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Is the US Ready For the Switch To DTV?
tonsofpcs writes "On Monday, September 8, Wilmington, NC will be the first television market (#135) to make the switch to DTV by shutting off their analog transmitters. This forum will be posting updates throughout the coming months to keep everyone updated on how the transition works so that we are all prepared come February 17, 2009. So far, it seems Wilmington will still be going ahead as planned, despite Tropical Storm Hanna's proximity."
Something tells me that after several delays and numerous announcements that the people that are unaware of the switch to digital TV probably wouldn't be too upset about missing out on TV for a few days while they track down an analog->digital converter.
I'm a big tall mofo.
Mandatory TV Conversion Creates Complications For Prisons
This is going to happen in February, why on earth should a tropical storm delay it if it's still September? For that matter, why would it be delayed at all? Is there something mystical and magical about tropical storms that we don't know here?
The use of TV as a warning mechanism for evacuations / seeking shelter. If you turn that off fro those still on analog you've added to the complexity of an evacuation.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Monday, September 8, Wilmington, NC will be the first television market (#135) to make the switch to DTV by shutting off their analog transmitters.
Is there something mystical and magical about tropical storms that we don't know here?
Yes. It adds drama! Just image some bold brave techs driving through the rain and wind in order to get DTV to the people!
Read with one of those voice actors saying this in your head.
The struggle. The bravery. The challenges!
Men and women fighting so that their neighbours can stay informed! Keeping them from being cut off from the rest of the World all the while batting Nature's worst! With the bonds that form between people who have gone through hell together!
Mat Damon is .... THE DIGITAL TECH!
I doubt most people are even going to notice the switch over to digital. Between cable and satellite providers relatively few are going to see the need for a digital-analog converter. On another note... Wilmington just wanted to put a simple "We did it first so we're 'technologically advanced'" stamp on a tourist brochure. Whatever and good luck to 'em (I guess).
"The best way to accelerate a Macintosh is at 9.8m/sec^2" -Marcus Dolengo
Phew, on behalf of all Slashdot readers who were fraught with worry over how this would effect you, thanks for letting us know we can sleep easy.
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How hard would it be to broadcast on all common channels in the area a fixed pattern that says something along the lines of, "TV broadcasts using your current equipment are no longer available. Please conatct... blah blah blah".
Seems that would be better than just turning it off. Maybe just run it for a week or so.
I'm a big tall mofo.
I just tell people:
"If you have cable, dish, or FiOS television, then you need not worry about the over-the-air transition. It does not affect you."
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
Numerous stories mention that prisons are not ready for digital television, and prison administrators are worried.
Generally, inmates pay for their own television sets and (for some reason that escapes me) are not eligible for the $40 coupons.
Prison administrators say"the tube does more than fill year after year of idle hours. It provides a sense of normalcy and is a bargaining chip that encourages good behavior... At Indiana's Wabash Valley super-maximum security prison [a psychiatrist said], far fewer behavior problems were reported among inmates in isolation after they were given small TVs. 'You don't want to be managing prisoners who have nothing to lose,' Kupers."
I expect the test will show that, in fact, prison inmates represent only one example of what will prove to be a large population of forgotten Americans... the people who don't answer telephone surveys because they don't have telephones, the people who don't shop at Best Buy because they don't have cars and the nearest Best Buy can't be reached by public transportation, etc.
I will grant that the amount of publicity being given to the DTV switchover on our local TV stations is so large... at least during the times of day we watch and on the channels we watch... that it's hard to imagine people not knowing about it, but there is always that twenty percent of the population who can't name the President.
Indeed, I'm astonished at the poster who asks "Will they broadcast a notice?" since our local stations have been doing that continuously since February. Either his are not or he, like those twenty per cent I'm talking about, didn't notice.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
House in foreclosure CHECK Credit Cards past due CHECK Car Repossessed CHECK TV ready for Digital....not a priority
It is not called trolling; it is called elitism. ... and it is wrong. Your "demographic" probably leaves out the majority of those affected, those who shop at Walmart and purchased Chinese-made NTSC sets. Walmart got slapped a few times in the recent past for selling non-DTV capable sets - we're talking months ago.
See? It's possible to introduce a demographic you're not a part of, without a snide twist of the knife. All seriousness aside, there's plenty of bad stereotypes that could be made with the Walmart crowd (meth and prescription addiction anyone?). (I suppose even acknowledging the possibility of this counter stereotype is the same as saying it, but I'm trying to draw a distinction).
Good luck with your views
My experience with digital TV in the UK is going from analogue at 4.5 channels (5 was not available in about half the places I went) to digital with far too many to count. The signal strength, picture and sound quality went through the roof with the transition too. Plus, no messing around with tuning at all, it just pulls channels, names and schedules out of the ether.
If your experience is typical, the FCC has managed a frak-up of truly epic proportions.
Of course, with all the new channels there's still nothing on worth watching, but that's a problem with the culture, not the technology.
All intents and purposes. Not intensive purposes.
Well for one, it would be nice to see those red boxes when the weather man goes "there is a tornado warning for the communities within blah blah blah..."
EBS isn't worth a shit. All it does is replay a canned warning message with the counties under the warning, and at the end of the message it says tune to your local channels for more information...
What irritates me about the switch (which I still see as completely without merit - unless you are a telecommunications company or a DTV manufacturer), is the fact that they keep saying "If you have cable or satellite, you need not to worry about the conversion. Only people who uses traditional off-the-air television have to make the switch". Even worse is when your local cable company advertises that to avoid the switch just get cable...
Problem being that when the cable goes out (and it does during a hurricane) you are screwed and must resort to listening to the weatherman on the radio who continues to say "if you look in this area of the screen..."
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Even if EBS is still transmitting an analog signal (will it?) many people will probably have their TV off since tehy aren't getting programming and not get a warning at all.
EAS will still be analog as most stations receive it from radio stations. EAS is relayed by the TV station though, which will not be broadcasting analog, so there will be no way to receive it on an analog set (unless a local LPTV station is still operating in analog, as they are exempt from the changeover for now).
As fro radio, it'd be nice if everyone had a working radio and maybe even a weather alert radio; but they are a less effective means of providing updates and warnings since they have to stop broadcasting to send updates; unlike a continuous scroll.
EAS requires an audio interruption of programming, both on TV and radio. Crawls without audio do not meet EAS requirements. Some stations will continue crawls of information that is not required to be relayed via EAS, but this is as a service to the public (and in order to tell the FCC "hey, we meet our public service requirements" next time the license is up for renewal).
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One problem I have with the switch to DTV is that there are a plethora of disaster radios out there that have analog TV coverage. In an emergency, I can scan AM, FM, and TV stations for what's going on. That gives me a lot of good options. Now my hand-cranked emergency radio has a band that can no longer be used: analog TV. That's a bummer in my book.
I once worked at a large development with 25 + apartment buildings. I was the guy who answered the phone for the repairs, clogged toilets, etc. One day, the CATV system serving the entire complex went out. Now, it was a Tuesday afternoon, but you'd be amazed. It was the single highest call volume we ever got. Worse was the amount of "re-calls" and plaintive complaints. There's a lot of folks out there who can't function unless they are lashed to the fantasy teat, and they were not all elderly or shut-in. There will be a rash of "grandma can't get her stories" news articles, but in the end, this will be a boon to the Content Industry, for whom HDCP will now be part of the equipment. It buys their business model ten years.
I live in a valley...
next to an HD-only transmitter.
Needless to say, analog *anything* has been an issue. Last spring, sensing there may a be rush later, I got our two coupons from Uncle Sam, and cashed 'em in. A few points on my experience:
o Direction and gain are definitely more of an issue. Since we barely got anything analog clearly on bunny ear/loop, we got next to nothing with digital.
o With digital, it's all or nothing. Either you have clear signal, maybe with some artifacts, or you have black screen.
o *The* most annoying thing is that sounds cuts first.
o So, I did what any self-respecting tinkerer would do. I build a grey-hoverman antenna out of foam board, packing tape, tin foil, and picture hanging wire - all from from Walgreens (U.S. pharmacy) :-D. http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/
o Obviously, with such rarefied materials I have a less-than-precise design - that works... really well.
o The GH antenna is highly directional. Since digital is crystal-clear, we put up with adjusting the thing in the bay window.
o We get 9-12 clear channels now, instead of 4-5 distorted ones.
o It's best to put it in an attic, or outside. Be sure to ground it, etc. The higher, the better - generally.
o Note that there are two ranges for VHF DTV, high channels and low channels. The Grey-Hoverman seems to do well with UHF DTV and high VHF. Most DTV seems to be UHF.
o Only some DTV is HD. Stations were given sub-channels. Some use only the main channel and switch back and forth between HD. Others put SD on one and HD on the other. Others use all for HD, with different content. The public television stations, strangely enough, seem to be making the best use of the sub-channels.
o The other prominent build-able design is called a Yagi. It consists of connected bow-ties, rather than zig-zag elements. The Yagi design is nice, because its gain is roughly even across UHF. The Grey-Hoverman seems to have better gain than the Yagi on some ranges, but cuts out in others. Check the frequencies of your local stations and compare them to the two antennas' gain charts before deciding.
o Why the range of channels for me? Well, in a valley the signal has echoes. Some echoes are stronger than others. Sometimes the amp makes the two echoes the same strength. In that case the converter box cannot lock in. Thus, if your location is subject to echoes (hills, valley, etc.), design your wiring to allow the easy removal of your amplifier.
o Also, atmospheric conditions seem to have an effect. On clear dry days we don't do so well; on wet or humid days, I think we could get New York City, if we wanted (we're in southern N.E.).
o Finally, going digital with a converter has one interesting benefit for you OSS fans. Since the Neuros OSD is still SD, converted DTV works nicely with it. I don't have one yet, but they are now on Amazon, and I am strongly considering getting one.
