San Francisco, CA - Comcast - Page 15

I too am a little confused. Are you plugging the cable into your TV? You probably don't need OTA with Comcast.

Yes I plug the cable to the TV hoping QAM tuner would pickup something from comcast but apprarently it doesn't pickup anything.

I am confused here. so what doest ATSC do? and what doest QAM do?

I don't pay attention to ATSC anymore. I only care about QAM which allows you to pull in the digital channels straight from the cable. That way you don't need a cable box. However, you can only get channels that are NOT encoded. Here in Santa Clara, I get all the major stations like ABC, NBC, CBS, BOX, and PBS. The beauty is the High Definitions channels that are only digital.

If I remember correctly, some sharps have 2 RF inputs - one for OTA and the other for CABLE. My TV's only have 1 RF input that will pick up OTA or CABLE, but I have to configure my TV for which one.

ATSC and QAM are 2 different transmission formats. Cable uses QAM and direct OTA broadcasts use ATSC. Wiki both terms to learn more.

I have a 6412 P1 that functions acceptably (with all the known bugs), and I
am limited to component connections due to my TV. I am not interested in the
improved analog converter in the other models as I watch digital only.

Until I make the move to HDMI, is there any other reason to "upgrade" to a 3412/16
(other than the 40g increase in disk space)? Will I be encountering a whole new set of bugs/issues?
Are we (SF Bay Area) all set to go with ADS now?

The 34xx is not really an upgrade to the 64xx. The only difference between the 2 is that 34xx has a smaller form-factor and it lacks an analog tuner completely -- i.e. it's only for ADS areas. As for ADS, some areas have it, some don't. Not sure about San Jose. If you walk into a Comcast store and they give you a 34xx, chances are you have it.

fender4645: Thanks for the feedback!
I found the Wiki reference on how to check for ADS, which I will do tonight.

FYI update: South San Jose is ADS enabled.

That's what I thought so that's why I said my Sharp ATSC pickup thought OTA HD but don't think QAM doesn't pickup anything.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong (I don't have a built-in QAM tuner) but you should, with basic cable, get the 4 network broadcast stations plus KQED in HD. Whatever you get via OTA is completely separate from what you get with Comcast (I think that's what was confusing people).

You are in a 550Mhz area and unfortunately those are the only Clear QAM stations in Hayward. SF is 850Mhz and has ADS so it has a lot of extra channels that show up.

You will have to wait until hayward is upgraded or get a Set top box.

Kevin

Whether or not a channel is encrypted has nothing to do with the network size. Theoretically all channels (with the exception of the network channels and KQED) should be encrypted...on ALL systems. There are holes on some headends where some channels are being sent in the clear, however Comcast has been plugging these up and I wouldn't expect them to be around forever.

I think the point is, if you're on an ADS system, your QAM tuner will find many more digital channels (Standard-def channels, 2-82 basically, at least whatever is not encrypted).

Thanks Kevin for clearifying that but how can I find out that Hayward is in a 550Mhz and SF is 850Mhz? and what are those mean?

It is the amount of bandwidth on the cable system. It restricts the number of channels you can get, especially the HD channels. They are upgrading the whole bay area to be at least 750Mhz. Hayward will be upgraded in the next 18 months.

If you have a Motorola HD STB the easiest way to tell is whether you have HD channels 725-728.

Kevin

Now that both main satellite providers (dish&directv) have NGC HD, and comcast announced it a while back, any new ETA for this channel showing up locally?

TIA

DirecTV doesn't have NGC yet, only a pre-recorded/packaged preview. Doubt they will have the channel fulltime until after the first of their 2 birds goes up this year.

Locally on Comcast? Who knows...

Over here:http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=351 there are folks claiming to be watching it. Yes I know that it's not full time. Part time is probably a good compromise for this channel as it's not like it comes out with many hours of HD per week.

Hopefully someone, which is why I asked. I know that it's been up in some other comcast regions for months now. Seems reasonable to ask since comcast did announce it after all. Plus given that all their major competition now has it, the pressure should be on.

Yes, I've seen that, but it's only 2 parts of one program and it's only on in the middle of the night for a few hours, it's like a preview, they take the bandwidth from one of the PPV channels when they air it.

Is NGC on Comcast somewhere in the country already? If so, maybe within this next year we'll see it here.

So it's still just starting up then. But they did announce more air time than that.
Yes; in areas with lower DMA rankings than SF, in fact (not that higher DMAs get priority, but they are more significant).
Still hoping someone has some actual information to share.

Me too!
But keenan pretty much nailed it......based upon past history, the Bay Area
is about 6 months to 1 year behind the first adopters of newly added HD channels

The Giants and As HD schedules are up:

http://fsnbayarea.com/HD_Giants.jsp

http://fsnbayarea.com/HD_Athletics.jsp

Looks like about the same number of games as last year. The Giants have 54 games (including 3 listed on the As schedule). The As have 42 (including 2 listed on the Giants schedule). If I counted correctly.

I use a remote A-B box (from Radio Shack) with a universal remote control and its Macros to easily switch between the two. I don't have to rescan either.

peter

I'm in the north bay (Rohnert Park Comcast), and here's my issue, I'm hoping someone has some info...

I was without my 720p projector for the last month, it was getting replaced under warranty. Anyhow, I've got it back now and my cable looks like crap!

Has Comcast changed their broadcast quality?? I'm talking about the HD channels of coarse. And what I'm seeing is like pixelation distorting around the edges of details such as text, this could be what people call image artifacts. Also, most channels look grainy.

