Houston, TX - Comcast / DBS - Page 20

CCourtney,

I don't recall that happening but if it happened around 6pm on a weekday, I wouldn't have been home from work yet to know about it.

I did notice something strange on Sunday night, 3/27. I had lost about 2 minutes of Carnivale. The loss happened sometime between 9-10pm. I found I had two recordings, one 57 minutes long and another one 1 minute long, for the same episode that night. Since it was on HBO, I just recorded it later in the week and deleted the earlier 57 & 1 minute recordings. I never watched that "two parter" to see if the 2 minute gap was near the end (10pm).

In another thread it was suggested that a reboot would force an up to date IPG reload which should fix the problem.

I noticed that if I went in and selected the desired program on the guide and requested a recording, that the bogus scheduled recording of the program following the desired one, which was there because an hour disappeared from the week, would drop off of the schedule and the guide indication.

I remember this happened in reverse with the return to standard time, but was too dufus to remember it before it got me. I thought at first taht the orriginal episode flag was the culprit, but I did not have any desire to record Without a Trace which follows but it was setup to record when I figured out what was going on.

My TWC contact reminded me it is a known problem.

TerryB

I've got an 8000HD, and I'm running SARA v1.83.14.4, dated 8/25/04 (i.e., no s/w upgrade recently). Do you have an 8300HD?

I didn't notice any hiccups due to the time change, but I didn't have any scheduled recordings until tonight. They kicked off just fine.

BTW, I just watched Lost a few minutes ago, and it looks like ABC was having some serious problems for about the first 5 minutes of the show--lots of glitches, and they even dropped down to an SD upconvert for a couple minutes. Once it returned to true HD, it was fine for the rest of the show. Did others notice that?

Jim

C1Courtney,
No software update at my house. Still August 04 version.

I am thinking of putting a note on the calander next October to remind me about scheduling error after DST fall back. ;-)

TerryB

Jim,

I've got a 8300HD (had it since Jan - 05 had the 8000 before that)

I'll have to look at the version info on my box to see what they updated. I'm not positive it was SARA software that was updated as it came up with some iControl information after it rebooted.

CCourtney

I don't think there's any significance to the iControl stuff you saw. The box tunes to channel 01, the iControl station, after a reboot, and the first time iControl is accessed after a reboot, there's some handshaking between the box and the headend to load the menus, etc.

The power blinks at my house about once a month, so I'm very familiar with that screen and that process...

Jim

Power blinks probably once every 6 months at my place (use to be weekly when the neighborhood was being built.) I'd suggest using aUPS for a battery backup no matter how infrequent the power cycles are for all AV and Computer Equipment.

CCourtney

Quick question for ya'll ... I have a Panny 5677 and I'm going through the HDMI from the SA8300 into the TV. From time to time, I get a dropped signal, screen goes black and there's no audio, it only lasts a second and then it's back. Happens a couple of times an hour, give or take.

If I go through the Component video in, this doesn't happen. Seeing as how I dropped $100 on the HDMI cable, I'd expect it to ... work better.

The other problem I'm having is that the component out from the 8300 and the HDMI do NOT work simultaneously, which I thought they were supposed to do. This isn't a problem, except that I'd like to compare the images, which is difficult to do when I have to keep unplugging the HDMI to get a signal from the component.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on, or how I can resolve the dropped signal? Thanks.

jruhnke: Yes, I noticed the same problem with Lost, too.

LagerMan: I switched from the SA8000 to the SA8300 in February. About 2 weeks ago, I switched from component to HDMI. I do not notice the black screen and audio loss you describe. I have a Samsung 5663 HDTV. I bought a Gefen 15' HDMI-to-HDMI cable for $69 instead of the way, way over priced (and shorter) Monster cable. I left the component cables hooked up and noticed they no longer work with the HDMI attached.

Greetings all, hope you don't mind a couple of general questions from someone eagerly awaiting delivery of their first HD ready TV.

I am now looking to find the best source of HD signals. I have been a long time DBS fan both E* and D*. I am a current D* subscriber, but in looking at the options it seems that Warner has the best options at the moment. I'm hooked on Tivo and the $999 price tag for HD Tivo is a bit steep. Also not having to get an OTA for locals seems nice as well.

I have read all of the 2005 messages in this thread and haven't seen anything around general picture quality. I've seen the notes about dropped signals and synch problems, but I expect that will happen regardless of the source.

So, any experinces or opinions or things to watch for with Warner and HD? At this point I think I would have to hear some real horror stories or some unknown gotcha around Warner to not make that choice. I would however, appreciate any advice from those of you that have already had to make this decision.

