Roanoke, VA / Bluefield, WV - HDTV - Page 3

Folks getting 7-1 over cable don't get 7-2 or 7-3. Eventually analog 7 will go away. Whether 7-2 or 7-3 will ever show up on cable sysytems is anybody's guess.

WDBJ should operate 7-1 as they intend to in the long run. Someday they will have HD graphics paralleling their current SD graphics. Today they don't. I'm sure that they would prefer to have money to blow on such a system now, complete with automated switching, etc.

If an important state figure died during the Super Bowl, I would expect them to inform us of this fact and not interrupt the Super Bowl. I would NOT expect them to give up the profits from SB commercials to air news, except under the most extraordinary conditions. This means using the same system they have now. My only comment would be reengineer the display to reduce the amount the sd picture is reduced (i.e., make the surrounding graphics a little smaller. But even that may cost money, so let's just wait a few years until they change it for some other reason.

Channels 7 is blessing us with a full power digital signal over a large area. They just blew millions on a new digital studio. Don't nit pick them for not being Donald Trump.

I'm not saying spend any more money - just saying to not overall them on the digital channel. Any cable subscriber getting 7-1 can easily switch to regular channel 7 to get the closings if they want.

Yes - when regular analog 7 is turned off then that is an entirely different situation. Then they would have to overlay the HD feed as that may be the only feed people are receiving (such as cable subscribers).

Anyone else getting some macroblocking during the Super Bowl on WDBJ? I've seen from the official Super Bowl topic on the Programming Forum that some in other areas of the country are seeing some blocking up in the picture because of multicasting, and it was very obvious on WDBJ during the Chiefs-Colts playoff game three weeks ago. (However, the reds in that earlier game may have caused problems for my Panasonic receiver.) But there are times today when the picture from the HD cameras appears to block up, although not heavily. Is this something others are seeing, or is this another issue, such as lighting? (The studio shots and HD movie commercials appear to have excellent picture quality.)

BTW, I haven't seen this problem with the other local stations or my channels through DirecTV (ESPN-HD, HD-Net and HD-Net Movies).

There have always been macroblocking issues on football with WDBJ. During the regular season I would get the direct CBS feed through Sunday Ticket. The macroblocking was much less.

I think the WDBJ system that allocates bandwidth has a hard time compensating when you get really fast motion all at once.

I did notice some macroblocking but I do not think it was nearly as bad as in some earlier games. I did not find it intrusive. It probably would be helpful if they turned off the news feed while sports is on.

Glad to see this isn't just my equipment. The less light, the less apparent the problem seems to be. Here's hoping they can find a new solution for next season, but all things considered, this is much better than not having the broadcasts available.

I didn't see it. My displaying is a 42" EDTV, but I think macros blocking would show up just the same.

Any words on how your reception is in this area? I live near by and tested out my setup (still waiting for my TV) with a friends STB and FP. I have a winegard PR-9032 set up in my attic. Essentially everything came through without a problem - except WSLS. How have people's WSLS reception been working in Lynchburg?

Im new to this forum, but had a few questions. And a novice when it comes to the HDTV stuff. I

I am located in the Hawkins Mill area of Lynchburg and have been trying to research on HDTV signal before I purchase.

I currently have DirecTV with a Sony 51" Widescreen TV. I noticed they will be broadcasting CBS and FOX in HD at no cost if you have the proper equipment.

I currently have an antena in the Attic which I used to use for local channels. I was picking up SD crystal clear on all but FOX with the use of an amplifier.

Does anyone have a good feel for my area if I will be able to use the same antena when I do purchase HDTV system.

What channels will I most like be able to view.

I appreciate any feedback.

Thanks

crockem:
Welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately you will not be able to receive CBS or Fox HD via DirecTV. Those feeds are only available (for the most part) in locations where the station is actually owned and operated (Hence the term O & O) by the network.
The antenna you are using in your attic may be just fine for picking up HD signals. If you are getting good analog reception then digital should be no problem.
You should be able to receive WDBJ-DT (7-1), WSLS-DT (10-1), WSET-DT (13-1), Fox and WB (digital but not HD on 21-1 and 21-3), PAX (38-1) and maybe PBS HD (15-5, I think).
If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me or there are plenty of other smart people that follow this thread that will be willing to help.

I responded to your post in the old thread. Pretty much what jcolec said.

jcolec:

I appreciate your feedback. DirecTV has told me since (via waivers) I pick up NBC FOX and CBS (NY and LA) as well as my local channels then I will qualify for the HD feed on channel 80.

Im new to all this, but Im holding out for the HDTV w/ TiVo receiver. I just want to make sure I get a signal to make it worth my money?

