Any FTA receivers capable of doing HD

[stephenw4]

I'm so curious, what FTA receivers that are capable receiving HD channels over FTA and can format the picture to fit in 4:3 ratio that are common on older TVs and output to either composite (yellow RCA jack) or TV out (F connector) so is there any such FTA receivers out there at low end and easy to use since I'm new to FTA Satellite TV.

Thank you in advance!

[elgemcdlf]

No. Every HD STB I have seen is $650.00 +

[stephenw4]

OUCH! Thanks for the answer! Have a nice evening!

[be236]

I saw a post and link at another site for a Viewsat HD receiver to be out soon, supposed to be priced around $350... still high compared to a regular FTA receiver, but if that is true, then you could get those free HBO signals that is in HD in one of those sats listed in Lyngsat. heeh..

[stephenw4]

Okay, as long as I can use a 36" Ku-Band dish since I lives in an apartment so the C-Band dish is out of question!

[wejones]

I'm so curious, what FTA receivers that are capable receiving HD channels over FTA and can format the picture to fit in 4:3 ratio that are common on older TVs and output to either composite (yellow RCA jack) or TV out (F connector) so is there any such FTA receivers out there at low end and easy to use since I'm new to FTA Satellite TV.

Thank you in advance!

Steve's answer is correct when you consider all the different output/format requirements in your question, however I think 2 things should be mentioned. First, I may be wrong, but I think even the $650 receiver isn't produced anymore. I think it is still available though.

The other thing is that Steve's answer specified STB, which is assumed by the requirements for output jacks, etc in the question. However I wanted to make it clear that if output to a TV wasn't an issue, that there are FTA receivers that do HD, but those are the computer card receivers, like the Twinhan. You do, however, need a pretty fast receiver to do HD, and it only does QPSK , not the 8PSK stuff mentioned above.

You can get by with a slow computer if you can network the signal to a box like the ROKU HD1000, but alas those aren't being made anymore either. I send HD to my regular SD TV all the time , although via SVID, as the ROKU doesn't have a regular RCA output. However it comes out with all the people tall and skinny, because of the 4:3 formatting thing mentioned above. After a while you just get used to it, except when it's a football game, and all the linemen look like they have anorexia.

[stephenw4]

Okaqy, okay, I have enough info now, thanks very much!

[stevec5000]

Several PCI cards can do HD. I have a Broadlogic/Vbox ABA2030 that will handle them. You only need a PC that has a 2Ghz Pentium 4 or better to decode and display the picture, pretty common these days. The PC cards can also handle AC3 sound, something a lot of STB units can't do and they are cheap on ebay. I only paid $25.00 for the 2030.