2.7% not ready for Digital Transition - Page 2

Piggie · 05-29-2009, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orrymain

That was a great history lesson, and I thank you for it. I'm part of the group that has only been in the group for the last two years, when our stations began to push it on air.

One question just for my personal knowledge. I'm not all that technical. You said: "Then to appease the TV manufacturers the FCC allowed TV makers to keep selling TV's without ATSC tuners up through Christmas of 2006."

ATSC Tuners --- old TV's don't have them so they need converter boxes. Are you saying that any new TV manufactured from 2007 on does *not* need a converter box? Does it do it internally?

Remember some of my dates are off. Like I said most of those details are now hard to find because magazines, etc take down pages after a point, etc. The other alternative is to find all the reference to it over on AVS, which would take days, so bear with me confusing dates.

They appeased TV makes by allowing them to keep making analog only TVs up until 2 years from the Feb 17th transition. They should have cut them off at least 3 to 4 years, because the average TV built this century has a life of only 7 years on average. So if you change at 2 years, that means many of the TV's sold still have at least 5 good years in them but won't pick up digital with out a converter box.

Hence, if they had of said years ago, ok, Jan 1, 2006 you can't import or make analog only TVs in the US it would have reduced the number of needed converter boxes by a HUGE number. Some estimate as high as 25% of them would not have been needed, as 25% more sets would have had ATSC tuners in them.

If I remember correctly, for Christmas season 2006 anything went. You could make or sell a TV without any digital tuner. Then between then and March, all TV's larger than 25 inch screen had to have a digital tuner. After March 1st , 2007 all TVs had to have a digital tuner.

Now there was a gotcha. Stores could sell off stock after either deadline, but were supposed to placard, label and tell the customer they are not buying a digital ready TV.

So yes, if you bought a TV larger than 25 inches after Jan 1 2007 or any TV after Mar 1, 2007, and were not told it would not receive digital then it will receive digital without a converter box.

Do you have a question about a particular TV or someone you know owns is ready?

Jay · 05-29-2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piggie

Now there was a gotcha. Stores could sell off stock after either deadline, but were supposed to placard, label and tell the customer they are not buying a digital ready TV.

So yes, if you bought a TV larger than 25 inches after Jan 1 2007 or any TV after Mar 1, 2007, and were not told it would not receive digital then it will receive digital without a converter box.

Do you have a question about a particular TV or someone you know owns is ready?

At that point after Mar 1, 2007, in addition to the placard that Piggie mentioned, TVs without digital tuners were marketed as "HD Monitor" or "HD Ready". Amazon still has some listings on their website (being sold by a 3rd party) like one for the Olevia 327V 27-Inch LCD HD Ready Monitor that states, "27" HDTV Ready LCD TV with no tuner".

staticMHZ · 05-29-2009, 06:21 PM

Piggie I just have to say I enjoy reading your long posts, it gives me something to do on a rainy sunday afternoon. LOL.

Orrymain · 05-29-2009, 10:51 PM

Actually, I was curious because my sister told me that she just bought me a 32" Samsung TV. I don't know the model number yet. It's to replace a TV that's about 3 decades old. So since she just bought it, I assume it's new ... and therefore, that means it doesn't need a converter box after all?

I think she bought herself a new TV about a year ago, so maybe she doesn't need one either. I'll have to check on that.

Is there something we have to do with these 'new' TVs as far as scanning or anything or does it truly do it all itself?

CptlA · 05-30-2009, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orrymain

Actually, I was curious because my sister told me that she just bought me a 32" Samsung TV. I don't know the model number yet. It's to replace a TV that's about 3 decades old. So since she just bought it, I assume it's new ... and therefore, that means it doesn't need a converter box after all?

I think she bought herself a new TV about a year ago, so maybe she doesn't need one either. I'll have to check on that.

Is there something we have to do with these 'new' TVs as far as scanning or anything or does it truly do it all itself?

If she still has her manual that came with either TV, it'll list for sure whether it has a ATSC digital tuner or just a NTSC analog tuner. All of the newer TVs with a digital tuner should have a setup menu within their menu system where you can select the auto channel scan option. One thing you'll need to do, is switch the TV from using the analog tuner to the digital tuner. On my TV, it's done by pressing the input a few times and cycling through other inputs too like VCR, DVD, before arriving to the digital tuner input. It may not actually be labled like "digital input" either.

Piggie · 05-30-2009, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by staticMHZ

Piggie I just have to say I enjoy reading your long posts, it gives me something to do on a rainy sunday afternoon. LOL.

Good, if not sarcastic, well and even good if sarcastic! As I get under a lot of people's skins. I never felt alive without getting in deep and riding near the edge at the same time. So my nick is probably perfect.

Piggie · 05-30-2009, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orrymain

Actually, I was curious because my sister told me that she just bought me a 32" Samsung TV. I don't know the model number yet. It's to replace a TV that's about 3 decades old. So since she just bought it, I assume it's new ... and therefore, that means it doesn't need a converter box after all?

I think she bought herself a new TV about a year ago, so maybe she doesn't need one either. I'll have to check on that.

Is there something we have to do with these 'new' TVs as far as scanning or anything or does it truly do it all itself?

Along with all the points CptlA made, some TVs mix the analog with the digital, it's just TV or Cable like the old days of analog tuners. All of them I have ever seen have a scan function just like the converter boxes. Where I see the biggest differences is also like the differences in converter boxes. How you add channels after a scan. Some of them you can put in the virutal channel number and it finds it in add a channel. Some you have to put in the real channel to add a channel. Some you put in the decimal, some not. Some you don't even have to go to a menu function to see if a new channel is there. It is it there then you add it to favorites or line up later.

Most likely both of her TV's are DTV ready, but as stated already, check the manual. Some have it plastered on the front of the set also.

All else fails, go in the menu look around. See if there is a separate input listing for analog and digital or just called TV vs Cable, or all three. Choose digital if that is a choice, otherwise just choose TV. Then do a scan. Chances are if there is any antenna at all on the set, it will find one digital channel if it's digital ready.

Orrymain · 05-30-2009, 10:31 PM

Thanks for the information. It's all been very helpful. I was even able to relay it to my sister so she could understand it better herself. I'm excited about my new TV, too!

staticMHZ · 05-30-2009, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piggie

Good, if not sarcastic, well and even good if sarcastic! As I get under a lot of people's skins. I never felt alive without getting in deep and riding near the edge at the same time. So my nick is probably perfect.

i mean it

Lurker Lee · 05-31-2009, 09:04 AM

Interesting article here. FCC has id'd some 50 markets that are less ready. "In the Monroe-El Dorado area, Nielsen Media Research estimates about 20,460 households — 11.4 percent of the market — are unprepared for the transition". So I suspect some areas will have a harder time of it than others.


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