QAM and Time Warner Cable

[Gregg Lengling]

As I said I could be wrong about this - I did think it would be hard to get ALL those channels switched...  But I thought there was legislation that was going to force all the channels to broadcast in HD - if they also want to continue SD I would assume they could.  And I figured all the analog TVs out there would just get conversion boxes - or even my 8300 HD I can hook up to my analog TV with S-Vid and watch the HD channels...

There never was and still isn't any legislation requiring HD transmissions...just Digital...they can do almost anything they want with Digital...HD is NOT REQUIRED~!

[hormy_83]

There never was and still isn't any legislation requiring HD transmissions...just Digital...they can do almost anything they want with Digital...HD is NOT REQUIRED~!

Gotcha!  Well that is a let down...  So to get back on K10's subject.  I guess if you're shopping for a new TV I say a QAM tuner would be a nice to have but I wouldn't rule out a TV just because it doesn't have one.  That also seems to be what others are saying.

[K10]

Gotcha!  Well that is a let down...  So to get back on K10's subject.  I guess if you're shopping for a new TV I say a QAM tuner would be a nice to have but I wouldn't rule out a TV just because it doesn't have one.  That also seems to be what others are saying.

thanks everyone for your input.  who knows, cablecards could become obsolete by then and those STB might be the size of my hand.

i just hate the idea of renting those STB, even if it's $10/month.  and i like said before, a STB totally ruins the look of a wall-hung LCD.

[hormy_83]

You do have the option of sticking it some closet and running the cables from there to the TV - then doing RF transmitters for the remotes.  Yah it will cost more with the longer cables and RF transmitters for the IR devices.  But I did that for my brother's plasma install and it looks great - all you can see is the TV on the wall - but he has his receiver, set top box, DVD player, Xbox all hooked up and hidden in the closet.

[kevbeck122]

If you think about currently you can take a regular SD TV and plug a cable right from TWC into it and pick up 70+ channels or whatever. Well by 2009 all those will have to be HD - and if you have a QAM tuner you'll be able to pick those all up without a box. I could be wrong about that - but this makes sense to me...

Even when they switch the 2-99 channels to digital, I'm thinking they'll be encrypted.  If you think about it, you could just get Road Runner or digital phone, not subscribe to any video services but still be able to hook the cable up to your digital TV and get the channels.  Unless there's a way to block those who aren't subscribing to cable TV, I don't see them keeping the channels clearQAM.  I know in other areas with companies like Comcast, people get all those channels plus Discovery HD, TNT HD and all of the Music Choice channels because they're in the clear... not the case with Milwaukee TWC.

[mhz40]

thanks everyone for your input.  who knows, cablecards could become obsolete by then and those STB might be the size of my hand.

i just hate the idea of renting those STB, even if it's $10/month.  and i like said before, a STB totally ruins the look of a wall-hung LCD.

Although development is continuing (like everything else electronic), Cable cards are the future.  The FCC has mandated separation of 'security' from the 'box'... hence the need for a cable card.

OCAP is also looming.  In time you will be able to go to the big box store of your choice and buy set top boxes, TV's and maybe even DVR's of your choice.  All will be capable of displaying and utilizing guide data natively.  These products will be driven by the some version of the cablecard (hardware) and OCAP (software).

Getting back on topic;
If you get a cable card capable set today, you will be able to decrypt any mpeg stream for which you are authorized to receive.  You will not have the ability to buy PPV or VoD; or have access to anything related to any other 2-way interactivity in the future.
Eventually, cable card compliant hardware will be 2-way and have access to these functions.

[K10]

are there any LCDs out on the market with cablecard 2.0?

if you're in the market for a new HDTV, would you wait for cablecard 2.0?

[kevbeck122]

CableCard 2.0 probably won't be out til next year... possibly late this year, but I doubt it.