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I am thinking about getting this box and I have a couple of questions.
First off as I change channels from 480i to 480p to 1080i sources will
it auto format change or do I have to do that manually? Tied to that
will it auto change from 4x3 to 16x9 when I go from SD to HD feeds.

Also my set is a 4x3 HD set, so I see SD in full screen, and I see HD
content with a small black bar on the top and the bottom. Will this box
display a full raster on a 4x3 set when watching an SD signal?

Last off is this box good. Before I drop $400 I would like to know that
it will last for a good number of years. I do not believe in disposable
electronics?

Thanks

Zax

The box outputs the resolution you have it set to - it up or down rezs
the output appropriately and adds grey bars as needed. If you tell it
you have a 4X3 set and set it to 480i, it will show 4/3 480i sources
full-screen and it will down-rez 16X9 1080i sources to letter-boxed
480i. If you tell it you have a 16X9 set and set to 1080i, it will
up-rez 4/3 480i sources to 1080i and show it with gray bars on each side.

The Tivo interface and capabilities are great. There's been other issues
- the initial shipments had a high percentage of HDMI failures, but I've
heard they have that fixed. I got mine within the first few months after
it started shipping, and I've had two hard drive failures. In both
cases, DirecTv replaced the defective unit with a refurb unit at not
cost to me (other than being w/o the unit for a few days).

This unit hasn't been out long enough to know how long it will last, but
that probably doesn't matter - DirecTv has announced they'll be
converting to a different modulation scheme to handle local-market HD;
this will require a different receiver. It'll take several years to get
there, though - and this unit should be able to continue to receive SD
content and local digital even after that transition.

Jeff Shoaf wrote:

The box outputs the resolution you have it set to - it up or down rezs
the output appropriately and adds grey bars as needed.

Also: You can set the bars to grey or black, as you prefer; and you can
toggle them on or off (i.e, switch between pillarboxed and
full/stretched mode) while watching, via the "Ratio" button. (AFAIK,
this only works with SD material.)

If you tell it you have a 4X3 set and set it to 480i, it will show 4/3
480i sources full-screen and it will down-rez 16X9 1080i sources to
letter-boxed 480i. If you tell it you have a 16X9 set and set to
1080i, it will up-rez 4/3 480i sources to 1080i and show it with gray
bars on each side.

And if you tell it that you have a 4:3 set and set it to 1080i or 720p
(like the OP), then you may have a problem. I haven't tried this myself,
but I'm told it doesn't correctly handle a 4:3 HD set. Others say it
handles them as well as can be expected, given that HD is 16:9 by
definition, and 4:3 HD sets are an abomination. ;-) Worst case, you'll
either have to manually change back to 480i for 4:3 material, or else
watch it in "postage stamp" form.