HDTV Help

[tailes151]

I'm not sure if I should have put this here in video, or in off topic, but this seems like a good place to start.

First of all, I know nothing about HDTV's besides the picture is supposed to be better than a regular tv. I got an LCD HDTV about a year ago, and have been using it primarily for DVD's and games and it seems to work pretty well with the exception of a little bleeding. Now that I'm in the college dorms and the hockey season is near, I'm looking to watch the games in HD. I know the TV isn't all that great ( Kenmark 15KN10E5 ) but I'd like to get the best out of it I can.

Do I need to buy some sort of HD receiver? All the channels (cable and local) are coming through the basic antennae in the wall. Again, I don't know crap about TV's so this probably sounds retarded.

Thanks for the helps guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[SynthDude2001]

More than likely you're just getting analog cable out of the wall jack. Sometimes local HD channels are passed unencrypted too, but your TV would need a QAM demodulator/tuner to receive them. The easiest way would be to sign up for an HD cable package with your local cable company (you'd get a digital cable box to decrypt the broadcasts); alternately you could pick up your local HD channels over the air fo free (assuming you're close enough to the broadcast towers, and that your TV has an ATSC tuner), but of course all the cable-only HD channels won't be available that way.

Edit: If you're in the dorms this may be difficult (getting an HD cable package, that is). I had a QAM-capable PCI HDTV tuner for over a year in the dorms here, and I was lucky in that all the locals in HD were available unencrypted on the cable line here. Then this summer the university cheaped out on the cable contract for the dorms and switched to some fly-by-night company no one's ever heard of, and they don't do HD at all. Your only option in such a case is OTA (antenna), and depending on your location and surroundings that may not be easy at all. I sold my tuner a few months back because it would have been pointless to keep it when I can no longer receive any channels

 

[tailes151]

Oh, I'm not looking to sign up for a package or anything right now, I just want to be able to get the free HDTV transmissions in HD. They did about 1 of 3 games last year in HD. I have no idea how far away from the broadcast towers I am for local but 90% of the games I'll be watching on cable through altitude.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: tailes151
Oh, I'm not looking to sign up for a package or anything right now, I just want to be able to get the free HDTV transmissions in HD. They did about 1 of 3 games last year in HD. I have no idea how far away from the broadcast towers I am for local but 90% of the games I'll be watching on cable through altitude.

In that case, you can enter your address at antennaweb.org to get a listings of your local broadcast towers, along with their RF channels, directions, and distances from your location. If you post/PM me a listing of your antennaweb results I may be able to help you to determine what kind of antenna would work for you, or whether you'd be able to receive the channels at all.

Also, I'm not familiar with the TV model you posted. Do you happen to know if it has a built-in ATSC tuner? If it doesn't, you will need either an external set-top HDTV tuner or an internal PC tuner (and you'd then connect your PC to your TV).