Check all of your connections.
I dont have a dvr or anything, but a couple of months back my cable kept cutting out. It would especially on the kids tv channels or some of the discovery channels. After many calls to the cable company, and many adjustments on both their side and mine it still didnt work right, still channels werent working. Finally i told them to send a guy out to my house, he looks at everything, sets the tv to some channel where he sees a bunch of numbers.. tells me he thinks I have a loose connection.
Ive tightened everything and point to the back of the tv and cablebox and tv, nothing is loose..
He goes over to the wall and finds where the cable is plugged in and turns the wire a bit, all fixed..
Doh!
HDMI - What is it and why the F*ck do I need it????
Last year for christmas, my sisters BF got her this huge flat panel TV. Only downside was that it didn't come with a tuner - no big since we have cable and ran it through the DVD/VCR.
Until the VCR jammed and suddenly we had no TV - with the VCR 1/2 jammed, the tuner couldn't do it's thing.
So we decide to upgrade to a DVD-R since we never watch VHS anyways. So we ask him which one to get. Oy. Never ask a techno-geek who's into toys what kind of anything to get. I wuold have been happy with the $100 model. 6 weeks later, we are the proud owners of an expensive, top of the line DVD-R (don't ask me the brand, I have no clue and I'm not at home.) I hook it up and *presto* we have the Disney Channel again! I use RCA cables, no big. Or so I thought.
He insists (and convinces my sister) that we have to run off HDMI cables. Ok. Whatever. So she shells out the extra dough and I rewire everything. Here's the thing - half the time the damn thing won't "talk" to the TV - it's like they're just missing each other. It can take upwards of 15 minutes some days to get them to acknowledge each other's presence. Anyone who has a 2 year old who want's his Rocket (Little Einstiens) knows this won't cut it.
So I bitch at the BF - fix ths. So he comes over, messes with some settings and alls well for a few days. But it's doing it again. I haven't changed anything - and my sister won't go into the settings menu if you held a gun to her head. Serious technophobe.
Now here's the thing. 90% of the TV use is by a 2 year old on Disney or movies. My sister is only home a few days a week and wouldn't notice the quality of picture anyways (not an exageration - she didn't realize her old 19" had speaker discoloration even after I pointed it out to her) and I haven't seen a bit of difference between the two types of cabling. We do not have digital cable - just the basic package.
So here are my questions (I've done a bit of research and haven't understood the sites I've looked at! Clueless here!)
1) Do we actually need the HDMI cables? Why are they so freaking necessary?
2) can I hook the DVD-R to the TV using both the RCA cables and the HDMI and just use the HDMI settings on the RARE occasion he comes over to visit (just change the source)?
3) is there a spell out there that will give the BF temp amnesia when there are technical issues happening in my home? (he can do what he wants at his!!!)
Help!!!
Lessa
17 years ago
katlienc
17 years ago
Last year my hubby bought me a flat screen TV for my birthday. It has a beautiful picture. I am surprised the one that you got doesn't have an internal tuner. I thought they all had tuners these days.
Ok, now to get to my opinion....the sales geek really tried to push the HDMI cables on us but I was suspicious. I did a little research and found that I do not need such fancy cables to get a really nice picture. I would ditch the HDMI cables and go back to the RCA cables.
Ok, now to get to my opinion....the sales geek really tried to push the HDMI cables on us but I was suspicious. I did a little research and found that I do not need such fancy cables to get a really nice picture. I would ditch the HDMI cables and go back to the RCA cables.
FyreGarnett
17 years ago
They offer them without the tuner so you can save a few bucks since so many people use some sort of cable box/DVDR/Satalite box whatever, especially for Digital signal. Which I didn't know until we were setting it up.
I did double check all the connections - they seem to be fine. It's an intermittant problem (which means it won't do it if someone else messes with it, dammit.)
I can't simply NOT use the HDMI - it's not my setup and since her BF supposedly knows what he's talking about, she's not ready to give them up. Though if I can have both hooked up, she'll never know either!
Course, then I need to find the cable I need to hook my laptop up the thing - that should make for some awesome gaming!!! LOL
I did double check all the connections - they seem to be fine. It's an intermittant problem (which means it won't do it if someone else messes with it, dammit.)
I can't simply NOT use the HDMI - it's not my setup and since her BF supposedly knows what he's talking about, she's not ready to give them up. Though if I can have both hooked up, she'll never know either!
Course, then I need to find the cable I need to hook my laptop up the thing - that should make for some awesome gaming!!! LOL
ROzbeans
17 years ago
I think buying a tuner separate is the way to go. Is there a Best Buy near you? You might want to ask their Magnolia department (we have a huge HD section here in anchorage - biggest friggin best buy I've ever been in, ironically). I'm surprised one of the hairy chested men haven't jumped in this. Gonna move it to the technical area.
Sergon
17 years ago
If you don't have HD peripherals or HD cable or satellite then you wont need to use the HDMI cables. I am assuming the DVD-r has up conversion capabilities or is a full blown HD player and those up convert as well.
To answer your questions
1) Do we actually need the HDMI cables? Why are they so freaking necessary?
