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OTA NETWORK Status: CTV & CTV2

132K views 325 replies 80 participants last post by  ExDilbert 
#1 ·
They don't mention it in the story, but aren't they talking about CHWI 16.1?

September 3, 2011
http://www.windsorstar.com/business/rocky+start/5349103/story.html

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Mumford was told Cogeco was unable to get a clear standard definition (SD) signal from Windsor, so it switched over to London.

The HD signal, which is carried on Cogeco Channel 803, was unaffected by the switch.
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Why couldn't (or why doesn't) Cogeco's head-end equipment generate the SD signal from the HD signal?

How many other broadcasters have to supply cable-co's with dedicated SD (480i) feeds now (using some other method other than OTA) ?
 
#229 ·
I am pretty sure that that CTV OTA license says they should broadcast in HD when the program material is available that way.7MPS is not HD.Also if this affects cable provider than CTV will not be allowed to get a simsub for any US stations if they cant match the picture quality.I complained to CRTC about this and they directed the station to provide the content in HD.
 
#231 ·
DrSat,

My question for you is a 2-parter:

1. Are you still receiving a 1080i signal of CFTO OTA from the CN Tower? Or is it now 720p as well?

2. Are you saying that the 720p C-band signal looks better to you your eye than the 1080i that was/is available OTA from the CN Tower?

The 1080i OTA we had here sure looked good to me. It was using the full ATSC bandwidth. The current 720p signal, like CBC, is running 15mb/s video and while not bad, its noticeably softer than the 1080i was.
 
#232 ·
15mb/s video
The max OTA is 19.4 Mb/s video plus audio, so 15 Mb/s video is not bad and pretty typical. CTV Toronto is still 1080i, I just checked. Last time I checked, CTV Toronto was around 16-17 Mb/s video + audio, so 15 for video is right in line. 720P can look softer than 1080i, each has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, many people talk about the exceptional quality of the High Fidelity stations (Oasis, HiFi, etc), yet they are 720P.
 
#233 ·
Attached zip file of a TsReader export might give you an idea what Drsat is talking about regarding the satellite distribution feeds for CTV.
extract to a temp dir and open the .htm in your browser. Look for the bit Rate stats near the bottom. Just noticed, they were sorted by PID, not by bit rate when exported.

On CBAND Satellite they appear to be using h.264 (MPEG4) in 720P format for the HD Programs. They also appear to be using statistical multiplexing, as the bit rates of any given channel is changing as needed based on the program content of the various channels. ie - at one point I saw some of the HD programs approaching 9 Mbps, while 6 or 7 at the exact time of this snapshot in time.
 
#235 ·
Well, in my opinion 720p is better than 1080i - but if they previously record with a interlaced format and then convert to a progressive format, the damage is already done.

Instead, they should change their production to use 1080p, and then scale it down to 720p (if necessary). Then, if they eventually upgrade to a better video codec, they could easily do 1080p in 10mbps rather than 19mbps.
 
#236 ·
I doubt very much that the CTV station in NB will be providing a 10mbps or less in their signal stream.

Here in Montreal, you can see what CFCF (CTV) provides as a mbps with a 1080i, and what CBMT (CBC) provides with a 720p signal.

http://www.rabbitears.info/search.php?request=psip_search&callsign=cfcf

http://www.rabbitears.info/search.php?request=psip_search&callsign=cbmt

At 9.70 mbps per stream, the station can provide two 720p signals. If they wanted to.

Here is KWYB (ABC & FOX) with a variable bit rate on each stream offering two 720p streams

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=38576
 
#237 ·
I was at the CKCW-DT TX site recently and there is a new C-Band receiving dish that was not there when they transitioned to digital a year and a half ago. The dish is fortified with structural steel to protect it from falling ice from the tower. So we can assume that the CKCW-DT site is now fed via C-Band. Not sure how the TX was fed before, but there has been a Andrews dish pointed at their Halifax Street 'studio' in Moncton. The dish is still there. Not sure if there is fibre at the site, but there is on the road as it passes by to the Global/CBC (now dark) TX site further up the road.

Like a previous poster said, it is weird that they don't use their own fibre for distribution. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that CTV Atlantic's master control has been moved from Halifax to Toronto.

freddytireguy, I see that the D-G published your letter to the editor. Do you know of anything come out of it?

Jeff
 
#238 ·
I haven't been around these forums in a long time.... does anyone know if Bell made a decision to eventually transition the CKCO-TV-3 Oil Springs/Sarnia repeater on channel 42??

