Preparing for the Beginning of the End of Analog TV

Analog TV users who don't have cable or satellite service need a converter to watch digital TV. The government offers a coupon worth $40 toward a converter. (Wal-mart Stores)

The coupon can be used only to buy a converter box, not a new HDTV or any other gadget. This box, in turn, won't turn your old TV into a high-definition set.

Will I get the same TV reception in digital as in analog? No. You should get better picture quality and sound, and you should also have more channels to watch.

That's "should," not "will." Digital reception, like analog, can have glitches. And weak digital reception is worse than a bad analog signal: The broadcast will freeze, fragment or go blank instead of picking up snow or static.

But when I've compared digital with analog in the same spot and with the same antenna, digital has won every time -- and it's only gotten better over the past two years.

Earlier this week, I tested one of the first converter boxes available, Philips's Magnavox TB100MW9 (list price: $69). At a home in Arlington and in The Post's downtown District office, this tuner made local commercial and PBS stations look as good as cable or satellite, without any flickering or ghosting.

In some cases, though, I had to wiggle the antenna to lock in a signal. A few stations were unviewable in both analog and digital. And some low-powered stations farther up the dial don't have digital signals (the FCC has exempted them from the 2009 deadline).

Many broadcasters send out extra digital-only channels, such as local network affiliates' weather updates and PBS stations' educational and how-to channels. Digital broadcasts also often include program schedules, so you can see what's on now and coming next by pressing a button on a remote control.

Why is the government making me do this? This may be the hardest one to answer. Congress had good reasons to approve the digital transition in 1996. Most of the analog-TV airwaves will be auctioned off to wireless carriers -- expanding the reach of broadband Internet and earning the government billions of dollars -- and some will be reserved for use by police, firefighters and paramedics.

But many viewers seem to regard digital TV as a scheme to line the pockets of TV stations and electronics manufacturers. I think this says more about people's trust in government and corporations than about any longing for analog TV.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrobp@washpost.com. Read more athttp://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/