[bshayes]

I had a question about the X1 and HDTV from Time Warner Cable. I'm not 100% knowledgable about HDTV (which is to say, I know its better from a quality standpoint and I know I want it, but the reasons why aren't something I'm entirely familiar with). My question is, the Time Warner Cable person I spoke with on the phone today to setup the appointment made it sound like I would be able to do HDTV with my setup.


I have an:


Onkyo TR-502 receiver

Infocus X1 Projector


I currently have my DVD player hooked up doing 480p. Can Time Warner boxes do 480p, or can X1s do 720p or 1080i? If so, then I shouldn't have any issues right?


Thanks for all the help!


-Brent

 

[sewerrat]

The X1 can display 720p or 1080i, so no problems there.

The TW cable boxes can output 720p or 1080i, so no problems there.

Enjoy!

 

[bshayes]

Thanks for the quick response! TWC is coming out tomorrow. Will I need anything special to have it work as soon as he hooks it up? Or should he be knowledgable enough to figure it out?


Thanks,


Brent

 

[Opus33]

I would not rely on the cable-tech to know anything more than he has to. Some are great, others not so much.


If you are feeding the HDTV feed from the STB via component to the VGA port, remember that if the box sends a 480i signal, the X1 will just show a blue screen since the signal is not supported on that input. Most cable boxes have a 4:3 override setting (as I had to find out the hard way) which will enable you to ensure that the X1 always gets a 1080i or 720p signal.

 

[Scott Osmond]

If your amp isn't capable of switching component video (it must be HDTV capabled) you'll need to buy an external component switcher as you'll want to run both your DVD and your HDTV box into the VESA port on the X1.


I bought this one : http://www.avtoolbox.com/avt5842mx.shtml


Very nice little unit - if you do a search here there was a lengthy discussion not too long ago about switchers.


Have your cable guy make sure the HDTV terminal is putting out a 1080i image, I personally find very little diff between 1080i and 720p, but after hours of testing I settled on 1080i.


And yes, the X1 looks amazing when firing out good HDTV content - ENJOY!!!!

 

[sewerrat]

You'll also need a VESA adapter to convert the component out from the HDTV box to the VGA in on the X1

 

[bshayes]

Thanks for the help again! The receiver I have does indeed do component switching (only 2 input ports, so my DVD and HDTV will utilize those connections. I'll alert the tech to the fact that my projector only support resolutions of 480p, 720p, and 1080i. If the default is 480i, we're going to see a blue screen.


I had this same issue when I setup my DVD player. I was able to get around it by, temporarily hooking up S-Video to the DVD player, changing the display settings to 480p (didn't know if it goes higher than that) then going back to the component video output of the DVD player.


Would this solution work? TWC uses Scientific Atlanta HD boxes.


Thanks! I'm so excited, currently I have my digital cable box hooked up via S-Video and the TV picture is less than adequate. Hopefully the component output of the HD box will increase my satisfaction!

 

[bshayes]

I think I have the VESA thing already. My DVD player is a component output and is currently hooked to the X1, through my Onkyo. The cable I have is component on one end (hooked into the Onkyo) and VGA on the other end (hooked to X1)


Thanks!

 

[Scott Osmond]

Just be sure that your amp can handle HDTV feeds (in terms of component switching)...


PS - make sure they give you the latest SA box - not sure if they offer it down there or not, but the SA8000HD is also a Personal Video Recorder - there is also a SA8300HD I believe out now too.


Check out the other forum "HDTV Recorders" - there are numerous threads regarding the SA units (all the good, the bad and the ugly).

 

[bshayes]

Everything looks SUPER! I just need to figure out the best settings to use on the X1 now for the HDTV. Anyone have any suggestions?


Just FYI, the room contains no windows, the front lights turn completely off, and the back row of lights I have on a dimmer, so all light in the room is controllable. I have a DIY screen (1x4s & blackout cloth).


What does everyone think are good settings for HDTV/DVD viewing?


Also, is there no HDTV on ABC? Or are there only select HD programs on it? NBC, CBS, TNT, Discovery all had dedicated HD channels on my new box, but not ABC. Weirdness!


Thanks!

 

[sewerrat]

ABC=Monday Night Football.

Probably the best Hi-Def sporting event out there, quality wise.

My TWC carries ABC HD, can't imagine why yours wouldn't

 

[bshayes]

I've in North Carolina. I know I see shows on ABC sometimes that says like "Presented in HD", but that's just on the regular channel 7.


In contrast, NBC's regular station is Channel 11. They have a dedicated HD station as 540.


Here's a listing of the channels that are offered to me:

TRIAD TWC HD OFFERINGS

 

[Scott Osmond]

Best setting change you can make is to flash your X1 with the Infocus ScreenPlay 4800. After doing that I pretty much have found I can run my X1 at the default 4800 settings.


See TechNut's X1 FAQ for instructions etc...

 

[JimmyFace]

The only settings I changed on my X1 when running HD was I switched to the video preset, turned the brightness down some and changed the color temperature. Unlike DVD players, I found HDTV signals require very little tuning on the X1. Sometimes I turn the contrast down if the whites are too bright on sporting events.


I leave my HDTV receiver on the 16:9 setting and put my X1 in 16:9 mode. Even if I'm watching 4:3 upconverts on the HDTV channels I find this looks best. If you try to use a 4:3 zoom setting on the HDTV receiver I find it makes the picture look like crap. For regular SD channels I usually find straight S-video looks best. Then you can get the biggest possible picture and let the faroudja do it's thang!

 

[bshayes]

How do you use S-Video sometimes and Component sometimes?

 

[spoll]

I've just replaced my Blackout cloth screen with a Da-Lite HiPower and the difference is astounding! I have an X1 too with IO cable HDTV and when it's getting fed great quality HDTV signals the picture is superb.


Call Da-Lite and get a few samples of the HiPower material and test it, it was a no brainer decision.