What is the difference between the T451 and the 260F? I hope that that is not a trivial question, but I can see the 260F specs on samsung.com, but not the SIR T451. Thanks!

I think by reading back several pages I answered my own question. The T451 is an older (obsolete?) version of the same thing?

The 260F uses the 5th Generation LG ATSC chipsets, which provide better multipath rejection and higher sensitivity. The performance difference is quite noticeable in side-by-side tests from what I've read. Mind you a person's location might make the difference undetectable if they are in an excellent reception area such as Brampton/Mississauga/Oakville ON.

Well, it's back and working again. If you look back a couple of pages on this thread, you'll see that last Feb I zapped my Samsung 260F with static electricity when I touched the indoor antenna. From the scratches around the antenna inputs on the case, I guess they removed and replaced the rf input assembly to fix it.

We also zapped a portable computer around the same time, so we're planning to get a humidifier next year, as well as grounding the antenna.

The repair looks competent, and getting the RMA was no hassle other than being automatically routed to the Canadian office by the 800 number. Tell them right away that you need the US office.

The real problem is that they require a US shipping address to return it to. This is ridiculous: I shipped the box to the New Jersey repair depot ($15 CPS), they fixed it and sent it to my relatives in Seattle who then sent it back to me in Toronto (US$21 USPS, but that was air express which they paid because they're sweet).

Then customs decided the item was new and charged me $10 GST and $8 handling. Arrgh! On the back of the customs form is a simple rebate request which I sent in along with the repair papers; who knows, I might even get that $18 back.

So after 2 months I've got the Samsung back. It was a hassle but worth it.

Great news blaz! Thanks for the update!

Previously on this thread, it was suggested that I use a grounding block on my indoor antenna with the ground wire going to the power bar's ground.

Now I just noticed that my receiver has a "AM Loop Antenna Ground". It would be a bit neater if I just used that. It too should be connected to the power bar ground, no?

In answer to ASA's question, my Samsung 260F has the same numbers that he reported on the previous page.

I was just about to send you a PM blaz. Thanks for the info. :)

Anyone else?

Samsung Electronics Introduces Digital TV Receiver With Unprecedented Performance

SEOUL, South Korea
BUSINESS WIRE

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced that it has designed a new digital TV receiver chip, the S5H1411, enabling digital TVs designed for the U.S. market to receive both vestigial sideband (VSB) broadcasts and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) cable signals. The new chip operates on 20 percent less power than competing devices on the market today, making it well suited for portable products such as the USB Dongle or USB box.

"Our development of a digital TV receiver chip that boasts the industry's best performance demonstrates Samsung's leadership in ushering in the digital TV era," said Dr. Do Jun Rhee, vice president, channel development team, System LSI Business Division, Samsung Electronics. "From the third quarter of this year, we expect to install the new device in digital TVs bound for the American market, strengthening our competitiveness and standing there."
http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=138578

Is this to compete against the new 6th gen chipset from LG ??

LG Electronics Launches Sixth-Generation ATSC Digital TV Broadcast Receiver Chipset (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-17-2007/0004567324&EDATE=)

Yes, they appear to be direct competitors.

I just discovered that I'm getting Rogers QAM (through their home phone service). Is it possible to feed QAM and OTA into the same input on the new Samsung box? If not, how would I go about doing this?

Thanks.

No it isn't. As said elsewhere on this forum cable and OTA both use the same frequency bands and they will interfere with each other. If you try, some of the signal will feed backwards and cause problems for your neighbours as well. Unless your TV has separate Antenna and cable inputs, the only ways to do this are to use an A/B Switch or to use separate tuners.

My follow-up question, then, is whether it's possible (or practical) to save both qam and atsc stations on the tuner at the same time. That is, if I used an A/B switch, would I have to rescan every time I switched sources?

As said elsewhere on this forum

Believe me, I look for answers before I post. But with the amount of information on this site it's not always possible to find the relevant thread, let alone the single post within that thread that answers my question (assuming, of course, that such a post exists). :o

No problem timmy1. It is often difficult to find what you are looking for if you don't know what to search for. That is why I don't mind posting the same things a couple times. For more information check out the thread OTA Splitters/Attenuators/Filters/Diplexers/Cabling/Other Signal Gear (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42428).

