Stay sharp, Time Warner Cable subscribers -- we've got a feeling the switched digital video wave is just beginning to swell. Merely hours after hearing that
San Diego residents were receiving a letter informing them that
SDV was on the way, one particular user in Kansas City has apparently received the same. Better still, he was kind enough to post the full text, which explains that a number of "lesser-viewed" channels will be delivered via SDV as of August 20th. Of course, this means that existing CableCARD users will be out of luck unless they pick up a
tuning adapter, and while some carriers have already committed to handing them out to those in need
for free, TWC is entirely more ambiguous. The exact verbiage reads: "It is currently contemplated that the Tuning Adapter will be provided at no additional charge," but those unwilling to wait will be forced to pick up one of the carrier's own set-top-boxes in order to see the stations. [
Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ike Skelton @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:40AM
So what does this mean for the average customer who just simply plugs the cable cord into their tv... like me???
keith @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:16PM
It means if you live in Kansis City you won't get the SDV channels on the list. At least none of them are HD.
Ike Skelton @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:16PM
Guess I can't really complain... Can only expect to get what I pay for I guess.
Mitchell @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:45AM
Awesome maybe they can get a decent HD lineup now.....
44 Digital SD station gives room for ~10 more HD stations right? (44/3-4.6)
From my understanding 1 HD streams takes the bandwidth of 3 SD digital stations. So they should be able to add 10 HD stations (not on SDV) and they have the 44 crappy stations listed using the remaining 4-5 channels.
Mitchell
kyle @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:53PM
they just added a good amount of HD channels within the past couple of weeks. i don't know when they were originally added, but over the weekend i saw discovery, music HD, hgtv, and food network. then, came home from work yesterday and they added a lot more: planet green, animal planet, tlc, science, cnn, fox news, versus, travel channel, tbs, espn news, and maybe some others that i'm forgetting. it's about time twc in KC got their act together.
Aaron Barnhart @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:53PM
Yeah, I also posted those new HDs that I won't be able to get either ...
http://tvbarn.com/story/33509/
Someone told me something about "tuning receptors," which sounds like something from an alien zombie movie, will fix my wagon. Except they haven't been invented yet.
Chris Stubbs @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:52PM
wow, hadn't noticed all the new HD channels until i read kyle's comment. sweet! maybe migrating to SDV isn't such a terrible thing...