OK, I'm having a bit of a problem here I'm hoping someone can help me with because Comcast has been no help other than the standard "send out a tech". Here's the issue I'm having. I have an HD DVR (Motorola DCT6412) and it works... for the most part. Any HD broadcast or anything HD coming off the DVR comes in beautifully in 1080i. However, whenever I select anything from HD On Demand, it only comes in at 480p. I know I'm selecting things that are in HD and even when I stop and go back to it in the saved programs, it says its the HD version, yet the output is only coming out at 480p. I'd almost suspect the box except for the fact that everything else HD is output at 1080i like it should be. Any idea what could be causing that? I checked all the settings on the box and I didn't see anything wrong. I'm not too concerned about it because I don't know how often I'll actually use On Demand anyways, but I thought I'd check to see if there's a simple fix for the problem.

edit: I think I fixed the problem myself. Turning off the 4:3 override seemed to have done the trick. I usually keep it set to 480p so the SD stuff is automatically stretched and still looks good. Only thing I can figure is the box stays in override mode because of the On Demand menu. Doesn't make much sense because the DVR menu clicks over to HD when I play an HD recording, not sure why the same wouldn't occur from the On Demand menu.

Is anyone else having this problem all of the sudden? I have a DCT6412 (III) and all HD channels are coming in HD, but suddenly the On Demand HD is not. I have tried HDMI & component and tons of HD stuff - movies, tv shows, music, but it's all coming in 480i or 480p depending on the 4:3 override setting.

The solution above (turning off 4:3 override) seems to work, but it screws up all the 4:3 stuff because it window boxes it and locks out my ability to zoom instead of horizontally stretch the picture.

It seems like this started over this weekend - has anyone else had this issue?

I've actually had this problem for ages with the HD On Demand. The Comcast support was completely clueless about how to fix it. I stumbled across it myself. I too prefer the 4:3 override to be left at 480p/480i but, as you found, it messes up the HD on demand. I rarely use on demand though since it seems to have so many problems and stops responding a lot. So I've just taken to turning off the box and changing the override setting if I want to use on demand HD.

I could correct it, by simply pausing the OnDemand show. Then when I resumed the HDMI figured out what was going on and displayed it correctly. It worked every time for me. It's worth trying, it's a lot easier than turning off the box and changing the settings. I didn't stop it, just paused it at the very start and then resumed playing, the screen would blank/black out for a second and then it would be ok. I eventually just turned off the 4:3 override, but pausing seemed to always fix the video for me.

I'll have to try the pausing thing - I never had this problem with my old box, but it even happens with component connections on the new DCT6412 (III) box. Thanks for the tip - I'll see if it works in the morning...

The pausing trick didn't work. I had paused it in my attempts to get it working. I'm also using component to route it through my receiver though, so I don't know if that might play a role.

You're a genius! The pausing thing totally worked!!!

Avatar28 - It seems strange that you're having this issue - it seems to be something to do with the HDMI "handshake". Do you have a DVI or HDMI cable coming out of your cable box? I know you said you're using component cables, but I didn't know if you were using digital as well. If so, try disconnecting the digital cables, or if not, unplug the cable box and then reboot it and see if that helps.

I have a 3416 and had the same issue. When I called Comcast (this was a while back) she actually told me about the pause thing, it has worked ever since. I would have had no clue otherwise. I don't know why it does that, but I have got use to it and I don't use hd on demand a whole ton anyway, so it's no big deal.

When I watch HD OnDemand, I just start it up and then tune to the channel it's broadcasting on, since my TV's QAM can pick up OnDemand streams since they are unencrypted. :)

Looks better on the TV anyway, less decoding/resending/etc.

You're a genius! The pausing thing totally worked!!!

Avatar28 - It seems strange that you're having this issue - it seems to be something to do with the HDMI "handshake". Do you have a DVI or HDMI cable coming out of your cable box? I know you said you're using component cables, but I didn't know if you were using digital as well. If so, try disconnecting the digital cables, or if not, unplug the cable box and then reboot it and see if that helps.

I have tried to use HDMI but found two problems with it.
1) For some reason my TV (Mitsubishi WD-52725) doesn't retransmit the audio out over the digital audio output (if it's even getting it at all, I don't remember what I found when I tested for that) though I suppose this isn't a major issue, I had hoped to be able to use HDMI and the built in tuner to have PiP working. It also doesn't output the analog channels' audio over the digital out so strike two against that configuration.
2) And this is the real killer, is that EVERY time I turn my TV off and on, I get no picture over the HDMI from my cable box. I have to unplug and replug the HDMI cable in every case. I had at tech come out to work on the TV and when he connected an upscaling DVD player over HDMI this issue did not occur. I have replaced the cable box as well and still had the same problem. I haven't replaced the cable but I'm pretty sure I used the same cable when the tech came out and it hooked up his DVD player. I think I also may have tried using his cable as a test when he was out there. I do PC tech support over the phone for a living, so I know how to be methodical about my troubleshooting (not to say that I might not have overlooked something but I try to be thorough). So I don't know if it is just some sort of basic incompatibility between the box and the TV or what.

I MAY have left the HDMI cable plugged in, I will try to check for that when I get home and unplug it and test again if I did.