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Is the problem with my TV or the cable provider?
I have a slim LED Samsung TV that recently started having a problem. It now doesn't display 10 channels. Unfortunately, 5 of those channels are my most watched channels. I get TV directly through a coaxial cable that is going to the wall. Those 10 channels show up black and each of them say (ex: 31-1, 32-2,...32-9). Every other channel doesn't go through all those extra versions of the channel. I've tried a channel search which took extremely long (about 3 hours) and it didn't fix it.
I just want to know what is wrong. I have a warranty on the TV, but don't want to get rid of it if it doesn't sound like the TV's fault.
3 Answers
- kg7orLv 78 years agoFavourite answer
The attachment below is how I answered a similar question some time ago. Short version: you are connected directly to your cable (no box), and all U.S. cable companies are in the process of migrating their no-box channels to a digital package that requires some type of box.
The other answers are correct, you need to call the cable company to find out what you need to do in order to get your channels back. The local company here (Comcast) offers a free digital converter to its basic subscribers. Without the converter, we get nothing at all from the cable.
Expanded answer follows:
- - - -
You are seeing channels like "123.45" because (a) you are connected directly to your cable outlet without a cable box, and (b) your TV has an optional QAM tuner, which can receive any unencrypted digital channels that may be present on the cable.
Unencrypted digital channels are cable-only channels (like ESPN, TNT, etc.) that the cable company has not yet encrypted, which will then make them receivable only by customers subscribing to a digital channel package. That will happen sooner or later. Meanwhile, such channels can be seen on an irregular basis via your QAM tuner, as you've noticed.
You will do better with the QAM tuner on your local broadcast channels, which you should find on the lower-numbered channels, like 3.1, 6.1, 10.1, etc. They will be stable, but they will also eventually go away. Cable companies are rapidly migrating all of their no-box channels to their digital packages that require some type of box. When it's done, like it was in my area last year, you'll no longer receive anything at all by connecting directly to the cable outlet as you are now.
