Help me understand the concept of these digital set top boxes......

[quicksilver]

I get cable from my local cable-wallah...the normal co-axial cable which comes out from the wall and into my CRT TV.
Around six months ago,he gave all the people in my building a cheap japan-made
"DIGI-CABLE" box which uses QAM.This box has a co-axial input and a composite video output(R-W-Y),which goes into my TV.
After installing this box,the quality of channels improved exponentially and im getting many new channels too.All good.
NOW....
Im planning to get a 42'' LCD and want to watch regular TV on it.My questions are :

1.Will I get pixelation if i use composite cable on the LCD?Will a VGA port or HDMI perform any better???
Because the signal has to travel through a co-axial cable first(wall port to the digital box).

2.There are no HDMI or VGA ports on the set-top-box.Will any other local box with similar specs(not from the cable-wallah)and HDMI ports work or is there some special coding in my current box that makes it decode the channels?

3.About HD channels like Movies Now......is it really still HD if the signal comes through a co-axial cable?OR does it lose its quality due to this cable?

4.If there is pixelation...is there a tweak to reduce it?(Viewing distance is 9-10 feet).

Sorry for long post and expecting some expert advice....

 

[NetFreak]

Coaxial cable from cable wallah carries two signals:

1. Analogue channels, up to 60
2. Digital streams (same channels in Digital format)

When you connect coaxial directly to TV, TV sees analogue channels and quality would be bad due to noise and signal deterioration.

Set Top Box, looks for digital steams. These steams for encrypted. STB decrypts these and converts to composite / component video + audio output.

Composite cable can carry up to 720P video. So no need to getting a box with HDMI / VGA. Though if you prefer you can buy one online or you can buy a card for PC.

 

[hifimusic]

You haven't mentioned which place you are from.
My friend in Bangalore has a similar set top box for local cable (U-Cable IIRC).
The box supplied was a cisco one although it could be replaced with local ones too - costing about 600 bucks.

 

[shredder]

I get cable from my local cable-wallah...the normal co-axial cable which comes out from the wall and into my CRT TV.
Around six months ago,he gave all the people in my building a cheap japan-made
"DIGI-CABLE" box which uses QAM.This box has a co-axial input and a composite video output(R-W-Y),which goes into my TV.
After installing this box,the quality of channels improved exponentially and im getting many new channels too.All good.
NOW....
Im planning to get a 42'' LCD and want to watch regular TV on it.My questions are :

1.Will I get pixelation if i use composite cable on the LCD?Will a VGA port or HDMI perform any better???
Because the signal has to travel through a co-axial cable first(wall port to the digital box).

2.There are no HDMI or VGA ports on the set-top-box.Will any other local box with similar specs(not from the cable-wallah)and HDMI ports work or is there some special coding in my current box that makes it decode the channels?

3.About HD channels like Movies Now......is it really still HD if the signal comes through a co-axial cable?OR does it lose its quality due to this cable?

4.If there is pixelation...is there a tweak to reduce it?(Viewing distance is 9-10 feet).

Sorry for long post and expecting some expert advice....

Answer
1. Pixellation will be noticeable or unnoticeable depending on your viewing distance. The greater the viewing distance the less will be the pixellation. At your viewing distance the noticeable pixellation will be minimal, unless you have very good eyesight (=like that of a bird of prey). As to whether VGA or HDMI will perform better, it depends on the source. HDMI provides more bandwidth, but it cannot make a bad signal good. It will simply transmit the signal without any loss. So thing to consider is your signal quality.

2. Just go for a HD set-top box. As someone on this forum mentioned aeons ago, initial cost is about the same as a dinner in a good restaurant. Otherwise you will keep trying to make modifications like trying to get 7.1 sound output, 3D output, etc........ and end up spending a lot of hard earned money in the process.

3. If the source is true HD then the STB will also output HD. The co-axial simply carries the signal from the dish. The STB has a decoder which decodes the signal. Like those LEGO toys. You get them in bits and parts in the box (bits and parts in this case corresponding to the signal carried by the co-axial). You put them together to make a wonderful plane or whatever it is supposed to be (the STB is the device that puts the signal together to produce the HD output).

4. Depends on your TV. Most good TVs have a good upscaler which will anyway reduce most artifacts, but if you are not satisfied with the PQ as is then you can adjust things like sharpness, etc.

 

[quicksilver]

Composite cable can carry up to 720P video.

Composite cable(NOT COMPONENT) can carry only upto 480p.....which is what the dilemma is!!

 

[quicksilver]

3. If the source is true HD then the STB will also output HD. The co-axial simply carries the signal from the dish. The STB has a decoder which decodes the signal. Like those LEGO toys. You get them in bits and parts in the box (bits and parts in this case corresponding to the signal carried by the co-axial). You put them together to make a wonderful plane or whatever it is supposed to be (the STB is the device that puts the signal together to produce the HD output)..

However in my case i suspect there is no encryption...because the "smartcard" slot is empty in the STB...all subscribers have the same plan,same fees.The only question is that will a different company STB work?
All this trouble exists because the current one has only composite o/p(which will suck for the full HD lcd).

In any case,your and NETfreak's answer clears up many things for me.....