Re: DTV

[Garrett Wollman <wollman>]

<<On Wed, 14 Nov 2001 01:44:34 -0500, "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyross.com> said:

> But the real question is whether these converter boxes enable an old
> TV set to produce a digital- quality picture.

Well, yes and no.  The converter will enable an old TV set to produce
a studio-quality analog picture (to the limit of the set's ability)
from an over-the-air signal.

> That being the case, I can't see why anyone would want to buy one of
> these devices so long as the analog signals remain on the air.

To eliminate sparklies, ghosting, and other imperfections in the
non-error-corrected analog signal.  Or, if you're a DirecTV
subscriber, the ability to see local high-definition broadcasts in
addition to the HD services on the satellite.  (AFAIK, DirecTV's and
EchoStar's local station packages only include major network
affiliates and only retransmit the main [analog] signal.)  OTOH,
digital tuners are reportedly less able to extract useful information
out of very weak signals than analog, such that a digital tuner will
show nothing when an analog tuner might show a snowy picture with no
audio.

-GAWollman