vtchris
vermont
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I have lived without a TV for a few years now (I am a full timer), but what is this about being able to pick up HD signals free? Can someone please explain? Maybe it is worth picking up a small TV.
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pulsar
Lewisville, NC
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For half a year now, most over-the-air stations have been broadcasting digital signals, as mandated by the government. Although the picture, if you can pick it up (see below), is of higher quality than the old analog pictures, generally, the stations are not broadcasting HD signals. Since the digital signals take much less bandwidth than analog signals, they could broadcast HD if they wanted to. Instead, most stations have opted to use their extra bandwidth to create additional channels.
Many have reported not being able to pick up stations when they are located in the same campground, etc, in which they used to get analog signals. I have not experienced this. However, there is a greater need to have the antenna pointed in the correct direction to get digital signals.
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foosh1
Annapolis MD
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vtchris wrote:I have lived without a TV for a few years now (I am a full timer), but what is this about being able to pick up HD signals free? Can someone please explain? Maybe it is worth picking up a small TV.
It's pretty simple. Since the analog to digital cut-over you can now have HDTV free if you have a HDTV set, which virtually everything now sold is. However, as was previously pointed out, not all programming is in HD. Most all of prime-time network programming and network national news broadcasts are HD, in my experience, and contrary to what Pulsar said.
If you're within 30-40 miles of a TV station, you have a good chance of receiving it with your old "batwing" antenna," which has made a huge comeback since the DTV cut-over.
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Peg Leg
Anderson, IN
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I actually get better local HD pictures on the antenna than from my Direct-TV Sat.
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foosh1
Annapolis MD
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Peg Leg wrote:I actually get better local HD pictures on the antenna than from my Direct-TV Sat.
Yes, that is entirely possible if you're close enough to a transmitter location. The satellite signal is compressed and the native, transmitted, over-the-air, signal is often of higher quality if you can receive it. But, it does depend upon what the local station is transmitting as Pulsar alluded to. Some smaller market TV stations may not be giving you the same thing as large market stations.
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mgratner
Wherever I happen to be USA
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I can't comment west of the Mississippi but in the east we have had no troubke recieving digital and HD when avaiable. Most major TV stations have repeaters that get their signal quite a distance from the station. The newer sets, digital, draw a lot less wattage than the old analog sets and a small inverter, when on the road works fine.
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foosh1
Annapolis MD
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Yes, in my view things are 100 times better for free TV than they were in the analog days. Although, some people justifiably complain because they can no longer receive a snowy, fuzzy, picture from 80 miles away. However, I couldn't stand to watch that kind of picture, but some were OK with it.
With DTV, you either have a great picture, or you have nothing, but there is that in between state which involves "tiling" and "picture freezes" when you are on the edge a reception zone that your particular antenna is capable of pulling in. Aiming of the antenna is also more important now.
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Gdetrailer
PA
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Actually OTA (Over The Air) broadcasts are NOT all HD, in fact in many markets they are MULTICHANNEL SD (Standard Definition). Each channel has the option to transmit 1 full HD and a SD or 3 SD channels.
As far as an improvement to OTA, not really, digital broadcasts suffer a lot of ill effects from rain, snow, tree leaves, buildings and anything else that either absorbs RF or reflects RF. So when you used to be able to get a fuzzy analog picture, you now often times get nothing.
Sometimes you will have station perfectly and then it goes blocky to none.
Many stations have had to petition the FCC to allow higher power or additional antenna gains. While this has worked some, it still leaves a lot of areas with no real usable coverage at all.
To combat the problem I had to replace all of my $5 passive splitters and replace them with a $200 extremely low noise amplified splitter. This is on top of using a high gain low noise mast mounted preamp with a 15ft long antenna. With this setup I get half of the stations I used to get with analog broadcasts.
What an improvement.
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garym114
Bluff Dale, Texas
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How confusing for someone that just wants to get TV over an antenna.
You do not need a new antenna if you already have one. If you get a new, small flat screen TV and connect it to the antenna you will have digital TV, some programs will be in HD, some not. The TV stations are broadcasting everything digitally now. One of the big differences is you have to aim the antenna to the station and have the TV scan for the stations. If you change locations you have to aim and scan again. For aiming the best thing to do is go to Antenna Web, enter your location and it will give you the direction and distance to the broadcast towers.
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foosh1
Annapolis MD
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Gdetrailer wrote:Actually OTA (Over The Air) broadcasts are NOT all HD, in fact in many markets they are MULTICHANNEL SD (Standard Definition). Each channel has the option to transmit 1 full HD and a SD or 3 SD channels.
As far as an improvement to OTA, not really, digital broadcasts suffer a lot of ill effects from rain, snow, tree leaves, buildings and anything else that either absorbs RF or reflects RF. So when you used to be able to get a fuzzy analog picture, you now often times get nothing.
Sometimes you will have station perfectly and then it goes blocky to none.
Many stations have had to petition the FCC to allow higher power or additional antenna gains. While this has worked some, it still leaves a lot of areas with no real usable coverage at all.
To combat the problem I had to replace all of my $5 passive splitters and replace them with a $200 extremely low noise amplified splitter. This is on top of using a high gain low noise mast mounted preamp with a 15ft long antenna. With this setup I get half of the stations I used to get with analog broadcasts.
What an improvement.
LOL, no one said they were all HD signals. But, I guess we've been pinged by someone who was happy with the snowy, fuzzy, out-of-focus, free pictures of yesteryear. As I said previously, your mileage may vary with DTV, because of the choice certain local stations (usually small market ones) make to broadcast HD or not. All major and medium-size markets are definitely broadcasting in HD, when the SOURCE programming is HD.
Yep, it's a definite improvement for those who either want true quality for free, or are willing to pay for it if the quality is not available OTA. What has been rather amazing about this transition is that free TV is making a bit of a comeback. It was definitely dying prior to the transition in most markets as cable and satellite had totally taken over.
* This post was
edited 03/10/10 08:37pm by foosh1 *
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