Updated 05/28/2008
The real question is what is DTV. DTV is not to be confused with digital cable, satellite, Direct TV or Dish. DTV, digital television, is a new RF transmitting standard for over the air broadcasting which will replace NTSC, our old standard. Originally slated for January 2007, The DTV transition was riddled with filed extensions due to various reasons from capitol and financial market limitations to available crews and new equipment. While those same problems will continue for a some time the FCC has settled on a February 2009 requirement for the vast majority of broadcasters across the nation. If you are on satellite or cable you won’t even know the transition has occurred. The DTV transition only affects those watching TV over the air using an indoor or outdoor antenna.
The greatest problem with our old NTSC over the air broadcast system was the vast degree of variable results making consistent quality extremely difficult. The problem of available RF spectrum for all the new services surfacing over the decades had many engineers looking at the inefficiency of the old system requiring channels have a wide margin of spectrum between them to prevent co-channel interference. This new system, DTV, is still an analog RF transmission system but resolves those problems by applying digital technology. Stations can now be right next to each other and you get a perfectly clear picture making it very different from our past TV experience. DTV is the same as DVD quality in this regard. DTV adds other services such as Dolby Digital 5.1 home theater surround sound and multi channel programming meaning your station can provide more than one program on the same channel. DTV has 18 different kinds of picture quality standards or transmissions and these are called signal formats. Some of these formats carry so much information providing movie theater quality images that they are called HD, high definition, and that is what HDTV is all about. To be clear, your local station changing over to DTV does not mean it will be broadcasting HD content. The type of content provided is not part of the FCC requirement for the transition.
To receive DTV over the air transmissions with your old NTSC TV requires a set top box, STB, and any TV or display with A/V inputs. A/V connectors are those round plugs found on the back of the STB and your TV labeled video, left and right. The government will be subsidizing the transition via a coupon that applies to a DTV convertor STB so you can continue to use your old NTSC television; after the coupon, your total cost is typically $0-10. Depending on the convertor and TV you may have different video connection options to improve the picture such as S-video being superior to component video. These convertors are already in your local store but are minimalist devices intended to keep your old TV working. One could also be used with a VCR or DVD recorder although you will lose the ability to automatically change channels for timer recordings.
Aspect ratio is a way of saying how wide the picture is. NTSC is 4:3 or 1.33, like a box, and what we have been watching for years. HDTV is 16:9 or 1.79, like a rectangle, and this is the wide screen HDTV’s you see in the store. Since HDTV is a 16:9 aspect ratio you will have black or grey bars on the top and bottom of the picture using an old NTSC TV which has an aspect ratio of 4:3 or none at all on a 16:9 HDTV. The advantage for your old NTSC TV is that you see more of the action with all programs; there is no picture content loss due to cutting off the sides of the picture so it will fill out an NTSC 4:3 screen. On the other hand if you think every square inch of your TV should have an image you may not think highly of 16:9 HDTV on your 4:3 TV.
To take full advantage of the audio and video benefits of what DTV has to offer requires a fully featured STB along with a multi-channel audio system and an HDTV or HD display. Since about 2005 nearly all HDTVs sold include a DTV tuner so a separate STB is not required. On top of that the vast majority of Americans receive broadcast content via satellite or cable services. If you are on satellite you will need to change your service to HDTV and your current STB will be exchanged for the HD version and these now include optional DVRs for recording. Cable services can provide you with an HDTV STB and optional DVR features as well. For cable services only, you may also have the option of purchasing your own STB and DVR such as the popular TIVO products and this option uses the Cable Card standard which is also supported directly by some TV manufacturers. This option is not a rule of thumb though because many cable companies are changing, or in the process of changing, their older QAM cable system design to new technology that comes with proprietary hardware removing any outside options. If free over the air DTV and HD programming is your goal there are DTV receivers that include a DVR too.
The real question is what is DTV. DTV is not to be confused with digital cable, satellite, Direct TV or Dish. DTV, digital television, is a new RF transmitting standard for over the air broadcasting which will replace NTSC, our old standard. Originally slated for January 2007, The DTV transition was riddled with filed extensions due to various reasons from capitol and financial market limitations to available crews and new equipment. While those same problems will continue for a some time the FCC has settled on a February 2009 requirement for the vast majority of broadcasters across the nation. If you are on satellite or cable you won’t even know the transition has occurred. The DTV transition only affects those watching TV over the air using an indoor or outdoor antenna.
The greatest problem with our old NTSC over the air broadcast system was the vast degree of variable results making consistent quality extremely difficult. The problem of available RF spectrum for all the new services surfacing over the decades had many engineers looking at the inefficiency of the old system requiring channels have a wide margin of spectrum between them to prevent co-channel interference. This new system, DTV, is still an analog RF transmission system but resolves those problems by applying digital technology. Stations can now be right next to each other and you get a perfectly clear picture making it very different from our past TV experience. DTV is the same as DVD quality in this regard. DTV adds other services such as Dolby Digital 5.1 home theater surround sound and multi channel programming meaning your station can provide more than one program on the same channel. DTV has 18 different kinds of picture quality standards or transmissions and these are called signal formats. Some of these formats carry so much information providing movie theater quality images that they are called HD, high definition, and that is what HDTV is all about. To be clear, your local station changing over to DTV does not mean it will be broadcasting HD content. The type of content provided is not part of the FCC requirement for the transition.
To receive DTV over the air transmissions with your old NTSC TV requires a set top box, STB, and any TV or display with A/V inputs. A/V connectors are those round plugs found on the back of the STB and your TV labeled video, left and right. The government will be subsidizing the transition via a coupon that applies to a DTV convertor STB so you can continue to use your old NTSC television; after the coupon, your total cost is typically $0-10. Depending on the convertor and TV you may have different video connection options to improve the picture such as S-video being superior to component video. These convertors are already in your local store but are minimalist devices intended to keep your old TV working. One could also be used with a VCR or DVD recorder although you will lose the ability to automatically change channels for timer recordings.
Aspect ratio is a way of saying how wide the picture is. NTSC is 4:3 or 1.33, like a box, and what we have been watching for years. HDTV is 16:9 or 1.79, like a rectangle, and this is the wide screen HDTV’s you see in the store. Since HDTV is a 16:9 aspect ratio you will have black or grey bars on the top and bottom of the picture using an old NTSC TV which has an aspect ratio of 4:3 or none at all on a 16:9 HDTV. The advantage for your old NTSC TV is that you see more of the action with all programs; there is no picture content loss due to cutting off the sides of the picture so it will fill out an NTSC 4:3 screen. On the other hand if you think every square inch of your TV should have an image you may not think highly of 16:9 HDTV on your 4:3 TV.
To take full advantage of the audio and video benefits of what DTV has to offer requires a fully featured STB along with a multi-channel audio system and an HDTV or HD display. Since about 2005 nearly all HDTVs sold include a DTV tuner so a separate STB is not required. On top of that the vast majority of Americans receive broadcast content via satellite or cable services. If you are on satellite you will need to change your service to HDTV and your current STB will be exchanged for the HD version and these now include optional DVRs for recording. Cable services can provide you with an HDTV STB and optional DVR features as well. For cable services only, you may also have the option of purchasing your own STB and DVR such as the popular TIVO products and this option uses the Cable Card standard which is also supported directly by some TV manufacturers. This option is not a rule of thumb though because many cable companies are changing, or in the process of changing, their older QAM cable system design to new technology that comes with proprietary hardware removing any outside options. If free over the air DTV and HD programming is your goal there are DTV receivers that include a DVR too.
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