If you do run into that problem, you might TRY connecting Component, set the format(s) you want, and then reconnect the HDMI.

Unless they have all formats turned on effectively "passing" the received format, that means the box is doing deinterlacing and/or scaling. With the quality of these circuits in newer displays and AVRs, I would pitch a bitch if I found my 8300HD was set up that way.


As if anyone has a choice. :(

I haven't seen anything in the original post or subsequent posts that would leave me to believe that they're not passing all the formats (480i, 720p, 1080i).

It's true, there's really isn't a choice. Secondly, this is far more of an annoyance than a deal-breaker of any kind. I'm not trying to minimize the frustration about it, but I'm confident someone will figure out a way to get into that menu. You have to figure that the techs know how to get in, and someone will surely leak that out.

I haven't seen anything in the original post or subsequent posts that would leave me to believe that they're not passing all the formats (480i, 720p, 1080i).

It's true, there's really isn't a choice. Secondly, this is far more of an annoyance than a deal-breaker of any kind. I'm not trying to minimize the frustration about it, but I'm confident someone will figure out a way to get into that menu. You have to figure that the techs know how to get in, and someone will surely leak that out.
You'd think, but in all the time I've been frequenting these threads, I've yet to see any posts that come from anyone with "inside" knowledge. A few posters - vegggas & davehancock in particular - demonstrate a very deep knowledge, but no one has stepped up and given us any news we can use on the inner workings.

As if anyone has a choice. :(

8300HDCs w/Navigator are being given out in my market... word has it that they will NOT give out a 8300HD/Passport box. Which is a pisser because as I read the rule, they sure as hell CAN give out those boxes.

I had actually wasted some brain cells thinking about swapping my HD for the HDC... mostly because trick play SEEMS to be gone. The I read horror stories about not even being able to RECORD stuff with the new boxes...

So my issue is when will they force download Navigator to our boxes? It HAS been said they have a separate version of it to run on HD boxes, MDN VS ODN, something like that.

I thought this fixed resolution was going to be a problem for me in regards to the SD pillar bars, but the new box allows me to change the pillar bar color for SD channels to black, which my old 8300HD running passport did not.

I have no problems at all with HDMI on the new 8300HDC box changing from channels that run in 480p, 720p, or 1080i and I'm happy with the upconversion it does on the 480p and 720p channels.

While it sucks that we can't configure Nav. like we did w/Passport, the "trick" to make Passport boxes do only black side pillars depended on setting the 8300HD to allow all resolutions to pass through untouched. So it becomes far less of an issue for how I like my setup to be.

2 QUESTIONS:

1. I was comparing my component and HDMI connections to my Vizio LCD from my 8300 b/c I was thinking about having other equipment connect via HDMI and have the cable connect component. Well, the component looked sharper and had no red push w/ HD channels. Has anyone experienced this?

2. Also, a friend got the 8300HDC (non-Passport) from TWC New York and we connected the box via HDMI to his brand new Vizio 52". I couldn't get the sound to come out of the TV. I went into the 8300 menu and the only audio option was "digital." On my 8300HD Passport, I remember seeing options such as dolby digital, HDMI, and 2 channel. What's going on here??? We wound up using component and red/white audio.

So my issue is when will they force download Navigator to our boxes? It HAS been said they have a separate version of it to run on HD boxes, MDN VS ODN, something like that.

Navigator boxes are beginning to float out into my area as well. Still no sign of the upgrade to the Passport models even though they've had the Navigator instructions section live at twcnc.com since the beginning of the year.

Ironically it also has "The Time Warner Cable Navigator™ is the first of many exciting innovations coming your way." We haven't seen that "innovation" yet, so the timetable looks very distant for the other "exciting innovations". This time I'm actually glad I live in a market that's last to see anything new.

Although every time my STBs spontaeously reboot, I keep expecting a new boot up logo to appear. And take most (or all) of my prerecorded shows with it. Just like the last time they did a Passport upgrade.

2 QUESTIONS:

1. I was comparing my component and HDMI connections to my Vizio LCD from my 8300 b/c I was thinking about having other equipment connect via HDMI and have the cable connect component. Well, the component looked sharper and had no red push w/ HD channels. Has anyone experienced this?

2. Also, a friend got the 8300HDC (non-Passport) from TWC New York and we connected the box via HDMI to his brand new Vizio 52". I couldn't get the sound to come out of the TV. I went into the 8300 menu and the only audio option was "digital." On my 8300HD Passport, I remember seeing options such as dolby digital, HDMI, and 2 channel. What's going on here??? We wound up using component and red/white audio.

Funny, with TWC NYC I found component to be a fair bit darker than HDMI. "Darker" seemed perceptually to be less sharp... the point being that there appears to be a wide range of opinion about "component vs. HDMI."

A lot of folks in NYC who got HDC boxes found they simply couldn't actually record anything. From the comments I've seen made in that market, almost everyone who gets stuck with a HDC wants out.

Did your NYC pal have ANY other cables attached to the HDC? Where there any options for audio on the TV?

View Post
2 QUESTIONS:

1. I was comparing my component and HDMI connections to my Vizio LCD from my 8300 b/c I was thinking about having other equipment connect via HDMI and have the cable connect component. Well, the component looked sharper and had no red push w/ HD channels. Has anyone experienced this?

2. Also, a friend got the 8300HDC (non-Passport) from TWC New York and we connected the box via HDMI to his brand new Vizio 52". I couldn't get the sound to come out of the TV. I went into the 8300 menu and the only audio option was "digital." On my 8300HD Passport, I remember seeing options such as dolby digital, HDMI, and 2 channel. What's going on here??? We wound up using component and red/white audio.Funny, with TWC NYC I found component to be a fair bit darker than HDMI. "Darker" seemed perceptually to be less sharp... the point being that there appears to be a wide range of opinion about "component vs. HDMI."

A lot of folks in NYC who got HDC boxes found they simply couldn't actually record anything. From the comments I've seen made in that market, almost everyone who gets stuck with a HDC wants out.

Did your NYC pal have ANY other cables attached to the HDC? Where there any options for audio on the TV?
No other cables were attached. He actually knows nothing about home theater electronics which is why I was there to walk him through it.
No other options for the TV except for turning the speakers and surround sound on and off.

I have to assume that the audio feature was turned off in the HDMI settings in the box. Guess TWC doesn't want customers to use HDMI b/c HDMI can be a pain in the ass sometimes.

BTW: to confirm my suspicions, I took still photographs of component and HDMI. They confirmed it.

I have to assume that the audio feature was turned off in the HDMI settings in the box. Guess TWC doesn't want customers to use HDMI b/c HDMI can be a pain in the ass sometimes.
If that's the case then that is very disturbing. It is benign neglect for them to say that they don't support it - like eSATA ports - but to turn it off in a hidden setting and not give the option of activating it is actively interfering with, and completely ignoring what is going on in, the average enthusiast's world. HDMI can indeed be a PITA, but most are able to get it working properly and when they do so, it is a beautiful thing for both quality and simplification.

Funny, with TWC NYC I found component to be a fair bit darker than HDMI. "Darker" seemed perceptually to be less sharp... the point being that there appears to be a wide range of opinion about "component vs. HDMI."One reason for what you observed, and the range of opinions regarding "component vs HDMI" is that different user settings (brightness, sharpness, etc.) are usually required for optimum picture with each.

Problems with HDMI are at least partially due to the implementation of HDMI in the display. There can be two-way communication between the display and the source (SA8300) regarding scan rates & audio, that can cause things to work differently in a given cable system with different displays.

Jgayman is correct, but just so you're absolutely clear:

Press the "Settings" button on your remote.

When the on-screen Settings menu comes up, press the "A" button, which will get you deeper in the Settings menu.

Now, scroll down to the "Output Formats" section with your up/down keys on the remote selector pad. Once "Output Formats" is highlighted, press either the Select button or the Right arrow key on the remote to actually get into the Output Formats section.

Now, you will use your up/down keys on the remote again. Each output resolution your DVR is set to display will have a white circle next to it. Using your up/down keys, scroll to each one you don't want. Pressing the "Select" button will toggle that resolution OFF (pressing it again will toggle it back ON).

Go through each of the output resolutions and toggle them OFF EXCEPT the 1080i resolution.

The 1080i resolution, then, will be the only one left with a white circle/dot next to it.

Press the "A" button to accept your changes. Then, press the Exit button.

You'll be all set. Now the box won't delay going from the stations that are 720p, 1080i, and 480i.

Note: If your hdtv is like mine, toggling OFF 480i will not allow you to stretch the SD channels. Of course, your set might still allow you to do this. So, that's up to you to find out. My set is a two-year old Panasonic 37" plasma. That model wouldn't allow you to stretch 1080i channels that were broadcasting 4:3 (regular tv) shows. This year's model does, however.

Explorer 8300HDC, time-warner, plasma display...I was so happy to hear about this. I have been putting up with having the output format delay between channels since I had all 4 formats selected (per the installation guy). Interestingly, this works fine for my component connection but not if I use HDMI. When the HDMI output is being used, the box disables any adjustment of the output resolution and if I go to a lower channel, the output format delay returns along with all of the active resolution adjustment from channel to channel, so I am stuck with this if I keep using my HDMI cable.

Speaking of which, I have gone back to component lately since in the past few weeks I have been having problems with the CBS HD feed via my HDMI...I thought maybe its my HDMI cable, but why would it only be screwing up one channel and not all of them?

Anyways, I am glad to have found this forum.

-jonathan

I'm with TW West Valley (North of L.A.) and had the HDMI problem where the picture flashes black, then picture, then black...

TW said they do not support HDMI and said that the techs are not even allowed to talk to me about it. CB

TW said they do not support HDMI and said that the techs are not even allowed to talk to me about it. CBI suggest that you ask to speak to a supervisor on the situation and ask:
If TW does not support HDMI, why did a TW Network Engineer, Joanne Bandlow, publish a paper (here (http://www.cable360.net/print/ct/operations/bestpractices/23213.html)) on HDCP and provide troubleshooting tips (including the statement "The simplest fix is to encourage the sub to use analog component connections (YPbPr)...").

Hope that works for you.

I'm on TWC San Diego, Passport V 2.6.002. I just took the advice and changed my output settings on my 8300HD to only have 1080i output. Now the color and picture on SD channels is much better, and I don't have to go thru the light-show delay when it was switching between 480i and 1080i. I'm sorry I waited so long in doing this.

FYI, my TV is a 6 1/2 year old Mistubishi WS-55807 CRT-based rear-projector unit so it has component connections only.

I am also on TWC San Diego and have the 8300HDC. It seems to be working fine with HDMI, but when I use components the blue component does not work, any suggestions? I tried other devices with the components and they worked fine. My TV only has one HDMI input, and I have been using that for my PS3.

I am also on TWC San Diego and have the 8300HDC. It seems to be working fine with HDMI, but when I use components the blue component does not work, any suggestions? I tried other devices with the components and they worked fine. My TV only has one HDMI input, and I have been using that for my PS3.Bad box (unless you have a problem with the cables).

Hi,
I have a TWC Milwaukee 8300HD box with passport software. I am able to choose which outputs pass via HDMI. I run the unit through my Yamaha RXV-661 receiver via HDMI, then HDMI out from the receiver to my panasonic 720p projector.

I have a couple problems, well minor annoyances really. Firstly, I have to disable the 480i output in order to pass video through HDMI. I wish I didn't have to, as I am certain the projector scales better than this box. In being required to do this, I find that the SD channels look crappy.

I am thinking of going back to component + optical from HDMI so that I can output the native signal and let the projector do it's thing, hoping for a better SD picture. HD in both 720p and 1080i look amazing.

Does anyone else use component by choice, in order to let something else do the scaling (ie: external scaler, receiver, display, etc.)? Am I off base on this? What else would you suggest? My goal is really for the best possible SD picture (until my prayers are answered for all HD some day:D).

It is easy for me to make the change either way, as I use a harmony remote so the switching from DVD via HDMI and cable via component are not an issue for me.

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Pat

One reason for what you observed, and the range of opinions regarding "component vs HDMI" is that different user settings (brightness, sharpness, etc.) are usually required for optimum picture with each.

Yes "user settings" can somewhat overcome an issue such as this... BUT in order to get roughly equivalent gamma, I have to boost white and black level to 100 (top of the range) to get component to look similar to HDMI. I consider that unacceptable... for one, it leaves me completely out of any option for further adjustment (along with an unwillingness to fool around with the TV service settings).

Still, as I have posted, I find a very specific value to HDMI... in addition to the serious issue that my display has only one component connection and I MUST use it for my DVD player, precluding using it with my STB.

Yes "user settings" can somewhat overcome an issue such as this... BUT in order to get roughly equivalent gamma, I have to boost white and black level to 100 (top of the range) to get component to look similar to HDMI. I consider that unacceptable... for one, it leaves me completely out of any option for further adjustment (along with an unwillingness to fool around with the TV service settings).Yeh, it sounds like your issues are more due to the display (and how it handles the two types of inputs). You said previously that opinions vary re: Component vs HDMI. The characteristics of the display are part of the issue (as well as user settings).

Hi,

I have TWC Milw WI with SA8300HD/Passport. I have it connected to my Pioneer Plasma via component cable (as HDMI only has audio and TWC wouldn't help me). My gripe is that when watching SD channels I have to have grey side bars if I don't want a distorted/cropped picture. I would like to pass the signal raw to my Plasma and have it handle the signal by using BLACK side bars (to avoid burn-in). But it doesn't appear I can enable pass-through and there is no way to change the grey to black on the SA8300HD (why would they choose grey and not black?). Am I wrong?

TIA,
Danno

Hi,

I have TWC Milw WI with SA8300HD/Passport. I have it connected to my Pioneer Plasma via component cable (as HDMI only has audio and TWC wouldn't help me). My gripe is that when watching SD channels I have to have grey side bars if I don't want a distorted/cropped picture. I would like to pass the signal raw to my Plasma and have it handle the signal by using BLACK side bars (to avoid burn-in). But it doesn't appear I can enable pass-through and there is no way to change the grey to black on the SA8300HD (why would they choose grey and not black?). Am I wrong?

TIA,
Danno

Mine is connected via HDMI and also has gray side bars. I have an LCD projector, so less of an issue, but I still think it looks dumb. I am unaware how to change it, but from my reading, you cannot.

Pat

Hi,

I have TWC Milw WI with SA8300HD/Passport. I have it connected to my Pioneer Plasma via component cable (as HDMI only has audio and TWC wouldn't help me). My gripe is that when watching SD channels I have to have grey side bars if I don't want a distorted/cropped picture. I would like to pass the signal raw to my Plasma and have it handle the signal by using BLACK side bars (to avoid burn-in). But it doesn't appear I can enable pass-through and there is no way to change the grey to black on the SA8300HD (why would they choose grey and not black?). Am I wrong?
I'll take a shot at the color of the sidebars; grey reduces the likelihood of burn-in because it and the 4:3 image exercise the whole display. Black bars would increase the likelihood of you noticing burn-in on the 4:3 area. Different display technologies have different degrees of susceptibility to burn-in, with some having NONE, but the box needs to be designed to be used with all displays.

Burn-in is really uneven phosphor wear and black (and white for that matter) would cause much more uneven wear than the grey does, that's why they chose grey. FWIW, SARA users have the option to change the bars (light, medium, dark), not sure why Passport doesn't allow that. Most folks dislike the grey because it is too bright in their darkened home theaters.

Most folks dislike the grey because it is too bright in their darkened home theaters.I've heard people complain that it doesn't match the cool piano-black bezel of their flatpanel :rolleyes:. Many people find it distracting.

I hear that. I never really paid much attention until someone mentioned the brightness in their HT. Now I can't stand the grey either. :)

I hear that. I never really paid much attention until someone mentioned the brightness in their HT. Now I can't stand the grey either. :)
Other than CNN/MSNBC/Fox, all of the programing we watch on the BR system is 16:9. The "serious system" carries only 16:9.

DD: How are you? Staying cool? :)

DD: How are you? Staying cool? :)Absolutely not! We tied a record yesterday with our 28th >110 degree day this summer with another one forecast for today before we start to cool down. There were more days <100 than usual, but they were too few to have much effect. The biggest problem is the high 80's for overnight lows. I am definitely looking forward to my last summer next year.

