[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Guys, any help on this?

I'm using a Belkin Gold Series Surge protector. Basically your cable will connect to the in port of this and the out port will be connected to the STB. Working fine till now. Also it has 8 power ports for different devices (I've connected 5 devices including the TV). This should cost you around 1.5k on ebay.
Regards,

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

... By the set-top box end, I mean a device which sits between your dish and the box, to protect it (& the panel) from any surges which might be transmitted by the cable connecting the two. ...

Might make sense when 'cable' is from the neighborhood cable-walla's haphazard cable network (never know when an exposed twisted joint touches an exposed electricity cable), but ...

What surge CAN be expected in the otherwise isolated 10-20m cable between the dish (DTH assumed) and it's STB? If there is, lord forbid, a lightning strike on the dish, no protection device would be enough to absorb that surge.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

I'm using a Belkin Gold Series Surge protector...This should cost you around 1.5k on ebay.
Regards,

Thanks kaushik, I'll check this out!

Originally Posted by DerAlte

What surge CAN be expected in the otherwise isolated 10-20m cable between the dish (DTH assumed) and it's STB? If there is, lord forbid, a lightning strike on the dish, no protection device would be enough to absorb that surge.

What tipped me off in this direction was the following post in the stb thread.

Originally Posted by Monaro

Guys, I have some sad news to share :(

Day before yesterday, I came back home to find out that my tata sky HD+ set-top box 'fried' my 42' Plasma and my BR home theatre system - all connected through HDMI. Another casualty was a standard TS STB, but luckily it was connected by an a/v cable so that saved me a TV.

Apparently, there was some power surge through the dish(?!) and that meant the STBs got fried and took the HDMI connected buddies along with it. I feel devastated, absolutely gutted. Luckily, warranty still covers STBs and the HT.. but TV is more than a year old and would need repairs of more than 15k :( (some plate needs replacing)

The interesting thing is.. I am not alone. Couple of months ago, my friend met with similar fate, when his TS HD+ STB fried his TV and HT. But he didn't lose much sleep over it, as everything damaged was covered under warranty.

Now since its not a rare occurance, I am furious at TATA Sky for not having any safeguard mechanism that would stop this from happening, or at least not affect other connected devices. There is a definite problem with the boxes or the dish/wiring and I was just unlucky to be among the initial few who got to bear the brunt of it all.

I intend to get my TV repaired ASAP and get on with it, but I think I'll still drag them to court to cover my damages, or at least get them to own-up to it.

P.S. - No other electric/electronic items were harmed, so no question of a power line/voltage fluctuation issue. Also, all the devices were on stand-by when this happened.

Originally Posted by khoj

Sorry to learn about your loss. This is what you & your friend need to avoid a repeat http://www.amazon.com/TII-Broadband-...ref=pd_sim_e_9

So, where can I get a similar device in India, or is this an overkill and not required?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

... What tipped me off in this direction was the following post in the stb thread. ...

Unless there is a decent, rational and technical explanation for what happened, I wouldn't go on a WGC with that description. While I don't disbelieve the incident, but knowing what is involved from the dish end to the STB end, I would say that mishap was due to an electrical wire (mains) touching the dish, the RF sensor/receiver or an exposed part of the shield of the cable. The power level involved in the dish sensor is in microwatts (RF), which cannot cause *any* kind of damage. There is no electrical power fed to the dish from the STB.

LOL Even if there is a conspiracy theory somewhere saying individuals are being targetted through satellite control, I will always believe that satellites don't dump 10s or 100s of watts of power into the microwave sensor attached to the dish to cause that incident. One hasn't heard of anyone in Bangalore or elsewhere having had such an incident in the last 10 years of DTH.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

What surge CAN be expected in the otherwise isolated 10-20m cable between the dish (DTH assumed) and it's STB? If there is, lord forbid, a lightning strike on the dish, no protection device would be enough to absorb that surge.

It is straightforward to protect TV against lightning when using DTH. Installer needs to make sure dish is properly grounded.

Most DTH should have a wire in cable that needs to be grounded.

