Can you get HD signals with a regular antenna on my HDTV?
Tim W asked:
i have a Toshiba HDTV (with tuner) and i just cut my cable. I was told by a friend that antennas labled as HDTV are the same as regular ones and have the same picture. Is this true?
i have a Toshiba HDTV (with tuner) and i just cut my cable. I was told by a friend that antennas labled as HDTV are the same as regular ones and have the same picture. Is this true?
You have to purchase an HDTV antenna.
Knowing a little about HDTV myself I will give you the best answer I know how. HDTV is a digital transmission yes, but as long as your TV has an ATSC tuner in it, and your HDTV will, you can use a regular FM/UHF/VHF antenna to pick up HD broadcast. I know this because I have an HDTV and am using a regular TV antenna to get regular broadcast HD Channels over the air. If you would like to get Satellite or Cable HD Channels you would have to ask for that from your provider. I hope this has helped.
You can use ANY kind of antenna or “rabbit ears” you like for your HD broadcasts…I know some folks that live out on a farm in the middle of nowhere and have one of those great big aerial rigs from the “I Love Lucy” days of television…They get all the digital broadcasts in their area.
But what we use at our house is a 25-foot, 14-gage, solid-conductor wire…We stripped one end, filed it down to fit in the antenna jack on our HD box, ran it up to the ceiling and along the wall…Works 10 times better than our old “rabbit ears”.
The wire was only 10 cents a foot…And it’s white so you can’t see it…We’ve also added 2 or 3 more 6-foot lengths to the main wire where it’s stripped back and runs into the HD box.
These extra wires can be placed about randomly to pick up specific, hard-to-reach channels…You have to move the wires around to get the best results…But going down to LOWES or HOME DEPOT and dropping a couple bucks is worth it.
Here’s a link with some more “HDTV Truths”…Click right here:
no, you need an hd antenna
The regular antenna will work to some extent. You only require 30% signal to get picture, but have any clouds or things that change the relative ground plan and you will not get a good quality picture.However the digital HDTV channels are in a different (digital)format. Some have moved from the VHF spectrum to UHF and vise versa. The new antennas are specifically physically tuned to the proper length and impedance of the signal coming in.
So in summary it will work so-so but you probably will be unhappy with the performance of it.
Yes.
You could even use an old coat hanger if you live close enough to the broadcast towers,
Really.
You just need something–anything–that will get you at least 70% signal strength. If you can gent your signal into the 80% range, better so at to avoid artifacts and pixelating.
You’d be surprised what you can jam in there that’ll work.
paperclip. twistie(stripped). piece if speaker wire etc.
High Definition!!! yeah!
The key is to have a UHF antenna. Most HD stations transmit over the UHF bands therefore the antenna you choose should be good a receiving that signal. The coat hanger recommendation should work if you are close to the station’s transmission tower and you leave it in the shape of a loop.
Not really. You will have to get a dedicated HD antenna, and your TV must have a built-in HD receiver. An HD-Ready TV is not enough even with an HD antenna.
H a p p y
H o m e
T h e a t e r i n g !
This is a confusing problem because i have a HDTV antenna and i only get PBS stations and one local .
There are close to 12 HDTV stations in the Raliegh/Durham area but it is difficult picking up CBS/NBC/ABC .
Good luck with whatever method works .
Analog tv gives me the channels i want even though it’s not HDTV .