Austin, TX - HDTV - Page 92

Tiembo, I have a Panasonic TV with the same problem with Time Warner Cable...it won't find FOX-DT or PBS-DT in a channel scan. The other digital channels are found and work OK most of the time. Something must be wrong with the channel data, in how those stations, and/or Time Warner, is encoding it in such a way that some TVs can't find them.

If your TV allows manual digital channel programming you might try looking at channels 83-1 for FOX and 83-2 for PBS. What part of town are you in by the way? I'm in Northeast Austin. Just wondering how localized this issue with FOX and PBS is.

Anyone know why Time Warner was never able to work out their issues with KNVA (WB)?

I have been trying to find out more on that, plus the reason why they are foot-dragging about adding ANY new HD channels, for months, to no avail. Their guy on the local Yahoo cable group will never go any further than "nothing new on the horizon". Apparently, he either knows nothing or has been told to keep quiet.

Figure it could be technical or money or both. My guess is the latter -- no further HD programming expenditures until absolutely necessary, meaning there is better competition.

Yeah, it'd be nice to get Universal HD both for the Olympics and for Battlestar Galactica. But I'm not holding my breath....

Oh, and speaking of bad programming decisions, whose decision was it to delay SNL last night for some random no-name telethon?! And then, since it was delayed, it wasn't in HD. Infuriating.

I noticed that too. I was not infuriated, but disappointed nonetheless.

KXAN has been carrying the Rehab Telethon for the last 15 years or so. It's a great organization and the station has a long history with West TX Rehab. The interruption only happens once each year.

SNL was tape delayed until midnight.

Eventually the stations should have the capability to tape delay network feeds in HD.

Hey guys, I'd first like to say this thread is a great resource to those of us in the Austin area, thanks to all the folks who have fought for HD in our area and who have provided all the great info.

I've convinced my wife to let me get the Sony KDFE42A10 (42" LCD RP), and have been trying to gain as much info as possible before getting it.

I have two questions at this point. One is, where can I talk about price/buying TVs locally where it isn't frowned upon? I made the mistake of telling my wife I saw the TV I want in Fry's California advertisements, so now I am basically stuck waiting to find it here for that price (doesn't seem like we are ever going to see that price locally). So, any help anyone can give me in regards to this, please point me to a safe place to discuss this if it's frowned upon here.

Secondly, I wanted a little clarification on the whole OTA signal over TW cable. I have TW digital cable and pay for their DVR, when I get my set I will trade this box out for the HD DVR. So with this setup, if I send a piece of coax to my TV (has an ASTC OTA tuner built in) is that going to be the same as tuning to the HD channels with my box as far as compression, etc, or is this the same as hooking up an antenna? For the best quality local signal should I still look into getting an antenna and running it truly over-the-air?

Thanks all and see you around the forums.

I live between Howard/Scofield and I-35/1325. I tried 83-1 and 83-2, but the TV says "Weak or scrambled signal". In fact, I can't seem to pick up any 8x.x channels, even though the auto-channel setup picked those up in its list. Their 15xx counterparts do appear, however.

My friend down the street (within a stone's throw) can get all of the HD channels just fine. He's using an external LG tuner, if that makes any difference.

Check your PMs.

Yes, trade your SD DVR for the HD DVR (8300HD). That is all you need.
For OTA HD local channels, you can purchase an inexpensive HD inside antenna if you live in or close to Austin.

I don't know if you can bargain with Fry's but it never hurts to try, if you want to. Bargaining for big TV sets is pretty common now, as I understand it. I know you can bargain with A&A Appliance on Burnet Road for Sonys because I have done it. Also with Sears. They went way down a year ago for our KDF-60XS955 Sony. At Sears, show them evidence of a lower price quote and they may come down to meet or beat it. At least, that is what they used to do. But I would give that a shot at any store and not think twice about it if I were you.

