[adam8833]

Everyone check this out. WSMV is going HD finally!!

http://www.wsmv.com/Global/story.asp...8&nav=1TcdCjJg

 

[JMSBNA]

This is great!!! Is anyone gettiing a signal from them today. At 3:30 I can't pick them up OTA. Wondering if its just me?

 

[adam8833]

Their signal has been down for a couple of days now. I would assume the signal is down because they are changing out their equipment getting ready for HD.

 

[JMSBNA]

Thanks for the information

 

[stsrep]

Good news for all of us locals.

Maybe the Comcast launch had something to do with this.

Get with it UPN and WB.I don't know about anyone else but I'd like to see the Fox version of HD,you know 480p and widescreen football just for the hell of it.

 

[pmm8647]

I think it had to do with all the discussion board stuff we posted over the last month or so. There were some serious things said about WSMV on that board that I don't think they could ignore.


...patrick

 

[tspaceace68]

I agree pmm i know i gave them hell in a couple of posts on their site

 

[stsrep]

Are they on air or still dark ?

 

[Larry in TN]

They're back on the air now.


Does anyone know what format they are currently transmitting? My Samsung box is allowing me to stretch 4-1 but it doesn't allow me to stretch 2-1 or 5-1. 2-1 is 720p and 5-1 is 1080i so I've figuring that 4-1 is a lower res format but my STB doesn't tell me what.


One good thing is that for an SD signal it's a very good quality picture. Has WSMV given any estimates on when it would start to pass HD?

 

[leewcraft]

If they haven't gone HD yet, they should still be transmitting at 480i. I believe NBC does 1080i for HD stuff, but they still do 4:3 on several programs, while ABC and CBS do 16:9 on all their HD shows.

 

[Larry in TN]

OK, I figured it was probably 480i due to my STB's different treatment of the stretch modes but there didn't seem to be anyway for me to verify it.


It sure is a good looking 480i. If only the SD cable broadcasts were as good!


On a somewhat related issue... I've noticed that FOX and UPN on Comcast cable have noticeably worse pictures than ABC/CBS/NBC on Comcast. Is this a Comcast problem or do the FOX/UPN stations broadcast a lower quality picture? Anyone know?

 

[leewcraft]

It may have something to do with how Comcast receives the picture and rebroadcasts it, since the 3 big networks seem to broadcast much stronger signals than the other stations. It seems to me that CBS, ABC, and NBC look worse over cable than the other networks, because Comcast thinks it's a good idea to broadcast local channel 2 on cable channel 2, so you get a phase problem and a shadow on the picture. Check out the difference between NBC on digital cable and NBC on the DTV OTA channel. I think the digital OTA channel looks 100 times better.

 

[Reagan]

This is good news. Are they still a Meredith station? If so, this may mark the first time a Meredith station broadcasts HD.


According to the press release, the switch to HD will happen in "the several weeks".


Kudos to WSMV for doing the right thing.


-Reagan

 

[Larry in TN]

Lee,


Do you find that the cable Fox/UPN channels look particularly poor? The colors on Fox are horrible.

 

[joe12south]

So has anyone heard any rumblings that Comcast will carry WSMV HD? I'm really enjoying the HD channels I do have, but would love to have NBC to complete the big 3.

 

[Larry in TN]

I would imagine that they will as soon as they start passing the HD feed.

 

[joe12south]

I would too, but I know that a company as warped as Meredith could try to get Comcast to pay for the privlege, which might keep it off. Keeping my fingers crossed ... Law & Order is one of the few television shows I watch.

 

[SJMAYE]

Quote:

Originally posted by Larry in TN ... I've noticed that FOX and UPN on Comcast cable have noticeably worse pictures than ABC/CBS/NBC on Comcast. Is this a Comcast problem or do the FOX/UPN stations broadcast a lower quality picture? Anyone know?

I was checking out Fox and UPN OTA. Even with a solid signal lock the picture is FAR worse than SD on ABC, NBC, and CBS. Don't know why.

 

[pmm8647]

fox/upn/wb are only upconverting thier analog signal, not broadcasting a purely digital feed. that is why they appear worse than the other channels that don't do an upconvert from the feed. This is what I gathered from the Fox engineer. They are planning to have everything in place for full digital feeds in March.


Apparently it is costing these networks about 5k a month to broadcast full power DTV, which is why some stations are not broadcasting at full power. Must be a lot of power consumption going on in those antennae.



...patrick

 

[Larry in TN]

The digital channels are always digital. What they aren't doing is broadcasting a high definition format but it's still digital.


What I'm wondering is why their analog channels look noticeably worse than the big three network's analog channels.