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IF YOU HAVE AN ANALOG TV, you have three options to keep watching it after Feb 17, 2009:
(1) Purchase a converter box that will convert over-the-air digital signals to analog;
(2) Connect the TV to cable or satellite (sign up with a provider if you don't already subscribe); or
(3) Purchase a new TV with a built-in digital TV tuner.
To help you figure this all out, below we are providing two articles.
- "Digital TV converter boxes"—This article is by an OLLI member who has already bought a converter box and tells you how it works and what kind of reception he gets.
- "Is an HDTV in your future?"—The second article is by an OLLI member who has an HDTV and tells you what to look for in buying a high-definition television set.
TECH TIPS
Digital TV converter boxes
By Paul
Howard, Audiovisual
Support Committee ChairCONFUSED BY ALL THE NOISE SURROUNDING THE COMING OF DIGITAL TELEVISION and the shutdown of analog broadcasting on Feb 17, 2009? Though I run the risk of ostracism from the Royal Academy of Male Spouses and Sport Fans, you do not have to run out and buy a huge high-definition TV (HDTV)—or any new TV. If you are among the 85% of U.S. households who get their TV signal via cable or satellite, 2/17/09 will pass without a blip providing all your TV sets are hooked to these signal sources.
If, however: (1) You have a TV set that’s hooked to "rabbit ears" or a roof or attic-mounted antenna; and (2) Your set wasn’t bought in the last 18 months and specified as having an "ATSC tuner" (i.e., digital tuner), then you’ll need to get a digital-to-analog converter box to continue to receive "free TV"—the digital television signals broadcast over the air after 2/17/09. The free digital signals are there now, and their picture quality, even in "standard definition"—read "old TV"—is amazing.
The converter box converts the digitally transmitted signal into an analog signal that your old TV can process. The box doesn’t turn your old, standard-definition TV set into an HDTV, but it makes your old set's picture look a whole lot better because there’ll be no video noise or color snow or wavy lines present from a weak signal. The beauty of digital TV (for most folks) is that you’ll get a perfect picture—or no picture (not likely in our area)—but nothing in between.
Our ever-responsive Federal government offers two $40 discount coupons—"swipe cards"—for the purchase of the converter boxes to every household that signs up. Do it now (see Web link below); it took almost three months to get my coupons. While there are dozens of coupon-eligible converter boxes, I found that a Zenith model DTT900 (photo at left) was available locally at Circuit City and Radio Shack and had received generally high marks from those vendors' customers.
Set-up is easy. First, tune the TV to channel 3. Connect your antenna to the converter box input, connect a supplied coax cable to your TV, push the menu button on the supplied remote control (after inserting the requisite battery), and go through the channel setup process.
I’m receiving 34 channels (see link below to the list) of static-free TV from the antennas in my attic. Why so many channels? Well, the secret of digital TV is that broadcasters can squeeze several additional standard-definition broadcasts, as well as a high-definition broadcast, into the same 6 MHz spectrum space occupied by an analog broadcast. At this point, several of the local commercial stations are broadcasting weather or radar channels using this capability. Non-commercial stations are utilizing the new capacity in exciting ways. E.g., WETA (PBS) is broadcasting four channels, and MHZ Networks (international, educational and arts programming), with two stations, is transmitting a total of eight channels.
The techie stuff: What’s really happening on 2/17/09? The VHF TV frequency spectrum, what we know as channels 2-13, is going away—being reallocated for other uses, such as cell phones and public safety radio. All domestic TV broadcasting is being converted from analog to digital and housed within the UHF TV spectrum. For best results at receiving "free" digital TV broadcasts over the air, your antenna needs to be designed for UHF reception. Older antennas were generally designed to perform best with VHF reception, so a recent, UHF-only antenna design may provide much better performance in receiving digital TV broadcasts (see Web link below).
Related Web links
• DTV Transition information: http://tinyurl.com/32yut8
• Government converter-box coupon program: https://www.dtv2009.gov/
• Paul Howard's received-channels list: http://tinyurl.com/62bhjp
• Source for antennas (and converter boxes, other off-the-air, TV-related gear): http://tinyurl.com/6hso8t
• Cox FAQs: http://tinyurl.com/5e5jar
• Comcast FAQs: http://tinyurl.com/37ot4s
• Verizon FiOS information: http://tinyurl.com/5tjchu
• Dish Network information: http://tinyurl.com/5e99zp
• DIRECTV information: http://tinyurl.com/5bh3zq
High-definition television
(HDTV) explained
By
Rod Zumbro, OLLI E-News EditorYOU MAY HAVE BEEN THINKING about buying a new HDTV to replace an older TV. HDTVs have never been more affordable, and because technology continues to improve, they are technically better than ever.
I've had a big-screen HDTV for several years. High-definition (HD) picture quality, as you can verify in any electronics store, is incredible. I love my HDTV and enjoy watching movies and "colorful" programs like CSI-Miami on it. Here are some basics to consider (see Web links below for fuller information).
HD programming is available. The national networks and PBS broadcast in HD, and cable and satellite providers offer many other HD channels like Discovery, ESPN, History, and National Geographic as well as premium movie channels. You can receive free HD programming over the air with an antenna although you won't receive nearly as many HD channels as with cable or satellite.
Screen size matters; bigger is better. HDTVs have widescreens rather than "squarish"-shaped screens. Since HD programming is widescreen, the HD picture will fill the screen of your HDTV. When you watch standard-definition (SD) programs, you'll see them in their conventional "squarish" shape with black or gray vertical bars on the sides. Tip: If you want at least the same picture size that you are used to, you need to buy an HDTV with a significantly larger diagonal screen size (HDTVs are wider but not as tall as conventional TVs of the same diagonal screen size). Planning to put your new TV in an existing cabinet? If your current TV completely fills a space in a cabinet and you replace it with an HDTV that has the same width, your picture size will be smaller! Examples—
 Left, a 27" conventional TV. Second from left, a 25" HDTV that would fit in the same horizontal space. Next, a 33" HDTV of the same height as the conventional 27" set, showing the same size SD picture. Right, the 33" HDTV showing a widescreen picture. |
Flat-panel or rear-projection set? It depends. For wall mounting, choose a flat-panel (plasma or LCD); they are only about 4" thick. For a set that will be placed on a stand or in an entertainment center, choose a rear-projection set (usually, LCD, DLP or LCoS); these are thinner and lighter than the bulkier, heavier tube sets.
Resolution isn't critical. You'll see sets advertised with resolutions of 720p, 1080i or 1080p; all are HD, all work with any HD broadcasts, and all display a superb picture. Since HD broadcasting is either 720p or 1080i (not 1080p), you don't need a set with the highest resolution, 1080p, to watch HD channels.
Regular DVDs are not HD. Regular DVDs shown on an HDTV by a standard DVD player do look really good; they can look even better when played on an "upconverting" player—a standard DVD player that "upconverts" the signal to somewhat higher (though not true HD) resolution. I have an upconverting DVD player that displays a great picture. If you want to watch DVDs in HD, you can buy a Blu-Ray high-definition DVD player and watch Blu-Ray DVDs (which will show in 1080p if your set is 1080p).
New cables may be required. To connect a cable box or DVD player to the HDTV, you'll need HD video cables. They come in two varieties, HDMI (one cable carrying digital video and audio) and component (a cable with three plugs, red, green and blue, carrying analog video; separate audio cables are also needed). Although component cables often come free with connecting equipment, for best picture quality, buy and use the newer HDMI cable rather than the older-technology component cable.
Surround sound completes the setup. Yes, there's one more thing to consider. If you watch a lot of movies and would like a theater-like experience with your big-screen HDTV, an audio/video receiver with surround-sound speakers will make your movie-watching much more enjoyable.
(Note. If you do replace an old TV, you should NOT put it in the trash; take it for recycling because of the hazardous materials in the set. See this recent Washington Post article.)
Related Web links
• CNET.com Home Theater Resource Center: http://tinyurl.com/6rkcey
• Howstuffworks.com "How HDTV Works": http://tinyurl.com/dstlp