My friend just got his first HDTV and only has Comcast basic cable hooked up to it right now. He doesn't have a reveiver, it's just the cable straight to the TV and he swears that he is getting locals in HD. He doesn't have an antenna. He says the picture is much better and there are two versions of the locals, one with the black bars which has the better picture. Could he really be getting HD without an antenna?
If they are 3 digit numbers..i.e. 706 for channel 6 CBS, or 712 for channel 12 FOX (in my case) then it is HD. Some users have reported being able to get HD straight from the wall outlet.
Wow, I'm confused. I thought you had to have an HD receiver or an OTA antenna. I have DTV HD and Comcast cable for locals and I don't get the Comcast locals in HD like my friend. I have the cable coming straight from the wall into the tv just like my friend. So if he is actually getting the locals in HD, why is it only the local channels?
If your hdtv has a QAM tuner wikipedia.org/wiki/QAM you can get your locals in HD for free if they are on the cable system.