The way I had it set up before was the output setting on my silver DVR HD cablebox set to 720p, perfect match for the projector. And now 720p looks so horrible. I changed it to 1080i and it's a little better, but not perfect as it was a month ago. I don't get why feeding 1080i to my projector looks better, the projector has to turn around and downgrade it back to 720p to display, which shouldn't be near as good as quality. Plus, isn't Comcast's broadcast in 720p to begin with? Why would they even offer the upconvert to 1080i output option? Who in their right mind would choose an interlaced image over a progressive? Especially when it's just an upconverted image, and not a true source of 1080.

Anyhow, I'm using component cables, and I've already tested other video devices on the same component inputs to rule out the projector as the problem. Upconverted DVDs and XBOX360 look perfect.

Even 480i DVDs through S-Video input (letting the projector do the upconvert to 720p) looks way better than my actual HD channels through Comcast!
Thanks for listening to me vent! lol
Any info would be greatly appreciated...

I'm also in Rohnert Park. My HD channels look just fine. Comcast pushes out their signal at whatever the TV station provides. For instance, KTVU is 720P and KPIX is 1080I. Your DVR will send the signal to the projector at whatever you set it for, 720P or 1080I. It sounds as if your projector picture setting is a bit hot. To much contrast and too much sharpness. Try toning those down a bit and see what you can get.

I hope I am posting in the right thread. If I am in the wrong place, please accept my apology.

I currently have Comcast Expanded Service at Pleasanton. And I have an HDTV Motorola box from Comcast, I was chargered $5/mo for HDTV service which I assumed covers the rental of the box.

And I have just ordered a Panasonic 42PX600U and since this TV have a Cablecard slot built-in, so I called up Comcast to inquire about the avaliability and cost for a Cablecard. My conversation with the CSR went like this:

Me: I'm getting a new HDTV with Cablecard slot and would like to check for the cost for getting one from you for HDTV.

CSR: The cablecard is free of charge

Me: Great, so this will not cost me any extra?

CSR: How many HDTV will it be in your household?

Me: 2

CSR: That will be $11.99/mo extra

Me: What??!!!

CSR: There is a $5 HDTV service fee and a $6.99 HDTV box rental fee

Me: Huh??

CSR: Since the law does not allow us to charge you for the first HDTV box, but now you are getting a 2nd HDTV service, you'll be charged for the box rental.

Me: Huh?? Can you explain it again? (It went on for a couple more iterations until I figured out that it was really the LAW which saved me $6.99/mo for the box rental)

Now, I am reading on the first page of this thread that the $5/mo fee is supposed to cover the box rental already. So am I just being misinformed by this CSR???

Any feedback?

Thanks,
Louis

Try another CSR. Not quite right. As usual.

You would get charged $6.99 "addnl digital outlet fee", for the 2nd TV, but shouldn't get charged $5. (That *equipment charge* is supposed to subsidize the more expensive HD STB, but you have NO box, just the cablecard, and there is no such thing as HD cablecard.)

If you have some Digital tier of service, the first "digital outlet" cost is absorbed into the Digital cost, so you don't pay for the first one (but you WOULD pay $5 if you had an HD STB.)
That's not about the law, but just their pricing.
The law says they can't charge more than a "nominal amount" for ANY cablecard (less than $5 ish), and indeed cablecards are free (or $1.50 for 2x in TIvos), but law doesn't address what they can charge for *service* on those cards.

Some cable providers charge extra for HD *service* (not equipment), so maybe comcast is trying to copy that, but so far such charges are usually CSR mistakes.

Try again w/ another CSR, and be glad you don't have Time Warner etc which charges for SERVICE PER CARD not equip which totally screws TIvo owners..

How do I find out what each channel is broudcast in resolution? Maybe just my favorite channels changed? For example, when the cable box is set to 720p FOX (American Idol looked like crap!), ESPN HD looks like crap too, there is pixelation around the scores and any other text or detail shots on all sports. But Discovery HD still looks perfect...

This is leading me to believe that some channels have begun broadcasting in 1080 when they used to be 720. My HD cable box must have a really crappy converter, so when I set it to output 720p it has to downconvert the 1080 channels and it looks like crap.

When I set it to output 1080i and then let my projector do the downconverting to 720p is looks soooo much better (but still no where near as nice as before). Maybe I need to replace the cable box? I've had to replace it before because it was flickering between aspect ratios nonstop, horrible.

Thank you for the suggestion for lowering the sharpness, I'll give that a try tonight and see what happens. But still I find it kind upsetting that my SD DVDs through S-Video look better than my HD cable!

No that sounds right.

Digital cable package = $X/mo
+ Includes one (SD) box -or- one CableCard for free (but not both).
+ Upgrade to HD box = $5.

Add't Outlet = $6.95 (SD box) -> upgrade to HD box = $5.

For example I have Digital Classic, one DVR, and one 6200 (non-DVR HDTV box).
I pay $X for Digital (it went up, think it's $12 now).
Then $12.95 for the DVR box.
Then $6.95 + $5 = $11.95 for the 2nd HD box.

Well, the Comcast box is really horrible at 1080i to -> 720p conversion in my experience. Best thing to do is set the box to 1080i and let your display downscale it to 720p if needed.


I don't think this has changed in ....uh, ever.

FOX/KTVU 702 = 720p
NBC 703 = 1080i
KRON 704 = 1080i
CBS 705 = 1080i
ABC 707 = 720p
PBS 709 = 1080i
INHD 719 = 1080i
FSN 720 = 1080i
DiscoveryHD 722 = 1080i
ESPN & ESPN2 723/724 = 720p
725 when on air (NFL-TV) = 1080i
TNTHD 726 = 1080i
UHD 727 = 1080i
MHD 728 = 1080i
HBO 730 = 1080i, as are all the premium-pay channels.