February 17, 2009 ...

It's going to work, it'll be fine, just get your converter box and be ready so that when February comes that you're all prepared for it.

Analog television goes away ...

I think some people don't realize that they can use their old analog TVs, they just have to have this converter box to do it.

Forever ...

The antenna that you probably have on your house right now is going to be fine.

We got our new digital television and it still works great right off of our old antenna.

Iowans are asking questions, getting answers and taking action.

Paul Yeager: Stay tuned for this special edition of The Iowa Journal.  Tonight we're live because we're taking your questions about DTV, next.

Funding for Digital TV Questions and Answers: An Iowa Journal Special is made possible in part by the support of the Broadcast Technology Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 

And by Friends of Iowa Public Television, generations of families and friends who feel passionate about Iowa Public Television programs. 

MidAmerican Energy Company, helping to harness renewable sources of electricity through their investment in wind power.  Information is available at midamericanenergy.com. MidAmerican Energy, obsessively, relentlessly at your service.

Here are some comments about the digital transition from Iowans:  

·         A lot of people who have cable come in asking for converter boxes, they don't realize they don't need them yet.

·         It's going to work on my antenna.  I want to get it up to par before winter starts.

·         There's a lot of things to think about when shopping for a TV.  It's most important to really see the sets side-by-side and get an accurate view of what television picture is better.

·         I would say that my selection of TV to watch will probably increase by 200%.  It's going to be a good deal.

·         I remember watching a show when I first got it, a show that I had watched all last year and the same actress was on this year and I was watching it in high def and I remember looking at it and thinking, I don't remember seeing all those freckles on her face.

·         It's still free.

·         The biggest difference we find is the misconception between the terminology of digital and high definition.  Some people think they mean the same thing.

·         We encourage people to make the switch as soon as they're ready to.

·         Just the pleasure of it was when we plugged it in it was a whole lot better than I thought it was going to be.  I love it.

Paul Yeager: Change is much on the minds of Iowans and their fellow Americans these days but tonight we're going to talk with you and we hope you're also going to talk with us about the change that is happening right now to the technology behind the screen you're watching right now. 

Those Iowans that have already prepared for the analog TV shutoff and transition to digital only television have been having a variety of experiences and many are pleased with their discovery.  We've also been hearing from Iowans who need a little help or advice to make this change work for them. 

So, for the next hour we'll answer your questions about the coming analog shutoff on February 17th.  You can send us an e-mail to iowajournal@iptv.org.  And as you can see we have technical staff on the phones who are experienced in helping you understand what you need to do and, if you're curious, why you need to do it. 

I'll be joined later by some special guests as we try to address the issues that you're facing and help you find answers.  Now, if you're one of those Iowans who already has comfortably made that switch to digital TV we hope you'll stay tuned because changes are good that you'll be called upon by a friend, a neighbor or even a family member to help them through this digital transition. 

And you might just learn something that will apply to their situation.  We can tell there's a lot of you that have questions tonight so if you watch TV just a little bit it would have been hard to miss the announcements about the coming change and what you need to do. 

But, just in case, we'd like to show you a little excerpt from IPTV's production "Iowa DTV Answers" that was created earlier this year and hosted by my colleague here at Iowa Public Television, Jennifer Konfrst.  And she's also featuring a few of your neighbors as a reminder on what this is all about.

Jennifer Konfrst: February 17, 2009, the day analog television broadcasting goes away and digital television takes over. 

You've seen the spots on this station and you've read about it online and in magazines and in newspapers and though it all focuses on that day in February nearly all your stations are already broadcasting in digital as well as analog.  That's what all this fancy equipment is about. 

It's part of how your Iowa broadcasters continue to bring you the best service.  But it's not really about fancy equipment at all.  It's about Iowans adapting to change and doing what they need to do. 

Your Iowa broadcasters have already made the transition and that means you can make the transition in your home right now.  Many are on their way or already prepared. 

