The digital transition will happen in order to liberate the parts of the spectrum, as traditional analog broadcasts currently occupies for use by wireless and broadband services. Better communication for public safety and services and more affordable high speed internet are just two of the potential benefits of switching.
For most consumers who use cable or satellite television services, no action before the transition would be necessary as the s
et-top boxes or receivers they use will allow them to receive the digital signals. But for those households that receive their television programming exclusively from over-the-air analog broadcasts, additional equipment will be needed in most cases.
Consumers who have purchased a television in the past year or two may already have a set with a digital tuner, which allows them to download the new signals. But since not all broadcasters were produced before March 1, 2007 were required to have a digital tuner with a newer TV can not release consumers from having to seek additional equipment.
For those households with a television, which do not currently have a digital tuner, which receives programming over-the-air, one of the three options available.
Buy a digital ready television
Subscribe to a cable or satellite television service
Obtain a decoder to allow an existing TV to receive digital TV signals
Buy a new TV, of course, carries a price tag. Depending on the size and display type, a new television can run from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Subscribe to a cable or satellite TV service would offer more programming choices and would eliminate the need to purchase additional equipment, but it would involve adding another monthly bill on the household budget for housing is not currently subscribe to such services . The final option, which is probably the cheapest is to buy a set-top converter box; the costs expected to be around $ 50 of the 2009 changes.
To help consumers who receive over-the-air television programming without cable or satellite television services, the Department of Commerce provide a voucher program starting in 2008. The program will reportedly provide up to two $ 40 vouchers per household to help offset the cost of this change for these households.
Certainly the transition to digital television should give a needed boost for emergency services communications and wireless functions, while the television signal efficiency and quality for home viewers. Like most changes, it would not completely without pain, as millions of home viewers on a budget will find the need to intervene if they want to keep their current television service.
