Comcast promises 400 HD channels this year.

[Smokey]

Never before have we had so many options for getting HD content, but these marketing claims are getting out of control. DirecTV kicked it off at CES this year, claiming 100 national HD channels.

Now a Comcast exec announced that they will have 400 HD channels this year, and 800 in 2008. Never-mind the fact that there are nowhere near that many HD channels of available content, but 800 quality HD channels would take up almost 11 Gbps of throughput (using today's technology).

So in order to make this work, we presume they will need to deploy Switched Digital Video, which is great and all, but renders every CableCARD device made today obsolete.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/06/13/comcast-promises-400-hd-channels-this-year-and-800-the-next/

[recoveryone]

the real question is? how much will it cost!

[Smokey]

Comcast customers might be in surprise to see their cable bill go up significantly in the near future not only because of cost of added HD channels, but also of new FCC mandate going into effect July 1, 2007 that requires cable companies to install Cable Card-equipped set-top boxes for all new digital subscribers.

http://wwww.engadgethd.com/2007/06/15/comcast-will-raise-their-rates-thanks-to-a-new-fcc-ruling/

[L.J.]

800 HD Channels! That's alot of freakin' HD :6:

Curious to see what's gonna happen by the end of the year.

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

According to the Audioholic goons DirecTV is going to count every HD PPVMovie as '1 channel'. So you don't really get any more channel-channels. Just PPV 'channels'.

[Smokey]

800 HD Channels! That's alot of freakin' HD :6:

Curious to see what's gonna happen by the end of the year.

As Rock&Roll Ninja said, PPV channels probably count as 1 HD channel. And for Comcast, On-demand channels also will count as HD as well as any seasonal events such as sport.

[PeruvianSkies]

I wonder how many of those channels will be broadcast with DD 5.1 or if they will be in stereo or strange 4.0/4.1 setups like some of the HD channels are now, like NBC. Also, I wonder if they will all be native 16X9 or if they'll stretch out 4x3 material to fit HD 16X9, like TNT.

[pixelthis]

Cant say it will be the same everywhere else, but in my neighborhood what they are offering is pretty good
I know what you mean about "fake" hdtv like on Tnt BUT they have no control over that.
Basically they offer what the programmers provide, which is mostly dd 5.1 for most HD and some standard def. Most 2:35 to one stuff is letterboxed.
SOME is so good it makes you wanna cry, like fifth element off of on demand (for no extra)
and hitchers guide to the galaxy was just amazing, as were the starwars movies max was showing a few months back (and is still showing)
MHD ((music high fidelity) has repeats but thats okay for music, the pink in new york,
alicia keys, and dave matthews band stand out.
UHD just started and in trying. One episode of northern exposure they had first standard
def streached, then "framed" all the way around and then glorious hi-def, really amazing.
As are a lot of old shows they show out of their vault, most TV is shot in film, which automatically means hi-def, a lot of good stuff, basically.
Mainly the question is "bandwidth" and with fiber-optic they have sattelite beat up down and sideways.
Another question is how they handle 4:3 material. My box has a menu that has a lot of choices, 4:3 you can just show interlaced, "4:3 or streached, or 480p
You can set the pic to 16:9 or 4:3 depending on your set, and the rez choices are 480i, 480p, 720p, or 1080i.
I chose 720p for my vizio, and 1080i for a friends set I installed, a 1080p that I though would more easily convert that to its native rez.
Also video noise is there on standard def, but only visible close, turning down the sharpness helps, again it depends on the provider and weather or not the stuff is in the "digital" or "analog" part of the band. Most digital standard def is very good, and they are "moving " just about everything into higher channels in order show it in digital.
And the music is good for casual listening but wont make audiophiles throw away their turntables:1:

[pixelthis]

Never before have we had so many options for getting HD content, but these marketing claims are getting out of control. DirecTV kicked it off at CES this year, claiming 100 national HD channels.

Now a Comcast exec announced that they will have 400 HD channels this year, and 800 in 2008. Never-mind the fact that there are nowhere near that many HD channels of available content, but 800 quality HD channels would take up almost 11 Gbps of throughput (using today's technology).

So in order to make this work, we presume they will need to deploy Switched Digital Video, which is great and all, but renders every CableCARD device made today obsolete.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/06/13/comcast-promises-400-hd-channels-this-year-and-800-the-next/
Cable card devices are required "if YOU ASK FOR THEM, most wont care and this should be minimal expense, and its always been known that a lot of "perks" like dvr and ppv
wouldnt be possible with cablecard, further showing the llimitations of that tech.
AND one ppv movie has always been though of as one channel, and the 11 gig requirement is probably conservative, but with fiber-optic 20 gigs would be no problem,
My cable modem works betwen channel 3 and 4, not channel 3 and 4, BETWEEN
channel 3 and 4, and it has a dl of 15 mbps!
As for cost how about 180 for modem and all channels?
I just dont do dvds anymore because they almost always disapoint, unless I want to collect one, so this is basically what I pay for entertainment, and trust me, its a bargain.
I have several hundred ondemand movies I can watch, inc some from premium channels
for no extra charge also, and nat geo, a&e, and disc can be very addictive