Getting new HD DVR from comcast

Cygnus

I will be getting a new HD DVR from comcast soon. Which one gives a better picture for SD channels? The DVR I have now from motorola displays SD channels horribly. Can I ask them for a specific DVR?

sasheegm

I have had the Scientific Atlanta 8300 DVR for over two months now, and I am very pleased with it........Once all calibrations were made by the Tech who installed it, the SD channels looked much better then with my old SA8000HD receiver.....sasheegm----Joe From Florida

Lanny

No, you'll get whatever is used in your Comcast area. If we knew where you lived, someone would be able to tell you which one is used in your area.

Cygnus

I am in chicago

spiderman865

You will get the Motorola box

Cygnus

Thats too bad, since that is what I have now. Can the box be tweaked to show SD channels better?

Rogerman

Hi,
In general you get whatever your cable provider provides!! I had an 8000HD, it crashed, got another one, it crashed, and very luckily they had an 8300HD just came in stock. Its been great. Picture is far better, both HD and SD, than the Dish Network 811 I had earlier.

As regards SD on these HD receivers, sometimes you have to use the S-Video out to watch SD. Just like I had to do with my 811. Thank goodness, with the 8300HD from T-W, they all look equally good thru the digital input.
Roger

Lanny

I've heard through Comcast installers that Comcast in Boston will be converting all analog channels to digital starting April 24. This should resolve the long standing issue of the cable box's analog performance. My guess is that Comcast will go this route everywhere in the near future.

sasheegm

Hello again Cygnus: While the Sa 8300 DVR made my PQ much better on all stations(HD,Digital and SD); I found that some of my VHS tapes(especially B&W ) did look as good as when I had my old diital box and my first HD TV, the Zenith IQB64W.......I decided to try adjusting the Contrast, Brightness & Sharpness on my new Mitsubishi WS65815 Hi Def TV......and it worked, not only making the videos much clearer PQ wise, but also made the SD stations even better in PQ, without changing the HD reception, which is excellent......I lowered the Contrast setting from 31----mid range on all the settings for the WS65815-----to 24-----I raised both the Brightness & Sharpness levels from 31 to 48.......I know this will not work on all sets, but it did the trick on my Mitsubishi, and the SD channels came in sharper & brighter, as did the the Digitals....and as i mentioned, I did not see any degrading of the PQ on my High Def reception-----Just something to try, as I know most Dvrs make SD reception look terrible.....For me it worked without having to do anything with my DVR----Before the PQ was very good with the SA8300 on all channels; now the PQ is excellent.....Joe From Florida---sasheegm2

dahauss

Does anyone know if comcast NJ (08021) is using the 8300HD boxes yet? they gave me an 8000hd when they came out yesterday which is not working properly.. what are the main differences?

LYU370

MUCH better PQ. And a SATA port. Most of the other glitches between the two boxes have been eliminated since they both run on the same firmware now. Next release is supposed to get rid of some more rather annoying bugs and enable the Firewire port.

__________________
Andy

Not a single Monsterously over hyped cable to be found in my system.