The big digital change starts Tuesday

February 13, 2008 07:18 pm

— Analog is fast fading.
You have probably already heard how analog television transmissions will be gone in a year.
Coming even sooner is the analog sunset, when all analog cell phones will stop working. In fact, it’s Tuesday.
So if you have an old cell phone, even if you keep it in case of emergency to call 911, better test it come Tuesday.
It may work as well as trying to call Sarah the operator to place your telephone call for you.
More than one million cell phone users will lose service when new Federal Communications Commission requirements begin.
‘Analog’ means “a device in which data are represented by continuously variable, measurable, physical quantities, such as length, width, voltage or pressure,” says dictionary.com.
“Digital,” on the other hand, means “numerical digits expressed in a scale of notation to represent discretely all variables occurring in a problem.”
To put it another way, analog is old and less efficient than digital.
Which is why TV signals are going digital only exactly one year from today. The digital signals take up less space on our increasingly crowded airwaves and your TV picture and sound are better, too. Some stations will even have multiple channels with separate programming. WUAB Channel 43 in Cleveland for example hosts a 24-hour weather channel, while WSEE Channel 35 in Erie offers a CW affiliate.
We at the Star Beacon have gotten many calls about the switch from analog TV signals to digital. It does sound pretty ominous. TV has used pretty much the same technology since the 1940s, when TV was all black and white on a tiny screen and programming included Uncle Miltie Berle, old movies and boxing matches.
Well all of that is changing and the effects on you the viewer will be monumental. It will be like the apocalypse. People will be running around screaming.
Nah. Just kidding. Gotta get your blood pumping.
The switch won’t be that big of a deal.
First, why the change? Well, we have many more wireless transmissions than we did in Uncle Miltie’s Day. So many homes have wireless transmitters for their Internet service. Bluetooth gives us access to our computer keyboards and mice without any wires. We can listen to music on headphones with no wire going to our MP3 players.
Emergency personnel are using more wireless transmissions. Not to mention we all have cell phones.
All of this takes up much less bandwith when it is digital rather than analog.
Plus the airwaves belong to the people, that is, the government. So the excess bandwith from ending analog transmissions will be sold by the government to all of those wireless companies at a tidy profit.
OK, what does all of this really mean to the local TV viewer?
If you get programming via cable or satellite, you don’t have to worry. The cable and satellite firms must handle the problem. You can sit and sip ice tea and not worry at all.
If you get your TV from a rooftop antennae or rabbit ears, you still have no problem if your television is digital. If your owners’ manual says it has an ATSC tuner, you are in luck. If you bought the set within the past year it is almost certainly digital, unless it was an older TV on closeout. Even then, the dealer had to tell you it was not digital. Why the heck did you buy it?
Most TVs sold within the past couple of years are digital.
Please note, all digital televisions ARE NOT high definition, All high definition TVs are digital.
So what happens if you have no cable or satellite and you have an old TV. Well, you could go back to reading.
Or you can get a converter box. Now if you are thinking, the government should help out. It’s making all of this money selling off excess bandwith.
Well guess what? The government is helping. It will help you buy up to two converter boxes.
A year from today, you just need to have your antennae connected to this converter, then the converter connected to your TV.
Your TV picture won’t look any better, because it isn’t digital.
The boxes cost $40 to $70 and will be available starting today until March 31, 2009. You can get them from places like Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Sears, Target and of course, Wal-Mart.
If you go to www.dtv.gov or www.dtv2009.gov, or if you call 888-DTV-2009, you can get two $40 coupons toward the cost of two converters. That drops the cost to from nothing to $30 per converter.
So remember, check that cell phone Tuesday to see if it works, get ready for the big digital TV conversion a year from now.
And some day when your grandchild climbs up on your knee and says, “Grandma (or Grandpa), what is analog?” you can smile and say, “Somebody who was once married to your uncle. Now go and play.”
Happy viewing, all.
Lebzelter is special sections editor. E-mail him at bobleb@starbeacon.com.

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