(NCR) Central Ohio fans won't be getting all 64 WC matches live and in HD

I do. Our older TV was in its death spiral about two years ago, so we bought an HD-capable Sharp Aquos.

 

I talked to a guy at Best Buy not long ago who said that virtually every TV they sell over 21" is HD capable.

 

My fiancee bought us one Saturday morning

 

There was talk of convertor boxes to take a signal out of HD to SD. The switch was supposed to be in 2007, i think, but all the cable companies and local stations across bitched and got the date pushed back because of expenses in upgrading equipment.

 

Not quite true.

They must be digital.

Actually, the mandate from the Gov't is that everything must be digital. RIght now anything over 24 or 25" must have an ATSC tuner

I've got a digital 32" 4:3 TV. It contains an ATSC tuner, and can pull down HD broadcasts. It also has a QAM tuner which means if I plug my cable into the digital port it can decode unscrambled digital cable signals as well.

However, It also pulls down digital broadcasts that are not HD. There are two channel 4s as an example. 4-1 is HD. 4-2 is NBC4 WeatherPlus , a 24 hour weather channel (80 on TWC Digital). It is in standard Def 4:3. WOSU broadcasts 34-1 (HD), 34-2, and 34-3 SD.

When Channel 10 broadcast the NCAA BB touney, they turned off 10-1, and turned on 10-2, 10-3, 10-4 , and 10-5. All Digital channels, using all of the HD bandwidth to show all CBS feeds of the tourney....but in 4:3 Standard def.

So to answer Hunt Kop, I think most people will purchase an HD set for their next TV. However, the 2nd TV doesn't have to be. It could be an SD set.
The SD set would likely be 4:3. Sony is even making SD sets: http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...-Start?CategoryName=tv_27to32TVs&Dept=tvvideo
I believe Walmart has a selection of Tubes that are SD. They can view HD signals, it just won't be as good of a picture.

But regardless, you don't need an HD set, just need a TV with ATSC and a QAM tuner for the future.

 

I have a 26" HD (with built in tuner) I bought almost 2 years ago for $660. It's a Sammy CRT and I have DirecTV. Since I bought mine 5 friends have jumped on board although some of them don't run HD signals.

There is no mandate for stations for cable stations to switch to HD. This applies to broadcast only and is designed to eliminate use of the analog spectrum which the government will then resell. There are many cable stations which will never switch to HD.

There is also no mandate for all TV's sold to be HD. What you are talking about is a digital tuner which will then receive digital broadcast signals or cable signals without the need for a set top box. Digital signals are not necessarily HD. Think about the extra channels WOSU has been running for an example. WTTE now runs a non HD digital sub-channel called The Tube. WCMH has their weather plus service on a digital sub. EDTVs(480p) which are not HD capable will be compatible with the new all digital system assuming they have a built in tuner.

There are 4 currently used formats
480i(interlaced) - standard old TV (analog)
480p(progressive) - progressive scan DVD's, non HD widescreen (Fox Saturday baseball) (digital)
720p - HD format chosen by ABC, ESPN, Fox (digital)
1080i - HD format used by CBS, NBC and all the cable HD channels (digital)

interlaced signals run at 30 fps, progressive run at 60 fps...so a 480p signal is exactly twice as sharp as a 480i signal. There is also a 1080p format which is debuting in higher end sets but currently has no use (unless the new HD-DVD's or Blu-Ray Discs are compatible).

 

I tried to do this when I had TWC but it never worked.

 

I left it for like 2 hours and it made it through all of the scrambled channels. it took a LONG time to do the scan.

I had CBS on like 75-1, NBC on 75-2, something like that.

I ended up just using the antenna because I wanted to be able to pull down ABC and Fox.

Dirty secret for sports...if you have a 4:3 set, and hate the letterboxing, you can zoom in and won't lose anything. Every sports cast places its graphics inside the 4:3 box so they won't have to do a dual production.

That might change in 3 years...but right now, you can zoom in and fill the screen.

 

Why not take a moment today, while you're getting ready to NOT watch the US game in HD, and personally thank Time Warner's Executive VP for programming?

You can send a note to

fred.dressler@twcable.com

While you're at it, you can congratulate him on Time Warner Cable's record setting profits from last quarter. I'm sure he gets a handsome bonus and his stock options certainly increased significantly on the strength of this wonderful news.

 

Thought some of you might find this amusing, in a gallows humor kind of a way.

I finally got a response to my many phone calls and emails to Mr. Dressler. Executive VP for Content at Time Warner Cable in Stamford, Conn. He wrote:

So I sent a copy of his reply to John Skipper, ESPN Senior VP for Programming. His response:

I replied (he is apparently in Germany at the moment) by asking whether his comment indicated that Mr Dressler was not telling the truth here.

I had to admit to him that Mr Dressler, in fact, charges me "very dearly" for each and every service he provides.

I forwarded Mr Skipper's response to Mr Dressler and asked for his comments.

So far I have received no reply.

 

Bill, you need to start a blog just so this discourse gets picked up by the blog spiders out there. It would be brilliant to see it in a more "public" forum.

 

Agreed 100%, this is awesome and hilarious at the same time. A lowly local man takes on ESPN and Time Warner and takes them to task.

Very impressive

 

My only thought is that you and Mr. Skipper are right. ESPN2 HD charges a seperate fee which is negiotiated with each provider. If TWC is expecting it for free everyone might as well jump ship now. They are putting up a smokescreen for HD customers who they have not cared about or invested one drop in. Hope you enjoy VOD and digital phone services cause that's what they gave you instead of HD.

 

My letter to TWC, prolly won't help, but i always support the little guy and C-bus is definatly being wronged here

edit in, glad i reread this before sending, it seems Bill Archer is closer to Akron...working on a reword/rewrite

 

I actually got a reply from Dressler (kinda shocking based on the sarcastim tone of my first message)

i sent back another reply pretty quickly

Lets see waht BS gets dumped our way this time

 

Two things:

First...ESPN2 and ESPN2HD should NOT be separate services.

Second...to use that as an arugment is bollocks.

 

That i disagree with, a standard broadcast and a HD broadcast are different services and I have no problem if ESPN asks for more money to produce a seperate feed for HD programming.

 

I got another reply

I'm working on my next reply

 

While you have their attention...ask the age old question. Why must I pay for 80 channels I do not care about just to get one (FSC)?