The HD TV Converter Box will provide a digital to analog signal conversion that enables older televisions to receive new digital signals. Without this accessory box, there will be no reception. The government is providing special $40 coupons, two to a household until March 31, 2009 or until supplies run out, to offset the estimated $40 to $70 cost per box. The coupons are only good on certain converter boxes that must have parental control, alerts, auto-off, zoom, strength indicators, and energy saving and program guides.

With a converter box, older television sets will have digitally clear sights and sounds, making an old TV like new. Many boxes still have trouble synchronizing sound and video on certain channels. Back in 2003, the government decided that manufacturers should stop making analog television sets, and make digital capable sets. The reason was projections of a disappearing audience watching over the air broadcast signals. The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that by 2009, only about 6.8% of viewers will be watching over the air broadcasts, as most viewers now have cable or satellite services.

To apply for a government coupon to use when purchasing an HD TV Converter Box, you can apply online, or call the coupon program 24/7 at 1-888-388-2009, or mail in an application to PO BOX 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000. You can download an application from the internet site and fax it to 1-877-388-4632. TTY service is available for the deaf also. Complete information is available at the government website, www.dtv2009.gov. Coupons are only good for 90 days from their mailing date.

Only certain converter boxes are eligible for use with these coupons, but the list is very long. It can be found here: Coupon Eligible Converter Boxes: https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm. The coupons look like a store gift card, and can only be used on eligible boxes.

The government decided it is in the public interest to change to digital broadcast signals to free up the broadcast spectrum for public services. Space is needed for police, fire, and emergency services, and it will open more room for wireless channels. A digital broadcast station can broadcast multiple channels over the former single analog channel, offering more programming for the public. With the HD TV Converter Box, you can receive all those new HD channels.

Cable and satellite subscribers with analog televisions will still get reception through those companies without purchasing a new converter box. Battery run analog televisions will need to be hooked up to a converter box for reception. Without the converter box, or a new television that already contains an internal digital system, there will be no reception over the air from full power broadcast stations.

Cheap hd tvs like the Viewsonic 26 with a 26” color LCD screen with a 22.7 inches width by a 12.7 inches height perfectly matches the 16:9 aspect ratio used by HD transmission. With an average life of 50,000 viewing hours, the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) will last approximately 14 years if you watch 10 hours of TV every day. With its two built in 10-watt speakers and Dolby sound, the sound quality matches that of HDTVs costing over twice that amount.

Resolution, brightness, and contrast are the key to picture quality. With a resolution of 1360 X 768 lines combined with a dynamic contrast range of 800:1, and a brightness of 500 cd/m2 (1 candela / (2 meters) = 0.5 cd / m), the picture appears lifelike. TAs an added feature, he Viewsonic 26 LCD is equipped with an antiglare, antireflective coating so the picture is crystal clear no matter what the viewing angle.

Cheap hd tvs like the Viewsonic 26 is more than a tv, it is also a HD monitor.
With the Viewsonic 26’s seven different inputs
S-Video
RGB
HDMI
RCA
YPbPr
YCbCr
Input Terminal Video: RCA

With the choice of composite, S-Video, RGB, YPbPr, and YCbCr inputs, the Viewsonic can be used to display the video output from almost any source. The Viewsonic will faithfully reproduce video and sound signals from your VCR, DVD player, TIVO, Digital camcorder, etc.
The Viewsonic 26 can also be used as a HD computer monitor as well as the centerpiece for a home theater.

With its HDMI input the Viewsonic can be used as a HD display monitor for a multimedia computer. Actually, the Viewsonic 26 can be used as HD monitor for any computer with the necessary video adapter board and driver software.

With such high quality yet inexpensive HD TVs on the market today there is no reason to suffer the shortcomings of your old analog TV. With analog transmission soon to end, why buy a converter box or upgrade to a simple digital TV when you can experience High Definition Digital TV for only a few dollars more. Once you experience HD, there will be no going back.

Cheap hd tvs like the Viewsonic 26 with a 26” color LCD screen with a 22.7 inches width by a 12.7 inches height perfectly matches the 16:9 aspect ratio used by HD transmission. With an average life of 50,000 viewing hours, the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) will last approximately 14 years if you watch 10 hours of TV every day. With its two built in 10-watt speakers and Dolby sound, the sound quality matches that of HDTVs costing over twice that amount.

