Questions about the 2009 digital transition

[SonicIce]

I have a standard definition TV and use an antenna.

Will the quality be better or worse than analog on a standard TV?
Will there be additional channels?
Will the digital tuner's remote have volume control for the TV?
Do all of the convterer boxes you can get with the coupon suck?
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm">https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm</a></a>

And why are they really forcing it?

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: SonicIce
I have a standard definition TV and use an antenna.

Will the quality be better or worse than analog on a standard TV?
Will there be additional channels?
Will the digital tuner's remote have volume control for the TV?
Do all of the convterer boxes you can get with the coupon suck?
(<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm)">[url]https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm)[/url]</a>

And why are they really forcing it?

Quality I imagine will be equal or better for most people. For people who already had good analog reception there won't be much difference (if any). For people who were further out this could be a good thing.

Additional channels? Not really. Some people might even see fewer.

No idea on the remote control.

The coupons are a dollar value, you can apply them to whatever converter you want. There is no standard "free" converter, and all of them are expected to cost more than the coupon allows for.

Why are they doing this? To free up a massive block of frequencies. Analog TV has run its course, & they can broadcast the same channels in far less frequency space. Not to mention the billions they're taking in by auctioning off the space (more than sufficient to cover the coupon program).

Viper GTS

 

[Slick5150]

Better theoretically
No
Depends on which one you get
No

Bonus question: They're forcing it because they need the spectrum of the airwaves currently used by broadcast analog TV.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: SonicIceWill the quality be better or worse than analog on a standard TV?

I doubt you will see any improvement.

And why are they really forcing it?

The spectrum currently allocated to broadcast television is:

1. A huge swath of spectrum
2. Some of the most desirable spectrum

For those reasons it is also very valuable. When broadcast TV was a new idea, the FCC assumed that there would be demand for a large number of channels and allocated plenty of spectrum to help that happen. Things didn't work out that way, and now they are stuck in a position of having lots of prime spectrum sitting unused.

Reclaiming some of this spectrum and making it available for other purposes has the potential to foster lots of new, innovative uses, and also to drum up some revenue for the government.

 

[SonicIce]

cool. thanks guys