WISN-DT on TWC Digital?

[kjnorman]

This is a question for our newest station representative, PAUL.

I realize that you yourself can not probably answer this, but I hope you can feed this up the chain of command at WISN and hopefully provide and answer or at least some guidance on how to get things moving.

I can not receive WISN-DT over the air, as I do not have an OTA STB.  Currently I get my TV feed via cable.  I hate it!  The analog feed of WISN via Time Warner is just pathetic.  For example, watching Alias, the colors are muted, there is no detail in the blacks and in fact the blacks usually over saturate and turn blue!  I know it is not my TV, as other material looks fine.  The same problem happens with WITI as well and I just loathe it.  

Our household is seriously thinking about dumping cable altogether, but at the moment the prospect of going to another system like satellite, or even just OTA digital is currently out of the question on grounds of cost.  $400 for an OTA only box is too much for now – we're supposedly tightening our belts – so changing the way we get TV, if it involves any additional cost, is currently out.

I am finding that the STB technology is still a little too much in its infancy and I am unwilling to invest big dollars until I can record and time shift HDTV.  Hence for now, I am holding out with the hope that digital cable can provide the HDTV pictures I want to watch until the technology matures enough that I am confident that I can go out and buy a HD PVR with out my wife threatening to divorce me    I am sure there are a lot of people like me out there.

So I am stuck with cable for now.

So here is the thing.  The major cable companies committed to providing 5 channels of HDTV by the end of the year.  At the moment, TWC provides HBO HD, Showtime HD, and the PBS demo channel.  They also provide the full WMVT multicast.  They currently do not feed it, but TWC and WTMJ-DT have also announced that the digital feed of WTMJ will be carried before the end of the year.  I do not really consider the PBS Demo channel a proper channel, but even if you did that is only 4 true HDTV stations.  They should be providing one more!

I have been emailing TWC requesting the addition of the local channels in High Definition.  I would love to dump the analog channels and watch in digital (even though I can not record them on my TiVo).  TWC's response to me has been to contact the locals and request that the local channel provides the feed to TW.  Sounds like a lot of passing the buck to me.  I have emailed WISN requesting that they provide a feed to TW.  So far no response back, but admittedly I only emailed yesterday.

So Paul, now that WISN-DT is on the air, is WISN working with TW on the goal of proving a High Definition feed to TW?  

Once WTMJ starts broadcasting their signal in digital on TW, I think that we will increasingly find it difficult to watch the bad pictures that are called analog cable.  Hence we are less likely to watch WISN.  So, please, please work with TW on providing WISN-DT on digital cable.

Thank you for listening.

Kerry.

[SugarRay]

Excellet letter.  I am in the same boat.  Please keep us posted if you hear anything about WISN-HD being carried by TWC (or any other local HD on TWC).  Thank!

[P a u l]

I can't give you a 100% answer as to if we are working with TWC to get our HDTV signal on cable. I'm the new guy here and the word usually takes longer to reach me than most others.

I'm not surprised that TWC tried telling you that it is up to the local stations to send them a feed in order to provide a HDTV signal via cable. Here is a little info on how TWC gets our analog signal to you. They simply receive our signal that is transmitted off air I assume they have a big antenna somewhere on top of their building to do this. Next they re-modulate it to channel 12, then send it via cable to your house. In reality I'm sure it's a bit more complex than that. In order for TWC to broadcast the local stations in digital they must install a digital receiver and some other equipment that will re-modulate the HD signal to a specific channel. I'm sure this is going to be a challenge for the cable networks because of the high bandwidth of DTV and the smaller bandwidth of cable. Again I'm just making assumptions because I do not know what equipment they have and they probably won't tell us anytime soon either.  

I live in Whitefish Bay and I must admit that I have no problem with my cable signal. I have Digital cable, not the HD version. Are you using the analog type of cable box? If you know for certain that its not your TV then you might consider getting a different box. It sounds like something has gone amiss inside your little black box. I must admit one thing about the TWC service lately though. Sometimes I get these white horizontal lines flashing on the screen for like 5 seconds at approximately 30 second intervals. It also affects all channels not just the local ones. Here is the explanation I was given. This signal is sent out during the day so that the technicians can come to your house and troubleshoot a problem. I guess someone forgot to hit the switch last Thursday and didn't check it on Friday because I watched it all weekend.   They are supposed to turn it off at night!!!! It's really annoying during a show like Push Nevada that has that super polarization effect going on.

