I just bought a 50″ HDTV (for $900 less than I bought my 31″ non-HDTV 2 years ago) I can’t for the life of me figure out how to hook up all the HD wires Comcast gave me. I can’t wait till you just need to plug a TV in and it does all the shit it’s supposed to.
New TV
This post is in: Science & Technology
Ned R.
I am such a long game player with these kind of things — I still use my grandma’s early 1990s big-but-hardly-huge Sony Trinitron that passed on to me when she herself passed on, and I’m still happy with that and waiting for the prices to slide further.
Svensker
Yes! We still can’t figure out a bunch of stuff on two tvs we bought last summer. But since our son’s home from college for the holiday, he’s bringing over a nerd friend tomorrow to figger it all out for us old folks.
jcricket
Assuming Comcast gave you a HD DVR (or other HD receiver) you should be able to get a “HDMI” cable that carries both the audio and video signal.
One cable from receiver -> TV should do it. Not counting the coax cable from the wall to the receiver and the electrical plugs :-)
HDMI cables are pretty much available anywhere, if they didn’t give you one with the TV or with the receiver.
RSA
What model did you get? I’m looking for a TV to replace one we bought in 1991. (Either a 32″ or a 37″, probably.)
Michael D.
jcricket: they gave me a cable with 5 plugs on each end. I just don’t know where to plug all the shit in. I could probably figure it out, but like most Americans, I have the attention span of a ferret.
Michael D.
RSA: It’s a huge ass Samsung. I bought it at Brandsmart for less than I would have paid for it anywhere else. Don’t know the model #
Michael D.
The downside, BTW, is that it is a plasma, and burns much more electricity than an LCD, which I would ahev preferred. An LCD would have cost $8-900 more.
Matthew S
The Green, Blue, and Red bunched cables are your video line, it should go in the input labeled component or Y,Pb,Pr. The red and white or red and black (color varies by cable manufacturer)bunched cables are your audio line, there should be a stereo audio input right near the component video input. Or you can buy an hdmi cable from a site like monoprice or bluejeans, as they make good cheap cables.
My suggestion would be to get the HDMI and keep the cables that comcast gave you for your DVD player as they need the same kind of cables for the picture to look its best.
Once everything is plugged in all you have to do is press the source button to switch between inputs on the TV.
BTW over the course of a year you will probably spend about $20 more on electricity for a plasma as compared to an LCD, so unless your are a tree hugging hippy it is not a big deal.
RSA
Thanks, Michael; I was mainly interested in the brand, in any case. (I just like to hear what people’s experiences are.) And huh–I’ve always thought that plasmas were more expensive than LCDs of the same size.
Andyjunction
Just match up the colors on the plugs with the colors on the inputs.
red-audio
white-audio
_________
red-video
green-video
blue-video
Or go buy the cheapest HDMI cable you can find assuming your TV and cable/satellite box have HDMI inputs.
Dave_Violence
Read the directions.
Michael D.
Off topic: I am 38 years old, and my parent live in Canada and I know they miss me. Do any of you have parents that forward every damned email they get? In other words, “Here’s something you should pass onto everyone you know” or “Her’s a bit on how Starbuck’s sucks” even though you checked Snopes and it’s completely false?
What do you do?
I just sent a message to my dad that said,
GOD this gets on my nerves. They are 70 years old and are just happy to know how to use email. I’m happy they’re using email too. But damn! They just have no idea about etiquette – no matter how much I tell them!
John Cole
Aren’t the cables color coded? And doesn’t it say on the back what the model is?
Ted
I have a middle-aged step-sister who does that to me, but the emails are always rightwing bullshit. So I get treated to things like photos of Barack Obama not putting his hand on his heart during the national anthem, or making sure I know what his middle name is and OMG, YES THAT’S HIS ACTUAL NAME!!1! Another recent one was about how pampered those illegal Mexicans are with all their free health care and welfare checks.
