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TWC Consumer Input Thread - Page 5

post #121 of 685
10/15/06 at 4:48pm
Way to go Diana! That's a lot of catching up in a hurry! Don't over stress! It's "only" television! Enjoy the new job!
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post #122 of 685
10/15/06 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RussB View Post

Houston is still TWC at least until sometime in the first quarter of 2007.



http://www.timewarnercable.com/Inves...23&MarketID=19

Your absolutely correct - my statement was not entirely accurate. I wanted to provide you additional information for your future use and instead I pretty much look like a bozo.
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post #123 of 685
10/15/06 at 4:51pm
thanks again for taking our thoughts into consideration.
When you get to Conn. try and get a hold of FIOS TV. See what's good about it and steal it!
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post #124 of 685
10/15/06 at 4:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RussB View Post

Are there any additional sources for information about TWC Digital Navigator other than the Time Warner Cable Navigator Forum and the TWC Nebraska site that it links to? Is there a User's Guide?

I don't have enough information yet - in fact I didn't even know the Navigator Forum was there. I'll have to do some more reading...
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post #125 of 685
10/15/06 at 4:57pm
Thread Starter 
Ok - here are the big winners on the first 10 pages -

Guide -

11% Favorites Guide
8% 16:9 guide
6% info at least 2 weeks out

HD -
12% - Full HD resolution / no rate shaping
all else just one mention per

DVR -
6% - Keyword function search
3% - Multiroom & SATA tied to account/more hard drive
2% - Bookmark / intuitive conflict resolution / internet access / priority recordings

Other -

5% - Give us INFO!
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post #126 of 685
10/16/06 at 5:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Mason View Post

so my question is what changes have developed as a result of S. Carolina's early SDV additions?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DianaTWCSC View Post

I don't really understand the first question as to changes?

Thanks for the reply. Just wondered, with the early bandwidth-saving SDV installation, what benefits and changes are subscribers seeing? Spotted a few posts from locals indicating they haven't seen more HDTV channels. -- John
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post #127 of 685
10/16/06 at 6:18am
Hi Diana. I'm currently in S.C., and recently made the switch from Direct.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied (but I'd sure like to see improvements in the guide; it looks downright amateurish compared to Direct's).
Anyway, I'm building a new house in Florida; specifically at Rainbow Springs in Dunnellon. The house should be ready in about 7 months.
The cable company there is Adelphia. I'll be using them for internet service, but I was disappointed to see that they currently offer no HD programming.
Any idea as to when/if that will change?
I really don't want to go back to sat. if I can help it.
Thanks!

Jack
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post #128 of 685
10/16/06 at 9:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacksmyname View Post

Hi Diana. I'm currently in S.C., and recently made the switch from Direct.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied (but I'd sure like to see improvements in the guide; it looks downright amateurish compared to Direct's).
Anyway, I'm building a new house in Florida; specifically at Rainbow Springs in Dunnellon. The house should be ready in about 7 months.
The cable company there is Adelphia. I'll be using them for internet service, but I was disappointed to see that they currently offer no HD programming.
Any idea as to when/if that will change?
I really don't want to go back to sat. if I can help it.
Thanks!

Jack

Would I be correct in assuming the Adelphia in Fla will wind up being Comcast, if it hasn't already?
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post #129 of 685
10/16/06 at 10:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by joe221 View Post

Would I be correct in assuming the Adelphia in Fla will wind up being Comcast, if it hasn't already?

Don't know. When I was reading the Adelphia web site this morning and clicked a link to read press releases, I got a pop up telling me that I was going to a site not controlled by Time Warner, etc.

Jack
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post #130 of 685
10/16/06 at 10:35am
Will SDV have any affect on internet bandwidth?
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post #131 of 685
10/16/06 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dpwicz View Post

Will SDV have any affect on internet bandwidth?

That's a good question that I had never thought of.
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post #132 of 685
10/16/06 at 10:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dpwicz View Post

Will SDV have any affect on internet bandwidth?

I don't think so, from what I understand internet service takes the place of a 6mhz analog slot. so your TWC division might need to drop a analog channel to double the speed. I think SDV or SBV deals only with video.
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post #133 of 685
10/16/06 at 12:49pm
Will the new "Mystro" Digital Navigator fully support external SATA hard drives? Or is that issue more about the core OS parts (from reading, it seems there are far more serious bugs in Passport than SARA)?

Can we assume "Mystro" is a code name?

Am I correct in thinking that any issues of rate shaping go away with SDV?

