Greensboro, NC - HDTV - Page 11

During the war coverage provided by FOX last week, the bars were black since we were getting that from the network directly. When we run FOX News Channel on its own, you will see the gray bars.

You can tell if we are taking FOX News Channel direct if the bug in the lower left is the red white and blue rotating FNC bug. The network feed will replace that bug with a static red black and white bug that says FOX News and black bars. We will usually carry more coverage than FOX network provides and so we will take FOX News Channel direct to air and that is when you will see the regular rotating FNC bug and the gray bars.

HI all,
Haven't checked in for a while. I was just checking out channel 520 on TWC and "king of queens"...hmmm...never mind, it wasn't HD for a while, now it is...do they have to flip a switch or something?
Ron

I have no first hand knowledge, but for what I have observed, both WFMY and WXII have an "external HD" switch. It is my understanding that NBC and CBS do not put up 4:3 versions of their programming on the HD channel so the local station has to switch between the SD and HD versions when available thus this external switch and they miss it sometimes. This is not just a local problem, but nationwide. I had heard that NBC was going to start sending 4:3 on the HD channel, but from what I have heard around the country, that doesn't seem to have happened yet.

Technically what is happening is the type of encoder they use has a built in 2 source switcher so they take the up converted analog signal in one input and the network into the other input and switch between the two, a very common practice around the country with that type equipment. If NBC and CBS sent 4:3 on the HD channel, they could take this switch and wire it into their analog switcher and you won't have this problem, but until their networks do, it is going to be a problem.

FOX sends the 4:3 on the 16:9 channel so we don't have an external switch. When we punch up NETWORK on the analog switcher, it changes to the 16:9 receiver on the DT side so if FOX sends a 4:3 version instead of a 16:9 program (which they have done!) it is out of our control. FOX has even had different programs on the analog and digital receivers during prime time. That didn't stay that way for long! Our encoder doesn't have a built in source switcher like the equipment WXII and WFMY is using so we have to do it externally and it is much easier for us since we use a multi input switch to switch between network, our local commercials, our local news and the up converted material. To my knowledge, we are the only station in town to send a pure digital signal straight from our studio cameras and commercial playback as well as network to your digital TV. This will be short lived because as time goes by, everyone will start to change over to digital switchers and it will be the norm.

Looks like WFMY-DT has expanded their operating hours and has added full time weather radar on 2-2. In doing some checkings, they are coming on at 12:30pm and staying on till 12:35AM so a 12 hour schedule appears to now be in effect.

I was playing around with my 8VSB tec receiver at the transmitter and noticed WXII-DT was on at 2:30 this afternoon. I also saw them sending PSIP data for virtual channel 81-1. NBC net was on the air at the time and I am assuming that NBC has chosen virtual channel 81 for those stations not passing their own PSIP like PBS uses VC 80.

Has anyone with OTA noticed this also?

My local Fox station is transmitting a digital signal now but is only transmitting a 4:3 picture. Does it cost a Fox station a great deal more money to transmit Fox Widescreen and DD5.1 than just transmitting a 4:3 digital picture?

I am assuming you must be talking about channel 27 out of Roanoke. To pass FOX wide screen in the studio is not that much more, (about $10,000 for the video and $15,000 on top of that for the DD 5.1) but it takes a more expensive encoder to do the 480p that FOX likes to do over 480i. The cost difference of the encoders can be as much as $30,000 to $40,000. ($60,000 total) You also have to add a digital microwave link that could cost as much as $200,000 so you are talking about $300,000 to just pass the FOX wide screen in 480p with DD 5.1 for less than 1% of the current viewers on top of the several million to install the new transmitter and antenna system.

Thanks for the info. Actually talking about channel 21 out of Lynchburg which is the same as channel 27 in Roanoke. Fox 21/27 digital is being broadcast out of Bedford on channel 20. The WB affilate is also on channel 20. Channel 27 digital is not supposed to start broadcasting until this summer.

Dubbadon posted on the Triad HDTV list that WB20 is up on DT-19-1 as of this afternoon. They are low power, but I am getting them good at my house north of GSO. They are transmitting 9000 watts at 500 ft from the same tower as WXLV-DT, WUPN-TV, WUPN-DT and WTWB-TV at Level Cross.

If Don wants to put out more, I will not spoil it all for him!

Thanks, FoxEng!

I wonder when it'll be available on time warner cable.....

pam

I went by WB20's transmitter site yesterday to see their new DT transmitter. It is a bigger cousin of the one FOX8 has. Don is real proud of it, as he should be. Looks like his biggest problem is being able to receive it at the studio. Everyone else gets it, except there! (I think it is his antenna system, and I think he thinks so too! He gets it at his house which is further way!) Never a dull moment!

I am not sure what TWC is planning on the remainder of the DT stations. Right now PAX is the only one not on the air around here and from what I have been told, it may be August at the latest before they get on. I am sure that TWC will have to put them on soon since they have the big four on.

