... but Leno is....
Version 1.16 January 2004 by Mike MacFaden
On March 3 2003, for the first time my jaw dropped as I stared at possibly the best TV image I have ever seen. A recently purchased 2002 51" Sony Wide screen was displaying a 1920x1080 interlaced image from a Samsung HDTV tuner which was receiving an broadcast signal courtesy of ATSC standards organization of PBS channel 9-1. The kicker: The HDTV tuner was connected to a simple little FM antenna.
Such broadcasts are becoming commonplace.
A March 2003 press release by the NAB states:
DTV signals are now being transmitted in 186 markets that include 97.44%
of U.S. TV households. In addition, 72.28% of the more than 106 million
U.S. TV households are in markets with five or more broadcasters
airing DTV and 36.55% are in markets with eight or more broadcasters
sending digital signals.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that by Jan 2009 (originally was May 2006) analog (NTSC) TV broadcast signals will be stopped in the USA. Here is a map of markets served in the USA.
A good introduction and history of High Definition TV. The University of Washington Electrical Engineering Dept description of HDTV. Finally a perspective from Dr. J. A. Flaherty, Senior Vice President - Technology, CBS Inc. From what I have seen since March 3, CBS has taken this technology to heart and have quite alot of shows in HD but sadly Letterman isn't broadcast in HD here is a shot in SDTV:
More articles on High Definition TV can be found on the HDTV PUB website and on HomeTheaterHIFI.com.
Here is a gret description by projectorExpert.com on issues relating to HD 1920x1080 (1080i) or 1280x720 (720p) pixels versus what TV's and Computer Screens can actually display. The bottom line to remember according to Peter H. Putman, is picking a box that can perform linear pixel conversion in both axes as that will yield the sharpest and cleanest image.
Note: If your screen doesn't match pixel for pixel or the input signal is not in HD format, the Samsung tuner below can scale images to a format your TV will accept.
While a number of stations broadcast in DTV, the amount of HD content is for some not enough for others better than nothing. I just watched College final four hoops (Syracuse vs Kansas) on CBS channel 5-1 which was broadcast in stunning HDTV (1080i). The best seat in the house...really! To get a very slick program listing for your area I recommend Titan TV which provides listings for satellite, cable and over the air (OTA) broadcasts. Don't trust their antenna recommendation feature tho, check with avsforum to be safe.
This first site www.antennaweb.org will take your address and give you a listing of stations and what class of antenna you could use to receive the signals. Titan TV even makes a recommendation on what kind of antenna to install. and KQ6QV maintains a program listings web page. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has this list of stations. Lastly if you own a GPS, you might get even more accurate distances by taking the latitude and longitude from the 100kwatts.tmi.net web site. Given this information it is useful to know a bit more about the new ATSC broadcast format and how it works so that the questions asked in the above web pages start to make sense.
Lastly, if you just use an ATSC tuner with an existing TV set, you can use the on screen display to determine the strength of various stations as shown here:
Here is what I use and how it is connected together. After consulting www.antennaweb.org, I realized I could use a plain old UHF/VHF antenna instead of satellite. My cable provider COMCAST just came to town and cable doesn't presently (apr '03) offer ATSC format DTV in my part of San Jose.
| Sony 51" 16:9 Hi-ScanŽ Projection Television KP-51WS500 |
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| Samsung SIR-T165 Decoder Box (aka tv tuner) |
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| Winegard PR-7015 TV Antenna 31 Element for VHF/UHF/FM broadcasts |
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| JVC HM-DH30000U D-VHS Tape Deck |
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The Samsung has a 75ohm coax (RG-6) input connector for the antenna and multiple video outputs including:
Component video is an analog while DVI is digital. The Sony TV has a DVI input as well as component video. So far I can't really tell the difference in picture quality by just watching HDTV 1080i broadcasts if one is really better than the other. The cables for DVI are certainly more expensive ($99/6 foot length for the Monster brand from Magnolia HIFI) as of April 2003.
Here are some experiences, some problematic, but encouraging too.
Yes and it is getting better in 2004. But maybe not all broadcasts or possibly some only in non-HDTV format!
So far I have been able to copy TV programs like one always could for home use with an existing VHS tape deck or TiVO style DVR.. However the governmental agency that controls broadcast television in the United States also known as the FCC may adopt soon a proposal that will force consumer electronics to recognize a 'broadcast flag' in an ATSC signal and disable any non-copy protected output.
To copy an HDTV program you presently have a choice of a new form of VHS tape machines named 'D-VHS' or you can go with a PVR built from a PC such as MyHD HDTV PC Card.
