U.S. launches digital TV campaign
Better TV is coming, but are you ready for it?

Since the first days of television, the method of beaming pictures into our living rooms hasn’t changed much. But on Feb. 17, 2009, television stations across the country will hit the off button on this time-tested technology and switch to new transmitters, sending computerized digital signals through the air.

When the change comes, the estimated 30 million televisions that use traditional antennas will go to snow without a digital converter box. The cable industry is spending $200 million to educate customers, and Congress has set aside $1.5 billion to help subsidize the purchase of converter boxes.

Still, half of American viewers don’t know the storm is coming, according to a poll conducted last month by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing. For the 1 in 5 American households that still use rabbit ears or antennas on the roof, “the day of reckoning is coming,” said Barry Umansky, a communications professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

Not enough spectrum for all those signals

The switch to all-digital television, and a similar switch in the wireless communications industry, is partly a repercussion of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when police and fire communications channels were clogged by too much traffic.

The Federal Communications Commission first ordered the eventual transition in 1996, but Congress didn’t set a deadline until the the 9/11 Commission reported that first-responder systems needed a major upgrade.

Digital TV

What equipment do I need?
If you currently receive free over-the-air television programming on an analog television set, you will need a DTV converter box to continue to receive television service after Feb. 17, 2009. DTV converter boxes will be available in early 2008. To help consumers cover the cost of the converter box, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will be issuing up to two converter box coupons valued at $40 each to households in early 2008

Information about the DTV converter box coupon program is available at www.ntia.doc.gov.


The problem, said Umansky, a longtime broadcast industry lawyer, is that “America’s seemingly wide-open skies are chock full of radio signals, and there just aren’t enough frequencies for all the people who need to use them.”

By taking back the analog frequencies, the government will “allow the nation’s airwaves to be used by firefighters, police and other first responders to help the nation when there might be a natural or manmade disaster,” said Todd Sedmak, communications director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.


Cell phones, alarms, navigation systems also affected

Televisions aren’t the only technology to use analog signals. Some cell phone customers still use analog service, which carriers won’t have to provide under a similar ruling that takes effect Jan. 1. So do about 1 million home and business alarm systems across the country, many of which are small, local operations for which the switch to digital could be prohibitively expensive.

“So you could have your alarm going off and the signal will go nowhere — basically fall on deaf ears,” said Andrew Stevens of Tele-Plus, a telecommunications and security company in Hagerstown, Md.

Likewise, General Motors’ OnStar automotive assistance service will go silent in all models that can’t be upgraded to receive digital signals. That’s every model made before 2002, as well as some made from 2002 to 2004.

Yeh well. Plenty peoples here will be Vanilla Ice come February 2009. :shaky:

Hell, ZNS might be off the air too..seein as they een digital yet!

Digital Dilemma: Your choices explained


Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News

If you've been shopping for a new television, you know the choices can be mind-boggling.

In a little more than a year, an estimated 30 million televisions with those familiar square screens will fade to black.

"Plain and simple, unless something else is hooked on to that TV set, it will not function when analog television broadcasting ceases," said Barry Umansky, Professor of Telecommunications at Ball State University.

On February 17th, 2009, TV stations across the country will turn off their old transmitters and broadcast only the new digital signals. It is a signal that old televisions cannot see. Because so few people realize the switch is coming, Umansky predicts, "I see a train wreck."

Viewers with satellite dishes or cable TV should avoid that wreck. The cable industry is spending $200 million to reassure customers.

Three choices

Those with televisions hooked to rabbit ears or bigger antennas have three choices. They can buy a new television with a built-in digital transmitter. They can connect to cable or satellite, or they can buy a new digital TV converter box.

Dave Arland is Vice President for Audio and Video Marketing at RCA. "By getting a converter box you can actually extend the life of your TV. You can keep watching the same old set you are familiar with," he siad.

RCA is one of just a few companies making the book-sized devices. "A converter box such as the RCA DTA 800 will be the most affordable way to go because the government is going to subsidize that transition for folks," said Arland.

Staring in January of 2008, viewers can go to the internet and sign up for government-issued coupons that should cut the cost of a converter box to about $20.

Millions of others are expected to spend a lot more money buying new digital televisions. But buyers beware, not all digital televisions are equal.

First, you have to look out for some old, non-digital televisions that may still be on store shelves. The government mandates that labels warn consumers that those TVs will soon be obsolete.

If you are in the market for a new TV, you need to learn to decipher the DTV alphabet. Matt Straub from HH Gregg says it can be mind-boggling. "There are so many terms out there, people are coming in and their heads are spinning."

SDTV stands for Standard Definition Television. It is the least expensive of the digital choices. There is no interference and no "ghosts."

High-Definition Television (HDTV) is best. The price is higher but the picture is bigger and better. "It is as good as it gets when you talk about high definition compared to anything else," said Straub. "Good is about five times the picture quality you are used to watching now, if you are watching standard cable or standard antenna."

If you are using an old antenna, don't trash it with the old television.

"Antennas were considered dinosaurs or buggy whips not too many years ago," said Jim Daniel with Attic Antenna. But not anymore. Surprisingly these antiquated antennas put crystal clear pictures on new digital televisions.

"The antenna picks that up and delivers it straight to your digital television," said Daniel. He believes that "in certain ways, it is better than cable or satellite."

It is a viewer's choice: a digital converter or a new digital TV, satellite or cable? But one thing is for sure, for those who choose to do nothing, on February 17th, 2009, they will see nothing.