On Nov 20, 11:10 am, Dan Espen
wrote:
writes:
On Nov 20, 2:52 am, (Dave Martindale) wrote:
"DonC" writes:
You won't need a converter for cable if you just want the analog
channels.
Which won't exist after 2/17/2009. So you may "want the analog channels"
but there won't be any.

Which analog channels are you referring to? There won't be any
over-the-air analog channels, but there may still be analog channels on
cable. The cable system already receives those broadcasts and
translates them to a different frequency for retransmission on cable.
All they have to do to continue distributing those channels in analog is
receive them with a digital receiver, then feed it to an analog TV
modulator for distribution.

If they don't do this, all their customers using analog tuners (no
digital box) to receive cable will scream.

Yes, that's what will happen. The cable companies aren't going to
alienate their customer base

Uh, you're trying to tell me Comcast will miss an opportunity to
alienate their customer base? I find that hard to believe.

Seriously, at some point, not long after the conversion,
the cable companies will want to rid themselves of the digital
to analogue conversion. It will allow them to deliver more
channels and save costs. Not to mention collect rental on
set top boxes.

It's not like they have 100 monkies sitting in a big building doing
the conversion. The hardware is simple and straightforward and isn't
a significant cost. They would free up some more bandwidth, but I'm
not sure having a few local channels in NTSC makes that big of a
difference.

It's true they could try to use that as an excuse to force folks into
getting a box that currently don't use one. But I don't see any
indication that's going to happen. Plus, being highly regulated,
there may be roadblocks to them doing it as well.




Some providers (like Verizon FIOS) are all digital now.
I switched to FIOS last week and the Verizon trucks are all
over town.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -