Question Re Hd/digital Cable

[groover km]

Thanks for the replies. Groover is right about my confusion between digital & HD. (Actually, my confusion began when they took the tuner knobs off the front of the TVs).
OK, one final question: If I got digital/HD and wanted to record a show that was broadcast in HD, would it record the show in SD or not at all?

Okay, just to help with this: Digital and HD are not the same thing in this context. It breaks down like this:

Analog is the over the air, rabbit ears on top of the tv stuff. In the US, I think this is about 40 channels(?) and is what is being switched off in 2009 when the switch is made to digital. (note, this is digital, not HD. I have heard the droids in Best Buy tell the unsuspecting that they need to buy a HDTV because their tv's will 'stop working'. Nonsense and reprehensible).

Okay, if you have a cable box and have channels in the hundreds - you already have digital. IE, the cable company is squishing more digital data down the wire and your STB decodes it into analog and back to the TV. This is standard definition, not high definition.

High definition (cable) is a subset of the digital in that it is transmitted in the same way over the wire. To view it, you are gonna need:

- A subscription to your provider's HD service (for them to unlock the channels).
- A HD cable box from your provider to decode the channels.
- A HDTV to watch them on.

(Note, you can get HD over the air, but I'm not gonna get into that now, my three year old is waiting for his bath )

Unless you have this stuff, you are not going to see HD channels, much less record them. I am wondering if by your question about recording HD in SD, you are referring to the little logos they put on things? BY this I mean, at the beginning of '24' say, it will have a HD logo on it...

That only applies if I am watching it on FOX-HD. Otherwise I am watching it on plain old vanilla FOX and I can still record it with my PVR.

Phew. A lot of stuff - hope it makes sense!

[wtg]

Correct, but remember that you can only view/record one channel at a time. This won't enable you to record an svid input while watching coax for example.

True enough

Not sure why you would want to complicate things with the analog on coax when the STB is carrying them over the svid anyway...? Why not just 'upgrade' to the svid?

Because if you only have one cable box recording things off the coax lets you use your cable box to watch something else if it's connected to your TV too. This way the STB is only dedicated to the PC with the digital channels.

[wtg]

OK, one final question: If I got digital/HD and wanted to record a show that was broadcast in HD, would it record the show in SD or not at all?

Depends on your STB, but many of them output SVideo even on the HD channels. Mine does. So yes, if your STB supports it you could record the HD channels in SD format.

[groover km]

Depends on your STB, but many of them output SVideo even on the HD channels. Mine does. So yes, if your STB supports it you could record the HD channels in SD format.

Really? I didn't know that. Although I'm guessing that you still need to subscibe to the HD channels.

[Withbothfeet]

Clever eh? You can see how sub is regarded as some sort of deity around these parts...

Amen!

[Withbothfeet]

What I don't understand is how a commercial STB DVR works with a digital cable STB so easily, but we have to jump through hoops to get a PC alternative hooked up.
They make it sound so effortless connecting a commercial DVR to a digital STB.

Why is it taking so long for the digital tuner cards (cable cards) to hit the market?
Seeing how the whole HTPC boom is taking off how it is... I would think there would be a plethora of digital tuner cards by now.
Digital cable has been around for a long time.
Analog tuners have been around even longer.
Why is it taking so long for the 2 to merge?

BTW, to this day I am still boycotting Frantic, Inc. (aka - Metallica) for making simple entertainment... so complex.

[sub]

Why is it taking so long for the digital tuner cards (cable cards) to hit the market?
Seeing how the whole HTPC boom is taking off how it is... I would think there would be a plethora of digital tuner cards by now.
Digital cable has been around for a long time.
Analog tuners have been around even longer.
Why is it taking so long for the 2 to merge?

I think they're taking their time to ensure you guys in the US are well and truely screwed over.

Its strange that the US TV seems to be going from the least restrictive broadcast standards in the world (very large number of analog channels transmitted "in the clear" allowing for easy recording from capture cards) to the most restrictive for digital cable (DRM over everything, possibly requiring new hardware with secure channel all the way from capture device to monitor).

[Withbothfeet]

The term our government uses for that is "Freedom".

Oh man... don't get me started.

[Ted the Penguin]

dont blame metallica for DRM, it was going to happen, that is for sure

oh and about the need for an HDTV after 2009, not true, what is needed however is a digitial tuner. you can still watch SD channels on a SD TV, but they will be transmitted digitally, they will be shutting down the analog broadcasts, and auctioning the bandwidth off to "first responders"

[groover km]

...they will be shutting down the analog broadcasts, and auctioning the bandwidth off to "first responders"

Which is the exact reason why the previous two congress' dragged their feet about implementing the 9/11 commission recommendations; specifically the urgent need for a unified emergency services frequency. Why go to the trouble of setting up something for the public good on the public airwaves when we can auction it to a big Telco for $$$ instead?

Grrrrr.....

But that's another topic and another thread.