Get Ready for the Digital TV Transition
Television station in Reno, Nevada.
Photo © Stan White
One thing I do know is you don't necessarily need to buy a new television set. The feds are subsidizing the purchase of converter boxes that will translate the DTV signals so your existing old analog TV will still work after the transition. You won't get the high definition picture without a new set, but your existing one won't go dark either. The TV Converter Box Coupon Program will provide each household with up to two coupons worth $40 each toward the purchase of the boxes.
To help people like me (I know there are lots of us), the Washoe County Library will be presenting two free programs designed to educate us on what is happening and to describe what we need to make the switch to DTV. The presenter is Lawson Fox, president and general manager of Reno's KTVN Channel 2. These programs are part of an awareness campaign by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) called DTV Answers.
Tuesday, September 30, noon
Downtown Reno Library
301 S. Center St., Reno
(775) 327-8300
Monday, November 10, 6:30 p.m.
North Valleys Library
1075 North Hills Blvd. #340, Reno
(775) 972-0281
Get additional information from About.com: What is HDTV? and HDTV FAQs - Answers To Basic Questions About HDTV.
Comments
For those viewers who have not yet purchased a converter box, Consumer Reports has just upgraded their ratings on some of the available converter boxes at:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2008/08/ratings-of-dtv.html
While cable and satellite program providers will continue to serve the great majority of homes as the primary signal source, missing HD local reception, compression issues, higher costs, billing add-ons, service outages, contact difficulties, in-home service waits and no shows have left many of these subscribers looking to OTA antennas as a good, alternative and Off-Air viewers happy with their free programming.
But TV reception starts with the right antenna and Off-Air TV is FREE.
Viewers should certainly try their old antenna first. It’s true that any of these older antennas will pick up some signals, maybe all the broadcast signals a viewer wants to receive, depending on their location. If they’re getting all the OTA channels they want, than they’re good to go.
While Antennas can’t tell the difference between analog and digital signals, there are definitely certain models which have higher DTV batting averages than others. Not all antennas are equally suited for DTV. A percentage of viewers will require something a little more tailored for DTV reception.
With one of the newer and smaller OTA antennas, with greatly improved performance, power and aesthetics, viewers may also be able to receive out-of-town channels, carrying blacked out sports programs not available locally, several additional sub-channels or network broadcasts. And for those with an HDTV, almost completely uncompressed HD broadcasts (unlike cable or satellite).
OTA viewers can go to antennapoint.com to see quickly what stations are available to them, the distance, and compass heading to help in choosing and aiming their antenna. And if they decide to buy a newer antenna, they should buy it from a source that will completely refund their purchase price, no questions asked, if it doesn’t do the job.