On 225 here in Burnaby. Still a lot of TBAs in the programming menu so must have just popped up.

Nothing in Winnipeg at 13:30

Here in Kelowna, BC
Not on at about 10:00 AM but just checked, 12:50 PM, and AMC HD is on 225 and the Frame has moved to 230.

Its here is Winnipeg now. Ready to enjoy edited movies in HD :)

Cool!!

I *almost* spent money on the stupid SD tier just to get Mad Men but decided that it would cost more than the DVD box-set will cost so decided to forego seeing the series "live".

What's up with the weird aspect ratio? Everything looks stretched, both movies and commercials. Almost as if they're using a 4:3 image and stretching it 16:9. Even the AMC logo is stretched. Something is not right here.

I think we're getting the upsampled 4:3 digital signal in stretch-o-vision. Where's the AMC HD logo?

http://www.cox.com/louisiana/Images/amcHD_header.jpg

Exactly. I contacted Shaw. Here is the response.

"It is doing the same thing here. I have notified our operations department to have them look into that."

Hopefully, it will be fixed shortly.

I noticed the same stretched picture as everyone else (love the phrase stretch-o-vision). I also notice that some shows on the A&E HD channel appear like this as well (one episode of the Sopranos I watched for example). I didn't mention before as I wasn't sure how to word it/explain it. I don't think it's a setting on my t.v., as I have selected the proper resolution and watch standard def shows in 4:3 with the side bars, and the high def channels usually fill up the 16:9 screen. In this case it's filling the screen, but looking odd.

A&E has always been like that. I think it's their preferred way to display SD content. It's frustrating.

Hopefully AMC HD isn't a similar channel. It appears that when AMC HD launched people in the US weren't happy with the stretching but I don't know if that was temporary or not.

It's not acceptable to me but if it's for like 5% of the programming and the rest is true 16:9 in resolution and aspect ratio then that's ok. Most if not all of A&E's programming now is HD, I'm assuming they stretched some of the older episodes of shows which hadn't always been broadcast in HD from the start (i.e. season 1 of CSI: Miami I believe).

From wiki:
A high definition version of the channel is currently available on Comcast and other select cable providers. However, the picture is sometimes not formatted correctly, making it seem as if the objects (and actors) had been horizontally "stretched" to fit the widescreen. (This is only noticeable on widescreen TV sets.)

^ And WHO is going to be watching AMC HD if they don't have a widescreen TV may I ask? LOL.

I checked Mad Men last night and it was just a stretched version of the SD channel. I just talked to Shaw and they are aware of the problem. I was told that the true AMCHD channel will be up ASAP.

So Jumpy, from what you have just stated I can assume that Shaw is just upconverting the SD AMC channel and not giving us the true AMC HD channel yet. I watched some of Stargate on AMC last night and flipped between the SD and HD channel of AMC and saw that they were both the same except the HD channel was stretched and was playing in 5.1 sound. I wonder when we will get the "true" AMC HD channel?

As Adiabatic pointed out, the logo should look like:
http://www.coxcommunications.com/oklahoma/images/channel-logos/amc_hd.jpg
Instead, it is the SD logo. I contacted Shaw a couple of days ago and they acknowledged something was wrong. Why so long to fix?

As of last night, still unable to watch this channel from my box. I can tune to ch225 AMCHD but only have the " ... Will be available shortly ..." blue screen notice. Don't know if this is a problem from Shaw side? Guess I might have to end up calling them if tonight is the same.

So Jumpy, from what you have just stated I can assume that Shaw is just upconverting the SD AMC channel and not giving us the true AMC HD channel yet.Your assumption is correct--Shaw is just upconverting the SD AMC channel for now.
I wonder when we will get the "true" AMC HD channel?Your guess is as good as mine. ASAP sounds impressive, but it could be days or weeks. Hopefully it will be just days.

I wrote to AMC, and copied it to Shaw, as follows:

(amccustomerservice@rainbow-media.com (mailto:amccustomerservice@rainbow-media.com)):

We just got AMC-HD on Shaw Cable in western Canada. I was very excited to be able to see Mad Men in HD. Until I turned it on. What looney-tune executive made the decision to mess with the aspect ratio?? I will not watch any program that is stretched, distorted, panned, etc. When will sanity return to your organization?

Shaw responded:

Thank you for your email.

We are glad to hear that you were happy with the addition of AMC HD. We know that the demand for HD is growing and we will continue to add more HD services in the future. AMC HD airs a lot of older movies and since some are only available in standard definition, AMC will sometimes stretch the image to fit the 16:9 ratio. It’s similar to how some of the other HD stations will occasionally air a movie or show that is standard definition, except the other stations do not stretch the image, they leave the black bars on the sides.

If you are unhappy with AMC’s decision to stretch the picture of the standard definition movies, you took the right action by contacting them directly. We unfortunately do not have any control over what they broadcast on their station. However, the more people that voice their concerns to AMC, the better chance there is that they will make changes to their broadcast methods. So if you know of other people that are unhappy with the AMC HD feed, we would recommend encouraging them to contact AMC as well. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reply back to this e-mail.

Thank you for choosing Shaw,

Dan
E-mail Support Team

I recommend that EVERYONE write to AMC at: amccustomerservice@rainbow-media.com (mailto:amccustomerservice@rainbow-media.com)

It is not AMC that is at fault here--it is Shaw who is taking the SD AMC channel and upconverting it to HD and stretching it in the process. We need to complain to Shaw, not AMC. Shaw obviously doesn't have the HD feed yet, but decided to still launch it on September 1 as promised for reasons unknown. When you phone or email in to Shaw, just ask them why they upconverting the SD channel and calling it HD. If Shaw disagrees with you, just mention that the AMC HD channel in the US has the HD logo on the right hand side, and the current HD channel on Shaw does not.

And it's NOT being upconverted, its just 480i stretched and looks like crap, I'd rather watch the regular channel. Can't Shaw do one thing right for once?

Further response from Shaw (emphasis mine):

Thank you for your reply.

We have been receiving other complaints about AMC HD and after looking into it further, it appears our previous response was inaccurate. Our Operations team is currently looking into the situation as you are correct, it should be showing the AMC HD logo rather than the SD logo. We hope to have more information soon and we will be working to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience.

Thank you for choosing Shaw,

Dan
E-mail Support Team