Here’s something for the six or seven people that don’t have digital television already:

(ARA) – Are you a television junkie? Do you hold viewing parties for season premieres, award shows or season finales? On June 12, 2009, at 11:59 p.m., analog television will cease to exist — but what does this mean for you?

Is this the end to your viewing parties? Or to free TV? Will you need to replace your current TV with a newer, digital model? What are the benefits — will you be able to watch higher-quality TV?

Armed with information and resources, technical professional organization IEEE offers tips to help Americans understand the switch to digital TV broadcast movement, and has prepared some frequently asked questions below; ensuring you have a signal to watch your favorite shows — from Oprah and the local news to CSI and championship sporting events.

Q: Is digital television more expensive than analog television?
A: No. Traditional, non-cable television programs will continue to be free!

Q: If I currently have cable service, is there anything else I need to do to prepare for the switch?
A: If you have cable service, there is nothing else you would need to do. However, if other TV sets in the house are not connected to cable and they receive their signals with an antenna, each of these sets will need a digital TV converter box.

Q: What is a digital TV converter box?
A: A digital TV converter box hooks up to a conventional analog TV set, allowing it to receive digital broadcasts.

Q: Will my current television still work with off-air signals after June 12, 2009?
A: Yes, as long as you have a digital TV converter box and an appropriate antenna. In general, if your antenna works well with analog signals, it will possibly work with digital signals that are in the same television band (low-VHF, high-VHF, or UHF).

Q: What specific techniques can I use to determine if my current television antenna is acceptable for digital reception or whether a new antenna is required?
A: In general, if your current antenna (outdoor or indoor) provides good or excellent reception quality, that antenna should be acceptable for DTV reception. This presumes that the current antenna covers the same television bands (low-VHF, high-VHF, UHF) that are being used by the digital stations.

Q: Is there such a thing as a “digital” antenna or an “HDTV” antenna?
A: No. While the box in which the antenna is sold may be called “DTV Antenna” or “HDTV Antenna”, the analog and digital television signals can be picked up (i.e., received) with the same antenna.

The complete IEEE FAQ can be found online at www.IEEE.org. Additionally, the FCC has issued a number of very helpful consumer advisories on the DTV transition at: www.dtv.gov/publications.html.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT), a disability coalition focused on accessible technology for people with disabilities, called on the government to delay the digital television transition, citing access problems for its constituent base.

“As the February date for the DTV transition approaches, a myriad of technical problems continue to surface for people with disabilities,” says Karen Peltz Strauss, founding member of COAT. “These include problems with receiving and displaying closed captions, difficulties with the pass through of available video description (narration added to visual program elements during natural programming pauses), and troubles with the hook-up of digital equipment. Consumers have experienced frustration in their attempts to obtain resolution of these issues from TV programming providers, equipment manufacturers and retailers.”

The thoughts were echoed by a prominent Deaf group also.

“Our members report missing and disappearing captions, overlapping captions, captions appearing in the middle of the television screen and blocking images, garbled captions, captions running off the edge of the picture, and captions either exceedingly small or too large,” said Rosaline Crawford of the National Association of the Deaf. “We are very concerned that the analog cut-off scheduled for February 17 will result in members of our community completely losing access to television news, information, and entertainment programming for an indefinite period of time.”

And the blind:

“People who are blind or with vision disabilities are experiencing huge difficulties, not only with hooking up the converter boxes but also serious problems with new digital TV equipment that is not passing through any available video description,” said Eric Bridges of the American Council of the Blind. “The lack of knowledge about how to resolve video description concerns is a major barrier to our community’s access to digital television.”

COAT blames the alleged problems on “any one of a combination of technical failures, including difficulties with local broadcast station signals or transmissions, cable network or provider transmissions, satellite transmission signals, poor adjustment of end user consumer equipment provided by cable or satellite companies, and/or improper encoding and transmission by caption providers.”

On February 17, television will stop being broadcast on analog signals. People using antennas to watch TV will have to use a converter box, but cable and satellite customers should notice no differences.