It's really not as bad as the news makes it sound, but difficult the first day back after vacation. This is really the first summer that I've noticed the heat and have actually had some trouble breathing at times, inhaling all that heat doesn't do much for the oxygen levels. :) We're headed for the mountains for the long weekend and next weekend too. After that, we should be on the downward trend heading for October and 8 months of great weather. Thanks for asking.

Burn-in is really uneven phosphor wear and black (and white for that matter) would cause much more uneven wear than the grey does, that's why they chose grey. FWIW, SARA users have the option to change the bars (light, medium, dark), not sure why Passport doesn't allow that. Most folks dislike the grey because it is too bright in their darkened home theaters.

I assuming "black" would just mean those phosphors would not be "lit". My misunderstanding.

I assuming "black" would just mean those phosphors would not be "lit". My misunderstanding.Even if that were possible (and I have no idea how CRTs and PDPs display black), it would still cause uneven wear, since those unused portions of the screen would stay brighter as the rest of it gradually dimmed over time.

FWIW, I found a kind of trick that has me seeing ONLY black side pillars 100% of the time. It makes NO sense, but it works. It KNOW it works on my TWC NYC 8300HD/Passport and a Samsung and a Sony 40" LCD from about a year ago (92 series Sammie, XBR1 Sony).

The TV's settings specify 16:9 on HD channels and 4:3 on SD channels, kinda normal. On the 8300, I set the "primary" to... 4:3. Primary in that it's the first one listed AS you are tuned into a HD channel. Seems 100% the OPPOSITE of what one SHOULD do.

BUT, I have NO distortion anywhere AND I now have black side pillars. If I reset the 8300 to 16:9 for HD channels, again, nothing is distorted BUT I have gray side pillars.

It's worth a shot, you have nothing to loose (except finding out it doesn't work for you combo).

FWIW, I found a kind of trick that has me seeing ONLY black side pillars 100% of the time. It makes NO sense, but it works. It KNOW it works on my TWC NYC 8300HD/Passport and a Samsung and a Sony 40" LCD from about a year ago (92 series Sammie, XBR1 Sony).

The TV's settings specify 16:9 on HD channels and 4:3 on SD channels, kinda normal. On the 8300, I set the "primary" to... 4:3. Primary in that it's the first one listed AS you are tuned into a HD channel. Seems 100% the OPPOSITE of what one SHOULD do.

BUT, I have NO distortion anywhere AND I now have black side pillars. If I reset the 8300 to 16:9 for HD channels, again, nothing is distorted BUT I have gray side pillars.

It's worth a shot, you have nothing to loose (except finding out it doesn't work for you combo).

While counter-intuitive, this is exactly what I've been doing for the past couple of years... it does work!

Even if that were possible (and I have no idea how CRTs and PDPs display black), it would still cause uneven wear, since those unused portions of the screen would stay brighter as the rest of it gradually dimmed over time.Absolutely!

Do you have Passport or SARA software? I have Passport. If I am recording a 2 hour movie ... I simply press the green List button, select the show that is recording (indicated with a red dot to the left of the show) and then select "Play" or "Play from the Beginning". Not sure which version Passport software I have.

JK27

I have Passport on an SA 8300. My understanding is that if you are RECORDING a LIVE show, you can only pause and than rewind up to the point where you began the recording. I think if you are just WATCHING a show, you can only rewind live TV from 1 hour back and fast forward only to the part where the show is. You can pause anytime.

If you have already RECORDED a show and it is done, and on your RECORD LIST, you can play it from the beginning, Rewind, Fast Forward through commercials. Everything.

Jack

I think if you are just WATCHING a show, you can only rewind live TV from 1 hour back and fast forward only to the part where the show is. You can pause anytime.
Jack

You can only rewind live to the beginning of the buffer, which will vary depending on how long you've been tuned to that channel...if you just tuned to say, channel 25, your live buffer is zero...so no rewind. If the 8300 was tuned to 25 for thirty minutes, then that would be how far back you could rewind.

I forget what the max buffer time is...but you need to be tuned to that channel for any buffer to be available.

I forget what the max buffer time is...but you need to be tuned to that channel for any buffer to be available.The maximum buffer time for the 8300HD running Passport 1.8something or better is 1 hour, exactly. The buffers are 8.8GB each, which is enough time for 1 hour of 21Mbps content. Since you aren't likely to ever see content that averages higher than 19 Mbps--some channels on your system are probably averaging 13 Mbps or less--the buffers would probably hold significantly more than an hour of anything you're watching, but the time is artificially constrained to exactly 1 hour.

Earlier versions of Passport Echo kept 3.9GB buffers (I think--it was less than half) and allowed the buffer duration to vary with the bit rate. This was true of Passport Echo 1.5xx; I'm not certain of when they increased the space. I recall that I was pissed, since it decreased my recording time by more than an hours worth of some material.

Related to not being able to enable pass-through, PBS shows non-HD shows with black bars on top and bottom so that you can zoom to fill the whole screen with no distortion (i.e. all dimensions get bigger). I will be switching to Direct TV most likely.

Danno
SA8300HD/Passport connected via Component to Plasma (b/s HDMI does not work and is not supported by TWC SE Wisc)

SA8300HD/Passport connected via Component to Plasma (b/s HDMI does not work and is not supported by TWC SE Wisc)

I'm not sure what "supported" means, but they (the people at TWC-Mayfair Mall) told me HDMI would work and it does for me just fine.

Pat

I'm not sure what "supported" means, but they (the people at TWC-Mayfair Mall) told me HDMI would work and it does for me just fine.

Pat"Supported" means that they'll work with you on the phone and do home service calls to fix it if it doesn't work; it means that they've trained their CSRs and field techs on the technology. If the feature isn't supported, you can't complain to them about it.

I'm not sure what "supported" means, but they (the people at TWC-Mayfair Mall) told me HDMI would work and it does for me just fine.

Pat

It means I called TWC Milw and they said "we don't support HDMI". TWC support sucks, worse than the baby bell phone company.

Danno

That's fine, that's why I tend to try and figure things out myself. Tech support for everything I've ever tried has been more than useless. I can't remember the last time I called tech support. I just use forums such as this to solve problems.

Pat

That's fine, that's why I tend to try and figure things out myself. Tech support for everything I've ever tried has been more than useless. I can't remember the last time I called tech support. I just use forums such as this to solve problems.

Pat

Pat,
That is exactly how I have felt for years now!
No matter which company's tech support I've ever called, it was always a waste of time, first they don't listen to what you've already tried and walk you through the most basic diagnostic steps again ( a total waste of time) and secondly if it's not on their list of scripts to read, they say we don't support that set up etc... to release them from having to figure the problem out.
A total waste of time!
And the basic reason sites like this have flourished to help out people figure the problems out themselves and share their results.
:)

AnthonyNYC

Related to not being able to enable pass-through, PBS shows non-HD shows with black bars on top and bottom so that you can zoom to fill the whole screen with no distortion (i.e. all dimensions get bigger). I will be switching to Direct TV most likely.

Danno
SA8300HD/Passport connected via Component to Plasma (b/s HDMI does not work and is not supported by TWC SE Wisc)

Danno,
Hi, not sure I understand your comment about WNET (PBS), here in New York PBS broadcasts 2 separate signals both over the air and on cable. One is normal PBS and on the HD PBS channel, there is HD material and signal.
Why would Direct TV have anything different?

Any show made to look 16x9 but not HD will have the black bars on the top and the grey bars on the side and need to be zoomed to fill the 16x9 screen.
And of course it won't look great, for 2 reasons, A. It's being zoomed and B. It's only a 480i (non-HD) image to begin with.
So exactly what is your point please?
:confused:

Thanks,
AnthonyNYC

Danno,
Hi, not sure I understand your comment about WNET (PBS), here in New York PBS broadcasts 2 separate signals both over the air and on cable. One is normal PBS and on the HD PBS channel, there is HD material and signal.
Why would Direct TV have anything different?

Any show made to look 16x9 but not HD will have the black bars on the top and the grey bars on the side and need to be zoomed to fill the 16x9 screen.
And of course it won't look great, for 2 reasons, A. It's being zoomed and B. It's only a 480i (non-HD) image to begin with.
So exactly what is your point please?
:confused:

Thanks,
AnthonyNYC

I am in SE Wisc TWC. My point is that when a PBS HD channel is showing a SD show, they put a black bar on top and bottom so that when the content is zoomed it fills the whole screen with no distortion. My SA8300HD will put grey bars on the side of the content so I can't zoom it properly.

danno321s,

The following link might help, as there are may combinations of decisions (director, network, TV station, cable company, STB settings, TV settings, etc.) that affect what you see on the screen. Blog post: Pictures (http://www.highdefinitionblog.com/?page_id=92), Original post (http://www.highdefinitionblog.com/?page_id=6).

Not vouching for its precision and accuracy, as I just took the first hit off Google, but this should be a start at understanding the interplay of aspect ratios and formats, and how the decisions from everyone (including you) affects what you see.

BTW, last time I had PASSPORT, the Video or Aspect or HD/Zoom button on the remote did something separate from the settings in the menu (like having two light switches for the same lamp...).

v/r,
C-F

Related to not being able to enable pass-through, PBS shows non-HD shows with black bars on top and bottom so that you can zoom to fill the whole screen with no distortion (i.e. all dimensions get bigger). I will be switching to Direct TV most likely.

Danno
SA8300HD/Passport connected via Component to Plasma (b/s HDMI does not work and is not supported by TWC SE Wisc)
On Passport you just allow all resolutions and they "pass through". I get black pillars from the TV just fine and don't get the 8300HD's grey bars. Play around with the settings, they did end up doing what I think you want.
Dan

On Passport you just allow all resolutions and they "pass through". I get black pillars from the TV just fine and don't get the 8300HD's grey bars. Play around with the settings, they did end up doing what I think you want.
Dan

Wrong I'm afraid. There are many TWC/Passport areas where there are gray sidebars. There are NO settings in Passport to deal with this. In areas WITH gray pillars, there is a "trick" one can play to get black bars.

I apologize in advance for not searching, but these threads are just so massive. Does anyone know if the SA8300HD allows for the "buffer" on external drives yet?

TIA!

I thought he meant that enabling 480i (not wide-screen) in the settings was the "trick" to bypassing the 8300 grey sidebars and allow the TV to frame the SD picture with whatever the TV is set to (or to molest it in some other way).

He just did not explicitly mention that there is no menu option to change the color of the sidebars.

He also did not explicitly mention that: Using this trick with HDMI requires: The menu settings actually control the output formats. i.e. [you] are not in an area where HDMI is automagically locked to 1080i for some reason. [your] TV supports 480i into the HDMI input. Not all do. This may cause the TV to pause during the resolution change when changing channels with different resolutions. Some folks find this unacceptable. Enabling 720p requires the TV to support that resolution. Some older TV may only accept 1080i and not 720p. Not sure if any accept only 720p and not 1080i, but I guess it is possible. And the impact of the aspect controls in the menu. Plus the little button on the remote that [used to] further molest the picture in addition to the menu settings.v/r,
C-F

mostly playing with nested [ list ] elements... :p

I thought he meant that enabling 480i (not wide-screen) in the settings was the "trick" to bypassing the 8300 grey sidebars and allow the TV to frame the SD picture with whatever the TV is set to (or to molest it in some other way).

He just did not explicitly mention that there is no menu option to change the color of the sidebars.

He also did not explicitly mention that: Using this trick with HDMI requires: The menu settings actually control the output formats. i.e. [you] are not in an area where HDMI is automagically locked to 1080i for some reason. [your] TV supports 480i into the HDMI input. Not all do. This may cause the TV to pause during the resolution change when changing channels with different resolutions. Some folks find this unacceptable. Enabling 720p requires the TV to support that resolution. Some older TV may only accept 1080i and not 720p. Not sure if any accept only 720p and not 1080i, but I guess it is possible. And the impact of the aspect controls in the menu. Plus the little button on the remote that [used to] further molest the picture in addition to the menu settings.v/r,
C-F

mostly playing with nested [ list ] elements... :p

Oh, he didn't say what he did, just "playing with the settings." I have been told SARA does have an item for this, Passport does not. Indeed setting the primary output of the 8300HD in Passport to 4:3 CAN make for changing gray to black in some cable systems... it works in mine. But it is NOT where you set 480 as a resolution, that's Output Formats. The 4:3 thing is under Aspect Ratio.

It's also possible this odd "trick" may depend on the TV in use, I only know it works on Samsung and Sony LCDs from last year. On my Sammy, I can NOT set 480i (on the 8300), it will revert to 480p. One black away, I CAN set a Sony to 480i on that 8300. Yet the trick still works.

BTW, your "list elements" are great to read in the thread, but when quoted, they are jumbled as I look at them in edit mode!

The 4:3 black bar trick works on my vizio 32" LCD but does not work on my panasonic 720p projector. I am not sure why, but I am getting used to it so it's no big deal now.

Pat

It means I called TWC Milw and they said "we don't support HDMI". TWC support sucks, worse than the baby bell phone company.

Danno


Just got my first HDTV today and TW's lovely SA 8300. My HDMI connection give absolutely no signal to the TV. No video, no audio, no nothing. I called TW and they have scheduled a tech to come out on Saturday so we shall see. This is Socal TW for those interested.

Just got my first HDTV today and TW's lovely SA 8300. My HDMI connection give absolutely no signal to the TV. No video, no audio, no nothing. I called TW and they have scheduled a tech to come out on Saturday so we shall see. This is Socal TW for those interested.I think that you're the first person I've heard who was offered support for HDMI on a leased cable box. (But then, maybe I just haven't been paying attention :)).

I think that you're the first person I've heard who was offered support for HDMI on a leased cable box. (But then, maybe I just haven't been paying attention :)).
If the tech leaves with the box connected by component cables, we may need to further define "supporting HDMI." ;)

I think that you're the first person I've heard who was offered support for HDMI on a leased cable box. (But then, maybe I just haven't been paying attention :)).

Honestly, they will probably get here and turn around. The tech I spoke with on the phone really didn't even know what HDMI was. She kept asking if that was a coax or RCA cable from my STB to my TV. :rolleyes:

The one thing that seems different for me is that I have no signal what so ever while it sounds like a number of people have video with no audio. It's really a bite after agonizing over what TV to jump into the HD world with and when you finally pull the trigger you get stymied by a stupid cable box.

My impression is that many people have been using HDMI with these boxes. The biggest problem that they had initially is that connecting an HDMI cable directly from the box to their television would cause sound mixing to be limited to the television's sound capabilities (2.0 or 2.1 channel), since the box would read those capabilities over HDMI. Recent versions of Passport have a setting to override that.

Just got my first HDTV today and TW's lovely SA 8300. My HDMI connection give absolutely no signal to the TV. No video, no audio, no nothing. I called TW and they have scheduled a tech to come out on Saturday so we shall see. This is Socal TW for those interested.

Reboot the 8300 (remove power/pull plug, count to 30, re-plug).

On Passport you just allow all resolutions and they "pass through". I get black pillars from the TV just fine and don't get the 8300HD's grey bars. Play around with the settings, they did end up doing what I think you want.
Dan

That is how I have it set. Still grey bars; i.e. no raw signal.

That is how I have it set. Still grey bars; i.e. no raw signal.How do you know that your television's not adding gray bars?

That is how I have it set. Still grey bars; i.e. no raw signal.
Do a "stretch" on your TV. If the grey bars are still there then they are coming from the STB and you are still sending grey bars to the TV. Stretch takes the picture it is receiving and stretches it. If from STB, the grey bars are part of the picture. If they go away, your TV is adding grey (mine only does black) and you want to change to black in some setting. I need to look at my settings at home, but I think I have 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i being sent through (all turned on). Then 16:9 for HD and 4:3 for SD set. I get what you are hoping for (full screen for 16:9 content, black bars for 4:3 content)
Dan

Oh: My TV does remember the screen settings per resolution (dot by dot, stretch, side bars, etc.)

Just got my first HDTV today and TW's lovely SA 8300. My HDMI connection give absolutely no signal to the TV. No video, no audio, no nothing. I called TW and they have scheduled a tech to come out on Saturday so we shall see. This is Socal TW for those interested.

