[CaseCom]

I had problems with my old cable converter box recently and had to replace it with a new one. Comcast said they don't use the old boxes anymore, so they gave me a new "digital" converter box. It's made by Motorola and it's bigger, about the size of a DVD player. Not sure what's "digital" about it, but it can receive digital-tier channels up above 100 that the old one couldn't. And they gave me a free trial of their "basic digital" tier, with BBC America, ESPN News, IFC, Noggin, etc.

Here's the problem: My picture with the new box is just not as good. Whites and other bright colors are oversaturated and washed-out. I tried adjusting the contrast and brightness on my TV (a Samsung circa 1996, not high-end but it has a pretty good picture), but no dice.

When I disconnect the box and plug the cable directly to the TV, I get a good picture again. But then I can't get the digital channels. I had a cable guy out to look at it, but he couldn't adjust the signal and said he couldn't tell the difference in the picture anyway.

Could be just a bad box, I suppose. But my inclination now is to just get rid of the box (saving $5 a month in the process), cancel the free trial and go back to standard cable, with no box. I don't get HBO or any other channels that would need to be unscrambled by a box.

Anyone else had a similar experience? Advice?

[starman]

http://www.avsforum.com

[Link]

Yuck. Our biggest problem with comcast is they charge too damn much for everything (especially regular cable) -- something like $40 a month for only basic stuff, and most of the channels they provide are full of crap we don't watch anyway *sigh*

[Maneki Neko]

I have digital cable, and notice the compression artifacts.

I would've preferred to stay with my old boxless setup, but my cable company seems to be moving to digital only if you want premium channels (hbo, etc.)

[CaseCom]

Originally posted by starman:
http://www.avsforum.com

Starman: I owe you a beer.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=421950