Hi-tech-tv.com: Television technology news & answers

They finally forced one on me. (At least the HDMI and OTA antenna issues have been resolved.) There are two tuners, but is it possible to actually switch back and forth as I always could with the HR 10/Tivo unit? As far as I can figure, the only way to use both tuners at once is if you are recording. Am I missing something? (The 90 minute buffer isn’t worth the trade-off, as I mostly use my buffer when I’m watching two things at once.)

I’ve already seen some synch issues after pausing live TV. Is the only way to address this by FF’ing to Live again?

Finally, is there anyway around having to push Guide twice to get my Favorites list? Going through the filter everytime is a wasted step. Not a big deal, just annoying.

I know some of you have dealt with this box for awhile. Thanks in advance for sharing the knowledge. Actually, I didn’t want to upgrade. The woman said they’d send me an HR10, but this is what arrived last night. I called back and, long story short, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. I never got the same information twice.

Answer 1: you do not have to have active buffers like you had on the old Tivo unit.. thats one reason I refuse to upgrade

Answer 2: I use to love my old Direct TV tivo with dual buffers. I still have the unit but not DTV- it was a sad day when my new dual tuner couldn’t dual buffer.

Answer 3: Bottom line, though, is that we need these for the big HD rollout. Well, the box plus two B Band Convertors I had to hook on (between the wall and the HR20), which really junks things up.

On the positive side, the interface isn’t terrible, and there are some cool bells and whistles that the old box didn’t offer. It’s also true I’d had three HR10’s crap out in two years.

Mostly, I want my two tuners back. Anyone know if this is something they could fix with software, or it’s a hardware issue we need to be resigned to?

Answer 4: Call back and demand a TIVO unit.. they have them.. refurbished, but they have them

Answer 5: The HR20 is getting better reviews. It moves a lot faster than the HR10 (and apparently the 15). Recording and setting up Season Passes is virtually instananeous (the HR10 always made me wait and wouldn’t let me watch TV while setting up a Season Pass).
I don’t blame you for feeling burned. I think it was, mostly, a case of getting in on the technology before it was ready. While not having the dual tuner is a big negative, in truth, most of what this unit offers does feel like a significant upgrade. (Not changing my tune, just offering a fuller evaluation.)

Answer 6: The e-mail I got from DTV this morning. I am writing you as promised in response to your request to have your HR10-250 HD DVR replaced with the same model. I emailed our warehouse today and was told that we no longer have the HR10-250 in stock, which is why it was replaced with an HR20. If you would like to speak with advanced technical support, please call which is good for 5 days. A specialist will be happy to discuss with you all options. Again, my apologies that we couldn’t replace your HD receiver with the same type.

Question: I have heard of people buying hdmi cables for really cheap online just wondering where people have bought theres and for how much. And if these are just as good as the $100 ones at best buy ect.?

Answer 1: You can get them for under 10 bucks i think. go to monoprice.com. the cable business is the biggest scam out there. monoprice.com. use it for everything cable related:)

Answer 2: Note sure if you’ve bought the TV yet, but my new Panasonic HDTV came with the cables.

Answer 3: You can’t really beat monoprice.com and yes, they’re every bit as good as overpriced Monster cables. Certainly the answer. Great products. Great service. Great shipping times. I ordered 2 optical cables for a new CD player and I got them in 2 days. I have gotten optical, coaxial, and HDMI cables from there. All great quality without crappy prices.

Answer 4: I did the stupid Circuit City Monsters for $90. Hey, who’s more stupid than me?

Answer 5: Yes you can get cables for less, and I have checked out monosite, but if you scan through it you will notice even they have a large array of prices from 6.00 to 131.00. the prices are affected by many things…is it realistic to pay 100.00 for Monster cables? You can find them online for much cheaper than in the retail store but i sell all types of HDMI and Monster is by far the best quality i have used…read the description on their website monstercable.com….cheaper isnt always the way to go…just research the lower prices of monster…its worth it.

Answer 6: Monster is an f’n ripoff and the only reason I have a few monster cables is because I bought them on Amazon for like 85% off.

Answer 7: It’s insane how much of a scam the cable industry is. sickening. i work in the gaming industry, where that sort of stuff is important. i don’t think i’ve ever seen a monster cable anywhere.

