Broadcast TV switch to digital
 

[ rant]

I am tired of explaining the switchover to the uneducated people of America. I am tired of explaining how there are no longer vcr's that you can just screw in the cable and record. No I don't know how much a converter box is going to be. No idea what the cable company is going to do. I know you hate paying extra for a cable box. Yes, the traditional analog vcr is now illegal to make. No, I'm not lying to you.
[/rant]

They have done a pisspoor job of explaining this thing to the majority of people I encounter every day. Granted I wonder how most of these people can even dress themselves.


I mean, if you were an antenna only person, this changeover thing is probably one the greatest things(ther than HD) since the inception of the TV.

settle down

Dola - I though full digital conversion wasn't until 2009 sometime?

I read Feb 2009 somewhere.


I will not believe it until I see it. Too many little stations that will not be able to afford the new HD towers.

You should see how fucking pissed people get when I explain that they can't just buy a vcr, and that the only recorders with digital tuners are >200.

Really? I haven't used a VCR in a while, though I have a bunch of VHS tapes laying around. You're saying I couldn't use it on my relatively new TV?

This is seriously news to me.

I mean if you want something that records when plugged directely into a cable line, it's now upwards of 150-200 bucks. Stuff you have now still works fine, there's just no new stuff available to buy thats realitively cheap, and not "line in only."

VCRs are dinosaurs. Go with DVRs.

Most people still can't make the clock on their VCR stop flashing.
Expecting them to understand any of this simply isn't realistic.

I consider myself to be at least average in understanding technology but I don't have a clue what is going on with TV's. I could sift through the volumes of information online about it but honestly I don't want to take the time. The other problem is that much of the info out there is conflicting. Hell, I heard 5 or more years ago that our TV'S wouldn't work any longer in about 2 years. To me, the info should be very cut and dried. It's like saying "in 2 years cars will no longer be allowed to use gasoline for fuel." The first concerns most people would have is "what about the car I have now? Will it be able to be modified, will I have to buy a new car, etc? Our family has 3 cars...will they all need to be replaced?" The people in the industry should be able to address these questions in a clear, concise manner but that just doesn't happen. Rumor and speculation run amuck and then you don't know what to believe.

I mean, I still don't know if I will have to buy new TV's. High def doesn't mean crap to me because my I'm just not the type of person that needs to see each individual blade of grass or each bead of sweat running down Shaq's crack. I will be perfectly happy if I can somehow keep my current TV's.

I'm really confused about all this too. I still record shows on my VCR, and I play video games with mono sound occasionally. So I really don't care about HD. If we're forced to get new TVs or some other bullshit, I'm not going to be happy.

Just another example of how the public school system is failing.

There should be a class about HDTVs. I'm sure it would take up a whole term.

Because God knows that in between preparing the kids for the next standardized test, educating students on the latest TV technology is the highest priority in my English class. :rolleyes:

And I'm sure the general public would ignore it.

FYI, my understanding is that cable providers are required to offer analog content for a couple years after the digital change. Which sucks because that is a whole bunch of MHz that we will be wasting at 6 MHz a TV station.

Y'know, I'm pretty sure that sound was the education crack passing right over your head.

Look at the quoted phrase again, see if you spot anything amiss.

I think most consumers could care less about the technical details. Plain and simple, consumer Joe just wants to buy something they can plug in and be done with and not have to deal with some matrix on what will/wont work with what they currently have.

Fortunately for Joe Customer, if they buy a TV today it will work.

If you're not getting your programming over the air you won't be affected. The transition isn't really about HDTV--digital broadcasts need not be HD--it's about freeing up radio frequencies by using more efficient digital transmissions.

If you want to use your old (analog) TV to pick up over-the-air broadcasts after the analog transmissions are shut off you'll need to have it hooked up to a digital tuner.

That would be me :) Well, a few months ago actually.

I challenge this statement.

I do not think every new TV sold today comes with a built in HD tuner, and a built in HD antenna.


