNT? I didn't think TBS was Hi-Def.

My bad. TNT.
Channel 6, analog.

-hanjke

FWIW, I understand that TBS is available in HD in the Atlanta area and that they present many Atlanta Braves (home?) baseball games in HD. As a result, given a choice, I'd rather see TBS in HD than TNT, but then I'm a baseball fan and completely uninterested in the NBA. But I suspect that given the alternative of TNT or TBS that TNT is the more likely Charter addition.

Still, it seems like Charter would be better served by adding INHD and/or INHD2 instead of TNT, particularly as this would provide a higher volume of HD programming and provide Charter better overall differentiation against DirecTV, DISH and VOOM.

Maybe INHD is a money issue, or maybe now that Charter is getting ready to expand its HD lineup INHD is something that's planned and we just haven't heard about it yet.

If I had a vote [and obviously I dont] my wish would be that Charter adds ABC-HD and ESPN2-HD next. But we all know that any agreement with Sinclair would be difficult to say the least.

I fully expect that when Charter does add additional HD channels that it will be channels that are less challenging to come to agreements with.

But I will never complain about getting any HD channels, no matter how useless they may be. The Latin Mob Wedding Dress Channel in HD? Sure, bring it on!

Welcome to the Forum Mr. Mayor.

Quite the little forum we have here with A/V dealers, Station employess, Charter employess, SBC employees, and now government employees. Not too mention the people who haven't stated their occupation to this point.

BTW, I'm hoping all the KPLR Cardinal games are in HD. I'm pretty sure the Sunday night ESPN games will be HD. Bring on the BBQ and the baseball...I got spring fever!

Originally posted by hanjke
I am an employee of Charter in the St. Louis area.
I have been told that the next couple of channels coming our way in hi-def are Discovery HD Theater and TBS.

Love my MOXI!

-hanjke

Hey hanjke why dont you tell those fat cats at charter that we WANT ABCHD!!!

apocalypso,

Far be it from me to cut Charter any slack, but I think it is fair to say that the company is all too aware of the desire for KDNL-DT (ABC) here in St. Louis. The problem with KDNL is well-documented -- the station owner, Sinclair, is demanding a high fee for Charter to have access to their digital/HD service. In the past, cable has gotten local stations free, due to a debatable government mandate, but that's not the case with the new digital feeds.

While I sympathize with Charter customers who are being deprived of ABC HD programming, I don't believe this problem is Charter's alone to solve.

What I don't understand and where I don't believe Charter should be given any "slack" is their past failure to provide KPLR (WB) and, especially, KETC (PBS). The absence of these stations doesn't appear to be related to negotiation difficulties as much as they do Charter's long-running lack of interest in providing more than eight channels of HD programming.

BTW, apocalypso -- nice screen name...

I just did it....I ordered my new pj. It's the Optoma H31(dlp), and should be here by the middle of next week or so. I'll let you all know what I think of it when it arrives.

Congrats, jedi.

Definitely share your initial impressions, and let's try to get together once it's settled in and you're ready to it show off.

You got it, Doug!!

Congrats on the new PJ Jedi.

I just finished building my new screen (DIY 106" Black Out Cloth screen w/ black velvet 3D border) and am awaiting a filter that will improve the contrast of my Panasonic AE700 to over 2000:1 (real world measurements using SMART III)

Once I have it set and calibrated I would love to bring it over for a shoot-off to compare the pictures/technologies. I found I had issues with the rainbow effect using the single chip DLP models so I decided on the AE700 until the 3chip HD2 models drop in price.

So far I am more than happy with the results using Component Video and barely any tweaking.

Dave

Originally posted by duihlein
Congrats on the new PJ Jedi.

I just finished building my new screen (DIY 106" Black Out Cloth screen w/ black velvet 3D border) and am awaiting a filter that will improve the contrast of my Panasonic AE700 to over 2000:1 (real world measurements using SMART III)

Once I have it set and calibrated I would love to bring it over for a shoot-off to compare the pictures/technologies. I found I had issues with the rainbow effect using the single chip DLP models so I decided on the AE700 until the 3chip HD2 models drop in price.

So far I am more than happy with the results using Component Video and barely any tweaking.

Dave

Dave, I also have a DIY 106" BOC screen w/black velvet border and the Panasonic AE700. I'd really like to hear what you are doing to tweak the contrast ratio. This is my first front projector and I must say I am totally blown away by it. That said, I'm not against trying to make it a little better! :)

Mike

Alright, all you DIY screeners.... I'm interested in making my own screen too. Can someone direct to me where I can find the proper info?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

You can email me at: abcward@yahoo.com

Originally posted by hanjke
I am an employee of Charter in the St. Louis area.
I have been told that the next couple of channels coming our way in hi-def are Discovery HD Theater and TBS.

Love my MOXI!

-hanjke

Welcome hanjke,

The last Charter employee we had on this forum, ex-employee, defended Charter's technical prowess with regard to HD bandwidth over cable. He said Charter had no technical problems expanding the HD offerings. Some of us believed Charter was limited to eight HD channels using the existing cable plants/technology.

Do you happen to know about the technical side of the cable bandwidth and the HD possibilities?

Mike

As far as the DIY screens with black out cloth are concerned, are you guys able to get the screens to hang flat without any waves in the image? I might go for that if they hang flat enough.

Sure, I'd love to do a shootout with the Panny AE700. I think we'd talked about my coming over to see yours when you first got it, and I never got around to it. Sorry. I seem to be sweet on the dlps for the filmlike look and great contrast, as well as good blacks. One of the reasons I ordered a new pj is that I could see rainbows on my Benq, which had a 2X color wheel. The new pj has received hardly any complaints so far about rainbows, since the color wheel speed is 4X. The DarkChip2 technology has yeilded a CR of over 2000:1 even after calibration to 6500K with ColorFacts. Cool. I'll let you all know when it arrives, and what I think of it. The hardest part is right now....waiting. I can't believe that I'm finally going to get a dvi enabled display device. Optoma is even including a vga to dvi adapter, as well as an hdmi to dvi version.

Humax to Build Set-Top Boxes, DVR for DirecTV

The following excerpt is from PRNewswire:

__________________________

SEOUL, Korea, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Humax, a leading international manufacturer of digital satellite set-top boxes today disclosed it has entered into a development agreement and supply agreement with DIRECTV, Inc. the leading digital satellite TV provider in the United States.

The agreements encompass various set top box models including a portion of the entry-level receivers that will feature interactive services and an HDTV receiver capable of receiving MPEG 4 broadcasts due to ship later in the year.

In addition, Humax is producing the new DIRECTV DVR, also due out later this year.
__________________________

For the complete press release, go to:

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/02-24-2005/0003072276&EDATE=

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
Humax to Build Set-Top Boxes, DVR for DirecTV

In addition, Humax is producing the new DIRECTV DVR, also due out later this year.


I notice it doesn't say Humax will produce *a* new DVR, it says *the* new DirecTV DVR.

Is *D giving TiVo the boot completely?

Robert,

TiVo's agreement with DirecTV runs through 2007, IIRC. Once that pact expires, it could be renewed or not, but it's unlikely that DirecTV will abandon existing DirecTV customers, nor will TiVo want to remove any support it provides. It's about the money.

(Note: I checked Google on the DirecTV-TiVo agreement and found several references that state this agreement runs until 2007.)

Despite the misleading wording in the Humax press release, the DVR part of that relationship is not exclusive. NDS, a News Corp. (ultimate owner of DirecTV) subsidiary, will also produce a DVR product and that version is supposed to be released later this year. This is actually stated clearly in a story about this news that I read this morning from SkyREPORT E-News.

I recall reading an interview with a DirecTV executive during CES where the exec stated that DirecTV wasn't likely to enter into exclusive arrangements on customer hardware and that it would prefer to provide multiple choices to its customers.

If I didn't dream that and if true, that means that TiVo still has the opportunity to maintain its status as a DirecTV partner, though obviously it will have considerably less negotiation leverage than it had when the original agreement was reached and they were pretty much the only DVR player in town (apart from our beloved ReplayTV).

Originally posted by abcward
Alright, all you DIY screeners.... I'm interested in making my own screen too. Can someone direct to me where I can find the proper info?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

You can email me at: abcward@yahoo.com


Hop over to the screen section. At the top is a DIY screen link then hit the FAQ. I used 1x2.5" Poplar for the base frame. The frame consists of the outer edge and 3 support pieces in the middle. I then glued quarter rounds (actually I used shoes) around the outside of the frame to raise the outer edges. This allowed me to stretch the BOC over the frame without having to worry about the support pieces causing any ridges to be shown. Once that was completed I took more 1x2.5's, covered them with black velvet and attached them to the outside of the frame. This gave me a 3D border which I belive gives the edge of the screen more definition and does a better job of absorbing unwanted reflections.

Once I get access to a digital camera I'll post pics.

All total I probably spent about $200 plus another $200 for a nice mitre saw (I wanted/needed the saw anyways) My first attempt was using 1x1 square aluminum tubing painted flat black with the BOC attached to the back using velcro. I think I rushed that as the velcro did not stick well and I ended up with waves. Thus I opted for the stretched/stapled method and added the velvet border. The only downside was that I had to order the BOC online to get a sheet wider than 54"

Next up is a masking system...
As my wife has said many, many times... Will this ever end?
That and... Can't we have just 1 d*mn remote?

Dave

In regards to ABC- Sinclair wants 50 cents per subscriber per month to rebroadcast. No cable company in the country has agreed to these demands. As a result, Comcast customers in Baltimore who purchased new sets were frustrated to learn they wouldn't be offered the Super Bowl in HD, as Sinclair owns the Fox affiliate out there.

As far as the eight channel capacity goes, I haven't heard that one. I will ask around and let you guys know. I know that an HD "channel" typically takes up more bandwith due to the larger amount of information coming through. I would think it more of an issue of equipment to purchase.

I used to work for Comcast, and they offered INHD and INHD2 instead of Mark Cuban's HDNet networks. Some of the Discovery-type programming looked fabulous. I sat and watched penguins in Antartica with my son for half an hour. But it was weird, there was no voiceover. Just music. Then, watching the credits one day, I began to notice a pattern. All these great programs were made in Japan. They took out the Japanese voiceover and left the music. They were made in the mid-1990's. Special thanks to Sony were always listed. Best program I've seen to date was footage from a space shuttle Discoery mission. It was amazing.


