Standard Definition

"dave gower" wrote in message
...

"Wes Newell" wrote


So would you like to tell me how I've been watching HDTV programs on my
old SDTV for the last 18 months?

Oh come on Wes, the guy is talking about renting an HD box and wants to
know if he can play that through his TV. You really think he should pay
that extra money for the same image quality he can get now? You get your
images off the air for free, so your experience is NOT what he's asking
about.
=============================
It will NOT be the same image quality he is getting now.
A downconverted HD image is VASTLY superior to the NTSC picture
he is getting now.

"Richard C." wrote

It will NOT be the same image quality he is getting now.
A downconverted HD image is VASTLY superior to the NTSC picture
he is getting now.

NTSC is being phased out. He recognized in his original post that he will
need to do an upgrade to digital. The proper comparison is with his upcoming
SD digital cable feed.

On Apr 10, 9:54 am, "Richard C." wrote:
It will NOT be the same image quality he is getting now.
A downconverted HD image is VASTLY superior to the NTSC picture
he is getting now.

I have an SD tv in the bedroom connected to a regular satellite
receiver. I also have an HD sateliite receiver but I haven't hooked
it up to this tv because I thought it would not make a difference
picture wise. Are you saying I'll get a better picture on my SD tv if
I hook up the HD receiver to it? Thanks.

I had the same question, so I decided to try and see. I was previously using
analog cable directly into the RF input on the TV. The picture was ok at
best.I ordered a DCT5100 from RCN and installed it with a JVC 32" SD CRT TV.
The output from the converter is set to 480i component 16:9 aspect ratio.



On HD channels the picture is letter boxed and is very much crisper than
what I had before.

It definitely looks better, but why is the question?



Is it the upgrade to a digital box from an analog signal or is it that I am
now able to input the signal using a component feed rather than an RF
modulation? I think that both probably factor in. Plus with the letter
boxing the picture overall is smaller so there is the issue of apparent
higher resolution that comes with smaller screen size.



At $11.95 a month I get the box and a pretty decent upgrade in programming,
HBO, a few movies channels, etc. I watched one movie on the HBO HD channel
and the picture reminded me of the picture from my DVD player, which is
pretty good.



In the end, I would definitely recommend some sort of cable converter box
with component or S-Video outputs for those of us with relatively new SD TVs
that want to get a few more years of use, with a de cent HD "style" picture
then a real upgrade to an HDTV down the road.



wrote in message
ps.com...
I was reading through my manual for my TV that I bought about 7 or 8
months ago. It is a Standard Definition TV. In the manual, it said
that it had the capability to attach a DTV receiver to it. I was
wondering if this means that I can rent an HD box from my cable
provider and it would work. I'm just curious as to whether it would or
not.

Thanks,
Dave

On Apr 10, 11:23 am, "The Eye" wrote:

Is it the upgrade to a digital box from an analog signal or is it that I am
now able to input the signal using a component feed rather than an RF
modulation? I think that both probably factor in. Plus with the letter
boxing the picture overall is smaller so there is the issue of apparent
higher resolution that comes with smaller screen size.

I think the component connection can make a really big difference.
The SD tv I have is connected to an RF modulator so I can have my DVD
recorder hooked up. When I turn on my DVD recorder, the signal to the
tv is fed with composite audio/video cables instead of the RF. Big
difference in picture, much sharper and smoother.

If I were to get a 16:9 picture to my tv, it would be REALLY tiny, as
it's only a 13 inch set I just splurged on an HDTV for the living
room, so it might be a while before I get a bigger set for the
bedroom.
I think this weekend I might try hooking up the HD receiver to see how
it will affect picture quality.

Wes Newell wrote:

You can attach anything you want to it. I've got a 5 or more year old
Sanyo SDTV that I've got a MythTV box hooked to.

Wes...do you still use tube type SD sets for your Myth
watching?

No LCD sets yet?

On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:37:56 -0400, dave gower wrote:


"Wes Newell" wrote


So would you like to tell me how I've been watching HDTV programs on my
old SDTV for the last 18 months?

Oh come on Wes, the guy is talking about renting an HD box and wants to know
if he can play that through his TV. You really think he should pay that
extra money for the same image quality he can get now?

No, I don't think he should, but that doesn't negate the fact that he can
do it just fine. Perhaps he more interested in the widescreen image than
the resolution.

You get your images off the air for free, so your experience is NOT what
he's asking about.

Where I get mime has no meaning, and I'm not sure what he means by "DTV".
Could be Digital TV, which covers many things, or DirecTV, which is
specific. In either case, the answer is the same. Yes he can if he wants
to. Personally to pay for any TV service that resricts you in so many ways
and doesn't provide as good a picture as free OTA TV does just isn't for
me. Not while there's more free stuff than I can posssibly watch as it is.
Thank goodness I don't watch soaps or sitcoms.

--
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On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:50:01 -0700, PawsForThought wrote:

On Apr 10, 9:54 am, "Richard C." wrote:
It will NOT be the same image quality he is getting now.
A downconverted HD image is VASTLY superior to the NTSC picture
he is getting now.

I have an SD tv in the bedroom connected to a regular satellite
receiver. I also have an HD sateliite receiver but I haven't hooked
it up to this tv because I thought it would not make a difference
picture wise. Are you saying I'll get a better picture on my SD tv if
I hook up the HD receiver to it? Thanks.

It's possible, but I'm not sure. What you should be able to get is the
full HD picture, meaning widescreen format of the HDTV program. Personally
I think it's a waste of time, but doable. If you have an HD box now, try
it and see. It could be your box won't even output a 480i widscreen
picture. You may also have to set your TV to 16:9 format. I don't to get
widscreen on my old set, but I don't use sat. or cable.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
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HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm

On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:14:02 -0700, PawsForThought wrote:

If I were to get a 16:9 picture to my tv, it would be REALLY tiny, as
it's only a 13 inch set

The choice is yours. If you leave the TV in 4;3 mode, you should get full
screen with the edges of HD programs chopped off. That's how mines always
been set and it provides a great picture.

--
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http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
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On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:28:58 -0500, me wrote:

Wes Newell wrote:

You can attach anything you want to it. I've got a 5 or more year old
Sanyo SDTV that I've got a MythTV box hooked to.

Wes...do you still use tube type SD sets for your Myth
watching?

No LCD sets yet?

Sometimes, but not often, I'll watch TB here on this computer with a 19"
monitor set to 1280x1024, but most times I watched in the bedroom at the
same resolution on another 19" monitor. I just recently replaced that
monitor with a 27" LCD HDTV that went on sale for $399. It's got a built
in ATSC tuner, but I don't use it. it gives me about a 22" SD picture, and
of course full widescreen. I've been paying particular attention to the
the edges of the HDTV programs and I haven't changed my mind. It's wasted
space. The picture quality is as good as the old CRT though as long as you
view it pretty much straight on and not at a big angle. One reason I did
this was to get a TV with HDMI and component inputs, but I still haven't
messed with them since it also had a vga inputand I didn't have an HDMI
cable. My wife still uses the 32" SDTV and I doubt she'll ever let me
replace it with a widescreen as only a 32" will fit in the space and she
doesn't want a smaller SD picture. Doesn't matter to me since i don't
watch Tv with her anyway.:-)

--
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http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm