Problems can accompany the use of indoor television antennas even in the best of circumstances. While outdoor antennas receive signals from transmitters in a direct line of sight, this is almost never the case for indoor antennas. Wall thickness, window locations and other structural factors make every location in a building different. Hence, the conditions for what are the best indoor antennas can change from home to home and even from room to room within a home.
Identification
When choosing an indoor antenna for both VHF and UHF, make sure it can receive both bands. Unlike rooftop antennas, indoor antennas are too small to incorporate both types into one element or set of elements; often they are combined into one unit called a combination antenna. The VHF antenna will be a pair of long, often telescoping, rods, while the UHF antenna can take many forms but most often will be a wire loop or bowtie-shaped element. An indoor antenna must have both VHF and UHF elements to receive signals in both bands (Reference 1).
Omni-Directional Antennas
Also called multi-directional, these antennas receive signals from all directions equally and do not require any adjustment when changing from one channel to another. Some omni-directional antennas come with built-in amplifiers to help boost signal quality. To take advantage of the convenience these antennas offer, all the stations you want to receive must have a strong signal at the location of the antenna. If this is the case, an omni-directional antenna is your best choice (Reference 1).
Directional Antennas
Unlike omni-directional antennas, directional antennas focus all of their reception capabilities in a single direction; however, using this term for indoor antennas may be misleading. Combination antennas often have directional capabilities for UHF but not for VHF. In these cases, the UHF capability allows combination antennas to receive weaker signals than omni-directional antennas, and they may have amplifiers to boost signal quality. However, if your local stations are in different directions, you will need to reposition the UHF antenna when changing channels. If you have only one UHF station, or do not get strong signals from the stations you wish to receive, directional antennas are your best option despite the inconvenience (Reference 1).
Smart Antennas
Smart antennas function like a combination of omni-directional and directional antennas. While they can receive signals from all directions like omni-directionals, they automatically adjust and alter their reception capabilities to focus on one station at a time like a directional antenna. They can receive weaker signals than omni-directionals but not as weak as directionals can receive. While these antennas may seem like the obvious choice, be aware that smart antennas often have VHF capabilities limited to the upper channels (seven through 13) and require special equipment to control them and to store the settings they need to function properly (Reference 2).
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