DTV transition "Soft test" on 11-20-08 in Chicago

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

I agree that a digital signal converted to analog locally can look very good.

Ooops! I spoke too soon when I said all of Time Warner's channels were being broadcast in digital. I spoke over the phone with a TW customer service representative yesterday who told me that the broadcast channels were still being carried in the analog NTSC format, and will be until the digital transition is complete in February. (The image freezing and pixelization I referred to in my last post were being caused, most likely, by loose connections on cables which were being whipped around during our very windy weather last weekend.) However, the pictures still look much sharper and clearer on this cable system than they were before it was converted to digital, even if some or even most channels are still analog, so I am expecting nothing short of razor-sharp pictures after the transition. I think TW, and probably many if not most or all other cable systems in this country, are more than ready for the day when analog TV ends for good in the U.S.

As far as people "dreading" the digital transition are concerned, I don't believe it is worth getting upset over as it will happen on 02.19.2009, like it or not. I personally do not see why anyone should dread this change anyway, as we will still be able to use our old antique (and more modern, of course) analog TVs after the transition if they are on cable or satellite, or used with an ATSC converter if one still desires to use an antenna after the digital switch. The only differences will be that the pictures will not fill the screens of our 4:3 TVs, and that the channel selection will be done at the cable box or ATSC OTA (over the air) converter, with the television's own tuner set to channel 3 or 4 (whichever is not used by a local television station) and left there. We will no longer be able to change channels at the TV itself, but the use of a digital cable box or ATSC OTA converter box will allow us to have remote control on our treasured old sets, even if they are currently non-remote models. Most ATSC converters and cable boxes have remotes which control volume and mute as well as up/down channel selection, not to mention favorite channel memory and other features which will vary by manufacturer, so with an ATSC box or digital cable your old TV can be better than it ever was in the "old days" of NTSC analog.

As to the reception problems some of you have reported with ATSC OTA converters, I would say wait a while. Many of the digital subchannels of existing analog TV stations are not yet transmitting at full power, have antenna issues or both, which will limit transmission range. As an example, I live in an area of northeastern Ohio where analog TV reception on an antenna is fair at best, with one channel (WKYC-TV, NBC channel 3) not reaching here at all. This area is 610 feet above sea level and 35+ miles southwest of all Cleveland TV transmitters. (The city of Cleveland itself is only 660 feet ASL.) Given this situation, I don't hold out much hope for folks in my town who still use antennas; that is, their analog reception isn't all that great, and digital reception may well be worse or even non-existent on some channels. As it is, the best analog OTA signal in this area is on the CBS affiliate in Cleveland, WOIO-TV, channel 19 (the station comes in well here even on rabbit ears), so its digital subchannel should look fairly good as well even using simple antennas. However, the digital signals of the other seven channels (5, 8, 23, 25, 43, 55, 61) could be iffy or downright unwatchable, unless a very high-power antenna is used. Since cable and satellite offer much better reception, more channels, and no conversion worries, however (all digital-to-analog conversions will be done at the cable headend, and satellite is digital already), I would think anyone whose TVs are connected to these services will have absolutely nothing to "dread" or be concerned with when analog goes dark, as the transition will be completely transparent and seamless to viewers.