Everybody in the US already HD ready/compliant/whatever??

[martincisneros]

Even if you only watch an hour or two a month of television a month, if even that, we're still about a month away in the United States from there being no such thing as analogue television signals and everybody either having to have a converter box to enable an older television to show the digital channels, or you need a newer television with a digital tuner, or it's the cable and satellite options to look into, otherwise you're locked out of the half a dozen hours of good television that they show every month, if that. 

I think that the UK doesn't have to mess with this until 2012, though.  At least, that's what wikipedia said was one of the events for 2012 unless somebody here from the UK with better info needs to go and update that wikipedia page.

It's a hastle, I know, but every once in a while there's an important enough of a news story, or important weather updates, or the odd documentary that you'd be furious that the television wasn't working that one and only night.  The plus side for us and for the television stations and networks is that the television stations or networks with the new digital requirement are able to have as many channels as they can keep up with the hastle of maintaining 24/7 programing for.  It's the one piece of equipment (for clarity) that runs their one station that could allow them to have 50 or 100, or just a really good second or third channel.  So, fifty million new channels are theoretically possible where they'll show absolutely nothing except for once or twice a month when absolutely all of the channels will totally tick you off by showing something good at the same time.

[ChuckK3]

I sent for one of those 40 dollar off coupons that the government is sponsoring, and actually got me a free converter (I only had to pay 8 dollars S&H).  It works great, and I'm real impressed with the quality of the picture.  For people who have to settle for over the air television, they are in for a real treat!

And like Martin said, there's the potential for 100s of channels, which could put over the air television in competition with the cable TV, and even sattelite TV industries.  Right now here in the Baltimore/Washington area, there are more channels than ever, but far from in the 100 channel range, more like maybe about 20 at best.  I know that 2 of our TV channels here in Baltimore have 24/7 weather on one of their respective subchannels.  Who knows what else the TV stations may do when they expand their subchannels?  Perhaps the network affilates can use subchannels to show programs that used to be on their networks in prime-time, and now are in syndication.  Especially if the networks have some presentation rights to them.

Welcome to television in the 21st century 

Chuck

[Taffy]

2010 Martin , introducing it gradually over various areas of the Country, but I believe it wont be complete till 2012

[martincisneros]

You can absolutely free TV all the channels across the world, I believe theres like 5000 channels for a small one time fee somewheres online, some places offering it for $3 for all of them, I'd hate to dig through them channels though  I recall looking into it at one time to get my husband to drop his direct TV package for a hundred a month, he refuses he wont watch it on a puter screen but theres also a converter you can get for a couple bucks to hook your puter to your TV to have the channels appear on it rather then the puter. Its pretty amazing what you can do nowadays

I like that deal better!  If a particular website doesn't come to mind, do you remember enough for some keywords to google that might bring it up?  Even if it wound up being the hundred for that many channels, 'cause of your having heard about it originally through a promotional they were offering since $3 or even $30 sounds sorta introductory for all of that, that's still better than any deals being offered locally!!  I was thinking just a day or two ago that it's pretty annoying that you can't simply just get all of the channels, and then just have a list of 'em in mind for when you need local weather so you're not accidentally fooled if you're in Montana and thinking that my Fort Worth, Texas's weather's going to be your treat tomorrow.

[martincisneros]

One practical usage of all of the extra channels is that one of the ones where I live was used to broadcast what was on television in the Houston area during the big Hurricane that hit down there in September.  I believe it was a network affiliate to the channel I was watching, or would have ordinarily been watching.  For folks having been evacuated from the coast and brought as far North as the D/FW area to one of the shelters, if the shelters were aware of it and had a digital television, then that let people keep an eye on the latest that was going on back home for them, if their particular neighborhood was totaled, etc.  And while being in a strange land, for those that hadn't been up here before, it at least gave them a familiar face or two with their own newscast being on television around here.  For me, it was very informative to know how to pray and what to expect as far as how long these foreigners from Houston and Galveston were going to be up here.  And since I wandered down there for a day on personal business, it was helpful to know if I was going to have to sneak in all A.L.F. style if I was determined to go.

[ChuckK3]

I have purchased software to get those so called 500+ channels, and it's really a farce.  None of the Turner channels, No Nickelodeon, No TV Land, No Discovery Channel, No Travel Channel, No History Channel, etc.  In short, it's not a true alternative for Cable TV.  In fact, in spite of their being well known on the internet, there is no "HBO Online" that you can subscribe to.  You want HBO? Then you have to get basic cable first, then add it on.  If you cannot put up a sattelite dish, then Cable TV would be the way to go.  But that was THEN.  I'd like to see the advancement of this new technology at the end of Obama's (first) term in office 4 years from now.

Chuck

[WhiteWings]

If you want picture quality then a satellite dish is the best option. But only when they are not crammed with channels. Same with other ways of digital TV BTW.
100 channels just means 10x more reruns and 10x more junk. 

I download 98% of the stuff I watch. Much more choice. Anything from VHS quality to Blu-ray quality.