Resolution, brightness, and contrast are the key to picture quality. With a resolution of 1360 X 768 lines combined with a dynamic contrast range of 800:1, and a brightness of 500 cd/m2 (1 candela / (2 meters) = 0.5 cd / m), the picture appears lifelike. TAs an added feature, he Viewsonic 26 LCD is equipped with an antiglare, antireflective coating so the picture is crystal clear no matter what the viewing angle.

Cheap hd tvs like the Viewsonic 26 is more than a tv, it is also a HD monitor.
With the Viewsonic 26’s seven different inputs
S-Video
RGB
HDMI
RCA
YPbPr
YCbCr
Input Terminal Video: RCA

With the choice of composite, S-Video, RGB, YPbPr, and YCbCr inputs, the Viewsonic can be used to display the video output from almost any source. The Viewsonic will faithfully reproduce video and sound signals from your VCR, DVD player, TIVO, Digital camcorder, etc.
The Viewsonic 26 can also be used as a HD computer monitor as well as the centerpiece for a home theater.

With its HDMI input the Viewsonic can be used as a HD display monitor for a multimedia computer. Actually, the Viewsonic 26 can be used as HD monitor for any computer with the necessary video adapter board and driver software.

With such high quality yet inexpensive HD TVs on the market today there is no reason to suffer the shortcomings of your old analog TV. With analog transmission soon to end, why buy a converter box or upgrade to a simple digital TV when you can experience High Definition Digital TV for only a few dollars more. Once you experience HD, there will be no going back.

First HDTV is a television broadcasting system. HDTV is broadcast digitally versus via analog. HDTV has a significantly higher resolution than traditional formats. HDTV was first introduced to the United States in the late 1990s and was immediately met with great excitement by sports buffs, but didn’t really gain popularity with the majority of America until the last couple of years.

BENEFITS

HDTV has much greater lineal resolution than regular television, or standard-definition television. Therefore, HDTV allows much greater detail in the picture to be shared with the viewer. HDTV is also much better for viewing programs in wide screen than analog TV, as it allows for less distortion. HDTV not only allows more detail but allows the picture to be clearer and less blurred. The motion of characters on your TV will appear smoother and colors will be brighter and more true-to-life.
Another, less known, benefit of HDTV is that it allows for more opportunities for surround sound. An HDTV is better equipped to work with sound systems, making it possible for a viewer to obtain a more complete surround sound experience and truly enjoy the television experience. HDTV is typically viewed with Dolby Digital sound, the same sound used in many movie theaters. Thus, making watching a movie at home, a lot like watching a movie in the theater without the people and the lines! And for those of you who love sports but can’t get to the game, watching the game in HDTV makes the experience much more life like and enjoyable.

NEGATIVES

While, HDTV has great benefits, there are some downsides. The biggest downside to most consumers is that HDTV is not compatible with any analog TV and in order to work properly needs to be viewed on a television specifically made to broadcast HDTV programs. What this means, is that you will once again have to experience the chaos of trying to select the perfect television in order to enjoy HDTV. At the current time, prices for televisions equipped with HDTV’s are slightly higher than for televisions not equipped with HDTV capability. However, as HDTV moves into the more mainstream, this is sure to change.

Whether HDTV is “better” than standard definition television is a matter of personal preference. However, the evidence points to the conclusion that HDTV is the way of the future. Just as color televisions replaced black and white, with time HDTV will replace standard definition television and change the way the world watches television once again. It is clear that HDTV has significant benefits over standard definition television and in all likelihood really is “better” TV.

The 720p video resolution is 1280 X 720 pixels, which gives 921,600 total pixels and the 1080i video resolution is 1920 X 1080, which gives a huge 2,073,000 pixels.
It is personal choice as to which resolution you prefer, the best way of finding out is to go down to your local retailer and look for yourself.
The sound on HDTV will sound better than it did on your analog tv, some HDTV programs include Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, but you will need the relevant speakers to be able to take advantage of this.

