It will still be a digital signal on VHF/UHF channels, which you won't
be able to see on your analog set without a converter box.
Richard P.
Does this mean that my emergency, battery-operated analog TV set will in fact
continue to work on the VHF channels? When we're having a hurricane and the
power is off, its good to see the weather maps, etc. that can be seen on the
commercial, on-the-air VHF channels using the battery-operated TV. It runs on
12 volts and will operate for quite a while on a car battery. I suspect not.
I suspect I will need either a battery-operated digital-to-analog converter
box, or a battery-operated digital TV.
That is what we all thought, wasn't it? It is not the case.
Digital TV allows for more efficient use of available spectrum. The
amount of bandwidth that can be freed up by the switch to digital
will be sold off or provided to public safety or utility agencies.
Most, if not all VHF stations will revert back to VHF from UHF for
digital in February 2009. Some VHF stations never did migrate to UHV
during this transitional phase.
TV broadcasters are not required to provide high definition TV to
viewers. Full high definition, as opposed to a lower level of
quality, requires a lot of bandwidth. TV stations can lease out any
unused bandwidth to commercial enterprises that are seeking
frequencies for their own use. Thus there exists a financial
incentive for broadcasters to not provide the highest definition
images that are possible, and that many consumers will have bought
new receivers expecting to see. However, any digital is going to be
better than analog except for certain problems that will most likely
plague viewers on a routine basis. I am speaking of dropouts,
synchronization problems between audio and video, and pixellation of
the image that will be all too common.
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