I tried deleting/adding several times but the sammy tuner also shows 18.1, a couple of weeks ago it showed 11.1, but it usually shows 18.1

This has been discussed here (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=827287&page=58) before. I have the Samsung stb T451. It does the same thing.

on the back of the tv after the model #, there is a series of other numbers/letters - does anyone know what this means, or in terms of the tuner...

Yeah, they are pretty good. I have one in my May 08 build Zenith DT901. In my Insignia Mar 08 build (same CECB as the Zenith) they were using Samsung tuners in them and it is every bit as good as the LG.


Strange that the company that invented ATSC (Zenith) (Insignia is BestBuy's version of Zenith) and is now owned by LG, would use Samsung tuners.

Strange that the company that invented ATSC (Zenith) (Insignia is BestBuy's version of Zenith) and is now owned by LG, would use Samsung tuners.

Don't forget most boxes have separate tuners and ATSC decoders. I seem to remember reading that some of the older Zenith (and Insignia) boxes used Samsung tuners but they all used LG decoders.

Also you'll find in consumer electronics of all types that internal chipsets from direct competitors are routine. Some companies specialize, and so others just buy from them rather than waste R&D money trying to duplicate. An example is how Sanyo's line of STK IC chips ruled the convergence board on almost all CRT TVs.

Hi all,

does anyone know of a smaller LCD (under 32") that might have two coax connectors in the back? We have a few clear QAM channels leftover here due to our retaining our cable HSI. I want to try to experiment with combining our OTA feed and the few QAM channels in our kitchen without combiners etc...

Does such a beast exist?

Thanks!

Stu

After reading some of the posts on this thread, it appears that tuner performance is not neccessarily dependent on TV brand. One of the moderators mentioned that Sony seems to have good parameters.

I have an OTA setup with my Sony and I am extremely pleased with the reception (Markham). I tried the same antenna on two different Panasonics and they both picked up ZERO digital stations. One is in Newmarket and the other is north of Stouffville. They are both in valleys which make reception a challenge. However, both of these Pannys can pick up strong, clear analog stations - eg. City and CBC. If they can receive the analog, shouldn't the ATSC signal be strong too?

thanks

City is very low powered, so that's not a guarantee, but CBC should come in fine.
The TV's DO have ATSC, right? Not all TV's have ATSC/NTSC combo's, some just have NTSC if they're older or smaller screen size.

Also what kind of antenna was it?

Yeah - they both have ATSC. I was wondering about that too. I contacted Panasonic for advice and they just reiterated what was in the manual.

The antenna is a CM4221 knock off. I brought it home an tried it on my Sony to make sure it was working OK.

The fact that the analog is strong bothers me.

windwagen, there are two main components in a digital receiver, the tuner (often shared with the analog receiver) and the ATSC decoder. Maybe the ATSC decoder in the Pannys doesn't handle interference as well as the one in the Sony. How old are the three TVs? Newer ATSC decoders are much better than older ones.

My Panasonic Plasma picks up all the available HD channels just fine with the antenna outside.

Thanks for the input. The Sony is actually the oldest of the 3 - it's one year old. The Pannys are 6 mos and 1 mo.

Scarborough, like Markham where I am, has strong signals. So it's not too tough to get Buffalo. Newmarket is a bit of a stretch, but I would think TO stations would be OK.

Any opinion on the fact that these Pannys getting good Analog reception and no ATSC?

Any opinion on the fact that these Pannys getting good Analog reception and no ATSC? Yep, see Post #280 and the replies to it for an understanding of why major TV brands may or may not have equivalent ATSC performance.

One of the biggest things that makes digital and analogue signals very different is the nature of their propagation and reception. With old-style analogue OTA, signals pour out from the transmitter in waves that can unfortunately be made really "dirty" due to such things as terrain bounce, adjacent RF interference, multipath distortion from reflections, etc. so that even a great HT system would still get a miserable viewing experience. This mess has given analogue OTA such a bad rap for half a century compared to cable and satellite programming sources.

With digital OTA that all changes, because the signals pour out of the transmitter in waves of ones and zeroes, with a variety of high-tech measures added to guarantee that the receiver at the other end can take the stream of ones and zeroes and assemble the programming in near perfect resolution and sound quality. The most notable change is that digital OTA reception is subject to the cliff effect: if your ATSC tuner can get a lock on the signal, the programming is perfect and beautiful, easily putting satellite and most cable systems to shame, especially in HD. If your ATSC tuner loses that lock, even for a brief time, the entire signal goes away because the stream of ones and zeroes has been broken too much for the error-control measures to fix.

How common is having one digital channel missing from Toronto?

I was helping my brother setup his 4221HD on his roof to his 2 year old Panasonic plasma TV. Direct run into a grounding block, no splits and the antenna is angled between Buffalo and Toronto. He gets all the Buffalo channels and all the Toronto channels nicely including 57-1 except 9-1, but he does get it in analogue.

The 4221HD is slightly modified with those plastic clips removed at the V elements and the Balun is raised away from the Boom. You think that could be the problem or maybe he needs to turn the antenna even more westerly? Also worth mentioning he doesn't get Hamilton stations either. I'm thinking maybe his tuner is questionable.

HIs location, Finch and Middlefield. Funny, I'm only a few km south of him yet I get them all pointed in the same direction. I realize terrain and elevation has a lot to do with it, but he does have more height than me on his 2nd story house without any obstructions.

Any suggestion would be appreciate.

I'm hoping all forum members can provide a quick blurb of what TVs they have and OTA digital reception. Maybe a list can be compiled of best/worst performers.

I have did a little test and compared my two TVs: Samsung and LG. Both 2008/2009 models, so they should have the latest chipsets. I compared them both using the same antenna (4228HD), pre-amp (7778) and coax (RG6). The Samsung clearly outperformed the LG. Many channels did not come in on the LG, amp or not, therefore:

1 Vote Samsung

I think its all about the relative age of the TV as well. The Generation 6 chipsets are a bit better than the Generation 5s and a lot better than previous chipsets.

Samsungs are known to have PSIP problems too, so its a bit iffy to pick them #1. There have been complaints about PSIP problems on Panasonics too.

My Sony SXRD's ATSC tuner was making locks on CHAN-DT Global in Vancouver when their PSIP was a total mess while some of my other ATSC tuners couldn't.

my 2008 samsung LED DLP gets better reception than my Toshiba 2008 37CV510u.
But the samsung has a problem with CHCH's PSIP. which might be thier signal.
And the audio drops once in a while, ONLY on WUTV FOX. which again, might be thier signal.
And you can't tell the samsung to scan only digital.
Both of them are better tuners than the Bell 9242, which is digital only but seems to need 60% signal. But it records and plays back.

I own a Panasonic HDTV television, and I must say I really like it for it's OTA interface. I have the option to monitor signal strength on any given DTV channel on a percentage level as compared to just bars. This is great for Dxing. I can scan individual modes Analog or Digital. I have not had issues with PISP. It is an 08 model so I would think it has the latest chip set. The tuner sensitivity is remarkable and I do not think it has a lot of dB loss's.
I would nominate this model to be in the top three.
but hey this is my opinion.

Sounds like Samsung and Panasonic are good bets for OTA digital signals so far- slowly we are building a knowledge base on this important topic that goes along with best antennas and best pre-amps. Hopefully we can hear from more OTAers to get a more conclusive statement- see tuner chart. I would like to keep the focus on the most important part of OTA- ability to receive signals. I too have problems with my Samsung picking up CHCH as 11.1.