Apsattv
31-01-2008, 10:43 PM
From http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=659486&category=BUSINESS&newsdate=1/30/2008
Retro antennae deliver stations with great reception to new TVs
CLIFTON PARK -- Remember rabbit ears, the low-tech gadgetry once attached to every television?
They're back.
Attach an antenna to a so-called digital television and you'll receive nearly 20 stations here in much of the Capital Region, each with crystal-clear reception. For free. Without a cable subscription.
"When we plugged it in and turned it on, I was absolutely floored," said Richard Puig, who last month bought a 32-inch digital Magnavox.
Granted, Puig and his wife Judy are not exactly high-level TV aficionados. Their previous television was 20 years old. And for years, the Clifton Park couple, refusing to subscribe to cable, watched TV through fuzzy reception.
But they're hardly alone in noticing the dramatic picture quality now provided by a lowly antenna and a TV that can handle digital signals.
John Lawson, CEO of Washington-based Association of Public Television Stations, has even proclaimed that "free, over-the-air television may be set for a big comeback" and opined that broadcasters should rebrand antennae as "wireless TV."
This apparent re-emergence of the rabbit ear would not have happened without a 2006 congressional mandate that television stations abandon their analog broadcast signals in favor of digital signals.
All over-the-air stations are under orders to end analog transmission by February 2009 -- which means your traditional analog television will not work after that date, at least not without a digital converter.
The changeover, which does not affect cable or satellite dish subscribers, has sparked significant hand-wringing from folks annoyed they'll have to buy new TVs or modify existing ones.
But receiving less attention is the improved picture quality potentially available to the 40 percent of American households without cable, or to those that have cable but still have TVs dependent on over-the-air transmissions.
In the Capital Region, every major television station now broadcasts digitally. Many broadcast more than one digital signal.
Albany station WTEN, for example, offers its usual ABC and local news programming on digital station 10.1 -- but also offers round-the-clock weather programming on subchannel 10.2, and broadcasts the Retro Television Network, which shows classic TV shows, on 10.3.
Public broadcaster WMHT, meanwhile, offers three digital stations.
Moreover, many of the stations offer a high-definition digital picture that Rick Klein, chief engineer at local Fox affiliate WXXA, and Fred Lass, chief engineer at WRGB, both said is better than the HDTV offered by cable or satellite television.
And what is needed to capture that sharp-as-a-tack picture? Just rabbit ears.
Still, the 18 or so channels available over the air here digitally would seem like slim pickings to anyone who has grown used to the dizzying multitude of stations available on cable.
Sorry, sports fans, but rabbit ears won't get you ESPN. Nor will they deliver CNN to news junkies.
And over-the-air reception has its difficulties. Live in a valley or a rural hamlet and you might get fewer stations. And your digital picture might freeze if your dog decides to lie near the antenna.
Pete Taubkin, spokesman for Time Warner Cable of Albany, didn't seem particularly worried that consumers would drift from his company's service.
"The genesis of cable was to improve signal quality," Taubkin said. "Obviously, we've ratcheted it up much more than that."
But for people like the Puigs, at least, over-the-air digital TV is more than good enough.
Richard Puig has nestled his Magnavox into a corner of his cozy family room. He paid $730 for the set, although smaller digital TVs can cost as little as $200.
Flipping through his array of stations Tuesday morning, he seemed pleased by his new reception -- not possible, of course, without the homely old pair of rabbit ears positioned nearby. Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.
Retro antennae deliver stations with great reception to new TVs
CLIFTON PARK -- Remember rabbit ears, the low-tech gadgetry once attached to every television?
They're back.
Attach an antenna to a so-called digital television and you'll receive nearly 20 stations here in much of the Capital Region, each with crystal-clear reception. For free. Without a cable subscription.
"When we plugged it in and turned it on, I was absolutely floored," said Richard Puig, who last month bought a 32-inch digital Magnavox.
Granted, Puig and his wife Judy are not exactly high-level TV aficionados. Their previous television was 20 years old. And for years, the Clifton Park couple, refusing to subscribe to cable, watched TV through fuzzy reception.
But they're hardly alone in noticing the dramatic picture quality now provided by a lowly antenna and a TV that can handle digital signals.
John Lawson, CEO of Washington-based Association of Public Television Stations, has even proclaimed that "free, over-the-air television may be set for a big comeback" and opined that broadcasters should rebrand antennae as "wireless TV."
This apparent re-emergence of the rabbit ear would not have happened without a 2006 congressional mandate that television stations abandon their analog broadcast signals in favor of digital signals.
All over-the-air stations are under orders to end analog transmission by February 2009 -- which means your traditional analog television will not work after that date, at least not without a digital converter.
The changeover, which does not affect cable or satellite dish subscribers, has sparked significant hand-wringing from folks annoyed they'll have to buy new TVs or modify existing ones.
But receiving less attention is the improved picture quality potentially available to the 40 percent of American households without cable, or to those that have cable but still have TVs dependent on over-the-air transmissions.
In the Capital Region, every major television station now broadcasts digitally. Many broadcast more than one digital signal.
Albany station WTEN, for example, offers its usual ABC and local news programming on digital station 10.1 -- but also offers round-the-clock weather programming on subchannel 10.2, and broadcasts the Retro Television Network, which shows classic TV shows, on 10.3.
Public broadcaster WMHT, meanwhile, offers three digital stations.
Moreover, many of the stations offer a high-definition digital picture that Rick Klein, chief engineer at local Fox affiliate WXXA, and Fred Lass, chief engineer at WRGB, both said is better than the HDTV offered by cable or satellite television.
And what is needed to capture that sharp-as-a-tack picture? Just rabbit ears.
Still, the 18 or so channels available over the air here digitally would seem like slim pickings to anyone who has grown used to the dizzying multitude of stations available on cable.
Sorry, sports fans, but rabbit ears won't get you ESPN. Nor will they deliver CNN to news junkies.
And over-the-air reception has its difficulties. Live in a valley or a rural hamlet and you might get fewer stations. And your digital picture might freeze if your dog decides to lie near the antenna.
Pete Taubkin, spokesman for Time Warner Cable of Albany, didn't seem particularly worried that consumers would drift from his company's service.
"The genesis of cable was to improve signal quality," Taubkin said. "Obviously, we've ratcheted it up much more than that."
But for people like the Puigs, at least, over-the-air digital TV is more than good enough.
Richard Puig has nestled his Magnavox into a corner of his cozy family room. He paid $730 for the set, although smaller digital TVs can cost as little as $200.
Flipping through his array of stations Tuesday morning, he seemed pleased by his new reception -- not possible, of course, without the homely old pair of rabbit ears positioned nearby. Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.