HD Is Best When It's Free

On June 13, 2009, the government mandated that U.S. television stations switch from analog to digital broadcasting. If you're in the market for an HDTV, you may have heard of ATSC--Advanced Television Systems Committee, the new digital television standard replacing the analog NTSC system in the United States.

Connected to a properly adjusted antenna--even indoor "rabbit ears"--ATSC tuners let you watch over-the-air, local digital and HD programming for free. Nowadays these ATSC tuners are built into HDTVs, and they can also be found in select TiVo boxes and home theater PCs. Furthermore, satellite service providers, like DirecTV and Dish Network, may offer the option to add such a tuner to their receivers.

If you subscribe to cable or satellite TV, your provider may offer digital channels of the major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox), but they may not offer all the channels available in your area, and so you could be missing out on some digital TV programming.

In addition, by watching digital television via an antenna, you are assured that there is no signal degradation or further video compression being applied to the original TV signal.

Because it's digital, the one caveat about the ATSC system is that the terrestrial reception can be all or nothing, sometimes caused by radio waves bouncing off large structures and arriving at the receiving antenna at delayed intervals.


In the NTSC system, you may see "ghosting" or "noisy" video if a channel didn't come in clearly, but at least you got picture and sound. In contrast, with the digital TV system you may get nothing at all, or you may see the video occasionally pixelate and the audio cut in and out.

And regardless of the technology, distance and large structures between your TV and the broadcast antennae can always affect reception.

The good news is that ATSC tuners have improved substantially over the years so reception is much better in today's devices. Moreover, some of your local stations may have recently upgraded their antenna towers as part of the digital TV transition.

Here are two resources for helping you get the best reception with your TV antenna and to see what channels are available in your area:

AntennaWeb

FCC's DTV.gov - Get Help Locally

Of course, once you get that new HDTV, you want to get it calibrated to ensure you watch high definition video in all its glory. Please feel free to call Optimum Sound & Vision at (510) 943-5042, or E-mail us at info@optimumsav.com, to request a free quote for your TV, or if you have any questions.