Now as far as upgrading to satellite you might want to swing by Best-Buy. They have a High Definition receiver that will also pick up off air signals with an antenna. I think most of the STB's will do this. So for about the same price as cable you could get satellite and the local channels in HDTV. Since you live in WFB you should be able to pick up all the local stations, and we are up 24x7 not just during the HD programming that is being sent for pass-through. We do siwtch over to the high def signal when a program comes through. Oh and check the post WISN HDTV Schedule for a list of shows that are being sent in high definition.

I hope this answers your questions. If I do hear anything about TWC sending our high definition signal I will let you know.

I'm curious to know if anyone knows if you need a special box from TWC to view the local channels in HDTV?? Will my current digital box work???

[This message has been edited by P a u l (edited 10-29-2002).]

[This message has been edited by P a u l (edited 10-29-2002).]

[ReesR]

Hi Paul:

My contacts tell me that TWC prefers to get local feeds via fiber not OTA.  Channel 10 is already being fed that way and my contact at ch4 says it will be that way too.

Oh, and yes you do need a different type of STB for HD on TWC.  I had heard it is a Scientific Atlanta box.

Welcome aboard Paul.  Say hi to Dave W. and Bill B. for me.

------------------
Rees Roberts
Racine, WI
reesr@wi.net

HDTV Receiver:  Sony KD-34XBR2 16X9
Bi-directional AntennaCraft VHF Yagi Model #2260P
+
2 Winegard PR9022 UHF yagi's pointing N & S
Antennas at about 30 feet
Samsung SIR-TS160 HD Directv receiver

[kjnorman]

Paul,

The problem I have been having with the analog feed of the locals only really started a few weeks ago.  Up until then the picture had been reasonable considering it is analog and I am viewing it on a 50-inch screen.

I have digital cable.  I have two digital cable boxes to feed the one TV.  The reasoning for this is simple.  We are a TiVo household.  Since we got TiVo, back in 2000, the way we watch TV has changed tremendously.  I would guess that now, 95% of what we watch is streamed from the TiVo box.  The TiVo frees us from TV Schedules so that we can do more in the evenings.  Ironically, our TV viewing has increased.  This is because it records the shows we want to watch without having to think about it, and so we never miss an episode in a serial hence it helps to keep us interested in the programming.

So, we have ended up with one cable digital box (the normal standard definition Pioneer) that is dedicated to the TiVo.  The video and analog audio from this box goes into the TiVo and no further.  The TiVo controls this box and we then watch the content stored on the TiVo hard drive.  Incidentally, I upgraded the TiVo hard drive so that I can record everything at its best quality setting, and we find that the degradation in the recorded picture over the live picture is negligible.  The second box is the Scientific Atlantic 3100HD box, which is what is required for watching HDTV.  This box feeds its component output direct to the TV and its digital and analog audio feeds to my amp.  I use this box for watching HDTV and digital channels where I want to pick up the digital sound (such as a film) and the digital audio channels.  I can therefore watch digital TV while also recording digital TV.  It's a compromise, but it works okay.

The problem I have with the system is that in the last few week there appears to be much more interference on the analog channels.  I think this is the reason I am getting a solarization effect on programs like alias and Firefly.  It may be that I am getting signal leakage into my cable line and that is causing the problems.  However I doubt this as all my cable lines were replaced by TW when we moved into our house in May of this year.  Also I am not getting the telltale signs of signal leakage that I used to get when I lived downtown.  Still, I will check all my connections later this week.

As for switching to another system that is out unfortunately.  My plan was to see if the Echostar 921 HD PVR, which is slated for release sometime in Q1 2003 (possibly), was any good.  This box is meant to have dual digital tuners, OTA capability and recordability.  However it is probably going to be in excess of $1,000.  My wife and I recently were planning our budget for next year and I had this item in.  Alas, with a baby on the way and the need to get a new car, I think this item is now firmly on the wish list and not the to do list  

I have considered a HDTV card for the computer and using this to record OTA, but my wife does not like that idea.  See finds that our current set up confusing enough as it is, even though I have simplified it by using "pronto" type remote.  So the PC is our for now (at least).  

The final thought is that any hardware how would cost the same as running cable for six to eight months.  The current idea is that we will stick with cable for now.  See if the local get added to the digital package.  If we do not have more than WTMJ by the end of the year, we are probably going to dump digital cable and go back to either analog cable or analog OTA for the time being – even though it does suck.  

The bottom line is that I have better things to do than watch TV all evening.  However, when I do have time, I would just like to watch a nice picture with some interesting content, preferable streamed from some type of HD PVR, so I do not have to worry about "finding" time to watch the content I want to watch.

That's not too difficult to ask for.  Is it?

Kerry.