Raleigh, NC - HDTV - Page 434

I was having troubles yesterday morning. I'm near highhouse and 55. And i was using a Time Warner cable box. The sdv channels would not work, and the 'Start Over' feature would not work.

I have the new 8640HDC box, and it is terrible. The fast scan works about half the time. It takes a few seconds for a recording to start playing (the screen is black.) There is a lot of pixelization when pressing any buttons.

What is the start over function? The first time I turned the box on, there was a menu option asking me, I think, if I wanted to start over. I said yes, and it did. However, I have not seen that option again.

By the way, AT&T is "conditioning" the lines on my street in preparation for U-Verse. The reports on the quality of U-Verse HDTV are not good in that the signal is overly compressed. Is that compression complaint valid for Cary?

For all you misplaced Yankees out there(Cary I'm looking your direction ) TWC added the following today only about a year after they said they would. No word on the HD version yet.

On April 9th, NESN will be added to the Digital Sports Tier on Channel 337.

That's because it's useless. It exists only on SD channels and usually not the ones people frequently watch.

no HD, no deal! Besides, the best part of NESN is the games, which it won't show

Odd that NESN would appear when it won't even add MASN...very strange.

They would add MASN tomorrow if MASN would agree to go on the Sports and Games Tier like NESN did. However, MASN wants to be added to the basic level like Fox Sports Net and ESPN. Not an issue of TWC not being willing to carry MASN, just an issue of where the channel will be carried.

It's really not a problem with me, I have MASN-HD, MASN2-HD as well as NESN-HD (thanks DirecTV). I just find it really odd...

This is TWC we are talking about... Nothing is ODD.

Don't know how to explain it, but I have gotten WRAL, and WRAZ back to working as strong as WRDC and WLFL. If you recall, late last autumn, I said that I had lost them when the leaves came off the trees. Well, the trees in the direction of the tower have fully leaved out, and now my reception is very good again. Signals come in around 70-80 on both 5 and 50. I don't get how the leaves can be helping, usually the way I understand it, they block a signal. Only thing I can think of is reflections, but when the wind blows, nothing changes? hmmmm I'm 89 miles from WRAL towers.

Don't give TWC a pass on this. MASN has every right to ask for basic or digital placement. All "local" baseball networks are placed there. And, (somewhat inexplicably), MLB considers Baltimore (O's) and Washington (Nats) this area's "local" teams. TWC wants to put it into the Sports tier to boost that level subscription-- knowing that some would subscribe just for this channel. So, they'd pocket the premium cost. Slimey. Put it where the other "local" sports channel resides-- FSN South (NHL Hurricanes). (3) seperate court cases have sided with MASN on this, yet TWC continues to appeal. It's now sitting at the full FCC commission where it's been for almost 2 years. Typical of the federal govt ... another MLB season will go by and we will continue to go without baseball.

Can someone direct me to the post or thread that shows the "Free" channels available thru QAM over Time Warner. For example is PBS on 4.1 the same as it is on ATSC? or is it remapped to another number.

Don

Visit http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels select United States and put in your zipcode, and then use the drop down box in the top left and select cable.

results should look like:

qam256 92-1 11.1 WTVDDT 1280x720p
16:9

qam256 92-2 11.2 WTVDDT2 1280x720p
16:9

qam256 92-3 11.3 WTVDDT3 528x480i
4:3

ETC...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving TWC a pass, I'm just saying they would add it tomorrow if MASN would agree to the digital tier. As for Baltimore being the home team, you can thank Ted Turner for that one. He convienced MLB back in the 80s that we should not be in his market in order to prevent blackouts. I grew up a Braves fan and I'm pissed that TBS stopped carrying the Braves and I can't get any Braves games on Peachtree TV while our friends just down the road in Greensboro can. Thanks Ted!

Boomerang is the only channel i've noticed that has it. And it rarely works.

Yep, the MLB local rules are ridiculous. As for MASN ... I don't really care, but I know there are a lot of O's fans around here from having it on local for so many years. TWC is playing the same game with the NFL Network-- insisting on sports tier to drive up that subscription model. Hypocritical ... since neither the MLB Network, Golf Network, Speed, etc. are placed there.

And the song is always the same...we "love" our subscribers and are trying to save them money...btw, please see the newest price increase with this month's bill...

What are the price increases this time?

I'm not saying there are any...it's just the same song and dance all the time.

I definitely care. As a Red Sox fan, that's 15-18 games a season that I can't see on MLB.TV because they're blacked out since I'm supposed to have MASN.

I had the same issue in Orlando when they played Tampa Bay. My TWC/Bright House system there didn't carry Fox Sports South which showed the Rays games..

Have you tried MLB.tv this year for Baltimore/DC? I haven't been blacked out at all. The Nationals and Orioles games are streamed just fine. I can also watch either feed.

EDIT: OK, I take it back...this is the first day the Orioles are blacked out on MLB.tv.

TWC question about MLB Package: If you buy the package in the Raleigh area do you also get the Hockey playoff games on the same channels (731-745)?

First week was a free preview so I don't think they bothered blacking stuff out.

I'm a Sox fan too. And, I do care (I should not have said that before). I guess I'm just beaten down by TWC's continued stone walling on this. They just spend our money dragging this out in the courts. Meanwhile, the FCC has sat on their a** for almost 2 years.

I'm still having fun with my properly aimed west-facing CM4228. After realizing that the higher bitrates on WFMY were mostly meaningless due to them having a worse encoder than WRAL, I moved on to comparing WXLV and WTVD. I recorded V on both, and all I can say is *wow*. The picture on WXLV seems sharper than on WTVD, and I notice less macroblocking during fast motion. I guess in this case, the difference in bitrate (16Mb/s vs 11Mb/s) seems to really mean something. I hope I'm able to get them reliably in bad weather.. (or that Livewell HD dies, and WTVD ups their bitrates).

Drew

WTVD probably has the better encoder, but having to deal with dual HD pretty much destroys PQ.

- Trip

And I guess it is probably worse than it really has to be, since they're not able to use fancy bandwidth saving encoder tricks like repeat flags, due to buggy receivers that can't handle them on 720p signals.

What are the rules for Fox? I remember somebody (you?) saying the Fox controls all network broadcasts with an iron fist. Should I expect the same bitrates on all Fox affiliates? I can barely get WGHP, but they only have one HD subchannel (rather than the 1 HD, 2 SD of WRAZ). Is it even worth trying to get them?

Drew

You mean ABC has a station here? Boycotting until acceptable HD is once again provided. Low bit-rate (almost) hD quality is not acceptable in my book.

Yes, they're the same. You should see no difference between WRAZ and WGHP, though I'd be curious to find out if you did.

- Trip