HUSKER- MOXI is $10 a month extra if you trade it in with one of your current digital boxes. I warn you- there is a trade off. Currently, the analog channels (which are going to be upgraded to all digital sometime first half of the year) don't look all that good. But being able to record HDTV is great. So much programming I would otherwise miss.

-Hanjke

Originally posted by jedi35
As far as the DIY screens with black out cloth are concerned, are you guys able to get the screens to hang flat without any waves in the image? I might go for that if they hang flat enough.


I built my frame using 3" clear pine with 2 supports in the middle. Using a table saw I cut a groove around the outside of the frame and used spline to hold the material in place. After a couple of weeks, I noticed some wrinkles appearing in at the top and bottom of my screen. So I pulled out the spline on 3 of the 4 sides and stretched it tight again. I would say that it stretched about an additional inch. Then I put the spline back in and it's been perfect now for about 6 weeks. I don't expect to have to stretch it again, but if I have to using the spline makes it easier.

The material I'm using is window shade vinal. I'm not sure if it's exactly the same as BOC.

Originally posted by kalon74
I built my frame using 3" clear pine with 2 supports in the middle. Using a table saw I cut a groove around the outside of the frame and used spline to hold the material in place. After a couple of weeks, I noticed some wrinkles appearing in at the top and bottom of my screen. So I pulled out the spline on 3 of the 4 sides and stretched it tight again. I would say that it stretched about an additional inch. Then I put the spline back in and it's been perfect now for about 6 weeks. I don't expect to have to stretch it again, but if I have to using the spline makes it easier.

The material I'm using is window shade vinal. I'm not sure if it's exactly the same as BOC.

The groove/spline idea is a good one. I used the staple method and now wish I could do it over again... I've not had wrinkle issues... yet...

Dave

4 Sale -- DirecTV HDTIVO -- used, works fine....

$600

Hanjke:

Great news about TNT HD and Discovery HD being possibly added to Charter. Is there any timetable for this? Its always been frustrating that Discovery HD is offered on other Charter systems, and not in St. Louis. From your description, it sounds very good.

oby,

In case you missed it, Charter has confirmed that WB-HD will be added on April 1st - that includes some Cardinal games broadcast in HD.

From what I have seen, the TNT/Discovery is only rumors, but I could be wrong.

If ABC- Sinclair wants 50 cents per customer per month for their broadcast, why doesn't Charter just set it up as a separate pay service. Let the consumer dictate if it is worth 50 cents more a month for HDABC. It will tell both sides who is right. I think it could open a can of worms and set a bad president if a majority of the people choose to pay for it but if a majority rejects it, maybe ABC- Sinclair will concede. I say let the market place dictate the value of the programing.

I'll have to call my broker to sell some stock, and cut back on a few other things, and once I do that, I will gladly pay 50 cents a month for ABC HD.

The only problem with paying ABC 50 cents is that every other station would then expect the same fees. So, adding FOX, CBS, NBC, PBS, and WB would then raise your bill $3. I know it doesnt sound like much, but I dont want to pay any more money for channels that people are getting for free OTA.

Screw Sinclair - they get their money via advertising dollars - thats why we are forced to watch all the mindnumbing commercials every hour.

Your right, abcward.

f#$k Sinclair.

I think Charter and other cable companies are smart to resist Sinclair.

Advertising rates are ultimately determined by the number of viewers, and while Sinclair has some minor leverage now, once there's no more analog broadcasting (or the migration to digital tips into truly significant numbers), Sinclair is seriously exposed on ad rates.

I think this turning is point is actually pretty near. Even though the analog KDNL is going to be around for another few years, as more and more viewers get on the HD bandwagon, 4x3 analog-only programming is going have progressively less appeal to viewers. Just think how often newcomers to HD say that they watch some HD programs only because they're in HD and that they find it difficult to fall back to analog programming after getting a steady HD diet.

Unfortunately, as is typical in these sort of corporate bun fights, it's the viewer who gets hammered and loses out the most in the near term.

But Sinclair is playing a losing hand and the longer they hold it, the greater their pain will be.

Being a Charter subscriber, I've followed this cable/Sinclair argument for a long time, and there's one thing I've never understood. Since we already get all the other local channels in HD, it would seem to me that the market value of the local HD feed has been set. I realize that some of the local channels have different dynamics due to their ownership, but how is Sinclair's position any different than say, Gannett (who owns KSDK)?

I equate it to the signing of NFL draft picks. Once the #1 choice and the #3 choice have been signed by their respective teams, the market value of the #2 choice is set and they are usually signed in short order.

This is why I have a hard time siding with Sinclair on this one.

Don't get me wrong, I agree there would be some negative ramifications but wouldn't it be nice to have some system in place where we, as consumers, can show Sinclair what we think of their negotiation stance? I know we can call and write but I think that falls upon deaf ears. They only listen if it costs them money. Maybe we should organize a grass roots campaign to call the local advertisers on ABC to inform them we are not going to purchase their products due to the fact they are advertising on a Sinclair station. Maybe then they would listen.

A couple of weeks ago the board's were abuzz that Sinclair finally reached a transmission deal with one cable company for HD--Comcast. Although, it was just a temporary deal, to hash out the details, until a final deal could be worked out. Well, I just read at tvpredictions.com that all negoiations have stopped, and Sinclair yanked the HD feed from the Comcast system. The dispute is over "fees". Comcast was quoted as saying that at least their customers got to see the Super Bowl, and the Daytona 500. That would be painful--having the station for just a little while, than having it yanked.

I received a plasma display and called Charter to obtain the hi-def cable box. No such luck. They're out of them. They'll call when they come in.
The last time they had to reorder, it took about two weeks. This time they believe it will be less----they hope.

hanjke,

So it's really true that Charter will convert our STL analog channels to digital during the first half of this year? Did you get that in writing?? Hehe...

Actually, that would be wonderful.

Can anyone suggest what antenna I should get to receive the locals out here in Pacific?

I haven't checked yet today, but has anyone else noticed that the UPN off-air signal has been gone the past few days? I'm not having problems with any of my other off-air locals, so I don't think it has to do with my set-up. Maybe they are upgrading to HD? (We can hope)

Mike

It was back as of this afternoon.

John

Originally posted by JDKH
It was back as of this afternoon.

John

But not in HD I suppose?

I'm looking for a little reception help. Is my problem weak signal or multipath? Would an attenuator or amplifier improve my reception quality?

Can I hook two antenna's pointed slightly different directions to the same RG6 cable and antenna input on my receiver? Channel Master Join-Tenna (http://www.channelmaster.com/Pages/TVS/Passives.htm)

Channel Master 4228 antenna
100ft RG6 run broken only at the ground block.
MyHD 130 HD pc card

On the PC with the MyHD tuner, I have PCAnywhere installed. I can see my HTPC's desktop through the network on my laptop. I took the laptop up to the roof so I could watch the signal strengh of the various channels while tuning. Currently, the antenna is pointed in order to get the most of the available channels and not to maximize any one or two channels.


Right Now I have:
D02-1 (D43) Fox 40-44% signal
D05-1 (D35) NBC 64-69% signal
D09-1/2/3 (D39) PBS 0-13-20-30% signal (fluctuates)
D11-1 (D26) WB 69-75% signal
D30-1 (D30) ABC 36-40% signal
D04-1 (D56) CBS 36-40% signal
D14-1 (D14) KNLC 0%
D47-0 (D47) UPN 0%

My location (St.Louis Area). There is hilly terrain between myself and the towers.
http://www.terracorps.com/offsite/stltower.jpg

Here are some screen captures of analog signals. Can you tell from these stills if I have a multipath or signal strength issue? Would an amplifier or antenuator help?


FOX
http://www.terracorps.com/offsite/foxtest.jpg

CBS
http://www.terracorps.com/offsite/cbstest.jpg

NBC
http://www.terracorps.com/offsite/nbctest.jpg

PBS
http://www.terracorps.com/offsite/pbstest.jpg

WB
http://www.terracorps.com/offsite/wbtest.jpg

JEDI,

Of course it isn't in writing. :-)
One of the industry magazines awarded Charter's Long Beach, CA system the Cable System of the Year award. They were the first all digital system in the country. Article mentioned Charter expecting to add 2-3 more in 2005. Strangely enough, they said they received the most flack from the cable networks that were currently on the analog tier.
Anyway, I believe St Louis is slated for first half of '05. What they did in Long Beach- currently multicasting digital and analog.

-hanjke




hanjke,

So it's really true that Charter will convert our STL analog channels to digital during the first half of this year? Did you get that in writing?? Hehe...

Actually, that would be wonderful.

http://www.stlmedia.net/

Top Story....

Ha Ha

Ok, the good news is that my new Optoma H31 pj is actually here in my house. The bad news is that up until a few minutes ago, when I opened my front door, anybody in my neighborhood could have had a free wonderful new pj!! Yep, the FedEx driver just simply left an expensive piece of gear right outside my front door, and kept on trucking. He must have arrived early, and I didn't hear the knock(my doorbell is unreliable).

I just placed the order for the pj last Friday, and was told that the package would arrive Tuesday or Wed., and that I would get an email with my tracking info in it. I'd not received that email as of this morning, so I surfed to the Page Computers site, and checked my status. Lo and behold, the site(not a personal email) had all my tracking info, and I checked it. The pj left Texas on the same day I ordered it, and was actually being shown as "out for delivery " from the Earth City FedEx Center. Delivery was to be made by 4:30pm tomorrow.

I called FedEx to make arrangements for what to do if I'm not here for delivery, seeing that I can't have a pj just sitting outside for anyone to take. I was told that I could leave a note about the neighbor who would receive the package for me, but that I might have it delivered as early as today. So, I opened the door to put up the note, and saw a big package, kind of half hidden by the bushes. How's that for Page Computers and FedEx taking care of an expensive piece of electronics?

Well, it's here. After the unit warms up a bit, I'll fire it up, and give you all my initial impressions. I'm going to order a long enough dvi-d cable right now.

