To put it mildly, web sites belonging to local digital (and analog) television stations in Northern California are nearly all but useless, when it comes to finding helpful information, especially of a technical nature. With the sole exception of our local DTV PBS affiliate KEET, most local TV stations look as if they haven’t had a major website redesign in years, or have farmed-out web development to some third-party who has no interest in providing the community with any information at all.

Local NBC TV affiliate KIEM, has not made any major changes to their website in years. Last I checked, their only contact e-mail was being directed at the now-defunct local ISP Humboldt Internet. I have attempted to contact them in the past for information via e-mail, but have never received any type of reply. At first glance, it looks as if the station might be moving into the 21st century by offering streaming video of their nightly newscast. However, newscasts available on the site are usually outdated, often not adding any new material for several days at a time. To make matters worse, the station seems to be relying on some trashy third-party called VEOH to provide its streaming services. Why trashy? Just try clicking on the menu to watch any of KIEM’s previous newscasts. You’ll immediately be transported to a page that seems to specialize in streaming soft-core porn clips. As of last night, next to KIEM’s footage on VEOH are clips from the Marilyn Chambers hardcore XXX rated porn movie Behind the Green Door as well as nightly clips from The Naked News. Every single time I have viewed any of KIEM’s news broadcasts on this site, I have been bombarded with thumbnail images of pornography. The only part of KIEM’s website that seems to be updated regularly is Jim Bernard’s weather forecast. I’m guessing that Jim probably has to upload everything himself. There is also a link on the homepage to a video describing how to hook-up a DTV converter box. When you click on it, there are thumbnail previews of video clips titled “Two Girls, One Shower” and “How To Breast Feed“. Other than that, there isn’t much useful or up-to-date information to be found on the DTV switch, or anything else.

KAEF-TV, Channel 29, by contrast, offers nothing. No website. No technical information. Nothing. Their sister station KRCR in Redding has a website, but that is it. This local ABC affiliate is pretty much just a signal pumped-in from out of town, and they seem to have little to no interest in the local community or its viewers. If you want any information on DTV, HDTV or the digital television transition, you’ll need to keep looking.

This brings us to Eureka Television Group, which for some reason the Federal Communications Commission is allowing to own the majority of broadcast television stations in Humboldt County. ETG operates KVIQ (CBS), KBVU (Fox), KUVU (The CW), KEMY (MyNetwork) and KEUV (Univision). As of today, the site’s information page on the digital TV transition was last updated “Wednesday, 18 June 2008″. Yes, it’s been almost a year since they have added any new information. The rest of the site is pretty much useless. Some TV programming listings and what looks to be some syndicated, national news that is automatically added to the site via an RSS feed. No e-mail links or contact info, other than phone numbers. The “about us” page was last updated in 2006, and gives a brief bio of the station’s current owner Chester Smith. The only problem here is, Smith died in August of 2008.

The last stop on this mind-numbing journey through Humboldt County’s DTV broadcasters is local PBS affiliate KEET. Fortunately, KEET seems to be the exception to the rule among local digital TV broadcasters. Besides updated programming listings and offering wealth of information about PBS programming, you will find full contact information, along with updated news on the local DTV transition. Strangely, they even reply to e-mails! Going even further than that, KEET has actually gone out of their way to educate the public on DTV issues and seems to be the only broadcaster in the area that makes an effort to keep viewers and the local media informed as to what they are doing. Seeing as they are reliant upon public donations, one would expect them to want to keep the public tuned-in. It’s sad that they seem to be the only local broadcaster going so far out of their way to keep local residents informed though.

In closing, the Internet provides a fantasic opportunity for local television stations to keep the public informed on the DTV transition, as well as many other subjects. In most TV markets, stations take full-advantage of this fact. Updating a website is certainly much cheaper than providing airtime on their stations. Alas, KIEM is the only DTV station in the area that even bothers doing a local newscast anymore, so it appears that most local stations are not very interested in providing viewers with much more than straight “entertainment” these days.

UPDATE: As of this writing in mid-December of 2009, KIEM-TV’s website seems to be abandoned. The last newscast that was uploaded to the site was on October 12th. That was over two months ago. The contact e-mail address for the news department is now a @hotmail.com address. There are some error messages on pages due to broken scripts. I haven’t watched any of the local TV channels in months now, so I have no idea if they are even still on the air. Nothing surprises me anymore in Humboldt County.

Eureka, CA, February 24, 2009 - I was perusing KIEM-TV’s website earlier tonight when I ran across an interesting link to their policy on granting waivers to satellite television viewers (specifically DirecTV viewers) for reception of network programming at http://kiem-tv.com/waiver.html.

Basically, their policy is the same as the other local commercial television broadcasters in the area. If you need a waiver… you’re screwed. None of the local TV broadcasters will sign waivers for anyone, regardless of how bad their TV reception is.

KIEM specifically cites the FCC’s regulations about not needing to grant waivers in what are defined in Predicted Grade B Contour Areas. These are areas where anyone should supposedly be able to receive a TV signal, granted that they use an outdoor antenna placed 30′ above the ground. On it’s face, this rule actually sounds quite reasonable. Neither the FCC nor TV stations ever intended that viewers ever be able to view television programming from local broadcasters by using something as simple as a pair of “rabbit ears”, sitting on top of a television set.

Indeed, when early TV first began, there was a booming business in (outdoor) TV antenna installation. Over the years, the public has come to expect TV reception to be easy and hassle-free though. They don’t want unsightly antennas, ugly cables or silly wires cluttering their homes. This points to more of a need for a national attitude adjustment than it does a technical solution. If reception this simple is what Americans are waiting for, they are going to be sorely disappointed. It just isn’t going to happen. Not in our lifetimes, anyway. Those who want to receive a good over-the-air TV signal should be prepared to install a good antenna! It’s not politics; it’s simple physics, so get over it.

Back to the whole “Predicted Grade B Contour Area” issue though. As I stated, on it’s face, this policy seems like a logical and reasonable one. Unfortunately, the sad fact is, the technology used to create maps that show areas which fall into these contours is woefully inadequate. The standards that engineers use to create these maps has not really changed much in the past 100 years. Although computers are now used for map creation, they simply speed-up the same process that would normally take an engineer much longer to accomplish by hand.

With the exception of some very basic terrain calculations, very little real-world data is taken into consideration with these charts. Calculations are measured as if the earth existed inside a vacuum where no atmosphere, weather, earth curvature, man-made obstructions, vegetation, RF interference, multipath, solar flares or other factors ever enter into reality. To add insult to injury, these maps only show where it is allegedly technically possible to obtain “a signal”. This does NOT mean a watchable picture, or any type of signal that could reliably be used for the viewing of television pictures. It just requires that “a signal” of extremely minimal quality exists.

In fact, the FCC specifically defines the type of quality expected in a Predicted Grade B Contour Area. In one of its notices, it states: “…the values chosen for Grade B signal intensity account for location and time variability factors and predict that at least 50 percent of the locations along the Grade B contour will receive an acceptable picture 90 percent of the time. In this case, acceptable picture was considered to be TASO Level 3, defined as (passable) – The picture is of acceptable quality. Interference is not objectionable.”

Human Translation: In most areas, at best, your odds of receiving a “passable” signal by FCC standards (which most of us would probably define as a “really crappy picture”) – using an outdoor antenna placed on a 30′ mast, are 50/50… 90% of the time. Of course, these are only predictions, based upon completely inadequate data that is rarely accurate in real-world situations. Such an antenna set-up will likely set you back over $100, should probably be professionally installed and should have NO objects of ANY kind between itself and the broadcast station’s transmitting antenna. In other words, line-of-sight. Depending upon where you live, installation of a mast that extends 30′ from the top of your roof (which, for a two-story house, would be about 50′ off the ground) may also require you to obtain a building permit from your city or county, which could take months and cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars in building permits and increased property taxes. How many people can really afford that?

KIEM’s Grade B Contour Area is similar to that of other, local TV broadcasters (although, I believe that it might actually be outdated, and only show coverage areas for their older, and stronger, analog signal). Basically, if you live ANYWHERE in Humboldt, Del Norte or most of Trinity County, you are in a Grade B Contour area, according to the map. Those of us who have actually tried obtaining over-the-air TV reception in places like Trinity County will find maps such as those provided by KIEM-TV to be laughable, at best. With the new transition to DTV, the odds of obtaining a digital signal that could result in the reception of ANY type of TV picture AT ALL is diminished for the vast majority of viewers in outlying areas.

WHO’S TO BLAME FOR BAD RECEPTION?

It seems that everyone wants to point fingers in the broadcast industry. For it’s part, KIEM-TV seems to blame DirecTV for everything (strangely, they make no mention of DISH Network by name). Their position seems to be that since DirecTV promised their customers at one time that they would add local TV stations in every single U.S. market to their programming line-up, that they should be held to their word. Sounds fair enough, as DirecTV did, indeed backpedal on their promises. However, while KIEM makes it sound as if it they are blaming DirecTV out of their concern for viewers, that is almost certainly not the real reason for the finger pointing.

In reality, the main motivation behind KIEM’s attack of DirecTV is most likely due to the fact that without DirecTV footing the bill to uplink KIEM’s TV signal to their satellite, the station is not only losing potential viewers (which equals ratings, which equals money) but much more importantly, not receiving a monthly royalty check from the satellite TV provider in exchange for rebroadcast rights. KIEM gets a fat check from Suddenlink for rebroadcast rights to their subscribers each month, but not from DirecTV or DISH. Unfortunately, current FCC rules actually encourage local TV broadcasters to limit the availability of their over-the-air signals, since those receiving their programming via TV antennas pay broadcasters nothing. Those who receive their network programming via satellite, Suddenlink or other cable television companies end up having to pay broadcasters for their programming (albeit, indirectly) through increased subscription rates.

For it’s part, DirecTV aand DISH don’t seem to have anyone to blame, at least officially. DirecTV in particular, just blows-off it’s own customers by suggesting that local TV stations in Humboldt County will be included in the programming lineup “some day”. Whether they are just playing stupid, or there are employees at the company dumb enough to actually believe this, is questionable. Call a DirecTV customer service rep, and it’s quite possible that they will make local TV broadcasters out to be the bad guys, saying that their refusal to grant local waivers is unfair to TV viewers (which it certainly is). They will not acknowledge the fact that their own motivation NOT to carry these stations is due to the fact that it costs them more money to set-up and maintain the equipment alone than they could ever hope to recoup through subscription fees to the limited number of homes here.

So, who’s to REALLY blame? In my opinion, the real blame rests with the Federal Communications Commission. If it were not for the FCC’s ridiculous rules requiring local TV broadcasters to only provide a “Predicted Grade B Contour Area” (B should stand for Barely any signal at all) quality signal to local viewers without fearing competition from out-of-market TV stations carried by satellite TV providers, we simply would not be in this mess. If local TV broadcasters were held to a standard that made them provide an actual WATCHABLE TV signal in these areas, it would encourage them to provide their viewers with reliable access to programming, out of fear that they would be able to get it from elsewhere. This could be achieved through several means, most notably being the increased use of translators or requests to broadcast using increased power levels with radiation patterns that optimize reception in rural areas. Although the FCC has examined these issues in recent years, nothing positive has come out of it thus far. As it is, the transition to DTV has led to over-the-air TV signals being available to far fewer Americans than before, which is forcing more and more people to switch to cable or satellite TV just to receive programming from their local TV stations.

Just count the number of houses on your block with outdoor, over-the-air TV antennas as opposed to dishes or drops from the local cable company to confirm this fact. Even in areas that SHOULD have good local TV reception, most are forced to turn to cable or satellite for local or broadcast network programming.

ALL CABLE CUSTOMERS PAY EXTRA FEES FOR “FREE” LOCAL CHANNELS

This also applies to anyone who is able to receive local, commercial TV broadcasts on satellite services such as DirecTV or DISH Network in areas where local stations are available.

If you think that getting local channels on your cable system is free, you’re just kidding yourself. All cable TV providers such as Suddenlink have to pay commercial broadcasters to carry their signal under federal law. Of course, these added costs are going to be passed on to the consumer. You don’t think that the cable company is going to pay these extra fees out of their own pockets, do you?

The FCC states as much in their FCC Cable Television Fact Sheet. Just to make it as clear as possible, here is a direct quote from the FCC’s own literature:

Q: Will my cable bill increase as a result of retransmission consent agreements?

A: In return for allowing a cable system to carry its signal, a television station may require the payment of a fee or other consideration (for instance, carriage of another programming service or advertising time). Any new or additional costs incurred as a result of retransmission consent agreements may be passed through to cable subscribers.

The FCC needs to reconsider the current scheme in place that allows local TV stations to charge cable and satellite TV providers for rebroadcast rights to their “free” signals. After all, in theory, all that the cable and satellite broadcasters are doing is extending the reach of a TV station’s broadcast area and potential viewership, which should bring in more viewers, which should make them more money from advertisements. At least, that’s how it SHOULD work.

