Be Ready For The Dtv Transition

By now, the overwhelmingly vast majority of people living in the United States have heard a little bit about the impending digital television transition that is set to occur on June 12, 2009. Once set for January 17, 2009, the deadline was extended to a later date because there were still a couple million households across America that were not ready to make the switch.

TV commercials, paid TV service providers, billboards, and all forms of media have participated in letting the public know of what needs to be done in order to receive uninterrupted service, but there might still be a little bit of confusion. Determining if your current set up will handle the transition or taking the needed steps to ensure you don't miss a single second of TV is fairly easy. Taking a look at your TV and its specifications is a start.

Is it tagged as a HDTV or are you aware that it is equipped with a digital tuner or receiver of some sort? Did you make your TV purchase after March 1st of 2007? If the answers are yes, then your TV will be capable of picking up digital TV signals. However, not all TVs that were purchased after March 1, 2007 will be able to pick up digital signals, and the best way to find out for sure is to contact the manufacturer, contact your local electronics store, or seek the TV manual.

If you are either a cable or satellite subscriber, then you will not have to make any changes to your current configuration, even if your television is an older analog model. Cable and satellite companies will perform the necessary changes on their end to ensure that their customers will not be negatively affected by the digital transition. If, however, you use an antenna, you again will have to find out if your TV is configured for digital signals. In some cases, you might need to purchase an antenna that can pick up both UHF and VHF frequencies, if you don't already have one, as a lot of the digital channels will be broadcast on UHF. If your TV is an analog set, then you will need a digital converter box, which converts the digital signal that your antenna will pick up into analog, which is what your TV recognizes.

For those who feel this transition is a bothersome nuisance or those who cannot afford to buy a digital converter box have the option of applying for a converter box voucher. Each voucher is valued at $40, and each household is eligible to receive up to two of these coupons. Redeemable at a list of participating retailers, these vouchers will cover the majority of the cost of a digital converter box, which usually run at about $50 to 60. Vouchers are currently being distributed on a first-come, first-served basis so if you have not yet applied for your coupons, do so now. You can either fill out the online form or print out an application and mail the form in.

With just a few weeks left until the official DTV transition, it is imperative that you make sure your current configuration can handle the changes being made to how TV is broadcast.