"Digital" cable box (1 Viewer)

[GregY]

I had Time Warner cable (just north of Indy). 1-99 are analog and the premium and channels above 100 are digital.

I would receive a DD 5.1 signal from the premium channels (occasionally, depending on the programming).

The STB was a Scientific Atlanta 2100. If all the channels looked like the digital HBO then things would be good.

What I don't understand is why they call it digital cable when all (or most) of the cable channels that anyone watches are channels 1-99 (local ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, ESPN, CNN).

Do they think we don't notice. I did notice that the analog channels looked better directly input into the TV rather than going through the STB.

I wish they would come up with a better name than "digital cable." It should be called "Digital Cable sometimes, depends on what channel you are on, most of the channels that you watch though aren't digital cable, just the same old analog that has to pass through our STB so that you can get the few digital cable channels that we actually offer."

I'm moving to Milwaukee and they have a new STB. The Pioneer 3511HD has digital outputs and a HDTV tuner for receiving HDTV HBO, Showtime, and PBS for no additional charge (other than getting digital cable and subscribing to HBO & Showtime). I'll check it out when I get there.

 

[Michael Lomker]

Richard,

I consider the argument pretty lame. It may only serve 5% of the customer base so why not just offer it as an additional cost option? An extra charge of $1 or $2/month would cover the price difference. Generally speaking, the aforementioned 5% are not very price sensitive consumers.

I pay an extra $9/month for my HD cable box and I'm cool with that.

When the cable PVR's such as the SA Explorer 8000 is released they'll obviously have to have an extra charge associated with it.

Extra fees are a business model that your cable company understands. Hunt down the name of the biggest big-wig you can find at the local cable company and write them a letter about it....those 5% are the ones with money to spend....smart businessmen will understand that.

 

[GregY]

Michael,

What HD cable box do you have? What features does it give you? Can you receive OTA HDTV?

Thanks!

 

[Andrew Pierce]

Wow, I suddenly feel so fortunate.

When I signed up for digital cable I was given a Scientific Atlanta 2100 with SVideo and optical digital out.

A while back I came home with a shiny new HDTV, so I called up Minneapolis TWC. They send out a guy the next day with a 3100HD high definition box with Y/Pr/Pb output, SVideo, and optical audio out, at no additional monthly cost. I did have to pay $30 for the service call to deliver and hook it up.

 

[Richard_s]

Michael:

We are in agreement I gave up on ATT when I offered to pay them the extra $100 if they would get me a box with the features I wanted but they said they can not deal with that. I figured they would not do it but had to ask. Yes I would pay more also. I am now researching satelite (other posts) i probably will do that soon.

Rant on:

It is lame since their "digital" service in my opinion has no better picture than the analog channels and the sound is still analog. All I get for my money is more channels not DIGITAL service. I think it is not just lame but downright misrepresentation.

Rant off:

 

[AdamO]

This thread was pretty interesting. I've been aware of the true capabilities of my current digital cable, however I never considered harassing my cable company about it. After reading this I contact Charter Communications regarding setting up my box to receive Dolby Digital signals. This morning I received an email from a customer care manager stating that he would be mailing me a diagram showing how to set it up. If this diagram shows anything worthwhile I'll scan it and post it here. I'm skeptical unless there's an adapter or something in the package.

Take care!

 

[Thomas Edward]

Same here as most, NO digital outputs. I just got off the phone with AT&T. The Customer Support at AT&T was trying to tell me the RCA jacks ARE digital. I'll be looking at Direct TV this week.

 

[Gary King]

Since I have a TiVo, this messes things up quite a bit. I live in an apartment, so I'm not sure if DirectTV is even an option, but I'll see

If you have a south-facing window (a requirement for the service to work), I believe your landlord is required to allow you to get DirecTV (or, probably better worded as "forbidden to prevent you from getting"). Otherwise, it could be construed as the cable company being given an unfair monopoly on your communications capabilities.
In the South Bay (not sure about Oakland) DirecTV also carries local channels (total cost $39/mo), making it cheaper than the local cable provider .

 

[AdamO]

I got the diagram from Charter Communications last week. As I expected the diagram was for a box with a SPDIF output. I currently have a manager researching if she can locate me a box with a digital output and if it will even work in my area.

For those of you with Charter Communications I suggest you try emailing or calling them. So far the manager has gone out of her way to be helpful.

I would switch to satellite in a second, however I mainly watch local channels and none of the satellite services provide local channels in my area. Until they do I'm stuck with non-digital cable.

 

[cwhite]

I have Time Warner Cable with a digital box. Channels 100 and above are digital. We get 5 premium movie channels with Dolby Digital audio and 42 digital music channels.

 

[Allan_Lim]

Kirk, I too am satisfied Comcast Digital Cable subscriber. I actually get pretty good throughput on my modem. For the music, try going into setup - audio options - and either uncompress or light compress. Mine defaulted to heavy compression.

I was also not happy about the lack of digital output. However, with current cable technology, the pipeline just ain't big enough.

I am patiently and quitely waiting for hdtv hoping the market does not settle for sdtv.

I can't figure out how to quote anyone properly so this probably looks funny, but thanks to Dave. I didn't know about that menu. I'm still disappointed in the quality of the sound from the radio stations I get from digital cable, but the sound sucks less now.

 

[Scott_AH]

I just paid $15 to AT&T digital cable and received their "upgraded" DCT 2000 series box with s-video and optical outputs. The optical made a slight improvement on all the channels' audio but the s-video actually makes the picture noticeably worse. I spoke with their so-called tech support where I had to be transferred to three different people because no one knew what s-video was. Finally, the best reason I was given was that "the system doesn't support the quality of s-video yet" and that "it's mainly going to be used as the high definition signals become available." What in the hell does that mean?!!! They told me to try the s-video connection every couple months and look for improvement. Obviously, this guy had no idea what he was talking about but he was their "lead tech on duty." I've just gone back to using the ol' yellow cable for the time being.

Scott

 

[RichardMA]

I think two things regarding digital cable;

The broadcasters and cable providers are compressing

the hell out of the signal, and the boxes being supplied

to consumers do not have the horsepower to properly decode

and render the signals. Why? Because the broadcast quality (as with analog channels) varies widely, some being

very good, others being horrific. Also, the constant breakdown of images into pixels and outright black outs

hints at the worthlessness of the current boxes.

If you examine those boxes, it's a miracle they work

at all, being they incorporate about the worst component

levels from overdriven transistors to the poorest quality

transformers.

Also, my local monopoly, Rogers Cable in Toronto, Canada

is offering people the boxes for $250 plus a $100

rebate if people are willing to buy them. Right now,

the rental cost is $10.99 per month. I see this as

an outright scam designed to dump out of date boxes on

the public. Scientific Atlanta is supplying these things,

and it wouldn't surprise me at all if suddenly after the

"special buy" is over, new boxes didn't show up.