Two years till the analog shutoff, hopefully
It's February 17th and you know what that means -- well you should if you are a big HDTV fan. Today starts the two year countdown till the analog shutoff unless the group Public Citizen has its way. While some will have to buy a STB to continue to enjoy their free OTA TV, they will be able to reap the benefits of the digital revolution for a small fee. With any luck people will be ready and might only need to reconfigure their TV, that is of course if they already bought a TV with a digital tuner, while it still seems hard to believe anyone would buy a TV without a digital tuner. Starting March 1st they might not have any choice in the matter, since that is the date that all devices with NTSC tuners must also include ATSC tuners, yes you read that right all; portable TVs, VCRs all of them. This means no portable TVs, since ATSC is almost useless for portable TVs, until A-VSB becomes a reality. The good news for HDTV fans is that without NTSC more people will enjoy DTV and thus HDTV and with any luck no NTSC means more HDTV for all of us.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
walk2k @ Feb 17th 2007 4:00PM
ATSC is not "useless" for portable TVs, if it's the only kind of broadcast signal out there!
I'm the biggest proponent of HDTV but I think this date will be, and should be, pushed back again. A lot can happen in 2 years so maybe I'll be proven wrong, I hope I am, but I don't think we are ready for all-digital TV yet. With the average price of HDTVs still 2-3 times that of their old analog counterparts (though perhaps, the screens are bigger too) a lot of people still can't afford them.
DustoMan @ Feb 17th 2007 7:33PM
Just throw the damn switch already. These guys have had how long to comply? How many extensions? It's time to sink or swim.
jimbo11883 @ Feb 18th 2007 12:26AM
Maybe you people that can afford these HDTV's will buy us poor people one? ;)
Jeff N. @ Feb 18th 2007 1:50AM
2 years is a long time from now. Look how fast HDTV's prices have fallen in the last year. In 2 more years you'll have 30" LCD HDTV for $250. I talked to the head salesperson of our local Circuit City and he said all the CRT TV's will be gone from the floor in the next 2 months. In 2 years it will be time to pull the switch.
Drew @ Feb 18th 2007 12:44PM
I've never seen an article with so many acronyms! HDTV STB OTA TV NTSC ATSC VCR A-VSB DTV
What did I miss?
Duscrom @ Feb 18th 2007 1:28PM
First of all, remember people, that's all Digital, not all High Def. HD signals are Digital, but not all digital are HD. Most people have digital cable...
Second of all, by CRTs is that SD AND HD CRTs? I kinda hate that they'd phase out CRT HDTVs... I mean they provied the best picture of all and the cheapest.
HDjanitor @ Feb 18th 2007 3:49PM
shouting @ walk2k and jimbo11883: AN HDTV IS NOT NECESSARY IN ORDER TO WATCH A DIGITAL (ATSC) SIGNAL!!! All the po' folks need is a (soon to be very cheap) ATSC tuner box plugged into their current analog TV.
Charles @ Feb 19th 2007 12:39PM
'This means no portable TVs, since ATSC is almost useless for portable TVs'
This irresponsible statement requires a lot of qualification. What is the meaning of 'almost'?
--- CHAS
shmooopy @ Feb 20th 2007 3:21AM
Lets keep in mind that this only affect people who get their TV using an antenna.
I think its good that we push this change to happen. It will mean that all those stations can now completely switch to digital and there will be many more channels to work with.
the fcc should be offering these digital tv tuner boxes for free to the public. put a $1 tax on any digital tv as a transition free.
Ben @ Feb 20th 2007 2:08PM
8VSB is notorious for it's poor performance in mobile applications. This was the main reason why many argued against using it in the new ATSC standard. That is why LG recently announced A-VSB, it will work along side 8VSB as a side band, they are trying to get it added to the ATSC standard.
DrCheese @ Feb 21st 2007 4:34PM
pff you guys are lucky, here in the UK we have to wait until at least 2010/11 and even 12 in some area's for analogue to be switched off, even tho people have known about digital TV for years now and the cheapest digital tuners are like 15(Lunch Money) now.
Add to this that our version of the FCC isn't all that keen on HDTV over the air and currently the only way of getting HDTV broadcasts here is stupidly expensive or within 20 miles of London for BBC HDTV(1 channel!) It makes being an AV freak over here kinda annoying
*Cries on 1080p TV*
clayrogers @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:09AM
why would a atsc tuner be useless on a portable tv? i can see hd signals being useless, but id assume a digital sd broadcast would be very nice on a portable
Moi @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:20PM
I am getting a message across HBO that says if we want to keep getting HBO that we will have to get a digital converter box. Well, the HDTV downstairs has one of those - but does this mean we have to get one for every durn TV in the house???
Backwards People @ May 16th 2007 6:38PM
Earth to FCC:
Abandon you source of TV signal format only when a new format has been embraced.
So far only a small percentage are HDTV evangelists, the rest of us really don't care how sharp TV is. WE CARE ABOUT MOVIES IN DETAIL. Who cares if Sesame Street is high def?
Look at the confusion above. It just seems like the FCC is acting like a punk and doing something because they, not because they should.
Besides, who needs High-Def on portable TVs? We compress the signal to fit on most devices, it's really not an issue.
I like HDTV but I don't LOVE HDTV. Why do I care if Office is in HD? It's a sitcom. The stages are fake movie studio backdrops.
I LOVE Hi Def Movies. See the diff?