I purchased a samsung 40" lcd 1080p tv yesterday. Link below. I have comcast digital cable and when I watch tv it doesn't look good (my 64" projection tv about 7 years old looks better). Is there anything i can do about this? Comcast has hd set top boxes for $6/month, but will this do anything to fix the non hd channels? I use the tv mainly for xbox360 but i would love to use it for some other things too. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
If you are getting a HD set top box just to try and fix the channels, you will be wasting your money. The high def box is strictly to produce the channels that offer high def on non high def compatable tv's (analog). It will down-convert your HDTV signal to 480i/480p (which is standard on all tv's) so you can watch the high def channels (but why would you want to do that when you could just watch the normal channel). I know this personally because I have four boxes in my home, three on HDTV's (which are HD compatable) and one in the spare bedroom that is hooked up to a good ol Sony 36" Flat screen tube tv and I tell you the picture is the same on the non hd channels. I had tried a set top box and got rid of it as I felt it was a waste of money and I don't spend time in that room anyways.
You probably won't want it anyways considering the tv that you bought... I suggest staying strictly DIGITAL.
If you are having trouble with the non hd channels, make sure that you have a good HDMI connection cable (I prefer monster 1000HD Cable) and make sure that you run whatever connection directly into the source you are using (ie the 360 into the tv. cable into the tv).
If it's static or lines or snow on your screen, get comcast out to check things out. They shouldn't charge you anything since you already have service through them.
Like I said if you are just worried about the non-hd channels, there is no need to get the set top box for the hd signal, as it will have no effect on the quality of the channels.
One more thing that you can do is change the settings on your cable box to accept the 1080 signal. That could be your problem right there... if 1080 is the problem, try the 720.
Quote:If you are having trouble with the non hd channels, make sure that you have a good HDMI connection cable (I prefer monster 1000HD Cable) and make sure that you run whatever connection directly into the source you are using (ie the 360 into the tv. cable into the tv).
My cable box only has a coax output. So the cable box is connected to the tv via coax. If i get an upgraded box will it have any effect?
If you want to take full advantage of your new HD television, I'd go with the HD set top box. Also, you will be able to use an HDMI cable for your video opposed to coax like you are using now. I'm not to sure but, I'd assume that using HDMI for your video source would be better then the coax output.
Originally posted by goodswipe: If you want to take full advantage of your new HD television, I'd go with the HD set top box. Also, you will be able to use an HDMI cable for your video opposed to coax like you are using now. I'm not to sure but, I'd assume that using HDMI for your video source would be better then the coax output.
Agreed. My apologies... I thought that your box had the capability of component outs/HDMI. I didn't think that there were any boxes left that offered strictly coaxial LOL.
On that note get a yourself a box that has numerous outs (composite, s-video, component, DVI or HDMI) if you want a better picture. This will ensure no matter what connection you use, your signal will surpass the quality of the coax BY EONS!
Like Goodswipe said, if you want to take FULL advantage, get the box that offers HD box. Use an HDMI cable (if you want both audio and video through one cable) or else use a component cable (red,green,blue). Either way you can watch what cable calls "true high def" (even thought it's not TRUE high def). If the problem persists after a new box, get the cable company out there like I mentioned and it is probably something to to with the actual signal, not the connection.
If you don't want to buy the HDMI cable, most likely your cable company will provide a component cable for you (Mine did for the one in the spare bedroom).
You are right Goodswipe... a digital HDMI connection is going to be better than analog any day of the week.
