new TV, and the Comcast box

[miro_gt]

alright so I'm getting tired of the stupid TV that we got, and so I've decided to spend some money on new TV. And I need some small help here :)

so we live in small appartment, and considering the useless crap that is being broadcast, I'm not spending tons of money for fancy TV. And as you probably got the idea by now, I went to walmart to see what's for sale.

... and after some 30 min of looking around, I stopped at some Vizio TVs, mostly due to the fast response compared to the others around, and the picture was OK. Not that I've heard anything about this brand before (but I never looked anyways), but I can see now that this brand is somewhat popular and OK to buy. And after reading some reviews here and there, I've stopped at these two models:

- 32" VO320...
- 37" VO370...

as the small one will run about 400 our of pocket, and the bigger one will run about 600, I'm more leaning towards the small one I guess. We'll be watching this from about 10 - 12 ft away.

We got the small digital box that Comcast provides now. But my question is this:

- the HD chennals that are supposed to be at channals 800 to 900 or so, are those being broadcast at 720 or 1080, and is that a (P) or (I) signal that would come from the Comcast box ? I mean I've seen bigger digital boxes from Comcast ... dont know what the difference is with ours...

I'm asking about this because the smaller TV can not display 1080p, however it's said to have better color than the bigger one. Also the smaller one is said to be able to display 1080i, so I'm guessing it just skips couple lines to do that since it's native resolution is 768 pixels vertical.

thanks for any responses to my concern

[w202]

I think it depends on the channel It will most likely be in 720p or 1080p, But are you sure your receiver can broadcast HD? I know with Direct TV you have to buy a whole new receiver just for HD.

[ilovemyhonda.]

I think HD is like a seperate package that you have to add on...I have flat screens and don't have HD and my picture is great.

[osnap]

There is some misinformation floating around in here...

HD broadcasts are only available in 720p and 1080i, there are no 1080p channels. As for where you'll be receiving them from: you'll get a few HD channels for free, over-the-air, regardless of your affiliation with comcast. The TV's built-in antenna will receive these. Don't expect too much - its pretty much just your local channels and a few random others. If you want the big popular networks like ESPN, Discovery, movie channels, etc, you'll need to upgrade your comcast box and pay more every month for their HD service.

You will ONLY see the benefit of 1080p with a bluray player, PS3, or Xbox 360 - for the most part, nothing else currently utilizes 1080p.

Honestly though, Google would be a much better resource for you than IA - i suggest you do some research and then come back if you have more specific questions.

[AnthonyF]

Vizio TV's are very nice. My parents have two of them we bought from Comcast. I believe Vizio is a sister company to Sony.

BTW, get DirectTV, stay away from Comcast. You have to order the HD channels. If you don't get the HD package, it will not matter if your tv can handle HD or not.

-Ant.

[quickdodge®]

I have a Vizio TV as well as my Mom and grandfather. We've had them for several years now with no complaints.

That being said, if you want to save money on your programming, I'd stay away from Comcast AND Direct TV and go with Dish Network. You save about $10 per month and get the same shit. Later, QD.

[antiv6]

ya i have a 37in vizio tv in my room and its really nice, never had any issues with it

[oneSLOWex]

I have a 42' Vizio with 1080 in my room that also came from WalMart...LOVE it. Also running the same tiny comcast HD box with HD channel package. The picture is awesome on all the HD channels. I watch alot of BBC and we dont have BBC HD on comcast yet so i have to watch the regular one and man does it ever look like shit after seeing everything in HD. The only difference in the small box and the bigger ones is the bigger boxes have DVR capability and the smaller ones do not.

[ilovemyhonda.]

Dang, I might have to get a Vizio for my son's room. I have an LG in my room and in the living room. I want to upgrade his now.

