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Does ATSC QAM mean it has a built in HD tuner ?

I was looking at a ad for a LCD TV. The price seemed really good, I thought about picking it up for my living room.
It is listed with a ATSC QAM tuner.
Does this mean it will pick up HD broadcasts over the air?
I dont have cable , but I do have an outside antenna that I could use to watch Football games.
128x128ozzy
ozzy's avatar
ozzy OP
7,540 posts
 
Thank you all for the help!
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
Comcast, with exception of a very few analogue channels still being broadcast that must for NSTC form, both scrambles and encrypts all its digital channels that are transmitted in QAM format. No way to look at digital transmision with one of their boxes.
ghostrider45
449 posts
 
One other thought on receiving unencrypted QAM channels. Most cable companies don't provide mapping information for their digital cable channel numbers.

I use Cox in New Orleans. For example, CBS HD is mapped to Cox channel 704. If I want to watch it as an unencrypted QAM I have to search for it and remember the native channel number. Last time I tried this it was 53.110. The cable companies frequently move the QAM channels without warning. It can become a pain to periodically rescan and hunt down your favorite channels. The cable's set top box or Cablecards provide the mapping to the stable cable-assigned channel numbers (like 704).

The FCC requires that all cable carriers transmit network HD signals as clear QAMs, but they don't have to make it easy.
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