Digital set top boxes

[Rod]

just to throw my $0.0 in the ring

i have a DGTEC high definition set top box on a TV that is High Definition capable & the picture is crystal clear

our other set top box is only standard definitation & that on the plasma & i belive the High Definition CRT TV has just as good a picture as the plasma

i belive the main thing that peopls should look at is makeing sure that the TV is high definitation capable more than worrying about the set top box

if the TV is standard definition ( 570 Lines i think ) no matter what set top box you put with it it will only give an average picture compared to a High Definition TV that has 1020 Lines from memory

regards
rod

[RspecAU]

I just read all this and i'm still a bit confused by it all. I live in the Danenongs where i get a poor signal anyway i was hoping that a set top box would fix that.

[Sox]

Originally Posted by RspecAU

I just read all this and i'm still a bit confused by it all. I live in the Danenongs where i get a poor signal anyway i was hoping that a set top box would fix that.

It may not. A reasonable signal is needed for digital to work without dropouts.

You may need to raise your antenna.

Rick.

[FoxMulder]

Originally Posted by ianmcginley

Why would I want a larger hard disk drive than 160GB? Because the recording/time slip of an HD show is 4 times the data of a SD show. Why get a DL burner built in? Future proofing. It is the most up to date tech on the market, but it isn't in these products yet.

But that's the catch 22 isn't it? It may be the most up to date tech on the market, and you may be happy with it for 10 years, but it won't be the most up to date for long. Just look at when the Set top boxes first came out. They are fast becoming outdated, after only a few years, (when you compare to the PVRs). With the tech the way that it is, we'll have 18GB DVDRs in a few years. That would beat out any DL recorder. Would you upgrade again?

Take a look at DVD players. I never went to buy the best one. Why? Because the cheaper ones actually had more features at the time, and were a third of the price. This enables me to upgrade the lounge DVD player to the latest stuff, like the ability to play MPEG4, put the other one away in another room, and still have money left in the bank. I compared the quality of my DVD player, (an XMS), to that of my mate's DVD player, (an $800 Sony) and guess what, there was no difference in quality, (that's visible on an analogue TV). Made him wish he went cheaper.

There was a DVD recorder on EBay that has a removable hard drive. You could easily slide out the existing 40GB hard drive, (it uses the same cradle as the removable PC hard drives), allowing you to easily hook it up to your comp if you wanted, or to run several hard drives separately. (just imagine with those 400+GB hard drives that have started to come out.)

Now I may not buy this recorder, but that technology is far better in my opinion than a single fixed hard drive. (especially if you have some lying around).

Also think about where TVs may be headed. Toshiba have created a glasses free 3d effect LCD monitor. How long do you think it would be, until this technology starts to become commercialised and widespread, moving towards the home theatre market?

Also, remember price does not always mean quality, and names are sometimes what your paying for.

[RspecAU]

Originally Posted by Sox

It may not. A reasonable signal is needed for digital to work without dropouts.

You may need to raise your antenna.

Rick.

The guy next door just spent an arm and a leg on getting an antenna set up by Mr Antenna and still hasn't got a real good signal.

[Sox]

Originally Posted by RspecAU

The guy next door just spent an arm and a leg on getting an antenna set up by Mr Antenna and still hasn't got a real good signal.

That happens a lot, did they raise it at all, sometimes height is more important than quality.

Rick.

[TS50]

ok I bought a set top box about 9 months ago
I bought it cos i live in Tasmania
We only had Southern Cross (7 affiliate) and Win (9 affiliate)
While southern cross showed the grand prixs and the V8's they did not show RPM, etc
we had a new Digital network start up , TDT which is 10 affiliate.
So to view this< i needed to get a set top box. Now i get to watch more motor sport.
I actually bought a Strong set top box, with a built in hard drive, It is fantastic, you can record something, and say if you come home half way thru it, you can start watching at the beginning, while its still recording, skip thru the adds, and at the end, you have almost caught up, best thing ever, no more tapes.
The other huge benefit is that before I had a pretty ordinary signal on Win, and ghosting on Southern Cross, now with the set top box, the picture is amazing , both clear as.
I would recommend it just for that

[svo347]

Would that be a high definition or sd?

[TS50]

hmm good question, I do think mine is standard definition