Astro To Launch Next Generation HDTV Services Friday

[moeyHC]

Bro niam,

Thanks for the write-up... great pictures too...

HDMI splitter and long cables... hmm this is new to me... I may need a few to get my house wired... these cables are expensive... mega meter long?.. Thirty something?... I thought you are 18 last year... on Bernama TV... Cheers!

Happy New Year!... balancing my account book now to see if I can afford b.yond

[naim]

The astro installer coming petang today to fix Byond - yay!

Naim - what i wanna know is whether the decoder has a second video output - be it coaxial or RCA or whatever. My FullHD TV sits in the gaming room next to the bedroom - dedicated solely to umm .. gaming (my mother in law constantly rants that she cannot understand how a thirty something still plays videogames. Hey! Only adults can afford it ma!)

Mainstream / Astro TV watching all done in the bedroom on a smaller 32" HD ready TV. So i was thinking of having the HDMI signal routed to the FullHD TV and the second signal to the HD Ready LCD. Not sure if it is possible ..

Either that or I get a HDMI splitter - if ever there was such a device. And then i need a mega long HDMI cable .. We'll see what the installer says today ..

Adil, this is the back of the new decoder, the size of a standard Quran .



As you can see, I'm using the single HDMI port and the 2 L-R audio ports (which go to my amp). Not using the digital audio port since I need to configure the decoder to output digital audio only which my LCD can't decode. This enables me to get audio through both LCD and amp, depending on need.

In your case, you can use both HDMI and component (yes component can do 1080 also) to pump out the picture to 2 sets, but there could be a prob if one set can do 1080i and the other set only 720p (you mentioned the 32" being HD-ready, which may imply 720p). Pls check. If both can do 1080 you are fine but if the 32" can only do 720p, then you need to set decoder to output 720p, which is not fair for the full HD biggie.

I know there's 10m HDMI cable, whether can carry 1080 need to ask. Browse at Lowyat.

[naim]

HDMI splitter and long cables... hmm this is new to me... I may need a few to get my house wired... these cables are expensive... mega meter long?.. Thirty something?... I thought you are 18 last year... on Bernama TV... Cheers!

Thanks, HDMI cable expensive only if you get suckered by Monster and such marketing hypes.

The whole thing is digital, meaning got signal or not. No matter who makes the HDMI cable, as long as the bit error rates are low enough and error correction works, a RM40 generic HDMI cable from Lowyat works as well as a RM400 Monster cable. For analogue signals, yes, cable material makes lotsa difference.

[adilothman]

Naim,

Eh how come no fibre-optic digital audio out? My aging AC3 amp supports fibre optic out only and the one in your pic shows like its a RCA type plug.

Oh. The smaller 32 incher HD ready supports 1080p - displayed PS3 and BD discs at 1080p with no problems (cuma its not really really 1080p if we're being anal about it .. u know what i mean ). Now to find a component cable that is lonnggggg .. oh wait a minute .. i think i shall drill through the wall to squeeze them thru (the 2 TVs are only separated by a wall) .. heh heh heh .. but must wait for the Wifey to be out of the house first

[naim]

Naim,

Eh how come no fibre-optic digital audio out? My aging AC3 amp supports fibre optic out only and the one in your pic shows like its a RCA type plug.

Use the 2 L-R audio ports then. Any amp must be able to receive those, but then you miss Dolby Digital 5.1.

Oh. The smaller 32 incher HD ready supports 1080p - displayed PS3 and BD discs at 1080p with no problems (cuma its not really really 1080p if we're being anal about it .. u know what i mean ). Now to find a component cable that is lonnggggg .. oh wait a minute .. i think i shall drill through the wall to squeeze them thru (the 2 TVs are only separated by a wall) .. heh heh heh .. but must wait for the Wifey to be out of the house first

Ahhh ... so one uses HDMI, the other component, decoder set to 1080i. Yes, drilling a hole in the wall for a cable is harmless. It's not like hacking izzit?

[naim]

As you can see, I'm using the single HDMI port and the 2 L-R audio ports (which go to my amp). Not using the digital audio port since I need to configure the decoder to output digital audio only which my LCD can't decode. This enables me to get audio through both LCD and amp, depending on need.

What am I talking about!? The LCD gets the audio via the HDMI, not the audio ports of the decoder. Sorry, I confused myself again! So I'm on Dolby Digital 5.1 via the coax and amp now.

[adilothman]

What am I talking about!? The LCD gets the audio via the HDMI, not the audio ports of the decoder. Sorry, I confused myself again! So I'm on Dolby Digital 5.1 via the coax and amp now.

Is what i thought .. tee hee ..

I set my BD player to output only video thru HDMI and uses fibre for the AC3 signal. When u mean coax - u mean coax carrying AC3 signal and not RCA right? Hmm .. time to wear the face mask and probe behind the dusty amp ..

[naim]

I set my BD player to output only video thru HDMI and uses fibre for the AC3 signal. When u mean coax - u mean coax carrying AC3 signal and not RCA right? Hmm .. time to wear the face mask and probe behind the dusty amp ..

Righto, mate!

[orgsyn]

Mainstream / Astro TV watching all done in the bedroom on a smaller 32" HD ready TV. So i was thinking of having the HDMI signal routed to the FullHD TV and the second signal to the HD Ready LCD. Not sure if it is possible ..

Either that or I get a HDMI splitter - if ever there was such a device. And then i need a mega long HDMI cable .. We'll see what the installer says today ..

You have a ethernet port in your new decoder.

[stimix]

Got mine installed during lunch time. Superb HD quality exactly like playing a Blue ray movie.

Having problem here. I can't use this on my 2nd set LCD bcos no RF connector! So my installer ask me to get the AV-RF converter so that I can hook-up wth my 2nd LCD via the RF remote controller. Hopefully it's works but I do notice that the decorder only provide 1 set of AV socket..If I use that for my Home Theathe system..no more socket for the AV-RF converter..haizzz..