Saturday, November 1, 2008

It’s getting really close!

No, silly, not the presidential election. If you have any sense at all, you have tuned out the politicians. But speaking of television, perhaps you have seen the television spot starring Bob Barker that is intended to inform the electronically-impaired among us (you know who you are) of the single most important fact on the horizon, that one bright, cold morning next February, only digital television signals will be broadcast in the United States. People who have cable or satellite with those new, very expensive, high-definition television (HDTV) sets have nothing to worry about, we keep hearing. Only time will tell whether this is true. But there will be no more analog signals for anybody, ever, so all of you rabbit-ear lovers and roof-antenna folks out there, as well as anybody who refused to pay for cable or satellite, are going to need to do something. I mean besides checking yourself into the equivalent of a methadone clinic for analog addicts to treat your TV withdrawal.

The something you are going to need to do is get and install a converter box to convert the digital signal to analog for older TVs. But don’t panic. As a community service, I have done the research and found something that should ease your fears and let you know just how easy the conversion is going to be (actually, it’s as easy as π).

Please watch this video.

There, now, don’t you feel better?

4 comments:

  1. i think for a community service and after much research you ought to come to my home and convert me over, instead of just sitting there and giving me information, uou ought to be a good samarition{sp] AND CONVERT THIS SENILE OLD CODGER INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would be really scared but I have cable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your concern about HDTV are well founded. There are two types of HDTV, 720p and 1080p. (Well actually more, but I will not get into the 1080i.) While 720p HDTV's will be able to play films and shows recorded in the 1080p format, I am not sure I believe the producers when they say that this will continue to be true into the future.

    I made sure to buy a "full" HDTV, in other words a 1080p TV. If you do not look at the label carefully, you can be fooled. In the USA, only TV's labeled "full" HDTV meet the 1080p criteria. TV's labeled simply HDTV are 720p. They are currently compatible, but . . .

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, welcome to my blog, Father Ernesto Obregon of Palm Bay, Florida! I see from your profile that you are Cuban and a priest in the Antiochan Orthodox Church! An eclectic bunch, we are (the readers of my blog).

    I don't know where to begin...maybe here: Hear my confession: After reading your comment, I have suddenly realized that I myself am also in the ranks of the electronically-impaired... 720p, 1080p, 1080i...My goodness, there's so much to learn and so little time.

    Our family lived in Boca Raton, Florida, for seven years before moving to the Atlanta area. And I have been to Palm Bay; some Hungarian-American friends of ours were for several years were the administrators of the Bethesda Baptist Retirement Center there, where worship services were held in Hungarian and English. I met and married my wife in Orlando. Florida holds great memories for our family. And my wife's parents were members of the Albanian Orthodox Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1930's and 1940's.

    You have a most interesting blog with lots of food for thought. I will slowly try to absorb some of it.

    And thank you for coming here from my comment to you on Michael Spencer's (iMonk) blog. Please come back often, maybe when you crave "a little light reading." Your blog is a very serious one indeed. I look forward to spending some time there.

    ReplyDelete

<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

We are bombarded daily by abbreviations in everyday life, abbreviations that are never explained, only assumed to be understood by everyone...