Digital Deadline
Reporter's Notes
The digital transition taking place on February 17th of 2009 is something we've all heard about, but what exactly does it mean? I had a number of questions from the technical as well as the practical aspect.
What exactly is Digital TV?
Digital Television is an advanced broadcasting technology. DTV enables broadcasters to offer television with better picture and sound quality. It can also offer multiple programming choices, called multicasting and interactive capabilities.
So, what type of television would I need to buy for this transition? I knew High Definition would be the best type of Digital Television as far as quality, but what about my television sets which are not analog?
That’s where the converter box comes in. It will allow us to keep our analog tv’s.
Would I qualify for the $40 coupon to purchase a digital converter box?
Certainly, we are all eligible. We can apply online or by phone, we can also mail in or fax a coupon application. We should also keep in mind, we can only apply for two per household.
I was also curious about what exactly would happen with the analog signal.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin also clarified that for us.
Martin said, “the consumer's not only going get better picture and better sound, and more television channels, but we're going to be able to take back some of the old analog signals and give some of them to the local police and local fire departments and also sell them to wireless companies to provide the next generation of broadband service.”
One last detail for now, if we have cable or satellite, we have nothing to worry about. Cable and satellite companies will help us through the transition.
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