[HDTVwannabe]

TIA for any help provided.


Also, does any know if they plan on being 'HD-ready' soon after going live?

Hope so.



Now that ABC is HD-ready, makes it more enjoyable to view. But what is up with not stretching the image horizontally to fill the entire 16x9 screen (have black/blue bars on the sides of the imag)? Non-HD shows look 'squished' and then vertically stretched on SIRT150 and Panny PT47WX49.


Is it that way for everyone else or just my setup?

 

[dynamohum1]

They will pass network HD from day 1, they have all the equipment installed and a new 1,000,000 watt transmitter on site as well. The antenna is being delivered on Friday and the tower crew will begin outfitting the tower on the 2nd of Dec. barring any bad weather (rain) they hope to complete this install and be on the air by Dec. 20th. Also this antenna is going to be shared by KJBL FOX, they also have all eqipment and a 1,000,000 watt transmitter in place so I would think they will go live at the same time, they will also be passing the digital signal from fox from the get go. Both stations will start broadcasting at half power 500,000 watts at first, this is the same power as WQAD which is also on the same Tower in Orion, Illinois. The outlook for QC CBS is as grim as the Peoria CBS station.....who knows when and at what power.

 

[HDTVwannabe]

I had no idea about ANY of this until we discussed that POC CBS station, and their very low output wattage, up there in the QCs a couple weeks back.


So, by (or around) Dec 20, 2002, we will have a working (read: receivable) DTV/HD signal from 3 of the 4 major networks that serve the QCs?


WQAD-DT 38.1(ABC)

KWQC-DT 56.1(NBC)

KLJB-DT 49.1(FOX)


Awesome!


Thanks, dynamohum!



(Hopefully, without holding out TOO much hope, we might get WHBF-DT 58.1 (CBS) running close to 50% of full power sometime early next year. Heck, I think I could even get constant signal reception at about 25% of full power from where they will be broadcasting from).



PS dynamohum - I got some more propagation of WHBF-DT last night around 11 again. I hate it. Makes me wish I could watch it whenever I wanted. But then again, all they are broadcasting is upconverted SD material, so not losing out on much at this time. (Dave Letterman is in HD now, isn't he?) Wasn't last night.



Thanks again!

 

[dynamohum1]

I spoke to the engineer at KWQC today and he said the antenna delivery has been delayed by 1 week, they have some of the parts for the tower and they are working on it, with any luck we will see them in December.

 

[HDTVwannabe]

Kinda stinks that KWQC is set back by the delay, but I'm pleased that they're trying at least.

 

[HDTVwannabe]

Does the delayed delivery of KWQC's digital antenna put the work on KLJB-DT behind as well, or have they been working on it the last couple days?



TIA.

 

[dynamohum1]

They have been working without the antenna that they both will share, there is, i guess, a bunch of other stuff to do out at the site in preparation for the delivery of this very large antenna. I am hoping that when they say delivery they mean delivery with a tower crew and installation on the tower and not just a semi dropping it off at the site.

 

[dynamohum1]

Check out this link for KWQC info http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1043087

 

[dynamohum1]

And this link, look at the link for HDTV forums and what's going on around the country, I told the engineer about this site...I guess he liked what he saw here... these guys look like they are doing it right. http://www.kwqc.com/Global/category.asp?C=35186

 

[HDTVwannabe]

Thanks for the great, and informative, links dynamohum.



So, until they get - and install - the channel combiner, neither KWQC-DT or KLJB-DT will be available? Darn it.


But they said they expect the channel combiner on the 13th, which is Friday, so - assuming this good weather we've had lately holds - it'll probly be the next week we can expect some 'testing' from KWQC-DT (and KLJB-DT)??


Hope so.

 

[dynamohum1]

I would expect testing very soon, if the combiner is on time. These guys seem to have all their ducks in a row, passing HD from the start, 500,000 watts out of the gate and a web site with detailed progress reports and photos.... they are really setting the bar high for other stations in terms of obvious concern for the DTV viewer. Sinclair could take lessons from these guys on how this thing should be done!

 

[HDTVwannabe]

Is KLJB owned, or affiliated with in anyway, by Sinclair??


