# Just Got an HDTV and I Have a Few Questions



## HaterSlayer (Mar 24, 2010)

I'm a bit late to the party, but I just got an HDTV. The TV is in our living room which is also home to our DVR receiver. I'm not exactly sure the specific model for the receiver, but we just got DirecTV back 3 months ago so I'm sure it's whatever the current non-HD receiver is. 

We hooked it up with the RCA cables and the picture looks pretty meh. My mother doesn't want to pay the extra cost to get an HD receiver so I'm trying to maximize what I can with what I have. I hooked my Xbox360 up to it via component and it looks fantastic. Can the non-HD DVR support that? What about S-Video? For a hail mary what about HDMI? What is the max resolution this can output? 480P?

Thanks for any help.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Standard def looks crappy on HD sets. You can get free HD for 24 months if you do auto-pay. You might get a free upgrade. Call Directv.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

HaterSlayer said:


> I'm a bit late to the party, but I just got an HDTV. The TV is in our living room which is also home to our DVR receiver. I'm not exactly sure the specific model for the receiver, but we just got DirecTV back 3 months ago so I'm sure it's whatever the current non-HD receiver is.
> 
> We hooked it up with the RCA cables and the picture looks pretty meh. My mother doesn't want to pay the extra cost to get an HD receiver so I'm trying to maximize what I can with what I have. I hooked my Xbox360 up to it via component and it looks fantastic. Can the non-HD DVR support that? What about S-Video? For a hail mary what about HDMI? What is the max resolution this can output? 480P?
> 
> Thanks for any help.


Your picture quality will improve with s-video and component. As for HDMI it will provide 480i, 480p, 720i, 720p, 1080i and 1080p providing your new HDTV does likewise. For your info DirecTV is giving free HD access to those who use auto pay. There is a thread on this site where this is being discussed. Go to the home page and you will see it there on the right side of the page. Good luck getting your mom to upgrade.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Right, but the OP currently only has an SD-DVR, which can only output in 480i, with S-Video being the highest-quality connection.

As sigma stated, SD looks bad on any HDTV, but worse on larger ones. It won't get better, so the solution is to upgrade to HD.


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## ndole (Aug 26, 2009)

BattleZone said:


> Right, but the OP currently only has an SD-DVR, which can only output in 480i, with S-Video being the highest-quality connection.
> 
> As sigma stated, SD looks bad on any HDTV, but worse on larger ones. It won't get better, so the solution is to upgrade to HD.


He might have a refurb R22.


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

Slaver we need the model but yes sd looks terrible on hdtv. Xbox 360 & ps3 do hd. Wi doesn't. Upgrade the sat hardware. For cabling hdmi carries best audio and video. Red, blue, green component will carry hd but s-video/yellow rca won't. Use digital audio instead of red/white stereo when possible.


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## Directvlover (Aug 27, 2007)

What's the point in getting the HDTV without getting the HD service to go with it. Tell your mom that she's basically wasted her money on the new tv.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Do you have an old over the air antenna that you could hook up to the TV's digital tuner and see if you can get any local stations via OTA? If yes then at least you'd have your local channels in HD (assuming they broadcast in HD) and if mom like it maybe she'd pop for the HD upgrade.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

ndole_mbnd said:


> He might have a refurb R22.


Well, I have an R22 connected to my 42" HDTV via HDMI and I think the picture looks just fine. Even with the so-called "free HD" for 2 years offer, I can't justify the cost to upgrade to an HD DVR and a new 2 year commitment.

Of note, I did have one of my R15's hooked to the HDTV before shuffling the R22 to that room and it didn't look that bad either using S-VIDEO.

I noticed that Consumer Reports ratings for HDTV's have a column indicating how SD looks on the set and it varies widely by brand and model. When shopping for my HDTV, the store had (of all things) an HR-21 feeding all the HDTV's and the salesman let me switch it between SD and HD. WOW what a difference on some TV's but very little on others. I paid a couple hundred dollars more for one of the HDTV's that had a great SD picture (a Toshiba Regza). The cheaper Toshiba looked like an out-of-focus movie when fed an SD signal.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

ndole_mbnd said:


> He might have a refurb R22.





BattleZone said:


> Right, but the OP currently only has an SD-DVR, which can only output in 480i, with S-Video being the highest-quality connection.
> 
> As sigma stated, SD looks bad on any HDTV, but worse on larger ones. It won't get better, so the solution is to upgrade to HD.


If the OP has an R22, he could get a resolution of 480p, which is what I do. In that case, the OP could use component cables or HDMI and the picture should look pretty good.

However, I would agree with trying to upgrade. The OP might be able to get an HD receiver at a good price and having the HD fee waived for two years is a good incentive. Plus, hopefully, the HD fee will be gone after that point in time for everyone.