I apologize in advance that I'm about to ramble....
1. We are very sensitive to the fact that people who are receiving the HD signal can usually also get the SD signal, and that you don't like the HD being squeezed for the closing announcements. We are trying hard to find a solution. Part of what we're wrestling with is this: if you're watching HD and we DON'T squeeze to pass along vital emergency information, then are we doing you a service? Beyond that, the earlier post by Vince Stone is very perceptive. It would cost us somewhere between $100K and 200K for the additional equipment needed to do one squeeze on 7 and a different squeeze on the HD. As you know, we believe in HD, and I am evaluating whether to suck it up and spend the money. But that means I can't buy some other piece of HD equipment that might mean more to you and other viewers.
2. We are also sensitive to the blocking issue. Our director of operations and engineering gave serious consideration to shutting down 7.2 and 7.3 during the SuperBowl to give all of the bitstream to 7.1. In the end, we lost our nerve because these encoders are so fragile. We were afraid we might not be able to get it to run right for the SuperBowl. We will still find a time period with less critical HD programming to experiment with the question of whether we can ever completely eliminate blocking in sports programming -- even with the entire bitstream. (and again thanks to vstone for realizing that we really are trying to give you the best possible service within our ability to deliver it.)
3. This is not a plug, but it may be helpful to the considerable number of new adopters in Lynchburg who have antenna questions. We have become aware of Chip Wood, who has a home theater installation business in Lynchburg. Early on, many of his home theater customers started asking him antenna questions. He has become something of an expert when there are reception issues or antenna questions in and around Lynchburg. I have found him to be a real straight shooter. I have given his name to several folks in the area, and several have subsequently gotten back to me to talk about their satisfaction with Chip's advice and his work. His address is akwood@ntelos.net. I think he might be a good resource for antenna advice anywhere, but especially in the Lynchburg area.
Now I'm going back to my mail and phone calls about the halftime show.

Bob,

Thanks for your reply. I hope nothing I have said has been offensive. I believe WDBJ is the best and only station committed to HD in our area. Any posting I put out regarding WDBJ is more of a wish list! I hope it has not appeared differently.

My posts regarding the squeeze was an impression that you may be able to pass the network feed with no squeeze on the HD station and then the normal squeeze on the normal stations. By no means would I want WDBJ to go spending money on additional equipment to handle this request or see it as that big an issue if you had to continue putting the squeeze on the HD channel to accomodate what your station feels is necessary information.

I may have harped a little on the football thing all year and the blocking issue. Just something that is noticable and I guess I point out because your station is the only one that would really care to do something about the issue. On the other side my wife and myself really like your multicast channels (news and weather). As a DirecTV subscriber, the multicasts are great since we don't have a weather channel.

Thanks again!

Bob,
Thanks for keeping us up to date on plans and considerations that you guys face over there. I'm sure that it is much appreciated.

Bob

You and the others at WDBJ are a class act and a service to your profession, unlike the continuously poor customer service I've received from WSET, if they choose to respond at all. Your continued involvement here and your station's efforts in the transition to digital TV are greatly appreciated.

Chris

I sent cloker a PM a little while ago, but it occurs to me that I should say this to all of you:
The station gets its absolutely best feedback from the forum. Nobody here pulls any punches. You say what you think. That helps us a lot.
At the end of the day, we have to find a way to make this thing pay for itself and generate a return for the shareholders. We can't do it without knowing what appeals to you and what makes you crazy. Keep saying what you think. Just forget I'm here -- trying to pay attention.

crockem, you are correct about getting the national feed. If you have waivers from WDBJ and Fox (currently getting the national feeds), then you will get the new CBS HD feed and upcoming Fox Widescreen/eventual HD Feed.

I bought a Samsung SIR-T151 yesterday and canceled my Cox HD service. I got tired of Cox's picture quality on the digital cable; the picture looked good enough on my smaller sets, but there was alot of macro blocking (if that is the correct term) on my 61". I am located in Vinton (right in downtown Vinton). Using a Zenith Silver Sensor antenna, I get WDBJ, WSLS, and Pax quite nicely. I can't pick up PBS or Fox at all. I get a very weak signal from WSET; it is watchable, but I get audio dropouts and pixelation quite often, like every minute or so. Does anyone know of another indoor antenna I can try or is Silver Sensor the best I can expect? I would like to pull WSET in better, and it is soooo close to coming in good enough. I am unable to mount an outside antenna. BTW the OTA WDBJ is way better than Cox's.

I use the Winegard Sensar II. It is kind of a wing antenna / low profile. Not exactly and indoor you sit in your living room but it does look nice and wouldn't be too out of place mounted on the ceiling in a garage or even on a pole outside - you can even mount on one of the dish type poles you attach to the side of your house or deck. Fits very easily in my attic.

The good thing about the Winegard is that it picks up from 180 degree opposite directions. In Roanoke, WSET is in the exact opposite direction as the Roanoke stations. I had the SIR-T150 with the Sensar II (amplified version) pointed toward Lynchburg. Picked up WSET and Fox good and then picked up all of the rest of the stations nearly perfect off the back side.

Here is info on it from where I bought it:

http://www.starkelectronic.com/wgs2000.htm

The digital channels were one of the reasons I left Cox. Many people have said how good digital cable can be - but I think Cox overcompresses their digital channels. Even on my 50" set the channels looked way to blurry with bad macroblocking (as you said). Even though people complain about DirecTV overcompressing their channels - they don't look nearly like the Cox version. That is except the local channels on DirecTV - they are compressed more and would call them similiar to the Cox Digital Cable Quality. On that I would give the Cox analog feed the advantage - however, the OTA digital put them both to shame so it's not a concern.

Here is the response I received from Adephia related to rumors that they were testing HD in Lynchburg:

Thank you for your recent inquiry. HDTV has not been launched in Lynchburg
yet. We are anticipating introducing this new product late in the year or
beginning of next year. It will not require you to have a High definition
television because we will be leasing out high definition receivers for a
small monthly fee of probably something in the lines of under $10.00 (please
don't quote me on that, as I am not exactly sure).

It is already being tested in the Amherst area. We too will need a group of
testers for Lynchburg and I will be glad to refer you to our Plant Manager
who will be heading this up.

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

Thanks again,
Amy


--The good news is that none of us will need HD televisions, according to Amy. I guess she meant that we wont need receivers, because we will have to lease them from Adelphia. And if this post is placed in strange location, its because I have no idea what I am doing.

Later, D

Did anyone get the grammy's in DD 5.1. I get WDBJ-DT thru Cox Cable and was unable to get the 5.1 to work on my system. Just wondering if anyone else did. The show look great and was the best HD show I have watched to date.

The OTA feed was DD5.1. It sounded great at times. There were times that the live mix was weird but when they got it right it was great.

OTA feed for me was good as well (5.1)

This information was posted by 'foxeng' in another section of this forum. I wonder what this means for our local Fox affiliate:

"First off, the HD bit splicer gear belongs to FOX and it will cost the stations NOTHING. The only thing the stations are required have is a 720p stream going to the transmitter, nothing else. There doesn't have to be any 720p material on that stream, it can ALL be 480 upconverted as far as FOX is concerned since FOX will be handling all the switching and 720p material.

Here is the plan. The HD bit splicer equipment is to start shipping to the FOX stations, ALL FOX stations, in March (next month). Representatives of Thomson/GVG will then begin arriving at all the stations for the next 6 months installing and setting up this equipment. In August, FOX will start to send programming over BOTH the current wide screen and the new HD link to the stations. Those who have had their equipment installed will start taking the HD feed (with no HD content, wide screen only) and those who haven't had the install or are having problems will continue to receive the 480 wide screen. In September, network will start sending 720p program material to the stations on the HD link and will continue with 480 wide screen until all the affiliates that been installed are up and running correctly, when at that time the 480 wide screen will stop.

For those stations who for whatever reason do/did not have there equipment installed (it will be shipped to them anyway whether they use it or not) they will not have the HD link available to them and will only have 4:3 480i available for DTV.

That is the straight skinny, so there is NO WAY in hell, that NASCAR on FOX will be in HD this racing season since by September, the races will be on NBC/TNT. Now next season is a whole different matter and NOBODY knows the answer to THAT question. NOBODY.

FOX hasn't announced any HD program schedule yet and won't for a few months, but since the Super Bowl is on FOX this coming season, if I had to bet (no, I do not have ANY inside info, if I did I would say so), I would bet the Super Bowl will be in 720p HD on FOX. It is also not too far to bet that there would be a good shot that the World Series on FOX would also be in 720p HD.

As for the other sports, I still maintain that with FOX Sports Net doing HD, it would make NO sense for the network to NOT do some sports in HD as well. When or how much, I don't think anyone knows that either for several reasons, and the biggest is equipment availability. All the major mobile production companies have been on a HD truck building spree the last 6 to 9 months, but since it takes 6 to 9 months to build ONE truck, no one knows how many will be available for renting at a given time. And there is increasing demand for HD production trucks from all sides. Supply and demand. More demand than supply right now.

Now you know as much as I do."


While my first take was that this was good news - I am now not so sure. This line The only thing the stations are required have is a 720p stream going to the transmitter, nothing else. is where we'll probably get screwed as WJPR/WFXR probably won't spend the money to get the 720p stream to the transmitter.
What do you guys think?

On my Hughes receiver, I can get about a 70-80 on the signal meter when using the setup menu and manually going to 17 digital, but it refuses to find the channel on a channel scan. Perhaps this is because of the mapping not being there yet? Or it could be my crappy receiver.