Comcast XFINITY TV → Digital Simulcast Information

In my area they have started to test DS. Channel 24 which is ShopNBC is being Digitally Simulcast.

General Information on DS.

No STB = 24 is analog

Digital STB = 24 is Digital. The signal comes in QAM (in this case 64 QAM) and you see it Digitally on 24.

Since the signal (from the originator) 24 is sending is still analog, a Headend conversion needs to take place to convert it to digital. It won't be as good as a digital signal, of course. But, should, and I say should, be better than its analog counter part. Since the HE receives the signal analog it will never be better than how they receive it. Only true digital from the originator will look the best.

It probably won't look as good as most all digital channels and even some analog channels will still look better. It all depends on the A to D conversion.

In my area they have some bugs to work out. Hopefully the Digital Simulcast will happen soon after.

One other note... I am able to buffer about 65 minutes of the Digitally Simulcast channel 24 on my 6412 DVR.

For those that want to see if a channel is analog or digital on a 6412 you can do the following:

Tune the 6412 to any channel. Turn the box off. Within 2 seconds hit "OK Select". You will be presented with a diagnostic screen. From this screen arrow to the following:

"IN-BAND STATUS" will indicate xxx QAM (Digital) otherwise it will indicate ANALOG

Also you can check "CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS" That will indicate DIGITAL and the higher frequency. Typically above 550 MHz.

Other than network stability, what other bugs are pending?

I sure can't wait for it to happen in my area. I live in the Boston area, btw.

If you look at 24 with a Digital STB you will notice some tearing, pixilating, checker boarding and or mpeg artifact. Comcast NJ (Union) is having a problem with their A to D equipment.

When I get more I'll post it.

Do they know about this problem? If not, maybe you should call them and notify them. See, I think this is why they're only testing it one channel at a time.

Yes, they know. I am in contact with various key people at Comcast. And, as you say that is exactly why they are only trying it on one channel.

They could go all digital today if they wanted too.

Channel 24 in my area is an OTA to their HE so that should be the worst case. Many broadcasters get their signal directly to Comcast via Fiber and Fiber to each Comcast location. This is probably the most significant reason cable, or Comcast specifically, doesn't suffer from picture loss (Satellite) due to weather.

I'll post more when I have it.

In my old house in Mays Landing, NJ I used to get the Disney Channel on channel 35 in digital with my converter, and in analog without my converter. This was in late 2001 so the ability to simulcast has been around for at least that long.

Also in my current area HBO, HBO2, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Comedy and HBO West are shown on channels 47 to 51. They are displyed in digital to people with digital converters. For people who subscribe to them they are also available in analog without any converter box (traps are used in the area). According to people I've talked to who lived here longer than me it's been like that for quite a while.

Thats pretty, cool Morac that Comcast has the premiums on analog available in a digital format. It makes me more and more hopeful, for digital simulcast to come to my area.

Before everyone in my area had to get a digital cable box for the premiums. we had them in analog and premiums on analog available in a digital format for digital cable customers also we had them on the digital channels to. I don't think that means that digital simulcast is going to come soon to your area because of those changes. We have had it like this for awhile and then they finally had taken off the analog premiums and now we have them just in the digital channel lineup.

Well, I DID hear that it should happen by spring/early summer. However, I'm not sure if it will.

Actually, I spoke with someone at Comcast this morning, and she did say that she does not have any information about it. I even told her that there's this forum that I go to, and I saw that someone in New Jersey (Union, for example) has said that they are testing it out. However, the woman I spoke with was from the Boston area (where I'm from), so she didn't have any info about New Jersey. However, she spoke with someone down in New Jersey, and that person said that everything HAS to be digital by 2006, but she has not heard anything about them testing it. Have you spoken with anyone there?

I also spoke with someone at Adelphia today (I don't have them, it was just for research) about this, and since they are one of the smaller companies, he says they can't see companies like this just simulcasting the analog channels in digital. We were on the phone for about 30 minutes. He also said that by 2006, all networks have to be in hi-definition. So, what he was saying, is that he can't understand why they would simulcast everything in plain digital, when there will be a time that everything has to be in hi-definition. Does that make sense?

