Messages

166

IntelliStar 2 Discussion / Re: Intellistar 2 Greetings list

« on: January 16, 2014, 10:41:05 PM »

I almost thought they got rid of the "cute" greetings, because on the past couple of LFs I watched, I only saw "Hello, This is Your Weather."

That usually shows when there's a weather advisory.

167

TWC and your Cable Company / Re: DirecTV Dropping TWC

« on: January 12, 2014, 07:43:36 PM »

I find it kinda funny that TWC has been showing live programming all weekend. If they did this more often, I would be a regular viewer!

Agreed.  All of this extra live coverage is reminding me of years gone by, and I like it.

168

Programming and Graphics / Re: New Graphics coming to TWC

« on: January 04, 2014, 06:48:41 PM »

I think it's pointless.  Why have an LDL showing your local weather information when you're watching your local forecast?

There's (almost) always been an LDL on the local forecast ever since day one.  If nothing else, you'd get to see the current conditions if you missed the first few seconds of the local forecast.  The IntelliStar 2 didn't have one, and there wasn't one on either IntelliStar since the new format came out.

I think it's handy.  You're going to see different pieces of information in the screen and in the LDL at the same time, so you get more bang for your buck, as it were.

P.S.: The strangest LDL error I ever saw was when the WeatherStar 3000 showed the Travel Cities Forecast on the LDL.  That just looked... weird.

169

Programming and Graphics / Re: New Graphics coming to TWC

« on: January 04, 2014, 01:25:45 PM »

I'd honestly prefer to see the LDL on during the local forecasts, too, and perhaps with an expanded sidebar on the HD forecast to make better use of all that wasted space on the side of the screen.

170

General Discussion / Re: The Pot Belly Stove

« on: January 01, 2014, 11:04:21 AM »

Happy New Year, everyone!

I like the "clean slate" concept.  I need that, too!

I hope 2014 will be a happy, healthy, and successful year for everyone here!

171

Programming and Graphics / Re: New Graphics coming to TWC

« on: December 30, 2013, 11:52:53 AM »

Considering technicians from TWC may be reading this board to see what the technical complaints are, I don't think it's wise to be saying, "fix it or I'll kick you."

172

Everything Else Classic TWC / Re: Wayback Playback

« on: December 24, 2013, 08:03:16 PM »

Ah, The Weather Channel as it should be!  Thank you very much for the uploads!

173

Local Forecast / Re: Weatherstar flavors as of 2013

« on: December 22, 2013, 02:11:26 PM »

Thanks for posting this.  It's interesting to see how many products aren't being used anymore.

I was against 1-minute local forecasts when they started, and I'm still against them.  They provide the absolute bare minimum of information.  The new sidebar (for HD viewers) covers some of the slack, but look at what SD Intellistar viewers get... and look at what legacy Stars show... and don't show!

174

Programming and Graphics / Re: New Graphics coming to TWC

« on: December 18, 2013, 07:44:52 PM »

That does look odd on the DirecTV forecast.  I wonder if it's even being supported; in other words, whether anyone even cares about updating it.

175

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: December 10, 2013, 05:56:54 PM »

The exchange that occurred between me and Eric is fairly tame compared to some of the other pointless stuff that's been argued or spatted over the past couple of years on this forum.

I agree.

176

Programming and Graphics / Re: New Graphics coming to TWC

« on: December 08, 2013, 11:00:33 PM »

I'd like to see a sidebar in there, though I'd prefer a more thorough reformatting to make better use of the screen.

177

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: December 08, 2013, 10:59:55 PM »

The general consensus in this forum is that I am generally wrong.  Full stop.

178

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: December 08, 2013, 08:14:21 PM »

The whole premise of Weather All The Time is that it's "Weather All The Time" regardless of whether it's local or national weather. My point was they aren't even showing national weather during long form programming or the commercials when those shows are on. That would technically be where the false advertising comes into play if they aren't even providing viewers with that.

I never said anything about it's false advertising because they aren't providing local information for those who have Satellite or those who have HD and no IS2 so I'm not sure where that's coming from. In fact, my statement was strictly talking about viewers who have HD, but no IS2. It had nothing to do with Satellite viewers because I have no idea what those viewers are seeing anyway (unless I saw an image or video).

As I said, there are technological limitations that can't be overcome easily.  Do you think, because of those limitations, TWC never should have advertised "weather all the time" in the first place?  As I already said, from the first day TWC was designed for cable TV, not for satellite.  It airs on satellite to gain more of an audience, but the local forecast segments just can't be configured for direct to home satellite television.

179

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: December 08, 2013, 10:18:47 AM »

The LDL still remains blank (during long-form and commercials) on the HD feed for those who don't have the IS2 and only the national forecast. I'm a bit perplexed as to why after almost a month this is still the case. It's like Zach said, it's false advertising, not that I'm all that surprised.

I don't think it's false advertising.  The whole premise of The Weather Channel's local forecasts since the very beginning was for cable headends to use Stars.  The system was designed before there even was direct to home satellite television, and because of the technical limitations of satellite as opposed to cable, there's just no way to get localized information to satellite viewers unless each individual satellite receiver becomes capable of being an IntelliStar in miniature.  (The best that the receivers can do right now doesn't even come close.)

The only way longform programming could have a satellite feed LDL is to make the whole LDL non-transparent.  SD viewers are stuck with that, but that's because of aspect ratios, and it actually makes good use of what would otherwise be empty space on the screen.  But HD is where the television industry does and should focus their attention, and I can fully understand why a non-transparent LDL on the screen during longform all the time isn't something that TWC wants.

A claim of false advertising would have to mean that The Weather Channel deliberately deceived viewers by promising weather all the time but failed to deliver on that and knowing that they wouldn't be able to do so in the first place.  Keeping in mind that The Weather Channel was designed for cable, and keeping in mind that satellite has different technical parameters that prevents the use of localization, TWC is keeping its promise.  It's not up to them to redesign the whole way direct to home satellite television works, and it's not up to them to design satellite receivers with their own Stars.  Localization does not work with satellite... unless TWC wants to broadcast a unique feed for every single Star location in the country.  They'd need their own fleet of satellites to do that.

180

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: December 07, 2013, 11:37:25 PM »

Y'all know, on the SD feed, what the heck is the point in even having the blue bar if the LDL is transparent, and satellite viewers don't get weather? That makes no sense, and it's false advertising on TWC's part... It's supposed to be weather all the time, yet it's clearly not for those with satellite...

There's only so much they can do with the technical limitations involved.  Especially on the HD feed, there's no way to have a transparent LDL for the Stars if there's already a transparent national forecast there.