Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a while, or simply don’t watch television, you’ve probably seen the commercials about digital TV. In February, the Federal Communications Commission has mandated that all TV signals be transmitted in digital format. All analog TV broadcasts must end at that time.

If you currently watch TV with a standard antenna to receive your local stations and do not have a digital-capable TV or you do not subscribe to cable or satellite TV, you are going to be out of luck when February rolls around unless you get a new television, subscribe to cable or satellite or get a digital converter box for your current television.

Since the subject of this article is regarding my experience with digital TV, I’ll just refer you to DTV Answers where all of this is well explained.

My experience with digital TV began about a year and half ago when I upgraded to an HD-capable television and an HD-capable DVR (digital video recorder) from Dish Network. I had been a Dish Network customer for quite a few years and finally decided to upgrade to HD and now I cannot imagine going back to standard definition television.

Although Dish Network offers just about all of my local television stations as part of their programming packages, they do charge extra for them. However, the Dish Network DVR also allows you to connect a standard television antenna to it and receive broadcasts from your local area television stations, but only if they are digital broadcasts.

Since all of the television stations in my area are currently broadcasting both analog and digital signals, I am able to receive all my local stations using a standard roof-top television antenna connected to my DVR.

What I noticed immediately about the digital broadcasts was that they were much better quality than their analog counterparts. The difference was quite dramatic with many of the local stations. There were some local stations I could hardly receive with our old analog set that were now crystal clear on the digital broadcast, using the same roof-top antenna.

I honestly do not know why this is the case. I wondered if the digital signals were being broadcast with more power than the analog stations. In any case, local broadcasts that were previously plagued with interference and weak signal strength were now being received with remarkable clarity. I was impressed.

Although I believe digital television is better than analog television, there are a few issues I have observed while watching digital TV that appear to be unique to that format.

For example, in my experience, digital TV seems more susceptible to weather conditions. There have been a few occasions where I have lost the signal during inclement weather — something I never experienced with analog television. The old analog signal may have gotten a bit snowy or jumpy, but I can never recall totally losing an analog signal due to weather conditions.

Digital TV is also less forgiving when it comes to signal strength. With an analog set, you could often get away with watching a weak signal from a distant station if you were willing to put up with the "snow" and other interference that resulted due to a poor signal. With digital TV, you either have a signal or you do not.

Since the DVR provides a signal strength indicator for local channels, I have determined that any signal that drops below 60 or so will result in a total loss of the broadcast. I guess you can think of a digital TV signal as a light switch in the sense that it is either on or off — there is no in-between.

The signal strength indicator also confirms my observations regarding how the weather influences digital TV signals. Under certain conditions, like heavy rain for example, I have noticed a significant drop in signal strength, and at times even loss of the signal entirely for short periods of time. This type of thing may depend on your location relative to the stations broadcast facilities. I happen to live a fair distance from most of the stations I regularly watch, but I also live in an area that is well elevated, which normally provides very good reception.

Overall, I’m pleased with digital TV. Like any new technology, there will be some problems and perhaps even a few areas where it is inferior to analog TV. Like the ability to pull in that station 100 miles away, even if you had to put up with all that interference.

The switch to digital TV could be problematic for viewers in remote areas who are far away from their local stations since the digital signals are just not as forgiving as the analog signals when you are dealing with reception in fringe areas. Some may be able to switch to satellite or cable television in those instances.

For people in urban areas and who are reasonably close to their local stations, I think digital TV will be a welcome change. It also allows for the broadcast of HD programming. Not only that, but the HD programming from your local stations received with a good roof-top antenna will be just about the best quality HD programming you will see with the possible exception of fiber optics, since the local stations do not have to compress their HD signals like the cable and satellite broadcasters do.

February will be here before you know it, so if you are still watching analog TV using a standard antenna, don’t waste too much time before you do some research and sign up for those $40 vouchers the government is making available to help ease the transition to digital TV. In many cases it will allow you to pick up a converter box by spending just $10 or so out of your own pocket.

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Tags: 2009, Analog, Digital TV, DVR, February