Just got a HDTV, now what?

[marioval]

Not sure if this is the right forum so feel free to move or delete as necessary.... I have zero experience with this so bear with me.... I just ditched the CRT and finally jumped on the HDTV bandwagon for my main TV. My second TV is also a CRT and that will be replaced by an HDTV also, soon.

I have Dish Network which comes into the house via a coaxial cable into the back of my Dish Network box. The coax coming into the box is split into 2 and on the other side of the box there are 2 coax cables going out, one to each TV.

This seemed like the only way to set it up when I had my 15 year old crappy CRT's but now I want the best setup possible. I've been told HDMI cables are the way to go. Will HDMI replace the coax cables because there is only 1 HDMI port on the back of my Dish network box and I have 2 TV's? Plus it would seem that the Dish network tech would have to rewire it since the coax is coming from the satellite on the roof. Can someone give me a little clarification on how this should be setup? Thanks, greatly appreciated!!

[edDV]

Are you subscribed to HD service? If so list the model numbers of your tuner/DVR.

If SD you connect the tuner to the TV in this order for quality (best to worst)

1. HDMI (if present).
2. Analog component
3. S-Video
4. Composite (RCA Yellow)
5. RF (F connector)

[PhoneMatt]

If you have ordered HD service and have an HD box, the first place to go is to monoprice.com for an HDMI cable. You will need it for the best picture quality.
Don't worry about the coax from the roof. That goes into the box. Everything else will connect from the box to your set, and you can do those connections yourself.
I haven't been a Dish subscriber in a few years (switched to Direct), but, if I remember correctly, you needed a box for each TV set. With 2 TV's hooked up to one box, both would only get the same channel. Did Dish install the splitter on the coax? I always thought that you shouldn't use a splitter on a satellite signal. Does your old CRT have the red/white/yellow inputs? If it does, remove the coax and hook these up from the box to the CRT. (When you replace this set, you will probably have to get another box. Most cable boxes that I've seen only have one HDMI output.)
Don't even think about using coax from your box to the HD set. It will look like crap.

Matt

[marioval]

yes I have HD service. The box is Model VIP222. DishNetwork installed everything including the splitter and the TV's are not on the same channel, they work independently.

[marioval]

So I connected the new TV with an HDMI cable and the HD channels look great. The non HD channels look horrible though, worse than my CRT just bigger?? Is this normal?

[jagabo]

The non HD channels look horrible though, worse than my CRT just bigger?? Is this normal?

Yes (probably, since we don't know exactly what you're seeing). Take a low resolution source full of artifacts, blow it up really big, and it looks fuzzy and all the artifacts become visible. Some upscaling devices do better than others.

That Dish box only has one HDMI output and it probably won't output high def component at the same time as HDMI. So your second TV will be stuck with composite video.

[filmboss80]

I have that exact same DISH box, and although it will feed 2 different TVs, it will only do one in HD. The second TV will just be standard definition. The coax is run to a special type of splitter (supplied only by DISH) and the 2nd TV will have the RF cable plugged into it, and that TV must be set to a specific UHF channel (like channel 60 or 73). The DISH remote for the 2nd TV will control the channels via a UHF feed to the VIP222 box.

If you want HD on both TVs, you will need a second DISH box.

[jman98]

So I connected the new TV with an HDMI cable and the HD channels look great. The non HD channels look horrible though, worse than my CRT just bigger?? Is this normal?

Are you watching everything in 16:9? SD signals often look terrible when stretched to 16:9. If this is the problem, switch the video display to 4:3 and see if it improves.

[wulf109]

I have a VIP211 and it will output HD from the component and HDMI at the same time feeding two different HDTV's.