Xfinity channels above 1000 ?

[Bob (not my real pseudonym)]

Suddenly have a batch of channels numbered above 1000 on the X1 box;
they seem to just be duplicates of existing channels - anybody know
what's up?

Thanks!

[VanguardLH]

Part of Comcast's Master Channel Line-Up (MCLU) plan which started way
back in 2010. They want a national channel line-up and are moving all
regions ... eventually ... so the HD channels are 1000, and up.

From back then, their proposed MCLU was grouped by genre:

- 2 - 99: Remain the same with channel numbers decided by the
local market and replicated into higher channel numbers.
- 100 - 199: News, Local, and Public Service, Educational, Government.
- 200 - 299: General Entertainment and Lifestyle cable channels (FX,
TNT, Discovery, etc)
- 300 - 399: General Entertainment and Lifestyle cable channels
(Lifetime, A&E, TLC, shopping channels etc)
- 400 - 499: Music Channels
- 500 - 599: Kids and Religious channels
- 600 - 799: Sports
- 800 - 899: Movies and PPV
- 900 - 999: Premium channels
- 1000 - 1999: HD channels move up here (same as SD channel + 1000).
- 2000+: International channels.

That was their plan back in 2010 - 2013. I don't what they decided
since then. Been a l-o-n-g time for them to crawl along with the
change. Guess they got busy with the X1 rollout.

[Andrew Rossmann]

In article <7bld9c9crur2fvpvj...@4ax.com>,
inv...@invalid.invalid says...

>
> Suddenly have a batch of channels numbered above 1000 on the X1 box;
> they seem to just be duplicates of existing channels - anybody know
> what's up?

Most likely, it's Comcast starting to set up their national numbering
scheme. From what I have read, older numbers will not go away anytime
soon. The drawback is that it tends to confuse the Favorites list. If
you add a new channel to it, BOTH will be added. You cannot separately
add or remove one.

Official details here:
Full: http://forums.xfinity.com/t5/Channels-and-Programming/Additional-
Channel-Lineup/m-p/2852221
Short: http://bit.ly/2lbK1yS

--
If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!
All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law!!
http://home.comcast.net/~andyross

[Adam H. Kerman]

VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote:
>Bob on 2017/02/05 wrote:

>>Suddenly have a batch of channels numbered above 1000 on the X1 box;
>>they seem to just be duplicates of existing channels - anybody know
>>what's up?

>Part of Comcast's Master Channel Line-Up (MCLU) plan which started way
>back in 2010. They want a national channel line-up and are moving all
>regions ... eventually ... so the HD channels are 1000, and up.

As the O.P. pointed out, they're duplicates of existing channels, so
they are not all HD. In my area, most of them are not.

On broadcast channels, for instance, the NBC O&O is HD, but the CBS O&O
is SD, just a center cut of the broadcast channel.

>From back then, their proposed MCLU was grouped by genre:

>- 2 - 99: Remain the same with channel numbers decided by the
> local market and replicated into higher channel numbers.

There are brokered channels in this range. Furthermore, since ATSC
is mapped to a main channel/subchannel (2.1, for instance) and QAM
is mapped to a 1, 2, 3, or 4 digit channel number, the cable channel numbers
aren't going to match the broadcast channel numbers anyway.

>- 100 - 199: News, Local, and Public Service, Educational, Government.

There's hardly enough PEG to warrant this many channels. I've got plenty
of secondary broadcast subchannels in this range. In fact, I'm not spotting
any PEG at all.

>- 200 - 299: General Entertainment and Lifestyle cable channels (FX,
> TNT, Discovery, etc)

I've got some PPV in this range, with plenty of sports.

I'm deleting the rest of it. Whatever memo you saw, it clearly was not
implemented nationwide.

I see no advantage to nationwide channel numbering. You know what might
be helpful? If cable used consistent abbreviations for satellite channels
from operator to operator, and I could use the letters of the abbreviation
to tune in the channel or get to channel guide listings. Who gives a damn
what number the channel was mapped to?

[Adam H. Kerman]

Bill <no...@none.invalid> wrote:

>Sun, 5 Feb 2017 16:16:15 +0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>>VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote:
>>>Bob on 2017/02/05 wrote:

>>>>Suddenly have a batch of channels numbered above 1000 on the X1 box;
>>>>they seem to just be duplicates of existing channels - anybody know
>>>>what's up?

>>>Part of Comcast's Master Channel Line-Up (MCLU) plan which started way
>>>back in 2010. They want a national channel line-up and are moving all
>>>regions ... eventually ... so the HD channels are 1000, and up.

>>As the O.P. pointed out, they're duplicates of existing channels, so
>>they are not all HD. In my area, most of them are not.

>>On broadcast channels, for instance, the NBC O&O is HD, but the CBS O&O
>>is SD, just a center cut of the broadcast channel.

>You still have a major network, CBS, broadcasting in SD? That's
>incredible. No, really, that's incredible.

Did you miss the actual words I wrote? I stated that it's a center cut
of the broadcast channel. If one were to receive the channel over the
air, it would be HD.

At the head end, Comcast outputs most, if not all, HD signals as SD. Sometimes
they letterbox it. In this case, it's center cut.

