HDTV ATSC Tuner


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Hi guys, I need to purchase an HDTV tomorrow. Out of the two I consider, one has ATSC tuner, the other one doesn't.

What is ATSC tuner? and what does it do?

I currently have basic cable service from comcast. Can HDTV work with this service out of the box? If not, what should I buy to make it work?

Thanks in advance for your advice,

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Mine is 95***

Do I need ATSC to view cable?

If I choose to go with ATSC tuner and antenna, how many channel on average will I get at that zip code?

Edited by Positron_Laser
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You dont need ATSC for basic cable you only need ATSC for "free HDTV". As far as how many channels depends where you live whats in your way and where you can stick an antenna. You can pinpoint your location at http://www.antennaweb.org. After that see what way you would point antenna and how far it is and where you can locate it. antennaweb.org is pretty helpful but not perfect.

I checked you area code seems iffy need more details. any tall buildings around ect...

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Thanks for replying,

There are no tall building around

By the way, this is the 2 HDTV I am considering:

Olevia 37" 337H for 700

Emprex 32" for 500

Which one in your opinion will be better?

I kinda lean toward the emprex because of the ATSC tuner even though I know the picture quality not gonna be as good. I also research a little bit and know that I need NTSC tuner to use cable without the cable top-box. Does any of the above TV has a built-in NTSC tuner. I don't really want to pay more after buying these HDTV.

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Keep in mind ATSC includes 8VSB (free off the air), QAM64-256 (unencrypted cable). So if you have unencrypted cable available, then you can watch HDTV directly without going through a set top box (which will need to have a ATSC tuner and HDTV output).

NTSC is in virtually all TV's ever made in North America, and its quite old (and it will look horrible on a HDTV)

Edited by zivan56
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Thanks for replying,

There are no tall building around

By the way, this is the 2 HDTV I am considering:

Olevia 37" 337H for 700

Emprex 32" for 500

Which one in your opinion will be better?

I kinda lean toward the emprex because of the ATSC tuner even though I know the picture quality not gonna be as good. I also research a little bit and know that I need NTSC tuner to use cable without the cable top-box. Does any of the above TV has a built-in NTSC tuner. I don't really want to pay more after buying these HDTV.

Thats tough. The Olevia is tunerless but I would go with it over emprex. If you cant afford the Olevia with a tuner (you can pick up an ATSC for under $100) I would save up or wait/look for something else.

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Oh, Ok, thanks, so I can use the cable service I have on the Olevia one without ATSC tuner, right?

This is really a tough choice to make:

One has ATSC tuner and cheaper but poorer picture quality while the other is bigger, much better picture quality, also pricier but tunnerless.

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There is a world of difference between ATSC and NTSC. If you have any cable service in the US, you should have free ATSC (High Definition) channels (ABC, Fox, etc) included, no matter what package you get. If you aren't going to have an ATSC tuner, you might as well keep that old TV, as NTSC (standard definition) will look horrible. ATSC signals will look way better, no matter how crappy the TV with ATSC built in is.

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Hi guys, I need to purchase an HDTV tomorrow. Out of the two I consider, one has ATSC tuner, the other one doesn't.

What is ATSC tuner? and what does it do?

I currently have basic cable service from comcast. Can HDTV work with this service out of the box? If not, what should I buy to make it work?

Thanks in advance for your advice,

ATSC is over the air (antenna) digital, if you have digital cable then you need a QAM tuner but this will only get you unencrypted channels (ask your cable company what those are) all digital cable companies send their digital signals in QAM encluding the program guide! so if you have a QAM tuner you have the same functionality as a cable box, minus the RSA encryption so you coulld get a bunch of channels technically with out ever buying digital cable, I know comcast where I am sends their digital channels down even to basic subscribers, and you can pick up the QAM ones perfectly fine... but what you really pay for is the encrypted channels because you need a cable box for those...

Keep in mind ATSC includes 8VSB (free off the air), QAM64-256 (unencrypted cable). So if you have unencrypted cable available, then you can watch HDTV directly without going through a set top box (which will need to have a ATSC tuner and HDTV output).

NTSC is in virtually all TV's ever made in North America, and its quite old (and it will look horrible on a HDTV)

ATSC doesn't pick up QAM256 at least from all the tuners ive seen that are strictly ATSC, I've seen this only with dual ATSC/QAM tuners... or seperate QAM boxes

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In short, not really. My Philips HDTV has this feature, but the picture still looks quite bad (washed out/fuzzy) compared to high definition content. I still prefer watching NTSC signals on my old Sony CRT TV, as it looks quite a bit better on it.

ATSC doesn't pick up QAM256 at least from all the tuners ive seen that are strictly ATSC, I've seen this only with dual ATSC/QAM tuners... or seperate QAM boxes

Do you know the difference between the two? One is a audio/video format, the other is a type of modulation. VSB = vestigal sideband, QAM = Quadrature amplitude modulation.

QAM256 is considered standard, and most of the TVs made today should have it.

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In short, not really. My Philips HDTV has this feature, but the picture still looks quite bad (washed out/fuzzy) compared to high definition content. I still prefer watching NTSC signals on my old Sony CRT TV, as it looks quite a bit better on it.

Do you know the difference between the two? One is a audio/video format, the other is a type of modulation. VSB = vestigal sideband, QAM = Quadrature amplitude modulation.

QAM256 is considered standard, and most of the TVs made today should have it.

yes I know the difference :rolleyes: I am just saying that I have had ATSC tuners that don't pick up channels that are simulcast on a QAM range.. when it was just a ATSC tuner only, it would only pick up antenna ATSC channels (good example of this is the Dell W4200HD screen, its ATSC but absoutly will not show channels broadcast on cable over QAM) but then we have another Sharp TV that is a ATSC / QAM tuner and it will receive the channels that our cable company (comcast) broadcasts on QAM 256 ranges... then we have an external ATSC tuner, same problem again, wont pick up the digital channels over cable, Motorola says because it doesn't understand QAM at all just ATSC, but ontop of that we also have a ATSC/QAM external tuner, gets all the channels over digital cable fine!

as for how QAM divides up frequencies and sends channels over them I understand that perfectly fine.... I'm just trying to say stuff in a way people would understand it with out getting into how to do phase shifting, wave/frequency multiplexing, and all that fun stuff that would confuse the heck out of some people...

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Thanks for replying guys, you have been very helpful.

So the bottom line, which one should I go with? the Emprex 32" with ATSC tunner or the Olevia 37" with no ATSC tunner?

If you guys own these, please provide your personal experience/review. It will be very helpful, thanks.

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^^ Sounds like you are having signal issues, as my HDTV picks up QAM256 channels without problems (~100, mostly encrypted)

everyone always blames it on the signal :p it's not a signal issue, our signal is above what is considered "good" it's +4db downstream and 51 dbMv upstream which is beyond perfect... you have to realize that older ATSC tuners did not pick up QAM broadcast channels at all, just what ever was on a specific channel frequency... mainly OTA channels only... newer tuners are the ones that can get ATSC signals over QAM... if your tuner cant see QAM modulation, then it wont pick up the signals if they are sent over QAM...

BTW what HDTV do you have that can pick up the QAM ones? just currious... we just ordered a new one with NTSC/ATSC/QAM Tuners hasn't came yet...

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BTW what HDTV do you have that can pick up the QAM ones? just currious... we just ordered a new one with NTSC/ATSC/QAM Tuners hasn't came yet...

Philips 32" Widescreen LCD HDTV (32PF7421D/37)

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Philips 32" Widescreen LCD HDTV (32PF7421D/37)

AH see right there it even says it in its specs "Integrated ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners", by older TV's and boxes are just listed as "Integrated ATSC/NTSC" :) do they don't understand QAM one bit which is why we cant see the digital cable channels on them. which is definatly something you have to look out for when buying

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That's why you have to check out spec's online... in our local Sears and Best Buy they never write "QAM" on any of them either but if you check out the specs online they tell you if they have it or not, in the store no one seems to know what it has... always best to research tv's online before buying in a store anymore

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