Comcast HD channels seem kind of dark?
 

Comcast installed their single tuner Motorola HD/DVR box on Saturday. It is hooked up via component cables to a 53 inch Sony RPTV.

The HD channels do seem clearer than the non HD channels, especially Discovery HD. It just seems that the HD channels are somewhat darker than than digital channels ( btw the anolog channels SUCK!)

I have resorted to increasing the TV's brightness (which I prefer not to do, because then the other channels are too bright.

Anyone else notice this issue?

Milpool, it may depend on your TV. For example, my friend has a Grand Wega LCD, and it does appear darker, however, that is the nature of LCD (it's black levels are usually better). The HD channels did seem dark on his Comcast HD service. Have you tried a setup disc like Avia?

HDTV with ATSC uses a different and separate color decoder matrix than SD NTSC. This will cause differences in contrast and brightness as well as color and tint. This is another reason why many people have separate inputs to their TVs for SD and HD. With two feeds you can save different settings for each input on most TVs.

Out of curiosity, if I run a separate feed to the TV (RF/composite/S-Video) will I still be able to "see" the HD channels? I know they wouldn't be in HD, but could still serve as a "preview" before switching inputs.

That would depend on the STB. Some will send a down converted signal out through Svideo or composite while the at the same time sending the HD feed through DVI or component. While othe STB only allow the SD feed from one output and the HD feed from the other.

Thanks for the info. It turns out I am able to receive the HD channels thru the non component feed. Now I can set the brightness adjustments for the HD channels separately w/o torching the non HD channels.

Thanks again!