Buffalo, NY - HDTV

Haven't heard a thing here either. CBS seems to be the only one with their HDTV act together.

At least the information is being updated. That gives me hope that something may happen eventually. John Merrill at WIVB told me a couple of weeks ago they were shooting for sometime in late May. Let's keep our fingers crossed!!

Yeah, hopefully!

I haven't watched CBS much this past year, it would be good to catch all the prime time reruns in HDTV!!

At least this gives me more time to put up and get my antenna ready.

tick tick tick....

The esteemed Mr. Merrill from WIVB says an announcement is coming soon, to be posted on their website and to be announced over the air. Seems each reply to my emails becomes more terse!

Good thing lives didn't depend on Buffalo going HD Live!!

Hey, guys!! WIVB-DT is on the air in digital SD!!! Chanels 39-01, 39-02, 39-03!!!!!

At the moment, King of Queens is on in widescreen HD. The HD commercial for the CBS lineup looked absolutely FANTASTIC!!! This is what we have been waiting so long for.

Looks to me like they're going through a few growing pains.....but I agree....it's nice to see a little HD OTA in WNY.

Awesome! Thanks for the heads up! Cannot wait to get home and fire up the TV! Hope I got my antenna tuned in correctly...hehe...

Woot

This is great news - HDTV is alive in Western NY!

Can anyone get the signal in Rochester, NY? If not, I guess I'll have to drive to Buffalo, put up an antenna, and record some stuff on my htpc.

I'm thinking CSI on Thursday night, but I'd really appreciate it if someone can confirm that it'll be on in HDTV.

Thanks in advance,

Ron

RIppolito: Don't get too excited just yet. As of this morning there is no broadcast signal. They are just testing at this point and no public announcement has been made, so it could be a little while. At least we know it's going to be a reality soon!

Sources say that they'll be "testing" through this week and will make an official announcement on the 6 o'clock news this Friday (on WIVB channel 4... or is that channel 39-03). Which brings me to another question. When the US goes completely digital will channel 4 become channel 39-03? Will channel 7 become channel 38-xx and so on and so on...................will Adelphia cable...wait a minute....never mind about Adelphia cable..........

And sources also say that channel 2 (or is that 33-xx) will be on the air within a month or so....although I am not to sure about this one...

I wonder if our friends in the Toronto area are getting HD over the air ? I hope so!

Does anyone have an email address at WIVB so I can ask them about tomorrow evening's broadcasting? If they aren't going to test tomorrow, it'd save me a trip there and back.

Has anyone tested reception during the day? How do they handle the local news - SD only? Does the digital signal go off the air, then come back on?

This is pioneering stuff - frustrating yes, but exciting, too.

Ron

PS - just curious - are any of the stores in Buffalo showing these random occurrances of widescreen on WIVB?

Send email inquiries to john.merrill@lintv.com. He has been very good about answering my emails. They were on briefly this afternoon, but not this evening. From what I understand, there won't be any local HD for a while, just passthrough from CBS. By the way, my signal strength here in Tonawanda has been around 90% from an outdoor antenna. I don't know what your setup is, but with a large antenna with signal amplifier you just might be able to pull in a signal from as far as Rochester. It's a hit and miss proposition. With my setup, I can pick up a marginal signal from Rochester analog stations, sometimes better that others.Might be worth a try!

Looks like everything is a GO. All the info, including the schedule is up on the WIVB website. They are asking for feedback, so the test period must be over. Let's let them know how much we appreciate having HD!!

Cool! Now I'll have to drag out my antenna and see if I can pick it up with my HiPix card from Toronto....

I'll await your report, Andy!

The official word is that they will be on the air permanently as of 5:00PM Fri. Will broadcast prime time CBS schedule every night from 8 to 11.

So, what's the verdict about last night? I had heard that WIVB was going on the air, evenings, from 8-11 pm: did it happen?

Ron

Ron: Yes, indeed, it did happen on time. They had a little ceremony on the 6PM news broadcast when they officially flipped the switch. Some of the original employees from 1948 when the station first went on the air were present. JAG looked absolutely fantastic. It's like watching a totally different program with all the detail and the 16X9 ratio. The Guardian didn't fare quite as well. There were numerous digital breakups and pixelization, and sometimes the sound and picture were not synchronized. I'm sure all these little problems will go away once they get the hang of what they are doing. Even the SD digital programming looks much better than it's analog counterpart. I don't know how old you are, but the way the shows are in HD and the commercials are in SD reminds me of the old days of early color tv when the commercials would switch to b&w. I guess that tells you how old I am!

I live in Mississauga (just West of Toronto) and I picked up WIVB with a Silver Sensor antenna and a RCA Directv HDTV receiver in my condo! I watched Touched by An Angel. It looked basically as good as the Rogers HDTV cable feed.

Anyone picking this up from Rochester ? What antenna/amp are you using ?

Thanks

Good to hear, valpersaud. I cant pick it up with my HiPix and a bowtie, I'm going to have to make the trek to Johnny's store and buy another Silver Sensor (sold my last one when I couldnt pick up the CN tower test signal which makes me wonder if I'll get this one).

BTW is your condo facing Buffalo, or are you receiving it through the building?

Andy K.

Hi Kromkamp. My condo is facing almost exactly southwest (I know this because my Directv dish is pointing straight out the window with another building about 50ft in front of mine). I am not facing the lake (Buffalo). The antenna is simply sitting on the floor and my signal strength is about 82. If you know the area, I live near Dundas and Hurontario (Hwy 10) just south of Square One.

Additionally, when I first picked up the Silver Sensor antenna from The Next Big Thing, I was also planning to get the CN Tower signal, which I only managed twice with a perfect HDTV picture. The rest of the time it failed. I think it is because they change the type of signal broadcast as a part of their tests. Even now it just kinda blinks with intermittent picture and fine sound. I almost sold the Silver Sensor too but it's a good thing I kept it. The bowtie I had didn't work well.

The signal from Buffalo is perfect now. No problems! GOOD LUCK!