First post and....

[WaukeshaBADGER]

....I need some information (bet that's a new one). Anyway, I have the Mitsubishi WS55819 connected to the HD digital box supplied by TW. HD shows are outstanding, Leno, PBS, and the occasional broadcast on 512 (ABC) 504 (NBC) and 500 (HBO). My biggest complaint is that anolog channels, 1-99 are awful. I watched the CBS game from San Fran and had terrible reception. From what I have read here, I am missing many opportunities. For instance, the CBS games this weekend and next will be HD, but TW does not carry CBS (58) HD. WHAT CAN I DO? I want to know what is available instead of TW, what my opitons are and who in the Milwaukee/Waukesha area can sell and/or install? Also, can I get true digital reception from all channels with a dish and avoid the 1-99 glitch of cable TV?

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[drgingras]

Welcome aboard, WaukeshaBadger!

I really can't comment directly on the TWC issues since I'm a Dish/OTA viewer. You might want to check out the Technical and Programming areas. A search for TWC or Time Warner will give you a lot to read about.

As to the satellite side of things, the general concensus seems to be that sat. PQ is usually better quality than "digital" or analog cable. However, Directv does not offer digital locals and Dish does not offer any locals at all. To receive digital locals, the 2 options aside from TWC are via OTA only set-top-box or satellite/OTA combination set-top-box. Both of these methods of reception would require an antenna. Depending on your distance from the broadcast towers, direction, and line of sight, this could be as simple as an indoor antenna. Many users here (myself included) are sporting rooftop antennas these days.
Lots more good info. around here about all above, too.

Hope this helps get you started in your decision!

Dave

[Tom Snyder]

We get accused of bashing TW around here, so I have to be careful.

But I had the same problem with crummy picture on the non-HD channels compared to satellite... and my set is only a 40 inch. I can only imagine how it is on a 55 inch.  

But the picture was so bad that two sets of Time Warner install guys who saw them both side by side agreed the TW picture quality was drasticly inferior. And one of them was actually sent out by Time Warner's GM at the time to allow us to do the comparison and try to get the cable feed to be as good as DirecTV. After running new cable, putting an amplifier in line and even trying a couple different boxes.  All to no avail.

I didn't want to spend another $300 for a set top box, but if picture quality was important (and for me it was) I didn't feel I had a choice. But with it, I have HBO-HD and HDnet (and probably soon to have Discovery HD and or ESPN HD, depending on their annoucement tomorrow), and all the local HiDef feeds (except 6) in Germantown with a Radio Shack Double Bowtie indoor (like the one we're auctioning here).

This isn't "bashing"... it's just my experience

[borghe]

I thought I remember hearing/reading that this is common with most HD cable boxes. The solution seems to be (if I remember, I have sat) that you need to hook up both the component and s-video cables to your TV. You watch HD (and digital if you want) over the component cables, but watch analog through the s-video cable. Yes it means you will have to switch your inputs on the TV, but it supposedly increases analog picture quality dramatically.

[mr_yeti]

There is an improvement using the S-video, but I wouldn't call it dramatic. The analog channels (1-99) still look pretty bad, in my opinion, and some are worse than others. The Niners-Giants game on Sunday was on FOX, not CBS as mentioned by BADGER, and looked just awful. Very noticible artifacting the entire time, and the whole image looked terribly pixellated, even using the S-video. Fantastic game, marred of course by officiating mistakes, sloppy play, and reprehensible picture quality.

[Pat]

It could be the set.  Have you ever seen a satisfactory analog signal on it?  Like from a VCR?

With a Mitsubishi, you can tweak the analog performance a lot in the service menus.  Several of us here have done it, and it makes a big difference.

After having done so myself, with a 65" 65807, I can watch analog signals expanded (!), and still be "satisfied".  It's not perfect, as the HD is, but perfectly watchable.

[sp44again]

What is the code for the service menu on a Mits?

[Pat]

It varies by model year, and I only know my own year's code.  If you're really interested in this, join HomeTheaterSpot.com.  They have an extensive set of tweaks, along with all the instructions you will need.  It used to all be free, but you may have to pay a small fee now, to get the best stuff.  After tweaking, many believe the Mitsubishi provides the best performance of any RPTV, regardless of price.

Its not for the faint of heart -- there are literally hundreds of parameters that can be changed, and you can damage your set.

There is also an internal computer connection you can make use of with a PC and the appropriate interface and software.  It allows you to save the current settings onto a disk, and restore the settings back to the way they were when saved.  You can also change any "locked out" settings there may be.  (It was needed for the xxxx7 madels, since many items were locked out; and may or may not be needed for your xxxx9 model.)

