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Montgomery, AL - HDTV - Page 200

post #5971 of 6565
2/9/11 at 6:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grandpa Train View Post

It is official....WAKA is run by asses!!!!

I have been away for a while but some how nothing changes!
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post #5972 of 6565
2/9/11 at 7:41pm
I'm not watching. Is it the we are gonna all die thing again?
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post #5973 of 6565
2/9/11 at 8:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Smith View Post

I'm not watching. Is it the we are gonna all die thing again?

Two counties were under winter weather watch, 8 had the damn map on through NCIS. The only good thing is NCIS is the only program I watch on 8, local news and local programming is totally amateurish, and still not in HD.
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post #5974 of 6565
2/10/11 at 5:26am
You know it's winter and it's going to be cold so, they had to throw the map up. They were the only local station to do this on that night, what a joke.
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post #5975 of 6565
2/10/11 at 6:04am
Drove to Opelika and back this morning. Got on the road at 4:00 AM. I had to have a snow plow escort down I-85.

NOT!!

Not a single bridge had a single pellet of ice on it.

I think it's gotten to the point that the weather men over predict to CTA. (Cover their A$$)

Now if we have a Hurricane or a Tornado barreling at us put the freakin (SD) Crawler up. Otherwise use that .2 or .3 channel for what it's designed for. Duh!
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post #5976 of 6565
3/2/11 at 8:16pm
This place sure has gotten quiet. I guess once the next round of technology comes it will get busy again.
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post #5977 of 6565
3/3/11 at 5:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Smith View Post

This place sure has gotten quiet. I guess once the next round of technology comes it will get busy again.

You're right Scott...maybe a robust discussion on 3DTV technology is around the corner..

I personally don't want a 3DTV that requires glasses. Neither the expensive battery powered variety nor the old fashioned generic lenses.

I hope the future lies in glass-less 3DTV...there are a few being tested but very pricey...even way more expensive than the "glasses-required" versions now on the market.

Broadcast format wars are not over, IMHO, and the ability to deliver a quality 3D signal to a glass-less TV set that can also show quality 2D programming is still in its infancy..

Some blogs try to compare this technology competition to the old "Beta-Max vs VHS" format wars from long ago..Don't know if many remember the old Sony Beta-Max vs VHS format war of the 70's and early 80's but similar comparisons can be made to the 3DTV broadcast/TV-Set-Reception technology competition going on now.

As more advancements in 3D delivery and reception technology evolves we will see prices plummet and glasses disappear...I hope...

Jump in too early and we may wind up with a 3DTV set that becomes an extinct "Sony Beta-Max"....
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post #5978 of 6565
3/9/11 at 10:53am
Since 3DTV is still HDTV....this article discloses more on a target launch date..

by Philip Wong March 7, 2011 3:10 PM PST

We've just received some juicy news from Toshiba regarding the company's latest plan for its glasses-free 3D TVs. According to Sharon Soon, senior sales and marketing assistant from the company's Asia office, Toshiba is considering a simultaneous launch in the U.S., Europe, and other countries.


These glasses-free 3D TVs will probably come in screen sizes of more than 40 inches and are tentatively due out in the second half of this year. However, the actual launch schedule is still pending confirmation subjected to market developments.


Toshiba is currently offering smaller 12- and 20-inch glasses-free 3D TVs only in Japan for $1,500 and $2,900, respectively. It's not hard to estimate the premium on a 40-incher using these prices as benchmarks, though the Japanese TV maker may be able to keep costs down by mass-producing these panels.

(Source: Crave Asia)
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post #5979 of 6565
3/9/11 at 2:16pm
Any word if Knology will ever add more HD Channels? I'm getting fed up with them, and this year they raised their prices by $15 without adding any additional service.
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post #5980 of 6565
3/9/11 at 4:09pm
Charter and Brighthouse is running off and hiding from Knology on Internet Bandwidth.

I have been with Knology on the broadband side since 96 and I'm thinking hard about switching.
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post #5981 of 6565
3/10/11 at 9:53am
I wonder about the evolution of digital antenna reception. Surely it couldn't be over. Digital reception is so temperamental. Any thoughts?
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post #5982 of 6565
3/10/11 at 3:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrewWoods View Post
I wonder about the evolution of digital antenna reception. Surely it couldn't be over. Digital reception is so temperamental. Any thoughts?
Dunno Drew, but I feel like the companies that develop and market TV antennas sense that their return on investing in newer and better technology has bottomed out.

