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

[James Miller]

On Fri, 20 Feb 2015, Karl Newman wrote:

>> If you're satisfied with the NTSC/analog recordings that you've been
> receiving, you could likely continue that with either a Digital Transport
> Adapter (DTA) or a set-top box (STB). An SD-only STB might save you some
> money while still granting access to all the subscribed channels--sometimes
> the DTAs exclude some subscribed channels. If they still have SD-only boxes
> that is. You would connect the output of the box to the input of your
> existing tuner card, either through the RF (coax) input or preferably
> through composite connections. You would also need an IR blaster to change
> the channel on the box. This is what I'm doing with my setup and it's
> perfectly satisfactory for us. If you want to record HD off your cable,
> likely your only recourse will be a HD STB with component outputs (if you
> can find a box with those, otherwise you'll need an increasingly rare
> HDMI->component converter as well) connected to an HDPVR (first generation).

Thanks for your input, Karl. Yes, NTSC quality is fine for me. And I do 
have a DTA--if the things the government was subsidizing when the 
analog-to-digital transition began can be considered DTA's. It seems to me 
the scenarios you're describing address live TV viewing, correct? Since 
the DRM protections being introduced and the associated encryption are for 
the purpose of preventing consumers without the right devices (meaning, 
apparently, WMC computers or cable-company-supplied DVR's) from recording 
programming, the devices you describe could only be used for live-TV 
viewing, it seems to me. So the recording and schedule-shifting 
functionality of Myth would be invalidated, were such devices to be added, 
if I'm understanding correctly. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that. 
An STB, by the way, is likely not in my future since I plan to stick to my 
principle of not paying for television viewing (apart from whatever 
portion of my rent that ostensibly goes to the cable co., about which I 
have no say).