Robert,

I think KPLR is having problems. I'm not sure if these are a direct result of bandwidth issue, or if it's coincident with the process of reconfiguring things in order to set up the subchannel (in other words, changes that were made that were unrelated to bandwidth allocation).

Greg of KPLR hasn't been around here for some time now, but I'm going to try to contact him offline this week to see if I can't find out more about what's going on. I'm surprised that things have slid so far downhill -- KPLR has traditionally done an excellent job with HD broadcasting.

But lately it's been a total mess, and from the outside looking in, there doesn't appear to be any effort going on to address the problems.


I was out of town for several days last week. When I got back last Thursday my KPLR and ABC reception has not been good. Do you know if they are both having alot of problems or possibly if the storm from a week ago Saturday could have impacted my antenea? KPLR is completely unwatchable. ABC was coming in and going out. Last night it seemed to lock in better.

Walt,

Thank you for the advice. In follow up, will D* need to be notified to allow the borrowed card to work? And will I need the card again if I want to change the OTA config? Say a station decides to add a sub channel.

Sorry I didn't get this sooner. I was watching Phil give away The Open in glorious high definition. Then I had to take care of my P****D OFF.

The answer to both your questions is no.

Walt

I was out of town for several days last week. When I got back last Thursday my KPLR and ABC reception has not been good. Do you know if they are both having alot of problems or possibly if the storm from a week ago Saturday could have impacted my antenea? KPLR is completely unwatchable. ABC was coming in and going out. Last night it seemed to lock in better.

If the other OTA stations are coming in OK, perhaps the wind turned your antenna slightly. I've noticed that direction can be critical. Must be a multipath thing.

Over the weekend I went into the new "Bar Louie" in the Central West End by the corner or Maryland and Euclid. This is a chain based out of Chicago: Cards fans who have made road trips might be familiar with the location a few doors down Clark from Wrigley field.

As I walked in the geek in me was excited to tons of brand new 26" Sharp brand LCD HDTVs. However my heart sank as I saw that they were running standard def on all the TVs even though plenty of High Def programming was available. Stuff like ESPN and the Stanley Cub on NBC could have been shown in HD: but instead it was all old scool stuff on brand new equipment.

We sat down at the bar and ordered some food and drinks and watched the end of the hockey game. I was about to bug an employee about getting HD on when I noticed the wiring into the back of the TV's was standard old RF cables: no component or HDMI, just old 1970's era RF cable in. I just sighed, went back to eating my food and drowning my sorrows in another Blue Moon.

When the game ended they changed the channels on the TVs directly and not a box in the back or at the bar. For example they had KSDK 5 as channel 84, Fox Sports MW as 82 and ESPN as channel 74. They must have some RF splitter in the back that assigns alliases to key channels.

I just wonder why a place would spend $25,000+ on HDTVs and wire them up with RF?

dWeebe,

They are using modulators. My guess is to save money. Now you are not likely to go back which costs them money. Funny how businesses decide to spend capitol.

Scott

If the other OTA stations are coming in OK, perhaps the wind turned your antenna slightly. I've noticed that direction can be critical. Must be a multipath thing.

Yes, the other OTA stations are coming in fine. Is anyone else having problems with KPLR not being watchable OTA? If not, it must be my antenna.

Yes, the other OTA stations are coming in fine. Is anyone else having problems with KPLR not being watchable OTA? If not, it must be my antenna.

I just tuned in to check for you and it seems fine.

I just tuned in to check for you and it seems fine.

Thanks. Any recommendations on who to have look at my antenna? I wouldn't know how to fix it.

I would go and buy a compass and try and take a look at it myself before I paid anyone.

Check antennaweb.org for your (close to) exact compass headings.

Thanks. Any recommendations on who to have look at my antenna? I wouldn't know how to fix it.

Follow Winston's suggestion. It may just need to be adjusted to the proper headings. Add the degrees up for each station and divide them by the number of OTA stations. Then fix your compass to that degree setting. You then will probably need to fine tune the antenna.

It can be a PITA to fine tune antennas. What worked best for me is to get on the roof with a compass and cell phone. I had someone on the phone watching my signal strengths then watch each channel. It's trial and error and moving the antenna just a tiny bit can make a difference. I have been on my roof over a dozen times and ABC OTA is a problem with multipath from a gigantic tree next door. Being close to Lambert doesn't help me either. I ended up adding another mast to my existing one and getting it raised up helped a lot.

Try adjusting it first by moving it a little at a time. Try angling it up 2-3 degrees too.

What kind of antenna is it?

NFL Network Announces Cable Carriage Agreements

The following story is from MediaWeek.

Note that Charter is not among the channels signing up for the NFL Network, but apparently there are negotiations going on that would lead to the NFL Net being reinstated on Charter.
___________________________________________________

The NFL Network has completed new or reworked deals with 75 small-to-medium-sized cable operators that will include rights to the network's eight-game, regular season, prime-time NFL games telecasts beginning this fall, along with a moving, in some instances, of the network to expanded basic service.

Among the cable MSOs signing new agreements with the network include Blue Ridge, Service Electric and Quest. DirecTV, the satellite service, has also re-uped.

In addition to the regular season NFL package of games, all the distributors will get the rights to telecast the NFL Network's exclusive slate of 52 national preseason games, and will be able o sell ads within those telecasts.

The NFL Network is still negotiating to gain carriage on some of the largest cable operators, including Time Warner, Cablevision and Charter.
___________________________________________________

Would anyone with an HDTivo and some past experience be able to make an image of the drive for me? Mine died in the last power storm (hard drive failed, just clicks when plugged in) and I can't get an image.

I'd like to restart my DirecTV subscription in anticipation of college football (need to be able to watch the Gator post game show!!), but I'd like my HDTivo working before I did that.

PM me if that is something you could do.

Thanks!
Chris

Sorry Chris... my ability to upgrade/replace a Tivo hard drive requires being able to get some of the data off the original (I replaced the 40gb drive in the Hughes SD DirecTivo with a 250gb Seagate).

When the original drive in my HD Tivo died, I had to get a pre-imaged drive from weaknees.com... which also sounds like your best bet right now.

HDNet Targets Another Network TV Castoff: Dan Rather

I'm not a Dan "Courage" Rather fan, but this would obviously add some weight to HDNet programming and provide another potential point of view.

The following item is from today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_______________________________________________

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather says he may host a weekly news program on Mark Cuban's HDNet high-def network.

''What I expect to do, what I hope to do, is bring this HDNet thing to fruition," Rather told The New York Times.

Rather, who recently left CBS News after 44 years under a cloud of controversy, would be the host and producer of the weekly show. He says that Cuban has sent him a three-year contract, but he has yet to sign it.

HDNet, which now features a variety of High-Definition TV programming, from news documentaries to sports to bikini-themed shows, would dramatically increase its prestige and profile with the hiring of Rather. While the 74-year-old newsman may not be HD-friendly these days, his face and name is known by millions.
_______________________________________________

Anyway, we're back to ye olde bandwidth issue. Let's assume multi-pass MP4 or VC-1 encoding which would get the average bit rate down to 4 Mbits/second for an SD show.

For most users that means you can't "real time" the download. I have a 5 Mb/sec connection from Charter and I am rarely able to get 1/2 that bandwidth. That being the case, we're talking about a ~2:1 differential vs. real time. Of course they could choke the Average Bit Rate down and kill PQ which is not outside the realm of possibility.

For HD, it's even worse, assuming they would have both HD and SD content.

We haven't even discussed the issues with designing the head end infrastructure to handle the volume.Cheers,Hey John,

I tend to agree with your points, but for a service like NetFlix I think this could be really interesting because it really doesn't need to provide "on demand" service, at least not to start.

It seems like NetFlix could use this sort of an system to reduce distribution costs (or at least the most inefficient part of their distribution challenge -- moving atoms). With the network distribution, the titles in a client's wish list could be "dribbled" from a NetFlix server to the client STB at the available bitrate and be available in the background.

What I'm thinking is that movies would be sent and stored in a way that the customer only has access to the number available via his/her subscription, but when you delete one, the next one on your wish list immediately becomes available. That eliminates the postal turnaround (which admittedly is pretty damn fast), But with this sort of electronic delivery, your next title would be available in a matter of seconds after you return (delete) your viewed flick. And NetFlix would save money not just on distribution, but also managing inventory.

That seems like a nice fit for the NetFlix business model, and one that could be evolved in lots of interesting ways as network constraints lessen over time.

On the other hand, I think Internet-delivered TV is too low-rent and not very interesting. It's an iPod solution, but then recent experience in audio shows that a lot of consumers are prepared to sacrifice quality for convenience. But I do think that pushing SD (or lesser) video quality is a tougher sell, because the primary action in video today is toward bigger screens along with expectations of better quality.

By far, the biggest complaint I hear from new HDTV buyers is how bad SD video looks on their new displays. Obviously the solution to that problem is not more of the same.

Follow Winston's suggestion. It may just need to be adjusted to the proper headings. Add the degrees up for each station and divide them by the number of OTA stations. Then fix your compass to that degree setting. You then will probably need to fine tune the antenna.

It can be a PITA to fine tune antennas. What worked best for me is to get on the roof with a compass and cell phone. I had someone on the phone watching my signal strengths then watch each channel. It's trial and error and moving the antenna just a tiny bit can make a difference. I have been on my roof over a dozen times and ABC OTA is a problem with multipath from a gigantic tree next door. Being close to Lambert doesn't help me either. I ended up adding another mast to my existing one and getting it raised up helped a lot.

Try adjusting it first by moving it a little at a time. Try angling it up 2-3 degrees too.

What kind of antenna is it?

I am not sure what kind of antenna it is. It is really old. It was on the house when I bought it. I would guess 20+ years old. It was working great until just recently, and still does except for KPLR. OK, I will give your suggestions a try. Thanks

Follow Winston's suggestion. It may just need to be adjusted to the proper headings. Add the degrees up for each station and divide them by the number of OTA stations. Then fix your compass to that degree setting. You then will probably need to fine tune the antenna.

It can be a PITA to fine tune antennas. What worked best for me is to get on the roof with a compass and cell phone. I had someone on the phone watching my signal strengths then watch each channel. It's trial and error and moving the antenna just a tiny bit can make a difference. I have been on my roof over a dozen times and ABC OTA is a problem with multipath from a gigantic tree next door. Being close to Lambert doesn't help me either. I ended up adding another mast to my existing one and getting it raised up helped a lot.

Try adjusting it first by moving it a little at a time. Try angling it up 2-3 degrees too.

What kind of antenna is it?

I am not sure I follow what I am suppose to do. I went to the website and came up with the following:

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
* yellow - uhf KSDK-DT 5.1 NBC ST. LOUIS MO 105° 13.9 35
* yellow - uhf KMOV-DT 4.1 CBS ST. LOUIS MO 112° 16.5 56
* yellow - uhf KDNL-DT 30.1 ABC ST. LOUIS MO 102° 13.9 31
* yellow - uhf KPLR-DT 11.1 WB ST. LOUIS MO 103° 14.2 26
* yellow - uhf WRBU-DT 46.1 UPN E. ST. LOUIS IL 162° 17.0 47
* yellow - uhf KTVI-DT 2.1 FOX St. Louis MO 118° 12.7 43
* red - uhf KETC-DT 9.1 PBS ST. LOUIS MO 134° 13.9 39
* red - uhf KNLC-DT 24.1 FMN ST. LOUIS MO 174° 18.3 14


If I add up the compass numbers I get 1010 and divide by 8, I get 126.25. Is this correct?? What exactly does this do since they are all different?? I am only having a problem with KPLR. thanks

I just got around to playing back Thursday night's episodes of Smallville and Supernatural from 11-1 on my FusionHDTV card....macroblocking and pixellation galore, completely unwatchable.

Was KPLR-DT having problems specific to that night? Or is this how 11-1 looks all the time now that TheShaft, I mean TheTube is stealing some of the bandwidth? Or am I just having a problem with the Fusion card?


TheShaft? :D

Seriously, I've watched Pepper Dennis, and it doesn't look as good as it did before TheTube. During Cardinal games, the color?! drops out, and pixelates. Since they've added it, I haven't watched it. It needs to go.

Bell South Plays Hardball w/Builders Doing Exclusives

A Sign of Things to Come?

The following story was included in today's Evening Bridge market close newsletter:
_______________________________________________

According to information obtained by trade publication CableFAX Daily, BellSouth is telling builders it may not provision a housing development for phone service if the builder signs an exclusive deal with a rival for video and broadband.

In a letter to a builder obtained by CableFAX, BellSouth said the "presence of these types of arrangements with alternate communications providers or infrastructure providers may affect BellSouth's provision of service to the developments."

A BellSouth spokesperson said commissions and legislative bodies in its territory are redefining existing carrier of last resort obligations as they apply when exclusive communications agreements are signed with other providers.

BellSouth said it recommends any developer considering such an agreement research the current rules and laws to insure they understand how they might impact a consumer's choices for service, the company added. More will be in the publication Wednesday.

Info on CFax can be found at: http:// www.cableworld.com/cfax.
_______________________________________________

While I'm happy about the entry of phone companies into the subscription TV business (for the competition it will provide to satellite and cable), the story below is a good example of why phone companies will likely fail. They just can't bring themselves to shake off their bully boy ways of thinking, even though the days when they could get away with sort of thing are more than 20 years past.

If they want to redline an entire housing development and not have the ability to provide any services to residents who may request them, so be it -- have fun holding your breath and turning blue, guys. :eek:

FWIW, I also see a big problem with a developer being in a position to sign exclusive agreements on broadband and TV service, when the needs and desires of future residents go unrepresented. I'd guess that there's also an issue of sizeable windfall payments going to a builder who enters into such agreements, with little benefit trickling down to homeowners stuck with a single supplier...

This is anti-competitive and shouldn't be allowed.

FWIW, I also see a big problem with a developer being in a position to sign exclusive agreements on broadband and TV service, when the needs and desires of future residents go unrepresented. I'd guess that there's also an issue of sizeable windfall payments going to a builder who enters into such agreements, with little benefit trickling down to homeowners stuck with a single supplier...

This is anti-competitive and shouldn't be allowed.

How will they block access to the sky for Satellite providers :p

Chers,

John,

Another good point, but it still narrows consumer choice and puts residents at a disadvantage.

Sorry I didn't get this sooner. I was watching Phil give away The Open in glorious high definition. Then I had to take care of my P****D OFF.

The answer to both your questions is no.

Walt

Hey, Walt,

One more follow up question regarding the use of your Samsung D* receiver for OTA ATSC reception:

When NOT connected to the bird, can you still get Guide data via PSIP? Or, is it all blank?

I am not sure I follow what I am suppose to do. I went to the website and came up with the following:

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
* yellow - uhf KSDK-DT 5.1 NBC ST. LOUIS MO 105° 13.9 35
* yellow - uhf KMOV-DT 4.1 CBS ST. LOUIS MO 112° 16.5 56
* yellow - uhf KDNL-DT 30.1 ABC ST. LOUIS MO 102° 13.9 31
* yellow - uhf KPLR-DT 11.1 WB ST. LOUIS MO 103° 14.2 26
* yellow - uhf WRBU-DT 46.1 UPN E. ST. LOUIS IL 162° 17.0 47
* yellow - uhf KTVI-DT 2.1 FOX St. Louis MO 118° 12.7 43
* red - uhf KETC-DT 9.1 PBS ST. LOUIS MO 134° 13.9 39
* red - uhf KNLC-DT 24.1 FMN ST. LOUIS MO 174° 18.3 14

If I add up the compass numbers I get 1010 and divide by 8, I get 126.25. Is this correct?? What exactly does this do since they are all different?? I am only having a problem with KPLR. thanks

I messed around with this antenna for nearly 2 hours and could not get KPLR to come in consistently. Every other station comes in fine. KPLR is the biggest pile of crap in St Louis.

John,

Another good point, but it still narrows consumer choice and puts residents at a disadvantage.

I don't disagree with your point of view, but is this any different than cable franchises on a municipal basis?

I don't think so. I don't like it, but it's the same thing at a smaller scale.

Cheers,

Bill Gates Retirement Gift? DirecTV's $7500 Titanium

The following is from today's SKYReport newsletter:

I get the feeling this idea came from the same News Corp. executive who suggested that HD subscribers are so desperate they'd pay $25 for PPV HD movies.
_____________________________________________

DirecTV on Tuesday revealed its latest programming package, DirecTV Titanium, which is being promoted along with the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures' release "Superman Returns."

The movie debuts in theaters June 28. DirecTV and its Titanium package serve as the title sponsor of the film's world premiere at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood tonight.

DirecTV said its Titanium offering provides customers with the "most unlimited entertainment experience the industry has ever seen." An annual subscription fee of $7,500 gives subscribers the "ultimate fantasy package for those who enjoy using the newest, best, and most expensive gadgets and services," the company said.

Included in the package: Unlimited access to all of DirecTV's programming - every channel, 24-hour concierge customer service, and unlimited access to all pay per view movies, events and sports packages.

DirecTV said that because of the dedicated attention and service afforded to those who subscribe, Titanium will be limited to just several hundred subscriptions "to ensure these individuals receive red carpet treatment all day, everyday." More on the package can be found at http://www.directv.com/titanium.
_____________________________________________

Bill Gates Retirement Gift? DirecTV's $7500 Titanium

The following is from today's SKYReport newsletter:

I get the feeling this idea came from the same News Corp. executive who suggested that HD subscribers are so desperate they'd pay $25 for PPV HD movies.
_____________________________________________

DirecTV on Tuesday revealed its latest programming package, DirecTV Titanium, ...
That's just what I need. A package that's way more expensive than its individual components. That's $625/month!!! Ten times the cost of my current D* package!

I guess some D* exec misinterpreted the old saying about how things should be more than just the sum of their parts.

Hey, Walt,

One more follow up question regarding the use of your Samsung D* receiver for OTA ATSC reception:

When NOT connected to the bird, can you still get Guide data via PSIP? Or, is it all blank?

