2/8/08
There
is now a large body of HD material from a multitude of providers. Lack of programming is no longer an excuse
for anybody to put off switching to HDTV.
Home pages:
www.DirecTV.com www.Comcast.com www.CableVision.com
www.DishNetwork.com www.Charter.com www.TimeWarnerCable.com
www.Cox.com www.insight-com.com
Terrestrial broadcasts (Over The Air)
Close to 100% of all TV stations in
the U.S. are broadcasting DTV. Virtually
all stations are passing along the high definition programming produced by
their network. (Many independent
stations still have no HD programs.) The
web site www.AntennaWeb.org will tell
you what DTV stations are available in your area.
Long ago, many people switched from
roof antennas to cable service because the picture quality was a little
better. This argument no longer
applies. ATSC channels are like satellite
TV in that, if you get a channel, the picture will be perfect, snow free and
ghost free.
You will need an antenna. The site www.AntennaWeb.org
will tell you the compass directions to the transmitters in your area and will
recommend an antenna. Antenna
installation is covered later in this primer.
If you have been told that you may not
erect a small outdoor TV antenna, this is probably wrong. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has a
provision that preempts (overrules) nearly all local restrictions such as deed
restrictions, home-owners association rules, renter’s contracts, and so
on. For more details see FCC Fact Sheet.
The advantages of OTA broadcasts:
1.
They
are totally free. (The antenna is a
onetime cost.)
2.
The
quality might be better. (Satellite and
cable companies have an incentive to reduce a station’s bandwidth, and because
these companies are secretive, they can often get away with it. An OTA broadcaster always has 6 megahertz.)
3.
Specialty
sub-channels might be provided.
Satellite and cable companies have no obligation to pass these along.
4.
Many
HDTVs come with an OTA receiver that is properly matched to the monitor and
integrated for easy operation.
If you are in an area where reception
is difficult, you may see occasional distortions (macro-block errors) in the
image and dropouts lasting 5 seconds or so.
A bigger antenna may help. Note
that as antennas become bigger they become more directional, making aiming more
sensitive. Note also that nearby trees
affect UHF much more than VHF. If
putting a UHF antenna on your roof doesn’t get it above the trees, you must
find a place to mount it where it can see the skyline in the direction of the
station. Thus the best spot for a UHF
antenna could be quite close to the ground.
VHF antennas should always be mounted as high as possible. The best weak-signal UHF antennas are the
multi-bowtie-reflector antennas, such as the Channel Master 8-Bay.
The cable TV industry was slow to take
up the transition to DTV, but is now charging ahead. Digital cable is now available in many areas,
and 20 HD channels is typical. About 70% of households can receive some HDTV
programming via cable.
You can call your cable company and
ask what HDTV is available to you. But
this method has proven to be rife with miscommunication. It is better to go to the company’s website
to find a list of the HD channels for your area.
A special HD cable box is usually
necessary. HDTVs with built-in digital
cable receivers are available. If you
want a built-in receiver, look for an HDTV with a cable card slot (unless you
want a DVR, in which case the DVR will have the cable card slot). Some TVs have a cable receiver (QAM tuner)
but no cable card slot. These TVs can be
used to watch your local stations via cable.
There are some cable card issues.
See Cable
cards.
Some analog cable systems have added a
few ATSC (8VSB) channels to their lineups.
You can receive those channels by connecting an OTA DTV receiver to the
cable system. This is temporary, as the
whole cable TV industry is converting to digital cable.
At the present time, if you have a 3-LNB dish, you can receive some high definition programming. (None of the local channels will be high definition except for N.Y.C. and L.A.) But DirecTV is discouraging this and will likely phase it out in the future.
DirecTV is phasing in an all new satellite system, requiring new receivers and new dish antennas. The new systems use Ka band (30 GHz) satellites and MPEG-4 data compression. This technology gives them a capacity of over 1600 high definition channels. Presently they offer 75 national HD channels and promise 100 by January 2008. The remainder of the 1600 channels is devoted to local stations for nearly every city. DirecTV is stating that this equipment is required for all HDTV customers.
Only these receivers will work with the new satellites:
· H20 - single receiver with ATSC (discontinued but still available)
· H21 - single receiver
· HR20 - DVR with dual receiver with ATSC (discontinued but still available)
· HR21 - DVR with dual receiver
The outputs are composite video, S-video, component video, and HDMI. The DVR can record 30-50 hours of HD programs or 200 hours of SD programs. (The earliest HR20s had terrible software, giving the unit a bad reputation. But DirecTV has downloaded new software to those units, fixing most of the problems. You mustn’t believe everything you hear about this unit.)
A 5-LNB dish is required. Only these dishes will work with the new satellites:
· AT9 - Supports 4 receivers. 25.5”x 29.5” oval, 32 lb. (discontinued)
· AU9-S - Supports 4 receivers. 22.5”x32.5” oval, 25 lb.
A DVR counts as two receivers. Older receivers can use these dishes but they will receive only the Ku channels.
DirecTV pricing for this equipment is very generous if you sign up for 24 months. Or you can buy the equipment (from solidsignal.com and others) and install it yourself.
Dish Network press releases make clear that they intend to match DirecTV. Dish plans to launch three satellites in 2008. Their national HD channel lineup is competitive, but for HD local stations they are about a year behind DirecTV.
Presently they offer high definition local stations in about 30 markets, which include about 50% of U.S. households. As of 11/01/07 Dish Network offered HD locals for the following cities:
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Houston
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Miami
Minneapolis
Nashville
New York
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Portland, OR
Sacramento
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Spokane
Saint Louis
Washington, DC
This list is probably not complete. Go to dishnetwork.com to find out if your city has HD locals.
How do I choose between DirecTV and Dish Network?
DirecTV carries more channels, but Dish Network is a little less expensive. The deciding factor is often what exclusive channels you want. For example, only DirecTV carries all NFL football games.
“C band and Ku band” refers to the satellite systems that require an 8-foot dish. 4DTV is a digital service available on these bands. The high-def channels on C-band are HBO east and west, Showtime west, Starz east and west, Discovery HD Theater, Wealth TV, and Nebraska Educational TV (PBS). About 150 DVD-quality digital SD channels are also available.
This page is part of “An HDTV Primer”, which
starts at www.hdtvprimer.com