Most of us have heard something about the upcoming change from analog to digital TV in April 2009. Like the breakup of AT&T back in 1984 there are lots of people crying "the sky is falling" and even more people who have got the story completely wrong. Here's the scoop...
An aside here-HDTV and digital TV or DTV are NOT the same thing. DTV is simply the new digital method of transmitting TV signals. Those can be in standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD). You do not need to buy a new TV for this transition if you don't want to.
First off, anyone who subscribes to cable or satellite TV will NOT be affected-the set-top boxes already do the required conversion.
If you're one of the roughly 10% of Americans who use an antenna to watch TV you will need a converter box to continue watching TV after April 2009 unless you already have (or will buy before April 2009) a TV with a digital tuner. The boxes are already in Best Buy and will be in other stores very soon. The National Telecommunications Information Administration (a ridiculous waste of government time and money) is giving away $40 coupons good for the purchase of a converter-the rationale being people who still use antennas can't afford the price of a converter box. Yeah, right.
From the "why aren't I surprised department" comes a study done by MASSPIRG recently on the DTV transition. It secretly shopped 132 electronics stores in MA and found:
81% didn't know about or gave wrong info about converter boxes.
78% gave wrong info about the NTIA $40 coupon plan.
42% gave wrong info about the digital TV conversion date.
Shameful, isn't it? For more info on the digital transition go to www.ntia.doc.gov.
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