Computer Science is all about trying to find the right wrench to bang in the right screw. -T.Cumbo?
Not to sound overly cynical about the whole issue, but I do some contract work for a big box retailer. Folks come in all the time seeking the $50 digital to analog converter boxes. Yet the individual stores typically only receive about a eight units a week and sell out within a few hours! Add to that, the overly complicated process of requesting $40 coupon/rebate certificates to defray most of the cost. Then let's not forget that the typical person seeking these boxes does not read Slashdot, is on a fixed income, and uses 'DTV' and 'HDTV' interchangeably, not really understanding the definition of either. So why such little supply for such high demand? Why the bureaucracy? Why the readily confused acronyms? Because the push to DTV allows corporate interests to make use of the prime spectrum currently allocated for analog broadcasts while the retailers get taxpayer funded advertising that essentially tells a gullible public that the path of least resistance is to go out and buy a new LCD or plasma television - The stores just happen to have plenty of them, and gee aren't they pretty! As far as corporate/government corruption is concerned, this is small potatoes compared to many examples seen here on pollution, war profiteering, and eroding civil liberties. However, the callousness I've observed in the push to sell you a bigscreen television--err I mean a converter box, if you really insist; is really going to hit hard in Middle America. I'm wondering if while mobs of social rights activists and anti-war protesters have had minimal effects on Washington, what will happen when a few million pensioners find themselves without access to television?
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I call "bullshit" on that.
The spectrum "giveaway" you speak of was actually an unfunded mandate. The broadcasters were forced to operate dual, redundant facilities for a few years and on 2/17, the "extra" spectrum is going to be summarily taken away from them.
In the meantime, the top 100 MHz of the UHF TV spectrum is being removed from TV service was auctioned off to the wireless industry for billions and billions of dollars.
How, exactly, did Hollywood benefit from that?
Any Slashdotter could do this
1. Get Digital receivers to decode only the channels you want them to watch.
2. Hook up the outputs to some UHF modulators.
3. Output the signals to your existing Television cabels.
4. Re-tune the TV's
Could be done for a few hundred dollars at most.
TV is done. It's going to die faster than radio, because I can listen to radio in my car.
You haven't got the faintest clue, have you? The majority of the population (in the US or in the UK where I live) still come home from work and slump in front of the TV. They don't want to choose a DVD or find something on youtube, they just want to flick through a few channels and settle on something comfortable and familiar while they wind down. Maybe later they'll do something else.
Yes, TV isn't as important and central as it was; but it'll still be broadcasting (profitably) to millions in 5, 10, 20 years.
Well goody for you; I'm so happy you can afford multiple TVs (one for each eye?). However, not everyone is in your income bracket. Many are struggling just to keep their homes, and the rising price of gas has made things even tougher (I assume with all those TVs, you must have watched the news at some point).
For over a year now I have been predicting riots in the streets when the people living in our ghettos are suddenly thrust into a situation where they have no more bread and circuses. Without their steady opitate of "American Idol", they might suddenly notice they are living in a country with no freedoms and a repressive government.
I'm not poor and neither are the people I associate with. Despite that, I know exactly TWO people with HDTV setups, and yet, I know even more with TV antennas and no digital boxes. I myself have DirectTV, so I'm unaffected, but I'm still watching it on a standard NTSC box, and I suspect I'm far from alone.
So just because you have two nice plasmas, don't assume the rest of America is the same as you. And have fun with them next time a nasty storm knocks out your power. Pull out your battery powered TV to get a weather update and then find out it doesn't work without your digital box.
Fortuantely, we have radio as backup, but how long until they make that unaccessible to us as well without paying fees, making it entirely digital, relying on a broken infrastructure, and causing more problems than it's worth.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
It doesn't really affect me because I haven't watched TV on a regular basis for a couple of decades. If there is a show I want to watch, I wait for it to come out in DVD. If I want current news, I check the web or read a newspaper. If there is an emergency that requires extremely current information, I listen to the radio.
I do pity those people who rely upon broadcast TV for their entertainment and/or information. But that IS a life style choice that they make and this change has been talked about for quite a few years not.
They'll adjust. I do suspect that there will be a lot of calls to the local TV stations from people that never listen to public service ads warning of the changes. (I wonder how many of these calls will be from channel flippers that never listen to commercials or public service ads?)