Switching To Digital TV Technology Provokes Political Posturing

With the up coming switch from analog TV to digital formats for over the air broadcasts of TV signals coming up, more and more private companies- including cable TV companies- have been making plans to educate the public about the transition. When the transition is made to digital TV on February 17, 2009, anyone who has been relying on over the air broadcasts to get their TV- and who doesn't have a digital TV or a converter box for their analog TV set- will be unable to watch TV. That's because, on February 17, 2009 analog broadcasts will be shut off and only digital signals will remain.

This transition, which has been in the works since the mid nineteen nineties- has drawn a lot of criticism from a number of sources. For example some consumer groups claim that the transition is a way for electronics manufacturers to increase their profits by forcing consumers to by new TV equipment. While this conspiracy scenario may or may not be a reality, it certainly does have some basis in fact. For example, despite widespread knowledge that the analog to digital transition was coming at some point (the February 2009 deadline wasn't set until last year and it's actually a delay of previous deadlines), electronics manufacturers and retailers have been selling analog only TV sets all along without any disclaimer warning consumers that their new TV set would be obsolete and useless before it needs to be discarded from normal wear and tear.

This obviously puts consumers in a position where they have to either buy a new TV set, buy a converter box that will switch the digital signals into analog signal before sending them to the TV, or subscribe to a cable or satellite service. Of course, the government does have a program to subsidy the purchase of converter boxes, but the subsidies aren't expected to cover the full cost of the converter boxes. In any case, the consumer electronics industry obviously profits from the transition regardless of whether consumers pay for the converter boxes directly or through taxes that fund the government subsidy.

Another, more prevalent, criticism of how the transition is being handled aims at the education of the public. Recent surveys indicate that the majority of the public- especially the portion that relies on over the air broadcasts for their TV- don't even know exactly what digital TV is, let alone that the transition to all digital broadcasts is imminent. Because of this, some analysts have gone so far as to predict widespread social unrest when, less than two years from now, viewers of over the air TV wake to find that they can't enjoy their favorite programming anymore. While that's not realistic, it is clear that the money that the government has set aside for education about the transition is insufficient.

In another development the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative John Dingell, recently promised not to allow any American to be without their TV upon the transition. That seems a lot like political posturing and not to be very realistic. In any case, only time will tell how smoothly the transition takes place.

Emily Sanderson writes articles about the latest developments in technology, electronics, and television. She'd like to inform you that sattelite TV is ready for the new digital TV technology and if you need more information about how this change will affect your television service read E. Sanderson articles.

Dish TV - Digital TV Technology Held Up by Foot Dragging

Digital TV is a type of technology that has a number of benefits, but is causing a fair amount of frustration for a number of people. Digital TV actually isn't a particularly new form of technology. In fact, it has been in widespread use since the early nineteen nineties when satellite TV companies like Echostar (Dish Network) and DIRECTV started to offer affordable satellite TV service with dishes small enough as not to dominate the entire yard. Digital TV became portable in the late nineteen nineties with the introduction of the DVD, and is now slated to become the exclusive over the air TV format as of February 17, 2009.

This conversion to digital TV is what has a lot of people generally annoyed. Converting over the air TV to exclusively digital format would provide viewers with better pictures and access to an on screen program guide. It would also free up over the air bandwidth that could then be used for emergency services communications and for wide spread implementation of wireless Internet access. The trouble with digital TV comes from two different forms of resistance. First, there is the TV viewing public who are still largely watching TV sets that don't have the digital tuners necessary to watch over the air digital TV. Second, there are the TV stations themselves who don't want to spend the money to switch their equipment over to transmit digital TV.

As far as the TV viewing public goes, there are actually relatively few problems with switching their equipment over to over the air digital TV signals. That's because there are relatively few people- about twenty one million to be exact- who rely on over the air TV for their TV entertainment. The rest either do without TV or subscribe to cable TV or satellite TV, both of which presumably provide receiver boxes capable of receiving digital TV signals and then converting them over to the analog signals that the TV sets can understand. Other converter boxes that can pick up digital over the air TV signals and convert them to analog are being made available to consumers. Purchase of these converters are being subsidized by the federal government through coupons that are worth forty dollars when they go towards the purchase of a digital to analog converter. Because the converter boxes are expected to cost sixty to seventy dollars, consumers will still have to use some of their own money. There's also the very real possibility that many consumers will want to buy new TV sets anyway, in which case they'll probably just get digital TV sets. The real challenge is letting TV viewers know that the change will happen so that they can prepare for it.

Broadcasters are tougher cases in many ways. That's because they've been dragging their feet on the conversion for year and as a result, the conversion keeps getting pushed back. For example, the conversion has been in the works since 1996 and the first conversion was scheduled for 1998. The refusal to make the change on the parts of broadcasters has gotten in the way of a number of different telecommunications initiatives. These broadcasters seem to forget that the American people own the frequencies on which they broadcast and can take away their licenses at any time.

E.Sanderson writes articles about the latest developments in technology, electronics, and satellite TV. She'd like to inform you about the latest Dish TV services and how you can find the best Dishnet TV HD Deals.

More Confusion With Transition To Digital TV Technology

With the scheduled February 17, 2009 deadline for conversion from the old fashioned analog TV signal to the newer and more efficient digital TV signal less than two years away now, there's a fair amount of confusion in the press about the issue. It all began back in the late nineties when Congress- under lobbying pressure from consumer electronics manufacturers- mandated that all over the air analog TV transmissions would cease and be replaced by analog TV signals. So far that mandatory date of the transmission has been pushed back from 2006 to 2009 because of objections from TV stations that don't want to shell out the money for new transmission equipment and from TV owners who don't want to shell out the money either for a new TV set or a special set top box that will allow their old analog TV sets to display the digitally transmitted television.

When discussing all of these issues, it's important to keep a few things in mind. First of all, digital TV is a relatively new way of transmitting video that takes advantage of computer technology to send a signal that can easily be cleansed of any interference by special receiver hardware, thereby providing a TV picture of incredible clarity. All satellite TV companies already use this format on all of their programming and many cable TV companies use it on most of their programming.

One of the reasons that this whole thing is such a fuss is that analog TV signals take up more of the over the air electromagnetic bandwidth than the equivalent TV programming does in digital format. This fact, combined with the fact that many TV stations are transmitting their content simultaneously in both analog and digital formats, means that there's a lot of electromagnetic bandwidth being wasted on unnecessary TV transmissions. That bandwidth could be used for numerous other things like emergency services communications and wide spread wireless Internet access. That's a large part of the incentive to completely change over to digital TV.

Another major reason to change over to digital TV is that there's a lot of money for consumer electronics makers to rake in when all of the analog signals go off the air because at that point analog TV sets will be obsolete- at least when it comes to being used to watch TV directly off of the air. At that point, consumers will either need to buy special converter boxes to make their old TV sets work or buy completely new TV's. Of course, their are plans for the government to subsidize purchase of those converter boxes, but no matter where the money comes from, it still means plenty of profit for the consumer electronics industry.

Now, there are plenty of mixed signals about the coming transition. For example, every TV set now on the market has to have a digital tuner that will allow it to pick up the digital over the air signals. Also a coalition of broadcasters and electronics manufacturers has formed in order to educate the public about the impending transition. But at the same time these positive steps are being taken, some politicians are saying that the transition might have to be pushed back again and some analysts are saying that it will have to be pushed back again. Only time will tell how any of this will play out.

E.Sanderson writes articles about the latest developments in technology, electronics, and satellite TV. She'd like to inform you about the latest Dish TV services and how you can find the best Dishnet HD Promotions.

Switching To Digital TV Technology Provokes Political Posturing

With the up coming switch from analog TV to digital formats for over the air broadcasts of TV signals coming up, more and more private companies- including cable TV companies- have been making plans to educate the public about the transition. When the transition is made to digital TV on February 17, 2009, anyone who has been relying on over the air broadcasts to get their TV- and who doesn't have a digital TV or a converter box for their analog TV set- will be unable to watch TV. That's because, on February 17, 2009 analog broadcasts will be shut off and only digital signals will remain.

This transition, which has been in the works since the mid nineteen nineties- has drawn a lot of criticism from a number of sources. For example some consumer groups claim that the transition is a way for electronics manufacturers to increase their profits by forcing consumers to by new TV equipment. While this conspiracy scenario may or may not be a reality, it certainly does have some basis in fact. For example, despite widespread knowledge that the analog to digital transition was coming at some point (the February 2009 deadline wasn't set until last year and it's actually a delay of previous deadlines), electronics manufacturers and retailers have been selling analog only TV sets all along without any disclaimer warning consumers that their new TV set would be obsolete and useless before it needs to be discarded from normal wear and tear.

This obviously puts consumers in a position where they have to either buy a new TV set, buy a converter box that will switch the digital signals into analog signal before sending them to the TV, or subscribe to a cable or satellite service. Of course, the government does have a program to subsidy the purchase of converter boxes, but the subsidies aren't expected to cover the full cost of the converter boxes. In any case, the consumer electronics industry obviously profits from the transition regardless of whether consumers pay for the converter boxes directly or through taxes that fund the government subsidy.

Another, more prevalent, criticism of how the transition is being handled aims at the education of the public. Recent surveys indicate that the majority of the public- especially the portion that relies on over the air broadcasts for their TV- don't even know exactly what digital TV is, let alone that the transition to all digital broadcasts is imminent. Because of this, some analysts have gone so far as to predict widespread social unrest when, less than two years from now, viewers of over the air TV wake to find that they can't enjoy their favorite programming anymore. While that's not realistic, it is clear that the money that the government has set aside for education about the transition is insufficient.

In another development the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative John Dingell, recently promised not to allow any American to be without their TV upon the transition. That seems a lot like political posturing and not to be very realistic. In any case, only time will tell how smoothly the transition takes place.

Emily Sanderson writes articles about the latest developments in technology, electronics, and television. She'd like to inform you that sattelite TV is ready for the new digital TV technology and if you need more information about how this change will affect your television service read E. Sanderson articles.

