digital tv transition '09
 

Just curious how directv will handle transition?

There is nothing for them to handle. It's already digital.

Correct. The only people affected will be people receiving over the air (OTA) broadcast feeds (e.g. "rabbit ears"). I'm certain that affects more people than most of us realize (everyone *I* know in the DC area has cable or satellite)...

I do, however, get my HD feed OTA because I refuse to pay DirecTV for stuff my TiVo HD can record for free. ;)

I know several people who live in large citiest have rabbit ears. They just don't watch enough to justify paying. Those people will likely go to having no TV (yes, I also know people in major cities without TVs *gasp*).

How about people who have cable, but *no* set-top box, e.g. "analog" cable
only going to channel 100 or so?

Will that disappear, leaving only set-top box options that will render my old, trusty, souped-up TiVo Mach 1 nearly useless?

Common source of confusion. The transition applies to OVER THE AIR ANALOG BROADCASTS.

You will not be affected.

People not understanding that only OTA is affected is going to cost the government billions in vouchers.

Considering how poorly they've communicated the transition to the general public, perhaps it's appropriate, but that money is ultimately ours anyway.

thanks for info.

Where are those convertor boxes and the coupons that were promised? The boxes were supposed to be available in stores this month.

The money is ours, but it isn't like you can buy anything else with the voucher. We're just going to see millions of people with unused converters lying around.

The coupons are here: www.dtv2009.gov

I applied online for them but what I mean is they haven't sent them out.

Not much of a hurry. There's still plenty of time and not many stores have stock.

I "get" how the digital TV transition is going to work in 2009, but I'm wondering if this will only affect US citizens or all of North America?

I have digital cable ('Shaw') in 2/4 rooms that have TVs in them, so if it does affect Canadians; will we get a "coupon" as well?

I know this probably a silly thought, but does anyone think that home video sales (DVDs, Blu-ray) will increase a little because some people just don't "understand" this DTV transition?

You obviously don't get it if you think it will affect cable. The only way it will affect Canadians are those close to the border that can pick up American OTA broadcasts.

The converter boxes look to be going for <$60, and the coupon subsidizes $40 of that. $20 (once) is a pretty modest expense to save your tv.

Some boxes are in stores. AVS forum has some threads on user reviews. I'm not sure anyone has received coupons yet, but they are supposedly in the mail.

Before anyone whines about the cost of coupons, the government is supposed to make $20 billion reauctioning the spectrum they are stealing (taking back?) from tv service (channels 52-69). That will pay for the coupons many times over.

The local TV stations have been talking about it a lot out here. And I expect to see the local stations really ramping it up as the deadline gets closer. They know they are the ones that people will be calling when their TVs stop working and it's in their best interest to get the word out as much as possible.

Yeah, I've seen enough of the PSAs to be sick of them and we have 51 weeks to go.

The digital TV transition date varies throughout the world. Some countries have already gone digital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital...time_announced

(Shaking Magic 8 Ball)All signs point to NO.

Why would US tax dollars subsidize Canadian viewers, eh? Get yer own government to pay for it, ya hoser! ;)

But many people, myself included (even though I don't have to worry about it), are of the belief that they shouldn't have to pay to save anything; it's the principle of being forced to do something, not the cost. That's how I see it, anyway.

Come on - let's be realistic... That kind of thinking halts advancement of society.

There are no more 5", 3.5" floppy disks, VHS is dead, Cassette tapes, if you want to "save" your old media you need to spend $ on adapters etc. Your tv will still work with your DVD and VHS - you just won't get any NEW content.

I remember when record companies stopped dual releasing albums on both CD and Cassette Tape - I could listen to my old tapes, but if I wanted new releases I would be "forced" to buy a CD player.

Just my $0.02

You're absolutely right. I should learn to stop posting when I'm mentally exhausted.

Nope. No justification for the "lazy" sterotype there. :lol:

so, how strong this digital signal will be? because as of now I dont get any of the analog channels in my area in perfect pic quality and sound except one-- not to mention the sound being all disortorted and there are about 20 channels in my area. So, I'd like to assume that when this transition begins I'll be able to receive ALL these channels in the clear, right? Also, will sound be 5.1 digital?

Maybe and no. Depends on the broadcast and the station. You may need an ota antenna.

http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html

"maybe" its a good sign.

If you get nothing now, I doubt you should expect to get much more without a decent OTA antenna on your roof. In my experience the signal is just as strong but certainly more touchy/tempermental that the SD feed ever was in terms of getting a non-pixellated broadcast. SD is already broadcast in 5.1 and so is HD so you should still get that if you have the antenna/sound running through your speakers.

(Though one begs to question why you're so concerned about 5.1 but not concerned about DOWNCONVERTING HD feeds to your SD television. :lol:)

The "coupon" converter boxes only allow 480i output video and stereo. The purpose is to subsidize replacement for what you are losing, not give you HD.

If you have an HD-ready (ie tunerless) TV, there are better boxes for HD tuning and 5.1 sound, but no coupons allowed. In almost all areas, stations are already broadcasting ontheir digital frequency; they are just still on their analog too. Newer HD TVs are required to have built in digital tuners.

no concerns at all. I just thought that the sound would be 5.1 since the signal will be digital.

I guess my concern, along these lines, is that is Canada a part of the "spectrum selloff"?

I would imagine we would be, mostly because as America Jr. we are lockstep with Washington on most issues, but I have heard nothing North of the border about analogue shutdown.

There are a great many Canadian stations, all located close to the border (as most of our cities -- outside of Alberta and Newfoundland -- are), with powerful analogue signals. Would be strange if the US shut down and repurposed that bandwidth while Canada kept going causing Americans living along the border to go mad with interference. :D

Has anyone heard anything about Canada in regards to this situation?

Canada currently has no plans to shut off analog (or analogue, if you prefer) television broadcasts.

Geez, you Canadians may as well just join up with us if you think our laws affect you this much.

Interesting the stations in Canada and Mexico won't be going off- sometimes in the US with a good roof antenna you can get stations from there, usually channels 2, 3 and 4. With the American stations going off the air these may come in more often.

I've heard the low-power stations in the US will be staying on the air, at least for a while. I'd really like to see some pirate broadcasters start up on the empty analog frequencies. (Wonder how easy it would be to broadcast a pirate digital TV signal?)

Check out this neat tool
which helps determine your antenna needs and locates your nearby stations.

I'm assuming that some converters will be better than others in terms of handling weaker/distant stations, with the same incoming antenna signal. This is important to folks in rural areas and folks who can't have a big outdoor antenna. I'm keeping an eye out for reviewers to start evaluating the various models as they become available. Last week, my local RadioShack had received it's first product, a Zenith. The coupons must be used within 90days of receiving it, so I'm gonna hold off until there are some real choices available before applying for the coupon.

I can't. I'd never qualify for your health care. :)

So are all stations going to finally commit to a 16x9 aspect ratio standard for the switchover or will we forever be cursed to fiddle with our remote AR buttons whenever we change channels or a new show comes on?

^ this transition is only about how the signal is transmitted.... not aspect ratio. It's still up to the station on format of picture and sound. Don't confuse "digital" with "high def".

If the station goes HD, then it'll be broadcasting in 16:9, although that doesn't mean that everything they show will be 16:9, some might be 4:3 inside the 16:9 signal. If the station stays SD, or possibly adds an SD channel, then that channel could be either 4:3 or 16:9. If you have cable or satellite, some of those channels are going to stay 4:3 SD.

So short answer, yes you'll probably still fiddle with your aspect ratio buttons, although this'll probably happen less and less as time goes by.

My coupons came on Sat if anyone was still wondering where they were.