Digital Technology Headaches

As the DTV day approaches, I'm sure many people out there are thinking why the government is mandating the switch to a digital signal since there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the old analog signal.  Although I cannot speak for the government, I am guessing the switch has to do with how everything else in this world seems to be going digital.  This includes pictures, movies, music and anything else having to do with computers.  Although we may not like the idea that our world is going digital, we have to deal with it and all the headaches that go along with it.

I for one am a personal advocate for digital technology.  I consider myself a very techie person and enjoy the quality digital media provides.  However, I also dislike when digital technology gets the best of me.  This happened to me earlier tonight in fact.  I was taking an online midterm exam for my web design class when something happened causing me to be booted from my exam when I was about halfway done.  Needless to say I was feeling pretty frustrated with digital technology at that point.  I just kept thinking this would never have happened if I would have been taking an exam in class the old fashioned way.  Then I realized that if the technology didn't exist to take an online test or to do anything else online, then there probably wouldn't be a need for a web design class either and I would have to look for something else to minor in.  This helped to ease the pain slightly, but I'm still hoping my teacher will have a heart and let me take it again.  

I'm sure there will be some people out there feeling the same frustrations when they make the switch to digital television.  The signal may not come in the greatest and the screen will freeze up at the most inopportune time.  When that happens, just keep in mind that technology advances may be frustrating at times, but sometimes you have to take the bad if you want the good that goes along with it.  Often times, too, I've found the good outweighs the bad when it comes to digital media.  Just remember to keep that in mind when you are watching your favorite football team attempt a game winning touchdown during the next Superbowl only to have the digital picture freeze up as the ball is flying into the end zone.  

Digital Versus Analog Television

With all the hype of the impending DTV transition, many people are left wondering, "How do I know what kind of TV I have?"  This blog post will attempt to answer that question.  I must give you fair warning though; I am not an electrician or a television repair person so I will try to explain the difference to the best of my ability.  To help me make sense of the difference between the two types, I consulted www.howstuffworks.com and did a search for television. 

I'll start with what I found on analog television first.  Aside from the type of signal the television can receive, an analog television set usually looks a lot like the one below.  

As you can see from this picture I got from www.howstuffworks.com, the inside of a television is quite complex.  Someplace among the wires above is an analog processor, which converts the frequency waves into usable information.  Once the analog signal is received and processed, the cathode ray tube (located at the back of the set) a beam of electrons onto the screen.  Right in the middle of the picture above, there is a big bundle of copper wires.  These wires create a magnetic field that moves the electron light beam all over the screen.  Once the electrons hit the screen, which is made of phosphor, the screen begins to glow and broadcast the picture to the viewer.  Although this is an older type of television and most analog televisions look like this, there may be some cathode ray tube televisions on the market today that actually have digital processors in them.    

In a digital television, the signal is received as a small packet of information rather than in a frequency wave.  Because of the type of signal being received, a different type of processor is needed to broadcast the information on the screen.  Nearly all of the televisions being sold today already have those processors in them, but for some of the older models, which may have only be boughten a year or so ago, still only have the analog processor in them.  Most of the digital televisions today come with a LCD or plasma screen because they produce a better quality picture to broadcast the digital signal.  These televisions are normally lighter and flatter because they don't have to include tube and copper wire design as shown above in the cathode ray tube picture.  If you are going out to buy one of these types of televisions, I would do some homework first to the different types and what they offer before making a purchase to ensure you are getting the best television for your money.      

For those of you not in the market for a new television, a good test to know if you have a digital or an analog processor in your current television is to find out when one of the local stations will be shutting off their analog signal for testing purposes.  When they do, hook up the antenna and see if your television still picks up the signal.  You could also check the instruction manual (if you still have it) to see if it says anything about a digital processor in it.  If you don't have the manual, I would also recommend running a channel scan to see if your television gives you the option for a digital scan.  

I hope I haven't lost anyone in this sea of television technology.  Television is a complicated process and doesn't really need to be understood to enjoy.  However, if you would like to find out more about the LCD and plasma televisions or to get a better understanding on how television works, I would recommend checking out www.howstuffworks.com. 

Helping with the DTV Transition

In preparation for what to write in this week's upcoming blogs, I discovered the "Digital TV: Convert Now" contest on YouTube.  It is a contest being sponsored by Google and the Consumer Electronics Association where you could win a Panasonic 50-inch Plasma HDTV, Sony Blu-ray high-definition disc player, and Pioneer Surround Sound System.  I'm not sure about you, but any one of those items would greatly enhance my television viewing experience.

By now I'm sure you're wondering what you have to do to win these wonderful prizes.  First you need to make a video that is less than three minutes in length.  The video's theme will inform and educate the public on how to prepare friends and family for the DTV transition.  After you have made the video, you need to create a YouTube account (if you do not already have one) and submit the video between October 21, 2008 and November 23, 2008.  After that time, judges will chose 5 finalists and the YouTube public at large will get to vote on the video they like the best.  The winner will be chosen on December 10.  This is just a brief summary of the contest and if you would like to find out more click on official rules. 

I've chosen to include this information on my blog not only to inform people of this contest (which I intend to win), but also to show how the media industry is using convergence media to disseminate information about the DTV transition.  I think this is truly an ingenious way to get more people informed about the transition.  Not only are Google and CEA using the Internet to reach people about the DTV transition, they are recruiting people to spread the word to their families and friends by having them make a video about how they plan to tell them.  I've often learned that the best way to hear about something is through word of mouth so this seems like a very good way to teach people about the transition in a way they may understand rather than watching a 30 second ad on a local television station.  Also, I am contributing to the convergence aspect of this plan as well by writing about the contest and the DTV transition on a blog, which coincidentally is owned by Google.  This just proves that converged media has really taken over.  

I'm off to get some ideas for my video project and to start making room the for the 50-inch plasma HDTV.  If you have any ideas on how to help me win, feel free to comment and let me know!

Just When You Thought Snow Was Bad....

If you have been following my blog for any amount of time now, you will remember I said I was going to do a test of the DTV broadcast system and that I would report back with the results I found. I have since done so and I can honestly say, with a great deal of sadness, the results were not that wonderful. What I witnessed was actually worse, in my opinion, than watching the "snowy" analog channels, which will soon be no more. One might ask, "With all of this great new digital technology, how could it be worse than snow?" My friends, let me tell you, it can be!

I'll start by giving some background information on the equipment I conducted my analysis on. I have a new HDTV with a built in digital tuner, thus I have no need for a digital converter box. I also used an old pair of rabbit ears that I dug out of the back closet and placed them strategically on top of the entertainment center. After hooking them up and changing the settings on the television to scan air and not cable signals, I began my analysis.

At first glance, I was rather impressed on the way the picture looked. I was thinking this might actually be worth dumping the cable for after all. I flipped through the channels with amazement when suddenly I noticed the pixelation. I figured it must have been from bad reception, much like how the "snow" showed up in the old days. There is one key difference between the two types of bad reception though. With the "snow," you could still at least watch what was being broadcast with only the slightest frustration of not getting a very good picture. However, with the pixelation, the entire screen froze up and stayed that way until the signal came in clearer. Imagine this happening while you are watching a Monday night football game and you missed the game winning touchdown because the frame was frozen in place. That is a whole new level of frustration to deal with.

I understand this passage seems to be a little negative to the whole DTV conversion, but understand I am just reporting on what I witnessed on my first test of the system. After speaking with an engineer at a local television station, I realized there may have been some things I was doing wrong during this initial test, so I've decided not to give up on the quest to make DTV work for me. In the next few weeks I'm going to be upgrading some of my equipment and testing the system again. When I get my results, I will report back.

In addition, if you have tested the new DTV system for yourself, I would love some feedback on the the experience worked for you. Feel free to comment below!

The DTV Transition and the Television Station

Three million dollars.  That is how much one local television station spent to upgrade their equipment to make it compliant for the DTV transition.  I spoke with one of the engineers at the station earlier today and he said that is roughly what they have spent so far to upgrade their equipment for the transition.  This equipment includes tower upgrades and transmitter upgrades--basically taking the existing equipment and updating it to make it DTV compliant.  Imagine the size of the bill if this station had bought all new equipment rather than updating existing equipment.  Yikes!         

Now, I don't know about you, but $3,000,000 still seems like a lot of money for a smaller market television station to dish out for a federally mandated project.  Since it is something that the government is requiring of all full power television stations, wouldn't you think they would help to pay the bill?  The answer, unfortunately for those stations, is NO!  Unlike the consumer who can request a coupon to help defer the cost of their converter box, the small town television stations don't get the option to request help for upgrading their stations.  

The good news (at least for people who live in Eastern North Dakota) is that all of the local television stations have already completed the upgrade to broadcast digitally.  That means the average television consumer who will be buying a converter box before February can buy one now if they want and get a digital quality picture without having to wait until 2009.  If you don't live in Eastern North Dakota and would like to find out if the stations in you area have converted yet, visit the National Association of Broadcasters website.