I am about to buy a vizio 32 with HD built in which has a atsc clear QAM tuner. Does that get basic HD channels like espn tnt espn2? I have the HD package & have 1 digital HD cable box on my 65" mitsu & was wondering if the vizio will get these channels w/o the box or will it just get the local with my antenna Thanks
QAM digital cable
- Thread starter benzbill
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benzbill said:
The atsc tuner will get the ota digital (some are hd) channels. The QAM tuner will get the cable channels that are not scrambled. Some of those MIGHT be local hd channels.
Thats what i kind of thought it's just for a fourth tv in the bedroom so any HD i can get will be a plusraoul5788 said:
What might be more? My curiousity is peaked. What have you heard and what companies where involved?
News like that always interest me!
News like that always interest me!
colebert said:Unscrambled QAM is underrated. You get all your locals and sometimes more!
That blanket statement is not true. I have knology and comcast here and both scramble the locals. Knology has only 3-4 channels in the clear with most being the "barker" channels and PBS. Comcast has more open but most (20-25) are the music choice channels and the rest are a handful of the digital channels (100 range) but nothing really good. (Discovery this-n-that, etc.)
This also varies as from time-to-time they rotate the channel mappings and the channels change (channel and channel #). A few people have received a premium channel or 2 in the clear for awhile but they usually die after a bit. You may get a VOD stream though quite often as they seem to be sent in the clear regularly.
When I was traveling in the Bay area back in June I heard a show on KGO AM that indicated that the cable providers were obligated to provide digital locals to analog customers via QAM 256 by the FCC. It seems to be the case in the Bay area. A year or so ago Showtime HD and ESPN HD were in the clear and the History Channel still was a few weeks ago, but I noticed signal quality varied quite a bit on the locals on the Comcast system, but I didn't know if it was a function of the local installation (5 RG-59 runs through the house). I also noticed that a Samsung Tuner would not perform as well as an LG Tuner and they both mapped the channels differently. FYI...
There seems to be a big debate about what the FCC ruling means. Some say that all local broadcast musts be in the clear (SD & HD). Others say that only "A" local broadcast must be in the clear so if they provide a SD feed clear, they do not have to provide the HD clear as well. The FCC has not clarified this rule. So, some markets have HD locals clear, others, like mine, encrypt them.
Once the analog signals die, they will have no choice (as I see it) but to provide the HD signal clear, but if the FCC ruling was written when there was no HD feeds, does it apply to them now? The future?
Clear as mud.
Once the analog signals die, they will have no choice (as I see it) but to provide the HD signal clear, but if the FCC ruling was written when there was no HD feeds, does it apply to them now? The future?
Clear as mud.
There's going to have to be a number of changes when analog dies out...I think the rules on sending everything found over the air would be odd. I have a shop nbc channel OTA and yet there's another one on the analog cable...the major difference is maybe a signal hour of kids programming on sundays...other than that it's 100% the same thing. Waste of bandwith if you ask me...
i can't speak to every podunk cable system in the US, but my local comcast franchise has all the HD locals and PBS-HD in the clear. They also have local multicast channels and "Beta testing" channels that aren't available on my cable box. I think you will find this to be the case on the great majority of cable systems.
You can search for "wild feeds" which is tedious. Also, you can "tag along" to OnDemand content that your neighbors are viewing. That content is sent across on channels in the clear, but you also have to put up with the viewer fast-forwarding and rewinding, lol.
You can search for "wild feeds" which is tedious. Also, you can "tag along" to OnDemand content that your neighbors are viewing. That content is sent across on channels in the clear, but you also have to put up with the viewer fast-forwarding and rewinding, lol.
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What frequency are you searching for that is in the range of on Demand units? I haven't read that at all. I have blindly flumpped through the 500 to 750 mhz range which most of my regular channels seem to reside but I haven't run accross any onDemand feeds. Obviously I would have to catch it when someone is watching one but still. How did you come across it just searching with a QAM tuner at the right time?
i want to say it was in the 70s 80s or 90s.
they were channels that had a high sub-range, such as 70-1 through 70-20. i think you can kinda tell which range are designated for OnDemand requests because there are a whole bunch of these multi-subchannel channels in a row with no content.
i could tell what i saw was on demand because they were totally random programs with no identifiable channel marking or commericals. plus the fact that they would occasionally speed up or rewind at random kinda gave it away.
they were channels that had a high sub-range, such as 70-1 through 70-20. i think you can kinda tell which range are designated for OnDemand requests because there are a whole bunch of these multi-subchannel channels in a row with no content.
i could tell what i saw was on demand because they were totally random programs with no identifiable channel marking or commericals. plus the fact that they would occasionally speed up or rewind at random kinda gave it away.
