I have 1080i and 480i checked as that is all my Toshiba widescreen will take. My SD channels channels fill the screen. My issue is, before when watching a HD channel that was showing a program that was not in HD, I could go in and sellect cropped and it would fill the screen. I used to do this with the local channels because the picture is always better on the HD channels. Now now matter what, the picture always has the bars on the side. If it's still not making since, try watching Family Guy tonight on FOX HD and using the moxi box, make it fill the screen.

Hi. Just wondering is it really true Charter is going All Digital in St. Louis July 12th? I read a post in here were someone posted it said that their was an announcement saying that on their Charter bill. I called Charter and the CSR said nope, not for a couple of years. I guess Charter CSR's are not informed of the All Digital plan yet? If Charter is going All Digital in St. Louis on July 12th will they have new pricing since Basic and Expanded will be digital? Will Charter still have their digital service fee and require you to have a digital tier since basic and expanded will be digital? I don't watch the channels on the Family and Info that much and I'm not that much of a movie buff to want any of the movie tiers. I was wondering once Charter goes All Digital if you will be able to just have Basic, Expanded and the Moxi Box, I have the Moxi Box now. Thanks, Craig.

Craiger,

I have no idea how Charter's pricing structure will change, but I doubt that there's going to be any decrease in the price of entry for digital service.

Charter is not eliminating its analog service. Instead, it is duplicating channels 2-99, currently available only in analog format, as digital channels for digital subscribers. One of the benefits of this is that digital subs such as yourself with Moxi, won't have to deal with the picture degradation that happens as a result of taking the analog channels into Moxi.

I assume that a week or two after the digital change occurs that Charter CSRs might be able to give you the authoritative word on any changes in pricing. Until then, you could maybe check in on the local AVS discussion group for Long Beach, California, as that was the first Charter market to implement this digital project.

New Tower Maps Available

I've created new St. Louis tower maps and uploaded them to the first resource message at the beginning of this discussion thread:
...

Just a thought, I know you already did the work, but... Any way next time you update the maps you could add the channel #'s to the tower locations? I hand-wrote them for my wife who was helping me point the antenna - it was helpfull.

Charter's "all digital simulcast" is just that: a simulcast of their current analog channels. The channels will be available both in analog and in digital at that time.

I do suspect that at some point down the line that Charter will attempt to get all analog-only customers to switch to digital, but that is probably not in the immediate future.

For those of you Moxi owners, I'm guessing (since I don't own one) that when you have it set to 1080i only, and tune to an SD channel, the Moxi upconverts it to 1080i and adds the pillar bars on the left and right sides to create a 16x9 picture. Your monitor simply sees a 16x9 signal and doesn't do any stretching, which is why 4x3 stuff looks normal when you have the Moxi set to output 1080i only.

When you have the Moxi set to output 1080i and 480i and you tune to an SD channel, the Moxi outputs 4x3 SD to your monitor (without adding pillar bars) and so your monitor stretches it to fill the 16x9 screen.

Again, I don't own a Moxi so I'm just guessing....

I found that post:

Charter has exciting news for our St. Louis area customers! Starting July 12, 2005, we will launch Charter All-Digital service, the most advanced digital cable system available in the nation today. For our current Charter Digital customers, every channel (Basic, Expanded Basic & Digital) will be delivered with superior digital pictures and premium quality sound at NO ADDITIONAL COST. In order to bring you Charter All-Digital, we will be moving two channels from our Expanded Basic line-up to our Digital Family & Information Tier. Hallmark Channel will move from Channel 51 to Channel 129 and SoapNet will move from Channel 67 to Channel 130. In order to continue to receive these two channels, it will be necessary to subscribe to this digital tier, which for $4.00 more per month will allow you to receive over 35 channels of exciting and informative entertainment. It's all part of our commitment to provide you with the best service and the latest technology. If you have any questions, please contact our customer care department at 1-888-GET-CHARTER.

It looks to me like Charter isn't going to be duplicating the Basic and Expanded according to this. Their just moving two channels. I could be wrong.

Well, I got the 3.2 update to Moxi in Glen Carbon sometime Friday night. SD looks better in 480i rather than 1080i as before and native passthru is nice.

I'm having one problem I've not seen anyone talk about. My HD channels, along with many of the SD channels periodically disappear. I tried a reboot of the Moxi box by cycling the power but that made no difference. Each time it has happened, it self-corrected after some period of time. Looks like I'll be calling the stellar CSRs soon.

Terry

it seems that Charter is adding an HD-PPV channel to 791. The only event in the lineup is the Tyson fight next Saturday

I found that post:

Charter has exciting news for our St. Louis area customers! Starting July 12, 2005, we will launch Charter All-Digital service, the most advanced digital cable system available in the nation today. For our current Charter Digital customers, every channel (Basic, Expanded Basic & Digital) will be delivered with superior digital pictures and premium quality sound at NO ADDITIONAL COST. In order to bring you Charter All-Digital, we will be moving two channels from our Expanded Basic line-up to our Digital Family & Information Tier. Hallmark Channel will move from Channel 51 to Channel 129 and SoapNet will move from Channel 67 to Channel 130. In order to continue to receive these two channels, it will be necessary to subscribe to this digital tier, which for $4.00 more per month will allow you to receive over 35 channels of exciting and informative entertainment. It's all part of our commitment to provide you with the best service and the latest technology. If you have any questions, please contact our customer care department at 1-888-GET-CHARTER.

It looks to me like Charter isn't going to be duplicating the Basic and Expanded according to this. Their just moving two channels. I could be wrong.

Charter IS duplicating all their analog channels [2-99] starting July 12th with the 'all-digital-simulcast'.

The part of the message you pasted that you are skipping over is this:

we will be moving two channels from our Expanded Basic line-up to our Digital Family & Information Tier. Hallmark Channel will move from Channel 51 to Channel 129 and SoapNet will move from Channel 67 to Channel 130. In order to continue to receive these two channels, it will be necessary to subscribe to this digital tier, which for $4.00 more per month will allow you to receive over 35 channels of exciting and informative entertainment


The message is simply stating that 1) Charter is starting their all-digital simulcast, which affects their digital customers, and 2) they are moving 2 channels out of the 2-99 range and up to the 100's.

Because of #2, if you want either of those channels and are currently an Analog customer, you will have to switch to Digital to keep receiving those 2 channels. Simple as that...

Charter IS duplicating all their analog channels [2-99] starting July 12th with the 'all-digital-simulcast'.

The part of the message you pasted that you are skipping over is this:



The message is simply stating that 1) Charter is starting their all-digital simulcast, which affects their digital customers, and 2) they are moving 2 channels out of the 2-99 range and up to the 100's.

Because of #2, if you want either of those channels and are currently an Analog customer, you will have to switch to Digital to keep receiving those 2 channels. Simple as that...


I guess I don't get what duplicating means. Does this mean channels 2-99 will stay where they are and be both analog and digital or will they duplicate channels 2-99 using channels 200-299? Or will channels 2-99 be channels 100-200 and the current channels that are on 101-300 will be moved to channels 300-500? Sorry, I wasn't sure how the digital simultrans work. I think I read some people saying when you would tune to say Fox on Channel 2 it would search wether it was analog or digital and if it was hooked up to digital tune to the digital frequency.

Channels 2-99 will stay at 2-99.

- If you are an analog-only customer nothing will change.

- If you are a digital customer, the channel locations will not change. However starting on July 12th, digital customers will receive channels 2-99 in a digital format instead of analog.

That is all...

Oh Boy........

So will channels 2-99 look better on the Moxi after the change-over since the signal will stay all digital?

Bob,
I think you laid out a good explanation for what 3.2 is doing for aspect ratios. In fact, the Moxi FAQ wasn't so clear.

Glendale,
I'm assuming that your Sammy is a widescreen display, right? It seems that with only 1080i checked, your Sammy doesn't see a need to stretch the 4:3 image to fill the screen since it already sees it as a 16:9 image. You see the pillar bars, but the display doesn't really see them. Since you 4:3 images are shown with pillar bars on SD channels as well, what do you think of the image quality of them, since they still have to be upconverted? I'm guessing that they look the same, so no improvement. Too bad that you can't see what 480i looks like on component for SD images, thanks to your Sammy. Native passthrough isn't helping you there. In my efforts to help you, you have helped me. Thanks for the tip on selecting 1080i only so that 4:3 content will show with pillar bars. The Moxi FAQ doen't reveal this fact. I'll check it out.

This raises another question for me. 480i for SD looks like an improvement over what they looked like before on Moxi, since no scaling is used. However, SD channels still look better to me on my other Charter hd box which I have set to output 1080i on everything. If scaling artifacts were the reason why SD images didn't look good on Moxi, how does the Motorola box get away with manipulating the SD image and still get a good, clear, sharp picture?

hall,
It seems that something has changed, in that hd channels now cannot have their images cropped or otherwise manipulated if you have atleast one hd resolution checked in the hdtv setup menu. I wonder if you only chose "480i" as a resolution and "cropped", would all your SD images be cropped whether you were on an hd channel or not? So 3.2 is not only allowing native passthrough, but it is forcing an aspect passthrough(of 16:9) for all hd channels if you have selected atleast one hd resolution in the setup menu. I don't know if this sounds like progress or not.

So will channels 2-99 look better on the Moxi after the change-over since the signal will stay all digital?

answer: YES


DVR's have to convert an analog signal to a digital one in order to use their functions such as pause, rewind, etc. This conversion is what degrades the PQ.

With Charter going all digital, we should see a much greater PQ for channels 2-99.

Now if Charter would only add more HD [how about adding the FSMW-HD we were teased with earlier this year???]

Bob,
I think you laid out a good explanation for what 3.2 is doing for aspect ratios. In fact, the Moxi FAQ wasn't so clear.

Glendale,
I'm assuming that your Sammy is a widescreen display, right? It seems that with only 1080i checked, your Sammy doesn't see a need to stretch the 4:3 image to fill the screen since it already sees it as a 16:9 image. You see the pillar bars, but the display doesn't really see them. Since you 4:3 images are shown with pillar bars on SD channels as well, what do you think of the image quality of them, since they still have to be upconverted? I'm guessing that they look the same, so no improvement. Too bad that you can't see what 480i looks like on component for SD images, thanks to your Sammy. Native passthrough isn't helping you there. In my efforts to help you, you have helped me. Thanks for the tip on selecting 1080i only so that 4:3 content will show with pillar bars. The Moxi FAQ doen't reveal this fact. I'll check it out.


jedi - Yes, my Sammy is a 46" DLP widescreen. I thank Bob has it nailed as far as what the Moxi is doing when only 1080i is checked. The native passthrough has helped in that before I had to manually change to "normal (4:3)" mode on my display if I didn't want SD channels stretched, now it does it automatically. Also, the image quality does seem a bit better on the analogs, but I think that is more of a function of the non-stretched picture looking better. Hopefully, on July 12th I'll notice a marked improvement.

Anyone using a cable card in St. Louis having any problems losing the digital channels with Charter. I have been losing all of them. I can reset the TV and get them back... But I lose them by the next time I start the TV.

Charter can't come out until Wednesday.l

it seems that Charter is adding an HD-PPV channel to 791. The only event in the lineup is the Tyson fight next Saturday


I've read that the movies and events on these HD-PPV channels are really expensive. Count me out for ordering anything on this channel, if it even shows up.

Charter IS duplicating all their analog channels [2-99] starting July 12th with the 'all-digital-simulcast'.

The part of the message you pasted that you are skipping over is this:



The message is simply stating that 1) Charter is starting their all-digital simulcast, which affects their digital customers, and 2) they are moving 2 channels out of the 2-99 range and up to the 100's.

Because of #2, if you want either of those channels and are currently an Analog customer, you will have to switch to Digital to keep receiving those 2 channels. Simple as that...


Abcward, will you still have to subscribe to that tier with Hallmark and Soapnet or one of the movie tiers once basic and expanded are All Digital? Or could you just keep Basic and Expanded with a Digital or Moxi box? Or is it to early to tell if Charter will do this?

Abcward, will you still have to subscribe to that tier with Hallmark and Soapnet or one of the movie tiers once basic and expanded are All Digital? Or could you just keep Basic and Expanded with a Digital or Moxi box? Or is it to early to tell if Charter will do this?

If you have a digital cable box, all your channels will be digital once the upgrade to all digital is complete. What packages you pay for is up to you, all that is needed is the digital cable box to support the channels.

Exactly phatty....well put.

FSMW Cards in HD: No Progress to Report

It's been a while since we had an update on the situation from Fox Sports Midwest on the Cardinals games that they plan/planned to broadcast in HD this year. So, I thought it would be a good time to check in again with Geoff Goldman.

From Geoff's response, it appears that any games hinges on FSMW getting an agreement in place with Charter. And that's not looking to imminent, based on this update.

_______________________________________________________

At last check, the situation remains the same. Other FSN channels around the country are doing games in HD, and from a technical perspective we're ready and eager to join them. However, it remains contingent upon Charter finalizing our agreement for carriage of the HD telecasts. I have not received an update recently regarding the status of the Charter agreement.

We still hope to provide some HD games this year. The majority of the games we'd originally scheduled for HD telecast this year have yet to be played.

Wish I had more or better news, but I hope this helps to update the situation.

_______________________________________________________

FSMW Cards in HD: No Progress to Report

It's been a while since we had an update on the situation from Fox Sports Midwest on the Cardinals games that they plan/planned to broadcast in HD this year. So, I thought it would be a good time to check in again with Geoff Goldman.

From Geoff's response, it appears that any games hinges on FSMW getting an agreement in place with Charter. And that's not looking to imminent, based on this update.

_______________________________________________________

At last check, the situation remains the same. Other FSN channels around the country are doing games in HD, and from a technical perspective we're ready and eager to join them. However, it remains contingent upon Charter finalizing our agreement for carriage of the HD telecasts. I have not received an update recently regarding the status of the Charter agreement.

We still hope to provide some HD games this year. The majority of the games we'd originally scheduled for HD telecast this year have yet to be played.

Wish I had more or better news, but I hope this helps to update the situation.

_______________________________________________________



Funny, I emailed FSMW today and also got a similar response:

Thanks for your e-mail. Good question.

Unfortunately, I do not have a recent update on our situation with
Charter regarding HD. We're still awaiting a finalized agreement from Charter
for carriage of the HD telecasts.

We are eager to provide HD games, and still hope to do some this
baseball season.

Let us know if you have additional questions or would like further
updates when the situation progresses.

FSN Midwest

*&*()&$%%$# Charter....

I'll bet if a few of those FSMW-HD games showed up on DirecTV, Charter would be a LOT more eager to finalize a carriage agreement....

I predict Charter and FSNMW will have a firm HD carriage agreement in place by
July

...... 2007 :)


Seriously; It's amazing how Charter can keep shooting themselves in the foot again just as the last wound is healing.

I signed up for Charter HD in July of 05 at BB when I bought my HDTV. BB said charter would call me in a few days to set up an installation appointment. Charter emailed me to thank me for my order, but never called. Soon after I heard of the MOXI box coming out, so I decided, if they did call, I'd put them off until the MOXI was out. They didn't call. The MOXI box turned out to frought with HD quality and installation and VOD issues, so I thought 'glad I didn't get Charter HD'.

So, in March, when it seemed likely there would be HD Baseball on FSNMW on Charter, I signed up (again) for the non-moxi HD reciever, was put at the end of a 900 person waiting list, and was told "we'll call you". Now, with the all-star break just a few weeks away, and no FSNMW-HD, what would I tell them if they called ? Glad I didn't get Charter HD.

Hey Bob,
Looks like you're about to make the 1000 post mark. Cool.

Is anyone else having trouble with the Moxi guide displaying program info for the show that's listed on the next tab down? I don't know if this is related to the 3.2 update, but it's been a problem for the last day or so. Also, while 480i is looking good on SD channels, I do miss the smoothness of the 480p image. I'm seeing lots of pretty bad scan lines during fast pans, scene changes, and fast motion. This is especially visible with the color red. I guess I'm stuck with this if I don't want to see a lower quality picture with scaling artifacts(well, stuck until the all digital system is up).

Hey folks - I am anxiously awaiting delivery of a new hdtv capable display. I am not yet willing to pay for HDTV reception - although maybe that will change once I see it in my home. I may eventually get a good outdoor antenna for OTA, but for the time being I would like to try an indoor antenna for the locals (easy and QUICK installation). I know they are not that great, but who knows, maybe I'll luck out. Since they don't cost much, I'm not worried if I don't get any channels (plus maybe I could return it). The furthest I am from any one tower seems to be about 10 miles. I am in the Fenton area, close to the top of a large hill, but there are significant trees in the area.

Anyone live near this area that has tried an indoor "set-top" antenna? It seem like the Zenith Silver antenna has had some success. Is this generally the one that people recommend for any indoor set-top application?

Thanks in advance for any comments!
Nuzy

Nuzy,

Congrats on the new HDTV -- I hope you enjoy it. I can't help you with your Fenton-specific questions, but here's some general OTA information that might be useful for you:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=2995679&&#post2995679

Read the first three messages on that page all the way through, and I think you'll have a good foundation for asking other more specific questions.

FWIW, I don't understand the point of buying an HDTV unless you're going to watch HDTV. Then again, your approach to HD programming by no means puts you in a small minority; in fact, it may make you part of a small majority of HDTV buyers.

But I still don't get it... :confused:

FYI - I was at Wal-Mart in O'Fallon and St. Charles (Zumbehl Rd). Both stores had the USDTV STB HDTV receiver on clearance for $100. If you have a HD-ready set and no tuner, this is a VERY inexpensive way to get the locals!

Rich

After directing Nuzy to the OTA resource threads, I read through them myself (yeah, a slow afternoon).

Anyway, one of the sections there that could use a refresh is the Dolby Digital capabilities of the VOOM channels recently added by DISH. I don't know the situation on these, but I'd guess that all of them would be 5.1 capable.

If someone familiar with the VOOM channels on DISH can let me know which are 5.1-capable and which aren't, I'll update the reference to this in the resource notes. Appreciate if you can list all of the VOOM channel names, as I'm not up to speed on all of them.

Thanks...

Doug - thanks for the quick input! I'll try the Zenith. Let me try to clarify why I bought an HD set. I DO want to watch HDTV, I'm just too cheap to pay for it right now and too lazy to take the time to hook up an outdoor antenna :) I'll take the easy free stuff for now knowing that I will be all set for when I'm ready to be start viewing more (which may be sooner than later once I get a look at it on the new set). I have the pio 5050 on the way, so I should be in good shape for a while. Just ordered the panasonic S77 dvd player too. True, I could have waited a while to buy a tv and just went with EDTV, but I figure the upconverted DVD picture and free OTA reception was enough to justify my decision. Plus the HD-DVD movies will look good too once that mess gets resolved. Anyway, that's kind of how my thought process went...for what it's worth.

Nuzy,

Appreciate the additional details -- hopefully you'll get hooked on the network HD stuff and want even more. I agree there's no point in going the EDTV route, particularly as many of the EDTV plasmas cut corners other than just resolution.

I think you'll enjoy the Pioneer 5050 -- I've calibrated several of the Elite panels which are basically the same as the 5050.

Hopefully someone else will be able to shed some light on the reception situation in Fenton. Welcome...

Doug -Thanks for the welcome. I'm looking forward to contributing to the discussion here. After I get everything set up, I'll give you a call or email and maybe we can work something out to get my set calibrated. I don't know too much about that and for the time being, I'm mostly concerned with turning the contrast down and avoiding black bars for the 1st couple hundred hrs or so to "break the set in" properly. Anyway, I'm getting off topic here - thanks again!

Mike

Nuzy-

You shelled out for a Pioneer 5050 & are too cheap to pop for an HD feed - you're killin' me :eek:

I do not have an HD set yet but am strongly considering the 5050. I want to see the Panasonic 500 that is due out shortly also. I was originally leaning DLP but the more I have looked around & read, I think a 50" plasma is at the top of my list. Once Charter goes all digital mid-July, I think I will definitely want to jump in before football season gets here.

(Of course, before then, I have to get rid of my large current entertainment center, buy a new TV/component unit, have hardwood flooring refinished, figure out what to do with my two-ton 35" Mits CRT...)

Nuzy-

You shelled out for a Pioneer 5050 & are too cheap to pop for an HD feed - you're killin' me :eek:


Rumor has it that Nuzy owns a brand new Porsche but has made the decision to not ever buy any gasoline since it's so darn expensive.

LOL - Yeah, it sounds pretty retarded. Maybe cheap is the wrong word to use. I'm a value kind of guy and after doing months of research, IMO, the pio 5050 was a good value (relatively speaking). Saved a lot using an authorized on-line dealer. Besides, after having the basement finished and buying this mac daddy set, I'm pretty well tapped out. Gotta pick and choose how to use the limited funds. :D I like that my wife likes good quality stuff, but I would like it more if we could afford to get everything at one time! I'll have to wait a little for the price of gas to come down before I take this baby on the road and open it up all the way ;)

Nuzy-

Where did you get your set?

Do you have cable currently? HDTV plus the Moxi HD-DVR is callin' your name...

After considering several of the authorized on-line dealers, I bought through TV Authority. There is a chance it will be delivered Friday, but no later than Monday. So far I'm very happy with how everything has gone. I have directtv. I am happy with their service, but the main reason I haven't considered changing is because of the Sunday Ticket - I'm originally from Chicago and I'm a Bears fan! Gotta have my game on Sundays.

After directing Nuzy to the OTA resource threads, I read through them myself (yeah, a slow afternoon).

Anyway, one of the sections there that could use a refresh is the Dolby Digital capabilities of the VOOM channels recently added by DISH. I don't know the situation on these, but I'd guess that all of them would be 5.1 capable.

If someone familiar with the VOOM channels on DISH can let me know which are 5.1-capable and which aren't, I'll update the reference to this in the resource notes. Appreciate if you can list all of the VOOM channel names, as I'm not up to speed on all of them.

Thanks...

Here are the Voom Channels on Dish. For me, RAVE and EQUATOR alone are worth the price of admission ($5 extra). Of course, this is IMHO. If I'm not mistaken the DD 5.1 pilot is on all the time on these channels, even when an ancient 50's sci-fi movie is on MONSTERS or an equally old cartoon (Felix the Cat) is on AMIMANIA.

Although I've read a few complaints, I find the A/V quality superb. (And I can be quite picky!)

ULTRA HD - Channel 9478
MONSTERS HD - Channel 9481
RAVE HD - Channel 9470
EQUATOR HD - Channel 9471
GALLERY HD - Channel 9472
ANIMANIA HD - Channel 9474
RUSH HD - Channel 9476
HD News - Channel 9482
GUY TV HD - Channel 9479
MAJESTIC HD - Channel 9480

Nuzy, when you get your display, I'd suggest dropping the contrast to around 35% of maximum. Although most TVs come out of the box with the contrast defaulted to the max, the Pioneer plasmas are usually set to the midpoint, but because of the way the underlying service settings for contrast are set, this is still too high.

FWIW, I generally aim for around 30 footlamberts peak light output on plasma panels, and in my experience that usually works out to be about the 35% level for contrast in the Pioneer user menus, with some variance from one display to another. Of course, the Pioneer panels are capable of a much higher light level, but going higher translates to a greater risk of burn-in.

Get the contrast down and then use AVIA or Digital Video Essentials to get the brightness/black level at the right level and you should have a good contrast ratio and not have to worry too much about burn-in (assuming you don't leave static images onscreen for long periods of time).

Once you get your break-in completed, if you're interested in having your Pioneer calibrated, do call me or send me a private message.

Saluki, in my experience, the Panasonic plasma panels are the best performers, primarily because they can achieve a black level that is right in the ballpark with CRTs.

I'm also pretty bullish on the newer Samsung DLPs, particularly as most of the HLP and HLR models have an extensive set of service controls that allow a calibrator to correct not only grayscale and the color decoder, but also bring the color gamut (the underlying color reference points for red, green, blue, yellow, magenta and cyan) perfectly into line with both SMPTE and HDTV standards.

Of course, if you're happy with the way your display looks out of the box, that calibrator stuff won't add up to much for you. But if you're determined to get the most accurate picture possible, the controls that are available on the latest Samsung DLPs put them at the front of the fixed-pixel display class, IMO.

Moman, thanks for passing on the VOOM audio info.

I'll try to get this updated in the next couple of days.

Doug-

I have heard that the Panasonic plasma blacks are better than the Pioneer. Both sets obviously are very nice. The Pioneer does have 2 HDMI inputs vs. 1 on the Panny. This seems like a nice plus with the oncoming HD DVD's. This assumes that I will, at some point, want to use the other HDMI input to a DVR, though it currently sounds like component works just fine for the DVR. I realize that you can buy an HDMI switch box, but I would like to avoid the extra piece of hardware if possible.

And, Nuzy, if I was not a Rams season ticket holder I'm sure I would have to have NFL Sunday Ticket as well (even if I had to watch the Bears).

Charter Settles Investor Lawsuit; Big Investors Bail Out

The following story is an excerpt from a St. Louis Business Journal report:

____________________________________________

Charter Communications reached a proposed $146.25 million settlement of a class-action claim brought by investors. However, as the company works to settle its business after four former executives pleaded guilty to fraud, one of its largest shareholders reported it had dumped 20 million shares of Charter stock since last June.

Omaha, Neb.-based Wallace R. Weitz & Co., which had 34.1 million Charter shares at the beginning of the year, filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 29, indicating that its stake in Charter was down to just under 14.09 million shares. Wally Weitz is the fund manager for Weitz Funds.

The report comes on the heels of a similar report by Mark Cuban, billionaire technology investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team. Cuban bought a 5.3 percent stake in Charter in 2002 for a reported $27 million. Cuban's holdings of Class A shares in the company ultimately peaked at more than 19 million shares, but in late April, Cuban reported that he unloaded his Charter stock. He continues to hold on to some of Charter's bonds.

Not everyone is selling Charter stock. A Seattle-based hedge fund company, Steelhead Partners, amassed about 24.8 million shares, according to a filing it made in May with the Securities and Exchange Commission, making it one of Charter's largest stakeholders at 8.1 percent. New York-based UBS Americas Inc. owns approximately 19.5 million shares. Charter Chairman Paul Allen remains its largest shareholder, with more than 29 million Charter shares.
____________________________________________


The full story can be found here (http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/06/06/story3.html).

Hey folks - I am anxiously awaiting delivery of a new hdtv capable display. I am not yet willing to pay for HDTV reception - although maybe that will change once I see it in my home. I may eventually get a good outdoor antenna for OTA, but for the time being I would like to try an indoor antenna for the locals (easy and QUICK installation). I know they are not that great, but who knows, maybe I'll luck out. Since they don't cost much, I'm not worried if I don't get any channels (plus maybe I could return it). The furthest I am from any one tower seems to be about 10 miles. I am in the Fenton area, close to the top of a large hill, but there are significant trees in the area.

Anyone live near this area that has tried an indoor "set-top" antenna? It seem like the Zenith Silver antenna has had some success. Is this generally the one that people recommend for any indoor set-top application?

Thanks in advance for any comments!
Nuzy

Nuzy -

I haven't tried from Fenton, But I was able to get the channel 2,4,5,9, 11, and 30 feeds in South County...close to Arnold (By Suson Park) with an antenna like this:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2153141

Welcome to the forum. I think your going through the same process we all did when we went HD. Bought the TV "just to be ready." Then you catch a cards game, football game, Favorite show in HD OTA. Next you seem to watch the HD shows over the STD strictly because if picture and sound quality. The itch comes and BOOM...you buy the HD STB. The Wife/girlfreind doesn't approve until she sees the Oscars or something in HD. Then the tweaking starts...

Thanks for the reception feedback, djear81. I am very familiar with that area - not far from me at all. The local delivery company called today and informed me that my set is in. They could have delivered today, but I can't get away from work to meet them at home so it's going to be Friday afternoon. The new panny s77 DVD player will be delivered today via fedex. Needless to say I'm VERY anxious. If I have time this weekend I'll pick up an antenna and report back on whether I was able to dial-in any OTA signals.

Thanks again to everyone for the comments and feedback!

Nuzy-

Welcome south! I originally hail from Joliet. Cubs fan. Bears fan. I wear my hats proudly to the chagrin of many a St. Louisan...

-Hanjke

Charter Broadband Bundling Scrutinized in Michigan

The following is a report from The Flint Journal newspaper in Michigan:

______________________________________________

LAPEER - A two-tiered cable billing plan has at least one city commissioner hopping mad.

Fed up with increases in his Charter Communications bill, Commissioner Tim Turkelson decided to cancel his cable television service but keep his high speed Internet cable modem service.

A Web site for Charter advertised the cable-modem-only service at $39.95 a month, but when a representative learned he was canceling his cable television service, the deal fell through, Turkelson said.

At Monday's City Commission meeting Turkelson, who also serves on the Cable Advisory Board, said the price went to $52 a month for the Internet service, plus an additional $27 to shut off the cable service he now has.

"I know the system and I'm confused as to how they can justify these fees," Turkelson said.

"I don't get it. It's take it or leave it. I'm furious about it. And then I get to pay $27 for the pleasure of having (TV) disconnected."

Turkelson said he contracted with Dish Network for satellite service, but is stuck with Charter for Internet.

"Bundling" services allows Charter to offer a better deal for customers who contract for full service, said Tim Ransberger, spokesperson for Charter Communications.

Offers such as the one cited by Turkelson usually are offered for new customers only, Ransberger said, adding that conditions and requirements are outlined in annual policy mailings to customers.

"We're like a lot of companies - we bundle our products together instead of an ala carte price," Ransberger said.

Shutting off cable television service requires a technician to drive to the house to physically turn off the connection, thus the service charge, Ransberger said.

Turkelson said he will file a complaint with the city about the service and will bring the issue up at Thursday's 5:30 p.m. meeting of the Cable Advisory Board in the City Commission chambers at City Hall.
______________________________________________

Nuzy-

Welcome south! I originally hail from Joliet. Cubs fan. Bears fan. I wear my hats proudly to the chagrin of many a St. Louisan...

-Hanjke


Cubs, Bears hmmm...Blackhawks...Bulls...hmmm...Smells like Chicago...North Side...

I guess it's a good thing that they don't make the playoffs on a regular basis, because then the seasons would overlap. I have full faith that Lovey Smith will turn the Bears around. Are you going to wear your White Sox hat come September?

What kind of Antenna do you need to pull the WGN feed in St. Louis?

- Just playing around.

Nuzy-

Welcome south! I originally hail from Joliet. Cubs fan. Bears fan. I wear my hats proudly to the chagrin of many a St. Louisan...

-Hanjke

Chagrin or amusement?


:cool: :D :cool:

Charter Again Slips Below $1 Level

Although it's been bumping along at the $1.10 to 1.20 level in recent weeks, Charter slipped back under $1.00 at today's close, down 11 cents from Tuesday, which is equivalent to a 10% single-day decline.

I assume that the price drop was largely due to the recent news of the investor lawsuit settlement and the exodus of major Charter stockholders, which I posted here this morning.

More than likely this is just a temporary downward blip, but since today's sub-$1.00 close restarts the 30-day "delisting" clock, I thought it worth noting here.

My quirky Moxi program guide has corrected itself. Things are fine for now. I wish Charter would send out the flags for dvi.

My quirky Moxi program guide has corrected itself. Things are fine for now. I wish Charter would send out the flags for dvi.

jedi,

MoxiGuy just posted some info on DVI in the Moxi thread:

A bit more info on DVI

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

The DVI solution works, but we're not completely happy with the way it works. There are still a few issues to be solved. Charter and Adelphia agree with this assessment.

I had previously posted that we planned to enable DVI would be very soon after the 3.2 upgrade. As of now, the plan is to hold off until we have the product working at a level that we're all happy with. ("All," meaning Digeo, Charter, and Adelphia)

Specific answers to some of the questions raised here, will have to wait until we are closer to deployment.

I spent some time in our QA lab yesterday, looking at the current state of our DVI support. Our developers have made some dramatic progress.

By the way, in this set-up, we had one Moxi connected by DVI and component cables to the same TV, and were able to use the TV input to switch back and forth to compare the picture quality. I couldn't see any difference. You probably have much better eyes than I do, and a better TV as well, so you may well disagree. But I don't think I'm missing anything by using component.

What kind of Antenna do you need to pull the WGN feed in St. Louis?


Since there's not a single friggin' hill between STL and Chicago, I'm surprised it wouldn't take much. ;)

Nuzy,

If you want to make the HD upgrade with DirecTV, lemme know. I have the Samsung TS360 that was used for 2 months before I jumped to Charter. It is just sitting in its box waiting for someone to grab it real cheap.

Rich

Thanks Rich! I'll keep that in mind.

Hi all. Im a long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a new HDTV and im thinking of jumping ship from Dish to Charter. I would like your opinions. I do have OTA locals now. I have always liked Dish, but to get a receiver to fit my needs (942) thats $250 off the bat. I read the forums that say the MOXIs are less than desireable, but two of my friends have never had problems with theirs. I was hoping Dish would come through with a better deal, but that seems not likely.
For programming, I know what dish has to offer, but Im not clear on what Charter has for digital/HD offerings.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Fastman

Fastmans,

Don't jump -- if you've been lurking here, you should know that inviting Charter into your home is a self-inflicted sucker punch. If you haven't previously been paying attention to the discussions here about Charter, then you owe it to yourself to go back and do some searches on this thread.

To me, the only good reason to opt for Charter is if you're unable or unwilling to purchase the equipment required to get up and running for satellite. I appreciate that's a big hurdle for a lot of customers, and I understand if that's the factor that is going to drive your decision.

But in every other aspect of the satellite vs. cable equation, Charter is a clearly inferior choice.

Fastmans,

I am a current Charter subscriber - have been for a couple years. [As a point of reference, I was a happy Dish customer before that, but switched to Charter when I moved a few years back because they could provide me internet immediately where as SBC couldnt provide me hi-speed internet at all].

I have had the Moxi since the very first week it was available. Is it a tad buggy? Yes. Am I overall happy with it? Hell yea. I get a 2-tuner HD PVR for no initial costs and only a few bucks a month. Digeo/Moxi just sent out a major software upgrade which resolved a couple major issues and they seem to be pretty proactive to getting all bugs resolved eventually.

Currently Charter offers the following channels in HD: CBS-HD, NBC-HD, WB-HD, FOX-HD, SHOWTIME-HD, HBO-HD, ESPN-HD, HDNet, and HDNet-Movies. There are some obvious holes that Charter needs filling: FSMW-HD, Disc-HD, ABC-HD, TNT-HD, etc. And honestly Charter does seem to drag its heels when it comes to adding HD. Charter basically is much more reactive than satellite providers when it comes to HD.

FOR THE PRICE, I am fairly satisfied with Charter, but when DirecTV goes to MPEG4 I will look into the costs to switch. However there will probably be no way that I can convince my wife to spend $1k for a HD PVR when we get a Moxi for nothing.

