thanks for the reply i will try that out later today

My LG lcd hdtv gives me an onscreen guide, with what's playing now, and what is coming up for the next 2hrs or so, not just for the channel am watching, but for other channels as well.

It also tells me if it's 1080p or 720p

Just bought a Sharp Aquos LC-37D43U today. Set-up was straight-forward with one exception: I can't seem to tune into over-the-air HD broadcasts--I receive an analog SD signal.

I live in downtown Toronto (N-E corner of a building on the 5th floor near the U of T) so I was just planning on getting HD signals over-the-air. As I understand it, because this TV has an ATSC tuner, I should be able to tune HD broadcasts OTA. When I plug my rabbit ears into the TV, I'm only able to get analog signals from the stations that should be broadcasting in HD (CBC & CTV for example*).

When setting up the TV, I had initially selected "Air" as my antenna type. I then changed that to "Cable." The Sharp manual suggests that to "receive digital air broadcasts, you need a digital broadcast antenna." I didn't think there was such thing as a "digital broadcast antenna." Regardless, the "Antenna Setup - Digital" choice on the setup menu is unselectable--greyed out.

Any idea what I'm not doing?

I also know that not all programming all the time on these channels will be broadcast in HD

When you say rabbit ears, does the antenna have a uhf loop as well? You need a UHF antenna for the HD stuff. For a good choice of antennas, check out the antenna chart found in this link.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=37629

I house sat for a couple last year while they were in Costa Rica and they had the 37" Sharp tv. Just make sure the antenna is set to air and it should work ok for HD. There is also a spot to check the signal strength which is really nice to have. Check and see if you are getting a digital signal, it might be you are getting a signal but not enough for a lock.

My "rabbit ears" do have a UHF loop. I'm suspecting that I might have to purchase an antenna with an amplifer...

Gavatron,
You stated that when you were setting the TV up, you chose "Cable" instead of "Air".
Since you wish to receive "Over the Air", I suggest you set it up using "Air". Once you choose "Air" then I suspect the "Antenna Setup - Digital" choice will become active.
What prompted you to choose "Cable", when you are not using cable?
In your location you should be able to receive several HDTV digital OTA signals using ordinary rabbit ears [with the UHF capability; if you get analog CityTV, then you have that capability].
IRT "I didn't think there was such thing as a "digital broadcast antenna." "
You are correct. It also irritates me that they use "broadcast" instead of "reception".
I don't know your specific model, so if it has any further choices about "ATSC" or "digital TV" or something like that, I suggest you enable it. Of course, reading the installation manual from first to last page often provides the solution; and will often provide info about interesting and additional adjustments and capabilities of your TV.
Harvey

Anybody knows if there is an (possibly hidden in service mode) adjustment for the sensitivity of the atsc tuner on sharp aquos tvs? Mine is an LC32D62U. I know some samsung HDTVs have adjustable gain per channel on their atsc tuners (great feature!).

I have a feeling that there might be some automatic gain control to prevent overloading on the aquos atsc. If this is set globally, strong local channels may actually cause the tuner to lower its gain and prevent tuning of weak signals. I have the impression that this has happened on my Aquos at some point, because my reception has dropped across the board by a significant amount without channging the antenna (CM4228) position or anything.

I've never actually been into the service menu, but I believe the instructions here can be applied to all 62U series televisions hopefully (the following applies for the 46D62U): http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dt5d79n_1z54pwb
Tell me if you find anything interesting in regards to the ATSC tuner settings (if it works that is). I'm not at home currently, otherwise I would've tested it out right now.

Just a bit of a warning regarding Service Menus:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=43201

Should i consider buying a new tuner? ... my sanyo 30" hdtv is from 2005 and i think they started making it in 2004 so the tuner is probably 3rd-4th generation?... i see 5th/6th generation tuners now... i saw this samsung DTBH260F for $50 on ebay

eliminator I have the same tv in my office and the Sanyo tuner is not very good, but if you dont have a decent signal from good height and a clear view a better tuner wont make that much difference.

That's a good price on the Samsung tuner.

eliminator I have the same tv in my office and the Sanyo tuner is not very goodWould you think its worth buying the tuner?... i will try to take some pics tomorow of my setup... i read that multipath can really throw off older tuners... i tried analogue and some of the stations like omni were coming in quadripled... the buffalo stations all had at least one ghost

EDIT: the actual TV that I have is the Sanyo HT30744 30" CRT HDTV... how does its tuner compare to your other ones?

Actually the intent of all new generations of ATSC tuners has been to reduce multipath interference so you are right about your old tuner not being up to the task, eliminator. These days a consumer needs to have a Generation IV or V chipset for best performance.

I'm a newbie to the site. I recently purchased a Panasonic TH-50PZ80U television. I have it hooked up to a Channel Master 4228 antenna with a rotor. I get great HD reception. I pointed my antenna towards the CN Tower and used the automatic channel programming feature. I then moved the antenna to another location to get Buffalo/ Rochester stations. If I use the automatic programming feature the previous stations on the tv's memory get deleted. I went to Panasonics website and they have a solution but it does not seem to work for my tv set. I can't seem to manually add the previous stations to the memory.

I also sent an email to Panasonic and the response was it could not be done. This seems odd when they have the exact problem listed on their FAQs section. Has anybody fiqured this out?

Depending on your location, you should be able to pick up both with a 4228 and the TV should scan everything and keep it in memory. I'm assuming "automatic programming" means scan for channels, and not a preset list. If its a preset list, try doing a channel scan instead, it should pick up both Toronto and Buffalo (again, depending on location)
If you check the reception subfolder you will find various threads for different areas where people can help you get the best reception for that area.

Thanks recneps77. Yes what I meant was the channel scanning. For instance I can get PBS when my antenna is directed a certain way. If I use the auto scan feature it shows up and is kept in the tv memory. I then move the antenna the other way to pick up some other channels that the first scan did not pick up. I re-scan and PBS is then deleted from the memory. When I put the antenna back in the first position (where I know I can get PBS) it will not recognize the station unless I re-scan and save in the memory. This results in me losing the other stations that I had from the second scan.

Thanks for the tip on the other forum.

I recently purchased a Panasonic TH-50PZ80U television. I can't seem to manually add the previous stations to the memory.

My Toshiba 52XF550U explicitly does not delete OTA channels during the auto-scan. (It does, however, lose the labels.) But if I go into add/remove channels and enter the physical channel number (i.e. 53-1 for CityHD) it will add the correct virtual channel (i.e. 57-1 for CityHD). Yours may do the same. I can also tune directly to a digital station which isn't in memory the same way.

When I go to my add /delete screen, it does not allow me to add either the virtual or physical channels. I input them on the remote and nothing gets registered on the screen.

I'll give it another try tonight and call Panasonic Canada.

When I go to my add /delete screen, it does not allow me to add either the virtual or physical channels. I input them on the remote and nothing gets registered on the screen.

I'll give it another try tonight and call Panasonic Canada.
I would return it and buy a different brand. that is unacceptable.

TvMario, Panasonic will likely not have a solution for this issue,They have known about it for years.I have the 42px60u which is three years old and has the same issue.They need to rewrite the firmware if possible and add a single channel scan.