Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with hdtv

How can I see closed captions from DVDs on my HDTV?

Faint of Butt — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:35:52 -0800

I've got an upconverting DVD player hooked up to an HDTV via an HDMI cable. I can't get the closed captions to display at all, and I know I'm not the only person to have this problem. Any suggestions? So, yes, I've got some mild hearing loss, and I prefer to watch DVDs with subtitles on so I can follow the dialogue without having to turn up the volume to wife-bothering levels. Sometimes, though, a DVD won't include subtitles (infuriatingly common among TV shows, I've noticed) and I'm forced to turn to the closed captions. The problem is that HDMI doesn't want to carry the captions to the screen, so I have to use an analog connection such as S-video or component, and the picture quality takes a serious hit. I'd give it up as hopeless if not for this, from HDMI.org, which states that "Closed captioning is available as long as the source supports and renders it." That's awfully vague, but it gives me a small amount of encouragement.

So how about it? Can anyone recommend a specific make and model of upconverting DVD player which will transmit closed captions to my HDTV via HDMI? I'm tired of watching grainy, pixelated TV shows just so I can follow the story.

Anyone who suggests that I just use the English subtitles on the DVD has clearly not read the question, and will be deserving of great mockery.

How can I tastefully hide my new HDTV when not in use?

925 — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:41:13 -0800

In our living room (new construction), we have a space for my new HDTV, but we want it "hidden", "tucked away" or "invisible" when not in use. What are some great ways to do this? I just got a Pioneer 1150HD plasma HDTV that is 48 plus inches wide, 28 plus inches tall, and about 5 inches deep.

In my living room next to (and above) my fireplace, I have a 57 inch high, 24 inch deep, floor to ceiling high opening. I can't really use the space to the left or the right. I can use the space below or above.

I want to keep the HDTV closed up when not in use, and have the wall look tasteful. When I am going to watch TV (occasionally) I want to open, slide, or roll, the TV open, and tuck the doors or covering out of the way.

I have seen pop-up sets, roll-up artwork, and doors to the sides. One advisor says that doors sliding into the opening won't work on an opening this wide due to weight and opening depth issues.

I'm looking for ideas and/or links to tasteful, high-quality nice appearance solutions. Otherwise, my wife may make me take the HDTV back!

I need my Rare Visions fix...in HD?

piedmont — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:46:06 -0800

Keep me entertained on my new 20" widescreen. How small can I encode my DVDs and what's the most cost-effective way to get broadcast TV on it? I bit the bullet and purchased a new widescreen monitor to replace my TV. How can I keep DVDs encoded at a relatively small filesize without sacrificing too much quality? I know it's always a tradeoff, but I figure that at 20" I can get a little leeway. And are the cheaper DTV tuners a total rip? Will the cheapo converter box I got with my voucher look OK with an analog TV tuner, or will the difference in quality be noticable enough to warrant buying a new tuner? Any suggestions or cautions on Digital USB tuners? Are there converter boxes with DVI out since the monitor doesn't have RGB? Just over the air, and no PVR function necessary. I'm running XP pro with a Pentium 2.0ghz Dual Core and 2gb of RAM if that helps.

Coaxial cable HD converter?

cgs — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:00:56 -0800

HDTV filter: I accidentally tore out my coaxial input. Can I still get the HD signal from my cable into my TV via a converter? As I was taking my wall-mounted HDTV down I accidentally tore out my coaxial jack. I thought I had disconnected all the cables, but forgot about the only one w/ the screw connection. It popped it right out of the board, and I can't get it back in there.

I know if I was a proper citizen I'd pay the $100 a month for real cable, which would then connect to my set via HDMI and solve my problem. But I was running my cable directly into my set and was getting all the free broadcast HD signals, which is enough for me.

So! I bet I could find a coaxial -> RCA adapter, but am pretty sure that the HD signal would be lost. Do you know of an adapter that suits my needs? I have plenty of inputs on my set...

Thanks, AskMeFi!

Best HDMI switch?

matteo — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:12:45 -0800

Best HDMI switcher out there? (plasma TV only has one port) I'd like at least three, maybe four ports. Remote control not really necessary, I'd like to have maximum image quality though and I can spend, within reason, to obtain it. I see they're all between 50 and 100 dollars, maybe there are some known lemons out there? Maybe there's a kickass brand? Thanks.

