Commemorating the death of analog TV

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

Also I was told by a desk rep at Time-Warner cable, that they will "stop supporting" analog TV in 2009. She explained that all of the new digital boxes will come without any Ch 3 output, and will output only on 720/1080 component and/or DVI output. So that means you'll have to keep your old cable box, or probably can still get new DirecTV or Dishnet service with no problem.

Charles

I hadn't heard that before; thanks much for the warning. I guess Time-Warner is trying, in their way, to boost sales of new flat-panel TVs by telling people their old analog sets will not work with the new STBs (set-top boxes) because the new converters will not have RF modulators. (This has already happened with the dirt-cheap combination VHS/DVD players now available at Big Lots, Circuit City and Best Buy, et al. although if you want to spend the extra money, you can get one with a digital tuner). The digital STB presently hooked up to my living-room TV has channel 3/4 RF output and is working perfectly well, so I will hold onto the box as long as it works.

In a way, however, I cannot blame Time-Warner for ceasing to support analog television next year; after all, they won't need to after the analog TV stations shut down and this mode of TV transmission is completely phased out. The entire analog channel lineup on my cable is essentially duplicated on my digital box, since Time-Warner realigned the entire channel list earlier this year; most digital channels are perfectly watchable on my analog TV, except for the digital subchannels of the Cleveland network stations (those channels are currently blank). The latter will have to be unlocked after February 17, of course. I once asked a Time-Warner representative (over the phone) why the local stations' digital subchannels did not show on my analog set; the rep then asked me if I had a high-definition TV. I answered no. The representative so much as told me that was exactly why I wasn't getting my area's local stations on the digital channels in the 200-400 range. I suspect that will be changing after February 17 next year; that is, the local channels will have to be receivable using the digital STB (even if an analog TV is connected to the box), as subscribers with older sets will not stand for their local stations missing from the cable.

I think, however, there will still be a way to use STBs without RF outputs with standard televisions: just use an external RF modulator between the TV set and the STB, much as is already done with DVD players and standard sets. I've used an RF modulator between my own DVD and TV since I got the player over three years ago; it works extremely well. I cannot imagine why the same hookup would not work with a line-output cable box and an analog TV with an NTSC tuner.