[LizBiz]

Lemon pepper wangs and the freeze cup

[oneSLOWex]

Dang, I might have to get a Vizio for my son's room. I have an LG in my room and in the living room. I want to upgrade his now.
check out walmart....I got my 42 for $700 out the door back in november

[nextelbuddy]

there are 3 boxes from Comcast:

standard Def box - no extra charge comes with price plan above basic cable

HD capable box - replaces the box above and does everything it does plus received HD channels and is 11 dollars a mnth extra which includes the box rental fee so thats 11 dollars a month on top of your normal cable bill and oyu get the box with it

HD DVR capable box - again does everything the above boxes do but 15 dollars a month on top of your standard cable bill



both HD and HD DVR boxes have these options:

480i
480P
720i
720P
1080i



no 1080P yet with cable only via Dish HD boxes


almost every 720p HDTV out there can and will read 1080i even though its 720p native so no need to worry about that. if you purchase a 720p tv you will have no problems receiving 1080i HD channels OTA over the air or via cable box as long as you have the proper box

[oneSLOWex]

almost every 720p HDTV out there can and will read 1080i even though its 720p native so no need to worry about that. if you purchase a 720p tv you will have no problems receiving 1080i HD channels OTA over the air or via cable box as long as you have the proper box


A 720 tv can receive 1080 but only displays in 720 since it is only capable of 720, correct?

[Nismo]

50" or bust.

[Nismo]

If your more than 10 feet away you cant tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p. Also unless you have perfect vision you wont be able to see a difference between i and P

[oneSLOWex]

50" or bust.

EH my room is so small my 42 looks much larger plus im never more than 10 feet from it :goodjob:


I wanted a 50 too....just didnt wanna drop the extra $$

[Alan®]

There is some misinformation floating around in here...

HD broadcasts are only available in 720p and 1080i, there are no 1080p channels. As for where you'll be receiving them from: you'll get a few HD channels for free, over-the-air, regardless of your affiliation with comcast. The TV's built-in antenna will receive these. Don't expect too much - its pretty much just your local channels and a few random others. If you want the big popular networks like ESPN, Discovery, movie channels, etc, you'll need to upgrade your comcast box and pay more every month for their HD service.

You will ONLY see the benefit of 1080p with a bluray player, PS3, or Xbox 360 - for the most part, nothing else currently utilizes 1080p.

Honestly though, Google would be a much better resource for you than IA - i suggest you do some research and then come back if you have more specific questions.

I'm going to add one more thing to this. Unlesss you get a 45"+ TV you're really not gonna be able to tell the difference between 720 and 1080. As sensitive as your eyes maybe they aren't gonna be that sensitive.

[oneSLOWex]

I'm going to add one more thing to this. Unlesss you get a 45"+ TV you're really not gonna be able to tell the difference between 720 and 1080. As sensitive as your eyes maybe they aren't gonna be that sensitive.

I must have above average eyes then lol. 720 looks fuzzy to me...we have a 720 tv running on the same kind of box in my house

[miro_gt]

hey thanks for all replies, I'll spread some rep shortly, good info on here.

the only reason that we got Comcast is the internet. So we added the basic TV package on top of that (goes up to about channel 82 or so), just to have some channels I guess. So we got that box that came out for free, so it is the smallest one. But I'm thinking that we pay too much, as the bill usually comes at about 100 bux/month. I mean I'm only watching like 5 channels max - Speed, SyFy, Discovery, History, and maybe CNN sometimes, and the GF watches like 10 ...

What I got as impression is that same channals that we have from 0 to 100 repeat themselfs from 800 to 900 but with HD quality, so this is where I'm hoping to get some advantage of having new TV.

I'm leaning towards the small one though

[Alan®]

I must have above average eyes then lol. 720 looks fuzzy to me...we have a 720 tv running on the same kind of box in my house

I've got 20/10 so that maybe my problem but a year ago when my dad and I were looking at TV's for his house anything below ~40" you really couldnt tell that much of a difference.

[osnap]

50" or bust.

this. I has a 50" 1080p plasma. After like a month it still just looks small anyways though lol.

