Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DTV downconveter

This is topic DTV downconveter in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=12;t=000622

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 02-14-2008, 07:35 PM:

I was at a Wallmart today and saw the first DTV down converter (that I have seen) that is part of the FCCs $40 off coupon program, and even says so on the box. It is a Magnavox, and is priced at $50, so you could buy one for $10 if you have one of those $40 off coupons. It is a very simple little box. There are no buttons on the box, everything must be done from the remote. On the back there is antenna in and out, and composite video and stereo audio out. There was not much information on the box itself. It was the desire of the FCC that these things be simple, so that grandma could hook it up herself, and be able to watch her soaps Feb. 17, 2009; just slightly more than a year from now.

The $40 off coupons should be coming out soon, if you have ordered them. If you don't have cable or satellite, you can order your coupons at www.dtv2009.gov

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 02-15-2008, 01:34 AM:

What, no RF output?? What about all the people who haven't been able to figure out direct video inputs, even though they've been pretty much standard on TVs made since 1985?

This shows why you don't need one anyways: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BChnI33tDvs

I'd rather go back to black-and-white than watch HDTV with all the crap they put on the screen.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-15-2008, 05:21 AM:

Old people don't deserve to watch TV. They should be working 45 hours a week, earning their keep. If they did this, they'd all be able to buy that new HDTV and wouldn't have to worry about the downconverter in order to see Golden Girls HD Edition.

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 02-15-2008, 01:50 PM:

I guess I hould have been clearer, the antenna out is an RF output.

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 02-21-2008, 04:19 AM:

I got one. It works quite well.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 02-21-2008, 05:22 PM:

Doesn't the HD penetration have to be 85% before the analog turn off?

Also, should the Gov. be in the Entertainment business; maybe they'll pay for D=Cinema? Louis

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 02-21-2008, 05:44 PM:

quote: Louis Bornwasser
Doesn't the HD penetration have to be 85% before the analog turn off?

Nope, February 16, 2009 is the last day that analog TV will be broadcast over the air. Of course there will still be plenty sent via cable and plenty of SD crap on satellite, cable and certain OTA stations that refuse to broadcast in HD.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-21-2008, 06:09 PM:

It has nothing to do with HD. It's digital, not HD. All TVs sold today have digital tuners whether they are HD or not.

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 02-21-2008, 09:30 PM:

In regards to the government subsidizing the converter boxes...
I did not apply for the coupons from the government to pay for mine. (I bought my second one today.) I do not feel that television is a necessity, and the government should not be subsidizing this. (Just my own personal belief.)
Digital, in my situation, provides an excellent over-the-air picture. I feel the $50 cost per box is worth it.

Posted by Scott McGuire (Member # 4508) on 02-22-2008, 12:41 AM:

Did the government make it law that all signal should be converted to digital? If so then they should subsidize the downcoverter if not then they shouldn't. If you have cable that uses a "box" you don't even need to buy the converter so i don't think many people will need to buy one anyway. If you are old you have worked all of you life and deserve to retire, so collect your pension and go get a downconverter, no need to worry about working 45 hours a week.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 03-08-2008, 01:35 PM:

As for the government subsidizing the converters....they are the ones mandated digital transmission. I have no problem with them "fixing" all the analog sets that will become "broken" due to their mandate. The thing of course that is maddening, is that it's our dime that is funding these coupons for the converters.

And the question is a valid one....why was the govenment mandating digital transmission in the first place? What's it there business? Was our homeland security being threatened because our TV broadcast stations were transmitting analog? Were people being hurt or even inconvenienced because of the way TV has been transmitted for more than half a century? If digital was so necessary, why didn't the marketplace damand it? It was an artificial problem that the governement had no business butting it's nose into. Fix the energy crisis, damn it and let the broadcast industry worry about its signals.

And as mentioned, digital doesn't even mean hi-def. OTA stations could still broadcast standard def, unless, of course, the government butts in again where they have no business and start demanding a cutoff date for standard def images.

Imagine if the governement sent out an edict that by such and such a date, all theatres had to install digital projectors (not that the studios would object), but that's essentially what they did to the broadcasters. IT'S NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. It's the entertainment business....leave it alone; they were doing just fine without governmental buttinski-ism.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 03-11-2008, 08:40 AM:

Received my two government issued coupons, actually they are more like gift cards, last week.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-11-2008, 10:02 AM:

quote: Frank Angel
And the question is a valid one....why was the govenment mandating digital transmission in the first place? What's it there business?

Money! The federal government can't wait to clear the present VHF TV broadcast spectrum because of all the money they will take in when they auction off that spectrum to the highest bidders.

And it is the federal government's business, since they decide and police jurisdiction over the RF spectrum in the US. The FCC deals with most of this stuff in the US, in conjunction with the ITU which coordinates RF spectrum policies internationally.

Follow the money.

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 03-11-2008, 02:03 PM:

quote: Frank Angel
Was our homeland security being threatened because our TV broadcast stations were transmitting analog?

I don't know if this qualifies but I think the justification for this was so they could take the old spectrum to use for "official" communications.

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 03-11-2008, 04:35 PM:

quote: Paul Mayer
The federal government can't wait to clear the present VHF TV broadcast spectrum because of all the money they will take in when they auction off that spectrum to the highest bidders.

VHF will still be for TV. It is channels 52 to 69 that are going to be auctioned off. This is the 700 Mhz band, this is what the computer flakes, and the cell phone companies want. VHF has too many problems for what these companies want to do, such as skip, and impulse noise.

link

quote:
The 700 MHz spectrum was previously used for analog television broadcasting, specifically UHF channels 52 through 69. The FCC has ruled that the impending switch to digital television will make these frequencies no longer necessary for broadcasters, due to the improved spectral efficiency of digital broadcasts [1]. Thus, all broadcasters will be required to move to channels 2 through 51 as part of the digital TV transition.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-11-2008, 07:24 PM:

People that actually use those government subsidy cards = Woosie
Go out and buy a dam HDTV for crist sake! Its like the microwave and stereo phonograph... In less then a half hour after purchasing one you'll be saying... "why didn't we get one of these a long time ago..".

Mark

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 03-12-2008, 09:54 AM:

I'll tell you guys, I still have analog tuner sets in my house but my ex girlfriend just bought a new tv with a digital tuner (not HDTV) and the difference is huge! I wish I had one now, lol. Hooked up to cable without any special box or subscription she gets a bunch of extra channels plus all the extra broadcast channels. Why watch your favorite show on the analog signal when you can watch it on the second digital channel and have a huge border around it with the time, temp, windspeed, direction, and news ticker in it! Seriously, it is cool but I Don't see who would want to watch TV with all of that crap around the picture? Seems like information overload to me!