Why the DTV lag?

middleclasstool — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:04:43 -0800

Why does a tv station's digital signal lag behind its analog signal? We're one of those annoying families that refuses to pay for TV. We forked over the cash for an HDTV with a digital tuner, and absolutely love the results -- more channels, better quality, total freeness.

But we've noticed a weird thing. Our other two TVs are still on rabbit ears. One of them, in the kitchen, is well within earshot of the HDTV in the living room. Yet if we have the same show on both TV sets, there is a distinct lag, not more than maybe two or three seconds, between the two shows.

This happens on all networks, so I know it's not a channel-specific thing. I haven't timed it, but I'm positive the lag is precisely the same length regardless of the channel, too.

Is there a technical reason for this lag to occur? I know the DTV signal is actually being transmitted on a totally separate frequency (channel 2's digital channels, 2.1-2.4, are actually broadcasting on channel 5's frequency, for instance), so what could be the reason for the delay?

How do I rotate a coax feed?

MrMulan — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:29:20 -0800

Can a cable feed be rotated 90 degrees on a monitor if the signal comes in through coax? I need to hang a HDTV vertically and show a live feed. The monitor doesn't have an option to rotate the image. When done with VGA, the video card usually has the utility to rotate the image. Is there an equivalent for coax?

My boss wants it hung vertically for aesthetic reasons.

Are these things just a big scam?

fvox13 — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:37:21 -0800

Where does one buy an HDTV these days? (Rochester, NY if that helps) So, I'm looking to get at least a 50 incher, and I'd like to spend under $1500 (I'd go slightly higher, depending on the set). I don't like Plasma, since I've seen a lot of burnt-in sets. Maybe LCD or DLP?

I've seen *SO* much variation of price... I've looked at NewEgg, Best Buy, Circuit City, and a smaller local retailer (Charlotte Appliance).

Where's the best place to go? I know enough to avoid those $50 HDMI cables, but I don't know where to go to get the best deal / what to look for.

How much do the tech specs of HDTV's matter?

mkultra — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:42:06 -0800

When buying an HDTV, how much does 120mhz vs. 60mhz refresh, and 4ms vs. 5ms response matter? I'm taking the HDTV plunge, most likely picking up a 1080p LCD from Samsung. Is the ~$350 price increase from the Series 5 (last year) to the Series 6 (this year) models worth it? The Series 6 models have a slightly faster response time (4ms vs. 5ms) and a better refresh rate (120mhz vs. 60mhz).

I'm looking forward to sports and XBox360 in HD, though I'm not quite so fanatic as a lot of the folks over in AVSForum. How much will I notice the difference in these things? Bonus question: will either of these improve playback of SD/DVD content?

Help me pick out a LCD HDTV and accoutrements!

ebellicosa — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:07:49 -0800

Help me pick out a LCD HDTV and accoutrements wiithout falling prey to techno-hype! Budget is $2-3k for a ten-year techno-leap. Need to watch NHL hockey. AVphiles of MeFi: Help me pick out a LCD HDTV and paraphernalia!

Requirements:
1. I'd like to set up NHL Center Ice in HD for my husband this coming season. He's so cute sitting there with a bottle of beer, and his eyes glued to the screen. I like to call it The Immobilizer.
2. I'd like an LCD HDTV so I can hang it on the wall. After some research, I'm thinking a Samsung 46" 1080p 120Hz from Amazon's warehousedeals.com . I may have fallen into the trap of what they call "future-proofing".
3. I can wait a few more weeks. I hear the price is going to drop. But I'm not made of steel.
4. We have a nice Yamaha receiver and speakers from about 10 years ago that does Dolby surround.
5. I have a Wii to hook up to it.

More details
1. I am reasonably technical and handy with hooking things up, but I have been out of the AV loop for a decade or so.
2. Budget is about $2-3k.

Questions:
1. Aside from the HDTV, what else will I need? Is a Blu-ray DVD player worth it?
2. Which satellite network (DirecTV or DishNetworks) should I go with? Is their internet service any good?
3. Do I really need a professional installer? If so, how and where to find one?
4. How much of "future-proofing" is unnecessary features? Is 720p just dandy?

