Wilkes Barre, PA - HDTV - Page 3

Thanks for the update. I'll pass this onto management when I get back. I'm going to ask the GM about increasing the hours to at least include the 6pm newscast. By April first we will be full time. I have reports of folks with terrible analog reception but perfect digital. Some are in Pike county where we want to expand viewership.

Do you have 5.1 Dolby capability? I'm curious about sound quality.

- Stu -

P.S. I have a First Phone (now General class) with 20 years experience.

boy.. i don't check the forums for a few days and there's a lot of activity. Its nice to see......

Stu - its great having you here on the forum

I'd definitely be intersted in checking out the testing next week. please just post here so we all can check it out and let you know how it looks and sounds in many different regions.


thanks again
dave

Stu,
Sorry I forgot to mention that. Thursday night I will be there. Hopefully others could join in and provide feedback too. Thursday might be bad because of the programming. I believe that the only HD will be back to back episodes of Push Nevada, which was given a grainy affect when it was produced. We could try it still if you think that it may be worth it. Monday is much better when Drew Carey is on. That's actually the show that I noticed it on first. We may have to wait a week and a half to test since you come back on Monday and will probably be very busy. Let me know.

Thanks,
Jeff

Hi Dave,
Next Thursday evening I'll delete the SD channels from the stream and see if that makes a significant difference in the picture quality. I hope not - Jeff needs his radar! :-)

Also, most days, ABC feeds a dolby audio test video loop that I can transmit during the day if anyone wants to test their 5.1 audio setup. It's just a series of tones directed at each indiviual channel with a voice id along with some 720p video.

- Stu -

I was at the store today. Sanford sold me a TV. Anyway, next Thursday I will delete the SD channels and see what happens to quality. Now that you mention it, some HD stuff that was originally shot on film may have the grainy look. Maybe that's what you see??? The sitcoms are video.
Maybe we'll do Wednesday and Thursday without 16-2 and 16-3.

- Stu -

Stu,

I'd definitely be intersted in having some times when to examine the ABC feeds of the dolby audio test video loop

i work 9-5, what is your definiton of "during the day"?

also by next thurday you are refering to 9/25 and not tomorrow, right?

thanks in advance
dave

Dave,
ABC feeds the test usually on Tuesday through Thursday from 10am to around 2pm. I realize you work then but if you ever get one of those days off either call me at the station or send me email at hdtv@wnep.com.

I'll do the HD only test next Wednesday and Thursday during primetime. My reason for doing it is to see if adding the addtional SD channels impacts the HD channel. For those evenings I'll setup the encoder to use the entire 19.39 stream for HD. 16-2 and 16-3 will not air those nights.

- Stu -

Stu,
Any update on this?
Thanks,
Bob

Stu,
Do you think Mark should post something on the website about the testing on Wednesday and Thursday. Those who watch the HDTV signal probably learned about it from the website. If there was a problem, I would think that would be the first place they would go to notify you of the problem. It's just an idea. What do you think?

Jeff

Jeff like your idea on info on the website

Stu,
I'm looking forward to the testing tonight and tomorrow


dave

Hi Bob,
I started working on this and hit a snag. The antenna does not have a north orientation like I expected. Even though it is omnidirectional, it like all broadcast antennas will have null patterns that are noticeable in the fringe areas. I have the calculated pattern but since there is no reference for the antenna mounting, I cannot plot it on a map with any accuracy.

There is a way around that. For a signal test I want to use the station helicopter and fly in at a 15 mile radius around the tower while taking signal strength measurements. I want to get that done before the snow flys.

I'm still puzzled why you don't get a hint of us and a 100 with wvia.

- Stu -

Just wanted to pass along some info...

Tonight and tomorrow (9-25 and 9-26) we will be encoding only the HD channel. The goal is to see if the increased compression caused by the SD channels impacts the HD.

Beginning tonight, the HDTV transmitter will be put on air at 6pm nightly. This is a permanent change.

Got this from ABC today:


Dear ABC Affiliate:

ABC Television Network president Alex Wallau announced today that the most-watched and highest-profile sporting events of the year, including the Super Bowl, games of the National Basketball Association finals and the Stanley Cup, will be broadcast in HDTV on ABC this season. In addition ABC announced that it will broadcast the 2003-2004 season of Monday Night Football in HDTV.



Live sporting events provide the best platform to showcase the dramatic benefits of high definition television, said Mr. Wallau. We're delighted to broadcast these sporting events in HDTV, including the most-watched television event of the year, the Super Bowl.



