standard definition improvements?

I have Comcast HD with a Motorola 6208 hooked to a Sammy HLN617W via DVI, STB set to output 1080i and upscale 480i to 480p. Digital channels look OK but 100 and down are really grainy.


I had heard that splitting the RF cable in and running one to the STB and one directly to the Sammy "might" help SD, hadn't tried it for a couple of months due to a)disbelief and b)WAF trying to explain that "for these channels use X remote and for those channels turn off the receiver and use that remote".


To make a long story short I was bored and rerouting wiring one day and decided to try it... WOW what a difference, the SD on the Sammy in Panorama mode directly from the RF input looks almost as good as digital!


I've had my taste of humble pie and will leave that "F" connector hooked to the Sammy, the wife even thinks that Lifetime looks good enough to learn the remote shuffle

DaddyRabbit, can you explain the acronyms?

I am already splitting direct cable feed: one to the cable box (basic digital cable) -> to vcr -> to Denon AVR -> to WS4315 coax in. The other directly to TV's ant-B. Still pretty grainy.

If your standard def. analog channels are still grainy when you switch to ant-B then you probably have a bad feed. Maybe try a new coax cable from the splitter to ant-B, a new splitter, or look into a signal amplifier. If that doesn't work then it's probably a bad feed from the cable co.


Although I don't have a Mits, splitting the feed worked great for me. Big improvement on analog channels compared to the feed going through the cable box.

A $15 signal amplifier solved this issue for me. I still go through the cable box via component to my panny lcd rptv. Definitely worth a try.

Here's a web site that I found useful when cleaning up my own home wiring: http://www.swhowto.com/VideoLoss.htm .


I tried the $15 amps and they didn't work for me, so I went up to the $60 version (mine was a Motorola that was on sale) and it helped a LOT. If you want to use any bidirectional features (interactive program guide or PPV) make sure you get an amp that supports a return path.


I inherited a messy setup when I bought this house and had 10.5db in signal losses just in splitters, plus losses due to cable runs, so a signal booster was essential.