I have a nice 1080P DLP (Samsung s5087) with a built-in digital tuner. I only subscribe to the $10/month TimeWarner analog cable and use an antenna to pick up a few OTA stations in HD. When I do a channel scan, I get analog cable stations only.

I just purchased a cheap Dynex 19" LCD from Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9135385&type=product&id=1218054461986). I did a channel scan with my analog cable line plugged in, and was surprised to pick up several HD stations that my Samsung doesn't even pick up over the antenna! I didn't know that TimeWarner broadcasts any digital stations over the basic analog cable in my area.

Why won't my Samsung pick these up? When I do a channel scan, I get three options: STD, HRC, IRC. I've tried all three, and they only pick up analog stations. Do I not have the proper tuner in my Samsung?

Cable takes the ATSC signal from over-the-air Digital TV stations and converts it to QAM for use on their systems. Some HDTV's only have an ATSC tuner, others have a combined ATSC & QAM tuner.

It sounds like the Dynex has both ATSC & QAM, while the Samsung only has ATSC.

(An ATSC tuner is also known as a Digital TV tuner, DTV tuner, or 8VSB tuner.)

Here is a list of outboard tuners with QAM: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=179095

Cable takes the ATSC signal from over-the-air Digital TV stations and converts it to QAM for use on their systems. Some HDTV's only have an ATSC tuner, others have a combined ATSC & QAM tuner.

It sounds like the Dynex has both ATSC & QAM, while the Samsung only has ATSC.

(An ATSC tuner is also known as a Digital TV tuner, DTV tuner, or 8VSB tuner.)
A ha! That makes sense. Although disappointed, I guess I'll have to stick with the antenna on the much higher quality but less tunerized Samsung!

Thank you!