A good reason to switch to a HDTV

[Westfalia]

Recently, I found myself in Searcy, Arkansas and Airstream of Arkansas to pickup my new trailer. My first night in this trailer, another A of A camper and I found ourselves in the direct line of the recent tornado outbreak passing thru Little Rock. He had a 2008 23' Safari with the 19' Sony flat panel but only analog tuners. Little Rock TV stations kept us in contact with the weather radar as the storm approached and as we hunkered down in his trailer.

However as the storms really started to bear down on us, our fringe area reception faded for the analog TV, to the point where it was unwatchable. The RF interference from the lightning completely obscured the signal. I glanced over to my nearby trailer window to view the TV that I positioned near the window. The HD display of the same station was 100% clear reception, even with the antenna down in my trailer. The clear comparison pretty much convinced my neighbor to upgrade his display or add a HD tuner to his current one.

We used the TVs the rest of the night and into the morning to watch as the tornadoes and super cells spun around us but fortunately not through us. Thank you HDTV!

[jdalrymple]

I too have enjoyed the enhanced quality of the digital signal. Although not in the same predicament you found yourself in. I am glad you made it through unscathed.

The all or nothing picture is generally an improvement, but can be a pain in the cases where the signal is too weak to provide a picture. At those times, a “snowy” analog is better than nothing. Especially for the news or weather.

Congrats on the new trailer!

[Westfalia]

True, but at least for the next year, I can switch to analog and view if necessary. Hopefully by then, the remaining stations will have gotten then transmitters in final locations, transmitting at full power and antennas tuned for maximum coverage.

Thanks for the congrats!

[MrAgent007]

Hello, can anyone tell me if the Sony WEGA flatscreen 15" tv system installed by Airstream in the 2006 22-0 CCD is HD compatible? I know if you are connected to cable it is a moot point. It has been so long since I have seen my RV since it has been storage, I have forgotton the specs on the AV system. Thanks.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by MrAgent007

Hello, can anyone tell me if the Sony WEGA flatscreen 15" tv system installed by Airstream in the 2006 22-0 CCD is HD compatible? I know if you are connected to cable it is a moot point. It has been so long since I have seen my RV since it has been storage, I have forgotton the specs on the AV system. Thanks.

It is digital, but not HD.

[Westfalia]

Are you sure that it is even digital? I'd venture to guess that it is capable of analog OTA reception only.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Westfalia

Are you sure that it is even digital? I'd venture to guess that it is capable of analog OTA reception only.

The spec sheet says NTSC. I start drooling when I see all those letters, but I did see that it only goes as high as 480i, and I know that isn't anywhere near HD.

[soldiermedic]

Hey Chris,

Since I have been full-timing I have been using my new HDTV with the new antenna AOA installed. I know I am receiving HD channels because some of the channels I receive have 3 or even 4 channels (55-1, 55-2, 55-3). Most of them are the same with the HD being a better picture, but I am not getting this Eye popping, gorgeous, hi-res picture that everyone tells me HD is. What am I missing?

Steve

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by soldiermedic

Hey Chris,

Since I have been full-timing I have been using my new HDTV with the new antenna AOA installed. I know I am receiving HD channels because some of the channels I receive have 3 or even 4 channels (55-1, 55-2, 55-3). Most of them are the same with the HD being a better picture, but I am not getting this Eye popping, gorgeous, hi-res picture that everyone tells me HD is. What am I missing?

Steve

Hi again Steve,

The biggest thing you are missing is screen size. Sometimes it really does matter. On my 37” Mitsubishi, the difference just jumps out at you. However, after you watch your TV for a while, when you see a low-def signal, you will start to wonder what is wrong. There really is a difference.

[Westfalia]

Originally Posted by overlander63

The spec sheet says NTSC. I start drooling when I see all those letters, but I did see that it only goes as high as 480i, and I know that isn't anywhere near HD.

