New Antenna Technology

There is actually one user review of the Smartenna+ at AVS (scroll to the top):

Seems as if this user got it earlier than expected since it is slated for spring release.

His results are very positive. However the comparison is to a Flatenna which is not amplified. So the comparison is not that valuable. Basically the Smartenna+ beat the Flatenna three to one in channels received and stability. But the performance of the antenna sold his wife on his cordcutting adventure due to the stability of previously weak channels. Notice how weak channels are currently causing havoc for the Tablo with the newest release…

Where a Smartenna+ could come in handy is like the situation described in the thread “Antennas Direct VHF Add-On” in which the user in an apartment complex is surrounded on three sides with the building’s walls (a courtyard behind him). The broadcast towers are not in front of him but hidden behind the apartments. I surmised in that thread that his omni-directional antenna was getting reflections, not the direct signal (which he cannot not get inside the home).

In which case an array-adaptive antenna could analyze the best reflected signals, their direction and relative strength, and possibly combine them the way an LG tuner works to combine multipath signals. In his case he has no option but to use some sort of antenna that can optimize indirect RF waves and\or “fuse” them together. In his case a single direction antenna doesn’t work since he’s absolutely facing the wrong way and utterly blocked off but his omni does function. The Smartenna+ in some respect is an omni-directional type of antenna.