Confusion over cable TV boxes has always been a source of frustration for cable TV watchers, as they try to decide what they need, what they want and what they can live without. If you ask a cable TV representative, he will tell you that you need the most expensive thing on the market. How do you know you need an HD DVR when you don't even know what the letters stand for? It's important to be armed with knowledge before you settle on one particular cable TV box.
Cable Boxes and the Digital Transition
Despite the digital transition, you will still be able to run your television without a cable box on some cable systems. Only the cable systems that are going 100-percent digital will require you to have a cable box. If your system is not 100-percent digital, you will not need a cable box until the system does go 100-percent digital. Call your cable company and ask them if and when they plan on being 100-percent digital.
Standard Cable Box
If you've had cable since before HD and probably since the late 1990s, you've seen a Standard Cable Box. They tend to be small, black and have fairly limited options. They display a two-digit channel on the front. They connect to your television and you set your TV to channel 3 or 4 to see the picture from them. Their initial use was to allow you to have cable on "non-cable ready televisions," which they stopped making in the mid '90s. They stayed around to allow access to subscription channels like HBO and Showtime, and allow you to call in for Pay Per View movies. These boxes act as digital converters, and allow you a digital signal.
High-Definition Cable Boxes
High-Definition Cable Boxes came about a few years ago and act similar to Standard Cable Boxes. The difference is that, in addition to acting as a digital converter and allowing you access to subscription channels, it also acts as a high-definition converter, allowing that crystal clear television picture that's on your TV screen.
Digital Video Recorder
If you don't know what a Digital Video Recorder is, you've probably never heard of TiVO or DVR. These DVRs can be rented from the cable company and come with the standard set of features, including digital conversion and access to subscription services. It also allows you to record shows with the click of a couple of buttons, and even record that same show every time it comes on without you doing anything else. These boxes have hard drives that allow you a certain number of hours of programming.
HD DVR
High Definition Digital Video Recorders are essentially a combination of HD boxes and DVRs. You can record both standard definition and high-definition shows to the hard drive, which is usually considerably bigger than a standard DVR since HD shows take up considerably more space due to the more defined picture.
Tags: 100-percent digital, Cable Boxes, access subscription, Digital Video, Standard Cable