Never gonna happen. This whole change over reminds me of when the US had a mandate to change over to the metric system in the 70s. That never happened and this never will either.

IIRC, there is no need for a built in HD tuner. It is only a need for digital tuner... which is definately not the same as HD.

And you are incorrect about the comparison to metric switch over. This will happen. The TV companies are already gearing up for it. If you buy a new TV, it has a digital tuner.

You fail to understand the change. All TVs sold in the US require a digital tuner not an HD tuner. Manufactures are already required to do this and places that sale TVs have been getting fined for selling older TVs that don't have them. This is a lot different then the metric system. Billions of dollars have already been spent by everyone to do this.

The conversion to metric would have worked if every American were forced to buy a new $700 ruler.

Just switch to metric right now.

"...and Vinatieri is on to try a 43-meter field goal..."

well only because it should be The U.S. Americans :D

Maybe I am confused; Who is going to pay to replace all those Antennas that are mounted to the roofs of all those homes in the country? I thought you would need to replace your old roof mounted antenna, and that all TV stations would also be forced into buying new digital antennas.

My parents live in a town that still gets its TV signal from a roof mounted antenna. No fiber-optic cable companies, No digital signals, just small town TV stations rebroadcasting a signal that was transmitted miles away. These little TV stations are nothing more than simple amplifiers that do not even have a local news department.


I can't imagine the government forcing millions of people, especially the elderly, to give up their TVs. Especially in remote agricultural areas of the US.

This may help explain the process.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html

Excellent.

Hey, can you change the system in Maximum Football?

"You know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?":D

What does this mean?

What is full-power?


Is this going to be a loop hole for all the small town TV stations out there?

FYI, the only people telling you that you need a special antenna are the ones that sell you the TVs at Best Buy, etc.

The government is doing it, and they are going to offer vouchers for people to get the digital tuner equipment.

If you want to compare this to something the best comparison would be when we dropped the use of leaded gasoline. The old cars that needed the lead tend to have issues with valves, so people have to make upgrades or use additives to resolve the problem.

I can't think of any other analogy off the top of my head at this time.

Your small town TV stations are going to be full power stations. Low power stations are basically public access:



http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/lptv.html

QFT.

Fucking Obama. He got his Barackberry and now he hates technology.

Senate passes bill to delay digital TV switch - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com


Take a page from Nike and just fucking do it. Barack Hussein Obama. :banghead:

You know, screw those 6.5 million households that couldn't get off their ass to switch over. That's what they deserve.

Oh, I forgot. We're in the era of mess up and it's okay. The government will make everything better.

Oh boy, can I please, please, please see more of those f-ing commercials warning us of the impending switch!?! Agreed, just do it, this has been a long time coming, if you're not there, you're S.O.L.

Motherfuckers


I had heard it might happen but was hoping iit would not.

Weird the news I heard earlier was that it was only extended 90 days, this appears to be the old bill that was delaying till June 12th... I'll have to look deeper into this if I get some time.

FYI...



:D

I hate hulu... "We're sorry, currently our video library can only be streamed within the United States."

bleh

FM

That's too bad because that video is hilarious.

Yeah it's a followup to the original DTV one that they did. It's hilarious.

6.5 million people can't be wrong?

When it's less then 2% of the population...

Hell, when 62,040,610 people were so wrong...

( United States presidential election, 2004 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

But were they really?

The coupon program was an abject failure. For starters, they issued way too many coupons in the beginning. Which lead to not enough boxes. And because of the demand many people were unable to use theirs before it expired. Then you had a ton of people buying the boxes who didn't need them. We would get 3 to 4 dozen in and they would be gone in a day.

People were constantly mad that we were out of stock. And everyone else was out. Way too much of a hassle. Plus the shitty magnavox ones broke at a much higher rate than other electronic items.

This would hav worked much better as a mail in rebate program or as a one coupon at a time thing

Or no fuckin coupons at all for that manner. This whole thing is just a big clusterfuck