Fiasco,

I can only guess about the source of your reception problems, but I do appreciate the detailed info/pix that you've included here.

Here's a few thoughts:

* An attenuator might be worth trying. It's possible that you might be getting too much signal from one or more of the towers. But I suspect multipath caused by the terrain between you and the towers is the more likely culprit. Still, the attenuator might be useful in lowering the signal level to the point where multipath is reduced and the primary signal is maintained at a level high enough to allow good reception. If this works, you would probably need to make separate adjustments for each channel, which means it's not a very elegant solution.

The good news here is that the Radio Shack attenuator costs only around $15 and could be returned for a refund if it doesn't help you.

* You say that you adjusted the orientation of the antenna in order to get the best overall signal strength numbers. Based on that, I assume that there were other orientations that allowed you to get acceptable reception for one or more stations, at the expense of the complete loss of others.

For instance, it appears that if you turned the antenna a bit more towards the ABC tower, this would probably increase the signal strength for ABC, FOX and CBS, hopefully without seriously compromising the decent levels that you're already getting for the WB and NBC. But shifting toward ABC would probably lead to further deterioration of the PBS signal and wouldn't likely get you off the zero mark with UPN.

If that's correct, you may want to consider a rotor, or (as you suggested) the addition of a second antenna that could be used to pull in the stations not available via the current antenna. As you've got your antenna on the roof, a second mount might not be an attractive option, so you might want to consider a rotor or locating the secondary antenna in your attic.

Sorry that I'm not able to provide more help. It's a shame to be that close to the tower and not be able to get better reception.

Originally posted by jedi35
Yep, the FedEx driver just simply left an expensive piece of gear right outside my front door, and kept on trucking. he must have arrived early, and I didn't hear the knock(my doorbell is unreliable).


jedi, time to change your priorities. You spend thousands on electronics and can't afford the $8 to fix your doorbell? LOL

Hey Jedi, you shoulda told me it would be there today. I'd have grabbed it for ya... and let ya know I had it... eventually. :D

FedEx did the same thing with the $330 400gb external hard drive I ordered from newegg.com last week. They "hid" it under the welcome mat, which of course meant that my welcome mat was a foot off the ground when I got home.

Yep, FedEx is screwed up. I guess that I'll have to stay on top of any order well before it gets here from now on, and make sure that Fedex here's from me each time about delivery arrangements. So Bob, are you going to send that hard drive back since it's not working right?

abcward,
Have you stopped to think that my spending thousands on my hobbies is the reason why my doorbell isn't fixed?? :D :D

Yep, sent the drive back Friday afternoon. When my card gets credited, I'll get the SATA version instead. :(

...and really, who has time to get up off the couch and see who's at the door anyways? Thats why we all have so much electronics anyways - to avoid contact with the outside world. :)

At work the Sprint guys try to sell me a cell phone about once a month. I roll my eyes and ask why. They say so people can reach me in my car. I remind them I don't even want people to reach me at HOME.

Hell, if it weren't for the burglar alarm and the TiVos and ReplayTV's, I wouldn't have a home phone, either!

Personally I do not understand why we have a "no call" list but we do not have a "dont show up and my door and try to sell me something" list.

Maybe it's because no politician wants to be held accountable if a couple of girl scouts get arrested for violating that list...

All hail the death of Voom. It is a sad day.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050228/286239_1.html

Mark

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050228/nym238_1.html


We will just have to see

umm....


Mark

Wow, 2 opposing stories about Voom's fate. Yep, we'll just have to wait and see. It looks like I have atleast another 30 days to enjoy Voom.

OK, first report about the new pj: it's seriously good!! I'm keeping it. The unit was not damaged inspite of the rough shipping. When I first fired it up, I only plugged in svideo, and ran an analog cable signal. I did this with my Benq as well, since I want to see the progression from the worst possible kind of signal up to the best. Some adjustments are needed to clean up the out of the box picture. The resolution was great from the first moment, but the image was way too bright and washed out. I brought the brightness down quite a bit, and upped the contrast a little. Then I started seeing excellent black levels, contrast, and awesome colors!! The colors are way more vibrant than the Benq 6100, even at the 0 setting. I haven't seen very many rainbows, even with shaking my head from side to side a lot. I've have seen a couple, but I'm glad that you really have to go out of your way to find them. Blues and greens are out of this world....reds can be a little orangy, but maybe that can be adjusted.

I was concerned about the pj having a brightness rating of 850 lumens, even with the excellent reports from other owners. I was stunned to see that the picture is really bright and vibrant. As much or more than the Benq, which is rated at 1500 lumens. I don't know how Optoma did this. I even turned on all the lights in the room, and still got a watchable picture, just a lesser black level and softer colors. No problem.

I'm still playing around with getting the image shape right with the temporary surface the pj is sitting on. I know that things aren't as level as they should be, so the image isn't as even as it can be, but that will take more time and experimentation. I'm not worried.

Right now, after having watched analog cable for a few hours, I can say that this pj looks as good with svideo as the same channels did through component cables on the Benq. Sharpness is excellent, and the pixel structure seems tighter, as if there is more resolution. I see no screendoor from where I'm sitting, which is about 1.5X my screen width. The image offset seems about normal for a pj, which is good. So far, the svideo performance(as a result of the excellent deinterlacer inside the H31) is killing what the Benq did with svideo signals. When I first fired up my Benq with svideo, I couldn't wait to get a vga signal going. With the Optoma, I'm still watching svideo after several hours and loving it. Cool. Next, I'll hookup some component cables. It's nice that the H31 has 3:2 pulldown...the Benq didn't.

This unit is really quiet. In fact, my console humidifier across the room is a lot noisier. It does help that the pj is venting in front, and it's sitting in front of my couch, but I can tell that it's still a lot quieter than my Benq was.

The H31 is in economy mode, and there are many other settings that I still need to look at. It's on a video setting right now for films, gamma is 1, and most of the user settings are at around 0 for now, with plenty of room to get brighter and darker. It seems that I will be able to get darker blacks with this pj. I'm quite excited!!

Jedi:

The stories aren't opposing.

The letter of intent indicated a date of expiration of 2/28 for the negotiations to complete. They weren't.

The 2nd notice is the Dolans' attempt to continue the negotiations beyond the deadline.

Cheers,

Originally posted by jedi35


OK, first report about the new pj: it's seriously good!! I'm keeping it. I started seeing excellent black levels, contrast, and awesome colors!! The colors are way more vibrant than the Benq 6100, even at the 0 setting. I haven't seen very many rainbows, even with shaking my head from side to side a lot. I've have seen a couple, but I'm glad that you really have to go out of your way to find them. Blues and greens are out of this world....

I was stunned to see that the picture is really bright and vibrant. As much or more than the Benq, which is rated at 1500 lumens. I don't know how Optoma did this. I even turned on all the lights in the room, and still got a watchable picture, just a lesser black level and softer colors. No problem.

Right now, after having watched analog cable for a few hours, I can say that this pj looks as good with svideo as the same channels did through component cables on the Benq. Sharpness is excellent, and the pixel structure seems tighter, as if there is more resolution. I see no screendoor from where I'm sitting, which is about 1.5X my screen width. The image offset seems about normal for a pj, which is good. So far, the svideo performance(as a result of the excellent deinterlacer inside the H31) is killing what the Benq did with svideo signals. When I first fired up my Benq with svideo, I couldn't wait to get a vga signal going. With the Optoma, I'm still watching svideo after several hours and loving it. Cool. Next, I'll hookup some component cables. It's nice that the H31 has 3:2 pulldown...

The H31 is in economy mode, and there are many other settings that I still need to look at. It's on a video setting right now for films, gamma is 1, and most of the user settings are at around 0 for now, with plenty of room to get brighter and darker. It seems that I will be able to get darker blacks with this pj. I'm quite excited!!

Party at Jedi's house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PAR TEE! PAR TEE! PAR TEE!

:D

John,
Oh, I guess I misread the postings. Too bad, I'm really going to miss Voom.

Bob,
Bring it on!!

Here's an update on my new pj:
This is quite a machine. I'm loving it. I stayed up til about 4am, as you all might have guessed. The problem was that I had to sleep fast and teach at 8:45am(and I made it!!). I moved up the ladder to the component connection, which is, and should be, better than the svideo. I couldn't believe the increase in image quality and resolution. Even if this pj didn't have dvi, the component signal resolution should serve anyone very well. I watched the same channels through svideo, then flipped to component. Although component is superior, the svideo signal is still about as good as it can get for SD, in my eyes. I like the remore, but you have to realize that I'm coming from a crappy little cardlike Benq remote with buttons that were hard to press. The H31's remote buttons are easy to press, they all light up red each time one is pressed(and then they slowly fade off--cool), and I love the fact that things can be accessed individually(sources, AR controls, picture controls, ect. Very convenient. I do wish that Optoma had given us 2 adjustable back legs instead of one. This can be a big deal to those who want to table mount it. So far the flashing green light on top of the pj for standby mode hasn't been much of a problem, but time will tell.

The orangy reds seemed to be better with the purity of the component signal, though it's not totally gone. I want to get used to how the pj looks right now before I mess with the finer settings too much. Right now my settings are at or close to 0 in most areas. I really do think that the H31 looks like an HD2+ pj, especially with a component signal. The color is chunked full of saturated eye candy, even at setting 0. That's crazy!! I have seen more rainbows through component, but I'm not worried, since I tend to see fewer and fewer the more I watch. I have to remember that I haven't had a pj in the house for awhile. Oops, I should be careful about blaming the rainbows on the component signal. Maybe it was the programming, since certain scenes can cause one to see more rainbows than normal.

Is there anyone on here that knows for certain whatever happened to WOW cable that was approved and supposed to be coming in to St. Peters-O'Fallon a few years back? It was all supposed to be state of the art fiber optic lines etc.

There were all fired up at the time the board of aldermen approved the franchise to compete with Charter (TCI at the time I believe).

Just wondering :confused:

The company is aka WideOpenWest. I remembered seeing this some time ago and decided to google it. I googled the terms wow cable st peters and got a few results. Then I googled Wide Open West and found more info. Nothing really mentions St Peters any later than 2001.

