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Samsung DTBH260F HDTV Terrestrial Receiver | 
| Brand: Samsung
Category: CE
Buy New: $159.99
New (6) Used (4) from $124.99
Rating:  135 reviews
Sales Rank: 462
Media: Electronics
Shipping Weight (lbs): 9
Dimensions (in): 16 x 20 x 12
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: DTB-H260F
Model: DTB-H260F
UPC: 036725145207
EAN: 0036725145207
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Digital terrestrial receiver | | • | All 18 ATSC formats | | • | HDMI, component, composite, S/PDIF (optical) | | • | High gloss, stylish design | | • | Parent control |
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| Accessories:
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Samsung brings you great flexibility for delivering FREE over-the-air digital television signals to a DTVready television or DTV-capable computer monitors. Award-winning Samsung technology easily tunes and decodes all 18 ATSC Table 3 broadcast formats. With the Samsung DTB-H260F, you can view HDTV, SDTV, and listen to Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio through your audio system. Samsung solves output worries with a wide selection of output options including 1080i, 720p or 480p/i DTV formats, and connection options including HDMI (1), Component (1),Composite (1), Audio-Right/Left, Dolby Digital Optical. Attractive styling and affordable pricing make the Samsung DTB-H260F a perfect solution. Feature List
- On-Screen Signal Strength Indicator
Have the ability to view whether or not you are receiving a strong signal which may be affecting the quality of your on-screen imagery. - Full Guide
To find your favorite programs or to see what is currently on and/or available, you will have access to a full guide - Mini Guide
For a short list and not to interfere with current viewing you can utilize the mini guide to check concurrent programming. - Intuitive and Iconic Menu
Select the right settings to get the optimal picture.
Product Description
Samsung brings you great flexibility for delivering FREE over-the-air digital television signals to a DTV-ready television or DTV-capable computer monitors. Award-winning Samsung technology easily tunes and decodes all 18 ATSC Table 3 broadcast formats. With the Samsung DTB-H260F, you can view HDTV, SDTV, and listen to Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio through your audio system. Samsung solves output worries with a wide selection of output options including 1080i, 720p or 480p/i DTV formats, and connection options including HDMI (1), Component (1), Composite (1), Audio-Right/Left, Dolby Digital Optical. Attractive styling and affordable pricing make the Samsung DTB-H260F a perfect solution.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 130 more reviews...
 Great picture quality, easy to setup September 7, 2008
J. White (Hendersonville, TN USA)
Unit is very easy to setup, they give you all the cables you need for component audio and video. Its an expensive unit but the inclusion of cables reduces total cost of ownership. If you have a good TV or Home Theater receiver the dolby sound is very clear and works well with 5.1 and 7.1 systems. If you want to use the HDMI interface you will need to supply that cable yourself, but the component video has all the same features and benefits of HDMI on this unit.
Other than a quick reference to figure out the correct switch settings, I didn't have to refer to the manual to set up the unit, only to understand the features available once it was operational.
The initial station auto-scan found all the local stations easily. For some reason it defaults to cable (QAM), easy enough to switch on the remote or OSD but I am left wondering why it doesn't default to Air.
Nearly all the channels came in at full signal strength. I cannot achieve this feat with digital converter boxes on my older TV's even though they have a more powerful antenna system. The tuner is in my opinion very sensitive pulling in channels other TV's tuners can't. I'm impressed. Oh and 1080i looks great, no cable company compression and co$t. This is as good as it gets!! The combination of this tuner and a quality HDTV is stunning. If you need an HD tuner for your older HDTV look no further!
The on screen program guide is very complete with a neat picture-in-picture of the current channel while you browse the available channels. Note that once you do digital over the air, you will get a lot more channel choices. I wish our local stations could keep the program information up to date better.
You do have to be pretty accurate when operating the remote, no bouncing off walls or the ceiling!! You do therefore have to position the unit with this in mind.
The sound can be adjusted on a 0-100 scale, much better than a 0-20 scale other receivers have. You can therefore set the sound level precisely and avoid overshooting the level you desire.
There is a program rating control feature for those that need it.
As with most set top boxes, be sure to take good care of the remote, it has a lot of unique controls a universal remote would not be able to emulate. The Samsung remote cannot be programed to control your TV, so you will have a little remote control clutter.
not bad for the bucks September 6, 2008
E. mangan (sillycon valley)
it worked out of the box. tv guide is slow to download
and to go up or down channel it will stop and wait
(pausing picture in frame to freeze) for the next
channel to download...sometimes slow at it.
the OTA reception was far better than the dishnetwork
hd receiver I had. dish saw 43 channels the samsung unit
picked up 49........same antenna and connector.
changes channels fast enough for me.
only real draw back I have seen is from the tv guide on
channel 54-1 shows 64-1 at bottom of guide. it is when
I exit guide and hit recall it will not go to what
channel I had prior to 54-1, it goes to 64-1. that only
happens when using guide.
recall works fine otherwise.
I'm using it on a old rca type monitor with dvi.
this has hdmi output, hdmi and dvi are not compatible but
they do make a connector to fit and does show picture dimly
so I use component cables. do note incompatibility makes
picture not to fit the screen properly.....it is a tv
problem. the dish replacement box that I sent back was far
worse as I lost over 40% of the picture with it.
never tested adult gard......caption and freeze fine.
size is small. I will keep this one.
note: uses very low power!
15 watts on 1 watt standby
I do not know if it would work as a second tuner for P-I-P.
 Great .... when it works September 2, 2008
Brian (Ferndale, MI USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I live in a market with all major networks broadcasting in HDTV - and don't watch much except PBS (ok, and The Simpsons) - so a set-top receiver should be the perfect solution.
I purchased a Samsung SIR-T150 soon after it came on the market, and later a DTB-H260F on the promise that it was much improved over the older model.
Both provide a fantastic signal to my plasma monitor (no built-in tuner).... but only when they actually work.
Both have the same problem: turn it on ... the signal is sharp, the audio fantastic .... and usually within 10 minutes the signal craps out with a 'weak or no signal' legend on the screen for all channels.
Turn off the units ... wait an hour, and you get another 10 minutes of broadcast.
I've tried a variety of antennae, indoors and out (nothing on the roof ... hate ladders)
Some have suggested that these earlier models don't do well at handling multi-path signals (distinguishing between the direct broadcast, and the additional signals bouncing off of anything in the neighborhood)
I'm not really ready to drop another couple hundred on the 'next generation' box ... and accepting the cheap boxes that only convert to 480i seems a waste.
I guess come February, I'll be reading more books ...
Works Great But Needs A Better Manual August 22, 2008
Wilhelmina Gaudy (Beaverton, OR USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This really is a great product. No doubt about it. It was very easy to hook up. My gripe is with the instruction manual. When I called Samsung to get assistance the person helping me told me my product was damaged and needed to be repaired. I sent it back to Amazon and was shipped another one with no problems at all, this went smoothly. When I found the same "problems" with the second unit I called Samsung again and was given a different story and received a lot of nonsense for instructions on how to get the unit to work. I tried doing what I was told with no success.
I called them again and again and again. In the end I called and spoke to seven different tech reps with only rep, number seven, actually taking the time to listen to what problem I was having and take me through all the steps to get my unit working.
The manuel left out a few basic instructions that would have been useful for this tuner to work with my specific television set. I would have given the product a full 5 stars IF the manual did a better job of explaining how to get my TV and the tuner to "talk" to each other.
I was extremely grateful the last tech took the time to help me through everything step by step. When I got to the step that brought me a terrific picture I was sooooo excited.
There are electronics of all sorts throughout my home including stereo; computer;, all-in-one printer; TV's; digital converter boxes; electric guitars, amps, and effects; digital keyboard; etc. I am in no way electronically challanged and was insulted by the way some of the Samsung Techs spoke to me when I was looking for some assistance. It was worse than calling a company IT department and attempting to get one of the IT staff members to speak to you in English and not Computer Geekese.
For the Tech Rep who did take the time to speak to me in plain English and take me through everything step by step I can only sing the highest of the high praises that can be sung. Why the other six couldn't have gotten off their high horses and help me I don't know. Why the first tech wrote me off and told me I had a defective product instead of helping me is nothing short of lazy. The other five Tech Reps were also lazy in not really listening to me and barking out useless, ambiguous instructions that made no sense to me, leaving me more confused and frustrated.