- Merg


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

The Merg said:


> However, I would agree with trying to upgrade. The OP might be able to get an HD receiver at a good price and having the HD fee waived for two years is a good incentive. Plus, hopefully, the HD fee will be gone after that point in time for everyone.
> 
> - Merg


The key word here is TRYING. I'll bet with this "free HD" fiasco upgrades are going for full price ($199 for a DVR + new 2 year commitment). And you only get 24 months of guaranteed "free HD".

That's a lot of money not to mention the commitment for a bit clearer picture on the same channels you already pay for.

I think if I was an "HD fanatic" like many other posters here, I'd switch to DISH Network with a FREE HD DVR install and guaranteed free HD for life not to mention their great rate for the first year...


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

ThomasM said:


> The key word here is TRYING. I'll bet with this "free HD" fiasco upgrades are going for full price ($199 for a DVR + new 2 year commitment). And you only get 24 months of guaranteed "free HD".
> 
> That's a lot of money not to mention the commitment for *a bit clearer picture *on the same channels you already pay for.
> 
> I think if I was an "HD fanatic" like many other posters here, I'd switch to DISH Network with a FREE HD DVR install and guaranteed free HD for life not to mention their great rate for the first year...


Understatement of the millenium.

EDIT: FWIW, 720p is 6x and 1080i is 6.75x the resolution of SD. That's just a touch more than "a bit".


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## Blaze (Jun 9, 2010)

HaterSlayer said:


> I'm a bit late to the party, but I just got an HDTV. The TV is in our living room which is also home to our DVR receiver. I'm not exactly sure the specific model for the receiver, but we just got DirecTV back 3 months ago so I'm sure it's whatever the current non-HD receiver is.
> 
> Thanks for any help.


I don't understand why you were not offered the HD Receiver when you signed up for Directv.

Like others said here you can get 2 years free HD Access,However in your case i would try for "FREE ACCESS FOR LIFE" since you're a Directv Customer for only 3 months.
'
If they tell you no on the "FREE ACCESS FOR LIFE" have them transfer you to Customer retention.

You never know unless you ask.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Blaze said:


> I don't understand why you were not offered the HD Receiver when you signed up for Directv.


Because, as per the original post, at that time he didn't have a HDTV.


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## Blaze (Jun 9, 2010)

dcandmc said:


> Because, as per the original post, at that time he didn't have a HDTV.


So he could have got the HD Receiver, if they knew she was getting a HDTV.


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## ajc68 (Jan 23, 2008)

There's no point to having an HDTV if you don't have HD service. I would call DirecTV and see what kind of deals they have for upgrading to an HD receiver and sign up for the free HD service by going paperless.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

HaterSlayer said:


> I'm a bit late to the party, but I just got an HDTV. The TV is in our living room which is also home to our DVR receiver. I'm not exactly sure the specific model for the receiver, but we just got DirecTV back 3 months ago so I'm sure it's whatever the current non-HD receiver is.
> 
> We hooked it up with the RCA cables and the picture looks pretty meh. My mother doesn't want to pay the extra cost to get an HD receiver so I'm trying to maximize what I can with what I have. I hooked my Xbox360 up to it via component and it looks fantastic. Can the non-HD DVR support that? What about S-Video? For a hail mary what about HDMI? What is the max resolution this can output? 480P?
> 
> Thanks for any help.


My mother has Comcast Cable, YUK.
Her old TV died and she got a new one, HD Samsung.
We let her look at it with the cable screwed directly to the TV for about 2 weeks.
Then we convinced her that she would just love the HD.
My mother is 86 and still insisted she did not want or need it.
My sister had them come out and install the HD box.
The service rep told her before he started that she would see a big difference.
He installed and set it up.
He then showed her the same channels she was watching, In SD.
She said she did not see any difference. He then turned to the HD channel that was the same show.
She said WOW, That lady is old and wrinkled like me.
They laughed and she said YEP, I could not see that on the other channel.
She now brags about her picture on her HD set and has told all her sisters and brothers about it ( they were all using SD on their HD sets), because they did not want to pay the extra.

Good luck


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

ajc68 said:


> There's no point to having an HDTV if you don't have HD service. I would call DirecTV and see what kind of deals they have for upgrading to an HD receiver and sign up for the free HD service by going paperless.


I actually had HD receivers before I had HDTVs. But once I install my first HDTV, I quickly replaced all my other SD televisions.


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## Blaze (Jun 9, 2010)

ajc68 said:


> There's no point to having an HDTV if you don't have HD service. I would call DirecTV and see what kind of deals they have for upgrading to an HD receiver and sign up for the free HD service by going paperless.


