[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Digital Cable Switch Delayed -- Confused Yet? here

[mpheadley]

The cable migration is news to me. Anyone have more info on what Comcast is planning to do? I have a bunch of TVs hooked up to analog cable in my house and if Comcast decides to force me to rent digital boxes for each and every analog-cable TV, it's going to be BYE BYE COMCAST!!!

[rkinne01]

This whole thing is nothing but a way for the satellite and cable companies to force people to use thier services and for electronics companies to make a few extra bucks.

Yeah you can get this conversion boxes will convert the signals but only if you get 100% of the signal, other wise you're screwed. You may get channel 2 now but if its even a little fuzzy it likely won't come in at all with digital. Comcast, Cox, Direct TV, and the other services all know this, they're salivating hoping these people will finally be forced to sign up for thier service.

As for the Cable part of this... I called Comcast about 1 month ago and was told that they are indeed asking customers to get the boxes they offer. The boxes they offer are free for 1 year then you have to pay a monthly fee for them (not free at all in my book). Great just what I need another appliance to suck up more electricity and another box to clutter my entertainment center.

We're to the point where we're fed up with all this non sense, we'll cancel our cable and just order on Netflix. The shows come out almost as soon as the current seasons end anyway, we will save a bundle this way.

[GetReal]

Thankfully this pending mess will not effect me---I subscribe to a satellite provider which all are already digital and all that I have seen charge less than hard-cable systems to the home while giving the same or better TV service! (Local cable is $79 monthly while my sat-TV is $62.50---same channels).

Don't just be fed up---change!

[jjfahl]

Comcast here in Detroit has already started their move to digital cable. They recently moved several channels that had been on the basic service to basic plus, now basic contains only the local broadcast channels and a couple of public service channels and SPAN. To get anything beside these you must have a set top box. This took effect in early December. No announcement has been made about moving the basic channels to digital, there is probably pressure against them doing so because of the poverty rate here.

[cfw123]

My home owners association has long had a contract with whoever was the current cable provider (changed many times before now being ComCast), and the cost of this is included in my association dues, over which I have no control. I would gladly change to satellite service, except that I then would lose the "free" (meaning it is paid for me whether I like it or not) service effectively. But with the switch to digital, this won't be available any longer I think. What can we do?
Charles Wilkes, San Jose, Calif.

[GraysonPeddie]

I don't watch basic cable, even though I pay $10 a month for basic cable service that I don't need. I have my Channel Master CM-4221 antenna that picks up stations that I wanted to watch, so I only watch local channels and that's about it. It's only the digital version of the stations that I watch.

I do have my digital tuner built-in to my HDTV, so I'm all set to go.

[roinator]

My impression on the digital signal was that those fuzzy channels will not only still come in, but they will be clear. The justification for using a digital signal is that it uses far less bandwith.

[ba64]

"My impression on the digital signal was that those fuzzy channels will not only still come in, but they will be clear."

That hasn't been my experience. Digital seems to handle multipath (ghosts)well but fuzzy translates to large block areas and/or not all with slight changes in signal strength.

[GetReal]

Weak (fuzzy) analog signal = no digital signal. The various net postings I've seen are consistant here.

[borg12of16]

How about up here in Canada? Does anyone have some information? The only thing i know is it's gonna happen sometime in 2011. I'm with Rogers Basic Cable.

[ivorycruncher]

I'm unfamiliar with Comcast's equipment and service, so I can't be sure, but I doubt you would need a separate box for each TV you have. The service I subscribe to is already 100% pure digital signal all the way to my set-top box, which supports up to three streams (i.e. three different "channels" that can be viewed simultaneously). Then from the box to the TVs, you have both digital (HDMI & component video) and analog (composite video, s-video, and coax) hookups. All but the coax work for stream 1, and streams 2 and 3 are fed by analog signals only through the coax hookup. I can have as many TVs as I want on the coax, but again, there can only be three separate channels coming through the box at any given time. The "channels" are changed in the STB itself via RF wireless remotes, and the TV's channel stays tuned to either 10, 23, or 39 (will vary by vendor), which the STB uses to broadcast the individual streams.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that depending on the equipment you have, you shouldn't need a separate box for every TV, as long as you have a central box that handles the digital conversion for you for all your TVs. But again, I have no idea what Comcast has for equipment, so YMMV.

[jjfahl]

I don't think Comcast service is uniform throughout the country. Here, however, it's one DVR or set top box per TV. Been think about trying AT&T Uverse but changing everything is such a hassle.

[mjd420nova]

Luckily I have already made the switch from Comcasts analog service to the digital set-top box. I resisted for the longest time but was made an offer I couldn't refuse. They offered the digital box, which I use by taking the output as Video and left and right stereo audio, not the channel 3 output. I was already paying $40 for the analog signal and the high speed internet was $45. I got the digital service for the TV, the internet AND a VOIP, a package deal for $100. Such a deal. The initial installs and sorting out of the channel line up and problems with some in house wiring only took a week to sort out and I'm very pleased. I have been with the same cable company since cable became available here, since '84, first with TCI, then ATT and finally with Comcast. I have no intentions of buying a new TV, at least as long as my 50 inch analog set continues to perform. HD?? I'm not really impressed, at least not enough to go out and buy one yet. Maybe in the future when the prices come down on both the sets and the cost of cable HD services.

[Adama]

Hi MP,

I also have the regular cable from Comcast, and a couple of months ago I went to their local office and they said I was all set up, that I didn't need to switch to digital to continue receiving my programs.

So, no, you do not have to switch to a new digital tier with the higher price, if you're already getting regular cable.

Also, there are some TV stations that are running a 2 min test so that people can see if their TVs are ready for the conversion. On this test, if you see the upper band a bright green, then you're good to go. If it's red, then you're not ready, and you have to contact your cable company.

HTH

[Adama]

Hi MJD,

Yeah, they offered me the same service, but I said no, because I like to record one show while I watch another.

And, I didn't want to have to rent a DVR and pay extra for that too, when I already have a good setup going.

Have you seen the test that some TV stations are doing?

[Adama]

Hi again, MP,

I just thought of something... are your analog TV sets connected to an antenna? Or do you receive cable programming from Comcast?

[cfw123]

My TV is connected to the ComCas cable via analog, but they plan to switch to all digital on the cable sometime between March and June, which is what bothers me -- I don't want to use their box to access the cable. This switch over has nothing to do with the switch of antenna feeds to digital on Feb. 17th. My cable bill is paid by our home owner association, and we do not have digital access boxes, nor do we want them either.

[JimH443]

roinator said:

My impression on the digital signal was that those fuzzy channels will not only still come in, but they will be clear. The justification for using a digital signal is that it uses far less bandwith.

This is what I do NOT like about digital - the fact that fuzzy stations either won't come in at all or will frequently "freeze frame" the way poorly aligned satellite dishes do. With the dish, at least you can aim it better and there are very effective and very inexpensive tools that make this an easy job. I highly recommend anyone relying on over-the-air transmissions to also get a new antenna, preferably one the used to be called "Deep Fringe."

And, unless I'm mistaken, digital signals actually use more bandwidth per channel. It's just that when it's done via "landline" rather than over the air, there's no worry about allocation conflicts with other services (like airplanes, police, cell phones, etc)

[number6]

I'm not switching so I guess the FCC has just deprived me of TV for my own good. If digital is so much better than the broadcasters would use it. I wish the FCC would just go away.