Doug, I can't find anything on the Zenith indoor antenna at Bestbuy.com or CircuitCity.com.

A follow up.... is, for examplke, NewsChannel 5 news being broadcast in 16x9 or not? I read the FAQ and it doesn't necessarily answer my questions, or at least I don't understand the answers. Are they in 16x9 or not? If they are, why isn't my TV able to display it as such?

Anyone know about this Terk indoor antenna? (http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/54455/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do) Its gotten great reviews at CircuitCity.com, and some from STL, but its an awful lot more (well, 30 more) than some that I posted earlier.

In my opinion don't get any of those antennas. Go to Sears and get a Silver Sensor. All my readings and personal experience show that this is one of the best or the best indoor antennas on the market. However if you are looking for a antenna to pull in VHF/UHF then the Silver Sensor is not for you.

How would getting an antenna w/o VHF/UHF potentially hurt me (figuratively, of course) now or in the future?

Does that only mean that I can't pick up analog channels?

Doug, I can't find anything on the Zenith indoor antenna at Bestbuy.com or CircuitCity.com.

A follow up.... is, for examplke, NewsChannel 5 news being broadcast in 16x9 or not? I read the FAQ and it doesn't necessarily answer my questions, or at least I don't understand the answers. Are they in 16x9 or not? If they are, why isn't my TV able to display it as such?

Anyone know about this Terk indoor antenna? (http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/54455/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do) Its gotten great reviews at CircuitCity.com, and some from STL, but its an awful lot more (well, 30 more) than some that I posted earlier.

Not all programs on KSDK are HD, despite being digital. Try checking out Leno or Conan O'Brien both should be 16 x 9 (we'll, if Conan is a rerun it might not be).

Winston,

Channel 5's newscast is 4x3. So are all the other local newscasts. Even KPLR's newscast is 4x3 (titanTV mistakenly lists it as "HD").

So far the only locally produced 16x9 programming available has been an occasional Cardinal baseball game on KPLR.

I got my Silver Sensor antenna from http://www.********************* which at the time had it on sale for $22. Don't know its current price. It's UHF only, which is fine for HD since all the HD channels are UHF. But it won't pick up the analog feeds of channels 2-11.

How would getting an antenna w/o VHF/UHF potentially hurt me (figuratively, of course) now or in the future?

Does that only mean that I can't pick up analog channels?

Someone correct me I am wrong. The Zenith antenna is the Silver Sensor and can be found at Sears or online. The Silver Sensor is designed to pull in only UHF stations so you not be able to use it for VHF viewing. I believe HD is transmitted on the UHF band. If you need a combo of both VHF/UHF the radio shack VHF, UHF and HDTV Indoor TV Antenna got good reviews in all my readings. Then the ultimate solution is a outdoor antenna.

Winston,

Channel 5's newscast is 4x3. So are all the other local newscasts. Even KPLR's newscast is 4x3 (titanTV mistakenly lists it as "HD").

So far the only locally produced 16x9 programming available has been an occasional Cardinal baseball game on KPLR.

I got my Silver Sensor antenna from http://www.********************* which at the time had it on sale for $22. Don't know its current price. It's UHF only, which is fine for HD since all the HD channels are UHF. But it won't pick up the analog feeds of channels 2-11.

Robert you beat me the punch with your answer.

So, really, the only drawback to the Silver Sensor, which I found at **************** for $24.99 and Sears for $39.99 is that I can't pick up the analog stations.

I read in the first few posts of this thread that at some point, the local stations may switch from UHF to VHF. What is the prevailing wisdom in terms of how far away that is?

Would the Silver Sensor be something that most people believe will only be able to be used for a few months or a few years?

I am soon to be married and need to conserve my money if possible, which is one of the reasons I'm trying to go OTA rather than w/ Charter or DirecTV and don't want to get burned.

You guys are such a great help... thanks so much.

So, really, the only drawback to the Silver Sensor, which I found at **************** for $24.99 and Sears for $39.99 is that I can't pick up the analog stations.

I read in the first few posts of this thread that at some point, the local stations may switch from UHF to VHF. What is the prevailing wisdom in terms of how far away that is?

Would the Silver Sensor be something that most people believe will only be able to be used for a few months or a few years?

I am soon to be married and need to conserve my money if possible, which is one of the reasons I'm trying to go OTA rather than w/ Charter or DirecTV and don't want to get burned.

You guys are such a great help... thanks so much.

Winston,

The Silver Sensor or its equivalent won't let you pick up stations between 2-11, VHF. Whether that's the only disadvantage depends on where you live and how well it picks up the UHF stations. I couldn't get the Silver Sensor to work consistently for all the UHF stations in my area, near Carondelet Park in the city. I could pick up some but not others unless I reaimed. Sometimes the stations would come in and sometimes they wouldn't, even without reaiming. That didn't change until I had a rooftop antenna installed, mounted on an extension pole. Now I get all the stations, all the time.

Since then, I helped my brother-in-law mount a similar outdoor antenna on his house in north county. That antenna cost about $60 or $70. That was in an area where analog stations are notoriously difficult to receive. Now he gets them all. If you can see your way to do it, my guess is that you will be much happier in the long run with a rooftop antenna. The Silver Sensor may work just fine, but it may not, in which case the $25 has gone toward a frustrating experiment.

Both those antennas were UHF only, but another friend of mine had an existing UHF/VHF antenna and when he added a digital tuner, he just plugged it in and it picked up everything but UPN (which reaiming would probably fix if he had the least inclination to watch anything on digital UPN). There is something to be said for having both, although it looks very much as though that won't be an issue until at least 2009, if then.

Joe Clark

Q: Why can't I change the screen mode for my television on the OTA digital channels?

A: Digital broadcasts (for the most part) are required to send their images out as a widescreen (16x9) picture. Although it's not always obvious from looking at the images, where black bars appear on the sides, these are actually formatted as part of the picture sent by the station.

One other point about digital broadcasts and your HD monitor. Many consumer televisions assume that when they receive an HD signal that the picture is being sent in widescreen format. In some cases this will limit or (more commonly) completely prevent the viewer from changing how the picture is formated onscreen. While the screen mode or aspect ratio controls for your set can be used with standard-definition programming, they may be non-functional or limited when your set is displaying either upconverted SD or true HD OTA broadcasts.

Winston, I think this portion of the FAQ explains the situation with local stations that upconvert analog broadcasting when HD is unavailable. Because the black bars are actually part of a 16x9 picture, your TV isn't able to "stretch" the 4x3 portion of the 16x9 image.

Note that KMOV sends out its digitally upconverted analog images with GRAY bars on the sides. Same deal there.

As far as channels returning to the VHF spectrum, as Joe indicates this probably won't be at issue until close to the time of the actual analog shutdown (recently proposed to be rescheduled for 2009). However, it's a certainty that all space above channel 51 is going to be cleared of digital or analog stations when the analog shutdown occurs. The idea there is to provide the maximum contiguous spectrum for other telecommunications uses and as a byproduct to make that spectrum more attractive and valuable when it goes on the government auction block.

As a result of all that, I think it's very likely that KMOV will return to VHF channel 4. I base this on the fact that remaining at channel 56 won't be an option, and that it will be simpler for the station to return to 4 rather than stake out a new channel in the UHF band.

But bear in mind, that's just my speculation...

By the way, my recommendation is to avoid Terk antennas. I actually tried the indoor "Silver Sensor wannabe" Terk and wasn't able to pull in but one station.

Others here have had better luck with Terks, but my own experience going back nearly a decade isn't good.

Also, I will update the resource items to reflect the fact that Best Buy no longer stocks the Silver Sensor.

This is good news for those who like football and have HDTV. My question is I have Charter and the Moxi. Just becuase they broadcast in HDTV will Charter automatically broadcast them as HDTV?

HDTV is great but I do get tired of waiting for more content to be sent

I have DirecTV and HD Tivo. My channel list still does not show 5.2 (Channel 5 weather station), and hence I cannot tune it.

Anyone with DTV seeing 5.2 in their channel lineup?

Ed Tenholder

You'll probably need to go into the setup menu (hit the DirecTV button at the top of the remote), pick setup, channels, not sure where from there, but do a rescan for off-air channels.

And if your guide is set up only to display favorite channels (like mine is to avoid the shopping channels reappearing every few days), you'll need to add 5-2 to your favorites.

Guys, thanks again for the help.

Installing an outdoor antenna would probably be the best thing, but due to the existing wiring (very little) and strategic cable runs in my home, it would be a tremendous pain. Thus, I'm going to try and use an indoor one at first and see how it goes.

I think I'll give the Silver Sensor a shot and see how it does. I'll let everyone know.

Thanks, again!

If you have an HD DirecTivo, try tuning to channel 35.4 to see KSDK's WeatherPlus channel. Also, 35.3 is the same as 5.1.

Bad news for sports fans with DirecTV... ESPN-HD has officially joined the HD-Lite club:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=562241

I've got that Terk antenna. I get good results with it for CBS and NBC, but no so good results for FOX. Fox is actually the closest tower to me, so I've turned down the amplifier and it helps things out a little. It's very easy to rotate and doesn't take up much room, which is nice.

Interestingly, I've gotten better results when I point the long axis of the bow-tie perpendicular to the direction of the towers.

However, I ordered a Silver Sensor online today because of the terrible picture I was getting during the Fox broadcast of the Cards game. Hopefully, it will work much better.

OK, time for me to report to you guys.

I went and purchased the Silver Sensor from my local Sears for 39.99. Yes, its more money than online, but its much easier to return and I really like Sears as a company (for what they are doing w/ U.S. troops and reservists) so I'm glad to pay a bit more for a quality product.

Anyway, took it home, hooked it up W O W! I was able to pick up 10 digital stations. I was able to get all of the major networks, including KMOV and KDNL, two stations I had not yet been able to pick up w/ my rabbit ears.

I was able to get Fox2KTVI, KMOV-CBS, KDSK-NBC, three channels of PBS including PBS-HD, WB-11, KDNL-ABC30, and UPN46, which for some reason comes in on 47.1.

All were easy to get and I don't have to move the antenna at all when switching between channels.

I watched today's Cards-Cubs game on the digital KTVI channel 2.1. It was amazing, just gorgeous. And this wasn't in HD? Just digital? Amazing. So much clearer than DirecTV. Just a remarkable experience being able to see blades and clumps of grass, the sweat glisten off a player's hair, the dirt on the outfield wall, the dirt flying up, the random bug that flies across the screen. Just amazing.

On commericials, I put it on NBC, channel 5.1 and they were replaying Andy Roddick's loss at the RCA Open. It was in HD. It was just breathtaking. Unbelievable. Just so awesome.

Later in the evening, I saw that CBS, channel 4.1 had NCIS on in what I think was HD. At least it had an HD logo in the top right corner. It looked good, but it didn't look NEARLY as good as the Roddick tennis match from before. Any ideas why?

I now understand many of the things folks have been saying around here. 720p seems to be superior to 1080i. I also see that UPN46 is broadcasting in 480i? That didn't seem any better, if at all, than DirecTV.

Couple of questions....

-- Is there a surefire way to know if something is being broadcast in HD?

-- Sound. I've read all the FAQs earlier in this thread, but one specific question I have that no one may be able to answer... when I was watching the tennis, my receiver had it in Dolby Digital, and w/ the baseball game Dolby Digital EX. I thought EX was better than vanilla DD.

-- Is there a special website that I should know of that lists all the available HD programming for a particular day?

I had so much fun today, if only Pujols' liner had been anywhere else, just playing around and experiencing digital and HDTV for the first time. Thanks so much for all the help that you guys have provided me.

Any other pointers?

OK, time for me to report to you guys.

I went and purchased the Silver Sensor from my local Sears for 39.99. Yes, its more money than online, but its much easier to return and I really like Sears as a company (for what they are doing w/ U.S. troops and reservists) so I'm glad to pay a bit more for a quality product.

Anyway, took it home, hooked it up W O W! I was able to pick up 10 digital stations. I was able to get all of the major networks, including KMOV and KDNL, two stations I had not yet been able to pick up w/ my rabbit ears.

I was able to get Fox2KTVI, KMOV-CBS, KDSK-NBC, three channels of PBS including PBS-HD, WB-11, KDNL-ABC30, and UPN46, which for some reason comes in on 47.1.

All were easy to get and I don't have to move the antenna at all when switching between channels.

I watched today's Cards-Cubs game on the digital KTVI channel 2.1. It was amazing, just gorgeous. And this wasn't in HD? Just digital? Amazing. So much clearer than DirecTV. Just a remarkable experience being able to see blades and clumps of grass, the sweat glisten off a player's hair, the dirt on the outfield wall, the dirt flying up, the random bug that flies across the screen. Just amazing.

On commericials, I put it on NBC, channel 5.1 and they were replaying Andy Roddick's loss at the RCA Open. It was in HD. It was just breathtaking. Unbelievable. Just so awesome.

Later in the evening, I saw that CBS, channel 4.1 had NCIS on in what I think was HD. At least it had an HD logo in the top right corner. It looked good, but it didn't look NEARLY as good as the Roddick tennis match from before. Any ideas why?

I now understand many of the things folks have been saying around here. 720p seems to be superior to 1080i. I also see that UPN46 is broadcasting in 480i? That didn't seem any better, if at all, than DirecTV.

Couple of questions....

-- Is there a surefire way to know if something is being broadcast in HD?

-- Sound. I've read all the FAQs earlier in this thread, but one specific question I have that no one may be able to answer... when I was watching the tennis, my receiver had it in Dolby Digital, and w/ the baseball game Dolby Digital EX. I thought EX was better than vanilla DD.

-- Is there a special website that I should know of that lists all the available HD programming for a particular day?

I had so much fun today, if only Pujols' liner had been anywhere else, just playing around and experiencing digital and HDTV for the first time. Thanks so much for all the help that you guys have provided me.

Any other pointers?

Winston,

Welcome to the fold, brother. We've been waiting for you, and now we're never going to let you go.

UPN46 is the analog station (UHF channel 46) but the digital station is broadcast on channel 47. UPN46 is on the other side of the digital TV tracks. Don't go there - your hubcaps will be stolen.

Consider yourself lucky with the indoor antenna. You must be in a much better reception area than I am.

Fox broadcasts many of its games in what they call Fox High Resolution Widescreen, a 480i/p format that they for years said was as much as they were going to do in the move to digital TV - until newer technology made it possible for them to do 720p a lot cheaper. You'll see some Fox games in true 720p.

720p or 1080i is a toss up. Depends on the kind of program you're watching. 720p does movement well (at 60 progressive frames per second) while 1080i can do static images with more apparent resolution. However, most 1080i sets, especially inexpensive, uncalibrated ones, aren't going to display much more vertical resolution than 720p anyway, and often a lot less.

Some tuners tell you the resolution of the program being broadcast, but even then it may just be an upconvert from 480, so even if it says 1080 or 720 it may be just imaginary resolution.

TitanTV.com lists all the local digital broadcasts and puts a red "HD" by the programs that are in HD and not just digital. Even then, they're not always right, but it's pretty accurate.

Lot's of things about the digital TV transition are still works in progress. See this thread about wonky audio issues, stations that don't throw the switch to display the HD program when they should, and all kinds of other evil mojo. Sometimes you'll cry, but like I said...

You're home, brother. You can't leave.

Joe Clark

WinstonSmith,

It is so nice to see someone get so excited about a good picture. Yes, HDTV is awesome! I'm so glad the antenna worked so well for you. Good idea to buy it locally as well. Yeah, you paid a bit more, but had you ordered it on line you would not have enjoyed your day so much. I just wanted to let you know it warms my heart to hear you so happy with HDTV. Have fun with it!

Scott

CableCard Question,

I helped a friend select a HDTV a couple weeks ago, then called Charter. Went through three people on the phone, none of which knew a thing about cablecards, so I went to Charter Commons in person. Finally got to talk to a supervisor who got one put on order with the comment that it usually takes a week to 10 days. Being skeptical I asked if they had a STB for HD in stock to use in the meantime. Didn't have those in stock either and added that it could be a month or more. Typical Charter from what I read in this thread. I am glad to use Dish at my house. The question is, has anyone else been through a cablecard experience and if so what was it like?

Cable companies, in general, don't like CableCards and have resisted this development from the start. This probably explains the experience your friend has had with them.

While there are legitimate reasons for this (chiefly that without a STB certain value-added services aren't available to tempt customers to spend more money), there's also an issue of control, as the cable companies no doubt have seen that such cards have not been very secure when used by satellite companies (though that has changed very recently).

I haven't actually had much experience with CCs, but I understand that one of the big drawbacks is there is no guide information -- just the ability to surf through the various subscribed channels. The next generation of CCs is supposed to add interactive capabilities and these will likely include guide information as well as some ability to access the added-value services.

Your friend should also be aware that there have been lots of reports of unreliability with the first-generation CCs, so he might be better off just ordering a receiver if he's determined to remain a cable sub.

Winston,

If you'd like more detail, here's an explanation of what you saw yesterday during the Cards-Cubs game (FOX Widescreen):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5747439&&#post5747439

If you can, watch the ESPN-HD game tonight and I think you'd see that the Saturday afternoon game picture quality was very lacking in comparison. In addition to the resolution limitations, because NTSC video is involved, the color channel is severely compressed, and this was an obvious issue in yesterday's broadcast, IMO.

FOX Widescreen is better than standard NTSC, but not by much.

FYI -- I edited the note in the link above this morning to correct a mistake in my original posting. While FOX Widescreen is acquired in 480i format, it is line-doubled to 480p and then scaled to 720p to match the standard FOX HD format. FWIW, this is also a really good example of the limitations of scaling standard-definition sources and the fact that even though the FOX Widescreen images are 720p, they are limited to the original resolution of 480 lines.

Joe and Scott, thanks for the replies.

I suppose I'm going to just learn the audio problems and joys over time with respect to how the stations deliver the audio. Watching a baseball or football game in HD -- or even digital -- with 5.1 surround sound would be amazing.

The Fox High Resolution Widescreen, if that's what it was during Saturday's game, was simply amazing. I would be more than content w/ that. How much better did the AllStar game look when it was broadcast in HD? Also, don't they show most of the playoffs in HD? That would be an experience to behold.

Thanks for the link to TitanTV.com. I will check that out; it sounds like what I'm looking for.

Doug, good info.

It still looked good to me. =] I'm not audiophile or videophile. I can tell a difference between horrible audio and good audio (but not much else) and I can tell a difference between video, but clearly not like some of you guys.

It might have been my first experience w/ that sort of picture, but the game yesterday seemed much better than normal SD on DirecTV, even on the Fox Network.

I really enjoyed it. I suppose that seeing baseball in true HD will be even better.

Does FOX do most football in HD now, or just a few games a week? And, from reading your earlier post, I guess MNF is in 720p HD?

Is 720p the best out there right now?

The Fox High Resolution Widescreen, if that's what it was during Saturday's game, was simply amazing. I would be more than content w/ that.

As you get more used to seeing true high definition, the differences between upconverted 480 and true hidef will become clearer, so to speak. Digital is better in general than analog (not only resolution, but also color and contrast ratio), but people who see DVD's, for instance, on a good digital set for the first time often make that remark. I'm pretty sure I did. In the end, though, there's no substitute for "real" resolution.

