Are all digital receivers created equally?

I see you can get low-res TV's, Hi-Def TV's, and VCR/DVD combos at the
local Big Box Marts with digital receivers built in. In fact, they no
longer sell analog only TV's.

1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands that
are clearly better than others?

2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon that will make them
obsolete and useless or is the current digital broadcast standard
going to be in place until the sun burns out?

3. Assuming many of the VCR/DVD combos are cheap POS units, is it
possible/practical to cannibalize the digital tuner from them?

wrote:

I see you can get low-res TV's, Hi-Def TV's, and VCR/DVD combos at the
local Big Box Marts with digital receivers built in. In fact, they no
longer sell analog only TV's.

1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands that
are clearly better than others?

2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon that will make them
obsolete and useless or is the current digital broadcast standard
going to be in place until the sun burns out?

3. Assuming many of the VCR/DVD combos are cheap POS units, is it
possible/practical to cannibalize the digital tuner from them?

I think there are some "cable-only" tuners that won't pick up OTA.

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On Wed, 2 Jan 2008 19:58:16 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I see you can get low-res TV's, Hi-Def TV's, and VCR/DVD combos at the
local Big Box Marts with digital receivers built in. In fact, they no
longer sell analog only TV's.

1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands that
are clearly better than others?

Dunno. There's probably only two or three options for the core chips,
but there can still be variations in the quality of the rest of the
unit. I've seen virtually no discussion of any such issues.


2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon that will make them
obsolete and useless or is the current digital broadcast standard
going to be in place until the sun burns out?

No, and no.

Likely Internet download will change everything within five or ten
years. Actually, if you like pirated stuff, it's already changing
everything.


3. Assuming many of the VCR/DVD combos are cheap POS units, is it
possible/practical to cannibalize the digital tuner from them?

Why?

The cheapo-converter boxes will hit the streets shortly for about $60,
and you get a $40 coupon from the government. You can buy tuners to
jam in a PC for under $100. Just what do you have in mind?

J.

On Jan 2, 7:58 pm, wrote:
I see you can get low-res TV's, Hi-Def TV's, and VCR/DVD combos at the
local Big Box Marts with digital receivers built in. In fact, they no
longer sell analog only TV's.

1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands that
are clearly better than others?

2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon that will make them
obsolete and useless or is the current digital broadcast standard
going to be in place until the sun burns out?

3. Assuming many of the VCR/DVD combos are cheap POS units, is it
possible/practical to cannibalize the digital tuner from them?

You can get digital tuners on the surplus market (ebay),. A friend has
a Samsung that had HDMI, but also can drive a standard PC monitor.

On Jan 2, 10:58*pm, wrote:
I see you can get low-res TV's, Hi-Def TV's, and VCR/DVD combos at the
local Big Box Marts with digital receivers built in. In fact, they no
longer sell analog only TV's.

The biggest trouble were clearance sales, where people were getting
great deals on analog TVs. Seems like a ripoff now.

1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands that
are clearly better than others?

The major thing I'm aware of is tuning. Let's say you got analog 2,4,
and 7. The digital channels are different. In Detroit its 58, 45, and
41 respectively. After a digital channel search, you should be okay
with using the old analog numbers 2, 4, and 7, although my TV will
show analog 7, and I'll have to channel up to 7-1. Without the search,
you have to input the digital channel-- but some tuners will know it's
digital right away if I enter 41, while others will need a dot or dash
button -/. , to enter the subchannel. That button is located where the
# sign is on a telephone pad.

Usually, the lowest subchannel is the HD and -2, -3, etc., up to 6 are
the extra subchannels. But HD is actually found on 41-3 where I'm at,
so depending on the tuner, I may have to enter that instead of 41-1.

Sounds complicated, but the subchannels have almost doubled the amount
of free programming that I can get, and most tuners learn how to
simplify the process for you.

2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon that will make them
obsolete and useless or is the current digital broadcast standard
going to be in place until the sun burns out?

They may up the HD standard for the home theater geeks, but SD should
be fine. If the future allows for more data compression, there'd just
end up being more subchannels.

3. Assuming many of the VCR/DVD combos are cheap POS units, is it
possible/practical to cannibalize the digital tuner from them?

