Much has been made of the pending transition to “Digital TV” – vouchers for converter boxes, endless TV commercials, and plenty of news coverage about the February 17, 2009 conversion.  That’s a lot of information to digest – so we’re bringing you the straight story on what you need to pay attention to – and what you should flat-out ignore.

First, a brief explanation of what “Digital TV” really means.  It does not necessarily mean “High-definition,” or “HD” TV!  This is the number one misconception about the transition.  The term “digital” refers to how the signal is delivered, not the quality of the picture.  In many cases, viewers will see NO difference at all when they start watching their favorite shows after the digital cutover.  This is because there are a number of different quality levels that can be delivered via Digital means.  Terms such as “480i,” “480p,” “720p,” “1080i,” and “1080p” all refer to the level of picture quality, and not all provide an “HD” picture.  For a more complete explanation, we recommend the US Government’s own site about the digital conversion, specifically the “What is DTV?” page.

Let’s look at the US Government’s “voucher program” as well as what scams you can avoid in preparing for the transition.

While a lot of attention has been paid to the “converter box voucher” program, where consumers can get reimbursed for the expense of the gear needed to use the digital signals, consumer advocacy blog The Consumerist has a simple (and funny) flowchart showing who actually needs a converter.  Hint: There’s a really good chance that you don’t need anything at all.  The only viewers that will need these converters are folks that use rooftop or “rabbit-ear” indoor antennas to tune their local TV channels, and don’t already have a TV with a built-in digital tuner.  (Fun fact: All TV units sold after March 1, 2007 must have digital tuners, and many sold before that date were digital-ready as well.)  That means that if you have cable or satellite service, you’re covered.  There is NOTHING you need to do, period.

However, for those that will need a converter but don’t have one yet, you’ll need to shell out the full price on your own – the voucher program has run out of funding (for now), racking up a backlog of one million requests.  This unfortunate state has caused the incoming Obama administration to call for a delay in the transition to Digital TV, based on what they feel is inadequate progress toward the transition.  As of the first of the year, nearly 7% of TV-owning households in the country had not taken steps to become digital-ready.  If the transition goes forward as scheduled, those homes – around 7 million of them – will lose all access to TV content.

Of course, electronics retailers have done their part to capitalize on the transition, by trying to sell as many new TVs to confused and/or uneducated consumers as they possibly can.  I won’t link to any examples of these scams, but an article from the National Crime Prevention Council shows the depths to which shameless retailers will sink in boosting sales figures.

So before you go out and drop your hard-earned cash on a new TV, or join the converter box reimbursement circus, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do you get your television content from a satellite or cable provider?
2. Do you have a TV purchased after March 1, 2007, or have an older set with a digital tuner built in?

Unless the answer to both of these are “No,” then put in a bag of popcorn, curl up with a beverage, and start watching the new season of shows with confidence that you’ll be just fine, regardless of when the digital conversion actually happens.

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