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Choosing the Right HDTV Antenna

As many people have found out, you can't just bring home an HDTV set and use your regular tv antenna. Here is the key: If you have a "ghost" or "smear" to the right on an analog TV channel coming from the same direction as the Digital Signal you're trying to pick up, you're antenna system will virtually always need to be replaced.

It's not always convenient to mount an outdoor antenna on your roof. Luckily, the Amplified HDTV Outdoor Antenna can be mounted anywhere, thanks to the included mini-mast bracket that will mount to a wall, the roof, or even in your attic. The Amplified HDTV Outdoor Antenna will also mount on standard DBS or DirecTV dish masts.

If you're fortunate enough to be able to install an antenna on your roof, you then need to decide which one. Unfortunately, there's no hard and fast rule or quick answer to that one. It depends on where you live, the distance you are from the nearest transmitter and the frequency of the channels you want to receive.

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Today there are 1,000 stations and close to 200 markets broadcasting DTV (digital television) signals. Many of these local broadcasts can't be received through satellite dishes or cable. You'll need to complement those systems with an off-air antenna. Having a quality outdoor antenna will make getting local HDTV programming possible.

Aside from choosing your HDTV set itself, choosing the right HDTV antenna is the most important decision you're going to make in relation to watching HDTV. Even if you watch most of your HDTV on cable or satellite, you should still invest in a good antenna. Why? Well, there are two key reasons.

1. Cable and satellite operators don't distribute all the available free-to-air HDTV channels. In particular, many local free HDTV channels aren't carried on cable or satellite. So to watch these, you'll need an HDTV antenna.

2. Even where cable and satellite channels do carry free-to-air HDTV channels, they are often highly compressed and this can have a noticeably detrimental effect on picture quality. In most cases, the picture quality of an off-air HDTV signal will be better than a cable or satellite equivalent.

An HDTV antenna system is quite critical, and should use a HIGHLY DIRECTIONAL ANTENNA designed for "Fringe Area" reception. Your objective is to pick up the signal directly from the transmitting tower, without picking up signals bouncing off of buildings, electrical transmission towers and wires, etc.

This is the design goal of a "Fringe Area" antennas: to reject signals coming from any direction other than straight ahead. You should avoid using an antenna-mounted amplifier in urban areas. These amplify everything, including the nearest telephone cell site. Mount your antenna away from all reflective surfaces or other antennas, and as high as possible.

So, now that you know why you should get an HDTV antenna, the next, obvious, question is which one should you get? There are two types of antenna – indoor and outdoor – just like conventional TV. As with conventional TV, you should always, if possible, opt for an outdoor HDTV antenna.

They are simply much better at picking up signals. However, in cases where this isn't possible, for example, if you live in an apartment block or have a landlord who won't let you stick anything on the roof, an indoor antenna will do a reasonable job.

Posted by: Home Theater Owner on Feb 07, 06 | 9:20 am
The category for this entry is HDTV

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