If you listen to some of the news coverage of the eminent transition from analog to digital TV you might think the impact will be huge! In fact, the majority of TV households in the US will never notice. According to IMS research, only 3.6 Million over-the-air analog TV households remained by the end of 2008. Those of use already paying for cable or satellite TV service will not be impacted.
If you are one of these remaining households, still to make the transition, no worries! Here’s what you need:
- A TV with a build in digital tuner connected to a rooftop antenna or “rabbit ears”
or
- An analog TV connected to a digital converter box connected to a rooftop antenna or “rabbit ears”
Some people will find this a great excuse to help out the economy and go buy a new TV equipped with a digital tuner. It is now illegal to import TV’s that are not digital tuner capable, but some stores might still have inventory of old analog TVs’ so be careful before you buy. If you want to use an older TV without digital tuning capability, you will need to purchase a digital tuner converter box.
Your digital TV or your converter box will need to connected to a roof-top or “rabbit ears” style antenna to get good reception. You can use your old antenna from the analog TV but some of the newer antennas might allow you to reduce the size or improve reception.
If you do decide to purchase a digital converter box for use with an existing TV, make sure to get a government coupon to help with the cost. Go to www.DTV.gov to request a coupon and find out everything you ever wanted to know about the digital TV transition.
Once converted, you will enjoy a better picture, the availability of a free programming guide and, if you have a high definition TV, free HDTV broadcasts!
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