This HDTV thing CONFUSES the heck out of me! I have basic cable. If I purchase an HDTV, will this do anything different? Will it do anything for my basic channels or am I purchasing a HDTV for no reason? I don't want to spend more money buying digital cable and then an HD reciever. Someone please help!
Mandy when you step up to Digital Cable you don't need a HD reciever. Depending on your cable company your digital cable box will suply all the HD content you will need. Connecting basic anolog cable to your HDTV will not do anything for your picture, it could make worse. In New york city NBC is channel 4 if you put channel 4 on a HDTV you are not watching HDTV. When you select channel 704 on Time Warner Cable you are now watching NBC HD.
Depending on your cable company your digital cable box will suply all the HD content you will need. A digital cable box <u>will not supply you with HD content</i> A digital cable box is just that, digital(or analog/digital) to get HD content that is encrypted you will need to a HD cable box in order to receive pictures. If you buy an HDTV that is digital cable ready, you will be able to view any "in the clear" HD, digital, or analog content without a cable box.
Connecting basic anolog cable to your HDTV will not do anything for your picture, it could make worse. Yes it can be worse, but in most cases, cable directly to the TV will give you a better picture then a box will, assuming your cable signals are what they should be, and your video settings are adjusted to optimum.
In New york city NBC is channel 4 if you put channel 4 on a HDTV you are not watching HDTV. When you select channel 704 on Time Warner Cable you are now watching NBC HD.
If you're TV is digital cable ready and your local cable provider is passing locally broadcast networks in the clear, your TV will tune the HD channels in, indicated by a decimal point or a hyphen (4.1 or 4-1), Depending on where your local cable provider is redirecting the in the clear HD channel to, you would be able to view the HD channel without a cable box. This does not apply to every cable provider as some do or don't pass them along in the clear, and station locations are specific to your area. It is best recommended that you contact your cable provider and ask them what services come through in the clear, and if they don't know, ask them to forward your call to a technical supervisor who should be able to provide you with an answer. The bigger question is put back on you, since you indiicated "if I purchase an HDTV......", you have to ask yourself what do you want out of your TV. If you are not interested in HDTV, you can still purchase standard def, enhanced def. If you're not watching a lot of HD or no desire to watch HD, then don't buy an HDTV. Research before you invest, that way to don't have a reason to be mad later when you "spent too much, or should have bought something else".
Hello -- I had a similar question as Mandy but needed some clarification on the answers given. My current TV is starting to have problems, so I've been thinking about getting a simple 27" CRT HDTV. I have basic analog cable through a box. Given this setup, will the picture look worse on an HDTV than it does on my current TV? I don't want/need HD visuals for basic TV watching and I'd rather not pay more for a digital cable setup (Comcast is already getting more of my money than I like), but I don't want a worse picture on my HDTV than I have w/ my current TV.
ALong the same line as this post... Does anyone know if you can use an antenna to pull in OTA high-def broadcasts and run it through a Comcast HD cable box? My tv is HD-ready so I need a digital tuner in order to get the OTA HD. Comcast will set me up with a box for only $5.99, and it just basically used for on-demand. I only get basic cable from comcast (12.99). I figured for an additional $6.00 I can use the comcast box as my digital tuner and hook up an antenna to it. Does anyone know if I can do this with the box to pick up the OTA HD channels.
The answer to your question is no. The reason is your cable box has a QAM tuner bit OTA HD signals must be decoded by an ATSC tuner.
Sorry about that, but why would you need it to do that anyway? Doesn't your local cable company rebroadcast all your local HD channels via their cable system?
I reread your question prior to posting, a digital (non HD cable box would never do what you want anyway).