I believe last year's playoffs weren't all in highdef. Some of the games were SD. I'm sure someone here can correct me if I'm wroing. Doug or someone else probably has the scoop on this year's playoffs.

Just be careful the next few days. You may have trouble getting up for work - even Conan is highdef now. If you don't like Conan, that doesn't matter - watching fish swim in highdef can be hypnotizing. :D

Joe Clark

Last year, FOX showed the NLCS, ALCS and World Series in HD, but the so-called "division series" were FOX Widescreen.

I'm not sure what's going to happen this year. Last year's baseball playoffs were one of the first things that FOX broadcast in true HD. I think one of the reasons that the division series games weren't done in HD is that each game has a smaller audience and the fact that there are eight sites to cover. Also, covering the division series would probably have meant reducing coverage of the early-season NFL games, which obviously draw a bigger and more loyal audience than baseball (I'm saying that even though I'm not a football fan, because it's obviously true).

No idea if the division series is covered this year, but it would probably be more manageable this time around due to the fact that FOX is well past the HD learning curve and there are more mobile HD units available for hire.

Still, the size of the audience may dictate limited HD coverage.

I suppose that makes sense for FOX.

Since I don't have ESPNHD, and I don't see myself getting it soon, I guess I'll just have to wait for WB11 to broadcast a game in HD.

WB11 News is presented in HD?

Wow. That's about the only reason I'd watch.

Winston,

You could probably find the ESPN game at one of the area sports bars equipped for HD. I don't have a full roster of HD-capable sports bars in the area, but if you're interested give us an idea of the area where you live and someone can probably direct you to a bar that would have the game in HD.

FWIW, I'm in Illinois and there are at least two sports bars nearby that have big-screen HD --

* Southpaw's Sports Bar & Grill, 1319 Central Park Dr, O'Fallon, IL 62269

* McDoogle's, 5225 Illinois Street, Fairview Heights, IL 62208

Both of these locations have screens that are more than 150 inches wide, so picture quality is somewhat compromised, and neither has been properly calibrated, at least the last time I checked in on them.

The next KPLR HD game is a 6:05 p.m. game on Saturday, September 3 against the Astros in Houston. The Sunday afternoon game on the 4th is also scheduled for HD on KPLR.

If KPLR is producing its local news in HD, that's news to me.

I think there has been some discussion that this might happen at some point, but I don't think that's currently the case.

TitanTV.com listed tonght's WB11 news as being in HD, but I took that w/ a grain of salt as well.

Sounds like I am fairly close to you. I know of Southpaws quite well.

TitanTV.com listed tonght's WB11 news as being in HD, but I took that w/ a grain of salt as well.

Sounds like I am fairly close to you. I know of Southpaws quite well.

Winston,

TitanTV has listed WB11 news as HD for some time now, but it has never broadcast in HD.

Joe Clark

Figures =] Thanks for the info.

More on SBC-DISH 2Q Results, Future Direction



SBC executives, speaking during a second quarter conference call, said they're changing their strategy somewhat with DISH Network sales, curbing promotion of the satellite TV service where its Project Lightspeed fiber network, which will deliver video, broadband and voice services, will be located. The company is pushing DISH Network in other areas, especially where cable competition is strong, they said.


_______________________________________


So what this is saying here is, that eventually SBC will add some competition for those who don't like satellite ( I don't know why) and are using Charter TV services?
If so, does anyone know when this service will be offered in STL?

Has anyone else noticed lately how FSMW on DirecTV resembles dog manure? It seems like it's been way downhill since just after the All-Star break.

I was hoping to take video (and audio) refuge at WGN during the Cubs-Cards game tonight, but 307 looks just as bad as FSMW (though still much kinder to the ear).

I checked these on an analog set, and even at 27 inches they looked poor.

Ditto with Dish Network. FSMW is soooo compressed it's downright awful. But WGN can be even worse. You know, these satellite companies just love to sell the "high quality" of being all-digital, but then compress the picture so much that much resolution goes right out the window.. Unfortunately, PQ is often far inferior to a good ol' analog SD picture.......of course, many times pure analog was impossible to receive over cranky cables.

FWIW, I thought ESPN-HD's picture quality for last night's Cards-Cubs game was poor. The shot from the centerfield camera was particularly bad, with an edgy and very contrasty look. I noticed a couple of times early in the game this camera was being adjusted in the middle of a shot, with the picture going from bright to dark and then back to bright.

By the time the sun went down, the picture quality was better, but still not great.

It seems like I've noticed this same problem with ESPN-HD broadcasts from Busch before. I think part of the problem may be related to the fact that the centerfield camera is shooting alternately through sunlight and shadows over that distance.

Anyway, I think the KPLR broadcasts from Busch have been head and shoulders over the ESPN effort last night.

Jhamps10,

There was some discussion about the SBC effort here a month or two ago and I think the timetable for local rollout of what it is calling "Project Lightspeed" was mentioned though I don't remember if there were specifics.

Your best immediate bet for more info is to use the "Search this Thread" function at the top of this page for "SBC" and/or "Project Lightspeed".

I believe someone from SBC posts here from time to time, but I've forgotten what his screen name handle is...sorry.

One more point on KPLR doing the local news in HD.

Tribune Company, which owns KPLR, has been one of the more proactive broadcasters when it comes to HDTV. For evidence of this, we really need look no further than the fact that both WGN with the Cubs and KPLR for the Cards are doing a substantial portion of their home broadcasts in HD. Sure we'd like to see more, but for a first-year effort, KPLR has done great and hopefully they'll get enough positive feedback that they'll do all the home games they broadcast in 2006 (and maybe some more road games, too).

Anyway, as things stand now, I wouldn't be surprised to see KPLR do its local news programs in HD before any other station. Though I loathe local TV news and wouldn't tune in even if "War of the Worlds" was happening in my neighbor's backyard, that would be another "gold star" for KPLR in terms of supporting HD viewers.

Doug,

I noticed the inferior camera shots last night too. It must be something locally related because most times when I catch a MLB game on ESPN-HD it has always been very high in pq.

But as you said, I am very pleased with what KPLR has offered this year. Here's hoping that next year, in the new stadium, we'll see tons of HD broadcasts, especially since it sounds like the stadium will be highly advanced technology-wise.

I wonder if FSMW-HD will ever been seen here. Having both channels broadcasting Cardinal games in HD would be a dream come true.

One last thought: Will KPLR or FSMW be showing us BLUES games in HD this year? Doug, how about asking around to your contacts on this one.

Thanks, Bruce

Winston,

You could probably find the ESPN game at one of the area sports bars equipped for HD. I don't have a full roster of HD-capable sports bars in the area, but if you're interested give us an idea of the area where you live and someone can probably direct you to a bar that would have the game in HD.

FWIW, I'm in Illinois and there are at least two sports bars nearby that have big-screen HD --

* Southpaw's Sports Bar & Grill, 1319 Central Park Dr, O'Fallon, IL 62269

* McDoogle's, 5225 Illinois Street, Fairview Heights, IL 62208

Both of these locations have screens that are more than 150 inches wide, so picture quality is somewhat compromised, and neither has been properly calibrated, at least the last time I checked in on them.

The next KPLR HD game is a 6:05 p.m. game on Saturday, September 3 against the Astros in Houston. The Sunday afternoon game on the 4th is also scheduled for HD on KPLR.

Here is some very unofficial information about HDTVs at sports bars:

St. Louis Sports Bars and HDTV

Schneithorsts (Ladue): the best in St. Louis when it comes to knowing about their HDTVs and showing HD. One HD projector on the upstairs outdoor patio. Four HDTVs in the downstairs bar with a large (over 60”) plasma over the fireplace. Able to show HD from OTA and DirecTV. Bartenders know what they are doing and seem to consistently know when HD programming is on.

Fox and Hounds (Chesterfield Valley): this new place has four rear projection LCD HDTVs mounted above the main bar. However it does not look like they can show HD since the DirecTV boxes are all standard def. Not sure about their OTA capabilities. Bartenders seem clueless.

Flannery’s: (Downtown on Washington Ave.) this newer place has three Panasonic plasma EDTVs and two rear projection LCD HDTVs. However it does not look like they can show HD since the DirecTV boxes are all standard def. Not sure about their OTA capabilities.

Sundeckers: (Laclede’s Landing) has one approximately 50” plasma mounted on the wall left of the bar. Uses Charter cable for their source since the MLK bridge blocks their south view, thus not allowing use of Dish or DirecTV. Need to upgrade their Charter box to HD capable. Bartenders and managers there always seem grumpy so I’ve never approached them.

Stratford Inn: (Fenton) has two large rear projection CRT Mitsubishis opposite the bar. Can see they’ve mounted a triple LNB DirecTV dish outside but there are no HD capable boxes inside. Bartenders are clueless about HD.

Webers Front Row: (Webster Groves) two rear projection CRT HDTVs in their family friendly non-smoking room. However all their DirecTV equipment is standard-def. Have never talked to bartender or manager about getting HD.

Buffalo Wild Wings: (Creve Coeur and South County Mall) these newer stores have their projector screens sized to 16x9 and look to have DLP capable projectors. However their equipment seems to be DirecTV standard def only. According to manager the company has one guy who travels around and sets their A/V equipment up.

Frankie G’s: (Oakville) one rear projection CRT HDTV behind the bar. Have seen HDTV from ESPN-HD using DirecTV there. Not sure about their OTA capabilities.

St. Louis Sports Zone: (Shrewsbury) have a number of rear projection and plasma HDTVs in their various rooms. However they refuse to show HDTV because of the time delay difference between HD and the SD sets. According to the manager they have the equipment, but the delay issue is too big a problem.

Fortels Pizza Den: (Affton) once large rear proection CRT HDTV in the main dining area. Using Charter cable running directly into the TV all I’ve seen there is SD.

J. Bucks: (West County Mall) two 42" plasma HDTVs over the bar that seem stuck on SD. Seem to only have DirecTV SD equipment.

SubZero: (Central West End) Not a sports bar unless you drink martinis and eat sushi while watching sports. ;) One 42" LCD HDTV above the bar. Have seen both OTA HDTV (Olympics last summer) and ESPN-HD using DirecTV.

So what this is saying here is, that eventually SBC will add some competition for those who don't like satellite ( I don't know why) and are using Charter TV services?
If so, does anyone know when this service will be offered in STL?


Here is some information from our weekly SBC update.
"Our transformation into an integrated communications and entertainment company through Project Lightspeed is moving forward as well. Lab tests of the technology have progressed and technical field trials are expected to be expanded later this summer. Our controlled market launch is planned for later this year or early 2006."

Only the bigwigs know where the controlled market will be when launched.

I thought the PQ of the cards game last night was great. I have noticed that day games don't look as good as night games, and also noticed that domed football games look much better than outdoor football games. I believe that ESPN may have used some SD cameras and upconverted the picture to HD for some shots. (IE - dugout cams.) Perhaps I was just paying more attention because it was my team playing. But the close up of the people in the Arch (in the window) was pretty amazing. I'd watch ESPN-HD cardinals over FSMW cardinals any day of the week.

On a side note...I'm hoping that we see lots of Hockey in HD this season. If the commisioners are smart, you'd think they would use HD to bring fans back to the sport. I would.

Winston - Congrats on being "infected" with HD. There is no going back.

There were definitely several std def cams in use. One that comes to mind was the outfield shot looking in from left field.

I'm hoping by next baseball season they've switched over all cameras to HD capable.

CHeers,

There were definitely several std def cams in use. One that comes to mind was the outfield shot looking in from left field.

I'm hoping by next baseball season they've switched over all cameras to HD capable.

CHeers,


You know that the new stadium will have the best cameras possible. And a big ol HD billboard in the outfield.

CableCard Question,

I helped a friend select a HDTV a couple weeks ago, then called Charter. Went through three people on the phone, none of which knew a thing about cablecards, so I went to Charter Commons in person. Finally got to talk to a supervisor who got one put on order with the comment that it usually takes a week to 10 days. Being skeptical I asked if they had a STB for HD in stock to use in the meantime. Didn't have those in stock either and added that it could be a month or more. Typical Charter from what I read in this thread. I am glad to use Dish at my house. The question is, has anyone else been through a cablecard experience and if so what was it like?

MyHTfun, I use Charter's cableCard and the biggest problem is what you talk about, finding someone over there who knows what the hell they are. I got mine last year around this time, after the FCC mandate. I must have called and visited 10 times before I found someone that even had a clue what they were. A few of the Pipeline people seem to know what they are doing. Setup was easy, all they do is shove it in and call the office to relay network addresses. It's worked great for the most part except the first upgrade of the analog stations to digital, they didn't come in for a few days but seem to be working now. My other beef is that Charter is really lax when it comes to sending the program information.

djearl81,

The cameras at Busch, or any other sporting venue, aren't permanent. FSMW, KPLR, FOX Network, ESPN, etc. would all be responsible for providing their own cameras and crew. Actually, the FSMW and KPLR cameras might be the same, as those games are both produced by Bud Sports.

But I doubt that the Cardinals will be directly investing in any cameras with the building of the new stadium.

On the other hand, I'm intrigued by your HD billboard comment. Is this something that you've read somewhere? I haven't seen any of these sort of details yet and I'm definitely interested in learning more.

I assume that there will be some sort of large HD screen in the new stadium. I believe that at the moment the new Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia boasts the world's largest HDTV screen.

djearl81,

The cameras at Busch, or any other sporting venue, aren't permanent. FSMW, KPLR, FOX Network, ESPN, etc. would all be responsible for providing their own cameras and crew. Actually, the FSMW and KPLR cameras might be the same, as those games are both produced by Bud Sports.

But I doubt that the Cardinals will be directly investing in any cameras with the building of the new stadium.

On the other hand, I'm intrigued by your HD billboard comment. Is this something that you've read somewhere? I haven't seen any of these sort of details yet and I'm definitely interested in learning more.

I assume that there will be some sort of large HD screen in the new stadium. I believe that at the moment the new Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia boasts the world's largest HDTV screen.

I read an article last fall that had an interview with the guy in charge of technology for the new Busch.

He said:
no stadium-wide WiFi. Wifi will be limited to key places for use by the press and MLB.
the TVs on the concourse and luxury boxes will be purchased at the last possible moment in order to get the best price and latest technology. I read that to mean HD.
The jumbotron will be 16x9 and HD.


Has anyone heard about a new jumbotron being installed at the Edward Jones Dome this season?

Anyone here in Lake St. Louis Area using an indoor HD Antenna. I am using a Zenith Silver Sensor from sears, and all i get is 3 HD channels. These are very weak signals. can anyone suggest good indoor antenna for Lake St. Louis area. Distance from towers is approx. 30 miles (according to antennaweb.org)

jags,

In my experience, the Zenith Silver Sensor is the best indoor antenna available. I don't know of any indoor antenna that is a better candidate to work in your location but maybe someone else here will have some ideas for you.

In view of the relatively short distance, I would have to assume that your problem in receiving good signals for the other stations has something to do with terrain or buildings that are obstructing the signal paths.

You're probably going to need to consider an attic or rooftop antenna to overcome whatever issue is preventing you from getting all of the available channels with the Silver Sensor. Even then, that might still not get you all the stations, but one of those options in the next logical thing to try.

Sorry I can't be of more of help. Good luck.

jags,

In my experience, the Zenith Silver Sensor is the best indoor antenna available. I don't know of any indoor antenna that is a better candidate to work in your location but maybe someone else here will have some ideas for you.

In view of the relatively short distance, I would have to assume that your problem in receiving good signals for the other stations has something to do with terrain or buildings that are obstructing the signal paths.

You're probably going to need to consider an attic or rooftop antenna to overcome whatever issue is preventing you from getting all of the available channels with the Silver Sensor. Even then, that might still not get you all the stations, but one of those options in the next logical thing to try.

Sorry I can't be of more of help. Good luck.

Since you are a little farther away from the towers, you may want to try an amplifier or an antenna with a built in amplifier.

Circuit City sells the the Terk 5, which has a built in amplifier. I've used this antenna and gotten decent results in Maryland Heights, although I've got a Silver Sensor on order. I'd go to Circuit City, "buy" a couple antennas, test them out, and return them all, except if one works better than the Silver Sensor.

If that doesn't work, you may have to follow DropTheRemote's advice and consider an outdoor antenna.

I concur with the others... your problem is altitude (or lack thereof) and terrain. I'm actually closer to the towers than you are (St. Peters), but indoor antennas pick up even less for me than for you. Ditto for a big antenna in the attic.

It was raising the antenna ten feet above the roof that finally got me decent reception (I live in a valley).

When I checked for latest messages a few minutes ago, the forum page was no longer its familiar yellow text on blue background. Now it's suddenly black text on white background. Did avsforum change something, or is my newly installed Firefox 1.0.6 browser playing with my head?

When I checked for latest messages a few minutes ago, the forum page was no longer its familiar yellow text on blue background. Now it's suddenly black text on white background. Did avsforum change something, or is my newly installed Firefox 1.0.6 browser playing with my head?


Same as always for me. Must be a config somewhere that reset your AVS preferences.

Joe Clark

Video Savant Guide to HD Programming in St. Louis

I've produced the first "official" version of the Video Savant Guide to HD Programming in St. Louis. I appreciate the feedback provided here on the rough draft a few weeks back.

The Guide was produced in PDF format and the link to it appears at the bottom of this message. On some browsers you will be able to click on the file link and the PDF will load directly into a browser window; on others, you may need to right-click on the file link and "save target as" and then load it from your local computer.

I think the Guide is fairly straightforward and hopefully won't require a lot of explanation. However, if anyone has any questions, do let me know.

And if anyone has any corrections, updates or suggestions for the Guide, I'd appreciate if you can send me a private message or eMail, rather than clogging up the main thread here.

DirecTV to "Push" Fall Season "Sneak Peeks" via TiVo

The following story is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter:

_______________________________________________

In what it described as a first for a pay-TV service, DirecTV said it will provide its customers with a sneak preview of new primetime fall programming from ABC, CBS, FOX, HBO, NBC, Showtime, UPN and The WB, weeks before the season begins.

Beginning in early August and going through September, DirecTV will air on channel 101 a 30-minute preview highlighting new programming from each broadcast network, as well as previews of new fall programming from HBO and Showtime. DirecTV said it will air the sneak previews to all residential customers free of charge.

Also, the sneak previews will be pushed through to more than 2 million DirecTV TiVo subscribers as part of an on-demand showcase. The programming will be stored on customers' hard drives, and they can view the content at their leisure during the week. Each network's sneak preview will air exclusively for one week, the company said.

Dates for the sneak preview are: FOX, Aug. 1 through Aug. 7; Showtime, Aug. 8 through Aug. 14; WB, Aug. 15-21; NBC, Aug. 22-28; ABC, Aug. 29-Sept. 4; HBO, Sept. 5-11; CBS, Sept. 12-18; UPN, Sept. 19-25.

In addition, DirecTV said it will offer downloads of a full-length sneak preview of the new Stephen Bochco-produced "Over There" to DirecTV DVR with TiVo customers. Although FX will be premiering "Over There" on July 27, DirecTV's DVR customers have the opportunity to watch a sneak preview that launched Monday.
_______________________________________________

For more SkyREPORT news, go to www.skyreport.com

When I checked for latest messages a few minutes ago, the forum page was no longer its familiar yellow text on blue background. Now it's suddenly black text on white background. Did avsforum change something, or is my newly installed Firefox 1.0.6 browser playing with my head?
You need to change the setting in the box in the lower left corner from "AVS White" or "AVS Mobil" to "AVS Dark Theater"

Anyone look to see if the stage 2 switchover to digital on Charter occured today?

