New and confused

[borghe]

Well, yesterday I took the plunge and got a Hughes E86 to complement my Mits 55819. My first observations. Some 1080i programming on HBO looks very good (surprised to see the clarity on Turbulence 3???), some looks very close if maybe a "little" better than my DVDs (Where the Heart Is), and some just looks plain bad (The Cable Guy).

Showtime I haven't spent a lot of time on (nor did I before HD), and I won't have a chance to see 1080i until Along Came A Spider tonight.. We'll see.

HDNet....... WOW!!! This station gets top honors easily.. What a gorgeous station. What a station to show off HDTV!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!! Easily tops among HD content in my day of ownership.

Now the truly downside to HDTV. Local channels. After screwing around with the box, I was thoroughly confused. If I scan for channels, I get some channels (4-1, 10-1 through 10-5, and the odd 58 permutations). Well, no program guide. sigh... Oh wait, we can set areas in the satellite area. Ok, put in my zipcode. Wait a minute, now I have double channel listings for some, 58 just got a whole lot more confident, and supposedly channel 6 exists... I also have program listings for some stuff, and not for others. sigh.. ok. Figured it out. Pulls in what channels you should have along with guide info from satellite, and scan just does a raw scan of the channels. ok. I now have it setup, except 58 is still goofy as hell for numbering, 6 still doesn't exist (if I try REAL hard I can get a 6 signal strength for 2-3 seconds), and now channel 4 isn't apparently broadcasting. I suppose on the upside, I get 90's on 4 and 10, and 70's on 58. I have to mess with my rabbit ears, although that I am actually ok with.

Anyway, there are my random thoughts. HDTV on satellite ranges from ok to amazing. OTA is just plain confusing. Unfortunately, unless you guys can give me any suggestions for OTA shows, my first true experience for OTA will have to wait until either Jay Leno tomorrow or CSI on Thursday.

I will give OTA one complement so far. It has potential... A lot of it. Tuning in one of channel 10's multi-casts, getting a better picture the DirecTV, and knowing that this is coming for free over the air (well, free after $500 in equipment) and will always look amazing provided I get a somewhat decent signal... I see the potential there. I mean, if you add time shifting to that.. goodbye locals on DirecTV..

[Gregg Lengling]

Well first of all lets take channel 6.  They are running hardly no power at all, with an antenna less than 200feet up at their studio tower.  I receive them with my outdoor antenna about 20% of the time and I'm only about 8 miles from them.  They also only transmit in NTSC, I've never seen a true 16x9 picture or mode on their transmission.

Channel 58 actually numbers themselves channel 1.  I remember reading somewhere that the digital channels really will end up from 52 and down so 58 decided to list themselves as 1.  Channel 1 is 58 analogue, channel 1-1 is 58 digital, channel 1-2 is channel 41 and channel 1-3 is channel 65.

Channel 4's digital only broadcasts from 5pm to about 11:35 pm unless they have a special broadcast.  IE:  The olympics, Horse Racing ect.

Channel 10 runs 5 sub programs.  10-1 is a 3 hour delay of channel 10, 10-2 is a 3 hour delay of channel 36, 10-3 is PBSYOU, 10-4 is PBS KIDS and 10-5 is the stupid eagle nesting.

You will notice differences between Filmed Movies and Real HighDef recorded programs.  You basically stated this about HD-NET,the majority of their programming is all done with HiDef cameras whereas most movies have been Film-Chained over to Video.  This is where they convert the film by projecting it into a boxlike setup with the high-def camera in it.  So on Film to HighDef you will see it is much more grainy.  There are a few movies that have been made direct to HIGH Def and then converted to film for the theater.  1 is Star Wars Episode 2 (Attack of the Clones)( a really bad movie, don't plunk down your money at the theater for it), and another one now showing on HBO is SHREK.

Good luck and welcome to the Satellite and OTA club.


------------------
Gregg R. Lengling
RCA P61310 61" 16x9
gregg@camelcomm.com

[borghe]

I appreciate the info. My only questions really are about the guide info for digital channels.

Where does it come from?

Is it ever going to reflect the whole channel 58 thing?

Is it ever going to list anything for all of the channel 10 subchannels?

Does the guide come from satellite? If so, do I need a DirecTV sub to get the local guide?

Regarding channel 58, I have noticed that on my receiver the guide lists ALMOST everything about 58 correctly, with the exception of the primary digital channel. It just doesn't exist, and consequently I can never get guide data for it. Just a little odd.. Oh well, getting the hang of things.

[Gregg Lengling]

The guide for the OTA channels comes from the PSIP data on their digital channel transmitter.   It's sorta hit and miss.  Like right now I get no data from channel 58, but I get some from 10....I've never seen any of the channels have the full data running where they had  a description of the programming other than channel and that usually is very brief...like MPTV LATER, 3 hour delay.
Even though I don't subscribe to local channels from Directv I'm still able to recieve the programming data when I'm in satellite mode, and I usually use that as my TV GUIDE for the night.

[borghe]

Thanks again. I'm about to watch Touched By An Angel (or at least a couple of minutes of it) to get my first taste of broadcast network HDTV.

BTW, if anyone from WTMJ, WMVS or WDJT is reading this... Good job guys. I'm sure everyone on the board agrees with me when I say thanks for taking your market seriously. I love living here (and have done so for 17 years) and it's always great to see companies in the area truly show respect for the community. I realise it may seem like I'm blowing it out of proportion, but I think it's a company's ability to step up to the less significant things, like meeting the May 1 deadline with a receivable signal, that makes them a good company just as much as it is the big things, like donations and charities. The big things show you care about your reputation... The little things show you care about your customers.

[oflaherty]

Borghe – It's good to have you here. As you have seen, there are some really great folks here who are always happy to help with questions and problems.
By the way, in addition to Jay Leno, "Crossing Jordan" Monday night at 9 should be in HD on 4-1. (NBC had a problem with the HD tape last week and ended up just upconverting the standard definition broadcast.)
And if the rumors are true, NBC will be showing all new series in HD this fall, but so far we have heard nothing at all from the network in New York.
---
Sean at TMJ4

[Tom Snyder]

Sean:

What are the chances of WTMJ going full time on the weekends when there are sports (golf, tennis, basketball, etc.) any time soon?

When there's sports on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, I flip over to the digital channel to see if I'll be staying in front of the TV instead of turning it off to go do something else (Even a Digital SD upconvert often is  enough to keep me). But when I get the dreaded weak signal message, and I realize I'd be watching a grainy analog, and I reflexively shut off the set and head out.

[oflaherty]

Good question -- I'll ask.
Is anyone else strongly in favor of NBC weekend sports, even if they are just SD upconversions?
---
Sean at TMJ

[Kevin Arnold]

It's a great idea. Since most of us have to work during the week, the weekend becomes prime watching time. Keeping the station on all weekend would be a real bonus, even if it was SD upconverts. And what are the possibilities of running any other HD material not put out by NBC? What about picking up a HD baseball game from some out of market source and running it? Probably liscensing issues but worth a look.

PS: Sean, do you have a direct email address I could contact you at? kja123@wi.rr.com

[Todd Wiedemann]

I'm in favor of the weekend upconverts as well ...

Like Tom, I always check.

As Matt said in a different thread, we've been doing a lot of complaining lately and not enough praise.

Thank you for your participation, Sean.

Anything you can do to get more programming on the DT side is fantastic and appreciated.

------------------
Todd.
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Mitsubishi 55819
Panasonic TU-HDS20
Apex AD-600A

[This message has been edited by Todd Wiedemann (edited 07-02-2002).]

[borghe]

I'm all for weekend uptime. Even your upconverts look better than DirecTV (not comlaining, not complaining, but it is a fact). This weekend I found myself watching the 4-1 signal many times over the DirecTV signal.

[Rafiki]

I am for it.  Please start by the time NBC begins broadcasting NASCAR!

[Steve Mann]

Add my name to the list of interested parties. I think this would be a great idea. I agree with the others... the upcoverts look better than most SD programs available via DirecTV.

[Matt Heebner]

I am also very much interested! I am just waiting for the day I can cancel my locals on DirecTv because I am receiving my digital locals OTA!

Matt