I assume you mean, if you don't have cable or satelite, will your TV be able to get any reception over the air after February 19, 2009 the way that it is? Or will you have to buy a digital antenna/convertor box? Do you get any extra channels over the air? Not just getting channel 10 and channel 11, but also getting channel 10.1, 10.2, and so on? If so, you are already getting digital reception. I have cable myself, but I just visited my parents this past weekend, and I got to watch TV with their new convertor box. They definitely get a lot more channels and a much clearer picture than they used to. I have heard that digital reception is an all or nothing affair: You will either have perfect reception of a channel, or else you won't get it at all. Unlike analog reception, where you could get different gradations of fuzziness and static on a channel, if you were on the edge of a channel's broadcast area and/or you were getting stormy weather. Do you get a fuzzy picture on any of the stations you get? If so, then you probably don't have digital reception.
Jon, have been watching the commercial's about the new digital transfer next year and they have not answered my question. My parents get their tv thru an antenna but recently heard by accident that if your TV is digial, then you don't need a converter box, even if you get your signal thru antenna. In the governemt commercials they show an old tv from the 50's which is definitely not digital but analog. Even you did not answer my question as to "How to you tell if a tv is digital or analog" Am I wrong in assuming that not every tv that gets its signal thru an antenna needs a digital converter box. I will bet that some stores are trying to fool people into buy a HD tv. Any bets? Wayne In Dallas
#SDNY he's all yours. -- Michael Steele 5110 Posts 3/03
Posted - Oct 21 2008 : 7:40PM
As Jon said, you can tell if it's digital by looking at whether it's picking up the extra channels. If that doesn't satisfy you, get the model number of the TV and go to the manufacturer's website and look it up, or just Google it. You are not wrong in assuming that a digital TV that is hooked up to an antenna does not need one of the converter boxes to pick up the digital channels. The boxes are for analog TVs. If the TV is more than a few years old, it probably isn't digital. Actually, just the fact that it's owned by your parents is probably a pretty good indication that it isn't digital.
Thanks Harry. In the DFW Metroplex there are 23 over the air channels both vhf and uhf. What is channel 10.1? Guys, thought there might be a quick and dirty way to figure out if a tv is digital or not but it sounds like there is not. Digital numbers on the screen does not signify a digital set I assume. Thanks for the suggestion of checking the serial number. Just hoped for a quicker answer. Don't know how old the set if but must be around 10 years old. Wayne In Dallas
FCC's FAQ about digital tv: Question 8: [invalid URL removed]How do I know if I already have a digital TV (DTV)I think it's safe to assume you need a converter box (or a new tv set).
Just a made-up example. Imagine if your area has had channel 10 and channel 11 broadcasting over the air in analog for years. It's quite possible that they could have more shows that they would like to show than they have time for, on the original channels 10 and 11. But by going digital, channel 10 can broadcast more of the shows that it would like to, by adding channels 10.1, 10.2, and more. Channel 11 can also do the same, and create channel 11.1, 11.2, and so on. It's like on cable and satelite, there's ESPN and ESPN2 (and ESPN Claasic, and ESPN University,...). Except that this is actually over the air, no cable or satelite dish required.10 Years old? Why didn't you say so before. You definitely need to buy a convertor box then. From what I hear, they're $40 to $70, and there is a way to apply to the Federal Government for a 40 dollar coupon. So you could get a cheap convertor box for free, or very close to free.
Here's the site where you can apply for up to two $40 coupons that can be used toward the purchase of a digital converter. If your parent's TV is more than 3 or 4 years old and isn't an HDTV, then it's not digital. The "10.1" that Gentleman Jon was referring to is a digital channel with a sub channel. This is how most digital channels are currently labeled. If your NBC affiliate currently broadcasts on channel 10, then the digital channel, that they are broadcasting from, likely maps to channel 10.1 (sometimes it will be referred to as 10-1). With digital TV, it's also possible for a channel to broadcast multiple streams of programming on different sub-channels. If a channel is broadcasting a standard definition program on their primary digital channel, they have a lot of extra bandwidth that they don't need to broadcast that program. So they could show a second program on channel 10.2. In NYC, most of the HD signals were coming from the World Trade Center before 9/11. Subsequently, a lot of work needed to be done at the Empire State Building in order to move the transmissions over there. The local Fox affiliate was one of the few stations that were broadcasting from the Empire State Building prior to 9/11. So they never lost their digital signal. While the other channels were being moved over to the Empire State Building, Fox broadcast a standard definition digital signal of the local UPN station, which was owned by the same company that owned the Fox station, on it's second sub-channel. So, Fox was on 5.1, while UPN was on 5.2.
Not quite. The picture can begin breaking up without failing entirely ("macroblocking", etc). Probably the best way to tell if a TV has a digital tuner is to look at the channel selection buttons. If there is a "period" button near the digits it definitely has a digital tuner. If there is no period then it most likely doesn't have a digital tuner. The "period" button might be labeled subchannel, but a period symbol is most likely.
Thanks guys for all your help. Even heard that they were stil making analog tvs a few months ago. Will get a coupon and install a digital converter box on my parents tv. Wayne In Dallas
