Las Vegas, NV - HDTV - Page 4

OTA it should be 5.1. They aren't passing the FOX Widescreen yet though. Your probibly have to do a channel re-scan to get it.

No, digital Fox is not actually on 5, though your receiver may say that. It's on 9. Here is the complete digital line-up for Vegas at present:

7 - KLAS-DT (CBS, true 1080i HD)
9 - KVVU-DT (FOX, digital)
11 - KLVX-DT (PBS, true 1080i HD)
12 - KTNV-DT (ABC, upscaled 480i->720p)
16 - KINC-DT (UNI, digital, spanish)
22 - KVWB-DT (WB, digital)
29 - KFBT-DT (IND/WB, digital)

I have not seen anything on 22 and 29, personally.

Be on the lookout for:

2 - KVBC-DT (NBC, upscaled 480i->1080i)
40 - KBLR-DT (Telemundo, digital spanish)

40 may already exist, as I don't receive its corresponding analog 39 well.

Does anyone know where the CBS and ABC antenna is. I live extremly close to Black Mountain and can't get those. I'm really bummed about this.

Everything I heard about NBC in Vegas is that it's going to be digital 480p. They have no plans to broadcast HD in the forseeable future until there is more programming available.

vegggas

HD sucks in vegas. im sooo disappointed because the only real channel we get here in vegas is cbs. the other stations either have a very weak signal or just are not sending a digital signal and thats what pisses me off. i hate seeing shows say that they are broadcasting in HD, but we cant get it, even though we've spend thousands of dollars to promote this new technology. its bs and im getting sick of it. cbs has my full support and i watch their shows just to support them since they have supported our decisions to get an HDTV.
sorry, just needed to vent.

HD sucks in vegas. im sooo disappointed because the only real channel we get here in vegas is cbs. the other stations either have a very weak signal or just are not sending a digital signal and thats what pisses me off. i hate seeing shows say that they are broadcasting in HD, but we cant get it, even though we've spend thousands of dollars to promote this new technology. its bs and im getting sick of it. cbs has my full support and i watch their shows just to support them since they have supported our decisions to get an HDTV.
sorry, just needed to vent.

I'm disappointed too, but I can understand the stations that are going to pass the HD but don't have all of the equipment to do it. I'm just mad at the staions that have no plans on doing HD at all like the WB. I know ABC and NBC is trying to get the equipment. I just hope ABC gets it by the super bowl and I can find a way to get an antenna that will pick it up.

Agreed. I think we need to start an "HDTV Proliferation Army." We could hold weekly protests outside Vegas ABC headquarters for the first objective of getting the superbowl in HD here. NBC may need a push too.


There has been nothing said here (before you) to indicate that NBC will be 480p. My money is on what I said: 480i upscaled to 1080i. And then after more equipment (not programming) they will upgrade so that you get some shows in real HD, not upscaled.

Also, through offline questions to KVBC, it was asked

The answer was "Yes" and basically to appease the FCC by going digital.

It was only asked if it will be a 480 line picture, and it was assumed to be 480P, since it is a digital signal.
This is all of the info that I have at this time, but maybe NBC SHIVA in LV will shed further light on this subject.

vegggas

If you have a Hughes E86 and pass the OTA signals thru the receiver the digital channels have the same number as the regular channels followed by a "-1". For instance PBS is "10-1". Now all we need is more HD programming!!!

I hope that Cox may help put some pressure on the local stations as Cox is marketing their HD service. ABC is listed as one of Cox's HD stations.

Cox, or any other cable company, is not allowed to push stations into doing anything (It's more like the other way around). They are bound to retransmit (in it's original format) only what the station provides as an OTA source. As far as listing the locals as HD, those are HD CAPABLE digital channels that have enough guaranteed bandwidth to provide any HD signal provided by the station. The original thought was that all the major networks were going to follow CBS and provide HD signals, but each station has decided to do their own thing for their own reasons/problems. When they DO transmit in HD, it passes through without any modification (other than 8VSB to 256QAM of the carrier only) at the cable co end.

vegggas

I think we should force Cox to give a price plan for HD that is more like analog OTA stations. I shouldn't have to pay Cox $60 a month just because I want ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX in there digital format. I have Directv for all of the other channels. I just live behind Black Mountain so I can't get CBS or ABC at all. I think that Basic Cable and a cable box is all I should need to get OTA HD from Cox.

I think a better solution would be to allow the local digital channels to be "Not Secure" status and not have any coding scheme in place. That way anyone with a digital cable subscription could use their own 256QAM HD tuner to pull in those frequencies. Currently they are setup as a "Subscription" package that requires at least one subscription HD channel to get the package.
The current 3 local digital channels are as follows:
CBS CH 730 256QAM @ 699Mhz
PBS CH 731 256QAM @ 669Mhz
ABC CH 732 256QAM @ 663Mhz

Anyone with a 256QAM tuner should try to tune into a nonsecure or free to air channel such as:
PPV info CH 199 64QAM @ 747Mhz
or any other channel that can be tuned in that mode - Not sure if any can actually be tuned or not, but I did see a flag that said not secure on my cable box a few times in the past (and actually scanning through several hundred channels to find them in data mode would take an hour or so...)

