For a fresh view of the DTV transition, take a look at "Breaking Down the Digital TV Change" by Josh Roseman.
The Digital Deadline section of RF Report contains links to articles looking at the February 2009 shutdown of analog TV. This week's article is on the WXIA Web page. Web editor Josh Roseman, in the article "Breaking Down the Digital TV Change" advises readers to think again if they believe there is no reason to care about the DTV transition now, since there has been talk about this since the '90s and nothing has happened yet.
Roseman says the Feb. 17, 2009 deadline is "looking firmer than ever" and warns viewers that, "When you wake up on Feb. 18, 2009, and flip on '11Alive News Today,' if you don't have some form of digital TV, HDTV, cable box or other converter you'll see nothing but static."
His response?
"Don't complain to us. We had nothing to do with it."
WXIA has had a digital signal on the air for some time and Roseman notes that all of WXIA's locally originated news programs are broadcast in HD. Congress set the laws and if viewers don't like it, he said they should complain to their representative.
The rest of the article explains the options available to viewers and notes that the prices of digital TV are on the way down. He recommended viewers wait until they can buy a 27-inch DTV for the cost of a 27-inch analog TV. He also cautions that furniture designed to hold a 4:3 TV won't work with a 16:9 TV--"Hidden costs are killers," he warns.
