What do you know about ATSC Digital Television?

Yesterday I discovered that there are over 80 broadcast channels in the DFW Texas area.  Silly me I thought there were only 6-8 - you know,  just the main local stations like it used to be.

My son bought an ATSC antenna and proceeded to get many of what I thought were only cable channels.  They came in numbered like they were subsets of main channels.  Such as 58.1, 58.2, 58.3, etc.

WHEN DID THIS BECOME A THING AND WHY AM I STILL ON CABLE????

The antenna says they are higher quality than the cable counterparts because they haven't been compressed.  I haven't had a chance to compare yet as he hadn't incorporated them into his array of channels.

My son runs a family PLEX "station".  He subscribes to all the various services and then we all connect to his Plex and watch anything we want.  He was trying to get local channels and suddenly discovered the world of other broadcast channels .  Once he has the local channels added I'll compare quality.

I got a digital TV antenna when I first moved to OKC......so Jan 2017? 

There were the big 4 a few smaller ones, most others were Spanish language or religious.

The ATSC standard was ratified back in the late 1980's.

Stations started coming online in the 90's. 

The mandatory switchover to ATSC was back in 2011, where have you been?

The quality can be much better compared to cable, but that's up to each broadcaster.
A single ATSC "channel" can have many sub-channels (the X-1, X-2, etc) and can subdivide the ~19Mb stream as they see fit.
Original ATSC used MPEG-2 as the video codec, ATSC-2.0 and 3.0 added better codecs (h.264 and h.265)  but I'm unaware if anyone is actually broadcasting with those.

As for antennas, there is no such thing as a "digital antenna"  ATSC uses the VHF and lower UHF broadcast frequencies, but 700MHz and above have been sold to cell phone companies.   If you've got an older antenna designed to get all the old UHF channles you should get a 700MHz filter to get rid of the interference.

I have an Ubuntu box in the bedroom running MythTV.  Mostly my wife watches Hulu Plus, but over the air is an option with my Hauppauge ATSC tuner card.  It took me a while to sort it out, but it works very well.

Also, any smart TV attached to an antenna can receive over the air signals.  Here in central VA, we have at least 20 or 30 channels.

https://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-1196-HVR-1265-Express-Definition/dp/B0014YFC18/ref=asc_df_B0014YFC18?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333185695333&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932713682229&psc=1

Needless to say, this is the sort of information that the cable companies are willing to resort to anything up to and including assassination in order to keep this from being widely known.

Yes but.......the quality is dramatically affected by weather and all sorts of other interferences. Also, the stations we get - other than the big three - all seem to be running old TV shows from the 50's thru the 80's, so while the quality of the signal may be better - weather notwithstanding - the quality of the stuff being shown isn't all that good.

There are some exceptions - for example old Perry Mason shows are remarkably clear, especially the black and white ones.

Why are you still on cable, paying so much every month for commercials?

I remember seeing these when I got my first HDtv whenever the PS3 launched, but none of the TVs I've had since have had a built in tuner to get them. Almost a shame because the channels here all played classic sitcoms and shows that were actually almost worth watching.

Cable free for 5+ years now. No ads, no commercials, watch what I want when I want. 

We ditched cable almost 8 years ago.  We get over 40 channels over the air.  It definitely depends on weather for some of them.  We have an antenna for the local station visable from the back yard.  It comes in crappy if it's windy out.

A decent antenna and a signal booster do wonders

Certainly a no-brainer for those that live in "flat land".

Some of us have to deal with hills and mountains... so... cable.

RevRico said:

I remember seeing these when I got my first HDtv whenever the PS3 launched, but none of the TVs I've had since have had a built in tuner to get them.

Pretty much every TV sold has a tuner - unless you're talking monitors I doubt your TV doesn't have a tuner. Or unless it's very old and has an analog only tuner built in.

In reply to dculberson :

It might actually have one, I should have said that even in the same location as the old TV, they don't pick anything up. Perhaps Westinghouse had a stronger built in tuner than Vizio and LG do. 

I don't like commercials or schedules enough to bother with a standalone antenna. 

RevRico said:

I don't like commercials or schedules enough to bother with a standalone antenna. 

Damn straight. Live TV sets my teeth on edge; they never found a second they can't fill with ads.

dculberson said:

RevRico said:

I don't like commercials or schedules enough to bother with a standalone antenna. 

Damn straight. Live TV sets my teeth on edge; they never found a second they can't fill with ads.

You should be able to get one of these cheap.  They even have a fast forward button.

dculberson said:

RevRico said:

I don't like commercials or schedules enough to bother with a standalone antenna. 

Damn straight. Live TV sets my teeth on edge; they never found a second they can't fill with ads.

The only live TV I care about is racing, NBA, and Oklahoma State Football. 

I can't bring myself to watch a race/game if I know how it ended. 

Pluto TV has a couple hundred free channels with only a few commercials , 

they have the UK 5th gear , the USA top gear and a bunch of other car related shows,

yes you have to use "internet" to watch it , it's not over the air

I grew up watching TV on an antenna. When digital came out, it was a game changer, especially when you could grab NBC Sports off the antenna (at least in the New York market). I found, though, most of the additional channels air reruns from shows that debuted decades ago. If you're into that, it's awesome. If not, there's always streaming services - which have most of the cutting-edge shows these days anyway, right? However, I do miss live sports. Maybe it's time to invest in MLB.TV again.