HDTV’s QAM Tuner worth the $?
alexdeite asked:
Im not planning to subscribe anytime soon so lets go with free channels. I read the hdtv with Qam can pick up to 20-25 free hd channels but couldnt find anyone saying how many hd channel can the ATSC get without the Qam. The Questions are:
Im not planning to subscribe anytime soon so lets go with free channels. I read the hdtv with Qam can pick up to 20-25 free hd channels but couldnt find anyone saying how many hd channel can the ATSC get without the Qam. The Questions are:
1) How many hd channel can the hdtv pick up without Qam?
2) Can the Qam help pick up more free channels(non-hd) compare to using the ATSC(digital tuner) alone?
My situation is wether to get an hdtv with Qam or not that cost $150 more…and depending on what shows/movies appear on the hdtv to make the $150 worthwhile. I searched through google without any luck, any help is greatly appreciated’
GET YOUR 52″ VIZIO LCD HDTV
Tags: Atsc Digital, Free Channels, Hdtv Tuner, Movies, Qam Tuner
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:45 pm
1 ] NONE…the QAM does Cable, just like a Cable-Ready TV picked up Cable in the OLD DAYS…
2 ] Yes…the ATSC tuner is NOT a Cable tuner…it’s only Over the Air (OTA) tuning….
3} BOTH are included in TV sets since 2006….
Now, no matter WHAT TV YOU BUY….you Will NEED a Cable converter box to get HD TV STATIONS !
Cable is smarter than the average TV set…they set their HD TV stations so high on the channel frequencies that no normal QAM tuner can reach them….
NOW you need their descrambler too…that’s built into the box also…
You have to RENT the box, and RENT the HD STATIONS too…
GET the box, and get a TV set with MULTIPLE HDMI and COMPONENT INPUT jacks on the back of it….
You’ll want them …..
February 25th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
These days, is almost standard for a TV with an ATSC tuner to also tune QAM, and you can only get TVs with ATSC tuners.
You will likely get a few more QAM channels from cable than you would get ATSC channels from antenna, but they are usually things you get on analog cable anyways.
QAM channels can be SD or HD. 25 sounds good for unencrypted QAM channels. You might get 5 or so in HD.
You will not get premium channels that way.
That all said, you might get a cablecard slot for a $150 premium, which will allow you to get a cablecard and get most of the premium/extended cable channels on your TV with no cable box.