Which Brand of Digital TVs Works Best With An Antenna?
So much variation. My Coby 32" ($139 @ Amazon on sale) has a very sensitive tuner, next best is my 52" 2007 Phillips, then my Sylvania and then my iView and Homeworx PVRs - the homeworx / iView has problems with a few of the weaker channels breaking up. I have also used a number of converters and set up customer's TV sets.
But the way they deal with scanning in channels, EPG, and dealing with duplicate channels is frustrating. Situated between 2 sets of translators, I get a lot of duplicate real and virtual channels. Some tuners pick the first channel scanned, some pick the last one scanned, and a few (very few) pick the strongest signal. Even fewer display EPG data beyond what is on the channel I am watching RIGHT NOW. The only devices that I have used with a decent EPG are my DTVpal converter (not as good since the demise of TVGOS) and the 2 PVRs. A few TV sets and converters have "Now/Next" epg - better than nothing I suppose.
Even leading consumer websites and magazines reviews don't test tuners for sensitivity, EPG, or any other important features OTA users are interested in. So choosing a decent TV for OTA use is still a crap shoot!
But the way they deal with scanning in channels, EPG, and dealing with duplicate channels is frustrating. Situated between 2 sets of translators, I get a lot of duplicate real and virtual channels. Some tuners pick the first channel scanned, some pick the last one scanned, and a few (very few) pick the strongest signal. Even fewer display EPG data beyond what is on the channel I am watching RIGHT NOW. The only devices that I have used with a decent EPG are my DTVpal converter (not as good since the demise of TVGOS) and the 2 PVRs. A few TV sets and converters have "Now/Next" epg - better than nothing I suppose.
Even leading consumer websites and magazines reviews don't test tuners for sensitivity, EPG, or any other important features OTA users are interested in. So choosing a decent TV for OTA use is still a crap shoot!
I hear you. We have one left here in Syracuse, NY that actually has some of the bits n bobs us hams look for. The other four are nothing more than glorified toy stores. The one good one has a manager who is an electronics geek, which is why they managed to keep this stuff in stock. I've gotten more than a few things there in the past couple years and will be heading there later this week for a project I'm doing for my jeep (I have a lot of toys to hook up in the jeep and am building an electrical distribution block to make life easier)
I'm a fan of Vizio TVs. My daughter bought one around six years ago and it picked up all the channels that the Zenith converter box could pick up so it does have an excellent TV tuner. Not only that, she still uses it for her families main TV set. I've bought two of them in the last two years and both are working great and I expect them to keep working great.