And she gets around the internet like a pro, not a newbie. I’ve asked her to stop, but I don’t think she understood that I meant it.
jcricket
The 5 cables sound like component cables (two are left/right audio, three are red/green/blue video). Look at the plugs on the back of the receiver and TV under “component” and it should be obvious what to plug in.
Or, see if there’s a plug marked HDMI on the back of each device (which there probably is) and go buy yourself one HDMI cable – no way to screw that up.
But seriously, they let you blog but you can’t hook up a TV? What is this, RedState?
Ted
I just want a nice 46″ or so LCD 1080p. But me spending $1500 on a TV right now would be very irresponsible. But anyway, I’m assuming your Comcast box has digital HDMI output. If it does, there should really only be one connector between the box and the TV. If it doesn’t, and only supports DVI or other connections, then there could be more. What you described (5 connectors on each end) I have no idea. It sounds almost like RGB-type component video and a couple of audio channels. But that would be rather behind the times, so I doubt it.
WMass
RTFM
Ted
I thought so to, but that would be sucky. Analog video signal? Analog audio with only stereo, not surround channels? That would be quite silly of Comcast to do to their digital subscribers. There’s got to be other connection options on the box.
Michael D.
Fuck you biatch!! ;-)
WMass
And dont get sucked into the latest scam: Do not buy an expensive HDMI cable. The cheapest ones work just fine. Its a friggin digital signal, not analog, which means it either works or not. It is amazing how many people get sucked into paying $50 or more for a cable which does exactly the same thing as a $10 one.
Dennis - SGMM
I feel like a Philistine. Still watching a 12″ off-brand set we bought years ago. I don’t dislike television (TCM is cool!) but every time I decide to get a new set, everything has changed again so I think, “Maybe later, after they get it all sorted out and the prices come down.”
I’m old enough to remember watching “Kukla, Fran and Ollie” on a neighbor’s set that had a huge cabinet and an eight-inch, round picture tube. So a 12″ is like downtown for me!
silver
the component cables given out for HD or HD-DVR boxes are hd digital capable, not analog. The hdmi cable is nice but not neccesary. The blue, red, green, cables plug into the corresponding colors that should say Pb, Pr, & Y next to the plugs on tv and box. Hope this helps.
Michael D.
These are the wires: http://www.gayorbit.net/wp-images/2007/11/wires.jpg
WMass
Comcast HD looks like shit anyway, they compress the data too much so they can fit more channels into their available bandwidth. The satellite tv companies, Dishnetwork and DirecTV, use higher bitrates resulting in much nicer pictures.
demimondian
Michael — describe the plugs. Even better, take a picture of each end of the cable and…post it on the blog.
Ted
lol
If that’s you’re only connection option between the box and the TV, I’m sorry. It means Comcast thinks you suck and don’t deserve an end-to-end digital transmission and need to have it put through the analog meat grinder along the way. Oh, and you don’t deserve surround sound.
Seriously, there aren’t any other connection ports on the back of the Comcast box??
demimondian
OK, from your picture, the cable are, in fact, analog audio and video. The audio cables have white plugs and the video cables have black plugs. Connect white plugs to the audio outputs of your receiver (matching the channels by connecting the identically colored bands – if you connect red band/white plug to L on the receiver, connect rad band/white plug to L on the tv.) Connect black plugs to the component video outputs on your receiver (again, matching color bands. Typically, you can make that easier by connecting the blue band to the cyan channel, etc.)
Alternatively, go out and spend ten bucks for a cheap digital cable. You’ll get a better picture. Since Comcast will be able to monitor your viewing habits either way, it won’t have any privacy impact.
WMass
Its component video and stereo audio. Three plugs for video, left and right audio. Should be color coded. Its not as good as HDMI, but looks OK. Component video sometimes cannot pass a 1080p signal, its commonly limited to 720p. That only matters if its a 1080p TV of course.
demimondian
Although Ted may well be right, and it may be that Comcast is pushing the data out of the box in analog form. In that case, you’re going to have to do things the hard way.
Ted
It’s likely Comcast may have provided you with that particular cable as a courtesy (oddly enough), but you’ll need to buy the one you actually need, assuming there’s an HDMI port on the box, of course.
demimondian
You might consider putting up a picture of the back of the decoder box, while you’re at it…
louisms
In response to the earlier post, LCD flat screens are more expensive than plasmas. LCD rear projection sets are less expensive, but are 8-10″ deep as opposed to the hang-on-the-wall flat screens.
And just a note for those of you considering a HDTV purchase; always get a bigger screen than you think you want/need. If you get a “32, you’ll wish you’d sprung for the 37”. Buy a “42 and a month later you’ll wish you’d gotten the 50”.
RSA
Well, maybe. We’ve spent the last 16 years wishing we’d bought a smaller TV than we have now :-). (Plus, there’s a fixed amount of space to fit the TV into.)
The Other Steve
I want to buy an LCD at some point. I have decided to move the home theatre out of the basement and into the living room. But my big 51″ rear projection Sony won’t fit. I saw a 46″ sony LCD for $1500, and was tempted but it’s last years model. I figure I shall wait and next spring get the new model for $1200 at the rate prices are dropping.
BTW, if anybody wants to buy a realy nice Sony 51″ rear projection TV cheap(like $250?) complete with DVD player and nice component video cable. Just let me know. I’m posting it on craigslist and ebay today. Gotta come pick it up in minnesota though. :-)
Ted
I’m with ya there. When space and money permits, it’s straight to the 7 foot screen with the 1080p (or better) projector, and a home theater step seating setup for a couple of couches. It isn’t really that expensive comparatively. A friend has got this setup for only about $2500 for the screen paint job and framing, HD projector, and surround system. Sofas not included.
The Other Steve
Never get a TV bigger than you need.
It’s all about viewing distance…
The distances for LCD/Plasma are a bit further than for a rear projection. The reason is the LCD/Plasma are much brighter.
The Other Steve
Wow, that so like didn’t turn out as a list. :-)
One last piece of advice… Backlight your television.
I recommend this. You don’t want the light coming from in front of the TV, as you’ll get glare on the set. But you want light in the room, just like mother told you. Light in the room is better on the eyes. You don’t need a lot of light. Ideally you want the backlight to match in brightness to a pure white screen display.
BTW, I think this is also true for computers.
And one last tip… Adjust your display. Usually in the stores they set them to the brightest mode, and it washes out the colors. Adjust the brightness down. There are DVDs you can buy to help you this tuning. Aria and DVE and such.
Plasma televisions can have burnin, where the Fox News logo will be seen at all times. So don’t watch fox news. :-)
LCD televisions and computer displays can get temporary burn in. You can fix this by displaying a white screen for an hour or so.
ThymeZone
Hey, I’m performing surgery on my cat. I’ve exposed the abdomen and I’m wondering what this funny looking red thing is.
Thanks in advance for your help.
RSA
The inflation valve?
louisms
Yeah, that’s a useful caveat, But I do think those viewing distances are a little too long. I sit about 8.5′ away from my 42″ Rear Projection LCD and I can see no distracting artifacts. I think you’ll find that different sources recommend different optimal viewing distances. And the ideal distance when watching hi def programming is considerably shorter than with standard def.
Also, consider that many folks choose to hang their flat screen on the wall, adding another 1-2′ to the distance between their comfy couch and the picture.
dr. luba
I’ve considered trading up. My current TV is a 39″ 1992 RCA model, which has a perfectly good picture, but the remote no longer works. (And, yes, thank you, I did check the batteries…..) I can do just about everything I need with the buttons on the front excepts change inputs.
But then I think about how much of a hassle it would be, moving and rewiring all those component. I’ll probably just buy an A/B switch box for now.
I helped my parents buy and install and LCD TV a while ago, and it was a real pain. Besides figuring out how to connect everything (none of their components would work properly with the blue/green/red cables), I had to switch their cable provider to keep them getting ripped off by Comcast, which wanted $10+ a month more just to continue the current programming in digital, and lots more to get them hi-def channels.
Comcast is the ONLY provider in my neighborhood. I’ve had to deal with theri service department, and it really sucks. I already pay them $50 a month for an extended basic package (no pay stations, just the regular dreck). I had the satellite guy come out (Dish), but I have too many trees to catch their satellite. Sadly, I can’t go without cable unless I want to go down to three visible stations, and two in black and white with snow (unless I install an antenna a big antenna). And I do love my Daily Show, Colbert and Olberman.
Remember when you could get a decent cable line-up for $20 a month? OK, so I’m old. But I really, really hate state-sanctioned monopolies…..and I despise Comcast.
Anyway, does anyone know if it’s true that, as of some time in 2008, all cable programing will go digital? I know over-the-air will, but will this affect cable as well? (If it does, I predict a large rate hike in my future…..)
P.S. ThymeZone: is it pulsing or just sitting still? Heart if former, liver if latter. Don’t poke either one.
dr. luba
BTW, if you buy an LCD TV with a built-in tuner, you can just connect the cable to the back of the TV. Unless, of course, you’re getting premium channels and need a decoder box.
JWW
Michael,
You will not see the in-store quality if you don’t have Hi-Def input. This will be the same for each component you run to the TV. You may be dissapointed if your other hardware doesn’t meet the specs. You did get the big one(TV) out of the way, but it will take a while to get what you expected. They are great, and much cheaper than a good projector.
jcricket
Hey, if you can’t tweak the blog host, who can you tweak? And I mean that in a strictly heterosexual non-gay sort of way.
That’s hilarious. Search any of the DirecTV forums for “HD lite”. Until they got the MPEG4 satellites up (very, very recently), DirecTV was, at best, sending 1024 (pixels) or so signals down the wire. Lots of people with larger TVs complain still about the over pixelation, blockiness, etc. with the overly compressed MPEG2 signal.
Of course it doesn’t have to be that way. Nothing inherent in MPEG (2 or 4) requires that much compression – it was just bandwidth limitations of the satellites. Which, I believe, have been mostly eliminated with the two new satellites DirecTV put up recently. This is also why they’ve gotten like 50-70 new HD channels up in the last 3 months.
ThymeZone
Okay, the red thing inside the cat has a tube at each end. Should I tie this off?
Michael D.
They told me I needed these wires for HD.
If I wanted simple advice from a queer, I would ask for it.
I’m still no farther ahead BJers.
Conservatively Liberal
TZ, that is the fuel line, don’t tie this off or the engine will die. If you don’t see an inline fuel filter on the line to the left (or top, depending on how you are looking at it), go to your nearest parts store and get one.
I would recommend upgrading the filter to a spin on model. Not as messy to change, just make sure you get a filter that is short enough so your cat won’t have ground clearance issues.
zzyzx
I bought a 51 inch and I don’t think I need much larger than that.
Actually my problem is that it’s really hard for me to upgrade now. Picture quality has improved over the years, but they removed the 51 inch size and decided that Picture in Picture (side by side is my preference) is no longer needed. All of the TVs I looked at are either smaller or don’t have PiP.
What’s the point of having a big screen if you can’t watch two games at once?
louisms
I’ve had DirecTv for many years, upgraded to HD with DVR almost a year ago, and have never had any complaint about the service nor picture quality. I’ll never go back to cable. Just wish I had the option to opt out of paying for Fox “news”, but ala carte programming is probably an impossible dream.
As for “HD Lite”, I’ve never seen a non-satellite (OTA) HD signal, so maybe I don’t know what I’m missing. But the DirecTv picture quality, particularly since the launch of the new satellites, is just great.
And no, I don’t work for DirecTv.
BTW, in re the component vs HDMI cable question, the difference in picture quality between the two is negligible, to my eyes.
And TZ, just sew kitty back up and leave well enough alone. You’re in over your head.
zzyzx
I had Direct TV but growth in neighbor’s trees forced me to switch to Comcast. I did notice a clearer picture than what DTV had before the upgrades, but I miss Sunday Ticket.