I offered that example as in actual experience, I'm pointing out that
most channels mapped to four-digit channel numbers are SD, not HD,
at least where I'm at.

>>I see no advantage to nationwide channel numbering. You know what might
>>be helpful? If cable used consistent abbreviations for satellite channels
>>from operator to operator, and I could use the letters of the abbreviation
>>to tune in the channel or get to channel guide listings. Who gives a damn
>>what number the channel was mapped to?

>I travel nearly every week and I find consistent channel numbering
>extremely helpful. My primary method of navigating to a channel is via
>its channel number. If that lands me somewhere unexpected, only then do
>I go searching.

Ok. Wouldn't it be far easier to search for a channel if cable operators
used consistent abbreviations? I think there will always be variations
in channel mapping to a number from place to place. Just offer it as an
additional method of access.

>On a related note, at home via my STB/DVR, on my Android app, and on my
>various Roku devices, all of those allow mw to sort channels by name
>rather than number. I don't really see the point in sorting by name, but
>I'm happy to see that they've provided the option.

Because you might know the name but not what channel number it's mapped to?
C'mon.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Bill <no...@none.invalid> wrote:
>Sun, 5 Feb 2017 18:24:50 +0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

>>Bill <no...@none.invalid> wrote:
>>>5 Feb 2017 16:16:15 +0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>>>>VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote:
>>>>>Bob on 2017/02/05 wrote:

>>>>>>Suddenly have a batch of channels numbered above 1000 on the X1 box;
>>>>>>they seem to just be duplicates of existing channels - anybody know
>>>>>>what's up?

>>>>>Part of Comcast's Master Channel Line-Up (MCLU) plan which started way
>>>>>back in 2010. They want a national channel line-up and are moving all
>>>>>regions ... eventually ... so the HD channels are 1000, and up.

>>>>As the O.P. pointed out, they're duplicates of existing channels, so
>>>>they are not all HD. In my area, most of them are not.

>>>>On broadcast channels, for instance, the NBC O&O is HD, but the CBS O&O
>>>>is SD, just a center cut of the broadcast channel.

>>>You still have a major network, CBS, broadcasting in SD? That's
>>>incredible. No, really, that's incredible.

>>Did you miss the actual words I wrote?

>No, but I guess you're saying I didn't parse them correctly. Even now,
>I'm still not able to parse your original words as you'd like them to be
>parsed, but no matter. The problem could be at my end.

>>I stated that it's a center cut of the broadcast channel. If one were
>>to receive the channel over the air, it would be HD.

>Ok, that last sentence makes sense. The local broadcast is in HD.

Edison's ratio was 4:3 (1.33:1), used in the silent movie era and chosen for
television. Academy ratio was 1.375:1, typically used by movie studios from
the early 1930s till the early 1950s. The change was due to the way sound
was encoded on film. 4:3 could be shown on NTSC television sets with no
cropping; Academy Ratio with slight cropping.

For no valid reason, televisions are now 16:9, a ratio never used by
Hollywood studios in the wide screen era. This requires cropping of even
common 1.85:1 aspect ratio and certainly 2.35:1. There are a variety of
ways to display 16:9 on 4:3. If letterboxed, blank space is added above
and below so there's no loss of image. Typically, the image is cropped. In
a center cut crop, portions of the original image from the left and right
aren't displayed.

Movies used to be panned & scanned for television, which meant that an
editor making the translation would attempt to follow the action on
screen to retain the most important part of the image. It's a superior
technique to center cut, in which no human being makes a decision.
Nevertheless, P&S is rarely satisfactory.

>>At the head end, Comcast outputs most, if not all, HD signals as
>>SD. Sometimes they letterbox it. In this case, it's center cut.

>I have never, ever, seen that. Why would Comcast (in your area) output
>HD signals as SD? What would be the purpose?

I don't have any idea. All one has to do is make the right connection between
set-top box and tv monitor and the output can be displayable on an NTSC
monitor without being cropped at all.

There's no reason for Comcast not to deploy all the same set-top boxes
to every subscriber. They might as well recall all the SD boxes, but
I guess they never did that.

>>Ok. Wouldn't it be far easier to search for a channel if cable operators

>>used consistent abbreviations? . . .

>Don't they already do that?

Comcast isn't even consistent in how it abbreviates a channel that's
provided by the same source. Every ESPN channel seems to offer
inconsistent abbreviations. They'd have to go for more than four letters,
of course.

I'd like to have the choice of entering letters via the remote, not
just numbers.

>Finding channels by name might actually be more efficient, but I'm just
>not used to doing it that way (yet). As a kid, we got two channels, 5
>and 12, so I learned to tune by number. :) . . .

Golly. You were in a small town.

[VanguardLH]

"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> on 2017/02/05 wrote:

> VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote:
>>Bob on 2017/02/05 wrote:
>
>>>Suddenly have a batch of channels numbered above 1000 on the X1 box;
>>>they seem to just be duplicates of existing channels - anybody know
>>>what's up?
>
>>Part of Comcast's Master Channel Line-Up (MCLU) plan which started way
>>back in 2010. They want a national channel line-up and are moving all
>>regions ... eventually ... so the HD channels are 1000, and up.
>
> As the O.P. pointed out, they're duplicates of existing channels, so
> they are not all HD. In my area, most of them are not.

