Los Angeles, CA - TWC - Page 277

It'll be on Usenet tomorrow. ;-)

Bah, just record to buffer for a couple hours and then watch it (skip the boring parts). :P Oh well, TWC should do a live feed but NBC won't let them I bet. :P

The notice in Hawaii does say that TW Cable Sports Network will be on analog over there.

However, it also says that Pac12 National & Pac12 LA is going to be on the less-popular Sports tier. Seems to me that this might happen here as well. As most people probably have only the Variety tier, they will not be able to view the 2 channels. Geez, do we really need 2 Pac12 channels anyway?

The PAC12 network will be on Variety tier for PAC12 LA SD/HD and PAC12 National SD/HD will in Sports Pass in all of the TWC California systems.

Thanks for the info. Glad Pac12 LA is not a Sports Tier channel.

Anyway, has anybody tried to log onto NBCOlympics.com to view a stream? Silly TWC login keeps giving me a system error with a message saying to try again later.

I logged in an hour ago and was able to watch the beginning of the Bejing opening ceremony. When you first click on a video, you get a blank viewing screen then after a minute or two, a message pops up asking if you are a cable or satellite subscriber. After entering DirecTV, I was allowed to watch the opening ceremony. I don't know if it makes a difference but I use Flashblock and I told it not to block nbcolympics. After that I was able to see the ceremony.

You have DirecTV too beside TWC?

I do not have TWC. I use AT&T DSL. I was answering the poster question about seeing streaming video on NBCOlympics.com.

Ah OK. It was weird to see you in a TWC forum thread.

Just to see what would happen, I logged into nbcolympics using my neighbors TWC Roadrunner and I was able to view the Bejing opening ceremony - Full replay

Live streaming of current Olympic events (not videos from 4 years ago) is theoretically restricted to subscribers of cable or satellite.

When you push the "start here" button a dialog will pop up asking you for your username/password for your provider. That will actually be verified (by a login attempt, under the covers) and if confirmed you will have a cookie dropped on your machine that from that point on then allows their streaming video applet to run (without requiring this authentication to be repeated).

It works fine, and the quality is good. Not great, but good. A bit clumsy on the interface, and not super responsive (imagine there are millions of people potentially receiving this stream, so there's quite an infrastructure in place I would imagine).

You can browse all currently available sports (i.e every event going on at that moment), and then select from possibly several streams available for that sports venue (e.g. multiple ping pong tables, multiple badminton courts, etc.). Don't expect the glamour NBC announcing crew. You can simultaneously view a second stream (from the same sport or from an entirely different sport/venue) in a second smaller window (i.e. "preview") and you can SWAP the contents of the main and smaller windows. You can also mute or listen to the sound on either window, so you can be watching both and listening to either one (or both, actually, if you want to confuse yourself).

You can also open a completely separate second (or third, etc.) browser window and repeat the entire process. So you really can be live-streaming 1-2 or 3-4, etc., windows. Performance with multiple windows open was extremely dodgy, to say the least. I think their applet is not intended to really support this. But it works fairly well with only one browser window and the 2 sub-window streams it was intended for.

Okay, I figured it out. Signing in to NBCOlympics.com cannot be done within InPrivate mode in IE.

What is being shown though is not that great in my opinion. It is just YouTube's stream which is available to countries who did not come to an agreement to televise the Olympics. However, it seems much more bloated than your typical YouTube video. Not sure what YouTube is doing that is sucking up so much processing power. Even at 360p, I could not get a video that did not drop frames. Maybe at 240p it would have been okay, but 240p is not watchable even on a computer. My guess is that any computer older than 2 years will have trouble with the video stream.

Video ads are also inserted which is unlike the typical YouTube video. Also the banner on top that takes up the width of the screen seems to be there for no real reason.

i was just surfing through my channels and saw that they added olympic soccer and basketball channels on 389 and 390

Thanks for the heads up. I just watched the USA/France game streamed live and thought it looked pretty good and generally smooth on my 67" set.

Just got $89.99 bundled package and have TV newbie questions!

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27394625-Do-these-results-look-from-a-new-bundled-89.99-service- for the details.

