# I juts got Sci Fi HD !!!!



## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Comcast just added Sci Fi HD to my lineup. It doesn't take much to make me happy in life!


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## Darthnice (Apr 29, 2002)

It's still a long time to April though....


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

SGA will help make that time go quicker though.

Stargate Atlantis, the only show I'm currently watching on SciFi, and it happens to be in HD, at least the current season, I haven't checked the reruns.


phox


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## kdmorse (Jan 29, 2001)

You just made me run to the TV to check and.....

It was there - channel 236. The tivo doesn't know about it yet, so no guide data, but scifiHD it was. USAHD also showed up on 235. 

I can guarantee this was in the last 24 hours, because I checked yesterday and both channels were blank.

-Ken


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

If I'm not mistaken, BSG is set to return in March, not April.


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## Creech (Jan 1, 2008)

gweempose said:


> If I'm not mistaken, BSG is set to return in March, not April.


Nice to see you over here.


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## drcos (Jul 20, 2001)

They went live in SWFL (Sarasota Comcast) yesterday as well:
422 History HD, 423 CNN HD, 424 Discovery HD, 425 TLC HD, 427 SciFi HD
Of course, when I was in Charleston for the holidays, they already had them (and APL HD on 426)


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## Maeglin (Sep 27, 2006)

phox_mulder said:


> Stargate Atlantis, the only show I'm currently watching on SciFi, and it happens to be in HD, at least the current season, I haven't checked the reruns.


Is this selective by area or something? The reason I ask is that I watched the season premiere of SGA on Sci-Fi HD. It wasn't marked in the guide data as HD, and the video looked like upscaled SD (no different than the SD version I was recording).


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

No joy here in SE PA


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## BobB (Aug 26, 2002)

Nor in Boston, yet.


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## Darthnice (Apr 29, 2002)

gweempose said:


> If I'm not mistaken, BSG is set to return in March, not April.


I believe that the March 30th "episode" is just a recap of the previous 3 seasons and that the first 4th season episode kicks off on April 6.

I'm having a hard time finding a reference though, so I can only hope you are right


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## chrishicks (Dec 31, 2003)

nothing in Taylor,MI either.


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## JoBeth66 (Feb 15, 2002)

Gregor said:


> No joy here in SE PA


Nor in S. Jersey.

I don't get it. HQ is in Philly - why don't WE get the cool neat stuff first!!


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Maeglin said:


> Is this selective by area or something? The reason I ask is that I watched the season premiere of SGA on Sci-Fi HD. It wasn't marked in the guide data as HD, and the video looked like upscaled SD (no different than the SD version I was recording).


I haven't had a chance to see SGA yet since I just got the channel yesterday, but I was watching Flash Gordon last night (pretty awful show), and it was most definitely in HD.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Creech said:


> Nice to see you over here.


And you as well. I guess that means we're both scabs.


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## AlphaDelta (Jan 9, 2007)

I hope they're not using stretch-o-vision for non-HD content ...


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## GumboChief (Aug 27, 2004)

gweempose said:


> Comcast just added Sci Fi HD to my lineup. It doesn't take much to make me happy in life!


It was added last Thursday at about noon (in chicago)


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## BanditWS6 (Jun 10, 2007)

AlphaDelta said:


> I hope they're not using stretch-o-vision for non-HD content ...


Typically they display SD content in 4:3 with black sidebars.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

GumboChief said:


> It was added last Thursday at about noon (in Chicago)


Ah. You caught me. While my profile says I live in Chicago, I actually reside in Northbrook. I figure it makes more sense to say I'm from Chicago, since only a local would have ever heard of Northbrook.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

BanditWS6 said:


> Typically they display SD content in 4:3 with black sidebars.


Yep. That's precisely how they were showing the old Twilight Zone episodes last night.


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## tdel73 (Dec 26, 2007)

I wonder how long it will take cablevision to carry this.


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## Creech (Jan 1, 2008)

gweempose said:


> And you as well. I guess that means we're both scabs.


I crossed over because I can't stand the Moto DVR from Comcast. I needed a decent user experience in HD.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Creech said:


> I crossed over because I can't stand the Moto DVR from Comcast. I needed a decent user experience in HD.


Yep. The Moto is a total piece of crap. I use mine strictly for VOD now.


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## Dancar (Oct 8, 2001)

If anyone in the Seattle Comcast area finds SF HD, please post the channel number here.


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## CheezWiz (Dec 30, 2006)

Frak all of you who have SciFi HD! I am so envious!!!

I want that so bad for the final season of BSG...


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## Sherminator (Nov 24, 2004)

Here's hoping Northern Indiana gets it as part of Comcast's restructuring of the former Insight Communications market.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

FYI, I watched the latest episode of SGA last night. It was indeed in HD, and it looked great!


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## jcddc (Sep 20, 2006)

SciFi and three other HD channels showed up in Washington DC (Comcast) earlier this week, but it isn't showing up in the TiVo guide yet. Does anyone know how long this usually takes?


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## jamesbobo (Jun 18, 2000)

Jobeth66 said:


> Nor in S. Jersey.


Nor in N. Jersey


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## Heinrich (Feb 28, 2002)

I got SciFI HD in Richmond a few weeks back. Unfortunately there's no Battlestar Galactica.

The only thing good about Stargate Atlantis is Joe Flanigan's hair.


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## thebanker (Nov 28, 2007)

Confirmation that South-East Michigan (Oakland County) launched TLC, SciFi and Animal Planet in HD. Now if only the Tennis Channel is in HD.


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## BankZ (Aug 16, 2007)

thebanker said:


> Confirmation that South-East Michigan (Oakland County) launched TLC, SciFi and Animal Planet in HD. Now if only the Tennis Channel is in HD.


What channel # are they for you? I don't see them here!


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## GumboChief (Aug 27, 2004)

Chicago Comcast should get Animal Planet, this thursday


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## BanditWS6 (Jun 10, 2007)

Anyone having problems with Sci-Fi HD lately? In the last two days it's been repeatedly dropping out, and I'm losing an hour or so in the middle of programs I'm trying to record from there. I'm trying to figure out whether it's a problem with my TiVo/CableCARDs, my cable company or the satellite feed from Sci-Fi HD. I don't suspect my local equipment, because when the dropouts occur, all my other channels still come in fine -- and TiVo still reports normal signal strength on Sci-Fi HD. Can anyone else comment?


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## ellinj (Feb 26, 2002)

still waiting for cox to pick it up. We have a decent selection of hd so it wouldn't surprise me if it comes soon. I am surprised that of all channels sci fi has taken so long to catch up.


~mobile post


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## thebanker (Nov 28, 2007)

BankZ said:


> What channel # are they for you? I don't see them here!


Tivo is not pulling the new channels down ... yet. Tried everything Tivo recommended but nothing.

http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/LaunchContent.aspx?CID=5A545F57-F407-4C4C-A420-C7988FE596C3

I am planning to email Tivo at this link -

http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/LineUpForm.aspx

Anyway, the new HD channels effective 1/15/2008 are:

#191 Discovery HD
#192 TLC HD
#193 Animal Planet HD
#194 Sci-Fi HD

You should be able to punch in the numbers on your remote and it will display the channel without any additional description.

Hope this helps!


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## thebanker (Nov 28, 2007)

BanditWS6 said:


> Anyone having problems with Sci-Fi HD lately? In the last two days it's been repeatedly dropping out, and I'm losing an hour or so in the middle of programs I'm trying to record from there. I'm trying to figure out whether it's a problem with my TiVo/CableCARDs, my cable company or the satellite feed from Sci-Fi HD. I don't suspect my local equipment, because when the dropouts occur, all my other channels still come in fine -- and TiVo still reports normal signal strength on Sci-Fi HD. Can anyone else comment?


I really can't comment about the drop-outs but Sci-Fi (through Comcast) feed has been disappointing. Lots of pixelation during last night's Resident Evil2 during the fast action/movement scenes. Not sure whether it is because my HDMI from my Tivo HD is going through my Yamaha v1.3a HDMI input/output to my 1080p 120Hz (latest refresh rate) LCD TV. Or the compression Comcast is pushing through the coax has inherent latencies that is causing the pixelation. Same results goes for fast action scenes on my premuim (HBO, etc) HD channels. But not when I play Blu-Ray or HD DVDs.

