Karaoke Forums

Since you and I have debated incessantly about audio, I thought you might care to discuss VIDEO ( my specialty, with power supplies a very close second).

My statement: Over-the-air digital broadcasts are superior in quality to to subscription TV, because Subscription uses signal compression while single station over-the-the air doesn't, resulting in a degraded picture. Now, before you state that no one notices, please note the following example that EVERYONE notices, if they are knowledgeable:

Any "letterbox" presentation will be noted before the program. If it hasn't been, then the program should be full screen, if the owners' TV has been set that way. However, many programs that are displayed on a full screen setup as letterbox are- if available over the air- displayed full screen via antenna.

Note: due to my residence, office, and shop, I have access to cable, FIOS, and digital over-the-air ( shop).

Also, luddite that I am, I want to point out one advantage that analogue broadcasts have over digital: During a storm, analogue may have gotten a snowy blip during lightning for a second- but continued uninterrupted, however, digital freezes, de-rezzes, or blanks for quite a bit before re-setting. That's broadcast OR satellite.

Bazza?

Your thoughts?

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

I just wanted to say that I completely agree with you. The quality of over the air broadcasts (received with an HD antenna), is far superior to cable or satellite. Cable signals, for example, are compressed, split, boosted, amplified, etc. The picture quality is no where near the picture quality of the OTA antenna.

On a side note, if I may: Cable and Satellite TV are two of the biggest rip-offs there is.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I concur - OTA broadcasts are better quality.

However, they are also line of site, and impacted by trees, buildings, and in my case, living on the wrong side of a hill.

When I first started viewing OTA HD content, I lived in Fallbrook, CA. I run up a 40' mast with a big antenna I bought at Fry's. I managed to pick up every single OTA station in the area after spending a couple hours positioning and re-positioning the antenna. I used - http://antennaweb.org - for the placement.

When we moved to Redmond, WA, the house we bought ended up being in the woods on the wrong side of Union Hill and nestled in a pocket of 150' pine trees. I can get a couple of the high band channels only and none of the major networks. We had cable for a year before killing it off in favor of streaming everything.

So.....*IF* you can get an OTA single, you can put up an antenna rig cheap enough that you can save significantly on a cable/satellite bill *and* get a better picture to boot.

Beware of home owner associations. They don't like visible antennas.

-Chris

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-Chris

While it may be true that the OTA broadcast is superior in your area, this is not because cable/satellite/FIOS transmissions are somehow flawed or inferior, but because of crappy business decisions made by the broadcaster.

These broadcasts could be equal to or better than the OTA signal, however cable companies and satellite broadcasters have a finite amount of bandwidth to deal with and, unfortunately, would rather cram more channels into their fixed pipe than have high quality broadcasts.

Sirius/XM radio is a prime example. Any audiophile that has heard their audio knows that it is piss poor. But this is not due to the technology, but rather the bean counter business decision that more channels = better. Most of their channels are 96kbps or less with many even lower. They COULD send CD quality audio over their birds but choose not to as this would require them to eliminate other channels. It's a numbers/marketing game, much like the KJ's we know that boast 100,0000 songs, even though most are dupes and of poor quality.

FYI, there's really no such thing as an HD antenna. That's just a marketing trick. ALL antennas receive OTA channels, HD and SD, whether they say "HD" on the box or not.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Is that why the volume sounds lower to me in my car when I listen to Sirius/XM as vs listening to a regular FM radio station in my car (set at the same volume setting)?

I just wanted to add, for those of you that are tired of being ripped off by the cable companies, the solution is:

1. A good outdoor antenna. (for those who can receive a signal in your area)
2. Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus.

After the initial cost of the antenna, your monthly fee for these two services is less than $15 a month! Between this combination, I have all the movies and TV shows I could ever watch. The only thing you need from the cable company is the internet. You can even get your phone for free with OBI and never have a phone bill, but that's another story.

So, save yourself over $100 per month. Get rid of cable/satellite. There are other and cheaper alternatives.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I agree. Netflix instead of Amazon Prime, but since you suggested it, I might look into it. Netflix and HuluPlus are available on our Blu-Ray Players and Wii, so those devices act as our cable box.

