The digital converter didn't work, and it's been great! We only

[Obamanaut]

rec'd one channel anyway, so it's no great loss. Last night we watched "Primary Colors" again, and read while listening to the Three Tenors. Night before we had a concert with a Celtic Woman DVD followed by Il Divo.

This is a good thing.

[klook]

1. They've changed the aspect ratio.

I've noticed that some channels are now formatting their picture to fit only wide-screen TVs. One of the worst offenders is my local public TV station. I noticed it on some channel that was broadcasting a sports event yesterday also, so you miss part of the electronic scoreboard in the corner of the screen.



So on these channels we're stuck with a trimmed picture that omits part of the picture on both the left and the right. (Kind of emblematic of our bland, middle-of-the-road culture, don't you think?)

So now I'm stuck with a perfectly good 1.33:1 format TV and increasingly will have to watch un-letterboxed 1.78:1 content with significant chunks of the picture lopped off. Very irritating.

Info:
Aspect Ratio FAQ
Aspect Ratio and Widescreen TVs - Sept. 2004
Understanding Aspect Ratio - Aug. 2008

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Any digital receiving equipment should give you the option

to have 'letterbox' format, with black sections above and below. It means you get a smaller picture than the one with the sides missing, of course, but if you feel you're missing things, it might be worth it.

[klook]

6. Yeah, but I don't have a digital TV.

That's my point. These jokers don't care about those of us who have pre-digital TVs. I don't need a converter box because I subscribe to cable TV, but I still have the aspect ratio problem because some stations are programming for wide-screen format only.

[POAS]

9. The option to change your

aspect ratio is built into your cable box or your digital converter if you have one of those.

I suggest digging out your owners manual from the bottom of the coffee table drawer or downloading one from your providers website or asking for a new box that allows for reformatting if yours won't do it.

[klook]

16. No cable box, no digital converter - just a plain ol' cable hooked up to my analog TV set (n/t)

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Analog cable, or digital cable?

Excuse me for asking, but I live in the UK. I rather assumed that cable TV in the US had gone digital by now, what with the analog broadcasts being stopped in 4 months time. When I lived in the States (about 10 years ago), I thought I had a cable box between the wall socket and the TV - I rather assumed these had gone digital in the intervening 10 years (digital cable was just rolling out then).

[crispini]

12. In my neck of the woods, digital cable costs more $$$ than analog cable.

And, if you think about it, there's no reason why the switch to digital broadcasting would change analog cable.

[klook]

14. Wire coming out of the wall.

No box -- just a cable screwed into the back of my TV set.

[bobbert]

31. Where I live when you pay for cable there is an analog and digital signal

The first digital cable box is free and the 2nd is $5. They used to charge for the first cable box until the made the transition to everyone having digital. Now, if you just plug the wire into the TV you can only get local channels, you actually need the digital box to get any cable channels.

I think the idea was to not allow people to steal cable anymore, which is probably a big problem in the city because it's impossible to check on every unit to see who is and who isn't stealing.

[ejpoeta]

24. you are supposed to go BUY a digital tv, silly!!

Perhaps, at some point when my tv stops working I may go get a new one. but our tvs work just fine, except they are not digital, i guess. we do have directv, though, so we don't have to worry.

[klook]

26. I have cable, so the move to digital per se isn't the problem.

I'm griping about how some stations are moving more and more to showing images that don't fit my TV's aspect ratio.

You're right -- if I was a good American, I would welcome the excuse to go buy a new teevee (on my credit card, of course). Actually, what pisses me off is the idea that I might eventually have to pony up for one to watch the 4 or 5 hours a week of shows that I'm actually interested in...when I'd much rather be blowing the dough on *interesting* electronic toys.

[Fla_Democrat]

2. Wow, and I thought I was the only one.

:hi:


Use to get 2 stations, CBS and PBS. Not any more. Will see about getting a booster next week, and putting the antenna higher. If that doesn't work, time to see what VHS tapes are in the cabinet. :shrug:

[Captain Hilts]

4. My signal is too weak even with special antenna to pull in DTV channels.

The Celtic Women look like huge after dinner mints in those dresses.

[beac]

17. "huge after dinner mints"

:rofl:

[Captain Hilts]

18. Really. Those pastel outfits are terrible. Women need to go dark or wear...

something different.

Line up the Celtic women and they look like the defensive line of the Miami Dolphins.

[beac]

19. Or a pack of Necco Wafers.

;)

[The River]

5. I Shot My TV in 1976

and got along fine for years without one. I could pick up
CBS on my radio so I could still listen to
Walter Cronkite on the evening news and even
"watch" M*A*S*H in my mind.
I got married a few years later and a TV moved in w/her.
I've been divorced for 20 but still have the TV. :-(

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. I rarely watch TV anyway

only Law & Order, and only if it is a new show, or if Obama is giving a speech or presser and I can't catch it online. Never has been a big loss to be without it.

