Ok, I've even re-read some of this....yet I am confused by your last post. Are you still using a non-HD cable box with coax connection?

I'm not sure what you want or need, but here's a thought or 2:
You need an HD cable box. Until you get that, all bets are off on the widescreen issues you see. Once you get the HD box, your TV will likely give you better options as it will be receiving a better signal. (the TV detects what it is receiving and gives you different options for different resolutions) Then, if you can't figure out what works best, ask again. But the setting should probably be called Widescreen or 16:9. And both 16:9 and 4:3 shows should look proper with the HD box and TV set properly.

Thanks Spiky, I'll wait until I get the HD box from cablevision and see how that goes.

OK guys, I got my HDMI cable in today. Right now I have both the regular AV cables and the HDMi cable hooked up to the DVD player.
Switching btw the two I notice a difference in color, the color is a little better on the HDMI. But when it comes to the picture quality, i don't see a difference. In fact, the picture quality is a little worse on the HDMI. I'm getting lines down my TV with the HDMI that I don't get with he regular AV wires.
I'm thinking it's my DVD player (Phillips DVP-5960)
http://reviews.cnet.com/video-player...-31871079.html

It has upscaling but when I push the button, i don't see a difference. i don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if i should just get a better DVD player??

also turn the sharpness to 0, makes a HUGE difference

Turned the sharpness to 0, didn't see too much of a difference, but thanks for the advice. I guess I'm just expecting too much. I thought the video quality would be better.

Philips does not make players with good video quality, they make players as cheap as possible. It's upconversion is probably no better than your TV's. That is why you don't see a difference. The color being better is a major step if you can see that instantly without much practice on video analysis. That is a major improvement, although some ignore it for some reason.

If you want to get into seriously caring about your video, you'll want to look at better players. A new TV can't fix what Philips gives you.

With all the crap you have been looking at and analyzing, I think HDTV will be a revelation once you get it. The HD boxes usually cost little or zero more than the regular box, get them out to install it.

Thanks Spiky, I'm picking up the cablevision HD box tomorrow. Is there a certain DVD player you can recommend I get? I want the best video possible. (without spending a crazy amount of $)

Depends on what you call crazy. The $300 Toshiba A2 plays HDDVDs and is an excellent DVD upconvertor according to all reports. The $2000 Denon BD player will be better on both DVDs and HD discs when it starts shipping.

On the cheaper end, Sony and Panasonic usually have models around $100 that should be a bit of an upgrade from the cheaper model you have now. I'd say go for the A2 at this particular point in the market.

so blueray players play dvd's as well? I didn't know that.

Ok, I just got my HD box. I have to say the HD channels look much better than the standard channels, but there is two things that are annoying me.

Now I don't have the option to make standard definition TV channels wide. I know this distorts the image but I thought it was still better a little distorted than having the gray bars on the left and right sides. I wouldn't mind if the bars were black, but the gray is very distracting

I thought all HD channes were shot in wide screen?? Only a few of my HD channels fully fill the screen, the rest leave the bars on the left and right side. Is this normal?

Actually, my DVP642 does pretty darn good, considering I got it for $50 and it's ages old. And my sub-$100 Panny 5-disc changer does quite well too. :shrug:

Of course I'm not going to watch movies on my DVP642 forever, and I'm waiting for the A3 models to be released in October, but might get an XA2 shortly if the price is right.

Once firteen88 watches an HD broadcast from channels such as National Geo or an HD recorded broadcast of a live music event on MojoHD (I think that's what it's called) he'll be pleased.

Some expect HD quality from their DVD players when an HDTV is purchased, but the most a person can expect from this situation is a slightly better picture, and less stair-stepping in particular scenes because of the progressive signal. Other than that, I will agree, a person needs to upgrade to a recent technology HD player or a specialized DVD upsampler. I don't really recommend DVD upsampler players because for the price you'd be better off buying an actual HD DVD player from Toshiba for $200-$300.

I take back what I said. HD doesn't look pretty good, it looks AMAZING. WOW I watched the yankee game and was switching from HD to SD and couldn't believe my eyes. I was also watching click which was better quality on HD then my DVD. What's this MOJO channel?

Should be Channel 701. MonstersHD on 777 [;)] rocks too.

http://www.mojohd.com

I didn't really like it at first until I had about 15 minutes to just sit down and relax. And I was hooked. HD brings the performances to a different level. It's like having the artist in your living room--or close to it anyway. I don't watch the channel all the time so I think it has "fillers" but the performances I've seen are worth the wait.

They are not full time HD. You are probably seeing SD material.

Had one from this series for my SDTV. Made me cry. Gave it away. Sorry, I don't think we are looking at the same things. I have a Pioneer that is far superior which was $80 or so. And I won't even bother comparing my good player to a Philips.

How do you like the TV so far, I have been looking at it. Do you have any problems or regrets.

TIA

I love the TV. I've had no problems with it. The HD channels look amazing!

Most cable boxes will allow you to change the 4X3 side bars from gray to black. Just go into the set up menu on the box and you should be able to change them. Gray side bars are awful, I agree.

Awesome! I changed it to black. Thanks for the heads up!!

How are the speakers on the Vizio? Do they produce decent sound?

They produce DECENT sound, not great. I plan on getting surround sound anyway so it's not really a big deal for me.

Did you go into you dvd player menu to change your output from 480i to 720p? Your dvd player might be still outputting a 480i signal on your new hdmi cable. I have a sony dvp-ns75h that can output from 480i to 1080i. Your manual should tell you how to change to output signal.

cool thanks, I'll check it out. I went through all the settings and didn't see anything for that but I'll recheck.