NTSC is the old system that is being phased out. ATSC is the new system. You will need a convertor or a new TV. Your TV, however, should be able to display 480p when attached to a progressive scan source by component (Y-Pb-Pr) or VGA. I doubt that your TV has HDMI or DVI in, but most newer models do.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by soldiermedic

Hey Chris,

Since I have been full-timing I have been using my new HDTV with the new antenna AOA installed. I know I am receiving HD channels because some of the channels I receive have 3 or even 4 channels (55-1, 55-2, 55-3). Most of them are the same with the HD being a better picture, but I am not getting this Eye popping, gorgeous, hi-res picture that everyone tells me HD is. What am I missing?

Steve

Steve, just because you are watching digital channels, it doesn't mean they are in HD mode. I've got a 20" LG flat screen and when I get a HD signal, it is very evident that it's HD. My TV is optioned out so that it doesn't go to full screen unless it is HD. Some TV's don't have that option and spread or zoom pictures to fill the screen, but in essence you aren't really in HD mode.

Relook at your instruction manual and see if the TV has a setting that only spreads the picture in HD mode.

Jack

[soldiermedic]

The TV is a brand new digital TV from Toshiba....don't think it could be NTSC.

Steve

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by Westfalia

NTSC is the old system that is being phased out. ATSC is the new system. You will need a convertor or a new TV. Your TV, however, should be able to display 480p when attached to a progressive scan source by component (Y-Pb-Pr) or VGA. I doubt that your TV has HDMI or DVI in, but most newer models do.

One of the reason I ponyed up for the Mitsubishi is that it has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 DVI. My (now dead Dish 622 VIP DVR {after 6 days replacing the previous one, but that’s another story}) is connected via HDMI. My old Mac G4 is connected via the DVI. When I get a Blu-ray player, I still have a HDMI to connect it. The Dish 622 is 1080i, but everything else does 1080p. I will be replacing the 622 with a 722, but Dish is still stuck at 1080i. To be honest, I haven’t been able to tell the difference.

[Westfalia]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

Hi again Steve,

The biggest thing you are missing is screen size. Sometimes it really does matter. On my 37” Mitsubishi, the difference just jumps out at you. However, after you watch your TV for a while, when you see a low-def signal, you will start to wonder what is wrong. There really is a difference.

Agreed. You need the size to be bigger or you need to sit closer. Also, make sure that you don't have the color preset on DYNAMIC. It washes the colors out so badly, it's not funny. DYNAMIC is made to try and sell TV's on the BestBuy floor, not for viewing. Set it to normal, and maybe try playing with the sharpness, but just a little.

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by soldiermedic

The TV is a brand new digital TV from Toshiba....don't think it could be NTSC.

Steve

If it was NTSC you wouldn’t be seeing the digital channels because it wouldn’t pick them up.

[Westfalia]

Steve, most of the newer digital TV's will have an info panel with the channel info, sound type, and display modes, V Chip rating, etc (6-1, Dolby Digital, 1080i, TV-MA) and so on. If the channel that you tune doesn't have this or just says CABLE or AIR, then you are likely just displaying standard 480i. If you know it's a digital channel but it still looks like junk, then they are likely 'scaling' the 480i content to 720p or 1080i, pillar boxing it with black bars on the sides or stretching it into Stretch-o-Vision. Try pulling up a primetime show, or late night show (Leno, Conan, Dave) so you can see the difference.

[Westfalia]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

If it was NTSC you wouldn’t be seeing the digital channels because it wouldn’t pick them up.

All new modest sized TV's are required to have a ATSC tuner in them, so my bet it that Steve's unit is compatible.

[MrAgent007]

Originally Posted by overlander63

The spec sheet says NTSC. I start drooling when I see all those letters, but I did see that it only goes as high as 480i, and I know that isn't anywhere near HD.

Hello Overlander63, where did you get the spec information from? Thanks.

[ArtStream]

Originally Posted by soldiermedic

Hey Chris,

Since I have been full-timing I have been using my new HDTV with the new antenna AOA installed. I know I am receiving HD channels because some of the channels I receive have 3 or even 4 channels (55-1, 55-2, 55-3). Most of them are the same with the HD being a better picture, but I am not getting this Eye popping, gorgeous, hi-res picture that everyone tells me HD is. What am I missing?

Steve

Glasses Steve, you're missing glasses


Michael

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by ArtStream

Glasses Steve, you're missing glasses Michael

and they still only costadollar!

cheers
2air'