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Pastimes : Computer Learning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ken Adams who wrote (80505)	12/27/2012 11:55:23 AM
From: Raptech	Respond to of 110653

Don't comprehend why you can play the DVD off of your laptop and not your TV. Go back to the new TV seller and ask them for help. Or, if you live in a community with a Best Buy go into their TV department and I know they would walk you through a set up. I don't know if or what they charge, but you could try Best Buy's Geek Squad chat.

To: Ken Adams who wrote (80505)	12/27/2012 1:09:18 PM
From: Ian@SI	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110653

Ken, I'm guessing that you have the Cable attached directly to your Comcast set top box, then a coax cable to your DVD/VCR then a coax cable to the new HD Flatscreen. In this setup, when the DVD/VCR is powered off, the Comcast box's signal will pass through the DVD/VCR and be picked up on either Ch 3 or 4 of the TV. This would have to be plugged into the analog cable input on the TV. When you finish watching a DVD or VHS tape, you would have to either power off the DVD/VCR or find the right button to push on its remote control to let the Comcast signal pass through it to the TV again. It's possible that the 2 devices are not set up to both use Ch 3 or Ch 4. Some irritation would be avoided if you went back to the original manuals to make sure that both use the same channel for output. This set up is also giving you the lowest quality sound and picture. I would opt for a completely different setup. 1. Make sure that you have an HD Set top box from Comcast. First choice would be a PVR. You would never have to watch a commercial ever again. You can also record a program while watching a completely different live program; or record 2 programs while watching something that you've previously recorded. Connect the TV directly to the HD Comcast box with an HDMI cable. This will give you the best possible picture and sound that the 2 devices support. 2. Connect the DVD/VCR directly to the TV using either a coax cable connection or the RCA jacks (1 connection for video and 2 connections for stereo sound). Use the TV's remote control to select the source (i.e. Select HDMIn to watch TV in HD; or select the appropriate input to watch a DVD/VHS tape.) If you seldom watch DVDs or tapes, this would not be done frequently. But the best quality picture and sound can be obtained by buying a Home Theatre system. The last one I picked up is a Yamaha 7.1 channel home theatre system. It was less than 1/4 the price of my Marantz and may even produce better results. With this system, you connect everything to the Yamaha. Use an HDMI cable between your Comcast HD PVR and the Yamaha. For the other devices, order of preference for highest quality is HDMI cable; Composite Cables, RCA jack cables or coax cable. The Yamaha Home theatre system is connected to the TV with an HDMI cable. You select the source you want to watch using the Yamaha remote control. i.e. it acts like an electronic video switching unit. If it's TV then you use the comcast remote control to select channels. The TV is always set up to get its input from the HDMI cable coming from the Yamaha. The Yamaha will upconvert all your DVDs or VHS tapes to your choice of 720P or 1080P. Personally, I think the value of a flat screen is greatly diminished if you don't use its full HD capability. The HD set top boxes usually come with a 2 to 3 year warrantee, will last more than 5 years unless there's an exceptionally harsh electrical / physical environment, and thus cost much less than $1/day of use. Good luck, Ian.