Hopefully over the next few months as more QAM tuners are sold to consumers in TV's and STB's, the cable industry will agree to non subscription packages that allow OTA signals over a cable pay service for a nominal fee (um... like basic cable, but at the more expensive equipment cost to deliver at around 700Mhz)). The downside is that once you go this route, you would have to purchase your own HD tuner. Also you have to certify your own home wiring and parts to be up to par with >750Mhz 256QAM signals.

Vegggas

It wouldn't take me long to recoup the price of a STB. I would prefer to buy it anyways. My parents have been renting a cable modem from Cox for at least four years. That's $480 and they still don't own it. I prefer an upfront cost with really low payments. Can you buy a QAM tuner in an STB.

Yes, you can buy 256QAM STB's ( and built into your TV). All the other COX HD locations are having to purchase their own and Vegas will also have to purchase them soon enough (there were only a certain amount purchased for the HD testing). As with Cable modems, that you can purchase for a lower cost at Circuit City and Best Buy, etc, STB's are available in other markets, and should be here too. The problem for you currently would be the fact that you STILL have to subscribe to digital cable and an HD channel until they release them as nonscrambled content.
As far as your parents modem, shouldn't they buy one? I thought they were as low as $50 lately. I'm personally getting a new one that supports the new docsis standards so that I can go up from 1.5MB to 3MB downloads (with paid service, of course). But I digress...


Vegggas

Yes they are going to buy it. They signed on before you had the option to buy the modem. I think I'm going to write letters to the FCC, my congressmen, and the franchise authority to force these guys to relese the channels as nonscrambled content. Since Directv isn't going to be able to provide HD locals for a very long time I think that Cox should be force to lower the price on the HD OTA channels.

I may be missing the point, but why should a cable company be "forced" to provide a service under any terms other than what the market dictates? For years, Cox could broadcast local channels when the satellite providers were unable to. They also provided a basic package for these channels and a few others, or you could access them OTA. Was Cox (back then, Prime Cable) forced to provide the basic package, or did they do so to fill a market demand or void? Just my opinion, but it seems that you still have other options for HD local channels (i.e. OTA). I don't mean to discredit your argument or needs, but I don't see why they should provide this service if the market doesn't dictate it at this point, or at any other conditions than what market would dictate.

I can't get OTA. They placed the antennas in the wrong spot. I'm being blocked by a mountain. There is nothing I would enjoy more than to be able to get these channels OTA but I don't know anyone willing to take down half of Black Mountain. And yes I read somewhere that they are forced to offer that cheap basic cable package. I'm just trying to remember where. I just think these Digital channel should be treated exactly the same as the analog channels.

What are your X-streets? I'm a Eastern and Horizon Ridge. Haven't tried OTA (I get Cox). If it is true that they are mandated to provide the local channels as part of a Basic package, then it makes more sense for them to provide the same as HD, maybe at a slightly higher cost (to pay for the increased bandwidth). Is DirectTV that much better than Cox?

I live three blocks east of Gibson and Horizon Ridge. There are three mountain ridges in the way between the channel 8 and 13. I think Directv is better, but I'm biased. A couple of years ago I called Cox to discuss what I needed to do to set up a DNS server and the guy I was talking to accused me of being a 12 year old kid. It pissed me off so much that if there is any way I can avoid them I will.

That would piss me off, too. I've been pretty happy with Cox level of customer service lately, although their knowledge of the high definition service they are providing seems pretty dismal at this point. I'm generalizing, of course, but when I called to upgrade to HD, I knew more than the three people I talked to (and I'm no expert for sure!). The guy that came out to intall the box (for some reason they require that) handed me the box, and watched while I replaced the standard digital cable box with the HD box. He also watched while I installed the digital box in my bedroom (my wife wanted to be able to watch Sex in the City in bed). He did have to call the office to have them activate the HD, which is the reason he had to come out, I guess. He was a very nice guy, and was excited that Cox was offering this service. I did 99% of the work (my choice, not his), but the experience was still pretty pleasant.

The other problem I have with Cox is they keep raising the price. The one time in the two years I had Directv that they shuffled the packages around it ended up being cheaper for me. I just hope they don't keep that up. If they do I won't be able to afford both and will have to drop Cox.

True, they have raised the price (although I don't remember it being too significant). I also have a cable modem through them, so it's too convenient for me to switch right now. I'm buying a new house and will be moving in May (that's what the homebuilder is telling me, anyway), so I may be changing things based on what services are available in that area. Hopefully, I can just stay with Cox.

I've had Cox HD for about two months now. When I upgraded my modem service to 3MB, they also raised the price of Showtime, TMC, Starz and Sundance, basically adding close to $20 on to my bill. That was on top of the extra cost of the modem service. Today I get a survey call about Cox's HD service. Needless to say I wasn't too happy in some areas. They asked about 50 questions regarding HD service, including what I liked about it, what else I wanted, and a ton of questions about Discovery HD. I'm interested to see if more LV HD users will get similar calls. Now's the time to make our voices heard, eh?

It's good to hear that they're taking a somewhat proactive approach to their HD service, with the survey call, etc. Let's hope that they plan on doing great things with the service...

Any word on NBC? I thought they were supposed to be up by Thanksgiving...

Any word on ABC? Superbowl in HD?

I would love to see the superbowl in HD (even though i cannot display 720p natively, i have to sideconvert to 1080i), but my money says that we will not get it here in vegas. I hope they prove me wrong.