Worried that your television won’t work? Do you need to buy expensive new digital equipment? Let’s weed through the confusion to explain exactly what the conversion is, how you will be affected and what you need.
First of all, let’s talk about what the digital conversion is. Starting on February 18th, 2009, all full-power television broadcasters in the United States will turn off their old analog signals and broadcast in digital format only. This will potentially leave millions of television sets across the country cut off from programming. Turn on the television and get nothing but snow.
How will this affect you? Well, if you already own a digital television, then you have nothing to worry about. You are all ready to receive digital signals. If you have an older analog television, then you could be caught without a signal.
The next question I have to ask you is how do you receive your programming? Do you get your television over the air through an antenna, through cable or through a satellite dish? Cable and satellite subscribers will be fine. Most cable companies, for example, have already converted over to digital, providing a converter box to their subscribers who own analog televisions.
If you are currently using an antenna to access your television programming and want to continue doing so after the digital conversion, you will need to purchase a converter box. The US Government has allocated 1.5 billion dollars to pay for coupons given to consumers to subsidize the converter boxes. Each household is entitled to two coupons. To request a coupon, visit www.dtv2009.gov or call the 24-hour hotline, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).
The other options, of course, are to become a cable or satellite subscriber or to purchase a new digital television.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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