It seems to me most of you get your HD programing useing a roof or attic mounted antenna..i currently get mine via cable useing a DCT 6200 and am thinking of trying the other route also..there are 5 station antennas within 5 miles of me..clear view.no obstructions..my questions are..is it that much better picture?..and would i require another STB to do this?..Thanks ..

On my display the picture OTA is much better than Directv HD. What is your display? Is it HD ready or does it have a HD tuner? Without HD tuner on your display, you'll need another STB (HD tuner)

I can not compare as I do not have digital cable, I am dependent on viewing someone elses or making assumptions.

1. There are people on this forum who feel OTA reception is better quality that that over cable.
2. This may be dependent on a station by station basis. Here in Raleigh.NC two of the stations are excellent OTA, I believe they are 5.1 and 50.1 Fox being the 50.1. I can't imagine cable being any better.
3. PBS has a pretty good HD OTA signal on 4.2 but it is only available during prime time which is 8pm until 11pm, the rest of the time it is not broadcast and you just get a blank channel when you go to it. I say pretty good because I get a distinct pixelation whenever the show pans in for close ups on running water for example. During the non prime times PBS increases the number of side/multicast channels. These have pretty good resolution and do offer a lot of programming choices but are not HD.
4. PBS TIME WARNER cable on the other hand offers PBS broadcasting all the time, So you can watch the PBS HD other than Prime time as well as the other digital subchannels. I learned this from the local PBS website.
5. Depending on your location, number of HD channels, and or multicast channels may very from station to station as well as resolution.
6. It appears that OTA and cable use a variety of compression multicast techniques including "load balancing" so you really need to just try it.

-Don B

Thanks guys..Jober, i am useing cable box as tuner so i would need a seperate one..Don,,I agree that some stations are better than others..HDNET for example is Really clear but others vary from day to day..and i guess ill just have to try it to see if locals are accually better OTA ..

PS- I think all other posters must be on vacation today or busy working !!!!

-Don

Yeah..its been a bit quiet hasnt it..its too hot here to work..think ill watch tv..see you got your rebate huh..im still trying to use up these dang cingular visas...

It looks like a real visa so I hope I can use it anywhere, but only time will tell. I don't even own the Samsung anymore, I passed it on to my brother when I got the Pioneer with the built in Tuner. He was having audio drop out problems with the original SIR T100 I had given him. I think the T100 needs a firmware upgrade.

-Don

Don..word of caution in regard to the visa..check before you try and use it at a restaurant..my cingular adds a 20% tip..and you cant change that..also its just a pain in general..as far as OTA goes..doesnt sound like its worth the time and money to run new cable and buy another tuner..also my wife would just LOVE seeing a huge bow tie in the attic!!