Why do modern 4K TVs still ship with that chunky coaxial jack when everything runs over HDMI?
FCC regulation: Any device sold as a "television broadcast receiver" in the US must include an internal ATSC digital tuner. Drop the tuner and coax port, and you're legally required to rebrand it as a "display" or "monitor." Vizio tried selling tunerless screens around 2016—customer backlash over missing antenna ports forced them to revert.
RF coax infrastructure: Hotels, hospitals, dorms, gyms still distribute 50+ channels over property-wide coaxial networks. Direct-to-screen RF means no STB per room, zero per-device management overhead.
BOM impact: An integrated ATSC tuner chip plus stamped F-connector costs manufacturers under $1 in volume. Keeping it eliminates return liability and maintains compatibility with OTA broadcasts and legacy commercial systems.
TL;DR: The coax jack exists because federal law mandates it for anything called a TV, and institutional deployments still rely on RF distribution at scale.
FCC regulation: Any device sold as a "television broadcast receiver" in the US must include an internal ATSC digital tuner. Drop the tuner and coax port, and you're legally required to rebrand it as a "display" or "monitor." Vizio tried selling tunerless screens around 2016—customer backlash over missing antenna ports forced them to revert.
RF coax infrastructure: Hotels, hospitals, dorms, gyms still distribute 50+ channels over property-wide coaxial networks. Direct-to-screen RF means no STB per room, zero per-device management overhead.
BOM impact: An integrated ATSC tuner chip plus stamped F-connector costs manufacturers under $1 in volume. Keeping it eliminates return liability and maintains compatibility with OTA broadcasts and legacy commercial systems.
TL;DR: The coax jack exists because federal law mandates it for anything called a TV, and institutional deployments still rely on RF distribution at scale.