One of the channels I have found problems with is Citytv HD. The normal channel is fine but the HD channel is out of sync a lot. It's still off and on though.

I can't for the life of me get the SA 3250 to connect through dvi to the hdmi port on the Samsung DLP.

Is this a firmware issue, I can't even see the Auto-DVI option in the menu system. (This includes when i only have the dvi and no other video cables attached)

Is the PVR box better quality (either audio or video or both)? Component out on the 3250 is ok, but I would like to see what the DVI out can do

Please see the Digital Home FAQ "Tips for SA STBs". Run the setup wizard and you should be fine. Only have the one type of video cable connected. Sometimes people have to run the setup wizard using component video first and then simply plug in the DVI cable.

Are you using a DVI-HDMI cable, or do you have an adaptor? Sometimes people who use adaptors have problems. Also unplug/replug the cable a few times to ensure a good connnection. See the Digital Home FAQ "Things to check first".

As 57 says, run the setup wizard, Advanced Setup. The auto-DVI appears after you choose DVI setup as a way to connect to your DVI device. It appears when you select MENU twice on your remote and then select PICTURE FORMAT.

I'm interested to hear if you have the same issue I have -- a momentary error message that appears saying HDCP error, etc. but then disappears. I'm certain this is related to the software version 1.52 that Rogers is still using.

As 57 says, run the setup wizard, Advanced Setup. The auto-DVI appears after you choose DVI setup as a way to connect to your DVI device. It appears when you select MENU twice on your remote and then select PICTURE FORMAT.

I'm interested to hear if you have the same issue I have -- a momentary error message that appears saying HDCP error, etc. but then disappears. I'm certain this is related to the software version 1.52 that Rogers is still using.

I have done this, (getting into picture format menu), auto-dvi does not appear for me. I tried this with just composite cables and then just the dvi-hdmi cable that I have, in both cases I don't see the auto-dvi as an option. Is it possible that Rogers has this port disabled on my box (they said it isn't, but you never know I could have gotten an older refurbished box), how could I check this?

How are you connected when you start the wizard? Is it component?

Once the wizard is completed, you press SETTINGS twice, go to Format, and you should see Auto DVI, then the DVI connector is active. Component output is no longer active.

Do you have the Scientific Atlanta User's Guide?

I have read the scientific atlantic manual cover to cover, i know the auto-dvi option should be appearing but it is not.

I tried the setup with just component connected and I don't see this option. When I only have my dvi/hdmi cable I can run the wizard and then when I am done it craps out and gives me a signal not supported option. I can't even bring up the menu to see if the setting is available. When I go back in with component the option is still not there. I have tried hard rebooting in all scenarios with no luck.

I have a brand new samsung 7178 1080p set, I am wondering if there is a problem with the handshake HCDP? between the set and the cable box. My pc DVI-HDMI with the exact same cable into the exact same hdmi port works great.

It may be the HDCP. I get a brief alert message, but then it works. The DVI output does look slightly better than the component output. The auto DVI option should still be there, whether it works or not.

What options do you get?

You will have a hard time getting a response from Rogers. I eventually ended speaking to a Rogers support guy in London, ON and he appeared to be the only one that knew anything about DVI. All the other times, they take the easy way out and say they don't support it.

I get everything except the auto-dvi option.

Is there a better box I can get from Rogers? How is the pvr? Can I buy a third party box that is better quality that works with Rogers?

Hi...
I have Rogers 3250 and KFE42A10 hdtv.
When I view channel 7 on rogers, there are gray bars left and right.
Also when I change channels ( from 7 to 8 for example ), the screen goes gray an dthen the new channel is displayed.
Can I set up to have black instead of gray?
Is this something that can be done in 3250 setup?
Also I don't have any closed captioning when using component cables.
I noticed that if I use svideo or composite I get closed captioning.
Thanks.
I have the same question. Is it possible to somehow set the bars on the left and right so they're black instead of "dark" grey?

"Dark" is black on my SA8300HD. Grey on the 3250HD is annoying.

In the settings menu (press settings twice), look under "set TV borders". You have a choice of light, medium, dark. However, these STB borders are top/bottom, not the sides. The sides are set by the TV on SD channels (using passthrough) and by the broadcaster on HD channels.

