Why must I have to get cable or dish in order to enjoy my new TV which is supposed to be HDTV ?? Is there any way to get HD programming w/o cable or dish??? Please enlighten me on this. All I have to use is either my old inside attic antenna or a Terk antenna which will sit on the shelf of the stand underneath the TV. What more do I need???? Since I have bought this new TV, everything I had needed up-dating. Now I have a DVD player/recorder w/built-in tuner and a new surround sound system. Now am told NO HD unless I get cable???? No Thanx. I have saved for these items and do not want a $50 pmt monthly for channels I do not even want. HELP !!!!
2007-10-23 08:36:41 · 9 answers · asked by Sasha 1 in Consumer Electronics ➔ TVs
If it has a ATSC HD tuner built into it you can use the antenna. If it doesn't you will need to get a separate HD tuner which usually Satellite or Cable services sell to you or you can buy one as well.
2007-10-23 08:45:29 · answer #1 · answered by R.Geek 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can purchase an HD Antenna. If you used an antenna before and recieved channels this will be no problem. In fact I just bought an HD antenna and I use one with a 65db rating and I get more channels than I did before. These channels will come in as such.
Say your channel is 6
6- is your regular non HD channel
6.1- is your HD channel
Sometime you have multiple .1 or .2 and even .3 depending on the station and you will recieve an extra channel maybe it is a all weather station or some different type of programming.
For everything else I just use my regular DVD and I think the picture is just fine. Until Sony's Blu-Ray and regular HD DVD players stop competeing and make a decision on which will be the dominate technology I dont want to invest my money either which way. As far as the recier-tuner your TV unless it was a Plasma monitor should have had one in it. I dont understand why you would need to purchase a seperate tuner .
2007-10-23 08:44:56 · answer #2 · answered by Jason M 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
If you get good reception on analog channels 14-69 with your attic antenna, you should receive HDTV broadcasts just fine with it. Just hook your antenna to your HDTV and use the TV's menu to have it scan for digital channels.
If your attic antenna doesn't get good analog UHF (ch 14-69), then it's unlikely that any "indoor" antenna is going to do better. The concept of a "HD antenna" or "Digital antenna" is just marketing hype.
If you do use an indoor antenna, under your TV is probably the worst place to put it.
If you can't find a way to scan for digital channels on your TVs menu, check to see if you have a "HD ready" TV instead of a HDTV. "HD Ready" TVs do not have a digital tuner built in to them. They need an external digital (ATSC) tuner to receive HD broadcasts.
If you think this is the case, add the make & model # of your TV to your question.
2007-10-23 11:51:21 · answer #3 · answered by Stephen P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You do NOT, repeat, DO NOT need satellite or cable for HD. As of February 2009, all free tv will be required HD digital. Right now, most if not all of your local stations should come in HD. You may need to update your antenna (about 100 bucks for a long range one from RadioShack). The new antennas still recieve VHF/UHF signals until 2009 as well as the Digital signals.
Now, as far as the DVD player with tuner, it probably doesn't recieve HD signals, only VHF/UHF. This is fine until February 2009, when it will simply not work for tuning anymore. You'll still be able to watch/record DVD's, so no real issue there.
2007-10-23 08:50:30 · answer #4 · answered by Ananke402 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You have a number of options for getting 'HD' viewing without getting cable or satellite
1) you can use an over the air antenna (if you live in an area where stations broadcast in HD) you need to do more research specific to where you live to determine this
2) you can purchase a DVD player that 'upscales' DVDs (a 480p source) to whatever your TV can handle. This the cheapest way to get a decent picturem but it isn't as good as using a high quality HD source like HD DVD or blu ray
3) you can purchase a Blu Ray or HD DVD player (or a video game console that plays those formats)
2007-10-23 08:49:19 · answer #5 · answered by Nicholas N 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Whoever told you you needed cable to get HD programming was half-right.
If you want the cable stations such as HBO and ESPN in HD, then you need a cable/satellite subscription.
But if you're looking for local programming in HD, all you need is to hook up your attic antenna to your new TV, make sure you have the ATSC digital tuner active, and start experiencing local digital programming.
2007-10-23 08:47:26 · answer #6 · answered by CMass Stan 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You need to get a HD box from your provider, and order the HDTV package to have the HD signal/channels. The HDMI cable will only make the HD channels/signal better.
2016-05-25 04:57:45 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Choosing & Installing an Antenna for HDTV
http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/antenna.html
2007-10-23 08:45:20 · answer #8 · answered by Oxl 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i know in the u.s you can get some over the air for free, but i dont live in the u.s. so have a look at the cnet.com website
2007-10-23 08:41:27 · answer #9 · answered by a 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