Hundreds of thousands of you have ordered your converter box coupons, bought the box, purchased digital televisions and made sure those antennas work.  It's pretty simple.  If you have an analog TV and get your TV signal using an antenna you need to get a converter box for that TV.  In fact, you need a converter box for each analog TV if you have more than one as many of us do.

But let's back up a bit.  Why is this happening?  Well, in this case it really did take an act of Congress, the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.  The new digital technology will free up a good chunk of the broadcast spectrum some of which the government will use for public safety and the rest will be sold to private companies to be used for new wireless Internet services and other things.  The billions of dollars raised will be used to help reduce the federal deficit.  Iowans reactions vary.

My personal thoughts on it are it's long overdue, we need to free up those broadcast bands or frequencies or whatever they are for other uses and the digital signal being so much more efficient at using the airwaves seems to me like a really good thing.  Of course, the government coupon for a lot of people will help them easily make that transition to the new digital signals.

I'm a little bit irritated that the government is telling us that we have to change and have to go digital in February or have to get the converter boxes because it is an expense, it may not be a big expense for a lot of people but it is still an expense.

This demand hasn't been created as much by the government as much as it has by people who have been buying TVs like this but disappointed because they haven’t been able to see a picture like this.  I sold a lot of TVs to people who went home, put them up and then sat there and waited for a year or two before they could get this picture on their TV set.  And when they got this picture it was like getting a brand new TV all over again.  So, there's a lot of people that have been pushing for this to happen.

The U.S. government is mandating the change but it's also helping you make that change by providing $40 coupons that you can use toward the purchase of the digital converter boxes.  Each household is entitled to two coupons and they are good for 90 days.  More and more Iowans are ordering their coupons every day and you can order yours by going online to www.dtv2009.gov or by calling 1-888-DTV-2009.  It is simple but don't feel bad about asking a friend or a family member to help you out.  You need the converter box only if you watch analog TV using an antenna and once you hook up that box, which you should do right away, you'll discover some great benefits.

The digital converter box is a benefit to everyone really.  You're going to get more channels.  You're going to get a sharper picture.  It's not hard to hook up, it's plugging in a couple of wires and plugging it into the outlet.  You can do this yourself.

Paul Yeager: As you can see and also hear we're getting some phone calls.  If you've got questions we do want to hear from you.  If you want to send us an e-mail it's iowajournal@iptv.org. 

Remember, we did ask you to stay with us even if you are and do understand pretty well what to do because there are people in your life that may need your help right now. 

We would like to introduce you to Claudette Taylor from Ellsworth, Iowa who really took this idea to heart.  Claudette, first of all, what inspired your work in Ellsworth?

Claudette Taylor: Our library board provides adult programming as part of our state accreditation and we were discussing the change coming and decided to see if we could get a program in our library which is going to happen Monday evening at 7:00.

Paul Yeager: So, that's the next thing you have and that is going to be with somebody from here?

Claudette Taylor: Yes, one of your engineers is going to come and visit with our local townsfolk and answer their questions just like they are tonight.

Paul Yeager: Can anybody show up?  Do they have to register?

Claudette Taylor: No, anyone is welcome to come.  They're going to be there a little bit before 7:00 so folks can come and get a good seat.

Paul Yeager: Anyone looking forward to it?  People in town, have they been wow, we're really glad this is going on?

Claudette Taylor: A lot of people are glad that we're having something local so they don’t' have to drive a distance.  And we're hoping to have a library full of folks that night.

Paul Yeager: Claudette, I appreciate you coming in.  Good luck with your program.  Monday at the library at 7:00.  Hopefully that will inspire other Iowa communities with what they've been able to do in Ellsworth in helping getting them involved with their neighbors with this analog shutoff.  Let's take a quick, closer look at what Claudette and her neighbors are trying to do.

Claudette Taylor: Ellsworth is a typical, rural Iowa community.  The population is a little over 500.  Right now the big activity in Ellsworth is at the elevator where crops are coming in and there's usually a pretty long line of tractors and trucks at the elevator. 