Excellent summary a few posts above, however they only add up to 53%? I'd bet ya that close to 100% of the user base (uh, gotta restrict that to HD display owners) would prefer SDV over guide enhancements. Curious if you guys "know" the percentage of HD users on your system?
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post #134 of 685
10/16/06 at 3:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Mason View Post

Thanks for the reply. Just wondered, with the early bandwidth-saving SDV installation, what benefits and changes are subscribers seeing? Spotted a few posts from locals indicating they haven't seen more HDTV channels. -- John

I see, so far the benefit has been in the capability to Digital Simulcast 62 cable channels on the lineup. Additional HD channel launches are more dependent on programming deals than this technology.
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post #135 of 685
10/16/06 at 3:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacksmyname View Post

Hi Diana. I'm currently in S.C., and recently made the switch from Direct.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied (but I'd sure like to see improvements in the guide; it looks downright amateurish compared to Direct's).
Anyway, I'm building a new house in Florida; specifically at Rainbow Springs in Dunnellon. The house should be ready in about 7 months.
The cable company there is Adelphia. I'll be using them for internet service, but I was disappointed to see that they currently offer no HD programming.
Any idea as to when/if that will change?
I really don't want to go back to sat. if I can help it.
Thanks!

Jack


Well, there is no TWC in Florida anymore - its all Bright House, who are partners with us in many things... can't clarify MDN just yet though.

More importantly, there is no more Adelphia? TWC/Comcast purchased on august 1? So, I think this might be going to Comcast..... ?????
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post #136 of 685
10/16/06 at 3:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dpwicz View Post

Will SDV have any affect on internet bandwidth?


not that I have ever heard. don't know why it would (at least for a decade or so....)
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post #137 of 685
10/16/06 at 3:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Riverside_Guy View Post

Will the new "Mystro" Digital Navigator fully support external SATA hard drives? Or is that issue more about the core OS parts (from reading, it seems there are far more serious bugs in Passport than SARA)?

Can we assume "Mystro" is a code name?

Am I correct in thinking that any issues of rate shaping go away with SDV?

Excellent summary a few posts above, however they only add up to 53%? I'd bet ya that close to 100% of the user base (uh, gotta restrict that to HD display owners) would prefer SDV over guide enhancements. Curious if you guys "know" the percentage of HD users on your system?

1. SATA - I would think so

2. Mystro is an internal name, I'm sure it will launch with something 'slicker'

3. Yes - in the sense that you are speaking - I'll post next

4. I didn't include all the oneses into the %, just the biggies. Yes, TWC knows exactly the percentage of HD and HD DVR and SD DVR and even Analog units people have sitting in their closets they forgot about but are still paying for each month.
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post #138 of 685
10/16/06 at 3:20pm
Thread Starter 
First of all - I haven't started the new job yet, so I don't have solid answers. Sorry most of my answers right now are "I don't know" or "I think so". I do hope to have a fast learning curve so that a couple of months from now I will be able to give good answers.

SDV and Rate Shaping. In the sense that some companies 'rate shape' in order to gain additional bandwidth on the lineup to add new channels - yes SDV will fix that. I want to give you the entire truth though because you will hear engineers say no to this question - I made them explain it to me and this is my very simplistic version of what goes on.
In order to do SDV you have to have a 'clamping license'
A clamping license requires that you know how the quantity of mps that will be required for the signal
So if an HD regularly passes a channel at 15 mbs rather than 19.8 mbs, we will put the clamping license on at that rate. If they increase the mbs and don't tell us, then we will be rate shaping, but only until that point in time in which we find out what happened and increase the rate on the clamping license. (This actually happened to us in SC just last week which was a valuable way for me to learn about it).

So, technically SDV doesn't eliminate rate shaping, but in the practical sense of limiting a current signal to a lesser rate than the programmer is intending the viewer see the program, yes it does.

make sense?
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post #139 of 685
10/16/06 at 3:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DianaTWCSC View Post

Yes, TWC knows exactly the percentage of HD and HD DVR and SD DVR and even Analog units people have sitting in their closets they forgot about but are still paying for each month.

Diana, I MUST take exception to this statement. No cable company has any idea of the number of customers that watch in HD! First, the FCC requires cable companies to carry local HD channels "in the clear". Most of today's HDTVs have built-in QAM tuners that receive these "in the clear" signals. I am sure that you have many HD customers that are receiving their HD signals this way - and cable can't count them, as they never rented a HD STB.

About a year ago SA published a study that said that a high percentage of HD set owners were not watching in HD. This was a seriously flawed study as it totally neglected those customers directly connecting to cable.

