Battery Operated Televisions

What is this HDTV takeover on televisions about in February? Does this mean unless we have a HDTV or satelite

or cable with HD we can't watch. I have several room sizeTVs and several portable for carrying on vacation or to work or wherever. Does this mean we will not be able to watch our TV's . I can't afford to go and buy special equipment or new HDTVs just to watch TV. In fact, there are millions of people who all can't afford to buy adaptable equipment. As the world knows, television is the poor man's entertainment. There is the elderly, the shut ins and many others who depend on their TVS that use outside or tv attached antennaes. Most of my TVs rely on the attached aereal antennae. Who came up with this idea? Whose pockets is this going to pad from the changeover? and, most of all, Why do this to so many people when what we had worked and was available to everyone free, other than the electricity used. If people have satellite or cable, it is their choice to pay for it. If I am all wrong about HDTV please let me and the millions of others who don't understand, know. Thank you

Public Comments

1. Feb 09
2. February 2009... chill out... got a whole year.
3. It's not HD it's digital. Most tvs these days are equipped to handle the change, if not adapter boxes are being provided free of charge. Fear not tv will go on.
4. It's not HD (High Definition) but Digital.... stations will no longer transmit using analog and digital signals. It's all going digital. If you have an analog tv it won't work (receive) after feb 9
5. If your TV's are lesss than ten years old you won't have a problem. Older TV's will need a converter box which the government will help you pay for.
6. Pay more attention to the ads and stop screaming hysterically....its February 2009! NOT next month! And you WILL be able to buy 'adaptors' or 'translator boxes' from any cable service if they don't provide it for free. It's all explained in the ads! Any tv made in the last couple years is already 'HD compatible'-companies have been doing for years quietly. Anyone on cable using a 'box', will get a new box if needed...so stop panicking! It's all the people that still have old black and white tvs, or even some old color ones...that may not work even with an adaptor box.
7. You're referring to the digital conversion. Right now networks & stations are broadcasting both analog AND digital signals. Effective February 2009 they will cease sending the analog signal. Which means if you do not have cable TV or a converter box you will need to get one in order to receive the digital signal (unless your TV is already equipped to receive digital). I believe you are able to get a coupon towards purchase of a converter box if you do not have cable. HDTV broadcasts in digital, but is not synonymous with digital. In other words, all digital programming is not high def; but all high def is digital. Hope this helps. People were alerted to this some years ago, so it is not "new" news.
8. Your first seven answers, which were the only ones available for me to review before I came to answer you, are correct. Some less diplomatic, but, still, correct. I don't like it any more than you do, so I always reserve the right to get rid of my tvs and return to reading books. I miss those "good ol' days", don't you? God Bless you.
9. feb 17 09 all programming is required to be DIGITAL. HD is a form of digital programming, but you can also get SD digital tv as well.
10. It's a digital conversion (480i thru 1080p), not an HD conversion - they're not the same. HD is only 720p thru 1080p. If you don't have cable or satellite, you need a digital tuner or analog to digital converter box to receive broadcast signals. The conversion will happen Feb 2009. HDTVs and/or digital usually have a digital tuner built in - you can go to the setup and let it tune to stations available - there are already digital stations being broadcast in some areas (same rabbit ears with UHF antenna should work). The idea came from our government who wants to free up the analog broadcast frequencies for other uses. There is a rebate program online that gives a $40 coupon to get one of the digital converter boxes- sorry don't know the link, but google digital tv and it should come up.
11. (The details in this answer assumes you are located in the US, other than that, the answer is good in most of the world!) Unless you have a tiny portable TV that doesn't have antenna or A/V connectors. You don't have to replace any TVs. The reason is that digital TV signals (including HDTV) can be cheaply converted to the old digital type. Cable and satellite companies take care of this conversion, so their customers don't have to do anything. People who get their TV for free with an antenna need to buy cheap converter boxes that connect between their TV antennas and their analog TVs. There is a government coupon program that drops the price of the first two converter boxes down to about $20 or less. The date when most analog OTA broadcasts will be shut down in the US is 2/17/09, it's not in 2008 unless you live in parts of the UK. The change over is to digital TV (DTV), not all TV programs will be in HDTV. This doesn't matter to people with older analog TVs because the conversion process changes them all to a DVD like quality analog signal.
12. You can still watch TV for free on your old TV if you have a set top converter box. You will not have to subscribe to a service to watch the TV. You can still use the same antenna. The content will be watered down (i.e. not high def) if you use your old set, but you can still watch it. Here's a blurb I picked up from http://www.dtv.gov "To help consumers with the DTV transition, the Government established the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a part of the Department of Commerce, administers this program. Every U.S. household is eligible to receive up to two coupons, worth $40 each, toward the purchase of eligible digital-to-analog converter boxes. You will be able to request the coupons beginning in January of 2008. The coupons may only be used for eligible converter boxes sold at participating consumer electronics retailers, and the coupons must be used at the time of purchase. Manufacturers estimate that digital-to-analog converter boxes will sell from $40 to $70 each. This is a one-time cost. For more information on the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program, visit the NTIA’s website at www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon, or call 1-888-388-2009 (voice) or 1-877-530-2634 (TTY)."