DTV in DG

Contributed to the DGtalk blog

March 16, 2008 at 04:13 PM

By now most people are aware that the United States is converting from an analog to a digital television standard.  Stations are already broadcasting digital signals alongside their analog signals, and the analog signals go dark at midnight on February 17, 2009.

The official government web site is here -> https://dtv2009.gov/

There was a useful overview of consumer options in the business section of today's Chicago Tribune, available online here -> http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-ym-spending-0316mar16,0,6118080.story

A few local notes to supplement the general information...

Digital off-the-air (antenna) reception in Downers Grove is pretty good, clearly better than analog.  We're pulling acceptable digital signal with moderately-priced antennas in the attic.  WBBM-TV is the weakest, but should improve on February 17, 2009 when they move their digital signal (called "2.1") from channel 3 to channel 12 -- I know those numbers are confusing!  Antenna requirements and aiming instructions are online here -> http://antennaweb.org/

To get the off-the-air digital signals you need a recently-manufacturer television with a digital tuner, or you need a converter box.  Note that Fry's Electronics is not accepting the $40 government converter box coupons (Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, WalMart, and some online retailers do).

Comcast Cable in Downers Grove carries the local digital broadcasts without a cable box, despite what Comcast customer service personnel may be trained to tell you.  If you have a recently-manufacturer television with a digital tuner, just have it scan all the digital channels.  Some of the the local digital broadcast channels will show up exactly as expected (for example WBBM-TV is 2.1) but others have strange channel assignments (for example WTTW's 11.2 appears as 81.5 on my digital tuners).  You can probably figure out what's where and relabel them or add them to a favorites list.  Comcast has not announced whether it will continue to provide analog signals after the conversion, but my guess is they will in order to avoid having to disturb long-standing customers.

One more thing to understand:  The off-the-air and cable digital standards are different.  Off-the-air uses ATSC, cable uses QAM.  The $40 government-subsidized converter boxes only do ATSC and are specifically prohibited from doing QAM; they do not work on cable.

My bottom line recommendations are: 

• Don't rush to buy a new television just because of the digital conversion.
• If you have a decent older television currently getting off-the-air broadcasts now, add a government-subsidized converter box.  Reception will be better.
• If you are satisfied with your current Comcast cable service, do nothing.
• Recycle your old televisions thoughtfully.

April 21, 2008 at 01:01 PM

The following table documents what's currently found in over-the-air digital television in Downers Grove.  As you can see, there is a lot of standard definition (640x480 4:3) digital television that is "digital" but not "HD".  Clicking on each Station Call Sign will link you to a useful Wikipedia article describing history, content, and some technical information.