Ron P

I just started looking at new tvs. How long should I wait? It's supposed to become the standard format in a few years. It seems like things are in flux and will settle out in a year or two.

Also my DVD player won't play HD DVDs? What's that all about?

srpbaer

Mike and all you guys,
Your understanding is not quite right.....Here goes!!!!!
I have the Mits that has the hd reciever build in. That is for when the "regular tv transmissions are put out in "HD", which they are not. The only true HD signal is thru sattlelite and that is why you must have the RCA/Hugh box, just like your regular tv had to have Direct tv dish and reciever to get the signals. I currently have Direct Tv (the standart one) which is digital signal but not HD. If it was HD, I would need nothing else to recieve HD signal.
The only reason we need any additional equipment is because none is broadcasting in HD but the 3 (three) channels available from Direct TV. Hope this helps.
The tv's that need the "settop box" are HD capatible or know as HD monitors. The sliver and gold series of Mits are the ones with the built in box for HD signal when it is ready.not for Direct TV>

chrker

Clay,

How do you plan to get the Superbowl on HDTV?

As far as I can tell:

DirecTV transmits the following HDTV signals:
1) HDNet on Channel 199 (this channel carries sports but I don’t think they will carry the Superbowl since ABC has the license)
2) HBO® HD on Channel 509
3) SHO HDTV on Channel 543

Austin’s local ABC affiliate (KVUE) does not broadcast an HDTV signal (yet).

Austin Time Warner _currently_ carries 2 HTDV channels:
1) Channel 790 HBO High Definition
2) Channel 791 Showtime High Definition

I think the only way to get it would be to go with a C-band, 4dtv or a TVRO satellite (big dish) system. They’re “open” systems but expensive and they need the “big dish”.

We should just find a bar that has a C-band sat. First round is on me.

-Chris

Clay Washington

Ron,

I advise you to buy a widescreen (16:9) HDTV-Ready Television. Make sure that it has 2 Component Video Inputs. One Component input will be for your HDTV converter box (the reason for my initial post). The other will be for a Progressive-Scan DVD player with Component Video Output.

You also need an Audio Receiver with Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio inputs. You will need one with at least two of these inputs.

I HIGHLY suggest that your DVD player have COAX Dolby Digital output because your HDTV receiver will probably have Optical Audio Output. Then you can buy an Audio Receiver with one Optical input and one COAX input. I was also told than COAX is a better input for DVD.

Jusy my two-cents...

Clay Washington

srpbaer,

Look at THIS. It shows 671 stations currently BROADCASTING in HDTV.

More links...

ABC, CBS, NBC, East Coast Schedule, West Coast Schedule

Clay Washington

chrker,

The Super Bowl will be BROADCASTED in HDTV.

I was going to attach some "rabbit ears" to the HDTV receiver/decoder and receive the signal. However, it looks like KVUE (the Austin ABC station) is NOT HDTV capable yet!

Audiofn

Ok you guys lots of info on HDTV out there MOST of it is TOTALLY wrong. The best boxes out there are the Sony HD-200, and the soon to be released RCA DTC-200. These are the current best for one reason and one reason alone. If you guy a remote control that will do Macros then you will be able to change from S-video out to HDTV out with out loosing your mind. They both have more then acceptable pictures and are quality pieces. The Sony will change channels and run through menues MUCH faster then the RCA will. My third choice is the Zenith unit. This thing has a AWSOME off-air tuner in it. When I am having a hard time getting good signal this is the unit that I go for. There are some things it does better then others and some that it does not do well. It does not have the decreet IR codes.

The Sony unit retails for 750.00
The RCA unit retails for 500.00 (that is what we have been told but it is not sapposed to be available tell Feb. Nice marketing!!!!!
The Zenith retails for about 550.00

As always if any of you guys have any questions about this stuff please feel free to call me and I will answer all your questions. I hate to see you guys spend a ton on bad advice from the super stores. You can get the advice from me then go and get the unit from then and feel a little better that you are not waisting your money

My Cell phone number is (978) 985-0639

Jon

mcollinstn

Digital Cable is just way to cram more channels into the cable. Your regular cable channels will still be analog but you will have a scad of premium channels and music channels all piggybacking on a multiplex digital signal. No increase in picture quality over analog cable, just more channels. Cable TV picture resolution is NTSC standard which is 330 lines horizontal interlaced.

To use digital cable, you must use a settop box to decode the digtal multiplex signal. Otherwise, you are simply feeding a standard analog cable signal to the tv (regardless of whether the digital signal is present or not, since the TV doesn't recognize the digital signal).
Any coax cable plugged directly into a TV without using a box is not digital cable, but you ain't missing out...

VHS is 260 lines interlaced.
8mm is 290 lines, Hi-band 8mm (Hi8) is around 380 lines.

DVDs are digital video. Period. Any DVD player should be able to play ANY commercial DVD video disc. I'm not sure I understand why somebody's DVD player would not play a High Res DVD disc. A player may not have component level outputs, but I would think it would still play any DVD. Output resolution is selectable on all progressive scan players and can be chosen from 480 interlaced all the way up to 1080 progressive with several incremental settings between them.

Any DVD player that is connected to the TV via RCA jacks is limited to around 400 lines horizontal. Any DVD player conected to the TV via S-video cables is limited to around 400 lines, but color bleed and creep is minimized.

To take advantage of a progressive scan DVD player, your TV must have component level inputs (RGB) and you must use the three wire connection for video (two more for audio).

HDTV is a signal format. It can be broadcast via local airwaves or via satellite - cable providers currently have no way to feed you a HDTV signal. If you already paid extra for an HDTV receiver in your TV, then you can only utilize it with a chimney-mounted conventional TV antenna.

An HDTV-ready TV has component level inputs. Some TV's have component-level inputs but cannot process a non-interlaced signal. Using the component level inputs on these tv's is still a benefit since the color signals are separated until they hit the TV's own electron gun amplifiers which keeps line noise down and color bleed to a minimum (even better than Svideo). If the TV can process a non-interlaced signal (progressive scan signal) then you can benefit even more.

As far as "whose brand" of satellite decoder box works better or performs better, it is all a matter of the menu generator's speed and layout of the menus. They all do exactly the same thing as far as getting the picture out of the box. Anybody's DirecTV HDTV receiver box will give an identical picture when compared to anybody else's DirecTV HDTV box.

As far as audio connections, COAX 5.1 signal or optical 5.1 signal are identical. They are both DIGITAL signals and are simply two different ways of sending them. I prefer using the opticals when given the choice between the two, but not for any reason other than I think it is cool to know that the signal is being fed from a little red light...

Ron P - as far as waiting, there is no need to. If you are in need of a replacement TV, right now is a great time to buy - Christmas sales were dismal and they need to move merchandise. My personal preference on rear projectors are the Mitsubishi and the Hitachi HDTV ready units. They both have multiple HDTV inputs and can do PIP switching between any of the many inputs to the set, as opposed to snapshotting two HDTV inputs with the built-in tuner like the otherwise comparable Toshiba units...

The only reason to wait is for the price to drop, which it will continue to do. The settop boxes will get cheaper and cheaper too. As far as big changes in formats, etc, the changes will all be involving the settop box, not the picture processing and screens and tubes and stuff.

I've been ready to buy for a year, but my current Sony XBR refuses to die. It is certainly cantankerous, but about the time I think it has gone tits-up, it acts like a new one...

Audiofn

You are very close on all your info except for this one thing. Coax if superior to Optical. It can carry LOADS more band width then Optical. Optical is good if you are in a HIGH interfearence area or if you are getting a ground loop with the coax (these things almost never happen and when they do you are better served to find out why). Any high end system will always be hooked up with Coax over optical.

Jon

Clay Washington

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