HDTV/LCD TV input question

[angrymissy]

<p>We recently bought an LCD TV that has a million inputs in the back.&nbsp; TV (runs through Coax cable), then there is AV1, AV2, AV3, AV4 and side inputs.&nbsp; The AV inputs each have space for a S-Video Cable and red, yellow, white, blue cables.&nbsp; I have cable through cablevision and we were running it through the Coax cable on the TV input.&nbsp; You have to select which input you are using from the remote.</p><p>I went and got the cablevision HDTV box over the weekend.&nbsp; I followed the instructions... which had me screwing in the coax cable AND plugging in the red, yellow, etc plugs into the back of the tv.&nbsp; What is confusing me is, I have to select the input I'm using on the TV for it to pull the picture from that input, and by following cablevisions instructions, I have plugged the HDTV box into 2 inputs (the TV input for coax cable, and the AV1 input for the red yellow, etc wires).&nbsp; Which input should the HDTV be pulling the picture from?</p><p>Also, and this may be a Cablevision specific question, but I go up to the HDTV channels (They start at 700), and some channels are in widescreen and fit my TV in what looks like a letterbox format, and some channels are in the letterbox format, but the actual picture is a small square sized box that doesn't seem to be in widescreen.&nbsp; Are all shows on those networks always broadcast in HDTV?&nbsp; Are the ones that are showing up in a little square box NOT being broadcast in HDTV?&nbsp; Does anyone know why this is happening and how I would fix it?&nbsp; </p><p>FINALLY - I plugged my playstation 2 in using a cable that runs S-Video and the yellow/white AV inputs.&nbsp; I tried 2 games, Guitar Hero, which was fine, then I tried Dragon Quest and the characters face was pixellated and looked horrible.&nbsp; Am I doing something wrong with those inputs?&nbsp; Dragon Quest looked better on my regular television.</p><p>Any insight would be greatly appreciated, this is driving me crazy.</p>

[Bob Impact]

<p>That's a Long answer.</p><p>First of all, I need to know the exact
colors of the inputs your are attempting to use (The video colors
should be Red, Green and Blue, with a Red and White Audio Input in the
Vicinity)&nbsp; If that is the case you will run the coax from the wall
to your Cable Box, Component to the TV.&nbsp; For the best quality that
is whats most likely going to work.&nbsp; Cablevision shows you both
ways in the odd chance you need to run it one way or the other.</p><p>The
letterboxing will always happen.&nbsp; Even when a sporting event goes
to commercial it will happen.&nbsp; It is caused by running a non
widescreen source through the TV, and it will always look crappy.&nbsp;
Most good sales guys (myself included) will make it a point to show you
that in the store.</p><p>&nbsp;As far as PS2, it could be one of two
things, that particular game may have a setting for widescreen
televisions, or you may want to order a set of component cables for
your PS2.&nbsp; How to games other than those two look?<br />
</p>

[angrymissy]

<p>Ok, I'm an idiot.&nbsp; I just noticed on the instructions that it said to use EITHER the coax OR the component cables, not both.</p><p>So I guess my question now is, to get an optimal HD picture, what should I run from the cablebox to the TV,&nbsp;do I use #1 a coax cable, #2 the component and audio cables together (one set is red, blue, green, audio is red, white, yellow), or #3 just an S-Video Cable.&nbsp; I ask because in my TV manual, it said to get optimal HDTV quality you should use a coax cable, but I thought that S-Video carried the best picture.</p><p>And the letterboxing thingee where the picture is a small square, that is because that picture is not being broadcast in HDTV?&nbsp; I can deal with that, I just wanted to make sure I had everything hooked up right</p>

[Tazz]

<p>And the letterboxing thingee where the picture is a small square, that is because that picture is not being broadcast in HDTV?&nbsp;</p><p>Exactly. I have the same thing on my tv. They just aren't being broadcast in HD.</p>

[PhishHead]

<strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br /><p>Ok, I'm an idiot.&nbsp; I just noticed on the instructions that it said to use EITHER the coax OR the component cables, not both.</p><p>So I guess my question now is, to get an optimal HD picture, what should I run from the cablebox to the TV,&nbsp;do I use #1 a coax cable, #2 the component and audio cables together (one set is red, blue, green, audio is red, white, yellow), or #3 just an S-Video Cable.&nbsp; I ask because in my TV manual, it said to get optimal HDTV quality you should use a coax cable, but I thought that S-Video carried the best picture.</p><p>And the letterboxing thingee where the picture is a small square, that is because that picture is not being broadcast in HDTV?&nbsp; I can deal with that, I just wanted to make sure I had everything hooked up right</p><p>why not use an HDMI cable??? that will give you the best picture...i believe for cablevision you need a DVI to HDMI or DVI to DVI. (depending what your tv allows)</p>

[angrymissy]

So an HDMI cable will give me the best picture?&nbsp; I think right now it's hooked up w/ S-Video.&nbsp; Can I get an HDMI cable at Radio Shack?

[PhishHead]

<strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br />So an HDMI cable will give me the best picture?&nbsp; I think right now it's hooked up w/ S-Video.&nbsp; Can I get an HDMI cable at Radio Shack? <p>well does your TV have an HDMI input?&nbsp; I believe the cable box uses DVI, so you either need a DVI to HDMI or HDMI to HDMI with a DVI adapter. and yes radio shack has both types</p>

[Hottub]

I am also hooked up with s-video. Looks pretty good to me. I also had to go through each of my AV modes to set up to detect&nbsp;for 16:9 input. Including AV2 for my XBox, and AV4 for my Gamecube.

[angrymissy]

<strong>PhishHead</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br />So an HDMI cable will give me the best picture?&nbsp; I think right now it's hooked up w/ S-Video.&nbsp; Can I get an HDMI cable at Radio Shack? <p>well does your TV have an HDMI input?&nbsp; I believe the cable box uses DVI, so you either need a DVI to HDMI or HDMI to HDMI with a DVI adapter. and yes radio shack has both types</p><p>Excellent, I just checked and the TV and the cablebox both have HDMI inputs, so it looks like this is the cable to get, thx.</p>

[PhishHead]

<strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>PhishHead</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br />So an HDMI cable will give me the best picture?&nbsp; I think right now it's hooked up w/ S-Video.&nbsp; Can I get an HDMI cable at Radio Shack? <p>well does your TV have an HDMI input?&nbsp; I believe the cable box uses DVI, so you either need a DVI to HDMI or HDMI to HDMI with a DVI adapter. and yes radio shack has both types</p><p>Excellent, I just checked and the TV and the cablebox both have HDMI inputs, so it looks like this is the cable to get, thx.</p><p>it will be expensive...try to get one under 6 feet for best reception anything over it gets worse, just like any cable.&nbsp; </p><p>My monster cable for HDMI (yes i know i bought the name brand cause im dumb) was $120</p>

[LordJezo]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>PhishHead</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>PhishHead</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br />So an HDMI cable will give me the best picture? I think right now it's hooked up w/ S-Video. Can I get an HDMI cable at Radio Shack? <p>well does your TV have an HDMI input? I believe the cable box uses DVI, so you either need a DVI to HDMI or HDMI to HDMI with a DVI adapter. and yes radio shack has both types</p><p>Excellent, I just checked and the TV and the cablebox both have HDMI inputs, so it looks like this is the cable to get, thx.</p><p>it will be expensive...try to get one under 6 feet for best reception anything over it gets worse, just like any cable. </p><p>My monster cable for HDMI (yes i know i bought the name brand cause im dumb) was $120</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Yeah, to angrymissy: <strong>DO NOT GET MONSTER CABLES</strong>. They are bullshit.&nbsp; A cable is a cable and spending $120 on a bunch of wires will do nothing for you besides giving you a fancy box that lies to you about it being a better signal.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.riteav.com/index.php?cPath=47_48_58" target="_self">Get an HDMI cable here.&nbsp;</a></p><p>You can get a 6' HDMI cable for $15.</p><p>As for quality of picture.. the order from worst to best is composite (the red white and yellow ones), svideo, component (the red green thingy, three for video), dvi, and then hdmi.</p><p>For your PS2 you'll want to head to the mall and get the component plugs for it, the picture is MUCH better and games that support progressive scan will be able to run in the fancy mode.&nbsp; As for why games look bad and some don't.. it's a big screen so everything in the game is going to be made bigger, you'll notice a lot more jaggies and polygons with stuff, this wont be much of a problem with next gen systems like the 360 since they all support HDTV modes.<br /></p>

[PhishHead]

<strong>LordJezo</strong> wrote:<br /><p>&nbsp;</p><strong>PhishHead</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>PhishHead</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>angrymissy</strong> wrote:<br />So an HDMI cable will give me the best picture? I think right now it's hooked up w/ S-Video. Can I get an HDMI cable at Radio Shack? <p>well does your TV have an HDMI input? I believe the cable box uses DVI, so you either need a DVI to HDMI or HDMI to HDMI with a DVI adapter. and yes radio shack has both types</p><p>Excellent, I just checked and the TV and the cablebox both have HDMI inputs, so it looks like this is the cable to get, thx.</p><p>it will be expensive...try to get one under 6 feet for best reception anything over it gets worse, just like any cable. </p><p>My monster cable for HDMI (yes i know i bought the name brand cause im dumb) was $120</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Yeah, to angrymissy: <strong>DO NOT GET MONSTER CABLES</strong>. They are bullshit.&nbsp; A cable is a cable and spending $120 on a bunch of wires will do nothing for you besides giving you a fancy box that lies to you about it being a better signal.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.riteav.com/index.php?cPath=47_48_58" target="_self">Get an HDMI cable here.&nbsp;</a></p><p>You can get a 6' HDMI cable for $15.</p><p>As for quality of picture.. the order from worst to best is composite (the red white and yellow ones), svideo, component (the red green thingy, three for video), dvi, and then hdmi.</p><p>For your PS2 you'll want to head to the mall and get the component plugs for it, the picture is MUCH better and games that support progressive scan will be able to run in the fancy mode.&nbsp; As for why games look bad and some don't.. it's a big screen so everything in the game is going to be made bigger, you'll notice a lot more jaggies and polygons with stuff, this wont be much of a problem with next gen systems like the 360 since they all support HDTV modes.<br /></p><p>well i never thought it gave me a better signal then other HDMI cables it was all best buy had when I bought my tv and i am lazy and didnt want to go to another store. </p>

[OGC]

<p><font size="1">Things were much easier in the olden days</font></p><p><font size="1" /></p><p><img height="572" src="http://www.kabb.com/tech/images/tv-indoor.jpg" width="391" border="0" /></p>

[LordJezo]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>PhishHead</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>LordJezo</strong> wrote:<p> </p><p>Yeah, to angrymissy: <strong>DO NOT GET MONSTER CABLES</strong>. They are bullshit. A cable is a cable and spending $120 on a bunch of wires will do nothing for you besides giving you a fancy box that lies to you about it being a better signal.</p><p> </p><br /><p>well i never thought it gave me a better signal then other HDMI cables it was all best buy had when I bought my tv and i am lazy and didnt want to go to another store. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Well being lazy is fine.&nbsp; It just pisses me off that Monster tries to market itself as the end all of cables and that they will give you amazing picture and sound quality when all they are are plain cables in fancy wrapping.&nbsp; The problem is that it's all a lot of the chain places sell so people don't have that much of an option, everyday people who don't know any better figure it's the only option so they drop dozens of dollars on crap they could get for a lot cheaper if they had the chance.</p><p>okay.&nbsp; that's just my rant.&nbsp;</p>

[Bob Impact]

<p>As far as the cable goes (and from years of experience in this field):</p><p>&nbsp;Yes,
there is a HUGE difference between a good cable and a throwaway from
Radio Shack.&nbsp; That being said, Monster is CERTAINLY not the end
all of cable (And IS a Radio Shack brand, BTW).&nbsp; The notion that
it's just a regular cable in some &quot;fancy wrapping&quot; is faulty as
well.&nbsp; I will grant that there are a lot of BS cables out there,
but not all of them.&nbsp; The idea behind cabling is that there is
nothing that can add to the signal in the cable.&nbsp; A good cable
will NOT make a bad picture better.&nbsp; Conversely a bad cable can
make a good picture worse.&nbsp; The idea of good cables is not to make
the picture better, but to minimize the damage.&nbsp; Remember as well
that 75% of signal loss in in the connection, cheap cables have cheap
ends, so unless you're planning on building your own cables you're kind
of stuck with a good retail cable.<br />
</p><p>&nbsp;HDMI is often more money than it's worth.&nbsp; Unless you
plan on running a full 1080p source into a native 1080p set, you NEED
to keep it HDMI or you're running to a high end HDMI switching reciever
you're pretty much wasting your money.&nbsp; The big deal with HDMI is
that it runs true digital video and audio, unlike the analog video of
component.&nbsp; You will save money with component video without any
real loss.&nbsp; There's even a debate about whether or not 1080p is
even any different from 1080i.&nbsp; If you don't know what 1080p even
IS there's a good chance you do not need it.</p><p>&nbsp;Missy, if you
need answers, you can always PM me, i'll shoot you the phone # to my
store and lead you through all of the differences.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

[HBox]

You could stick to the component cables (red, blue and green). The difference between that and HDMI is small, if anything. It's good to have an HDMI input on your TV for other things like a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player and game consoles. For cable TV you'd be fine with the component input, especially if you already have one. BTW, the component cables are red, blue and green for the video and red and white for audio. If there is also a yellow cable somewhere in there do not connect it. It is a separate and far inferior video connection.<br />

[DJEvelEd]

<p>Monster Cables<font color="#000000">&trade;</font>&nbsp;ARE worth the money. You can take a scissor and cut it into a million pieces and send it to them and they will send you back a new one. Lifetime guarantees&nbsp;are great, especially for wires.</p><p>I use&nbsp;2 HDMI cables which&nbsp;are the 15 pin to 3 wire RGB on my High Definition cable box/satellite receiver. (expensive but worth the moolah) That goes to my DLP projector. I use the S-Video for my DVD player which looks nice also. My 100 inch screen never looked better. </p><p>Me &amp; Sweety walk around stores and point &amp; laugh at those teeny tiny 60 inch plasma screens. My DLP projector will outlast ANY TV set too. You just reminded me to order a new bulb which I'll need in about&nbsp;two years. (Unless my cats lay against the exhaust of the projector which over heats the lamp and kills the bulb sooner) I put my XM receiver next to the exhaust so they can&nbsp;still feel the heat but they can't block the vent.</p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by DJEvelEd on 10-18-06 @ 8:56 AM</span>

