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December 20, 2008

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Sat Dec 20, 2008, 10:44 PM CST

By Joe Hadsall

jhadsall@joplinglobe.com

As shoppers search the shelves at Best Buy, looking for Christmas presents, TJ McDonald said many of those shoppers are also buying things for themselves.

Specifically, things for their TVs. McDonald said a lot of those purchases aren’t gifts: People are buying equipment in preparation for a switch to digitally transmitted television.

“Mostly, people are looking for TVs, but we’re selling a lot of converter boxes, too,” said McDonald, sales operator for Best Buy. “It’s being driven by the switchover.”

About two months after Christmas, the airwaves will undergo a major shift. On Feb. 17, all TV stations will be required to broadcast their signals digitally, instead of using analog signals.

The change means that viewers will need special technology in order to receive local TV stations.

McDonald said that many customers are going straight to the TV aisle, looking for a new TV with a digital tuner built in. Other customers are choosing the least-expensive route: They are buying analog-to-digital converters, so that their old TVs can receive the new signal.

“We sell quite a few of them,” McDonald said. “People are calling every day to see if we have them in stock.”

Three choices

Customers have three main choices that range in price, from inexpensive to lap-of-luxury. Whatever choice they make, customers have about two months to make it.

n An analog-to-digital converter will allow an old analog TV to receive the new signals.

The boxes are the least expensive option, ranging from $30 to $80. Additionally, viewers who choose to keep their old TVs can receive up to two coupons for converters — each coupon is worth $40 toward the price.

However, those coupons will be gone soon. Dec. 31 is the last day they can be ordered from the Web site www.dtv2009.gov.

Installation of the converter is simple, said Phil Jones, manager of the Radio Shack store in the Northpark Mall. All you do is plug your antenna into the converter, then plug the converter into the plug on the TV that the antenna occupied.

“It’s not difficult at all,” Jones said. “It’s a simple coaxial cable you’re dealing with.”

n Viewers who subscribe to cable or the Dish Network services are already prepared, because the new signal will come through the cables.

“Those viewers do not need anything,” said Jeff Denefrio, marketing manager for Cable One. “We will handle all the facets of the switch. All a viewer needs is our basic cable service.”

Denefrio said that even the most basic cable service, which offers about 20 channels and costs about $20 a month, will allow a viewer to watch local stations.

The Dish Network, a satellite TV service, is the only such service with rights to broadcast Joplin’s TV stations, Denefrio said. Packages including the local stations with the Dish Network start at about $30 a month, according to the company’s Web site.

n Those with the money to spend on a new high-definition TV will likely find that their new sets have digital tuners inside. Those tuners will be able to receive the digital broadcasts.

However, antennas will still be needed. Viewers who get sleek new flat-screen TVs and those who use converter boxes on their old TVs will be able to receive digital signals through today’s antennas. Many stores sell combination antennas that receive UHF and VHF channels.

But, reception may be altered by the lay of the land, Denefrio said.

“An analog signal radiates out from the tower point, like ripples in a pond,” Denefrio said. “A digital signal is a straight line, so if you’re in a low-lying area, the signal may go over the top of you.”

The National Association of Broadcasters said that people with antenna questions can visit www.antennaweb.org for more information.

Ready for change

All five of the major local TV stations in the Joplin area — KFJX (Fox), KOAM (CBS), KODE (ABC), KOZJ (PBS) and KSNF (NBC) — will be required to broadcast in digital, according to the law. All five have worked feverishly and spent millions of dollars on the upgrade.

“We are ready to go,” said Danny Thomas, president and general manager of KOAM-TV, owned by Saga Communications.

Saga also owns KFJX-TV, which is affiliated with the Fox Network. Thomas said KOAM is already being broadcast on a digital channel. On Feb. 17, the KOAM signal will be transmitted from a new frequency, and KFJX will occupy KOAM’s current digital channel.

Nexstar Communications, which owns KODE and KSNF, is also ready to go, said Chief Engineer Jeff Hadley.

“We’re working diligently to get to full power,” Hadley said. “We’ll be in service before the cutoff date.”

KOZJ-TV, an extension of Ozarks Public Television, will also be broadcast digitally.

Though making the upgrade has been costly, it comes with several advantages, Thomas said. Most notably is the power savings: A digital signal is much stronger with much less power behind it.

KOAM is broadcasting at 175 kilowatts for its analog signal. That will drop to 8 kilowatts when the station goes digital, Thomas said.

“That will be a huge utility savings for us,” Thomas said. “And once that reception hits TVs, it will be at 100 percent quality, with no degradation. You’ll either get it or you won’t.”

And digital signals allow stations the opportunity to have up to three more stations on the same signal, Hadley said.

“In the world of digital, our two stations are on 12.1 and 16.1,” Hadley said. “We could go up to .2, .3 and .4. We can have four different programs running on virtually the same channel.”

More efficient

The switchover was mandated by a congressional law passed in 2005.

According to DTVanswers.com, digital signals are much more efficient and take up much less space on the broadcast spectrum. By replacing analog broadcasts, the spectrum can be freed up for other services, such as emergency communication.

The FCC also plans to auction off portions of the broadcast spectrum, so that other companies can offer more advanced wireless services.

The biggest improvement people will see, Thomas said, is the quality of their reception. He said the difference between analog and digital signals is similar to the difference between music on a vinyl record and a CD.

“That is the single greatest benefit of digital transmission,” Thomas said. “Music quality on old vinyl records wasn’t great to begin with, but as a record got older, it got worse. But a CD opens a digital packet that is replicating the digital signal from where that music was recorded. It’s the same thing with digital TV.”

The difference?

An analog signal radiates from a TV tower in waves, similar to ripples in a pond after a rock has been thrown in. Digital signals carry data bits, similar to a computer. The bits carry more information and use less space on the broadcast spectrum.

Source: DTVAnswers.com