New York, NY - TWC - Page 85

John, thanks for the heads up on the HDNET test pattern. I searched the web and couldn't find a good source of information on how to use these patterns. If you've found a good source, pleas post a link. I continue to look.

Thanks

Drew

Drew,
The posts on HDNet test pattern use appeared this year, perhaps both hardware and programming forums, or others at AVS. One was very detailed. Maintain a big file of useful posts but don't recall logging any of these. -- John

Edit: A search under (hdnet AND patterns) 1 year back shows 13 hits.

None of the HD channels added since October 2004 have been added to the CC's channel guide. Because they don't appear in the guide, they don't "exist" and cannot be accessed by the tuner. This is very annoying because I can get these channels on the SA 8000HD, but not on the SA CC. Do any other TWC-NYC CC users have tis problem? TWC cannot explain why I am not getting the new channels because they insist they've done everything correctly. Any ideas?

I am curious to know how many TWC-NYC subscribers use the CC. From the lack of responses I've received from earlier postings regarding CC, I get the feeling I am the only person in NYC using it.

TIA....JL

It's doubtful that ESPN had an HD truck available for that game (there are a limited number of trucks available in the country and most are currently tasked to football - Thursday & Saturday college, Sunday & Monday NFL). There are many digital trucks available around the country and many arenas (Staples Center and MSG) have their own control rooms.

What you saw was the difference between a digital path to HD broadcast and an analog path to HD broadcast. The truck at the game was probably digital; the feed was back-hauled in digital form on fiber-optic lines to Bristol; ESPN's Bristol complex is SD (serial digital) and HD with no analog, so they just pushed it out to ESPN HD; the cable company receives digital and send it to you digital.

ESPN is a great example of SD/HD path integration. Picture quality of their own footage is very good no matter what format it came in (lower quality footage is either from their archive or from another network). Fox is also a better example. ABC is the worst - watch college football on Saturday or golf and you'll see a definitive analog signal degradation (my guess is that it occurs at the network level in New York - commercial insertion is still probably analog). CBS has always believed in an analog world with SD and HD islands - commercials are analog and the Dolby flags are constantly flipping from Dolby Digital in program to Dolby PL in commercials, studio segments, and promos. NBC can't decide what to do - NASCAR seems to be 480P widescreen.

If you really want to see a good comparison during a show, watch NFL Primetime on ESPN. CBS hi-lights come in to Bristol as 1080i or 480i; Fox hi-lights come into Bristol as 720P. All 480i footage is up-resed to 720P and the 1080i is cross-converted to 720P. You can see the difference between the 480i and 720P footage easily, but the 1080i and 720P are much harder to discern.

ghostman

thanks for the info - very interesting. have primetime cued up to record. totally psyched to see PT in HD (or pseudo HD at times).

Jut watched NFL PT and your description was very accurate - Fox came in at 720p and looked great. CBS was either really nice at 1080i (Jets/Bills) or not so great at 480i (most other CBS games). Everything in the ESPN studio looked amazing.

hey everyone, just been reading this thread for the past hour! just found these great forums.

I just hooked up my hd8000 components and everything was good, but sometimes i'll notice background grid or one kind of standoutish (thats a new word ) in the left 3/4 of the screen, and for some reason, its all i can stare at now!

I don't have the problem with dvds and have tested on all other component inputs and it still seems to be there, this thing may just be some sort of descrambler line or something, all i can figure. Its not anything wrong with my tv, i was relieved to discover when i hooked my dvd player up with the same components.

Should I get DVI cables? I think that might help it, but dammit, i want HDTV, not HD-just ignore some of the inperfections in the background TV!

Not a huge deal, well, dammit, actually it is, i'm a bit compulsive and obsessive about this kind of thing haha, hope someone can help.

You can check yours to see if you have anything, when u turn the channel and it goes black , you can see the pic start to generate in a kind of grid, see if you have anything.

Thanks guys, glad to be here.

I am having a lot of audio dropouts and pixelization during Cold Case (CBS). It's almost unwatchable. Tried pausing for a few seconds then watching from the buffer. This does not really help.
It seems a little better while watching Deparate Housewives (ABC).
Anyone else having the same problems tonight?

Also found Cold Case to be pretty bad. Jet game earlier today was too. Sounds like CBS is having issues.

Ever since I had my cablebox switched (8000HD)... it has improved my picture. Less pixelation and less audio dropouts. The jury is still out on it though... ive only had the new box for a week and I haven't recorded as much stuff as I used to.

Watching WABC-DT's upconverted-720p golf coverage Sunday I was starting to conclude something like this, too. Either that or exceptionally poor 'truck' coverage technically. Really nasty video. Coca Cola's logo (a sponsor) was virtually obscured on the periodic score graphics, and white on black lettering of the scores nearly filled in from black 'spillover'. Also, a large amount of edge enhancement on most images really messed up most golf shots. Normally, weekend H/DTV coverage (upconverted) by networks is much better than USA/ESPN/Golf Channel SD weekday golf coverage--usually making most EE vanish. (Virtually all the ads Sunday lacked this bad signal degradation problem.)

