How many channels do you have in your cable?

How can I make my digital cable channels look better on my 50" Vizio hdtv?

• I am using an hdmi cord and I have a hd digital cable box from TimeWarner, so I understand i'll only be able to watch HD quality on the few HD channels, which are only around 20 channels. I am aware that digital channels don't look as good as HD channels. I was told that channels 101 and above are considerd as "digital" channels, and 100 and below are still analog channels. My problem is that those "digital" channels still look very poor on my televison. I can't even really see a difference between those analog and digital channels. If I switch to DirectTV or DishNetwork, will there be a better picture quality on those digital channels, such as Comedy Central and USA? I like the idea of having a 50" tv, so would it be better to just buy a huge regular tv than an 50" plasma? By the way, like many people, my XBOX360 games look GREAT, yet when watching a dvd it looks a little fuzzy and pixelated, almost like the digital channels.

• Answer:

  Well there are only a few things that you can do. 1) go into the settings of your time warner cable box (I have one too) and change the output to only 1080i. You actually have to remove the other ones --480p etc. This will show all channels in 1080i not just the hd ones. You can verify this because the 1080i will show up on the cable box when it is in 1080i--should do this in the digitial channels for you. 2) now on the dvd, you didn't mention it, but all you can do is verify that you have an upconverting dvd player. This will take standard dvds (sd) and upconvert them to 1080i or 1080p depending on how far your tv and dvd player are capable of presenting. So if you don't have an upconverting dvd pick one up. You can get a decent on for $69. Also hook it up hdmi if you can (ie your tv has 2 hdmi inputs or more) If not go component hookup (red, green, blue). Don't hook up on yellow, red white. Also you don't have to spend a lot on cables to have a nice picture. By the way the information I provided was based on a scientific atlanta explorer 8300hd hope this was helpful good luck