Then they'd have to reverse the control so that turning it "up" increases black level.

Or think of it as setting the IRE for black... higher is brighter.

New firmware on the SA3250HD - must have come in last night since my box reverted to "fixed" for the first time in a while.

HD 1.0
Flash 1.52.6.a3
App 4.1.0.27 (interestingly, I think this used to be 4.1.1.7)
SARA 1.52.6.a3 (was 1.52.6.1 and 1.52.5.d2 before that).

I wonder with issues this has cured.

Same here! Probably just some settings changes as opposed to a whole new firmware, because my box has not been booted since the last update in March. It was reverted to Fixed though which I think happened at about 2AM last night.

New firmware on the SA3250HD

Actually the previous firmware update already brought us up to 1.52.6.a3. Check the old thread here:

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13352

M23

Whoops :oops: I guess I mustn't have written that iteration down on my piece of paper, or updated the first post in this thread... Thanks M23

Turned on the STB tonight and it had reverted to fixed again. This is getting annoying. Last night I thought they had pushed new firmware, but that was not the case. Perhaps they're simply making minor changes that don't affect the firmware version, but do cause the STB to reboot. Pain in the butt though.

I can just imagine what this is doing to "regular" customers who don't frequent forums like this, and the number of service calls created...

A good universal remote control replacement is the Harmony SST-659. It's able to poweroff all 7 pieces of my equipment with just one button press (with no macro programming). Very easy to program, but you must have an Internet connection.

3. Improper/No Zooming.

Edit - This issue also appears to be resolved as you can now stretch & zoom all the HD channels.

On certain HD channels the Zoom function doesn’t work. The stretch seems to work on all HD channels. Channels that do not zoom are: 277, 278, 287, 289 and I also could not zoom Ch. 280 when the All-star hockey game was on - can zoom with the preview currently running.

I've noticed that recently TSN (278) & Discovery HD (289) do not zoom again, only stretch. Zoom looks the same as normal. Reboot doesn't help. Anyone else noticed this?

Yes, I also have noticed this problem on TSN-HD (278) in my area.
ABC-HD (281) and CBS-HD (282) are OK.
PS: Only get these 3 HD channels in my area.

Note: The TSN-HD stretch mode problem is now fixed in my area.

Was driving around today in Kitchener, and decided to stop by my local Rogers store, and lo and behold, they had 4 3250HD's in stock (Ottawa and Westmount location), so I rushed home, ripped out my 3100HD, and brought it into them to be replaced. They did it with no questions asked...actually, I had an entire sob-story about why I wanted to swap it out, but the guy behind the counter seemed to think I needed the new one more than even *I* did...(OK, perhaps not)

Anyways, I read through this entire thread, just to see what other people thought of the box, and I have to say that I do, in fact, find it a bit more sluggish than the 3100, which surprises me...since I assumed it would be more responsive...

However, that being said, the positives I've noticed with the box far outweigh the negatives. I love the ability to finally stretch 4x3. My TV won't stretch 1080i material (only 480i), which means I have to switch to a different input to watch SD channels.

The optical output is nice (though not using it right now, using the coax for the time being), and assuming the DVI port works, will be fantastic when I upgrade my TV to the 60" Panasonic LCD TV later this year. (well, hopefully!) (using a 34" Toshiba HDTV right now)

I guess that's about it. Fairly pleased.

Don't post here very often, but visit the site regularly, so I apologize if I've violated some rules by replying to this. Hahaha...

You may want to check out the FAQ on SA STBs. There are some hints at the bottom regarding the 3250HD.

You shouldn't have to switch to another input to watch SD channels since they can be sent as "passthrough" or "upconvert1" and should still be stretchable on the component video connection.

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=57

...find it a bit more sluggish than the 3100...
This might just be because the box is still downloading guide data in the background since it's new. Perhaps you'll find it more responsive tonight.

And make sure you leave it off for a while each day - some people tend to leave the STB on all the time, as I used to do for the 3100HD, but with the 3250HD you get better response and updating if you have it off for at least an hour or two per day.

M23

I upgraded my 3100HD to a 3250HD STB. I'm using Pass-through and have enabled all 6 modes in the setup wizard. I have a Hitachi PRTV which supports 1080i/720p/480i/480p modes of input. When I watch SD (480i mode) channels and press the # button to stretch/zoom, there is no stretch and the zoom changes the mode to 1080i. Changing from pass-through to fixed seems to add stretch.

Should I have the 480i and 480p STD modes enabled thru the wizard. Also I would appreciate any advice on what the best settings are for a Hitachi RPTV...53swx10b.

Thanks...

1. When I watch SD (480i mode) channels and press the # button to stretch/zoom, there is no stretch and the zoom changes the mode to 1080i. Changing from pass-through to fixed seems to add stretch.

2. Should I have the 480i and 480p STD modes enabled thru the wizard.
1. This is normal.
2. See the FAQ on SA STBs - near the bottom are some hints regarding setup. I use upconvert1 instead of passthrough.

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=57

I ended up raising the brightness on my Hitachi a few points after switching from the 3100 to the 3250.

Also, don't be surprised if it switches back to "fixed" from passthrough or upconvert1 every once in a while...

Thanks 57. On your 3250HD setup do you have all 6 modes enabled in the wizard or just the first 4 (ie not the two standard modes) ?

See item 5 in the first post of this thread. If you want to see 480P on your TV you need to enable 480P Standard. (I want to see 480P because I have my STB set to "upconvert1" which sends 480P instead of 480i to my TV)

The unfortunate side-effect is that there is the "mad scramble" when changing to the Fox ED channels from the true HD channels as the TV changes format. Since I rarely watch Fox, I simply avoid those channels.

I believe the only mode I have disabled is 720P because I prefer to surf past all the true HD stations without the "mad scramble" associated with the format change from 1080i to 720P, which would happen a lot on Rogers while going from 280-281-282, 289-290-291. I also found no difference in PQ by doing this.

So it looks like you can only stretch 1080i signals on SD channels. This includes the Fox HD channels (I haven't had the chance to try Fox HD Widescreen).

If you set all the SD channels to 1080i and the 720p channels to 1080i (so you don't have to wait for the TV to change modes) then you're in 1080i fixed mode.

When the SD channels are in 1080i mode then the S-video out is better. I also noticed that the colours are a little green on SD channels that are upconverted to 1080i.

Lastly, I can't make the Fox HD channels display right in any mode but 1080i. They end up with grey bars on all 4 sides in 480p.

Pulling my hair out........ :)