I guess some people still don't get it that analog TV is gone

[matt_s78mn]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

What's next, I'm afraid--used older analog TVs being declared illegal? It wouldn't surprise me. The government has already set a date by which incandescent light bulbs (except very low-wattage ones, such as appliance bulbs) can no longer be sold in this country, so who is to say that analog televisions, even used ones offered for auction on eBay or Craigslist, will or won't be next?

This is about the craziest conspiracy I've heard in a long time. Do people actually think that the government is going to ban the use of analog TVs? Really the government, the FCC or whoever isn't going to care about what kind of TV you use. If you choose to use an analog TV, just get a box or a DTV tuner, or whatever. Yea so the coupon program is over, but the converter boxes are still easy to find. Can't afford one? Well I just saw some at the local pawn shop for $20 each. Like it or not, DTV is here. I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for people who at this point in time don't yet know about the transition. Do they live under a rock? If they actually watch TV enough to warrant even possessing a television, they were subjected to the same annoying DTV PSAs that we all were. If they didn't do anything about them, didn't understand what the ads were about but didn't ask anyone for help, or chose to ignore them, well that's just unfortunate. Yes, there was plenty of time for people to act and prepare themselves for the transition.

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

The method most cable operators, including Time Warner in my area near Cleveland, currently use to accomodate viewers who do not want or cannot afford digital cable is to convert the digital signals to NTSC analog on an as-needed basis, but I think that is just a stopgap measure until all the analog sets give up the ghost. The ATSC->NTSC conversions may well be discontinued in a few years; anyone still having analog televisions at that time will be out of luck.

Cable operators deal with a limited amount of bandwidth. With many providers, they've began reaching capacity limits, yet want to ad additional services. Therefore it makes sense to remove analog video channels that take up 6MHz of bandwidth each, and replace them with digital services (video and otherwise.) See, using digital technology you can pack more channels into the same space ordinarily occupied by one analog channel. So, that's why you see channels being taken away from "basic cable." This is something that is inevitable so if you're going to subscribe to basic cable, you're just going to have to learn to live with it. To say that you won't be able to use an analog TV with cable is wrong as well, unless you're thinking of years from now into the future. Yes, even if analog basic cable goes away, you'll still be able to plug your analog TV into a cable box.

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I think the government wants to stop that in its tracks and force every US citizen to go digital, flat-panel, home theater......whether they like it or not.

Ridiculous!