pcHDTV :: View topic - Some HD-5500 questions

azipmpls

With the HD-5500...

1. Can I pull and display ATSC out of a Comcast cable connection?

2. Does ATSC come with basic Comcast cable?

3. Will this card work for over the air and cable tv after February 17, 2009?

4. Are there any good alternatives to this card? What makes this card special or what could be better? What can't I do with this card?

5. Will this card run well on a 2GHz Athlon XP machine with 512MB of ram?

Thanks

schmunk

If you go to wikipedia and type in ATSC you will see a lot of info on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atsc

Consequently, most North American cable operators have added 256-QAM to the 16VSB standard originally used.
Cable operators have still been slow to add ATSC channels to their lineups for legal, regulatory, and plant & equipment related reasons.
256 QAM is a cable standard, not an ATSC standard; however, over time it is expected (QAM) to be included in the ATSC standard

I use the HD-5500 on a 3Ghz P4 Prescott, with 1Gb of ram and a EVGA Gforce FX5200 and it works fine, I've read forums that say for HDTV, you want at least a 2.8 Ghz (or equivalent) and at least a FX5200 card. Also have read that (Pre Dual core) P4s did video type stuff smother than their AMD counterparts, and to stay away from ATI.
I tune in the QAM-256 stations over Comcast basic cable, and the high def and digital channels look great.
Cable companies are not under the FCCs Feb 17 requirement, that is for broadcast only, they do not regulate cable, so cable can take thier time, but I would guess they would stay with the QAM-256 since it is higher bandwith.

Hope this helps, I am fairly new to linux and myth TV, but work with computers etc.

rjp

Whether or not Comcast provides QAM channels no doubt depends on your location. In my area (southwest Chicago suburbs), the local over-the-air channels are unencrypted, and my HD-5500 picks them up just fine.

On the other hand, it's quite painful to set up the channels in MythTV. Be prepared to spend lots of time examining the programs, figuring out which station goes where, and manually entering channel numbers that correspond to what Comcast uses on their STBs (since these channel numbers are what SchedulesDirect uses).

Also, some of the local HD channels are also duplicated as standard-definition digital channels, and you also need to weed out any "on-demand" programming that you inadvertently pick up, since those channels come and go randomly.

If Comcast starts to be jerks and shut off the local QAM channels, at least I have a good antenna handy...