Quote:
Originally Posted by peverett
My big issue with DTV in general is it's poor reliabilty vs the analog system, especially in bad weather. If the bandwidth had truly been used only for emergency services, I could possibly have lived with it. But since 90%(as I understand it) went to people like Verizon so they could continue to rip us off, I think it is criminal. TV is an emergency service in some areas of the country during severe weather and should have remained reliable.
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The more I read about DTV's reliability (or, more accurately, the lack of it) during inclement weather, the more I must agree with those who have said here that DTV is worse than analog television during thunderstorms, severe downpours, snowstorms, hailstorms, etc.--and that the old analog NTSC television system should have been left as it was. Poor weather absolutely does have an effect on DTV signals, every bit as much as it adversely affects satellite TV reception. I have Time-Warner cable, and even that is sometimes affected by severe weather. I have seen my TV's picture freeze, break up, etc. on this cable system, and even though it doesn't happen anywhere nearly as often as it would, say, with satellite, it is still annoying. I like to watch football with a buddy of mine, and I cannot tell you what an annoyance it is when the picture freezes, breaks up, etc. on his TV or mine (we live in separate towns and counties 25 miles apart, but our TVs are still on TW cable as this system serves all northeastern Ohio)--just at a critical moment in a play. It wouldn't be so bad if the sound would remain uninterrupted when the picture breaks up (one could still hear the play-by-play), but the nature of digital TV is such that if or when anything happens to the picture (freezing, pixelization, etc.), the sound stops as well. It's only an annoyance to me (I bet it irks my friend too) when it happens, but it could drive some really serious sports fans right up the wall.
BTW, I did not realize that ninety percent of the bandwidth given up by analog TV stations, when they went exclusively to digital, was grabbed by wireless service providers the likes of Verizon and others. ("Ripped us off" is right!) After Hurricane Katrina, I was sure the plan was to allocate this bandwidth to emergency services, so that communications problems such as the ones encountered during that storm would not happen again. (It wasn't and they will, respectively.) When the bottom line (read money) becomes more important than improving such things as emergency services, I cannot help but wonder where along the line Washington's priorities got mixed up as badly as they are.