How To Hookup Your HD

Only the component (3 video 2 audio) and HDMI on the cable box will deliver HD resolution, everything else will give you 480i or 480p.If you have multiple cables coming off your box to your tv it's easy to confuse them if you start switching inputs. So make sure you TV is on one of the Hi-Def inputs.

I get this a lot...people complaining that their pictures look blurry on their HD set.Most of the channels you get from cable or satellite are low resolution SD programming. The picture is not as crisp and clear and the colors look a little washed out. I especially hear this when people compare their big HD set with a 27" picture tube set. Well this is a classic apples to oranges comparison. Those same imperfections you see in the larger picture are on the little tv too, it's just too small for you to notice. You're taking a picture with the same amount of detail and blowing it up so now there is less detail per square inch,so naturally it won't look as sharp. Only programs filmed in and broadcast in HD will look crystal clear.

Another misconception is that if you're on an "HD channel" everything is HD,right? Well,not always. Many "HD channels" fake HD by stretching an SD program and trying to pass it off for HD.So you can get a mixture of SD and HD content. A classic example would be you local broadcast station which may have an HD version on the cable line up. Well the news is in HD and many sporting events,with a sprinkle of tv shows thrown in but the vast majority of content is stretched SD.