I've not seen any accurate numbers on how many homes rely on OTA signals now compared to 20 years ago, but I suspect the percentage is very low.

With satellite, cable and internet delivered TV options now available to almost everyone, the demand for OTA antennas must be at an all time low...no demand means less R&D dollars are invested to improve the technology..

I, for one, believe it would be a good investment for a company to develop and market a "Smart" antenna system, where GPS coordinates are stored in the antenna pointing system for the various transmit towers, allowing the antenna to be much smaller in size, and automatically, and quickly, point itself to the tower you just selected with your TV remote. Even this technology would have naysayers because only one TV location would become the "Master" for channel selection and using a distribution system for signal delivery to all the TV's in the house would be less effective.

Another technology used in military and space applications is antennas designed around a "phased array", which allows weak signals from any direction to be processed without physically moving the antenna to any particular direction...phased array technology was expensive back when I was still working on defense contracts and space programs, but maybe in today's world they could be mass produced at a reasonable price.

The key to developing any new antenna technology is still the old supply and demand principle...and profit margin...sad to say, but OTA TV may be nearing the end of a long and useful era.
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post #5983 of 6565
3/10/11 at 5:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4bama View Post

The key to developing any new antenna technology is still the old supply and demand principle...and profit margin...sad to say, but OTA TV may be nearing the end of a long and useful era.

I sure hope not.

OTA simply gives you a cleaner signal without compression degradation. Additionally, you get channels that aren't available with cable and satellite.
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post #5984 of 6565
3/10/11 at 7:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrewWoods View Post

I wonder about the evolution of digital antenna reception. ?

There is nothing special about a "digital" antenna...no amount of marketing bs,hype,advertising nor fancy packaging can over come the laws of physics.
Having been a participant in the USSB-CEMA antenna testing done in 1998 (IIRC) that was proven to be true.
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post #5985 of 6565
3/16/11 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdfox18doe View Post

There is nothing special about a "digital" antenna...no amount of marketing bs,hype,advertising nor fancy packaging can over come the laws of physics.
Having been a participant in the USSB-CEMA antenna testing done in 1998 (IIRC) that was proven to be true.

Bdfox18doe : By "nothing special" you mean what? I'm not familiar with the USSB-CEMA antenna testing.

4Bama : That GPS antenna idea sounds like a great idea. I believe the key to developing antenna technologies is getting in front of a work bench and designing things because that is the kind of action that anyone of us can take. Supply/Demand is a reactive way of doing business and it'd be nice to see some proactive things come out of the engineers. They are wicked smart anyway.

I think OTA TV reception should be a priority because despite whatever numbers you may see, a strong amount of the population sees benefit in free TV. The things that we talk (/report) about are local. Subscription services can't match that. The businesses that are on our air are local. I bet they said that XM would put a hurting on AM/FM but the fact of the matter is that local broadcasting is important to communities.

Is anyone going to NAB? They talk about 3D a lot there.
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post #5986 of 6565
3/16/11 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrewWoods View Post

Bdfox18doe : I'm not familiar with the USSB-CEMA antenna testing..


Field testing of all / most available antennas was done in multiple cities. This data formed AntennaWeb.org. Met Neil Terk there..brilliant marketer of poor antennas. The venerable RCA DTC-100 was a pile of circuitboards in the back of a van then.
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post #5987 of 6565
3/16/11 at 12:59pm
Cool, I remember when NAB asked us to push people to that website
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post #5988 of 6565
3/18/11 at 8:23am
Did charter recently move WSFA & WNCF. Untill a few weeks ago I had all the local HD's on clear qam. Now those two are gone but WAKA HD is still there. Are those two encrypted now?
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post #5989 of 6565
3/18/11 at 6:49pm
I found WSFA HD at 12.1 now on Charter.....
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post #5990 of 6565
3/25/11 at 3:56pm
Rest in peace Don Markwell.
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post #5991 of 6565
3/26/11 at 12:17pm
Thank goodness for CBS on the Internet. Will be watching.
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post #5992 of 6565
3/26/11 at 12:53pm
Wish it was the same for golf. WSFA cut in for over 10 minutes and even explained how to take cover in a home, a car and a mobile home. Way too over the top, they could have put all important info in the crawl that is running non stop. No need to cut in during the golf tournament.

