How long will we be able to buy ATSC-NTSC converter boxes?
 

I got to thinking: Anyone remember the "STEREO-READY" TV sets from the 80s, which required an external MPX decoder box to get stereo sound? They sold those all over the place....... For about 3 years. Then POOF! no more. Lead substitute in a bottle for pre-1974 cars? Skylab insurance? LP record stands? Now you can't find one anywhere for any price. (not that anyone would want one, I guess). But how about digital converter boxes? Will we be able to go into WalMart in 2015 and buy one? I think NO.

Can any TV collectors spell "STOCKPILE"?

Charles

I tend to think of them like the RF modulators that were sold in large numbers a few years ago when DVD players became popular. I would think they don't sell too many of those anymore, since almost all new TVs have video inputs, and most people who would have needed one have already bought one.
Soon, I think the resale stores will be filling up with the DTV boxes as people upgrade their sets, kind of like the RF modulators are in the resale stores now.

I don't think convertor boxes will disappear at least for the next decade, if not longer. If they disappear from store shelves, I guaran-damn-tee that you'll be able to order them online from some Chinese company.

They still sell 300/75 adapters after all, 20 years after TV's went to all coax.

And it wasn't too long ago that I could order, from some of my parts catalogs, analog cable boxes for older non cable ready TV's. And, RF modulators are still available locally. So, I suspect DTV converter boxes will be around for several years.

The item that HAS disappeared, and really was hard to find during its whole life in retail stores, is the HD tuner box. For years, every big-screen and flat-panel TV sold was "HD-ready", without an ATSC tuner built in. Most stores, though, gave you a blank stare if you actually asked for the needed tuner, or maybe they had one model in stock. I think far more HD tuners were sold that were also DirecTV receivers, and some for Dish Network as well. For the last couple of years or so, only one name-brand HD tuner has even been manufactured and sold, a Samsung.

I have five HD boxes already that I am holding on to, in addition to some SD digital tuners.

I have one of the first Samsung ATSC HD boxes... I have it on our Sony WEGA 40" CRT set. Works well! I like it because it puts out several scan rates; including the old 720 HD.

Charles

What you have to worry about isn't DTV box availability, but instead that they'll probably drop the 4:3 525i format at some point.

Oh, I'm sure that you'll be able to find all the converter boxes you'll ever need years from now on the auction web site that shall not be named...

000

Somehow I think the issue is less likely to be the availability of ATSC tuners into the future. Rather how long the current digital system as it stands today will remain in use.

Our analog shutdown isn't for a couple of years or so yet, but there is already talk orf replacing the current DVB-T MPEG-2 system first with MPEG-4, H2.64 or some other codec. This is brought about by a lack of bandwidth as currently all digital channels simulcast in both SD and HD as our cheap (and not so cheap if you were an early adopter) SD only boxes cannot decode and down convert a HD signal to SD. Further down the line looms a requirement for licensed "freeview" boxes where the FTA signal is encrypted. Proposed conditions for the license include macrovision on the analog outputs and PVRs that can't skip ads.

Thankfully we didnt end up with that simulcast crap happening in NZ, from what I have seen come out of the UK they have it even worse with the bitrate squeeze. They are not doing any HD digital over the air which is pretty backwards.

h264 looks so much better at a lower bitrate then the old mpeg2, so it makes sense to abandon the mpeg2 now before too many people get recievers.

And now throw in the new 3-D format ..... I'm so confused!!! I'm afraid of even buying a new tele or the converter or a HD antenna - Oh, for the good old days.

The decent converter boxes have already dissapeared. I wanted to go pick up another channel master CM-7000 at frys. Its the only retailer I know that sold those. I went in the store and they were gone. They had the coby brand converters, which looked like complete junk. I asked an employee and he told me they discontinued channel master and that this is their last batch of converter boxes they will sell. Not sure if I'm going to believe that line, but thats what they told me.

So I decided I'd go to best buy and just pick up another insignia box, they seemed pretty decent. Guess what, those are obsolete too. The girl at the store tells me the insigina boxes have been discontinued. They sell the Apex box, which I hear is a total POS. I bought one just to see for the heck of it.

Onto the next store, I called up ABT Electronics. I asked if they still carry their Zenith converter boxes. The guy tells me no, the insignia and zenith boxes, made by LG are both obsolete and no longer made and no longer available. He said they only carry the coby brand.

I then went to Grants Appliance, they only had one converter box in stock. I think it was a Zinwell. It looked kinda cheap. Then the guy goes into his salesman mode and starts telling me its number 1 in consumer reports and its the best etc. That was my red flag. If someone says its number 1 in consumer reports, or they use CR to base their argument, I automatically lose respect for who ever is talking.

So there you have it, for chicago area main electronics stores, there is nothing but crap available. I like buying new stuff in person, not on the internet. I'm kind of crazy about making sure I get one that nobody else tried to open, or one that doesn't have a smashed box. So I guess I have to buy the converters I like on ebay now. I figured I'd have all the time in the world with local electronics retailers, but apparently thats not the case.

Oh crap. I can't believe this shit. I'm going to check BB when I get off work tomorrow, hopefully there will be some insignias left.

Oh no....I am using the insignia at my downtown building and I really like the features, especially being able to program in an aspect ratio change for a certain channel and have it remember it. This is good for channels where they stretch a 4:3 picture to make it 16:9.
I really need to see if there are any still out there.
I have also not seen many name brand converters recently, they are all brands I have never heard of.