If they have them, why not? But I think that digital tuners have only
recently come down in price, so unless you paid an extra chunk of
change for the top of the line, I'm not sure if it would be equipped.
That -/. button is the quickest way to check, because you know you'll
need that.

On Jan 2, 7:58*pm, wrote:
I see you can get low-res TV's, Hi-Def TV's, and VCR/DVD combos at the
local Big Box Marts with digital receivers built in. In fact, they no
longer sell analog only TV's.

1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands that
are clearly better than others?

2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon that will make them
obsolete and useless or is the current digital broadcast standard
going to be in place until the sun burns out?

3. Assuming many of the VCR/DVD combos are cheap POS units, is it
possible/practical to cannibalize the digital tuner from them?

-------------------------
If you want to buy a full HD OTA tuner, get the Samsung.

If you want a 480i only converter box bought through the government
coupon program, get the Zenith as it has the best chip.

Christopher

On Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:58:16 -0800, muzician21 wrote:

1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands that
are clearly better than others?

They pretty much all do the same thing. The ones I use are 7 year old
design and they work fine for me. Newer tuners may work a little better
under multipath but I don't have that problem.

2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon that will make them
obsolete and useless or is the current digital broadcast standard going
to be in place until the sun burns out?

ATSC will probably be here for at least 20 years. Consider NTSC is going
on about 70 years old.

3. Assuming many of the VCR/DVD combos are cheap POS units, is it
possible/practical to cannibalize the digital tuner from them?

Not practical. They would only fit back in a same model unit. You can get
PC tuners cheap. I've got 6 in my system and the last one I bought I got
for $17.50 (ATSC only).

cross posting removed

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In article
,
wrote:

2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon

If you're jumping on the latest and greatest bandwagon, you might look
into 120 Hz.

1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands
that are clearly better than others?

When you say "digital receiver", I can't help but think of an audio
component. You mean a "TV set", I assume.

Most sets can display any format (720p, 1080i, 1080p). However, the
less-expensive sets have a native resolution of only 720p, and convert 1080
inputs to 720p.

To avoid obsolescence, your set should be able handle 1080p natively, and be
able to display 24fps directly, without conversion.

Sony seems to have the best LCD sets, Pioneer and Panasonic the best plasma
sets. Look at Consumer Reports, the on-line reviews, and various magazine
reviews. One of the magazines (I forget which) had a detailed study of
whether particular sets properly supported deinterlacing, upconversion, and
so forth.


2. Is there any "next big thing" on the horizon that will make them
obsolete and useless or is the current digital broadcast standard
going to be in place until the sun burns out?

The Japanese are working on video systems with twice the horizontal and
vertical resolution of the current standards. It will be many years before
they come to market -- if at all. Note the relative "failure" of SACD/DVD-A
and Blu-ray/HD DVD. People are generally happy with what they already have.
It takes time for the public to "digest" technological advances and desire
something better.

The current NTSC standard has been around 60 years and -- used well -- can
still produce excellent image quality. It's likely the current HD standard
will be around at least 20 years, and likely longer.

As for the specific flat-panel technology, there are two display
technologies that might conceivably displace LCD and plasma. Organic
light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have appeared in a few consumer products
(cameras and cell phones), but don't seem to be making progress in TV. The
surface electron-emission display (SED) was predicted to outperform plasma,
but is currently tied up in patent-licensing squabbles, and appears (at the
moment) never to get to market.

If you buy a high-quality LCD or plasma set, it's unlikely its visible
performance will be greatly exceeded in the near future. If you're really
worried about obsolescence, buy one of the less-expensive Vizios. Though not
of the highest quality, they're good, and cheap enough that you can toss
them in a few years.

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
1. Do the digital receivers all function the same way or are there
different features/functions to be aware of? Any receiver brands
that are clearly better than others?

When you say "digital receiver", I can't help but think of an audio
component. You mean a "TV set", I assume.

excellent reply snipped

William, would you mind telling us which of the cross-posted groups you were
reading when you replied? If not a.t.t.hdtv, perhaps there is another group
for me to subscribe to.

--
Tom in Bristol - (disregard dangling participle!)