You will have to buy a new HDTV. Some HDTVs come with built-in tuners, while others do not. The tuner converts the signal into something that your TV can recognize. HDTVs that do not come with a tuner are commonly called "HDTV Ready." An HDTV without a tuner is worthless.
It is possible to view HDTV on your pc, you can do this with ATi HDTV Wonder, it comes with its own antenna to pick up airborne HDTV signals, it also has inputs for cable and satellite signals. A benefit of this is that you can play and record any show you want on your computer.

How does HDTV land on U.S.?

15years ealier back to year 1987, the FCC issued a ruling signifying that the HDTV standards to be issued would be compatible with existing NTSC service, and would be restricted to the existing VHF and UHF frequency bands.

By the end of 1988, 23 different proposals for HDTV or EDTV standards were submitted. These were all analog (or mixed analog/digital systems like MUSE) and explored a variety of different options for resolution, interlace and bandwidth.

Early 1990, the FCC announced that HDTV would be simultaneously broadcast with full HDTV standard, rather than the reduced resolution EDTV. A big leap forward, although its still remains in analog form.

But U.S. HDTV world did not wait long to get "digitized". A few months later on May 31, 1990 General Instrument Corp. submitted the first proposal for an all digital HDTV system. By December 1990, ATRC announced its digital entry in HDTV system, followed quickly by Zenith HDTV and AT&T, then MIT. Thus there were four serious contenders for digital HDTV system in the United States, as well as a modified "narrow" MUSE and an EDTV proposal. These systems were then tested in year 1991-1992.

1993, a remarkable year for United States HDTV history, the FCC made the key decision for an all digital technology — but could not decide among the four contenders. Therefore, after some argument, a recommendation was made to form a "Grand Alliance" composed of AT&T, GI, MIT, Philips, Sarnoff, Thomson and Zenith. This Grand Alliance of HDTV would take the best features of the four HDTV systems and develop them into an HDTV standard. Most of the remainder of 1993 was devoted to establishing the features of this new HDTV standard.

During 1994, the system was constructed and 1995 is slated for testing. If all goes well, the FCC may be setting this standard by the end of 1995.
Teddy Low

In order to receive and watch an HDTV signal you need a number of things. Firstly, you need to be in a country and area where HDTV is broadcast, either over the air, by cable and by satellite. If you live in the US, you can almost certainly receive HDTV by one, if not all of these media. In Europe, you will be more limited. For example, in the UK you need to either sign-up to Telewest (cable) or Sky (satellite) to get HDTV (although you could invest in a Freesat box and receive satellite HDTV without a subscription).

Secondly you need a tuner that can receive HDTV. This will typically either be a cable, satellite, or off-air set-top box, but could also be an integrated HDTV, CableCard or Mac/PC HDTV tuner (usually either a PCI card or USB 2 peripheral).

Thirdly, you need a display which is capable of reproducing HDTV signals. To do this, it must have a vertical resolution of at least 720 pixels, be able to display progressive scan signals, and have a minimum width to height aspect ratio of 16:9. EDTVs have a vertical resolution of only 480 lines and so can’t display HDTV signals at HDTV quality.

Finally, you need to be able to hook the three elements together. The key part here is that the TV must be connected to the tuner, if it’s not built-in, by a medium capable of transferring high definition signals. For a TV or projector this means DVI, HDMI, or component connections — although if you choose component, you may run into trouble later on when watching signals encoded using particular HDCP. For a computer tuner, a PCI slot, USB 2 or FireWire interface will do the job.

FICTION; Special antennas are necessary to receive the new HDTV/Digital signal.

FACT; HDTV is and will broadcast on many of the same channel frequencies that traditional analog television has been broadcasting on for years.

FICTION; All HDTV/Digital signals will be broadcast on the UHF(14-69) frequency band.

FACT; Nearly every television broadcasting market in the U.S. will have at least one or more VHF(2-13) and UHF(14-69) HDTV channels.

FICTION; I will need to replace my current TV antenna to receive HDTV.

FACT; If your current antenna can receive both VHF(CH.2-13) and UHF(Ch.14-69) TV signals, and is in proper working order, it is unlikely a change will be necessary.