Iowa people take care of each other and I think that's really evident in Ellsworth.  We have a population of rural, retired folks who have come to town from the farm and neighbors look out for each other in little Iowa towns like Ellsworth. 

The library board has developed a list of volunteers, local residents of Ellsworth who will come into people's homes and install the converter boxes for them.  The board developed this idea thinking of our population, we have people with limited mobility, people that may be a little concerned about will I be doing this correctly.

Justin Easterday: I became part of this project because somebody from the Ellsworth public library here in town asked for my help.  I figured I was qualified since I have actually installed a few of these before.

Janet Adix: I think it's a wonderful idea to have somebody that you know come into your home.  We have picture.  It's so much easier to have somebody do it that knows how to do it, more or less that technical part.  I think I could have hooked up the wires but it's the technical, the programming that I'm glad that we had a volunteer to do.

Claudette Taylor: I think most Iowans have been the recipient of somebody else helping them out one way or another whether it was when they moved into town and the neighbor brought over a meal or one of your neighbors saw you out working in your yard and just came over to visit.  Iowa people are friendly and like to help their neighbors and I would just say look around your community, ask for people would you volunteer to help people put converter boxes in and the project will probably take off and grow on its own.

Paul Yeager: I do want to thank, again, Claudette Taylor of Ellsworth for sharing with us tonight.  If you've got questions about the analog TV shutoff and that transition to digital only TV you can send us an e-mail to iowajournal@iptv.org. 

We have experienced IPTV technical staff and they're very busy right now as long as our other staff who have some of the knowledge and they'll be happy to share it with you.  Here with me now are two very experienced guests on the subject. 

First, let me introduce you to Gary Sgrignoli.  Gary has been involved with the engineering side of television for over 30 years.  He has worked passionately and tirelessly on digital television for two decades.  He's also the holder of over 35 patents. 

He's a partner in the engineering firm of Meintel, Sgrignoli and Wallace and is a special consultant for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers known as the IEEE, an international, professional association.  Gary was also chosen as the Society of Broadcast Engineers Educator of the Year in 2005. 

Now, I'd like you to meet Bill Hayes.  He is Iowa Public Television's Director of Engineering who was chosen as this year's Educator of the Year by the Society of Broadcast Engineers and has been working hard to make IPTV's transition to digital as smooth as possible. 

Bill is the President of the Broadcast Technical Society of the IEEE. 

Gentlemen, I want to thank you both for coming in tonight for The Iowa Journal.  As you can hear and as you've been able to see we've been getting lots and lots of questions about this converter box switch.  First, I want to start with how would you add or what would you add to folks about exactly what they need to know when it comes to converter boxes?

Bill Hayes: Well, the issues of the converter box is I've done a lot of testing for IPTV and what we've discovered about the converter boxes is the converter boxes all pretty much have a certain set of standards they had to meet and they all do a pretty good job of meeting that.

But there are some fine points that we kind of look at for the converter boxes that we say if you're a consumer you might want to look at this, it makes it a little easier. 

One of the ones that sort of amazed me the first couple of times was we bought a couple of early ones that did not have on the box itself an on/off switch or a power switch which they all have remote controls but it's not much help if you lose the remote control which is a pretty common occurrence.  Then there's also one of the features that we tell people to look for is the ability to pass the antenna signal through. 

The digital conversion that really has happened after February 17th there will still be some analog television on the air, it won't be full power, it will be translators.  People who have converter boxes that don't do this pass through feature will actually physically have to disconnect and reconnect their TVs to their antennas in order to get these services. 

Those are a couple of the features that really jump out at me.  Also, when you're scanning for channels one of the interesting things is that digital gives us the ability to add more to what we're doing and as we add these services on if you don’t scan again you don't know about those services.  But if you do scan you essentially go through and re-write the entire channel base.

Paul Yeager: Because a channel could add a .2 or a .3 and you wouldn't know it unless you go back through with the scan.

Bill Hayes: We suggest that you also look at what is called add-on scan because once you've done your own preliminary scan you've got all these channels established, an add-on scan basically just goes through and looks for anything new.  That is another nice feature to have because it takes a little less time and if you're using an antenna that is not optimal you can actually lose some of the channels you had before because it just can't find them at that point in time.

Paul Yeager: So, the question, though, Bill is there's conspiracy theories.  Why do we have to do this?  It's some big conspiracy.  Why do we have to do this in the first place?

Bill Hayes: Well, if it's a conspiracy it's not a very well run one, just a personal opinion there.  There are things that I would conspire about, probably that would gain more and cost less.  But the reality with analog television we had reached a point that we call diminishing returns. 

Improvements were still being made but what those improvements did as far as the performance that viewers would actually see was so minimal compared to the cost of doing them that we sort of said, well, we've topped this out.  And what digital has done is it sort of set a new bar. 

The original drive was to deliver, when this first started in the late 70s, early 80s, the drive was to deliver movie theatre quality high definition to people’s homes. And clearly we realized as we were going down the road you can't do that with an analog service, not cost effectively or reliably. 

So, digital offers the opportunity to bring theatre quality video and audio into people's homes plus we have things like we can do additional programming.  On IPTV we multi-cast.  Other stations do that as well, the ability to take and subdivide the channel and send out different program streams all that have better quality than any single analog stream but it gives us this ability to do more.

Paul Yeager: It's a way of shrinking it down and kind of focusing it a little better with the space.

Bill Hayes: Exactly, basically it's more efficient use of the space.

Paul Yeager: Alright, Gary, I can't let you just sit there and watch Bill and I talk.  There's a three-word phrase, it's called apply, buy and try.  What is that?

Gary Sgrignoli: Well, first of all we're hoping people will apply for the coupons immediately.  Time is running out.  While they still have funds for this, the government, the problem is we're expecting that this could be something called predicted procrastination. 

A lot of people like to put things off.  When you see hurricanes and people running at the last minute and the shelves are bare.  The other thing you have to remember is if a lot of people do that the coupons may take not two or three weeks to get, it may take five or six or seven weeks to get and push it past the time when you really need it. 

So, you want to apply for them and as soon as you get them there is a 90 day expiration date but that is even becoming less important because we're also at that point right now to the transition.

Paul Yeager: We're almost 90 days out.

Gary Sgrignoli: Yeah, and the main thing is you want to get your converters right away before they run out and have to be restocked and reordered and so forth.  The most important thing is sometimes people have the misconception we just take this time home and you plop it down and hook it to the TV and it's going to work. 

Number one, you do need an antenna and Bill is going to talk about that a little later.  Second of all is people have forgotten the art of over-the-air television reception.  So, you need to experiment, review that and we're going to talk about that a little bit later in the show.

Paul Yeager: Just because you might have cable or satellite you still would need to get into this because there is a chance when that line could go out you need to have that just in case there is that time when hey, they cut a line down the street from me or something like that.

Gary Sgrignoli: And certainly that happens but not only that is people sometimes have a second, third, fourth set that's not connected to cable as well and that's important.

Paul Yeager: Some Iowans are choosing to buy at least one new TV that is digital ready to prepare for that analog shutoff on February 17th.  Now, to help you make that decision we invite you to take a look at this excerpt from IPTV's "Iowa DTV Answers" program which was produced earlier this year.

Brian Hauber: We give the consumer that option of hey, if you do want a box and utilize your existing antenna no problem, feel free to do so.  That may be important such as in the bedroom or in the kitchen.  But if you have a main TV that you generally watch all the time you may want to upgrade to a high definition TV.

Steve Maxwell: Talk to people and tell them here's my situation and that's how I like to start things out.  Here is where I live, here is what the size of my room is, here is what I want, here's how much I can spend.  The people are knowledgeable for the most part in these stores and they do it all the time, they know what you're looking for, they know what’s best but don't limit yourself just to one place.  Go to a couple of different places, see if they're saying the same thing.

