Alright...so I got the HDTV up to 1080i. HD-DVR through time warner cable, and the HD channels that I pay so much a month for. Which I am fine and all good with except I want my games in HD. Not just the random college game that is shown on ESPNHD...I want the FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS games in HD. The superbowl is right around the corner, and it will be a shame if I watch it on my new HDTV in regular definition.

Now, not everything on those channels is in HD, but certian programs will state a message when first coming on, "this brodcast is being presented in high definition where available". How do I get to watch that? This goes for football, baseball, hell even nascar. Does the programming automatically switch to HD if something like that comes on? I have also heard of needing a HD antenna, which I have seen at radioshack/bestbuy. What do I need?

Also, I cannot mount an outdoor antenna as I live in an apartment, so are the indoor HD antennas any good?

 

I have Comcast. Are you watching on the single digit channels? try triple digit channels for you HD channels.

Edit: Most sports are in HD. CBS has a couple of football games during the regular season that are not HD. All should be HD in the playoffs. As far as NASCAR last year, all Cup races are in in HD except for maybe 3-5. ESPN takes over the majority of Cup and most of BUSCH races next year. Watching BUSCH rasces on FX is no comparisin to HD. You need to have ESPNHD and ESPN2HD to get these races in HD. All BUSCH should be HD next year.

 

I have Comcast too. The HD channels for CBS, NBC, etc. are in the #200 channels.

 

Yes, I have the same problem with the locals, I have dish network, so if I watch my local channels that start with the 7000's will these certain programs be in hd?

 

The problem is that you are limited to only select HD programing because of your location. If you live in Beaumont or surrounding area, your channel lineup does not include HD for NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS.

As far as mounting an HD antenna to receive those stations, I'm pretty sure that you do not have over-the-air HD availability within your area.

 

I also have Dish Network. I get my local channels in SD via the dish. I have an antenna in my attic, connected to my Dish HD receiver, which gives me my locals in HD. I also wanted the antenna to use as a backup during storms, when the sat signal takes a dump.

 

For HD digital cable you should have 2 sets of local channels. the regular definition ones are in the 02-18 channel range and the digital locals are in the 1000's. Not everything on the local digital channels is in HD. Most sports are in HD, all of the prime time dramas are in HD (CSI, etc).

Here is the channel lineup for your area http://www.timewarnercable.com/Media...aumont_new.pdf

I don't see a 2nd set of locals in the Digital Cable area for you.

What's strange is that it says the following here http://www.timewarnercable.com/golde...able/hdtv.html

Local and popular HD Programming
* Great HD programs from local networks like NBC HD, CBS HD, FOX HD, ABC HD, PBS HD, and cable favorites like Discovery HD Theater, TNT in HD, FOX Sports HD, ESPN HD, iNHD, HD Net, and HD Net Movies.

When I had DirecTV (before they had locals in HD) I had a separate antenna to pick them up and it worked pretty good. You would have to plug that into another video input on your TV and then switch inputs to watch those channels. Depending on how far you are from the local channel antennas, you may need a pretty strong antenna to pick them up.

Go here to see where the local antennas are http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

You should call TimeWarner and ask them when you are going to get locals in full Digital (HD). It looks like you would have been better off switching to Satellite.

 

I had a Terk TV5 interior antenna http://www.audiovox.com/webapp/wcs/s...4204&langId=-1

I was only 14-16 miles from all of the local antennas.

They have better ones, though.

The Terk HDTVlp looks like the best one
http://www.audiovox.com/webapp/wcs/s...4196&langId=-1
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.proc...eed.TRK+HDTVLP

 

www.antennaweb.org

This is a good place to go to check what you can get over an antenna. I have a cheap Radio Shack antenna in my attic that provides excellent HDTV reception.

Grim