Samsung SIR-T451 High Definition Terrestrial Tuner
Good for over-the-air, Not so good for cable
What I purchased was a refurbished unit, so the problems I'm going to describe may be specific to this partocular one. Prior to trying this model, I also used Sony SAT-HD300 and Sony DHG-HDD500 as HDTV tuners.  <br /> <br />Cosmetically, the simple yellow LCD display which shows letters in mixed case is the part I dislike the most.  Operationally, the unit worked fine with outdoor antenna and was able to pick up all local ATSC broadcast channels. However, it behaved like a different machine when I connected the cable (serviced by Comcast) to it.  There were several problems: <br /> <br />1) While doing the slow channel scanning on cable input, the tuner freezed at certain channel and must be power cycled. After reboot, it would freeze again at the same channel during scanning. No channels above that stucking point can be programmed and have to be added one-by-one manually. <br /> <br />2) In several occasions while switching channels (perhaps around the \\"stucking point\\" mentioned above), the unit would reboot itself with no explanation. <br /> <br />3) When tuned to one of those \\"Music On Demand\\" channel with the \\"HDTV\\" indicator shown on the LCD display, the picture and sound will appear intermittently mixed with \\"no signal\\" message despite the signal strength displayed near full strength. The channels were not encrypted as they can work fine on the Sony tuners which do not have the cablecard either. <br /> <br />4) The unit did not respond (or responded very very slowly) to remote control(which contains fresh battery) in many cases while changing sub-channels. <br /> <br />5) It's kind of inconvenient being unable to enter the sub-channel number directly; you'll haqve to change to the main channel and do the channel up until you reach the sub-channel. This is not a big issue for local broadcast, which usually has less than 5 sub-channels but it'll be a problem if you're trying to access 115.19, for example.  <br /> <br />