HD TV-Love it, hate it!

[CurlyDave]

My TV is capable of 1080p and anything below that.

The DirecTV tuner can produce 1080i, 720p and anything below that. Note DirecTV does not yet broadcast in 1080p. When they do, that will be the best.

Sports always looks better on 720p. Other shows look about the same at either setting, but almost every show will have short amounts of relatively fast motion where the 720p is better.

Rather than jacking around with it, I just leave it at 720p.

 

[marimus]

Reading this reference leads me to a confusing conclusion: Your mind notices something as changing in 1/60th of a second (1080i) as being blurry, but does not notice that with 1/30th of a second (780p)? How does the fact that most movies are made at 24 frames per second (even slower) fit in?

NTSC is broadcast at 30 frames per second. In australia, we use PAL which is at 25 frames per second. In the days of VCR, movie runtimes for american movies released onto the australian market were longer.

IE, it took longer to watch the movie, because we playback at only 25 frames/second

Thankfully, things have changed since those days.

 

[Philscbx]

For a good device, go see a Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK, DVD/VHS and includes a digital OTA tuner. $280]

I added the similar of the JVC MV 100B so that I can now take all the video VHS tapes
that were done over the years and copy them direct over to DVD's with out all the other nonsense of converting them through software.

It would be nice to get rid of that bulk.

 

[Philscbx]

The link below is a handy site for selecting a antenna for HD and Digital.
Simply insert your zip code, and it gives you the channel list.

You then get a map showing the degrees and distance to the towers.
I mapped out all the locations, and it's pretty slick.

It's saves a huge problem of just guessing when you cannot be in 2 places at the same time adjusting antenna, and then view the TV for the results.

AntennaWeb

I also picked up a USB tuner for the laptop when at the cabin.
It's nice to get a weather radar view of what's coming when there is no internet service there. The device is Eye Tv for Mac.

 

[czechsonofagun]

This is somehow related. If you use Netflix, they sell receivers and Blue Ray players allowing to watch movies streamed from Netflix.

Netflix Instantly on TV

We watch instant movies for few month now - on a laptop only - and it is very convenient if you can live with the limited movie sortiment.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

To deliver HD programmign requires quite a bit of bandwidth. Thsi is why ( WE the cable company) charge more. In most caes we have to double up the receive equipment to make sure we are in complinace witht he FCC mandate that we keep certain cahnnels in Analog. You get CBS here in analog, digital and HD. Takes a bunch of equipment and network bandwidth to pull this off.

Actually we pull from three amrketes so you get CBS on 6 differnt stations. Still nothing to watch.

If you are using a OTA antennas try and lower the ant or raise the antenna. Being the highest is nto alwasy the best. ALso the cheaper the antenna the better. The broadcasters seem to have to widen out the carrier to stuff the HD feed. SO a antennas cut for a signal band will have issues. I have an old parabolic sitting at twenty foot that pulls in 4 digital PBS feeds. The new antennas at 160 feet severly tiles and goes into compression.

 

[schmism]

i bought my dad a cheepy DTV converter box (with $40 coupon)for his CRT TV. reception was about 75-80% strenth on rabit ears sitting on top of the TV. The picture was about 50% better than what he was getting but most cannels dropped audio, and pixled a lot. Much more annoying to watch than fuz IMHO.

I went for a diffrent option of a samsung HDTV tunner. $180. This supplies a HD input into my DLP sharp Projector and surround sound (optical digital out) to my amp. The picture is AMAZING and sound is great. I watch st louis metro area channels and all broadcast in HD format. (720P or higher)

I have a roof mounted antenna at about 18' and recive 18 free channels in amazing quality. Very little pixilating and dropped audio. Signal streath will help determine some of it, but the tuner/reciver in your "converter box" will also play a significant roll in how the "output" looks/sounds

I refuse to pay for cable/sat when there are only 2-4 channels of it i would watch and the rest of it is Network TV, which is going to be downgraded from the OTA HDTV signal you could receive for free. Id sign up for al-cart priceing but the cable/sat companies are deathly afraid of such pricing.

 

[jinjimbob]

This is somehow related. If you use Netflix, they sell receivers and Blue Ray players allowing to watch movies streamed from Netflix.

Netflix Instantly on TV

We watch instant movies for few month now - on a laptop only - and it is very convenient if you can live with the limited movie sortiment.

We also use Netflix with the stand alone player, $115 inc shipping, it works VERY well, and we only have 1.5 Mbps (all we can get).

They have tv programming, such as 30 Rock, Heroes, a day after they're on regular tv.

http://www.roku.com/netflixplayer/

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Senate voted yesterday to extend the date from February 17 to June 12, 2009 so we all can figure it out.

 

[tommu56]

Senate voted yesterday to extend the date from February 17 to June 12, 2009 so we all can figure it out.

still has to go to the house

"A vote to delay the digital conversion deadline still has to pass the House. "

House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has scheduled a committee vote Tuesday on his own proposal to delay the digital transition.


tom