Thanks Roger1818. I looked at that thread and downloaded the manual for the 260F. From the manual, it looks like the 260F has switchable cable/antenna modes. So I suppose if I used an A/B switch to connect QAM and OTA to the tuner, I could save the QAM channels in cable mode and the OTA channels in antenna mode, and then easily switch back and forth between these modes.

This seems like an ideal solution for me -- no signal bleed, minimal OTA signal loss, no extra equipment (besides the tuner) since I already have an A/B swith. Am I misunderstanding anything here?

Reading through the Samsung H260F thread on another forum confirmed that I can save QAM and ATSC channels separately with no need for rescan.

The 260F uses the 5th Generation LG ATSC chipsets, which provide better multipath rejection and higher sensitivity. The performance difference is quite noticeable in side-by-side tests from what I've read. Mind you a person's location might make the difference undetectable if they are in an excellent reception area such as Brampton/Mississauga/Oakville ON.
Comparison of the SIR-T451 and the DTB-260F

I have one of each. From my location, I can't tell the difference performance-wise - I get the same channels with virtually the same strength.

Some of the things I like better on DTB-260F:

- ability to access subchannels directly
- much neater/more complete display
- QAM tuner
- better program guide

Some of the things I like better on SIR T-451:

- no need to switch the aspect ratio when switching between HD and SD sources. most annoying feauture of the 260F for me! example: In Toronto, when switching between 7-1 and 7-2 forces me to hit 2 buttons - one for the channel, one for aspect)
- on-screen display when attached via s-video (260F doesn't do this - only displays via component video or hdmi)
- display on the front of the box - the front of the 260F has nothing but a blue "power on" indicator. Given the on-screen display point above, when connected via s-video, you are working totally blind!)

I'm at Bathurst and Hwy 7 (Thornhill Woods).

I bought a DTB-H260F as part of my baby steps to OTA.
My TV is an old Sony Trinitron (4:3). It has S-video and composite
inputs.
I should have read up more on the H260 cause I didn't know
the OSD does not work with S-V or composite. Rats. :-(
It is pretty well unuseable to me long term.

Short term, got to play around with it.
Hooked the Y cable to a video-in for a black and white picture with OSD.
With just a Silver-Sensor, I got 5-1, 9-1, 25-1, 57-1, and SunTV/66-3.
After the channels were set up, I hooked it all up composite to composite.
The picture is awesome compared to analog.

Another weirdness: I can only get true aspect ratio if I set it to
4:3/480i/letterbox, at which point I get a black frame all around the
picture. I get pillar AND letterbox!

I'm now sold on OTA but down on the Samsung.

Unless... anyone hear if Samsung is going to fix the OSD issue
and/or the funny letterbox issue?

I would doubt they are going to fix it. I imagine it was intentional for some reason.
From another ,... ahem.... "source":
You have Y, Pb and Pr.

Y is your monochrome component (same as S-Video Y).
http://www.vdr-wiki.de/wiki/images/e/ef/Svideo_pinout.gif

Converting PbPr to C is much more difficult. You need an NTSC encoder to modulate PbPr over a 3.58MHz subcarrier. This would be a hardware box.

Probably better to get a new TV.
But continues with a possible work-around:
I do not specifically recall the brand, but I saw one DVD-Recorder that was able to accept component video and output the movie through S-Video.

Given this, I imagine that a cheap used DVD-recorded with a faulty drive (@ ebay), could still be used as a cheap component to S-video converter.
I think you're right. Consumer-grade adapters are really poor. It's best to make this conversion electronically rather with a passive adapter. A decent used DVD recorder is likely the best way. There are also plenty of used TV's around with built-in inputs that wouldn't require these adapters.
I have no idea whether this would actually work. A newer tv would likely solve a lot of problems for you.

A new TV would solve the technical problem.
But my 30" Sony Trinitron is in excellent condition.
I'm thinking of getting rid of the Samsung DTB_H260F (considered the
top HDTV tuner) and buying an LG LST-4200a (also highly rated).
Although the Samsung is available at US BestBuy, not sure where
to get the LG. Have to do some digging.