I remember hearing something about the HD screen in the new stadium on KMOX during one of the early season games. They were saying that Turner Field in Atlanta had the biggest HD screen (72ft. x 80ft,) and the new stadium would have something like it. (Look for BravesVision http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/atl/ballpark/facility.jsp) They didn't give any specifics, but if we get a screen like that...that'd be awesome.

As far as the the cameras go...I was just speculating. I thought that the cameras in the stadium were stationary, and the HD cameras were the only ones brought in to do those games. My bad.

OK...I'll start of with the good...
Got Moxi yesterday. In the few hours that I have played with it, I am impressed! (Let me clarify that this is my first DVR. I have no idea how it compares to TiVo, but it does everything I ask it to do...)

Now the bad...
The Charter rep was suppose to be at my house between 8-12. He showed up at 10:00 with only a digital box, no Moxi. He said that the Moxi was on the workorder, but was not given to him. He then went back to the warehouse, and showed back up around 2:00 pm. Thus, we had to wait from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (the time he was finished). So far, not a real pleasant experience.

Unfortunately, I had to get back to work, and I left my wife in charge. When I got home, I immediately went downstairs and turned on the HDTV to test out the Moxi. THere was no picture, and the speakers will skreeghing. After some investigation, I noticed that the Charter rep had hooked up the Moxi via DVI, which has not been activated. He also hooked up my optical audio out, but did not hook it into my receiver. Also, he had hooked up the analog audio out (red/white), but hooked them into video in jacks. Needless to say, this was all screwed up. I asked my wife if the rep had tested it out, and she said that he gave her some excuse about not being able to test it due to the downloading process.

He was also to take my HD box and move it to a new TV upstairs. When I went ot test that one, none of the digital channels (including the ones that are simulcast in analog) were working. I decided it was time to call Charter and complain. I started calling at 7:30 pm. Both the 636 line, as well as the 800 number were busy until 8:30. When I finally got through, I had to wait until 9:00 to get a customer service rep on the line. After I explained my issues, she tried to figure out why I wasn't getting the digital service on the new TV. It took her over one and a half hours to find out what was going on. (Just a side note, the connections I made were good....for some reason, Charter didn't recognize the HD box that they gave me...)

As I was about to hang-up, I asked her what my new bill was going to be, since I had been told earlier that adding the Moxi would be an increase of approximately $15 from my existing bill of $75/month (remember, I was keeping my old HD box). She said that my new bill was going to be approximately $130 a month. Well, that was the final straw. I told her to come over and pick up her crappy equipment that I was about to run over with my car. After another 30 minutes of discussion, she finally was able to get me to the correct monthly bill.

Very frustrating...however, during my two hour ordeal (with my wife screaming at me to drop Charter and get a satellite), I had some interesting conversations about the digital transitions. To begin with, the customer service rep thought Charter would have to make a big change in policy in regards to rental of digital boxes in order to keep up with *D and *E. Also, I asked her why people are not able to go get their own equipment from the Town & Country office, and install it themselves (considering the Charter installers can't do it...it would be one thing if it was brain surgery, but I would hope that all the installers know what an audio line is versus a video line). She said most people aren't that AV savvy, but, in my opinion, that doesn't matter. I can imagine my 65 year old father trying to work through these issues with a Charter rep...

In synopsis, I love Moxi, but I hate Charter even more now.

So why are you sticking with Charter?

Is it because DirecTV charges $700 for the HD TiVo? If so, I can understand.

Anyone here in Lake St. Louis Area using an indoor HD Antenna. I am using a Zenith Silver Sensor from sears, and all i get is 3 HD channels. These are very weak signals. can anyone suggest good indoor antenna for Lake St. Louis area. Distance from towers is approx. 30 miles (according to antennaweb.org)

I am in LSL with a channelmaster 4228 in my attic and a preamp. I get most stations pretty well with a 60-72 signal on my HDTivo. The only exceptions are 47 with no signal and KPLR which goes in and out.

The KPLR issue is kinda strange because antennaweb says it is in the same direction as KSDK and KMOV but if I move a little off of these (clockwise) maybe 5-10 degrees it is better, of course that drops my KSDK and KMOV into the 70's into the low 60's. I may have a multipath issue. I need to spend some more time pointing when it isn't 100+ degrees outside (and probably 200 in my attic).

I haven't tried an indoor antenna, but I hope you find one that works for you. If you do please post your results. Good luck.

Anyone look to see if the stage 2 switchover to digital on Charter occured today?


Doesn't appear so, still only that really small handful of channels coming in digital for me... Was really hoping to get Digital Rescue Me tonight...

Anyone look to see if the stage 2 switchover to digital on Charter occured today?

Doesn't look like it. Drat!

"TV Guide" Throws Program Listings Overboard

Well, this is a bit off-topic, particularly since TV Guide doesn't provide HD programming information (at least the last time I bothered to look). But this is a pretty interesting development, nonetheless.

The teaser below is taken from the TVPredictions.com newsletter and is followed by links to fairly lengthy articles.

________________________________________________

TV Guide just announced that it's radically changing its design and content. After more than 50 years of providing listings for TV viewers, the magazine will no longer emphasize programming information.

Why is TV Guide making such a dramatic move? Because of new TV technologies, such as the on-screen programming guide, Video on Demand and Digital Video Recorders.

TV Guide's decision to retreat from TV listings is a historic one -- and highlights how new media is overtaking traditional media. Consequently, we're breaking from tradition and publishing this special edition of the TV Predictions Newswire.

The special edition, which includes an early look at chapter three of TV Dot Com: The 2005 Edition, examines the impact of TV Guide and why it's now failing.
________________________________________________

The Death of TV Guide, Part I (http://www.tvpredictions.com/ipgchapter072605.html )

The Death of TV Guide, Part II (http://www.tvpredictions.com/ipgtwo072605)

The Death of TV Guide, Part III (http://www.tvpredictions.com/chapterthreetwo07260 5.html )

Unreal. Thanks for the info, but that is certainly disheartening about TVGuide.

Cable Pushes Back vs Broadcaster "Free Ride" on Multicast

The following is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter.

If broadcasters win this fight and Congress requires cable, and possibly satellite, to carry all digital stations (HD and SD multicast) that a broadcaster provides over the air, it's likely that more stations will do multicast, such as KSDK-DT is doing with its pointless (IMO) weather channel.

Requiring multicast would also result in bandwidth that might have gone to HD programming to be used instead of these multicast program streams.

_________________________________________

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association released an in-depth paper Tuesday taking aim at broadcasters and their push to impose dual carriage and multicast must carry requirements on cable operators.

The NCTA used a popular lyric line from the past to address its concerns: "'Come On and Take a Free Ride' was a popular lyric in the 1970s, but no one ever seriously believed that it should become the basis for a public policy proposal. That is, until now," the cable association said.

TV station groups, led by the National Association of Broadcasters, are pushing for requirements that would force cable to adhere carry dual analog and digital signals as well as multicast content. NCTA said broadcasters "hope to commandeer the digital television transition by insisting on government regulations that would expand a cable operator's must-carry requirement to at least six channels per broadcaster - which in major markets translates into mandatory carriage of over 100 broadcast television channels."

NCTA said in its paper that the broadcaster "free-ride" proposal is not only bad public policy, it's bad for consumers. "Dual and multicast must-carry will harm consumers by giving the federal government and commercial broadcasters - not local viewing audiences - the ability to dictate what is carried on cable systems," the association said.

NCTA added, "Government-mandated carriage of all broadcast channels would crowd out other programming which consumers prefer, and would instead substitute broadcaster-sponsored programming for which there may be little or no consumer demand. Giving broadcasters preferential carriage over all other programming networks not only deprives consumers of diversity, it raises First Amendment problems relating to government-mandated speech."
_________________________________________

For more SkyREPORT news, go to www.skyreport.com

HD to be Unveiled in United Kingdom

The following story is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter.

It's good to see the HD fever spreading across the pond...

___________________________________

Earlier this month, BSkyB, the UK satellite TV powerhouse controlled by News Corp., launched a Web site describing its high def offering, set to launch in 2006.

The Web site (http://hd.sky.com or http://www.sky.com/hd) didn't detail what HD programming will be available, but did describe for consumers the technology's ability to deliver Dolby 5.1 Surround audio and that high def content has four times as much picture information (pixels) than what's shown on a typical TV screen.

The Web site also has explanations on how HD works, what consumers need in terms of equipment, and a "jargon buster."

The HD effort is one of a handful of initiatives underway at BSkyB, which serves more than 7.7 million customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
___________________________________

For more SkyREPORT news, go to www.skyreport.com

HD to be Unveiled in United Kingdom

The following story is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter.

It's good to see the HD fever spreading across the pond...

___________________________________

Earlier this month, BSkyB, the UK satellite TV powerhouse controlled by News Corp., launched a Web site describing its high def offering, set to launch in 2006.

The Web site (http://hd.sky.com or http://www.sky.com/hd) didn't detail what HD programming will be available, but did describe for consumers the technology's ability to deliver Dolby 5.1 Surround audio and that high def content has four times as much picture information (pixels) than what's shown on a typical TV screen.

The Web site also has explanations on how HD works, what consumers need in terms of equipment, and a "jargon buster."

The HD effort is one of a handful of initiatives underway at BSkyB, which serves more than 7.7 million customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
___________________________________

For more SkyREPORT news, go to www.skyreport.com

Yes, HDTV from England would be nice. Could help with getting Wimbledon and Bristish Open golf in HD.

BTW: Charter still looks the same this morning. Nothing happened upgrade-wise overnight.

Sinclair Contract Dispute

I noticed over the weekend the ticker at the bottom of the screen on KDNL from Sinclair. They are in a contract dispute with Dish (I believe) and are telling current dish subscribers to move to DirecTV or Charter Cable. I thought that this was pretty low and unscrupulous of Sinclair. Now I can see why Charter is having problems with them providing the HD signal.

Digital Projection Standard Announced:
Press Release Source: Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC

Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) Announces Final Overall System Requirements and Specifications for Digital Cinema
Wednesday July 27, 2:30 pm ET
Agreement Gives Manufacturers of Digital Projectors and Theater Equipment One Universal Standard in Creating the Next Generation of Cinemas


HOLLYWOOD, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) has completed the final overall system requirements and specifications to help theatrical projector and equipment manufacturers create uniform and compatible digital cinema equipment throughout the United States, it was announced today by Walt Ordway, Chief Technology Officer, Digital Cinema Initiatives.
"After three years of careful planning, discussion and reaching out to all the various constituencies who make up our industry, DCI member studios are pleased to have reached unanimous agreement on the necessary overall system requirements and specifications for digital cinema," said Ordway. "We now have a unified specification that will allow manufacturers to create products that will be employable at movie theatres throughout the country and, it is hoped, throughout the world. In fact, the specification is being translated for international markets."

"These specifications should provide a common ground to spur innovation and encourage many more players who were previously resistant to invest capital in technology that may or may not have been viable," said Ordway. "And as the market gets more competitive, the price of the equipment and its installation -- previously thought to be a major barrier to digital cinema -- will become increasingly affordable, to the point where that stumbling block should no longer be of consequence."

DCI member studios and industry leaders hailed this long-awaited development, which will be applicable to both 2K and 4K resolutions.

"Twentieth Century Fox will release all of its theatrical feature film digital content in full compliance with the DCI specification," Bruce Snyder, President Domestic Distribution, and Paul Hanneman, Executive Vice President Sales and Strategic Planning Twentieth Century Fox International, said in a joint statement. "For the industry to flourish and to provide a smooth transition to an all digital future, it is essential there be one digital distribution and exhibition format. That format is the DCI specification."

"With this essential specification now in place, Warner Bros. now plans that by the end of 2005 we will be releasing our movies in two formats: 35mm film and DCI digital cinema," said Dan Fellman, President, Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. "Having the DCI spec in place is a big step forward in the global distribution of digital films. We look to this standard to be used in our International releases," said Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President, Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures International.

"Sony Pictures completely supports the work done by DCI on the digital cinema technical specifications. We look forward to releasing our feature films digitally to cinemas deploying digital cinema systems compliant with the DCI specifications worldwide," said Jeff Blake, Vice Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment and President, Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution.

"The DCI specification represents the right level of quality to ensure that the digital cinema experience remains the ideal way for moviegoers to enjoy films well into the future. We look forward to delivering our films into the DCI digital cinemas in the US and around the world," said Chuck Viane, President of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, and Mark Zoradi, President of Buena Vista International.

"Paramount embraces the DCI specification for the theatrical exhibition of digital cinema and we look forward to releasing our films in compliance with this standard of distribution," said Wayne Lewellen, President, Distribution for Paramount Pictures. "Exhibition and, most importantly, the movie-going audience are greatly benefited by the work done by DCI and its resulting specification."

"Universal Pictures is pleased that a unified format has come to fruition as this will allow both moviegoers and studios to enjoy the benefits of the digital cinema experience," added Nikki Rocco, President, Distribution for Universal Pictures. "DCI has worked tirelessly to create an approved uniform standard that will provide our industry a level of satisfaction regarding how films are being shown in the digital format."

John Fithian, President of the National Organization of Theater Owners (NATO), stated, "This spec, created over the past three years by DCI with input from exhibitors and vendors, is an important step toward making digital cinema a reality. With this piece now in place, we look forward to working with all the involved parties to achieve our mutual goal -- bringing the best possible moviegoing experience to the consumer."

"The ASC is proud to have collaborated with DCI during the development of a final specification for digital cinema," said Richard Crudo, President of The American Society of Cinematographers. "With the future hard upon us, part of that effort involved creation of the StEM (Standard Evaluation Material) film. Besides marking a great milestone in our traditional role as 'guardians of the image,' it also recalled one of the main reasons that led to the start of our organization in 1919. And though the industry may not yet realize what debt they owe this achievement, its significance will be plain to anyone who views a motion picture for many, many years to come."

"This is an important milestone in the advancement of the theatrical motion picture," commented Frank Pierson, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president. "In its first hundred years our art form made a forceful universal impression, at least partly because worldwide standards for projecting film were adopted early on. The next hundred years are likely to be similarly affected by DCI's work in defining how digital motion pictures will be presented to world audiences."

Said Jim Cameron and Jon Landau, "All of us at Lightstorm Entertainment are thrilled that DCI has finalized their digital cinema standards. We believe this now opens the door for the roll out of digital cinema, which will revolutionize the cinematic experience for moviegoers around the world. We look forward to presenting our next feature film in 3D Stereo at DCI compliant theaters."

George Lucas and Rick McCallum said, "It's a giant leap forward for those of us who create movies and, perhaps more importantly, for everyone who sees them. We have been advocates of digital cinema for nearly a decade, and this is a day we have long hoped would come. Digital cinema will increasingly become the standard and will change the way movies are made, seen and experienced around the world."

"Standardized digital theater equipment is as significant to motion picture exhibition as DVD was for the home video industry," said John Lasseter, Executive Vice President, Pixar Animation Studios. Mr. Lasseter directed Toy Story 2, the first film in motion picture history to be entirely created, mastered and exhibited digitally. "Even the best film presentation starts to wear out after a few weeks, but with digital cinema the last screening is as pristine as the first. DCI's new universal standard will enable audiences to see Pixar's digitally rendered films with the same consistency of color, detail, and resolution the world over."

"Hallelujah - It's about time!" commented Robert Zemeckis.

"This is a great day for digital cinema with the completion of the DCI Specification. I am looking forward to releasing my films in a manner that reflects my creative intent," added Robert Rodriguez.

Internationally, the announcement was greeted with equal support.

The UK National Film Trust released the following statement: "The completion of the DCI specification is a major milestone for all digital cinema efforts around the world. The NFT's Digital Test Bed (UK) supports and will continue playing an active role in the efforts to see the specification turned into standards that will help make high-end digital cinema a large scale reality in the UK, Europe and in the rest of the world."

"We congratulate DCI in the completion of the digital cinema specifications. This is a significant milestone in the digital cinema development worldwide as it brings us a big step closer to realizing the true benefits of digital cinema. IDA is happy to support DCI's specifications as Singapore can contribute as the Digital Exchange hub to better manage and distribute content digitally," said Mr. KHOONG Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive, Industry, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

International exhibitors also expressed their enthusiasm for this crucial turning point in the implementation of digital cinema worldwide.

"We acknowledge DCI's tremendous work on gathering inputs from the whole industry and now releasing its Digital Cinema Technical Specification," said Laura Fumagalli, exhibitor of the Arcadia Cinema in Milan. "By introducing Digital Cinema equipment compliant to DCI's Specification, Arcadia continues its commitment to offer Italian patrons the best theatrical movie experience."

"The movie-going experience is a special one, but in order to continue drawing large audiences, theatres must outpace competing media," said Charles S. Swartz, executive director/CEO of the Entertainment Technology Center at USC. "DCI's digital cinema specifications not only set the stage for higher quality theatrical presentation, they also help insure the global nature of cinema exhibition for films and countries, large and small. The Entertainment Technology Center at USC is proud to have played a part in DCI's landmark work."

Ordway concluded, "We have finally reached a consensus that all of our various constituencies can not only live with, but should also embrace. Studios, exhibitors, and most important of all, the audiences who love movies will now be able to enjoy all the benefits and possibilities that digital cinema offers."

Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) was created in March 2002 and is a joint venture of Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios. DCI's primary purpose is to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.

CONTACT:

Digital Cinema Initiatives

Walt Ordway, 323-769-2890


I wonder if that will increase the chance of some of the new multiplexes being built in St. Louis (Chesterfield, Winghaven, Lake St. Louis) having digital projectors? Would be nice considering one has to road trip to Chicago to currently see a film digitally projected.

Then again movie on a 50+" HDTV at home is a lot more enjoyable for some of us.

Passing along my antenna installation experiences in St. Peters. I live close to the intersection of Mexico and Jungermann and reside in a valley with hills on every side.

My Westinghouse 30" LCD is now in my MBR. My STB, a USDigital, was purchased from Wally World on clearance for ~$80 (much thanks to those who pointed the clearance sale out on this forum... you saved me $$$).

Picked up a Silver Sensor (~$28 in a Phillips box at the same store) when I bought the STB. The Silver Sensor surprised me in that I was able to pick up 5-1, 5-2, and 11 from on top of the hutch behind the TV. The signal was not consistant however and I was forced to try other options.

I then ran some RG-6 and installed the same antenna in the attic to see if my results would improve. Wow... 9 channels were found on rescan. If you're having poor results, try the attic... big improvement for me. The signals were fairly strong and relatively stable. When I added a line amp I had lying around the house I got slightly better signal strength and likely could have lived with those results.

My last move was to buy a DB4 (search this thread) and J-mount. With the J-mount, installation took about 15 mins, and that really helped given the recent heat and the attic work. The results are now where I can get 10 channels... almost all with strong, stable signals. Channel 46 does tend to bounce in strength but is probably 98-99% stable. I am very happy with the present results. I have a line amp lying around if I wish to get even better results, but I see no reason to use it at the present time as the main channels I wished to recieve now fine.

