Transitioning the Broadcast Digital "Upgrade"
More questions than answers
Richard Turner
I decided not to wait until February 16th, the bewitching eve of analog television. It was time for me to "upgrade" my beloved 17" Mitsubishi television set I purchased in 1978, with only one of its two rabbit ears remaining. This "older than my kids" television set got great off-the-air reception with faithful color reproduction and a dependability that is not likely to be reproduced. Thirty years of nearly 8 hours a day usage, four major household moves and no failures, except the human failure of the lost remote. But enough about the beloved TV set.
I removed the old set and all the dust bunnies from atop the armoire. I opened the box of the new 19" Sharp LCD TV set I finally received from Verizon's gone amiss triple-play promotional campaign of last December. Only after a call to our local cable regulatory office did my calls to Verizon result in some real action. Thanks to our local consumer advocate in the cable office, Keith Watkins.
I placed the TV in the revered place in the bedroom, and then it became obvious that only in our competitive marketplace can a new 19" television set result in a smaller vertical picture than my old 17" set. Apparently in the "new math" measured diagonally means your inches will vary. Just when my eyes are getting worse, even though I have a "larger" tv set, I have a smaller picture to look at while trying to fall asleep without my glasses. At least I will have regained a remote.
Okay, so now for the geeky stuff. I got my Terk indoor antenna and box of RF cables and components. I also have a Terk Leapfrog wireless cable box extender which wirelessly transmits video from my cable box in the den, to a wireless receiver in the bedroom. Of course, I have to be able to watch the PEG channels and I wouldn't allow Comcast (or more recently Verizon) to drill another hole in my walls. Nor did I want to pay $400 for custom internal wiring, so a 2.4 GHz wireless video transmitter became the $70 solution. By the way, this worked well enough converting my Verizon digital cable box signals to my old (seemingly perfect) analog TV set, although the signal was not pristine and impossible to watch any time my wife turns on the microwave.
I plugged in the TV set, hooked up the antenna and the wireless receiver into a splitter/combiner to get both signals into the one RF connector on the back of the TV set. I turned on the TV set and activated the auto channel set up function. Everything seemed to be going fine until I noticed no digital Channel 5 or 9. Now I know there are digital channels 5.1 and 9.1, so I dig through the manual and find that the TV set has a signal strength indicator. I activate the feature and enter digital channel 9, and absolutely no signal. At this point I realize they have added a decimal point to the remote control to achieve tuning to digital channel 9.1. Still trying to find the missing channel, I look at the other digital channels and notice that digital channel 4.1 is displayed as channel 48. This is a new and improved system where channel 4.1 is really channel 48?
Having a bit of an RF/TV transmission background I realized of course, digital channel "4" is no longer in the VHF band and must be on a different UHF frequency. I can not simply enter digital channel 9 to find the programming and signal strength. I consulted the web site (www.antennaweb.org) and found the web page for our region, and low and behold, there is the true frequency for digital channel 9.1, channel 34. Some of these frequency assignments will change after February 17. Will this mean that I will have to retune/reprogram my TV set if the stations data signal is not correct? A change in assigned frequency also means that the type of antenna required will change. Antennas marketed as "HD" that are only tuned for UHF will receive the new digital signals before February 17, but will likely have poor reception after February 17, leaving viewers of those channels in the dark. Some TV transmitters will also change from temporary locations back to their permanent location requiring reorientation of the receiving antenna. One can only imagine the number of phone calls that are likely to be generated the week of February 17. Who are the consumers going to call... the FCC, the stations, the cable companies? How prepared will they be for this sudden spike of requests?
I finally got it all worked out before the end of the 1st quarter of the football game. The HD picture is incredible, perhaps even better than cable as it appears to me that Verizon implemented increased digital compression with their recent all digital upgrade on September 22. Are there any signal standards to know that Verizon's recent high ratings and marketing of "better than cable" still exists after they have crammed more channels into the all digital line up? The extra broadcast channels show the potential future, however, with the exception of PBS, those additional channels are currently no more value driven than our video bulletin board. How many Doppler radar channels do we need? The "digital cliff" is most obvious when as soon as the signal goes below a certain threshold there is nothing. No picture, no audio, just the silence of the viewers trying to figure what happened until the signal returns. This speaks to the critical orientation of the receiving antenna which must have a nearly unobstructed "view" of the transmitting antenna. Seemingly the wind blowing the trees and that low flying helicopter was enough to break up the signal.
Most disappointing and concerning is what appears to be the creation of a new digital divide. Howard University's PBS affiliate WHUT has a digital channel and after manually entering the frequency it became obvious that it could never muster up enough signal strength over the 11 mile journey from the transmitting tower to get out of the digital chasm and make itself visible on my new television set. Will WHUT be among the digitally impotent on February 17, effectively silencing one of the few minority broadcasters in the region?
The digital transition and implementation of HD will beg the question of the impact to PEG channels. In a recent survey of cable consumers, over a third of those who have watched Access Montgomery, made a choice in programming solely because that content was in high definition. As an increasing number of channels are delivered in HD, will PEG channels be ignored because the standard definition quality no longer measures up to viewer expectations? Is the goal of universal access still meaningful?
While the issues associated with broadcast digital transition do not appear within the purview of cable regulation, there are certainly consumer and community communications issues. This almost seems like an unfunded Federal mandate wherein the FCC made a decision and we the public end up paying. How many folks unnecessarily replaced their television sets which end up in a local landfill? How many consumers unnecessarily purchased a DTV convertor box thinking it could be used on the cable system to get digital channels? As we get closer to the deadline the FCC is now asking local government for help educating constituents, at our expense. All of these issues also speak to just how confident we can be in the FCC handling local consumer issues. We are in a much better place because we have an effective and accessible cable regulatory office protecting the public interest and localism. Standby for the DTV "upgrade".
Richard Turner
Executive Director
Montgomery Community Television, Inc.
www.mct-tv.org
Access Montgomery Cable 19 and 21
www.accessmontgomery.tv
...a member of the PEG Network
Richard Turner
I decided not to wait until February 16th, the bewitching eve of analog television. It was time for me to "upgrade" my beloved 17" Mitsubishi television set I purchased in 1978, with only one of its two rabbit ears remaining. This "older than my kids" television set got great off-the-air reception with faithful color reproduction and a dependability that is not likely to be reproduced. Thirty years of nearly 8 hours a day usage, four major household moves and no failures, except the human failure of the lost remote. But enough about the beloved TV set.
I removed the old set and all the dust bunnies from atop the armoire. I opened the box of the new 19" Sharp LCD TV set I finally received from Verizon's gone amiss triple-play promotional campaign of last December. Only after a call to our local cable regulatory office did my calls to Verizon result in some real action. Thanks to our local consumer advocate in the cable office, Keith Watkins.
I placed the TV in the revered place in the bedroom, and then it became obvious that only in our competitive marketplace can a new 19" television set result in a smaller vertical picture than my old 17" set. Apparently in the "new math" measured diagonally means your inches will vary. Just when my eyes are getting worse, even though I have a "larger" tv set, I have a smaller picture to look at while trying to fall asleep without my glasses. At least I will have regained a remote.
Okay, so now for the geeky stuff. I got my Terk indoor antenna and box of RF cables and components. I also have a Terk Leapfrog wireless cable box extender which wirelessly transmits video from my cable box in the den, to a wireless receiver in the bedroom. Of course, I have to be able to watch the PEG channels and I wouldn't allow Comcast (or more recently Verizon) to drill another hole in my walls. Nor did I want to pay $400 for custom internal wiring, so a 2.4 GHz wireless video transmitter became the $70 solution. By the way, this worked well enough converting my Verizon digital cable box signals to my old (seemingly perfect) analog TV set, although the signal was not pristine and impossible to watch any time my wife turns on the microwave.
