11/2/07

Help!  My TV is so complicated, my wife can't operate it!!!

I began assembling this TV in 2000. So little HD programming was available then that I decided to include STBs for every HD source: DirecTV, Dish, C-band, and OTA. This TV is complicated for that reason and one more: I decided that 20 watts per audio channel was not enough. I also decided to make the satellite receivers available to all TVs in the house.

It takes 8 hand-held remotes to run this TV (not counting the remotes for the 4 small TVs). I had a stack tray for them beside my chair with no room on it for anything else. I watched TV with the above diagram sitting on my lap. One night while watching 60 Minutes, I started changing channels just as Andy Rooney came on. My wife said “Why did you cut him off?” I said “Because I only have six minutes to figure out how to get to the next channel.” She said “What do I do if you’re not here?”

A universal remote control now simplifies the task a lot, but she still calls it “the world’s most complicated TV”.

The remote is an MX-700 from Universal Remote Control. I like it because it can learn either of two ways: by downloading IR codes from a computer or by capturing them from another remote. The unit works well, but the company is hard to deal with and I am unsure if I should recommend it. Originally the company said anybody could program this device. But many people found the task too daunting. Then the company said only distributers could program it, and the programming software was mostly withdrawn from the public. But there is no way a distributor could ever understand what I wanted for my system above. (It took me about a dozen tries to get the programming perfect, and I am an expert computer programmer. I have three MX-700s and they are programmed differently depending on what TVs they control.)

How to avoid this

Having a limited budget will certainly prevent this. But the decision that caused the most complication was to have an outboard power amp fed directly from the STBs. Newer A/V Receivers can switch component video and audio, which will simplify operation. Likewise, HDMI switch boxes will switch audio and video simultaneously.

Cable/DVR units and DBS/OTA/DVR units (like the HR20) dramatically simplify the interconnections and the operation of the system. These units seem expensive, but considering how much they do they are actually quite reasonable. You might want to get into HDTV more gradually, but doing so will likely ultimately cost you more and will leave you with a system that is harder to operate.

Another strategy for simplicity is to buy all units from the same manufacturer. This sometimes results in the units fitting together and operating more seamlessly.

Some notes on the above diagram

· Total cost: $16,000

· The Channel Plus modulator puts DirecTV DVR 1 on channel 16, DVR 2 on 46, Dish on 18, and C band on 62 for distribution around the house.

· I generally use DVR 2 for ABC and CBS, and I use DVR 1 for NBC, HBO, and anything else. Together they can record four programs simultaneously, and their combined 600 gigabytes has always been enough.

This page is part of “An HDTV Primer”, which starts at www.hdtvprimer.com