For those of you that watch TV in the U.S. know that Midnight, on 2-17-2009 Analog over the air terrestrial broadcasts will be switched to digital only from the simulcast that currently exists. Sad, right ?
Although this may be a shock to many, television owners have been warned well since last year now. For anyone who watches the news- this topic has probably become “old” and irritating to them. For a matter of fact, last year in Philadelphia over 100 people were offered the opportunity to obtain a free transmitter job to prepare properly for the transition.
The switch is from NTSC to ATSC. This does not mean HD, but HD is a part of ATSC and the two tend to sometimes be confusing. This only applies if you get your TV from an antenna, but if you are one of the majority of US TV viewers that get your signal from cable you will still be lucky enough to have your perfect signal until 2012, since the FCC mandated that they keep the down converted signal of NTSC until then. Satellite is still up in the air, but be sure to look for a similar date to also take such affect.
So, if you have rabbit ears you will need a box or the right kind of DVD recorder, estimated to go up on retail for under $200 to get programming.
Now as far as what to do now you will have to decide when you want to jump on the bandwagon or not. (Digital Cable, or Converter Box?) This stuff has all gotten cheaper and better over the 10 years it has been available.
Plasma, LCD, and, DLP at this time only cost a small fraction of what they did 10 years ago. So in reality, this isn’t really so much a “loss” as it is a rather advanced change for all of us.
If you want to wait a little longer you can, but know that you will have to do something soon, or your current TV will wont be working when February 13th comes around. Taking the Box Converter is more than reasonable, and will definitely show as a common choice. It just won’t look as good as the new stuff, or at least from up close. Though, in this economy who really has the money to put out for such a thing ?
All in all- everything will look better than it does now, most programs will be near DVD quality. So, what more could we ask for ?
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Interested in obtaining a coupon or two for your converter box ? Then be sure to check out https://www.dtv2009.gov/ as soon as possible !
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
