If you want Free stuff, indoor TV antennas should be high on your list. For small advance payments, you will get free, high-quality digital broadcasts such as local and national news, sports, movies, and past and present TV shows. Today’s digital antennas already offer multiple HD channels, so thanks to support for ATSC 3.0, we can expect more features in the future, from HDR to 4K UHD and beyond. To find the best indoor TV antennas, we tested multiple models in both rural and metropolitan areas.
One thing we learned? Despite some obvious differences, most digital antennas performed very similarly in our test area. So, a lot of it depends on design and cost. Below, we outline our favorites and some avoidance. It’s also important that we have added tips, tricks and links to help you find what you need and make the most of your purchase. For information, check out our list of the best TVs and best speaker bars, as well as a guide on how to choose the right TV.
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Indoor antenna tips and tricks
How do I know what channels can I get?
There is a lot of use about indoor antennas, which can be attributed to location, from where you place the antenna in your house, to where the house is located in your area and what broadcasts are available. Before buying an antenna, I highly recommend checking antennaweb.org, which can help determine which channels and the broadcast quality and features you can expect.
If you live in a rural area, you may want to consider a high-power outdoor antenna or other digital alternative, as even the best indoor antennas may not help. Many smart TV systems from brands such as Samsung, Roku, LG offer free digital channels online, including news, sports and replays, including many people, and many replays.
Which channel quality is available? What about ATSC 3.0?
For most areas, local channels are available in a hybrid of SD (standard definition) and HD (HD) (HD) or 1080i. All digital antennas also support the latest ATSC 3.0 standard, which allows for “NextGen” TV channels, including support for modern features such as 4K UHD resolution, HDR and wide color gamut, as well as audio formats such as Dolby Atmos. To take advantage of ATSC 3.0 broadcasting in the antenna, you need a TV with an ATSC 3.0 tuner (the TV of most new TVs) or similar adapters, as well as a local broadcaster that supports standard.
ATSC 3.0 is still in its nascent stage and has been slowly rolling out. In our Oregon test area, ATSC 3.0 is available in a limited way, with only modest national broadcast support features (such as HDR or 4K UHD resolution). To see if ATSC 3.0 is available in your region, you can read this map carefully and check out the NextGen TV website for more information.
Where should I set up the antenna?
Your indoor antenna success rate and channel availability depend not only on your broadcast area, but also on the local terrain, layout and other circumstances of your home. After discovering which channels are available in your area, you need to find the best location for your home’s antenna. This will require some trial and error, but a good rule of thumb is to set the antenna in or near a window facing the main broadcast transmitter, as walls and other objects can cause interference.
If you have any questions, please increase the antenna. All the antennas we tested have a distance of about 10 to 12 feet, and you can easily expand it by buying some cheap coaxial cables. While some antennas are “one-way,” all of the antennas we choose are multidirectional, designed to pick up signals from multiple sites and regions.
Is the amplified antenna helpful?
The short answer is: maybe? We tested amplification of multiple areas and older plug-in reference antennas, including a medium-sized metro area and a mid-range of several miles outside. Overall, we found that there was little difference in the quality of available channels or broadcasts. If you live over 30 miles outside the broadcast area, or it may not depend on the location, that may change. That is, most antennas currently available (and all antennas on the current list) have amplification.
Most of the amplification antennas we tested claim that the transmitter has a range of 50 to 60 miles, but your mileage may vary. In some cases, if you are too close to the broadcast area, amplification may even distort the signal, although we have not noticed any such issues. Amplification can be turned off, but when closing the amplification antenna we have fewer channels than when using an unamplified antenna in the same area. As mentioned above, your first step is to use a website like Antennaweb to check what is available in your region.
One of the most notable findings in our tests is that the number of channels picked up by each antenna may vary greatly (and sometimes without) in modest variation in antenna position. This is especially true when it comes to secondary options for some local channels in our testing area. This is a strange discovery, as all digital antennas should be technically able to receive NextGen channels when tested with ATSC 3.0-enabled TV/tuner. Anyway, to borrow an idiom from childhood, if you don’t succeed in the channel scanning journey in the beginning, try, try, and try again.
If you start following the antenna hole along the antenna rabbit hole, you may find a list of broadcast channels and antenna models supported by UHF (Ultra-HF) and VHF (very high frequency). Essentially, all broadcast channels are divided into high-frequency UHF bands (most modern digital channels) or VHF. VHF is usually a signal for longer distances, but UHF is better for obstacles like buildings, and UHF channels are better optimized for the digital age. Although some transmitters still use VHF, most channels today are broadcast on UHF. For most people, there is no need to worry about this. Although most of the models on our list technically support two bands, they may be optimized for UHF. You can find more information about UHF vs. VHF here.