Andyjunction
Go spend $20 bucks on a HDMI cable. Plug one end into the cable box and the other end into the TV. You might want to make sure your TV and cable box have HDMI plugs first. You’ll be able to tell because they’ll say “HDMI”.
jake
Is it flashing? Do you hear a ticking sound? Could be an LED signaling that you’ve got only minutes to torture the code out of the bad guys before all of NYC is reduced to radioactive rubble!
metalgrid
If your TV doesn’t do 1080p and take HDMI input, take it back now and get a new one.
You should also get yourself a decent HDMI Faroudja upscaling A/V reciever. I’m partial to the Onkyo or the Sony ones since its easy to get them repaired where I live.
Then pick up one of the HD DVD + upconverting DVD players from Walmart or whereever its cheapest. There was a big price drop on the HD DVD players recently.
Then connect them all up with the HDMI cables – saves on the clutter of all the additional sound and AV cables in the back of your theatre cabinet, not to mention even regular DVDs look so much better at 1080.
The most annoying this about the comcast cable box is the horrible ‘Matrix Surround Sound’ which is the only surround available from it, but it’s better than non surround sound by quite a large margin.
Keith
That’s why I’ve got a 73″ TV now. Everyone who sees it freaks out, and some think it’s overkill…until they sit down and watch a movie or play a video game. It was pretty damn expensive, but it’s hard to argue with the results. And with HD, it’s almost a crime not to use a surround sound system (esp since the receivers are so damn cheap these days)
Josh G.
Like the other commenters, I would strongly suggest using a HDMI connection, if one is available on the cable box. (I think every HDTV being sold today has at least one.) This gives you slightly better picture quality, and reduces the rat’s nest of wires behind your setup. Here’s the cheapest HDMI cable I’ve found:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189125
There’s a 3-foot version for a couple bucks less, but that’s probably too short. Newegg is a very reliable source; I’ve bought dozens of computer components from them with no problem.
You’ll find much more expensive wires locally, but they’re pointless. First of all, nearly every HDMI cable is made by the same (Chinese) factories, regardless of whose brand is on it; secondly, the signal is digital, so it either works or it doesn’t. If it’s not working, you’ll be able to tell.
Look at the back of your cable box and see if there’s a long, thin socket labeled “HDMI”.
Josh G.
Just to clarify, if you hook up the HDMI cable, you do NOT need to hook up any of the 5 wires that Comcast gave you. The HDMI cable transmits both digital audio and video.
ThymeZone
Okay, I’m out of Halothane and the cat is waking up, and seems to be pretty upset with me.
I’m sewing him back up now. I didn’t remove anything that looks that important.
demimondian
Listen, TZ, about that brain surgery you were going to do on my cat. You know what? I think it can wait a lifetime or so.
jake
[geekXtreem] I hope you reset the purrcolator.
{Rush’s 2nd live album}
[/geekXtreem]
bago
If you don’t know that ight is made up of red, green and blue, or their cyan, magenta, yellow secodnaries, then you have no business seeing. If you don’t know that stereo sound comes in the form of a left and right channel, then what are you really doing listening?
louisms
TZ, next time Dick Cheney needs his pacemaker replaced I’ll be sure to recommend you.
dr. luba
Switch-over is not until April 2009.
Never mind.
demimondian
And if you don’t know that all goodness in the behavior of computer systems is driven by the three keys “CTRL”, “ALT” and “DELETE”, properly mixed, then you have no business using Windows.
jcricket
That was actually my point.
I’ve got one of the original Tivo HD DVRs (for DirecTV only) – and am waiting to switch over to the non-Tivo DVRs from DirecTV… I know they’re a lot better now, and all the new HD channels make me jealous. Maybe in Q1 2008 when the planned HD channels are out and the HR20/21 has had it’s full 1+ year bake-in period I’ll go for it.
But I watch like 90% of my shows in HD via my OTA antenna right now (so it’s all the 4 major networks). It’s so hard to watch SD. Can’t wait for everyone to switch over.