I don't remember it's been either so long or I'm so old.

Walt

That's just what I need. A package that's way more expensive than its individual components. That's $625/month!!! Ten times the cost of my current D* package!

I guess some D* exec misinterpreted the old saying about how things should be more than just the sum of their parts.
With a "bundle" Dean, you could probably pick it up for $619.95/mo :rolleyes:

That's just what I need. A package that's way more expensive than its individual components. That's $625/month!!! Ten times the cost of my current D* package!

I guess some D* exec misinterpreted the old saying about how things should be more than just the sum of their parts.

That includes ALL channels. Even the pay per view movies, NFL Season, MLB extra innings, etc.

Scott

And hopefully someone to sit there and change channels for you as well ;)

Cheers,

And hopefully someone to sit there and change channels for you as well ;)

Cheers,

They did say "24-hour concierge." :D

I messed around with this antenna for nearly 2 hours and could not get KPLR to come in consistently. Every other station comes in fine. KPLR is the biggest pile of crap in St Louis.

Because you can't get KPLR it is a big pile of crap??? Where do you live, what
type of antenna do you have, where is it located? I live in St. Charles and I get
KPLR just fine. It is usually one of the easiest channels to bring in.

Other than the few Cardinal/Blues games, I don't see what the big attraction with KPLR is.

I also have no issue receiving KPLR, and that's at 55 miles. I do, however, dislike that wide in-game banner they use at the bottom of the screen during Cardinals games. Most other stations use a narrower top screen banner.
On the other hand, that little trick FOX introduced last year, with the animated advertisements screeching across the lower screen during programming is becoming quite annoying, especially when they run them with audio and no regard to bleeding over the audio of the program.

I wonder how long before technology will allow targeted advertisements projected in the air around us whenever we walk outside.

Because you can't get KPLR it is a big pile of crap??? Where do you live, what
type of antenna do you have, where is it located? I live in St. Charles and I get
KPLR just fine. It is usually one of the easiest channels to bring in.

Other than the few Cardinal/Blues games, I don't see what the big attraction with KPLR is.

It is an older typical all band home antennea. Yes, I think it is a big pile of crap if can easily get every other station without a problem. The only explanation left is their signal stinks. I live in Chesterfield.

It is an older typical all band home antennea. Yes, I think it is a big pile of crap if can easily get every other station without a problem. The only explanation left is their signal stinks. I live in Chesterfield.

I think you should invest in an UHF only Antenna. I had issues when I had a
VHF/UHF antenna that was outside and I had issues. Now I have a UHF antenna
and it works fine. From what I understand, and I'm sure I will be corrected here
if I am wrong, all the stations are staying on UHF. Antennas Direct (http://www.antennasdirect.com/) is close to where
you live, maybe you should call them and see if that have something you can try.

It is an older typical all band home antennea. Yes, I think it is a big pile of crap if can easily get every other station without a problem. The only explanation left is their signal stinks. I live in Chesterfield.Your logic could not be more wrong -- this is far from the only explanation.

There are many factors that go into whether a digital TV signal can be received from a given location, and signal strength is just one of them. If you've come here to complain and hurl stones willy nilly, I trust you're getting your money's worth. ;)

On the other hand, if you've come here to ask for and evaluate suggestions offered by those who have been through some of these issues, you might actually make some progress.

But understand, there are no guarantees about digital signal reception. You may just be unlucky.

Your logic could not be more wrong -- this is far from the only explanation.

There are many factors that go into whether a digital TV signal can be received from a given location, and signal strength is just one of them. If you've come here to complain and hurl stones willy nilly, I trust you're getting your money's worth. ;)

On the other hand, if you've come here to ask for and evaluate suggestions offered by those who have been through some of these issues, you might actually make some progress.

But understand, there are no guarantees about digital signal reception. You may just be unlucky.

I don't think my logic is very far off at all. This is directly from Antenna Direct website:

Problem: I'm getting every channel except for one.
Possible causes:

The channel is broadcasting at a reduced power.
Some stations do this to save on electric bills and there is nothing that you can do.

The station is at a lower spot on the transmitting tower.
Lower elevation can cause line of sight problems. You may be able to fix this by elevatng your antenna.


The method of encoder the station employs may be incompatible with your model of digital tuner.
Occasionally there are software incompatibilities between certain types of broadcast encoders and some models of digital tuners. A software or firmware upgrade may be required to correct this.

I don't think the other conditions apply

I don't know what to say, I have typed, and deleted, and typed and deleted....

This is my nice version.

KPLR is working fine at my house and I am further out than you. Other people are
not having issues that are further out than you. Get a UHF antenna, try that, and
let us know what happens.

You haven't told us yet, is your antenna in or outside the house?

Jimglobe,

Believe it or not, we're actually trying to help.

How far is Chesterfield from the towers?

I'm sitting about 25 miles out, using a high gain Yagi (the XG42, UHF Only) that I purchased from Antennas Direct. I also use an antenna preamp, because I'm doing just about everything I can to muck up the signal ;)

What am I doing to muck up the signal? I have the antenna feed split 4 ways, with diplexors so that each satellite receiver can get OTA. Even then, I am getting signal strength that's about peaking out my meters, with only occasional dropouts.

OTA antennas do drop in performance due to exposure to the elements. I spent around $150 for my OTA solution. If you don't have to split, I would suggest that the same Yagi would do extremely well for you without an antenna preamp.

Cheers,

And hopefully someone to sit there and change channels for you as well ;)No, but the dedicated helpdesk will provide assistance if you don't know how to bend over.

No, but the dedicated helpdesk will provide assistance if you don't know how to bend over.

lol

JimGlobe,

Also, try to do rescan for channels with your ATSC tuner. That may lock in channel 11.

Scott

I subscribed to Netflix in the early days and stopped when they had growing pains. They didn't have enough copies of popular new titles.

I just recently got a letter from them about the settlement changes in the class action suit they lost. I could get a free month but don't want to bother.

OT question: Anyone else running Vista Beta 2 yet? Runs smooth and fast. Running dual boot. Aero Glass is pretty sweet. Looks more and more like Mac OS X.

I subscribed to Netflix in the early days and stopped when they had growing pains. They didn't have enough copies of popular new titles.

I just recently got a letter from them about the settlement changes in the class action suit they lost. I could get a free month but don't want to bother.

OT question: Anyone else running Vista Beta 2 yet? Runs smooth and fast. Running dual boot. Aero Glass is pretty sweet. Looks more and more like Mac OS X.

Yeah, that settlement had to do with NetFlix "slowing down" delivery to heavy use
subscribers so they wouldn't lose so much money on them.

As far as Beta goes, I have the email with the link to download it, but I haven't done
it yet. I would do it, but I am using my MCE computer with my Xbox360 and I don't
know how that would work out.

JimGlobe,

Also, try to do rescan for channels with your ATSC tuner. That may lock in channel 11.

Scott

Thanks. I will try the rescan first. If that doesn't work I guess I will have to try a new antenna.

I mentioned earlier in the week that I'd try to get ahold of Gregg, the lead engineer over at KPLR, and after a couple of days of phone tag, we managed to talk this afternoon.

A couple of points from that conversation, in no particular order:

* Greg acknowledged that there have been some recent audio delay problems and that there is a system in place to monitor them, including what's originated at the station, what goes out over the air and what is shown/heard on Charter. Greg noted that some recent changes have been made on the audio side and when those were implemented he felt that the problems had been addressed.

However, he's said he's completely open to hearing feedback if that's not the case now, or at some point in future. As always, be as specific as you can be.

* Greg acknowledged that the past two Cardinal broadcasts qualify as "failures." He said that the bulk of the problems on those broadcasts originated on the production side, and were related to issues with the physical site/environment, not the production crew actually putting together the broadcast.

He noted that the next Cardinal HD game on KPLR is this Sunday and that there is a commitment to and belief that it will be first-rate.

* I asked about the issues that some of us have seen with video pixellation, and the conclusion (correct or not) that this is related to the move to multicasting with the addition of The Tube subchannel. Greg said he hasn't seen pixellation issues and that he didn't believe that pixellation would be an issue in view of the relatively low slice of bandwidth that is dedicated to The Tube.

I provided a couple of specific examples where I've seen problems with picture break-up that appeared possibly related to bandwidth constraints, but of course there's no way for KPLR to retroactively monitor that now.

The bottom line here is the same as for audio -- if there are problems, Greg is interested in hearing about them and doing the best they can to resolve them.

* Although I didn't think to ask about this, Greg noted that KPLR is being delivered to Charter directly from the station via fiber, both for the digital and analog feeds.

* I didn't have this on my original list of questions, but I added it for jimglobe -- is KPLR operating at full authorized power?

The answer is YES, and that's been the situation for the past 3 years. I also asked about tower location/position, and Greg said he does not believe that this is an issue that would cause general reception difficulties.

However, he noted, as those of us who have been through the digital reception ups and downs in the past can attest, that there are sometimes issues that prevent reception that simply can't be laid to station shortcomings.

I've mentioned this here before but it's worth repeating -- I have a couple of calibration customers who are located across the street from one another. One of them gets perfect reception on all channels with a very basic set-up, and the other, despite several swapouts of antennas, relocations, changed cabling, etc. gets only two channels. I know that sounds illogical, but it goes back to the fact that over-the-air reception is not a perfect science, despite the fact that we all wish that it was.

* Note that Greg said employees at the station do monitor the AVS conversations here as they relate to KPLR, though he said that maybe the monitoring has been a bit less frequent in recent months.

* Finally, I'd just like to reiterate what I've said here before about KPLR and KDNL. Both of the technical guys responsible for HD broadcasting at these stations are 100% advocates for the technology and they seem genuinely committed to producing the best possible product for viewers. I've seen plenty of evidence of this commitment and I think other folks here who have been longtime HD viewers would probably agree.

This explains why I probably sometimes seem to be "overprotective" of KDNL and KPLR when they have periodic issues -- it's because I believe that it's not a matter of indifference. There may be technical problems or errors of omission/commission, but the track record demonstrates (to me, at least) there's a real desire to produce a quality service.

I believe we're lucky to have Jim at KDNL and Greg at KPLR. I only wish we could clone both of these guys and send off their "seconds" to infiltrate the clown convention that is kSDk.

Jimglobe,

Believe it or not, we're actually trying to help.



I agree. There's no reason to take sideways blows at :

people that are trying to help you
have been extremely active in this forum sub-area
have hundreds if not thousands more posts
have been around much longer than you


I know it's frustrating, but work with us here.

Well put.

Has anyone had any experience with the new Dish channels? I'm curious to know how they look.

NatGeoHD is quite disappointing.

HGTV HD is consistently very, very sharp with great PQ. It should, it's shot on 720p digicams. This is the best match for my 50" plasma and will be until the new projector is installed.

StarzHD is hit and miss, with mostly miss for me so far.

What did I miss in this round of adds?

Cheers,

I agree. There's no reason to take sideways blows at :

people that are trying to help you
have been extremely active in this forum sub-area
have hundreds if not thousands more posts
have been around much longer than you


I know it's frustrating, but work with us here.

I didn't take a sideways blow at anyone unless they made a smart comment to me first. If you believe that to be the case, please point out where this occurred.

Doug, thanks so much for sharing your conversation with Greg. You brought up many good points. I feel certain that I speak for all of us...we appreciate your time and energy investigating and sharing your (vast) knowledge.

Now back to playing with Vista. :p

I mentioned earlier in the week that I'd try to get ahold of Gregg, the lead engineer over at KPLR, and after a couple of days of phone tag, we managed to talk this afternoon.

A couple of points from that conversation, in no particular order:

* Greg acknowledged that there have been some recent audio delay problems and that there is a system in place to monitor them, including what's originated at the station, what goes out over the air and what is shown/heard on Charter. Greg noted that some recent changes have been made on the audio side and when those were implemented he felt that the problems had been addressed.

However, he's said he's completely open to hearing feedback if that's not the case now, or at some point in future. As always, be as specific as you can be.

* Greg acknowledged that the past two Cardinal broadcasts qualify as "failures." He said that the bulk of the problems on those broadcasts originated on the production side, and were related to issues with the physical site/environment, not the production crew actually putting together the broadcast.

He noted that the next Cardinal HD game on KPLR is this Sunday and that there is a commitment to and belief that it will be first-rate.

* I asked about the issues that some of us have seen with video pixellation, and the conclusion (correct or not) that this is related to the move to multicasting with the addition of The Tube subchannel. Greg said he hasn't seen pixellation issues and that he didn't believe that pixellation would be an issue in view of the relatively low slice of bandwidth that is dedicated to The Tube.

I provided a couple of specific examples where I've seen problems with picture break-up that appeared possibly related to bandwidth constraints, but of course there's no way for KPLR to retroactively monitor that now.

The bottom line here is the same as for audio -- if there are problems, Greg is interested in hearing about them and doing the best they can to resolve them.

* Although I didn't think to ask about this, Greg noted that KPLR is being delivered to Charter directly from the station via fiber, both for the digital and analog feeds.

* I didn't have this on my original list of questions, but I added it for jimglobe -- is KPLR operating at full authorized power?

The answer is YES, and that's been the situation for the past 3 years. I also asked about tower location/position, and Greg said he does not believe that this is an issue that would cause general reception difficulties.

However, he noted, as those of us who have been through the digital reception ups and downs in the past can attest, that there are sometimes issues that prevent reception that simply can't be laid to station shortcomings.

I've mentioned this here before but it's worth repeating -- I have a couple of calibration customers who are located across the street from one another. One of them gets perfect reception on all channels with a very basic set-up, and the other, despite several swapouts of antennas, relocations, changed cabling, etc. gets only two channels. I know that sounds illogical, but it goes back to the fact that over-the-air reception is not a perfect science, despite the fact that we all wish that it was.

* Note that Greg said employees at the station do monitor the AVS conversations here as they relate to KPLR, though he said that maybe the monitoring has been a bit less frequent in recent months.

* Finally, I'd just like to reiterate what I've said here before about KPLR and KDNL. Both of the technical guys responsible for HD broadcasting at these stations are 100% advocates for the technology and they seem genuinely committed to producing the best possible product for viewers. I've seen plenty of evidence of this commitment and I think other folks here who have been longtime HD viewers would probably agree.

This explains why I probably sometimes seem to be "overprotective" of KDNL and KPLR when they have periodic issues -- it's because I believe that it's not a matter of indifference. There may be technical problems or errors of omission/commission, but the track record demonstrates (to me, at least) there's a real desire to produce a quality service.

I believe we're lucky to have Jim at KDNL and Greg at KPLR. I only wish we could clone both of these guys and send off their "seconds" to infiltrate the clown convention that is kSDk.

Doug, thanks for all the info. If you get to talk to him anytime soon, can you ask what the new merged WB/UPN looks like with their HD offering?

MoInSTL, what do you think of Vista so far? I hope it's not the cluster-f that Windows Media Player 11 is. Granted WMP11 is a beta, but it's pretty poor. I've lost songs, album info and it doesn't play nice with my Creative Zen Vision M mp3 player.

Bill Gates Retirement Gift? DirecTV's $7500 Titanium

The following is from today's SKYReport newsletter:

I get the feeling this idea came from the same News Corp. executive who suggested that HD subscribers are so desperate they'd pay $25 for PPV HD movies.
_____________________________________________

DirecTV on Tuesday revealed its latest programming package, DirecTV Titanium, which is being promoted along with the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures' release "Superman Returns."

The movie debuts in theaters June 28. DirecTV and its Titanium package serve as the title sponsor of the film's world premiere at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood tonight.

DirecTV said its Titanium offering provides customers with the "most unlimited entertainment experience the industry has ever seen." An annual subscription fee of $7,500 gives subscribers the "ultimate fantasy package for those who enjoy using the newest, best, and most expensive gadgets and services," the company said.

Included in the package: Unlimited access to all of DirecTV's programming - every channel, 24-hour concierge customer service, and unlimited access to all pay per view movies, events and sports packages.

DirecTV said that because of the dedicated attention and service afforded to those who subscribe, Titanium will be limited to just several hundred subscriptions "to ensure these individuals receive red carpet treatment all day, everyday." More on the package can be found at http://www.directv.com/titanium.
_____________________________________________

Some people have been saying this package is priced this way so that DirecTV can show a quantifyable amount lost with pirates/hackers that had the all channels hack. Apparently some court cases have been thrown about because DirecTV couldn't put a dollar amount lost down.

It's also some brilliant marketing. Kind of like Amex's black Centurion card. Wonder how long it will be before some rapper/actor/pro sports player is pimping the DirecTV platinum package on MTV's "Cribs".

John,

I briefly saw National Geographic HD yesterday at a client's house and was quite surprised how mediocre it looked. At first, I thought it was an SD upconvert, and maybe that particular show was.

The other HD channel that DISH recently added was the NFL Channel HD. Probably not a lot going on there yet, so easy enough to overlook.

Doug,

You're right, that's the one I missed.

I wish there would be an MLB-HD channel ;)

Cheers,

Doug, thanks for all the info. If you get to talk to him anytime soon, can you ask what the new merged WB/UPN looks like with their HD offering?

MoInSTL, what do you think of Vista so far? I hope it's not the cluster-f that Windows Media Player 11 is. Granted WMP11 is a beta, but it's pretty poor. I've lost songs, album info and it doesn't play nice with my Creative Zen Vision M mp3 player.

I just installed it yesterday and have not played with Media Player yet. I had IE 7 on XP and it's better in Vista than it was running in XP. It's stable and fast. Numerous features. Can now burn movies and\or photos directly to a DVD. Can now image the entire system.

You need to have pretty hefty hardware to get the most out of it. I have two gigs of RAM. I wouldn't try running it on less than one. It's M$ afterall and still a memory hog.

