HDTV and cable

[tonyj311]

I just bought a 26" LCD for my bedroom. I dont have a cable box up there. The old tv worked fine when hooked up directly to the cable jack. With this one the picture is IZ_, especially the local channels. Is this due to a bad tv, or do I need a box to get a decent picture? I realize I wont get HD w/o the box.

[Rameses]

An hdtv, without an hd signal, will have a worse picture than an sdtv.

[il d00d]

You may want to lug the new TV down to where your cable box is, and see what the screen looks like with a good signal.  From what I understand many HD screens will upconvert SD to the native resolution (720 or 1080) - how good SD looks on an HD screen depends on how well the TV does this.  You may want to play with the settings, see if you can turn this on/off.  How big was the old TV?  What kind of LCD did you get?
I am able to get analog HD on my TV from cable without a box - it depends on your TV (whether it has a tuner card) and your cable provider (if they broadcast any HD content on analog).

[fwtcc]

I am guessing you were using a tube tv.

First the TV is now stretching the signal to fit its screen parameters, so you'll have image degredation there.  Second a clearer tv shows signal faults better.  Cable will look worse on it.  Plug an antenna in the back and see what your over the air HD programming looks like and that is your TV's potential.

[MendoDave]

Just get the Box you will be amazed at how much better MOTO GP is in HD. (too bad speed channel isnt in HD yet)

[ducati_tim]

You can get a lot of stations with an antenna http://www.antennaweb.org

[DucDucDave]

Check the set-up menu on the new TV.  It may offer different input settings related to the nature of your source.  Or I may have no idea what I'm talking about.

By the way, in my neck of the woods (Phoenix), Dish Network offers a much better signal than digital cable.  Now, I can't compare their HD signals, because we didn't have HD until we ditched cable in favor of the Dish.

[Drunken Monkey]

Check the set-up menu on the new TV.  It may offer different input settings related to the nature of your source.  Or I may have no idea what I'm talking about.

By the way, in my neck of the woods (Phoenix), Dish Network offers a much better signal than digital cable.  Now, I can't compare their HD signals, because we didn't have HD until we ditched cable in favor of the Dish.

Directv has been pretty awesome, HD-wise for me.

[kutter]

A dish is all fine and dandy if you live towards the center part of the country but try one in south Florida. If it is raining at altitude in Arkansas then you lose the picture. The dish is too far away from the source so we drop signal all of the time.