WHAT WILL THE QUALITY OF OTA HDTV BE IN CITIES WITH LARGE BUILDINGS?
This question was posted by a blogger.com member named Steve in a recent comment; my thanks to him for that great question. This is a big concern for some since city-dwellers live in buildings surrounded by taller buildings that may block the off-air signals.
In areas like these close to the TV broadcast towers, the signals may be strong, but there is also the issue of "multi-path", or, reflected signals that interfere with the line of sight signal and cause "phase variations" in the signal going into the box. Some of the newest DTV tuners, which bloggers and reviewers may mention have a "5th generation or higher" DTV chip set, are supposedly very capable of correcting these multi-path phase variations to allow for a good demodulation of the DTV signal, and a great picture with few breakups (artifacts). However, it also helps to have a directional antenna instead of rabbit-ear or loop antennas that can pick up signals from both directions. Directional antennas focus their reception energy in a single direction, reducing multi-path signals on their way to the DTV tuner, and making its job easier.
Using a directional antenna also allows city dwellers to have options in pointing their antenna. For example, if a resident has a tall building blocking the line-of-sight signal to the point where the received signal (if any) is too weak to result in a picture, the user can simply redirect the antenna and instead pick up a reflected signal. Signals can be reflected off metal structures, like a cell tower, a lamppost, or even a steel-framed building from behind. In these cases, the city dweller may find the antenna needed to be pointed 50, 90, possibly 180 degrees off line of sight to get the best signals and the best DTV picture.
So, if you happen to read this and are having issues getting a DTV picture because a large building is in the way of the direction recommended by www.antennaweb.org or www.tvfool.com, consider a directional indoor antenna (like the Silver Sensor, a TERK with a similar look of the Silver Sensor, or a Winegard SharpShooter), and then try it in different directions, because then the best signal might turn up in the direction you didn't expect.
Of course, if there are few obstructions in the line-of-sight direction, then that is the direction to aim the antenna.
This question was posted by a blogger.com member named Steve in a recent comment; my thanks to him for that great question. This is a big concern for some since city-dwellers live in buildings surrounded by taller buildings that may block the off-air signals.
In areas like these close to the TV broadcast towers, the signals may be strong, but there is also the issue of "multi-path", or, reflected signals that interfere with the line of sight signal and cause "phase variations" in the signal going into the box. Some of the newest DTV tuners, which bloggers and reviewers may mention have a "5th generation or higher" DTV chip set, are supposedly very capable of correcting these multi-path phase variations to allow for a good demodulation of the DTV signal, and a great picture with few breakups (artifacts). However, it also helps to have a directional antenna instead of rabbit-ear or loop antennas that can pick up signals from both directions. Directional antennas focus their reception energy in a single direction, reducing multi-path signals on their way to the DTV tuner, and making its job easier.
Using a directional antenna also allows city dwellers to have options in pointing their antenna. For example, if a resident has a tall building blocking the line-of-sight signal to the point where the received signal (if any) is too weak to result in a picture, the user can simply redirect the antenna and instead pick up a reflected signal. Signals can be reflected off metal structures, like a cell tower, a lamppost, or even a steel-framed building from behind. In these cases, the city dweller may find the antenna needed to be pointed 50, 90, possibly 180 degrees off line of sight to get the best signals and the best DTV picture.
So, if you happen to read this and are having issues getting a DTV picture because a large building is in the way of the direction recommended by www.antennaweb.org or www.tvfool.com, consider a directional indoor antenna (like the Silver Sensor, a TERK with a similar look of the Silver Sensor, or a Winegard SharpShooter), and then try it in different directions, because then the best signal might turn up in the direction you didn't expect.
Of course, if there are few obstructions in the line-of-sight direction, then that is the direction to aim the antenna.
posted by Derek (IA) | 8:41 PM
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