Because of widespread misunderstanding many people will purchase two TV antennas. The first antenna will be purchased as an HDTV antenna. This antenna will be a UHF TV antenna. The well meaning dealer who sold the antenna thought all HDTV/Digital signals would be broadcast on the UHF band.

I believe for the most part this is an honest mistake. All broadcasters are required to broadcast their traditional analog signal until February 2009. At the same time they are broadcasting their new HDTV signal. Because of the limits in channel space allotted for television broadcasting, most HDTV channels are temporarily assigned to UHF channels, and will permanently be assigned in February 2009. At this time many of the HDTV channels currently broadcast on the UHF(Ch.14-69) will return to the VHF(Ch.2-13) frequency.

The fact of the matter is, there is no difference between a traditional TV antenna and a HDTV antenna. Although some people would like you to think there is, this simply isn’t true.

When choosing your HDTV antenna, use the same guide lines used for selecting a traditional antenna. Consider the antennas Quality, size, range, and how much money you are willing to spend and in most cases be sure it’s VHF/UHF capable. Remember if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Now that there is a HDTV signal being sent you will need a HDTV "enabled" or "ready" television to be able to receive that signal and display it correctly. If the TV is "HDTV enabled" that means that it does not have a HDTV tuner already built into it but can display HDTV programming if a HDTV tuner is hooked up to it. If it is "HDTV ready" it has the HDTV tuner and is capable of receiving HDTV signals right away. So what is the difference for you?

Well, most satellite and cable companies will only allow you to use their proprietary tuner to gain access to their programming on your TV set, so they essentially bypass the tuner that is in the TV. If you have a HDTV enabled set, this is no problem because it is able to receive and display in HDTV using the tuner from the satellite or cable company. If you have a HDTV ready set, it is still no problem, but if you paid extra for the tuner, you may not be able to get much use from it if you view satellite or cable programming all the time. However, if you are not able to get local channels by satellite or cable, having a HDTV tuner can allow you to receive those channels and display them in HDTV with an appropriate antenna.

So when you look for a new television, be sure to have in mind what your needs will be regarding programming. If all of your viewing will be done through a cable or satellite provider there may be no need to get a TV set that has a HDTV tuner built in. It just has to be HDTV enabled and ready to process a HDTV signal when a HDTV tuner is attached to it. On the other hand, if you will be receiving your broadcasts by antenna or over the air, then you will definitely need the built in HDTV tuner to receive and display HDTV programming.

Just doing a little advance planning can help you buy only the equipment that you will need to view HDTV.

Many consider HDTV to be one of the greatest inventions since sliced bread. By providing wider pictures with enhanced details and the clear look of a movie screen, it’s no wonder so many people are excited about this revolutionary product. In comparison to standard television, HDTV images hold twice the definition both vertically and horizontally and are a full 1/4 wider than a normal television set.

However, the biggest draw for HDTV is its clear picture. Plus, when you add in the the sound quality, you begin to understand why so many folks are rapidly swithching to HDTV. HDTV pictures contains close to 1100 lines in comparison to only 500 in a normal tv set. While you can possibly see the lines in a normal tv set, you will likely not detect the lines in an HDTV set.

There are a few varieties of hdtvs; hd traditional projection tvs, hd flat panel tvs, and hd advanced micro displays. The first is hd traditional projection tvs. This type of hdtv offers larger screen sizes and lower prices, but this hdtv also takes up more space, is quite heavy, and has a thinner viewing angle than other forms of hdtv. Next, is hd flat panel hdtv. This hdtv is thin and lighter and is a type of hdtv that can hang on a wall.

Most of these types of hdtv are HD ready and provide the widest viewing angle and the highest contrast. However, with this hdtv technology usually comes a higher price. Finally, there is the hd advanced micro displays. These hdtvs offer a lightweight design and advanced technology without the expense of flat panel hdtv. These hdtvs are hd ready and provide a big viewing angle, quality contrast, and have a replaceable light sources.

All signs point towards hdtv being the wave of television’s future. With it’s clarity, sound quality, and wider viewing angle, hdtv will likely become the standard for television viewing and broadcasting in the immediate future.