Despite early misconceptions, this didn't necessarily mean you needed a new TV set to continue watching television. And you certainly didn't have to have an HDTV set. In fact, unless your television has a built-in digital tuner, receiving DTV requires only a digital-to-analog converter to turn the digital signal into an analog signal that your current TV set can show. While this does reduce the quality of the original digital signal, you can still watch all available over-the-air broadcast TV in your area without a new TV purchase.
How to View HD Without an HDTV
Just because you've purchased that nice new HDTV for your living room doesn't mean you automatically have HDTV quality in all your television viewing. The HDTV label on the new display tells you that the set is capable of receiving high-definition digital television signals and presenting them to you in their fullest quality. However, not every signal the set receives will necessarily be HD.
As described in How HDMI Works, HDMI is just one of several methods you can use to connect your home-theater components. Some connections, like component video convert digital signals to analog to carry it across the cable to your TV. If you're happy with the quality from these cables, or if you have older devices that can only use these types of cables, you can still use them to view HDTV video on your HDTV set.
When it comes to your HDTV purchase, bigger numbers don't always make a better TV viewing experience. Before you determine if you're getting a good deal based on the screen size and resolution, compare those numbers to some of the facts here.
Also, your HDTV will scale an incoming TV signal to match its native resolution. For digital sources like DVDs or HDTV broadcasts over digital cable, this digital signal is readily scalable, along with more available data to keep the picture sharp. However, if you're receiving an analog signal, or you're viewing a channel or show that was not originally in digital quality, you can't make up for the lower-quality picture with a higher resolution TV screen. In fact, when your HDTV scales the picture to a larger screen or higher resolution, you have an even worse viewing experience for that same broadcast than you would on a smaller, lower-resolution screen.
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The best TV antennas let you watch local news and sports without paying for a cable subscription, or they can supplement services like Sling TV with content from stations like FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC and more. If you're a cord-cutter or a cord-never, that means you can keep the entertainment flowing without hurting your bank account.
So how do we know which ones are the best? Our TV antenna reviews combine careful testing and hands-on evaluation to find the best TV antennas available, from basic indoor antennas to amplified models and larger outdoor antennas. We're continuously testing new models, too, to make sure there's nothing newer that's surpassed any of the older antennas on this list.
Our budget pick is the 1byone Amplified HDTV Antenna. At just $12, it's a great option for folks who don't need a lot of range and the low price is great - though, there are also plenty of great reviews for the U MUST HAVE Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna (opens in new tab), which is often available for under $30.
For a simple indoor antenna that offers everything you need to cut the cord, the 1byone Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna offers a 50-mile range and included amplifier, all for a fairly reasonable price. With slick packaging and a basic black design, it's not only an Amazon best-seller, but it's also one of the best TV antennas we've reviewed.
Made for use inside and out, the Antop AT-800SBS HD Smart Panel offers some of the best performance we've seen, easily topping many of the indoor/outdoor models we've reviewed. And with an adjustable amplifier, included mounting hardware and optional FM connection for radio, it's a versatile best HD antenna option for anyone who's serious about cord-cutting.
While its aesthetics may leave something to be desired, the ClearStream MAX-V is a very capable antenna that delivers more stations than even competing amplified antennas, even models costing much more. If you want to improve over-the-air TV reception, it's one of the best TV antennas we've reviewed.
With a 17-inch wide side-by-side design, the Antop SBS-301 is essentially twice the size of typical flat indoor HDTV antennas. But it also does more than most TV antennas, doubling as an FM radio antenna, complete with a second output to connect to your sound system. With a simple two-sided design that's white on one side and black on the other, you should be able to set it up easily without disrupting your home decor much.
Location and range: If you're in or near a city, there's a good chance you can make do with a small indoor antenna, since you'll have several stations within a 10 or 20 mile radius that can be pulled in without a big aerial or powered amplifier. If you're more than 30 miles from your local broadcast tower, you'll want to step up to an amplified model. Any antenna that's rated for 50 miles or more will either be a large outdoor unit, or come with an amplifier to boost the signal it gets, if not both.
While streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max may be taking a more prominent place in the living room, there's still room for over-the-air (OTA) broadcast TV. Whether you want free access to local news or just want to get more sports without shelling out for another subscription service, an HDTV antenna can still provide plenty of great stuff to watch, and having a smart TV or one of the best streaming devices doesn't prevent using an antenna.
And several streaming devices are built with OTA content in mind. The Amazon Fire TV Cube, for example, can switch over to your TV's built-in tuner seamlessly, without having to swap TV inputs or juggle extra remote controls. You can even get something like the Amazon Fire TV Recast, a DVR that lets you record OTA content, and enjoy it all using the same Fire TV interface your TV might already be using.
All of the TV antennas we review are tested in the same location. Each antenna is connected to the same TV, so the TV tuner remains consistent, and each one is placed in the same position to generate comparable results.
In 1983, the International Telecommunication Union's radio telecommunications sector (ITU-R) set up a working party (IWP11/6) with the aim of setting a single international HDTV standard. One of the thornier issues concerned a suitable frame/field refresh rate, the world already having split into two camps, 25/50 Hz and 30/60 Hz, largely due to the differences in mains frequency. The IWP11/6 working party considered many views and throughout the 1980s served to encourage development in a number of video digital processing areas, not least conversion between the two main frame/field rates using motion vectors, which led to further developments in other areas. While a comprehensive HDTV standard was not in the end established, agreement on the aspect ratio was achieved.[citation needed]
Initially the existing 5:3 aspect ratio had been the main candidate but, due to the influence of widescreen cinema, the aspect ratio 16:9 (1.78) eventually emerged as being a reasonable compromise between 5:3 (1.67) and the common 1.85 widescreen cinema format. An aspect ratio of 16:9 was duly agreed upon at the first meeting of the IWP11/6 working party at the BBC's Research and Development establishment in Kingswood Warren. The resulting ITU-R Recommendation ITU-R BT.709-2 ("Rec. 709") includes the 16:9 aspect ratio, a specified colorimetry, and the scan modes 1080i (1,080 actively interlaced lines of resolution) and 1080p (1,080 progressively scanned lines). The British Freeview HD trials used MBAFF, which contains both progressive and interlaced content in the same encoding.[citation needed]
It also includes the alternative 14401152 HDMAC scan format. (According to some reports, a mooted 750-line (720p) format (720 progressively scanned lines) was viewed by some at the ITU as an enhanced television format rather than a true HDTV format,[33] and so was not included, although 19201080i and 1280720p systems for a range of frame and field rates were defined by several US SMPTE standards.)[citation needed]
Despite delays in some countries,[46] the number of European HD channels and viewers has risen steadily since the first HDTV broadcasts, with SES's annual Satellite Monitor market survey for 2010 reporting more than 200 commercial channels broadcasting in HD from Astra satellites, 185 million HD capable TVs sold in Europe (60 million in 2010 alone), and 20 million households (27% of all European digital satellite TV homes) watching HD satellite broadcasts (16 million via Astra satellites).[47]
The Freeview HD service currently contains 13 HD channels (as of April 2016[update]) and was rolled out region by region across the UK in accordance with the digital switchover process, finally being completed in October 2012. However, Freeview HD is not the first HDTV service over digital terrestrial television in Europe; Italy's Rai HD channel started broadcasting in 1080i on April 24, 2008, using the DVB-T transmission standard.[citation needed] 2ff7e9595c
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