Noob to plasma tv's a couple of questions....

[bob2300NX]

Well I am a total noob when it comes to plasma tv's. And today my mom calls me and tells me "I won a tv" (this was from work). Our tv is like 10-15 years old so it was really insain !!!

Here is the model she won: http://www.electrograph.com/default.aspx?id=003&prodid=320000012000&cp=0&hid=4929B31F6...7C9EB9121C935B

If you go there just click "view datasheet".

One question, how should I hook up the cable tv? Is this a good tv? Do I need to by a hd tunner? It does not have a optical audio input , or the other cable (maybe the name is HD cable, dont know, sorry)

If some one could shed some light on this subject, I would really apreciate it.

Thank You

[redwudz]

Sweeeet. Yes, it has a NTSC tuner. Audio in appears to be 5 channel (5.1?) Anyway, you would use a home theater amplifier for audio anyway. Should be able to output to that from the internal TV tuner. If you are using a DVD player, you would just feed that audio (optic or coax) to your home theater amplifier also. It has component video in, use that from your DVD player. Also has HDI input and apparently VGA.

It has just about all you need as far as I can see. Probably has a operating manual that will take a week or two to read.

I missed winning a similar 42" set a couple of weeks ago by one digit on a lottery ticket. The guy in front of me in line got it. Guess I didn't need it anyway.

[bob2300NX]

Thanx for the help.

Alright got it set up like you said. Also came with sony dream system. But I dont see a HDI input. I only see DVI input. It does not have a optical audio port on the tv only on the dvd, so I guess I have to use coax?

Yep simular thing happened to my mom a couple of months ago (except in a casnio, not work).

They had a rafel for a tv and my mom won, but she was not there. This seems to make up for it .

Thanx again for the help.

[edDV]

One question, how should I hook up the cable tv? Is this a good tv? Do I need to by a hd tunner? It does not have a optical audio input , or the other cable (maybe the name is HD cable, dont know, sorry)

If some one could shed some light on this subject, I would really apreciate it.

Thank You

Congrats, that is a nice set. 1024 x 768 will give a reasonable HDTV display on a 42" set so long as you don't get too close.

For High Def cable hookup you would need the HD cable box. It would connect to the TV with either DVI or component analog cables in either 720p or 1080i format. A DVD player would hook up to another component analog input in 480p (progressive).

You also have two internal conventional NTSC tuners (picture in picture) that can be hooked up to either a split cable feed (for analog cable channels) or to an antenna.

Audio, as redwudz explained, would go to an external receiver.

[edDV]

Thanx for the help.

Alright got it set up like you said. Also came with sony dream system. But I dont see a HDI input. I only see DVI input. It does not have a optical audio port on the tv only on the dvd, so I guess I have to use coax?

Use DVI or component analog from HD cable box. The cable box will probably have HDMI and componet. Ask cable company for a HDMI to DVI cable.

Audio (coax or optical) will go from cable box to the external audio receiver for 5.1 sound.

[bob2300NX]

Thanx for all the help! Well I switch my dvd from s-video to composite and it is amazing. Before with the s-video it was distorted, not it is RAZER sharp.

Any other tips would be very helpful.

Also if someone could shine some light about "calibration".

Thank You

[edDV]

Thanx for all the help! Well I switch my dvd from s-video to composite and it is amazing. Before with the s-video it was distorted, not it is RAZER sharp.

Any other tips would be very helpful.

Also if someone could shine some light about "calibration".

Thank You

Did you use component cables and progressive mode 480p for DVD?
That's even better.

And be sure to order that HD cable box. It's more than worth it.

For calibration, get a DVD with the THX setups (e.g. Star Wars, Indy Jones, etc.) Then follow instructions.
http://www.thx.com/mod/products/dvd/optimizerIntro.html

[bob2300NX]

[/quote]

Did you use component cables and progressive mode 480p for DVD?
That's even better.

And be sure to order that HD cable box. It's more than worth it.

For calibration, get a DVD with the THX setups (e.g. Star Wars, Indy Jones, etc.) Then follow instructions.
http://www.thx.com/mod/products/dvd/optimizerIntro.html[/quote]

Yes I used component cables and progressive 480p for DVD, thanx for checking.