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that TV broadcasters see cable and satellite providers as alternative streams of income, and are positioning themselves to be more like pay cable channels than over-the-air broadcasters. Local TV stations used to rely upon the popularity of their programming in order to attract more viewers, which would generate better ratings, which would lead to increased profits. Under the current scheme, broadcasters don’t need ANYONE watching their programming in order to make money from cable and satellite TV providers. Rather than the public deciding through ratings what programming should stay on the air, this scheme encourages broadcasters to provide viewers with the least expensive programming they can find. Perhaps that’s why we only have a single local TV station in Humboldt County that bothers to broadcast local news (which is very expensive to produce) anymore.

The bottom line is, letting TV broadcasters charge rebroadcast fees to cable and satellite providers for their “free” signals only encourages these broadcasters to limit the quality and availability of local broadcast signals, hopefully forcing most viewers to resort to subscribing to cable or satellite, where they make much more money. This obviously runs contrary to their responsibility to serve the public interest, which they are obligated to do under federal law. This obligation results from the fact that they are using segments of the frequency spectrum, which are a limited, public resource.

Unfortunately, the FCC has all but forgotten that broadcasters are supposed to serve the public interest. Successive presidential administrations have made the Federal Communications Commission much more of a political policy tool than the enforcement and regulation entity they once used to be. Most major decisions at the agency these days are politically motivated, rather than being made on technical or legal grounds. United States courts have increasingly had to step-in in recent years to curb abuses of power at the FCC and force them to vacate their own rules, finding them to be unconstitutional. When it comes to the point where private citizens have to take federal agencies to court in order to prove that they are knowingly operating in direct violation of the United States Constitution, you really have to question their ability to act as an unbiased government regulatory agency.

WHY YOUR TV RECEPTION SUCKS… CONCLUSION

What it all boils down to is the fact that “free TV” isn’t really free for most of us anymore, especially for those caught in the middle of a pissing contest between the satellite and broadcast television industries. Unless Congress decides to step-in and force satellite TV providers like DirecTV to rebroadcast ALL local TV stations in the United States (which would result in skyrocketing satellite TV subscription prices, no pun intended), you can bet that those who live in areas with fringe reception will continue to be treated as second class citizens by both local broadcasters as well as satellite TV providers, and that the quality of television programming itself will continue to decline.

Apparently, the Federal Communications Commission received a number of complaints about the cable television provider when it decided to switch certain analog channels on its cable system to digital this past month. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau launched an investigation into the matter and ordered Suddenlink to answer a number of questions and provide documentation on the matter via an official Letter of Inquiry (LOI). It gave Suddenlink two weeks to respond.

Rather than comply with the LOI, or even attempt to comply, some bonehead acting on behalf of the company decided to send back a letter questioning the FCC’s authority on the matter and actually accused the Commission of breaking federal law by not complying with the federal “Paperwork Reduction Act”, among other things. They also questioned the FCC’s authority to demand such information within two weeks, which they deemed not enough time. They never suggested exactly how much time they thought would be more appropriate. Three weeks, perhaps?

Anyone who has ever dealt with the Federal Communications Commission is well-aware that anyone falling under their authority (Suddenlink definitely does) who is stupid enough to question their judgment or jurisdiction is just asking for trouble. To put it mildly, the FCC has no sense of humor when it comes to these matters. The fact that someone this incompetent at Suddenlink has been put in a position responsible enough to respond to official inquiries from the U.S. Government simply boggles my mind. I am used to seeing these kinds of responses from dimwitted CEO’s of telecommunications resellers, but to see this coming from a licensed, facilities-based carrier is just plain scary. If the company was publicly-traded, I would advise dumping their stock immediately, as corporate incompetence such as this rarely results in a solid bottom line. As it is, I’m just lucky that I don’t have to suffer through being a Suddenlink customer.

In any event, the results were completely predictable. Suddenlink was issued an NAL, or Notice of Apparent Liability, for $25,000 for its part in thwarting the FCC’s investigation. An NAL is sort of like a speeding ticket. The company has the right to a hearing, but it’s pretty much just a kangaroo court that is run by the same people who ordered the NAL in the first place. You can’t fight city hall. Duh!

This may not be the end of the matter, by a long stretch. If Suddenlink continues to stonewall the FCC, the Commission will simply keep piling-on the fines. In theory, they could actually revoke Suddenlink’s ability to offer its services. I have to believe that there must be someone with an ounce of sanity at the company who will step-in before it comes to that though. Until then, Suddenlink customers will likely look forward to higher cable bills as a result of the NAL. After all, someone has to pay for the $25,000 penalty, and it quite certainly isn’t going to come out of the pockets of Suddenlink executives.

A copy of the NAL in Adobe Acrobat format is attached for your reading pleasure.

http://www.fcc.gov/suddenlink.pdf

“ President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won’t be ready.”

You can read the rest of the article here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,478005,00.html

On another note, it seems that the federal government has run out of money for DTV converter coupons. As of earlier this month, anyone calling 1-800-DTV-2009
or trying to obtain one via the web at http://www.dtv2009.gov will only be put on a waiting list to receive their coupons. The waiting list is only possible due to the expiration of unused coupons that have already been issued. At the moment, over 1 million people are already on the waiting list. Since the current coupons expire in 90 days, the waiting list scenario can only last for another 3 months or so, unless Congress decides to provide additional funding for more coupons.

Unless Congress decides to delay the February 17, 2009 transition date (unlikely), the odds are that over a million people will not receive coupons by the time that the switch to DTV takes place. Leave it to the federal government to screw-up yet another massive project. Perhaps, our tax dollars would be wiser spent outsourcing jobs like this to private industry in the future?

In any event, short of an act of Congress, next month’s mandatory switch to digital television (DTV) will likely go on as scheduled.

This new digital tower will serve Brookings-Harbor, Ore., and Crescent City.

The Eureka-based PBS station is installing a 12,000-watt ultra-high-frequency digital translator, which will duplicate programs broadcast on KEET-TV’s current Eureka digital signal.

As part of the project, KEET is constructing a 132-foot tower to hold the antennas, which should be completed by late August.

The translator, which will actually receive and then transmit KEET-TV’s signal in Del Norte and Curry counties, should be in operation by October.

To read the entire article from The Eureka Reporter: Click here

We have been looking for a source of these DTV converter boxes locally for awhile now. The hard part wasn’t so much finding a store that stocked the boxes, but finding a model that included the analog pass-through feature that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Without this feature, we would lose access to about half of the channels that will be available locally after February 2009. This includes all local LPTV (Low Power Television) stations and translators. We’ve written plenty of articles on this feature in the past, so be sure to check our archives for more information.

So, what did we find, and where did we find it? Surprisingly, the store that finally came through for us was Target. The Target store in Eureka, California stocks three different models of DTV converter boxes. The first two are pretty much a waste of money, since they do not have analog pass-through. They always seem to have plenty of these boxes in stock, strangely enough. However, after making repeated trips to the store last week we finally found the model in stock that we wanted. It’s the Venturer STB7766G1.

Obviously, Venturer is not exactly a household name, but we have not seen a great deal of difference in quality between manufacturers when it comes to DTV converter boxes, so we’re not too worried as to the quality. The main thing we are interested in here are the features and the price, which is the lowest we have seen any DTV converter box sell for.

Assuming that you happen to arrive at a time when these boxes are in stock, the sticker price is $49.95. Of course, that’s the price before applying the discount from your $40 government coupon. Once you toss-in the sales tax of 7.25% (that’s what it is here), your final purchase price will be a little over $13. Of course, the state sales tax is calculated on the original sticker price of $49.95.

Be sure to have your government coupon handy with you when you go to the store, and be sure to pay attention to the total price when checking out. As we could have guessed, the Target employee at the check-out counter was totally clueless as to how to apply the coupon, and originally charged us full-price for the unit, even after having scanned the coupon! So, make sure that they actually apply the $40 discount while you are there, unless you plan on making a return trip to get your money back for being overcharged.

Interestingly, while checking out, I was also asked to sign some sort of piece of paper that was spat out along with my receipt. It basically stated (I didn’t get to keep a copy of the document, unfortunately) that I agreed that I had just used-up one of my government coupons, and that I was not going to get the entire purchase price back if I returned the item. I wasn’t really expecting to have to sign anything when paying for an item with cash, but whatever…

The unit is very basic, but does everything that you should need it to do, including allowing you to watch channels that continue to broadcast in analog after February 2009. I’ll have a full product review for you later this week. For the moment though, we suggest that you snatch one up with one of your government coupons while you can. At $49.95, you aren’t going to find a cheaper model anywhere else, and most certainly not one that includes analog pass-through. We’ll have more detailed information on it later this week. Stay tuned!

The below list was compiled from the U.S. Department of Commerce (NTIA), and is current as of January 2008. We’ve added an *asterisk in front of stations licensed in Humboldt, Trinity, Del Norte and Southern Mendocino Counties in Northern California. Keep in mind, these stations all transmit using very little power, so picking up any of them is rather tricky. As far as I know, this is the most comprehensive list of translators available for the area, and the only one that lists network affiliations and the names of the stations that operate invividual translators.

One fact that I find particularly interesting is that we have more LPTV stations and translators in rural Northern California than you will find in any major metropolitan area, such as Los Angeles or San Francisco. In fact, San Francisco seems to only have a single LPTV broadcaster. Also, the localities given do not always seem to reflect the actual location of the translators in all cases. Broadcasters are not required to disclose the “exact” location of their transmitting facilities, which can make it extremely difficult to determine which direction to point you antenna in for the best reception. This is especially true at UHF frequencies (channels 14 and up), where you likely won’t see any signal at all if you don’t aim an antenna in precisely the right direction.

Another interesting factoid is the large number of low-power television stations that have been licensed in the Eureka area. Despite having been granted construction permits, none of the channels currently assigned to “MS Communications” have ever broadcast a signal, to the best of our knowledge. Apparently, MS Communications holds the licenses for literally hundreds of LPTV stations across the country, none of which seem to be operational. It is doubtful that there will ever be any television programming on these stations.

We’ve added comments where appropriate, including network affiliations.