I have a HDTV and don't have Directv HD, but i have HD OTA.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Blaze said:


> So he could have got the HD Receiver, if they knew she was getting a HDTV.


I don't think that we can tell from the OP "if" they knew she was going to be getting a HDTV. Besides, if I remember correctly, it's D*'s policy to not install an HD receiver unless the customer actually has a HDTV.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

dcandmc said:


> I don't think that we can tell from the OP "if" they knew she was going to be getting a HDTV. Besides, if I remember correctly, it's D*'s policy to *not install an HD receiver unless the customer actually has a HDTV*.


Well that didn't happen in my case. As SD receivers brokedown, D* replace 'em with HD. Not once did I ask for HD. When I did expand, I did select HD receivers because I was planing on switching over to HDTVs.


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## klambert (Feb 8, 2008)

If someone got an old SD replaced by HD, you were just lucky. I was doing an MRV and it was SD for SD, they wouldn't even give me a break on the price if I wanted to go SD to HD.

I still have one SD receiver connected to a HD, but it's a 22" in the corner of the office and I don't care much about the picture quality since 95% of the time it's on, I'm actually watching my internet spaceships. It might as well be a radio. The picture is horrific. I actually think SD looks _worse_ on an HDTV than it does on a "normal" TV.


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## crkeehn (Apr 23, 2002)

My experience so far is that with the proper hookup, SD can be a non-painful experience. I have a Samsung 42" plasma that I purchased a few weeks back. I am feeding the signal from my SD DVR (a Samsung DirecTivo) using the s-video to feed to an upconverting DVD recorder. I then feed the signal from the DVD recorder to the television by means of an HDMI cable. The indicator light on the DVD recorder indicates that it's sending a 1080i signal to my 720p receiver. More current programming is very good, very clear. Older programming does show a lot of artifacts and blurring. All in all, I'm pleased with my television experience.

That said, I am upgrading to HD. DirecTV offered me a free HD-DVR, which should be installed in a couple of weeks.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Drucifer said:


> Well that didn't happen in my case. As SD receivers brokedown, D* replace 'em with HD. Not once did I ask for HD. When I did expand, I did select HD receivers because I was planing on switching over to HDTVs.


Were the replacements received via FedEx or UPS for self-install? If so, I'm not surprised that you got HD receivers. My comment was in regard to an ORIGINAL install where a tech is on scene for new customer activation.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

dcandmc said:


> Were the replacements received via FedEx or UPS for self-install? If so, I'm not surprised that you got HD receivers. My comment was in regard to an ORIGINAL install where a tech is on scene for new customer activation.


Got two (1 HR, 1 H) off the DirecTV service truck as replacements for defective SD equipment. One (HR) was delivered, don't remember by whom, when the service guy had no replacements on his truck. Two (1 HR & 1 H) were expansion ones that I ordered off the DirecTV site. This all occurred before I purchased my first HDTV.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

HaterSlayer said:


> I'm a bit late to the party, but I just got an HDTV. The TV is in our living room which is also home to our DVR receiver. I'm not exactly sure the specific model for the receiver, but we just got DirecTV back 3 months ago so I'm sure it's whatever the current non-HD receiver is.
> 
> We hooked it up with the RCA cables and the picture looks pretty meh. My mother doesn't want to pay the extra cost to get an HD receiver so I'm trying to maximize what I can with what I have. I hooked my Xbox360 up to it via component and it looks fantastic. Can the non-HD DVR support that? What about S-Video? For a hail mary what about HDMI? What is the max resolution this can output? 480P?
> 
> Thanks for any help.


It's me again. I have been doing a lot of reading this morning and I have a couple of points to make.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but, the SD receivers /DVRs are made to convert the digital signal from DirecTV to analog for use on the non digital TVs that we all used to have. The analog signal going into the Digital HD TV does not do well at all. There might be a huge difference in the SD channels quality when they are put to the TV using an HD receiver that is outputting a digital signal vs a SD receiver / DVR. This might be the reason your picture looks so bad.

Having said all of the above, and repeating what others have already posted, "No need to have an HD TV without HD service. Also, with the HD service free for 24 months, the cost to switch is nothing. "


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

jimmie57 said:


> Having said all of the above, and repeating what others have already posted, "No need to have an HD TV without HD service. Also, with the HD service free for 24 months, the cost to switch is nothing. "


Oh no it isn't. You will pay $199 for a HD upgrade to an HD DVR or probably $99 for an upgrade to an HD receiver (non-DVR) PLUS you are stuck with DirecTV for 2 more years.

And you only get "free HD" for those 2 years since you are an existing customer.

