HD Capture Card

[warnockm]

I'm trying to learn about HD Capture cards, and they appear to use the QAM signal on the line. What i'm having trouble figuring out is if the cable company has to "add" this card to their system, or if it will work using the existing line. I had a conversation w/ my cable guy about cards that are installed in HDTVs and cable boxes, and wasn't sure if this was required for capture cards.

[warnockm]

I think I may be confusing "HDTV" and "Digital Cable". If i have a Digital cable capture card, does the cable company have to activate it, or will it work with the signal on the cable line? i would think it would work, but i recall Comcast reseting my cable box in the past.

[Krispy Kritter]

The are tuner cards (QAM) that can accept "clear" digital cable channels. Clear being non-encrypted (HBO, Showtime, Pay-per-View, etc.). Your cable company won't have any involvement in your installing/setup/using a tuner card with a QAM tuner. As you already noted, there is a difference between digital cable and HD. You can also get tuner cards that can tune HD signals (ATSC tuners), but these are typically OTA (Over The Air - ie: antenna) based, and not cable based.

In order to capture encrypted channels, you will need to use a cable box or get a capture card/tuner that accepts cable cards (I don't know if any have yet been released).

Clear as mud?

[warnockm]

Are HBO, Showtime, etc, usually unencrypted, or are those examples of encrypted channels? I've been trying to capture video over firewire, but have found that every station is 5c encrypted. If that is the encryption you are talking about, it sounds like i will not be able to capture on the capture card either.

[dphirschler]

Expect the only unencrypted channels to be ones that you can get freely over the air. And even then the cable companies might try to (illegally) encrypt those.


Darryl

[warnockm]

Interesting. Do you know what rule or law makes it illegal to encrypt free channels? I'm having the problem locally....

[jman98]

Krispy Kritter's post is rather puzzling because it seems to me that HBO, Showtime, Pay Per View, etc. are almost always encrypted.

dphirschler is correct that sometimes cable companies (I think it's usually through incompetence rather than malice) encrypt local channels. I don't know what law refers to this, but you could always look it up yourself if you care.

[edDV]

PC HD tuners usually are ATSC (over the air) only. Some also tune unencrypted cable clear QAM.

The FCC requires most locals* to be available unencrypted. The cable company may offer more. Here Comcast only makes locals + C-Span 1/2 available where in some Time Warner locations I've seen ESPN HD and MTV HD unencrypted.

In other words, it varies locally. Don't expect "digital cable" channels to be available. If they are, don't expect them to be tomorrow. Here they were available during the upgrade construction but went to encryption when the project was complete.


*This gets legally complicated:
- "Must Carry" stations are required to be carried in SD or HD (if they broadcast in HD). They must also be available as analog.
- "Retransmission Consent" stations (most networks) negotiate their deal with the cable company. The FCC stays out of it.
- PBS has negotiated a deal where all digital main and subchannels will be available as clearQAM plus the main channel will be offered in analog. All major cable companies have signed on this deal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Must-carry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retransmission_consent