“I do not have cable. How does the antenna reception compare with other tv sets?”
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The LG 50 inch Class 4K Smart UHD TV with AI ThinQ® (49.5'' Diag), Model # 50UN7300PUF, has an F-Type, 75-Ohm, coaxial connector in the back that you can connect an internal or external antenna to. Free broadcast TV offers noticeably higher visual quality than expensive cable. But they both operate at a 1080p resolution. Free TV isn’t just PBS and local news. Most of the major television channels (especially sports channels) simultaneously broadcast on OTA and cable TV. The obvious difference between cable and OTA TV is channel-density. Cable TV is comprised of a few thousand channels, while OTA TV only broadcasts (at max) 69 channels for each locality. This difference in channel-density is the big reason why cable doesn’t look as good as OTA TV. Most OTA channels (55 of the 69) sit comfortably on the 470 to 806 MHz UHF spectrum. This spectrum is divided for each channel, so each one has its own 6 MHz band. But 6 MHz isn’t nearly enough bandwidth for HD TV transmissions. So, broadcasters compress their video (reduce the file size) using the lightweight MPEG-2 codec, which leads to only a tiny loss in visual quality. Cable TV occupies the 54 to 1000 MHz frequency range, with a big emphasis on the 750 MHz and 860 MHz bands. This giant frequency range (with a focus on high bands) translates to a lot of bandwidth. he problem is the extra bandwidth is only used to host more channels. While OTA TV places just one channel on each 6 MHz band, cable companies use aggressive compression algorithms (like MPEG-4) to shove around 20 channels on each 6 MHz band. As you’d expect, this aggressive compression leads to a dramatic loss in quality. It’s kind of like shoving 20 movies on a single DVD. You probably already know this, but OTA TV is just a local radio transmission that you pick up with a receiver. And while radio signals can technically travel forever, their intensity degrades over time. This degradation can lead to some quality loss, but if you have a correctly set up antenna (and maybe a signal amplifier to boot), the quality loss will hardly be noticeable. Cable TV, though, isn’t exactly a local operation. It starts with the TV networks, which transmit their programs to local cable companies via satellite. (If you see a plot of land full of satellite dishes, it’s probably operated by your local cable company.) The cable companies then compress these video signals and send them through the city via a network of coaxial cables. These video signals degrade as they travel through town, so they’re boosted by amplifiers along the way. Then, when the signal finally reaches your home, it has to be decoded by your TV. As you can imagine, each step in this messy process leads to quality loss. When paired with the aggressive compression used by cable companies, it’s a wonder cable TV looks good at all...^IFV
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.Amazing reception, easy setup! And it has its own set of channels!
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