Can't display 1080i on Mitsu HDTV (1 Viewer)

[Rob Dawn]

I'm trying to help my Dad set up his HDTV cable box (Motorola box from Adelphia) with his Mitsu 65" HDTV (last year's model, probably 65513).

Whenever we switch the STB to pass anything other than 480i, we get a blank screen. We can tune the box to the HD channels and see the picture (down converted to 480i), but if we switch the box to 480p, 720p, or 1080i, we get no picture at all - the STB menu won't even display on the TV.
(Oh, and that down converted 480i picture is squashed vertically - the people look short and fat - with black bars on the top and bottom for some reason??)

I was thinking that I'll check that he has the component outputs from the STB going to the right input on the back of the TV and that we are using that input.

But any other ideas on things to check would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[Rob Dawn]

I'm trying to help my Dad set up his HDTV cable box (Motorola box from Adelphia) with his Mitsu 65" HDTV (last year's model, probably 65513).

Whenever we switch the STB to pass anything other than 480i, we get a blank screen. We can tune the box to the HD channels and see the picture (down converted to 480i), but if we switch the box to 480p, 720p, or 1080i, we get no picture at all - the STB menu won't even display on the TV.
(Oh, and that down converted 480i picture is squashed vertically - the people look short and fat - with black bars on the top and bottom for some reason??)

I was thinking that I'll check that he has the component outputs from the STB going to the right input on the back of the TV and that we are using that input.

But any other ideas on things to check would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[Steve_Blazer]

The TV should convert automatically between 480i and 1080i depending on the source from the cable box.
(Well my Mitsi does )
In the same way that if I switch on the progressive scan on my DVD player the TV format choices change from 480i to 480p.

I dont think you actually 'switch the box' more like just change the channel which carries a different type of signal which the TV then identifies and displays accordingly.

The only things I can think of are:
1) Check that component cables are being used between the cable box/receiver/tv.

2) Remember that not all cable boxes are HD ones (I had to get an 'HD' box from the cable company.)so best to check with them too.

3) I also had to make sure they were sending me the HD channels (another $5 a month.....)

 

[Steve_Blazer]

The TV should convert automatically between 480i and 1080i depending on the source from the cable box.
(Well my Mitsi does )
In the same way that if I switch on the progressive scan on my DVD player the TV format choices change from 480i to 480p.

I dont think you actually 'switch the box' more like just change the channel which carries a different type of signal which the TV then identifies and displays accordingly.

The only things I can think of are:
1) Check that component cables are being used between the cable box/receiver/tv.

2) Remember that not all cable boxes are HD ones (I had to get an 'HD' box from the cable company.)so best to check with them too.

3) I also had to make sure they were sending me the HD channels (another $5 a month.....)

 

[Allan Jayne]

Some TV's have a different set of component jacks for HDTV.

The normal method of outputting an HDTV show converted to composite or S-video for older TV sets has black top and bottom bars. A 4:3 screen is assumed. The HDTV set top box or cable box may have an "anamorphic" setting with no black bars for TV sets with a 16:9 squeeze mode.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Allan Jayne]

Some TV's have a different set of component jacks for HDTV.

The normal method of outputting an HDTV show converted to composite or S-video for older TV sets has black top and bottom bars. A 4:3 screen is assumed. The HDTV set top box or cable box may have an "anamorphic" setting with no black bars for TV sets with a 16:9 squeeze mode.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Gregg Loewen]

hi

Make sure you are using the Hidef input (DTV) on your Mits. No totally sure about your model, some of the Mits will only accept the HD signal on a certain input (read: not all the component inputs, only 1 of them).

Then ensure the input is setup as component and not RGB.

That should do it. Let me know if you have any further problems.

Regards

Gregg

 

[Gregg Loewen]

hi

Make sure you are using the Hidef input (DTV) on your Mits. No totally sure about your model, some of the Mits will only accept the HD signal on a certain input (read: not all the component inputs, only 1 of them).

Then ensure the input is setup as component and not RGB.

That should do it. Let me know if you have any further problems.

Regards

Gregg

 

[Rob Dawn]

Thanks for all the help guys - I got everything working last night. Amazing HDTV picture now!!

The problem was that there was a composite cable attached to Input 2 and that was the input that the Cable Box device was mapped to. I created a new device, mapped it to Input DTV (which already had component cables attached from the STB), changed the STB to output 1080i, and everything worked great.

Thanks again for everyone's help,
Rob

 

[Rob Dawn]

Thanks for all the help guys - I got everything working last night. Amazing HDTV picture now!!

The problem was that there was a composite cable attached to Input 2 and that was the input that the Cable Box device was mapped to. I created a new device, mapped it to Input DTV (which already had component cables attached from the STB), changed the STB to output 1080i, and everything worked great.

Thanks again for everyone's help,
Rob