Generally speaking, TW (and the other cable companies as well) have been generally unaware that lots of their customers can receive local HD without spending any extra money. I believe that the rules also require that those local HD channels be included in even the "basic" ("lifeline", or whatever the lowest cost service is called) service. But, if you stop and think about it, that makes sense - because as of Feb 17, 2009 the only stations will be digital.
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post #140 of 685
10/16/06 at 4:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by davehancock View Post

Diana, I MUST take exception to this statement. No cable company has any idea of the number of customers that watch in HD! First, the FCC requires cable companies to carry local HD channels "in the clear". Most of today's HDTVs have built-in QAM tuners that receive these "in the clear" signals. I am sure that you have many HD customers that are receiving their HD signals this way - and cable can't count them, as they never rented a HD STB.

About a year ago SA published a study that said that a high percentage of HD set owners were not watching in HD. This was a seriously flawed study as it totally neglected those customers directly connecting to cable.

Generally speaking, TW (and the other cable companies as well) have been generally unaware that lots of their customers can receive local HD without spending any extra money. I believe that the rules also require that those local HD channels be included in even the "basic" ("lifeline", or whatever the lowest cost service is called) service. But, if you stop and think about it, that makes sense - because as of Feb 17, 2009 the only stations will be digital.

I have a friend in NJ under Comcast. He bought an RCA HDTV with QAM and was unable to find ANY local channels. He did find a couple of general cable channels and Music Choice. We were stumped and since he had to travel didn't have time to trouble shoot and returned the set. So DO cable companies really have to transmit local channels in the clear?

Needless to say his experience wasn't exactly "Comcastic!"
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post #141 of 685
10/16/06 at 4:38pm
Will the new Navigator have Keyword search in addition to title search?As a former TIVO customer i can say it is a function any modern DVR should have.TIVO,PASSPORT.REPLAY have this function sara users do not.It is one function i sorely miss.I am in the Greensboro NC market with sara 187.27 ( not upgraded to 1.88 here)Do you have any general idea(nothing we will hold you to)when sara users might get Navigator.We are stuck between Charlotte and Raleigh that have Passport a much superior guide.Now it seems they will get Navigator before us.Just any general idea or educated guess would help,
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post #142 of 685
10/16/06 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by davehancock View Post

Diana, I MUST take exception to this statement. No cable company has any idea of the number of customers that watch in HD! First, the FCC requires cable companies to carry local HD channels "in the clear". Most of today's HDTVs have built-in QAM tuners that receive these "in the clear" signals. I am sure that you have many HD customers that are receiving their HD signals this way - and cable can't count them, as they never rented a HD STB.

About a year ago SA published a study that said that a high percentage of HD set owners were not watching in HD. This was a seriously flawed study as it totally neglected those customers directly connecting to cable.

Generally speaking, TW (and the other cable companies as well) have been generally unaware that lots of their customers can receive local HD without spending any extra money. I believe that the rules also require that those local HD channels be included in even the "basic" ("lifeline", or whatever the lowest cost service is called) service. But, if you stop and think about it, that makes sense - because as of Feb 17, 2009 the only stations will be digital.

Dave,

Diana didn't state that she knows the number of customers that watch HD. She stated that TWC knows the percentage of customers that have certain kinds of Set-top boxes.
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post #143 of 685
10/16/06 at 5:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RussB View Post

Dave,

Diana didn't state that she knows the number of customers that watch HD. She stated that TWC knows the percentage of customers that have certain kinds of Set-top boxes.

Yes, but she was answering this question from Riverside Guy:
Quote:
Curious if you guys "know" the percentage of HD users on your system?

So I took her response as an answer to his question (She said "Yes,"). I do see that she says that TW does know the percentage of boxes out there that are HD - but I see that she does not mention CableCards in that.

I assure you, that any additional HD TVs that I buy will have QAM and I will connect direct to cable without a STB or CableCard. My "main" TV is HD and I am a long time HD DVR user (8300HD right now with external hard drive).
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post #144 of 685
10/16/06 at 11:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DianaTWCSC View Post

First of all - I haven't started the new job yet, so I don't have solid answers. Sorry most of my answers right now are "I don't know" or "I think so". I do hope to have a fast learning curve so that a couple of months from now I will be able to give good answers.

SDV and Rate Shaping. In the sense that some companies 'rate shape' in order to gain additional bandwidth on the lineup to add new channels - yes SDV will fix that. I want to give you the entire truth though because you will hear engineers say no to this question - I made them explain it to me and this is my very simplistic version of what goes on.
In order to do SDV you have to have a 'clamping license'
A clamping license requires that you know how the quantity of mps that will be required for the signal
So if an HD regularly passes a channel at 15 mbs rather than 19.8 mbs, we will put the clamping license on at that rate. If they increase the mbs and don't tell us, then we will be rate shaping, but only until that point in time in which we find out what happened and increase the rate on the clamping license. (This actually happened to us in SC just last week which was a valuable way for me to learn about it).