[khoj]

Well it may be overkill for most but having lost the HDMI boards on two panels and two HD DTH boxes, I am definitely installing one. The surge was carried through the signal cable via the splitter to the first set of STB +LCD (these were on) and also to the second STB (powered down & on standby) and onwards via the HDMI cable to the attached plasma panel which at that time was switched off from the wall socket but still got fried, all this within a nano second in a single strike. Better safe than sorry.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

So, where can I get a similar device in India, or is this an overkill and not required?

[Selective]

Folks,

I need to upgrade my Panasonic Plasma (42X50) and I am talking Devi International Bangalore for the best price. Anyone wanna join me?

Last time a group of T-Bhpians joined me and we got the best deal.

Let me know if anyone is interested ASAP.

[akshay380]

Anyone using PS2 on a HD TV? 22" LED to be specific? It works great with PS3. Want to know about PS2.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by Selective

... Panasonic Plasma (42X50) ...

That is an "HD ready" set (720p), not a Full HD.

[Selective]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

That is an "HD ready" set (720p), not a Full HD.

That's right, its HD ready set. Got the quote of 41K. Let me know if anyone is interested.

[khoj]

Err you had me confused for a moment as the X50 went on display here in Dilli a couple of days ago.

I too am looking to buy a 42/46 inch panel and honestly I would rather have the ST30 with it's full HD panel/circuit rather than the HD only X50 but am getting an LCD this time around.

Originally Posted by Selective

Folks,

I need to upgrade my Panasonic Plasma (42X50) and I am talking Devi International Bangalore for the best price. Anyone wanna join me?

Last time a group of T-Bhpians joined me and we got the best deal.

Let me know if anyone is interested ASAP.

[aks_karthik]

I want buy USB WiFi adaptor for my Sony ex520 Led tv. I saw Belkin N150 WiFi Adaptor http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPa...duct_Id=492430
But no idea whether it's working with Sony as it's not plug & play. Needs driver installation to work.
Please let me know the make and model of WiFi Adaptor working in Sony EX 520 LED.

[mjumrani]

I need to test the LED 3D capabilities. What type of 3D does Samsung support? (SBS, HSBS or OU)

[Guite]

As per discussion at hifivision.com, the complete 2012 range of Panasonic has reached Kerela. However it has not reached north India yet. So it seems to be coming like the monsoon. :-) Just X50 and XT50 are available in the brand showroom, both are just HD ready (720p).

It maybe be a matter of time, but there is no clarity of when and approx price. So I have the following questions in my mind, which if anyone can answer I will be most grateful:

1. Will standard resolution content look better in HD ready TV or Full HD TV? I have a feeling it may look better in HD Ready TV because it require less upscaling, so less interpolated pixels.

2. Are the current HD broadcast in India 720p or 1080p?

Now a little different question. Panasonic TVs can natively play most media formats. Using DLNA for viewing video files stored In the PC, will the playing (decoding) be happening in the TV or PC?

[mjumrani]

Originally Posted by Guite

As per discussion at hifivision.com, the complete 2012 range of Panasonic has reached Kerela. However it has not reached north India yet. So it seems to be coming like the monsoon. :-) Just X50 and XT50 are available in the brand showroom, both are just HD ready (720p).

It maybe be a matter of time, but there is no clarity of when and approx price. So I have the following questions in my mind, which if anyone can answer I will be most grateful:

1. Will standard resolution content look better in HD ready TV or Full HD TV? I have a feeling it may look better in HD Ready TV because it require less upscaling, so less interpolated pixels.

2. Are the current HD broadcast in India 720p or 1080p?

Now a little different question. Panasonic TVs can natively play most media formats. Using DLNA for viewing video files stored In the PC, will the playing (decoding) be happening in the TV or PC?

1. If you get a bigger size on the plasma, the image would look soft and bad irrespective of the resolution of the TV.

2. 1080i is the format of HD on my Airtel HD DVR

For Samsung at least it happens on the the PC, atleast that's where the allshare server runs.