GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

i recently got a 32" LCD HDTV. i will be getting digital cable after the new year. now, in order to watch stuff in HD, is there a different wire i will have to run from the cable box to the tv, or does the HD just come through like the rest of the stuff? i know you can subscribe to HD channels, but sometimes channles like discovery will say "broadcast in HD where available"also, my scarface game on the PS2 has the option to play in HD. is there a special wire i have to run from the PS2 to play it in HD?

I know with the Cable you need the HDMI cable (it looks like the old printer cables), they are not cheap so make sure you get all that you need, but not more than you need. As for the PS2, I believe the best they have is the Componant (sp) cables, the ones that look like RCA cables, but just have the three colors and no audio. I could be wrong though, there may be a HDMI for the PS2, but I think since there are so few games that even come close to using HD on PS2, there was no need to invest in it for Sony.

ok, so, would i have to switch to the "HDMI in" function on my tv?

You'll need to check the conenctions on your tv and cable box to determine what you need. HDMI is arguably the best hd interface and would probably be the best way to go as long as your equipment is compatible with it. Otherwise, you can get comparable results by using a component video cable and a digital audio cable (coaxial or optical)As far as the ps2 goes, You'll need to get the component video cable harness for it and configure your ps2 settings to use that cable. Also FYI, I don't think the ps2 displays true HD...more like ehanced def (480p) so it isn't as clear as a cable tv hd program.

eh, for the playstation, i don't think it's worth all that hastle.thanks for the advice fellas!

my HDTV cable box only used either RCA jacks or component (RGB) cables. the picture quality was pretty good. however, as some have realized, if you are allowed to get it, i would consider Dish as it's quite less money.if you're renting, they usually won't let you so then you're stuck with paying more $ for cable. could be different in IL though, i'm sure your costs start less than ours anyways.

I agree with the Dish Idea, My father in Law has Direct TV and loves it, but remember that even though you have HD and everything, there aren't ALOT of channels in HD yet. He got the biggest package, and other than football games, there are only like 20 real HD channels.As for the PS2, It's not a big deal to get the cables, they are semi-cheep.and the setting is easy. It's not a HUGE difference, but it is a bit better on games that support it.

the dish here is about $20 cheaper a month, but you have to have a contract. my mom had both services offered here and i hated them both. the channels weren't arranged in a logical manner and it went out every time it rained.i am getting digital cable because i will get extra channels, a movie channel lineup, phone services (unlimited calls to the lower 48), and hi speed internet - all for around $100 a month for 6 months guaranteed, no contract.

That's not a bad deal then, as long as you did your research and picked the one you want. Good luck with it.

i installed custom home theaters for 2 years and i can tell u that the hdmi cable is worthless, just use a rgb cable (coponent). the hdmi is not as great as salesmen say it is, but no matter what cable u use it will be in hd. but either go for the rgd cable or a s video

aha! so, if it comes through the coax, it's still in HD?

as long as u have a hd reciever (which is the cable box) u will always have a hd signal so no matter what cable u use coming out of the cable box it is gonna be in hd

And don't buy your HDMI cables at the TV store! They charged me $80 for one. I found the same cable later that day at Home Depot for $39

Quote, originally posted by drunkenmaxx »the dish here is about $20 cheaper a month, but you have to have a contract. my mom had both services offered here and i hated them both. the channels weren't arranged in a logical manner and it went out every time it rained.i am getting digital cable because i will get extra channels, a movie channel lineup, phone services (unlimited calls to the lower 48), and hi speed internet - all for around $100 a month for 6 months guaranteed, no contract.it snowed over a foot all day yesterday and no problems with my dish. that made me very happy because i was concerned that it could be an issue. so far so good.but yes, for a cable package here, HD channels, phone service, and a 3.0 Mbps connection, you would be looking at $220+/mo after all the taxes and fees they tack on. sure, there's no contract, but hell, i'd rather pay $50/mo for the next 18 mos for just under HD (only 6 channels available here and most i can get with a $20 walmart HD rabbit ear style receiver), no need for land line since we don't use it and i get free internet with my job. and since soon i'll be a reseller, i will be able to get some referral credits on my dish account so we won't even have to pay for that! that being said, i do wish we could offer a faster speed internet than our 1.5 Mbps, however our package is still faster than what we had with either cable or dsl for far less (free for me is cheaper obviously, but not always better). the cable co offers a free "cable" modem (64K/64K) but it's crap! and we were spending $95/mo for DSL/phone and that was only 1.0 Mbps, plus still having to pay $70 for cable tv (before i upgraded to HD). then i figured, since we didn't need the phone line and i get internet for free from work, i would cut out the dsl/phone bill and upgrade the TV. so paying $92/mo for TV wasn't so bad compared to what we were paying. now, we pay almost half of that so that makes me happy.

Good grief - it is way too confusing. Almost makes me long for the days when I had to sand my fingertips and play safe cracker to tune in UHF stations on my black and white Zenith TV.

holy hell that's a lot of money! thank god i live in the "real" united states!

