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Wednesday March 14, 2007
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 By February 17, 2009, all U.S. television stations are required to switch to digital-only broadcasts. (Which is coincidentally the day of my birthday!) That means that consumers who own analog-only TVs will need to upgrade to a TV with a digital tuner, get satellite or digital cable, or a digital converter box. Well, the Department of Commerce decided to be nice and supply 15 million U.S. households who own analog-only TVs with up to two $40 coupons toward the purchase of digital converter boxes.
These converter boxes will run about $50 to $60. And there's no way to avoid this switch, because analog televisions could go dark unless some form of action is taken. Realizing that this will be a major issue for the U.S., RCA is readying the DTA800, a low-cost and energy-efficient digital TV converter (pictured here). It will be able to receive terrestrial broadcast TV signals and convert them for display on an analog TV. It is expected to be available sometime this year.
My boyfriend's mom doesn't watch much TV, so she owns an analog TV; she doesn't really care much for digital cable, and besides, it's cheaper. I own two televisions, and one is only hooked up to digital cable. So in three years my second TV will be required to have a digital box. That means more money for the cable companies, and I'm sure they're loving every minute of it. [via PCMag.com]
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