The main reason for a QAM tuner is to pull in unencrypted digital cable channels. I've mostly been satisfied with my QAM tuner in receiving digital broadcast channels like FOX, ABC, CBS, etc.... so I can watch HD content on my HDTV. But I say MOSTLY because every now and then the cable company (in my case Comcast) changes frequencies for these said channels and I have to rescan to find them again.
This already makes me feel like an "in the clear" QAM tuner is less than optimal, and not only that, you are pretty much forced to get a cable box (or cable card I suppose) to view non-broadcast digital cable channels anyway, which makes a QAM tuner seem even less useful.... not to mention more of a hassle since you have to have a cable box for every TV in the house.
Speaking of having cable boxes everywhere in the house, I currently have the option to NOT have a cable box on every TV because lots of the non-broadcast channels are still being transmitted with an analog signal. Yes, it's bad picture quality compared to digital, but I'll live with it over having a cable box on every TV.
However, with the digital transition coming, I'm afraid more and more non-broadcast cable channels (and maybe eventually broadcast channels too) are going digital only. I wouldn't be concerned about this much except that I'd bet that the non-broadcast digital channels are all going to be encrypted, which again, makes the "in the clear" QAM tuner useless for those channels. And even if they weren't encrypted, my first point of the cable companies randomly changing frequencies would still apply, which still makes it less than user friendly anyway.
So with all these things in mind, how useful is a "in the clear" QAM tuner going to be in the future? It seems like they'll be good for the broadcast channels for a while, but what about non-broadcast cable channels? Are cable boxes (or cable cards?) going to be a requirement to watch non-broadcast cable channels? Will the cable companies, if possible, stop randomly changing the broadcast frequencies (except maybe every once in a blue moon like they do with analog channels) so that all the digital channels stay where they are? I'd like to know your opinion as well as some potential evidence on how cable companies might handle this in the future.
This already makes me feel like an "in the clear" QAM tuner is less than optimal, and not only that, you are pretty much forced to get a cable box (or cable card I suppose) to view non-broadcast digital cable channels anyway, which makes a QAM tuner seem even less useful.... not to mention more of a hassle since you have to have a cable box for every TV in the house.
Speaking of having cable boxes everywhere in the house, I currently have the option to NOT have a cable box on every TV because lots of the non-broadcast channels are still being transmitted with an analog signal. Yes, it's bad picture quality compared to digital, but I'll live with it over having a cable box on every TV.
However, with the digital transition coming, I'm afraid more and more non-broadcast cable channels (and maybe eventually broadcast channels too) are going digital only. I wouldn't be concerned about this much except that I'd bet that the non-broadcast digital channels are all going to be encrypted, which again, makes the "in the clear" QAM tuner useless for those channels. And even if they weren't encrypted, my first point of the cable companies randomly changing frequencies would still apply, which still makes it less than user friendly anyway.
So with all these things in mind, how useful is a "in the clear" QAM tuner going to be in the future? It seems like they'll be good for the broadcast channels for a while, but what about non-broadcast cable channels? Are cable boxes (or cable cards?) going to be a requirement to watch non-broadcast cable channels? Will the cable companies, if possible, stop randomly changing the broadcast frequencies (except maybe every once in a blue moon like they do with analog channels) so that all the digital channels stay where they are? I'd like to know your opinion as well as some potential evidence on how cable companies might handle this in the future.
The purpose of the rule is, if the cable co. has any Analog, it must include Analog locals until at least 2-12.
