Analog NTSC still On-Air

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Einar72

HDTV - biggest con job since the Pet Rock.

I don't know about that. DTV does have its advantages, such as more programs on subchannels and overall better picture quality (due to higher image resolution) than we ever had with NTSC. The reception issues are a problem, but unfortunately they are the nature of the beast, as ATSC (digital) signals are weaker, by and large, than analog signals (for example, the FOX station in Cleveland used to have a 312-kW ERP analog signal, but its DTV signal is probably quite a bit weaker). One other problem with DTV is that the receiver and its antenna, even portables with short whips (like the little Haier 7" DTV battery/AC sets), must be stationary in order to receive any kind of signal at all, due to DTV's highly directional and all-or-nothing nature. This has effectively killed the concept of portable TV, even though the Haier set runs on a rechargeable battery and, in theory, should operate anywhere.

I doubt this situation will change any time soon. Some stations (Philadelphia's ABC affiliate, for one) have increased their ERP power output since the transition in an effort to improve OTA reception in far-suburban and fringe areas, but many others are still running at their original DTV power levels, which means most people still must use outdoor antennas, mast-mounted preamplifiers, and rotors (shades of the early days of b&w and color TV in the late '40s, '50s and, for color, the '60s and '70s) in order to get decent reception. That's the way it is, unless you go to cable or satellite. Don't get me started on those little gutless-wonder indoor DTV antennas such as the ClearCast and Clear TV. I have one of each type of antenna and, while they do work after a fashion in my area (a near-fringe area, at least it used to be for analog NTSC, 35+ miles from the stations), they do not receive two channels (Fox channel 8 and CBS channel 19) due, perhaps, to terrain features of this area.

However, I would not recommend these antennas for reliable DTV reception unless all your area's TV stations are on UHF DTV channels; in this area 35 miles east of Cleveland, for instance, channels eight and 19 are still on VHF channels for which, so I have read here in this forum, an outdoor antenna is required to get any kind of reception of those stations' DTV signals.

Again, that's the way it is and will be indefinitely, unless every TV station in the US is granted permission to increase ERP power outputs to levels approaching or exceeding their present analog powers. I don't see that happening any time soon.