Did you or someone in your household get an High Definition television for Christmas?
Now, how do you use it? How do you get that super sharp picture everyone has been talking about? What channel do you tune in and how do you tune it in?
WTHR, the first station in Indiana to broadcast its newscasts in HD, is here to help.
High Definition television provides the viewer greatly improved picture and sound quality, free of "ghosting" and "snow" interference. HD has six times the number of pixels on the screen of a traditional analog television, resulting in an image that is brilliantly clear and realistic. The wider 16:9 screen ratio also allows viewers to see more. HD broadcasts in stunning 1080i is the highest quality HD possible.
WTHR's digital HDTV station, WTHR-DT, is broadcast over the air and is also carried on all major cable TV systems as well as DirecTV. At this time, Dish Network has indicated that they have no near term plans to carry any Indianapolis HDTV stations. That is a Dish Network decision and if you have questions you'll need to contact Dish Network. Here's how to receive WTHR's HD programming on your new HDTV set:
Over the air reception:
WTHR-DT is not difficult to receive over the air. WTHR-DT channels 13.1 (WTHR-HD) and 13.2 (SkyTrak Weather) are broadcast at the maximum allowable 1,000,000 watts effective power on UHF channel 46 from our broadcast tower on the north side of Indianapolis, but will be identified as channels 13.1 and 13.2 on your digital HD receiver.
Our HD signal covers essentially the same area as analog WTHR channel 13 and we have regular over the air HD viewers in Lafayette, Logansport, Marion, Richmond, Bedford, Crawfordsville and beyond.
The best type of antenna to use to receive WTHR's over the air HD signal is a horizontally polarized (the antenna rods mounted horizontally) rooftop or tower mounted UHF/VHF "yagi" antenna. In lieu of a rooftop antenna you can use an attic mounted or indoor antenna, but bear in mind that these types of antennas are a compromise - especially indoor antennas - so these antennas need significantly more careful placement and adjustment to obtain adequate HDTV reception. If you reside in the Indianapolis metro area, we recommend that you do NOT use an antenna preamplifier. Due to the many strong local television signals, a preamplifier can easily be overloaded and actually degrade reception.
Most HDTV sets have the same general setup procedure: Once you have an over the air antenna in place and connected to the ‘antenna' input on your HDTV set/receiver, you'll then want to check in your set's menu that you have its antenna input selected for ‘antenna' or ‘over the air' and NOT ‘cable' reception. From the menu you'll next need to do a digital TV (DTV) channel scan . You set should then detect and memorize all digital/HDTV channels it can receive. Tune to channel 13.1 and you're watching WTHR-HD! It's as simple as that. For details applicable to your specific set, refer to your set's owners manual.
There are more than a dozen stations transmitting HDTV/DTV over the air in Indianapolis and the surrounding area. Check reception of standard analog channels from your antenna. If you can receive at least a ‘watchable' (even a slightly snowy) analog picture over the air from most analog stations you should have excellent reception of at least a half dozen digital/HDTV signals. If not, you'll need to give your antenna system some attention. If you'd like a professional antenna technician to look over your antenna system, we can recommend several if you‘ll drop us an e-mail.
Cable TV:
Most HDTV sets and cable systems require that you have an "HDTV cable box" provided by your cable company, connected between your cable outlet and your HDTV set in order to receive HDTV channels via cable. Generally, this will be installed by your cable provider when you order the HDTV channels package from them. This box acts as the HDTV cable tuner for you HDTV set.
If you have an HDTV set that specifies that it has both an "ATSC" and a "QAM" tuner, it is possible that it will tune some HDTV channels directly from your cable without the cable "box." Generally speaking, you have to subscribe to your cable provider's digital tier and this will likely not receive any premium HDTV channels which are scrambled. Contact your cable provider for details.
DirecTV:
DirecTV requires that you have an HDTV capable DirecTV receiver and the appropriate dish antenna to receive HDTV stations via DirecTV. The DirecTV HDTV receiver will connect between the dish and your HDTV set in order to receive HDTV channels via DirecTV satellite. These can be purchased from DirecTV when you order their HD package. WTHR-DT is carried on DirecTV to Central Indiana customers. For details and to purchase DirecTV's HDTV package, contact DirecTV.
Cable/Satellite Television Companies
