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There are many factors that come into this. The bandwidth of a single analog channel can accommodate 4 or more digital channels. If the transmitter is not upgra

by yholio 5y ago

There are many factors that come into this. The bandwidth of a single analog channel can accommodate 4 or more digital channels. If the transmitter is not upgraded, its power will now be spread to multiple channels. Another is simply self-selection bias. When a rapid technical transition takes place, the average reception might improve significantly, but you can't guarantee it for everyone. A slight frequency change, a reflection pattern can drastically alter the signal intensity in a certain spot. But you will only hear from people who happened to have good analog and lost it, those with bad analog had already moved to cable and are unaware that good terrestrial digital has become available. My experience with Freeview in the greater London area was very positive, with a very simple antenna I was able to get around 100 channels, the vast majority in perfect quality.

salamandersauce 5y ago
Does ATSC/NTSC work the same way as DVB-T/PAL with regards to signal quality at the same DB?
- yholio 5y ago
  They are built upon the same basic principles - QAM modulation, error correcting codes and MPEG/HEVC codecs, so there should be no significant difference. The newest ATSC3.0 standard has a somewhat richer toolbox allowing the optional use of 1024 or 4096QAM vs 256QAM for DVB, more advanced LDPC error correcting codes, LDM multiplexing and MIMO. The industry seems to believe the added complexity is not worth the marginal benefits. The fundamental difference between Europe (or at least UK) and US seems to be the concern regulators had for improving over the air TV. So while in the UK, the move to digital was employed to broadly improve the offering and reception quality, in the US there was less concern and the stations found the death of analog a good opportunity to close down transmitters, recover spectrum and remove free programing.
blendergeek 5y ago
The people I hear from had bad analog. But you can watch bad analog; your TV is just covered in snow. Bad digital is unwatchable.

by yholio 5y ago

salamandersauce 5y ago

Does ATSC/NTSC work the same way as DVB-T/PAL with regards to signal quality at the same DB?

yholio 5y ago
They are built upon the same basic principles - QAM modulation, error correcting codes and MPEG/HEVC codecs, so there should be no significant difference. The newest ATSC3.0 standard has a somewhat richer toolbox allowing the optional use of 1024 or 4096QAM vs 256QAM for DVB, more advanced LDPC error correcting codes, LDM multiplexing and MIMO. The industry seems to believe the added complexity is not worth the marginal benefits. The fundamental difference between Europe (or at least UK) and US seems to be the concern regulators had for improving over the air TV. So while in the UK, the move to digital was employed to broadly improve the offering and reception quality, in the US there was less concern and the stations found the death of analog a good opportunity to close down transmitters, recover spectrum and remove free programing.

blendergeek 5y ago

The people I hear from had bad analog. But you can watch bad analog; your TV is just covered in snow. Bad digital is unwatchable.