Can someone explain how HDTV works, please?

[lopper]

Ok, I'm getting an apartment here in about 4 weeks and I need to clear a few things up before I call Cox:

How do you get HD stations that aren't pay channels, like Fox? I've seen a HD antenna sold at Best Buy for around 100 bucks. Is that, and a set top HD box, what I'd need for HD Fox? My tv is HDTV ready, but it doesn't have the thing built in.

HD HBO/Showtime - does anyone have these and are they worth the money? I'd like to get them since they broadcast in widescreen (right?), but if the picture quality isn't really that great I don't want to waste the money.


There may be more questions later, but my dinner's ready so I'm going to eat now. I'll update later if I need to.


Thanks!!!!!!

[snipsnapsappy]

OK, It all depends on your location, Go to www.titantv.com and fill out your information there. Here are the possible ways of recieving it:

Over the Air- You can recieve HDTV over the air for free with any antenna. I use a $6 radio shck antenna and recieve Digital Stations.

Cable- If your cable provider has it, you can recieve up to all of the HD local channels in your area for free. You will need to set a new HD service up with them when you get the TV.

Satellite- No local channels in HD, but Dish Network can get LA feed of CBS in HD for you.

With Cable and Satellite you often pay an extra fee for Discovery HD, ESPNHD, HDNet, INHD and other HD channels. It depends on the cable or satellite provider to see which channels are available.

ShowtimeHD and HBOHD are available when you purchase the HBo or Showtime tiers.

However, like I said above, it all depends on your location. I have no HD digital cable companies around my location and no over the air HD stations. I am also not allowed to put a Sat dish on my building, so I can not even get Satellite. I would definitely recommend www.titantv.com to find out what is available in HD in your area.

[MurDiddlyUrdler]

Originally Posted by lopper

How do you get HD stations that aren't pay channels, like Fox? I've seen a HD antenna sold at Best Buy for around 100 bucks. Is that, and a set top HD box, what I'd need for HD Fox? My tv is HDTV ready, but it doesn't have the thing built in.

Well, first off, Fox doesn't broadcast anything in HD, yet. But they will within the next year, hopefully. Right now the best Fox broadcasts are in high resolution widescreen, which is only 480 lines of resolution. But it does look pretty decent compared to the rest of their broadcasts.

You're right about the set-top box thing. You'd need that and an antenna to get over-the-air HD broadcasts. I don't know how well this would work for you. It would depend on many factors such as location, antenna type, antenna placement and who is broadcasting locally.

I get my HD programming from my local cable company and it works great. I get around 10 channels and the box is provided by the cable company. It's nice not having to pay another $500 for an HD receiver when your TV is already capable of displaying HD-level pictures.

Originally Posted by lopper

HD HBO/Showtime - does anyone have these and are they worth the money? I'd like to get them since they broadcast in widescreen (right?), but if the picture quality isn't really that great I don't want to waste the money.

I've got both and they're both pretty good. Showtime is better for movies and HBO is better for original programming. Showtime almost always shows movies in their original aspect ratio. HBO is famous for cropping 2.35:1 movies down to 16:9 for broadcast. It really defeats the purpose of HD, I think. But their 1.85:1 and original 16:9 shows look great.

Originally Posted by lopper

There may be more questions later, but my dinner's ready so I'm going to eat now. I'll update later if I need to.

Sounds good. I don't know a whole lot, but I'll be happy to try to provide answers.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by MurDiddlyUrdler

You'd need that and an antenna to get over-the-air HD broadcasts. I don't know how well this would work for you. It would depend on many factors such as location, antenna type, antenna placement and who is broadcasting locally.

He can find this out as well from AntennaWeb.org which will help recommend and antenna for use as well as identify which stations broadcast DTV and/or HDTV in any given area.

Peace...

[Chromy]

Antennaweb told me that I just needed a set of rabbit ears I ended up with a huge antenna in my attic, and a signal amplifier. (So, their claims on which stations you'll be able to pull in easily might be a tad off, but they do give you a good idea of who is broadcasting, and where the towers are)

Chromy

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Chromy

Antennaweb told me that I just needed a set of rabbit ears

They were talking about you, personally...

Peace...

[Chromy]

That's right... dude came right out to my house through the power of the Internet... looked over towards Seattle and said "Yeppers. Rabbit ears are all you'll need". THAT LYING BASTARD

Chromy

[I 8 Piglet]

Originally Posted by MurDiddlyUrdler

Well, first off, Fox doesn't broadcast anything in HD, yet. But they will within the next year, hopefully. Right now the best Fox broadcasts are in high resolution widescreen, which is only 480 lines of resolution. But it does look pretty decent compared to the rest of their broadcasts.

are you sure about that, my x1 says that its picking up a 1080i signal when I watch fox, and it needs to resync when I go from SDTV to HDTV, and fox is right in the middle of all my HD channels, and it never resync when I change to it or from it.

One thing, that I want to point out (someone might have said it already) but I dont pay any extra for my cable to get HD, and my cable box comes with a decoder at no extra charge, so its a lot cheaper than getting a set top box, and having to deal with an antena.

[MurDiddlyUrdler]

Originally Posted by I 8 Piglet

are you sure about that, my x1 says that its picking up a 1080i signal when I watch fox, and it needs to resync when I go from SDTV to HDTV, and fox is right in the middle of all my HD channels, and it never resync when I change to it or from it.

Yes, I'm sure about that. It's pretty well documented that Fox does not broadcast in HD yet. Notice that all their promos advertise their programming as "High Resolution Widescreen." The would definitely be using the word "definition" if they were broadcasting in true HDTV.

