Digital Home Thoughts: Adding a Rooftop Antenna to Receive HDTV

"Q: I am writing regarding rooftop antennas. I dropped cable once the price reached an obscene $53/mo and satellite is not an option because neighbor has a tree blocking line of sight. (Ironically, it is the only sky obstruction anywhere). I live on top of a hill, and www.antennaweb.org says that I can receive at least 30 stations with good success. This is probably true because even rabbit ears can bring in several stations perfectly well. I would like to find an antenna that would work well with traditional TV broadcasts, while keeping in mind that HDTV broadcasts will soon become the norm. In other words, an antenna that will work well for both types, currently and into the future."



I particularly enjoyed this HDTV antenna primer, as I'm considering switching to Over The Air HDTV broadcasts (I'm fortunate enough to live in the New York City area). I'm particularly interested to see whether OTA signals are better or worse than the HD cable signal I'm getting from Time Warner. I can't imagine it'd be much worse, as most HD stations from TW are incredibly overcompressed and frequently choppy. :?