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Buying a Home Theater Receiver
Buying a receiver is one of the most important decisions you're going to have to make when building your home theater. The receiver has a number of functions including; connecting and switching audio sources; connecting and switching video sources; ...
Hdtv And The Ipod Photo: A Perfect Marriage?
They may seem like an odd combination, but the iPod photo could be the perfect choice for anyone who wants to view photo slideshows on an HDTV. The iPod photo can store thousands of digital photos, and syncs with a Mac or PC via iTunes. It will read any ...
Satellite TV Systems -- Which One Is Best?
Satellite TV System A satellite TV system consists of a dish that captures the TV signal broadcast from a satellite, and a receiver that amplifies the signal and sends it to a television. Less than 10 years ago, satellite TV systems consisted of a huge ...
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Quite simply, it's a very elegant method of receiving HDTV from a cable provider. Instead of supplying you with a set-top box to receive and decode its HDTV transmission, the cable supplier gives you an HDTV CableCard which simply slots into your TV. The card decodes the channels that your subscription allows your receiver or integrated HDTV does the rest.
The advantage is that an HDTV CableCard takes up much less room than a set-top box, doesn't need its own power supply, and reduces the number of cables you need for cable HDTV. Another advantage is that if you move house and have to switch providers, you don't need to learn how to use a brand new set-top box. You just relinquish your existing card and get a new one from your new provider, everything else stays the same.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of HDTV CableCard is in the picture
quality. Cable companies are not known for the high quality of the components they put into set-top boxes. Most consumers can't tell the difference between a decent picture and a very good one. So cable companies tend to go for features rather than quality. With CableCard your equipment - the HDTV tuner or integrated HDTV does the scaling and display, so you choose how good the image quality is. If it matters to you, you can buy a good tuner or integrated TV and benefit from better scaling and display.
The disadvantage of HDTv CableCard is that it is currently one-way, so cable services which require interaction, such as pay-per-view, on-demand services, sports season tickets and program guides don't work. For those you'll still need a set-top box.
A two-way version of CableCard is currently in development.
About the Author
Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner - a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.
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Facebook HDTV? There's An App For ThatCommunications TechnologyBeverly Hills-based streaming HDTV provider FilmOn.TV has a new app — FilmOn Live TV – that allows users to chat with friends and share live TV in HD simultaneously on Facebook. The Facebook app can be downloaded from FilmOnFacebook.com; FilmOn.and more » |
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