[kram]

There are numerous posts on this board about how bad the locals are when it comes to broadcasting programs in HD/MPEG4. My question is this: What good is the technology if the local affiliates don't know how (or don't care) to use it? During the past few weeks, the quality of the local HD broadcasts here in the Denver area has deteriorated considerably, compounded by continual technical problems. Last night, in particular, was a debacle (refer to my post in "Bad locals in Denver"). Is this because of the affiliates' lack of technical knowledge, or is it because of what D* does with the signal once the affiliates pass it to them??

I've had my HR20 for a little over a month now. The box has been relatively stable and I haven't had the problems that are being reported in these forums. But if the locals don't care about the quality of their HD broadcasts, no amount of HR20 software updates is going to help.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

As of right now, there is not enough pieces to the puzzle to say who is the key component to the issue.

I think once OTA is enabled, we can get a better idea... but until then.
All we can do is report what we are seeing... channel, show, time, what you are seeing..

So those at DirecTV know about it, and can talk to those affiliates (like what is going on in Washington DC, and Florida)... and get things fixed.

 

[kram]

I think once OTA is enabled, we can get a better idea... but until then.

Why should OTA even be necessary? Shouldn't we be getting "perfect" reception without it? And that also means that I would have to invest even more $$$ to get an antenna and then have it installed....

 

[wakajawaka]

I live in the Charlotte, NC area and I have to say that the locals look great in HD/MPEG4 here. Plus I have had no problems recording/watching my HD/MPEG4 channels, so you know that it can be done.

 

[jgrade]

OTA will allow you to receive ALL the local channels that are broadcast in HD not just the ones D has been able to negotiate a contract with. You may be missing several channels at this point. Plus you will get the full resolution broadcast, not the converted and compressed resoluions/signal D sends. There have been many discussions on the "bit starved" D signal and the quality of the OTA VS D. OTA has advantages but as you point out is another investment.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Why should OTA even be necessary? Shouldn't we be getting "perfect" reception without it? And that also means that I would have to invest even more $$$ to get an antenna and then have it installed....

What I ment by that, is that with OTA you have another "source" of the same broadcasting from the network. So you can then have more information if it is the network having the problem, or somethign with the Network->DirecTV connection (MPEG-4 Conversion)

 

[kram]

So, are you saying that the fault lies with both the locals and with D*? Doesn't this, then, defeat the whole purpose of having an HR20? If the locals don't know how to use the technology and then D* cheats customers by skimping on the signal, what good is it? If this is the case, I guess I could have just added an OTA to my 10-250! It's almost like D* is cutting off their nose to spite their face! I just don't understand....

 

[Earl Bonovich]

So, are you saying that the fault lies with both the locals and with D*? Doesn't this, then, defeat the whole purpose of having an HR20? If the locals don't know how to use the technology and then D* cheats customers by skimping on the signal, what good is it? If this is the case, I guess I could have just added an OTA to my 10-250! It's almost like D* is cutting off their nose to spite their face! I just don't understand....

There are multiple pieces to the puzzle.

The Affiliate is responsible for getting the content from the network/broadcaster.

They in-turn are usually responsible for generating the OTA Signal feed (via equipment on their side).

Some areas DirecTV picks up the signal via OTA, others they have other connections (such as fiber)... to their uplink centers. And depending on the relationship between DirecTV and the affiliate, it could be either or both parties responsibilities for that "connection"

After that, DirecTV encodes it to MPEG-4 and then sends the signal to your box.

Each local is different from one another...
Each issue can be different from the last (encoder equipment failure, broadcast equipment failure or simply someone forgetting to flip a switch... not all of them are automatd yet), ect...

Ultimately... DirecTV is 99% a content "transmitter"... they are only as good as the source it comes from. For example, the threads on DirecTV not carrying all football games in HD... or carrying SCI-FI in HD.... IF the source is not availabe in HD... DirecTV can't do anything about it.

 

[Wolffpack]

There are numerous posts on this board about how bad the locals are when it comes to broadcasting programs in HD/MPEG4. My question is this: What good is the technology if the local affiliates don't know how (or don't care) to use it? During the past few weeks, the quality of the local HD broadcasts here in the Denver area has deteriorated considerably, compounded by continual technical problems. Last night, in particular, was a debacle (refer to my post in "Bad locals in Denver"). Is this because of the affiliates' lack of technical knowledge, or is it because of what D* does with the signal once the affiliates pass it to them??

When you experience problems like this check over at AVSForum in the local HD section. The thread for Denver is: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=28456.

Typically if the station is having problems you'll see comments in these threads. If you've had problems and no one on the OTA side reported any problems odds are it's a DTV problem.

 

[DCSholtis]

Half of the MPEG-4 "problem" has been taken care of in Cleveland. The NBC picture has been fixed. CBS is still problematic with the 8mm filmed look. And now it appears our HD RSN channel is still having problems no matter if its STO programming or FSN Ohio programming (Im very surprised that the problem still exists due to FSN Ohio being at 720p but it does).

 

[kram]

Checked out the AVSForum and the only HD problems that were reported had to do with the Broncos game last Sunday.

I guess the bottom line is that no one really has to do anything to fix the problems until 2009, when federal law mandates that they must.

 

[litzdog911]

The quality of our Seattle MPEG4 locals compared to my HR10-250's OTA quality is quite good. Our CBS channel sometimes has audio/video glitches, but they happen on both the HR20 and HR10-250's OTA, so that's cleary originating with the local station.

But we're still waiting for DirecTV to provide our Fox and ABC channels.

 

[mdickson]

OTA not just problems with the D* locals but OTA will get some of us much more local content.

In SF Bay area the local PBS has 5 digital OTA channels.
One HD and the others have thier own 'PBS flavored themes'
Kids, Arts etc.
I am wondering how good D* programming for the guide is going to be
for these types of locals (I guess my Tivo did it so I should not worry )

 

[kram]

So what's the "bottom line"? Get OTA when available? Since I'm not familiar with OTA, how does it work? I know it's attached to the dish and then cabled to the HR20, but what appears in the Guide? How do you know which channel is which?

 

[Earl Bonovich]

So what's the "bottom line"? Get OTA when available? Since I'm not familiar with OTA, how does it work? I know it's attached to the dish and then cabled to the HR20, but what appears in the Guide? How do you know which channel is which?

Bottom line all depends on your situation.
Determining what you will get via OTA and if it is worth the cost.

A good antenna, doesn't clip onto your dish.
As there is no guarantee that your dish is lined up exact with your broadcast towers.

As for how it will apear in the guide.
Your OTA digital channesl will appear as 2-1;2-2; 5-1;5-2; 7-1; 7-2;7-3

For which ever apply to your area.
Also, I have been told that they are going to also appear in a different shade of "blue" (darker greyish almost), so it is even more apparent on which is OTA and which is SAT based.

 

[litzdog911]

So what's the "bottom line"? Get OTA when available? Since I'm not familiar with OTA, how does it work? I know it's attached to the dish and then cabled to the HR20, but what appears in the Guide? How do you know which channel is which?

Check out http://www.antennaweb.org to see what OTA stations are available in your area along with antenna recommendations.

 

[mdickson]

So what's the "bottom line"? Get OTA when available? Since I'm not familiar with OTA, how does it work? I know it's attached to the dish and then cabled to the HR20, but what appears in the Guide? How do you know which channel is which?

Ok here is the basics, but since it is not available on the HR20 yet, i'm just writing of my experience with my old Sony D* and OTA reciver hooked up with Tivo.

Before we start you need to make sure that you can get a OTA broadcast, in some sort of large city etc., there are web sites that cover what OTA is available where

The hardware:
You need an antenna, they make expensive ones but I have a ~$20 from RadioShack that works great, you will also need some sort of mount. Just place it near your dish and have it pointed as best you can toward the OTA broadcast antenna.
String a cable from the roof down to your box and screw it in. (I would not recommend using a duplexer, there are other posts here on why that might or might not work.) Cost > $50 depending on distance to box etc.

When OTA is enabled the OTA channels should show up as just more channels in you guide or while surfing. Im sure there is some sort of setup for getting this all the way you want it or the way D* thinks you should have it but for lack of seeing any other details that is about how it is going to work.

So to sum, to get ready for OTA
1. Make sure you can get OTA in your area
2. Setup an antenna and plug it in
3. Wait for it to be enabled.

 

[nocaster]

I think many stations treat their DTV broadcasts like a step child. Our ABC affiliate went dark for about three days last month. Apparently they had some equipment failure. They mentioned it on their news broadcast once and didn't really seem to care. This would not have happened if it were their analog SD feed. While OTA HD is nice, it is not without problems at this piont in time. D* is probably at the mercy of the affiliates when it comes to their DTV broadcast.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

I think many stations treat their DTV broadcasts like a step child. Our ABC affiliate went dark for about three days last month. Apparently they had some equipment failure. They mentioned it on their news broadcast once and didn't really seem to care. This would not have happened if it were their analog SD feed. While OTA HD is nice, it is not without problems at this piont in time. D* is probably at the mercy of the affiliates when it comes to their DTV broadcast.

As much as we LOVE HD...

% of Digital Signal viewers is significantly lower then the Analog versions... and not even close. Getting larger yes..

I think a lot of the "we don't care" scenerios will be eliminated over the next 2 years, as we get closer to the Analog cuttoff date.

 

[nocaster]

As much as we LOVE HD...

% of Digital Signal viewers is significantly lower then the Analog versions... and not even close. Getting larger yes..

I think a lot of the "we don't care" scenerios will be eliminated over the next 2 years, as we get closer to the Analog cuttoff date.

That's exactly it. As much as we love HD, the local stations seem to hate it and treat us as pests. I think they mainly hate it now because of the huge capital costs of new transmission equipment and enormous power bills to basically transmit a duplicate signal most of the time.