Problems with TW HD Cable box

[russellj]

I have a friend who had a new Sony 30 inch HD TV. When connected to a TW Pioneer HD cable box he gets a distorted picture that seems to be a line running across the screen from left to right. It was centered on the screen. Thinking that it was a Bad Sony TV, he returned it and got another one. This set also had the same problem. He returned that and got a Toshiba 30 inch HD set, hocked it up and the line is in this set too. He is using a Pioneer HD reciever from TW and has exchanged it 3 times thinking that it might be the box and not the set. I have a 50 inch Toshiba set and the same cable box that he has and do not have the problem. Has any one else had a problem like this and how did you get rid of it?

[mhz40]

Have your tried replacing your component cables?

I have a friend who had a new Sony 30 inch HD TV. When connected to a TW Pioneer HD cable box he gets a distorted picture that seems to be a line running across the screen from left to right. It was centered on the screen. Thinking that it was a Bad Sony TV, he returned it and got another one. This set also had the same problem. He returned that and got a Toshiba 30 inch HD set, hocked it up and the line is in this set too. He is using a Pioneer HD reciever from TW and has exchanged it 3 times thinking that it might be the box and not the set. I have a 50 inch Toshiba set and the same cable box that he has and do not have the problem. Has any one else had a problem like this and how did you get rid of it?

[russellj]

Yes, we tried 3 different componet vidio cables. Two from TWC and a set of Monster cables. It didn't make any difference.

[Mark Strube]

To have the same exact problem with different sets, different boxes, and different cables just reeks of some setting being incorrect, or something hooked up improperly. Can you give us any details? (Even photos of how it's connected?)

[russellj]

The set is hooked up correctly. It would be pretty hard to connect componet video cables wrong unless you pluged the red cable into the blue input, green into the red and blue into the green which would give you a picture but not the right color. TWC says that only the 1080i setting on their box is supported and not to use the 480i, 480p or 720p settings. That's fine if you want their box to upconvert everything to 1080i before it gets to your set. But when you do that you only have the choice of using the strech modes supplied with their box and they are not very good. BTW my friend only gets the distortion line when viewing 480i signals from TWC HD box I forgot to mention that before. Hidef comes in fine.

[Mark Strube]

BTW my friend only gets the distortion line when viewing 480i signals from TWC HD box I forgot to mention that before. Hidef comes in fine.

Wow, see now that's an important tidbit you could've mentioned earlier... that's why I was digging for more information. Turns out the problem is a setting like I mentioned. Some sets do not support 480i well at all. I would just leave it at 480p, 720p, and 1080i then. Problem solved.

[russellj]

Yes he could do that. But like I said before you are then stuck with the bad strech modes supplied by the TWC HD box. The set seems to take 480i just fine. His dvd player which is NOT set to progressive scan plays just fine through component video cables to the same set and it is outputing at 480i. It will also take a 480i signal passed through componet video from a HD DTV box and display without the distortion. Only when used at 480i with a TWC Pioneer HD box does this happen. It is my own conclusion that it is the Pioneer HD box's from TWC that has the problem with 480i not the tv. Also if you connect the coax cable directly to the set bypassing the cable box all 480i channels display just fine (you then get only the channels under 100, or basic cable). On my 51" Toshiba I can play all (480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i) and use the sets built in strech modes which are much better than TWC's. Toshiba says that the 30" HD set that my friend has should except 480i just fine. I think that my advice to him will be to drop TWC and get satelite. Everything will be digital and the distortion problem goes away when he is connected to it (we brought his tv to my house to connect it to satelite and it worked just fine).

[Mark Strube]

WOW... recommending a switch to satellite just so you can stretch some channels? I dunno. Before doing that I would HIGHLY recommend requesting a Scientific Atlanta HD box or just getting the Scientific Atlanta HD-DVR. The Pioneer boxes aren't the best in the first place. (By the way, the new 8300 DVR can stretch/zoom ANY channel, and has awesome upscaling from 480i... it beats my television's.)

Why anyone would want to stretch a 4:3 image in the first place is beyond me... everything looking wider than it should be annoys the crap outta me.  {fart}

[russellj]

Why anyone would want to stretch a 4:3 image in the first place is beyond me... everything looking wider than it should be annoys the crap outta me.

The stretching is done to avoid "burn in" on a CRT telivision. Toshiba sets have 4 different stretch modes not just a wide or zoom stretch. They have stretch modes that also increase the height slightly along with stretching the width so that things don't look so wide. TWC only gives wide and zoom. Both of those are crap. Besides Satelite is all digital unlike TWC which is only partially digital. And it is cheaper.

[Mark Strube]

Besides Satelite is all digital unlike TWC which is only partially digital. And it is cheaper.

When it comes down to it, the prices even out, it just depends on what your personal viewing preferences are, and if you want to make an initial investment. The way I've seen some of those DTV stations look, there's many cases in which I'd prefer analog. Analog noise can almost always be nicely cleaned by properly configuring your video settings. Good luck cleaning digital blocking. But, TWC will soon be all-digital as well... lets just hope they use a high enough bitrate.  

[mhz40]

Have you tried 480p instead of 480i?  My Pioneer plasma stretches nicely on a 480p component signal.
In terms of satellite, one man's digital over-compression is another's distortion.  If your buddy bought the TV for HD, TW has a few more HD channel choices right now.  Good luck in finding a solution that works for your buddy.

MHz40

Yes he could do that. But like I said before you are then stuck with the bad strech modes supplied by the TWC HD box. The set seems to take 480i just fine. His dvd player which is NOT set to progressive scan plays just fine through component video cables to the same set and it is outputing at 480i. It will also take a 480i signal passed through componet video from a HD DTV box and display without the distortion. Only when used at 480i with a TWC Pioneer HD box does this happen. It is my own conclusion that it is the Pioneer HD box's from TWC that has the problem with 480i not the tv. Also if you connect the coax cable directly to the set bypassing the cable box all 480i channels display just fine (you then get only the channels under 100, or basic cable). On my 51" Toshiba I can play all (480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i) and use the sets built in strech modes which are much better than TWC's. Toshiba says that the 30" HD set that my friend has should except 480i just fine. I think that my advice to him will be to drop TWC and get satelite. Everything will be digital and the distortion problem goes away when he is connected to it (we brought his tv to my house to connect it to satelite and it worked just fine).