Patent ID: 6990203

Claim:
A cable television system comprising: (a) at least one cable-ready receiver including: (i) a tuner including an amplifier for outputting an audio and video (A/V) signal via an output of the tuner; (ii) a two-way signal splitter having an input electrically coupled to the output of the tuner, the splitter being configured to receive the A/V signal directly from the output of the tuner and divide the A/V signal into a first A/V signal which is output from a first output port of the splitter and a second A/V signal which is output from a second output port of the splitter; (iii) a signal processing circuit electrically coupled to the tuner and the splitter, the signal processing circuit being configured to receive the first A/V signal directly from the first output port of the splitter and process the first A/V signal; and (iv) an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit electrically coupled to the tuner and the splitter, the AGC circuit being configured to receive the second A/V signal directly from the second output port of the splitter and process the second A/V signal; and (b) a decoder electrically coupled to the AGC circuit in the cable-ready receiver, the decoder being configured to determine whether or not the second A/V signal is scrambled.