The time to get a digital converter box is now, Federal Communications Commission commissioner Robert M. McDowell said at a Town Hall meeting today.
The transition from analog television to digital broadcasting will take place at midnight on Feb. 17. People who get their television from cable or satellite TV companies will not have to do anything to continue receiving a signal, McDowell said.
"But if you have any TV in your house that comes from antennas . . . you'll have to get a digital TV converter box."
The digital television transition was mandated by Congress as a way to ensure the use of better technology, he said. A digital signal not only provides better pictures and sound, but it also uses considerably less bandwidth, meaning local television stations can offer many more channels as a free alternative to cable and digital companies, McDowell said.
People with antennas who do need converter boxes do not need to use government-issued coupons to buy them, and at this late date he suggested they buy them now without the coupons, if possible to do so. Some televisions with antennas that have been purchased in the last three years may already have a digital tuner inside and thus not need the box; these sets have the letters ATSC (for Advanced Television Systems Committee) on the back.
At 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 17, and again on Jan. 17, broadcasters around the country will broadcast a message for at least one minute, and possibly two, that will inform anyone who sees it that they will need to get a converter box. The message will not be visible to people who have cable or satellite TV, and therefore will not need a converter box.
Other so-called soft tests will send out a similar message at other times between now and the transition date of Feb. 17 in an effort to inform people who will need to buy a converter box that the time to do so with uninterrupted service is running out.
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