How To Get HDTV Programming For Your Home
OK, so you have your brand new HDTV or are seriously thinking
about getting one soon. That's a great decision because this new
television technology is going to quickly become the standard
for broadcasting television signals. In fact by 2007 all
television broadcasting will have switched over to digital
format under the direction of the FCC, and that paves the way
for high definition television to become the accepted norm.
So how do you actually get the HDTV signal then? Well, there are
different ways to do that and the best decision for you probably
depends most on where you live. If you live in close proximity
to television stations that broadcast HDTV programming then all
you will need is a television that already has a HDTV tuner
built in to be able to receive and display high definition
broadcasts, and a suitable antenna. However, you will be limited
to receiving only a small group of local stations.
For most people, the best solution is to become a subscriber to
either a cable TV or satellite service, because they offer many
more channels of entertainment and news that broadcast in HDTV.
To receive the signal from these providers you only need to have
a television set that is HDTV "capable", or in other words, all
that is needed to process high definition programming is an
external receiver or tuner. Just like the ones provided by cable
and satellite companies.
The other advantage of having the HDTV capable television set is
that as the technology improves, you can simply upgrade the
receiver as your programing provider makes the new tuners
available, usually at very little or even no cost since you
continue to use their service.
You can also use cable or satellite service if you have the HDTV
tuner already installed inside your TV, but why pay for the
tuner if you get the same thing from your programming provider
instead?
So in summary, you can get HDTV programming either by antenna
through local TV broadcasts, or broaden your channel selection
and HDTV choices through either a satellite or cable TV company.