fiddickc Posted April 29, 2007 Posted April 29, 2007 Hi all, Have decided to look into getting just a STB as I already have a DVD recorder with HDD. My parents have a DGTEC HD STB (can't remember the model - it is about 2 years old I think) and it works pretty well. It does pixelate sometimes but this is mainly due to tree coverage around their house. Anyway, I went to JB HiFi to look at their gear yesterday and I was talking to the sales guy and he asked if I had a HD TV or not. I said no it was only a CRT type and he said I would be wasting money on getting an HD box and should only get a SD one. Now I have seen the quality of HD over SD on my parent's CRT TV and there is a pretty big difference between the quality - as far as I can see. The sales guy went on to say how CRT's can't display the menuing of HD STB's (which is crap - I have seen it work). I am wondering if I am missing something here or are my parents just lucky that their TV works with HD? Cheers all Craig
Snoopy8 Posted April 29, 2007 Posted April 29, 2007 Hi all,Have decided to look into getting just a STB as I already have a DVD recorder with HDD. My parents have a DGTEC HD STB (can't remember the model - it is about 2 years old I think) and it works pretty well. It does pixelate sometimes but this is mainly due to tree coverage around their house. Anyway, I went to JB HiFi to look at their gear yesterday and I was talking to the sales guy and he asked if I had a HD TV or not. I said no it was only a CRT type and he said I would be wasting money on getting an HD box and should only get a SD one. Now I have seen the quality of HD over SD on my parent's CRT TV and there is a pretty big difference between the quality - as far as I can see. The sales guy went on to say how CRT's can't display the menuing of HD STB's (which is crap - I have seen it work). I am wondering if I am missing something here or are my parents just lucky that their TV works with HD? Cheers all Craig I suspect that your parent's improvement was due to them switching over to digital compared with analogue. For once, JB HiFi is correct - go with a SD STB for your CRT...
Timmy Downawell Posted April 29, 2007 Posted April 29, 2007 HD boxes have SD output so they work on SD CRTs, as you are aware. Possible advantages of an HD box: - DD5.1 sound for some shows/events/movies - The networks are no longer required to simulcast their SD channel/content on HD, so there is the (at this stage unlikely) possibility that the HD channels may have a different lineup than the networks' respective SD channels. - The HD channels (20/70/90/12) appear better on CRT than SD channels (or from an SD STB), because those channels have a higher bitrate (arguable) Personally I only have SD. If the networks do start using HD as a de-facto multichannel I will be annoyed to miss out. You could either start with a cheap SD box (~$50), and see how you go, but even HD boxes start in the low $200s now.
--ThisIsAllToMuchFun-- Posted April 29, 2007 Posted April 29, 2007 Hi all,Have decided to look into getting just a STB as I already have a DVD recorder with HDD. My parents have a DGTEC HD STB (can't remember the model - it is about 2 years old I think). Now I have seen the quality of HD over SD on my parent's CRT TV and there is a pretty big difference between the quality - as far as I can see. The sales guy went on to say how CRT's can't display the menuing of HD STB's (which is crap - I have seen it work). I am wondering if I am missing something here or are my parents just lucky that their TV works with HD? Cheers all Craig ...look at getting a stb either hd or sd with timers so you can sync it with the timers in hdd recorder making sure you have combatibility with the highest quality video inputs of the dvd hdd....you will only be able to record in sd though so also look at hd stb's that can output sd & hd at the same time allowing you to upgrade you display in the future while still using your dvd hdd to record sd....if you can see the dif' & that's important then go the hd .....using 4.3 on the hd boxes I own don't do any thing nasty to the menu's .... the timers are not always available on all stb's so start searching on the various forums ....also think about pvr's as well .......hope that's helped....... .................... --ThisIsAllToMuchFun-- ............ . .
fiddickc Posted April 29, 2007 Author Posted April 29, 2007 Thanks for the replies. I can get a HD DGTEC (from JB) for just over $100 and since it still shows SD anyway, then this is probably the one I will look at. At least I will have the HD tuner for the new screen when I get one - if it doesn't already have one built in of course!!
Recommended Posts