HD Locals: San Diego, CA

[Doug Brott]

Please post broadcast issues with DIRECTV satellite delivered HD Local Channels only

DMA: San Diego, CA
Established: 4/19/2006
Rank: 27

HD Locals available in this DMA

ABC - KGTV (10)
CBS - KFMB (8)
NBC - KNSD (39)
FOX - KSWB (69)
PBS - KPBS (15)
CW - XETV (6)


For instructions, please visit this thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=137643)

[gct]

Here in San Diego, I watched the 9/4 Redskins at Giants game on my DIRECTV LIL (Local Into Local) feed for our local San Diego NBC 39.

We had lousy sound and a pillar box display until literally the first play of the game. And remember, there was LOTS of lead-in before the game - all provided in pillar box with noisy audio.

Then during the game there were two or three occasions when we snapped back to pillar box for a few minutes before returning to the normal 16x9 display.

There were also times when the display was fine, but it sounded like the station was pulling and re-plugging audio jacks.

Pretty grim for the lead-off game of the season. Not very professional.

Maybe this was a community project and they had their HD control center run by an 8'th grade class? The 8'th graders need a lot more training.

[Lyle Thorogood]

Here in San Diego, I watched the 9/4 Redskins at Giants game on my DIRECTV LIL (Local Into Local) feed for our local San Diego NBC 39.

We had lousy sound and a pillar box display until literally the first play of the game. And remember, there was LOTS of lead-in before the game - all provided in pillar box with noisy audio.

Then during the game there were two or three occasions when we snapped back to pillar box for a few minutes before returning to the normal 16x9 display.

There were also times when the display was fine, but it sounded like the station was pulling and re-plugging audio jacks.

Pretty grim for the lead-off game of the season. Not very professional.

Maybe this was a community project and they had their HD control center run by an 8'th grade class? The 8'th graders need a lot more training.

It was a joke, not to mention the horrible picture quality running around 12mb/s. Those two nasty sub-channels destroyed the bandwidth (Weather and Sports (future Univision)). I turned it off after ten minutes. My receiver was in and out of dolby digital like you stated... :nono:

[Doug Brott]

Added PBS - KPBS (15) to the lineup

[yngdiego]

A few weeks ago I noticed my HR20 was showing blue 'sparkles' in near black areas of TV shows. If I paused the show, the blue sparkles were frozen. This mostly happens with CBS8 HD in San Diego.

I have a Panasonic Blu-Ray player, and do not experience these same blue sparkles. This last week I got a new HR23, because my HR20 was locking up randomly with the software updates. I figured the HR20 was also causing the blue sparkles.

My HR23 is also showing the same blue sparkles. Next I swapped HDMI cables, no change. I used a different input on my Denon 3808, no change. I so I ran component cables directly from the HR23 to my Pioneer Elite using a different TV input, and I see the same sparkles.

So I can eliminate it as a HDMI problem, HDMI cable, receiver issue, or TV issue. I watch CBS8 95% of the time, and it's very consistent. I occasionally watch other channels, and I don't recall seeing the problem. This only happens in fairly dark areas of the screen, but it's not in all near-black areas.

I'll try and watch a few other stations and see if the problem appears on them as well. Any thoughts on the root cause? I was 95% sure it was a bad HR20 or HDMI issue, but clearly that's not the case.

[dirtyblueshirt]

It's been mentioned here before as well as hdtv.forsandiego.com:

http://hdtv.forsandiego.com/messages/77/7150.html?1230613019

sadly, there's no word on a cause or fix yet.

[yngdiego]

Oh thanks for the link, that's exactly my problem. I'll call DTV and open a ticket with them.

[carlsbad_bolt_fan]

In the hdtv.forsandiego.com thread, DirecTV has talked with KFMB and said that they do not see anything at their end. They asked if the customers reporting this issue share any "geographic commonality".

Doesn't seem so as I've seen reports from throughout the county.

[yngdiego]

In the hdtv.forsandiego.com thread, DirecTV has talked with KFMB and said that they do not see anything at their end. They asked if the customers reporting this issue share any "geographic commonality".

Doesn't seem so as I've seen reports from throughout the county.

Somehow I can't see how this is a geographic thing. Two different receivers show the exact same blue sparkles. It started at least a month ago, if not longer. It seems to be getting worse, but that may just be my perception.

I'd be glad to have a techie come out and witness the sparkles for themselves, or have someone from CBS8 drop by to see it. I live in Scripps Ranch. I have no idea if OTA shows the same problem, but the DTV feed is really hosed.

[yngdiego]

This morning I called DTV and opened a ticket with them on this issue. They claim no one else has called them about the issue. We'll see what happens.

[trdrjeff]

KGTV 10, 3 days in a row as of last night. I forgot to check it again during prime time to see if they were allowing access to the 390s channel again.

The only problem is you can't record from there, you get the message you do not have access to channel or something like that. But if you go out ahead of time you can schedule it to record using the upcoming episode feature.

[dirtyblueshirt]

I just watched my recordings of Life on Mars and Lost, and Lost had a bad audio lag, and during Life on Mars, I had to look away from their mouths to keep from being distracted by the lag, nearly a second off... This has happened before, is this a DVR issue or a D* issue?

[dirtyblueshirt]

KSWB Fox 5/69

Today (Sunday 8 Mar) the audio is stuttering horribly. Noticed during a DVR recording of The Simpsons, and is continuing through a live viewing of Family Guy.

[spunkyvision]

same here, san diego Fox 69

[dirtyblueshirt]

same here, san diego Fox 69

Switched over to 69.1 Clear QAM on Cox... no stutter... looks like a D* issue?

