Forget the Comcasts and the other cable/satellite services unless you
like to pay... and...pay... and pay.
The most inexpensive way to get HDTV is over the air broadcast from
your local stations. All USA TV stations will be digital by FEB 2009
and most are broadcasting digital right now. (Note that digital does
not necessarily mean HDTV, but many of the network shows are being
produced and transmitted in Digital HDTV right now).
Here is the government's DTV site:
http://www.dtv.gov/
This is terrestrial broadcasting (for free) over what was known as the
old UHF-TV band. If you live way out in the styx, though, you may be
out of luck for free over-the-air HDTV broadcasts. Check with your
local stations to see what digital (UHF) channels they are
broadcasting on. Usually it is posted somewhere on the station's web
site.
Some rural areas rely on UHF translators. Often these are not even
owned by the local stations and these most likely will not immediately
be upgraded to rebroadcast the digital TV signals to the hills and
valleys except in special cases. The digital signals you want should
come from the main transmitter facility of your local station.
(Hopefully, you will be lucky enough to live in the main reception
area).
You will need a HDTV receiver and an ordinary UHF antenna. (Outdoor
antennas work best, just as with the current VHF-UHF broadcast
signals). Some companies are selling special "Digital TV Antennas".
Whether they work any better than a plain old UHF antenna is
debatable. Some have extra amplifiers in the line. You need not
spend a lot of money with antennas though and you may already have one
that will work fine.
The stronger the signal, the less interference you will experience.
Digital TV is more of an "either it works or it doesn't situation",
but it is not necessarily perfect. If you have crappy reception,
chances are you will have problems.
Your biggest expense will be your digital receiver. Make sure you
know what you are getting. See the website above. This is not just a
wide screen TV or monitor. It has to be a true HDTV capable receiver
capable of tuning and displaying the news US DTV Standards. Expect
to pay $1000 plus for a quality unit. (There may be seasonal sales
for less than that).
Beachcomber
Hi,
I have Cablevision (New York, Westchester County) and my SOny Bravia
TV can get HDTV channels. However they seem to be in the 84.XXXX and
110.XXX ranges. I also get NON HDTV channels at the usual chanels
2,3,4 etc. up to about 74.
What confuses me is that say I want to watch House on HD. I do not tue
to channel 5 (FOX) but some other channel. In cablevision world it is
channel 705. But on my Bravia it is like 98.XXX or something. Finding
the HD TV channels is like a real challenge.
Am I missing something here, or is it always this difficult with HD
tv ....
Best, Mike.
I think your TV is tuning QAM (digital cable) channels. In that case,
you don't get a guide. You need to watch those channels long enough to
determine what is what, and write that information down.
--
41 days until the winter solstice celebration
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com
"Never underestimate the power of stupid
people in large groups"