Analog and TiVo S2

[jmcafee]

Two questions:

1) I own a Series2 DT and last week bought a Series2 single tuner. Maybe it's my imagination, but the single tuner TiVo's picture is far more pixelized than the dual tuner unit. This is not a signal issue, but the quality of the image coming from TiVo's buffer. Aren't all Series2 TiVo tuners analog?

2) Best Buy has put a large sticker on Series2 single tuner TiVos (NOT Series2 DT) saying these would work only until Feb. 2009, when analog transmissions will switch over to digital. Wouldn''t this also apply to the Series2 DT TiVos?

[litzdog911]

1) Not sure why you're seeing a difference here .... perhaps one was set to record at higher quality than the other? They both have similar tuner hardware.

2) Bogus. While it's true that over-the-air analog TV transmissions are scheduled to be fully replaced by digital transmission in February 2009, Tivos will still work fine with Cable Boxes and probably most analog Cable TV systems. Or DirecTV Receivers. In other words, it's only over-the-air reception that's directly affected by this change.

[jrm01]

Originally Posted by jmcafee

2) Best Buy has put a large sticker on Series2 single tuner TiVos (NOT Series2 DT) saying these would work only until Feb. 2009, when analog transmissions will switch over to digital. Wouldn''t this also apply to the Series2 DT TiVos?

Read the complete sticker. It says that they won't work for OTA signals, but should continue to function as is with Cable.

[pdhenry]

The dual-tuner functionality of the DT is theoretically a bit more at risk than the ST functionality, since it relies on an analog cable signal. If your cable company goes encrypted/digital, the DT becomes an ST.

[Hardliner]

So.. let me see if I understand.

If I am looking into a TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner, I know it'll receive a digital and analog signal so does that mean it'll receive 2 digital signals?

I'm concerned about getting this and only being able to use half what it is designed to do when Feb. of '09 rolls around.

Now, my parents have Charter as their provider and since their web site isn't easy to navigate, I am wondering if and when Feb. of '09 does roll around and they have Extended Basic cable, are they going to be forced to upgrade to Digital Cable or is what they currently have going to be fine?

I think that's all the questions I have for now.

[pdhenry]

Originally Posted by Hardliner

If I am looking into a TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner, I know it'll receive a digital and analog signal so does that mean it'll receive 2 digital signals?

It won't receive two digital signals. It will only "receive" a digital signal courtesy of a cable box provided by the cable company. This box will have analog audio and video outputs which actually connect to the TiVo.

The catch is that the TiVo is only capable of controlling one cable box. This means that you can connect one box and get your digital (plus analog) channels and connect the cable directly to the TiVo to get all of the analog channels.

The good news is that the February '09 cutoff only applies to over-the-air analog broadcasts (the kind you receive with a rooftop antenna). It's likely that the cable company will continue to provide analog cable signals for the foreseeable future, but no one really knows. Note that Comcast scrambles all cable channels, necessitating a cable box, in central Philly as it is today.

[gastrof]

Comcast does not scramble all cable channels.

I have no cable box and get a load of channels, including things like SciFi Channel, TNT, Disney Channel....you name it.

SOME Comcast outlets may be rotten and provide NOTHING that a cable ready tuner can get, but not all. My understanding is that scrambling all channels is the exception rather than the norm.

[Hardliner]

Originally Posted by pdhenry

It won't receive two digital signals. It will only "receive" a digital signal courtesy of a cable box provided by the cable company. This box will have analog audio and video outputs which actually connect to the TiVo.

The catch is that the TiVo is only capable of controlling one cable box. This means that you can connect one box and get your digital (plus analog) channels and connect the cable directly to the TiVo to get all of the analog channels.

The good news is that the February '09 cutoff only applies to over-the-air analog broadcasts (the kind you receive with a rooftop antenna). It's likely that the cable company will continue to provide analog cable signals for the foreseeable future, but no one really knows. Note that Comcast scrambles all cable channels, necessitating a cable box, in central Philly as it is today.

Well, they don't have cable boxes. What I plan on doing is putting a splitter on the coax connection so one cable goes to their TV and the other goes to the TiVo. I would assume that is going to work since when I had a TiVo with AT&T Broadband, I ran a splitter of the coax connection to both my TV and TiVo and worked perfectly.