High Definition Blog

I have TVs hooked to U-Verse. I want to add a small TV to the backyard patio, so I’d like to know how to split a signal into this new TV.

I rather have it be able to show it’s own channel while watching a different channel inside the house. But I don’t mind having the same channel.

I tried using coax but I learned that it does nothing.

I connected A/V cables (red,white,yellow) from a receiver to the new tV, and it worked but it shows the same channels as the original tv. The AV cables are relatively short, and can’t run it all the way out to the patio (25 or so feet away). Is there another option?

Please let me know thank you!

U-verse does not send modulated RF signals via the coax like analog cable does, so that is why it will give you nothing. The signal is a digital data stream that requires a receiver to decode it to video, so to do what you want to do, it will require the addition of another set top box from U-verse.

I have been researching getting OTA reception on my property and have a unique situation. We live in a very rural location that is approx 40 to 50 miles from the closest towers. The terrain is very hilly and wooded. The property is over 100 acres in eastern KY. Our driveway comes off a ridge at 1100 feet above sea level and has a good signal path, but the house sits at 920′ and has almost no signal. The distance is around 3000′ from the optimal antenna location to the house. I can run RG6 and used to be a lineman so running the line is not a problem. I also have a/c at the antenna site because of a barn with electrical lights. Is it possible to install a strong antenna like a Winegard HD 8200 and add a amplifier to boost the signal strong enough to reach the house.

Sure it is. I would use rg11 for the long run though. I would suggest looking up the losses for rg11 to see how much amplification you may need. If this is not within your ability, it may be good to ask for additional help here: Local HDTV Info and Reception. The forum is easy to join and we have many professional installers that can help.

Well to be brutally truthful the plasmas will have a great deal of glare. Here are a couple of photos of my S1 Panasonic to explain it better:

That is me sitting on my couch and the light in the room is supplied by a full length door window to the left of my entertainment center. There is not enough light in the room to read by.

Just to show the screen with a dark scene picture on it as you can see the glare is still very noticeable. Now on sports programming where the screen is brightly lit, there is no noticeable glare at all.

Now light walls won’t necessarily be bothersome unless in the reflections there is a dark contrasting area as well such as the picture frames in the above examples. That’s when it gets objectionable for me. If the reflection was just a white wall, it would only deteriorate the super black levels, but not cause you to be seeing something in the reflection. It may be possible for you to tilt a reflective TV where it looks good during the brightly lit times, but still have the superior blacks and picture in the dark. Here is an example of a G20 with a couple of bright reflections to illustrate the issue of the problem with contrasting reflections. Those bright areas would show up in any dark scene just as they do with a totally black screen.

Thanks to soderholmd for the above photo who posted it on highdefforum.com of his G20.

Now going to an LCD is not necessarily going to get you a glare free screen because most of the brands have a reflective screen these days. My daughter has a Sharp LED backlit LCD and it has about the same glare as my Panny plasma. You have to shop around for a glare free HDTV that also has a good picture.

So if you are going to watch in a brightly lit room you can expect some glare. On the other hand in the dark you can not beat the picture of a plasma with any LCD.

This product is discontinued, sorry.

While moderating one of my forums last week someone ask me about the ASUS O!Play - TV HD Media Player. I was not familiar with it so I went digging. After reading about it, I was convinced this was a player I should have so I ordered one. Man it was all that and a bag of chips…

Read my report on this unit here:
ASUS O!Play - TV HD Media Player

For those people, such as me, who would like their Media Center PCs to have an application where they could work as a set top box with U-verse, the idea has moved one step closer to a possibility.

Announced at CES 2010 was the tremendous news that later this year X-Box owners will be able to use their consoles as a set top box for U-verse!

Here is the engadget story:

Xbox 360 will support AT&T’s U-Verse TV later this year

I have updated the page to reflect the new software version. The update is at the bottom of the page.

See: Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR Video Capture device

EngadgetHD is reporting a new card will be available for your Media Center PC without needing to get it within a bundled package.  This means you can “roll your own” and be able to get all scrambled cable channels by renting a cable card from your cable company.

See: Media Center CableCARDs freed from OEM requirement//

Ever noticed this seems to be Format War II? People post inquiries on forums about LCD sets and within minutes they get a reply suggesting the poster should get a plasmas instead. Then the threads are deluged with posts about why plasma is superior to LCDs. They quote how misleading statements and facts have tainted the plasmas. LCD proponents don’t seem to jump on plasma inquiries in the same manner. Maybe since LCDs are selling so well they don’t feel they have to proselytize like plasma proponents do.

For the complete story click here: Plasma vs LCD - The Next Format War?