[mythtv-users] NTSC, ATSC, QAM & device clarifications

James Miller gajs-f0el at dea.spamcon.org
Fri Feb 20 21:27:32 UTC 2015


Still trying to figure out upgrade options, I'm now considering more 
carefully my broadcast sources and what I'll need to record them. With 
this post, I just want to spell out how I understand these things and 
to ask some advice on proper capture devices. Maybe I'll even have to wait 
to upgrade, given the changing broadcast landscape.

So, I currently record some OTA broadcasting which, as I understand it, is 
ATSC. That's working fine for the most part. Then I record some things 
from a cable connection (lower tier service, included in apartment rent by 
the building where I reside). I believe all I currently record from cable 
is NTSC: this is TWC, by the way, which is gradually shifting to all 
digital--a move they say will be completed by 2016. Already I've lost 
access to certain stations, owing, I presume, to the fact that the capture 
cards devoted to the cable connection only handle (NTSC) analog 
transmission. Apparently, all analog channels will soon disappear and, 
with the current set-up, I'd get nothing over cable--at which point, I 
gather that all channels would be transmitted in QAM, correct? Perhaps I 
should be saying clear QAM here, since this is one of the lower-tier, and 
thus unencrypted, service levels.

In looking at upgrading this system, my hope is to find some device that 
will handle both the current NTSC-over-cable stuff I currently record, as 
well as the current and upcoming digital stuff--which, as I understand it 
will be QAM. So what I think I need to be aiming for is a system that 
handles all of these 3: ATSC for OTA programming, NTSC for a lot of 
current analog cable programming, and QAM for current and future digital 
cable programming.

Is my understanding of the broadcasting end of things sufficiently 
correct? How about my assumption that I'll need devices to handle all 
three--NTSC, ATSC, and QAM--should I do my upgrade now? Perhaps I should 
wait until the shift to all digital occurs and my current equipment 
becomes completely obsoleted, to upgrade? Finally, is/are there device(s) 
that handle NTSC as well as ATSC and/or QAM? The HDHR4-2US, for example, 
handles QAM, but I see no indication that it handles NTSC.

Thanks,
James


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