Testing cable tv signal

[sweetrmarie]

Hi all from Canada, this should be an easy one for those who've worked for cable companies, and others also I guess. My brother just bought an LG 42 inch LCD and says his cable tv isn't the greatest. His older set was worse but thought by buying an upgrade things would be a lot better.
The technician will be coming shortly to hook up a digital/HD box. Will this help his standard cable signal? What type of signals do the technicians/installers of cable tv test for? Correct if I'm wrong but this site is based in the UK? Would that change signal strength parameters? Should I try North American sites? Thanks to all for your help.

[olyteddy]

If there isn't enough signal for analog cable, believe me the tech will bring the line up to spec. Digital cable goes chicklets pretty easy if there isn't enough signal. DBmv is the standard unit of measure, and the target is around -10 to 0 at the set for a good picture. At least that's the case here in the US.

[sweetrmarie]

Thanks for the info bud.

[sweetrmarie]

I finally made it to my bro`s place last night. His hd channels look great but when he goes to a non hd channel, it`s worse than regular cable. If viewed as an insert pic (when viewing guide) it`s ok but as soon as it is full screen, it`s crappy, fuzzy. Anyone know why the regular cable channels are not clear? He`s using component outputs from the hd cable box to the tv. There`s a DVI output on the box also but it doesn`t refer to this output on the instruction sheet. Not being too knowledgeable in the field myself, I thought you had to use either DVI or HDMI to transfer a hd signal from the cable box to the set, not component? Component is not digital where the other two are, using component requires the tv set to convert, no?

[jm1647]

If a person has a cable modem, with most of them it is possible to check the signal strength. On my Motorola I go to 192.168.100.1 and can see the signal strength for send and receive.

[katzdvd]

Hi sweetrmarie,

My experience has been just like you are describing; That is one reason that we have satillite. The non-HD channels are likely plain 'ol analog channels, & there is no way to get a beautiful clean picture that rivals satillite/HD channel with an analog feed.

On the channels that are clean, his HD box is picking up the digital channel feed from the cable company. I have heard folks say that they have cleaned up the analog picture somewhat with in-line amps, etc, but I wouldn't expect a miracle!

Regards, katz

@jm

If a person has a cable modem, with most of them it is possible to check the signal strength. On my Motorola I go to 192.168.100.1 and can see the signal strength for send and receive

That is true. You can go to Motorola's site & get some of that info., or other places on the net.

Most of it is undeciperable (very techy) to me! But you can at least get a feel for the line levels, etc. My favorite method is to simply do a speed test on one of the several great sites out there!

[jm1647]

@jm That is true. You can go to Motorola's site & get some of that info., or other places on the net.

Most of it is undeciperable (very techy) to me! But you can at least get a feel for the line levels, etc. My favorite method is to simply do a speed test on one of the several great sites out there!

True, getting a good speed test result is another great way but looking at the signal strength weeds out a busy internet or site. Parameters for good signal strength are posted for particular modems on the net. Using both is good.

[sweetrmarie]

Hi all and Happy New Year. Couple of questions still bugging me. Is it possible to transfer hd signal from cable box to the tv set using component wires? I thought that it had to be either HDMI or DVI? Will a hdcable box actually make standard channels worse than no box? Will an inline amplifier going to the cable box screw up the hd channels? Bottom line is that his regular channels are worse than before, not all channels that he watches are hd, unfortunately. Cable companies are not there yet. He realizes that hd is better than std but it`s almost not worth watching, and it`s ot because the hd is so much better, it`s that the standard channels have lost some intensity. Thanks.

[katzdvd]

Hi sweetrmarie,

Happy New Year!!!

I would probably wait for the tech to show up, & see what things look like after he finishes connecting all the HD/digital box, cables, etc., before connecting an amp; The cable tech needs to get things set up correctly first.

With all connected properly & a good signal that he should confirm with his test equipment, those HD/digital channels should be very clear; I am not sure if they will rival satillite, but should be pretty close. The analog channels by nature will not look as good. I guess the way I would describe that mine appeared was that they had less contrast, (intensity) & some did have a light fuzzy/snow appearance.

An amp would help those channels by boosting the signal which would result in a more clear picture. I don't know what it would do to the HD signal, if anything...the technician should be able to help you out with those questions.

Again, these are the basic reasons I went w/ satillite; No matter what the cable company did, they couldn't get a good, clear picture for me on the analog channels. On top of that, the satillite was cheaper & offered many more channels! Have had satillite for over 6 years & never looked back!

Hope that helps,
katz

[uufta]

Hi sweetrmarie

Here is a great source for HDTV information and cable etc.
another member posted it here and I have found it really
valuable over the last month..hope it helps.

(Even has a Canadian section..LOL)

http://highdefforum.com/

[RFBurns]

The thing to keep in mind is that even with good signal from the cable co., and a digital box, and a HD television, and even so if the cable co. uses equipment to make the non-digital channels look clean, the hi resolution of the HD television is going to show all inherent noises in analog signals, no matter what "front end" processing is used. About 80 percent of the inherent analog noises are cleaned up by the front end processing, but not all of it.

Never expect an analog source to be equal in quality to a digital source. Great effort is taken to make the analog signals as clean as possible. But there is no way at all to get something extra out of something that has nothing extra other than what is there. It is like expecting blood out of a turnip....grabbing at thin air. Nothing to grab!

[sweetrmarie]

Hi sweetrmarie

Here is a great source for HDTV information and cable etc.
another member posted it here and I have found it really
valuable over the last month..hope it helps.

(Even has a Canadian section..LOL)

http://highdefforum.com/

Thanks, checked out the site quickly and found a thread that looks interesting. Have bookmarked the site. Will be back.

[doctorhardware]

Using component output, it all depends on the cable box, the Motorola cable box I have has both dvi and component outputs on it. I am using the component outputs. I do not have any problems on the non-digital channels sounds like a signal problem.

[sweetrmarie]

Using component output, it all depends on the cable box, the Motorola cable box I have has both dvi and component outputs on it. I am using the component outputs. I do not have any problems on the non-digital channels sounds like a signal problem.

The cable box in question also has dvi and component. What would be the advantage of using dvi?