TV Tunner Card question

[bobasp1]

Hi I have a noob question about the TV tuner cards, I basically get almost all the channels my cable company offers, so I was wondering if i got a NTSC/ATSC/QAM tunner that I would be able to get all the channels that I have? Or is it basically only the "free" digital ones aka local high def and music channels?

[QuadcoreHD]

You would only get the "free" digital ones (exactly what you indicated) and any other channels that are not encrypted, which is not many.

[bobasp1]

You would only get the "free" digital ones (exactly what you indicated) and any other channels that are not encrypted, which is not many.

Sigh i thought so :( not worth 100$ for one of these then.
Thanks

[dat720]

Not sure where you live but some (read: expensive) tuner cards have cam/smart card readers on them, i have seen them for satellite tv, and cable is generally the same as satellite except its off a cable not a dish.