Why switch to digital cable TV?

[rexall]

Sat 8 Nov 2014, 6:21 pm

Hi All,

Has anyone switched from their analog cable TV service to digital?

We have KTV here in Khon Kaen, but I assume all the companies are equivalent. The digital boxes cost 1,200 THB, but supposedly Khon Kaen, like Bangkok, will soon get gov vouchers for a 690 THB discount.

The thing is I have never spoken anyone who has switched and I am trying to decide if it is worth botherting with. Tow obvious reasons. (1) The signal is supposedly better and you get a better picture, (2) There are something like 50 new channels in addition to the 80 we get with analog. The thing is, I don't watch that much teevee, and I am happy enough with the crap we get now.

So, the pertinent questions are:

1. Is the signal really superior enough to make it worth bothering with?

2. Is there any English content (and/or other interesting stuffs worth watching) on the new channels?

3. Vain hope: Any of this in stereo allowing you to switch back & forth from Thai to English?

Thanks, lah!

[kkerry]

1. For us, yes.

2. Not that I've noticed.

3. Don't know.

[KittenKong]

Digital cable should be vastly superior to analogue as far as picture/sound quality goes, assuming you have a reasonable signal. The main advantage with digital is that above a certain (quite low) signal quality the picture will always be perfect, whereas analogue quality degrades in a linear fashion as the signal quality decreases. The same applies to digital RF transmission (the little boxes they are selling everywhere for 690B).

Digital cable has the capacity to provide high quality multiple stereo soundtracks. Whether yours does or not is up to the operator, so tell them you would like it.

[rexall]

Thanks, KittenKong.

Your key word here is "should be." It is all theoretical. I am hoping to hear from folks who had the analog hookup and then got the digitial decoder. Woulda, shoulda, coulda . . . Is the quality worth paying for the box and making the switch? And, more significantly, is there any additioinal content in English and/or other content worth watching?

I realize that there are certain variables and a fair amount of subjectivity at play, but I am curious about what experiences people have had.

Thanks, lah!

[KittenKong]

Your key word here is "should be." It is all theoretical. I am hoping to hear from folks who had the analog hookup and then got the digitial decoder.

It isnt just theoretical. Let me put it another way. Digital cable will be better than analogue, assuming that you have a good enough signal and that your operator is implementing the system correctly. There is no reason why either of these provisos should not be true.

The point with digital (and I'm simplifying greatly) is that above a certain signal quality level (usually around 60%) the picture on your screen will be identical to the picture as it was broadcast. Below that 60% level and you may well have no picture at all.

With analogue the picture will be good if you have a perfect signal but every tiny drop in signal quality will be reflected in a drop in picture quality. Even with a very weak analogue signal you will get some sort of picture but at its best it will never be quite as good as the broadcast picture.

Other benefits with digital are more channels in the same broadcast bandwidth and extra features like multiple soundtracks etc.

I have lived through the passage from analogue to digital in terrestrial broadcasting in two countries, and from analogue to digital in satellite broadcasting in two more, and in all cases digital was an improvement. And like it or not, digital is the future.

http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1245329

[noise]

Rexal, I think you combined two different subjects. The switch of the over-the-air broadcasting from an analog signal to a digital signal is one subject and cable TV is entirely different.

If all the stations are sending only a digital signal and you have an older TV that can only receive analog signals (e.g., from a roof top antenna like most of Thailand is still using), you will get nothing. That is why people with those older TV need the boxes, to convert digital signals to analog.

If you are watching True satellite TV, you have no need for the new box. The signal is already digital

Cable TV is literally that, cable to the house to the box that the provider gives you that gives you access to what every level program you are paying for. Again, the signal is digital but the quality may be higher.

Cable TV usually is bundled with the internet, like what True FTTX is providing. Fiber optics running on a pole in front of the house, copper cable running to and into the house, splitting off with one branch going to a TV box and one branch going to a modem/router.

So, as KittenKong said, digital is the future and if you want to watch TV, you will have to be able to receive and decode a digital signal.

[rexall]

I am referring to CABLE TV. The company we have here in Khon Kaen KTV, but is suspect the various cable companies in the country are pretty much the same. At present, for the past many years, the coaxial cable plugs directly into the input jack in backof the TV. Now, they are providing decoder boxes where signal passes through the decoder before it goes into the TV. It's not a big deal, really. You just buy the box and plug in the cables. Still, it raises the question, why bother?

Right now we get 80 channels, but with the box we get more, maybe 50 more, I forget the exact number. Hardly matters if there is no Englissh and/or other interesting programming. It also hardly matters if the picture isn't much better.

[KittenKong]

I am referring to CABLE TV. The company we have here in Khon Kaen KTV, but is suspect the various cable companies in the country are pretty much the same. At present, for the past many years, the coaxial cable plugs directly into the input jack in backof the TV. Now, they are providing decoder boxes where signal passes through the decoder before it goes into the TV. It's not a big deal, really. You just buy the box and plug in the cables. Still, it raises the question, why bother?

As I pointed out, the reasons to bother are:

better quality

more channels

potentially more features like multiple language support

Another less pressing reason is because one day they will stop using analogue altogether on your cable service, though they are a few years behind here.

Cable TV and broadcast RF TV (ie the channels that come via a roof-top antenna) are very similar technically and the comparisons between analogue and digital are valid for both. Satellite is more different technically, but even so the comparisons also remain valid.

[rexall]

As I pointed out, the reasons to bother are:

better quality

more channels

potentially more features like multiple language support

Yes, thank you for that. However, as I pointed out, your points are the "theoretical" reasons.

I was hoping to hear from some peeps who were formerly hooked up with direct coxial cable-to-TV who switched to the decoder in real life, and and confirm or deny:

1. The reception is better.

2. (We know there are more channels) but are there any in English and/or other content worth watching?

3. Multiple-langauge support would, of course, be a bonus. Does it have it or not?