[ISAtlanta300]

hey thanks for all replies, I'll spread some rep shortly, good info on here.

the only reason that we got Comcast is the internet. So we added the basic TV package on top of that (goes up to about channel 82 or so), just to have some channels I guess. So we got that box that came out for free, so it is the smallest one. But I'm thinking that we pay too much, as the bill usually comes at about 100 bux/month. I mean I'm only watching like 5 channels max - Speed, SyFy, Discovery, History, and maybe CNN sometimes, and the GF watches like 10 ...

What I got as impression is that same channals that we have from 0 to 100 repeat themselfs from 800 to 900 but with HD quality, so this is where I'm hoping to get some advantage of having new TV.

I'm leaning towards the small one though

Just so you know, the free small box from Comcast does not display High Definition channels, only Comcast's "Digital" channels, which are pretty muched their re-mapped scrambled channels. So you won't be able to view channels 800 etc.

I hate the small box because it gets in the way of clean instalations (i.e. you invest money to get your tv on the wall, only to have that stupid box hanging on the side in order to even watch tv).

The only way to get the High Definition channels (in 1080i) is to go with either the HD Box or the HD DVR Box (which I have).

One OTHER way to do it, is (if you have not bought your TV already), is to get a TV with a QAM tuner (which I also have). All you would do is do a search of channels and it will give you a list of available channels (some even in HD...) that you are able to watch.

The downside is that you woudl have to 'learn' what show is on what channel, plus your channels will be screwy. (36-108 for example instead of just 36), so you would have to also create a list or look for one online.

The upside is that you don't need the box (big or small) to watch all of your basic cable channels that you are already paying for anyway. You can connect your tv right to your wall cable outlet.

[RandomGuy]

got a 40 inch sony 120hz 1080p for 650 FIRM if anyone's interested

[miro_gt]

well let me update what happened, lol

so I searched for that small Vizio 32" TV and turned out that very few stores have it, so I went to one of those ready to buy it. However, they had more TVs on the wall there, and next to the Vizio I saw the 32" Samsung that is up for replacement with new model coming next week. Man what a difference I saw right away, lol. The picture was way more realistic than the Vizio, the colors looked much more natural. I played with the menu of the Vizio trying to get it to display like the Samsung, and that was not very sucessful. So I quickly made up my mind as the price was about the same, and now I wanted Samsung. Besides, the contrast of the Samsung was 30,000:1 vs the Vizio 15,000:1, so the black was more "black" on the Samsung.

And of course they did not have it in stock, and after calling couple other walmart stores ... those did not have it either. So I asked them if they would sell the model that was on the wall, and they said to come back next week when they'll have it priced on clearance due to the new model coming. That was cool, but the TV was gonna be with no stand and remote, lol. The new model was gonna be in the 500 price range.

and so on my way back to home I stopped at Sears to see what they have, and what do you know - same model Samsung there, and of course out of stock as well. So I asked them to price me the display model, and after getting a GOOD discount price, I now have my first LCD TV :D

looks like this one, but is 32"
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05772019000P?vName=Computers+%26+Ele ctronics&cName=Televisions&sName=View+All

anyways, I found out that I can not display the 800+ channels in HD with the small Comcast box :( . Just as ISAtlanta300 said above. So I tried it with the cable directly plugged to the TV, and it found good number of channels, but only 3 or 4 in HD. And all channel numbers display as 78-203 .. lol. Also I found more channels than what I can catch with the comcast box, such as History International for instance. Or maybe that one was somewhere up in channel, dont know.

But hell, what a difference between HD and the standard broadcast. I also noticed that the 1080i channels display a bit better than the 720p channels, just like somebody said on here :) So I must have that advanced eye as well, hehehe. But now I'm sold to the HD stuff.

I need to find me HD box now :(

[Nismo]

this. I has a 50" 1080p plasma. After like a month it still just looks small anyways though lol.

