Government and industries join to aid TV viewers
Countdown to D(digital)-day
Government and industries join to aid TV viewers

The transition to digital broadcasting has spurred questions about the differences between digital and analog broadcasting. Here are some answers provided by the Digital Television Transition Coalition.

•Digital television (DTV) is a new type of broadcasting technology that is transforming television as we now know it.

•By transmitting the information used to make a TV picture and sound as "data bits” (like a computer), a digital broadcaster can carry more information than is currently possible with analog broadcast technology.

•The difference between analog and digital broadcasting is similar to that between compact discs and cassette tapes.

•Digital TV offers a better viewing experience with vastly improved picture and sound quality. DTV is also more efficient than analog TV technology so broadcasters will be able to produce additional signals using the DTV system.

Analog television service is the traditional method of transmitting TV signals and has been the standard broadcast technology since the inception of television. Analog television service isn't as efficient as DTV. It uses up much more valuable spectrum that — once the DTV transition is completed — will be provided to public safety organizations, such as first responders including fire and police departments. Remaining spectrum will be auctioned off for the production of new services.

Analog broadcasting will continue until the end of the transition period, which currently is set for Feb. 17, 2009. Most television stations will continue broadcasting their programming in both analog and digital signals until then.

•Digital technology allows the transmission of pictures with higher resolution for dramatically better picture and sound quality than currently available.

•DTV allows the transmission of several TV programs at once — called "multicasting.”

•DTV technology can be used to provide interactive video and data services that are not possible with "analog” technology.

•An equally important, but often overlooked, benefit of DTV is that it will free up scarce and valuable spectrum for public safety and new wireless services.

Source: www.dtvtransition.org

Good news for owners of traditional analog televisions. That trusty old big-box TV won't automatically become obsolete before Feb. 17, 2009, when local television broadcasts convert to digital.

For subscribers to cable or satellite television services, analog TVs may never become obsolete because the cable and satellite services will convert the signals for them.

In fact, most analog televisions can live on beyond the government-imposed deadline for local broadcasters nationwide to convert to all-digital broadcast technology even for those who don't subscribe to cable or satellite.

Government-subsidized converter boxes will be available to help ease the transition.

The digital broadcasts will render obsolete televisions that accept only analog signals unless they have a converter box or are connected to cable or satellite service, said Vance Harrison, president and chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Broadcasters Association.

The state broadcasters group is one of more than 100 organizations that are part of the Digital Television Transition Coalition, which has launched a consumer education campaign to make sure Americans are aware of the coming conversion to digital broadcasts.

"We've got to educate people that there is a hard date,” Harrison said Friday.

"We have to educate them that this is going to happen.”

Nationally, about 80 percent of American households access broadcast television via cable or satellite services, which will convert the signal for them, Harrison said

Who is in that remaining 20 percent that is likely to be affected by the digital transition?

"It will be older Oklahomans who aren't tech savvy,” Harrison said. "It will be rural Oklahomans who do not get cable and don't choose to subscribe to satellite service. And I imagine that it will be some financially disadvantaged people, as well.”

The transition has been spurred on largely because the government wants to sell the lucrative broadcast spectrum on which television stations now operate, Harrison said.

The Digital Television Transition Coalition issued a news release Friday touting its growing list of members, which also includes consumer groups such as the AARP as well as broadcast industry organizations.

"In the next coming months we will be notifying our members through our publications regarding the transition date of Feb. 17, 2009, and letting people know about the coupons that will be available in 2008 to help purchase the converter boxes,” said Sean Voskuhl, associate state director of the Oklahoma AARP. "Almost $1 billion has been appropriated by Congress to subsidize the cost of the converter boxes.”

Converter boxes will cost about $60 each, and the coupons will cover $40 of that, Voskuhl said. The subsidy program will be administered by the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

"We have a little time here, but 2008 will soon be here, and I think it's wise if you need the coupon to put your request in early,” Voskuhl said.

The coalition has established a Web site — www.dtvtransition.org — that provides background information on the digital conversion.

The digital television coalition's Web site even includes a doomsday-like countdown clock that is already down to 637days and change. In a news release, the coalition said its mission is to "ensure no consumer is left without broadcast television due to a lack of information about the transition.”

Consumers have three basic options as the transition nears, Harrison said. They can buy a digital television, subscribe to satellite or cable service or get a digital converter box. The government has pledged to help with the cost of the converter boxes, .

"If this (digital conversion) was going to be next week, I would say we would have a big problem,” Harrison said. "I think in the long run, because everybody has been proactive and set this deadline far enough out, that most people will know about it.”

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