I have several audio problems and questions…
- On KFOR HD on Cox 704 or OTA the volume control is terrible. On my Mits using the internal turner or the component out from the SA3250HD or OTA I get very low volume during HD programming, sometimes having to turn the volume all the way up to hear voice. No audio setting changes helps, then when commercials come on I get blasted out of the room. On other HD channels, 25 on the volume is almost always okay, but on KFOR I go from max at 63 to 15 during commercials quite often. I get yelled at quite often for having it so loud, and am wearing out the remote volume buttons. KFOR analog does not have the problem.
- Lipsync is often off by as much as a second on KFOR.
- How do you tell what audio mode is being used on HD if it doesn’t display with the info button? It sounds different than the channel 3 analog sound. Is anyone broadcasting anything but stereo OTA, and is HD always stereo even if the original programming is not? Does anyone know what Cox does on HD audio?
- Sometimes from the 3250 I get high volume snaps in the audio averaging about 1/sec. that sounds just like a high-voltage arc on a CRT, but it gets louder and softer with the volume control and does not effect the picture. It only does this on digital (100-800) channels.
- I also have one Video question on SD 4:3 and HD 16:9 video modes. Is there a way to get it to automatically switch from HD standard to Wide Expand so you don’t have to keep hitting the format button to keep the CRT’s from burning in the side bars? Do any TV’s or receivers do this automatically? Couldn’t the stations do this?
- Frustrated again with HD technical inmaturity! I can only imagine the surround sound and multi-cast channel problems we will have in the future.
4 Comments
1. Call KFOR
2. CAll KFOR
3. How do you tell what audio mode is being used on HD if it doesn’t display with the info button?
KOCO-DT, KSBI-DT, and KETA-DT can broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1 if content is encoded that way.
KFOR-DT broadcasting in Dolby 2.0.
KWTV-DT was in Stereo when they started I do not know if they have gone to Dolby 2.0 yet.
4. I don’t know.
5. Is there a way to get it to automatically switch from HD standard to Wide Expand so you don’t have to keep hitting the format button to keep the CRT’s from burning in the side bars?
I do not know of a way. It is recommended to turn down your brightness and contrast. It is also a good idea to have your TV calibarted.
Do any TV’s or receivers do this automatically?
No this is coming from the station. It takes special equipment to put up the 4:3 image with black side bars on the side. Some stations have this equipment others do not.
Couldn’t the stations do this?
They maintain the original aspect ratio of their content.
Things will get better as time moves along.
I have exactly the same problem with KFOR’s sound level: low, forcing me to turn up the volume during HD programming, then way too loud during local commercials.
Do the KFOR technical folks not watch their own programming at home? Do they not encounter this sort of thing themselves? Apparently not or they would fix it.
Would you do a chart of each station’s engineering phone numbers, contact names (that cares), times to call, email addresses, etc? Most of the stations only post the news department numbers even on their web site, so there is no way to contact them. Maybe they don’t want to be contacted, as I guess many would abuse it.
Most of them don’t mind being call or emailed as long as people are civil. Just call the stations main number in the phone book and ask for engineering.