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HD TV looks better on a HD rabbit ears

6K views 65 replies 19 participants last post by  line-em-up 
#1 ·
than the satellite.

I am trying to figure this out. I am almost certain the regular HD rabbit ears has a better picture. I was comparing channel 5 on the satellite to the channell 5 on the antennae and it has a completely different color tint, and seems crisper. I am running an hdmi cable from the satellite box, so I don't get it.

Any ideas?
 
#2 ·
You are correct... OTA HD will almost always be better looking than that of cable or sat. Reason being, it is wide open bandwidth, no condensing it to fit a packet on a network or a switch, no compression for transmission into space.
 
#3 ·
So, no matter what service provider, or hdmi cable, the OTA hd will always be better. FTL....

OK, next question, does it make a difference what HDMI cable I use for my blu ray player?

Basically, I am working with a 46' Samsung 1080p, LCD, 60hz tv, and I am starting to be dissatisfied with it.
 
#10 ·
My HD channels looks awesome over DISH. I also have all my equipment hooked up via HDMI 1.3a cabling.
 
#14 ·
Compression, compression, compression.

Cable and Satellite providers compress their signals to fit more channels in their limited bandwidth. On the other hand, the signal you get over the air from your local station is almost always uncompressed, so you end up with a richer, more dynamic picture (in most cases).

Think of if as listening to music from a CD vs. an MP3.
 
#15 ·
This guy explained it the best. When you watch HD via antenna the image hasn't been compressed by the station, when you watch HD via satellite or cable, they have to compress it because they have a limited amount of bandwidth to work with. For example:

AT&T Uverse only has the capacity for 25 mbps to come into your home, out of that 18 mbps are for the internet/phone, and only 7 mbps are left for all of your HD/SD channels.

I use to sell Fios and I would have it in a heartbeat if I didn't live in an AT&T area, so I've got Charter. Charter actually changed things up a while back and compressed the shit out of my speedvision:(. It looks like crap, I almost wish I was paying for the HD service, but I don't care about it that much.

When it comes down to it, its all about the bandwitch and how much compression they will have to do to get everything to fit.
 
#22 · (Edited)
OTA will look substantially better, it isn't your cable. And all of the talk about cable quality is pretty much BS in my opinion. Whether your cable cost $150 dollars and has 24k gold connectors and nitrogen injected gases in the insulation it will look identical to a $13.29 cable from monoprice.com.

I've read reviews for years on cabling. At 100ft an extremely expensive monster audio cable went head to head against a mystery brand. The mystery cable came out almost identical.... what was it? A 1978 extension cord. Probably one of the best examples of how ridiculously over marketed products there are out there. The only new invention I've seen as far as interconnects and power in the last 15 years that actually did something was clean power modules.
 
#31 ·
I am not saying buy the Monster Cable, but go ahead and buy those $4 cables and see how long they last and how good the signal is. The recommendation was to buy the $4 cable vs buying a more expensive insulated cable.

Go ahead and buy the cheap one I don't really care, but you will regret it. I don't buy Monster Cable but I sure as fuck don't buy the cheapest thing I get my hands on, that is what seperates me from ninjas I guess.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Seperates you from ninjas? Care to elaborate on that statement?

Also no one said buy the cheapest shit out there. I believe the majority of AV people on here shop at monoprice along with alot of AV people on dedicated AV forums. Surf over to some of those dedicated AV forums and tell them monster cable is the shit and see what they tell you. I promise it will be tame compared to what we say and they will throw specs at you all day long.
 
#35 ·
I think they won't last because the connectors used on the cable are cheaper than dirt, not because of the shielding.

And sure I care to elaborate.

The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations.[1] The ninja, with their underhanded tactics, were contrasted with the samurai, who were careful not to tarnish their reputable image.
 
#40 ·
Monster cable is good stuff period. It is also so grossly overpriced that I would NEVER buy pretty much anything from them at retail price. That being said about 95% of all my A/V connections are monster cable but I am buying it at 60-80% off retail prices. Here is an example of something I bought about a month ago.

Here is the new Monster Cable HDMI cable in an 8' length P/N, M2000 compared to the specs of other cables it outperforms. I paid $34 shipped which is a reasonable price for an 8' cable. Now go google this cable or go to a A/V store and you will find that the retail price is about $250. Sure I could of got one for $10 but for a few more bucks I have a top of the line cable. This also shows what a disgusting markup thay have on their products. If this guy can sell them for $34 bucks shipped then what did he give for them?

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Monster-M2000-HDMI-Hyper-Speed-21-6Gbps-8FT-OEM_W0QQitemZ220550254259QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Accessories?hash=item3359d1ceb3
 
#44 ·
OK but your still falling for the hype. I would like to see some concrete evindence that 2 comparative cables, one from monster and one from monoprice, create differen results to the end user. Untill then, you still paid about $24 too much for that cable according to your example. I use all monoprice stuff in my AV setup and its incredible in both sound and video IMO. I have used monster side by side in the past with generic stuff and never noticed a difference. All the reviews I read have just backed that up.

That's what I am talking about Inline good post. Unlike that hippie 5.0CJ.
First a ninja and now a hippie huh? I can promise you CJ is not black or a tree hugger, lol.
 
#42 ·
Dont toot my horn. 5.0_CJ knows WTF he's talking about I can assure you that. I just happen to like some of the monster products I just refuse to pay the price. I feel like I am getting over on them in the end because of how cheap I am picking up their stuff. It is keeping the $$ away from those greedy folks. I dont honestly know how they feel ok with putting some of the price tags on the stuff they do even though it may be good stuff.
 
#46 ·
Im not even going to fall for your "who said anything about black bullshit".....


Thanks for the article, although the first line is suspect.

"Last Monday, Brian and I had a chance to run down to Monster HQ in Brisbane, CA to run some tests for the HDMI Cable Battlemodo."

But then again Im only going off of what I have personally seen on a TV/projector in real world testing, not off a osciliscope. I have a long run of 1.3 monoprice HDMI running through my attic to my projector and it looks amazing when I play a blu ray. If I have half a million dollars to afford a monster cable that length to comapre I would but no dice. Either way, I can post up a few dozen articles showing there is no difference but I wont because neither one of us will change our minds.
 
#49 ·
LMAO, I just ran across part III of that test Kadumel posted and guess what the conclusion was? Monoprice is just as good! They said even with the problems they found in the lab, REAL WORLD testing showed a great picture. Just goes to show, real world testing > specs

http://gizmodo.com/282725/the-truth-about-monster-cable-+-grand-finale-part-iii


"The only people who should buy Monster cable are people who light cigars with Benjamins. Fortunately for Monster, there are plenty of those people. They're not even suckers, they are just rich as hell, and want the best. This testing did not prove that Monster is not the best. It just proved that the best is, for the most part, unnecessary."
 
#50 ·
Lets see, how many cables could you get online for the price of ONE Monster....10? 11?

Even with odds against you, that math is good right there..... who cares how long the cheaper cables last when you have a closet full of them.


*eyeroll*
 
#51 ·
..

digital is digital. It either works or it doesn't. If a cable is able to reliably transmit a signal, it will look just as good on one end as it does the other. Monster is just a snake oil company. Years ago, I swore to never buy any of their products after they started suing everybody they could for using the word "monster". Fuckin assholes. :saevil:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20041110/0531219.shtml

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=monster+lawsuits&rlz=1R2DMUS_enUS352&aq=f&aqi=&oq=
 
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