Products like the Access HD 1030U Digital To Analog (pictured right) may look like they were built specifically for high-definition because of the “HD” in the product name, but really all digital-to-analog converters work the same. HD quality, in an over-the-air situation, will depend on the quality of your reception and not the converter box.
Could there be such a thing as an HD converter box? Sure, there are all kinds of converter boxes to convert various video and audio signals. And, it depends on whether you are talking about converting up to HD or converting down from HD. For example, there are converters that will take your HD signal and convert down to SDI or composite, although I’m not sure why anyone would have a use for that except maybe in commercial applications.
Then there are upconverting DVD and Blu-ray players which could be called “HD converters.” They take a lower grade resolution and upscale to a hi-definition resolution. Toshiba hails its XD-E500 Upscaling DVD Player
I hope this article helps with any confusion. Remember, digital comes first. Digital television signals are how HD signals are transmitted. If you don’t have an HDTV, no worries, television stations will continue to broadcast standard definition alongside HD for years to come.
I have two HD TV’s. recently Time Warner converted the signal to HD so they provided boxes for 2 TV per house hold, free for 1 year. Next year we will have to pay for the boxes. Can I buy my own and still receive Time Warner? Thanks for your help.
You need to connect a coaxial cable from the antenna to the back of the TV.
Does your HDTV have a digital tuner? If not, you’ll have to buy a converter box (about $20-40) which will take all the digital signals and convert them to analog for your TV to display.
Then, on your TV or the converter box you’ll scan for channels. Make sure your TV input is set to antenna or whatever input channel will find the antenna cable.
Let us know how things work out!
Hi there…. Thank you so much for your post! But, I’m still confused a bit… I no longer have cable. What do I need for a 19 inch HD Led TV by CRAIG to get reception? I also did buy an RCA multi-directional amplified digital flat antenna. Hope to hear from you, and many thanks for your help.
Layla
Yes, there are too HD converter boxes…the coupon program doesn’t apply to them, though. Sometimes they are just called HDTV receivers or HDTV tuners.
I bought an HD capable TV about 7 years ago, before HD TVs were out. There was supposed to an HD converter box that could be purchased sepperatly to watch true HD. At the time they were about $1,000. Do these boxes still exist?