EDN Senior Technical Editor Brian Dipert exposes, analyzes and
opines on diverse topics in technology. Follow the Brian's Brain Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/BrianzBrain.
Advertisement
Profile
RSS Feed
-
Add this blog to your RSS newsreader!
Recent Posts
- Thick-Air ATSC: A Dearth Of Reception Leaves Me Feeling Uneasy
- Google's Chrome O/S Source: This Time I'm Serious
- Software Foibles: Once Again The Timestamp Causes Troubles
- Analyzing Nokia's Business: E71 Shortcomings And Unclear Next Steps
- Analyzing Nokia's Business: Past Performance Is No Guarantee Of Future Success
- Assessing Future Computing Needs: A Compelling Series
- iPhone Hacks And Security Risks: Whaddya Know, Apple Was Serious
- Apple's Mac OS 10.6.2: Have No Doubt, Intel's Atom CPU Is Out
- Graphics Flaws: A Common Cause?
- Integration Effects: Victims' Stock Price Plummets
Recent Comments
- . on 2012: The Year Of Looming Solar Disaster, When Civilization Devolves?
- Rumored Apple Table would make a Kindle. on Apple's Mac OS 10.6.2: Have No Doubt, Intel's Atom CPU Is Out
- arclight on Thick-Air ATSC: A Dearth Of Reception Leaves Me Feeling Uneasy
- Brad L on Thick-Air ATSC: A Dearth Of Reception Leaves Me Feeling Uneasy
- NokiaDan on Analyzing Nokia's Business: E71 Shortcomings And Unclear Next Steps
Most Commented On
- Sigma SD14 Dissatisfaction: Finally Believe Me, Foveon Fanboys? (118)
- Canceling Sirius: So Frustrating, It's Making Me Delirious (84)
- Windows Vista: What's With The Negative Dogmata? (78)
- Nintendo's Wii: Privily, Why So Rare Art Thee? (63)
- 2012: The Year Of Looming Solar Disaster, When Civilization Devolves? (60)
Archives
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
By Category
- Convergence (2)
- Digital ICs (1)
- ESC (1)
- Multimedia (2)
- Opinion/Analysis (1)
- Peripherals (1)
- Semiconductors (1)
- Show Daily Report (1)
Consumer Electronics Design Articles
- EDN on Consumer Electronics: iPhone hacks and security risks
- EDN on Consumer Electronics: The Zune HD: more than an iPod touch wanna-be?
- The Zune HD: more than an iPod touch wanna-be?
- EDN on Consumer Electronics: Deep packet inspection optimizes mobile applications
- Deep packet inspection optimizes mobile applications
- More...
Blog
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thin-Air ATSC (And NTSC): Assessing Several Set-Top Boxes
Nov 20 2008 8:48PM | Permalink |Comments (8) |
Back in late October, I told you that I was planning on ordering my two DTV converter box coupons, with Prying Eyes dissection of the subsequent hardware acquisitions in mind. I requested my coupons the very next day, actually, they arrived in yesterday's mail, and I ordered my set-top boxes earlier today. I decided to order the two $0.01 (yes, one penny)-after-rebate STBs offered by CompUSA (as well as by TigerDirect, which now owns CompUSA), the Apex Digital DT502:
and the AccessHD DTA-1080D:
The only two differences between the DTA-1080D and DTA-1080U that I can discern are the latter's upgrade to a universal remote control, coupled with a $9 increment in the latter's price tag. And happily, both the AccessHD and Apex Digital STBs claim to support the analog pass-through feature.
As you can see, the two devices' enclosures look very different; I'm hopeful that this delineation will be replicated in dissimilar underlying hardware designs which will result in a much more interesting Prying Eyes analysis (as compared to two clones!). And of course, before I crack open the cases, I'll hook the STBs up to my UHF-plus-VHF antenna pairing and let you know how well (or not) they tune in the broadcasts originating from the other side of the Mt. Rose range.
Keep an eye out here at Brian's Brain for more details as I have them; I paid for ground shipping to save EDN a few bucks, so my report probably won't be out until after Thanksgiving. Until then, content yourself with Bjork's explanation of how television works (thanks to Boing Boing for the heads-up):
;-) Have a good weekend, y'all.
Followup: I've been given the opportunity to act as product selector for another set of two DTV converter box coupons, and (intentionally, admittedly) chose a different set of STBs than the ones I'd already ordered. They're Sansonic's FT-300A (which even includes an ATSC antenna) for $0 after rebate (plus shipping) from Meritline:
and Dish Networks' TR-40 CRA, again $0 after rebate (plus shipping and sales tax), which looks just like the DTVPal below:
As compensation for my advisement, I'm allowed to crack open the enclosures on these two additional units (with the promise that I'll try my utmost to return the units to their fully functional, pristine cosmetic conditions afterwards!), as well as to try them out for myself. Stay tuned for further details after the hardware arrives.
Reader Comments
at 11/21/2008 10:57:37 AM, MikeS said:
What bothers me about these boxes is most don't show what kind of output they have. I have an old TV that has composite, S-video and component inputs. I'd like to find a converter box with at least S-video output but you can never tell what the box has.
at 11/21/2008 11:51:58 AM, Brian Dipert said:
Dear MikeS, click on the links (which take you to the product pages on CompUSA's site) and straightaway you'll see that the Apex Digital box offers both composite and S-Video, whereas the AccessHD box is composite-only. FYI boxes that are capable of outputting HD video resolutions (ie with component and/or HDMI video outputs) are NOT eligible for the NTIA DTV coupon program, which (largely) makes sense from a minimize-taxpayer-burden standpoint....if you have a HD resolution display, it very likely (by now, at least) already has a built-in ATSC tuner
at 11/21/2008 12:20:32 PM, MikeS said:
OK, thanks for pointing that out. Just about every other website does not show the back of the box. I always look odd in the store because I try to turn the electronics around to see what connectors are provided.
at 11/24/2008 7:46:59 AM, clintW said:
what bothers me is that there is
no mention of the output of these boxes. My TV only has 300 ohm twin lead input, two small screws on the rear of the TV.
at 11/24/2008 9:11:59 AM, Brian Dipert said:
Dear clintW, click on the links I provided in my writeup for more detailed information on the product pages. All four of the boxes I mention here have RF outputs on user-selectable channel 3 or 4; you'll also need to purchase an inexpensive 75-300 ohm transformer in order to mate them with your television.
at 11/24/2008 1:39:09 PM, Richard Rikoski said:
Where's the beef? Technical details?
Like which is more sensitive to weak signals?
at 11/24/2008 1:44:25 PM, Brian Dipert said:
Dear Richard Rikoski, Ahem. "Keep an eye out here at Brian's Brain for more details as I have them; I paid for ground shipping to save EDN a few bucks, so my report probably won't be out until after Thanksgiving."
at 11/25/2008 4:37:26 PM, PoolPaul said:
I bought a Phillips TB100HH9 a few months ago that is sold with an analog bypass feature. Unfortunately, it doesn''t simply work by turning off the box, but you have to go through a series of menus to activate it. Once activated, you can no longer see the menus on screen and have to guess how to return it to ASTC mode -- a disaster if you want to surf channels with a mix of ASTC and NSTC.
Also, a box that''s usable without a remote is preferred because the remote will probably be either lost or the conductive rubber on the touch pad will wear off. The Phillips unit doesn''t offer this either.
Post a comment
About Us | Contact Us | Free Email Newsletters | Free Magazine Subscription | Advertising | 
RSS
©1997-2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Use of this Web site is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy