Comcast Digital (1 Viewer)

[Erik.Ha]

I have Comcast Digital in L.A. and while setting up my new HT I realized my converter doesnt have digital outs or even an S video out.

I contacted Comcast thinking this was a bit screwy (what good is digital cable if it doesnt have digital sound???) and they informed me they are introducing a DVR in a few months that will have High Quality outs.

Anybody know anything about this? Will it cost extra? Why dont the converters already have this?

 

[Tim K]

most cable companies don't want to invest extra money to have boxes with digital or s-video outs since such a small % of their customers would ever want/use it. In most cases, you can request a box with the digital out/s-video and they'll get you one.

 

[John S]

Do you have an HDTV?? Upgrade the service to HD, you should get a much nicer box.

 

[Erik.Ha]

No... my TV is the low end of my system. Due to current space limitations 27" is as big as I can go, and I dont want to upgrade til we move (maybe 2 years or so)...

Id still like HBO in 5.1

 

[Matt Weldy]

The same thing happend to me before I went hd I just called them and told them that motorola makes a box that does it and gave them the model number and they dropped it off at my house. I am still awaiting the dvr also and I have been waiting awhile. Everytime I talk to comcast they will not give me a definate answer when it is coming.

 

[Evan S]

I had my Comcast guy out last month installing my cable in the new house I bought. He took one look at my system (Anthem AVM-20, Sherbourn 5/1500A, Odyssey Dual Mono Stratos with ACI speakers all around for 7.1) and said "Normally I don't give out the high end AV box with the S video and digital audio connectors, but I can see that you would take advantage of it, so here it is."

All you have to do is ask. I would have asked him sooner or later if I noticed there were no digital outputs for audio.

 

[Erik.Ha]

I think Ill call them again....

Ill be like Tim Robins In Shawshank... They can't ignore me forever....

 

[Jeff W.]

If you order HDTV they will give you the Motorola 5100 which is a nice box (even with half the features like ethernet and firewire disabled...) and later this year they are coming out with DVR service which should use a set top box similar to the 5100 but with a HDD recorder.

 

[Chuck Mullen]

In my area the HD converters from Comcast are only $5/month more and have a good selection of audio and video outputs. An HD converter connected to a non-HD television thru s-video or composite connections will still work. It may be worth your while since a lot of movies and cable shows are 5.1 these days.

 

[Stephen Tu]

But if you don't actually have an HDTV monitor, just a standard TV, Comcast in most areas won't give a box to you, since they are in short supply and they want to reserve them for people who actually have HDTVs.

That'll change though for people in Motorola DVR areas, once it's available, since Motorola doesn't make a non-HD DVR model.

 

[Joe Casey]

I've had Comcast Digital with coax digital and s-video for a while. Just yesterday I got the Comcast DVR box and am very pleased (I live in a Comcast test market).

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I had the same experience with Comcast. They told me they would not install a HD box without the HD tv set present. Before this, I had basic digital cable and was able to ask them for a box that supported s-video and digital audio when I upgraded my surround sound and TV. All I had to do was ask, they dropped it off no charge.

 

[John S]

I encountered one person that their old GE Non-HD TV did support 480p input on Component Video inputs.

I had them lie to Comcast, the installer it would seem, just eventually set it for 480p output and did not say a word about it.

The owner seems very happy with it so far.

 

[ChrisMcK]

Does anyone by any chance have the model number for the Motorola Digital box with digital and s video outs? I hope to call comcast today and request it
Thanks

 

[ChrisMcK]

I just got a response from comcast that they can upgrade my current box to a newer one with necessary outputs. HAs anyone heard of this model and does it look like it has what I need for my 5.1 set up? I was expecting they might exchange my box for a 5100.
Thanks

Some of our local Payment Centers will be able to exchange your existing DCT-2000 series Motorola converter to a DCT-2000-L converter. The "L" series converter includes one RCA composite output jack, an S-Video video output jack and an optical Digital 5.1 audio output jack. At this time Motorola has a shortage of these converter boxes. Only some locations have any left, we may not have any left in your area. Our installation technicians will not provide the optical audio wire to connect this unit to your home theater components, you will need to purchase this cable at any local electronics store.
These steps will help you configure the L converter for the 5.1 audio sound. Please bear in mind that a power outage will reset these settings to the unit's default and the unit will need to be configured again:

Select the following options in the audio setup menu:

Audio Output = Advanced
Compression = None
Stereo Output = Matrix

 

[Erik.Ha]

Comcast told me the end of February for the DVR in my area. :rolleyes