March Tampa Thread - Page 4  

Jaymer, re: the test signal on HBO - that's cool. I haven't seen anything like that on HDHBO yet, but as soon as I do, I'm gonna drop everything and start twiddling with my settings. ;D Sorry for not getting back with you until now - my life has consisted of work, work and more work these past few weeks. My new tech starts in a week, tho... that should ease some of the burden!

itsbeen, your assumption about the non-widescreen content on HDHBO and HDSHO is correct - it's just standard 4:3 with black bars added to the sides and upconverted to 1080i. It looks a little better than the same show on the standard digital channel (less compression artifacts, maybe?) but it's not all that great. HDHBO and HDSHO do always seem to have the same movies as what appears on the regular HBO and SHO, just in the different aspect ratio, as you've noticed.

Re: the picture quality of the full widescreen broadcasts, even those aren't always true 1080i - often times they're upconverted. According to some of the listings that I've seen, everything that appears widescreen on HDHBO is true 1080i, but I doubt that very much. A lot of it looks like DVD quality. I have yet to see anything on either HDHBO or HDSHO that completely blows me away.

Some of the shows on the local OTA channels are stunning, though. The olympics, for example... I just stared in amazement. The screen completely disappeared. It was like looking thru a window. I hope we see content like that on HBO and Showtime soon. I also hope that the reason we haven't is simply due to the fact that they're not broadcasting anything that good yet and not due to some rendering limitations of the Explorer 3100.

Oh! There are indeed adapters that will convert from coax to optical (and from optical TO coax). I'm not sure of the price, but I think they can be had for under $100 - maybe even around $50. Hopefully some of the guys will have a link for you.

itsbeen, go here and it will give you a kind of a guide what in HD and whats upconverted.. Not everything on HDHBO & HDSHO is HD..some upconverted. Check out this site

http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html

Hi Tampa Thread,

I have been lurking here for a couple of weeks. I learned a lot. Thanks to all of you. I have seen a couple of posts about test channels on the 3100. How do you get to them?
Thanks.
Phil

PDJernes, the test channels can be found on 801, 802, 803, and 804. Most of us are locked out of them and receive a "NOT AUTHORIZED" warning message when we try to view them. You might be one of the lucky ones who can tune them in, though. :)

ScottAllyn, Thanks. I am "NOT AUTHORIZED" as well. I was hoping for some NCAA BB in HD.

The real problem is that the term HD has been "extended" all sorts of presentations which may or may not adhere to the original ATSC standard (which in its 18 variants of "the ATSC digital television standard" - notice the word "HIGH" is missing however) is very broad to start with - see page 138 of http://www.atsc.org/standards/a_54.pdf - great bedtime reading......zzzzzzzzzzz)

So what is unfortunately happening is IMHO that the term HDTV is being "*******ized" if you will as being synonymous with DTV which would be more accurate for the lower presxentation formats. As it stands, HDTV is becoming like the terms "digital quality" , "CD quality" and "DVD quality" - great for marketing but useless from atechical standpoint.
As other rightly point out there is very few material that really shines as true HD (HD camera live filming like Olympics, PBS test loops etc...) Even the movie quality film to HD transfers generally lack the details IMHO of what I consider to be true HD.

Itsbeen -

I have the same problem regarding the audio out / audio in... The digital coax signal coming from the box needs to be converted to digital OPTICAL.. there are a few devices for this - I still have to order mine - not sure if I'm going w/ the Midiman CO2 or the simpler one way versions - but this site looks to have the best pricing on a solution:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cg...i?category=580


P.S. - I asked the same question here: :-)

http://www.***************.com/ubb/u...&f=35&t=001712

Guys.

What is your signal strength for ABC (WFTS) ? I used to get their signal in the 90s. Today I am at a constant 79/80, which is better that I used to get for the past 2 weeks. For the past two weeks, I was lucky to get 65.

They just finished installing their new transmitter for 500kw but I am still getting only a 79/80. So is it my antenna and/or receiver or are you getting a lower signal strength recently?

Bryan

Bryan,

Here at the outer edge of the signal (57.367 miles, give or take a couple feet :-) I have not noticed a recent drop or change - in fact WFTS is the one that most consistently comes in, followed by WFLA, then WTVT.

Now if only WTSP would rent some space on the Riverview antenna farm - I would be really happy.... How can those guys say they are from St. Pete and have an antenna in Holiday anyhow.... :-) ?

Mario

Marc_in_Fl,

Thanks for the input. I went ahead and rewired and reprogramed the controler. Everything seems to be working okay. I just have to remember that the receiver doesn't really know what is the DVD and what is cable. Not a big deal if you are careful. I am sure I will forget sometime but... It was cheaper and faster. The place that you pointed to however seems to have all kind of useful stuff and will be a good one to remember for the future.

