Sure you're watching HD on your HDTV?

Mon May 12, 2008 4:01PM EDT

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Two good friends of mine just bought a big, beautiful Samsung plasma HDTV, and I finally had the chance to take a look over the weekend. Flicking on the 50-inch, 1080p set, my pals tuned into Discovery HD, and yeah, it looked good—it just wasn't in HD.

I took a look at their setup, and everything looked right. They had an HD DVR courtesy of Time Warner Cable, properly connected via component cable. And yes, the box was tuned to Discovery's HD feed (on TWC Brooklyn channel 766, not the SD feed on channel 66).

So I checked the video output settings of the HD DVR, and there was the problem: It was set to output at 480i only, instead of 1080i.

I made the change, saved the new settings, and the screen flickered momentarily before snapping back—this time, in HD. My friends' eyes widened; they were seeing HD for the first time.

Afterward, my buddies confessed that although they liked their new Samsung, they'd been secretly disappointed by the fuzzy image quality. Well, no wonder.

Frankly, I'm amazed that the cable guy who installed their HD DVR didn't notice that the box wasn't outputting an HD signal to the set.

The moral of the story? If you're getting your first HDTV, make sure to check the settings of the devices you're hooking up to your new set. High-def DVRs, upconverting DVD players, and HD-capable gaming consoles like the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 all have their own video output settings, and unless they're set to HD resolutions (720p, 1080i, or 1080p), they won't deliver HD to your HDTV.

You also need to make sure you're using the proper cables and connections, not to mention the right equipment from your cable or satellite providers. Click here for the scoop.

Already know all this? Then here's a thought: The next time a buddy of yours gets a new HDTV—especially if it's their first one—invite yourself over and make sure they are, in fact, watching HD on their HDTV. You just might be doing them a big favor.

Related:
Six Must-Know HDTV Facts
Beginner's gude to video connections

 

 

Comments on Sure you're watching HD on your HDTV?

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  • 1 Posted by matt_archbold2002 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:11PM EDT Report Abuse

    when we had Uverse installed, HD was included. The tech installed it all and turned it on to TLCHD and he was telling me how good american chopper looked in "HD". I looked at it and thought it looked a little hazy and not the way my Dish Network looked in HD. I politely asked for the remote and went to the menu and changed it from 480P to 1080i. He then said in one ashamed breath, "Woops". Lesson learned: Cable services that offer HD need to thuroughly train its technicians in the art of HD set up. I mean come on, it's basic set up.

  • 2 Posted by middlenamefrank on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    It does get interesting with multiple sources. My DLP 'only' does 720p, so broadcasts in 720p look better on my setup than 1080i (since the 1080i gets downconverted to 720i). So I have my cable box set to downconvert 1080 to 720, and my DVD set to upconvert low-res sources, with digital (MPEG) content up- or downconverted as necessary. It can be rather difficult to keep track of what's on which input, and get them all optimized to look as good as possible.

  • 3 Posted by alexgannis on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    I had the same problem we where watching football with my brother in law I thought the picture was a little fuzzy atfer the game i found out I had it in tv mode in the input setup so I change it to hd mode wow.

  • 4 Posted by scottiecordes on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    #4, not all HDDVR has HDMI. I have Moxi by Charter (sux) and it only has component out. We have 2 of them, and in both instances, the "barely English speaking" technicians were going to let it go at 480i. In our area, Charter sources out the installs, and refuse to let the customers install themselves. Fact of the matter...since they don't hire "professionals", you really cannot expect a professional. It's all good by me, since I know about this stuff. I genuinely feel bad for the folks that do not know any better. Thanks for the blog Ben.

  • 5 Posted by damienanderson228 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    @ scottiecordes I hear you!! Charter.....hum, I'm disappointed. I agree with everything that you said. I hate when I have to call them about internet issues!! When I first moved to the apt that I'm living in now, the tech tried to convince me not to get HD. Weird. He told me that the SD channels look just as good. Well, since I've had HD before I knew this wasn't true. No one really has a clue at Charter.

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