Community Served Station Call Letters Channel ALTADENA KTAV-LP 69 ALTURAS K20DE 20 ALTURAS, ETC. K47EH 47 ALTURAS, ETC. K60AR 60 ANDERSON/CENTRL VAL. K38FQ 38 ARROYO GRANDE KSSY-LP 20 ATASCADERO KASC-CA 7 BAKERSFIELD KTFB-CA 4 BAKERSFIELD K08MM 8 BAKERSFIELD KKEY-LP 11 BAKERSFIELD K18HD 18 BAKERSFIELD K21FP 21 BAKERSFIELD K24GS 24 BAKERSFIELD KBTF-CA 31 BAKERSFIELD KVPT-LP 34 BAKERSFIELD KBFK-LP 36 BAKERSFIELD KNXT-LP 38 BAKERSFIELD KZKC-LP 42 BAKERSFIELD K46II 46 BAKERSFIELD KEBK-LP 47 BAKERSFIELD KABE-LP 52 BAKERSFIELD KBFX-CA 58 BARSTOW KCIO-LP 6 BARSTOW K16GE 16 BARSTOW K28IE 28 * BENBOW, ETC. K12JJ 12 (KAEF Translator) BIEBER, ETC. K06GS 6 BIG BEAR LAKE K06MU 6 BIG BEAR LAKE KPCD-LP 40 BIG BEND, ETC. K04EZ 4 * BLUE LAKE K36BT 36 (KAEF Translator) BLYTHE K24FA 24 BLYTHE K26FS 26 BLYTHE K29EC 29 BLYTHE K31FE 31 BLYTHE K33FD 33 BOONVILLE, ETC. K57CT 57 BOONVILLE, ETC. K59CH 59 BOONVILLE, ETC. K61CH 61 BOONVILLE, ETC. K63CE 63 BOONVILLE, ETC. K67CC 67 BOONVILLE, ETC. K69CU 69 BRIDGEPORT, ETC. K02JX 2 BRIDGEPORT, ETC. K07QM 7 BRIDGEPORT, ETC. K11HS 11 BRIDGEPORT, ETC. K13EX 13 BURNEY, ETC. K05DQ 5 * BURNT RANCH, ETC. K12JL 12 (KIEM Translator) CALEXICO K36FO 36 CATHEDRAL CITY KDPX-LP 45 CATHEDRAL CITY-PALM KPSP-LP 58 CEDARVILLE K71AF 71 CHALFANT VALLEY, ETC K64CY 64 CHALFANT VALLEY,ETC. K55FD 55 CHALFANT VALLEY,ETC. K61EJ 61 CHICO K02OA 2 CHICO KEFM-LP 6 CHICO KXVU-LP 17 CHICO K19FY 19 CHICO KZVU-LP 22 CHICO KUCO-LP 27 CHICO KKPM-CA 28 CHICO KKTF-LP 35 CHICO KBIT-LD 51 CHICO KSGO-LP 59 CHINA LAKE, ETC. K14AT 14 CLARKS CROSSING KDAS-LP 48 * CRESCENT CITY K09VQ 9 (KEET Translator) * CRESCENT CITY, ETC. K22DS 22 (KOBI Translator) * CRESCENT CITY, ETC. K39EO 39 (Daystar Television Network) CROWLEY LAKE-LONG VA K15DP 15 CROWLEY LAKE-LONG VA K17DF 17 CROWLEY LAKE-LONG VA K19DI 19 CROWLEY LAKE-LONG VA K25EB 25 CROWLEY LAKE-LONG VA K27DV 27 CROWLEY LAKE-LONG VA K58BN 58 DAGGETT K15BZ 15 DAGGETT K19BS 19 DAGGETT K41CY 41 DAGGETT K48IP 48 DAGGETT K50HV 50 DAGGETT, ETC. KTSK-LP 17 DAGGETT, ETC. K23BP 23 DAGGETT, ETC. K35BQ 35 DAGGETT, ETC. K39DW 39 DAGGETT, ETC. K46HT 46 DUNSMUIR, ETC. K02CN 2 DUNSMUIR, ETC. K05BR 5 EAGLEVILLE K13IU 13 EAST WEED K33DI 33 EL CENTRO-HOLTVILLE K56GC 56 ETNA-FORT JONES K02HC 2 * EUREKA KUVU-LP 9 (CW Network) * EUREKA ** K27FX 27 * EUREKA KEUV-LP 31 (Univision) * EUREKA KEMY-LP 33 (MyNetwork) * EUREKA ** K41FD 41 * EUREKA ** K48GP 48 * EUREKA ** K50EQ 50 * EUREKA ** K52FK 52 * EUREKA ** K57HB 57 * EUREKA ** K59FW 59 * EUREKA ** K63GK 63 * EUREKA **** K67GU 67 (KKTF-LP Translator) * EUREKA ** K69IE 69 FALL RIVER MILLS,ETC K11JM 11 FALL RIVER MILLS-MCA K28DB 28 FORT BIDWELL K04GB 4 FORT DICK K36HM 36 FORT JONES, ETC. K04EQ 4 FORT JONES, ETC. K06KA 6 FORT JONES, ETC. K13HU 13 * FORTUNA K14MN 14 (KBVU/KTVU Translator) * FORTUNA/RIO DELL K20CN 20 (KAEF Translator) * FRESHWATER, ETC. K45DS 45 (KAEF Translator) FRESNO K03HK 3 FRESNO KVHF-LP 4 FRESNO K12OZ 12 FRESNO K15ET 15 FRESNO KHSC-LP 16 FRESNO KZMM-CA 22 FRESNO KJKZ-LP 27 FRESNO KBID-LP 31 FRESNO KJEO-LP 32 FRESNO KSDI-LP 33 FRESNO KMSG-LP 39 FRESNO KTFF-LP 41 FRESNO K56DZ 56 * GARBERVILLE K10HX 10 (KVIQ Translator) * GARBERVILLE, ETC. K04NX 4 (KIEM Translator) GONZALES KOTR-LP 2 GRASS VALLEY K16CX 16 * GREEN POINT, ETC. K05EQ 5 (KRCR Translator) HAPPY CAMP K07IX 7 HAPPY CAMP, ETC. K09PI 9 HAPPY CAMP, ETC. K11GO 11 HAPPY CAMP, ETC. K13GL 13 * HAYFORK K05CR 5 (KIXE Translator) * HOOPA K07GJ 7 (KIEM Translator) * HOOPA K11NE 11 (KVIQ Translator) HOPLAND K06FA 6 HOPLAND K10FZ 10 HOPLAND K11TD 11 HOPLAND K13ID 13 HOPLAND K35DO 35 INDIO KVER-CA 4 INDIO KEVC-CA 5 INDIO K06MB 6 INDIO KVPS-LP 8 INDIO KUNA-LP 15 INDIO K19DH 19 INDIO K25GW 25 INDIO/PALM SPRINGS KDFX-CA 33 INLAND EMPIRE KHTV-LP 48 INYOKERN K19CL 19 INYOKERN, ETC. K47AE 47 JOSHUA TREE K25GK 25 JOSHUA TREE, ETC. K14JT 14 * KLAMATH K25CI 25 (KAEF Translator) LA JOLLA K35DG 35 LA JOLLA K59AL 59 LA JOLLA K67AM 67 LAKE CITY, ETC. K06FF 6 LAKE SHASTINA K27BH 27 LAKEHEAD K02FF 2 LAKEHEAD K14HX 14 LAKEPORT K15FJ 15 LAKEPORT K26GK 26 LAKEPORT K33CH 33 LAKEPORT K46DR 46 LAKEPORT K54CY 54 LAKEPORT K56AW 56 LAKEPORT K58AW 58 LAKEPORT K64AZ 64 LAKEPORT K68AL 68 LAKEPORT, ETC. K52AJ 52 LAKESHORE, ETC. K04FL 4 LANCASTER K26GN 26 LANCASTER KEDD-LP 50 * LEWISTON K06EX 6 (KHSL Translator) * LEWISTON K28CY 28 (KIXE Translator) * LEWISTON, ETC. K03CT 3 (KRCR Translator) LIKELY K05ET 5 LIKELY K11LD 11 LITCHFIELD K13RZ 13 LITCHFIELD K46HL 46 LITCHFIELD K48DI 48 LITCHFIELD K50HJ 50 LOMPOC K10OG 10 LOMPOC KLDF-CA 17 LOMPOC K23CL 23 LONG VALLEY K05FR 5 LONG VALLEY K49EA 49 LONG VALLEY K56BS 56 LONG VALLEY REGION K60BR 60 LOS ANGELES KVTU-LP 3 LOS ANGELES KNET-LP 25 LOS ANGELES KSMV-LP 33 LOS ANGELES KNLA-LP 68 LUCERNE VALLEY K15CA 15 LUCERNE VALLEY K19BT 19 LUCERNE VALLEY K33DK 33 LUCERNE VALLEY K41CB 41 LUCERNE VALLEY K43EE 43 LUCERNE VALLEY K48AD 48 LUCERNE VALLEY K50EW 50 LUCERNE VALLEY K54AD 54 MAMMOTH LAKES, ETC. KSRW-LP 33 MARIPOSA K27GZ 27 MARTINEZ K49HV 49 MINERAL K05JK 5 * MIRANDA K08LD 8 (KVIQ Translator) * MIRANDA K10NU 10 (KIEM Translator) MODESTO KAZV-LP 14 MODESTO KEXT-CA 27 MODESTO K49EO 49 MODESTO KACA-LP 61 MONTEREY KMUV-LP 23 MONTEREY KYMB-LP 27 MONTEREY KMCE-LP 43 MONTEREY, ETC. K29AB 29 MORENO VALLEY KRMV-LP 45 MORONGO VALLEY KHIR-LP 3 MORONGO VALLEY K13WJ 13 MORONGO VALLEY K14AB 14 MORONGO VALLEY K16AA 16 MORONGO VALLEY KJHP-LP 18 MORONGO VALLEY K21GI 21 MORONGO VALLEY K30GU 30 MORONGO VALLEY K32EM 32 MORONGO VALLEY K34EU 34 MORONGO VALLEY K36GO 36 MORONGO VALLEY K40HX 40 MORONGO VALLEY K48EM 48 MORRO BAY K09UF 9 MORRO BAY K22EE 22 MOUNTAIN GATE, ETC. K03FU 3 NATIONAL CITY K61GH 61 NEEDLES K30BQ 30 NEEDLES, ETC. K17BN 17 NEEDLES, ETC. K31HY 31 NEWBERRY SPRINGS K03EK 3 NEWBERRY SPRINGS K06IQ 6 NEWBERRY SPRINGS K08IA 8 NEWBERRY SPRINGS K10IX 10 NEWBERRY SPRINGS K12JI 12 NEWELL, TULELAKE K13IV 13 * ORLEANS K08HJ 8 (KVIQ Translator) * ORLEANS K11IQ 11 (KIEM Translator) OROVILLE K08NH 8 OROVILLE K15CX 15 OROVILLE K42HL 42 OXNARD KSKP-CA 25 PALERMO K04QC 4 PALM DESERT KDUO-LP 43 PALM DESERT, ETC. K09XW 9 PALM SPRINGS KCWQ-LP 2 PALM SPRINGS KYAV-LP 12 PALM SPRINGS KODG-LP 17 PALM SPRINGS K20HZ 20 PALM SPRINGS KVES-LP 28 PALM SPRINGS K40ID 40 PALM SPRINGS KPSE-LP 50 PALM SPRINGS DK77AV 77 PALM SPRINGS/INDIO K21DO 21 PALMDALE KPAL-LP 38 PALMDALE K67AO 67 PARADISE K05EM 5 PARADISE K49CT 49 PASO ROBLES K17GD 17 PASO ROBLES KPAO-CA 22 PASO ROBLES K23ED 23 PASO ROBLES KJCN-LP 36 PASO ROBLES K44DN 44 PORTERVILLE K15CO 15 PORTERVILLE KVVG-LP 54 POTTER VALLEY K06DK 6 POTTER VALLEY K08EE 8 POTTER VALLEY K10EQ 10 POTTER VALLEY K12DV 12 POTTER VALLEY K66DQ 66 POTTER VALLEY K69DI 69 POWAY, ETC. KUAN-LP 48 REDDING KMCA-LP 2 REDDING KVFR-LP 4 REDDING KRDN-LP 5 REDDING KFMD-LP 6 REDDING KRVU-LP 21 REDDING KGEC-LP 26 REDDING KMSX-LP 29 REDDING K33HH 33 REDDING K40HE 40 REDDING K46HI 46 REDDING KRDT-CA 47 REDDING K50GP 50 REDDING KRHT-LP 58 REDLANDS KLAU-LP 66 REEDLEY KCWB-LP 13 RIDGECREST K41GO 41 RIDGECREST K43AG 43 RIDGECREST K45GQ 45 RIDGECREST, ETC. K02HY 2 RIDGECREST, ETC. K04HX 4 RIDGECREST, ETC. K05FO 5 RIDGECREST, ETC. K07NH 7 RIDGECREST, ETC. K09MG 9 RIDGECREST, ETC. K11ML 11 RIDGECREST, ETC. K13NF 13 RIDGECREST, ETC. K49AA 49 RIDGECREST, ETC. K51DD 51 RIDGECREST, ETC. K53AB 53 RIDGECREST, ETC. K55AB 55 RIDGECREST, ETC. K57AK 57 RIDGECREST, ETC. K59AO 59 * RIO DELL K04NY 4 (KIEM Translator) * RIO DELL, SCOTIA K10FS 10 (KVIQ Translator) RIVERSIDE KZSW-LP 27 SACRAMENTO KBTV-CA 8 SACRAMENTO KMMK-LP 14 SACRAMENTO KMUM-CA 15 SACRAMENTO K22FR 22 SACRAMENTO KEZT-CA 23 SACRAMENTO K27EU 27 SACRAMENTO KSTV-LP 32 SACRAMENTO KCSO-LP 33 SACRAMENTO K45HC 45 SACRAMENTO KRJR-LP 47 SACRAMENTO KSAO-LP 49 SALINAS KMMD-CA 3 SALINAS K15CU 15 SALINAS KLFB-LP 21 SALINAS K38JP 38 SALINAS/MONTEREY,ETC KDJT-CA 33 SAN BERNARDINO KSGA-LP 64 SAN DIEGO KBNT-CA 17 SAN DIEGO KDTF-LP 36 SAN DIEGO KZSD-LP 41 SAN DIEGO KBOP-CA 43 SAN DIEGO KTCD-LP 46 SAN DIEGO K63EN 63 SAN FERNANDO VALLEY KSFV-LP 26 SAN FRANCISCO KMMC-LP 40 SAN FRANCISCO, ETC. KFTL-CA 28 SAN LUIS OBISPO K16FC 16 SAN LUIS OBISPO KMMA-CA 18 SAN LUIS OBISPO KKFX-CA 24 SAN LUIS OBISPO K28FK 28 SAN LUIS OBISPO KSBO-CA 42 SAN LUIS OBISPO KFUL-LP 44 SAN LUIS OBISPO K47GD 47 SAN LUIS OBISPO KCCE-LP 50 SAN LUIS OBISPO KPXA-LP 60 SAN LUIS OBISPO,ETC. K57BC 57 SAN MARCOS KSKT-CA 43 SANTA BARBARA KZDF-LP 8 SANTA BARBARA KSBB-LP 17 SANTA BARBARA KWHY-LP 22 SANTA BARBARA K26FT 26 SANTA BARBARA KVMM-CA 41 SANTA BARBARA KTSB-LP 43 SANTA BARBARA KBAB-LP 51 SANTA BARBARA K59CD 59 SANTA BARBARA, ETC. K28GY 28 SANTA CLARA-SAN JOSE KAXT-CA 22 SANTA MARIA K07TA 7 SANTA MARIA KKDJ-LP 8 SANTA MARIA KQMM-CA 14 SANTA MARIA KLFA-LP 25 SANTA MARIA KDFS-CA 30 SANTA MARIA K35ER 35 SANTA MARIA KWSM-LP 40 SANTA MARIA K46GF 46 SANTA MARIA K51GB 51 SANTA ROSA K25HI 25 SANTA ROSA KDTV-CA 28 SANTA ROSA KTVJ-LP 36 SANTA ROSA KQRM-LP 40 SEIAD VALLEY K04NU 4 SEIAD VALLEY K08EQ 8 SEIAD VALLEY K12JD 12 * SHELTER COVE K02OD 2 (KIEM Translator) * SHELTER COVE K10KY 10 KVIQ Translator) * SHELTER COVE K12OV 12 (KEET Translator) * SOUTH EUREKA/LOLETA K51EG 51 (KAEF Translator) SOUTH LAKE TAHOE K12PP 12 SOUTH LAKE TAHOE K33CN 33 SOUTH YREKA K47DV 47 STATELINE, ETC. K43DB 43 STOCKTON KMMW-LP 47 STOCKTON KDTS-LP 52 SUSANVILLE KREN-LP 29 SUSANVILLE, ETC. K36HH 36 SUSANVILLE, ETC. K42GV 42 SUSANVILLE, ETC. K61EN 61 SUSANVILLE, ETC. K63CM 63 SUSANVILLE, ETC. K69FS 69 SUSANVILLE-HERLONG K59ET 59 SWAUGER CREEK K51CP 51 SWAUGER CREEK K54CX 54 TAHOE CITY K23DT 23 TAHOE CITY K56BW 56 TEMECULA K12PO 12 * TRINITY CENTER K39DG 39 (KIXE Translator) TWENTYNINE PALMS K18FH 18 TWENTYNINE PALMS K38EE 38 TWENTYNINE PALMS, ET K51DU 51 TWENTYNINE PALMS,ETC K16FI 16 TWENTYNINE PALMS,ETC K29GK 29 TWENTYNINE PALMS,ETC K47IB 47 TWENTYNINE PALMS,ETC K49DC 49 UKIAH K17CG 17 UKIAH K21CD 21 UKIAH K27EE 27 UKIAH K29DF 29 UKIAH K31GK 31 UKIAH K39AG 39 UKIAH K41AF 41 UKIAH K43AF 43 UKIAH KTJH-LP 44 UKIAH K45AH 45 UKIAH K47AL 47 UKIAH K51AQ 51 UKIAH K55GX 55 UKIAH K69DF 69 VAN NUYS KWJD-LP 25 VAN NUYS KSKJ-CA 38 VAN NUYS K55KD 55 VENTURA KIMG-LP 23 VENTURA K45DU 45 VICTORVILLE K39GY 39 VICTORVILLE K47CC 47 VICTORVILLE, ETC. K21AC 21 VICTORVILLE, ETC. K25AD 25 VICTORVILLE, ETC. K27AE 27 VICTORVILLE, ETC. K31AD 31 VICTORVILLE, ETC. K51AN 51 VICTORVILLE, ETC. K55CW 55 VISALIA KFAZ-CA 8 VISALIA KMCF-LP 35 VISTA K26FA 26 VISTA KHAX-LP 49 * WEAVERVILLE, ETC. K02EE 2 (KIXE Translator) * WEAVERVILLE, ETC. K04DD 4 (KHSL Translator) * WEAVERVILLE, ETC. K05CF 5 (KRCR Translator) WESTWOOD, ETC. K54EE 54 * WILLOW CREEK K08GR 8 (KIEM Translator) * WILLOW CREEK K10EN 10 (KVIQ Translator) * WILLOW CREEK K34BW 34 (KRCR Translator) YREKA K06GP 6 YREKA K41JB 41 YREKA K53DY 53 YREKA, ETC. K04HE 4 YREKA, ETC. K13LO 13 YREKA, ETC. K17BA 17 YREKA, ETC. K35DE 35 YUCCA VALLEY K27DS 27 Source: Stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, January 23, 2008
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** Also listed, but unable to confirm:

K13MD Channel 13 Hyampom (KIEM Translator?)

k09PM Channel 9 Covelo (KEET Translator?)

K09MS Channel 9 Hoopa (KEET Translator?)

K04EM Channel 4 Hayfork (KRCR Translator?)

K05FZ Channel 5 Trinity Center (KRCR Translator?)

K05EX Channel 5 Burnt Ranch (KRCR Translator?)

*** Construction permit applied for by MS Communications, Inc. No word on what, if anything, will eventually be on these channels. Channels currently vacant.

**** Supposedly belongs to KKTF-LP, a Spanish language broadcaster in Chico, which plans to offer Telefutura. Currently vacant.

There are actually quite a number of requirements you must meet in order to use the new service, which offers movies, news clips, documentaries and other content that is recorded directly to a customer’s DVR.

First off, DirecTV customers must lease a combination DirecTV receiver and DVR and subscribe to programming with DVR service. Downloading of any HD content requires the lease of a DirecTV HD-DVR, along with a subscription to their DVR service and HDTV programming option. DirecTV charges its customers an extra $9.95 per month in order to have access to any HDTV programming. This is in addition to normal programming subscription fees. The customer obviously must also have an HDTV capable television or converter box in order to view any HDTV content. Next, you will need access to a broadband Internet connection, as all Video On Demand content is actually downloaded via the Internet, rather than being received via satellite.

The service claims to currently have up to 4,000 titles available for download. This may sound like a lot, but actually looks pretty paltry when compared to the thousands of hours of programming available to DirecTV subscribers, who can already use their DVRs to schedule recordings months ahead of time. DirecTV was also the first programming provider to make its DVR features available to control via the Internet or cellphone, allowing customers to choose what they want to record from almost anywhere. DirecTV is offering this as a “free” addition to their regular programming, so it doesn’t cost anything extra to those who already have the above mentioned services.

Installation

Setup for the service is very straightforward if you already have normal DirecTV service up-and-running. An Ethernet port built into the back of most late model DirecTV receivers plugs directly into your broadband router. It will work using DHCP detection or can be programmed to use a static IP address. I was able to have the service activated and working in less than 5 minutes. It will likely take you longer if you don’t already have an Ethernet port available near your TV set. It is also possible to use a wireless broadband router in order to provide your receiver/DVR with Internet access. However, I would not recommend it due to the high transfer speeds and associated bandwidth bottleneck it would create on your network.

Once activated, you simply use your remote control to surf to channel 1000. From there, you are taken into a sub-menu, where you can browse programming by content type, genre or by individual channels. A number of networks such as The History Channel, HBO and Comedy Central have their own sub-sub-menus, which allows you to view all available VOD programming available from their respective networks.

The Bad News

Up until this point, I was pretty impressed with what I saw. It was only after I started taking a close look at what programming was available that I began to wonder whether this new service was really worth the effort. The most disappointing aspect of the service, by far, is the large number of movie titles that are only available via pay-per-view. From an economic perspective, this certainly makes sense. DirecTV isn’t making any “extra” money on this, unless you pay extra, so they have to have some type of “value added” programming. Still, the breadth and width of movies and TV programs that are classified as pay-per-view is rather staggering. Some of the movies on PPV are 20 or even 30 years old, and have been shown on network television for free on many occasions. Some network programmers, such as NBC, have also started charging for content that you can normally view for free. Personally, I find it rather insulting being asked to pay $1.99 just to watch a re-run of a network TV show. That’s just me though.

Another let down was the fact that there is no ability to sort through programming based upon what channels you already subscribe to. For example, almost all movies that do not fall into the PPV category are on premium movie channels like STARZ, HBO, Showtime, TMC, Cinemax, etc. Those listings will appear, even if you don’t subscribe to them. So, anyone browsing through the “movies” category that does not subscribe to DirecTV’s most expensive programming packages (which can easily run you well over $100 per month) will find very little that is available to them without paying extra.

Another disappointment is the lack of HDTV programming available to subscribers. Only a small percentage of DirecTV’s overall HDTV content is available via its VOD service. This is likely due to the high cost of bandwidth for transmitting HDTV content across the Internet. Even at broadband speeds, HDTV programs seem to take forever to download. It’s standard definition programming does not transfer all that quickly either. Even with the full bandwidth of a commercial T1 connection, waiting for features to complete downloading can be like watching a teapot and waiting for the water to boil. This is quite obviously not a real-time type of service. It’s nice for scheduling things to download well ahead of when you want to watch them, but not if you want to watch them immediately.

The Good News

The reason that titles take so long to download using this service can easily be justified by watching the final product. Since you are actually downloading an MPEG4 file, which is the same type of compression method used to transmit their programming via satellite, the quality of picture you will receive from their Video On Demand service is literally indistinguishable from DirecTV’s regular programming. In fact, other than the “VOD” label that shows-up next to each title, there is almost no way of telling the difference between programming you have recorded via satellite and VOD titles that you have downloaded over the Internet. They all appear right together when viewing a list of your recorded content.

One benefit of using DirecTV’s VOD service to download titles, rather than recording them to your DVR the traditional way, is that most titles currently have few, if any, commercial interruptions. So, DVR users who are used to hitting the fast-forward button to skip through commercials on recorded content can finally give their fingers a rest. Most shows have been re-edited to include a limited number of commercials, most of them being “teaser” ads for other network shows. It actually makes some network programming tolerable to sit through.

There is also a slew of exclusive content available to DirecTV VOD subscribers. Most of the titles we ran across were compiled by sources such as CNN. They have quite a number of interviews and short segments available that never quite made it on to their regular broadcasts. The presentation style seems to be much more laid-back than you would expect from some of these programmers. You are just as likely to see interviewers wearing a T-Shirt as a tie. I’m guessing that a large number of these shows will never see the light of day on regular television. The same can be said for many of the short clips you will find for reality shows and documentaries on other channels. There are a large number of outtakes, bloopers and other material that normally would never have gone any further than the cutting room floor. Enjoy it while you can. Once the mass public starts watching these services, we doubt that this type of programming will show-up anyplace other than YouTube.

Programming Pros and Cons

The programming you will find available from different programmers might not exactly be what one would expect. While some channels provide a wide array of programming that substantially duplicates what is available on their regular video channels, others provide only a small glimpse of what is available. For instance, while you will find a very good assortment of commercial-free movies available to you from HBO and Showtime (if you also subscribe to their premium movie services), you will find that others such as American Movie Classics don’t make ANY movies available for download. As for sports programming, you won’t find any. None of the national or regional sports channels have video on demand programming. Period. You will need to rely upon traditional DVR recording to catch any sporting events, unless they happen to be on pay-per-view.

Another programming oddity lies in the ability to download clips from some shows, but being unable to download the entire show. For example, while a number of clips from Comedy Central’s “Roast” series are often available for VOD download, you won’t be able to find entire shows from the series for download.

Probably the most frustrating thing for me is the inability to distinguish which programming is available to me as as a subscriber, and which isn’t. You won’t be able to download any programming from HBO’s Video On Demand service unless you subscribe to HBO, which makes sense. However, there are quite a few Video On Demand channels in the menu that I don’t even recognize. Some of these include The Smithsonian Channel, The Anime Network, Eurocinema, Film Festival, MGM, SONY, Warner Brothers, WWE, etc. New ones seem to be added all of the time. How do you know if you will be allowed to download programs on these channels or not? You won’t. You are seemingly allowed to schedule recordings on every channel that appears. If you are “eligible” to receive programming on these channels, the program will be downloaded for you. If you are not, the program will simply never appear. Seriously! There are no error messages or other menu help to clue you in on what you are allowed to download. Other than that, and perhaps your own memory (who can remember an exact list of the 200+ available channels that they subscribe to?), there is seemingly no way to tell which programs you are allowed to record, and which you aren’t.

The Bottom Line

Despite a number of programming “quirks”, if you already have DVR service with DirecTV and a broadband connection, this one really is a no-brainer. There is no extra cost involved and it takes only minutes to get up-and-running. The number of titles is limited at the moment, but everything we have read would tend to indicate that much, much more programming is on the way. While the service is definitely not something that would make me want to rush out and subscribe to DirecTV if I didn’t already have it, the superior programming, picture quality and customer service you will get as compared to cable is more than enough reason to make the switch.

