Comcast HDTV - Page 5

quit yer bragging!

How is that FOX-HD looking?

Not as good as yours...no wait, I don't think we have that yet...

Maybe they'll just eventually switch out Sinclair for WTTG everywhere.

Regards, (and enjoy the football)
GoIrish

Actually, GoIrish, I think maxman's complaint was that his response from Comcast told him to check the bill, which is (as you point out) always going to be late for this news about new HD. Basically the information on AVSforum is going to be more timely, and a lot more fun.

I do compliment Comcast in the Baltimore area for getting DiscoveryHD so fast after the contracts were signed. When I got home from work on that first day my wife said she was already addicted.

Are you serious about switching out Fox45 for WTTG in the Baltimore area, or just wishful thnking? I didn't think Comcast could do that. I know areas closer to DC did. Couldn't Sinclair sue or something?

Rich N.

No, not too serious.

At some point in time any company has to evaluate it's options.

I would expect there would be a number of hurdles to overcome though...only time will tell.

Regards,
GoIrish

My suspicion is the first hurdle to overcome would be expiration of the Sinclair analog contract.

No it's not.

At some point in the future yes, but not anytime soon.

Hey Ken,

Any look into the Magic 8 Ball and gander a guess as to when? I do agree with drcos statement "The problem is they would have to provide a digital box for all subs who don't have one now.
Down here on the suncoast of FLA, that is probably going to be a large problem, as many of the old(er) folks down here would probably not want "another gizmo" to have to fiddle with to watch "Golden Girls" etc etc.
"

Ken, I THINK that Comcast is testing digital simulcasting in some areas, but that seems like that would be a REAL burn of existing bandwidth.

David

Best I know, years.

So I guess it would depend on your idea of the "near future." That is the story I've heard from several Comcast types, with the complaint about having to provide a box also attributable to these same folks.

Our situation here is we have about 79 analog channels still on our system. So this would accomodate upwards of 160 HD channels (wow) or 5-600 digital channels (of which no doubt 1/4 to 1/3 would be shopping channels).
As far as simulcasting, Comcast is in fact sending out HBO, HBO2, HBO3, MAX, MoreMax, Encore, Showtime, and TMC on both analog and digital.
I would imagine right now they have the older non-digital boxes in a number of homes here in the Sarasota system (remember, were they called SSAVI I think) which they would have to replace with the digital SA boxes.
As much as we would like them to ditch the analog channels to free up bandwidth for all these HD channels we want, it would have to be a HUGE move to make the switch, with a pretty long transitional period. And I can't see them cutting off folks who for whatever reason, don't want a box.

I'm sorry I got lost where this post was going.

As far as HD Net/HDN Movies I was not implying that they already had the rights. I have heard they are in negotiations right now. It was one of those if it was up to me, they could go ahead and add them any time they wanted to...heck I'd even give up all my shopping channels to help free up bandwidth

One of the things COMCAST has done in their next area over from us is to eliminate the premiums from analog. If you want the premiums, you have to go Digital.

YMMV!

David

Still no sign of DiscoveryHD in Jacksonville. At this point, I am willing to bet we will get FOXHD well before we get DiscoveryHD. I did hear though that marketing in this area is working on the negotiations for discoveryhd at this time. Can anyone shed any light on what this means to me? If the deal is already signed, what negotiations would there be?

I wish if you subscribed to HD service, and the channel is available, they would make the regular version disappear. I am tired of seeing my fiance watch a program in SD, when she can easily watch it in HD.

DiscoveryHD is not a simulcast of the SD Discovery channel -- they show different programming at different times. "Making the regular version disappear" is not a viable option.

That is fine, but generally CBS, NBC and ABC are (except during the olympics).

Your "marketing" source is wrong...Comcast already has an agreement with Discovery to show their HD channel anywhere they want. All the local area needs to do is have the bandwidth on the system for the channel and the parts in place to recieve and distribute it.

He must be a member of the Comcast 2% Club and may not realize it.

sikoniko,

Do you know what bandwidth your cable system is? DiscoveryHD is not offered on any 550Mhz systems that I know of, among other things.

Jim

He's in Jacksonville -- a former AT&T Broadband network -- and from what I've heard - one of the crappiest.

Yeah, we use to be AT&T here also, what sucks for us is that Comcast does not have any immediate plans to upgrade our 550MHz to 750 or 860 anytime in the near future(meaning around 1-2 yrs). They're focused on deploying HSI and plan on using a combination of analog channel depletion and new compression technologies to provide any additional HD-channels in our area. I would guess they have reserved bandwidth for FOX-HD but since the local FOX affiliate is owned by CoxComm we wont see that one either in the near future. The upside maybe, is that we might be one of the areas to see deployment of next-gen or upgraded technology first, when and if it happens.

Jim
Comcast 2% Club

They have removed all of the premium channels from analog around here except for the main HBO channel. The sequence went like this:

Raise price of analog a la carte price of HBO, Showtime, etc so high that it's worth going digital to "encourage" people to switch to digital. Remove HBO2 and other secondary channels from analog.

Wait six months. Then remove Showtime, Starz, Encore, Cinemax from the analog lineup. Force everyone with premium analog service (except HBO) to go over to digital.

