Shhhh, be vewry verwy quiet, I hunting HDTV!

[admin]

According to an article in the Associated Press (AP), there is an increasing trend with consumers hooking up their multi thousand dollar HDTV’s with $50 rabbit ear (or as Elmer Fudd refers to as “wabbit ear”) antennas much like grandpa used back in the day. Why you ask? Well truth be told, many local TV channels that broadcast in HD over-the-air, offer superior picture quality over the often-compressed signals sent by cable and satellite TV companies.

Discuss "Shhhh, be vewry verwy quiet, I hunting HDTV!" here. Read the article.

 

[WorldLeader]

I wish I had some HD channels here in Kansas

 

[avaserfi]

I have a cheapy HD antenna simply because I do not watch regular television often enough to justify $40 a month on actual service. I barely get any channels, I think four total, but I watch enough movies and have been listening to more and more music or reading. I am actually very happy with my current lack of television service the more I think about it.

 

[westcott]

Don't be fooled. The local tv stations are compressing the signal, as well. Now, I have to agree, the video portion looks as good or better than my satellite video, but the audio is just as compressed, or even more.

I was watching Pearl Harbor on ABC this weekend and the audio was terrible. All the explosions sounded more like muted bunny gas. That is sad because a movie like this one thrives on the low bass signals.

Now OTA broadcasters are not the only guilty party, but it sure is annoying. I turned it off after the first air raid. I would rather rent the DVD and get the full audio effect and a good picture than watch a great picture with a castrated audio track.

 

[Swerd]

Thanks so much for this article. I can personally attest to the benefit of over-the-air (OTA) HDTV broadcast. But many people need to hear this message. OTA HD broadcasts are better than cable or satellite dish and it costs very little.

I have a LCD HDTV (Sharp LC37D42 with 720p resolution) that I bought in February. I use a small (16" × 16" × 4") antenna, (Wineguard Squareshooter). I put it in my attic, but its size and appearance make it easy to put it anywhere you might put an 18" satellite dish. With it, I can easily receive all the digital signals within 40-50 miles. People need to see for themselves how much easier it is to receive a digital signal than the corresponding analog signal.

The other week, some of my family was at my house for a Sunday gathering. Present were two in-laws who already own HDTVs. They watched some of the Masters golf tournament that was broadcast by CBS in HD. Both commented that the picture quality was the best they’ve seen. They asked what made it so good. When I told them they were watching OTA signals they didn’t believe me. I asked them if they had HD signals coming in to their TVs. Their answers were all too familiar – neither of them did. One got the local cable service, but didn’t want to pay the sizeable extra monthly charge for HD digital service. The other (who had the biggest and most expensive HDTV set) didn’t believe me when I suggested to him that his basic Direct TV service did not provide HD signals. No wonder they thought the golf tournament on my set looked so good – they had never seen a proper HD signal!

The satellite and cable services are lagging behind the OTA broadcasts in the number and quality of HD broadcasts. Too many people believe that they can’t get OTA signals when they really have never tried. Inexpensive rabbit ears can easily answer the question whether it can work. The antenna I bought cost me $89 plus some cable and hardware to mount it in my attic. Comcast HD cable service where I live costs $70 a month!

When OTA HD broadcasts are free, why should anyone pay the premium prices demanded by cable and satellite providers for their lesser quality HD service?

 

[gcmarshall]

I have an old house. On the roof is the original antenna that was installed in the early 1970's (one of those giant antennas). Tonight, I ran that feed to my Panasonic plasma and watched "24" on the local HD broadcast. I was able to switch back and forth between the SD and HD broadcast. The HD antenna reception was excellent, though not as good as my neighbors satellite HD reception. For free "HD" reception of local channels, it is great. It's funny how an old antenna (that I almost took down b/c I thought it was obsolete) is once again serving a useful and quality purpose.

 

[whitestone]

Same for me. I gave up the cable for high speed internet service. We don't miss it at all and amuse ourselves with music and movies. I have a rooftop antenna which I hardly use and then for local news only.

 

[zildjian]

It's funny how an old antenna (that I almost took down b/c I thought it was obsolete) is once again serving a useful and quality purpose.

Hope everybody is catching this, just to stread the understanding even if you aren't going to use OTA antennas. The guy at best buys argued with me last month that about how you need an "HDTV antenna not just a regular antenna" to receive OTA HD signals... When I told him otherwise, he insisted I was wrong. I just said OK, and told him that he might want to double check himself, but maybe he wants to sell more antennas!