Turn the 8300 & the TV off. Turn on the DVR, then turn on the TV.
If you turn on the TV first (and it's fully on, most TV's take a few seconds)
and then turn the DVR on things don't work. On my system (8300HD and Samsung 42" plasma),
If I turn on TV 1st the DVR sends signal to component and NOT HDMI. My son's Sony LCD works the same way.

Rick

Turn the 8300 & the TV off. Turn on the DVR, then turn on the TV.
If you turn on the TV first (and it's fully on, most TV's take a few seconds)
and then turn the DVR on things don't work. On my system (8300HD and Samsung 42" plasma),
If I turn on TV 1st the DVR sends signal to component and NOT HDMI. My son's Sony LCD works the same way.
FWIW, mine works the exact opposite. I need to have my display on before turning on my 8300HD.

Usually the TV has to be on first in order for it to respond to the HDCP handshake requested by the 8300 when it is turned on and HDMI is used. The difference might be the added Component connection, though I don't see how the proper HDCP handshake takes place if the TV is turned on after the 8300. I also thought the latest software disabled Component if an HDMI cable was attached to the 8300. Oh well, whatever works and probably worth a try. Either way, I'd try something rather than wait for the cableco to show up. :)

Thanks for all the suggestions. Tried everyone of them too. No luck. No signal what so ever from the HDMI port.

I also tried setting the display output for the 8300 to the following:
1080i only
1080i and 720p
No luck there either. Also, though I'm not sure it supposed to work anymore, the way of getting the 8300 into setup mode (guide and info button when off) doesn't work on my box. Hopefully they will just give me a new box that will actually work tomorrow.

FWIW, mine works the exact opposite. I need to have my display on before turning on my 8300HD.

Funny, for me it makes no difference. One one first, the other one first, no matter. Normally, I use the "master" power switch on my 8300HD's remote to power both STB and display. The 8300 is ready to rock before the display, but I have manually done it the other way around.

Obviously, HDMI likes me! AND I do NOT kiss it on the lips, just occasionally give it the manly handshake!

Funny, for me it makes no difference. One one first, the other one first, no matter. Normally, I use the "master" power switch on my 8300HD's remote to power both STB and display. The 8300 is ready to rock before the display, but I have manually done it the other way around.

Obviously, HDMI likes me! AND I do NOT kiss it on the lips, just occasionally give it the manly handshake!
With the rapid succession of the components turning on that way it's possible that by the time the 8300HD is looking for its kiss, the display is puckered.

Rick/BugEater,

Have either of you tried using Component just to make sure your 8300 works to begin with?

BugEater,

What is your location and cableco? Please add them to your profile. If you try Component, you might also check and post your software info too. :)

Rick/BugEater,

Have either of you tried using Component just to make sure your 8300 works to begin with?

BugEater,

What is your location and cableco? Please add them to your profile. If you try Component, you might also check and post your software info too. :)

I'm in Orange County, California and am on TW cable.

I'm currently working on component. I'll have to check on the software version.

Well now. I have egg on my face at this point and I have to give some props to the TW service tech. It ended up that the HDMI cable I got from monoprice ended up being bad. The tech tried a cable he had and everything came up just fine. The tech even let me keep the cable.

Thanks to all those that replied with suggestions to try and resolve the issue.

Well now. I have egg on my face at this point and I have to give some props to the TW service tech. It ended up that the HDMI cable I got from monoprice ended up being bad. The tech tried a cable he had and everything came up just fine. The tech even let me keep the cable.

Thanks to all those that replied with suggestions to try and resolve the issue.This is just remarkable. Not only did they send someone to support HDMI, he came equiped with HDMI cables and managed to solve the problem. All hail OC TWC!

Usually the TV has to be on first in order for it to respond to the HDCP handshake requested by the 8300 when it is turned on and HDMI is used. The difference might be the added Component connection, though I don't see how the proper HDCP handshake takes place if the TV is turned on after the 8300. I also thought the latest software disabled Component if an HDMI cable was attached to the 8300. Oh well, whatever works and probably worth a try. Either way, I'd try something rather than wait for the cableco to show up

I have HDMI directly to TV. Component from 8300 to receiver to TV. If I want to use HDMI: DVR on then TV on. If I want to use component: Receiver on, TV on & wait for "searching for signal", then 8300 on.

Up until about a year ago HDMI & component were both active at the same time. A Passport update changed things so that now only 1 of the 2 is active at a time. However S-Video and Composite are always active.

Everyone should have a Composite cable from the DVR to the TV just for emergency "setup" fixes.

I have a HC TC-30 activity-based remote (repackaged harmony) that turns things on in the following order: TV, DVR, receiver. I get a HDMI connection (NOT the component) because the DVR is on and ready before the TV is actually ready. I have verified the on sequences and the results by using the 3 separate remotes.

Rick Graham

This is just remarkable. Not only did they send someone to support HDMI, he came equiped with HDMI cables and managed to solve the problem. All hail OC TWC!Absolutely!!!

BTW. Please add an "S" to the end of the quote in your signature. :)

BTW. Please add an "S" to the end of the quote in your signature. :)I know that it's annoying, but you don't make grammatical corrections to quotes. :)

How do you know that your television's not adding gray bars?

I thought I covered this already:when I zoom the gray bars stay in the picture so it is the STB doing it.

I know that it's annoying, but you don't make grammatical corrections to quotes. :)I guess that's true, but it sure makes someone look pretty foolish. Not sure I'd want to be quoted if I screwed it up like that. Oh well, guess I'll just continue to ignore.......both. :)

I guess that's true, but it sure makes someone look pretty foolish. Not sure I'd want to be quoted if I screwed it up like that. Oh well, guess I'll just continue to ignore.......both. :)

You can put (sp) after it to indicate it was written in that way.

Jim

You can put (sp) after it to indicate it was written in that way.

JimDidn't mean to start a whole discussion. I was just pulling Mike's chain (and by extension hookbill's) a little. :)

You can put (sp) after it to indicate it was written in that way.

Didn't mean to start a whole discussion. I was just pulling Mike's chain (and by extension hookbill's) a little. :)Better now :)?

You can put (sp) after it to indicate it was written in that way.

Jim

That would be [sic]....

"Sic is a Latin word, originally sicut [1] meaning "thus", "so", or "just as that". In writing, it is placed within square brackets and usually italicized — [sic] — to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced verbatim from the quoted original and is not a transcription error.[2]"

That would be [sic]....

"Sic is a Latin word, originally sicut [1] meaning "thus", "so", or "just as that". In writing, it is placed within square brackets and usually italicized — [sic] — to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced verbatim from the quoted original and is not a transcription error.[2]"I was using the Random House Unabridged Dictionary definition, which I got from Dictionary.com (here (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sic&r=65)):sic /sik; Eng. sɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[seek; Eng. sik] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adverb Latin. so; thus: usually written parenthetically to denote that a word, phrase, passage, etc., that may appear strange or incorrect has been written intentionally or has been quoted verbatim: He signed his name as e. e. cummings (sic).

ROTFLMAO!!!! Didn't really need a laugh after the GB win, but I'll take it. :)

I had a similiar problem as BugEater when I tried to hook up my new 8300HD and JVC TV through HDMI. I coulldn't get the JVC to read it even though it worked fine through component cables. I also had the monoprice cable, but in my case it turned out to be the 8300 that was faulty. Swapped DVR's and it worked perfectly.
Next thing I'm trying is an expandable hard drive. But of course that's a different thread.

I had a similiar problem as BugEater when I tried to hook up my new 8300HD and JVC TV through HDMI. I coulldn't get the JVC to read it even though it worked fine through component cables. I also had the monoprice cable, but in my case it turned out to be the 8300 that was faulty. Swapped DVR's and it worked perfectly.
Next thing I'm trying is an expandable hard drive. But of course that's a different thread.

I just wanted to clarify that monoprice makes good cables. I didn't want anybody to get the wrong idea from the above posts. I have all monoprice cables and mine luckily work flawlessly. You can get a bad cable from any manufacturer once in awhile.

Pat

I'm not going to go into why I need this --you'll have to trust me on that. And I do know the limitations of the TWC 8300HD menu: HDMI, DD, or 2 Channel Only. I need both HDMI AND DD out, simultaneously. Anyone know any tricks to do get this accomplished?

I'm in Queens, NYC, with presumably the latest Passport version available.

I'm not going to go into why I need this --you'll have to trust me on that. And I do know the limitations of the TWC 8300HD menu: HDMI, DD, or 2 Channel Only. I need both HDMI AND DD out, simultaneously. Anyone know any tricks to do get this accomplished?

I'm in Queens, NYC, with presumably the latest Passport version available.If you're talking about DD5.1 through S/PDIF and HDMI sound through to your television, it cannot be done. Most televisions can only accept 2.0 or 2.1 sound--I believe that it's a violation of HDMI protocol to send sound to a sink that exceed's its declared capabilities, which is why the setting is there in the first place. People without HDMI switching receivers were plugging HDMI directly from the STB into their televisions, and the capabilities of the television (2.1 or 2.0 sound) would determine what they got out of the S/PDIF connections. If you hook things up this way and choose HDMI, you'll get what the television says it can handle, probably 2.0 or 2.1 sound, through both HDMI and S/PDIF; if you choose DD, you'll get 5.1 sound out through S/PDIF and nothing through HDMI; I assume that if you choose 2 channel only, you'll get 2.0 through both, though you may only get it through S/PDIF.

The only way you could get 5.1 through both is if you hooked the HDMI up to a sink that said that it could handle 5.1. In this case, I think that it'd output 5.1 through all digital audio outs.

If you're talking about DD5.1 through S/PDIF and HDMI sound through to your television, it cannot be done.


Exactly what I need, unfortunately. I guess I will have to go into a little detail, afterall. I was able to get around this issue with my previous setup, as my HDTV set's HDMI-In menu also provides for assigning analog audio (with RCA analog jacks). So, I could get HDMI video and Analog 2-channel audio to the set, while still selecting Dolby Digital OUT to my AVR. All was good in the world.

However, I now have a High-Def DVD player that I need to feed into my ONE HDMI jack on the TV. So, I got an HDMI switch (AVR only does Component Switching). But, if I have the set's HDMI-In to accept Analog audio, I still get the TV audio when I switch the HDMI to the DVD player. If I switch the TV HDMI-IN to Digital, I get no TV audio (although DVD audio to TV is fine) if the 8300HD is set for DD out to my AVR.

Yes, I can hook up the TV to component and get around all of this, but it looks better on HDMI, and I prefer to keep it there.

And yes, I could just use the AVR for all audio, but sometimes the wife just wants the TV audio vs. the full-blown 5.1.

Finally, the set itself does have an optical OUT, but it won't pass 5.1 audio. It will only do DD 5.1 if I'm watching OTA ATSC channels, and is most likely being prevented from passing 5.1 from the DVD HDMI-In.

I guess I'll just have to set up a macro on my remote to switch the TV's HDMI-In between analog and digital depending upon what I'm using.


So, that's the dilemma for now.

I just wanted to clarify that monoprice makes good cables. I didn't want anybody to get the wrong idea from the above posts. I have all monoprice cables and mine luckily work flawlessly. You can get a bad cable from any manufacturer once in awhile.

Pat

Is it not true that monoprice got their rep from selling 5 dollar HDMI cables? In no way or shape would I call a 5 buck HDMI cable as "good." At about 20 bucks retail a cable CAN have decent quality wire connectors. At 5 bucks retail, we're talking wire than undoubtedly was taken from some burned out building along with tin plated connectors than could be counted on to fail within months.

Maybe they do carry decent cables, but if you paid 5 bucks...

Is it not true that monoprice got their rep from selling 5 dollar HDMI cables? In no way or shape would I call a 5 buck HDMI cable as "good." At about 20 bucks retail a cable CAN have decent quality wire connectors. At 5 bucks retail, we're talking wire than undoubtedly was taken from some burned out building along with tin plated connectors than could be counted on to fail within months.

Maybe they do carry decent cables, but if you paid 5 bucks...

So something cannot be good if it is inexpensive? Whatever, dude. :rolleyes:

Have you seen or used them? I suspect not. Enough said.

Pat

Is it not true that monoprice got their rep from selling 5 dollar HDMI cables? In no way or shape would I call a 5 buck HDMI cable as "good." At about 20 bucks retail a cable CAN have decent quality wire connectors. At 5 bucks retail, we're talking wire than undoubtedly was taken from some burned out building along with tin plated connectors than could be counted on to fail within months.

Maybe they do carry decent cables, but if you paid 5 bucks...

I usually like your posts, but this one is misinformed. Here's one of I'm sure several positive reviews:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_14_1/monoprice-cables-1-2007.html

I usually like your posts, but this one is misinformed. Here's one of I'm sure several positive reviews:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_14_1/monoprice-cables-1-2007.html

You are being kind using the word "misinformed".

Pat

Actually, there was a change in the current passport software compared to the previous version. One that I actually welcomed. I know about what Mike said, it is a basic function of HDMI to only SEND what can be used by the device.

Currently, if you set the STB to Dolby Digital, you will get NO audio at all passing through HDMI. Oddly enough, if you set the STB to HDMI, audio does pass through both the optical/coax and HDMI.

I prefer to run audio through the TV late at night. Prior to the current Passport version I HAD to specifically turn the TV speakers on and off (i.e. I do NOT want the TV ouputting anything while my AVR is being used). NOW I can leave the TV entirely alone; when STB to DD, no audio through HDMI means no audio from the TV. Last night, I switch the AVR off, switch the STB to HDMI and am in business.

You are being kind using the word "misinformed".

PatRemember, people in NYC tend to be skeptical (just visit some of their "camera/electronics" shops to see why).

Remember, people in NYC tend to be skeptical (just visit some of their "camera/electronics" shops to see why).Yeah, but if you want to see one of these "shops" you better hurry up, their “going out of business sale” is just for today.:rolleyes::p

What is "misinformed" is an assumption that a cheap, chintzy cable will actually give full service for more than the few hours a reviewer may spend with it. I find it just as idiotic to connect thousands of dollars of electronic equipment using cheap and chintzy interconnects as it is to spend hundreds of dollars on said interconnects. In no way is my advice to neither go for the cheapest nor the most expensive in any way be "misinformed."

Remember, people in NYC tend to be skeptical (just visit some of their "camera/electronics" shops to see why).

Indeed, that's why you'll tend to find only tourists frequenting such places!

Frankly, a good dose of skepticim I think is what more folks need to bring to the table.

Yeah, but if you want to see one of these "shops" you better hurry up, their “going out of business sale” is just for today.:rolleyes::p

Too true... notice how a lot of those outfits have these "we speak X languages" signs in the window?

What is "misinformed" is an assumption that a cheap, chintzy cable will actually give full service for more than the few hours a reviewer may spend with it. I find it just as idiotic to connect thousands of dollars of electronic equipment using cheap and chintzy interconnects as it is to spend hundreds of dollars on said interconnects. In no way is my advice to neither go for the cheapest nor the most expensive in any way be "misinformed."Well, you are "misinformed" as you apparently have never used those cables and are making "assumptions". The reviewer did point out that he does make lots of connections and these held up well. I can also tell you that I, in my calibration business, make lots of connections and use Monoprice HDMI/DVI cables - and they DO hold up quite well. Further, my customers have had more problems with Monster HDMI cables than with Monoprice.

What is "misinformed" is an assumption that a cheap, chintzy cable will actually give full service for more than the few hours a reviewer may spend with it. I find it just as idiotic to connect thousands of dollars of electronic equipment using cheap and chintzy interconnects as it is to spend hundreds of dollars on said interconnects. In no way is my advice to neither go for the cheapest nor the most expensive in any way be "misinformed."

Using chintzy implies a lack of quality, another piss poor choice of words given you have no experience with them. They are quality cables that are inexpensive. The cables appear to be beautifully made and work flawlessly. They are reviewed very favorably. I personally use several of their HDMI, component, optical, and RCA cables in my systems.

Not buying overpriced monster cables allowed me to afford a my giant SVS tube sub:D

Pat

I bought the monoprice cable based mostly on price but also in that every thread I read here on avsforums, I don't recall seeing anything negative about them. It's unfortunate that I got a bad cable but it can happen.

Given that, all I can say about monoprice and their support is WOW!!! I sent them an email about my problems and they immediately shipped out a new cable no questions asked. Extremely quick to respond and take care of their customer. I might have got a bad cable from them the last time, but they have won future business from me based solely on how they handled it.