FWIW, my hardware specs are:
Abit AN8 Ultra, BIOS 20
AMD 64 X2 3800+
OCZ EL Platinum 2X1024MB PC3200
2-74G WD Raptors RAID 0
1-300G Seagate SATA 7200.8, 16MB Cache
Plextor PX-708A, IDE 2 Master
BFG 6600GT OC
Antec P180 case
Antec SmartPower 2.0, 500W Modular
19" Sony HS95P/S LCD

My Nvidia card is PCI-e and kind of wimpy for games, but it's compliant and runs Aero Glass perfectly.

I hate Windows Explorer. I much prefer XP's version as I use it several times a day.

There are too many things to list so head over to DSL Reports or read a million other comments on darn near every blog and tech oriented site out there.

DSL Reports (http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16329062) has a topic, "Which Vista feature do you like best?" It's 3 pages long.

dweebe,

I received an eMail this afternoon on the plans for the combined WB/UPN (CW) channel this fall.

According that note, all CW prime-time shows will be in HD, with the following exceptions:

America's Next Top Model
Beauty & the Geek
7th Heaven
Smackdown

Hope that covers your favorites...

Wasn't 7th Heaven in HD on WB?

And how about Smackdown? That's too bad. (Not that I watch either of them.)

John,

I have a couple of questions for you regarding the preamp you spoke of earlier.

Can you tell me what kind of preamp you have (a link would be great.) Also, where (in your OTA run) did you place the preamp?

I am in the process of redoing my basement (almost done!) and want four lines, maybe five, and will likely need an amp or booster of some sort. I've asked in the past but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of information on these.

Thanks for your time.

I didn't take a sideways blow at anyone unless they made a smart comment to me first. If you believe that to be the case, please point out where this occurred.


I messed around with the antenna one last time tonight and FINALLY got KPLR to lock in with a good signal.

Thanks to moman19, MoInStl, WinstonSmith, wmschultz, John Kotches, and Scott Tucker....these posters all gave me useful ideas and suggestions, positive ideas. It is these kinds of posters that make this forum useful -- not the ones who simply post for volume of messages - or inject nothing positive into the problem.

John,

I have a couple of questions for you regarding the preamp you spoke of earlier.

Can you tell me what kind of preamp you have (a link would be great.) Also, where (in your OTA run) did you place the preamp?

I am in the process of redoing my basement (almost done!) and want four lines, maybe five, and will likely need an amp or booster of some sort. I've asked in the past but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of information on these.

Thanks for your time.

Winston,

The preamp is the PA-16 UHF only preamp from Antennas Direct, found here (http://www.antennasdirect.com/antenna_amplifier.html).

The preamp is installed directly off of the antenna output at the antenna (as instructed) and cabled back through to my system. So Antenna --> preamp --> splitter. One of the connections on my 4x1 splitter (from Tributaries) is high power which is where I run the power insertor.

This is the Antennas Direct 42XG (http://www.antennasdirect.com/42XG_television_antenna.html) that I'm using. It's a medium range Yagi and since just about every station of interest is in a small window for me, it's a great solution. The DB4 or DB8 might work too.

I can't find you a link to the Tributaries splitter, but I'll see if I can get you one tomorrow. It was released a few months ago, but it is not on the web site.

Cheers,

I messed around with the antenna one last time tonight and FINALLY got KPLR to lock in with a good signal.

Thanks to moman19, MoInStl, WinstonSmith, wmschultz, John Kotches, and Scott Tucker....these posters all gave me useful ideas and suggestions, positive ideas. It is these kinds of posters that make this forum useful -- not the ones who simply post for volume of messages - or inject nothing positive into the problem.

That's great, I wasn't going to watch a piece of crap. Now that it works, I'm all over KPLR again :D

That's great, I wasn't going to watch a piece of crap. Now that it works, I'm all over KPLR again :D

Funny thing is that there really isn't much of anything worth watching on KPLR. It was just frustrating not being able to tune it in.

Toshiba Announces DVR & HD DVD Read/Write Combo

HDTV Magazine is reporting today the announcement of Toshiba's RD-A1 product, the first product to combine a hard disk-based DVR with HD DVD read/write capability. It is scheduled to appear in stores July 14.

Here's the blurb from the HDTV Magazine eMail I received, along with a link to the full story:
____________________________________________________

Toshiba Corporation today unveiled the future of home video entertainment in an age of digital, high definition content: the world's first digital hard disk video recorder integrating a recordable HD DVD in combination with a 1-terabyte (TB) hard disk.

The new RD-A1 can record and store up to 130 hours of high-definition (HD) broadcasts on its high capacity hard disk and record up to 230 minutes of HD content to a single HD DVD disc.
____________________________________________________

For the full HDTV Magazine story, click here. (http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/news/2006/06/toshibas_rd-a1.php)

I never miss Smallville and Supernatural on KPLR... along with Cardinal games on the weekends.

Funny thing is that there really isn't much of anything worth watching on KPLR. It was just frustrating not being able to tune it in.

I just moved my primary CM 4228 up four feet, eight inches, and was able to lock in WRBU's digital signal on my cheap RCA.

Note to Drop The Remote: Saw your card yesterday out at Skywalker. Liked the "therapy" bit... :)

Pink,

Thanks -- I've gotten quite a lot of smiles from that when I hand my card out.

But now the latest cards say "Video Savant," and that gets a few grins, too. ;)

Toshiba Announces DVR & HD DVD Read/Write Combo

HDTV Magazine is reporting today the announcement of Toshiba's RD-A1 product, the first product to combine a hard disk-based DVR with HD DVD read/write capability. It is scheduled to appear in stores July 14.

Here's the blurb from the HDTV Magazine eMail I received, along with a link to the full story:
____________________________________________________

Toshiba Corporation today unveiled the future of home video entertainment in an age of digital, high definition content: the world's first digital hard disk video recorder integrating a recordable HD DVD in combination with a 1-terabyte (TB) hard disk.

The new RD-A1 can record and store up to 130 hours of high-definition (HD) broadcasts on its high capacity hard disk and record up to 230 minutes of HD content to a single HD DVD disc.
____________________________________________________

For the full HDTV Magazine story, click here. (http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/news/2006/06/toshibas_rd-a1.php)

Thanks for the link, Doug. The rollout appears to be for Japan only at this time. I thought it was early for a US debut. The copy protection issues no doubt will delay its appearance in the US. Good sign, though.

Yeah, I saw the date was for Japan, but considering how easy it is to get these sorts of products through the gray market, I figure they'll be showing up here soon.

FWIW, I initially titled that post, "Paging Joe Clark, Paging Joe Clark..." :D

Yeah, I saw the date was for Japan, but considering how easy it is to get these sorts of products through the gray market, I figure they'll be showing up here soon.

FWIW, I initially titled that post, "Paging Joe Clark, Paging Joe Clark..." :D

I saw the hook with my name on it under the worm. :D

I messed around with the antenna one last time tonight and FINALLY got KPLR to lock in with a good signal.

Thanks to moman19, MoInStl, WinstonSmith, wmschultz, John Kotches, and Scott Tucker....these posters all gave me useful ideas and suggestions, positive ideas. It is these kinds of posters that make this forum useful -- not the ones who simply post for volume of messages - or inject nothing positive into the problem.

Glad all is well. Don't be too hard on Droptheremote (Doug) as he really is an invaluble resource to this thread. Without Doug this thread would not be the same. :)

Scott

I'm not buying HD-DVD or Blu-Ray until there's a dual-format player or one of the formats is dead.

My guess: both will fail and be business school test-case fodder for the next 20 years.

^^^

Yeah, Here is how I sum up the whole fiasco.

2 years ago I sold most all of my DVD collection (750 titles), and quit buying DVD's. I have waited 2 years to start buying HD DVD's. Now that my wait is over, I am not running out to get anything. I have always been an early adopter. My first Pioneer DVD player I got before DVD's could be purchased legally in MO. Even my wife is like "Why aren't you buying the new player you've been wanting for 2 years?" Anyway, I hate the whole deal, and hope both formats fail soon. Then, both of them be replaced by a single superior format.

Scott

Depends on where your from to where your moving to.

There are two different Head Ends, basically the easy way to look at is if your moving west from the city or Illinois, then you may go off a different headend, or vice versa.

If you want to PM your home address and your new one if you know it, I can double check for you.

wolverine5767


Wolverine, I was hoping you could offer a little advice... I live in a 4-family building. And everytime someone comes or goes, a technician comes to futz with the cable. Sometimes, it's a Charter tech, sometimes not. Personally, I've had 4 service calls to Charter in less than a year (2 by the same tech, and she was a great help.) My problem is, everytime the tech comes to set up a new tenant's cable, I start losing channels, especially A&E, Discovery and those around those channels. The last visit, the Tech commented on how people were doing less than stellar work with some of the connections in our junction box and that I may want to consider adding an amplifier. Do you have a suggestion for an amp (I assume it has to be 2-way) or how to keep this from happening everytime somebody moves in?

TIA

Wolverine, I was hoping you could offer a little advice... I live in a 4-family building. And everytime someone comes or goes, a technician comes to futz with the cable. Sometimes, it's a Charter tech, sometimes not. Personally, I've had 4 service calls to Charter in less than a year (2 by the same tech, and she was a great help.) My problem is, everytime the tech comes to set up a new tenant's cable, I start losing channels, especially A&E, Discovery and those around those channels. The last visit, the Tech commented on how people were doing less than stellar work with some of the connections in our junction box and that I may want to consider adding an amplifier. Do you have a suggestion for an amp (I assume it has to be 2-way) or how to keep this from happening everytime somebody moves in?

TIA

I have a similar problem. I live in a 6 family building and anytime someone moves out they disconnect my cable. So far in the last 4 years it's happened 5 times. 3 of the 5 times I had to take a 1/2 day off work and the other 2 times I had to sit around all weekend.

This last time I had to go to the corner bar to watch the season finale of "24".

Every time I have them check and the box is labeled right: just "simple" user error. I've even checked myself and my "port" is labeled right. As far as I can figure I'm just going to have to deal with constant errors from the techs who keep messing my stuff up.

When I move out of this apartment: I'm going DirecTV. I won't move anyplace where Charter is my only option.

Glad all is well. Don't be too hard on Droptheremote (Doug) as he really is an invaluble resource to this thread. Without Doug this thread would not be the same. :)

Scott


No kidding, without Doug this thread would be numerous pages shorter. Just kidding Doug, you know I love your input and insight. And you have been a large help to me.

Now I have another question which anyone can pipe in on. I am soon going to be getting my 622, and probably also keeping my 942. 2 receivers with OTA. My signals on the important OTA channels have recently risen (don't ask me how or why I have done nothing to change reception). They are now at 90-100, and were previously at 77-100. But currently most are at 100 and one or two at 90. I am hoping this is a strong enough signal to split to the 2 receivers. Any thoughts?

[QUOTE=dweebe]I'm not buying HD-DVD or Blu-Ray until there's a dual-format player or one of the formats is dead.[QUOTE]

Me, too!

Wait a minute.

Never mind.

I have a similar problem. I live in a 6 family building and anytime someone moves out they disconnect my cable. So far in the last 4 years it's happened 5 times. 3 of the 5 times I had to take a 1/2 day off work and the other 2 times I had to sit around all weekend.

This last time I had to go to the corner bar to watch the season finale of "24".

Every time I have them check and the box is labeled right: just "simple" user error. I've even checked myself and my "port" is labeled right. As far as I can figure I'm just going to have to deal with constant errors from the techs who keep messing my stuff up.

When I move out of this apartment: I'm going DirecTV. I won't move anyplace where Charter is my only option.
It's killing me, because it happens time and again. And always on the same channels.

Now I have another question which anyone can pipe in on. I am soon going to be getting my 622, and probably also keeping my 942. 2 receivers with OTA. My signals on the important OTA channels have recently risen (don't ask me how or why I have done nothing to change reception). They are now at 90-100, and were previously at 77-100. But currently most are at 100 and one or two at 90. I am hoping this is a strong enough signal to split to the 2 receivers. Any thoughts?

It should be strong enough. If you have any trouble, you might consider an amplifier before the split.

No kidding, without Doug this thread would be numerous pages shorter. Just kidding Doug, you know I love your input and insight. And you have been a large help to me.

Now I have another question which anyone can pipe in on. I am soon going to be getting my 622, and probably also keeping my 942. 2 receivers with OTA. My signals on the important OTA channels have recently risen (don't ask me how or why I have done nothing to change reception). They are now at 90-100, and were previously at 77-100. But currently most are at 100 and one or two at 90. I am hoping this is a strong enough signal to split to the 2 receivers. Any thoughts?

You will probably be OK splitting the OTA antenna signal. I'd try it first, before investing in an amp.

Deuces,
Mine is split to 4 receivers using only a pre-amp (distance from towers) at the antenna.
The closest is my first 622 (70' from antenna), and the furthest is my other 622 (50' from first 622-120' from antenna). Standard RG6.
The signal strengths shown at the furthest 622 is only 3% less than the first.
Your 942 will show "stronger" OTA signals than the 622's do. Don't be alarmed when you get the 622 and see the 100's you get on the 942 are in the 80's on the 622. The 622 will remain locked on anything 60-65 and up.
I believe the way the signal strengths are read and reported in the software is more likely the difference, rather than the 942 having a "stronger or better" OTA tuner than the 622.
I really don't think it will be an issue with the readings you're now getting.

The D* subs here with MPEG4, receiving the STL Local DT's on D* and on OTA....seeing any differences, PQ/Audio?

The D* subs here with MPEG4, receiving the STL Local DT's on D* and on OTA....seeing any differences, PQ/Audio?

I can not see any differences at all.

Note to KPLR guys monitoring this thread:

Major pixellation noted at 2300 CDT on both 11-1 and 11-2.

Also, channel information briefly showed xxxx(random)-1 when changing channels to 11-1 earlier (about 1800 CDT).

Am 4.8 km/3 miles from the Resurrection Cemetary tower with a huge, honking CM 4228 pointed right at it (can't be low recieve on my end). KSDK and KDNL both showing normally at same time (so no front end overload).

Thanks djearl, joseph and kdg.

Well, for those of you following the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, here's a little information you may find interesting.

Blu-ray is at Best Buy. I saw it today in south county on Lindbergh - just got a taste, since I was in a hurry. I saw a clip of Chicken Little from a demo disc. It was playing on the Samsung Blu-ray player ($1,000)and a Samsung 1080p LCD. Animation tends to look good no matter what format you watch it on, but the display did have considerable banding in the sky (distinct bands instead of a smooth, clean gradient).

The HD DVD player had been relegated to a shelf, connected to nothing, the Blu-ray player having taken its place. Blu-ray discs were under the Blu-ray player and HD DVD discs were above the Toshiba.

When the sales people left, I was next to a guy who had been watching, also. He asked a couple of questions and I told him about the incompatiblities between HD DVD and Blu-ray - that neither would play the other's discs. Of course, he didn't know that.

Let the confusion begin.

I've been keeping up on the posts over in the HD DVD/Blu-ray threads for the last months. Since the Blu-ray player hit the shelves, even ardent Blu-ray fanboys have been critical of how the Blu-ray rollout is going. Apparently, the player has most of the same flaws as the Toshiba (slow, computer lineage showing too much, relatively unresponsive, costs twice as much) AND it doesn't match up to the Toshiba player in a lot of other key areas (no Internet based firmware upgrades possible, limited audio options, buggy operation, and worst of all, the MPEG2 based picture quality is short of the Tosiba's VC1 compression). Just about everyone agrees that HD DVD discs look better than Blu-ray discs. No one expected that the early HD DVD titles would look significantly better than the Blu-ray titles, but that's the perception. When you combine worse image quality, higher price and fewer features, you'd think the Blu-ray players would be a much harder sell. Here's where Toshiba gets a chance to surge ahead.

The Blu-ray crowd is banking a lot on the Sony Play Station 3, which is supposed to have a Blu-ray player built in. They expect that system to inject millions of players into the markeplace in a few months. I wonder if that's enough, and if the gaming market overlaps enough with the home theater market, and I wonder what it's going to cost. If this discrepancy lasts long between the two HD disc formats, the format war may be short.

I've seldom seen people turn around as quickly as some of the Blu-ray advocates. And the HD DVD clan has jumped on these early problems with glee. But, it's too early to call a winner or a loser in this scuffle. I'm just happy I can create my own HD DVD discs. So far, the same cannot be said for Blu-ray. All the attempts to create Blu-rau discs (that I've heard about) have failed.

Long and short of it - staying away from either format is still the best policy, unless like me you want to roll your own HD. If you do, HD DVD is the only party in town right now. I've kept to my resolve not to buy many HD DVD discs - just two in the roughly two months since I found out about HD DVD authoring. I don't see that changing any time soon.

For what it's worth, I've had no problems with the Toshiba, and I haven't even upgraded the firmware yet. That is supposed to take care of some bugs, but so far my experience has been quite positive.

Joe,

Very well written and most interesting. I think I'll just sit on my hands and wait for the dust to settle. I'm probably not alone.

I've said before that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray could be end up still-born. I have yet to be proven wrong I think. And good riddance to them both when it happens. Expensive & buggy hardware, incompatable formats, overpriced software. No thanks!

They just don't get it. There should have been one format with loads and loads of titles to watch. Then, I and many others like me I suspect would indulge. For now, honestly, I think the SD DVD's on my Denon 2900 look stellar. I'm not at all in a hurry to invest in either BD or HD-DVD.

Scott

Hi.

I know this is not the right thread (not even the right forum), but I'm in a bind here.

I have an old 1997 Sony KV32XBR48 tv (SD only, so nothing HD), which suddenly died (wife was watching and pfft, dead). There is no indication on the TV if power is received (there's no red light or anything), so I opened it up to check the fuse; fuse is still good.

So, with that in mind, I'm looking for a repairman. But I don't know who to contact? Anyone know of anyone that still do TV repair? I'd appreciate any references; keep in mind that this is an old tv (looking around, it's worth like $400 used, at best), so if the tech cost to come to my house is already like $150, it's not worth it :).

Again, sorry for the OT post - but we're a society of throw-away things, so I'm not sure who to contact to repair stuff.

Thanks.
Muljadi Budiman.

ps: I'm posting here since I'm in St. Louis.

Hi.

I know this is not the right thread (not even the right forum), but I'm in a bind here.

I have an old 1997 Sony KV32XBR48 tv (SD only, so nothing HD), which suddenly died (wife was watching and pfft, dead). There is no indication on the TV if power is received (there's no red light or anything), so I opened it up to check the fuse; fuse is still good.

So, with that in mind, I'm looking for a repairman. But I don't know who to contact? Anyone know of anyone that still do TV repair? I'd appreciate any references; keep in mind that this is an old tv (looking around, it's worth like $400 used, at best), so if the tech cost to come to my house is already like $150, it's not worth it :).

Again, sorry for the OT post - but we're a society of throw-away things, so I'm not sure who to contact to repair stuff.

Thanks.
Muljadi Budiman.

ps: I'm posting here since I'm in St. Louis.

I had a TV that did the same thing. I took it to Schneider TV off of Olive (I think). The power supply went out on it. IIRC, it was about $150.

Tim

Long and short of it - staying away from either format is still the best policy, unless like me you want to roll your own HD. If you do, HD DVD is the only party in town right now. I've kept to my resolve not to buy many HD DVD discs - just two in the roughly two months since I found out about HD DVD authoring. I don't see that changing any time soon.

For what it's worth, I've had no problems with the Toshiba, and I haven't even upgraded the firmware yet. That is supposed to take care of some bugs, but so far my experience has been quite positive.

I also have had no problems with my HD-A1 and am not updating the software at this time.

I have to disagree somewhat when it comes to holding off though. HD DVD offers an opportunity for a pristine high definition experience, right now. While the average person may not jump on the band wagon for a while if ever, the cost of getting into HD DVD at least is only $500. Most of us who post here are exactly the type of people who would buy in now and enjoy what we've been waiting years for.

I don't think either format, HD DVD or Blu-Ray will go away anytime soon. I think Blu-Ray will sort itself out pretty quickly and fix the problems we are seeing on discs like House of Flying Daggers. When that happens I will buy a Blu-Ray player if no dual format player materializes.

I think this is the time to jump in. More titles are being announced everyday.

Toshiba HD-A1 on Panasonic AE700 120" screen :D

Stace

They just don't get it. There should have been one format with loads and loads of titles to watch. Then, I and many others like me I suspect would indulge. For now, honestly, I think the SD DVD's on my Denon 2900 look stellar. I'm not at all in a hurry to invest in either BD or HD-DVD.

Scott

This is shaping up the way I predicted in my own little mind. Most are going to be happy with the SD PQ they already have, why buy a "betamax" machine now? Both formats will NOT survive. When it was announced that Toshiba was going to release way before Sony, I always felt that as long as the machines don't crash in the middle of a movie, the price was right, ($500 for early adopters is a great price point), and PQ was equal (early reports of BR indicate otherwise) then the spoils would go to Toshiba. At this point the BR folks are still hanging on to "more disk space" Who cares, if there is a zillion gigabytes of space! As long as the HD PQ & sound quality fits on the disk for the movie, space is not important. With Toshiba's experience in storage technology, I think the disk technology direction they chose was a good move, not really reinventing the wheel.

I also have had no problems with my HD-A1 and am not updating the software at this time.

I have to disagree somewhat when it comes to holding off though. HD DVD offers an opportunity for a pristine high definition experience, right now. While the average person may not jump on the band wagon for a while if ever, the cost of getting into HD DVD at least is only $500. Most of us who post here are exactly the type of people who would buy in now and enjoy what we've been waiting years for.

I don't think either format, HD DVD or Blu-Ray will go away anytime soon. I think Blu-Ray will sort itself out pretty quickly and fix the problems we are seeing on discs like House of Flying Daggers. When that happens I will buy a Blu-Ray player if no dual format player materializes.

I think this is the time to jump in. More titles are being announced everyday.

Toshiba HD-A1 on Panasonic AE700 120" screen :D

Stace

I really can't argue with that. As an early adopter, I understand the sentiment. All I'm saying is that right now, the hardware is first generation (buggy, feature limited and expensive) and there aren't many discs to choose from. I also believe that both formats will be around for a while - at least long enough to provide me with a source for playing back my homemade discs. In six months to a year, there will be lots more discs to choose from, cheaper and better players and probably even a dual format player. Even as an early adopter, I've been able to resist the temptation to buy titles just because they are the only ones available, even though I really don't want them.

OTOH, if everyone did what I've decided to do with this rollout, both formats would probably die. Although I think they deserve to (because of their unwillingness to give us a single standard), I want HD discs to succeed.

I'm not afraid to spend money on a player. Hell, I spent more on my SD player than people are on the new HD-DVD players. If there were "one" format that I felt would last a while I'd jump on the bandwagon now and would have paid up to $2k for the player. For me it's not about the money at all. It's simply what Dominicr said about "Betamax."

Scott

Tomorrow's (Sun) Cardinals game is scheduled to be in HD on KPLR-DT :D
12:05PM

I have to disagree somewhat when it comes to holding off though. HD DVD offers an opportunity for a pristine high definition experience, right now. While the average person may not jump on the band wagon for a while if ever, the cost of getting into HD DVD at least is only $500. Most of us who post here are exactly the type of people who would buy in now and enjoy what we've been waiting years for. I'm traditionally an early adopter, but I'll be sitting this one out, probably for the duration, for two primary reasons:

One, consumer electronics manufacturers need to learn that consumers expect standards to be established and maintained. The fact is, I see CE companies' complete disdain for standards every day, and believe me, they need a reality check in the worst way. Granted, my primary problem is the fact that standards set by independent bodies (SMPTE, ATSC, etc) are routinely ignored, because the manufactuers believe they know better, or because they're dead set on being (and looking) different.

And while the situation with DVD HD and Blu-Ray is quite a different animal, I think the fact that manufacturers routinely run roughshod over standards and get away with it has given both Toshiba and Sony the extra bit of courage needed to roll out these competing formats with little worry about any potential backlash from consumers.

They're betting that traditional early adopters will be suckers for this stuff, and that once they've fooled us, they'll have the momentum they need to ride it out.

Now is the time to draw a line in the sand.

Two, Hollywood has been a growing nuisance on copy protection and the fact that they are holding in reserve the ability to down-grade the output resolution to TVs without digital inputs is completely unacceptable. Yes, they say that "for now" they won't use that capability, that's an empty pledge as far as I'm concerned.

With these new formats now rolling out, DVD sales have probably already peaked. If BD and HD DVD are slow to take off, it won't take long before studio executives are exposed to a nasty draft blowing through their quarterly P/L statements. That's the sort of wake-up call Hollywood needs to begin to understand it's not worth killing the goose laying the golden eggs just because four or five out of each hundred units they sell are bootlegs or illegal copies.

If Wal-Mart can figure out how keep "shrinkage" at 2 percent without armed federal agents manning the exits and shaking down customers, Hollywood can learn to do the same.

I'm looking for some input from the experts here on getting a universal remote that will work with a Toshiba 42HX95 Plasma TV, Dish Vip 622 HD-PVR, Harmon Kardon AVR135 Receiver (has discrete on/off), Harmon Kardon DVD 22 player, and a Sony CDP CX355 300 disc CD player. It must have discrete features and I must be able to upgrade it. I'm looking at Logitech's Harmony line of remotes and I can get the 680 for about $50.00 online. I don't know enough about these to make an informed decision, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

.....Hollywood has been a growing nuisance on copy protection and the fact that they are holding in reserve the ability to down-grade the output resolution to TVs without digital inputs is completely unacceptable. Yes, they say that "for now" they won't use that capability, that's an empty pledge as far as I'm concerned.



I completely agree with this comment but I guess I'm just one of those "suckers" who couldn't wait for Hollywood or the mfgs to pull their heads out of their &%$s. ;) I don't fault anyone for not jumping on the HD DVD bandwagon right now but I also don't think someone who jumps on has made any grave mistake either. It will take a while for most to feel comfortable buying into HD DVD or Blu-ray.

Stace

SHADO,

I think the Harmony remotes are likely your best bet.

I also like the Pronto remotes, but they have two potential drawbacks -- one, manually coding them can be tedious and time-consuming; and two, a lot of consumers prefer hard buttons to the touch-screen that is their primary interface.

The nice thing about the Prontos is they are extraordinarily flexible, but that sort of power adds a lot complexity.

FWIW, I used to do Pronto design and programming for some of my customers, but have ceased doing that due to the fact that I could never figure out how to charge a mutually reasonable price in view of the hours of work it required.

I'm looking for some input from the experts here on getting a universal remote that will work with a Toshiba 42HX95 Plasma TV, Dish Vip 622 HD-PVR, Harmon Kardon AVR135 Receiver (has discrete on/off), Harmon Kardon DVD 22 player, and a Sony CDP CX355 300 disc CD player. It must have discrete features and I must be able to upgrade it. I'm looking at Logitech's Harmony line of remotes and I can get the 680 for about $50.00 online. I don't know enough about these to make an informed decision, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chuck

I have a Harmony 659 and love it to death. It has a reasonable number of hard buttons (which I MUCH prefer to the soft, touch screen buttons on the Pronto - I used to use one of those - make me an offer). It's easy to set up and change. I suspect you won't have any issue with support for all your devices. I have the 622 and the new Toshiba A1 HD DVD, a Denon 3805, Sony DVD carousels, Oppo DVD player, lots of other stuff. I haven't had a device it wouldn't control.

I have a Harmony 659 and love it to death. It has a reasonable number of hard buttons (which I MUCH prefer to the soft, touch screen buttons on the Pronto - I used to use one of those - make me an offer). It's easy to set up and change. I suspect you won't have any issue with support for all your devices. I have the 622 and the new Toshiba A1 HD DVD, a Denon 3805, Sony DVD carousels, Oppo DVD player, lots of other stuff. I haven't had a device it wouldn't control.

Is that the one with the transport keys at the bottom? How does that work with the PVR functions, such as the skip forward/back?

I recall that someone locally has the R5000 HD Mod on their Dish receiver...

Whomever that is, can you send me a PM? I need to ask a huge favor :)

Cheers,

ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG! Need to vent.

I decided to move the Family Room TV, Sat, DVD, etc. from one side of the room to the other. I went through the hassel of running a new coax cable from the diplexer in the basement up into a new wall in the Family Room to carry Sat and Ant. I de-combined the signal at the TV end, and now all I get is a 5-2, 11-2 and a few fuzzy analog ANT channels. I get no SAT channels as the signal has now dropped to less than 50% on all 3 SAT's. I'm guessing the problem is in the new wire I ran, but it was the last piece of coax I had, so I can't run a new wire to test. Oh well, have to try some more tomorrow. I hate it when this stuff doesn't work. Thanks for letting me vent.

Scott

FWIW, I used to do Pronto design and programming for some of my customers, but have ceased doing that due to the fact that I could never figure out how to charge a mutually reasonable price in view of the hours of work it required.

Doug

I have a Pronto and the appropriate dongle for my computer. Am I correct in assuming that to get into "Mouse Mode" you just program a macro to a blank screen? And I guess the next question is how do you get out of "Mouse Mode" without removing the batteries? I could find NO info on this at remote central.

Walt

Walt,

Which Pronto remote do you own?

In general, there are two ways to edit the Pronto configuration, one via the remote itself and the other through the PC application (ProntoEdit). Obviously the PC application provides you more flexibility in creating something that works precisely the way you want it to (multi-task macros, changing the screen layout/buttons in order to provide layered access, etc). The built-in editing basically limits you to changing labels for buttons already on the panel, or to "learn" an IR code to a button.

Not sure what you mean by Mouse Mode. Maybe this is something that is specific to the newer or entry-level Prontos? In the ProntoEdit mode, you make your connection between the PC and the remote through the serial cable. I've found that to update the PC file to your Pronto, you need to activate the touch screen first so that the Pronto is "awake" before you start the file transfer.

My experience with Prontos is limited to the first-generation Pronto, the Pronto NG and the iPronto, though I think that what I know about those remotes would generally apply to the other models.

Sorry this doesn't answer your question, but if you give more specifics maybe I can help you on this.

Is that the one with the transport keys at the bottom? How does that work with the PVR functions, such as the skip forward/back?

I have a Toshiba 42HP95, the HK AVR-135, Oppo DVD, and D* HD DVR - and use the Harmony 676. It has all the PVR keys in the upperend of the remote and works perfect with all my equipment.

I got mine on Ebay for a very good price.

-Mike

Doug

I have a Pronto 2000. I purchased the Philips wireless keyboard/mouse just to get the dongle. I have read that this dongle allows you to enter what is called "Mouse Mode" on the remote. Mouse mode allows the touch screen on the remote to act like the touch pad on a laptop with the lower 2 buttons becoming left and right the same as a laptop. I am familiar with all the other functions but it took so long to find the dongle, I can no longer find "Mouse Mode" on remote central. There were many references implying that a blank macro allowed "Mouse Mode". The only reference I ever read about getting out of this mode was "if you can get in, you know how to get out". How helpful.

Walt

Is that the one with the transport keys at the bottom? How does that work with the PVR functions, such as the skip forward/back?

Yes, the 659 has the transport controls at the bottom of the remote. They would be better nearer the middle, but I like the buttons themselves more than the buttons on some other Harmony models (they're easy to locate through touch alone). I customize the six programmable buttons around the LCD to perform the functions I use most, such as skip forward and back on the 622 PVR (also page up/down). When you set up your devices, the wizard assigns the most commonly used functions to the Harmony's regular buttons, which is fine for most things. Almost all the Harmony buttons can be reprogrammed.

Walt,

Thanks for the additional explanation on Mouse Mode -- that's an interesting bit of functionality.

But no, I'm not at all familiar with this, so I guess I can't help. Sorry.

I don't know if anyone else noticed this last night, but the audio problems seemed pretty bad on last night's standard-def production of the Cards-Tigers game on the digital channel.

I only saw the first couple of innings, but the lag between picture and sound seemed close to a 1 second, and in any event it was very distracting.

Hopefully this won't be a problem on today's HD broadcast...

Thanks everyone for the replies on the remote. I found this site (http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rc-harmony/thread.cgi?4251) that has all of there remotes w/pics and online prices and I'm leaning towards the 676. The buttons look much like the ones used on the 622, and I like the layout.

On a side note, I'm been watching the cards pre-game show and the audio synch is the worst I've ever seen. It's like watching an old Chinese movie with the english dubbed over. I hope it's taken care of by game time. I belive the game is in HD today.

So far the HD broadcast on 11 is beautiful. They have had a couple MINOR technical glitches, but all in all, so far so good.
Keep up the good work!!!
Fastman

Looks good to me.

The audio/video lag was a problem at the very beginning of the game, but during Eckstein's first at bat, there was a temporary pause and when the picture and sound came back it was fixed and looked good from there.

Nice work.

I don't know if this was mentioned, but...

I just ordered a new HDTV for the bedroom (a Sammy LN-S3251D 32" LCD), and wanted to get another D* HD Tivo (H10-250) before they ruin things with their own DVR interface. So I called D* and asked if they had any specials on it (I didn't want to pay the $400 everyone else is selling it for). So for ordering NFL Sunday ticket at $229 they're giving me the HD Tivo free. Even if I don't watch any NFL games, it's not a bad deal. :)

Widescreen Review (July 2006) has an interesting interview with Joe Kane and Amir Majidimehr on HD DVD and the Microsoft codec known as VC1. VC1 is the codec used for all the initial HD DVD releases and is responsible for the rave reviews the format is getting for its picture quality. Sony (Blu-ray), however, has decided to use the older MPEG2 codec (used in our HDTV OTA broadcasts). Blu-ray is taking a real beating here on AVS right now, and Sony's decision to use MPEG2 is one of the main punching bags. All of Blu-ray's theoretical advantages seem to have been destroyed by bad decisions on Sony's part, at least at this point in time.

Blu-ray is capable of handling VC1, but so far none of the releases has used it. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray can handle the same three codecs (MPEG2, MPEG4 aka H.264, VC1). Sony has time to turn things around, but if they persist in the direction they've chosen, the format war may be short. Bad picture quality, limited hardware features and prices twice those of HD DVD - not a formula for success.

Was it me, or were the commercials during the Cards game extremely louder than the game itself? And it wasn't every commercial, the biggest offenders were the Ford commercial (w/ Taylor Hicks) and Don Darr. There were others, but surprising to me, not every commercial break was extremely loud.

As for the picture, I only saw a couple of glitches, but overall things looked good.

Was it me, or were the commercials during the Cards game extremely louder than the game itself? And it wasn't every commercial, the biggest offenders were the Ford commercial (w/ Taylor Hicks) and Don Darr. There were others, but surprising to me, not every commercial break was extremely loud.


That's been an issue with KPLR for a few years now... not just with HD Cardinal baseball games but also with national WB network programming. Switching from true (usually from the network) HD to local upconverted stuff brings a pretty big upswing in the volume level.

I think the problem is not so much that the upconverted commercials are too loud. I think the volume of the HD programming is too low. When I do serious viewing of Smallville and Supernatural, I have to crank the volume on my receiver to (-9) to get the same loudness that I get from Fox and CBS HD programming with the volume at (-20). Then when KPLR's local upconverted commercials start blasting and I lunge for the volume down button, I find the volume is right about (-20) when I have the commercials down to where they're not shredding my speakers.

Guess I should also mention I'm looking at this week's Smallville and Supernatural and finding none of the hellacious macroblocking that made last week's episodes of those shows unwatchable. Granted, there is still some pixelating during fast moving scenes (no doubt due to TheShaft, I mean TheTube, stealing bandwidth). But nothing like last week.

