Home theatre buffs...

OK, I talked to Comcast cable and they dont have hdtv boxes. They said I'd have to get an aftermarket converter box. Does this sound right. I don't trust anything the idiots at cable companies tell me.
 
OK guys, I just spent 1 hour on the phone with Comcast and they do not have a clue!!! What exactly do I need so that I can watch CSI (brodcast in hdtv) in hdtv.
 
From what I've heard, Cox Communications in CT doesn't do HDTV over cable yet. Midolo, do you get HD over cable? I guess it takes a lot of bandwith to broadcast in HD on cable. Man, I would love it though. Come on technology, hurry!!!
 
Here's a pic of some of my crap:
Click Here--

Right now my stereo rack is a friggin' mess, and half my stuff is still in the basement! ON the TV is my Dish PVR receiver (like TiVo), on top of the Sony DVD, on top of the Mitsubishi VCR...over on the rack is my 22 year old Radio Shack watt meter next to the 22 year old Carver C-2000 pre-amp; below those are one of two 500w Carver Cubes (also 22 years old!), and my Philips CD burner on top of my Pioneer 100 disc CD changer; Below those is a Pioneer 150w per ch. receiver, on top of an Onkyo twin cassette deck, on an Onkyo 6 CD changer; below those is my blown-up Realistic EQ and a cheezy Realistic turntable...speakers by the TV are Pioneer 16"ers...I also have a 22 year old set of Dahlquist DQ-10 5-ways, a pair of Mach-II's and a pair of "I-forget" studio monitors...the last of my 22 year crap is a Dual direct-drive turntable (that I can't find a cartridge for) and a very decent Harmon/Kardon cassette deck...I've also got 2 other DVD players and several CD players, a 55" Hitachi, two 20" TV's and a 13" TV/VCR combo...

All that, and my wife has daily headaches! :eek:....oh well! :)
 
Did a little research. You can buy a $500+ HD converter or buy a HD antenna $50-$100, or you can bitch at the cable company who has it in 11 million homes already and tell them to get new boxes capable of HDTV in your neighborhood. I did the latter, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
Originally posted by BLACK6PACK
Did a little research. You can buy a $500+ HD converter or buy a HD antenna $50-$100, or you can bitch at the cable company who has it in 11 million homes already and tell them to get new boxes capable of HDTV in your neighborhood. I did the latter, but I'm not holding my breath.
Click to expand...

OK, yes, Comcast is in my area, and yes, they do have a FEW HD channels..and YES, they do have HD convertor boxes.

Next, there is NO SUCH THING as an HD antenna. There are HD convertors, but the antennas are nothing more than the metal rakes found on any house since the 50s... OTA (Over the Air) HD broadcasts are on UHF band and are free..provided you have a HD compatible TV w/a built in tuner, or an external tuner.

Joe
 
So, any cheesy antenna will work, and you still need a converter box?

I know only a few shows are broadcast in HD, thats why I'm not going to pay $500 for a converter box.
 
Originally posted by BLACK6PACK
So, any cheesy antenna will work?
Click to expand...


Zactly! Provided it is big enough / you are close enough to pull in the signal from your closest broadcast tower. There isnt a TON of programming out there, but more is coming each time you turn around. Most of the primetime schedule on the networks are HD as well as MNF. I think there will be more sports coming soon too...

Joe
 
...and the price of converters is likely to fall like the price of DVD players once the broadcasters, dish & cable companies get on the ball & actually start broadcasting HDTV...
 
Prices have fallen a lot already, just not enough for me. In my research I found a web page that was titled "1st HD Converter for Under $1000". I cant remember how old it was, but I seem to think it wasn't much more than a year ago.

Its still a lot cheaper to get a HD "ready" tv and and buy a converter than it is to buy a true HDTV with built in tuner.
 
From what I understand is that most cable companies will have HD ready for those who have the capalibities..... I called cox cable and they do have have it in select areas around the country and we here in Ct should be getting it by this summer... I know Providence RI is the only city close to us that has HDTV...
Joe H.........
 
