The MPEG encoder had a problem. It has been reset.

Thanks for responding, Marc. The problem cleared sometime between 8:30 and 9:45 this morning.

Everyone else I'd contacted via audience relations said there was no problem, and that I should "contact my service provider". Of course, that may have happenned by people looking into the issue after the MPEG encoder had been reset. If that's the case, isn't there a problem log system so that technicians would know that there *had* been a problem.

Would the mpeg encoder be in the transmission chain before any direct feeds to Star Choice or Rogers, so wouldn't all the cable subscribers have seen this too?

TVl

Another issue -- during the inauguration right now, there is a persistent buzzing in the audio feed. It's annoying on digital (I'm receiving it over the air on CBOT-DT), but I can also hear it, but more faintly, analog on CBOT via Rogers cable in Ottawa.

UPDATE: the buzzing is in the Peter Mansbridge feed. It does not appear in the pool feeds.

Yup I'm getting the same noise during Mansbridge.

The buzz came from a piece of equipment belonging to the fibre company hired in the US to provide Peter Mansbridge's camera feed back to Canada. It was discovered before air time. Steps were taken to minimize the effect but it could not be eliminated, even when they switched to a spare.

Audience Relations get technical reports the following day. If the phones are lighting up with a common complaint they will call me immediately.

Most carriers take the MPEG2/ATSC compressed HD signal. Baseband (1.5G/sec) is available for those who want it.

Kudos to CBC on Being Erica. The 5.1 audio creates an excellent sound field, like a top notch movie. When the excellent music kicks in to support whatever year she arrives at, it really adds to the story. Good show with very good production values. Everyone with their audio system connected to their TV should crank it up a bit and check it out.

Not sure if this is an appropriate question, but does anyone have a copy of The National aired January 20 I could get? I was just thinking it would be a nice piece of history to have.

Marc: I recorded and watched Rick Mercer and 22 Minutes last night. There was a fairly loud "click" whenever the programmes went to commercial or came back from commercial. I don't recall this happening before, although I do use a PVR, so I'm usually FF as the commercial starts or ends, but on several occasions my fingers weren't fast enough to avoid the click at the beginning of the commercial, or I "skipped back" to catch the start of the programme after the commercial and the skip went back and caught the last seconds of the commercial.

I encountered no such clicks on other channels and I don't recall it on other CBC programmes that I've recorded in the past week - Nature of Things, Just for Laughs, etc.

I heard about the clicks first thing this morning, but I appreciate the feedback as well. It has been resolved.

iSteve,

Programs are available for purchase from through Cision (http://www.cbc.ca/services/tapes_tr.html). Alternatively, you can probably find the coverage on The National (http://www.cbc.ca/national/index.html) website.

Does anyone know why CBC broadcasts in Dolby 2.0 stereo, not 5.1?

I've noticed this both on OTA and Rogers cable (HD) in Toronto. I rarely watch anything but The National so I'm not sure about non-news programming. However, it annoys me to have dialog coming out of L+R and not the center speaker. Also, it makes the channel seem quieter than neighbouring 5.1 channels.

Hmmm...CBC comes through my receiver as Dolby Digital 5.1, but I don't think they've done a proper job of it. Like you, I get dialogue out of the L&R speakers as well, and it's annoying as heck.

Although CBC sometimes sends improperly encoded DD5.1 (coming out the LF & RF), they do send proper DD5.1 for Hockey games, etc. See the following post on improperly encoded DD5.1.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17870


Edit, moved to existing thread. Here's the link with your answer from earlier in this thread... It appears that what you see, er hear, will depend on the programme.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=464126#post464126


Just as an FYI, PBS is similar in that we get improperly encoded DD5.1 for "stereo" programming and get DD5.1 for DD5.1 programming. Here's another (older) link on how it's handled by various affiliates if you're interested.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=64024

To quote that post from earlier:
Several days ago we changed the way we encode Dolby Digital audio on the HD stations. Our default setting is now 5.1 for all shows, even stereo programs. We will switch to 2.0 for programs that are identified as being encoded with Dolby Pro Logic. This method will preserve the surround content on PL shows.

I understand what is happening. Yes, for stereo programs my receiver does get a 5.1 signal, but only L and R channels have audio, and the remaining 4 channels are silent.

IMO, CBC is incorrect to do this. The preferred setting for watching stereo TV programs with a 5.1 receiver is Pro Logic. No receiver (to my knowledge) is able to do Pro Logic decoding on a 5.1 signal. So Pro Logic encoded programs will always be heard as plain L+R stereo on CBC.

This is why all other stations will broadcast a Dolby 2.0 signal when the programming is Pro Logic. This way people can use Pro Logic decoding.

I hope CBC will rethink this decision.

I don't know if Marc still checks on this thread, but if he does, perhaps he'll have a comment since the previous link is now 2.5 years old. I did just check and did get the improperly encoded DD5.1.

Note that PBS (WNED) does the same as indicated in my earlier post.

Note also that there are a couple of workarounds as indicated in my links - using PCM setting in the STB or the analogue audio cables, which is easy to switch to on most AVRs. I believe that there are some AVRs that can do DPL from a DD5.1 signal, but it's often hidden in setup menus.

I agree with you that this is "incorrect", but some budgets simply don't allow all of the latest technology.

I still check this thread, but I'm not working in the transmission end of the business for a few months. I'll be back in August.

It has been covered in the forum before, but here's the Cole's Notes...
- The transmission system relies on just a few people running many stations.
- Our automation system is outdated. It can't deal with the Dolby Digital triggers in an elegant manner. These triggers are required several times within a show.
- When you miss a trigger on a 5.1 show you lose the dialogue track: Very Bad
(It has happened more than once.)
- When you encode a 2.0 show as 5.1 you lose Prologic.
- We decided to play it safe by sticking with 5.1
- A Request for Proposal has been issued to replace the automation system.
- Switching will resume, but it won't be this year.

Marc, thank you for the response. Is it possible for CBC to utilize one of the "upmixers" mentioned in one of my previous links - see also below?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=64024&highlight=%2Aupmixer%2A

National Geographic use this and any DD2.0 programming gets upmixed to DD5.1 and I assume this device leaves DD5.1 programming alone. This would negate the need for "triggers"? I realize that this may not work for all programming, but it may work for "national" programming?

Technically that can be done. The problem is, at that point you're changing the Producer's product and that opens a can of worms. Think simulated stereo, colourizing, etc.
Audio processors have been used at CBC by program production staff. Usually, it's applied on field segments for a 5.1 studio show. At this point there are no plans to apply that sort of processing at the transmission stage.

From the OMNI PSIP (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=947548#post947548) discussion.

I checked the guide versus the time on several tuners. All seems well. I also had a quick look at the PSIP generator. I didn't see a specific DST checkbox. I'm willing to dig deeper if you can provide more information. Perhaps you see things with a ATSC PVR that doesn't bother a basic TV?

FYI Master Control staff check for the presence of the guide each morning using a rooftop antenna and a consumer grade tuner.

From the OMNI PSIP (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=947548#post947548) discussion.

I checked the guide versus the time on several tuners. All seems well.
Perhaps in Toronto, but here in Ottawa both 4-1(25) and 9-1(22) are exactly one hour behind clock time. Eg. Right now they show about 3:30pm rather than 4:30pm.

SunTV on 20-1(20) gets it right locally; the others don't.

Cheers

mlord, I think what Marc is saying he can't find a check box for the DST flag in his encoder. If you can give him more details about where this flag is located in the PSIP data he might be able to fix the problem.