New York, NY - Cablevision - Page 13

A few questions.... Is on demand movies (pay per view) boradcast in HD quality?

Regardless of the answer to yhis question, how does watching a movie on ondemand compare to watching a store rented DVD. In terms of quality and sound?

Will i get the surround sound channels on cablevision?

There is a seperate channel for HD on demand. Don't expect much other than a few movies and some IMAX docs. The regular on-dmand movies are in 4:3 format, either full frame or letterbox. The movie channels do look excellent in HD though. Definitely better than DVD, for the most part.

I got burned by the VOD quality just yesterday...but I really should have known. Yes, it is only SD when you order through ch500...I believe the HD OD is 700?

One great thing that I confirmed this morning though, when you order VOD, it works on any STB in the household!!!! I have two 8300HD and one 4200HD...I ordered through one of the 8300 boxes and the selection is available on all of my household boxes!!! It even remembers what spot I left off...so, i turned the one box off and went to bed, tuned in on another box the next day and it allowed me to resume from where i left off on the first box...very nice...now they just need to offer all of the titles in HD instead of SD!

I just got set up w/ the 8300 HD this week after using Time Warner in Brooklyn for the past few years. All i have to say how much this thing sux compared to the time warner version. it's like they made the interface and then no one tested it to see if it was any good. The 8300 pioneer/TWC box's interface is much more userfriendly, modern looking, smarter and faster. I can't stand the interface and how it records....yeah, it's okay if you've never used a Tivo or even TWC's 8300....but this thing is a dog. Almost enough to make me not want to use it. unfortunately i'm left w/ no options until satellite upgrades their stuff......

anyone interested in getting one of these boxes i suggest you hold out for satellite as well. IMHO!

What about the sound quality. Is it surround sound just like a DVD. And if yes it is only on HD or everything?

It is surround sound...

It depends on the feed. All HD is dolby digital but not necessarily 5.1 surround. Some programs are still 2.0 or even mono. But youll find a huge upgrade in the sound.

Right, that is what I meant to say but in my haste didn't

If the source material is being transmitted in multi-channel surround DD, then you get the multi-channel surround DD. However, if the source is only 2CH, then you will still get a DD audio signal, but it will only contain 2CH of audio.

Just got the HD cablevision box with DVR today.

There is a video option in the setting menu which says

upconvert 1
upconver 2
fixed

and some others.

What does this mean and what settings do you use.

I went from a simple TIVO remote which turned on my stero receiver, and turne on my televison at the same time to the optomium remote control that is fairly easy for me to use but difficult form most of my family memebers. Who are technology challanged.

it used to be easy for them the TIVO was also a DVD player so everything was one step.

I would consider one of the all in one remotes but I don't like the fact that it lacks all of the features of a full remote.

Does anyone else have any suggestions.

Harmony remotes are great and very family friendly...

Something I did not notice untill today is the black pillar bars on 4:3 programming are not the correct size, they are less wide then normal.

The top haf of the image is WNBC-DT. The bottom half is WPIX-DT.
As you can see the 4:3 video is wider on WPIX. Is this a recent thing or have they always been doing this?

Get the Atlas DVR/PVR remote. This works great with the SA box and controls all other components too. You should be able to find it on e-bay for under $20. Just make sure you get the DVR/PVR model.

WPIX, I've noticed, broadcasts their SD versions of shows that are also presented in HD in what I'll call a 16:9 shrunken version (I'm sure there is a term for what they do but I can't recall right now); i.e., it is letterboxed/pillarboxed within the window allowing you to zoom in and get an undistorted 16:9 picture without losing too much to cropping (usually only a slight amount gets cropped...I like stations that do this for the obvious reasons...

Someone on another forum said WPIX-DT has been showing 4:3 SD programming in 14:9 for some time.

Also last nights WB Network programming was being shown then cause the Mets had pre empted Fridays WB Network programming. Thats also why it was not in HD Saturday night.

The setting to use depends on what formats your TV can display. Did you get a manual with your box? It tells you how to go through the setup menu to choose the formats. Basically if your TV can display all of the formats (480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i) you should use pass through. The Upconverts would be used if your TV can display 480i and only one of the HD formats. I think U1 is for 1080i and U2 is for 720p. Fixed would display everything in the one format you choose.

My TV i beleive displays 1080i and 480 p so which setting do I use?

i did not get the manual with the box.

You can download the manual at:

http://www.scientificatlanta.com/con..._new/index.htm

this should be way better than the IO remote (found it on ebay too). i just tried the remote i had w/ time warner, and lo and behold it worked....looked very similar to the this remote, but had both dvd and vcr controls.....it's great, the io remote sux.

http://www.scientificatlanta.com/con...es/remotes.htm

I purchased this AT8550 and I think it is the best "universal" remote I have ever had. It can be set to turn on/off multiple devices with one press of the power button. It works all of my other components in addition to the 8300 HD/DVR: Sony TV, Sony DVD/VCR combination and Onkyo receiver. It works all commonly used functions for each component. I recommend it for those who like convenience. I paid $24.99 plus tax and shipping at the Scientific Atlanta site.

Martin21

so I just got a hdtv (the maxent 42" at costco - wow!!)

are cv's hd channels all in the 700's? I thought they had some lower.

can you tell from the guide what's in hd?

they are all in 700's...they have "HD" at the end of the description, e.g., CBSHD, FOXHD, etc.

I set my box so that it comes on with 701 which is INHD then I could scroll upwards from there. Check titantv.com and HDsportsguide.com for more info on whats in HD.
My service stops at 750 which is HBO but it goes up also ; Showtime, Cinemax, Movie channel.. 700 is HD in Demand, 800 #'s are the 40 digital music channels. Connect box to receiver w/digital cable and enjoy commercial free digital music.. hope this helps.. Matt

If I subscribe to "basic cable" with cablevision, can I get the HDTV OTA channels without a box?

Thanks,
Doug

thanks guys! I got the Silver package from cv. I thought that included *all* hd channels, but I'm not getting the other movie stations in hd except for HBO.

Is it me or why does espnhd look like its a 4:3 pic most of the time.

out of curiosity, when there are movies on hd, are they coming in at 480p or 1080i? I can't imagine that every movie is hd quality.

I was thinking of picking this up for my mother to make her life easier. Does it allow you to change the TV inputs (TV/Video button)?

ah, I figured out that the 8300 box was outputting "stretch" mode, not normal. Now it looks better...

boy, the analog channels look like crap on a hdtv. I didn't know cv had so many analog stations. they tout the io stuff, but it seems like there are just as many analog stations as digital. digital channels look very good, and of course, the hd channels look great.

can you tell me how to check what the 8300 is outputting? is there an option to output 720p or 1080i? if so, I don't see it...

OKay Guys I got one for you.

I orderd io digital with the 8500HD box. For some reason they did not turn on the box correctly. The result is I have all of the movie channels (not including PPV and on demand channels). Pretty neat.

The one problem is the DVR is not functioning correctly because cable does not really know the box is connected. It i s not registered.

Do I say something which will give up my free movie channels? but then get the DVR function.

OR do I leave it alone, which will give me all movie channles no dvr functions. By the way I am payig for the DVR functions.