I had the same problem. Now Im after a 65 inch. :D

[osnap]

I had the same problem. Now Im after a 65 inch. :D

lol dont do it... you'll just want a projector after that

[miro_gt]

mmm I need to bug you all again with another question :]

if I buy a Comcast HD box from ebay, do you all think that I will be able to watch the HD channels from 800 to 900 ? ... cause right now with the small box, when I turn to say 852 (52 is history channel) it says HISHD in the info bar; at 853 it says MTVHD .... and I can hear the sound only but no picture. So I would think that the signal gets to my appartment but the box just cant dispay the picture.

or maybe that is connected somehow to the particular box that I have, like with the card/board that is plugged at the back of the box.

I mean spending like 60 bux for HD box from ebay sounds much better than paying 11/month extra :]

[ISAtlanta300]

Do you mean when you type 852 on the tv? or the box? Because my small box does not allow me to type in 800+ channels.....

But yea, you may be able to hear the sound, but not see anything. You simply won't be able to see the HD signal with the small box's current output method (coaxial cable). I don't know if those small boxes are able to decode the HD Signal, but they would need at least component or hdmi output, which they currently don't have.

As to your questions about buying an HD box from Ebay, first of all, you will still need to sign up for "HD Service" in order to receive any HD Signal supplied by Comcast. In other words, you would need to sign up for their High Definition plan for them to 'open' up those channels 800 etc for you. Next, they would need to activate the Box to receive their programming, including on demand, messages, etc, which they only like to do with their own boxes. They are not required to activate owned, personal boxes.

In a nutshell, no.. it probably would not work.

Also, beware if the box is stolen. Once connected, it sends and receive info back to Comcast, so if it is 'flagged' as stolen (via its serial number), you may be in trouble....

I understand the frustration of paying 11 - 15/ month.. and trust me.. I also researched this extensively when I bought my LCD..... The only 'box' that you are allowed to 'own' is a TIVO Box, and even then, you would still have to lease their cable cards to receive their programming.

The only item which allowed me to 'save' on any lease is high speed internet. I bought my own Motorolla surfboard modem from Best Buy, so I do not need to lease their modem.

[miro_gt]

that's what I did with my internet as well, I bought a motorola modem back in the day for 80 bux, and now I'm enjoying the savings for the past 2 years or so, hehe.

but I guess I'm receiving the HD signal, as I looked at some brochure about the plans and I'm having the expanded basic/digital starter plan, so I'm getting the HD signals to my home, but I just cant see those channels, lol. With the small box, I got only the sound and black screen.

so I'm thinking my last chance would be if I plug the card that came with my small box (at the back of it) into a HD box ... and see what happens. If I could only find somebody with HD box .. lol.

[ISAtlanta300]

Don't let the play of words fool you. Digital does not mean High Definition. Digital is just that, the conversion over from Analog broadcast systems. High Definition is a totally different animal, and the only way to receive those channels with the HD box is to get HD service, otherwise you will just hear the sound, but no picture.

I would just save on the box and just use your QAM tuner for the digital channels, unless you want the premium HD channels like HBO HD. That, and buy a blu ray player, so you really experience true, full HD withouth downconversion.

[ISAtlanta300]

Also, my digital converter box (small box) does not have a card in it.. are these new boxes from comcast?? I have two of those small boxes (you get 2 for free), and one HD DVR box.....

[RL...]

OOOOOOHHHHHH LALA

[miro_gt]

the card is covered at the back by a small metal shield, but it can be taken off from the screws :) It kinda sticks an inch at the back of the box.

on the Comcast brochure at the 8xx channels it shows a mark, which is explained underneath as "Additional HDTV equipment required. HDTV service may require certain level of services for some programming". So first part is the HD box, but I'm not sure about the second part.

I also ended up buying a samsung DVD player that can upconvert regular DVDs into full HD (1080p) - the only player said to be able to do that, as the others will do up to 1080i. Eh, not that my TV can display the P part, but surely there's big difference between watching a DVD over the AV inputs (480i) and over the HDMI input (1080p/i). I was kind of sceptical about this upconversion thing, but now I can asure anyone that it's well worth it.