I would appreciate some advice from some of you tech people out there. There is much confusion and poor information around about the conversion to digital TV. Much of the confusion surrounds the matter of a Digital TV tuner. I have been told that if you have recently purchased TV set with a built in digital tuner you will have do problems after the conversion as your set can receive the new digital signals and the old analog signals. I have been informed by Comcast that they WILL convert about 12 local broadcast channels back to analog and the other 53 channels we get with be digital only. No problem so far.
This s where I need some input- Some people tell me that they plan to purchase an external digital TV tuner from some retailer, connect it directly to their preset TV set and there should be no problem getting all 65 channels no matter how they are sent by Comcast.
Some other people tell me that the external digital tuners will not work unless they are matched to the Comcast system, like a Comcast set top box and at this point Comcast plans to charge a monthly fee in either case. I also know that if you have a or get a Comcast set top box the conversion will be painless.
What I would like to know is DOES AN EXTERNAL DIGITAL TV TUNER WORK THE SAME WAY AS A BUILT IN DIGITAL TUNER? Would Comcast have any way to know if the tuner you have is a built in one or an external one?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Digital TV Conversion
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7 comments:
Hi Larry,
Digital Transition will result in two major changes; first the Broadcast frequencies will change (Since we are discussing Cable, this is irrelevant except in power outages when battery power TV's with rabbit ears are used) and secondly the Modulation of the signals will change This fact has universal impact.
In specific response to your questions;
1) If you have a Cable ready, Hi-Def, digital TV set you will not require an external box.*
2) The only difference between an External Hi-Def, Cable ready, TV tuner and a built in Hi-Def. Cable ready, TV tuner is that the external box lacks a monitor.
3) There is no way that COMCAST will know which you have, unless they come and inspect.
* 4) If COMCAST places our CV contract channels beyond the tuner range of standard consumer available Hi-Def, Cable ready, digital tuners, they must provide a Cable Card or box to translate those channels down to Consumer range.
Dave
Dave,
I am not concerned with high def TV as that requires a special package from Comcast that customers pay more for. The problem is with the thousands of TV sets in the village that do not have a digital tuner.
Try this on for size- I go out tomorrow and purchase a external digital tv tuner and connect it to the back of my tv with the wires that come in the converted box. I now wait until February 19, 2009. I find that I will receive the 12 channels that are being conversed back to analog. To your knowledge will the external digital tv tuner allow me to get the 53 channels that will be broadcast in digital format only? Some information I am getting from Comcast is that I will not until such time as they mate their digital tv tuner with their system such as what is now being done with set top boxes for a monthly fee . However if I buy a new cable ready digital tv set I do not have to do anything.
The confusion is in getting older sets to get all the channels after February 2009. As you mentioned once before the cable set top box for which there is a monthly fee is a slightly different animal than a converter box.
In your opinion which is the direction to go? Encourage our residents to get a converter box or go with the set top box?
Hi Larry,
Forget the Hi-Def. reference, it is a sufficient, but not a necessary condition. The digital tuner is of course a necessary condition.
Here is an extract from FCC regulation that applies:
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Will cable customers with analog TVs have to buy or rent a set-top box from their cable company? If so, how much will it cost?
First, it's important to know that the February 17, 2009 deadline for the digital television transition only applies to full-power broadcast stations. Cable companies are not required by the government to transition their systems to digital, and can continue to deliver channels to their customers in analog. Cable companies are actually required by FCC rules to continue offering local broadcast stations to their customers in analog as long as they offer any analog service. This requirement will continue for at least three years after February 17, 2009. The Commission will decide in 2011 whether the requirement should be continued beyond February 17, 2012. This means that customers who receive analog cable service (without a cable set-top box) will be able to continue to do so.
However, for business reasons (among other things, digital is much more efficient than analog), cable companies may be interested in transitioning their systems from analog delivery to digital delivery. If a cable company makes the business decision to go all-digital (meaning it will stop offering any channels to its customers in analog), it must ensure that its analog customers can continue to watch their local broadcast stations. This may require customers with analog televisions to get a set-top box. If the cable company provides the customer with a set-top box, any costs related to it will be determined by the cable company. Therefore, it is recommended that analog cable customers contact their cable company to ask if a set-top box will be needed, when it will be needed, and if there will be a cost.
It is also important to note that a cable set-top box is different from a digital-to-analog converter box. A digital-to-analog converter box is necessary only for analog televisions that receive their programming over-the-air using a rooftop antenna or "rabbit ears" connected to the set. A digital-to-analog converter box is not necessary for a TV connected to a paid television service such as a cable or satellite TV provider. Information on any set-top boxes needed for a paid service such as cable or satellite should be obtained from the service provider.
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In your example, the answer is yes, if your external digital tuner is a cable ready model.
Dave
What a mess this is going to be. Thank goodness you guys are on top of this trying to sort it all out for us.
Thank you.
Chris
Hi Larry,
I left out one important response to your question;
It is unambiguously safer to go with COMCAST's Set Top Box, as then compatibility is guaranteed.
Dave
Dave,
Comcast has been telling me all along that the best solution would be a Comcast set top box. However, do to the poor job Comcast is doing getting this information out to the public-the average person thinks that if they get a cheap external digital tuner their problems will be solved.
Thanks for the input.
Thank you for the feedback regarding Comcast's handling of the digital TV transition. It is important to note that if you have cable, there is nothing you need to do to continue to receive your local channels. As stated in a previous comment, as long as the cable company provides an analog signal, you will continue to receive the channels as you do today. More information is available from the FCC at the following URL:
http://www.dtv.gov/
Thank you for being a Comcast Customer!
Frank Eliason
Comcast Executive Offices
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