What's digital tuner? Does my tv enjoy that?

I've been audible range that next year or something they will switch to digital tuner. I don't get hold of this? What's this digital thing?
Answer:    Older TV's will necessitate a digital signal converter box to receive the new digital signals (analog signals will be gone) starting contained by Feb 2009.

The federal government is offering $40 rebate on these tuners (only 2 per household though).
(This answer assumes you are in the US)

The US is within the process of changing the process TV is broadcast over the air from analog to digital.

Digital tuners allow a TV to receive digital TV signals. On foreign TV's they are built into the set, on older TV's you will stipulation to get a converter box. A converter box is only just an external digital TV tuner.

You can tell if your TV have a digital tuner in the following ways:

Can you tune surrounded by to digital channels? These own an extra digit at the end. For example analog low 7 becomes digital trough 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 etc.

Do the specs for your TV say it have an ATSC (digital OTA) tuner?

If you post the make & model of your TV, someone could look it up for you.


Digital channel work pretty much like the antediluvian analog channels. If you grasp them through an antenna, they are still free. If you get virtuous reception on analog ch 14-69 (UHF), you should be able to attain them with indistinguishable antenna. If your UHF reception isn't very devout, you will probably need a better antenna.

If you take your TV with an antenna (OTA), you will want to buy a converter box for old TVs that do not enjoy a digital tuner built in to them. These hook up between your antenna and your TV. Starting surrounded by Jan 2008 the government will be giving out coupons that will tolerate you buy a couple of them for about $20 respectively.

After 2/17/2009, almost all analog (OTA) broadcasts will expiration. Cable & satellite customers will still be able to bring back analog signals.

The picture quality that you catch through the converter should be about like as you get through a DVD player.

The rut numbers of the digital stations are just the mature analog numbers with another number added on to the conclusion.

For example channel 7 would become 7-1, 7-2, 7-3....
Each station can certainly send out two or three programs. The extra number is for respectively individual program.

If you buy an HDTV, you will find that the digital programs come in mixed resolutions or picture quality level. "480i" is the quality you grasp from a DVD player, 720p & 1080i are defined as "HD" and have a sharper depiction. If you are using a $20 converter this doesn't matter, it will convert adjectives of them to 480i which is the best the old analog TVs can display.

>What's the difference between them both?

Analog TV signals are essentially a very speeded up magazine of AM radio. This system is based on 1930's technology.

Digital TV signals are a stream of computer close to data. It's base on 1990's technology.

Cheat Sheet
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Old type OTA TV signals = NTSC = "Analog TV"

New type OTA TV signals = ATSC = "Digital TV" = DTV

Digital signals used on some cable systems = QAM

OTA = "Over the Air" = stuff you get through your TV antenna

"CECB" = political affairs speak for TV converter boxes that qualify for their coupon program. Stands for "Coupon-Eligible Converter Box"