When comparing all the options available for television, it is clear there is no 'perfect' choice...we all wish there was. Hope my 2 pennies help!

abcward,

There's some recent discussion in the HDTV Programming thread that when DirecTV releases the NDS-built HD PVR that it will sell for $250. Of course, that's just rumor and speculation at this point, but I think it's pretty unlikely that any future DirecTV DVR is going to carry a $1000 price tag.

Even the HD-TiVo is currently down to around $600, before potential programming credits.

FWIW, there's also speculation that the NDS box won't include the 30-second skip function, based on what they build for the UK market.

Hi all. Im a long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a new HDTV and im thinking of jumping ship from Dish to Charter. I would like your opinions. I do have OTA locals now. I have always liked Dish, but to get a receiver to fit my needs (942) thats $250 off the bat. I read the forums that say the MOXIs are less than desireable, but two of my friends have never had problems with theirs. I was hoping Dish would come through with a better deal, but that seems not likely.
For programming, I know what dish has to offer, but Im not clear on what Charter has for digital/HD offerings.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Fastman

I agree with Doug on this one. Unless the upfront money is the only reason, then I'd stay with Dish. With the Dish PVR, you'll get the subscription channels that Charter doesn't offer (including the Voom channels, if you want), and you'll get an OTA tuner, too. That means KDNL, which Charter doesn't offer. Even if you have a perfect experience with the Moxi box, the additional choices are worth staying with Dish.

That said, if Charter ever gets their act together, I'd consider moving to Charter for entertainment programming. I have them for high speed Internet and that has been very good. But, I don't see that happening any time soon, so for now I'll stay with my 921. It's a little buggy, too, but overall I'm very happy with it.

Personally, with as fast as technology changes, I have a hard time paying more than a few dollars for the 'newest' satellite receiver. Especially when the receiver becomes outdated fairly quickly. Even at $250, I could use that money for some other upgrade to my entertain system rather than buying a D* receiver. Add to it you still have to pay monthly fees too?

With cable, the Moxi cost me nothing. When the new Moxi 9022D/Moxi Mate combo comes out this summer, I'll call and have them switch my Moxi to the new equipment for no cost. 6 months from now when they have their whole-house-4-tuner box, Ill do the same thing. Again, no initial outlay of money.

Now don't get me wrong. Charter has a LOT of negatives. Many have been mentioned by me through out this thread. To be perfectly honest, if I could get similar receivers from D* for no initial cost I would not be with Charter. But unless I missed something, thats not an option.

I'll second abcward's comments regarding buy vs. lease. I look forward to the arrival of the Moxi with greater recording capacity; something I wouldn't consider if I had just plopped $300 or $400 for a similiar DVR. I'm relatively happy with the service from Charter.

Terry

abcward,

I see your point on the changing pace of technology, but I don't think it's quite that straightforward.

* There's no guarantee that Charter will deliver the newest technology when it becomes available. While Moxi is a very nice service, other cable companies had been offering DVRs at least a year or two before Charter got around to thinking they might be a good idea. Ditto the rollout of the HD service, which obviously involved additional hardware, both at the head end and in subscriber homes.

Bottom line here is that while renting is a nice alternative to buying, it sacrifices a lot of flexibility and gives Charter ultimate control on just how "cutting edge" your system will be.

* Will getting an upgraded Moxi really be as simple as picking up the phone and asking for it? Let's not forget about the mysterious workings of the Charter waiting lists. Likewise, isn't it possible that an upgrade will entail additional rental charges, over and above what you're already in for? In fact, maybe better and newer stuff is made available without additional charges, but it doesn't sound like a recipe for improved financial stability.

* Charter's perilous financial state is a strong indicator that the newest and greatest technology won't be as forthcoming from the company as it would be from sounder cable or satellite companies. There's a serious financial constraint looming over Charter that is going to make investment in new technology progressively more difficult until they get out from under the massive debt they're carrying.

* I haven't actually figured out the hardware payback versus rental charges, but I don't think it's nearly as beneficial to renting as it might appear on the surface, even though renting might still carry the day.

With eBay and other accessible online auction sites, I think it's always possible to recover around 20% of your satellite hardware investment by selling it to someone who doesn't want or need the latest and greatest. And I think that 20% recovery could substantially shift the rent vs. buy equation.

In thinking about Charter's "mysterious" waiting lists, it reminded me that I was told just yesterday by one of my longtime customers that he doesn't believe there is actually a waiting list for Moxi hardware.

FWIW, he said he recently called Charter and asked for a Moxi box and it was delivered and installed the very next day.

In thinking about Charter's "mysterious" waiting lists, it reminded me that I was told just yesterday by one of my longtime customers that he doesn't believe there is actually a waiting list for Moxi hardware.

FWIW, he said he recently called Charter and asked for a Moxi box and it was delivered and installed the very next day.

I think the "waiting lists" that have been discussed recently around here relate to the non-DVR Moto HD boxes (i.e. not the Moxi boxes). I think the Moxis have been readily available for a while.

Glendale,

I appreciate the clarification. I wasn't sure if this was an issue with Moxi or the other boxes.

It's good to hear that Moxi doesn't require a waiting list at the moment.

Doug,

I do understand your points. Believe me, I can be one of Charter's worst critics. And again, like I said earlier, if I could get similar hardware as a rental, I would have long been gone from Charter.

But I simply do not undertand the buying of receivers that D* subs go through. In a simplistic manner, let me compare it this way: Charter internet subs are given the choice of buying the modem for $60 and having no monthly fees, or renting the modem with no initial costs but paying $5 per month for it. That makes sense to me - an initial purchase or paying for it monthly.

In contrast we have D* that forces you to purchase HD and PVR receivers - AND THEN you STILL have to pay a monthly fee to actually use those receivers. PLEASE, someone explain why that makes sense. Maybe i'm missing something.

Now again Doug - I do agree that Charter is WAY behind the times - always slow in adding any new technology. They have lots of shortfalls, that is painfully obvious to everyone. Yet when I compare prices every 6 months or so, I can never beat the price I pay monthly for Charter's services [Moxi, All Movie Tiers, HD service,etc.]. I don't want to be known as a Charter apologist, because again if all pricing was equal, I would be a D* sub too.

But I do think that sometimes you can be a tad too negative towards Charter. They do offer an inexpensive HD PVR and HD service for those that choose not to spend $600+ for a HD PVR. Their internet service is tops in the area. And their phone service, especially for people like me who can't get SBC, is a much better choice than the crooks at CenturyTel.

*** One more point: Waiting lists? I have never been put on one. When Charter has said that new hardware/services is available, I call and set up an appointment. I got the HD service the first week it was available and I got the Moxi the first week it was available - no problems whatsoever. Maybe people err when they are calling for something that has not yet been announced as being an available product?

It's been a fun discussion on this rather boring day though!

Bruce

I guess the jury is still out on this one. And it will never be 'one service fits all.'
But...
Can somone talk about Charter PQ. Sometimes I think Dish goes too far on compression on the nationals, and the locals for the most part are garbage. I do think its going to be quite awhile before we see digital locals from Dish, and Charter has them now.

Hey Fastmans,

If it's any consolation, the SD locals on DirecTV are garbage, too.

Hope this is the correct forum.

In the process of finishing my basement and acquiring a new arsenal of AV gear to go with it. We decided to take the plunge and have a Hi Def Sony on the way. It’s funny but I’m confused to the point of indecision over this whole antenna for OTA HD thing. We live in St. Charles about midway between 40 and 70 off Hiway 94. Since the set will be in the basement, no walkout, I assume one of the indoor antennas won’t cut it. So, I’d like to push my cable into the attic prior to the drywall going up. Anyone have a suggestion on what kind of antenna I might need St. Chuck? We have Dish too.

I agree with most of the others in the immediate past postings, leaving Charter was the best thing we’ve ever done. Customer Service at Dish totally rocks in my opinion.

wally,

If you haven't already read it, a good starting point for you would be the local OTA resources that can be found on this page (the first three messages on the first page of this discussion thread):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=454301&page=1&pp=50

The antennas that are mentioned there are all good choices. I'd also add that the DB-2 and DB-4 antennas sold at www.antennadirect.com would be others worth consideration.

At the moment, all St. Louis HD broadcasts are taking place via UHF, but that could change in the future. As long as you have the opportunity to run additional cable before the drywall goes up, it might be worthwhile to add an additional coax run so that you can add a VHF antenna should one or more of the digital stations move back in the VHF portion of the spectrum.

Let us know if you have any further questions -- and good luck.

I guess the jury is still out on this one. And it will never be 'one service fits all.'
But...
Can somone talk about Charter PQ. Sometimes I think Dish goes too far on compression on the nationals, and the locals for the most part are garbage. I do think its going to be quite awhile before we see digital locals from Dish, and Charter has them now.

Charter's locals in HD are beautiful. No complaints. In fact, all the HD channels look good. Personally I like getting the HD locals without the bother of messing with antennas, but that's just me.

PQ of SD channels that are analog, channels 2-99, are inferior, especially through the Moxi. However on July 12, Charter is going to start simulcasting all analog channels in digital. That should improve PQ for SD channels.

I was a long time DirecTV customer (5.5 years). I jumped from to Charter in Feb this year and havent looked back. Yes the MOXI has its drawbacks over TiVo but I got used to it. For the money I am getting a better value. With D* I was paying $80 for TC+Locals, protection plan so I didnt have to shell out replacement costs, 2 regular receivers, 2 TiVos, 1 HD receiver and HD package for free. I went to Charter and have EVERY channel. I don't need the two regular receivers since the kids don't need one to receive the TV we want them to have. I have 2 Moxis and love it. My total bill is now 120. BUT that includes 5mb internet service as well as my TV. I was paying $60/month for DSL with CenturyTel previously. So as one can see I made a good decision. I still have OTA access since I have a built in tuner in my Mits.
My $.02...

Rich

Bruce,

I agree with you about the $4.99 "Additional Receiver" charge made by DirecTV for each additional receiver you use. Honestly, it's the aspect of DirecTV that I dislike the most, so I think we're on the same page there.

However, I did some further digging into Charter vs DirecTV pricing this afternoon and the most interesting aspect of that was to compare the cost of an additional receiver for DirecTV versus Charter. While DirecTV charges $4.99 for the use of an additional receiver, Charter has a fee of $6.95 that is presented as a rental fee.

It's impossible to make an apples-to-apples comparison, but if we were talking secondary receivers delivering SD digital content, then DirecTV is $2 per month cheaper BEFORE hardware cost. When you consider that you can get a basic Hughes DirecTV receiver for $50, you're basically looking at a just over 24 months to pay back that cost, after which each additional DirecTV rooms would actually be $2 per month cheaper than Charter.

On the other hand, if you were only running analog cable to the secondary room, Charter has an overwhelming cost advantage over DirecTV -- $0/month for Charter, versus $4.99 per month and a $50 equipment outlay for DirecTV. Of course, you'd be pretty limited in the analog channel selection from Charter, but in a lot of cases, such as a home office, that's probably more than enough. On the other hand, it's probably insufficient for a master bedroom.

If we're talking about a secondary HD room, Charter would have a bigger edge at $9.95 per month versus $4.99 and something on the order of a $300 hardware outlay for an additional HD-capable DirecTV receiver. With the $5 difference, it would take nearly 5 years to "pay back" the hardware investment.

On the DVR comparison, the Charter rep I spoke with presented this to me as a $7 charge on top of the $9.99 HD equipment rental fee. On reflection, that doesn't sound correct, as that would mean that the Moxi hardware is costing $17 a month, versus the $5 per month DirecTV charge, plus a $650 HD TiVo outlay. But if I understood the Charter rep correctly, you could apply the $12 difference to the HD TiVo hardware and cover that cost in roughly 4 1/2 years.

[Note: I'd appreciate if someone could clarify the Moxi rental fee for me, as I think the chances of me calling back and connecting with the same Charter sales rep, or someone equally knowledgeable, is pretty small. Once there's clarity on this, I'll edit the above paragraph, as needed.]

My point of discussion with the Charter rep was to get an apples-to-apples comparison of what I'm currently paying DirecTV and what I'd have to pay for Charter to get the same service.

The configuration I presented to Charter was one HD room and three SD digital rooms. On content, I was trying to replicate the Total Choice Plus package I get with DirecTV, plus HBO, plus HD programming, plus an HD DVR.

Getting a straight-up comparison on programming was the most challenging part of this exercise. When you go from Charter expanded basic (the rep referred to this as "The Top 80") to Charter Digital, you get another 30 or so digital SD channels that go well beyond what's included in Total Choice Plus, such as all of the different flavors of Discovery, MTV, VH-1, etc. I guess that's nice, but frankly I have ZERO interest in watching more crappy-looking 4x3 SD, so this benefit rolls right off my back and onto the floor. Ditto for the HBO package, where Charter also includes Cinemax, which is a complete waste of bits to me.

On the other side, with Charter I'd have to do without KDNL-DT, KETC-DT, Discovery HD and Universal HD. While that's just four measly channels, because HD is my biggest overall priority, it is a MAJOR deal to me.

In fact, I'll take back what I said about the additional room charges being my biggest peeve with DirecTV. My biggest hang-up is the fact that the biggest part of my bill is for SD programming I don't care about.

Anyway, after configuring the Charter package to get it as close as possible to my DirecTV service, the Charter monthly charges would be $101, versus $94 that I'm currently paying to DirecTV.

Finally, I'll concede that it's possible that I'm too vocal about (but not too critical of) Charter, and I do worry about the possibility of alienating MY potential customers who are Charter subscribers. But I don't believe Charter has any incentive to address their shortcomings until they see an exodus of high-paying customers. And that's the main reason I counsel against Charter when questions like Fastman's are raised here.

But I also recognize that not everyone has a choice (no southern exposure), not everyone can get past the equipment outlay ($$$), and of course, for some it's simply not important enough to spend any serious time worrying about it ( :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: ).

But, for the record, I hope no one, including Charter employees, managers or executives, take these criticisms personally.

Charter's largest problem is the frustration factor. They have the ability to be the best offering.

--They have Video on Demand which is a huge advantage over any satellite service. If you subscribe to premium channels you can watch recently played programming for about two months after it originally aired--but the older stuff is not available--why not? You can pay and watch newer movies that you are also able to rent about a month ago. Why not the same new releases as at the rental stores? How come there is no HD on VOD? Charter could make VOD irresistible but alas the money men won't yet allow that.

--HD offerings are pitiful compared to other cable companies. Enough said.

--Cost? Depending on what you want I think this is basically a wash in the big picture. The package deals suck you in but they usually only last a year. This is true with satellite also.

I am very frustrated with Charter since it could be the best. I am currently considering downgrading to Charter basic and getting Dish. The kids could keep Cartoon Network in their rooms without a STB. I could also see the local government channel which unfortunately is very entertaining to me and only available on Charter. Everything else would be using the Dish service. I just wish I had dual coax runs to all my TVs.

Any local folks having problems with their HD Tivo's freezing/stuttering lately?

The last two weeks or so, the picture and sound on mine would freeze for 2-3 seconds, clear up for a minute or so, then freeze again (repeat cycle every so often). During this time, it also becomes unresponsive to the remote.

Got so bad tonight I pulled the plug for a hard reboot. Didn't help.

According to the Tivocommunity forum, this has gotten to be a quite common problem lately... though nobody (including DirecTV) knows for sure whether it's a problem with the most recent software update or hard drives failing. The number of people complaining at the same time gives me the impression it's software-related.

I've got three weeks left on my year's warranty... better dig up the receipt just in case.

--They have Video on Demand which is a huge advantage over any satellite service. If you subscribe to premium channels you can watch recently played programming for about two months after it originally aired--but the older stuff is not available--why not? You can pay and watch newer movies that you are also able to rent about a month ago. Why not the same new releases as at the rental stores? How come there is no HD on VOD? Charter could make VOD irresistible but alas the money men won't yet allow that.

You may see HD VOD soon, however, there isn't much available programming wise in a HD VOD format. Also HD VOD takes up more bandwidth to offer. The cable operator that I know to have HD VOD is Comcast, and the offering is pretty limited.

The movie studios do no offer PPV or VOD content until 30-45 days after the DVD release. They are worried that they will lose money off of DVD sales. This window has been a big pain in the Cable Industry side for many times now. This is why you see new releases at Blockbuster before it hits PPV or VOD.

Mark

abc,
Thanks for the post about Moxi's dvi port. I'll just have to keep waiting.

Doug,
My Charter bills show a $6.85 fee for a Digital Video Recorder(Moxi), $6.85 for my HDTV receiver(Motorola), and $6.99 for DVR service. Also, there is a $2.99 fee for 1 Interactive Intergrated Service(this might be the remote... I have 2 but only see one charge) and $3.99 for the HDPak. All these fees can add up to something that hurts.

Doug,

Off topic, but need your help on an old 25" CRT. Is it possible to get into the service menu on an old SANYO CRT? I need to adjust the overscan as the score ticker on the Cards game is cut off.

Thanks,
Tim

Any local folks having problems with their HD Tivo's freezing/stuttering lately?

The last two weeks or so, the picture and sound on mine would freeze for 2-3 seconds, clear up for a minute or so, then freeze again (repeat cycle every so often). During this time, it also becomes unresponsive to the remote.

Got so bad tonight I pulled the plug for a hard reboot. Didn't help.

According to the Tivocommunity forum, this has gotten to be a quite common problem lately... though nobody (including DirecTV) knows for sure whether it's a problem with the most recent software update or hard drives failing. The number of people complaining at the same time gives me the impression it's software-related.

I've got three weeks left on my year's warranty... better dig up the receipt just in case.

Robert,

I have an SD TiVo and I hate to tell you this, but it sounds like the drive is going bad. Same symptoms I had....especially if it appears to be getting WORSE. The original lasted about a year, the repair (a refurbished swap) has been going strong (knock on wood) for 4 years now and counting.

Hope I'm wrong.

Any local folks having problems with their HD Tivo's freezing/stuttering lately?

The last two weeks or so, the picture and sound on mine would freeze for 2-3 seconds, clear up for a minute or so, then freeze again (repeat cycle every so often). During this time, it also becomes unresponsive to the remote.

Got so bad tonight I pulled the plug for a hard reboot. Didn't help.

According to the Tivocommunity forum, this has gotten to be a quite common problem lately... though nobody (including DirecTV) knows for sure whether it's a problem with the most recent software update or hard drives failing. The number of people complaining at the same time gives me the impression it's software-related.

I've got three weeks left on my year's warranty... better dig up the receipt just in case.

Robert,

I had mine replaced earlier this year after it did the same thing. It is most likely the drive. Support will probably make you do a clear and delete of everything (all stored Season Passes, recorded shows, etc.) to see if that clears it up. The problem is that it takes a while to fill up the disk to to the point whwre the problem will come back. I would suggest getting the call into support now to get it on record before the warranty expires.

Mike

According to my Charter phone notes, there is a $7 monthly hardware charge when you go from Charter's Expanded Basic (analog) to the Charter Digital service. But along with this charge you get the 30 or so extra channels, such as the many Discovery variations.

Then, there's a $3 monthly hardware rental increase from the standard digital service to the hardware required for HD, and (I believe) this is what Charter is presenting as the "Interactive Integrated Service."

Then, getting Moxi entails a $6.99 monthly charge, but where I'm not clear is whether this is ($6.99 + $3 + $6.99), or whether it's ($6.99 + $6.99). It seems like $3 of that should go away, because the Moxi hardware is replacing the ($3/month) Motorola HD receiver. But that definitely isn't the way it was presented, because the bottom line monthly cost quoted by the Charter rep was just short of $101 a month (see below).

Here's the full detail of what the Charter sales rep quoted for me:



Expanded Basic (Top 80) $47.99

Digital Cable Receiver (1st) $ 6.99

HBO & Cinemax $11.00

HD Hardware Upgrade $ 3.00

HD Pack (ESPN + HDNets) $ 4.00

Charter DVR $ 6.99

Digital Cable Receiver (2nd) $ 6.99

Digital Cable Receiver (3rd) $ 6.99

Digital Cable Receiver (4th) $ 6.99

======
$100.94


I should add that the Charter sales rep very aggressively pushed the Dish Win Back promotion, which would have provided all of this service for a monthly rate of $83.83, guaranteed for 2 years.

That's a sweet deal. Even spread over 5 years, that's roughly $7.50 per month in savings, which would make DirecTV and Charter service cost basically the same.

Of course, there would be roughly $1,000 in hardware cost with DirecTV and amortizing that cost over the same 5-year period would make DirecTV just over $9 a month MORE expensive. I don't have time to research this much further, but I would expect that there are DirecTV incentives for new subscribers that would reduce the upfront hardware load for a new customer by 30%, and probably a bit more.

As a would-be new subscriber looking at DirecTV versus Charter, I'd definitely find the lower cost very tempting, but for me the Charter foot-dragging on HD would ultimately be a deal-killer. While I recognize that DirecTV's 1,500-channel HD paradise is at least 90% hype, it's clear that they're making a serious commitment to HD, and that's ALWAYS been conspicuously lacking with Charter.

Because of that, I'd swallow hard and pay the $9 a month difference, but I'd be a great deal less than thrilled about doing so.

Anyway, I hope this exercise is useful to someone. Maybe someone can step up and get the same numbers for the DISH-equivalent service...

Tim,

You have private mail...

Here's the full detail of what the Charter sales rep quoted for me:



Expanded Basic (Top 80) $47.99

Digital Cable Receiver (1st) $ 6.99

HBO & Cinemax $11.00

HD Hardware Upgrade $ 3.00

HD Pack (ESPN + HDNets) $ 4.00

Charter DVR $ 6.99

Digital Cable Receiver (2nd) $ 6.99

Digital Cable Receiver (3rd) $ 6.99

Digital Cable Receiver (4th) $ 6.99

======
$100.94



Doug, I just grabbed my lastest Charter bill, so I can give ya some further details. The thing is I think the greater savings happen when you get Charter's larger value packs. For example, I have the "Biggest Value Pack" in conjunction with their Triple Play, which includes Internet and Phone service.

Here is how mine breaks down vs. what the CSR told you:

$80.19 - My package includes Basic, Expanded, Interactive Integrated Service, Remote, The Movie Tier, Family Choice Tier, 3meg Internet. [for argument sake we can take out the internet charger of $39.99, so the cost is $40.20 for all analog/digital channels plus Showtime [movie tier].

$5 - HBO/Cinemax Pack

$5 - STARZ superpack

$6.85 - Digital Video Recorder

$6.99 - DVR Service

$6.85 - HD Receiver

$.22 - 2 remotes

$2.99 - Interactive Integrated Service

$3.99 - HDPAK w/ HDNET

The actual items that show improvement on price vs. the quotes you got were:

1) Your quote of Expanded Basic + HBO [$59] vs. my Biggest Package + HBO [$45]

2) The first digital receiver you get is free - on my bill there is a $0.00 charge for my first regular digital box. So that takes another $6.99 off your quote.



My total bill is right at $120 as compared to your quote of around $100. But my actual bill includes 3meg internet service and every single channel including all Movie Tiers.

I cannot beat this price with any combination of Dish, DirecTV and Charter for internet. Believe it or not, I wish I could so I could be on D*. But when I check rates, I can never really even get very close.

Will Charter offer new packages with different pricing once Basic and Expanded go All Digital? Or is it to early to tell and we will have to wait once Charter's All Digital takes place?

Craiger01,

Like I have told you a few different times, the pricing is NOT changing at all when Charter rolls out the all-digital-simulcast on July 12th.

Craiger01,

Like I have told you a few different times, the pricing is NOT changing at all when Charter rolls out the all-digital-simulcast on July 12th.


The pricing will sort of change right? It sounded like you said that no one would have to subcribe to one of the extra digital tiers once Charter goes All Digital. Right now you have to subscribe to one of the extra digital tiers and a digital, HD or Moxi box if you wan't digital cable because Basic and Expanded aren't . Then when Basic and Expanded go All Digital you could just get Basic, Expaned and one of the Digital, HD or Moxi boxes, you won't be able to do this until Basic and Expanded go All Digital right? That will still happen right? Sorry if I keep asking questions I'm just trying to figure this new All Digital plan out.

*sigh*

Cmon man....stop...take a deep breath...now read this very slowly:

Charter's tiers, value packs, etc ARE NOT CHANGING...AT ALL. "All Digital" is not a 'plan'. It is basically a blanket upgrade of the analog channels for us digital customers. There is no additional cost involved, no having to change plans, no need to buy new shoes, nothing.

Think of it this way: your local McDonalds decides to improve their image by having all their employees get haircuts. That decision does not affect the prices that you pay for a Big Mac. :)

It will be ok....I promise.

:) :) :)

Bruce,

Love that haircut analogy...nicely done.

abcward:

I basically have the same service from Charter as you but pay much more. I have had it for over two years now. The biggest difference is the 3mb Internet is bundled with the "Biggest" package. Mine is not. I assume this is a temporary incentive with the Triple Play. How long does it last?

redwine,

I don't believe this is a temporary price. I think the Triple Play is what makes my pricing less.

News from the FCC regarding digital tuners for tvs:

FCC moves up goal for digital TV

Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times

All Rights Reserved

Los Angeles Times

June 10, 2005 Friday

Home Edition

From Reuters and Lexis Nexis

U.S. regulators Thursday took action to accelerate the transition to digital television by moving up the date by which all new mid-sized TV sets must be able to view the high-quality signals.

The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to move up by four months, to March 1, 2006, a deadline requiring digital reception by all television sets sold in the United States with 25-inch to 35-inch screens.

The Consumer Electronics Assn. had asked for the new deadline. But it also sought to delay next month's deadline for half of mid-sized sets sold to be digital-ready, a request the FCC denied. July 1 is also the deadline for all new large sets to have digital tuners.

The agency also proposed moving up by at least six months the July 1, 2007 deadline by which all TVs sold with screens measuring at least 13 inches must be capable of receiving digital signals.

Congress and the FCC want Americans to rapidly adopt digital TV so the old, analog airwaves can be reclaimed and sold for billions of dollars to commercial wireless companies and public safety agencies. The Bush administration wants most of the money raised in that sale to help plug the federal budget deficit.

"We need to push the transition to its conclusion as expeditiously as possible," FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy said at the FCC's monthly open meeting.

In other news, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens' (R-Alaska) aide Christine Kurth withdrew from consideration to fill a Republican seat on the FCC. Kurth, 34, withdrew because her husband is a lobbyist in the communications industry and either she would have to recuse herself from numerous issues or he probably would have to leave his job.


Article taken from cedmagazine.com

Mark

redwine,

I don't believe this is a temporary price. I think the Triple Play is what makes my pricing less.


abcward,

I just got off the phone with Charter.. I have their cable, internet, and phone and wanted a cheaper price. They told me the "Biggest" package with the triple play does not come with high speed internet. Maybe I am confused with your pricing example; you took $39 off the package price when comparing with Doug's quote. My bill shows both the internet cost and the package cost. The CSR said I cannot get it cheaper with the triple play.

Is this CSR from Charter full of it? Should I call again?

He also told me the phone service I had was not the $39.99 unlimited local and long-distance which is part of the triple play pricing. I have just extended metro with caller-id and pay about $10 less on a seperate bill.

Do you actually get everything, phone, internet, cable (with HD and Moxie), for only $120? I am paying about $170 and I don't have Moxie or unlimited long distance!

redwine,

If you notice on how I broke out my bill, that was ONLY the internet/tv service bill. My phone is on a different bill. I do have unlimited long distance though.

Anyone know if The Open is going to be in HD on either NBC or ESPN? Can't find it anywhere which probably means its like all other tournaments this year, except the Master, and its in SD.

Walt

He also told me the phone service I had was not the $39.99 unlimited local and long-distance which is part of the triple play pricing. I have just extended metro with caller-id and pay about $10 less on a seperate bill.



I have the Triple Play and DO NOT have the 39.99 phone service. My phone service was 18.99 but I had the Triple play. The rep I used was VERY informative and took time to list all the charges and accurately quote me. His info is:
John 636-220-2584.
Side note... I got a $150 service credit for giving them 2 of my old dish receivers and a dish. I gave them two receivers that I got off the net for 13.99 each and a dish I got off ebay for $15. I still have my HD dish for D* up on my roof in case I ever want to go back.

Rich

Well, the freezing up on my HD tivo has done nothing but get worse as Friday went on. No time like the present to see if I can hack it to a bigger hard drive....

I have the Triple Play and DO NOT have the 39.99 phone service. My phone service was 18.99 but I had the Triple play. The rep I used was VERY informative and took time to list all the charges and accurately quote me. His info is:
John 636-220-2584.

Rich

I need to call John. The guy from sales I talked to said Triple Play deal is only with the 39.99 unlimited long distance phone service.

redwine,

If you notice on how I broke out my bill, that was ONLY the internet/tv service bill. My phone is on a different bill. I do have unlimited long distance though.

OK...the real question was what the "Biggest Value" package details were. My bill shows my "Biggest Value" package includes ALL the premium channels for $70.99. You showed HBO and Starz as separate charges but included the internet service which is separate on my package. Maybe you were just breaking it out differently for Doug.

I think there might be more than one "Biggest Value" package that Charter is selling.

Well, the freezing up on my HD tivo has done nothing but get worse as Friday went on. No time like the present to see if I can hack it to a bigger hard drive....

Go for it. I did the same with my SD TiVO. As you know, an HD TiVO can use all the storage you can get. Good luck, just be careful and follow the directions. You won't really need the mounting brackets......heavy tie wraps will work just fine if you're putting in extra drives.

Anyone watching the Cards-Yankees game on Fox2 in HD Saturday afternoon? It looks OK and is definitely in 16 X 9, but if I didn't know any better, I would say that the resolution is no better than my 480P DVD player. It just doesn't look very HD. More like EDTV.

791 is up and running on charter now. seems to be no audio, though

moman,

It is NOT HD -- it's FOX Widescreen.

Anyone else lose signal for D* about 4:30 today (Saturday)? All of a sudden, my video went out and I got a error message saying "searching for satellite signal".

It's raining out, but I've had no problem with signal in conditions worse than this. Just wanted to see if this is a global problem or my dish is just messed up.

Thanks.

No problems for me with DirecTV.

FWIW, I had lots of problems last summer during storms (or even very overcast days) and at the time my signal strength was in the low 80s. I finally got around to re-aiming my dish last fall, now have signal strength in low 90s and above and very rarely see dropouts and never a total loss of signal.

My Direct went out for a few minute intermitantly around that time. Surprised me becuase the clouds weren't that dark - must have been thick though. Second time this summer - kind of a pain. I almost always have signal in the 90s.

Nuzy

I had about a 10 min D* outage around 5:45 this evening.

Go for it. I did the same with my SD TiVO. As you know, an HD TiVO can use all the storage you can get. Good luck, just be careful and follow the directions. You won't really need the mounting brackets......heavy tie wraps will work just fine if you're putting in extra drives.

Well in my case it will simply be pop out the old drive and pop in the new already-Tivo-formatted one. I was hoping to just download a Tivo "image" and put it on a 400gb drive that I would have bought myself (done that many times with ReplayTV's). But all the do-it-yourself Tivo drive projects I saw involved pulling the data off the old drive first... and I don't think my drive is in any condition to have diddley squat pulled off of it.

So I'm paying extra for the Tivo data to be already on the new drive.

*Sigh* Yet another reason I wish ReplayTV would do an HD DVR.

*Sigh* Yet another reason I wish ReplayTV would do an HD DVR.

it's in the works:
http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/about/replaytv/press.asp?ID=607

is charter giving us the tyson fight in HD for free? it's on now, but no audio.

audiolocator,

Thanks for the link on Replay. I guess that Replay could follow Sony's lead in developing an HD DVR that works via the CableCard standard, but they would need to work out specific agreements with DirecTV and/or DISH to have products that support either of those datastreams.

[Edit: I originally wrote that the Sony cable-ready HD DVRs had been delayed multiple times and still weren't available. However, I subsequently did some further digging and found that they are listed as "in stock" at several sites -- click here. (http://reviews.cnet.com/Sony_DHG_HDD500/4014-6474_7-31155752.html?tag=pdtl-list&q=) I'm surprised I haven't heard more about these. Maybe they're not selling many, due to the single-tuner limitation and the high price (60 hrs = $1000; 30 hrs = $800). OTOH, they DO include OTA tuners, so there's definitely added-value there...]

From things I've read in the past 6 months, DirecTV appears open to having multiple DVR offerings (beyond TiVo and its own NDS boxes), but I haven't actually heard of any deals being pursued or concluded. Maybe there's something happening with DirecTV's traditional STB vendors (Hughes, Sony, Samsung, etc). That might be a way for Replay to get its foot in the DirecTV door.

But I agree with Robert, I still have a very slight bias in favor of Replay, even though there are several TiVo features I'd miss.

moman,

It is NOT HD -- it's FOX Widescreen.

What's FOX Widescreen? Never heard of that one before? I assume your'e NOT pulling my leg. But I must wonder why they would locally broadcast a program in 16 X 9 (which must require more bandwidth that SD) yet not in true HD. Rather half-a$$, in my opinion.

Is there a valid reason for doing this? Or are they just plain lazy?

moman,

That's right -- I'm NOT pulling your leg.

FOX Widescreen was FOX's original live digital broadcast format. At the outset of the transition to HD, the FOX network's official position on HD was that it was a waste of precious bandwidth and it resisted production of any true high-definition programming.

As HD momentum began to develop, especially with live sports and NFL football at the forefront, FOX "created" FOX Widescreen, which is essentially 720p widescreen. But FOX Widescreen is actually NTSC video -- image acquisition at the camera is 480i, with electronic line-doubling occuring prior to delivery to viewers and then scaling to 720p.

(I believe that 480p in general is an unfairly criticized format and had FOX actually started with a true 480p image from the camera, that the response would have been more positive, though likely still negative on balance. It is a relatively easy matter to "line double" interlaced, film-based material and get a very impressive image -- this is actually what happens with a progressive DVD player. But line-doubling images that originate as interlaced video is considerably more challenging, and the results are rarely satisfactory.)

In the case of FOX and live sports, I understand that acquiring true 480p video would have required more expensive equipment and that it would have also made production more labor-intensive and costly. The whole point of FOX Widescreen was to do something better than traditional NTSC, but to do it within the limitations of traditional equipment, infrastructure and budgets.

Viewer response to FOX Widescreen, especially among HD early adopters comparing it to CBS's occasional 1080i NFL broadcasts or ABC's 720p MNF, was justifiably scathing. FOX eventually retreated and developed a plan for true 720p HD broadcasting, which began roughly a year ago.

But like other networks, FOX can't justify doing all live sporting events in HD, so FOX Widescreen lives on, as it's a fairly straightforward matter to produce FOX Widescreen with the traditional mobile infrastructure.

No doubt FOX Widescreen is better than a traditional 4x3 NTSC broadcast, but not by much.

moman,

One other thing about Saturday's game -- it was a FOX Network production, not a local KTVI or FOX Sports effort.

Doug,

You are THE MAN! Thank you for the history lesson. I was completely unaware of this flavor of widescreen broadcasting. I agree 100%. It's better than run of the mill SD, but not by much. Might look fine on a small set, but it sure disappointed me on my 52" DLP set. The KPLR HD games (wish there were more) blew this away.

