Good morning!

Came across this thread when I'm browsing across the board in this forum. Just a few quickie questions. Would appreciate if anyone can enlighten me with a few inquiries of mine.

When my Astro B.yond arrives and replacing the current Astro basic unit, how do I play around with the audio? The current unit is using the RCA connector (yellow-white-red cable). For video I'm plugging it in my LCD TV Samsung (LA40B550) with the yellow connector. While for audio, the white and red connectors are plugged into my external speakers. (I don't like the audio coming out from the TV. That's why I use external speakers)

From my understanding, the Astro B.yond uses HDMI cable to connection just like my PS3 system and XBox 360. For these consoles, I've been using HDMI cables for video and white and red connectors for audio, which is connected to the external speakers.

My concern is, can I have the same configuration for Astro B.yond? Meaning to say: I would like to use HDMI cable for video and separating the audio by using white and red connectors?

Appreciate anyone who is willing to share. Thank you in advance.

Regards, Joey

This post has been edited by Joey Christensen: Jun 19 2010, 11:03 AM

I saw one yesterday night about midnight or something on Astro Supersport channel.. Quite funny ad with those people (4 to be exact) with their heads replaced with the "Play, Pause, Rewind, Record" icons.

This post has been edited by Joey Christensen: Jun 19 2010, 01:12 PM

Seems to be similar to my console system set-up. To my surprise, the Astro installer called half an hour ago. He'll be coming over about 2.00pm later today for installation. Luckily the FIFA World Cup is not over or else I'll be very disappointed. It takes two working days for them to get it done since I directly called their Customer Service. The personnel said, "On a normal process, it would take 10 to 14 working days to have it installed." I guess I'm lucky to have it in two working days instead.

Thanks for replying, "kkm". Really appreciate it. Cheerio.

This post has been edited by Joey Christensen: Jun 19 2010, 01:19 PM

Thanks for sharing. I'm reading it now.

You don't have to hack your walls or anything. They'll be using the same cable as before. No worries.

From my LCD TV information window menu, it was shown 1920×1080i

True. I press the "BACK" button to hide the WC Red Button interactive menu whenever I feel it's distracting. Don't go press the red coloured button because that won't change a single thing. The "BACK" button is your answer.

HDMI is the connectivity. How to turn it off? I couldn't understand your question.

I'm waiting for Discovery HD too. Sigh...At the very least, we have NatGeo HD and History HD to boot. It would be nice if those Discovery channels are in high definition.

I guess we just need to keep our fingers crossed for now.

One word to describe it? Subversive. I'm not sure if you have seen three dimensional progammes by using a 3D apparatus. It works fine for me for a couple of minutes but soon after that it's all fuzzy muzzily for me. The flickering of the "3D spectacles" make it worst. Try using a flashlight and switch it on intermittently on your forehead (flashlight facing downward) and you'll find it annoying.

On the side note:

Question One: The resolution pannad out for Astro B.YOND is maxed at 1080i? How do I change it to 720p? I tried fiddling around with the remote control but to no avail. Anyone? Any idea?

Question Two: For the above question, it's not a matter with the HDMI cable that is included with the Astro B.YOND, right? I thought of changing the default HDMI cable with my Belkin HDMI to HDMI cable just to ensure it does supports up to 1080p. Anyone can enlighten me regarding this matter?

Question Three: I'm not sure if it too much or anything, is there any news with Discover Channel in HD? I'm pretty much stressed out with Nat Geo HD & History HD. It would be good if there's an addition to the Learning Package in HD.

2010 has been a great year for me. Especially the FIFA World Cup which just ended recently. My first World Cup experience in high definition. A few noticeable ad that worth to be mentioned. They changed Frank Lampard and Lionel Messi with Fernando Torres. Hyundai ad were exceptionally louder in term of volume. Anyway, it's memorable for me...

This post has been edited by Joey Christensen: Jul 13 2010, 11:04 AM

I think I did that. Didn't come out anything...Maybe I've mistaken somewhere in between. I'll give it a try. I believe the 720p will produce much sharper imagery than 1080i. Progressive all the way! Thanks for the tip.

For the HDMI cable, I was worried that the default HDMI that came with the Astro B.YOND decoder doesn't supports up to 1080p. That's makes me came to thinking of switching the HDMI cables.

This post has been edited by Joey Christensen: Jul 13 2010, 11:51 AM

I fully concur. My iDTV has been configured to automatic calibrate to support 1080p as its optimum resolution output. The only culprit that I can think of is either the HDMI cable or the Astro B.YOND decoder setting.

But since there someone said the settings are just 720p and 1080i, I might configure it at 720p instead of 1080i. True. The setting menu can be viewed with the "HOME" button. I'm still in the office right now but will definitely I'll give it a try tonight.

Ya. You already mentioned it earlier. I want to see if there's difference in 720p and 1080i. The figures just make everything convoluted. I'm more concern about the alphabet "p" and the "i" in particular. Progressive against interlace.