I got a Scientific Atlantic 8300HDC box from Time Warner New York City, I asked if the firewire port was activated, the rep said no. I said it may be mandatory to activate as set by the FCC to which she said it's not required by the FCC.

Is there any FCC ruling that mandates cable companies to activate the firewire ports? I want to make sure before calling them again.

AFAIK the rule still is that they have to provide a firewire option. However, this does not mean they have to provide it on a specific unit. In most cases, cableco's meet the requirement with the SA3250HD, not the SA8300HD. While this meets the letter of the rule, it certainly skirts the spirit of the rule.

There is also a rule that says all units after a certain date have to have a firewire port. There have been several discussions though on whether or not those ports have to be active. While it may seem a no-brainer to most of us, there doesn't appear to be "specific" language in the rules requiring the ports to be active on all units. To be fair, this is not unlike some of the other ports, like the USB ports, the front card slot, etc.

To be fair, this is not unlike some of the other ports, like the USB ports, the front card slot, etc.Except that none of that junk is mentioned in the FCC regs at all. The cable equipment OEMs have offered options for including these interfaces their customers (the cable service providers) for years, to support potential custom software development.

Except that none of that junk is mentioned in the FCC regs at all. The cable equipment OEMs have offered options for including these interfaces their customers (the cable service providers) for years, to support potential custom software development.Very true. I know you are on one side and The Other Daver is on another, but the FCC could have cleared all this up by simply adding the word "active" wherever it mentioned Firewire, assuming that's what they intended. :)

Hi,

I have had a problem recently - actually since I re-wired my apartment (including better coax drops and a better splitter)

Everything in general on my Time Warner 8300HD is working perfectly and the signal strength is good according to customer service (happy to give you guys anything from the diagnostics screen)

I can watch most HD channels fine, had a premium HD on for a while last night (I think HBO or Showtime) and it never dropped out. CBS HD works fine, Discovery HD...

However - NBC HD, FOX HD, and ABC HD are not working - they are 704, 705, and 707 here in NYC.

I was able to get NBC for a second and it was dropping out all over the place but generally it is just bringing up a gray screen with no picture or sound.

What should I do?

Josh

Hi,

I have had a problem recently - actually since I re-wired my apartment (including better coax drops and a better splitter)

Everything in general on my Time Warner 8300HD is working perfectly and the signal strength is good according to customer service (happy to give you guys anything from the diagnostics screen)

I can watch most HD channels fine, had a premium HD on for a while last night (I think HBO or Showtime) and it never dropped out. CBS HD works fine, Discovery HD...

However - NBC HD, FOX HD, and ABC HD are not working - they are 704, 705, and 707 here in NYC.

I was able to get NBC for a second and it was dropping out all over the place but generally it is just bringing up a gray screen with no picture or sound.

What should I do?

Josh

A little more info - it looks like in the diagnostics the "QAM SnR" for the bad channels is too low (around 27) where as other channels are good.

I read on another forum something about the techs needing to rebalance the line? Why did this happen all of a sudden - I would really rather not have a tech come out if I can help it.

Josh

A little more info - it looks like in the diagnostics the "QAM SnR" for the bad channels is too low (around 27) where as other channels are good.

I read on another forum something about the techs needing to rebalance the line? Why did this happen all of a sudden - I would really rather not have a tech come out if I can help it.

Josh

Ok - I am a one man question and answer machine.

I switched the coax back to my old coax and it works - the SnR increased up to 33-34.

The Monster coax I bought seems to be crap.

Josh

I dare say I know a lot more about wire and connectors than any of you as I have personally "installed" more miles of wire than I care to remember (take a guess how many miles of wire and various connectors are involved in a 3 studio radio station (2 on-air and one production)... 2 of us over 4 months wired it from scratch). I know the difference between cheap crap and good stuff. How many connectors have any of you torn apart? I've done hundreds and hundreds, so I dare say I am more qualified to speak on the issue of wire/connector items. As with a lot of things in life, neither the cheapest nor the most expensive are the right choices... so my advice to go for the middle ground I will stand by.

As for Monster, I find a significant design issue. Partly with the cable and partly with the specs for HDMI. Connectors have no locking mechanism, like many other interconnect standards do. Now I understand there's little or no movement involved that would DEMAND locking, but there's a reason so many others specs DO have a locking mechanism. It's mostly to keep the mating surfaces firmly mated. AND prevent airborne contaminants from gumming up the connection.

Monster uses overkill in terms of wire, that might be appropriate for 20-30 foot runs but at 6 feet, overkill. The consequence is that the assembly is very stuff and heavy. Plug a Monster cable into a HDMI port on the back of a display and you can almost blow on it to fall out entirely, or simply not have a firm metal on metal connection. AND god forbid if you have little space behind the unit. Forget wall mounting a display that has a Monster cable (unless the set angles the connector so that the cable does NOT run 90 degrees off the back).

Ok - I am a one man question and answer machine.

I switched the coax back to my old coax and it works - the SnR increased up to 33-34.

The Monster coax I bought seems to be crap.
As much as I am a Monster UNenthusiast, I cannot bring myself to calling their cables "crap." You may have a defective one, and that can happen to any company.

edit: So, R_G, it *is* crap?? ;)

Well, I think "crap" is far more emotional than rational. Cheap is NOT always bad. Chintzy implies that something may very well seem to work fine, but by nature of substandard materials and/or construction may fail far more frequently OR (this is WORST case) be intermittent.

I've spent 30 some odd years doing "technician" type things, so I know probably better than most how infuriating intermittent can be. Maybe I should have said that cheap, chintzy cable can so easily act correctly until they start being intermittent. That between a 5 buck cable and a 100 buck cable, the 5 buck one will far, far more likely develop intermittent failure. Which will have folks going through major hassles with all the pieces of equipment and NEVER think of intermittent performance from the fact they chintzed out on buying the interconnect.

So from an emotional standpoint, I consider the 5 and 100 buck cables crap. BUT still, in the light of personal insults, I tried to be rational in my response.

EVEN THOUGH I am having a plain old bad day. Once AGAIN, my "cable modem" has crapped out, making that three of these RCA pieces of CRAP that have failed this year! They assured me on the phone I could get a decent Toshiba one, but at the store they said no way. Imagine if I was paying for telephone service from them... I'd have to run out and find a pay phone to even call them.

Well, I think "crap" is far more emotional than rational. Cheap is NOT always bad. Chintzy implies that something may very well seem to work fine, but by nature of substandard materials and/or construction may fail far more frequently OR (this is WORST case) be intermittent.

I've spent 30 some odd years doing "technician" type things, so I know probably better than most how infuriating intermittent can be. Maybe I should have said that cheap, chintzy cable can so easily act correctly until they start being intermittent. That between a 5 buck cable and a 100 buck cable, the 5 buck one will far, far more likely develop intermittent failure. Which will have folks going through major hassles with all the pieces of equipment and NEVER think of intermittent performance from the fact they chintzed out on buying the interconnect.

So from an emotional standpoint, I consider the 5 and 100 buck cables crap. BUT still, in the light of personal insults, I tried to be rational in my response.

EVEN THOUGH I am having a plain old bad day. Once AGAIN, my "cable modem" has crapped out, making that three of these RCA pieces of CRAP that have failed this year! They assured me on the phone I could get a decent Toshiba one, but at the store they said no way. Imagine if I was paying for telephone service from them... I'd have to run out and find a pay phone to even call them.

Again, you're relying on anecdotal references to conclude that monoprice doesn't make/sell quality cables. I'm not doubting your past experiences, but it doesn't follow that this always holds true. Thank goodness our justice system doesn't work that way! Judge: "Well, you know I've had several Swiss defendents in here over the years, and I have to say they turned out to be guilty of the crimes they were accused of. So, there's no reason to try your case, Mr. Swiss. I can safely assume you're guilty." That's your logic. It's flawed.

Until you actually BUY some monoprice cables and do an impartial test/inspection (meaning not going out of your way to try to support your previous suppositions), you can't reasonably conclude that they don't have quality stuff. Given your position on this, I'm skeptical that you really could do an impartial test. That's just human nature, and no personal slap at you. Hardly anyone wants to have to admit they might have been wrong.

What's ridiculous is the markup on so-called "premium" cables, and Monster is what people identify most in the retail arena for that practice. I know you probably aren't referring specifically to Monster when you talk about using premium cables, but that's the brand most regular "Joes" know about. Your mistake is to assume that higher prices always means or even more often means higher quality, and lower price always or even more often means lower quality. People have been lured into this nonsensical Monster, et. al., mystique for years, and have paid much more than necessary for quality cables. Even if it's not Monster, it's whatever other overpriced brands offered at the retail outlets like Best Buy and Circuit City, etc. There's no reason for it.

From all the testing reports I've read, the main issues with some of the "lower" priced cabling comes at the longer lengths, much longer than most people normally use. For shorter runs (6', etc.), there are no problems whatsoever. I'd tend to think that the overwhelming majority of cable runs used for HDTV is in the 6' range. That's a guess, of course.

What's also important -and previously mentioned- is the ability to easily get excellent customer service and replacement cables should you suspect you have bad ones. Monoprice excels there, too. Shipping is pretty fast, even across country. Will Monster (or retail stores) do that? Doubtful. So, even if you do end up with a bad cable, it's quite easy to get a replacement.

By the way, monoprice also sells an HDMI "stub" cable, which provides stress relief at the device. I think it's about six inches long or so (could be mistaken about that). So, while there is technically another point of failure, at least you usually don't have to worry about weight from a longer cable pulling the connector out of the device. A nice idea while we wait for standardized locks.

So, I would urge you to get a couple of monoprice cables and see how they're made. It won't set you back much!

Last link about Monoprice vs. Monster cabling:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cable-battlemodo/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-268788.php

You'll see from these tests that at short runs, the less expensive Monprice cabling was fine. These cables had problems displaying 1440p, but that's future resolution that no one can even utilize now.

re: The RCA cable modem? I just had one go out, myself, last week. I was getting terrible packet loss, and my VOIP was totally hosed on the uplink side.
Of course, I got another RCA to replace it with. But, you can always buy your own box and save the rental fee. Why would anyone spend all that money on HDTV and skimp on a quality cable box??? (sorry man, couldn't resist.)

So something cannot be good if it is inexpensive? Whatever, dude. :rolleyes:

Have you seen or used them? I suspect not. Enough said.

Pat

I have to agree that Monoprice has not only the best prices, but GREAT quality!
I bought a few HDMI cables from them to save money over the $99 6 foot hdmi cables that were only available in the stores early on, and found NO difference with the so called $5 cables.
How could there be? It's a digital signal, LOL...Think about it, if it can transmit a series 1's and 0's, then it will get 100% pristine image clarity period. If it can't then you will see digital breakup, simple, no distortion, it's not an analog signal!
So it either works or doesn't. At 6-30 feet, any thickness wire will do.

But this same mentality that cheap must not be good, is what allowed companies like Monster cable to flourish selling way over priced cables.
Now they try to carry that same thicker is better mentality to the hdmi arena, but smart idividuals know the nature of a digital signal and shouldn't fall for the same old analog sales pitch that thicker cables have less resistance and equal better image quality.

I remember the time, my sister went and bought a cheap $20 dvd player and the sales rep tried to sell her $70 Monster cables for it to hook up to the tv, LOL
I told him, isn't the weakest link in the signal going to determine the quality?
If the $20 dvd player has cheapo av connections to it's internal wiring what difference will the worlds thickest wires make after the fact, running a few feet to her tv? Be logical people!

Plus, monoprice guarantees their cables and switches, and their component cables are as thick and well made as any I've seen at a fraction of the price!
I have a 50 foot run of high quality component cable I bought from monoprice and it has excellent picture quality. In fact I need to order a cheap HDMI cable for my nephew right now from monoprice, I refused to let him pay the prices they wanted in the local stores for one.

But some people just have the mind set, more expensive must always be better, and less expensive most always be of less quality, in some cases, yes, you get what you pay for. But NOT in the case of monoprice, I have used them often and can state, in their case, this mentality just doesn't hold true.
Riverside guy, I suggest you order the cheapest cable from monoprice just for the heck of it, and see if you see a difference in your picture quality with your $70 cable.
I can NOT imagine it not being identical in picture quality, remember it is a pure digital transmission.

Thanks for listening,
AnthonyNYC
:)

An additional comment Anthony, HDMI connectors are not very secure. The heavier the cable, the more likely one is to have problems with pulling the connector out, or encouraging an intermittant connection. Monoprice offers different thicknesses of cables, for relatively short lengths, I encourage folks to buy the thinnest.

An additional comment Anthony, HDMI connectors are not very secure. The heavier the cable, the more likely one is to have problems with pulling the connector out, or encouraging an intermittant connection. Monoprice offers different thicknesses of cables, for relatively short lengths, I encourage folks to buy the thinnest.

In addition to that, if you are going to run HDMI in-wall, get the port saver plates. They have a 4 inch flexible connector on the inside of the plate so you can hook the thick stuff up to it, rather than trying to bend it in the wall. I use these and they are great.

Pat

How could there be? It's a digital signal, LOL...Think about it, if it can transmit a series 1's and 0's, then it will get 100% pristine image clarity period. If it can't then you will see digital breakup, simple, no distortion, it's not an analog signal!

So it either works or doesn't. At 6-30 feet, any thickness wire will do.

But this same mentality that cheap must not be good, is what allowed companies like Monster cable to flourish selling way over priced cables.
While this is Audio Video Science forum and people usually think of physics, they completely overlook human behavioral science. After all, marketing is all about psychology.

Sorry for my little three post self-help session, I have an actual issue now.

My re-wiring (replacing coax drops, the coax connector coming into the splitter, and the splitter itself) seemed to be very successful in the end.

My QAM SnR is between 33-37 consistently and I haven't had any problems with the picture on HD or SD channels.

However - tried using HBO on-demand today and it isn't working at all - the arrows just spin around.

Here is the info from my diagnostics screen - my guess from reading around is that it is a problem witht he FDC value - can somebody help?

FDC = 89.5 mhz, -27 dBmv
RDC = 25.5 mhz, 49 dBmV

As I said the QAM SnR is good and I have no problems with reception, just on -demand.

Also, my cable modem hooked up to the same splitter seems to be working perfectly.

Thanks in advance,

Josh

Jishywa,

One suggestion would be to temporarily take the splitter/modem out of the loop to see what happens to the RDC level and your ability to use VOD.

Different splitters have different specs. I believe you need to make sure the splitter is a two way 1000MHz splitter or it won't work properly. Just an idea.

Hi, I just installed a Seagate 750GB on my SA8300HD/Passport (TWC SE Wisc) with a eSATA Type 1 cable. I have rebooted the SA8300HD twice and I still can't tell if it recognized the external hard drive. How can I tell?

TIA,
Dan

Actually, there was a change in the current passport software compared to the previous version. One that I actually welcomed. I know about what Mike said, it is a basic function of HDMI to only SEND what can be used by the device. Currently, if you set the STB to Dolby Digital, you will get NO audio at all passing through HDMI. Oddly enough, if you set the STB to HDMI, audio does pass through both the optical/coax and HDMI.

My problem is that I would like DD to passthrough the HDMI and the SPDIF, since both my new Sony Bravia turns tv sound off automatically when it senses the sony AVR is on, really cool new feature called theatresync.

I wish there was a solution to get Dolby digital through the HDMI cable.

My problem is that I would like DD to passthrough the HDMI and the SPDIF, since both my new Sony Bravia turns tv sound off automatically when it senses the sony AVR is on, really cool new feature called theatresync.

I wish there was a solution to get Dolby digital through the HDMI cable.

How about HDMI from the STB to the AVR, then HDMI to the TV? Exactly HOW the TV informs the AVR is the question... pretty sure it's POSSIBLE with an HDMI connection (it's a two way protocol). Assuming that IS how it works, it makes sense.

How about HDMI from the STB to the AVR, then HDMI to the TV? Exactly HOW the TV informs the AVR is the question... pretty sure it's POSSIBLE with an HDMI connection (it's a two way protocol). Assuming that IS how it works, it makes sense.How the TV informs the AVR what? There' s a discrete serial line in the HDMI cable called the Display Data Channel (DDC) over which the E-EDID block is transmitted upstream. The AVR, immediately downstream from the STB, will tell it what kind of audio it can handle and the STB will pass its best option within those capabilities (in this case, S/PDIF-like compressed DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1). In the STB-to-AVR-to-monitor configuration (which I use with a TiVo Series 3, Playstation 3, Toshiba HD-A20 and an RCA DVD recorder), the monitor's stated audio capabilities are moot.

Hi, I just installed a Seagate 750GB on my SA8300HD/Passport (TWC SE Wisc) with a eSATA Type 1 cable. I have rebooted the SA8300HD twice and I still can't tell if it recognized the external hard drive. How can I tell?

TIA,
Dan

Well, I figured out that I needed an 'eSATA to SATA' cable, not 'eSATA to eSATA'. The Seagate box for the FreeAgent Pro 750GB stated 'eSATA cable not included' with nothing else about the exact cable spec. Seagate really needs put the proper information on the box and in the quick start guide!

Dan

How the TV informs the AVR what? There' s a discrete serial line in the HDMI cable called the Display Data Channel (DDC) over which the E-EDID block is transmitted upstream. The AVR, immediately downstream from the STB, will tell it what kind of audio it can handle and the STB will pass its best option within those capabilities (in this case, S/PDIF-like compressed DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1). In the STB-to-AVR-to-monitor configuration (which I use with a TiVo Series 3, Playstation 3, Toshiba HD-A20 and an RCA DVD recorder), the monitor's stated audio capabilities are moot.

Think I got it reversed... the original point (as I understood it) was that when the AVR is OFF, sound appears on his TV with no intervention. Logically, something needs to pass along the fact the AVR is no longer running. I was only trying to understand how this worked, I thought I was clear I was making a speculation of what might seem to work.

Well, I figured out that I needed an 'eSATA to SATA' cable, not 'eSATA to eSATA'. The Seagate box for the FreeAgent Pro 750GB stated 'eSATA cable not included' with nothing else about the exact cable spec. Seagate really needs put the proper information on the box and in the quick start guide!

Dan

Don't be dismayed, having zip to do with expanding DVRs hard disk space, this IS an general issue. Saying there is no eSATA cable implies there's a eSATA connection ON the box. Of course, they COULD mean a SATA to eSATA cable... if they MEAN that by saying "eSATA cable" I would call that being deceptive

The connector on a SA 8300HD is eSATA. So one would think you should need a eSATA to eSATA cable. The issue is that the guys making the boxes AND selling them seem befuddled AND more times than not make you order the box to see WHAT connector is on it's backside.

I suspect that part of the issue is that most folks simply go for a FW or USB device to expand their hard disk space on their computers. For me, those don't cut it, so I now have 2 external 600G arrays that are SATA... my backup runs rings around those with external FW.

Hi Folks, I'm new to the forums, but I had some info that may be helpful!
This thread is huge and I didn't read it all, so excuse me if this is old info...

First my setup:

Vantec NexStar 3 enclosure (connected via eSata w/provided cable)
Western Digital (WD5000KSRTL) 500 Gb Drive
Time Warner Cable Cincinnati - Passport/Echo software
I'm unsure of the version, tried all kinds of things to get to the sytem menu and nothing seemed to work. (if you know how I'd like to know! ;))

I followed the instructions from the 8300 manual and it never recognized the drive, after plugging and unplugging, waiting for 30 secs each time, I started getting frustrated..... (after a couple of wasted hours!)

Finally I just turned the power off to the drive while the 8300 was up and running.... WALLAH!!!! The box gave an error message saying the drive was disconnected.... I turned the drive back on and to my surprise it said "drive not formatted, Format Now?", I formatted the drive and everything else went smooth as silk...

It seems to be running as smoothly as the internal drive, and I pushed it pretty hard... Recording 2 HD channels at once, and then veiwing one of the channels from the begining while the recordings were in progress, No hiccups/pauses or any other artifacts.. :D

Hope this may help someone!
L8r.... Dave

I just started having this problem today...my box doesn't seem to want to talk to TWC at all. I can only receive channels 1-77 (no digital cable or HD programming), none of the program data or channel names is filled in (says No Program Data available), and the time is wrong. I tried reseting the box by unplugging it and plugging it back in and that didn't work..I tried calling TWC and seeing if they could do anything but they didn't know what was wrong with it.

When I go into the diagnostics menu it doesn't have an IP address...I'm guessing that means it can't talk to the TW server.

Any ideas on what to do short of replacing the box? I'd rather not have to drive out and get a new one.

Thanks


PS - All my other cable boxes are working fine.

I just started having this problem today...my box doesn't seem to want to talk to TWC at all. I can only receive channels 1-77 (no digital cable or HD programming), none of the program data or channel names is filled in (says No Program Data available), and the time is wrong. I tried reseting the box by unplugging it and plugging it back in and that didn't work..I tried calling TWC and seeing if they could do anything but they didn't know what was wrong with it.

When I go into the diagnostics menu it doesn't have an IP address...I'm guessing that means it can't talk to the TW server.

Any ideas on what to do short of replacing the box? I'd rather not have to drive out and get a new one.

Thanks


PS - All my other cable boxes are working fine.It certainly sounds like a bad box. I assume that you haven't changed any wiring or anything (like adding an amplifier).

You didn't have your location in your profile (always a good idea) but the likelihood is that TW will give you a new 8300HDC (sometimes referred to as an OCAP box)on which they will install the dreaded Navigator software. Avoid this at all costs!

It certainly sounds like a bad box. I assume that you haven't changed any wiring or anything (like adding an amplifier).

You didn't have your location in your profile (always a good idea) but the likelihood is that TW will give you a new 8300HDC (sometimes referred to as an OCAP box)on which they will install the dreaded Navigator software. Avoid this at all costs!

Yeah...same wiring and everything.

Do I have an option? Why is the navigator software so bad?

Thanks for the location tip.

Yeah...same wiring and everything.

Do I have an option? Why is the navigator software so bad?

Thanks for the location tip.Check out this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=723830&page=60)! :eek:

Check out this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=723830&page=60)! :eek:

Great... :(

Great... :(BTW - WELCOME to the AVS Forum

Hi Folks, I'm new to the forums, but I had some info that may be helpful!
This thread is huge and I didn't read it all, so excuse me if this is old info...

First my setup:

Vantec NexStar 3 enclosure (connected via eSata w/provided cable)
Western Digital (WD5000KSRTL) 500 Gb Drive
Time Warner Cable Cincinnati - Passport/Echo software
I'm unsure of the version, tried all kinds of things to get to the sytem menu and nothing seemed to work. (if you know how I'd like to know! ;))

I followed the instructions from the 8300 manual and it never recognized the drive, after plugging and unplugging, waiting for 30 secs each time, I started getting frustrated..... (after a couple of wasted hours!)

Finally I just turned the power off to the drive while the 8300 was up and running.... WALLAH!!!! The box gave an error message saying the drive was disconnected.... I turned the drive back on and to my surprise it said "drive not formatted, Format Now?", I formatted the drive and everything else went smooth as silk...

It seems to be running as smoothly as the internal drive, and I pushed it pretty hard... Recording 2 HD channels at once, and then veiwing one of the channels from the begining while the recordings were in progress, No hiccups/pauses or any other artifacts.. :D

Hope this may help someone!
L8r.... Dave

Try this... while watching a channel, hit the pause button. Wait 15-20 minutes or up to 60 minutes. Hit play. You are now running from the automatic buffer. Try and fast forward, as in skipping commercials or something you'd rather skip past. This is the infamous "trick play bug" that seems to be an integrated part of Passport.

I do this very frequently, so I chose to not do an external drive AND to adopt the "record it today, watch it before 3-4-5 days are up" strategy.

I've had the same thing before after mine locked up. Forcing a reboot it eventually started working again (sometimes it took several tries). If you still have it, hold the power button, let it boot and cross your fingers.

I just started having this problem today...my box doesn't seem to want to talk to TWC at all. I can only receive channels 1-77 (no digital cable or HD programming), none of the program data or channel names is filled in (says No Program Data available), and the time is wrong. I tried reseting the box by unplugging it and plugging it back in and that didn't work..I tried calling TWC and seeing if they could do anything but they didn't know what was wrong with it.

When I go into the diagnostics menu it doesn't have an IP address...I'm guessing that means it can't talk to the TW server.

Any ideas on what to do short of replacing the box? I'd rather not have to drive out and get a new one.

Thanks


PS - All my other cable boxes are working fine.

It certainly sounds like a bad box. I assume that you haven't changed any wiring or anything (like adding an amplifier).

You didn't have your location in your profile (always a good idea) but the likelihood is that TW will give you a new 8300HDC (sometimes referred to as an OCAP box)on which they will install the dreaded Navigator software. Avoid this at all costs!

Just caught another post about this exact kind of issue (lots of channels "untunable"); guy said there it was a 8300HDC, so Nagivator is at the root... I can see the look of shock and disbelief on your face!

I have a question about the RF Network Diagnostic page. A passport powered box has a line for QAM Corr: x/y/z. The z number is aparrently correctable block count (since it is incrementing at a rate of about 3-4 per update. What are the x and y numbers (they are zero in my case). There is lots of info on parms for SARA but not for Passport and the data layout is definitely different between the two. Passport also has a BER calculation that SARA doesnt seem to have per the docs I find.

Thanks,

I'm not going to go into why I need this --you'll have to trust me on that. And I do know the limitations of the TWC 8300HD menu: HDMI, DD, or 2 Channel Only. I need both HDMI AND DD out, simultaneously. Anyone know any tricks to do get this accomplished?

I'm in Queens, NYC, with presumably the latest Passport version available.

Pardon answering my own quote, but I did so for reference purposes.

Here's how I got this working:

My Panasonic Plasma has HDMI in, as well as an "Analog HDMI" input for RCA cables. This simply means that as far as the TV is concerned, it is looking to get its audio from the RCA jacks that are assigned to the HDMI input setting in its menu, vs. the actual HDMI cable. Video, of course, is provided by that HDMI cable.

I'm assuming that the last time I tried this and failed to get it working that I had the RCA cables hooked up to a different output strip on the 8300HD.

My setup is the Digital Out on the 8300HD goes to my receiver. But also on that row of outputs (Output 1) is regular old RCA Left/Right. Once I hooked up the RCA cables to the same output row as the digital out and set my Plasma for "Analog" HDMI audio, I got it all working as I wanted.

8300HD Audio Out is set for Dolby Digital.

I get Dolby Digital on the receiver when available.

My Panny Plasma is set for "Analog" on the HDMI audio menu.

8300HD Output 1 Audio (RCA) is feeding the Analog jacks that are part of the HDMI input scheme.

My TV audio now works when being fed by HDMI even though the 8300HD is set for Dolby Digital out.

I'm pretty sure the problem I was having before was because I had the digital output (on the 8300 Output 1) feeding the receiver, but I was feeding the analog from the Output 2 strip of RCA jacks. Once I put them all on the same strip, all was good.

Coolness.

I have a question about the RF Network Diagnostic page. A passport powered box has a line for QAM Corr: x/y/z. The z number is aparrently correctable block count (since it is incrementing at a rate of about 3-4 per update. What are the x and y numbers (they are zero in my case). There is lots of info on parms for SARA but not for Passport and the data layout is definitely different between the two. Passport also has a BER calculation that SARA doesnt seem to have per the docs I find.

Thanks,
Passport Echo used to display what the numbers meant. I had to search my
version archives all the way back to Mar2005 to find (a really bad) example.

First is Number of Corrected Errors, second is Number of Uncorrected Errors,
third is Number of Seconds since last PowerON.
Uncorrected Errors should always be less than Corrected Errors.

[Hey, they upped the max jpg size to 1024x768!!!!]

Thanks!!!

Hi everyone... the techs at Time Warner in Columbus, OH had no idea what a SATA hard drive was, so I thought I'd come here.

I have the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 DVR and I'm trying to attach an external SATA hard drive. My unit is running Passport Echo 2.6.002. The SATA Status says Authorized; however, it does not seem to recognize my external drive. I've tried rebooting the DVR several times, but the external drive is not showing up. Any suggestions?

Hi everyone... the techs at Time Warner in Columbus, OH had no idea what a SATA hard drive was, so I thought I'd come here.

I have the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 DVR and I'm trying to attach an external SATA hard drive. My unit is running Passport Echo 2.6.002. The SATA Status says Authorized; however, it does not seem to recognize my external drive. I've tried rebooting the DVR several times, but the external drive is not showing up. Any suggestions?Virtually all US cable companies do not "support" the external drive - so the answer that you received is typical. But also the experience that you are having is a good illustration of "why" they don't "support" it - too many different variables, too few drives that actually work.

There is a very complete (aka "long") thread devoted to the subject. I suggest you check out the first page or two, then check Xnappo's Passport database for your drive/enclosure to see if what you have works (many don't). Finally, do you have the right cable - the connector is often (some maintain, incorrecty) referred to as eSATA?

Here is the correct AVS Thread. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559)

is there a way to turn off the black screen output when the 8300 is off? i know that they use this to give help commands to people who cannot figure out who to use the universal remote supplied with the unit, but I would like to change this to simply have no output when the unit is "off." ~Brighthouse FWIW, thanks!

I have an external drive connected to my 8300 that works just fine...

Why does it constantly indicate drive activity? I don't think it's doing anything I asked it to do, maybe caching on-demand shows (that I've never requested and I doubt I ever will)? Caching on-demand shows for playback to my neighbors i.e., peer-to-peer?

Just curious...

Dave

I have an external drive connected to my 8300 that works just fine...

Why does it constantly indicate drive activity? I don't think it's doing anything I asked it to do, maybe caching on-demand shows (that I've never requested and I doubt I ever will)? Caching on-demand shows for playback to my neighbors i.e., peer-to-peer?

Just curious...

Dave

I would think it's just caching whatever channel the box is currently set on.

I would think it's just caching whatever channel the box is currently set on.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that all this activity happens when the 8300 is turned 'off'...

Same answer. It buffers the two tuners when turned off as well.

The 8300HD/HDC doesn't ever really go off. Far as I can tell, a few less lights on the display show AND it changes from the channel display to the time (and that is because I set a pref that way).

Possibly the little secret camera that sends video of you watching TV MAY also keep going when the off switch is engaged...

The 8300HD/HDC doesn't ever really go off. Far as I can tell, a few less lights on the display show AND it changes from the channel display to the time (and that is because I set a pref that way).
I've (just) noticed that when two channels are being recorded while the 8300HD is turned off, the display shows one of the channels being recorded instead of the time. And that is the channel that is then shown on the TV if the 8300HD is turned on (while recording two channels).

I've (just) noticed that when two channels are being recorded while the 8300HD is turned off, the display shows one of the channels being recorded instead of the time. And that is the channel that is then shown on the TV if the 8300HD is turned on (while recording two channels).

I noticed this as well recently. I don't remember it always doing that.

Passport used to stop buffering the second, not-currently-selected tuner after a few hours of nothing being recorded on it and nobody manually changing to view it.

The 8300HD/HDC doesn't ever really go off. Far as I can tell, a few less lights on the display show AND it changes from the channel display to the time (and that is because I set a pref that way).

Possibly the little secret camera that sends video of you watching TV MAY also keep going when the off switch is engaged...
My 8300HD does have an option to really turn off when turned off. I have that set and have forgot that fact and have no buffer on the channel the box was on when turned off. The 8300 I had before did not fully shut off and I would use that buffer at times. Now I need to remember to leave the box on. Figured it saves energy and wear and tear and hardly ever need the buffer when not watching the TV.
Dan

My 8300HD does have an option to really turn off when turned off. I have that set and have forgot that fact and have no buffer on the channel the box was on when turned off. The 8300 I had before did not fully shut off and I would use that buffer at times. Now I need to remember to leave the box on. Figured it saves energy and wear and tear and hardly ever need the buffer when not watching the TV.
Dan

First thanks everybody for your replies, I never actually tried watching anything that was being buffered, didn't know it did that...

And what's this really turn-off turn-off option? The old power strip option, maybe? :)

First thanks everybody for your replies, I never actually tried watching anything that was being buffered, didn't know it did that...