Thought I'd post a quick update on how successful my indoor antenna pulls in HD. I received my Pio 5050 on Friday afternoon and purchased the antenna yesterday. I went with the Zenith Silver Sensor. As I previously mentioned, I am in the Fenton area, about 10 miles from most towers, according to antennaweb.org. I also have the antenna in my walkout basement and there are pretty thick trees behind the house. We are towards the top of a large hill though, as opposed to being in a valley. I placed the antenna on the top shelf of my entertainment unit. Results:

I get FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS digital stations (the ones with the .001 at the end). Most have a signal strength in the low 70's (out of 100). I do not get any WB digital reception. All things considered I'm pretty happy with the results. I have the Zenith set up vertically right now. It seemed to give better reception that way. I will probably try to mess with it a bit more when I have some time to see if I can get a bead on WB. I think I saw some real HD stuff on PBS, the other channels seemed to have normal feeds at the time, although I didn't have lots of time to watch all the channels. The stuff I saw on PBS had a pretty incredible picture. Thought I'd post this for future reference for anyone else that lives in my general area. I think I'm going to like this HD stuff :) It may even motivate me to put a better antenna in my attic or on the roof - or God forbid, actually pay for the D* HD service!!

One other note, I'm not really watching my Pio 5050 in all it's glory yet. I am stretching my dvd and other feeds to make sure they fill the screen. I also turned the contrast down significantly and have experimented with a few other picture setting changes. Once I get through the "break-in" period, I plan on tweaking the settings more to my liking. Even so, overall I am very happy with the set.

Nuzy

Nuzy-

Thanks for the update, keep us posted as you learn more about your new 50" friend.

My 2 cents on Charter local picture quality vs E*. The primary reason that I am no longer a Charter subscriber is the absolutely horrible picture quality of the local channels. I actually changed over to E* in 1999 before they were allowed to carry analog locals because I received a substantially better picture OTA with an antenna in the attic than I did with Charter. In my latest attempt in switching back to Charter in order to take advantage of the MOXI I saw the same issues with the locals but not quite as severe. In addition to the locals being of lower quality, the entire analog tier of Charter is significantly worse than the corresponding E* channels. Once Charter switches to all digital I am going to try them again because I really want a PVR but refuse to outlay $600 - $1000 on hardware and then spend an additional $6 - $10 a month just to use it. I figure that the Charter/MOXI combo will suffice for me until either Charter gets their act together or HD-PVRs come down to a price point ($50 - $100) that I don't mind paying a monthly fee to use it.

Steve

My 2 cents on Charter local picture quality vs E*. The primary reason that I am no longer a Charter subscriber is the absolutely horrible picture quality of the local channels. I actually changed over to E* in 1999 before they were allowed to carry analog locals because I received a substantially better picture OTA with an antenna in the attic than I did with Charter. In my latest attempt in switching back to Charter in order to take advantage of the MOXI I saw the same issues with the locals but not quite as severe. In addition to the locals being of lower quality, the entire analog tier of Charter is significantly worse than the corresponding E* channels. Once Charter switches to all digital I am going to try them again because I really want a PVR but refuse to outlay $600 - $1000 on hardware and then spend an additional $6 - $10 a month just to use it. I figure that the Charter/MOXI combo will suffice for me until either Charter gets their act together or HD-PVRs come down to a price point ($50 - $100) that I don't mind paying a monthly fee to use it.

Steve

This is exactly what I have been looking for. Steve you are thinking the same way I am. I dont want to shell out a bunch of money for hardware that will be outdated when MPEG4 comes out. And I dont want to test Charter for 2 years and decide early on that I dont like it.

Free UK Digital TV Forces Satellite to Respond

The interesting story below appeared in today's SkyREPORT newsletter.

Granted, the situation in the U.K. is unique, because receiving traditional, limited OTA broadcast channels (five, count 'em, five) requires each and every household to buy a government-mandated "TV license" costing several hundred dollars annually. FYI -- this is the primary source of funding for the British Broadcasting Corp.

Still, the recent introduction of "no subscription" television services in the U.K. market has apparently caused News. Corp's British Sky Broadcasting to offer its own selection of free channels to match the competition.

__________________________

FreeView Giving Sky a Run for its Money?

Is the FreeView terrestrial digital TV service giving the U.K. pay-TV powerhouse a run for its money?

Recently, the free-to-air FreeView service said it added 466,000 viewers in the last quarter, taking its total to more than 5 million, reports said. Despite the numbers, British Sky Broadcasting, the News Corp.-based satellite TV service that dominates the U.K. TV scene, appears to be "unconcerned" about the FreeView challenge, said Oppenheimer and Co. analyst Tom Eagan.

"They believe they will be able to convert a significant number of analog broadcast customers to the Sky platform, following the analog switch-off, expected to start in 2008," Eagan said. "We are not so optimistic given the increasing popularity of FreeView."

The FreeView competition has compelled BSkyB to start development of a "freesat" service of its own, which will consist of 60 channels offered for free with equipment purchase. The free Sky offer "signals how powerful (and pervasive) free services have become," Eagan said.
__________________________

Additional SkyREPORT stories can be found at www.skyreport.com.

Hey Guys and gals, I got a small problem I thought one of you may be able to help me. I tried hooking up an HDTV feed (Charter) into my reference system and I've got a bad ground loop issue. buzzzzz! Unscrew the cable from the box and its gone. Any ideas short of calling Charter for help?

Into your reference system?

If your running coax, try going through a home theatre surge protector. Where are your wire runs next to a power cord?

I'm sure you have, but make sure your plugging the cable into the right port.

Tom,

Sometimes ground loops can be eliminated by ensuring that all of your video and audio sources are being fed from the same outlet.

In a lot of situations, it just isn't practical (or safe) to have everything fed from a single outlet, but if you can do this, it might be worth a try. If it's easier, you might try to isolate the offending source, amp and display onto the same outlet.

I've had about 50/50 success with this approach.

If you like, shoot me an eMail and I'll send you a PDF that talks about ground loop and hum bar causes/solutions in considerable detail. It's too large to post here...

--They have Video on Demand which is a huge advantage over any satellite service. If you subscribe to premium channels you can watch recently played programming for about two months after it originally aired--but the older stuff is not available--why not? You can pay and watch newer movies that you are also able to rent about a month ago. Why not the same new releases as at the rental stores? How come there is no HD on VOD? Charter could make VOD irresistible but alas the money men won't yet allow that.

Redwine,

The Follow selection explains about this window:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2120868

There's just one catch. To make digital video on demand work, Murdoch would have to overcome a formidable barrier—the 45-day head start that video stores have been given. This so-called "video window" is the result of a long-standing unwritten agreement among studios to delay the electronic delivery of movies for at least six weeks after video stores have had the opportunity to rent them. Because most people rent movies the week of their release—indeed, more than 80 percent of rental earnings comes in the first two weeks—most would-be renters have already seen a new release by the time the 45 days have elapsed. To get these renters, Murdoch would have do away with the delay and deliver his movies to his subscribers on DVR the same day that they are available in stores.

What has prevented the studios from closing the video window is, as a top Viacom executive explains, "In one word: Wal-Mart." Wal-Mart, the single biggest seller of DVDs, does not want to compete with home delivery. The company told Viacom's home-entertainment division, in no uncertain terms, that if any studio does away with the 45-day video window for a single title, they would risk losing access to Wal-Mart's incredibly valuable shelf space for all of its DVDs. In the face of Wal-Mart's retail power (the antitrust term for it is monopsony) the studios have kept the window wide open.

Mark

More Charter St. Louis Pricing Details

An anonymous (and exceeding knowledgable) source recently sent me a document that provides very specific details on the pricing for various Charter cable TV service packages.

I'm attaching that as a Word document here and I hope it proves to be helpful for anyone considering changing providers, upgrading service, etc.

In the course of trying to ensure that I understood the pricing contained in this document, I sent a number of true/false questions to the source of this information, and I thought that exchange of information might also be helpful in quickly boiling down the bottom line meaning for some of the more popular HD upgrade scenarios that can arise from the pricing structure.

As you can see, I didn't get it completely right, but the back-and-forth dialog cleared away the points of confusion for me.

_____________________________________

Analog to Digital

Q: Moving from Expanded Basic analog cable to the entry-level Charter Digital Cable service (Big Value Pack) entails a charge of $7. This charge effectively covers both additional programming and the digital receiver rental. True or False?

A: True, The difference from the Big Value Pak and Expanded Basic is $7.00.

Digital to HD

Q: Moving from any sort of non-HD Charter Digital service to Charter's HD package requires a $3 upgrade fee and that fee covers both the HD receiver that is required and also provides all local HD channels that are available via Charter. True or False?

A: True, The Big, Bigger, and Biggest Value Paks have 1 standard digital box built into the price. The difference of the rental of the standard digital box and a high def box is three dollers. Basically you are paying more for the box rental since the HD boxes are more expensive. Charter considers the HD locals free. For instance, if you had a TV that had a CableCARD, you will only pay the rental for the CableCARD and the HD Locals are included.

Full HD Programming Cost

Q: To get all of the HD channels that Charter offers requires an additional $3.99 HD Tier charge that provides additional HD programming from HDNet, HDNet Movies and ESPN. True or False?

A: True. The HD Tier currently is $3.99, however, I seen markets that have HDNet, HDNet Movies, ESPN HD, Discovery HD at a price point of $6.99.

Moving from HD to DVR with HD

Q: A two-part question for you. 1) For an existing Charter HD subscriber, going from the full HD service to the Charter DVR service with full HD results in an upgrade fee of $3 that is entirely a hardware rental charge. True or False?

2) In addition to the hardware fee upgrade, there would also be a DVR monthly service charge of $6.99. True or False?

A: 1) False. The rental charge for an HD box and a DVR Box is the same. So there will be no difference in price for the rental of the box. 2) Also False. Going from a HD box to a DVR box will only entail a $6.99 DVR service Fee.

Multiple Charter HD DVRs

Q: Once you have Charter's DVR service with full HD programming in one room, adding it in another room where no Charter service currently exists would require an additional monthly charge of $9.95 (hardware rental) plus $6.99 (DVR service charge) for a total monthly charge of $16.94.

A: True.

Test Case Scenario

Q: Now let me test a scenario (or two) to make sure that I REALLY understand the meaning of the various price points.

If an existing Expanded Basic analog cable customer at $47.99 a month wanted to move from that analog service to the Charter DVR service with all available HD channels, the minimum cost (underlying digital service is assumed to be the Big Value Pack), would be as follows:

Expanded Basic ($47.99), plus the Big Value Pack ($7.00), plus an HD hardware upgrade ($3.00), plus the HD Tier ($3.99), plus the DVR hardware upgrade ($3.00), plus the DVR service fee ($6.99), bringing the total cost to $71.97.

That means that the incremental cost of going from Expanded Basic analog service to Charter's DVR service with the Full HD package would be a minimum of $23.98 per month, assuming the underlying digital service is the entry-level Big Value Pack.

Or another way to view it, the cost of going from ANY Charter digital service (Big, Bigger or Biggest) to the complete Charter DVR service with full HD programming would be $16.98 per month.

True or False?

A: False.

Actually it would be Expanded Basic ($47.95), plus the Big Value Pack upgrade ($7.00), plus the HD Tier ($3.99), plus the DVR hardware upgrade ($3.00), plus the DVR service fee ($6.99).

The difference between your question and my answer is that the $3.00 hardware upgrade fee applies to EITHER the HD receiver OR the DVR box, NOT both.

This brings the total DVR with full HD cost to $68.93, and it means that the incremental cost from Charter Expanded Basic to the DVR service with full HD programming would be an increase of $20.94 per month.

Likewise, the difference between the entry-level Charter Digital service and the DVR service with all available Charter HD programming would be $13.94 per month.
_____________________________________

One final point: Bear in mind that the information in the price list and the details above are really only relevant to someone who is looking only at Charter video services. Where Charter can further drive down the price is when the "triple play" components of broadband Internet and local phone service enter into the mix with additional overall discounts.

Still, I think it's very useful to better understand the nuts and bolts of the video pricing, particularly for the HD and DVR advanced services.

Mark (marky),

Thanks for the article. I always assumed Blockbuster controlled the video availability but Walmart being in control makes much more sense. I guess when we can download new movies from walmart.com everything will change. Greed rules the universe!

Well, just got done installing the new 300gb already-Tivo-formatted hard drive from Weaknees.com into my HD Tivo. I guess now you can unofficially call it an HR10-300.

Just popped the old (dead) drive out and popped the new drive in, and booted. Went through guided setup just like when the Tivo was new. Don't seem to have satellite locals in the guide yet, but otherwise all is well so far. There was a message at the end of the setup process stating guide data will download over the next two days, so I'm not really concerned about the lack of sat locals at this point.

BTW, did anyone watch/record the CSI Miami repeat on 4-1 saturday night? I just happened to pick that for the first test of my brand spanking new Dvico FusionHDTV tuner card in my equally brand spanking new self-built HTPC. It's feeding my XBR400's component inputs and one of my receiver's optical digital inputs. It was lighting my receiver's Pro Logic indicator, but there was only left front and right front. No center (which also meant no dialog) and no rears.

Just wondering if anyone else experienced the same thing, or do I just need to do some more tweaking of the new HTPC's audio output?

Into your reference system?

.....I'm sure you have, but make sure your plugging the cable into the right port.

Ditto. If you somehow plugged composite video OUT into an audio input, you'll get one hell of a buzz/hum.

Robert,

I didn't see or record the CSI you're referring to, but one of my customers called yesterday to ask me about a problem with this episode, and he reported essentially the same issue you describe.

I think that my customer has a fairly conventional surround system (I obviously direct most of my attention to the video side, so say for sure); therefore, I'm guessing this wasn't a problem specific to your HTPC configuration.

Robert,

I didn't see or record the CSI you're referring to, but one of my customers called yesterday to ask me about a problem with this episode, and he reported essentially the same issue you describe.

I think that my customer has a fairly conventional surround system (I obviously direct most of my attention to the video side, so say for sure); therefore, I'm guessing this wasn't a problem specific to your HTPC configuration.

Cool, 'cause now that the HD Tivo is up and running again, it'll be a few days before I get back to testing out the HTPC again. Thanks Doug...

From: CNETnews.com (http://news.com.com/A+deal+made+in+Washington/2010-1071_3-5744982.html?part=rss&tag=5744982&subj=news)

__________________________
"A deal made in Washington?
June 14, 2005, 4:00 AM PT
By Rick Boucher

On May 26, my friend and former colleague, Dan Glickman, of the Motion Picture Association of America, made the case for Congress enacting legislation to ratify the Federal Communication Commission's broadcast flag rule, which the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down in early May.

I expect that my colleagues will think twice before simply ratifying the FCC's rule. Mr. Glickman asked the rhetorical question: "So why should I care about a so-called broadcast flag regulation? The answer is simple. I want to make certain that the American people will continue to have the opportunity to see our movies and television shows on free television in the digital age."

For me, the answer to his rhetorical question is simple as well: If the MPAA expects Congress to ratify a rule that would limit the ability of ordinary consumers to share lawfully acquired digital broadcast television programs with one another, then it shouldn't be surprised if Congress insists that the MPAA accept in return a restoration of the fair use rights taken from consumers through the enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

As crafted, the FCC's broadcast flag rule recognized the right of consumers to share lawfully acquired digital broadcast content within their homes. But it also would have made it illegal for my staff to send a digital broadcast news clip from my district office to my Washington, D.C., office via the Internet. It would have precluded a library from sharing with a patron via the Internet excerpts from a digitally broadcast public affairs program. And it would have limited the ability of teachers to use material from digitally broadcast programs when engaged in distance education with students in rural areas--the very kind of activity Congress authorized in the TEACH Act.

Given these restrictions on traditional fair use activities, I expect that my colleagues will think twice before simply ratifying the FCC's rule. Moreover, given that the rule raises the question of consumer use of lawfully acquired content, I am confident that the House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider the appropriateness of amending any broadcast flag legislation with H.R. 1201, a bill that I introduced along with the Chairman of the Committee and Representative John Doolittle, to restore the fair use rights that ordinary consumers lost when Congress enacted the DMCA.

Both fair use proponents and content owners frequently say we need balance in our copyright laws. I agree. Adding H.R. 1201 to appropriately crafted broadcast flag legislation would achieve a long needed balance--bringing us back to the equilibrium that existed before the DMCA disrupted it to the detriment of consumers, librarians, teachers and the public at large. "
__________________________

Mr. Glickman is my new HD hero ;) My additional beef with the broadcast flag is the additional cost it adds to EVERY HD component that has to adhere to the standard.

And now back to your regularly scheduled program...

Anybody notice that the PSIP on KSDK isn't working? KPLR's clock is set for sometime two days from now, and WRBU has recently started using WRBU Programming...DT (starting and ending :06 past the hour), instead of actually programming data.

I know that KPLR is having trouble with Local 4, I think, so that might be the problem there. If I'm covering stuff that's been covered..sorry! I haven't posted since April (I think).

I'd like to get a DVR. Should I just get what Charter currently has to offer, or should I wait for an upgraded model or until Charter goes all digital? Does anyone know when a better Moxi box will be available? I've read that the analog channels do not look so great on the Moxi box.