[Samster]

Tonight's (03/09) House and 24 unwatchable due to audio stutter on KSWB Fox 5/69

[johnr9e]

KSWB 69 (fox) has horrible PQ today. Today there is substantial pixellation on any movement, e.g., closeups of football announcers talking is apparently more movement than the encoder can handel and is a mess of pixellation. In contrast, OTA 69-1 (on the same HR20) looks great.

Note 69 looks particularly bad today but has also been bad for the last several weeks.

[dirtyblueshirt]

KSWB 69 (fox) has horrible PQ today. Today there is substantial pixellation on any movement, e.g., closeups of football announcers talking is apparently more movement than the encoder can handel and is a mess of pixellation. In contrast, OTA 69-1 (on the same HR20) looks great.

Note 69 looks particularly bad today but has also been bad for the last several weeks.

KSWB on Cox Cable (I get HD locals on them clear QAM) isn't totally blocky here, but there are more 'edge artifacts' noticeable around the graphics and moving players, where the KTTV feed from LA has fewer edge artifacts. I always assumed this was partially due to the equipment at KSWB. The artifacting is most noticeable in HD animated shows, such as The Simpsons. I do not have those problems on KTTV.

[carlsbad_bolt_fan]

What is it with FOX locals on D*? Trying to watch the World Series on KSWB 69 and just can't. The Brrrriiiiip sound happens every 2-3 seconds. Picture quality absolutely sucks. From what I've read at hdtv.forsandiego.com, this problem does not occur on OTA or cable.

[mugwump]

Same issue here in Seattle. What a venue for DirecTV to showcase their inadequacies. Can't even get their own stations to work correctly. Fortunately I have local HD through Comcast since my broadband is via cable.

[starchilds]

Who is to blame for the poor HD picture quality of live sporting events on local channels (San Diego) via DTV. Its only on locals, switch to ESPN, TBS, Sunday Ticket no issues. What can be done short of installing "off air" antenna. This is unacceptable if one is blaming the other. If using antenna, can it run through hd dvr with all dvr functionality?

[Kdiddy]

The San Diego HD locals have really gone from suck to blow over the last few months. NFL games are nearly unwatchable with the pixelation/compression artifacts. Funny how the games on the NFL Sunday Ticket channels look considerably better. I can flip back and forth between cable and DirecTv and the picture quality on sports is vastly inferior on DirecTv. I end up leaving it on my cable feed for sports now on the locals due to the poor quality.

Is this poor picture quality just a case of DirecTv getting carried away with compression rates of locals? Or something else?

[dan9960]

When watching the Sugar Bowl last night the HD picture kept looking fuzzy and then snap back to HD quality. Lots of ghosting and pixelation. Today for the Cotton Bowl, on the same FOX channel, it is doing the same thing. No other channels are doing this. All the other channels carrying bowl games are fine. Anyone else seeing this on FOX?

[dirtyblueshirt]

When watching the Sugar Bowl last night the HD picture kept looking fuzzy and then snap back to HD quality. Lots of ghosting and pixelation. Today for the Cotton Bowl, on the same FOX channel, it is doing the same thing. No other channels are doing this. All the other channels carrying bowl games are fine. Anyone else seeing this on FOX?

I see the same issue on my Cox Clear QAM feed, and the LA local KTTV is showing just fine. I believe it's on Fox 5's end, as this type of thing is common with their broadcasts.

[Skyboss]

I see the same issue on my Cox Clear QAM feed, and the LA local KTTV is showing just fine. I believe it's on Fox 5's end, as this type of thing is common with their broadcasts.

KSWB 69 (Fox 5) is by far the worst, but Channel 8 (CBS) and Channel 39 (NBC) are just as bad at times. I thought it was a DVR issue until I was able to compare the two feeds on Sunday Ticket due to game overlap. I had just about had it and was ready to call for new equipment or an antenna adjustment, but now I know its the programing feed. I'm sending an e-mail to Direct. I think we all should. This is unacceptable. I noticed the problem of a few other programs as well.

[dan9960]

Do you have a specific e-mail address? I'll send one too. I watch a lot of sports and trying to watch games on FOX 69 just ruins it. I'm glad they don't have the olympics!

[Skyboss]

Do you have a specific e-mail address? I'll send one too. I watch a lot of sports and trying to watch games on FOX 69 just ruins it. I'm glad they don't have the olympics!

http://support.directv.com/app/ask

[dan9960]

Thanks

[texasbrit]

I know DirecTV has now made some changes to the San Diego feeds, has that improved things??

[spunkyvision]

Anyone else have a problem with San Diego Fox HD last night during Idol?
It was terrible between the audio center channels coming out the back speakers and video going to SD. Eventually it was fixed during the show but really annoying.

Was it just San Diego?

[trdrjeff]

Any fellow San Diego DMA'ers have issues with KPBS 15? I seem to get a lot of pixelation issues with it during most every recording I watch. I do not have any where near as many issues with any other local station.

[gct]

Any fellow San Diego DMA'ers have issues with KPBS 15? I seem to get a lot of pixelation issues with it during most every recording I watch. I do not have any where near as many issues with any other local station.

I will pay special attention to PBS and check several recordings I already have. But in general, I have not noticed problems with PBS HD. I'm assuming you are not talking about PBS StdDef.

The usual problem here in San Diego has been with FOX/69...

[dirtyblueshirt]

Tonight on KFMB 8 (CBS) "The Big Bang Theory" recorded at 9:30. When I went to watch it at 10; the file showed a 30min show, however no recording occured, just a black screen that went immediately to the "Would you like to delete" popup.

For the record, "24" on KSWB 69 (FOX) recorded fine from 8:00 to 10:00.

[dirtyblueshirt]

There's a forum that's been around awhile specifically for the San Diego DMA. It's a good resource for overall San Diego television.

http://www.sandiegohdtv.org/forums/index.php