Switch to Digital TV

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jwills500

#41
#41
Just who are the 2.6 million that haven't gotten coupons? I have a neighbor who makes a 6 digit income that's too cheap to get a new television. He still doesn't have a converter box for his 20 year old 19" TV. Wake up people, these are the idiots that wait till the day their car inspection expires, their drivers license expires and their vehicle reg expires. So people never learn and are doomed to repeat these mistakes for their entire sorry lives. We have got a mountain of economic problems, but we are worried about a few people who can't seem to manage their lives.
 
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elmo16

#45
#45
The converter boxes don’t work well at all with rabbit ears. Unlike analog TV that allows you to adjust the rabbit ears to get the best possible reception for each channel, the converter boxes require you to rescan every time you move the antenna. Sometimes the adjustments you make to your rabbit ears won’t pick up any digital channels at all. I predict that almost all people who have antennas, even roof top antennas and don’t get strong, clear reception will have to either buy new TV’s with digital receiver or get cable or dish TV. I don’t have any personal experience with a TV with a digital receiver so I can’t really say.


It seems to me that we might be near the end of free TV altogether.
 
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elmo16

#46
#46
I read that the some TV stations are not broadcasting digital broadcasts at full strength. Perhaps when they do, the problem I mentioned in the post above this one will be solved.
 
M

Monk

#47
#47
elmo16 said:
The converter boxes don’t work well at all with rabbit ears. Unlike analog TV that allows you to adjust the rabbit ears to get the best possible reception for each channel, the converter boxes require you to rescan every time you move the antenna. Sometimes the adjustments you make to your rabbit ears won’t pick up any digital channels at all. I predict that almost all people who have antennas, even roof top antennas and don’t get strong, clear reception will have to either buy new TV’s with digital receiver or get cable or dish TV. I don’t have any personal experience with a TV with a digital receiver so I can’t really say.


It seems to me that we might be near the end of free TV altogether.
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Two things: as I wrote above, the multidirectional antennas work much better with digital signals than the rabbit ears.

There was an article the other day in the NY Times about how the standards written for digital broadcasting were mostly based on rooftop antennas. So, if you live in an apartment and use a set top antenna (for lack of a better description), you're basically screwed. But, they are getting a lot of complaints and it is possible that the standards may be "updated/refined" in coming years.
 
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elmo16

#48
#48
The real reason that the broadcaster’s are ending analog TV transmission has nothing to do with the need of emergency personnel or “First Responders” as is the current term for more bandwidth for their emergency radios. The “First Responders” radios should all use the same frequency; this would in fact reduce the bandwidth requirements for the “First Responders”.

The real reason is that cell phone providers plan on drastically increasing the number of cell phones, smart phones, WI-FI internet, TV on your wireless device. Cable TV providers want to provide wireless cable TV, internet, phones (less cable to install, maintain, etc.).

The number of people giving up their landline phones is in the millions, copper cable internet is running out of installed bandwidth, and in some cases has even capped usage, HDTV is straining copper cable bandwidth as well. Fiber Optic will be the long range solution, but I can’t help but think that wireless will be a short term solution, and maybe even the planned long term solution as well.
 
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