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HDTV

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I bought a "30 Samsung HD an hour ago for $699 and it's pretty sick. I don't have HD cable yet (I'm calling my cable company tomorrow to get a digital cable box) but I have my Xbox 360 and it looks reallly good on that. Plus it plays DVD's better too (I think or maybe it's just because it's bigger and I've always had a smaller TV).

 

Does the 360 make it that much better because it is hooked up through the HD components? Or is it in my head?

 

The regular cable REALLY sucks right now without the digital cable. Very fuzzy and what not.

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All I've got is a 26" Samsung HD Moniter, but I do have an HD converter cable box, but only get maybe 10 channels HD (looks great though)- Now I have component video, and I've run my audio through my Home Theater System, how do I gaurentee I'm getting true 5.1 surround playback on HD broadcasts (like Soprano's on HBO?)

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I dont know anything about Surround sound cause I dont have a sound system set up. The room I have my tv in is too small.

 

Oh, and MOLE..everything is going to look better on an HD TV because its progressive and component/HD connections support progressive resolutions..

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Umm, my fuckin TV has some blue tint in the top left corner already. VERY FUCKIN ANNOYING. I just got my HD box and now I have this annoying ass blue.

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If it annoys you much and you're within the return window (I know Best Buy is 30 days) Id take it back.

 

Also, I know the samsung codes to set your TV up properly but you have to be careful or you can ruin your TV. I set mine up the first time and caused it to not turn on so I had to return it (lucky me it was within 30 days). But setting your TV up using the codes is good because it fixes issues with the picture although probably not the blue tint..

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I called Circuit City today and they are sending someone to my place to fix it. I bought the protection plan anyway because I know things break easliy.

 

What are these codes you are talking about? Can you PM me about them or something? Thanks.

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I called Circuit City today and they are sending someone to my place to fix it. I bought the protection plan anyway because I know things break easliy.

 

What are these codes you are talking about? Can you PM me about them or something? Thanks.

 

I sent you a PM. If anything, Id recommend turning the damn melody (the annoying sound that plays when you turn on/off the tv) if you have that. The other recommendations will make your picture look better. The deflection settings, dont mess with them, but they help correct overscan (picture that should be on screen but isn't visible cause its off the screen). I had to record an HD Test Pattern of HDNet in order to set that and it is a total bitch to mess with that..

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Yeah, thanks again.

 

How many HD channels are there? There are mine:

 

Hi-Def On Demand

INHD

CBS HD

ABC HD

FOX HD

WB HD

Thirteen HD

YES HD

ESPN HD

MSG HD (Which I've yet to see anything in actual HD without the side bars)

FSNY HD

Starz HD

Universal HD

HBO HD

 

I don't get, but I can have them:

Showtime HD

Cinemax HD

TMC HD

 

I know there is TNT HD, but what else is out there?

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ESPN HD

ESPN 2 HD

Universal HD

TNT HD

Discovery HD

HDNet Movies

HDNet

FOX/NBC/ABC/CBS

NFL Network HD (not full time though)

CDUSA (a 1 hour concert show exclusive to Directv)

 

I know that some providers are carrying MHD (which is MTV's HD Channel), Food Network/HGTV HD (which pisses me off that I cant get it), National Geographic HD (Meh)..there are probably a couple of others I missed..

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I really want Discovery HD and ESPN2HD. MTVHD would be nice, but half of their shows will probably be shown in 4:3.

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From what I've read, MTV HD is all concerts and music programming, most of which is filmed in HD, culled from MTV,VH1 and CMT. The music videos they air are stretched a la TNT HD, since there aren't many music videos shot in HD, but expect that to change. When it started they aired the same 4 hours on a loop over and over but they're adding more programming. They have a setup in Vail Colorado for the studio and its setup to be all in HD..

 

No MTV reality crap or non-music programming. Its what those 3 networks should be..but I figure eventually it will get to be as bad as the regular channels.

 

Heres an old article that touches on their programming..

 

MHD programming will feature a conglomeration of shows shot in high definition for various MTV Networks Music Group's channels including:

 

"Two Dollar Bill," a live music series featuring indie rockers like My Chemical Romance and System of a Down.

 

"Storytellers," a show feauturing legendary artists talking about their songs and music, like Coldplay's Chris Martin describing naming his song "Yellow" because he was sitting on the Yellow Pages.

 

"Crossroads," which features hip rocker pop groups and matches them with a country group, like Bon Jovi and Sugarland or John Foggerty and Keith Urban.

 

"UnPlugged," which showcases live acoustic performances by artists like Alicia Keys.

 

Award shows: "MTV Video Music Award" and "CMT Music Awards."

