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143 Comments
- BrianTDixon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14February 17, 2009
- EABird1013, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Why was this part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005?"
It is because the digital signals can be compressed within a small part of the EM spectrum. The Government will they sell off the reclaimed spectrum. This has less to do with quality television and more to do with providing additional income to the general fund.
The reality is that the digital signal will become more compressed (and may actually result in less quality) as they fit more channels into a fixed electromagnetic space. - kalbzayn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Seems like a strange law. Can't we just let the consumers decide which way they want to watch TV? If not enough people support it to make it cost effective for a company to transmit the digital signal, then they should either have to build that customer base or just wait.
- Namco, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I predict a big ass "Mission Accomplished" banner flying in the wind on Feb 17th 2009 while I watch the news coverage over an analog tv broadcast signal.
- beaver2672, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It's about time! Now the enormus amount of money I pay time warner every month will probably increase because i'm getting "more!!!" digital channels.
- Smokezz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Politicians and deadlines mean absolutely nothing... they just tack on another law onto the end of another completely unrelated issue... and change it in a year.
- beyondmatt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I had no idea the analog cut-off day was so widely misunderstood, especially by members of the digg community who are supposed to be more techically knowledgable. With so much confusion here on digg, I shudder to think how many non-tech savvy people's heads are gonna explode trying to comprehend this. For those who worry that this will make thier TV obsolete, don't. If you subscribe to cable or satellite, everything will stay the same. If you still rely on rabbit ears to pick up all your local broadcast networks, you now have 3 years to save up to buy a set top box to convert the digital signals for your analog tv. Supposing they'll run around $100 (they'll probably be cheaper than that), that's less than a dime a day.
- zero_tek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2DTV=Control... With a digital signal they can put their broadcast flag on every channel and tv. They arn't pushing for better picture, they are pushing for control.
- dpk87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"The law is unconstitutional and racist. What about all the poor people on welfare? They can barely afford the three TV’s they have. Now they have to buy converter boxes? What about their rights? Can someone please find the part in the Bill of Rights that talk about everyone getting a TV? I can’t seem to locate the paragraph but it has to be in there somewhere. "
Wow your comment has so many issues I'm not even going address them all but...
1. The law is not unconstitutional.
2. It is not racist. Unless, as it seems in your comment, you consider poor people to be a race... But their not. or, maybe when you say poor people you really mean minorities, such as blacks, which would make stereotyping that blacks are poor simply because they are black.
3. If you read a little, you would know that they will be offering vouchers for people who cannot afford the digital converter box.
4. If a person is on welfare, as you say, perhaps they should be trying to find a job rather than sitting at home and watching TV.
5. You fail to realize that a TV is a luxury item, not a necessity. Everyone has a right to get one if they please, but as with any luxury item, they need to pay for the costs of the TV as well as the costs associated to running it. I don't understand what your point is regarding the Bill of Rights. - interiot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why was this part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005? I don't know if I'll ever grow to like congressional sausage-making.
- benb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wonderful - so I will get to look forward to slow channel changing and awkward menu systems in 2009.
Hopefully they will get that fixed beforehand, but then again they really don't have any incentive to do so. - clabbergrrl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Can someone please explain why we need legislation for this?"
Because in 1994 the government gave them *ten years* to get it done, and they screwed around and they *still* don't have it done, so the government has to kick their ass. - rosschilen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Digital uses less bandwidth than analog so the government will have control of the freed bandwidth. So they will auction the "new" frequencies to companies and make billions.
- clabbergrrl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Can someone please explain why we need legislation for this?"
Because in 1994 the government gave them *ten years* to get it done, and they screwed around and they *still* haven't gotten it done, so the government has to kick their ass.
"Letting the market do it" clearly hasn't worked. - xoxota, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Doesn't this create security risks? What if all hell breaks loose and lines go down? I still wanna be able to turn on my generator and get the latest. It's almost as essential as radio."
Which brings up the Analog cutoff date for RADIO broadcasts... - SonicAD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@evildeadxsp: You'll still be able to watch TV, but if you don't have a tv capable of recieving digital signals right now you'll need a converter box. You can still use your current antenna, you just have to put it through the box.
- ezkiel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12009 k cool. I'll be better off by then.
- teh_toaster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1February 17, 2009. So that's the day that I'm finally gonna get cable TV in my neighborhood. I can't wait.
- boshaus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2the date shoudl be in the description! people need to make better posts!
- SyDIGG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes, it means there will be no more ANALOG tv via antennas.
- jasoneisen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ummm, does this mean broadcast television? As in antennas?
Doesn't this create security risks? What if all hell breaks loose and lines go down? I still wanna be able to turn on my generator and get the latest. It's almost as essential as radio. - corndesigns, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html
read. learn. - clabbergrrl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Rather than a law, why not just make it favorable to switch. I hate big brother looming liek this..."
If you didn't have "big brother" regulating the electromagnetic spectrum, your TV wouldn't work at all. Not to mention broadcast radio, satellite radio, satellite TV, cell phones, emergency communication systems, air traffic control, GPS, heart pacemakers, wifi, cordless phones, etc.
Plus, they already gave the industry a ten year grace period and they pissed it away... - roger_lew, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No more analog tv antennas, but you can still receive digital programing over the air (OTA) if you have the right equipment
- Dingo128, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What people need to learn to separate HDTV and the analog cut off. They are two different things. All the cut off does, is make it so the local television broadcasts are digital transmissions. Just because the transmission is going to be digital, does not make the signal HD. You will be able to buy a converter box that will make older televisions work just fine.
...hmmmm I wonder who is going to be making converter boxes, I may have to buy some stock - tannergdog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Can someone please explain why we need legislation for this?
- EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet. "The bill Bush signed includes up to $1.5 billion in funding to provide two $40 vouchers per household to use toward the purchase of digital-to-analog set-top converter boxes." from http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124670,00.asp
It wouldn't surprise me to see that money vanish or the program otherwise become worthless but at least it's something. - vinny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0There seems to be a lot of misinformation about what this means. First, the reason the government wants to push this is so they can sell the current analog spectrum to the cell phone industry. The government gets license fees from this. Second, digital television does not mean that your parents have to buy a 60" HD television. It just means you will no longer be able to use rabbit ear antennas. HD stands for High-Definition, not all digital television is broadcasts in high-definition.
- StickyDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Who cares, it was suppose to be 2006. No reason why it won't be delayed again.
- Noelix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Damn, so I only have 3 years to get my ass in gear and get a Digital TV. SH!T!
- teamgreen02, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So you have 6 tvs running on over-the-air broadcasts?
This is a good move - dognose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I dont' think that "the majority" and "All TVs 27" and up" are necessarily the same thing. I don't think you've seen how fast cheap 19" tv's sell at walmart. Just going through there store quickly, I could not find a single non HDTV that mentioned ATCS or DTV. The cheapest tv to mention ATCS was a $2500 TV.
Now I haven't bought a TV in a few years, but I haven't seen your little dtv sticker on any non HDTV tv. - FAT_PIGGY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0those of you with Time Warner cable try going to this site it wont work www.infowars.com Time Warner likes to block websites those bastards.
- BJWisch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Still time for it to be struck down. Give it a couple months.
- Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Um, how many an analog TV's do most people have in their homes? I have six in my house."
Haha, me too. Kind of sucks... - dognose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The majority of TV's that are currently sold, and have been sold over the past few years, are capable of receiving DTV signals."
Where do you get these stats from? Where in the specs can I find anything about DTV? How would the consumer know? If they are getting rid of Analog broadcasts, it should damn well be manditory that all tv's sold have DTV.
And yes, I know there is a freaking difference between HDTV and DTV. - Jetfire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Can someone please explain why we need legislation for this?
Corporations need a kick in the butt.
Now he needs to sign Laws for true braodband 30MBs both ways please min. and the end to DMR crap. - andrew_m, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Can someone please explain why we need legislation for this?"
Heres the other side from a scanner listener. The FCC ***** up, they need brodcast TV off the 700mhz range. Why, because Motorola public safty systems are being messed with by cell phones. So they are going to put thoes systems on 700Mhz away from cell phones but first they need brodcast TV to go digital and out of the way. - SyDIGG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"This is dumb, and completely transparent.
The president, a conservative who favors small-government and less restrictions on business and liberty, wants to restrict the freedom of broadcasters to broadcast analog TV. According to the Republican platform (as they'd have you believe it), businesses should be free to self-regulate, and government should not step in to outlaw analog TV."
The government can do whatever they want because they own and regulate the broadcast spectrum. Think of it this way ...the government is a landlord and has other plans for the apartment units currently leased out to all the broadcasters...so he set a 2009 eviction date. Its thats simple. - comat0se, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have no TV. Problem solved.
- tavisjohn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So when are they going to STOP Producing analog TV's? If the cut-off date is 2009, then they should have stopped producing NEW analog TV's back in 1999!
If they sell you an Analog TV on Feb 12, 2009 are they going to give you a free converter box, or will you be screwed because it will only be good for a week or so... - dognose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0From http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html
"Cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) subscribes will need a new DTV receiver and other special equipment to receive DTV programming. A “Plug-and-Play” or “Digital Cable Ready” DTV or other device will allow digital cable customers plugs directly into the cable jack and does not require a separate set-top box. You must obtain a CableCARD from your cable company to receive scrambled digital programming and premium one-way services. Also, a set-top box can be obtained directly from the cable or satellite provider." - DrDigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0jkfan87
Yeah it reminds me of all the Clinton bashing. Ironic don't you think. - cathode, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Crap, I'll have to upgrade in three years :)
- dognose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"All TVs 27" and up, sold since July 2004 were required to have a digital and analog tuner. "
Ok that is just plain not TRUE. Hell, it's hard to find an HDTV WITH a tuner, much less non HDTV with a DTV / ATCS tuner.
Here is a 27" tv. No metion of DTV or ATCS support.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4088185
here is the manual:
http://service.us.panasonic.com/opermanpdf/pv20df25.pdf
no mention of DTV or ATCS. it only says UHV/VHF.
So, is walmart breaking the law? Or is this just a hidden feature? Or are you wrong? - bigdc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Rock. All the poor people will get vouchers to get digital converter boxes ($1.5 billion allocated for this, I'd hope that's enough), so no bitching.
Maybe now the TV makers will stop making analog TVs so the HDTVs come down in price some more. - FubarHRD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hmm. I guess my little handheld TV won't work on the beach anymore. I'm certainly not lugging around a DTV converter box for it.
- dognose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0here is one tech guy's story on getting his DTV (aka ATSC) working. He had to get a seperate box and new antenna, along with a bunch of wires. http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/10/14/digital_tv.html
I think that some people here are confusing a run of the mill "digital tuner" with a ATSC / Digital TV tuner. They are not same. - Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0All TVs 27" and up, sold since July 2004 were required to have a digital and analog tuner. If your TV has a digital tuner, it should be pretty obvious, because most manufactures really like to brag about it. You should at least have a little DTV logo printed on the front of the TV.
- EyeDye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Beginning in 2008, you will be able to obtain up to two coupons worth $40 each toward the purchase of converter boxes for your analog TVs receiving over-the-air broadcasts."
Um, how many an analog TV's do most people have in their homes? I have six in my house. -
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