HDTV Tuner built-in TV. HD cable Box Needed?

[copiche]

Hello,
I just bought a LCD HDTV that supossedly has an HD tuner built-in.
It's an HP LC2600N.
I currently pay for the HD-channel package from Adelphia to watch it in my other 42" Plasma TV. With that TV I have the MOtorola HD box as well leased from Adelphia.
However, I do not have an HD box set up with my 26" LCD and I wonder if I can get around getting another one from adelphia, if this TV came with the HD tuner built-in.
In the back of the 26" tv it has 3 coax cable inputs: Analog, Digital air, and Digital Cable.
Right now I only have the coax cable comming from the wall attached to the Analog input.
I would like to see also the HD channels on this tv also. How can I do it w/o the box? is it possible?
Thanks

[zzyzzx]

Problem is that you may have bought your TV too soon:

Here's a list of other important dates and the consumer electronics devices they affect:


July 1, 2006 - 100% of 25-35" TVs must include ATSC DTV tuner (right now only 50% required)
July 1, 2007 - 100% of 13-24" TVs must include ATSC DTV tuner
July 1, 2007 - 100% of all interface devices must have ATSC DTV tuner (VCR, DVD player/recorder, DVR) .

This info should really be in a sticky.

[bits]

You will need a box for each TV in order to view the HD channels you are paying for, no way around it.

If your TV supports it, you can view Over The Air (OTA) using an antenna.

[edDV]

Hello,
I just bought a LCD HDTV that supossedly has an HD tuner built-in.
It's an HP LC2600N.
I currently pay for the HD-channel package from Adelphia to watch it in my other 42" Plasma TV. With that TV I have the MOtorola HD box as well leased from Adelphia.
However, I do not have an HD box set up with my 26" LCD and I wonder if I can get around getting another one from adelphia, if this TV came with the HD tuner built-in.
In the back of the 26" tv it has 3 coax cable inputs: Analog, Digital air, and Digital Cable.
Right now I only have the coax cable comming from the wall attached to the Analog input.
I would like to see also the HD channels on this tv also. How can I do it w/o the box? is it possible?
Thanks

You need to talk to HP support.

Some background.

HDTV tuner requirements only apply to over the air (OTA) reception. Some internal HDTV tuners also include the ability to receive certain QAM modulated cable channels. If the channel is a rebroadcast of the local OTA DTV station (SD or HD), then the FCC has prohibited the cable company from further encrypting that channel.

So, in theory, if your QAM tuner works with the right channel frequencies for your local cable system and you (or your local avsforum members) figure out the real QAM channel vs. what appears on the cable box, then you may be able to tune the local DTV stations but not the cable SD "digital" or HD "digital" channels without a cable box.

That too can be bridged if you have a HDTV tuner with a QAM tuner and a smartcard reader that allows decryption of cable pay channels. For this to work, the local cable company supplies you with a smart card that matches your subscription. Only then the internal tuner should act like a cable box for supported features.

If HP tells you this will all work. Then talk to the cable company to see if they offer the smart card. If they do, compare what they charge for the card vs. the rental fee for the cable box and whether an installation charge is required.

After doing all this, you may find that it is more expensive to use the smartcard than renting an additional HD cable box (typically $5/mo or $10-15/mo for HD DVR)

[copiche]

You mean a CableCard?
Yeah, the brilliant technicians at Adelphia came to install one of those in my HP LCD TV but the guy said that he could not install it because of a "compatability" or "software" problem and that they could not do anything about it.
I wasnt home when this happened b/c my wife was but Im pretty sure that in reality, the adelphia guy really did not know how to install it.
He mentioned that the card he tried to install was a Motorola CableCard.
I have been looking all over to see if I can get one of those and then install it myself so I can then call the cable company so they can configure it, but I can seem to find a place to purchase it yet.
I know they are called Motorola MediaCipher CableCards.

[edDV]

You mean a CableCard?
Yeah, the brilliant technicians at Adelphia came to install one of those in my HP LCD TV but the guy said that he could not install it because of a "compatability" or "software" problem and that they could not do anything about it.
I wasnt home when this happened b/c my wife was but Im pretty sure that in reality, the adelphia guy really did not know how to install it.
He mentioned that the card he tried to install was a Motorola CableCard.
I have been looking all over to see if I can get one of those and then install it myself so I can then call the cable company so they can configure it, but I can seem to find a place to purchase it yet.
I know they are called Motorola MediaCipher CableCards.

The idea of the cable card was pushed by the FCC (Powell) to force the cable companies to offer an alternative to cable box rental. It was clear that a modern DTV set would have the essentially same hardware (if QAM capable) as the cable box. The cable companies have no real incentive to make this work because they loose box and remote rental fees.

I'm not sure if HP will fight the cable company over this issue. Maybe they will help.

[ebenton]

Another disadvantage of cable card is that you can't do anything interactive with it. You can't order pay-per-view or video-on-demand or whatever.

[neomaine]

Not to worry, CableCardII is being worked on and will provide 2-way support for cable companies.

Though, the cable companies have no real self interest in getting this through quickly. They still get the service out there but loose the cable box rental cash cow in the process.