Well, first we ask them how big their room is.  Some people just want a big TV even though their old one is just fine, they still want to upgrade to these new TVs.  Of course, the new TVs have the box built into them.  So, for people with an antenna there is nothing to worry about there. 

Brian Hauber: The first thing you want to look at is specs of the television.  First is size, application and price range.  Size you definitely want to look at double your screen size and that should be your minimum viewing distance so if you're looking at a 50 inch television set you generally should be right around 100 inches away from the TV for minimum viewing.

Barb Splett: We just looked at the picture on in the store playing a movie or DVD, whatever they were doing and that's what we based our purchase on was that had a really good picture, it was good and clear.  Obviously these are all digital processes that their selling points are so we knew it was going to fit in our spot in the corner and we knew what color we wanted it to be and so we went with it.

Pastor David Splett: I guess I was just taken back by, again, how clear it was, how much the picture was alive with color.  I wasn't expecting that kind of an experience. 

The big thing we tell people if they've got kids and they've got a new game or a TV game you can't do that on the plasma.  You can but you've got to be careful.  So, the LCD is better that way.  If they've got a lot of sunlight the plasmas will have some reflection whereas the LCDs there is no reflection.  The plasmas when you go to the bigger TVs are the cheaper way to go.  I sell from 50 on down are all LCDs and the 50s and 60s are plasma because it's not cost effective to do it the other way.  But that's the main thing is the games, the reflection and how big the room is, things like that they all have to consider.

When you're shopping for a new TV probably the biggest thing you have to keep in mind is what you're going to use it for.  If you're going to have it hooked to cable, if you're going to have it hooked to satellite or antenna.  If you're going to hook it to cable which is still predominantly analog right now then you have to look at the resolution and differences in how the TVs will cope with the analog signal. 

A plasma, for instance, does a little better job of coping with the analog signal, the edges of the picture are just a little smoother and a little less digitizing on the screen.  LCD looks fine when it's hooked to a higher resolution input such as a higher resolution satellite or the antennas now with the full resolution coming from them.

This is our antenna and I was quite surprised that just that little antenna would do such an excellent job of receiving all the stations that we receive.  Originally I thought that maybe we'd need to get a special antenna but apparently you don't need a special antenna, just the one that you have will probably work great.

A lot of people come in here thinking they need to put up a new antenna that is HD compatible.  Well, all the antennas that we have put up for 20 years as long as it's a UHF/VHF all-channel antenna it's already compatible.  You don't need to go out and if the box says HD that's going to work for you.  The antenna that you probably have on your house right now is going to be fine.

There's really no such thing as a special HD or digital antenna.  That said, you'll often hear people say that your existing antenna should work just fine, emphasis on should.

It's definitely a case where you need to talk to someone in your local area to find out what you're going to need for an antenna.  Iowa Falls is a very different position geographically from Des Moines than say Ames.  So, the type of antenna you're going to need in Iowa Falls is a much bigger antenna with a lot higher gain than what you're going to need Ames or down in Des Moines or in the suburbs or that area. 

Down there it's perfectly fine to go buy a set of rabbit ears and hook them to your converter box, you'll be very pleased with the picture you'll get.  Up here in Iowa Falls rabbit ears are almost worthless.  We very, very seldom find a time they work.

Paul Yeager: And as you can see the phones have been very much and here tonight as well you keep hearing the phones ringing.  You can send an e-mail to iowajournal@iptv.org.  And if you don't get an answer tonight or if you don't hear anything but a busy signal tonight you can also call during our regular business hours, we do have a number that is also an 800 number so that's toll free across the state.  That number across the state during business hours only is 800-532-1290.  We were just getting done, Bill and Gary, talking about my digital TV or at least do I have a digital TV.  How do you know if you have a digital TV?

