ScottHaas

HD cable/sat tv

excuse the newbie question. i'm planning to get a new HD tv and sign up for either HD cable or HD directv. as i understand it, as long as my TV is HDTV ready, the cablebox/dtv tuner will act as my HD receiver. now, if i sign up for HD cable/sat, am i unable to access my local channels (abc, nbc, etc) via HD? do i need one of those rabbit ears and turn off the cable to access the local channels via HD?

Pam W

ScottHaas,

Ask your cable company. I have an HDTV ready set with an HD cable box. I still get all the analog channels, plus the digital channels, plus the channels broadcasting in HD. In my area it includes our CBS and NBC affiliates. The ABC folks aren't sending the signal yet. Fox is digital. UPN is with ABC. It gets confusing... I am also getting HBO and PBS HD.

pam

Pam
The Wheel - O - Rama

Tommy T

I'll speak for HD sat since that's what I have with DirecTV. Yes, you will be able to access your local channels in HD if
1) They are available in your area.
2) You have an HDTV box, capable of decoding both OTA and HDTV signals.

Your standard programming would come via the HDTV box and a cable or a satellite provider of your choice. Your locals, in HD, would come via the same box and an external antenna such as an indoor or attic/roof mounted "old school" antenna.

There are several boxes that integrate your locals and cable/sat programming into one menu. Do a search in the audio/video sources area for more information. Sample boxes that do this are the Hughes E86 and the Samsung TS-160.

Tommy