DirecTV’s VOD service is a win-win situation for DirecTV, the programmers and consumers. If you don’t already have DirecTV, this is just another reason to make the switch from cable. I’ve been subscribing to DirecTV for well over 10 years now, and you couldn’t pay me to go back to cable. For those of you who have to have “everything” when it comes to television, this is about as close as you can get to TV Nirvana at the moment. If you can’t find something worth viewing with DirecTV HDTV service and video on demand, there truly is nothing to watch!

Update: This is just a brief update to the original article that I wrote above in 2008. Since I originally started viewing DirecTV’s Video On Demand (VOD) service, some additional technical issues have come to light. For starters, it seems that the original HR-22 HD-DVR receiver I started out with was a true lemon. It suffered from numerous “technical difficulties” during the few months that I owned it and finally had to be returned to the factory for replacement. I was sent a slightly updated version of the HR-22, which seems to have undergone some slight cosmetic as well as internal changes.

The cause of the old HR-22 having to be replaced was fairly obvious to me… a crashed hard drive. Unfortunately, I lost all of the pre-recoded content I had saved, including a number of pay-per-view events. The big loss here is due to the fact that DirecTV no longer allows you to save these events as long as you want on your DVR. They automatically “expire” after a certain amount of time, just as all DirecTV Video On Demand content eventually does.

As a side note, I had to pay a $20 shipping and handling charge to get the receiver replaced, even though it is technically a rented product. I have never understood DirecTV’s rental scheme. First, I had to pay $200 to (I thought) BUY the receiver. I didn’t sign any agreement saying that I agreed to “rent” the thing. After that, I have to pay an extra $5 per month to “rent” the HD-DVR FOREVER! To add insult to injury, activating the receiver that I paid $200 for puts me on the hook for the next TWO YEARS to pay an extra $10 a month for access to HD programming, whether you are able to view it or not. Strangely, DirecTV also gives you the option to pay another $6.95 per month for “insurance”, just in case you need help with a defective product of theirs. This seems more like the kind of scam that the cable companies or DISH Network would think of. It’s one of the few things about DirecTV that I really find myself insulted by, as a consumer.

On to more technical matters… I have found that not all video quality is created equal, when it comes to DirecTV’s Video On Demand service. Some “channels” on the VOD system seem of much higher quality than others. In particular, STARZ offers a huge selection of movies for download to those who purchase their service on DirecTV. Far more than any of the other premium movie channels. There’s just one problem… the video quality of their titles in standard resolution can be nearly unwatchable. I downloaded quite a number of STARZ movies on VOD that I had to quit watching after a few minutes, due to their awful video quality (or lack thereof). The problem was always the same. Video contained washed-out colors and blurry images. The blurriness was bad enough that it was difficult, if not impossible, to read any text that appeared in movie scenes. The quality difference was clearly visible when comparing it to the video on any standard resolution DirecTV channel.

Generally, poor video quality like this is usually the result of over-compression. That is, STARZ and/or DirecTV is likely trying to save money on bandwidth by purposefully reducing the picture quality in order to achieve faster download times. There really is no technical way to quantify the difference, due to the proprietary nature of DirecTV’s encoding system. However, the results are quite obvious to anyone that does not have severely impaired vision.

Another small “quirk” of DirecTV’s Video On Demand Service relates to volume control. For some reason, the audio levels of all programming downloaded via video on demand is significantly lower than that of DirecTV’s live, satellite programming. Unless you adjust the volume when switching from live satellite to video on demand, you will have a very difficult time hearing anything. Conversely, switching from video on demand titles to the live satellite feed will likely result in sound levels being so high as to severely annoy your next door neighbors. If you are unlucky enough to switch from a video on demand title to a live DirecTV channel during a commercial, you could be in for a very rude awakening, indeed. DirecTV raises audio levels during certain commercials so high as to make me worry about permanent hearing loss. The Federal Communications Commission bans this type of practice by over-the-air broadcasters, but it seems that DirecTV is immune from these regulations.

Speaking of which, I must admit that I no longer watch ANY DirecTV programming (that has commercials) in real-time, with the sole exception of news and some sports programming. Their blatant disregard for public safety by jacking up audio levels during their own commercials has finally pushed me to the point where I refuse to sit through ANY commercials on their service. Unless it’s a live event, I simply pre-record programs to my HD-DVR, then watch them later. I skip through ALL commercials using the fast forward button. It’s obvious that DirecTV itself is the one behind this, since the problem is worst during their own in-house ads. Some of these spots are promos for DirecTV, while others are simply those that they sell to other advertisers during time slots made available to them by the basic cable channels that they carry. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know when or where these ads will appear, so I am simply forced to stop watching all ads that appear anywhere on DirecTV, or order to avoid the pain and suffering that results from the outrageously high volume levels of DirecTV’s ads.

So, a note to those companies that advertise on any of the networks carried by DirecTV. I DO NOT WATCH YOUR COMMERCIALS. EVER. IF YOU ARE PAYING DIRECTV FOR “ADVERTISING”, YOU WARE WASTING YOUR MONEY. As long as DirecTV continues their current eardrum torturing scheme, I will continue “boycotting” their advertisers. Not that DirecTV is the only company guilty of this. Most cable systems do the same thing. It doesn’t mean that I have to put up with it though.

Much to their credit, the paper made a point to mention the sorry state of affairs when it comes to trying to find DTV converters in local stores, and how retailers seem to never have them in stock for very long. The Eureka Reporter gets double bonus points for going out of their way to point out how important buying a DTV converter with analog pass-through is. For once, someone in the media seems to “get it”, when it comes to understanding what a big problem this is for small communities such as ours. I just wish that more of the mainstream media would start picking-up on this story, and start warning people away from the vast majority of digital converters out there that will result in loss of TV service availability to their users.

For those of you who haven’t read the article yet, we highly recommend that you read last week’s story Don’t Buy These Converter Boxes. It points out what features your box will need to have in order to be able to watch ALL local channels on your TV set after February 2009.

In the next couple of days we will be publishing a first look at DirecTV’s new Video On Demand (VOD) service, which uses your high-speed Internet connection to automatically record your choice of thousands of programs directly to your DVR (digital video recorder). All movies, news clips, documentaries, etc. are available exclusively to DirecTV customers who subscribe to the company’s HDTV service. It’s quite likely an even better advancement in TV viewing than HDTV service itself, and probably the neatest TV innovation since TiVo. Stay tuned!

The website seems to have a fairly large selection of DTV converters, as well as a handful of HDTV-ready antennas. Shipping looks to be a flat $9.95 per order. The cheapest converter they currently have available is $52.95. When you add-in shipping charges, that would make the cheapest digital television converter you can buy from them come out to about $23 after using your coupon. Depending upon where you live, the $9.95 price for shipping can be balanced against the fact that they do not charge sales taxes in most states. In high tax states like California, ordering two converters at a time from them would be only slightly more expensive than if you had bought the units (at the same price) locally and had to pay the sales taxes.

One potential problem that you might have ordering from this site is one that pretty much all retailers have in common these days. Many of the models listed are out of stock, and quantities are limited. Also limited are the number of DTV converters that provide analog pass-through capabilities. As we have stated in previous articles, this is a key feature that most DTV converters are currently missing. Not having this feature will leave you unable to view channels that are still broadcasting in analog. Quite a number of translators and LPTV stations in the local area are currently in analog and will STAY in analog for some time to come. These stations are exempt from FCC rules mandating the switch to digital television. Almost half of the TV stations in Humboldt County are classified as LPTV, or low-power television. The percentage is much higher if you count the numerous low power translators scattered throughout Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino and Del Norte Counties in Northern California.

Needless to say, we would recommend holding off on ordering a CECB converter box until you can get one with analog pass-through capabilities. You may have to check websites and retailers regularly to find any in stock, but it is definitely worth the wait in areas like Humboldt County, where there are so many stations continuing to broadcast in analog.

Another good place to look online for DTV converters is SolidSignal.Com. We have always had excellent service when ordering from this company and we highly recommend them. In addition to selling the CECB digital to analog converters, they also sell a large selection of DTV-ready antennas, cabling and accessories. You can also find gear for DirecTV, Dish Network and other satellite TV equipment as well. SolidSignal.Com is able to process government coupons for DTV converters now, so you should be able to order these products online and still get your $40 discount without any hassles.

As always, if you haven’t applied for your free government coupons yet, be sure to do so. You can apply directly online through the government’s website at DTV2009.GOV .

The key feature I am talking about is something called analog pass-through, and it is not available on the majority of DTV converters that initially hit the market this year. Exactly what does this feature do? It allows those who install their DTV converters to continue watching analog broadcasts in addition to DTV signals.

You may have been mistakenly led to believe that all TV stations in the U.S. will go completely digital after February 2009. That isn’t the case. In fact, in many areas of the country a large number of stations will NEVER go digital. These channels are referred to as Low Power Television, or LPTV, stations. In essence, LPTV stations broadcast analog signals at power levels below that of larger “full power” broadcasters. In urban areas, many of these channels are occupied by religious broadcasters, shopping networks and a variety of independent stations. In rural areas such as Humboldt County though, these stations can be network affiliates and others who want to avoid the expense of going digital.

Without the analog pass-through feature on your converter box, you will not only immediately lose reception of local TV stations that are still in analog, but you will permanently lose access to all LPTV stations, unless they decide to go digital themselves one day.

Humboldt County currently has a number of LPTV stations, which are in addition to low-power analog translators that serve the most rural areas. Local LPTV stations currently consist of The Trinity Broadcast Network on UHF channel 47, KUVU (The CW) on channel 35, Univision on channel 31 and KEMY (MyTV network affiliate) on channel 33. Without the analog pass-through feature on your DTV converter, you will lose all access to these channels. The only way to watch them over-the-air would be to use some type of antenna selector switch, install two separate TV antennas or by manually swapping cables each time you want to choose between digital and analog stations.

So, when can we expect these LPTV broadcasters to switch to DTV or even HDTV? I’m tempted to say never, but never is a long time. Perhaps not during my lifetime though, since there is little to no incentive for these broadcasters to do so. As the vast majority of those in Humboldt County tune-in these channels via cable television, it simply is not cost effective at present for them to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on digital broadcasting equipment to reach a relative handful of additional viewers. In fact, one could make the argument that it would actually be cheaper for those stations to pay for your subscription to cable TV than it would be to buy new transmitters for each station.

The Federal Communications Commission, which is the brainchild behind DTV and HDTV regulation, currently has no plans to force LPTV broadcasters to switch to DTV. Therefore, after February 29th, 2009, almost half of TV stations in Humboldt County will actually continue to broadcast in standard analog with no announced plans to switch to digital at all. In fact, Humboldt County will likely be one of the few communities in the United States with nearly as many local channels broadcasting in analog as digital after 2008.

With the majority of those who watch television in Humboldt County either subscribing to cable or satellite television, it would seem that the transition to DTV will have less of an impact in Humboldt County than possibly any other location in the U.S. When you take into consideration the fact that NO local channels have announced plans to broadcast in HDTV, it would seem that little change will be noticed in our area come February 2009.

First of all, filling out the online form is easy. There are a minimal number of questions. You can fill out the entire form online at http://www.DTV209.gov . It takes only a few minutes. You can also call their toll-free number at 1-888-DTV-2009. You will be walked through the application status over the telephone. Either way, the application process asks pretty much the same questions, and you will get your coupons just as fast one way as the other.

There are some “catches” with the application process. Considering the fact that this program is administered by the federal government, the whole system runs fairly smoothly though. The biggest “catch” is the fact that if you want to get the coupons in the first place, YOU HAVE TO APPLY FOR THEM! You won’t get them automatically if you fail to apply. There are only a limited number of coupons that are being produced, although the feds won’t tell us the exact number. Either way, availability is on a first-come, first-served basis. Once they are gone, they’re gone.

The second “catch” can be a bit of a pain for many rural Americans. This is rather ironic, since those in rural areas are the ones most directly affected by over the air signal reception of DTV signals. In a nutshell, you will have to give the government a physical “street” mailing address in order to get your coupons mailed to you. You can NOT use a PO Box as a mailing address. You can NOT use a business address to send your coupons to. You can NOT use a service such as Mailboxes, Etc., The UPS Store or other private mailbox provider. You can NOT have the coupons shipped to you overseas or to any domestic address that does not match-up with a (very buggy) database of residential addresses maintained by the U.S. Postal Service. This is a rather unforgiving process, unfortunately. You will need to enter your street address information EXACTLY as it appears in the USPS database, otherwise your application will be rejected. So, what do you do if you live in a remote area and you do not have a “street address” that is serviced by the U.S. Postal Service? At this point, insofar as we can tell, you are just out of luck. Sorry.