I can't thank everyone enough for the tremendous help I have received on this board in the past. Thanks gang. :)

Mike

New UK DVR Takes "Kitchen Sink" Approach

The following CNET news story excerpt was featured in today's TVPredictions.com newsletter:
___________________________________________

New DVR drops jaws in London

When Cory Doctorow visited last weekend's OpenTech conference in London, he was stunned to see a box about the size of a 1990-era VCR boasting some pretty forward-looking capabilities.

The box was a prototype of a digital video recorder from Ascot, England, start-up Promise TV that can record and index an entire week's worth of British digital-television programming.

To Doctorow, an editor of the popular culture blog BoingBoing and the Electronic Frontier Foundation's European outreach coordinator, Promise TV has broken impressive new ground with its DVR, which it plans to unveil next month.

"There wasn't a jaw in the room that wasn't scraping the floor during (the) demo," he said. "It was genuinely futuristic."

Dominic Ludlam, Promise TV's lead developer, said the project was commissioned by the BBC and uses commodity PC hardware, including a bank of hard drives totaling 3.2 terabytes.

At week's end, new programming overwrites previous programs, although those recordings can be archived on separate storage devices.
____________________________________________

For the complete story, click here. (http://news.com.com/New+DVR+drops+jaws+in+London/2100-1041_3-5807107.html)

Sirius Version of "Howard Stern" Might Appear as VOD

Another development reported in today TVPredictions.com newsletter is that Howard Stern is thinking about offering a TV edition of his daily radio show once the program debuts on Sirius satellite radio.

The following story is from the Radio Ink web site.
_________________________________________________

Stern TV Show May Go To Uncensored P-P-P Format

According to "Television Week," Howard Stern is reportedly in talks to replace the cable TV version of his show currently on E! with a Video-On-Demand program for Comcast cable.

Stern, who leaves terrestrial radio in January ‘06 for an uncensored show on Sirius Satellite Radio, is said to be seeking a similar kind of pay-per-play distribution deal for the TV version of his show, which Comcast-owned E! Networks unexpectedly dropped last month, although reruns of Stern's show continue to run on E!.

The show is likely to be available on other cable distributors besides Comcast, according to sources close to the deal.

Stern has been offering uncensored versions of his show on his Web site for $4.95 per episode.
_________________________________________________

For more radio industry news, go to www.radioink.com

Guide to Sports in HD

One of the tipsters on the HDTV Tips List spotted this and I thought it was worth passing along here:

http://www.hdsportsguide.com/

Little red message light on Charter box this morning..

announcement of remaining channels going digital???.......no


announcement of new HD channels......no


But we get new channel on September 1: the KSDK weather channel!!!

Little red message light on Charter box this morning..

announcement of remaining channels going digital???.......no


announcement of new HD channels......no


But we get new channel on September 1: the KSDK weather channel!!!


Yes but just checked my most recent bill online and saw the following notes.

3 New HD Channels Starting Sep 15th
PBS on 789
Cinemax 779
Discovery 775

The KSDK weather channel is going to replace a Weather Channel that is local but it will be free to all according to the notes on the bill.

Nice to see some new additions, but I want all digital. Was hoping to see an updated note on that rollout.

Phatty

Nice to see some new additions, but I want all digital. Was hoping to see an updated note on that rollout.

Phatty

Calling abcward, calling abcward.

Any scoop from your Charter friend?

LOL - I thought someone would look my direction.

Currently my Charter insider has been MIA this week. I have been looking everywhere for him especially with the 2nd wave of All-Digital being in question. If I find him and get any info, I will pass on to the group.

:)

This all-digital idea from Charter is quite interesting. Honestly, it may make me want to go w/ them rather than DirecTV.

This all-digital idea from Charter is quite interesting. Honestly, it may make me want to go w/ them rather than DirecTV.

Crack Kills! :) Directv Rocks!

Crack Kills! :) Directv Rocks!

Yeah, but it seems that DirecTV keeps uping the compression. I can honestly say for the first time ever that the picture quality from Charter looks better than satellite: especially on the channels that have made the digital switch. I can't wait for Fox Sports MW to switch to digital on Charter because the picture quality for FSMW on D* seems to be getting worse and worse.

That being said Charter is still a bunch of morons. Last month they turned off my cable when it should have been my neighbors. No big deal, I can live without Tv and internet for a few days:but since I've got VoIP from AT&T my phone was out during that time. :mad:

I've also tried three times to get a Moxi box and they keep never showing up during the timeframe they say they will be. :mad:

Charter adding Cinemax HD is big. That one's missing from DirecTV (and from Dish too?).

Cinemax HD is not on Dish at this time. I suspect it will come on line when Dish adds MPEG-4 compression at the end of this year or in early 2006.

Cheers,

LOL - I thought someone would look my direction.

Currently my Charter insider has been MIA this week. I have been looking everywhere for him especially with the 2nd wave of All-Digital being in question. If I find him and get any info, I will pass on to the group.

:)

Maybe you could schedule a 4 hour window to be home & he could swing by with the news.


:D

Maybe you could schedule a 4 hour window to be home & he could swing by with the news.


:D

Insert rimshot.

Anyone know anything about this Sony HD DVR? (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/+INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=-rfcPagV8b_cIOr8sezWNucZJr_gfBuPYdM=?ProductSKU=DHGHDD500&Dept=tvvideo&CategoryName=tvhav_HDDVRs)

Yeah, its $1000, but are there any montly fees associated w/ this box? I'm not sure how there could be, but then again I'm sure they can do it.

THis seems like something I'm looking for. After having had DirecTV w/ TiVo for a couple years, I can't imagine TV w/o a DVR. As I've posted recently, getting digital tv and HD is awesome, but I can't imagine watching it w/o being able to pause, rewind, and fast-forward. Nor can I imagine not being able to record shows in HD and then being able to watch them in HD. Of course, you can do that w/ the HD TiVo, but its likely going to be out of commission when they got MPEG4.

Also, while I'm on the topic of HD DVRs, does anyone know anything about building your own HD DVR? (http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/cookbook/) A buddy of mine told me about this site.... Any thoughts?

Finally, any thoughts on the ATI HDTV Tuner card for the PC? (http://www.ati.com/products/hdtvwonder/index.html) From the way I read it, this might do what I want. I'm a computer junkie, so I have a spare PC lying around that would be capable of doing this. I guess the quest would be then hooking up that HDTV w/ the ATI software "DVR" to my television and a/v receiver.

DISH, Sinclair Head for Monday Expiration w/o Agreement

The following is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter.

______________________________________

On Monday, will Sinclair stations be turned off for DISH Network subscribers?

Both sides of the retransmission consent skirmish were quiet about their negotiations, at least as of press time late Thursday night. An EchoStar spokesperson said the company hopes to get something done before the start of next week.

The agreement between the two companies, which allows Sinclair's TV stations to be carried by DISH Network, is set to expire Monday, Aug. 1. If the TV stations were to go off the air, markets with DISH Network local TV offerings that could be impacted include Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Tampa, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Kansas City, Nashville and St. Louis.

Sinclair recently said it offered to extend the agreement for an additional month to allow for more time to negotiate a deal, but Echostar apparently refused to agree to an extension, the broadcaster said.
______________________________________

For more satellite news, go to www.skyreport.com

The link below is for a CNN Money story on the investor potential for DirecTV shares:

http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/29/markets/spotlight/spotlight_directtv/

Winston,

There's been some previous discussion here about the Sony DVRs.

In a nutshell, the pros are they work with CableCard but also have the potential to attach an OTA. In some markets where the HD locals are a separate charge, this could save some money, and in St. Louis, where Charter doesn't provide all the digital locals, it solves a major issue.

The cons are high price, a lack of dual tuners and (for some) a lack of Firewire connectivity. The last time I looked (and if my memory is sound), the price for these units was $800 for 15 hours HD capacity and $1000 for 30 hours -- both DISH and DirecTV offer more affordable hardware. The boxes only have a single tuner, meaning that you can't record two programs simultaneously (or record one and watch another live).

There some discussion here at AVS on the HDTV Recorders forum:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=537711

Wow, that's great news about a universal digital film standard. And yes, it would be so cool to have atleast one digital theater in St. Louis. I went to Chicago to see SW EPIII in digital and it was killer!! I'm also excited about the new local IMAX theater that will open later this year. Does anyone know if this will be an IMAX 3D theater?

Thursday I received my Moxie Box. I'm not convinced the picture is of similar quality to the HD Box, but I'm still trying to tweak my settings. There is a choice on the Moxie between 720P and 1080i. Does it matter which one I choose?
Any other suggestions for getting the best picture out of the Moxie?

StockInv,

Yes, it matters which you choose (720p or 1080i), depending on your display.

What do you have?

You should check EVERY resolution that your television can handle...

You should check EVERY resolution that your television can handle...

Very true. My TV is native 720p but shows a much nicer picture when I set my Dish Netwok 811 STB for 1080i. I guess this is because the TV scaler is superior to the 811's scaler.

A 1080i program like Leno simply looks much better when the 811 sends it to the TV as 1080i vs. when it's set up for 720p.

Go figure.............

Was the Cardinal-Dodgers game today in HD? It sure looked marginal at best.
Did anyone get a great HD picture of the game?

Was the Cardinal-Dodgers game today in HD? It sure looked marginal at best.
Did anyone get a great HD picture of the game?

Actually, the Cards-Dodgers game was not in HD, but an idiotic 480i "innovation" called FOX Widescreen.

So, I see that tomorrow, the Cards-Marlins game is in HD on ESPNHD. But the game is also carried by FSMW. Am I presuming correct that we will not get the ESPN-HD feed here on Charter?

In addition, I see that LA gets the game today in HD on their Fox sports affiliate. Is FSMW the only Fox Sports network that does not have an HD station? They have it in AZ, and all along the West adn East Coast.

Based on past practice, Cards-Marlins on ESPN-HD will be blacked out.

We are not the only Fox Sports Net affilliate without HD coverage. There are others, though I don't have a complete list. For example, I would think that other markets where Charter is the sole or primary provider are probably in the same boat as we're in here. I'm not suggesting that Charter is the sole cause for a lack of FSN-HD locally. Likewise, there are likely other cable carriers with similar constraints or conflicting priorities.

StockInv,
Concerning Moxi settings, the 3.2 update(you already have it) gives Moxi the ability to send unscaled, unstretched 480i images to your display, avoiding the picture degradation that users saw before the update. SD images were scaled and stretched to fill a 16:9 frame, making people and objects shorter and fatter than they were supposed to be. In fact, when I chose every resolution that my display could do after the update, I still got scaled stretched SD images. Someone suggested that I only select 480i when I view SD, and I then got beautiful, unscaled SD with pillar boxes on the sides to maintain the proper aspect ratio. I encourage you to do the same when you watch SD on the Moxi box. I'll admit that it's a bit of a pain to have to make these changes everytime that you want to watch an SD channel, but that's the solution that we've been handed for the time being if you want better SD images. Perhaps the next update will bring us the ability to make this choice permanently. The Charter hd digital box that I have allows me to pass untreated SD signals through "as is", while sending hd signals through in 16:9.

StockInv,
Concerning Moxi settings, the 3.2 update(you already have it) gives Moxi the ability to send unscaled, unstretched 480i images to your display, avoiding the picture degradation that users saw before the update. SD images were scaled and stretched to fill a 16:9 frame, making people and objects shorter and fatter than they were supposed to be. In fact, when I chose every resolution that my display could do after the update, I still got scaled stretched SD images. Someone suggested that I only select 480i when I view SD, and I then got beautiful, unscaled SD with pillar boxes on the sides to maintain the proper aspect ratio. I encourage you to do the same when you watch SD on the Moxi box. I'll admit that it's a bit of a pain to have to make these changes everytime that you want to watch an SD channel, but that's the solution that we've been handed for the time being if you want better SD images. Perhaps the next update will bring us the ability to make this choice permanently. The Charter hd digital box that I have allows me to pass untreated SD signals through "as is", while sending hd signals through in 16:9.

Funny, I have all three resolutions checked and my Moxi box doesn't stretch out the SD channels. I do recall, however, that I did have fiddle around with the settings for a while before it would stop stretching the picture.

my tv does all the the settings 480i 720p and 1080i and when i check all three it stretches the 480i to fit the 16x9 screen. IS there another way to fix this

I know that this is totally off track, but I am needing some help. I will be moving to St. Louis in the next month, and I was wondering if anyone who lives in NW St. Louis county( Roughly North of Page Avenue ext. and West of Lindburgh) or in St. Charles-St. Peters area knows of some really good apartments, that aren't like $1500. I only need a one, maybe 2 bedroom apartment for when I start school at ITT tech in Sep. Any help???

Enclave at Winghaven is 750 for 1 bed and 975 for 2. www.apartmentguide.com or www.rent.com Rent.com offers a $100 'reward' if you list them on the sheet at the apartment.

my tv does all the the settings 480i 720p and 1080i and when i check all three it stretches the 480i to fit the 16x9 screen. IS there another way to fix this

I can't precisely remember what I did. I think I first unselected the 480i option, exited the menu, then reselected the 480i option. If that doesn't work, try unselecting and reselecting all three options in various orders.

DISH, Sinclair Agree on Long-Term Distribution Deal

The following story is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter:
_____________________________________________

This weekend, Sinclair Broadcast Group said it reached a long-term retransmission agreement with EchoStar, allowing DISH Network subscribers receiving local TV channels in markets served by the station owner to keep getting those locals that are part of the deal.

Because of the weekend, details of the deal were not available. Sinclair described its agreement with EchoStar as a long-term deal.

The older agreement between the two companies, which allows Sinclair's TV stations to be carried by DISH Network, was set to expire today. Markets with Sinclair stations include Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Tampa, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Kansas City, Nashville and St. Louis.
_____________________________________________

For more satellite news, go to www.skyreport.com

DirecTV Expected to Announce New Incentives Today

The following story is from the daily SkyREPORT newsletter:

Note: While not specified, it is HIGHLY unlikely that the free DVR mentioned in this story is HD-capable.

_______________________________________________

It's expected DirecTV will launch its fall promotions today, with deals that include a free DVR for new and existing customers.

According to the information, the DirecTV DVR will sell for $99, and the company will offer a $100 mail-in rebate, bringing the price to nothing.

There's also an NFL Sunday Ticket offer. New customers who subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket for $279.96 and commit to one year of any Total Choice package will receive four free months of Total Choice Premier. The top-tier package sells for $93.99 a month, representing a value of more than $375.

With other deals, new customers who subscribe to Total Choice Plus will get more than 155 channels for $39.99 a month for four months. The package regularly sells for $45.99 a month. Also, new customers who subscribe to DirecTV's HD package, which sells for $10.99 a month, will receive the first three months for free.

The deals will be available through Nov. 5.
_______________________________________________

APOCALYPSO-

I would check your TV settings. IT is possible you have programmed your monitor to stretch any 3X4 content. Therefore, even though your MOXI box is sending the signal at 4X3 your Sony is stretching it to fit the screen.

Just my two cents...

Any possibility the Charter 2nd stage digital switchover will occur this week?

Also: with channel 5-2 "Weather Plus" getting added to the Charter lineup on September 1st, do you think that will be when the 3rd stage occurs and we get all the digital SD locals?

Any possibility the Charter 2nd stage digital switchover will occur this week?

Also: with channel 5-2 "Weather Plus" getting added to the Charter lineup on September 1st, do you think that will be when the 3rd stage occurs and we get all the digital SD locals?


I doubt that it will be the same, or at least not planned out to be on the same date. They are doing it in phases to just keep tech calls for problems to a min. So from what I understand they basically will roll out each phase once trouble calls die down from the previous phase. So hopefully one additional week is all they needed and 'crosses fingers' maybe we can see phase 2 go through before the week is up.

Phatty.

I doubt that it will be the same, or at least not planned out to be on the same date. They are doing it in phases to just keep tech calls for problems to a min. So from what I understand they basically will roll out each phase once trouble calls die down from the previous phase. So hopefully one additional week is all they needed and 'crosses fingers' maybe we can see phase 2 go through before the week is up.

Phatty.

Is this a guess or are you on the inside? BTW: if a guess it's very solid logic.

Also, it's now August and no Fox Sports MW in high-def. Are we SOL for the Cards season?

Is this a guess or are you on the inside? BTW: if a guess it's very solid logic.

Also, it's now August and no Fox Sports MW in high-def. Are we SOL for the Cards season?


From an inside source they will not do another phase till tech support calls die down from the previous phase being completed. So based on that, and the fact phase 2 date has come and gone I then guessed that they do not have an official date planned yet for phase 3 to go along with the weather channel being added. But, from the inside source, Charter's goal is to have the all-digital rollout completed by, or sometime in September.

Phatty.

I concur with Phatty on this one - Charter is all about the support calls. They won't roll out the 2nd wave until the first wave's support calls have trickled to a slight few.

*** I have no hope that FSMW-HD/Charter deal will be in place for the remaining Cardinal games of this season. However consider me the first to start harping on getting the FSMW-HD deal in place for the upcoming Blues season. There is no sport that benefits more from HD than hockey does. GET A CONTRACT SIGNED NOW PEOPLE!!!!

And while were at it, How about ESPN2HD charter? Let get with the program...

I must pipe in here and say that I'm quite familiar with the picture aspect ratio settings for my Optomo H31 pj. It is a fact that the Moxi box sends a stretched 4:3 image to the pj when all the correct settings are selected in the Moxi menu. The pj is native widescreen, and can handle all the resolutions.

Bailorg, welcome!!
Nice to see another Star Wars fan here. It looks like you have the magic touch, because no one else that I know of has been able to get an unstretched SD image from MOxi when all other resolutions are checked as well. The Moxi FAQ certainly doesn't tell us how to accomplish this trick. Are you using an hd widescreen display? What are the AR controls set to?

hanjke,
Are you getting the same results as bailorg? Is your Moxi connected to a widescreen hd display?

Let me add that while I can hit the 4:3 button when I switch from an hd channel to an SD one, and see the proper pillar bars and all, the image is still being scaled, and image quality is compromised. The best results happen when I take advantage of the 3.2 update feature that bypasses all scaling of the SD image so that 480i registers as a 480i on my display, with proper pillar bars. The picture looks great, allowing my pj to do the scaling to it's native resolution, and I don't have to hit the 4:3 button to get this. The only way that I'm able to make this happen consistently is to select 480i only in the Moxi settings when I switch to an SD channel. Other Moxi users please pipe in and tell us what your results are.

The Charter hd digital box has a user menu that allows the selection for 480i passthrough in 4:3 with pillarbars, while hd remains in widescreen. Moxi needs this feature.

apocalypso - You might try checking just the 1080i display. On my TV (Sammy 46" HLN model) this displays everything correctly. I copied this post from earlier in this thread:

Yea, this whole "native passthrough" is a little confusing to me. My Component input will only accept 1080i, 720p, and 480p (way to go Samsung :rolleyes: ). I've checked only 1080i in the HD setup menu, and now 4:3 content is shown 4:3 and HD content is shown widescreen, all with the TV set to "wide" mode. This is exactly how I want everything to show up, but it doesn't seem to make logical sense. I figured that with 1080i (only) checked, everything would still be strectched to fill the screen.

There's someone over on the Moxi thread that I think said he checked 1080i and 480i, and the picture fills the screen for all channels. He indicated that with only 1080i checked, SD channels are pillar boxed and widescreen fills the screen. Those having trouble with the new HD setup might try that.

