Bought an HD-TV: Waste of Money

[Snaploud]

So this is annoying. 75% of everything I watch is either on Comedy Central or Cartoon Network. Both channels constantly say in the corner "available in HD!" but apparently my cable provider doesn't carry either. Sigh.

Silly question but: have you checked to see if there is an HD Comedy Central or Cartoon Network on your channel listing? It would be separate from the "normal" Comedy Central or Cartoon Network channels. The HD channels would likely be much higher channel numbers.

 

[Amaris]

For Time Warner subscribers in the SW Ohio area, the HD channels are 1000+.

 

[RoJoHen]

So this is annoying. 75% of everything I watch is either on Comedy Central or Cartoon Network. Both channels constantly say in the corner "available in HD!" but apparently my cable provider doesn't carry either. Sigh.

Silly question but: have you checked to see if there is an HD Comedy Central or Cartoon Network on your channel listing? It would be separate from the "normal" Comedy Central or Cartoon Network channels. The HD channels would likely be much higher channel numbers.

Indeed. The HD channel will probably be separate from the normal channel.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

For a time there was the animated 1986 movie on BR as well, but it was only available as an import from the UK (Amazon). Sadly it's no longer there.

I thought i had found a BR bargain one day when i found Transformers The Movie on sale online for £5 delivered to your door.......i assumed it was the the new movie......you could have knocked me over with a small Hungarian granny when i opened the package only to fine Transformers The animated movie.

Orson wells last voice work they say on the disc.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Looks like it's back! Linky

And I mean no disrespect, but I find it odd that anyone could have looked at the BR cover for that movie and think it was the 2007 live action film. It seemed fairly obvious that it is the '86 animated version. I mean, that's the cartoon Optimus right on the cover, innit? And the '07 film isn't called Transformers: The Movie - just Transformers. So "The Movie" in the title should be a giveaway.

 

[Mr Light]

No, I've looked through the channel listings, they're not there. There's also a second tier of HD channels you can pay more for, and they're not there either. It's Blue Ridge in Eastern Pennsylvania.

 

[Snaploud]

Comedy Central HD

Comedy Central HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of Comedy Central that launched on January 13, 2009.[24] Cablevision was the first carrier to add it. DirecTV added the HD version on January 21, 2009. Dish Network added the HD version on April 9. 2009.[25] It was also reported that some Cox Cable systems would get it by the end of January 2009.[24] Comedy Central anticipated that several more providers would add it later in that year.[24]


Currently, original shows that air in HD include The Sarah Silverman Program, and newer episodes of South Park, Comedy Central Presents, Reno 911!, as well as the new series Michael & Michael Have Issues and The Jeff Dunham Show. The new season of Live at Gotham and other stand up specials, as well as movies, air in HD as well.[24]
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report began airing in HD on January 4, 2010. [26]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_Central#Comedy_Central_HD


High definition channels and service

On October 15, 2007, Cartoon Network began to provide content in high definition. Presently, only the East Coast feed of Cartoon Network HD ever provides content in high definition formats and the West Coast feed only provides content in standard definition (4:3) format.

A Cartoon Network HD channel is available from many cable and all satellite service providers. Actual high definition content however, remains limited to some new first run programs.


Some providers are processing standard definition, 4:3, content by stretching the picture to achieve a 16:9 aspect ratio and providing this up-converted content on their high definition channels. This process results in a warped picture, which is especially apparent during horizontal panning.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon_Network_(United_States)#High_definition_channels_and_service

 

[Marc]

For a time there was the animated 1986 movie on BR as well, but it was only available as an import from the UK (Amazon). Sadly it's no longer there.

I thought i had found a BR bargain one day when i found Transformers The Movie on sale online for £5 delivered to your door.......i assumed it was the the new movie......you could have knocked me over with a small Hungarian granny when i opened the package only to fine Transformers The animated movie.

Orson wells last voice work they say on the disc.

don't knock it - it's probably a better movie than Michael Bay's efforts

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Looks like it's back! Linky

And I mean no disrespect, but I find it odd that anyone could have looked at the BR cover for that movie and think it was the 2007 live action film. It seemed fairly obvious that it is the '86 animated version. I mean, that's the cartoon Optimus right on the cover, innit? And the '07 film isn't called Transformers: The Movie - just Transformers. So "The Movie" in the title should be a giveaway.

I had no idea there was ever any transformers animated movie nor any type of transformers movie previous to those new ones.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

So this is annoying. 75% of everything I watch is either on Comedy Central or Cartoon Network. Both channels constantly say in the corner "available in HD!" but apparently my cable provider doesn't carry either. Sigh.

Then vote with your money. Subscribe to dish network or DirecTV, then call your cable company and tell them precisely why you are cancelling your subscription. Denying them their money is something they understand far better then phoned in complaints.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

True dat... Course you could live in my Town...

Our only cable company is on a FULL Digital QAM system.
The short of it means. Just having a new HDTV isn't enough. just having a digital turner isn't enough.

Your tv doesn't have a QAM tuner built in? You'll need a box.. Now, to be fair they do provide up to three of these DCB's at no charge. Course they are total junk..

Oh, you own an HD set without on? That box works fine. However, no HD for you. You need our HDTV box. Remember it's only $7 (per month per box).. Oh, you need a remote to control it too?? .50 extra(per month per box).

Oh but wait... you want ALL of your channels in HD? that will be an extra $7.50(per month). I almost forgot, you don't truly get EVERYTHING we have in HD... You want HDNet/HDnetmovies/MgmHD/NBCU-HD. That will be $5 extra(per month).

However, we also offer a DVR service. add $10(per box) if you want that too.. Add HBO/Starz/etc/etc... Sure we can do that... Only $15 each(plus of course $1 for every box you have that can do it).


God praise my ClearStream4 antenna.

Sweet Sister Francis! I thought the days of that sort of "death by a thousand papercuts" fee structures was long since over!

I think the Transformers movies look awesome in Blu-Ray as well. I can actually tell which is which!

As much as I hate those movies, I suspect they look really good on BD too. Probably any big movie that was in theaters in the last 3-4 years or so is going to look the best on BD.

A movie like The Transporter probably wouldn't have gotten the best BD treatment. They probably just touched up the DVD release, stuck it on the BD and called it day.

I've never understood this...why wouldn't they want the best possible transfer right from the beginning? Isn't film STILL higher res than Blu Ray? They should have just maxed out the resolution on the initial scan.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

For a time there was the animated 1986 movie on BR as well, but it was only available as an import from the UK (Amazon). Sadly it's no longer there.

I thought i had found a BR bargain one day when i found Transformers The Movie on sale online for £5 delivered to your door.......i assumed it was the the new movie......you could have knocked me over with a small Hungarian granny when i opened the package only to fine Transformers The animated movie.

Orson wells last voice work they say on the disc.

don't knock it - it's probably a better movie than Michael Bay's efforts

It is pretty good, actually. And funny. Especially in what eventually happens to Starscream.

 

[Mr Light]

It's funny I swear the HD-TV channels look sharper than the Blu Ray movies (I've seen Clone Wars and Transporter on BR so far). Something tells me we're going to end up shelling out for the DVR service, I keep finding shows on in the middle of the day/night I'd like to get, like "Attack of the Show" and that 90s Avengers cartoon I don't think I ever saw.

 

[Trekker4747]

It's funny I swear the HD-TV channels look sharper than the Blu Ray movies (I've seen Clone Wars and Transporter on BR so far). Something tells me we're going to end up shelling out for the DVR service, I keep finding shows on in the middle of the day/night I'd like to get, like "Attack of the Show" and that 90s Avengers cartoon I don't think I ever saw.

How do you have the BD hooked up to the TV? HDMI?

 

[Mr Light]

Yep, HDMI cables for the BR Player and for the cable box.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yep, HDMI cables for the BR Player and for the cable box.

Hmmmm. Then the TV stations and the BD player should both look, more or less, the same quality. (Esp. if you're using DVDs mastered for HD/BD which Clone Wars likely would've been being a fairly new movie.)

Like I said above, you may need to fiddle with the picture settings on each device connected to the TV (the settings should be different for, say, the DVD player than for the cable box) unless you simply just haven't gotten a DVD that's optimized for BD.

 

[Amaris]

Sweet Sister Francis! I thought the days of that sort of "death by a thousand papercuts" fee structures was long since over!

Oh, sweet goodness, no. Phone companies still do it, satellite does it to some degree, but no one, and I mean no one, does it like the cable company. We have Time Warner, and the list of extra fees looks like a telephone directory. Everything from remote control fee to menu access fee (yes, there's a fee to access their menu system) and everything in between. It easily adds another $15-$20 onto the bill. Our local cable provider charges, without HD, without digital, without anything but a cable coming into the TV from the wall, is $68. By the time the fees are done, it's $79. For basic cable. If you just want local channels only with a clear signal, that's $23. That's your channels, just that they come in clearer than what an antenna might bring in.

It's insane.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Yep, HDMI cables for the BR Player and for the cable box.

Is the HDMI the only cable between the player and the TV?

 

[Mr Light]

Yep.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Sweet Sister Francis! I thought the days of that sort of "death by a thousand papercuts" fee structures was long since over!

Oh, sweet goodness, no. Phone companies still do it, satellite does it to some degree, but no one, and I mean no one, does it like the cable company. We have Time Warner, and the list of extra fees looks like a telephone directory. Everything from remote control fee to menu access fee (yes, there's a fee to access their menu system) and everything in between. It easily adds another $15-$20 onto the bill. Our local cable provider charges, without HD, without digital, without anything but a cable coming into the TV from the wall, is $68. By the time the fees are done, it's $79. For basic cable. If you just want local channels only with a clear signal, that's $23. That's your channels, just that they come in clearer than what an antenna might bring in.

It's insane.

Ouch...

Your city council (or equivilant) hasn't done you any favors in choosing cable providers...