cards for HDTV (1 Viewer)

[Rick Chaisse]

Can someone give the lowdown on the new TVs that have built-in cards for high definition broadcasts ?

I presume that I would have to get a card from the Satellite Dish company. Does it save me any money over having to get their hardware, as well. Are their different types of cards ? ie.. cards that receive basic Satellite as well as cards that are both basic AND HD ?

Any other info I might need to consider would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Robert_J]

There has been only ONE television on the market that had a built in HD satellite receiver. You just subscribed to DirecTV and connect the TV directly to the dish. It was a very poor seller.

There are numerous TV's now that have CableCard slots. You just get a cablecard from your local cable provider and install it. (Not exactly, you have to pay someone to come out and pop it in the TV for you.)

-Robert

 

[Jeff Gatie]

To elaborate on what Robert said, those are CableCards and are only necessary when you want to receive paid/scrambled cable channels (i.e. HBO, Showtime, etc.). Most QAM cable tuners built in to HD sets are capable of tuning all non-pay/non-scrambled channels. This varies per provider, but it is a pretty fast rule in general. None of them allow you to tune satellite, which requires a box or a sat tuner built in (and as Robert said, is not common).

 

[Rick Chaisse]

That sure seems misleading, doesn't it. The people buying these TV's think their paying for the ability to receive HD transmissions without incurring additional costs.
( they should know better, eh )

Thank you for the response..

Rick