DTV is Coming

The United States federal government is going to shut off your television viewing after February 17, 2009 if you have an analog television and receive the signal over the air with an antenna ( rabbit ears or roof style). That's the date that the federal government has mandated that all high power TV stations must turn off their analog signal and broadcast only DTV (Digital Television). And if you have an analog TV (unless your TV was purchased in the last couple years, it is analog) and don't have cable or satellite reception you will need a DTV converter box. The converter box converts the DTV signal to an analog signal so that your old TV can display the picture and sound. The government has set up a coupon program to help defray the cost of the DTV converter box. Your household can receive 2 coupons worth $40 each towards the purchase of 2 DTV converter boxes and all you need to do is go to https://www.dtv2009.gov/ or call 1-888-388-2009. The DTV2009 web site is full of information with answers to all your questions regarding DTV and the coupon program. Another useful web site is DTV. This is an FCC site with lots of information for consumers, an outreach toolkit, publications on DTV, and the rules and regulations regarding DTV.
The FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are both very concerned that many people in the United States will not be ready for the transition to DTV on Feb. 17, 2009. People are going to be very angry when their TV does not work on February 18, 2009. But that's what will happen unless a DTV converter is installed to receive over the air signals. Anybody with cable or satellite service do not need to do anything, they are all set. The FCC held a workshop on April 1, 2008 where their concerns on the public readiness was raised, you can view the workshop at DTV Television Consumer Education Workshop Focusing on Low Income Consumers and click on the April 1, 2008 item. The workshop is excellent with many ideas for out-reach solutions. Check it out. Please add a comment or send an e-mail with your concerns and questions.

Ordered Your TV Converter Box Coupons Yet?

We received our 2 coupons last week. For those people that still get their TV signal from an antenna (Over the Air) and still have the old style analog TVs such as us, will need a converter box to convert the digital signal to an analog one after Feb. 17, 2009. The federal government has a web site where you can order 2 coupons that are worth $40 each to offset the cost of the converter that you will need to purchase. We ordered ours on January 2, 2008 and received them on March 14th. I went and purchased the Zenith DTT900, the price was $59.95 and so with the coupon the real cost was only $19.95. I hooked up the box to the TV was quite impressed with performance. Some of our TV channels display multipath interference, but with the converter all that distortion is gone. Also there is no 60 cycle interference from power lines. That interference shows up as 2 bars with white spots across the screen. Another advantage of watching digital TV is that more channels are available. With the old analog television, each station had one channel to broadcast on and that was it. But now with digital television, there is the capability to broadcast more channels in the same frequency space. Some PBS stations broadcast up to 5 channels. Commercial stations seem to have a channel just for weather reports besides the normal channel material. I'm sure the stations are doing experimenting just to figure out how to use this new capability. But remember, if you get your TV from cable or satellite or already have a digital TV you don't need to do anything. If you have any questions, just leave a comment.

The Wire...Season 4

Now we have to wait a year or more in order to get our own The Wire fix again. We just finished watching the last episode of Season 4 of The Wire. Season 4 has the secondary thread of the education system. Dukie, Randy, Namond, and Michael are 8th grade middle school kids and are followed from the waining days of summer vacation to the Christmas season over 13 episode. There is also a mayor's election thrown in too. The street drug scene is still the main thread. It was both a joy and also sad to watch the 4 kids grow but also fall too. Can't wait to see Season 5. If you are new to The Wire, be sure to start at Season 1 and check out the Extra Features on the DVD. Here you get to hear what the writers, directors, and actors were thinking when they work on The Wire. Terry Gross interviewed David Simon, the creator of The Wire on Thursday March 6, 2008. David talks about how and why The Wire came together. As usual Terry asks the questions we would ask. Click here to listen.

Blu-ray is the Winner

Today Toshiba Corporation announced that it was pulling the plug on it's HD DVD format for high-definition DVDs. In the early 80's, Sony lost the battle between their Betamax and VHS. But this time Sony won with their Blu-ray format. Blu-ray DVDs have more storage capacity and may have more features. So if you are the market for a DVD player for your HDTV, don't purchase a HD DVD player. They are are probably going to get very cheap now, but don't be tempted. Microsoft had chosen HD DVD for their OS's and will now have to come over to Blu-ray.

The Wire...Season 3

We just finished watching Season 3 of The Wire. I must say that Season 3 was best so far, but haven't seen season 4 or 5. Local politics play the new thread for Season 3. As usual the acting, writing, and directing are excellent. The faces, the eyes, and the characters are exceptional. It's like Masterpiece Theatre, really! There are night scenes that you would say are right out of Dickens. When you watch the episodes on DVD, be sure you watch the narratives of an episode when available, check the Extra Features. This is where you hear the writer and/or directors discuss what they had in mind for a particular episode.

The Wire

The HBO television series The Wire has some critics declaring this is the best TV series of all times. We starting watching Season 1 a few weeks ago. It has excellent script, directing, and acting. Sometimes the good guys screwup and sometimes the bad guys do good things. I seems very realistic. The first season covers the drug trade in Baltimore, second season details the problems on the waterfront when jobs go away. The third covers the politics and the fourth handles education issues. The 5th season that just started last week is the last and covers the newspaper industry. If you are a new comer to The Wire, be sure to start with season 1 on DVD. Listen carefully!

HDTV

Are you ready for February 17, 2009? That’s the day that over-the-air analog television stops. You won’t be able to watch TV if you have a regular TV unless you have cable or satellite service. We hear that that most people have cable, but we don’t. In the next year or so we may upgrade to a digital TV. Conversion boxes will be available in late February or March 2008 in order to use your regular TV for over-the-air digital TV. Forty dollar coupons are available from the federal government ( 24 hour hotline 888-388-2009) to help pay for the conversion boxes. EchoStar Holdings will be selling a converter box for $39.99 and qualifies for using the coupon, so your converter box will be free. What are you doing for the digital conversion?