Centronics ZAT 502 HD / RTC DTA1100HD / Digiwave DTV5000HD - Page 16

Perfect reason to drop them like a brick!

Are you aware the NCTA just petitioned the FCC to allows MSO's to encrypt everything?;
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...Basic_Tier.php

Hi Rabbit73,

Now that you've owned the ZAT502 HD for 3 years, has it been reliable?
Our Apex DT502 (same Samsung tuner & dual signal display) died shortly after the labor warranty expired.

Mine has been, but I must point out that I use MythTV for most of my TV watching, and only use the ZAT for live events (sports, big news events etc.) so it does not get a lot of use.

The last time I checked, my Centronics ZAT502HD was still working, but I only use it for testing, not everyday use.

Sorry to hear about your Apex DT502. I have made further comments on the Apex DT502 thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post22068630

Hi Rabbit73,

Thanks for the update. I'm glad your ZAT502 HD has been reliable. Perhaps I just purchased a defective sample.

Thanks for your report DAP.

Are there any Centronics ZAT502 HD owners that:

• Have owned one for > 1 yr
• Use it everyday

And would like to share their experience with it?

Thanks

I know this is a fairly OLD topic, but............

I have seen untold articles, threads, stories of people cutting the cable cord or reducing down to BASIC cable and getting the premium content via streaming (I've done the later). You can buy a basic LCD 20" TV for under $100.......why is just an HD tuner for use with a projector so ridiculously expensive and from what I've read, problematic???

I reduced down to basic 4 months ago and don't miss 100 channels of crap that I lost. WHAT I DO MISS is the ability to watch TV on my projector......especially when working out. Someone is missing a great market here!

Anyone with a solution.....PLEASE SHARE IT!

You could maybe get a tv tuner/ video capture card for a PC. Then turn the PC into a DVR and run a cable from it to your projector.

I had the same exact problem. I use my laptop and purchased an HDTV USB tuner for under $50 to connect the HDMI laptop port to the projector.

One word: "Volume".

A lot more of those $100 TVs are made than the stand alone tuner. The more you make of something, the cheaper it gets to make it.

I do think they would sell more of those stand alone tuners if they had multiple RF inputs so that someone with an antenna array could get all of their stations. It would need a good user interface. Having to delve down 3 layers into the menu system to change antennas would kill any advantage of multiple inputs.

i am really surprised there is not a simple tuner for front projection. coxial in hdmi out.

why dont projectors come with a tuner? are they better in flat screens because you can run an antenna lead around the perimeter of screen creating better reception.

I have never seen the inside of a flat panal. time for a google search!
Edited by larryep - 8/6/12 at 5:35pm

They do make standalone tuners like that, or used to anyway, but they were like $250 to $500 and the price difference dictated how many channels they would actually pull in. I bought a plasma monitor 5 years ago with no tuner, so I went out and priced them and promptly bought a new TV instead.

i have one of the first tuners for hi def. a samsung sir-t 165



runs hot and only has dvi. It did a good job with hdtv quality.

I paid 600 dollars for that. man i was nuts

hi def was such an amazing new thing back in 2001. watching endless loops of fly overs on channel 9!
Edited by larryep - 8/6/12 at 5:40pm

this just dawned on me after posting my last thread. The fact that my old tuner produced alot of heat. Do tuners with audio/video outputs create heat and that is why they are not in projectors?

No, that's not the reason. Projectors are intended to be display-only devices. They are not TV sets.

I have one of those and it is why I will never buy anything from Samsung again.
The software is seriously broken on that thing and Samsung would not lift a finger to fix it.
It will get stuck on a channel, and one must disconnect the antenna power it off and power it back on and quickly change the channel before it gets stuck again.
Awful POS.

I'm the new owner of a ZAT 502... or at least I hoped I'd be. Mine lasted for all but 15 minutes. A few minutes after I got my channel scan done, the video output turned into noise/snow/corrupt signal. Doesn't even matter if the antenna is plugged in or not. The HD/SD button doesn't help. SD still works, but I bought this unit for the HD component out.
Also, when I got back from work today the display showed 00000. A power cycle brought it life again...for about 2 minutes.
Sheesh.

This still the most recommended HD tuner for use with projector?

Reliability on these is poor.

Well what is currently the best inexpensive atsc/qam tuner?

Probably a voice in the wilderness here - I just discovered this old thread but don't know if anyone is still tuned in.

I have a DVT5000HD. Was there ever any resolution to the audio dropout problem when using HDMI? Perhaps a firmware update that can be downloaded somewhere? I've searched but can't find anything - not that that means much: Google returns far more noise than signal these days.

Alternatively any other setup change or workaround? I'm aware that using the S-Video/component/composite outputs may (I believe) get around the problem but for various reasons I need/want to use HDMI.

There was no patch. The work around is to use the optical TOSLINK output. It contains the exact same digital audio data that the HDMI is supposed to be transmitting but without the dropouts.

Thanks, DAP, that would be an option if I had anything to plug the TosLink into but this isn't going into a home theatre - just into a TV which has TosLink output but not input.

The TV tuner input and the sole composite/component input (no S-video) are tied up with other things but the TV does have a plethora of HDMI inputs .... which was why I bought this particular tuner in the first place - because of the HDMI connection.

Guess I'll just have to look for another tuner. Pity because the video performance of this one seems quite good.

Add me to the list of people having reliability problems with the Centronics ZAT 502 HD.

I've had mine for about 2 years, and used it a few times per month. Several months ago, it started not coming out of standby mode reliably -- I hit the power button, the standby light goes off briefly, the channel display shows zeroes briefly, but then it goes back to standby. Initially, if I tried to turn it on repeatedly, it would work after a few (or several) tries. But now it just absolutely won't come out of standby.

Any ideas on how I might revive it? Or is it destined for the recycling center?

Assuming I need to replace it, any recommendations on what I should replace it with?

Thanks,
David

Just a thought - and I hope I'm not teaching my Grandmother to suck eggs - but have you considered the possibility that the remote is getting flakey? Perhaps sending multiple or distorted on-off signals. Or even a weak battery in the remote (I always forget about those).

Thanks for the idea -- I've tried powering it up many times with both the remote control and button on the box. Same result, unfortunately.

Ah well, it was just a thought. The only other thing I can think of - standard practice really so you've probably already done it - is to remove power completely (unplug it) for 1/2 a minute. Most of these kinds of devices need that to fully reboot. Simply turning off power with the remote or the switch on the unit may not do it.

The Centronics ZAT 520 HD proved to me to be total waste of money, cannot recommend it. Within weeks of the crappy 90-day warranty expiration, the video signal started to cut out intermittently, say every one-two minutes or so. Customer No Service was unapologetic and would offer no warranty service. I tossed it in the trash soon after, good riddance to bad garbage.

So is there a better option to get HD locals off an antenna to my projector? I dont need recording capabilities...