How do I get DTV?
Getting digital TV is easy. There are three things that you need to view true, all-digital DTV: First, you need a digital source such as an over-the-air broadcast signal or QAM digital cable system that carries local stations in HDTV. Second, you need a set-top-box (also called a "tuner" or receiver) like the SIR-T451 to receive, tune and decode the signal. Third, you need a digital TV to display the brilliant digital picture and sound.
The good news is you don't have to upgrade to DTV all at once. You can view a DTV source on an analog TV by connecting the Samsung SIR-T451 HDTV receiver to an outdoor antenna or QAM digital cable system that carries local stations in HDTV. With over-the-air DTV reception, you don't pay a monthly or per-program charge to watch TV - the broadcasts are free! And many cable systems and satellite providers in the U.S. do not carry local HDTV broadcast channels, so your best bet to bring in local digital broadcasts is with an outdoor antenna.
Why you need a set-top box
DTV signals are broadcast in a variety of ways by different providers. For example, an HDTV signal and a digital satellite broadcast are very different, and must be received and decoded differently. That's where a set-top-box (STB) comes in. Each STB is designed to receive and decode a different type of broadcast. Most DTVs require the addition of a STB because it would be too costly to equip them with tuners and decoders for every type of broadcast. It wouldn't make sense to pay for a TV with a satellite receiver if you're only planning on getting over-the-air HDTV. That's why you'll see the terms like "HDTV monitor" or "HDTV ready". This means that the TV is capable of displaying true HDTV, but it does not have a built-in tuner.
A crisp, clear, HDTV picture with an antenna
If the word antenna makes you think of static, snow, and generally poor picture - fear not! DTV is different. The clear benefit of DTV is that the strength of the signal needed to produce high-quality images and sound can be lower than with analog TV. Because they are digital, even weak DTV signals can easily be restored to their original quality and strength by your DTV set-top box.
The DTV signal is always perfect if it is received. Why the "if"? That's because of a characteristic of digital transmission known as the "cliff effect." Unlike analog transmissions, which get progressively weaker the farther the signal travels from the TV station, digital transmissions simply stop if the signal becomes too weak or is interrupted. This happens so quickly, it's as if the digital signal had fallen off of a cliff.
As a result, you won't get any images or sound if your antenna is too far away from the transmitter. Frequent DTV signal drop-out can occur in areas with lots of buildings, hills or objects that cause signal reflections (known as multipath or "ghosts").
Note: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allows residents of condominiums, townhouses, or members of neighborhood associations to put up outside antennas for reception of broadcast TV signals as long as those antennas are not located in "common" areas and do not exceed 12 feet in height above the peak of the roof.
Why the Samsung SIR-T451 HDTV Tuner?
The biggest thing we've run into recently on many newer TVs and digital tuners is that they don't allow you to manually add digital channels to memory. The only way to add channels is to do a channel scan. This becomes a huge problem if you use an antenna rotator and have channels in multiple directions. Besides the older Samsung HDTV tuners (SIR-T451, 351, 350, 151 and 150) we have confirmed that the LG/Insignia tuners will also allow you to manually add channels. To us that is a MUST HAVE feature! Also, the SIR-T451 is the only consumer grade HDTV tuner we've ever seen that has a front panel channel display which is something we really like.
Unlike most new (cheap) digital tuners that only convert a digital HDTV signal to analog, the Samsung SIR-T451 will output up to the full 1080 lines of horizontal resolution of HDTV to your TV. Many people don't realize it, but many older TVs have a picture tube that will display up to 900 lines of horizontal resolution. So this tuner will make your older TV look almost as good as a new TV!
And now back to Samsung's reason to buy this tuner...Samsung brings you great flexibility for delivering FREE over-the-air or QAM digital cable DTV signals to an analog or DTV-ready TV with external video and audio inputs, or DTV-capable computer monitors. Samsung technology easily tunes and decodes all 18 ATSC broadcast formats. With the Samsung SIR-T451, you can view HDTV, SDTV and listen to Dolby® Digital 2.0 stereo or Dolby® Digital 5.1 surround audio through your audio system. Outputs include 1080i, 720p or 480p/i DTV formats, and connection options including DVI (1), Component (1), Composite (1), Audio-Rt/Lt, Dolby® Digital Coaxial and Optical. Attractive styling and affordable pricing make the Samsung SIR-T451 a perfect solution. And Samsung DTV tuners are regarded as the most sensitive receivers available to consumers today, resulting in even the weakest and most difficult to receive DTV stations coming in clearly where other receivers display a picture that breaks up or "tiles" or doesn't come in at all.
