HDTV Setup
Posted by Max Dunn Tue, 10 Jan 2006 06:50:00 GMT
HDTV (High Definition TV) is so cool, once you see it, you will never want to go back to regular TV. It is like the difference between listening to a weak radio station in the car that has a lot of static, and listening to a crystal-clear CD.
Watching Lost in HDTV, you can see the pores on the actors faces (luckily, there are some nice looking faces you don’t mind seeing close up) and the scenes of the ocean and jungle makes you feel like you are there in Hawaii with them (whoops, I mean some uncharted island) feeling the ocean breezes and tropical humidity.
We don’t watch any non-HD shows—it just isn’t the same. Conversely, there are some shows we watch just because they look gorgeous in HDTV, that we wouldn’t normally watch (like Las Vegas).
The kicker is that we don’t need to pay for cable to get HDTV; we just put on antenna on the roof and get all the local stations for free!
Now setting up an HDTV system is a little complicated, so here is some information on how to do it.
HDTV Tuner
Many TVs now come “HDTV Ready” which means they don’t have a HD Tuner built in. So you will need to get one, like the Samsung SIR-T451 HDTV tuner
DVI cable
These are usually pretty expensive, like $40 to $50 bucks, but are much better than using component cables. I did find a few that are around $10 and they should work fine too (see below). There are different types of DVI cables, and they will all work, but you only need the ?¢‚?¨??DVI-D Single Link?¢‚?¨? cable. The others, like ?¢‚?¨??DVI-D Dual Link?¢‚?¨? and ?¢‚?¨??DVI-I Single Link?¢‚?¨? or ?¢‚?¨??DVI-I Dual Link?¢‚?¨? will work too, but they are usually more expensive. You should be able to put the HTDV Tuner close to the TV, so get the shortest DVI-D cable that will reach between the HDTV Tuner and the TV. Here are some links:
Audio Cables
You will also need some audio cables to connect the sound from the HDTV Tuner to the TV. These are simple RCA connectors that you might already have for hooking up stereo gear, or can get them cheaply at Fry?¢‚?¨‚?¢s or Radio Shack.
Antenna
The issue with HDTV is that since it is digital, you will either get the channel or you won?¢‚?¨‚?¢t. Unlike analog TV that will just produce a grainy picture, if the digital signal is too weak, you won?¢‚?¨‚?¢t get anything. So I would recommend getting a UHF antenna on your roof for best reception. I would not recommend trying to put any antenna indoors or in an attic; the walls just cause too much interference. If you already have an antenna on your roof, it might work fine. Otherwise, I would recommend the one we use, the DB4 HDTV Antenna from Antennas Direct.
(Whatever you do, don?¢‚?¨‚?¢t buy any ?¢‚?¨??Terk?¢‚?¨? antennas, in real use people say they don?¢‚?¨‚?¢t work well at all).
Antenna mounting kit
With the above antenna, you will also need to get an antenna pole and mounting kit, which are available from Fry?¢‚?¨‚?¢s or Radio Shack.
Antenna Cable
You will need some RG6 antenna coax cable. Ideally, it should be less than 50 feet. Don?¢‚?¨‚?¢t worry about gold plating or anything fancy; just get the cheapest RG6 that is the right length. Antennas Direct has some for $20, Radio Shack has it for $17 and Fry?¢‚?¨‚?¢s has it for about $11