# My new 42'' LCD.



## wig (Mar 10, 2007)

I just got a vizio 42'' LCD.I have time warner digital cable and the LCD picks up HD channels on the cable box that my sony 32 crt did not.Are those true HD?Is there that much difference in the my box and a HD cable box or is the only difference is the hdmi plug?One more thing ,does the the LCD automatically see a change from 480 to 1080 when you change from SD channels to HD channels? thanks Wig


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## Otto (May 18, 2006)

Hi there,

Well, I'm not sure if they are "true" HD. I'm guessing that your HD cable box is 720p. That's what I get from Dish. 

The HDMI plug, in and of itself, isn't necessarily going to make that much difference. I have used HDMI as well as component, and could only tell a slight difference in brightness. I believe that's because the digital to analog conversion is occurring in my TV rather than the cable box. Both ways look excellent, expecially with well-produced program material.

In the case of my Mitsibishi WD-52725, the TV does indeed sense the difference with SD vs. HD. I think it has to, as the signal presented to the unit is different. However, I could be wrong; I'm not very expert with TV stuff...

How does it look? If you are watching SD in "normal" mode on your TV (i.e., NOT "stretched"), on a 16:9 TV, the image will appear with black bars on the _sides_ -- it's just placing the regular ol' 4:3 picture on your widescreen, and not filling in the side gaps. This is the way I watch it; the stretching stuff looks bad to me. Then, when you get an HD signal, it should fill up the whole screen, sometimes with a little letterboxing at the top and bottom. Watch 24 tonight and you'll know. If you can see their pores, it's HD.


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## wig (Mar 10, 2007)

Your right otto on normal it does look alot better.My cable box is a regular box not a ( HD box ) .Is the HD box for people who don't have a HDTV tuner in their TV?


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## Otto (May 18, 2006)

Got it!

The TV needs to receive an HD signal one way or another. In your case (no HD box), the TV will NOT have an HD signal, and you are not watching HD. So, if you want to watch HD, you need to upgrade your box. Even if they call it "digital", it's not necessarily HD.

The other way to get an HD signal is to grab it "over the air" (OTA). For that, you need an antenna. I used an HD antenna ($50 at Radio Shack, and there are lots of others out there) to receive HD local signals before Dish transmitted them to me directly. It worked OK, but I'm a good 40+ miles from Denver, so I didn't get all of them. If you are in/near a "big city", you may have good luck with receiving your local HD broadcasts. Of course, you won't get all the cable channels that are available from Dish, Comcast, etc. And this is where your TV's HD tuner comes into play -- it decodes the HD signal that's coming over the air. 

In the other case, the HD cable box is performing the duty of "tuner", and your TV's tuner is irrelevant. In the future, I would probably not buy a TV with an HD tuner, as I essentially never use the one that's in my TV right now. Grabbing OTA HD signals was more of an experiment that simply left a USS-Enterprise looking antenna hanging off the back end of the house (note to self: now that the snow has melted, maybe it's time to take that thing down...).


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## SteveB (Oct 20, 2006)

I'll add a little to this and make it a question at the same time. I have Comcast cable and upgraded to the HD package. I was already getting some HD channels with my digital package. I kept thinking that something else should be changed other than someone in customer service pushing a button. Finally found something on Comcast's web site about set-up on my cable box. I changed the output on my cable box and saw quite an improvement in picture quality.
Now my question, here are some of the options to use in the set-up menu:
TV type:.........16:9............4:3............4:3 pan/scan
YPbPr out-put...........................4:3 override
480p.......................................480I
480I........................................off
720P.......................................480I
1080I......................................480I 
I have a NEC PX-42XR3A that supports 1080I for HD. I use 16:9 and 1080I. Does this sound like the best choice for me to use? On some of the HD channels I do have the bars on the sides of the picture but not on all of them. On channels that are in 1080I I can only choose 2:35/1 or anamorphic setting. What settings would you use?
Thanks for any info.


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## khellandros66 (Jun 7, 2006)

SteveB said:


> TV type:.........16:9............4:3............4:3 pan/scan
> YPbPr out-put...........................4:3 override
> 480p.......................................480I
> 480I........................................off
> ...


Set those to the following in order

16:9
Off or native resolution of the tv
480P
on or 480p
720p or 1080i
1080i

~Bobby


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## Otto (May 18, 2006)

SteveB said:


> TV type:.........16:9............4:3............4:3 pan/scan
> YPbPr out-put...........................4:3 override
> 480p.......................................480I
> 480I........................................off
> ...


So that's from a menu on your cable box? I'm not sure if I understand what it all means, or perhaps how they interact. Guess I'd have to see it...



> I have a NEC PX-42XR3A that supports 1080I for HD. I use 16:9 and 1080I. Does this sound like the best choice for me to use? On channels that are in 1080I I can only choose 2:35/1 or anamorphic setting. What settings would you use?


Those sound like reasonable settings. Do you get any "stretching" on SD channels? I'm guessing no.



> On some of the HD channels I do have the bars on the sides of the picture but not on all of them.


Do some of the HD channels do that all the time? Sometimes I get that on _some_ programs. For example, CSI is in HD, but some game show on the same channel in the morning might not be. In that case, the game show would have sidebars.

I think you are set up OK. Does the HD content look 10 times as stunning as SD?


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## SteveB (Oct 20, 2006)

Sorry, those are the out-puts for the cable box. The tv has similar settings but varies a little. The tv has some 'p' settings instead of 'i'. (Still not clear on what those mean.)
There is minor stretching but nothing I can't live with. The worse thing about the 2:35 is that I lose part of the pic but I can live with that too.
Yes, the HD is at least 10 times better than SD


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## Otto (May 18, 2006)

Yeah, it sounds like you are doing the right thing. 

The "i" stands for "interlaced". It means that although there are 480, 720 or 1080 _vertical_ lines of resolution, only every other one is transmitted per frame. It increases and improves resolution without requiring more bandwidth. Sometimes it can cause flicker and other visual artifacts, but it doesn't bother me when I use it (as far as I can tell, anyway).

The "p" stands for "progressive", aka non-interlaced. In this case, they is no compromise to get all those vertical lines down the pipe, and each one is fully described for each frame. 1080p is currenly the best there is. 

Stretching may be a function of the cable box, the TV, or both. If you don't like it, poke around in both devices. I don't use it at all, so when I watch an SD program, the size (shape) of the picture is pretty much the same as if I had a "regular" 4:3 TV.

Sometimes I get a little "overscan" with my HD box as well (lose some of the picture off the edge of the screen). It used to really bother me, but these things aren't perfect. It's not much, so I don't pay much attention to it anymore.


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## wig (Mar 10, 2007)

Today I went to trade in my cable box for a HD box.I felt so stupid when the lady told me that all Timewaner DVR boxes are HD.:duh: I can't believe I didn't look for or even see the DVI or component plug on my way to the place.Asked them if they supplied any cables and she tried to sell me some component cables for 35 bucks.So I just stop and bought some cheap ones to get me by in till I get a DVI to hdmi cable.I looks awesome even with the cheapo cables can't wait to get some nice ones,and get it calibrated.thanks guys Wig:bigsmile:


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## SteveB (Oct 20, 2006)

Wig,
Do like I did, check the set-up on your cable box. Default on mine was 480p. It made such a difference when I changed it to 1080. On my box, with the power turned off press the menu button. The settings come up then. Find out how yours works and check the differences.


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## wig (Mar 10, 2007)

this is how its setup now, is this right?
tv type...........16:9
ypbpr.............1080i
4.3 override........480i
thanks steve I forgot that time warner and comcast or the smae thing.


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## SteveB (Oct 20, 2006)

Wig,
Yep, that's how I have mine set. Seems to be the best pic for me.


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## wig (Mar 10, 2007)

I'M hooked! No wonder everone is going crazy over HDdvd players.I find myself just only wanting to watch HD channels, everything else looks like antenna. Wig


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## SteveB (Oct 20, 2006)

I'm trying to decide if I want to get a HD DVD player now too. I hate this 'have to have the latest and greatest' syndrome.


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