Cable ready tv's?

[drdoom718]

I live in NYC and in certain parts of Manhattan I noticed that some TV's don't require a cable box, at my job the cable wire gets connected directly into the TV. I live 6 miles away and everyone in Queens (my boro) needs a cable box. What kind of TV's except cable without cable boxes, keep in mind these aren't high priced HDTV's they are 13"-20" curved screen tvs, I asked someone at work about it and he responded that they were cable ready tvs, does that make any sense?

[DoubleDAZ]

Don't get out of the city much, do you? :)

Anyway, assuming your question is serious, almost all TV's sold for the past several years have been and are cable ready. All that means is that you don't need a box to receive cable's standard, analog channels, generally channels 1-99. You will, however, need a box to receive digital cable channels, those above 100, and to take advantage of any interactive services, like pay-per-view, etc. You will need yet a different box to receive HD channels.

[drdoom718]

Hey,
I was serious, I don't know too much about TV's, and I do get out the city, thanks for the info.

[DoubleDAZ]

One never knows when someone around here is just having some fun. I thought I'd bite since no one else was. Glad I could be of some help.

Just so you know, there are also some HDTVs that have built-in HD tuners and can receive over-ther-air (OTA) and unscrambled cable HD channels without a box also. You might find it interesting to check out howstuffworks.com and check up on the latest HDTV technology.

[spaceman_spiff]

Some newer HDTV sets have Cable Cards slots that wont need cable boxes for digital and HD channels. Cable companies will have to activate them just like satellite companies now do. Most cable companies have not started to support services through cable cards. Hopefully in the future we wont need any STBs.

[DoubleDAZ]

With the ever-increasing popularity of DVR, you will need an STB until they design DVR functionality into the TV too. The problem with designing some of this stuff in though is that it limits options, upgrades, and new features.

[sillygoose]

Or you can use an DVHS system to record using the cable card for the tuner just like people do now with OTA.

[kevinw]

Originally posted by sillygoose
Or you can use an DVHS system to record using the cable card for the tuner just like people do now with OTA.
But isn't this dependant on Firewire connectivity?
No Firewire no recording.

[Ratman]

Originally posted by kevinw
But isn't this dependant on Firewire connectivity?
No Firewire no recording.

... that is a FACT! (get it?... Ed McMahon)

[kevinw]

Originally posted by Ratman
... that is a FACT! (get it?... Ed McMahon)
Do you always start drinking at 3 pm????:D

[sillygoose]

Originally posted by kevinw
But isn't this dependant on Firewire connectivity?
No Firewire no recording.

I have never seen a system with a digital tuner that didn't have firewire but yes without it then there would be no way to get the signal out for recording.

[kevinw]

I was going to say most do not have firewire but look at this and you can make your decision. 50/50 in my mind. more on the newer boxes than the old ones.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=179095

[Ratman]

Originally posted by kevinw
Do you always start drinking at 3 pm????:D

Start??? I never stop!:smokin:

[spaceman_spiff]

Originally posted by DoubleDAZ
With the ever-increasing popularity of DVR, you will need an STB until they design DVR functionality into the TV too.
Some newer manufacturers are including ATSC tuners with DVR. LG has a new 60"LCD projection HDTV with 160GB DVR for OTA. This was displayed at CES 2004.
I know it limits the upgradability, but it all comes in one package. So average consumer can take advantage without much hassles.

[sillygoose]

Originally posted by kevinw
I was going to say most do not have firewire but look at this and you can make your decision. 50/50 in my mind. more on the newer boxes than the old ones.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=179095

I thought we were talking about TVs those are STBs.

[kevinw]

I was talking about STBS being able to connect to VCR . Then again your were talking internal cards. GEEZ this is confusing. My STB and my tv do not have firewire.

[sillygoose]

Originally posted by kevinw
I was talking about STBS being able to connect to VCR . Then again your were talking internal cards. GEEZ this is confusing. My STB and my tv do not have firewire.

But does your TV have any type of digital tuner (ATSC,QAM, cable card, etc). I think most TVs with digital tuners have Firewire. That was my point. I would certianly agree with you that a large percentage of STBs do not have firewire. Going forward I think that may change with more STBs coming with firewire.