View Full Version : HDTV on cable - pass through?
jonahfish7
03-04-2005, 01:15 AM
I am thinking about buying a HDTV to view HDTV programming on cable (I have Brighthouse in the central Florida area). Let's say Fox shows the Buc's game and they advertise that it is being broadcast in HD, will I view the game in HD on my TV with Brighthouse cable or do I need to get one of those special HD channels?
I appreciate the response to this question.
TheAntMan
03-04-2005, 01:44 AM
Jona,
If you buy an HDTV, and get an HD STB (set top box) through Brighthouse you should be able to watch the game on FOX, or ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.. in HD (providing it's being broadcast in HD).
Here's my example in Houston (time warner cable). We have 2 channels dedicated for fox, cbs, nbc, pbs, abc, etc... One channel is for Standard definition (8,9,11,12,13, etc) while the other channels are for digital or HD (308,309,311,312,313).
Regular FOX sd channels are on channel 9 (blah), while the HD version is channel 309 (wide screen, clear picture, digital audio, great PQ). So, if Brighthouse is like time warner, you might have 2 dedicated channels for the same station...just one is for SD and the other is for HD.
Hope this helps ya...
jonahfish7
03-04-2005, 01:53 AM
Thanks for the reply - just a followup question.
In your example, if FOX were broadcasting the Texans game in HD could you view it on channel 9 in HD, or would you have to turn to channel 308 to view it in HD, and if so, do you have to pay extra for the ability to get channel 308?
TheAntMan
03-04-2005, 09:27 AM
I would watch it on ch. 309, the digital channel, and no there is no extra charge. I haven't watched channels 8-13 in a long time.....always 308-313.
elicross
03-04-2005, 01:07 PM
Just a warning. For you to get the show in HD over cable, the cable chanel has to be unscrambled, and your HDTV has to be able to decode QAM digital TV signals (most do). HD is not broadcast over analog cable (that's basic cable on many cable systems).
All digital channels on my cable system (Comcast in northern California) are scrambled, so I cannot watch any digital channels over my HDTV without having a Comcast-supplied cable box. That will change somewhat with the advent of cable cards, but for now...
So check with your cable provider first.
It certainly is location and provider dependent. See the FAQ on the subject.