I also think today's KPLR HD production of the Cardinals game was quite good. KPLR's commitment, mentioned by Doug earlier this week, to resolve several issues seems to have come to be. :)
I can't speak for the commercial volume, as I watch the games in a 15 min delay, and avoid them. Heck, we all have most of them memorized anyway.
I still do not like the in-game banner at the bottom of the screen, to me, it is very distracting. Though, it beats the heck out of a Nascar screeching across the screen during live action, and while an announcer is speaking. FOX's different drum syndrome is really becoming annoying. :mad:

Just a guess, but I think the volume problems for the commercials are related to them being Dolby Pro-logic audio and the program Dolby Digital. I know that on my receiver, anything in DD has to be turned up between 10-15 notches higher than Pro-Logic stuff. That's from the Dish or the DVD player. I know it doesn't help, but I think that's the reason for it.

Speaking of Philips (Pronto) remotes, has anyone seen this bad boy? And about $60 cheaper than the Pronto 1000 I bought several years ago, that I'm still using (knock on wood)

http://www.buy.com/prod/philips_rc9800i_multimedia_panel_remote/q/loc/111/201684963.html

I still love my 1000, but I do admit that it's not for everybody. The learning curve to program it is pretty steep even for a seasoned computer user, but once you get the hang of the ProntoEdit software, it's not too bad. I dabbled with the Harmony 768, but ultimately went back to the Pronto.

I don't know if this was mentioned, but...

I just ordered a new HDTV for the bedroom (a Sammy LN-S3251D 32" LCD), and wanted to get another D* HD Tivo (H10-250) before they ruin things with their own DVR interface. So I called D* and asked if they had any specials on it (I didn't want to pay the $400 everyone else is selling it for). So for ordering NFL Sunday ticket at $229 they're giving me the HD Tivo free. Even if I don't watch any NFL games, it's not a bad deal. :)

Are you sure they are not simply waiving the upfront lease fee? Or, are they giving it to you, and you own it?

Scott

Anyone else watch Deadwood tonight and have the picture lock up into a still while the audio continued?

Scott

Scott,

Yes, I saw the same thing on Deadwood last night. There was also some brief, random pixellation during Entourage and Lucky Louie.

Are you sure they are not simply waiving the upfront lease fee? Or, are they giving it to you, and you own it?

Scott
I think all they do now is lease their equipment. But when I called last week, they wanted $400 for me to get one. I also could have gone to Best Buy to purchase one for that price.

To me it doesn't really matter that much whether I own it or not. I plan to use it until it either doesn't work anymore, or it doesn't receive HD channels I want to get. In both cases it's probably no longer worth anything.

Dang.....don't know why I never searched with google on "Mouse Mode". The only way to exit Mouse Mode is by pressing the backlight button.

This is going to make it so easy for the wife...

Walt

FYI on my HDTivo hard drive failure. You can purchase and download an ISO image for rebuilding the HDTivo on any hard drive (without the original) for $20 from ptvupgrade.

Chris

FYI on my HDTivo hard drive failure. You can purchase and download an ISO image for rebuilding the HDTivo on any hard drive (without the original) for $20 from ptvupgrade.

Chris

Is it a regular ISO or is it the ptv upgrade ISO? What I am trying to find out is, did
the image activate your USB ports, caller-id, or any other non-standard features?

I need some big-time advice regarding DirecTV. As some of you might remember, I wrote about a year ago when I joined this forum that I was getting married and moving into a house that I was remodeling/adding on to, etc. Well, that day is nearly here (only two weeks.)

That means its time to start ordering DirecTV and High Speed Internet, etc. My only options for High Speed is Charter ( =[ ) and I have the option of DirecTV, Charter, and DishNetwork. I only have one HDTV right now and only one more small under-the-counter TV in the kitchen that is hooked up to my antenna. In addition, I have lines of coax throughout most of the house now and can get very good reception of my HD locals through the antenna.

I am going to go with DirecTV. My parents have that and love it. But, even more is the fact that I went and bought an HD-TiVo through eBay about six months ago so that I would own mine rather than leasing it (I did that after DirecTV initiated their "lease" program.) So, I have that.

What do I need to ask for on the install? What advice do you have for me? I'm a "new customer" if that matters. What is the best DirecTV deal going on now?

As always, thanks for all your help. =]

I would try to get the HD Tivo out of them. Shoot, order the Sunday Ticket if you have to.

New customers, in my opinion, get pretty much whatever they want if they are "smart" enough to ask.

In case you haven't done so already...I would run all the wires myself and just tell them
where to plug in.

In case you haven't done so already...I would run all the wires myself and just tell them
where to plug in.

I do have several lines of RG6 throughout the house.

There is already some coax ran from where the previous owner had her dish and its ran across the roof.

Winston,

It will be interesting to see if they give you grief about "owning" the Tivo. I hope they don't try to tell you it will have to be a lease. Did you get the $200 rebate after buying it?

Not sure what deals there are now. If you get their best best package you won't have to pay Tivo/DVR fees.

Scott

Is it a regular ISO or is it the ptv upgrade ISO? What I am trying to find out is, did
the image activate your USB ports, caller-id, or any other non-standard features?

When I got mine for the normal Tivo, it was Standard(no goodies). I had to take care of that myself.

I would have posted the link for BudShark, but didn't see the HD-Tivo on their site. If you're worried about the modification, I think Jdeihl posted a link a few weeks back. You can check that out to see if it's within your means.

I don't watch football, but I am considering signing up for ST just to get the HD Tivo. I assume this would be a lease, but I could always pop in my own drive and then put theirs back in if I ever have to send it back.
Dug

Is it a regular ISO or is it the ptv upgrade ISO? What I am trying to find out is, did
the image activate your USB ports, caller-id, or any other non-standard features?

Its not the original, but it doesn't do any real modifications. It lays the fondation for other modifications - particularly the ptvnet which activates USB for network and such. This is an optional upgrade that is another $20...

Chris

Why So Few Ads in HD Format?

The following item appeared in today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_________________________________________________

With High-Definition TVs in 20 million U.S. homes, many high-def owners wonder why there are not more HD channels.

But many industry officials wonder why more TV commercials are not produced in high-def.

"For us (to) use standard definition on HD networks-it's disingenuous." Chris Fawcett, director-corporate marketing at Sony Electronics, tells Advertising Age, which published a feature on the dearth of high-def ads in this week's edition.

Ad Age reports that the vast majority of TV commercials are still produced in standard definition.

Reasons cited:

1. Extra cost in producing commercials in HDTV; perhaps as much as 10 to 15 percent more. (Although the publication notes that the costs are dropping.)

2. Broadcasters have to purchase HD decks (they need multiple decks and each costs $70,000 to $80,000) and other equipment. They must also change internal processes and systems, such as tracking, to accommodate HD advertising.

3. Audience strength is misleading.

"Twenty million people may have bought sets, but really only 10 million are watching HD because they haven't signed up for service," Phillip Swann, president of TVPredictions.com tells Ad Age. "So if I'm an advertiser, what's my payback? It's just not enough yet.

"Eventually this will all come to a head and reconcile itself."
_________________________________________________

For more TV industry news, go to www.tvpredictions.com

Why So Few Ads in HD Format?

The following item appeared in today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_________________________________________________

With High-Definition TVs in 20 million U.S. homes, many high-def owners wonder why there are not more HD channels.

But many industry officials wonder why more TV commercials are not produced in high-def....
I'm confused. :confused: What is this thing that's called a "TV commercial"? Is it something I should see when watching TV programming? :p

Promised Multicast Flood Only a Trickle (Huzzah!)

The following is an excerpt from today's TV Predictions newsletter.

And if you're interested in reading more on the state of play on multicasting, be sure to check out the Multichannel News article link at the bottom, as that article includes a load of additional detail, including some examples of the type of multi-casting programming now available and in the wings.
______________________________________________

Digital TV backers once said that 'multicasting' -- which allows a single TV station to offer up to four channels via one digital feed -- would help drive sales of new digital sets.

Consumers would enjoy the extra digital channels, which would be offered in addition to the local station's regular programming lineup, DTV supporters said. With its digital feed, stations could provide everything from a channel devoted to local events to niche programming on sports, music or movies.

However, more than seven years after the launch of Digital TV, it appears that multicasting is still stalled at the gate. Few network-owned local stations have invested in new digital channels despite the earlier promises, Multichannel News says in today's edition.

How come?

Cable TV operators' reluctance to carry the extra digital signals has forced the networks to explore other ways to enhance their programming lineups. The networks, for instance, have recently launched niche programming services on the Internet.

“If people are going to put time and energy into creating a channel at the moment, why not create it for the Internet instead of waiting for multicast?” a senior executive at a Big Four network told Multichannel News.

Swanni Sez:

I predicted last year that the Multicasting movement could grind to a halt in 2006. The cable TV industry is steadfastly against any effort to force it to carry the extra digital channels. And the FCC seems -- at this point -- unable to pass any rule that will change that.
______________________________________________

For the Multichannel News article on multi-casting, click here. (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6346618.html)

Personally, I *like* the fact that most commercials are SD. Makes it a whole lot easier to edit the HD programs from my Fusion card without giving away the show's plot points!

If anyone out there has the Moxi with the Mate, I'm curious if anyone is having or had problems with the remote control for the Mate. Simply put, it doesn't work anymore. Well, it works on the TV, so I can turn it on and off and adjust the volume, but as for the Mate itself, zero, zip, nada. Anyone else have this happen?

Dan

(When we move to our own place, I'm going back to DirecTV, but for now, I have to deal with Charter... which has been a year of gradually increasing irritation.)

Why So Few Ads in HD Format?


3. Audience strength is misleading.

"Twenty million people may have bought sets, but really only 10 million are watching HD because they haven't signed up for service," Phillip Swann, president of TVPredictions.com tells Ad Age. "So if I'm an advertiser, what's my payback? It's just not enough yet.

So, let me see, if I haven't signed up for service then I'm not watching HD. Hasn't this idiot heard of OVER THE AIR? Maybe he thinks you have to sign up for that too.

Walt

Comcast Tech Falls Asleep Holding for Customer Service

Maybe Comcast should create the Sleeping Tech Channel. Gotta be worth more space than The Tube.

The following excerpt is from the CNN web site:
_________________________________________________________

Cable operator Comcast said Monday it fired an employee who was caught on camera sleeping on a customer's couch after the video clip was shared all over the Web.

The Comcast technician was at customer Brian Finkelstein's home when he fell asleep after spending an hour on the phone waiting for his own company's customer service, the Comcast subscriber said.

Finkelstein filmed the operative sleeping, edited and set the video to the Eels pop song "I Need Some Sleep," and shared the 58-second footage on popular online video site YouTube.com.

Titled "A Comcast Technician Sleeping On My Couch," more than 300,000 people have viewed the video since it was posted last Tuesday.
_________________________________________________________

Click here (http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/business/2006/06/26/serwer.myb.customer.disservice.affl&source=money) to view the video.

If anyone out there has the Moxi with the Mate, I'm curious if anyone is having or had problems with the remote control for the Mate. Simply put, it doesn't work anymore. Well, it works on the TV, so I can turn it on and off and adjust the volume, but as for the Mate itself, zero, zip, nada. Anyone else have this happen?

Dan

(When we move to our own place, I'm going back to DirecTV, but for now, I have to deal with Charter... which has been a year of gradually increasing irritation.)

No, my remote works fine. Actually both the Mate and the main Moxi unit use the same remote frequency so I can use either remote to change the channel on both boxes.

Personally, I *like* the fact that most commercials are SD. Makes it a whole lot easier to edit the HD programs from my Fusion card without giving away the show's plot points!

I concur. I can easily FF with my Tivo..I think some companies are catching on
though because I admit it, I have actually watched some HD Commercials when
I get fooled.

No, my remote works fine. Actually both the Mate and the main Moxi unit use the same remote frequency so I can use either remote to change the channel on both boxes.
That's what I thought... and neither remote works. So the Mate is probably a paperweight. Thank you, Charter! This past year has been really special... the countless calls, numerous appointments, including those times when no one showed up, the neverending quest to see exactly what was being shown on some channels-even though I paid for them...

Honey, can we move soon?

A week ago I complained about the brand new "Bar Louie" in the central west end having tons of brand new 26" Sharp LCD HDTVs yet they were showing standard def and switching channels on the TV since they were wired with RF.

I sent a nicely worded complaint to the company boses and they responded last week. In the email I included a link to an article in the Chicago Tribune about multiple sports bars (including the Chicago ESPNZone) spending money to upgrade to HD. The VP of operations (a guy named Scott Ward) repsonded with the text after it sounds like he inquired with his tech guy. I made sure to get clearance so here is the text of the email. His tech guy needs to improve his writing a bit, but it sounds like he got a firm grasp on technology and the reason why the new Bar Louie (and other places) can't easily make the leap to HD.


Did you read the atricle it answers his own question why you don't have high-def. 800 cables and 2 control rooms for 32 TV's. First of all the tv's would not run HDMI cables as they are for your home not 100ft to 200 ft cable runs. The Tv's would require 4 coax cables to each TV 3 for high def and then the other for the DVD player.And that does not include sound , if you want sound to them that would require 1 more coax to each TV.

Here is what you need

Instead of free DTV receivers they would cost $100 ea. you need 1 for each TV

Every sat reciever would still have to be modulated so it could be controlled at the head end

Adding the extra receivers would add extra cost is sat equipment to feed all the receivers

the extra cost of wire and the compression RCA fittings

a place to put all this equipment

extra labor for the extensive cabling involed

another $59.95 per month to DTV for HD programming

the system would be harder to use somebody trying to change channels they have a hard enough time figuring out 6 sat receivers and then if you use the DVD the source on the TV would have to be changed creating more confusion.

If you want to find the space and pay the extra's you know I will be more than happy to install such a system.All this equipment should be in a rack, stacking all those receivers on top of each other would be a nightmare.

the pictures look a lot better on a video feed not high-def quality but a huge improvement over RF.but has you know once we get over 6 TV's it to much equipment to be adding more equipment.

I have been looking for a matrix switcher so we can have multiable sources being shown on any TV through a video source just like the cloud mixer works. However after 2 years of looking for such a product I am unable to find a product for under $3000. And these units don't switch a high-def signal only composite video feed. There are some that do S-video but S-video can only run in 50FT in lenght after that we need S-video amps that are not cheap either, I priced them long ago and I could not justify the cost over composite video.

I assume the $59.95 is the bar cost of having x number of HD receivers.

For those that are interested, I will be hosting an HT Meet at my house on 8/5/06. Here is a link to thread in the meets forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7907494#post7907494).

All are welcome; but please keep inquiries about the meet in that thread rather than having lots o' stuff in this one about it.

Now, back to our HD discussion.

Best,

dweebe,

Thanks for sharing the sports bar reply.

I think this is pathetically lame -- this is, after all, a SPORTS BAR, and ultimately the quality and selection of live sports programming will be a major determinant in whether customers come through the door or not. This is not like deciding to buy the $1 pint glasses instead of the $2.50 pint glasses -- this is what creates the demand for what goes INSIDE the glasses.

I have no doubt that sooner, rather than later, these sports bars that are dragging their collective feet on HD are going to have to bite the bullet or watch their customers move on to other venues. The idea that a new sports bar would choose to bypass HD programming is the commercial equivalent of a suicide pact with its investors. Doing this right the first time would be a lot less expensive that redoing it, or worse, spending countless hours picking over the bones of the operation with the liquidators.

FWIW, I noticed last night that ESPN is doing in-house commercials in HD. The one that I saw had Peter Gammons using the ESPN sports phone in an empty stadium.

Once again, ESPN blazes the trail...

Doug,

I'm consistently impressed with the KSDK news coverage in HD; except for the makeup. I think they need to see the anchors in HD to see where the mistakes are ;)

Public Access TV: Govt Asks, "Is There Any Demand?"

Although this is an out-of-market/off-topic story, I've always wondered about just how useful "public access" TV really is, and how much it actually gets viewed. It's pretty novel that after all these years of spending taxpayer monies on public access TV, it's actually occurred to someone to try to find the answer to that question.

When I lived in New York, I have to admit that I regularly watched public access TV, because that channel carried the amazing "Robin Byrd Show (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Byrd) " followed by 6 hours of the briefest of brief porno clips sandwiched between an unending stream of advertisements for massage parlors, escort services and chat lines.

I swear, the way this worked was 10 seconds of a porn video leading up to something good (but ultimately unrequited), followed by 15 minutes of commercials, then another 10 seconds of video, 15 minutes more of ads, etc...

For me, this was a high point in public access TV and one that I doubt has been surpassed since then...that is, unless "Wayne's World" was based in fact. :cool:
___________________________________________________

HOLLAND -- A $65,000 budget deficit for the organization that runs local public-access cable television programming may force several communities to decide whether to keep the service.

Officials with the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council looked at funding for MacMedia on Monday and discussed creating an authority to collect contributions from area municipalities.

With a $270,400 budget, MacMedia provides public-access programming for Comcast in Holland City and Charter Communications. The city contributes about $180,000 to the organization while other units pay an aggregate amount of about $25,000. Some governments contribute nothing.

Holland Township Supervisor Terry Nienhuis said he would like to survey whether residents want the public-access programming.

"I don't see how you can go forward unless you get to that truth -- how many people actually want it," he said.
___________________________________________________

Winston,

It will be interesting to see if they give you grief about "owning" the Tivo. I hope they don't try to tell you it will have to be a lease. Did you get the $200 rebate after buying it?

Not sure what deals there are now. If you get their best best package you won't have to pay Tivo/DVR fees.

Scott

Scott, great question and its why I specifically purchased a "used" unit off of eBay, had him send me a copy of his original receipt, and anything else I could think of at the time to prove to DirecTV that it was a used unit.

Broadcast Flag(s) Resurface in Telecom Reform Bill

The following story is from today's SKYReport newsletter:
_________________________________________________

Telecom reform legislation being worked on by the Senate Commerce Committee contains several provisions that may impact the video and media businesses, including broadcast flag and audio flag technology.

The video broadcast flag title in the original bill has been replaced by language from Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). Inouye serves as co-chair of the committee along with Chairman Ted Stevens. Stevens said the major networks, the National Association of Broadcasters and the Motion Picture Association of America have endorsed the new broadcast flag title.

The legislation also contained language on audio flag technology, which Stevens said is important to the music industry. "I know many members, particularly on my side of the aisle, don't like the final language, but in the spirit of ensuring that the bill addresses concerns important on both sides of the aisle, it has been included," the senator said.

The Recording Industry Association of America supports the audio flag provision.

Items addressing video franchise reform and other telecom matters also are in the bill. Details on all of that can be found at Telco Media News: http://www.telcomedianews.com.
_________________________________________________

Toshiba Head Raises Hope for Unified HD Disc Format

The following excerpts are from today's TV Predictions newsletter:
__________________________________________

Toshiba said today that it still hopes to reach an agreement with Sony on a unified format for High-Definition TV DVDs.

The two companies have launched competing formats -- Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD. The formats are not compatible with each other.

"We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told an annual shareholders' meeting.
__________________________________________

That prompts the following "prediction" from TV Predictions' Philip Swan:
__________________________________________

I predict that Sony and Toshiba will reach an agreement on a single format by early 2007. The two companies will see the handwriting on the wall (the handwriting being low sales figures) and come to their senses.

Until then, consumers will use their common sense and refrain from buying the new players.
__________________________________________

For the complete story on the Toshiba president's statement, click here. (http://news.com.com/Toshiba+wants+unified+DVD+format/2100-1041_3-6088269.html?tag=nefd.top)

The video broadcast flag title in the original bill has been replaced by language from Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). Inouye serves as co-chair of the committee along with Chairman Ted Stevens. Stevens said the major networks, the National Association of Broadcasters and the Motion Picture Association of America have endorsed the new broadcast flag title.

The legislation also contained language on audio flag technology, which Stevens said is important to the music industry. "I know many members, particularly on my side of the aisle, don't like the final language, but in the spirit of ensuring that the bill addresses concerns important on both sides of the aisle, it has been included," the senator said.

The Recording Industry Association of America supports the audio flag provision.



On both sides of WHICH aisle? The aisle between the MPAA and the RIAA? The aisle between the NAB and the lobbyists? The aisle between all of the above and the Congressmen in their pockets? I don't see ANY of the concerns of the general public (recording for fair use, etc) being addressed here at all.

All you potential HTPC builders/owners, I'd suggest getting your HD tuner card NOW... current HD tuner cards will ignore future broadcast flags.

And will this new unified HD disc format be playable on either the current Toshiba HD-DVD player or the current Samsung BR player? Or will the early adopters get hosed again?

Man, did I get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or what? :D

Robert,

Ah, great minds think alike...

I had EXACTLY the same thought as you on the "both sides of the aisle" comment. I am so completely fed up with the way politicians are constantly focusing on stuff that has a low level of relevance to anything other than fund-raising.

I've been thinking about this a lot and don't see a lot of hope for improvement -- the only way we can eliminate this perpetual nonsense is to pass a constitutional amendment that limits the number of days each calendar year that Congress can meet -- say 30 to 45 days maximum. It's the only way I can see to get these halfwits to focus on things that are actually important and relevant (as well as to limit their ability to stop spending money like there's an unending supply of taxpayer chumps). But even that sort of amendment, I fear, would be circumvented over time.

As for early adopters getting caught in the middle of an HD DVD and Blu-Ray reconciliation and a single standard, I think we have to look at the big picture. Considering that early adopters probably only number in the thousands, if not hundreds, consumer manufacturers could easily provide trade-in credits if a unified format becomes reality.

Hopefully this Toshiba story gets wide general media play, so that further sales of HD DVD and Blu-Ray effectively come to a halt. Even without wider media coverage, I would think this statement by the Toshiba head would have a chilling effect on future studio releases of titles in either format. Even fewer releases could actually be a positive in pushing Sony and Toshiba back to the negotiating table more quickly.

Toshiba Head Raises Hope for Unified HD Disc Format

The following excerpts are from today's TV Predictions newsletter:
__________________________________________

Toshiba said today that it still hopes to reach an agreement with Sony on a unified format for High-Definition TV DVDs.

The two companies have launched competing formats -- Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD. The formats are not compatible with each other.

"We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told an annual shareholders' meeting.
__________________________________________

That prompts the following "prediction" from TV Predictions' Philip Swan:
__________________________________________

I predict that Sony and Toshiba will reach an agreement on a single format by early 2007. The two companies will see the handwriting on the wall (the handwriting being low sales figures) and come to their senses.

Until then, consumers will use their common sense and refrain from buying the new players.
__________________________________________

For the complete story on the Toshiba president's statement, click here. (http://news.com.com/Toshiba+wants+unified+DVD+format/2100-1041_3-6088269.html?tag=nefd.top)

This is a joke right?

Wow, So some idiot buys an HD-DVD player last month to find out it won't play the fancy new Blueray titles. So he buys a fancy new Blueray player to play the fancy new titles. Next year he will have to buy the new and improved fancy new player that will play a hybrid called what...

Just say no!

Scott,

I think the only "joke" here is that Toshiba and Sony actually believed they could get away with trying to foist incompatible products on consumers. Everything else that follows is a variation on the original punchline.

If this development actually snuffs out the prospects for these formats going forward, it will be a huge win for consumers over the long run. Eventually these companies have to recognize that consumers are not stupid and are not going to make these sort of purchases when there's a looming prospect of near-term obsolesence.

Having these formats die a quick, very public death will make it MUCH harder for this sort of thing to happen in future.

And will this new unified HD disc format be playable on either the current Toshiba HD-DVD player or the current Samsung BR player? Or will the early adopters get hosed again?

Man, did I get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or what? :D

I think you're exactly correct.

There will eventually be a unified standard, but can you see either of these megacorporations "giving in" and allowing the other format to "win?"

I can't. There may be a unified format, but I can't imagine it being either HD-DVD or BluRay.


I guess I am a cynic, Doug. I think most consumers are stupid and will buy virtually anything that is hyped enough by the media. And, I don't believe the media is the consumer's friend in most instances.

Consumers who frequent AVS Forums and others are not your average consumer.

Both sides of the aisle is quite a joke. Want to get rid of it? Its really quite simple.

1. Just vote against the status quo. Vote for anyone other than a Republican or Democrat.

2. Paid lobbyists are treated like drug lords.

3. No one who must pay income tax is allowed to donate to a political campaign.

4. Two hours of TV air time is purchased by the tax payers for opponents to DEBATE the issues in their respective markets. This is not limited to the major parties but open to everyone running in those districts and is only done once per campaign.

5. Incumbents are not allowed to use any tax payer supported infastructure to campaign. E.G. Mr. Bush could not use Airforce 1 to fly to a campaign stop. He would have to charter his own jet.

Walt

Walt,

Interesting suggestions, apart from #2 which is more a statement of fact than a solution.

Also, #3 and #4 wouldn't pass First Amendment muster, as they would almost certainly be ruled an unconstitutional abridgement of free speech.

Winston,

I think most consumers are not particularly well-informed when it comes time to buy consumer electronics, but given the needed information I think they are quite capable of making intelligent decisions. A big part of that problem is that TV technology, in a very short timeframe, has become incredibly diverse and complicated, and many consumers are oblivious to that fact until it's too late.

I also think the reporting on HD DVD and Blu-Ray has been pretty decent, with all of the mainstream coverage I've read noting fairly prominently that there are two competing and conflicting formats. For most consumers, this is all they need to read in order to put their credit cards away.

In a sense, I think the reporting in the general media on HD disc formats has been more rooted to consumers than what we see in the home theater press -- or at least that part of the home theater press that is advertiser-supported.

I think the proof that consumers are not stupid is fully reflected in early sales figures indicated for HD DVD. There are more than 20 million displays out there that are capable of making use of an HD DVD player, but there's been no mad rush to buy these players, unlike what happens when the newest video game console is rolled out. Granted, packaged media and video games are very different markets with different dynamics, but if consumers were truly stupid, there would have been lines ringing around BB, CC and UE at midnight waiting for the release of these HD format players.

No doubt part of the reason there wasn't that sort of mania is that neither Sony nor Toshiba hyped these products anything like what happens with game consoles. But then, part of the reason for that is that hyping would only expose the format conflict to a wider audience and that's not in the manufacturers' interest.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the jump in quality from DVD to HD-DVD is as great as the jump from SD to HD. So the got to have it factor is not as great as having a HDTV.

What will resolve this in the end is lackluster sales. The blu-ray player is coming out at a price of $1000. The media has been very negative about these two different players. Everything I've read says don't buy now and to wait for a resolution. It doesn't take a corporate genius to realize that a high price along with the confusion about competing technologies will ensure that sales will be slow. Also, later this year, the blu-ray technology will become a part of the new HD Playstation for a much cheaper price than the stand alone player.

Everyone loses all because of a power play among these corporate giants.

I hope both formats die a quick painfull death, and they are replaced just a quickly with a single format. Then, I WILL RUN OUT AND BY ONE.

Scott

I can't wait to watch a true 1080i HD movie in my home theatre, but I'm not running out to buy these movies or players for a few reasons:

- Format war.
- Price will drop considerably within the next year.
- The movies out for each format aren't the movies I'd like to own. Especially at the current price point.

I hope no one takes it personally, and I know that anything in HD is better than some of the best available in SD. But the movie selection could have been much better. I can't imagine running out to spend over $500 to see Happy Gilmore or SAW in HD. Give me some good action advienture movies like Star Wars, LOTR, or X-men 2 that could really present the eye candy and audio experience I crave and I'd be itching to see what it'd look like with my setup. Then, I might need to pick up Hitch or Phantom of the Opera to gain the FAF (Fiancee approval factor.)

I think the biggest problem with a unified format is going to be the Playstation 3. Unless the drive is able to be updated later on to accept both formats, the console may stop Sony from playing nice.

Everyone is assuming that both will fail and that may not be the case. (See VHS vs. Beta)

Blu-ray may end up being the clear winner after the PS3 comes out and the HD-DVD camp may just have to get on board. From the things I've read, I'm not sure what HD-DVD has going for it over Blu-ray at the moment other than price. (Edit: I know now that this is an incorrect statement.)

Just my 2 cents. As Yogi once said, "It ain't over, til it's over."

There's something to be said for the naming. Mainstream consumers can relate to, and understand what HD DVD is. But Blu-ray will require significantly more marketing just for the buying public to understand what it is...what it does, and why then not just call it what it is, a High Definition DVD?

A good example of poor naming, IMO is, I owned my first bluetooth capable device some 10 years ago. If not for the light-speed take off of the cellular phone industry in recent years, still today the general public would not know what bluetooth is.

It's Sony being Sony.

I'm sitting on the sidelines while the little boys and girls finish their game of kickball.

Everyone is assuming that both will fail and that may not be the case. (See VHS vs. Beta)

Blu-ray may end up being the clear winner after the PS3 comes out and the HD-DVD camp may just have to get on board. From the things I've read, I'm not sure what HD-DVD has going for it over Blu-ray at the moment other than price.

Just my 2 cents. As Yogi once said, "It ain't over, til it's over."

You haven't visited the Blu-ray/HD DVD software and hardware sections lately, have you? Right now, even the Blu-ray fanboys are savaging the Blu-ray rollout. Apparently, HD DVD has everything going for it compared to Blu-ray: price, features, better quality movies. That could change, but right now, all the good posts swing toward HD DVD. Nobody has much of anything good to say about Blu-ray here on AVS.

Blu-ray may end up being the clear winner after the PS3 comes out and the HD-DVD camp may just have to get on board. From the things I've read, I'm not sure what HD-DVD has going for it over Blu-ray at the moment other than price.ku,

I'll admit that I'm not following the format war blow by blow, but the early returns on Blu-Ray don't make much of a case for it being a winner, or even negating the fact that HD DVD was first to market. Joe Clark posted some information about this here last week, and here's a more recent review of the Samsung BD player and the initial disc releases:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_initialreport.htm

Obviously, Sony has some additional muscle that it can deploy in the form of the PS3 release, but I think you could just as easily make a case that PS3 is a possible "out" for Sony in terms of reaching a compromise with Toshiba. Specifically, Sony COULD sign on for a new, unified HD Disc format, and still make use of in situ Blu-Ray technology exclusively in PS3 consoles, both as a corporate "face-saver" and as a way to avoid writing off what must be a ton of R&D cost.

Again, I'm not following these technology rollouts closely, so maybe I've missed the Sony Blu-Ray players. But still, I'm confused -- why is everyone talking about the Samsung Blu-Ray player and not a Sony model? I haven't searched exhaustively, but everywhere I've found a Sony Blu-Ray player, they're only taking pre-release orders.

What's up with that?

It just seems very strange to me that Sony itself wouldn't be taking center stage with the Blu-Ray rollout, not only as a PR issue but also because it would seem to be the best way to ensure that Blu-Ray is getting the best possible introduction. That sure doesn't seem to be happening with the Samsung BD player.

You haven't visited the Blu-ray/HD DVD software and hardware sections lately, have you? Right now, even the Blu-ray fanboys are savaging the Blu-ray rollout. Apparently, HD DVD has everything going for it compared to Blu-ray: price, features, better quality movies. That could change, but right now, all the good posts swing toward HD DVD. Nobody has much of anything good to say about Blu-ray here on AVS.

You are correct. I haven't done much investigation since before the rollout. I was referring mostly to the specs of the discs and what I read a while back.

That being said, my original point was that one may still win over the other instead of both being a failure. I think both camps have so much invested now that I'm not sure how they could come up with some kind of joint agreement. I think one will have to win out.

If they CAN somehow put their differences aside and come up with a unified format, there are going to be a lot of cheesed off early apopters.

Ah, great minds think alike....

And so do sick ones. :D

ku,

I'll admit that I'm not following the format war blow by blow, but the early returns on Blu-Ray don't make much of a case for it being a winner, or even negating the fact that HD DVD was first to market. Joe Clark posted some information about this here last week, and here's a more recent review of the Samsung BD player and the initial disc releases:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_initialreport.htm

Obviously, Sony has some additional muscle that it can deploy in the form of the PS3 release, but I think you could just as easily make a case that PS3 is a possible "out" for Sony in terms of reaching a compromise with Toshiba. Specifically, Sony COULD sign on for a new, unified HD Disc format, and still make use of in situ Blu-Ray technology exclusively in PS3 consoles, both as a corporate "face-saver" and as a way to avoid writing off what must be a ton of R&D cost.

Again, I'm not following these technology rollouts closely, so maybe I've missed the Sony Blu-Ray players. But still, I'm confused -- why is everyone talking about the Samsung Blu-Ray player and not a Sony model? I haven't searched exhaustively, but everywhere I've found a Sony Blu-Ray player, they're only taking pre-release orders.

What's up with that?

It just seems very strange to me that Sony itself wouldn't be taking center stage with the Blu-Ray rollout, not only as a PR issue but also because it would seem to be the best way to ensure that Blu-Ray is getting the best possible introduction. That sure doesn't seem to be happening with the Samsung BD player.

Doug,

The Sony player has been delayed until October or November, IIRC. Apparently, they've run into a lot more problems than they anticipated. All the bad things people have had to say about the HD DVD players also pretty much apply to the Samsung, and a lot more, and it costs twice as much.

One person who heard the PS3 chant one time too often pointed out that there is another little company waiting in the wings to support HD DVD - that's Microsoft with their XBox 360, which will have an HD DVD add-on about the time Sony introduces PS3. Apparently, Microsoft and Sony aren't too good in bed together, so MS wouldn't mind seeing Sony take a hit on this one.

Doug,

One person who heard the PS3 chant one time too often pointed out that there is another little company waiting in the wings to support HD DVD - that's Microsoft with their XBox 360, which will have an HD DVD add-on about the time Sony introduces PS3. Apparently, Microsoft and Sony aren't too good in bed together, so MS wouldn't mind seeing Sony take a hit on this one.

I am not sure but the PS3 will also carry a hefty price tag of somewhere between $499.00 to $599.00. Not sure if I like games that much. Also their is a lot buzz about the Will Nintendo being the counsel to own.

Xmas 2006 could be the death of one or both formats. The average consumer will easily be confused & reluctant to purchase a PS3 that plays something called Blu-Ray. How many really will associate a game console with watching movies? If they do a little deeper research & learn that there is a non-compatible competing format, they'll be confused about which one to buy. Consumer confusion leads to inaction, inaction leads to NO SALES. Bad for both. At this point, I suspect, Sony thinks that their marketing muscle can save them from Betamax II. Toshiba is counting on lower costs, first to market to give them the upper hand.
Any of you guys that think your format will win because it is better are naive & wrong. See Betamax.
Those that think that a 3rd format will take over may be right but not for a few years. Who's going to develop it???
This is deja vu to me, DVD Audio vs. SACD, Toshiba vs. Sony. How many of you have a generous collection of these discs of either format?! I personally got all excited about HQ audio and almost bought a dual format player, then rumblings of H(igh) D(ef) DVD players came along & I decided to wait. My collection stopped at 2 DVD-A & 1 SACD and I can't even listen to the SACD track!!!! (by the way, my Diana Krall DTS disc sounds better than either of my DVD-A's, technically not even one of the forementioned formats) I am back to buying regular CD's. :mad:
I want ONE format & I am not buying until there is ONE! And I'm probably not alone. Rant over.

Cable "A La Carte" Fails to Make Telecom Bill Final Cut

The following story is from today's SKYReport newsletter:

For the latest in Congressional doublespeak, check out Trent Lott's "threat."
______________________________________________

A proposal floated by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would mandate a la carte for video services failed on a 20-2 vote during a debate on telecom reform legislation Wednesday.

While the measure was defeated, McCain and other senators warned that program choice for consumers could eventually become a reality with or without Congressional intervention.

Said Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), " I would urge the industry to get on with this, because it is going to come. This is the last time I am going to vote against it."

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) was the only other senator on the committee to join McCain in voting for the measure.

The senator from Arizona wanted his proposal included in telecom legislation that was being marked up by the Senate Commerce Committee.

