Pulling the HD signal from coaxial...

[BigGeezy]

I don't know how the cable boxes work internally, but when you order HD service from a cable/sat. company and their HD digital signal comes into your reciever and out through the HDMI in the back...what is going on between the input and output points? Is the HD signal being converted or is the frequency of the HD signals in the coaxial cable being relayed to the HDMI output in a way that allows the AV quality to show up in HD on the TV screen? Thanks in advance for anyone's knowledge on the issue...

[JasonR]

There is no conversion, it is HD when it gets there. The HDMI cable does nothing but provide connection, component will be about the same. One is analog, one is digital.

[BigGeezy]

Originally Posted by JasonR

There is no conversion, it is HD when it gets there. The HDMI cable does nothing but provide connection, component will be about the same. One is analog, one is digital.

So if I have a satellite HD receiver box and I get an HD package, they will only provide one box for one TV. With that box I will run my HDMI to that TV, but the other LCD in my house I will have to hook it straight up to the back with coaxial as they do not provide a second HD reciever box for that TV. So is there a way to pass the signal through something transitory to go from coaxial input to HDMI output like on the satellite reciever box?

[JasonR]

If that TV has an internal HDTV decoder, you will not need anything else. Otherwise, you will need a box.

[MistyMorn]

If there is a connection, I'm not sure what it would be. My HDTV has built-in tuners but not decoders. Connecting the coaxial cable to the HDTV only pulls in the basic cable channels. The digital and HD channels do not come through.

[JasonR]

I am sorry, you are right. You can't even get to the digital channels without a box, at least that is the case with Charter. But, technically it would work though coax if you had a built in tuner. Take OTA as an example.

[Chevypower]

I don't believe you can get ALL the channels with the built in digital ClearQAM tuner, but we get a few through ours. Cable provider is Cableone. we get Universal HD, ESPN HD, ESPN 2 HD, TNT HD, TBS HD, i think A&E, plus a few others. Basic analog package. We get no menus advising us what is on, on the digital service, just what we get is what we get.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by BigGeezy

So if I have a satellite HD receiver box and I get an HD package, they will only provide one box for one TV. With that box I will run my HDMI to that TV, but the other LCD in my house I will have to hook it straight up to the back with coaxial as they do not provide a second HD reciever box for that TV. So is there a way to pass the signal through something transitory to go from coaxial input to HDMI output like on the satellite reciever box?

If you have satellite, you will not get anything on a second set without a box. At least, that is how it has always been with me when I had Sat in the past. Cable, though, will allow you to pick up the basic channels that your internal tuner can handle. Your set should also be able to pick up local HD channels though the coax alone (with cable). Mine does. You want to watch a second set with sat, you'll need to pay for another box or box fee.

If I'm mistaken, some please set me straight.

[Kryptron]

You can't get any HD thru coax with satellite. Even if your tv has a built in tuner. Think of it as if you already had an extra box, that doesn't mean you get all the channels, the box decodes the signal and gives you the channels you subscribe to the tv doesn't have a "decrypter/decoder/descrambler". The satellite box aka "Integrated receiver,decoder" is there to authorize what channels you pay for. With cable there is a cable card you can get for some tv's that allows you to receive the additional programing without the need to have a cable box but alot of tv's do not have a cable card slot.

[BigGeezy]

Originally Posted by Kryptron

You can't get any HD thru coax with satellite. Even if your tv has a built in tuner. Think of it as if you already had an extra box, that doesn't mean you get all the channels, the box decodes the signal and gives you the channels you subscribe to the tv doesn't have a "decrypter/decoder/descrambler". The satellite box aka "Integrated receiver,decoder" is there to authorize what channels you pay for. With cable there is a cable card you can get for some tv's that allows you to receive the additional programing without the need to have a cable box but alot of tv's do not have a cable card slot.

So the sat reciever/box is taking the HD frequencies and through-putting them to the TV via my HDMI cable? And if that is the case, then on my second TV where there is no box it is just hooked up with coax, how come I can select an HD channel and I will be able to watch it, but even though the HD channel is on my LCD, it is not in HD (is this because the HD frequency is coming through coax and the coax circuitry is set up to only display SD?)

