Backchannelmedia

The Duncan Banner

By John Walker, The Duncan Banner, Okla.

Oct. 9--Anyone who can remember the days-gone-by of the music record, will also remember the 8-track, the cassette, Commodore 64 and the VHS.

All those mediums died out at one time or another to something newer and better. Analog television is the next to bite the dust in a long list of retired technologies.

On Feb. 17, all full-power television broadcast stations in America will stop transmitting in analog. They will broadcast only in the higher-quality digital format.

It's a transition that will not affect Americans hooked into cable or satellite. Satellite has always been digital and cable does not deal with over-the-air programming. This will affect, however, those individuals who use antennas on their television to watch local programs.

If those individuals want to continue watching free over-the-air programs, they will need to purchase either a digital television that has an internal digital tuner that allows it to decode digital signals, or a convertor box for their television.

Mark Cochran, manager at Hawkins Satellite and Cellular in Duncan, said that this transition has some benefits.

"It will enhance the picture and sound quality," Cochran said. "They'll also be able to do more with closed captioning. Digital can handle more feed than analog. Each color is sent over separately, rather than compressed like in analog."

This means that the static that is frequently associated with black-and-white televisions and normal over-the-air programs will no longer occur.

"With digital, you will either see perfect or nothing," Cochran said.

Once analog is no longer used, the airwaves will be used for other purposes, he said.

According to the official Digital TV Transition Web site, the airwaves will be used for public safety communications such as police and fire departments. Also, some of the spectrum will be auctioned off to companies to provide consumers with more advanced wireless services.

Digital is the standard for DVDs, but is not high definition, though some specialized programming will also be transmitted through the airwaves for such things as sports events, he said.

Any antenna will receive those signals, but it will be up to the television or converter box to be able to convert the digital signal into something viewable, he said.

According to the Web site, the transition to digital will not require people to purchase a high definition television, just a television with an internal digital tuner is required. A converter box will not convert the signal for the television.

Cochran said that High Definition can show up to 2 million pixels on a screen.

"Or 1,920 horizontal pixels and 1,080 vertical pixels," he said. "That's mostly for sports fans and blu-ray."

That's more than twice the density of regular digital signals, which have 720 horizontal pixels and 480 vertical pixels. When someone kicks the football in high definition, the ball will be clear and not blurry like in digital, he said.

According to the digital Web site, all television reception devices imported or shipped in interstate commerce since March 1, 2007, must contain a digital tuner.

Cochran said that a converter box will probably run anywhere from $49 to $79.

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Duncan Banner, Okla.

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