Comments on: No Reason Not to try OTA Digital Television http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/ Random notes on life, coding and politics Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:20:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Allen http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/comment-page-1/#comment-34355 Allen Thu, 06 Jan 2011 05:33:13 +0000 http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/#comment-34355 The claim that digital TV is all or nothing is not entirely true -- my experience is that weather conditions can affect the reception of a digital signal (but not as much as it did for analog), and if the digital signal degrades so that it is right on the edge of the converters ability to identify and process the signal, the video can freeze, you can get video pixelation, and the audio can cut in and out. It can be frustrating when the pixelation kicks in just at a crucial moment in the movie plot, or just when the Charlie Rose interview gets to the heart of the issue. Even so, I love OTA digital and it is a complete sea change better than analog. Ive never subscribed to cable or satellite, and with all the Internet/PC/video-on-demand TV options that are developing in the industry, I doubt that I will ever feel a need to. The claim that digital TV is all or nothing is not entirely true — my experience is that weather conditions can affect the reception of a digital signal (but not as much as it did for analog), and if the digital signal degrades so that it is right on the edge of the converters ability to identify and process the signal, the video can freeze, you can get video pixelation, and the audio can cut in and out. It can be frustrating when the pixelation kicks in just at a crucial moment in the movie plot, or just when the Charlie Rose interview gets to the heart of the issue. Even so, I love OTA digital and it is a complete sea change better than analog. Ive never subscribed to cable or satellite, and with all the Internet/PC/video-on-demand TV options that are developing in the industry, I doubt that I will ever feel a need to.

]]> By: Kevin http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/comment-page-1/#comment-27641 Kevin Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:26:48 +0000 http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/#comment-27641 We live in LA and got the basic digital converter box and hooked it up with our old rabbit ears antenna and we had 2 or 3 channels. I found this video on line for making your own antenna out of coat hangers and wood and I made it with my 7 year old...and we got 20 channels!!! We put it on the roof and we have about 50 OTA digital channels now! Here is my question. I want to now get a DVR to record the shows/channels. I would like to avoid hooking up my Mac if possible to do this and have a stand alone unit. What is the Sony unit that you mention? Would a used Tivo or Direct TV one work? Thanks Kevin We live in LA and got the basic digital converter box and hooked it up with our old rabbit ears antenna and we had 2 or 3 channels. I found this video on line for making your own antenna out of coat hangers and wood and I made it with my 7 year old…and we got 20 channels!!! We put it on the roof and we have about 50 OTA digital channels now!

Here is my question. I want to now get a DVR to record the shows/channels. I would like to avoid hooking up my Mac if possible to do this and have a stand alone unit. What is the Sony unit that you mention? Would a used Tivo or Direct TV one work?

Thanks
Kevin

]]> By: Amy http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/comment-page-1/#comment-13684 Amy Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:17:06 +0000 http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/#comment-13684 Spot on post. I agree that free digital HDTV is one of the best kept secrets. We did the same thing earlier this year, but used an inexpensive digital converter box to test out our digital reception. Since it was very good, we canceled cable and now use a combination of free OTA digital, Hulu and Netflix to watch our favorite shows (even the premium cable ones). We set up a blog (<a href="http://www.cancelcable.com" rel="nofollow">CancelCable.com</a>) describing our experiences and are trying to convince friends and family to do the same. Spot on post. I agree that free digital HDTV is one of the best kept secrets.

We did the same thing earlier this year, but used an inexpensive digital converter box to test out our digital reception. Since it was very good, we canceled cable and now use a combination of free OTA digital, Hulu and Netflix to watch our favorite shows (even the premium cable ones).

We set up a blog (CancelCable.com) describing our experiences and are trying to convince friends and family to do the same.

]]> By: Alex Williams http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/comment-page-1/#comment-8252 Alex Williams Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:44:41 +0000 http://www.murraywilliams.com/2007/02/02/no-reason-not-to-try-ota-digital-television/#comment-8252 It sounds like a pretty good deal on the all or nothing fact. I rather get a few channels in good quality then a bunch of channels with crappy reception. But then again I have <a href="http://twc.scnes.com/time-warner-cable-packages-.html" rel="nofollow">Digital Cable</a> so it really doesn't affect me. But then again, if I should fall on hard times I know I can get some high quality channels with no cable! It sounds like a pretty good deal on the all or nothing fact. I rather get a few channels in good quality then a bunch of channels with crappy reception. But then again I have Digital Cable so it really doesn’t affect me. But then again, if I should fall on hard times I know I can get some high quality channels with no cable!

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