And what's this really turn-off turn-off option? The old power strip option, maybe? :)Could be it simply stops all buffering until something actually needs to be recorded. If you turn it off with a power strip, you lose the ability to record while it's off, not very useful, but I don't think you were recommending that. :)

My 8300HD does have an option to really turn off when turned off. I have that set and have forgot that fact and have no buffer on the channel the box was on when turned off. The 8300 I had before did not fully shut off and I would use that buffer at times. Now I need to remember to leave the box on. Figured it saves energy and wear and tear and hardly ever need the buffer when not watching the TV.
Dan

Nothing like that on mine... this is why all are asked to kindly provide details in their sigs so we know if we're talking apples and oranges. You probably are running different software than on my box.

Nothing like that on mine... this is why all are asked to kindly provide details in their sigs so we know if we're talking apples and oranges. You probably are running different software than on my box.
There is Power Manager with the choice of "auto off" and "manual off" but I have no idea what that means. Also there is a setting to spin down the hard drive when not in use, but that is for the INTERNAL drive. AFAIK, when the 8300HD has AC power, it is ON.

There is Power Manager with the choice of "auto off" and "manual off" but I have no idea what that means. Also there is a setting to spin down the hard drive when not in use, but that is for the INTERNAL drive. AFAIK, when the 8300HD has AC power, it is ON.
That is what I was talking about. I will have to look to get the exact location in the menus. I do not have an external drive and the internal drive spins down when 8300HD turned off.

Dan
Last I looked: Passport 2.6.002/TWC

That is what I was talking about. I will have to look to get the exact location in the menus. I do not have an external drive and the internal drive spins down when 8300HD turned off.
Yes, but "we" don't think your 8300HD is actually off. :)

There is Power Manager with the choice of "auto off" and "manual off" but I have no idea what that means. Also there is a setting to spin down the hard drive when not in use, but that is for the INTERNAL drive. AFAIK, when the 8300HD has AC power, it is ON.

I'd like to dig that up, too... haven't browsed around in the menus recently.

There is Power Manager with the choice of "auto off" and "manual off" but I have no idea what that means. Also there is a setting to spin down the hard drive when not in use, but that is for the INTERNAL drive. AFAIK, when the 8300HD has AC power, it is ON.
In the "MORE SETTINGS", select "Power Manager", then there is "Settop Power" and "Hard Drive" power. Under "Hard Drive Power" there is "on with settop" and "always on". "On with settop" seems the HD is only on when the settop is on (don't hear the HD running, no buffers). I need to get the room quiet and listen for the power down and then pull the plug and listen for any power down to verify fully. Dan

That is what I was talking about. I will have to look to get the exact location in the menus. I do not have an external drive and the internal drive spins down when 8300HD turned off.

Dan
Last I looked: Passport 2.6.002/TWC

Weird, same as I (but different location undoubtedly). There is no "Power Manager" option in my menus. Far as I can tell, the ONLY way to spin the drive down is to set BOTH tuners to a non-buffered channel (generally the VOD channels).

BTW, we have seen things being "different" even with the same box and software based on location.

In the "MORE SETTINGS", select "Power Manager", then there is "Settop Power" and "Hard Drive" power. Under "Hard Drive Power" there is "on with settop" and "always on". "On with settop" seems the HD is only on when the settop is on (don't hear the HD running, no buffers). I need to get the room quiet and listen for the power down and then pull the plug and listen for any power down to verify fully. Dan

Ah, thanks for specifics... 100% different locations with the same hardware and software CAN do things very differently. I have NO such menus... just double checked.

I'd sure as hell would LIKE to have such options... as I said, the ONLY way (MY only way) is to set both tuners to a VOD channel, and that does take many button presses to accomplish!

Ah, thanks for specifics... 100% different locations with the same hardware and software CAN do things very differently. I have NO such menus... just double checked.

I'd sure as hell would LIKE to have such options... as I said, the ONLY way (MY only way) is to set both tuners to a VOD channel, and that does take many button presses to accomplish!
I have the exact same settings as danki6x.

I have the exact same settings as danki6x.

Interesting. More "evidence" that with the same MSO, hardware AND software, each "location" CAN customize what functions they allow. Like I said, I'd LOVE to have those settings!

Hi Guys,
Now you all got me confused?
I never used to shut my box off untill I had read online somewhere that it is the only time that it gets to defragment. So i started turning it off every once in a while just to allow it o do that.
And i assumed that is what it is doing when off and clicking away.

Did I not read that on thes forums?
Can anyone confirm or deny the defragmenting when off feature of the 8300HD?

thanks in advance,
AnthonyNYC
:confused:

Hi Guys,
Now you all got me confused?
I never used to shut my box off untill I had read online somewhere that it is the only time that it gets to defragment. So i started turning it off every once in a while just to allow it o do that.
And i assumed that is what it is doing when off and clicking away.

Did I not read that on thes forums?
Can anyone confirm or deny the defragmenting when off feature of the 8300HD?

thanks in advance,
AnthonyNYC
:confused:

Why do you keep your DVR on? I always turn off my 8300 whenever I'm not watching TV.

Why do you keep your DVR on? I always turn off my 8300 whenever I'm not watching TV.
Are you pulling the plug or otherwise removing AC power from it when you turn it off?

Why do you keep your DVR on? I always turn off my 8300 whenever I'm not watching TV.
Yes, the answer is simple actually.
I have one DVR and use it with 2 TV sets, one in the bedroom and one in the livingroom.
So I don't get to see the on/off status from the other room so by leaving it on it is easy for me to just turn on the tv set in that room and not worry about whether the cable box is on or off.
Plus, whenever I turn off the box and then put it back on I have to deal with hdmi recognition issues, a few minutes of static in picture etc... while the DVR tries to figure out which tv set it is connected to. I use an hdmi switcher to disconnect from hdmi for one set and the component output of dvr for the other set.
I hope that basically anwers your question.
:)

AnthonyNYC

Hi Guys,
Now you all got me confused?
I never used to shut my box off untill I had read online somewhere that it is the only time that it gets to defragment. So i started turning it off every once in a while just to allow it o do that.
And i assumed that is what it is doing when off and clicking away.

Did I not read that on thes forums?
Can anyone confirm or deny the defragmenting when off feature of the 8300HDYou are probably referring to this from the first post in the SARA Tips thread:
HDD Defrag. To defrag drive:
Set unit's MAIN/PIP channels to non-bufferable channels, such as music channel, so that drive is not being used.
Wait a few moments to verify hard disk activity stops (listen).
Press Power on front to turn the unit off, then wait.
Drive should start defragging after about 5 minutes of inactivity.
NOTE: Process can take several hours to all day and will restart if content is deleted or power down sequence is repeated. For maximum efficiency, consider turning off unit, then do a front panel soft reboot (VOL-, VOL +, INFO) and leave unit powered off until you hear it go into defrag mode. Then just leave it off while you go to work, to bed, etc.

However, the jury is out on whether or not this has to be done on any regular basis or just as something to try when the 8300 is having some problems. Also, I believe that if you are not setting it to non-buffering channels, it is probably not defragging, though I'm not sure how Passport works in this area. Storing streaming video might be quite different fromvthe way Windows stores and over-writes files, etc., and there may be no "real" benefit to defragging.

BTW, I turn mine off every night and during the day if I leave the house. It goes off with my TV/AVR when I press the Off button on my Harmony remote. I do not use a power strip button to turn things Off, even though everything runs through the strip.

Also, AFAIK there is nothing wrong with leaving it On all the time, other than the normal potential power surges, etc.

Weird, same as I (but different location undoubtedly). There is no "Power Manager" option in my menus. Far as I can tell, the ONLY way to spin the drive down is to set BOTH tuners to a non-buffered channel (generally the VOD channels).

BTW, we have seen things being "different" even with the same box and software based on location.
I see over the weekend in the other thread someone said there is multiple versions of the 8300HD. So at least one version must not have the "turn off HD" option. I was sitting in the quiet yesterday with everything off and heard the HD start up. Minute later started recording. Dan

Hi Guys,
Now you all got me confused?
I never used to shut my box off untill I had read online somewhere that it is the only time that it gets to defragment. So i started turning it off every once in a while just to allow it o do that.
And i assumed that is what it is doing when off and clicking away.

Did I not read that on thes forums?
Can anyone confirm or deny the defragmenting when off feature of the 8300HD?

thanks in advance,
AnthonyNYC
:confused:

Far as we know, no defragmentation actually goes on in this box, whether on or off (actually, there essentially isn't really an "off" state as one would think by the definition of off).

You may be thinking of Apple's OS X, it continuously defragments, but only for files lover a certain size and it does NOT do this when it is "off."

No, I believe it DOES defrag. I've sometimes heard the hard disk clicking late at night, which means it's doing its defrag thing. Otherwise it's off and the drive is not spinning. I can tell just by listening, and my hearing is still pretty good.

I leave it plugged in continuously and the clock on the front displays the correct time.

Does anyone know how to program the remote for a 30 second skip?

tks

Dan

Does anyone know how to program the remote for a 30 second skip?

tks

Dan
Can't. Best you can do is hit FF twice (or 1 if you are slow and 3 times if you are quick) and then hit play when you see the commercials over and it jumps back some. Real fancy programmable remotes maybe you can set a time between the push of fast forward and play. The machine does not have a code for 30 second skip to even program.
Dan

Are you pulling the plug or otherwise removing AC power from it when you turn it off?

No, I don't power it down completely, just turn it off.

Interesting. More "evidence" that with the same MSO, hardware AND software, each "location" CAN customize what functions they allow. Like I said, I'd LOVE to have those settings!

Are you POSITIVE you don't have those settings options? First, you have to go into "Settings", then inside that menu there is an option for more settings. Power manager is in that menu.

Are you POSITIVE you don't have those settings options? First, you have to go into "Settings", then inside that menu there is an option for more settings. Power manager is in that menu.

100% positive.

We have had other indications with same hardware/software/cableco things NOT being the same, this is only the latest example.

100% positive.

We have had other indications with same hardware/software/cableco things NOT being the same, this is only the latest example.We SARA users have had the same disparities from one market to another on the same cable system. Oftentimes though, all it took was notifying the right person to get the settings changed. Our biggest problem was with the audio options when using HDMI. Many folks didn't have the audio option to change from HDMI to Dolby Digital so they could get 5.1 through their AVRs.

I've just had to swap my dead 8300 HD for the HDC (lightning killed the HD). I've used 999 to enter the diagnostic menu on the 8300 HD, but it doesn't work on the HDC. Does anyone know the method for entering diagnostic mode on the 8300 HDC?
Thanks.

I've just had to swap my dead 8300 HD for the HDC (lightning killed the HD). I've used 999 to enter the diagnostic menu on the 8300 HD, but it doesn't work on the HDC. Does anyone know the method for entering diagnostic mode on the 8300 HDC?
Thanks.

Question: What does the diagnostic menu give you access to?

I've just had to swap my dead 8300 HD for the HDC (lightning killed the HD). I've used 999 to enter the diagnostic menu on the 8300 HD, but it doesn't work on the HDC. Does anyone know the method for entering diagnostic mode on the 8300 HDC?
Thanks.

Try pushing select and exit on the front of the box itself (not remote) at the same time. Try several times and hold them in if necessary. This works with my 8300 HD from Bright House.

No, I believe it DOES defrag. I've sometimes heard the hard disk clicking late at night, which means it's doing its defrag thing. Otherwise it's off and the drive is not spinning. I can tell just by listening, and my hearing is still pretty good.

I leave it plugged in continuously and the clock on the front displays the correct time.

I hear it clicking all the time when off. It's just buffering whatever channel it's receiving as if it were on as normal.

The Pport 2.6 power management setting has an option to power down the hard drive when the box is in standby, but I've never used it.

Which brings me to the question, is everyone now on Passport 2.6 now? I'm assuming this will be the final version before it gets culled.

Anyone running another version?

I hear it clicking all the time when off. It's just buffering whatever channel it's receiving as if it were on as normal.

The Pport 2.6 power management setting has an option to power down the hard drive when the box is in standby, but I've never used it.
That setting only affects the INTERNAL drive.

Still only measuring 1290 lines effective resolution with my 8300HD with Passport on NYC's TWC. Using same technique (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5175424#post5175424) as readings a few years back to my 9"-gun 64" RPTV. Measured 1335 lines with RCN Cable and a Motorola STB a while ago, and the RPTV might resolve ~1600 lines.

Member dsigner just reported measuring (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11998675#post11998675) nearly 1920X1080 with his 1080p plasma from HDNet via Orlanda's Bright House cable system, renamed (http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2003/03/03/daily51.html) from the former TWC.

So is the consensus, as vegggas has suggested here, that memory restrictions in 8300HDs sometimes prevents getting full 1920X1080i resolution; too many STB brands within a cable system? Or, if head-end rate shaping (requantization) takes a resolution toll, anyone figure out how to tell whether it's the STB or head end doing most damage? There's some related discussion about HDNet measurements--with varying results--going on in the Verizon FIOS thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12029552&postcount=4821), based on Motorola STBs. -- John

hi, i know that you posted this a while ago, but how did you get into the service mode / menu for the 8000/8300 box?

Thank you

Jon

And I'm still trying to figure out how to enter diagnostic/service mode on the 8300 HDC. The methods used on the 8300 HD do not work. Any help would be appreciated.

Herb

Will the Navigator OS support eSATA Hard Drive power down in standby mode?

hi, i know that you posted this a while ago, but how did you get into the service mode / menu for the 8000/8300 box?

Thank you

JonBig tip--in most threads like this, there's a lot of information contained in the first post. The guy who created the thread can typically be imposed on to edit it when new essential information pops up (even when, as in this case, the guy has moved on and no longer uses the equipment the thread's about :)). Something that you'll find in the first post of this thread is a pointer to a tips and tricks post where you'll find what you want to know.

Will the Navigator OS support eSATA Hard Drive power down in standby mode?This thread is neither the
NAVIGATOR thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=723830)
or the
EXTERNAL DRIVE thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559)

You might find help there.

No, you cannot. SARA doesn't offer this either.

With rare exception (like Moxi and MS Foundation Edition boxes), cable boxes don't let you hide channels from the program guide. This has been a standard feature on Dish and DirecTV receivers for the past five years, but the cable companies haven't caught on yet.

UPDATE:

While you can not physically "Hide Channels" But you CAN prevent the titles of adult content from being shown IN the guide with the words. "Title Blocked." However, there are some things to remember:

1.) You can block program content by:

a. Rating
b. Time
c. Channel
d. Title

2.) You will need to set up a Parental Control Blocking Pin by going to General Settings on your Remote. (Press General Settings button.) Than Press "A" for "More Settings" Than scroll down to Parental Control and choose "Blocking Pin." (You can also set a Purchase Pin by going under Purchase Pin, to prevent access to PPV or I-Control Programs.) The purchase pin can be the same or different than your blocking pin. Use a number you know you can remember, but if you forget your pin, call Customer Service, and they will help you reset your pin number.

3.) If you haven't set up Blocking Pin or Purchase Protection, the default setting is usually, 0000. After entering this number for protection, you can than set up the blocking parameters you want.

RATING: In General Settings, go to Blocked Ratings and than select the ratings that you want to block. If you block a rating, all ratings above that blocked rating are blocked as well. So for example if you block PG-13 programing, you will also block ratings R, NC-17, Adult and so on.

TIME: To block by Time, go to General Settings (if you aren't already there) and select Blocked Time. Than use the Left/Right and Up and down arrow keys to scroll through the choices that you want to block. I believe that you can block up to 4 different time periods

CHANNEL: To block by Channel, go to General Settings and select Blocked Channels. Than scroll up and down through the list and press select for each channel you want to block. To unblock a channel before leaving the screen, highlight the channel in the list and select it again.

TITLE: To block by Title, go to General Settings and Select Blocked Title and choose Enable. Now shows that contain adult content or language are blocked from the Program Guide List. HOWEVER, BLOCKING TITLES IN THE GUIDE LIST DOES NOT RESTRICT VIEWING! Therefore, it is recommended that you use this feature in conjunction with the other blocking features above, and only if you want a very high level of protection.

You can use any combination of blocking parameters.

HOWEVER, YOU MUST ACTIVATE PARENTAL CONTROL ON YOUR CABLE BOX OR YOUR BLOCKS WILL NOT WORK! Exit out of General Settings, Press "A" to go to Quick Settings, Highlight Parental Control and choose Enable. Enter your 4-digit pin. (default is OOOO). If Parental Control is already enabled, indicated by a YES in the Quick Settings Section, you are all set.