If you decided you HAD to have HD, you would be smarter with DISH where you could get an HD DVR (and install) for FREE with HD FOR LIFE. Not only that, if you've never been a DISH customer, you'd get a fantastic price on service for the first year too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a DISH fanboy, in fact I've had DirecTV for 9 and a half years and at this time have no plans on switching (or upgrading to HD). And yes, I do have a flat screen HDTV which to me works just fine with DirecTV's SD service. The only reason I have the HDTV is that my old tube-type TV broke down after 18 years and there was nothing else I could buy with the screen size to fit my living room. Most of the programming I watch is in SD anyway as I love "classic TV" and movies. In fact, many evenings I watch BLACK AND WHITE SD programs on the HDTV!


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

ThomasM said:


> Oh no it isn't. *You will pay* $199 for a HD upgrade to an HD DVR or probably $99 for an upgrade to an HD receiver (non-DVR) PLUS you are stuck with DirecTV for 2 more years.


You will?  Many customers receive free upgrades or significant discounts to upgrade to HD. Also, you're not stuck for 2 years,you can pay an ETF.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

sigma1914 said:


> You will?  Many customers receive free upgrades or significant discounts to upgrade to HD.


Since this "free HD" fiasco? I'd like to hear about one!!



sigma1914 said:


> Also, you're not stuck for 2 years,you can pay an ETF.


Well, of course you can! $20 a month for NOTHING for each month left on your commitment or $480 if you decide you made the wrong choice right away. That's a lot of money to toss into the fireplace.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

ThomasM said:


> Since this "free HD" fiasco? I'd like to hear about one!!


I just checked the DirecTV web site and I can get a HD DVR for $99, not $199 and a HD STB for $49, not $99, so deals are still available for existing subs on the hardware.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

ThomasM said:


> Since this "free HD" fiasco? I'd like to hear about one!!
> 
> Well, of course you can! $20 a month for NOTHING for each month left on your commitment or $480 if you decide you made the wrong choice right away. That's a lot of money to toss into the fireplace.


I was offered a free HD DVR last week, but declined.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

ThomasM said:


> Oh no it isn't. You will pay $199 for a HD upgrade to an HD DVR or probably $99 for an upgrade to an HD receiver (non-DVR) PLUS you are stuck with DirecTV for 2 more years.
> 
> And you only get "free HD" for those 2 years since you are an existing customer.
> 
> ...


When I upgraded to HD last year I added one HD receiver, 
changed out an old SD receiver for 1 HD DVR, 
got a new dish, 
all new wiring 
and the DirecTV installation and the total cost to me was $99.

The lady told me if I would just do the DVR at that time and add the second HD receiver in 6 months that she could do that one ( the one I paid the $99 for ) for free. I did not want to wait.


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## crkeehn (Apr 23, 2002)

ThomasM said:


> Since this "free HD" fiasco? I'd like to hear about one!!
> 
> Well, of course you can! $20 a month for NOTHING for each month left on your commitment or $480 if you decide you made the wrong choice right away. That's a lot of money to toss into the fireplace.


As I have stated on the previous page of this discussion, I have just ordered an HD DVR. I was charged only the shipping fee, the DVR and installation will be at no charge, yes I have added an additional 2 year commitment. As I am happy with, and intend to stay with DirecTV, the commitment is not a big concern of mine.


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

ThomasM said:


> Well, I have an R22 connected to my 42" HDTV via HDMI and I think the picture looks just fine. Even with the so-called "free HD" for 2 years offer, I can't justify the cost to upgrade to an HD DVR and a new 2 year commitment.
> 
> Of note, I did have one of my R15's hooked to the HDTV before shuffling the R22 to that room and it didn't look that bad either using S-VIDEO.
> 
> *I noticed that Consumer Reports ratings for HDTV's have a column indicating how SD looks on the set and it varies widely by brand and model. When shopping for my HDTV, the store had (of all things) an HR-21 feeding all the HDTV's and the salesman let me switch it between SD and HD. WOW what a difference on some TV's but very little on others. I paid a couple hundred dollars more for one of the HDTV's that had a great SD picture (a Toshiba Regza). The cheaper Toshiba looked like an out-of-focus movie when fed an SD signal.*


Sadly my Vizio SV320XVT suffers from this SD content doesn't look the clearest. But for the most part it does look ok. I watch Top Gear on BBC America and it's fine in SD. I think it comes down to the broadcaster. Some things I see in SD are fine others are awful. I record 90% in HD. Only because I have an HD tv. But I also have a SD TV in the same room and use it too. So I can take SD or HD. If you've been a D* customer for long enough you can get good deals on the HD equipment.

Here is an example. I recorded this TV ad (via my phone in HQ) on an SD channel on my HDTV. It looks fine. IMHO.






Recorded from BBC America. For those wondering. I'm a musician. I thought this ad was funny. Plus I couldn
t pass up the eye candy. NOT the people. lol


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