Determine if you have a supported digital tuner (QAM):
Most televisions today are digital/QAM compliant, however less expensive or budget televisions may not be. To find out if your
television has a QAM tuner, check the specifications in your owner's manual, or visit the manufacturer's website.
A QAM tuner allows your TV to tune to digital or HD channels. Most, but not all, TV’s that were made
after 2006 have a QAM tuner built in. Most Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Visio models have a built in QAM tuner.
• An example of what the manual may say if the TV has a QAM tuner:
o “Built in digital tuner (ATSC/Clear QAM)”, or “NTSC/QAM“
• Additionally, if your TV remote has the (.) or (-) symbol button for easy tuning or is able to
display channels such as 5.2 or 5-2, your TV likely has a QAM tuner.
• An example of what the manual may say if the TV does NOT have a QAM tuner:
o “ATSC / NTSC Tuner” (there will be no mention of QAM)
Televisions that, depending on model, may be missing the QAM tuner:
• Apex
• Dynex
• Element
• Haier
• HiSense
• RCA
• Sceptre
• Seiki
• Sylvania
If you have a supported tuner (QAM):
Initiate a channel search/auto program (varies by model)
click photo to enlarge
- Open the menu for the TV with the menu button via the remote, or physically on the TV.
- Look for Channel setup, Channel Search, Auto Scan, or something similar and select it.
- If you see what mode to choose Antenna or Cable, choose cable mode, and always choose Digital channels only.
- Select Auto Search, or Auto Channel Scan to start the search (this will take several minutes).
- Once the search is done, exit the menu and use the channel up or down button to look for working channels.
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