However the best approach going forward in 2004 is to use a HD PVR system. This allows one to install one box instead of two (it does the function of a D-VHS tape deck AND has the built-in HD tuner. Zenith, owned by the Korean based company LG (aka Lucky Gold), was the first to release the 80 Gigabyte (~ 9 hours) hard disk recording system HDR230. If you use the Dish Network, then they have a new box called DishPlayer DVR 921 which will tune local HD over the air broadcasts as well as HD signals from satellite. Finally TiVO is supposed to have a satellite product soon having missed their delivery date announced last Jan 2003 for a HD standalone PVR and satellite PVR.
Here is useful article called ATSC/HDTV Video Capture 101 by SmC on the whole process and points to the avsforum as being the best place for information. Another useful covering most of the DTV/HDTV and recording aspects here Video Expert
With the Samsung TV tuner, there are issues according to Bowen Simmons,
D-VHS recording control works, but just barely.
There are quite a few issues here:
(1) Firewire recording ties up the device; you can't watch one
program while recording another, which precludes use of a scaler while recording. (2) The timed recording feature does not
support repeated events - it can't be programmed to record
every Tuesday at 10:00; it has to be re-set for each individual
recording, (3) the timed recording feature only works if the
receiver is turned off - if the receiver is accidentally left on,
the recording will fail, (4) the timer depends on the time
broadcast by the stations themselves - it can't be set manually -
and many stations do not bother to broadcast the correct
time (I have been trying to get the stations in my area to fix
their time broadcasts, and have had some success).
With regard to compatibility, I have the JVC HM-DH3000L D-VHS
deck and have not had any inter-operability problems.
Over the Firewire connection I could control, record, and
play back digital video and audio successfully and
without loss of picture quality.
Here is a July 2002 review of D-VHS VCRs. It doesn't mention the Samsung TV tuner which can connect via firewire/IEEE 1394 connectors.
In October 2003 I purchased a JVC D-VHS tape deck now that the street price is reasonable and connected it via firewire to the HDTV Samsung tuner. Audio output is routed to a Pioneer Elite receiver. Next I used component output to hook up the video to the receiver -- a total of three cable connections to make. What is nice is that you can put the tape deck remote in a drawer and forget it -- it isn't needed. The remote for the Samsung tuner controls the tape deck over the firewire connection and presents an on screen display shown below, Access to all the standard VCR controls (forward, rewind, stop, record) are provided on the remote as well as on screen.. It works well enough for me to record and watch full HD TV programs But one issue I found that wasn't mentioned in any critique of this tape deck was the fan noise! A fan extends from the rear of the unit and when it gets going, it is easily noticeable from six feet away. Too bad.
With the above setup, reception is fine for the following fourteen (14) stations nine (9) of which are Digital. These are the stations with are generally in the direction of 304 degrees magnetic north.
| Digital Channel | Call Sign | Affilliation | Signal Strength |
| 2-1 | KTVU-DT | FOX | |
| 4-1 | KRON-DT | IND | |
| 5-1 | KPIX-DT | CBS | |
| 7-1 | KGO-DT | ABC | |
| 9-1 | KQED-DT | PBS (HD Demo) | 7 bars |
| 9-2 | KQED-DT | PBS | |
| 11-1 | KNTV-DT | NBC | 5 bars |
| 20-1 | KBWB-DT | WB | |
| 45-1 | KBHK-DT | UPN |
| Analog Channel | Call Sign | Affilliation | ||
| 32-0 | KCET | PBS | ||
| 36-0 | KICU | IND | ||
| 38-0 | Shop at Home | |||
| 66-0 |
According to antennaweb, here are the channels I might be able to receive.