The same goes for any legitimate street address that the USPS has “mucked-up” in their database. From previous experience, I can tell you that this database is horribly inaccurate in many cases. For example, the business address that I have used for 10 years to receive postal mail, UPS shipments, FedEx deliveries, freight deliveries, my income tax and voting materials, driver’s license, etc. does not exist at all in the USPS database. Funny, I still get mail there every single day though. Go figure! In cases like this, you may want to try calling their toll-free phone number at 1-888-DTV-2009 instead, since you will not get anywhere with the online application system.

So, you’ve called or filled-out the DTV converter box application online. Now, what? Sit. Wait. Check your mailbox again, and be prepared to wait a bit longer. A very informal survey we did recently indicated that it took approximately 20-30 days for consumers to receive their DTV converter box coupons in the mail. You will eventually receive a standard sized #10 envelope with a couple of pages of information and (usually) two “coupons”. They don’t look like your average coupon though. They look more like credit cards. There is a mag stripe on the back of each plastic card, as well as a serial number on the front. The mailing will most likely come from TV Converter Box Coupon Program, PO Box 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000.

The first page (see above) contains your name and address, the coupon(s) and a list of local retailers where you can supposedly buy a CECB digital TV converter box. These locations are most likely automatically generated from a database that matches your zip code to that of nearby registered CECB converter box retailers. It is far from a complete list though. The one we received (see above) listed eight locations in Humboldt County where the digital television converters are available. They consisted of SEARS, Radio Shack, K-Mart and Target. We do not have a Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart or a number of other participating electronics chain stores in our area, or they most likely would have been listed first.

The second page (see left) contains some general information about the DTV converter box program. This page also has a list of the most recently approved CECB DTV converter box models that are eligible for the program, although we are guessing that the list will probably be less than 100% up-to-date by the time you get it. Lastly, the insert contains a list of about a dozen or so mail order and online retailers that will accept the coupons and who presumably have the decoders in stock. If you want to read the entire list, see the end of this article for a link to download a digital copy of the insert, which you can print out for yourself.

Lastly, and most importantly!!! If you take away only a single fact to remember from this entire article, it should definitely be to take a close look at the expiration date on each coupon. At most, you will only have 90 days in order to use your $40 DTV converter coupons before they expire. Once they expire, they are absolutely worthless. The government will not give you an extension or re-issue you new coupons. In other words, use them, or lose them! You have 90 days to use the coupons from the day the coupons are printed, NOT from the day that you receive them. As with most bulk mailers, this agency quite likely only sends out their mailings once per week in order to get a bulk discount from the U.S. Postal Service. So, you may find that up to two weeks has been shaved off the 90 days you have to spend the coupons by the time you actually receive them. The government has caught quite a bit of flack over the entire 90 day expiration date issue, but it’s too late for them to make any changes to the program at this point. So, buyer (and taxpayer) beware!

Below are links to graphic copies of the materials you will receive once you register to receive your free government Digital Television (DTV) converters, or CECB boxes. They have been “Photoshopped” to remove certain parts of the serial numbers. Needless to say, you can’t just print these pages out on your inkjet printer and try to pass them off as real coupons. Each DTV converter box coupon has it’s own individual serial number and mag stripe. The information on these pages is for reference and display purposes only.

Free DTV Coupon Insert Page1

Free DTV Coupon Insert Page 2

We will soon publish an updated list of online retailers that can actually process the $40 DTV digital converter box coupons via the Internet. Most online retailers have no way to accept these coupons at present, and most likely never will. A handful of companies have stepped forward to fill this gap, and they are the only ones you should consider buying from online, since you will most likely be overcharged (no discount given) if you try ordering from a merchant that hasn’t made special provisions to deal with these specific coupons.

UPDATE: President Obama and the U.S. Congress officially extended the deadline for broadcasters to switch to DTV to June 12, 2009. You can keep applying for coupons via phone or the Internet until that time. Keep in mind that the extension is basically voluntary, meaning that broadcasters can switch their signals to DTV and STOP broadcasting in analog anytime that they want to. There are very few stations that are waiting until June to make the jump to DTV, due to the high cost associated with simulcasting both digital and analog signals. So, chances are that the only analog broadcasts still remaining in your area are most likely that of translators and low-power (LPTV) stations, which are not required to transition to digital, anyway.

Stay tuned!!!

Channels listed as “Digital” are transmitted via the cable system using a proprietary, encrypted digital signal format that can only be (theoretically) decoded by one of the company’s authorized cable tuners/converters/descramblers. The channel numbers shown on the display are not necessarily associated with a station’s original broadcast channel or frequency.

SuddenLink uses fiberoptic lines to carry their signals from one utility pole to the next. Once reaching the utility pole nearest your home it converts these pulses of light into a digital radio frequency signal that is directly connected to your cable box via coaxial cable. Internet and telephone service from SuddenLink reaches customers via digital signals that are carried along with TV signals on the same lines.

Channel No. Channel Name Type
2 KBVU-FOX 29 Eureka, CA Basic
3 KIEM-TV (NBC) 3 Eureka, CA Basic
4 Suddenlink Homesource Basic
5 KEMY-LP MNT 33 Eureka, CA Basic
6 KVIQ-CBS 6 Eureka, CA Basic
7 KAEF-ABC 23 Arcata, CA Basic
8 Local Education Basic
9 KUVU-LP CW 17 Eureka, CA Basic
10 California Channel Basic
10 Local Access Basic
11 Community Channel Basic
12 Community Channel Basic
13 KEET-PBS 13 Eureka, CA Basic
14 USA Expanded Basic
15 CNN Expanded Basic
16 CNN Headline News Expanded Basic
17 MSNBC Expanded Basic
18 CNBC Expanded Basic
19 Fox News Channel Expanded Basic
20 ESPN Expanded Basic
21 ESPN 2 Expanded Basic
22 Comcast Sports Net Bay Area Expanded Basic
23 QVC Expanded Basic
24 The History Channel Expanded Basic
25 The Learning Channel Expanded Basic
26 Animal Planet Expanded Basic
27 Lifetime Television Expanded Basic
28 TNT Expanded Basic
29 Home & Garden Television Expanded Basic
30 Discovery Channel Expanded Basic
31 Lifetime Movie Network Expanded Basic
32 VH-1 Expanded Basic
33 MTV Expanded Basic
34 CMT Expanded Basic
35 Arts & Entertainment Expanded Basic
37 Telemundo (satellite) Expanded Basic
38 Spike TV Expanded Basic
39 The Travel Channel Expanded Basic
40 E! Entertainment Expanded Basic
41 Sci-Fi Expanded Basic
42 Bravo Expanded Basic
43 FX Expanded Basic
44 Comedy Central Expanded Basic
45 Disney Expanded Basic
46 Cartoon Network Expanded Basic
47 Nickelodeon Expanded Basic
48 TV Land Expanded Basic
49 ABC Family Expanded Basic
50 Food Network Expanded Basic
51 Trinity Broadcasting Network Expanded Basic
52 Oxygen Expanded Basic
53 Discovery Health Channel Expanded Basic
54 The Weather Channel Expanded Basic
55 truTV Expanded Basic
56 Jewelry Television Expanded Basic
58 Home Shopping Network Expanded Basic
59 ShopNBC Expanded Basic
60 Access Television Network Expanded Basic
61 American Movie Classics Expanded Basic
62 Turner Classic Movies Expanded Basic
63 MTV 2 Expanded Basic
64 VERSUS Expanded Basic
65 Speed Channel Expanded Basic
67 Digital Preview Channel Expanded Basic
70 TV Guide Channel Expanded Basic
71 Wizebuys TV Expanded Basic
72 Humbolt Trading Post Expanded Basic
73 Product Information Network Expanded Basic
74 C-SPAN 2 Expanded Basic
75 Alpha Numeric & Weather Expanded Basic
76 C-SPAN Basic
77 TBS Superstation Basic
78 KEUV – LP 31 Eureka, CA Basic
99 NASA Expanded Basic
100 Discovery Kids Digital Discovery/Variety Tier
101 The Science Channel Digital Discovery/Variety Tier
102 Planet Green Digital Discovery/Variety Tier
103 Investigation Discovery Digital Discovery/Variety Tier
104 The Military Channel Digital Discovery/Variety Tier
120 Noggin Digital Discovery/Variety Tier
199 iN DEMAND Barker Digital Discovery/Variety Tier
201 Independent Film Channel Digital Movie Tier
202 Sundance West Digital Movie Tier
203 Encore West Digital Movie Tier
204 Encore Love West Digital Movie Tier
205 Encore Mystery West Digital Movie Tier
206 Encore Action West Digital Movie Tier
207 Encore Drama West Digital Movie Tier
208 Encore Westerns West Digital Movie Tier
210 LOGO Digital Movie Tier
220 Do-it-Yourself Digital Variety Tier
221 Fine Living Digital Variety Tier
222 Game Show Network Digital Variety Tier
223 Toon Disney Digital Variety Tier
224 Fuse Digital Variety Tier
225 MTV U Digital Variety Tier
227 SoapNet Digital Variety Tier
228 BBC America Digital Variety Tier
229 Hallmark Channel Digital Variety Tier
230 EWTN Digital Variety Tier
231 EWTN Espanol Digital Variety Tier
232 Three Angels Broadcasting Digital Variety Tier
233 MTV Jams Digital Variety Tier
234 Si TV Digital Variety Tier
235 Nick Toons Digital Variety Tier
236 The N Digital Variety Tier
237 MTV Hits Digital Variety Tier
238 VH-1 Classic Rock Digital Variety Tier
239 VH-1 Soul Digital Variety Tier
240 CMT Pure Country Digital Variety Tier
241 TV One Digital Variety Tier
242 CBS College Sports Network Digital Sports & Information
243 ESPN Classic Digital Sports & Information
244 ESPNews Digital Sports & Information
245 The Tennis Channel Digital Sports & Information
246 Fox Soccer Channel Digital Sports & Information
247 The Golf Channel Digital Sports & Information
248 Outdoor Channel Digital Sports & Information
249 ESPN U Digital Sports & Information
252 Bloomberg Digital Sports & Information
254 G4 Digital Sports & Information
255 History Channel International Digital Sports & Information
256 Biography Channel Digital Sports & Information
257 C-SPAN 3 Digital Sports & Information
258 Style Digital Sports & Information
261 National Geographic Digital Sports & Information
262 TVG Digital Sports & Information
300 HBO West Digital Premium
301 HBO2 West Digital Premium
302 HBO Signature West Digital Premium
303 HBO Family West Digital Premium
304 HBO Comedy West Digital Premium
305 HBO Zone West Digital Premium
306 HBO East Digital Premium
307 HBO Family East Digital Premium
308 HBO Latino West Digital Premium
320 Cinemax West Digital Premium
321 More Max West Digital Premium
322 Action Max West Digital Premium
323 Thriller Max West Digital Premium
330 Cinemax East Digital Premium
331 More Max East Digital Premium
340 Showtime West Digital Premium
341 Showtime Too West Digital Premium
342 Showtime Showcase West Digital Premium
343 Showtime Extreme West Digital Premium
344 Showtime Beyond West Digital Premium
350 The Movie Channel West Digital Premium
360 Encore West Digital Premium
361 Starz West Digital Premium
362 Starz Edge West Digital Premium
363 Starz in Black West Digital Premium
364 Starz Kids & Family West Digital Premium
365 Starz Cinema West Digital Premium
401 Toon Disney en Espanol Conexion Unica
402 Cartoon Network Espanol Conexion Unica
403 Discovery en Espanol Conexion Unica
404 MTV Tr3s Conexion Unica
406 CNN en Espanol Conexion Unica
407 Fox Sports en Espanol Conexion Unica
408 Telemundo (satellite) Conexion Unica
409 Telefutura Conexion Unica
410 Galavision Conexion Unica
411 Mun 2 Conexion Unica
412 Nick Toons SAP Conexion Unica
413 Nick Too Conexion Unica
414 Sorpresa Conexion Unica
415 The History Channel en Espanol Conexion Unica
416 ESPN Deportes Conexion Unica
417 TV Chile Conexion Unica
418 CineLatino Conexion Unica
419 EWTN Espanol Conexion Unica
420 Si TV Conexion Unica
421 De Pelicula Conexion Unica
422 De Pelicula Clasico Conexion Unica
423 Telehit Conexion Unica
500 iN DEMAND Barker Digital PPV
501 iN DEMAND 1 Digital PPV
502 iN DEMAND 2 Digital PPV
503 iN DEMAND 3 Digital PPV
504 iN DEMAND 4 Digital PPV
505 iN DEMAND 5 Digital PPV
506 iN DEMAND 6 Digital PPV
507 iN DEMAND 7 Digital PPV
590 Playboy Digital PPV
591 Blue Digital PPV
592 Blox Digital PPV
593 Spice:Xcess Digital PPV
594 Club Jenna Digital PPV
595 Clips Digital PPV
598 Playboy en Espanol Digital PPV
700 TNT HD HD Basic
708 ESPN HD HD Basic
709 ESPN 2 HD HD Basic
710 Arts & Entertainment HD HD Plus Tier
711 National Geographic HD HD Plus Tier *
712 Food Network HD HD Plus Tier
713 Home & Garden Television HD HD Plus Tier
715 HD Theater HD Plus Tier
717 Universal HD HD Plus Tier
718 HDNet HD Plus Tier
719 HDNet Movies HD Plus Tier
720 HBO HD West HD Premium
721 Showtime HD West HD Premium
722 Starz HD West HD Premium
901 MC – Sounds of the Seasons Digital Music
902 MC – Today’s Country Digital Music
903 MC – Classic Country Digital Music
904 MC – Blue Grass Digital Music
905 MC – Hip Hop and R&B Digital Music
906 MC – Classic R & B Digital Music
907 MC – R&B Soul Digital Music
908 MC – R &B Hits Digital Music
909 MC – Rap Digital Music
910 MC – Metal Digital Music
911 MC – Rock Digital Music
912 MC – Arena Rock Digital Music
913 MC – Classic Rock Digital Music
914 MC – Adult Alternative Digital Music
915 MC – Alternative Digital Music
916 MC – Retro-Active Digital Music
917 MC – Electronica Digital Music
918 MC – Dance Digital Music
919 MC – Lite Hits Digital Music
920 MC – Adult Top 40 Digital Music
921 MC – Hit List Digital Music
922 MC – Kids Only! Digital Music
923 MC – Party Favorites Digital Music
924 MC – Showcase Digital Music
925 MC – 90s Digital Music
926 MC – 80′s Digital Music
927 MC – 70′s Digital Music
928 MC – Solid Gold Oldies Digital Music
929 MC – Smooth Jazz Digital Music
930 MC – Jazz Digital Music
931 MC – Blues Digital Music
932 MC – Reggae Digital Music
933 MC – Soundscapes Digital Music
934 MC – Easy Listening Digital Music
935 MC – Big Band and Swing Digital Music
936 MC – Singers and Standards Digital Music
937 MC – Show Tunes Digital Music
938 MC – Contemporary Christian Digital Music
939 MC – Gospel Digital Music
940 MC – Classical Masterpieces Digital Music
941 MC – Light Classical Digital Music
942 MC – Pop Latino Digital Music
943 MC – Musica Urbana Digital Music
944 MC – Salsa y Merengue Digital Music
945 MC – Mexicana Digital Music
946 MC – Rock ‘en Espanol Digital Music