I have this interface and software and I would be willing to be present while YOU make changes, to be supportive, but cannot accept any responsibility for what you might do.

[borghe]

I have a 55819

The two codes are menu 0157 and menu 0159.

BE CAREFUL!!!

As for the adjustments.. umm, maybe Pat can help.. I didn't do anything in my service menu except adjust overscan, geometry, and SVM. I want to adjust red push but you need the cable Pat is talking about and I've just never got around to buying it. I tried making it, but my first attempt didn't turn out too well and I never got around to ordering new molex conncetors and clips.

Speaking of which, I don't suppose anyone on here has an I2C interface cable for a Mitsubishi that I could borrow/buy to fix red push once and for all on my set.

[WaukeshaBADGER]

Thank you all for your input. The 55819 has very good reception on many anolog channels, ESPN for instance, TMJ and Fox Sports Net are generally sharp pictures. Maybe it's the way Fox 6 is set up with TW, but they. along with CBS 58 have the weakest signal and most noise.

Is the best scenario for me, if I want to watch the football this weekend in HD on CBS, to get the Radio Shack "Double Bow Tie" antenna? I am located in Southwest Waukesha, with hills around (we are about 1/2 way up one). In your opinion, would that be enough or should I be looking more at an outdoor "rooftop"?

Thanks again for all your input!

Dale

[Todd Wiedemann]

Hi fellow 55819 owner !

I do not have TWC, I use DirecTV and OTA on my Panny TU-HDS50 set-top box. It made me wonder if the TWC box has antenna inputs to decode the OTA HD signal. I know that the 55819 does not have an integrated tuner, so just the double bow-tie antenna will do you no good. Sorry.

I'm sure a local retailer would be happy to see you a tuner, though !!

[Greg Oman]

One thing you *may* want  to consider is buying the Service Manual.  You can do this directly from Mitsubishi, and it costs something like $55 if I recall.  Very helpful in my opinion.  I got some of my advice from the Spot as Pat mentions, but this was before they tightened things up with a membership.

And I'd agree with Pat, the Mits models seem to be very responsive to tweaking if you know what you're doing.  In fact, I think a few members here (Matt Heebner?) had their Mits set calibrated by the famous CraigM.  From what I've heard, I'd be on board for the service if he makes another tour this way.

BTW, I did buy the service manuals for the 55859 (which covers the 65" and the Diamond line with the integrated tuners) I have, I'd say money well spent.

Greg O.

[Pat]

The 55819 has very good reception on many anolog channels

Thats good, of course.  There is some variation in quality of the signals at my house also, but we now know you don't have any particular problems with the set or hook-ups.

There are several parameters that "amplify" noise in a poor signal, but leave a good signal in fairly good shape.  The biggest offenders for bad signals are Sharpness and SVM (Scan Velocity Modulation).

What happens is they both add "edges" onto the specks of noise of a poor signal and make things worse.  Neither is necessary for a high-quality set, but both enhance the appearance of a cheap set.

Sharpness is a standard control and should be set all the way to the left (off) on Mitsubishi's.  (This is not true for all brands.  Some brands off position is in the middle.)  When you do this, you may feel you have lost some sharpness (duh), but anything you see from the sharpness control is false information, and is not really there.

SVM is easy to turn off, or adjust its effects, in the service menus.  It would take about a minute to change it.

You may not notice much difference in screen appearance, unless you do both Sharpness and SVM, since they do about the same thing, but nevertheless, turn your Sharpness off and see.

[WaukeshaBADGER]

Thank you Pat, I will give it a try this evening!!

Dale

[David Hendrickson]

Dale,
I have had a Mits 55" RPTV for over one year. I started with TW digital cable and was shocked at how poor the picture quality was, unless I was viewing a dvd. I performed (with much hesitation) a few of the Mits tweaks I learned at The Home Theater Spot. There was improvement,especially after doing some focus tweaks. I was still very unhappy, so I tried DirectTV. I bought the Mits set top box, with the idea of adding some sort of antannae for local ota hd. Just the ability to watch HBO-hd, and hdnet made me dump TWC. There was a slight improvement in picture quality for sd broadcasts, but even Direct TV seems to be pushing more channels at the expense of quality signals. I tried the Radio shack doulble, but in south central Waukesha county the reception was inconsistent. That went back and I spent a couple bucks more and put a small 4 bay bow tie on the roof. It pulls in all the local hd channels at 100%, and I'm hosting a super bowl party to share the awesome picture with my friends.
If you can afford it get a stb and sat dish. Add the antenna and you are set. The 4 bay bow tie from Channel Master works great for me. I'm near the intersection of hwy 164 and cty hwy I. By the way, you haven't seen football until you've seen it via hd.