Will Your T.V. Become Obsolete Next Year?
By SKNVibes.com Staff Reporter
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS- IN 279 days, millions of households stand the risk of losing television reception when all full-power stations in the United States will be switching to entirely digital television signals (DTV).
As of February 17th, 2009 those whose television sets cannot receive these digital signals will be ‘left in the dark’. According to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) website, the transition to DTV is the result of 1996 legislature requiring all full-power television stations that broadcast analog, open air signals (i.e. NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.) to cease such broadcasts as of February 17th of next year.
Bill Ewing, Manager of The Cable however told SKNVibes.com that Kittitians should not have to worry about missing their favorite programs come the New Year.
“A majority of the people on this island should not be affected, as far as I know,” said Ewing. “The transition from analog to digital signals is a move by the FCC and should only be affecting those in the U.S.”
Ultimately, the transition means that all persons receiving analog signals through antennas will have their television service abruptly cut short if their television sets cannot convert the newly broadcasted digital signals back into analog. ~~Adz:Right~~
The FCC’s website states that persons who might be affected by the DTV transition can take several steps to prepare themselves, chief of which is to check if one’s television set has a built in digital to analog converter.
“Many DTVs and digital television equipment will have labels or markings on them…[that] may contain the words ‘Integrated Digital Tuner,’ ‘Digital Tuner Built-In,’ ‘Digital Receiver,’ or ‘Digital Tuner,’ ‘DTV,’ ‘ATSC,’ or ‘HDTV’ (High Definition television),” says the FCC website.
For those persons who do have older analog sets without the ability to receive an over-the-air digital signal, the purchase of a digital-to-analog converter box or a newer television set will be required.
Ewing stated that it was important for Kittitians to note that if they subscribe to Cable or satellite services they will not be affected by the transition to DTV.
“The equipment supplied already converts the signal from digital to analog, so there will be no problem. If we did decide to go fully digital in the future some people might need to purchase new equipment, but that would be a very expensive transition and it will be many years down the road before something like that happens,” said the Manager.
Television viewers should also be aware that DTV is not the same as HDTV, and that while the transition to DTV means that more HDTV programming will be offered, a person will not be required to purchase an HDTV set to view regular digital programming.