Bill Hayes: It's interesting because that's a question that comes up quite a bit because a number of people have bought new television sets over the last five or six years, a lot of widescreens but what is referred to as the DTV tuner mandate didn't really go into full effect until March 1st, 2007 and that was the date at which all new television sets had to have a DTV tuner in it. 

So, if you bought a set from March 2007 on most likely it's a digital ready set with a DTV tuner in it.  Before that it might not be because some sets had them, some didn't.  It was no clear cut yes it does or no it doesn't.  So, that sort of has been one of the questions we've dealt with a lot. 

So, things that we tell people to do is look at the television itself.  A lot of the televisions will have on them the ATSC which is the standards committee that created the DTV standard, they'll have the ATSC logo, they'll have DTV, integrated digital tuner, wording like that tells you that inside the television is a DTV tuner. 

There's also if you check the manual, you can look in the manual to see if it says that there as well or check some of the inputs on the back of the set.  If there are digital inputs that is one.  Another one that I've had a few people say when I tune I see these other channels with dash numbers or dot numbers behind them, at that point in time pretty much the only way you get that is if you have a digital tuner. 

So, even though they may not know they have one they do.  So, it's a little bit of just look at the manual, look at what you've got and check.  Worst case is you get the manual or you call the store you bought it from and say, hey, I'm trying to find out does this have a tuner built in it.

Paul Yeager: And since March 1st of last year you can't buy a TV that doesn't have a digital tuner in it, is that correct?

Bill Hayes: Just about.

Paul Yeager: Unless it was old inventory, chances are those are sometimes the ones left on the shelf.

Paul Yeager: One of the questions we're getting a lot of is about reception.  That's something we're going to get into and I'll ask you both about that on the other side of this. 

If you're calling about reception this next piece of tape is going to be for you because they were kind enough to record a quick primer, both Gary and Bill earlier here were able to help us out, a quick primer to help us understand some of the basic differences between the analog and digital signals that are transmitted over the air.

Gary Sgrignoli: Traditional analog television was developed in the late 1930s and standardized in 1941.  Color was added to the system in 1953.  The signal that is conveyed over the air for traditional analog television is made up of three carriers, a visual carrier, a chroma carrier and an aural carrier.  You can see that the signal does not totally use the entire band and therefore is not totally efficient in the 6MHz channel. 

On the other hand, digital television being developed was developed in the 1990s conveys ones and zeros that represent the picture and the sound that are high quality.  The signal that conveys this utilizes the channel very efficiently.  As you can see it uses up almost the entire 6MHz channel and can be conveyed at a lower transmitted power providing the same coverage and service area as digital television.

Bill Hayes: Let's take a look at what's happening in your analog set right now, though, because that's what you're watching.  Analog television has been around, as Gary said, for quite some time. 

What I'm showing here is a block diagram of what is inside your TV set.  Please, you're not a TV repair person, don't go inside your set to check this stuff.  But what I have here is an antenna that is receiving all of the services that are within range. 

That antenna doesn't care if it's analog or digital, it is receiving all of those services and delivering them to the back of the television set.  So, at the back of the TV set the first thing you come to is the tuner.  The tuner's job is to select one of the services, that is what you do when you change channels. 

If you're selecting an analog channel this television set knows what to do.  It takes the video off of that channel, it delivers it to some circuitry that it uses to process, it lets you adjust the color, the chroma, those things that you do to improve the image quality and then delivers it to the display so you can watch it.  It does a similar process with the audio. 

It pulls the audio off, determines whether it is stereo, left or right and sends it to some circuits to let you adjust the volume, amplifies it and sends it to the speaker or speakers in your set.  This lets you watch and listen to television. 

On February 17th of next year analog services go away.  But everything in this television set continues to work just fine.  So, if you have a VRC, a DVD player, those components that you are currently using now, those components continue to work just fine.  The only thing that has changed is that there are no longer analog services being delivered to this antenna and this tuner doesn't know what to do with the digital only services that are available.