… starting a year from now, there will be no more analog broadcasts and you’ll need a converter box. Coupons are available that will cover some or all of the cost of that box.
That only applies if you get your TV from an antenna. Cable and satellite will continue to work just fine.
:smack:
Knew I forgot something!
Yes, if you have an older TV and rely on an antenna – surely I’m not the only Luddite here? – you’ll need a converter box.
Something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now. Since when and why does the government give a fuck about how I watch TV? Of all the things they should care about. Did the government step in and say we all had to upgrade from black & white to color?
Why does the government feel they have to make everyone go from analogue to digital, and regular def to hi-def? What’s in it for the government?
If the government wants to butt in, why don’t they mandate that everyone should get a minimum of 15mbps broadband?
The FCC regulates the various communications frequencies, since they are in a sense owned by everyone. Broadcasters want to start using digital, so they need to wean us off analog to free up some bandwidth. They don’t care how you watch satellite or cable, which is why they aren’t affected by this.
I don’t currently have cable, so I use an antenna even though my TV is relatively new and decent. I’m sure by then I’ll be back to paying for cable, though.
Not the same thing at all, as a black and white TV can handle color TV broadcasts just fine.
Several billion dollars, at minimum. Once the switch is made to digital TV broadcasts, the frequencies used for analog TV broadcasts will be auctioned off. The starting bid is $4 billion.
Because that would open the possibility of the electorate being able to educate themselves, and thus voting out those in power. 
I’m not even sure my television is a recent enough model to work with a converter.
The change will render my Sony Trinitron and my portable television obsolete.
The whole thing makes me very sad for some reason.
We don’t need no stinking 15mbps broadband to do that. Just watch us.
The converter has an antenna output - if your tv can tune channel 3 you are good.
If it doesn’t have a F (screw in coax) antenna jack you would also need some doohickey to hook to the antenna terminals.
Brian
If you can hook up a DVD player, you can hook up a converter box.
Hell, if you can hook up the antenna or cable connection, it will work with a converter. DVD players use RCA, HDMI, or component, but I imagine some converter boxes will output a coax signal.
But I predict a year from now, lots of old ladies will be wondering why they can no longer watch “their stories.”
Digital does not mean Hi-Def. I have a feeling I’m going to be saying that a lot for the next 12 months.
Oh, I well understand the differences and muldoonthief’s helpful little article defined standard definition (SDTV) format as the term I was looking for instead of saying “regular def.”
However, I read an article a few years ago about this and at the time I did get the impression the government was not only requiring the move to digital but also the move to HD. That was wrong, but I was pissed the government was basically going to make me buy a really expensive HDTV before I was good and ready to.