Are you ready for the digital TV transition?

[aussigal]

WE are gettin switched over in Australia real soon too...cant remember the exact date...

We got cable TV on our main tv but the smaller set in the bedroom will need a set top box...we didnt get free vouchers or anything...luckily there are about $40-$50 for standard ones so I guess I will need one of them to keep watching my tv as the kids and hubby own the big tv with cable...

Hubby is trying to decide what sort LCD or PLasma to treat himself to...he wants the biggest size he can afford and is looking at 52inches!...I think 42inches is heaps big enough...how can you look at 52 inches of telly all at once?

 

[Freddie]

Hubby is trying to decide what sort LCD or PLasma to treat himself to...he wants the biggest size he can afford and is looking at 52inches!...I think 42inches is heaps big enough...how can you look at 52 inches of telly all at once?

Google LCD vs Plasma and you'll get your answer on which one to buy. LCD is the way to go..........coming from a very reliable source. But Google it and decide for yourself.

We have a 42" and its plenty big enough for our room, but heck, if you have the room/wall space go for a 52"

 

[Ross]

I think it's pretty awful that the govt did this. what is the reason? I just don't understand how/why this is being done at all. we were all pretty happy with what we have had all these years and suddenly it's all going to change! How come nobody is yelling about it? It will affect everybody in some way.

We are ok because we had a direct lightning strike in the summer and it got lots of stuff in our house, including the TV. We had to get a new one and it's already bringing in the HD. Plus we are on satellite for all but one local station.

I still think, tho, that this was just shoved on us without considering the inconvenience to American households.

Supposedly the FCC is running out of frequencies to assign without causing disturbances to other radio signals operating in other bands. The transition is to clear the way for more technology without disrupting services. Whether or not this is true, I don't know, but that's what I've read.

The transition from analog to digital TV should mean that the public gets more: better quality TV pictures, and more programming that serves our needs for information about our local communities. It should also mean that the public airwaves could be used to make access to the Internet more available at low cost to rural, low-income and minority households, and to small businesses. This new technology could better inform and empower all Americans, and give the opportunity to prosper in this new information age to all of us, regardless of our income level or where we live.

 

[aussigal]

.

We have a 42" and its plenty big enough for our room, but heck, if you have the room/wall space go for a 52"

SSSShhhhh NO!...dont encourage him Freddie...
actually I am kinda planning/wondering if its a bit too trashy to put the old but large 68cm/28" telly in the bedroom...that way I wont have to struggle to see the picture anymore .

I prefer the picture on the LCD it seems clearer and deeper in colour...its a bit of a bummer that theyre slightly more pricey than the plasmas...

We have to get over the Christmas budget blowout first...maybe in a month or so he will get his dream TV set....

 

[Bina]

Up intil Dec. 2007 I had a tiny 13" telly in the office and was having trouble to see it.
So we bought a LG LCD 20" when it was on sale after holidays. Love it.
Now last month we got one for hubby and he got a good sale on Toshiba LCD 32".
My sis and dad both bought plasma 42". I'm not fond of the shiny screen on those and my house is quite bright.

 

[Wise]

Up intil Dec. 2007 I had a tiny 13" telly in the office and was having trouble to see it.
So we bought a LG LCD 20" when it was on sale after holidays. Love it.
Now last month we got one for hubby and he got a good sale on Toshiba LCD 32".
My sis and dad both bought plasma 42". I'm not fond of the shiny screen on those and my house is quite bright.

I have a 42" Sony Bravia LCD TV. I love the picture quality and love not having to squint to read all of news and sports tickers (or whatever you call them). Of course, as is the case with any of the HDTVs, you have to have HD programming to fully appreciate them.

 

[Bina]

The minute we connected the new TVs to the antenna we were able to pick up a couple of digital channels on side bands.
I don't play golf at all, but now I watch it occasionally just for the spectacular scenery.
On a cold dark day all of a sudden I am in Florida, California, Arizona, etc. Groovy.

 

[Nancy]

I have cable, but have an old TV in the guest room. So I just applied for a coupon from the government, and I was told that I qualified, but they had no money at this time. And if and when money became available, they would send me the coupon

 

[Guest]

Am I the only loser who is still hooked up to antenna only??

Nope! I am, too!

I have a converter box ... just have to find time to hook it up .



Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...MidW Blast = 01/17/09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"It's hard to tell if I exist" ... Barenaked Ladies ... 'Pinch Me'

 

[dtread]

I had cable TV last year but got tired of commercials every 7 or 8 minutes, and when the commercials came on the volume increased at least 10 or 20 decibels, perhaps more. And the rates kept going up. So I canceled the cable contract and went back to the local channels and PBS, which works fine. With the digital conversion I applied for and got two converter boxes. I hooked one up, and it worked okay. One nice thing was that it came with a remote, which I didn't have before (old analog TV). It also seemed like there were more channels, and maybe there are a couple more, but it really didn't add significantly to the channel line up. One other thing, there was a show on PBS that I wanted to watch (i.e., Roy Orbison in Black & White night), and I couldn't get the signal with digital box. So I disconnected the digital box and went back to analog in order to watch the show. I haven't reconnected yet, and don't intend to until I have to. One big drawback with not having cable is that I could not watch the bicycle races such as Tour de France on Outdoor Life Network (OLN). A big plus of not having cable is that I watch less TV. One other thing - I found out through AARP that there is a website that you can go to that has both TV and movies that you can watch for free; i.e., www.hulu.com Among the shows that Hulu has are 117 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 1955 - 1958 era. Great watching! You will need broadband Internet service like DSL or Cable to watch though - a dial-up modem would not work. There are a lot of other TV shows and movies on Hulu also - all for free. So I don't feel the need for cable or satellite TV service.

 

[catwoman]

I voted only on one item -- that I already had satellite/cable -- then saw I could have voted for several items, but it was too late to vote for another item.

When we moved to our current home in 1996, we had to get satellite -- cable lines had not been laid on our private street. So we were already OK.

However, we have only 2 TV sets. One in the den is 24 years old, a tiny B&W in our bedroom is 19 years old.
I've been wanting new TV sets for a very long time. Last week we bought a 32" Samsung at Costco for $599. My parents bought the same set about 2 months ago and they like it very much. I compared the picture on this exact set at several stores and it was better than other 32" sets. (This is not a 1080 image.)
We'll probably get a 19" Samsung this weekend. Target has it on sale this week, about $20 off Costco's price + a $50 gift card. We could use the gift card toward a stand I've seen at Target.

FYI: I bought my hubby a Dell 1525 laptop New Year's Eve and our computer geek nephew will set that up for him. I'm going to order a 1525 today or tomorrow.
Since John works at a college, he can purchase the academic versions of Microsoft Office packages much cheaper than we can get through Dell. There's a store in Dallas where we'll get the software.

I also need a new cellphone. But not now -- too many new electronic toys to get used to right now. Still trying to figure out why the HP wireless printer I bought 12/31 won't work right!

 

[Bina]

Nope! I am, too!

I have a converter box ... just have to find time to hook it up .

Cort, thanks for joining my antenna club.

 

[Nancy]

It looks as if Obama is trying to get the conversion date pushed out a while since the government has run out of coupons, and will have to initiate new funding for them.

So a reprieve is in the works.

 

[PairoDocs]

I have found it's possible to get a partial digital signal. The "gray" area is interesting--gone are the days of snowy rolling pictures. The picture breaks up into squarish pixels of various sizes, while the sound cuts in and out. Occasionally a picture will freeze while the sound continues, then part of a picture shows up a few seconds later superimposed on remnants of the prior complete picture. It's annoying that the digital signal is so underpowered compared with the analog signal. I realize the FCC wants to clear the television bands (lots of megahertz here!) for other uses, but making the digital signal so low powered is difficult. I realize cell phones go on milliwatt digital signals, compared to analog CB multi-watts, but for the short term, maybe the digital transmitters could increase the signal strength by about 10-20x (still 100 to 1000 times less than the analog signal) so the public doesn't force the FCC to reverse this decision through some lame lawsuit over lack of proper reception of anything even with the converter box.

We're as ready as we'll ever be. Have a 42" 1080i (I hope the DTV signals don't go 1080p too soon...) LCD tv got late November 2007, and it works okay on the new DTV transmission--except for the marginal stations I've already mentioned with the sequence of 'stills' and big staticky squares of partial reception.

Chris

 

[Guest]

Cort, thanks for joining my antenna club.

*grins*

You are welcome!


BUT ... I just saw a "tidbit" of something last night, but I was too sick to take note or remember it exactly...ugh. Anyway, it was something about antennas not being "proper" for DTV reception. They gave a website to read more and see if a new antenna is needed as well, but I can't remember what it was ... and, as I noted, was too sick to move to get a piece of paper and pencil to write it down. Ugh. I'm sure they will note it again in a news broadcast before too long.....



Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...RT 66 drive = Sept '09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"What is worth it?" ... Taylor Swift ... 'Should've Said No'

 

[Bina]

Not to worry.....we are already picking up a couple of DTV channels when I wear my foil hat.