I recently dropped costly cable TV service and made the switch to an
antenna with a digital converter box. I am very pleased with the
results (we get about 20 channels, about a dozen of which I actually
use). I have a Zenith DTT901 DTV converter box. I am curious about
the programming information that I can access from the converter box.
I hit the Guide button on the remote and it shows me what is playing,
and what show is on next. I didn't expect to have this kind of
information without cable TV. The Retro TV Network (which comes in
coupled with our local ABC affiliate (i.e. the ABC station is 2-1,
Retro is 2-2)) has no programming info. It always just says "Retro".
And within the last week or so, the programming info for our local PBS
station always just says "DTV Program". I suppose I could just call
the stations and ask them, but I figured I'd pose this to the group
and see what you folks are finding.

Also, the time zone is weird on certain channels. I am in Eastern,
but some of the channels are off by an hour.

Thanks....

Mike

On Jan 7, 10:05*am, Mike wrote:
I recently dropped costly cable TV service and made the switch to an
antenna with a digital converter box. *I am very pleased with the
results (we get about 20 channels, about a dozen of which I actually
use). *I have a Zenith DTT901 DTV converter box. *I am curious about
the programming information that I can access from the converter box.
I hit the Guide button on the remote and it shows me what is playing,
and what show is on next. *I didn't expect to have this kind of
information without cable TV. *The Retro TV Network (which comes in
coupled with our local ABC affiliate (i.e. the ABC station is 2-1,
Retro is 2-2)) has no programming info. *It always just says "Retro".
And within the last week or so, the programming info for our local PBS
station always just says "DTV Program". *I suppose I could just call
the stations and ask them, but I figured I'd pose this to the group
and see what you folks are finding.

Also, the time zone is weird on certain channels. *I am in Eastern,
but some of the channels are off by an hour.

If I understand you correctly, you are asking why some stations
provide programming information, and some don't. It's at the station's
discretion.There is no law saying that the station has to provide
programming information, so some choose not to.

I imagine that there is probably a cost associated with owning and
maintaining the programming information system. PBS stations are
always crying about being broke, so I'd have to say that it's a
budgetary decision on their part. "Retro TV" sounds like a low-budget
outfit, so I'd have to say that it was also a budgetary decision to
not provide programming information on their part.

On Jan 7, 10:14*am, wrote:
On Jan 7, 10:05*am, Mike wrote:
I recently dropped costly cable TV service and made the switch to an
antenna with a digital converter box. *I am very pleased with the
results (we get about 20 channels, about a dozen of which I actually
use). *I have a Zenith DTT901 DTV converter box. *I am curious about
the programming information that I can access from the converter box.
I hit the Guide button on the remote and it shows me what is playing,
and what show is on next. *I didn't expect to have this kind of
information without cable TV. *The Retro TV Network (which comes in
coupled with our local ABC affiliate (i.e. the ABC station is 2-1,
Retro is 2-2)) has no programming info. *It always just says "Retro".
And within the last week or so, the programming info for our local PBS
station always just says "DTV Program". *I suppose I could just call
the stations and ask them, but I figured I'd pose this to the group
and see what you folks are finding.

Also, the time zone is weird on certain channels. *I am in Eastern,
but some of the channels are off by an hour.

If I understand you correctly, you are asking why some stations
provide programming information, and some don't. It's at the station's
discretion.There is no law saying that the station has to provide
programming information, so some choose not to.

I imagine that there is probably a cost associated with owning and
maintaining the programming information system. PBS stations are
always crying about being broke, so I'd have to say that it's a
budgetary decision on their part. "Retro TV" sounds like a low-budget
outfit, so I'd have to say that it was also a budgetary decision to
not provide programming information on their part.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes, I didn't really state my question clearly. I was, indeed, asking
about the availability of programming info from certain stations.

About the PBS station programming info, it just recently stopped
working on the main PBS channel (which comes in on 8-1), but an
additional channel they have is called PBS-Knowledge which is more
documentary driven and quite good (comes in on 8-3) DOES still have
its programming info. Maybe I'll call and enquire.

