Quote:
Originally Posted by wa2ise
Heard on the stream of station 4KQ a news blurb that the last analog over the air TV to be switched off today. No mention of any LPTV, they may not have any such.
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It's a sign of the times. The US, of course, went digital in June 2009. Canada followed suit a couple years ago. Now Australia will likely have the same problems with DTV we here in North America have been wrestling with the last four years (reception diificulties, converter boxes for older analog NTSC TVs, et al).
It won't be long, IMO, before the entire world is watching digital TV, with no more analog stations to be found. NTSC was a wonderful system for US and Canadian TV while it lasted, but the FCC (and soon after, the Canadian broadcasting authority--CRTC, I think) decided it was time for a change, so in June 2009 (for American TV) and some two years ago for Canadian television, out went analog and in came DTV.
BTW, speaking of digital, I wonder how long it will be before analog FM radio in this country is shut down in favor of digital, as was television. I hate to think of it, as digital FM would render very large numbers of existing analog receivers instantly obsolete--again, as did DTV for analog TVs.
I think what's happening is the FCC is going along with the rest of the world in converting TV (and perhaps FM radio) to 100-percent digital signals. The agency is also unwittingly trying to get analog television receivers out of American homes, to be replaced by cheap offshore-made flat panel sets with former American manufacturers' names (except Zenith) on the display bezels.