A television in a student's dorm room on the University's website.

About Digital Television

The Office of Residence Life has upgraded all of the television services around campus to digital cable. This new service features over 100 channels all in crystal-clear high definition. In order to access this new television system, your TV must be equipped with a QAM Tuner.

What Is QAM?

QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) is the format by which digital cable channels are encoded and transmitted via cable television providers, including Apogee. A QAM tuner is the cable equivalent of an ATSC tuner that receives over-the-air digital channels broadcast by local television stations. Many new cable-ready digital televisions support both of these standards. Because there is no requirement, though, some very inexpensive manufacturers or models may not include the QAM tuner.

Please be advised that less expensive TVs sometimes come with a lower quality QAM tuner that may be unable to tune all of the channels. If that is the case a digital conversion box can be purchased.

Does My TV Have a QAM Tuner?

Most televisions manufactured within the past ten years have QAM Digital Tuners built into them. First, check to see if the TV has an internal tuner by searching the specifications section of your TV manual. If you no longer have your TV manual, locate the make and model of the TV and look up the specs online.

If your TV does not have an internal QAM tuner, an external QAM tuner will need to be purchased in order to receive channels.

Please refer to our Television Compatibility page for a list of some of the television models with QAM tuners built-in.

Have Some Questions?

We’ve prepared a Frequently Asked Questions page in order to answer your questions about our cable service.

If you have any additional questions, an Apogee support representative is available 24-hours a day to assist you via chat, text, phone, or email: