Anybody else sick and tired of the digital TV commercials and warnings?

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sudsmaster

sudsmaster

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OK, I admit I was ahead of the curve on the broadcast digital TV conversion. I even bought a dual tuner DVD recorder so that I could get digital broadcast channels on one of my analog TV's.

I applied for the coupons as soon as they were announced and now all my analog TV's can get digital.

What annoys me are the constant ticker tape "warnings" broadcast on both analog and digital channels warning people that come next February, analog broadcast signals will go away.

Sorry, why can't they just do these ticker tape warnings on the ANALOG channels? People with digital capable tuner equipped TV's who are watching a digital channel don't need to be reminded of the changeover - it's preaching to the choir.

OK, end of pointless rant.

Discuss amongst yourselves ;-)
 
I'm Sick...

...Of TV and antenna companies shading their ads so as to sell people stuff they won't need - or can't use - once the changeover comes. "Digital antennas" are the biggest scam right now - there is no such thing. A good TV antenna will get digital as well as analogue. If your old antenna doesn't get digital well, you need a better antenna, not something marked "digital" for no good reason other than marketing claims.

I'm also tired of being dictated to by manufacturers, who are using the transition to make affordable TVs much scarcer than before. Our local Wally World has a wall full of flat-screen digital TVs at eye-popping prices - and three chintzy CRT models way over in the corner, where you don't see them unless you're looking for them. None of the CRT models are anything desirable.

And most tiring of all is that many TV types have become unavailable due to the changeover. Try and find a small (like eight-inch) set with a DVD player built into it - a format that was plentiful up until last year. Finding a combo unit with DVD and a VCR built into it - of any size - is fairly difficult. Small "pocket" models and battery-operated portables to use in emergencies? Fugeddaboudit.

I have a fearless prediction. Analogue TV will go dark as scheduled. It will come back on within 48 hours, due to technical glitches and citizen outrage as the ramifications of the changeover become clear. I'm thinking a year or so will pass before the changeover is complete.
 
Thanks sudsmaster for bringing this up, I have cable and 2 of the gov. coupons for converter boxes for the extra old sets upstairs and in the garage. My question since its post happy hour :-). WTF do you do in a power outage such as an ice storm, if you want to get the news and weather, or are there cheap battery tv's with a said, digital tuner? Is there some mysterious symbol on them similar to the old Dolby sound emblem, or what? I bet not one elderly person has such an animal, for use in a power outage, and if there is such a thing what a great gift idea. thanks suds alr2903
 
We have cable, and I'm getting a little tired of the commercials and ticker tape warnings. Can't wait until February gets here.
 
It is is crazy!!!

I just want to tell you from a electronics stand point. Don't buy a Sony RDR - GXD 455 DVD recorder with digital tuner. They are for crap! I have tested 3 of them. Not only do they not record well without freezing up. They will freeze up on your DVD movie playbacks. Sucks bit time, and I just wanted to get the word out to you happy campers.
What I have found that if flawless is the Panasonic DVD Recorder / Player. Model number DMR-EZ28K. It is awesome, and has not failed me as of yet.
I have been testing these products for a survey company. I have given them the "test", and the Panasonic has not failed me ever. The other brands...so many....just run for now. They are not worth it.
My 2 cents.....
Brent
 
Also to add...

All of the DVD players that I have tested have the Digital Tuners.
The Panasonic was the only machine that could pick up on all of the digital broadcast in my area.
The other "big names" not only picked up on only half of the signals, but they froze up every chance that came around. Locating channels, or just recording from channels that they found.
I think it will get better with time, but who cares at this point? I do think the best is the Panasonic DMR EZ28K. It never had an issue with anything! Recording, tuning, playing back recordings, etc. And funny enough, it is the cheapest on the market right now.
Brent
 
Easy.....

Stop watching Television.

You'll be smarter and saner for it.

Read. Listen to Radio. Go out and do things.

There is a life without television.

I stopped watching television on a regular basis in 2001, and I don't think I would go back to it.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Sick of it but necessary

I volunteer for our local PBS station. You will be amazed at how many calls they are getting every day from people that just now realize that the station will be going off the air as they know it on January 17th. (We plan to be in compliance a month early).

We are especially targeting people that are low income, don't have cable or satalite, maybe older or disabled. We have a volunteer that will help them sign up for the converter coupons and we are attempting to get a group together that will help them hook up the converter.

So as I said, it is necessary to run the spots repeatedly because we have to get the public's attention. Broadcast TV as we know it will cease in February.
 
I have the Panasonic EZ475Z. It's pretty good, but it does have its moments. Sometimes it fails to record when scheduled. It just goes into a pause mode and never goes into record. Other times in manual operation it refuses to go into record when the record button is pressed.

The VCR to DVD function works well - but I had a home-made video that I used two VCR's to edit. It has a lot of stops and starts where I spliced in different footage. Well, the DVD record function views these as separate episodes and puts a pause in, ruining the flow of the original. Sort of esoteric, but indicative of the kinds of problems that can happen.

At one point I found a firmware upgrade on the internet and that helped some - the failures to record have been fewer in number but it still happens.

It does get virtually all the local digital broadcast stations. Sometimes though it balks and I have to rescan the channels. And occasionally it will have to be reset. Oh, and it occasionally trashes recorded DVD's in the "finalization" process. I lost all the presidential debates that way. OK, no big loss I guess, but still...
 
Digital TV and DVD Recorders with digital tuners

I like a lot of things about the digital conversion. I like getting extra feeds of the PBS channels, and the clear picture that is much more immune to interference and multi-path reception (ghosting).

Be aware that the digital signal gives the program producers and broadcasters extra control over the content and and use of the programming.

My wife bought a JVC DR-MV100B VCR and DVD Combo Recorder. When set to record Desparate Housewives off the digital station feed, it would stop recording mid show and display a blue screen that said the program provider had forbidden recording or copying the program. Over the air program providers are not supposed to be allowed to use this feature but it exists and they are using it. When I contacted the ABC station, the station engineer suggested we weren't using the recorder properly, but it was very clear what was happening.

Disappointed and angry, my wife sent the DVD recorder back to the vendor. But it really wasn't the vendor's or manufacturer's fault. We can't time shift programming because our government is overly influenced by private commerical interests like the entertainment industry. And the manufacturer is compelled to make crippled devices, or not make them at all. The retailer must sell what is manufactured.
 
Snoggle:

I wish you'd taken a photo of the TV screen and sent it to the F.C.C. with a letter of complaint describing all the circumstances (local channel info, time of day, programme, network, etc.). You're correct that broadcast networks and stations are not supposed to be using the recorder block feature, and the F.C.C. could have put a stop to it very quickly. One of the things I find infuriating about companies today is that they will do whatever they can get away with until they're stopped. It's up to us to stop them. The American consumer is paying an enormous price for this digital transition, and should be treated as well as possible, not as badly as companies can get away with.
 
"whatever they can get away with" ---------

The current administration has spent many years with their regulatory backs turned while big business runs amok. The rules to protect us have been in place for years. It's that no one is enforcing them or they are being ignored completely. It costs us all dearly----the mess within the banking and financial institutions are a good example. (One can easily get the impression the Bush administration is using some sort of economic "scorched-earth" policy on the way out.)

Currently I recieve basic cable from Cox, here in Roanoke. The word "Analog" appears on the bottom right-hand side of my television screen whenever the TV is on. I find it creates this subliminal type of concern. Yet, with cable, it should make no difference.
 
I haven't had a problem with copyright notices for recording broadcast programming. However the machine will refuse to copy a movie on VHS to DVD, for example. Although I've figured out a way around it... I have an older analog signal processor with digital effects. I can put this in between a VHS or DVD player and the DVD recorder, and most of the time it will make an archival copy. It's not a direct digital copy of the DVD, and the best signal quality it can handle is SVHS, but that's ok in most instances.
 
We live in a very marginal TV reception area. We have a digital set top box (Aldi) and analogue tuner in the DVD player. The tuner in the TV died years ago but it isn't needed with the other gadgets. We also have a satellite TV box which was provided free by a federal government grant, as the free to air reception is so poor.

The satellite works 100% perfect all the time, but two channels are not available on satellite and there is no news/weather for my State, as the satellite feed is from interstate.
Another interesting anomaly with the satellite tv is that there is a separate channel for the same show in different time zones. We can watch a show in our local time, we can watch it in South Australia time or Western Australia time, also during daylight savings we get extra choices for the states that don't do daylight saving, so we get Queensland and Northern Territory too. This means at present I can watch a show in my local time (Victoria, New South Wales time); half hour delay (South Aus); one hour delay (Queensland); one and a half hour delay (NT); or two hour delay (Western Aus). WA changes to daylight saving a week after the eastern states, so for that week WA show are in three hour delay.

The normal analogue signal is patchy, sometimes fine, usually grainy, sometimes unwatchable or nothing.

The digital signal is either perfect or unwatchable, with weird noises and pixellating, or a blank screen. So at times I have to give up on the digital and change back to what we now call "speckle-vision" - often when the digital is unwatchable, the analogue is snowy but quite OK to watch. Analogue goes off air in AU in 2010, latest guesstimate.

Chris.
 
Size matters.

OK I've let this thread settle. May I now hijack?

Tthe new forthcoming television format has changed the picture aspect (ratio of length to width) such that televions screens are much more rectangular than the older (current) squarer version. The current aspect ratio was derived from the orignal round screens, BTW. Of course the new format is designed to approximate (or equal) the aspect ratio seen on a commercial movie screen.

OK so 12 inches (diagonally) was a kitchen size, 19 inches a bedroom size and 25 to 32 inches a living room size range. What are the new equavalents? And how are television sizes designated in metric lands? Is it simply cm?
 
Sizes...

Hey Steve

TV screens are one of the odd things that are still generally measured in inches over here. When I brought my 1st widescreen 16/9 model I was told a 28" widescreen was about comparable to a 25" standard 4/3 set.

I now have a 32" LCD and thats plenty big enough for where it lives although its "small" by living room/lounge standards- 37" and 42" sets are probably more popular.

I have digital cable from Virgin Media so the inclusion of a digital tuner is a bonus not a necessity.

Our PAL 625 shutdown has started- its being done region by region with the final one(mine) due to close in 2012.

Heres a link to our digital switchover site...

Seamus

www.digitaluk.co.uk

Everyone TV | Championing Free TV for All

Everyone TV runs the nation’s free TV platforms – Freely, Freeview and Freesat – and leads the evolution of free TV in the UK.
www.digitaluk.co.uk www.digitaluk.co.uk
 

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