Central Florida Winter 2004 thread - Page 2  

I'm here in south Melbourne.

I just got a MyHD-120 card setup this past week and been able to get marginal signals from WESH, WKMG, WOFL, and others using an indoor powered VHF/UHF Radio Shack antenna and Silver Sensor. Signals range from 25%-80%. ESH and OFL come in at about 25-40%. ESH was the hardest to get with the rabbit ears.

I face north on the first floor of my apartment so I can point the antennas out the window.

Well, sort of...WKMG is now broadcasting in DD but the center channel has no sound. It's more like a 4.0 where you can hear the 2 front and 2 rear speakers. The sound is very good but I wonder why it's not 5.1 (I'm not sure if the LFE channel is active either). Anybody knows?

Thanks

Sergio

The only true 5.1 sources from CBS have been the NFL games. When WKMG does not receive 5.1 from the network they switch to 2.0 at which point you should engage your Dolby pro logic settings.

The Superbowl should be a fun 5.1 mix but the Grammy awards is the audio event I am waiting to hear on CBS.

I heard a radio add that said BrightHouse was adding HDNET and HDNET Movies. Anyone know any details

I would have expected a BHN email for HD announcements before they started running radio ads. If they add those two channels it really makes for a tough decision. Who here has the INHD 1 and 2 channels on BHN? Are they showing really good programming?

I have INHD and it's a mix of programming, Sports, Movies, Travel, etc. The PQ and sound are great. This is part of the HD tier for an added $9. I think I read that the new channels would be part of the HD tier. you can check for HD programming at http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html .
Rick

Thanks rick. I had read the listings but wanted an opinion on the quality of the productions and to find out if the schedule was highly repetitive or full of SD up-converts. When I look at the schedule for both INHD and INHD2 I sometimes see the same 30 minute episode airing 3 times in a 24 hour period.

http://www.inhd.com/networkSchedule/...kSchedules.jsp

Barry, the schedule is very repetitive. The old movies are marginal quality
The college hockey games are awesome. Warren Millers Snow riders is great. The nature shows are great.

Mike

Barry,

I told you guys about HDNet last month -- did everybody forget?

HDNet and HDNet movies will debut on the 27th of January (we had to order some equipment). It will be added to the HD Tier, which is $6 (not $9). As opportunities arise, we'll add more to the tier.


Dall08Fan --

NBA TV's HD games are separate from the NBA League Pass. They sold that programming to INHD, so you'll need to get the Tier to get it. The Orlando Magic and Tampa Bay Lightning games (those done by Sunshine in HD - limited numbers) are carried by us on channel 1000, for which you do not need the tier.

Hope that helps.

Greg,

I was only remarking about the radio ads airing before the HD alert email went out.

Does BHN have any HD PPV movie channels planned or better yet HD VOD?

I would love to see HD PPV or HD VOD especially if they could get programing in the OAR. I believe Greg had mentioned earlier that they needed some equipment upgrades to do HD PPV and VOD.

Greg - Any chance the HD versions of Starz, TMC or Cinemax being added?

Always a potential for just about anything...:-)

In the non-HD world, regular PPV has really become obsolete by on-demand technology. It's what PPV always should have been, but wasn't technologically capable of being. In HD, a PPV channel may happen, but we don't really have a provider willing to do it.

We're working the equipment upgrade required to be able to VOD the bit rates required for HD, but it will likely be this summer before we're complete. It's a major capital upgrade. Part of the penalty you pay for being early to deploy technology like VOD is that you get to be one of the first ones to have to replace it. (Any early adopters here that can relate to that?)

We're still talking about Starz / TMC / Cinemax. We need to be convinced they have enough product. Starz! commitment to HD hasn't been stellar, and they still seem to be going into it begrudgingly. I'd rather give the bandwidth to TBS or somebody who at least seems enthusiastic (though late).

By my count, with HDNet and HDNet movies we hit 14 channels. Who would have thought?

Not really HD but I watch Techtv frequently and it seems the channel is getting a very low bit rate compared to other digital channels. Any action will cause smearing on the screen or a jumble of pixels around a persons head. Any ideas? Very annoying!

Also I was watching some NHL games on center ice and saw that the Lightning game was supposed to be blackedout but it came through just fine. Also I still don't know why the Panthers games are always blacked out since we aren't in their market?

And any news on carrying Fox Sports Net Florida or their digital feeds? I have been bugging Time Warner and now Brighthouse but it seems to be a lost cause... :/

Greg:

i'm a big BHN supporter and have talked many people out of the Satellite services becuase I tell them cable has much more bandwidth (I act like an expert since I worked on the FSN rollout...), yet I've heard you say more than once BHN wants to be careful with the bandwidth. I'm going to need a better story if BHN is so bandwidth constrained.

Greg, thanks for the HDnet!!! Now if we could just get Espn HD in time for the Hockey playoffs or next fall for football season that would be awesome.

