This past weekend I had my first opportunity to install one of the new digital television converter boxes. The model I installed was the Philco TB100HH9 DTV set-top box with analog pass-through. The price for this unit was $59 before the 40 dollar government coupon. The Philco box is sitting between a 32" Panasonic TV and an analog antenna which is installed on a two story house. The antenna has a booster installed, so the reception was fairly decent before the Philco box was installed.
The thing that is going to bug people about these DTV boxes, is that now you have another remote to mess with. The remote is needed to change channels, because your TV needs to be set to channel 3 or 4 to receive the signal from the box. You still need your TV remote to turn the TV on and adjust volume. I'm sure there are universal remote solutions out there for this, but that's how it works out of the box.
With the strong signal from the boosted antenna we were able to pick up about ten digital channels in a town that sits about 50 miles away from Green Bay. I must say that the picture quality was a vast improvement from analog, even better than the cable TV reception I get.
The strange thing about DTV is the range of aspect ratios from one station to the next. Some channels have black bands on top and bottom, some on the sides, and some on all four sides. I was able to adjust a zoom setting and all of the image filled the screen without too much clipping. A search online shows that the Philco box is still a bit hard to find, so don't order one unless you know they have it in stock.
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