You first must have a spare tire before you can mount it. They are
setting up the channels before they get around to configuring the
channel line-ups. This started back in 2010. Comcast is very slow in
getting this setup.

> I'm deleting the rest of it. Whatever memo you saw, it clearly was not
> implemented nationwide.

Again, that was back in 2010 when Comcast first announced they were
establishing a national MCLU programming. I saw no activity for 6 years
and now see a change with the addition of the 1000+ channel numbers.

> I see no advantage to nationwide channel numbering. You know what might
> be helpful? If cable used consistent abbreviations for satellite channels
> from operator to operator, and I could use the letters of the abbreviation
> to tune in the channel or get to channel guide listings. Who gives a damn
> what number the channel was mapped to?

So you either memorize channel numbers or station names. A rose by any
other name is still a rose.

What I think would be convenient is if the channel guide did not show
you channels to which you were not subscribed.

[Adam H. Kerman]

VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote:

>What I think would be convenient is if the channel guide did not show
>you channels to which you were not subscribed.

I believe that's called "advertising". Anyway, just set up the channels
you actually watch as favorites. Then you can limit the guide to displaying
those only.

[Bob (not my real pseudonym)]

On Sun, 5 Feb 2017 07:59:34 -0600, Andrew Rossmann
<andysnewsreply@no_junk.comcast.net> wrote:

>In article <7bld9c9crur2fvpvj...@4ax.com>,
>inv...@invalid.invalid says...
>>
>> Suddenly have a batch of channels numbered above 1000 on the X1 box;
>> they seem to just be duplicates of existing channels - anybody know
>> what's up?
>
>Most likely, it's Comcast starting to set up their national numbering
>scheme. From what I have read, older numbers will not go away anytime
>soon. The drawback is that it tends to confuse the Favorites list. If
>you add a new channel to it, BOTH will be added. You cannot separately
>add or remove one.
>
>Official details here:
>Full: http://forums.xfinity.com/t5/Channels-and-Programming/Additional-
>Channel-Lineup/m-p/2852221
>Short: http://bit.ly/2lbK1yS

Thank you!

As to the channel numbers vs. network abbreviation debate, I find it a
lot easier to type in numbers on the remote than type in letters via
the search function. Can't get used to talking to my remote, too many
years swearing at the tube directly... =}

[Adam H. Kerman]

Bill <no...@none.invalid> wrote:
>On Sun, 5 Feb 2017 20:25:44 +0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

>Too cryptic for me. What is the right connection? What does it mean to
>be no longer cropped? If it's no longer cropped, does that mean it's SD?

The right connection is whatever inputs the monitor offers. The
box can output a letterboxed image, or a zoomed image.

>>There's no reason for Comcast not to deploy all the same set-top boxes
>>to every subscriber. They might as well recall all the SD boxes, but
>>I guess they never did that.

>Are you saying you have an STB that only does SD? If so, that would
>explain it.

Years ago, sure. It's just a guess. I don't know what the correct
answer to your question is.

[Frank]

I find it highly annoying in the X1 guide that Comcast inserts movies
and other crap that they charge extra for or want to highlight.

I often just use voice if I do not remember channel number for network
or just the name of the show. The last command button also allows easy
access to the channels you watch most.

[Barry Margolin]

In article <o79ub5$bht$1...@dont-email.me>, Frank <"frank "@frank.net>
wrote:

> On 2/5/2017 8:22 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> > VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote:
> >
> >> What I think would be convenient is if the channel guide did not show
> >> you channels to which you were not subscribed.
> >
> > I believe that's called "advertising". Anyway, just set up the channels
> > you actually watch as favorites. Then you can limit the guide to displaying
> > those only.
> >
>
> I find it highly annoying in the X1 guide that Comcast inserts movies
> and other crap that they charge extra for or want to highlight.

A profit-making company trying to encourage you to buy things! What's
the world coming to?

--
Barry Margolin
Arlington, MA

[Frank]

You are not getting the service for free. If you were, you might not
mind the ads. My local Gannet rag is doing the same thing. You have to
buy it to access the online site but they bug you with ads too.

[Bob (not my real pseudonym)]

On Mon, 6 Feb 2017 08:41:30 -0500, Frank <"frank "@frank.net> wrote:

>On 2/5/2017 8:22 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>> VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote:
>>
>>> What I think would be convenient is if the channel guide did not show
>>> you channels to which you were not subscribed.
>>
>> I believe that's called "advertising". Anyway, just set up the channels
>> you actually watch as favorites. Then you can limit the guide to displaying
>> those only.
>>
>
>I find it highly annoying in the X1 guide that Comcast inserts movies
>and other crap that they charge extra for or want to highlight.

I found that little annoyance goes away if I set the default guide
view to 'favorites'.

>I often just use voice if I do not remember channel number for network
>or just the name of the show. The last command button also allows easy
>access to the channels you watch most.

That is helpful.