[JVS]

8. Holy shit. There's going to be riots

[KharmaTrain]

10. Actually This Transition Has Gone Smoother Than Expected

It sounds like if you want better reception you'll either need an antenna amplifier or move the antenna to a better location. DTV is a lot more directional than analog and if you're not pointed at the transmitter you won't get a signal to "lock". Yes, it's a problem for some when you are between towers...having them in different directions.

I've been monitoring the changes and, yes there have been some confusion, but there were hundreds of stations that changed this week and there has been little mentioned in the news...even on here. Over the next few months, many of the digital channels will now upgrade their power and towers that should provide the same, if not better, signal coverage than the analog signal did.

A quick note about the converter boxes...the best one to get is a Zenith. It has the best tuner for long distance reception.

Cheers...

[Raine]

20. Zenith is the best but even it is not

that great. I have cable but I got Zenith boxes for the extra TVs that aren't on cable. One of the Zenith boxes went totally dead after a few weeks and the other one has a continuous hum that could drive a person insane. :crazy: :argh:

I'll probably just have to get a couple new TV's but will wait and see how this whole thing goes in June.

[suston96]

13. TV prices have dropped considerably. Time to upgrade.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=abcat0101000&type=category

Go to the column on the left and make your picks. You can also try Sears. Or anyplace else. But make make sure it's a digital TV (with the proper aspect ratio 16:9). Prices start at under $200.

If you have lots of channels over the air in your location make sure you are getting a TV with a digital tuner. (I believe it's now unlawful to sell TVs with just analog tuners).

[klook]

15. Why the hell should I have to?

I have a (previously) perfectly adequate, nine-year-old TV that's being obsolesced by forces beyond my control.

To support the glorious program of the NAB I should send my TV to a toxic Chinese junkheap? No thanks.

[dysfunctional press]

27. it's definitely your perogative not to get a new set...

so enjoy the chopped off picture. :hi:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[nolabels]

30. BestBuy has a really cool price on Sharp - AQUOS 52" Class 120Hz Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

It is almost impossible to watch on tube once you get hooked on Hi-Def :shrug:

[conscious evolution]

21. Glad to hear that

Killing your TV is probably one of the best things you can do for yourself.

[cobalt1999]

22. It's amazing how much extra time you find without a T.V. on

Lots of time to exercise, keep up with the household chores, help the kids with homework, play family games.

Add in the fact you'll have a lot better memories than of days filled with TV shows.

[undeterred]

23. I'm down to 2-3 channels still broadcasting analog

and telling me to 'make the change'.

[Resuscitated Ethics]

25. "Energy Saver" is a good reason to upgrade tv set

My new little 19" Energy Star-compliant Sharp uses less power than my 17 year old 13" RCA tube. It has flash memory to save programming so I don't need to leave it plugged in and drawing (vampire) power all day every day. The old tube sets always kept a full capacitor so WE the consumer wouldn't have an annoying warmup period. This sucked a not insignificant amount of juice just for that convenience.

I have two small new lcd sets and one Zenith converter box on a newish ('04)tube set (among the last of the Trinitrons- I got a great price 'cause no digital tuner). I may need to get a small attic UHF antenna because I still get dropouts. Bugged me about putting off the change until June: I still don't know if I will need a more complicated-than-set-top antenna configuration until they go full power.

Whole days go by where not one TV gets powered up, but with Obama in I can stomach the morning news so I've been tuning in to that more.

Before digital I got one PBS station. On that one channel I now get three, plus I am able to pick up one from the next town so FOUR PBS stations. This is enjoyable.

I am a big fan of this digital change and have been anxious for ten years: for years the French had a better sharper TV system with their SECAM. Suck it froggie we got 1080! And all the others with their PAL: 700 scan lines don't look so sharp now, does it all you Continentals!

Anyone interested should wiki PAL, SECAM, NTSC for a great technology yarn to spin for your grandkids.

[pinniped]

28. I was watching The Streets of San Francisco earlier and it looked like this:

I guess this is what old shows will look like.

The DC box added about 34 channels, but some have a poor signal and some were added but received no signal.

Overall, it wasn't a bad investment for around 5 dollars.

[Resuscitated Ethics]

29. You can zoom it

the Zenith has four picture settings. It will change depending upon the program so I just leave mine at "selected by the program", but for your example at the beginning of Streets... you could notice the border and select "crop" I think, see it big then change it back to "selected by program" for your letterbox GMA.