I can also tell you why your X1 is reading it as a 1080i signal. Your cable box (as I noticed on your HT page) is the same as mine and what I'm pretty sure happens is that your cable company upconverts the Fox signal to 1080i because it's higher than standard resolution television. So, it looks pretty good, but is still limited to the quality of the source material.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by MurDiddlyUrdler

I can also tell you why your X1 is reading it as a 1080i signal. Your cable box (as I noticed on your HT page) is the same as mine and what I'm pretty sure happens is that your cable company upconverts the Fox signal to 1080i because it's higher than standard resolution television. So, it looks pretty good, but is still limited to the quality of the source material.

Yup, I've read this as well. I believe this is a NTSC signal upconverted to 1080 vs being a true HD signal. Do these Fox broadcasts appear with black bars on the sides instead of grey bars?

Peace...

[I 8 Piglet]

ah, I see now

[papibear]

Just wanted to say thanks to snipsnapsappy for providing that link to TitanTV.com. I can't yet use it to its fullest advantage, but it's a very cool site, and I signed up for it. Great for checking on upcoming shows, repeats, etc.

Now I need to get a TiVo.

[Chromy]

Tom, the shows touted as being "High Resolution Widescreen" do not (have black bars). They fill the entire 16x9 screen. It's identical in concept to anamorphic dvd's (it has the same resolution).

Chromy

[MurDiddlyUrdler]

I'll back Chromy on that statement. Fox widescreen shows fill the whole screen.

[tomdkat]

Cool, I didn't know that. I borrowed a friend's HD receiver for a few days and watched some HD broadcasts OTA and a few channels had black bars on the sides, with the center being a 4:3 image. I didn't get enough channels or keep the receiver long enough to watch many channels in HD, but I got to watch Jerry Springer.

Peace...

[incubus0]

Originally Posted by lopper

HD HBO/Showtime - does anyone have these and are they worth the money? I'd like to get them since they broadcast in widescreen (right?), but if the picture quality isn't really that great I don't want to waste the money.

I'll second what MurDiddlyUrdler said about these 2 and add that HBO's Carnivale has some of the best picture quality I've ever seen. The opening title sequence is a jaw dropper. HBO's original series in HD are:

Carnivale
The Sopranos
Six Feet Under

The series NOT in HD:

Inside the NFL
Real Sports
K Street (although it's shown in widescreen with black bars on both the side and top - weird)
Reverb
G-String Divas
America Undercover
HBO First Look

Showtime does have some of their original stuff in HD, like:

Free for All
Queer as Folk
Jeremiah

Their boxing is not though, which blows. I'm not sure about Dead Like Me, which is one of my favorites.

[jondaris]

Originally Posted by snipsnapsappy

I am also not allowed to put a Sat dish on my building, so I can not even get Satellite. I would definitely recommend www.titantv.com to find out what is available in HD in your area.

Well, you're wrong about that. You are allowed to put a satellite dish up, even if you live in an apartment or a condo. There's some caveats: you have to have southern exposure, since you're not guaranteed a signal, and you can't damage the outside of the building. This article talks about the issues from the apartment manager's point of view, but a Google search on apartment or condo and satellite dish will come up with a lot of others.

Assuming you have the exposure, I'd go to the apartment manager or condo board and point out the rules to them, and tell them that you intend to install a satellite. It isn't required, but it might keep things from getting nasty later.

[snipsnapsappy]

Well, I have a dog and have been able to keep it secret for over 2 years now, Knock on wood, and I do not prefer to give the landlord an excuse to come over and talk to me. So that is the main reason I can not get Satellite.

It is a real bummer because my TV comes with an HD Direct TV reciever built in. So all I need to buy is the Dish.

I will be moving in August, so then I hopefully will be able to get a place where Satellites ar OK, but likely, I will then be able to recieve Digital Cable.

[lopper]

I had to resurrect this topic for a quick question about the HD stations:

A lot of shows are in the listings as being broadcast in 'full screen', which I've quickly learned means that the show will fill the entire 16x9 screen, but will not necissicarily be shown in its OAR. Is there any way to find out weather or not the show is being broadcast in its OAR and not just formatted to fit a widescreen tv?

I've checked the listings on the websites (cinemax, hbo, and starz) and they mostly just tell you if it's going to be in fullscreen or not.

HBO HD had shown Daredevil in full screen, but not in the true aspect ratio.

Starz HD had done something even worse - they showed Gangs of New York in 4:3 (grey bars on the sides), but I'm watching Bringing Down the House right now and it's being shown in 2.35:1, black bars and all.

[Iguana Man]

Chromy and Snippy;

I've discovered the answer to both of your problems! It's quite simply the best of both worlds...All Chromy needs is a dog and then both of you can get HD reception anywhere in your homes!

Once these Wabbit ears are attached, your HD reception should come in crystal clear......the only difficult part is the connection from your pets "out" to the TV's "in".....well, lets just say your pet may feel some discomfort at first.

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by snipsnapsappy

Well, I have a dog and have been able to keep it secret for over 2 years now, Knock on wood, and I do not prefer to give the landlord an excuse to come over and talk to me. So that is the main reason I can not get Satellite.

It is a real bummer because my TV comes with an HD Direct TV reciever built in. So all I need to buy is the Dish.

I will be moving in August, so then I hopefully will be able to get a place where Satellites ar OK, but likely, I will then be able to recieve Digital Cable.

Snip - have you checked this out yet? I wonder since it's amplified if it wouldn't solve, or at least help, your situation?