Understanding CableCARD Technology

CableCARDs are a new feature for most televisions, and they allow a user to simply slide a card into their TV to get cable programming. Much like you slide a wireless network card or new graphics card into your computer to improve its functionality, a cableCARD works in a similar fashion. Generally smaller than a credit card, sliding it into your television will open up a wide array of programming through your cable provider while avoiding the space consuming cable box that dominate most home entertainment centers nowadays.

These cards allow users to watch and record television just like a cable box or DVR box would work. Since the advent of high-definition, this has become a popular feature in many TVs. After all, who wants to buy a flat screen TV, mount it on their wall, and then figure out where a bulky cable box will go? That just will not work in an age where many home owners are investing in costly home theater installation services to set up their new plasma television and accompanying home theater system. Who wants an unsightly cable box to ruin all that hard work, time and money invested in making your TV look sharp?

CableCARDs work much like a DVR unit. It allows you to set up recording schedules, store content and rewatch it at a moment's notice. It allows you access to pay per view channels, on demand channels as well as additional content per your cable contract. While not all TVs come with a cableCARD slot, most manufacturers are designing slots into their newer televisions to accommodate the growing numbers of users interested in getting rid of their cable boxes and going the cableCARD way with their cable provider.

Many providers are beginning to offer this service to give their customers another option besides cable boxes. These cards act just like a cable box and come pre-programmed to turn on features on a TV directly related to cable service. In essence, it turns your TV into a cable box and DVR unit while giving you the best programming the cable company has to offer for your area. If you change programming, you swap out the card, it really is that simple.

The idea behind cableCARDs came from CableLabs. It is based on the idea that PC cards can slide in and out of a computer with ease and add functionality that may not have been invested in at the time of purchase. If you want a new graphics card, video card or wireless card, you can buy one, slide it in and be up and running in no time with your computer. With TVs, this is generally not the case, because the technology did not exist to allow cable companies to grant access to program as simply. Most home owners use a cable box that takes up room, breaks down easily and has downtime, with a cableCARD, if you change your programming, all you have to do is swap the card for a new one and you are good to go.

CableCARDs resemble a PCMCIA Type 2 PC card. You obtain this from your cable company and come stop down at their offices to pick it up or swap it out at any time. This eliminates the need for a technician to come to your home and swap out and troubleshoot your cable box issues which can be costly and time consuming. With the amount of home owners switching to digital cable services, it can take up to five to seven days in most cases for a technician to come to your home where all you would have to do was swap out the card yourself and live without cable for an hour or so. It makes the process much more simple and helps out both the cable company and home owner.

At the moment, some areas within Comcast, Cox and Time Warner do require a technician to come out initially to set up the cableCARD in your television so that they can report the access numbers directly to headquarters. However, after the initial installation, you can in most areas swap out and report the serial numbers yourself. Once you pop the card in, you call it in, it is activated, and you have instant cable TV service. It should be noted, though, that cableCARDs are assigned to individual televisions and cannot be moved from one TV to another without the permission and activation of your cable provider.

CableCARD technology has many benefits for the home owner. It provides them a way to get rid of their cable box. Cable boxes, in many cases, have very few problems and will not need to be swapped out under typical circumstances. However, when a problem with a cable box does occur, often a technician will have to come out to swap it out or fix it, and this can be cumbersome for most home owners who work and have to work around their schedule and the cable company's schedule. CableCARDs offer flexibility for the owner as well as a way to take control of cable problems they run into.