This is probably a stupid question, but I need to know if a atsc stb tuner will also tune in a ntsc signal. Such as I need to hook this up to a cable line in a hotel room and I don't know if the signal is digital or analog going to the tv. Meaning is atsc backwards compatable with ntsc?

I was looking at something like the samsung DTB-H260F

Thanks

No. An ATSC receiver cannot tune in NTSC. The STB would need both.

Ed

Such as I need to hook this up to a cable line in a hotel room and I don't know if the signal is digital or analog going to the tv.If the signal is digital cable, ATSC won't work on that either. Digital cable is QAM.

Ed

Does anyone know of a stb that will do atsc ntsc and QAM? Something that I can take with me on the road?

most of the newer DVD recorders (with tuners) will do that!

The LG 4200 OTA STB can do it all, if you find one.

No. An ATSC receiver cannot tune in NTSC. The STB would need both.

Ed

Really? Then why does my HDTV with built-in ATSC tuner also tune to analog NSTC signals? Now the set top boxes may not tune NTSC. i know my Samsung SITR-151 won't. Some D to A STBs pass-thru the NTSC signals to the analog TV's, but most don't. So your statement that an ATSC receiver cannot tune in NTSC isn't quite accurate. To say that a STB cannot tune may be accurate, but not necessarily. Depends on the make/model and the built-in capability of the STB.

See this list:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=179095

Really? Then why does my HDTV with built-in ATSC tuner also tune to analog NSTC signals?Because it has both ATSC & NTSC.

Really? Then why does my HDTV with built-in ATSC tuner also tune to analog NSTC signals? . . . So your statement that an ATSC receiver cannot tune in NTSC isn't quite accurate.
My statement is absolutely perfectly accurate. An ATSC receiver can't even come close to receiving NTSC. For one, one is digital and the other is analog. And it goes on from there. Ken already told you why your HDTV can get NTSC - which I said in my original post anyway.

Ed

Wouldn't the hotel TV be able to receive NTSC?

Q: Is atsc backwards compatable with ntsc?

A: No. Accordingly, many TVs and DVD recorders have DUAL tuners for ATSC and NTSC. There may be exceptions, but very few STBs (and no CECBs) have both ATSC and NTSC tuners.

An analogy: ATSC and NTSC are similar to each other as the Digital Audio Compact Disc is with the Long-Playing Phonograph Record. Compact discs cannot be played on a record player, and a vinyl LP record cannot be played on a CD player. The technologies are completely different, although they both provide music playback. Hoping this analogy helps.