Thank you for all your input on this forum and your committment to HD. I'm glad I switched from Sat. to Brighthouse.

Mike

rwetzel,

Like anything, bandwidth is a resource, one that is limited and precious.

That said, don't infer that we're bumping up against the stops and running out of room. The message should be that we are very careful managers of the bandwidth we have, and very wary about allocating any that we will have trouble taking back.

Everyone in cable learned long ago to be careful launching new services, because it's very difficult to take them off if they don't pan out (you're better off having not launched at all). We could, for example launch an HD channel that only has 5% HD content now, but promises to be fully HD at some point in the future. What if that turns out to be empty promises? While we don't need to wait until its fully developed, we do need to see that the right pieces, resources, funding, and people are in place to believe there's actually a chance of that happening.

I guess the take-away that I want you to have is that we are very meticulous planners working to ensure that we have the best possible product five years in the future, as well as today. So we make carefully planned decisions.

I have seen indications that Turner is going to have a TNT HD station but haven't seen anything about WTBS. Is WTBS going HD? I would LOVE to get the Braves in HD!

I am currenly with DirecTV but if BHN had this and an HD PVR for rent . . .
:)

Glad to hear your negotiating with Cinemax and TMC. I had been noticing that more of their brodcasts (especially Cinemax's) are indicating that they are also in HD. Like Showtime, I'm guessing that a good portion of TMC's movies aren't also being broadcast in HD. Either way, I'd much rather watch the HD channels than the SD ones because the picture is much cleaner.

Get too many more HD channels I might never leave the house anymore!

Sorry about the wrong price mentioned. I was speaking from memory and I guess it was faulty.
Rick

Greg:

A bit off topic but is there any chance we can get BHN in Heathrow anytime soon? I hate the quality of our Heathrow cable and think BHN is one of the best cable in the country.

Thanks

Sergio

Thanks Greg
Glad I just rewired the house for twelve drops. 14ch of HD and more to come wow.

Any more info on a HD PVR last I heard you still had issues between the head-end software and the STB software for the 8000HD. I want an HD PVR bad.

Sergio,

We're not allowed into Heathrow because of a deal the developers did regarding private easements and the establishment of their own cable company. But we continue to look for ways to get into Heathrow.

Rudy,

HD-DVR -- Another few months I think. We're waiting for a Passport enabled version to be available.

Rick,

Don't sweat the $9 vs $6 thing. I like to think I just gave everybody a price decrease. :-)


And I just realized I said TBS when TNT is the Turner HD offering. So many networks...

Greg - I am guessing that what I am going to ask is not a local decision, but more a "we show the product that we can get" thing.

There are several games across the country being shown in HD for both local hockey and basketball. Several of these games are the same games that are available on the indemand packages for hockey and basketball. Example is some of CBC's broadcast out of Canada.

So the question is: Have there as you know been any discussions of providing not only the SD Feed of these games, but also the HD Feed. If there has what is the reason this isn't being done? Is it bandwidth? Several of these games have poor quality as is so thinking this could be the constraint - or is it that indemand doesn't have the broadcast right for the HD Feed - or is it local cable not wanting it?

Greg,

Any change Brighthouse will be looking to the Explorer 8300 Multi-Room DVR? I would post the html link put I am still a newbie here. It is on the Scientific-Atlanta website. I would love to watch my recorded shows in more than one room.

Thanks for the great information
Chris

At first reading, I thought you did>

Does anybody know if there is a Sportsbar in Orlando that has HD tv's and that broadcasts games in HD? Moving down this weekend and there is just no way that I miss the NFC and AFC Finals, but if the bar had HD it would be even better.

Thanks!

Not that I am aware of. I have worked on installations in several and the owners don't want to pay the money it costs to build a system that will support HD becuase like building a cable headend it is very expensive to do it right. Plus there is always too much ambient light for anything to look good on a projector and they don't want to spend the money on the projectors.

If anyone else knows of one in the area I would be interested to see it.

What about that bar in Avalon Park, Raptures (I think) I thought some one said they help the owner setup the Tv's in there and they were going HD.
Give them a call.

Mike

Ok read through this thread and more confused then when I started about what the options are :)

My parents live in Hernando, FL (34442) which is about 30 miles from Ocola and about 60 from Tampa / St petersburg something like that anyway !

They are buying a DLP HD set (Samsung HLN507) and are going to get the HD package from DirecTV but they want to know how to get the HD locals especially CBS (csi etc) as far as i can tell from antennaweb.org there isn't even a cbs HD anywhere near here even in the violet range ??? Is tampa/st pete/ocala not hd ? I see they can get fox hd but .. they really dont watch fox ;)

rieki,

Your parents may qualify for a waiver to be able to receive CBS HD from DirecTv.

Tampa HD info here.

http://www.tampahdtv.com/

Orlando HD info here.

http://www.orlandodigital.tv

60 miles is possible off air and yes Tampa does have CBS in HD.