Do cable subscribers need to buy a new digital cable converter box to be ready for the transition on February 19th? This article attempts to provde a final answer.
The upcoming digital transition has many people confused. Daily television ads touting the upcoming digital transition say that cable and satellite TV subscribers will be just fine after the February 17, 2009 deadline, but is this really true? This article will explain what digital cable converter boxes are, how they interact with a digital television set, and whether or not cable subscribers need to go out and buy a special digital converter box.
What Are Digital Cable Converter Boxes
The vast majority of cable subscribers already own (or rent) one of these boxes from the cable company. They typically come in two forms, one which is purely a tuner for the television, taking the feed from the cable company and splitting it apart into the many different channels that the home user can view. The other type of digital cable converter box is often referred to as a digital video recorder or DVR. These boxes operate the same was as the others do, with the exception that they also provide the user with the ability to record programming to an internal hard drive for later viewing.
Most cable subscribers will know that it is also possible to view cable channels on a television that is NOT connected to such a converter box. In this setup additional channels such as pay per view and premium movie channels are not available.
How Do Digital Cable Converter Boxes Work
As mentioned previously cable subscribers are able to watch basic cable channels without a converter box. These channels are being transmitted in an analog format that all traditional televisions understand and can display. After February 17th most cable companies will continue to offer this analog feed, doing the conversion from digital to analog at the company end of the cable line. In other words, nothing will change for the home user regardless of whether they are using a digital cable converter box or not. At the same time the cable company is sending the analog (basic cable) signal it also transmits a second, digital signal that can only be interpreted by an authorized cable box. The over the air digital converter boxes now being sold in stores will NOT work with cable signals. The only way to decode digital cable signals is with a box rented from the cable company or an authorized SmartCard enabled box such as a TiVo.
The Bottom Line: To Buy or Not To Buy A Converter Box
If a user is a cable subscriber then the answer is almost certainly no. Although there may be a few cable companies that will not follow this standard plan of action the vast majority will continue to send a converted analog signal even after the deadline. If however a cable subscriber decided to cancel their subscription they will need to consider either buying an over the air converter box and digital antenna or switching to a satellite television service.
The copyright of the article The Final Word On Digital Cable Converter Boxes in TV is owned by Chad Criswell. Permission to republish The Final Word On Digital Cable Converter Boxes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Consumer Reports has rated some of the available converter boxes at: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/televisions/digi
tal-tv-converter/ratings/dtv-converter-boxes-ratings.htm
While
cable and satellite program providers will continue to serve the great
majority of homes as the primary signal source, missing HD local
reception, compression issues, higher costs, billing add-ons, service
outages, contact difficulties, in-home service waits and no shows have
left many of these subscribers looking to OTA antennas as a good,
alternative and Off-Air viewers happy with their free programming. TV reception starts with the right antenna.
Viewers should
certainly try their old antenna first. It’s true that any of these older
antennas will pick up some signals, maybe all the broadcast signals a
viewer wants to receive, depending on their location. If they’re getting
all the OTA channels they want, than they’re good to go.
While
Antennas can’t tell the difference between analog and digital signals,
there are definitely certain models which have higher DTV batting averages
than others. Not all antennas are equally suited for DTV. A percentage of
viewers will require something a little more tailored for DTV
reception.
With one of the newer and smaller OTA antennas, with
greatly improved performance, power and aesthetics, viewers may also be
able to receive out-of-town channels, carrying blacked out sports
programs, several additional sub-channels or network broadcasts not
available locally. And for those with an HDTV, almost completely
uncompressed HD broadcasts (unlike cable or satellite).
OTA
viewers can go to antennapoint.com to see quickly what stations are
available to them, the distance, and compass heading to help in choosing
and aiming their antenna. And if they decide to buy a newer antenna, they
should buy it from a source that will completely refund their purchase
price, no questions asked, if it doesn’t do the job.
