Satellite and cable TV companies have massive networks, carrying
100s of channels to millions of customers. To effectively
service these customers, they use digital compression
technologies to shrink the size of the signal, allowing more
channels to fit on the cable. When compressing the signal, some
of the original data is lost. The result is the picture on your
TV loses sharpness and detail.
We have been accustomed
to cable and with no comparison, the picture we see is presumed
to be the best that can be put out by our TV screen. Many
channels are not even delivered in 1080p as we presume. They are
still delivered as 720p. The only reason pictures look better is
that the new flat screen TVs are adept at up-scaling the signal
to make it look better (even though it is not as good as it
could be).
OTA means Over
The Air. It is difficult to compare the new TV
antennas with the old rabbit ears, because the rabbit ears were
analog and the new antennas are digital. Using an antenna to
pick up a signal over the air provides an uncompressed signal
directly to your TV. The results are significantly noticeable
and better than cable. A few friends and I have recently added
antennas and comparing the picture is as easy as clicking on the
input to go from cable to OTA. In every case on each TV the
resulting picture is remarkably better with an antenna.
Incidentally, if
your cable package blacks out some sports, pick up an antenna,
just for game day. They are cheap and can be easily
hung on a wall or in a window with a pin or sticky tape. Also
great if you want to watch TV out by the patio or pool, no
extra wiring, just drag out your TV and attach an antenna.
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