[mythtv-users] QAM vs. Firewire

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Fri Mar 16 23:24:25 UTC 2007


On Mar 16, 2007, at 5:06 PM, Steven Sartorius wrote:

>
> On Mar 16, 2007, at 16:40, jmk wrote:
>
>>
>> This may be a dumb question... I'm wondering what level of cable
>> service
>> I need in order to access QAM. Do I need the HD tier, if I decide  
>> that
>> all I want is the OTA HD via QAM?
>>
>
> The short answer is that this is on a provider by provider basis.
> For instance, I'm a Comcast subscriber in NJ on a Basic Plus analog
> cable package (i.e. no STB, no premium channels).  A couple of months
> ago I bought a standalone Samsung HD tuner; hooking this up to my
> analog cable I get a number of HD stations over QAM -- all the OTA
> channels (ABC,CBS,NBC,PBS etc) as well as a couple of unencrypted HD
> stations (DiscoveryHD, UniversalHD).  Your best bet is probably just
> to hook up your existing cable to an HD tuner and see what you can
> get...

It's true that in some locations you can get unencrypted QAM  
channels, but I wouldn't invest too much on the assumption that the  
condition will continue, as only the off-airs are "required" to be  
sent in the clear, and some operators balk at even doing that.


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