Sep 16, 2008 12:52 PM
Guest :
This article was very helpful. Just for additional information - cable
subscribers need to pay attention to mailings from their cable programming
providers. Some will NOT be continuing to broadcast an analog signal. I was
informed that as of October 1, I need a cable company converter box to
continue to be a customer. I am sure mine is not the only company doing
this.
Dec 6, 2008 2:15 PM
Guest :
My new digital tv would not "let" me watch the stations that are
already digital until I connected my comcast cable to a digital converter
bix the from this to my tv. Since I do have cable why do I still need the
converter bo???
Mar 12, 2009 2:08 PM
Guest :
The statment from the article above: "At the same time the cable
company is sending the analog (basic cable) signal it also transmits a
second, digital signal that can only be interpreted by an authorized cable
box." is not exactly correct.
Cable TV subscribers can get
a limited number of unscrambled digital channels without a set top box from
the cable company. Typically this only includes the local channels, which
the FCC requires cable operators to provide in unscrambled digital form.
Some cable companies even provide these channels in HD, though that is not
required by the FCC. The unscrambled digital channels are even available to
cable customers who do not subscribe to digital cable service. Digital
channels for cable networks such as CNN, FOX, etc are normally scrambled
and will require a set to box from the cable operator.
To
receive the unscrambled digital channels, cable customers will need a TV
equipped with a Clear-QAM capable digital tuner. Most HDTVs now on the
market already have this capability.
Also available are
external tuner boxes with Clear-QAM capability that can be connected to TVs
which lack Clear-QAM. These devices also typically support ATSC, for
reception of local over-the-air digital TV channels via antenna. These
tuner boxes can be purchased from from online electronics and computer
retailers.
Clear-QAM capable HDTV tuner devices are also
available for desktop and notebook computers, allowing unscrambled digital
cable channels to be viewed on a computer. These PC HDTV tuners are
available as external USB devices, and as internal cards for desktop
computers.
Admittedly, this is only a partial solution for
receiving digital cable channels. It does not provide the full variety of
channels and services available from a digital cable set top box. But it
may be suitable for customers who want to avoid monthly cable box rental
fees for their secondary TVs.
Mar 17, 2009 3:37 PM
Guest :
I was just informed by my cable company, Comcast, that regardless of the
fact that I have cable I'll STILL need a converter box in order to view
channels 34 - 82 after April 7th.! This is outrageous! I expected them to
do something like this but it still seems so manipulative, and deceitful.
Jun 19, 2009 12:49 PM
Guest :
I just spoke to comcast because I lost a couple channels in the analog band
I can now only get with a converter box. They've been touting all along
that if you have cable nothing will change for you. DON'T YOU BELIEVE
IT!!! They bumped those channnels to digital only and was told by the
tech that they will ALL be that way by the end of the year!!! But not to
worry.. comcast is gonna offer free multiple converter boxes as a
resolution. I said "Oh.. ok, I got 7 tv's! Just how many am I gonna
recieve?" He said 2. I have to buy/rent the rest. Umm... sounds like
just another revenue generator to me. Frankly, if I have to buy/rent
additional boxes for my house anyway..... they WILL CERTAINLY be attached
to a satellite dish!
Oct 8, 2009 10:14 AM
Guest :
I too have a digital TV and Cable service. I was receiving digital signals
such as 13-1, 39-2, 115-110 with no "cable box" or no
"converter Box." This week Comcast dropped these nice digital
stations with dashes and when I called them was told that they weren't
"real stations" and they were getting rid of them. They also
dropped some stations like Analog Channel 13 (PBS-NYC) I was also told I
needed a converter box. So why if I'm getting Comcast digital signals and
have a digital tv do I need this? So.... I went to the Comcast facility
and picked up one (A Motorola 2244 digital interactive communications
device) and it has been installed. I get the stations I want at poorer
quality than my digital tv at 720 ppi can actually display. But this will
allow for On Demand and recording programs (for a fee to Comcast). So is
this a marketing ploy on Comcast's part???? Just curious.
Aug 14, 2008