And right now all I have is a 42″ plasma (purchased in 2002) for my living room. The 60″ (something) goes downstairs once we redo the basement. Go tax cuts!
Psycheout
Wow, Mike. This is real top shelf blogging material. I don’t know how you do it. I just bought a new pizza, maybe I’ll blog about it.
Maybe you can write about your next really big dump. Fascinating stuff, really. I can’t see what you pull out next.
jake
Shorter Psycheout: I’m a corpophiliac.
mrmobi
TZ: leave the fucking cat alone. You are not a vet!
Michael, you just bought a very expensive Plasma HDTV and you are trying to connect it using the worst analog cables available. Wake Up!
As far as the rest of you maniacs, I have a 27″Sony LCD and I love it. Small as it is, the picture is lovely, and about as big as the old 27″ Mitsubishi tube set it replaced.
Comcast wants $10 a month more for the same bullshit programming in HD. Excuse me, but FUCK THEM. If I want to watch Groundhog Day in HD five or six times a day, I’ll fucking rent it.
On the other hand, our new XBOX 360 looks marvelous in HD on the Sony LCD, (using the supplied HDMI cable) so I’m pleased as can be with the Orange Box and Halo 3 and the driving game which came with the XBOX.
One more thing, HBO, Showtime and Comcast really, really suck. Aside from Weeds, Brotherhood and Dexter, it’s all just the same fucking movies again and again, fourteen fucking times a day. Anything remotely interesting is shown ONE TIME ONLY, and then usually at 3 am.
But it’s a good thing that Comcast is a virtual monopoly in my area, right? For all you dish fans out there, may I use the Comcast ad line, “Who buys a dish in the city of Wind?”
The Other Steve
It’s universally agreed.
comcast sucks
ThymeZone
Says you.
demimondian
The demi-bunker doesn’t even have much in the way of TV, because we refuse to support Comcast, and we haven’t missed it.
Then again, we don’t have an LCD tv, or a plasma TV, or anything like that. In fact, I think our youngest display is seven years old…so we’re objectively missing a lot less than we might be.
TrishB
Damn, I just wish this were true. After hours spent (it was taking 10 plus minutes to load task manager in safe mode) unloading Trend Micro and reloading it on my dad’s XP system, I can only wish that the computer would respond to that simple little command in under 15 minutes, if at all. Holding in the power button for 10 seconds was the only level of control I had over the fucking machine.
TrishB
Thymezone, I only play a pseudo-vet on political blogs, but it seems you might just get some unwanted and unpleasant blockages if you tied that stuff off. Maybe. Only one way to find out I guess.
Michael D.
Heh. I don’t know shit about electronics, so I’m going out this morning to buy the HDMI cable!
El Cid
WMass: Believe it or not, it’s actually weirder than you may think with HDMI. Not only is it NOT the case that expensive HDMI perform any better than cheap HDMI cables; it’s also the case that no one but no one does any sort of real, actual, lab testing of their cable’s performance.
It’s not a very well designed signal standard, and the problem is that its design was NOT based on the needs of equipment or the needs of a signal, but the need of content producers to be ultra paranoid about the prospect of anyone diverting their HD content.
(For example, every 2 seconds the HDMI source has to send to the display a coded signal saying ‘Are you still a secure connection?’ and if it somehow doesn’t receive the correctly encoded response ‘Hello, here’s your safe answer code’ then the source blanks the output.)
So there’s an absolute mystery right now whenever people try to do things like send longer HDMI runs or to send 1080p signals. It’s basically trial and error unless you use a very reliable but expensive device set to send & receive “HDMI” signals over, say, a pair of Cat6 cables.
Jeff Boccaccio runs one of the only labs which actually can test these cables, and sometime next year will actually come out with objective performance ratings (DPL) of HDMI cables based on the “eye pattern” of testing signal fidelity on a 1080p signal. But until this happens, it’s all basically hocus-pocus, and if one cable doesn’t work (or works for a few days and then starts to fail), try another one, and so on.
Michael D.
Ok, I plugged in the HDMI cable. Getting a blue screen with the error:
I think I am confined to a LoDef life.
El Cid
The component video cables — the analog Red-Green-Blue (Video) + Red-White/Black (Audio) are high definition. They’re the same high definition that HDMI gives. There are those who feel the HD image from these analog cables are better in certain situations and certain combinations of equipment.
“HDCP authentication” (HD Content Protection) is a factor of the HDMI connection not being happy with the Hollywood-imposed ‘security’ concerns — i.e., the cable box is not hearing (or perhaps not sending) properly the packet saying ‘Yes, here’s your code, I’m a legitimate HDMI device and I’m not stealing your HD signal!’
The HDCP authentication might be the result of a bad cable, but if it’s a short distance (6 feet) that is likely to be some sort of manufacturing screw-up than a bad design.
You can also try unplugging the HDMI cable, turning both devices (TV & cable box off), let them sit about 30 seconds, then turn them back on. Have the TV on the HDMI source. Then, plug in the HDMI cable, first to the TV and then to the cable box. See if they manage to synchronize more happily.
My quick suggestion is to hook up the component video cables just like everyone suggested earlier (the 5 cables, 3 for video and 2 for stereo audio), and put off exchanging HDMI cables for later. Keep your receipts.
El Cid
By the way, pretty frequently the Comcast / Motorola cable boxes are in themselves screwed up (as are many DirecTV boxes), so if you don’t have any success with different HDMI cables, it’s very likely the box.
Comcast will swap it out after 400 reschedulings and missed appointments.
(Even spookier — the cable box may have old ‘firmware’, but they only update after being plugged into the cable and downloading very slowly any updates. You can’t do it manually, their only updates come over the DOCSIS platform via the cable line. So the HDMI may not work now but works fine a few weeks from now when the box updates itself.)
jcricket
So you’re objectively pro-CRT then? Either you’re with the digital switchover or you’re with the analog-loving Al Quedians. What do you have against America demi? Why are you not propping up our economy with ever-increasing levels of debt-spending.
Boo on you.
The Other Steve
The nice thing about a digital signal is it either works, or it doesn’t work. No inbetweens.
The one reason I will advocate for more expensive cables, is one of pure convenience. That is, the more expensive ones tend to have softer insulators that make them easier to move around and use. Or better connectors which make them easier to use. That’s it. No way, though, a HDMI cable is worth $100. $30 maybe.
The Other Steve
That is funny.
jcricket
Sort of. As someone up-thread pointed out, HDMI includes copy protection/negotation. So it can (especially with long-distance runs) work for a while, fail to negotiate and show you a black screen, then start working again.
It shouldn’t be this way, as ethernet cables can easily go 100m without any problems, but you gotta love the CE (consumer electronics) manufacturers for their focus on copy protection over function. Bleah.
I can’t wait until we go “UWB” (or similar standard) and the only things you need to plug in anymore are speaker cables for surround sound systems and power cables. No more connecting components or TVs.
El Cid
That’s not quite true. With HDMI, it’s not just a simple digital “signal”. Life would be easier if it were. The HDMI ‘cable’ is actually a fairly complicated 2-way communications process standard built on the model of both sending data and a security-minded digital communications channel.
Most times it will work great with no problems. Sometimes it won’t work at all for a variety of hard-to-trace reasons. And sometimes it works but only periodically or under certain conditions.
Don’t worry — soon the industry will be introducing even newer types of connections and protocols to screw it all up further.
HyperIon
I am waiting for the format/hardware shake out. So a couple of months ago I bought a 12 month old Sharp 32″ standard TV off craig’s list for $180. The seller was leaving town in 5 days so was very motivated. It seems stupid at this point to invest in a particular technology which may lose ultimately. Besides the prices are still way too high…maybe lower than last year, but still too high. (Of course I do not have more money than sense.)
As I hate COMCAST, I currently subscribe to their lowest level of “service”. $14/month well spent. Happily Seattle has excellent public access programming, especially the research channel presentations.