DTV:

The digital transition

By the Vann’s editorial team

Currently, network television stations broadcast their programming via an analog signal. In other words, radio waves. Recent technological advancements, however, have made it possible to broadcast more signals, more clearly, and more efficiently using digital signals. That's why the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided to convert the current analog-based television system to a digital-based system by February 17, 2009. The following article will help you understand what you'll need to do in order to comply. (Scroll down to the bottom for a glossary of terms)

The basics:

Are you ready? Here's what you'll need.

If you have a classic tube television that uses rabbit ears to pick up the stations, then you're not ready for the digital transition. But don't worry: there's a solution. Converter boxes are available, and the Federal Government even provides vouchers to help pay for you to get one. Go to this website to apply for a coupon.

If your TV has an ATC and/or QAM tuner, you are ready for the big transition.

How analog signals work

Ahh, technology. In an age where something miraculous is invented or programmed daily, it's amazing we're still using the same television broadcasting system that was created shortly after WWII. It's called analog, and without an advanced degree in math or physics, it can be problematic to understand . . . or explain. However, bear with us as we attempt to illustrate the analog system and the newly-devised digital system in more user-friendly terms.

First, while there seems to be an infinite amount of information to transmit (have you really looked at all the specialty channels you can subscribe to?), there's only so much space that this information can travel through. This space is called bandwidth. Think of it as a six-lane freeway that cannot be expanded.

If you were to draw a picture of the current broadcast analog signal, it would look similar to a radio wave, with a long, undulating pattern. Audio and visual information is transmitted over the air in these waves. The signal, however, has issues. If something blocks the signal's path (think mountains or tall buildings), the signal is degraded. Also, the further the signal has to travel, the more degraded it becomes. Degradation causes things like ghosting and static when you sit down to enjoy a show.

In addition, analog waves can take up a considerable amount of bandwidth space, depending on the amount of information they contain. This is a pretty big problem now that we have high definition television (HDTV). We now have much larger signals than ever trying to fit in a small space. Since consumers want to receive all their programming in HD, stations want to broadcast in HD. Enter digital broadcasting.

How digital signals work

Digital signals rely on technology similar to what you find in your computer. The sound and image data that makes up a TV show is coded into a series of ones and zeros (the good ol' binary system). These bits of information are then relayed over the air in on/off pulses. The numbers are received, decoded, and reconstructed into the original information. There is no degradation of signal. You either receive a signal in full or you receive nothing. Plus, the digital signal is far smaller (and therefore faster and more efficient) than an analog wave. As a bonus, the signal is so much smaller, there is now room for cool extras, like multi-lingual programming and interactivity.

And that's it, in a nutshell. It's our love for great HDTV that made the DTV Digital Transition necessary, and it will make for stronger signals, and better television. Read on for more in-depth details.

And now, the nitty-gritty details:

How the change affects us from station transmission to home reception

Television stations are the most immediately affected by the conversion from analog to digital. In order to broadcast digital signals, the stations must replace a lot of very expensive equipment with new very expensive equipment. Because the conversion will be so cost-intensive, the government set the deadline several years in advance to allow stations to make the conversion gradually.

However, TV stations are only part of the equation. Broadcasters can send out digital signals all day long, but if consumer electronics aren't built to receive the new signal, nothing will show up on television sets. And if consumers don't prepare by incorporating something into their entertainment system that can receive and display digital signals, they'll be staring at a blank screen come February, 2009. So the conversion has an impact on all households across the US.

How manufacturers have responded

You may notice that televisions in stores now often feature NTSC, ATSC, and sometimes QAM tuners. NTSC tuners accept the current standard analog signal broadcast over the air. But ATSC and QAM tuners are the technology you need to receive digital signals. ATSC tuners receive over-the-air digital signals while QAM tuners receive unscrambled digital signals through cable. In fact, for the past two years manufacturers have been producing televisions with these capabilities.

With these few lines in the digital tuner mandate issued by the FCC in November, 2005, the government shook up consumer video recording; and may have finally killed the ailing stand-alone VCR. Most current video recording devices (VCRs, DVRs, DVD Recorders) don't have the ability to receive digital signals directly. This ruling forced manufacturers to revamp their consumer recording product lineups for 2007, incorporating the new tuners. Some manufacturers chose to simply leave the field altogether.

Other video devices

What about people who use a VCR, DVD Recorder, or Digital Video Recorder (DVR-records content to a hard drive) to receive broadcast signals?

Other video devices (videocassette recorders, digital video recorders such as hard drive and DVD recorders, etc.) that receive television signals?100% of all such units include DTV tuners effective March 1, 2007. The rest will have to use the converter box as well.

How the Conversion Affects You

Now that you understand why the conversion from analog to digital has been mandated, and you know what to expect from manufacturers, you need to understand how the conversion directly affects you. The bottom line is anyone who has not incorporated some ATSC-equipped component into their entertainment system by February 17, 2009, will be tuning in to a whole lot of nothing.

While this sounds like a frightening fact, it's important to know that this will only affect people who get their TV signal via over-the-air broadcast, representing around 24.3 million American households. The roughly 218.7 million households with cable or satellite (quite a majority) won't be affected because either their set-top boxes come with integrated ATSC or QAM tuners, or the cable companies will continue to send analog signals to customers with basic packages.

In fact, there are quite a few households that won't have to change anything in their television setup, not only those who have cable or satellite. Here's how it breaks down.

If you:

Have purchased a television in the past two years that has a built-in ATSC tuner, Have purchased or own a digital-to-analog converter box from the cable/satellite company, or have a digital-ready TV with an external digital set-top box, stop reading right now. You'll continue to receive television signals when the stations change to digital broadcasting.

And, if you:

Get your TV signal with basic cable and run the signal through your VCR, DVD Recorder or DVR (don't own a digital-to-analog converter box), or get your TV signal with basic cable and run the signal through a TV that is more than two years old (don't own a digital-ready TV and an external digital set-top box), you probably won't have issues. The cable companies will likely downconvert digital signals to analog for basic cable subscribers. But it may be worth purchasing a digital-capable component, just for peace of mind and future digital readiness.

However, if you:

Get your TV signal with an antenna and run the signal through your VCR, DVD recorder or DVR (rely on an antenna for your television), or get your TV signal with an antenna and run the signal through a TV that is more than two years old (don't own a digital TV with a built-in ATSC tuner), you will be watching nothing more than the reflection of your living room in your darkened TV screen as of February 17, 2009, when the digital conversion becomes complete and stations turn off their analog signals.

How You Can Be Prepared For The Conversion

So what do you need to do to make sure you receive a signal when the conversion is complete? For those who depend on over-the-air signals for television reception, there are options for converting to digital signal. The most direct, but probably the most costly solution is to buy a new television with an integrated ATSC tuner. You could also subscribe to cable or satellite to get the digital technology provided by those companies.

But what if you're perfectly satisfied with your television and don't feel the need to spend the money for 8,732 channels? Expect to see DTV broadcast converter products that, when connected to an antenna, convert the new digital broadcast signal to an old analog signal that your older TV can tune and display. Consumer electronics manufacturers will produce video recording devices with ATSC tuners. It's important to keep in mind, however, that many manufacturers will also produce video recording devices that don't have any tuners built in. That sounds like it contradicts the FCC mandate that every video recording device must have a tuner, but manufacturers have two options-build products with tuners or no tuners at all. Products like the current DVD/VCR combo will actually be called DVD/VCP combo units. VCP stands for Video Cassette Player. Though this product would be ideal for households with cable or satellite, if you get your signal over-the-air, be vigilant when shopping for these products. Make sure the one you take home is one you can use to receive digital signals.

Glossary:

ATSC Tuner-

An ATSC tuner is designed to allow reception of digital television signals broadcast over the air. It stands for Advanced Television System Committee, which is the name of the committee responsible for developing and establishing Digital-HDTV as well as Digital TV standards. ATSC uses MPEG-2, an A/V data compression standard that typically achieves a 50-to-1 reduction in data, to transmit HD signals over the air.

Many (but not all) cable companies pass unscrambled local HD channels using QAM. With a QAM capable tuner, you can receive those channels with any basic cable subscription.

CableCARD-

CableCARDs allow Digital Cable Ready TVs to receive digital programs without the use of a set-top box. The CableCARD is inserted into the CableCARD slot on the Digital Cable Ready TV, and it descrambles the encrypted digital signal provided by the cable company.

DCR-

Digital Cable Ready is a label used by manufacturers on new televisions that allow consumers to plug directly into a cable jack and receive unscrambled Standard Definition and High Definition digital cable programs without using a set-top box.

DVR-

A Digital Video Recorder (sometimes referred to as a personal video recorder) records programs onto a hard drive, similarly to a VCR, but with the ability to skip to any part of the program without having to move consecutively through the data stream. Think TiVo.

NTSC Tuner-

An NTSC (National Television Systems Community) tuner is designed to allow reception of analog television signals broadcast over the air.

Over-the-air, OTA, or Off-Air-

Refers to programming broadcast via the public airwaves; any program you currently watch by means of an antenna (as opposed to a cable system or satellite dish). This may include affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, PBS, and independent local broadcasters.

The new broadcasting legislation applies only to content received directly via over-the-air sources. Network and local channels provided through your cable or satellite operator will not be affected.

QAM Tuner-

A QAM tuner is present in some new digital televisions and similar devices. It enables direct reception of digital cable channels without the use of a set-top box. An integrated QAM tuner allows the free reception of unscrambled digital programming; however, some digital channels are scrambled because the providers consider them to be extra-cost options and not part of the basic cable package.

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