When the scene is slow to medium pace, the feed from the TivoHD to my Yamaha receiver to my LCD is excellent. Almost live like - close to 1080p quality. Just disappointing with the pixelation for fast/action scenes.


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## thebanker (Nov 28, 2007)

BTW, before I forget ... I have another Tivo HD HDMI connected to a similar size LCD TV in the Master Bedroom with the same pixelation symptoms. Which is why I am concluding that it is not my Yamaha while doing its video conversion up to the LCD is the issue. Betting it is Comcast's compressing the HD signal over coax that may be the root cause.

Anyone experiencing this? Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.


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## BanditWS6 (Jun 10, 2007)

thebanker said:


> I really can't comment about the drop-outs but Sci-Fi (through Comcast) feed has been disappointing. Lots of pixelation during last night's Resident Evil2 during the fast action/movement scenes.


I notice a lot of pixelation during motion on many of my HD channels, as well. It's most likely Comcast compression.

Interesting that you mention you were watching Resident Evil 2. That was one of the "dropped" programs I was talking about, as it happens. I set my TiVo HD to record it, and only got 54 minutes of the movie -- the first 40, and the last 14. In the middle there was a sudden freeze-up, and the TiVo stopped recording (like it does when it senses a loss of signal), only to resume near the end.

If you didn't notice anything weird during the broadcast, then it is probably either my local cable company or my equipment that's at fault.


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## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

From what I am aware, Comcast does not do any transcoding.
Have you seen information to the contrary?


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## thebanker (Nov 28, 2007)

BanditWS6 said:


> If you didn't notice anything weird during the broadcast, then it is probably either my local cable company or my equipment that's at fault.


My bet is the compression protocol Comcast is using to cramp more HD channels over the same coax. DirecTV is going to MPEG4 to expand their HD lineup. Not sure whether using the newer DirecTV's H21 HD receiver or HR21 DVR have the same viewing issues.

Like I had indicated earlier, I have the same TivoHD unit going through HDMI to another similar size LCD TV but without the receiver in between; and unfortunately I am seeing the same pixelation issues. Another proof is I still have a Comcast HD receiver connected to a HD 34" CRT TV and I saw major pixelation on fast motion HD movies.


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## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

Again, to the best of my knowledge, Comcast does not transcode. Do you have any information to the contrary?


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## holmete (Aug 28, 2007)

Did anyone in the Oakland CA area get anything new? I didn't get a chance to look this morning...


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## thebanker (Nov 28, 2007)

Sorry, but I am not aware either way whether Comcast does transcode. If they do not transcode, the issue may be the (satellite??) source downward feed that Comcast gets. Interesting point though!


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## AlphaDelta (Jan 9, 2007)

thebanker said:


> Tivo is not pulling the new channels down ... yet. Tried everything Tivo recommended but nothing.
> 
> http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/LaunchContent.aspx?CID=5A545F57-F407-4C4C-A420-C7988FE596C3
> 
> ...


I submitted a lineup change to them last night, and they replied with a "5-7 day time frame" to update it. Hopefully sooner than later.


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## halo0 (Jan 2, 2008)

AlphaDelta said:


> I submitted a lineup change to them last night, and they replied with a "5-7 day time frame" to update it. Hopefully sooner than later.


I did the same thing, a few days ago. Hopefully they are getting lots of AA requests, and will step on it!


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## thebanker (Nov 28, 2007)

Just saw an email from Tivo that they added the 4 new HD channels. Did not even have to re-run the channel lineup. Kudos to Tivo for the quick turnaround.


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## Derek Nickel (Oct 7, 2003)

holmete said:


> Did anyone in the Oakland CA area get anything new? I didn't get a chance to look this morning...


I my area, Comcast carries all the HD channels in the 700's. I scanned all the 700's up to the premium HD channels (770) and did not find anything that looked like SciFi HD.


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## holmete (Aug 28, 2007)

Derek Nickel

Yeah nothing for me either but thanks for the info... I just switch to the M-card Wednesday and I tried to get information from the lady in the office but no luck... The only thing she said was they had done work in my area the week before to correct image distortion problems but no new channels...


