a question about Tivo HD & HDTV

[claire123]

I have a kindergarten question here. I'm a total HDTV novice..

background: recently I hooked up a Tivo HD to my standard run-of-the-mill CRT tv with Comcast's standard digital cable through wall outlet. Presently I get a few channels (NBC, ABC, CBS etc.), but should have full digital cable lineup once the CableCards come.

question: Does the "HD" in Tivo HD mean that it also acts as an HD tuner? Because I'm also thinking about buying an HDTV (and upgrade to include HD programming in the future), I'd like to know if I need to buy either an HD-capable or HD-ready TV.

Thanks.

[wmcbrine]

Yes.

[richsadams]

What wmcbrine said...plus AFAIK there's no such thing as "HD capable" or "HD Ready" TV's anymore. If you do find one that has wording to that effect, be sure they throw in the free typewriter. :) TV's on the market these days are either HD or they're not and most are HD.

P.S. Once you go HD, you can never go back. ;) Oh and welcome to the forum!

[wmcbrine]

There are still displays sold without ATSC tuners, but they have to be sold as "monitors" rather than "TVs", and have no NTSC tuner either. But I think they may advertise them as

HDTV
monitors

Anyway, it doesn't matter for purposes of hooking a TiVo HD to it, since you won't be using the built-in tuner anyway, unless you want to record two things while a watching a third, live program via the TV's tuner, bypassing the TiVo.

[claire123]

so... I should look at the small print and make sure that TV I buy has an ATSC tuner, is that right? Then at least I can use it stand-alone as a television when the Tivo HD box is no long hooked to it.

Thank you all.

[RoyK]

so... I should look at the small print and make sure that TV I buy has an ATSC tuner, is that right? Then at least I can use it stand-alone as a television when the Tivo HD box is no long hooked to it.

Thank you all.

Correct. If it says it is an "HDTV" with no modifier tnen it contains the tuner. the hdtv ready designation was used in the early hdtv days. you don't see that anymore.

[richsadams]

Good advice all around. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything but a normal HDTV in a normal B&M (brick and mortar) store like Best Buy, Costco, etc., etc. I'd also wager that if you asked a typical sales person if the model you're looking at has an ATSC/NTSC tuner their eyes would glaze over. The folks in Costco could probably tell you how many of them fit on a pallet though. ;)

Happy shopping! :)

[richsadams]

... the hdtv ready designation was used in the early hdtv days. you don't see that anymore.So no typewriter? Dang! :D

[GBL]

so... I should look at the small print and make sure that TV I buy has an ATSC tuner, is that right? Then at least I can use it stand-alone as a television when the Tivo HD box is no long hooked to it.

Thank you all.

An ATSC tuner will give you over the air digital channels. Since you have cable, you'll want to also look for a "digital cable ready" HDTV (with a QAM tuner and cable card slot) if you want to be able to watch HDTV channels off your cable (bypassing TiVo).

[RonDawg]

so... I should look at the small print and make sure that TV I buy has an ATSC tuner, is that right? Then at least I can use it stand-alone as a television when the Tivo HD box is no long hooked to it.

A couple of things about this.

First, unless the TV you are buying is used, or leftover stock that is a few years' old, if it has a tuner at all it will have an ATSC/QAM tuner. This is a government requirement. A few manufacturers have circumvented this by simply deleting the tuner, but you are more likely to find this with peripherals (particularly DVD recorders, and DVD/VCR combo units) than you are with a TV.

Second, if you are going to be using this with digital cable, keep in mind that with most cable providers, most of the digital channels will be encrypted. That is why CableCards were invented, to let third party tuners tune in such channels. Unless your TV has a CableCard slot (few do, especially the latest models) and it has a properly provisioned CableCard from your provider just like your TiVo will need, at best it will only tune in the OTA locals. You likely won't be able to get the digital versions of Discovery, History, National Geographic, etc. using a non-CableCarded digital tuner.

[richsadams]

I have a kindergarten question here. I'm a total HDTV novice..

background: recently I hooked up a Tivo HD to my standard run-of-the-mill CRT tv with Comcast's standard digital cable through wall outlet. Presently I get a few channels (NBC, ABC, CBS etc.), but should have full digital cable lineup once the CableCards come.

question: Does the "HD" in Tivo HD mean that it also acts as an HD tuner? Because I'm also thinking about buying an HDTV (and upgrade to include HD programming in the future), I'd like to know if I need to buy either an HD-capable or HD-ready TV.

Thanks.Hi Claire. I thought about you when I came across this article about buying an HDTV today...

http://gizmodo.com/5099489/how-to-buy-an-hdtv-tomorrow-or-any-day

Hope all is well!

[fallingwater]

http://gizmodo.com/5099489/how-to-buy-an-hdtv-tomorrow-or-any-day

I've found that, contrary to the article, plasmas are now often cheaper than LCD's of the same size, although top-of-the-line plasmas are expensive. Unless an unusually large screen is highest priority I'd stick with LCD or plasma displays.

One low-tech but significant characteristic of a TV that isn't covered in the article but which can be easily ascertained in a showroom is to what degree a display reflects ambient room light. Makes a huge difference!