Digital TV standard for early 2009

[jmet]

It's almost official: Starting Feb. 18, 2009, millions of televisions in American households will go black unless they're outfitted to receive all-digital broadcasts.

The deadline became final on Wednesday as part of a broader spending bill that the U.S. Senate approved by an ultra-thin margin. Stuck in a deadlock over proposals involving Medicaid and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the legislation earned approval only after Vice President Dick Cheney flew back from a Middle East trip to push the 50-50 vote over the edge. Credit and More Information: CNet News

[anonymez]

the US is catching up

australia's deadline is 1st january 2008 i believe, hopefully they'll put the spectrum to good use and bump up the bitrate of HD channels, and maybe even a proper vpg

[BR7]

Does this mean they will stop charging you monthly subscriptions to get HD

[anonymez]

you're not supposed to get charged for HD unless its pay tv

[BR7]

I have Dish Network and they charge for ESPN,Discovery and others I cant think of do you think they will stop charging extra.As for the local channels around where I live none of them support HD yet

[anonymez]

AFAIK there is no reason for them to stop charging extra, satellite is unaffected by the extra available 'bandwidth'.

it really is a shame only 5 countries in the world have HD available to them, its the biggest FTA improvement since b&w to colour...

[BR7]

I figured as much thanks for taking the time to reply Anon

[anonymez]

anytime, BR7

ps congrats on the 200 posts!