Updated HDTV Bar/Restaurant Sightings:
St. Louis Sports Bars and HDTV

Schneithorsts (Ladue): the best in St. Louis when it comes to knowing about their HDTVs and showing HD. One HD projector on the upstairs outdoor patio. Four HDTVs in the downstairs bar with a large (over 60”) plasma over the fireplace. Able to show HD from OTA and DirecTV. Bartenders know what they are doing and seem to consistently know when HD programming is on.

Fox and Hounds (Chesterfield Valley): this new place has four rear projection LCD HDTVs mounted above the main bar. However it does not look like they can show HD since the DirecTV boxes are all standard def. Not sure about their OTA capabilities. Bartenders seem clueless.

Flannery’s: (Downtown on Washington Ave.) this newer place has three Panasonic plasma EDTVs and two rear projection LCD HDTVs. However it does not look like they can show HD since the DirecTV boxes are all standard def. Not sure about their OTA capabilities.

Sundeckers: (Laclede’s Landing) has one approximately 50” plasma mounted on the wall left of the bar. Uses Charter cable for their source since the MLK bridge blocks their south view, thus not allowing use of Dish or DirecTV. Need to upgrade their Charter box to HD capable. Bartenders and managers there always seem grumpy so I’ve never approached them.

Stratford Inn: (Fenton) has two large rear projection CRT Mitsubishis opposite the bar. Can see they’ve mounted a triple LNB DirecTV dish outside but there are no HD capable boxes inside. Bartenders are clueless about HD.

Webers Front Row: (Webster Groves) two rear projection CRT HDTVs in their family friendly non-smoking room. However all their DirecTV equipment is standard-def. Have never talked to bartender or manager about getting HD.

Buffalo Wild Wings: (Creve Coeur and South County Mall) these newer stores have their projector screens sized to 16x9 and look to have DLP capable projectors. However their equipment seems to be DirecTV standard def only. According to manager the company has one guy who travels around and sets their A/V equipment up.

Frankie G’s: (Oakville) one rear projection CRT HDTV behind the bar. Have seen HDTV from ESPN-HD using DirecTV there. Not sure about their OTA capabilities.

St. Louis Sports Zone: (Shrewsbury) have a number of rear projection and plasma HDTVs in their various rooms. However they refuse to show HDTV because of the time delay difference between HD and the SD sets. According to the manager they have the equipment, but the delay issue is too big a problem.

Fortels Pizza Den: (Affton) once large rear proection CRT HDTV in the main dining area. Using Charter cable running directly into the TV all I’ve seen there is SD.

J. Bucks: (West County Mall) two 42" plasma HDTVs over the bar that seem stuck on SD. Seem to only have DirecTV SD equipment.

SubZero: (Central West End) Not a sports bar unless you drink martinis and eat sushi while watching sports. One 42" LCD HDTV above the bar. Have seen both OTA HDTV (Olympics last summer) and ESPN-HD using DirecTV.

NEW:
Fitz's: (U. City Loop) One 52" Mitsubishi DLP HDTV upstairs in bar area with a DirecTV HD box connected in public view. However there is nothing connected to the OTA antenna input. Sent email to manager 8/1/05.

Applebees Clayton/Big Bend (Richmond Heights): the are in the process of remodeling the bar area. One 36" Panasonic 16:9 CRT tube TV has been installed. Showing stretched ESPN when I visited.

But your Sammy is inherently progressive so your TV will need to scale the signal again. Why not just set it @ 720p and be done with it?

Updated HDTV Bar/Restaurant Sightings:
St. Louis Sports Bars and HDTV

dweebe-

This list is a great resource, thank you.

Maybe you can figure out a way to make all of your research a deductible business expense?
;)

But your Sammy is inherently progressive so your TV will need to scale the signal again. Why not just set it @ 720p and be done with it?

You're right in theory (since the Sammy is native 720p), but I've tried both 1080i and 720p, and to my eyes anyway, the 1080i looks better. I know it shouldn't, but it does.

jedi35,

I have a moxi as well and a widescreen panasonic. I have all the resolutions checked marked and have no problems with the SD picture being not being stretched.


Mark

THis seems like something I'm looking for. After having had DirecTV w/ TiVo for a couple years, I can't imagine TV w/o a DVR. As I've posted recently, getting digital tv and HD is awesome, but I can't imagine watching it w/o being able to pause, rewind, and fast-forward. Nor can I imagine not being able to record shows in HD and then being able to watch them in HD. Of course, you can do that w/ the HD TiVo, but its likely going to be out of commission when they got MPEG4.

Also, while I'm on the topic of HD DVRs, does anyone know anything about building your own HD DVR? (http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/cookbook/) A buddy of mine told me about this site.... Any thoughts?

Finally, any thoughts on the ATI HDTV Tuner card for the PC? (http://www.ati.com/products/hdtvwonder/index.html) From the way I read it, this might do what I want. I'm a computer junkie, so I have a spare PC lying around that would be capable of doing this. I guess the quest would be then hooking up that HDTV w/ the ATI software "DVR" to my television and a/v receiver.

The HD Tivo should still be around for quite a while after MPEG-4 comes to town. We just won't be able to pick up HD locals and whatever *new* HD channels *D adds from then on. At some point I imagine *D will go all MPEG-4, but I don't see THAT happening for several years.

I've never seen the site you mentioned but I did build my own HD PVR/DVD player/DVD burner/Internet radio/media streamer PC. The Media Portal (http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net) software I'm using for the front end to all of it is very early Beta (version 0.1.3) but seems pretty stable for the most part. I'm using the FusionHDTV card (http://www.fusionhdtv.co.kr/ENG/) instead of the ATI one, and it works great. Its remote control even does a pretty good job controlling other programs in addtion to the FusionHDTV software itself. And it's all inside a Shuttle XPC that blends in quite nicely with the rest of the room.

I've even had some success taking some HD broadcasts(card does local OTA only), editing the commercials, converting to DVD-compliant MPEG-2, and authoring some really sharp DVD-R's from them.

A couple of links if you're serious about putting an HTPC together:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=469093&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

http://htpcnews.com/main.php?id=ffdshowdvd_1

dweebe,

Just wanted to add my kudos for the sport bar information -- excellent!

If possible, it would be great if you could repeat this every month or so...

Anyone know anything about this Sony HD DVR? (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/+INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=-rfcPagV8b_cIOr8sezWNucZJr_gfBuPYdM=?ProductSKU=DHGHDD500&Dept=tvvideo&CategoryName=tvhav_HDDVRs)

Yeah, its $1000, but are there any montly fees associated w/ this box? I'm not sure how there could be, but then again I'm sure they can do it.

THis seems like something I'm looking for. After having had DirecTV w/ TiVo for a couple years, I can't imagine TV w/o a DVR. As I've posted recently, getting digital tv and HD is awesome, but I can't imagine watching it w/o being able to pause, rewind, and fast-forward. Nor can I imagine not being able to record shows in HD and then being able to watch them in HD. Of course, you can do that w/ the HD TiVo, but its likely going to be out of commission when they got MPEG4.

Also, while I'm on the topic of HD DVRs, does anyone know anything about building your own HD DVR? (http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/cookbook/) A buddy of mine told me about this site.... Any thoughts?

Finally, any thoughts on the ATI HDTV Tuner card for the PC? (http://www.ati.com/products/hdtvwonder/index.html) From the way I read it, this might do what I want. I'm a computer junkie, so I have a spare PC lying around that would be capable of doing this. I guess the quest would be then hooking up that HDTV w/ the ATI software "DVR" to my television and a/v receiver.

Winston,

I have three MyHD computer based HD recording systems. It's a very simple card to install and I've helped a couple of friends install them, too. With MyHD and an antenna (your new Silver Sensor) you can record and watch local broadcasts on your PC or on an HDTV. Even a non-computer literate friend was amazed at how easy it was to get it working with his HDTV and sound system (and it's not very expensive, either). Although he upgraded in the end, I had the card working just fine with a six year old PII 450 Gateway system.

You can connect the video via a 15 pin VGA or standard component cables (with a VGA to component breakout cable). Audio is standard S/PDIF to your AV receiver, for full multi-channel sound. And, the remote makes it feel very much like a regular piece of home theater gear. It's well supported, with fairly frequent software updates. If you have a DVD burner, you can burn about a half hour's worth of HD video onto a single layer DVD, or an edited hour long program onto a double layer disk. This means you can archive sitcoms or hour long shows straight to DVD using something like HDTV to MPEG2, which is free software (it edits out commercials from .ts files).

I haven't tried the Linux route. It might be a little cheaper, but there are several regular Windows cards that are inexpensive and very easy to install and work with. I've had HiPix (no longer made) and MyHD. MyHd is great.

If you're interested, feel free to PM me and I can give you even more details.

Joe Clark

The link below provides additional information on the "free" DVR offer from DirecTV.

Probably the most interesting part of the story is the possibility that the offer will initially involve TiVo products, as DirecTV's NDS-built DVR won't be ready when the offer kicks off.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/directvfreedvr080105.html

The link below provides additional information on the "free" DVR offer from DirecTV.

Probably the most interesting part of the story is the possibility that the offer will initially involve TiVo products, as DirecTV's NDS-built DVR won't be ready when the offer kicks off.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/directvfreedvr080105.html

A two-year commitment seems like a steep price to pay for a $99 DVR. I would be far more interested if they ever offered a HD DVR for 'free'. But I'm guessing that might cost you a lifetime commitment to DirecTV...

My D* online account now has several payment options to get a DVR/HD-DVR. Also the DVR service went up a buck to $5.99. :rollseyes:

Charter Reports Lower 2Q Loss, But Misses Expectations

The following story is from the BusinessWeek web site, based on an Associated Press report:

_____________________________________________

Cable provider Charter Communications Inc. on Tuesday posted a smaller second-quarter loss as it boosted revenue by signing up more high-speed Internet customers amid waning demand for video.

The company's loss amounted to $356 million, or $1.18 per share, compared with a loss of $416 million, or $1.39 per share, a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting a loss of 99 cents per share.

Quarterly revenue totaled $1.32 billion, a gain of 7 percent from $1.24 billion a year earlier and just beating analysts' consensus target of $1.3 billion.

By segment, high-speed Internet revenue grew 25 percent to $226 million from the gain of 310,800 customers and a 5 percent increase in average revenue per user.

Meanwhile, video revenue climbed 2 percent to $861 million as greater revenue per user offset losses of 9,000 digital and 41,700 analog-video subscribers.
_____________________________________________

For more business news, go to www.businessweek.com.

Got to love the morons at Charter.

Last month: someone moved out of my apartment building and Charter accidentally disconnected my cable resulting in no modem or no TV. Had to take a half day off from work to wait for a tech to come and figure this out.

Yesterday was the first of the month and someone else had moved out of my building over the weekend. What does Charter do? Disconnects my cable AGAIN! :mad: :mad: :mad:

I guess they have to come out and physically put a block on the splitter box outside. I can tell someone was out there yesterday because the trash cans and recycling bins were moved and not put back. :mad: The cover was also not put back on all the way.

Why can't they just do it over the system from the main office?

Plus, why must they torture me so?

So since I have no TV right now can anyone tell me if the phase 2 digital conversion rolled out today? It's now one week after when they planned it.

A two-year commitment seems like a steep price to pay for a $99 DVR. I would be far more interested if they ever offered a HD DVR for 'free'. But I'm guessing that might cost you a lifetime commitment to DirecTV...

Charter has been advertising the Switch from the Dish, also with a 2 year commitment
Dug

If you had their phone service you wouldn't have been able to call them.


That's funny.

Scott

hanjke i think you solved my problem sure enough i had Full selected in the TV menu!!!

has anyone in this forum ordered cables from one of these sponsors up at the top? RAM has some pretty cheap dvi to hdmi cables that i thought i would try out!

has anyone in this forum ordered cables from one of these sponsors up at the top? RAM has some pretty cheap dvi to hdmi cables that i thought i would try out!

I just bought 30' and 40' DVI cables from RAM and so far they are working just fine. No problems. Prices were a LOT better than many other places, including local shops. Because of length, these are the more expensive RAM DVI cables (40' exceeds the recommended length for DVI, but, again, no problems at all so far).

Joe Clark

a $99 DVR. I would be far more interested if they ever offered a HD DVR for 'free'.

Instead of $99, more like a $20 DVR by the time you take out markup from all of the parties that put their hands on it.

has anyone in this forum ordered cables from one of these sponsors up at the top? RAM has some pretty cheap dvi to hdmi cables that i thought i would try out!

I've bought a few cables from RAM...very very pleased with them. I did the football special and bought a 50' DVI cable to run to my projector. The cable is heavy duty and has no signal loss to my eye.

It's not signal loss you'd be looking for...

Look for random noise, especially when you have a "cut to black" scene on HDTV between scenes or commercials.

That's a very telling sign of noise from your DVI/HDMI cabling.



Cheers,

APOCALYPSO-

You can buy me a drink next time I'm over by Glen Carbon...
Is the quality any better?

-Hanjke

Comcast v Charter: Roll Video

The teaser below is taken from today's TVPredictions.com newsletter. The story details Comcast's quarterly results.

After reading this, it's hard not to think that Charter may be missing the boat in how it is managing its business. Granted, Charter posted quite respectable revenue growth -- and more importantly it narrowed its loss from a year ago.

But Charter continues to fall well short of analysts' expectations, and it's especially interesting to note that the company's recent progress is almost entirely attributable to broadband and telephony revenues -- while video languishes.

Is there a lack of confidence at Charter about the subscription TV business? It sure looks that way when you consider the product offering and end results...and especially so when you compare it with Comcast.

___________________________________________

Comcast Booming on TV Tech
More than 300,000 HD and DVR set-tops installed in second quarter.

Comcast yesterday reported that its second quarter profits are way up. And the biggest reason why is that the cable operator installed more than 300,000 HDTV and DVR set-tops in subscriber homes. It looks like new TV technologies are becoming the difference between boon and boom.

___________________________________________

For the complete story, click here. (http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display .jsp?vnu_content_id=1001001788)

In comparing Charter to Comcast, it's only fair to note that Comcast is a much larger company. Here are the subscriber numbers for both companies along with their overall rank in pay TV subscribers, as of 1Q 2005:

Total Comcast: 21,525,000 (#1)
Comcast Digital: 8,856,000

Total Charter: 5,984,800 (#6)
Charter Digital: 2,694,000

For reference, here's DirecTV and DISH subscriber numbers, also as of 1Q 2005:

Total DISH: 11,230,000 (#3)

Total DirecTV: 14,445,000 (#2)

Source: The BRIDGE

Prices were a LOT better than many other places, including local shops.

Have any of you compared $ with the local Computer Connections on Page? I love their stout cables and they come very cheap compared to what I've found elsewhere. They will custom make anything for almost nothing.

I just had a "new DVR" installed. After it was installed the technician tells me it's a rebuilt unit. After he leaves, without any instuction book I find the memory filled with shows from Febuary, no memory left to add any shows and a "pin number" required to record any "R" shows on HBO or Showtime. Can you guys advise what else I should look for and is Charter just dumping old Moix's on it's customers. I guess I'll just call Charter and demand a new box.

Have any of you compared $ with the local Computer Connections on Page? I love their stout cables and they come very cheap compared to what I've found elsewhere. They will custom make anything for almost nothing.

I need a shorter DVI cable. I'll give them a try.

It's not signal loss you'd be looking for...

Look for random noise, especially when you have a "cut to black" scene on HDTV between scenes or commercials.

That's a very telling sign of noise from your DVI/HDMI cabling.

Cheers,

John,

The noise you're talking about I've heard described as "sparkles" or "flecks." Is this the same kind of noise you're talking about in cuts to black? So far, I haven't picked up on anything.

Joe Clark

I just had a "new DVR" installed. After it was installed the technician tells me it's a rebuilt unit. After he leaves, without any instuction book I find the memory filled with shows from Febuary, no memory left to add any shows and a "pin number" required to record any "R" shows on HBO or Showtime. Can you guys advise what else I should look for and is Charter just dumping old Moix's on it's customers. I guess I'll just call Charter and demand a new box.


Doesn't sound rebuilt to me, sounds more like someone cancelled the DVR service and without resetting the box they just immediatly put it back in the pile to hand out to customers again. Nothing wrong with recycling a working box, but there is no excuse why they didnt do a reset at the warehouse before sending the unit back out to the customer. I'd get on the phone with customer service and see if they can do a reset remotely to clear out all shows, scheduled shows, or previously scheduled shows... , or demand another box that has already been reset. What if this previous customer had lots of porn recorded and left on it? I mean, i would call that a jackpot, but a lot of people would be offended by this and I can't believe charter would be that sloppy. If I ever return/swap out my box I'll make sure to leave some adult entertainment on it before giving it back to Charter :).

Phatty.

has anyone in this forum ordered cables from one of these sponsors up at the top? RAM has some pretty cheap dvi to hdmi cables that i thought i would try out!

Make sure you use the avsforum link to their discount page if you order from them, and you will get a little off the price.

I bought a 30' HDMI cable from RAM for my projector. The build looks good, and I haven't noticed any noise issues. Definitely way better than the AR PRO components I have from parts express.

As a side note and as much as I like PE, I would stay away from their Dayton Audio cables. I have gotten two bad cables from them out of the box.

Joe:

No. I've seen other noise as well. Watch for random greys and as well on what should otherwise be a black screen.

Cheers,

Got to love the morons at Charter.

Last month: someone moved out of my apartment building and Charter accidentally disconnected my cable resulting in no modem or no TV. Had to take a half day off from work to wait for a tech to come and figure this out.

Yesterday was the first of the month and someone else had moved out of my building over the weekend. What does Charter do? Disconnects my cable AGAIN! :mad: :mad: :mad:

I guess they have to come out and physically put a block on the splitter box outside. I can tell someone was out there yesterday because the trash cans and recycling bins were moved and not put back. :mad: The cover was also not put back on all the way.

Why can't they just do it over the system from the main office?

Plus, why must they torture me so?

So since I have no TV right now can anyone tell me if the phase 2 digital conversion rolled out today? It's now one week after when they planned it.

Just got off the phone with Charter. They claimed the problem was a hardware issue inside my apartment. Told them about the previous occurance and the fact I can go into the Motorola box menu and see there's 0 signal strength.

They're sending out a tech tonight. At first said that I must be home but then changed their tune.

We'll see what happens.

Talked to my landlord about my frustration with Charter and got his verbal okay to put up a dish. We're going to cook up an andendum for my lease. Once signed I'll switch to Direct or Dish. (plus DSL for high speed internet)

FU Charter.

I called Charter about the problem. They said that it was normal, but apologized for not resetting the pin number. They reset the pin number but said they couldn't do anything about the junk still on the memory and that I should do it myself. They also gave me a $9.99 credit for one month. Your right about the porn. It's not a big problem with me but I would have been upset if my grandchildren saw that. Charter just seems to care about the money not the customer service or goodwill. The box is working well so far. I only had to change the setting to 1081i instead of 480.

Quarterly results reporting continues, and the Evening Bridge market close newsletter has some addtional details on how Time-Warner's and Mediacom's cable television businesses fared during the second quarter:

Time Warner lost 5,000 basic (analog) cable subscribers but added 144,000 digital subscribers.