More Confusion With Transition To Digital TV Technology

With the scheduled February 17, 2009 deadline for conversion from the old fashioned analog TV signal to the newer and more efficient digital TV signal less than two years away now, there's a fair amount of confusion in the press about the issue. It all began back in the late nineties when Congress- under lobbying pressure from consumer electronics manufacturers- mandated that all over the air analog TV transmissions would cease and be replaced by analog TV signals. So far that mandatory date of the transmission has been pushed back from 2006 to 2009 because of objections from TV stations that don't want to shell out the money for new transmission equipment and from TV owners who don't want to shell out the money either for a new TV set or a special set top box that will allow their old analog TV sets to display the digitally transmitted television.

When discussing all of these issues, it's important to keep a few things in mind. First of all, digital TV is a relatively new way of transmitting video that takes advantage of computer technology to send a signal that can easily be cleansed of any interference by special receiver hardware, thereby providing a TV picture of incredible clarity. All satellite TV companies already use this format on all of their programming and many cable TV companies use it on most of their programming.

One of the reasons that this whole thing is such a fuss is that analog TV signals take up more of the over the air electromagnetic bandwidth than the equivalent TV programming does in digital format. This fact, combined with the fact that many TV stations are transmitting their content simultaneously in both analog and digital formats, means that there's a lot of electromagnetic bandwidth being wasted on unnecessary TV transmissions. That bandwidth could be used for numerous other things like emergency services communications and wide spread wireless Internet access. That's a large part of the incentive to completely change over to digital TV.

Another major reason to change over to digital TV is that there's a lot of money for consumer electronics makers to rake in when all of the analog signals go off the air because at that point analog TV sets will be obsolete- at least when it comes to being used to watch TV directly off of the air. At that point, consumers will either need to buy special converter boxes to make their old TV sets work or buy completely new TV's. Of course, their are plans for the government to subsidize purchase of those converter boxes, but no matter where the money comes from, it still means plenty of profit for the consumer electronics industry.

Now, there are plenty of mixed signals about the coming transition. For example, every TV set now on the market has to have a digital tuner that will allow it to pick up the digital over the air signals. Also a coalition of broadcasters and electronics manufacturers has formed in order to educate the public about the impending transition. But at the same time these positive steps are being taken, some politicians are saying that the transition might have to be pushed back again and some analysts are saying that it will have to be pushed back again. Only time will tell how any of this will play out.

E.Sanderson writes articles about the latest developments in technology, electronics, and satellite TV. She'd like to inform you about the latest Dish TV services and how you can find the best Dishnet HD Promotions.

Dish TV - Digital TV Technology Held Up by Foot Dragging

Digital TV is a type of technology that has a number of benefits, but is causing a fair amount of frustration for a number of people. Digital TV actually isn't a particularly new form of technology. In fact, it has been in widespread use since the early nineteen nineties when satellite TV companies like Echostar (Dish Network) and DIRECTV started to offer affordable satellite TV service with dishes small enough as not to dominate the entire yard. Digital TV became portable in the late nineteen nineties with the introduction of the DVD, and is now slated to become the exclusive over the air TV format as of February 17, 2009.

This conversion to digital TV is what has a lot of people generally annoyed. Converting over the air TV to exclusively digital format would provide viewers with better pictures and access to an on screen program guide. It would also free up over the air bandwidth that could then be used for emergency services communications and for wide spread implementation of wireless Internet access. The trouble with digital TV comes from two different forms of resistance. First, there is the TV viewing public who are still largely watching TV sets that don't have the digital tuners necessary to watch over the air digital TV. Second, there are the TV stations themselves who don't want to spend the money to switch their equipment over to transmit digital TV.

As far as the TV viewing public goes, there are actually relatively few problems with switching their equipment over to over the air digital TV signals. That's because there are relatively few people- about twenty one million to be exact- who rely on over the air TV for their TV entertainment. The rest either do without TV or subscribe to cable TV or satellite TV, both of which presumably provide receiver boxes capable of receiving digital TV signals and then converting them over to the analog signals that the TV sets can understand. Other converter boxes that can pick up digital over the air TV signals and convert them to analog are being made available to consumers. Purchase of these converters are being subsidized by the federal government through coupons that are worth forty dollars when they go towards the purchase of a digital to analog converter. Because the converter boxes are expected to cost sixty to seventy dollars, consumers will still have to use some of their own money. There's also the very real possibility that many consumers will want to buy new TV sets anyway, in which case they'll probably just get digital TV sets. The real challenge is letting TV viewers know that the change will happen so that they can prepare for it.

Broadcasters are tougher cases in many ways. That's because they've been dragging their feet on the conversion for year and as a result, the conversion keeps getting pushed back. For example, the conversion has been in the works since 1996 and the first conversion was scheduled for 1998. The refusal to make the change on the parts of broadcasters has gotten in the way of a number of different telecommunications initiatives. These broadcasters seem to forget that the American people own the frequencies on which they broadcast and can take away their licenses at any time.

E.Sanderson writes articles about the latest developments in technology, electronics, and satellite TV. She'd like to inform you about the latest Dish TV services and how you can find the best Dishnet TV HD Deals.