HDTV Forum

Hello......HDTV newbie here (although I am a professional audio engineer...)
Anyway, we have Comcast digital cable....and have the HD-DVR. Just got a new 40" 1080 HD Sony Bravia LCD. The cable that comes to the house goes through a splitter that is mounted outside. One side feeds a second floor bedroom (NOT HDTV), and the other feed goes into the basement. In the basement, the cable goes through 3 way splitter....which feeds a TV down there (not HD), a TV in the kitchen (not HD), and ultimately the Comcast HD digital set top box.
I think the picture looks nice.....but I think it could be better (on some channels, there's some distortion on the top of the image....minor pixelation).
For those who are more experienced with video than I am, would you recomend a video amplifier? If so....where can I get one, and what brand, etc?


EDIT: Oh yeah....one more thing. The splitters used are from Comcast, and only go up to 1GHZ. I bought one that went up to 2GHZ, and the Comcast came out and replaced it because our signal was not strong enough after that splitter.
Thoughts?

Thanks!!!!

A 1gig splitter is fine because, at most, your signal only goes to 850k. A very good amp is made by Motorola and it works great for your purpose. I have one in my system and it made mediocre better.

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-484095-0 ... B000066E6Y

Jimi- For analog signals, a weak signal will cause snow, but no other problems. For digital, a weak signal can cause random pixelation, but that pixelation always occurs over the entire image, not just the top. The problem you see is caused by something other than a weak signal. -Ken

Jim,

Is your complaint related to SD, HD or both?

Ken brings up a good point. Digital TV will not have macroblocking just at the top of the picture. You say only on some channels and the issue is at the top of the screen. Most stations put their data information at the top of the image. That data carries things like closed captioning. You TV scan may not be in sync with your DVR.

If you have a Motorola DVR, there is an image positioning control built in. With your remote, press: menu, menu, setup, screen position setup. From here you can move the image up, down and sideways. Find one of those channels and move your image up until you can't see the data.

That said, the amplifier I suggested could give you a better picture if you place it front of your 3 way splitter in the basement. If you are satisfied with your picture and all of your programming works fine, including Video On Demand, then maybe you don't need the amp.

Thanks for all your replies!!

Comcast came out (for the third time in one week), and finally installed an amplifier before all the splitters in the house. There was ghosting, and pixelation on all channels (HD, and SD). Seems to me they should have done this on day one....but at least they installed one (and at no charge, too).
HD programming is AMAZING!! Especially in the full 1080!

I will look into the screen positioning, though......as on a few channels there still is a little bit of white distortion at the very top. I showed this to the Comcast technician, and he said it's normal...and is on the broadcast signal. He did not suggest any way to fix it. It is a Motorola HD DVR.

Thanks!

The Motorola DVR box 'screen position' setting does NOT affect the viewing screen.....but ONLY the 'guide' position on the TV.
There are only a couple channels where this info appears at the top....FOXHD is one of them (though, not ALL the time).
So far, kind of not impressed with Comcast's HD programming. Might switch to DISH