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Cable-Television Cards May Replace Clunky Set-Top Boxes.
- Article from:
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Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC )
- Article date:
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June 7, 2004
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Charlotte Observer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Christina Rexrode
Jun. 7--If the cable set-top box on your television is spoiling your living room's feng shui, you're in luck.
A new federally approved agreement among cable and consumer electronics companies will help ensure that you can get premium and digital cable programming without the clutter of another appliance.
Beginning July 1, most cable providers will have to start offering cable cards to consumers. A cable card, like a set-top box, decodes scrambled signals from premium and digital cable channels. The cards lack some functions of a full-blown set-top box. But what they lack in power, they make up for in stealth.
The cards, about the size ...