Transition to New TV Technology Has Perils

There are a lot of advantages to digital TV. That's why the US Congress has mandated that all over the air TV signals will be in digital TV format by February 17, 2009. At that time, analog over the air TV signals will be discontinued and only digital TV signals will remain. This will also free up a lot of telecommunications bandwidth for other telecommunications applications like emergency services communication and widespread wireless networks.

There are some major problems with this switch to the digital TV format. For one thing, many people don't know exactly what digital TV is. Worse yet, even fewer people know that the switch to digital TV for over the air broadcasts is taking place.

There are many misconceptions about digital TV. Perhaps the most major one is that digital TV is the same thing as high definition TV (which is known as HDTV for short). In reality, while HDTV is digital, not all digital TV is high def. This simply means that the TV signal is transmitted in a digital format like how video is encoded on a DVD. This results in a much clearer picture that's more resistant to interference. It also takes up less bandwidth, thereby increasing the number of channels that can be transmitted using any given number of frequencies.

Of course, people don't need to know the technical aspects of digital TV in order to enjoy it. The much bigger problem with this planned transition is that most people don't know that the transition is going to happen. While there are only about twenty two million Americans who rely on over the air transmission for their TV programming, less than half are aware that the transition is imminent or even what it will mean to them. Basically, anyone who's been watching over the air TV in analog format and who doesn't have a digital tuner built into their TV set or a special converter box to change the signals into analog signals before feeding them into the TV set, won't be able to watch TV on February 17, 2009.

The prospect of people all over the country being taken by surprise when they wake up that morning and are suddenly unable to watch TV has led to reactions from analysts ranging from "Who cares?" to "The public will be outraged with us." to "There will be riots in the streets and people will be looting consumer electronics stores to get digital TV's!" While the last reaction seems pretty extreme, if things keep going the way they have been leading up to the transition, a lot of people could be very upset and justifiably so.

So far, the government has set aside less than two million dollars to subsidize the purchase of converter boxes for analog TV owners and only five million dollars to educate the public about the transition. TV manufacturers- who have known about this for years- have continued selling analog-only TV sets and only recently bothered putting warnings on them stating that they will be obsolete when the transition comes. TV stations that broadcast over the air and are in the situation of being in the best position to educate the public- and have the most to lose by not educating the public- are waiting for the government to do something about the situation. All of this while the deadline approaches and many TV viewers remain blissfully ignorant that anything will change at all.

E. Sanderson writes articles for consumers who want to find the latest technology news about Comcast Cable TV [http://snltranscripts.jt.org/comcast-deals/]. She has written for many major publications about Cable TV Provider and how buyers can find the best Comcast 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.

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.

Transition to New TV Technology Has Perils

There are a lot of advantages to digital TV. That's why the US Congress has mandated that all over the air TV signals will be in digital TV format by February 17, 2009. At that time, analog over the air TV signals will be discontinued and only digital TV signals will remain. This will also free up a lot of telecommunications bandwidth for other telecommunications applications like emergency services communication and widespread wireless networks.

There are some major problems with this switch to the digital TV format. For one thing, many people don't know exactly what digital TV is. Worse yet, even fewer people know that the switch to digital TV for over the air broadcasts is taking place.

There are many misconceptions about digital TV. Perhaps the most major one is that digital TV is the same thing as high definition TV (which is known as HDTV for short). In reality, while HDTV is digital, not all digital TV is high def. This simply means that the TV signal is transmitted in a digital format like how video is encoded on a DVD. This results in a much clearer picture that's more resistant to interference. It also takes up less bandwidth, thereby increasing the number of channels that can be transmitted using any given number of frequencies.

Of course, people don't need to know the technical aspects of digital TV in order to enjoy it. The much bigger problem with this planned transition is that most people don't know that the transition is going to happen. While there are only about twenty two million Americans who rely on over the air transmission for their TV programming, less than half are aware that the transition is imminent or even what it will mean to them. Basically, anyone who's been watching over the air TV in analog format and who doesn't have a digital tuner built into their TV set or a special converter box to change the signals into analog signals before feeding them into the TV set, won't be able to watch TV on February 17, 2009.

The prospect of people all over the country being taken by surprise when they wake up that morning and are suddenly unable to watch TV has led to reactions from analysts ranging from "Who cares?" to "The public will be outraged with us." to "There will be riots in the streets and people will be looting consumer electronics stores to get digital TV's!" While the last reaction seems pretty extreme, if things keep going the way they have been leading up to the transition, a lot of people could be very upset and justifiably so.

So far, the government has set aside less than two million dollars to subsidize the purchase of converter boxes for analog TV owners and only five million dollars to educate the public about the transition. TV manufacturers- who have known about this for years- have continued selling analog-only TV sets and only recently bothered putting warnings on them stating that they will be obsolete when the transition comes. TV stations that broadcast over the air and are in the situation of being in the best position to educate the public- and have the most to lose by not educating the public- are waiting for the government to do something about the situation. All of this while the deadline approaches and many TV viewers remain blissfully ignorant that anything will change at all.

E. Sanderson writes articles for consumers who want to find the latest technology news about Comcast Cable TV [http://snltranscripts.jt.org/comcast-deals/]. She has written for many major publications about Cable TV Provider and how buyers can find the best Comcast deals.