I have read about some of the difficulty with dvi output. Is there any benefit to s-video vs dvi as far as ouput, set up or anything else.

well svid is easier to setup than dvi, however you cannot push hdtv resolutions through svid, where you can through dvi.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

Whats the highest resolution for s video.

Rkshack

usually 1024x768, and I don't think it supports any widescreen modes.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

Just to clarify, although your computer might be running at 1024x768, that's getting scaled down by the tv-out section of the video card. All composite or s-video outs are going to your TV at NTSC resolutions, namely, 720x480, and as Xsecrets pointed out, that's not HD resolution.

So the only way to get hidef content to my tv is either dvi or coax I guess? If you use svideo do you have to set modelines and stuff like that?

Rkshack

DVI works: depending on your HDTV it may look just like a monitor to your PC and work at standard monitor resolutions until you can get widescreen resolutions going.

You can't get HD content to your TV from your PC via "coax." The only other ways besides DVI are to use a VGA-to-component adapter (search here or wiki for details), or if your HDTV has a HDMI port you can use a DVI to HDMI converter cable.

I think regardless of how you're planning to output to a TV you're destined to "set modelines and stuff like that."

actually you can't get true hd to your tv over coax period from a tv or any other source for that matter. The only way to get true hd resolution to your tv is component or dvi/hdmi or on a few sets firewire.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

Or, for the very lucky few, your TV set may have a VGA input connector!

_________________
Do you code to live, or live to code?
Search LinHES forum through Google

ahh yes sorry I forgot that some sets do have vga/RGB inputs.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

What am I receiving from the cable company then? How does anyone receive true Hi def from a cable company? If there is not a hdmi from the cable company what is the signal I am receiving?

Right, that's why I specified my reply as saying you can't get a HD signal to your TV from your PC via coax.

You can get HD to your TV via just a coax cable IF (a) you subscribe to digital cable, (b) your TV has CableCard capability, and (c) you get your cable company to install said CableCard.

EDIT: oops, just realized you can also get the HD channels that the cable company is required to transmit "in the clear" (i.e. local channels) via coax without a CableCard, if your HDTV has a built-in tuner. (Not sure if you have to subscribe to some kind of digital service like cable modem in order for this to work.)

ok sorry I forgot about cablecard as well, all these new fangled technologies. so yes you can get true hd through coax if you have cablecard, also if by some insanely lucky coincidence your cable company actually does transmit the OTA hdtv unencrypted, and happens to leave the station id stuff in the stream (both required by the FCC, but both commonly ignored by cable companies) then you might be able to get hdtv over the coax into a hdtv tuner in the tv.

What comes out of your cable box and plugs into a standard cable connection on your tv will always be NTSC standard def, because that's all the standard coax connection(tuner) can handle.

to get high def out of a cable box you have to use the component or dvi/hdmi or firewire connections, regardless of what the cable co techs tell you.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

I can get hd through my coax. My cable company does not encrypt the local hidef channels. I do not know if they broadcast the station id info. I know that my airstar hd5000 found the hidef channels and let me watch/capture them to my windows machine. Should the same card be able to find and watch the same channels in a myth box.

yes/no it will greatly depend if the cable company leaves the station id in place. If they do not mythtv will not setup the channel in the database for you. There are ways to do it manually, but they require much time and effort, much more than I was willing to spend. If your cable company leaves the info in place yes you can use either the 3000 or 5000 and do a cable channel scan to get those channels. Also it's been a long time since I looked at this, so it is possible that newer versions of mythtv svn have something changed to add the channels without station id.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets