Will a ditital tuner - converter inprove my rabbit ear analog TV reception ?

Answer 1

Possibly. Analog TV broadcasts use both VHF and UHF frequencies to transmit. Channels 2-13 are VHF and 14-63 are UHF. VHF signals have a longer range, so you can be further away from the transmitter and still receive them, compared to shorter-range UHF stations.

All digital TV broadcasting will be UHF; the VHF band will be reallocated to other uses after Feb 2009, when analog TV ceases. UHF signals don't need as big of an antenna as VHF, but the signals don't have as much range either.

To make up for this, digital signals generally have more usable range than analog signals. In the real world, there are too many variables to say anything for sure. The type of terrain between you and the transmitter, the range, and the amount and types of interference will all play a role.

But... and this may be what you're really asking: IF you get a strong-enough signal for the digital tuner to process, you will get a "perfect" picture, or at least, as good as what the station is transmitting. One major advantage of digital transmissions is that you either have the signal or you don't. If there's enough signal to display the picture, it will be a good-looking picture. If not, you'll get nothing at all, or constant break-ups.

Answer 2

(Answer assumes you are in the US)

It will not improve your reception on analog channels unless your TV's internal analog tuner is lousy. (The cheap converters coming out in Jan 2008 have there own analog tuner.)

Most people will get a much better picture quality than they are used to when watching digital channels. If you get relatively good signals on the analog UHF channels (14-69), you shouldn't have any problems. If your analog UHF reception is lousy, you might need a new antenna.

If you have problems with digital channels, it won't be with the fuzziness you get with analog TV, it will be with signal dropouts.

If you have reception problems on analog channels 14-69, the quality of the tuner in the set top box is important to you.

The latest tuner designs* are quite good at sorting out the kind of noise that causes problems with analog and digital TV reception, but it's not easy to find out if a box has the latest designs. Manufacturers are scrambling to get converter boxes on the shelves for the start of the government ($40 off) coupon program in Jan 2008. These aren't going to have a track record of user reviews behind them.

* Sometimes referred to as LG/Zenith 5th generation tuner, there is an even better 6th generation design but it's not in production.

Hopefully Consumer Reports or some place like that will step up the the plate.

The first answer you received says that "All digital TV broadcasting will be UHF". In many areas all the digital channels will be UHF, but some stations will be using what is now high VHF (analog channels 7-12). It's important to know because a lot of the new fancy little so called "HD" and "digital" antennas are UHF only. As far as an antenna is concerned, there is no difference in analog and digital channels. But if you need to receive high VHF (analog channels 7-12), you have to have a somewhat larger antenna that includes that frequency range.

Answer 3

I tell my young infants they don't understand how solid they have it. whilst i grew to become right into a infant, i grew to become into the distant administration besides because of the fact the antenna. My dad could make me upward thrust as much as substitute the channel for him. I remember as quickly as, whilst i grew to become into shifting the rabbit ears, the image could get fuzzy as I walked away. as long as i grew to become into touching them, the image grew to become into sparkling. My dad made me stand next to the television, protecting the rabbit ears till the ball interest grew to become into over.