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National Association of Broadcasters DTV Information Site
Digital Television Transition Coalition
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Consumer Electronics Retailers DTV Q&A
Antenna Consumers Guide
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Shoppers Guide

Will analog TVs still work?
Consumers who rely on antennas to receive broadcast signals on TV sets with analog tuners will need to obtain separate digital-to-analog set-top converter boxes to watch over-the-air TV.

Buying digital TVs
By law all television reception devices (including TVs, VCRs, DVRs, etc.) in the U.S. c must contain a digital tuner. Retailers may continue to sell analog-only devices from existing inventory, but must prominently display on or near the analog-only device a Consumer Alert label with this advisory:

What Is Digital Television?

Digital television (DTV) is a broadcast TV signal transmitted as a series of binary numbers -- ones and zeros. Digital signals allow greatly increased quality and the ability to send additional information.

DTV enables broadcasters to offer television with movie-quality picture and sound. It can also offer multiple programming choices, called multi-casting, and interactive capabilities.

This new technology is capable of transmitting a limited number of High Definition Television (hd) programs or multiple Standard Definition Television (SDTV) programs.

There are many quality levels of digital television programming. The most common are:

Standard Definition TV (SDTV) - SDTV is the basic level of quality display and resolution for both analog and digital. Transmission of SDTV may be in either the traditional (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) format.

Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV) - EDTV is a step up from Analog Television. EDTV comes in 480p widescreen (16:9) or traditional (4:3) format and provides better picture quality than SDTV, but not as high as hd.

High Definition TV (hd) - hd in widescreen format (16:9) provides the highest resolution and picture quality of all digital broadcast formats. Combined with digitally enhanced sound technology, hd sets new standards for sound and picture quality in television. (Note: hd and digital TV are not the same thing -- hd is one format of digital TV.)

Converting to DTV also will free up parts of the scarce and valuable broadcast spectrum. Those portions of the spectrum can then be used for other important services, such as public and safety services (police and fire departments, emergency rescue), and advanced wireless services.

Because public safety and emergency services have become even more important today, Congress established a DTV transition deadline that requires all full-power television stations to cease analog broadcasts after February 17, 2009. (The deadline form low power television and translator stations will be established at a future date.) Until then, most television stations will continue broadcasting on both their digital and analog channels. Already today, more than 1,600 television stations throughout the United States are broadcasting digital programs.

- Source, http://www.dtv.gov/