Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew c 
No. You can not make SD look like HD. You can get your PC to upscale so that it is sending out a 1080p signal, but the picturet is simply scaled. It's like zooming in to a low resolution jpeg. Sure, you can get photoshop to scale it up to a higher resolution, but it cannot introduce any new information (and often exaggerates any artifacts). You need to be getting an HD signal if you want to see HD content. There is no way to convert or transform SD content into something better than what is being sent out. |
That's what I figured
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew c 
7MC can remove the black bars just fine. Zoom 3 is "Stretch video to remove blank bars on top and bottom". But I guess you have tried that, and you don't think it does a "good job". To my knowledge, there are only the 4 zoom options, nothing more. |
No actually I do not know anything about MC7 other than a couple of nice reviews I read, one positive, one neutral. Plus everyone I talk to loves it and the service my cable company provides went from sucks to crap when they "upgraded" the GUI. (Thats what stated this whole thing, and I started paying attention to my bill) The reason I am asking all of these questions is because in order for me to upgrade an older system to be able to record TV it will cost $200 just to use some free downloaded media center. To put windows 7 on there, it will be about $325 as I will need $25 for a small HDD (the current one I have is tiny) and $100 for Win7. I just don't want to start taking the plunge without fully knowing what I am getting into.
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew c 
Cable companies encrypt their HD content (except the local network channels), and based on your subscription level, they will give you access to those channels you are subscribed to through a their cable box, or a cable card device (there is sort of 3 options out there... one is discontinued and can only be found used, one is backordered, and one is going to be released in a few months, maybe). And I guess you know about the HDPVR. |
Yes, thanks, I have seen those options, the Centon is really cool, also very expensive.
I really wanted to bring that POS DVR back to the cable company and tell them to take a flying leap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew c 
How many HD cable boxes are you paying for now? Do you have any DVRs? How much money are you spending a year on these options? And how much money would you save if you got rid of them? Then figure, how many years it would take to break even if you bought a cablecard solution. To some people, the $400 for a Ceton isn't that much when considering the long run (not to mention the announced price for the HDHomeRun Prime is even less than the Ceton). |
One DVR style Cable box, and one other cable box. Both HD variety.... And I have looked at this cost. Initially I figured it would save $330 per year, but that includes the OTH stuff I should not be paying for and plan to cancel, so to be fair, $200. But that included keeping 2 ordinary HD boxes, cause I thought I had to for one. I did not realize until today that the coax coming out would still be NTSC. So if I drop both of those I save $370, which sounds good but I am already going to have to shell out about $350. But you have sparked my interest, how can i get rid of the second box in my house on a different TV and still get the HD programming there I want with this one computer? I assume that is what you are implying. I am going to look into this HDHome Run Prime, I have not heard of it.
One fear i have about these cablecard tuner cards is that an IT guy at my work said he was leery of them due to rumors he heard that the industry is getting ready to change the format. Said they will probably be worthless in 6 months or so.
Thanks again, I rave about this forum.