Thank you.

Well, seems that HD with basic service is a no go. I even called tech support after they made the switch (had to because they shut off my cable modem in error) and the tech tried to turn on the basic HD channels without digital but the system wouldn't let him. So, I'll be taking the cable box back next week.

Anyone want to buy a 2.5 month old DVI cable? It's a Ram Electronics Hi-End DVI-D cable 6' long. Sells new for 42.95 + shipping. I'll sell local for $30 and we can meet up somewhere convienient to our locations. PM me if interested.

VReeder: I agree that TWC is the "least worst option". They are not perfect; however, you get the best selection of programming without having to resort to having an HD tuner and antenna. HD tuners are going thru their 5th or 6th set of new "chipsets" and they are still a bit flaky.

You get local channels 2, 8, 11, 13, 26, plus: TNT, IN-HD, IN-HD2, and Discovery.

IN-HD is a lot of "stuff"...sorta like Discovery, but with NBA basketball, and 3 MLB games a week, starting this week. Plus a variety of other HD programming...concerts, etc. Sometimes...HD versions of events otherwise seen in SD...such as the Westminster Dog Show, etc.

Also...they have and DVR available. If you order this, ask for a SA-8300 (newest model), I think it records up to 20 hours of HD programming, and a lot more of SD programming.

TWC is a big bureaucracy...but they can be "tamed". Feel free to PM me if you need more info...or have problems with them. I know someone who can generally solve most situations.

Good luck.

Option 1: You can get HD Net, Hd Net Movies, and ESPN-HD for $3/mo
Option 2: You can get HBO and Showtime (E & W feeds) for whatever the going deal is at the time...plus you get all the HBO/Show analog channels, a bunch.

Thanks hdguru. I'm going to give up the dish and go back to cable...for now. It will be interesting to see what D* does in 2007 when they get their 2 new sats up.

EchoStar (Dish Network) is trying to buy up Voom's Satellites as the company is dead with only 40K customers and over $600M in losses per year (yea thats $15K per subscriber they'd need to break even.)

So I'd expect that within a year or so most of the services that you had on Voom would be over on Dish Network. I hope this is so because it will put more pressure on the cable companies to supply more HD Content.

CCourtney

I think the deal's already done. Sounds like now it's just a matter of Dish figuring out how to integrate the Voom systems into their network and add the content to their subscription plans: http://*******.com/6nd2j

Jim

Jim,

It's not done until it's done. Charles Dolan was trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat all the way up through the end of last week. Trying to get a 3rd party to back him and trying to get the trade commision to block the sale.

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-b...-top-headlines

CCourtney

Guess that's always the truth, ain't it? Thanks!

Does anybody know what channel TWC shows the Astros games on when they are on Fox Sports HD? Does TWC show all the HD Astros games that FS HD produces?

VReeder: experinces or opinions re picture quality

I have had Dish for the last year and had cable installed a week ago. Like you, I was looking for the best way to pull HD signals. I ordered 2 digital cable boxes (the SA8300 and a SA8300HD). The DVR interface of the SA boxes leaves a lot to be desired. The Dish PVR is lightyears ahead in usability. Most Tivo users actually complain about the dish software, so using these boxes may be even more excruciating for you. It is great to be able to record HD, though.

Regarding picture quality, the HD channels look great. The digital cable channels are OK. The analog channels are very snowy. It's really hard to watch the analog channels after coming from the all digital Dish. Time Warner in Austin used to broadcast both a digital and analog version of each channel. I wish Houston would do that.

I am actively working on improving the picture quality. As some of the problem is likely due to the wiring in the house, I have already replaced the old 3 way splitter in the attic with a 5-2ghz splitter. As that hasn't helped, I am probably going to replace the RG59 coax in the house with RG6. If that doesn't help, I guess I will call TW for assistance.

Luckily Dish gave me a free 30 days to do a side by side comparison. I have about 3 more weeks to see if I can live with cable. So far it has been a mixed bag. Hope your experience is better.

Last year, Astros-HD games were scheduled on 299, "bumping" the regular IN-HD2 programming. I have not seen a schedule this year...but may be able to find out. Interesting question...I think we get everything that's originated in HD; however, they're playing the Mets today and the broadcast in only in SD on TWC 37.

LY...there were several home and away games; however, these were in HD due to the other team's home set up or request for HD from Minute Maid.

Keep watching...I'll get that info.

