[mythtv-users] Digital Television In US

[Ivan Kowalenko]

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On May 16, 2006, at 15.53, James C. Dastrup wrote:

>> I'm wondering, besides digital cable (SD), and HDTV, what ways are  
>> there to
>> get digital television in the United States, in Standard Def?
>
>
> I'm not sure I totally understand the questions. If you can receive  
> over-the-air
> digital signals, then just watch the SD channels. Not all are HD.
>
> Digital television isn't limited to only SD or HD, so it would be  
> difficult or impossible
> to find an SD-only digital source. (Cable and satellite are  
> typically just converting
> an analog source to digital and touting it as "digital"). If you  
> are watching true
> digital TV (digital source to digital TV), you get both SD and HD.  
> It is up to the
> broadcaster to decide what to output. Most networks will provide  
> two channels,
> an HD and an SD channel, both digital. (4 is analog, 4-1 is HD, 4-2  
> is SD, etc). And
> then it's up to you on which channel you want to watch.

No, I think you understood the question quite well. This was exactly  
what I was looking for. I guess I didn't realize that those sub- 
channels would provide digital signals that weren't at HD  
resolutions. I was trying to find an alternative to having to rig up  
a digital cable box with an IR blaster for getting digital channels.  
With an XBox Front-end (that means no HD), I was worried I wouldn't  
be getting anything useful.

So, I'm guessing if I asked ComCast for an HD cable box, I could hook  
it up to my Myth backend, and I'd be able to capture the stations at  
480p, even if there is a 720/1080 signal available?

>> I find it
>> absurd that the only way to get digital SD is to go from a digital  
>> cable box
>> to an analog line into a capture card.
>
> I get digital SD over an antenna into a pcHD3000.  Of course, I  
> don't normally
> watch the SD channels, only the HD channels, but both are available.
>
>> Isn't there some way of getting
>> digital SD over arial transmissions (like DVB-T) or through a HD  
>> cable box,
>> without having to convert back to analog?
>
> See comments above
>
>> I know that there's some free
>> DVB-S stuff for the US, and that apparently some channels support  
>> DVB-T in
>> the US (though there seems to be no way of finding out, short of  
>> calling the
>> station or buying a DVB-T card yourself).
>>
>
> If you want to find out what free digital signals are in your area,  
> go to
> www.antennaweb.org.

Thank you for that link, I honestly had no idea it existed.
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