LOL. i prefer here.... you can stay there, i'll stay here. we're both happy.let us know how the home theater system comes along. i'm working on ours as much as i can.... it's taking a bit longer than i was anticipating

Quote, originally posted by 02csnow »as long as u have a hd reciever (which is the cable box) u will always have a hd signal so no matter what cable u use coming out of the cable box it is gonna be in hdAbsolutely, positively not true. Using coax, RCA or s-video from the cable box to the TV will result in the TV not displaying in HD. In order to display HD, you have to use component, DVI or HDMI cables. As previously stated, it all depends on what options you have with your TV and cable (or satellite) box. HDMI or DVI will be the best quality, with component being a little lower in quality. Never pay for Monster cables (unless you find them on great clearance) - if you can wait a few days for shipping, buy from monoprice.com. Great quality at unbeatable prices. You may even get the cables you need with your cable box. Also, you mention that you're getting digital cable. You realize that has nothing to do with HD, right? You still have to get an HD capable receiver and subscribe to an HD package. Digital cable has nothing to do with HD - maybe you already knew that, but it wasn't clear from the original post.

Quote, originally posted by tnpartsguy »And don't buy your HDMI cables at the TV store! They charged me $80 for one. I found the same cable later that day at Home Depot for $39Ouch - you might not want to look at this then : http://www.monoprice.com/

so, when the discovery channel says they are broadcasting in HD, they are not? or on football games? i'm lost now.AKLGT, i am extremely into home theater. i am hoping to get a surround sound system soon to go along. keep an eye on overstock.com, they get some amazing deals on electronics!

Example.... ESPN.... there are two channels broadcasting the same thing, ESPN and ESPNHD, To see the HD channel, you need the HD recieve, Cable, and HDTV. Think of it like internet. The quality is as bad as the "weakest link", even if you have an all Fiber connection for your internet, but have an old CAT-5 cable..... the signal can only go as fast as the CAT-5 cable, not the Fiber. Same with HDTV, the signal can only be as good as the cables and TV and Reciever that you are using, no matter what channel you are watching. But the Regular ESPN will always be just the Regular ESPN, no matter how good of connection you have, it is not broadcasting in HD, so you can never see it in HD. Back to the internet example, if you have CAT-5 and Fiber in your house, but the service provider is using a dial-up (would never happen, but you get the idea) then everything will be as bad as that dial up, no matter how much you put in your house.But every one can talk about this for months on here, and saying things that will confuse you. My best idea for you is to go on Google, and type in something like "HDTV cable setups", or "HD setups for cable".... and see what you find from there. Maybe even go up to Best buy or something and ask to see the "recommended" setup for HD.... just a thought, so you can physically see what all of us are babbling about.

yeah, i am more of a visual thinker. i'm sure the cable guy will have some words of wisdom for me too. (don't worry, around here, the cable guys are pretty cool, not salesmen types)

That is cool. Good luck with it. I know my Father in law was upset with his, and come to find out it just wasn't set up right, now he loves it. Enjoy, I know it is a world of difference when you can see the channels next to each other, and see the difference.

Quote, originally posted by drunkenmaxx »so, when the discovery channel says they are broadcasting in HD, they are not? or on football games? i'm lost now.AKLGT, i am extremely into home theater. i am hoping to get a surround sound system soon to go along. keep an eye on overstock.com, they get some amazing deals on electronics!ya, they have various HD channels here too. but not worth the tons of money for the 6 that you can get. LOL. oh well.and i've looked at overstock.com, but we get raped on shipping to AK. right now, i'm working on the movie room: projector (800x600 dvd quality), very large electric screen (should have gotten a tad smaller...), sony 5.1 surround sound, dish, media center PC running it all. upstairs, i've still got to hook up the new panasonic sound system, but i have the 26" HD LCDTV hooked to the dual tuner DVR. we really don't have any HD stuff, so DVD quality is fine for now until we upgrade our system in a year or two. looking forward to seeing what you end up doing with it all. home theaters ROCK!

Quote, originally posted by Vibr8tr »But the Regular ESPN will always be just the Regular ESPN, no matter how good of connection you have, it is not broadcasting in HD, so you can never see it in HD.One more note to confuse you further - just because a channel is called an "HD" channel doesn't mean it's always HD. Everything that's on ESPN-HD is not HD. Everything on CBS-HD is not HD. etc... It depends on the channel - for example, I believe everything on HD-NET is indeed in HD.

These are all the HD channels we have available in Canada (I believe we're 1st or 2nd in the world as far as HD availablility!).http://www.digitalhome.ca/hdtv....htmlI'm with Rogers, however, even if you live in the US, you can see by the second column how much of the programming actually is in HD.Not on that list are channels we just got/listed on the on-screen guide and getting soon:HD ShowtimeHD National GeographicHD WGNIt's rare now that a show i'm watching is not on any of all those HD channels!