DTV Feb 17, 2009 June 12, 2009 over-the-air Transition

DTV March 18, 2009 Cable ch32-71 Transition

Got Cable and an older CRT (picture tube) or 4:3 non-HD TV set (these are called SDTV)? HD TV sets are 16:9 and are fairly wider than they are tall compared to 4:3 SDTV as it is now called. I don't know about the current status of Sattelite right now, but Cable is in the middle of sudden upgrades and we are being notified as of January 2009. Cable is going digital and so is broadcast (over-the-air) TV. For those with non-HD-type TV sets, you will need a DTV converter box ($50), or a fairly fancy ATSC tuner(more expensive) that can output to SDTV's in the kind of hookup you have (RF coax, RCA NTSC video+stereo audio, S-Video+stereo audio). Component video outputs like YPrPb are for HDTV's.

Not all DTV's/HDTV's include an ATSC tuner, so you may need to purchase one separately, or purchase a DVD recorder that has an ATSC tuner in it. Check out this graph showing that 1080p does matter - at a certain distance: but then again I don't have 20/20 vision so for me it doesn't matter... Not all tuners are the same. some have better features than others, such as an HDMI port in case you have an HDTV that doesn't come with a tuner. A DTV Converter box is an ATSC tuner with limited amount of connectors (at the very least, no component video out, and probably won't support Cable TV channels either).

A DTV converter box can be used with your digital Cable set top box to view digital channels. As you can see, they currently run about $50.

over-the-air broadcast

The USA's television broadcast stations are scheduled to switch over to Digital TV (DTV) by Feb 17, 2009 June 12, 2009 (see also dtvtransition.org & kcts.org/digital). Get your coupon from https://www.dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-DTV-2009 [1-888-388-2009] or http://www.dtv.gov 1-888-CALL-FCC[1-888-2255-322]. PBS has said you should get a DTV converter box with Analog Pass-through. "SDTV" is a normal 4:3 analog CRT (sometimes flat-screen) television set with the regular channels. Unless you are using a YAGI antenna (best reception), you will probably need a digital antenna. KNMT-TV-24 is switching over early to KNMT-DT-45 in April early by permission.

"Many low-power TV and TV translator stations may remain in analog after June 12, 2009.  For easiest navigation between these channels and full power digital channels using analog TV sets consumers may want to use converter boxes with “analog pass-through” capability.  Click here to learn more."

Cable

Cable has a few channels that have switched over to HD, but they are telling us you don't need to toss your old TV set or use a different cable box (as long as you can get channels 2-71). They are now (as of Jan 2009) telling us that Cable channels 32-71 will be switched over to digital soon [March 18] They are now telling us as of March 2009 that channels 31-71 will be switched over to digital. - this requires a digital converter box from comcast for $1 extra/mo 1-877-634-4434. I guess you can expect the rest of the channels to be upgraded later the way things are going. This means the Cartoon network, Disney channel, HGTV, ABC Family, and the movie channels.

Sattelite

I am not sure if the local channels are available as non-HD, but according to this, local channels will be available in HD by year's end. which year I am not sure, but this appears to be 2009?. It is not clear if this is a switchover or an addition (someone please tell me who has directv).

According to what people were told by DirecTV, HDTV's or DTV converter boxes will not be required.

FiOS TV

No information at this time. Both HD channels and regular SDTV channels are available.