Comcast Digital

[Ted the Penguin]

ok so it helps to have an understanding of what stuff is broadcast in

ATSC is over the air HD channels, it gets that
QAM is the modulation scheme (encoding) for digital cable, but there is also encryption, or channels that the box needs to do something special to decrypt (key and a decrypter), channels without encryption are known as "in the clear" and the 1600 will be able to get those

but not encrypted channels, you will need a cablecard to record those.... and you need a system certified by cablelabs to get a cablecard installed. oh and you have to run Vista... yeah it sucks

[zed]

In the U.S., OTA digital (ATSC) is a different format (QSK, I believe) than digital over cable (QAM). The 1600 will handle ATSC but not QAM so you can't use it to directly receive stuff off your digital cable. There are a couple cards out there that do handle QAM so you can receive stuff directly off digital cable but even then it's only the unencrypted digital stuff, usually only your local OTA digital channels altho some cable companies send out other stuff unencrypted. Most of the digital set top boxes that I know of have an analog output, svideo and/or composite video as well as analog stereo sound. You can usually feed those signals into an analog capture card like a PVR150. While it's no longer digital, the quality is usually much better than just plain analog cable. You also need some kind of IR blaster to change the channels on the STB.

Some cable STBs can output the digital stream over a firewire connection that can be fed into a computer and some folks have had success using that but it's not straightforward and depends on the STB and the cable company.

Bottom line, for the time being, if you want to record digital off cable, the best bet is probably to get the DVR that your cable company offers. Ditto for Dish & DirectTV users. Hopefully that will change eventually but don't hold your breath...

[Smoker]

I started this thread with what I thought was the direction I was needing to go (i.e. 1600) however it has become clear that I was wrong.

The real direction I am going is that I have the opportunity to get Comcast Digital for $7.95/month. Compared to the $50 or so I pay now for enhanced analog thats a nice savings.

I suppose even if I could get analog out of the digital box and it be the same or better pq than I have now then I would still be ahead. Question is whether I could get analog out of the comcast digital box.

[Ted the Penguin]

yes you can... you hook it up to an old tube TV dont ya?

[nightwalker]

If you have comcast cable you always have at least some analog. They have no way to stop it right now, that's why they have moved the premium channels to digital. Don't let them fool you, double check that price, i believe you will find that you need to subscribe to at least comcast basic in order to get digital. As i understand from them you can not get just digital, the $7.95 sounds great when they say it but you have to add it to the price of Basic to get the final price.

[Smoker]

Maybe I am getting confused here. Was just thinking that maybe when it is said to be digital they just mean the delivery method ? and that really what comes out of the digital box is analog anyways. How else would I connect the digital box to my SDTV.

As for the $7.95.... I have a relative that works there

[SniperDude]

...

As for the $7.95.... I have a relative that works there

Comcast audits accounts all the time... so unless that relative lives with ya... you will be lucky to keep it...

My Latest Experience with Comcast....

I recently purchased a nice Plasma HDTV, and wanted to get the full benefit of the picture quality... I had DishNetwork at the time... without the HD package... but wasnt able to upgrade for a few months (because I already had a new reciever from them) ... anyhow.. my wife checked into getting Comcast again to see if perhaps we would want to go back to them... short story is... Comcast promised her a great package... HDlocals and basic analog cable for 17.95... just a few dollars more than the antenna service we already had... and that included the HD DVR reciever from them as well... sounds good... so we get it... meanwhile I am loving the HD locals and the picture quality... and quite thrilled I have like 40 other channels plus all the analog... .... wow all this for 17.95? ... cool I will drop dishnetwork...
well billtime comes in.. HiSpeed - Prem - Internet - 52.95 (same as before)//// anntena service 12.37, digital package with HD - 140.50

total bill like $200 bucks for 1 month..
I called and complained... and basically learned Comcast did not offer any HD without a least Basic Digital, and didnt over DVR without another bump in service..

needless to say.. I went back to Dishnetwork and get approx 250 channels with HD for $79/mo ... much much better value...

[Smoker]

I wasn't implying that I would "steal" service or something.... just that I get the real poop on what's going on there. It appears that Comcast is worried about AT&T in our particular area for the moment... Have to catch these things when they are hot yanno.

[nightwalker]

No need to imply, I'd rip them a bit if i could, they've been sticking it to me for years. I'm also waiting to see what FIOS TV comes out with. Last month i dropped the Hispeed Internet from comcast in favor of Verizon FIOS, same price but much faster. I would have done it even if it had been same price and same speed, just to get rid of Comcast. My end goal is to finally be Comcast free. No way my TV service should cost more than the electric bill.

[Smoker]

No way my TV service should cost more than the electric bill.

You don't have enough computers then :p