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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  • 6 Posted by gabake420 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:05PM EDT Report Abuse

    If you are not using HDMI (you component video doesn't cut it Ben) you are not getting HD

  • 7 Posted by mark_butler@verizon.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    HD is still far too complicated. Try managing all the different aspect ratios with the various channels with the other devices connected. It takes me 17 button pushes on 6 different buttons on 3 different remotes to switch between my non-HD dvd player and an hd channel. And of course some "HD" channels are actually SD being sent as HD so they get stretched out wide and you have to use the TV's aspect changer to make it change, then some channels don't record correctly when the cable box is set to wide-aspect so you have to change it as well. We have a long way to go before HD is easy.

  • 8 Posted by gabake420 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:05PM EDT Report Abuse

    if they are buying plasma, the are not to bright to begin with

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

    #8, you are wrong...you do get HD over component. HDMI has many advantages...one cable for audio and video for one, but you can get digital sound with coax/optical, and pass HD video on component. Now given a choice, HDMI all the way. But to say you can only get HD on HDMI, that is just totally wrong wrong wrong.

  • 10 Posted by scryer_360 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    Lol, so many neighbors and friends have had the same problem. We were watching the Super Bowl last year and every was enjoying the new TV, but they had to tell me to stop ----- ing about the image quality (he did not have an HD box). Finally, during halftime, I stood up, took the remote, switched over to the antenna and programmed in the digital channel with HD feed of the Super-Bowl. Everyone yelled and told me to sit down and shut up, until the picture flickered on. I've never seen so many eyes go so wide at once. Afterward a few people grudgingly thanked me, but ever since, I keep getting called to help them set up their first HD sets.

  • 11 Posted by bkleincrew on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have had a similar experience with TWC technitions in my area as well. When they brought out my HDDVR they had it set to 480i for everything. I just let him hook it up and told him everything was fine. As soon as he walked out the door I changed all the settings on the box and forced everything to 1080i. I don't know if it is because of my TV or not but I notice no difference between having the channels in their native resolution or forcing them to 1080i for the HD channels. What I do notice is that the 480i channels get scaled to 480p when I have the upconvert on the box set and it does make a difference on those channels. Another message that needs to be spread to new HDTV buyers is the "commitment" you have to make to actually get HD channels. Many people don't realize that after you buy an HDTV that you also need to upgrade your cable box and cables. I don't know if the cable and satellite companies provide HDMI cables or not but don't let anyone you know spend more that $15-$20 on an HDMI cable. IMO even that is too much, it is very easy to find HDMI cables on the Internet for $5-$10 plus shipping. Any more money spent on them is a waste. The 1's and 0's of the digital signal don't get any better with a $50+ cable over a $10 cable.

  • 12 Posted by itch21548 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:25PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have a 18 year-old 27" tv and still has great color. HD?

  • 14 Posted by sdc151 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    I heard about the problems with Time Warner so I just picked up the box and set it up myself. However I was disapointed in two ways, one no 1080p only 1080i, and two the first box I got from them only allowed 720p and down if you used HDMI cables (1080i on component cables, luckily I still haad some). It took almost 2 months before they came out with a cable box that supported 1080i over the HDMI cable. Which made no sense to me if they had it for component why not HDMI?

  • 15 Posted by dennisbames on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    My brother in law bought a big TV and when we went up to watch the Super Bowl, I thought that the picture looked blocky and poor. Grabbing the cable remote I went way up in the cable channels and found the High Def Channels. The guy that setup the TV never told them that they needed to use the High def broadcast apparently ( or they did and my in laws never listened. He's an Engineer too (Civil engineer), but still.

  • 16 Posted by mrboogie@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    When my cable installer hooked up my HD DVR he hooked the component cables to the wrong input. I have an older set without HDMI support and "video 5" is the component input for HD. He hooked it up to "video 4" even though I told him it needed to go to "video 5". You see, I read the manual for my TV and he didn't even ask to look at it. I know it's impossible for the "cable guy" to know the specifics about every TV out there, but he should not discount the knowledge of the customer. Instead of arguing with him I fixed the problem when he left. I wonder how many of his customers are viewing their HD programming in SD!

  • 17 Posted by mestipheles on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    I just bought my Samsung HD tv and was thinking the picture wasn't as good as could be. After reading your blog, Ben, I checked the settings in my DVR and sure enough it was still set on normal settings. That has been rectified and the picture is phenomenol. Thank you for the heads up!

  • 18 Posted by pladao002 on Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    Where can I buy HDTV. Here http://www.hdtvcompare.net

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