A New Way to Look at Analog CableTV

With a high definition TV, we get to see analog CableTV up close and personal. Sometimes its not pretty. Analog CableTV broadcasts in SD (aka Standard Definition, a resolution of 480 lines). On our high definition television, poorly broadcast channels appear very grainy. The quality of the analog broadcasts appear to vary during the day, interestingly enough.

There are some web sites that report that Comcast broadcasts OTA (over the air) hi-definition channels with analog cable. My TV has a built-in digital tuner, so theoretically, I would be able to pick up these digital channels, even though I only subscribe to the analog service. No such luck. My TV doesn't detect any digital channels in the lineup. At least, I haven't figured out how to tune in to any digital channels.

Another issue was the aspect ratio. Standard definition broadcasts have an aspect ratio of 4:3, close to being square. With a wide-screen (aspect ratio of 16:9) TV, I opted not to stretch the picture. If the programming happens to be in wide-screen format, the picture will fill out more of the screen.