Can you receive hdtv signals on dig. cable?

Only if your cable system is transmitting HD signals. Only a few are, and I'm not sure what hardware you need. But the digital cable product most of us can get IS NOT HD, and requires a digital converter box even if you have a DTV. Picture quality not any better than analog on the ATT system in my area.

Yes; but you would have to buy a second round dish and point it at the HD "bird". The oval dishes are only 149 at C City and less on line, The OTA antenna-- along with a STB is the way to go. ( If you live in a large enough city) In LA here, all stations are in HD. Once you have a roof top antenna and the receiver(stb) the OTA programing is free. Cable will be doing HD soon, I've heard.

Thanks guys. Two more ?'s. What is STB? And while i'm at it, what the hell does YMMV mean?

Your Mileage May Vary!

KP

Though this comment is not specific to your post, I thought I'd chime in with a response to Swampwalker's remark about digital cable. I subscribe to AT&T digital cable in the Seattle, WA, area, and my experience is the same as Swampwalker's: digital cable video quality is no better than analog, and in this area has been further aggravated by frequent service problems. The extra expense for the digital subscription has yielded nothing, and I am seriously considering reverting to analog service until I am forced to choose something else. The television and cable broadcast industries have, in my opinion, done a miserable job in offering better picture quality (let alone content), which leaves me very dubious about HDTV as a viable offering in the next 5+ years (even if there is a federal requirement for adoption of the HDTV standard).

STB = set top box; aka tv/tuner for HDTV

i live in denver, the current but soon to be former headquarters of at&t broadband. i noticed a quite perceptible improvement moving from analog to digital cable. nonetheless, i'm dumping cable altogether because: (1) i'm fed up to my eyeballs with at&t's bungling, particularly after the @home switch over fiasco, and; (2) i'd like to get the full functionality from my loewe aconda hdtv, so i'm installing satellite hdtv dishes and a STB, which i'm hoping will include tivo. i don't foresee hdtv availability on cable for quite some time; the major players are just too screwed up to care. -cfb

BTW, here's a site that defines nearly all internet chat terms and symbols:

http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/chat.html

Sd- My experience was the same as yours and I changed over to DSS with basic analog cable for local channels. However, its not a very user friendly set-up. Lots of remotes, and complicated by the fact that most universals do not control all the functions on my Loewe TV and I've not mastered the art of programming my Pronto, which does. I did get an oval dish when I had the DSS installed, which I would strongly recommend. I also recommend paying for a real installer, not the hacks that do the "free professional install with one year agreement". They will mount the dish to the closest, lowest spot they can find, even if its the railing on your front porch. Very attractive.

direct TV currently broadcast HDTV on less than 5 channels at this time, dish network has 5 also.

mejames: and that's 5 more than you can get on cable. BTW, i don't think you're counting the "big 4" or 5 in your calculation, nor the premium sports channels. -cfb

hi It is possible for cable to do HD but they are using the digital technology to increase the number of channels rather than the quality of picture. $$$$$$ talks. I think at best digital cable`s picture quality equals that of regular satellite. I sell electronics and have heard complaints from customers who believed the cable hype about digital quality. And the price keeps going up.

hi It is possible for cable to do HD but they are using the digital technology to increase the number of channels rather than the quality of picture. $$$$$$ talks. I think at best digital cable`s picture quality equals that of regular satellite. I sell electronics and have heard complaints from customers who believed the cable hype about digital quality. And the price keeps going up.

I read last year that the sony 100 was the best stb.{ now i'm using the chat terms! you like that cfb...?} Is there a better one out there now. I heard tivo rocks. Is there a unit with that built into the stb?