Weird Channel Behavior without Box

[yourbeliefs]

My dad just got a new 19" Samsung HDTV for the kitchen. We don't have any extra boxes, so it's just hooked up directly to the cable line old school. Our house gets HD & DVR service.

Anyway we hook up the tv and tell it to autoprogram the channels. First off, it finds TONS of channels, most were just "multicast" stations (80-5, 90-4, etc.) Most of these were just duplicates of other channels such as our locals and other random stations, but at least 2 of them were movie stations (or seemed to present themselves as such since the info showed "MPAA Rated R"). The scarier part was that it was not HBO or SHO or things like that. Or if they were, they were not showing what the guide on the other Box equipped said they were. I could not figure out what these stations were since nothing on the guide mentioned they were being shown (if it helps it was around 1 or 2 pm and the movies shown were V for Vendetta and Die Hard 2.) These were in the high multicast numbers.

Speaking of multicasting, the tv also picked up Local HD stations as if they were done OTA. The problem is that there was no antenna hooked up to the television. All the local HD stations came in, and they were set up like they were on OTA (I know this because I use it at my own house.) For example, our CBS affiliate is channel 3, but it is mapped to channel 2 on the cable. If you go to the "next" channel when you are on 3 on the cable, it shoots you to 3-1, the CBS 3 HD station. How could I get these signals when there was no antenna hooked up, and in addition how could it directly correspond to their "real" channel numbers? It is also worth noting that we got stations on local HD that we would not be able to get OTA without a powerful outdoor antenna, and even then it would be questionable.

We do eventually plan on getting an HD box for this tv, but does anyone know what could cause this sort of behavior?

[BigTimMN]

From what i gather its very common issues with HD sets and built in tuners, you never know what you can find unencrypted in scanning the channels. I never have experienced it myself, but have read that it should be done to see what you can get.

[jayn_j]

My dad just got a new 19" Samsung HDTV for the kitchen. We don't have any extra boxes, so it's just hooked up directly to the cable line old school. Our house gets HD & DVR service.

Anyway we hook up the tv and tell it to autoprogram the channels. First off, it finds TONS of channels, most were just "multicast" stations (80-5, 90-4, etc.) Most of these were just duplicates of other channels such as our locals and other random stations, but at least 2 of them were movie stations (or seemed to present themselves as such since the info showed "MPAA Rated R"). The scarier part was that it was not HBO or SHO or things like that. Or if they were, they were not showing what the guide on the other Box equipped said they were. I could not figure out what these stations were since nothing on the guide mentioned they were being shown (if it helps it was around 1 or 2 pm and the movies shown were V for Vendetta and Die Hard 2.) These were in the high multicast numbers.

Speaking of multicasting, the tv also picked up Local HD stations as if they were done OTA. The problem is that there was no antenna hooked up to the television. All the local HD stations came in, and they were set up like they were on OTA (I know this because I use it at my own house.) For example, our CBS affiliate is channel 3, but it is mapped to channel 2 on the cable. If you go to the "next" channel when you are on 3 on the cable, it shoots you to 3-1, the CBS 3 HD station. How could I get these signals when there was no antenna hooked up, and in addition how could it directly correspond to their "real" channel numbers? It is also worth noting that we got stations on local HD that we would not be able to get OTA without a powerful outdoor antenna, and even then it would be questionable.

We do eventually plan on getting an HD box for this tv, but does anyone know what could cause this sort of behavior?

The local stations are generally shown HD in the clear on the cable, so that is not uncommon. Your new TV is just following the mapdown function that the broadcasters send with the HD signal.

The other thing you are seeing is channels your neighbors are ordering on-demand. They get transmitted on high numbered unused channels in the clear for some reason. Others have reported that the content can get pretty hard core late at night, so you might want to lock them out (or not)

[yourbeliefs]

The local stations are generally shown HD in the clear on the cable, so that is not uncommon. Your new TV is just following the mapdown function that the broadcasters send with the HD signal.

The other thing you are seeing is channels your neighbors are ordering on-demand. They get transmitted on high numbered unused channels in the clear for some reason. Others have reported that the content can get pretty hard core late at night, so you might want to lock them out (or not)

.....wait... so on random channels random stuff will show up at random times? If so... that is SOOOOOO cool!!

[Tyralak]

.....wait... so on random channels random stuff will show up at random times? If so... that is SOOOOOO cool!!

Almost like blind scanning for wild feeds.

[yourbeliefs]

Almost like blind scanning for wild feeds.

Good thing this tv is in the kitchen because if it was in my room I would be up all night just to see what random people order... of course given what some people must see I may get nightmares.. ;p

[Tyralak]

Good thing this tv is in the kitchen because if it was in my room I would be up all night just to see what random people order... of course given what some people must see I may get nightmares.. ;p

One word: Videodrome.