WickedYoungMan 0 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Hi guys, do you know if people should get HD channels without an HD package? We just got an HD TV, running directly through the cable and am actually pulling in some Digital/HD channels. I got my TV from a Best Buy in the next city and it was doing the same over there, which I had thought you needed to have a cable box or whatever package through your carrier that is HD ready in order to do this. I promise I'm not doing anything illegal! I just plugged my cable straight in, it read through the channels and picked up 10 digital channels. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
clind 2 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Are they your basic local channels, or are they actually some premium channels (TLC HD, that kind of thing) Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-37033 Share on other sites More sharing options...
WickedYoungMan 0 Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 Are they your basic local channels, or are they actually some premium channels (TLC HD, that kind of thing) They are the basic locals and digital substations. Though interestingly, the TV suddenly picked up some odd high end channels (for basic that is) of 84.4, 92.1 and 92.3. For a day or so, one was National Geographic (but it didn't seem to be Hi-Def,) one was an "Arts" channel and the other I couldn't identify but it was in Hi-Def. It still picks them up but displays "channel not available" with a black screen. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-37036 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMA 135 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 It's not illegal. It's Clear QAM, unencrypted digital cable signals, which are usually HD. They're mapped to random numbers set by the cable company. It's pretty much the same as OTA ATSC, except EPG data is often "stripped" off the signal. If you're getting extra stations, it's fine. They're obviously unencrypted, so you have the right to watch them. For the channels that have gone away, just do a rescan. Cable companies often switch the frequencies the channels are on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAM_tuner Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-37039 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 804 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 You know what, I did the exact same thing when I programmed an SDTV (not HD) yesterday. I ended up picking up Comcast's Channel 1 On Demand video, and it's not even hooked up to a cable box. Aside from that, got a couple of local HD feeds in letterbox, though I'm still wondering why one channel shows up three times instead of once on a digital feed. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-37041 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ybYellow 2 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Strange... My Vizio TV in my basement picks up channels like "84-10" and "RF18." They are mostly (what appears to be) a better quality picture of WZMY and NECN, but one advertises Comcrap's NBA Package. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-37046 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElliotJones 52 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 It's not illegal. It's Clear QAM, unencrypted digital cable signals, which are usually HD. They're mapped to random numbers set by the cable company. It's pretty much the same as OTA ATSC, except EPG data is often "stripped" off the signal. If you're getting extra stations, it's fine. They're obviously unencrypted, so you have the right to watch them. For the channels that have gone away, just do a rescan. Cable companies often switch the frequencies the channels are on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAM_tuner Translated, it's digital cable without the digital cable box. All the box does is "map" the signals to their respective channels. This, of course, only applies to the un-encrypted channels. If you're lucky, you can sometimes see what someone else is watching On-Demand... Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-37054 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Dillweed 74 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I just discovered the joys of QAM this weekend. I won't give away exactly what cable networks I'm picking up (let's just say some are premium channels that should be scrambled, and they aren't). I'll concur that the channel assignments are incredibly weird. Random ones like 117.9 and 100.15. Since Comcrap took away three cable channels recently on the analog tier, I'll consider these QAM signals a nice replacement. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-37249 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rv65 3 Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 TWCSD does have a bunch of QAM channels. Even the SD VOD channel is unencyrpted but you need a cable box to access it. TWC uses the OTA channel numbers for the local HD QAM channels. Some FM radio stations can be access through QAM as well. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-38144 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Former Member 207 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I both cable (Time Warner) and DirecTV in our home...the reason why we have TW is for their internet service. I have a second cable outlet in my bedroom, in addition to the satellite service, I have the cable connected directly to the TV. I bought my digital TV more than a year ago, and and it has a QAM tuner. Anywho...I do a channel memory scan at least a couple of times a month, just instance of pulling in new channels. Pretty much all of the channels I pick up via cable have much better picture quality than their DirecTV counterparts. I get both the SD and analog version of the local stations, plus WGN America, QVC (three versions--two SD, one analog), TV Guide Network (analog and SD version of my local listing, plus another SD channel with the South Los Angeles listings, since Inglewood and South LA have the same head-end), The Weather Channel, the L.A. City government channel, LA36 (a community access channel), two other public access stations, HD versions of KCBS, KNBC, KTLA, KABC, KCAL, KTTV, KCET, and KOCE (different from the regular KOCE), the digital subchannels V-Me (KCET), NBC Weather Plus and News Raw (KNBC), ABC7 Plus and ABC7 Weather Now (KABC), and all the Music Choice channels. I can't count many exact total channels I get, but it has to be at least over 100. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-38293 Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFTV 526 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 TWCSD does have a bunch of QAM channels. Even the SD VOD channel is unencyrpted but you need a cable box to access it. TWC uses the OTA channel numbers for the local HD QAM channels. Some FM radio stations can be access through QAM as well. I use regular cable and not a digital cable box, but my TV picks up HD Channels as well as the radio stations and hidden on demand preview channels. Since our cable system have different VHF and UHF Signals heres how my cable line up when channel surfing would be like... 5: KSWB (CW) 6: XETV (FOX) 6-1: XETV HD 7: KNSD (NBC) 8: KFMB (CBS) 8-1: KFMB HD 9: KUSI (INDEPENDENT) 10: KGTV (ABC) 10-1: KGTV HD 11: KPBS SKIP A FEW CHANNELS 15: KZSD (KGTV'S SISTER STATION - AZETCA AMERICA) 15-1: KPBS HD 15-2: KPBS V-ME SPANISH SKIP A FEW CHANNELS 39: COURT TV 39-1: KNSD HD 39-2 IS SUPPOSED TO BE KNSD WEATHER PLUS, BUT IT DOESNT WORK ON CABLE. YOU GOTTA HAVE A DIGITAL CABLE BOX TO RECEIVE IT SKIP A FEW CHANNELS 69: BET 69-1: KSWB HD TIME WARNER DOESNT PICK UP KUSI IN HD BUT COX DOES ON DIGITAL CABLE ON 709 Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/4047-receiving-hd-channels-without-hd-package/#findComment-38337 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.