StockInv,
I'd wait until later this summer if I were you. Charter is expected to release another version of the Moxi box, which has a larger hard drive for recording, and it will connect to yet another new box called the MoxiMate, which will enable 2nd room viewing and control of the dvr. When Charter goes all digital, channels 2-99 should look a lot better on the new boxes as well as the current Moxi. I'm looking forward to dvi output on the new box as well. I think the MoxiMate will only have outputs for SD, not HD. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It's anybody's guess if this summer will also yield additional hd channels to go along with the new equipment, but one can hope(DSCHD, TNTHD, FSMW).

kjohnson,
Maybe WRBU is in transition to a more correct guide. Up until now, the clock was off by so many hours that I sometimes had to set an AM time for a PM show that I wanted to record with my timer. It was always a pain to figure out exactly how many hours and minutes the clock was off by, so being 6 minutes off is a huge improvement. I hope the other guide data comes back.

Bob,
Congrats on the larger hard drive and the new htpc. I know you will use them well. I'll have to pop over sometime and check things out.

Nuzy,
Actually, since channel is splitting up it's bandwidth between 3 subchannels, you will not see full hd resolution on 9-1. This is the price for having more than one channel of programming available. While it might make since to those who own the stations and run the business, it spells death to video quality. Check out any other hd channels during primetime hours(except 46-1) to see the beauty and glory of true hd resolution.

Someone posted that channel 791 was up and running as an hd ppv channel, but with no sound yet. I can't pull up this channel at all on Moxi. Is it only on the hd digital box?

DirecTV to "Soft Launch" HD Locals?

If you occasionally browse the HD Programming thread, you probably saw the discussion about DirecTV and a major announcement about HD programming that was rumored to happen June 15 (today).

Philip Swann, who writes the daily TV Predictions newsletter is reporting the rumor is just that -- he says it's not gonna happen.

However, since everyone is primed for some DirecTV news, he's issued a new "prediction" about the rollout of HD locals by DirecTV in the event. As predictions go, this isn't exactly seismic, but here it is:

_____________________________________

Washington, D.C. (June 14, 2005) -- DIRECTV has announced that it will offer
High-Definition TV feeds of local channels in 24 markets this fall. This will be the first time that DIRECTV will provide viewers with local high-def coverage.

However, I predict that the satcaster will first test the local HDTV service in one market before launching the service elsewhere. The test could delay the 24 market national launch until late September or early October. At this time, I am not ready to predict which market will be tested.

The reason for the one-city test: The local HDTV signals will be delivered via a new satellite, which was launched in April, and a new compression technology called MPEG-4. Consequently, the satellite TV service must take special care to ensure that the new satellite -- and the new technology -- is a-ok before going national. (DIRECTV currently uses MPEG-2 compression technology to deliver TV signals.)

...

I will predict, though, that DIRECTV's 24 market roll out of local HDTV will be done in two stages. DIRECTV has announced that the first 12 markets will be: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington DC, Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, and Tampa Bay.

In the next few weeks, I predict that DIRECTV will announce 12 additional markets
that will get local HDTV this fall.
_____________________________________

The complete story can be found here. (http://www.onhd.tv/directvlocal061405.html)

Into your reference system?

If your running coax, try going through a home theatre surge protector.

Jackpot! I loaned out my coax terminating tool to a customer and only had one run of RG6 laying around. Yesterday I bought another 3' run, went from the wall to the Monster HTPS-7000 Signature and then to the box. Problem solved! :)

I'd like to get a DVR. Should I just get what Charter currently has to offer, or should I wait for an upgraded model or until Charter goes all digital? Does anyone know when a better Moxi box will be available? I've read that the analog channels do not look so great on the Moxi box.

Personally, I would call today and get the DVR. When Charter rolls out the new, improved DVR in a few months you can easily call up and have your current one swapped out for the new one. This isn't satellite where you have to purchase your equipment. I am hearing that they are in the final testing phase of the new DVR, the 9022D-Moxi Mate combo.

And to answer your analog channel question, Charter will begin their 'digital simulcast' on July 12th. Once that happens, if you are a digital customer you will no longer get any analog channels. Instead you will get everything in digital, which will greatly improve channels 2-99.

...and from what I hear, Charter will be getting three new HD channels in September...

All right I final found last months Charter bill. I have been a Charter customer since I moved to the area in 1985. I get everything except phone and moxi. I have digital (2 boxes) and HD service (1 box, Moto 5200). I have the 3 meg connection to the internet. My bill was $126.76. If I wasn't at work I would scan the bill an attach the breakdown. I could still do this if anyone is interested. I will, however, need to know if The Open is going to be in HD.

Walt

[QUOTE]and from what I hear, Charter will be getting three new HD channels in September

any word on which ones?

[QUOTE]and from what I hear, Charter will be getting three new HD channels in September

any word on which ones?

Discovery-HD
PBS-HD
Cinemax-HD

PBS and Cinemax HD seem like odd choices, given they have added Universal HD, and TNT HD to other areas. I'm certainly not complaining, however, as these channels (especially Discovery HD) would be good additions.

As I recall new HD channels were rumored for July. I guess that has now been extended--to September. Hope this turns out to be true.

Discovery-HD
PBS-HD
Cinemax-HD

Nice work, once again, Mr. Deep Throat.

:) :cool: :)

what happened to TNT-HD and FSNMW-HD any word on those or why we have to wait till september instaed of july for the others?

Maybe I've forgotten, but was July ever a quoted date by Charter for additional HD? I never saw that, as far as I know anyways.

Sept 15th is the solid date that Charter has stated internally. I too would have preferred TNT-HD, ESPN2-HD, or FSMW-HD over PBS or Cinemax. But more HD is more HD.

As far as FSMW-HD goes, Charter has never mentioned it. The only information we have gathered has been directly from Fox Sports. It seems they are working towards an agreement with Charter, but obviously Charter is dragging its heels. And I suspect the longer the season goes the less motivation Charter has to reaching that agreement.

And...someone mentioned ABC-HD earlier. We all know what the issue is with ABC...Sinclair. The entire world has had major problems coming to contractual agreements with Sinclair. I seriously doubt Charter will be one of the first to come to any sort of understanding with the idiots at Sinclair.

Hope this helps...

dude, you seriously need to look into decaf...

dude, you seriously need to look into decaf...

I deleted previous post. Sorry to have bothered you. I won't ask you questions anymore.

I think that TNT-HD and ESPN2-HD would be far more beneficial to Charter (by bringing more subscribers to cable) than PBS and Cinemax, which is a premium channel.

I think that TNT-HD and ESPN2-HD would be far more beneficial to Charter (by bringing more subscribers to cable) than PBS and Cinemax, which is a premium channel.

I think the TNT HD is unwatchable. 90% of the programming is stretched or distorted.

I deleted previous post. Sorry to have bothered you. I
won't ask you questions anymore.


Thank You

Thank You


Fine, you won't see me post at avsforum anymore. Mod's can delete my account. Bye. :(

again I say....decaf.

I'd like to get a DVR. Should I just get what Charter currently has to offer, or should I wait for an upgraded model or until Charter goes all digital? Does anyone know when a better Moxi box will be available? I've read that the analog channels do not look so great on the Moxi box.

I would wait for the upgraded model. I don't think Charter will upgrade you quickly if there is any demand from new DVR customers and you might have to wait a while.

I do have a positive comment for Charter. I had the service guy here last week to fix channels that kept saying "Wait". He knew what the issue was and fixed it quickly!!!!!!! The last guy that was here didn't have a clue and just replaced everything and stole my cable modem.

I just ordered a HDTV and wanted to know how far in advance I need to call charter in order to have the Charter HD package turned on the day my new TV arrives.

FYI, I already have the Moxi DVR box with the full digital package (except Showtime).

Also, I understand that the DVI port on the Moxi box isn't active yet. Is there any harm in hooking up both the DVI cables and component cables at the same time (in anticipation of a future DVI activation)?

I just ordered a HDTV and wanted to know how far in advance I need to call charter in order to have the Charter HD package turned on the day my new TV arrives.

I believe they can do it instantaneously. I know that when I decided to add the "HD entertainment pack" (i.e. HDNET, HDNET Movies, ESPN-HD) all I did was call and the CSR had it on by the time I hung up the phone.

Also, I understand that the DVI port on the Moxi box isn't active yet. Is there any harm in hooking up both the DVI cables and component cables at the same time (in anticipation of a future DVI activation)?

No harm whatsoever. I did the exact same thing.

Charter Moxi has Cinemax (525) in the HDTV menu. fingers crossed

Well, you beat me to it. I see Cinemax there too.

Skin-e-max movies in HD??? Dare to dream...

FWIW, there's also a discussion in the HDTV Programming thread about Cinemax-HD on DirecTV.

Here...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=550051

...and here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5765382&&#post5765382


Reading way between the lines, I suspect the source of this happening on both providers may be related to metadata that Cinemax is providing to the companies that compile the electronic listings data.

Of course, it's possible that Charter AND DirecTV are BOTH getting ready to add Cinemax-HD, but I'd say that "random technical glitch" seems a rather more plausible explanation.

Cinemax shows up on my D* box as HD, but no way it is. When I first saw it on the guide I thought it was one of the channels D* said it may announce on the 15th. Unless I missed it there was no announcement yesterday from D* about adding HD channels. What a tease. C'mon D* add some more HD.
On another note, why the heck are major sporting events not in HD? I am referring to the US Open in Pinehurst.

Scott

Scott,

Just for the record, DirecTV never said it was going to be making an announcement on the 15th, so the "tease" never came from them. I believe this rumor got its start on a TiVo-related forum, was carried across to the HDTV Programming forum here (and rightly labeled as a rumor). Once it made its way to the HDTV Programming forum it took on a life, generating thousands of words of additional speculation that ultimately added up to less than zero.

FWIW, I share your frustration with the lack of communication from DirecTV to its customers and prospects about specific near-term HD plans and additions.

The lack of HD coverage for some major sporting events is a function of the costs involved and the fact that the HD-capable market is still well below 10% of all households. The situation will no doubt improve as production costs come down and the number of potential viewers continues to increase.

I suspect the rumor is a glitch a Charter would probably assigned a 700 number for Cinemax HD and not replace one of the Cinemax SD channels,

Cinemax-HD will be added to Charter on September 15th, so says an internal memo at Charter....

Hello, I may be moving to Maryland Heights soon, and was asking about how Cable service is. I know it's not an HD question, but was wanting some advice on cable TV in the area. I know Charter is the main carrier for most of the STL metro, but I don't know about prices for Cable/Hi Speed Internet, and about what their new Charter Telephone service is all about. Anyone got any help for me. Thanks alot.

Also is there any other choices than charter in Maryland heights? When I lived in an area that charter had cable, it was auful. Only had 25 channels, and hardly no reception for the STL local channels (5,11). And if there is any choices other than charter, could I get some price info for them as well.

Yeah. It's called DBS (Satellite).

Cinemax-HD will be added to Charter on September 15th, so says an internal memo at Charter....

Anything about Starz in the internal memo? Starz has most of the HD movies I would like to see.

Hello, I may be moving to Maryland Heights soon, and was asking about how Cable service is. I know it's not an HD question, but was wanting some advice on cable TV in the area. I know Charter is the main carrier for most of the STL metro, but I don't know about prices for Cable/Hi Speed Internet, and about what their new Charter Telephone service is all about. Anyone got any help for me. Thanks alot.

As far as I know Maryland Heights is the only municipality that offers a choice of cable companies. (I don't live there but dated someone who had cable from someone other than Charter)

Go about halfway down the page:
http://www.marylandheights.com/index.asp?NID=23

Cable Television

The city offers residents the opportunity to choose between two competing cable companies. Charter Communications and CableAmerica offer services to our residents. You may contact Charter Communications at (314) 428-0202 and CableAmerica at (314) 291-1970.

Sorry, this is totally off subject. I saw Batman Begins tonight with Bob and some friends. The movie was simply awesome...go see it!! It might even be better than the Spiderman movies. Also, I went to Chicago last weekend to see SW EPIII in a digital theater. Unbelieveable clarity, color, contrast, and image detailing. The matinee show I saw was only $4.50. Is there anyway that we can pull for a digital theater in St. Louis?

Sorry, this is totally off subject. I saw Batman Begins tonight with Bob and some friends. The movie was simply awesome...go see it!! It might even be better than the Spiderman movies. Also, I went to Chicago last weekend to see SW EPIII in a digital theater. Unbelieveable clarity, color, contrast, and image detailing. The matinee show I saw was only $4.50. Is there anyway that we can pull for a digital theater in St. Louis?

I agree this is a great movie. The way I remember the comic book. You ask how do I know it is a great movie? I know because the one person who rarely likes this type of movie is.....my wife. She loved it. The final word. :)

It's very disappointing that a tournament as big as the US OPEN is not being broadcast in HD. I wonder why?

Sorry, this is totally off subject. I saw Batman Begins tonight with Bob and some friends. The movie was simply awesome...go see it!! It might even be better than the Spiderman movies. Also, I went to Chicago last weekend to see SW EPIII in a digital theater. Unbelieveable clarity, color, contrast, and image detailing. The matinee show I saw was only $4.50. Is there anyway that we can pull for a digital theater in St. Louis?

I dunno about a digital screen. However the St. Louis Business Journal is reporting that a screen at Ronnies will be converted to IMAX this fall.

It's very disappointing that a tournament as big as the US OPEN is not being broadcast in HD. I wonder why?

I agree. These are the types of programs that are tayor made (pun intended) for HDTV. I even took Thursday and Friday off just to watch. Very disappointing. Oh well, maybe The Open Championship at St. Andrews will be in HD.

Scott

I dunno about a digital screen. However the St. Louis Business Journal is reporting that a screen at Ronnies will be converted to IMAX this fall.


Damn, its about time STL get an Imax theater. I could not believe it when Wehrenberg announced building new theater in chesterfield valley, with largest screen in STL, but it was not Imax. Seemed like a damn shame for another new theater to be added or rebuilt to STL area without it including Imax or a digital screen. I saw Beauty & The Beast on Imax up in Chicago and it was great.

dweebe,
Thanks for that great Imax news. Exciting!!

phatty,
I think that the Chesterfield screen you mentioned is not only the largest in St. Louis, but the largest in the midwest. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

DirecTV Offers Free DVR & HD Receiver for 2-Year Commitment

The following story comes from today's SkyREPORT newsletter:

_________________________________________

The news is out on DirecTV's latest effort for high-def TV, and SkyRETAILER has the details in today's edition.

The satellite TV giant said it recently sent a letter to retailers indicating that under a new program consumers who sign up for a two-year commitment tied to a qualifying programming package will be able to receive - for free - advanced set-top boxes, including equipment with DVR capabilities and systems that will connect subscribers to HD programming.

Standard/basic boxes still require a one-year commitment, the company said.

The program starts Aug. 1. That's about a month before DirecTV begins to deliver NFL Sunday Ticket, its exclusive football package that will offer games in high-def.
_________________________________________

Not Really News: Retail Sales Provides Errant HD Information

Of course, not every relail salesperson is clueless, but a number of the following scenarios will probably seem at least vaguely familiar to anyone who's been shopping for an HDTV in the last year.

But, I wonder, how much better would the typical cable customer support person do in fielding these questions?

The following is an excerpt from CableWorld:

____________________________________________

Ever Been Shopping for an HDTV Set?
Here's a coast-to-coast look at what cable's up against at retail.

There's no questioning HDTV's popularity right now. With 71% of respondents to a Consumer Electronics Association survey saying that they planned to buy a DTV set for their next TV purchase, retail stores are gearing up for a rush of consumers.

And that's where cable could find itself in big trouble--the level of confusion from both consumers and retail salespeople matches the level of interest in HDTV. The training retail salespeople receive leaves a lot to be desired, as we discovered in visits to nine consumer electronics stores in five markets served by the top six MSOs.

Explaining complicated technology in lay terms is not easy. In general, the salespeople dumbed things down too much and didn't bother explaining, for instance, built-in tuners, the different resolutions of HDTV versus EDTV and what a pixel is.

They didn't fare any better when it came to discussing industry issues, such as the digital transition and the plug-and-play agreement. Nor were the salespeople well versed in how cable operators charge for the service.

Some in-store advertising was misleading, such as the poster in a New York City Circuit City that touted a "free" HD upgrade from Time Warner Cable, which, in fact, charges nothing to "upgrade" to HD service. (It does charge a bit more for its HD set-top box. A premium HD tier is additional as well.)

The overwhelming preference of all the salespeople was for satellite, largely due to cost. Nobody liked CableCARDs, and several salespeople actively dissuaded us from using them (at least until the two-way cards are available).

Granted this is a small, informal survey. But the results seem to indicate cable has a long way to go before making an impact on the retail level.
____________________________________________

For the complete story, click here. (http://www.cableworld.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=062005&file=everbeenshopping.htm)

Hi everbody,

I recently signed up with charter and I have their Moxi HiDef DVR Box. I get all the normal channels fine but the movie/hd channels are distorted. For 5 seconds the picture and audio will be fine, but then for 2 seconds the screen will become slightly scrambled and the audio will skip, after that returning to normal, but reating over and over.

I called charter for support and they had sent a signal to my box and said that it should take 30 minutes to complete. The CSR noted that if I didnt notice a change after that time, that I should manually reset the box by holding the RESET button. I went ahead and did that, and the box recylced itself.

The MOXI booted up again and I am still getting the same thing. I have a support technician coming on May 2, but is there anything you guys can suggest that might be able to remedy this? Thanks!

DirecTV to Offer Free HD DVRs for 2-Year Commitment

WOW!

Hi everbody,

I recently signed up with charter and I have their Moxi HiDef DVR Box. I get all the normal channels fine but the movie/hd channels are distorted. For 5 seconds the picture and audio will be fine, but then for 2 seconds the screen will become slightly scrambled and the audio will skip, after that returning to normal, but reating over and over.

I called charter for support and they had sent a signal to my box and said that it should take 30 minutes to complete. The CSR noted that if I didnt notice a change after that time, that I should manually reset the box by holding the RESET button. I went ahead and did that, and the box recylced itself.

