What's the difference in quality between getting digital TV through an aerial, via satellite dish or cable?
I currently have digital TV through an aerial and, during the recent storms, the picture quality has gone right down and some channels have been lost from Freeview. I know that putting up a better aerial would help but I was wondering whether these problems would occur with satellite and cable? Also, are there any other differences between aerial, satellite and cable?
2007-01-12 01:17:24 · 5 answers · asked by Mirrorball 2 in Consumer Electronics ➔ TVs
Qualifying my answer, I assume that the same channels are available via all three delivery systems...
If I had all 3 choices (I don't have the Freeview option), I would go for cable. My satellite system signal occasionally breaks up in rain or poor weather, so cable would get round any atmospheric problems the terrestial braodcast options would encounter.
2007-01-12 01:23:15 · answer #1 · answered by haardvarx 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to live in NY and the two competing formats there were DirecTV (satellite) and Time Warner (cable). (I honestly don't know if Freeview has HD programming available, so I'm leaving it out of the picture....pun intended.) The picture quality was comparable for both and the price was also very similar- the deciding factor was customer service- Time Warner has consistently ranked at the bottom of customer satisfaction lists for years in a row while DirecTV has been at the top. I had sateelite for 6 years and never had a problem with them (and yes the picture went out maybe 1-2 times a year during bad storms...but it had to be a REALLY bad storm).
I now live in London- I've heard absolutely terrible things about the cable company over here and I've actually seen how badly compressed the Sky HD channels are- beginning to wonder if I made the right move after all.........
Sky has a service called freesat that you might want to try out- one time initial installation fee for a dish that receives freeview plus a bunch of additional channels for no monthly fee.
Also worth noting- the US has a video-on-demand service that might catch on over here soon that will only be available thru cable; satellite is only a one-way communication system whereas cable can do two-way.
2007-01-13 10:54:34 · answer #2 · answered by D-Zyne 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
30-40 yrs ago you could get decent programing from a roof TV antennae, but as technology increased, & population expanded, it made it impossible to see anything clearly unless it was local. Satelites & cable TV provide clear pictures on hundreds of channels. However, they too can have problems during a storm.
When we moved to our new house, we originally had cable, but encountered so many problems with reception & out times, we swiched to satelite. We found it to be cheaper & more reliable, at least in our area. Probably the best people to ask are your neighbors.
2007-01-12 01:31:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I live in Australia and so far no matter how bad the weather has been, I have received an excellent digital signal from my roof mounted antenna
2007-01-12 10:11:33 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My friend has satellite and whenever there is a bad storm she looses her signal.
2007-01-12 05:14:28 · answer #5 · answered by gkk_72 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