Which Converter/Tuner/... do I need?

Question

Which converter/tuner/antenna ... do I need to buy to get off the air digital channels? Are these HD channels?

I have a rear projection Sony 57WV700 TV.

Aren't we supposed to get a $40 check from the government for it? How do we get that?

I guess I have asked too many questions here. However, I am ignorant about the topic and am trying learn all this stuff. Any thoughts/input/help/suggestions on this will be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You have what is called an "HD Ready" TV. That means you need to connect it to an external digital converter/tuner to watch digital broadcasts. In North America, these are called ATSC tuners or converters.  All HD signals are in ATSC but not all ATSC signals are in HD. HD signals just have more picture detail included than non-HD signals.

You have three choices:

1.

You can buy a cheap converter box. This will cost you  about $20 when you use a $40 off government coupon. The limitation is that the box only gives out an analog signal that's about as good as what you get from a DVD. You have to request the coupon at the first web site I've linked to. The second link is to a discussion thread about which converter would be best for a wide screen TV like yours.

If you watch a HD broadcast with a converter, the converter just throws away the extra HD picture detail and sends what's left (roughly DVD quality) to your TV.

2.

You can buy a HD ATSC tuner for about $180. This is what your TV was designed to use.  Example: Samsung DTB-H260F ATSC tuner. An HD tuner will not give you any more channels than a cheap converter, but if those signals are in HD it will send all the picture information to your TV so you can watch it in HD quality.

3.

You can buy a recorder with a built in ATSC tuner.

In North America, analog and digital TV use the same antennas. generally if your current antenna gives you good analog reception, it will also work for digital.

Answer 2

you can go to www.dtv2009.gov and get a $40 cupon for a converter box for 2009

                               10 points please

Answer 3

For info on the DTV converter box coupon program

    http://www.dtv2009.gov

What the box gives you is the ability to watch digital TV channels on your old analog TV. But they will be the same resolution as always. To get an HD picture, you need to buy an HDTV set.

I have two of the converter boxes, a Zenith DTT900 (bought at Circuit City) and a DigitalStream DTX9900 (bought at RadioShack). Both are good. The Zenith seems to have a slightly better tuner.

Best Buy also carries an Insignia converter box. From what I've read, it's guts are identical to the Zenith.