Stores are now selling the converter boxes. All major big retailers including Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and Wal-Mart will sell the converter boxes. Send for your $40 rebate and find Coupon Eligible Converter Boxes here.
DTV | DTV Converter Box | Digital Television Transition
WILL YOU NEED A CONVERTER ?
The DTV converter box is the key piece of equiptment required to make the transition to digital television with your analog tv. The easy-to-install electronic device hooks up to your analog television set and over-the-air antenna, converts the digital television signal into analog making it viewable on your analog set.
TV stations serving all markets in the United States are airing digital television programming today. During the DTV transition, most will continue to provide analog programming through February 17, 2009. At that point, full-power TV stations will stop broadcasting on their current analog channels, and the spectrum they use for analog broadcasting will be reclaimed and put to other uses.
With the growing number of HD programs, plunging prices on big-screens, flat-panel LCD and plasma sets, shopping for new televisions is very tempting but if you’re happy with your current TV, a DTV converter box can extend its life. You will be able to enjoy several of the benefits of digital television, while keeping the cost to a minimum.
DTV or digital television represent the way a signal is transmitted, the quality of that signal falls into several categories:
Digital television Quality Levels
There are many quality levels of digital television programming. The most common are:
- Standard Definition TV (SDTV) - SDTV is the basic level of quality display and resolution for both analog and digital. Transmission of SDTV may be in either the traditional (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) format.
- Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV) - EDTV is a step up from Analog Television. EDTV comes in 480p widescreen (16:9) or traditional (4:3) format and provides better picture quality than SDTV, but not as high as HDTV.
- High Definition TV (HDTV) - HDTV in widescreen format (16:9) provides the highest resolution and picture quality of all digital broadcast formats. Combined with digitally enhanced sound technology, HDTV sets new standards for sound and picture quality in television. (Note: HDTV and digital TV are not the same thing -- HDTV is one format of digital TV.)
The Government DTV Coupon Program
The DTV converter box coupon program can help you update your old analog TV to receive digital over-the-air signals and save you up to $80.
Between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, all U.S. households will be eligible to request up to two coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the purchase of up to two, digital-to-analog converter boxes. The applications will be accepted by mail, through a toll-free phone number, or through a government web site, beginning January 1, 2008. Remember the program is limited to two coupons per household. For more information goto DTV.gov
DTV Overview & Converter Installation
Digital cable or digital satellite does not mean a program is in high-definition. - Digital pictures will be free from the "ghosts" and "snow" that can affect analog transmissions. - Multicasting is available. - HDTV is available. - Data streaming is available.
By law, beginning March 1, 2007, all television reception devices (including TVs, VCRs, DVRs, etc.) imported into the U.S. or shipped in interstate commerce must contain a digital tuner. Retailers may continue to sell analog-only devices from existing inventory, but must prominently display on or near the analog-only device a Consumer Alert label.
