Three more DTV converter boxes get reviewed, compared

Even though we just know you'll disregard this information until the last possible moment, we'd like to point out that three more digital-to-analog converter boxes have been reviewed over at Sound & Vision. The $60 Zenith DTT900 -- one of the very first DTV boxes to get outed -- was pit against the $50 RCA DTA800 and the $60 Digital Stream DTX9900. Believe it or not, reviewers actually found quite a bit of difference in the three units ranging from looks (clearly) to on-screen interfaces. If you're one to care about the minutiae (and admit it, you are), head on over to see which of these three most deserve your $40 voucher.

[Garst Posted Jun 29th 2008 5:56PM]

I've already ordered one DTV Pal, but the Zenith sounds like it would be better for the kitchen TV.

[aarond12 Posted Jun 29th 2008 9:38PM]

I got the Zenith and am quite happy with it. Yes, the buttons on the remote are a bit small, but overall the performance is very good. It switches channels quicker than my LG HDTV tuner box and you can program it to skip sub-channels (which are typically weather radars).

The author of the linked article mentioned that the 16:9 mode that the Zenith has is not useful. I have to disagree. I have this hooked up to my 12-year-old Toshiba 4:3 CRT in my bedroom. I went online and found how to get into the "service mode" of the TV and squished its vertical size to approximate 16:9.

This also means the DVD player in the bedroom can also be set to 16:9 and get the extra 20% of vertical resolution. (A wide-screen movie has to drop out over 5th vertical line on a 4:3 TV to display in the correct aspect ratio. By forcing the TV into 16:9 mode, I get the full vertical resolution of the DVD.)

[DrXym Posted Jun 30th 2008 4:22AM]

16:9 is usually broadcast anamorphically meaning the vertical lines are identical whether the TV is 4:3. However the set might be letterboxing 16:9 to make it fit a 4:3 set in which case I suppose you'd want to do it. I'm surprised though that it doesn't have a zoom feature to show the centre portion of the 16:9 image and forget the edges. EU boxes usually have such a feature, and mostly the edges just contain redundant information any way because shows would be framed for 4:3 & 16:9 so all the action would be in the centre portion.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 30th 2008 3:45PM]

I am very pleased with the Zenith tuner, I was able to find the DTT-901 with has signal pass-thorugh and fixes that left channel sound bug. It's ability to tune in stations from so far away with just a small set-top antenna is very impressive. I'm using it on a plain bedroom SDTV. The remote is perfectly fine, a little small, but it only takes 1 AAA battery and works great from a distance. You could program a universal one if it's that big of an issue. I have a Samsung HD Tuner (the newer one, HD, OTA, QAM, etc) hooked up to the HD set in the family room and the Zenith is a lot faster and much easier to use. The Zenith remembers the aspect ratio for each channel, the Samsung does not so we are constantly changing it after channel changing, very annoying and I swear I will eventually wear out that button on the remote.
I also ordered a DISH DTV Pal because of the good reviews and has a better (several days longer) channel guide.