The MOXI booted up again and I am still getting the same thing. I have a support technician coming on May 2, but is there anything you guys can suggest that might be able to remedy this? Thanks!

Your problem sounds like a classic reception issue. The tech who comes out will probably check your signal strength first, and I'm guessing that will be your issue.

DirecTV to Offer Free HD DVRs for 2-Year Commitment


Doug,

Could you send us a link to that story whenever you get more details? I'm curious what type of HD DVRs these are, like 1 or 2 tuners, HD space, etc.

THANKS!

I was surprised this hadn't been posted at the HDTV Programming forum, and when I put it up over there, CPanther noted that the article doesn't explicitly say that the DVR capabilities will include HD -- so it could be SD-only DVR and HD receiver.

Seems pretty dumb, but in re-reading the article it does seem to be worded that way for a reason.

I've edited my headline both here and at the Programming forum to reflect that.

Bruce, the story I posted is all that was included and I haven't seen this anywhere else yet.

Apologies if this turns out to be a false alarm...

The MOXI booted up again and I am still getting the same thing. I have a support technician coming on May 2, but is there anything you guys can suggest that might be able to remedy this? Thanks!

Charter can be slow, but...May 2?


:D :eek: :D

I signed up for Charter local phone service in April indicating that I wanted to keep my current LD carrier (AT&T). Much to my shock, I got a $125 bill in the mail on Friday from MCI for long-distance calls at the rate of $2.24 per minute!

I called Charter & they confirmed that I had indicated AT&T to them. Somehow in their set-up process, my LD calls were going through MCI.

They made notes in my record & asked me to fax Lance - a customer service specialist who is supposed to get this taken care of. I was thinking that we could start a poll as to when my man Lance will call me.

Charter can be slow, but...May 2?


:D :eek: :D


They arent slow... I just work during the day and needed saturday service.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Saluki
Charter can be slow, but...May 2?

They arent slow... I just work during the day and needed saturday service.

Uh...okay. 11 months is really not that bad then.

LOL... why dont I just get another cup of coffee... wow! DOH! sorry... July 2nd...

LOL... why dont I just get another cup of coffee... wow! DOH! sorry... July 2nd...

Just havin' some fun. Good luck with the service call.

KBryant888,

I know how you feel. I have been fighting Charter for 2 MONTHS about my Moxi box dropping channels and freezing up. I have had 2 techs visit my house. The first tech said it was a signal issue. Unfortunately, a month and a half later nothing changed. Then a 2nd tech came by a few weeks ago and said it was a network issue(?). All he did was download the new software update but nothing changed. I finally told a Customer Service Rep that I wanted a credit and he gave me a 2 month credit for $173!!! Since then, they have called me twice to see if there is still a problem even though I have a July 2nd appointment scheduled. I have been telling them I think the box is going bad but the techs who come out won't replace it. The only reason I suspect the box is because the problem started gradually about 3 months ago and has gotten worse and worse as time went on. Now, I have to reset my box 3 to 4 times a week. Sometimes it takes 2 resets back to back just to get the thing to work. I am so glad almost everything is in reruns now and I am not missing my favorite show. Hang in there and good luck.

I signed up for Charter local phone service in April indicating that I wanted to keep my current LD carrier (AT&T). Much to my shock, I got a $125 bill in the mail on Friday from MCI for long-distance calls at the rate of $2.24 per minute!

I called Charter & they confirmed that I had indicated AT&T to them. Somehow in their set-up process, my LD calls were going through MCI.

They made notes in my record & asked me to fax Lance - a customer service specialist who is supposed to get this taken care of. I was thinking that we could start a poll as to when my man Lance will call me.

My guess is after he finishes the Tour de France........

I signed up for Charter local phone service in April indicating that I wanted to keep my current LD carrier (AT&T). Much to my shock, I got a $125 bill in the mail on Friday from MCI for long-distance calls at the rate of $2.24 per minute!

I called Charter & they confirmed that I had indicated AT&T to them. Somehow in their set-up process, my LD calls were going through MCI.

They made notes in my record & asked me to fax Lance - a customer service specialist who is supposed to get this taken care of. I was thinking that we could start a poll as to when my man Lance will call me.

Dude, if you have Charter cable modem service, then go with VoiP. I went with AT&T CallVantage.

The first bill was $70 for all the signup fees, but after that my bill is $21/month for free local service and $.04/minute for long distance. (down from my old SBC bill of $48/month)

You can also do unlimited local and long distance for aprox $31/month.

I've been very happy with the quality. The only issue is power outages make the coverter box twitchy so just go buy a cheap $40 power backup system.

There's a number of other companies with Vonage being the other big one. They have two main packages: $14.99/month for local or $24.99/month for local and long distance. However I had two friends who switched to Vonage and both had issues with the switchover. However my transfer to CallVantage was flawless.

I'm in the process of updating some of the local HD resource information and wonder if some Charter, DISH and DirecTV subscribers can help me out.

* I need channel assignments on Charter for: ESPN-HD, HDNet Movies, HDNet, HBO-HD, Showtime HD, KTVI-DT, KMOV-DT, KSDK-DT, and KPLR-DT.

* Likewise, I need channel assignments for DISH for ESPN-HD, HDNet Movies, HDNet, HBO-HD, Showtime HD, and TNT-HD. I also need the channel numbers used for the CBS-HD out of market feeds (East and West), DISH HD PPV channel number(s) and NBA TV. According to my research, DISH doesn't offer the NFL-HD channel or Spice HD, but if that's incorrect, I'd like to know those channel numbers, too.

* Also I need DirecTV channel numbers for NBA TV in HD, NFL TV HD, PPV-HD/Spice HD.

Finally, if there's anyone out there with a BUD that can receive any of the following channels, I'd like to know which HD format they use (1080i or 720p) and whether they are Dolby Digital 5.1-capable.

Cinemax HD (presumably 1080i/5.1)
ESPN2 (720p and Circle Surround)
E!
inHD
inHD2
The Movie Channel HD (1080i/5.1?)
Starz! HD (1080i/5.1)
USA Network HD
Wealth TV

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide on this.

I'm in the process of updating some of the local HD resource information and wonder if some Charter, DISH and DirecTV subscribers can help me out.

* I need channel assignments on Charter for: ESPN-HD, HDNet Movies, HDNet, HBO-HD, Showtime HD, KTVI-DT, KMOV-DT, KSDK-DT, and KPLR-DT.

* Likewise, I need channel assignments for DISH for ESPN-HD, HDNet Movies, HDNet, HBO-HD, Showtime HD, and TNT-HD. I also need the channel numbers used for the CBS-HD out of market feeds (East and West), DISH HD PPV channel number(s) and NBA TV. According to my research, DISH doesn't offer the NFL-HD channel or Spice HD, but if that's incorrect, I'd like to know those channel numbers, too.

* Also I need DirecTV channel numbers for NBA TV in HD, NFL TV HD, PPV-HD/Spice HD.

Finally, if there's anyone out there with a BUD that can receive any of the following channels, I'd like to know which HD format they use (1080i or 720p) and whether they are Dolby Digital 5.1-capable.

Cinemax HD (presumably 1080i/5.1)
ESPN2 (720p and Circle Surround)
E!
inHD
inHD2
The Movie Channel HD (1080i/5.1?)
Starz! HD (1080i/5.1)
USA Network HD
Wealth TV

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide on this.

Doug, I have D*. I was not aware that they had those channels in HD. I show...

NBA 601
NFL 212

I don't see any Spice channels only PBTV, PLAT, THN AND THZ all adult networks.

Hope this helps.

Scott

Dude, if you have Charter cable modem service, then go with VoiP. I went with AT&T CallVantage.

The first bill was $70 for all the signup fees, but after that my bill is $21/month for free local service and $.04/minute for long distance. (down from my old SBC bill of $48/month)

You can also do unlimited local and long distance for aprox $31/month.

I've been very happy with the quality. The only issue is power outages make the coverter box twitchy so just go buy a cheap $40 power backup system.

There's a number of other companies with Vonage being the other big one. They have two main packages: $14.99/month for local or $24.99/month for local and long distance. However I had two friends who switched to Vonage and both had issues with the switchover. However my transfer to CallVantage was flawless.

I don't make a ton of LD calls & I use my cell for most of them. My AT&T bill is usually only around $8. The Charter phone service is cheap as part of the "triple play" package. They offer unlimited LD for an additional $10.

They just screwed up my initial set-up as far as my LD carrier goes.

My guess is after he finishes the Tour de France........

Haaa!

He must of been out training today as he has not called yet. My guess is that I will be on the phone tomorrow trying to track him down...

Doug,
Here's the DISH info you need:

TNT HD 9420
DSC HD 9421
HDNet 9422
HDNM 9423
ESPN HD 9424
HBO HD 9456
SHO HD 9460
HDEV1(special events) 9465
NBA HD 9466
HD PPV 9467
CBS HD East 9483
CBS HD West 9484

I can't seem to find any info about adult hd channels if there are any. Hope this helps...

* I need channel assignments on Charter for: ESPN-HD, HDNet Movies, HDNet, HBO-HD, Showtime HD, KTVI-DT, KMOV-DT, KSDK-DT, and KPLR-DT.


HDNet = 770
HDNet movies = 771
ESPN-HD = 773
HBO-HD = 777
Showtime HD = 778
KPLR-DT = 781
KTVI-DT = 782
KMOV-DT = 784
KSDK-DT = 785

Dude, if you have Charter cable modem service, then go with VoiP. I went with AT&T CallVantage.

The first bill was $70 for all the signup fees, but after that my bill is $21/month for free local service and $.04/minute for long distance. (down from my old SBC bill of $48/month)

Is your monthly costs you have quoted here your ENTIRE bill? I know when it comes to phone bills there are always a ton of hidden taxes they forget to tell you about.

Thanks!
Bruce

I just switched to the Charter phone service and I have't been very happy. My bills with two lines and many of the features with SBC was around $72 a month. Charter told me that I would be paying much less than that. Now I look at my last two bills; $78 and $99. The taxes and fees alone are like $23 a month. I guess I might be getting a further discount on the triple play package but that billing is separate.

Is your monthly costs you have quoted here your ENTIRE bill? I know when it comes to phone bills there are always a ton of hidden taxes they forget to tell you about.

Thanks!
Bruce

I switched to Vonage a few months ago. My monthly bill is $27.24 (that's $24.99 plus all taxes and fees). For that I get unlimited local and long distance to anywhere in the US and Canada, plus more features than I had with SBC (call waiting, caller ID, call waiting ID, call forwarding, voice mail, etc.). I called about Charter's telephone service at the time, but it wasn't available in my area, so I went with Vonage, which was substantially cheaper anyway. No complaints about voice quality. It's been excellent. The $50 rebate (for the phone adapter) from Vonage itself still hasn't arrived, even though I've been in touch with them about it a few times (some claimed mixup on the paperwork). Recently, I've had a few people tell me they couldn't get through (all lines are busy message), even at strange times like 9:00 pm. I'm going to look into that one.

Nits aside, I'm saving roughly half on my SBC phone bill and have free long distance. I put one of my phones and the Vonage adapter on a UPS, so I can still get calls even during power outages. I don't miss SBC at all.

I just switched to the Charter phone service and I have't been very happy. My bills with two lines and many of the features with SBC was around $72 a month. Charter told me that I would be paying much less than that. Now I look at my last two bills; $78 and $99. The taxes and fees alone are like $23 a month. I guess I might be getting a further discount on the triple play package but that billing is separate.


You must have not had a good package on the SBC account. Local service and LD now runs 39.99 and DSL is 14.99. PM me if you have ?s. I work for SBC and would like to help you out if you want.

Rich

Doug,
This is funny. When I read the following statement in your post, I started scratching my head:

"Finally, if there's anyone out there with a BUD that can receive any of the following channels, I'd like to know which HD format they use (1080i or 720p) and whether they are Dolby Digital 5.1-capable.

Cinemax HD (presumably 1080i/5.1)
ESPN2 (720p and Circle Surround)
E!
inHD
inHD2
The Movie Channel HD (1080i/5.1?)
Starz! HD (1080i/5.1)
USA Network HD
Wealth TV "

I wanted to know what this new BUD service was, and how I might get it. Reading all the hd channels that no one else here has made me think that there might be a new kind of satellite or cable service starting up that would fill the gap that VOOM left. Funny, I wondered...what does BUD stand for??? Then it hit me. How could I miss it... BUD means bud(dy). LOL!!

You must have not had a good package on the SBC account. Local service and LD now runs 39.99 and DSL is 14.99. PM me if you have ?s. I work for SBC and would like to help you out if you want.

Rich

I believe that $14.99 is a promo rate for DSL for a limited time. It's not permanent.

Doug,

I wanted to know what this new BUD service was, and how I might get it. Reading all the hd channels that no one else here has made me think that there might be a new kind of satellite or cable service starting up that would fill the gap that VOOM left. Funny, I wondered...what does BUD stand for??? Then it hit me. How could I miss it... BUD means bud(dy). LOL!!

Actually, it means Big Ugly Dish. Not surprising that you haven't heard this before, since small dishes have been the norm for almost 10 years!

Mike

Off topic but everybody likes a bargain, right?

Costco currently has the X-Files DVD season box sets stickered at $65.99 each and are taking $20 off each at the registers. Final price $45.99 per season. There's no "expiration date" to the $20 off other than the usual "while stock lasts."

These same sets are $73.19 each at deepdiscountdvd.com.

The last few seasons were done in "Fox Widescreen" during a time when HD sets were pretty few and far between. So the 16x9 aspect ratio of these DVD's (seasons 5-9 IIRC) will be a first for a lot of people.

DirecTV Free Offer Isn't Free

The following is a CORRECTION posted in this morning's SkyREPORT newsletter.

__________________________________

CORRECTION - On DirecTV Receiver Story

CORRECTION - In SkyREPORT's story Monday, it was reported that DirecTV will offer for free advanced satellite TV receivers to customers who commit to a two-year programming package.

While the company will be requiring a two-year commitment for customers who take advanced satellite TV receivers, such as the DirecTV DVR receiver, DirecTV HD receiver or DirecTV HD DVR Receiver, they will not be offered for free to customers.

The editorial staff regrets the error.
__________________________________


I can't recall SkyREPORT previously botching up a story as thoroughly as they have this one. Even from the correction, it's not at all clear what this really means -- is DirecTV still going to offer a significant discount (something short of "free"?) in return for a 2-year commitment, or is it just trying to lock in customers for a longer term without any meaningful incentive?

If it's the latter scenario, that development taken together with the recent clumsy handling of the NFL Sunday Ticket pricing, would seem like an ugly sign of things to come from DirecTV and how it is going to deal with customers going forward.

Hopefully that's not the case, but it's really not clear to me the whole point of the 2-year commitment without customers gaining some benefit going forward.

I'll try to dig deeper into this if I get time later today, but if anyone else sees anything that helps to clear this up, by all means post it here.

There is a digital theater in St. Louis... it's called Jedi's house!

I believe that $14.99 is a promo rate for DSL for a limited time. It's not permanent.

It may be offered for a limited time (looks like it will be around a while though). It doesn't mean you sign up and get that rate for a few months and then pay more.
That rate is valid for 12 months. Just like all the other promotions for DSL have been. At the end of the 12 months you can just get the deal offered then. Which for the past few has meeant cheper or the same at the end of the 12 months.

Rich

Doug, I believe in the SkyRetailer, they said $150 for standard receiver or $200 for advanced. What a bargain. :-/

The following is an excerpt of a press release posted on Yahoo! Finance earlier today.

Not sure how relevant this is for Charter subscribers here. My understanding is that all previous HD hardware offered by Charter in St. Louis was Motorola-based. Likewise, I'm not sure if this means that Sci-Atl is going to be used here for the Moxi Media Center here, or whether that really matters to anyone other than Sci-Atl shareholders.
________________________________________

Moxi(TM) PowerKEY(R) Deployed by Charter Communications

Cable Industry's First PowerKEY(R)-Compatible Media Center Debuts

KIRKLAND, Wash., June 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Digeo today announced initial deployment of MoxiTM PowerKEY to Charter Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: CHTR - News) customers in Turlock, Calif. This marks the first time an MSO has offered a cable media center to its customers on a Scientific-Atlanta (NYSE: SFA - News) network.

With delivery of Moxi PowerKEY, Digeo has nearly doubled its addressable subscriber market to encompass virtually 100 percent of the cable market in North America.

"Moxi has gained considerable traction in the industry in the last year, largely because the Moxi user interface is widely regarded as the slickest and easiest in the business," said Richard Doherty, research director for The Envisioneering Group. "Moxi PowerKEY opens up a huge market for Digeo, while at the same time giving cable operators the means to draw premium digital customers with an easy, superior user navigation experience, regardless of which network is in use."

"We're pleased to be able to offer the Moxi Media Center to our Scientific-Atlanta customers," said Ed Merrill, Charter's Vice-President and General Manager for Northern and Central California. "The functionality and ease of use of Moxi have proven extremely popular in the markets where it's been deployed. And it will prove to be equally popular with our Turlock customers."

________________________________________

The complete press release can be found here. (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050622/sfw032.html?.v=14)

Who's looking forward to HD cardinals this weekend?

I know I am...even against the Pirates.

On of my customers has been experiencing random lip sync delay. He has a Mits Diamond 62825 (built in DVR), a Sammy 360 and a Denon A/V receiver, etc.

Today it was only having big problems on channel 11.1, and a small delay on DiscoveryHD. DVD is always OK. The problem is on HD programing and it happens on analog audio outputs as well as digital audio output.

