Charlotte, NC - OTA - Page 165

QUOTE]I am emailing someone who I consider the top guy on MPEG-2/PSIP...if he says I'm wrong, I will correct....[/QUOTE]

Here is what I received back from my email......

Some 4th Gen decoder chips do have issues with two TSID in one stream. We will change the the TSID to one number sometime this week as time permits. 5th and 6th Gen chips have no issues with it.

Let me say this however, As stated on the forum about WSOC following of A/69, WSOC did nothing illegal or nothing wrong. The PSIP encoder was program wrong by the vendor that I purchased it from, he openly admitted to me, that his guys missed it and should have caught it. That being said, as the DE for WSOC, I take responsibility for it and apologize to any viewer that had issues with it. Let me again state that the A/69 is a recommendation/guideline not a FCC R&R.

I look forward to seeing WAXN on 64-9 instead of being mixed up in WJZY's channels. Thanks for looking into it!

I certainly did not mean to imply that WSOC/WAXN has done anything illegal. Everything I've seen indicates that you run a fantastic pair of stations; please do not take my commentary to mean the opposite!

For clarity, while A/69 is a guideline, it is a guideline for implementing A/65 which has been adopted by the FCC, per the FCC's Third Periodic Review Affecting the Conversion to Digital Television (p. 97-99): http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-228A1.pdf

The relevant section in the ATSC A/65 standard is on page 35, next to channel_TSID. http://atsc.org/cms/standards/a_65-2009.pdf

Please bear in mind that my goal isn't to get anyone in trouble or make anyone look bad, it is to make OTA as easy and accessible as possible. I just want to help get these things sorted out.

- Trip

Here is what I received back from my email......
Some 4th Gen decoder chips do have issues with two TSID in one stream. We will change the the TSID to one number sometime this week as time permits. 5th and 6th Gen chips have no issues with it.
Let me say this however, As stated on the forum about WSOC following of A/69, WSOC did nothing illegal or nothing wrong. The PSIP encoder was program wrong by the vendor that I purchased it from, he openly admitted to me, that his guys missed it and should have caught it. That being said, as the DE for WSOC, I take responsibility for it and apologize to any viewer that had issues with it. Let me again state that the A/69 is a recommendation/guideline not a FCC R&R.[/quote]

Are you unaware of FCC Rule 73.682(d) ?

I'm receiving 64-9!!! Thanks everyone!!!

WSOC is testing TV Guide Rovi. This is only on WSOC-TV 9.1. .................... Translators 6.1, 9.5, 9.7 and 9.9 do not pass it yet. Key Word here is Testing

How is it picked up? Is it improved OTA program info?

It would be nice if WSOC could add the basic program info on 9.5 and the other translator channels like what is provided on the main 9.1. It always says No Title and No Info, whereas 9.1 gives the program title and a brief description. But perhaps it is not yet feasible for them to do so.

My reception issues with WBTV have returned. It was close to perfect for a couple of weeks, then i the last day or so goes to close to unwatchable at times.

I'm still getting 100% readings here in GVL SC. But not sure if they are back to full power yet. They were needing to have a tube replaced.

I don't know your location but getting good reception from WBTV in SW Winston with my long range antenna. Of course, results vary in fringe areas, but I'm in a good neighborhood for the Charlotte stations.

Fine here at my house..But does seem off a bit.. My HDHR under TSReader reports signal/quality of 68/83..same as with WCNC. As far as I know, they are still running the same transmitter (tho not the same tubes) that a group of us installed in 1996-1997.

I'm located in W. Huntersville near the intersection of Hwy 73 & Beatties Fd. Rd. The station is back to normal again and as far as I can tell it's not weather related.

I am not necessarily a big fan of high school football, but I will say that WSOC did a very good job with their High School Football Extra show tonight. And if they ever felt the need, I think Blair Miller would be a very good sports anchor. But I know they like him at the anchor desk where he also is very good. But I do think they should give Scott Wickersham more time at the anchor desk other than 30 mins at 5:30. Perhaps add him to the 10pm show with Natalie. He is a very good anchor also. And I must mention Allison Latos. She is their best new addition. Overall, WSOC does a very good job of selecting strong, appealing anchors. And to stay more on topic, I am getting very strong reception of WSOC 9.1 at 100% tonight. And 9.5 at 60%. Here in GVL, SC.

While not always remaining in first place, WSOC has had a long history of being a solid competitor in the Charlotte market. And they have 'significantly viewed' status in the Triad counties of Davidson, Davie, Yadkin, and Wilkes where they can be viewed on Direct TV (in all four of those counties), and on Charter Cable in Wilkes. As for WSOC anchors, I agree Scott Wickersham does a great job.

Regarding WBTV, I am assuming they still need to replace one of their tubes as their signal levels tend to fluctuate at weird times. My signal level is back down with them but my tuners still lock the picture with no pixelations or drops. It seems they have had a difficult time getting this issue resolved. And it's interesting that an in-market viewer (such as blackcat6) was having issues with them the other day, when he is much closer to their tower versus myself. Hopefully, they will return to full power soon.

