NEW to Digital TV? Look HERE First!

[tigerbangs]

If you are new to digital broadcasting, chances are that you have many questions about the Digital Broadcast Changeover. You should know that if you are using a digital converter box, and your old analog TV reception was marginal, then expect poor digital reception. If your previous analog reception was good, and you used a TV antenna, then it is reasonable to assume that you should have good digital reception.

In the vast majority of cases, good reception requires the use of an outdoor antenna, sometimes with a rotator to turn the antenna, and often with a preamplifier to amplify TV signals. If you were previously willing to live with poor reception, be aware that digital TV is less forgiving than the old analog signals: a lousy analog signal may have been viewable through the snow and interference, but a digital signal will not tolerate a signal of that poor quality, and will cause you to either see no TV programming at all, or see a fractured, extremely frustrating-to-watch picture that you may find intolerable.

The owner of this forum provides this space to offer advice about specific television reception issues and their solutions. In the majority of cases, the solution to your specific reception issues is a better antenna system, and we can make good specific recommendations about your situation if you are williing to consider the installation of a proper antenna system.

If you are unwilling to install a proper antenna system, or unwilling to conside a subscription TV service like Cable TV, Satellite TV, or a TV over IP solution like ATT U-verse or Verizon FIOS, then you can expect to remain frustrated with your TV reception. Unfortunately, there are no magic bullets for TV reception.

Even though we have a free-TV system in the USA, TV reception is almost NEVER free: it requires some sort of investment to insure quality reception: If you want to take advantage of the clear picture and high-quality sound that digital TV has to offer, keep an open mind and expect to invest whatever you need to in order to realize digital TV's full potential.