Diana,
That would be nice to talk to him when he is available, if it is no trouble that would be great. I really don't mean to bother you with something out of your area of expertise.

Originally posted by bdenman
Diana,
I really don't mean to bother you with something out of your area of expertise.

Bruce, you are just too kind. It is no bother at all. Is there a convenient time to have him call?

Diana,
I will email you the details! Thanks again...

Business Class Road Runner is also blocking my AVS email ....:(


Diana,

It has been two weeks since you said the SA8000HD update should be ready. Any new news? I know you said approximated, but do you think it will happen this month?


ps, I am still getting all my regular spam!

Originally posted by kevinivey
Business Class Road Runner is also blocking my AVS email ....:(


ps, I am still getting all my regular spam!

I'm sorry, I know its entirely OT, but that was funny!! :D

For the record, my notifications have stopped as well. This site also "forgot" who I was, I had to re-login. But the likely cause is expired cookies.

Originally posted by kevinivey

Diana,

It has been two weeks since you said the SA8000HD update should be ready. Any new news? I know you said approximated, but do you think it will happen this month?


ps, I am still getting all my regular spam!


The software download to activate the DVI is still in the lab with bugs. I don't know when it will be ready.

I did find out yesterday that there is going to be another DVR download that will provide more TIVO like features to both the SD and HD DVR. I'm waiting for an email from SA that details everything and as soon as I get it I will share. Things like "gage to see how much space you have used", "first run only flag for 'record all episodes'" Yeah!

As far as the RR issue, do you want to speak with the guy as well, or wait and see what happens when Bruce speaks with him?

Thanks Gene. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to talk to a Tier 3 tech at TWC and see if they can communicate the problem to Road Runner people. So, your #3 in the stack of folks who have been blocked; perhaps there are even more of us! FWIW, I visited RR tech chat last night on the subject and essentially got nowhere with that. You might want to check out the thread in the Forum Feedback area where I brought this to David Bott's attention.

With all due apologies to "Dr Sydney Freedman" its time to "pull down your pants and slide on the ice."

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
The software download to activate the DVI is still in the lab with bugs. I don't know when it will be ready.

I did find out yesterday that there is going to be another DVR download that will provide more TIVO like features to both the SD and HD DVR. I'm waiting for an email from SA that details everything and as soon as I get it I will share. Things like "gage to see how much space you have used", "first run only flag for 'record all episodes'" Yeah!

Okay, lemme throw this one out in regards to that update and approximate time frame, and I asked this at the recent Myrtle Beach Home Show and they didn't know either...but how about the analog ports on the 8000HD? I won't be able to even consider it without working Analog out ports, so I'm anxious as to when the analog ports will be active on the SA8000HD.

Thanks a lot.

Jeff

P.S. The new features sound awesome, and when I read them out to my wife, she let out a hoot as well...can't wait!

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
The software download to activate the DVI is still in the lab with bugs. I don't know when it will be ready.

I did find out yesterday that there is going to be another DVR download that will provide more TIVO like features to both the SD and HD DVR.


Once the DVI bugs/issues are ironed out, do you anticipate Time Warner providing the software download nationally, or only on selected markets first? I'm a Time Warner subscriber in upstate New York, and am finally getting the SA HD DVR this weekend.

Thanks.

Diana,
Could you please pass along to the people in charge of the SA downloads, the one TIVO like feature I really hope they will add in the future is the ability to start watching a program from the beginning before it has finished recording. For example if you are recording Survivor from 8pm-9pm and you want to start watching it at 8:30 pm. It would be nice to just have the option of play from the beginning. I know you sort of can do that now by playing the program and then just rewinding to the beginning of the program. The only problem with this is a) it takes a few minutes to rewind to the beginning b) you can see the program while it is rewinding and may ruin any surprises in the show c) and the biggest problem I have is at 9 pm when that program quits recording, it boots you out. You then have to play from the beginning and fast forward to the point you were previously at. It would be so much nicer if this functioned like TIVO where you just selected the program and it played from the beginning while continuing to record. I watch many programs this way (start watching 15 or 20 minutes after they have started so that I will be able to fast foward through the commercials). This is the one thing that bothers me the most about the DVR and hopefully they will change it in a future upgrade.

Originally posted by JeffSmall
Okay, lemme throw this one out in regards to that update and approximate time frame, and I asked this at the recent Myrtle Beach Home Show and they didn't know either...but how about the analog ports on the 8000HD? I won't be able to even consider it without working Analog out ports, so I'm anxious as to when the analog ports will be active on the SA8000HD.



Do you mean the RF out port? If so, we are not ever planning on activating that port. We would like SA to stop including the port on the terminal.

Originally posted by randman
Once the DVI bugs/issues are ironed out, do you anticipate Time Warner providing the software download nationally, or only on selected markets first? I'm a Time Warner subscriber in upstate New York, and am finally getting the SA HD DVR this weekend.

Thanks.

No, these are never national downloads. Within each different headend, there are a minimum of three vendors that support this technology. It despends on the version of software your headend has on each of these platforms as to when it will occur in your area. That said, typically as soon as the first Division does the download and the world doesn't come to an end, then it is a domino effect to upgrading to versions and doing the download in Divisions around the country.

Originally posted by foz32
Diana,
Could you please pass along to the people in charge of the SA downloads, the one TIVO like feature I really hope they will add in the future is the ability to start watching a program from the beginning before it has finished recording. For example if you are recording Survivor from 8pm-9pm and you want to start watching it at 8:30 pm. It would be nice to just have the option of play from the beginning. I know you sort of can do that now by playing the program and then just rewinding to the beginning of the program. The only problem with this is a) it takes a few minutes to rewind to the beginning b) you can see the program while it is rewinding and may ruin any surprises in the show c) and the biggest problem I have is at 9 pm when that program quits recording, it boots you out. You then have to play from the beginning and fast forward to the point you were previously at. It would be so much nicer if this functioned like TIVO where you just selected the program and it played from the beginning while continuing to record. I watch many programs this way (start watching 15 or 20 minutes after they have started so that I will be able to fast foward through the commercials). This is the one thing that bothers me the most about the DVR and hopefully they will change it in a future upgrade.

I discussed all three points with SA on Tuesday, they are aware of the number customer complaints on these issues. Potentially all three are in the next download, but I cannot promise that until I receive the email.

Bruce and others with RR addresses.

I spoke with our Security Administrator. Unfortunately, individuals cannot do anything to change the current block Road Runner has placed upon the Hurricane Electric block. Only the administrators of the AVSforum can persue and potentially rectify the issue. I have sent additional information to David Bott to assist him in his determination as to the best next steps for the AVSforum as a whole.

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
Do you mean the RF out port? If so, we are not ever planning on activating that port. We would like SA to stop including the port on the terminal.

I don't think that's what I mean. What I'm talking about is the Yellow Video analog port, with the red/white audio left/right. Component Video is the the Red/Green/Blue ports, and analog is the Yellow(video)/Red/White. If I'm not mistaken, and I could be, because I've never actually *seen* the back of a SA8000HD, there should be two high definition outs (DVI, and Component) and one set of standard definition analog ports (Yellow Video, Red/White Audio).

If there is no analog out on the SA8000HD, then I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to even use it.

Originally posted by JeffSmall
I don't think that's what I mean. What I'm talking about is the Yellow Video analog port, with the red/white audio left/right. Component Video is the the Red/Green/Blue ports, and analog is the Yellow(video)/Red/White. If I'm not mistaken, and I could be, because I've never actually *seen* the back of a SA8000HD, there should be two high definition outs (DVI, and Component) and one set of standard definition analog ports (Yellow Video, Red/White Audio).

If there is no analog out on the SA8000HD, then I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to even use it.

Jeff,
You can go here (http://www.scientificatlanta.com/explorerclub/getting_started/4001025B.pdf) for a picture of the back of the 8000HD (note our boxes do not have the IEEE1394 ports). The analog Composite video output you are looking for is labeled "VCR Archive" and it is not currently active as you have heard along with the DVI port.

Component out is analog also.

Originally posted by Gary Rhine
Component out is analog also.

Not only are component outputs analog, all inputs to a tv are analog or converted by the tv to analog for display. Display devices are analog devices. DVI, Component, Composite and SVideo are all analog outputs of your box to the tv.

Dan Stalnaker
Director of Technology/Operations
WLTX-TV:WLTX-DT

This may help:

http://www.mycableshop.com/techarticles/VideoGuide.htm

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1577

My understanding is that with my Samsung DLP the DVI is digital.

March Madness - Friday, March 26 - Columbia DMA only

7:00 pm
Channel 9 - UAB/Kansas
Channel 810 - UAB/Kansas - HDTV
Channel 811 - Texas/Xavier

10:00 pm
Channel 9 - Duke/Illinois
Channel 810 - Georgia Tech/Nevada - HDTV
Channel 811 - Georgia Tech/Nevada

I'll be leaving at noon tomorrow to attend the games in Atlanta, so I won't have internet access until Saturday.

Go Illinois!

Originally posted by Dan'sHiPix
Not only are component outputs analog, all inputs to a tv are analog or converted by the tv to analog for display. Display devices are analog devices. DVI, Component, Composite and SVideo are all analog outputs of your box to the tv.

Dan Stalnaker
Director of Technology/Operations
WLTX-TV:WLTX-DT
Dan,
My understanding (and not only mine ;) ) that DVI-D is a purely digital interface.

Kirill

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
I discussed all three points with SA on Tuesday, they are aware of the number customer complaints on these issues. Potentially all three are in the next download, but I cannot promise that until I receive the email.

have they mentioned an upcoming fix for the momentary choking fit the 8000HD has when confronted with a black screen?

Originally posted by scruffy7
have they mentioned an upcoming fix for the momentary choking fit the 8000HD has when confronted with a black screen?

That's a new one on me. I'm going to need some more info? When do you access a black screen?

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
That's a new one on me. I'm going to need some more info? When do you access a black screen?

usually during opening or closing credits, or transition scenes in movies where the screen will go black for a second. whenever the screen goes black, or mostly black, it seems like playback starts dropping frames. audio and video becomes stuttery for a couple of seconds.

it happens faithfully during the closing credits of the Chris Isaak show on Showtime-HD, or Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO-HD. watching live everything is fine; it happens only when playing back a recording. it's almost as if the 8000HD interprets black as no signal and momentarily stops recording.

I will ask the engineers and will also try to recreate this at home.

Anyone else seen this issue?

YES, YES , and YES. It will also be more noticeable when digital audio output is used.

Hmm; I can't say that I have but I will try to keep an eye out for it (I may just be "tuning it out." ) Well; hmmm.... time out. Let me add I do see occasional problems at the beginning of recorded programs but they tend to go away very quickly. And yes it is stuttery audio/video playback so perhaps my initial thought is wrong. This what Scruffy and Kevin are seeing?

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
I'll be leaving at noon tomorrow to attend the games in Atlanta, so I won't have internet access until Saturday.

Go Illinois!

Lucky you Diana!

BTW Go ACC!! :)

All right, the 8000HD 'stutter' is a "Known Issue". SA is working in their lab to isolate and resolve the issue.

The next download will be purely 'function' related.

The one after that 'should' be activating the outputs that currently are not active.

Don't know when they will have a software patch to resolve this issue.