SuddenLink cable television listings for analog, DTV and HDTV channels.

AACS – Advanced Access Control System. A computer specification for guarding next-generation optical-media content created by the film, electronics, and software industries.

AC-3 – (see Dolby Digital 5.1)

Aliasing – Jaggedness that appears at diagonal edges of objects in a pixel or raster image. De-aliasing (anti-aliasing) is a smoothing of the jagged edges by blending adjacent pixels slightly.

Artifact – A flaw in an image caused by the way the data is processed. Interference and noise are not usually called artifacts. So artifacts are in a sense predictable.

Aspect ratio - The ratio of screen width to screen height. For TVs it is either 4:3 (1.33:1) or 16:9 (1.78:1). Theater film uses many different aspect ratios, some as high as 2.5:1.

ATSC – (Advanced Television System Committee technical standard) This is the name of the technology used by terrestrial digital TV stations in the U.S.

Blocking – Macro-blocking An over-compression of the image that makes the block edges slightly noticeable. This “checkerboarding” is subtle and usually momentary. Some causes are:

1. Software bugs in the MPEG encoder.
2. The neBlockstwork allocating too little bandwidth to the broadcast.
3. The picture being portrayed is just changing too fast.

Blocks - Macro-blocks MPEG-2 divides the screen into small square regions called blocks and uses a mathematical process to compress the data for each block. Macro-blocks are a small group of blocks. See What exactly is ATSC? .

BNC connectors – These common RF connectors are sometimes found on VGA cables in place of a VGA connector. They employ a quarter-turn twist-lock mechanism.

Bob and Weave – Two processes for de-interlacing (converting interlaced video into progressive scan). Weave refers to combining successive fields. Also called interfield, this method preserves the original resolution. Bob refers to up-converting a field into a frame, in effect creating new lines by averaging the adjacent lines above and below. Also called intrafield, this method causes a loss of resolution but never causes motion artifacts. See also Motion Adaptive De-interlacing.

Breakup – Also called dropouts, block errors, or macro-block errors, these are gross errors in the picture caused by reception errors that result from interference and signal noise. Both audio and video are affected, with video distortions about five times as prevalent as audio dropouts. This ratio never seems to change. If the ratio is anything else then the cause is a network problem, not a reception error. The shortest-lasting breakups just cause a few macro-blocks to be obviously wrong, while more severe errors cause major parts of the screen to be left un-updated for a time, and possibly the whole image to freeze. Green shows up a lot.

Cable card - The Cable Card is the mechanism the industry has adopted to prevent the piracy of cable services. Nearly all cable channels are encrypted, the main exception being local stations. The cable card contains the keys to unlock encryption.

If you want the simplicity that comes with the cable receiver being integrated with the TV then you should buy a TV with a cable card slot. However if you like TiVo then you would instead get a DVR, which will have its own cable card slot. The cable card is supplied by the cable company. The card is a special purpose PCMCIA card (like used in many computers).

The present cable card system for DTV is called CableCARD 1.0. There are two types of cards: SCards (single stream) and MCards (multiple stream). MCards are used when a DVR can record multiple programs simultaneously.

CableCARD 1.0 – lacks two-way features and cannot be used for ordering pay-per-view, interactive guide, and other two-way features. Millions of cable card slots in TVs already sold are going unused. Reasons include: 1. The viewer uses satellite. 2. The viewer doesn’t want subscription channels. 3. The user wants two-way features and so has to use a cable box. Some TV makers are reducing the number of sets they sell having cable card slots, but they say they will increase the number when two-way is possible. Two-way is not available because the technical standard is not yet established. (The CEA and NCTA are fighting each other and the FCC has been a timid referee.) Present DTV systems with CableCARD 1.0 are labeled DCR (Digital Cable Ready). Future DTVs will likely be labeled iDCR (Interactive Digital Cable Ready).

Warning: The term CableCARD 2.0 has two conflicting definitions. 1. CableCARD 2.0 was first used to refer to the next generation of cable services that included two-way features. 2. SCards were introduced first. Later, when MCards were introduced they were commonly referred to as CableCARD 2.0.

C-band / Ku-band – 1. a range of RF spectrum. C-band is approximately 4 GHz. Ku-band is app. 12 GHz. 2. Geo-stationary satellites the networks use to acquire and distribute programming to affiliates and cable TV companies. These satellites use C-band and Ku-band frequencies. 3. a consumer service that uses the satellites the networks originally set up for themselves. An 8-foot steerable dish is required. Some channels are free. Others are available by subscription. The digital channel subscription service is called 4DTV.

CEC - (Consumer Electronics Control) This feature allows units to control each other. The commands tend to be the same as the buttons of an infrared remote control, so fewer remotes are necessary. The implementation is a single-wire bus that is a “party line” connecting to all units. The HDMI cable carries this line.

CECB – Coupon Eligible Converter Box. An analog-to-digital DTV converter box that has been approved by the federal government for use with its $40 discount coupons.  Coupons are available from the U.S. federal government at http://www.dtv2009.gov .

COFDM - modulation technique. This technical standard has been used in Europe and other places for digital TV. 8VSB is used in the U.S.

Color temperature – This describes how white is displayed. Low temperature means slightly reddish, while high temperature means slightly bluish. Standard NTSC white corresponds to the color a glowing hot object would be at 6500° K

Comb filter – A circuit in NTSC sets that separates the color information from the brightness information.

Component video - This 3-wire convention was created for connecting DVD players to TVs or monitors. It avoids downgrading the signal to NTSC. The signals may be RGB or YPrPb. Some HD STBs have only component video output.

Composite video - This 1-wire standard contains all video information: intensity, color, and sync. The encoding is the same as NTSC, and thus has the “overlapping sideband” problem which sometimes causes wrong colors to appear.

Convergence – An adjustment that must be made occasionally to CRT sets. This adjustment makes the three colors coincide perfectly.

DBS – (direct broadcast satellites) These satellites are powerful enough to be received by an 18 inch dish. They use Ku-band and Ka-band frequencies. Companies that provide DBS services to consumers in the U.S. are DirecTV and Dish Network. Canadian DBS providers are Star Choice and Bell ExpressVu. Also called DSS. They typically broadcast in some type of digital format that is encrypted at the uplink and decoded by the receivers of authorized subscribers.

D-ILA – (Direct-drive Image Light Amplifier) (see LCOS)

DirecTV – One of the two major providers of DBS programming in the United States.

Dish Network - One of the two major providers of DBS programming in the United States.

DLP - (digital light processor). A technology for video projection, also call DMD (Digital Micro-mirror Device). It is a large chip with about a million tiny mirrors on its surface. The chip can tilt each mirror to vary the amount of light reflected off of it.

Dolby Digital 2.0 – This is a two channel (stereo or Pro Logic) version of Dolby Digital. It is often used by DBS systems.

Dolby Digital 5.1 – Also known as AC-3, it provides 6 channels of sound: left, center, right, left rear, right rear, and sub-woofer. It is also called “5.1 channels” since the 6th channel has reduced bandwidth. Dolby Digital 5.1 is the audio standard for all U.S. digital TV stations, most DVDs, some DBS programs, and many theaters.

Dolby Pro Logic Surround – This is a 4-channel analog system. During recording, the 4 channels are “folded” into 2 stereo channels. If played back without a Pro Logic decoder, it sounds like normal stereo. This format is becoming obsolete.

Dot Crawl – a common flaw in NTSC images caused by the “overlapping sidebands” problem. It consists of animated checkerboard patterns which appear along vertical color transitions.

DTCP - (Digital Transmission Content Protection) This is an encryption standard for IEEE 1394 that prevents the copying of first-run movies and pay-per-view events. DTCP is also called 5C Copy protection (in reference to the ‘five companies’ that license it).

DTS - An alternative to Dolby Digital. ATSC does not use DTS but some DVDs do. Most audio receivers that work with Dolby Digital also handle DTS.

DTV – (digital TV). Examples of DTV are DBS satellite services, digital cable TV services, and ATSC digital TV (over-the-air, broadcast) stations.

DTVLink – This logo is on equipment that has IEEE 1394 and DTCP.

DVB – (Digital Video Broadcasting) An alternative to ATSC used in most of the world outside the U.S. It has three different standards:

· DVB-T is for terrestrial (OTA) broadcasts.

· DVB-S is for satellite broadcasts.

· DVB-C is for cable broadcasts.

DVI - (Digital Visual Interface) This connector conveys HDTV image scanning signals in binary data form. The data rate is very high (1.65 Gb/s). Binary data is preferred by monitors that are not CRTs. DVI comes with a decryption option called HDCP which will decode encrypted programs such as first-run movies.

EDTV – (enhanced definition TV) Essentially DVD quality, it is a small step up from NTSC. An EDTV will convert all 18 ATSC formats to 480p.

FCC – (Federal Communications Commission) This is a Federal agency responsible for regulating radio wave usage and some other media. The FCC answers to Congress and also implements international radio standards.

Fire-wire – (see IEEE 1394)

First-surface mirror – Normal mirrors have the silvering on the back surface of the glass. First surface mirrors have it on the front. Cleaning a first-surface mirror must be done very carefully.

Flicker (or Twitter) - Flicker is a pulsating of the image, a flaw most noticeable in images drawn only 24 or 30 times per second. Flicker is usually only noticeable in bright whites.

FM – Frequency Modulation. An analog method of modulating a carrier wave (frequency) with an audio or video signal. Primarily used for transmission of audio and music.

FTA – “Free To Air” or “Free To All”. This is a digital satellite technology employing MPEG-2, but it is not compatible with DBS systems (Dish or DirecTV) or with Motorola Digicipher II (C-band 4DTV) and it doesn’t have a provision for encryption. At the present time the only high definition stations on FTA are PBS, Voom, The Outdoor Channel, and Movie Central. Lyngsat.com lists all the stations. Skyvision.com, FTAsatellite.com, and others sell receivers. The frequencies used are Ku-band and C-band. FTA’s forte is that it is cheap and very international. FTA is heavily used outside the U.S. FTA started becoming popular in the U.S. about 2002 among experimenters and immigrants. In the opinion of some people the rise of FTA is a mistake and HDTV might eventually kill it. It might survive in the U.S. market because of a need for an unregulated domain for international stations.

GLV – (Grating Light Valve) This is another contender to replace CRTs in projection TVs.

