Quote Originally Posted by acqui
I have a 50 inch Samsung plasma and I can't seem to get as clear a picture as other friends who have the same model. It works fine with DVD's but I am speaking primarily with certain channels through Time Warner cable. I guess it's more a question about the digital cable box. I was told the cable box I have from them is a digital one but someone mentioned today that I may need another digital decoder in addition to the digital cable box? I was told by Time Warner that the box I've got is a digital box. Am I doing something wrong in the hookup? Is there another sort of digital decoder I need to purchase? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Having a Digital box doesn't mean all channels are digitally sent. It mostly means that who have more channels which are compressed digitally through the same signal. I just (last month) became a Beta test for the San Bernardnio, Ca area HDTV through Adelphia Cable. I automaticly have all the digital channel plus 3 HDTV channels (NBC,ABC and PBS). The normal cable band channels (2-99) are the same as far as picture quality, but the high band (100-979) is a bit better, Plus the HDTV signal is awesome all coming through the same Box. The biggest boost I feel is the digital sound from the decoder (toslink) and even that is not uniformed between the channels. Also you need to make sure that the line that feeds your digital box is seperate from any other signal in the house. That is one of the main problems Cable Compaines will state is the problem with you picture. In theory the signal gets divide when shared and results in poorer picture quality.

I had to add a signal booster to my upstairs line that feeds my room and 2 other bedrooms (my girls had a fit when they could not view the Cartoon Network)