Originally posted by bdenman
Hmm; I can't say that I have but I will try to keep an eye out for it (I may just be "tuning it out." ) Well; hmmm.... time out. Let me add I do see occasional problems at the beginning of recorded programs but they tend to go away very quickly. And yes it is stuttery audio/video playback so perhaps my initial thought is wrong. This what Scruffy and Kevin are seeing?

Yes, and many who have posted in the SA8000HD Thread are experiecing the same problem.

Originally posted by Kir
Dan,
My understanding (and not only mine ;) ) that DVI-D is a purely digital interface.

Kirill

It is a digital connection to the monitor. However DVI-I has the capability to be both analog and digital. I guess I was a little confusing on my previous post. Let me see if I can clear it all up. Unless you are running a Plasma screen, you are probably using the analog portion of the DVI connector. Crt displays are analog devices. If you feed them a digital signal, they have to convert it back to analog to display it. Flat panel(LCD or Plasma) displays can usually show digital signals without being converted. I am sure there are technologies that I don't know about out there so this info is a general rule.

Dan Stalnaker
Director of Technology/Operations
WLTX-TV:WLTX-DT

Originally posted by Dan'sHiPix
Unless you are running a Plasma screen, you are probably using the analog portion of the DVI connector.
Dan Stalnaker
Director of Technology/Operations
WLTX-TV:WLTX-DT

DVI cables come in three flavors. Digital, analog and both. If you are using a digital DVI for a Samsung DLP, for example, digital is being transmitted. There is only an "analog portion" on the kind DVI cable that can handle both.

Originally posted by bdenman
Jeff,
You can go here (http://www.scientificatlanta.com/explorerclub/getting_started/4001025B.pdf) for a picture of the back of the 8000HD (note our boxes do not have the IEEE1394 ports). The analog Composite video output you are looking for is labeled "VCR Archive" and it is not currently active as you have heard along with the DVI port.

Thanks for the pdf link. That's awesome, I hadn't seen the back of the 8000HD yet.

So on this PDF, the row marked "9"...(VCR Archive* Connects to video and left/right (L/R) audio inputs of a VCR. These outputs are used for archiving programs that are stored on the 8000HD to a VCR) is what I'm talking about, right? It's not in color, but I'm assuming that's the "oldschool" Yellow-Video, Red/White-Audio OUT from the HD...that's the one that's not *currently* active...correct?

If so, then that's exactly what I'm asking Diana when I ask, "Are those scheduled to be turned on with this March/April update that's being discussed? "

I desperately need those to be "on" for me to be able to even *suggest* to the wife that we replace our 8000SD...lol...otherwise I'd just as soon suggest we buy a pony to keep in the bathroom...

Originally posted by Dan'sHiPix
It is a digital connection to the monitor. However DVI-I has the capability to be both analog and digital. I guess I was a little confusing on my previous post. Let me see if I can clear it all up. Unless you are running a Plasma screen, you are probably using the analog portion of the DVI connector. Crt displays are analog devices. If you feed them a digital signal, they have to convert it back to analog to display it. Flat panel(LCD or Plasma) displays can usually show digital signals without being converted. I am sure there are technologies that I don't know about out there so this info is a general rule.

Okay, so if the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000HD has a DVI port on the back, and say you want to plug it into a Sony 34" Hi-Scan FD Trinitron WEGA TV that has a DVI port on the back...you would *NOT* be sending digital information to the TV? I understood that a D/A conversion needed to take place, but I thought on a HDTV, you could display digital output...So then, the DVI port on the back of the Sony is basically useless? I might as well let the SA8000 do that D/A conversion? Is there any benefit to letting the TV do it as opposed to the box?

Jeff,
really curious...

If you do not have a TV with component inputs why do you want a 8000HD?

If your TV does have component inputs and you get a 8000HD you could still run a cable-in to the VCR for archiving.

The DVI port on the back of a cable box is a DVI-D. It sends all digital info (1's and 0's) to you tv. The tv would then convert the digital info into analog info that the tv would then display.

The benefit is that you are passing the digital info that you get from the cable company straight to the tv and letting the tv do the digital to analog conversions, unless as Dan said you have a Plasma or LCD display then they can display the digital info.

JeffSmall,

Cathode-ray tubes are inherently analog devices. That was Dan's point. Using a DVI-D connection can delay the digital-to-analog conversion until the very end (at least in theory, not true for certain models of Sony televisions including my 36XBR800) but ultimately it does have d-to-a included.

What Dan wasn't taking into account was DLP and LCP type displays which really do have individually-addressed pixels.

Originally posted by JeffSmall
So on this PDF, the row marked "9"...(VCR Archive* Connects to video and left/right (L/R) audio inputs of a VCR. These outputs are used for archiving programs that are stored on the 8000HD to a VCR) is what I'm talking about, right? It's not in color, but I'm assuming that's the "oldschool" Yellow-Video, Red/White-Audio OUT from the HD...that's the one that's not *currently* active...correct?

the VCR Archive connections are sort of currently active now.

whatever you have in the PIP window gets sent out to them, but not what's on the main display.

I just got an email from avs that was notification of a private message... so hmmm.... maybe the block is gone...

and now an update: yes... the block is gone! excellent work David and Diana and all!

Originally posted by bdenman
Hmm; I can't say that I have but I will try to keep an eye out for it (I may just be "tuning it out." ) Well; hmmm.... time out. Let me add I do see occasional problems at the beginning of recorded programs but they tend to go away very quickly. And yes it is stuttery audio/video playback so perhaps my initial thought is wrong. This what Scruffy and Kevin are seeing?

yeah, that sounds like it. as soon as there's more to the picture than a mostly black screen it seems to stabilize. i tend to notice it on the premium channels more, only because there's not that much black screen on network tv where end credits get squeezed for promos. i did notice it a couple of times on NYPD Blue this week when they would do a fade to black, but it was pretty quick. it's much more pronounced in movies where they will do a lengthy fade to black with a crossfade of dialogue from the next scene.

i'm glad to hear they are working on it.

Email notification fixed here too.

Originally posted by Gary Rhine
If you do not have a TV with component inputs why do you want a 8000HD?

If your TV does have component inputs and you get a 8000HD you could still run a cable-in to the VCR for archiving.

Oh, it does, it also has a DVI interface, so does the 8000HD. It has component, and DVI. I was also interested in the *composite* output. The Yellow Video, Red/White Audio out from the 8000HD. My bad, I realize now I was saying the wrong thing. I was using the term "analog" to refer to "composite" video. Right now, the composite video out ("Out 2 (VCR)") isn't active on the 8000HD, and I need that to be active, unless of course, the S-video out is active, and I can convert the S-Video to Composite Video.

I have a video distribution system that uses composite video, and I currently distribute my 8000 by using the composite video out. If this wasn't active on the 8000HD, I'd be upset and wouldn't be able to even use it, which would royally stink. The wife is currently stuck to that video distribution system like glue and I'd never be able to convince her to go to a TV Box that wouldn't be able to do that...

I thought about using the "Monitor Out" on the TV and just send whatever video source was selected by the TV, but it turns out it doesn't work with anything connected to the composite video or DVI video, which the 8000HD would use.

Anyway, I hope I explained it right, and that it's what I'm wondering will be activated. I'm sorry I wasn't more clear.

So I'll ask it again, lest there be any confusion. I'm wondering if the composite video out, labeled "Out 2 (VCR)" on the PDF of the 8000HD, will be activated by this firmware update. I'm hoping so...and I'm super interested in it...

I think the stutterer in audio/video playback is related to shows that contain Dolby Digital AC3 5.1 audio, It really show up on DiscHD and the INHD programs. Check and see if your recorded tv shows with 5.1 are the shows that stutter the most on the black video screens.

I also have problems with analog programs playing back way too slow. Audio and Video running in a half playback speed. I think this has to be something to do with bad VBR (Variable Bit Rate) data coding on recorded video on the HD.

Originally posted by TechMan
I think the stutterer in audio/video playback is related to shows that contain Dolby Digital AC3 5.1 audio, It really show up on DiscHD and the INHD programs. Check and see if your recorded tv shows with 5.1 are the shows that stutter the most on the black video screens.

I also have problems with analog programs playing back way too slow. Audio and Video running in a half playback speed. I think this has to be something to do with bad VBR (Variable Bit Rate) data coding on recorded video on the HD.

Dolby Digital 2.0 has the same stutter problems. I agree that is more pronounced when DD 5.1 is the audio source.


I record a couple analog shows and I have never had this problem. Stuttering also does not occur during playback of record analog programs.

Originally posted by JeffSmall

So I'll ask it again, lest there be any confusion. I'm wondering if the composite video out, labeled "Out 2 (VCR)" on the PDF of the 8000HD, will be activated by this firmware update. I'm hoping so...and I'm super interested in it...

I have been told, the composite outputs are to be a part of the software download that also activates the DVI and S-Video. Once I receive the date and specs on the extent of the download, I will, of course, share.

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
I have been told, the composite outputs are to be a part of the software download that also activates the DVI and S-Video. Once I receive the date and specs on the extent of the download, I will, of course, share.

You...are...the...greatest! That totally rules.

Per Requests for Information as to how TWC will facilitate the IEEE 1394:

TWC, along with each of the other MSOs, and representatives of the consumer electronics industry, signed the Plug and Play Agreement in December 2002. The body of that agreement was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in the Plug and Play Order, dated September 2003. Per this Agreement and Order, TWC has two different obligations with respect to IEEE 1394 (‘Fire Wire’), tied to different dates:

Effective April 1, 2004, solely upon request of a customer, TWC must replace any leased high definition converter, which does not include a functional IEEE 1394 interface, with one that includes a functional IEEE 1394 interface.

Effective, July 1, 2005, all high definition converters acquired by TWC for distribution to customers must include both (1) a DVI or HDMI interface AND (2) an IEEE 1394 interface.

In TWC South Carolina, the only HD converter available as of April 1, with a functional 1394 port will be a new version of the 3250 that will be referenced in the South Carolina offices as the 3250FW (this is not a part number you will find on the SA website – I also do not know what other Divisions will ‘name’ their converters). There will be no HD DVR with a functional 1394 port available in any SA Division until July 1, 2005.

Beginning Thursday, April 1, 2004, Customers in South Carolina may call in and request to switch out their current HD converter or upgrade to an HD converter with a functional 1394 port. The inventory of the 3250FW will be very limited, so they will not be stocked at any front counter location. An installation appointment must be scheduled and, again due to limited inventory, this appointment may take up to 14 business days to schedule depending upon where you reside in South Carolina.

Thank you for that update Diana!

This question is to anyone who knows the answer. If your TV doesnt have a 1394 input then is a D-VHS really the only other reason someone may need a 1394 port?? I have been thinking about getting a D-VHS to record HD, they had one at Circuit City hooked up playing the Superbowl on it in HD and it looked just as good as when it was live. I just wanna know if I should go ahead and get my name on the list to get a STB with one on it. Thanks.

Originally posted by D-rock0030
This question is to anyone who knows the answer. If your TV doesnt have a 1394 input then is a D-VHS really the only other reason someone may need a 1394 port?? I have been thinking about getting a D-VHS to record HD, they had one at Circuit City hooked up playing the Superbowl on it in HD and it looked just as good as when it was live. I just wanna know if I should go ahead and get my name on the list to get a STB with one on it. Thanks.

To answer your question: Pretty much; DVHS, PVR or DVR. Firewire supposedly can be also be used to link all the above plus even A/V receivers using a daisy chain approach. And now a question for you? Do you want to be our guinea pig? Inquiring minds want to know how this all works too!

Note: If your TV does not have IEEE1396/Firewire then may have to get a JVC DVHS over a Mitsubishi as the latter do not have component outputs. (I believe Marantz also sells rebadged JVC DVHS). We don't know yet if you will be able to play a DVHS recording back through the SA cable box and then to the TV via its component outputs. In theory one should be able to do this since Firewire is a two-way connection but as far I know no one has reported that this does work. There are some other considerations too like hardware compatability that add to the uncertainty and the reliability of the JVC units (historicaly very poor but possibly okay now). This all adds to to being an untested proposition. It should work but...? You might want to check out the Recording Forum as well for more information.

For now one would might consider a DVHS for long-term archving and a DVR for temporary time-shifting. The gold standard will be the 8000HD with Firewire which is still in the lab.

"For now one would might consider a DVHS for long-term archving and a DVR for temporary time-shifting. The gold standard will be the 8000HD with Firewire which is still in the lab."

I would consider the standard to be a Hipix DTV 200 card. I can record HD directly ota @ 9gig/hour and if I want to archive it all I have to do is burn it to CD-R or DVD-R. I have one at the station and it works great.
Dan Stalnaker
Director of Technology/Operations
WLTX-TV:WLTX-DT

Interesting point Dan. Given the Hipix appears to be no longer available any idea if the MyHD MDP-120 works just as well or better? What program do you use (if any) to shirink the program down to fit on a DVD?

Originally posted by bdenman
Interesting point Dan. Given the Hipix appears to be no longer available any idea if the MyHD MDP-120 works just as well or better? What program do you use (if any) to shirink the program down to fit on a DVD?

I just use multiple disks. Since it is just data being put on the disk and not video, it does mind being on more than one disk. Basically the hipix stores a seperate file for each minute of the broadcast. It puts them into a folder for each show. You can name these folders by show name or channel number or whatever else you can think of. I generally use the show title since I have several files from 19-1. I would bet that you can still find the HiPix on the web if you look long enough.

Dan Stalnaker
Director of Technology/Operations
WLTX-TV:WLTX-DT

Originally posted by bdenman
For now one would might consider a DVHS for long-term archving and a DVR for temporary time-shifting. The gold standard will be the 8000HD with Firewire which is still in the lab.

Yes that would be great, could have a DVR for timeshifting and then use the firewire to DVHS for archiving. But didnt Diana's post say that they would only be getting 3250HD's with the firewire not the 8000HD's?

That is correct. You can put in your order now for the upcoming Firewire equipped SA3250HD and hopefully try out the D-VHS recorder option this spring (and 8000HD next year maybe (~Jul 05). And like Dan said, one can use a HiPix HD (or similar perhaps) for OTA reception recording/archiving as well. A quick search revealed one very expensive Telemann HiPix DTV-200 HiPix card on EBay. However the less expensive MyHD card MDP120 is still for sale and may work just about as well.

Originally posted by bdenman
That is correct. You can put in your order now for the upcoming Firewire equipped SA3250HD and hopefully try out the D-VHS recorder option this spring (and 8000HD next year maybe (~Jul 05). And like Dan said, one can use a HiPix HD (or similar perhaps) for OTA reception recording/archiving as well. A quick search revealed one very expensive Telemann HiPix DTV-200 HiPix card on EBay. However the less expensive MyHD card MDP120 is still for sale and may work just about as well.

Maybe you, or Diana could answer this then, (and the only reason I'm asking is that I just purchased a HDTV this week, and was going to wait to upgrade to the 8000HD when the analog and DVI ports were activated) does this mean that after April 1st, a customer would NOT be able to get their hands on a SA8000HD *until* after July 1st when the firewire is activated? I'm only asking because this "firmware update" we've been hearing about will apparently activate the only thing that I, in particular, care about and that's the DVI port, and the Composite Video Out. So if an update comes down the pike, say in late April, or May, to the firmware on the 8000HD will a customer still be able to get one if they don't care about the 1394?

Originally posted by JeffSmall
Maybe you, or Diana could answer this then, (and the only reason I'm asking is that I just purchased a HDTV this week, and was going to wait to upgrade to the 8000HD when the analog and DVI ports were activated) does this mean that after April 1st, a customer would NOT be able to get their hands on a SA8000HD *until* after July 1st when the firewire is activated? I'm only asking because this "firmware update" we've been hearing about will apparently activate the only thing that I, in particular, care about and that's the DVI port, and the Composite Video Out. So if an update comes down the pike, say in late April, or May, to the firmware on the 8000HD will a customer still be able to get one if they don't care about the 1394?
We have not heard any reason why you won't be able to get the existing 8000HD model (no Firewire) now and for the foreseeable future (subject to standard supply/demand issues). The SA8000HD with Firewire (labeled 8000FW) is not slated to be delivered for a very long time (like a year plus from now; estimated July 2005).

You can also connect a DVHS recorder to a WIN XP PC Via firewire and use the windows JVC drivers and DVHSTool to create the same files as the HiPix card so you can burn shows on a DVD-+R. You can also use Moonlight Elcard Player to view the files on your PC. You can have it all, baby!!!

Originally posted by bdenman
Interesting point Dan. Given the Hipix appears to be no longer available any idea if the MyHD MDP-120 works just as well or better? What program do you use (if any) to shirink the program down to fit on a DVD?

The MyHD MDP-120 is far better than HiPix. Plus it supports DVI output and hardware DVD decoding.

Originally posted by JeffSmall
.....on the 8000HD will a customer still be able to get one if they don't care about the 1394?


Absolutely!

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
Absolutely!

Now That's Customer Service! Thanks Diana...

Has anyone requested a SA3250FW?

Not that I'm aware of.

Diana,

I sure would like to have channel 950 activated. It would make the extra $6.95 a month a little more justifiable.:D

Is there a reason why the "free" ondemand channels were placed in the middle of the two HD areas?

Kudos to Wis-Dt for broadcasting HD every time NBC passed it to them this week.

Kudos to Wltx-DT for the extinction of the treaded blue sidebars and their hard work for passing all the CBS games.

Kudos to Wolo-DT and ABC in passing a almost error free broadcast of NYPD Blues.

Thumps down to TWC and Wach-DT in not reaching a agreement to carry. It would be nice to see the race each Sunday in 480p and MLB baseball on Saturday real soon.

I thought the basketball game from Kansas City was supposed to be in HD today. Channel 810 is just SD which is at 2:45

Still no HD on 810. Guess somebody at WLTX is sleeping on the job, need to get an alarm clock down there.

Originally posted by kevinivey
Diana,

Is there a reason why the "free" ondemand channels were placed in the middle of the two HD areas?


All the channels in the 800s are free to customers, wheather they are HD or SD. All the channels in the 900s require subscription. The intent of the network neighborhood lineup is to provide customers points to go to provide certain types of programming, not to place all HD together. For customers who do not subscribe to the HD Tier or HBO or Showtime, it is a mute point. On the other hand, all the advanced technology added value services are together for all our customers.

Originally posted by kevinivey
Diana,

I sure would like to have channel 950 activated. It would make the extra $6.95 a month a little more justifiable.:D

Thumps down to TWC and Wach-DT in not reaching a agreement to carry. It would be nice to see the race each Sunday in 480p and MLB baseball on Saturday real soon.

Whats on channel 950? I looked at my program guide and it doesnt even list 950.

I agree about WACH-DT, I would like to have it by baseball season, thats the only thing on FOX worth watching is MLB and NFL. I'm certainly not a NASCAR fan so that doesnt interest me and their primetime lineup sux IMO.

Channel 950 will be Espn-HD.

Not that anyone is capable of doing anything about it but I'm going to get this off my chest. Week in and week out there are two one-hour programs we have any interest in seeing that are broadcast in HDTV, both on Sunday evening. Even with an 8000HD there's only a 50/50 chance of seeing Cold Case. Law & Order: Criminal Intent isn't a sure thing either.

Last night was about par for the course. Cold Case was about 20 minutes late starting (good thing I've learned to set the DVR to just record CBS and NBC all evening on Sundays) and the first 15 minutes or so was not in high definition. Law & Order: Criminal Intent appears to have been in standard definition for the whole show.

So for the second week in a row we'll see neither. I'm not going to watch a crummy upconverted picture. The number of weeks that those two programs have been successfully recorded in HD in the past few months could be counted on one hand with fingers left over. It doesn't seem like it should be that difficult.

Originally posted by Brent Hutto
It doesn't seem like it should be that difficult.

I agree completely. Yesterday the early college tournament game was supposed to be in HD. So I ordered some pizzas and invited a bunch of my friends over to watch it in HD. The game started at 2:30 they didnt hit the switch to flip over the the HD feed until 4:20 when only 5 mins remained in the game. Thankfully it was a close game so the last 5 mins still mattered. But there were 15 potential HD customers at my house that have heard bad things about the "new" technology of HD and that just re-enforced what they had already heard about it.

Cold Case is on CBS right? Apparently they need to learn to set alarms there to let people know when to flip to the HD feed because yesterday they screwed up pretty bad. The show starting 20 mins late is probably just because the basketball games ran over the alotted time. But the first 15 mins being in SD is just somebody's screw-up down at the station.

My fav. show is Law & Order on wed. nights. And since TWC has had WIS I think only about twice they've shown the HD feed. I always call down to the station to find out what the problem is and can never talk to anybody but the girl who answers the phones at night. I have heard from this message board that unfortunately WIS is the worst in Columbia about not showing the HD feed when there is one to be shown.

But I agree how hard can it be to get the right feed on the air? I mean thats what these people are getting paid to do. If I screwed up at my job as much as they do I'd be fired in a weeks time, but they always have some excuse as to what happened. As my boss says "I dont want excuses, I want results" well so do us viewers.

Originally posted by kevinivey
Channel 950 will be Espn-HD.

Oh, ok. Yeah, I wish it would be activated too! I've been checking out the other sections of the AVS forums. I think TWC is the last major cable company to not sign a deal with ESPN. I think Comcast just signed with them a little while ago. I guess TWC wants a better deal than everyone else got. ESPN-HD doesnt carry any really major event like the Daytona 500 to have some pressure to get the carriage agreement signed. I hate nascar but am thankful that NBC had it this year otherwise we probably still wouldnt have NBC in HD on TWC yet.

"The game started at 2:30 they didn't hit the switch to flip over the the HD feed until 4:20 when only 5 mins remained in the game."


I am only going to reply to these issues one time so here it goes.
First of all, we switched at half time. The reason it the first half was not in HD was because our traffic department messed up and listed the game in SD instead of HD. I called when I got home and told them to switch. We switched back to SD for a few minutes to correct an audio glitch in the HD feed. This is a known bug in the CBS IRD that I have mentioned a couple of times before on this forum. After the reboot was complete, we switched back to HD for the remainder of the game. Normally the switch is done automatically. However, due to the multicast and not having the same game on analog and the HD part of the digital, we disconnected it so it would not switch you to a wrong game. Please understand that unlike you, Digital is still an afterthought to most people. That includes our master control people. Their primary area of responsibility is still analog. That does not excuse what happened and I am working very hard to reduce the number of times it will happen in the future. As far as Cold Case goes, I am trying to see what is going on there. I have talked to the person who is running that shift and expressed my concerns over not switching to HD at the proper time. My apologies for the game mix up.

