Rogers HD Box Users... 1080p ? Please HELP

[mr-gq]

hello folks,

so i have a sharp aquios 42inch LCD tv and recently got the Rogers HD box service for 1 year with the purchase of the tv. Everything is hooked up and channels look great especially the hd channels.

however, i just have a quick question. the non TRUE hd channels get upconverted to 1080i, i was wondering if i get a dvi to hdmi cable from monoprice.com if it will upconvert the channels to 1080p.

pretty new to all this stuff, so i'm not really sure if its possible. if it is, will the picture quality really be any different and worth the investment of the cable ?

lastly, i was looking on monoprice and there are bunch of cables that are dvi to hdmi but then they have different AWG numbers (24,26,28). i'm assuming the lower the number the better the quality is as the price is more expensive ?

and if what i'm looking to do is possible, which one of these cables should i purchase ?

thanks in advance!

[warpdrive]

Anyway, there are two options on your HD terminal. You can tell it to upsample to 1080i or PassThrough the signal in its native format. Depending the quality of your TV's scaler and deinterlacer, either may be better than the other. Try it both ways and see which one looks better.

Going HDMI is definitely a good way to go because it's a digital signal, but you may not find a (big or even noticeable) difference.

The gauge (AWG) number is the thickness of the cable, and the lower the number the better. I would get the cheapest cable because it doesn't matter much for a digital signal until you start to run long lengths (over 10-20ft)

In short, going to HDMI may not be worth the bother, but you should try the Passthrough option on your box to see how good it looks.

[kmltick]

I'll assume that he has the 3250 HD box. If you're happy with the HD channels than don't bother, as the DVI/HDMI cable doesn't do anything for the regular SD channels. I have both boxes for my TVs (3250 is upstairs, PVR on the main TV) and find that the 8300 outputs the SD & HD channels better. Don't ask me why, but I swear to you it does.

I found that going to the DVI/HDMI cable on the 3250 reduced artificats on my TV.

The 8300 is HDMI straight to the TV.

Both cables were bought from Monoprice and are of similar quality (netjacket, etc)

[milhaus]

Nothing is broadcast in True HD (1080p). If you set that to pass through, the TV will display in 720p or 1080i. Since the picture already is fullscreen, whatever scaling is necessary is already happening. The reason I don't use passthrough - or didn't in my old Rogers box - is that there's a delay when switching formats. As you move from 720p to a 1080i signal, there's a few second wait.

Don't worry - there's little difference between component or HDMI . . . I can see a difference using a true HD signal (Blu-Ray) however.

[milhaus]

I'll assume that he has the 3250 HD box. If you're happy with the HD channels than don't bother, as the DVI/HDMI cable doesn't do anything for the regular SD channels. I have both boxes for my TVs (3250 is upstairs, PVR on the main TV) and find that the 8300 outputs the SD & HD channels better. Don't ask me why, but I swear to you it does.

I found that going to the DVI/HDMI cable on the 3250 reduced artificats on my TV.

The 8300 is HDMI straight to the TV.

Both cables were bought from Monoprice and are of similar quality (netjacket, etc)
Heya! How much do they charge you for a second HD box?

[Oversized Rooster]

So, on the 3250HD box, what do the "Upconvert1" and "Upconvert2" modes do?

[roguechameleon]

I suggest that those that have questions re: the 8300HD visit this forum and page:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17719

[kmltick]

Heya! How much do they charge you for a second HD box?

I bought both the PVR & the 3250 outright, so they don't charge any additional "fees" for them. So any additional boxes are NOT supposed to charged any "digital access" fees, that only gets charged once to the first box. That only applies if you buy the boxes, if you rent them it's another story.

I should clarify that I still rent 1 (Standard Definition) box (as it's included in my Personal TV VIP package). The box is included in the monthly fee ($57/mo) so part of the monthly fee includes the $2.99 digital access fee which works out to be $1 to rent that box. I tried returning it, but they said that it wouldn't really do anything for the Monthly Rate...

Trust me I hate Rogers, if I could have gone to to Bell I would have.

[kmltick]

So, on the 3250HD box, what do the "Upconvert1" and "Upconvert2" modes do?


UpConvert1 & UpConvert2 are explained in the manual but basically the conversion is done on the box and you force the HD channels to be displayed at one resolution (i.e. 720p or 1080 depending on what you set the box up as), I generally use the passthrough / Auto DVI/ Auto-HDMI outputs on my TV and let the TV do the conversion. I don't mind the switching effect as it goes to 720p/1080i.

[cipher]

If you have an LCD TV, the display is progressive not matter the input signal. All interlaced signals are converted to progressive before being displayed.