The helpful tech rep was the only one who asked for the make and model of my TV. He also checked to make sure I had an HDTV antenna. This tech was then able to give me step by step instructions for getting the tuner to work with my specific TV. Many of those steps were not in the manual. I couldn't thank this man enough for helping me.
How easy it is to get the tuner working with your TV by using the manual alone may depend on the TV you have. If you can't then good luck in getting the right person to help you at Samsung. But, if one tech doesn't help, keep calling. At least they provide a toll free number so it won't cost anything except your time and your sanity.
It really is a great product and now that it's working I'm extremely happy. I think Samsung could have done a better job in writing its manual to cover all HDTV Ready set types. Samsung needs to train their tech staff to be less assuming and flippant when speaking to customers calling for assistance. It shouldn't take seven calls to get one helpful tech rep to help me.
If the Technical Assistance and the manual had been more helpful had I would have given it 5 stars. Even giving it 4 because of the instructions in the manual and the Tech Assistance was a tough call but given the quality of the product once working correctly I honestly couldn't go any lower.
Like Butter August 19, 2008
Scorpio69 (Hawaii, America's Paradise)
The Samsung DTBH260F HDTV Terrestrial Receiver performs as adverstised. The connections and setup are very simple for anyone familiar with the basic requirements of hooking up the many components found in today's home theaters. For those who are bewildered by the myraid connections and switches found on the rear end of a modern A/V component, the owner's manual is of little help. While the needed info is all there, there is no "1-2-3"-type quick start guide. Grandma and Grandpa may need to call some tech-savvy neighborhood kid for an assist.
I also wondered why they included two pairs of L/R audio outputs, but only one antenna-in connection. I mean, anyone using the L/R audio outs would typically only be using a TV that accepts such basic inputs, or a stereo receiver. However, since the unit accepts both off-air antenna and cable tv inputs, having only one antenna input makes no sense. I'll need to get a quality splitter so that I'm not constantly having to manually plug/unplug the input cable as I switch between off-air and cable sources.
Insofar as picking up broadcast HDTV signals, it's no problema for me using the very basic RCA ANT121 Indoor Antenna. There are only a few stations within range of me, and the unit quickly found them. With a larger outdoor antenna I would undoubtedly also be able to grab the signals from the two stations whose towers are on the other side of the island from me, NBC and PBS. So, I get a total of 6 broadcast stations. The HDTV quality is outstanding. The David Letterman Show on CBS, for example, was flawless.
But, what was I to do to satisfy my need for NBC and PBS? Enter my uber-basic cable connection (no box, just the naked cable running into my house).
I plugged it into the unit and scanned for channels. As the manual notes on pg. 13:
"The Set-Top Box can receive DTV signals in the event that a local cable provider is passing 8VSB and QAM through on their system. (8VSB is the RF modulation format utilized to transmit digital bits over the airwaves to the home consumer. QAM conveys data by modulating the amplitude of two carrier waves.)"
Bottom line: Yours truly was able to watch the Olympics on NBC in gorgeous HD with my Panasonic PT-AE900U Home Theater Projector on my 106 16X9 Model B High Contrast Manual Pull Down Screen. I also grabbed PBS-HD. Of course, as the unit scanned my cable, it also picked up several hundred other channels, only about 30 of which had viewable signals. So, I had to go through each channel individually to determine which ones had actual viewable content (the others indicating "Scrambled or Weak Signal"). While this was a pain and took me a couple hours to compile a list of what each channel was, in the end I was able to get about thirty channels of non-scrambled content. Of these, there are only a few that will make their way to my "Favorite Channels" list. The hundreds of channels that it picked up that are not actually useable will need to be deleted -- one by one. Ugh.
In the end, between the channels that I could pick up over the air and those that hide within my cable, I was able to cover all of the network (FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS) HD programming, plus a number of basic cable channels (TBS, ESPN, Disney, etc.) -- all for F-R-E-E (minus the cost of the box and antenna). Given that my cable company would charge me around $100/mo to get the same programming using their cable box, the upfront costs will quickly be offset.
Now that's entertainment!
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