HELP! Comcast HDTV results in distorted picture on LOEWE ACONDA 30?

Anyone that has experienced and knows how to troubleshoot it or knows
why this is happening, please post!

I've got a Loewe Aconda 30' HDTV which only accepts HD and progressive
signals through the VGA input.

I have a Key Digital Transcoder box (KD-CTCA3) which works perfectly,
when attached to a Progressive DVD player and the TV.

The Comcast cable guy came out to upgrade my box to HDTV and there
were problems. Namely, the entire HD picture had a hideous
greenish/yellow tinge to it. Also, pillarboxed 4x3 material was
extremely curved at all four corners.

He tried 2 boxes and different component cables to the transcoder box
(also made sure he had them attached to the correct slots) and got the
same results both time.

He also tried several different outputs- 480i, 480P, and 1080i (which
is what my TV's capable of).

Any idea what this problem is?

The guys have been out twice and the tech guy seems to think its a Tv
setting that needs to be changed, but needed to look into it...he also
recommended checking some groups like this one?

Thanks!
Darren

(Darren Gross) wrote in
om:

Anyone that has experienced and knows how to troubleshoot it or knows
why this is happening, please post!

I've got a Loewe Aconda 30' HDTV which only accepts HD and progressive
signals through the VGA input.

I have a Key Digital Transcoder box (KD-CTCA3) which works perfectly,
when attached to a Progressive DVD player and the TV.

The Comcast cable guy came out to upgrade my box to HDTV and there
were problems. Namely, the entire HD picture had a hideous
greenish/yellow tinge to it. Also, pillarboxed 4x3 material was
extremely curved at all four corners.

Your TV treats 1080i differently from 480p. You need to be connected by
a component cable from your cable box to the TV for 1080i. On my TV,
that port is marked DTV and is the same as the DVD component input (uses
the same set of RCA plugs so I can only have one connected at a time
until I get a switch). When I installed my TV, I had the same problem
with 1080i pillarboxed signals. The cure was to get the service manual
and properly set up the TV's pincushion amplifier, as it was WAY out of
whack. Be careful, though, these are not adjustments for an amateur and
you may just want to call in a professional technician.

He tried 2 boxes and different component cables to the transcoder box
(also made sure he had them attached to the correct slots) and got the
same results both time.

Yes, if the pincushion is out of whack (and it sounds like it is) on your
TV's 1080i mode, then you will have to adjust it in the service menu,
which your technician can get to (or if you have the service manual, the
method of invoking it is in there). Mine did not seem too awful on
widescreen 1080i pictures until a pillarboxed commercial came on. Then
it would have a sort of hourglass shape. But watching closely, I could
see that the distortion was there on any 1080i HDTV picture and fixing it
for the pillarbox removed the distortion from the pictures--you could see
it when the camera panned stuff through the affected regions.

--
Dave Oldridge
ICQ 1800667

Paradoxically, most real events are highly improbable.

Thanks Dave...

I have accessed and have the service manual. What is the pincushion
amplifier though and what kind of setting adjustments am I looking at?

Dave, what kind of TV are you using?

(Darren Gross) wrote in
om:

Dave, what kind of TV are you using?

Mine is a Samsung Tantus 27" direct view. In a small apartment where I
watch from about 6-7 feet away, tops, that's all I really need for now.

But you're going to have to read up on your TV and find out which geometry
adjustments will help you....my service manual was actually fairly helpful
there. You're probably safe experimenting as long as you write down the
initial settings so you can go back.


--
Dave Oldridge
ICQ 1800667

Paradoxically, most real events are highly improbable.

Finally got some answers...

Turns out its not the TV at all, its actuall the Key Digital
Transcoder box...Apparently the new model KD CTCA3 is having some
issues with newer cable boxes. The newer cable boxes have different
sync signal or something that isn'y being passed through correctly.
Not sure if it occurs with the older model transcoder as well, but its
a problem specifically linked to newer HD cable boxes.

If you contact Key Digital and tell them the problem, they will give
you a return authorization number and then fix the transcoder so the
problem doesn't occur, without charge.

That # is 888-258-2028.

Hope it helps the next guy...

Hi, I'm an installer for Comcast and I went today to install an HD box for
a customer. He has a Loewe Aventos TV. The only HD output on the cable box
is Y Pb Pr . The Loewe has a Y Cb Cr input and an RGB input (possibly a
'scart' input also as it is a european brand?). So I have to tell this guy
that he Magnolia Hifi sold him an expensive TV that will only do HD with a
$300 converter box to connect the Y Pb Pr to RGB. Is this guy out of luck?
We do have boxes that have active DVI-D ports on them (not all HD boxes
have them but I can request one) From other things I've read, Y Cb Cr is a
digital signal and Y Pb Pr is an analog signal (Magnolia Hifi disagrees
with this). So, shouldn't I be able to find a DVI-D to Y Cb Cr cable? I
wish Magnolia wouldn't sell these 'boutique' brands that can't just plug
right into component video. You can get a 'cheapo' plasma TV that will do
BOTH Y Cb Cr and Y Pb Pr in the same input. Why doesn't Loewe support
this? Any answers would be helpful.