[mythtv-users] QAM channels through my TV (but not my tuner)

[Jesse Dhillon]

Hi,

I have a Toshiba 62hm15a, a television which has some kind of cable 
tuner built-in, besides the CableCard business. I can take my cable 
directly from the wall and plug it into the TV, and receive all my basic 
cable channels (up to channel 80 or so, the only ones I care about). 
I've read up about how Comcast (my provider) usually encrypts channels 
or makes them otherwise unavailable without going through an STB.

Rather than asking questions about how to make this work with my tuners 
(two Air2PC HD-5000's) what I'd first like to know is if anyone knows 
why my TV is capable of decoding them just fine? Is there some secret 
agreement between Comcast and Toshiba that lets it do this, provided the 
TV does not produce an output signal (i.e. the TV is DTCP compliant). Or 
is it that (hopefully) those channels are broadcast clearly, and any QAM 
tuner should be able to grab them. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jesse.