Mike

Mike wrote:

I am curious about
the programming information that I can access from the converter box.
I hit the Guide button on the remote and it shows me what is playing,
and what show is on next. I didn't expect to have this kind of
information without cable TV.

Don't know specifically what box you have, but there are two ways of getting
cable/sat type guide data over the air...

The ATSC (Digital TV) specification makes provisions for each station to
broadcast program information. Many newer TVs and converter boxes will display
this information if you press the appropriate button on the remote. Around here,
the availability and quality of that data has been somewhat sporadic.

There is an older system called TV Guide On Screeen (TVGOS) that was designed
for analog TV. That system uses data transmitted over the blanking interval on
one channel (usually the PBS affiliate) to transmit guide data for all channels
in the area. Certain TV models could decode that data and display it along with
thumbnail ads in a grid format. TVGOS is supposedly migrating over to digital
channels, with the data mostly being sent over the local CBS affiliate.

On Jan 7, 11:33�am, Robert Neville wrote:
Mike wrote:
I am curious about
the programming information that I can access from the converter box.
I hit the Guide button on the remote and it shows me what is playing,
and what show is on next. �I didn't expect to have this kind of
information without cable TV.

Don't know specifically what box you have, but there are two ways of getting
cable/sat type guide data over the air...

The ATSC (Digital TV) specification makes provisions for each station to
broadcast program information. Many newer TVs and converter boxes will display
this information if you press the appropriate button on the remote. Around here,
the availability and quality of that data has been somewhat sporadic.

There is an older system called TV Guide On Screeen (TVGOS) that was designed
for analog TV. That system uses data transmitted over the blanking interval on
one channel (usually the PBS affiliate) to transmit guide data for all channels
in the area. Certain TV models could decode that data and display it along with
thumbnail ads in a grid format. TVGOS is supposedly migrating over to digital
channels, with the data mostly being sent over the local CBS affiliate.

you can also get a digital video recorder for over the air digital tv.

set it to record the news each nite, arrive 10 minutes late and skip
thru the commercials

much like a VCR only no tapes to mess with, just pick the show you
want to watch from the guide

On Jan 7, 11:33*am, Robert Neville wrote:
Mike wrote:
I am curious about
the programming information that I can access from the converter box.
I hit the Guide button on the remote and it shows me what is playing,
and what show is on next. *I didn't expect to have this kind of
information without cable TV.

Don't know specifically what box you have, but there are two ways of getting
cable/sat type guide data over the air...

The ATSC (Digital TV) specification makes provisions for each station to
broadcast program information. Many newer TVs and converter boxes will display
this information if you press the appropriate button on the remote. Around here,
the availability and quality of that data has been somewhat sporadic.

There is an older system called TV Guide On Screeen (TVGOS) that was designed
for analog TV. That system uses data transmitted over the blanking interval on
one channel (usually the PBS affiliate) to transmit guide data for all channels
in the area. Certain TV models could decode that data and display it along with
thumbnail ads in a grid format. TVGOS is supposedly migrating over to digital
channels, with the data mostly being sent over the local CBS affiliate.

If TVGOS is the guide that appears on a single channel and provides a
scrolling grid with no user control, then I'd almost rather do
without.

I'm used to the on-screen guide provided by TW Digital Cable which
allows me to pick the time and channel I want to see info about, even
days ahead, all the while still watching the channel I started at. I
can search by date, time, theme, title, etc. and never miss a minute
of a show or game.

I was at my Mom's house in MA over the holidays and had to put up with
the single-channel scrolling grid. To even find out what channel ESPN
was on (never mind what show was on at what time) I had to leave the
bowl game I was watching and sit there reading the scrolling grid
until ESPN came around. I missed the winning touchdown drive of the
game trying to find out what other bowl games were on that day.

Heck, after a while, I got so frustrated I turned off the TV and
started talking to my Mom. ;-)

DerbyDad03 wrote:

If TVGOS is the guide that appears on a single channel and provides a
scrolling grid with no user control, then I'd almost rather do
without.

