HDTV on a SDTV

[soulprops77]

I'm thinking of slowly making the move to HD.

I can't afford an HD set just yet but I am wondering if I can get some of the benefit anyway.

I would like to get a tuner card to receive HD channels and just use the same S-Video output on my video card to my standard TV. Will it downsample the resolution for the television?

I reckon I would still get those nice widescreen broadcasts out of the deal, plus I can watch the recorded files on my Apple Cinema Display when I'm in my room. . .

[dadams]

I am currently doing this connected to my 60" SDTV and the broadcasts are much better than what you get over analog cable. You will be pleased by the better picture even if it is not displayed on HDTV.

[CanadianEh]

I'm thinking of doing this with an OTA HD cature device and, from there, eventually replacing the 27" SDTV with a 40" LCD HDTV. Before I purchase the HDTV, how much extra processor usage will take place during playback? Will it be significant?

Also, can someone recommend an OTA ATSC tuner that picks up more difficult signals (slight fringe area)? Just curious if a couple are known to be better performers than others... I'm aware of the HDHomerun, but I think I'm just looking for a single, cheaper tuner for now. How's the AverMedia MCE 180?

[rfutscher]

Originally Posted by CanadianEh

......
Also, can someone recommend an OTA ATSC tuner that picks up more difficult signals (slight fringe area)? Just curious if a couple are known to be better performers than others... I'm aware of the HDHomerun, but I think I'm just looking for a single, cheaper tuner for now. How's the AverMedia MCE 180?

I have an HD Wonder. It has lots of problems with multipath and needs a strong signal. I have it on a separate antenna to pick up a station in a different direction. If you have a station or two in a different direction you may want a separate card for those stations. High gain antennas for distant stations have a narrow reception window.

I have a Fusion USB. It has a lot of problems with software, but you won't be using their software unless you want digital cable (QAM). The Fusion Drivers use to give me a lot of problems but they finally came out with a stable version. Then they went bad again with the newest version, I just use the older drivers.

I also have a HDHomerun. It was a bear to set up, but is working now. I am sure the software will be more polished shortly. There have been many requests for a driver that will load as a service. It is slightly more sensitive and less prone to overload than the Fusion USB. The Fusion USB handles multipath better. The two tuners are needed if you want to watch one show and record another.

Do you have a lot of multipath (ghosts) or local TV or FM stations?

My two biggest problems are multipath and intermod distortion.

My distant stations are in the same direction as my local stations. The local TV and FM stations tend to overload the tuner causing poor distant reception (intermod distortion). An FM trap helps. Because all my HD stations are UHF I also filter out the VHF stations. I definitely can't use an amp.

There is also a hill between me and the stations. There are several apartment buildings on each side of the hill. The reflections from the apartment buildings are almost as strong as the main signal. A tuner with good multipath performance helps, as well as an antenna with good side lobe rejection.

[CanadianEh]

Very good info, rfutscher. I live approximately 20 miles away from all local stations, which are conveniently now atop the same mountain. 4 stations are UHF with one being VHF. I can receive all 4 stations clearly with the built-in tuner to my bedroom Polaroid HDTV (which has a crappy tuner, as far as I can tell) and using a simple indoor silver sensor UHF antenna. The VHF station cannot be picked up using any indoor VHF antenna I have stored in my basement... ah well, it's just ABC

So from what I am reading, the Fusion is probably my best choice, from what you have experimented with. I don't really believe I have terrible amounts of multipath distortion as I'm almost line-of-sight (just below grade a bit... otherwise no other obstructions) and am in the middle of Vermont (no large buildings).

I'll continue to do a little more research and go from there. Thanks for your input (and Happy New Year!)