What do i need to do to get the free hd signal from my tv antenna?

Question

i heard all i need is some kid of adapter to get free tv, where can i get one, and do i have to own a "HD" tv??

Answer 1

Yes you need a HD tv to watch HD channels and a cable box or satellite. As far as getting them for free, I don't think it's possible. We had to have the cable company come in and hook up a completely separate connexion for HD.

Answer 2

(This answer assumes you are located in the US)

There are 3 ways you could do it.

1.

Connect your antenna to a DTV (this includes HDTVs). One way to tell it your TV has a digital tuner is to look around it's menu system. If it doesn't have a way to scan for digital channels then it doesn't have a digital  (ATSC) tuner.

Or if you e-mail me the make & model of your TV, I could probably tell you.

2.

Connect a converter box between your antenna and non-digital TV. By getting a $40 off government coupon, you can get a really nice one for about $20.

3.

Connect a DVD recorder that has a digital (ATSC) tuner built into it between your antenna and your TV.

Some people will tell you that you need a HDTV to get a HD signal. This is not true. HDTV signals can be cheaply converted to the old analog type. That  is what converter boxes and DTVs do. The picture quality that you see is "only" about what you get with a DVD player. This is not "HD" quality and so certain confused people keep saying that you can't get HD signals on your old analog TV.

Other stuff:

A digital tuner for over the air TV is called an "ATSC" tuner.

All HD broadcasts are digital but not all digital broadcasts are in HD quality.

HD quality just means that the signal includes several times as much picture detail as a  DVD like (non-HD) signal. If your TV is not HD, then you don't see the extra picture detail; it just gets thrown away in the conversion process. .

In North America, analog & digital TV broadcasts use the same antennas. There are no  special HD/Digital/HDTV antennas. Even 30 year old antennas can pick up digital broadcasts.