Such a thing as DOWN-Convert?

[bruss01]

Ok, here's the situation... We have tv in the living room and also in the bedroom. The bedroom TV rarely gets used - usually only when someone is sick in bed, or there is a conflict of interest. Probably only something is watched there every 3 months or so. The bedroom unit also has the DVD/VCR unit attached, so it is used when we need to play a video tape. Our dish tuner/DVR serves both tv's.

SO... recently we got a big HDTV for the living room. Now, the SD reception seems very poor compared to disks we play on our BD player. I'm considering upgrading our dish service to HD, but wondering how to accommodate the SD tv in the bedroom? That unit will not be upgraded anytime soon. Will it (2005 production TV) display an HD picture? Can the receivers be configured to output SD on a single line? Is there a "converter box" of some kind that down-converts an HD signal to SD? How have others of you dealt with a similar situation?

[phantompwr]

I know the cable box I have will output standard 480i from the composite connection even on high def channels. I imagine it is the same for satellite, as long as the tuner has composite and s-video connections, they don't support high definition so you should be able to hook the old TV up to that and be fine.

[bruss01]

Right now there is a coax cable that runs to both TV's. Coax runs into the dish DVR and from there runs out to both televisions. Would this change if we upgrade to HD? This is a rental house and I doubt we would be able to run special new lines.

[andyman1970]

You have to have a different HD box for each TV in order to get the channels, so if you have a SD TV then just keep one SD box for that TV and you should be fine.

[bruss01]

Originally Posted by andyman1970

You have to have a different HD box for each TV in order to get the channels, so if you have a SD TV then just keep one SD box for that TV and you should be fine.

I don't think that's true... Dish Network shows multi-tuner receivers for HD and we currently have a 2-tuner receiver/dvr unit that outputs to both tv's.

[MoPe]

HDTV's, are that. HD commonly known as "HIGH-DEFINITION". They are NOT recommended for SD viewing. If you watch a lot of SD, either deal with it, or purchase an EDTV.

There is really NO reason to not have HD programming on an HDTV. If you can afford the TV, you should be able to afford the slight difference between SD and HD programming. But that's not up to me. It's your expense.

BR is either 1080i/p. SD is 480i/p and HD is 720p/1080i. Why BR looks so good is because it is a higher resolution source. Even 720p/1080i HD programming has it's limits due to compression. Or - SD/HD = compressed & BR = uncompressed.

To answer your last question, it depends on how many lines of resolution it has, and if it will be able to produce an HD image.



What brand/make/model is it?

Lastly, I don't understand the thread title: "down-convert". What exactly are you "down-converting?"

[RazorFromHRSnet]

you can mix and match boxes... get an HD box for your HD Set and an SD box for your old tv.

OR use the 480i composite output of a HD Dish box.

[bruss01]

Originally Posted by MoPe

Lastly, I don't understand the thread title: "down-convert". What exactly are you "down-converting?"

What I was talking about was, if we upgrade our dish service to HD, I'm assuming that the dish/dvr outputs an HD signal to the TV's - and that one of the TV's might not be capable of rendering the HD signal, and so down-converting the signal to THAT ONE TV to a resolution that the older TV can render. Does that make better sense now?

As to make and model, it's a Toshiba but I will have to check the model later since it's wee early here right now and wife is still sleeping in there (shhhh!).

[My_Two_Cents]

Simple question: The OP want to know if he upgrades to Dish HD in order to get a better picture on his new HDTV, will he be able to view the signal on a non-HDTV in his bedroom since both sets are being fed from one box. Correct?

I don't know the answer, but I would guess 'yes'. I have an HD cable box hooked to an older ED plasma (480p max) in my bedroom and I feed it a 1080i/720p (can't remember which) signal which it displays just fine.

[bruss01]

Thanks, I guess that's the answer I was looking for! Appreciate the help.

[MoPe]

Originally Posted by bruss01

What I was talking about was, if we upgrade our dish service to HD, I'm assuming that the dish/dvr outputs an HD signal to the TV's - and that one of the TV's might not be capable of rendering the HD signal, and so down-converting the signal to THAT ONE TV to a resolution that the older TV can render. Does that make better sense now?

Yes. However I have individual boxes around the house since we have cable. Two HD boxes and one SD box.

Originally Posted by bruss01

As to make and model, it's a Toshiba but I will have to check the model later since it's wee early here right now and wife is still sleeping in there (shhhh!).

The bedroom TV rarely gets used - usually only when someone is sick in bed, or there is a conflict of interest.

Doesn't sound good. I hope all is well.

[MoPe]

Originally Posted by bruss01

Thanks, I guess that's the answer I was looking for! Appreciate the help.

TV's can down-convert, however are not very good at it. Hopefully someone with Dish will chime in and help you. I cannot.

You can also get a down-convert box, according to this article, however I've never seen one, personally.

Furthermore, there are devices called video processors (expensive) that can up/down convert and enhance the signal from whatever you can imagine. For instance my TV is 768p, and when I watch BR, my TV downconverts that signal to 768p, or you can add a video processor in the middle, and the video processor (built with high quality converters) will convert it to 768p so my TV doesn't do anything to it, assuring the quality is kept.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definit...037187,00.html

[Deadset]

I've been in a similar situation with yours as well, here's my 2 cents

Originally Posted by bruss01

SO... recently we got a big HDTV for the living room. Now, the SD reception seems very poor compared to disks we play on our BD player.

This makes sense to me, I had direct TV HD and SD boxes on 3 TV's in our house. 2 were HD boxes and 1 was an SD box. When the SD box was on the larger TV...watch out...it's very bad. The larger the screen the worse it will look (at the same viewing distance).

I'm considering upgrading our dish service to HD, but wondering how to accommodate the SD tv in the bedroom? That unit will not be upgraded anytime soon.

If you upgrade to HD dish service, you can get an SD box to work with your other TV. That's they way we did it with direct tv.

Will it (2005 production TV) display an HD picture?

Not if you use a SD box along with the TV. As you well know, you'll need a box per TV and that TV will have a small SD box.

Can the receivers be configured to output SD on a single line? Is there a "converter box" of some kind that down-converts an HD signal to SD? How have others of you dealt with a similar situation?

I think the above answered this but whatever type of box you have, is the signal you'll get. You can mix and match HD boxes with SD boxes in your house (at least with direct tv you can).

Good luck!