# what TV tuner for comcast digital cable



## specter51095 (Nov 25, 2009)

i have comcast digital cable (xfinity package) with 70mbps internet what tv tuner should i use i know it should be digital but what brands are reputable and what features should i look for i dont want a realy expencive one but one that will basicly do all the features of the standard comcast digital box if im not mistaken most of the things run through windows media center but what about channel guides and stuff do those vary by tuners or is that also software

and what is comcasts tv standards (ATSC NTSC QAM.etc)

thanks for your time and help


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Hauppauge makes good cards.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Not all of the digital channels are "free". If they are like Charter, there will be some free digital channels, but many of them will be considered "premium". In which case, you will need a tuner that accepts "cable cards"...assuming Comcast supports cable cards. Otherwise, you will need a cable box to tune the channels.


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## specter51095 (Nov 25, 2009)

so your saying i would need to get a special chip or card from comcast to use the tuner with all the channels i have (i dont have any special packages so im not worried there) because i was hoping that not only could i use this to replace the comcast cable box (because they charge a 10$ a month extra fee for having a box) and i want to be able to game in windowed mode and watch tv in windowed mode at the same time (i have one 32" tv as my display) and how do i find out if comcast requires this chip/card because i dont want to go out and get one and find i cant use it


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

It would depend on how Comcast has their channels setup. I have Charter cable, they still have the legacy analog channels and digital channels (not including any premium channels such as HBO). A standard tuner can tune the analog channels and some of the digital channels. About 1/3 of the digital channels are in a special digital channel tier and they are encrypted (same as all of the premium channels). 

Does the TV have a built in tuner? You can use it to test which channels are available to you.


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## specter51095 (Nov 25, 2009)

well i already tried the built in tuner and got almost nothing so if your saying that the pc card tv tuner wouldnt do anything more than that without decoding comcasts encryption via their special card/chip/code or whatever


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

I have comcast....In order to get the premium and hd channels..you will still need the box.

The card will do fine for basic..But for other the box is needed.

That is why i never went that route with a tuner


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## specter51095 (Nov 25, 2009)

=(
still have to pay the extra 10$ a month for that box 

would it work if i pluged the box into my tv tuner because i would still like to be able to watch tv/web browse/game in windowed mode at the same time on one screen and recording tv on my computer would also be nice


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

The video output of the cable box would go into the Line In of the tuner. The cable box will tune the channels, the tuner is simply allowing the input, not tuning anything.


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## 549cbr (Nov 28, 2010)

I have tried TV2000 XP Expert PCI Card through cable box, great picture but no soundfrom tuner. Cable going directly to card gets sound ok but only some channels.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

549cbr said:


> I have tried TV2000 XP Expert PCI Card through cable box, great picture but no soundfrom tuner. Cable going directly to card gets sound ok but only some channels.


Please start your own topic. Don't post new issues into a topic for another problem.


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