HD tuner question....

[black00ws6]

We bought a plasma TV for our bedroom.. Will I need the HD converter box if the plasma has the following... Two tuners included, dual ATSC/NTSC (digital/analog) and an NTSC (analog) tuner

[Doug1647545489]

what cable service do you have? If its built in your good to go, if not see if your provider has an HD box. For us timer warner gave us a HD box for the same price as a regular box.

[black00ws6]

We'll be getting time warner once we move...

[Doug1647545489]

THen just get the time warner HD box. Its like 7 bucks a month.

[Brandon]

you have to get a HD box through your cable company, so havin the HD tuner built in your t.v. would be a pointless feature, unless you want to get off air high def.

[Skinner]

I just switched to TW. I have digial cable and the DVR box. the connection from the box to the TV is still Coax.

[Brandon]

its not HD digital cable, and the first 100 cable chanels are analog anyway

[mrblunt]

The HD gold package from TW are only channels 785 to 760 something. There are only about 15 channels but for 7 bucks its worth the price. Watching ESPN HD is worth its weight in gold. You need a dvi cable or component video cables to take advantage of the resolution, but TW provides you with the component cables. If you dont mind paying for cable then get the HD gold package, you won't be disappointed. If you dont want that bill then use the hd tuner for over the air HD signals from 4, 6 and 10. Its free and its just as good as cable. Your obviously limited to those channels(well 53 and 28 do as well) but again you only have the upfront cost of your tuner.

[Trouble Maker]

Originally posted by Speci@lized.:

The connection from the box to the TV is still Coax.

This is a common misconception. The way the information is propagated from the cable company to your box and from the box to the TV on coax is different. You will get a far better picture if you use composite video (single cable), a noticeable difference if you go to s-video, and then a much less noticeable difference if you go to component video.

 

You don't have to believe me though, just go try each one that your TV is capable of and look for yourself.

 

Mr.Blunt is right about the cabels too.

[black00ws6]

I have component cables already.... Does DVI or component give a better picture? And does the HD box from TW have a DVI connection on it?

[Nitrousbird]

TW uses the same DVR/HD DVR's that we do at WOW. Well, at least the 8000 series boxes; I'm not sure if they carry the 8300's as well or not, but they are the same thing. But they are all Scientific Atlanta boxes, and SA doesn't have the firmware for the DVI. My 8000 box had the DVI port, my 8300 box doesn't.

 

I'm not sure what Warner uses for their non-DVR HD boxes. I know their digital boxes are "Pioneer" boxes, which are nothing more than a re-badged Scientific Atlanta box w/ slightly different firmware. I'd guess it would be the same.

 

DVI/HDMI would definately be the best connection, as they are a pure digital connection. But you probably won't be able to tell the difference between component and DVI/HDMI.

 

Does the TV have a cable card slot? If so, TW might offer an HD cable card. We are just starting to offer them, but the demand for cable cards isn't there at all; I've yet to come across anyone wanting to use one.

 

Be careful w/ that Plasma; they are bad about screen burning (that and the inflated costs are the reasons I usually tell customers to avoid Plasmas). But if you want a big wall-mount, Plasma is your only choice.