New Cable Box Does Wonders....

[Worf101]

I have an "el Cheapo" Westinghouse 42-incher in my bedroom system. I rarely played it because it looked sickly compared to the 52-inch Sammy downstairs. Hey, I got it cheap, on clearence and when you subtract the $300 I got for my ole HD-CRT, well let's say it cost me around $400 delivered. But I was never happy with the color or the saturation. Everything and anything I did in an effort to get it to look like the Sammy failed. The set was relegated to her Good Morning America and his XBox 360.

The Cable box I was using was a first generation Scientific America Hi Def box. Component outs, but no HDMI or on-screen controls. Last two months or so it's started actiing up, dropping signal, both audio and visual for seconds at a time. Finally one day the Hi-Def feed just died. After trying all my tricks I went to Time Warner and got their latest generation of non-DVR Hi-Def box. All I can say is the difference is stunning. It's like night and day how much the picutre has improved. Not only are the dropouts gone, but the picture truly rivals the Sammy in all respect. I'm now watching TV in bed without a quibble happy as a clam with the cheapo set because it no longer looks cheap.

Moral of the story, if you've an "old school" Hi Def Cable box you might do youself a favor and see if there's been an upgrade by your provider in that area. One more bonus, by now having HDMI on my DVD and Cable Box, I've now eliminated a TON of cables from behind my system. Marvelous.

Da (Best Free Upgrade I Ever Got) Worfster

[poppachubby]

After reading several H/T related posts I decided to address my set up. I made some cable upgrades but indeed noticed the limitations of my digital cable box. There is no synergy with my H/T, I just bought components/speakers as I needed them for the best price I could find. The result is a cable box with a coax ouput and no optical, a receiver with an optical input for the box, but no coax.

Since I rent the box, I will be contacting my cable provider to see if an upgrade is available.

[pixelthis]

I have an "el Cheapo" Westinghouse 42-incher in my bedroom system. I rarely played it because it looked sickly compared to the 52-inch Sammy downstairs. Hey, I got it cheap, on clearence and when you subtract the $300 I got for my ole HD-CRT, well let's say it cost me around $400 delivered. But I was never happy with the color or the saturation. Everything and anything I did in an effort to get it to look like the Sammy failed. The set was relegated to her Good Morning America and his XBox 360.

The Cable box I was using was a first generation Scientific America Hi Def box. Component outs, but no HDMI or on-screen controls. Last two months or so it's started actiing up, dropping signal, both audio and visual for seconds at a time. Finally one day the Hi-Def feed just died. After trying all my tricks I went to Time Warner and got their latest generation of non-DVR Hi-Def box. All I can say is the difference is stunning. It's like night and day how much the picutre has improved. Not only are the dropouts gone, but the picture truly rivals the Sammy in all respect. I'm now watching TV in bed without a quibble happy as a clam with the cheapo set because it no longer looks cheap.

Moral of the story, if you've an "old school" Hi Def Cable box you might do youself a favor and see if there's been an upgrade by your provider in that area. One more bonus, by now having HDMI on my DVD and Cable Box, I've now eliminated a TON of cables from behind my system. Marvelous.

Da (Best Free Upgrade I Ever Got) Worfster

Good advice.
I bet one thing that made the difference was the HDMI connection.
Thats all I use unless the machine is legacy and doesnt have an HDMI cxonnector.
Its a pure digital connector and improves the picture immensley.
As for getting the Westinghous to look like a Sammy, good luck on that.
You would have better luck turning a CAMERO into a space shuttle.