Fios Philadelphia IS 27098 - Map, Timing and Stability Issues

[HulkieD]

I would post this in the Update thread but the problems seem fairly severe.

I am on Verizon FiOS.  The Intellistar (27098) seems to be suffering from a few issues at this point.

Firstly, the maps have not been updated to the current standard - they're still green and not white.  Secondly, the Local on the 8s is currently cuing on a roughly eight second delay, resulting in the first national LoT8s page airing and the LF crashing into commercials.

Third, several products seem to tax the system.  Audio cuts out and the system seems to studder until moving to the next page.  The most pronounced issue seems to be with alerts.

I've assembled a video illustrating some of the various problems:
http://youtu.be/ENqemtdZqu4

Thanks,
Matthew Williams

[Zach]

Couple of things to keep in mind:

• The error with the LDL running above the national LOT8s is probably a cuing error on TWC's end. It has happened several times in the past since the IS's debut.
• The IS is nearing 10 years old, so there's probably going to be lag associated with it especially with such animation as that on the alert screen. Skipping was also not uncommon during the IS v2 days either when animated ad corner bugs appeared during the text LF segment due to excessive animation.

[HulkieD]

• The error with the LDL running above the national LOT8s is probably a cuing error on TWC's end. It has happened several times in the past since the IS's debut.

True; I probably shouldn't have included it.  I remember this going back to the days of the XL or even the 4000.  The LDL running over the new LOT8s is new.

• The IS is nearing 10 years old, so there's probably going to be lag associated with it especially with such animation as that on the alert screen. Skipping was also not uncommon during the IS v2 days either when animated ad corner bugs appeared during the text LF segment due to excessive animation.

I know to expect problems with a ten year old piece of hardware that's probably being asked to do much, much more than was originally intended.  I'd imagine that's why Vocal Local is disabled, right?

That said, the lag on the alert screen seemed especially severe to me, and I've seen multiple YT videos showing other Intellistars handling that screen and some of the others much more smoothly than mine.  The music isn't cutting out, for example.

[Trevor]

Hi HulkieD . I see you post a lot on TVNewsTalk, I'm a regular over there. I'm the one who started and commonly posted updates regarding WATN's refresh in Memphis.

[HulkieD]

Soooooo... I think the Intellistar crashed.  Or something.  I don't know the workings of the Intellistar, but I do know that my SD feed was black until just about 2:05 and didn't display local information until the first Local on the 8s cued at 2:08.  Given that the radar seems to skip from 11:55 or something to 2:06, that might mean that we had at least no Intellistar, and probably no SD weather channel feed, until just now.

Keep in mind this is only the SD feed.  The HD feed, which doesn't have an IS2 (and probably never will), continued on as normal.

Is it normal for a bad Intellistar to bring down not only the local graphics, but the feed itself?  I don't know one bit of how the Intellistar units are supposed to function, but if it has this DualFeed thing I'd imagine the feed has to be processed through the IS first before going to air.  I still wouldn't see how we'd just get no Weather Channel SD.  Especially since I was intimately familiar with the WS4000 TCF back in the day.

Oh, and the basemaps haven't been updated to the flat white.  Still.

Hi HulkieD . I see you post a lot on TVNewsTalk, I'm a regular over there. I'm the one who started and commonly posted updates regarding WATN's refresh in Memphis.

Yup, that's me!  I actually started posting here because, in all honesty, I am a HUGE fan of this graphical revamp and the new look local forecasts.  It's very refreshing getting a weather presentation that is clear, concise, and doesn't rely on flashy animations, a billion maps, or "Double Scan" radars.  The weather presentation at one of the stations here in Philly has gotten SO flashy that they're nearly incomprehensible.

I'm anticipating the day that this visual language makes its way to the mobile apps and website, and when more outlets outside the Weather Channel realize that simplicity is the way to go.