ABC currently broadcasts the majority of its primetime schedule, including all of its scripted dramas, comedies and theatrical movies, in HDTV. The 2002-03 primetime HDTV broadcasts, sponsored by Zenith Electronics Corporation, include the new programs 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Life with Bonnie, Push, Nevada, MDs, That Was Then and Less Than Perfect. These programs join such ABC stalwarts as NYPD Blue and The Practice in high definition, bringing the Network's total HDTV primetime broadcasts to more than 13 hours per week.



ABC was the first major network to broadcast in HDTV, beginning in November 1998, and it is the only major broadcast network currently airing its HD programming in Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound. All of ABC's programs will use 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format.



In September 2001 ABC made a major commitment to HDTV programming when it began broadcasting the majority of its schedule in HDTV, including all of its scripted primetime comedy and drama series, as well as all theatrical movies. For the 2001-02 broadcast season, ABC broadcast more than 260 hours of HDTV programming, and the Network plans to broadcast even more hours in HD this season.



ABC began broadcasting high-definition television, including Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound, beginning on November 1, 1998, with the theatrical presentation of The Wonderful World of Disney: 101 Dalmatians. Since then ABC has broadcast many other theatricals in HDTV, as well as numerous sporting events. Those include the first live, regularly scheduled HDTV sporting event in primetime, the 1999-2000 season of Monday Night Football. ABC has also broadcast Super Bowl XXXIV and the 2000 National Hockey League All-Star Game in HDTV. Currently 64 of ABC's owned and affiliated stations are broadcasting digital TV, covering 63% of the nation, with 48 of those stations broadcasting in HDTV.



ABC will air Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26, 2003, from San Diego, CA. The NBA finals are scheduled for June 4-18, 2003, and the Stanley Cup for May 31-June 9, 2003.

Stu,
I can't believe the news! This and the ESPN news may just pushing me over the edge into buying a HDTV. Also, thanks for turning the signal on at 6. Now we have more time to show it off at CC.

And now to the main question, how does the picture look tonight? I didn't have a chance to see it. I will tomorrow though. Everyone fill me in!!

Jeff

Another small update for us. TitanTV is now showing the ABC HD schedule. That only took months for them to update their site. They list 16-1 and 16-2. Also, they are now showing that CBS will be live on October 8th. That would mean NBC would be up too since I believe they are owned and operated by the same company. Maybe Stu could fill us in a little on that one.

Jeff

checked out the signal last night.....

looked real nice to me... but my frame of reference isn't the best
(hard to compare to previous by memory)

I did notice a few satellite like drop outs (pixelation) that I'm assuming was from the orignal abc feed to wnep

dobly digital in 5.1 was really nice....

one quick question....
i noticed that 16-1 , 16-2 , and 16-3 all were showing the 720p signal, were the channel numbers remapped? for the test? i was expecting to only see 16-1 and that 16-2 and 16-3 would be off during the test.

also glad to see the permanent change to turning the signal on a 6pm daily!!!

and i'm so, so, so thankful that WNEP is on the air now, with the Super bowl and NHL stanley cup finals going to be presented in 720p!!!!
woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!

I complained to them (Titantv) last week about the lack of wnep-dt programming. I haven't checked but it should have a schedule from 4pm on. I'll check when I save this.

I'm going up to the transmitter tomorrow to do a fiber upgrade. I'll check for any new construction or antennas.

- Stu -

That's good news Dave that it was hard to see a difference from multi to single channel stream. I've been getting numerous reports about the great audio quality also.

I am not sending epg information for 16-2 and 16-3. Some receivers will still think it's there until you "auto-program" it again. Tonight try auto programming your receiver and the 16-2 and 16-3 should go away.
Let me know...

- Stu -

stu,

i have a hughes e86 STB and just was surprised that when i tuned to 16-2 and 16-3 that it showed the same as 16-1...

maybe i'll rescan tonight, but not really a concern, just wanted to let you know what i saw....

dave

Stu,
I got to see the beginning of Push Nevada tonight. I'd say that it looked pretty close to the way it looked last week. I know that was a long time ago, but I didn't notice anything drastic. It looks like 16-2 and 16-3 are ago, at least for me.

I noticed between 8 and 9 that the ABC test signal was being broadcast. What happened to the upconverts? I guess it had something to do with our testing.

This is a crazy idea, but can you broadcast two 720p signals at the same time? I could really use ESPN in April. It'll never happen, but it's a neat idea.

Jeff

Someone told me about that this morning. I'm still trying to get to the bottom of the problem between 8 and 9 last night. The automation switched to the ABC HD feed and wasn't supposed to. Can't get an answer as to why no one at the station noticed and corrected it. The test loop you saw runs when ABC doesn't have a HD signal. If something like that happens again, please call the station and complain.