Your help, be it basic pointers or specific suggestions, is much appreciated!

Help me pick out a new Home Theater receiver?

CrayDrygu — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:44:32 -0800

I need (well, want) a new receiver for my home theater system to accommodate my new HDTV. What's my best bet for the least amount of money? Specs on everything, and details on what I'm looking for, inside. So I find myself the proud new owner of a ViewSonic N3250W HDTV, to replace my aging CRT. Difficulty: my current receiver (A Yamaha HTR-5630) will switch Composite and S-Video for me, but knows nothing about Component, DVI, or HDMI.

The TV:

The ViewSonic will accept HDMI or Component input for HD content, and also has a Composite/S-Video input, and D-Sub. I have no interest in its speakers (though I'll admit with my old TV, I used its speakers as a center channel).

The Sources:

A Philips DVP642 DVD player with component output, which I may upgrade to a model with HDMI. Audio output can be either optical or coaxial.

A Home Theater PC that ideally will be DVI or HDMI out, but I can also do component, or D-sub if necessary. Audio out is just plain stereo RCA cables.

A Playstation 2 that I'll be buying component cables for. Audio can be either optical or plain stereo RCA cables.

A Wii that I'll also be buying component cables for. Audio is stereo RCA.

And preferably one input that I can swap between miscellaneous non-HD things, like a VCR, my old NES, and whatever else.

I have no need for satellite-readyness (though I'm not offended by it being there), or for the AM/FM tuner. And I'm not looking for a home-theater-in-a-box setup, as I already have all the speakers.

The Question:

What's a good replacement receiver that will handle all of these with ease? I'd like a solution that minimizes the need to change inputs on the TV; ideally that means the receiver will switch everything. However, I'm on a very light budget ($200-300, preferably), and most receivers that upconvert everything are way out of that range, so I recognize there may be no "perfect" answer. The good news is I'm not afraid of last year's models, or even slightly used ones.

I'm very partial to Yamaha as a receiver brand, and I'm rather not fond of Sony.

I'm also open to suggestions for remote controls (like the Harmony but preferably not $150) that will take care of the input-swapping pain for me.

Text Display on HDTVs

ThomThomThomThom — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:17:03 -0800

LCD vs Plasma displays for displaying text? What's the difference? So, my boss is thinking about getting two large (>30") monitors with digital inputs to display daily schedules behind the front desk of the Arts Center where I work. He insists that some LCD monitors display text strangely because the pixels are too large (I'm pretty clueless so far as this sort of thing goes.) Anyway, he was looking at Apple 30" displays and was dissatisfied with the size, but he seems pretty sure that a large LCD is what he's going for. I know that there are offices at the university that I attend that use Plasma screens to do much the same thing (though several of these have been burned out since they never turned them off and kept the same image on them for about a week.) I've looked around on google, but I can't find much of anything directly relating to the clarity of text on large-size HDTV screens (there isn't a difference between a display marketed as a monitor vs HDTV. right?) so I was hoping that someone here could spare me a few words?

HDMI, Upconvert, 1080i, What is all this stuff?

bluefly — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:27:42 -0800

I want to buy my mother a new DVD player for her birthday/mother's day. She wants one that can record VHS to DVD. When I went on Amazon to look for such a thing, there were an overwhelming number of possibilities. Can you help explain to me what some of the features are? I read through all of the descriptions and picked out this one. (There is also a newer model, but the reviews aren't as good). However, the reviews say that the player is missing HDMI. I Googled that and it says it's a connector for HDTVs. My parents don't currently have one of those, but they might in the near future. If they don't want to record from the TV to DVD or VHS, does this matter? Can they still watch DVDs and tapes without it? Also, (bonus question, answer not required) can someone recommend a player that will work with (or record from) HDTV and record VHS to DVD?