Harry

Jaymer,

It's the fan in the 8VSB module that's noisy! :) Not the signal.

Wonder if the USB port on the 3100HD is for just configuring the box? At first glance I though it might have been a DVI port...

Anyone have the inside scoop on when the locals go live?

just wanted to say that ive been using the format converter that soundpros sells (the twentysome dollar one, not the midiman) and have been very satisfied with its performance. soundpros service was nice too. i had the item seemingly hours from the time of order.

soooo if you need to get the coax out of the 3100 into a spare optical in on your processor, there is cheap/easy/reliable way.

the format converter in question need a 110 outlet for power, i just used the switched outlet on the back of the 3100. when the box is on, the converter is on.

I finally called them at the start of the Maryland/Wisc game and they flipped the switch! I had called the friday night but the guy I talked to wouldn't even try what I asked.

Today they asked the guy running the board, and wouldn't you know, bam glorious 1080i!

If anyone is interested their phone # is 727-577-1010 just press zero for an operator. It is halftime now and they have been switching back and forth from hd to sd. I hope they stay in HD when the halftime is over in DC.

Mike

As I expected, WTTA, WB 38, has filed a CP extension citing equipment delays. I expected this because I have not had any response from my phone calls or emails to them for a few months.

They are sharing the same tower in Riverview which is co-owned by both WFTS and WFLA. Jack Winters from WFTS stated to me this past Friday that they have not even began working on the tower.

Also, WFTT (Univision) has filed.

Anyone have word on when the HD locals get turned on permanently? The Masters is going to be in HD!!

From what I read here, I don't have much hope that it will be much before the middle of summer. It would be great however to see the Masters in HD. It seems to me that the locals are a lot more interesting in HD than HBO and SHO.

By the way, what is HDNET and is there any chance that TW will start to carry it? I have seen it mentioned but have no idea what it is.

Harry

It was a pleasure meeting all of you that showed up at Mangroves Bar/Grill yesterday. Hopefully next month when we have our get-together in Pinellas we’ll draw an even larger crowd.

With as much help that this forum has been to me, it is really a nice to put a face to a name. I encourage anyone who has an interest in Home Theater PC’s or other AV setups to attend next month – it’s not just for HDTV junkies.

David.

I heard from WFTS that TWC has not even contacted them about their HD re-transmission. WFTS said all that it takes was a "memo" to them giving them consent, "about 5 minutes worth of time". They would be glad to provide this memo to them if they asked.

Has anybody contacted TWC and asked to see what their story is?

David,

Enjoyed meeting you and everyone else last night at Mangroves. I learned a lot about front projection setups. Looking forward to the next meet. After meeting people face to face and getting to know people, it makes these posts more interesting.

Dave

Hey Pat! Greetings from across the puddle!

I wish I had read this thread back in Jan. & caught your post - I didn't even dream I could get the Tampa signals from here. But last week I found a cheap Sensory Science STB on eBay, so I decided to give it a shot - a RS 36' mast & VU-190XR antenna connected to my WinTV-D tuner card... and I get all the Tampa stations! (plus Fox FTX south of here) The STB arrives here tonight, so I'll see how that works out (I've heard it doesn't handle weak signals very well).

Looking forward to my first real HDTV experience... (Leno tonight)

Well, the gathering last night at Mangroves in the Howard/Armenia district was totally devoid of roving prostitutes, so you guys were right... our impromptu meeting was too boring and so you smartly stayed home... oh well... at least the squirlly barmaid was rather cute.... seriously though, hats off to jaymer for picking a really nice place that had a great potential for a large gathering. We're hoping next time to do it in Pinellas, possibly on the beach for a great sunset, good drinks and even some half-assed beach-bar food... ever hear of Beach Nutts? I'm also going to contact Sound Advice near the Tyrone Mall to see if we might hook up there for a demo... at the very least the more sober of the cowd can come to my place (less than a mile from Beach Nutts) and check out my AccessDTV/HitachiRP setup.... it's not the greatest, but what the heck...

... how's second half of May sound?

:confused:

Well, considering the activity here, I guess not too many people will be attending any further get-togethers....

or is it just that there is sooooo much good content now on TWC ???

:confused:

Jim,

Sounds like a great plan. You can count on my presence. Looking forward to a beach sunset.

Dave

so quiet....

think I'll head over to the TWC store and see if I can pick up a 3100 just to see what you guys are watching....

:confused:

No pointer to an April thread for Tampa? How am I going to find out if TW ever makes the locals available?


Harry

Is it me or has channel 8 now filled the 16x9 screen for all their transmissions on the digital channel
Bill Reed

It's not you - looks absolutely great on 7-1

7-2 has their weather channel graphics - Although yesterday there was a slate saying something to the effect of not being available on cable systems...