The digital TV 'frenzy'

As an old fashioned antenna-based free TV viewer here in the USA, I am in line to be potentially affected by the coming—and in actuality already here—digital broadcast revolution. All major TV broadcasters have been transmitting dual analog and digital signals for quite some time now, but by February 17, 2009, they will officially discontinue their analog transmissions.

After that time folks who have TVs which only accept the analog signal inputs will absolutely need to A) buy a new TV with a built-in digital tuner, or B) buy a stand-alone box which will convert digital signals to analog for their TVs to display any images. There actually is a "C)" which would be to buy a DVD recorder or some other TV accessory item which has a digital tuner and can convert the digital signal to analog for display on older model TVs, but since the VCRs I use are still functional, I see no reason to toss them aside any more than I want to relegate otherwise fine and functional TVs to the scrap heap.

This is all government mandated and I'm sure there are very good reasons for it, not the least of which is (supposedly) a better picture quality. As of January 1 of this year, it has been recommended that viewers like myself apply for government issued coupons (a max of two per household) worth up to $40 apiece toward the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes. The coupons will not be valid toward the purchase of DVD recorders or other items which may happen to have digital tuners with analog outputs. And only certain models of converter boxes will be acceptable for purchase with coupon.

There's a lot of info on all this in much greater detail out there on the web. I've looked at a lot of it, but have not rushed into anything. According to Digital TV Facts the coupons will "...expire 90 days after being placed in the mail by the contractor that operates the program."

In my shopping travels to various major discount department stores and electronics retailers, I've yet to see any indication of the availability of such digital/analog converter boxes or even any obviously displayed information about them. I have seen an emphasis on noting that TVs for sale feature "digital tuners," but that's about it, no mention of converter boxes. This DailyWireless page indicates that "stores are expected to begin selling the boxes in February. All major big box retailers including Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and Wal-Mart will sell the converter boxes."

So my minor dilemma has been to question whether I should go ahead and apply for the two coupons and hope that I can track down the boxes in february as promised, or wait until I am sure that the boxes are actually available and in stock locally...

To that end I happened to be in my local Wal-Mart yesterday so I decided to head back to the electronics department and ask a question or two. One of the lowly young peons was working there tending to some sort of minor stocking issues or rearranging some inappropriately disorganized small merchandise. I decided not to ask her as I've learned from numerous experiences that such workers rarely can answer any question I pose. However, another worker (older) came over to the lesser clerk and handed her something with some sort of authoritative instruction as well. I thought, Ah, there's the person to ask!

I then approached her on the assumption that she was, if not the head of the electronics department, at least the manager on duty for that area or someone who could find out what I wanted to know if she didn't know for herself. I briefly summarized for her that I don't have cable, don't have satellite, just antenna reception and that I understand stores like Wal-Mart should be getting these converter boxes in by February of this year. I just wanted to know if she could confirm this or not before I go ahead and order the coupons (which I also had explained about).

The first thing she says to me is something about high-definition receivers. I stopped her and explained that I wasn't talking about high-definition (I don't have high-definition-capable TVs), but simple digital broadcast signals which need to be converted to analog for my TVs.

She then asks me, "Do you have cable?" So I had to re-iterate what she either didn't hear or didn't comprehend, that I'm not a cable subscriber and I just use an old-fashioned antenna for over-the-air reception.

There may have been another misunderstanding/false-start type of exchange in there as well, but the gist of it turned out to be that she obviously didn't know anything about the converter boxes and in fact had no clue what I was even talking about. She ended up saying something to the effect that... whatever they are, we don't have them now and I can't say when we will have them. I'm paraphrasing because I can't recall the exact quote now, but it was something very much like that in tone and informational content.

I haven't been in one of the major electronics retailers lately to check for any information there. I'm not going to go out of my way to visit one without a coincidental need for something else as well. I've also learned that calling places and asking questions about stock is pretty much pointless, so I didn't bother with that approach either.

So bottom line... I'm waiting until I see converter boxes actually available in stores before I apply for my coupons. I don't want to take any chances of having coupons in hand and then not having any boxes available before the 90 days is up.

Maybe it's because I'm one of the very few households in my region that doesn't have cable TV, but I thought this whole analog to digital changeover was somewhat of a big deal. I certainly expected supervisory-type store personnel to at least be aware of the issue and know a little something about how it affects their merchandise. I guess it's just one more example of the generally sad state of retail customer service in America these days. Sigh.

As for my TV dilemma I hope to be able to sort it out in due time. I'm not overly concerned. However, if somehow this all gets too muddled and I can't get a converter box or two, well, I guess there are always those somewhat forgotten things called books. I've heard good things about'em, so I'd be willing to give'em a try.