• 05-02-2011, 02:36 PM
    pixelthis
    1 Attachment(s)
    xFINITY and beyond(to quote 2001)
    THE GUY from COMCAST came by today and "fixed" our cable boxes so that they would
    pick up all of the "new" HD that Comcast is offering.
    THIS IS Comcast-ese for "getting all of the stuff that everybody else is getting".
    I LOVE COMPETITION, when I was last in comcasts office they had big signs about
    both SATTELITE and UVERSE, which were somewhat akin to the signs in BLOCKBUSTER
    talking about REDBOX and NETFLIX.
    I bet we wouldn't be getting all of these "new" channels without competition, thats for sure.
    ONE thing I have to give Comcast credit for, the PQ on their HD is simply amazing,
    not up to BLU, but close. And customer service is first rate. Still expensive, though.
    But still progress, of a sort. Since a friend is having trouble with UVERSE (fifty feet
    from where he can get cable) I will probably keep COMCAST, as long as they keep it up with the outstanding(if a bit pricey) product. THEY still haven't figured out that consumers
    know how to shop, and compare prices, tho.
    But baby steps is better than no steps, although the Russians picked up on capitalism
    faster than they are.
    But man, these HD channels are lookin good!:1:
  • 05-02-2011, 03:11 PM
    bobsticks
    That certainly is a fringe benifit of competition within that market. I received a very pleasant letter a few months ago announcing that I'd be receiving about ten new channels from the Dish service.
  • 05-03-2011, 12:07 PM
    Woochifer
    Sounds to me like they're also ramping up for an infrastructure switchover. The mandates for cable carriers to continue providing compatible signals for analog TVs are ending soon, and I'm sure Comcast would love nothing more than to reclaim the extra bandwidth and try to upsell their remaining analog subscribers to more expensive digital tiers.

    Also, cable providers are switching their DTV streams over to the more efficient MPEG-4 codec, and they can only do that by switching out older boxes that only supported MPEG-2 streams. Moving to newer MPEG-4 boxes also allows Comcast to begin adding 3D channels and additional PPV and on-demand options. Directv finished their MPEG-4 transition almost two years ago when they removed their remaining MPEG-2 HD transmissions. Comparing the MPEG-4 HD quality with MPEG-2, the MPEG-4 streams looked noticeably better with less macroblocking.
  • 05-03-2011, 12:22 PM
    Woochifer
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bobsticks
    That certainly is a fringe benifit of competition within that market. I received a very pleasant letter a few months ago announcing that I'd be receiving about ten new channels from the Dish service.

    I wish somebody would send that letter over to Directv! They've been coasting off their "most HD channels" reputation for more than a year, hardly adding any new HD channels as everybody else has been catching up.
  • 05-03-2011, 12:57 PM
    pixelthis
    1 Attachment(s)
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Woochifer
    Sounds to me like they're also ramping up for an infrastructure switchover. The mandates for cable carriers to continue providing compatible signals for analog TVs are ending soon, and I'm sure Comcast would love nothing more than to reclaim the extra bandwidth and try to upsell their remaining analog subscribers to more expensive digital tiers.

    Also, cable providers are switching their DTV streams over to the more efficient MPEG-4 codec, and they can only do that by switching out older boxes that only supported MPEG-2 streams. Moving to newer MPEG-4 boxes also allows Comcast to begin adding 3D channels and additional PPV and on-demand options. Directv finished their MPEG-4 transition almost two years ago when they removed their remaining MPEG-2 HD transmissions. Comparing the MPEG-4 HD quality with MPEG-2, the MPEG-4 streams looked noticeably better with less macroblocking.

    YOU ARE HALF RIGHT.
    The old silver Motorola handles the new channels fine. THE NEW 3400 boxes just have
    more processing power and recording space.
    And yes, they have already dropped the analog stations, allowing each home up
    to three "digital adapter" nubins. I have installed a zillion of these easy to install
    devices because, of course, the people who need them most , are oldtimers
    who haven't a clue. IF smoke lived around here he would have one of these.
    They work fine, with station ID and not much else, except a remote.
    So the "digital migration" as Comcast calls it, is complete. BUT IF I still had
    my old house, it most likely would be a "migration" to Uverse.
    But long term, acess will get pretty cheap. Once you build infrastructure
    its not that expensive, and with all of these providers(two sats, uverse, cable)
    the prices have to come down, if people shop.:1: