[BC] Cable Boxes

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

I read only about what Comcast plans. Since I don't have a cable-box and have seen only my neighbor's, I don't know who makes it. What I do know is that there is no "HDTV" as we know it on the current cable. Instead, it is QAM, with the usual NTSC-type low resolution instead of 8-VSB. I have an outside TV antenna available at the push of a button so I can compare the resolution of a several local TV stations with the "remodulated QAM" available on the cable. The cable, as provided by Comcast, does not provide HDTV even though that is what is advertised. I note that more and more channels are now being replaced with "black digital," which thoroughly confuses the channel-scan of a TV. Basically, I now have 256 channels, most empty. I need to manually disable about 200 of time every time I have a power failure and that takes about an hour of my time.

According to the first-class mail that I have received, I am supposed to call a number and schedule an appointment when a service technician will come to my home and install a "free" cable-box. My neighbor already has one installed. It is basically a computer that takes about two minutes to boot so it needs to be left on. It has two outputs, one HDMI, and the other 4 RCA phono jacks (RGB and audio). The tuner in a HDTV is no longer used. My neighbor's TV video looks just like mine, low resolution. The cable box makes nighttime noises, presumably when its hard disk is downloading for "on demand" and "pay per view." The cable-box is interactive and is basically an Internet connection with links for Email and on-line stores. I have heard that Arbatron contracts with Comcast for their "people meter" service so that when you watch a program using the new cable box, that information is available to whomever pays for the service. Basically, one has a spy in their home without their consent. 

Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson
Book: http://www.AbominableFirebug.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ronald J Johnson" <w2wu at verizon.net>

Your data interests me very much. What do you know about the two types of 
Scientific Atlanta boxes Cablevision uses? One for STD, the other is for HD 
TV. I believe both are Interactive.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <RichardBJohnson at comcast.net>

<snip> the set-top-box ends up using my TV only as a computer monitor 
(through HDMI)