This conforms with my emerging understanding. Unfortunately, I think I am going to have to make some sort of change to get the full capability of the HDTV. My TiVo model does not have component video plugs. I found a spare S-video cable in the garage -- in a box labelled "Cables", wasn't I clever when I moved? ;-) -- and the picture is now better than it was with the RCA video cable. But it still doesn't pop my eyeballs the way the DVD player does or the display models in the store did.

I did not know S-video was not HD capable. Thanks for that info.

I also have Crumcast. The first unpleasant surprise after the HDTV was delivered was that none of the HDTV channels came in. It turned out I had to go to the closest Crumcast office and exchange my cable box for one that is HDTV capable. $5 more per month -- I should have known they would figure out a way to get their hands in my pockets again. As much as I hate to say it, the next step may be to swap out the TiVo for one of Crumcast's DVR's ("fake TiVo" as a friend calls them), assuming they have one with component video input and output plugs.

That would break my heart in a way. I was an early adopter of TiVo. They were the innovators (along with one competitor who they quickly outdistanced). It is probably going to turn into the typical case of an unknown company innovating and then the big boys swooping in to take the market away from them.


>3rd type of connection for HD is component RCA cables with 5 connections (RBG + L/R Audio).
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>If your signal is coming through Yellow RCA or S-Video it will not be HD.
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>My cable company (comcast) charges extra for a box to handle HD. They charge even more for the DVR ability but it can record in HD which I do not think TIVO can do unless you are a DirectTV user.
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>Is TiVo compatible with HDTV?
>TiVo® boxes are designed to support standard definition television broadcasts. They will not support High Definition broadcasts. It is possible to connect your DVR to a High Definition television, and to some High Definition cable boxes or satellite receivers. However, the DVR will only record programs from standard definition channels, and all recordings will be displayed in standard definition. DIRECTV does have a HD DIRECTV® DVR with TiVo® service available.
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>>I have a DVI to HDMI connection from the DVD player to the HDTV. (Acronym vertigo!) I bought a new DVD player from Oppo -- a company to watch -- that is designed to take advantage of HDTV and has won awards. It's the TV broadcast side of things that is flummoxing me at the moment.
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>>When you say you have an antenna going to the cable box, do you literally mean an antenna on the roof, or a coax cable?
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>>PS -- DVI is the format that contains both video and audio. HDMI contains video only. One of the nice things about the Oppo DVD player is it comes with both kinds of connector. I believe they both sell for $60+ at Best Buy, so that's pretty nice throw-ins with a $200 unit.
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>>>I don't have a DVR. I've had the antenna going to the cable box for a long time, due to scrambled channels.
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>>>My setup is
>>>1) antenna to Cable Box
>>>2) There are 2 new types of connectors meant for HD - DVI, HDMI. My understanding is that HDMI is the newer format. It contains both audio and video. If you use DVI, you will still need to run separate audio cable.
>>>3) My tv has 1 DVI input, 1 HDMI. I use DVI for the DVD player, with DVD audio going to my tuner. And I use HDMI for the output of the cable box.
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>>>FYI, my experience jibes with other's I've read about. Because HD TV's are developed for HD, they will show defects from standard broadcast tv. If I watch the HD version of Fox (tv channel, such as 24, never ever Fox news), it is 1000% times better then the standard broadcast version of FOX.
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>>>Of channels 2-13, all but 2 I receive have a HD version broadcast on channels 190 - 200. I hardly ever watch the 2 that don't have an HD version anymore.
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>>>>Two weeks ago I decided to take the plunge into HDTV. So far, not so great. I wondered if anyone here has some expertise with this stuff, which I do not, and can give me some advice.
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>>>>Here is the high level description of the problem. I have cable TV and the cable goes through a splitter, one part to the cable box and the other directly to the TV. The cable box side of the equation has one additional component, a TiVo DVR. So that cable goes from the wall, through the splitter, to the cable box, to the TiVo, to the TV. When I watch the TV in native mode, straight in from the cable coax, the picture is fine. But when the signal goes through the cable box and the TiVo before getting to the TV, it's pretty crummy. Actually worse than the picture on my old TV. This would be quite a bit of money to spend to get a worse picture.
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>>>>I suspect I know where the problem is, or at least part of it. The cable box to TiVo hookup is via RCA connecters (yellow video, red and white audio). My dim understanding is those are artifacts of the analog, 480 line, interlaced scan world. The connection from the TiVo to the TV uses an S-video cable, so that shouldn't be a problem. I bought an additional S-video cable and connected it from the S-video port on the cable box to the S-video In port on the TiVo, but the TiVo said it wasn't getting a video feed. The port on the cable box is not clearly marked so maybe it's supposed to be input, not output.
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>>>>IAC, any suggestions? What cables should I be using? Are there any likely video settings to tweak on the TV or TiVo?