Will this device change the channels on my cable box? All our cable channels are now encrypted (requiring the box) and we have very little OTA TV.
1875879
I think it will since it has a "blaster" port. But I can't figure out why you need this box if you already have cable?? It can capture video via S-video, or component video from your cable box if that is what you are trying to do...I'm guessing you do not have a DVR cable box, so you could get it to capture video if you want, painful {setup/control} but should work. I think that the main use of this WinTV HVR is for OTA TV, and it works well for that as long as there is a strong signal. e.g. you need an outside digital antenna.
156602
It has a QAM tuner which is what's required by most providers for direct connect, bypassing the cable box. You will not get premium channels, nor the station guide. And most providers will only supply unscrambled those channels that are available over-the-air. I use this successfully with FIOS TV.
1993833
If the cable box has composite output ports(red white and yellow plug) and the TV has them that your hooking up to wirelessly then yes. However **I only did this with my DirecTV not cable box, and it worked fine except I couldn't change channels from the back room. Good luck.
664898
Yes. It works with or without a cable box. It will change the channels on the TV once you have run through the auto programming on the TV that detects all available channels.
672661
This product does not provide an OTA tuner. There are plenty of cheap products for that. Ceton focused on providing a high quality tuner to deal with US cable card protected networks. The encoding is different. Cable systems use QAM modulation and encoding and US OTA uses ATSC.
1251155
It will accept the input from a cable box. Most cable providers scramble their channels now, so it most likely won't work directly. The box will be necessary to descramble the signal.
62212
It replaces the cable box that you have hooked up to the cable going into the tv. However, it does not give you all the channels that a cable box does, it only gives you the locals like fox, nbc, cbs. These vary from city to city so you may have more than other people in other towns.
2273154
Technically speaking your TV should have a built-in ATSC tuner in order to receive OTA (over the air) broadcast. Most recent model TV's do. You'd have to check the TV specs. As a last resort you can buy a separate tuner if need be.
1661913
The tuner will pick up unencrypted signals from your cable. In my case (Verizon FIOS), I got the local broadcast channels, which are the same ones I would pick up with an antenna. If your cable provider encrypts all the signals, then the answer is "no," but that's unusual.If you have a TV that receives digital signals, you can hook that up to your cable and see what it receives. The tuner should pick up all the same channels.
1945245
I just bought this model, and both the salesman and my cable company told me that I will need a box to get HD channels. Are they selling me a bill of goods? I don't want to pay for a cable box if I don't need one. We are currently running the TV (analog only) from just the cable with no cable box. pananer
2133028
My knee-jerk is NO. The TV is what will determine whether it will work or not. The newer devices have the encryption software built into them and you need a tv that can understand the code. Just converting the signal is not enough and it will not strip the encryption.
239865
This device does NOT work with scrambled cable/qam channels. If you are paying for premium cable channels they are most likely scrambled and this device will not be able to decode them. Even though we do not officially support cable/qam, this device will work with free/basic cable channels and allow you to bypass your tv's broken coax input.
93325
Bill B is partly correct. If you have cable straight out of the wall without a cable box/receiver, then it should work. But if you are using a cable box/receiver because you need it receive specialty programming or paid premium channels like HBO or similar, then this will not work for that situation. I sent my back specifically because of that reason. You cannot program it to adjust the volume for the TV and then change the channels on a receiver like you can other universal remotes. It's one or the other. It's a really poor design because of that.
1483257
yeah, use com cast remote to change channel on the box. The vizio remote only works on the tv
45498
I have an HD cable box and notice no difference when changing channels between HD and regular stations. I hopes that answers your question.
886390
A lot of misinformation below. This DOES work with cable (in my case FIOS) assuming the digital stations are not encrypted by your provider. Almost all stations are encrypted outside of local networks like ABC, NBC, PBS, etc. So don't purchase this thinking you can bypass your providers set top box for things like HGTV, USA, TBS, ESPN, etc even if they are part of your plan. If all you need is local stations (like me) and stream everything else with Netflix and the like, this should work great (just clarify with your provider that your local stations are QAM-compatible and unencrypted).
466076
Yes...it will tune in all free over the air television channel. I've owned the unit for a little more than a year and it works great. The interface is very simple and not fancy. My unit get all those channels you listed and more. Hope this helps.