Looking at the astro's schedule http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASApp...hou&m=5&y=2005

You'll see that everyplace they are on FXS HD they're alson on FXSSW (Chan 37)

FYI, here's a link to INHD/INHD2s sports listings http://www.inhd.com/sportsSchedule/sportsSchedules.jsp (only 2 weeks worth though - No Astro's currently listed.)

CCourtney

I, too, came from Dish to TWC at Christmas when we got an HDTV. We had Dish's DVR. It was great. We never had problems with the hardware or software. It was intuitive and very well-thought out such as allowing you to start watching a program from the beginning without having to FFRewind if the program was still recording. This is especially useful when recording sports.

TWC's analog channels have terrible quality. The digital is OK. I like to watch Nat'l Geo., FX, Sci-FI, FoodTV, TLC, etc. and it's just painful to have all those channels on the analog section of TWC instead of the digital portion.

I'll probably be switching back to satellite as soon as they start including HD local channels and provide more HD programming. I'm subscribing to TWC and paying their monthly fee for HD DVR service and saving up my money for a REAL DVR.

CCourtney,
I know they are on channel 37 (FXSSW) but 37 is an analog channel. I was wondering what TWC HD channel they are on when they are on Fox Sports HD.

I've already checked out the INHD.com site for their sports line up but, like you, found their schedule wasn't for the whole season.

TWC isn't carrying Fox Sports HD (at least not yet) and I doubt that Fox will allow somebody else to rebroadcast their HD feed.

CCourtney

Note that for analog channels, the video signal is going through A->D conversion and MPEG encoding on-the-fly inside Time Warner's PVR box. I suspect that the PQ issues you're seeing are a result of that processing, and not from insufficient signal strength. (Other SD programming being broadcast digitally by TWC go through A->D conversion / MPEG encoding somewhere far upstream of your living room, presumably using much better quality processing equipment than the $400 consumer electronics box we've got, which is why those pictures look better.)

I have a good quality signal, but the analog channels definitely have the poorest picture quality. I notice it most in low-contrast scenes, especially dark or shadowy scenes. Heavy pixellization is extremely noticable in those cases, and it's clearly an artifact of the A->D process.

It has been reported that the 8300HD box has better analog PQ than the 8000HD. (I have the older 8000HD.)

Jim

As a followup to Jim's comments on the Analog SD, many people actually split the video before their HDTV so they can get the cable direct for the Analog SD channels (of couse you loose the benefit of DVR when you do this and there are now only a few things I watch on Analog SD and I record most of the on my DVR.)

CCourtney

I will say I switched from Direct TV 2 years ago for the HD. The HD is great. But the rest of the channel are poor compaired to direct tv. Even the digital channels on TW are worse. I have had TW out at my house several times. They put a booster amp on just to make the analog channel watchable. I sure wish the would put discovery, nat geo, and TLC up in the digital area. Swap them with the kiddie channels.

Just my 2 cents.

I had the opposite experience w/ Direct TV. I switched 3.5 yrs ago and found that the Digital Channels by TWC out did D-TVs (but the Analog SD Channels pretty much sucked.) I too however, wish they'd switch things like Noggin, Boomerang, Toon Disney ... which are in the 300's would swap w/ Discovery Channel, SciFi, ESPN2 and a few others. So my 3 yr old could watch his stuff away from my HDTV, the downside would be that I couldn't watch these in my Study while working on the computer. It's a give and take situation.

CCourtney

I checked out the Astros schedule/calendar; however, it only shows the home games that are in HD and unless it's different than last year, all away games from San Diego, Pittsburgh, and at least one other city were in HD. Also...there were some Rangers games from both Arlington and Tampa in HD.

There were no Astros games on IN-HD last year, but who knows. I aready see a White Sox game from Chicago...which never occurred last year. IN-HD generally gets HD games from cities where all games are in HD and they simply "piggyback" on the local broadcast. Most games last year came from Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Diego. However, there was an occasional game from Atlanta and Phoenix.

I suspect that the FSN HD games will once again be presented on IN-HD2, completely knocking out the IN-HD2 programming for that period.

Analog picture quality:

Ouch,

I wasn't expecting others to be as dissatisfied with the analog picture quality. I was really hoping it was the cabling in my house (which to be honest, is in pretty good shape). jruhnke: your comment about the A/D conversion makes a lot of sense. I hadn't thought of that, although I am seeing more snow than digital artifacts. I will have to hook the cable up directly to the TV to see if the cable box is the culprit. I used to run a HTPC with mythTV (and then SageTV when I got tired of linux) and didn't see as much noise added by the A/D conversion. You would think a consumer electronics device would have a better conversion/encoding chipset than a Hauppauge PVR150.