Charlotte, NC - TWC - Page 137

No Problem here..You most likely have an issue with your cable feed affecting that particular QAM that TWC needs to service.

That's interesting, b/c my father-in-law has the same problem, and he lives five miles away. No one else has had this problem?

BTW, Bob, what did you mean that the cable needs to be serviced--the physical cable coming down into the house is the problem?

UNC-Tv is on QAM # 110 @ 711 Mhz. I get 34 db SNR here, so it's specific to your area.

UNC-TV is just like the locals free and in the clear. Sounds like a service call, I agree with Bob..

Can anyone tell me what happened to the UNC-TV channels? I am using QAM and they have been gone for a couple weeks

I had the same issue, I did a new scan and it showed up ok.

We are getting them here In Hickory - I know here they only have enough transport bandwidth for one or the other so UNC HD is up during prime time and 701 - 703 are up the rest of the time.

For those of you reading this and have the power to make a change. Is there any way to adjust the volume of commercials to be more in-line with the TV shows? Over the past several months it seems to have gotten worse. We have to keep the mute button handy because it's so bad. Typically we watch shows that we record and FF though the commercials, but some shows we watch live. I'm sure advertisers don't want another reason for potential consumers not to watch their advertisements.

Any help or insight is much appreciated.

Sound levels are controlled at the network master control room for national spots, and at the local stations for local insertions. There is nothing the cable or satellite companies can do to control the levels of the commercials.

Plus the networks are often not at fault. Commercials are produced with the audio levels highly compressed in order to maintain a consistently high audio level. The dynamic range of most commercials is very low. So what you are hearing is the wider dynamic range of most TV shows, which lets you have quieter moments and range, slammed up against a car commercial that pegs the meter at 100% the entire time no matter what the content.

Well, as Zax says, it's not that simple. In the analog days, we'd just compress the hell out of it, killing all dynamic range and be done with it. It's not that simple with Dolby Digital and 5.1..for example, with the FOX splicer,
we can't alter network audio (nor video) at all. So we have to match our local
to the ever moving target of network. It's easire if you're an ABC affiliate, and harder if you're a CBS affilaite. There are many, many posts here regarding audio and loudness at AVS, you can read for days on the issue.

Thanks for the insight. I figured it wouldn't be an easy issue to address. Perhaps in the future additional industry standards will be agreed upon that will allow for better volume control between programs and commercials.

I have noticed this problem more with 5.1 audio. If I have my center channel level too low, the commercials will blow me out of the room, but when the 5.1 programming comes back after the commercials everything is good. I prefer more surround and less center channel, but it does cause that problem during commercials.

Don't know if the person that said this a few months ago is still around here, or anyone else in the Comporium areas of York County can chime in, but I have a question about their HD service.

I currently have their HD service on an older rear projection tv, w/ the giant cable box/dvr, no big deal in that room, but I'm putting up a flat panel in another room over a pool table, so there's no where to put a cable box, especially one that's 17" x 13" geez! I've been racking my brain about this all day. At first I was just gonna see what I could get w/ the TV's QAM tuner, which I may still do, but something telling me this tv will get some action on game day, and I'd sure like to see some stuff in HD.

My fear is that the QAM tuner won't pick up the high numbered channels off my cable feed for HD, 300+, right? So, I could go over the air, but isn't that a pain, I don't think I can put an external antenna up in my neighborhood anyway, so don't know what I'd get there, and that won't get me ESPN, etc.

I've seen some neighbors w/ a small modem sized cable box, but I guess those aren't hi-def, coz I called Comporium and all they have for HD are the giant monster boxes, or so they say on the phone. I have a place I can wire a smaller box, but I can't figure out anything to do w/ the giant box. It's too wide to build a cut-through cubby between the studs on my load bearing wall (can't widen the studs), it's too deep to put on a floating shelf above the tv, and I can't put it below the tv or else will be in the way of playing pool. I even though about putting it above my kitchen cabinets on the opposite side of the tv wall, and getting a remote infrared extender, thought I could hide it behind the cabinet's crown molding, but guess what, they're only 12" deep, so the cable box won't even fit up there.

