[nybbler]

I'm currently in temporary housing in NYC and the cable here is overcompressed SD digital... looks absolutely awful. So I've rigged up one paperclip antenna and one creative arrangement of fork and knife and I have HD in all its glory. Yes!

 

[Falcon_77]

Every time I see a 16:9 HD set showing stretched analog SD cable/sat signals, I want to put in a paper clip or the whip antenna from my On-Air GT.


Sadly, most hotels do an "excellent job" of locking out the F connector.

 

[Jedi Master]

You are right. I use to have Cox digital cable and had the same problem. The disappointment I had when a few years ago I hooked up my new 50 inch plasma HDTV to Cox and saw how horrible the SD picture quality was. I was thinking it was the TV at first but after watching a few DVDs that looked awesome and seeing how good OTA looked I knew it was the cable. There is no telling how old the cable in the ground that they laid years ago. And with HD they have to take the bandwith from the SD channels to get all the signal to fit through the cable. This and the rising cost of Cox cable that is now $90 a month is why I just have OTA and DVDs these days. I use the Terk TV5 indoor antenna.

 

[John Mason]

Never could adequately tune OTA stations in mid-town Manhattan, only blocks from NYC transmitters. Constant blocking artifacts and signal interruptions from severe multipath. But pictures from NYC's TWC (or RCN briefly) have been crisp and clear (mostly artifact-free) for several decades. Suspect that TWC, reportedly unlike Verizon FIOS, does trim SD format resolution to boost available cable bandwidth, and likely still rate-shapes signals with requantization. Even with multicasting stations there are none of the glitches OTA viewers often complain about. HD appears fine, too, using a 9"-guns 64" CRT RPTV from 2000 until last year, then a 65" 1080p plasma ( Panasonic TH-65VX100U ). -- John

 

[S-dogg]



Quote:
Originally Posted by nybbler /forum/post/18258131


I'm currently in temporary housing in NYC and the cable here is overcompressed SD digital... looks absolutely awful. So I've rigged up one paperclip antenna and one creative arrangement of fork and knife and I have HD in all its glory. Yes!

Reminds me of the time I rigged up a TV in one of my high school classrooms with a paperclip antenna to watch broadcast stations during lunch. That was pre-HD, but still, good times...