Editorial

The (TV) times they area a changin'

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

It's the end of an era.

No, not the retirement of Fidel Castro; the decision by Toshiba to stop production of the HD-DVD format players.

The decision came on the decision of Wal-Mart to stop selling disks and players in the HD-DVD format by June, and the online rental company Netflix's decision to stop supporting HD-DVDs.

Fortunately, most of us haven't purchased a high-definition television set, let along a high-definition disc player to go along with it.

Because of the lag, we won't find ourselves with orphan technology like we did with the old Beta videotape machines of the late 1970s.

This time, Sony's format was the winner with its technologically superior Blu-ray disc system.

So, if you have to have the latest and greatest in technology, before you rush out and buy what looks like the best deal in high-definition video players, make sure it is a format that is going to be around for a while.

The rest of us will just stay at home and listen to our 8-track tapes or watch an old Betamax movie.


A year from now, in fact, that TV in your living room might not be good for much except for watching videos if you rely on a rooftop antenna or rabbit ears.

That's because the old analog television system that has been serving us well for nearly 60 years will go dark, in favor of new broadcast digital that makes over-the-air television look like quality, low-definition cable or satellite TV. The switch makes it possible for stations to broadcast more than one signal over the assigned frequencies, and opens up old wavelengths for new uses.

Full power television stations are required to switch to digital by Feb. 17, 2009, and unless you subscribe to cable or satellite TV, or have a television built after 2006 when digital became a requirement, you will need a digital converter box to watch any television at all.

If you've bought a TV recently, or subscribe to cable or satellite, you won't have to do anything.

While low-power television stations and translators won't have to convert to digital on the same schedule, the government is offering grants to help those stations convert as quickly as they can.

For the home viewer with only old analog TV sets, the government is offering vouchers -- two per home -- worth up to $40 each toward digital converter boxes.

For more information, go to www.dtv2009.gov or call (888) DTV-2009.

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