BY THE WAY - our area is served by Comcast. In my area, when you cancel service (or have it shut off for non payment), they no longer disconnect you "at the road". A little secret is that their cables still carry signal. Most new HDTV's have a descrambler in them (something like "QA"?). When you auto-program your TV (and if you have your settings right), they will descramble those channels. I get all of my local stations (over half are not available OTA from where I live), plus TBS, WGN, ION, BBC, MSNBC, Sprout (for my sproulette) and many others (almost 100, but most are junk).

We said goodbye to $275/month in Cable TV expenses over a year ago and I've been very satisfied with my choice. Also, we switched to DSL internet from the phone company and it's way more reliable. The bandwidth isn't quite the same, but the speed is just fine. The price is almost half of cable internet.

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

The nice thing about Amazon Prime is that once you subscribe, you get FREE 2-day shipping on anything you buy from them.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

And you can share it with up to four co-workers or family members (although only the primary member gets the streaming). I give my buddy at work $20 a year for Amazon Prime. Love it.



Probably not. Sirius/XM use sophisticated multi-band processors (Omnia, Optimod, etc) just like terrestrial radio in order to be "loud on the dial". What you hear is most likely being caused by your car receiver. They are two completely different animals after all.

Cable TV companies consider connecting to their system without paying to be felony theft-of-service. They tried to block you out by turning it off and/or scrambling their signals, yet you found a way around it to get their product for free. It's a form of piracy.
It is a bit like downloading unauthorized copies from a torrent site.
But since it's not karaoke it's ok to do.

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KNOW THYSELF

Really if someone pumps something into you house without your permission you can't use it? I'm sure that what he meant that was the signals are still there if the cable company didn't remove the cable from his house it's not his fault. I'm not condoning theft but if someone were to keep leaving $100 bills on my front porch I would be tempted to pick them up wouldn't you?

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I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

Sharing with co-workers is only available on corporate accounts:

So I thought you might be interested in this because if your buddy is the proprietor of the business he probably wouldn't want to be doing anything wrong.
If he's not, well that's a bit fraudulent don't you think?
From the Amazon conditions of use page:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/ ... eId=508088

By giving your buddy at work $20 a year for Amazon prime, you are both violating the agreement. It's like paying $20 a year for IRC channel access, or paying $20 a year to borrow a gem set from a Gem licensee.

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KNOW THYSELF

Connecting to the TV and selecting "auto-program" to receive the signals is a deliberate act much like connecting to a torrent site and clicking "download".
I agree that it is stupid of the cable company to not do more to protect their property from being stolen, but does that justify stealing it?

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KNOW THYSELF

Cable companies have been stealing from us for years with their over inflated prices and sub-standard service. But I guess that's OK that they can rip us off like that. I just wish that my TV was able to pick up those signals.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

DAMN! reading your first paragraph I was ready for a Kick-butt debate- Then you went and RUINED it with your second paragraph, and took all the fun out of it, darn it.

To your first paragraph I would disagree, because the subscription servives DO present inferior quality and letterboxing when the original broadcast was full screen.

However, as your second paragraph explains, it is the fault of the providers cramming the signals.

Now I have to come up with something else.

BTW, I also agree with the poster who called the providers a rip-off, even by comparison to each other.

To the poster who brought up transmission conditions, I also concur. I happen to be lucky enough to be WELL within transmission range. However, I would add that line-of-sight is much more important to satellite than over-the-air.

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Can't delete, so apologize for a dupe.

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Kinda, sorta, right on the money. Its the UHF loop on those rabbit ears that does the job so well. Those in outlying areas may wish to add a little video amplifier- around $15 at your local radio shack.

That being said, I'm gonna add a plug. While within close range of the most prominent broadcast digital TV, I was given a gift of the Clear TV antenae that sticks to windows with suction cups. I have yet to determine why, but the video is superior to my shop rabbit ears with UHF loop= sitting right on the window sill, and I get WAY less de-rezzes and blanks with it. At some point I will take the time to figure out why, but for now I'm just enjoying it.

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Screw Hulu. I have the internet Rabbit TV. A little USB drive that allows you to pick up a zillion channels. First year is FREE when you buy it for something like 11 bucks. after that it's $9 per YEAR. That's TV AND radio.

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

I have RABBIT TV. About 11 bucks to buy the little USB drive, first year free, after that $9 per year and a zillion channels on your PC

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."