GT Media ATSC 3.0 TV Tuner Stick for TVs and Smartphones Review

hey everyone it's Tyler the antenna man here to review this new GT media USB atsc 3.0 TV tuner it costs about $60 on Amazon and works with most Android devices including a smartphone tablet Android TV box and even an Android Smart TV for the relatively low price how well does it work with the new overthe aair TV standard atsc 3.0 if you're a cord cutter or using antenna be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the Bell icon to receive a notification whenever I post a new video now in the interest of full disclosure GT media did send me this unit along with their Android TV box for my independent analysis and review the company received no editorial input or early preview of this video they are seeing it for the first time just like you so this GT media atsc 3.0 TV tuner stick works works with most Android devices that have a USB or USBC connector in addition to the built-in atsc 1.0 and atsc 3.0 tuner it also has a Micro SD card slot for recording in this video I'll be testing out this TV tuner stick on an Android TV box that was sent to me by GT media and my personal Google pixel 7 smartphone I'll start with how it worked on the Android TV box since most of you are probably interested in using it on a TV rather than a smart phone if you decide to purchase this TV tuner dongle be sure to follow one of my affiliate links in the Pinon below or in the description of the video to help support the YouTube channel setting up the dongle on the Android TV box was pretty easy I simply download the HDTV player app from the Google Play Store inserted the dongle into the USB port on the TV box and open the app right away the app recognized a device and asked to run a channel scan after the channel scan was complete all channels were listed as shown here as far as playback of channels goes it's honestly hit or miss some TV channels played just fine While others were pretty choppy I tried restarting the device but that didn't seem to solve the problem with choppy video on certain channels oh no not on the me TV network that channel can't be choppy hopefully this issue is resolved in a future app update the device was able to play a atsc 3.0 channels that are open and in the clear such as wpv and Philadelphia although it did take a bit longer to load up compared to an atsc 1.0 channel the atsc 3.0 channels played smooth and weren't choppy like the atsc 1.0 channels some of you may have noticed a little key icon on the channel list and probably know what it means it indicates DRM en crypted channels unfortunately this dongle isn't able to decode the these channels because it isn't DRM certified yet more information on this a bit later in the video the dongle has a basic PVR feature that lets you record a channel you watch but you can't schedule recordings from the channel guide like a DVR you can also pause live TV but for some reason you can't time shift only pause and unpause the PVR was hit or miss sometimes it recorded and other times it did not the first recording I tried was from the unencrypted atsc 3.0 broadcast of wpbi playback was choppy as you can see here it doesn't look as wet as this most recent system but there will be rain and there will be some Gusty winds and when I record about a minute of the soap opera on KYW atsc 1.0 broadcast the file wasn't in the DVR tab in fact all previous recordings disappeared one thing I do like about this dongle is the manual search feature with sign signal meter you can manually select a specific RF Channel which also shows the signal strength quality and whether the signal is locked in or not I do wish there was a way to display this information when watching a channel as playback stops when you enter this menu it would also be helpful to show the virtual Channel or call letters as a lot of people don't understand RF channels in my case I was looking at WC or nbc10 but it's displayed with the RF Channel 28 that will confuse some people here's how the TV tuner stick worked on my smartphone the app had virtually the same user interface as the Android TV box so I'm not going to go through it all but unlike the Android TV box playback on my smartphone was smooth and not choppy at all it's possible that the Android TV box GT media supplied simply wasn't fast enough to handle some higher bit rate channels in my area I must say that it's really cool that this dongle turns virtually any Android smartphone into an atsc 3.0 TV tuner while it might not be something that most of you carry around in public it's still a great concept especially the ability to use your smartphone as a signal meter to fine-tune an attic or outdoor antenna this GT media atsc 3.0 TV tuner dongle is definitely a work in progress some of the TV stations play choppy at least on the Android TV box the company supplied it's possible that a faster Android TV box might not have this issue but I truly can't say for sure now a major issue with this stle is that isn't certified to decode DRM en crypted channels while the company tells me they are in the process of getting the app certified there's no guarantee that it will happen just look at the HC home run silen dust has been working very hard to get it certified for over a year to no avail my suspicion is that the a3s has no plans to ever certify it over the concern it might be used to start up another low cast since it's a network tuner this probably isn't a dongle you want to purchase if you're looking for a reliable atsc 3.0 tuner to use on your TV it's a bit buggy and isn't certified to decode DRM encrypted channels in most markets I include a link to a list of DRM encrypted channels in the description of the video if you want to see if any are in your area with that in mind there are few situations where I might recommend this tuner if you have trouble picking up some channels in atsc 1.0 and own an Android device like a smartphone or TV box this dongle works as a great cheap way to test and see if an atsc 3.0 signal can be picked up more reliably at your location even if some DRM and crypted channels aren't a code on it it's better to pay $60 to try things out than $100 or even $250 no offense to these companies but let's face it a lot of antenna viewers are seniors on fixed incomes with limited disposable cash so affordable tuners need to be an option if this new TV standard is going to take off this dongle is also great to use as a portable signal meter to fine-tune and outdoor attic antenna if you already own an Android smartphone everyone should use a signal meter when setting up an outdoor antenna and after reviewing this unit I can confidently say that it's a great option for one the final reason this dongle might be worth purchasing is if you simply want to play around with a cheap atsc 3.0 tuner to test out the Waters of the signal in your area you can try it out in a moving car like I did in a previous video or just around your house while it's definitely still a work in progress I applaud GT media for making an affordable atsc 3.0 tuner that will at least work for some channels in the meantime however thanks to DRM encryption the future functionality of this this unit long term is unknown should the company not be able to get it certified like the HG home run another option will be taken away from the consumer it seems that my prediction about DRM encryption along with a prediction from a consumer advocacy group just might come true I do have some concerns about it I worry that the red tape and expense of getting an atsc 3.0 tuner DRM certified by the a3s will limit affordable options people really couldn't innovate because it was slowed down because they had to go and get the seal of approval from this industry body but that was like two decades of innovation that did not happen and it is seems to me extremely likely that this is what's going to happen again for once I'm not going to go on a rant about how DRM encryption should not be on free overthe TV broadcasts or am I what I will say is that this unit even as a work in progress should be an option for the consumer with atsc 3.0 if DRM encryption takes it away as an option because it's not able to get approved for certification from the a3s it's proof that Innovation is being stifled and maybe just maybe my concerns are valid maybe the concerns about DRM from two consumer advocacy groups are valid maybe the FCC needs to get involved and stop DRM encryption on overthe TV broadcast signals that should be free and open to the public maybe we need to start contacting our Representatives if this government organization that's supposed to protect consumers isn't exactly doing its job I didn't mean to get too off topic but de encryption is tied to this unit in the way it puts the long-term future functionality of it up in the air thanks so much for watching this YouTube video an additional thanks to everyone who supports me on patreon or is a member of my YouTube channel and my videos helped you cut the 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Channel: Antenna Man

Views: 66,823

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Id: K1lrzezUwzk

Length: 10min 4sec (604 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 12 2024