There are so many misconceptions about digital TV, HD TV, the conversion from Analog to Digital, even those who think they understand it, might not really get it. So much has been written and those annoying pulbic service announcement about the "conversion to Digital TV" are incessant. What really bugs me is when people think they are watching High Definition TV, when in fact they are not. I'm going to try and clear some things up and simplify them.
Every broadcast television station (meaning they have a local TV station and a broadcast tower near you) is already broadcasting in digital as well as analog. The famous February 17, 2009 date is the LAST day that these stations can broadcast in Analog (as set forth by the Federal Communications Commission). TV stations may cut off all analog broadcasting as early as 11/19/08, and even earlier if the station applies to the FCC to do so. All analog broadcasting must cease as of 2/17/09.
Now, these rules only apply to "high powered" broadcast television. The rules DO NOT apply to cable TV or satellite networks (e.g. USA Network, Comedy Central, A&E, etc.) because this type of network does not broadcast their signals directly to your home through the airways like local TV stations do. The rules also do not apply to "low-powered" TV stations. An example of that might be one of the several thousand local faith-based TV networks. You may not even know about them because they are not broadcast on cable and satellite, and their signals are so weak that if you use an antenna to receive TV signals, then you probably don't pick it up unless you live underneath the low-powered tower from which they broadcast.
The whole point of the conversion from Analog to Digital is to free up noise in the air that is preventing or hindering other more important things from using space in the air like Emergency Services (911), Cell Phones, and other Radio and Microwave signals. There's just too much stuff floating around up there and not enough room for everybody. So the Federal Communications Commission said, 10 years ago, that TV Stations must switch from Analog to Digital because digital takes up less space, thereby leaving more space for others.
The moral of the story: Don't wait until February for the conversion to digital, it already happened and now you know why it happened.
Stay tuned for the next installment
No comments:
Post a Comment