[LordJezo]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>DJEvelEd</strong> wrote:<br /><p>Monster Cables<font color="#000000">&trade;</font> ARE worth the money. You can take a scissor and cut it into a million pieces and send it to them and they will send you back a new one. Lifetime guarantees are great, especially for wires.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So you would rather spend 6x as much on some fancy named cables that transmit 0s and 1s because you can send them back to get new ones?&nbsp; How about just getting a just as good cable for a fraction of the price and taking care of it?&nbsp; Having something in a fancy wrapping is not goign to get the data from your dvd player to your tv any better or faster.&nbsp; Look anywhere, Monster cables are considered one of the biggest scams in the buisness.&nbsp; Just get some normal priced cables and you'll be fine, get some decent ones online and save a tong of money.&nbsp; Having shielding might be nice back when signals were all analog but now a days DVI and HDMI are pure digital, you cant screw up that signal over a normal wire.<br /></p>

[DJEvelEd]

<strong>LordJezo wrote:<br /></strong><p>&nbsp;</p><strong>DJEvelEd wrote:<br /></strong><p><strong>Monster Cables<font color="#000000">&trade;</font> ARE worth the money. You can take a scissor and cut it into a million pieces and send it to them and they will send you back a new one. Lifetime guarantees are great, especially for wires.</strong></p><strong></strong><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>So you would rather spend 6x as much on some fancy named cables that transmit 0s and 1s because you can send them back to get new ones?&nbsp; How about just getting a just as good cable for a fraction of the price and taking care of it?&nbsp; Having something in a fancy wrapping is not goign to get the data from your dvd player to your tv any better or faster.&nbsp; Look anywhere, Monster cables are considered one of the biggest scams in the buisness.&nbsp; Just get some normal priced cables and you'll be fine, get some decent ones online and save a tong of money.&nbsp; Having shielding might be nice back when signals were all analog but now a days DVI and HDMI are pure digital, you cant screw up that signal over a normal wire.<br /></strong></p><strong></strong><p>In my 25 years as a sound engineer, it's been my experience that the cables are usually&nbsp;the first to go. More so in travelling gear,&nbsp;but also in home/stationary systems. Just my opinion but I don't think it's a scam at all when you can return it after years of abuse.</p><p>Now the&nbsp;GOLD connections everyone touts is bullshit. Statisticly&nbsp;there is less signal loss but not enough to make a big difference in your ears/eyes. A&nbsp;good metal to metal connection is all you really need.</p><p>I bought a 600.00 heated&nbsp;jacket from Northface 2 years ago. When the jacket broke I returned it and they cut me a check for 600.00 because they couldn't fix it. You get what you pay for in life, that's why I ALWAYS buy the best. If you can't afford it, that's a different story. In that case it really wouldn't matter because it's either the best or it's&nbsp;nothing for me...</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span class="post_edited">Yes I'm a spoiled audiophile.......</span></p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by DJEvelEd on 10-18-06 @ 9:19 PM</span>

[Bob Impact]

It STILL all boils down to the ends to me.&nbsp; I will grant that a
cheap wire with a good end is better than Monster, but a good wire with
a cheap end is worthless.&nbsp; While I agree that gold connectors are
nonsense my pet peeve is OXYGEN FREE COPPER.&nbsp; Give me a break.<br />

[Hottub]

<p>I have been audiophile free for 10 years now. (Got my chip last month.) I was even in the NY Audiophile Society, and contributing editor to the Audiophile Voice.&nbsp;I used to be into all the bullshit. (I've got a 10k stash in the basement to prove it) </p><p>I am currently running a 5:1(not 6:1) Through a JVC(not Macantosh) reciever to a Phillips 16:9 flat HD tube.(not plasma). I have an Apex dvd. About $30, and zip cord running to my L&amp;R rear. Granted my center, L&amp;R are about $25/meter. (all free. Perks of a reviewer.)</p><p>The point is, I have learned that there is no way to get the ultimate. The difrerences are so minute, it is not worth the cash. I have a great, sturdy system that is perfect for all my needs. Bob the&nbsp;Builder or HD Baseball, Football, and HBO for TV. Progressive scan DVD for movies. Digital input for XBox and Gamecube. All in stunning 5:1!</p><p>If that's not good enough, you are not invited to my house for the game!</p><p>Even when I make my pulled pork sammiches!</p>