Did you make the switch? American TV stations now only broadcast in digital video.

[Shortline Bus]

Did anyone make the switch? Today is the end of analog broadcasts in America. reactions?

[Messino]

Did anyone make the switch? Today is the end of analog broadcasts in America. reactions?

 

I have a flat screen TV that laready has a built in digital tuner. My TV in the bedroom is still an older model but I have cable connected to it. The digital stations on the flat screen TV are much better quality than any of the old analog. Its like Night and Day. Still thoguh there are not enough free digital stations so I will keep the cable TV hooked up to it as well.

[Shortline Bus]

Did anyone make the switch? Today is the end of analog broadcasts in America. reactions?

 

Here video on WABC-TV reported by Anchor Bill Riter on how to reprogram your tvs.

 

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=6860766

[Amtrak7]

The channels in our area will gradually convert to digital over the course of today, so don't scan now.

 

The legal deadline is the coming midnight. Therefore, scan after midnight today. TV's with built-in DTV tuners also need a rescan.

 

If you have problems seeing DTV, see the coverage map here (the link may be bogged down due to high traffic):

 

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

 

Enter your address or zip code in the box in the upper left and it'll tell you which stations you can receive well, poorly, or not at all.

 

The weather may affect it, so wait until the sky is clear.

 

For station-by-station improvements, see here (for NYC Metro Area):

 

http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/maps_report_0609/New_York_NY.pdf

 

8.2 MB PDF.

[Shortline Bus]

The channels in our area will gradually convert to digital over the course of today, so don't scan now.

 

The legal deadline is the coming midnight. Therefore, scan after midnight today. TV's with built-in DTV tuners also need a rescan.

 

If you have problems seeing DTV, see the coverage map here (the link may be bogged down due to high traffic):

 

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

 

Enter your address or zip code in the box in the upper left and it'll tell you which stations you can receive well, poorly, or not at all.

 

The weather may affect it, so wait until the sky is clear.

 

For station-by-station improvements, see here (for NYC Metro Area):

 

http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/maps_report_0609/New_York_NY.pdf

 

8.2 MB PDF.

 

I dont have to worry i got Time Warner Digital cable.

[Q25toJamaica]

I switched, and it's all a waste of time if you ask me. I rescanned and everything, the reception on some channels is horrible, and the way the channels are organized pisses me off. Why can't we just stick to one number per channel? Instead we have things like 5-1, 5-2, and a million duplicates. What pisses me off even more is that I see no difference in quality except for this looks worse because the resolution has been changed and everything looks smaller. I can't adjust the antenna and I'm not buying cable. Every few seconds the TV skips. Now instead of just using one remote, (that barely even works anyway), I have to use another. I really hate whoever decided to change this, it wasn't necessary.

[Dave160]

I have cable hooked up throughout the house so im good, except 3 million other American's aren't.

[Shortline Bus]

I switched, and it's all a waste of time if you ask me. I rescanned and everything, the reception on some channels is horrible, and the way the channels are organized pisses me off. Why can't we just stick to one number per channel? Instead we have things like 5-1, 5-2, and a million duplicates. What pisses me off even more is that I see no difference in quality except for this looks worse because the resolution has been changed and everything looks smaller. I can't adjust the antenna and I'm not buying cable. Every few seconds the TV skips. Now instead of just using one remote, (that barely even works anyway), I have to use another. I really hate whoever decided to change this, it wasn't necessary.

 

Indirectly you can thank the events of 9/11 for the change. The analog channel that the free over the air stations had for nearly 60 years now go to Police/Fire, etc.

 

 

Here the offical details of DTV. **Warning this is long from Wipekpia.* I tried to cut it down to the most important info.*

 

Digital television (DTV) is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by discrete (digital) signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV. In the United States analog broadcasts ended on June 12, 2009. The change was passed by a law in reaction to the September 11, 2001 terror atacks in which analog systems in the New York market were not working due to the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers.

 

Timeline

The first country to make a wholesale switch to digital over-the-air (terrestrial) broadcasting was Luxembourg, in 2006. Since then, the Netherlands, Finland, Andorra, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium (Flanders) and Germany and have followed suit.

 

In the United States, where most full-power television stations are already broadcasting both an analog and a digital signal, the FCC has set June 12, 2009 as the date on which all analog transmissions will cease and over-the-air broadcasts will be solely digital.[1] By special dispensation, some analog TV signals ceased, as previously scheduled, on February 17, 2009[2] and earlier in Hawaii. However, US President Barack Obama delayed the introduction of digital TV in most areas as part of an economic stimulus package so that the switch occurred in June, 2009.

 

In Japan, the switch to digital is scheduled to happen July 24, 2011. In Canada, it is scheduled to happen August 31, 2011. China is scheduled to switch in 2015. In the United Kingdom, the digital switchover has different times for each part of the country; however, the whole of the UK will be digital by 2012. Brazil switched to digital on December 2, 2007 in major cities and it is estimated it will take seven years for complete signal expansion over all of the Brazilian territory.

 

In Malaysia, the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will call for tender bids in the third quarter of 2009 for the UHF 470–742 megahertz spectrum which will pave the way for the country to move into the digital television era. The awarding of the spectrum will see the winner having to build a single digital terrestrial transmission/TV broadcast (DTTB) infrastructure for all broadcasters to ride on to transmit their TV programs. The winner will be announced at the end of 2009 or early 2010 and has to commence digital roll-out soon after the award where the analog switch-off is planned for 2015.

 

While the majority of the viewers of over-the-air broadcasting in the USA watch full-power stations (which number about 1800), there are three other categories of TV stations in the USA: low-power stations, Class A stations, and TV translator stations. There is presently no deadline for these stations, about 7100 in number, to convert to digital broadcast

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advantages to conversion

DTV has several advantages over analog TV, the most significant being that digital channels take up less bandwidth (and the bandwidth needs are continuously variable, at a corresponding cost in image quality depending on the level of compression). This means that digital broadcasters can provide more digital channels in the same space, provide high-definition television service, or provide other non-television services such as multimedia or interactivity. DTV also permits special services such as multiplexing (more than one program on the same channel), electronic program guides and additional languages, spoken or subtitled. The sale of non-television services may provide an additional revenue source.

 

Digital signals react differently to interference than analog signals. For example, common problems with analog television include ghosting of images, noise from weak signals, and many other potential problems which, whilst degrading the quality of the image, don't necessarily degrade watchability. Digitized signals don't suffer from ghosting or noise because DTV Tuners and converter boxes receive numeric information by the antenna. The decoder only needs enough information to put the picture together. The only way it fails is when the decoder does not receive enough information from the antenna - there is too much interference in the signal for the decoder to read the number and produce the picture. This will render a digital signal unwatchable with much less interference than an analog signal, even in urban areas.

 

 

[edit] Effect on existing analog technology

The analog switch-off ruling, which so far has met with little opposition from consumers or manufacturers, would render all non-digital televisions obsolete on the switch-off date unless connected to an external off-the-air tuner, analog or digital cable, or a satellite system. An external converter box can be added to non-digital televisions to lengthen their useful lifespan. Several of these devices have already been shown and, while few were initially available, they are becoming more available by the day. In the United States, a government-sponsored coupon is available to offset the cost of an external converter box. Once connected to the converter unit, operation of non-digital units is achievable and, in most cases, rich in new features (in comparison to previous analog reception operation). At present, analog switchoff is scheduled for June 12, 2009 in the United States, August 31, 2011 in Canada, July 24, 2011 in Japan and 2012 in the United Kingdom, October 14, 2009 in some regions of North-Italy.

 

Some existing analog equipment will be less functional with the use of a converter box. For example, television remote controls will no longer be effective at changing channels, because that function will instead be handled by the converter box. Similarly, video recorders for analog signals (including tape-based VCRs, DVD recorders and hard-drive DVRs) will not be able to automatically select channels, limiting their ability to automatically record programs via a timer or based on downloaded program information. VCRs with DTV tuners do exist, so the VCR does not have to rely on the converter box to do the channel switching.

 

Older handheld televisions, which rely primarily on over-the-air signals and battery operation, will be rendered impractical since most converter boxes are not portable nor powered with batteries and many portable televisions do not have the proper connectors to allow the use of a converter box. The additional power consumption of the converter limits portability for the few converter models (such as the Artec T3A or Winegard RCDT09A) which can operate from bulky external battery packs. Portable radios that are currently able to listen to frequency-modulated broadcast television audio would lose this ability.

 

A new TV containing only an ATSC tuner would be impractical, as this could prevent older devices such as VCRs and video game consoles with analog-only output from connecting to the TV. Connection would require an analog to digital converter box, which is the opposite of what is currently being sold. Such a box would be prohibitive in cost and also likely introduce additional delay into the video signal. Analog inputs suitable for connection to VCRs have therefore been retained on all current digital-capable TVs.

[metsfan]

Analog tv's have not been sold since the late 90's, but the smaller types portable and wrist tuners will need replacing.

 

- A

[Messino]

The majority of the VHF frequencies that the old TV stations used have been sold a few years back . Verizon, Tmobile, ATT and Google bought out a majority of the frequencies and are developing broadband mobile wireless devices that will operate on those frequencies. There will still be some low power VHF TV broadcasting on certain frequencies that were not up for sale.

[mark1447]

as a tech buff lol, Im not caring much. Cablevisions IO gives me Digital already. i got an old TV and im still a-ok! Plusw I get the same old channel listing, no need for the extras.