HDTV antennas? Expensive indoor anteenas for digital converter box? What gives? Are we being scammed?

Question

I find that the best way to recieve more and far away tv ch

annels is with simple wires strung around by the nearest windows. It is an "analog" reception we need to pick up. and the best ways are with very un-sophisticated antennas, especially home-made configurations. I will say that there is a lot of false hype about great antennas for the digital converter boxes. An HD signals is nothing more than a clear picture going into and being viewed on your tv set. HD-TV is a scam by definition. The smaller your tv, the clearer your picture will be. The larger the screen, the more difficult it is to get a good picture. Don't fall victum to the marketing ploys of a lot of marketing aimed at or so-called HD-Television. Just like radio stations claiming to broadcast in HD radio. Nothing could be further from the truth. A good stereo for your home or vehicle doesn't need to be expensive. My best digital results are with peices of wire, non-amplyfied. Don't waste your money.

Answer 1

It is true that any antenna that gives you a good analog picture (no snow, no ghosts) will work for digital TV.

You statement about the clarity of a small screen is correct.  That is because the pixels are small and close together.  However, once that screen is enlarged to decent viewing size, the pixels get large and farther apart and the picture is no longer clear.  With HD, you get small pixels close together on a large screen, so that a large screen HD picture is as clear (or clearer) than a small screen non-HD TV.  HDTV was basically intended for large screen TV (36" or larger),

Even with a non-HD converter box, the digital picture will look better, even though the no of pixels in the image is not increased.  This is because digital pictures are noise free (not a trace of snow) and do not show signal reflections (ghosts).

Answer 2

My cheap kmart antenna still works great for my HD tv - including HD 1080i channels.  If anyone isn't bright enough to at least connect it and see if it works before buying an overpriced amplified antenna - they deserve to be scammed.