| Digital | Antenna Type | Call Sign | Channel | Network | City | State | Live Date | Compass Orientation | |
| green | KNTV-DT | 12 | NBC | San Jose | CA | Now Live | 160° | ||
| red | KDTV | 14 | UNI | San Francisco | CA | 342° | |||
| red | KBWB-DT | 19 | WB | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 304° | ||
| red | KRCB-DT | 23 | PBS | Cotati | CA | May 1 2003 | 318° | ||
| red | KGO-DT | 24 | ABC | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 304° | ||
| red | KTSF | 26 | IND | San Francisco | CA | 301° | |||
| red | KTSF-DT | 27 | IND | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 301° | ||
| red | KQED-DT | 30 | PBS | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 304° | ||
| red | KICU | 36 | IND | San Jose | CA | 343° | |||
| red | KKPX-DT | 41 | PAX | San Jose | CA | Now Live | 301° | ||
| red | KTLN-DT | 47 | IND | Novato | CA | Now Live | 313° | ||
| red | KSTS | 48 | TEL | San Jose | CA | 342° | |||
| red | KSTS-DT | 49 | TEL | San Jose | CA | Now Live | 342° | ||
| red | KTEH-DT | 50 | PBS | San Jose | CA | May 1 2003 | 343° | ||
| red | KDTV-DT | 51 | UNI | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 342° | ||
| red | KICU-DT | 52 | IND | San Jose | CA | Now Live | 343° | ||
| red | KTEH | 54 | PBS | San Jose | CA | 343° | |||
| blue | KSBW-DT | 10 | NBC | Salinas | CA | Now Live | 133° | ||
| blue | KNTV | 11 | NBC | San Jose | CA | 160° | |||
| blue | KAXT-CA | 22 | TBN | Santa Clara-san Jose | CA | 20° | |||
| blue | KBIT-CA | 28 | IND | San Francisco, Etc | CA | 343° | |||
| blue | KPIX-DT | 29 | CBS | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 304° | ||
| blue | KMTP-DT | 33 | IND | San Francisco | CA | May 1 2003 | 304° | ||
| blue | KFSF-DT | 34 | TFA | Vallejo | CA | May 1 2003 | 304° | ||
| blue | KCNS-DT | 39 | SAH | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 304° | ||
| blue | KCSM-DT | 43 | PBS | San Mateo | CA | May 1 2003 | 304° | ||
| blue | KBHK-DT | 45 | UPN | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 304° | ||
| blue | KTVU-DT | 56 | FOX | Oakland | CA | Now Live | 304° | ||
| blue | KRON-DT | 57 | IND | San Francisco | CA | Now Live | 304° | ||
| blue | KCSM | 60 | PBS | San Mateo | CA | 301° | |||
| blue | KFTL-DT | 62 | SAH | Stockton | CA | May 1 2004 | 341° | ||
| violet | KTVU | 2 | FOX | Oakland | CA | 304° | |||
| violet | KCRA | 3 | NBC | Sacramento | CA | 0° | |||
| violet | KRON | 4 | IND | San Francisco | CA | 304° | |||
| violet | KPIX | 5 | CBS | San Francisco | CA | 304° | |||
| violet | KGO | 7 | ABC | San Francisco | CA | 304° | |||
| violet | KQED | 9 | PBS | San Francisco | CA | 304° | |||
| violet | KBWB | 20 | WB | San Francisco | CA | 304° | |||
| violet | KKPX | 65 | PAX | San Jose | CA | 160° | |||
| violet | KTLN | 68 | IND | Novato | CA | 313° | |||
Instead of buying the Sony KE-32TS2 at $5,000 from stores like Good Guys use your head and get more for less. Start with a true HD capable TV tuner such as the Samsung SIR T165 at $550 and hook via your standard RGB cable (same one you use to connect a computer monitor to graphics card) to a plasma monitor such as the SONY PFM-32C1 at $3,380 which has better electronics than the KE-32TS2. Only this plasma has a cooling fan that can be annoying if you are an audiophile or generally listen to the volume at low decibel levels. And for audio, instead of the wimpy built-in TV speakers get full surround sound by adding an Onkyo Receiver SR-500 ($260) to drive a set of mini home theater speakers for 5.1 surround ($200). This system blows the doors off most standard TVs of even greater price or any prefab system in the $5k price range. With the $300+ money saved (before taxes and/or any shipping costs if you buy over the internet), throw in a learning remote for $150 to drive it as one integrated system.
If you live in an urban/suburban area and your TV viewing habits are mostly local stations, a DTV setup using a UHF/VHF antenna is a real option to consider. While up front costs are still high compared to what one would pay for initial satellite and cable service, the cost can be amortized in less than four years. And for broadcasts in HDTV, the picture beats DVD output hands down. (Note: HD-DVD is now on the horizon) But be prepared for a lot of sales pitches from cable and satellite companies which will not be interested telling you all the facts about OTA DTV. Presently they are using newspapers like Mercury News to broadcast their particular perspective as in these near worthless articles by Sam Diaz or Dawn C.Chmielewski . Yet there is some hope, the Merc continues to cover HD, and Michael Langberg delivers his conclusions on PVRs for HD his Jan 8, 2004 article entitled: HD TV when you want it.
Just remember OTA DTV works for plain old TVs, and there no need for cable or satellite if you already have an antenna and an existing TV. Don't believe me? Here is an example of a setup that consists of a Radio Shack Antenna VU-120XR (~$50) and a Samsung SIR-T351 (~$360) tuner and a simple PC Computer Monitor:
This setup is being installed in Denver, CO. Next read the same advice from Home Theater Magazine's Peter Putman in his article: "Got HDTV?"
This page is Copyright 2003 mrm@macfaden.com. All Rights Reserved.