HDTV Expanding in Canada (1 Viewer)

[James FT]

It is not widely known that Rogers Cable one of the largest cable companies in Canada is now offering six channels of HDTV. This includes all the American network feeds TSN staring in January and HDnet. I understand this offer is only available in certain parts of the country. Toronto is one of the selected areas.
More information can be obtained at their web site www.rogers.com. Needless to say I am certain that they will have some growing pains,based on the previous inconsientcies with the internet service,that they offer.
It is interesting to note that Bell expressvu is now carrying slected hockey games via HD net. It appears that the games originate with Fox. I believe they only broadcast at 480p but it is a vast improvement over the previous offerings. Unfortunataley there are no Canadian stations that broadcast HDTV with the exception of TSN which is suppose to come on line in January.
Home Box office Canada is scheduled to start soon but it is unknown at this time if they will offer a HDTV selection.
Certainly things are looking up on availability of programming in Canada, which has had significant increase over the past year.
Many americans close to the border susbscribe to the Bell expressvu sattelite service which is very similar to dishnet.

 

[Len Cheong]

Thanks for the info. I find the progress of hdtv arrival to be such a slow crawl here. I hope Rogers starts offering hdtv here. Here's a link I found.
http://www.shoprogers.com/store/cabl..._ONpricing.asp

 

[curtis_l]

That's awesome news James. I'm going to check out Trutone and see if they have theirs setup. As I understand the box is 19.95 a month, which is not bad comparing to whateer else is out there.

 

[Ugo Scarlata]

HDTV is here at last! A Rogers tech is supposed to bring my Explorer 2000HD box tomorrow morning...
The Movie Network's HD feed should be added to the lineup in January... I'm keeping my fingers crossed for re-runs of The Sopranos and Band of Brothers in High Def.
Cheers,

 

[Norm Lalonde]

As far as I can tell, this is the info available.

For Rogers, there is actually 8 HD channels:

CBS-HD

ABC-HD

NBC-HD

FOX-HD

PBS-HD

Movie Network -HD

PPV-HD

Rogers-HD

As for Bell ExpressVu, the hockey games that are being shown are full 1080i HD presentations from HDNET, using the Fox Sportsnet broadcasters and on screen info.

I'm going to be interested to see if Bell does anything to try and even things out in terms of HD.

Norm

 

[curtis_l]

Checked out Trutone but they didn't have cable to begin with! So no demo.

Anyway I did order it and still waiting. Friend of mine oredered after me and he already has his and he lives 5 minutes away !? Go figure?

The real test for him will be tonight as all the prime time hd shows will be on.

The only gripe that seems to be is the switching of inputs from hd source to analog. Can they make the receiver box "recognize" a non-hd souce and still output the picture w/o adding black bars to the sides? This occurs only when you watch a regular program on the hd input and the receiver(or station) has upconverted the program thus placing side bars. You then have to switch back to analog input.

 

[JohnnyG]

I'm in the same boat - no cable to this building! Hopefully something can be worked out though.

I just picked up my 2000HD this morning!

 

[Martin Rendall]

Grrr. Ordered mine Monday afternoon - still waiting on delivery. Maybe I should have picked it up?
The waiting is killing me!

Martin.

 

[JohnnyG]

Martin, have you phoned to double check? I ordered mine on Wednesday morning and they attempted to deliver it the very next day. I also double checked Wednesday night (after receiving a confusing phone message from them).

 

[Elliott Willschick]

I can't get a straight answer from Rogers, do you need to have digital cable before you get an HD box? I would prefer to just get HD because most of the digital cable channels don't interest me. I also can't believe it's only an additional $20 a month.

Thanks

 

[James FT]

Has anyone been connected with Rogers yet? Are they offering any substial programming or is it limited,similar to what expressvu is offering. Rogers tend to advertise things out of proportion. I am thinking of getting a set top box for an elderly friend,and I am hoping it is reraltively simple to operate. I would be interested in anyone comments.

 

[Ugo Scarlata]

Has anyone been connected with Rogers yet?

I got my HD box last Thursday and I am pleasantly surprised with this initial offering. The set top box is a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000HD -- it is identical to the Explorer 2000 currently used for Rogers' "Digital" Cable, with the addition of component and RGB outputs.
The only channels available right now are the Detroit affiliates of the major networks: CBS, ABC, PBS, NBC and FOX. Rogers is also running a short demo loop on channel 280. Keep in mind that the actual amount of HDTV programming depends on what the networks have to offer, and whether or not the Detroit affiliates are picking it up.
The demo that PBS runs throughout the day is breathtaking! It features scenic tours of various towns, all taped in HD 1080i. Over on NBC, Leno in HD looks great as well... but as a Letterman fan, I can't stand to watch an entire show.
As far as primetime programming goes, CBS seems to be the network most committed to HDTV: virtually all of their primetime shows are 1080i. And although FOX does not broadcast in HD at all, I watched The X-Files in true 16:9 last night, and was quite pleased with the SDTV picture (even though it was only 480p.)
According to Rogers, The Movie Network and a PPV channel should be added in January...
Cheers,

 

[Martin Rendall]

Received my box this morning. Will hook it up tonight.

Anybody know TMN details? I'm interested to know whether for HD, they will P&S movies to 16x9, or if they'll respect OAR.

Thanks,

Martin.

 

[David Chisholm]

I own a Toshiba TN61x81 4:3 ratio tv. Will the rogers box

do aspec ratio control like a DVD player and output a down

converted 810i HD letterbox signal to work with my screen

size. I tried talking to a couple of Rogers rep's and know

one can answer my question.

Thanks in advance,

Dave.

 

[Brian Mc Gregor]

Pardon me if I missed this, but was there any answer on whether you had to order Rogers digital cable to get the 8 HD channels?

Thanks,

Brian

 

[Martin Rendall]

Brian,

I had basic cable. To get HDTV, I supposedly had to order the $20 extra a month service. This includes the HDTV and digital channels capability, but I didn't order any of the digital channels. If everything goes as I'm expecting, then I should get HDTV channels, the interractive guide, and possibly the currently free new DTV channels in preview.

I'll post tonight to let you know what actually happened.

Martin.

 

[JohnnyG]

Martin, most of the TMN HD movies shown on ExpressVu and Star Choice so far have been in OAR. I have/had SC and so far, no TMN HD presentations have been in 5.1 though.

David, as far I can tell, the 2000HD does not have the ability to convert to 810i for your display. Toshiba has a device available called the HDP-01 that they are selling directly to 'qualified' customers for $150. The 'qualification' was a Toshiba TV like yours and a Star Choice or ExpressVu HD receiver, but they may be willing to add Rogers HD service now.

Brian, the mimimum price of admission is Basic cable at $21.29 (can vary depending on your location), and the HDTV service at $19.95, for a total of $41.24. In addition to the HD channels, you also get a few regular digital channels (nothing to get excited about) and the 40 digital music stations (which I love). You also get access to pay-per-view.

 

[Ugo Scarlata]

I own a Toshiba TN61x81 4:3 ratio tv. Will the rogers box do aspec ratio control like a DVD player and output a down converted 810i HD letterbox signal to work with my screen size.

I too own a Toshiba 4:3 set... It is a TP61H95, but this information should apply to your model as well.
As John stated, the SA box does not do any kind of aspect ratio control. Furthermore it upconverts and windowboxes all non-HD channels, when using the component outputs (because the box expects a 16:9 set.) Getting rid of the windowboxing on regular analog and digital channels was easy: I just used the box's S-Video output. But getting HD material to display correctly on my 4:3 set was a bit trickier...
In order to get a correct aspect ratio on the HD channels, I had to tweak my set to squeeze the picture horizontally... The procedure is the same as the anamorphic squeeze described on this page from Keohi HDTV. It involved reducing the height from the service menu, adjusting the overall geometry, and then doing a full convergence.
My set now behaves like a real 16:9 set when in HD mode... Fortunately the set has a separate memory for the 1080i input, so the changes made to the geometry and convergence while in 1080i mode do not affect all the other modes.
Cheers,

 

[Martin Rendall]

Brian,

I promised to report back, and it was as I and JohnnyG have said.

Anybody notice that the upconverted 480p or NTSC looks like crap? The regular digital channels are coming out better. The 1080i is breathtaking, however.

Martin.

 

[David Chisholm]

Thanks Johnny & Ugo for answering my questions.

I just ordered by HD box and the Roger tech. will be out

thursday night to do the switch for me.

Ugo thanks for the link and the procedure from your link to

do the squeeze for 1080i signal is for my TV. The great

thing about this procedure is that I'll be getting the

full 1080i signal whenever my TV receives HD signals.

Dave.