Anyways, I noticed cable digital TV's picture quality (blurry) is not good as OTA's on a new 22" Samsung HDTV (computer monitor too), but the technicans gave me composite cables. Shouldn't I have gotten HDMI cables for better picture from them? If not, then would HDMI (buy my own) improve the picture quality or is that the best for TWC's cable digital TV? I am spoiled by OTA's picture quality.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27394625-Do-these-results-look-from-a-new-bundled-89.99-service- for the details.

On my new Motorola DCX3400 DVR, I have questions since I am spoiled by my DTV Pal DVR for OTA:
1. Is there a way to resize the closed captionings (CC) font and its size? They look ugly. How about turn it on/off easily without going through the annoying DVR menus?
2. On TV Guide, how can I go the next/previous days without going through every hour. For example, I want to record 8/12/2012 Olympics' closing ceremony without searching. There is no page/screen right and left. Also, is there a way to make the TV Guide smaller to show more contents? I asume there's no way to remove the annoying ads. at the bottom.
3. Is there a manual? :P
4. More coming?

Thank you in advance.
Edited by phildaant - 8/4/12 at 1:28pm

No idea about the other stuff, but I do know that HDMI should look much better than composite. Composite is not even HD. You do have HD channels in that package correct? If so, it would not surprise me if TW just wants to save the buck or so by giving you the lesser-type cable.

Yes, HD came with $89.99 bundled package promotion. OK, I will get HDMI cables to see if they are a lot better. I know the picture won't be good as free OTA. Bah to TWC for giving me composites. I have plenty of those! Gah!

HD is free on TWC, you just need to have an HD box, which he does.

He will get all the HD channels that are part of his subscription package, i.e., if he has HBO, he will get all the avail HBO HD channels. If he has a tier that includes the Science channel, he will get that on HD, etc.

Even the local channels will come in HD over the TWC box (ABC, etc.).

There is no additional subscription charge other than the box rental, and pretty much everyone has HD boxes now (is there even a SD box avail anymore??)

HBO is there. It's the $89.99 bundled price.

Does anyone know where to get a low cost and short HDMI cable to connect between DVR and HDTV on the same desk. It should be from local retail stores in Los Angeles/L.A. area. I found Costco for $11.99 for 3' so far.

I know that. However, people previously suggested a bundle to the OP but were dismissed. OP at that time said he wanted only Broadcast Basic or whatever the cheapest tv package was. Plus, OP posts the same question on multiple websites, multiple threads within that website, and even starts multple posts within in the newgroups. Hence, I just loss track of what he was planning on doing.

As far as a cheapie HDMI cable, Frys has some generic 6 foot Roxgo brand for 2 bucks.

Thanks. Hopefully, it is a good brand that works. Yeah, my family decided to do that $89.99 promotion. We'll decide to drop the features after it ends.

Programming Alerts

Time Warner Cable’s agreements with programmers and broadcasters to carry their services and stations routinely expire from time to time. We are usually able to obtain renewals or extensions of such agreements, but in order to comply with applicable regulations, we must inform you when an agreement is about to expire. The following agreements are due to expire soon, and we may be required to cease carriage of one or more of these services/stations in the near future.

KEYT, Bandamax, BBC America, BBC America HD, Cable Radio Network Channels, Cooking Channel, Current TV, DIY, De Pelicula, De Pelicula Clasico, Encore, Encore (East), Encore Drama, Encore Love, Encore Mystery, Encore WAM, Encore Action, Encore Westerns, Fox News, Fox News HD, Fox Business, Fox Business HD, Food Network, GAC, GolTV, GolTV HD, GSN, Movieplex, Music Choice Channels, NASA, NHL Network, NHL HD, NHL Center Ice, STARZ!, STARZ HD, STARZ East, STARZ East HD, STARZ Edge, STARZ Cinema, STARZ in Black, STARZ Kids & Family, Sprout, Skylink, Youtoo and Zee TV.



In addition, from time to time we make certain changes in the services that we offer in order to better serve our customers. The following changes are planned:



On or after August 8, 2012 Cable Radio Networks 1-6, channels 971 through 976 will be removed from the channel lineup.




On or after August 15, 2012 KABC DT2 Live Well HD channel 445 will be removed from the lineup.