A: They are necessary if you want to view sources that do HD 720p,720i,1080i,1080p. HD cable/satellite and HD DVD/Blue Ray will do this. HDMI stands for Hi Definition Multimedia Interface. Therefore unless you have one of those then you wont take advantage of the TV's capability anyway. So go ahead and use the Component cables for your cable. It should be video 1 or 2 on the input selections menu on your remote. As for the DVD run it off the HDMI when you watch movies because it likely up converts to a higher resolution such as 720p or higher.
2) can I hook the DVD-R to the TV using both the RCA cables and the HDMI and just use the HDMI settings on the RARE occasion he comes over to visit (just change the source)?
A: It should work just fine that way but test it.
3) is there a spell out there that will give the BF temp amnesia when there are technical issues happening in my home?
A: the spell is Nonookyforuifyoudontstfu
Let me know if you have any other questions.
S
To answer your questions
1) Do we actually need the HDMI cables? Why are they so freaking necessary?
A: They are necessary if you want to view sources that do HD 720p,720i,1080i,1080p. HD cable/satellite and HD DVD/Blue Ray will do this. HDMI stands for Hi Definition Multimedia Interface. Therefore unless you have one of those then you wont take advantage of the TV's capability anyway. So go ahead and use the Component cables for your cable. It should be video 1 or 2 on the input selections menu on your remote. As for the DVD run it off the HDMI when you watch movies because it likely up converts to a higher resolution such as 720p or higher.
2) can I hook the DVD-R to the TV using both the RCA cables and the HDMI and just use the HDMI settings on the RARE occasion he comes over to visit (just change the source)?
A: It should work just fine that way but test it.
3) is there a spell out there that will give the BF temp amnesia when there are technical issues happening in my home?
A: the spell is Nonookyforuifyoudontstfu
Let me know if you have any other questions.
S
Sergon
17 years ago
A short definition of HDMI
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is the newest interface for audiovisual equipment such as high-definition television and home theater systems. With 19 wires wrapped in a single cable that resembles a USB wire, HDMI is able to carry a bandwidth of 5 Gbps (gigabits per second). This is more than twice the bandwidth needed to transmit multi-channel audio and video, future-proofing HDMI for some time to come. This and several other factors make HDMI much more desirable than its predecessors, component video, S-Video and composite video.
HDMI is an uncompressed, all-digital signal, while the aforementioned interfaces are all analog. With an analog interface, a clean digital source is translated into less precise analog, sent to the television, then converted back to a digital signal to display on screen. At each translation, the digital signal loses integrity, resulting in some distortion of picture quality. HDMI preserves the source signal, eliminating analog conversion to deliver the sharpest, richest picture possible.
S
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is the newest interface for audiovisual equipment such as high-definition television and home theater systems. With 19 wires wrapped in a single cable that resembles a USB wire, HDMI is able to carry a bandwidth of 5 Gbps (gigabits per second). This is more than twice the bandwidth needed to transmit multi-channel audio and video, future-proofing HDMI for some time to come. This and several other factors make HDMI much more desirable than its predecessors, component video, S-Video and composite video.
HDMI is an uncompressed, all-digital signal, while the aforementioned interfaces are all analog. With an analog interface, a clean digital source is translated into less precise analog, sent to the television, then converted back to a digital signal to display on screen. At each translation, the digital signal loses integrity, resulting in some distortion of picture quality. HDMI preserves the source signal, eliminating analog conversion to deliver the sharpest, richest picture possible.
S
FyreGarnett
17 years ago
okay, now that actually starts to explain a few things. went above and beyond my half-assed tech skills, but it does explain some tweaking the man did last month. I'm going to assume, since he picked the DVDr out, that it is HD capable. In fact, I'm fairly certain I recall reading that somewhere in the manual while I was trying to figure out how to record with it (and less intuitive process I've never seen. I feel sorry for those upgrade to one of these and have problems setting the clock on their VCR!!!) We don't have (nor do we intend to have) BluRay - I've already replaced most of my stuff on DVD for pete's sake!! But the TV is HD capable as well. It's almost like they juuuuussssst miss each other's signals sometimes and the screen goes pink. and an obnoxious pink at that. eventually it sorts itself out and all well (except of course the 2 year old who just missed the Little Einstiens!!)
But if I can hook the component cables back up, they're going back up - my sanity cannot handle too many more go rounds with the munchkin, not to mention my own nerves when I actually want to watch something.
I'll pass that spell along to my sis - won't work for me (at least not in this case though I might be able to find a use for it later!!)
Thanks guys!!
But if I can hook the component cables back up, they're going back up - my sanity cannot handle too many more go rounds with the munchkin, not to mention my own nerves when I actually want to watch something.
I'll pass that spell along to my sis - won't work for me (at least not in this case though I might be able to find a use for it later!!)
Thanks guys!!
Sergon
17 years ago
Also if the coax input is not being used by the cable you can go buy a decent (powered Rabbit ears) antenna that may allow you to get your local channels in HD. Locals are all broadcast for the most part in HD. We couldn't get a good enough signal here in the apartment due to the interference but it might work for you.
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