V+ Installation Adventures - no Scart / Dell 2407 WFP

[Andersonm82]

I thought I would share some interesting experiences in the hope that it can help others This is with an SA box, gotten through the free install / £49 box option.

I didn't have a TV when the tech came around, so he couldn't set it up.

I got my Dell 2407WFP out of storage, and hoped that would help. Unfortunately, using a DVI splitter to use the HDMI in didn't work, component (yPbPr) didn't work, and for some reason, any button whatsoever pushed on the remote control caused no change at all to the front of the V+ box! Needless to say, rather frustrating.

Last problem first: After I reset it a couple of times and pushed a channel button, the displayed channel number after about 10 seconds. It then got more responsive, down to a normal of about 1 second. Just keep resetting and trying I suppose.

HDMI not working was a pain. As far as I have explored, the 2407 WFP *refuses* to work with 1080 cable settings, which I believe may be the default setting on the V+ box, hence why the screen was black from the beginning. I tried this using a DVI/HDMI simple converter plug (£10).

Once it's all up and running though I was able to get DVI/HDMI quality by choosing 720 in the menu, giving a working but green tinted screen, and then changing the colour option in the monitor menu, then scale up the picture. This gives by far the best picture quality regardless, much better than component IMHO.

Component worked as an interim step once RCA was up and running. I'm not exactly sure why.

The first step however was to get a SCART to RCA cable. The connector on the back of the screen was just labelled VIDEO, and the cable might say VIDEO OUT or have a switch between in and out. This worked straight away, and cost £5. Then go into the settings menu, and switch to component or 720 HDMI.

And if someone can tell me how to get 1080p onto the 2407, I would be grateful

[spiderplant]

Too late now, but if you can't see a picture you can change the video mode using the front panel buttons. See the link in my sig for instructions. It's poor that the installer didn't either use that method, or bring in a TV from the van.

The default setting on the HDMI is 576i. The V+ doesn't support 1080p.

When you couldn't get a response, there was probably a menu on the screen that was waiting for you to press OK or something. It's normal for it to take 10 minutes to get up to speed after a reboot.

And lastly, welcome to the forum!

[Fuzzy-Felt Bloke]

Reading this thread and noted this comment from the above reply

"The default setting on the HDMI is 576i. The V+ doesn't support 1080p"

Is this true, I've just bought a new HD TV and waiting for a V+ to be installed next week, I'm going to be really ***** off if this is true.

Can anyone confirm this.

Thanks

[Ben B]

All HDTV broadcasting sources (sky,freesat,virgin) are 1080i not 1080p

[Fuzzy-Felt Bloke]

So it seems it's pointless buying a 1080p TV for watching HD cable TV, they don't tell you that at the store. Now I feel ripped off.

[BenMcr]

You do know they don't actually make 1080i TVs?

It's either 720p or 1080p

So it is still worth getting a 1080p to watch 1080i HD signals, plus Blu-Ray, PCs and some Games consoles do support 1080p

[Andersonm82]

There's some handy info on 1080p on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p

So Blu-Ray and consoles will give you the full 1080 lines. Computers can always use the max resolution.

I can't say whether 720p upscaled to 1080p looks better than just 720p displayed, although it certainly won't look worse.

There's also a future proofing factor - I would guess 1080 is what transmissions and storage will be taken towards at least over the next several years.