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Old 11-06-2017, 09:28 PM
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Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
Posts: 4,035
DTV may have issues as far as reception range, etc. is concerned, but the picture quality from DTV stations rivals NTSC many times over. I remember watching TV in 4:3 aspect ratio from the '60s until the DTV switch in 2009, and am nothing short of amazed at the improvement in picture quality (over NTSC) afforded by the ATSC standard. I have a 19" flat-screen HDTV that produces a picture sharper and clearer than I ever saw on NTSC analog. I watch my area's local channels via streaming video (Roku), and, again, am very impressed by the much sharper/clearer picture afforded by DTV; needless to say, I would never go back to NTSC analog, even if I could.

DTV's reception problems are here to stay in most areas, due to the lower ERP power (compared to NTSC) of local stations. The use of an outdoor TV antenna, cable, or satellite is almost mandatory to receive consistently good pictures from DTV stations. Of course, if you want to sidestep these issues, you can--by using devices such as Roku, Google TV, Apple TV and other streaming-video boxes. "Cord cutting" has become very popular in the US, much to the dismay of the cable companies. The number of cable subscriptions, in fact, has dropped dramatically since the introduction of streaming-video players such as the ever-popular Roku, et al., which is no doubt making the nation's cable operators very nervous as to their future survival in the 21st century. As cable TV subscription prices continue to rise (and the quality of said service declines at the same time in many cases), I see many cable operators scaling back their services or, at worst, going out of business entirely. Many people, myself included, do not like the idea of using a cable box ahead of their TV (to say nothing of paying outrageously high cable-TV bills), so I think the sales of OTA TV antennas and streaming-video devices will continue, as strong as or stronger than ever, as they have for some time.

Will streaming video eventually kill cable and satellite TV? Only time will tell, although, as I said, the increasing popularity of the Roku and other SV boxes means fewer subscribers, which is not good news by any means for pay-TV providers. Then again, perhaps cable and satellite TV may have seen better days, and it could be time to move on to better technologies.
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Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten.
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