[navi]

Okay guys, I admit that this post doesn't really belong here. But since I just got myself a 3060 and love it, I suppose a little leeway is permitted http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif


The cable company is just coming out with Digital Cable in our area. Should I care? What does digital buy me? Does it provide clearer reception? Or is it just more channels?


Navi


If only Replay could record all channels simulteanously.

 

[toots]

Some of both. Lots of extra channels, some of which I find very useful. Would much rather have them than not.


Picture's darn nice, 'cept for the typical mpeg artifacting problems. I doubt that they're doing 6 mb/sec on these, probably more like 2. At least you don't get snow.


Two big downsides for me:


1) The channels that I most want to watch are still on the low numbered channels, meaning they're analog. That means snow, etc.


2) It takes a zillion years to change channels. Forget about channel surfing.

 

[DeadEd]

You didn't give us enough information to answer the question, but I suspect it can be answered by going to the cable company's web site. You are here in the Bay area, right? If so it's probably ATT cable and if it's the same as here in Walnut Creek, you get a MUCH better picture and a TON more channels for the same price. Plus DMX music which I never listen to and a ton of PPV which I never watch. Also nice channel guides which you'll never use with Replay. I love the digital cable. The only negative is the lag makes channel surfing painful (not as painful as with replay though).


Ed Leiken

 

[jilter]

One thing I learned since getting digital cable very recently....

There are a LOT of BAD movies out there in Cableland. Most of them are shown over and over again....some times concurrently. I do not think I have seen one really good movie yet on my digital system in the month or so we have had it. Yes, there are alot more channels, but believe me, that does not always translate into better viewing opportunities. Am I happy I switched to digital...YES! The quality of picture IS better on the "high" channels.....and it brought us a select few channels that were previously unavailable. If you are a PPV user, the selection is vast (we don't use it)....and the digital music channels are not for everyone, however I have found them great. My husband likes to sleep with t.v. on, and I switch to the music once he is asleep and I am about to be. I find it much easier on my dreaming stages....less violent and commercial messages being drummed into my semi-concious brain all evening...also I have found some music and titles of same that I might not have known.

All in all...... I am endorsing the switch to digital....good luck!

 

[DrJoe]

Channel surfing is slow for ANY hookup you use with the Replay. As far as digital cable boxes -- it just requires some tweeking to get it to work well...


Posts have been made about GE and Scientific Atlanta boxes. I've posted MANY times on this subject (maybe I should make a mini-faq on digital cable). By tweeking my system I went from 10+ second channel changes to <2 seconds.


To make it work well:


Assuming your box has 1000 channels, you will change channels MUCH faster if you add an "8" in front of the device code. A "6" forces 2 digits to be sent (as in enter '5', send '05'; an "8" forces 3 digits to be sent (as in '5' sends '005'. You also want to force an "enter". Because the lower channels (that you would get without digital cable) are analog, they take longer to tune than the upper digital channels. It may be easier on your eyes to slightly lengthen the black screen "delay" time the Replay unit uses. I compromise -- my delay is a little long on the upper channels, a little short on the lower channels. Instructions on how to do this are in the FAQ at the top of the page.


On Digital Cable Audio/video:


Your box will probably have an S-video and Composite video output. The sound will be composite l/r and dolby digtal AC3.


Forget about the digital audio.... you ONLY get it fot the "digital" channels (not the analog ones), and it is ONLY DD 2.0 (NOT DVD style DD 5.1) -- when you decode it through a dolby digital receiver, with pro-logic, you will get the same 4 channels of audio you get if you send the r/l composite audio through a dolby pro-logic receiver. No gain here. Plus, Replay can't use dolby digital. Only buy a dolby digital receiver if you have a DVD player.


To get the most flexibility:


If you have a strong signal, split the cable at the wall. Hook the RF up to the Replay box and the digital box. Send the S-video output and composite audio to the Replay from the box. If you have an A/V receiver, split the composite audio between the Replay and the A/V receiver, and send the composite video to the receiver. If you have a REAL strong signal, you can split the RF cable THREE ways and input it into the TV's rf input. Compare the split/not split video picture to see if the signal degrades -- if it doesn't before/after, your signal is strong enough.


with this setup, you can:


Record on the Replay from the analog cable while watching the digital box (through the A/V receiver) on your TV


Record on the Replay from the digital cable while watching the RF analog cable on the TV