FiOS TV Technical Assistance

[#1]

I think I paid around $50.00 for a 6' HMDI cable, and now I am supposed to go back to composite, S-video, or coax?  Great.

[#2]

No.  You can use COMPONENT cables (separate R, G, and B) for your video and get HD picture.

Although personally, I agree that the HDMI problems should be fixed, period.

And SOME video sources (i.e. BluRay players, though apparently NOT the FIOS Motorola STBs) will ONLY pass the pure HD signal via HDMI and will supply a DOWNCONVERTED signal via COMPONENT (depending on the DRM flags embedded in the signal).  This is theoretically to prevent you re-recording the HD analog component signal and violating somebody's intellectual property rights.  I call it baloney but that's the way it is.

[#3]

The only thing this is required to be blocked by Component is 1080P encrypted stuff, like blu-ray stuff. Component is able to display 1080P but most devises don't support 1080P in component because of the encryption display issue. But all cable companies, including Verizon only broadcast in 1080i and have 1080i STB you are losing nothing by using component. 

Message Edited by TimSykes on 03-12-2009 08:42 AM

[#4]

But all cable companies, including Verizon only broadcast in 1080i and have 1080i STB you are losing nothing by using component.

If that is true, why is it when I check the signal information on my tv it says the resolution of the channel is 720p?  I don't think I have found any channels that show up at 1080i.  Do you know of any?

[#5]

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golfdude wrote:

But all cable companies, including Verizon only broadcast in 1080i and have 1080i STB you are losing nothing by using component.

If that is true, why is it when I check the signal information on my tv it says the resolution of the channel is 720p?  I don't think I have found any channels that show up at 1080i.  Do you know of any?

---

That is because you have the HD STB set to output 720p. You have two choices, 720p or 1080i for HD output. You set the value in the Menu:

Menu ==> Settings ==> Video Settings ==> Video Format ==> your choice 

The Motorola HD boxes ouput only whatever you select, they do not switch between 720p and 1080i depending on the resolution of the original signal (called pasthrough).

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.0, Build 06.89
Keller, TX 76248

[#6]

There are also a few channels that do broadcast in 720p, not to many. I know fox does but all the other broadcast channels are 1080i. But it will still display on the screen to what your STB is set to, as Justin said. 

Message Edited by TimSykes on 03-12-2009 12:56 PM

[#7]

Actually, although technically true that the cable providers use only 1080i, FOX, MyNetworkTV, ABC, and ESPN natively provide 720p content;

NBC, Universal HD, CBS, The CW, HBO, Showtime, Starz!, MOJO HD, HDNet, MTV2, TNT, CNN, Discovery HD Theater and the Public Broadcasting Service provide 1080i content.

The cable providers, however, in their infinite wisdom, convert the 720p signals so that all of their HD content is passed in 1080i.

Personally, I would prefer that they pass what the networks provide, and let the user decide how to up or down-scale the signals with his own equipment.  (The same for SD.  Provide the native 480i signal.  Don't have the cheap Motorola box upconvert it and ruin it!)

[#8]

Justin,

Thanks so much for helping me out.  I thought I had my tv set to the wrong resolution.  Anyway, I am the type of person who's vcr was always blinking 12:00 AM and didn't care to fix it.  Anyway, Jesus (pronounced hay-seus) who installed my Verizon didn't mention that even though my Vizio he was hooking up has a 1080p sticker on it.  Oh well, what are you going to do?

I am thinking I could make a decent living following up the Verizon installers and fixing these setup errors!

Thanks again for the heads up.

Tom

[#9]

Tom,

You are welcome. In hindsight though, I wish I had made a comment about experimenting with several of the settings to see which works best with your particular TV.

Since you have a TV capable of 1080p, it may very well be that using 1080i will give you the best HD picture. But then again, it may not. You should really be sure to pick the option that gives you the best picture, because that way I think you will be the most satisfied. The numbers should not really matter, what you see should. I have an older Sony 720p LCD HD TV, and surprisingly I get the best HD picture with my DVR set to 1080i.

Another area is the setting for the SD channels. You have several options, including 480i, 480p, and Off. I get the best SD picture, by a very small amount, when set to 480p. But, and for me this is a big but, since I use HDMI between the TV and the DVR, there is a long delay, 4 or 5 seconds,when switching between an SD and an HD channel, in either direction, when set that way. I found that setting that option to Off, while giving a slightly worse SD picture, eliminates the delay because there is no need for the TV and DVR to renegotiate the HDMI connection. So I choose to give up a little picture quality for a better overall experience (of course, that is just my opinion, you might care more for the SD picture quality, or your TV may handle the signals differently).

If you have not already done so, I also encourage you to set up at least one Favorites list, so that you do not have to see all of the channels you have no interest in. I tried to put together a document to help with this; if you are interested, you can find the info in the Exploiting FiOS TV Favorites thread.

Anyway, good luck with FiOS TV, I think it is a terrific service.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.0, Build 06.89
Keller, TX 76248 

Message Edited by Justin on 03-12-2009 05:38 PM

[#10]

Justin,

Thanks again and I will check out the rest of my settings for the SD channels when I get around to it.  The picture looks a lot better on the HD channels with the new settings.  Also, thanks for mentioning your article on Exploiting FiOS TV Favorites.  I went ahead and printed the instructions so I could start getting my favorites list setup.  I am sure this will make the task of surfing the guide a lot easier.

Thanks again,

Tom