[whitey2755]

Hello all. I live in one of the 25 markets that are to be receiving HD locals by EOY, and I need to get some information that is correct, and I felt this was the place to get those answers. Ok here goes.....

1) I have my name on the waiting list for the HR20 and then will have the install done when that becomes available. My question is, when that is hooked up, will I be using HDMI to send the HD signal to the TV and Component + audio to send the SD signal to the TV. I figure I would need to change the video input signal on the TV to switch between the two. Is this correct?

2) My house is hard wired for the cable. I will only have HD on one TV. I have an additional non HDTV and Media Center on my computer. Will having the HD dish installed and hooked up affect these in any way?

I would say I have an intermdiate understanding of all of this, so please bear that in mind if you have any questions for me. Any help that you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JLucPicard]

whitey2755,

Welcome to DBSTalk! :welcome_s

As far as (1) goes, I've had an HR10-250 connected via HDMI for a long time and watch both HD and SD programs that way. You do not need to hook up both HDMI and Component - one or the other will work for both.

If I understand (2) correctly (and I have done nothing with PC Media Centers, etc.), whatever you are able to get now will work the same as it has with the AT9 dish as far as reception of satellite signal. If your question goes beyond that, I can't address it.

 

[whitey2755]

Thanks JLuc....As usual, it appears as if I am making this more difficult then it really is. I tend to do that alot. Also, thanks for the welcome . I have been a long time lurker on this site and find the information contained herein invaluable.

 

[manny1]

Hello all. I live in one of the 25 markets that are to be receiving HD locals by EOY, and I need to get some information that is correct, and I felt this was the place to get those answers. Ok here goes.....

1) I have my name on the waiting list for the HR20 and then will have the install done when that becomes available. My question is, when that is hooked up, will I be using HDMI to send the HD signal to the TV and Component + audio to send the SD signal to the TV. I figure I would need to change the video input signal on the TV to switch between the two. Is this correct?

2) My house is hard wired for the cable. I will only have HD on one TV. I have an additional non HDTV and Media Center on my computer. Will having the HD dish installed and hooked up affect these in any way?

I would say I have an intermdiate understanding of all of this, so please bear that in mind if you have any questions for me. Any help that you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

If you get an A/V reciever that "upconverts" all your other analog and digital input devices to HDMI, you can keeep the feed to you TV down to one wire. Dennon makes a really good one as does Onkyo.
The HDMI covers both audio and video. That is unless your TV only has a DVI input. You can get a conversion cable for the HDMI to DVI input, but in that case you would have to send the audio via separate cables (optical, digital coax, etc.) as DVI doesn't carry any audio info.
As far as the AT9 dish and future locals and addditional HD nationals, You should be good to go. However, you cannot multiplex any antenna input or cable feed along with the sat signal on a single coax like you can now. Bottom line, if you are currently taking your digital HD and/or analog locals "over the air" and want to split or diplex them out to your non-hd set, you're gonna be SOL in about another year or so. You will have to commit a separate coax line for the OTA signals from the antenna to whatever box or set you want to send them to. D* will be migrating all their HD to the new satellites and deliver all of it via MPEG4. The bandwidth requirments over your existing coax plant (and multiswitch if you are using one) are too limited to cover the required frequency spread for KA and KU satellites plus Over The Air. Sorry if this is TMI.

 

[whitey2755]

Thx Manny. I honestly have to say that it indeed may have been TMI (for an intermediate), but brought up a good point regarding the total conversion to HD in the near future. That is something I will have to take into account for the other TV and Media Center PC. FYI to you, my new TV (on order) has I believe 2 HDMI connections. Based on JLuc response to my original post, I think I am probably good to go with that TV. I just wanted to see if I needed seperate cables for the SD and HD content being passed to the TV (by the HR20 when available). I am not looking to do any upconverting of any non HD signals. I will patiently await DirecTVs conversion next year. I was just awaiting my HD locals before buying a HD TV.

I definately will keep my eye on the posts on this site to hopefully better understand all this new technology.

 

[bobnielsen]

The HR20 can output either SD or HD as 480i, 480p, 720p or 1020i, upconverting or downconverting as required. It can also be set to "native" and will output the original resolution of the signal. Whichever works best is often dependent on the characteristics of TV used.

 

[whitey2755]

The HR20 can output either SD or HD as 480i, 480p, 720p or 1020i, upconverting or downconverting as required. It can also be set to "native" and will output the original resolution of the signal. Whichever works best is often dependent on the characteristics of TV used.

Bob, if I understand you correctly that means that if I am connected via the HDMI and the HR20 is set to native, the signal will automatically be set to the TV as per the channel I am watching? Are there any cons, IYO, to the 'native' setting? Is it just me, or is this all more confusing then it really needs to be :grin: . Just when I think I have a grasp on this whole HD thing, there is yet another tidbit to try to understand. I truly am thankful for everyones help here at DBS.

 

[bobnielsen]

Bob, if I understand you correctly that means that if I am connected via the HDMI and the HR20 is set to native, the signal will automatically be set to the TV as per the channel I am watching? Are there any cons, IYO, to the 'native' setting? Is it just me, or is this all more confusing then it really needs to be :grin: . Just when I think I have a grasp on this whole HD thing, there is yet another tidbit to try to understand. I truly am thankful for everyones help here at DBS.

Yes it is a bit confusing. Add to it that the television set itself probably displays something which doesn't match any of them (my Vizio P42 plasma can accept any of the four DTV formats and converts them to the 1024x768 resolution of the display itself). I have my H20 use a HDMI connection with the output set to 720p, as this is closest to that value, although I can't really see any difference compared to when I had it set to 1024i.

Some televisions apparently have problems accepting some of the possible inputs and native may*not work as well as using a fixed output from the receiver. Native also seems to result in additional delays when switching between channels having different resolutions. There are enough possiblities that just about any HD set should work, although what is optimal for one setup may not be best for another.

 

[Slip Jigs]

The HR20 can output either SD or HD as 480i, 480p, 720p or 1020i, upconverting or downconverting as required. It can also be set to "native" and will output the original resolution of the signal. Whichever works best is often dependent on the characteristics of TV used.

Does that mean that the box will upconvert any channel or just HD channels which happen to be broadcasting something less than HD at the time?

 

[Radio Enginerd]

Does that mean that the box will upconvert any channel or just HD channels which happen to be broadcasting something less than HD at the time?

It upconverts all channels... When I watch SD channels with my HR20 my TV maintains a 1080i (as I've set that as my default resolution) relationship between the HR20 and my plasma panel.

 

[Slip Jigs]

It upconverts all channels... When I watch SD channels with my HR20 my TV maintains a 1080i (as I've set that as my default resolution) relationship between the HR20 and my plasma panel.

Good! Now, I don't suppose there's a DVD input - convert that too so I don't have to get one of those "up-converting" dvd players?

 

[Radio Enginerd]

Good! Now, I don't suppose there's a DVD input - convert that too so I don't have to get one of those "up-converting" dvd players?

Nope, no DVD input. However, you can plug in your coffee pot and it will brew you a fresh pot each morning.

 

[Slip Jigs]

Hmmm- I don't think I got that particular software update yet!

 

[bobnielsen]

Good! Now, I don't suppose there's a DVD input - convert that too so I don't have to get one of those "up-converting" dvd players?

I run my H20 into the HDMI input and my DVD into the component input on the TV. I suppose one that upconverted would look slightly better, but this works fine for me.

 

[Radio Enginerd]

I run my H20 into the HDMI input and my DVD into the component input on the TV. I suppose one that upconverted would look slightly better, but this works fine for me.

Not to hijack this thread to much but I've used a few different HDMI DVD players and I don't see a bit of difference. FYI: All these HDMI DVD players do is establish a 720/1080 relationship between the 480p DVD and the TV you're viewing the content on.

The content is still 480p, just being delivered to the TV at 720/1080.

I had a buddy of mine come to my home and I put on a DVD (Finding Nemo). He then said, "WOW, your High Def DVD player looks MUCH better than mine". I said, "It's my old DVD player using component cables running 480p." My point: No reason to spend the money... wait until HD-DVD or BlueRay comes down in price.

That's my 2 cents; I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

 

[Slip Jigs]

Not to hijack this thread to much but I've used a few different HDMI DVD players and I don't see a bit of difference. FYI: All these HDMI DVD players do is establish a 720/1080 relationship between the 480p DVD and the TV you're viewing the content on.

The content is still 480p, just being delivered to the TV at 720/1080.

I had a buddy of mine come to my home and I put on a DVD (Finding Nemo). He then said, "WOW, your High Def DVD player looks MUCH better than mine". I said, "It's my old DVD player using component cables running 480p." My point: No reason to spend the money... wait until HD-DVD or BlueRay comes down in price.

That's my 2 cents; I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

I think it's still close enough to the topic! Anyway, that's good info. But whether it's a HDMI DVD player, or the HR20 with standard programming - the concept is the same - doing some sort of conversion to a higher rez format. Which in theory should look better, but I can understand why it may not.

 

[Radio Enginerd]

I think it's still close enough to the topic! Anyway, that's good info. But whether it's a HDMI DVD player, or the HR20 with standard programming - the concept is the same - doing some sort of conversion to a higher rez format. Which in theory should look better, but I can understand why it may not.

Bingo... You got it! In theory yes. We can't rule out the fact that HDMI is all digital (while component is analog) so we can certain factor that in. What do I know, I still think vinyl sounds better than CD! :lol:

I sometimes wonder (no joke) if my DTV SD looks worse now that it's being upsampled to 1080i to go into my TV?

 

[AnonomissX]

To make it simpler regarding "native": it depends on the TV and receiver settings...meaning:

1) Try it with the receiver's native turned on
2) Try it with the receiver's native turned off
3) Leave the receiver on the setting that works the best.

This will usually be one of the LAST steps you take to get everything set up after its hooked up. Just use either the HDMI or the component video connections as they will handle all the video for you, consider them backwards compatible.

My sister was all worried about "installing" her new flat panel lcd monitor on her computer...I had to tell her several times I just had to connect it, turn it on, and voila! It's almost that simple in the last 3 steps.

 

[paulman182]

" But whether it's a HDMI DVD player, or the HR20 with standard programming - the concept is the same - doing some sort of conversion to a higher rez format. Which in theory should look better, but I can understand why it may not."

As I understand it, if you do not upconvert in the DVD player, your monitor will be doing the upconversion to its "native" format before it can display the image, anyway.

The TV may do the job as well as a DVD player.

 

[harsh]

My sister was all worried about "installing" her new flat panel lcd monitor on her computer...I had to tell her several times I just had to connect it, turn it on, and voila! It's almost that simple in the last 3 steps.

Depending on the display, it isn't always that easy. If your computer isn't set to the "native" resolution of the display, the quality will be compromised. I haven't yet seen a computer display card that will produce a 1680x1050 that is optimal for the 21" & 22" wide screen LCDs.