Channels that are SV in certain areas are that way because they have strong "out of market" viewership back in the day via antenna. Those same antenna-only people can now view those same SV out-of-market channels IN HD FOR FREE. Why can't the paid-providers provide SV chanels in HD?

I couldn't agree more. It's like the FCC is saying, 'okay, we'll make these exceptions, but you are forbidden to retransmit those signals in anything except standard definition'. But the reality is, those same viewers could easily throw up an antenna and (many of them in good reception areas) could watch the same channel in HD for free. Kind of stupid, isn't it? In my opinion, if a channel has received the blessings of being SV, then there should be the freedom of retransmitting the signal in HD. I would assume the local affiliates would be okay with this, provided the agreed upon retransmission fees are paid (like always).

For reasons that are unknown to me, TWC does not seem to participate with SV stations to the extent that Direct TV does. In other words, they only seem to exercise their right to retransmit SV stations on a more limited basis (versus Direct TV). But I think TWC does retransmit WGHP into Salisbury under the SV rule, and Burlington viewers are allowed to watch WTVD Durham on TWC. But once again, all of these SV stations appear to be limited to standard definition only.

For years, WBTV was the top rated and best produced local newscast in Charlotte, and was carried on cable in areas such as Asheville and Spartanburg. Then in the 90s WSOC stepped up their game and became competitive with a better quality presentation, and took over the top spot in the ratings. With the help of Doug Mayes, Bill Walker, and Meg MacDonald at that time. Then during the years of Walker, Debi Faubion, Harold Johnson, and Ray Boylan, they had an outstanding anchor team that really clicked with the viewers. And they have had good ratings ever since, although I believe WBTV may have a slight edge at 11pm again. And I believe WCCB is top rated at 10pm. But regardless, IMO, they all do a good job. Including WCNC, but they do need to make some improvements,.

 

In my opnion, the FCC should do everything within its statutory power to advance the interests of local broadcast stations and OTA viewers, and it should do very little to advance the interests of pay TV providers (cable and satellite). The FCC exists to regulate the licensed free public airwaves, not to help cable companies make more money.

 

If some cable system carries a "significantly viewed" out-of-market station only in standard definition,not in HD, that does not bother me at all. If the viewer wants to receive an HD signal, let him put up an antenna. He might then decide that cable is not worth the money and drop his subscription.

Well, supposedly, I keep hearing that analog cable will be going away in the next few years. So perhaps, maybe that will force them to carry the HD versions of the SV stations. But then the stations themselves will have to stop sending an SD signal to the cable/sat cos. anyway. Which begs the question, why does WSOC still send an SD version to DirecTV? Why don't they just send them the HD version? Or does DirecTV go to the unnecessary effort to downgrade the HD signal to SD in the out of market counties?

Fourth time I have answered this.....

WSOC ONLY sends an HD video stream to DirecTV. (and TWC and DISH Network) DirecTV downconverts the HD stream to an SD stream inside their plant. WSOC does not make an SD stream or send an SD stream to anybody from its Charlotte studios. Its does D/C HD to a MH/H stream on WSOC-MH.

WCCB does not... and hasn't for years..sent an SD stream out to anyone. SD does not exist for us.

I believe the engineers who post in these forums over what "those in the know" at cable companies say. I have heard on here repeatedly that stations do not send the pay services a SD feed. Yet repeatedly the pay services insist that they are sent the SD version by the station itself. Whenever there was an issue with a local on Comcast where I used to live, they insisted that it was the local broadcasters fault. When I'd tell them that their OTA signal wasn't having issues, they replied that OTA had disappeared when they went HD. In fact, the first installer from Comcast I had who came to install and saw that I was watching HD CBS was COMPLETELY unaware that you could watch HD with an antenna. He even commented that the picture was better than theirs. Oy....

I spoke to a dude at Directv recently at great length about OTA, Directv, the AM21, and the WGHP-2 issue (see the Greensboro thread). He is the ONLY person at a pay service who acknowledged that the SD version was created at Directv. Kudos to him.

It's my understanding that the SD versions are not created, it is already in the HD signal. DirecTV just has to extract the defined 720x480 or 640x480 SD portion of the HD signal and send that portion out. Also some TV stations have not switched to HD so they are actually sending a SD signal to DirecTV.

All you have to do is chop the sides off the picture. A $40 converter box for a CRT does the same thing.

And downconvert from HD to SD...

Well yeah, I figured that was implied

Sometimes your bit rate gets chopped down to look like bad SD by a certain provider...

So why do these cable/sat services go to the trouble of downconverting a better HD signal to an inferior SD version? Just because the station is SV or out of market? Looks like they would want to give their subscribers the best picture quality without needlessly downgrading it.

Your question still begs for an answer? And Tyler and I are thinking alike because he posted the same question as I was getting ready to post. Presumably it is a FCC mandate, but I am not certain. Given the fact that these SV channels are a very small part of the overall channel lineup on Direct TV or TWC in areas where they exist, bandwidth should certainly not be an issue. I am sure the call center folks at Direct TV or TWC would have no idea. Perhaps, I can research this issue when I have time.....unless someone else here knows the answer.
Edited by evan237 - 8/16/12 at 6:16pm