Forum Discussion

CRTLover's avatar
CRTLover
New Contributor
5 years ago

Questions Contour 1 and 2

Got a letter that my Motorola/Rovi boxes must be replaced with Contour within a month or so. (Omaha) The Contour 2 boxes eliminate the component video connections. (The red, green, and blue 3 wire connection.) This is unacceptable. I need both component video connections (red, green, blue 3 wire) AND composite video (1 yellow connector) for my various TVs. (HDMI is useless to me.)

According to your site, Contour 1 boxes have both composite AND component connections, whereas Contour 2 boxes eliminate the component. So can I still get Contour 1 (with DVR)? Are the following Contour 1 boxes still available and supported after the Motorola boxes are not?

Cisco 8642HDC

Cisco Explorer 8742HDC
Cisco Explorer 9865HDC
Cisco Explorer 4642HDC

Cisco Explorer 4742HDC

Also, worst case scenario if I had to use the Contour2 boxes, what zoom modes does Contour2 support? The Motorola/Rovi has a function that crops and zooms 2.35:1 aspect ratio widescreen movies to approx 1.85:1 aspect ratio widescreen (but no further than that, further would cut too much off). This is a mandatory feature when connected to a non-widescreen TV.  While 1.85:1 widescreen movies are fine on a non-widescreen TV, 2.35:1 widescreen movies are not watchable on the non-widescreens without the zoom. Note that this is a crop and zoom, NOT a horizontal stretch. (This zoom is accessed on the Motorola/rovi under the the res setting of 480i std  -->  zoom 16:9 option.) Does contour2 have the same zoom option when outputting through the component or composite? If the zoom is eliminated on supported boxes, I'll for sure have to cancel Showtime and HBO, as half the movies would be in an unwatchable format.

4 Replies

  • Andrew_Wees's avatar
    Andrew_Wees
    Contributor III

    is Omaha also changing to cisco cable cards, or are motorola cable cards still going to be used in Omaha?

  • Hi CRTLover. We do have the Contour 1 boxes that you mentioned that will support component and composite video and you can get them. As for Contour 2 zoom mode - it is 4:3 480P or 16:9 1080P. - Lisa, Cox Support Forums Moderator