At the end of 1Q 2005, TW reported 10,926,000 total cable subscribers, of which 4,900,000 were digital cable subs, making TW the #4 player in the subscription television market.

Mediacom reported losses of 15,000 analog cable customers, with digital gains of 25,000.

At the end of 1Q 2005, Mediacom claimed 1,461,000 total cable subscribers, of which 430,000 were digital, making Mediacom the #10 player in the pay TV market.

By comparison, Charter lost 41,700 analog cable subscribers in the second quarter, along with additional losses of 9,000 digital subscribers.

Quarterly results reporting continues, and the Evening Bridge market close newsletter has some addtional details on how Time-Warner's and Mediacom's cable television businesses fared during the second quarter:

Time Warner lost 5,000 basic (analog) cable subscribers but added 144,000 digital subscribers.

At the end of 1Q 2005, TW reported 10,926,000 total cable subscribers, of which 4,900,000 were digital cable subs, making TW the #4 player in the subscription television market.

Mediacom reported losses of 15,000 analog cable customers, with digital gains of 25,000.

At the end of 1Q 2005, Mediacom claimed 1,461,000 total cable subscribers, of which 430,000 were digital, making Mediacom the #10 player in the pay TV market.

By comparison, Charter lost 41,700 analog cable subscribers in the second quarter, along with additional losses of 9,000 digital subscribers.

Add me to Charter's 3Q list of digital subscribers.

I have had goofy customer service problems with charter too. If they'd give me six figures and some control, I'd turn that ship around. As one of the biggest cable co.'s their #1 problem is sooooooo simple. Poor customer service. Can anyone here disagree? The technicals can usually be worked out. I don't know how shackeled they are by local agreements, but they need to at least match prices & packages with the dish people. I think price is NOT their #1 problem.

dominic,

I agree that customer service is poor. But when you charge premium prices and deliver a substandard customer experience, then I think that price does become a big issue.

Or, at the very least, it becomes an issue of value for money.

If you're paying $100 a month now, at what level would the current quality of Charter's customer service be completely acceptable?

a) $90? b) $75? c) $50? d) less than $50

Charter has everything in the world that I need, but I intentionally pay Directv way more than I would be paying with Charter just to not deal with them.
Price is not the issue. People will pay the price if the product and service are worth it. Charter is not worth it at any price.

Scott

i was wondering if anyone has tried the dvi connection from their moxi i know we need to get the hdcp info but was interested if it is available yet and if it looks better

Are there any of you here who surbscribe to DirecTV w/ a TiVo or a Charter digital Moxi box and then obatin and watch OTA HD signals?

If so, how do you guys do that? When do you decide to watch the OTA signal w/o the DVR capability and when do you watch the DVR that's just digital?


Also, was LOST on ABC Wednesday night at 9pm broadcast in HD? All the TV listings I saw said that it would be, but it didn't appear to be on my television. For one, it stayed in 4:3 mode. Just wondering.... I konw that you've all said that sometimes its an issue that they don't "flip the switch."


Thanks!

Are there any of you here who surbscribe to DirecTV w/ a TiVo or a Charter digital Moxi box and then obatin and watch OTA HD signals?

If so, how do you guys do that? When do you decide to watch the OTA signal w/o the DVR capability and when do you watch the DVR that's just digital?


Also, was LOST on ABC Wednesday night at 9pm broadcast in HD? All the TV listings I saw said that it would be, but it didn't appear to be on my television. For one, it stayed in 4:3 mode. Just wondering.... I konw that you've all said that sometimes its an issue that they don't "flip the switch."


Thanks!

Winston,

If Lost was 4x3 all night then it wasn't HD. Either someone didn't throw the switch or the network didn't send the HD signal tonight.

Here's the short course, DVR 101.

DVR's aren't like VCR's, so just forget thinking that way. Whenever you're watching a show on a DVR, the DVR is recording that show to its hard drive. Pausing, rewinding, slo mo, fast forward - they all work as though the program you're watching is already recorded on that device (with the exception that you can't fast forward into the future - I think someone's working on that one right now). The recording, however, isn't permanent unless you specifically hit a record button, telling the DVR to save the program.

I'll explain how my Dish Network 921 works and let the HD Tivo and Moxi owners tell how those devices differ.

The 921 has three tuners - two satellite and one OTA. It can record two separate programs at the same time, either two satellite or one satellite and one OTA. (The latest Dish DVR is the 942; it can record three different programs at the same time, with the same number and kind of tuners). You can, while those programs are being recorded to the hard drive, also watch any other program that's been recorded previously to the hard drive. That's why you have to get rid of those VCR ideas. You can only do one thing with a tape. Hard drives today are so fast that they can record two or three programs while simultaneously playing back another. Pretty slick, no?

How you get back and forth between the different programs and tuners will vary depending on the equipment, but on the 921 you can always get to the different shows by hitting the PVR button, where you'll see what's being recorded now and what was recorded in the past. Click the program you want.

Class dismissed. HD Tivo and Moxi classes are down the hall.

Joe Clark

BTW, Winston, didn't you mention that you were engaged? I fear that soon you may have to tell your bride to be that you have an addiction. It's only fair. There are some HD Anonymous meetings you can attend, but unfortunately the people who attend them undoubtedly will make your condition worse.

Very sad.

Joe Clark

Winston,

Lost was 4x3 SD until the second commercial break -- and then it appears that someone remembered to "flip the switch." I'd actually already seen this episode before and it seems like the same thing happened the first time it was shown.

Weird...

New MOXI box collaboration unveiled by Samsung, Digeo

The following news brief appeared in today's SkyREPORT newsletter:

___________________________________________

During a special event in New York City Wednesday, Samsung unveiled its second-generation Moxi home media center for Digeo, the first item coming out of the collaboration between the companies, CableFAX reported this morning.

The two-chip terminal, known as i730, uses a different silicon process from Moxi centers produced by Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta that reduces production costs by 40 percent, the trade magazine reported.
___________________________________________

For more TV news, go to www.skyreport.com

Winston,

Just to add a bit to what Joe said, but this time in relation to the HD TiVo that DirecTV offers:

* The HD TiVo has two satellite tuners and two OTA tuners, so you can record two sat programs simultaneously, two OTA programs at the same time or one of each. Of course, you can do that and also watch one pre-recorded program as well.

* Not sure about the DISH PVR, but TiVo has the ability to jump forward in 30-second increments, which is ideal for skipping over commercials in pre-recorded or delayed-live viewing.

* A big part of the power of DVRs such as TiVo is the electronic program guide. You don't tell TiVo that you want to record the program that's on Channel 30-1 on Wednesday, August 3 at 9 p.m. -- instead you go to the EPG, find the program you want to record (in this case, "Lost") and you push the record button on the remote. From there, you're offered the option of recording the program once, or every time "Lost" appears on Channel 30-1 (TiVo calls this a Season Pass). One of the nice things about this is you don't need to concern yourself with the whims of the TV schedule masters. I set up my "Lost" recording instructions during the fall when it was appearing on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. and TiVo is smart enough to know that it should be continue to be recorded now that it's been shifted to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. during the summer. In fact, TiVo is so smart, you can tell it just to record the first time a particular episode is aired, and it will ignore re-runs, though obviously I haven't chosen that option for "Lost."

BTW, Winston, didn't you mention that you were engaged? I fear that soon you may have to tell your bride to be that you have an addiction. It's only fair. There are some HD Anonymous meetings you can attend, but unfortunately the people who attend them undoubtedly will make your condition worse.

Very sad.

Joe Clark

You are correct.

I think she already knows, though. When she came over the other evening, I described the HD signal and the digital signal and she's probably catching on.

She's really only concerned about having a DVR, though, so sadly she doesn't sympathize, but on the plus side her expectations are low.

Winston,

Lost was 4x3 SD until the second commercial break -- and then it appears that someone remembered to "flip the switch." I'd actually already seen this episode before and it seems like the same thing happened the first time it was shown.

Weird...

OK, that makes sense. I gave up after the first couple minutes following the opening scene since I had seen the episode too.

I can't wait to watch Lost in full HD!

David vs Goliath

AVS fans,

I used to work for Comcast up in Chicago, now working down here at Charter. I warn you that the grass is always greener on your neighbor's lawn. Be careful what you wish for! I know Charter has its problems (ie- customer service) and Comcast looks alluring with all those promises... but the promise of a much higher monthly cost looms closely in the shadows...

hanjke,

Casting Charter as David seems more than a stretch to me. I'm not a biblical person by any means, but now you've got me thinking that David was probably a nasty little s**t himself who only managed to pull off the upset of Goliath due to the "element of surprise."

Charter will have no such luck on that count here... ;)

Thanks for the info on the HD DVRs. I guess my problem is pretty simple.

I want a DVR. I want HD programming (which I can get OTA very well, thanks to you guys.) I want the ability to record w/ a DVR my HD programming. I don't want to spend an awful lot of money initially.

I guess that leaves me a few options.

-- Purchase the DirecTV HD DVR package. I'll have to shell out $500 initially and then an extra $10 a month or so for the HD package from DirecTV. I'll also probably have to purchase an upgrade kit from weaknees to upgrade the storage capacity of said HD DVR w/ TiVo. The negative would be that DirecTV is going to phase out the current HD DVRs w/ only mpeg2 capability. This way I"m running the risk that I may have to buy a new HD DVR in a couple of years, though there is rumor that DirecTV may swap out existing ones for the new mpeg4 compatible versions.

-- Get a SD DirecTV DVR w/ TiVo capability now for free after rebate and watch my OTA HD channels through my teleivions w/o a DVR. Good news, its cheap (free), bad news I cannot have DVR capability w/ my OTA HD locals.

-- Buy the DirecTV DVR w/ TiVo for free after rebate which allows me to record SD on my TiVO and try and build a PC-based HD DVR (which I know a couple of you have done.) The SD TiVo would be free, but the HTPC might end up being quite expensive. (I dont know exactly how much, I'm guessing ~$600-$700.)

-- Just get the DirecTV DVR w/ TiVo package now and worry about HD much later. The only problem here is that later on, DirecTV may force me to purchase a new HD-capable dish and there is the two year committment w/ any of these new $100 rebates from DriecTV.


Any advice? Ultimately, I kknow its my dollar, but many of you know much more about the circumstances than I do. Any help would be appreciated.

Great forum, guys.

I got to visit my brother this past week, and he has a dedicated projection theater room with HD DirectTV Tivo. Blew me away, to say the least.

Right now I'm at the other end of the spectrum, but have been thinking about moving up. I have Charter Digital (No HD) and a Standard Dev 27" TV (boo, hiss).

A couple questions about some upgrade paths I could persue:

Charter DVR:
If I upgrade to the Charter DVR (only $10/mo, supposedly), that replaces my other cable box, right?

Any comments on Charter DVR functionality/ease of use compared to, say, Direct TV Tivo?

Moving to HD:
If I then upgraded my TV to HD, can I just add HD service from Charter? Or would it require a technician visit with more/different equipment? In other words, does the Moxi DVR operate as the Charter HD receiver?

Similarly, does the Moxi DVR also act as a HD Digital decoder for OTA signals? Or would I need a separate HD Decoder?

Thanks!

-- Purchase the DirecTV HD DVR package. I'll have to shell out $500 initially and then an extra $10 a month or so for the HD package from DirecTV. I'll also probably have to purchase an upgrade kit from weaknees to upgrade the storage capacity of said HD DVR w/ TiVo. The negative would be that DirecTV is going to phase out the current HD DVRs w/ only mpeg2 capability. This way I"m running the risk that I may have to buy a new HD DVR in a couple of years, though there is rumor that DirecTV may swap out existing ones for the new mpeg4 compatible versions.

Couple of clarifications needed here.

* First, you can't get the DirecTV HD package without subscribing to one of the Total Choice packages (no ala carte). I don't have hard and fast figures, but I think you'd be looking at at least $50 in program fees before you get to the HD package and the DVR fee, maybe a bit more. If you've never been a DirecTV sub before, you may get a better introductory offer.

* Also, you're correct that the current HD TiVo will be phased out at some point, but like Mark Twain, reports of its imminent demise are probably premature.

The reason that DirecTV is launching five new satellites and making HD locals available via MPEG-4 is to attract NEW HD adopters to DirecTV instead of letting them go to DISH or cable. A new subscriber will add substantially more to the bottom line than an existing one switching hardware, especially considering the razor-thin margins on hardware. DirecTV's initial focus, therefore, is going to be on new subscribers, rather than forcing old subs onto new hardware.

Also, hardware inventory will be limited to start, so every time DirecTV forces an existing subscriber to switch to the new hardware that's a lost opportunity to add a new subscriber.

Yes, DirecTV will eventually offer new national HD channels in MPEG-4, at which point the HD TiVo becomes a dead end. But I don't think there's any real risk of that happening until HD locals are available in the top 50 markets. By that time, I'll have gotten at least 2 years use from my HD TiVo, and likely closer to 3 years.

Note that this is just my opinion, but also bear in mind that DirecTV hasn't even launched in the top 10 markets yet, and probably won't do any of them until it "test launches" in one of the ten for a month or two.

This MPEG-4 transition isn't happening overnight and I'd be absolutely amazed if a major shift like this goes forward without any teething pains or hiccups. We're talking new software and new hardware, and that's almost always a recipe for early chaos.

Be glad we're not a Top 10 market.

* One thing that you apparently haven't considered is the fact that there are some OTA-only DVRs available. I believe that Zenith, now LG, makes one, and it's possible that there are others, too. If my powers of recall have not completely checked out, the Zenith had some EPG issues -- I think it may have been dependent on guide data from the stations, rather than from an online service via dial-up.

It seems to me that the path of least resistance for you is to go with Moxi. It will mean higher monthly fees, but you'll save on hardware and that money can be more effectively used when the situation is clearer and prices are lower.

Building your own could also be a good choice, but you need at least decent PC skills to tackle that.

Doug, thanks for your insight.

I forgot to mention the total choice subscription.

What you say about DirecTV's mpeg4 makes an awful lot of sense, and makes the option seem more attractive.

I do have decent (?) PC skills and that option is also quite attractive.

MegaTrain,

I'm not a Charter subscriber, but I recently dug into the details of Charter's HD and DVR pricing a month or two ago.

The following link will take you to a Q&A that I pulled together with the help of an anonymous Charter employee. I think this will be a good way for you to get an idea of how the pricing works for HD, DVR, etc.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5757498&&#post5757498

It might also be worth scrolling back a page or two, as there were some other posts about Charter pricing around that time that might provide a bit of additional info.

Once you've read through the Q&A, by all means post any follow-up questions you have and I'm confident that someone here will be able to help you out.

A FEW CHARTER NEWS ITEMS:


1) A smaller 2nd wave of Charter's all-digital did roll out this week. The channels that were converted this week were:

95-Access Channel
15-CSPAN
16-CSPAN 2
52-The Disney Channel
14-QVC
27-Home Shopping Network
22-Educational Access
19-Shop NBC
25-EWTN
23-WGN

2) The next wave of conversions will be next week [THURS i believe]. The scheduled channels for next week are:

TBS
Univision
USA
AMC
Nickelodeon East
Discovery
A&E
Fox Sport MW
CNN
CNN Headline news
MTV 2
VH-1
MTV
Golf Channel
Outdoor Life
MSNBC
Fox News Channel
ABC Family
Cartoon
History
TLC
Turner Classic
Oxygen
Food Network
Travel Channel
Comedy Central
TV Land
Spike (TNN)
Bravo
Sci-FI
Court TV
FX
Weather Channel

3) Charter has added more free Video-on-Demand choices:

Expo TV- found under the “I want more” menu category, is commerce content consisting of infomercials about commerce products.

Nickelodeon – includes Nick and Nick Jr. programming.

Noggin – children’s programming that includes 64 Zoo Lane, Connie the Cow, Miffy & Friends, Oobi, Blue’s Clues, Franklin, New on Noggin, and Oswald.

Can a bug bite a train... Apparently...Welcome to the support group Megatrain.

- My parents are remodeling there family room...They said they wanted the modern look. My father decided to go with a plasma and was able to work out a great deal between American and BB. They have Charter digital cable right now...but are considering upgrading to the Moxi. or another HD source.

Anybody have an opinion on which is better...cable cards or the Moxi? I don't know jack about either.

Sorry for the problem with LOST Wednesday night. We're installing new digital equipment for ABC's analog feed and we had to switch the HD path to the back-up equipment. The operator didn't switch the correct feed until about 15 min into the show. Should be back on the correct path by Friday night.
Jim

Doug, thanks for your insight.

I forgot to mention the total choice subscription.

What you say about DirecTV's mpeg4 makes an awful lot of sense, and makes the option seem more attractive.

I do have decent (?) PC skills and that option is also quite attractive.

I don't know all the current HD offerings by Charter, but the biggest drawback to that is the absence of ABC from the list. If you are a Lost, Alias, Desperate Housewives fan, then you won't get those in HD through the Moxi (unless that's changed very recently).

The computer route is always there, but it probably would cost at least $600 to $700 to go that way. The current cost of the MyHD MDP-130 with a DVI Daughtercard is about $300 (PM me if you want more info). At least that way you get all the locals you're getting now, and those you can even archive to DVD if you want. None of the DVR's we've mentioned above give you that option.

Joe Clark

Sorry for the problem with LOST Wednesday night. We're installing new digital equipment for ABC's analog feed and we had to switch the HD path to the back-up equipment. The operator didn't switch the correct feed until about 15 min into the show. Should be back on the correct path by Friday night.
Jim

I noticed last night on Nightline a slight rolling of gray bars in the background throughout the show. I haven't noticed this in a while and I suspected you guys were working on something. I hope you can get it all straightened out before the new season starts. Any chance DD 5.1 will be ready too?

Good luck

http://www.tvpredictions.com/hdtvsummerblues080405.html

News Feature

I've Got Those
HDTV Summertime Blues
High-Definition TV owners haven't
had much to get excited about
lately.
By Phillip Swann


Washington D.C. (August 4, 2005) -- I have two High-Definition TVs -- one for cable and one for satellite. I usually take in several hours of HDTV every day. But I have to confess that I've watched very little in high-def this summer.

And, it's downright depressing.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still in love with HDTV's incredible picture and sound. I brag about it to everyone I know.

But, generally speaking, this summer has been a snoozefest for high-def fans.

Why? Four reasons:

1. Network Reality Shows
The big networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC), which normally air much of their primetime lineup in high-def, have shifted gears for the summer, emphasizing non-HDTV reality shows such as Dancing With the Stars and I Want to Be a Hilton.

You would think that the networks would want to show Kelly Monaco (ex-Playboy Playmate on Dancing With the Stars) and Paris Hilton (a guest star on her mother's program) in high-def, but nooooooo. During the summer, when audience numbers are down, the networks prefer to do things on the cheap -- and high-def productions cost more money.

2. Lack of New Channels
Most cable and satellite TV providers haven't added a new high-def channel in months. It's not that the current ones aren't good. In fact, thank God for HDNet, Discovery HD Theater and INHD. (In fact, HDNet's high-def broadcast of this month's Discovery Shuttle liftoff was sensational. The Discovery's return will also air on HDNet at 4:46 a.m. ET on Monday, August 8. Disclosure note: HDNet is an advertiser at TVPredictions.com.)

