Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 12:04:30 -0400
From: Jim L.
To: Hot Deals Maniac
Subject: HT guide

That guide was very helpful. I tried and tried to run my PC  video
through the DVI to my JVC TV. My tv is a big heavy tube (what a
mistake) that will handle HDTV and pull it down for widescreen. It
was what I could afford. I thought I could use the TV as a monitor.
NO WAY! I really want to use a spare PC as a music server. I need to
see the menus on the TV to select the music. I tried s-video but it
does not work well at all. I think I can run my s-vid through my
Samsung HD set top and out through the DVI. Might be interesting. The
Samsung allows pass through but I have tried anything yet. SO. You
are saying I should be able to actually see a decent menu it I switch
from DVI to the ATI adapter? WOW! That would be great. I was also
looking at a www.startech.com. They have some very cool
devices for manipulating video signals. $200-$300 at CDW.  Hot Deals
is great!


Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:19:19 -0500
From: Brent
To: Hot Deals Maniac
Subject: HDTV critique

While burn in is still a concern on plasmas, the concern is less than it
used to be.  There is still a possiblility, but there is at least one
company that says it can and does reverse screen burn on a plasma.  LG has a
process where you white the WHOLE screen and this reverses the screen burn
image.  This is a feature that they tout and and have actually shown to
sales reps at the Best Buy I work at.  Just wanted you to know.  Thanks for
all your great work!!


Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 14:59:27 -0400
From: KC
To: Hot Deals Maniac
Subject: RE: 32" W/S flat panel LCD you bought @ Costco's

I wondered about BLACK LEVEL of LCD...the thing that seems to separate what any of
these non-tube devices...the ability to reproduce "black-blacks" and of
course white-whites. Both require a substantial amount of power, if nothing
else.

I have the SONY 34" W/S WEGA 960, but it needs to be calibrated. Living
where I am at, that might be a problem.  You can go hauling that hulk around
either ;-) But every review I read said it was the best-going.  Whether or
not it has been surpassed, I do not know.  Years ago I had , the 'best'
production TV out there, a 19 or 20" Proton.  As black a black as humanly
possible. Actually it was only a monitor and I used it to view Laser Discs.
I was stunned. Of course that is long gone (sad story)

I'm not 'sold' on Plasmas yet. Longevity and price are 2 sticking points.


Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 15:33:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: Hot Deals Maniac
To: KC
Subject: RE: 32" W/S flat panel LCD you bought @ Costco's

Now that I sold my old living room 120 lbs CRT, I have nothing but LCDs at 
home now.  I just like LCDs.  The Proview 32" LCD HDTV that I purchased 
weighs like 40 lbs, and it's pretty easy for me to move it when I want to, 
like when cleaning the glass surface that it sits on.

I heard one major advantage about Plasmas over LCDs is its ability to do 
black very well.  However I have to say, when my LCD is doing black, it 
looks BLACK.  I don't know if it can get any more black than what I see.

I tried taking some photos of my HDTV, but none seem to come out okay.
I think I need a better camera or maybe I can just lower the brightness
of the screen.  When I take a photo of HDTV television, it just doesn't
come out on the camera at all.

Only one that came out okay was one of me installing Far Cry on my Home
Theater PC using the 32" LCD HDTV screen.  That is actually Windows XP
on the HDTV - I'm using the "High Contrast Black (large text)" Appearance
Scheme, which is why the Windows background is black, the text is white,
and the front is huge.  I use a 1152x648 resolution which makes the text
too small to read from a distance, but the huge display font fixes that
problem.  I have yet to get a game working with widescreen resolutions,
otherwise I'd probably have some more pictures to show, but you can see
that the black background looks pretty black in the photo.

I'm not sure how much more black it can get.  That photo was taken during 
the daytime with a window behind me, which is why the upper-right of the 
screen has a small sun glare.

I'll try to take more photos when I get some games working in widescreen
on my Home Theater PC.  Once I get some good photos, I'll add them to
the HDTV article.


Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 09:07:48 -0500
From: Michael B.
To: Hot Deals Maniac
Subject: DTV 

My tuner box displays OTA channels as 12-3 not
12.3 so I was confused because it didn't find any channels with a
12-X on it originally. Once I figured out from Antennaweb.org on
which way to point my antenna, the channels picked up. I get about 8
channels OTA  (DTV) for free and pay $10 per month for 7 HDTV
channels through Charter cable. Some of the DTV channels also
broadcast in HD but only on certain programs and mainly during
prime-time. After seeing the free channels I would almost dump cable
but I have to have a cable channel package in order to keep my high
speed internet.

My antenna is only a 10dB and we have lots of trees and the tv room
is on the bottom floor of a quad-level home. I suggest people invest
in the extra expense of at least a 50dB and install it in the attic
or on the roof if there is any reception concerns like this.


Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2005 15:04:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Mike B.
To: Hot Deals Maniac
Subject: HDMI compatibility

As an FYI there is a current compatibility issue with the Motorola
DCT 6412 III cable/DVR box using a HDMI cable. The trouble is that
when everything was off, the cable box would continuously click on
and off, eventually completely resetting itself losing all of your
settings, recording info etc. I was told by the cable company that
the TV is sending a digital signal through the HDMI cable to turn the
box off, which is some sort of standard. The Component cable is
working fine. I hope they can come up with some sort of fix soon, now
I am plugging and unplugging the cable as needed.
 

Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2005 18:18:27 -0500 (EST)
From: Hot Deals Maniac
To: Mike B.
Subject: Re: HDMI compatibility

woah, this is the first I've heard of this.

I assume you're using a DVI-to-HDMI cable?

I have a Motorola DCT-6412.  I use a DVI-to-HDMI cable going from the 
cable box's DVI port to the HDMI port on my 32" LCD TV.  I leave the cable 
box on all the time (I never power it off).  Occasionally when I power on 
the TV, the TV shows a double image or sometimes just static (no signal). 
If I see double image, I simply press anything on the remote, such as 
Guide or I change the channel, and the problem is fixed.  If I see only 
static, I simply turn the TV off & on which often fixes the problem.  It's 
a little annoying, but the LCD TV powers off & on almost instantly, so 
it's not a big deal.

But I've never had a problem where it actually powers down my cable box 
when I turn off my TV.  Sounds like something your TV is doing.

What kind of TV do you have?  (brand & model number)

Oh, I just ran some Google searches, and it appears there is a "third 
generation" DCT-6412 box that has HDMI output.  Is that what you have? 
If so, does it have a DVI output that you can try?  Perhaps the 
HDMI-to-HDMI connection is doing the "power off" instructions, which 
perhaps DVI does not do, so maybe if you do DVI-to-HDMI or DVI-to-DVI this 
problem won't happen.  Just a thought.


Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 08:37:40 -0800 (PST)
From: Mike B.
To: Hot Deals Maniac
Subject: Re: HDMI compatibility

It is the 3rd generation cable box and I'm using the HDMI to HDMI
cable. It doesn't appear that I have a DVI input on the TV. The TV is
a Vizio Model P50 HDM Plasma. It was a really good deal at Costco,
$3,000.00 for a 50in. 720p set with a lot of inputs. From the people
who have seen it they believe it to be a repackaged Samsung. I tried
leaving the box off then on with the same results. I e-mailed COX and
they mailed me back that they are aware of the problem and that as
soon as they have a fix I will be notified. I'll let you know if I
hear something else. I wonder if the set has a sleep mode that I can
put it in?


Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 12:31:56 -0500 (EST)
From: Hot Deals Maniac
To: Mike B.
Subject: Re: HDMI compatibility

It sounds like this is some kind of horrible feature of HDMI.  If you're 
desperate for a fix, I would recommend getting a HDMI-to-DVI adapter for 
your cable box, then getting a DVI-to-HDMI cable for your TV.  The reason 
is, I believe DVI is not capable of carrying this on/off instruction 
signal.  DVI and HDMI are digital, so I think there should not be a signal 
loss in video quality with converting HDMI to DVI and back.  DVI will not 
carry an audio signal like HDMI can, but I doubt you listen to audio 
through your TV's speakers so that's probably not an issue.

Monoprice has HDMI-to-DVI adapters and cables at good prices.


Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:07:45 -0500
From: H. S.
To: Hot Deals Maniac
Subject: RE: HDMI compatibility

I am also having the same problem with the DCT6412III box resetting
after I turn off the TV. I thought the box was bad, but I'm glad I
found the reason for the reset on your site.

As another suggestion for a way to fix the "resetting problem," tell
Mike B to try leaving his TV on. Since it's a plasma screen it
probably has a power save feature that will put the screen in standby
after losing a video signal. Since the TV isn't technically "off," it
might not send the signal to the cable box.

As a side note, there is also a problem with the digital audio output
on the DCT6412III. When using an HDMI cable, the box outputs PCM audio
instead of Dolby Digital (AC3). You can change the setting in the menu
for a temporary fix, but as soon as you change the channel or switch
to watching a recorded show it resets back to PCM. I have heard that
Motorola is working on a fix, but I haven't found out when the fix is
expected.