[sbaillar]

That's right...Mr. Watson at TWCNYC came through...I got the call from Staten Island Cable (TWC) on Saturday and they are coming to drop off the new box next Saturday...


Season Finale of the Saprano's in HDTV baby!!!!


If anybody in SI has the cable box already, is it an explorer3300?? What kind of digital output does it have for audio, coax or fiber or both?


Thanks,

Sonny

 

[garysi]

Hey Baillar,

I'm getting my box this Tuesday. I thought it was the 3100, but who cares. The box has component out for HDTV and also has S-VHS out for the rest. The posts here reccomend that cable hook-up.

I'm in New Dorp Beach and I'll post more info after it's in. BTW just spent 5 hours yesterday doing the geometry and convergence on my Panny 47. Boy does this picture look great.

I feel like a kid in a candy store. Maybe we can start a Home Theater Group here on SI. Post if you want any more info.

 

[RZ]

I have DirecTV HD now, but I was a subscriber to S.I. Cable a few years ago. I just received an email from Mr. Watson and he sent my email address to S.I. cable for the HD box and reconnection. When you get it installed please list all details: stations in HD, cost, 5.1 output, component output(s), PQ, etc.

 

[vinnyv07]

I live in Great Kills, SI and Im getting my HD box next Sat too. Cant wait to see some of those local ch's in HD!! After a long wait ...finally TWC comes through. A Thank You goes out to Mr. Watson, who put me on the HD list for SI when nobody else at TWC knew anything about it. Thanks!!!

 

[KernelHappy]

SI Cable is using the 2100HD.


The non-HD channels are viewable through the component outputs and at least on my Toshiba 42HDX82 the standard channels look much improved. Just be aware that if your set is not 16x9 you will have to change between the component to the S-video inputs when you want to view 4:3 material. I don't know if it's common, but it seems like the 2100HD always assumes that the monitor is 16x9 and it places the black bars on the sides for all 4:3 material including the standard digital channels. I brought my box over to my parents house with the expectation that 4:3 material would fit full frame on their 32" WEGA XBR400 but instead 4:3 material was framed with black bars on the sides as the set itself letterboxed the image. (Resulting in much smaller 4:3 image centered in the screen). Widescreen programs did look extra crisp though but there is no advantage to any 4:3 programs on say fox in 480p or abc's 720p, very dissapointing.


I'm not sure if it's a limitation of the 2100HD or a limitation of the current firmware revision, but the menu guide is not available on any HD channels but it does work on the PBS Kids channel which is Stanarda definition DTV.


Additionally the program guide information for channels 704, 707 and 713 (NBC, ABC, PBS) is not available yet.


I just finished watching the Sopranos on HBO-HD and I must say this was the best $30.50 one time charge I've ever spent =].

 

[KernelHappy]

Quote:

Originally posted by RZ I have DirecTV HD now, but I was a subscriber to S.I. Cable a few years ago. I just received an email from Mr. Watson and he sent my email address to S.I. cable for the HD box and reconnection. When you get it installed please list all details: stations in HD, cost, 5.1 output, component output(s), PQ, etc.

Check out the Where, who, what thread , I posted the info there last week.

 

[sbaillar]

KernelHappy: I have the 2100 now and it is for digital cable...I am assuming you meant the 3100. Also, what kinda audio out does it have? RCA (L-R), coax, fiber? I need to run some extra cables...


That sucks that you need to switch back to s-video when watching DTV channels. Is it a simple switch or menu option (i.e. something my wife can do?)? Does it output both at the same time? So perhaps I can have standard TV on video 4 and HD on video 6.

 

[gmmck]

Hey guys, I just had the 3100 installed this past wednesday.. i am currently getting HBO,NBC,Fox,ABC,UPN and WNET(PBS).. havent seen CBS yet but i guess it will be turned on sometime soon. PBS looks the best to me(although the programming will put you to sleep) with HBO a close 2nd,, NBC has a lot of good programming as well, although they seem to have some stuttering problemsl.. the Tonight show looks great,, FOX had the 4pm football game yesterday and that also looked pretty dam good! Overall, i'm very happy. Like one of the earlier posts stated, i also get the bars around the entire picture on the non-HD channels out of the component input. i do think it looks slightly better though, using that input than the full screen S video input..

 

[anthonymoody]

As a former SI'er (born and raised), congratulations to all of you and welcome to the HD club! Here in Manhattan I've been enjoying my 3100 (preceded by a 2000) for several months. Enjoy!


TM

 

[garysi]

Baillar,

The 5.1 out is coax. I use the digital out on the 2100 now to get at least DD2.0 or DD5.1. Will post my PQ after it is installed tomorrow.

 

[garysi]

Kernel,

The centering of the 4:3 picture on a full screen tube is correct, I saw it on a set today. are you getting black bars on the sides of 4:3 material when watching on the 16:9 screen of the toshiba?

 

[KernelHappy]

Ok I'm a numbnut, I do have a 3100HD, for some stupid reason I thought I had a 2100HD.


As far as having to switch between the Component and S-Video signals that is only a necessity if you have a 4:3 TV. I have a 16:9 toshi and for 4:3 material the STB places black bars on the left and right side of the image.