I'm running out of ideas, I hope someone has some, either on where to put it, or how to get a smaller hd box from comporium, or an easy, cost effective way w/out a big antenna to get OTA, or something, I'm all ears.

Thanks,

Karz

Your QAM tuner will work just fine on Comporium. The local stations are in the 70's. I've setup a couple of friends down there with HD sets. One in particular went on for 3 hours on how his set wouldn't get anything directly from the cable. He shut up as soon as I dialed in the locals for him in HD. No cable box required. Just tell your set to scan. It'll find the clear-QAM stuff no problem on that system.

Wow, ok, that is good to know. I'm just anxiously awaiting delivery of the new tv, and trying to have all my gear ready when it gets here, and you start thinking about how to run cables, which cables to buy, etc., and you start remembering little details you didn't think of before. Not having any reference point, I was left to assume I would have to be able to pull in channels in the 300+ range like they're numbered in set top boxes, and didn't think the QAM tuner went up that high. I'm new to the QAM thing, so I was fearing the worst. Thanks for the pompt reply, as well.

Now, maybe I can get my plans back on track and order up some cables for my other gear then.

Regards,

Karz

There are no physical cable channels in the 300+ range. The maximum frequency a QAM tunner can "tune" is 135 (some stop at 125). The high numbers that cable uses are actually broadcast on lower channels (frequencies). The cable signal contains information that says "show this as channel XXX". The cables boxes and some TVs use this information to let you punch in 300 and get HBO. If the channel is "scrambled" then the QAM can't do anything unless there is a cable card to decrypt it.

Does anybody have a list of QAM channels that I should get without a set-top box from Time Warner in the Charlotte area? Seems like my TV gets a different set of channels everytime I auto program it. Also, I have some friends who notice they get a different set of channels from their QAM tuner on different TVs in their house. Sorry if this is an FAQ somewhere...

The link below is a story about the SDV rollout in Raleigh.

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/855233.html

I know it's Raleigh, but they are a fellow Passport system like us in Charlotte so I figure that the timelines are similar. As I understand it, Greensboro is a SARA system and SDV has already been implemented there which is why they have more HD channels than us.

interesting. thanks for posting it.

My experiences here inside of Charter is most QAM tuners will give the QAM channel which, as posted before is lower. Generally a Clear QAM tuner (no card) will only see the open channels and report them by QAM number whereas once a cable card is installed the TV performs like a box and uses the same virtual channel map your normal box would.

Again, this is just what I've seen, so as a heads up don't be suprised if you get unusual channel numbers. I know when we had issues with VOD streams being unencrypted clear QAM tuners would pick up 109-1 109-2 etc

He-He..installed an HD set for our business manager here at home several years ago when TWC had first started VOD and the QAM's were unencrypted.
Her husband was channel surfing the new Tv that evening, and just as she walked into the room he had landed upon one of the QAM's with adult VOD.
He had a hard time explaining to her how he got those two girls going at it...

We had quite a fiasco here when it blew up

The big powder keg occured when a couple got a high end LG (I want to say 52in) from a local Speciality TV and Electronics shop -

All was great until thethe kids were watching Spongebob squarepants one moment then double-x and a half (yeah, they make half ratings...) porn the next... randomly and unexpectedly...

They called our support which walked them through Vchip blocks and removing the channels - all's fixed right?

Nope, here's where it got WORSE, because LGs will delete channels from it's lineup if there was no feed and auto re-add them when there was - so if you locked out the channel it was deleted and re-added with the next video stream... and ON TOP OF IT ALL... apparently VOD movie content (other than stuff provided for Subscription services on normal channels) carrys it's metadata differently - so VChip parental controls would not apply to 90% of the adult content...