Cable interests were happy with the a la carte amendment dismissal.

"We are very pleased with the defeat of the amendment and will continue to oppose unnecessary government regulation of the pricing and packaging of video services, which most studies show will diminish diversity in programming and result in higher prices for fewer channels," said Kyle McSlarrow of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.
______________________________________________

For more subscription television news, go to www.skyreport.com

I had guests over last night to see my new home theater setup. Being fans of "Lost" on ABC they were quite impressed with the HD images. But, the same audio sync problems that Channel - 30 has been having for way too long left my guests not really sold on "this new HD thing". What is going on over at Channel - 30? !!! KDNL needs to fix this problem and quit frustating fans of HDTV content!

oldavman,

I just checked my recordings of "Lost" from last night (both hours) and while there was some audio sync detectable, it was (IMO) very, very slight. I had to watch extremely closely (focusing on the actor's lips rather than the scene overall) to notice any sort of issue and even then it was hardly detectable.

It's quite possible that I'm not especially susceptible to noticing audio/video sync problems (at least until they become major as KPLR's was at the beginning of the Sunday HD baseball game). On the other hand, if you were noticing a big sync problem, maybe the cause of it is unrelated to the station itself (maybe your provider or your system).

FWIW, I watch OTA broadcasts through DirecTV's HD TiVo via an antenna. Perhaps some DISH or Charter customers with DVRs can chime in on what, if any, audio sync problem they had with "Lost" last night.

Xmas 2006 could be the death of one or both formats. The average consumer will easily be confused & reluctant to purchase a PS3 that plays something called Blu-Ray. How many really will associate a game console with watching movies? If they do a little deeper research & learn that there is a non-compatible competing format, they'll be confused about which one to buy. Consumer confusion leads to inaction, inaction leads to NO SALES. Bad for both. At this point, I suspect, Sony thinks that their marketing muscle can save them from Betamax II. Toshiba is counting on lower costs, first to market to give them the upper hand.
Any of you guys that think your format will win because it is better are naive & wrong. See Betamax.
Those that think that a 3rd format will take over may be right but not for a few years. Who's going to develop it???
This is deja vu to me, DVD Audio vs. SACD, Toshiba vs. Sony. How many of you have a generous collection of these discs of either format?! I personally got all excited about HQ audio and almost bought a dual format player, then rumblings of H(igh) D(ef) DVD players came along & I decided to wait. My collection stopped at 2 DVD-A & 1 SACD and I can't even listen to the SACD track!!!! (by the way, my Diana Krall DTS disc sounds better than either of my DVD-A's, technically not even one of the forementioned formats) I am back to buying regular CD's. :mad:
I want ONE format & I am not buying until there is ONE! And I'm probably not alone. Rant over.

Ditto. I'm done buying into new stuff. I have about 30 SACD, DVD-A, DTS ETC. discs. Everytime I go to Bestbuy I see the same old stale releases. The best audio formats to ever happen and they are effectively dead.

Scott

Perhaps some DISH or Charter customers with DVRs can chime in on what, if any, audio sync problem they had with "Lost" last night.
I don't watch Lost, but can attest the current DISH DVR (622) does have a known intermittent software audio sync issue. All sources, be it OTA, SAT or LiL, though most noted using the optical audio connection while viewing OTA HD.

I am not sure but the PS3 will also carry a hefty price tag of somewhere between $499.00 to $599.00. Not sure if I like games that much. Also their is a lot buzz about the Will Nintendo being the counsel to own.

I doubt that a gaming console will ever be the driving force behind successful HD DVD sales. With the strong chance for burn-in on Plasma along with the steep price for LCD and DLP replacement lamps, how many of us are willing to connect a PSP or Xbox to their prime HD displays for the kids to burn for hours on end? This is why most sane people connect their gaming hardware to smaller/older sets and OCCASIONALLY to the primary entertainment screen.

Doug, a little off-topic...

How do you like GAIM? I know that we discussed Trillian awhile back and you were going to give GAIM a shot. How do you like it?

I generally like GAIM and use it exclusively for IM. In fact, I recently began using it for some calibrator colleagues who use Google Talk. I was skeptical that GAIM would support GT, but found that support was provided via the Jabber protocol. Nice.

On the downside, I find that the conversation text is too small. There is supposed to be a way to change that via some extensions or style sheets or something or other, but I've never been able to figure that out, despite a couple of attempts.

So, I squint a lot and make more spelling errors than normal... :)

I'd love to find out how to fix this problem...

Thanks for the report. Yes, small text size is about as annoying as anything.

I can't imagine there is no way to change that. That's unfortunate that it has all of these other features, but cannot change text size.

I doubt that a gaming console will ever be the driving force behind successful HD DVD sales.

Well said. That's why I believe Sony maybe at a disadvantage on this one. I bet there are way more stand alone DVD players than game consoles. Has anyone heard any advantage of BR over HDDVD as of TODAY? Not futuristic dreams of more storage space.

Well said. That's why I believe Sony maybe at a disadvantage on this one. I bet there are way more stand alone DVD players than game consoles. Has anyone heard any advantage of BR over HDDVD as of TODAY? Not futuristic dreams of more storage space.

Not a one as of now. Even the storage capacity advantage is on HD DVD's side. All current HD DVD releases are 30 GBs (double layer), compared to Blu-ray's 25 GBs (single layer). Sony's having trouble getting adequate yields of its 50 GB double layer discs (rumors have the yield at 1%, but that may be wrong). Also, since they're using MPEG2 and not VC1, Blu-ray is at a distinct disadvantage in terms of disc space at present (VC1 is about twice as efficient as MPEG2). Do the math - with VC1 and 30GB, Blu-ray would have to have 60 GBs to match HD DVD's current capacity. Sony really frakked up on this one. It can be fixed, but who knows how long it will take. If they get double layer working, or if they move to VC1, they can maybe gain some momentum.

Thank you for expanding on my point.

I had guests over last night to see my new home theater setup. Being fans of "Lost" on ABC they were quite impressed with the HD images. But, the same audio sync problems that Channel - 30 has been having for way too long left my guests not really sold on "this new HD thing". What is going on over at Channel - 30? !!! KDNL needs to fix this problem and quit frustating fans of HDTV content!

If there is a problem I need to know...I've been out of town and unable to monitor, but as far as I know everything is OK. No one else has reported a problem.

Jim

The Sony player has been delayed until October or November, IIRC - Joe Clark
-------
Believe the current release date for the PS3 is 11/17/2006

jim

My guess is that BluRay (while I love the name and wanted it to succeed for that very reason alone, just kidding) is going to be DOA.

My guess is that BluRay (while I love the name and wanted it to succeed for that very reason alone, just kidding) is going to be DOA.

I think it's too early to call. Sony could reverse the major complaints against the format by including the missing features in its initial player, getting double layer to work, and/or by moving to VC1. They won't capitulate yet, but they've made a nasty mess in their nest with these blunders. The worst complaint of all is the picture quality. How easy that's going to be to correct I don't know. It would seem a simple fix (just use VC1), but who knows?

I doubt that a gaming console will ever be the driving force behind successful HD DVD sales. With the strong chance for burn-in on Plasma along with the steep price for LCD and DLP replacement lamps, how many of us are willing to connect a PSP or Xbox to their prime HD displays for the kids to burn for hours on end? This is why most sane people connect their gaming hardware to smaller/older sets and OCCASIONALLY to the primary entertainment screen.

My son and I use the Xbox360 on my primary HDTV. Mine is a 65inch CRT RPTV.

I will buy the HD-DVD add on drive for the 360, and I was going to buy a
Playstation3 only for the Blue Ray DVD player. It is a win-win for my family only
because we can use the game consoles for more that one thing.

Joe,

Based on the way Sony regards Microsoft, it seems that Blu-Ray (or at least those discs issued by Sony-owned or controlled studios) would be more likely to jump to MPEG-4 than VC1. If I recall correctly, the main reason Sony decided to go with MPEG-2 initially is that they didn't feel the need for greater compression and wanted to stick with "known" technology at the outset.

It's interesting that the at least some of the shortcomings in initial Blu-Ray performance is being attributed to MPEG-2. I guess I don't completely understand that conclusion, as MPEG-2 has been used with considerable success for broadcast HDTV for nearly a decade.

Maybe this is a matter of looking at MPEG-2 with "different eyes and expectations" based on what is possible via HD DVD? Or maybe the initial BD releases are pushing the limits of compression under MPEG-2? It would be interesting to see some data on all this...

Doug,

I'm shocked at how Sony is bungling this.

I remember sitting at a press conference and hearing Sony say that MPEG-2 was good enough. Clearly, at the ABR of 15 Mbits/second (the reported rate) it ain't. It's a shame that they are being pig headed about the use of alternative codecs.

Yes, MPEG-2 can be spectacular, take a look at D-VHS and see what it can do ;) But Sony isn't coming anywhere near those bit rates or (apparently) not taking the same care with their work.

I have said all along that D-VHS PQ is the minimum acceptable for either HD media. At this point, I think that HD-DVD is doing a better job of meeting this.

Cheers,

Joe,

Based on the way Sony regards Microsoft, it seems that Blu-Ray (or at least those discs issued by Sony-owned or controlled studios) would be more likely to jump to MPEG-4 than VC1. If I recall correctly, the main reason Sony decided to go with MPEG-2 initially is that they didn't feel the need for greater compression and wanted to stick with "known" technology at the outset.

It's interesting that the at least some of the shortcomings in initial Blu-Ray performance is being attributed to MPEG-2. I guess I don't completely understand that conclusion, as MPEG-2 has been used with considerable success for broadcast HDTV for nearly a decade.

Maybe this is a matter of looking at MPEG-2 with "different eyes and expectations" based on what is possible via HD DVD? Or maybe the initial BD releases are pushing the limits of compression under MPEG-2? It would be interesting to see some data on all this...

MPEG2 and the 25GB limit of single layer Blu-ray have yielded serious blocking, banding and other MPEG artifacts. If you look at the Blu-ray demo on a Samsung player, even the animation clip from Chicken Little shows these problems. That's also why there are so few extras on the initial disc releases. Everyone is comparing Blu-ray to HD DVD and the HD DVD titles really out-class the Blu-ray titles. You've probably read the articles where Joe Kane goes on about VC1 and what it is capable of, at much higher compression ratios. He goes on to say that the differences will be even clearer to people with newer 1080p display technologies (and better screens). Most devices on the market today aren't detailed enough. As that improves, he says, the advantages of VC1 will become even clearer.

John,

I have to say that I'm not really surprised that Sony is bungling this. I mean, when was the last time a Sony-proposed "standard" was a winner? Even with CD Audio they needed to partner with Philips (not exactly a cutting-edge technology powerhouse).

While there have been a handful of Sony products that I've owned and thoroughly enjoyed (and a few others I'm sure I'd enjoy owning), I think Sony's unchallenged reputation for excellence and industry leadership exists today only in the minds of its engineers and executives. The golden days of the Trinitron are long gone, and for all practical purposes, Sony is just another player in a market that is bigger and much broader than it was way back when Sony was the clear-cut leader.

Sony has not been doing well financially for several years, and it seems to me that Blu-Ray may be a watershed event for the company. At the very least, one of the lessons they need to take on board is that they aren't big enough (or smart enough) to drive the market on their own.

And they need to learn -- quickly -- how to play nice with others.

Does anyone know the remote code for Charter's HD stb Motorola 6200, I have a new Toshiba 50hp66 and would like to program the Toshiba remote to control the STB?

Also, I hope I am reading the posts correctly that the hdmi on the Motorola 6200 is active and can be used? I am using component at this time

Thanks

DanTheMan

Dan,

There should be a remote codes look-up table in your Toshiba owner's manual. Look under a heading such as Cable/Satellite Receivers and then a listing for Motorola. There are probably multiple codes that will appear on the list, and you'll need to find the one that works with your STB.

In the event that Motorola isn't listed in your user manual for some reason, I'd suggest that you post your question in an AVS forum area where you're more likely to find other people who own the same set as yours. In this case, check the Plasma and LCD Flat Panel Displays at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=40

FWIW, the universal remote functionality built into the remote controls that come bundled with a TV or receiver are generally only half-baked solutions. You may want to consider something more robust, such as a Harmony remote that would fully support all the equipment you own or plan to own in future, with the bonus that it will provide macros to handle regularly repeated tasks.

I have Charter HD in Saint Charles and lost the audio on HDNMV yesterday. It is still out this morning. The video quality is fine and all other channels audio and video are still great. Any one else with Charter in the area have a problem with HDNMV. I'm not sure how it could be a problem on my side with the set top box if the video is still there and all other channels have audio and video.

Capt Ron

Wow....no posts yesterday????

I'm sorry, I did not watch any HDNet Movies yesterday. I watched all of Gone With The Wind for the first time last night.

Walt

I have Charter HD in Saint Charles and lost the audio on HDNMV yesterday. It is still out this morning. The video quality is fine and all other channels audio and video are still great. Any one else with Charter in the area have a problem with HDNMV. I'm not sure how it could be a problem on my side with the set top box if the video is still there and all other channels have audio and video.

Capt Ron

Still no sound here on Charter for HDNMV. That sucked since 2001 and 2010 were shown. Is the sound off on satellite?

Still no sound here on Charter for HDNMV. That sucked since 2001 and 2010 were shown. Is the sound off on satellite?

It's fine on E* as I've been watching the Shuttle activities this morning. 70% chance of another scubbed liftoff today.

I did watch 2001 and 2010 last night and it was not to bad, but you could really see the overlays in the space scenes.

Still no sound here on Charter for HDNMV. That sucked since 2001 and 2010 were shown. Is the sound off on satellite?


I ve got sound on channel on channel 791. I have the DVR. PLus I am pretty sure I am off a different headend that, you as I am in O fllon IL

wolverine5767

When I got my HD cable box from Charter, the installer gave me some component cables. However, I did not use these because I opted for the DVI and toslink cables. The component cables he gave me can't be used for surround sound, can they? How can you tell the difference between regular RCA audio cables (red/white) and coaxial audio cables? They seem to look the same, but a coaxial connection can give you 5.1 surround sound (right?).

Sorry if this is the wrong thread, but any help you could provide would be appreciated.

Wow....no posts yesterday????

I'm sorry, I did not watch any HDNet Movies yesterday. I watched all of Gone With The Wind for the first time last night.

Walt

AVS was down for a while yesterday and there were losts posts and PMs when they came back up.

It's fine on E* as I've been watching the Shuttle activities this morning. 70% chance of another scubbed liftoff today.

I did watch 2001 and 2010 last night and it was not to bad, but you could really see the overlays in the space scenes.

I noticed the overlays, too. They were very obvious. They probably designed them so that they would pass on movie theaters of the day. I don't remember them looking like that when I saw 2010 in the theater.

I was surprised how good 2001 looked (just watched a little of it, not the whole film yet).

I have Charter HD in Saint Charles and lost the audio on HDNMV yesterday. It is still out this morning. The video quality is fine and all other channels audio and video are still great. Any one else with Charter in the area have a problem with HDNMV. I'm not sure how it could be a problem on my side with the set top box if the video is still there and all other channels have audio and video.

Capt Ron


I just returned home and switched on the tv. Sound on Charter HDNMV is back and 2001 is playing. Don't know if it cured itself or if I have someone here to thank.

Capt Ron

AT&T Is Calling to Ask About TV Service. Will Anyone Answer?

While traditional cable and phone services run on separate lines, AT&T's U-verse crams video, data and, in time, phone calls down one high-speed broadband line.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/03/technology/03iptv.html
free registration required to read

Jim

I guess the question is, how "broad" is that broadband line? If there's enough bandwidth, more power to 'em. Of course, maybe I should RTFA before commenting any further. :D

BTW, Jedi35 and I spent the evening at Joe Clark's place tonight. That's what MY home theater wants to be when it grows up. Thanks for the hospitality and the HD-DVD show, Joe!

I guess the question is, how "broad" is that broadband line? If there's enough bandwidth, more power to 'em. Of course, maybe I should RTFA before commenting any further. :D

BTW, Jedi35 and I spent the evening at Joe Clark's place tonight. That's what MY home theater wants to be when it grows up. Thanks for the hospitality and the HD-DVD show, Joe!

Aw, shucks. Thanks, Bob. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I've met the nicest people in the AVS St. Louis thread.

.....The component cables he gave me can't be used for surround sound, can they? How can you tell the difference between regular RCA audio cables (red/white) and coaxial audio cables? They seem to look the same, but a coaxial connection can give you 5.1 surround sound (right?).

Sorry if this is the wrong thread, but any help you could provide would be appreciated.

I've used short, standard RCA-type cables for digital connections with no problems. Keep in mind that Component cables only carry video. You'll have to connect your audio via another cable. To get 5.1 you'll need either a coax or a Toslink cable in addition to the 3 Component cables. HDMI is the only way to connect digital audio & video via a single cable.

I've used short, standard RCA-type cables for digital connections with no problems. Keep in mind that Component cables only carry video. You'll have to connect your audio via another cable. To get 5.1 you'll need either a coax or a Toslink cable in addition to the 3 Component cables. HDMI is the only way to connect digital audio & video via a single cable.

I believe he can use the component cables as regular audio cables without a problem. Heck, they may even be better due to better shielding for video.

Scott

I believe he can use the component cables as regular audio cables without a problem. Heck, they may even be better due to better shielding for video.

Scott

I'm sure you're right, but why waste an expensive, bulky triple-cable, unless it's a long or noisey run?

Off Topic: Has anyone received any updated info regarding HD locals on Dish Network? The fact that the St. Louis stations are officially located on the 119K bird along with Detroit and a few other cities is perplexing. Can anyone recieve them currently?

