Frequently Asked Questions
Insight Digital Cable FAQ | High-Speed Internet FAQ | Insight Digital Phone FAQ
Insight Digital Cable FAQ's
- What is digital cable?
- How is analog cable different from digital cable?
- What equipment do I need to view Insight Digital Cable service?
- Do I need a cable box if my television is "cable-ready"?
- What is the difference between Insight Digital Cable and satellite services?
- What extra features do I get when I upgrade from Basic or Classic service to Insight Digital Cable?
- Do I need a set-top box to receive Basic or Classic cable service?
- Do I need a set-top box for every outlet?
- Can I have cable installed in more than one outlet?
- Can I provide my own set-top box?
What is digital cable?
Insight digital cable offers more choices and better picture quality than analog TV. Insight uses digital technology to compress video signals, allowing more than one program to be carried in the bandwidth space normally required for one analog program. Typically, the signal is sent to the home and decompressed in the set-top box for display on the television.
Insight digital cable provides a host of new services, such as On Demand TV, interactive television and commercial-free CD-quality music. Digital television also allows cable operators like Insight and program networks to offer high-definition television (HDTV), a movie theater-like viewing experience, complete with Dolby® Digital sound and a resolution of either 1,280 or 1,920 active horizontal pixels by 720 or 1,080 active scanning lines respectively.
How is analog cable different from digital cable?
Insight's Basic and Classic services are considered analog cable. Analog and digital are electrical terms referring to the two different transmission formats for electrical information.
Analog cable has limited features, while digital cable has a clearer picture, more channels, and more advanced interactive services, like On Demand TV and the on-screen program guide.
What equipment do I need to view Insight Digital Cable service?
Insight Digital Cable requires a digital set-top box. In addition to our standard digital set-top box, Insight also offers a digital set-top box with built-in DVR & HDTV capabilities.
Do I need a cable box if my television is "cable-ready"?
Yes. With digital cable an Insight digital set-top box is required to receive all the programming and convenient features, like the interactive guide and On Demand TV. Insight will bring the box to your home and set it up for you.
What is the difference between Insight Digital Cable and satellite services?
Where do we begin? Let's start with unlimited free on demand programming — with Insight you choose from thousands of programs every month. What about satellite rain fade? Not with Insight. We receive the satellite programming on giant commercial dishes and send it to our customers over a state-of-the-art, hybrid fiber coax network. Then there's broadband Internet. While satellite continues to search for a broadband solution, Insight is already delivering 10 Meg speeds.
What extra features do I get when I upgrade from Basic or Classic service to Insight Digital Cable?
With Insight Digital Cable you receive over 100 channels of programming (including digital music), an interactive program guide and On Demand TV.
Insight Digital Cable customers who purchase our DVR & HDTV level of digital service also receive VCR-like functionality to record and store, rewind and pause live TV. And, if you have an HDTV set, you can view your local and network channels in high-def.
Insight Digital Cable customers who are also subscribers to premium channels like HBO and Showtime also receive multiple channels of that network and On Demand programming where available.
Do I need a set-top box to receive Basic or Classic cable service?
No. A set-top box for Basic or Classic customers is only required if you subscribe to premium channels like HBO or Showtime, or if you want to order pay-per-view programming. Insight Digital Cable customers require a cable box.
Do I need a set-top box for every outlet?
You will need a set-top box for every set on which you want to view a premium channel or pay-per-view program. If you only want standard Basic and Classic cable channels, you don't need a set-top box as long as you have a cable-ready television. Insight Digital Cable customers require a cable box.
Can I have cable installed in more than one outlet?
Yes, you can have cable installed on up to four outlets. An extra charge may apply for additional outlets.
Can I provide my own set-top box?
It is our policy to support those digital receivers which may be provided directly by our customers. We comply fully with all federal regulations governing the customer's right to facilitate their authorized receipt of our cable services through lawful customer-owned equipment by offering a "CableCARD" for lease that will provide access to certain Insight services that require descrambling.
In order for us to authorize receipt of scrambled Insight cable services through a set-top receiver or digital cable-ready set that a customer provides, the customer must establish to Insight's reasonable satisfaction that such device is unaltered from its original condition, produced by a recognized and legitimate manufacturer of such devices, and the device must be compatible with Insight's technical specifications to prevent physical or electronic harm to Insight's system. Be aware that set-top converter boxes obtained outside of recognized retail establishments (e.g., purchased online) are often stolen or are unreturned and unauthorized for use.
Any customer-provided digital receiver which does not meet the foregoing criteria will not be activated by us to receive Insight's cable services. If you have any questions regarding the compatibility or eligibility of any set-top box or other digital receiver, or if you feel someone is using or attempting to sell unauthorized equipment, please contact your local Insight office.
Cable theft, which includes the use of stolen equipment, affects everyone. It can affect your or your neighbor's picture quality. Poor picture quality is a reason for service calls and other system maintenance, which increases system costs and your cable rates. Most of the equipment used by cable pirates is not built to system specifications, thus radio signals used to transmit cable television can leak into frequencies reserved for aeronautical and emergency communications producing a potential safety problem.
The set-top converter boxes that we and other cable operators provide to our customers are and remain our property and must be returned to us any time service is discontinued for any reason. Failure to return a set-top converter box may result in a charge being made against your account. Unreturned and stolen set-top converter boxes increase our costs, and may result in increases to your cable rates.