Rich

The little red message light on my Charter cable box was on, and the message was, "New HD Channel" (unfortunately, no "s" was after the "l", in the word, "channel"). Anyway, they have officially announced WB 11 in HD.

I was hoping for more (like Discovery HD). Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

Ok Charter, that's one more. How about others???

On Monday night, well it was actually Tues. morning, HDNet had a senior moment. Instead of showing Smallville and Odyssey 5, they simply repeated the same episode of Odyssey 5 back to back. I guess they figured no one was watching that late. Caughtcha....

Check out these sites:

You go to http://www.newvoom.com

or

http://www.voomllc.com

you will get a staying alive page basically, however, if you go to

http://www.voom.com

you are getting we are dead message.

This is getting strange.

Mark

Check this out

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA507994.html?display=Breaking+News

Too bad you need a subscription

Mark

Ya know, it's mighty embarrassing when you invite friends over specifically to watch LOST and ALIAS in high definition, and KDNL broadcasts both shows in upconverted SD. Not once was HD even tried tonight.

What the hell was up with that????????

I think KDNL tried to switch to HD two or three times early on during "Lost" but the screen each time went black for about 5 seconds.

But I agree that it was disappointing, especially for such a great episode.

Just got a new HDTV with built in tuner. Using a 30 year old antenna in the attic I have been able to receive 4 of the local channels really well (4.1, 5.1, 11.1, & 30.1). Channel 2.1 comes and goes, and channel 9.1 I don't get at all.

My location is in south county near I-255 & Telegraph Rd. From antenna web I learned that my antenna is pointed straight at channel 30.1. (6 miles) Channel 11.1 (5.5 miles) is 1 degree east of this, channel 5.1 (5.2 miles) is 4 degrees west, channel 4.1 (2.4 miles) is 23 degrees off to the east, channel 2.1 (4.4 miles) is 42 degrees off to the west, and channel 9.1 (4.8 miles) is 91 degrees off to the west. Unfortunately I live in a somewhat low area with big trees in front of the house (north).

My question is does anyone know if an omnidirectional antenna like the winegard metrostar MS-2000 or any other would work for me? I would like to stay away from an antenna with a rotor because I "HOP" channels so bad it would never keep up and would be burned out the first month.

I would be most appreciative of any help in how to receive all of the stations from off the air.

Thanks,

Bob

:confused:

I could do without NBC throwing the double logo up on everything HD

DOes anyone else with a 720p native display notice the vertical green bar at the right edge of the picture?

It's only on KDNL, not on Fox or ESPN-HD, so I know it isn't the display or the satellite receiver.

Cheers,

ArubaBob's post just merged in (3 posts back)

Originally posted by marky2306
Check this out

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA507994.html?display=Breaking+News

Too bad you need a subscription

Mark

Try this link:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA508032.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP

or this link:

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA507994.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP

OK, jedi can get his chin up off of the floor now -- VOOM has risen from the dead yet again.

If this happens much more, I suggest the company name should be changed to VOOMPIRE HD.

The following is an excerpt of a breaking story from SkyREPORT E-News:

______________________________________
BREAKING NEWS: VOOM Gets a Reprieve

After the much talked about moves late Wednesday night involving the board of directors at Cablevision, the company announced this morning in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it will delay the shut down of the VOOM satellite TV service.

Cablevision said the closing of the Rainbow DBS business has been delayed to allow VOOM HD, controlled by Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan, another opportunity to present to the board a transaction that will give him the assets and liabilities of the Rainbow DBS business. Dolan is expected to report to the board on this matter by March 7, Cablevision said.

VOOM HD wants to take over the Rainbow DBS assets that are not being purchased by EchoStar. In January, EchoStar agreed to acquire a satellite and uplink center from Cablevision for $200 million.
________________________________________

Originally posted by ArubaBob
Just got a new HDTV with built in tuner. Using a 30 year old antenna in the attic I have been able to receive 4 of the local channels really well (4.1, 5.1, 11.1, & 30.1). Channel 2.1 comes and goes, and channel 9.1 I don't get at all.

My location is in south county near I-255 & Telegraph Rd. From antenna web I learned that my antenna is pointed straight at channel 30.1. (6 miles) Channel 11.1 (5.5 miles) is 1 degree east of this, channel 5.1 (5.2 miles) is 4 degrees west, channel 4.1 (2.4 miles) is 23 degrees off to the east, channel 2.1 (4.4 miles) is 42 degrees off to the west, and channel 9.1 (4.8 miles) is 91 degrees off to the west. Unfortunately I live in a somewhat low area with big trees in front of the house (north).

My question is does anyone know if an omnidirectional antenna like the winegard metrostar MS-2000 or any other would work for me? I would like to stay away from an antenna with a rotor because I "HOP" channels so bad it would never keep up and would be burned out the first month.

I would be most appreciative of any help in how to receive all of the stations from off the air.

Thanks,

Bob


:confused:

You live in Multi-Path USA, you may need 2 antennas with a Join-tenna.

Sorry about the problem with HD last night. We're installing new equipment and there was a defective cable that was not discovered before air. You may see some cliches in the next few weeks, but we're trying! The program guide now works, but still working on 5.1 audio.
Jim

Originally posted by WRacer
Sorry about the problem with HD last night. We're installing new equipment and there was a defective cable that was not discovered before air. You may see some cliches in the next few weeks, but we're trying! The program guide now works, but still working on 5.1 audio.
Jim

Jim, someone forgetting to flip the switch would have made us cranky, but testing new hardware makes it much more excusable ;)

Please clarify "still working on 5.1 audio". Is that part of what you are installing, or is it still just on the wish list?

Thanks,

Mike

I live in South City, and we're not getting KDNL-DT at all right now. It went on the blink Tuesday evening, and it isn't back yet. Are your uprades/repairs affecting the signal.

I have a Samsung SIR-T151, and it locks on 30-1, but it won't show a picture. Everybody else (program guide, too) works (except for WRBU-SD :D).

Anybody else having any problems tuning KDNL-DT OTA?

Originally posted by WRacer
Sorry about the problem with HD last night. We're installing new equipment and there was a defective cable that was not discovered before air. You may see some cliches in the next few weeks, but we're trying! The program guide now works, but still working on 5.1 audio.
Jim

5.1 audio on Alias and Lost? Woo hoo, I'm so there. Thanks, Jim!

We have the equipment in house for 5.1 audio, but we're trying to get the rest of the package to work first. Seems that what manufacturers claim will work...doesn't. We've been experimenting with the newest versions of some product and it will not work as intended.
As a result some receivers...like Samsung...seem to go stupid. Try rescanning and even recycling the power. Trying to get this resolved ASAP.
Jim

Another odd development on VOOMPIRE HD, from the Evening Bridge market wrap-up:

____________________________________

The Evening Bridge - March 03, 2005

TOP STORY - Another twist in the Cablevision/VOOM story: The company said the Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an informal inquiry into the trading of its securities, and has requested information concerning the suspension of its Rainbow Media spin-off and agreement to sell certain Rainbow DBS assets to EchoStar. The news came as Cablevision said it would suspend its shut down of VOOM, and after Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan replaced members of the company's board of directors late Wednesday night.

____________________________________

JEDI,

It is with great happiness I can announce two measures underway at your local cable company.
1. TNT and Discovery HD slated to be arriving in May
2. All Digital service also to be arriving in May

Don't know if it will make deadline for sure, but I think that's great news.

-hanjke


Ok Charter, that's one more. How about others???

On Monday night, well it was actually Tues. morning, HDNet had a senior moment. Instead of showing Smallville and Odyssey 5, they simply repeated the same episode of Odyssey 5 back to back. I guess they figured no one was watching that late. Caughtcha....

hanjke it kinda ticks me off that i didnt get an exclusive about this earlier than the post, what good does it do me to know somebody on the inside????

apocalypso,

Hope that you're kidding and just forgot to include the emoticons...

For example: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Dear apocalypso

I called your cell phone, you didn't pick up.

-hanjke

Look at all this great news....Voom's shutdown will be delayed, and it may not be dead after all, I'll have an all digital Charter service in May, along with 11-1, TNT-HD, and Discovery HD, and we are headed towards 5.1 sound on Lost and Alias? Ok...breathe deeply......in, out, in, out.....

Doug, could you translate that second post about Voom for me. I don't think I understand it. The main Voom site is showing a scary message. Thanks.

Originally posted by hanjke
JEDI,

It is with great happiness I can announce two measures underway at your local cable company.
1. TNT and Discovery HD slated to be arriving in May
2. All Digital service also to be arriving in May

Don't know if it will make deadline for sure, but I think that's great news.


Is it just me, or does it seem like Charter is improving since their change at the top of their executive pile? We had nothing but bad news or no news for 10+ months and recently Charter seems to be making moves towards fixing some of their lineup holes.

Charter takes a beating in this forum, and I have been one of those holding the stick. But some positive news does not go unnoticed, at least by me.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
apocalypso,

Hope that you're kidding and just forgot to include the emoticons...

For example: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:


I would like to take the time to thank myself for introducing HANJKE to this forum, I waste so much time here that it is hard to concentrate on work
:D

jedi,

I'm not sure what the SEC inquiry is all about. It could be related to previous plans at spinning off Rainbow Media, a plan that was laid out by Cablevison a year or so ago and then delayed once or twice since then.

I think there could be other issues here, but I'm not entirely clear on what they are. I think that one of the underlying issues here could be that the only way Dolan Sr. is going to be able to raise the money to buy VOOM assets is through sale of some part of his own Cablevision shares. I suspect that would concern major Cablevision shareholders and executives, as such sales could have a near- or medium-term negative impact on the share price, particularly if sales of Cablevision shares continue to be the primary way of funding VOOM operating losses in forward years.

It's also possible that sale of the shares could result in an eventual loss of control. The sort of chaos going on at Cablevision could lead a competitor or some other investment group to make a predatory bid for the company.

It seems to me that Dolan Sr. is opening himself up to major legal action by shareholders down the road. He's effectively reconfiguring the board of directors in order to get his way after they voted against his plans for VOOM. I don't know that he's done anything overtly illegal, but this sort of action does seem to undermine the whole point of a BOD -- an independent body that is charged with looking out for the best interests of shareholders overall.

with the addition of WB, Discovery HD, and TNT how will charter rate (content wise) against the other area providers?

Charter...new HD channels....OHHHH

Now I have to cancel my VOOMPIRE installation...

Originally posted by apocalypso
with the addition of WB, Discovery HD, and TNT how will charter rate (content wise) against the other area providers?

What other area providers are your referring to? There is only satellite for competition to Charter.

After Charter adds the mentioned new HD channels, their HD lineup will be:

NBC-HD
FOX-HD
CBS-HD
ESPN-HD
SHOWTIME-HD
HBO-HD
HDNet
HDNet Movies
Disc-HD
TNT-HD
WB-11
---------
total of 11


Not sure how many that D* or E* offers....anyone?

What does that mean?

Originally posted by abcward
After Charter adds the mentioned new HD channels, their HD lineup will be:

NBC-HD
FOX-HD
CBS-HD
ESPN-HD
SHOWTIME-HD
HBO-HD
HDNet
HDNet Movies
Disc-HD
TNT-HD
WB-11
---------
total of 11


Not sure how many that D* or E* offers....anyone?

Dish has HBO-HD, SHO-HD, HDnet, HDnetMovies, Disc-HD, TNT-HD, ESPN-HD, and CBS-HD (though we St. Louisans are *not* eligible to receive the CBS-HD feed), plus a PPV HD channel. Though not actually "offered" by Dish, the Dish HD receivers themselves have an antenna input and can receive all local HD channels OTA.

DirecTV has HBO-HD, SHO-HD, HDnet, HDnetMovies, Disc-HD, Universal HD, ESPN-HD, national HD feeds of all four big broadcast networks (though we St. Louisans are *only* eligible to receive the Fox-HD feed), plus a PPV HD channel. Though not actually "offered" by *D, the *D receivers have an antenna input and can receive all local HD channels OTA.

Note DirecTV is missing TNT-HD but has Universal HD which I find to be a pretty cool channel.

<begin rant> On the other hand, *D compresses the hell out of its HD channels to varying degrees. PQ on SHO-HD and HDnetMovies in particular is vastly inferior to those same channels on Dish (hence my signature below). PQ on Universal HD is vastly inferior to the same channel on Voom. And PQ on the DirecTV Fox-HD feed often lacks the sharpness of local KTVI-DT OTA through the same receiver. If it weren't for the HD TiVo, the DVR of the Gods, I'd dump *D and switch to *E or Voom in a heartbeat. <end rant>

Originally posted by abcward

---------
total of 11


Not sure how many that D* or E* offers....anyone?

D* has:
SHO-HD
HBO-HD
ESPN-HD
HDNet
HDNetMovies
Disc-HD
HD Pay per view
Spice HD (late night)
Universal-HD
---------------
9 if you count Spice.


Rich

The latest attempt to read the VOOM tea leaves comes from SkyREPORT E-News:

____________________________________________

VOOM: Dolan Eyeing DISH Deal?

Even more details are surfacing concerning Cablevision, its VOOM satellite TV service and attempts by Chairman Charles Dolan to take over the struggling satellite TV service.

A letter sent Thursday to Dolan by Victor Oristano, on behalf of independent directors and class A shareholder directors, detailed how Dolan planned to approach EchoStar to negotiate an arrangement in which the Rainbow-1 satellite supporting VOOM's service could be "brought" together with the VOOM business outside of Cablevision. "For our part, we agreed to support a delay in the shutdown of VOOM for a short period while you engage in those discussions and that if you are able to negotiate such an arrangement with EchoStar on terms satisfactory to us, we would be prepared to renew discussions with you for a sale of the VOOM business," the letter sent to Dolan stated.

It's unclear how Dolan would gain use of the Rainbow 1 satellite, if he could get access to the satellite at all, or even if a deal was actually discussed between the Cablevision chairman and EchoStar.

Cablevision released the contents of the letter through a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. EchoStar has a deal in place with Cablevision to buy the satellite and other assets for $200 million, and Dolan has been working to gain the other VOOM assets through an entity he set up called VOOM HD.

Cablevision suspended plans to shut down VOOM at the end of the month a day after Dolan appointed new Cablevision board members.

The letter also took issue with a new Web site - http://www.voomllc.com - that apparently is helping with the enrollment of new VOOM customers. "These efforts - likely to deceive new subscribers and the public into believing that VOOM is still an authorized going business of Cablevision - are in direct contradiction to the action taken by the board ... because they are an expansion rather than a shutdown of the business," the letter stated.

The Web site was still accessible Thursday night, but contained a message stating its services were temporarily unavailable.

Also, Cablevision revealed Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an informal inquiry into the trading of its securities, and has requested information concerning the suspension of its Rainbow Media spin-off and agreement to sell certain Rainbow DBS assets to EchoStar.
____________________________________________

There's an additional SkyREPORT story that provides a boardroom/Wall Street angle here:

http://www.skyreport.com/#Story2

Isn't there a free preview of Showtime starting today? I remember reading it on my cable bill last month, but when I tuned-in to channel 778 (Showtime HD) this morning, I got the "You need a subscription, blah, blah, blah". I didn't check the non-HD feed. Can anyone else on Charter who doesn't normally get Showtime confirm?

GlendaleHDTV, I subscribe to all the premium channels so I cannot check for you, but generally don't these 'free weekends' usually start on Friday evenings?

Glendale,

I think the Showtime preview is supposed to be across the board on all systems -- cable and satellite. At least, that's what I heard Kirstie Alley say the other night on Letterman when she was plugging her "Fat Actress" program. :rolleyes:

I wonder if Charter will still deliver analog channels as well as digital. If they go all digital only, that will result in a huge demand for the boxes. I know I have 7 televisions hooked up in my house and currently only use the Moxi box and one of the digital boxes.

I have Dish and was receiving Showtime this morning. (About 8:00.)

I will be DVRing all sorts of movies while we get'em for free. Anyone know how long this preview lasts? (It might just convince me to go ahead and grab some premium HD movie channels.)

I have Directv and Showtime HD was switched on for the FREE Preview Weekend this morning for me. I assume the SD Showtimes were also switched on, but I didn't check.

I think I am going to finally see about getting a moxi box. I never get a chance to watch HD through DTV as I don't have the HDTIVO and refuse to pay the price they want for it. Knowing that most of the shows I tivo are 2,4 and 5 this would probably be a better route for me. I will be selling my house soon and going back to an apartment so this would still be a good option. Hopefully in May, Charter will be ready for the Charter All Ditigal package as reported above. For those of you with the Moxi, seriously, how bad are the SD channels?

For those of you with the Moxi, seriously, how bad are the SD channels?

The SD picture quality is lower with the Moxi than without, no doubt. This has to do with the DVR having to take the analog signal and manipulate it into a digital signal before transmitting to the DVR.

However there are two items where improvement will be made:

1) The 3.2 software upgrade is due to be pushed out to St. Louis soon. This upgrade does include improved SD picture quality.

2) When Charter goes to a Digital Simulcast in May, the problem should be totally gone, since the picture will already be digital, so no need to have the Moxi manipulate it in any way.

Get the Moxi - you won't be sorry.

Originally posted by hall316
I think I am going to finally see about getting a moxi box. I never get a chance to watch HD through DTV as I don't have the HDTIVO and refuse to pay the price they want for it. Knowing that most of the shows I tivo are 2,4 and 5 this would probably be a better route for me. I will be selling my house soon and going back to an apartment so this would still be a good option. Hopefully in May, Charter will be ready for the Charter All Ditigal package as reported above. For those of you with the Moxi, seriously, how bad are the SD channels?

Bad, but you get used to it. We got Moxi in September, and I used to think ABC was absolutely unwatchable during Monday Night Football. But now, we record Lost and Desparate Housewives everyweek, and it doesn't seem that bad - I just think I'm used to it.

I'm wondering how much of an improvement there will be when Charter moves to all digital. Last week, the SIU Carbondale game was on one of the digital channels (402 I think) and Fox Sports Midwest (37) at the same time, and I really couldn't see much of a difference between the quality - they were both terrible.

Looks like we're finally going to get more Cardinals games in HD! Check out the paragraph at the bottom of the article.

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050303&content_id=956100&vkey=spt2005news&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl

Thats Fox Midwest ?--One possible wee small problem--as of now, nobody is carrying this channel in HD format, to my knowledge. Maybe Charter will carry these games as a "special HD event" sort of a thing.

In regards to the all digital vs analog question by MOOKIE-

Charter created an all-digital system in Long Beach, CA in 2004.
They actually are simulcasting both analog and digital services. No timeline for ending the analog signals just yet.

I read this article a little while ago-
http://www.tvpredictions.com/directvhdtv013105.html
Basically states that in summer Direct TV is changing their transmission to an MPEG-4 standard. This will render the current HDTV boxes unavailable for receiving any new networks broadcast in HD. I also believe the current HD-Tivo boxes will not work on these signals.


-hanjke

hanjke,

DirecTV initially will be changing to MPEG-4 for local HD stations only.

At some point in the future, MPEG-4 may used for for new HD (or SD) additions, but DirecTV has not made any such announcement yet. It's unlikely that a new HD channel, such as ESPN2HD, is going to be in MPEG-4 format, when it is eventually released on DirecTV. It is DirecTV's interest to phase in MPEG-4 gradually, and the initial decision to do that with the new HD locals means than there's no immediate need for existing subscribers to get new receivers/dishes, unless they can't receive OTA or don't want to deal with an indoor/attic/rooftop antenna.

Existing DirecTV receivers will be "available" and will continue working once the MPEG-4 locals begin to come online this summer. All existing DirecTV receivers include built-in OTA tuners and these will continue to work even once all DirecTV channels go to MPEG-4, as local OTA broadcasts will remain in MPEG-2 for many years to come (if not forever).

Very interesting and exciting news on Fox Sports Midwest going HD for some Cards games in 2005.

Obviously something must be in the works with getting an HD version of FOX on Charter, as this is the primary distribution outlet for FSMW.

Hopefully the same would be true for DirecTV, which is owned by News Corp., which also owns FOX. If that is to happen, I wouldn't be surprised to see the regional sports channels handled in the same way as the HD locals, meaning MPEG-4 only.

