QAM and ATSC

By March 1st this year all the Television sets in the US' retail stores must have ATSC tuner built-in. Some of the TV sets do have QAM tuners integrated into the TVs as well. What does the QAM exactly do to the consumers and what are the benefits?

Today there is a mis-conception that in order to view HDTV programs, one must subscribe the HDTV package from DirecTV. And this cost you probbaly may be more than USD50 per month (or may be more). Cable operators may also offer HDTV programs but you have to pay more money per month.

If you have a basic cable TV subcription package from the local operator, it means you are only able to view the analog channels and with bad picture quality sometime. However, if you have a TV set that has both ATSC and QAM tuners integrated, hook up the cable to the TV then you will be able to capture the HDTV programs even you pay for the basic cable TV package.
According to a freind of mine in Fremont, he used to have 40 analog cable channels but after he hooked up the cable to the TV that supports QAM tuner, he is now having extra 100 digital channels. He is now very happy with 1080i programs from ABC, CBS and etc.

Therefore, if you are going to buy new TV for yourself, make sure you get the TV with QAM tuner support. QAM is the cheapest way to view HD programs from your cable operators.