New 921 install...smooth...

[Grandude]

Received my new 921 yesterday (Thanks Scott) and installation went very smooth after recovering from my error.
Put in position where my 721 was and hooked up with the existing cables which was my big problem. The 721 was hooked to AV input to TV and I hooked the 921s component outputs to this input. Shucks, stupid of me. Got around it temporarily by hooking up RF to my conputer TV/Monitor.
Check switch found all three satellites on both inputs from SW34Pro switch.
Clicked on download software and after around 40 minutes that was completer.
Called Dish and got a knowledgeable tech who activated it and took me through
the various menus to ensure that all was well. He also hung on the line while I tried to figure out why I couldn't get to my Sammy. A quick look behind it confirmed what I had done wrong and now everything is up and running AOK.
Caller ID works. (so far)
Set up to record a SD show from BBC America which looks like it worked.
Ran a scan of OTA and picked up most of the digital channels available to me.
Watched a bunch of HD olympics reruns on 148 and OTA channel 11.

It seems to me that the OTA is much more reliable than my 811.
I really like the 721/921 guide and overall look.
I was surprised to discover that the 921 can recall back two previous channels. Nice touch.

One question left. The manual says that holding down the HD/SD button for three seconds will cause the 921 to output both HD and SD with the HD being only 480p. This doesn't seem to work. I can do this by holding the 'output' button on the front of the 921. Am I missing something?

PS.Don't tell my wife I spent a grand for another box which is just TV afterall!

 

[SimpleSimon]

... One question left. The manual says that holding down the HD/SD button for three seconds will cause the 921 to output both HD and SD with the HD being only 480p. This doesn't seem to work. I can do this by holding the 'output' button on the front of the 921. Am I missing something? ...

That's a new one on me. 921 is not supposed to be able to utput SD & HD at the same time. I just tried it and it worked - BUT, the HD output changed from 1080i to 480p. Understandable, all things (video chip limitations) considered.

Mark, you know anything about this? Is this the infamous "test mode" that should not be used on a regular basis?

 

[MikeD-C05]

IF you hold down the output button of the front of the receiver for a few seconds then it will show both hd in 480p and sd in 480i. This is called the safe mode and I run it on that mode if I am in the computer room and my wife is watching the big hd screen tv in the living room. It doesn't work by holding down the hd/sd button on the remote control. I thought that for a while at first and then read the manual- Duh! There it was in bold print. I guess I should always read the instructions first.

I wish it could work like the 811 and do both sd and hd in 1080i. Oh well I guess the 942 will do that when it comes out. I will be wanting one of those even if I have to lease it. The 921 can go in the bedroom tv then. OF course I will need a new hd tv for the bedroom as well.

 

[markdl]

Yes, that's the safe mode.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Mark: Appreciate the answer, but that's only half of it.

Will/Can it damage the 921 to use "safe mode" on a regular basis?

 

[DishBacker]

To add to Simon's question, if it will not damage the 921, will the remote function be fixed to allow this to occur from remote instead of having to select the 'output' button on the box itself?

 

[Grandude]

I would have a small problem thinking it could possibly damage the 921 by having SD and HD at the same time. Consider that this is the default setting when the box is shipped.
I would also like to have this available from the remote. Would be nice to view a program while you are sending it to a VCR for example without having to switch inputs on the TV at the same time. This was my major annoyance with the 6000.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I think that most of the analog programs on Dish look better in 480p more like dvd quality. Shows from the networks with Dish and most of the variety channels and news stations look pretty good in 480p. With the exception of the premium movie channels like Hbo/Showtime/Cinemax/Starz, these can actually look pretty good in 1080i. I too wish that the 921 can do both sd and hd at the same time like the 811. Notice this is the only thing I liked about the 811. The 942 is supposed to do this but look and act more like the 522 with hd channels thrown in.

 

[markdl]

Mark: Appreciate the answer, but that's only half of it.

Will/Can it damage the 921 to use "safe mode" on a regular basis?

I've gotton different answers from different people, with different reasons for both. So, I'm no longer going to say anything more than if it works for you, and you don't start experiencing strange problems that you can find no reason for, then I see no reason not to use it. But, if you start seeing strange things happen that can't be attributed to other issues, then they might have something to do with the safe mode.

 

[markdl]

To add to Simon's question, if it will not damage the 921, will the remote function be fixed to allow this to occur from remote instead of having to select the 'output' button on the box itself?

I seriously doubt it, as it's not a recommended viewing mode.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I think I'm NOT going to use it. Too much risk for my tastes.

What if having both outputs active generates too much heat for the chip(s) to handle? Of course, I'm assuming that there are chip(s) shared between the two output modes where this would matter, but until I know for sure, it ain't worth it.

 

[BobMurdoch]

This thing is hanging by a thread from a reliability standpoint, .... why invite chaos by doing something that overtaxes the system?

 

[markdl]

Well, I do...

 

[markdl]

I ran my 921 in safe mode all night last night watching the Olympics. I didn't run into any real problems with it, but the 480p output on my HDTV wasn't quite "right"...the 480i output on my other televisions looked normal (by they're all 13 inch screens, so just about anything looks OK on them). But, the 480p image was showing more artifacting and more picture smearing than when I set the 921 to output just 480p normally.

Meaning, I did see some picture degredation in the 480p safe mode output versus the straight 480p normal mode output from the 921. Now, this was only one night of testing, and the satellite signal definitely could play a part in this, so I'm not willing to say this would occur all the time. But it is what I saw last night, directly comparing the two ways to output 480p.