Digital ?'s/wants/needs.... (1 Viewer)

[Brad Newton]

Here's what I want/hope tp accomplish. I presently receive locals via ota & dish. Supposedly, all of the locals are broadcasting at least a digital signal, with some hdtv in prime time. Presently, I have an older 36" direct view tv with very limited inputs. I want to purchase a stb for local ota only that will allow me to receive the digital signals and will connect to my tv via a single cable (can't think of the proper term) instead of composite or s-video.
I keep reading about signal disruptions in digital or hd form. Is that true? The analog signals I receive now are generally very good. The new digital/hd towers are in the same location as most of the analog ones, so does that mean that I will be able to receive the digital signals without any problem. If I am able to receive the digital signals, will the audio be in 5.1 or is that only for hd broadcasts? Finally, the stb needs to be black. That will keep the wife happy since it would match the other components.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

You probably mean composite connection (single video cable with RCA jack, color coded yellow) rather than S-video (single cable with multiple pins) or component (three separate cables with RCA Jacks color coded red,green,blue)?

Don't bother.

All ota digital boxes have composite outputs and will downconvert whatever incoming digital format they receive to 480i, so it will work, but if you get good reception of analog tv already, pq of this downconverted digital signal delivered to the set with composite cable won't look significantly better, certainly not enough to justify the expense.

All the boxes are now silver. You may be able to find an old Hughes E-86 still around, they were black but their local ota digital reception was among the worst in the industry.