I will make this as specific to my actual case as possible, since I don’t know enough about the topic to know what factors are important.
I have FiOS TV. I just bought a small 720p LCD flatscreen for my kitchen. I don’t have an HD antenna as of now, but I do have a cable jack in the location I’m putting the TV. No box or anything- just the cable coming out of the wall. Auto-programming the TV, it comes up with a good number of channels. However, number-wise they’re in a weird format, like “128-250” for example.
So I guess I have a couple of questions: Is there any way to make sense out of this channel numbering format? Is there any way to figure out how the channels map to the numbers on my display? (A website by area code or something would be sweet.)
Finally, with FiOS in particular, is a raw coax cable line analagous to having an HD antenna for people that don’t have a cable service? I know in the olden days, the cable companies often allowed bare lines to provide basic TV like an antenna would. But I also know that the switch to digital and, more to the point, HD, seems to provided a great opportunity for providers to upcharge for what is rapidly becoming the new standard.
That devolved a bit more than I wanted it to, my apologies.
The standard for digital TV (both ATSC and clear QAM) is to have a two-part channel number - the main channel and then the subchannel (not sure if the terminology is correct). Your remote will usually have a “-” button to allow you to more easily enter the channel without requiring a bunch of leading zeroes.
When you have a cable box, the cable company remaps these channels into a simpler scheme using only a single integer (which can range from 1 to the low thousands). IME, cable companies want you to rent their box, so they don’t make it easy for you to figure out what channel/subchannel maps to their standard. Additionally, you may find that a lot of channels (even non-premium ones) that were previously available in analog over cable are no longer available in digital (without the box) because they are now encrypted.
I can’t speak to FIOS specifically because I’ve never had it, but I suspect you are more or less correct - a cable line directly into the TV should be sort of equivalent to having an HD antenna. However, the signal will be broadcast in QAM rather than ATSC, and you will probably receive a lot more channels than you would with an antenna.
I think pretty much all digital TVs can receive QAM if they’re also ATSC-capable, so that shouldn’t be an issue, but some modern TV tuner cards for PCs, and some older standalone set-top boxes can receive only ATSC.
Thanks, RWS. I did some research last night and found some interesting sites. Maybe this will be helpful for someone else. Digital channel by location. Here’s a similar one.
I don’t mind the whole digital transition, but yeah, it really seems like a money maker for the cable and satellite companies. In addition to it being “easier” for many to just buy a box, services like HD, which I bitched about already, are getting upcharged despite moving towards being a standard.
In the meantime, my TV picked up maybe 20 channels, most of which were of snow and cheese.
I’m positive I got way more channels on my larger LCD before I got a box, so maybe this new little one has a different tuner or something.
One last thing- what’s this about “cable systems”? For example, I can choose for my digital input either STD, HRC or IRC. I had less luck researching these- anyone know which type FiOS is?
The marketing of HD antennas is hype. All you need to pick up over the air, “OTA”, digital channels is a simple set of rabbit ears. You may need to got radio shack to get the proper connecter to hook it up to your 720p flat screen, but as long as the flat screen has a digital tuner, then you should be able to pick up the local OTA channels.
Looking at this page, the numbers you’re seeing might correspond with a range of FiOS channels. Can you select on a channel range and then it will display the separate channels. Maybe what you’re seeing is an easier way to navigate the several hundred channels you’re offered.
for over the air digital tv (it’s only HDTV if you have an HD display, otherwise it’s just DTV) you need whatever antenna does the job. the DTV channels are the same frequencies as allowed before so older antennas will still work. the real channels (actual broadcast frequencies) may have changed from the now virtual channels (the channel number the station may have been branded with for decades), this isn’t of consequence for you in tuning the station as the tv tuner figures it all out, it is a consequence to know what antenna will work.
stations that were VHF low (2 - 6) may have moved their real channels to VHF hi or UHF. stations that were VHF hi (7 - 13) may have stayed VHF hi or moved their real channels to UHF. i don’t think there is any USA location where some DTV isn’t on UHF so you need an antenna that will get that (set top antenna would need a loop or bow tie and not just rabbit ear rods). you may not need a VHF lo antenna anymore (you need to check for your specific location) so when replacing a roof top antenna you could go with a smaller VHF hi/UHF antenna.
DTV takes some attention to the antenna. while previously an antenna that could give a snowy or ghosted analog signal may not give a good enough digital signal. you may need more careful antenna adjustment or a slightly better antenna or an amplifier. that is all doable for buying or make your own tv antenna (i have made several). the often cited ‘youtube’ UHF DTV antenna is done wrong, there are good antennas on there but the most popular one is very poor.
It’s not just the cable companies. Some of the TV station owners (Belo and Sinclair are two that I know of) have been trying to charge cable companies to carry their stations’ HD channels and subchannels.
I’m running one of our TVs without a cable box, so I get the same strange channel numbers. I went to my cable providers website and found a list matching these numbers so at least I know what I’m watching.
Just to be clear as othes have pointed out, there’s no such thing as a digital or HDTV antenna.
The stations use the same frequencies, it the way they broadcast that has changed.
That said, rabbit ears are the two long antenna that look like rabbit ears. These are for VHF frequencies. The loop that comes with the rabbit ears is for UHF. You can have rabbit ears without the loop. Since most, but not all, digital TV stations are on UHF, you need that loop.
A silver sensor antenna is a brand name for another portable TV antenna. It is designed to optimize signals on the UHF band. Remember TV statons for the most part, now map their channels. For instance, WGN-TV in Chicago is on channel 19 but maps to channel 9, so viewers will think it’s on VHF9 when it’s really UHF19
Lastly the transition to digital is for over the air (OTA) not cable or FIOS. The cable and dish companies have been taking advantage of this confusion. The mandate to carry analog channels on cable TV is 2012. But there is no mandate to change over to digital cable. It’s just saying that until 2012 the cable companies must offer some sort of analog coverage. After that date they may go all digital or not.
So, I went and got FiOS’ crappy digital converter, which doesn’t do HD, and costs $3.99 a month. I think the bullshit nickel and diming may have just pushed me over the edge. I was already spending ~$260 a month with them before this. (Cable, internet, phone + movie channels) To pay for all the channels, and then have them mask them for $4/set with no HD, well… I’m beginning to get irrational. I think I’m scaling down to one box, for HD/DVR/OnDemand, and getting an antennafor the other TVs. Between OTA HD and Netflix, screw everyone else.