Shaw has already transitioned their Global CIII-TV-29 Oil Springs repeater on digital channel 29-1, which is located nearby the CKCO-TV-3 tower.
 
#239 ·
AFAIK, Bell doesn't have any plans to transition any more transmitters any time soon. Global has to complete the transition of their entire network by 2016 as a condition of sale (by the CRTC) when Shaw bought them, but Bell doesn't have a deadline.
 
#240 ·
List of television stations BCE must keep in operation until at least 2017

On the heals of the Astral decision the CRTC placed a condition on BCE to keep these stations operational to 2017

iii) List of television stations BCE must keep in operation until at least 2017
English-language conventional television

CIVT-DT Vancouver, BC
CIVI-DT Victoria, BC
CFTK-TV Terrace, BC
CJDC-TV Dawson Creek, BC
CFCN-DT Calgary, AB
CFCN-DT-5 Lethbridge, AB
CFRN-DT Edmonton, AB
CFRN-TV-6 Red Deer, AB
CFQC-DT Saskatoon, SK
CICC-TV Yorkton, SK
CIPA-TV Prince Albert, SK
CKCK-DT Regina, SK
CKY- DT Winnipeg, MB
CFPL-DT London, ON
CFTO-DT Toronto, ON
CHBX-TV Sault Ste. Marie, ON
CHRO-TV Pembroke, ON
CHRO-DT-43 Ottawa, ON
CJOH-DT Ottawa, ON
CHWI-DT Wheatley, ON
CICI-TV Sudbury, ON
CITO-TV Timmins, ON
CKCO-DT Kitchener, ON
CKNY-TV North Bay, ON
CKVR-DT Barrie, ON
CFCF-DT Montréal, QC
CKCW-DT Moncton, NB
CKLT-DT Saint John, NB
CJCB-TV Sydney, NS
CJCH-DT Halifax, NS
 
#247 ·
Anyone else having issues with the CTV2 repeater in Hamilton? Can't seem to get it anything on 35 right now. Down or moved, or something else?

*EDIT*
TSReader image:
pp


*EDIT AGAIN*
Back up. I guess I was wondering since it was down the other night too, but I was too busy to investigate more. When I noticed it down, I thought it was still down from the other night.
 
#250 ·
CHCJ power increase

The CKVR wikipedia page says that CHCJ applied in July for a massive power increase. Does anyone have any idea when this is expected to be approved/denied etc. Essentially when would it happen? Or are my facts mixed up and I shouldn't expect a change anytime soon??

I thought the current setup was temporary and wasn't to exceed one year???
 
#251 ·
The CKVR wikipedia page says that CHCJ applied in July for a massive power increase. Does anyone have any idea when this is expected to be approved/denied etc. Essentially when would it happen? Or are my facts mixed up and I shouldn't expect a change anytime soon??

I thought the current setup was temporary and wasn't to exceed one year???
Well I know that CKVP Fonthill (ch42) is low powered and CHCJ (ch35)is much stronger. Since I am in Beamsville I should be able to catch both (or most likely CHCJ) but I am able to get none of them. The antenna is aiming at Buffalo so CKVP is coming in strong but its still below the limit of getting an audio/video feed. So yeah I am quite surprised that CHCJ is not coming in since channel 42 is much weaker. I thought CHCJ was coming from the CHCH tower but apparently Channel Zero declined that. Maybe Bell Media put the power increase on hold due to the budget cutbacks (if any) or the CRTC hasn't processed the application yet?
 
#252 ·
CFTO program title missing

When I press the info button to see what is on, it should show the title of the show but it isn't.
Like for example the Michael Buble Christmas special is on but it's not showing, but my TV doesn't have an EPG button.
 
#253 ·
looks fine here....
 
#255 ·
sometimes when it's not there, flipping channels and coming back will get it to snap in. Of course if it was truly missing it wouldn't help.
 
#256 ·
^^^ There's a problem (a bug I think) in CTV's PSIP generator. It happens when a program starts right at an EIT/ETT border, that is 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00 both am and pm EST (or 2:00, 5:00, 8:00, 11:00 EDT when on DST).

Mysteriously, the program title re-appears EXACTLY 10 minutes after the top of the hour. I bet there's a typo in a configuration (a "1" that should be a "0" somewhere).

All CTV stations seem to have this that I've seen.
 
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