You probably scoffed at the title of this article and may laugh and say that TV antennas are just junk leftover from the Cold War. Well, with your 500 channel satellite package or your 14 premium cable movie channels, you’d be right to laugh. Until you got your bill. Who’s laughing now? Many viewers are embracing digital TV antennas to get the same audio quality and stellar picture that you pay big bucks for; all for free. There are several advantages to OTA (over-the air) reception and we’re going to discuss them and talk about how to get the best antenna for HDTV in your area.
Broadcast HDTV channels are the best of the best
One great thing that the digital television transition is bringing with it are solutions to the two most annoying plagues of analog television broadcasts; snow and picture ghosting. Digital TV channels allow for a crisp, ghost-free picture and crystal clear sound. All local content is not yet broadcast in HDTV, so it’s typical for stations to broadcast their digital TV channels in standard definition during the day and switch to a full widescreen HDTV broadcast during the “prime time” hours.
If you’ve never experienced what a digital TV antenna can do for you, here are a few reasons to consider one:
- Over-the-air (OTA) digital TV channels won’t cost you a dime. With the exception of the costs you incur for your antenna (and possibly installation), receiving digital stations with an HDTV antenna is free.
- You get access to all your local channels. Lots of satellite and cable companies will not carry all of the local stations in your area. On many systems, you will only have access to a few of your local stations in exchange for an extra monthly fee.
- Free access to stations out of of your local area. It’s very easy with the right equipment to receive out of town stations and often be able to catch sporting events that are “blacked out” in your area.
- Local digital TV channels are everywhere. Although the bulk of the digital TV stations are in metropolitan areas, over 90% of US viewers can easily get 6 or more digital TV channels.
- OTA reception has the best picture quality. While your satellite or cable company may offer 500 channels, this comes with a price. They use data compression techniques that lower the audio and image quality of your broadcast often adding distortion or artifacts.
Of course in addition to your HDTV antenna, you will also need some sort of HDTV tuner to receive these digital TV channels, but most of the time on newer TVs this ability is already built in. If you have an “integrated” HDTV, or it mentions an ATSC tuner, you are ready to rock. Also, if you currently subscribe to an HDTV package from DISH or DIRECTV, your receiver almost certainly includes an over-the-air HDTV tuner. If your TV doesn’t contain a digital tuner, no worries. Simply pick up a digital TV converter and you will be set. Right now, the US government is even offering 2 free $40 off coupons to help cover your purchase of a coupon eligible digital TV converter.
Finding your OTA digital TV channels
One of the best ways to find specific digital TV information for your address is the AntennaWeb.org website. You simply put in your address and it will return a list of the digital stations in your area. It allows you to look at both analog and digital TV stations in your area, or you can filter it to show digital broadcasts only. Since many stations broadcast from the same area, they will be clustered together on your results page. Now that you know what digital TV channels are available in your area, it’s time to pick your antenna.
HDTV antenna basics
It’s really too bad there is no magic antenna that would provide the best digital TV reception in all areas. Someone would be rich. The main factors that determine your reception are your distance from the transmitter, the transmitter’s power, and the terrain between your HDTV antenna and the broadcast tower.
Digital TV signals are broadcast over 2 different frequencies VHF (very high frequency) is the channels 2-13 and UHF (ultra high frequency) that is the channels 14-83. Over 90% of digital TV channels are in the UHF band, so almost all of you will need a UHF antenna. If some of your local stations are below channel, worry not. You can also get a combination VHF/UHF HDTV antenna.
Antennas come in uni-directional (also called directional) and multi-directional (also called omni-directional). Directional digital TV antennas can pull in signals from farther away as they focus only in one area. If the information from antennaweb indicates that all your stations are in a small range (20 degrees or less), you can use a directional antenna. If the spread is more than this, you will want to use an omni-directional antenna or purchase an antenna rotor to remotely rotate your directional antenna.
Indoor or outdoor
An indoor HDTV antenna is generally small and designed to be placed on or near your TV. Most outdoor antennas are larger and meant to be mounted in the attic or on your roof. As a rule of thumb, larger antennas will provide stronger signals. This signal is known as gain and is measured in decibels (dB). Outdoor HDTV antennas will generally outperform indoor ones as they have a height and size advantage.
One way to overcome this advantage with an indoor HDTV antenna is to purchase an amplified HDTV antenna. This will increase the gain and provide you with a stronger signal. Some of the most popular amplified indoor HDTV antennas are:
- the Terk HDTVa
- the RCA ANT525
- the Philips PHDTV3
- the Jensen TV-931
- the Philips MANT510
- the GE 24775
- the Channel Master 4030
The nice thing about these antennas is that they are reasonably prices (in the $30-$40 range) and require no installation troubles like an outdoor antenna for HDTV would. Can you imagine teetering on your roof while mounting an antenna mast and running coax? In the case of outdoor antennas, many experts recommend only using an amplifier when necessary. You will almost always want one for an indoor HDTV antenna (unless you are VERY close to the transmitter), but often for an outdoor antenna they are unnecessary. In this situation, they will also amplify any noise present in the signal and make your digital television reception worse.
Hopefully, this article shed some light on digital TV antennas for you. You should certainly be prepared to make the decision if you need one or not now. It’s always nice to have HDTV channels available if the cable or satellite are out, and it’s even better to escape their money sucking ways all together. If either of those describes you, I hope this digital TV antenna article has been a help. Feel free to share it with your friends. If you are in the market for a new LCD TV, we can help you there too. Our HDTV experts have just capped of their list of the top 10 LCD TVs, so if you are in the market we can help.
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