[Neo.cmg]

I live in So. California where my only choice in digital cable providers is Adelphia. Yesterday I had an HDTV compatible cable receiver connected to my Sony Wega KD-34XBR960 which was just released by Sony this past July. I believe this set has a built-in HD tuner, so I'm not certain why a new set-top box was needed to begin with. The cable installer used a splitter to connect the cable signal from the wall outlet to the TV. One coaxial cable was run to the TV's RF outlet while the other cable was connected to the the cable receiver. Finally, the cable receiver was connected to the TV via component cables.

The installer informed me that channels 2-99 were analog and would be viewed best through the antenna of the TV, rather than through the cable receiver. I imagine this is due to some analog-to-digital conversion the signal goes through when being routed through the cable receiver resulting in some loss in quality of the signal. The picture does appear slightly more grainy when viewing it through the receiver, than when seeing the same picture directly through the TV's antenna. So, I will concede that point; though, I'm not sure I quite understand why. Anyway, I am now able to view HBO, Showtime, ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS in High Definition via their dedicated HD channels. The HD picture noticeably fills the 16:9 display of the TV whereas some mathematical algorithm of the TV can be used to take the 4:3 signal of a regular program and interpolate between lines so that it also fills the 16:9 display. Unfortunately it seems the TV does this interpolation so well that when I was switching between a 4:3 digital signal on HBO and it's HD counterpart, the HD signal wasn't too profoundly improved. Am I missing something? Is connecting the receiver via component cables inferior than using an HDMI/DVI connection? Furthermore, why do I need the cable box at all if the set does in fact have a built-in HD tuner?

Lastly, after this long introduction, the primary reason for this post is that the cable company advertised that programming that was broadcast in HD offerred by channels other than those that had dedicated HD channels, such as The WB or UPN for instance,would be viewable in HD. So, last night I was watching Smallville on The WB at 8 p.m., which is advertised to be broadcast in HD, yet the picture did not span the entire 16:9 display as the dedicated HD channels do. I had to use the Wide Zoom screen mode as I do with a 4:3 picture to span the TV's screen. I can't say the picture quality itself was much improved either. Furthermore, I'm not sure which source I should be using, either the source being routed through the receiver, or the TV's antenna to view these HD signals. Logic would seem to indicate that I would need to be viewing the broadcast via the signal being routed through the receiver, but when switching back and forth between the signals, I didn't see an improved picture. With this setup, should I be able to pick up these HD broadcasts? I would imagine similar programs such as Enterprise, and some broadcasts on The Discovery Channel should be viewable in HD, but for some reason these broadcasts don't behave as the dedicated HD channels do. Does anyone have any answers to any of these questions? I thought my understanding of this HD format was thorough, but it seems I'm still confusing things.

Thanks,

Neo.cmg

[SVass]

I have the Sony 30HD420, also released in July without the HD tuner, connected to a Motorola digital box from Comcast. I have both the component cables and the HDMI DVI connection. There does not appear to be any difference in picture quality between the two. High definition from WB and UPN would have to be on channels OTHER than those numbered between 2 and 99 just as ABC and NBC are. sam

[robby818]

Is connecting the receiver via component cables inferior than using an HDMI/DVI connection? Furthermore, why do I need the cable box at all if the set does in fact have a built-in HD tuner?


there is a lot of debate over how much better an hd signal is when sent over dvi or hdmi vs. component. theoretically it should be better bec there is one less step in the conversion process but in my experience I don't see much of a difference at all.

Your tv is cable card ready, does adelphia have cable cards in your area yet? if so, that is probably your best option.

it doesnt sound like you were watching smallville in hi-def. it would have filled the screen if it was in hi-def.

nice tv by the way. i hope you are enjoying it.

the forums at www.avsforum.com have a lot of info. check out the direct view tv discussion forum.