CBS 58 Analog now Digital?

[syrett4]

I am sure nobody will read this in time, but I am hoping someone else noticed this.

First, the audio for my system comes through a TWC Pioneer HD box and is wired with a digital coax and RCA Stereo from the box to a Denon receiver.  The receiver is set on auto, which means it can tell if the signal is analog or digital and change its processing accordingly.

Under normal circumstances, channels above 100 are digital sound and the analog channels below 100 come in via 5 channel stereo.

We, here in Waterford also get 2 CBS stations, one from Chicago and one from Milwaukee.

So today I sit down to watch the end of the Wisconsin at Illinois basketball game, I go to 505 game is not in HD.   So I switch to 008 (channel 58) and the sound does not switch over to analog.  Dick Enberg is coming out of the center channel and the Illinois pep band is coming through my back speakers which is indicitive of digital sound.  

I switch over to the Chicago station and the picture is much worse and the receiver switches over to 5 channel stereo, which is what I expected to happen.  Channels 3 4 5 6 7 are all 5 channel stereo, but when I get to 8, the receiver switches back over to digital sound and the picture is much better.

So I continue to investigate and go into my den.  It is an old tv, with a cable box and sure enough I can see a little snow on channel 2, but channel 8 is very clear, much like the channels above 100.

Can anyone explain this?  Is TWC testing digital audio on analog channels?  Is my system flaking out?

Also, I was very pleased that this was the case, I am hoping for the testing answer.

[Joseph S]

The locals now most likely are digital if you have a box, I picked up SD NBC, Fox, CBS on a recent QAM rescan. Others may be there but I haven't checked.

[summerfun]

I believe TWC is now broadcasting the locals in digital.

[mhz40]

WITI, WTMJ & WDJT are now received digitally at your house (when connected to a digital set top).  The audio is encoded locally at the studios of each service.  It's plain 'ol stereo... no dolby 5.1; so I'm not sure how you have audio coming out of your rear speakers.  Either there is some processing being done on your end, or I need to send someone out to look at those encoders!

[gparris]

No ABC, yet? Will channel 12 come in digital along with maybe, channel 10?
My A/V recievers are indicating a Dolby Digital signal 2.0 for these three, just like the other above-100 TWC digital channels.
As for the cable-bashers saying all of their sat channels are digitally delivered, if this keeps up with the network non-HD channels going digital (using a cable box, of course, like you would have to get a sat box, anyway), the excuse that TWC channels below 100 look bad and all won't be an issue.

[Gregg Lengling]

When TWC provides ALL channels digitally that's when I'll switch.  I watch too much SciFi, BBC-America and History ect.

I hope they do it by the time my Directv contract is up in June (1 year contract for the new hd box), because then SBC can say good bye also.  We have a plan thru work that gives us a great discount on DigiPic100 plus RoadRunner and Digital Phone that will save me close to $100 per month.  Come on TWC do the upgrades.
 :bow:

[gparris]

Gregg, both the History and BBC America channels are in the digitally-delivered domain on TWC just like Directv, along with Trio, which wasn't dropped by TWC like D* has done.
Sci-Fi Channel fans are still stuck with analogue, but according to what I have read in avsforums, this channel goes digital soon, however not HD for now, so it may well be a clear as channel 4 digital (non-HD) is now, on TWC, soon, along with the others.
I had the Weather Channel on and it is as clear as my neighbour's Directv channel !