I'm sure the same process will be repeated with the rest of the channel lineup, but I bet they'll leave the OTA channels available on analog for quite some time, and the time required for the switchover of the nonpremiums will be much longer than six months.

Well I was told kinda the same thing (raise analog price)...the price to get the premium channels I listed which are simulcast on analog is double the price to get them via the digital box (just to not have to have a box in the bedroom).

All the premiums, including HBO, were kicked out of analog a couple of years ago on our system. Encore was the last holdout, which was a shame because it required a trap and had horrific PQ. In return for moving the channels, they added East feeds of most of the multiplexed channels and the mother channels.

Comcast later moved two channels that they owned back into those slots and added one other channel that normally is digital, but is analog here.

I think communities like Seattle have it engraved in their franchise agreements that there must be 80 analog channels on the upgraded systems, because we were deprived for so long. Until those agreements come up for renewal, and communities agree to move everything to a digital converter (fat chance), those 80 analog slots will be around and be sacred.

Realistically, would you expect your poor frail grandmother to be able to deal with a digital converter? OK, mine does, but the #1 complaint I hear about digital cable is that people don't want to have to deal with an STB. I don't see that changing, no matter what Comcast's master plan is.

I believe there was a press release posted on this board a couple of months ago with a brief outline of Comcast being all digital in 3 years time (and spending like 3-4 billion on the venture). They wouldn't have to give everyone a "box", but some form of a converter (there has been threads here about digital to analog converters). Just a matter of cost and time/scheduling (converters and workers to do the installs).

..and marketing...

One competitive advantage Cable has over Digital is that Analog only subscribers dont have to hassle with a box at all...and digital costumers can get channels 1-80 at any other TV in the house for no additional cost.

It levels that playing field with Satellite when they switch...I'm sure their are many people out there that dont switch to Sat only because they don't want to hassle with the box and lose the other rooms.

What do you think the converter is other than a "box"?

Here are some references describing how this thing is going to work:

http://www.pace.co.uk/content.asp?id=10025&template=0

http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2004/0504/05a.htm

http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2004/0204/02b.htm

All digital-drivers
Going all-digital is a competitive response, said Don Loheide, vice president of network engineering for Cequel III, noting that DBS providers have become very good at explaining that they, not cable, are the ones that currently offer 100 percent digital programming.

And that's not all. RBOCs such as Verizon and BellSouth will apply even more competitive pressure when they build and activate their next-gen fiber-to-the-premises networks.

Going all-digital also offers its share of operational efficiencies, because it enables the operators to eliminate headends and potentially reduces service theft and truck rolls, Loheide said. And, by adding a cable modem to the picture, operators will also gain an intelligent device that can provide plant condition information and help with targeted maintenance.

The benefits also extend to cost savings (see chart, above). Under one model Loheide presented, a cable operator with 60 percent digital penetration could save between $195 and $325 per customer.

But going all-digital isn't without its challenges. Operators, he explained, can't just migrate channels to the digital tier if they are contractually bound to analog. Additionally, some networks aren't available in digital format yet and would have to be encoded locally.

Regardless of the challenges it faces, the cable industry must establish digital as the new standard for cable, said Greg Thompson, chief architect of Cisco Systems' video networking business unit.

But, he warned, cable must avoid being locked into MPEG-2. Though it would be nice if all-digital boxes could support new codecs in software, it will come at a penalty of additional memory, Thompson pointed out.

OK, I can whine no more about DiscoveryHD. Last night I was scanning the channels, and low and behold, channel 167 had appeared. DHDTV.

Lot of repeats, but I like that american choppers is in DD.

I don't have any concrete information on what system Jax is running on, but I don't believe it to be as antiquated as it once was. They added the PPVHD pretty quick for the tyson fight and nfltv.

I just hope that when they are upgrading these systems, they are putting thought into the future, instead of just patching holes to make it work for now.

Im trying to talk my fiance's family into getting digital cable. It is 10$ more a month, plus 10$ for the 6208 box and recording, plus $5 for a second.

They really nickel and dime ya don't they?

Does anyone have any info on History Channel HD? Channels I watch the most other than HD are Discovery, History, TLC and HGTV. I think History channel would be a great addition.

I hope that ESPN2 is added when it is available. I hope it isn't the next channel added, though.

Can any Comcast folks comment about their contract with Disney and if ESPN2 is covered?

I'm sure there will be a big stink if ESPN2 isn't added when available.

This is IMPORTANT (I know, but I wanted to shout) because the upconverted EPSN picture is much better than the analog and I assume this will be true for ESPN2. So even the non-HD shows will look better. Via Comcast and a 50" DLP ESPN2 analog is barely watchable now.

Rich N.

ESPN2 is barely watchable due to lousy content. This would be at the bottom of my list for comcast to add. First and foremost I want HDNET !!

-Ken

Yes If you Have ESPNHD you will get ESPNHD2, of course your cable company can say they have no space left, oh no wait comcast can compress the digital channels more nevermind

Thanks for the good news.

However, there is something I don't understand. I remember Comcast saying that they don't compress their HD signals. Are you saying they are lying? Am I just confused? (Well, of course I'm confused but...). Are you saying that the digital, not necessarily the HD signals are compressed?

Baltimore County has been very good in implementing new channels as soon as they are available, so I'll be looking for it on January 1st.

Rich N.

Comcast does not compress their HD channels. End of story.