Off Topic: Has anyone received any updated info regarding HD locals on Dish Network? The fact that the St. Louis stations are officially located on the 119K bird along with Detroit and a few other cities is perplexing. Can anyone recieve them currently?
Mo,
The last communication I had was early in June, around the time they were uplinked on to 119k. At that time, he eluded to the thought that the cities uplinked on to 119k were there, more so to test the AMC16 satellite rather than test the stations, and presented the possibility they would be moved prior to launch. He described "launch" as "later this summer."
I do not believe any of the LNB++ are currently available, which are needed to receive 119k.

Has anyone got Charter's 10mps broadband? If so have you checked the speed with something like dslreports? Just wondering if it is worth it.

Walt

Can anybody tell me the current state of play on HD TiVo and DirecTV deals?

I know about the NFL Direct Ticket deal, though I'm not clear if this is something open only to returning DT subs, and if it is open to new subscribers, what the total all-in cost of the package is in order to qualify for the free HD DVR.

Anyone else hear recently of the $199 deal on the hardware being offered to potential defectors to cable (via the retention desk)?

I have a relative who's looking to upgrade to HD service and I figure it's worth trying to get a deal on HD TiVo, as the days for DirecTV to continue offering these is probably dwindling down.

Thanks in advance for any info or suggestions...

Can anybody tell me the current state of play on HD TiVo and DirecTV deals?...
I called several times over the course of about 10 days. The only deal I got was the free HD Tivo with NFL Sunday Ticket. The NFL package cost $229 and they added a $20 delivery fee for the HD Tivo, for a net cost of $250. It's still better than the $400 that retailers charge for the unit. Oddly, D* did not include the HD part of the NFL Sunday ticket, but I plan to call and complain until they add it in.

Dean,

Thanks for the quick reply and info -- much appreciated.

Has anyone got Charter's 10mps broadband? If so have you checked the speed with something like dslreports? Just wondering if it is worth it.

Walt

I've had 10mps for three weeks now and I think it's great, but for $74.99 i still don't know if it's worth it.

I know have Charter and work for them, but I was wondering what it would take to get the HD NFL pack with Direct.

Am I looking at a contract, plus monthy subsription, or is there a way just to do the NFL package?

Thanks,

wolverine5767.

KPLR-DT off the air (for me) from about midnight Monday. Anybody else?

wolverine,

I don't believe there's any way to just cherry pick the NFL package, but maybe someone here knows different. It appears that DirecTV loses money on its NFL deal but makes it up through subscriptions it wouldn't otherwise gain.

I think you have to take at least the entry level Total Choice package, which is going to set you back something like $50 a month.

A couple of interesting HD DVD-related stories today from the TV Predictions newsletter:
________________________________________________________

Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson says the HDTV DVD format war between Sony and Toshiba could be a "disaster" for the industry.
________________________________________________________

http://www.tvpredictions.com/bestbuydisaster070506.htm

________________________________________________________

Toshiba's new HD-DVD player -- the rival to Sony's Blu-ray HDTV DVD format -- is apparently being sold for $200 less than what it costs to make.
________________________________________________________

http://www.tvpredictions.com/toshibaloss070506.htm

Doug,

The Toshiba at a loss story is yet another site rehashing the same 1 report from iSuppli.

I have serious reservations that Toshiba is selling the A1 at a loss; but I don't have access to their BoM costs either.

Best,

A couple of interesting HD DVD-related stories today from the TV Predictions newsletter:
________________________________________________________

Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson says the HDTV DVD format war between Sony and Toshiba could be a "disaster" for the industry.
________________________________________________________

http://www.tvpredictions.com/bestbuydisaster070506.htm

________________________________________________________

Toshiba's new HD-DVD player -- the rival to Sony's Blu-ray HDTV DVD format -- is apparently being sold for $200 less than what it costs to make.
________________________________________________________

http://www.tvpredictions.com/toshibaloss070506.htm

Toshiba, predictably, denies this, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if this isn't what's happening. This is just as ugly as most of us following the high def disc rollout expected it would be. Just walk into a Best Buy and try to get clear answers as to the differences between the two formats (and that assumes you know enough to ask questions). They both deserve to die an early death.

But I'm still having a blast making my own HD DVDs. Even if HD DVD fails, I'll have a way of playing my own titles for years to come. Imagine how cheap existing HD DVD players will become if the industry comes up with a completely different compromise format. I have over a hundred titles now and even if I they are worth, say, $5 a piece, that's enough to pay for the Toshiba HD DVD player I bought.

On that note, on the HD DVD creation thread, we're rolling along quite well. Someone contributing to the thread even came up with a way of supporting 720p HD. Before, we were limited to 1080i material. It was funny - in a period of less than 24 hours, people exchanged ideas from Israel, California, Washington, Virginia, Finland. A software engineer then came up with a simple utility to allow the use of 720p files with the Ulead software we're using to do all this. The Internet is a wonderful thing. (He changed 3 bytes in the video file.)

Can anybody tell me the current state of play on HD TiVo and DirecTV deals?

I know about the NFL Direct Ticket deal, though I'm not clear if this is something open only to returning DT subs, and if it is open to new subscribers, what the total all-in cost of the package is in order to qualify for the free HD DVR.

Anyone else hear recently of the $199 deal on the hardware being offered to potential defectors to cable (via the retention desk)?

I have a relative who's looking to upgrade to HD service and I figure it's worth trying to get a deal on HD TiVo, as the days for DirecTV to continue offering these is probably dwindling down.

Thanks in advance for any info or suggestions...

I know you got one answer, but here are 2 different things...

I am a NFL ST Subscriber, I called and asked about the Deal and said
I'm a ST Sub and I heard about this deal, the CSR said yep, you qualify and
sent it.

My Brother-In-Law called and asked about the Free HD Tivo upgrade deal
and they said yep, and sent him one. No NFL ST.

CSR Roulette at its best.

A couple of interesting HD DVD-related stories today from the TV Predictions newsletter:
________________________________________________________

Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson says the HDTV DVD format war between Sony and Toshiba could be a "disaster" for the industry.
________________________________________________________

http://www.tvpredictions.com/bestbuydisaster070506.htm

________________________________________________________

Toshiba's new HD-DVD player -- the rival to Sony's Blu-ray HDTV DVD format -- is apparently being sold for $200 less than what it costs to make.
________________________________________________________

http://www.tvpredictions.com/toshibaloss070506.htm


The format war could have been avoided if Circuit City, Best Buy, Blockbuster and Netflix would have put their foot down and said no to two formats.

The format war could have been avoided if Circuit City, Best Buy, Blockbuster and Netflix would have put their foot down and said no to two formats.
But I will take pleasure in putting my foot down now by not buying anything, and watching the overly greedy and childish industry take a beating on this debacle.

KPLR-DT back on again as of 2200 Tuesday night.

Moman,
I sent a query if there was any further information regarding the STL HD Locals on DISH.
Here's the reply:

----- Original Message -----
From: Laslo_David@echostar.net
To: kdg454@earthlink.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 1:05 PM
Subject: RE: 118.7 KU Satellite

Mr. Green,

118.7 location will be used for international and local programming. There is not a scheduled date on when St. Louis will be released. When released though, they will come from 118.7.

Sincerely,
David Laslo
Executive Escalations

If this is how things finally end up, I plan to ditch the Dish1000 and replace it with a 500 using the new ++ LNB's. It the 6+ years in this home, I never had even a single instance of rain-fade until that 1000 was installed. Now, any moderate to severe storm knocks it out. Granted it is brief, usually 10-15 minutes, but once it was bottom 9, 2 on, 2 out in a tie game. :mad:

If I'm understanding it correctly, with a DPP44 and the to-be-released ++ LNB, I will be able to receive 110, 118 & 119 on the 500. I still have my 300 pointed at 61.5 and will continue to get the 129/61.5 channels from it.
As usual, "if" being the optimum word.

As I write this, I am waiting for Charter's sixth tech visit in less than a year. I loved the Moxi and the Mate when I first got them, but that honeymoon is over and I now get only get the movie channels, everything else is pixelated jibberjabber. Everything. So hopefully the tech will install an amp. However, I am a hair's breadth away from returning to DirecTV, so I am curious about what they have that will best fit my current setup - see, the Moxi and the Mate sharing recorded shows has been a great plus, regardless of the fecal pond I've dealt with and I know I really would like to keep that. So what are my options? Maybe I could run down what I have, and we can all make this a better day for me... if you wouldn't mind:
2 TVs (1 Sony HD KDF55XS955, 1 craptastic non-hd, but functional bedroom box)
1 wireless network (I mention this as I recall TiVo having a wireless sharing function)
honestly, all I want is to watch and record 2 local and premium HD channels at the same time, and watch them on either TV (the Mate downconverts). Anything match this? TIA. You folks always seem to calm my nerves.

As I write this, I am waiting for Charter's sixth tech visit in less than a year. I loved the Moxi and the Mate when I first got them, but that honeymoon is over and I now get only get the movie channels, everything else is pixelated jibberjabber. Everything. So hopefully the tech will install an amp. However, I am a hair's breadth away from returning to DirecTV, so I am curious about what they have that will best fit my current setup - see, the Moxi and the Mate sharing recorded shows has been a great plus, regardless of the fecal pond I've dealt with and I know I really would like to keep that. So what are my options? Maybe I could run down what I have, and we can all make this a better day for me... if you wouldn't mind:
2 TVs (1 Sony HD KDF55XS955, 1 craptastic non-hd, but functional bedroom box)
1 wireless network (I mention this as I recall TiVo having a wireless sharing function)
honestly, all I want is to watch and record 2 local and premium HD channels at the same time, and watch them on either TV (the Mate downconverts). Anything match this? TIA. You folks always seem to calm my nerves.

Nope, not yet. They are supposed to come out with a Media Extender thingy...
The USB ports are not active on DirecTivo models of the TIVO. You can modify
it if you want. I would call them and see what they can offer a disgruntled cable
customer. Tell them you need to HD Tivos so that your significant other isn't
upset with the change ;-).

As I write this, I am waiting for Charter's sixth tech visit in less than a year. I loved the Moxi and the Mate when I first got them, but that honeymoon is over and I now get only get the movie channels, everything else is pixelated jibberjabber. Everything. So hopefully the tech will install an amp. However, I am a hair's breadth away from returning to DirecTV, so I am curious about what they have that will best fit my current setup - see, the Moxi and the Mate sharing recorded shows has been a great plus, regardless of the fecal pond I've dealt with and I know I really would like to keep that. So what are my options? Maybe I could run down what I have, and we can all make this a better day for me... if you wouldn't mind:
2 TVs (1 Sony HD KDF55XS955, 1 craptastic non-hd, but functional bedroom box)
1 wireless network (I mention this as I recall TiVo having a wireless sharing function)
honestly, all I want is to watch and record 2 local and premium HD channels at the same time, and watch them on either TV (the Mate downconverts). Anything match this? TIA. You folks always seem to calm my nerves.

I have my tivo on a wireless network, but it needs either a gaming adapter(wired to wireless) with a usb- wired network adapter or be wired to the wireless router.
To enable sharing between 2 tivos, you need to "hack" both tivos to enable MRV(MultiRoomViewing). I only have the one, so I haven't set this up yet, but it doesn't seem too hard. If you are computer literate, you shouldn't have a problem, but it is a hack, so it won't be supported by D*

Dug

Nope, not yet. They are supposed to come out with a Media Extender thingy...
The USB ports are not active on DirecTivo models of the TIVO. You can modify
it if you want. I would call them and see what they can offer a disgruntled cable
customer. Tell them you need to HD Tivos so that your significant other isn't
upset with the change ;-).
So do I want the old DirecTV TiVo HR10-250 or the new DirecTV HD-DVR?
And is there any word on what the Media Extender hooha will work with?
And thanks!

I've lost signal on my Dish Network System, and I am at the point of needing someone to come to the house and repair it. I purchased the system from Theatrical Concepts in Eureka, but everytime I call them I get a recording and their doors are locked. Does anyone in the St. Louis area know of a dish repair company that you trust? I hate to call Dish and ask them to send someone out I don't know. Thanks, Ray

rmmvrwc,
Call Ketterman Communications and ask if they provide service where you live.
Ketterman is Dish Network O&O.
800-664-2602

Dan,
I believe Dish has a receiver that would suit your needs, presuming the programming Dish offers also suits your needs.
Their VIP622 is a dual-tuner, 2 TV, OTA, HD DVR. The DVR and receiver functions are available to both TV's, (1 HD, 1 SD), operate symotaniously and completely independent of each other. HD is down-converted to the SD TV.

Ken,

Thank you for the update regarding St. Louis HD locals. It still amazes me that another trip to the roof will be needed to receive those channels. Nor, do I believe that Dish will foot the entire bill for all the hardware and labor that will be required. I'm 100% legacy and I assume it will all have to get updated, including my 61.5 dish.

This just doesn't compute. What started out as a single 18" dish has turned into an array of dishes or 1 top-heavy monster for millions or subscribers.

So do I want the old DirecTV TiVo HR10-250 or the new DirecTV HD-DVR?
And is there any word on what the Media Extender hooha will work with?
And thanks!


I would assume the new HD DVR will work with the Extender because the HR10-250
would have to receive some sort of updates to enable to the USB ports. But
this is all just a WAG.

Ken,

Thank you for the update regarding St. Louis HD locals. It still amazes me that another trip to the roof will be needed to receive those channels. Nor, do I believe that Dish will foot the entire bill for all the hardware and labor that will be required. I'm 100% legacy and I assume it will all have to get updated, including my 61.5 dish.

This just doesn't compute. What started out as a single 18" dish has turned into an array of dishes or 1 top-heavy monster for millions or subscribers.
Those "fly by the seat of your pants" roots of Dish Network show through more and more. Cannot help but wonder how they arrive at some of their decisions.

One step forward.....

My neighbor a Charter subscriber asked me to look at his TV because he said it didn't look HD. I looked at the menu on his moxi and saw that it was set up for 480i. I changed it to 1080i and all is well. He couldn't believe he paid for install over a year ago and has been paying for HD for that long without having HD.

Scott

My neighbor a Charter subscriber asked me to look at his TV because he said it didn't look HD. I looked at the menu on his moxi and saw that it was set up for 480i. I changed it to 1080i and all is well. He couldn't believe he paid for install over a year ago and has been paying for HD for that long without having HD.

Scott


Yeah. That's the problem with Charter and not giving you a manual for the receiver. I would think the installer would make it clear to use the correct setting? I remember when he set up my Moto box and I had to work with it (on my own) to get the right 5.1 audio settings. I even called the Charter folks and they didn't help much. Like most things audio and video. It usually takes a lot of trial and error to get the best results. You can't count on the the installers..

Speaking of installers - but this is mostly my brother in laws fault. He bought a big HDTV a while back. He has a HD Directv box. His TV went out and he had it serviced and it was covered by warranty. He had a gathering a few weeks back. I noticed the picture wasn't high def and it was an ESPN HD Monday night game. He was watching the standard def ESPN channel. I just happened to "peek" behind the receiver and television and noticed he was only using the coaxial (RG-6 antenna line) from his Directv box into his HDTV!!?? I asked him about it and he thought the guy who fixed his TV would have set it up correctly. I asked if he had some component cables. And he did - in the other room. I quickly hooked 'em up from his box to TV. Changed the input and turned it to the ESPN HD game and it looked much better. Like I said, trial and error. But c'mon - these are basic connections!

We've all heard these stories and I was happy to help my brother in law out. He said he's having it fully calibrated soon! Hopefully that includes getting the best connections!!

Dan,
I believe Dish has a receiver that would suit your needs, presuming the programming Dish offers also suits your needs.
Their VIP622 is a dual-tuner, 2 TV, OTA, HD DVR. The DVR and receiver functions are available to both TV's, (1 HD, 1 SD), operate symotaniously and completely independent of each other. HD is down-converted to the SD TV.
I'll have to check them out... Charter never showed. I was an old DirecTV user, but maybe Dish can feed my appetite.

here is some news I have found out on St. Louis dish network HD locals.... You will like this, if you can even get the dish

Info from satelliteguys.us

We are launching programming at the 118.7° location on July 6, 2006! To support these installations, effective June 30, 2006, the DISH 500+ and DISH 1000+ antennas will be available in limited quantities through your authorized hardware provider. What’s more, we plan to launch HD local network programming in Detroit and St. Louis on July 6, 2006. This programming will be available from the 118.7° orbital location effective July 6, 2006. This means that instead of requiring the installation of a SuperDISH antenna, these HD Locals as well as certain International programming language groups will require the installation of a DISH 500+ or DISH 1000+ antenna.

My neighbor a Charter subscriber asked me to look at his TV because he said it didn't look HD. I looked at the menu on his moxi and saw that it was set up for 480i. I changed it to 1080i and all is well. He couldn't believe he paid for install over a year ago and has been paying for HD for that long without having HD.This is pretty common. I would say that I find three out of every 10 Moxi boxes configured for 480i.

This is pretty common. I would say that I find three out of every 10 Moxi boxes configured for 480i.

This doesn't surprise me too much. Does the programming come in widescreen at 480i? I understand the great service Doug does with calibrations and such. I certainly don't share that expertise with him. But, for basic settings it comes down to the manual. When I got my first Directv HD box - I scoured the manual for all the settings. It's usually pretty straightforward. Most importantly - it's how it looks! Such a big difference - to not notice it.
RG-6 cable from HD box to HDTV for only connection just made me realize how HDTV might be a novelty to some people. My brother in law is a sports freak. He has 6 standard def TV's in his basement alone. He bought an HDTV cause it was a big screen. People just need to realize you need to really spend some time with this great equipment to have a really great experience. I don't know if in our lifetime a majority of people will have the energy to learn the in's and out's of what HDTV can really look like..

So, I called DISH Advanced HD TS, and asked the tech what I need to do in order to be able to receive the 119k satellite with my present system. He says, since I already have a Dish1000 as soon as they begin transmitting programming from 119k, my Dish1000 will automatically begin receiving it.

Oh lord.....here we go. Can't wait until the installer comes here with the new LNB+ and asks if I know how to install it.... :(

kdg:

It is not officially available until morning.

Is there a charge for this?

Cheers,