HDTV Basics
When
speaking about HDTV in the US, getting the crystal clear picture can be
very muddled. There are currently three ways consumers get their
TV signals: over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts, cable, and satellite.
Of the three, the OTA broadcast is the only free public service
available since the conception of television to anyone with an antenna.
While the pay services like Cable and Satellite provides
the equipment and labor for subscribers, understanding
the free OTA service is a do-it-yourself affair.
Virtually all TV's on the market includes a dual
ATSC/QAM receiver, the effort could be as easy as
attaching an antenna or using an existing cable
connection right to the back of the TV. The more
difficult explanation is that if you're not close to a
metropolitan area, a little homework is in order to
locate the broadcast tower distance and purchasing the
right antenna designed for the task.
For most viewers in the US, broadcast markets offer the
national broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS) as well
as local, syndicated, religious, ethnic, and even paid
video-on-demand streaming service planned that varies by market. The
free nature of the service poses a dilemma for equipment
manufacturers wanting to fill the hole of lack in
recording devices. The high bit-rate digital
streams require large storage space to make it useful as
a digital video recorder (DVR). This often forces
the consumer to seek Cable or Satellite service to
obtain a DVR capable set-top-box, which also offers
hundreds of channels and proprietary services like
sports, premium movie channels, and streaming
video-on-demand (VOD) services. But for a very
casual TV viewer happy with the local stations, there
are ways to record OTA HDTV for viewing flexibility.
To
locate what services are available in your area, visit
Antennaweb.org or
TitanTV.com. For
the sake of discussion, we will cover only the public
OTA system, but keep in mind that cable services also
must provide a basic free HDTV service via the cable
that has been ran into a home, referred to as
unencrypted QAM service. What is offered via the
commercial services vary from market to market, so
consult your local cable company to obtain the
information.
To
complete the discussion about HDTV connectivity, below are the paid
service options to obtain HDTV.
Satellite HDTV
Service
Satellite services install a small dish outside of your
home and offer set-top-boxes which can be bought or
leased with or without recording capabilities.
There are additional charges for the ability to record
shows on a DVR.
Cable
HDTV Service
Cable is
a little more complex. Below are several options to receive cable
signals:
HDTV
Cable tuners built into HDTV. These tuners are capable of
receiving unencrypted cable channels, but won't be adequate for premium
subscription services which will require a set-top-box or cable card.
If your TV has a cable card slot, a cable card can be leased from the
cable service to obtain premium services.
Cable
Set-top-Box lease or purchase. As often is the case, your cable
company will offer to sell or lease you the cable box to receive premium
services. Cable operators also offer DVR devices at additional
charge.
PC
tuners with Cable Card. These days, there are PC
based cards that can receive premium cable services with the use of Cable Card
that is provided by the cable operator. Using a PC allows you to
schedule and record your shows often on multiple channels and store the
signal on your own hard drive along with all the other video, music, and
photos files for viewing at a later time. With advances made on a PC platform using Windows Media
Center, today's HTPCs can offer a simple interface that's robust and
multi-faceted for use as a whole home library, but there are
pre-requisites for this performance. A good place to start your
research is Wikipedia
Cable Card info.
-Kei
Clark
Updated 12/12/2011
More on free-broadcast OTA
Recording
