The Digital TV Revolution

The other day, a friend of mine mentioned that someone had come by his house trying to sell satellite TV service. The pitch was that you will need Satellite TV in order to cope with the FCC-mandated demise of analog television in February 2009.

Have you heard about this yet? The FCC mandated a few years ago that broadcasters shut down all of their analog television broadcasting stations on February 16, 2009, and replace them with digital broadcasting stations. TVs that were only designed to receive analog TV can't receive the new digital stations. So this guy was walking around door-to-door telling people that they needed to get satellite service so they wouldn't have to buy a new TV. Was he right?

Actually, there was enough truth in it to sound good, but it wasn't complete.

First, it's true that analog TV is going away. The FCC-mandated date is February 16, 2009. But what does that mean?

Analog TV has been essentially unchanged since the 1950's. Even though new technology can offer much better picture clarity, better sound, surround sound, data broadcasting services (think weather, traffic, stock quotes), and a whole host of other services, analog TV can't take advantage of any of it. Plus, analog TV is notoriously inefficient when it comes to how much of the radio spectrum it requires.

Digital TV, on the other hand, is much more efficient - you can cram a lot more channels into the same or less space with digital than you can with analog. And, you can make it higher resolution (high-definition), add surround sound, CD-quality sound, multiple data services, multiple language options, and even put multiple high-definition programs in the same amount of radio spectrum as you needed for a single low-quality analog television signal.

Note that Digital TV (DTV) is not necessarily High Definition (HDTV). DTV can be standard definition (what you are used to seeing), or one of several levels of HDTV. All HDTV is DTV, but not all DTV is HDTV. Make sense?

So once the FCC cuts off the analog TV stations, what are you supposed to do? Throw out all your TVs and buy new ones? Well, even though we sell TVs, I don't actually recommend that - we'll help if you want us to, and we think there's real value for you to invest in a new TV set. But your old TVs will still work.

Here's how. First, here's where the satellite guy was right - satellite broadcasters (and cable companies) already output the correct signal type directly to your TV. That's part of the purpose of the set top box (STB) that you have in your living room. So all of these STBs already handle the conversion. And 80% of people in the US already have cable or satellite TV service. Oh, and the cable/satellite companies are not subject to the same regulations - satellite uses their own dedicated broadcast frequencies, and cable doesn't get broadcast over the air - they have their own dedicated wire that they completely control.

Second, and here's what the satellite guy didn't tell my friend, the government is offering a coupon program so you can buy what's called a digital off-air tuner, or a converter box. If you receive your TV via a regular antenna, this box will take the new digital TV signals and convert them to the older analog signal. You'll connect the new converter box to your TV, and then use the converter box to change your television stations. The government is offering up to two $40 coupons to as many households as request them. So if you have any TVs that get their signal from a regular antenna (and you want to keep the TV), you'll want to get these coupons. The converter boxes will probably sell for $40-100, and will be available in very early 2008. The coupons will be available starting in January.

If you want one or two of these coupons, check out this US government web site:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html

Of course, you could always go to a new TV. Much clearer pictures, surround-sound, more channels, all of these are pretty compelling reasons to switch to DTV (especially the HDTV version). Either way, if you have questions, please either give us a call or post a response here on the blog. We really don't want you to make decisions like this based on partial or incorrect information!

Oh, my friend? He asked that satellite guy for a business card or brochure so he could consider the offer. The satellite guy either didn't have any or wouldn't give him any information. It was apparently a "now or never" deal. Sounds fishy to me... and to my friend, who gave the guy the boot!

There are a lot of people out there waiting to take advantage of any situation where there is likely to be some confusion. This guy had just enough real information to sound compelling, but didn't give the whole picture. Don't let them take advantage of you!

Thanks -
Rob