On the HD cable box, I only get like 10 more channels. For like $15 more a month. But it has a three video and two audio component connecters, would this increase the picture quality on all the channels?

Or would a HD tunner box be a better investment?

Thank You edDV you have been very helpfull.

P.S.-I went to ultimate electronics today, and asked the guy about calabration, he said no you dont need that ".... there is no maintenece".

[edDV]

On the HD cable box, I only get like 10 more channels. For like $15 more a month. But it has a three video and two audio component connecters, would this increase the picture quality on all the channels?

I found myself mostly watching the HD channels on Comcast. Great stuff on InHD, DiscoveryHD, ESPN-HD and PBS-HD + less so the premiums and locals

My box, a Motorola 6200, will deinterlace all channels to 480p. Your HDTV may or may not do a better job.

Or would a HD tunner box be a better investment?

check http://www.antennaweb.org to see what over the air channels are available at your address and the type of antenna you might need.

Best deal on a over the air DTV tuner is this one.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2598451

P.S.-I went to ultimate electronics today, and asked the guy about calabration, he said no you dont need that ".... there is no maintenece".

Verify your setup with the THX patterns above.

[bob2300NX]

Sorry for all the questions and please bare with me.

With a HDTV box, could I just plug in my digital cable box, and all my channels would become HD? Or is it just for over the air? I saw a pioneer today and you could plug in your dvd, cable, ect, into it then it went to DVI.

I think that should be the last question, LOL.

Thanx again you have been very helpfull.

[edDV]

Sorry for all the questions and please bare with me.

With a HDTV box, could I just plug in my digital cable box, and all my channels would become HD? Or is it just for over the air? I saw a pioneer today and you could plug in your dvd, cable, ect, into it then it went to DVI.

I think that should be the last question, LOL.

Thanx again you have been very helpfull.

No. Since y'all won this set, I can be brutally honest
And others can chime in with insight or objections.

A plasma requires a progressive display at a specific "native" resolution.
In your case this is 1024x768, a medium resolution. Internal HDTV electronics will take normal TV (i.e. internal tuners and extrenal connectors) and convert that to native 1024x768 by deinterlacing and upscaling. There are tradeoffs in doing this but the internal circuits have been optimized to your specific display.

Likewise if you present a HDTV signal to this set in 720p (1280x720) or 1080i (1920x1080), the internal electronics must downscale the image to 1024x768 progressive.

The engineers that designed this set paid particular attention to making the internal NTSC tuners look good as well as NTSC, 480p and 1080i external inputs.

1. Internal NTSC tuners - most premium HDTV sets will have an internal 3D NTSC comb filter to get the best decoding performance (luminance bandwidth) from an over the air or analog cable NTSC broadcast. A good result would be around 340x480 "lines of resolution" (~equiv 480x480 digital raster). The result will then be deinterlaced and upscaled for display at 1024x768. Lots of optimization is needed because upscaling NTSC can magnify defects and look ugly.

2. Composite NTSC, S-Video and analog component (std definition) inputs. - Composite NTSC will be sent through the 3D comb filter and converted to Y/C (same as S-Video). These will be decoded to Y, Pb, Pr (same as analog componet input). Resolution at this point is maximum 540x480 "lines of resolution" (~equiv 640x480 digital raster) depending on the bandwidth of the source. The result will then be digitized, deinterlaced and upscaled for display at 1024x768.

3. DVD progressive 480p (720x480) is ususally input to the TV as analog component Y, Pb, Pr and is 60 progressive frames per second. TV Set engineers pay particular attention to this format because film sourced DVD is the current demi standard for the home. Some premuim players have a HDMI output and have internal upscaling to 720p or 1080i. Any advantages have tradeoffs. I'll come back to this if anyone is interested. In summary, I don't think DVD HDMI is a large enough step in quality to justify the additional cost and bother and can result in a worse picture. You are upscaling the image and then forcing the TV to downscale to native resolution.

