Comment on Flip to Channel 62: UHF gets 4K release for 35th anniversary

• lettruthout@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Yes, after many years of VHF (Very High Frequency) use for television broadcasting, technology and regulatory changes allowed new channels in this different part of the spectrum. Wikipedia has a good overview…

  “Early receivers were generally less efficient at UHF band reception, and the signals are also subject to more environmental interference.[1] Additionally, the signals are less susceptible to diffraction effects, which can improve reception at long range.[2] UHF generally had less clear signals, and for some markets, became the home of smaller broadcasters who were not willing to bid on the more coveted VHF allocations.”

  Older folks here on Lemmy might remember that not all TV sets in use could receive UHF channels. The sets that could were finicky - you’d have to turn the little dial just to the right spot, and have the antenna pointing in just the right direction, for the channel to come in. But after a few minutes you could still be looking at “snow”.

  Yet it was worth it because the smaller-scaled channels had some interesting programming!

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