Digital TV Transition (2)

Other considerations
Is there a signal strength indicator? This will help you target your antenna to the best possible signal of any station.
Is it the video and audio outputs you need it on your TV?
What cables are included?
Will it be easy to use? For example, older people will probably prefer a remote control, the large, well-spaced buttons.
Is it on batteries? If you have a battery-TV for the information in an emergency, you need a converter, the DTV may be powered by batteries or do you have to buy a separate portable power pack.

What to expect from a converter
Compared to analog, DTV broadcasts a sharper image (and more programming options). However, the DTV tuner requires a strong signal. You will not see "Snow", but Watchable picture from a weak signal. If you are not a good picture, you get a highly distorted, or not at all.

You need a new antenna
Since weak signals may not play in the entire tuner in the DTV converter, you may need to aim your antenna at the transmitter, or a better antenna.


The DTV picture is another form
Many digital TV shows in widescreen mode. In the larger picture on your old TV, the converter box is squash the picture and the black bars above and below. People in the picture appear smaller. If this bothers you, you can zoom in and your entire screen, but that chops from the sides of the picture. Or you can select a mode that squeezes the general picture in the narrow screen, but this distorts the images.

They lose some of the benefits of your VCR
Unless you have a separate converter box for your TV and VCR, you will not be able to make a program while recording another. Unless your converter is an event-timer built-in, and few do, you can only time-recording on one channel.

See also : PUrchase Tv antenna, What do I Need?