Do I or will I need STB for digital video?

[larrym]

I have Comcast cable TV in the Chicago area and have one set top box on my TV connected by wall to the cable wall outlet, then to the TV from the STB. In another room I have my computer with a Hauppauge 150 MCE capture card connected by coax to a cable wall outlet. I am currently recording analog video through the computer and capture card and am only able to get channels 1 through 100. My understanding is that these lower channels are analog channels, my card is analog, so the analog lower channels are what I can see or capture.

My question is if I had a digital capture card in my computer (say an HVR-1250?), would I be able to capture the higher (supposedly digital) channels from the direct coax connection to the wall or would I still need a set top box? If the latter, that would mean to upgrade my video capture capability (more channels and digital video) I would need to buy both an STB and a digital capture card.

The Comcast support line people don't seem to know very well, but from what I read and guess from them, even after the DTV cutover next year at least this analog signal from the wall would stay the same, but I'm not sure. I also have some televisions that are directly connected to the wall coax that bring in the lower channels, so I'd like to keep them going.

Thanks in advance for clearing this up for me.

[jagabo]

With a digital capture card you will be able to capture the clear (unencrypted) QAM channels from your cable company without a set-top-box. Clear QAM is usually limited to your local broadcast stations plus a very few others. To capture any other digital channels you will need an STB and you will have to run analog cables from the STB to the capture device.

There is one other possibility. Some STB's have a firewire port and the digital data is streamed to it. It's possible to record this on a PC with the right software. The cable companies are required to do this for local broadcast stations but the ports are often not enabled. And even when they are enabled they are often encrypted. But you may be lucky. There are some people who can get just about every channel this way.

[larrym]

Jagabo, thanks!

A clarification, please: how many different types of signals do I (or might I) have coming out of the wall? So far I know I have an unencrypted analog, encrypted QAM and some unencrypted QAM. Is there another modulation scheme that might be used on my line also, and how would I know which channels are what?

Finally, can you buy inexpensive STB's?

Thanks.

[edDV]

Jagabo, thanks!

A clarification, please: how many different types of signals do I (or might I) have coming out of the wall? So far I know I have an unencrypted analog, encrypted QAM and some unencrypted QAM. Is there another modulation scheme that might be used on my line also, and how would I know which channels are what?

Finally, can you buy inexpensive STB's?

Thanks.

That is basically it. North American cable is divided into 6MHz. wide channels. Each channel can be analog NTSC, QAM (multiple SD or HD MPeg2 video), QAM (audio), QAM (internet up/down), QAM (data, telco), and on and on.

Be more specific what you are asking.

STB? It is useless unless programmed by your local cable company.

[larrym]

Thanks. More specific...

Right now I am recording the 1 - 100 analog channels through my computer and a Hauppauge 150MCE card, which is far from my TV. In the future, I would like to record unencrypted digital video from the wall cable outlet, (not from the Comcast rental STB at my TV, since too far).

I am also worried that at some point during the DTV/HDTV changes, that the signal coming from my wall will be unusable in my current setup, either because there might be no signal, digital signal, encrypted digital signal, etc.

Until this last posting, I had thought that one could buy a set top box and add it in-line with my current arrangement, thus get the digital signals at least (and any analog signals also). The comments seem to indicate that I might as well rent a second STB from Comcast rather than find an alternative STB.

So the core questions is how do I upgrade my current setup for digital and, perhaps, prepare for an uncertain future?

[edDV]

The future for you is gradual and not tied to Feb '09.

There will be fewer analog stations from 2009 to 2012 as cable increases digital content.

Currently you can't access digital clearQAM. ClearQAM will get you local digital channels (SD and HD). To get that you need a QAM HD capable tuner (approx $140-$399 *).

*find the models available on AVS forum or search here for link.

[jagabo]

I bought a Hauppauge HVR-1250 for something like US$25 a few months ago. I can get a half dozen or so clear QAM TV channels with it.

In theory, you can buy your own digital cable box with a cablecard (the decryption portion of the STB) slot. Then get a cablecard from the cable company (or mabye you get your own cablecard and the cable company enables it, I'm not sure exactly how this works). In reality cable companies make this nearly impossible.

[olyteddy]

Don't be too confident the coax from your wall will continue providing any analog signal. The Cable Co only needs to accomodate older analog sets, not their tuners. The accomodation can be in the form of the Channel 3 or RCA A/V outputs of the STB. With a 6 to 50 (or more) channel per 6 MHz slice gain by going digital, that real estate is far too valuable to carry NTSC analog. That space occupied by analog is also needed for more upstream bandwidth. An analog CATV system typically uses the spectrum from 5 to 40 MHz for the upstrem (return) section and 50 to 550 (or 750 or 870) MHz for downstream (to you). An all digital system can add the lower part of the downstream spectrum to the upstream to increase its bandwidth and offer faster upload speeds and more two way services such as telemetry and telephone. And I'm pretty sure they will, when the analog broadcast plug is pulled. As a former CATV Sweep Tech, that's my two cents.

[larrym]

Well, that's depressing. Does that mean future cable video recording will have to come from an rented STB?

[jagabo]

Well, that's depressing. Does that mean future cable video recording will have to come from an rented STB?

Eventually. Even worse, the analog outputs will eventually be eliminated if Hollywood gets their way.

[edDV]

Here's the current list of set top HD capable tuners. Only three will tune clearQAM cable. Price range $149-1050. Many like the Samsung.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=179095
http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages_b/h260f.html