Questions about Digital TV and the February deadline?
May 13th, 2008, 12:01 am · 15 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
**UPDATE on June 3, 2008 ** The answers are in. I tried to get to everyone but if I didn’t, feel free to ask again. Thanks all!
In February 2009, digital television broadcasts finally takes over. That seems so far away but I know there are readers out there with questions because I’ve already been receiving them.
If you like TV but never upgraded to digital cable or other digital broadcast service, your TV will go blank after February, thanks to a federal mandate. Why is the government so cruel? Why do I need to buy new equipment? Why can’t TV just be TV? These questions and more will be answered in an article soon.
All I ask is that you ask me questions about the transition and I’ll do my best to get them answered. Everything will be published in an upcoming issue of the Register. So, ask away by leaving a comment below.
UPDATE on May 16: Thanks everyone. I’m aiming to get answers to as many questions as possible by May 27. If you don’t want to miss a post, subscribe to my blog by email HERE.
Some helpful sites for those who can’t wait for me:
- The Federal Communications Commission FYI
- Meeting the Digital TV deadline (BusinessWeek)
- What the digital TV switch actually means (C/NET)
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Here's a list of TV/mobile companies helping consumers one tweet at a time. 
We have Time Warner Cable already and have 3 TV’s with boxes. We get channel’s up to 79 on these three TV’s, which is fine because they are in garage etc. Right now each box charge is like $2.93. Time Warner has set up three new boxes on these TV’s and then told us the charge in Feb. will go up to $8.00 a box. These 3 TV’s now get channels up into the two hundreds. Who needs that many channels in the garage? I think they have put one over on us and we don’t understand if we “have” to do this or not. I have talked to three different customer service people and they say we have to have these new boxes, I can not get a good answer.. Can you help?
I buy a converter and use my old TV, it goes bad, so now I’m stuck. My question is, Can I buy a new TV that will work with the converter?
Hi,
I have installed a converter box about a month ago, and with my external antenna I’ve improved TV quality around 100% both picture and sound. Only channel 7, gives me some reception problems. My question to you is why were we not told that we will be unable to tape any digital programs to our VCR after the box is installed? We can not buy and VCR that will allow us to tape through the box. It appears if we want to do any of this we will need some sort of cable operation.
Thanks,
Jack Conrad
I have cable TV WITHOUT a converter box. Currently, I use a splitter to distribute the signal to two TiVos and one TV set. Will the digital transition affect me? If so, how can I keep the flexibility of using the TiVo service to record anything I want at any time, for later viewing?
This is Jack Conrad again…When do we get answers and/or feedback to our questions/comments?
Everyone, thanks for asking questions. I’m working on the answers to as many as possible and will publish them on this post as well in an upcoming Tuesday edition of the paper. Check back within the next two weeks. — Gadgetress
Is anyone planning to make a block converter for ATSC -> NTSC conversion? I know plenty of people with houses full of televisions and VCRs who would
love to have this as a solution rather than have to mess with multiple converter boxes. Many condos, apartment houses, and even large single family houses have a central roof antenna which feeds a distribution amplifier/splitter, which sends signal through in-wall wiring to antenna outlets in various rooms. Replacing the existing distribution amp with one which incorporates block conversion would be a boon to such people. I understand that this would be an expensive device, but it would be well worth it to many people.
I have verizon, they gave me a box,do I need anything else.
Thank you
I have two VCRs, and they are without a built-in digital tuner. How do I continue to use it for recording digital program using outdoor antenna?
I am planning to purchase a new HDTV and continue using my antenna because we get excellent reception here in Cypress. We leave the VCR on and tune through it so that it is available for recording at a moments notice. Will I be able to continue doing this?