I was reminded as I was looking through some FCC permits that next Tuesday, April 29, marks the one year anniversary of WGHP-DT signing on the air. WGHP-DT officially signed on at 5pm on April 29, 2002.

Even though to just be looking on air, it would appear that not much has changed in 365 days, but from the inside, I can tell you MUCH has changed and I suspect the next 12 months will show much more behind the scene activity as all stations move closer to shutting down the analog stations and relying more on the digital stations.

When WGHP-DT signed on, there were only around 300 stations on the air, now there are over 825 and more coming on everyday. In the next few months, that number should jump dramatically since the second and final extensions expire.

When WGHP-DT signed on, WXII-DT had been on only for 6 months and operating from 4pm to 12:30am, WFMY had just signed on and was only operating from 8pm to 11:30pm, WXLV-DT and WUPN-DT had just signed on and all DTV reception was OTA only.

Now, 12 months later, WFMY-DT and WXII-DT have increased their operating schedules from 12 noon to 12:30am, WTWB-DT and WLXI-DT have signed on and operate 24/7 along with WGHP-DT, WXLV-DT and WUPN-DT. Only WGPX-DT remains waiting in the wings to sign on. WFMY-DT, WGHP-DT, WXII-DT all pass their networks "higher res" offerings when available and TWC along with some of the other smaller cable companies have at least the "big four" networks on their systems.

There are some markets where their first stations are just coming on air. Is there much left to do! ABSOLUTELY, but we are on our way!

Amazing what just 365 days will yield. It will be interesting to see what the landscape looks like in another 365 days.

What is the deadline for low power stations to construct their full power transmitter. Does it vary from station to station?

That is being discussed at the FCC as we speak. There is a proposal on the table that in the top 100 markets, the "big four", ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC stations would have to go to full power by July 2005 or loose full power protection.

There are other rules being considered, that but that seems to be the biggie.

This has to be one of the most quietest (is that a real word?) threads on AVSForum. Either you folks are very happy with the DTV offerings (really?!) or you don't care (REALLY!?)

I must admit I get some really nice calls about what is happening in the DTV world at work, and it is gratifying that most people understand what is involved with all this changeover. I had a nice call from a guy in Asheboro asking about FOX's digital offerings. My boss spent some time on the phone with him and then I spent some time with him. We didn't have to do it, but it is good for us to know what you guys are thinking too.

SO WHAT ARE YOU GUYS THINKING OF, HUH?

What have you seen on (H)DTV that you liked, didn't like, some show you never watched before until it was available in something over that 480i?

I must admit I participate in the some of the other threads and really have to to put my game face on just to get through some of these posts. Not that I am wanting fist-a-cuffs to start here, far from it, but I know more people are buying HD sets and it is good to know how we are doing beyond the normal "how come FOX doesn't do HD" stuff.

The floor is open.

Well I guess I can pass one piece of (hopefully) good news along. For the longest time, I have been fighting a closed captioning issue on WGHP-DT. It only works on certain OTA receivers! It appears that a certain close captioning (CC) encoder and a certain MPEG2 HD encoder (HD model only of course) was not passing the CC correctly to the Samsung receivers. After spending MANY months on phone and several visits from the factory and talking to other stations, I had pretty much given up hope of fixing it anytime soon. Well on a lark, Thursday I updated the firmware in the CC encoder. On the Sammy 150 at work, nothing. No CC. I go home and in scanning over WGHP-DT om my Sammy 160 to see if MAYBE CC was there, (I wasn't betting on it, I have been down this road too many times in the past), IT WAS! HHMM. I had seen it work on occasion before only to have a reboot of the system at work and it never to be seen again. So Friday I went to work and rebooted the whole system. Still nothing on the 150, but on the 160 IT IS STILL THERE!

So, if you folks could check your closed captioning and see if you see it and let me know here, that would be a great help. Oh yeah, let me know what type receiver you are using, even if you are on cable. Cable needs to be passing it also and if they aren't, I need to know it and get on them!

Thanks for your help.

Oh yeah, you will not see any CC on the news until I move a couple of cables to route the studio into the closed captioning system. I was holding off on doing that until I knew I had it all working. Network, local shows and some commercials will have CC on them.

I always check this thread to see what you have to say. I am a little north of you and am not in your viewing area though. I think even an SD picture that is done right is a very noticable improvement over NTSC for OTA reception. I wonder why so many stations do not even acknowledge that they have a digital OTA signal. In the Roanoke/Lynchburg area we now have FOX21, WB, NBC, PAX, CBS and PBS with OTA digital. Except for WDBJ7(CBS) there has been absolutely no advertising that DTV even exists. WDBJ and WSLS(NBC) are transmitting HD but WSLS has never mentioned on the air that it even exists. The WB staion has been On the air for 13 months with no mention that I can find that it even exists. WDBJ is the onlly local station that actively promotes their digital transmissions. Do these stations not want people to watch their digital signals? It seems for all the money they have spent they would be actively promoting it. Maybe since our local Fox, WB and NBC stations are all low power, they think viewers will be disappointed with DTV if they promote it and then many local viewers cannot receive it. From my location I get great reception from all the local DTV stations.

Short answer, NO, they don't. And it isn't for the reason you think. One of the minor reasons is if the station is low power, but the real reason is ratings.

Nielson currently doesn't count viewers who watch the DT stations. So if you are watching, say "CSI:Miami" on WDBJ-DT, and you have a Nielson diary or STB, WDBJ doesn't get the credit. No one gets the credit. It would be the same as if you were not watching TV at all. Since stations use the ratings to sell advertising, if there are enough people watching the DT station, it could COST the station advertising dollars in the long run. Until Nielson gets this fixed, stations are a little gun shy. As more people get HD TV's (remember less than 1% of the TOTAL viewing audience has a digital display of ANY kind) Nielson will have to get on board and I think you will see more stations promote their DT channels when there are actual larger numbers of DT viewers.

foxeng,

Believe it or not, I read all the posts any time there are any on this thread - it is the only one I subscribe to. However, since we are "in process" of building our dedicated HT, we aren't watching much HD. Our RPTV is in a much smaller room right now while we construct, and you would not believe how difficult it is to watch a 64" screen only 6 feet back!! Painful cannot begin to describe it.

I enjoy keeping up with all that is digital and High Def - we really are paying attention!

pam

How long have you been working on that room? If I remember correctly, you were starting work on it last year this time weren't you? If it takes this long, it MUST be out of this world! You can send my HT warming party invite to WGHP,HP 8, High Point!

We've been planning it for over a year - began the actual work in October - took from Thanksgiving to Christmas off - weathered a few (?) ice storms, performed in one play(Chicago in WS), choreographed another (Music Man currently running), car pool two boys, etc, etc....

Yep, we'll be really happy to get this baby completed. Husband is upstairs now mudding drywall. Rough in electrical is complete. Stage is built. False procenium is finished. Riser ready to be filled and finished. Then acoustical treatments, fabric, paint, carpet, load-in of equipment. I hope we finish soon!

Your invitation will be in the mail...

Pam

Here is something that might be of interest to those of you who are into antennas.

I had the RS $19.95 UHF only (digital ready) antenna at the transmitter to do some surfing for the other stations. This antenna was so poor, I had to put a pre-amp on it and it still would not pickup the Raleigh DT stations or the Charlotte DT stations, which are all well within limits from our transmitter. We know this since before the satellite delivery days, when we were the ABC station, we would loose the network microwave and have to rebroadcast WSOC or WRAL (who was ABC at the time) until the network link came back up. Nor did channel 2, 45 or 48's DTs, all within 5 miles of the transmitter, would not be stable all the time either.

I bought out of my own pocket the CM 4228 and with NO pre-amp, I now get all the high power Raleigh DT stations and most of the Charlotte high Power DT stations and channel 2, 20, 45, 48 and 61's DTs are all stable now. The antenna is 20 feet off the ground with about 50 ft of RG-59 into a not so sensitive professional DTV receiver. (they never are as sensitive as a home receiver even though they are MANY thousands of dollars!)

Moral of the story is that the CM 4228 works when others will not. I debated on putting a pre-amp on the 4228, but I think I will wait.

FWIW

I am located near lake brandt and getting 2, 45, 31, pbs, 61, all at 95% signal strength. I can not get fox 35 or wb 19 at all. My question is when those stations power up to 100% I should be able to get them since they are located at the same locations as the other stations I am getting. It does not make since to raise my antenna now to possibly get them when they offer no HD at all now..or should I be getting them. who knows the power they are transmitting??

FOX does send 16:9 at 480p. WGHP-DT transmits this when FOX sends it. WGHP-DT is at 4200 watts with the antenna at 900ft. WTWB-DT is 9000 watts at 500 ft.

If you are into NASCAR or other sports that FOX has, you might be interested in the widescreen. WTWB-DT does no HD or widescreen.

thanks, please give me watts and height of 45 and 2 for comparision..

Both are considerably higher. Channel 2 is right at 2000 ft with 450,000 watts and channel 45 is right at 2000 ft with 400,000 watts. My whole tower is only 1255 ft and the FAA will not let us go any higher, so our only hope in the future is power.

Foxeng,
Thanks for the frequent updates. I'm a Winston-Salem resident and lurk here often. Just finishing up my own basement theater -- those NASCAR races on Fox look great with my new front projector!
Just wanted to say thanks for keeping us posted on what's going on.

Thanks. I hope one day in the near future to offer those races in HD. We all keep our fingers crossed on that one that FOX will start offering their programming in HD.

I talked to the FOX Network Operations Center earlier today about MLB in 16:9. Here is what they said:

Due to demand for the limited number of digital production trucks verses analog trucks, MLB will NOT be in 16:9. But the All Star Game and the World Series WILL be in 16:9. Also there will be more 16:9 NFL games this season, but the exact number has not been set yet.

Its a step in the right direction!

Thanks for the update!

pam