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Excerpted
from Central
PA magazine, March 2007
Q. How does the transition to digital
TV affect me? Do I need to get rid of my television?
On February 17, 2009, every TV station in
the United States will broadcast in digital, instead of analog. You
may be somewhat familiar with digital television (DTV), as a particular
provider’s ads air often — featuring celebrities that claim to put their
life on the line, offended that you’ve decided to not watch them in high
definition (HDTV).
To be clear, you do not need to purchase
a new TV set, though I’ve tried this one on my wife — it didn’t work. What
is true: DTV provides a significantly clearer picture with an improved sound
quality. After all, it’s digital. But there’s more to it than pretty pictures
and super sound. Broadcasters (such as WITF) are able to split their signal
into four digital channels, called “multicasting.” Moreover, there’s room for a
“datastream,” which can be used for other interactive or advanced applications
down the road.
The impact of this transition can best be
determined by how you answer the following question. Do you pay for all your
television service from a cable, satellite or telephone provider? If you
answered yes, then there is nothing you need to do — other than welcome
in the age of digital television. If you are one of the 60,000 households in
Central PA who answered no, then you will need to make one of three choices
before the deadline.
The first and most obvious would be to
discontinue using the ol’ antenna and subscribe to a television provider’s
service. However, if you still would prefer not to receive a monthly TV bill,
you can purchase your own converter box. Retailers include Best Buy, Circuit
City, Radio Shack and Sears, to name a few. A Congressionally approved coupon
program, managed by the Federal Communications Commission, is now offering a
$40 discount toward the $70 sticker price. Recently, EchoStar Communications announced
plans to “sell” a $39.99 box, available only by stepping inside a DISH Network
retailer.
Option Number 3 would be to purchase a
new television set with a built-in digital tuner. This way, the digital signal
being received by your “rabbit ears” would not have to be converted to an
analog set. Don’t worry, federal law requires that the seller tell you if it is
not digital-ready. All sets manufactured as of March 2007 have these tuners.
To think it all began on April 7, 1927,
when Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover was “broadcast” from Washington to New
York as part of the first long-distance television transmission. Perhaps
Congress should have selected April 7, instead of February 17, 2009.
For DTV resource links visit Flip’s blog: www.ontheflipsideblog.com. You can also
e-mail him at ontheflipside@centralpa.org.
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