That would be a bummer, but in light of bandwidth constraints it seems like it would be the most plausible way to add multiple regional sports HD channels on DirecTV.

FSMW in HD???

Now that would be excellent news. With FSMW carrying the majority of Cardinal and Blues games I would be in hog heaven. I also suspect that when they do start showing HD games that the number of HD broadcasts will increase every year.

Oh to dream....every single Cardinal game in HD? *drool*

What Blues games?
:-)

yea yea i know, but eventually they'll get it going again...and when they do, having NHL in HD would be fantastic. There is no other major sport that gets more out of HD broadcasts than hockey does. When HDNet was doing NHL games it was breathtaking.

Originally posted by abcward
...When HDNet was doing NHL games it was breathtaking.
Thanks for that painful reminder, since HDNet was blacked out in St. Louis for 2 of the 3 Blues games that were in HD.

I still have copies of the hate mail I sent the stations if anybody wants to see them :mad:

Here is another source for the FSMW doing some Cardinal games in HD.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/02/28/daily70.html?f=et82

Since avsforum rules prohibit cutting and pasting of full articles: here's the highlight.
For the first time, FSN Midwest will broadcast 22 games in high definition.

Charter problems:

Well, I've got Showtime now, but no HD locals. All other HD channels work. Anyone else having this issue?

all good on my end.

Accurate: 2-KTVI, 5-KSDK, 9-KETC, 11-KPLR

8 Minutes Fast: 4-KMOV (This definitely ain't "Numbers" and it's not 8:03)

One Hour Fast: 30- KDNL (Whoa! They think it's 8:52PM)

So far off it's not even funny: 46-WRBU (The 'U' want's u to think it's 2:46am on Saturday! Off by almost 7 hours!)

What with GPS and all you wouldn't think it would be this hard. If you've been using the 'channel info' to check the time for program surfing be careful! Things are not equal in TVLand.

[This was kinda fun! Next: The program guide survey...]

Does anyone know if the dvi signal from the Moxi box is active yet?

Apparently it will be activated when 3.2 is rolled out, but it still won't work until the "keys" are ready. Hopefully soon after that.

DVI output supported. When content protection keys are distributed, users with TVs and projectors that can accept digital video input will be able to use the DVI connector. Because DVI handshake slows tuning, in most cases, however, we recommend that subscribers with high-end TVs will have a better overall experience using the component output.

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
Very interesting and exciting news on Fox Sports Midwest going HD for some Cards games in 2005.

Obviously something must be in the works with getting an HD version of FOX on Charter, as this is the primary distribution outlet for FSMW.

Hopefully the same would be true for DirecTV, which is owned by News Corp., which also owns FOX. If that is to happen, I wouldn't be surprised to see the regional sports channels handled in the same way as the HD locals, meaning MPEG-4 only.

That would be a bummer, but in light of bandwidth constraints it seems like it would be the most plausible way to add multiple regional sports HD channels on DirecTV.

I wonder how Dish Network will deal with this. To date, they're pretty much sleeping at the wheel regarding HD. Fox MW Sports would have to move to an HD channel for us to enjoy the games and I simply don't see Dish doing this quickly for each & every Fox sports region.

Let's hope I'm wrong.

And DirecTV's method of adding HD seems to be to compress what's already there, so they can cram the new channel into the existing bandwidth.

We haven't heard from 4113 in a while. Are we sure that Charter isn't going to compress our signal in order to give us 3 more HD channels? 4113, can you help us with info about this?

tcfila,
Thanks for the answer about dvi on Moxi. I can still test the dvi output from my Charter HD digital box. It's funny, I bought a new pj with dvi, but have yet to test any dvi signals. I'm trying to get used to what component looks like so that I can tell if there's a difference.

There is no senior management left at Charter. That may be why we are seeing new HD channels. The techies are running the place!:)

Wracer, I'm not getting a picture at all on 31.1, I know you stated you were upgrading equipment, but wanted to let you know that I get good signal strength but no picture.

I can't receive KDNL at all today either.

Same here, I get sound for 30-1 but no picture. I'm willing to wait, however, since we are headed for 5.1 sound on this channel.

Sorry, long post ahead:

My testing of my new Optoma H31 pj has progressed from component to dvi signals. Basically, dvi has blown me away. For a long time I've heard that dvi was mostly hype, and that component signals are just as good, if not better. Then again, it may be based on your source material and display device(fixed panel displays are said to benefit from dvi more). So far, every source that I've tried dvi with has given me a cleaner, smoother, more "packed in" image through dvi. It's especially clear when I put up a still shot with text. With component, the edges of the text is smeared a bit, but with dvi it is razor sharp. With dvi, it seems like I'm watching an 84" diagonal plasma display. It's very filmlike, and although I hadn't thought of my component connections as having video noise, the dvi signal makes me realize that the signal has much less noise in it.

In other words, it's like the effect of watching video on a smaller screen. Naturally, the smaller image image may look tighter, and seems to have more quality, as things tend to lose quality as the image size gets bigger. Well, dvi gave me the effect of a smaller screen with a huge increase in quality, but the image is still big. You know how good the image looks on those portable dvd players, or on your computer monitor? Well, that's how good my image looks now. It's simply unbelievable.

I have tested dvi on my Charter HD digital box, the Voom stb, and my worst upconverting dvd player, the Sammy HD931. I've read so many bad things about this player. The first thing I tried was a simple 480i component signal, so that the pj would do the scaling. WOW!! I was really impressed. In fact, the image seems smoother than what I remember from my Zenith 318 upconverted through component to 1080i. Of course, that was through my Benq. This means that the H31 has a first rate scaler built into it. Black levels weren't very good at first at 480i, but I'm still playing with that. It's better now. When I switched to 480p component, black levels were better still. Then I tried dvi 480p(it won't do 480i), and blacks were even better after some adjusting. Colors started to really liven up through dvi, and the whites were brighter as well. This HD931 player may be crushing the blacks, but I put on one of my hardest dvds to test blacks...The Matrix. I was very impressed. The movie looks darker than I have ever seen it on my theater screen. Blacks were very dark, and I also think that an important feature of the H31 pj is the contrast ratio(rated at 3000:1). Black levels are one thing, but a high CR allows plenty of shadow detailing to come through. Instead of seeing a murky filmy dark scene, you see more of what's in the scene, making a movie like Matrix watchable and enjoyable. I'll have to say that I didn't enjoy watching the dark scenes in Matrix on my Benq/Zenith 318 combo, even though the 318 doesn't crush blacks. The 318 did show plenty of image richness and great colors on the Benq, however.

Next, I'll have to test component and dvi on the 318 dvd player, and dvi from my Sammy T165 OTA tuner. I also have a buddy who has the Denon 1910 upconverting dvd player, and he'll bring it over soon for tests. I may also try my older Sony S7000 dvd player, since I know now that the H31 has a terrific scaler in it. The Sony player was the industry reference when it was first introduced(funny, it cost me a grand back then), and the component outputs are set for 480i only. I'm shamed by how little I spent for my 318.

I think I just figured out how to get my JVC 30K's signal to the H31 while still in digital form. The deck doesn't have dvi(I watch it through component), but it does have firewire. Since it's connected to my Sammy T165 OTA tuner, the firewire should pass the digital signal on to the Sammy's dvi port without any conversions, and then I'll just watch the JVC through the dvi connection. Cool...

At the risk of repeating myself (as if that's ever bothered me before)...

PARTY AT JEDI'S HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!

:D

I cant wait to try DVI through the MOXI on my sony grand WEGA kdf-42we655 (of course mine will be DVI to HDMI). I already think hdtv looks great. Do you guys think that this will make as big a difference as it does for JEDI?? i am also thinking about jsut getting one of the standard HD set top boxes from charter without the MOXI (the only problem being is that i am addicted to MOXI).

;) :) :D

Didn't find out we lost picture until later Sunday. I had to switch back to old system until we can find out what died this time! This has nothing to do with working on 5.1...just trying to make new equipment work...what a pain!
Jim

Don't forget Deadwood season 2 starts in 20 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scott

I noticed some people talking like Discovery HD is a done deal for Charter. I was wondering if there was an official source for that info? I did see the press release for Charter's agreement to carry TNT HD. Rollout dates for it will vary by market, according to the release.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=112298&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=681353&highlight=

Jedi,

Let me get this straight, you like DVI. I do too. I just wish my set had more than one input. I found the colors to be vibrant and gorgeous and much more like the films at the theaters.

Is the strike over yet?

redwine,
Hello. No, I don't like dvi. I LOVE dvi. Man, what a difference it has made for me. The more I watch it, the more I can see the softness of the component signal when I switch back and forth. I'm so glad that I now have a pj with a remote control that makes sense....dedicated buttons for screen aspect ratios, picture controls, menus, sources, and all the buttons light up at once when any one is pressed. Very smart, Optoma. Switching to dvi is so easy....thanks.

Yes, the strike is over at the symphony....yeh!! I enjoyed playing again in Powell Hall, and we had some lovely all-Mozart concerts this past weekend. In fact, some friends told me that I was seen on the channel 5 news Friday evening, as there were cameras at the morning rehearsal. Channel 2 shot me a week ago as I played in a benefit concert for the symphony members' health coverage.

fireshoes,
A few pages back there was a post from one of the Fergusen officials about the upcoming additions to the Charter lineup. Charter has to first contact the officials with information about changes by regulation, before announcements are made to the public. Discovery HD is on the list, along with TNT HD and 11-1. Fergusen will also get an all digital channel line up soon.

Oh, I forgot....yes Bob, party at my house. :D

Hey Jedi,
Glad to hear your enjoying your new PJ. I got my filter installed on my AE700 and it really increased the contrast. I've been debating upgrading to a DVI enabled DVD. I currently have a Panasonic XP30 which was touted as one of the better progressive scan units. I've looked at the Denon 2910, but I'm not sure I want to invest $600+ in a DVD player when I will probably drop another 1K to 1.5K in December for either HD-DVD or BluRay. How do you like your Zenith 318. That looks like a good price to upgrade to DVI. Any quirks I should know about?

