Which bigscreen?

[auggybendoggy]

ok guys in looking at big screens I have a question

 

some have a clear coat screen which produces alot of reflection (glare)

and some have a anti-glare screen much like a lcd monitor.

 

what do they call these types of screens?

 

Aug

[Gunman]

The ones with the reflective screen have what is called "Tru-brite" or "X-brite" depending on the brand you purchase. Basically it uses a different outer layer on the LCD to make the crystals appear to be closer together and have better color - even though in reality behind that layer everything is the same as a regular monitor.

[appalachian_fox]

The anti-glare might depend on who's making the TV. I know the Mitsubishi has an anti-glare one called DiamondView. That's what I have on my TV, and I gotta say, it works pretty darn well. Daylight still washes it out, though, so bright rooms are not good for sharp image quality. Of course, that should make sense, but it's more true for RPs I've noticed. That Tru-brite/X-brite thing sounds really cool, I think I'll swing by BB and check out those types of screens. Not that I'm in the market for a second TV, but I was specifically looking for anti-glare, and I probably cut out some good sets that way.

[auggybendoggy]

http://www.viewsonic.com/pdf/us_eng/produc...%202004_low.pdf

 

take a look at this and tell me if its worth it

[appalachian_fox]

Depends. If you have cable or satellite, absolutely not. They'll give you a box or lease one at a small surcharge, and you need their box to get their signal. This won't help you.

 

If you're looking at getting signals from your local broadcast stations, and you have an HD-Ready TV (but not a TV with an HD tuner built-in), then yes, it could be a good buy. Keep in mind you have to supply the antenna and where you are in relation to the broadcast locations for your local channels makes a big difference. Capturing over-the-air broadcast kind of hints back at the days of tweaking rabbit ears on the set-top, though this is a little different.

 

The box seems to have all the external requisites, though, including the Component Out and several input styles. If you're trying to capture over the air broadcasts and you think you're close enough to receive them and you have the proper equipment (*phew*) then it seems good.

[auggybendoggy]

fox,

im about 45 minutes east of Los Angeles. Our back bedroom gets

good reception using 2 rabbit ears for local broadcast.

 

BUT our front room T.V. reception sucks. We only have 2 rabbit ears with a couple dials that doesnt pick up crap. So I'm kinda worried about the front room.

 

when you say keep in mind you have to supply the antenna - is it a normal antenna or a special type?

 

Aug

[appalachian_fox]

Well, here's the thing. I haven't looked into digital antennas, but depending on what frequency they transmit on depends on what kind of antenna you want to maximize signal reception.

 

Now, the other thing you can do is buy/build a high-gain antenna. This allows, effectively, the signal you received to look more powerful. This only goes so far, though. Again, depends on where these HD signals are broadcast on the spectrum. I'll look into it and see if I can get you more info. Gotta run for now.

[auggybendoggy]

fox dont forget about the info pleaaaassee...

 

Aug

[appalachian_fox]

Oooh, glad you bumped that.

 

I'll check it out this weekend. Writing it in the to-do list now.

[appalachian_fox]

Aight, here's what I came up with:

 

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

 

It's an antenna calculating website. Handles all the tough parts of figuring out where your local stations broadcast from, etc. It's also generic: You're not getting some raw output that has to be turned into something you can buy at a store.

 

Note, the only required field is zip code...You don't need to put that other junk in. Address may help calculations, but I imagine aggregating to ZIP isn't bad. On the results screen, if you have available stations, click on the digital stations only radio button, and then look at the color coding of the antennas. Doesn't make any sense, sure, but click on one (in the color-coded link area) and it tells you what type of antenna you need, by its calculations, to receive stations where you are. Figure out which channels are important to get, and buy the biggest antenna required to do so.

 

Let me know what the output results are, I can try to verify the biggest antenna calcuation and I can probably suggest good antennas that fit into the categories they use.

 

--edit--

 

duh, I shoulda thought of this earlier:

 

Consider getting yourself an external antenna, or at least a bigger one and putting it in the attic. You can wire both TVs up to the same antenna that way. Just like a cable TV box. I assume you are not doing any transmitting of anything (amateur radio or CB wise) in the house. That could cause interference. Most likely cordless phones won't, because they're all 2.4 GHz now, but older ones may. Oh, and whatever you do, only connect TVs to the outside antenna. It's perfectly safe if all you are doing is receiving signals, but if you do have emissive hobbies, don't ever transmit over that antenna while TVs are hooked up to it. That's a just in case note.

Edited February 14, 2005 by appalachian_fox