Sorting Through the Analog to Digital TV Mess

H_Fisher writes "CNN offers an article from Fortune magazine, giving a look at the problems surrounding the mandatory switch from analog to digital TV in the U.S., now slated for 2009. 'Managing this transition -- which will render about 70 million TV sets obsolete -- will be not be easy,' Marc Gunther writes. Among the problems: millions of American households without cable or satellite access will lose free access to news and weather along with the rest of their broadcast fare. Uncle Sam's solution? 'Yes, the very same federal government that is cutting back on college loans and food stamps will soon be issuing TV vouchers' - $1.5 billion to help U.S. households buy new digital TV equipment."

Comments

Re:Are you fucking kidding me?

[limabone]

You can already pick up HD signals with your crappy rabbit ears or that monstrosity attached to your house...a generic UHF/VHF antenna will do just fine, and companies that advertise their antennas as being for HDTV are just trying to entice you into buying them.

You will NOT have to replace your antenna, what you will need to get is an external converter to turn the signals from your antenna into something your current TV can handle.

Re:Damned if you do, damned if you don't

[daveschroeder]

Of course, it is a /. article, so I suppose we've come to expect at least one troll line in the article summary.

Yeah, I thought about pointing that out, too, but that quote was actually from the Fortune article itself. :-/ Take it up with the author, I guess...

Set-top box?

[Soruk]

The UK seems to have got the right idea. We can get digital terrestrial set-top boxes that plug into the TV, via a SCART lead (which carries, amongst other things RGB and Composite picture signals, and stereo audio), or on a few boxes via an analogue RF signal. That way virtually all existing TV sets can remain in use long after the switch-over takes place.

Only the really old sets don't have SCART sockets now, and although suitable boxes with RF Out exist they are more expensive.

Re:What happened to the free market?

[pcraven]

It is being legislated because the spectrum is legislated. It would open up a lot of money's worth of spectrum, more than 1.5 billion worth.

You don't have to junk the TV, just get a digital receiver and then plug it into your current TV.

You can

[wiredog]

Join the Army and get the GI Bill. There's only one minor downside...