My guess is a source problem but I don't seem to have all these issues with charter. I could sell him an upscale receiver with an audio delay but that would seem like a huge hassle to have to adjust all the time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I used to see this with my TiVo. The audio would slip behind the actual video display. I would correct it by pausing for a second then hitting play. You might want to check the distance setting in the receiver. I know that you can cause a delay if there is a distance setting and it is way off. Distance would be the distance you are from the speaker.

Rich

On of my customers has been experiencing random lip sync delay. He has a Mits Diamond 62825 (built in DVR), a Sammy 360 and a Denon A/V receiver, etc.

Today it was only having big problems on channel 11.1, and a small delay on DiscoveryHD. DVD is always OK. The problem is on HD programing and it happens on analog audio outputs as well as digital audio output.

My guess is a source problem but I don't seem to have all these issues with charter. I could sell him an upscale receiver with an audio delay but that would seem like a huge hassle to have to adjust all the time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like a source problem to me, too. I don't think there's any way to address this, practically speaking. The source channel is just going to have to get it right. Any attempt to solve it by the viewer is going to end up in frustration. Because of the time involved in setting audio delay in a receiver, it takes too long to adjust for any one channel's sync problems. Get it right for one channel (which may not even be possible, depending on the delay time) and it's wrong for most other stations. When the station finally resolves its delay issues, its wrong for that channel again.

Tom,

I agree that this is most likely a source issue.

In fact, I was watching last night's Tonight Show on my TiVo between innings of the Cards game today and there was a significant delay that wasn't present on any of the other programs recorded around the same time.

And yes, I'm definitely looking forward to the Cards in HD on Saturday and Sunday.

Way to go, KPLR!

And yes, I'm definitely looking forward to the Cards in HD on Saturday and Sunday.

Way to go, KPLR!

Getting close to July and no Fox Sports Midwest-HD.

Way to go, Charter! :rolleyes:

Wouldn't you know I gotta work Saturday and Sunday?

Oh well, it ain't the same thing when you know you're watching it delayed, but i guess I'll HD Tivo them.

Tom, can you say 3805? I use the audio delay now and then when I have sync problems easy to use and works like a charm. Upgrade time.

Scott

Mike,
Hey, thanks for the lesson. I had no idea what BUD really meant.

hanjke,
Yep, I guess you're right about my digital theater. It's too bad that I'll have to live without it until sometime in August.

Well guys, I'm heading off to Michigan, and it'll be a few days before I get internet access up and running. I'll check back here as soon as I can...

Hey Doug... Let me know when you want to come over to check out Dire Straits in surround :)

Best,

Has anyone on this forum noticed that we now have a 5.2 channel in our digital over air lineup. Maybe it has been there before but I never noticed it and it seems to be a weather only channel for KSDK NBC.

John,

I'll give you a call next week and see if we can't hook up. I'd like to bring over a few of my own discs (though you probably have them, too) to better understand the differences between your system and mine.

FWIW, I'm not a huge Dire Straits fan, but "Brothers in Arms" has been a long-time test disc and I'd love to hear a couple of those tracks in surround and a high-end system that's been properly set up.

As for the KSDK weather channel stealing bits from the station's now-you-see-it-now-you-don't HD broadcasts, I can only say that I hope they have the same level of success at keeping the weather channel on the air as they've managed for timely switching to the HD feed over the past 5 years.

Tossing aside the Incomplete given to WRBU, KSDK continues to bring up the rear in its handling of HD broadcasts, going from a "C-" to a "D."

But hey, why stop there -- go ahead and throw up a static traffic cam of the I-55 and I-44 interchange in the name of community service.

C'mon, you know you want to... :rolleyes:

I'm sorry to say (well, not really) that I just tried to tune into 5-2 this morning and it wasn't there. Shuckydarns.

Did anyone have trouble with the basketball game last night (ABC)? I was watching at my gf's house in South County and it kept flashing on and off. Eventually, the signal went away completely, and we were forced to watch in SD. We haven't had any trouble pulling anything in HD before...as long as the source is good.

Did anyone have trouble with the basketball game last night (ABC)? I was watching at my gf's house in South County and it kept flashing on and off. Eventually, the signal went away completely, and we were forced to watch in SD. We haven't had any trouble pulling anything in HD before...as long as the source is good.



I did not have any issues with the game but .........the picture was really substandard for HD. It looked more like 480P widescreen, I was not impressed at all with it.

Did anyone have trouble with the basketball game last night (ABC)? I was watching at my gf's house in South County and it kept flashing on and off. Eventually, the signal went away completely, and we were forced to watch in SD. We haven't had any trouble pulling anything in HD before...as long as the source is good.

I didn't have any problems, either. It was definitely in 720p, because the ABC basketball graphics (halftime bumpers, etc) were dim, and looked grainy in comparison. Looked great, otherwise.

As for KSDK 5-2. Does it seem like it isn't quite 4:3 safe to anybody else? The TV the reciever is attached to is a true square view picture (26") 4:3 screen and NBC promos were running off the right hand edge.

Also KSDK's PSIP is weird. No Program information all of a sudden. Is it because of them bringing the WeatherPlus+ online?

Tonight my Dish 811 receiver was acting a little strange. I hope it is that and not my TV. All of the HD channels looked good as well as the Over the Air stations. The other channels looked fuzzy and out of focus. Had to reset the box to get them back to decent shape. Anybody else notice this?

Charter finishes the week at $1.30

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted a Charter stock price update, so the end of the week seems like a good time to do that.

Charter shares closed Friday at $1.30, including a 7-cent gain during the session.

There hasn't been any major news regarding Charter in recent weeks, so apart from the short covering activity cited by StockInv recently, I don't have a more specific explanation for the recent rally. In fact, Charter was one of the few media stocks that posted a significant gain (5.7%) on Friday, as the overall market took a hit on concerns about oil at $60 a barrel

The Dow Jones Industrial lost more than 100 points on Friday, closing at 10,297.84.

Since Charter's stock is now comfortably above a buck, it'll probably be a while before I do another update.

I just noticed the KSDK-WX (05-2) this morning. I didn't re-scan my channels or anything. The 4:3 picture looks kind of odd on my 30 incher.

Anyone notice repeated audio dropouts on Letterman the past couple of nights? Because everything is a re-run, I haven't watched anything else from KMOV in a week or so.

This doesn't seem to be happening on any other channels for me.

Anyone?

I just noticed the KSDK-WX (05-2) this morning. I didn't re-scan my channels or anything. The 4:3 picture looks kind of odd on my 30 incher.

Glad to know it's not just my TV. I guess a call to KSDK might solve a few issues Monday.

Also on KSDK-WX: Does it seem like it has selective stereo sound? I remember watching WMAQ's WeatherPlus+ feed on their site (http://www.nbc5.com/wxplusvideo/4537557/detail.html [Video Link]) and I remember the feed being totally in stereo.

More of a joke than anything else, does WRBU ever plan on broadcasting in 16x9? Viacom is pumping money into UPN to show programming in 1080i in 16x9, but all we get is 480i 4:3. Frustrating.... :rolleyes:

I just noticed the KSDK-WX (05-2) this morning. I didn't re-scan my channels or anything. The 4:3 picture looks kind of odd on my 30 incher.

Seems to be broadcasting weather 24 x 7. I just hope it's just a test and doesn't affect HD quality on the main channel. There's only so much bandwidth, you know.

Hey Doug,

Can't answer about Letterman in particular, but KMOV is definitely having some problems.

In addition to last week's CSI Miami being 5.1 but flagged as 2.0 (so the center and rears disappeared along with ALL the dialog), now tonight's CSI:NY has some really weird stuff going on. The 5.1 flag is on, but the dialog is coming out of the left and right fronts. But unlike KSDK and Leno, there *are* ambience-type sounds coming from the center. Just no dialog. Huh???????????

Robert, I agree with your audio observations. The dead CC with Leno & now Conan drives me nuts. It throws the entire balance of my system off and is quite annoying. It actually sounds better to just go ProLogic.

The "Ambiance" sounds you hear on Channel 4 may be an attempt to fill the CC with something. But instead of filling the CC with what's often common (voice) in both L + R channels, they seem to be sending the DIFFERENCE between L + R. This is what often sounds like ambiance.

Just a guess......................

moman, I wish I *could* go Pro Logic on Leno. But when my receiver senses a 5.1 signal (even if it's just two channels with the 5.1 flagflipped on in error), it kicks into 5.1 mode and I've yet to figure out how to get it back out again. Grrrr...

Robert, what sort of receiver do you have? If there's a way to switch to stereo mode, that might be worth a try.

Draft HD Programming Guide Available for Review

Off and on the past couple of weeks, I've been pulling together an all-in-one HD Programming Guide that shows which channels are available in St. Louis via the different services (OTA, cable, satellite), as well as channel numbers, the HD format they use, how they format non-HD programming and whether Dolby Digital is available.

This should be considered a rough draft for now, and I'd welcome any comments, suggestions or corrections, either here, by private message or via eMail. Once this has been fine-tuned, I'll include it as an attachment on the first page of this discussion thread along with the other resource documents. I'll update this as needed -- hopefully that will keep me busy over the next few months. :cool:

For anyone who's had HD programming for more than 15 minutes, much of this will be old news. But I think this guide could be helpful to HD newcomers, or consumers thinking about buying an HDTV, or for those with an HD-capable display but no current source of HD programming.

And it might actually allow certain high-volume retailers to provide real information about HD availability rather than telling potential customers, "there's not much on."

Note: The attached file is an Adobe PDF and has been screened for viruses prior to upload. I used a third-party PDF creator, so if anyone has trouble reading the file, let me know.

FWIW, when I tested downloading my PDF file, I get a browser error message indicating the web site is unavailable.

However, if I right-click on the filename and then "save the target" to my desktop, it downloads the file without a problem.

Not sure if this is a broswer or AVS issue...

I just wanted to say thanks again to KPLR for the great job last night on the Cardinals HD broadcast. Unlike the last couple of times KPLR did a game in HD, this time was virtually flawless.

I did notice a dozen or so brief audio dropouts at the beginning of the 9th inning, but as far as I could tell this was the only minor problem in a stunning presentation.

Great stuff. We want more.

moman, I wish I *could* go Pro Logic on Leno. But when my receiver senses a 5.1 signal (even if it's just two channels with the 5.1 flagflipped on in error), it kicks into 5.1 mode and I've yet to figure out how to get it back out again. Grrrr...

I have the same issue. Once the receiver senses 5.1 it won't let me defeat it. So what I do is connect the vanilla audio-OUTs (via RCS-type phono cables) from the 811 into an AUX input on the receiver. I switch to AUX on the receiver, which then takes the analog audio and does a decent job of throwing audio to all 5 channels in ProLogic mode.....including voice in the center. I'm sure it's not accurate from a spacial perspective, but much better (IMHO) than just L + R with a huge hole in the middle.

Draft HD Programming Guide Available for Review

Off and on the past couple of weeks, I've been pulling together an all-in-one HD Programming Guide that shows which channels are available in St. Louis via the different services (OTA, cable, satellite), as well as channel numbers, the HD format they use, how they format non-HD programming and whether Dolby Digital is available.

This should be considered a rough draft for now, and I'd welcome any comments, suggestions or corrections, either here, by private message or via eMail. Once this has been fine-tuned, I'll include it as an attachment on the first page of this discussion thread along with the other resource documents. I'll update this as needed -- hopefully that will keep me busy over the next few months. :cool:

For anyone who's had HD programming for more than 15 minutes, much of this will be old news. But I think this guide could be helpful to HD newcomers, or consumers thinking about buying an HDTV, or for those with an HD-capable display but no current source of HD programming.

And it might actually allow certain high-volume retailers to provide real information about HD availability rather than telling potential customers, "there's not much on."

Note: The attached file is an Adobe PDF and has been screened for viruses prior to upload. I used a third-party PDF creator, so if anyone has trouble reading the file, let me know.


Doug,

This is a GREAT idea! It should be posted in every store that sells high def sets in St. Louis. Every sales person should have to carry it around with them if they sell high definition sets, along with what consumers need to get reception - OTA tuner, DirectTV HD box, Dish HD box, Charter box. And it would be great if retailers provided handouts of it for consumers to take home.

Consumers have it bad because sales people don't know what hidef is available in their own area. Stores have it bad because consumers buy sets and then return them because they can't get video at home as good as they see in the store (because they don't have a HiDef source). Your chart would go a long way toward solving those problems. Could I suggest another column, with a reference to the kind of hidef box a consumer needs to actually use his new hidef TV.

I also like that you list HD sources that none of our local providers carry. That should help get people asking questions about why not - raising the general consciousness about the need for providers to step up and provide more HD programming.

I had no problem with the PDF. It loaded just fine.

GREAT JOB!!!

Joe Clark

Joe,

Thanks for the positive feedback on the guide.

Can you give me more specific information on what you'd like to see in terms of receivers needed for the various options. I'm not sure that fits into the table, but might be something that could be done as a legend or addendum.

Has anyone noticed that during today's HD Cards game that there's a very, very light line on the left side of the screen? It's pretty much where the 4x3 demarcation would be.

At first, I thought I had some burn-in action going on my set (gasp!), but I've since checked it against a full white field as well as other programming, and it's not visible. On the ballgame it's fairly easy to see.

Strangely, there's nothing like this on the right side of the screen. I wonder if this is something that's supposed to be visible only on the production side...

If anyone has recorded the game and can go back, let me know if you see it. I haven't rewound and only noticed beginning with the top of the ninth inning and haven't gone back from there to check to see if it's been there the whole time. I also deleted my recording of last night's game, so I can't check that, either.

Has anyone noticed that during today's HD Cards game that there's a very, very light line on the left side of the screen? It's pretty much where the 4x3 demarcation would be.

At first, I thought I had some burn-in action going on my set (gasp!), but I've since checked it against a full white field as well as other programming, and it's not visible. On the ballgame it's fairly easy to see.

Strangely, there's nothing like this on the right side of the screen. I wonder if this is something that's supposed to be visible only on the production side...

If anyone has recorded the game and can go back, let me know if you see it. I haven't rewound and only noticed beginning with the top of the ninth inning and haven't gone back from there to check to see if it's been there the whole time. I also deleted my recording of last night's game, so I can't check that, either.

Doug, I see it too on my 42" Mits. Not sure what it is, but you have a good eye it is very hard to see it.

Scott

Guys (Robert and moman):

Probably the best solution in this case is to have the 811 send Dolby Digital out as PCM for the KSDK broadcasts of Leno.

No matter how much you two want it, no receiver or processor will work properly when the Dolby metadata says 5.1, and channel data is present on only L/R. Things will quite simply break down when there is a gross discrepancy between metadata and channel content such as this.

Until KSDK sorts out this issue, there are two solutions, one moman has pointed out:

Use analog L/R output + DPL or DPLII. Set Receiver digital output to PCM instead of DD + PCM or DD for Leno.

In this particular case, it isn't a bug with the 811 receiver. There are DD bugs with the 811, but this particular problem is coming from the broadcast of the local affiliate. I can't say where the breakdown is, only that it's somewhere prior to the bits hitting the outgoing transmission antenna at KSDK's end.

Cheers,

Doug,

This is a GREAT idea! It should be posted in every store that sells high def sets in St. Louis. Every sales person should have to carry it around with them if they sell high definition sets, along with what consumers need to get reception - OTA tuner, DirectTV HD box, Dish HD box, Charter box. And it would be great if retailers provided handouts of it for consumers to take home.

Consumers have it bad because sales people don't know what hidef is available in their own area. Stores have it bad because consumers buy sets and then return them because they can't get video at home as good as they see in the store (because they don't have a HiDef source). Your chart would go a long way toward solving those problems. Could I suggest another column, with a reference to the kind of hidef box a consumer needs to actually use his new hidef TV.

I also like that you list HD sources that none of our local providers carry. That should help get people asking questions about why not - raising the general consciousness about the need for providers to step up and provide more HD programming.

I had no problem with the PDF. It loaded just fine.

GREAT JOB!!!

Joe Clark

If your salesperson isn't telling you what HD is available, and how to get it, get a new salesperson. Any good salesperson knows that if you're selling a display you should ALWAYS try to add some sort of STB or HD tuner. Use the HD programming available as a way to close the sale on the HDTV. It is also a great way to sell integrated sets and antennas. It's a no brainer, but most salespeole don't get it. Sell the display, STB, antenna, and wouldn't you know it, now they need cables to make it all work. While your at it sell some labor to install it all. The average salesperson at a BM store will make 30k to 40k a year. The ones that know how to take care of their clients will make 80k+. The trick is to find the professional salesperson to help you. Very hard indeed.

Scott

Scott,

You're 100% right about how to deal with an uninformed or lazy salesperson.

But while you and others here have a strong foundation of knowledge, the typical first-time HDTV buyer does not have that information going in. So when a relatively clueless consumer hears a sales guy or gal say there's not a lot of HD programming available, they usually take them at their word and don't know how to go about finding the actual facts.

I find this situation incredibly perverse and while it isn't as common with sales staff as it was a couple of years ago, I still hear it frequently enough that I'm developing permanent frown lines.

I want to echo Doug's comments yesterday about WB 11's HD broadcasts of Cardinals games. This weekend's games were beautiful. However it makes the rest of the week's SD games sooo hard to watch.

Too bad that Charter and FSMW never came to an agreement. That small agreement may have actually got a few new customers too since D* and E* don't carry FSMW-HD in St. Louis. But we all realize that Charter's dictionary has the word 'proactive' blacked out with magic marker.

** One question on the game today: Did anyone else notice how drastically increased the sound level was for commercials? It got so that I had to dive for the remote every time they went to a commercial break.


Bruce