"sf" wrote:
> Andy wrote:
>>Pete C. said...
>>
>>> It began well before today. The date was always the date that analog had
>>> to be off, not the first day analog could be turned off. One of the
>>> local stations here turned the analog off permanently a couple weeks
>>> ago.
>>
>>My house had a roof antenna with a rotation control box in the attic for
>>when
>>necessary.
>>
>>I DID install true cable TV cables.

Coax will [sometimes] shield some minute amount of interference occuring
inside your house (like from vaccuum and fridge motors) but there are too
many transmission variables to make that worthwhile... there's really no
point to switching flat TV anntena wire to coax.

> We installed cable as soon as it came to our area because the
> topography caused "ghost" images on some channels.

With a roof antenna (glorified rabit ears) all you got were *some* channels.

Now this dumb
> digital thing comes along and frankly I can't tell the difference.
> Hubby claims he can. I can tell when whatever it is they film on is
> cheap, I can tell the difference between tvs... but I can't tell the
> difference between a high quality analog image (via cable) and a
> digital image on our newest tvs.

Cable isn't transmitting analog, they haven't for a few years, that's why
you no longer need the "box" for basic cable.

What do you consider "newest tvs"? With TVs more than ten years old there
isn't much picture quality difference between analog and digital. But
there's a temendous difference in picture quality between old style tube
analog TVs and digital with newer flat screeen tube and especially the new
flat panel TVs, and there's no comparison to HD. Picture quality is also
diminished in the transmission of taped/reruns, especially the older reruns
with any TV/transmission. Once you've watched live broadcast on the late
model flat panel TVs for a while, especially in HD, you won't want to go
back. I don't think anyone who's been using the new flat panel PC monitors
would want to go back to CRT either. Of course if all you watch are
cartoons it makes no difference.

Btw, anyone with cable, make sure they install the amplifier where the cable
enters your house, and that the tech tests the entering signal (and at each
TV) and adjusts/trims the amplifier accordingly... otherwise your viewing
pleasure will be greatly diminished. And since the amplifier is energized
24/7 with the passing of time it becomes weak and can even burn out, so it's
a good idea to complain like every two years that your picture is lousy,
they will swap the amplifier to a new one... it's a small metal box the size
of a pack of cigarettes with a small transformer that plugs into an
electrical outlet, with a pilot light (if the pilot light is out it's not
operating at all), if you can't find one inside near where the cable enters
then the installer was too lazy, forgot, didn't have one on the truck, or
there was no electrical outlet handy nearby... my cable enters the basement,
there's an electical outlet just three feet away. I learned about the
amplifier when I bought my new flat panel TV (didn't know about the
amplifier previously), that's when the tech checked the signal at the new TV
and when he went into the basement is when it was discovered that the
amplifier was burned out... what a major improvement in all the TVs (I have
four) when he installed the new amplifier.