Hi All,

Wonder if I can ask some questions. Just got my TV Hitachi 57SWX20B and today got HD tuner and the difference between an HD signal and satelitte is unreal......watching hockey right now and it is amazing.

However when I switch back to regular satellite signals heres my questions.

Now with the HD tuner installed I only get the TV pic in 16:9, prior to the HD tuner being installed I could get 4:3. Do you lose 4:3 when an HD tuner is installed?

Also when I put on channels like CNN and MSG I cant see the bottom of the ticker for sports scores and stuff like that. On the menu I can go into the video section of the TV and there is an adjustment called Vertical Position to move screen up and down.

Now since the HD tuner is installed that function is grayed out and I cant activate it to adjust. Is that supposed to happen with HDTV? To only be viewed in 16:9 format?

Sorry for the stupid questions but am new to this and I may be expecting more from my satelitte signal and I think I am going to have to have the same guy Joe used to come in and asjust the guns on the TV.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hey Rich, what's happening to you is the same thing I went through, I think it's burried above in one of my posts.

HD is 16:9...so yea, you loose your 4:3..you'll have the bars on either side. Way to get around it is to run an S-vid cable from you Tuner in addition to your Comp. cables. When watching HD programming watch it on your HD input. When watching regular programming watch it on like input 2 via you s-vid cable. I have not done that yet as the 4:3 doesnt bother me all that much cuz I dont use the tv for everyday watching.

Also, you do loose your different display modes as did I...HD is only 16:9..so you can't use stretched, zoom etc.

On you bottom of the screen being cut off...if that was on your HD input it sounds like your Geometry is a bit off...not surprising. If it was on a regular input, maybe you had it on the Zoom feature..not sure.

Joe
 
Hi Joe,

Thanks for the info and when are you coming back to NJ to buy another car so you can show me what to do on my TV.....lol.

I while watching my DirecTV signal get all the 16:9 signals like zoom....expanded etc and when I puton one of the 4 HD channels on DirecTV it comes in perfect picture not cut off and everything centered.

But like I said when I switch back to DirecTV signal is when things get cut off on the bottom.......now stupid question cause I am new at this.....when watching regular programming how do I watch it on input 2 via S-vid cable??? Excuse my stupidity......lol.....so when are you buying another car in NJ????

Thanks again and I'll talk to you soon.
 
Ha, you should be able to hook up another output on your receiver to an exta input on your set. Then all you gotta do is just change it to the input you want when watchin regular programming....


NJ..no plans right now to buy anymore cars at the moment..

Joe
 
Keep in mind that if you view TV in 4:3 and your set displays gray bars like my Mitsu, you could burn the guns, leaving a permanent "bar" image on either side. You should limit "bar" viewing to 15% of total TV time max. Thats what I'm seeing as the "law" on various sites, and my owners manual.

My set has 4 modes, strech, std, zoom and one more, expand. I dont like stretch, std wastes screen space, zoom Zoom makes the whole pic bigger, stretch screws up the picture (makes everyone look like a rugrat :p) and expand enlarges the pic enough to fill the screen, but as you, I lose a little on the top and bottom. Like news tickers, stuff like that, but the picture is fantastic so I leave it there.

So far, HBO-HD, SHO-HD and MSG have had extraordinary programming in HD. I flipped on a BB game and despite me not giving a rats ass about basketball, the pic was jaw dropping. Watched Castaway in HD last night, and the same, the pic just blows me away. Funny thing is, movies on HBO/SHO are filmed in analog and they look spectacular. MSG uses digital camera in the arena. I believe the major networks (CBS, NBC etc) are filming their HD touted shows in HD as well. LIke Letterman etc. The pic on those sources will be absolutely outstanding!

Now, do I wait for cable to offer more channels (they say by summer) or stick an antenna on the roof (I'm deathly afraid of heights)....ohhh...decisions!!
 
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