HDTV newb

[DukeFan21]

Alright so here's the deal. We have a Hitachi 43F300 TV (4:3 aspect but can be "switched" to 16:9) which is HD Ready, so it is lacking an HD tuner. We don't have a tuner from Comcast because my dad doesn't feel like paying for the HDTV channels. Whatever.

I hooked up my week-old PS3 to this TV today to enjoy Metal Gear Solid 4 on a larger screen (I have a puny 20" in my room for now). I was fiddling around with some of the settings on both my PS3 and my TV. The picture looks great, but I'm not really sure if it's in "HD." I was wondering if I need that separate tuner to enjoy Sold Snake in HD glory or if the tuner is only needed for HDTV cable/broadcast channels and not separate hardware. And by the way, I'm connecting my PS3 to my TV via a component cable. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Shadowknight]

You need a digital tuner ONLY for antenna broadcasts. A QAM tuner will let you watch non-encrypted digital channels on a cable provider. You can hook up a Blu-Ray player with a component or HDMI cable and get high-definition. HDMI generally gives a slightly sharper picture than component, and you can get them fairly cheap at monopricee.com. Also, keep in mind that just because something is high-definition doesn't mean that it will look great. I've bought a few blu-rays that due to studio laziness or a poor master looked barely better than an upconverted DVD.

There aren't a lot of digital tuners out there that do high-definition, most of them only do standard. Samsung makes a box available at Circuit City and Best Buy, and it runs about $160. It's not an advertised feature, but it does support QAM.

 

[Muadib]

You only need a tuner to watch broadcast tv. That tv can do 1080i through component. You should go to the aspect mode settings, and use either 16:9 standard, or the 1080i real mode.

On the PS3, go to settings, display settings, video output settings, ang hit X. Select the type of connector on your tv, which is component. Select the custom setting method, then pick 1080i for the resolution that is supported by your tv. Unless you gave me the wrong model for your tv, or you aren't using a component cable, that should do it.

The PS3 will then send everything out as 1080i, and that's the best you can get on that set. You could also select the 480p & 720p choices on the PS3 if you wanted, but I don't thin you can use 1080i real mode then. Keep in mind that since your tv is a 4:3 set, that you will lose some of the screen at the top & bottom to get 16:9. You could use the zoom on your set to stretch it, but I won't go there.

 

[montypythizzle]

Come over to my house and enjoy my 50" plasma, might have to move some stuff around, and don't leave a static picture on.

Quit my job so I guess I have to save most of my money and I need a PS3, I also need a center channel too, QQ.