On My Mind

Okrahoma.

The new CW network (no, it's not Country & Western)

In September 2006, Warner Bros. and CBS will create a new television network which combines the WB and UPN networks. The new network will be called CW (The "C" stands for CBS, the "W" is for Warner) and will reportedly keep the best of the current primetime shows from both, UPN ("America's Next Top Model", "Veronica Mars", etc.) and the WB ("Beauty and the Geek", "Gilmore Girls" and "Smallville", etc.)

Today, UPN programming is carried by the local CBS affiliate (KOSA - Channel 7) and WB programming locally is coming from KWWT (Channel 30). It's unclear who will be the CW affiliate but we can hope the owner of KOSA makes a bid. CBS obviously has a vested interest and KOSA was the first local to go digital and HDTV (2002) and seem to really have their act together in the engineering department. They're my pick because they would probably get the High Def signal on the air quicker than any of the other existing facilities.

And since I've singled KOSA out for kudos, let me rag on a couple of the other locals. KPEJ (Fox - Channel 24) had reported that they would be High Definition next month but their schedule has slipped to June. This means a whole bunch of NASCAR races in standard definition. Boo. Hiss. But, I'm optimistic that we'll be watching the Cowboys lose in High Def this fall. And where is "Big 2"? KMID is behind in the local HDTV race and fans may need a telescope to see them at the end of the HD race. Current information is that we will not see an ABC HD picture until sometime in 2007. When they finally become digital will "Big 2" become "Big 010"?

Olympic History and More Information You Could Live Without

The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy were historic for me in that they were the first I viewed in High Definition Television. I wonder if they would have been as enjoyable otherwise. Hmmm. Yes, I did enjoy the nights that I watched despite media pans.

And, contrary to my better judgement, I will now reveal that I have a personal tie to past Winter Olympic Games. They don't call me Bobsledder Les for nothin'.

That's a Lot of Memories

SanDisk has announced that 8GB memory cards will be available next month. That's 1,600 times more capacity than my first hard drive - which, by the way, was attached to a TRS-80 Model III. The reported retail price of the 8GB compact flash card is $560, which is about one-fourth the cost of that 5MB Percom drive. I could store about a million BASIC TRS-80 programs on that new memory card. That is, if I could find a million TRS-80 programs. If I buy one of these cards for my digital camera, I could get about 1,279 pictures on it. And, if a picture is worth a thousand words...

Looks Can Be Deceiving

At lunch today it was suggested that I might be just a little too obessesed with this HDTV thing. Well, I admit that I tend to become obsessed with a lot of things and, unfortunately, most all of them have little or no redeeming social or economic value. I've been involved to varying degrees with ham radio, photography, radio controlled helicopters, handgunning, astronomy, motorcycles, cars, and metal detecting. And the year before that... Well, let me get back to HDTV and why I feel compelled to spread the word.

National surveys indicate that as many as one-fourth of the people who have purchased High Definition TVs think they are watching HDTV but they haven't taken the additional steps to receive HDTV service. Sadly, my wife's parents are in this group and I haven't decided if I should point it out to them or not. They didn't buy their new TV for High Definition TV - they just wanted a big screen TV and they seem perfectly happy watching analog Standard Definition programming on it. For HDTV they'd have to get a set-top-box from the cable company. And, they'd have to subscribe to digital service. And since my father-in-law is a sports guy, he'd want ESPN-HD so they'd have to subscribe to the HD tier. That's a total of about $25 - $30 more per month than they're currently paying. They can certainly afford it but then they might cut back on the number of times they take us all out to eat. Or they might be like me and see that after watching shows, especially sports, in High Definition, all other shows look pretty bad. Then they'd have about 120 of 130 channels that look crummy by comparison. It's a dog's breakfast, eh?

NBC Olympics Television Schedule

The women's figure skating competition is very popular so many people who haven't been keeping up with the Games will be tuning in starting tonight. And because of the 7 hour time difference, all the competition we watch in primetime tonight will be about 14 hours old.

So... for those who want to know the television schedule, but want to avoid the results before watching the competition, see the NBC schedule here.

If you just want to see the current results of competition before the broadcast, go here.

No HD from KWES/Grande last night

For some reason, the NBC signal I got through Grande was 480i last night. In English, that's a Standard Definition old-timey picture. I'm not sure if it was my cable provider (Grande) or if KWES had problems with the High Def on their end. Hopefully, it was a temporary thing and the HD will be back on tonight.

The Olympic Games are a great source for High Definition TV and the occasional scenic shot of the Alps tossed in is really pretty. However, not all shots from the olympics are in HD. As I understand it, NBC is using quite a bit of borrowed equipment in Italy and in some venues Standard Definition cameras are used. But, when SD is used, it's apparently up-converted and scaled to fit widescreen/16:9. In any case, the pictures of the Games have pretty much all been very good and, of course, the figure skating has all been broadcast in HD. Which is good for costumes, but not too kind to some of the, shall-we-say, more unattractive skaters.

EDIT 21FEB2006
The HD is back tonight and the pictures from Turino are mahhvelous. (Sorry, that sounded queer.)

FOX (KPEJ - 24) High Definition date slips

The local FOX affiliate has moved their date to begin broadcasting High Definition back 3 months to June 2006. They had previously reported HD would begin in March. Bummer.

KOCV changes call to KPBT

The FCC application for the new call letters KPBT lists the name Permian Basin Public Telecommunications, Inc. The change reflects the change of ownership (from Odessa College to the Ector County school system) and it's reported that the PBS station plans to do more local programming.

As a viewer, I have a love/hate relationship with PBS. I really like some of their programming - like the history and nature stuff. And I really hate most of the NEA type stuff. Just no desire to refine my tastes, I guess.

And although I support more local programming, I tend not to watch locally-originated programming. I suspect most people in West Texas are the same way in watching local shows only when a friend or family member is on the show. But maybe not. Anyone watch these shows on a regular basis?

KWES Wins Olympic Gold!

I just learned that KWES (NBC) has begun broadcasting in High Def. - just in time for the Olympics. Congratulations KWES but why does it take CSI-like investigation to find out? Maybe it's been promoted over the air and I just missed it. My condolences to the Cox subscribers in Midland. It appears KWES and Cox have not worked it out yet so only CableOne in Odessa and Grande have the signal so far. And I believe the HD broadcast tower is in or near Big Spring so it'll take some antenna to get it over-the-air.

Way to go KWES!

TiVo Be My Valentine

My wife loves her TiVo. And, I am hopelessly in love with all gadgets. (And with her. Sweet, huh?) I'm happy that my wife has finally found an electronic gadget that she can command. She's happy because she can record anything she wants. I get a little misty-eyed when I watch her zip from Now Playing to Season Passes. She handles the TiVo remote like a pro. But all is not well in our TV Land...

TiVo is not Digital TV or High Definition TV compatible and this has caused great consternation at our house since we bought a new television. My dear wife can't live without her TiVo and I can't live with it. The NFL and NASCAR have sung their sweet siren songs in High Definition. How can I watch little fuzzy men catch a tiny oblong brown blob while running across grainy green grass when I've seen the Other Side? How can I be happy with a red, smeared, Ford Fusion when I have seen the razor-sharp, Petty Blue, Dodge Charger? I just can't.

If at this point you wonder, "Why doesn't this schmo just watch live TV?", you obviously have never used a TiVo. A mortal wouldn't understand what it's like to pause in the middle of a show, skip through commercials and not have to worry about setting a date, time and channel to record a show.

My wife seems to care little that the Home & Garden Channel is not in HD. And the Gilmore Girls probably look better in soft focus than in see-the-skin-pores HD detail anyway. A non-HD TiVo is not a big deal to her. She lacks the Geek gene.

Luckily, TiVo has announced the Series 3 TiVo which, not only records in High Definition but also has two tuners. You know what that means, guys? It means I can record the NFL on one tuner and record NASCAR on the other tuner at the same time! I could even watch a 3-Stooges recording while the two sports programs are recording. Is this great or what! The Series 3 TiVo will also have two CableCard slots (which means no cable company box is needed), and two Over The Air tuners (if you don't want cable).

But there is a problem. The TiVo Series 3 is not scheduled to be released until the "second half of 2006". In the meantime, we have gone to Plan B.

We moved the TiVo to the bedroom and have rented a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) from the cable company (Grande) until the new HD TiVo becomes available. The TiVo is on our home computer wireless network so I can copy its programs to my PC and even burn shows to DVD so we're not tied to the bedroom for watching those shows, but the cable company DVR is no TiVo. It requires three remote controls, one of which is a Harmony 520 programmable remote. It locks up regularly. The guide data (showing which programs are on) is not easy to navigate. And even if the DVR (a Motorola DVT-6412 Series III by the way) was working the way it's supposed to, it just can't compare with the TiVo.

Anyway... I love my wife of 27 years and wish her Happy Valentines Day. But, since she can't read this blog on the TiVo (yet), I guess I better get some flowers before I go home this evening.

Digital Television

As the deadline for analog television broadcasting nears (Feb. 27, 2009) many people are confused about how they'll be affected. Here are some facts (as best I can determine.)

Only over-the-air broadcasting is affected. If you are not on cable or satellite and are using an antenna to receive television you will need a digital tuner television after the analog broadcasts cease. All new televisions must be sold with digital tuners rather than analog tuners.

Cable and satellite may continue to convert content to analog so you could continue to use an older television and not be affected by digital broadcasting.

Digital Television (DTV) and High Definition Television (HDTV) are two different things. All HDTV is digital but not all DTV is High Def.

In order to see High Definition Television, you MUST have a digital signal. That signal might be over-the-air (OTA) or it might be through cable or satellite. Many people claim the OTA high definition signal is better than the cable or satellite signal. You DO NOT need a special antenna to receive HDTV - just a UHF antenna.

Currently, in the Midland-Odessa area, the only stations broadcasting in HDTV are CBS (Channel 7 in Odessa) and PBS (KOCV - Channel 13 in Odessa).

FOX (24 - KPEJ) is broadcasting Digital Television over-the-air but their HDTV signal is not expected until March 2006.

UPDATE: NBC (Channel 9 - KWES) is now broadcasting HDTV. (see this blog entry)