I'm travelling out of town to program a Crestron soon.. trying to avoid problems beforehand.

part of the deal is that there is a RCA DTC-100 waiting for me ---
D-sub 15 pin output will be connected to a display in the master bed, analog video outputs will be connected to a tv in the master bath. Both TV's need to be able to display the satellite image simultaneously.

Will the DTC-100 do this? What about when the "HD monitor" is turned on?
I can't remember for sure, and can't get one to play with because they are now discontinued... certainly haven't had luck finding this specific information on the net.

We had a DTC-100 in our showroom a long while back... it's 15 pin output drove the Runco projector, while the analog video ouput was tied into an ELAN Z-880. I can't remember for sure if there were issues with trying to do this or not..

thanks,
Matt Webb

The DTC-100 will only put out HD on the DB-15 or NTSC from the Composite / Y/C / RF outputs, but not both simultaneously. There are Crestron .ir drivers that will allow discrete HD / NTSC mode selection and even aspect ratio mode control, but there is no way that the 2 devices that you mentioned can display video simultaneously.

Solutions... Get a VGA to video transcoder. Extron, Inline, among others, make good units that should give decent results. This is a somewhat expensive solution. There will be aspect ratio problems on certain channels, however.

OR...

Have a second standard definition satellite receiver installed to drive just the NTSC monitor. I'm sure that you would be able to build an interface that would make the presense of 2 different receivers transparent to the user. I guess problems would occur when pay per view shows were ordered.

In my own opinion, and I've voiced this before, high definition receivers do not do well upconverting standard definition material. There is no reason to output high def if you are not watching a high def channel. Another thing with that receiver is that it puts out 540p when it does upconvert. This can cause issues with some projector / monitor / video processor setups.

The other HD DSS receivers that I've used exhibit the same characteristics. Even the new Zenith model says that it will not output HD and NTSC simultaneously. If someone made a box that did, it would justify everyone in this industry to use that box 100% of the time over any other manfacturer's model no matter what... hint, hint.

-Tom Visser

I agree Tom with regard to the upconversion. You should watch HD on the DTC-100 through VGA and S-video for SD. The picture looks like kaka watching SD through VGA.

I heard that RCA has a new standard def receiver with component video outputs (480i only)... is this true? If that is the case, I would justify that as the end all be all receiver of today. For larger systems, you could almost have a single HD DSS receiver permanently tuned to each HD channel easier than you could try to manipulate video output control, switching, and all that other rigamaroll (sp?), etc...

-Tom Visser

according to one of the installers here there is a receiver out there that does this. The Sony SAT HD100 --- used it at a job specifically for this reason, HD ouput used in the theater and SD output used in the kitchen at the same time.

- Matt Webb

Really???
I must be missing something. I have also tried to find any box that will output HD and standard simultaneously...to no avail. I have the SATHD100 in at least ten jobs an none of them have I been able to do this. The video output is a button on the front that I have not even been able to find discrete codes to change by remote. I have simply given up on this proposition and have been specing 2 receivers (whats an extra five bucks a month?)

Just got a note from my distributor.

Say goodbye to the DTC-100. It has been discontinued.

Does anyone have an opinion regarding the Hughes e86 platinum (which the distributor is touting as the replacement)?

As far as I know, it is a good unit. Only problem is the lack of discrete codes.

Unfortunately, the DTC-100 is/was the only HD receiver that I know of that has the amount of discrete codes for just about anything you would need them for.

JJP

hmm... I don't know what the truth is about the SATHD100, I've never dealt with one. Wish we had one here so I could try it out.

here's all I can come up with as far as simultaneous HD/SD from a single sat receiver:

[Link: toshiba.com]
do a search inside that page for "simultaneous HD/SD"

anyone know if this is even available yet?

- Matt

Sony SAT-HD100 does not output both formats simultaneously.

-Tom Visser