If you are in the USA, and watch any TV, you surely have seen those public service announcements about the coming changes in TV. TV is going digital.
Unfortunately, most of these announcements have a lot of errors. I'll try to clear up some of this.
1. All TV stations will switch to digital on February 18, 2009.
Only full-power TV stations are affected by the February 18, 2009 date. Other TV station categories (class-A, low power, and translator) will have another conversion date yet to be announced.
Most full-power TV stations are already transmitting digital. Most of them are transmitting simultaneously with their old analog signals. A few have already completed the conversion. New ones never even had analog to begin with. They need to shut off their analog transmitters by February 18, 2009, but they can do so sooner.
2. If you have cable TV or satellite TV you don't need to do anything.
You MAY not need to do anything. It depends on whether all your TV sets are connected to cable or not. The TV sets connected to cable should be OK though I suspect some cable systems will have glitches during the transition because of the changes the stations themselves are making (many are changing frequency, mostly on that one day). Extra TV sets people have that get the signal over-the-air (whether by a "rabbit ears" antenna or an outdoor antenna) still have to deal with the issue. Of course one easy solution for many people is to get their cable TV or satellite service connected to all the other TVs in the house. Or you can get a digital converter box for them (you can get a $40 coupon for up to 2 of them, one per box).
In a few locations in the country, satellite services (DirecTV and DishNet) do not provide local channels. They may be able to help you by switching your satellite receiver with one that can also get over-the-air TV as well as satellite signals. If you have satellite TV and are unsure, call your satellite provider now to find out if you have the locals through the satellite or by some other means. If you are in or near a big city, your local channels will be available via satellite, but you have to be signed up to that service to get them that way. This involves a small extra cost.
3. Your TV antenna will work with digital TV.
It may work OK. It depends on what changes your local TV stations are making. Most TV stations are changing the frequency they operate on (even though you will be able to tune them using the old channel numbers using a digital tuner). If you have a VHF-only antenna, you probably will need a UHF antenna, or a combination VHF-UHF antenna.
In some cases, TV stations are moving their transmitter antenna locations, or changing the antenna height, or the power level. Or maybe the change of frequency will affect your reception. Not every TV station will be as easily received in digital compared to analog. Digital should improve the reception for most people, but there will be exceptions. Some people will need to upgrade their antenna or choose an alternative like cable or satellite.