Congrats on the new contract...

Dave

Originally posted by jedi35
fireshoes,
A few pages back there was a post from one of the Fergusen officials about the upcoming additions to the Charter lineup. Charter has to first contact the officials with information about changes by regulation, before announcements are made to the public. Discovery HD is on the list, along with TNT HD and 11-1. Fergusen will also get an all digital channel line up soon.

I think the DiscoveryHD info actually came from Charter employee Hanjke. I think the mayor reported the KPLR and all Digital info. As for a press release from Charter regarding Discovery HD, they've been carrying it in other markets for a couple of years, so this isn't any "new" agreement with Discovery. This was/is the source of endless frustration, knowing that they already had an agreement with Discovery, but weren't showing it in St. Louis for some unknown reason.

I have seen info somewhere that Disc-HD will be added in May. Sorry I don't have the link on me.

Originally posted by duihlein

... either HD-DVD or BluRay.
...

Dave

Please don't joke about considering HD-DVD. ;)
We have to vote with our wallets, and I hope the superior tech wins out. (can you tell which side I'm on :p)
Dug

GlendaleHDTV,
Oh, thanks for the correction, it wasn't hizhonor(Mayor of Ferguson). I got it wrong. My bad.

hizhonor,
Are you still around? Can you give us a confirmation that you've been contacted by Charter about adding Discovery HD? And, if you can, could you also find out if Charter will maintain the proper bandwidth to display these new HD channels, or will they squeze them into the current setup, thereby reducing the resolution?

duihlein,
What filter did you add to your AE700? An ND2? Yes, I'm loving this new pj. I can't seem to tear myself away from it. Finding out that the bulbs will only cost $299 was great, considering I'm going to stack up hours like crazy. I need to upgrade the firmware on the 318 before I can test its dvi signal at it's best. The two quirks that I've heard about is the white crush through dvi unless one uses the later firmware, and reviewers have noticed what's called "ringing" in the picture. I don't know what this is, and didn't notice anything strange through component on my Benq 6100. I remember the picture being especially lush and rich with color and fine detail, and can't wait to try dvi, probably later today. I want to watch the dvi signal from my Sammy HD931 a bit more, so I can do a better comparison.

What info do you have about the release of HD-DVD and BluRay in December? That's exciting.

Blu Ray!
Blu Ray!

Don't know if anyone caught this, so I'll pass it along.
Thursday night sometime during "The OC" - New Trailer for Star Wars Ep III.
Let's all go watch THAT at Jedi's house, I'll bring the popcorn.

Originally posted by jedi35
duihlein,
What filter did you add to your AE700? An ND2? Yes, I'm loving this new pj. I can't seem to tear myself away from it. Finding out that the bulbs will only cost $299 was great, considering I'm going to stack up hours like crazy. I need to upgrade the firmware on the 318 before I can test its dvi signal at it's best. The two quirks that I've heard about is the white crush through dvi unless one uses the later firmware, and reviewers have noticed what's called "ringing" in the picture. I don't know what this is, and didn't notice anything strange through component on my Benq 6100. I remember the picture being especially lush and rich with color and fine detail, and can't wait to try dvi, probably later today. I want to watch the dvi signal from my Sammy HD931 a bit more, so I can do a better comparison.

What info do you have about the release of HD-DVD and BluRay in December? That's exciting.

The filter is the following:
B+W 77mm KR-6 81EF Color Conversion (MRC) Multi-Resistant Coating Glass Filter

Long story/short, some guys on the AE700 tweak thread under Display Devices with way too much time on their hands tried several different filters. It was determined that this filter allowed for maximum LCD panel usage/light output while providing a linear D65 reading. The measured CR was above 2000:1. I have to say after adding the filter and adjusting I have a brighter picture with better contrast.

As for the HD-DVD vs BluRay, I know each technology has pros/cons and I would not claim to know enough to say which is better. I'm sure more info will be out before the players hit the streets. I am hoping one of the companies involved with both groups makes a combo player so I don't have to decide which studio's movies I like better.

From what I have read both camps would LIKE to have units out for the holidays, but at this time it appears HD-DVD is a little bit ahead of BluRay in terms of product. This may have changed in the past month.

You BluRay supporters, what are your reasons? Is it all about the storage size?

Dave

OK, party at my house on Thursday night!! :D :D I did know about the trailer coming up. In fact, I plan on attending the Star Wars Celebration 3 Convention in Indiana in April with some buddies. I'm such a Star Wars geek. What time does OC come on? I think the network is FOX. I'm going to record this baby onto dvhs.

Dave,
I'm still curious to see your pj. I promised you a visit a long time ago, and want to make good on it. Perhaps you'd like to see my new H31. Just PM me. I've done some further reading about reported issues from 318 owners, and there are more than I thought. Some have posted that the unit doesn't do well with dvd-r or dvd+r discs. There are complaints about units freezing at the layer change, and most report that the unit locks up when connecting a dvi to hdmi cable to the display. Some of this may be related to a particular firmware version or build date. The only issue I've dealt with was the unit not upconverting through component with the newer firmware. Switching to the old version fixed that, but re-introduces white crush on dvi. That wasn't a concern until now, since I didn't have a dvi enabled display.

Almost all 318 owners claim that the 1080i setting is the best, and that 720p isn't very good. Dvi seems to be the output of choice, with 1080i component coming in second. Those who reported not being able to see much difference in the upconverted picture usually owned analog crt sets. Some have seen macrovision distortions on black screens, showing up as weird colored blocks. I'm also told that one should not connect component and dvi at the same time, as the unit cannot handle 2 high rez connections, and will freeze up. Audio sync problems, if noticed, can be fixed by hitting rewind and play again(or just stop and play). I'll report back if I begin to notice any of these issues.

Jedi,
I hope to make it over to your house on Thursday. If I can I may bring my AE700. I would like to hook it up to some of your DVI enabled devices and see if there is any issues with the HDCP handshake (the AE700 is HDMI). If you want to keep the focus on your new toy (which I totally understand) perhaps we can do that another night.

I've started looking at the Panasonic S97 Upconverting DVD player. It's a little more than I planned on spending, but it does have HDMI and thus elimantes the HDCP handshake issues. Of course then I may have to look into a new receiver that does HDMI switching...

I think I just heard my wife sigh...

Dave

Dave,
Sure, come on over. I think that maybe 3 or 4 guests should be just fine. My concern is that with too many, my space gets crowded really fast and someone might trip over a wire or something. I realize that there is no way on earth that I could be married and live like I do. :D Just PM or call for directions. I would welcome a look at the AE700. Bring it on. I found out more about 318 issues, but I'll share that with you when I see you.

Anybody else interested? Hanjke, Bob, Doug? I just have to be sure to keep the number small. You can just squeeze into my house behind my couch since I had to move it back to make more room for the pj stand. Even then, there isn't much leg room between the couch and the pj.

Jedi,

Sorry to say I now have exercise class Tuesday and Thursday nights, so I won't be in attendance. :(

I'm free any nights except those two nights, and Wednesday of course.

Much as I hate to admit it, effective today I no longer hate the Arizona Cardinals. For anyone who didn't hear, Kurt Warner signed a one year deal with them today. This year's two Rams/Cardinals games are gonna ROCK.

Originally posted by jedi35
GlendaleHDTV,
Oh, thanks for the correction, it wasn't hizhonor(Mayor of Ferguson). I got it wrong. My bad.

hizhonor,
Are you still around? Can you give us a confirmation that you've been contacted by Charter about adding Discovery HD? And, if you can, could you also find out if Charter will maintain the proper bandwidth to display these new HD channels, or will they squeze them into the current setup, thereby reducing the resolution?.

Yup ... I'm still here, and GlendaleHDTV summed up my contribution correctly (KPLR and the all digital move) I've seen nothing regarding Discovery, save for what I read here.

Yet another letter arrived on Friday ... this time a price modification notice:
Big Value Pack and Biggest Value Pack are increasing by $2.00. Bigger Value Pack stays the same at $65.99 effective May 1st. Notice will start hitting the bills beginning March 22. I assume this is impacting St. Louis Metro and not just Ferguson.

I've subscribed to the "Biggest" since becoming HD aware as I can get the HBO and SHOWTIME HD programming, but have recently been questioning what value I'm getting from Starz. I may use this as an excuse to downgrade to "Bigger" and save $5.

Steve

So I called Charter yesterday to see what it would cost me to switch to Charter from DTV. Well it seems Charter's new thing is to get people to sign a two year contract. I kinda laughed at them. I asked them how much it would cost if I decided to get our of my contract and they said $250. For signing the contract, I think they said I would get all the channels for under $50. This did not include a moxi box. Knowing that I will end up moving in the next year, there is no way I would sign a contract with them. I remember how bad Charter was in the city and the last thing that I need is to get into a contract with them that I can't get out of. With one moxi, I'd be looking to pay more than I currently do with DTV. Sure i'd be able to record HD channels but I think to pay more, all the channels would have to look good.

I currently have Charter. In fact we just called to set up Charter in the new house we are moving to at the end of this month. They have never mentioned a contract to me and was never mentioned during the call yesterday. To me, that is one of the best things about Charter: if i get fed up, I can leave any time I want to.

Try calling back - maybe you just got one of the 'challenged' CSR's that they have on staff.


*** We are moving to O'Fallon - I know there are some other O'Fallon/Dardenne residents that are a part of this thread. Any advice/tips that I need to know on my new area? [we are moving into Turtle Creek]

Turtle Creek?
I have a part-time job right across the street from there.
Picasso's has decent coffee if you're looking for that. They're on Highway K- as is most everything else. Also, Office Max is right on the corner of K & Mexico. Love Office Max. Little Mexican restaurant on that corner is supposed to be pretty good too...

Long before I was ever a Charter employee (and I know cable has its limitations, so don't count me as a corporate hack just yet) we signed up for Charter telephone. At the time, they had much better rates than SBC, and I don't have one complaint about the service.

As far as MOXI goes, I think we users can see the Microsoft influence there. It's good, not perfect. The philosophy- get it out to the masses now, then continuously fix it with upgrades and patches.

