Does My Samsung TV Have A Digital Tuner?
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Television capabilities are advancing at an incredible rate with the tech wave that has taken the world by storm. Rabbit ear antennas that need constant adjusting are a thing of the past as almost every television manufactured within the last fifteen years comes equipped with an internal digital tuner. If you have a Samsung TV and want to know if it has a digital tuner, we have the answer!
If you purchased your Samsung TV after the year 2007, it almost certainly has an internal digital tuner. However, if your TV is older than that, it likely won’t have one.
If you don’t know the manufacturing year of your television, or if you want to confirm that your Samsung has a digital tuner, we are going to go through step-by-step instructions on how to find out, and figure out how to connect your television to over-the-air broadcasting in minutes.
How Do You Know If Your TV Has a Digital Tuner?
Some televisions have the tuner internally programmed, while some need an external digital converter box. Televisions manufactured before 2007 will probably need this device, and even some of the models made in the last decade require them. So let’s find out if your Samsung television has a digital tuner inside, or if you will need to purchase a converter.
All over-the-air broadcasts went completely digital in 2009, so if you are watching cable or satellite television, your TV already has a digital tuner.
Your Samsung television always comes with a small printed and adhered label on the back of the device. So even if you have lost your owner’s manual, you can easily find out if your TV has a digital tuner.
If your Samsung TV label has one of the following keywords or acronyms, it has an internal digital tuner:
- HDTV
- ATSC
- DTV
- Digital Tuner
- Digital Receiver
- Integrated Digital Tuner
When you see one of these phrases, you know you’re good to go! You can easily connect your Samsung television to receive free broadcasting even without a cable set-top box or external device.
If your Samsung television does not show any of these terms, you may need an external converter. Go ahead and skip ahead a section to find out what to do next.
How Do I Get Digital Channels on my Samsung TV?
Once you have figured out that your Samsung television does have an internal digital tuner, you may want to know how to set up your TV to watch digital over-the-air broadcasting channels.
The good news is, the steps are really simple:
- Ensure the antenna cable is securely adhered to your TV.
- Click the HOME button on your Samsung remote.
- Select SETTINGS.
- Set SOURCE to LIVE TV.
- Click BROADCASTING and then AUTO TUNING.
- Select START and the TV will scan and automatically save all the available channels.
Smart, and even standard, Samsung televisions usually come equipped with the capability to stream movies, TV, and games from a variety of programs and services. But it’s nice to know that you can always go back to the basics and watch regular broadcasting on your TV!
What If My Samsung TV Doesn’t Have a Digital Tuner?
So, you read your Samsung TV label and did not find any of the phrases that mean a digital tuner is automatically installed. Don’t worry! You have not lost the ability to enjoy free broadcasted television.
In fact, your cable set-top box may have one! Check out the step-by-step instructions above to see if your television can connect to over-the-air broadcasts without the need to purchase an external device.
If you have attempted to auto tune your Samsung TV and it was unsuccessful, you may need a digital tuner to watch free broadcasting. Luckily, you can find them easily on Amazon and they are fairly simple to set up.
Conclusion
Although you are now a complete expert on digital tuners, the truth is you probably won’t need to know everything you have learned here as almost every TV is now automatically set up to connect to free broadcasting.
Because every Samsung TV made after 2007 has an internal digital tuner, unless you have a fairly old TV, you don’t need to worry about it!
Setting up your television to allow free broadcasting is easy, and the steps are outlined above for your convenience. But if you are having any trouble, feel free to check out this Samsung support page that outlines any troubleshooting issues that might occur.
