Analog vs. Digital Cable
You’ve probably heard the terms "digital cable" and "analog cable" but may not know what they mean. If you’re in the market for new cable service or are going to buy a new TV set, however, those differences will mean a lot to you. Once you understand them, you’ll find it easy to compare their advantages.
Either kind of cable uses signals to transmit pictures, and those signals then tell your television how to distribute or "paint" the images on your screen. With analog cable, the signals travel over coaxial cable, also known as coax, which is made of copper wire with a thin layer of insulation on the outside. The cable television industry was founded on this type of cable, even though the signals have historically been somewhat degraded by the time they reach their destinations. This causes the “ghosting” you sometimes see on cable programs.
In contrast, digital cable sends signals over optical fiber lines, which are thinner and have a higher capacity than coaxial cable. These lines are especially effective for high definition (HD) transmissions and high-speed Internet, because they’re so flexible and can send signals easily. The signals are comprised of lines of data made up of ones and zeroes, so they transmit digitally instead of through a cable, producing superior picture and sound quality.
But the type of cable used is literally only half the picture when it comes to television viewing. No matter how powerful or clear, a digital signal is only as good as the instrument through which it is displayed. Analog signals viewed through a HD TV set will still display standard-definition TV quality, because the signal is not powerful to begin with. And a digital signal will lose quality during the conversion from digital to analog when it’s displayed on an analog TV. Because of this, if you have digital cable and you want high definition quality, you must have an HD television.
Analog vs Digital Cable
Here’s an overview of each type of service:
Analog Cable
- Less expensive than digital cable
- Available in some areas where digital cable can’t be accessed
- Fewer available channels
- Sometimes has "ghosting" caused by disturbances in the analog signal
Digital Cable
- More channels than analog
- Better picture quality
- CD-quality sound
- On-screen program guides
- On-demand services, such as movies and special programming
- Interactive services, such as photo displays and games
- Parental control features