4. Next option is the external ATSC (over the air) HDTV tuner. Your HDTV is "HD ready" and this is how you get it ready. An external DTV tuner can tune SDTV (480i or 480p, 4:3 or 16:9) or HDTV (usually 720p or 1080i, 16:9 or black sided 4:3 for upconversions). The output of these tuners is usually wideband analog component, DVI, or HDMI (video and audio). In your case you would need a HDMI to DVI cable and deal with audio separately. Your TV will receive 720p or 1080i but must internally convert (downscale) to 1024x768. Thats right, your set doesn't quite have full HDTV horizontal resolution, but it is close.

5. HD cable box - These connect in a similar way to an external ATSC HDTV tuner but there are differences. First these boxes are usually a bit higher quality than standard cable boxes for receiving standard analog NTSC (they have a comb filter) and "cable digital" stations (they have S-Video, component analog and HDMI output) because HDTV sets make these channels look crappy by magnifying defects. DTV is delivered differnently for local and internal satellite cable sources. Local DTV stations (SDTV and HDTV) are demodulated from ATSC to the multiplex MPeg_TS stream and then remodulated QAM to a cable channel. Cable HDTV channels arrive from the satellite in an internal MPeg (or other) standard, then are encrypted and then assigned a cable channel. Many HD cable boxes present the raw MPeg_TS stream on a IEEE-1394 connector for the station selected. Local stations are unencrypted per FCC ruling. Cable stations are usually encrypted at this connector.

6. US DBS (e.g. DirecTV and Dish) are moving to all MPeg4 distribution for HDTV but will connect to the HDTV set in a similar way to a HD cablebox. Main difference is every channel, even locals are converterd to MPeg4 internally to the system for transmission.

In the future, cable will change to a different (more highly compressed) internal standard in order to allow for more HDTV channels.

[bob2300NX]

I am going to try the upgraded HD cable service, today.

Info found here: http://cableone.net/digitalcable/hdtv.asp

Now would it be ok playing a game off my computer on the plasma? Or do I need a special software.

EdDV: I think the cable box I linked to is the same as yours.

More info here: http://cableone.net/digitalcable/HDTV_SetupGuide.pdf

[edDV]

I am going to try the upgraded HD cable service, today.

Info found here: http://cableone.net/digitalcable/hdtv.asp

Now would it be ok playing a game off my computer on the plasma? Or do I need a special software.

EdDV: I think the cable box I linked to is the same as yours.

More info here: http://cableone.net/digitalcable/HDTV_SetupGuide.pdf

The DCT-5100 is the older obsolete model. Try to get the newer DCT-6200. It performs better and has advanced features.
http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/dct6200/

There is also a DCT-6208 with hard disk and a DCT-6212 with dual tuners so you can watch one channel while recording a second to disk.

[edDV]

Now would it be ok playing a game off my computer on the plasma? Or do I need a special software.

Some game systems like Xbox have HDTV output kits (1080i) that work with some games that support HDTV. Otherwise use the S-Video or composite connections at 480i

Be warned that games left in pause or otherwise in a stationary mode (e.g. menus) can ruin a plasma by leaving a permanent burned in image. Be careful to avoid this.

Same is true with any static image like photo software. Keep the image changing.

[bob2300NX]

Alright, would a DVI connecter give me a better connection than composite, or is it just not worth the hasile?

Thank You

[edDV]

Alright, would a DVI connecter give me a better connection than composite, or is it just not worth the hasile?

Thank You

Better for which device?

First the analog connections

composite NTSC is the bottom in quality
next comes S-Video aka Y/C
then low bandwidth component analog Y, Pb, Pr for 480i
then wideband component analog Y,Pb, Pr for 480p, 720p, 1080i
and there is VGA, yes VGA is analog too
and DVI-I that has the same analog pins as VGA as well as digital pins.

Now for digital. Digital connections have encrytption. Some allow computer connections without encryption handshakes, many require the source to respect HDCP encryption.

First concept is HDCP encryption
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/HDCP.html
http://www.digitalconnection.com/FAQ/HDTV_12.asp

Digital connections are either DVI, or HDMI. HDMI has largely replaced DVI.