 

Local programming shot for MHD will include:

 

"MHD Uncompressed: Top 10 High-def Countdown," VJ George Oliphant will introduce a top 10 video countdown from a Vail Valley location.

 

Themed Video Hours, on which Oliphant will introduce high-def hip-hop, rock and country video hours from a Vail Valley location.

 

"Music With Altitude Concert Series," this live music series featuring Dashboard Confessional, the Goo Goo Dolls and country star Gary Allan was shot in Breckenridge Jan. 11-12.

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I'd love to have MTVHD, in that case

 

we have:

TNT

Universal

Discovery

ABC

CBS

NBC

Fox

HBO

Showtime

ESPN

INHD (this channel shows a lot of NBA and NHL games as well as old MMA PPVs)

INHD2

Nebraska PBS

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I like the INHD because they have some different programming on there. I am also a big fan of the nature stuff because it looks so good. I've yet to see a hockey game on HD, I've been told its the best way to watch it other than going there.

 

So by 2009 everything 'should' be in HD?

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I like the INHD because they have some different programming on there. I am also a big fan of the nature stuff because it looks so good. I've yet to see a hockey game on HD, I've been told its the best way to watch it other than going there.

 

So by 2009 everything 'should' be in HD?

 

Hockey on HDNet was awesome..In general all of HDNets sports programming (NHL/MLS/Boxing/WEC) is awesome because they don't frame the shot for 4:3 first..I've seen NHL games on OLNHD (directv carried a few of the HD Games on a special channel) and on NBC and they looked good but not as good as HDNets coverage.

 

And everything wont be in HD by 2009. Over the air broadcasts will have to be broadcast digitally by 2009, but remember this:

 

HD = Digital but Digital =/= HD

 

Cable can still be analog as well. It will be a tough sell for most networks to upgrade to HD given the costs...and there are some networks that may never be in HD (Cartoon Network comes to mind immediately)..

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Well maybe by year 2067 they will, but not anytime soon.

 

It sucks that LOST isn't in TRUE HD because you can see some fuzziness and what not. But the Sopranos look like they are in true HD, even though they are both shot in 4:3.

 

How come baseball, like on ESPN for example, has the same camera shots on ESPN and ESPNHD but the HD is in HD? How do they do that?

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Well maybe by year 2067 they will, but not anytime soon.

 

It sucks that LOST isn't in TRUE HD because you can see some fuzziness and what not. But the Sopranos look like they are in true HD, even though they are both shot in 4:3.

 

How come baseball, like on ESPN for example, has the same camera shots on ESPN and ESPNHD but the HD is in HD? How do they do that?

 

With most programs that are aired to be viewed in both HD and SD, they have HD cameras and then crop the image for SD (or in some cases like NBC they at least feed the SD version in Widescreen with bars at the top and bottom)..which might result in a better image in SD as well but I dont know that for a fact.

 

As far as Lost not being true HD..I dont watch it, but Im sure that its HD even if you see fuzziness..the fuzziness is probably intentional.

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Guest Vitamin X

My cable company's HD package sucks ass, and I have to pay $5 a month for it. I get:

 

Fox Sports HD

ESPN HD

TNT HD

Discovery HD

INHD

INHD2

Local channels in HD

Premium channels in HD (I have HBO and Starz).

 

And that's it. When I first got HD, I couldn't stop watching Discovery and the travel programs on INHD. Still pretty much the only time I love doing that.

 

And yeah, Mole.. the fuzziness is done with depth of field on the cameras on purpose, whether it's video or film.

 

The reason why Sopranos and other programs shot in 4:3 can be shown in HD is because it can be re-edited/mastered to be shown in native HD, which is 16:9.

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I noticed the fuzziness was just in the dark. I guess it wasn't fuzziness, but more like the colors being distorted or something. But when something is in true HD, like baseball on ESPN, everything is clearer than the day. It is like I am there and I love it.

 

I just noticed on SC, that basketball looks amazing. Maybe even better than baseball.

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Guest Vitamin X

Yeah basketball is really great. The difference in football is amazing, also, mostly because they show more of the field in HD broadcasts.

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Dish Networks HD plan comes with all the basic HD channels, but they also bought out VOOMs HD channels so they get MONSTERS HD which is a HD Horror Movie network....of course I don't have the HD Box/Plan yet, so I don't get it, but if I get a better paying job in the future, that is going to be the first thing I do, because it sucks having an HD TV and not being able to put it to use....(well I do with DVDs via HDMI port and it fucking rocks)

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I don't see that much of a difference with my 360 playing DVDs in HD. I mean, it looks nice and all but it isn't TRUE HD.

 

And fuckin Leno and Letterman were awesome in HD. Not as good as SportsCenter, but still. And it sucks the Late Late show isn't in HD.