But variety is the spice of life. It would be nice if someone would start adding some new channels. On most cable and satellite systems, there are fewer than 10 available HDTV channels. That's, well, depressing!

I will credit satcaster EchoStar for adding 10 channels last spring from the extinct Voom satellite TV service. But I don't have EchoStar. I have Comcast and DIRECTV and it seems like their high-def lineups haven't changed in months.

And that's because they haven't! Most cable and satellite TV operators say they don't have enough channel space at this time to add new HDTV networks. Well, phooey. As much as I like INHD, a high-def channel on most cable systems, if it shows the Ms. Olympia contest one more time, I will scream. And I'm serious, I will scream. There's nothing scarier than seeing a bunch of vein-popping, chemically-challenged "females" flexing their muscles in crystal-clear high-def.

3. DIRECTV's Slow, Slow March
In the spring, DIRECTV launched the first of four new satellites that will provide up to 150 national HDTV channels -- and local HD channels in most markets -- by 2007. However, the first satellite is not expected to be ready until late September or early October. That means that DIRECTV is not likely to add any high-def channels until then.

I applaud the new satellites, but they will not help my HDTV summer blues.

4. Inconsistent Sports Coverage
Will the networks ever figure out how to produce a game in high-def? For instance, on Fox's Saturday afternoon baseball games, "HDTV" broadcasts often look suspiciously like EDTV, for Enhanced Definition TV. The picture is too fuzzy for my tastes, particularly when I happen to watch it on my $2,500 set. For that money, I want to see the beads of sweat falling off Pedro Martinez's forehead!

In addition, the big networks still fail to air some major sporting events in high-def. NBC, for instance, goes analog with Wimbledon, which features the high-def friendly Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams.

Couldn't the network cut out a few strawberries and cream and add a few high-def cameras? Just for me?

© TVPredictions.com


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

I don't know all the current HD offerings by Charter, but the biggest drawback to that is the absence of ABC from the list. If you are a Lost, Alias, Desperate Housewives fan, then you won't get those in HD through the Moxi (unless that's changed very recently).

The computer route is always there, but it probably would cost at least $600 to $700 to go that way. The current cost of the MyHD MDP-130 with a DVI Daughtercard is about $300 (PM me if you want more info). At least that way you get all the locals you're getting now, and those you can even archive to DVD if you want. None of the DVR's we've mentioned above give you that option.

Joe Clark

That option sounds more and more attractive, for the reasons you mentioned and the fact that I enjoy working with computers.

Is there a rundown or list of exactly the ingredients necessary and instructions how to do it? I will PM you.

I noticed last night on Nightline a slight rolling of gray bars in the background throughout the show. I haven't noticed this in a while and I suspected you guys were working on something. I hope you can get it all straightened out before the new season starts. Any chance DD 5.1 will be ready too?

Good luck
Jim,

FWIW, I noticed the same thing (rolling bars) when Lost was in 4x3 SD format, but they completely disappeared when the image shifted to HD. At first I thought I might have a problem at my end, but when the HD came back I paused and looked closely and there wasn't even a hint of the problem.

Thanks for the update here -- it's always appreciated...

Swann is apparently so obsessed with who looks good in HD and who looks like a horror movie that he can no longer distinguish HDTV from FOX Widescreen.

Apart from the playoffs and All-Star game, all FOX network baseball productions are FOX Widescreen (standard def)...

Anybody else been down on Charter Pipeline all morning?

Here in Illinois, Pipeline went down at around 3:30 (yes, I was actually up and doing some housekeeping work on my PC) and it just returned around 11:20 a.m. When I called this morning at 7:00 and punched in my local phone number, the recording informed me that Pipeline was currently down "in all areas."

It's very strange -- everytime there's a big thunderstorm, my Pipeline service dies. Last night it wasn't even raining when the service died, though it started to pour 15 minutes later.

So much for the digs at satellite and rain fade...

I must say.... he has a point about Kelly Monaco =]

And, as I've said before, I really enjoy FOX Widescreen as opposed to regular digital cable Fox2 or DirecTV Fox2. Granted, I've never seen a baseball game in HD, so my opinion is clearly ignorant of the HD baseball greatness. But, FOX Widescreen is an improvement that even I can see. While I wish they'd broadcast them all in HD, I think this is better than nothing.

Doug, I'm in IL also and have been up and running all morning.

Well, since about 9 anyway, when I turned on my computer.

DirecTV Growth Slows During 2Q Due to Customer Churn

The following story excerpt is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter:
______________________________________________

Higher customer churn during the second quarter put a bit of a damper on DirecTV's release of numbers for the three-month period.

DirecTV said net subscriber additions for the second quarter were 225,000, a lower than expected number that was blamed on a churn rate of 1.69 percent for the three-month period. At the end of the quarter, DirecTV's customer base stood at 14.67 million.

DirecTV executives blamed the higher churn on low-quality subscribers leaving the service and bad debt.

Nonetheless, there was some good news among DirecTV's second quarter results: The company saw a 34 percent increase in revenues, to $3 billion, and a nearly tripling of operating profit before depreciation and amortization to more than $500 million. DirecTV also reported second quarter net income of $162 million, compared to a net loss of $13 million for the same period last year.

______________________________________________

For the complete story, go to www.skyreport.com

Anybody else been down on Charter Pipeline all morning?

Here in Illinois, Pipeline went down at around 3:30 (yes, I was actually up and doing some housekeeping work on my PC) and it just returned around 11:20 a.m. When I called this morning at 7:00 and punched in my local phone number, the recording informed me that Pipeline was currently down "in all areas."

It's very strange -- everytime there's a big thunderstorm, my Pipeline service dies. Last night it wasn't even raining when the service died, though it started to pour 15 minutes later.

So much for the digs at satellite and rain fade...

Our Corporate Intenet was down here in Fenton, MO (Charter's message said MO, IL and AL were all affected)

We were able to get to client networks on Charter, but could not get outside the Charter network. I assume they were having major routing issues.

Dave

And my 6 Mbits/second DSL just keeps working ;)

Cheers,

...and my Charter internet has been up all day.

Sorry, Charter gets reamed almost daily on this site, many times for good reason. But I have never had an issue with their High Speed Internet. For what its worth, when I had DSL before I had many more outages.

My Charter Pipeline never went completely down, either.... though it was hellaciously sub-dialup slow last night and this morning.

If I were only 500 yards closer to the phone company central office, I'd happily be kicking Charter to the curb one final time.

For the most part, Charter's Pipeline service is reliable and fast (3Mb), but I've had more outages in the past year 3 years (on average monthly) than I ever had with DSL or ISDN. Like I say, every time there's a big storm, it's going down...

I also don't much care for Charter's billing practices -- it seems like the price is always changing, and there's rarely any explanation until I call and inquire, and even then... :eek:

My Charter Pipeline went down this morning (I'm in South County), but before that I can't recall it ever going down for an extended period of time in the approximately two years that I've had it.

My Charter Pipeline never went completely down, either.... though it was hellaciously sub-dialup slow last night and this morning.

My Pipeline service was "down" all morning, too, except that the cable modem continued to show activity as though everything was normal. The data light flashed normally, which it never has done with previous true outages.

My cousin used to work for Charter and I finally remembered that he told me a quick fix was to unplug and then plug back in the modem a minute later. Anyway, I was up and running at normal speed immediately after plugging back in.

John,

You're getting 6mbps with DSL? How much is SBC charging for that? My problem is that the max I could get with DSL in the past was 384Kbps, because I was barely within the range of the office. For years they wouldn't do anything to improve the infrastructure so that I could get better speeds. When Charter introduced Pipeline, it was a huge increase in speed for me. But, they were slow to roll out their phone service and I went with Vonage. At the moment I'm paying $30 for Pipeline and $25 for Vonage (with free long distance). That's a lot less than I was paying for SBC phone service and slow DSL, without long distance.

Pipeling has been at least as reliable as DSL was.

Joe Clark

my pipeline has been up all day long

If I were only 500 yards closer to the phone company central office, I'd happily be kicking Charter to the curb one final time.

For the most part, Charter's Pipeline service is reliable and fast (3Mb), but I've had more outages in the past year 3 years (on average monthly) than I ever had with DSL or ISDN. Like I say, every time there's a big storm, it's going down...

I also don't much care for Charter's billing practices -- it seems like the price is always changing, and there's rarely any explanation until I call and inquire, and even then... :eek:

Doug,

PM me your address and phone number and I can run you through the prequal systems. I work at SBC and can see what the systems say. Sometimes the systems are different than what a rep might say.

Rich

I suspect you'll see it sooner or later. PBSYou is back on KETC on 9-4. I don't know whether it temporary or not, but it looks a lot better than it did the last time. 9-1 (1080i) looks about the same, although It's abundantly obvious that "American Masters" was filmed with a widescreen camera, and not a HD one. I'll check with KETC tommorrow and see what the deal is.

As for KDNL, I'm glad that it was something being replaced. Earlier in the week, my receiver went on vacation on 30-1, and PSIP disappeared for a time. All seems right now. Thanks, Jim for keeping us up to date.

I've got 3Mbit DSL from Earthlink, and the only time it's gone down (except during those scorcher days last month), was during a major thunderstorm around the 4th of July. Once the storm went through, it came back.

Whose selling 6MBit DSL? I thought mine was fast. :D

Well for me, KETC's HD channel was pretty unwatchable ever since they put up the two subchannels. If an HD program has relatively little motion, it's passable but still visibly soft. And any time the camera pans or there's much movement on the screen, it's a raging pixel fest.

So, adding PBS You doesn't really much matter. The damage has already been done. Maybe they ought to find out what the multicasting record is and just go for it...

I may just delist KETC from my favorites/channels I receive...

Well for me, KETC's HD channel was pretty unwatchable ever since they put up the two subchannels. If an HD program has relatively little motion, it's passable but still visibly soft. And any time the camera pans or there's much movement on the screen, it's a raging pixel fest.

So, adding PBS You doesn't really much matter. The damage has already been done. Maybe they ought to find out what the multicasting record is and just go for it...

I may just delist KETC from my favorites/channels I receive...

Does anyone know why KETC decided to do this, or is it a national PBS mandate? If it's a local call, then it shouldn't be too hard for them to see how poorly the HD channel holds up to the competition in our area. It's far and away the worst HD picture in St. Louis.

Joe Clark

Joe,

I'm not sure it's an official PBS policy but I think it's strongly encouraged top down, and from what I've read online about PBS stations in other cities, it seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

I suppose that the thinking is that multicasting allows PBS to reach more people with more varied programming, and I can't really argue with the logic. But I believe there needs to be a full-bandwidth HD-only window somewhere during each broadcasting day, whether it's PBS or other national nets. For the commercial networks, this should coincide with prime time or out-of-prime live events.

But that doesn't really work with PBS HD, because of the way it schedules its programming. So, they lose me as a viewer -- but I have to be honest and concede that I'm not likely to call in when pledge time rolls.

In case you're wondering, I am a KETC member...I like what they are doing, but I would prefer if it didn't degrade the image. It appears from looking at 9-3, and 9-2, that they subtracted bandwidth from those two rather than 9-1, which makes 9-2 and 9-3 look a bit pixelated.

I always wondered, couldn't a station just simply use a two encoding systems, and broadcast that way, full spectrum? You know, 9-1 and 9-2 in HD on one unit, and 9-3 and 9-4 on another, also in HD? Is that possible?

As for multicasting, I believe that one PBS station has 5 subchannels running...Not certain which one is in HD. WLS in Chicago I belive has 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 and 7-4. Not really sure how that's working out either. I assume that 720p takes up less bandwith than 1080i, right?

kj,

I don't know if KETC is able to do what you've suggested they're doing, but it really doesn't matter -- two subchannels (or the bandwidth dedicated to those subchannels) was already wrecking the HD channel's PQ. If they're now allocating the bandwidth of the two previous subchannels to three subchannels, that's commendable but does nothing to address the fact that the HD channel is underserved, bitwise.

There's a finite amount of bandwidth, and while an HD program typically won't take up all of that bandwidth all of the time, when there's lots of motion, or when a field/frame of video changes completely, HD needs near-full bandwidth to maintain picture integrity.

Theoretically, you could run two HD channels in the available over-the-air broadcast bandwidth, but they would be HD in name only, as you'd likely be reducing PQ of each one to sub-DVD levels.

Yes, 720p takes up less bandwidth than 1080i, because progressive video compresses much more efficiently than interlaced. The PBS HD channel originates nationally (or at least it used to) as 1080i, and many of the locals are converting to 720p, presumably to maximize the multicast potential. When KETC first began broadcasting in HD here, 1080i was used for the national HD PBS loop; once they began multicasting, the HD channel was converted to 720p.

marky2306,
What hd display do you have, and what is the AR set at? It might be possible that Charter sent out a software fix for this, so that all resolutions can now be checked and 4:3 won't get stretched. I've been out of the loop and away from my Moxi for the last 6 weeks. I've got to catch up on my Charter bill before they'll turn it back on now.

Someone mentioned Computer Connections on Page. Yep, I've been there a lot. They've helped me with lots of projects involving computer, video, and custom cables I might need for my movie prop collecting needs. Great prices, great service!!

marky2306,
What hd display do you have, and what is the AR set at? It might be possible that Charter sent out a software fix for this, so that all resolutions can now be checked and 4:3 won't get stretched. I've been out of the loop and away from my Moxi for the last 6 weeks. I've got to catch up on my Charter bill before they'll turn it back on now.

Someone mentioned Computer Connections on Page. Yep, I've been there a lot. They've helped me with lots of projects involving computer, video, and custom cables I might need for my movie prop collecting needs. Great prices, great service!!

Jedi you have a PM.

Mark

I'd have to agree. I live in unincorporated STL County, not far from UMSL, and I've been an SBC DSL subscriber for well over a year, but also added Charter 3Mbit Pipeline several months ago because I purchased a "Hotbrick" load balancing router that lets me combine both the Charter and the DSL connection. I've already had a couple outages that lasted several hours each with Charter, and only one I know of in 1+ years with the DSL.

But mostly, I'm irritated with Charter's billing and lack of customer service. When I ordered the Pipeline 3mbit, I explained to them that I was still using Dish Network for my TV, so I just wanted the cable line run to my computer room. Simple enough, right? Well, the installer decided to take a short-cut and splice into my existing cable running across my floor in my basement. So my cable modem worked fine, but shortly after he left, I discovered my satellite was getting no signal!

I called to complain, and finally spoke with a supervisor, who promised they'd send someone out to correct it - but couldn't give me a reasonable time-window. (It was pretty much "wait all morning for us, or wait all afternoon for us" as my choices, and I had to be back at work.) I finally just re-ran the cabling myself, which cost me $20 or so in coax - but was better than skipping work.

Then, I was told that I was getting the 3mbit for $29.95 per month until "the end of the year", and then it would go up to $39.95. Well, it went up to $49.95 instead. And just the other day, I called in and was finally told that it was this way only because I didn't opt to let Charter auto-bill my credit or debit card. I said "Why didn't anyone ever explain that to me before? I would have gladly set that up if I knew it was knocking $10 a month off my bill!"

Now, I'm looking at being forced to use them for digital cable TV too, because trees have grown too tall around my place, knocking out my satellite signal in the summer. Chopping down two huge trees is well over $1000 - so not gonna happen just for the sake of the dish. So I called back, trying to see if they'd give me a discount for doing digital cable AND high speed Inet. 3 different reps gave me 3 different stories about what I could and couldn't do, pricing-wise. Finally got someone who offered me a $47.95 a month special for "our biggest channel package" - because I was using their "ditch the dish" promotion - plus claimed that he could get my 3mbit Pipeline charges back down to $29.95 a month if I do the bill-pay plus sign a 1 year contract for everything.

All I can say is "We'll see!" because nobody over there seems to know what special offers they really do or don't have, or how to bill for combinations of services.



If I were only 500 yards closer to the phone company central office, I'd happily be kicking Charter to the curb one final time.

For the most part, Charter's Pipeline service is reliable and fast (3Mb), but I've had more outages in the past year 3 years (on average monthly) than I ever had with DSL or ISDN. Like I say, every time there's a big storm, it's going down...

I also don't much care for Charter's billing practices -- it seems like the price is always changing, and there's rarely any explanation until I call and inquire, and even then... :eek:

Jim,
I'd love to know, as others here, if we might hear 5.1 DD on 30-1 this season. Any news?

Doug,
My DISH 942 PVR does the 30 second skip, just like the HD Tivo.

Rich,
Can you check my house out for DSL speeds as well if I PM you?

Does anyone know the status of the availability of Discovery HD in St. Louis on Charter?

DISH Cites Business, Legal Issues with Potential Multicast Rule

The following is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter.

I thought this story was interesting in light of the recent discussions here about multicast and PBS, even though the issue cited by DISH relates specifically to satellite carriers providing local programming in Alaska, Hawaii and other "non-contiguous" FCC jurisdictions.

But I thought it was also interesting because satellite operators tend to avoid acknowledging that they compress the signals they receive from broadcasters or other programmers.

But here, DISH seems pretty upfront about the "C" word.

The story follows:
_____________________________________________________

EchoStar took on issues surrounding multicast and delivery of local TV signals to non-contiguous states, recently telling officials at the Federal Communications Commission that imposing multicast requirements for delivery of local TV stations to Alaska and Hawaii would render certain FCC rules "constitutionally infirm."

Moreover, a multicast obligation would "not be congruent to any benefits obtained," the satellite TV company said. "The burden associated with a multicast requirement would be particularly onerous, as carriage of multicast signals would limit satellite operators' ability to utilize statistical multiplexing, an integral part of the compression process that helps squeeze more channels out of the limited spectrum allocated to satellite operators."

The EchoStar conference call took place with staff for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. In the past, Martin has supported cable carriage of multicast material from broadcasters, which consist of multiple streams of content divided from digital broadcast spectrum.

The FCC's look at service issues for non-contiguous states is part of its implementation of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA).
_____________________________________________________

For more satellite TV industry news, go to www.skyreport.com.

Does anyone know the status of the availability of Discovery HD in St. Louis on Charter?

Charter will be adding Discovery-HD, along with Cinemax-HD and PBS-HD on September 15th.

jedi,

Thanks for clarifying that DISH has the 30-second skip function on its HD PVRs. That's good to know.

Does MOXI also include 30-second skip?

I should also note for the record that the TiVo-HD receiver, as it comes from the factory, does not have the 30-second skip function enabled, but there is a relatively straightforward workaround to assign it to the "jump to end" button.

The main downside with this approach is that if the TiVo receiver loses power or otherwise gets reset, the key sequence to enable 30-second skip needs to be re-entered. This is a hassle, especially for non-technical members of a household.

abc,

Any idea whether Charter will be increasing its HD service fee with the addition of Discovery and Cinemax?

When I recently did the research on Charter HD and PVR pricing, my Charter source noted that some Charter territories that include Discovery HD are charging $3 more per month than in St. Louis. I have my doubts that Charter would try to nearly double the HD fee for the addition of just two "pay" channels (HD locals are actually provided "free," as part of the hardware charge).

But then again...consider what happened with the Pipeline charges when the speeds/packages were altered a few months ago.

FOX Reportedly Planning To Launch Two New HD Channels

The teaser below is from today's TVPredictions.com newsletter.

