Survival guide to the DTV transition
How to make sure your old television set is ready to make the leap next year.
By Dan Fritz | Contributor for The Christian Science Monitor/ October 29, 2008 edition
Logan Wallace/AP
Wilmington, N.C., became the first American city to have all-digital TV broadcasts. The rest of the country will follow next year. Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo, left, and FCC chairman Kevin Martin flipped a mock "digital switch" to ring in the conversation last September.
Millions of Americans could flick on their televisions in February to find their regularly scheduled programs replaced by static “snow.”
On Feb. 17, all high-power TV stations will switch modes and begin broadcasting with an all-digital signal. While these new over-the-air signals are an improvement in many ways, antennas on older TVs cannot read them. Most people, whether they know it or not, are already prepared for the coming TV conversion. And even if you’re not, getting equipped only requires a small converter box. So, just in case, here’s a quick survival guide to make sure you’re ready for the end of analog TV.
Who’s affected?
If you have cable or satellite TV, you’re all set. The switch to a digital signal only messes with free, over-the-air broadcasts.
If you bought your TV in the past year, then you should be just fine. Federal law required stores to stop stocking analog-only television sets. The new models have a digital converter built in, allowing them to recognize the new airwaves. Pretty much every flat-panel or HD TV comes with this addition.
The only televisions that might hiccup come February are old tubes that are hooked up to an antenna and newer sets labeled as digital or HD “monitors.”
How to prepare (and not pay for it)
If you watch over-the-air programming and want to keep your aging analog TV, you’ll need to buy a digital-to-analog converter. These small set-top boxes take digital signals from an antenna and pass them along to the TV in analog form.
The boxes are available at most consumer electronics stores for about $40.
To help people recoup some of the cost of this move to digital, the government is issuing coupons for $40 off converter boxes. To apply for coupons, go to dtv2009.gov or call 888-388-2009.
“Millions need to still make their decision [about whether to upgrade],” says Todd Sedmak, Communications Director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in Washington. “If they’re going to go the coupon route, we really encourage them to apply for their coupons today, buy the converter box when the coupon comes, and try it out, all before the end of the year.”
There’s a two-coupons-per-household limit. It takes about three to four weeks to process the applications and the coupons expire 90 days after they are mailed. They cannot be reissued, whether lost, stolen, or expired. “If for some reason your coupons are expired, ask a family member or friend to apply and share them with you,” suggests Mr. Sedmak.
DTV2009.gov lists more than 20 stores and websites that accept the government coupons, and you can find performance reviews on the many different converter boxes at consumerreports.org/dtv and cnet.com.
Why the switch?
The conversion to all-digital signal frees up airwaves for more Wi-Fi services and new, dedicated communication channels for emergency first responders. Digital broadcasting also allows stations to provide a crisper picture (see graphic, below). Programs can also be broadcast in high definition, but just because local stations can doesn’t mean that every one will.
Many families that go shopping for a new converter box are deciding to buy a new TV instead, says Bill O’Mahoney, store services manager at a Best Buy in Boston. Others opt to throw out their old analog “bunny ears” and buy an antenna with the digital converter built-in.
“I would be more focused on finding the right [digital] antenna for you rather than the right converter box, because they are both the same,” Mr. O’Mahoney says. “If you have a great TV, you can have a great experience at home, even if it’s a basic tube.”
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Comments
2. Joe Keyerleber | 10.30.08
I agree with Frank Stetzer. Here in the city of Washington, DC, I have tried five different indoor antennas and a variety of placements to get over-the-air digital TV in my study, where I spend a good deal of time. Finally, I can now get a stable picture most of the time on most of the channels, but it has been a long, expensive process of trial and error, even though I am only three miles from the transmitters. This is what many people are going to face, especially if their apartment happens to be on the side of a building facing away from the transmitters. The digital signals are quirky and unreliable, and so far the public has been subjected only to “happy talk” about converter boxes. The government, broadcasters and electronics retailers need to start facing up to the enormous problems that are going to occur when the analog signals are switched off. At the very least, they should be providing technical information and assistance about antennas for digital TV.
3. Pat R. | 10.30.08
I have to agree, I live in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. I have had my converter box for about a month now and I am ready to throw it out the window. I am so tired of the broken up sound and picture that comes from my television. I have an indoor antenna and I am constantly having to get up to adjust it. I have yet to watch an entire show without the broken up picture and sound. Or it freezes and by the time the signal comes thru I have missed most of the show I had planned to watch.
I can’t afford to buy a new TV, nor do I want to have cable or satelite tv.
4. Peter | 10.31.08
And what about VCRs? How does the converter box work with a VCR? It seems that if you plug the antenna into the converter box (which selects the channel), and then route it to the VCR and then onto the TV, you’ll no longer be able to record one channel while watching another. Am I wrong about this?
5. Dave | 10.31.08
A few options:
1 - Invest in LG and buy a new tv (like a lot of people will be doing) (China will love you for it, btw).
2 - Hook up to basic cable for $10/mth. This will get you your local channels and a few other misc things (Discovery, PBS, C-SPAN, and several shopping networks and fluff ‘religion’).
3 - Give up tv. Seriously. Read news online or go to the library if you don’t have the Internet at home. Rent your tv shows through someone like Netflix - dvd’s are ad-free!
6. tony | 10.31.08
Peter, You’re correct.
Easiest solution is to get 2 boxes.
They are free with the coupon if you buy the DTV > Analog box from the right place (cheap).
They are all pretty much the same, I like the Insignia that Best Buy sells, though it’s about $20 with the coupon. It has a nice menu system and has the lowest power consumption, (less than 3W on, less than 1W off).
Some converters have timers to tune the correct channel at a specific time so you can record it (Insignia does not).
Hook up one box on the TV and One on the VCR just like the picture in the article. Buy a coaxial cable splitter to split the antenna signal into 2 connections for the 2 DTV boxes. Use high quality screw on cables for the antenna, splitter and DTV antenna jacks, it makes a difference. Use the cheap ‘push on’ antenna connectors for the DTV box to TV antenna connection (if you decide to use the antenna bypass feature when the box is off).
To record a DTV signal you’ll have to tune the converter box connected to the VCR to the channel you want to record, and set the VCR to record from the RCA jack or composite video input. This ~usually ‘channel’ 0,1,F1, VIDEO in the channel selection menu of the VCR recording setup, or the ‘channel’ below channel ‘2′.
7. tony | 10.31.08
Pat R.
Get a roof antenna or an antenna and put it in your attic crawlspace.
It will make a HUGE difference.
Aim it in the direction indicated on the website:
http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx
Start with “Choose an antenna”
Add your zipcode, follow the prompts, it will eventually print out a matrix with each channel in your area and a compass heading to aim your antenna. The DTV boxes have a signal strength indicator built in which is very helpful in fine tuning the antenna placement.
They are usually all in the same area, in Minneapolis we have a big ‘antenna farm’
NE of town where all broadcasters broadcast from. Hopefully you’re that lucky.
Use high quality RJ6/U or /UQ cable for everything from the roof to the DTV box input.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RG-6
Good luck!
8. Bill M | 10.31.08
Frank/Joe/Pat you are right…people are experiencing the “cliff effect”. This means if you are on the edge of receiving digital signals any interference could tip the threshold of reception over the edge into digital oblivion. People in areas with marginal signal will experience intermittent pixilated digital pictures to total loss of signal. You can visit http://www.antennaweb.org to obtain help in choosing the correct Antenna. You can find out which channels (analog and digital) are available at your location and which direction to point an antenna.
Peter, using a VCR with a converter box is not near as simple as it once was. To watch digital TV on one channel while recording another will take two converter boxes. Some of the converter boxes have timers to assist in programmed recording. This page has information on converter box choices and links to info on VCR hook ups http://www.ezdigitaltv.com/Converter_Box_Retailers.html
9. Dennis | 10.31.08
I am a television professional who lives in NYC. I bought the converter boxes and they barely work at all. I also have a brand new HDTV with a built-in, digital tuner. When it works it is gorgeous, but most of the time I have to watch an inferior analog signal on it. The digital signals drop out with every other word, especially in windy or rainy weather. Even a larger antennae did not help all that much. My old, analog set with a cheap set of rabbit ears is far superior to either digital solution. I can’t believe that no one is reporting on this. All you hear is that TV will be so much better. In fact it will be worse or completely unavailable for almost anyone who gets over the air broadcasts. I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but this seems like a way of forcing everyone to subscribe to some form of pay TV.
10. Chris W. | 11.02.08
I’ve had a digital converter box for about six months now and I can report that my results are right in line with what others have been reporting here. I too use an indoor antenna. I often give up trying to watch a program when it just keeps coming and going.
Is this the future of over-the-air Television?
Maybe I should just go back to reading books!
11. Davido Hermoso | 11.02.08
I have the DTV converter, and it works good on all or most of the channels with a inside antenna. I am in metro Denver.
As alluded to above, the converter converts only one channel at a time. This makes using your VCR or DVR difficult or impossible to use for timed recording. The DTV converter does have a timer included, but I haven’t tested it yet.
My friend has lifetime Toshiba Tivo that I bought her, but I think that it too is going to be nearly useless come next year. I am looking for a adapter for it that will convert the signals for it and communicate with the Tivo. I saw another Tivo like recorder at Sams’ with a digital tuner for $240.
I have a Polaroid DVR that is also going to be difficult or impossible to do timed recording.
I can’t seem to find any $10 a month cable here in Denver.
12. Domokos | 11.02.08
It would seem that all VCR and DVD recorders that have built in controllers that pick time and channel to record are going to be either obsolete or very difficult to us. From what I read you will have to set the D to A converter to a channel and then program the VCR or DVD recorder to the same channel. If you want to record an addition show on a different channel an hour later you will then have to change the D to A channel as will as the recoding devices. In other words no unattended recoding on two different channels back to back. Does anyone make a D to A converter that is broadband and does all the channels at once without manual intervention?
13. Hacker Yoda | 11.06.08
Another excellent informational article by the Monitor.
May I suggest a muck-raking followup on how and why the change to digital broadcasting was mandated by law? As the comments here foretell, *many* people will lose their reception as we switch to digital broadcasting.
There will be a huge outcry as people come to realize the how much more difficult it is to get adequate digital (vs analog) reception.
Looks like the cable & DTV companies win big. We’ll witness, for all practical purposes, the death of free TV.
14. Karen K | 11.14.08
I’ve been researching which converter box to purchase, and based on web reviews and word-of-mouth, the options look dismal. People have also said that if you want to return a sub-par converter box, you’re only refunded the amount you paid out-of-pocket, but you don’t get a new coupon to use on a new box.
I just finished emailing my senator, and I suggest others do the same. We should demand improvements, fair compensation for ALL of our costs, and even a delay of the February cut-over if necessary.
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1. Frank Stetzer | 10.30.08
People in rural areas who rely on antennas are having trouble getting digital signals. Even living in a city I have trouble getting some digital stations with any of several antennas I’ve tried. With a weak analog signal you can still watch the station; a weak digital signal is useless.
The move to digital will cut off a lot of low income, rural viewers. I don’t think this aspect has been investigated or reported.