[mitoca]

The cable company in my area is Adelphia. I decided to write them to see if HD was in their future. Here is the response I got:



Thank you for taking the time out to write to Adelphia. It is always a pleasure to communicate with our customers.


The transition from analog to digital is a complicated, evolutionary process that will take time and will vary greatly from market to market. Cable operators are investing $6 billion a year to upgrade their facilities to deliver the digital programming our viewer's want. Most broadcasters (like NBC, CBS, etc.) still do not have definitive programming plans and initially will deliver at most only a few hours of digital programming a week; key technical and compatibility issues are yet unresolved.


While cable operators and broadcasters are involved in constructive discussions about carriage arrangements, we remain committed to providing our customers with the programming they tell us they want. Digital broadcast signals are available to all customers over-the-air, just as broadcast analog signals are available over the air (if you are able to receive them in your area via an off-air antenna).


Adelphia is using digital compression technology to offer programming choices to customers. These digital programming tiers are being offered along with the analog programming tiers. Customers do not need to purchase a new digital television set to watch this programming. These services are intended to be seen on analog television sets using a digital converter available for rental from Adelphia.


HDTV's are not compatible with the cable system, as in the fact that the picture quality will be the same that you are receiving now on your current television set. As mentioned above you can get a digital signal via a digital receiver on your analog television that is a better picture quality that what you are receiving now.


Satellite companies are not even sending signals in HDTV format. They are requiring you to purchase the oval shaped dish and they are sending you signals from two satellites. This is not HDTV format. Also the technology does not exist to send HD format via a digital signal. Remember, HDTV is for off air channels only (analog). Once you take the HD format and transition it to digital (to send it to a satellite) you loose the HD format, it is now a digital format. The only networks that may be sending true the HDTV format are local off the air broadcasters that you can receive with an antenna on the roof of your house. Yes the dish companies are saying that they are sending the HDTV format, but unfortunately this is a marketing ploy and they are not sending the signal. If you go to this web site; http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/learn/...anced_HDTV.jsp - 5, which is directly off of their web site you will see for yourself that they "beat around the bush" and never tell you the whole truth.


HDTV will not really be available till the year 2006 and the Federal government may even change this date. Digital and HDTV is almost the same thing. In addition, there are bandwidth issues that make HDTV not practical for cable companies to provide. HDTV signals take 2 1/2 time the bandwidth that a normal analog channel will require, with digital, you can take the bandwidth that one analog channel requires and put up to 29 digital channels within the same space.


If you do have any other questions please contact your local Adelphia cable office or feel free to email me at any time. Adelphia appreciates the opportunity to provide you with cable entertainment.


Sincerely,

Daniel Holcomb

Customer Relations Specialist





If this response is any indication, I think I'll be keeping my D* for quite some time...but then again, why bother, it's not "real HDTV".

 

[XFactor]

Wow. Perhaps the most uninformed and misleading response I have ever heard. This response should be forwarded to a supervisor at Adelphia. It has so many inaccuracies it's not even funny.

 

[Ken H]

Wow is right.


mitoca,


Please e-mail Mr. Holcomb these two links:

http://www.ncta.com/press/press.cfm?...howArticles=ok

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=164671

 

[mitoca]

Thanks for the links Ken,


I sent him a scathing response with the attachements. If anybody else would like to follow suit, the generic e-mail address that the reply went to is:

[email protected]

 

[ripster]

The FBI hauled the owners off in handcuffs on national TV. You really expect to get the straight scoop from them?? They are riddled with debt (some of which Paul Allen has taken on) and will probably be the last MSO to go HiDEf. The real shame of this is most consumers would believe this!!


The only true words of wisdom from this CSR is his projection of Adelphia HD in 2006! And that's only if Paul Allen does buy 'em out.........


I would forward your response to Sen. McCain, Shapiro (CEA), Powell (FCC) and Robert Sachs form the NCTA in Ken's post. It's one thing for some uneducated tabloid writer to expound such falsehoods, but a major cable operator should be tarred and feathered.

 

[foxeng]

I have really seen some unbelievable BS on this subject, but who ever wrote that needs an Oscar! (or a sabbatical to write fiction!)

 

[Man E]

You guys think that's backwoods? My cable company Charter Communications can't even figure out how to implement the "new" 1970's technology called FTP. I've been ridin' these fools for over a year. I can't wait until DSL comes down the road. Just yesterday I saw an ad where they boast about them bringing the latest technologies to the consumer Grrrr.....

 

[JOprandi]

Time Warner please buy Adelphia. We have Adelphia where I live and the district manager spoke at our Rotary Club about a year ago. He told me that they should have HD by 2006.

 

[agtiny]

LOL, I find a small bit of comfort that my friend who has Adelphia cable and internet is almost done switching to DSL and DirecTV.

 

[jc5810]

I live in an area "serviced" by Adelphia. They had the nerve to try to charge me $25 to cancel my service because it required "a visit by a technician."


I'd like to have this "customer relations specialist's" email address. I think it would be great for him to get detailed responses. What a crock.


HDTV is truly amazing since I watch it just about every night and yet it WON'T be available until at least 2006. hehe....

 

[jnoel]

I live in an area "serviced" by Adelphia as well. I have asked about HD and they have no idea! I wish that another company would swoop in and buy them. They are more uneducated about HDTV than the salesman at the local Wal-Mart.

 

[MythTrip]

After reading this, my local TimeWarnerCable doesn't seem so bad after all.

 

[zambaretzu]

The general public's ignorance about HD is discouraging, and people like this guy don't exactly help. Those that have heard about it aren't enthusiastic at all. I guess we should stop worrying about educating everyone about HD, and just enjoy our channels.

 

[Man E]

Quote:

Originally posted by zambaretzu I guess we should stop worrying about educating everyone about HD, and just enjoy our channels.

I finished your sentence in my head before I finished reading it. My version ended with "children"

 

[Brian]

Since we're Adelphia bashing...


They provide service to my area as well. They took over Century Communications a few years ago. One of the first things they did was kill several public access shows which did not meet their "community standards." Cable modems have been "about a year away" for several years now. I don't even bother to ask about HDTV. This is in urban Los Angeles, too, with thousands of potential customers. The city actually sued them about a year ago because of their terrible service and is threatening to take away their charter. The last straw for me was when they rolled out digital cable and proceded to move all the premium, and several non-premium channels to digital only, forcing the customers to go to their lower-quality digital boxes to get channels like HBO or History Channel.


I, and several of my neighboors, have moved to dish systems, and are much happier.


-B

 

[mitoca]

OK, It gets better. I sent Mr Holcomb a reply stating that his facts were all wrong along with the links that Ken provided. here is his reply:



Unfortunately, the sites you provided are speaking of DTV (Digital Television). As for the message board that you supplied. Most of them are off air networks as I stated are sending true HDTV signals. As for the satellite networks, they are transmitting at the4:3 ratio, which after you browse the links below you will understand that it is DTV format. Dolby Digital 5.1 is currently available on a digital channel if they are sending the signal. This is also known as digital surround.


The two links in red are most important. The first one is the ATSC Digital Television Standard, which is the standard that the FCC uses. The second is directly related to the first.

http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Medi...s/nrmm6032.txt
http://ftp.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html
http://ftp.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineeri...c/a53/a_53.pdf
http://ftp.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/.../stwek875.html
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Medi...s/fcc96207.txt
http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/dtv_hatfield725.pdf
http://ftp.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Medi...6/fcc96493.pdf
http://ftp.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Medi...8/fcc98023.pdf



Adelphia is pledging support, but it is for the ATSC Standard, which is DTV. You see the FCC decided that DTV would be offered on frequencies currently allocated to television broadcasting and the DTV signal would be carried on a 6 MHz channel. True HDTV signals are as I stated before 2-½ time the space allotted by the FCC. Thus are not compatible in any cable system.


In addition, you will see in the 4th link a statement made by FCC Chairman William Kennard you will see that the Format change is to DTV not HDTV.




I then explained that many of his comments were still wrong, and that their cable competition, including AT&T and Comcast were currently offering HDTV in many markets. Here was his reply to that:



I apologize that you feel this way but as I stated before, the technology does not exist to send a True HDTV signal thru a cable system with the current FCC restrictions and bandwidth issues. You are receiving a DTV signal with Dish not HD. I have been researching this for over 2 years. You are being mislead to believe something that is not possible at this time.


Thank you again for writing.



As was mentioned before, the worst thing is that he has probably replied to people who don't know any better & convinced them that HDTV doesn't exist yet. Either that, or that this whole HD thing is a made up conspiracy to make all of us by unnecessarily expensive televisions.

 

[Linux23]

woah, so wait a minute, those HD channels on Dish are not really HD?


this guy is a complete and utter moron.


i guess ignorance is truly bliss!

 

[Man E]

Quote:

Originally posted by Linux23 i guess ignorance is truly bliss!

Nope! It's Adelphia corporate policy

 

[XFactor]

Mr. Holcomb,


You're wrong. Not only are you wrong, but based on the information presented to you, statements to other customers that HD cannot be broadcast over satellites or cable systems should be considered flat out lies. Must you support your cable's refusal to accept HD with lies about its availability?

 

[jjson]

I know this may be bogus but I thought I would pass it along. Yesterday, in conversation with the Adelphis sales director for the Cleveland Heights area, I was told that HD would be available from Adelphia within 6 months. This rep was aware of the distinction between DTV, HDTV, etc. so there is some hope he was passing on a change in policy (a little hope I will grant you--it just may be the marketing ploy to help prevent migration to satellite.)