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## qz3fwd (Jul 6, 2007)

The SciFi HD "broadcast" problems on Comcast are 99.99999999&#37; the fault of SciFi (the provider) and not comcast. Comcast does not transcode and simply passes along what they get (at least from the OTA networks) It is possible that on of the pieces of hardware that the stream runs through was/is buggy, but I too saw the frequent breakups on the Resident Evil movies the last week or so. The bitrate was insufficient for the action scenes. Call SciFi and tell them to bump the bitrate up to 18+mbps to ensure no pixelization problems or macroblocking. Its no skin off their backs. I still cannot fathom why the will cram 3 or 4 shows into a channel mux at like 5-8mbps each and padd the rest with null packets. PQ suffers horrible, the picture is terrible, and they have unused bandwidth they could devote to the streams.


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## chrishicks (Dec 31, 2003)

add another MI Comcast user with terrible problems with Sci-Fi HD. I use both Tivo S3s as well as Comcasts Motorola box and have seen major issues while using both. I recorded this past weeks ECW 3 times(1 on the Comcast box and 1 on each tuner of one of my S3s - SD and HD). the HD was pretty much unwatchable on both machines. it looked terrible and was so choopy and pixelated. it also had so many pauses it drove me nuts. the best part of this was that the SD recording actually looked much better than the HD version for me.


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## AlphaDelta (Jan 9, 2007)

chrishicks said:


> add another MI Comcast user with terrible problems with Sci-Fi HD. I use both Tivo S3s as well as Comcasts Motorola box and have seen major issues while using both. I recorded this past weeks ECW 3 times(1 on the Comcast box and 1 on each tuner of one of my S3s - SD and HD). the HD was pretty much unwatchable on both machines. it looked terrible and was so choopy and pixelated. it also had so many pauses it drove me nuts. the best part of this was that the SD recording actually looked much better than the HD version for me.


Same experience here in Ann Arbor too; about the only show I watch currently on SciFi is Stargate: Atlantis, but BSG resumes soon. Every time there is an action scene, the video and audio cuts out and isn't restored until the scene returns to a slow pace. Is there a consensus if this is SciFi or Comcast's problem? Who should we complain to?


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## husky55 (Feb 2, 2008)

No new HD channels in Connecticut yet!!! But I sense it's coming soon!!!


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## Dancar (Oct 8, 2001)

AlphaDelta said:


> Same experience here in Ann Arbor too; about the only show I watch currently on SciFi is Stargate: Atlantis, but BSG resumes soon. Every time there is an action scene, the video and audio cuts out and isn't restored until the scene returns to a slow pace. Is there a consensus if this is SciFi or Comcast's problem? Who should we complain to?


I'd guess it's a Comcast issue. If your tivo was sick and couldn't keep up with recording action it would do this on all HD channels. If it is just some channels, then comcast is compressing it too much or the signal is too weak.


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## Dancar (Oct 8, 2001)

This morning I found Animal Planet and SciFi HD on Comcast in Washington State (676 I believe). The program guide data is there, I found it while searching for upcoming BSGs.

Bring on Season Four!!!


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## Krandor (Jun 10, 2004)

qz3fwd said:


> The SciFi HD "broadcast" problems on Comcast are 99.99999999% the fault of SciFi (the provider) and not comcast. Comcast does not transcode and simply passes along what they get (at least from the OTA networks) It is possible that on of the pieces of hardware that the stream runs through was/is buggy, but I too saw the frequent breakups on the Resident Evil movies the last week or so. The bitrate was insufficient for the action scenes. Call SciFi and tell them to bump the bitrate up to 18+mbps to ensure no pixelization problems or macroblocking. Its no skin off their backs. I still cannot fathom why the will cram 3 or 4 shows into a channel mux at like 5-8mbps each and padd the rest with null packets. PQ suffers horrible, the picture is terrible, and they have unused bandwidth they could devote to the streams.


Comcast is using HDTV-Lite for scifi where they are compressing the signal even more after they get it. They are pushing 3 channels into the space normally used for 2.

