Cable-Provider HD Quality vs. OTA

dfranke · 12-22-2004, 11:52 PM

Recently I was told by a TV salesman that most cable/sat providers will compress their HD signals and that OTA HD comes through uncompressed, so therefore OTA HD will look better than cable/sat HD on any given HDTV. I'm not sure how true that is, but it got me thinking about comparisons between the two. Does anyone out there have experience with this, especially on Adelphia in San Diego County? I'd rather just go with cable, but if OTA looks much better, I will put an antenna on the roof.

slowmo · 12-23-2004, 08:07 AM

I get Fox and NBC HD Channels both thru cable (Charter) and OTA. I can't tell a difference though I've heard the some theory.

SLedford · 12-23-2004, 10:58 PM

I have an OTA tuner that I used before Comcast added HD programming. The OTA looked much better initially. Since then it seems that Comcast has tweaked their compression some, and now they seem about the same for HD signals.

Standard Def signals are still much better OTA than the cable SD pictures. Not sure why. Hope this helps.

12-22-2004, 11:52 PM	#1
dfranke My plasma is High Def. Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 5	Cable-Provider HD Quality vs. OTA Recently I was told by a TV salesman that most cable/sat providers will compress their HD signals and that OTA HD comes through uncompressed, so therefore OTA HD will look better than cable/sat HD on any given HDTV. I'm not sure how true that is, but it got me thinking about comparisons between the two. Does anyone out there have experience with this, especially on Adelphia in San Diego County? I'd rather just go with cable, but if OTA looks much better, I will put an antenna on the roof.

12-23-2004, 10:58 PM	#3
SLedford HD Fan Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Little Rock, Arkansas Posts: 1,023	The OTA signal is better I have an OTA tuner that I used before Comcast added HD programming. The OTA looked much better initially. Since then it seems that Comcast has tweaked their compression some, and now they seem about the same for HD signals. Standard Def signals are still much better OTA than the cable SD pictures. Not sure why. Hope this helps.

12-23-2004, 08:07 AM	#2
slowmo High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 759	I get Fox and NBC HD Channels both thru cable (Charter) and OTA. I can't tell a difference though I've heard the some theory.