[mythtv-users] Myth TY HD, (cable and Satellite)

[Brian Wood]

Calvin Harrigan wrote:
> Patrick Wagstrom wrote:
>>> The FCC has not said anything about requiring US cablecos to change from 
>>> analog. But one could have some suspicions that the cablecos will change 
>>> to digital, in order to force people to "upgrade" to a set top box.
>> Actually, the FCC recently said that cable companies need to support 
>> analog until 2012.
>>
>> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070912-fcc-to-cable-you-must-support-analog-tvs-until-2012.html
>>
>> I've noticed that in the Pittsburgh area Comcast has started to 
>> rebroadcast a lot of the analog channels as digital, although I'm not 
>> quite certain why.  For example, I get the SD versions of ABC, CBS, NBC, 
>> CW, Fox, WGN, BET, CSPAN, and a handful of others as clear QAM.  This is 
>> in addition to the HD versions where applicable.  In any case, the SD 
>> over QAM signals usually are better than the analog signals.  Who knows, 
>> I may soon be able to get rid of my analog tuner and go all digital.

> 
> The better picture is the actually the reason why they have done it. 
> Analog cable has always been plagued with relatively poor reception for 
> analog channels especially at the lower bands (2-13) where most 
> broadcast channels are located.
> 

If you believe that I have a bridge over the East River for you to
consider purchasing.

Under some conditions a cable-delivered digital signal might look better
than an analog one, but only if the cable system has real problems.

There are some situations where a cable system can deliver a usable
analog signal but the QAM ones are unwatchable.

But the main reason cable systems are moving to digital is simple: They
can shoehorn more channels on the wire.

beww