The digital world slowly approaches

Yes, this blog has been quiet. But I haven’t gone anywhere. Just keeping busy and musing.

For example, I recently flicked on my bedroom TV to just the antenna and noticed one of the low-power channels was out.

A visit to the Internet told me the station is not out, it just flash-cut that signal to digital.

Since this is one of the local channels available via my DirecTV satellite dish, this move from analog to digital really doesn’t affect my viewing. Still, snow on analog channel 27 is indicative of a change about to head our way.

A BIG change.

If you have any interest in consumer technology or you are just one of those nerds (like me) who enjoy reading about the latest in broadcasting, you no doubt are aware of the big switchover to digital television come February 17, 2009. For the layperson, it means your way of viewing over-the-air TV will permanently change.

The reason there is not a huge panic about this is because people who receive their TV via cable or satellite dish will not be affected. This, of course, is the majority of U.S. TV viewers. As I noted earlier, the now-digital-only signal for KAZT-CA is a non-issue, as I can still watch the station over DirecTV even though I only own analog TV sets. (A flat-paneled LCD or plasma TV is way down the road for the Geohouse.)

However there is still a part of me that will mourn the loss of the old analog signals.

I recall the thrill of seeing out-of-area channels when I was a kid (an early indicator of my budding nerdiness). This excitement lasted well into my adulthood, when I lived in Casa Grande, watching KNAZ, Channel 2 from Flagstaff fade in and out through snow, courtesy of my rooftop antenna. One day KNAZ faded out completely and a station from Spokane, Washington (KREM-TV) appeared. Nirvana!

With digital, such things just won’t happen. And it’s not limited to TV. I also engage in radio DXing (again, just more evidence that I am a true nerd). The word around the DX hobby world is how HD radio is interfering and affecting one’s ability to DX other AM stations due to the “bleeding” into adjacent frequencies the HD signal causes.

(If you didn’t understand that last sentence, don’t worry. It’s not important to the world at large.)

So, I am aware that I am seeing the end of an era. And soon, my set channels in both TV’s (always set those channels in case the satellite signal goes out): 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 27, 45, 51, and 61 will all show snow in a little over a year.

Yet with the digital switchover headed our way, I can’t help but anticipate the advantages of the digital channels, namely multiplexing and HDTV. Interesting times are still to come. Plus, I have to wonder which of our local stations will rebrand themselves due to a channel change. (Channels 52-69 will be vacated, as will channels 2-6.)

“CBS 5” becomes “CBS 17?” Or CW 6 becoming “CW 49?” We’ll see. (The latter is not likely, the former more so.)

Meanwhile it seems the big box retailers need to step up and help educate the public about the switch. This article was interesting. You would think a company such as Best Buy would want to rise to the challenge.

But that’s big business for you. (“What? Educating the customer? That cuts into our profit margin!”)