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Dec 17, 2008 10:57 pm US/Central
Good Question: DTV: What Else Won't Work?
(WCCO)
When television stations convert to solely broadcasting a digital signal in February 2009, we all know that we have to update our TVs with rabbit ears. But the change isn't just happening with main television sets. What else won't work when television goes digital?
"Anything basically that has an analog TV tuner in it is basically not going to work after the switch," said Don Johnson, WCCO-TV engineering project manager.
For example, radios that include AM/FM and TV band audio. Some people use those radios in weather emergencies to follow the audio of television broadcasts.
"Anything in the TV band will not work anymore," said Johnson.
Many Minnesotans use handheld, portable television sets inside cabins, at sporting events or while fishing.
"You're going to get a lot of snow on it," said Johnson.
They will no longer operate, and right now, there aren't many options for consumers to buy new handheld televisions with digital tuners.
The industry "has some prototypes out, and some more will be hitting the market. But right now I don't know of any that are available," said Johnson.
TV sets that are mounted under cabinets in kitchens and are not hooked up to cable or satellite will no longer operate. The same is true for the second or third television sets that many cable and satellite subscribers have in bathrooms or kitchens that use rabbit ears for reception.
The biggest change, outside of the main television set, will be with video cassette recorders.
"They will not work because they have an analog tuner in them," said Johnson.
Many people use the tuner in their VCRs to watch television. That tuner will show nothing but snow after February 17, 2009. Also, people who set the timer ahead of time to record will have to change the way they do that.
Because VCR tuners will not work, you won't be able to record two programs at the same time. You also won't be able to leave the channel on ABC and expect the VCR to change it to CBS when your favorite program is on.
VCR owners who do not subscribe to cable TV will have to keep their VCR on channel 3 and manually change the channel through the digital converter box. If you want to record CBS at 9 p.m. on Monday night, you'll need to set your channel to CBS and leave it there.
There are a very few digital converter boxes that have a timer as one of the features, allowing you to program your VCR to record at a certain time, and program the digital converter box to change its channel at the same time. But that is not a standard feature.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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