US--DTV conversion Q&A

[critters]

http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html#converter

[Freedom]

Very helpful! this is the one I've been wondering about: is digital TV automatically HDTV? Apparently, the answer is NO. I am glad to learn this.

Bought an HDTV about 2 years back. Cable co. charges extra for HD broadcast channels, and I was hoping that extra fee was going way with the conversion. Guess not. Sigh. Still, it is nice to have the answer!

If I want a new TV, will I have to buy a High Definition TV (HDTV) to watch digital broadcast television after the transition?

No. It is important to understand that the DTV transition is a transition from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting. It is not a transition from analog broadcasting to High Definition broadcasting. Digital broadcasting allows for High Definition broadcasts, but High Definition is not required, and you do not need to buy a HDTV to watch digital TV. A Standard Definition DTV (which is simply a TV with an internal digital tuner), or a digital-to-analog converter box hooked to an analog TV, is all that is required to continue watching over-the-air broadcast television. Digital broadcast television includes Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) formats. You can watch High Definition programming on a Standard Definition DTV (or on an analog TV hooked to a digital-to-analog converter box), but it won’t be in full High Definition quality. It is also important to know that Standard Definition DTVs are comparably priced to similar sized analog TVs.