Still no comparison

[peverett]

I just purchased one of the RjTECH RJ 1000ATSC tuners mentioned by ChrisW6ATV and below has been my experience so far. (I already have a modulator.)

I had two small 1960s vintage B&W analog TVs in the same general location., one connected to the ATSC tuner and one tuned to the same station's analog signal(UHF channel 36). The ATSC was connected to new amplified rabbit ears (claiming to be HDTV compliant). The other TV just has a loop antenna across the UHF terminals. I am about 30 miles from the transmitter.

The picture on the analog TV is somewhat snowy, but watchable. The snow level varies somewhat. I can vary it somewhat by walking between the TV and the transmitter. The ATSC picture is perfect when it works. However, the reception seems to be on the edge. The picture frequently pixelates and the sound stops, then it comes back. Walking between the rabbit ears and the transmitter direction also seems to make this worse. To me this is more irritating than the snow(for one thing, none of the dialog is missed on the analog connected TV). I am sure that if I had a taller antennal on the ATSC tuner, this could be reduced or elminated since I am only 30 miles from the transmitter. This re-inforces my concern about people in rural areas. If HDTV does not work better than this, a lot of these people will be screaming.

Another unknown in my situation is the relative strength of the UHF vs HDTV transmitted signals from the station. As this station has been advertising their HDTV transmissions, I would think that they would use a fairly strong transmitter.

One more note-If you buy one of these, be sure and follow the directions in the manual and not sit anything on top of it. It runs quite warm.

[dr.ido]

Reception around here can be quite patchy, but digital is affected far more than analog.

I've recently moved. At my old location I could get perfect analog reception of all channels except the low power community station with a pair of rabbit ears. Digital was non existant with the rabbit ears or glitchy reception of 2 out of 5 channels with the roof top antenna.

My new location is no more than 5km from the old one. My analog reception here isn't as good. With a roof top antenna I get some slight ghosting and 1 out of 5 channels is slightly snowy, but still watchable. Digital reception here is much better, perfect reception of all channels.

Even with perfect reception I find the picture quality varies a lot between programs and the variations are a lot more noticable than when watching the analog signal. I'll make some direct comparisons when I set up my Sony VTX-100EC analog tuner.

With the RGB output from a Thomson DT1500AU standard definition set top box going into my Sony PVM2130QM monitor the picture is amazing on some programs, but others are plagued by digital artifacts (particularly locally produced programs).

I've tried 3 different set top boxes so far, but I'm not completely satisfied with any of them. A Teac that was prone to glitches even when it was getting full signal strength. A Centrex that was frustratingly slow to change channels (but was the only one so far with a built in RF modulator). The Thomson has a noisy analog audio output. All run hot (even the Thomson which has an external power supply). When I find a box I'm happy with I will be modifying it to improve cooling.

[peverett]

I have not noticed any variations in picture between programs. Could be the TV that I am watching.

I have done some more experimentation with the other stations in my area. All of the HTDV transmitters are about in the same location(the tallest hill in the area, about 30 miles away). I have found that the CBS(analog 42) channel is better than NBC (analog 36). The ABC(analog 24) channel is quite a bit worse than NBC(hard to even watch).

Although the HDTV receiver indicates a channel where FOX is supposed to be located, no picture shows up, just a blank screen. I have heard that the FOX HDTV transmitter is weak(Supprising as they are one of the strongest analog channels(analog 7) in the area). Also got a channel indication for a local independent channel(analog 54), but no picture(Not supprising as I have a hard gettiing their analog signal as well). The PBS(analog 18) channel did not show up on the HTDV converter search. I am aware that the national PBS organization has HDTV shows, but I am not sure if they are broadcasting them in this format locally yet.


If you are wondering why there is only one analog VHF channel, thank LBJ. I live near Austin, Texas and he owned the only TV station in town in the 1960s. Did not like competition.

[dr.ido]

I think the picture quality variations here are due to the way the channels manage their bandwidth. Each channels broadcasts both an analog signal (to be switched off in 2010?), a SD digital signal, a HD digital signal (our cheap SD boxes won't down convert a HD signal to SD) and an EPG.

This leads to the channels having to cut down to bandwidth of the SD signal to provide more bandwidth for the HD signal. Some channels (particularly the 7 network) are more aggressive at this than others. The 7 network jumps all over the place sometimes changing the signal between programs and even in ad breaks at times. Every so often the aspect ratio gets broken leaving you with a distorted image regardless of whether you are watching on a 4:3 or 16:9 set. Their EPG looks like a bad youtube video. I have to laugh at them sometimes, but I'll be less amused if they ever get some programs I want to watch. Once they actually did something that switched by box to SECAM mode.

The two government run stations actually have the best SD picture quality. They broadcast 576p as HD, so the SD doesn't get squeezed as much.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by peverett

I just purchased one of the RjTECH RJ 1000ATSC tuners mentioned by ChrisW6ATV and below has been my experience so far. (I already have a modulator.)

I had two small 1960s vintage B&W analog TVs in the same general location., one connected to the ATSC tuner and one tuned to the same station's analog signal(UHF channel 36). The ATSC was connected to new amplified rabbit ears (claiming to be HDTV compliant). The other TV just has a loop antenna across the UHF terminals. I am about 30 miles from the transmitter.

The picture on the analog TV is somewhat snowy, but watchable. The snow level varies somewhat. I can vary it somewhat by walking between the TV and the transmitter. The ATSC picture is perfect when it works. However, the reception seems to be on the edge. The picture frequently pixelates and the sound stops, then it comes back. Walking between the rabbit ears and the transmitter direction also seems to make this worse. To me this is more irritating than the snow(for one thing, none of the dialog is missed on the analog connected TV). I am sure that if I had a taller antennal on the ATSC tuner, this could be reduced or elminated since I am only 30 miles from the transmitter. This re-inforces my concern about people in rural areas. If HDTV does not work better than this, a lot of these people will be screaming.

Another unknown in my situation is the relative strength of the UHF vs HDTV transmitted signals from the station. As this station has been advertising their HDTV transmissions, I would think that they would use a fairly strong transmitter.

One more note-If you buy one of these, be sure and follow the directions in the manual and not sit anything on top of it. It runs quite warm.

True, either people in rural areas will have to get their TV from satellite or build a huge tower with a TV antenna, then again, depending on the antenna line, the longer the antenna line, you will get some loss of signal. Maybe there will be a need for translation stations in those areas, that's the only thing I can think up.

I once joked that someone ought to write Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton a letter explaining how the HDTV switch can affect the poor in the inner city as well as rural areas, maybe if they get in the act, we will have analogue NTSC TV until the year 2200 or so.