Comcast HD Channel Expansion: It’s About Time

The rumor mill is flowing, and its been confirmed: Comcast plans on almost doubling the HD channel lineup in Maryland in these coming weeks, to about 90. About 46 new HD channels in Baltimore County, Maryland, which is something Comcast customers have been complaining about for some time now.

Channels will include Bravo HD, Hallmark Movie Channel HD, HSN HD, MGM HD, Nick HD and The Weather Channel HD (??), mostly useful and solid channels. Now we’re hoping this is a successful, easy launch, so that they’ll think about making this expansion spread westward and all over the US.

Some areas are still stuck with minimal selection of channels, and that more than anything is contributing to people not being too excited about HD in those areas.

We wait and watch anxiously.

Same Day Service: Comcast promising more ‘Same Day as Shelf’ VOD HD releases

Those of you who are lucky enough (or unlucky, depending on where you are in the US) to have Comcast cable TV may find solace in their very nice On-Demand services, and now they’re promising even quicker VOD delivery to their systems, in some cases the same day as it comes out on video, which is quite a promise.

This week for example, Angels & Demons and Bruno are among their releases “same day” on their VOD system, almost making up for the $5-6 price tag for 24 hour “rentals” on their system. Their HD  does look very nice admittedly, and for 99 cents we’d be all over them.

That being said, some consider the convenience worth it. Your mileage may vary.

News: HD channel expansion on the way

It seems that Comcast and DirecTV are finally getting the picture and expanding their HDTV lineup in several states, which no doubt will trickle into other states as time goes on. No timetable as of yet for spreading the love to other states, but we assume its only a matter of time.

Tennessee and Florida are both getting big HD lineup boosts this month with the addition of 13 new HD channels in Nashville, and 6 new HD channels coming in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s a huge hurdle for Comcast, as some subscribers have complained of languishing choices in some markets, and this will (hopefully) put those complaints to rest.

More HD channel news details here.

Thought: Is there such a thing as just HD TV service?

We’ve gotten this question a few times, just because some of our users and readers won’t watch anything below 720p as a matter of principle.

As far as we know, Dish Network’s TurboHD is the only sort of service like this we know of, and its a shame. There now would be a market for this kind of thing, assuming other providers would jump in. It seems many are happy with the service, but wish that Comcast or some other large provider would provide a service like this.

We don’t blame users, but feel free to chime in: would you pay for a high quality all HD service with hundreds of channels? Or did the failure of previous attempts seal the fate of ventures like these?

Stepping Up: AT&T adds 6 new MTV-based channels to their U-verse packages

More HD channel choice is a rallying cry we’ve been shouting for awhile now, and some companies are really listening (and some aren’t, as we’ve reported). AT&T has started to listen, adding 6 new HD channels to their U-Verse packages.

The channels: MTV HD, VH1 HD, CMT HD, Nickelodeon HD, COMEDY CENTRAL HD and Spike HD add up to lots of music and entertainment in HD, which always sets our pulse to racing.

Hopefully other companies sit up and take notice, while AT&T now has packages offering over 100 HD channels, which should bring in a few customers, we would think. We’ll keep an eye on other companies and see how they respond to this shot over the bow aimed at Comcast, DirecTV and other providers.

Out On A Limb: Akamai predicts more HD video online

Sure, Akamai helped put together a IDC whitepaper finding smooth playback and high res is important to the majority of online audiences — services it provides, of course, but the results are pretty much common knowledge anyway. This article is relevant mainly because the more HD expands to various audiences – both online and offline – the better positioned it’ll be in the future.

Last year a survey they conducted (also rather self-serving) found 75% of broadcasters wanting to do HD online and in the last year, we’ve had a huge revolution in HD content on the net, from the Olympics to the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and cable/satellite providers adding more selection in HD like DirecTV, DISH and Comcast.

The gist of this report: Publishers need to release and continue to advance HD streaming to keep up with the the Joneses, video quality is really key to a user’s experience, and HD means users will be happier. We could’ve told you that, minus all the legwork that went into this paper.

Changes: Comcast digital transition to add more HD channels, among other goodies

This has nothing to do with the regular TV switch to digital, but could impact our HD choices on cable in the future (which is in need of an upgrade, seriously). Comcast is ready to start weaning customers off of analog equipment and starting to make room for more HD channels (yes!), DOCSIS 3.0 high speed Internet and digital wonders we all like to hear about, and it’ll resume with Boston and Atlanta, as of several sources.

Called internally “Project Cavalry” it’s not removing all analog channels, but it appears around 40 of them, and as the FCC has directed giving customers two digital terminal adapters (seen in the pic) and a fully digital box for free — so long as you subscribe to Comcast. It’s a big step forward to TV and digital HD in general, and it’s about time.

According to the blog Cable Digital News, Chattanooga, TN managed to gain 22 new high definition networks and 50Mb Internet service after this same Comcast revamp, and that’s enough to make us pretty excited for this to happen all over the country.

Panasonic announces Tru2Way HDTV line

Panasonic and Comcast, one of the largest cable providers in the United States this week announced the launch of the first Tru2way HDTVs in the US, the Panasonic TH-42PZ80Q and TH-50PZ80Q models. Tru2way is the name for a technology from CableLabs that its marketers say will eliminate cable set top boxes completely; it will be built into the TV itself.

Comcast customers in the Chicago and Denver regions will be the first in the U.S. to have access to tru2way digital cable service with additional cities expected to be added in the coming 3-6 months. No cable company in Canada has announced that it would participate in the Tru2way technology for now.

According to both companies, the Panasonic tru2way HDTVs will allow cable subscribers to access all the services they currently receive through their set top box including all on-screen guides, and on demand services. The main purpose for consumers is the removal of the bulk and cables associated with a traditional external cable set-top box.

The Panasonic TH-42PZ80Q and TH-50PZ80Q will be add-ons to Panasonic’s VIERA series of Plasma HDTVs. The TH-42PZ80Q and TH-50PZ80Q plasmas will sell for $1,599.95 and $2,299.95 USD respectively.