I'm using fixed 720p over DVI. (1080i looks very good, but the menu guide for this 3250HD flickers very slightly on 1080i. No flicker on 720p.) Unless I'm not misunderstand this, the TV sets the sidebars at black, not grey. The reason I say this is because with my analogue 480i 4:30 SA3200 (non-HD) source, the sidebars were black. Furthermore, if I set the 3250HD to medium, the sidebars change colour to lighter grey, and on light it's very light grey. So the grey side bars are definitely coming from the box.

P.S. To my surprise, my Mac sees the Firewire ports on the 3250HD. I had thought these Firewire ports were inactive on Rogers equipment.

Does anyone have links for getting video off the unit through Firewire on Macs offhand?

Or could it just be that the ports are "active" but useless? I hope not...

OK, I guess in the event you upconvert 480i to 720P, then the STB will do the sidebars. Do you have acceptable PQ doing this instead of using Passthrough or Upconvert1 (to 480P for 480i channels). See the Digital Home FAQ "Tips for SA STBs"

Yes, you can "see" the firewire ports (a hardware function), however, they are not active on Rogers (a firmware function)

OK, I guess in the event you upconvert 480i to 720P, then the STB will do the sidebars. Do you have acceptable PQ doing this instead of using Passthrough or Upconvert1 (to 480P for 480i channels). See the Digital Home FAQ "Tips for SA STBs"

Yes, you can "see" the firewire ports (a hardware function), however, they are not active on Rogers (a firmware function)
480p doesn't work properly over DVI on my setup. 480p from my computer (640x480) works perfectly, but 480p from the 3250HD gives me a picture with a small amount of the right side of the screen cut off.

480i doesn't work at all over DVI on this setup.

BTW, I really can't stand the settings menus for the Scientific Atlanta hardware. In their attempt to dumb down the settings, all they do is complexify things IMO.

P.S. Yeah you're of course right about the Firewire. I tried AVCBrowser and it does not see any cable box on Firewire.

Is the SD PQ better via DVI at 720P, or via component video at "passthrough/upconvert1"? Was the HD improved via DVI over CV?

Is the SD PQ better via DVI at 720P, or via component video at "passthrough/upconvert1"?
Yes. The difference between analogue SD on component and upscaled SD on DVI is quite noticeable on this Dell 26" W2606C (http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33199&page=2).

Was the HD improved via DVI over CV?
Yes, but the difference is less obvious. ie. HD over component is very good, but HD over DVI is spectacular. However, HD over component has the "benefit" of mild overscan, which means that I don't see the closed captioning data that I see on HD over DVI for some shows/channels. I don't know if it's the TV or the box that is doing the overscanning.

So I plugged in this box to a Digimate 37" DGL3704 (http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36808&page=3) via DVI and I could play nothing. The box senses that the TV does not support HDCP, and locks it out.

This is different behaviour from the Bell 9200 box, which will happily play stuff via DVI, including HD.

I'm told that broadcast video isn't HDCP protected anyway, so perhaps the Bell box senses this? Just wondering.

HDCP (see below) is only applicable to DVI and HDMI (display connections) and has nothing to do with the broadcast.

Broadcasts are protected by broadcast flags, which are not yet legal, and by the 5C settings of STBs for various channels. These are different from, and not to be confused with, HDCP. See the Digital Home FAQ "Recording HD".

Perhaps the 9200 doesn't have HDCP enabled, which would be strange for an HD STB. Devices capable of HD should have HDCP enabled on DVI/HDMI outlets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP

You should have received a message on the TV when you used the SA3250HD that the TV was not HDCP compliant. If you didn't see this message and simply got nothing, then the connection was not correct.

I had been using the DVI port to my JVC 52inch ILDA TV since 2004. The Roger tech always say do not use the DVI port.

In many occasions, the signal transmitted from Roger especially NBC does not focus and lot of run off. Called them 3 to 4 times before they had their knowledgeable tech fixed it. Most of the time, poor PQ is not the box rather it is the transmission signal from Roger itself. Though the front line techn may be very nice, they just do not know what the hell you are talking about. Moral of this is to call roger to find whether they are tinkering their signal..

Several weeks ago the DVI port died on me but the component still works. Exchanged a new unit..turns to be dead on arrival.

Got another one..work fine.

You should have received a message on the TV when you used the SA3250HD that the TV was not HDCP compliant. If you didn't see this message and simply got nothing, then the connection was not correct.
Yes. I got the message. I tried it with two boxes, the 3250HD and the 8300HD.

BTW, is your 3250HD warm when it is off? My 3250HD seems to put out a fair amount of heat even when it is off. It works just fine though. I'm assuming the heat is from the power supply.