HAVi – (Home Audio Video Interoperability) This is a standard for 1394 bus audio and video devices. It is software that is required for the units to talk to each other. HAVi allows plug-and-play recognition of devices, interoperability, and brand independence.

HDCP – (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) This is a DVI decryption option. It will decode encrypted programs such as first-run movies. (It’s real function is to prevent unauthorized copying of programs.)

HD- Capable TV A standard definition set with a digital tuner. (This term was probably invented to confuse people.)

HD- Ready TV An HDTV monitor or TV that lacks a digital tuner.

HDMI – (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) This miniature connector is intended to replace DVI. It is backward compatible with DVI, and an adapter will connect it to a DVI unit. It has 19 pins and carries DVI plus digital audio. It also has a reverse data line (DDC) that allows the STB to sense the monitor’s state and native formats, and a control line (CEC) for system level control.

HDTV – (High Definition TV) A TV that displays 1280×720 pixels or better.

IEEE 1394 - Also called Firewire or iLink. Originally a serial bus for PCs, 1394 may or may not become the interconnection standard for DTV products. It is competing with HDMI. IEEE 1394 is a spec for a hardware interconnect plus a software shell. But additional software, such as HAVi, is required for connected units to actually talk to each other.

i.link – (see IEEE 1394) Sometimes referred to as “firewire”.

Interlaced scan – Historically, TV CRTs are interlaced, while computer CRTs are not. Interlaced means that the electron beam skips every other horizontal line, filling in the missing lines on the next pass. A frame is composed of 2 fields. One field is all of the odd numbered lines, and the other field is all of the even numbered lines.

Jack – A female connector, usually for audio or video connections.

Ka band – A range of RF spectrum centered around 30 Gigahertz. Historically never used, DirecTV and Dish Network are starting to launch satellites that use these frequencies. (The name comes from “above K band”. K band is a long established military band.)

Ku band – A range of RF spectrum centered around 12 Gigahertz. These are the principal frequencies used by DirecTV and Dish Network, although DirecTV will probably some day move entirely to Ka band. (The name comes from “under K band”.)

LCD – (Liquid Crystal Display) LCD is the most common flat panel display technology.

LCOS – (Liquid Crystal On Silicon) This is an LCD-like projection technology.

LFE - (Low Frequency Effects) Sub-woofer. The 6th channel in a 5.1 channel system.

Line Doublers – This device converts NTSC or 480i into 480p. Line doublers with motion-adaptive processing can to an extent turn a 30 frames/sec image into a 60 frames/sec image, thus removing some of the jerkiness and blurriness associated with motion.

LNA – Low Noise Amplifier. These were used in C-Band TVRO systems prior to the invention of the LNB. The only difference between an LNA and LNB is that the LNB downconverts the original satellite transmission frequency to a lower frequency for transmission through coaxial cable. There is lower loss in coaxial cable at these frequencies, making LNBs more efficient than LNAs.

LNB – (Low Noise Block converter) An LNB can be found at the focus point of a dish antenna. It is a low noise amplifier that also converts the signal to a lower frequency. (The original higher frequency would not travel very far in ordinary coaxial cable.)

Mosquitoes Fuzzy dots that can appear near sharp edges in MPEG and JPEG images, possibly looking like a swarm of mosquitoes. These artifacts are caused by over-compression or over-enhancement of edges.

Motion Adaptive De-interlacing The image is divided into regions where there is motion and where there is none. Areas of the image without motion are de-interlaced using “weave”, and areas with motion are de-interlaced using “bob”. See Bob and Weave.

MPEG-2 (Motion Picture Experts Group technical standard 2) This is a widely used standard for digital encoding of motion pictures. It typically achieves a 50 to 1 compression of data. It achieves this mainly by not retransmitting areas of the screen that have not changed since the previous frame.

MTS – (Multi-channel Television Sound) This refers to an analog NTSC TV equipped with stereo and SAP (separate audio program) features.

Multipoint convergence – Projection TVs with 3 CRTs require periodic adjustment to keep the 3 images perfectly aligned. Typically this is a simple 5 minute procedure the consumer must do every month or so.

Multi-path interference – Some neighborhoods are plagued with this problem: The signal finds more than one path to the antenna. Multi-path results from diffraction around the sides of hills and buildings. For NTSC sets this will result in ghosts: multiple images shifted laterally. For DTVs the result can be an unusable signal, even though it may be strong. The solutions are moving the antenna or selecting a very directional antenna. Newer generations of DTV receivers are better able to cope with multi-path.

Must-Carry – This refers to the legal obligation of cable companies to carry analog or digital signals of over-the-air local broadcasters.

Native format – Most DTVs will convert the 18 ATSC formats into 1 or 2 formats and will draw only those. For these sets, the ‘native’ format is 1. the formats the set will draw or 2. the original format. (These are contradictory definitions, but they reflect current practice. 1 is probably the preferred meaning.)

NTSC – (National Television System Committee technical standard) This is analog TV invented in 1946. NTSC has 525 lines (483 visible) interlaced, 60 fields per second. This (analog) standard is in use in North America, Japan, South Korea, Burma, Taiwan, the Philippines, and much of South America.

OAR – (original aspect ratio) Also called Letterbox format, OAR means that none of the image is clipped or squeezed. Unused parts of the screen are usually black.

OLED – (Organic LED) A new display technology. Somewhat resembling plasma, it uses organic Light Emitting Diodes.

OTA – (over the air) Analog or digital terrestial broadcasting of a television signal. Typically used to refer to broadcast television stations in North America.

Over-scan/Under-scan – Computer CRT monitors under-scan, which means they leave a thin black border around the image. TVs over-scan, which means a small part of the image perimeter is lost. (Digital displays don’t necessarily do either.)

PAL - (Phase Altering Line standard) This alternative to NTSC has 625 lines, interlaced, 50 fields per second. It is used in most of Europe, Asia (except USSR), Africa, and Australia, and parts of South America.

Pan-and-scan – A method of broadcasting a wide screen film on a 4:3 channel. Most of the time just the center of the image is shown. (The right and left edges are clipped off.)

PCM – (Pulse Code Modulation) or L-PCM (Linear PCM) This 2-channel digital audio standard is simpler than Dolby Digital.

Pixilation - What you see when you sit too close. (You see individual pixels.)

Plug – A male connector.

PrimeStar – An early attempt by Cox Cable to compete in the DBS market. It ran this KU band system in the United States for several years before folding, opting to concentrate on its cable television franchises. Its early demise was heavily fueled by an expensive anti-satellite-TV campaign launched by its cable television division. Since it was one of only two commercial DBS satellite television providers at the time, the ads largely served to discredit their own product.

Progressive scan – This is the opposite of interlaced scan.

PSIP data – (Program and System Information Protocol) This data is arranged as a table with multiple sub-tables. The data identifies the station name, what the sub-channels are, the program name, the following programs, content advisories, language options, and caption options. Some of this data is transmitted as often as 7 times per second.

PVP-OPM – Protected Video Path Output Protection Management. Downgrades computer video resolution or blocks the picture entirely if the connected display doesn’t support content protection.

PVP-UAB – Protected Video Path User-Accessible Bus. Encrypts video content as it passes over the PCI Express bus from the high-def disc to prevent other PCI Express devices from intercepting the video stream.

Rainbow effect – A side effect of delivering the image colors sequentially instead of simultaneously. DLP displays have this effect if they use a spinning color wheel or sequentially-firing LEDs. Most viewers are not bothered by the rainbow effect.

Raster – A group of closely-spaced lines whose brightness changes so as to appear to be an image.

RGB – 1. red-green-blue 2. a 3-wire standard (See component video) 3. a 5-wire standard (See VGA.)

RGBHV – See VGA.

Screendoor effect – If each pixel has a dark border around it, viewers who sit too close can see it. The effect is somewhat like looking through a screendoor.

SDTV – (standard definition TV) SDTV is 480i, which is approximately the resolution of NTSC and DVDs.

SECAM – (Sequential Color And Memory standard) This alternative to NTSC. This analog television transmission standard has 625 lines interlaced at 50 fields per second. It is used in the former USSR, France, and parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

SPDIF - (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) This is digital audio, and can be either coaxial cable or fiber optic.

Spotlight – A pay-television channel launched on C-Band by Cox Cable in the late 1980′s. It was intended to replace HBO as the main pay channel on all Cox franchises. Customer complains and lack of support from major studios led to an early death for this channel. It survived for less than 4 years.

STB - (Set Top Box) These include satellite receivers, cable TV receivers, OTA receivers, and various recording devices.

Sub-channels – OTA DTV stations can show multiple programs simultaneously, subject to the 6 MHz bandwidth limit. This is called multicasting.

SVGA – Super VGA. See VGA.

S-video – Also called Y/C, this two-wire standard keeps the color separate from the intensity signal, and thus avoids the overlapping sideband problem of composite signals. (Converting an NTSC signal to S-video gains you nothing since what was lost cannot be recreated.) Although the quality of S-video is close to component video, S-video cannot transport anything better than 480i.

Symbol rate – The symbol rate for ATSC is 10.76 million symbols/sec. 8VSB has 3 bits/symbol. After the error correction bits are removed the net transfer rate is 19.28 million bits/sec.

THX – 1. a standard that theaters try to meet. 2. equipment to help theaters meet that standard.

Toslink – A fiber optic cable standard.

Transponder – A satellite channel. There is often one program per transponder. Some transponders are wider than 6 MHz and can carry more than one NTSC program. Several digital channels can fit on one transponder.

TVRO – Television Receive Only. The earliest C-Band satellite television systems were referred to as TVRO systems. This was to distinguish the home dish reception systems from “uplink” dishes, which actually transmit signals to satellites, and thus require proper licensing from the Federal Communications Commission. The earliest systems were roughly the same size in diameter as uplinks, often being 10 meters, or around 20′ wide. Most early parabolic dishes also featured solid aluminum, steel or fiberglass reflectors, as opposed to mesh C-Band systems that became popular later on.

VC1 – VideoCypher 1. A legacy TV encryption standard invented by Macom/General Instruments. It was the first satellite television encyption standard to digitally encypt both the audio and video portions of an NTSC signal. Based upon the original 64 Bit DES encryption standard, it is now considered too weak an encryption scheme for transmission of sensitive data. Its use was very limited, due to the high cost of the technology at the time. The earliest adopters were the CBS Television Network for its network TV news feeds on C-Band, and NASA, which used the technology to encrypt video transmissions during space shuttle missions conducted for the United States Department of Defense (DoD).

VC2 – VideoCypher 2. One of the earliest encryption standards used in satellite television, primarily for C-Band signals. Introduced in the late 1980′s, it encrypts NTSC video using analog sync destabilization and audio using a proprietary digital format. It is still in use with some C-Band broadcasters.

VGA – a 5-wire standard interface, originally for computer monitors, now common for HDTV monitors. Usually the 5 wires are in one cable. The connector can be either a 15-pin connector or five BNC connectors. The signals are usually red, green, blue, horizontal sync, and vertical sync. But Y, Pr, and Pb can replace the colors.

Virtual channel number – This is the channel the consumer thinks he is watching. The actual (physical) channel is selected by a hidden mechanism.

YCrCb – Almost identical to YPrPb. If you connect a YCrCb unit to a YPrPb unit you might have to adjust the color slightly. YCrCb is an older standard uncommon for consumer connections.

YPrPb - Color representation requires three independent variables. CRTs prefer red, green, and blue. Ink jet printers prefer yellow, magenta, and cyan. NTSC encodes color as luminance (brightness), hue (color), and saturation (absence of white in colors). Storage media such as DVDs prefer Y, Pr, and Pb, where Y is luminance, Pr is red-Y, and Pb is blue-Y. This is because Pr and Pb can be at lower resolution and not degrade the image noticeably, thus saving storage space.

YPrPbHV – See VGA.

3:2 pull-down This is the process of converting a 24 frames/sec image into a 30 frames/sec image. Some line-doublers will reverse this process to acquire the original, and then re-perform it.

4DTV – This is a DTV subscription service for C-band and Ku-band. Transponders are digitally encrypted using a proprietary format.

5.1 channel – This is 6 channel audio. The 6th channel (the sub-woofer) has reduced bandwidth.

5C Copy Protection – See DTCP.

8VSB modulation technique – (8-level vestigial sideband) DTV stations in the U.S. use 8VSB modulation. This is an AM mode wherein the carrier is multiplied by an 8-level digital signal, and then a filter is used to remove all but the carrier and 6 MHz of the upper sideband. (“8VSB” is often used as a synonym for OTA.)

Portions of this document Copyright 2002-2009 by Ken Nist. The “document” includes all web pages at www.hdtvprimer.com. The author places no restrictions on the use of this document. It may be used by anyone in any manner for any purpose. Additional definitions copyright 2009 by Vantek Communications, Inc.