Verizon has given me local only channels via the cable. When urged in to TV it scans like it was an antenna and provides antenna like channels (11-1, 11-2, etc). When I connect to Tablo and scan I get nothing. It’s not the biggest deal because I have a Mohu Leaf I ca use. I just thought it would be really convenient to just use the cable. Any ideas? Thanks.
Tablo Has an ATSC tuner only. It won’t work for cable.’
Here is a thread about Tablo demoing a product that would integrate with cable. There is still no word on whether it will ever happen or not.
Sometimes the original the original broadcast feeds are buried in the cable which is why its possible to pick up the OTA channel over cable even if a person only has internet but no TV service. Its very much a your mileage will very issue. As to why the TV can pick it up and not the Tablo it could be other factors. The TV may have a stronger tuner or be better able to cope with interference in the cable. You may want to take a look around AVS forums.
Cable systems use QAM for encoding and transmission of TV signals. QAM is not the same as ATSC which is used for OTA broadcasts. The Tablo tuner is only an ATSC tuner so it will not support clear/unencrypted cable channels. The OP’s TV very likely has both QAM and ATSC tuners.
Clear QAM is going the way of the dodo anyway, so QAM tuners in TVs will be redundant one day.
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But wouldn’t the channel numbers then be in their cable format, 123 instead of 12-3?
No, because the cable numbering format is actually a convenience mapping which allows the cable provider to change the frequency on which the channel is carried without the consumer being aware. The mapping is handled by the set top box, so when viewing Clear QAM channels directly on a TV, the channel numbers displayed are the “real” cable channels. So 12-3 would mean the 3rd subchannel on “real” cable channel 12.
Though you have explained well the situation I ran into is causing me confusion.
A while ago I helped a relative setup her first HD TV on her cable system. When I did the channel scan with the coax input set to cable it gave the normal array of minimal basic channels, locals plus a few like C-SPAN and similar almost nobody watches stuff (all in SD), as she had before. But when I set her coax input to antenna it only gave her the local broadcast channels in HD (the .1s not the sub channels). If both are clear QAM then why are they different?
They are not both Clear QAM. OTA is ATSC, while Cable is Clear CAM.
Thanks, that’s what I thought but I wanted a double check.