DVI can be DVI-I (analog and digital pins) or DVI-D (Digital pins only)
HDMI includes DVI plus audio and bidirectional control signals. One cable does all.
IEEE-1394 is used for compressed versions of HDTV only and has DTCP encryption.

Your HDTV has one DVI connection with HDCP encryption support.
The real question is how to best use this limited resouce.

1. External DTV tuner, Cable tuner or DBS tuner connection.
In theory you can get a bit better quality. The real issue is whether the dreaded "broadcast record flag" is going to be implemented. If it is, any broadcast that carries the flag will be limited to 480i or 480p resolution unless a HDCP connection is used.

2. Future HD DVD player
Current prototype chipsets for these players require HDCP to play content protected media at all. In other words, HD players only work with DVI or HDMI connectors with HDCP.

So in the future you will have two devices that need the connection. An external DVI/HDMI switcher that supports HDCP is expensive today (>$200). Maybe that will change when the HD DVD player arrives.
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=2757

Bottom line, ask your cable company for a DVI cable and use it with the HD cable box for now. As I recall, the DCT 5100 has no digital connections. Demand the DCT-6200 that has DVI and IEEE-1394 outputs.

[bob2300NX]

Ok thank you, before I saw you respons on getting the DCT-6200, I went to my cable company, and they told me there would not be a improvment on the regular channels, which from what you are saying is correct (no digital connections).

What I meant is when playing games wouldnt a DVI connector work better than a S-video cable, or even the componet connecter.

Man you really know your stuff=thumbs up.

[edDV]

What I meant is when playing games wouldnt a DVI connector work better than a S-video cable, or even the componet connecter.

I don't think XBox or PS2, etc. have DVI output options. HDTV adapters all use component analog.

If you mean from a computer over VGA, that could work but watch out for screen burn-in. Plasmas have a tendency to burn in static images like computer windows and game menu bars. It could ruin the set.

The spec sheet for your set indicates it has a "DB15 computer input". Check the manual to see which resolutions are supported. The VGA connector will be much easier to use than the DVI or analog component connections for computer interface.

BTW, I'm going into detail here because this is a common topic and I wanted all info in one thread so that I can reference to others as well.

[bob2300NX]

Did not know there were that many different types of componet cables. Is there a way to tell?

[edDV]

Did not know there were that many different types of componet cables. Is there a way to tell?

Cables or HDTV inputs?

Some HDTV sets (and recent regular TV sets) have component analog inputs that are intended for 480i only. These will produce the best quality DVD playback for nonprogressive scan TV sets, better than S-Video.

Wideband progressive component inputs (60 frame per second) are available only on EDTV and HDTV sets and support 480p (maximum for EDTV) plus 720p and 1080i for HDTV sets only.

As for cables there are two grades. Walmart carries both so I'll use them as an example.

480i cables have single shielding and are cheap, ~$9 at Wal-Mart. Bandwidth needed is less than 8MHz.
http://www.johnkeyes.com/a/B0001GAMQK-philips-ph61071-component-video-cable-6-feet.html

480p, 720p, 1080i requires double shielded wide bandwidth analog component cable (~30MHz). These sell for $18-24 at Wal-Mart
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1717306
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2625044

Far more expensive versions of these cables exist but at normal 6 to 10 foot (2-3m) length, these will do fine.

[bob2300NX]

Makes sense.

Just realized dvd was playing in 480I, I changed it to 480P, now I see a little bit of better image quality, also fastwording is faster now.

Can regular progressive scan dvd players go 720p? If it makes a difference, here is the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000E25FI/qid=1119079676/sr=8-1/ref=sr_...nics&n=1065836

Of Topic: Man, I know I seem like non tech savy person , but I really am not, at least when it comes to computers.

[edDV]

Your set won't go to 720p (1280x720) so there is no point.

Your HDTV screen resolution is 1024x768. Your set is upscaling 480p DVD (720x480) to 1024x768 internally.

[bob2300NX]

Alright didnt know the tv upscaled.

Thanx, you have been most helpfull.