Indoor TV Antennas for Over-the-Air HDTV Broadcasts

Indoor antennas do not perform as well as outdoor tv antennas. Not even close. An indoor TV antenna can pick only the closest stations and the strongest signals. For many of us though, that is enough. If you live in a big city, or close to the towers, you can get a lot of over-the-air HDTV channels with a simple indoor antenna.

Recommended Indoor HD Antennas

Terk has a nice assortiment of indoor hdtv antennas. HDTVi, and its amplified version - HDTVa, are tiny indoor log-periodic antennas, that can provide nice reception in the UHF band. Another popular terk indoor model is TV5, an amplified bow-tie antenna. Nice design that fits well into the room interior is another reason why many choose Terk indoor antennas. Nothing special can be said about HDTVi, HDTVo and TV5 reception capabilities. They are just OK.

If you are ready to sacrifice a little bit more room space for better performance, scatter plane Winegard SS-3000 antenna is the way to go. This model has exceptional performance for an indoor hd antenna,it is the best indoor hdtv antenna around. Not as popular as HDTVa, but IMHO is much better.

Here is a list of indoor HDTV antennas sorted by customer reviews rating from highest to lowest.

Antenna	Placement	Directivity	Amplifier	Band	Total Reviews	Average Rating
AntennasDirect C2-V-CJM	Indoor/Outdoor	Multidirectional	No	VHF/UHF	1499	4.3	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
AntennasDirect DB2	Indoor/Outdoor	Directional	No	UHF	596	4	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Winegard FL5500A	Indoor	Directional	Yes	VHF/UHF	3213	3.9	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
1byone OUS00-0566	Indoor	Multi	Yes	VHF/UHF	5260	3.8	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Jensen TV-611	Indoor	Multi	No	VHF/UHF	3	3.7	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Terk HDTVa	Indoor	Directional	Yes	VHF/UHF	3045	3.6	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
AntennasDirect C1C	Indoor/Outdoor	Multidirectional	No	UHF	108	3.6	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
AmazonBasics MH-110753	Indoor	Multidirectional	Yes	VHF/UHF	886	3.5	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
RCA ANT1251	Indoor	Multidirectional	Yes	VHF/UHF	592	3.5	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Zenith ZHDTV1	Indoor	Directional	No	UHF	359	3.5	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
AntennasDirect ESG-P1	Indoor	Multidirectional	No	VHF/UHF	96	3.5	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Soaiy SY-TVANT-50M	Indoor	Multidirectional	Yes	VHF/UHF	85	3.5	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Mohu MH-110599	Indoor	Multidirectional	Yes	VHF/UHF	1120	3.4	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
RCA ANT121	Indoor	Multi	No	VHF/UHF	558	3.4	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Terk TV-5	Indoor	Multi	Yes	VHF/UHF	203	3.3	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Jensen TV-631	Indoor	Multi	Yes	VHF/UHF	6	3.3	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
PowerQ PowerHD-100	Indoor	Multidirectional	Yes	VHF/UHF	73	3.2	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
AntennasDirect PF7	Indoor	Multi	No	UHF	26	3.1	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Philips SCP010	Indoor	Multi	No	VHF/UHF	22	3	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Terk TV-2	Indoor	Multi	No	VHF/UHF	10	3	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Jensen TV-621	Indoor	Multi	Yes	VHF/UHF	10	3	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Avantek AR-F11	Indoor	Multidirectional	Yes	VHF/UHF	77	2.9	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
GE 24775	Indoor	Multi	Yes	VHF/UHF	103	2.8	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Philips PHDTV3	Indoor	Directional	Yes	VHF/UHF	82	2.8	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
RCA ANT110	Indoor	Multi	No	VHF/UHF	16	2.6	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
RCA ANT1020	Indoor	Multi	No	VHF/UHF	15	2.6	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
RCA ANT301	Indoor	Multi	Yes	VHF/UHF	48	2.5	Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices
Newpoint VCEPT+	Indoor	Multi	No	VHF/UHF	0		Read reviews	Write a review	Compare prices

See all HDTV antenna reviews ...

Indoor hdtv antenna issues

VHF indoor antennas

There are many different creative designs of UHF indoor antennas. Bow-ties, yagis, log-periodic antennas, etc. As long as VHF reception is considered, all indoor antennas are nearly the same. VHF band, occupying the larger wavelength portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, requires larger antenna elements. VHF antennas have to be much larger than their UHF counterparts for satisfactory reception. There is simply no enough space to deploy VHF log-periodics or bow-ties indoors. Hence, all indoor VHF antennas are some form of rabbit ears.

Spotty reception

Spotty reception, and a need to move an antenna around when switching channels, is a very common problem of indoor tv antennas. Especially, of directional indoor antennas. An indoor hd antenna almost never has a line of sight to the towers. It always receives an echo, a reflected signal that bounces off the surroundings and off the house walls. The path and strength of the reflected signal highly depends on weather, time of a day and frequency. You may have good reception of channel A in a particular spot, but not of channel B, because singnals of two different channels, being at different frequencies, do not follow the same path even if transmitted from the same site.

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