[mythtv-users] Possibly a "dumb" question

[Tom Lichti]

On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 11:35 AM, James Oltman <cnlibmyth at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 10:28 AM, Jim Morton <Jim at morton.hrcoxmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Take OTA for example. The best picture I have ever seen on any TV was from
>> an antenna connected directly into a coax input of an HD TV. Stunning,
>> crystal clear with a visible depth to the picture.
>>
>> I guess it is not possible to capture _exactly_ what an antenna delivers
>> (ATSC - RF?) and then send it back out on the coax at a later date... I
>> suppose what I am glossing over is the role that the tuner plays to pick out
>> just one channel and I suppose that also alters the signal such that it
>> can't just be "put back on the wire" later.
>>
>> It just seems such a waste to not be able to use the tuner built into the
>> TV.
>>
>> Thanks for all the replies. I think I get it now.
>>
>> --
>> _________________________________________________________
>>
>> Jim Morton
>>
>
> Jim,
>
> I think you are confusing what the tuner can "magically" do versus the
> signal quality.  By design, ATSC signals over the air are going to be a
> better picture than over your cable system.  It really has nothing to do
> with the tuner.  Cable companies HIGHLY compress their stream because they
> don't have the bandwidth available on the wire.  ATSC OTA signals are mostly
> at a bitrate of 19Mb/s (which is the highest that ATSC can do IIRC).  That's
> why you get a better picture with less pixelation.

Additionally, if you record that OTA ATSC stream and play it back
through MythTV, it *should* look exactly the same as if you were
watching it live via the TV tuner, and in my case, it does.

Tom