How do you watch HD channels with an antenna?
Question:
Answer:
You don't need an antenna.
You can't Watch HD Channels With An Antenna Because they want you to pay for them
You will get the local channels or nothing at all. HDTV signals is much more sensitive that analog reception. You will not get cable channels that way.
The antenna and digital cable do not work together. However, you can watch HD programming with an antenna on the network channels (NBC, ABC, Fox, CBS), if they are broadcast where you live.
I have a cheap set of rabbit ears connected to my HDTV. I used the autosetup for the channels and I pick up amazing HD broadcasts from that $10 set of rabbit ears. For example, channel 13 is CBS here. If my TV is set to 13, I get the regular, analog signal. But 13-1 is the DIGITAL broadcast of the same channel and some programs (such as CSI) are in HD.
A friend of mine has Comcast, and for some reason they do not have CBS in HD, he would only get it in regular def. So for the superbowl, he got a set of rabbit ears and watched it in HD on the over-the-air broadcast. Maybe that answers your question on how they work "in conjunction."
Note that with digital cable, you might not always be watching HD. In fact, it is likely that you will not be watching HD. ALL HD signals are digital, but NOT ALL digital signals are HD.
By your question, you understand the basics of getting HD OTA(over-the-air). To get this to work with digital cable service, it will depend on the STB(set-top-box) your provider uses.
Some STBs have an additional input that will accept a standard antenna feed that will decode the HD signals for local channels and put them in to the channel guide for you.
Most cable STBs do not have this additional input and so you will, if signed up for the HD package, get your locals from the cable provider. If you do not want to buy the cable HD package you can still use the HD OTA antenna feed but you will need to use the tuner on your HDTV and manually switch back and forth between the HD OTA input and the digital cable input.
The latter option is what early satellite users did before local channels were available on satellite directly. The only negative is that you will not be able to use any DVR functionality on your cable STB if that is what you want.
Click here for some HDTV truths: http://www.whydoesmyhometheatersuck.com/...
And we found that our "rabbit ears" didn't work as well as a 25-foot, 14-gage, solid-conductor wire...It was 10 cents a foot down at LOWES...It has a WHITE coating so when we run it up the wall and along the ceiling, you CAN'T see it.
We had to FILE DOWN one end so it would fit in the ANTENNA jack on our Hi-Def box...Then we attached one or two 6-foot wires to the stripped part of our MAIN wire where it runs into the Hi-Def box...We move those two SHORT wires around to pick up specific HARD-TO-REACH channels.
Right now we're getting over 30 HD channels absolutely FREE...Your cable company can RENT you a Hi-Def box that will play ALL of your channels, Hi-Def and regular...Or, if they offer it (and your TV can handle it), they'll give you the "Hi-Def Cable Card" instead of the box...Either way it WON'T interfere with your Hi-Def ANTENNA reception.
More Questions & Answers...