V* began airing Encore and Playboy HD this morning. DIANA......Anyword on when TWC might be adding these channels. Also I'm curious how the upgrade in Summerville is going, has there been any news on when additional HD channels will be available. My neighbor said he was at the TWC SUmmerville office on Friday and the person at the counter said there not allowed to talk about it. I just want to stay up to speed in case I decide to dump this awful, terrible service they call Voom!!!

butlers,

Ha ha. Thats funny!

Now on a serious note, did you read TWC's newletter than came out last Saturday that discussed the status of the Summerville upgrade? May I suggest you point the way for your neighbor to signup for the newsletter if they are not getting it yet?

Regards,

Dan,
Thanks for the update earlier! Sometimes "Murphy" is on the clock it seems.

He does not have a computer! The text isn't clear when I tried to pull it up! So maybe you could highlight the important stuff.

Diana,

New topic: How many and/or what percent of TWC's subscribers are currently using an HD cable box?

I'm just curious to see how big the HD installed base is.

Thanks!

- Mike

Originally posted by blizz
Diana,

New topic: How many and/or what percent of TWC's subscribers are currently using an HD cable box?

I'm just curious to see how big the HD installed base is.

Thanks!

- Mike

I do appreciate your curiosity and do not want to appear rude, however, we do not publish subscriber information of this type for public consumption.

I can say our HD base in Columbia is growing at a rapid rate.

Diana.......How much available bandwith will Summerville have versus Columbia once the upgrade is complete. How much available Bandwith does Columbia have right now. Maybe an Engineer could give that info so you could post it. It will help me know how much future expansion Summerville will have the capability for after curent program is added after the upgrade.

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
I do appreciate your curiosity and do not want to appear rude, however, we do not publish subscriber information of this type for public consumption.

I can say our HD base in Columbia is growing at a rapid rate.

OK, I can appreciate that. The reason I am asking is this:

If the installed base is sufficiently high, then we should be able to demand better service from our local affiliates-- Last night, the last 15 minutes of 'Raymond' was in SD.

If the installed base is still small, then we should all lower our expectations about the quality of service we are getting. Did I mention that the last 15 minutes of 'Raymond' were in SD?

- Mike

"Last night, the last 15 minutes of 'Raymond' was in SD."

We are putting in a new system. Part of this system's duties are to switch between HD and SD. Sorry for the problems while we get the bugs worked out. I will ask the MC ops to watch it more closely.

Originally posted by blizz
OK, I can appreciate that. The reason I am asking is this:

If the installed base is sufficiently high, then we should be able to demand better service from our local affiliates-- Last night, the last 15 minutes of 'Raymond' was in SD.

If the installed base is still small, then we should all lower our expectations about the quality of service we are getting. Did I mention that the last 15 minutes of 'Raymond' were in SD?

- Mike

I do sympathize with your motive. I also own an HDTV and look forward to HD broadcast when advertised. That does not change my companies policy though.

Here is my philosophy about this though. You should always provide information to your provider, no matter who it is, not matter if it is good news or bad news. The people who can make the change for you, can't make a move if they don't know its not working correctly.

Any words on those bandwith numbers for a potential TWC customer in Summerville. Diana......It is great to have as part of this forum. I was just plain wrong for ever challenging your participation on this forum. I am really excited about the possibility of being a TWC customer again.
TWC
TWC
TWC
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......Time Warner Cable..Rah..Rah..Rah

Originally posted by blizz
If the installed base is still small, then we should all lower our expectations about the quality of service we are getting. - Mike

While it's ok to expect good service, the installed base nationally of HDTv's
averages about 1%..and brings in NO advertiser dollars..Clients and agencies are unwilling to pay ANY extra at this time for HDTV locally
due to such limited penetration. While it may seem we give HD second service at times, we must focus our limited staff and resources where the
money is made. At this point in time, it costs us more to operate WCCB's
digital transmitter than it does the analog..

NOTE Member butlers....

This thread is NOT on "Summerville" but it is on "Columbia". You are asked to please stop posting in this thread from this point forward. You have made your case several times and you are not even a TW customer from what I can read. Now for some reason you are looking for it again and this is not the thread for it.

I watched a little bit of The Haunting on ABC last night, it was in SD so I changed the channel and watched something else. I read on another forum that other ABC stations had it in HD. Did WOLO ever switch to the HD feed?

This question is mainly aimed at Time Warner... Is there any chance of getting the NFL Network either in SD or HD? I have seen it at friends' houses and there is some good shows on during the week and now they are going to carry a large portion of the NFL Europe games too. It would be nice to have it.

Originally posted by D-rock0030
I watched a little bit of The Haunting on ABC last night, it was in SD so I changed the channel and watched something else. I read on another forum that other ABC stations had it in HD. Did WOLO ever switch to the HD feed?

Mine was in HD at least until 10pm, when we watched the remainder of it from the bedroom, on a non-HD set.

The thing that bugged me the most about it, as well as other network broadcasts in HD, was all the audio dropouts. I swear it seemed they occurred at almost a once a minute rate. Very irritating. Anybody know the cause of this?

Actually The Haunting was ABC's Monday night movie, I said last night in my earlier post. I started trying to watch it at the begining and I when I tuned to chan 815 on TWC it was a 4:3 picture with black boxes on all 4 sides, I only saw a few mins of the movie then I changed the channel. I thought maybe this was because I tuned to it at the very beginning and WOLO was just slow switching to the HD feed. My initial thought at the time was that this movie would be good in HD so I changed the chan. then I was reading on here that others did have it in HD. I guess I am mistaken though.

WOLO-DT is automated and requires no human intervention. Normal Primetime hours are always enabled, so that we pass whatever ABC
delivers to us during the 7pm-12m time slots. Have not had any other reports of audio dropouts. I know we were in HD last night, as I peeked in on the DT here at home and saw it.

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
WOLO-DT is automated and requires no human intervention. Normal Primetime hours are always enabled, so that we pass whatever ABC
delivers to us during the 7pm-12m time slots. Have not had any other reports of audio dropouts. I know we were in HD last night, as I peeked in on the DT here at home and saw it.

I watched it from 8:30 to 9:30 and it was in HD with glorious 5.1 sound with no dropouts via TWC.

- Mike

I dont have OTA just TWC and I watched 8 simple rules and I'm with her last night in HD and didnt notice any drop outs either. I was just asking about The Haunting (On Monday) and apparently I was the one that made the mistake since others have said it was in HD. But I haven't experienced dropouts either on WOLO, I usually am impressed with their sound and DD5.1

Originally posted by D-rock0030
This question is mainly aimed at Time Warner... Is there any chance of getting the NFL Network either in SD or HD? I have seen it at friends' houses and there is some good shows on during the week and now they are going to carry a large portion of the NFL Europe games too. It would be nice to have it.

Its in negotiations at the Corporate level. I do not know where they are with it, but I will continue to pass on the requests.

Thanks

Question for Time Warner...

I'm a Time Warnery subscriber in the Syracuse, NY market. Someone at the local Time Warner office said that the WB and FOX in HDTV are "currently being planned". She didn't mention any other information other than that. Do you know if and when WB and FOX may be available in HDTV for TW customers?

Thanks.

Originally posted by randman
Question for Time Warner...

I'm a Time Warnery subscriber in the Syracuse, NY market. Someone at the local Time Warner office said that the WB and FOX in HDTV are "currently being planned". She didn't mention any other information other than that. Do you know if and when WB and FOX may be available in HDTV for TW customers?

Thanks.

It is different for each market.

Broadcast affiliates buy licenses to a DMA from the FCC. Each broadcast affiliate in each DMA establishes an HD signal at their own pace. In SC, our policy is to add HD Broadcast affiliates when (1) they have an HD signal and (2) we have negotiated a contract to carry their HD signal on our cable plant. While I assume the Syracuse Division has a similar process they follow, I do not know for sure, nor can I guess when the affiliates in your area will be carried in HD. Broadcast affiliates are truly a local issue, so I apologize I cannot be of further assistance.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=334413&highlight=Syracuse

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
It is different for each market.

Broadcast affiliates are truly a local issue, so I apologize I cannot be of further assistance.

So I guess I'm local. When can I expect ABC, FOX and ESPN-HD?

Originally posted by Gary Rhine
So I guess I'm local. When can I expect ABC, FOX and ESPN-HD?

We are in negotiations with ABC in both the Charleston and Florence-Myrtle Beach DMA. We are in negotiations with FOX in all three DMAs we service in SC. Our Corporate office is in negotiations for a deal for ESPN-HD. I cannot speculate on when any of these deals will be executed.

Hello?? Is anybody out there? I guess everyone from this thread must have died, no posts in almost 48 hours. :)

Ok..let me go turn off WOLO-DT...................

chortle

I just found out CSS is going to broadcast live the April 7 USC at Clemson baseball game it comes on at 6:00p.

Is there any way we can get this in Columbia????

Thx!!

-- Cain

Wasn't there a mandatory 18-hour broadcast day for digital TV that was supposed to kick-in April 1st?

If so, how long will it take for the 8000HD to be able to schedule recordings in the previously "off air" time? Whose job is it to get the schedule updated?

Thanks...

I do not know about an 18 hour deadline on April 1st.

But, as far as schedules, broadcasters and cable channels provide their information to a couple of third party guide vendors around the country that all cable operators and satellite providers use. TWCSC downloads new schedule information every night (during the early morning hours). So, as soon as it is sent to our guide vendor, we will get it in the next download.

Yes Mike,
I beleieve you are correct. However, that does not mean "true HD" 18 hours per day.

what is channel 342 that's labeled 'mrdvr'?

That will be the channel for the Multi-Room DVR functions

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
That will be the channel for the Multi-Room DVR functions

What's that? Did I miss something? :D

I'm getting a lot of sound breakup on the GT/Oklahoma NCAA Final Four game. No one is reporting problems over on the "official final 4 topic" so I have to assume it is a local problem...anyone else having a problem? I'm getting my signal OTA via a Samsung t160 with a solid 93 signal. Also, no 5.1 receiver in the middle (not that it would make a difference ;) )

Originally posted by tigers
What's that? Did I miss something? :D

Nothing to talk about yet

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
Nothing to talk about yet

I'm sorry, I can do better than that.

We will be launching a Multi-Room DVR that will allow you to use a primary DVR to record, et al, but also play back your recordings on additional client converters.

Don't have a date or a price point yet - or probably any of the hundred other answers to questions you guys will have, thus my initial short response.

http://www.sciatl.com/newscenter/releases/04Jan08-1.htm:D

Brian,
I, too, had lots of sound breakup on the GT/Oklahoma NCAA Final Four game.

Doug Nye has another Hi-Def Column in Sunday's State Newspaper. Its in the Life & Arts Section, E4 He refers to WACH TV and Hi-Def broadcast this fall and TNT HD which he says will broadcast in May and will be carried by Time Warner.

