Rabbit Ears To Stage a Comeback Thanks To DTV 265
Jeffrey Breen writes "Like Monty Python's Killer Rabbit, cheap indoor antennas seem harmless to satellite and cable providers. But with the digital TV transition in the US, rabbit ears can suddenly provide digital-perfect pictures, many more channels, and even on-screen program guides. Already feeling pressure as suddenly budget-conscious consumers shed premium channels, providers must now get creative to protect their low-end as well."
Re:Not rabbit ears (Score:5, Insightful)
In general "rabbit ears" are set-top TV antennas of any type. Also, VHF is not going away (some DTV stations will still be using VHF). Only the top part of the UHF band will no longer be available for TV stations.
Saw this on Superbowl Sunday. (Score:5, Insightful)
I cut the cable (Score:5, Insightful)
I wonder how long this will last. (Score:5, Insightful)
My brother hooked up an antennae at his place in LA, and now gets somewhere around 60 channels. All in perfect clarity.
Considering how much I HATE paying a cable company for ads(what happened to Ad-supported?), this is looking very much like something I am going to try out. Fuck Comcast.
But how will cable companies respond when broadcast stations start taking back business?
My guess, they will start BUYING them.
Digital-Perfect (Score:2, Insightful)
Measuring perfection should include the ability to degrade gracefully, and digital TV is absolute shit at that -- far worse than analog TV signals. Perhaps the worst part is that audio dropout happens much more easily than with analog signals; not only will you have tons of stations with pictures that lock up - as my parents digital cable did so often while visiting over the holidays - but you won't even be able to keep up on the story via the audio (not to mention emergency broadcast usage).
Re:Not rabbit ears (Score:1, Insightful)
You hit the mark, , but every blogs Zero score is a potential victim of how smart or dumb the moderators , Digital is great, but at a much lower range overall, and it can pop in and out under conditions called Multi path making it even worse than a snowy analog picture .
So it's Great for some and Bad for many more .
The marketing of this tells us all or nothing, that's a half truth , it's all Nothing or a popping in and out annoyance worse than Analog NTSC TV snow weak picture
Re:Not rabbit ears (Score:3, Insightful)
You should splurge the $20 and buy a better antenna. My problem isn't against antennas or even indoor antennas, but specifically rabbit ears. Why use a 1940s era antenna when there are far better and smaller designs. Check out the Silver Sensor or mount a $40 Radioshack antenna in your attic and you will get far better reception.
Re:Not rabbit ears (Score:5, Insightful)
Well its more like digital showing flawless quality where analogue would show some fuzz, but too much fuzz and digital dies completely where as analogue still shows something.
Its better than analogue if you dont have a strong signal, but you still have enough.
VCRs? (Score:3, Insightful)
One *in* for the Cable Companies might be to offer a cheap basic PVR along with basic analog cable. That might lure away the mom and pops who can no longer timeshift.
TV? (Score:3, Insightful)
What is this TV you speak of? Is that a program that runs on a computer?
How To Protect the Bottom Line (Score:5, Insightful)
Cable companies, you want to protect the bottom line?
Stop sending me six-page glossy advertisements first class mail every week. How much does that cost you in printing and postage? Quit begging me to upgrade to services I already have. Stop bombarding me with ads that insult my intelligence. Stop offering me "this price for six months!!!1!!" deals that will rip me off in half a year and hope in vain that I'm too stupid to notice. Stop cutting all of the channels I actually watch and moving them to premium packages. Quit reordering my channel numbers every two weeks. Stop lying about how many "HD" channels you have. Stop trying to screw me by playing billing games - my bank tells me when you cashed my check, so don't try to rip me off with fake late fees. Hire operators who are neither surly nor clueless...
Is this so difficult?