Maybe I'm thinking too much like a computer guy or I just don't understand why HDTV is handled the way it is but I would think that when using a 4:3 TV any 4:3 material should fill the entire screen. As best as I can tell it looks like the STB assumes that the output device is always 16x9 which for my 16x9 toshi is fine. But for my parents 32" WEGA XBR400 it causes problems. Their WEGA does vertical compression on anamorphic sources but since the STB seems to always output a 16:9 image even when the material is 4:3 the wega does the vertical copression and we end up with 4:3 material in the center of the screen with black bars on the sides (this happens on all 4:3 material, not just HD but even standard analog and digitial cable programming).


Personally I would prefer if the STB would output a 4:3 image on 4:3 programming and a 16:9 image on 16:9 sources or at least make it an option. Let the display device itself decide how to best display the image (for people with 16:9 CRT projection sets this would be beneficial since they could choose whether they want black or grey bars on the sides of 4:3 programming to prevent burn in).

 

[sbaillar]

I plan on hooking this up to a 36"XBR450 so I am unfortunately going to have to go the s-video route as well as the component. I am planning on getting an infocus 7200 in the near future that will be all about 16:9. I bought the cables and all I am waiting for is the box!

 

[garysi]

Well, Time Warner put in the 3100 this afternoon and is it awesome. There are only a few channels in true 16:9, most notably 13HD. I know there is some boring programming on it but what an experiemce. This is defintely demo quality material. PQ on 13 is a killer. Some of the upconverted channels(Fox and UPN) aren't true 16:9 and the picture is determined by the source material. NBC and ABC are great but I'll give a more detailed account after I watch tonight's prime time line ups.

 

[vinnyv07]

I get my HD receiver this Sat....but I have noticed that some have you have mentioned the fact that there is no CBS yet. I cant see why CBS isnt up and running. Cbs is the ch that has the most HD material when you talk about locals. Does anyone know what the problem is???

 

[KernelHappy]

Quote:

Originally posted by vinnyv07 I get my HD receiver this Sat....but I have noticed that some have you have mentioned the fact that there is no CBS yet. I cant see why CBS isnt up and running. Cbs is the ch that has the most HD material when you talk about locals. Does anyone know what the problem is???

I have a tech coming this afternoon to swap my box to try and fix the rebooting problem I'll try and get some info out of him then. My guess is that there is something goofy with the fiber link. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere that CBS was running in 8SVB up until about 3 weeks ago. My guess is that they were passing through a OTA signal and had a problem going QAM.


I wouldn't mind if they turned on CBS today, would make a nice birthday present so I can watch the Jets on sunday.


Regarding upconversion UPN is without a doubt absolutely the worst. Fox's upconversion on most material is pretty good but what's really surprising is their wide screen 480p (I believe it's 480p at least since from what I read that's all they broadcast), it looks far better than I expected a 480p widescreen sports presentation to look.


In other news I had to stop into circuit city to buy something and I stopped to check out the D-VHS decks and in my conversation with the salesman I realized that neither him nor any of the other salemen on that shift had any clue that SI Cable was offering HD or what it costs. (I gave them a quick run down)

 

[John Mason]

Quote:

As far as having to switch between the Component and S-Video signals that is only a necessity if you have a 4:3 TV.

Many here say that standard channels viewed from the 3100HD's component jacks appear blurred and washed out. They do on my setup and did with my older 2000HD as well. It might be worthwhile making careful comparisons between S-video, component, and composite for certain channels.


Component out is really designed for sources delivered by TWC in component (YPbPr) form. These are the H/DTV channels. At the moment, with UPN (709) and PBS Kids (714), and sometimes Fox (705), these channels still seem to be 480i, also producing a fuzzy washed-out appearance here. You'll notice, too, that these channels remain visible in the small inset screen window when you press the GUIDE button. (The 3100HD can display 480i in this window, but blacks out the window and doesn't downconvert 480p, 720p, and 1080i sources for the window. Everything output from the YPrPb jacks is 1080i, either true HDTV or upconverted non-HDTV 1080i.)


Also, there are still reports that some find S-video for some channels (roughly

 

[gmmck]

Hey all, Just wondering what the chances are of TWC in SI getting some other HD channels like Discovery down the line? Also, i know its a longshot, but MSG would be nice for some Rangers/Knicks homegames in HD. Anyone know anything coming down the pipe? any info appreciated, and happy HD Holiday Viewing!

 

[garysi]

Re: Reboot problems


Kernel,

The swapping of boxes due to reboot problem usually isn't needed. If the tech is a contractor his dispatchers have been having a problem with the codes involved. See if you can get him to have his dispatcher transfer him to the Time Warner dispatchers. They are having a problem also but someone there can get the codes right. This happened to me but since the tech knew of this he was able to get TW to boot it right (after four or five times)

 

[sbaillar]

gmmck:


When I was on the phone with them they said that they will be adding 5 more channels by the end of the year... That might be crazy since its a few weeks away but they do plan on adding. The person on the other end of the phone did not know what stations would be added...but I guess you can assume whatever is available on SAT will be available to us soon..ie. HDNET, DiscoverHD, etc...


-sonny