Technobabble

Super Bowl in HD!

Posted by on Jan 31, 2007 | 7 Comments

Whatsamatta, sports fan … bummed out that you won’t be watching the Super Bowl on a HDTV? It doesn’t have to be that way! You can tap into a HDTV signal faster than you might think. Cable or satellite isn’t required. You just need a HDTV-tuner equipped TV and a HD antenna … best of all, that juicy HDTV signal is as free as can be …

Thinking about installing an HDTV antenna yourself? The Consumer Electronics Association’s AntennaWeb.org should be one of the first stops in your quest, whether you’re rooting for the Colts, the Bears, or just want to watch all those great commercials. (Could Prince have something completely inappropriate for prime time up his sleeve?)

Get ready to climb up on your roof. While you may be able to get away with an indoor antenna, an outdoor antenna should provide a much better signal. When you go to AntennaWeb.org, you’ll enter your zip code, then fine-tune your location on the map to determine the type of HDTV antenna best suited to your geographic area. A color-coded system is used to specify which antennas will work best at your location. Distance is a big factor … if you’re too far from the transmitter, you’ll be out of luck.

You’ll also want to check out c|net’s videos for the how-to skinny …

[tags]HDTV[/tags]

  • http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com hdtv geek

    Which network will broadcast the game? Will it be broadcasted in HD in all areas?

  • Paul Sherman

    Amen to that!

    I bought my HDTV (with integral ATSC tuner) last spring. I haven’t bothered with cable or satellite since I moved within broadcast range 20 years ago, so I already had the antenna. Outdoor mounting is ideal, but you can use an outdoor antenna in the attic if you’re close enough to the broadcast towers (I do, works pretty well).

    Some places will try to sell you an ‘HDTV antenna’; that’s BS. Radio waves are radio waves, as long as the antenna is designed to receive signals in the TV bands, it doesn’t matter how their encoded. An independent TV shop (some exist) or Radio Shack are your best bet for an antenna.

    An important point: An ‘HDTV ready’ TV probably won’t work; they usually won’t have a tuner. Be sure to look at the specs for ‘ATSC tuner’ or ‘HDTV tuner’ .Many big box TV retailers don’t understand the difference, as they’re only familiar with cable/satellites feeds. Even Wikipedia fails to mention ‘over the air’ (OTA) HDTV.

    Cnet has a good explanation:
    http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108854-1.html?tag=txt

    I watched the World Cup shortly after buying my TV – WOW!

    have fun

  • Pingback: links for 2007-02-01 ~ Chris Pirillo

  • http://www.sportswikipedia.org super bowl wikipedia

    I didn’t realize it was that easy to get HDTV i have a tv that is compatible and i didn’t even know it. I will check out the site you supplied i want to make sure i atleast have this for the next super bowl.

  • MR__GEO

    Thanks for the chance to win a cool prize!

  • http://twitter.com/PhantomGreen1 dee

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  • Joanna Smith

    Happy Sunday Funday! Count me in on this fantastic giveaway! I’m following you both on twitter and tweeting. I’m @joannaonthelake Thanks so much!