Over-the-air
digital TV has changed the way that many people get their television
signal, and I am one of those people. Many of my friends poke fun at
me because I receive my TV signal the old fashioned way – an antenna
outside on a pole. But this is not your grandfather’s television.
Digital TV signals have changed the way over-the-air TV works. Beautiful, clear, high definition television is being broadcast across the same airwaves that TV has always broadcast over, but now it's digital. Also, individual stations can now broadcast multiple “channels” over
the wavelengths assigned to them. This means that in most
metropolitan area, you will receive many more channels than
you would expect. For instance, in the Atlanta metro area, I receive
over 60 channels, along with 10 audio only channels that
feature digital radio signals. Stations can also include in their
signal program information, which can be viewed using the on-screen
menu with most televisions. And the greatest thing is that this is
all completely free. When I compare that to 60 or 70 dollars a
month for pay TV, I am just fine with what I get to watch on free TV.
Of
course, I can’t get HBO or the Discovery Channel on my free TV, but
again, for the price I can live without them. I get all the major
networks and many of the smaller networks. There are also
several independent stations that that feature old movies,
etc. I have a 24 hour news channel, a channel that features weather info
and the current weather radar, and several shopping channels. And the
great thing about all these channels is that they are digital, so
that as long as you have a strong enough signal to display the
picture, then what you see is crystal clear. With a digital signal,
if your signal isn’t strong enough at your location, then there
won’t be a picture, or the picture will have pixels that don’t
display correctly, but unlike old analog TV, there is never any
“snow” or fuzziness to the picture.
It’s
very easy to obtain a free digital signal if you live near any metro
area that has a television station.Other than a few low power
stations, all TV stations are broadcasting in digital. Antennas are
relatively inexpensive when you consider that most of the digital
stations have moved to UHF stations (channels 14-69). Even though
many of these stations still refer to their old channel number, they
will actually be broadcasting on another channel. Most people don’t
have to worry about this because your digital tuner will ordinarily
will take care of this for you. UHF antennas are usually much smaller
that the old VHF antennas that we have all seen. Also, many people
that live in a metro area will probably be able to use a set top
antenna, or install an attic antenna and be able to get excellent
reception.
When
you live near a major metropolitan area, free over-the-air digital
television is a viable alternative to all forms of pay TV. Unless you
are absolutely hooked on certain cable channels that simply aren’t
available to local markets, you will find that the selection
available is quite adequate for the casual TV enthusiast. Long
live free TV!
No comments:
Post a Comment