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jessie21or2

hdtv and need for a cable box?

jessie21
16 years ago

i'm sorry...tried to do a search on this but couldn't find an answer.

i have an hd tv in my living room with dvr box from the cable company (comcast, formerly adelphia) and we love it. but, i want to put a smaller LCD in my kitchen. my cabinet guy is making a shelf/box to hold it over my fridge and there will be no room for a box. nor do i particulary want to pay for an extra connection.

i have a cable in my kitchen and i don't need a dvr there. is it possible to get the hd signal in my kitchen without an extra box? if the set has an hd tuner in it, will that work? please let me know if this is possible and, if so, what i should look for in buying the new little set.

thanks!

Comments (12)

  • chris8796
    16 years ago

    There are a number of options:

    You may be lucky and get the "locals" in HD from comcast w/o a box, but that could change in the future.

    The best solution is to find a location within say 25'of the LCD were you can put a box. Then just run a cable to the TV. You can use IR repeaters for remote control of a box in another location. Often in these cases, I see them make the kitchen TV show the same thing as the great room TV (assuming both are visible from the kitchen).

    There are other possibilities too.

  • jessie21
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    thanks for answering, chris. so, i guess this means i probably need a box to get the actual hd signal, even tho i already have one?

  • chris8796
    16 years ago

    Yes, unless you want to use the one box supply both TVs (ie always watch the same thing).

    Otherwise the best you can do is get the analog standard defination channels (the regular channels you get without a box)and possibly the "local" HD channels (ABC,NBC,CBS,Fox,PBS). If you go this route, you will need a LCD with analog tuner (NTSC) and a digitial tuner (ATSC w/QAM). Most cable companies currently supply the local HD channels unencrytped, but this could change at any time. If you call and ask a comcast CSR they will probably have no idea what your talking about.

  • jessie21
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    thanks again, chris. i really appreciate your answers.

  • mikie_gw
    16 years ago

    Coming very very soon,,,
    If you get a LCD tv with a digital tuner you dont really need a cable converter box except for extended channels.

    My tv has a digital tuner and goes up to around channel #100.

    My cable company is switching everybody to digital Dec14 and if you have an analog tuner in your tv they can give you a converter box for $1 per month. Although the neighbor just jumped the gun and had them come install a box and I looked at the work order...
    $8 for digital signal
    $7 for digital box
    a bunch of other small charges.
    It appears they gave her an open box and she receives all the premium channels now.
    She doesnt hear too well so she may have agreed to everything, which she says and nods yes alot when you talk to her.

  • klaa2
    16 years ago

    Cable card is your answer.

    As long as your LCD in the kitchen will accept one.

    Check it out.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Comcast cable card

  • cissado
    16 years ago

    Yep^^^ Cable card. Then you won't need a box. Just plug the card into the TV.

    I have the same set up as the OP with the LR HDTV with dvr and an lcd in my kitchen, but the kitchen lcd is on my counter over some cabinets. So I placed the HD cable box, dvd player etc.. inside the cabinets underneath and ran an IR repeater up to the wall next to the TV. Works good but I don't like the slight delay of the repeater. No big deal, really.

  • jessie21
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    ok, so now i'm really confused. bought a vizio flat panel hdtv (lcd). it has both digital and analogue tuners in it and it's an hd set, not hd ready. i thought the cards were only for hd ready sets, that hd would not need one.

    anyway, here's my current problem. i did the channel scan on set up and it said it added 75 analogue channels and 66 digital channels. when i started changing channels, i was totally thrilled to find that i had several hd channels. no doubt about it. most channels are boxed in with the bars on the sides. on the hd channels, it filled the screen with crystal clear, no distortion picture and also there was the hd channel displayed onscreen for some seconds. going up the channel line-up, a few of these channels displayed like this: what i normally get as channel 4 (abc) was standard (but clearly digital). then, there was a 4-1 and a 4-2 added. 4-1 was hd. same with 11. i got an 11-1 and it was hd.

    the problem? i'm getting there, lol. i had those hd channels for 2 days and now some of them are gone!!! i still have 2 or 3 hd channels but others are gone (including the 4-1). i did another scan, in case they just slipped off the radar for some reason but they are still gone. so, is this a cable thing or a tv thing. and where did they go???

  • chris8796
    16 years ago

    What TV market are you in? Which cable company?

  • jessie21
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    hi again, chris. i'm about 50 miles northwest of pittsburgh...most, but not all, of our channels originate from there. we are with comcast. many of our network channels come from pittsburgh, but we also get them from central pa. our channel lineup differs considerably from pittsburgh proper's line up on comcast.

    the channels i was getting both standard and hd versions for a couple of days that are gone now are pittsburgh channels abc, nbc, and pbs. can't remember if i was getting cbs in hd the other day or not but it's from pitts too and i'm not getting it now....only getting the standard or digital transmissions.

    i am still getting an hd version of nbc out of johnstown at 6-1. normal old 6 is johnstown's nbc affiliate.

  • jessie21
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    OH!! ok, i just found more hd channels on my vizio! went up higher on the remote than i have tried and ran into all the music channels (although they are located in a different place than on my main tv that is equipped with the hd box and dvr). so, i followed them up to channels called 107-2102, 107-2103.......108-2221. very strange but very cool....hd channels for abc, nbc, cbs, pbs and some others. broadcasting in 1080i or 720p.

    so i guess i don't care as much about losing 4-1 and 11-1 although i still wonder where the heck they went!! it would be more convenient to watch the hd on the next channel, rather than having to search in those strange numbers.

    still, i'm a happy camper.

  • chris8796
    16 years ago

    You may want to go over and check out the local HD Pittsburgh-comcast thread at avsforum. It looks to be a pretty active thread and they can provide better info specific to your area.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pittsburgh -comcast thread

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