Need decoder box for digital cable on digital TV? (1 Viewer)

[Timon Russo]

My cable company, Adelphia, tells me I must use their box if I order digital cable, period. I told them that the TV I am getting is a digital TV and they appeared confused, then re-affirmed that I would need to use their box. Do I? The TV I ordered is the Mits WS65807 HD-Ready. I would like to avoid another box, and another remote, and all the BS that goes with those things. Can I ? Are the folks at Adelphia wrong as I suspect?

 

[CRyan]

It has been a while since I had cable, but am pretty sure you will need their box. Maybe someone with your same service can help you more.
Are you going to be getting any HD with them? If so, you will deffinately need their box. I think you will need it either way though. Most cable services require the box for certain premium channels and packages.
C. Ryan
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[Jim FC]

Timon,
The short answer to your question is that the cable guys are absolutely correct, you will need to use their box if you want to get digital cable on your HD-ready set. Read on for the long answer...
The thing to keep in mind is that there is a big difference between High Definition TV and digital TV. Digital only refers to the way the signal gets from the cable company to your home - other than the reduction of ghosting and other forms of interference, it has very little to do with picture quality. In fact, digital cable won't offer you any more lines of resolution than regular cable, it only gives you more channels.
The Mitsu TV you have is not truly a digital TV unless you have an HD decoder hooked up to it - as it is now, it's just a regular TV with a higher resolution screen (but a sweet one at that - the Mitsus are great). The reason you will need the cable box is that the tuner built into that TV (and nearly all HDTVs, for that matter) is a regular, old-fashioned NTSC tuner, and the box must be in place to convert the digital signal into an analog image that your TV can understand and repoduce. Your Mitsu won't be a true "digital" TV until you splurge for a HD decoder somewhere down the line.
My advice on digital cable is: don't do it! If you are interested in getting away from cable (and you definitely should be with a TV like that), go with satellite if at all possible. You'll be adding another box either way, but with satellite the picture and sound quality are far higher, your monthly bill will likely be lower than what you pay for cable, and you can get the systems themselves these days for a song. But if you decide to go with digital cable, you'll have to get the box, I'm afraid. Hope this was helpful!

 

[Timon Russo]

Thanks guys. Jim FC, that really does explain it pretty well. I'm going to do some research on the dish. My only concern with that is not getting local channels, and the added immediate expense of the digital/hd receiver. But I imagine its the way to go, long-term. Anyway, thanks again.

 

[Rob Roth]

Tim,
I paid lots of cash over the last 3 years to Comcast for their "Digital" cable. There is a modest picture improvement, but it is much more hype than reality. I'm going satellite since my dealings with Comcast have convinced me that the cable guys don't understand high end systems and their needs.