Why does part of my TV screen look like its eyes are crossed?

jbickers — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:12:45 -0800

The colors on the right-hand side of my projection HD-TV are slightly out of phase ... what can I do? I have a three-year-old 1080i projection TV, and I've just noticed that on roughly the right one-third, the red and green colors are slightly out of phase (if that's the proper term) with one another. It became noticeable when I set up my new Xbox and went to the menus - the A and B buttons in the lower-right corner, for instance, are very blurry, each of them looking like two circles that don't quite overlap. It gets better as you move to the left; by the mid-point of the screen, it's perfectly fine.

Is this a regular maintenance thing for big-screen units? Is there something I can do to recalibrate it? Anything else that might be causing this? (The cable box and Xbox are on that side of the screen by spatial necessity, for instance - could that be causing it?)

AVSForum Club Membership worth it?

longdaysjourney — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 03:16:17 -0800

Is a membership in AVSForum Club worth it? I'm in the market for an HDTV and I'm wondering if it's worth the $35 subscription cost for access to the special deal forum, or if the specials posted there are similar to what I'll find looking at other sites like slickdeals, etc.

Help me spend less/more money.

uncleozzy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:06:56 -0800

How bad does XBox 360 look on a standard definition TV? It's April, and for 6 months I've been telling myself that I'd pick up a 360 when GTA 4 came out (it's basically the only game I would put significant play time into). It's about that time, but as much as I'd like to pick up an HDTV as well, I just don't feel that the price point is right yet (I'm in the market for something in the 37" range; even the very cheapest ones are still mostly $700+).

In any case, the basic question is, how disappointed will I be at the 360 on my 27" SDTV? I've heard reports of fuzzy, hard-to-read text and general dullness. Truth, or fanboy hyperbole?

I can afford to buy both if there's a compelling reason (also it's baseball season, which is a fantastic excuse), but buying all this crap at once--none of which I actually need--makes me kinda squirmy.

Thanks, folks.

Quality of non-HD video sources when played on LCD HDTV?

jaimev — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:00:42 -0800

How do non-HD video sources look when displayed on a modern LCD HDTV? Is it comparable to what it looks like on a CRT-based TV? We have a 24 year old Sony 25" XBR CRT-based TV that has begun to make strange electronic sparking noises and display flickering lines on the screen. My first thought was to get it repaired, but I'm starting to consider replacing it with an inexpensive 42" Visio LCD-based HDTV from the local Costco.

Our primary viewing sources are analog cable TV input, and an old Tivo Basic box (which has component/composite/S-video outputs). I don't really foresee us getting upgraded HD service over cable, or buying an HD-based gaming console or Blue Ray disc player in the near future. We might get an indoor tv antenna to get the few local over-the-air ATSC signals that might reach us.

How will our non-HD video sources look like on a modern LCD HDTV? Can I expect picture quality comparable to our old CRT based TV?

Software-only Upscaling?

Nelsormensch — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:59:10 -0800

How can I "upscale" DVD/DivX video on my Windows PC and display it on the HDTV I've got setup as a second monitor? Currently, when I play a DVD on my PC using either Windows Media Player or VLC and output it to my HDTV, it looks awful. As bad, if not worse, than SD programming. I've got to change the TV's aspect ratio to 4:3, or the video looks stretched. Either way, there's a lot of horizontal letterboxing and with the aspect ratio at 4:3, the actual video plays amid a sea of blackness.

Putting the DVD in my LG upscaling player, it fill the entire TV at 16:9 (and looks pretty good too). I want the media player software on my PC to do that. (With all the normal assumptions about the source material actually being 16:9, of course)

The box itself has a Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz processor, 3 GB of RAM and a GeForce 8800 so I'd think it can keep up with the decoding/transcoding/scaling. Doing some Google, I saw ffdshow come up a bit, but all the posts seemed to be at least 2 years old. Considering the rise in popularity of HDTVs, I figure this would be a relatively common thing folks who hook their PCs up to their TVs would want to do.

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

make my pixels look good!

garethspor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:56:39 -0800

I'm burning video to be played on a standalone LCD HDTV/DVD player. The video seems to be recorded at 720x480 pixel resolution at 24fps. what resolution should I set it to to look best on my 720p HDTV? So yeah, I'm editing the movie in IMovie, possibly exporting to quicktime, doing a bit of home-brewed editing tricks to the individual frames of the movie then importing it as a quicktime movie to iDVD to burn it. I have been having all sorts of difficulty making the video look good on the TV, i.e. no too interpolated, distorted, jumpy, etc.