APOCALYPSO-

Your grand WEGA kdf-42we655 is sub-par.
:-)

Fellas- One of my favorite movies will be on HDNet Movies tomorrow.
"Deterrence"
8:15AM and 5:15PM
Not a great movie as far as showcasing the HD format, but a good script with some interesting plot twists.

hizhonor,
Thanks for the reply. I guess all we can do is wait until Charter sends you something about Discovery HD, and party then. I don't think I'll put much stock in Charter news until I hear it from you.

Hey Doug, are you out there these days? We haven't heard from you.

Is anyone else experiencing freezes on the HDNet channels. This does seem to happen every few months, and none of the other channels are affected. Bob, are you getting freezes on D*? I see it on Moxi and the HD digital box as well. If other systems are getting it as well, then maybe the problem is at the programmers end.

46-1 is now teasing me with a watchable signal for the most part, but it doesn't kick in until fairly late at night, when most of the air traffic has ceased. Actually, this has to be blamed on the airport I guess. Would a signal booster work in my case?

I guess all we can do is wait until Charter sends you something about Discovery HD, and party then. I don't think I'll put much stock in Charter news until I hear it from you.

Keep in mind that Charter already broadcasts Discovery HD to some of their other markets. This is why you have not seen any official press releases on adding Disc-HD to St. Louis. Those releases are usually reserved for brand new contracts that Charter has entered into.

I have it under advisement from my Charter insider that Disc-HD will be added soon, probably in May.

I was thinking about the Cardinals and some HD games coming from KPLR and FSMW this season.

I really hope the final home series games will all be in HD. For history's sake it would be nice if these games were archived in HD.

Then again hopefully there will be playoff games after that.

Turtle Creek? abcward....

I hope you like white vinyl fences. That is your only choice.

There are the multiple golf courses and the high school which is basically in the subdivision. I hope you have kids.

I live over by Winghaven which is seeing its share of growth.

Welcome to the area! We don't see many people move from Wildwood to here.

I think the freezing I've seen on the HDNet channels has stopped, but we'll see.

Originally posted by jedi35
I think the freezing I've seen on the HDNet channels has stopped, but we'll see.

I saw HDNet freeze tonight while I was surfing the HD channels on my way to the encore of the first episode of the second season of Deadwood on HBO-HD. I just can't get enough of Deadwood.

Originally posted by redwine
Turtle Creek? abcward....

I hope you like white vinyl fences. That is your only choice.

I have no plans to put up a chainlink fence or barbed wire - so I guess i'll survive ;)

abcward....

My best tip.....Pizza Stone....

It just opened up a few months ago. They deliver. Good....

Vinyl fence comment....I have a friend who they would not allow a very nice cedar fence...I like wood better than artificial fencing...just an opinion.

I spoke too soon. Last night the freezes were less frequent, but were still there.

I've been watching KDNL OTA (analog) for the past few days...and today...ABC30 (Digital OTA) is back....but just like it was before. (I just checked today...)

WRacer and Co. @ KDNL were working on something (and having trouble with it last week) and my Samsung SIR-T151 didn't like whatever it was...

Wracer posted on 7th that something went on the blink...I'd love to see that program guide...:)

I hope they can fix it....I don't have 5.1 hardware, but KDNL sounds pretty good with 2 speakers right now. I just like to have signal and the program guide at the same time....unlike neither last week.

I was surprised....We live just a block north of 44 by the Botanical Gardens and get KDNL pretty good w/o an antenna...so we can watch a slightly fuzzy picture of the analog ABC30...

Keep working on it...You've got fans around here rooting you on! :D

Now what sort of fire do we have to light under WRBU to do digital TV right....It would be nice to see Enterprise (even the reruns in native 1080i).

WRBU actually showing Enterprise in HD? Ok Doug, I can hear you from here.....

I have a friend moving out to Wentzville this summer.
How is the OTA signal out that far?
He said it's not that great now, and he's in Florrisant.

Strange, when I lived in Florissant I never had a problem with OTA. In fact, I could pick up KDNL with just one of those little round loop antennas attached to the back of the TV.

Wentzville's a bit farther out than where I'm at now, but I have no problem here in St. Peters.

Originally posted by abcward
I have it under advisement from my Charter insider that Disc-HD will be added soon, probably in May. Just like they were suppose to be adding our local digital ABC feed soon? LOL

Has anyone here used HDNet's test patterns to tweak their set? I'm a little disappointed in what that last pattern is telling my about my set's true resolution.

Originally posted by STL
Just like they were suppose to be adding our local digital ABC feed soon? LOL

That's not Charter's fault: its the jerks at Sinclair. Even cable systems that have their act together don't carry Sinclair owned HD stations.

Yea, Charter can foot the blame for a lot of things - not having ABC-HD is not one you can blame on them.

Sinclair is the devil...

I don't blame them for not having ABC-HD, but I do blame for their people saying it was "coming soon" when it anyone in-the-know knew it wasn't.

No offense, but who here said it was coming soon?

Checkout the post on 12-23-2003 at 09:27PM. I've heard others claim Charter CSRs told them (now long ago) that ABC-HD was coming soon.

2003?? cmon...


We all realize that there are uneducated customer service reps in any company, Charter included. Personally, I would love to see ABC-HD added, but everyone here realizes with Sinclair involved that is just not gonna happen any time soon.

However I do give Charter credit in that they are adding additional HD channels in the next couple months: Discovery, WB and TNT. To me it shows that they are at least attempting to right some wrongs.

You asked for an example so I gave you one. The very fact they made the [false] claim way back in 2003 just makes it all that MUCH worse!! So are you saying it was okay for them to lie in 2003?

Relax Francis...

You are not understanding the point - Charter has NEVER made any public announcement that ABC-HD will be added. You should not be crucifying them because maybe some random CSR guessed and said it was coming. If you did that, many companies should receive the same wrath because it seems like there is always CSR's for every company taking potshot guesses without any knowledge...

You're the one that got all defensive about my comment and then wanted some proof -- which I promptly gave you!

What proof? Again I state [and this is clearly getting real old] Charter has NEVER made any press release stating that a contract has been signed with ABC-HD. What part of that are you struggling with?

You're mad that Charter has a few uneducated CSR's? Fine, we all agree that they have a few boobs that man their phones. So does every other company I am forced to call...Gas Company, Electric Company, Phone Company, DishNet, etc etc etc etc

Originally posted by abcward
What proof? Again I state [and this is clearly getting real old] Charter has NEVER made any press release stating that a contract has been signed with ABC-HD. What part of that are you struggling with? I think you are missing it -- I NEVER claimed that Charter made a formal press release stating a contract had been signed for ABC-HD in St. Louis. I complained about their CSRs making false claims to make a sale and you asked "who here" said that. I then supplied you with a post back in 2003 where someone claimed Charter told them ABC-HD was coming.

Has Charter has ever made any public announcement that Discovery-HD would finally be carried in St. Louis?

abcward,
My original reply to your post was one made for the most part in jest. It was then you that got very defensive about Charter. Do you work for them or something?

Charter has not made any announcement that Disc-HD will be added to St. Louis. Charter generally makes announcements when they sign a brand new contract with a channel they do not currently provide. Charter already provides Disc-HD to many of their markets.

The info you have been reading about recently is from Charter Employees who have received information internally that Disc-HD will be added in the coming months. If you chose not to believe the information, fine. I have faith in the people that I know that their information is correct...as it has been in the past.

I do get irritated with Charter-bashing just for sake of bashing. Feel free to scan through the multitude of pages. I have many many times complained about Charter and they way they do business. However I try to be fair and also give them credit for doing positive moves, like adding three new HD channels in the next couple months. I don't see any other company adding new HD channels.

And for goodness sake - people really need to stop taking the word of CSR's as gospel. Generally these are the lowest paid people at a company who are also the least informed employees. CSR's also love to spew out guesses just to please the customer or get them off the phone.


and no, i am not a Charter employee and have never been one...

Can we move on please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Somebody need a nap?

Has anyone here used HDNet's test patterns to tweak their set? I'm a little disappointed in what that last pattern is telling my about my set's true resolution.

Can anyone in Florissant pickup WRBU with an indoor antenna?
I can pickup all the other stations with about an 80 - 90% signal. KETC is the worse at 70-75% but that is plenty good. WRBU only comes in at 48% when I try to manually tune it in but it never shows a picture. I use the DishNetwork 811 receiver.

Any o' you guys call me Francis... I'll kill ya!

Anybody get a chance to watch DETERRENCE on HD Net Movies yesterday?

Originally posted by hanjke
Any o' you guys call me Francis... I'll kill ya!

But you realize you're our big toe

Could someone explain to me how Charter will go all digital with channels 1-99? I hear they did it in Long Beach. Will we need boxes on all TVs in our house? Will they keep 1-99 analog and redistribute the digital equivalents on, for example the 900-999 channel range?

Originally posted by redwine
Could someone explain to me how Charter will go all digital with channels 1-99? I hear they did it in Long Beach. Will we need boxes on all TVs in our house? Will they keep 1-99 analog and redistribute the digital equivalents on, for example the 900-999 channel range?


The way I understand for the immediate future they will be doing both Digital & analog so a converter box is not required. In the future they will want to steal back that bandwidth used for analog, but for now they will be doing both at least thats how its supposed to go down in the STL and a couple other market areas. After that I think when they do go all digital they supposed to have some other things that will allow digital programming on regular TV's. It won't be a full fledged Digital cable box with menu guide n such, but will just decode the channels. At least thats my understanding on what I have read up on..

STL,

I haven't looked closely at the HDNet test patterns, but it's been documented here on AVS (and elsewhere) that the overscan pattern has been incorrect since Day One and the problem has never been addressed.

In my mind that raises questions about the usefulness of all of the HDNet patterns, even for a basic AVIA-style tune-up. It's nice that HDNet is doing this, but if the patterns aren't based on correct standards, what's the point?

While I wouldn't worry too much about what the resolution pattern is indicating, feel free to drop me a private message if you want to go into more detail on this issue. I actually recorded the patterns last month, but don't have them available at the moment, so a screenshot would be useful if you want to get into specifics.

Anyone ever see the list of top ten celebs to see in HD... and top ten NOT to see?

http://www.onhd.tv/thelist.htm