[abarsami]

I have digital cable now - I called cable company about HDTV and they said it is not offered in my area now.


I watch wb, fox, abc - and some programs say hdtv where available.


I went to antennaweb.org and after putting my address a ton of channels are green.


My question is - can I just get a hdtv receiver on my own plug it in and receive hdtv signals on those local channels?


Something like the Samsung SIR-T165 HDTV Terrestrial Receiver... I do have digital cable now - so do I just connect the receiver to my digital cable box?


Do I still need an internal antenna?


Will it work with the digital cable I have now?


Is there another receiver that is better - I would like to connect using dvi.


Does sony have one? HD 200 - is only for direct tv right?

 

[dswallow]

Any digital receiver will need an antenna. Depdnign on your reception conditions and distance to the transmitters, you might be able to get away with an indoor antenna like the Silver Sensor, but the most flexible method is a decent UHF antenna like the Channel Master 4228 mounted on a rotator with a preamp.


Many if not all the DIrecTV HD receivers permit the over-the-air portion to function even without a DIrecTV subscription. However you should be aware these units get software updates via DirecTV, so without that connection, the only way you could get software updates is sending your receiver in to a service center or taking it to someone's home who has a DIrecTV dish and connecting it overnight (updates are apparently sent out monthly or weekly after an initial release that's sent daily for about a month, so it's not necessary easy to get it if it's been out for awhile).


Some cable systems do send the HD signals directly as 8VSB (just as it's broadcast) over their cable, though I'd generally expect the cable system would know enough to be able to tell you if they do this or not. If they do, you could connect the cable to the HD receiver. But if the cable system sends them digitall encoded over their own system, you'd need whatever cable set-top box they use to receive them.

 

[greywolf]

"I have digital cable now - I called cable company about HDTV and they said it is not offered in my area now.


I watch wb, fox, abc - and some programs say hdtv where available."


Stations that broadcast digitally only have a few HD programs but even the digital SD picture is better than analog OTA (over the air) or cable.


"I went to antennaweb.org and after putting my address a ton of channels are green.


My question is - can I just get a hdtv receiver on my own plug it in and receive hdtv signals on those local channels?


Something like the Samsung SIR-T165 HDTV Terrestrial Receiver... I do have digital cable now - so do I just connect the receiver to my digital cable box?"


You can get a digital receiver and receive OTA programming. It does not connect to you digital cable box; it connects to your TV.


"Do I still need an internal antenna?"


You will need an antenna to pick up OTA signals. Check out titantv.com for digital programming in your area. The white numbers are the digital channels. If you have any digital channels under 14, you will need a VHF/UHF antenna. Since digital stations that have UHF channels now may move to VHF in a few years, I wouldn't get a UHF only antenna and expect a long life from it. On the other hand, you may have access to HD cableTV by then. You can check the posts in the HD Local Info and Reception forum for what others are doing. You'll may need something on the roof or in the attic with green ratings at your main channels.


"Will it work with the digital cable I have now?"


It will work alongside your cable box. You will need to switch inputs on your TV between OTA and cable when you watch one or the other.


"Is there another receiver that is better - I would like to connect using dvi."


See the STB synopsis post near the top of this HD hardware forum.


"Does sony have one? HD 200 - is only for direct tv right?"


All DirecTV boxes can also pick up OTA digital signals. At this point, you need to get a better handle on all this stuff. Read the stuff that is posted here, Especially read the HDTV FAQ. I read the posts here for a year before I posted anything. I was watching HD within a month though.

 

[Paul_Seng]

Pat, I believe that now there is a lot of HD content being shown after primetime on 4 networks, especially CBS, and ABC. To say that they have a few (unless you meant on the 24 hour round the clock way) is misleading.

Just my opinion though.

 

[pspun]

Pat, you can check out the Samsung TS160 also. It can receive both DirecTV and OTA signals. It does have some issues as reported here.

 

[peter0302]

Yeah, all the networks (especially CBS, it seems) are broadcasting quite a lot of HD now. It's slowly but surely happening.