Cheap HD

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

Is that an off-the-air digital receiver like Eric shows, or just satellite? It has a DirecTV card. I'd pick one up as a collectible if I could actually use it, but not a DSS receiver. I have a stack of those waiting 'til I need to cut a cord off them for some other purpose

Charles

The RCA DTC-100 is a combination DirecTV and over-the-air receiver. You can ignore the satellite part of it and just set it up for broadcast use. It has a few unusual features:

-You can turn off the PSIP "virtual channel" feature, so it displays the true channel numbers of digital stations.
-Unlike many other HD tuners, this one has full control of aspect ratios and zoom settings, independent of resolution. (You can set it for 1080i 4:3 mode, for example, good on a few older HD-ready displays.)
-It has one odd feature: It converts 480p signals to 540p, that most HD displays (CRT-type at least) treat the same as 1080i.

If you look for one, try hard to get one with the original remote control. There is one button on it ("fetch", I think) that is useful for switching from HD to SD output, that is not on universal remote controls, nor even on the remote control RCA sells as a replacement for the box.