Colorado Springs, CO - HDTV - Page 217

That's a pretty callous comment. Who'd have thought they were doing this for anything but the public good ...

Seinfeld in HD!!?!?!?

So, I'm flipping channels around noon today and Seinfeld is on KOAA, and it's in HD!!! How is this possible? It wasn't stretch-o-vision either..it was real HD

HD OTA is good, really good. Probably the best after BRD for 1080i and 720p programming.

Comcast was OK when I had it, but was getting worse.

DirecTV is good. More and more 1080p offerings every month. Best HD I've seen besides BRD.

Can't speak to Dish or Internet.

The internet is really a mixed bag. I've watched some on my 42" plasma and was surprised by the quality on sites like Hulu, CBS, ABC and NBC. Fox is passable, but not great PQ. Most things like YouTube and some other videos aren't high enough quality for large screens, but even some of that isn't too bad. I don't use iTunes so don't know what their quality is like. I haven't tried NetFlix, but would think it should be pretty good if the networks have as good a quality as they do.

Obviously, though, you need a high-speed connection. Right now I have Qwest and where I live the best I can get is 2.5MB speed but that works OK for streaming. My granddaughter streams a lot from Disney's site and only has a 1.5MB Qwest connection and that works well for her. Of course, though, you're not getting Dolby with any internet stream that I know of.

As for ISP speed I have a QWest 7Mbps connection and I get the highest quality streaming from Netflix.

Hi Scott,
I'm curious how this Netflix streaming works given all the Netflix enabled TVs and DVD/BluRay players out there. So are you just getting a streaming video/audio signal from NetFlix over your internet connection? Is there any recording/buffering possible in the DVD players? What happens if there is a service interruption (like my Comcast cable has had the last two days - internet only, TV has been fine)?

Are there any download limits (I think Comcast has a 250 GB/month limit in some markets before they push you into a higher pricing tier, maybe in Colo Spgs too). Consider that 1 hour of uncompressed full quality HD is ~8.5 GB. If an uncompressed signal is transmitted by Netflix that would limit you to ~30 hours of streaming before crossing the higher price tier.

Does Netflix streaming give you a full 1080p PQ uncompressed? Or, do they compress the signal. I know I asked a lot of questions but am curious (as others that are just putting their toe into this water might be).

Cheers.

P.S. We can only get the 7 Mbps here too even though there is a fiber termination in the box next to my apartment complex according to the Qwest tech that was here to restore phone service during a recent outage. He said check back periodically, the higher rates show up from time to time for reasons he can't figure out.

You definitely asked the right guy these questions.

Think of Netflix streaming just like watching videos on Youtube, but there's a nice sexy Silverlight player instead of a crappy webpage. Yes, it buffers. there is a load time before it starts playing. I'd say around 15-30seconds for my ISP service. If service is interrupted it stops playing and will resume once service is restored.

If you already have Netflix you can do this online with any PC. It requires you to install Silverlight (Microsoft's version of Flash, but more tailored to streaming media).

There are no limits unless you have the lowest limited Netflix service which is "2 a month" or something like that. I think that one is $5.99/mo. We have the "1 out at a time + BluRay" which is around $13/mo I think and the online streaming is truly unlimited.

The quality is HD but it depends on the movie. Some movies are awful but most are good, and more and more are outstanding HD. I dont' know the resolution but my peeps tell me it's 1080p. However, it is compressed highly compressed. I'd say they have found the sweet spot over the last year. The biggest issue I have now isn't quality, but lipsync problems. I'd say 1:10 movies (maybe even 1:7) have lipsync problems.

There are two negatives to the service. It is stereo only, and the movie selection for streaming favors older titles and I don't believe ever has new releases. I'm certain this is due to contract agreements with the production companies. They tend to have a lot of TV shows including HBO and Showtime so if you like things like Dexter, 24, etc. you can catch up to all but the last season. It's like they want you to pay for the rental for last season.

