What's next?

With the conversion to digital OTA TV almost here this time many people are scrambling to get the required hardware to keep their old TVs. picking up the next episode of desperate housewives or the most current Law and Order episode.

If you haven't already started upgrading you may soon have few options left other than to buy a new TV. If this decision you make I recommend you be aware of what technology is that you are buying. Don't just get what looks good, plan to buy the most current technology in display and signal capabilities but don't just get the nicest you can find.

While this sounds like you will be spending allot of money think again. There has been a large influx of new models to choose from which has subsequently caused prices to drop. Unless you are trying to buy the largest size LCD flat panel a very reasonable display for under $1000 dollars is possible to find. This amount may still be too high for some so there is yet another option becoming more available. The secondary or used market is becoming more populated with HDTVs and converter boxes from people that did the upgrade as a temporary fix. Checking local Craigslist listings you will find a handful of flat panel sets.

If you can wait until Thanksgiving, the week of black Friday will have some unbelievable deals that will give you allot more for less money. But remember the TV you buy today will be obsolete in less than 5 years. this doesn't mean that you can't use it after 5 years it is just not going to be as nice or have features that make it more enjoyable. The next step in technology will be available soon. Look for wireless whole house broadcasting so you can watch TV from any room without running wires. This is just a few years away and will make your DTV source easier to connect where ever your TV is. The intent is to make TV broadcasts more mobile not just to reduce the wires needed in the house.

Officially delayed, analog to digital switch June 12th.

The Utah Broadcasters Association has announced that all stations in Utah except CW30 will delay the switch to digital only until June 12th. This after KTVX channel 4 decided to delay the switch. With this all of us procrastinators have a little while to acquire converter boxes, buy cable or satellite service or buy new TV's. there are allot of options to choose. Depending on your specific circumstance I recommend being proactive.

First option is to check your signal source. Are you currently a subscriber to comcast, Dishnetwork or DirectTV? If so you do not need to do anything but you picture won't be any better or worse.

Second option is to buy a converter box and possibly an RF amplifier. this will not improve your signal but will improve your viewing as long as you have a good digital signal. You will also get more channels. The current channels that you receive with your analog receiver will be able to have up to 4 digital signals. One of the channels will probably be a HD signal of at least 720p on up to 1080i. currently there are no signals broadcasting in 1080p.

Third option is to purchase a new TV. There are allot of choices and the temptation to buy the biggest, highest quality screen is overwhelming. One word of caution is if you buy a large screen it will be like spreading the picture you see on your small set over the large screen. You will have a somewhat blurry and pixelated image and you will not be happy with what you just spent around $1000 to see. You will need ot set up you reception to restrict the viewing size of the picture. Basically this will put wide black bands on either side of the picture essentially canceling any justification for buying such a large set. Locally, there are a number of channels that broadcast in 720p or 1080i. These alone are worth the expense of installing an aerial antenna to receive whether or not you are purchasing TV service because Comcast, DirectTV and Dishnetwork does not provide all of these channels and if you do receive them you will be charged extra for the HDTV feed and associated equipment.

Some other options are to purchase a DVR or DVD recorder with a built in ATSC tuner and upconvert to 1080p. This will improve you viewing of regular 480i signals but you will be able to notice a difference between true 1080p to upconverted signals.

In a perfect world we would have the magic screens of George Jetson that are used for everything from communication to work. In a future post I intend to cover the Oxy-moron of the type of businesses that existed in the Jetson's time. (Cogs and sprockets).

Do I have a personal preference? You bet! I would prefer that all pay signals provide the HD signal as part of the overall package and not charge extra for the hardware upgrade. Because they charge extra or make this an upgrade feature, I have chosen not to sign up just yet. I did purchase an HDTV a few years ago. I bought the cheapest option available at the time and I think the best choice to have while waiting for the technology to mature. I have a Samsung 30" low profile CRT HDTV. the image is 1080i. I have a Sony DVD recorder but not one with a ATSC tuner. I currently feed the TV signal into the home theater receiver and select the output to go to the DVD recorder.

If you do purchase new hardware do not do so unless you can afford the option you choose. I am seeing a number of HDTVs that are only a few months old that are too big, or too expensive for the sellers to justify keeping. Besides, what you buy today will be obsolete in 6 months. With the expansion of the use of organic LEDs someday soon you TV may be on a roll away screen.

Anyway, reset your count down clock to June 12th and get your tax return sent off so you can buy the equipment of your dreams. Just remember once you buy it you will learn that sitting down to watch a show may become allot more complicated than it is now. Happy viewing.

17 Days to go and suddenly they back peddle

There are many good arguments on both sides surrounding whether or not to delay the official switch over to digital broadcasting. I suppose I can't speak about this issue without picking a side so I will at least try to do so as rationally as I can. First argument that I think has merit is the economic impact the delay will have on companies wait for the bandwidth to become available and the confusion the delay will create among viewers.

While there will be some who don't get Over The Air TV (OTA) it is not likely that they will suffer any more than falling behind in their favorite TV programs. On the up side the rerun season will be more popular since there will be episodes that someone may have missed. I see this as a good thing. There are a couple of TV shows that I never saw even one of the original episodes. I first started watching the Star Trek Next Generation while it was in rerun for the summer.

The government coupon program has also run out of money, or more correctly has reached the limit of the allocated funding for the program. you can still register to be on a waiting list as coupons expire but I would recommend that you use this time to think about whether upgrading at least the main home TV to a new digital TV rather than buying a converter. The reason I suggest this is the technology is so much better and there are features that you will get in a new set that won't be as available if you use the converter boxes.

Just a word of caution, Flat panel TVs and Plasma TVs use more energy to use. There are a few HDTVs that are CRT sets but these have been discontinued so you may have to look at a Pawn shop or second hand store to find it. I own the Samsung 30" low profile TV. The picture quality is as good as any 1080p set and there is no pixelization or jitter in the high speed scan. Use you best judgement. The equipment will be heavier will probably not fit your existing entertainment center and may actually be too big for your current viewing room. I suggest the following suggestions to these problems: either have the equipment professionally installed or hire the local high school football team to help move it in place. I find pizza and soda go along way here. Second. Mount the flat panel to the wall using high quality mounting systems or anchor our entertainment system or TV to the wall behind the set. Third, change your viewing area from short and wide (like the popular TV add for the Phillips flat screen TV from a few years back.

I would suggest that you consider upgrading your sound system at the same time or make plans to add a surround system. The picture quality just becomes even more amazing when you add the upgraded sound system. his will take someone with some experience to set it up properly and you will probably have a couple of remotes to have to deal with. I recommend that you buy a universal remote and set it up for all new controllers and put away the originals. Don't forget to remove the batteries first. This Way if you decide to sell you equipment in the future you will get more money for it since you have all the original accessories.

As far as what type of sound system to install. use your own opinion here. If you are happy with the superficial sound of the cheaper sound systems don't go broke trying to buy a top of the line home theater setup. The truth is most people really don't notice the difference between high end speakers and the out of the box specials you can get at Best Buy or even Walmart. The cheaper home theater system have one other feature that is a plus for the not so technically capable consumer, they are simple, almost no-brainer for installing so you can save a ton of money by not hiring an audio technician to set up your new home theater.

Lastly, everything changes over time. Take some time and collect as much information about what you want. If you ask the salesmen at the electronics stores you will only get their opinion and will not have an objective outlook on your options. If you can find someone who will explain everything to you without editorializing about what is best for you then you could ask him or her to go along with you or review what you have found and help you decide what it is you really can use. Good luck and reply with what kind of set up you have.

Not one to be patient

I have to say that I thought I would post a blog and someone read it and respond. Not so, i have once again fallen victim to my narcissistic ways. Anyway if anyone does stumble in here I hope you will comment on whether or not you care if the TV signal goes digital or not. I had delayed signing up with the satellite company when we moved in 2 years ago thinking that we would be moving again shortly. I had opted for an aerial antenna that got better than average reception. I found a company call Terrestrial that makes a modified "Bow Tie" type of UHF antenna that really does a good job. I am geographically challenged to the point of receiving some of the better signal. I have to look around the corner to see the broadcast tower but with an amplifier I was able to make all but the CW channel to come in clear enough for digital.

The downside I see for the conversion is that analog TV picked up even the weakest signals and you had to adjust your antenna to filter out the cross over signals. Digital won't come in if you have conflicting signals or if the signal is not strong enough. This can be good and bad. When you have a signal you will have the best picture possible, always. But when the signal goes away or a storm moves in for instance you will have heavy pixelization and drop out or lost signal. Now I only have a cheap Samsung 30 in HDTV but I thoroughly enjoy watching the nature programs and Sunday night football on KSL/TV.

I recently bought a DVD player recorder thinking I was upgrading to new technology, at least that is what I told the wife. I really wanted something that I could up convert to 1080P and have a few more bells and whistles. Although I have been playing with the record function of the player and found that I need to buy a component cable if I want to use the TV's tuner to record the picture. Hind sight is I should have bought a unit that had a built in digital tuner as well, one that picks up HD. Anyway the up convert pictures are great. I will let you know how the recording does since it is also supposed to be able to record in HD as well. FYI this is not a Blue Ray, I haven't got that kind of scratch.

I am still looking for the satellite companies to offer a better package before I sign up again. I don't think I will be throwing out the antenna though since I get some channels not offered from any of the cable or satellite companies.. Imagine that! I just believe that if I am paying for the signal to be sent from whatever source then 100% of the programming should be in HDTV at the very least up converted. I know that is more bandwidth but I think I deserve more for my money than they are offering.

Welcome All!

I am technically literate but have chosen to stay out of the minimal uses found on the Internet. This blog is my first attempt to see what to expect posting a blog. I not only consider myself an expert but many other people do as well so I must learn about this process so that I can continue to pretend that I am indeed a GURU. If ou would like to vent about me or some other self-proclaimed expert I have a blog for that as well. Just look for the wierdguru blog subtitled "don't panic we're Professionals"

If you would like to kick things off by submitting a comment here I would be glad to start entertaining ideas for future posts. For now I will keep things open allow all post so long as the timbre is not offensive to general readership i.e. it better be able to pass scrutiny of what should be allowed for children to read. In other words keep the language clean. Besides it takes less time to type just what you mean without all the #*%@# expletives.

I have posted a couple of labels to attract some of the more relevant topics that I can think of right now. I hope you will reply with a greeting.