Getting the Best Possible HDTV Experience

Digital TV transition that occurred on June 12, 2009 opened a whole new world of possibilities in this new television era. Free high definition television became a reality. No monthly fees, just a regular TV antenna on top of your TV set like in the old good days and you are all set.

Is it as simple as that? Not really. Somehow, most people do not realize that a simple rabbit ears antenna may be just not a good enough solution for their area. Those who live in big cities are typically close enough to TV transmitters to get away with an indoor antenna. Others, who are more than 10 miles away from the transmitters, need to get a real outdoor antenna to pick up the signal. Yep, sometimes an outdoor antenna is ugly and a hassle to install but if the signal in your area is weak, the outdoor tv antenna is the only way to go. It is unrealistic to expect that an indoor antenna will work far away from the towers.

So how does one pick the best antenna? The key is to understand that the best tv antenna depends on location and on the position with respect to the surrounding TV transmitters. To figure out what TV stations are available in your area, open the tv antenna selector and enter your address (see the usage guide here). You'll get a list of available station, their distance from your home, frequency band, azimuth and a lot of technical data. Along with the technical data, you'll get an antenna recommendation. This recommendation is derived automatically and most often is too conservative, i.e you can usually get away woth a les spowerful antenna than suggested. Yet, it is a good approximation to what you really need. If you want to be on the safe side, just use the provided suggestion and have the best possible HDTV experience. For free.