Several years ago, I made the leap to Hi-Def TV. Got the HD satellite box and TV, surround sound—the whole bit. I have to say I was disappointed. The picture wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it being in the showroom. So I had the satellite guys out. "Nope, that's HD, all right!" Really? Yep. Over the next year, I had two more different sets of sat guys come out for various reasons. Same deal..."Yeah, that's Hi-Def." When you're a TV golf fan like I am, the picture really counts, and the picture didn't look any better than it did on our old TV.
One day my son was over and walked into the room where I was watching a PGA tournament. He said, "How come you're not watching this in HD?" I said, "You don't think this is HD?" He said, "Well, look at it—of course not!" He looked at the back of the TV and told me that I had component cables feeding the TV from the sat box and that it isn't possible to get an HD signal through those. He said I needed an HDMI cable instead. I went shopping.
Holy smokes! With the old cables, I could barely see the golf hole during putts; with the new, I can spot individual grass blades on the fairways. Now I can report on whether Tiger has shaved for the big day.
Well, to make a long story short, you might want to check your cables. Could be that you're not even watching HD on that fancy TV of yours.
— Travis Larson, Senior Editor
To find out more about high-tech wiring, check out:
Tips for Coaxial Cable Wiring
Installing Communication Wiring
Bad TV Reception? Here's One Fix
Component cables, while not digital, can indeed carry 1080p (HD) signal and beyond. There may have been something wrong with your old setup, but this post is flat-out wrong.
Sittingduck is right, component cables can carry HD. I am wondering if your son meant to say composite cable?
Component cables can and will display HD vidoe up to 1080i. HDMI cables carry the video (up to 1080p) as well as digital audio. Most (not all) HD broadcast signals are 480p-1080i but there is a huge difference in the quality of HD cables from different manufacturers and cost is not always the determining factor. In my honest opinion. Monoprice.com has the best qualty cables for a very low price.%0d%0a
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