Do you watch over-the-air TV?

I didn't check if my TV has a digital tuner but I'm assuming it does since it's an HDTV. So all I need is an antenna and I will get free TV? Just like that? :D

yes just get any antenna. Boom, just like that.

You already know.

This should be moved to 'Off Topic'

Kind of depends on where you live I guess. I just put the cable that comes out of the wall into the hole in the TV and people started talking on screen. I only watch TV maybe once or twice a month. More often now since there's this really awesome series of documentaries airing every Wednesday on one of the publicly funded channels.

@egg: SA2 Aww yeaaaa

I thought most over the air signals were shut down a few years back.

@mikejflick: Nah, they just converted to digital, so you old TVs won't pick them up. A few random areas got to keep their analog stations, but they are all low power.

Digital OTA reception is really spotty depending on your location. The signals are a lot more directional that the analog ones were. Also you don't get the watchable but fuzzy picture of analog if you have a poor signal. You get a blocky slide show with a poor digital signal.

You can check http://www.antennaweb.org/ and it will tell you what stations you are likely to get, and what kind of antenna you should get in your area.

I haven't had cable in awhile now. I either watch stuff over the air or streaming. Everything broadcasted should work on any modern HDTV.

I rarely watch TV at all. If I watch a TV show, it's usually over the internet or off of a DVD.

I didn't for a couple of years, but I do now. It's easy to just kind of turn on something and let it run.

The friend/roommate/landlord I live with grew up with antenna and we both download most of our TV shows anyways, so he got an antenna for his place basically just to occasionally watch the local news or live sports games, and even that we do sparingly. It's a one-time cost, so I guess it makes more sense than paying for cable or satellite.

I don't have any television. I have a TV obviously but no service of any kind. I watch everything through the magical interwebs.

And what's the difference between General Discussion and Off-Topic? I might argue that the two forum sections should just be merged. Why would someone need to look at only one of those sections at the exclusion of the other? (considering there is no way to look at just wiki threads)

@ajamafalous

@truthtellah

Except I don't know. And I just talked to someone irl who said they had a bad experience with antennas, even though they live in the same area. So it's not a sure thing it seems. Plus one of their TVs didnt have a digital tuner, which surprised me. I assumed all HDTVs have it.

@isomeri

That's what I was told too. Just plugging in the cable works even if you don't pay for cable. But I don't think we have a cable.

@jollus

That link is very helpful. Thank you!

All of the media I consume is streamed from the interwebs. If there's a television program I want to watch, I'll probably find a way to do so, though not modern television show has really appealed to me.

yes i do. Well at least the 1 channel that i can watch...

@egg: heh. It was actually mainly a Bombcast reference("You already know." as a catch all answer), but yeah, it should work just through an antenna. I believe any HDTVs(or just any TVs) sold in or after 2009 already have digital receivers in them, as that's when the official US switch occurred.

Good luck with it!

(P.S. General Discussion is general gaming questions, perhaps related to more than one game or series. Off Topic is any topic unrelated to gaming, like questions about TV signals.)

No

I used to when we had a camper. Don't have the camper anymore, so no more over the air TV.

@egg: The difference between the fourms are that General Discussion is General Discussion about video game related topics. Off topic is for anything that is not pertaining to video games.

Never.

Though I suppose if I didn't have internet access, I might watch Letterman or something.

Yup. 3 and a half glorious channels. The internet serves for everything else.

Yes its awesome...mainly because its free. Many of the stations in our area have "sub-stations" like 2-2, 2-3, 26-2 so we actually have 13 stations. Granted, most of these stations suck. But if you already have a HDTV sitting around you might as well hook up a antenna and get some free TV.

The most shocking thing was how clear the signal is. Its all digital, so either it comes in crystal clear or not at all. I think it looks crisper than most of the HD cable television I have seen.

@fonkymucker: cable and satellite companies heavily compress the video they send you in order to fit more channels in the stream. The over the air broadcasters only need to worry about their own station on their frequencies, so they can put out a much cleaner 1080p feed. Just like Vinny said in a recent podcast, bit rate matters a lot for picture quality. You can have 1080p look worse than 720p if the bit rate is messed up.

I tried it and I got like 5 channels. But the channels didnt interest me..

I used to all the time, because I didn't have cable, but where I live now the reception is awful, so it's basically cable or nothing. Although I barely even watch that anymore either.

I use cable tv, I have not used "over the air tv" in a long time.