No! It looks similar to the scrolling guide channels, but is fully interactive
up/down through the channels and left/right to look ahead. Just like the
Dish/Direc/Tivo guides.

On Jan 7, 3:39*pm, Robert Neville wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:
If TVGOS is the guide that appears on a single channel and provides a
scrolling grid with no user control, then I'd almost rather do
without.

No! It looks similar to the scrolling guide channels, but is fully interactive
up/down through the channels and left/right to look ahead. Just like the
Dish/Direc/Tivo guides.

And it's available on every channel so you can continue to watch/
listen to your program?

With TWC, the interactive guide takes up the bottom half of the
screen, some more detail about the program selected in the guide is
shown in the upper left quarter, and the program you are watching is
in the upper right quarter.

You can even change the channel that is showing in the upper right,
but you are limited to up-down sequentially or swapping between the
previously viewed channel and the current one while the guide is on
the screen. In other words, no direct access by pressing 0510 to go to
that channel. Pressing 0510 will take the *guide* to the program info
for 0510 instead.

Any guide that prevents the viewer from watching a program while using
the guide is limited in its features, at least in my opinion.

On Jan 7, 3:53�pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Jan 7, 3:39�pm, Robert Neville wrote:

DerbyDad03 wrote:
If TVGOS is the guide that appears on a single channel and provides a
scrolling grid with no user control, then I'd almost rather do
without.

No! It looks similar to the scrolling guide channels, but is fully interactive
up/down through the channels and left/right to look ahead. Just like the
Dish/Direc/Tivo guides.

And it's available on every channel so you can continue to watch/
listen to your program?

With TWC, the interactive guide takes up the bottom half of the
screen, some more detail about the program selected in the guide is
shown in the upper left quarter, and the program you are watching is
in the upper right quarter.

You can even change the channel that is showing in the upper right,
but you are limited to up-down sequentially or swapping between the
previously viewed channel and the current one while the guide is on
the screen. In other words, no direct access by pressing 0510 to go to
that channel. Pressing 0510 will take the *guide* to the program info
for 0510 instead.

Any guide that prevents the viewer from watching a program while using
the guide is limited in its features, at least in my opinion.

http://www.dtvpal.com/

has pricing for several converter boxes. I have considered getting a
hard drive one.

DerbyDad03 wrote:

And it's available on every channel so you can continue to watch/
listen to your program?

Yes. When the TVGOS guide screen is up, the majority of the screen is the
traditional grid guide. There's a menu bar across the top of the screen and
three small windows along the left side of the guide screen. The top window
continues to show the currently tuned channel and audio for that channel. The
middle and lower windows have still adverts.

Not bad for a "free" service. The TV set firmware just needs to support grabbing
the guide data when the set isn't in use.

Details he
http://www.macrovision.com/products/..._on_screen.htm

On Jan 7, 5:05*pm, Robert Neville wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:
And it's available on every channel so you can continue to watch/
listen to your program?

Yes. When the TVGOS guide screen is up, the majority of the screen is the
traditional grid guide. There's a menu bar across the top of the screen and
three small windows along the left side of the guide screen. The top window
continues to show the currently tuned channel and audio for that channel. The
middle and lower windows have still adverts.

Not bad for a "free" service. The TV set firmware just needs to support grabbing
the guide data when the set isn't in use.

Details hehttp://www.macrovision.com/products/...g_ce/tv_guide_...

OK, then I'll let it continue to exist. ;-)

On Wed, 7 Jan 2009 07:14:16 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

"Retro TV" sounds like a low-budget
outfit, so I'd have to say that it was also a budgetary decision to
not provide programming information on their part.

Retro tv is not capable of saying what will be on. They only know
what *was* on.

And they have iiuc a free web channel, although I couldn't get the
page to work, maybe for the reason in the first paragraph.

If you want to know what's on tv, buy TV guide, or use tvguide.com or
zap2it.com . Don't use washingtonpost.com/tv, which is ok but uses
zap2it with more space given to ads and less space given to the tv
schedule. When I used it once, it took over my original zap2it link,
and the only way I could make it release it was to delete all the
coookies from washingtonpost AND from zap2it, and start again.