Now when you go to a channel that has the blocking combinations you have set up, (You can always recheck General Settings under the categories you have blocked) just enter your Pin number to view the channel or content. I think you are also given the option to unblock on all channels, for the channel you are watching, or being able to keep your blocked preferences when viewing a channel.

You can also change your Blocking Pin or Purchase Pin Number. (To do so, you must know your current pin.) Go to either Blocking Pin or Purchase Pin in General Settings and select Enable (The pin must be enabled to be changed) Than you are asked to enter your old pin number (default is OOOO) than you will have to enter your new pin TWICE, the second time is for confirmation. If you don't enter your new pin number correctly both times, your pin will not be changed and you will need to use your old pin. Press Exit and start over.

You can also Disable Purchase Protection and/or your Blocking Pin. Go to the appropriate setting in General Settings, find the pin you want to disable, select "Disable" and enter your pin to deactivate it.

IF YOU WANT TO DISABLE ALL PARENTAL CONTROL BLOCKS ALL AT ONCE, TURN OFF PARENTAL CONTROL IN QUICK SETTINGS:

1.) Press "A" to go to "Quick Settings"

2.) Highlight Activate Parental Control

3.) Use the Arrow key to move from Yes to No.

4.) Enter your Pin Number to deactivate Parental Control

NOW YOU CAN VIEW EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAD PREVIOUSLY BLOCKED. To turn Prental Control back on, in Quick Settings, Press A if you are not already in the Quick Settings screen, than do the opposite of step 3, going from "No" to Yes". Than enter your pin to turn Parental Control back on.

This is what I remember from the tutorials. For complete printed instructions on channel blocking using TWC Passport software boxes, check out this link: (It can help verify if I missed something.)

http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/FAQ/TWCFaqs.ashx?faqMap=26644&MarketID=28

Scroll down and click on the second "Click here" prompt for Parental Control Blocking instructions.

Hope this helps! Further information can also be found on your Answers on Demand Channel. These instructions that I have given you are for Passport Guides ONLY. Answers on Demand will give you video tutorials that are applicable to your specific box/system. (Passport, Sara, Navigator)

Jack

I think this has been disussed but I can't find exactly what I need among the 230+ pages of replies.

I recently got a new Samsung FP-T5884 TV, and I've connected my TWC SA8300HD Passport box directly to it with a new HDMI cable. Usually it works fine but once in a while it powers on with the error message:
Your TV does not support HDCP HDMI. Please use the YPrPb component connection to watch television.

The only way I've found to clear this error is to reboot the 8300HD. Of course this is a drag even under normal circumstances since the rebooting procedure takes so long, but it's a huge frustration when the DVR is in the middle of a recording -- I have to either sacrifice the recording or wait til it's done.

Is this a common problem with this box, and is there a fix?

^ That used to happen to me every once in a while with my 8300HD and my Sony LCD. I think it's an HDMI handshake issue with the 8300. I usually just turn off the TV, wait a few seconds, turn it back on and e/things OK. Doesn't happen to me anymore since I use component cable now instead of HDMI cabel....same quality and less of a headache.

just noticed that know I have the trick play buffer with an external drive attached. the green bar is back WOO HOO!! I running passprot echo 2.6.002 not sure when this happened but must have only a few days ago.

Does anyone else notice anything new???

just noticed that know I have the trick play buffer with an external drive attached. the green bar is back WOO HOO!! I running passprot echo 2.6.002 not sure when this happened but must have only a few days ago.

Does anyone else notice anything new???How full is your external drive? You can get the trick-play buffer back temporarily in versions where the external drive works when it starts using the internal drive again. This will happen when the percentage of the external drive in use is larger than the percentage of the internal drive in use.

Say you attached a 500GB external drive when 80GB (50%) of the internal drive was in use. It would start storing recordings on the external drive exclusively until 250+ GB (>50%) was used, when it would switch to the internal drive for a while. While it's using the internal drive, you have a trick-play buffer; when it switches back, you lose it again.

Hopefully that's not what's happening and they slipped you a new revision of Passport with fully implemented external drive support :).

diagnostic mode for sa 8300hdc with navigator: hold vol+ and vol- until mail symbol appears, then press channel up.

Hopefully that's not what's happening and they slipped you a new revision of Passport with fully implemented external drive support :).Passport version 2.6.002 has been around awhile, so it's not a new version with any fix. Trick play still simply comes and goes depending on which drive is being used.

Passport version 2.6.002 has been around awhile, so it's not a new version with any fix. Trick play still simply comes and goes depending on which drive is being used.

I seem to recall reading about the software being updated without a specific version change (in the computer world, this is called "slip-streaming" and pisses off folks who understand software development).

To that end, I have noticed at least twice in the past month firing up the box that I HAD set to 1000 and 1002 for the two tuners to see it tuned to 1 and 2. Which is exactly what happens if I manually re-boot the box. Meaning TWC DID some kind of update.

Could very well be that it does NOT fix the bug... but it could be seen as a possibility it might. This is just another drop of the shoe that makes me think less and less of TWC. Far as I'm concerned, it's another nail in their coffin...

Passport version 2.6.002 has been around awhile, so it's not a new version with any fix. Trick play still simply comes and goes depending on which drive is being used.
Also those with 2.6.002 have different menu structures. Some can turn off the HD, some can't. Some can skip channels, some can't. This version I think is nearly a year old now. I think it went out to everyone before the new daylight savings time in February or so. Any changes since have not changed the rev number. Dan

Anyone get a "FAIL" message on their 8300HD?

The software froze up and then it tried to reboot. While trying to reboot, it reboots again and says FAIL on the front of the DVD and is stuck at the Passport Echo screen. It will not reboot successfully.

I originally had my HD8300 output 480i, 480p, 720p & 1080i. I had some intermittant issues with HDMI handshaking when switching channels between different resolutions causing the channels to blink. I read where several people said if you set the box for 1080i only this would resolve it. I did do this and it seems to have corrected issue but wondered if there were any drawbacks having it set for one fixed 1080i output?

I originally had my HD8300 output 480i, 480p, 720p & 1080i. I had some intermittant issues with HDMI handshaking when switching channels between different resolutions causing the channels to blink. I read where several people said if you set the box for 1080i only this would resolve it. I did do this and it seems to have corrected issue but wondered if there were any drawbacks having it set for one fixed 1080i output?
Only if your 8300HD is not the best scaler in your system. (Hint: If you have new gear, it's NOT!) Setting it to output only 1080i means it is scaling anything less than 1080i up to 1080i.

Only if your 8300HD is not the best scaler in your system. (Hint: If you have new gear, it's NOT!) Setting it to output only 1080i means it is scaling anything less than 1080i up to 1080i.

Ok then since my HDTV scales everything to 1080P then it wouldn't matter?

Ok then since my HDTV scales everything to 1080P then it wouldn't matter?
By my thinking, I want the best part for the job to do the job. My 8300HDs are set to pass the signal along to my display (or video processor) so that the 8300HD's scaler/deinterlacer is out of the path. That means all Output Formats are selected. But perhaps the "blinking" - that's your display adjusting to format changes - is more annoying to you than some picture quality degradation, which you may or may not notice.

Personally, I want the part on the path that has the original MPEG source to do the scaling, but that's just me. Some scalers do a superior job with rasters (my Mitsubishi LCD panel's scaler is pretty amazing).

By my thinking, I want the best part for the job to do the job. My 8300HDs are set to pass the signal along to my display (or video processor) so that the 8300HD's scaler/deinterlacer is out of the path. That means all Output Formats are selected. But perhaps the "blinking" - that's your display adjusting to format changes - is more annoying to you than some picture quality degradation, which you may or may not notice.

Ok thank you. I may switch back to component with all 4 output formats selected to avoid issue.

Only if your 8300HD is not the best scaler in your system. (Hint: If you have new gear, it's NOT!) Setting it to output only 1080i means it is scaling anything less than 1080i up to 1080i.

AND if you have a 1366 set, that might be double scaling!

BTW, I also have seen that the brand of TV re syncing from a 720 to a 1080 signal can play a BIG role. My Sammy switches pretty fast, my sisters Sony is far, far slower doing the same task.

One other point, in order for me (i.e. my city) to get rid of the gray side pillars, all resolutions MUST be enabled on the 8300.

?

One other point, in order for me (i.e. my city) to get rid of the gray side pillars, all resolutions MUST be enabled on the 8300.

I need to go try this right now--Is it as simple as that?

I'm also on the UWS / NYC with an 8300HD.

snip: removing gray bars

I need to go try this right now--Is it as simple as that?

I'm also on the UWS / NYC with an 8300HD.


I'm in Queens and have TWC 8300HD. Try this.

Goto setup and look at your Aspect Ratio. Set it to Standard 4:3, and Letterbox 16:9. In other words, choose the Standard 4:3 instead of Widescreen 16:9.

I need to go try this right now--Is it as simple as that?

I'm also on the UWS / NYC with an 8300HD.

There is no way to get rid of the gray side pillars with Passport as it doesn't do a true "raw" pass thru. So enable all aspect ratios and let your TV scale if need be. If you want to hide the side bars use STRETCH or ZOOM on SA8300HD.

Hey guys, I had a bit of an epiphany, and I don't know if it's already been mentioned here or not. I was just getting ready to sign up for dish network because of the dual room DVR function...but I just thought of something.

The 8300HD has a coax out, can't I just have TWC run coax from the box upstairs to my downstairs TV, and use a Harmony 890 RF remote to control the sucker giving me the same functionality as the dish setup?? I know it would obviously only be in SD, (which is the same as dish) but the wifey doesn't usually care....please let me know thanks!!!

Scientific Atlantic is running a contest--they want to know what you think about your DVR:
http://www.scientificatlanta.com/email/2007/1107-DVR-Lovers/landing.htm

Scientific Atlantic is running a contest--they want to know what you think about your DVR:
http://www.scientificatlanta.com/email/2007/1107-DVR-Lovers/landing.htm
The contest will be won by the best actor. ;)

Hey guys, I had a bit of an epiphany, and I don't know if it's already been mentioned here or not. I was just getting ready to sign up for dish network because of the dual room DVR function...but I just thought of something.

The 8300HD has a coax out, can't I just have TWC run coax from the box upstairs to my downstairs TV, and use a Harmony 890 RF remote to control the sucker giving me the same functionality as the dish setup?? I know it would obviously only be in SD, (which is the same as dish) but the wifey doesn't usually care....please let me know thanks!!!I do EXACTLY that now. I call it a poor mans MR. Only downside is that you can only watch the same program as on the main output (at least on SARA).

Hey guys, I had a bit of an epiphany, and I don't know if it's already been mentioned here or not. I was just getting ready to sign up for dish network because of the dual room DVR function...but I just thought of something.

The 8300HD has a coax out, can't I just have TWC run coax from the box upstairs to my downstairs TV, and use a Harmony 890 RF remote to control the sucker giving me the same functionality as the dish setup?? I know it would obviously only be in SD, (which is the same as dish) but the wifey doesn't usually care....please let me know thanks!!!

It been over a year since I checked, but at that time the coax was active even when watching a TV connected via HDMI.

You would connect the coax from the 8300 to the "antenna in" coax connection on the 2nd TV & tune the TV to channel 3 or 4 (depending on the 8300 setup)

The question would be: will the 890 reach all the way between the 2 rooms. Also the 8300 uses IR for remote functions, so the RF won't work without some type of RF to IR converter in front of the 8300.

The question would be: will the 890 reach all the way between the 2 rooms. Also the 8300 uses IR for remote functions, so the RF won't work without some type of RF to IR converter in front of the 8300.That RF-to-IR converter is the crux of the top-of-the-line RF-capable remotes. They all come with one and you can buy more to control a bevy of IR devices located in multiple rooms within your house, within a 100-foot range (see this (http://www.smarthome.com/80652e.html?src=Froogle)):

http://www.smarthome.com/images/80652ebig.jpg

(Except for the lettering, the thing is identical in appearance to the wireless "dongle" for the Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse that I'm using right now, except that it has a combo USB/PS2 connection on its wire). The idea is that you can take your components and tuck them out of sight (and hearing, if they're noisy) in a closet or cabinet with the remote's RF-to-IR gadget pointed at them.

There is no way to get rid of the gray side pillars with Passport as it doesn't do a true "raw" pass thru. So enable all aspect ratios and let your TV scale if need be. If you want to hide the side bars use STRETCH or ZOOM on SA8300HD.I'm confused, PASSPORT did output 480i, 720p, 1080i over component when I had it. (Assuming you set the 4:3/16:9 setting right - which may seem backwards...)

Now at that time, in TWC-KS, on that version (1.8.xxx) there was a slight difference between 480i right after changing to the channel, and 480i buffered, but this was only slightly noticeable on some channels (SCIFI). In both cases the TV accepted 480i over the component input with no aspect ratio change whatsoever.

Now, PASSPORT then also had a funny little # button on the remote that messed with the aspect ratio control - without indication or control in the Settings-More Settings menu. That tripped me up until Barry or someone pointed it out to me.

I understand that some cable locations and newer versions might lock the output to 1080i regardless of the settings menu selections, which would give sidebars.

I understand some STB-HDMI-TV combinations may not allow 480i across HDMI.

Are either of the above reasons what prompted the "doesn't do a true "raw" pass thru"?


v/r,
C-F

I do EXACTLY that now. I call it a poor mans MR. Only downside is that you can only watch the same program as on the main output (at least on SARA).Can't you use the Copy To VCR function to view a recording on one TV while viewing something live on the other?

Can't you use the Copy To VCR function to view a recording on one TV while viewing something live on the other?The point is he has a TV some distance away. RF distribution to it works fine, composite + audio doesn't (or are you saying that in Passport, Copy to VCR, outputs to RF as well as S-Video/Composite?).

Can't you use the Copy To VCR function to view a recording on one TV while viewing something live on the other?I'd be shocked if that'd work. For one thing, I don't believe that "Copy To VCR" is a feature of Passport Echo :).

If, as implemented in SARA, it will output to the SD analog outs while allowing you to watch a tuner or another recording, I'm impressed. The TiVo "Copy To VCR" feature displays the thing being copied on all outputs, analog and digital. I'm sure it will allow simultaneous recording, but that's about it.

The point is he has a TV some distance away. RF distribution to it works fine, composite + audio doesn't (or are you saying that in Passport, Copy to VCR, outputs to RF as well as S-Video/Composite?).No, I forgot Copy To VCR only works with Video (OUT 2), but was really referring to your copying to DVD while watching/recording something else.

I'd be shocked if that'd work. For one thing, I don't believe that "Copy To VCR" is a feature of Passport Echo :).I suspect not, but I was only referring to what Dave does and I know he has SARA.

If, as implemented in SARA, it will output to the SD analog outs while allowing you to watch a tuner or another recording, I'm impressed. The TiVo "Copy To VCR" feature displays the thing being copied on all outputs, analog and digital. I'm sure it will allow simultaneous recording, but that's about it.SARA will let you still record 2 other programs or watch a live program. You can use PIP to check on the status of the Copy To VCR. All this is mentioned in the notes on page 23 of the SA8300HD User's Guide. Mind you, as The Other Dave mentioned, this only works for devices connected to the Video Out (Out 2). AFAIK, what is viewed on the main tuner is output simultaneously on the RF, S-Video, Component, and HDMI outs.

I suspect not, but I was only referring to what Dave does and I know he has SARA.And here I thought we were talking about slickshoes' original ask, which I assumed was about Passport, since he asked in this thread :D.

Just pokin' fun :).

Just pokin' fun :).Suuuure you are. :D

I'm confused, PASSPORT did output 480i, 720p, 1080i over component when I had it. (Assuming you set the 4:3/16:9 setting right - which may seem backwards...)

Now at that time, in TWC-KS, on that version (1.8.xxx) there was a slight difference between 480i right after changing to the channel, and 480i buffered, but this was only slightly noticeable on some channels (SCIFI). In both cases the TV accepted 480i over the component input with no aspect ratio change whatsoever.

Now, PASSPORT then also had a funny little # button on the remote that messed with the aspect ratio control - without indication or control in the Settings-More Settings menu. That tripped me up until Barry or someone pointed it out to me.