Scooby Doo, I need to check with comcast, but I dont believe I can get the HD channels with basic cable, normally basic cable is channels 1-23, no set top box, just the coax cable hooked to the tv. So my thought was, buy an antenna, rent a comcast HD digital box, and run my antenna through it. My reason for thinking this way is I had comcast digital cable, but it ran me almost $60.00 a month and I did receive the HD channels. I downgraded to basic, just standard cable with the coax, no box. Comcast now offers basic enhanced cable. Which means they give you a box that way you can still use the on-demand features, but still only get the basic cable. Hope I am not losing you here... This package would only run me about 18$ a month, I really only watch the local channels anyway, but I would like to get them in HD. I guess my only other option would be to get an external digital tuner if I cant use the comcast box and antenna. If you know of any other cheap options that will get me OTA HD I am open to all suggestions. THANKS!
1. You can get OTA digital broadcast, but probably not through your cable box. However, most digital TVs have multiple antennae inputs, so one can be connected to your cable box and one can be connected to a digital TV antennae.
2. Comcast does not offer hi def with basic cable. I know because I just called them about it last week on behalf of my father in law, who has a 42" plasma, but is too cheap to spring for the digital cable package.
3. I actually know of a work around for some digital tvs. I bought a Phillips 32" LCD with a hi def tuner built in (QAM). I hooked it directly to the wall with no cable box in between while I waited the three days for the cable guy to come to my house. Imagine my shock to discover the high def channels on comcast just above channel 80! Not only did I get them, it was clearly in hi definition, too. All I was doing was hitting the channel up button to surf channels to see what I would get. The hi def broadcasts came in on channels 80.6 through 81.13! I had never seen a decimal point in a channel before, but that is what showed up on the screen. So, I got the high def channels for free. It is worth a try, IMO, to connect your cable from the wall directly to your TV (no comcast cable box), and try surfing up the channels to see what you can get. Since I had to go past channel 80 to find it, and you are indicating that you only have channels 1-23 on basic, you may have to surf a bit to find them. Check it out.
Well my problem is that my TV samsung DLP HLN-437w does not have a qam tuner to pull in the hd signals. Thats why I was wondering if I get the comcast box if it will act as a qam tuner, because if it does then i can hook my antenna up to it to pull in the OTA hd signals. If I had a capable TV with a QAM built in then all I would need in the antenna hooked to it because it will accept the OTA signal. All I get when I hook up the antenna are regular analog stations. I tried surfing the channels but got nothing at all, just static. Thanks for the idea though,it was def. worth a try.
The topic is becoming somewhat confusing. Yes an HD cable box will contain a QAM tuner, but that will not allow you to receive an OTA broadcast in any manner other than by subscribing and leasing the digital stb from your cable company. The free lunch ended in the Depression along with the Blue Plate Special and silver coins.
I have an HDTV and an HDTV tuner/reciever with basic cable, and I am tring to figure out how I can get the local channels (the ones that would be normaly broadcast over-the-air, but come in through cable) that broadcast in HD during primetime, special events, etc. How can I tune into these broadcast and get HD quality? My reciever is a Toshiba DST-3100, and I am beyond confused. Thanks
If you are this confused and don't understand Digital TV, ATSC, and HDTV, my recommendation would be to Kill Yourself, as you are clearly a total idiot.
AnnaMouse: Given that you took the time to respond to a two year old post, perhaps you should take your own advice as you're clearly a loser w/ no life.
I was told by an FCC rep that your cable company is not required to supply a decimal channel listing. However, they suggested a site that would show the broadcast channels in decimal format for your area. www.titantv.com
Ok i have a question about HDTV. I recently bought a 32 inch LG LCD hdtv with a buit in tunner. i have comcast cable. i am plugging in the coax from the wall into my HDTV. this allows me to pick up some of my cable channels but not all. But what i do like is i get my locals in HD along with whatever is being broadcast in HD. I do have a cable box in the other room and when i plug that box to my HDTV i receive all of my cable channels but i stop getting my locals in HD. is there anyway to get around this problem without ordering the HD package from comcast?
That is how the cable head end is set up. You have to pay for those channels. Having an HDTV does not allow you to get all the hd programming no matter what best buy or who ever you bought the tv from has told you.