HD channels without HD box?

[fishsmith]

With comcast/xfinity is it possible to get HD quality on an HDTV without renting the box. Paying $108 per year without an option to buy blows.

Thanks - Jim

[JohnR]

Short of dedicated computer running some sort of media center + a CableCard + a CableCard device - I think you are stuck.

[basswipe]

Most over the air channels now broadcast in HD.If you use an antenna you'll get a ton of local channels in HD.A friend of mine uses a rotational roof top antenna and he gets TONS of stations from all over New England almost all which are HD.An incoming cable line can also be used as an antenna.

PS.Bob,any antenna will work.One of the biggest ripoffs is the so called "hd antenna".The roof top one my buddy uses is over 30yrs old.

[5/0]

Yes,I too have Comcast/Xfinity and you should be able to do this...That is if your TV supports some menus,my TV is 1 yo.
What I found was by connecting the cable on the TV,then go to your TV menu guide,then select the connectivity scroll down to auto channel and run it,it may take a while to run but this should find any possible channels available.
When it completes this cycle go back to the same menu and look for show/hide channels,this part will take a while to do you have to manually select each channel to hide, what I did was hide all of the none HD and allowed only the HD one's.

By doing the auto find I now have more channels than just the standard cable connection not to mention 3X more HD channels.


Here are the steps in order I hope it helps.

[5/0]

I found this solution last year when I went camping,the Bruins were in the play off's and the games were not on local channelsSo when there is a will,there is a way to find what your looking for.

[fishsmith]

Thanks bass, 5/0 and JohnR. For christmas we got my son a 22" HD and he uses the $1.99 per mo. box, every time I look at the poor quality of the picture it bugs the sh** out of me. (me and the mrs. still have the 19" tube tv with a better picture) .

[5/0]

Originally Posted by fishsmith

Thanks bass, 5/0 and JohnR. For christmas we got my son a 22" HD and he uses the $1.99 per mo. box, every time I look at the poor quality of the picture it bugs the sh** out of me. (me and the mrs. still have the 19" tube tv with a better picture) .

We have a similar deal like you,we gave our two kids the little boxes our son has a regular TV and get's the same ol same ol reception,our daughter has a HD flat I remember setting up her TV using it's own menu.Meaning you need to adjust the TV's screen settings.

[Raider Ronnie]

Anyone got a Roku box ?
Roku Streaming Player | Watch Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, Crackle and More on Roku Player

[fishsmith]

We've got one Ron but it works with netflix, which is another monthly payment. The quality and streaming did work fine.

[Matt D]

I get around 45 channels with a direct Comcast cable connection (no box) and digital channel scan. I think 6 of them are HD (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, and one that took the place of the WB)

The rest of them are mainly duplicates of those networks from other locations in SD, and subchannels of them (especially PBS which has several subs)

Back when I first started doing this (around 4 years ago) I used to get pretty much everything, including porn and PPV's. I guess so few people had the digital QAM tuners that Comcast didn't pay them much attention. Now that a majority of TV's have those tuners built in they scramble all of the premium & cable type channels.