A Quick question for the pros...

I have a Gateway Plasma TV with a Scientific Atlanta HD Cable Box. When I use the component connections, the HD looks great, but non HD channels look horrible. If I use the S video connection, the regular channels look OK, but the HD so so.

Any thoughts? The TV and the Box also have the DVI connectors.

Many thanks!!

Wayne

Well, first, through the S video out, you aren't getting HD. S can only handle 480. Is your Gateway an EDTV? If so, you are only seeing 480 from any channel. In any case, SD channels will look anywhere from decent to crap on a large screen display. Garbage in-garbage out.

The only way to make this better, and it may or may not work, is to add a scaler to your system. The scaler will take whatever signal is input and convert it to whatever resolution you desire as output (use the native res of the panel) It MAY give you a better picture on the SD channels. If the source (cable box) is sending a crappy signal, it will still look crappy. Try the ISCAN scaler.

Utilize the DVI if you can. Again, it should provide a great picture for the HD channels, and possibly a better picture on SD channels.

Thanks for your advice -

Just so you know, what is confusing to me is that the SD channels look fine troght the S connection, but horrible throught the component connection!

Set the output format of the sa box to 480i,720p,1080i then settings twice move up to set picture format = passthough

That should clean up the lower channels right now the cable box is doing the scaleing and it does a poor job.


Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks...

Not sure I get what you're saying above....

Best,

Wayne

Turn the cable box off and turn the display on.
Press and hold Info and Guide on the box itself until a setup menu appears
Select the advanced setup option
Select 16x9 tv type since you have a widescreen tv
Then follow the onscreen instructions to save EVERY output format that you can see correctly on your tv (if you only have EDTV then both 480i's and 480P's, if you have an HDTV then it is the above listed and 720P and 1080i)
Now press power to turn the box back on and go into the normal settings menu
Scroll down to "picture format" or something similar
Select the pass-through option

Now your cable box will not do any scaling or processing on the SD channels so your TV can do it, and will do a better job.

Any idea how to do this on a Pioneer HD box?

Thanks,
CJ

or Motorola?

I will have to try this passthrough wizardry, however, we use the MX-700/800/850 remotes. We simply have an "HD ON", "HD OFF" and even an "HD CH" button on the "CABLE" page (and exclude the "format" button altogether for most clients):

HD ON - Component or DVI input command (best for HD)
HD OFF - S-Video command (best for SD)
HD CH - Macro: 723enter (cox cable's Discovery Channel HD), Component/DVI command. The HD CH macro puts the customer right in the middle of the available HD Channels

This almost entirely negates needing to put the stupid "Format" (umpa loompa/everyones' a basketball player) button on the Cable page of the remote.

By the way, we have found the newest DirecTV receivers have no need for an S-Video for SD if using the Component/DVI cable

The only problem I see with the passthrough is that if the cable guys do any work on the box, they're going to reset it back to default. Don't they have enough to screw up for us already?

You never need to add the picture format button to the remote, you set it to pass through and then forget it. You might even find you won't need the Svid cable and will be able to eliminate some of the extra buttons for input switching for the customer.
I have a feeling once the output formats are saved in the HD menu they stay there through alot of the work the cable company might do to the box. If you get a call from them saying SD channels suddenly started looking worse, just walk them through on the phone to check one setting in the normal cable box menu.

I'm assuming you still have an aspect ratio button already, but that should be the only button that would need to be added as the cable box won't apply its horrible "super stretch" to every SD channel. It will finally let the TV change aspect and that should clear up alot of issues.

format = aspect ratio. The only thing that might look a little bit odd would be the contestants in the Miss America Pagent - depending on the TV's ability to produce an acceptable "Full" screen (and your ideal of what the human body ought to look like).

I have discovered that fooling with aspect ratio while watching a body building contest makes no difference.

I do have the "aspect" button on my (the custom installer's) 850 remote. But it is on a buried page and rarely used.