HD Question: Shaw Direct

[joshuals]

<sigh> I guess it's finally time to upgrade my faithful DSR-315 to something that is 8PSK compatible.......and as a southern sub I can't take advantage of Shaw's $29 upgrade offer......but I do have a solution for purchasing the hardware.

My current dish set-up is a generic 85cm dish that sees F2 only, as I am mainly interested in the French programming. So far, I have been willing to sacrifice the few missing channels in my package that come from F1R. However, most of these "missing channels" are also available from F2 in HD if I had an HD receiver. I don't (yet) care much about HD, but it would be nice to get the missing channels without modifying my dish setup.

My TV is a Hitachi 53FDX20B projection TV purchased in 2003. From reading the manual, it appears that it is "HD capable", at least in whatever technology was available in 2003. It appears that it will accept the following 4 input formats: NTSC 4x3 format, 480i 4x3 format, 480p 4x3 format, and "1080i through" format (which they recommend not using as it shortens the life of the PRT). I have no idea what any of that lingo means.... but, anyway, here's my question:

If I were to upgrade to a DSR-505 would I at least see a watchable picture from the Shaw HD channels that come from Anik F2, or is the TV too old to decode the 505's HD output?

Thank you in advance

 

[Frenchophile]

if your TV has component inputs, then HD should work fine. One of my TVs is a Philips 32' "HD-ready" CRT model purchased in 2003 and 505 worked fine on that for over a year no problem before I upgraded the TV last summer

 

[joshuals]

Thanks for you reply....

It has the following for input to the TV:

2 sets of input jacks for the following: S-Video, Video, and 2 Audio jacks

2 sets of input jacks for the following: Y/Video, PB, PR, and 2 Audio jacks

2 coax input jacks (Antenna A & B) that I currently use: one for local cable & one for Shaw

 

[Mr Tony]

HD capable means there is no HD in the TV and you need a HD source to view it. My dad has the same type of TV...HD capable.

yes it will work if you got a 505. You would use the component jacks (Y/Video,PB,PR) ones. That is what I use to use on my HDTV and the 505. Component will change resolution as the channels change. If it is 1080 the TV will show that. For the SD channels it will show as 480

 

[Frenchophile]

you can force the 505 to always output 1080.

 

[joshuals]

Thanks for the replies.....here I am with more questions...

Here's a quote from an e-mail from my vendor

The HD images are also much better than SD if your TV can support 720p/1080i

I've attached a pdf file of scans of the 2 pages from my TV manual that deal with picture formats. I don't see anything on these pages that talk about 720p. Please look at the attached file and see if you think my TV is compatabile with the output of the DSR-505.

Frenchophile:

you can force the 505 to always output 1080.

Note what Notes 4, 5, & 6 say on the second page of the pdf file.....doesn't sound like 1080 output is a good option for me.

Now the last question:
I'm currently sending my Shaw signal throught Antenna B and my Cable through Antenna A. If I go to using the cables Iceberg recommended above, will I still be able to toggle between Antenna A & Antenna B?

Thanks again

 

[Mr Tony]

The TV would work fine with the 505. You can use a HD receiver on a SDTV or any HDTV. I know mine only is 720p yet I had the Shaw box in 1080i (and the TV even said that when I hit "recall"

Yes you can toggle through Antenna A & B but if you use the video inputs then there is a video 1 option.

 

[Frenchophile]

agree with iceberg