Couldn't picture where analog(?!) ABC coverage would creep in, though. Anyone know? -- John

I am using a TWC-NYC SA CC and it is full of problems. The latest problem is documented on page 124 of this thread. If you are referring to Ed Urbanowski of TWC, he wasn't much help when I called him on 11/04 regarding my CC problems. No call back yet and at this point, I don't expect one. He may be very helpful when it comes to STB's, but he knows very little about CC. He took my info, but when he said "Your CC may not be capable oif getting HD channels", I knew I was in trouble. Get the CC, but don't give up the HD STB.

Hope this helps....JL

Does anyone know if the 8000HD's "VCR Archive" jacks work?

TIA...JL

They only work when you turn PIP on. Go figure...

A recorded HDNet test pattern comparison, via TWC and a 8000HD, versus the DCT6208 HD DVR via RCN Cable:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=467880

Suspect the live HDNet pattern via TWC/8000HD won't look much better next week, but live vs. recorded is needed. -- John

That reduced resolution finding on the 8000HD in that other forum is quite astonishing. 1335 on RCN to 890 on Time Warner is a big drop. Probably an explanation for everyone's feedback on how "blurry" the 8000HD is.

That's enfuriating. Almost nullifies having a HDTV. One would have to assume the DVI's uncompressed output would help (as wuold the next gen 8300).

In response to someone's earlier post about playing DVDs on the XBOX, the console only plays movies in 480i regardless of connection type.

Just got a call from the TWC-NYC CableCARD programmer. She told me TWC has upgraded the SA CC firmware and asked me if I wanted to participate in testing it before rolling it out. She needed to recruit two (2) CC subscribers in Queens, NY, each with a different HDTV for the test. I have a Mits and she said that was good. She told me she would pass my account info to the next level. I am anxious to test the new SA CC firm/software because I want it to succeed. I will keep you appraised of the progress of this exercise.

Regards.....JL

Does anybody know how much TWC charges for an additional HD STB (non-dvr)? I have the SA8000HD and I'm contemplating getting a non-dvr STB w/ active DVI for live viewing because I'm not all that happy with the softness of the 8000HD.
TIA

$6.75 (pplus $.22 for the remote), but you also have to pay a $2.00 digital programming duplication charge.

I'm getting annoying static in the left audio channel on Comedy Central. I've noticed it 2 nights in a row now. I have not noticed it on any other channel (though I haven't checked them all). Also, I have 2 boxes, Pio HD box and SD DVR box, and it's happening on both of them. I would try rebooting, but as it is happening on 2 different boxes, I don't see how that would help. Any suggestions? I'd hate to give up the Daily Show.

I have this problem, too. It seems that it is not a box problem, but a signal one.

Same here, in the West Village. In fact I don't think I hear it during commercial breaks, only during the programs, if that's possible.

Not even sure who to complain to -- the last time I tried to complain to TWC's repair people about sound problems on one channel it was a huge exercise in frustration -- they wanted to blame it on everything but their signal (trying to blame it on my stereo, the broadcasting network, etc.)

Maybe we can call Comedy Central and complain to them? Maybe they'll get someone to contact the appropriate people at TWC?

So you've seen this before? How did you resolve it?

Last night it seemed less severe, but still there.

Just a note for those who were looking to get the pioneer box for DVI. Seems Time warner is no longer giving them. Out. I got mine a few weeks back, and my brothers SA box wasnt working right so he wanted to get it exchanged for the Pioneer. The cable guy came and said as of last week they no longer use the Pioneer box's. No DVI for anyone that dosnt already have the non DVR pio box on TWC in nyc

capt

DVI works on the SA3250.

Mysteriously, the coax digital output on my 8000HD stopped working the other day. I'm getting my audio via the optical out now, but I'd really prefer to use the coax if at all possible because of the number of optical devices competing for a limited number of inputs on my receiver. Short of getting TWCNYC to swap out the box (which I'd rather not do until I can replace it with an 8300HD), are there any home troubleshooting suggestions you guys can offer? I've confirmed that the problem is not with the receiver, BTW--my DVD player is using a coax input with no hassles at all.

Hi everyone,

I have an appointment scheduled for the installation of a new HD service/box in 2 weeks here in Staten Island.

I understand that TWC no longer supplies the Pioneer with DVI output. However it seems that people have 2 versions of the SA box, one with DVI and one without.

Is it just the luck of the draw in getting a box with a DVI connection?

I know, if I get the DVR I'll be guaranteed to get the connector, but I'm not ready to commit that extra $$$ for that service on top of everything else right now.

Any suggestions on how to increase the chance of getting an SA 3250 with DVI?

Thanks all!
-Pete