Ratings of DTV converter boxes: New models added

We've updated our exclusive Ratings of DTV converter boxes, which now cover 24 of the 50 or so models now available. New arrivals include a box with the best picture quality we've seen so far, another that has the first VCR timer we've encountered, and several boxes with analog pass-through. (Read the latest update to our DTV converter box guide for more information, including free access to the DTV converter box Ratings.)

Prices for tested models range from about $50 to $90. (Prices are what we paid. Some readers have reported that they've found different, sometimes higher, prices.) You can use a $40 government coupon to defray the cost. Call 888-DTV-2009 or go to www.DTV2009.gov to request one or two coupons; you'll also find a list of online retailers there. Visit our guide to the digital TV transition, free to all visitors, for more complete information on the digital TV switchover and DTV converter boxes.

The Channel Master CM-7000 was tops for picture quality. It's among the first boxes to have an S-video output, which can deliver better picture quality than a composite-video or RF out. It's pricey, though, at $80. The Apex DT250 also has an S-video out, though its picture quality didn't quite match the Channel Master's. Older TVs don't have an S-video input output, so you'd have to use either the composite-video or RF input output.

With a run-of-the-mill TV set, it might be hard to appreciate the incremental improvement in picture quality offered by the top performers. Converter boxes that are a step down in picture quality provide better video than most analog sets and might be perfectly satisfactory.

The Dish Network DTVPal, $60, has both a VCR timer and analog pass-through, as does its brandmate, the TR-40 CRA, which is available in limited quantities for $40. (It arrived too late to be included in this latest update to our DTV converter box guide.) The timer will change the channel on the box so your VCR can automatically record from different channels. Analog pass-through enables a box to feed your TV analog signals as well as digital signals converted to analog. Other tested models with this feature are the Philco TB100HH9, Magnavox TB100MG9 (seen above), and Digital Stream DTX9950. (See our "How to choose: DTV converter boxes" for more information that will help you decide which DTV box features are right for your needs.)

As in our first round of tests, all tested models converted broadcast digital signals from our rooftop antenna into analog signals that an older TV can accept, with decent picture and sound quality. They also performed comparably in their ability to pull in digital stations. The number of digital channels that will be available to you depends on how many stations broadcast digitally in your area, the distance from your home, your antenna, and whether trees or other obstructions block the signals.

Comments

[Doug]

TO: everett whitney - 02 Oct - “either 100 % perfect or Zero…..That's Not an issue of 'bad Converters, weak signals' ... just one of the issues of "fringe areas" that will never receive proper, dependable, digital signals.”

So you’re saying that people in “fringe areas” will no longer have a choice whether they will receive over-the-air reception after the change to digital? I think we both know that there are several things that can be done to receive clean digital signals in “fringe areas”. Larger antennas, amplifiers, and selecting the right CECB (as well as other changes) can all improve digital reception.

Also,
TO: Everett whitney – 20 Sept - “Sorry, but the solid state tuners are all very much alike anymore ... rather, it's the very nature of digital's "all or zero" broadcasting feature that determines our "issues".”

Once again, I have to disagree. If you had properly researched the issue, you would know better. I have a TV with a digital tuner and two different CECBs and live in a “fringe area”. Each of these provide me with a different level of reception when connected to the same antenna. Also, one visit to the AVSforum website and you will find much discussion by owners of multiple CECBs with quite a range of reception results between the models. And finally, DishNetwork has recently release a CECB called the “DTVpal Plus” which is supposed to be identical to their “DTVpal” box in every way except that it features a superior tuner for better reception for $10 more. So, clearly, the solid state tuners are NOT alike in all CECBs!

I have concluded that Consumer Reports is choosing to ignore the CECB reception issue to limit the amount of testing required and to avoid admitting that they were wrong to not include reception sensitivity in their previous tests. Unfortunately, no matter how many times you repeatedly say that there is no difference between CECB reception sensitivity, it won’t make it so.

Doug.

[everett whitney]

a P.S. to Peter -01 Oct- "Airport / spotty digital signals.."

That combined radar sweeps / radio traffic between the landing planes & the Control Tower is the on-going issue & will Not be better!

Consider instead finding out about your local cable company's required "low channel analog program", good thru early 2012.

As a part of the agreements w/ the FCC last sept 2007, all cable companies HAD to agree to supply very basic analog cable .... Cox has (24) channels @ $11.75 .... Comcast has (20) in most markets @ $11.

Flawless picture quality on all your picture tube sets!

[everett whitney]

TO: Peter - 01 Oct - "Near Airport, signal cuts out ...?"

At least a portion of the observed problems are due to the very nature of our new digital broadcasts, wherein it is either 100 % perfect or Zero! No more partial displays, snowy or faint pictures, etc..

That's Not an issue of 'bad Converters, weak signals' ... just one of the issues of "fringe areas" that will never receive proper, dependable, digital signals.

Will not be changed by ".. hiring outside experts for testing.."

[Peter]

Yes, picture quality does not matter to me; I just want to watch TV. Even though I am fairly close to the stations of interest, just 18 miles, and have a roof-mounted Channelmaster 3018 antenna and a mast-mounted amplifier, and finally the highly regarded Channelmaster DTV convertor, the rig is unreliable. I live near an airport, and the signal cuts, exactly as others report here. The tests conducted on this site should measure how well the boxes do with a poor signal. This is fairly simple to arrange by using a small antenna, reducing the strength, etc. I'd suggest that the site contact someone who has professional experience in this area.

[Analog Dennis]

I totally agree with the sensitivity test requirements. I live in a barely top 100 market and have two larger markets about 50 miles away. I have distain for the local news and have become accustomed to watching news from these other markets. When I purchased my DTV Converter box I found that I could only receive a fraction of the stations from the other markets. This is with an Omnidirectional antenna mounted about 40 feet in the air. Digital quality means you will do without. The bells and whistles are secondary to will I receive a stable picture. Small airplanes fly a few hundred feet over my house while on final to the local airport and every time they do my converter box barfs. Much thanks go out to the FCC for the improvement in "Quality" of my TV reception!

[MarkM]

I've recently purchased the Channel Master online, and am VERY impressed with the picture upconverted on my small Samsung "HD-ready" LCD TV (1,366 x 768). With a high-quality signal, the picture is DVD-plus. S-video - which I was rabid to have - probably adds a bit of horizontal resolution, but even Composite is pretty amazing. I was originally puzzled by this, then realized that for the first time I'm seeing a Composite signal driven to its highest-possible quality when its being down-converted from 720/1080 HD.

The unit is pulling in channels I never expected, including a usable signal on one that antennaweb says is 70 miles away.

I don't mind the funky little remote, and am relieved that it has a "Back" button (previous channel). I like that the Guide stays on-screen as you browse channels.

It definitely takes some experimenting with the "picture size" settings simultaneously on this unit and the TV to settle on the best combination to fill the screen.

I have also tried it on a friend's little 15" CRT/VCR combo TV with rabbit-ears, and even that picture was pretty good and much improved over its built-in tuner; however the standard font in the various Guide functions was illegible. I tried it on an older portable 720p projector at the office, which was OK but not spectacular.

[everett whitney]

TO: Bryce - 20 Sept - "Reception should be the key..."

Sorry, but the solid state tuners are all very much alike anymore ... rather, it's the very nature of digital's "all or zero" broadcasting feature that determines our "issues" -

A better Antenna System WILL solve the blue screen or bad weather problems of many who have purchased Converters!

Set top or the majority of Indoor units will NOT provide sufficient "gain" to allow these federal coupon Converters to function in many instances. But, connecting 3 - 4 - 5 TVs to one antenna will not work, either!

[Bryce Nesbitt]

Having set these boxes up for friends/parents... unless the tuner has good reception, none of the other specifications matter. Reception quality of real stations depends on time of day and season. For these ratings to be useful, weak channel reception should be top on the reviewer's worklist.

[seatacboy]

Consumer Reports' DTV converter box ratings are incomplete: there are no measurements of signal sensitivity, selectivity, and weak-signal reception.

Unlike analog NTSC reception, ATSC DTV reception is an "all-or-nothing" proposition. Consumer Reports itself assumes that most OTA viewers have an outdoor rooftop antenna, which is only true for 25% of households. The vast majority of OTA viewers employ some sort of indoor antenna, and it's far more difficult to reliably receive digital TV using an indoor antenna than with analog.

Some of the DTV Converter Boxes (or "CECBs") have been exhaustively critiqued at the AVS Forum and other sites, and big differences in reception quality have been observed. The ability to actually receive reception is more important to the typical Converter Box user than the fine points of picture quality when used on an older standard-def TV set.

Also: why has Consumer Reports not tested the various indoor and outdoor TV antennas for performance?

[Doug]

Consumer Reports should have looked at who will be buying these converters and what is really most important to them before conducting their tests and writing this article on CECBs. I feel that they really missed the mark on this one.

Unfortunately, CR failed to look at the tuner sensitivity in their comparisons. I guess they don't understand that a large percentage of the people purchasing these boxes are doing so because they live in rural communities where cable TV is not an option. As a result, these people are often farther from the transmitting towers (which are usually placed in or near large cities) resulting in marginal strength signals. This is why a highly sensitive tuner is important.

Also, it seems silly to be ranking primarily by subtle picture quality differences (mostly visible on a HDTV) when most of the people purchasing the converter boxes are doing so because they simply want to keep their analog (standard definition) TVs going after February 2009. After all, that is the primary reason for providing the $40 CECB coupons in the first place.

[Nick]

"The Channel Master.......Older TVs don't have an S-video output. "

Dont you mean S-Video input?

Also "The Dish Network DTVPal, $60, has both a VCR timer and analog pass-through, as does its brandmate, the TR-40 CRA, which is available in limited quantities for $40. (It arrived too late to be included in this latest update to our DTV converter box guide.) The timer will change the channel on the box so your VCR can automatically record from different channels."

The TR-40 has been confirmed by Dish to be identical in every way but the name to the DTVPal.

You might also want to mention that current owners of the DTVPal are up in arms over the defective timers. You can read about them at several internet discussion boards (like avsforum.com for example), but to sum it up, software versions F100 & F101 have been deemed defective with respect to the Timer function of the DTVPal. One sets their timers and a few minutes, an hour, a day, or a week later one comes back to find that the timers set have been deleted or the channel they were set to changed. It has been determined that this timer defect occurs when the DTVPal does an EPG download (referred to as maintenance mode) at the time the box is powered on. Dish Network is aware of the problems and is working on a fix, but buyers should beware of picking them up just yet, as the consumer will have to ship their DTVPal back to Dish to get the software patch to solve the problem should they get boxes with F100-101, and as of now, most retailers are known to have only those versions.

One should also note that the DTVPal does not having a manual clock option and instead gets its time via PSIP data from whatever station its tuned to. By law (FCC regulations), the time is supposed to be accurate but some station engineers dont stay on top of it. Therefore, if the station the DTVPal is currently tuned to is not outputting the correct time, the timers will not activate at the desired time and could potentially miss ones program depending on how far off the TV stations clock is.