I understand that some cable locations and newer versions might lock the output to 1080i regardless of the settings menu selections, which would give sidebars.

I understand some STB-HDMI-TV combinations may not allow 480i across HDMI.

Are either of the above reasons what prompted the "doesn't do a true "raw" pass thru"?


Because Passport adds gray pillars and this can not be turned off, there is no raw pass-through. Raw means just sending the 480 signal to the TV and let the TV scale and adjust as appropriate.

There is no way to get rid of the gray side pillars with Passport as it doesn't do a true "raw" pass thru. So enable all aspect ratios and let your TV scale if need be. If you want to hide the side bars use STRETCH or ZOOM on SA8300HD.

I suspect this is one of those "same cable outfit, same software, same hardware, same software version" that can be very different in different markets. 100% in my city the "set for 4:3" trick works 100% at having ONLY black side pillars. And I NEVER, EVER would watch anything that is not aspect correct (i.e. no TNT/TBS Distort-O-Vision, EVER).

I NEVER, EVER would watch anything that is not aspect correct (i.e. no TNT/TBS Distort-O-Vision, EVER).Purist :)

glad were on this topic. TWC just pushed through passport (this morning) on my box and i noticed that some of the channels have grey sidebars and some are black. i couldnt find anywhere in the menu to change this so was about to start reading this thread from the beggining. i also prefer to watch in the original aspect so stretch and zoom are not acceptable alternatives to me. so now i see that this cant be changed i can stop fiddling with it and move on.

glad were on this topic. TWC just pushed through passport (this morning) on my box and i noticed that some of the channels have grey sidebars and some are black. i couldnt find anywhere in the menu to change this so was about to start reading this thread from the beggining. i also prefer to watch in the original aspect so stretch and zoom are not acceptable alternatives to me. so now i see that this cant be changed i can stop fiddling with it and move on.The ones with grey sidebars are 4x3 standard definition channels to which the 8300HD is adding pillarboxing and the ones with black bars are 16x9 DTV channels displaying a 4x3 standard def program where the pillarboxing is being added at the TV studio. Some stations stretch 4x3 programming on broadcast--TNT HD is noted for doing this.

glad were on this topic. TWC just pushed through passport (this morning) on my box . .
What version do you have now?

What version do you have now?

dont know. havent had a chance to check. do you check it the same way as SARA?


edit

OK i found how to enter diagnostics. (hold exit, push select) strange thing though as soon as i pushed EXIT the diagnostic screen came up. didnt have to press select. is something wrong?

anyway the version number is ECHO 2.6.002

dont know. havent had a chance to check. do you check it the same way as SARA?


edit

OK i found how to enter diagnostics. (hold exit, push select) strange thing though as soon as i pushed EXIT the diagnostic screen came up. didnt have to press select. is something wrong?

anyway the version number is ECHO 2.6.002
OK, that seems to be the latest version anyone has. Don't know if there is even any more development happening on Passport Echo . .

Hey guys, thanks for the responses...

Lemme further clarify the poor man's MR..my 8300HD w/ passport is connected upstairs to my 60" Sony SXRD via component. I could just take some coax shoot it downstairs to my Panny Plasma, grab just a HD box from TWC, connect it via HDMI, pick up a One For All 9910 which comes with the RF extender for $33 bucks and I'm golden??? This seems way too easy, and why the hell doesn't TWC advertise this PMMR as a feature like Dish does??

Now the second question is, will TWC run the coax for me, or do I have to do it myself??? Thanks again... :)

I have my plasma hooked up to my SA8300HD box with HDMI. When I choose HDMI in settings for audio output on the PVR I get 2 channel stereo from the optical output to my Yamaha receiver instead of Dolby Digital. If I choose Dolby Digital in those settings it cuts the audio to the TV and outputs DD to the receiver only. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks.

I have my plasma hooked up to my SA8300HD box with HDMI. When I choose HDMI in settings for audio output on the PVR I get 2 channel stereo from the optical output to my Yamaha receiver instead of Dolby Digital. If I choose Dolby Digital in those settings it cuts the audio to the TV and outputs DD to the receiver only. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks.

That's how it's supposed to work. If your display device can't accept DD over HDMI it only feeds 2 channel to all the outputs.

Be happy you have the Passport DD setting to output to the receiver. It wasn't there initially.

I have my plasma hooked up to my SA8300HD box with HDMI. When I choose HDMI in settings for audio output on the PVR I get 2 channel stereo from the optical output to my Yamaha receiver instead of Dolby Digital. If I choose Dolby Digital in those settings it cuts the audio to the TV and outputs DD to the receiver only. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks.

That is how mine works. I always use an outboard sound system so it is not an issue. Are you trying to run DD on both the TV and an outboard revceiver?

Digiti, Yep, that's the way it is.....

glad were on this topic. TWC just pushed through passport (this morning) on my box

So you had SARA before?

That makes things interesting. I wonder if you'll be last in line for Navigator or upgraded with the rest of the original Passport crowd? Or could it be further signs that Navigator just isn't ready for anything.

Seems kind of stupid to change the IPG now and then again in a few months (?!?) or so. But it is TWC, so stupidity isn't a new event.

can somebody tell me how you make the grey bars on the standard def channels black.

i remember seeing a post a while ago that i cannot find on how to do this

can somebody tell me how you make the grey bars on the standard def channels black.

i remember seeing a post a while ago that i cannot find on how to do this

From an earlier post

FWIW, I found a kind of trick that has me seeing ONLY black side pillars 100% of the time. It makes NO sense, but it works. It KNOW it works on my TWC NYC 8300HD/Passport and a Samsung and a Sony 40" LCD from about a year ago (92 series Sammie, XBR1 Sony).

The TV's settings specify 16:9 on HD channels and 4:3 on SD channels, kinda normal. On the 8300, I set the "primary" to... 4:3. Primary in that it's the first one listed AS you are tuned into a HD channel. Seems 100% the OPPOSITE of what one SHOULD do.

BUT, I have NO distortion anywhere AND I now have black side pillars. If I reset the 8300 to 16:9 for HD channels, again, nothing is distorted BUT I have gray side pillars.

It's worth a shot, you have nothing to loose (except finding out it doesn't work for you combo).

can somebody tell me how you make the grey bars on the standard def channels black.

i remember seeing a post a while ago that i cannot find on how to do thisPassport doesn't have a setting for this. The only way to get it is if your television can do black bars; if so, you can tell the box to pass 4:3 format signals straight through to the TV. Be aware that some televisions will take a significant amount of time to switch formats and do something visually ugly.

oh well i guess ill stay streched on crappy sd channels

thanks anyway

So you had SARA before?

That makes things interesting. I wonder if you'll be last in line for Navigator or upgraded with the rest of the original Passport crowd? Or could it be further signs that Navigator just isn't ready for anything.

Seems kind of stupid to change the IPG now and then again in a few months (?!?) or so. But it is TWC, so stupidity isn't a new event.

yep i was SARA before. about a year ago TWC took over from Adelphia. Adelphia was SARA. TWC finally finished the "upgrade" and pushed Passport through on our boxes.
i thought it was interesting too. down in charlotte folks have been reporting that if they exchange their box for the HDC box they get navigator. but i havent read any reports of it being forced onto old boxes. statesville is now considered in the TWC charlotte area. so its probably the same here now or will be real soon. i dont plan on exchanging my DVR unless i have to. if they force it through for charlotte it'll probably change for statesville to.

Hey guys, thanks for the responses...

Lemme further clarify the poor man's MR..my 8300HD w/ passport is connected upstairs to my 60" Sony SXRD via component. I could just take some coax shoot it downstairs to my Panny Plasma, grab just a HD box from TWC, connect it via HDMI, pick up a One For All 9910 which comes with the RF extender for $33 bucks and I'm golden??? This seems way too easy, and why the hell doesn't TWC advertise this PMMR as a feature like Dish does??

Now the second question is, will TWC run the coax for me, or do I have to do it myself??? Thanks again... :)

If I'm reading you correctly, you are saying the you need a digital box on the 2nd TV. This is incorrect. The output from the 8300HD coax is channel 3/4 with the same program that is going out on all the other outputs. The coax on the 2nd TV is connected directly to the antenna input, That TV is then tuned to channel 3/4 (no cable box is needed, for that matter it won't work).

Rick Graham

Originally Posted by slickshoes
Hey guys, thanks for the responses...

Lemme further clarify the poor man's MR..my 8300HD w/ passport is connected upstairs to my 60" Sony SXRD via component. I could just take some coax shoot it downstairs to my Panny Plasma, grab just a HD box from TWC, connect it via HDMI, pick up a One For All 9910 which comes with the RF extender for $33 bucks and I'm golden??? This seems way too easy, and why the hell doesn't TWC advertise this PMMR as a feature like Dish does??

Now the second question is, will TWC run the coax for me, or do I have to do it myself??? Thanks again... If I'm reading you correctly, you are saying the you need a digital box on the 2nd TV. This is incorrect. The output from the 8300HD coax is channel 3/4 with the same program that is going out on all the other outputs. The coax on the 2nd TV is connected directly to the antenna input, That TV is then tuned to channel 3/4 (no cable box is needed, for that matter it won't work).

Rick GrahamI now have a different read on what he wants and what is missing is that the RF out from the 8300 is analog - so that scheme will not give him the HD that it now appears that he wants on his Panny plasma.

slickshoes,

I think we are getting sidetracked here. Like rdgcss said, all you need to do is connect the coax from the box upstairs to the TV downstairs. Tune the TV to channel 3/4 and you can then watch whatever is playing on the DVR box upstairs, a recording or live TV. Unfortunately, this means that both TVs will be displaying the same content. Is this really what you are trying to do? Or, since you mentioned a second HD box, do you really want to be able to watch recordings from the DVR and also watch separate live TV using a second HD box?

I believe Dish works very similar to the SA MR in that you have a Dish DVR in one room and a Dish HD tuner in another room. Content from the DVR can then be distributed in HD to the HD tuner in the other room. The SA MR works the same way, but it has not been deployed that I know of.

What you cannot do with the cureent cable DVR and HD tuner is connect them together. Again like rdgcss says, you cannot run the coax from the DVR upstairs to the HD tuner downstairs. You can do as you mentioned thoiugh, connect the coax to the TV and connect the HD tuner via HDMI. This would let you watch recordings from the DVR in SD and also watch live TV in HD, but you would have to switch inputs on the TV to do so.

FWIW, the reason cableco's don't advertise the simple setup (just the DVR with coax) is that they then don't make any money on a second tuner. I have an SD TV in the bedroom that I could easily run coax to so I could watch recordings or TV. Since we are never trying to watch separate TV in both places, using a single box would be fine for us. We just don't watch enough TV in the bedroom to make running the coax and buying the RF remote worthwhile.

I now have a different read on what he wants and what is missing is that the RF out from the 8300 is analog - so that scheme will not give him the HD that it now appears that he wants on his Panny plasma.No, you had it right. He mentioned in his original post that he knows it would be SD. I think he mentioned the second HD tuner simply because that is how the Dish setup works, very much like the SA MR setup.

I believe Dish works very similar to the SA MR in that you have a Dish DVR in one room and a Dish HD tuner in another room. Content from the DVR can then be distributed in HD to the HD tuner in the other room. The SA MR works the same way, but it has not been deployed that I know of.My sister has Dish (though not HD)--there's no second box. The DVR's in one room and the second television is wired to it somehow in a second room. You use a secondary RF remote in the second room which controls what's displayed there. You can watch any combination of recordings or tuners on either TV; two different live programs, one live program and one recording or two different recordings. You can watch the same live program or the same recording at both locations, though I don't think that they'll be synchronous or need to stay that way. At the location with the STB, recordings can be set up such that they cannot be played at the secondary location (for parental control); I think that repeating recording can be set such that they're always marked that way.

Not really the same as SA's MRV set-up, which requires a DVR and multiple non-DVR units (up to 4, I believe, and think that they have to be standard-def and that only standard-def recordings can be played on the satellites).

It's possible that Dish has a multi-room HD set up which works differently.

My sister has Dish (though not HD)--there's no second box. The DVR's in one room and the second television is wired to it somehow in a second room. You use a secondary RF remote in the second room which controls what's displayed there. You can watch any combination of recordings or tuners on either TV; two different live programs, one live program and one recording or two different recordings. You can watch the same live program or the same recording at both locations, though I don't think that they'll be synchronous or need to stay that way. At the location with the STB, recordings can be set up such that they cannot be played at the secondary location (for parental control); I think that repeating recording can be set such that they're always marked that way.

Not really the same as SA's MRV set-up, which requires a DVR and multiple non-DVR units (up to 4, I believe, and think that they have to be standard-def and that only standard-def recordings can be played on the satellites).

It's possible that Dish has a multi-room HD set up which works differently.I'd guess not, thanks for the info. What you describe sounds a lot like my BILs QwestTV, though I'm sure they are still quite different.

Anyway, I guess the bottomline then is that the OP can't get that same level of service using a single cable DVR. But if all he wants is to stay with cable, save money by not renting a second box, and only wants to watch whatever is displayed on the box, then he should be able to do so. I seriously doubt though that TWC will run the coax for him, so he'll need to run it himself or find someone who will.

FWIW, I'm not sure I'd relegate a perfectly good HDTV to such a role, but to each his own. If this were a priority, I'd probably opt to switch to Dish and be done with it, though I'm sure there might be some drawbacks to that idea too. Without knowing more about how much service the downstairs TV will see, it's difficult to recommend a course of action. I'd probably run a long coax temporarily just to see if it will work the way they want. If it does, fine. If not, they can always still switch to Dish. Of course, that assumes they already have the remote and I don'tknow how much coax is needed or how much that would cost, etc.

... so now i see that this cant be changed i can stop fiddling with it and move on.I would not give up until you have examined: The actual output of the STB against the selected options in the menu. Some places lock the output to 1080i with attendant sidebars no matter what you choose, or some TV do not accept 480i over HDMI, forcing an up-convert to ___ (which is what I was getting at above...) The setting of the # or Zoom button on the remote. IIRC, (in 1.8.x, in KS and FL, etc., etc.) it acted in series with the aspect controls in the menu settings, and was not a shortcut for cycling through those options. Thus, it should usually be set at Normal to allow the Settings, More Settings, Output / Aspect selections to act intuitively. And finally, what started this whole business: the effects of telling the box your 4:3 TV is really a 16:9, or vice-versa. Often the preferred setting is non-intuitive, it was for me...v/r,
C-F

And finally, what started this whole business: the effects of telling the box your 4:3 TV is really a 16:9, or vice-versa. Often the preferred setting is non-intuitive, it was for me...[/list]v/r,
C-F


After a lot of experimenting I just select 1080i and 720p as output and use the 4.3 grey bars for all non 16.9 programs. It lets my TV do the 1080i to 720p (720p native TV) conversion rather than the box and leaves all proportions to what was sent by the studio.

Great, glad you found something you like. But strutter desired to see the correct aspect ratio without the grey bars, so there are other potential options for him/her to explore.

v/r,
C-F

The ones with grey sidebars are 4x3 standard definition channels to which the 8300HD is adding pillarboxing and the ones with black bars are 16x9 DTV channels displaying a 4x3 standard def program where the pillarboxing is being added at the TV studio. Some stations stretch 4x3 programming on broadcast--TNT HD is noted for doing this.

One odd point... before the current versin of passport, I used a different "trick" to get black sidebars. BUT on CBS HD, I woiuld see 4:3 content with gray sidebars... obviously addded by CBS. But them I leanre of anther "trick" and CBSes 4:3 is now black. matter of fact, in the past 5-6 months I have yet to even see a gray sidebar.

For those who are wondering, the "trick" may or may not work for you... it clearly DOES for some. It's also totally non-obvious. First, you have to allow all resolutions to pass from your STB to the TV. Second, you set the TV itself to 4:3 for HD channels (that is the head-scratching part; somehow the 8300HD and the TV figure out how to show real 16:9 content IN 16:9 and ignoring the setting). That is it. It works for me, it may or may not work for those who see gray AND don't like it. As terms and nomenclature vary so wildly, I can only give the gist and not specific instructions (example, Samsung has straight forward settings, Sony's are weird, they have a section for each with "Full" and "Normal" for each; in doing this on a Sony, I had to spend half an hour to find the right combo... on my Sammie it was one setting, boom, done).