Antenna Tests Show Digital Reception Travels

When people talk about the high cost of digital television, they often forget that it can also be the cheapest kind to use month after month. While many people opt to get digital broadcasts as they do analog by paying for cable or satellite service, you could instead use a digital receiver and an over-the-air antenna to pull in a clear, sharp high-definition picture from local stations for free. ¶ This was always part of the digital-TV promise, but many earlier receivers had serious trouble tuning in off-air signals reliably. Lately, though, as manufacturers and broadcasters have fine-tuned their equipment, off-air reception has become surprisingly possible -- as we found out in testing digital reception at a handful of locations across the Washington area. ... washingtonpost.com