More details can be found in this thread http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=384911


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

Blah. Charter just added several new HD channels in my area: DHD, IFCHD, WEHD, FUSEHD, TWCHD, TLCHD, Animal Planet HD, and AMCHD. Where is SCIFIHD??? I'd trade all of these new ones for it!!


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## husky55 (Feb 2, 2008)

brettatk said:


> Blah. Charter just added several new HD channels in my area: DHD, IFCHD, WEHD, FUSEHD, TWCHD, TLCHD, Animal Planet HD, and AMCHD. Where is SCIFIHD??? I'd trade all of these new ones for it!!


Does anybody have the rollout schedule? Still NOTHING in CT.


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## jchapman (Mar 29, 2005)

Arlington VA had its new HD channels turned on yesterday by Comcast (on schedule). That brings their non-premium HD lineup to:

ABC (210)
NBC (211)
CBS (212)
FOX (213)
CW (214)
My Network (215)
PBS (220)
A&E (223) *new*
National Geographic (224) *new*
Discovery HD Theater (225)
MTV (227)
Home and Garden (229) *new*
Food (231) *new*
TBS (232) *new*
CNN (234) *new*
USA (235) *new*
Sci-Fi (236) *new*
History (237) *new*
Discovery (239) *new*
TLC (240) *new*
Animal Planet (241) *new*
TNT (249)
Universal (250)	
Comcast SportsNet (251)
ESPN (252)
ESPN2 (253)
Versus/Golf (254) *new*

I've got to say, I'm much happier now; almost all of my favorites list is now in HD.


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## ciper (Nov 4, 2004)

What is all this talk of Comcast not transcoding? It was in this very forum I read about Comcast squeezing three HD signals over the bandwidth normally used for two. Ill try to find that discussion. 

I can say that I saw fast motion artifacts when I had Comcast HD and assumed this was why. I think people referred to it as HDlite.


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## Dancar (Oct 8, 2001)

Krandor said:


> Comcast is using HDTV-Lite for scifi where they are compressing the signal even more after they get it. They are pushing 3 channels into the space normally used for 2.
> 
> More details can be found in this thread http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=384911


Well, I've added a couple of SFHD BSG reruns to my To-Do list. If the artifacts are too distracting we can watch the new season on the SD channel.

We've been watching OLD BSGs on UHD and they look great. My only complaint is that all but one episode I've seen had 2-channel stereo audio, despite the fact that my receiver indicated it was receiving 5.1. (This is another factor in what channel I will watch it on.)


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## holmete (Aug 28, 2007)

I came home today and found the message from Tivo we have all been waiting for channel 736 ScifiHD but the joy didn't last long. When I tried to watch any of the five new channels I get nothing. Is it just me or is anyone else seeing the same thing? Maybe tivo published it before comcast was ready. The other channels I got were 747 FoodHD, 752 TLCHD, 759 CNNHD and 862 APLHD.


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## sinanju (Jan 3, 2005)

holmete said:


> I came home today and found the message from Tivo we have all been waiting for channel 736 ScifiHD but the joy didn't last long. When I tried to watch any of the five new channels I get nothing. Is it just me or is anyone else seeing the same thing? Maybe tivo published it before comcast was ready. The other channels I got were 747 FoodHD, 752 TLCHD, 759 CNNHD and 862 APLHD.


The cable company gives Tribune Media the cutover date. Tribune publishes the data. TiVo forwards the data to you.

If the cable company missed the date they gave to Tribune and failed to update them, it's on your cable company. You can fill out a lineup report with TiVo to get it corrected. The cable company will probably catch up in a day or two.


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## kuokuo (Mar 19, 2008)

holmete said:


> I came home today and found the message from Tivo we have all been waiting for channel 736 ScifiHD but the joy didn't last long. When I tried to watch any of the five new channels I get nothing. Is it just me or is anyone else seeing the same thing? Maybe tivo published it before comcast was ready. The other channels I got were 747 FoodHD, 752 TLCHD, 759 CNNHD and 862 APLHD.


I see the same thing too...here in Berkeley.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

THis happend to me with Charter. About 10 new HD channels showed up on my Tivo HD that I could not watch. A couple of weeks later they all started working. I bet the cable company just hasnt gone live with them.


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