I use Netflix on the PC, on my Media Center using the plugin, on my PS3, and on my Wii. There are subtle differences in the players for all of these but it's the same service regardless of the player. So if you get a TV with Netflix built in, all you need is a network connection. Based on my personal experience I highly recommend a wired connection for streaming content.

I hope that is what you were looking for.

Scott

I don't watch much on the locals during the summer, just the new dramas like Rookie Blue, Persons Unknown, Lie To Me, The Good Guys and Friday Night Lights (I'm still watching everything I recorded during the winter). I don't know if it's my imagination, but the PQ on these shows seems to be perfect. The PQ is generally very good during the regular season, but some shows are a little grainy at times and some seem to be compressed. Every one I've watched this summer is just as bright and sharp as I've ever seen.

Just wondered if anyone else has the same impression?

I have a similar impression but I do have more to add to it. In general, anything prime time or a major show is awesome HD. I do agree that it seems to be very consistent over the past year, where over a year ago even prime time shows were messed up and not the best quality. I hadn't thought about the change to regular and consistent great HD PQ until you mentioned it.

One thing I have noticed is they appear to be doing some experiments with non prime time stuff during the day. Over the past couple of months I am finding a couple of day time shows with digital crap on the top of them. I have been meaning to investigate this further. I just haven't had time. What confuses me is that it apparently only shows up on my DVR but doesn't show up on the TV. Is the TV overscanning all of the time to hide stuff like that, or is there something in the broadcast that tells the display how to handle it and my DVR doesn't know how to handle it?

Final note. Last week I lost half of "Wipeout" because they felt it was so import to annoy the hell out of people with their weather information they just overran the entire first 30 minutes of the show.

Scott

Yes, but it did keep you from wandering out east and avoiding the tornados didn't it?

One nice thing about missing prime time shows on the major networks is that they're all available on the internet and the PQ is very good and commercials short.

Anyway, thanks for the input. Nice to know it wasn't just my imperception.

Of the shows we watch we feel "House" has the best HD simply because of the low light scenes and vivid colors. I'm sure there are others that are better, but for us that's a great HD test for local broadcast.

Scott

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times before, but I was wondering if anybody knew when KKTV was going to start broadcasting a stronger signal. I have read before that they are moving to channel 49 and will have the strongest signal in Southern Colorado.

I'm tired of never being able to receive their signal, and with football season coming I was hoping they would finally get this fixed in the next month, though I'm sure its not likely.

Call the station and talk to their engineer. I remember seeing a target date for the change some time ago, but don't remember what it was.

Where are you and what kind of antenna do you have? I get KKTV fine in Pueblo West but I have a VHF/UHF antenna.

I am in Briargate and get excellent KKTV reception. I too am using a UHF/VHF antenna.

I e-mailed him today, so we will see what he says. At home in Pueblo West I can pick up the signal with rabbit ears, it just takes them being in the perfect position. But I'm trying to get the signal at work inside a building, the other stations come in fine, but not channel 11. Theres a roof antenna, I would assume its a VHF/UHF, but I'm not completely sure.

I don't have much time to mess with it at work, I was just hoping they would start sending a stronger signal the antenna will pick up before football season starts. That way I can keep up with the Bronco games while I'm working on Sundays.

If you're getting the other stations ok at work then los isn't the problem, so it would seem to be the antenna. Although, I have heard of some atmospheric stuff affecting VHF signals - couple of posters on this thread have mentioned it.

Yeah, you're right, the antenna probably only picks up UHF stations. Oh well, maybe with some rabbit ears I can pick up the signal inside the building.

Mark from KKTV responded and said sometime this fall they will make the move, hopefully by fall he means September, but I doubt it.

not local info... but for those readers on DirecTV, check your favorites settings. some extra HBO, Showtime, and Encore HD channels have been added, others i forgot as well.

If anyone is interested, I just had the locals added to my Dish account and even though they don't include KBDI through Dish, the program information for 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3 do show up on my OTA connection on the Dish receiver.

For Scott - if you're still using BTV, I asked them to add KBDI to our locals list and they are looking into it - since they use Tribune like Dish they should be availble.

Is there something wrong with KKTV today? It was working yesterday, but now it's not. Windows Media Center gets six green bars of signal strength, yet insists there is no channel on 11.1. Is WMC being a big fat liar or what?

No, it's off again. It came back on sometime yesterday, but looks like it's down again. They must have had some damage to their tower during the storms. At least they put up a notice that they're down

I notice KBDI is down also - no signal.

Update from KKTV Website:
KKTV 11 News Signal Update: We are now broadcasting KCNC (CBS4 Denver) on Dish as well. Sorry you can't get local news, but you will get your CBS shows. We are getting closer to fixing our KKTV signal, and at that time everyone will get us back (including over-the-air viewers). Thanks for your patience everyone.

I have Dish and it is broadcasting the Denver feed on it.

Actually, don't really care anyway - don't watch daytime on the locals and have seen all of CBS primetime (still have recordings from last season I haven't watched).

Thanks for the info, I didn't think of checking the KKTV website. I noticed this morning when I went to watch The Price is Right. I hate watching TPiR on regular TV because I can't build up the pause buffer to skip commercials.

I hear you. I don't watch anything live. Even delay sports for at least a half hour to skip commercials and the talking head BS.

What the heck is going on with KKTV?!?!? After those storms blew threw yesterday there's no over the air signal...however....if you have comcast you can get their signal!!!!

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/99905814.html

Read posts 6502 thru 4

There's nothing up there about what I said about if you have comcast you can get their signal. Don't tell people to go read something when there's nothing there pertaining to what I asked.

They said they were broadcasting on Dish as well (referring to Comcast) using the feed from KCNC denver. It should be obvious that they can't send their own signal or they wouldn't be using Denver's for Comcast and Dish. They also state they hope to have the OTA back soon.

Sorry I referred to the previous posts, I didn't realize you not familiar with the english language or any semblance of common courtesy.

Updated: 1:45 PM Aug 4, 2010

UPDATE: KKTV Signal Problems
KKTV is back on Comcast Cable, and as we work to fix the technical issues that have been causing service outages, we want to let everyone know that you can always watch KKTV 11 News streaming live on the web. You can find the link to watch live online under the VIDEO tab on the KKTV.com homepage.
Posted: 9:40 PM Aug 3, 2010
Reporter: KKTV News
Email Address: news@kktv.com



Font Size: KKTV is back on Comcast Cable, and as we work to fix the technical issues that have been causing service outages, we want to let everyone know that you can always watch KKTV 11 News streaming live on the web. You can find the link to watch live online under the VIDEO tab on the KKTV.com homepage.

You can find the link to watch live online under the VIDEO tab on the KKTV.com homepage. Want to watch your favorite CBS shows? You can do that online, too! Click here!

KKTV is still experiencing signal problems for over-the-air and satellite customers, however our programming is once again available on Comcast. Direct TV and Dish have taken the signal from KCNC in Denver, so viewers will be able to see CBS programming but will temporarily be unable to see local news.

Our engineers are working on the problem and we'll be back on for all providers as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience.

In the meantime, news updates will continue to be available here at KKTV.com

Meantime, any bets on if the RF 11 transmitter is terminally fried? (I'm assuming lightning strike) Maybe RF 49 will be coming sooner than we think.

Sometime in the last month or two, Comcast completed Project Cavalry/World of More (I guess its called xfinity now - leave it to the suits to develop new names for the same thing LOL ). So now we have digital cable in town. I had extended basic and ignored all the efforts for digital upgrade. I didn't get a DTA either. Still, I thought I would get the digital equivalent of the extended basic service tier automatically with calls from Comcast to get the DTA. Well lo and behold, my cable bill came today and saw they shoved me into the lowest class of service, analog with local channels only and a corresponding lower bill too. That's just fine since all I watch is the news and PBS anyway these days. High speed internet is much more important than TV. Interesting.

Dang! So KKTV got knocked of the air (for OTA). I brought home a spectrum analyzer from work today to see what the OTA signal was like. Oh well, there are other channels to look at.