AFter reading this discussion, I was compelled to call my cable company(AT&T) and ask them what the deal was with digital cable. It wsa the absolute worse experience of my life. here is a paraphrased version of what happened...

me: How many lines of resolution does digital cable have?

sales: lines of resolution? What is that?

me: for example, dss offers 480 lines of resolution, what is the comparable resolution to digital cable?

sales: sir, let me go find the answer for you(I wait 10 minutes and dildo #2 gets on the phone)

sales#2: sir, digital cable offers 12 lines of resolution and TV's only go as high as 8-9 lines of resolution.

me: what!? I'm sorry to be so blunt, but frankly you have no idea what you are talking about. Please let me talk to somebody that can answer my TECHNICAL questions.

sales#2: ok, sir. I'm sorry but we are just sales and we can't answer those questions for you, let me transfer you to tech support.

me: (prays for a short transfer)will I have to wait long?

Sales#2: Oh No!, there is no waiting, one sec please...

me: (longest no waiting I've ever done, 25 fricken long ass minutes later)

tech: How cna I help you sir?

me: (after explaining the situation, I ask my first question)How many lines of resolution will digital cable support?

tech: As many as your TV has.

me: (Oh god! kill me now, another idiot). That is not true. Let me try some easier questions...

me: What does "CD Quality" music mean for the audio channels?

tech: You know when you have a CD and you stick it in your CD player and you press play, that is CD quality music.

me: (AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!)no, I mean, is it comporessed, does it come out in stereo? I hear it is mono?

tech: Sir, it is sent via serial to the cable box, so if we send it in mono it will come out in mono.

me: ( i should have given up at this point) Will you support HDTV in the future?

tech: sir! HDTV is a brand name for TV's!

me: (wtf?) no it's not! Let me rephrase...will you be broadcasting HD quality signals over cable in the future?

tech: sir, HD is a brand name, really!

me: (sigh, I give up)No it isn't, you have no idea what you are talking about.

tech: HDTV is a foreign word to me

me: ok, last question, what kind i/o connectors are on the back of the cable box?

tech: RCA jacks

me: no s-video?

tech: that is a future add-on, we are currently working on that.

me: (cool, he answered my first question without knowing it!) The lines of resolution blows chunks because there isn't even s-video!)

me: ok, thanks, bye.

Now, maybe it is just me, but I can't believe the answers I got. This alone makes me want to get rid of cable.

Dave