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Re: [Cable] Who gets 100% Digital Channels on Cabl said by cableguy619:
From what I take Brian you are saying you pick 33 the box gives you a digital signal instead of analog? You must have some new fancy box because 3 months ago when I was working with comcast I didnt see a box do that. I havent seen any analog box do that or a digital one as well...
From my yrs in the cabel business I havent seen a box ever do that..
That's correct, when I hit 33 the box gave me a digital signal. This was 3 years ago.
Back about 15 years ago, this cable system was so channel-mapped that not a single channel number was the same between a cable-ready TV and the analog box.
Cable-ready TV would get USA network on 24, the box got it on 13. Cable ready TV would get MTV on 31, the box got it on 20. And so on. One day I actually made a list of channels and their real cable-ready TV channel numbers. The cable company at the time didn't support using cable-ready TVs without a box. (It wasn't Comcast back then). I guess they figured that people who hooked up cable-ready TVs would give up and pay for a converter when they found that the channels weren't the same?? They figured wrong.
When Jones Intercable (later, Comcast) took over, they did away with most of that channel mapping junk (probably because of the 1996 Cable regulations) so that the channels were mostly correct when using a cable-ready TV.
So when I found that my digital cable box was tuning a digital signal on channel 33 instead of the analog one, I just figured that they'd configured it in the head end to do that, and it seemed like a pretty smart thing for them to do. It did this for ALL the analog scrambled channels--tuned the digital signal instead.
After all, if an SA 8550 circa 1985 can do channel mapping, why not an SA Explorer circa 2001? And why not take advantage of it so that if a customer punches in the analog channel number for HBO, it picks up the digital version instead?
Neither that SA 8550 (or the newer SA 8600) or that SA Explorer have a CLUE as to what frequency is to be tuned when channel 33 is entered until it's told by the headend controller. So the headend controller tells the analog boxes one thing, and tells the digital boxes another, and the customer with the digital box gets the digital HBO when they enter 33, and the customer with the analog box gets the analog HBO when they enter 33. |
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 Tha ReAlEsTThe King Is Back, Where My Crown At?Premium
join:2002-09-28
the past | reply to cableguy619
said by cableguy619:
A side note about s/n levels, you will only get signal to noise of a SA box on digital channels so if you have doubts if you are watching digital or not you can take a peek there..
Yea i know.
I also know what brain is talking about. My cable system use to map channels on analog. I remember when i would plug in the cable to the back of the tv years ago, i would try to remember what channel was on what channel. Now every channels is on its right spot
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I basically know now we get racially profiled, Cuffed up and hosed down, pimped up and hoe down, Plus i got a whole city to hold down from bottom so the top is the only place to go now |
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 EdMulock2,173,000 cobblestones
join:2001-12-22
Darien, CT | reply to Tha ReAlEsT
Re: [Cable] Who gets 100% Digital Channels on Cable? said by Tha ReAlEsT:
O, here the hbo is the same channel no matter if its analog or digital. The only other channel for hbo his HboHD
On digital Cablevision there are FIVE (5) additional HBO channels on top of HBO and HBO HD. |
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Tha ReAlEsTThe King Is Back, Where My Crown At?Premium
join:2002-09-28
the past | said by EdMulock:
said by Tha ReAlEsT:
O, here the hbo is the same channel no matter if its analog or digital. The only other channel for hbo his HboHD
On digital Cablevision there are FIVE (5) additional HBO channels on top of HBO and HBO HD.
But are those channels Hbo? No, they are hbofam, hbo2, hboS and etc. Theres 11 Hbo channels(excluding HboOD and HD)
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I basically know now we get racially profiled, Cuffed up and hosed down, pimped up and hoe down, Plus i got a whole city to hold down from bottom so the top is the only place to go now |
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ssetta
join:2003-09-17
Natick, MA | reply to Dig Cable
Well, it is very interesting that some cable systems are doing this. I would LOVE for that to happen, and I have been WAITING for it. But I remember my tech saying a few months ago, "Are you kidding? We can't go all digital! That wouldn't be fair, would it? I mean, just look at how many people just have a wire plugged into the back of the TV!" But why can't they just offer both analog AND digital? Would that cost more? Do you agree with him that it's not fair? |
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ssetta
join:2003-09-17
Natick, MA | reply to Dig Cable
Actually, I just spoke with a CSR at Comcast, and he said that they don't actually have any plans to go all digital as of yet, but that it will be mandatory by January 1, 2006. He also said that he doesn't think it will be like one day they're analog, and the next day they're digital. He said that they would try to phase it in before 2006, so that people would get used to it. He also said that we should be getting a crystal clear picture on analog, but we don't always. Certain channels, especially CN8, are ALWAYS fuzzy. So, do you think every cable system will be all digital by then, or before? |
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| Re: [Cable] Who gets 100% Digital Channels on Cabl A lot of cable companies here in Canada are beginning to offer 100 percent digital lineups if you have a digital box, but if you dont you still get analog channels. Its easy for them to run their system this way and is more appealing to the customers, who want a service comparable to satellite. Removing analog altogether is another story, and not going to happen anytime soon. |
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 imrfPremium
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI | reply to ssetta
Re: [Cable] Who gets 100% Digital Channels on Cable? said by ssetta:
So, do you think every cable system will be all digital by then, or before?
Neither, since the cable companies are not required to go all digital. Only the broadcasters are required to go all digital by 2006. This is the biggest misconception, and people constantly pass this wrong info along. |
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| imrf is so right. Why would cable companies have to go all digital. they can do whatever they like because its thier network. Broadcasters on the other hand have to go all digital to free up the radio spectrum. Duh!;) |
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ssetta
join:2003-09-17
Natick, MA | reply to Dig Cable
It's okay, I'm just a bit tired of watching that low-quality analog picture. |
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