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Official: 6120 Thread

131K views 495 replies 176 participants last post by  SJ44 
#1 ·
This thread is for 6120 owners only to post observations, questions or notes about the Bell 6120.

The 6120 is the newest HDTV receiver which replaces the ExpressVu 6000.

For more information about this new receiver please read this thread.

This thread is for owners only who'd like to discuss issues with their new receiver or have practical questions about it. Posts asking about where to get it or what's it like will be deleted in order to keep the thread relevant to owners.
 
#2 ·
My new 6120

Well I hooked up the new 6120 today and on first observations I,m pleasantly surprised. I have it hooked thru DVI to my Toshiba 57HDX82,and audio is routed thru an Anthem AVM20 pre/pro.

My television has been ISF calibrated (which greatly helps btw.) and first I tuned to the HD channels. The picture to me anyways seemed overall better than previously with component not eyepopping differences but subtle.

Regular digital stations on my set anyways were noticibly clearer.
Than I scanned for my ota stuff and picked up all my Buffalo stations plus Toronto 1 from Hamilton transmitter. Heres where I noticed the biggest difference. Most of these stations almost look Hidef,the only difference was the sidebars.

I was very pleased in that respect,but as of this post none of the stations show any programme info. The guide is obviously better than the 6000 was and you dont lose audio and video in guide mode.

It was very simple to setup, and easy to move around in. All in all I,m very happy with the 6120 so far. The DVI cable I use is a Belkin 10' dual link cable and is working fine so far,purchased at Future Shop.

Well gotta go and play around some more :)

Cheers:

BLT
 
#6 ·
Re: My new 6120

BLT said:
Well I hooked up the new 6120 today ... I scanned for my ota stuff and picked up all my Buffalo stations plus Toronto 1 from Hamilton transmitter. Heres where I noticed the biggest difference. Most of these stations almost look Hidef,the only difference was the sidebars.

BLT
Can you ellaborate further on your OTA HD reception please. You say that most of the stations look almost HiDef - how are the hidef ones?

Are you still not seeing any of their programming info in the guide?
 
#7 ·
All the Buffalo stations are hd with UPN and WNLO supposedly going later
this year. Yes the hd stations look very good.

There is no info in the guide yet for locals. It is supposed to be rectified in the next firmware upgrade,but do not know a date as of yet.
 
#12 ·
Well,

Received my 6100 today from ExpressVU direct. In my opinion the quality is superior to the 6000 right off of the bat.

The ability to view SD and HD at the same time with the SD upconversion over component cables is unbeatable. Simply use the +* button to adjust your aspect as you move to channels with sidebars and vice versa; no need to hook up a S-Video cable in my opinion.

The included component video cables are identical to those shipped with the 6000 and are more than adequate in case any people are interested. I tried Monster Premium cables and could notice absolutely no difference.

Like others have noted the receiever does have a door and a card slot but that is not used. The "CAM" revision of the imbedded smartcard is 2C0 and is a Rom 102 which is supposedly the new encription system "nagra 2".

I did a quick scan of local channels using my Silver Sensor antenna without any amplification and right off it pulled in WNED and it's sub channels the HD sub channel was crystal clear.

So far my only beef is the BS that ExpressVU expects us pioneering early adapters of HD to foot the bill for the future and will not allow the HD them pack to be included in any Super 7 or Ultimate 7 package.

My next move I think is to purchase a Winegard "Square Shooter" and see what I can pull in OTA. Anyone have any experience or know of anyone with any experience with this antenna.
http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm

SatGuru
 
#13 ·
SatGuru said:
The ability to view SD and HD at the same time with the SD upconversion over component cables is unbeatable. Simply use the +* button to adjust your aspect as you move to channels with sidebars and vice versa; no need to hook up a S-Video cable in my opinion.

SatGuru
I only use component for SD and HD with my 6000. It automatically adjusts the SD channels to Partial Zoom when in HD mode.
 
#14 ·
peano,

I only use component for SD and HD with my 6000. It automatically adjusts the SD channels to Partial Zoom when in HD mode.

I found the SD quality unacceptable through component on the 6000. i am pretty sre the SD upconversion is much better in the 6100 than in the 6000.

SatGuru
 
#19 ·
tonto,

I ordered my Square Shooter from a1components.com. I called Winegard and talked to an engineer before I made my purchase. The technology as he explained it to me sounds promising. I will report my results. With a little more tweaking and turning as the Silver Sensor is directional I also pulled in Fox 29 as well.

SatGuru
 
#20 ·
Recieved my Model 6100 + 20" Upgrade Kit yesterday.direct from Bell via Express Post to BC. Im using this receiver with a Toshiba TN50X81 4:3 HDTV, with Monster Video 2 HDTV cables and Monster Optical Cables. The 6100 is being routed through an 1154 A/V Component Switcher.

Everything works great so far. Here is a list of cool things i like about it.

Banner Browser / Interactive TV Guide
---------------------------------------------------------------------
- Very fast Banner Browser search

- Very fast Interactive Guide(IG) page up/down search

- The IG can have an Picture-In-Picture(PIP) of the show youre watching or go full screen without the PIP

- Zero wait for show stats when using the INFO button in the IG

- Can search ahead in the IG for 2 days, without having to access the satellites for more info


HDTV Setup Options
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Over-The-Air HD channel access built in

- 2 prefrences for 4:3 HDTV output, 1 for 16:9 HDTV output

- A variety of Aspect Ratio controls for each preference

- Stretch, Partial Zoom, Full Zoom, Letterbox(Black Bars), Letterbox(Grey Bars), Normal

- DVI or Component outputs

- Stretch and zoom modes on Standard Definition(SD) outputs (like Composite and S-Video) with an HD channel

- SD shows are upconverted to 1080i on the HD channels. Giving them a slighly sharper and more colorfull PQ

Summery
----------------------------------------------------------------------

There was about 6 real HD shows and 4 pay-per-view movies in HD from the 23 HD channels i have access to last night. Some shows repeated a few times throughout the night.

Some shows looked great, especially HD-Soundstage on PBS. Sheryl Crow in a small venue was excellent. Had the best video clarity and the best DD5.1 surround quality of the night.

Steven Kings Hospital mini-series had excellent DD 5.1 surround, as good as any movie ive ever heard on DVD. The video was very clear but dark.

I found that the best HDTV setup for PQ is the Stretch mode in 4:3 preference #2. Though it crops the picture to full screen.

Letterbox in preference #2 is a great widescreen look, but some motion artifacts can be seen. Example on Jay Leno last night, his striped shirt would blur slightly whenever he moved rapidly. This occured only on this show and did not happen in Stretch mode.


Its not so much that HD looks eye popping great, as much as the SD channels now look bland/blurry.

Well hope someone can get a few answers from this, especially people who still own 4:3 HDTV.

EDIT: Add A/V Switcher ability
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 6100 also has two composite inputs in the back for either a VCR or Video Game Console or whatever. They can be used like an A/V Switcher.

By going to channel 000, u can get the "Back Panel Display Inputs" options. This acts exactly like an A/V Switcher for whatever u hook up to the back of the 6100.

When choosing one of these Inputs it bypass's the regular Satellite tv and displays/plays whichever Input u pick through the DVI/Component/Optical Outputs
 
#21 ·
Audio Problems with 6100

I hooked up my 6100 the same as my 6000 except for the DVI connection.

I am using the Optical digital connection. On some of the channels I receive no sound at all. After spending an hour on the phone with Expressvu they finally figured out that not all stations will work in dolby digital. They suggested trying a RCA connection. Rather than do that I set the Dolby Sound to PCM only. This fixed the problem.

I find this rather strange since my receiver can detect the difference and everything worked fine on the 6000. The only other thing that could have happened is something went wrong with my receiver, perhaps the DSP chip is not working.

Anyone else have audio trouble with the 6100?

Another surprising thing, the CSR at Expressvu was excellent, she went above and beyond to try to solve the issue, the best service I have ever received. She did come out and say that they have received no training yet on the 6100, considering that she did an amazing job.
 
#24 ·
Im using an Optical cable for the sound on my 6100 and have had no problems. Does your Surround Receiver have an Auto Format Mode ? This allows it to change to any signal coming in on the fly.

As for your ITV issue. Have u subscibed to this channel in your package?
 
#25 ·
I read on a Dish Network site that audio issues are very common with the 811 model, Expressvu 6100 model.

It seems to depend on the optical cable and the type of audio receiver. Most people can only get it to work in PCM only mode. It is speculated that the receiver uses a weak or non-standard digital audio signal. It could also be a software bug and be fixed in later software updates.

So if you get Digital optical output to work on this model, it is pure luck.

If you go to Dbstalk.com they have lots of information on the 811 bugs.
 
#26 ·
DishPRO hardware:

Just to let everyone know; the 6100 will owrk with DishPRO lnb and switches but will show up as unknown and will not successfully pass a check switch.

I called ExpressVU and talked to a manager in engineering and she said that although they do collaborate on software with Echostar there is no guarantee that the same compatabilities will be unilateral between the 811 and the 6100.

They are aware that some of us prefer and do use Dishnetwork hardware that ExpressVU does not and they are looking to the future to develop a wider array of compatabities.

I also made them aware that the same 49% bug exists on some OTA channels using the OTA tuner as does on the 811 Dishnetwork receiver.

SatGuru
 
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