__________________________________________________

Multichannel News, the trade publication, reports today that Fox is planning to launch two new High- Definition TV channels. The two networks, the magazine says, will be a high-def version of The National Geographic Channel and a "Fox HD" channel, which will offer programming from a variety of Fox sources.

__________________________________________________

For the full story, click here. (http://www.tvpredictions.com/foxhdtv080805.html)

Is the Internet Our Best Hope for "Real HD"?

The following summary is from today's TVPredictions.com newsletter:

_______________________________________________________

And speaking of HDTV, we reported last week that HDNet was offering its high-def coverage of the Discovery Space Shuttle launch online. Well, it appears that HDTV on the Net could be a new trend. In fact, some analysts say that picture quality rivals or is even better than on some TVs.
_______________________________________________________

To read the full story, click here. (http://www.videobusiness.com/article.asp?articleID=11103&catType=NEWS)

http://www.videobusiness.com/article.asp?articleID=11103&catType=NEWS

Is the Internet Our Best Hope for "Real HD?

The following summary is from today's TVPredictions.com newsletter:

_______________________________________________________

And speaking of HDTV, we reported last week that HDNet was offering its high-def coverage of the Discovery Space Shuttle launch online. Well, it appears that HDTV on the Net could be a new trend. In fact, some analysts say that picture quality rivals or is even better than on some TVs.
_______________________________________________________

To read the full story, click here. (http://www.videobusiness.com/article.asp? articleID=11103&catType=NEWS)
Doug,
This last link didn't work for me.

In case you're wondering, I am a KETC member...I like what they are doing, but I would prefer if it didn't degrade the image. It appears from looking at 9-3, and 9-2, that they subtracted bandwidth from those two rather than 9-1, which makes 9-2 and 9-3 look a bit pixelated.


I don't understand what the complaint about PBS is. I use to never watch it until I got the local HD stations on my big screen. Now I accidently catch myself watching 9-1 all the time. 9-2 is only cartoons, so who cares what the signal is like, and I never find anything of interest on 9-3. I will try and tweak my setup and will flip through the stations usually landing on 9-1 and keeping it there b/c they have the most interesting topics. It might not be the best PQ, but I love not having commercials!

Does MOXI also include 30-second skip?


When Charter first rolled it out last September it did, but subsequent updates have removed this feature. My understanding from reading the Moxi Forum is that this feature is added or removed at the Cable company's discretion, so Charter apparently decided it was better to have commercials viewed at 10x speed than not at all :rolleyes:.

Neuner,

I don't think this is rocket science -- my complaint is about picture quality, and I think that's pretty clear in my previous posts. But if the picture quality doesn't bother you, that's fine.

As Jack, the great fast food philosopher, would say: "Enjoy your hole..." :)

Seriously, it's possible that I'm particularly sensitive to this, because of what's happened with NTSC over the past decade. NTSC isn't perfect, but the majority of the problems we have with standard definition channels is the fact that cable and satellite have compressed the crap out of the signal in order to cram more program streams down a limited pipe.

NTSC could look much, much better, particularly when displayed on larger screens, but for the extreme compression that is being applied to those feeds. Multicasting is just another variation on that long-running theme of signal degradation. It seems to me that it's a slippery slope, and in 10 years we could end up with the same problem with HD.

Bagel, anyone?

Kurt,

I checked the link in the original message and while it's correct, it's not working for some reason. So, I've pasted the actual URL below the embedded link and that seems to work OK.

Sorry for the hassle...

Thanks, Glendale.

It would seem that DirecTV probably has the same ability to remove this in subsequent updates, but hopefully won't do that...

Jim,
I'd love to know, as others here, if we might hear 5.1 DD on 30-1 this season. Any news?

Doug,
My DISH 942 PVR does the 30 second skip, just like the HD Tivo.

Rich,
Can you check my house out for DSL speeds as well if I PM you?

Sure can. I am off today, but will be there tomorrow to check.

Rich

jedi,

Thanks for clarifying that DISH has the 30-second skip function on its HD PVRs. That's good to know.

Does MOXI also include 30-second skip?

I should also note for the record that the TiVo-HD receiver, as it comes from the factory, does not have the 30-second skip function enabled, but there is a relatively straightforward workaround to assign it to the "jump to end" button.

The main downside with this approach is that if the TiVo receiver loses power or otherwise gets reset, the key sequence to enable 30-second skip needs to be re-entered. This is a hassle, especially for non-technical members of a household.

My understanding is that Dish does the 30 sec skip forward and 10 sec rewind on the 942 and theoretically it's the same on my 921, but for those of you thinking of buying a used 921, just be aware that it doesn't work consistently for all sources on my box. It takes a few more pressess (I believe on 720p materials) to skip forward that same amount of time.

Neuner,

I don't think this is rocket science -- my complaint is about picture quality, and I think that's pretty clear in my previous posts. But if the picture quality doesn't bother you, that's fine.

As Jack, the great fast food philosopher, would say: "Enjoy your hole..." :)

Seriously, it's possible that I'm particularly sensitive to this, because of what's happened with NTSC over the past decade. NTSC isn't perfect, but the majority of the problems we have with standard definition channels is the fact that cable and satellite have compressed the crap out of the signal in order to cram more program streams down a limited pipe.

NTSC could look much, much better, particularly when displayed on larger screens, but for the extreme compression that is being applied to those feeds. Multicasting is just another variation on that long-running theme of signal degradation. It seems to me that it's a slippery slope, and in 10 years we could end up with the same problem with HD.

Bagel, anyone?

PBS's intentions may be more noble than most broadcasters in this area, but the effect is the same. PBS may be trying to get more mileage out of their limited funding and serve the public interest by multicasting so that mom and dad can watch cultural programs while the kids watch cartoons. I hope this is a reason behind what they are doing.

The effect, however, is to degrade the quality of the experience for everyone, and they're doing it with limited programming. They, like other broadcasters, have a tremendous amount of repeat programming. I like your idea of certain programming blocks being set aside for certain times of the day, with HD and other programming being offered at full bancwidth. Throw a DVR into that mix and people could watch TV on their own terms.

If high bandwidth Internet becomes a low-cost reality one day, then maybe PBS can take the lead by offering its programming over the Internet any time to anyone at full quality, thus helping pave the way for a new delivery system for HD. When Charter rolled out Pipeline in this area, because of some "glitch" I was getting 2 MEGABYTES/SECOND for a short time. That's close to HD quality at MPEG2 rates and well above it for MPEG4 or Microsoft's codec.

I really believe this is the future of HD delivery, once the studios and networks figure out how to do it and make money at the same time. Look what Apple did with iTunes and the iPod. While the RIAA was taking 12 year old girls to court, Apple figured out a way to make money with downloaded music. Now everyone's doing it.

FOX Reportedly Planning To Launch Two New HD Channels

The teaser below is from today's TVPredictions.com newsletter.

__________________________________________________

Multichannel News, the trade publication, reports today that Fox is planning to launch two new High- Definition TV channels. The two networks, the magazine says, will be a high-def version of The National Geographic Channel and a "Fox HD" channel, which will offer programming from a variety of Fox sources.

__________________________________________________

For the full story, click here. (http://www.tvpredictions.com/foxhdtv080805.html)

Some more info on the National Geographic Channel (courtesy of Fredfa in HD programming forum):

Nat Geo Goes HD

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

National Geographic Channel will launch a high-definition network by early 2006.

The channel, co-owned by National Geographic Television & Film and Fox Cable Networks, has been stockpiling HD programming for a year or more in anticipation of the new offering.

Nature footage, along with sports programming, is some of the most impressive HD footage, often used to demonstrate the sets in retail stores.

The new network will run more than 90% of National Geographic Channel’s prime time programming in HD at launch.

Since its own January 2001 launch, National Geographic Channel has grown from 10 million to 55 million subscribers, fueled lately by shows like Naked Science, MegaStructures, and Seconds From Disaster.

It has also doubled its upfront ad dollar volume over last year.

Any idea whether Charter will be increasing its HD service fee with the addition of Discovery and Cinemax?



Per the insert in my latest charter bill:

Effective September 15, 2005, we will be adding THREE new channels to our HDTV programming lineup. KETC/PBS HD (Digital Channel 789) will be available to ALL HD subscribers.
Cinemax HD (Digital Channel 779) will be added at no extra charge to all HD customers who subscribe to Cinemax. And Discovery HD Theater (Digital Channel 775) will be added at no additional cost to subscribers of the HD Pak.

Yippee ! ! !

now, how about ESPN2HD!

Hey guys. Just need a little help. I have a big Winegard antenna above the garage that the builder put in when I built the house. I can receive all of the channels and my signal strength is in the 90's for all channels except UPN, 47. The signal strength for that is in the 20-30 range. Would an amp help this? Thanks for the help.

Signia,

I don't know your location, but suspect the problem is that the WRBU (UPN) tower is considerably off-axis from your location.

Go to the first page of this discussion thread and download the St. Louis Tower map that's appropriate for your location:

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

An amp or pre-amp might work, but I'd guess the chances are less than 50/50 that it gives you the needed signal strength to lock onto WRBU-DT.

But in case you didn't know, there's no HD programming carried by WRBU (they don't have the equipment required), and what programming they do have is generally considered pretty marginal, especially after the cancellation of "Enterprise."

Ex-Sony Exec Takes CEO Reins at MOXI-maker Digeo

The following news brief was the lead item in this afternoon's Evening Bridge market wrap-up newsletter.

__________________________________________________

Digeo, a developer of home media centers for cable backed by Paul Allen, named former Sony executive Mike Fidler chief executive officer of the company, effective immediately. Fidler's past accomplishments include Orchestrating Sony's launch of its DVD products and leading the team responsible for Sony's TiVo partnership that helped launch the DVR brand in the United States.

__________________________________________________

Thanks for the response. Since UPN is not broadcasting ang HD programming, I am not going to worry about it. Thanks again.

Just my 2 cents on the Charter Pipeline vs DSL debate. During the 3-4 years I had DSL service I had nothing but problems. Multiple outages which lasted for days at a time. In the 1+ years I have had Pipeline I have had only a couple of outages that I have noticed and the downtime was not very long. In my opinion if you are close to the CO DSL is probably just as good as Pipeline but if you are at the outer limits of DSL the service sucks.

Steve

No more having to reset the 30-second skip on the HD Tivo for me. I took advantage of the no-sales-tax weekend and got a battery backup for my HD Tivo and for my HTPC. So no more losing recordings during power outages, either.

jedi,

Thanks for clarifying that DISH has the 30-second skip function on its HD PVRs. That's good to know.

Does MOXI also include 30-second skip?

I should also note for the record that the TiVo-HD receiver, as it comes from the factory, does not have the 30-second skip function enabled, but there is a relatively straightforward workaround to assign it to the "jump to end" button.

The main downside with this approach is that if the TiVo receiver loses power or otherwise gets reset, the key sequence to enable 30-second skip needs to be re-entered. This is a hassle, especially for non-technical members of a household.


Just to add.......Dish has always had the 30 second skip. I was about to get Tivo and someone told me that it did not have this feature. I use it during Football season for games that I record. If you hit the 30 second skip right after the guy is tackled you go directly to them calling signals on the next play.

Overall I agree that Tivo is better in some ways then the Dish recorder but I use that 30 second skip quite frequently and was not willing to part with it.

I don't like the new banner scoreboard on the bottom of the screen for Monday Night Football....it shows how bad the geometry is on my RPTV. ;)

I don't like the new banner scoreboard on the bottom of the screen for Monday Night Football....it shows how bad the geometry is on my RPTV. ;)

Bummer, mine is dead on thankfully. Otherwise it would be one more thing that drives me nuts like the big ABC logo above the aforementioned banner.

Scott

I don't actually dislike the placement or style of the banner, just the fact that I see the imperfections in my tv. One of these days I suppose I'll get a new one.

No complaints on ABC's bottom banner for me, especially when compared to Fox's top banner (which is bigger, and produces annoying sound effects every time it appears). PQ is excellent. Good job, ABC and KDNL!

BTW, these commercials for the new series INVASION look pretty cool. I'll be tuning in come September.

fireshoes,

What set do you have?

If it's really that bad, maybe you'd be interested in having it calibrated. You'd gain more than just correct geometry...

Comcast to Air NHL in HDTV

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the cable operator signs the league to a two-year deal.


Washington D.C. (August 9, 2005) -- Comcast has signed a two-year, $100 million deal to carry the National Hockey League, starting this fall, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today. The contract, the newspaper says, calls for Comcast to carry an "undetermined" number of games in High-Definition TV.

The agreement, which would include two NHL broadcasts a week, must still be approved by the NHL's Board of Governors. If approved, The Inquirer says Comcast will show the games on The Outdoor Life Network.

NHL officials have expressed strong interest in having the league broadcast in HDTV. League executives believe that the crystal-clear picture will make it easier for fans to follow the action. The Inquirer quotes a TV consultant as saying that the NHL is excited about the Comcast deal because of its HDTV and Video on Demand capabilities.

The NHL earlier signed an agreement with NBC for seven regular season games and several playoff games in the 2005-2006 season.

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

This article is a little deceiving. From what I have read, Comcast has submitted the contract offer, but ESPN still has the right to match it. So I do not believe this is a done deal.

If this deal does get finalized, I wonder what this means for all of the rest of us who don't have access to Comcast?

Charter Names Former AOL Executive as New CEO

The following story excerpt is from the Business Wire:

___________________________________________________

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2005--Charter Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: CHTR) (along with its subsidiaries, the "Company" or "Charter") today announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously elected Neil Smit to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 22, 2005.

Mr. Smit will also serve as a member of Charter's Board of Directors. He succeeds Robert P. May, a Charter Board Member who has served as Charter's Interim President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2005. Mr. May will remain a member of Charter's Board of Directors and a member of its Strategic Planning Committee.

Mr. Smit brings significant operational experience to Charter, having most recently served as the President of Time Warner's America Online Access Business, overseeing Internet access services including AOL, CompuServe, and Netscape ISP. As President, he was responsible for all aspects of the $5 billion revenue, 21 million-member ISP business, including member acquisitions, retention, brand marketing, product definition, customer service, business development and finance. He oversaw the work of more than 11,000 people.

"Neil is a proven, talented executive with the right combination of operational, marketing and customer service skills to lead Charter to the next level," said Paul G. Allen, Chairman of Charter's Board of Directors. "He brings a wealth of practical know-how built over an impressive 20-year career working with multi-service providers and leading consumer brands. He also has a real vision of the opportunities and challenges in today's rapidly converging entertainment and communications industries that will benefit Charter. We're delighted he's part of our team and look forward to him continuing to implement our comprehensive operations improvement program to better position Charter for growth."
___________________________________________________

For the complete Business Wire story, click here. (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050809005527&newsLang=en)

Last night was the worst PQ I have seen for a SD Cardinal game in a long time. FSN on D* just seem to be getting lousier.

Maybe it is just my tired eyes... or maybe it was blown out of proportion because I was changing back and forth between the MNF game on ABC. (OTA -- Absolutely stunning PQ). <shrug>



Oh well

Doug, I've got a Hitachi 51F510. It's not really that bad. I wouldn't mind having her calibrated at some point, but I'm going to be moving back to Des Moines in the next couple of months, which I'm sure would just muck it up again.

Maybe it is just my tired eyes... or maybe it was blown out of proportion because I was changing back and forth between the MNF game on ABC. (OTA -- Absolutely stunning PQ). <shrug>


Going back and forth between HD and analog sports does seem to do that, doesn't it? I think the color difference is usually more noticable that the resolution.

Dave,

It seemed like late last week FSMW was looking a bit better than it had been, but I agree that last night was the worst -- very, very soft picture. Again, the evils of compression.

I've also have found that the KPLR feed that DirecTV is using for the analog channel has serious "ghosting" problems. This would appear to be a multipath issue and it's been like this for several months. I usually watch the ballgames from the OTA digital during weekends, but when I duck into the office between innings to check eMail or my fantasy baseball teams' continued underperformance, the KPLR analog sometimes looks like I'm watching in "stereovision."

Speaking of FSMW...


Will we ever see the mythical FSMW-HD here in St. Louis??

Personally for me, the first provider that gets that channel, gets my business...

fireshoes
Going back and forth between HD and analog sports does seem to do that, doesn't it?I gotta quite doin' that!

Doug
I usually watch the ballgames from the OTA digital during weekendsMe too... I am fortunate that I get all the local digital channels OTA (Thru my LS 3200 D* box). I have never watched KPLR on D*, cause I don't pay for locals.. but I feel your pain.

All this reminds me of when I was a kid and we would go to my grandma's house to watch the 1 or 2 color shows that were aired on Sunday night. "Leave it to Beaver" in B&W was just never the same.

Now it is HD that we all sit around and can't wait until it reaches "Critical mass" and the only thing that is not HD are 2005 reruns...ha-ha

I sent a note to FSMW about 10 days ago to get an update on the Cards in HD situation, as well as inquiring about the possibility of Blues games in HD.

But I haven't gotten any sort of reply, which probably means there's no news and/or I've worn out my inbox welcome over there. Or maybe our contact there is on summer holiday.

But obviously if something was imminent, we would have heard that by now.

Also, the fact that Charter has recently announced the addition of Cinemax, KETC and Discovery without any mention of FSMW means that the chances of something happening this baseball season have been reduced to "slim and none."

Speaking of FSMW...


Will we ever see the mythical FSMW-HD here in St. Louis??

Personally for me, the first provider that gets that channel, gets my business...


I agree...Give me my local sports games in HD and I'll give you part of my paychecks.

Rich,
You have a PM.

Bob,
I'm back in town, finally. Let's hang out soon.

Advertising and related comments deleted. Please do not do this again.

Advertising and related comments deleted. Please do not do this again.

This seems a bit of an over-reaction unless I missed some posts. Is it a problem to say that certain local dealers carry certain brands?

Saluki,

I agree with you on this one.

HI all,
All of a sudden VOD has stopped working on my Charter. It's been about a week and I assumed it was them. I called last night and they asked me the usual idiot questions (Checked your wires?, etc.). I had of course already done all that, plus a soft and hard reboot,etc to no avail. she said they would send a "strong signal"? in about an hour and that might fix it, if not call back tomorrow. Didn't help I still get the dreaded "An error has occured Ox20". They can't come out until the 19th. Anyone have any other ideas? I have changed nothing recently.

HI all,
All of a sudden VOD has stopped working on my Charter. It's been about a week and I assumed it was them. I called last night and they asked me the usual idiot questions (Checked your wires?, etc.). I had of course already done all that, plus a soft and hard reboot,etc to no avail. she said they would send a "strong signal"? in about an hour and that might fix it, if not call back tomorrow. Didn't help I still get the dreaded "An error has occured Ox20". They can't come out until the 19th. Anyone have any other ideas? I have changed nothing recently.

I thought maybe they're doing the stage 2 digital upgrade, but a week is a bit long. When the last upgrade occured I lost VOD for two days afterward. When I was about to call them it came back.

Looking for help. I have charter digital and on certain channels I have a strange background noise. I had a technician out and he claimed it was a setting on my TV. He changed the setting and said the sound went away according to him. Of course this was not the case, you just couldn't hear the noise as well. This noise use to be only on one digital channel in the sports tier, but since the digital roll out has started showing up on the new digital channels. Anyone else having this problem or have advice.

does Ken read all the posts, or did someone report him? I didn't see anything wrong with the post.