Digital TV

The DAC itself isn't the issue, the issues are signal strength and receiver performance.

This is inherent with digital media, they're mostly fine until they stop working totally. Digital doesn't do gradual and graceful degradation.

Graham

I just put in a Digital Stream brand converter box. Before switching I had a good to excellent picture on just about all of my channels. One exception, was that ch4 was ghosted out beyond all hope. With the converter box, ch4 comes in great. With the analog, a weak signal is still acceptable if you don't mind the noise in the picture , but with the digital a weak signal will cause pixelation and loss of audio. You either get a watchable picture or you don't, there isn't a gradual degradation in picture quality like with analog. I ended up tweaking the antenna a bit for a better compramise. One thing I've noticed is that the audio seems to have a really bad volume shift on all channels. It's like someone at the studio is constantly changing levels. I don't know if this is due to the nature of the digital broadcast or the converter box.

Yup, and the same applied to DTV depending on the receiver , side effects may vary. image spotty in places etc..

--
http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5"

I got my old electronics a bit mixed up. I remember now on some old (video game) monitors only the 1 IC was referred to as a "DAC". I wrote the question as if you would call the entire converter box a "DAC".

Thanks. Now to find the best one on the market. I'll probably wait a while.

Thanks, Tony

Thanks. I suppose soon there will be lots of tests and the different brand boxes will get rated so we can pick the one best for our conditions.

Tony

Thanks. There are already some possible tuner problems spotted.

"Microtune Claims Problems with Some DTV Converter Boxes Tells NTIA Its Testing Found Inteference Issues with DTV-to-Analog Converter Boxes"

Tony

Tony Miklos wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

your $40 coupons are only good for a limited time. the DTV converter everybody is waiting for is the Echostar TR-40,due out in June or July,last I heard.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

I guess I'll wait to order mine.

Is there some place these have been rated already? I'd like to see why everyone is waiting for them. Any idea if it uses a Microtune brand tuner?

Tony

is a comparison table which indentifies the maufacturer of the guts of most units.

Mark Zenier snipped-for-privacy@eskimo.com Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Anyone want a coupon?

So now that the Echostar TR-40 and others are available, and I have my coupons, is the Echostar TR-40 still a good choice? I *may* be going with a rotor and I know certain model DTV converters are.. I forget what it's called but I think it remembers and turns the antenna automatically?

Thanks, Tony

OK, I finally have my coupons, is the Echostar TR-40 (CRA) still a good choice? I see different ratings and they go from very poor to very good. I understand Dish Network bought them and I think added the analog pass through, not quite sure. It does sound like you can buy the same item but pay more if Dish Network put their name on it.

The one thing I may want to have is a smart antenna and I don't believe the TR-40 has that. That is a tough call though, I won't know if I need a smart antenna until after I get a converter and see how it works. I suppose I could get 1 of the Magnavox at WalMart and see how it does?

Open to suggestions........

Tony

Analog pass-through is only useful (if at all) for another couple of months.

has an online tool that, given your street address, will calculate and display the azimuth and nominal signal strength of the TV stations in your region. That can give you some indication as to whether or not you'll need to re-orient the antenna based on the channel selection.

--
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA

Greetings folks..

Since Jim has probably already made his selection, this reply are for all the folks reading this that would like to see the various feature options on the Coupon-Eligible Converter Boxes (CECB).

Keeping in mind that your options are few and the exotic features are just not to be found on a government subsidized program, these boxes (in general) perform their conversion function and not much more.

I have both the Zenith DTT-901 and the Digital Stream DTX-9950 both of which are fine units. The Electronic Program Guide (EPG) on the 9950 will allow up to 3 days of TV Guide like listings of upcoming programming while the Zenith only shows 2 hours (now and next). Beyond that, the aspect ratio on the Zenith is memorized for each and every channel individually (quite nice!) while (unfortunately) the 9950 has one (1) aspect ratio setting for ALL your channel received and memorized. Therefore, you can not set one channel's aspect ratio and have another with a different aspect ratio. Not a big deal - just a bit nagging when you come across a channel where the "zoom" or aspect ratio must be changed for a 4:3 conventional CRT based television then you later change channels to another that needs the original aspect ratio.

Cheers, Mr. Mentor

If within the U.S. the following will get you coupon until which time the program ceases or funds are extinguished -

| > your $40 coupons are only good for a limited time. | > the DTV converter everybody is waiting for is the Echostar TR-40,due out in | > June or July,last I heard. | | OK, I finally have my coupons, is the Echostar TR-40 (CRA) still a good | choice? I see different ratings and they go from very poor to very | good. I understand Dish Network bought them and I think added the | analog pass through, not quite sure. It does sound like you can buy the | same item but pay more if Dish Network put their name on it. | | The one thing I may want to have is a smart antenna and I don't believe | the TR-40 has that. That is a tough call though, I won't know if I need | a smart antenna until after I get a converter and see how it works. I | suppose I could get 1 of the Magnavox at WalMart and see how it does? | | Open to suggestions........ | | Tony