Video Asylum

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on November 30, 2004 at 19:42:58

In Reply to: A few questions................ posted by Cut-Throat on November 3, 2004 at 05:58:25:

What is the POS Motorola Box supposed to do? - Is this the HD tuner that I've seen advertising Direct TV?

The POS Motorola cable box decodes regular 'digital cable' as well as High-Def (HDTV) via your cable provider. It replaces the regular digital cable box. If you don't need any of the premium channels, you don't need a cable box at all (at least this is the case with Comcast). I'm back to 'regular analog' cable TV that connects directly into my TV set.

If you have a built in tuner in your Sony already I'm assuming that you didn't need the POS Motorola Box?

Well, you would still need the Motorola HiDef cable box because the box decodes the HiDef signal coming over the cable. A HiDef tuner is different because it receives the HiDef signal 'over the air' (OTA) rather than over the cable. Most TV's that are HiDef 'ready' don't have a HDTV tuner. Mine is a separate outboard HDTV tuner attached to an outdoor UHF TV antenna. The HiDef ready TV is capable of displaying the higher resolution of a HiDef signal, usually 720p or 1080i

Do the Over the Air HD broadcasts look as good as DVD Movies?

No. They look FAR superior to any DVD especially when the broadcaster is broadcasting true HiDef material in widescreen like live NFL broadcasts or other content that was originally produced in HiDef

What kind of antenna do you have? (I have a VHF/UHF/FM in my attic that provides Crystal Clear Broadcasts of all the Local Channels - I live in a Metro Area)- Should mine provide excellent HD OTA?

Probably. In my area all the major broadcast towers are located on Lookout Mountain to my west. BUT all of the HiDef transmitting towers here in Denver are on the high rise buildings in the city to my North. I have my UHF TV antenna for the HDTV tuner pointed North and will swing it to the West once the broadcasters are setup for HiDef from Lookout Mountain.

This is my first foray into HDTV, and I'm thinking it's still not quite there yet? - Am I wrong?

I think there's enough content to make it worth while. If you don't have many OTA HiDef broadcasters in your area, there's always HiDef via cable TV or satellite. I get about a 1/2 dozen OTA HiDef channels here but in LA I understand there are dozens to choose from (OK maybe not that many but certainly many more than what we have here in Denver). Denver is considered a 'secondary market' for HDTV roll out.

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