What Is The Difference Between TV Signal Quality And Strength?

There is a function within the Sky receiver and also most televisions that allows the user to check the signal strength and sometimes also the signal quality being received. If you have been interested what the difference is between strength and quality, stay tuned, or go to http://tvaerialswarrington.com for more info.

The actual measurement shown on the television can be a bar, a number and percentage in some cases. What can be confusing is that there is no explanation of what these measurements mean for you and for watching TV. Also, the measurements shown on the TV, are these accurate?

The TV Signal Reader On Your Television Should Be Only A Guide

I will always use one of two different meters to read from whenever I install satellite dishes and TV aerials. This is because the satellite signal is completely different to the digital signal received from a terrestrial radio and TV transmitter. My meter provides all kinds of measurements on signal modulations, signal information, interference, robustness, and signal strengths, and lets me check the signal constellations if I want to, along with many other things as well. It lets me see a digital television picture if I want to (demodulation), but that isn’t necessary when you know how to read information on digital TV signals. 

I understand that might not mean a lot to many people but the point that I am trying to make is that it is well-suited equipment to help assess how good of a TV signal you have and how reliable your reception might be. The television that you use for watching TV is not designed to read signal quality and strength so that the readings that it provides may be quite misleading. You cannot trust the actual picture.

Sometimes the signal strength can read high but if the quality level is poor, then the Tv will in most cases fail to show a picture & if it does this picture will break up, freeze and fracture.

Quality Is More Important Compared to Strength

It actually does depend on the specific television manufacturer, but you always should expect your TV signal to have a full signal bar or be at 100%. Usually, that means that when you received the signal after any error correction that it is work as expected and is fine. If it is jumping around or under 100%, you might discover that you are having issues with your TV reception. That might just mean that your TV has the incorrect TV transmitter stored, so first check the TV tuning. It is also important to note that if the signal reading happens to say 100% one time, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be 100% always and you might experience some intermittent TV reception.

Also, on many Sky boxes and other equipment, the signal quality might not be a full bar or 100%. That doesn’t mean there is a problem with the signal. It might be reading the signal prior to error correction, and that is a more reliable way to do it actually. To conclude, if you have a high percentage on quality but not on signal strength, then I wouldn’t worry as long as your TV picture is fine otherwise.