I plugged in the TV set, hooked up the antenna and the wireless receiver into a splitter/combiner to get both signals into the one RF connector on the back of the TV set. I turned on the TV set and activated the auto channel set up function. Everything seemed to be going fine until I noticed no digital Channel 5 or 9. Now I know there are digital channels 5.1 and 9.1, so I dig through the manual and find that the TV set has a signal strength indicator. I activate the feature and enter digital channel 9, and absolutely no signal. At this point I realize they have added a decimal point to the remote control to achieve tuning to digital channel 9.1. Still trying to find the missing channel, I look at the other digital channels and notice that digital channel 4.1 is displayed as channel 48. This is a new and improved system where channel 4.1 is really channel 48?
Having a bit of an RF/TV transmission background I realized of course, digital channel "4" is no longer in the VHF band and must be on a different UHF frequency. I can not simply enter digital channel 9 to find the programming and signal strength. I consulted the web site (www.antennaweb.org) and found the web page for our region, and low and behold, there is the true frequency for digital channel 9.1, channel 34. Some of these frequency assignments will change after February 17. Will this mean that I will have to retune/reprogram my TV set if the stations data signal is not correct? A change in assigned frequency also means that the type of antenna required will change. Antennas marketed as "HD" that are only tuned for UHF will receive the new digital signals before February 17, but will likely have poor reception after February 17, leaving viewers of those channels in the dark. Some TV transmitters will also change from temporary locations back to their permanent location requiring reorientation of the receiving antenna. One can only imagine the number of phone calls that are likely to be generated the week of February 17. Who are the consumers going to call... the FCC, the stations, the cable companies? How prepared will they be for this sudden spike of requests?
I finally got it all worked out before the end of the 1st quarter of the football game. The HD picture is incredible, perhaps even better than cable as it appears to me that Verizon implemented increased digital compression with their recent all digital upgrade on September 22. Are there any signal standards to know that Verizon's recent high ratings and marketing of "better than cable" still exists after they have crammed more channels into the all digital line up? The extra broadcast channels show the potential future, however, with the exception of PBS, those additional channels are currently no more value driven than our video bulletin board. How many Doppler radar channels do we need? The "digital cliff" is most obvious when as soon as the signal goes below a certain threshold there is nothing. No picture, no audio, just the silence of the viewers trying to figure what happened until the signal returns. This speaks to the critical orientation of the receiving antenna which must have a nearly unobstructed "view" of the transmitting antenna. Seemingly the wind blowing the trees and that low flying helicopter was enough to break up the signal.
Most disappointing and concerning is what appears to be the creation of a new digital divide. Howard University's PBS affiliate WHUT has a digital channel and after manually entering the frequency it became obvious that it could never muster up enough signal strength over the 11 mile journey from the transmitting tower to get out of the digital chasm and make itself visible on my new television set. Will WHUT be among the digitally impotent on February 17, effectively silencing one of the few minority broadcasters in the region?
The digital transition and implementation of HD will beg the question of the impact to PEG channels. In a recent survey of cable consumers, over a third of those who have watched Access Montgomery, made a choice in programming solely because that content was in high definition. As an increasing number of channels are delivered in HD, will PEG channels be ignored because the standard definition quality no longer measures up to viewer expectations? Is the goal of universal access still meaningful?
While the issues associated with broadcast digital transition do not appear within the purview of cable regulation, there are certainly consumer and community communications issues. This almost seems like an unfunded Federal mandate wherein the FCC made a decision and we the public end up paying. How many folks unnecessarily replaced their television sets which end up in a local landfill? How many consumers unnecessarily purchased a DTV convertor box thinking it could be used on the cable system to get digital channels? As we get closer to the deadline the FCC is now asking local government for help educating constituents, at our expense. All of these issues also speak to just how confident we can be in the FCC handling local consumer issues. We are in a much better place because we have an effective and accessible cable regulatory office protecting the public interest and localism. Standby for the DTV "upgrade".
Richard Turner
Executive Director
Montgomery Community Television, Inc.
www.mct-tv.org
Access Montgomery Cable 19 and 21
www.accessmontgomery.tv
...a member of the PEG Network
posted by SCTV Staff at
9:19 AM
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