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Attention Washingtonians (1 Viewer)

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
Updated 3/2/04

Well good news for those of us who live in Western Washington. Comcast is keeping up on there promise to bring HDTV to market and in doing this has launched several new channels in the past few days.

For those who are unaware They now have launched KING/KONG/KCPQ/KTWB in the last week.

This brings the current lineup to be as follows

CHL 104 - KOMO HD Feed 1080i
CHL 105 - KING HD Feed 1080i
CHL 106 - KONG HD Feed 1080i
CHL 108 - KCTS HD feed from 5pm - 12am 1080i
CHL 109 - KCTS ED digital Simulcast 480p
CHL 110 - KTWB HD Feed 1080i
CHL 112 - KCTS Learns ED channel 480p
CHL 113 - KCPQ HD Feed 480p Widescreen (720p fall of 2004)
CHL 119 - KCTS Kids ED 480p
CHL 173 - ESPN HD feed 1080i
CHL 532 - STARZ West HD Feed 1080i
CHL 549 - HBO West HD feed 1080i
CHL 563 - Cinemax West HD feed 1080i
CHL 574 - Showtime West HD feed 1080i
CHL 664 - INHD1 1080i
CHL 665 - INHD2 1080i

UPDATE!!
Launching 4/1
NBA TV
DIY Network
Starz Kids

I realize these 3 aren't HD However now that they will have NBA tv the HD games on INHD1 will no longer (as of 4/1) be blacked out.
UPDATE!!

Have a good one guys.
 

Al Shing

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 9, 2003
Messages
108
This I can definately say is the beginning I foresee the rest of the locals to be online by years end.
Well, ok, but remember it was November last year that they promised us the locals would be on soon.

We really really want ABC on before Monday Night Football starts in earnest, FOX before the Baseball Playoffs, and CBS before the new season of CSI:Crime Scene Investigation starts in September.

And whither Bravo HD?
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
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Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
Well, ok, but remember it was November last year that they promised us the locals would be on soon
That was also AT&T Broadband making those promises which was honestly getting closer and closer to bankruptcy in my honest opinion.

At anyrate From what I've heard NBC & CBS are coming next. Also I've heard plans of Starz HD as well as Starz EDTV for movies that are not produced in 1080i so basically a Starz channel that is in 1080i and a Starz in 480p from how it was described to me.

One other thing my understanding was that Fox was not doing 1080i broadcast's yet but only broadcasting in 480p. I might be mistaken about this but I'm sure I've seen other discussions on here regarding that.
 

Dan Stone

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I would also forsee Discovery HD theater coming soon
While I'd love to see Discovery HD on Comcast, it seems pretty doubtful considering the two new iNHD channels that Comcast will be launching on September 1st. The two channels seem to be aimed squarely as being Comcast options for Discovery HD and HD Net.
 

Steve Enemark

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
482
The new ESPN-HD channel is gorgeous, I actually watched a few minutes of a sporting event last night, it was so lovely. The HD PBS channel is underwhelming to my eyes, quite blurry and noisy. Hopefully it'll improve...
 

Al Shing

Stunt Coordinator
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Jan 9, 2003
Messages
108
At anyrate From what I've heard NBC & CBS are coming next.
Somebody on another forum sent an email to KOMO asking about the rumors that KOMO was going to be added on August 28. He got a reply from somebody at KOMO confirming that they actually signed a contract with Comcast two weeks ago and are supposed to be added by the end of August.

As always, there's nothing like a press release from Steve Kipp of Comcast, or actually seeing the channel show up on the box, but there's cause for hope.
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
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Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
Steve which PBS channel were you watching out of curiosity, the only true "HD" feed of the 4 is 108 the other 3 are SD 480p signals so they will of course be not as good. Just wondering. I have yet to check out 108 since I'm already home when it goes on the air at 5pm and dont have an HD set yet.

Al if you're correct then thats more than I've heard unfortunately they keep most of us in the dark about things and as everyone else find out when Steve says so or about a week before launch. I guess they dont want us giving people dates in case of equipemnt problems etc oh well have a good one all.
 

Steve Enemark

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
482
I was watching channel 108, I don't remember the channel name, something like KCTSD. It looked slightly better than the other three channels, but still far inferior to ESPN-HD. Granted, that was only one program sampled from each channel, so hopefully KCTS will have better-looking programming soon.
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
It has been confirmed KOMO launchs on 8/28 it will be channel 104!

Heres some info I recieved at work

KOMO Programming:
•KOMO HD will be run 24 hours a day on Digital Cable channel 104.
•KOMO HD will feature a mix of originally produced HD content and up-converted programming in a 1080i HDTV format.
•The originally produced HD content will include Monday Night Football, Alias, KOMO News, Northwest Afternoon, Dragnet, The Practice, NYPD Blue, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Life With Bonnie, According to Jim, Less Than Perfect, My Wife and Kids, George Lopez as well as upcoming new fall shows Threat Matrix, Karen Sisco and I’m with Her. To learn more about ABC shows, go to www.komo4.com or www.abc.com
 

Michael D. Bunting

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Thanks for all the updates Jeremy!!! :emoji_thumbsup:

I'll be in Germany until around 15 SEP, but I can't wait to get home to finally see some HD from Comcast...especially ESPN HD and KOMO 4 (Jennifer Garner in ALIAS :) ) !

As soon as CBS and Fox are added (hopefully soon!) I'll be selling my OTA Zenith HD Box !
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
Steve,

I got my HD box this weekend and as for KCTS I watched Over Canada last night and it looked great, with ESPN HD I've noticed most of the material is just stretched 480i signal though the Phillies game last night was being shot in actual 1080i rez. Other than that I'm quite happy with the new box and cant wait for KOMO and whatever else will be coming soon. I'll keep updating this as I get info.

One last thing to mention is we now have the DCT-5100's with the DVI output on them as i got one yesterday.
 

Al Shing

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 9, 2003
Messages
108
KOMO HD will feature a mix of originally produced HD content and up-converted programming in a 1080i HDTV format.
KOMO and ABC broadcast in 720p. Is Comcast doing this conversion to 1080i, and if so, why? Or is this just a typo on somebody's part?
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
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Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
Well I've had my 5100 for a couple days now and all I have to say is WOW!

I'm addicted to KCTS HD the "Over" shows look absolutely amazing as well as soundstage. I've watched quite a few movies and also caught bits of the Mariners and Phillie game this last Sunday and it all looks amazing.

Being that I only have a Standard TV I didn't think it would make a difference but it even blows my DVD player out of the water I cant wait to get an HD-Set.
 

Al Shing

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 9, 2003
Messages
108
Being that I only have a Standard TV I didn't think it would make a difference but it even blows my DVD player out of the water I cant wait to get an HD-Set.
So they let Comcast employees have these boxes without an HD set, but not customers.

I don't know if they run those "Over ..." programs all the time or if they're running them because of all the new Comcast viewers, but some of them are outstanding in HD. "Over BC" does not look as good as "Over Canada" even though it uses some of the same footage. "Washington the Beautiful" last night was great - I had to stay up to watch it to the end, even though I know it'll probably be rerun again soon. It was interesting that the Seattle footage has the Kingdome and no Safeco Field, which shows how old some of these programs are.

Oh, and they are sponsored by "TCI of Washington".
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
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Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
One other thing to answer the 720p/1080i ABC question I believe the DCT 5100 will upconvert to 1080i as without the 4:3 override turned on displays all channels at 1080i so I dont think it switchs to 720p output etc I'm going to ask around and try to contact Motorola as well, so it wouldn't be upconverted from us but the box would do so its self unless you went into the settings menu and switched it to 720p for its output. I'll keep ya posted with my findings.
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
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Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
Ok a few updates here.....

ABC will be upconverted to 1080i, Also I can't give official word on this but we will probably be launching INHD in the very near future, if you want more details you can go to www.inhd.com.

also as for the HBO crop's complaints I think that its the studios, I've watched 4 movies this week all in 2.35:1, The 5th Element, Mission Impossible, Judge Dredd, & Monsters Ball. So honestly it would seem to me that the studio's are choosing to crop or not crop there movies for HDTV presentation.
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
Well its official INHD1 & INHD2 launch on chls 664 & 665 on Oct. 1st!! both 24 hours a day 1080i content with current contracts for MLB, CSTV (College Sports Television) as well as movies concerts and other variety content.
 

Michael D. Bunting

Screenwriter
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GREAT NEWS JEREMY! Thanks for all the updates!

Now, the rest of the locals :)

How is KOMO 4 HD looking? I'll be back at home in about 10-11 days....
 

JeremyFr

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
794
The HD looks great on KOMO, I caught part of the Monday Night Football on Monday and catch what shows I can on my days off and it looks pretty good. There have been complaints of Audio Sync problems on the HD content and according to KOMO its coming from ABC and they are currently working with ABC to track it down and fix it.
 

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