And yes, it is possible to encode 2 HD channels. It's a matter of adding an addtional HD card to the frame at a cost of several thousand dollars!

- Stu -

I put 16-2 and 16-3 back on today.

- Stu -

Stu,


Over the last two days or so, I've notice that the upconverted material on 16-1 seems to have black horizontal lines on the left and right side of the image just before the gray side bars.

Were these there before and I just didn't notice them? Also a few days ago it appeared as if these black lines (outline??) were thicker on one side then the other? I didn't notice the thickness difference last night, but I was just wondering what these bars were and if they always been there and I only noticed recently.

dave moss

I was wondering if anyone was going to notice that. Up until earlier this week there was black from picture to edge. I added the grey sidepanels to help prevent burn in on crt's. The problem is that the blanking on the ntsc is slightly wider and creates the black vertical lines on each side.

I'll make it all black now, like it used to be until I figure how to fix the blanking problem.

- Stu -

Stu,
I can now comment on the HD reception. I got a Hipix card for me computer. I just got it in today and I didn't get a chance to see any HD content from ABC yet, but I did see some on PBS. I am getting a signal strength of about 83 on your HD feed and 73 on the PBS feed. The upconverts looked great. I can't wait for Toy Story on Sunday. That should be unreal. Now I need a HDTV!!

Jeff

Jeff,
What part of Archbald do you live?
- Stu -

Stu,
I am on Laurel St., right next to the baseball-soccer field. My backyard is about 50 feet from the river, so I'm pretty much as low as you can go. My antenna is fairly large and it is mounted in my attic. I'd say about 30 feet up. It's not powered or anything like that. Just out from the antenna and split once. One goes to the computer and one downstairs to the current big screen, hopefully soon to be replaced with an HD big screen. I know you didn't ask for the antenna info., but it may help in plotting out a map of the reception area. Let me know if you need more info.

One other small question, what are PBS's broadcasting times? I think it's 10am to midnight, but correct if I'm wrong.

Thanks,
Jeff

I'm in the Woodlands section of Jermyn and get nothing but ghosty pictures. The hill that Valley View HS sits on is what degrades my TV and FM reception. Several years ago I borrowed a large Channel Master parabolic antenna and the signals weren't much better. I actually get decent pictures from Binghamton if I turn the antenna north. Luckily I have superb cable service From Adams.

PBS hours I think are from 7am to midnight but I have never seen that to be consistant. I don't see anything on thier web site about it.

Thanks for the location update!

- Stu -

Stu,
I was watching the HD feed for the first time last night. There was a small problem with it. There was a green line on the right side on the very edge. It was flickering thoughout the whole night and was distracting. Another thing I noticed about it was when the feed switched over to local channels, there was a pop and the line was gone. Once the national feed came back, there was a pop and the green line came back. I replied to one of the Toy Story threads about it, but no one noticed the line I guess. Everyone said it looked great. Could it have been WNEP's equipment causing it? Maybe Dave could help us out. Or maybe he couldn't? I am assuming that if you watched the feed on a TV, you would not see it due to overscan. I mean it was the very, very edge. I could see it because on the computer monitor, there is actually a small amount of black along each side before the picture begins. It gives me true edge to edge.

I took your advice and called the station when I first saw it. I tried the engineering department, but no one answered. I left Mike a voicemail explaining what I saw, but not with as much detain as I have here. I hope it's not always like that because it really distracting you from the otherwise flawless picture. Let me know if I'll crazy, picky, or right!

One last thing, is it normal to experience more pixelation and audio dropouts at night? Your feed seems to do it more that PBS's. Do you think some kind of Channel Master preamp or distribution amp would help?

Jeff

Jeff,

Sorry I didn't watch Toy Story yesterday, so I can't comment
on the "thin green line". I do notice pixelation on the WNEP feed,
more often then I would expect. I only have a Radio Shack
Double Bow tie but i get a 100% signal received at my Hughes
E86 receiver in Thornhurst.

Stu,

See we are watching and paying attention out here!! I didn't mind the gray bars on the side, it was just the "thin black bars" immediately
next to the gray bars that were distracting. I'd perfer gray bars without the thin black lines!! =) Picky aren't we?

What are channel 16-1 broadcasting hours on the weekends. I was hoping to watch the PSU game on 16-1 but it wasn't there at the beginning. I noticed the end of the game it was on, maybe I should
of rechecked sooner. =)

Stu,
The green line was there again, but only during Drew Carey. It's not there right now during MNF. I have included a shot from Toy Story to show. It's on the right side and it's tiny. It's not the size, but the flicker that's distracting.

The dropouts could be a problem. They seem quite frequent, even though the signal is locked in the low 80's.

Jeff