HDTV noob help?

[BigRedRage]

Hey everyone,

I just recently bought a 55" HDTV, my xbox 360 looks amazing on it but cable sucks!! mostly because its a widescreen tv. Anyway, my question is i do not want to upgrade to digital cable, rent a digital box and subscribe to HD channels just to watch local HD football games in 1080i. Is there a cheap way to pick up fox, cbs, nbc and possibly ESPN HD feeds without digital cable? Most HDTV technical talk is like japanese to me to please dumb it down = )~

 

[HeavyB3]

Hey everyone,

I just recently bought a 55" HDTV, my xbox 360 looks amazing on it but cable sucks!! mostly because its a widescreen tv. Anyway, my question is i do not want to upgrade to digital cable, rent a digital box and subscribe to HD channels just to watch local HD football games in 1080i. Is there a cheap way to pick up fox, cbs, nbc and possibly ESPN HD feeds without digital cable? Most HDTV technical talk is like japanese to me to please dumb it down = )~

Is it a TV with a built in HD Tuner? If so you can plug an antenna into the back and get the local stuff in HD, you will have to subscribe to digital/hd cable to get teh ESPN feed in HD though.

 

[BigRedRage]

how do i know if it has a built in HD tuner?

 

[HeavyB3]

how do i know if it has a built in HD tuner?

Did you just buy it brand new? If so, it should.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

how do i know if it has a built in HD tuner?

You need to look at the documentation that game with it.

Post the model number here, we should be able to figure it out for you.

If you go that route, you need to buy an HD Antenna....either for the livingroom, or if you want the best reception, up in the attic or roof.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

I bought an HD antenna for like $25 at circuit city - set it behind the TV so it doesn't look too horrible in the living room - picks up the locals great (tv tells me that the signal strength is in the 85-95% range), which for a digital feed leads to no problems

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I bought an HD antenna for like $25 at circuit city - set it behind the TV so it doesn't look too horrible in the living room - picks up the locals great (tv tells me that the signal strength is in the 85-95% range), which for a digital feed leads to no problems

This is probably the cheapest to way to go.

 

[SweetD]

My TV has a cable card slot that lets you do cable and HDTV chanels and cox only charges $5 a month, but you can't do the digital recording.

 

[asudevil83]

My TV has a cable card slot that lets you do cable and HDTV chanels and cox only charges $5 a month, but you can't do the digital recording.

http://news.com.com/FAQ+CableCard+Whats+that/2100-1041_3-5542400.html?tag=nl

What does it do?
CableCard's first function--and arguably its most important--is to prevent people from stealing cable TV. Like a set-top box, it stores subscriber information and codes for unlocking and viewing scrambled digital-cable signals.
CableCard is meant to replace set-top boxes. But it does not yet replicate all set-top box functions. Notably, you can't yet use CableCard for services that require two-way interactivity, such as accessing your cable company's interactive programming guide or purchasing pay-per-view programs. Also, equipment that was made before the CableCard specification was created won't work with CableCard. That includes all current TiVo models.