QUICK PICK REVIEW: AUGUST 2008
Zenith DTT901 DTV Converter
Zenith’s back with an upgraded DTV converter box and this one adds analog pass-through.
Figure 1. Zenith’s DTT901 is identical in appearance to its predecessor.
The DTT900 was the first NTIA-certified DTV converter box I tested, way back in the first week of January. I liked just about everything it had to offer, and that was no surprise: Zenith’s corporate parent, LG, holds many fundamental patents on the VSB digital TV modulation system and has manufactured several models of DTV set-top receivers over the past decade.
While the DTT900 did many things well, there was a reported audio glitch involving down-mixing of Dolby Digital sound. Apparently, this resulted in “brittle” sound with harsh clipping and other distortion.
Another problem (although few people foresaw it at the time) was the lack of analog signal pass-through. Even though all full-power TV stations must convert to digital broadcasts on February 17, 2009, three other types of stations — Class A, low power, and translators — are not required to make the switch.
Unfortunately, most of the early DTV converters had no provision for passing through analog signals. In certain markets, that could spell big trouble for low power stations that co-exist with full-power stations.
In fact, the Community Broadcasters Association (CBA) sued the FCC this past March, asserting that the lack of analog pass-through on NTIA converter boxes violated the FCC’s own All-Channel Receiver Act of 1962 — which was used to force television manufacturers to add digital (ATSC) tuners to all TVs manufactured after July 2006.
Happily, the DTT901 adds analog pass-through. Simply shut the converter off, and any existing analog stations are received on their usual channels. As of this writing, there are 19 NTIA-approved converter boxes with analog pass-through that are available at retail (Go to https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm for the most up-to-date list).
OUT OF THE BOX
The DT901 is identical in appearance and function to its older sibling. It sits in a black metal housing with a glossy front panel, dominated by the power off/on indicator (red to blue). A large button controls AC power and two smaller buttons to the scroll up and down through TV channels.
The rear panel is also simple. There’s an RF input connector, an RF output connection for channel 3 or 4 operation (or normal NTSC tuning with the DTT901 powered down), and a composite video jack with stereo audio connectors for use with AV inputs on older TVs.
Figure 2. The rear panel connections are unchanged from the DT900.
Figure 3. The supplied remote control is well-designed and easy to use.
The supplied remote control is one of the best I’ve seen for NTIA converters. The buttons are large enough to navigate quickly and all buttons are labeled clearly. It serves double-duty as a remote for your existing TV.
Direct access is provided for closed caption operation, mini program guide, quick display of each DTV station’s PSIP and virtual channel data, and a handy-dandy signal strength indicator that provides both visual (bar graph) and aural (beeper) feedback as you tune through stations and peak your antenna.
IN OPERATION
LG’s tuners have always been the fastest at scanning and storing PSIP data from DTV stations, and the DTT901 lives up to that legacy. The review sample scanned and captured 34 different minor channels of programming from 14 local DTV stations in just about 30 seconds, loading them into a master channel map for editing.
You can add individual channels simply by entering the physical channel number, or if you want to aim your antenna in a different direction, use the EZ Add function. This menu setting skips past channels that have already been scanned into memory and “fills in the holes” automatically with new channels.
The channel edit function shows all channels you have scanned, along with their call signs and virtual channel numbers. You might be surprised to learn that not all NTIA converters provide channel maps! The channel map is the key to any DTV converter and the DTT901’s map layout and functionality is the best I’ve seen.
Figure 4. Here’s a view of the DTT901’s channel map menu.
Figure 5. This menu screen shows PSIP and virtual channel data.
Additional menu functions include Clock (select time zone and Daylight Savings mode), Aspect Ratio (4:3 or 16:9), Language choices for on-screen menus and audio, Closed Captions (both EIA-608 analog and EIA-708 digital captions are supported, along with customized text display), Auto Power Down (1, 2, 3, or 4 hours after inactivity), and Audio output mode (mono for RF channel 3-4 operation or stereo for line level output).
In addition, there is the usual Parental Controls menu with a system password, channel block/pass settings, and a variety of TV and movie rating settings.
For my tests, I grabbed a Samsung LMT1575W 15-inch LCD TV and connected the DTT901 through both the RF and AV inputs. Video signal quality was noticeably crisper through the composite video connection and it’s the only way to get stereo playback with the DTT901.
Picture quality through the RF connection to channels 3 and 4 is better than you’d expect, particularly if you are watching a down-converted HDTV program. Audio playback in this mode is mono only. I didn’t hear any of the harshness or brittle audio reported from the original DTT900 while watching several DD 5.1 programs, and found stereo audio levels to be consistent from channel to channel.
CONCLUSION
Zenith’s DTT900 already was an excellent design — well-thought-out for the average user with a clean GUI and super-simple operation. Now, the DTT901 builds on those strengths to add analog pass-through and appears to have cleaned up the 900’s problems with down-mixed Dolby Digital audio. Overall, it’s still the best NTIA converter I’ve tested. (Note that Best Buy sells their version of the DTT901 as the Insignia NS-DXA1.)
