Log in

View Full Version : Sony tuners and HD over basic cable

theamzngq
2nd May 2007, 07:39
I'm not sure if this is where this post goes, so if its in the wrong place, I apologize...

I have three friends who have Sony HDTVs and subscribe to basic (not digital) cable, Cox in Las Vegas, NV, to be specific. Besides the analog cable, all friends are able to get HD programming from the same cable connection (major broadcast networks, ie, NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS). I have other friends with non-Sony HDTVs that cannot pick up the same HD channels, even though they also subscribe to the same Cox basic cable service.

I am wondering if someone understands how this works? Are Sony tuners simply that much more capable? The HD channels show up as 3.1, or 10.1, and sometimes very high numbers up in the hundreds, but there is always a decimal point. And why would there be HD content running (unencrypted, mind you) right along side analog cable in Cox's system?

I know some of you may ask "are you sure its HD?" or "they must have digital cable" and let me assure you, it is HD, and they don't have digital cable; the difference is obvious, and the TV even identifies the signal format, either 720p or 1080i (480i for the analog channels). Let me repeat that these Sony tv owners do not subscribe to digital cable and do not have digital cable boxes. Just a regular RG6 plugged in to the back of the TV (and no, not an over-the-air antenna).

This is a great mystery to me, and I am searching for someone who can explain it...
theamzngq
2nd May 2007, 07:49
in case you're wondering how this applies to capturing and converting HD, I'm trying to understand how the HD signal is multiplexed into the basic cable feed so that I can find a device (or make one) that will run it into my PC.
SatansChild
2nd May 2007, 16:45
They may not be subscribing to digital cable, but they are getting HDTV delivered digitally over the cable. As a part of some FCC regulations cable tv providers are required to carry some channels (called "must carry" channels") which are basicly the locally broadcast channels (channels carried vary by area ect...), they are also required to put these channels on the wire unencrypted which is why your friends with the Sony tv's can pick them up even though they do not subscribe to digital cable. The reason your other friends cannot pick up these channels is that their tv's lack a QAM tuner (the tuner necessary for digital cable). Higher end HDTV's tend to have a QAM tuner (usually marketed as Digital Cable Ready), but not all of them do.

One word of warning to anyone looking to get a tv with a QAM tuner to pick up these channels, do some research on the model you plan to buy yourself in my experience the sales people in the electronics store don't have a clue about digital cable and what is required to receive it. I received bad information for sales people when I bought 2 out of the 3 hdtv sets in my house (one said it would work with digital cable when it wouldn't and the other said it would not when it does)
Capsbackup
6th May 2007, 01:09
They may need to run the "channel set-up" again if they haven't done this for some time. Most of the local stations have gone to HD, but as you mentioned they are on 2.1, 4.1 7.1, etc... Reprogramming the TV's tuner will find these stations if the tuner can pick them up over the air.
Turtleggjp
8th May 2007, 19:49
in case you're wondering how this applies to capturing and converting HD, I'm trying to understand how the HD signal is multiplexed into the basic cable feed so that I can find a device (or make one) that will run it into my PC.

There are some PC cards that support QAM tuning. I have a couple of the Fusion HDTV cards (http://www.dvico.com/). There is also the MyHD Card (http://www.mitinc.co.kr/mitinc/e_site/prod/prod_mdp130_new.jsp), which I believe has its own hardware video decoder, which is needed by older systems that can't handle HD decoding (most modern video cards can handle it just fine, I've seen as low as a Radeon 9250 handle HDTV MPEG2 with ease). These cards will allow you to record in the native Transport Stream format, which you can then try to edit and/or transcode into whatever format you want.