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.