Questions about cable TV on the PC

[snoopy369]

This is a three part question about cable TV and the PC :)

1. If I get a QAM-enabled tv card, will I be able to get the non-HD channels that are not 'basic cable' (channels 100+) on my PC without a cable tuner? I don't have a Vista PC and certainly won't be getting a CableCard enabled vista PC... but I seem to see some evidence of people being able to get some digital cable channels on their PC, along with local HD channels. What do I need to do this, if it's possible in the US? Does a Cable Card help me even if I don't have a PC that officially supports the decryption?

2. This is mostly for Chicago area folks, particularly Sava... How is WOW cable and particularly how is their analog setup, and does anyone have any experience with their service and a PC (as above)? Comcast is going to be switching to an all-digital lineup, which is obviously a problem for me using my computer to record TV...

3. With the FCC mandate to offer digital channels, will PC television go the way of the dodo by 2009?

Thanks :)

[LordShiva]

If you're using MCE (which I hope you aren't), you can't connect a QAM tuner without also having a regular cable tuner.

Also, the only HD tuners you can use are OTA tuners, IIRC.

[SlowwHand]

I turned on my new LCD wide screen HDTV...and it worked!



:dance:

[LordShiva]

:dance:

[Lord Avalon]

Good! You remembered to plug it in! :b: ;)

[DanS]

If I'm understanding your question correctly, if you get a QAM tuner, such as the below, you may be able to get some "digital plus" channels, depending on whether each channel is sent out encrypted by your cable provider.

http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/fusion5usb.asp

RCN, my cable provider, scrambles most Digital Plus channels, as well as the premium HD channels. F.e., I was wanting to get Fox Soccer Channel without spending the money on Digital Plus (where FSC is offered), but FSC was scrambled by RCN.

There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason which Digital Plus channels are scrambled and which are not.

Regarding CableCard, I don't know if it would help you get the encrypted QAM channels. Probably not, given that most of the PC tuners are very unsecure, and therefore the tuner-in-the-loop would not be an authorized configuration. In any event, CableCards in the wild are a relatively new phenomenon as I understand, so the PC tuner companies may take a while to support them, even if the configuration were authorized.

Good luck.

[snoopy369]

I don't have MCE, so that's not a problem. Dan roughly understands my question, indeed. WOW seems to support cablecards for Tivos at least, not sure about for computers...

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by snoopy369
This is a three part question about cable TV and the PC :)

1. If I get a QAM-enabled tv card, will I be able to get the non-HD channels that are not 'basic cable' (channels 100+) on my PC without a cable tuner? I don't have a Vista PC and certainly won't be getting a CableCard enabled vista PC... but I seem to see some evidence of people being able to get some digital cable channels on their PC, along with local HD channels.

The answer is "probably not without some extra work (and money) on your PC". Here (http://www.anandtech.com/multimedia/showdoc.aspx?i=2634) is a good website that delves into this.

Originally posted by snoopy369
Does a Cable Card help me even if I don't have a PC that officially supports the decryption?

Actually QAM is a modulation scheme, not an encryption method. Typically it comes in 16 and 64 QAM.

The article I referenced above also addresses the regular "analog" channels that can be received by different Cable cards.


D

[DanS]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I don't have MCE, so that's not a problem. Dan roughly understands my question, indeed. WOW seems to support cablecards for Tivos at least, not sure about for computers...

I think the question is more whether the computer/tuner supports the CableCard. WOW would just give you a CableCard, which you could use in all devices that support it. TIVOs do. PC tuners probably don't, unless you get a locked-down, specialty computer (with Vista).

[LordShiva]

I use my set-top box connected to my PC via firewire to get all my HD and digital channels. If you're going with a cable provider anyway, this is probably the easiest way to do it.

[snoopy369]

Well, if I were sure their STB worked with firewire, I'd do that... but many indications seem to indicate that they probably don't (or at least didn't a year ago, who knows if they've upgraded)...

[LordShiva]

Call them and ask what model they use.

[snoopy369]

They use (from last I saw on the various forums I read) SA 8300 series, but there seemed to be difficulty getting ones with the firewire port enabled. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7310102&&#post7310102 for example.