And if so, does that mean KLJB will not be passing any 'true' HD any time soon, other than FOX's 'ED 480p widescreen'?




Thanks for all the great info, dynamohum. After seeing all the shows that are done in HD on NBC, I can't wait for KWQC-DT to start broadcasting them, just to see what film-based primetime shows look like in 1080i.



HDTVwannabe

 

[dynamohum1]

KLJB is not owned by sinclair, the engineer told me they would pass the network feed from day one and they too are starting with 500,000 watts.

 

[dynamohum1]

I just recieved this email from WQAD, since it is a generic mass mail I will repost as some of you may be interested in responding... quote:


Hi Network Members.


There's been a flurry of activity in our HD and digital broadcasts lately.

We're doing some experimenting on how we up-convert our standard signal.

As our eyes and ears in the digital world, we'd like your feedback on how

you'd prefer to see the up-conversion.


Rick Serre, our chief engineer clarifies:


WQAD is up converting our standard definition (SD) analog signal (the

program that goes to our analog Channel 8 transmitter) to a 16:9 aspect

ratio, 720P digital signal for our DTV transmitter.


When we do that, we have three choices as to how the SD video is converted.

Please note, the digital signal on WQAD-DT is always 16:9 regardless of the

up conversion method used; and you will not be able to have your HDTV

Monitor do any sort of modification to the displayed picture like can be

done with 4:3 aspect ratio analog signals.


The black or colored bars on the side of the picture are encoded into the

digital signal and transmitted as part of the display. We'd like to know

which of the following three methods you prefer.


1) 4:3 Keyhole - the SD video is up-converted keeping the 4:3 aspect ratio

and filling the sides of the 16:9 picture with black or other colored bars.

ABC currently is doing this for their true HDTV programs. The program is

in 16:9 full screen, then they drop back to the 4:3 aspect ratio with black

bar fill for commercial breaks. This allows true display of the original

picture in the original aspect ratio, albeit with a lot of the display

taken up with black bars.


2) 14:9 Modified Keyhole - this is what is currently being used on WQAD-DT.

The SD video is converted to digital and slightly modified to the larger

aspect ratio using a pixel doubling technique to make the SD picture appear

to be wider than it really is. The remaining portion of the 16:9 screen is

then filled, right now with light blue bars on each side of the picture.

The result is a larger picture with only slight modification to the

original content.


3) 16:9 Anamorphic - this conversion takes the 4:3 aspect ratio SD video

and, again using the pixel doubling techniques, makes a full screen 16:9

display of the SD video. This does tend to stretch the picture

horizontally, and people look slightly fatter and less tall. While not

objectionable, it does impact on the original aspect ratio of the content.

However, it also fills the wide screen display with actual video instead of

the black or colored bars on the side of the picture.


If you don't mind, please send your preferred method of seeing the

up-converted television picture. Respond directly to [email protected] ,

or you can reply to me and I'll forward your response.


Thanks for your patience as we go through this process. And thanks for

participating in our digitalTV network. Your feedback is extremely

valuable.


Lori Evans

Creative Services Manager

WQAD-TV-DT, wqad.com

 

[dynamohum1]

Kwqc's web coverage of their DTV progress just keeps getting better, http://www.kwqc.com/Global/Link.asp?L=70311

please refer your local stations to this web site for info on how to keep the viewers informed about their DTV transition.

 

[HDTVwannabe]

Hey, its none of my business probly, but what'd you 'vote' for on the upconversion scale for WQAD-DT?


I picked the full anamorphic 16:9. I gotta be honest and say that its very hard for me to watch upconverted stuff on 38.1 when its squeezed on the sides and the top/bottom are 'pinched off'.



Thanks again for the updates.

 

[dynamohum1]

I asked for 4:3 no stretch please!

 

[mtmdesmoines]

Hey guys,


I moved here to Des Moines from Moline. It is interesting that the QC has Abc in hd b4 DSM ( www.woitv.com ), they are both owned by Citadel communications, I believe.


Here in DSM Dave letterman is not in HD on CBS.


Very cool that WQAD is giving you options in how to watch sd!!!


Please post back your thoughts to HD Des Moines!!! We need the views.


Just kidding


Mark