[GotHDTV?]

Why is there no Fox (WTTG-DT Ch5) on Comcast in Montgomery County, Maryland?!?! I would understand if all of the DC area was not getting Fox, but Arlington, Virginia and Prince George's County, Maryland have had the channel on Comcast for 15 days. People said that it would arrive when the InHD channels would come on, but it is not on and there is no channel holder for it.


Anybody know why??

 

[GotHDTV?]

I got this canned message from Comcast:


Dear XXXXX,


Thank you for contacting Comcast Communications.


Unfortunately, each system is different and may not carry all of the same channels. Sorry for any inconvenience.


Thank you for being a valued customer, if you have any further questions or concerns please contact us at 301-424-4400.



Original Message Follows:

------------------------


Category: Comcast Cable Television

Sub-Category: Service


Comments:


Arlington, Virginia and Prince George's County, Maryland have had the digital version of WTTG-DT Fox5 on Comcast for 17 days on

channel 183. Why is Montgomery county excluded from this channel?

 

[jcorkery]

So... Has anyone heard any news about this? It does indeed suck to continue hearing about carriage in most other areas but not here in Maryland. What seems to be the problem?

 

[GotHDTV?]

We finally got a reason for the delay. Unfortunately, there is no timetable. It's great to see that Steve Burke of Comcast reads and forward on his e-mail.


Thanks Steve and Michael!!


-----------------------------------


Your e-mail regarding the availability of WTTG-DT was forwarded to me.


I am happy to inform you that the Montgomery County system will indeed be adding WTTG-DT to its line-up in the very near future. Unfortunately, given the growth of HDTV, there is a manufacturer delay with respect to some of the necessary equipment the system requires in order to launch the channel. Pending receipt of that equipment, WTTG-DT will be added to the cable system.


Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you for your interest in Comcast's high-definition service.


Mike Nissenblatt

 

[albertso]

Thanks GotHDTV?


I had asked this same question in the Wash, DC thread and no one there had an answer. I can get FOX OTA, but having it on the Cable Box would definately be a plus.


Thanks too to Mike from COMCAST, MOCO, for giving out good info.


If you have his e-mail, how about referring him to this forum. His input would be valuable. The more providers who read our comments here, the better the HDTV scene will become.

 

[GotHDTV?]

I just found out today when I turned on the TV. I see now that it was posted in the Washington DC/ Baltimore thread yesterday, but this post needed an update. Finally, WTTG Fox Ch5 on Comcast in Montgomery County, MD!!!!! It's on 183!! I guess MC now has more room for HDTV channels since they needed new equipment! Hopefully, WB, UPN, HDnet, and Discovery.....

 

[NauticaX]

WOOHOOO!! im so psyched that we finally got FOX!!

 

[RalphArch]

My wife will watch the digital channels now. Before it was too hard switching from 192 to 25 etc so she would only watch analog. WB would be nice up in the 190 range as well (Why doesn't COMCAST carry WB?) but at least she is comfortable channel surfing with all the other major locals near each other.

 

[lovingdvd]

RalphArch - assuming you have the Motorola 5100 you can just set up all channels she watches as Favorites. Then each time she presses the Fav button on the remote it will cycle through each of those channels only.

 

[RalphArch]

Quote:

Originally posted by lovingdvd RalphArch - assuming you have the Motorola 5100 you can just set up all channels she watches as Favorites. Then each time she presses the Fav button on the remote it will cycle through each of those channels only.

Thanks for the idea - that's better than how I currently have it set; which is any channel we are interested in as opposed to frequently interested in. I just changed it.


Another problem for the digital channels is that she and others prefer full screen on my 4*3 for the 50% of the time the shows aren't HD, so she still wants 24, 25, 27, etc. I suppose that adding these as well will make it easier to convince her to watch the digital channels. Part of the problem is also aspect ratio related (5100 doesn't really do a great job displaying 1080i on my 4*3 set - I wish it would allow letter box/zoom like it does for 480p. So sometimes l leave it in 480p letterbox (if I want widescreen), sometimes pan and scan (if show is not HD or I care more about seeing resolution than widescreen, and most times I leave it @1080i which when set to a 4*3 set has a compromise display that works pretty well (a 4*3 show is all onscreen in a squarish box; an HD program gets panned and scanned to most of the display (I estimate 14*9 of 16*9 on screen in a full mode).


COMCAST really should allow live switching of letter box and pan scan as well as providing these feature in 1080i

 

[lovingdvd]

I think the problem is that the digital stations that don't display HD come in as a 1080i 16:9 signal. So its not going to know how to scale that. As opposed to a true 4:3 picture which it does know how to scale.

 

[RalphArch]

Quote:

Originally posted by lovingdvd I think the problem is that the digital stations that don't display HD come in as a 1080i 16:9 signal. So its not going to know how to scale that. As opposed to a true 4:3 picture which it does know how to scale.

I don't think that is is - the Motorola 5100 has no problem scaling these 4*3 shows in a 16*9 transmission (pan/scan - letterbox) when I set it to 480p and the incoming signal is either 1080i or 720 p. Plus my MyHD card (and previously my HiPix card) did not have problems scaling these channels when the card was set to 1080i output (although there it was called zoom mode versus pan/scan). Its either a hardware problem on the 5100 or a lack of programming the software/firmware to allow it. I suppose they figure they provide capability in 480p so that should be good enough for their customers.