Good Set Top Box
Written: Mar 23 '02
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Pros: Easy setup; Excellent OTA reception of HDTV broadcasts
Cons: Cable reception is poor
The Bottom Line: If you are looking for a good STB for OTA HDTV broadcasts, this will fill the bill.
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| petergaryr's Full Review: Hughes Networks HSYSE8674 Platinum Edition DirecTV... |
I purchased the Hughes Platinum HD for 1 reason: the 2002 Olympics were being broadcast in HDTV by WTLV-DT here in Jacksonville, FL. I have this working with a Mitsubishi 55809 55" Widescreen RPTV (reviewed elsewhere on Epinions).
For the sake of brevity, I am using the following abbreviations in the review:
OTA- Over the Air broadcast
STB- Set Top Box
480i - 480 lines of resolution interlaced - the standard for analog TV
1080i - 1080 lines of resolution interlaced - the highest quality high definition broadcast
HDTV - High Definition television (either 1080i or 720p)
Dolby Digital 5.1 - 5 channels of full frequency audio, plus a sub-woofer lfe channel
Toslink - an optical connection between the STB and the HDTV
While the results are obviously coupled with the quality of your HD monitor, I can say that with the Mitsubishi the Olympics were amazing. The analog station carried the event live. The next day, WTLV-DT did an HD re-broadcast. Watching the live event in standard 480i, then comparing it the next day to the 1080i equivalent was fascinating. Being able to see the texture of the weave in clothing during the HD broadcast is a small example of both the strength and weakness of HD. In some events, instead of paying attention to the athletes, I was focusing in on the quality of the picture!
The setup is quite simple. There are menus that take you through what you will need to do to get output quickly. When connected to the component input of a high definition monitor, this will produce spectacular 1080i pictures.
Audio can feed a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal via optical output to the appropriate Toslink connector on your receiver (make sure your receiver has a decoder built in -- this STB doesn't have one).
Using a simple rabbit ears antenna from Radio Shack, I am able to pick up the OTA signals with sufficient strength. If you are new to digital tv, there is a basic truth: either you get a picture, or you don't. With the Hughes, once it locks onto the signal, the picture and sound are quite stable.
For non-HDTV, you have the video options of full screen, expanded and letterbox. These are useful for managing the problem of viewing standard broadcasts on a widescreen tv (if you have one). Full screen (the only option for a 1080i HD broadcast) will stretch and distort the picture of a non-HD broadcast. Expanded will zoom the picture to fill the screen, cutting of some horizontal and vertical picture information. Letterbox will place gray bars on the left and right of the screen.
Used only as a set top box, there are few of the built in features (such as the Advanced Program Guide) that will be useful to you, except for Caller ID (if you happen to subscribe to that service). When watching a program, if your phone rings, a pop-up box will show you who is calling. Actually, I DO subscribe to Caller ID and I find the feature useful.
To get the full benefit of this box, you will need to subscribe to DirecTV. I don't. I tried running the cable feed from the AT&T Broadband signal through the box to see what it would do, and it actually degraded the picture. The tuner in the Mitsubishi was much better.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
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Epinions.com ID:
petergaryr
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Location: St. Johns, FL
Reviews written: 78
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
Have worked as a DJ, Consultant, Instructor, Course developer,Web Designer & vocalist in band.
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