Answer 8: Anyone who thinks monster isnt worth it, has either never done side by side comparisson or has no clue. I am not going to type a 10 page letter on why they are better… 30-40$$ is worth it for a monster HDMI…plus they offer lifetime warranty as long as you keep the package. it it ever fails, it is replaced for free

Answer 9: One more for monoprice… It has been said before and I will say it again…HDMI is digital. On or Off. One or Zero. There is no signal degrading. It either works or it doesn’t, I redid my entertainment room and hid all the equipment in the closet this past January…everything is running on 10-30ft monoprice cables from wherever it is in the room to the special away-from-the-eye spot. All the speakers, the receiver, the flatscreen,the dvd, the directv,the cd player, everything….all monoprice. Trust me on the quality.

Answer 10: There are different grades of cable, yes all will work, but sheilding and internal filling are a factor

Answer 11: I have some experience with RF and microwave transmission and can tell you this about cables: With an analog signal, quality is very important. Get the better stuff and you will notice a difference. Digital signals are just binary digits (usually ranging 0-5vdc) sent thru a cable and yes, they either make it or do not. If they are making it thru the cable there is no way to improve the quality “through the cable”. The only thing left is for superior DSP, which hi quality (and cost) cables have NOTHING to do with.

Question: Can anyone give me some insight on the good and bad of mounting a plasma/LCD over a fireplace? My sister just purchased her first home, its a nice little town home but the family room is small so the base case scenario is mounting the TV over the fireplace….we have not yet purchased the unit so if there is a benefit to LCD over plasma or the other way around, that arrangement can be made. So yeah, if anyone has done this, or has any research on the topic, let me know if its ok to have the TV mounted with the fireplace on, how high above it it could/should be, etc. Thank in advance for all your help.

Answer 1: It can definitely be done. I think the issue is the heat. Use a thermometer to make sure where the TV will go never gets above 90 degrees F or the Plasma TV works harder to cool itself, thus shortening the overall lifespan. That’s only if the TV is on and only if it’s on for longer than a few minutes.

Answer 2: They did it on “This Old House” once.. they built a nice cabinet above the fireplace so the unit would be hidden when not used. it was really nice

Answer 3: I built a new mantle to put my LCD on. We only use our fireplace once in a while, so heat isn’t an issue.

Answer 4: I did it last year. Have a 60″ Pioneer Plasma, 145 lbs, mounted in the recessed area of the fireplace. Installed the mounting bracket into the studs behind the surface area. The bracket has an adjustable tilt so viewing is directly into the room. Mine is set for about 15 degrees down. Closest chair is 7 feet from the screen and the sofa is 10 to 12 feet away. .
The fireplace is gas so heat is not an issue in the Plasma area. Plasma does put off a fair amount of heat but not enough to be concerned with. Those CSI city views are absoutely breathtaking in HD.

Answer 5: You’re not supposed to put it over a live fire place as soot will be your enemy, but a gas one you can, as long as you determine heat isn’t an issue.

This article is unbelievable:

According to sheriff’s department spokesman Maj. Robert Hills, Ronald Long fired a shot from the inside of their home after several unsuccessful efforts to punch a hole through the exterior wall using other means. Investigators said Ronald Long believed his family was inside the house.

Toshiba has all but officially pulled the plug, as they stand to lose “hundreds of millions of dollars” on the HD-DVD format, which has lost overwhelmingly to Blu-Ray in every market the two competed in. It still remains unclear whether or not Blu-Ray will ever take hold of the market and encourage consumers to adopt the format, but it’s all their’s for the taking.

I know there’s quite a few people who have waited for this to come down as official to adopt, so here it is. Word to the wise, though, either purchase a Playstation 3 or wait until Blu-Ray moves to 2.0.

Sony played it smart to put it in their gaming consoles and going after studio support. The “informed” public decided that the half finished standard that costs twice as much was the better option.

I wonder what the better places to buy TV’s are. I heard BestBuy or Circuit City. Can you guys give me some advice?

Answer 1: I know its not LCD/Plasma but last month I bought a brand new LED DLP, and the best price by FAR was on Amazon.com (from them directly, not using them as a middle man). They were a good $500-$600 cheaper (plus no tax, free shipping) than best buy/PC Richards, and neither of them would come down.

I have also heard good things about The High Definition Store. They didn’t carry the model I wanted when I was shopping, but I see now that their price is closer to Amazon’s than anywhere else I looked. And I have heard very good things about their customer service.

Answer 2: I bought a new HDTV in April and got and very good deal online at Walmart. Try to “google” your model number & brand. You should get a lot of links to different prices.

Answer 3: I was going to buy online but read a few horror stories about return policies and issues with shipping, so I opted for Best Buy. However, I went in with a flier and told them they had to come close to the price or I’d order online and let them sell a service plan to someone else. They came within $50.00 of the price and then I just returned the expensive warrantee within 15 days after I made sure it was working and no issues with it. After I figured out shipping and taxes, I was about where I would’ve been ordering online without worrying about anything happening in shipping or having issues with returning it.
Not guaranteed, but if you’re persistant and a bit obnoxious with the hourlies, you may luck out.

Answer 4: I bought my Plasma from Amazon: Free shipping, no sales tax, and it was $400 cheaper than Best Buy. TV arrived 5 days before the estimated arrival date in excellent condition. I noticed that the price on Amazon was less for about a day (went right back up) and they refunded me the difference. That’s good for 30 days after your purchase, you just have to send them an email. My father just purchased his LCD TV from Amazon, too. I noticed that a few internet sites were a little cheaper, but they charged for shipping or had a shady (to me) return policy.

Answer 5: I bought my plasma at Sixth Avenue Electronics - they have multiple stores in NJ and one on LI. Better prices than Best Buy et al.

Answer 6: They have some great prices at BJ’s and Sam’s club. Anyone ever have any trouble with them? Costco adds 2 years on the warranty at no extra price.

Answer 7: I’d suggest Pricegrabber.com — It’s a list site, which links all retailers with their lowest prices for that particular model. It does your homework for you — you can’t beat that.
I recently bought a 40″ Samsung LCD 1080P for $1500 flat using that site. BestBuy, CircuitCity and Newegg couldn’t even come within $250 of the price I got.

So I’m going to buy my first HDTV this July 4th (when the sales begin). I already know what model and size TV I want but I have questions about other things:

1) I live in a cablevision home but I bought Direct TV for the YES Network/NFL pckage a few years back. What box offers better channels? How much does it cost to upgrade to an HD cable/direct box?

2) Besides the HDTV adaptor, what else do I need?

Answer 1: Direct TV is ~$10 more a month for HDTV. You also have to have a different type satellite installed, and also purchase a new convertor box (~$100.) You can get a HD/DVR Direct TV convertor box for ~$250. It’s a freaking pain but it’s worth it.

Answer 2: You will need to get HDMI cables. What about the existing cables? For the HD signal can you use the existing coax cable from the dish to the receiver? I understand you need an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV.

Answer 3: If you have cablevision and you get a TV with a QAM tuner, you should be able to just plug the cablewire into the wall to get the network HD channels (fox, cbs, nbc, pbs, abc). Also, if you get a cablecard ready TV you can rent a cablecard from cablevision instead of a cable box (cablecard is only $1.95/month) you can get the fully io HD lineup. You can’t get on-demand stuff with the cablecard though.

Answer 4: The RG-6 you already have is what they use for HD installs. If you upgrade to HD, Directv will upgrade the dish and run any additional cabling for you. You need component or hdmi cables to connect HD to your new tv. Go to monoprice.com to buy these for a few bucks. DO NOT waste money on so-called “high-end” cables.

Yes — you can run on coax, component or S-video just fine until you pick up your HDMI’s.

Answer 5: Well if you are going the satellite way, they will need to install a new HD satellite on your roof and will wire it up to the box for you. I’m getting DirectTV satellite. I am trying to avoid any more holes drilled into the house so I want to know if they can use the existing RG6 coax which is already buried in the walls.

Question: Just picked up an LG LCD television. When you are on a non-high definition channel and you see the pillar bars on either side of the picture, do you have to worry about burn-in? I worry that from watching a channel with pillar bars for hours might leave some image retention
Any other advice? So far I’m really digging the TV.

Answer 1: You don’t have to worry - LCD doesn’t have burn in. But there is a way to change the grey into black. I know when I changed the pillars from grey to black it made TV watching (on regular channels) a whole lot better and easier.

Answer 2: It’s very rare that burn in would occur on an LCD. I have Cablevision, and you can program the box to automatically switch to the optimal resolution depending on the channel you are watching (480i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p). Doing so will get rid of those pillar bars on the side when you watch a non-HD channel, without having to manually “stretch” the picture.

Answer 3: I know what they say about newer plasmas not having burn-in, but I still prefer LCD. I have seen new plasmas that still suffer from image retention. LCD will never give you a problem.

Answer 4: My Samsung plasma has anti burn in technology the eliminates it. Should be no problem with the set you got. LCD’s do not have burn in, to my knowledge - only LCD projections would. I wouldn’t worry about it. I play alot of videogames on my LCD, and I also have left the DirectTV menu on the screen for long stretches inadvertently. I’ve never seen any sign of burn-in.

Answer 5: I just purchased my second Panasonic plasma and the picture quality is amazing. I think HDMI cables also help. My other Panasonic is 3 years old and I don’t have any burn in effect. Just an FYI since you asked about LCD, but they should both be free from burn-in.

Answer 6: With the box I have from Cablevision (Scientific Atlanta), when the cable box is off, you press the Info and Guide buttons on the box simultaneously. This takes you to the HDTV setup wizard. Try that first, if it doesn’t work your user guide should have similar information.

Answer 7: LCD won’t burn but please don’t stretch a standard def picture. Not for any technical resaon, it just looks bad and it will annoy any vidiots who might be watching.

Question: What is the difference between dlp and lcd other than price?

Answer #1: One thing I love about my LCD is there is no glare, ever. I have a room with lots of outside light pouring in, but because LCDs don’t have a glass screne like the plasmas there is never any glare.

Answer #2: I don’t know why people won’t consider DLP — if you are hanging tv on wall the it is LCD vs Plasma but if it is going in place of old tv then DLP is way to go == it is less expensive and the picture absolutely rocks.

Answer #3: DLP is fine, but doesn’t have the wide viewing angle. DLP is a great technology, especially for the mega-huge sets (60″), but it still fails to match LCD or Plasma in terms of brightness or viewing angle. One of my favorite things about my LCD is that I can see it clearly and brightly, even from extreme angles. Makes it great for having a bunch of people over to watch a game.

Answer #4: I shoot HD and prefer DLP. Unless you want to hang it on a wall, DLP is the way to go. I have a 61-inch Samsung thats 3 years old and this viewing angle is not a horizontal issue - its a verticle issue. In my room the seating spans about 100 degrees and the picture is no worse at either end. However, if you stand up the quality dips a touch.
Who watches TV standing up?

Buy the largest TV you can afford or have room for. If you pass up on a 56-61 inch DLP for a 42 inch Plasma or LCD, and room or preference to hang it on a wall isn’t an issue, you’re making a mistake…in my opinion.

My 61-inch set now looks a lot smaller than it did when I bought it. Always get the biggest screen you can afford and if you have to move to DLP to get it, because you’ll spend a lot more for a plasma thats really big.

Verizon Fios: Should I get it? Does it come with YES Network, or is that part of the sports package? Does FIOS charge extra for HD channels, and does it carry SNY HD? I have a choice to make between Fios and Patriot Cable at the new house - anyone tried both? Any compelling reason to choose one over the other?

Answer #1: I am having it installed next week. It comes with YES, the Mets Station, NFL Netowrk, etc. And the HD channels are free.

Answer #2: From what I have heard the Fios is much cleareer due to the fibwer optics. Also, the internet speeds are higher, and they are running a Triple Play for Phone, TV, and Internet. ALso, if you have Verizon Cell phones, you can get everything on 1 bill and you get like a five dollar discount off of the cell bill.

Answer #3: HD is free. The hd receiver is like 9.99/ HD DVR is 12.99. BTW, I love Fios. I got TV/Internet for 120 and thats with HBO/Cinemax, 2 dvr’s, 2 hd’s and one regular box.

Answer #4: I will be paying ~$240.00 for Home Phone with unlimited US calling, two cell phones, Internet, (20 mbps down/5 up), 3 regular boxes, 1 HD box, HBO, and the Movies package. I will be saving almost 50 bucks a month over what I was paying to Verizon and cablevision, and I am getting about 15 or 20 more channels, and the On Demand for HBO, Showtime, TMC, Starz, and Sundance is free. I live in Northern NJ. A town called Cedar Grove. They will be installing it on the 12th.

Answer #5: Fios is pretty good. There’s some functionality with the guide that I don’t like too much. But I can see it being way better than comcast. Customer Service is MUCH better than Comcast.

Answer #6: I have the triple play. Phone,TV & net Fios. No HBO/MAX,etc. Standard comes with quite a few HD channels. I have 1 standard box,1 HD DVR. Total is under $115/ month for all three.

Answer #7: Verizon has called me a couple of time asking me to come back (I now have Time Warner all in one ). I asked if they had an all in one package as I have Verizon wireless. Of course the person on the phone said sure but she didn’t have the info on the cable part. Sooooo, after calling another Verizon rep I’m told that I can’t get the FIOS in my area but they have a TV package via dish. However, I’m told that in my area I can’t get network programing since if I put up an antenna I’m in the broadcast area of Binghamton and Elmira. Sooooo, I guess I wait for FIOS. And just for the record .. Time Warner’s phone service is pretty poor.

Answer #8: Go Fios because HD channels are free (including YES, SNY, ESPN and ESPN2, and NFL network), and the internet is much faster than cable. I have it and love it.