On or after August 15, 2012, KWHY (IND) will change affiliation and become FOX Mundo (KWHY). This change will not affect channel positioning, packaging or pricing. Also, FOX Mundo HD (KWHY) will be added.




On or after August 15, 2012 in City of Camarillo, City of Ojai, City of Oxnard, City of Port Hueneme, City of Santa Paula, City of Ventura (City of Buenaventura), County of Ventura, County of Ventura - Santa Paula, County of Ventura (Camarillo II), County of Ventura (East Ventura), County of Ventura (Ojai), County of Ventura (Oxnard), Naval Base (CBC Port Hueneme Naval Base) KEYT will be carried in a digital format only and no longer in analog. Digital cable equipment, such as a digital set-top box, CableCARD-equipped Unidirectional Digital Cable Product (UDCP), or digital TV (or other device) that includes a QAM tuner, required. It will remain on Broadcast on channel 3. Also, KEYT HD will be added.




On or after August 15, 2012 in County of Los Angeles - Agoura / Calabasas (Agoura), County of Ventura (Thousand Oaks), County of Ventura - Fillmore / Piru (Fillmore), County of Ventura, City of Calabasas, County of Los Angeles - Newbury Park / Westlake Island, City of Westlake Village, City of Calabasas, City of Fillmore, County of Ventura - Oak Park / Agoura (Oak Park), City of Agoura Hills, City of Moorpark, City of Simi Valley and City of Thousand Oaks KEYT channel 3 will be removed from the lineup.




On or after August 15, 2012, PAC 12 Los Angeles and PAC 12 Los Angeles HD will be made available to customers with subscription to the Variety tier. PAC 12 National and PAC 12 National HD will be made available to customers with subscription to the TWC Sports Pass. These services will be delivered in a digital format only; two-way compatible digital cable ready equipment, such as a digital set-top box or CableCARD-equipped UDCP used in conjunction with a Tuning Adapter, required.


It looks like they finally updated the legal notice on the TWC website. I wonder if the former comcast areas are going SDV? Or if they are only mentioning the SDV areas for the PAC12 network and the comcast areas are going to be SDV enabled by the 15th or the PAC12 channels wo;; be npn SDV and take up a new QAM frequency.

Also I am curious as to why KEYT is on some of the Socal TWC systems as it is a out of market channel or do parts of Socal fall under the Santa Barbara DMA?

Mundo Fox has a lot of their programming in HD right now. The channel does seem to be professional. They are going air a UFC event next weekend on Mundo Fox. Starting on 8/13 MundoFox starts a national news program and beings airing American Dad in spanish I also saw Bones in the lineup.

Did TWC ever have Epix channels? Epix's web site doesn't show TWC carrying it on http://www.epixhd.com/epixprofile/?skipauth=1 ... I was hoping to watch its geeky/nerdy documentaries.

Thank you in advance.

OK, I just got a bundled package that has two 9' HDMI cables (also supports 3D, BR, ethernet, etc.) and a cleaner from WireLogic (WireLogic.us). It looks similiar to http://www.amazon.com/WireLogic-HDTV-Ethernet-Cables-Includes/dp/B0042FFO1O/ ... I hope these are good! I will try them later. I hope I can just unplug the composite cables and connect the HDMI cables without doing anything to make it work.

Also, is there an instructional guide on how to use DVR's iGuide and find stuff? Crappy usability design it has. :P
Edited by phildaant - 8/6/12 at 6:08am

2. On TV Guide, how can I go the next/previous days without going through every hour. For example, I want to record 8/12/2012 Olympics' closing ceremony without searching. There is no page/screen right and left. wink.gif Also, is there a way to make the TV Guide smaller to show more contents? I asume there's no way to remove the annoying ads. at the bottom. frown.gif

There is a "day up" & "day down" button on the left side of the circular area on the standard 1056B remote.
No guide resize available.
No way to remove ads, but sometimes (rarely) they are not there for some reason.

Thanks!

Also, http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27399394- mentioned http://www.timewarnercable.com/corporate/site.faqs/digitalcab/On-ScreenG/iGuide/What-is-the-Time-Warner-Cable- for its i-Guide user manual (PDF).

I have no idea which remote control I have. It is different from the one in PDF. Mine has settings button that does nothing. :P

OK. I am a dork and failed, but then what did you expect from a newbie? :P

TWC technicians did give me component cables (three white cables with red, green, and blue ribbons (RGB) on their ends [also gave me two black audio cables -- stereo to my HDTV's internal speakers I assume?], not red, yellow, and white). I have been using composite cables for too long (still used them with my VCR, CRT TVs, and DTV Pals). I disconnected them and tried one of my new HDMI cables. It worked and picture was way clearer (still not good as OTA though but good enough from cable compressions). Wait, weren't these RGB components supposed to be clear too?

However, the aspect picture ratios were wrong on some channels. I saw croppings, squishes, etc. I found out that there are SD and HD channels (e.g., 402 for KCBS-HD and 2 for KCBS-SD!). Why have both? I had to fiddle with that with the HDTV. I think I finally got them right. It was weird that some chnanels had wrong picture aspect ratios and croppings even if I had the correct channels. I hope I got those fixed. :O

Some people don't have HDTV's, and must tune to the 4:3 SD channel (e.g. 2) if they want "full-screen" 4:3 images on their 4:3 sets (i.e. where the full horizontal and full vertical dimensions of their sets are used for image). Otherwise, if you tune to the 16:9 HD version of the channel (e.g. 402) while viewing it on a 4:3 set you'll see 16:9 images "letterboxed" onto the 4:3 set, which means black bars on top and bottom so that the complete 16:9 image "aspect ratio" is retained while being presented in a 4:3 screen area. Full horizontal width of the 4"3 screen is used, but the 16:9 letterboxed rectangular image requires black bars on top and bottom.

So for full-screen 4:3 on SD channels they actually "center-cut" a 4:3 image for the 4:3 SD channel, from within the HD 16:9 content on the HD channel, and send that 4:3 portion to the SD channel. Sure, you've lost the "wings" of the 16:9 image but at least you're seeing a "full-screen" image on your old 4:3 set. These people don't have a 16:9 HDTV, so they are going to have to compromise one way or another and probably don't know or care about the lost left and right sides (since 4:3 images and sets have been around for as long as TV). Having that 480i 4:3 SD channel available is catering to the ever-lessening fraction of viewers who don't have a 16:9 HDTV.

Just program your "Favorites" channel list to only have the HD channels, and forget about all the other non-HD channels when you look at the Guide. You'll only see your "favorites", i.e. only the HD channels you want to watch. Don't distract yourself with seeing SD channels in the Guide.
Edited by DSperber - 8/7/12 at 1:03pm

I noticed those digital to analog converter boxes still use the same OTA HD channels and have options to adjust pictures. Hence, I was confused why TWC had two different channels (SD and HD) from TWC.
Edited by phildaant - 8/7/12 at 12:11pm

OK, I had some quick free times to fiddle with the new DVR's iGuide and its remote control (RC) earlier. However, I am struggling and annoyed with its usability designs.

Let's start with DVR's RC (1056B03 under it -- http://www.urcsupport.com -- can't find a big photograph to show all the buttons clearly for you) since it is not the same as shown in that PDF. There are no day+ and day- buttons I can find to skip days in its TV Guide. I even tried pressing buttons that sort of match like in the pictures, but nope!

DVR's software:
1. Is there no way to enter manual dates, times, etc. quickly for manual recordings? I wanted to enter 8/12 and 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM for Olympics' closing ceremony without using TV Guide. I should be able to enter the numbers from RC easily.
2. After setting up a recording for Sunday night, I noticed my future recording list is blank for the day (Thursday). I have to go to Sunday to see that future recording I just added. Is there a way to show ALL of my future recordings of all time?
3. Does this DVR have default before and after set times for recordings? I like to have extra five minutes before and after the scheduled times to avoid missing any seconds since not all channels start and end on time even with atomic times/clocks.
4. When using closed captionings/CCs, I see them over the DVR menus too. Is there a way to only avoid this? It's annoying. It should only show in the video! Also, is there a CC on and off button on the fly without going through the menus?

A lot of weird design flaws in this DVR!
Edited by phildaant - 8/10/12 at 5:45pm