EDIT: The second time they cut in during the golf tournament was beyond ridiculous, their weather update lasted almost 40 FREAKING MINUTES! They ran through the current conditions as slowly as possible and then had to talk about their "Tornado Action Plan" for almost 10 minutes which was just telling people what to do during a tornado, things like what to do what the shower curtain (no joke, they had a suggestion for what to do with your shower curtain!!). Then they even took the time to explain the differences between a warning and a watch. I was ready to throw something threw the TV at this point but, I thought surely that was the end. Boy was I wrong, they then had a completely different person run through the current weather conditions again, which hadn't changed much at all.

Of course they apologize twice for interrupting the golf but that was BS. If they really cared they would have made it as quick as possible and gotten back to the golf. They didn't care, they just wanted their mugs on camera for as long as possible for their 15 -er 40 minutes of fame. One of the weather dudes even had the nerve to say "We're sorry for interrupting the golf tournament but let's have a little perspective here." I HAD ENOUGH PERSPECTIVE THE FIRST 15 MINUTES, 40 MINUTES IS BEYOND WHAT IS NECESSARY TO CONVEY THE WEATHER SITUATION.

Sorry for the rant but this was just way over the top. I understand that there was some really bad weather for some folks but, all the info could have been easily explained in 5 minutes, no need to do 40. I don't understand why the can't just put it all in the crawl that never stops anyway or just interrupt the audio and keep the video for the golf tournament. At the very least, put the golf in a pip window. I prey for a day when the networks can afford to broadcast their own national channel so I don't have to watch another minute of local TV.
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post #5993 of 6565
3/27/11 at 5:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rolltide1017 View Post

Wish it was the same for golf. WSFA cut in for over 10 minutes and even explained how to take cover in a home, a car and a mobile home. Way too over the top, they could have put all important info in the crawl that is running non stop. No need to cut in during the golf tournament.

EDIT: The second time they cut in during the golf tournament was beyond ridiculous, their weather update lasted almost 40 FREAKING MINUTES! They ran through the current conditions as slowly as possible and then had to talk about their "Tornado Action Plan" for almost 10 minutes which was just telling people what to do during a tornado, things like what to do what the shower curtain (no joke, they had a suggestion for what to do with your shower curtain!!). Then they even took the time to explain the differences between a warning and a watch. I was ready to throw something threw the TV at this point but, I thought surely that was the end. Boy was I wrong, they then had a completely different person run through the current weather conditions again, which hadn't changed much at all.

Of course they apologize twice for interrupting the golf but that was BS. If they really cared they would have made it as quick as possible and gotten back to the golf. They didn't care, they just wanted their mugs on camera for as long as possible for their 15 -er 40 minutes of fame. One of the weather dudes even had the nerve to say "We're sorry for interrupting the golf tournament but let's have a little perspective here." I HAD ENOUGH PERSPECTIVE THE FIRST 15 MINUTES, 40 MINUTES IS BEYOND WHAT IS NECESSARY TO CONVEY THE WEATHER SITUATION.

Sorry for the rant but this was just way over the top. I understand that there was some really bad weather for some folks but, all the info could have been easily explained in 5 minutes, no need to do 40. I don't understand why the can't just put it all in the crawl that never stops anyway or just interrupt the audio and keep the video for the golf tournament. At the very least, put the golf in a pip window. I prey for a day when the networks can afford to broadcast their own national channel so I don't have to watch another minute of local TV.

