Broadcast Television’s Analog to Digital Transition
DECEMBER 2005
A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO WE DID A REPORT ABOUT THE FCC’S ADOPTION OF NEW RULES FOR BROADCAST TV TO MAKE THE MOVE FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL
TRANSMISSIONS. DIGITAL TV (DTV) IF YOU HAVEN’T HEARD BY NOW PROVIDES CONSUMERS WITH ENHANCED TV CAPABILITIES SUCH AS HIGH DEFINITION (HDTV) AND
ADDITIONAL PROGRAM CONTENT THROUGH MULTI-CASTING (MULTIPLE STANDARD DEFINITION PROGRAMS TRANSMITTED IN ONE TV CHANNEL). BROADCASTERS ARE
CURRENTLY REQUIRED TO SIMULCAST BOTH DIGITAL AND ANALOG (TRADITIONAL) TV SIGNALS. EVENTUALLY THE BROADCASTERS WILL HAVE TO TERMINATE THEIR ANALOG
TV CHANNELS AND THE FCC WILL THEN AUCTION THE FREED UP BANDWIDTH TO PROVIDERS OF ADVANCED WIRELESS AND PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES.
THE ORIGINAL PLAN HAD A DATE OF DECEMBER 31, 2006, OR UNTIL 85% OF THE TELEVISION HOUSEHOLDS ARE CAPABLE OF RECEIVING DIGITAL BROADCASTS.
ALTHOUGH SALES OF DIGITAL TV’S CONTINUE TO GROW, A “HARD DATE” HAS BEEN SOUGHT BY MANY INDUSTRY LEADERS TO FURTHER ACCELERATE THE TRANSITION.
CONGRESS IS PRESENTLY WORKING ON LEGISLATION TO DO JUST THAT, AND ALL SIGNS INDICATE THAT IT WILL HAPPEN IN EARLY 2009.
“LOCALS” RECEIVED OFF-AIR
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO PCO’S? IF YOU ARE RECEIVING LOCAL BROADCASTS OVER-THE-AIR (OTA) FROM A VHF OR UHF ANTENNA, YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE SOME
CHANGES BEFORE THE 2009 DATE IN ORDER TO CONTINUE DELIVERING THESE PROGRAMS. THE CHANNEL PROCESSORS OR DEMODULATORS YOU’RE CURRENTLY USING
WERE DESIGNED FOR ANALOG NTSC TRANSMISSIONS, AND ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH 8 VSB DIGITAL BROADCASTS.
ALTHOUGH CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT, LOW COST DTV- TO- NTSC CONVERTER BOXES CAN BE INSTALLED IN THE PCO’S HEADEND TO CONVERT EACH OF THE
PRIMARY DIGITAL BROADCASTS BACK TO ANALOG. THIS WILL MAINTAIN SERVICE TO THE MAJORITY OF SUBSCRIBERS THAT HAVE CONVENTIONAL ANALOG TV’S, BUT WILL
NOT PROVIDE ANY ENHANCED PROGRAM SERVICES (HDTV OR MULTICASTS) TO CUSTOMERS OWNING HDTV’S. TO SATISFY THESE CUSTOMERS AND POTENTIAL DIGITAL
“MUST CARRY” RULES (FOR CATV OPERATORS), 8 VSB CHANNEL PROCESSORS SUCH AS BLONDER TONGUE’S DHDP SERIES CAN BE DEPLOYED TO DELIVER THE ENTIRE
DIGITAL CHANNEL. INCORPORATING BOTH OF THESE METHODS WILL REQUIRE TWO 6 MHZ CHANNELS FOR EACH LOCAL BROADCAST CARRIED.
AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION FOR PCO ANALOG “LOCAL” DELIVERY IS TO RECEIVE THEM FROM DIRECTV OR DISH NETWORK RATHER THAN AN OVER-THE-AIR CHANNEL.
“LOCALS” RECEIVED FROM DBS SATELLITES
PCO’S SWITCHING FROM OTA TO DIRECTV OR DISH NETWORK DELIVERED LOCALS OR THE MANY OPERATORS ALREADY RECEIVING DBS BASED LOCALS, WILL NOT
REQUIRE ANY HEADEND MODIFICATIONS FOR THE TRANSITION. THIS METHOD, HOWEVER IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE OTA HEADEND CONVERSION IN THAT IT WILL ONLY
PROVIDE PRIMARY STANDARD DEFINITION PROGRAMS.
PCO “LOCALS” DELIVERY 2005
BOTH OTA ANALOG AND DIGITAL BROADCASTS ARE AVAILABLE. LOCAL’S ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM DIRECTV OR DISH NETWORK FOR ANALOG DELIVERY FROM HEADEND.
8 VSB PROCESSORS USED TO DELIVER HDTV AND MULTICAST LOCAL PROGRAMS TO THE GROWING NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS WITH HDTV’S.
PCO “LOCALS” DELIVERY 2009
OTA ANALOG BROADCASTS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE. OTA ANALOG EQUIPMENT (PROCESSORS AND DEMODS) MUST BE REPLACED BY DTV/NTSC CONVERTERS OR
DBS RECEIVERS TO MAINTAIN LOCAL ANALOG DELIVERY TO CUSTOMERS WITH CONVENTIONAL STANDARD DEFINITION TV’S. 8 VSB PROCESSORS USED TO DELIVER
HDTV AND MULTICAST LOCAL PROGRAMS TO CUSTOMERS WITH HDTV’S.