So is there a telephone number I can call at WLTX to get someone to throw the HD switch for Cold Case? Yet another week of windowboxed SD upconvert. It's happening pretty much every single time now.

P.S. I've edited out one totally inappropriate adjective from my original post and apologize to anyone who had already read it, including Kevin.

Well, we probably lost Dan for life with that post. I record Cold Case every week and the upconvert usually does not last long. Do I wish it would start in HD? Yes. Does it actually ruin the show for me? not really. A blank screen on my recording would probably trigger a more pronounced response.

After the Masters next weekend I'm turning in the 8000HD box. I got a 3250 last year just in time to watch that event. In the twelve months since we've managed about ten episodes of Cold Case (only a couple of which were entirely in HD), a half-dozen of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and two or three movies. Even at 6 bucks a month it's not worth it. And it's less reliable than the VCR for time-shifting SD programs.

Maybe by next year this time I'll try again and there will be something to watch in HDTV. It's literally not ready for prime time.

Box works great for me. Only two auto reboots here. Never missed a program, except when sports over run. $4.95 a month. I haven't watched anything live since the Oscars. I really do not see how the 8000HD is the problem for the local stations and networks not passing HD. Brent, I hope you can find a reliable service. Wis-DT has really improved lately. I had only 3 non HD broadcast on the dvr. Before cable carriage WIS-DT was dreadful. Never got it right. A whole week with no sound. A couple of weeks with chirping audio. They also left a black screen for 3 minutes when the local commercials were supposed to be placed. We are very lucky to have all locals broadcasting in HD. Remember that they could be broadcasting a 3mb 480i image on their main channel. Wach-DT is not broadcasting in HD ,but is passing the 480p signal from Fox. They too could just broadcast a 4.3 480i signal and be totally within the requirement. TWC SC was third I believe in launching the HD dvr. Could it be better? Yes. Would I give it back? heck no! I checked my recording of Cold Case and they switched it to HD at about half way in. Looks like their new equipment still needs some tweaking. Do I complain a lot? usually. But, not this time.

The 8000HD isn't the problem. The fact that nothing I want to watch is generally available in HDTV is the problem. I just don't need an 8000HD (or 3250) since there's no HDTV to watch.

I guess since we only watch, best case, four and a half hours of broadcast television per week the intersection between "a show we want to watch", "it's broadcast in HDTV" and "the station remembers to throw the switch" is vanishingly small.

My particular box has something going on where it has to be unplugged and rebooted every couple of weeks or it loses its ability to record SD. Once I've watched through a couple of things I have recorded I was going to swap it out since it has that problem. Instead I'll just turn it in and try again later.

You're right, Kevin. You complain too darned much. Try to be like the more reasonable of us ;-)

I don't know what it is about Cold Case that I can't stand to watch it in SD. Something about the combination of the photography and music make it fascinating in widescreen HDTV. When I try to watch it in SD it just looks flat and boring. My wife is hooked on it and watches it either way but I can't get past being bugged by missing the big picture.

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Yes Mike,
I beleieve you are correct. However, that does not mean "true HD" 18 hours per day.
Well, I don't care about 'true HD' all the time, just because I use a 8000HD.

I looked early this morning, and WLTX digital was already on the air, but the guide listing showed off the air until noon. Same thing for Monday.

So I'll still be recording "The Price is Right" off the lousy analog channel, until the guide is updated. The snow in the picture makes the recording look poor, and I really want to get a better looking version soon.

I'll try for a manual recording, but I'm not sure how much of an argument the box will give me if it thinks the channel should be off the air...

Looks like NBC now has started to broadcast in DD 5.1. They broadcast American Dreams in DD 5.1 on their flagship NBC station in New York. Wrlk(PBS) has broadcast DD 5.1 and Wolo (ABC) broadcast in DD 5.1. Wach, Wltx, and Wis do not. My bet would be WACH when or if they start broadcasting in HD in the fall. Wltx (Dan) has stated that their implementation is cost prohibitive. Wis is a total guess, but the Olympics may force their hands if the Olympics are broadcast in DD 5.1. The future looks bright and the sound may be spectacular at some point.:)

I just got off the phone with my guide vendor. He checked WLTX and hadn't received anything before 12 noon as of yet.

He is going to raise the April 1st deadline for 18 hours with the appropriate group in his company, so hopefully all such issues will be resolved in short order.

Originally posted by kevinivey
Well, we probably lost Dan for life with that post.

That would do it for me for sure. If HD is that important, maybe a check
of priorities is needed.

Originally posted by kevinivey
Well, we probably lost Dan for life with that post. I record Cold Case every week and the upconvert usually does not last long. Do I wish it would start in HD? Yes. Does it actually ruin the show for me? not really. A blank screen on my recording would probably trigger a more pronounced response.

I am still here. Sorry for the Cold Case problems. I am trying to figure out what is going on. I am at church during this show so I am unable to monitor it. I will keep working on it for you.

As for the sound problems during the first Final Four game Saturday night. It is still an ongoing issue with the CBS HD receiver. You may have noticed the second game audio was fine. We rebooted the Receiver between games and it fixes the audio problems every time. What would viewers prefer? Should I reboot the receiver as soon as possible or should I wait until the end of a program? The audio wasn't bad enough to detract from the viewing although it was very annoying. Let me know what you would prefer.

Dan,

I'm glad you weren't around reading this forum at the time. My original wording was...intemperate. I think that's what some of the others were responding to. There must be something unusual about Sunday evenings since I've not seen any mention here of repeated problems with switching to HD on the other prime-time programs. My bad luck to care about watching a program in the jinxed time slot, I guess.

How long is the interruption when you reboot the receiver? I would think most people would prefer having the audio cleared up if all it meant was 20-30 seconds of dead air. OTOH, if it takes a couple minutes that could seem like a long time in a basketball game.

There would be no interuption to air. It would just switch to SD during the reboot time.

18 hour a day broadcast requirements
It is required by the FCC rules to broadcast 18 hours per day starting April 1 of this year. I believe that means simulcasting your analog signal for 18 hours whether in SD or HD. However, if you are running different programming on the Digital transmitter, those hours do not count toward the 18 hour rule. I am only about 90% sure on the simulcast rule though.

Look for the bonus coverage of the Masters in true HD.

There would be no interuption to air.

Maybe I'm more sound-sensitive than some but a reboot to fix the audio would definitely be worth a short interval of SD video.

Look for the bonus coverage of the Masters in true HD.

I think that's a typo. It should say "Look FORWARD to the bonus coverage of the Masters in true HD". I can hardly wait for Thursday to get here.

The HD coverage last year was spectacular. There were times when a player handed his club to his caddie and you could see the individual blades of grass stuck to the club. It's the high point of the television year for me, no contest.

I don't think it is a typo. Coverage runs beyond the alotted time every year.

Gary,

I meant that in jest. I was taking the opportunity to point out how much I'm anticipating the whole Masters-in-HD experience, including the bonus coverage.

Oh, maybe a smiley thingy. I was there once and this will be my first HD Masters. I imagine it is going to occupy some space on my SA8000HD hard drive for a long time.

I just talked to Scott Clarke at WIS-DT (Eng) and invited him to join in our forum discussion. As some of you may remember, we had the occasional visit from John Augustine, their Engineer who retired earlier this year. So hopefully we will soon have Scott join in on occasion.

A couple of tidbits from our conversatioin. First some not so good news. I asked about DD5.1 since it appears NBC may be starting to use it on some programs. Not suprisingly, WIS-DT is still not DD5.1 capable at this time. Nor is an upgrade for DD5.1 planned for the near future (not this year anyway). Another item that is pretty much non-news is the fact that their DT signal is picked up by TWC's head-end OTA; analog is by fiber and plans are being worked on for their digital signal. Last, WIS-DT broadcast hours are from just before 5am to after Leno (around 12:35 or so).

Last, if one needs to call the station during off-hours; their number is 799-1010. Follow their automated guide and go to news and ask them nicely to notify Master Control of any problems. Their HD/SD switching is pseudo-automatic which I take is mostly automated but still requires the occasional kick by an enginner.

ps: edit to correct the start time

Originally posted by Dan'sHiPix
What would viewers prefer? Should I reboot the receiver as soon as possible or should I wait until the end of a program? The audio wasn't bad enough to detract from the viewing although it was very annoying. Let me know what you would prefer.

i'd prefer the reboot-as-soon-as-possible option.

Originally posted by Dan'sHiPix <snip>
What would viewers prefer? Should I reboot the receiver as soon as possible or should I wait until the end of a program? The audio wasn't bad enough to detract from the viewing although it was very annoying. Let me know what you would prefer.
I suggest a reboot when the audio problem is an issue. If possible; do it between programs and prior to a high-profile HD program/event, during a commercial; or when it is becomes distracting.

Dan-
We've had similiar issues here doing some of the FOX 5.1..we just reboot
when we discover the problem. Otherwise, It's no good anyway.
(we have remote reboot abilities via VPN)

I just read on another thread on this forum that Adelphia and Disney just signed a carriage agreement for ESPN networks. That means that TWC is probably the last major cable company to not carry ESPN-HD.

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
I just got off the phone with my guide vendor. He checked WLTX and hadn't received anything before 12 noon as of yet.

He is going to raise the April 1st deadline for 18 hours with the appropriate group in his company, so hopefully all such issues will be resolved in short order.
Maybe someone can tell WIS-DT (or just the guide people, since I'm not up to see if the channel cuts off) that "Saturday Night Live" does NOT end at 12:30AM. I usually just watch the "Weekend Update" part, but the whole show in digital quality would be nice...

So, how does the championship game look to everyone? I sure am enjoying it here at the house in my Lazy Boy.

It looks terrific. Dolby Digital would be nice though.

Are you watching WLTX in Pawleys Island or is that just a beach home location?

Dan,

If you need to reset audio during a show, can you do it during a local add break in SD and get the HD back in time to return to the program?

Originally posted by TechMan
Dan,

If you need to reset audio during a show, can you do it during a local add break in SD and get the HD back in time to return to the program?

I am not sure if that will be enough time. That is when I try to do it right now. Unfortunately, it is not a consistent amount of time for the reboot. I have read the posts and believe the consensus is to go to SD and reboot asap, so that is what we will do. Just don't complain if the show switches to SD for a little while.

Originally posted by Dan'sHiPix
So, how does the championship game look to everyone? I sure am enjoying it here at the house in my Lazy Boy.

The shots when CBS was actually using an HD camera looked great, but for an HD broadcast they sure did use a lot of SD cameras, basically everything that wasn't the wide shot from up high was just an SD camera, either 16:9 and some 4:3 shots too.

Originally posted by Gary Rhine
It looks terrific. Dolby Digital would be nice though.

I completely agree.

Originally posted by Gary Rhine
It looks terrific. Dolby Digital would be nice though.

That will be awhile. I would like to have it just as much as the rest of you would. I'll let you know when it is coming. However, it will not be soon.

The Master's in HD

In the Columbia DMA and the Florence-Myrtle Beach DMA, TWC will offer live coverage of the first two rounds of The Master's on Thursday and Friday on the Special Events HD Channel 813. In addition, we will show an Encore Performance of each day's round at 8pm that same evening and on the same channel.

WLTX is showing the Masters in HD on channel 19-1 and regular programming on their regular channel 9 right? and 19-1 is channel 810 also?? I read where USA and INHD teamed up for HD coverage of the first two rounds also. So there will be INHD coverage on 813 and CBS coverage on 810 correct?

It hit me that I never posted my test results from a Square Shooter. I tried one here in Sumter back in February. It worked about the same as my Channel Master 3021 Fourbay Bowtie (see below). However, I pretty much lost WRLK (its 10 miles farther than the rest from here). WOLO/CH 8 signal was also greatly reduced. Given its size and mounting requirements (more like a dbs dish than a TV antenna), I could only do a temporary mount for testing (it requires a pole diameter of 1 1/2" as I recall). If one has multipath issues (lots of trees maybe) it might work better than a bowtie or yagi. Its cost is quite a bit higher but the SqS does include a mount that you might be able to use (I could not). As always, YMMV. Here are my figures using my Samsung SIR-T150 (number of bars on its meter). I mast mounted both antennas on a 10 ft pole (obviously not optimized but what I normally use or Cola).

.............. SqS/CM
NBC/41.....6.... .6
CBS/17.....5......7
ABC/8......2-3....6
PBS/32.....1......1-2 (w/CM normally locks; but wSqS very problematic)
FOX/48.....6......6

Question for Diana

Any word on whether TWC is going to pick up the CSS broadcast of the USC-Clemson baseball game on April 7th. I remember last year TWC picked up a couple of those games and played them on channel 10. Just wondering if it was going to happen again this year.

CSS has not offered it to us (yet).

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
The Master's in HD

In the Columbia DMA and the Florence-Myrtle Beach DMA, TWC will offer live coverage of the first two rounds of The Master's on Thursday and Friday on the Special Events HD Channel 813. In addition, we will show an Encore Performance of each day's round at 8pm that same evening and on the same channel.
Will this coverage be different than INHD's in any way?

The IN HD feed will be used on the special events channel

I see from the programming forum here that Voom has just added ESPN-HD and all the other ESPN channels. I think it may be time to bail on TWC and give Voom a try.

Does TWC in Columbia have the new Firewire cable boxes yet? And if so what kind of output can you get from the 1394 port? I have read on other forums that the SA3250 boxes in other cities only output HDTV via the 1394 ports, if this is so doesnt that seem kind of useless, and you would need two vcrs, one D-VHS for HDTV and a regular vcr or dvd-r for SD??

Originally posted by D-rock0030
Does TWC in Columbia have the new Firewire cable boxes yet? And if so what kind of output can you get from the 1394 port? I have read on other forums that the SA3250 boxes in other cities only output HDTV via the 1394 ports, if this is so doesn't that seem kind of useless, and you would need two vcrs, one D-VHS for HDTV and a regular vcr or dvd-r for SD??

We will have to hear from Diana about the availability of a Firewire equipped box. As to its use, the theory goes something like this: a Firewire port on your cable box could be linked to a HDTV, a D-VHS recorder, and/or an AV receiver (obviously all need IEEE1394 ports). You could do this by daisy-chaining your components together; no need to string multiple cables in-between boxes (Firewire is a bi-directional connection).

In practice most users might use such a cable box to connect to a JVC D-Theater DVHS which in turn would be connected to a HDTV via YPrPb component cables. This would give them the ability to record in theory any/all programming allowable. Some channels like PPV cannot be recorded now with a DVR and with the 5C encryption available some programming may someday be flagged as "copy never." One should also be able to record SD with the JVC DVHS and Mits DVHS too (some can also record SD as SVHS). If folks are finding that they cannot record SD via a Firewire cable box then that is most likely a shortfall of the cablebox and hopefully will be fixed. As you said, a standard VCR may still come in handy for some recording.

The Mits DHVS machines do not have component in/outputs; only Firewire. Neither DVHS yets support DVI either to my knowledge. Using a Mits unit, you would have play the recording back through your cable box and then to the TV using the cable box's YPrPb component cables (should be supported but a BIG IF). (No idea if/how DVI will work there either). The JVC DVHS can do that or play directly to the TV as mentioned via component (one big advantage to having it; the other is D-Theater capability). At this time I personally do not know how/if a DVD+/-R/RW device that supports Firewire can be made to work. Personally I think a SA8000HD with FW is the way to go: with a DVHS one would be able to time-shift and archive HD programs as needed.

I have a mits dvhs..it refuses to work with the Samsung OTA receiver..
mits says sammy..sammy says mits.. it always says "CP error" which
means "copy protected"

I can remember reading about some problems like that but I don't know how severe it was. With you I take it the combo proved to be a 100% failure. Might be a harbinger of problems to come trying to use a Mits with a Firewire enabled cablebox. Be interesting to try however. How do you get your Mits DHVS work.. integrated Mits HDTV?

No, just don't use it..fortunately, it wasn't my money..

Originally posted by bdenman
If folks are finding that they cannot record SD via a Firewire cable box then that is most likely a shortfall of the cablebox and hopefully will be fixed.

I agree that with a firewire connection to a DVHS you should be able to record SD programming too. But from what I can tell from reading other threads on the Hardware Forum, people are having mixed success with the SA3250HD with firewire. Most are complaining that it only outputs HD via firewire and no other channels and no on screen graphics. It seems to me that this defeats the purpose of even having firewire box for someone who has a Mitsubishi TV with the firewire, you would still then have to use s-video or composite video inputs to get the rest of the channels. I have read that the motorola 6200 boxes are working pretty good outputting all the channels via firewire. Some explanations are that the FCC agreement only specifies firewire for an HD stb and HD output. I dont know how correct this info is and I sure dont want to have to look up and read through a bunch of FCC mumbo jumbo to find out. Thats why I was hoping Diana could tell us what exactly the firewire box was capable of doing and if it was working properly. The other threads havent been too kind to the 3250 box I just wanted the low down from her.

Firewire connection to any device can not display on screen graphics from any box. This is how it has always been and will likely always be. I like Bruce find it to be pointless unless it is on a HD dvr box. I think it will be a long time till will see that type of setup and copy protrction should be in full mode by then.

d-rock, I think you Voom threat most likely slowed the response to your question. Why would you want to stay with TWC if you are not interested in a HD dvr? That is by far is their main advantage. Picking locals up here in West Cola/Lexington is a piece of cake. Downtown should be even easier. What do you have to lose? You can always start cable back up if it does not work.

Dan,

I've noticed that there are no digital Closed Captions during HD programming on WLTX-DT.

I'm able to get CC's when you are broadcasting SD on your digital channel, and on all programs on your analog channel.

Not complaining, just an observation. Otherwise, keep up the good work!

- Mike

Originally posted by kevinivey
Firewire connection to any device can not display on screen graphics from any box. This is how it has always been and will likely always be. I like Bruce find it to be pointless unless it is on a HD dvr box. I think it will be a long time till will see that type of setup and copy protrction should be in full mode by then.

d-rock, I think you Voom threat most likely slowed the response to your question. Why would you want to stay with TWC if you are not interested in a HD dvr? That is by far is their main advantage. Picking locals up here in West Cola/Lexington is a piece of cake. Downtown should be even easier. What do you have to lose? You can always start cable back up if it does not work.

I would much rather stay with TWC. I really dont want to have to worry about a dish and antenna setup. I like the convienence(sp?) of cable. Having tv and internet all in one wire. Plus I live in an apartment downtown and dont really want to have to argue with the realty company about putting up a dish on the roof of the building. I know it would have to be on the roof because of all the trees that block the southern exposure that I need for satellite service. And from where I live its like 15 miles I think to the towers and dont know how well an indoor antenna would work and if it doesnt that would have to be mounted on the roof also and I live on the first floor of a two story apartment building. Switching to satellite would be a big hassle for me. I'm also thinking (hoping really) that by the time ESPN gets their totally digital building on air on 6-7-04 that TWC will have them by then and probably TNT-HD in May. Those are the primary channels that I'm really hoping for with StarzHD possibly too. Trust me its not like I really want to switch I'm trying to wait as long as possible, giving TWC every opportunity to get a few more HD channels, plus I am looking forward to seeing MLB on INHD although so far it looks like its primarily going to be mostly Boston and Sandiego home games. (Boo Red Sox!) A lot of the time I read where so and so company gets this channel or that channel and I get frustrated that TWC doesnt get them, but I cool down later and just deal with it. :p

Originally posted by kevinivey
d-rock, I think you Voom threat most likely slowed the response to your question.

I just wanted to make it clear that anytime I criticize Time Warner here it is by no means directed personally toward any employee of TWCSC. Especially Diana who was nice enough to help me get my cable dropouts fixed or the actual service tech who showed up less than an hour after I called and was extremely helpful and courteous.

Good Afternoon - I have been tied up all yesterday afternoon and today in meetings so I apologize for neglecting the thread.

Here's what I know -

We have the 3250FW in stock. If you call to request you will be required to have an installation appointment and at this point, we are up to 21 days out on this installation.

If you hook up your HDTV to the 3250FW converter you will NOT receive (1) The Interactive Program Guide (2) Any Analog Channels and (3) Depending upon your television set, you may not receive Emergency Alert Signals - if this following point is the case when the installers get to your home, then the technican cannot legally leave the converter with you - it is a violation of FCC regulations to disable EAS. {This is due to the graphics issue Kevin mentioned above}

If you hook up the 3250FW converter to a D-VHS and use another connection for your TV to the converter, you don't have these issues.

Copy Protection Guidelines -
On Demand - Copy Never
PPV - Copy Never
Basic and Digital Cable - Copy Once
Broadcast/Unscrambled - Copy Freely

Originally posted by D-rock0030
I just wanted to make it clear that anytime I criticize Time Warner here it is by no means directed personally toward any employee of TWCSC. Especially Diana who was nice enough to help me get my cable dropouts fixed or the actual service tech who showed up less than an hour after I called and was extremely helpful and courteous.

No offense taken - I realize I have 'ignored' some people in the past when they were overtly 'calling me out'. But that was not the case here, I was just very, very busy - in fact I copied your post and sent it to my VP to send to Corporate so they could see how our customers feel about the ESPN-HD situation.

I was working on a reply here to the Firewire issue but have paused to cool off. This whole nanny state thing has me really irritated.

I must say the Masters is looking awesome in HD! :cool:

I do not appear to be getting email notifications. Any other RR users getting theirs? (wondering if RR is blocking AVS again)

note: problem solved; was a profile error (unexplained but fixed and it is working now.. thanks for the help!)

All is fine here.

RE: Today's Masters Coverage in HD

There was one shot of the 12th hole around 7:00PM that was one of the most amazing pictures I've ever seen on television. Only a handful of paintings I've seen have been as beautiful.

I think Wltx needs to start a DD 5.1 fund. The DD 5.1 on INHD is outstanding. Reminds me of HDNet in regards to sound. I also find the picture to be brighter and a little clearer on INHD. The Wltx-DT feed is very good, but with the audio difference I will stick with INHD for tomorrow. I'll use WLTX-DT on Saturday and Sunday.:D

I have a problem that just started yesterday, for some reason I cannot get
the box to record anything. Is there anybody else having this problem??
Thanks for any help... Mitch

Working fine here. I take it the box is not full; have you rebooted the box?

