Audio via cable TV?

[homercles337]

I have never had a cable box before, but recently i bought a TV (first one since '97) and got cable. The guy came out Thursday and hooked up the "digital box" and my disappointment is huge. All channels are mono. What is up with that? Is this common or is my box busted? Plus the picture quality is absolute rubbish. I hate Charter Cable.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

What box do you have and what cable is running from it to your TV? If you have just an SD package the crappy picture and mono sound is likely normal.

 

[SithSolo1]

First of all, Charter is horrible but its all that we have around here.

Even with their "digital box" most of the channels don't look that great. Occasionally you will stumble upon a "digital" channel, usually a local news channel, that looks pretty good. Just having the digital box does not get you the HD channels. Assuming you bought a HDTV, I've found the larger the screen/higher the resolution, the worse the SD picture looks. As for the mono, even the regular channels should be stereo so check the plugs and options on both the TV and the box.

 

[sdifox]

Can you tell us the model of the cable box and how it is hooked up to your tv?

 

[homercles337]

Im not sure about the box. Its "digital" according to the criminals at Charter. It says "Interactive Digital Communications" on the front and motot01bdct2000 on the back. For connectivity, i have the coax going to the TV (LG 50PV400) and "info" tells me audio is mono. I also have the RCAs (audio out from the box) going to an audio tuner. The sound coming out is all mono.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

You're only going to get mono over coax. And coax isn't helping your visual quality any either. You should get stereo out of the RCA jacks on the box. And a better picture.

It may be "digital" cable, but everything coming out of that box is analog unless it's over an HDMI cable.

 

[homercles337]

When i hook up the coax to the TV without going through the box "info" indicates stereo. Also, this box has very limited options for video, coax and RCA composite. There is a 9-pin "data" port, but i doubt thats video. So basically, Charter fucked me? If i cant get stereo out this box i am going to rage.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

You're probably getting the clear QAM channels going right into the TV. The cable box should do stereo out of the RCA jacks. If it's not something is wrong.

Hook the box up to the TV with the RCA jacks and see if that gets you stereo. You generally want to do it this way anyway, then run the audio from the TV to the receiver.

 

[Modelworks]

You got one of the older boxes , that box is very old , I'm surprised your local office is still using it. You need to call them up and try to get one of the HD boxes.
Some areas are short stocked on HD boxes so you may have to wait to get one.
These are the boxes charter uses:
http://www.myaccount.charter.com/customers/support.aspx?supportarticleid=1664

When I had charter cable in the past I used the dvr, the motorola DCH6416 and I know it supports HDMI out of the box.

 

[homercles337]

You got one of the older boxes , that box is very old , I'm surprised your local office is still using it. You need to call them up and try to get one of the HD boxes.
Some areas are short stocked on HD boxes so you may have to wait to get one.
These are the boxes charter uses:
http://www.myaccount.charter.com/customers/support.aspx?supportarticleid=1664

When I had charter cable in the past I used the dvr, the motorola DCH6416 and I know it supports HDMI out of the box.

What a joke, my box is not even listed there. The one that "looked" like it had tons of output options. How do i get them to give me a new box without having the "technician" visit? I was on the phone for an hour with some Charter dipshit and he kept telling me that i had to have a technician out. I kept replying with "just give me a new box."

 

[sdifox]

What a joke, my box is not even listed there. The one that "looked" like it had tons of output options. How do i get them to give me a new box without having the "technician" visit? I was on the phone for an hour with some Charter dipshit and he kept telling me that i had to have a technician out. I kept replying with "just give me a new box."

Authorisation of boxes require a conversation with the call centre. maybe the techs have their own direct line in? I am guessing here.

They should cover the visit in any case because they gave you a box that is not even listed on their website.

 

[Modelworks]

What a joke, my box is not even listed there. The one that "looked" like it had tons of output options. How do i get them to give me a new box without having the "technician" visit? I was on the phone for an hour with some Charter dipshit and he kept telling me that i had to have a technician out. I kept replying with "just give me a new box."

Forget about the local office if they are not helpful. The best thing you can do is talk to charter support directly on the dslreports.com forums. They have a forum that is staffed directly by some of the people in charge from charter. The forum is private and nobody but charter can read the message you post about your service. When I used them for a cable modem problem I got credited back the install fee and had three techs show up in one day to fix the same problem, and they are very fast to respond. Just explain the situation and they will do everything they can to fix the problem. They are the people that can light a fire so to speak under the local offices.


https://secure.dslreports.com/forum/charterdirect