I do not see any digital channels on my new hdtv

vijayjvk · 10-04-2009, 08:36 AM

Hi,

I have recently purchased a 720p Toshiba lcd HDTV. When I try to do autoscan for channels, my tv finds only analog channels. It doesn't find any digital channels. ( the scanner displays what channels it found).

The TV is connected to my cable connection. The cable I have is a free cable ( no monthly charge). AT&T charged me a setup fees ones many years back and there is no monthly fees after that. I get just the basic 7-8 channels. But since all the TV channels have switched to digital recently, shouldn't I be getting these channels in digital instead of analog ??? If so, what do i need to do to convert these to digital ?

Thanks a lot.

bicker · 10-04-2009, 10:39 AM

You wouldn't want to convert to digital; you'd want them broadcast in digital. If you did a full autoscan and came up empty, then it is likely that your service provider is either not providing those channels via digital, or has encrypted them. Given that you're not paying a monthly fee, the applicable regulations may not even apply. You might have purchased an ongoing service, as you described, but that service may not be upgraded without you incurring a new, perhaps monthly, fee. I think you want to dig out the paperwork for the service you purchased, and read it very carefully to see what you're actually entitled to.

Orrymain · 10-04-2009, 03:29 PM

Also this is an obvious thing but I know someone who didn't do it once so that's why I'm mentioning it. Make sure on your TV setup that you've selected cable and not antenna or another alternative. Someone I know forgot to select cable and had the same problem. Once they went into their select and selected cable, voila, there they were.

vijayjvk · 10-04-2009, 05:10 PM

Orrymain,

thank you for the reply. I did check and I do have the option set to cable. I tried antenna once and I get exactly the same number of channels...

vijayjvk · 10-04-2009, 05:11 PM

Bicker,
thank you for the reply. I will try to find my paper work.

BCF68 · 10-04-2009, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vijayjvk

Hi,

I have recently purchased a 720p Toshiba lcd HDTV. When I try to do autoscan for channels, my tv finds only analog channels. It doesn't find any digital channels. ( the scanner displays what channels it found).

The TV is connected to my cable connection. The cable I have is a free cable ( no monthly charge). AT&T charged me a setup fees ones many years back and there is no monthly fees after that. I get just the basic 7-8 channels. But since all the TV channels have switched to digital recently, shouldn't I be getting these channels in digital instead of analog ??? If so, what do i need to do to convert these to digital ?

Thanks a lot.

The switch from analog to digital has NOTHING to do with cable it has to do with OTA singals. In others words Over The Air signals. If you want to get digtal OTA signals you'll need to hook you TV to an antenna. Cable companies were not required to switch from analog to digital. Some are but that has nothing to do with the OTA swicth that's just their own thing. Some cable companies do provide digital channels if your TV has a QAM tuner inside. Most new TV do. However not all. For example Comcast is getting away from providing clear QAM and everyone will need a STB. Being you pay nothing I would suspect you'll get nothing. You'll either have to upgrade to a digital tier or use an antenna.

Also I might add just because something is digital doesn't mean it's HD. A digital box that only outputs in SD will not be HD even on your HD set.

vijayjvk · 10-05-2009, 04:39 AM

BCF68,

Thanks a lot for the information.. That was very helpful.. There is a QAM tuner in my new TV but I think the cable provider is Comcast.

Eureka · 10-05-2009, 09:16 AM

The digital channels are either all encrypted, or there's a filter installed on your cable blocking most channels, except basic broadcast analog tier.


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