The Tv in question is a Polaroid 15.4" LCD HDTV, here:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=175907&WT.mc_n=92&WT.mc_t=U&cm_ven=COMPARISON%20SHOPPING&cm_cat=NEXTAG&cm_pla=DATAFEED-%3EPRODUCTS&cm_ite=1%20PRODUCT&cm_keycode=92

previously I had some luck manually resizing the video to 640x400 resolution but that seems kinda low. Any help? Sorry if I'm not explaining this as well as I could. Fell free to ask me follow up questions.

also, I asked this before:
http://ask.metafilter.com/24130/What-resolution-and-framerate-to-use
but it was in reference to normal TVs not this new-fangled lat screen hdtv i got recently

I need my Guitar Hero

Navelgazer — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:13:58 -0800

HDTV's that don't cause video game lag? I'm in the market for a new TV in the near future, but I'm worried about HDTV's causing crippling video game lag from PS2's and other previous-generation systems. Does anyone know which new HDTV's don't have this problem?

What are the alternatives to Tivo?

mhh5 — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:01:29 -0800

What are the best DVR options for 2008? I've tried looking through previous AskMeFi answers for a decent DVR setup recommendation, but it seems like the past answers may be kinda out-of-date. Basically, I'm looking to replace my Comcrap-supplied DVR with something that is as easy to setup and use -- but that doesn't have all the annoying interface problems. Is Tivo's HD DVR basically what I'm looking for? (And should I even consider getting one off of eBay?) Or has another DVR manufacturer stepped up to the plate recently? Thanks!

Add channels to Tivo

genefinder — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:11:37 -0800

How can I make Tivo recognize all the channels my TV knows about? I don't subscribe to digital cable, and don't use the Comcast cable box. I hook my cable directly to the TV and there are channels that show up there that are HD channels. I don't know if they are actually HD without the box, but I do know the reception on these is better than the standard channels. These channels have numbers like 4-1, 7-1 etc...There are also additional channels (44-1, 44-2, etc...) that Tivo doesn't find.

I can't figure out how to tell Tivo to add these to the channel lineup it is getting as part of the setup process when it downloads from Comcast. Is there a way to do this so I can Tivo the better channel option. I am sick of Lost looking terrible!

HDTV dashboard?

phritosan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:21:28 -0800

I'm moving to a new place next week and now that my nice HDTV will be in the livingroom and getting a lot of foot traffic, I would like some ideas on how to put it to good use both visually and audibly. The easiest option would be to set it to one of the Sirius music channels but thats not good enough.

Do you know of any good digital screen savers or plasma windows? I've not managed to find any that catch my eye.

An interesting idea I just came across is the Ybox, described as an Atari2600-era Konfabulator for the TV. This is too primative.

Is mythTV my best/only option for widgets/dashboard, music jukebox, visualizations, etc? If so I want to know before I put money into a DVR.

Cable, HDTV, coxial, hdmi: newbie needs help

medarby — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:28:04 -0800

I just bought a Panasonic TH-50PX77U. Great tv so far. I have digital cable service and wanted to hook up my cable/dvr box (supplied by cable company) to the tv via HDMI. No signal, which I assume means the port is blocked. I heard that cable companies disable a lot of features on their dvrs. So, I had to connect using the standard coaxial cable I used with my old tube tv. Since the digital cable service is coming into the dvr via coaxial, is it still digital going to the tv via coaxial? Do I need a digital coaxial cable? Should I start griping with the cable company to open up HDMI? All help is appreciated.

is a 1080p projector worth it right now?

Silky Slim — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:35:13 -0800

i'm getting a new projector to replace my existing one. my current macbook only has a 720p native resolution (1280x800) so i'm leaning towards buying a projector with 720p resolution. but thinking forward, with blu-ray players etc, will i have problems playing 1080p movies in 720p? and how will they look? is there a big difference? also, 1080p projectors seem to be much costlier than 720p. for instance, boxlight make a projector called broadview which has 1280x768 resolution and only costs about $1400 (i've been happy with my current projector which is also a boxlight). however, it seems 1080p projectors only start at about $3,000. is this true?