My Engineer has a call into the lab to find out the latest news.

Headed to the Master's today - not ignoring anyone!

Has anyone else in the area experienced either of the following...

- The "Picture - Format" setting seems to want to revert to "FIXED" from "Passthru" when I turn the box off.

-When surfing up thru the channels using CH+, going from CH845 to CH849 (Answers on Demand), the ondemand services lock into 1080i. Norrmally those channels should be 480i/p. Keying in CH03, and the switching back to CH849 results in the correct display.

-Occasional "popping" sounds on the HD channels.


All in all I's have to the say the PQ is much improved, and HD on TWC looks great. Even the local channels upconverted SD looks great! Feeding a Princeton 2.7T via component converted to RGBHV. The picture never looked better.

Is there any marked difference pulling in local digital stations with an OTA STB vs. cable?

Thanks!
David
Lexington, SC.

I still have the 3250 box and was wondering if anyone has had problems with audio dropouts?

I would say every 6-8 minutes, I get an audio dropout on HD channels...just wondering what I could do to troubleshoot? I clipped off the end of the coax as the Tier 3 TWC tech guy showed me, in order to avoid any potential shorting, but that did not help.

Any advice appreciated.

PS - OT, I know, but does anyone here no anyone in the Cola area that will do a manual convergence on a RP HDTV? I am desperate and too lazy to do this myself as several of my settings are out of whack.

The "Special Events in HD" feed for the Masters seemed to be experiencing dropouts in audio and video just after 4:00PM. However, the regular Chan. 810 CBS-HD feed is beautiful. I'm sticking to that one.

No problem on INHD.

No problems on INHD 940 throughout and terrific DD 5.1 sound.

Why is the Masters not in Dolby Digital like it was on INHD? :mad:

WLTX does not have the Dolby Digital decoder hardware, which is very expensive.

The Masters on ch. 810 in the Florence-Myrtle Beach DMA is non-existent. This is what I got HD for. I am upset beyond words. Is anyone getting the Masters on channel 810 in HD on Sunday?

No, Gary. It must be Sunday. No HD on WLTX. It's every single week now.

Not only that, my internet connection through TWC is down today, too. So here I am on a dial-up connection to complain about no Masters in HD. That about sums up my experience lately.

The picture is back in SD. How can they possibly have no one on duty to monitor problems on probably the biggest CBS HD event of the year?

I see now what the "problem" is. They flashed a thunderstorm warning (not for around here, BTW) around 2:00PM. The weather alert thing isn't compatible with their HD thing so they are "required" to switch to SD whenever there's a thunderstorm within a couple hundred miles.

Or whatever. My HD box is going back and they can let me know when they're actually going to broadcast in HDTV instead of just talk about it.

I have never heard of such a thing and can not imagine why it would be any different from SD.

In fact, it is now 2:47pm and HD just kicked in. And the weather radar looks the same or worse to me.

1 hour and 17 minutes and I bet my HD bill looks the same next month.

I'm guessing someone is now riding the switch. It's my understanding that it will kick into SD automatically every time there's a weather crawl and if someone is sitting there they can switch it back to HD.

The picture quality is absolutely gorgeous in HD. That's why it is so very frustrating when it doesn't come through for one silly reason or another.

ObMasters: I told some guys at the golf course today that if Phil Mickelson doesn't win today, Ernie Els will.

Has anyone else noticed "crackling" and irregularities in the audio on WLTX-DT today. I noticed it during the masters in the commentators audio but just thought it was a problem there, but now I seem to be getting it again while watching the Patriot in HD. Just curious if anyone else is noticing it.

Originally posted by kevinivey
I think Wltx needs to start a DD 5.1 fund. The DD 5.1 on INHD is outstanding. Reminds me of HDNet in regards to sound. I also find the picture to be brighter and a little clearer on INHD. The Wltx-DT feed is very good, but with the audio difference I will stick with INHD for tomorrow. I'll use WLTX-DT on Saturday and Sunday.:D

Glad I'm not the only one here that wishes WLTX-DT had DD5.1 thats all I'm saying :p

So no Cold Case tonight. Maybe we'll watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent instead. Not.

Twenty minutes of HD then...dead air. Black screen. Watched the rest of it in fuzzy-vision. The HD never did come back.

What a joke.

I did notice the pops in the audio all during the Masters today. I don't see what the big deal is about Dolby Digital, it's a sporting event. If they were broadcasting surround sound it would be fake anyway.

Originally posted by Brent Hutto
I don't see what the big deal is about Dolby Digital, it's a sporting event.
Then you did hear the difference in INHD's Masters broadcast and CBS. Big difference.

No, I don't subscribe to INHD and only checked the Chan. 813 (or whatever it was) broadcast briefly on Thursday. Both picture and sound were breaking up badly during the minute or two I was tuned in so I just stuck with the CBS broadcast on Chan. 810 from then on.

I assume that for the Dolby Digital broadcast they mixed in the crowd-noise microphones so that some of it came from the rear channels. I can't imagine they could do it in a way to be oriented with the point of view for each camera shot so that's what I meant by "fake". Then again, not having heard it I'm just speculating.

Did WIS-DT ever come back on the air last night? When they first came to TWC I had read on here that they were the worst station in Columbia as far as no HD, audio problems, and such. And for about the first month there was less than a 50-50 chance of turning it on and getting to watch what was supposed to be on and being able to hear it. Which is bad considering they had been on the air since Jan of 2003. 14 months on air and still cant get it right is not very good. But they had been doing pretty well the last 2-3 weeks with having the HD feed when it was supposed to be on.

There is an interesting thread over in the Recording forum; our host Alan Gouger got a Firewire equipped SA3250HD from his TWC unit and got it working with a couple of DVHS units (both Mits and the JVC30k; the 40k failed however). Thread is located here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=390890)

Thanks for the thread Bruce - I sent it over to my Engineers.

I was wanting to get a firewire box so I could record HD to a DVHS, but after reading about all the problems, I guess I'll lay off of that idea for a while. I have been considering getting an 8000HD lately since HDNET Movies has been getting some newer movies, but they show them at such odd times, I think an HD DVR might come in handy. I think I recall a little while back on here some people were saying that the PQ was different with the 8000HD vs the 3250HD, was that accurate, if so, is it still the case? I am very pleased with the PQ I get from my 3250HD. Also are the 8000HD's available for pickup at both TWC locations in Columbia? Thanks

I couldn't notice any drop-off in picture quality from the HD box I was using (maybe it was an Explorer 3100 or something like that) when I switched to the 8000HD. For that matter, I see virtually no drop-off in quality between live and recorded material on the 8000HD so maybe I'm just not that critical a viewer.

Originally posted by D-rock0030
Also are the 8000HD's available for pickup at both TWC locations in Columbia? Thanks

Absolutely

Diana,

Are any (software) firmware downloads scheduled for the SA8000HD this month?

Hopefully in the last week - not promising - fingers crossed they get all the bugs out.

Do you know if the "black screen" glitch will be addressed in this firmware upgrade? This is by far the most annoying problem I have with the SA8000HD.

I do not, sorry, but I will ask in the morning.

I went today and picked up an 8000HD cable box today on my lunch break from the TWC office on Devine St. The one the lady handed me looks like its been through WWII its all scratched and beat to hell. I havent hooked it up so I'm assuming it works and has all the latest firmware updates downloaded to it. Can anyone here tell me what the latest rev is on the firmware so when I go home and hook it up I can make sure it is up to date? Thanks.

Originally posted by D-rock0030
I went today and picked up an 8000HD cable box today on my lunch break from the TWC office on Devine St. The one the lady handed me looks like its been through WWII its all scratched and beat to hell. I havent hooked it up so I'm assuming it works and has all the latest firmware updates downloaded to it. Can anyone here tell me what the latest rev is on the firmware so when I go home and hook it up I can make sure it is up to date? Thanks.

i've had one since they rolled out in january and i don't think there have been any updates to it yet. i believe mine is 1.82.4.0.

I read every game of Monday Night Football is going to be in HD this year. When is the Florence/Myrtle Beach market going to get ABC in HD?

Gary---I have been asking the same question for many months now. I am not sure who is at fault here, but they have been trying to negotiate a contract for many months now, but I guess neither side is motivated to complete the deal. I can get wway in wilmington ota which is an abc affiliate--not sure if you could get in Pawleys Island or not. I am contemplating whether to make the switch to directv because I can get cbs in charleston and abc in wilmington with an antenna, but no nbc affiliate. You can get just the local channels thru twc and keep the cbs and nbc digital affiliates that way, but they charge an outrageous amount just for those few local channels (something like 13 or 14 dollars per month). TWC could make life so much easier by getting their butts in gear and getting us the abc affiliate. I have given up on asking about it though as I got no where with either Suzanne Teagle, the gm for wciv in Charleston or Dan Santelle, the vp at twc-sc. I wrote to both about one month ago for an update and did not hear back from either one. So , oh well-- I guess they are not concerned about it. I realize this is a Columbia thread, so sorry to post this info here. There seems to be no one on the MB thread though and I wanted to give Gary the info that I had as related to his question.

Just keep bringing it up and get others to ask for it also. If Columbia gets everything it seems reasonable that all of South Carolina should get it.

Mandated internal ATSC tuners from the get go, would had sped up cable carriage agreements faster than anything else.;) We DO NOT get Fox in digital on TWC COLA. Technically, there is no charge for HD locals on TWC.

Where they know you can not get a signal they would still drag their feet.

If cable can offer you a local in HD that you can't get OTA, then you should count yourself as very lucky.

I can not get ABC HD either way so how am I so lucky?

NBC

The point is there is one TWC South Carolina and some are getting more than others.

Agreed

I would count myself lucky if I had all 3 of the major networks like Columbia. You guys are mad that you don't have FOX, and understandbly so. However, count yourself lucky that you at least have all of the major networks that currently have hd programming. This ABC afiliate has been on the air for almost a year and has had a carriage agreement with another cable company (Comcast in Charleston) for many, many months now. I see absolutely no excuse for why TWC could not complete the deal if they really were motivated to. It is like you said though, they have no motivation because they think they have you right where they want you unless you are willing to go spend money for a digital tuner and antenna. They are greedy, in my opinion, and while they will feed you the line they care about their customers---it is nothing but talk. They could and would complete carriage agreements for espn-hd and some of these local affiliates if they had some competition from these other cable companies that have already completed the deals. Unfortunately for me, unless I want to go through the hassles of switching to dish, I have no other option than twc for hd programming. It would be a wonderful world if we had twc and comcast both competing for the same customers in the same neighborhoods. Then I suspect we would see them with a little more motivation than they currently have.

Originally posted by Gary Rhine
The point is there is one TWC South Carolina and some are getting more than others.

One Division - 3 DMAs - Columbia; Florence-Myrtle Beach, Charleston.

Three Different owners of the broadcast affiliations in the three different DMAs.

F-MB broadcasters and Charleston broadcasters got the same contracts that the broadcasters signed in Columbia - THEY choose not to sign - has nothing to do with TWC greed. I would ask them why a deal good enough for WOLO, WLTX and WIS are not satisfactory for them.


Do you REALLY think that TWC doesn't want to carry these channels?

