Singular
Premium
join:2008-08-13
Shelbyville, KY
2 edits | reply to bigredtbone
Re: [CATV] Insight Digital 4.0 - New HD Channels Announced
I was pretty sure cable providers were not required to change their broadcasting to all digital. It was only over the air transmissions that were going to change. Anything that insight does goes over a wire so they are actually offering us upgrades and not doing something because the government says they have to.
I meant to quote TBC1 too. |
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rq234
join:2008-09-19
Louisville, KY
1 edit | reply to TBC1
Broadcasting in digital is not broadcasting in HD. You're confusing the analog to digital transition with HD. |
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shivan
@insightbb.com
| reply to TBC1
said by TBC1  :said by bigredtbone : Insight isn't taking HD seriously, no cable provider is. They have no choice, they all have to broadcast in HD by Feb. 17, 2009. It isn't like they are offering us these channels as upgrades, they are just going ahead a bit before the deadline. Realistically, they should have been offering more sooner than this anyway. If they try charging me for HD channels that come with my basic package that has to be HD by law, I won't be using Insight anymore. I may be mistaken, but the February date is not to broadcast in HD, but to broadcast a digital signal. There is a difference between digital and HD. Besides, the Febuary date is strictly for over the air networks. |
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Singular
Premium
join:2008-08-13
Shelbyville, KY | Yeah, that is what I was getting at. It has nothing to do with cable at all. |
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babacher
sleep apnea sucks
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-28
Greenwood, IN
clubs:
| reply to bigredtbone
I'm glad to have more HD choices, but the only thing I was craving in HD is Speed Channel... and it ain't on the list.
It's available from DirecTV, but I'd have to pay a lot more per month.
--
Help us cure TSC and cancer: Team Discovery |
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BG4
@flylouisville.com
| reply to bigredtbone
I have been talking to a friend that works at Insight and they informed me that Insight Digital 4.0 is set to release in November or December. They did not have the exact date but that they are "testing" it in select markets to see how it is working. They did not mention to me other channels that they would be adding in the future. It looks like we are stuck with what we got. And I am sure hoping that it will be before December before we get these channels added. |
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Han Solo
@insightbb.com
| reply to bigredtbone
Actually I am sort of impressed. I was starting to think it would be a LONG time before Insight got nearly this many additional HD channels.
My guess is that they are taking the TOP-x channels from their recent survey and adding them.
For some of the others that have fewer viewers like The Golf Channel, they will probably be added in ones and twos in the future.
Although, I thought that they were going to have to upgrade to Docsis version 3 or whatever to get they bandwidth required for so many HD channels before they could really compete with Satellite.
I thought it would be a long time before that happened and hence a long time before many HD channels showed up.
Personally, I think that they would be much better off just dropping the whole 'digital cable' thing and just keeping the traditional ANALOG for the non-HD, and using that extra bandwidth to add additional HD channels.
I can't tell the difference between the signals on 'Digital Cable', and a properly connected analog cable signal (good cable, not a dozen splitters etc).
They have to be wasting a huge amount of signal capacity by transmitting many stations THREE TIMES... take TNT, its on Analog, Digital Cable, and HD. What a waste.
ANYONE NOTICE that they are saying "FREE" if you already receive these channels. So, does that mean you can get the HD channels WITHOUT the digital cable package? I would be happy just dropping the digital cable package if I could get just the analog and HD versions of the stations I liked. |
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bigredtbone
join:2005-08-24
Bowling Green, KY
| said by Han Solo :
They have to be wasting a huge amount of signal capacity by transmitting many stations THREE TIMES... take TNT, its on Analog, Digital Cable, and HD. What a waste.
Actually, that's not quite correct. There are only 2 versions of TNT being transmitted - an analog version and an HD version. These are 2 distinct channels. Here in Bowling Green, TNT is on Channel 19 and TNT-HD is 925.
But wait, what about the one on Channel 112? The analog signal is just mapped to that number in addition to being mapped to channel 19. It's not being transmitted twice - it's just mapped to 2 channel numbers. It's not taking any additional bandwidth.
said by Han Solo :
ANYONE NOTICE that they are saying "FREE" if you already receive these channels. So, does that mean you can get the HD channels WITHOUT the digital cable package? I would be happy just dropping the digital cable package if I could get just the analog and HD versions of the stations I liked.
The way Insight works is that it gives you the HD version of a channel if it has an SD/digital counterpart. Right now, to get HD versions of things like TNT, ESPN, TBS, etc., you have to subscribe to the Classic Package (to get the SD version), Insight Digital 3.2 with DVR & HDTV (to get the HD version), the Digital Pack (in order to get HD channels with only a digital counterpart).
The HD Pack that Insight has (and charges $7.95/mo. for) has channels with no SD/digital counterpart: HDNet, HDNet Movies, Universal HD, HD Theatre.
The whole "FREE" thing means that none of the new channels will be going in this extra package. If it has an SD/digital counterpart (A&E, CNN, Bravo, USA, CNBC, Fox Biz, etc.), and you meet the above requirements to get HD channels in the first place, then you'll get it for free.
The only exceptions are Starz and Cinemax, and obviously you have to subscribe to those premium services to get those channels.
Hope that helps clarify things! |
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Speed_Racer
@insightbb.com | reply to babacher
I would like to add another vote for Speed Channel HD. I was really looking forward to next years Formula One season in HD. I sure hope they add it by then. |
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NKY HD
@boonecountyky.org
| Does anyone know why it says "up to 52 HD channels" for the Northern Kentucky area? My count was just 46 HD channels when the new ones are added. Am I missing something here? As far as I know all of my friends who have Insight in this area have the exact same lineup. |
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rq234
join:2008-09-19
Louisville, KY | It's that way in every market, NKY HD. Whether Insight says "up to 52" ot "up to 60," each market is 6 or 7 channels short of that mark. Maybe Insight has enough bandwidth for that many channels and will get there eventually. |
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BZ
@united-mail.com
| reply to bigredtbone
I understand that digital is not HD and that the digital transition is for OTA transmissions, however, doesn't Insight receive all their channels OTA?? I've seen Insight hubs that have 50 different satellites pointed in 50 different directions... so I'm assuming this is how the recieve their feeds, and then they amplify and pump those feeds out through their cables.
What I don't understand is after the February deadline, won't they be receiving all digital channels via these satellites? Why would they convert them back to analog (stripping out all the benefits of digital, like HD broadcasts) before pumping them down their cables and to our houses? Doesn't sending those analog signals to our houses eat up most of the bandwith? Why not just forward the digital signal on to their customers? Wouldn't that mean we'd get all HD shows that each particular station sends out? So instead of having to tune into the HD version of a particular station (the 9xx channels)... we could watch the regular channel (non 9xx channel number) and get HD broadcasts for programming that is in HD.
Is it the restrictions of transition? In other words, does their current hardware/configuration create limitation on what they can do and prevent this from happening? Maybe someone could shed a little light? |
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bigredtbone
join:2005-08-24
Bowling Green, KY
| Yes, Insight receives their signals via satellites. No, this does not make them all OTA. OTA is considered what you can pick up in your house via rabbit ears. That is the only thing that is mandated by the FCC to be digital.
There's also another fatal flaw in your reasoning:
Digital ≠ HD
Just because something is transmitted in a digital format does not mean that it's necessarily in High Definition. |
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Han Solo
@insightbb.com
| reply to bigredtbone
>Why not just forward the digital signal on to their
>customers?
As part of the FCC digital migration plan, Cable companies are required to provide analog signals for until 2012 for local stations. They can move all the rest to digital if they want but I believe the locals are required to be carried as analog on the cable as well as digital/HD QAM passthrough. |
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BZ
@united-mail.com
| reply to bigredtbone
said by bigredtbone :Yes, Insight receives their signals via satellites. No, this does not make them all OTA. OTA is considered what you can pick up in your house via rabbit ears. That is the only thing that is mandated by the FCC to be digital. There's also another fatal flaw in your reasoning: Digital ≠ HD Just because something is transmitted in a digital format does not mean that it's necessarily in High Definition. Gotcha.. and I know digital doesn't equal HD, but HD broadcasts can only come in over a digital signal. I was just trying to figure out why they're doing what they're doing. If they're receiving a digital signal for a station (say WGN), why don't they just forward the digital signal to us instead of an analog signal? I'm in Louisville, so WGN is channel 20. Right now it comes in as an analog signal... why can't they just send us the digital signal mapped to channel 20... then when an old rerun or newscast comes on it would be your typical SD, but when something like a Cubs or White Sox game comes on (or anything broadcast in HD), we would get it in HD.
Seems reasonable and they wouldn't be eating up all that bandwith by sending out 70 channels as analog signals. I do understand that your TV would either have to have a QAM tuner or you'd have to have a set top box... but I don't think that would upset too many customers if every channel they got was digital and had the capabilities of carrying a HD broadcast. |
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Chronob
| If they broadcast every channel in digital then every customer would need a cable box on every tv in their homes, or newer TVs with QAM tuners for the unencrypted channels. |
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lugnut1012
@flylouisville.com
1 edit | reply to bigredtbone
It looks like Insight has signed a deal with Disney that will allow it to add ESPNU and the Disney Channel in HD. ESPNEWS will also be added in certain markets
That is good news. Now if we can get the Golf Network before the new golf season starts that would be great. |
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Steve73
join:2008-08-11
Jeffersonville, IN | reply to lugnut1012
Re: [CATV] Insight Digital 4.0 - New HD Channels Announced
Where did you see this I would like to read it? |
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lilhurricane
iPurple
Premium,Mod
join:2003-01-11
Purple Zone
clubs: | »/blog/insight |
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