On 3/16/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">George Galt</b> <<a href="mailto:george.galt@gmail.com">george.galt@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<div><span class="gmail_quote"></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Jerry:<br><br>Can you elaborate a little on FiOS TV. I'm looking at it to replace<br>Comcast (Washington, DC area).<br><br>Can you get all of the channels (approximately 200) in the lineup over<br>QAM? Is anything encrypted (obviously the premium channels like HBO
<br>would be, but are any of the others like Food Network, Comedy Central,<br>etc.)? I thought that some of the SD channels (like local ones) were<br>transported on an analog signal. Is this correct or is QAM only?</blockquote>
<div><br>Hi George,<br><br>The way FIOS works, all the information comes in on fiber, which is connected to an ONT (optical network terminal) on the side of your house or in your basement). This box takes all the information and splits out the phone, the internet, and the tv onto POTS copper, ethernet, and coax, respectively. For the tv, it encodes all the local channels and some superstations/religious channels as analog in the 1-49 range. This makes it possible to connect the coax to a tv without a set top box and get _only_ those channels. All those channels are also available QAM encoded. Also on QAM are the HD OTA channels (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/PBS/CW/a few others). I believe the music-only channels are also available on QAM but I've never bothered with those. Everything else is only available through the set top box - it's all encrypted on QAM and thru firewire. Only the locals are available in the clear.
<br><br>-Jerry<br></div><br></div><br>