Quote:
Originally Posted by jr_tech
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The FCC has been calling for the abolition of analog OTA television for years; now, with the ruling forcing LPTV's and translators to transition to digital by September 15, 2015 and all full-power TV stations in the US transmitting exclusively digital signals since June 12, 2009, the analog TV channels (including frequencies translators and LPTVs are presently assigned in the 700-MHz range) will be vacated and
all television, with no exceptions whatsoever, will be digital. The FCC report and order regarding the changeover of LPTVs and translators to digital by the date I mentioned above also states that practically everyone in the United States now has either flat-panel TVs with digital clear-QAM tuners, are using converter boxes ahead of older sets, or subscribe to cable or satellite services. The current percentage of American homes that do not yet have or do not want DTV (according to the FCC R&O) is only 0.5; even this percentage is bound to eventually drop to zero as the prices of flat-panel TVs continue to themselves drop.
There is no excuse anymore not to get a digital flat-panel TV. I see a day coming, not too far away, when all American living rooms, family rooms, dens, etc. will have digital TVs; the only uses for older analog NTSC sets will be as displays for DVD players and/or VCRs, and as collectors' items. Even connecting a cable service directly to an older television eventually will not be an option as cable operators convert their systems to 100-percent digital; that is, the older sets will work with digital cable, but not without a cable box. If you have satellite, of course, you have nothing to worry about, as satellite services have carried all-digital signals for some time.