Posted on 12/22/2008 7:14:09 AM PST by re_tail20
The Federal Communications Commission sponsored a Nascar race car as part of its effort to inform Americans that on Feb. 18, television signals transmitted over the air will be transmitted solely in digital format. Old TV sets will no longer work.
It paid $350,000 to emblazon “The Digital TV Transition” and other phrases on a Ford driven by David Gilliland.
So how’s that going? In November, the car crashed during a Nascar race in Phoenix. It was the second crash in as many months.
And how is the digital TV transition going? According to critics, about as well, despite a major marketing campaign that includes nightly ads on TV.
According to surveys conducted by the Consumers Union, a consumer advocacy group that also publishes Consumer Reports magazine, while 90 percent of the nation is aware of the transition, 25 percent mistakenly believe that one must subscribe to cable or satellite after February, and 41 percent think that every TV in a house must have a new converter box, even those that are already connected to cable or satellite.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
That is because they are being told that by the cable companies. I heard on the radio this morning that the FCC has demanded the cable companies explain themselves.
Technically, this change is absurdly simple.
Practically, however, chaos is predictable.
Talk about confusion, I visited a Radio Shack the other day to look for an outdoor antenna that will pick up digital signals. The storeclerk said they weren’t sure about digital, but they had antennas that picked up high definition. LOL!
That’s right. Also, average everyday folks really don’t have an understanding of how their television works or how the signal is delivered from the broadcaster or cable or satellite company to their living rooms. They just know that there is a little black box that hooks their wall up to their television sets, and that the moving pictures mysteriously appear on the screen. My neighbor has used an antennae-based system for years and was completely confused when he first started receiving notices from the FCC. I had to explain to him what was happening and help him with the changeover.
I was ready to put up an antenna to use the digital xmissions, but I found out they are going to also cut the xmit power on stations after the switch over.
Combine that with the fact that it already takes a higher SNR to receive HDTV signals and I figure I wont be able to receive squat for free via the airwaves.
Quick, all of you throw away your TV’s before you’re all worthless zombies. I’m serious.
Regardless, on February 18th, IMHO, we will likely be hit with a new Federal Tax and/or fee.
In NY, Paterson has set a tax on cable service in the new budget....and it's a DEM majority in the Legislature.
I do believe the Legislature will take the "cow fart" tax out of the budget...like it should have been there in the first place.
Sounds like my experience at Radio Shack. Regarding the digital conversion though, I am not impressed. The picture is better...when it works. Half the time it is “searching for signal” or the picture will freeze, the audio will be somewhat jumpy or not at all in sync with the video. (This usually happens at a critical moment in whatever I am watching.) Oh well...not much on TV worth watching anyway...
I have a converter box on my $55 Walmart TV in my travel trailer and the reception is cable quality (crystal clear, no shadows etc..)
The problem I have is I’m in Central Illinois and not all stations have converted to digital, so if I want to watch the NFL on CBS, I have to go analog.
I scan every day to see if new channels have been added (FOX 55 added this past Saturday) so I was able to watch the game. I also receive two FOX stations (one on channel 55.1, the other on channel 10.3) so there were two different early games on which was nice but Minn/Atl was the second game on both stations (God Bless my Falcons)..
Cut the power in what way? Right now most stations are broadcasting analog at full strength, using less power for the digital signal. Once analog is cut off, the power on the digital side should be increased.
I work for a company that sells off-air antennas. I get a LOT of people who call me who are confused about digital vs HD.
Digital transmissions are just that - digital. It is simply another method of getting the signal over the airwaves to you. They are NOT high-definition! A digital picture will have roughly the same quality as your DVD player does. Most of the converter boxes on the market are only capable of receiving digital signals, not HD.
High-definition is a HIGH RESOLUTION digital picture, and can only be viewed if your TV is HD READY or you have an HD READY converter box.
Judging by the number of calls I get, there is still much work to be done before the switchover in February, that’s for sure.
If we already receive sattlelite; do we need a new converter box? Or is this for HDTV alone. I kind of thought the two went hand in hand?
Confused in Houston
I dont recall where I read it, but some where they said they were going to cut xmit power.
Another opportunity for the MSM to give us human interest stories on the theme of women, elderly, minorities hardest hit.
Something I’ve NEVER understood since all this started...is why the hell the FCC is involved in MANDATING this to us. Why was Federal money used to force this? Can someone explain this?
Hanging chads come to mind.
Yes, Our friends were victim of the cable company scam ... They got really mad and demanded a refund and that they take the boxes back.
The HD ready antenna is also a scam — All antennas are HD ready as they are. So are preamps.
Now you do get a better picture with digital, the old NTSC — “Never The Same Color” signal is dead, even on the standard definition cable when HD signals are used as source. Our local cable just switched to HD sources on Dec 16 and the picture on most every channel improved noticeably. So passing the signals around in lossless digital bits makes a big difference. But it costs you nothing, and you have to do nothing to take advantage of this.
If you buy a new TV make sure it has QAM capability, that way it can tune the free cable HD signals.
I find the antenna HDTV is best for football games, the locals all broadcast in 1080i and it looks great on a HDTV.
Remember this one thing about HDTV, it's all about the source material.
Not true with Optimum and Comcast. Quite the opposite, really.
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