Digital broadcast TV is an improved method of TV broadcasting which offers cable TV picture quality and additional channels for free over the airwaves. In February 2009, all TV stations in the US will switch over to this new standard, however most stations have already started digital broadcasting.
What’s in it for you?
1. First of all, it’s free. Unlike cable, there are no monthly fees (even for HD broadcasts)
2. Quality. If you are in range and can receive a digital channel, reception is typically perfect. No snow, grainyness or fiddling around with rabbit ears to get the perfect picture. Since digital broadcast TV is less compressed than many digital cable signals, quality can actually be much better than traditional cable TV.
3. Additional network channels. Since digital broadcast is more efficient, networks have the ability to broadcast multiple channels. For example, a local PBS affiliate can choose to provide 3 channels round the clock. - one for small children, one for older kids and one for adults. (This was a nice surprise, since we found many new kids shows that we couldn’t pick up before going digital).
What equipment do I need?
You can use any type of TV to receive digital broadcasts, even that old one with the rabbit ears you got for $20 at a garage sale.
LCD and Plasma TV owners: There is a good chance that your TV’s can already receive digital broadcast TV. If your manual says ATSC tuner or HD ready, you can just plug your antenna directly into your tv and start receiving free digital tv broadcasts, many of them in HD.
Everyone else: You will need a digital TV receiver to enable your ‘old’ TV to work with digital broadcast TV. This device looks and acts like a small cable box and plugs into your TV set. These boxes sell new for about $60, but can commonly be purchased for less than $20 if you apply for a $40 coupon from the governent.
Here’s a picture of the one we are using, a Zenith DTT900 which cost $19 at Circuit City…
Digital Converter Box
You’ll also need an antenna to receive digital broadcasts. You will probably want to buy a low cost set top UHF/VHF Antenna. After reading many online reviews, we picked up this one at Radio Shack for $16 and have been very pleased with its performance…
A simple set top antenna
Note: If you are very far away from most transmitters (30-70 miles), you may need to pickup something more powerful. The good news is than even top of the line long range antennas usually cost less than you would spend for two months of cable service.
13 comments ↓
Greetings cancelcable.com,
All I can say is WOW! Nice job laying the facts out so everyone can understand how great over the air digital TV reception really is.
I am placing a link on our website back to Cancel Cable.com on our TV antenna page at http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/1136892.html
Keep up the good work!
Take Care
Denny Duplessis
TV Antenna Source
“Helping America Watch Free TV”
Thanks Denny!
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Wow so I can get 20 channels instead of paying a monthly fee for about 100 channels which about 50 of them are HD.
Great info here! I am willing to say that over 90% of pay TV provider customers don’t know they are being charged $10-$15/month EXTRA for their local channels when they can get them for free AND receive them better due to using a DTV antenna and getting those channels in a “true” uncompressed signal!
Very well done website. Easy to navigate. The pictures are most helpful to those of us that aren’t hardware savvy.
Thanks for all the valuable info…I’ve been searching to an alternative to satelite dish that’s affordable, thanks to you and your suggestions I know we’ll be able to save $$$!
Can any one tell me how to hook up my legacy 12 year old Proscan 36 inch TV? It doesn’t have a VGA connector but it does have RCA connectors. Later we’re going to upgrade to an LCD TV? Do I string a super long VGA cable from my laptop to the LCD TV when we get it? The Proscan has an S-video input.
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I’m a computer geek, and no doubt ahead of the curve, but I cancelled my cable service abut two years ago. Mostly for the following reasons:
1. I save lots of money. Cable prices are ridiculous! I could see maybe $30-$40 dollars a month, but there are people paying $100+
2. I’m happy with the the channels I get for free. I find if I do so desire to “fiddle with my rabbit ears,” I get even more channels. I live right in the Jersey Suburbs of NYC, so I can pick up NJ and NY channels.
3. The picture quality of broadcast hi-def, *Cleans cable’s clock.* Period. No comparison. “Cable hi-def” looks like fuzzy, grainy, crap compared to broadcast 1080i hi-def.
4. I have a Sony Vaio laptop with a beautiful screen for playing online movies and watching shows online. I also bought a VGA cable, since my flatscreen TV has a VGA/PC input. In this case, I can output movies from my laptop, to my TV screen.
Thank you soooo much for creating an entire website to what I have been trying to convince my husband of for over a year. Our cable costs $90 a month and that is for the most basic cable and the slowest internet! Due to our busy lives, we rarely watch television as it is. We usually miss our favorite shows and catch them on Hulu anyway. We have been throwing money away like we have more than we know what to do with! He’s finally on board and I really cannot wait to stick it to the cable company
I have not had cable in years because I got bored with the programming. The few channels I do like, I watch online at no cost, when I choose which makes it nice.
Thank you for putting together this informative site to help people with a better alternative to cable because many are unable to afford the high fees cable providers charge monthly, ecspecially with so many out of work now.
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