My TVs are both very old, and l don’t have cable (Don’t watch it enough to justify the cost). Last summer, with the switch to HD, I got the converter boxes to go along with the anntenae.
They have never worked very well, needing constant readjustment, and so I often go months without watching TV.
Now, I am making a little more money with my new job, and I am thinking about getting an HDTV, probably about a 20" with built in DVD player, just something to set up on the table near my computer.
My question is, will I still need the anntenae and converter box, or are those TVs set up to function properly on their own? Because if I’ll still need them…I’m not going to bother.
You won’t need the converter, but you will need either an antenna or cable service, unless all you want to watch is stuff that’s pre-recorded (or downloaded/streamed over the net).
Annecdotal, but I’ve got a 32 inch HDTV with a built in DVD player. The TV has both NTSC and ATSC tuners, but doesn’t pick up any over the air broadcasts without the converter box and a digital antenna.
Don’t confuse HD with Digital TV. The switch last year was to digital broadcasting, not to HD. If you get a digital TV (which is probably all they sell by now), HD or not, you won’t need a converter.
I agree with Quartz. I got a USB ATSC tuner and a HD antenna. Plus with the Windows Media Center that came with my computer, I can set it to automatically record my shows and watch them later on Windows Vista. Warning: a HD 1/2 hour show is about 3Gb. I watch the show and delete them or edit out the commercials and save them at DVD quality in Windows Movie Maker. I don’t know if Windows 7 can do this.
You should check on AntennaWeb.org and see what kind of antenna you need. All the HD broadcast towers are within a few degrees of each other from my house, so a small direction antenna was fine for me.
If you have the space, consider getting a separate DVD player. It does not cost too much more (in fact, it may be less), and you can upgrade or replace a broken unit more easily.
Note that if you have poor reception with the converter box, getting a digital TV probably isn’t going to help. Digital signals, although they look fantastic when they can be received, are harder to receive and it is an all-or-nothing signal. If a semi drives by my home it is enough to knock the reception out for a few seconds, and the transmitter is less than 10 miles away. A good antenna would be far more useful than buying a new TV if HD doesn’t interest you.
Did you have your TV scan for channels? If not it’s not going to just pick up channels automatically, you will have to tell the TV to look for channels before you can watch them. It usually takes a few minutes to actually do the search so if you just plugged the antenna in and turned on the TV it will not work.
Yes, after the conversion I went through the manual and followed the scan procedures from the menu. I tried deleting and rescanning many times, but it never picked up anything with either the TV alone or TV plus digital antenna. After I added the converter box and scanned through that, I got more stations than I had before the conversion.
If you’re having trouble getting signals now, it’ll be the same for DTV.
Don’t go by antennaweb and other such nonsense sites. They only give you the expected signal and don’t account for things like terrain and buildings and such. I live 3 miles NW of Willis (Sears) Tower in Chicago and can’t get ANY digital TV. The buildings are just too dense for digital TV to work.
What you need to do is look into getting a better antenna if possible.
As for High Def TV, make sure your screen is at least 32 inches. Below 32" and the human eye cannot distinguish high def from standard def, so while you will be getting an HDTV it won’t be worth the extra money.
See AVS Forums and look for the thread for you city (or metro area where you receive signals or supposed to receive them) and the words OTA (over the air). Then read and see if others are having your problems or ask your own question there
AntennaWeb also gives the direction of the HD signal. That is very useful information of you are using a directional antenna like I do. I live in Orlando and all the major HD stations have their antennas out in Bithlo and are within a few degrees of each other from my house. The stations are around 25 miles away and I get them all with a small directional antenna.
I took the bearing from AntennaWeb for my address and plotted it using the Ruler|Line tool in Google Earth found a had nice clear line of sight from my back porch. I pick up all the stations I care about and the antenna is only 3 feet off the ground.
I just bought a Samsung 23" TV (1080P) and the tuner was better than my converter. I use a simple FM dipole antenna inside the house. I also make a 6" loop in the center of it to improve reception. All TV’s using broadcast signals need some kind of antenna. the bigger the antenna the better the reception.
Also, as an FYI, the speakers will suck on small digital TV’s because of space limitations. You might consider adding a set of computer speakers (the ones with small sub woofers). It makes a **tremendous **difference in the viewing experience. I just bought a Logitech set up from Target as a clearance item. WOW. Well worth the extra money. When using outside speakers you will want to go into the TV menu and choose different sound settings. Mine gave me 4 choices plus a customizable one.
I would also recommend at least a 23" if not a 25" model in 1080P. Forget the built in DVD player. buy a blue ray with up conversion. that will give you a better picture with regular DVD’s.
Whoa now, you’re completely leaving out viewing distance from the equation. If the 32" TV is < 8 feet away, you bet you’ll be able to distinguish the difference. See the link below: http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html
