analog source for locals

[TuxCoder]

Proof for me anyways that at least some locals are brought in over analog OTA... the Dish Network carriage of my local WB (WBDT WB 26 Dayton, OH) has ghosting. I've noticed it since day one when my E* was installed. It was amusing, the installer just arbitrarily picked that channel from the guide when doing his obligatory review of the receiver functions. Right away I noticed and mentioned how little sense it made since it was a digital sat signal, not analog OTA, and he had no explanation, just agreed that it was strange. That was before I knew (from reading on here) that E* gets (some, most, all?) local feeds from OTA reception equipment at a local POP.

But WBDT does have its only digital channel, which is simulcasting the content from their analog broadcast. Why wouldn't E* just use that? Just that the equipment is maybe more expensive? Are any locals on E* carried from an OTA digital channel, as opposed to OTA analog or station-provided direct feed?

 

[mattb]

Well, one reason is DT channels don't always 100% duplicate the SD station..

Second, if they have problems reciving the OTA SD Version, then who's to say (they can receive the HDTV version which is probally broadcasting at a weaker Transmitter output than the SD version)...

Do you really want compressed blocky tv, ontop of E*'s compressed locals

 

[chevyN8]

My guess is that E* does the analog (even though digital is broadcast from the same tower) because of the sat. requirements to send it back down to your dish. I get some ghosting too.

 

[mitchflorida]

Dish Network makes a big deal about all of its stations being "all digitial" as opposed to cable, which is part analog, part digital.

It seems like the quality of the locals are identical on cable and satellite. Perhaps lower in satellite based on compression?

 

[mattb]

Dish Network makes a big deal about all of its stations being "all digitial" as opposed to cable, which is part analog, part digital.

It seems like the quality of the locals are identical on cable and satellite. Perhaps lower in satellite based on compression?

All digital means from E*'s satellite to your home... If the "source' their reciving is 'analog' then there is not much they can do about it. If TV stations wanted to provide you the 'best quality' possible via Satellite on their part they would provide a Direct Fiber link between their studios and E*'s POP... (most locals do this for the cable providers already if your in a big city) they just have not warmed up to satellite yet, probally because satellite consumers are not as high as the houses that see or have cable tv so they dont feel spending $$$ on a fiber link is worth it so E* or D* are left with pulling their locals via OTA (antenna mounted on a roof somewhere)

 

[mdonnelly]

I suppose that until all the local stations start broadcasting in digital 24/7, both the DBS and cable operators will have to use the analog OTA. It does make me mad though, because the digital OTA (even for SD) is an order of magnitude sharper than the analog. The PQ of the Dish feed of the local matches the analog OTA, so I assume that if Dish were using the DT, the quality would be correspondingly better.

 

[TuxCoder]

Yeah but there's still a major compression difference. At least for my DMA, Dish appears to compress more than each of my stations' DT, even the stations that simulcast HD. The only local I get with no HD is, coincidentally, WB. WBDT-DT, that is.

 

[TuxCoder]

My avatar pic now has a screen shot of my local WB channel on one of the TVs. If you look close enough you can see the ghosting.

 

[Barry Erick]

the default signal mode delivered to D* and E* for locals is OTA. Which means, Over the Air ANALOG. However, the locals can deliver via fiber, or when the local D* or E* site is at a local station (as most are), that station supplies a signal right from the studio, the best their signal could possibly be.

Our market was the first to supply a DTV signal to D*, and that was so there would be no ghosts in this years Super-Bowl. We do not feed E* that way, tho, as their ghost cancelling works. Before we went with DTV t D*, we did a test, turning the tranmitted ghost correction signal on and off. fOR d* there was no change. For E*, there was.

Since the time we sent the DTV to D*, they have done this in many markets. This year all DTV's must have at least one of their chanells duplicating the main NTSC one 24/7.

 

[bdlitzne]

But WBDT does have its only digital channel, which is simulcasting the content from their analog broadcast. Why wouldn't E* just use that? Just that the equipment is maybe more expensive? Are any locals on E* carried from an OTA digital channel, as opposed to OTA analog or station-provided direct feed?

WDCQ/WDCP (Bay City, Saginaw, Midland, MI.) has their digital 15 picked up in Flint by Dish. The analog signal did not meet their required signal strength. They do not originate from the same tower. (Analog at the campus in University Center, digital in Gilford). Charter cable has a direct fiber feed and so does DirecTV. (POP is at University Center). The plan is to make sure that areas that broadcast our signal is to be either carried from fiber (Charter feed) or the digital xmtr.

I believe this April 2005 is the 100 percent retransmission of the main channel. (Now it's at 75 percent..). This does not automatically mean 24/7. It means it will folow, ie. the station may sign-off overnight.

Bern