I will try to get some basic ?'s out of the way

I got the Samsung s-3241d

Is it true it is 780p? and it has interlacing? Or in this case, another terminology Samsung uses, the same name but different meaning as DVD's, progressive scan?

So if my TV is 780p, and can do up to 1080i. I read that 780 is actually just as good, smoother probably right?: So would I want that hidden menu in the Comcast Motorola box to be set to 780p or 1080i?

Now one article said online that to get the best pics, and no one stretched out, get used to 4:3 shows showing up with lines on the sides. It is so small tho. Then for a HD pic, switch to 16:9. And then if it were perfectly set, I don't know if he meant the Cable Box menu, or the TV, that it would switch by itself.

I mean I do see some shows switching by itself but not all

Would you just leave it to subjectivity.

I am confused by two different types of shows. Married with Children, late at night, channel 15, will show up normal. Now I assume that is not HD right? that which is not recorded in HD cannot be played in HD, until a few years from now with new remastering.

And then the other ? was a HD football game, yesterday, it was like a square with a black bar on the top and bottom, but also both sides. Totally annoying.
What kind of presentation was that. I think Leno late night was like that but Letterman was not.

and then on the cable box settings, I have a call into them but I am sure you all will be quicker....what is the 4:3 override: I think it said nothing. what is it and what should it be.

Eric

Anyone in the midatlantic area? that may know whether the Orioles will be shown on Masn whether it will be in HD. I don't even know whether it used to be when on CSN

I will try to get some basic ?'s out of the way

I got the Samsung s-3241d

Is it true it is 780p? and it has interlacing? No: It is 768p (don't know where you got 780 from. 768 x 1366 is a computer standard {WXGA}). It is progressive.

So if my TV is 780p, and can do up to 1080i. I read that 780 is actually just as good, smoother probably right?: So would I want that hidden menu in the Comcast Motorola box to be set to 780p or 1080i?As I said, your set is 768p. It can accept and display 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. Everything has to be converted by the set to 768p. Unfortunately, I think the Moto HD box (my daughter has a Moto 6412 III, and I know it is true with that) can only be set to output 720p or 1080i for HD. It cannot be set to pass the scan rate that it receives. The problem is that if you pick 720p, it will convert all 1080i programs to 720p, and your set will do a second conversion from 720p to 768p. Conversely, if you pick 1080i, then it will convert all 720p programs to 1080i and then your set will do a second conversion from 1080i to 768p. I strongly suggest trying both settings with the Moto and on both types of programs (ABC, Fox & ESPN HD are 720p and the rest are 1080i). In general I would suspect that you would be better off with a 720p as you would not be introducing the interlacing (and the artifacts that result) that you would get if you set 1080i.
And then the other ? was a HD football game, yesterday, it was like a square with a black bar on the top and bottom, but also both sides. Totally annoying.
What kind of presentation was that. I think Leno late night was like that but Letterman was not.It was probably an issue with the station.

Regarding Dave Hancok's last item, some local stations want to use their HD bandwidth to broadcast several extra signals (to make more money) so they will down convert an HD signal to 480i/p and send it out (while still calling it HD :eek: ). This will give you black bars all around the picture. When ESPNHD gets a 480 (4:3) signal, it expands it to 960 x 720 and adds a ESPN 1280 x 720 gray patterned background (puts gray pattern bars on each side of the picture) to the picture in order to maintain a true 720p source throughout their broadcast.

Regarding Dave Hancock's last item, some local stations want to use their HD bandwidth to broadcast several extra signals (to make more money) so they will down convert an HD signal to 480i/p and send it out (while still calling it HD :eek: ). This will give you black bars all around the picture.I don't think so -I mean that if they send out 480p the set should recognize it as such and give you a full 16:9 image.

Also, I've not heard of that (converting to 480p) before. There is always a first time. I do know that PBS "HD" does show some programs in 480p (their opening banner refers to widescreen and not high definition). And it is PBS that has a tendency to have lots of subs. Our local PBS station has 3 subs but still does 1080i (looks pretty crappy) and every now and then it is 480p.