Written by Don Reisinger
Posted Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 12:00 AM PT

Six Steps To Get More HD From Your Scientific Atlanta Set-top Box

If you are currently getting your cable TV from Time Warner Cable or Comcast using a Scientific Atlanta 8300 cable box, then you have an HD cable box that can do a lot more than its default settings. Out of the box, the cable box is set to pull video at a handful of resolutions (480p and 720p), but with a few minor hacks you can really trick out its capability. Here’s how:

Step 1: Turn off the power to the box and hold down the “Guide” and “Info” buttons at the same time.

Upon holding the buttons down, you’ll be brought to a page that welcomes you to the set-up and asks you if you’d like to proceed.

Step 2: Press the yellow “A” key on your remote to proceed with configuration.

This will take you to a new screen that allows you to configure the box via “Easy Mode” or “Advanced Mode.” I’ve used both and the only real option here is “Advanced.”

Step 3: Press the blue “B” key on your remote to enter the “Advanced Mode” menu.

If you’re following this guide and you’re using an HD box to do it, you’re likely viewing shows on a 16:9 screen.

Step 4: Choose the “Wide-Screen Mode” option by pressing the blue “B” button on your remote.

Next, the set-up will show a screen that explains the procedure. It basically says that it will run through screen resolutions. If you can see an image on the screen, your HDTV is capable of viewing video at that resolution and you should select it.

If the screen is black, you won’t be able to view it and you shouldn’t select it. For example, if you have a 720p/1080i HDTV, you won’t be able to view any content in 1080p, although you won’t have to worry about that on cable shows just yet.

Step 5: Start running through your the resolutions.

At this point, the operation becomes quite self-explanatory. Start with the lowest resolution (480i) and start testing each with the blue “B” key. If you can see the screen, select it and move on. If not, your HDTV doesn’t support that resolution.

Step 6: Complete the set up by pressing the “Exit” button.

Now that you have found all of the resolutions your box can pump through your HDTV, you’re ready to go.

Believe it or not, this actually works quite well. After configuring each of my HDTVs, the picture quality noticeably better, all due to my box’s ability to show video without conversion. I have very few complaints.

One thing to watch out for, though: Once you set this up, the cable box will need to switch resolutions to match the source signal. Because of this, your HDTV screen will blink through black with each channel change. This is not an issue and will not harm your screen.

Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who covers everything from Google to HDTVs. He currently writes for over 15 popular technology publications, including CNET’s Digital Home, InformationWeek and Future Publishing in the UK.

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Topic: Hardware

Comments (53)

I have Cablevision in NY and just picked up the same box last week. In the installation guide they show you how to run through this procedure after you hook up all the cables. Not sure why the other companies using the same box don’t point it out.

Allan Bressler — 7:10 AM on December 15, 2007 Reply
Any tips for improvments on other boxes? I have a Motorola DTC6416III with Cox Cable.

Thanks!

Jered — 9:03 AM on December 15, 2007 Reply
don, i too am on long island, NY with Cablevision and just got the box. thanks for the advice.

what’s amazing to me is that savvy consumers have no clue that they need to use special cable connections and reset their TV.

Much obliged! It looks great.

Andy

andy plesser — 7:17 PM on December 16, 2007 Reply
i held down the 2 buttons and nothing happens…i tried it with the box on and off…any suggestions?

Sahu — 9:36 PM on December 16, 2007 Reply
This is great – I’ll give it a shot as soon as I get home!

Thanks,

Andrew

Andrew Baisley — 7:38 AM on December 17, 2007 Reply
Hey Sahu,

Try unplugging the box from the outlet and plugging it back in after about 30 seconds. Once rebooted, press both the buttons with the power off. Let me know if that works.

Don

Don Reisinger — 4:56 PM on December 17, 2007 Reply
No luck on a Time Warner SA 8300HD. I unplugged from the wall for 30 seconds as well…let it boot up…then tried the 2 buttons. Nothing happens. Anyone else with Time Warner experience this? Perhaps the lock out this setup.

Justin Walther — 12:37 PM on December 18, 2007 Reply
I have this box on Time Warner in NYC. I can already choose from 1080i, 720p and 480p with the built-in settings so I’m not sure how useful this hack is. I only enable 1080i and have the box upscale. I’ve noticed that after power outages this setting seems to reset itself and all formats are enabled. This means a flicker when switching between SD and HD channels as my TV has to do the scaling.

Dan — 12:51 PM on December 18, 2007 Reply
The 8300HD uses at least two types of software. The two widely distributed versions are “SARA” by Scientific Atlanta, and “Passport Echo” by Aptiv Digital. If you press the play button and you see a yellow triangle marking your current position in the program, you have SARA. If you see a line with the time above it, you have Passport Echo. This hack doesn’t seem to be included in Passport Echo. This is probably because the output options are always available in the Setting menu with Passport.

Kevin McKee — 2:02 PM on December 18, 2007 Reply
I also had no luck with a Time Warner NYC SA 8300HD. I just got it a week ago. Nothing happens when I hold down the 2 buttons with the power off.

Sam K — 9:17 PM on December 20, 2007 Reply
Time Warner customers using the new Navigator software Take Note: This ‘hack’ doesn’t work with Navigator. Time Warner, in their infinite wisdom (or patronizing view) have decided that their customers are too dumb to work this out, so they have completely disabled the ability to change resolutions. If you are using HDMI (and lets face it, if you want HDTV why wouldn’t you) then you cannot set any resolutions. The STB will select it for you automatically. This is very unfortunate because when you have a 1080p capable TV, it would be nice to output everything at 1080 so that screen resolutions and aspect ratios will display properly. The only option to get around this is to dump your HDMI cable and connect with component. Then you are “allowed” to select the resolution yourself.
Hopefully someone will come up with a REAL hack that can re-enable the resolution setting ability that the 8300HDC actually has on-board.
I really cannot understand a company that deliberately disables a machine so it is ‘dumbed down’ for their customers.

David M — 11:49 AM on December 27, 2007 Reply
Help! My Sony DVD Recorder only has composite-in (R,W,Y). That means I will be using composite-out from the cable box, into it. Am I losing valuable HDTV or HDMI signals from the start? Even though the DVD-out goes on to include more choices: optical digital audio-out, hdmi-out, and s-video-out, do the HD or HDMI signals filter through and go on to produce an HDTV picture? Or, am I killing myself from the start? Do I need a better DVD recorder?

Pat — 3:34 PM on December 29, 2007 Reply
hOW DO YOU RESET AFTER DOING THIS and you dont want the black screens?

ED — 6:03 PM on January 7, 2008 Reply
These instructions will NOT work for the 8300HDC. What is curious is how you obtained an 8300HD now, as 99% of the rest of the country who has Time Warner is being forced to use the HDC with the new “Navigator” software. The real story here, and what i find interesting, is that I can find NO refrence to how unhappy customers are with this software. I think that major news media, and even major news bolgs such as ones from CNET, are afraid to report on this disaster. Go ahead Don, investigate. Then try and publish the story. You will be blocked.

Mitchell — 4:41 PM on January 19, 2008 Reply
This is the HD Setup Wizard, nothing more. It’s referenced in the documentation that comes with it.

Eric — 1:08 PM on January 27, 2008 Reply
Yes, you can get this at the Scientific Atlanta website.
Unfortunately my 8300HD can not bring up the setup
wizard. I called Time Warner and the tech said it wasn’t possible. Unfortunately, my component video inputs are 480p and 1080i, the hdmi/dvi are 480/720/1080, but the
only resolution the box puts out is 480p. So the tech is
coming next week.

Pete — 11:45 AM on February 6, 2008 Reply
Piece of crap the SA Explorers are. The UI is totally bush league. It’s laughable. TiVos, DirecTVs, Dish Network/Bell ExpressVu blow this most basic dinosaur technology away. Wake me when you CAN tell me how to hack to get free channels. Zzz….. (7+ year-old “technology”)

Corey Carrier — 1:58 AM on May 2, 2008 Reply
There is an instruction booklet that goes over this process in quite detail – therefore I wonder why it’s being referred to as a hack here, it’s more like a setup wizard than a hack – if you go into the menu while you’re watching tv you can set picture format/display as pass through and this will usually not make the flicker happen when it converts the signal, seems to be more seamless – should also be noted that in most cable systems HD boxes do not output HD signal through Coax cable – to answer any past or future questions on issues with dvdrecorders and such and picture qualities -

Joe — 5:34 PM on May 6, 2008 Reply
Has anyone figured out how to get to the “Settings” menu when using a Comcast remote (which doesn’t have a “Settings” button)? Thought perhaps there was a key combo that would bring it up.

Jeff H — 7:26 AM on May 11, 2008 Reply
Found an answer. For Comcast remotes, hit Menu twice to get the General Settings menu.

Jeff H — 8:11 AM on May 11, 2008 Reply
i have time warner cable in kansas city mo and i have an 8300 dvr box and i it has the new navigator software witch i hate because it is not as easy to use and i did what you said but when i turn off the power to the box and hold the info and gudie buttons down nouthing happens does this matter wather our not if it is an 8300hd our 8300 i dont have hdtvs yet so i dont have the 8300hd box just the standard 480p sdtv 8300 the outher thing is i see that in the book that came with both of my boxes it has one front usb port and one rear sata port how do i hook up an exterinal usb hard drive our sata drive to use as more storage for the dvr when the dvr hard drive inside the box gets full in the book it says that is what the usb and sata ports are for but time warner does not have them activaded so how do i activat them can any one help please?

benjamin stroud — 3:26 PM on July 27, 2008 Reply
I just got an 8300HD box from Cablevision. In response to the comments from December about nothing happening when the Guide and Info buttons are pressed, note that the “hack” photo above (taken from Cablevision’s guide) shows the buttons being pressed on the box itself (pressing the corresponding buttons on the remote did not work for me; you have to get off of your couch and go to the box).

Michael — 7:22 PM on July 27, 2008 Reply
I have this box. My TV is a 1080P. When I am watching programs I can press the “INFO” button on my remote and see the resolutionn that is being recieved by my TV from the SA 3800HD. I already get some channels at 1080i and 720p from the SA 3800HD. I assume that there is no point in going through this process. Am I wrong?

David F — 4:06 PM on September 10, 2008 Reply
If your TV is reporting 1080i on some channels and 720p on others, then it’s probably set correctly. (To others, an important menu option is to set preference “Set: Picture Format” to “Auto DVI/HDMI”, otherwise it will always output in a single format (1080i by default); if it’s set right, AUTO will display in the LED display on the front of the unit.)

George S — 3:19 PM on September 14, 2008 Reply
I am not sure if this did anything for me, but…….. It was cool to see a new menu screen! Actually… I think it did tweak my screen. Things looks nice! Thanks!

Russ — 8:07 PM on October 20, 2008 Reply
hi, i live in NYC and Long Island, tried to bring my time warner scientific atlatic 8300 dvr out here for a while, i am a cablevision of long island subscriber,, anyway to hook this up without getting in touch with my cable out on long island, in other words, will my time warner 8300 work out here?? hacking or real set up?? HELP!! thanks…vikki

vikki — 11:25 PM on November 4, 2008 Reply
I am in oklahoma city which is a cox cable area. Dose this work on cox cable. thanks for any info.

Bob Sauerwine — 1:02 AM on November 5, 2008 Reply
Awesome! Thanks for the help!

Eric — 4:46 PM on November 18, 2008 Reply
Has anyone had any problems with the SA-8300 freezing up while watching recorded programs.It requires me to completely reboot the DVR then restart the program from the beginning. I’m trying to figure out if I have a defective box

Carl — 8:39 AM on November 29, 2008 Reply
- problems with the SA-8300 freezing up
  i find this happening when the reset comes from grande’s office at 0300 a few times 0330 0345…0300 is the constant, watching live or recorded shows the same>> note on reboot hit yellow c remote key to kill the interactive updates and off you go/ Have fun. mark/Waco
  
  TimberbeastWaco — 1:43 AM on August 11, 2009 Reply
Carl – yes, my SA 8300 started doing that about a week ago. Tech support had me reboot the box to fix it the first time. Since then, I’ve been able to get by the subsequent lockups by simply waiting them out (usually 30 seconds or so). I found it to be the case that it only locked up when I was watching one program and another program was recording at the same time (the recorded program would stop recording after the lockup). However, I only had this issue for a couple days since I’ve since replaced my 8300 with the 8300HD (since I got a new TV). I’ve only had the 8300HD for a day so I don’t know if it has the same problem. I find it funny that you recently experienced the same problem with the 8300… maybe it’s not the unit?

Paul — 1:01 PM on December 3, 2008 Reply
I am having a very unusual problem that just started a couple of days ago. I recently bought an LCD HDTV and went to my local Comcast office to get the Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD DVR set top box. A Comcast installer came out and connected everything and even concluded I needed a house amp to boost CATV signal. About 4 hours latert he set top box just died. Comcast came out again and replaced that with a PACE HD box and the same thing happened just after 4 hours of use. I would really like to know what is going on here. Do these HD boxes require some more or less electricity from the A/C outlet or is there too much broadband signal from the house amp. Please help, I am getting to whits end. Thanks

Paul — 5:38 AM on December 11, 2008 Reply
if the hack thing aint working press the settings button on your remote then right click on your remote to you see display the go up to output resolution and press select.the setting with the dot next to it is the settings that are turned on.go to each one and either click select on your remote to turn it on or select to turn it off.i have a 1080p hd tv and the only setting i have on is the 1080i and every channel i put on says 1080i on my box picture seems to be alot better than befor when some channels used to say 480 or 720.you dont need to hack your box

robby — 12:57 AM on December 13, 2008 Reply
also above output resolution are aspect ratio and picture size you might find these helpful also

robby — 1:01 AM on December 13, 2008 Reply
I have a few questions. maybe you can help.
The cable guy hooked up our SA HD-DVR today to our LG HDTV, but the picture is fuzzy. He suggested trying an HDMI cable, but I can’t get that to work.

When I plug the HDMI cable in I lose video and the audio comes and goes every few seconds.

I tried changing the resolution, but no luck.

Even with the component hook ups, should the picture really be this bad?

It’s not the TV, because when we watch a movie through our PS3 the picture is AMAZING.

Jeremy — 6:31 PM on December 19, 2008 Reply
Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD – Comcast in Memphis, TN – Why does the Harddrive churn all the time? Really annoying at night in the bedroom….

John — 3:23 PM on January 1, 2009 Reply
I have an SA 8300HD. The sata port has something blocking it to prevent any from being plugged in. I have 3 different (e)sata cables and I am unable to plug any of them in my unit. I have a usb 2.0 to esata hard drive enclosure. Is there a way to use it as a 2nd storage rather than the sata port on back? My unit has a usb port on the front. I have Brighthouse (time warner) here in tampa bay fl.
computerchuck

Chuck Quenzler — 5:23 PM on January 31, 2009 Reply
- I have Brighthouse in Tampa w/8300HD I got a Western Digital World Book for cable upgrade, different than the computer World Book. Plugged it into the rear SATA of box. I think I may of had to reboot the cable box twice but it worked fine. Went from 80% to 16% It’s now in use over a year with no problems.
  
  Paul — 5:15 AM on August 17, 2009 Reply
Can the SA 8300hd be reprogrammed with a new SAB number? I acquired (legal purchase) a STB and would like to program it with the identity of my current box. Does anyone know how to do this?

eric — 12:44 PM on February 13, 2009 Reply
Thats not a hack, thats the way the technician is supposed to connect it if he does his job correct

Damian — 12:38 PM on March 13, 2009 Reply
for years we have had motorola cabel box’s. yes they have had problems till they produced a better one.this exploer 8300 hd,is the worst.We have had 5 box’s since Febuary 2009., and to-morrow we will get our 6th.T-warner tecs. keep telling us they know there has been more complaints then any other.This seniors apartments are only two years old,slowly going to dish.I have read all the complaints from new york to cal. Now do you have anyother excuses that why your product is no good? We have been told that t-warner cannot install the new motorola because of the area,we told them something is wrong,and 40 of us familyes from the 500 homes lost in nov. fire are going to ask the fcc,city councel,and the state,why t-warner is holding us to takeing only your cable box. do you have a hand in it? We live in porter ranch cal.

harold constantine — 7:07 PM on April 13, 2009 Reply
Hi…I also am trying to download some things I recorded and I noticed I do not have any recording features as mentioned in the manual. I know the older version used to allow you to but this box (SA 8300HD) doesn’t. I’ve asked Time Waner techs and they all say it’s not possible to use the usb port. I tried setting up a DVD recorder but that didn’t work either. It seems a waste of time to try to record to VCR and then to DVD. How am I supposed to save the information that I would like to hold on to? Please help.

Lene in Mt. Vernon, NY — 10:14 PM on April 14, 2009 Reply
Suddenlink here, and it works perfectly. Thanks for this amazing tip!

Coyote — 3:01 PM on May 7, 2009 Reply
The usb port charges things just like a normal USB port good for charging the IPOD or cellphone or anything else that can be charged via USB

Kaz — 5:57 PM on May 21, 2009 Reply
Does the usb port work on 8300 hdc? I plugged in a external drive and nothing happens… Anyone get theres to work???

Jeff — 7:24 PM on June 16, 2009 Reply
No luck with 8300HD. I unplugged from the wall for 30 seconds as well…let it boot up…then tried the 2 buttons. Nothing happens. I really think that not going to work for me so please if some body have another way let me know.
thank you all

MT — 4:21 PM on July 7, 2009 Reply
para saber como comprar moden and box

Olman — 2:22 PM on August 19, 2009 Reply
I have the SA8300HD I am able to set it to 1080 buy when the tv is turned off it resets back to 480 Any suggestions?

nick — 10:42 PM on October 14, 2009 Reply
Absolutely NOT. There will always be wierdos like me who engage in more online media then offline media. The Internet is so massive, that even if video sites get only a fraction of viership, it’s still worth it. That’s why smart marketers of taking advantage of the video

توبيكات — 10:04 PM on October 22, 2009 Reply
I had a 8300HD with Time WArner in the Milwaukee area and for the past year I was able to view a channel, switch to another channel, and if I went back to the previous channel it would still have the program recording and I could use the rewind features to go back to the beginning of the program. I had an issue with the box and I had to swap out. When I received the new box I when I changed to a diffent channel and then switch back it would no longer hold the recording unless I pushed the record button before I changed channels. I called TW and they said that is how the box is supposed to work. Does anyone else have this box that you could view two channels and have the unit automatically record without manually press the record button?

Jim — 9:23 AM on October 31, 2009 Reply
I have Explorer 8000HD, does anyone know what the codes are to setup a universal remote?

Brad — 1:50 PM on November 2, 2009 Reply
I hooked up my hdtv with optical audio to my scientific atlanta hd box from my blu ray dvd surround sound player. My dvd player to my tv with a hdmi cable. My tv with an hdmi cable to the box. Everthing works fine but when i switch channels some will caption “hdmi” and the sound will cut off. I then have to turn the sound back on using my dvd remote. Can you help resolve this situation? JJ

juan dehoyos — 7:10 AM on November 4, 2009 Reply
Hi All, I have a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR / cable box that runs on “Navigator” software (Time Warner Cable, Southern CA) and I’m always out of room for recordings. Does anyone have direct experience hooking up an external hard drive on this box that works seamlessly with the Navigator software? TWC will not comment on which drive is compatible and I have seen many conflicting stories elsewhere on the internet. Thanks in advance for your help.

way2muchTV — 7:41 PM on November 7, 2009 Reply