TV stopped receiving HD channels

HeraldS

The HD channels on my TV aren't working at the moment and I'd like to figure out why. They were fine yesterday afternoon but when I came home around 1AM they weren't showing up anymore. Right now I've got Limited Basic cable through Comcast. The TV is a is a flatscreen Samsung- model 32AV502U. I'm outside of Philly if that matters. When the HD channels were working they were on weird numbers- 3-1 for CBS, 75-9 for ESPN, etc. There was also a signal strength graphic like they were getting beamed in or something but I don't have an antenna or a satellite dish. The cable wire just runs right into the TV.

Comcast sent out a letter recently saying they would stop transmitting some channels in analog format and I'd have to get some form of digital cable to keep them so I thought that might be the problem. When I called Comcast they said they hadn't made the switch yet and not only did my current package not come with HD channels, but if I had HD from them it'd start around channel 200 and the channels wouldn't have dashes in them. While I was on hold there was some announcement about how there may be some signal loss right now due to the sun passing behind their satellites. The lady I spoke with didn't seem to think that would cause my problem. She was kinda clueless though, so who knows.

I can get HD from Comcast if I upgrade my service but that would basically double my cable bill. I just want to figure out how to get the channels I have been getting. Any ideas?

Lewisham

Yeah, I have the same package and my understanding was I was never eligible for HD channels, when I found ABC/Fox/CBS (not NBC) coming through in HD, I treated it as a bonus. I don't think you have any leg to stand on in regards to getting them back.

However, Comcast has been moving my ABC HD channel around here to different numbers, so try looking in your TVs channel setup and see if any new channels are coming in with different numbers.

Nobody

We have comcast from right outside the philly area too. I can confirm that those numbers you are seeing are not the format we have for the HD channels.

Is it possible you were somehow picking up somebody else's signal?

Daenris

I think you were just getting over the air HD channels. Not sure why it would have stopped working now, but the Comcast guy is right, their HD channels tend to start in the upper 100s. The whole 3-1 etc sound very much like over the air digital broadcasts.

matt has a problem

Those are over-the-air channels. If you were picking them up without an antenna, it was just by some fluke. I don't know of an HDTV that doesn't come with an ATSC and NTSC tuner in it already, but you usually need an antenna to pick up anything over the air.

vonPoonBurGer

Seconding OTA signals. When the weather's right and the planets are correctly aligned I can pick up OTA stations from across the border in New York (I'm in Montreal). For me, NBC is 6-1, with an NBC weather radar / news ticker on 6-2, PBS is 33-1, etc. Maybe you were the lucky beneficiary of some confluence of factors that led to good reception. Your regular cable line may have been just the right length/shape to function as a dipole antenna that could pick up those channels, and something as simple as recoiling the cable could eradicate its ability to do that. Or maybe the local OTA HD transmitter was down for maintenance. Plug your zip code into TV Fool's signal locator, and you'll probably find that there's a CBS transmitter in your area on virtual channel 3.1.

HeraldS

Dammit I knew HD channels for $20/month was too good to last. This is what I got when I plugged my address into TV Fool. It looks like I was getting an OTA signal somehow. I'm not really sure how to read the charts beyond that. Does it look like anything in there has changed that would prevent the channels from working? They still show full bars as far as signal strength goes, but no picture shows up. I am getting CSpan3 in HD now on the channel I watched the Phillies game on yesterday, which is maddening. Don't know if this matters but I'm on the 2nd floor of my building with a big window facing out, orientation is NE-ish, TV is about 7-8 feet from the window.

For those of you that have HD services from Comcast, does it display in 16:9 without stretching the screen? Of the channels I was getting only CBS and Fox came through in 16:9, everything else was in 4:3.

matt has a problem

It depends, some of the OTA HD I get is in 16:9, other is 4:3. Decent antennas aren't all that expensive honestly, someone in H/A recommended me this one a few months ago. It picks up stations over 30 miles away for me, even in bad weather.

It looks like the majority of the OTA stations in your area are to the northeast, so having your TV oriented that way could explain the intermittent reception without an antenna.

Daenris

HeraldS wrote: »

For those of you that have HD services from Comcast, does it display in 16:9 without stretching the screen? Of the channels I was getting only CBS and Fox came through in 16:9, everything else was in 4:3.

I have Comcast with HD, and all of the HD channels display 16:9 with no stretching.

If you wanted to get HD from Comcast, I think you'd most likely need to upgrade to one of their Digital levels, and then add HD, because I don't think you can get HD from them with only basic cable.

For me it's $10 / month to add the HD (really it ends up being $20 though because they charge a rental fee for the HD cable box... which seems a little silly since they don't charge a fee for regular cable boxes).

Dunadan019

I gotta say, this thread inspired me to go write down the channels that actually come in on my tv

cartoons
FX
animal planet
USA
and some movie channel

all in HD... but very flakey...

HeraldS

I think I'm gonna give it another day or two before I do anything- hoping the channels come back as mysteriously as they vanished. I'll probably end up just upgrading my service with Comcast. It will be an extra $20-30 a month but I'll get all the HD channels in 16:9 and will be able to hook the cable box up to my receiver so I can watch football in surround sound. Thanks for the help guys.

HeraldS

Hate to bump an old thread but my channels are back and I wanted to share the solution in case anyone has the same problem. It was as simple as scanning for channels again through my TV's menu. Got all my HD channels back and then some. This can be locked or whatever now.