You made Grandpa Train and several others feel better
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post #5994 of 6565
3/27/11 at 5:19am
Hey fellow HD nuts. Im still around and watching the forum.Not like the old days but still good info and friends here.
Question: Brighthouse advertises video on demand, but I dont think they offer it yet.Anyone know the info?
Gripe: Why do we have so many logos and adds on the screen at once? My God, You buy a large screen tv and go to watch it and its like the Bulletine Board magazine! You cant watch the current show for bottom of screen characters walking out and promoting upcoming shows. Also I know what network I am watching abc nbc fox so on and on.Dont need two logos or more on the screen at once.
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post #5995 of 6565
3/27/11 at 5:26am
Here in Montgomery a good friend has passed. Don Markwell.
I just finished reading his obituary and amazed at his life story. I have a delievery job and he made my work days go so much better while he was on the air. He may not have invented news talk radio,but he was in on the creation. R.I.P.
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post #5996 of 6565
3/27/11 at 2:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarasdad View Post

Hey fellow HD nuts. Im still around and watching the forum.Not like the old days but still good info and friends here.
Question: Brighthouse advertises video on demand, but I dont think they offer it yet.Anyone know the info?
Gripe: Why do we have so many logos and adds on the screen at once? My God, You buy a large screen tv and go to watch it and its like the Bulletine Board magazine! You cant watch the current show for bottom of screen characters walking out and promoting upcoming shows. Also I know what network I am watching abc nbc fox so on and on.Dont need two logos or more on the screen at once.

The animated ad inserts and graphic logos are an annoyance of mine as well.

In this day and age of DVRs and EPGs and the guide channel on every cable system, we shouldn't need to be constantly reminded of what channel we're watching. I suspect that the marketing department insists on the logos being on nearly full time now to differentiate the channel from the (often) hundreds of others available at any one time.

In this respect, cable is still years behind satellite because it's possible (as I have in a bedroom) to have a TV with no EPG or cable box to let me know what show I'm watching. Without the logo or a paper channel guide there's no way to know what channel is where except by long term memorization. Which is stupid. On the other hand, I recently stayed in a cheap motel and had to rely solely on the on screen bug to figure out what channel was which.

When I had satellite, the logos were even more stupid because each channel had its own color graphical logo on the actual info banner. Next to the program name and all other relevant information.

Logos on high definition channels take the cake, however. Since many channels cheap out and center-cut the screen for SD viewers, they have to put the logo waaaay over from the corner where it belongs. On a big widescreen TV, the logo may be 6 inches or more from the lower corner. It's horribly annoying. It ranks right up there with stretch-o-vision for annoying things cable channels do to ruin the viewing experience we all pay for.

As for the animated show adverts that pop up, well that's actually our fault. We've adopted DVRs, and back when the TiVo was the hot item the channels knew they had to find a way to get their promos to our eyeballs since we were skipping all the commercials. So they put them over the actual program. I wouldn't be surprised to see actual product commercials start showing up like this one day. It'll be that or locking down future DVRs so they can't skip commercials anymore. Don't think for a minute the big mega cable cos aren't wishing for that ability.
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post #5997 of 6565
3/27/11 at 2:48pm
On a similar subject I have noticed some channels are no longer supporting the 4:3 format.
I noticed on my bedroom TV which is Dish Network SD that the Fox News channel logo is off the screen.
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post #5998 of 6565
3/27/11 at 2:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Smith View Post

On a similar subject I have noticed some channels are no longer supporting the 4:3 format.
I noticed on my bedroom TV which is Dish Network SD that the Fox News channel logo is off the screen.

I seem to recall that Fox News has been 16:9 only since they upgraded to HD, or went that way shortly after the HD upgrade. They're one of the few channels I'm aware of that is like that, but I think it's easier on their end to only shoot and make graphics for the 16:9 style screen than the more complicated center-cut method that most others use.

Fox News should not be center cut at all by cable companies, meaning people with SD sets like you and I should see the black bars at top and bottom. It's up to the SD set's overscan to determine how much of the edges get cut off.

I tend to be of the belief that all networks broadcasting in HD should be this way; why should we who invested in expensive high def sets get a second class presentation to appease the people who still have old tube sets and no HD service? They should see the wide screen presentation and just deal with the black bars. It might encourage some of them to upgrade. I had an HD box on my bedroom SD tube TV for years and even with the black bars the picture was crisp and enjoyable, so it's not like those black areas ruined the experience. I don't know why people are so averse to that concept.
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post #5999 of 6565
4/4/11 at 1:00pm
I feel the logos of terrror approaching
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post #6000 of 6565
4/4/11 at 1:23pm
The we are DOOMED logos are near! Weather is coming GrandPa
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