OTA digital signals for analog TV (1 Viewer)

[Alvin.G.]

I get really horrible OTA analog signals in my apartment and so I've been researching how to get better signals. Since digital signals are usually better than analog (meaning the resulting TV picture is usually better because the digital tuner decodes the signal and can "correct" it), I've started to wonder if you can hook up at DTV antenna and tuner to a SDTV and recieve digital signals. Would this even make sense to do? Any insight/info/help you can give would be great.

acg

 

[Rocky F]

You can hook a digital tuner up to an analog TV, through composite or S-Video inputs. As far as the quality of your reception, that depends entirely on what your local stations are transmitting. Go to www.antennaweb.org and enter your address. It will tell you what stations you should be able to recieve, what kind of antenna you will need, and your direction and distances from the transmitters. Don't be fooled by antennas that say they are for HDTV or DTV reception, they are the same as analog. However you will need to pay attention to whether or not you need VHF or UHF.

 

[JeremyErwin]

An imperfect analog signal will produce ghosts, snow, and strange colors.
An imperfect digital signal will produce a perfect picture that drops out every few seconds/minutes/hours. Some late model dtv receivers can reduce the dropouts, but don't expect miracles.

 

[Alvin.G.]

Rocky F:


Why not component? Or would that just be overkill.

And, ya, in respect to "HDTV-specific" antennas, I was starting to think that they're just like the analog ones. Can you point me to a few good brands/types? Thanks.

acg

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Many digital ota tuners won't output 480i via component, check carefully on this before purchasing.

As far as antennas, get the type recommended for your area by antennaweb.org. Channel Master, Radio Shack, Winegard, and a few others are good, Terk is the Bose of antennas, stay away from them.

 

[JeremyErwin]

My HDTV tuner (SIR-T165) supports Firewire, VGA, DVI, SVHS, Composite and Component. You can set it to output signals at 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Most tuners support at least composite, Y/C and Component. DVI (with HDCP) is also quite common.

480i component is not overkill-- one of the nice things about digital television is the color stability. composite or even Y/C would eliminate much of this advantage. On the other hand, it is inferior to 720p, (and, I would assume, 1080i).

(I use an old computer monitor to view 720p. While this picture is not large, it is exceptionally sharp.)

Various antennas compared.

 

[Allan Jayne]

The better the UHF reception you get the likely better the HDTV OTA reception you will get.

A VHF rabbit ears antenna can get decent results with UHF/HDTV if the ears can be shortened, about one foot is the best.

If the house has foil insulation or metal studs, and/or if the window screens or window frames are metal, reception using an indoor antenna will be inferior.

If the "analog" TV has 16:9 mode or 16:9 squeeze, try to find an HDTV tuner box that outputs HDTV "anamorphically" for S-video or 480i component video.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Alvin.G.]

Can you recommend digital tuners? I've been looking at a couple from Samsung (SIR-T351 and T451), but would also be interested in a tuner with an integrated DVR.

acg

 

[Rachael B]

Alvn, check out LG tuners. They have one with a PVR and another integrated with a DVD player.

 

[Ralph B]

the LG units are sweet!!!

quality high end like units.

 

[Allan Jayne]

>>>Does it make sense to hook up a digital TV tuner to a standard def. TV?

Whether or not it makes sense, many people must do it when analog broadcasting ceases, which could happen in a couple of years. The HDTV set top boxes are meant for that usage.