Shutdown and transition to digital
Further information: Digital television transition

As of late 2009, ten countries had completed the process of turning off analog terrestrial broadcasting. Many other countries had plans to do so or were in the process of a staged conversion. The first country to make a wholesale switch to digital over-the-air (terrestrial) broadcasting was Luxembourg in 2006, followed later in 2006 by the Netherlands; in 2007 by Finland, Andorra, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland; in 2008 by Belgium (Flanders) and Germany; in 2009 by the United States (high power only), Isle of Man, Norway and Denmark. In 2010, Wallonia, Spain, Wales, Latvia and Estonia completed the transition. Croatia is fully covered with digital signal and last analog region will shut down in October 2010.[4]

In the United States, high-power over-the-air broadcasts are solely in the ATSC digital format since June 12, 2009, the date that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set for the end of all high-power analog TV transmissions. As a result, almost two million households could no longer watch TV because they were not prepared for the transition. The switchover was originally scheduled for February 17, 2009, until the US Congress passed the DTV Delay Act.[5] By special dispensation, some analog TV signals ceased on the original date.[6]

In Japan, the switch to digital is scheduled to happen July 24, 2011. In Canada, it is scheduled to happen August 31, 2011. China is scheduled to switch in 2015. In the United Kingdom, the digital switchover has different times for each part of the country; however, the whole of the UK will be digital by 2012. Brazil switched to digital on December 2, 2007 in major cities and it is estimated it will take seven years for complete signal expansion over all of the Brazilian territory. Australia will turn off analog signals between 2010 and 2013, region by region.[7]

In Malaysia, the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will call for tender bids in the third quarter of 2009 for the UHF 470–742 megahertz spectrum which will pave the way for the country to move into the digital television era. The awarding of the spectrum will see the winner having to build a single digital terrestrial transmission/TV broadcast (DTTB) infrastructure for all broadcasters to ride on to transmit their TV programs. The winner will be announced at the end of 2009 or early 2010 and has to commence digital roll-out soon after the award where the analog switch-off is planned for 2015.

While the majority of the viewers of over-the-air broadcasting in the USA watch full-power stations (which number about 1800), there are three other categories of TV stations in the US: low-power stations, Class A stations, and TV translator stations. There is presently no deadline for these stations, about 7100 in number, to convert to digital broadcasting.

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I've got a TV question for those that might know more.



I have a 46" Sony Rear Projection TV that over the past few years has been going bad.  A few years after purchasing service techs replaced a bulb that went out under warranty.  Now for the past 3-4 years or so I have had another blue bulb going out but multiple companies quoted me around $800 for a replacement and then I have 2 more which they state will probably be going out soon. Now most companies won't even work on it as they don't carry parts for it anymore. (10yrs old).  



So I had recently decided that I just need to pull the plug and replace it with a LCD, or LED TV.  However after reading some online articles I found multiple disturbing opinions about picture quality using analog cable.



I have Time Warner basic cable now with roadrunner internet service, and don't want to pay even more to go to HD Time Warner (which has some bad reviews anyways), and DISH or DirectTV would be more expensive for comparable selection plus my Roadrunner would go up as i would be leaving the "bundle" price.  However multiple people state that using standard analog basic cable on a new "HDTV" will cause poor picture quality, which would really piss me off after paying $1k on a TV.



So is there anyway for me to keep my basic time warner cable and get a new LCD TV plus maybe something else to get good picture quality or atleast equal to what I already have??



Thanks

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The picture won't look like crap, it just will not be as good as it could be.  After you experience 1080p that you'll pull over your antenna, the analog cable/sat picture will look like and early 1900s reel-to-reel in comparison.

Just dump you cable or satellite......you don't need it anymore.  Get an HD antenna for the locals, then get a PS3, Wii, or the Sony Bravia with the browser built it.  You can pull just about any show off of the internet an watch it for free, no commercials.  Hulu & Netflix are the big ones, but there are hundreds of other sites that PlayOn will pull from the internet on your computer, then stream it through your TV via the PS3 or internal browser.

If you have to have a DVR, just get a ChannelMaster (used to be DTVpal DVR).  It works just like a the one on cable/sat, but it records off your antenna.  TV Guide data is picked up over-the-air, so it still has the program guide, info, preset schedules, etc.

All of this for the monthly fee of $0.......using your existing high speed internet (you need 1.5+ mbps for it to work consistantly, 2.5 for it to work perfectly.)

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Delorean - Interesting.... So HD antenna for the locals, you mean just like the new converter boxes that allow you to pickup the local stuff?

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Hey Delorean,

Just for your information, the "left" VHF side of the antenna is directional too. That antenna is called a yagi configuration.

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is that how it really works? You point it towards the signal? Ya no shit! You are talking to an Amateur Radio Operator from the old school that would even sometimes build what he needed. Or you should have seen some of the Antennas and Transmitters I played with while I was a Ground Radio Repair Tech (30474) in the U.S.A.F. Like can you say 10KW? Now I will admit some of the stuff you talked about as far as getting everything you want off either the air or off of the internet. Is all new to this old dog. But boy I can talk circles around your head about radio gear, and antennas.

Actually not the whole thing. The UHF part of the antenna is a corner reflector. Notice that the part that angles up and down. Those elements are all of the same length and if you did more research. All of those elements are common with the boom. If you look at the elements back behind the reflector. Some of those elements are not common with the boom. And elements that are common alternate between the left and right of the boom. A.so the elements get larger as you work your way down the boom. And the diameter of the elements effect the bandwidth of the antenna. Bigger the diameter of the elements, the wider the bandwidth.. I am just full of fun facts about antennas. But I think I have said enough now to make my point...