[i]
Do you REALLY think that TWC doesn't want to carry these channels? [/B]

What I think is that there is no excuse for this deal not being completed already. I am sure TWC would love to have every channel on their digital lineup. However, ask me if they are willing to make the concessions neccessary to get it done and the answer is a definite no. There has to be a reason why ESPN-HD is available on almost every major cable companys lineup and on directv, but TWC is one of the only major cable companies to have not negotiated an agreement yet. Maybe TWC needs to look at what it is asking for in these carriage agreements that would allow these stations to be able to successfully negotiate contracts with other major cable companies but not TWC . And while I certainly am privy to no details, I have been told by your own VP in December 2003 that in his opinion those concessions or changes to the agreement that WCIV wanted were minor and in his opinion "do not change the spirit of the agreement". Those are his words. However a bunch of twc corporate lawyers must have saw those small changes differently. And furthermore, just out of curiosity before WIS was put on the lineup there was the same line from TWC (not neccesarily you) that WIS was the one that would not agree to the same contract as WOLO and WLTX. So are we to believe that WIS finally just gave up and said that they would sign that contract or were there concessions on both sides and so the contract between the stations are not all exactly the same?

And while there may be one TWC-SC and 3 DMA's, how do you think that makes those of us that are in the DMA that does not have all 3 major networks feel? I am sure the good folks in Columbia would be just as upset if we had ABC for almost a year and they did not have ABC. This is not an attack on you Diana. I have told you many times you are great and I appreciate all of the help you have given me and others on this forum. If this was up to you I have faith the deal would have been done many months ago. But the fact of the matter is that for many months now TWC has not been able to negotiate an agreement when a station only made small changes that did not change the spirit of the agreement. It would be different if these stations were asking for the world and offering nothing in return. However, it is extremely frustrating as it appears you guys have gotten lost in the details and in the mean time your entire Florence-MB DMA has no ABC affialiate available in high def .

foz32,

Word from the engineer at WECT NBC 6 out of Wilmington is they are expected to go live with HD by this weekend (supposedly sometime today).

Sorry to everyone else for going off topic here. Just wanted to inform foz32.

I just wanted to chime in to thank Diana and Time Warner cable for giving us High Definition and related technology sooner than in other markets.

Thank you for giving us Discovery and INHD channels. I would not cry a tear if you take away the network HD channels ... more and more they seem to be aiming for the prurient minds (except for the few serials that I would rather watch on DVD ... to escape those commercials).

Now if we could get National Geographic and the Travel Channel in HD ... my 7yr old and I would be in 7th heaven.

Thank you, Diana - now thats what I call "Customer Support" !!

Max

Board: You Ask We Answer
Subject: Wach-DT Not on Time Warner Cable
Author: Kevin Ivey
Date: 04/16/04

Why has Wach not signed the agreement for your Digital channel to be on TWC? Wolo,WIS, and WLTX have signed the same agreements. What exactly is Wach waiting for? Also, when do you plan to pass the DD 5.1 signal that you receive from Fox?

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I eagerly await their response
:D

Why is the Golf on ch. 810 not in HD? It is supposed to be.

It just changed to HD. Somebody was asleep at the switch.

Now that the MCI golf game in Hilton Head ran into sudden death overtime, anybody want to bet about how much of Cold Case will be in HD ?

Congrats to the guys at CBS - all of Cold Case was in HD tonight, and only slightly delayed.

What happened to ABC (815) in HD tonight?

Please be more specific on your WOLO ABC-HD Comment

When I tuned to ch 815 for Alias and also for the Practice all I got was a blank screen. I had set my SA8000HD to record these shows but since it was a black screen the unit did not record them. I watched them in real time on SD TV and would check back occasionaly and the info at the bottom of the screen would show the name of the show and have the little red "rec" logo, but it was not recording since the red light on the 8000 was not lit and the screen would be black. There was no audio either. I do not know what the status of ABC was in HD before Alias at 9 PM nor after The Practice ended at 11 PM.

Bob, I hope that is specific enough.

I'll have the guys look into it, I'm in Vegas now..I did look at WOLO-DT
after your comment, and it was working fine, as I can see it through our VPN from here. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a problem in netwrok time.
Any one else?

I had no problems viewing Alias in Lexington last night on 815. Using a SA3250HD here.

David

Originally posted by Gary Rhine
It just changed to HD. Somebody was asleep at the switch.

That seems to happen an awful lot at WLTX. Apparently they dont know how to set alarms to let them know when to flip to the HD feed. Cold Case was in HD last night, I was watching Along Came A Spider and lost HD in the middle of it for a little while. I dont know about ABC on 815, I didnt watch it at all last night.

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
One Division - 3 DMAs - Columbia; Florence-Myrtle Beach, Charleston.

Three Different owners of the broadcast affiliations in the three different DMAs.

F-MB broadcasters and Charleston broadcasters got the same contracts that the broadcasters signed in Columbia - THEY choose not to sign - has nothing to do with TWC greed. I would ask them why a deal good enough for WOLO, WLTX and WIS are not satisfactory for them.


Do you REALLY think that TWC doesn't want to carry these channels?

Obviously there is some form of standard carriage contract that both sides will start with and then negotiate different clauses untill both sides are satisfied. So I am sure that the contracts that Wolo, WLTX, and WIS signed are all not identical. But if this is TWC's position on this matter all I might ask is why wont TWC sign the same contract that about 8 other cable providers have signed with Disney to carry ESPN-HD. Do they think that they are special or better that Comcast or Cox or Adelphia or Cablevision?? All of these companies have recently signed carriage agreements for ESPN-HD. That door swings both ways, but I'm sure TWC doesnt want to admit it does.

Originally posted by D-rock0030
Obviously there is some form of standard carriage contract that both sides will start with and then negotiate different clauses untill both sides are satisfied. So I am sure that the contracts that Wolo, WLTX, and WIS signed are all not identical. But if this is TWC's position on this matter all I might ask is why wont TWC sign the same contract that about 8 other cable providers have signed with Disney to carry ESPN-HD. Do they think that they are special or better that Comcast or Cox or Adelphia or Cablevision?? All of these companies have recently signed carriage agreements for ESPN-HD. That door swings both ways, but I'm sure TWC doesnt want to admit it does.


touche

However, I cannot satisfactoraly answer your question because the ESPN-HD deal is a corporate negotiation, whereas the agreements I was referencing were local and executed on a more satisfactory timeline (in most instances).

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
touche

LOL :p

I've pretty much given up hope of getting ESPN-HD anytime soon. Its been on the air for over a year now and who knows when, if ever, it will come to TWC. June 7th is the date that supposedly they will be on the air live with their new huge digital broadcast building with new all digital studios with a whole slew of HD recording equipment so there will be a lot more HD content on ESPN-HD. I'm hoping that something will be worked out by then.

Originally posted by D-rock0030
June 7th is the date that supposedly they will be on the air live with their new huge digital broadcast building with new all digital studios with a whole slew of HD recording equipment so there will be a lot more HD content on ESPN-HD. I'm hoping that something will be worked out by then.


NOT as much as me!;)

Originally posted by D-rock0030
Obviously there is some form of standard carriage contract that both sides will start with and then negotiate different clauses untill both sides are satisfied. So I am sure that the contracts that Wolo, WLTX, and WIS signed are all not identical. But if this is TWC's position on this matter all I might ask is why wont TWC sign the same contract that about 8 other cable providers have signed with Disney to carry ESPN-HD. Do they think that they are special or better that Comcast or Cox or Adelphia or Cablevision?? All of these companies have recently signed carriage agreements for ESPN-HD. That door swings both ways, but I'm sure TWC doesnt want to admit it does.
To me it appears the other MSOs caved into Disney's demands which many here believe TWC should have done as well. There is also a principle involved as well: that being ESPN-HD is just a HD version of their standard channel and so should be carried at no extra charge. I would hate to see cable get into the mode of having to charge an additional fee for each (existing or proposed) HD version of a SD channel I get now (PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, TNT, Bravo, HBO, SHO, and so on).

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
touche

However, I cannot satisfactoraly answer your question because the ESPN-HD deal is a corporate negotiation, whereas the agreements I was referencing were local and executed on a more satisfactory timeline (in most instances).


WCIV succesfully negotiated a contract with Comcast, the other major cable company in the area, shortly after WCIV started broadcasting its digital signal. So I have a tough time believing WCIV is the problem here. They have been on the air for almost a year now, so if they go on the lineup tommorow, that is not a timely executed agreement--especially when others have shown that an agreement can be reached if both sides are willing.

As far as we can tell, no problems with WOLO-DT last night, as I sit here
in Las Vegas it looks fine both here and at the origination point.

This question is directed mainly towards Diana at TWC:

I was reading in another thread on here that Fox Sports Net HD was taking broadcasts of certain MLB games from their regional sports nets, such as North, West, etc and was going to provide 68 MLB games in HD this year to Time Warner Cable. Will we be getting any of these broadcasts here in SC on the special events channel or anything?

edit: The way I read it these were separate from the games that INHD will be offering.

As was the case with NHL games this past winter, there will be some number of MLB games aired on FOX Sports Net Sout which we will also receive in HD for airing on the HD Special Events Channel.

The FOX May HD schedule was distributed yesterday and there are no events on the calendar for SC on it.

Originally posted by DianaTWCSC
As was the case with NHL games this past winter, there will be some number of MLB games aired on FOX Sports Net Sout which we will also receive in HD for airing on the HD Special Events Channel.

The FOX May HD schedule was distributed yesterday and there are no events on the calendar for SC on it.

Really? That sux. Thats two months into the MLB season and not one single game other than whats on INHD. What do they think? That people who get Fox Sports Net South dont have HDTV's??

I realize that FSN is the one who sets the schedule not TWCSC.

Question(not complicated)


Why has Wach not signed the agreement for your Digital channel to be on TWC? Wolo,WIS, and WLTX have signed and are available on Time Warner Cable. What exactly is Wach waiting for? Also, when do you plan to broadcast the Dolby Digital 5.1 signal that you receive from Fox? Will Wach be broadcasting in HDTV in the fall?

Answer(sort of)

Good Morning and thank you for your interest in WACH DTV..Actually, we are now in negotiations with Time Warner Cable on this matter ,and to be perfectly frank with you, there are some issues yet to be resolved.



Hopefully, this will happen soon. We have a great interest in having our DTV signal distributed by all available means, and are taking steps to make it so..



Thanks again for your question, and interest in WACH TV.



Dan Orta

Chief Engineer

WACH TV57

WACH DTV48

I emailed WACH the same question about two months ago and got pretty much the same answer verbatim. Must be a standard reply email that he has already set up.

Does anyone at WOLO (Bob perhaps) have any idea when the WOLO web page will be up again ? it has been "under construction" for several months now.

Sorry Enoree..not on my horizon..but I'll pass the question on.

Anyone (Diana?) know when the DVI patch will be added to the SA8000 boxes? I know we are past the originally indicated date, just curious to know if there is a revised projected date?

TIA

Hopefully it won't be too much longer, but there is no specific date yet.

I promise to post as soon as I know.

Good Afternoon,

Please be aware, on Tuesday, May 4th, sometime between 2am and 6am, Discovery HD Theater will be moved from its current satellite to a new satellite. This will result in a very short interruption of service. Unfortunately, this disruption is unavoidable.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions,