More Confusion With Transition To Digital Tv Technology

By Author: Emily Sanderson
Total Articles: 32
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With the scheduled February 17, 2009 deadline for conversion from the old
fashioned analog TV signal to the newer and more efficient digital TV
signal less than two years away now, there's a fair amount of confusion in
the press about the issue. It all began back in the late nineties when
Congress- under lobbying pressure from consumer electronics
manufacturers- mandated that all over the air analog TV transmissions
would cease and be replaced by analog TV signals. So far that mandatory
date of the transmission has been pushed back from 2006 to 2009
because of objections from TV stations that don't want to shell out the
money for new transmission equipment and from TV owners who don't
want to shell out the money either for a new TV set or a special set top box
that will allow their old analog TV sets to display the digitally transmitted
television.

When discussing all of these issues, it's important to keep a few things in
mind. First of all, digital TV is a relatively new way of transmitting video that
takes advantage ...
... of computer technology to send a signal that can easily be
cleansed of any interference by special receiver hardware, thereby
providing a TV picture of incredible clarity. All satellite TV companies
already use this format on all of their programming and many cable TV
companies use it on most of their programming.

One of the reasons that this whole thing is such a fuss is that analog TV
signals take up more of the over the air electromagnetic bandwidth than
the equivalent TV programming does in digital format. This fact, combined
with the fact that many TV stations are transmitting their content
simultaneously in both analog and digital formats, means that there's a lot
of electromagnetic bandwidth being wasted on unnecessary TV
transmissions. That bandwidth could be used for numerous other things
like emergency services communications and wide spread wireless
Internet access. That's a large part of the incentive to completely change
over to digital TV.

Another major reason to change over to digital TV is that there's a lot of
money for consumer electronics makers to rake in when all of the analog
signals go off the air because at that point analog TV sets will be obsolete-
at least when it comes to being used to watch TV directly off of the air. At
that point, consumers will either need to buy special converter boxes to
make their old TV sets work or buy completely new TV's. Of course, their
are plans for the government to subsidize purchase of those converter
boxes, but no matter where the money comes from, it still means plenty of
profit for the consumer electronics industry.

Now, there are plenty of mixed signals about the coming transition. For
example, every TV set now on the market has to have a digital tuner that
will allow it to pick up the digital over the air signals. Also a coalition of
broadcasters and electronics manufacturers has formed in order to
educate the public about the impending transition. But at the same time
these positive steps are being taken, some politicians are saying that the
transition might have to be pushed back again and some analysts are
saying that it will have to be pushed back again. Only time will tell how any
of this will play out.

E.Sanderson writes articles about the latest developments in technology, electronics, and satellite TV. She'd like to inform you about the latest Dish TV services and how you can find the best Dishnet HD Promotions.