DTV Answers, What You Really Need To Know

Now that we're nearing the cutoff date for the end of analog television broadcasting, and the digital transition is a little over a year away from being complete, I thought this would be a good time to discuss what users should be aware of. While the government has a web site devoted to this, like everything they do, it's hardly as simple or complete as it should be. I'll do it as a FAQ so it's easy to reference down the road.

What are we talking about?

Since the beginning of television, the signal from the TV transmitter (the tower) to your television set has been analog. It will be replaced with a digital signal, which offers some advantages.

When is this happening?

The date is February 17, 2009. While there's always talk of changing it to another day, it seems firm this time.

What are the advantages of digital?

A digital signal promises a cleaner picture, with no static, and clean audio. A digital signal is also required for a high definition TV to display the broadcast in hi def (which by definition is >500 lines of resolution). It's like the jump between listening to music on a CD (digital) versus a cassette tape (analog)- both provide the music, but the digital is a lot clearer, and no one wants to go back to tapes.

Are there any disadvantages to digital?

The main disadvantage is that in an area where the signal is not too strong, and you could watch a fuzzy analog picture, in some cases with digital, you may get no picture at all. Also, you may need some new gear to watch your TV. Finally, changing the channel takes longer to tune into the new signal.

Who is really effected?

First of all, only 15% of the nation is really affected by this transition. They're the folks that get their television over the air (OTA) with an antenna. For the other 85% that have cable, Fios, or satellite, things will continue the same. In most cases they have set top boxes that do the decoding, and will continue to do the same.

(As an aside, that's not entirely true as those that watch analog cable will have some type of transition in 2012. They will likely need new converter boxes as well. See more here.)

What's needed?

For the minority that get their signal over the air, there are two essential components here. The first is an antenna that can pull in the signal. The second is a television set with a digital tuner. Without both, you're not going to be able to watch digital television, or after 2/19/09 any TV at all.

Do you need a new antenna?

Maybe. While there is no such thing as a "digital antenna" most of the digital broadcasting is done in the UHF range (these are the channels above 2 through 13, those are VHF). For those that are close to the transmitter, good ol' rabbit ears may do the trick. If your antenna is old, it might need to be replaced, er, I mean upgraded.

In the picture above, the antenna covers both UHF and VHF. You can tell that because it has the "V" on the left side of the image. If your rooftop antenna looks like this, you should be ok in receiving a digital signal. Without the "V" you have a VHF only antenna, and you're going to need an upgrade.

What about this tuner?

This is the tricky part. Assuming you have the right antenna, and are pulling in the signal, that doesn't mean that now you have digital television. There needs to be a digital tuner (known as ATSC in television jargon), to decode the signal. All the TV's sold since the spring of 2007 have one, and the larger TV's (>35") since 2004 have one. However, that still leaves tons of older sets with no digital tuner, including those that were sold as "hi def ready," and had no digital tuner.

If you're on the fence about a new TV, and you get your signal from an antenna, then over the next year is a great time to upgrade to a new TV set, with a digital tuner to simplify things. Then, as long as the antenna can bring in the digital signal, you're good to go.

What do we do with the older sets?

I'm glad you asked! No, you don't automatically need to toss it in the garbage. If you're otherwise happy with the set, you'll need a digital converter box. This will attach to your antenna feed, and decode the digital signal for the set, thereby bypassing the internal analog tuner of the set. These are the so called set top converter boxes that many are talking about. The government is giving out two $40 coupons to defray the cost of this to any citizen that asks for it. If you're interested in the coupons, click here.

Just to be aware, before you grab your coupon, there are a few gotchas. The first is that the coupon expires in 90 days. The second is that it can only be used for this converter box, from an approved list, and not for anything else (like a new TV with a digital tuner, for example). Also, remember that if you get your TV from cable or satellite, you really have no use for this box, so don't get the coupon as it may keep someone who really needs it from getting it, and these are not unlimited. Finally, while it is a $40 coupon, the boxes are expected to cost $60 to $70 so it still will cost you a few bucks.

What about other devices?

Quite bluntly, they probably won't work. While your VCR will still playback prerecorded tapes, it won't be able to record from its tuner. A possible work around may be to have it record from "line in" and send it a signal from the converter box, but I haven't personally tried it, so proceed accordingly and don't blame me when it doesn't go according to plan.

Devices that have an internal tuner, but no input, like a handheld TV for example, will also end up in the brick pile once there is no more analog signal.

Also, the older TV tuner PC cards, like the ATI All-In-Wonder stuff will end up not being able to tune in anything as the analog signal will be gone. There are some new tuner cards that have a digital tuner from Hauppaugue so look for this feature if you're purchasing anything.

Why is the government doing this?

Aside from the greater good of better television for all, and the electronic lobbies wanting to sell us new TV's, antennae, and converter boxes, the vacated analog TV spectrum will be auctioned off for some type of wireless broadband. The details are sketchy still, but the government stands to make billions, but if we get wireless broadband out of it, I'll gladly buy a new TV and antenna.

Feel free to ask any unanswered questions in the comments.

Jonas