[DiverSpear]

If you are pn satellite just buy another HD box for Directv they're 99.00 plus you pay 4.99/month for the extra receiver.

As far as the the channel showing up what you are getting is the SD version of that channel. Directv's HD channel's are on the B-band.

[BluMood]

YES you can get HD through a regular cable without any box. To get something that requires a fee you will need a cable box. To get the networks and PBS does NOT REQUIRE a special box unless the cable company is greedy.

[Kryptron]

So the sat reciever/box is taking the HD frequencies and through-putting them to the TV via my HDMI cable? And if that is the case, then on my second TV where there is no box it is just hooked up with coax, how come I can select an HD channel and I will be able to watch it, but even though the HD channel is on my LCD, it is not in HD (is this because the HD frequency is coming through coax and the coax circuitry is set up to only display SD?)
__________________

Yes the coax out (sometimes the second tuner output on your cable/sat receiver) is downconverting it to 480i it will only output the hd signal through the component or hdmi connection. Coax is capable of delivering a digital signal it just needs the tv to decode it, local channels aren't encrypted but everything else is, your tv can't view it without a cable box/satellite box or cable card.

[mustang-gt-2002]

ok so my HD antenna it has a coaxial cable. so is the HDTV decodeing the signal. if so why do we use HDMI cables. cant the HDTV jest decode the signal from my Blu-ray player using a coaxial cable?

[Chevypower]

Originally Posted by mustang-gt-2002

ok so my HD antenna it has a coaxial cable. so is the HDTV decodeing the signal. if so why do we use HDMI cables. cant the HDTV jest decode the signal from my Blu-ray player using a coaxial cable?

Yes it can, broadcast equipment uses coax with BNC connection, called HD-SDI, which does 4:4:4 HD video, audio and timecode all in one, also there is no lag with SDI, so you can use it for live multicam switching and recording. HDMI and firewire is not suitable for that.

The cable company isn't going to use HDMI cables out on the street everywhere to every house, and doesn't really need to... it makes a good replacement for the direct video input for home video. While coax is used for the digital tuner (HDMI bypasses the tuner). I guess HDMI is cheaper to do than HD-SDI, so that's why we don't see HD-SDI on consumer equipment.

[BigGeezy]

Originally Posted by Kryptron

Yes the coax out (sometimes the second tuner output on your cable/sat receiver) is downconverting it to 480i it will only output the hd signal through the component or hdmi connection. Coax is capable of delivering a digital signal it just needs the tv to decode it, local channels aren't encrypted but everything else is, your tv can't view it without a cable box/satellite box or cable card.

If the tv can't view the encrypted HD channels without a sat box/cable card for that specific TV, then how come I can view the HD channels in SD w/o a sat box on my second HDTV (is it b/c one sat box is in dual mode for two TVs?)? Is there a device that can convert the HD "unencrypted" signal from coaxial to HDMI?

[allstar780]

Originally Posted by BigGeezy

If the tv can't view the encrypted HD channels without a sat box/cable card for that specific TV, then how come I can view the HD channels in SD w/o a sat box on my second HDTV (is it b/c one sat box is in dual mode for two TVs?)? Is there a device that can convert the HD "unencrypted" signal from coaxial to HDMI?

yeah its cuz you're running it as a dual-tuner... there should be a way to run it through component video or any other than HDMI but the tuners are still one HD one SD, so you will still get 480i video

[BigGeezy]

Originally Posted by allstar780

yeah its cuz you're running it as a dual-tuner... there should be a way to run it through component video or any other than HDMI but the tuners are still one HD one SD, so you will still get 480i video

Thank you for clearing that up for me. But is there not any kind of way to take the 480i signal and convert it to 720p through a converter or a series thereof? Or is it because the second tuner is an SD tuner there is no way?

[allstar780]

well if you have an upscaler it can do it.... but it wont look as good as the actual HD satellite

http://www.amazon.com/DVDO-iScan-Def...6047019&sr=8-2