If I buy a HD TV or a digital TV, does it still need a TV anttenna?

Question

I have a hard time to decide what to buy for the following. What is a digital TV? What is a HD TV? Is a LD TV or Hd tv spend more electricity than a regular tv? HOw much more?

Answer 1

it doesn't need an antenna anymore, as long as you're in an area with greater frequency.

i prefer a digital tv, it saves on electricity.

Answer 2

Ever since TV was first started back in the 1930s, broadcasting was done by what is called analog.  Analog broadcasting is with sine waves and requires a broad bandwidth for each channel.  Digital TV is like your computer, it is based on ones and zeros and can be much faster on a narrower band.  As a result, high definition gives you a much better picture than the old sweep TV.

I've had three digital HDTVs for six months now and love it.  There are more channels broadcasting digital than analog.  I just connected them to my existing TV antenna and they work just great!

Answer 3

Almost all TV's made in the last 20 years or so are digital.  They have a place in the back where you can connect a coaxial cable.

The old analog ones usually have a dial and they only show 12 channels.  They require an antenna or a digital converter box.  After Feb 2009, antennas won't work.

The flat TV's that are out now are usually LCD or plasma and HD (high definition) which just means better picture when you watch HD channels or DVD's.  My husband and I have a 42 inch LCD.  Sorry I don't know if it uses more electricity than our other TV.

If you're very worried about electricity, check out EnergyStar Qualified TV's here: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuse...

Answer 4

I just got my first HDTV over the weekend (19" 720p -- why do I need a big TV??). . . I can't get decent reception of digital signals with an indoor amplified antenna, and I'm within 5-10 miles of 2 digital broadcasts.  People I know 30 miles away from the same stations can pick them up at least fairly well using the same antenna -- literally, I gave mine to them to use since it wasn't helping me any.  Thank goodness for my cable carrying the HD broadcasts!

In other words, you may need a nice antenna. . .or you may not.  You'll just have to set it up and see.  Analog signals apparently aren't a great judge, either, because those look just fine on my TV even without an amplified antenna.

Digital = little squares/rectangles of data. . . if the signal isn't strong enough, you can actually see them sometimes.  In analog, as I'm sure you're aware, weak signals just = snow, rolling, and other fun things.  Weak digital signals mean you don't get enough of the little squares to make it worth watching, and the picture comes and goes every few seconds if it ever shows up at all.  However, the picture quality can be *much* better with digital signals *if* the video info is of a higher resolution than the 480i of analog.  This might be 720 or 1080, meaning that many more little rows of pixels are in the same screen size.  The picture gets sharper in HD, particularly so with larger screen sizes.

LCD TV's are supposed to be pretty good as far as power consumption.  Plasmas (the other most common HD option). . . well, they definitely tend to like their electricity, should you ever be looking at larger TV's.  They get to be much more economical with big TV's in terms of initial costs than are LCD's, though, so that's something to factor in.

Answer 5

all tv's need either an antenna, cable box, satelite reciever, or cable period. you cant just take your tv out the box, sit it on the table, and plug in the electric and think its going to work. You can run a cable to the wall (if the wall jack is cable ready, meaning cable is ON). you can put an antenna in the back where u can watch HD channels to if your set picks up the frequency and you dont just have to watch 5,7,&9. Also you can hook up any reciever. HDTV is the signal. Digital is a signal. When talking about electric you mean LCD or Plasma. Both LCD and Plasma screens can come with energy stars. Some Phillips, Sharps, & Sony's are equipped with Energy Saver Stars, meaning the Tv as a whole will save energy or it will have different settings that you can select to save energy, sort of like what you do with your laptop computer. But plasma tvs can definately take your electric bill up but not drastically. Just be prepared for it to be a lil warmer in your room where the tv is, the flat screens give off a lot of heat, plasma tend to more often than LCD screens.

Answer 6

A standard Digital TV and a High Definition TV (or set top boxes) will still require an antenna to pick up signal.

I believe a CRT (regular) TV uses more power than a LCD TV when you are comparing similar screen sizes.  To be sure you can cheack the wattage as different TVs with different features will vary in power consumption.

The new TVs are Full High Definition and they have amazing pictures....but cost a fortune.

Answer 7

All HDTVs are Digital TVs. HDTV is a subset of Digital TV. For either you WILL need an antenna to pick up your local channels in digital over the air (contrary to the prior reply). LCD tvs use MUCH less power than your old Tube television, about 2/3 less.  I hope that clarifies things for you.