Digital TV Channel Numbers

[Buffy]

[Warning: may be meaningless to those outside the USofA....]

 

Okay, sometimes I'm not too high tech....

 

Situation: I got a digital TV (finally!) and I've hooked it up to my analog cable (I'm cheap, and haven't sprung for digital cable. So sue me.). Through the cable connection, my new digital TV picks up all the great HD channels that are available over the air at least and it looks like many others are kinda-sorta unblocked in my area as well.

 

My cable provider--Comcast--pretty much forces people to get a digital set-top-box, because it gets people to buy more channels, but obviously its not really necessary.

 

Once it comes out of the Comcast box, the channel numbers are all integers going from 1 to about 900. That's how they print their channel listings.

 

But my new HDTV set seems to use this weird decimal notation: ABC is "7.0" and HD-ABC is "7.1" but Comcast says that HD-ABC is really 707.

 

Questions: Is there any rhyme or reason to this translation? Is there a standard or is every provider free to mix up these numbers anyway they feel like? If it is unique to Comcast, does anyone out there know what they do, and is there a formula for translating between the two numbering systems?

 

And more generally, what's the point of having the two different systems?

 

Obviously I would not be asking if any of this were easily findable by googling...

 

Oh and yes, Comcast is totally sucky, so you don't have to tell me that...

 

Always waits for v3.0,

Buffy

[Mercedes Benzene]

But my new HDTV set seems to use this weird decimal notation: ABC is "7.0" and HD-ABC is "7.1" but Comcast says that HD-ABC is really 707.

 

I don't have the slightest idea as to what that numbering system may mean... It seems really strange, because when I had Comcast, it wasn't set up like that.

 

On that note... yes... COMCAST SUCKS!

(I know I didn't HAVE to tell you, but I thought I would simply emphasize the fact).

It's a disgusting monopolistic company with crappy products. Oh gawd, I can't count the number of problems that we had with their digital cable.

Fortunately, Verizon's new FIOS just became available in our area after (years?) of fighting with Comcast over rights in our county.

 

Let me tell you, anyone who is able to get Verizon's fiber optic tv and/or telephon and/or internet should. It's amazing. It offers more than Comcast, with more options and choices, and it's of a much better quality, with much better user-support.

Wow. I can't believe I'm getting this heated over Internet/television providers.

 

 

Have fun with Comcast!

[LaurieAG]

Is there any rhyme or reason to this translation? Is there a standard or is every provider free to mix up these numbers anyway they feel like? If it is unique to Comcast, does anyone out there know what they do, and is there a formula for translating between the two numbering systems?

 

Hello Buffy, hope this helps,

 

It appears that your new digital TV has an inbuilt (free to air) digital tuner that scans for all of the digital (including HD) channels available in your area when you turn it on the first time or set it up.

 

As the TV's scanner is just going sequentially through all of the digital bandwidth, it will record the channel numbers as it comes across them, in the sequential order that they were found.

 

And more generally, what's the point of having the two different systems?

 

Each of the digital service providers can have their own different numbering systems (in Australia Foxtel and Austar are both different) that are usually hard coded with a card (in the tuner) or are programmed via the signals of the respective providers cable/satellite (and the tuners id number).

[Buffy]

It appears that your new digital TV has an inbuilt (free to air) digital tuner that scans for all of the digital (including HD) channels available in your area when you turn it on the first time or set it up.

That is correct, and the "n.0" channels all correspond correctly to the given analog channels that come over the wire to old Standard TV sets.

 

But....

As the TV's scanner is just going sequentially through all of the digital bandwidth, it will record the channel numbers as it comes across them, in the sequential order that they were found.

That's not what its doing: it seems *extremely* smart, so that for example our local Public Television Station actually has one standard and two HD signals, and the standard one is 9.0, and the two HD channels are 9.1 and 9.2. when it goes through the cable box, the corresponding cable box channels are 9, 708 and 709.

Each of the digital service providers can have their own different numbering systems (in Australia Foxtel and Austar are both different) that are usually hard coded with a card (in the tuner) or are programmed via the signals of the respective providers cable/satellite (and the tuners id number).

So here's where my question is: we're talking about the same signal coming in from the cable for either the TV's inbuilt tuner and the cable box, and the cable company is the one generating the signal coming in over the wire.

 

It would seem that they have a "default" ordering that they put things in when they send it over the cable, but come up with a completely arbitrary remapping of those channels for no apparent reason other than to try to keep you from plugging your tuner directly into the cable and make you pay an extra $5/month for the privilege of having a box (and another remote to lose) that you don't need and don't want. I find the numbering that comes out of the wire much more logical: to get the HD for any channel, you just hit the "up channel" button once, instead of having to remember some completely arbitrary channel number.

 

We know Comcast is evil. Do all the cable providers do this? Why? Is there a reason other than simple greed?

 

Designed by a committee of marketing people, :hihi:

Buffy

[LaurieAG]

So here's where my question is: we're talking about the same signal coming in from the cable for either the TV's inbuilt tuner and the cable box, and the cable company is the one generating the signal coming in over the wire.

 

Hello Buffy,

 

I'm not sure if you can do this but if you can it may explain things. See if you can find the TV option to scan for digital and then watch the scanning process. All of the assorted digital channels for the one station (STD, HD, DPG etc) come out together in a small block (i.e. numbered 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 OR 1, 2, 3 etc) during the scan.

 

At least you are lucky with your cable provider, I get satellite and only 1 free to air channel while cable digital gives us another 3 free to air stations and no HD signals (talk about unmitigated greed). I haven't tried hooking up a digital TV scanner to the cable though, it's probably all scrambled through the set top box anyway.