UPDATE TO THIS IN MESSAGE #100 ON PAGE 7, based on an FCC meeting held this week, as well as other news. [Link]
Please feel free to ask questions! Those of us who know will be glad to try to explain any of this as best as we can!
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Original Message:
A few important changes are coming down the pike, and I'm wondering how many folks are aware of them, and also wonder how the changes will affect people. The poll is just about whether you were aware of these things; but please post a reply to tell use how these things (now that you're aware of them) will affect you.
First: On February 17, 2009, all television stations which broadcast the kind of television signals that we've been using for over 50 years (NTSC or "analog"), will be required to cease operating. Instead, most stations will begin (or continue) broadcasting a new type of signal (ATSC or "digital"), which televisions produced prior to 1996 were incapable of utilizing, and only a small percentage of the televisions produced over the last ten years are capable of utilizing. (Basically, if you paid less than $500 for your television, prior to this year, it is quite likely that your television will not be able to receive television broadcasts after February 2009.)
Estimates are that only about 30% of homes rely exclusively on NTSC/analog broadcast to receive television, but many more homes, perhaps the vast majority, have at least one television that is used to receive over-the-air, NTSC/analog broadcasts, at least on occasion -- and of course those televisions will no longer be able to do so in another couple of years.
(Next year, the government will issue two $40 coupons to each household requesting them, to help defray the costs associated with purchasing digital converter boxes to receive ATSC/digital broadcasts.)
Second: Last month, the people of the City of Chicago were the first to be affected by the digital conversion affecting cable television. The cable system there went "all-digital". And Friday night, the FCC issued a set of waivers that were directly aimed at prompting cable systems nationwide to follow the same path, thereby making any non-digital televisions unable to receive even cable television, without a converter box. For the cable systems that choose to take advantage of the waiver (a list which includes the potential powerhouse, Verizon), the deadline is December 31, 2009.
So the question to you is: Are your televisions prepared for 2009? If you routinely use televisions for receiving broadcasts over-the-air, do all those televisions have digital tuners in them (you can tell because you enter channel numbers with dashes in them, like "38-1"), or do you have a digital tuner converter box for each one? If not, what are your plans in that regard? If all of your televisions are connected to cable, do they all have QAM tuners (again, you can tell you're using a QAM tuner because the channel numbers have dashes in them), or do you have a cable converter box for each one? If not, what are your plans in that regard? (Note that there is no coupon program to support purchase of QAM converter boxes, but many ATSC converter boxes, especially the ones that cost a lot more than $40 each, will support QAM conversion as well.)
Please feel free to ask questions! Those of us who know will be glad to try to explain any of this as best as we can!
-------------------
Original Message:
A few important changes are coming down the pike, and I'm wondering how many folks are aware of them, and also wonder how the changes will affect people. The poll is just about whether you were aware of these things; but please post a reply to tell use how these things (now that you're aware of them) will affect you.
First: On February 17, 2009, all television stations which broadcast the kind of television signals that we've been using for over 50 years (NTSC or "analog"), will be required to cease operating. Instead, most stations will begin (or continue) broadcasting a new type of signal (ATSC or "digital"), which televisions produced prior to 1996 were incapable of utilizing, and only a small percentage of the televisions produced over the last ten years are capable of utilizing. (Basically, if you paid less than $500 for your television, prior to this year, it is quite likely that your television will not be able to receive television broadcasts after February 2009.)
Estimates are that only about 30% of homes rely exclusively on NTSC/analog broadcast to receive television, but many more homes, perhaps the vast majority, have at least one television that is used to receive over-the-air, NTSC/analog broadcasts, at least on occasion -- and of course those televisions will no longer be able to do so in another couple of years.
(Next year, the government will issue two $40 coupons to each household requesting them, to help defray the costs associated with purchasing digital converter boxes to receive ATSC/digital broadcasts.)
Second: Last month, the people of the City of Chicago were the first to be affected by the digital conversion affecting cable television. The cable system there went "all-digital". And Friday night, the FCC issued a set of waivers that were directly aimed at prompting cable systems nationwide to follow the same path, thereby making any non-digital televisions unable to receive even cable television, without a converter box. For the cable systems that choose to take advantage of the waiver (a list which includes the potential powerhouse, Verizon), the deadline is December 31, 2009.
So the question to you is: Are your televisions prepared for 2009? If you routinely use televisions for receiving broadcasts over-the-air, do all those televisions have digital tuners in them (you can tell because you enter channel numbers with dashes in them, like "38-1"), or do you have a digital tuner converter box for each one? If not, what are your plans in that regard? If all of your televisions are connected to cable, do they all have QAM tuners (again, you can tell you're using a QAM tuner because the channel numbers have dashes in them), or do you have a cable converter box for each one? If not, what are your plans in that regard? (Note that there is no coupon program to support purchase of QAM converter boxes, but many ATSC converter boxes, especially the ones that cost a lot more than $40 each, will support QAM conversion as well.)
