How can I tell if my TV's reciever is ready for the upcoming changeover to digital boadcast?

Question

How can I tell if my TV's reciever is ready for the upcoming changeover to digital boadcast?

Answer 1

If it  has an ATSC tuner, or if you get your signal from your cable company, you're fine.  If it only has an NTSC (analog) signal, and you get your signal over the air, you'll need an adapter.

Answer 2

Hi Todd

Although Jim's answer is correct if you are asking the question you may not know what an ATSC tuner is and unless you still have the manual for your TV you cannot look that up unless you can find your TV's manual online.

Basically if your TV has a connection to cable or satellite you need not worry.  You cable or satellite provider will make the necessary changes for you to be able to receive whatever local channels you receive even though they switch to digital.  The signal they provide to you will be the same signal you have now.

If you use an antenna be it an indoor or outdoor model (not satellite dish or wireless cable company feed) then you need to be concerned about the switchover.  That is unless your local stations are all low power and repeater stations.  Low power and repeater stations tend to be in the same town or community where you live.  Repeaters are channels that are rebroadcast such as the NBC channel which most viewers see on channel 2 might be rebroadcast as channel 16 in your area.  These stations will not be ready to switch on February 17, 2009 BUT they will switch to DIGITAL later.

If your receiver is ready and IF your antenna was pointed in the right location then when you programmed your receiver (auto scanned) it learned some channels with funny numbers such as 16.1 or 24.1 instead of just 16 and 24.  Analog channels are displayed as two digit channel numbers from 2 to 69.  But digital channels have a major number before the decimal and a minor number after the decimal.  The major number is the channel number for the channel in its analog assignment (same number for proper association to which channel this digital signal represents even though the real transmitter is on a different channel).  The minor number is the program number on that channel since there can be up to 6 programs on one digital channel.

If you do not see major and minor numbering then it is unlikely that you have a digital tuner or it could just mean you did not pick up any digital channels.  Also digital tuning is a more modern way of tuning so not all sets made in the last 5 years have such tuners.  Many were sold without them based on the law that phased in inclusion of such tuners based on screen size (largest screen sizes first and then all such sizes on sets manufactured in the US after March 1, 2007).

So if your set is older than March 1, 2007 and is of a smaller screen size or if it is much older then it does not have the digital tuner.