[hdtv] Easy hack for your Scientific Atlanta cable box for better picture

How illegal is this..?

 

Not at all. This is actually a standard feature on the new HD boxes that DirecTV provides. My HDTVs are set up so that they switch to the highest possible resolution when I change channels (from 480p, 720p, 1080i)

There is a flicker between channel changes when the box automatically changes the resolution.

This must be an older cable box b/c all cable boxes that have come out in the past 6 months should have the automatic resolution switch - rather than the manual switch you do with this "hack"

 

Switch b/t 420,780,1080 to see which one looks best for SD channels. it's different for different tvs from my first hand non technical experience.

 

Is that the only HD box Time Warner provides? Or whoever replaced Time Warner. They got replaced right? I guess thats the box I will be looking forward to when I move back to Houston?

 

if you have a 720p, all plasmas/lcds/dlp are 720p, unless 1080p
so if you pick 1080i then the tv converts it to 720p
if you pick 720p, the box does all the work

 

Beware, I did this and selected every format that my 1080i Plasma showed a display on, everything except 720p, and the picture was worse, went back through and selected 720p even though my TV wasn't displaying the format on the setup screen and the picture went back to the way it was before I tried the hack.

 

I'm gonna suggest that you try to ONLY pick the display that your TV natively displays and see how that works for you (instead of all of them). For example, my display is native 720P so I have my DirecTV box only output 720P. This forces the DirecTV box to do the scaling and, I believe, that it scales better than my TV does (some Sony Bravia model).

Remember, your display may be able to show different resolutions (i.e. 720p, 1080i, 480i, etc...), however, only one of those is it's native resolution. Anything else you feed it needs to be scaled to whatever the native resolution is. The hardware/software that does the scaling will have the greatest affect on picture quality. If your TV does scaling well then setting your cable box up to pass whatever the broadcast resolution is to the TV will give you a better picture. If the cable box, however, scales better then you are better off setting the output to the native resolution of your TV. Try each, watch some standard def TV (which is really what we are talking about here) and and pick whatever you thinks looks better.

In general, most TV manufacturers don't invest a lot of money on the scaling chip as MOST people don't even consider this when they purchase not to mention most TVs at a store are showing either DVD or HD content which will generally look pretty good. Remember, this trick will mostly affect your STANDARD DEF channels; HD will probably look pretty good regardless.

Cable/Satellite boxes may not have great scaling chips in them either but they are generally better than the TV chips. If you really want quality by an external scaling box for about $2000!

Regardless, try both and see what looks best to you.

 

does this really qualify as a "hack"? seems just like a normal setup

 

It's a hack in the sense that this is not in the normal setup of the cable box. I have this same cable box and I never set anything like this up upon first installation. Regardless, I don't think I'm gonna do it if non HD programming looks worse than what it does without the hack. Non HD programming is bad enough, why make it worse?

 

This is nothing new and its not a hack.
When Time Warner was still in Houston their techs walked me through this process. They use this to troubleshoot picture and quality issues with hdtv boxes.

 

I just got this cable box. I am used to the Motorola one. This thing is UGGGLY, its SUCKSSSS. Horrible box. Horrible horrible. Anyways, 720p plasma here. Do I do the hack or not?

edit: nvm, my box is different. and ugggly

 

I've got a newer box that sets the resolution automatically.

The best it'll do is 1080i, along with 480i and 480p (it doesn't do 720 at all).

I'm not impressed with the HD I'm getting. As far as I know, it is set up the way it needs to be, as the Comcast guy did it himself. The picture is all right, but nothing awe-inspiring.

 

In College Station the HD quality is a lot better than what I am seeing from cable here in Houston. SD too.

Anyways, is there a way to stretch the picture? This box "Explorer 4250HDC", does not have an option to stretch the image 16:9. I can do it on my TV remote but it looks weird. I have never seen a box lack this feature from the regular menu, what a joke.

 

On my comcast it allows you to switch the resolution by simply clicking the menu button and sorting through the different options, (720p, 1080i, 480p, 480i) without ever turning away from the channel I'm watching.

Isn't that sort of the same thing?

 

Was it me? haha.

 

Okay, I had to "hack" the box to get somewhere. Also I have to be in "fixed" mode for stretch to work. Anyone have any comments on the "fixed, upconvert1, upconvert2, pass-through" options?