HD tuner confusion (1 Viewer)

[George Bir]

Please help. Simple, but still confused. Hearing different things from different sources.

I have digital cable. If my tv does not have a tuner in it I must get the cable co. to change my digital box to an hd tuner.

If my tv does have a tuner, will the existing cable line be ok. Does the tv convert it to hd. The existing cable line will be analog, because we're going to move the box to another tv for digital programs.

Does it make a difference if the tv uses cable cars and we are only getting basic service. We only use the card if we have special programing correct?
By not having the cable co do anything to convert can't we save the monthly hd fee?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Most HDTV's w/ tuners only have the ability to receive over the air signals. The tuning method used by cable companies is different. You have to chack your set to see if it can be used with the cable tuning specification (probably not, but worth a try).

 

[Stephen Tu]

You would need the cableCARD for any encrypted content, which is nearly all the digital channels in most places. The only channels you are likely to pick up without a card are rebroadcasts of OTA locals (NBC/CBS/ABC/PBS/etc.). You should call your cable company & ask how much they charge for cableCARD rental, if anything.

You would still need a cable box for stuff like PPV, PVR (integrated hard disk recorder). My feeling is that if the digital cable ready model is within a couple hundred of the corresponding "HD monitor" model without HD tuner, you should spring for it, but if it's more than that you might want to skip it, since it's not unlikely that you'd end up getting another tuner anyway.