On 30/9/13, Ann Sanfedele, discombobulated, unleashed: >Do I need to have a TV that is "HD" to receive stations that are HD >using a cable box that is HD ?
Hi Ann, The answer to the question above is no, you don't. You will, of course, see any HD output in a lower resolution. The real question is: is the older TV that you will be watching on a 'widescreen' TV ? If it is very old and big and heavy with a glass screen which is rectangular at a 4:3 aspect ratio, then it's not 'widescreen'. If it has been made in the past 5 or 10 years, and possibly is an LCD type display, then it probably will be widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio). Here are what the aspect ratios look like: 16:9 <http://tinyurl.com/p3jptro> 4:3 <http://tinyurl.com/q6g526r> What usually happens if you try and watch HD on an old 4:3 box is that the picture will squish in horizontally - making people look thin and tall (actually not a bad thing ;-) UNLESS there are inbuilt menus to allow the picture to scale to the 4:3 frame - so that there will be thin black rectangular spaces above and below the 'widescreen' picture, but at least it will be viewable as intended. The downside is the image area will be smaller. On widescreen TVs, when you view old 4:3 shows that have not been properly 'treated' to an aspect ratio conversion, the opposite happens - the 4:3 image is 'filled out sideways' to the edges of the widescreen frame - making everyone look short and rotund (I was going to mention names here but thought better of it!!) and in fact it looks awful. >I dont care if I see things in HD or not. I just want to be able to >get the stations. You will get the stations - maybe. Connections are always problematical from new tech to old tech. Check that the outputs from the HD cable box matches the input to your TV. The old fashioned round antennae cable (know as RF cable) is usually the last resort, but in your case may be your only option. HD boxes will have an HDMI port, and plugging one end of an HDMI cable into this, and the other end into a 'HD' TV will give you the best possible picture. Next down the pecking list will be component video. Then composite video. And finally RF video. But to be honest, in your situation it will be fine. SCART connections used to be the norm but now outdated - it is possible your TV may have such a connect on the back. If there is 'video out' on the HD box, then an adaptor and suitable cabling can make that connection. If it only has HDMI out, then all is not lost as you can still cobble together HDMI output via adaptors into video and audio in on the TV - if indeed there is separate audio in on the TV, which if it has SCART there will be. If your TV just has RF in (the old round TV antennae cable, and the HD box just has HDMI, then maybe time to consider a new TV. OR - a cheap 16:9 computer monitor with separate audio/video in ports. I bought one for my lad, lots sell these days with all sorts of connections on - good value as well! Or even one with the dreaded HDMI - and then you can watch in proper HD :-) >Don't get me started on why I'm asking You know me, I never get you started ;-) Good luck!! -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ Broadcast, Corporate, || (O) | Web Video Production ---------- <www.seeingeye.tv> _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
