Digital TV converter coupons?

[Nigel Goodwin]

My picture is fuzzy right now. Does that mean It will be fuzzy with the converter box? Or that I'm a moron?

Actually, at first I figured the picture would be as good as I get watching a movie of the VCR or DVD. But from reading some reviews of the converter boxes, I tend to believe there will be problems, mostly at the border. Some make me wonder why the manufacturer would consider selling such a useless piece of crap. Wish I would have done my searching, before signing up for the coupons. Got about 2 months left, the good ones don't seem to be stocked in local stores. Walmart only had one model in the store, and not much good said about it online. I have to agree, these will in no way be an upgrade, just basic compatibility. Just a scheme to get people out buying new expensive TVs.

Obviously I can't comment on how it works in the USA, but in the UK there are no coupons, everyone has to buy their own set-top boxes or TV's with digital tuners built-in. However, the switchover is taking about ten years all told.

So, basically two options:

1) Buy an SD set-top box, connect to your TV via an RGB SCART lead - result high quality digital pictures, not as good as DVD (as it's more compressed) but better than analogue terrestrial. A common option is to buy a PVR, which has two tuners and an HDD, so you can record two channels at once, and gives various trick functions.

2) Buy a new TV, LCD or Plasma, this has an in-built digital tuner, and gives the same high quality pictures in RGB as the separate box.

Unfortunately the USA doesn't use SCART or RGB, you use the slightly lower quality Component system, but you should connect using that, and never via RF or composite video.

 

[audioguru]

People who can't see the tremendous difference between a VCR and ordinary TV must have extremely fuzzy TVs. Maybe a DVD also plays as fuzzy as the VCR.

I haven't followed what is happening because Canada is delaying elimination of analog TV.
Will all the new digital stations be high-definition?

 

[mneary]

In the Los Angeles area, the network stations are high-definition. KCBS and a few others are 1080, but others such as KNBC and KABC are 720. The 720's have more SD channels (not surprising). Others have no high-definition and as many as 5 low definition, aka SD, channels. This gives us more infomercials and religious programming.

 

[HarveyH42]

Figured I'd should post an update.

I put off using my coupons until the last day. I was hoping to pick up something in town, but never seemed to be in stock. Ended up running from store to store, and bought the first ones I found. So much for having a choice. Didn't turn out too badly, the picture is better, and now get 23 channels, instead of 4 or 5. Downside, have to move the antenna to get a stronger signal for some, sort of pixelates.
Kind of feel like I got shafted though, the boxes were $60 each, so still had to pay $40 (got two).

So now I'm thinking of a remote motorized antenna rotator. Thinking a servo would be a good choice for this. Would be nice if I could open up the box and read the signal strength with a microcontroller, and have it adjust automatically. May not even need to bother with it, might find a good direction manually for the channels I actually watch, and not need to change it. Just hooked it up about an hour ago, so still playing with it.

 

[kchriste]

So now I'm thinking of a remote motorized antenna rotator.

This reminds me of my first microcontroller project with a 68HC11 back in the days when I didn't have cable. The HC11 would read the signal from the TV remote as you changed channels and would turn the antenna in the proper direction. It also had a clock so you could program it to aim the antenna in a new direction at night so that the programmed VCR could get a good signal.

 

[phalanx]

Will all the new digital stations be high-definition?

Of all the digital channels I can receive over the air, all of them are 720p or 1080i which is technically high definition but more than half of those are upconverted SD broadcasts that still look terrible compared to a real HD source.

 

[HarveyH42]

If you have a good signal, you have a good picture. Much cleaner then anything I've gotten off the air before. It's like a tape or DVD. When the signal is week, it cuts out, or pixelates, moving the antenna usually fixes this. One annoying thing, there is about a 1 second delay between channels. Have to wait to see if a channel comes on, or if its blank.

It scans the entire band. and those are the channels you are stuck with. No way to add or delete later.