Do I need an antenna for broadcast tv?
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| Good question! I need to know the answer to this, too. |
| I believe antennaes are gone for good now. Check with your cable company, you may not have to pay for a second box, they used to just hook the cable into the back of the tv if you didn't want any extra channels on. The way my tv is hooked up: I have a DVR attached to my livingroom Tv, and in my bedroom I have a box that I can't record off of it, but I can watch all my DVRed programs from. I really like that feature and also, if I'm watching a program in the bedroom and decide I want to finish watching it in the livingroom, the dvr will ask me if I want to start over or if I want to continue from where I was. |
| Paula, Will you be buying a new TV? If you buy a new TV, it will already have the ATSC digitial receiver built into it. Just buy the TV, a good indoor antenna, plug the antenna into the TV, plug the TV into the wall, run the channel scan, and you should be good to go. If you already have the TV, and it's older than 2009, it will only have the NTSC analog receiver built into it. You would get just static if you hooked up an older TV to an antenna because U.S. stations stopped broadcasting in analog back in the summer of 2009. They only transmit in digital now. Older TVs cannot handle digital signals. HOWEVER, if you have an older set, and you want to receive digital signals, you can purchase a converter box that would convert the digital signal back to an analog signal so that your older TV could work. In that case, plug the antenna into the converter box, the converter box into the TV, the TV into the wall, run the channel scan on the converter box, and you should be good to go. Does this help? |
| Mark, that's exactly what I needed to know. I will be buying a new tv. I'm thinking I'll use it mainly for watching DVDs. I discovered that there are tvs with built-in DVD players. Welcome to the 21st century, Paula! Helen, I'll check with my cable provider--if they don't charge extra I will do the hookup. I think there is a cable outlet in the bedroom, but on the other side of the room. |
| As a side note, antennas are certainly still around and still work. As a matter of fact, they work even better now that we use digital signals. When you get a strong signal, the picture will be crystal clear 1080p. No more static. Paula, Is there even a CATV (cable television) cable in that room? If there is, you can just hook a cable from the cable outlet to the COAX input on the TV. You won't get all the channels your cable company provides, but you will get quite a few. And you won't need a separate box (which means no extra charge). |
| Paul, who do you have for cable? Comcast? If so, with the digital conversion you will get no channels just plugging the tv into the wall. You will need a DTA (digital t-something adapter) from them. You should be able to get up to 2 free DTA's....then you pay for any additional ones. |
| For a new TV a simple pair of "rabbit ears" (really an indoor antenna, probably not necessarily rabbit ears anymore) will pick up the digital broadcasts. Depending on the cable company, the TV *might* be able to get basic cable without a converter box by simply plugging it into the TV. The TV will need to be told that it's cable and a few other settings before it can scan for signals. In addition, that cable outlet in the bedroom might not be hooked up to the incoming cable down in the basement (or wherever). Frequently when new service is ordered, the installer only hooks up the outlets that they are contracted to, because the signal is reduced by each additional line tuned on, regardless of whether it's connected to anything. Connecting it to the incoming cable is usually straight forward if the installer didn't cut it, it might require an additional "splitter" and there may be some circuit considerations for your internet access, assuming that's how you get yours. Ask a TV salesman in your area if your particular cable company's signal can be seen by a new TV for starters. The next step would be to test that cable TV outlet in the bedroom. Or you can go with the indoor antenna. But you'll have to put them on top of a bureau or a shelf or nail it to the wall unless you can balance it on top of the knife-edge-sized TV top.  |
| A good indoor antenna will be fine. If you're having trouble, a powered antenna may help as well. (We have to use one for our radio, because our reception is weak out here in the country.) |
| I use a powered indoor antenna in my bedroom. There's no cable in that room and no way to run a cable to it (basement is finished). So I hooked up the powered indoor antenna to my HDTV and I get all the local channels clear as bell. And in 1080p. One thing most people don't realize is that the High Def (HD) signal you get Over The Air (OTA) is much better than the HD signal from your cable or satellite company. They compress the signals to get more channels into their line-up. That compression compromises signal quality, which means a somewhat degraded picture. But OTA HD is uncompressed. And it's picture & sound quality is stunning because it's uncompressed. Much better than cable or dish. |
CamVal1 wrote: One thing most people don't realize TRUE! CamVal1 wrote: is that the High Def (HD) signal you get Over The Air (OTA) is much better than the HD signal from your cable or satellite company. They compress the signals to get more channels into their line-up. That compression compromises signal quality, which means a somewhat degraded picture. But OTA HD is uncompressed. And it's picture & sound quality is stunning because it's uncompressed. Much better than cable or dish. Very TRUE, especially important during sporting events (fast pans), concerts(flashing lighting) and other shows where the on-screen action changes the whole screen rapidly, although I strongly suspect that they can and do up the bitrate for big events. Ever read that anywhere? |
| Amanda, I have U-Verse which would require another box thing. And I'm betting Ron is right--that the outlet in the bedroom isn't even hooked up to the incoming signal. So I'd have to pay for the installer to come out and activate it. I'll just stick with the antenna. But now I have to get a tv! Mark, what antenna do you have? And where is Vance? I figured he'd chime in by now! (not that that is bad thing) |
| Paula, I mis-spoke earlier. My antenna is NOT powered, but the box says that it's amplified. Not sure how's it's amplified if there's no power to it. Oh well. Anyways, it's a Terk HDTVa Antenna Pro. It was rated either the best or close to the best when I bought it 3 years ago. |
| http://www.amazon.com/Leaf-Plus-Amplifi ... pd_sim_e_2 http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-Company- ... pd_sim_e_1 |
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