I wonder if Digital Simulcast will truly be happening here in new jersey, and not just in a testing phase on one channel like nascar has mentioned. 2006 I find that a hard date to abide by, so ssetta the woman said that everything must be digital by 2006?

That's what she said. Have you called Comcast about this? If you haven't, maybe you should, and see what they have to say about it. You might even want to ask one of the techs in the area what is going on.

The goal is to have NJ, on ADS by the end of the year. ADS is nice, but at this point I'd rather have the i-Guide.

But for an area that isn't getting the i-guide, I can't wait for digital simulcast.

I can't wait to get it either. I sure do hope it gets here sooner than later, but it looks like later right now.:(

Didn't Comcast say that they though ADS would be available everywhere by the end of the year?

That's the goal, but they've run into a few challenges.

Not sure what the difficulties would be as long as they have the bandwidth.

I'm also curious what they are planning to do with the local broadcast stations. In my area they pull them in with an antenna and pump the analog feed directly into the cable line. They also simulcast many of the broadcast stations in HDTV. Will they also simulcast them in non-HDTV digital?

Basically a whole new network has to be designed for ADS. New equipment has to be tested and then they have to implement it. From what I understand, to do ADS take quite a feat of engineering. ADS is not like the HBO simulcast that you might be familiar with.

The difficulties are in Comcast's A to D conversion equipment located in each HE. Currently the one channel on my system that is an A to D convert is experiencing some tearing and checker boarding. Once they solve the problem then they will A to D ALL 80 or so analog channels and that includes OTA as well.

Is ADS where they have to put a little box on every subscribers house to do the D to A conversion for people without converters? If so then I guess it will take some time to equip all the houses.

Or did they give up on that idea?

No, that's not it and as far as I know, they haven't given up on that yet.

How will customers in the area know when this Digital Simulcast is going to happen? I mean, I don't even have Comcast anymore. Do you think they will have commercials for it?

They will probably send out letters, emails etc. or you could just check back here, like I usually do for any Comcast news.

Well, I actually remember the very beginning of Digital Cable back in 2000. We had Dish Network for a little bit less than a year, only because of that channel called Noggin (it was brand-new, and no cable systems carried it yet.) However, we still had basic 1 cable for the locals, and I remember calling the cable company (it was MediaOne back then) about something, and I inquired about that channel, and they said they were getting it, and they did. And it just so happens that we were the first ones in town to get digital cable. It was February 21, 2000, and the tech said that at the time, there were no more than 36 of those GI boxes (we got 2 of them). And at the time, they were only allowing 2 digital boxes per household. I know that's changed. But also, digital cable had a LOT of problems back when it was new. In fact, a lot of those boxes they had were faulty. And I understand that when this digital simulcast takes place, they will be getting new boxes that do not have the analog circuitry. So, even if it does happen sooner, it might be best to wait a few months before getting it. Does anyone agree with this?

FYI... in Willow Grove PA, Comcast DS'ing CN8 (channel 8). Just noticed it tonight. Happened to have two TV's tuned to it (one analong, one digital STB) and noticed about a 3 second delay between the two.

Confirmed it with STB diagnostic (IN-BAND STATUS = 256 QAM). Picture quality is quite good.

Rob I'm getting a digital simulcast of CN8 also. When I go to the diagnostics screen it says QAM-256. I guess I'll be watching CN8 more:)

Just also noticed that it is the same exact feed that cn8 is broadcasting with the commercials, anyway because if I tune to the digital channel, I get the commercials cn8 is broadcasting but if I tune to the analog cn8 the commercials are different.

Does this mean when I get cnn headline news in a digital simulcast that there would be no more comcast newsmakers?

I can't wait for all the channels to be broadcast in digital, then satellite can't say that only some of the channels on cable are digital, because customers now have the opportunity to get sall their channels in a digital format.

Confirming that CN8 on my system is now Digital (256 QAM) as well.

One might assume that Comcast is over some of the technical hurdles and slowly doing the transition.

We will have to check each channel more often to see how they are progressing.

1 down, 72 to go on my system.