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General discussion

Digital cable question

Jul 8, 2005 6:24AM PDT

I have basic cable now (Analog). I bought a new HDTV. The picture doesn't look that clear. If I upgrade to Digital Cable will it look good? Not HD signal, just digital.

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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why buy a hi-def if your not going to use it
Jul 8, 2005 8:20AM PDT

A digital box does not feed your hi-def t.v a digital signal my sugestion is to get rid of cable hi-def (to expensive) and get the dish network 811 system they will charge you $49.00 for the system installed and give you credit for the $49.00 on your billing I pay $44.00 per month and get the basic+hi=def package and voom for this amount This unit also has a over the air hi-def tuner thats super I receive 18 local digital channels 9 of which are in Hi-Def , also you can output your sond any way you want I use the optical audio output for awsome 5-1 sound. one thing more make sure you install a d.v.i. cable from the unit to your t.v. If you chick how much your cable co. charges you will find dish is a lot cheaper good luck respond to stewart norrie in this chat room

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Digital Cable looks better than analog
Jul 8, 2005 11:28AM PDT

A digital cable box looks better than analog because it will have component, DVI or HDMI output. With your old analog box you are running an RF cable, a composite or S-video cable, all of which provide inferior signals to the TV compared with those mentioned above. Use DVI or HDMI for best results since the digital signal is sent digitally to the TV, whereas with anything less, the signal is converted by the box to analog and the TV has to convert the analog signal back to digital.

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more info
Jul 9, 2005 12:57AM PDT

Thanks guys for your reply. Here is some more info about my TV.
This is a Pioneer PDP-4345HD TV, 43"
It has a media receiver, which has a cable card slot and is DCR (Digital Cable Ready). The media receiver is connected to the TV thru a hi-tech proprietary Pioneer cable.
So here is my question: Even if I get digital connection from COX (my cable company) it will still come in as a singal co-axial cable in the wall outlet and will be connected to the media receiver. No question of HDMI or DVI here.

I called COX yest. and found out I will have to pay $7 per month for digital connection and $2 for the cable-card per month. That is $9 extra with no more channels, just to get digital instead of Analog. Plus installation of cable card by COX etc.

It seems to be waste of money if I pay $10 extra per month just to see clearly my existing channels on this $3500 TV. That is why I want to know if I convert to digital will the picture be clear? And that too, I am not sure if digital will look much better than Analog?

I agree with you it seems a waste to get this TV only to see basic cable.

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Cable vs Satellite
Jul 9, 2005 2:41AM PDT

Hello,

I hate to throw a wrench into this discussion, but have you looked into getting satellite service? Satellite is all digital and is comparable in price. I would recommend Dish Network over DirecTv if you are on a budget becuase Dish will lease you the HD DVR receivers, where as, DirecTV will make you purchase your equipment.

I pay $60 a month for 180 digital channels, local channels and 3 receivers.

Just a thought.

Take Care,

Shawn Mosqueda
WireSmart LLC
www.wiresmart.com
shawn@wiresmart.com

How To Build A Home Theate PC ebook coming soon! Comes with 2 years of FREE six month revised editions. visit www.wiresmart.com

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satellite
Jul 9, 2005 6:53AM PDT

I live in an apartment. Can't drill holes for the Dish, there is a tree in the front, Dish has to be facing other side - all sorts of problems. So, for now I will stick to cable.

Also, 1 question - How can I know if I am receiving Analog or Digital connection? Is there a way?

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Analog vs. Digital Cable
Jul 9, 2005 10:11AM PDT

We have Cablevision and not Cox. If you have a digital box or cable card, Channels 1-70 are analog. Any channel above that is digital. On my 11 year old 34 inch Toshiba Cinema Series, the difference between the analog and digital stations is striking. The digital channels are almost as clear as DVD. I will probably have an HDTV within a week and expect the difference between analog and digital channels to be even more noticeable.

As far as the coaxial cable goes, it carries both analog and digital signals, including the HDTV signals.

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have you tried?
Jul 10, 2005 2:54AM PDT

Since you have a tv with a built in tuner have you tried to seeing if you have more channels than you think. With every tv around here that has a built in ATSC/QAM tuner people have been able to pick up all of the locals in HD and some even picking up Discovery and TNT HD through the basic cable package. This is with time Warner in general, but works on Charter, Comporium, and adlephia so I figure it should work in your area. Try some of the higher channels and see if anything is there.

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just tried
Jul 10, 2005 11:30AM PDT

but, no luck Sad
I think if I get digital service then it might come.

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hmm...
Jul 10, 2005 1:42PM PDT

thats wierd. Every DCR tv around this area can at least pick up the locals in HD through Time Warner Basic cable (through the coaxil, no box at all) Since the cable companies get the local channels broadcast directly to them and pick them up through antennas your tv should be able to pick up at least those channels unless they have come up with something to block them out.