So there was *NO* blocking of it on the TV without installing a cablecard or forcing the TV to connect through to a box.

but call center had no idea of course and figured the TV was at fault (most would assume a faulty V-chip not knowing that LG treats each stream as the creation of a new channel... nor knowing that VOD movie suppliers put ratings information in a spot other than line 24 of the programming metadata...) - heck I didn't know till I got our corporate testing labs in on it...

But the customer didn't blame us, since we showed them how the TV should be blocking it, they blamed the TV... and when a second one did the same thing, they demanded a refund. The store owner did so, but then came to the local office (he kept in touch with local management as well as me personally) and was very, VERY unhappy.

We finally tested the very same TV with a Card - which forced it onto our channel map - and offered it up to the customer (without a card rental charge on their account) and all was good for them.

But it's encrypted now

Though that is much to the dismay of all the OTHER people who were digging it *L*

I had one guy who's only complaint was it kept changing titles on him, often without finishing the current one. I told him he'd have to find out who's ordering it and tell them "Watch the entire movie dang it"

Most of the people who brought it to our attention were visibly upset until I explained it was an issue on our side, they were not being billed for it, would not be billed for it and we can offer then a free card or box if they want to keep the content from kids... after that they were like "um... do you mind if I keep watching it then?" (to which I'd say "Hey, it's out there and it's unencrypted, if you like what you see, enjoy it while it's out there... Just bear in mind the content is completely random!)

channel G4 is providing CES 2008 coverage.

Monday, 1/7, 7pm EST, G4 ,CES 2008 first day coverage

Tuesday, 1/8, 7pm EST, G4, CES 2008 second day coverage

I'm in Salisbury with TWC out of Charlotte. I've got a Samsung Plazma. When tuning cable channels using QAM, most channels tune/show using the same numbers that may SA8300HD uses, a few don't. This TV has a cable-card slot, but I don't have a cable-card installed. Maybe that is why is uses the same numbers (just a SWAG)

Could also be headend based, I know TW is an SA based system and up here in Charter Hickory we are a Motorola Based system

Cisco unveils new DVRs - no more Sci Atl name

http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2008/...tCiscoPressKit

Hey Guys,
Im in Charlotte (south central, near Southpark) and am on Time Warner Cable. I have the 8300HD Scientific Atlanta box. Im running it via HDMI to a Samsung 4665f. Ive been enjoying the HD channels immensley.

Now, I have heard other SAMMY owners who use their QAM tuners to pick up PPV stations in the upper ranges of their tuner i was thinking of running a splitter so that one end goes into my SA8300, and the other goes directly into my QAM. Hoever if all the Charlotte NC Time Warner PPV items are encrypted, then its probably not worth it.

Also Ive read some about Digital Switching comming in March, is this correct? Would l have to give up my 8300 for the latest box? (the OCAP one).

Lastly, is there any great difference with the OCAP box that I should try and upgrade to anyway?

Thanks!

D.

did ya'll see the chairman of comcast today at CES when he announced 1000 HD offerings to all areas served by them by the end of 2008? is there even that many channels available in HD? sure wish TWC would make a similar statement.

maybe that means ppv will be going hd? and he's counting all those channels? i'm just thinking out loud, but depending on how many ppv channels they have, that could count for a few hundred channels or something... still though, that's a lot, i mean most cable systems i've been on have a lot of dead channel ranges, and bs fluff, they don't even add up to 1k channels really, of any kind of programming, so i'd like to know more about what he's talking about....

karz

According to the article I've read, a lot of that content is going to be in their On Demand offerings.

that makes sense. i didn't read an article or even see the whole announcement. i was watching on G4 and they clipped a lot of it out. that 1000 "offerings" could easily be 1000 shows not 1000 channels. i had assumed he meant 1000 channels because the bar graph behind him showed direct tv with 150 and comcast with 1000. and I've seen DTV saying they will have 150HD channels. of course that graph could have been marketing garbage comparing apples to oranges.