By cable-only, I mean channels like ESPN-HD, Discovery-HD, etc - not broadcast HD stations.
That is, if it is at all possible. I mean, who knows. It would be an interesting side-effect of digital cable if it were true.
So, I consider this concept worth investigating.
How it all began
I received an email from a reader stating something to the effect that I should write an article about getting free HD channels on your HDTV without subscribing to the cable company’s HD-package. The reader claims that if you have analog cable and own a HDTV with QAM tuner then you can unlock the HD channels by running the auto-program function on your TV as though you were configuring an antenna.
Interestingly enough, someone told me the same thing a few months ago. I dismissed it back then because it sounded too good to be true. That and that the guy didn’t know what he was talking about.
Now, a second person has mentioned this to me, thus corroborating the first person's claim. So in the words of the wounded bank robber staring at the wrong end of Dirty Harry’s .44 Magnum, “I gots to know.”
Fact or Fiction?
Since I own satellite, this won’t apply to me or other satellite subscribers. I know because I tried it. No signal. But, I knew that would happen so no tears from me.
Dry-eyed, I went to a friend’s house since they have Time Warner Cable. I disconnected their coaxial cable from the digital cable box and connected it directly to the TV’s antenna input. I ran the auto-program and didn’t see any HD channels. I received the analog cable tier but no HD.
I then went to Snopes.com – the online sleuths that investigate urban legends and other mysteries. No dice. The query returned no results.
So, I don’t know for certain if this is fact or fiction. Do you?
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Update (May 12, 2008)
As fate would have it I found myself staring face-to-face with a Sudden Link Cable installation professional while eating lunch at Taco Bell. Being a man of impulse I asked him if this rumor was true.
He said it was with some televisions. He thinks the CableCARD slot might have something to do with it since the TV has a built-in cable tuner. This makes sense.
Ironically, the reader that brought this story idea to me has Cox Cable, which is now Sudden Link in some markets. He also has a Sony TV without a CableCARD slot so that contradicts what the installer said.