 

I wonder if the CW will be in HD.

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I wonder if my DVD recorder records in HD. It has the HD things in the back of it, I just need to buy some extra cords.

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Is anyone else REALLLLY spoiled when it comes to HD? I find myself only watching the HD channels. If there is nothing on them, I won't even bother with the other channels, I'll just put on a movie or play some 360. Sometimes I'll flip to the extra HBO and Starz channels, but I barely do that.

 

Anyone else have the same problem?

 

I was thinking how much better it will be to watch the World Cup too.

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Im gonna watch a movie on HDNet called "One Last Thing" in an hour just because its in HD. It will probably depress the hell out of me (dying teenager makes his last wish to a make a wish type organization and its to spend a weekend with this hot model..)

 

I will watch stuff in HD that I wouldnt even stop for in SD. I still have to watch some stuff in SD (Os games, wrestling, food network) but for the most part I dont watch much SD stuff anymore.

 

I doubt the 360 has an upconverting DVD player which means it won't make DVDs look any better on an HDTV other than putting them in progressive scan. And heres the deal..DVD recorders can't record in HD. End of story, although..I have an upconverting DVD recorder and it can make the recording look close to the quality of HD via the upconversion, but its obviously not as good as the original, which is why if I want to keep something in HD, I leave it on my Tivo, although I only have 35 hours of HD recording space on the tivo.

 

Directv has its free preview weekend of all the movie channels including the HD ones so Im gonna watch some stuff in HD..

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Yeah, I figured that out when trying to hook it up today.

 

Can this DVD player really play HD quality? Or will it just look like my 360?

 

Playback format options: DVD/ SVCD/ VCD/ CD/ HDCD/ MP3/ WMA/ Photo-CD

Upscales standard DVD titles into high-definition resolution

Up to 1080p support via Component

HDMI 1080p support

High-definition output options via Component interface in 720p, 1080i and 1080p

High-definition output options via HDMI interface in 720p, 1080i, 1080p, 640v480, 800v600, 1024v768 and 1280v1024

480i/576i output options via HDMI. Ideal for using with an evternal scaler.

High-definition output options via VGA interface in 640v480, 800v600, 1024v768 and 1280v1024

High-definition output options via DVI(via HDMI to DVI cable) interfaces

NTSC 720p/ 1080i/ 1080p support at 60hz

PAL 720p/ 1080i/ 1080p support at 50hz

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Yeah, I figured that out when trying to hook it up today.

 

Can this DVD player really play HD quality? Or will it just look like my 360?

 

Playback format options: DVD/ SVCD/ VCD/ CD/ HDCD/ MP3/ WMA/ Photo-CD

Upscales standard DVD titles into high-definition resolution

Up to 1080p support via Component

HDMI 1080p support

High-definition output options via Component interface in 720p, 1080i and 1080p

High-definition output options via HDMI interface in 720p, 1080i, 1080p, 640v480, 800v600, 1024v768 and 1280v1024

480i/576i output options via HDMI. Ideal for using with an evternal scaler.

High-definition output options via VGA interface in 640v480, 800v600, 1024v768 and 1280v1024

High-definition output options via DVI(via HDMI to DVI cable) interfaces

NTSC 720p/ 1080i/ 1080p support at 60hz

PAL 720p/ 1080i/ 1080p support at 50hz

 

It upconverts which means its gonna look nice but not really HD. Its nicer than mine although mine is also a recorder.

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I wasn't aware that one could buy an HD-DVD player right now. But anyone with a 360 should just wait until X-Mas when their HD-DVD player comes out. It will probably only cost $200-$400 since it's an external drive and isn't full thing like the Toshiba.

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Marv, my HD TV is a tube TV. How does that work? Does it just have a built tuner for HD? So does that mean it isn't as good as a DLP/Plasma/LCD? And would my 360 look better on DLP/Plasma/LCD? And how does the 1080, 720 thing work again? I was reading in my manual that my TV has both, but I don't know how that works.

 

I am asking this now because I was doing some reading about HDTVs and I was a bit confused.

 

Thanks.

 

EDIT: Okay, so I was doing some more reading and I found some stuff. My TV, here is a native 1080i resolution. And I found out that 1080i are used by CBS, NBC, HBO, and many others; and 720p, are used only by ABC, ESPN, and Fox.

 

So does that mean that my TV looks better on CBS, NBC, HBO etc than ABC, ESPN and Fox?

 

And I figured out that my 360 wasn't set to 1080i or 720p but the 480p. So I changed it to 1080i because my TV is native 1080i and it looks ten times better. I know the 360 is 720p native, but I read at IGN that 1080i looks better on my TV.

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