So, technically SDV doesn't eliminate rate shaping, but in the practical sense of limiting a current signal to a lesser rate than the programmer is intending the viewer see the program, yes it does.

make sense?

Exactly what I was looking for...Thanks much!
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post #145 of 685
10/17/06 at 1:04am
I attended the Digital Life convention in NYC at the Jacob Javits Center this weekend and saw Verizon Fios displaying their Fios-Tv. I was hoping TWC was their but was disappointed. Why not have a booth at such shows across the country?

thanks, Andy
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post #146 of 685
10/17/06 at 4:56am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by davehancock View Post

Diana, I MUST take exception to this statement. No cable company has any idea of the number of customers that watch in HD! First, the FCC requires cable companies to carry local HD channels "in the clear". Most of today's HDTVs have built-in QAM tuners that receive these "in the clear" signals. I am sure that you have many HD customers that are receiving their HD signals this way - and cable can't count them, as they never rented a HD STB.

About a year ago SA published a study that said that a high percentage of HD set owners were not watching in HD. This was a seriously flawed study as it totally neglected those customers directly connecting to cable.

Generally speaking, TW (and the other cable companies as well) have been generally unaware that lots of their customers can receive local HD without spending any extra money. I believe that the rules also require that those local HD channels be included in even the "basic" ("lifeline", or whatever the lowest cost service is called) service. But, if you stop and think about it, that makes sense - because as of Feb 17, 2009 the only stations will be digital.

You are correct I cannot count customers using QAM to tune unscrambed HD programming.

Here is what TWC can count - Number of Digital and HD subs by type / Quantity of Digital and HD converters in the system / Viewership of HD programming on digital equipment.

Your thoughts on the 09 transition seem sound, but personally I'm steering clear of quoting rules on this topic because I feel there will be a lot of changes before we get there.
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post #147 of 685
10/17/06 at 5:01am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by joe221 View Post

I have a friend in NJ under Comcast. He bought an RCA HDTV with QAM and was unable to find ANY local channels. He did find a couple of general cable channels and Music Choice. We were stumped and since he had to travel didn't have time to trouble shoot and returned the set. So DO cable companies really have to transmit local channels in the clear?

Needless to say his experience wasn't exactly "Comcastic!"

It is my understanding at this point in time Cable Companies do not have to transmit local channels in the clear. It is generally simpler to do so however, so most do. I will tell you I do not know this as an absolute fact, but I've been around a lot of discussions on launching HD Broadcast and Bonus channels and the "WE HAVE TO BECAUSE ITS THE LAW" has never been brought up. If its the law, typically our lawyers are very good at making sure we know and follow that rule.

One thing cable companies are not responsible for is supporting this functionality, i.e. HD channels received via a QAM. We support HD via equipment we provide. and we move QAMs around as needed without customer notification.
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post #148 of 685
10/17/06 at 5:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazywoody View Post

Will the new Navigator have Keyword search in addition to title search?As a former TIVO customer i can say it is a function any modern DVR should have.TIVO,PASSPORT.REPLAY have this function sara users do not.It is one function i sorely miss.I am in the Greensboro NC market with sara 187.27 ( not upgraded to 1.88 here)Do you have any general idea(nothing we will hold you to)when sara users might get Navigator.We are stuck between Charlotte and Raleigh that have Passport a much superior guide.Now it seems they will get Navigator before us.Just any general idea or educated guess would help,


A. I really don't have specifics to share at this time

B. I will let you know when I can or cannot provide schedule (as previously posted)

C. SC is SARA and while Passport may have a couple of more functionality niceties on the guide, I wouldn't trade to Passport for all the tea in China. No Passport Divisions can get CID on TV, Enhanced TV, SDV, Start Over, Quick Clips, Sports Trackers, etc until they get MDN. As a result, Passport Divisions will get the MDN prior to SARA, so that they can become as technically capable as your system is now.
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post #149 of 685
10/17/06 at 5:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by davehancock View Post

she does not mention CableCards in that.

We know CableCARDs
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post #150 of 685
10/17/06 at 5:09am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyHDTV View Post

I attended the Digital Life convention in NYC at the Jacob Javits Center this weekend and saw Verizon Fios displaying their Fios-Tv. I was hoping TWC was their but was disappointed. Why not have a booth at such shows across the country?

thanks, Andy

Don't have a clue.
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