[BiggJeevis]

Hey everybody,

I tried searching and had no luck finding any information on this so I thought I'd ask. My local cable company just started offering OnDemand (Comcast of Montgomery County, Maryland) and I was wondering if any of you guys already had HDTV OnDemand or knew about this happening anytime soon. It doesn't seem like a huge technological barrier (the data rate is ~4x higher?).


I dont have any "connections", so calling the normal representatives didn't get me any useful information.



Thanks for any help,

BiggJeevis

 

[gmclaughlin]

Actually the data rate is about 6 times higher. Some of the newer implemenations can do it, but a most require server and storage upgrades to support the higher data. To the best of my knowledge, some Cablevision systems are the only providers currently capable of supporting it thus far.

 

[HDWACKO]

i have cablevision on long island and i have hi-def on demand (ch. 700)....


theres about 10 or so programs available for rent at a time (consisting of new movies that you would find on PPV, and special programs that are shown in IMAX theaters (e.g. "Amazing Caves")).


But i have to say, for $6.95 for a 24 hour rental, I haven't, and probably won't ever rent any of them.I guess they have to charge a little extra for the movies if u want them in hi-def.


But i still appreciate cablevision offering it......i didn't know it was so rare

 

[BiggJeevis]

Sounds pretty neat. If comcast picks it up, I would hope the HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz HD movies would be available (for no extra cost besides paying for the premium channels).


Why is it that the same setup can handle several 3 (or so) megabit/sec connections but not one single 19 mbit (probably even less... since unlike over the air hdtv you dont really need any junk data for error protection)?

 

[DDisney]

Quote:

Originally posted by BiggJeevis Sounds pretty neat. If comcast picks it up, I would hope the HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz HD movies would be available (for no extra cost besides paying for the premium channels). Why is it that the same setup can handle several 3 (or so) megabit/sec connections but not one single 19 mbit (probably even less... since unlike over the air hdtv you dont really need any junk data for error protection)?

Someone reported from PA I believe about a trial that Comcast had for offering HD on Demand but it was about $6.95 per movie compared to $3.99 or $4.99 for non-HD movies. No way I would pay that much per movie. Also reported to have had problems with audio and video problems for this service but don't know where the offering stands elsewhere. I do not believe that they are likely to offer the HD movies of HBO, Cinemax, etc. for free even if you subscribe to those.


I like the OnDemand freebie concept but have had numerous communications problems in my area with this service.

 

[BiggJeevis]

Oh man thats sad to hear. Im in your boat, at that price there is no way im going to order HDTV OnDemand anytime soon. But for standard television, ive had almost no problems with OnDemand (a few hiccups here and there, rarely does it not work at all).


I hope cable companies start doing HDTV OnDemand cheaper and soon... its not like sat can compete easily.


Later,

BiggJeevis

 

[HDWACKO]

Quote:

Sounds pretty neat. If comcast picks it up, I would hope the HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz HD movies would be available (for no extra cost besides paying for the premium channels).

Hi-Def on demand for cablevision doesn't offer this and its doubtful that any other cable company will.


As far as the price goes.....I might pay something like $9.99 a month for HD on demand (double the normal OnDemand price), but i'm not gonna pay $6.95......I love my HD...but not that much!

 

[HDWACKO]

sorry for not clarifying....i'd rather pay $9.99 for unlimited rentals than $6.95 per rental

 

[NorthJersey]

Quote:

Originally posted by HDWACKO i have cablevision on long island and i have hi-def on demand (ch. 700).... theres about 10 or so programs available for rent at a time (consisting of new movies that you would find on PPV, and special programs that are shown in IMAX theaters (e.g. "Amazing Caves")). But i have to say, for $6.95 for a 24 hour rental, I haven't, and probably won't ever rent any of them.I guess they have to charge a little extra for the movies if u want them in hi-def. But i still appreciate cablevision offering it......i didn't know it was so rare

You forget to mention that Cablevision has NOT updated the list of 10 titles since the channel was launched back in the summer of last year

 

[Jeremyfr]

I know the servers Comcast is purchasing and installing in most areas are HD capable from a company called Sea Change.


VOD systems cost in excess of $25,000,000 per headend to install. No cable company in there right mind is going to make that much of an investment for something that does not support HD.

 

[HDWACKO]

Quote:

You forget to mention that Cablevision has NOT updated the list of 10 titles since the channel was launched back in the summer of last year

i hadn't noticed it but after checking it right now.....ur right! They haven't updated it since it went live. Wow....thats pretty cheesy.

 

[Ed Barclay]

Quote:

Originally posted by NorthJersey You forget to mention that Cablevision has NOT updated the list of 10 titles since the channel was launched back in the summer of last year

This is not true. Not that there is anything especially good but some different titles are now available.

 

[BiggJeevis]

Wow I didnt realize that other companies charged just to use OnDemand. My local Comcast gives several free (not very great) channels like foodnetwork ondemand. In addition, you can watch almost any HBO, cinemax, starz, showtime movie for free if you subscribe and its all ondemand. Only thing im missing is HDTV I guess.



edit: forgot to mention all of the HBO series that I love that are ondemand. There are always about ten Curb your Enthusiasm episodes ready for watching for free (and every monday, the previous night's new episode is added, not that I would ever miss the sunday showing).

 

[mnederlof]

I got my 4200HD box from Cablevision of Norwalk, CT this past weekend, and was surprised to find HD on demand. As I perused the movies, they looked like they were free...tried to run one, and it told me that I needed an HD box, so call CV. I did, they turned it on, and the 6.95 prices appeared!


OK, it's too much, but I had to try one. I found several glitches. First off, half the time the previews just don't run. Secondly, when you finally order the movie, the confirmation screen still shows a PBS VOD show I watched yesterday for free--it's permanently stuck in my STB. The actual watching experience is great, but I did find that if I pause the film for a few minutes and then resume, sometimes the audio and video become unsyncronized...repausing and replaying fixes it most of the time.


Now they have to update the paltry movie list...where do they get their content anyway?


Maarten

 

[NorthJersey]

the non-syncronized audio/video is a known issue by CV on their regular on-demand service as well. Check out the iO forum on Yahoo for workarounds.