Sports blog: Warrior Nation
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The glacial change from analog TV to all-digital is confusing and maddening for most people. We are whipsawed by a continuing flow of abrupt changes to our decades-old habits. All we want to do is watch television. Is that too much to ask for? Although these changes are announced long before the implementation dates, the proclamations are often ignored due to our overly busy lives. We are inundated with information. Today, there is too much information to absorb much less act upon until we have no choice.

Recent changes to the Cablevision system have a lot people in a dither about needing to add cable boxes to TVs that previously did not need them. Many of these TVs are in spare bedrooms, in playrooms or basements and are infrequently used.

Cablevision wants you to add cable boxes to all your televisions. It is in their interest. Though many of the newly installed cable boxes are free for the first year or two they will eventually result in increases to your monthly cable bill. Cablevision is not interested in providing you with options that do not require a cable box. Cablevision does not want you to switch to the Internet for video. It is harder for them to charge a premium for Internet-delivered shows. They do not want you to think you have choices.

There are alternatives, if you have an HDTV with a built-in QAM tuner.

"Do you need a cable box from Cablevision? The answer is no, if you have an HDTV with a QAM tuner. The answer is yes, if you have an old-style standard definition TV or an older HDTV that does not have a QAM tuner.

Most HDTVs sold in the last 3-4 years have QAM tuners. They can display the digital over-the-air (OTA) broadcast station signals sent out over Cablevision. These are stations like WCBS HD or WNBC USPORTS, channels 2-1 and 4-4 respectively. I can receive more than 20 of these stations on my HDTV in Weston without a cable box, including Cablevision News 12 Connecticut (105-12).

This got me thinking, "What would I add to an HDTV that is connected to Cablevision without a cable box in order to provide a more complete viewing experience?"

If the HDTV is Internet-capable, the answer might be little more than connecting it to your home's Internet connection via Ethernet wires or a WiFi adapter. Most Internet-capable TVs provide connections to Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Video-On-Demand, Blockbuster On Demand, Flickr and a variety of other services. If you have a Netflix subscription you can watch lots of movies and TV shows streamed over the Internet directly to your HDTV. Similarly, Amazon Video-On-Demand lets you buy or rent the video you want to watch streamed to your television. You may also be able to watch television shows via Hulu. This makes far more economic sense for seldom-watched TVs than paying a monthly fee to rent equipment from Cablevision.

Another alternative if your HDTV is not Internet-capable is an Internet-capable Blu-ray player. Many moderately priced players have Internet features like the HDTVs described above. These players let you watch video and other material from the Internet. They also play Blu-ray, DVD and CD optical discs.

A third alternative is to attach one of the major gaming consoles -- the Nintendo Wii, the Microsoft Xbox, or the Sony PlayStation 3 -- to your HDTV. They all connect to the Internet and deliver video content similar to the alternatives mentioned above. Netflix and other services' video can be shown using these gaming consoles. The also play optical discs and the PlayStation 3 includes a built-in Blu-ray player.

You might not need a cable box and end up saving money.



Richard Frisch runs RHFtech, providing technology support and digital entertainment assistance to small business, and residential clients. He blogs at rhftech.com/blog/. Contact him at support@rhftech.com on Facebook or Twitter at richardfrisch or call (203) 221-7883.

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