Sony 32HS420--on the way--questions

[gdog2004]

OK I am getting this fine tv delivered on monday(only good one that fits in my wall unit.). I want to know what is the best calibration dvd to purchase and where to get?
Also should I go with a DVI out cable box or just component out? I believe rcn offferes both...

[brokeniris]

From what I understand, which is very little, it is preferable to use DVI from an upsampling DVD player (assuming your TV supports 1080i) and use component from the cable box.

[cmartyn]

Well, I can tell you that you will want your HDTV Set top box hooked up two ways. One with components / dvi / hdmi for HDTV and another S Video cable for regular channels. THats 2 inputs gone. Then your DVD player will need to get hooked up as well to whatever is left over. The upscaling from Sony's HDMI player is a useless feature with this set.

Enjoy!

[brokeniris]

Originally posted by cmartyn
Well, I can tell you that you will want your HDTV Set top box hooked up two ways. One with components / dvi / hdmi for HDTV and another S Video cable for regular channels. THats 2 inputs gone. Then your DVD player will need to get hooked up as well to whatever is left over. The upscaling from Sony's HDMI player is a useless feature with this set.

Enjoy!

I don't understand why you would want two connections from the cablebox to the set.

And upsampling DVD players are not really useless with any set that supports 1080i and has a DVI/HDMI input. It maybe true that DRC upsampling is superior to many Faj. upsampling DVD players, but that is not always the case, and many DVB318 owners will tell you so (I am not familiar with the Sony upsampling player). I guess it depends on how far back from the set you will be sitting :D

[gdog2004]

cmartyn---what do you mean 2 hookups? Is that what everyone here uses--s video for regular cable and component/dvi for the hdtv? Will the cable box or tv know when to switch to each input? This is the first I have heard of hooking things up this way. I am sure many people have this tv...please weigh in with your setup.

[cmartyn]

Well, first, I made my statement about Upscaling DVD players being mostly useless based on my specific setup which is a Sony DVP-NS975V feeding a KV32HS420. What I should have said is that the upscaling capability on this player for this TV is useless. However I did find the HDMI output to give a superior picture vs the component outputs. Plus the simplicity of the wiring alone is probably worth a few bucks. Anyhow, I am sure on some TVS and some DVD players this observation may not apply but on my setup its not a little subjective issue. If you set the DVD player to 1080i and feed that to the TV you will see a much worse picture than if you set the DVD player to 480P or 720P. This confirms the observations in the CNET review of the player. The review does not mention 720P and some people here had posted that setting it to 720P yielded a better picture on another TV. However, on my TV the picture is not better. There is some sort of distortion that is fairly obvious.

As for the cable box with two hookups, again, I have to base this only on the equipment that I have which is a SA3100HD, This box puts out 1080i fixed through the components. That means that even SD content is upscaled to 1080i and displayed in pillow box. You then have to use the zoom feature of the TV to fill the screen. Other cable boxes have built in automatic zooming capabilities. The 3100HD does not.

Upscaling the SD cable to 1080i and zooming it on the TV yields a horrible SD picture. To remedy this I just put an S Video cable from the SA3100 into the TV on input 1 and put the components into input 5. If I want to watch HD I have to put the TV on input 5 to see it and if I want to watch SD I put the TV back to input 1. Its a pain but the picture is so much better this way I can't imagine not doing it.

I did have to buy a pair of Y splitters for the audio to do this which was yet another 30.00 worth of cables. I cant imagine how HDTV will take off any time soon unless they simplify the situation some how.

[specgeorge]

cmartyn,
You still haven't explained how you hooked up components and
dvi to HDMI both at the same time for HD. For the moment forget about the DVD hookup. Forgive me if I'm not understanding.

[RandyWalters]

Originally posted by specgeorge
cmartyn,
You still haven't explained how you hooked up components and
dvi to HDMI both at the same time for HD. For the moment forget about the DVD hookup. Forgive me if I'm not understanding.

I took it to mean connect the HD converter with either Component OR DVI, but not both at the same time.

[cmartyn]

Yeah the SA3100HD does not have HDMI or DVI output just RF, S, COMPOSITE, and COMPONENT. HD only comes out the components all the other outputs are SD. So I just hooked it up twice. Once with S Video (I tried RF and composite) and again with Components. This left the HDMI port free for my DVD player.

[specgeorge]

OK, I guess.