quality Terrestrial antenna with good signal capturing ability..

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Dkeeper

132 posts

Master Geek

#3091514 18-Jun-2023 16:41

Yes, a TV with both inputs would be ideal, however the TV with the best upscaling is my priority as I have thousands of Laser Discs and DVD's and want some redundancy with this investment.

From the brief research and info I could find it seemed that the Sony A90K with its Cognitive Processor XR, XR Triluminos Pro and XR 4K upscaling dual database processing XR super resolution seemed the best option. (but boy does one get lost in all that jargon, lol)

Looked at TCL, LG,and Panasonic and I saw some processing but could not find anything that seemed to challenge the Sony in this $1k to 3k level for upscaling.

Great to hear that the terrestrial feed has a better resolution and it's now encouraging to put in dual Sat/T2 antennas. Dam spoiled for choice these days, lol

Quic Broadband

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Senecio

2653 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3091516 18-Jun-2023 16:50

In all honesty. Any comparably priced TV from Panasonic, LG etc.... will do just as good a job of upscaling. All of the premium name brand TVs do a good job of upscaling these days.

Brunzy

2016 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3091674 18-Jun-2023 17:45

If you don’t see many antennas on your neighbours roof, you’d be extremely fortunate to get it to work.

Gain is not as important as putting it in the optimum position, which only someone with a spectrum analyser will know.

farcus

1534 posts

Uber Geek

#3091743 18-Jun-2023 19:59

you may be better off investigating a better internet connection. Streaming will give you a better quality picture than satellite for most content providers. Pretty sure fibre is available in Waihi Beach

Dkeeper

132 posts

Master Geek

#3091744 18-Jun-2023 20:04

unfortunately, fibre is not an option where I am, so using a wireless Skinny Broadband 4G connection. Might possibly move to a wireless 5G connection when it becomes available at my location, that might be 2024 sometime.

fe31nz

1188 posts

Uber Geek

#3091825 19-Jun-2023 00:12

You are very right to not want to use the Freeview satellite service - the quality of the Freeview channels on DVB-S is pretty bad (low quality SD only). However, the main Freeview channels are also available in "HD" from Sky on DVB-S2. Not full 1920x1080, but 1440x1080 with a 16:9 display aspect ratio to they appear to be 1920x1080, and the bit rate is decent so the quality is very similar to what you get from DVB-T on UHF. So you can get the lowest Sky subscription and get those channels. If you ask them for an old Sky decoder rather than the new Android box, the card from the old decoders can be use in a card reader in a PC along with some DVB-S2 tuners to play and record from the Sky channels (with the right software). I do this using MythTV on a Linux box, but there is Windows software that works too. You do also need a video card that can do good deinterlacing to get a good quality picture, or a decent CPU to do the processing on the CPU instead. Even the lowest current Nvidia card (a GT1030) can do this.

SATTV

1621 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#3091836 19-Jun-2023 07:52

I presume you have had the local Waihi Beach Aerial installer out, and yes there is a local installer, he has been in business since the late 80's early 90's so he knows his stuff, he used to make his own antennas to stand up to the coastal conditions, I dont know if he still does.

What you want is a parabolic UHF antenna, it looks like this

They are not cheap and I have only seen a handful for sale in NZ, I looked for one a few years ago but decided to stay with satellite.

You might have to import one yourself, be be aware it will be close to four digits but there is nothing better, highly accurate and true high gain.

If you want the aerial installers details, PM me.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

nitro

607 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3091884 19-Jun-2023 09:52

tweake:

for me this is typical high gain https://www.alkris.co.nz/product/39-91-element-uhf-antenna but again i would need specs to be sure. plus required amps as well.

60km is not all that far, but also line of site makes a lot of difference. low signal areas can be down in valleys or 100+km's away (tho it depends on which transmitter). granted my experience is analog. i have my doubts many would bother with high gain aerials these days as those who needed those big aerials, simply went to sat. so "high gain" becomes a marketing term rather than actually being high gain.

without line of sight, e.g. dips in valleys, you're better off with a phased array antenna.

tweake

2206 posts

Uber Geek

#3091913 19-Jun-2023 10:51

SATTV:

I presume you have had the local Waihi Beach Aerial installer out, and yes there is a local installer, he has been in business since the late 80's early 90's so he knows his stuff, he used to make his own antennas to stand up to the coastal conditions, I dont know if he still does.

What you want is a parabolic UHF antenna, it looks like this

They are not cheap and I have only seen a handful for sale in NZ, I looked for one a few years ago but decided to stay with satellite.

You might have to import one yourself, be be aware it will be close to four digits but there is nothing better, highly accurate and true high gain.

If you want the aerial installers details, PM me.

John

i used to install similar ones many many decades ago. overall they where not really any better. law of diminishing returns tends to apply.

tweake

2206 posts

Uber Geek

#3091915 19-Jun-2023 10:56

nitro:

without line of sight, e.g. dips in valleys, you're better off with a phased array antenna.

maybe its changed with digital, but the typical phased arrays where low gain and only used in reasonable areas. guys liked them because they where easier to install.

making multi antenna arrays, pretty rare in uhf. very limited value and once satellite started all those high cost antenna setups disappeared.

Dkeeper

132 posts

Master Geek

#3100060 5-Jul-2023 08:49

Firstly, all your comments have been very much appreciated..

Is the <TVNZ + App> and or the <Freeview App> found on the pre-installed smart tv apps received 1080p or would it be only 480p.
I ask this as the movie I watched last night on the Freeview app with the Panasonic LZ980 seemed very clear with great detail & colour. Which made me think I might not find any advantage with a terrestrial antenna. What do you think?

(I noticed a big resolution variation on some youtube videos)

One thing I had also noticed (on different tv's) is that periodically the program might skip backward 1-3 seconds and repeat itself. Found this happening on the <TVNZ + App> on a Google Chromecast with TV, on a Windows 10 PC (attached to TV) and to a lesser extent on the TV version of the app on the TV itself.
Again, thank you in advance for any comment on the above two items.

Gordon

farcus

1534 posts

Uber Geek

#3100152 5-Jul-2023 12:03

Dkeeper:

Firstly, all your comments have been very much appreciated..

Is the <TVNZ + App> and or the <Freeview App> found on the pre-installed smart tv apps received 1080p or would it be only 480p.
I ask this as the movie I watched last night on the Freeview app with the Panasonic LZ980 seemed very clear with great detail & colour. Which made me think I might not find any advantage with a terrestrial antenna. What do you think?

(I noticed a big resolution variation on some youtube videos)

One thing I had also noticed (on different tv's) is that periodically the program might skip backward 1-3 seconds and repeat itself. Found this happening on the <TVNZ + App> on a Google Chromecast with TV, on a Windows 10 PC (attached to TV) and to a lesser extent on the TV version of the app on the TV itself.
Again, thank you in advance for any comment on the above two items.

Gordon

TVNZ streamed content is 720p

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