Lehigh Valley, PA HDTV - Page 3

I just saw your post. I didn't notice that yesterday but I'll take a closer look. Although if it was a live football game there are so many variables that could make it hard to narrow down the real reason.

Some TVs will display the scan-lines that are encoded along with the TV signal. Sometimes you will also see some weird moving garbage at the top of the screen, which is the closed-captions. Both of these things are usually seen on non-CRT HDTV's.

zizo in allentown ..i have Dish Network and their HD channels are way better than RCN(which i had bfore)...especially CBS wow
they also have a package for $20 a month for a HD channel package it is called Voom
give it a try
i kept RCN for phone and internet ..i have a phone(long distance &5 features)-intenet 5 mbps for $55

just wondering...does anyone know if Comcast Sports Net specifically flyers games are avaible in HD via a QAM tuner. this area is so messed up since comcast doesn't allow dish or directv to carry CSN is HD. my sister wants to get directv for all the added HD channels but they are slaves to RCN since thasts the only way to watch the philadelphia teams in HD. is there any alternative? i gave her the idea to check to see if that channel was available via a QAM tuner which would solve the problems

Just bought a new tv that is HD ready, I have Dish network but don't want to upgrade to HD because of the cost. Is it correct that I can get an antenna put on my roof to get the local channels in HD? If so, anyone know who can install one (aside from Dish?).
Thanks,

My understanding with antenna's to pick up OTA-HD in our area is more-or-less a joke... Unless you are closer to Philly there is not much to be had up here... Some is free to correct me if I'm wrong...?

Maybe this has already been talked about, but I havent seen it. I just got an hdtv and have RCN. I'm getting several hd stations ota. But I don't seem to get getting espn, I get espn2 on 120-2 does anyone know if espn is ota and if so what station?

Hi, you said you are receiving OTA channels. Do you have an HD receiver with RCN or do you have an antenna or neither? I live in Coopersburg and want to know if there's a way I can receive OTA HD channels without upgrading my package with Dish.

I am by no means versed in all of this, but I started getting the OTA channels when I plugged the tv in. It is a JVC and i believe is has a QAM? antenna built into it. Right now I get all the networks, tnt,tbs,national geographic, and espn 2 in hd, as well as a bunch of other channels and all the juke box channels that I never got before through rcn

OTA means "over the air" and are only channels that you would receive from an antenna. If you' re on RCN and you have the cable hooked to your TV you will get the channels to which you refer through the hd digital tuner that is in the tv. Those channels you will not receive "OTA" as they are ot local broadcasting channels.

Partially correct. ATSC OTA is exactly as you stated, you have a physical antenna and it is picking up HD signals "over-the-air."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC_tuner

If you have coax running to your TV only, and using a local cable provider (RCN or Service Electric) the HD content you are picking up (on the strange # channels) is QAM-based HD programming on the cable line.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAM_tuner

For RCN specifically, you will not see some of the HD channels that are listed in their "HD Lineup" because you need their "tuner box." Discovery HD is an example that does not come in over QAM.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. Any device that uses cablecards can also get the add'l HD channels (assuming you pay for that tier). One example is an HDTiVo.

Hey guys....I am thinking of switching from D* to RCN due to my bill being insane with the top tier HD package.
1. Is RCN the choice here?
2. What motorola boxes do you guys have and are they problematic? I would be getting the moto 6416 HD-DVR box.

From what I understand RCN is better than Service Electric as for HD service. I'd be curious to see how the pricing of RCN versus D* stands when comparing full HD tiers on both. Beware that you may get a "deal" on pricing now, but RCN could jack your rates next year...

I have the Motorola DCT6416 III currently. In the beginning the hardware acted very poor, but I'm assuming in the last 3 months they have flashed the units or something as it is 1000x better. The interface leaves a lot to be desired but does the job. (This coming from a guy who used Windows Media Center 2005 for 2+ years and that interface is awesome, so I am a little spoiled) The remote has far too many buttons that are, IMO, not needed. But, like I said, it does the job.

They could jack the rates next year but with no comittment it doesn't matter as I'd then be able to take advantage of othet offers if they raised it too much.

Comparing both top tier, all inclusive HD with DVR the difference is $38 a month.
I lose two HD channels I don't watch much(Smith. and Animal Planet) but gain comcast for the phillies. They would also bump me from 10 to 20for my cable modemn which is scary fast. I also gain in demand.

I'm just worried that the HD quality will not match D*'s mpeg4 HD channels....any idea about this?
Also, who do you use?

Thanks!

Aren't you going to lose a lot of HD channels switching to RCN from D*?

Yes:
Sci-HD
AnimalPlanetHD
DVR total record time

Not sure:
FX-HD
Universal-HD
USA-HD

Gain:
Comcast-HD
In Demand
$38 a month in my bank account

Has anyone had both D* and RCN?

Unless things changed recently, the RCN On-Demand does not include any HD programming. And for now you will also lose FX-HD, Universal-HD, & USA-HD.

After getting fed up with the lousy software on the 6412 box, I moved to an HD-TiVo in Nov '06 with two cablecards. It has worked wonderfully the whole time.

I've never compared the two services but RCN doesn't seem to recompress the HD feeds. HDNet Movies is consistently received at one of the highest possible bitrates and looks fantastic. No HD-Lite here.

flyersfan....the Tivo you got, how does that work? Do you still need RCN's service? Do you still need one of their HD boxes?
Thanks!

Anyone local have opinions or experience with two or all three providors as far as PQ:
D*
sectv
rcn

sectv has more HD channels but worse net service.

Yes, I still have RCN's service. The TiVo box takes the place of the one from the cable company. Cable cards are required to get the HD tier and HD movie channels.
So to sum up, I pay for the cable service, the HD tier, 2 cable cards, and I do NOT rent a cable box from RCN.

FWIW, I've never met anyone who's actually happy with the internet service from SECTV. And a friend who switched from RCN to SECTV (and back again) said the HD quality was much better on RCN. Granted, this was a couple years ago.

So you need their non-DVR HD box and your Tivo, right?
That is less monthly then too, no?
How much for the cable cards and where can I get them?(also does it matter what kind and what t.v. I have?)

Thanks for your help!

Where did the newest posts go?
There was one from a IMnd then I replied with a question?


IMind...if you are around please elaborate as to why you said if you are a sports fan sectv is a must over rcn. Thanks.

Decided on RCN. Got the bump from 10 to 20 for my net as well. Will also save a little coin. My research has shown that sectv is outdated, compresses HD too much, and their dsl service from Prolog is aweful. They are a local company with great roots, but need to have a big overhaul and come into this millenium. Sectv does have a couple more HD channels, but when PA goes all digital RCN will have a much more loaded line-up of HD programming.
Chicago residents are about to see it this week with an addition of ~25 more HD channels due to more bandwith space.

Can't wait for those fightins'! Hopefully they can overcome managements' unwillingness to spend money.

I posted the same thing in PM... this is just for the benefit of anyone else who might see this.

I just looked at RCNs lineup and while it's better than they used to be (They just added ESPNews rather recently) they still are missing channels I'd want and SECTV has: ESPNU, the Big 10 Network, and a couple Fox Sports networks... plus they have the NHL and NFL in HD and the NBA channel which RCN doesn't have.

Of course RCN has VOD which Service Electric doesn't have... but I'm a huge college basketball and football fan so I wouldn't be satisfied with RCN... even if I had the choice.

You are absolutely right though about everything else you posted.... SECTV really has some major issues. I'd love better internet and video on demand and less compression on the HD signals on some of the stations... but I'm a college sports junky so ESPNU and the Big 10 network are must haves.

I live in Bethlehem and have had Service Electric's high-def cable for about five years now. Started off with few channels and poor reliability, but I'm now very happy with the number of channels and the service. They will give you technical advice and I've found them to be responsive to questions about problems. I have three separate cables coming into my house, one each straight through for two high-def TVs, and the third distributed for several analog sets. How's your Service Electric HDTV? Do you often have pixelization or freezup? Are you using a PACE or Motorola STB? If you're using a PACE DVR STB, have you added an external SATA hard drive and did you have any problems doing that?

Any of you OTA guys still around? Check this out

So I come home after a short vacation and I fire up the HD TiVoto my surprise there is a message saying new channels found and added to your line up.

I check my channel line up and find the following added:

Channel Description Strength
42.3* 70%
54.3 * 75%
54.4 * 75%
64.3 * 88%
64.4 * 88%
64.5 * 88%
67.3 * 79%
67.4 * 79%

However, there is no picture. Almost like there is multipath destroying it. I'm using a roof top fringe antenna and I don't have any problems with the other Philly channels. And the strength is the same for the new sub-channels as for the main channel.

This is really a head scratcher for me. All of those channels are Philly digital channels (no overlap from Scranton, Harrisburg, or NYC) but 64.3 in theory should be the same as WPVI's Accuweather channel.

Anyone else getting these?

SECTV--bad hd--too compressed. Internet is horrible
RCN -GREAT uncompressed HD--soon to get better. Great internet

I recently tried a tivo series 3 hd with the rcn cable cards.
Didnt like the cutesy tivo interface at all or the PQ and SQ compared to the motorola dvr box rcn offers. Tivo went back.

PS--Eagles better stop messing around...Do whatever it takes to get larry fitzgerald. Lito, Reggie, draftpicks...get it done !!

I cant comment on dish but I cant imagine it being better than RCN's awesome hd quality. Rumor has it there is little if any compression. To me their HD looks as good as any blu ray I have.

Quick question, did an RCN tech have to come out to install the cableCARDs in your TiVO?

IMO the interface of the RCN DVR is horrid and clunky for the Motorola DCT-6416 III box that I have. (This coming from a previous exclusive MCE2005 user) It doesn't seem like the box has enough "horsepower" for the HD stuff. (i.e. Recording two shows in HD and trying to do anything else.)