Hi there,
I have a project out of my usual area, and the install will be using a motorola DTC5100 HD cable box. Here's the question for anyone out there who has installed one.

So they say it has DVI out. ( there is no DVI connector on the jack pack pannel picture on the web, is this just more bulls*it like how the digital cable boxes up here say dolby digital on them with no spdif outputs?)

So, if it catually has DVI, when activatedat 1080i, do you loose the composite and analog L/R outputs, like on a samsung TS-360 (dss)?

My customer has a Tivo that he will want to integrate into the system.

I downloaded the spec sheet from motorola, but it mentions nothing. (the 6200 spec sheet implys that these jacks are always active, but Comcast says they are not shipping yet).

Thanks

Older versions of the 5100 don't have DVI. Newer ones do. The jacks stay active.

Bob

BobL is correct, but I have found through trial and error the DVI output is poor and the component output actually looks better. I know it does not make sense, but try it yourself and see. I have found the quality of most cable boxes to be very poor, and the 5100 is no exception. Also the IR does not work and emitters do not like to stick to the rounded display, I had to use a thin layer of silicone to keep them attached so I would not get the "my cable box doesn't work" call. I just recommend DSS to my customers, and with what DirecTV has coming over the next few years, every other service provider will be playing catch up, including VOOM.

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, DSS is not an option, he already has cable and likes it (broadband). I think I might send it out component like you suggest and let the plasma scale it. That would eliminate the DVI switcher too. It' sreally too bad these cable companies can't make a decent product.

The motorola digital cable boxes they sell out here say dolby digital right on the front. Funny that there's no coax or toslink on the back.

Anyone else have any suggestions? This is a job I'll be taking on far out of my usual work area, so I need to be sure about this 5100.

Anyone seen the 6200?

Actually, today I had the pleasure? of hooking up the 6200 to an NEC HT1100 dlp proj. via component. The two stooges from comcast came by the job and demonstrated their prowess in home theater(you only need this one RG-6 going to the TV, wait..where's the TV?)

The coaxial dig jack did work and the box did simulateously output component and composite video. However, the box was defaulted to 480p, you have to then turn off power via front panel and then hit the select button( I could be mistaken or you can try others) and change it to 1080i.

The picture quality for analog upconverted channels was pretty bad, the standard digitals was better, Hi def MN Football looked pretty good. But the compression on most of the Hi def was causing horrible pixelations. The box is a lot faster in channel changing in the guide. I would bring along a good hi-fi vcr for a standard tuner for comparison, in case it gets ugly.

good luck

Actually, you need to tell your cable provider to make sure the box they deliver has DVI outputs as it seems to still come in two flavors and the cable company will try and pawn off a component out only model unless you call them on it. Further I have noticed significant image quality variations from box to box even though the boxes look the same. Now they might have done a software upgrade recently that I don’t know about that fixes this but I have not seen a 5100 that puts out component and DVI simultaneously? This is setup in the hidden menu, I believe that S-video and composite still work, but not component while in DVI out mode.

I have a DCT6200 in my system. It's Identical to the DCT5100 I had for 1 & 1/2 years It has the following outputs:
DVI (not active) Component video (480i/480p/720p/1080i selectable)
s & composite video. Coaxial & optical digital audio out. On screen menu is not available on s or composite when the box is set to 480P or higher. I contacted Comcast (south of Boston) and they said the DVI won't be active for some time.it appears you can use DVI & component simultaneously. I was able to toggle between the DVI input on the plasma (error message from cable company was displayed) and component input. I use the component output to run an HD plasma, the RF output feeds an LCD in the kitchen. Optical audio feeds the A/V receiver, and the analog audio feeds a multizone controller for whole house audio (music channels) An IR repeater system facilitates use of the box from every location. I think I'm maximizing the potential of this piece. I have a 27' DVI cable run to my plasma if and when when the DVI becomes available. This would free up the component video to feed to an LCD in the bedroom. I love this thing!

Wow, quite the diffrent answers that I got from Comcast and Motoroa... "the DVI is active".

So it looks like i'll set this thing up with component, and run and connect a DVI cable in case they activate it sometime in the future. Send composite to the modulator This is a retro so I want to run as much cable now as I can.

Keep the info comming!