8300hd / tw passport output questions

ok - i'm a long time lurker - first post here though.

My setup is as follows:

8300hd running passport Echo 2.6.002 - was over HDMI/DVI cable
OS ver. PowerTV 6.14.74.1sp
TWC Cincinnati

Westinghouse LTV-27w2 (27" - DVI, VGA, 2xComponent in)

Phillips DVD/Divx player - component 1

Dell Latitude d810 - VGA
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ok. when i first got my tv about 18 months ago, i had my stb hooked up via both component and dvi (needed component for initial setup and never removed them)-

and the hd mode lights on the box would change with the programming's resolution. after i moved last august, i only hooked up the DVI/HDMI cable - and now, the HDMI out seems to losk my box at 1080i, and upconverts everything.

yesterday, after failing to get into diag mode several times (i however did manage to reset the box and d/l the os again, noted by the hexadecimal countdown) - i hooked the component back up, and removed the HDMI.

all of a sudden, it is showing me the proper resolutions again.

i hook the HDMI back up - and it locks on 1080i again - with the components still connected.



my question is, is this normal behavior? on my tv, the DVI is a bit clearer on SD programming - especially ABC's primetime "pseudo-HD" content.

but fast moving stuff (most notably - the Cav's game last night) looks better over the component.


any thoughts? suggestions? recommended reading?

i honestly have been considering keeping my roadrunner, and ditching this 8300 for a 622 from dish, only i have no line of sight where i am now ... too many trees.

and i hear that they charge 5$ a month if you dont have a landline to hook up to the box's monitoring port ...

i just want decent tv to look at. i dont really watch enough tv to live without a DVR of some sort, and i want to be able to record as much of what i watch in HD.

ok. i may have just answered my own question from SA's website -

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Why are all of my programs displayed in 1080i format?
You may have selected the Easy Setup mode and the Widescreen (16:9) TV setting in the HDTV Setup Wizard. Choosing these two settings together limits your programming to 1080i format, even on non-HD channels. To see your non-HD programs in 480i on a widescreen HDTV, used the Advanced Setup in the HDTV Setup Wizard. Make sure you select 480i as one of your saved formats, and then select Pass-Through in General Settings: Picture Format for your default picture format.
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i seem to remember when my first box was replaced by a tech about a month after i got my tv - he messed with the settings for output format. But i believe i was able to reset them before.

i still haven't managed to get into the advanced screen setup - i will try again after work using the guide on SA's website.

the problem seems to be getting into the setup menu with our local software version.
i may have to unplug the box for a few hours to get it to work, it seems.

with my tv, the component ins sort of automatically compress the video to 1024x720 - you have to set the tv to "fill" mode on component - so if i set it up so that 16:9 is normal picture, and 4:3 is set to stretch - i dont get grey pillarbars.

when the resolution switches to 720p or 1080i, it fills the screen - at the 480's, it "stretches" the video back to it's normal resolution, removing twc's grey bars and leaving the tv's black ones.

my dvd/divx player has always done this - was a total shock when i figured out that i could trick the cable boox into using it to my advantage.

only down side is that if you are on a 480 channel - the guide gets squashed a little and has 1/2 grey bars.
i can live with that.

I think that if i can get a dvi-d cable i might just say screw the hdmi and hook the laptop up over dvi. would most likely give me clearer text when web browsing from the couch. (docking station requires a "D" connection - no analog holes, so an A or I cable wont work)