Better picture with Cable Card? and a few other questions

[5.1 DTS guy]

Well, we finally bought a Sony KDF-E55A20 3LCD HDTV rear projection (720p), and we are fairly satisfied, but we haven't gotten the HD set top box yet, so we are watching low resolution tv. Disappointenly, the DVD's don't look too exceptional, even when progressive scanning upconverts it to 480p. We are hoping that getting an HD box and maybe the Avia dvd will resolve some of these issues. There is no audio system hooked up yet, but we're gonna get a new system pretty soon. Anyways, here are some questions. Instead of getting an HD set top box, what do you guys think of cable card? It would seem that with cable card the picture would be the best since its a direct connection, and we wouldn't have to spend money on an HDMI cable. Is this true? Do you guys think cable card will have an image simular to the one obtained through an HDMI connection? Also, the tv has a built in HD receiver, and I was wondering whether you can use just a basic antenna (rather than an HD antenna) to receive an HD signal? Also, are most HD broadcasts in 720p? Last question, is there a dvd I can rent that has a calibration section (like THX)? I remember reading somewhere on this forum to rent a certain Star Wars movie. Anything else?


Well sorry I asked all these questions, maybe I should of posted them individually on seperate threads. By the way, the people at my cable company don't know crap.

Thanks.

 

[Taifun]

Cable Card

I just had the cable card installed in our TV and we have the high-def box on another set. I was able to do a back and forth comparison and the set-top box with the DVI-HDMI cable connected gave the best picture. Also the set-top changes channels twice as fast. I've called the cable company to replace the cable card with a box.

This is just my experience so far.

 

[JeffD2.]

The cable card here on TWC is not interactive, no PPV or "on demand" services. The HD cable boxes CAN be set to pass-through for pure digital signal sent to the display.

You can get a an HDMI cable from parts express for about $20 plus shipping.

 

[racquetman]

Also, the tv has a built in HD receiver, and I was wondering whether you can use just a basic antenna (rather than an HD antenna) to receive an HD signal? Also, are most HD broadcasts in 720p? Last question, is there a dvd I can rent that has a calibration section (like THX)? I remember reading somewhere on this forum to rent a certain Star Wars movie. Anything else?

You don't need a special antenna to pick up HD broadcasts.

HD broadcasts are either 1080i or 720p (as I'm sure you know). Which one you will get depends on the network. I believe NBC uses 1080i, while ESPN uses 720p. ABC's website says they use 720p. Like I said, depends on the network. Check the network websites if you want to know others. Remember that not all HD broadcasts are created equal - you need to be aware that compression plays a role in the quality of the broadcast. Therefore you can't necessarily say that 1080i looks better than 720p or vice versa by watching a couple shows. Rarely are you comparing apples to apples in the HD orchard (so to speak).

All THX certified DVDs contain the THX optimizer I believe (could be wrong). A list of those movies is here:
http://www.thx.com/mod/products/dvd/dvdFind.html

As far as I know, these are the only calibration tests that come with DVD movies.

 

[MDS]

Isn't the 55A20 1366x768 resolution? I believe only the 42/50A10 models are native 720p resolution.

 

[5.1 DTS guy]

Isn't the 55A20 1366x768 resolution? I believe only the 42/50A10 models are native 720p resolution.

Its advertised as 720p, and it says on the information guide.

Also, thanks for the help guys, I didn't know I could use an old, basic antenna to pick up HD broadcasts.