U.S. Senate Votes To Delay DTV Transition

The United States Senate voted unanimously today to extend the deadline for U.S. TV stations to covert their broadcast signals from analog to digital (DTV) until June 12, 2009.

The bill still needs to be approved by the U.S. Congress before it is signed into law by President Obama. Both the President and Congress have indicated their willingness to see the law passed. The original deadline for the transition to digital television was February 17th.

Great Article On DTV Transition

Eureka, CA – It’s not very often that I see articles in the mainstream media where the reporter has an actual grasp of technical issues, or even bothers to spend time seriously researching the subject that they are writing about, for that matter. That being said, there is an excellent story written by a reporter [...]

Hell Freezes Over – DTV Transition Pushed Back?

Washington, D.C. – When Obama speaks… people listen. Well, it seems that politicians listen, at least. After penning a request to Congress two weeks ago to push back the official transition date to digital television, it seems that both the House and U.S. Senate are prepared to do just that. The below paragraph from Friday’s [...]

Face Time With the FCC

Eureka, CA – According to today’s Times-Standard, a representative from the Federal Communications Commission will be in Eureka on Thursday, January 15th, to demonstrate how to install a “digital conversion” box and “… help people complete the applications necessary to get a coupon that will provide $40 toward the purchase of a converter box”. As [...]

Eureka! We found a DTV converter box

We finally found a source for a decent CECB digital-to-analog converter box for DTV this past week. Even nicer was the fact that we were able to buy it for only about $13 out of our pocket.

List of LPTV Stations and Translators

A list of translators and low-power (LPTV) television stations in Northern California. Includes TV channels for digital and analog TV broadcasters.

Shortage of DTV Converters Continues

Few things are more frustrating than being bombarded with comercials urging you to rush out and buy a product, only to find out later that no stores have the item in stock. No, I’m not talking about the new Apple Iphone. I’m talking about the new DTV converters individuals will need in order to continue watching over-the-air television after February 2009.

Review: DirecTV HDTV Video On Demand Service

Review of DirecTV’s new Video On Demand (VOD) service, available to DirecTV customers with HDTV satellite TV and DVR receivers. Downloads using broadband.

Update On HDTV and DTV Service in Humboldt County

The Eureka Reporter ran an interesting story in yesterday’s edition about the state of HDTV and DTV service in Humboldt County, along with some generic information on the switchover to digital.

Buying DTV Converters Online

Buying DTV Converters Online. As we’ve mentioned here before, there aren’t many websites that can actually process the “free” $40 government coupons when buying a DTV (CECB) converter online.

Don’t Buy These Converter Boxes…

A frightening number of the DTV conversion boxes currently on the market lack a key feature that will leave their owners unable to watch many of their favorite channels after installation.

Getting Your Free DTV Coupons

So, you might be wondering exactly how complicated it is to get these “free” DTV converter box coupons from the U.S. Government. There are some “catches” with the application process. Considering the fact that this program is administered by the federal government, the whole system runs fairly smoothly though.

Interesting Stats On HDTV, DTV Transition

A report released in June from the U.S. Government Accountability Office has yielded some interesting statistics on HDTV and the pending migration of television broadcasters to digital television in February 2009.

SuddenLink HDTV – Humboldt County

Below are the latest channel listings as provided by SuddenLink Communications for Humboldt County, California. HDTV channels are indicated in RED. Channels listed as “basic” are transmitted via the cable system as an analog (NTSC) signal, and can be tuned-in without the need for a DTV tuner or converter at present. This is the case, [...]

DTV Terms and Definitions

Custom Search AACS – Advanced Access Control System. A computer specification for guarding next-generation optical-media content created by the film, electronics, and software industries. AC-3 – (see Dolby Digital 5.1) Aliasing – Jaggedness that appears at diagonal edges of objects in a pixel or raster image. De-aliasing (anti-aliasing) is a smoothing of the jagged edges [...]