Bought a used HD box; shows are in widescreen but not HD!

[funzo]

I bought a used scientific atlanta explorer 4250hd box for my samsung LN40B500. Called my provider and added HD to my service, plugged it in and went through the setup according to the guide. The box says its set at 1080i. The normal channels are in the 60 - 160 channel range and the HD versions are in the 600s. When I go to the HD channels they're in the widescreen format, but are not high definition (I've checked all of my HD channels and ruled out the fact that not all programming on hd channels is in hd). I've unplugged the box and tried restarting/rebooting but no luck...I think I got swindled but want to try everything before contacting the seller.

Any recommendations/advice/words of wisdom?

Thanks

 

[mhelm1]

Switch your tv to 16:9 from 4:3 in it's setup
We'll assume that you have a wide screen HDTV

 

[funzo]

I've done that in the box setup and on the tv setup; screen format changes but not quality of the program

 

[funzo]

Turns out I mixed up Pb and Video cables......rookie mistake