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It's probably a bad wire between your cable box and your TV (this includes VCRs, etc).

Your digital channels should look much better than your analog channels. They don't quite look like DVD, but they should be somewhere in between.

Your digital box outputs a very nice picture, and if for some reason it looks bad on your TV, it's usually just a loose connector or bad wire AFTER the cable box.

Those "push-on" wires that come with VCRs are notorious for doing this. I know we all hate those screw on ones, they are a pain in the butt to use, but use them anyway. You'll notice a difference.

Of course, there's always the possibility that your TV is no good or a connector on the TV or digital box may be bad.

ALSO: Just a recommendation. If your TV has an S-Video input or RCA jacks (Yellow, Red, White), use them for your digital cable instead. It looks much nicer.


Feedback received on this FAQ entry:
  • Q: "What exactly does it look like using an RCA jack? What connects to what?" A: RCA jacks are the same connectors used on stereo systems and other audio equipment to intrconnect the various signals. Using RCA cables bypasses the cable box's RF modulator which is the item which generates the channel 3 or 4 signal and typically causes mild, but noticible picture degradation. Also, some boxes (like my Motorolla DCT-700, used my tons of cable companies) only put a mono audio signal on the RF signal. RCA cables allows getting the full stereo sound, and give you the best possible picture. Be sure to use good cables, with metal connector barrels and not the plastic ones. That also adds quality to the picture and possible the audio too. As far aw wehat goes where, look at the markings on the box. There should be " Video", "Left", and "Right". They are also color coded in a standardized way: Yellow = Video Red = Right audio White = Left audio. (You can remember the audio simply knowing Red/Right. Both the cable box and the TV RCA jacks should have the same colors. Once connected, instead of tuning channel 3 or 4, you would switch the TV to use the "external" or "video input". Infact by switching back and forth, you can directly compare the quality differences.

    2009-09-23 00:57:16 (dlconkey See Profile)

  • Q: "What exactly does it look like using an RCA jack? What connects to what?" A: RCA jacks are the same connectors used on stereo systems and other audio equipment to intrconnect the various signals. Using RCA cables bypasses the cable box's RF modulator which is the item which generates the channel 3 or 4 signal and typically causes mild, but noticible picture degradation. Also, some boxes (like my Motorolla DCT-700, used my tons of cable companies) only put a mono audio signal on the RF signal. RCA cables allows getting the full stereo sound, and give you the best possible picture. Be sure to use good cables, with metal connector barrels and not the plastic ones. That also adds quality to the picture and possible the audio too. As far aw wehat goes where, look at the markings on the box. There should be " Video", "Left", and "Right". They are also color coded in a standardized way: Yellow = Video Red = Right audio White = Left audio. (You can remember the audio simply knowing Red/Right. Both the cable box and the TV RCA jacks should have the same colors. Once connected, instead of tuning channel 3 or 4, you would switch the TV to use the "external" or "video input". Infact by switching back and forth, you can directly compare the quality differences.

    2009-09-23 00:27:55 (dlconkey See Profile)

  • What exactly does it look like using an RCA jack? What connects to what?

    2008-12-19 20:23:11



Expand got feedback?

by Raydr See Profile
last modified: 2002-03-15 09:21:04