We have the HD8300HD DVR box and also an antenna. I don't see any significant difference between the two pictures. Nor is there any significant difference in the picture off the DVR hard drive. That's the nice thing about digital, I guess: as long as there is not much compression, digits are digits. But you probably want to have an antenna, in case the cable goes out, or to watch a third station while your DVR is recording two at the same time. Or to watch "Smallville" in HD because TW Cable only carries KNVA in SD.

Thanks man, very true, all good info, definitely will be grabbing an antenna for those reasons.

I worked at Sears briefly before I went in the Air Force years ago, and I do seem to remember lots of wheeling and dealing going on, so I think I'll try there. I know they are gonna want to push that extended warranty on me hard though. I am not a fan of the tactic of buying the unit + warranty then returning the warranty route, it's a little too close to stealing for my taste Hopefully I can negotiate them down if I have the Fry's Cali advertisement. I wish I had picked up an LA times from B&N the day their ad came out. having a physical printed newspaper in hand probably would have done wonders for dealing with them.

I've heard good things about Sears' extended warranties. I have a Warrentech/Repair Master one and I'm about to put in a claim for a new color wheel for my DLP soon. Hopefully it will go smoothly!

Yeah, it's just the cost though, I am on a very limited TV budget here unfortunately. I have barely convinced my wife as it is! I think they are supposed to be pretty good though.

Ugh, sorry, I just realized I am really derailing this thread.

Thanks for the info I've gathered from the thread on OTA and HD, etc. If anyone has anymore good info, feel free to PM me.

I revisited the 8x.x channels, and it turns out that I can tune into FOX and PBS HD on 83.x. Perhaps the first time around I didn't wait long enough for the tuner to pick up the signal before changing channels.

I've no idea why the HD channels are divided, but at least I can tune into all of the standard TWC HD channels. Hope this helps your situation Number_6.

For Sony products a good source is Austin DEI (Digital Entertainment Solutions) They're in the book. he's a small custom installer but he beat Fry's price by a HUGE margin on my 70" XBR950. Jeff is the guy to talk to (owner).

As far as the OTA vs. Cable differences on that small a HD set I doubt if it's possible to tell any major differences with a HD signal from a normal seating distance on a less than 50" set.

One thing I would consider though is that you look at the direct view 40" LCD Sony has. It'll fit in more places (better wife acceptance factor) and it won't cost you a $3-400 bulb every 1-2 years like a rear projection set will. The bulb should always be considered in the cost of a rear projection set.

I'm a little confused, direct view LCD? I thought direct view was more or less a fancy way of saying CRT/tube display? Are we just talking about a standard LCD? My concern there lies in the response time of large (compared to computer) LCDs. I want this set for playing Xbox 360, HDTV, and DVDs. I felt like LCD rear projection was one of the better setups for this. In all honesty, no new tech short of OLED, SED, FED (ie anything out yet) is really suited well for gaming.

Then, all that said, LCDs do have bulbs, and they do burn out. My boss has a Philips LCD, 40" or so I think, and he just had to replace his bulb after a few short years.

I'm pretty content with what I am getting, but appreciate any other advice/info you might have.

It's funny that you list that Austin DEI, I did a google local search for "television wholesale austin texas", hoping to find some nationwide reseller that happened to be local. That was the first thing listed, but the rest all seemed like bogus hits for television production equipment, etc. I'll have to give them a call/go by and see them, thanks!

EDIT: I see, direct view just means, as opposed to CRT RP, LCD RP, where the imaging component is not projecting it onto something else, makes sense.

Yes I meant a Direct view LCD just like your flat panel computer monitor or a Plasma without it's drawbacks. The other added benefit is that a 40" like the Sony 40 LCD is very low power consumption <100watts and can double as a computer monitor. Whereas the rear projection sets will all pull about 200+ watts.

I have a 23" Sony widescreen LCD I am plenty happy with, and I much prefer it's 1920x1200 res

Has anyone else noticed that KEYE-HD (42-1) signal strength has been lower over the last few days. I checked signal strength on my HR10-250 over several days over the last two weeks. Starting last Sunday (1/22/06) the average signal strength dropped from the low 90's to the mid 60's. Other frequencies have been unaffected and range from 88-95 on all Austin stations.

Has anyone else noticed the same thing?

I'm using an attic mounted DB2 directly connected to a HR10-250 (no amps or splitters) and live in Leander (Crystal Falls area).

Sunday night I noticed a new message on my TiVo that channel 1612 was being added and described as UHD. Intriguing, eh? My SA 8300HD won't tune to 1612 but this seems like a good sign to me.

I hope TWC does add it before Feb 21st... that's when the USAvsRUS men's hockey game will air on UHD!

[EDIT: To answer my own question, according to a poster on the yahoo TWC-Austin group UHD will indeed be available but only for the olympics]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cable/message/30548

Mind crossposting the message? My membership is pending over there.

Apparently they accidentally turned on UHD for a couple weeks a while back but it's definitely not there at the moment. The message I mention is part of a thread where a TWC employee who frequents the board said he'd try to find out the answer to this question:

"From: "evan_ochs"
Date: Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:12 am
Subject: Re: Universal HD? evan_ochs
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
I just called and spoke to a CSR, who said it would be turned on on February
10th for the Olympics and turned off again on March 1st...

Why did other TW franchises like Columbia, SC turn their's on on December 1st,
while we only get it for the Olympics?"

KVUE(24.1) should be showing World News Tonight. Instead they're showing space shuttle lift off, GMA highlights and technical stuff. Did someone mess up some where?

News on now.

I just got my Sony 42A10 on Friday, so I'm new to all this. Is the network HD stuff still pretty flaky even over cable? During Law and Order: Criminal Intent off the top of my head, there were several points where it jumped to an SD signal or the audio changed to stereo. Is this a network thing, time warner thing, or what? Also I notice a lot of hiccups going to and from commercials. On Discovery HD the other night I had DVR'd Chasing Lance and every transition from video to their section intros the sound would hiccup. What I mean is they would do a black screen with white text and say "Two days before the tour" or something like that. Almost every single one it would hiccup. My guess just from my vague knowledge of how compression works is that the signal is being sent, the title page uses minimal bandwidth, so when it tries to ramp up for the increased image bandwidth it freaks out and hiccups a few times. Is this the case? and if so is it a transmission issue, HD-DVR box issue, or a weak signal issue? I've had my signal checked before and it was pretty strong, but does it need to be at the highest possible for HD?

Thanks for any info anyone can provide.

I recorded tonight's law&order criminal intent on my SA 8300HD. We tried to watch it afterwards and noticed lots of video noise and audio dropping. At about 45 minutes in, it got so bad we couldn't hear or see what was going on so we had to stop watching. Really disappointing considering I'm paying over $100/month for this grabage. I used to have comcast back in boston with a moto box and it was MUCH better...

I saw what you are describing. It looked to me as though they had the wrong tape in their machine but for some reason could not get out of it and onto what they wanted. There was an old space shuttle launch and then, at one point, a continuing shot of a technician with an informational clapper on which was the date 1999.

Obviously, there was some major screwup at the network level. You see this kind of thing from time to time but rarely does it go on so long.

Don't know if you're suggesting here that the problem is in the TWC transmission or the 8300HD. I normally record and watch that particular show via the same route but did not this time because it was a re-run.

My experience, in general, though, has been that serious glitches such as you describe are pretty rare. Most of the time, the shows I record and playback -- L&O CI, Medium, Lost, Invasion, 24 (although we only record that one for safety -- have to watch it live) and some others -- are pretty much flawless. Sometimes, HD will collapse to SD for a period of time but that is generally a problem at the network or local station. If we ever get "video noise" or "audio dropping" it is so rare that I do not even remember it now.

If you are experiencing serious problems such as you describe with a newly setup cable / DVR from TWC, you might want to call them and have them look into it.