Best usb tv antenna for samsumg tv
Unfortunately, the numbers don't back that up. Of course, if the HD5 had the performance to merit its design choices, we'd praise its innovation in a stagnant industry. In a sea of thin, unobtrusive products, it does manage to stand out-as pretty bulky. Most of the other antennas on this list are easy to mount to a wall, but the HD5 requires tabletop space or a more robust mounting solution. While the Monoprice Curved HD5's namesake curved shape and hard plastic construction definitely offer something different, we're not sure that's a good thing. We've alluded to the homogenous landscape of flat black rectangles in the indoor HDTV antenna space earlier and praised some antennas for offering something different in terms of their design. We also recommend mounting the antenna out of the way of foot traffic or other passing objects, as that can cause the signal to drop out momentarily. We recommend testing out a few different locations to find out where the signal is better or worse.
#BEST USB TV ANTENNA FOR SAMSUMG TV ZIP#
To find out, you can employ a service such as Antennas Direct, which can tell you which channels are available in your area based on your zip code.Īlso, because the signal is line-of-sight, your placement of the antenna can significantly affect its performance. Depending on your location, you could get over 100 channels or close to zero. Of course, this means the available channels will be limited to what's available in your area (if any). This is a great way to supplement streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ with live TV.
#BEST USB TV ANTENNA FOR SAMSUMG TV TV#
An HDTV antenna basically just tunes into those frequency bands, allowing your TV to pluck programming right out of the air. Your local TV stations are constantly broadcasting HD signals, typically on the UHF (ultra high frequency) or VHF (very high frequency) bands. From there, you just mount it to your wall, ideally out of the way of foot traffic, which can interrupt the signal. If the antenna has signal amplification, you’ll need to connect it to a power source as well (otherwise the coax is the only necessary connection). You just attach the antenna to your TV's coaxial input via the included coaxial cable. Installing most HDTV antennas is very easy. While those are still around (and still work, though not well), most modern HDTV antennas are made of thin plastic. When you think of a TV antenna, you might picture the classic rabbit ear design from the 1950s. For example, we've noticed all of the devices have their signal interrupted by a passing semi-truck, but that disturbance is more severe and lasted longer for some devices compared to others. These results also lead us to highly value the consistency of a signal. You really don't want to move them around once you mount them and it's best to place them out of the way of foot or vehicular traffic if possible. It's evident how finicky getting reception on these devices can be, even the high-performing units. In our thick-walled Boston testing lab, we can only get between 30 and 50 channels, though in all models we were able to directly correlate some signal drop-outs with large trucks driving by outside. In previous testing, antennas were able to pull in about 100 channels from a location based in LA. We also ran these tests in a second location, to check for consistency of results, as the HDTV antenna experience can change drastically based on location.